Her screams pierced through the air.

Blood.

The ceiling was black and full of red.

Too fake and grinning down at the dead.

Blood.

He missed him so much...

It hurt so much...

It pained him so much...

He was all he could think about...

He was all he would cry about...

"Hey, Yuu, I'm back."

You know, I really hated that stupid cheery tone you put on.

"Great to hear."

Back my ass. You're always leaving the house.

"Aren't you going to say, 'Welcome back'?"

Hell no. Did you know Akane cries every night while cooking in the kitchen? Did you know how much tears the kids had to shed while they waited for you? We thought you could've died at any moment.

He heard Mika clamber up the stairs and sat on the floor.

I swear, you better not be bleeding again—

He made an odd noise, the words that he wanted to spurt out dying in his throat. Because he was not very good with words, and there was no point in getting roused up in the middle of the night.

Whatever. He wanted to change the subject for once, before his anger could reach its peak.

"I ate your portion of the curry rice."

"You didn't!"

Of course I didn't. Akane would've been pissed at me. She worked extra hard to make yours a bigger serving with more portions.

"I didn't. It was really good, you know, the kids were so happy."

"I'm glad!"

For what!?

"So? What did you have to do for that curry?"

Seriously, Mika. You're driving me nuts, lately.

No reply.

Why aren't you talking?

Silence.

Why aren't you talking?

He was avoiding his eyes.

Mika... Seriously... just stop it...

... and tell me, already.

"S-shit! It's a Horseman of the Apocalypse! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! HURRY!"

A toddler's scream exploded throughout the night, drowned and unheard in the massive thousands who were scattered and running. Hungry, monstrous footsteps were greedily stomping toward her—she was going to die and be eaten like minced meat—why did her parents run off without her—

"NO"! she screamed panicked, veins pounding against her temple as the bloodthirsty monster approached her, its mouth already viciously cutting up the head of someone she probably knew hours before—

—it was going to eat her—it was going to—

BANG!

She unleashed another bloodcurdling scream, as there was a nasty, vibrating thud that shocked the entire field.

The gory head of the Horsemen stopped at her knees and she cried, sobbing and unable to move an inch, wishing nothing more than to be in her mother's arms.

"Don't worry," someone spoke.

With fearful and wet shaking eyes, she saw the face of a young man grinning at her, his sheathed sword tucked nicely near his waist. She couldn't make out his entire face because it was getting dark, but there was a hint of beautiful green in his eyes, and she loved it. It felt so comforting.

"Y-you killed it!" she cried, and full of adrenaline, she snatched his leg and sobbed, endlessly mumbling her gratitude. Her was her saviour—people like him truly did exist—

"I know..."

There was a slash.

The little toddler stopped talking.

"I'm really sorry..." he said, his expression emotionless.

"You don't go easy on them at all, do you?" A drawling voice chipped in.

"No..." the dark-haired male tossed the body toward the ground, next to the Horseman.

A greedy wicked grin.

"Not at all, Ferid."

AUTHORRRRR'S NOTE!

Thank you very much for reading and reviewing! I am once again terribly sorry for the long update. Like, SUPER MEGA SORRY.

I have edited this chapter to add an Author's Note just to clarify something and get it off my chest.

I'm sure many of you have noticed that I've made Mikaela purposefully more weaker than Yuu. Or that I keep making him get hurt and unable to use a weapon every chapter.

Now I know it's my story, but I'm not going to pull this card and claim that I'm allowed to do whatever I want because blahblahblah.

Canon Mika is amazingg, don't get me wrong, and yes, I absolutely intend to make Mika strong and all in this story.

But Mika, in this story, is not like Yuu.

Mika, who never confided in anyone.

Who planned everything himself.

Who was confident that he could accomplish his goals.

But he ends up leading his own family to their deaths, he becomes traumatized that he can't do anything when they completely depended on him. All Yuu did for the most part was rage at vampires and blew a fuse. Correct me if I'm wrong but nonetheless, everyone depended on Mika the most.

Mika has always had more responsibility than Yuu, more room to inflict self-guilt, and the role of being their leader, their hope.

Unlike Yuu, he is a coward because he suffers from trauma and he knows it.

Unlike Yuu who is yeah, more simple-minded sometimes, Mika is complex.

I'm sorry if many of you are disappointed with the recent chapters but I'm not making Mika so weak to the point that he can't do anything.

Canon Mika was strong from the get go because although he was devastated his family died, Yuu, the one sole member he wouldn't dare to lose, was ALIVE.

In this story, Mika firmly believes Yuu is dead for good.

Anyway sorry for my long rant but I really wanted to get that weigh off. I don't develop Mika's character for nothing. He makes mistakes. He's a coward and he's scared and afraid and doesn't even know what the hell to do.

... and that is perfectly okay.

I mean, if all I cared about was the plot, I would've skipped right to the battles and ignored everything remotely important.