Run

Keep running

Don't look back, you'll never move again

Footsteps pounding across cracked pavement, some light and nimble, some heavy and uneven (who's limping, who's injured, no, keep moving), Narumi sets the steady (retreating) pace, leaving no time to grieve (no, can't or we won't be able to get moving again), for his own comrades, for the JIDA that was turning itself inside-out in some insane prophetically-driven divine maneuver.

He sets himself on a likely safe distance from the chaos, and keeps running.

It seems like they have been running for hours, though Narumi knows it hasn't really been that long yet. (It feels like this day will never end, just one tragedy after another, first Guren and then – no, don't think about it).

They're in the city now, there are dilapidated buildings everywhere, and it's growing dark. By unspoken agreement, they are searching for shelter; somewhere, anywhere to spend the night, collect themselves, heal. Most of these buildings are far too gone into disrepair to be of any use: leaning half over, many with sizeable chunks missing: trees and weeds and vines growing around them, choking.

They see it finally: a long-abandoned condo complex, with the top floors high enough to deter even the wildest Apostles of John and out of the scenting range of any vampires (if there are any left after the slaughter, they fell just as easily as his human comrades no stop grieve later). It looked structurally sound enough, and at least is still in one piece. Narumi is relieved to stop but all the same (childishly) wishes he could keep going, keep pretending everyone was fine.

Everything was not fine.

Shinoa seemed okay even after hauling Yuu's body, likely thanks to whatever training from hell the Hiragis subjected their progeny to. Yuu himself looked… better than Narumi expected, after the shadow-bendingly wrong thing that possessed him, though the horns still jutted from Yuu's crown of blood-matted hair. (A shiver ran down Narumi's spine. That can't possibly be good). Narumi's eyes flitted to Kimizuki, who was favoring his right leg: that was the uneven beat he heard when they were fleeing. Narumi moves on to Yoichi-

And catches sight of bloodstained white and it's not looking Narumi's way, he can strike and end this before it goes after the squad's two incapacitated members but Shinoa's tired voice says "Narumi, don't. He's an ally, he helped us escape.".

The vampire isn't moving, but Narumi still keeps a cautious eye on it (damn, it looks like just a kid, but you can never tell with bloodsuckers; it could be centuries old) while he rounds off to Shinoa and snaps an "Excuse me?"

"Well, he's the reason Yuu's still around to drag across the city, so at the very least I think you can give him the common courtesy of not killing him on sight." Shinoa shifted back, signaling to Narumi that the repercussions of this morass would be solidly in his court should his executive decision go over poorly with the young remains of the Company.

Narumi looks at the kid (vampire) again. It actually appears hesitant, tired, and ready to run, but not aggressive.

"Fine." Narumi sighs, and, metaphorically giving his years of training a nebulous middle finger, puts his weapon away.

"So long as he pulls his own weight. And he is not under any circumstances to be left alone, is that clear?"

Shinoa responds with a droopy salute and a languid "Sir, yes sir," and Narumi moves to more important matters.

"Alright, we'll be taking the top floor rooms as a temporary base. Kimizuki, you keep an eye on Yuu, let us know when (if) he wakes up. Try to make the rooms as livable as possible. Mitsuba, help them get up there, try to find any usable mattresses if you can. Saotome, Shinoa, you two can take the bottom floors to look for medical supplies and anything edible. Myself and… uh…" He paused

"What's your name?"

"Mikaela," The vampire answered, with a slight accent. (Russian, maybe?)

"Right. Myself and Mikaela will take the upper floors for scavenging." Narumi did have an ulterior motive, of course: should the vampire be deceiving them, he could fend it off at least long enough for the kids downstairs to move out. Rolling his shoulders back to purposely draw attention to his trident, Narumi jerked his head for the vampire kid to follow and, surprisingly, he does.

The foraging is… surprisingly uneventful. Narumi refuses to rummage around with his back exposed to a vampire, and the Mikaela is just as jittery with Narumi behind him, constantly glancing behind him and making strange throaty clicking noises every time Narumi moves too fast. They had awkwardly settled into a side-by-side formation, keeping each other out of arm's reach. Mikaela sacrificed his cape for the greater good of keeping their arms free by bunching it into a makeshift knapsack.

They returned to the blessed sounds of bickering teenagers: Kimizuki was digging into Shinoa because "You're supposed to take the soup out of the can before cooking it, are you trying to give the walls a new tomato soup-colored paint job?"

In an attempt to lighten the mood (God knows they can't afford to wallow in their own failures), Narumi deposits their bundle, grandly announcing "We come bearing gifts!", foisting the responsibility of cooking onto the younger members. Mikaela, who had been hovering awkwardly in the doorway, turns and absconds to the room containing Yoichi and an unconscious Yuu without delay, prompting Narumi's tense shoulders to relax from their iron-braided battle-readiness.

"Has Mitsuba returned yet?" he postures, and is answered when, like an vengeful demon barely reeled in by a novice cadet's first summoning, the door bursts open and she scolds, "If any of you want to sleep on a mattress tonight you'd better help me haul this stuff in!"

Admittedly enticed by the thought of not sleeping on the floor, Narumi is the first to move past Mitsuba and start shoving her makeshift mattress-sled, stacked with blankets and pillows, into the squad's sanctuary. Mitsuba, concluding that her work here was done, headed over to the food cans before being cut off by Kimizuki, and, with much grumbling, rejoined Narumi and Shinoa in arranging the beds.

"Alright" Narumi sighed, "there's not enough space for everyone to have their own, so I'm afraid we'll have to share."

He doesn't even get in a "please be mature about it" before a lavender eyebrow starts waggling in Mitsuba's direction, provoking offended sputtering from her faintly-pink face. Resigning himself to being the only adult in a pack of war-blooded children, Narumi says "Go ahead and eat, I'm going to find the bathrooms. I'll be back in time for first watch, and I expect all of you to be asleep by the time I'm here, got it?" He doesn't expect the silence of agreement at an enforced sleep, but he sees the dark circles under eyes, the bloodstains, the salt and ashes dusting the feet of child soldiers. He understands, more than he wished he could, and makes his retreat to the latrines. There, he can finally allows himself to grieve.

(imsorrysimsorryimsososososorrypleaseforgivemewhydidthishappenishouldhavestoppeditishouldhaveseenitcomingican'tdoitplease)

Feeling empty and cold, Narumi returned to their abode, hoping his eyes aren't red from crying anymore. (He was careful to wash away the tear tracks, but…) Passing by the (thankfully still intact) kitchenette, he opened the single bedroom door. Inside there was Yuu, lying on the only standing bed, clumsily cuffed to the bedpost (it's still not safe, but at least the horns are starting to recede). Mikaela was nothing more than a tuft of pale blond hair peeking out from inside the cocoon of a faint green, ratty blanket, curled up at the foot of Yuu's sickbed. Like a cat, Narumi mused. The rest of the kids had crammed the mattresses into one singular bed, and what might have been an orderly row of sleepers had devolved into layers of exhaustion, too deep in the recovery of sleep to notice small things like a head pressed into their stomach or a hand grabbing their foot. At least it looked like they had scrounged up clean clothes; Mikaela had too, judging by the bloodstained white among the salt-encrusted black pile of dirty clothes.

Leaving the door cracked open, Narumi unslung his trident and sat down, reminding himself that in exchange for his sore rear in the next two hours, he would have the pleasure of rousing someone to take his place so that he, too, could forget the chaos for a few blessed hours.

Notes: And the featured headcanons this chapter are: 1.) the clicking sounds Mika is making are derived from the sounds some species of lizards make: the gist being either "please stay away" of "identify yourself" 2.) A Russian-born vampire in Sangiunem, appalled by Mika's lack of knowledge of his heritage, insisted (read: petitioned the queen to teach him until she acquiesced just so he'd leave her alone) that he learn Russian