Chapter Text
From the start, Shinya knew this was a suicide mission.
Or perhaps, he should say everyone was aware of it.
Even when Guren told Kureto that it was impossible to defeat all of the nobles in Japan. Kureto still remained stoic about the situation, not even caring to glance their way.
The lives of their comrades landed on Guren, And this was the reason why Shinya was here to support Guren.
If they didn't succeed, everyone would die. But if they succeed, who's not to say they might die in the process.
It was a do or die situation, and Shinya knew Guren had already made up his mind.
What he certainly didn't expect, was to see all of his companions tied up, each one of them being supervised by a vampire.
No wonder they couldn't escape... Must be a nightmare for them to be watched by hungry-looking vampires.
But then again, vampires have always viewed them as food, nothing more than that.
His gaze landed on a violet-eyed man, standing near a building, his squad, and Shinoa's we're listening to him.
Guren, as usual, was giving orders to everyone, perhaps, this is one of the times were Guren acts all tough and mighty. Many knew him as Lieutenant Colonel Ichinose Guren, a strict man when doing his work.
But to Shinya and his friends, he was the opposite, kind, loving, in his own way of course.
Nobody knew him as Shinya did, it's not like they could.
Since their old days at high school, Guren locked himself in a bubble, it took him a very long time to warm up to him, but eventually, he did.
From the very first start, Shinya watched all of Guren's movements, his personality, his behavior.
Shinya wanted to know all of him... Not because of his power, but because of mere curiosity.
His fiancé, Mahiru, chose Guren over him, told him that would never change.
At first, Shinya was a bit jealous of Guren, but it was quickly gone as it came.
He found the reason as to why Mahiru preferred Guren over him, and to be honest, he couldn't blame her.
Guren was too kind, so kind that he preferred to be sacrificed instead of others. Quite the opposite from him.
Shinya was thrust into a world where only the strongest ones survived. The only function in his life was to serve as Mahiru's fiance. Nothing more than that.
But, Guren provided him a new reason to live, he found friends, (who were more like family to him), adventures, all sort of fun things.
He owned Guren a lot, just like Guren owned him a lot too~.
If it weren't for him Guren would have already ended in all sorts of trouble.
A poke to his shoulder intruded his thoughts. His eyes hovered to the rookie beside his side.
"Yoichi-san? Is there something you need?"
The young man stared nervously at him, the bow on his hands was being gripped a little way more harder than normal.
He must be anxious about the whole situation... It's not like every day you get the chance to fight a thirteenth progenitor.
Not to mention one that managed to destroy their squads.
"Shinya-san" Yoichi pauses, eyes trailing to the building near their target "Do you think we have a chance to win one this one?".
No... Not really, a part of him was sure they were going to lose. Yet, having a little bit of hope wasn't so bad either.
Showing his most sincere smile, Shinya says, "Well, I'm not completely sure, but it won't hurt anybody if we try, right~?".
The young boy beside him relaxes, the grip on his bow lessens.
Yoichi releases a shaky laugh, " If you say so..., Yuu-kun it's really positive about the whole situation though... I'll hate to ruin it for him if something transpires".
Shinya hums, his rifle resting beside his right, "Indeed, Yuu-kun reminds me a lot of Guren, both so optimistic and so loud sometimes, haha, like father like son!"
Yoichi blinks in surprise for some seconds, before his laughing along with him.
"I guess that's true, even so... I hope we get out of this one victorious," Yoichi says, voice going quiet.
Shinya pats Yoichi's head one last time, before his feet move to stand next to Guren.
He pokes Guren's cheek and laughs at the funny expression he got out of him.
"Shinya we are in a serious situation, what do you want?" Guren asks, still staring at the noble vampire on the seventh floor.
Shinya pokes his ribs this time, earning a glare from Guren, before he continues staring at the noble.
Shinya pouts this time, he crosses his arms over his chest and stares at the noble vampire too.
"Can't you at least look at me?" Shinya asks, brows furrowed.
Guren glances at him this time, but quickly resumes to stare at the noble again.
"I can't lose focus, who's to say he doesn't already know we are here," Guren says, "I can't risk the lives of our comrades, you get that right?"
Shinya hums in response, although his eyes now gaze at the squads behind their backs.
Goshi and Mito seem to be discussing some kind of plans, Shigure and Sayuri were sharpening their weapons, a conflicted expression was adorned on their faces.
They have the right to be... Who knows who will get out of this alive.
His eyes travel to the other 2 groups behind his.
Yuuichirou as usual is talking about vampires to his squad, but this time it's quite different.
He's talking about a kid whose name is Mikaela, Hyakuya Mikaela to be exact. He has heard from Guren about him.
Apparently, both Mikaela and Yuuichirou were kept as livestock in Sanguinem. They made a plan to escape but... That didn't end well.
Not like everything ended well with the vampires.
Narumi soon comes to join Shinoa's squad in their talking.
Narumi forces them to change the topic, he's instructing them to pay more attention to their surroundings.
They fall in complete silence at the order, or at least not all of them.
Yuu-kun comes closer to Guren, he has a determined look on his face. He comes to stand mere paces behind Guren's back.
"Oi! Baka-Guren, when are we going to kick that nobles ass!?" Yuu exclaims, earning the attention of everyone.
From his side, he hears Guren sigh. He looks quite tired now... He must not have gotten a lot of rest.
"Well if everyone is ready we can start" Guren replies, moving to stand beside his aides.
Everyone nodded in return, as they pulled out their weapons.
"Alright, Come with me Yoichi" Guren commands, gesturing with his hand for Yoichi to come.
Yoichi nods in response, feet trailing right beside Guren.
Shinya wants to object, wants to say he isn't ready yet. However, he swallows it down. He has to brace himself for whatever happens. There was no turning back, if they had to die here to save the others, then so be it.
Just... The only thing he wouldn't allow to occur is for Guren to die. He would rather be the one who dies instead of him.
"Lieutenant Colonel! Target located! May I have your permission to shoot!?" Yoichi shouts, his bow ready to shoot at the given orders.
"Do it" Guren commands, as he positioned himself to fight.
Everyone followed suit.
"Alright! I'll start at the count of 3!"
"1..."
Please don't do anything stupid Guren...
"2..."
I know you want to save them all... But sometimes it's better to let go.
"3...!"
Yoichi's arrow flashed a green bright color, the arrow was directed at the seventh floor. A hole was created in the wall, everyone stared impatiently at it.
Three figures came to stand near the enormous hole in the wall. Their eye color made it pretty obvious who they were.
"Damn!" Guren swears, clenching his fists, "They managed to dodge, everyone draw your weapons! Get ready to fight!"
"Yes!"
I can't imagine living in a world where you're not...
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
In just mere seconds, everything was a total chaos.
The noble had managed to over-power them in strength. Which was not unexpected considering his rank.
The noble Crowley had stabbed his shoulder, the pain was making it troublesome for him to shoot correctly.
Guren was running by his side, struggling a bit to run. Shinya's arm hanged around Guren's neck.
Guren releases a shaky laugh, his eyes glance at their back from current time to time.
Shinya laughs along, "Can't you run a bit faster, Guren~?" He teases, already aware of the answer he would receive this time.
Guren shakes his head, "I would if you wouldn't be hanging around my neck, do you feel fine enough to run by yourself?"
"Hmmm, just give me a couple of minutes, Byakkomaru should heal the wound, eventually," Shinya says, trying his best to run as fast as he could.
"Eventually" Guren sarcastically adds, as he glances at his back.
Shinya chuckles, "Eventually."
Good... There was no sign of the noble, they must have already left him far behind.
Unexpectedly, the wall got demolished, three figures emerged from the hole.
"Well well, where do you little cattle think you are going?" The noble Crowley says, grinning "I haven't finished with you both"
"Shit!" Guren curses, as he takes multiple steps back.
"Haha! Didn't I tell you already? I haven't finished with you"
A strong wave of air, pushed the two of them behind. Shinya's body crashed against a wall, making him cough up blood in the process.
And Guren was no better, he was struggling to stand up, some of his bones might have been crushed...
"Fufu~, you little livestock can't even fight back, so much act for such a little show, humans truly are amazing~" Crowley muses, walking closer to them.
His companions were right behind him, each one of them looking out for more intruders.
A hole on the ground was suddenly created.
Shinoa's squad came to the aid.
Crowley jerked his head back, slowly analyzing the newcomers. He licked his lips and smirked, fangs exposed.
"Hmmm? But if it isn't you! You're the kid who went crazy in Shinjuku!" Crowley says, pointing a finger at Yuu.
Yuu stares at the noble, his expression only reflecting anger. He grips his katana harder.
"What the hell did you do to Guren!?" Yuu shouts, swaying his katana in the air, hoping one of his swings would hurt Crowley.
Crowley laughs, seeming unbothered by Yuu's attacks "Well, aren't you an intriguing livestock, no wonder Ferid mentioned you would be amusing" he blocks one of Yuu's attacks and throws his sword further away.
Yuu grits his teeth, looking disturbed by Crowley's strength.
"Horn, Chess let's show these humans who are the prey and who are the predators," Crowley says, raising his sword to strike a blow.
In the heat, of the moment, Shinya slowly starts to stand, as he helped Guren to his feet.
"Guren" Shinya softly calls, glancing at his pale-looking companion.
"Yes?" Guren responds, his voice sounding softer than usual, he coughs blood and falls back to the floor.
Shinya hurries to stand by his side, gently holding Guren from his shoulders.
"Guren, we'll make it out of here okay? I just need you to give it a last push, we need to make a run for it, everything will be alright" Shinya assures, once again helping Guren to his feet.
"Promise?" Guren's soft but unmistakable voice sounds from his right.
Shinya nods in return, he smiles gently at Guren.
"Alright," Guren pauses and takes a time to breathe, "let's do it".
They run at a slow pace, slowly starting to get closer to their friends.
But Shinya already had something in mind.
For Guren to survive... He would sacrifice himself... Even if it pained, Guren at least would be safe with everyone.
As they got closer, a hand gripped his wrist, pulling him back with an enormous force.
But before Guren could fall with him, he threw him towards Kimizuki. Guren landed safely in Kimizuki's arms.
" Shinya!" Shinoa shouts, running towards him.
"Byakkomaru" Shinya calls and shoots close to Shinoa's feet.
Shinoa stops running, she stares at him with a conflicted expression, she slowly shakes her head.
"No Shinya! You're coming with us!"
A blow to his stomach makes him cough more blood. His head was slammed to the floor.
"Leave!" Shinya yells with difficulty. His whole body felt sore.
"Shinya!" Guren shouts, his eyes full of tears, he tries to stand but fails miserably.
Oh Guren... my sweet Guren, if you only knew how much it also hurts me to leave you.
"Shinya please tell me this is a joke!?" Guren continues Shouting, he slowly crawls to get to him.
"Stop him, Everybody!" Shinya orders, he watches as Guren is forced to stand back.
"No! Stop it! I don't want to go back! Not without you!" Guren cries out, trying his best to free himself from the others.
I'm sorry... Guren, but it's for your best. Just never forget how much I've loved you.
"Take him away, please" Shinya whispers, but says it loud enough for the others to hear.
"We're sorry! Shinya" Yoichi exclaims, shooting one last arrow at the noble. But as before, he easily dodges it.
"We promise we will come back for you!" Kimizuki shouts, as he makes a hole in the ground.
"No! Shinya!" Guren screams, his screams getting muffled as they descended to the first floor.
I'm so sorry Guren, I promise if I manage to stay alive, that I will find my way back to you.
"Humans nature is truly amusing... Don't you agree girls?" Crowley asks, looking amused at the scene the humans had caused.
"Indeed, but somehow if find it more stupid than amusing," Horn says, as she cleaned the tiny droplets of blood on her hands.
"You think so?"
"Hmm! I agree with Horn, stopping to help out a comrade can get your life killed" Chess beams, nodding her head excitedly.
Crowley turns on his heels, he starts walking elegantly and stops at Shinya's side.
Shinya looks up with difficulty, blood trailing down his lips.
"Look at you, I almost feel some sort of pity for you, sacrificed yourself for the well being of that friend of yours, I wonder..." Crowley says, voice trailing, "if you have the right information I need..."
"Nh- I won't tell you anything"
Crowley smirks, "That's what you say"
"Silly human~, if only you were conscious about how easily your kind bends" Chess teases, her cheeks puffed.
No... He was aware of that... That's mainly the reason why people didn't have all the power they desired. Humans tend to break in the most horrifying ways.
"Tie him up" Crowley instructs, walking away "Make sure he's not able to escape"
Immediately as the order was given, both girls start walking towards him. The blonde-haired vampire, whose name was Horn had a rope on her hand.
Probably what they would use to tie him up.
I'm sorry Guren, please don't come back to search for me... Don't risk your life over a stupid life like mine.
Please forgive me...
Forgive me for not regretting my choice of actions. Even if a Hiiragi is supposed to be cold and mandatory, I just can't be that type around you. You're too important to me to act that way...
Forgive me Guren... Forgive me for not being strong enough to be with you.