Yuu felt the power rush over him like a tsunami, burying him in swirls of red and black as the world around him faded. He heard the screams of those around him and Ashuramaru's girlish laughter mixing in with the echos of screeching metal. He turned, looking for a way out of the dark prison of his head. He could feel his memories fading one by one, dragging with them bits of his sense of self. He felt himself giving in to the dark being radiating power and whispering words of death and promises of destruction.

"Yuu!"

A hoarse shout in a painfully familiar tone yanked him back, the world blurring into focus around him. Red. Lots of red. The bodies of dead and dying humans lay around him, their blood staining the ground at his feet. Their living comrades made a wide semicircle around him, brandishing their weapons and shouting curses that seemed muted to Yuu's ears. He turned, looking for the source of the shout. His eyes found a mass of vampires, standing aways back from him. A hazy green gaze swept along their ranks, taking in the expressions ranging from fear and disbelief to a calculated apathy. His eyes continued, finding a lone figure on a building to his left staring at him with eyes the colour and intensity of the sea. Yuu began to sway, no longer having the energy to hold itself up. His vision flickered alarmingly and he lifted a hand towards the figure, lips mouthing his name.

Mika…

The world pitched sideways, the ground rushing to meet his face. A pair of strong arms caught him, one under his shoulders and one under his knees as he was lifted, bridal-style. He gazed into the face of his saviour, the piercing azure eyes with their cat-like pupils gazing back at him lovingly. The soft pink lips said words that Yuu couldn't hear but understood anyway.

"Sleep. I've got you."

Yuu's eyes slid shut, closing him off from the confusing sights of the world around him. The ground lurched and he felt wind in his hair. The arms around him tightened, and he slipped into oblivion.

Yuu opened his eyes slowly, staring at the worn and patched ceiling above him. He sat up slowly, taking in his unfamiliar surroundings. A dirty window beside the bed let dusty light into the small room. The furnishings were scarce, only a mid-sized bed, worn dresser and threadbare recliner surrounding a faded blue rug. Yuu got out of the bed unsteadily, throwing off the fluffy blanket, the newest thing in the room. He made his way to the two doors at one end of the room. The first door proved only to lead to the bathroom, a simple shower, toilet and sink set completed with a dusty mirror. The second door opened into a hallway, the smell of something cooking drifting from the lighted end of it. Yuu breathed in the enticing scent, his heart twinging at the familiarity even though he couldn't quite place it. He found a small kitchen, a blonde teen still dressed in the garb of a vampire noble flitting around the kitchen, the grace of his movements befitting of a dancer. Yuu coughed from the dust. The boy spun around, his expression one of ungarded hope.

"Yuu! You're awake."

A smile spread across his face as he looked at Mika. He had known he was alive for months now, but it had still seemed like a dream everytime he had appeared before him, a hallucination of his deepest desire. Now, with Mika standing before him, a radiant look on his face, he could finally embrace it. Yuu didn't even know what to call him at this point. Childhood best friend? No, that didn't cut it. At least for him, they had always been more. Maybe it had started when they were enslaved. Back when he had been thrust into the role of Daddy, fighting and getting hurt so the little ones wouldn't. When Mika had been Mommy, offering himself so he could get better food for the kids. When Akane played the younger aunt, oblivious to the actions of the oldest as she took care of the younger kids. Maybe it started then, when the world fell to pieces and suddenly there was no one else to turn to. Maybe it was then that his feelings changed. Whatever they were to each other at this point, it went far beyond mere friends. When Mika moved forwards, falling into Yuu's arms, he gripped the boy with all his might, swearing he wouldn't let him go until they were both dead, and promising to follow him into whatever heaven or hell awaited after that. They pulled apart, both smiling.

"I made curry, if you're hungry?"

Mika said. Yuu's face lit up like a little kid's as he realised that was the scent he had been smelling. In the past few years, he had been offered curry a few times, but had always turned it down. It had never seemed right. But with Mika, he couldn't think of anything he'd rather eat. Mika poured two steaming bowls and they sat in hard wooden chairs around a splintering table.

"I didn't think vampires could eat human food?"
Yuu asked. Mika shook his head.

"Their bodies can't process it and end up throwing it up. But I haven't drunk blood so I can, since I haven't tasted human blood. It doesn't do anything for me, but it still is yummy."

Mika grinned at him. Yuu smiled back, errantly wondering what they were doing here in the first place. They ate in silence, Yuu waiting until spoon scraped against the bottom of their bowls before he spoke.

"Why are we here? I remember everything from when you shouted my name to when I passed out. What happened before, and what happened after?"

Mika looked pained for a moment before wiping his face of emotions, automatically settling into the sullen look he wore around other vampires.

"You passed out, and I brought you here."

Yuu frowned at him.

"That's not an answer. What did I do before that? Won't Krul hunt you down now that you've left?"

Mika sighed and shook his head.

"No, she won't. She told me to leave with you. She wasn't supposed to let me live, so she needs me out of sight of the other progenitors. She needs you out of the way, too. I went with it because the humans were using you, Yuu. You saw their faces. All they care about is using your power. They threw you into that battle knowing, no, expecting that you would become a seraph. They knew what would happen, and yet they still hate you for it."

Yuu stared at him, devastation overwhelming him. He had finally found a family again, but they were just using him? No, they were being used alongside him. He stood up and stepped back.

"If humans are manipulative, hypocitical and greedy while vampires are blood sucking, deadly murderers, then what exactly am I supposed to believe is right in this world?"

Ashuramaru's laughter sounded in his head again.

Nothing is 'right'. 'Right' is a human construct to justify actions.

Mika stood up too, hands flat on the table.

"No! We're right, Yuu! If I'm with you and you with me, then that is right."

He leaned across the small table, hands on Yuu's shoulders. Yuu grabbed his wrists.

"What about my family? Shinoa, Yoichi, Guren, Ki-"

Yuu stopped when he saw the heart broken look on Mika's face.

"Your family? I thought we were your family. You did always reject it, though. I guess it makes sense that you would have formed your own family."

Mika's arms went limp, still held to Yuu's shoulders by the wrist. Mika took a half step around the table like he was going to just walk out of the room. Yuu opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think what to say. He stepped around the table, using Mika's wrists to pull the blonde boy to him.

"You have always been, and will always be my family. It's just a little bit different for us."

Purposefully clearing his mind and refusing to think about what he was going to do next, he twisted his fingers into Mika's wind touseled hair and pulled his head down until their lips met. Mikaela was frozen for a moment, surprised by Yuu's sudden action. Yuu began to pull away when Mika didn't kiss back, but suddenly found himself encircled in the blonde's arms. Mika pressed their lips together again, tongue forcing its way between Yuu's soft lips. Yuu moaned softly as Mika ravanged his mouth. They stumbled backwards, Yuu's back hitting the wall. Mika put his hands under his thighs, picking him up and walking towards the bedroom without breaking the kiss. He tossed Yuu unceremoniously on the bed, separating from him. Mika pounced on top of Yuu, pinning him to the bed, a string of saliva still connecting them. Yuu moaned and squirmed underneath him, blushing lightly. Mika took the opportunity to admire how Yuu looked under him, an animalistic surge of possessiveness rising up in his chest. He leaned down and claimed Yuu's lips once again, tongue rougher and drawing even more noises from the boy underneath him. He stopped, pulling away slightly and pressing their foreheads together.

"Mika"

The breathy, desperate tone in which Yuu said his name answered all the questions he was going to ask. He kissed him again, feeling fingers twist back into his hair. Yuu took in a gasping breath as he began to move down his neck, sucking and nipping at the skin. He got to the juncture of Yuu's neck, a hand steadily undoing the buttons on the boy's uniform. He sucked hard at a patch of skin on Yuu's neck, taking it between his teeth as though he would bite it as he slipped a hand into Yuu's pants. His fingers closed around his hard member and he bit down a little harder on his neck, still not breaking the skin. Yuu moaned, his muscles tensing.

"Bite."

He said. Mika stopped nibbling at his neck, hand still on his length, though.

"You want me to bite you?"

Yuu groaned, trying not to buck up into his hand.

"Yea... A-Ashuramaru says it w-won't change you since I-I'm not human."

He tilted his head to the side, fully exposing the side of his neck Mika had ravanged. The possessive urge rose up in Mika again, and he leaned down, hand tightening as his fangs buried in Yuu's neck. Yuu gasped and shuddered, fingers tightening in Mika's hair. The flavour of his blood exploded in his mouth, and Mika's senses went wild. Suddenly, all he could hear were Yuu's gasps an moans, all he could feel his hands in his hair, all he could smell the scent of him. He gripped Yuu tighter, only pulling away when Yuu whimpered. He looked at Yuu's pale face, his slack jaw with drool on the side and his dazed eyes. Mika felt a chill run over his body and he gripped the back of Yuu's head, smashing their lips together, nevermind his own bloody mouth. Yuu groaned and thrust his hips into Mika's hand, which had grown still on his cock. Mika let his hand slip lower, cupping his balls before making its way down between the soft cheeks of Yuu's ass to his entrance. He pressed a finger in, admiring the way he arched up against him, mewling like a cat. A second finger pressed in, making Yuu twitch and buck. The sounds being torn from Yuu's mouth spurred Mika on to move his fingers, twisting and scissoring them in search of anything that would get more noises. When he added a third, he brushed against something that made Yuu's body stiffen and go taught like a bowstring before slumping against his shoulder, tears in the corners of his eyes from the sensation. Mika pulled his fingers out, quickly pulling off the rest of his clothes with desperate hands. Yuu watched him through glazed eyes, clearly eager for him to hurry up and continue his ministrations. As soon as his pants and boots were off, Yuu pounced, crawlinng into his lap and looking at him with eyes that were somehow innocent yet seductive at the same time. He rocked back and forth in his lap, both moaning at the feel of Yuu's ass on Mika's dick. Biting his lip in frustration, Mika grabbed Yuu's hips and flipped him over, slamming roughly into the boy. His body trembled, the ring of muscles flexing around Mika's length. Mika started off slow, not wanting to hurt Yuu, but he gradually got faster as Yuu began to rock back to meet his thrusts. Mika's hand grasped Yuu's length again and a gasp paired with a breathy moan flew from his lips, his body stiffening with tension and the desperation to gain his release. Mika grinned, panting and slammed harder into him. Yuu cried out his name and slumped forward, arms giving way. Mika sat back, pulling the now limp Yuu against his chest as he continued to pound into him. Yuu gasped out his name, the sticky white substance spraying over his chest as he came. He clenched around Mika, forcing his orgasm on him as well. Mika moaned and held onto Yuu, face buried in his shoulder as they rode out their highs. They fell down onto the bed together, clutching at each other as though it were the last time they'd ever touch. Yuu's face was the last thing Mika saw before his eyes slid shut and he fell into the first restful peace in a decade.

Yuu sat up, eyes adjusted to the darkness of the lightless cities by now. He looked down at the peaceful face of the boy next to him, illuminated by the silvery light of the moon.

Mika

He thought, pressing a kiss to his forehead. He got out of the bed, pulling his clothes on. He went to walk out, pausing in the doorway to glance one last time at Mika.

I'm sorry. They're my family, too, and I have to make sure they're okay. Wait for me, Mika, and I'll come back to you.