Chapter Text
Yoichi drew back the bow, raining the powerful arrows down on Kimizuki, Yuu and Shinoa, who had to jump out of the way as the ground exploded.
“Oh, I guess demons are pretty strong even without human greed to eat,” Guren muttered as he hit away the arrow aimed at him.
“L.T. Colonel. If I might give you my opinion,” Shinoa shouted as Guren tutted.
“Nope, don’t care.”
“But in this situation.”
Guren ignored her. “Oh, yeah. Yu, Kimizuki. Here’s a follow-up order. Since you just made your contracts, neither of you is used to your weapons yet. So do not try to call your demons. Take out the enemy using only the weapons’ base abilities.”
“What?! But they’re facing a human possessed by a black demon. That’s too restrictive,” Shinoa shouted as Kimizuki gritted his teeth angrily.
“Damn it.” He drew his dual blades as Yuu glared at Guren.
“Guren, if I can save Yoichi, will you let him live?”
Guren gave Yuu an odd look. “What are you talking about? That’s a demon. There’s nothing left to save. Hurry up and kill it. Put it out of its misery.”
Yuu snarled. “Don’t say that. Yoichi can still be brought back.”
“Don’t spout idealistic garbage at me. What do you think this is? You’re part of the Moon Demon Company! We walk the path of thorns! Are you here for revenge, or have you just been playing this whole time? If you want to die, be my guest. I won’t stop you. But Yoichi is not coming back. If you have any pride as a soldier. Then get out there and do your duty.”
Yuu took a deep breath, drawing his sword. “Kimizuki, I’m going to bring Yoichi back. Try and stop me, and I’ll cut your hands off.” Yuu rushed forward as Yoichi shot at them, easily whacking away the arrows.
Kimizuki frowned before he charged as well, hitting against the cursed bow. Yuu jumped from the side, swinging at Yoichi, who swung the bow around and barely blocked the attack. “Let Yoichi go, you stupid demon!” Yuu pushed with the sword, throwing Yoichi back and kicking the bow out of his hand.
Yoichi jumped back, his eyes glimmering. “Now, ain’t that interesting.” Yoichi ignored Kimizuki as he swung at his head, not that Kimizuki could go through with it anyway. “What’s this? A demon and a human, working together and yet neither of you can kill me?” Yoichi laughed as Kimizuki frowned in confusion.
Yoichi grabbed Kimizuki’s sword, throwing Kimizuki at Yuu, who sidestepped the boy, letting him crash to the ground. “Yoichi, snap out of it. Don’t let that demon beat you. Weren’t we going to kill blood-suckers together?”
Kimizuki sat up as Yoichi drew the bow again, dozens of arrows ready to fire at them. “He’s beyond help. We have to do this, Yu.”
“No way.”
“Yoichi’s not coming back.”
“I said no! Yoichi is a good person, and I won’t let him die. I won’t let him get killed when I swore I’d never abandon my friends again. C’mon, Yoichi. Snap out of it!”
The arrows rained down, burning the ground around Yuu.
“Please, Yoichi, snap out of it.”
Yoichi did not stop. “Shut up and die.”
Yuu gritted his teeth, wondering if there was anything he could do. He could release the demon from the bow, but then they’ll have an actual demon trying to kill them. He could pull rank and get killed by Guren. None of that helped Yoichi.
Sighing, Yuu threw down his sword. “Do it. I can’t kill my friends. And you, Yoichi, can’t kill me.” The demon laughed. “If you’re like me, if you watched a family member die, then there’s no way you could kill me. So snap out of it already, you idiot.”
“What? Yu, you idiot.” Kimizuki stumbled to his feet, and Shinoa charged in, both intent on pulling Yuu out of the way.
“Die,” the demon laughed, pointing the arrow straight at Yuu.
“Yoichi! Are you going to hide underneath that bed and watch your family die again,” Guren shouted as the demon faltered. “Get out here and protect them.”
The demon didn’t lower his weapon, the arrow shooting past Yuu’s head. Yoichi dropped the bow, charging at Yuu as he cried.
“No way,” Shinoa gasped as Kimizuki stared in shock.
Yuu patted Yoichi’s head fondly. “Good to have you back.”
Yoichi couldn’t put his thoughts into words, lifting his head as Guren walked closer. “You sure took your sweet time coming back,” Guren shouted, kicking Yoichi.
“Don’t tell me you saw this coming,” Shinoa gaped, paling slightly.
“Enough out of you. I’m not one of those bleeding hearts who care if kids die.”
“Though you did look a touched worried there at the end.”
“Die.” Shinoa laughed as Guren grew more angry. “No, I mean it die.” Guren finally turned back to Yoichi. “You have talent. But you feel guilty because you couldn’t save your sister. That’s spinning your desire to live. But today, you’ve found enough reason. Your reason to live now is to protect the ones who saved you today, your friends. Revenge? Don’t let something so petty consume you. That goes for you too, moron. Forget your old family.”
Yuu gave Guren a glare. “What? No way am I gonna-”
“Because you have a new family now. Put your life on the line for the ones you see before you. The past is gone. There is only the future. All right. You finally have your cursed fear. And even managed something that vaguely resembled teamwork. Maybe it’s time we tried putting you on the front lines.”
Yuu sighed, deciding to not fight Guren.
“We’ve learnt that the vampires based in the Kansai region are planning to retake Shinjuku. We need to do some investigating around there.”
“You’re making us hunt vampires,” Yuu questioned as Yoichi stepped back in fear.
“What? Real battles already?”
“Can’t we rest first?” Kimizuki hung his head tiredly as Shinoa laughed.
~~~
Yuu hummed to himself as he walked around the dorm, stopping as he felt the presence from inside the room. Yoichi was still asleep, and above him, watching Yuu enter, the demon floated.
The demon was a young man with light hair, curved horns sprouting from his head and a black curse mark down one side of his face. He had a long black coat around his body with the front open and the tops turning to smoke like the rest of his lower half in this form. “I had a feeling it was you, though I can’t understand why you’re here, Xizal.”
“Hello, Gekkouin.”
Gekkouin titled his head. “What are you doing here, old man? I thought you were still being punished.”
“You would know a thing about that.”
Gekkouin laughed. “It’s so unfair you are able to walk free while those who did the same crime are trapped and locked in basements to rust away. Guess that's what one gets for having a high-up family.”
“My family had nothing to do with my punishment. I just didn’t kill for the fun of it.”
Gekkouin held up his hands. “You seem unhappy with me.”
“No, I just have a warning for you.” Yuu walked closer, grabbing Gekkouin from the air as he gasped, struggling to breathe. “Try to hurt Yoichi again, and I will show you no mercy. The angel committee will be finding your body for millennia, and you’ll be alive for at least half of that.” Yuu let Gekkouin go before turning around. “Rest well.”
Gekkouin rubbed his neck as he huffed. “He’s more of a psychopath than I am.”