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“Are you Mika?”
"Abandon everything and run away with me.”
“You’re really Mika?”
“Yuu-chan . . .”
His hands are cupping cold, pale cheeks, and he looks into the bright sapphire eyes of his best friend. His family. Alive, though he thought he was dead.
[The eyes should be red.]
Mika is smiling at him, tears streaming down his cheeks, as he lightly presses his forehead against his.
[The canine teeth are pointed, sharp.]
“Mika.”
He feels hands, gloved in white, holding his face, the thumbs lightly brushing away his own tears. He can’t help but smile back. It’s his family. His Mika. Here. Alive.
[He shouldn’t be alive.]
There’s nobody else around. It’s just the two of them, kneeling on the ground, surrounded by white light. He moves his hands, wrapping his arms around Mika’s neck, hugging him tightly. Mika’s arms wrap around him in return, and they cry into each other’s necks.
[Cold skin. Pale skin.]
“I can’t believe it’s really you.” He whispers this. The moment feels fragile, as though it could shatter at any moment. He can’t let that happen. He can’t lose Mika again, not after he just got him back.
[He’s a vampire. Vampires are our enemies. Kill him, Yuu. It’s why you joined the Moon Demon Company.]
“Stay with me. Don’t go back with them.”
Mika nuzzles his face deeper into the crook of his neck. He feels the soft breaths against his skin, causing him to shiver.
(He’s breathing. He’s not a vampire. He can’t be. His eyes are still blue. He’s alive.)
“Yuu-chan.”
He tightens his grip around Mika, determined. He is never going to let Mika go. He will not abandon his family again.
Mika lifts his head, the tears drying on his cheeks. Yuu reaches up, brushing them away gently with the edge of his thumb. His chest aches, and he feels equal parts joy and fear. What happens next? He cannot go with Mika, not when he has a new family to protect. But Mika is his family. Always has been. He cannot simply ignore this.
“I want to.” His voice is soft, gentle. “But I have a new family. I can’t desert them.”
A dark expression clouds Mika’s features momentarily, but then it’s replaced by tenderness and affection. He presses his lips against Yuu’s cheek, before lightly resting his forehead against the side of Yuu’s head.
“I’m sorry.”
Yuu swallows, feeling the tears burn his eyes once more. He hates this. He hates that he has to choose, when he doesn’t want to. It’s not fair. How can he choose between Mika and his new family?
“Please, Yuu-chan. Do not abandon me again. I need you. I love you.”
Yuu can’t stand to hear this. It’s too much. He pulls back, turning his face away. His chest aches, and he feels as though a sword had pierced him straight through.
He feels the touch of a gloved hand on his chin, turning his head back, and he looks once more into the large blue eyes of his family. Mika. His Mika.
[He’s not your Mika anymore. He belongs to the vampires.]
(My Mika. He will always be mine.)
Mika leans forward, kissing his lips. Only it isn’t the quick, light kiss of a brother. It lingers. Deepens. Yuu’s heart is beating quickly, and he sits in shock. He doesn’t understand what is happening. Never before has this occurred, yet he finds himself not pulling away. Despite his confusion, Yuu allows Mika’s hand to move to the back of his head. He lets Mika shift closer. He permits him to part his lips with his tongue, and he tastes bitterness and iron.
Only then does he pull back, quickly. Mika watches him through eyes half-closed. Yuu’s own eyes are wide, his chest aching for a different reason. One he isn’t quite sure he comprehends.
“Why?”
“I’ve missed you.”
“You’ve never done that before.”
“I wanted to. I never had the courage. I didn’t think you felt the same.”
Yuu doesn’t know how to respond. He sits, staring. Mika’s expression tightens, and then darkens, and he turns away. That isn’t right. Mika should be smiling, saying that everything will be okay, even when they both know it won’t.
“I suppose there’s no hope now that I’m one of them. You were always so stubborn, Yuu-chan.”
Already his body is beginning to fade, wisps of him curling outward in spirals. Yuu reaches for him.
“No! Mika!”
He lunges for his friend, catching him in a tight embrace. He presses his face against the side of Mika’s. He doesn’t understand this fresh pain inside him, but can’t lose Mika. So he kisses him, hard, desperate, clinging to him.
[He’s a vampire. You’re kissing death.]
(No. I’m kissing Mika.)
And Mika is kissing him back, arms wrapped around him.
[If you stay with him, your friends will die.]
(Shut up. I can have both. I can—)
Mika pulls at his clothes, and Yuu slips out of his jacket. His shirt soon follows, and Mika grips his shoulders. Their movements are frantic, almost as though they are afraid of the other disappearing. Yuu feels a heat in his chest that’s sharp, something he’s never felt before. It spreads through his body, causing him to flush. He can feel Mika’s body trembling against his, and he wonders if it’s from desire or thirst.
[He wants to eat you.]
(Mika would never hurt me.)
The gloves are gone now, and cold hands travel over his torso, creating tiny bumps that spread over his skin. The kiss continues, bruising, unrelenting. Mika moans, a sound Yuu has never heard before. It doesn’t sound like Mika. It sounds wild. Ravenous.
[You should run.]
(Mika would never hurt me.)
Vaguely, he wonders why Mika is still clothed. He pulls back, looking down at the boy beneath him. The white uniform of the vampires blends into the white surrounding them. With golden hair moving gently across his face, Mika resembles an angel, not a devil.
“Yuu-chan.”
His pupils are dilated, and he licks his lips slowly.
[You should listen to me, kid.]
(Mika would never hurt me.)
Yuu bends his head, kissing Mika again, this time more gently. He moves his lips tenderly against the vampire's, and barely notices the sharp fangs until he feels a prick and pain flares across his mouth. What is that?
[He’s bitten you.]
(It was an accident.)
The kiss is covered with blood, yet he continues, pressing harder despite the sting. Mika moans again. The sound is low. Hungry. The tongue is back, running across the wounds, tasting the red liquid slowly.
“Yuu-chan . . .”
Yuu hears the longing in Mika’s voice, the intense desire. It frightens him. He pulls back, looking down at the boy beneath him. The face that looks back at him is familiar yet the expression is foreign. His stomach turns.
“M-Mika?”
[He’s going to kill you.]
(Mika would never—)
He cries out, as Mika strikes. He latches onto Yuu’s neck, fangs piercing the skin. Yuu struggles, but this only causes Mika to grip him tighter.
“Mika! Mika, no! Stop!”
His shouts do nothing. Mika doesn’t respond, simply continues to drink. Yuu can feel himself growing light-headed, his attempts to get away growing feeble. This isn’t right. This isn’t Mika. Mika loves him. Mika would never hurt him.
So why is he hurting him now? Why is he causing him this agony? He is family. You’re supposed to protect your family.
“Mika, please . . .”
His voice sounds weak to his own ears. Black spots appear, as his vision fades. Abruptly, Mika lets him go.
Yuu falls to the side, breathing softly.
“You did this to me, Yuu-chan. You made this happen.”
“No . . .”
“You should have said you’d escape with me. You should have chosen me over them.”
“. . . Mika . . .”
“So, now I will have to get rid of them.”
Yuu’s eyes widen.
He wouldn’t.
He couldn’t.
Mika.
There’s Shinoa standing before him. Only Mika has his arms around her, and he’s drinking from her neck. Her eyes grow dim, blank.
“NO! MIKA!”
There’s Yoichi, his eyelashes fluttering on his pale cheeks, dark hair brushing his collar, as Mika tears into his throat.
“MIKA, STOP! PLEASE! DON’T DO THIS!”
Yuu’s voice sounds small, as if he is shouting from far away, though Mika is right in front of him, blood staining the white of his uniform. He doesn’t look like himself. While it has the face of his beloved Mika, Yuu doesn’t recognize this monster.
Shinoa and Yoichi lie on the ground, still. Dead. Soon, Mitsuba and Kimizuki join them. Their bodies shimmer, flickering between those of his Hyakuya family and his Moon Demon Company ones. Tears blur his vision, and he can only stare in shock, as Mika crouches in front of him.
“This is your fault.”
His voice isn’t Mika’s. It’s cold, cruel. Yuu’s body shakes with his horror and revulsion. He tries to get away, crawling across the ground. The tears are streaming down his cheeks, but he can’t stop them. Mika’s foot presses against his back, and he kicks his side, flipping him over.
(My fault.)
“You can’t protect anyone, Yuu-chan.”
(It’s all my fault.)
“You couldn’t protect our Hyakuya family. You couldn’t protect them.” A sweeping hand gestures over the bodies of the Moon Demon Company. “You couldn’t protect me. Your best friend. Your closest family.”
(Please stop.)
“You’re pathetic and weak. You will never make up for what you’ve done.”
(Mika.)
The monster that looks like his Mika turns and walks away, leaving behind bloody footprints.
And all Yuu can do is watch, helpless.
***
Yuu awoke in a cold sweat. He covered his face with his hands, trembling at the memory of his nightmare. In the bed next to him in the barracks, Yoichi shifted, sitting up and looking over at him.
“Yuu-kun? Are you okay?”
Yuu turned, his back to his friend. He didn’t want the other boy to see his tears.
“I’m fine,” he said gruffly. “Go back to sleep.”
“We’ll get him back, Yuu-kun; don’t worry. We will.”
“I said go to sleep.”
It was only when he heard Yoichi’s breathing deepen that Yuu relaxed. Though the memory of his nightmare haunted him, he couldn’t let it beat him. He needed to let it strengthen his resolve instead. He would destroy all vampires, and he would rescue Mika in the process. He would find some way to return him to normal. He could have both of his families. There had to be a way. He would find it.
He closed his eyes, his mind turning to the earlier part of his dream. It’d felt so real. Reaching up, he ran his thumb over his lips, remembering the feel of Mika’s against them. He didn’t know what that meant. Never before had he dreamt of that scenario. His dreams were always full of death and despair, but for the first time he’d felt something new. Something akin to hope.
(Mika isn’t a monster. Not yet. He’s still my family.)
(And I can still save him.)