Chapter 27: Resolution

{Shibuya Hospital: July 21st, 2020, 3:40pm}

It had been three days since a single unit of the Moon Demon Company, along with Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren's squadron had effectively trounced a group of four Nobles and their servants in defense of Shinjuku. It had gained the twelve people quite a bit of notoriety, which was fine; however, it drew unwanted attention when it came to the truth of how they'd managed it in both Akane coming back with them, and Yuuichiro's transformation. Nonetheless, Guren was always one step ahead of the person he deemed as arrow-brows, and had already completed, and gotten the papers of formal adoption for Akane approved within twenty-four hours of them returning to Shibuya.

And atop that, any and all information on what had happened to Yuuichiro was classified as confidential, leaving Hiragi Kureto unable to do much outside of blindly fishing for information from members of the units who refused to speak even when put under extreme duress. In the end, none of them were complaining, and were quite happy with the results of their mission, save for one that was.

"Three days, and he's still completely unresponsive, damn this is making me anxious," Kimizuki admitted as Mika sat next to his brother's sleeping form, having taken to checking his temperature with the back of his hand while Akane sat not far from them, Shinoa, Yoichi, and Mitsuba sitting near the door as the two siblings tended to their brother as Kimizuki stood across from them by the window.

"Making you anxious? You're one to talk." The pink-haired teenager sighed.

"I'm just saying that I'm not used to seeing him this still or quiet… its making my skin crawl," he said as Shinoa looked to him.

"He's just unconscious, relax a bit would you?" the pink-haired teenager frowned at her.

"Three days straight isn't just being unconscious, that's being comatose. He's shown no signs of waking up… and we still don't know what the fuck happened out there really," Kimizuki pointed out as everyone looked down, Akane fisting the legs of her shorts.

Between Shinoa and Mitsuba, they had been able to give her a few spare clothes, giving her something to wear besides the hospital clothes and her Vampire uniform. Her attire consisted of simple blue-jean shorts, ankle socks, pale pink sneakers, a white t-shirt and a simple gray hoodie with pink striping around the upper arms. Her hair was currently down, and her entire body covered in bandages due to her refusing blood to let herself heal quicker while around her neck was her ID tag choker. Taking in a steady breath, the girl looked down, bangs falling into her eyes.

"I'm just as concerned as the rest of you. I knew a bit about the Seraph of the End through what little research I could uncover and had the time to read while in Sanguneim, but… I can't vouch for what the chemicals in that pill could have done to him seeing as that's never been used before as a means to bring out a Seraphic trait…" Mitsuba looked to the girl.

"Right now, I guess letting his body recover is the best we can do, huh?" she questioned.

"Most likely." Kimizuki sighed.

"I don't personally like the idea of us sitting on our asses until further notice while Shigure and Shinya go over all the information you had on that little tag of yours," he mentioned as Yoichi looked to him.

"Why not? They know what their doing, right?" Mika shook his head.

"No, they really don't. Guren activated something inside of Yuu that he didn't even know about… he completely abused the trust we had in him when he gave Shinoa those pills with strict instructions to give them to my brother… that's not something I'm going to let slip by me without more consideration," he answered.

"Are you seriously saying you'd withdraw from the Army?" the blonde glared at Yoichi.

"I never said I would! All I'm saying is that Guren has a hell of a lot of explaining to do," he informed him as Kimizuki sighed.

"Well, so do you and your brother and sister." Sapphire eyes turned to look at dark mauve eyes.

"About what?" Yoichi looked to him.

"I think he means about the things you did know but didn't tell us, Mika," he stated bluntly, knowing there was no other way to get around it as the blonde sighed.

"Yea… I know…" Shinoa gave him a small smile.

"Mika, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to… but I think all of us want to know what happened," she told him as he leaned back in his chair.

"That's the thing… we knew a little bit… but I think I may have known more about it than Yuu did… I'm over protective, so I get curious sometimes and start looking into things I shouldn't." Mitsuba looked to him.

"Can you at least try to tell us what you know?" she asked as he glanced to her before nodding slowly.

Mika had known that some part of the things he'd learned would come to light eventually, especially when he had admitted to knowing that he and his brother weren't like normal humans, not by any means. However, he hadn't anticipated that they'd come out like this, but what was he to do? There were things that he hadn't told them out of sheer self-preservation for himself and his brother, and then there were things that hadn't been spoken about because the memories were far to painful to comprehend. But, in the end, it all circled back to their origins, and the things that he and most likely Akane had been able to dig up.

"If you want details about the Seraph of the End, you'll have to talk to Guren… but… I do know that he and his group were sent into Kyoto by Hiragi Kureto in order to find anyone who fit the descriptions of what he called the sun and the moon, earth and sky. Instead, Guren found Yuu and I barely alive in the snow just outside of Sanguneim… I had always suspected something was strange about how they had just managed to find us… and how they had prepared to bring back others with them that day, having extra supplies in their truck and what not…" Yoichi shifted in his seat.

"So, you think that's how the two of you were found?" he asked.

"To a degree, yes, I do. The thing is, we were miles away from civilization aside from Sanguneim… so how they found us baffled me for a long time… until I talked to Goshi and Mito and they told me the story about how we were found, and I found the original dispatch order and recovery report… Kureto… he was looking for the Seraphs of the End… or… myself and Yuu." Shinoa looked to the blonde.

"How did you piece together that the two of you were…" she trailed off as Mika gave a mirthless laugh.

"Practically monsters? It felt like some kind of sick joke that the world had spat out in my face, and I knew that telling Yuu about it would make him uncomfortable, with the chance that we were the bad ones instead of the good ones… but I thought about it, and reviewed the information countless times, and finally I figured it out… its our eyes that Kureto was looking to identify us." Kimizuki rose an eyebrow.

"Wait a second, what? Your eyes? What does that mean?" he inquired as Mika pointed to one of his eyes.

"Angels bearing the visage of the sun and the moon, tranquil crystals of the earth and sky, the brimming life of the world that settles into those who see much but speak of little. That's the so-called prophecy that Kureto was banking on, and because he ordered Guren to only bring back adults who fit the description… we were able to slip under the radar…" the sound of a door opening caught their attention.

"Damn, I always knew you were smart Mikaela, but I never expected you to piece that much together from some scraps of paper," Guren stated as he folded his arms over his chest while the blonde shot him a cold glare.

"Spare me the useless poppets and start explaining you ass." The man laughed.

"Well then, someone's in a foul mood," he admitted as Akane looked to him.

"Be honest Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose, you knew about Yuu and Mika being the Seraph of the End the whole time, and just thought you could keep it from them." The man sighed, brushing his bangs back from his face for a moment before looking to Yuuichiro who was soundly sleeping still.

"Alright, story time kiddos! Gather around," he said as the teenagers gave him pointed looks.

"Get to the point jackass." Guren nodded a bit.

"Hmm… like Mika said, Kureto wanted my unit to go out and look for two people, between the ages of mid-teens to early adulthood, and bring them back in if they had blue and or green eyes. You know how rare those eye colors are in our part of the world, and while I had read the story, I didn't honestly believe it. I mean, think about it? Four fallen angels would be sent to decide the fate of humanity, two bearing the visage of pure innocence, children of the sun and moon, their eyes reflecting the earth and sky, and all that shit… it sounds like some kind of fairytale," he admitted as Shinoa looked to him.

"Have you seen the world we live in?" Guren shrugged.

"Got me there, but anyways, we take the assignment too keep Kureto from breathing down our necks, and the good old arrow-brows tells me that if any minors are found, I could decide what to do with them. Naturally, I just shrug and go about my business… we get out to Kyoto on the third of January in twenty-sixteen and are out there for several hours, and then myself, Sayuri and Shinya hear this horrific scream from nearby followed by this fumbling sound like something's falling through the snow, we go to investigate, and guess who we find?" he asked.

"Yuu and Mika." He nodded.

"Bingo, Mika's splayed out in the snow with a gaping abdominal wound and his arm is severed, but leaned over him, growling and bearing his teeth at me and the others is this scrawny disheveled little thing with these cold and venomous eyes, and he's screaming at us to leave them alone. Long story short, we had to put up a ward around that black-haired runt in order to get Mika away from him, and he ends up making himself pass out after he's busted his knuckles open. Damn kid was psychotic, even after we got him to the hospital," he stated.

"I don't really remember much about that day." Guren looked to Mika.

"You hardly said a thing, I mean, you were pretty much dead, so I can see why; however, your brother was a different story. Yuu after we arrived in the hospital woke up in a room alone, with Mika being in surgery, and went literally insane on us. He put himself into a corner and would growl and bare his teeth at anyone who tried to get to close to him and even bit a few of the nursing staff, he'd hide under the bed and just watch people from there with those piercing eyes like a scared animal… I got my first four bites from him during the first two days of him being separated from Mika," he said as he rolled up his shirt sleeves, displaying the bites and scratches that decorated the skin there.

"What about the Seraph of the End?" Guren hummed.

"Well, if you want to know, I wasn't sure about that until I saw Yuu's first transformation. We were exposing these two to a demon for the first time, and it triggered his Seraph blood… that still makes me feel sick when I think about it…" Kimizuki rose an eyebrow.

"How come?" the man put a cigarette in his mouth.

"He looked like a walking corpse, that's why. Shinjuku was an upgrade compared to that nightmare show we got the first time when he was thirteen," he mentioned while Akane looked down.

"So… you figured out that Yuu and Mika were two of the Seraphs after seeing one of them transform? You didn't believe it until then?" Guren sat down in a chair, sighing.

"Actually, I had my suspicions, especially when I saw both of them using their Gifts early on. The scariest ones were always seeing Yuuichiro practically go Vampire on us when he'd get angry or felt threatened… Mika's Abjurist ability was pronounced early on, and as for Yuu… I knew as soon as he and Mika were reunited… their third gifts though, really started to make me suspect they weren't normal humans… I mean, fire and ice? And now they happen to have weaponry that also has that elemental attribute… I'm both spooked and amused." Mika ground his teeth together.

"Then I found out when I turned fourteen that you believed we were two of these Seraphs… but the question I want to know is… which ones are we? If Yuu and I are the ones who will hurt humanity, its better that you kill us when we're weak… if we're going to turn into monsters, I don't want to die knowing that I've hurt people I care for," he stated as the others gaped.

"Mika! Don't think like that! The two of you aren't evil!" sapphire eyes turned to Mitsuba.

"How can you be sure? I know Ferid said something about it, but I was to focused on the battle to really pay attention to him," he explained as Guren lit his cigarette.

"Well, start saying some prayers of gratitude, because neither of you are the Seraphs of Twilight and Dawn. The two of you are the Black Seraph, or the Seraph of the Moon, and the White Seraph, otherwise known as the Seraph of the Sun… your blue and green eyes pinpointed that. The other two are said to have eyes of amethyst and onyx so, we'll see what happens there." Yoichi rose an eyebrow.

"Black and White? The Sun and the Moon? What's all this paralleling about?" he probed.

"Yin and yang, yami and hikari, good and evil, pure and impure. Those are all parallels, the world exists with them, and cannot do so without both. For there to be darkness, there must also be light… correct?" Guren smirked at Mika's answer.

"Correct, and that is what the two of you embody. The Seraph of the End is both a blessing and a curse to our world, as such, the two of you represent the only true hope humanity has in saving our fallen world," he stated.

"Joyous to hear that's hanging over our heads." Shinoa looked to Guren.

"I want to know something… will their Seraph forms look like Yuu's did forever? Or will they change?" she inquired, at this, Akane perked up.

"Actually, their appearances are developing, and will form into the proper appearance as time goes on. With Yuu being so advanced already, Mika's is most likely in a similar state… and that's because the two of you are apart of one another, two sides of one coin in a way. So, with time and training, it won't look like it did three days ago." Kimizuki hummed.

"How come? I mean, what are seraphs anyways?" he questioned as Akane looked to her two brothers and then to the others.

"Guren said that the Seraphs are two fallen angels, and that's exactly what they are… well, in a way at least." Mitsuba looked to Mika in questioning.

"So, Yuu and Mika are angels? Okay… that's kind of hard to believe," she admitted.

"Hey! Its not that hard to believe. Anyways, how can we be sure that we're actually angels? What if that's just the name that we were given?" Akane shook her head.

"No, its not that simple. Yuu's appearance may have been decayed, but he's possessing of an angelic form with his wings," she said. Kimizuki rolled his eyes.

"I don't buy it. Besides, if seraphs are angels, what's known about them?" Akane gave him a small smile.

"Well, the Vampires had a surprising bit of information on Seraphims in general, and I was free to get access to that," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Alright then, what's the information you have?" the brunette girl sighed.

"Traditionally speaking, Seraphim belong to the highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy, associated with light, ardor, and purity. They're scattered all throughout different religions and angelology," she explained.

"Holy…" Yoichi snickered at Mika's statement.

"What's so funny?" the blonde asked as the brunette glanced to the side.

"Sorry, but here we are talking about the fact that your potentially angels, and then you say that… my family were traditionally Shinto, so this kind of strikes me as odd… maybe I'm just suffering from a lack of sleep though." Mika sighed.

"No, I see your point…" he said.

"Well, what do we do? You say they're these Seraphs of the End, but I'm honestly confused how these two even got it." Guren smirked.

"Inheritance. According to the documents we possess, the abilities are bloodline based, and thus, every so many generations, the Seraphs and their power surfaces, but only a tiny bit unless its needed. Humanity hasn't suffered this kind of calamity in thousands of years, and back then, it seems like the Seraphs didn't exist, but once the new age of humanity started to grow from the Great Flood, here come the angels of the end, two to save, and two to destroy. At least, that's what we've been able to gather," he informed them of this, and Mika looked down.

"So… how do we learn control over this? How do we use it to benefit the Army and the fight against the Vampires?" Guren met the boy's sapphire eyes.

"It won't be easy because of the power output, but honestly, I think that with training and careful inductions of the power you can learn how to use it like any other ability you have," he said as Mika nodded in agreement.

"Then, once Yuu's better… we can start doing something to learn control over it." Kimizuki looked to him.

"Are you freaking insane?! Your brother nearly wiped a good chunk of Shinjuku off the map single-handedly! How in the hell do you expect any of us to handle not one, but two psychotic angels?! We barely have enough experience with Vampires and Demons! Don't go throwing something else into the mix too!" he exclaimed as Mitsuba looked to him.

"It'll be okay mister hot-head. Guren can put them in the underground facility to train. Besides, all of us need more practice."

"That doesn't make me feel better about seeing the two of you turning yourselves into things that clearly cause excruciating pain. Not to mention your brother was so powerful four Vampire Nobles couldn't even keep him pinned!" the pink-haired teen pointed out.

"That may be, but I think it'll work out." Mitsuba frowned as she glanced to Mika.

"Are you sure you can do this though? I don't want you putting yourself through something you can't handle," she told him.

"Stop worrying Mitsuba, it'll be okay." He placed a hand atop her head and the others coughed a bit, causing the two to glance away from one another and Mika to drop his hand.

"My, aren't the two of you just adorable!" Shinoa said with a sugary tone.

"Speaking of adorable, I thought it was very romantic how Yuu and you had those promise rings on the entire time." The periwinkle-haired girl blushed.

"W-What?! I um… oh… right…" she mumbled, embarrassed by Mitsuba's statement.

"No sense in hiding it now, we saw that kiss." Shinoa sighed.

"We were going to tell people once the assignment was over," she explained.

"I guess those Seraphs have other uses too, that transformation saved a lengthy explanation. By the way, I noticed the rings have an inscription on them, what does it say?" tangerine eyes looked to Akane.

"It says… in your heart keep me close." The brunette girl smiled.

"That's very sweet, Shinoa. Personally, I think it suits the two of you very well… and I'm happy one of my brothers ended up with someone like you, it puts me at ease," she admitted honestly.

"Oh… um… thank you." Guren sighed.

"Alright, once Yuu's up and moving again we'll start further training with the gifts and traits. Maybe even work on manifestation for some of our friends who can't do that yet. Akane? I'll have you try out for a Cursed Gear after you've returned to normal and I'll probably assign you to this squad just to keep things tight, you good with that?" he questioned.

"Sounds fine to me."

{.…}

And if I'm lost in the worlds shadows...

{.…}

Author's Note: Got these caught up! Onto the next! I'm hoping to get these rewrites finished soon so I can focus on the main stories and get the last bit of preparations I have done so that we can get to the really good parts of all these stories. Well, let me know what you guys think, and I'll try to get the rest of the chapters up as soon as I'm done with them.

Sincerely,

ShadowDragon94.