Archive of Our Own ^beta

Yuu would have figured that after watching the end of the world unfold before his own eyes guaranteed that there was nothing left to really catch him by surprise.

He’d been dragged into an orphanage with a bunch of unfamiliar children and got a front row seat to watching the deadly virus at work when the orphanage’s director was struck by it.

The supremacy of humankind fell in favor of the vampires and just like that he had been whisked away with the other children to the underground city of Sanguinem to become livestock to the parasitic monsters.

Of course, he never thought his life would end in the confines of that place… Or at least, he really didn’t want it to.

Regardless, the twelve year old had still been caught entirely off guard when he woke up to find himself outside of the familiar walls of his Sanguinem home in some large bed to the sight of Mika speaking to an adult that looked exactly like Yuu.

As it turned out… That adult didn’t just look like Yuu.

He was Yuu.

Yuu ten years into the future that is.

His morning had been a rather confusing one to say the least.

One with Yuu attempting to assault his older self only to be defeated so quickly and pitifully.

Mika had the nerve to laugh at him. Stupid jerk didn’t realize Yuu had been trying to protect him from the obviously creepy male that he had assumed kidnapped them.

How the hell was he supposed to know that his older self was an absolute idiot that messed up on a spell and ended up bringing both of the two Hyakuya orphans ten years into the future?

Mika had only sighed and called him impulsive while the older Yuu ushered them out into the living room.

Which brought them up to speed now.

Yuu received little more explanation than that though his older self insisted he would elaborate on everything in a second, but he had to make a phone call first.

He was in a peculiar state of disbelief, shock, and even apprehension.

There were so many questions burning in his mind.

“Hey, are you still over at Yoichi’s?”

Yuu’s attention couldn’t even be bothered to even look at the TV that the older Yuu had set up for both him and Mika on some cartoon Yuu had never even seen before.

When was the last time he watched TV? Prior to his parents beginning to resent him that was for sure.

That time to him was already over four years ago. Compared to this future world, it would have been even longer.

It wasn’t a surprise that this was foreign to him.

However, that thought was to the back of his head. He was way more focused on his future self that was currently still within Yuu’s immediate sight.

The adult was a few meters away at the counter top of what appeared to be the kitchen of the house. He leaned his large body against it almost lazily with a pen between his fingers while he appeared to be occasionally scribbling down stuff from a dark book beside him onto a sheet of paper. A cell phone was pressed between his ear and shoulder and he appeared a bit hesitant as he spoke into it.

It was still so unsettling to see.

An older version of himself, face free of baby fat and sculpted with sharper angles. His hair was longer, but not by much and he still had the troublesome cow lick that never seemed to agree with gravity.

“No, I’m still at home.” His voice was so many octaves deeper than the twelve year old’s, if Yuu wasn’t so out of his element at the moment he probably would have been both really impressed at how masculine he was set to become and also kind of embarrassed at how high pitched his own voice currently was.

“Yeah… About that… I may or may not have messed up on a spell this morning.” The young adult released an airy, but nervous chuckle, “The results of my mistake are— Ah, Mika… Calm down! I didn’t— Yes, I’m still in one piece! Yes, the house is okay! No- No! What!? When have I ever!? THAT WAS ONE TIME!”

His outburst made Yuu blink his green eyes with his eyebrows furrowing considerably.

The fact he had said the name of the blond seated beside him on the couch didn’t escape Yuu’s notice.

So in the future he and Mika maintained contact.

Instinctively, Yuu turned to gaze at his companion who was also looking over at the 22 year old with curiosity lit in his eyes.

When he noticed Yuu’s look, Mika took his attention to him with a small smile, “I guess we’re still family even ten years later. That’s good to know, right?” The blond quietly inquired with a pleasant expression to his face.

Yuu stared back at him for a moment before tearing away his gaze with slightly flushed cheeks, “How many times do I have to say that I don’t have a family?”

Though he grumbled out his words, Mika only gave a short giggle in response.

But still… He couldn’t deny that he was at least a tiny bit happy he and Mika would still be on talking terms these many years into the future.

Ten years was a long time after all.

“Mika, seriously. Just listen to me, alright? Mika. Mika. Mika... Okay, are you done now? Everything’s going to be fine. I’m going to fix everything! I don’t want to tell you what I did right now because I feel like it’s something not suitable for a phone conversation! Yes! No! No!”

Yuu wished the phone was on speaker.

He curious about the other side of the conversation.

It was kind of obvious Mika was nagging him to some extent, which wasn’t farfetched.

Seemed like some things would never change between them.

“Babe…” The dark haired adult lowered his voice and stressed the word with an absolutely apprehensive expression to his face, “I was just— Oh no. Now you’re mad at me. Yes, you are. Mika, seriously! You always say that when you’re mad at me!”

Yuu wasn’t sure if he heard that right.

Babe…?

There was no way—

He nearly jumped when he felt Mika lean onto his shoulder, the blond’s eyes determinedly stared at the older Yuu with an analytic gleam, “Are we witnessing a lovers’ spat between ourselves?”

His tone was hushed, presumably so the adult across the room wouldn’t hear him.

“D-Don’t be stupid!” Yuu hissed out vexedly, “They’re just—“

“You’ll see when you get here! I’m already working on a solution to the issue, by tomorrow everything should be fixed up… Alright, I’ll see you in a few. Love you.” He paused and Yuu felt his eyes widen in surprise.

“What do you mean ‘Mmhm’? Are you not going to say it back?” The older male questioned into the phone with unmasked irritation.

His dark brows furrowed, “Mika, this is what I meant when I said you were pissed at me! You’re such a drama queen! Yes, I am upset because you won’t say ‘Love you’ back! What if something happens to you on your way home!? Your last words to me will have been ‘Mmhm’! You’re so annoying! Whatever! …….. I love you more. Bye.”

Yuu’s mouth was now suspended open in a mixture of emotions he wasn’t quite sure how to label.

What?

The older Yuu removed the phone from his ear before placing it down on the marble countertop with a heavy exhale. One of his tanned hands ran throughout the mess of black hair on his head while he turned back to the two kids seated in the living room.

“Sorry about that,” The male laughed with a grin to his face and Yuu couldn’t help but blatantly stare at him as he approached them, “Mika is so… Mika.” He settled on saying with a look of amusement directed at the young male sitting next to Yuu.

Mika leaned forward, a smile on his lips as he stared back at the taller male, who took a seat in the love seat adjacent from where they were situated, “You two sound like you’re still really close! That’s great!”

The blond’s words ended with a slight laugh while his head gave a bit of the tilt to the side.

‘Really close.’

Understatement of the damn century.

He didn’t understand how Mika wasn’t the least bit put off by the fact their future selves potentially had a very close relationship, but he didn’t dwell on it.

Yuu tried to fight back the embarrassment in his body with an averted gaze to the other side of the room, now deciding that taking in the structure of his current environment should probably be a priority anyways.

He pushed Mika and his future self’s conversation into the back of his mind as he surveyed the apartment they were in.

As far as his eyes could pick up, there were only two other doors. One of which was obviously from the bedroom he had woken up in. He could only assume the other was for a bathroom.

The place was decently sized for sure, at least compared to the cramped up house he shared with the other Hyakuya orphans back in Sanguinem.

That thought made him aware of the fact that they certainly weren’t underground anymore.

His older self had just got off the phone with Mika… He wondered if he maintained contact with the other orphans.

Yuu returned his attention back to the two around him at the same moment that the young adult on the crème colored loveseat snickered, “That aside, I’m sure you two have a bunch of questions. Especially you, Yuu.”

It was so eerie making eye contact with him.

As if looking into a mirror that aged him ten years, except his reflection was much more upbeat and glowing with happiness than he was.

“Okay, you so messed up on a spell and that’s why we’re here right? We’re obviously not in Sanguinem so just where the hell are we?” Yuu bluntly questioned with a glare pointed at him, “Why were only Mika and I brought here? Did humanity find a cure for the virus?”

That was the only thing he could think. Otherwise, there was no way he could have lived to 22 when the virus that triggered the apocalypse did away with everyone when they hit 13 years old.

“Geez, Yuu-chan... You really need to pay closer attention to people when they speak.” Mika sighed heavily to his side with a slight exasperated expression pointed his way.

Yuu stared back at him, “I was!”

“No, you weren’t. You… Yuu… He…” The blond trailed off, uncertainty now riddled his face as he clearly wasn’t sure on how to address the older Yuu, “Just explained all of that like two seconds ago. The vampires lied about the virus still being active above ground to keep us from trying to escape!”

At this, Yuu’s eyes widened considerably, “Are you serious!?”

That was a shocking revelation. But then again, how surprised could he have been when he knew from the start that those vampires were the vilest creatures on and below the Earth.

They truly had them caged down there like helpless cattle despite the fact they could have continued surviving on the surface…

His eyes moved to the curtain that was to the right of the living room. They were all pulled together and kept the room considerably darker, but from the creases to the bottom, sides, and top of it, there was light seeping in.

Sunlight.

In the back of his mind, he could hear Mika saying something, but Yuu tuned it all out in favor of hopping off the couch and racing toward the large balcony glass door that the curtains covered.

Yuu all but ripped the drapes aside in favor of seeing the outside world for the first time in so many years.

How did he have such a delayed reaction? He had no idea. He hadn’t fully realized that they were actually above ground again.

And the first thing he was able to see was the sky, scarcely covered in a few white and light grey clouds. The Sun wasn’t in his immediate view, but the light everywhere was proof enough of its existence.

Yuu’s small hands remained glued to the glass door while he breathed out in awe at the sights of the sky he’d once taken for granted four years ago. They were on a high floor of the apartment complex, so he couldn’t get a proper sight directly below given the height of the balcony ledge outside.

“I think to make things a little less confusing, you both should just call me Yuuichirou.” He heard his older self remark after a couple moments of silence from behind him.

“My future self is coming over too, right? Should we call him Mikaela to avoid confusion with that?” Mika inquired with a wondering look to his features as Yuu finally managed to peel himself away from the window to look back at them.

He looked over at Yuuichirou with determination in his eyes. “I’m going outside!”

Yuuichirou turned to Yuu with a raised brow before his words seemed to properly register in him with a small smirk, “I understand why you’re eager, but I’ll need you to stay put, alright? There’s still some stuff we need to cover.”

“But—”

Mika smiled over at him warily, “Yuu-chan… We could get Yuuichirou into a lot of trouble if anyone knows we’re here… Practicing spellcraft is forbidden in this city. He could be executed if anyone finds out he’s meddling around with spells.”

Yuu’s green eyes grew wide at his words, “W-What? Seriously…?”

A sinking feeling executed throughout his stomach when he saw Mika nod sadly, a frown now on his lips. Yuu turned his attention to his adult self that was looking him over skillfully.

He wanted to go outside, but… He wasn’t going to risk anyone’s life over it, especially his own.

Just being able to look out the window was enough for him anyways, he supposed.

After all, it was better than nothing at all.

“Yeah, the execution part may be true, but if I get a chance, I’ll take you both outside for sure.” Yuuichirou wistfully voiced with a hand to his chin and the two kids immediately perked up in surprise at his unexpected words, “I’m confident we won’t be caught at all, really. But taking you out while you’re still in your Sanguinem uniforms is a bit of a neon sign.”

As the young adult chuckled, Yuu glanced down at himself.

The uniform was all he’d become accustomed to wearing throughout the past few years. He hadn’t even thought of how weird he might have looked if he went running out there into human society still wearing it.

The clothing of livestock…

Now more than ever he wanted to rip it off his own body in favor of something else.

“Mika and I don’t have any clothes around here that could fit you guys, but I don’t mind going shopping for something you two could wear for about a day.” The dark haired male scratched his cheek with a look toward the ceiling.

“Oh, yeah! But the important stuff I still need to cover!” He lowered his hand into a fist before lightly hitting his other hand’s opened palm as both Yuu and Mika turned their attention to him attentively.

He grinned widely at them, though Yuu felt like his green gaze was more specifically directed him, “I’ll just take it from the top so I don’t end up leaving anything out. Alright, so yes, I am Yuuichirou Hyakuya. The year is currently 2026, so I’m 22. I was trying to figure out a spell for my Mika, actually. As you both can tell, I messed up along the way with that and I ended up bringing you both from the past, to the future…” He trailed off with a small hum, “Huh, what else? Oh, we’re in Shibuya, which is the capital of human society in Japan… And uh… I’m definitely going to get you guys back to your own time as soon as possible! By tomorrow even!”

Yuu took in the information once more, though admittedly a lot of it had been lost the first time he heard it given the fact he was still processing the fact he was ten years into the future.

When everything settled, he spoke up, “You were figuring a spell out for your Mika… What happened to him?”

There was an unspoken ‘Is he okay?’ at the end of his question that he hoped hadn’t been too obvious and made him appear overly worried.

It was then that the twelve year old was able to detect the sudden change in demeanor that his older counterpart seemed to go through.

The smile on his face wasn’t as cheerful as it was only seconds ago and even the positive light in his eyes dimmed a bit.

“Is Mikaela alright…?” Mika quietly questioned from his spot on the couch with no hidden concern within his tone.

There was no doubt in Yuu that the blond also managed to pick up on Yuuichirou’s mood change. Mika was good at it on Yuu even back in Sanguinem… Apparently his perceptive abilities were able to transcend the barriers of time as well.

“He’s alright! More than alright! He’s healthy and breathing and very Mika-ish, Mikaela-ish, whatever!” Yuuichirou immediately reassured them with a blinding smile, “The thing is, you see…” He trailed off with a heavy breath while he leaned forward in his seat, his hands clasping over his knees, “While I’m 22 and Mikaela is 22 too… He doesn’t look it.”

The explanation flew right over Yuu’s head.

What was that supposed to mean?

“What?”

“What do you mean?”

He and Mika asked at the same time though he felt his single worded question came out with more attitude than it should have.

Oh, well.

“Mikaela doesn’t look his age and I can tell it’s been bothering him for a while. He doesn’t ever vocalize when something’s troubling him though. So I’d been researching spells to get his physical age up to what it should be.” Yuuichirou explained and there was something so genuine and warm about his expression while his gaze was set to the carpet that Yuu found himself stilling in surprise.

Spellcraft was forbidden with the threat of death looming over anyone that tried it and here Yuuichirou was trying it out because of something that was bothering Mikaela.

Did the extent of their relationship really run that deep…?

Seriously?

For a second, he forgot that that was actually his future self talking about Mika’s future self.

Before he could throw in his own disgruntled comment, Yuuichirou continued, “Unfortunately, I was sort of off with the spell. You guys are the result of that. But like I said, it’s okay! I’ll have you back in your own timeline by tomorrow! Trust me!”

“Why doesn’t Mikaela look his age?” Mika chose to further query with a short swing to his legs over the edge of the couch.

There was something about his tone of voice that caught Yuu’s attention though.

It was as though he knew something, but was searching for confirmation on it.

Yuu eyed him skeptically while Yuuichirou now leaned back, his jade eyes staring into Mika’s blue eyes firmly, “I get the feeling you know exactly why.”

Reluctance enveloped Mika’s facial expression for a moment that made Yuu become taken back with surprise. However, the young blond quickly recovered, a small understanding smile now on his face, “Ah… Was it because of Lord Ferid?”

Yuuichirou opened his mouth to reply, however, whatever words were going to come out never had a chance to as the sound jingling keys of the front door unlocking came to their ears.

Yuu and Mika turned their attention in the direction of the noise while Yuuichirou immediately stood to his feet and began quickly walking toward the door right as it opened.

“Wait, hold on, Mika!” Yuuichirou nervously held his foot at the door, preventing it from opening further.

The two twelve-year olds both curiously brought their eyes over to where the young adult appeared to be struggling with the person on the other side of the door.

It was the older Mika…

Yuu tried leaning himself to the side in an effort to catch sight of the older blond—he wasn’t even sure if Mika still had blond hair ten years into the future. Maybe he decided to dye it or something?

His movements were also mimicked by the younger Mika that was moving his body in the same direction in order to see past the cracked portion of the doorway.

“You promised me that nothing got destroyed! Yuu-chan, seriously, what is it!?” The new voice was way lower than what Yuu was used to hearing from his Mika, but there was no mistaking the fact that his belonged to the blond’s future self.

“Nothing got destroyed, Mika! Have some faith in me, geez. So as I explained before, I messed up on a spell and I ended up… Bringing our past selves to the future, aha… I think they’re 12, your hair was about that length when we were 12. They’re in the living room right now as we speak. I tried to catch them up on the basics.”

Things were quiet for a second and the two kids glanced over at one another silently.

Mika appeared apprehensive, but the instant his eyes met with Yuu’s the anxiety in his blue eyes seemed to wash away. He gave him a reassuring smile that Yuu wasn’t entirely able to return.

The silence was broken with a short, humorless laugh from Mikaela, who still wasn’t visible to either of the children, “Yuu-chan, please tell me you’re not serious.”

“I would, but you know I can’t lie to you.” Yuuichirou earnestly replied to him and though Yuu could only see the back of the male’s head, he had a good idea what his expression was. “Listen, Mika, I already started looking for a reversal spell to take them back. It shouldn’t be hard; they’ll be back to their normal timeline by tomorrow and…”

Yuuichirou trailed off for some reason and there was that brief moment of silence again.

“They don’t know yet. I was just about to tell them. But honestly, it doesn’t matter anyways, especially for my past self. He’ll still love you regardless.” Yuuichirou’s voice started at a normal volume but with each word his words grew softer and softer until Yuu was straining to hear the rest even as the dark haired adult continued speaking after that, but he found it impossible.

Yuu tossed Mika a questioning look, wondering if he knew what they were going on about.

It took only a quick moment before the young blond realized Yuu was staring at him and when he noticed he once again beamed at Yuu, “Yuu-chan… I think my older self may be a bit anxious because of you. Try to treat him gently when you see him, please?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yuu asked without any restraint to his growing frustration on not knowing what was happening.

Mika didn’t get a chance to answer at the door was now opening wider.

The blond by Yuuichirou’s side was shorter than him, but still way taller than both Yuu and Mika. Though he looked noticeably older than both the young Hyakuya orphans, there was still a considerable amount of softness to his features in comparison to Yuuichirou. While one could tell Yuuichirou had already entered young adulthood, Mikaela still appeared to be an adolescent. He couldn’t have been any older than 17 at the most.

Though that wasn’t what caught Yuu’s immediate attention.

What did was the fact that Mikaela’s eyes weren’t the soft shade of sky blue that he grew so accustomed to seeing in his Mika’s eyes through the past four years…

His eyes were a sharp blood red.

Yuu froze where he stood, his hands clenching around the material of the couch’s arm rest.

“Guys, this is Mika! Yes, he’s a vampire, but he’s Mika, or Mikaela, whatever.” Yuuichirou chirped out brightly with a large welcoming gesture in the blond’s direction.

Mikaela didn’t appear entirely comfortable, his eyebrows creasing slightly while his gaze went from the ground over to where Yuu was situated for a moment.

When their eyes met, the twelve year old’s breathing hitched, “How!? How did he— How did you—!?” He was at a loss of coherent words and the words that did manage to come out of his mouth were incomplete fragments.

How did he get turned into a vampire!?

When did that happen!?

His mind was racing along with his heart that he could feel now beginning to become coddled with confusion, disbelief, and anger.

The future that only seconds ago seemed to quell Yuu’s potential worries of dying as livestock underground with bright hopes back in humanity’s arms was now beginning to crumble.

What was the point of them finally making it out of Sanguinem in the future if one of those monsters managed to get their filthy hands on Mika?

Did it happen right before they left Sanguinem?

“That’s not fair! They—“

“Was it Lord Ferid?” Mika interrupted the Yuu’s words calmly and Yuu’s attention whirled over to him quickly.

He had almost forgotten Mika was even in the room for a moment and he cursed at himself for being so absentminded.

Mika was an idiot.

This was definitely going to affect him way more than it did Yuu.

Despite Yuu’s thoughts, Mika appeared entirely composed from where he still sat on the couch, except now it looked like at some point he pushed himself to the edge. His eyes looked serene, but the melancholy in them wasn’t hard to spot, at least for Yuu.

At the mention of the noble, Yuu’s expression became more severe while Yuuichirou sighed, “A long story that one is…”

“It doesn’t matter who turned me.” Mikaela shortly stated while looking over at Yuuichirou plainly. “We could be messing up time just by existing near them, you know. It isn’t wise to say future events. We’ll end up changing everything.”

Yuuichirou gave a short laugh. “No, no, trust me. We’re alright. I already plan on erasing their memories before sending them back… Not that I think it matters. I mean, they may be from a different timeline altogether. If they were from our timeline, I feel like the universe would have unraveled on us already or something.”

The shorter blond at his side flashed him a mildly irritable expression that Yuuichirou could only laugh at a little more. “What spell were you even trying to look for that you ended up messing up this bad?”

“It’s a secret~” Yuuichirou sang out as he began walking back to the kitchen countertop where his thick, brown book was still located. “I’m working on my solution though! Just leave it to me!” He flashed the standing blond a thumbs up.

Even Yuu had to become a bit exasperated at how his older self was behaving.

God, he resembled the younger Mika more than he did his twelve year old self…

At that thought, Mika threw up his hands with a wave over at Yuuichirou excitedly, “If you need any help, I’m here for you, Yuuichirou!”

“Ah! Thanks! See, why can’t you be supportive like Mika, Mikaela?”

“Don’t start with me, Yuu-chan.”

“Ah, ah, ah. It’s ‘Yuuichirou.’ We’re calling our younger selves our shortened names to make things less confusing between all of us!”

“I think I’m getting a headache.”

“This is so weird…” Yuu found himself muttering while moving to take a seat besides Mika on the couch once more.

A couple hours after that initial awkward and heavy weighted first encounter with their future selves, Yuuichirou brought up how they needed to get new clothes for Yuu and Mika because he wanted to at least let them walk around outside for a bit.

Mikaela had quickly offered to do it before exiting out.

Yuuichirou soon locked himself away in another room that was at a door Yuu failed to detect earlier, presumably a study. His older self had insisted they make themselves at home because technically the apartment did belong to them too.

That left him and Mika sitting before the TV idly.

Though Yuu only managed to spend five minutes looking into the large screen before he took himself over to the large balcony door with his eyes looking out the window and up at the sky.

Mika flipped through the channels of the TV alone for a little while, but it wasn’t long before the blond gave up on that and returned closely to Yuu’s side.

The two sat on the carpeted floor in front of the closed glass door that led to the suspended terrace with their gazes fixated up at the blue sky that was littered with fluffy white clouds.

They were both silent for a while.

Thinking over the situation they were currently in was still odd for him, but this was still nice in at least one way, if not a bit stressful.

He recalled the moment when Mikaela stepped in the room, how much his scarlet eyes contrasted so much with the blue that Yuu had expected to see…

This future would be perfect if not for the fact Mikaela got turned into a vampire.

He didn’t want that fate for his own Mika, no matter how many years into the future it may be.

Even though his older self said that when he returned them back to their own time that he would wipe their memories of their stay here, Yuu really wished there was one way he could at least remember that one detail and try as he could to stop it from happening. 

Mika didn’t deserve that at all.

Just thinking about it made him so upset.

“Hey, Yuu-chan?” Mika’s voice shattered the peaceful silence between them and Yuu turned his attention to him curiously, “What do you think about all of this?”

It was a rather vague and open ended question that Yuu could only blink while lowering his knees from being pulled up close to his chest. “What do you mean exactly?” He settled on retorting with.

Mika’s azure eyes moved from beyond the glass door to meet with Yuu’s own eyes as he smiled gently, “What do you think about this whole situation? The fact that we make it out of Sanguinem safely and we’re still family even after ten years! We still live together! You have to have some opinion on it!”

His words earned him a slight scowl from Yuu.

Though he meant well with what he said, the darker haired boy couldn’t help but grow annoyed with how casual he was taking everything.

He gave the blond a glare. “’Safely’? Don’t be stupid… Even though we make it out, you get turned into a vampire at some point.” Yuu didn’t bother to hinder the aggression in his tone, “And I don’t have a family, idiot…”

The last part was entirely redundant, and he knew it, but it was more instinctive to say it than anything at this point.

Mika frowned before leaning onto him heavily. “Don’t be that way! In the future we’re as close as family can be!”

Yuu took note of how he avoided his comment on the vampirism. Obviously, Mika didn’t want to further discuss that.

Although Yuu could completely understand why, there was also a part of him that wished he was willing to address it so they could find a way to prevent it from happening to him in their own future.

However, if Mika wasn’t comfortable about it, Yuu would just drop it for his sake.

“That’s—!”

“Yuuichirou loves Mikaela so much! You could see it from the way he looked at him! So cute, don’t you agree?” Mika smiled at him sweetly and Yuu felt his cheeks begin to warm while he narrowed his eyes at him.

That was another thought he was trying to avoid.

The fact that he and Mika were clearly romantically involved with one another at this point in the future.

It was weird.

The twelve year old honestly didn’t care to find out the who, what, when, where, and why about the older pair’s relationship, but he had been internally praying Mika would have found it as awkward as he did and stayed quiet about it.

So much for that.

“Shut up.”

“Ah… Reminds me of how Ako and the others used to call the two of us the parents of the Hyakuya household.” Mika laughed out in amusement, presumably at how much he actually managed to fluster Yuu. His eyes softened considerably while he took his gaze back out the window. “I wonder how their future selves are.”

Yuu’s blush lessened and he cleared his throat. “Well, just ask my older self. If you and I still keep in contact, I see no reason why we wouldn’t stay in touch with the others.”

Mika nodded his head, a warm smile growing on his face, “That’s right! After all, that’s what family does!”

“Will you give it a rest already?”

“That’s a mean way to talk to your future husband, Yuu-chan…”

“H-Husband!? They— We— Those two aren’t married! No way!”

“Huh? Are you sure? I could have sworn I saw Yuuichirou wearing a wedding ring!”

“What!?”

“Heh, just kidding!” Mika laughed before hugging onto Yuu’s arm, “But they seem like an old married couple, right?”

Yuu glowered down at the blond, the warmth on his face refusing to recede, “Who would ever want to date an annoying guy like you?” He grumbled out causing Mika to snicker more. 

He and Mika had always been close since their arrival to Sanguinem, but he never really thought of them getting closer like that…

Yuu sighed, almost in defeat, as Mika snuggled closer against his arm.

At the same time, the two heard the front door opening once more.

As they turned to look back, their eyes fell on Mikaela who entered with a few plastic shopping bags hanging from both of his arms.

He shut the door behind himself with one of his feet and gave a small smile to the young pair that curiously stared at him. “I’m hoping these will fit you both. I can barely remember what size clothes I wore when I was your age.”

Yuu noted how the older blond’s eyes only met with his for a very brief and fleeting second before he directed his gaze to Mika, “I know Yuu-chan… Well, Yuuichirou,” Mikaela corrected himself as he gestured for Yuu and Mika to follow him into the master bedroom, “told you both that he’d have you back in your normal time by tomorrow, but I have a feeling that won’t be the case. So, I got you a couple of things in case your stay here is indefinite.”

As the two went to either side of him, Mikaela placed the bags onto the bed before they began rummaging through them.

“Yuu-chan isn’t exactly reliable. I see that even ten years from now that doesn’t change.” Mika thoughtfully voiced with a hand to his chin after he pulled out a grey shirt from one of the bags to inspect.

Yuu glared over at him with a grunt. “What’s that supposed to mean!? Just because my future self is an idiot doesn’t mean I am!”

His companion returned his look with a smile of amusement, “If age makes people wiser, technically he’s smarter than you, right? I think you may have just admitted something if you think Yuuichirou’s an idiot.”

“Shut up, Mika!”

“You were the one that said it, not me!”

Still standing between them, Yuu almost didn’t realize Mikaela had been watching over their brief exchange with a low chuckle. One of his pale hands was caught over his mouth almost as like an effort to silence any laughter that may have escaped past his lips.

Staring up at him for a second in a bit of surprise, Yuu immediately ripped his gaze away when Mikaela’s scarlet eyes met with his once more.

The older blond then took a step back. “You both can sort out which clothes you want for yourselves. I have the feeling Yuuichirou didn’t feed you both while I was gone. I’ll go chew him out about it now.” He sent a smile over to his younger self that was immediately returned with a bright intensity.

“I’m not that hungry, so it’s okay!” Mika exclaimed before glancing at Yuu with his smile unwavering, “You aren’t either, right Yuu-chan?”

Truthfully, he wasn’t, but then he was struck with the fact that he wouldn’t have to consume any of the disgusting nutrition drinks the vampires in Sanguinem forced them to take…

Though Akane had recently been getting access to a plethora of food through Mika… Having good food that wasn’t acquired from unknown, but undoubtedly unnecessary means was going to taste even better.

Yuu paused for second, now aware that the two blonds were currently staring at him expectantly. Despite the fact that it was Mika talking to him, the dark haired boy couldn’t help but avert his eyes up at Mikaela as he answered, “No… I’m not hungry either.”

Just as before, the eye contact shared between them was ended almost as quickly as it started.

That had to be just about the fifth time…

Why was he—

“Still, you guys need to eat.” Mikaela voiced with his eyes returning to Mika’s and the smaller blond bobbed his head in understanding before his counterpart silently left the room.

Yuu watched the door as it closed, not even realizing how the room immediately fell into a nearly awkward amount of silence at the absence of the older male.

His green eyes remained on the door for a few more seconds.

Maybe he was just imagining it…

Yuu scowled a bit before returning to make his own small pile of clothing on the bed from the bags presented between him and Mika.

The two worked at sorting through what they wanted for themselves until Mika broke through the quietness between them with a short question, “Does my older self make you shy or something?”

Yuu was nearly caught off guard by the sudden inquiry, but he supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised.

Mika’s perceptive abilities could be deathly scary at times.

“What kind of question is that? Of course not, dummy.” Yuu remarked, not even bothering to glance up from the shorts he held in his hand.

Obviously not convinced, Mika snickered a bit, “Every time you looked up at him, you got an expression of uncertainty on your face. I thought it may have been because he’s so handsome and you get flustered just from looking at him!”

Already recognizing that as bait for him to have more teasing ammunition, Yuu simply grumbled while his cheeks turned a bit pink, “As if… Anyways, these clothes are going to be mine, so don’t try taking them.”

“You have bad taste anyways, so don’t count on it.”

“Why do you always have something annoying to say!?”

Just as Mikaela had predicted, Yuu and Mika’s stay in that timeline extended over into the following day, and the next day, and the next day… It wasn’t long before the two twelve year olds had been within the future for a little over a week and judging from Yuuichirou’s repetitive “I’m working on it!” and “Tomorrow I’ll definitely have something!” spiel, Yuu was sure that they would be stuck in this timeline for God knew how much longer.

He supposed it wasn’t that bad.

Yuuichirou and Mikaela allowed both he and Mika to sleep in their large master bedroom for the past ten days, which was miles better than sleeping on the bare floors of their Sanguinem home with only a thin blanket to cover them. Every morning the two woke up to breakfast prepared for both of them by their older counterparts and Yuu was sure he’d never grow tired of having actual cooked food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The chances they had to go outside honestly took the young boy’s breath away. The first time had been the first night of being there.

Mikaela had put up a fuss about them not being warmly dressed while Yuuichirou insisted they’d be fine, but the blond had his way pushed through.

Yuu and Mika had then found themselves wrapped up in scarves, too-big knitted winter hats that continuously fell over their eyes had they not continuously pushed it up, and bundled up with a light jacket over their pajamas. Though Mikaela had been absent-minded that day in getting them shoes, the two were used to being barefoot after being in Sanguinem with no footwear for so long.

Though the sky hadn’t been completely clear, seeing the stars and moon was so nice.

Yuu came to realize it was the little things like that he had taken for granted prior to the Apocalypse…

Of course, it wasn’t like the ultimate vacation or anything.

Every night when he and Mika laid in bed they would have light conversations on how the other Hyakuya orphans were doing without them.

Naturally, they were very worried for the others in their absence. Akane was definitely a strong enough presence to keep the others in order, but still…

They missed them.

At one point, Mika had questioned Yuuichirou on the state of the six other Hyakuya children in the future and Yuu had been rather attentive to the conversation that was taking place across the room from where he sat in the living room.

After all, Mikaela was a vampire at this point in the future. Who knew if any of the others had a similar fate?

However, Yuuichirou had only given the blond a pat on the head and a smile that certainly didn’t reach his eyes before answering with, “That’s something I’ll keep as a ‘future’ secret, alright?”

It was vague, but also very obvious in a way that implied what Yuu really wished it didn’t imply.

On that topic, throughout their passing days in the future, it really hadn’t taken long for Mika to abandon his adhesive quality to Yuu and instead start sticking himself to Yuuichirou.

At first it had been a breath of fresh air, not having the blond pouncing on him with all his crushing weight out of nowhere at the most random intervals… But then by about the fourth day of Mika not remaining at his side as he usually did, Yuu, embarrassingly enough, actually really missed Mika’s constant presence.

Whether it be in the study room while Yuuichirou was continuously searching for the proper spell to take them back to their correct timeline or at the dining room table where Mika found his favorite spot on Yuuichirou’s lap as they ate, the two were practically inseparable.

Yuu refused to admit he was jealous.

First of all, why would he be jealous of Mika spending time with someone other than him?

Secondly, even if he did feel even a tiny bit jaded by the fact Mika was spending time with someone else, why would he feel bitter when that other person was literally Yuu?

Not only that, but Mikaela didn’t seem too eager about being around him either.

What Yuu came to notice was that if the older blond could find any reason to not be in the same breathing space as either him or Mika, he’d use it without any hesitation.

If not, he’d just sit as far away as he could.

Take now, for instance.

Yuu sat on the living room sofa, his legs sprawled out along the length of its cushions with a book in his hands that he wasn’t even reading.

Mika and Yuuichirou were in the study room as usual and through the walls even the young boy was capable of hearing occasional and muffled bursts of laughter from the cheery pair.

Their noise wasn’t bothersome though.

The real reason Yuu stopped reading was because only about twenty minutes ago did Mikaela emerge from the bathroom after having taken a shower. Yuu had expected him to either head outside or lock himself up within the master bedroom, but instead the blond settled himself on the far end of the loveseat only a few meters from where Yuu was on the couch.

Though Yuu could internally argue that Mikaela chose to sit over there because Yuu’s legs were spread on the couch, it was a weak argument given the fact his petite legs didn’t even cover half the couch.

Mikaela was only continuing his evasion of him.

The twelve year old’s green eyes gazed up from the top edge of his book in favor of looking over at the blond who was also reading a book. From Yuu’s spot, it didn’t appear to have a cover and he wasn’t able to really read the kanji on it either.

He was so different from his Mika.

Yuu didn’t even know how to start.

His Mika was so noisy, bubbly, and practically shined with a warmness similar to that of the Sun. 

This Mika was still kind, Yuu had no doubts about that since he always spoke with such a gentle tone whenever he addressed the two young boys. Along with that, his compassion was still intact give how conscientious he was to both Mika and Yuu’s needs. Yuuichirou obviously cared about whether or not they were comfortable too, but Mikaela was always sure to check on them even at the most random intervals.

However, his compassion was muted into silence.

Mikaela turned a page in his novel quietly and the sudden movement caused Yuu to quickly avert his gaze back into the thick of his own book.

After a couple seconds, he slowly allowed his green eyes to rest back on the blond cautiously.

The eye contact the two of them shared whenever they looked at one another lasted much longer than it did the first couple days Yuu had been around.

Getting used to seeing him with red eyes was surprisingly easier than he thought it would be too. It didn’t look bad on him at all.

Although Mikaela still engaged in banter with Yuuichirou that mirrored well with the back and forths that Yuu and Mika had, it was obvious that the Mika of the future was similar to that of a remnant of the Mika of the past.

Yuu supposed that was why he kept his distance from them…

Along with that, it was clear that his own future counterpart had been through a lot. The experience and scars that resulted from going through war were clear to see in his matured eyes, but at the same time he carried himself in a much brighter way than Yuu did now.

When Yuu had actually voiced his own thoughts on that the other night with Mika, the blond reassured him that his older self definitely liked him, “Putting aside the fact that he’s me and I can tell you I would never ever hate you; you’re the younger version of his boyfriend. Why would he dislike you?”

It made sense, but that was so easy for the other boy to say.

Yuu’s older self breathed in Mika’s presence like it was oxygen. Yuuichirou and Mika’s personalities seemed to fit together well enough for the two to stick together so closely.

Yuu would be lying if he said he didn’t wish the same could be said for him and Mikaela.

Maybe he just didn’t like kids too much or something…

The door to the study opened all of a sudden, throwing Yuu out of his thoughts with a small jump of surprise.

Yuuichirou emerged from the room with Mika held close to his chest in a princess-style carry while the blond’s arms were tossed around the older male’s neck with a large grin present on his cherub face. The grin was matched with a similar one on Yuuichirou, who gazed into the living room brightly, “Oi, Mika and I are going grocery shopping! Are you two coming along?”

At this, Yuu perked up as he set his book down to his lap. “You’re going now?”

“Yeah, just put on some shoes and we’ll head out now!” Yuuichirou replied to his younger self with his grin nearly widening.

Getting out the house was always nice and Yuu always looked forward to opportunities to do so.

As he prepared to answer back with a “Yes!” he found his words lost as the blond on the loveseat adjacent from him spoke up before he had a chance to.

“I’ll stay home.” Mikaela voiced with a gaze over his shoulder at the standing pair.

His expression visibly softened and he wore a small smile to his face while his younger counterpart pulled his face closer to Yuuichirou’s neck with a curious look at him.

Yuuichirou gave his companion a blink, “You sure?”

Mikaela nodded, his smile not waning as he brought a hand to his chin, “Though I am tempted to go just to make sure you buy actual food and not just junk. I’m putting my trust in Mika to steer you in the right direction.”

Yuuichirou’s expression twisted into that over overdramatic disbelief while Mika beamed innocently.

“What!? When do I ever need to be monitored!?”

“You can count on me, me!”

The young blond wiggled his way out of Yuuichirou’s arms, though it was evident that Yuuichirou was reluctant on letting him go, and he quickly ran over where Yuu was seated.

“I’ll fix your bedhead before we head out, Yuu-chan! Come on!” Mika took one of his arms before pulling him up from the couch all the while Yuu protested at him dragging him along too roughly.

Mika led them into the master bedroom before Yuu ripped his hand back from him in slight irritation, “My hair isn’t even that bad!”

After he spoke, he allowed his eyes to rest on the dresser top mirror within the room for further confirmation on his words and unfortunately, he was a bit wrong.

Well, it wasn’t that bad, but a little brushing probably wouldn’t have hurt.

Mika chuckled as he searched the dresser tops for a brush, “Not that bad, but still bad. I’ll be embarrassed if I have to be seen walking out in public with you.” He teased lightly causing Yuu to roll his eyes.

“I’m always embarrassed to walk around with you, but you never hear me complain.”

“Hey, hey, hey! That’s hurtful, Yuu-chan!”

“And what you say to me isn’t!?”

The blond let out another brief laugh, however when his results for the brush came up short his brows creased before he dropped to his knees to search beneath the bed.

Yuu watched down at him curiously, “Maybe the brush is in the bathroom?”

“No, Yuuichirou brushed my hair in here yesterday… Unless Mikaela moved it?” Mika responded back as he still surveyed under the bedstand.

Without another word the dark haired boy began taking his steps back outside to go and question Mikaela about it, however as he made it to the door and placed his hand on the knob, he paused.

He could hear Yuuichirou and Mikaela talking a bit closer to the room on the other side of the door.

“Are you sure?” Yuuichirou’s voice was easily recognizable that Yuu’s grip on the doorknob tightened slightly and he prepared to walk out, but for some reason he remained still as Mikaela replied back to him quickly, his tone almost exasperated,

“Yes, Yuu-chan. I’ll be fine for a couple more days.”

Yuuichirou’s retort was instant and he didn’t necessarily sound frustrated, but there was firmness in his hushed exclamation, “You don’t have to force yourself to wait a couple days, Mika! How many times do I have to tell you that?”

Mikaela was silent for a moment and Yuu heard Mika call to his name curiously from behind him, but he didn’t respond, too into their older counterparts’ conversation.

“When we come back you’ll drink from me, alright? It’s already been a while. Just because they’re here doesn’t mean you have to push yourself like you used to…”

The last sentence caused Yuu’s eyes to widen while his body became a bit rigid.

Their topic of discussion immediately clicked in his mind at that moment.

However, before he could properly process everything, Mika was practically jumping onto his back, “Don’t ignore me, Yuu-chan! What are you doing?” He questioned through pursed lips.

Yuu was at a loss of words for a second. He struggled to find his words and when he saw realization dawn in Mika’s blue eyes, he grunted, “Nothing! Don’t say a word!” The dark haired boy hissed with a finger to his lips.

He went to open the door and stumble out with Mika still hanging onto his back like some sort of koala and his eyes were met with Yuuichirou’s.

Mikaela was nowhere to be seen, Yuu mentally noted as Mika’s small hands began rubbing down at his hair in a fruitless effort to tame his unruly, black locks.

“Ready to go?” Yuuichirou asked them warmly.

Mika clicked his tongue. “We couldn’t find the brush, but if we let Yuu-chan walk behind us by like about a meter, maybe people won’t think we know him?” He ended his words sweetly though he earned a sharp glare from the boy in question.

Yuuichirou merely laughed whereas Yuu grunted, “Forget it. I’m not going anyways…” He mumbled right as Mika detached himself from his back.

His green eyes scanned over the living room in search of Mikaela, however his results came up short once again.

“Huh? Why? I was joking, you know!” The blond proclaimed while he took himself to Yuuichirou’s side.

Indignantly, Yuu puffed his chest up with a piercing look at the other pre-teen. “Of course I knew you were kidding! Don’t think your words have that much of an effect on me!”

“I wouldn’t want you crying at night over a little teasing is all.” Mika sang out and at the end of his sentence, Yuuichirou took hold of his hand gently while he used his other hand to go through the back pocket of his pants distractedly.

The young boy was taken by surprise at the sudden gesture and his cheeks visibly flushed as far as Yuu could tell.

Mika being flustered was once a rare sight that Yuu wasn’t even sure if it was possible to happen. Since coming to this timeline, it was becoming all too frequent.

All because of his future self, weirdly enough.

Mika’s face may have become a soft pink hue, but regardless, he smiled gently with his eyes now directed at the carpeted floor and allowed his small fingers to clasp around Yuuichirou’s hand in response.

Yuuichirou now glanced over at Yuu questioningly, “Are you sure you aren’t coming?”

“I’m positive…” The dark haired boy looked up before hesitantly adding, “Where is Mikaela?”

“Oh, he’s in the study room… We’ll be back soon!” His counterpart answered him with a short wave and a near blinding grin.

“See you later, Yuu-chan!” Mika also chimed with a similar wave before the two made their way to the front door.

Yuu stood there waving back at them plainly until the door closed and locked behind them.

He released a breath, a frown making its way to his face as he turned his attention toward the study room.

Honestly… It wasn’t as if he forgot Mikaela was a vampire.

That was something that was impossible to forget or ignore whenever he looked into his vivid crimson colored eyes.

Yuu wasn’t sure what to even call it, but he’d honestly forgotten that since Mikaela was a vampire, he needed blood to survive.

Of course, there had been the passing thoughts of how he felt pity and anger over whatever circumstances caused Mikaela to be turned into that kind of parasitic state, but now that he thought about it, he never really thought of Mika actually consuming blood.

It was as if he was just existing.

That was foolish and selfish of him, honestly.

Mika was an idiot who took so much care of others that his own health and wellbeing suffered because of it. He wouldn’t stop the habit unless someone else actually intervened to help him.

It wouldn’t surprise him if even ten years into the future he was just the same.

Yuu’s hand grasped the doorknob to the study room and he exhaled before pushing it open and entering.

The study room wasn’t quite as big as the master bedroom, but it was still decently sized. Yuu could remember Yuuichirou explaining to Mika while he’d been in earshot that the room was originally a bedroom because he and Mikaela were roommates, but then after they became a couple they both began sharing everything and just turned the room into a place of reading, like a mini library.

There were also some steel weights in the far corner of the room that Yuuichirou said he used for exercising and they honestly looked so out of place, but Yuu was just glad he was still building muscle when he got older.

“Something wrong, Yuu-chan?” Mikaela inquired from the moment he stepped in. The blond glanced up from his book from his spot at the wooden writing desk, “Why didn’t you go with the others?”

The frown on Yuu’s lips didn’t go away while closed the door behind himself, “I changed my mind. I didn’t really want to go in the first place.” He answered simply before walking toward one of the bookshelves for a book.

He came to realize that the one he had been reading earlier was still on the couch in the living room, but he knew it’d be awkward if he went out there for it and then came back in.

Now he found himself pretending to look through the shelves for a new one.

Mikaela didn’t respond to him with anything more than, “Ah, I see,” before silence fell in the room once more.

It only took about two passing seconds before came to realize how much he hated it.

Yuu honestly hated it so much.

Why were things always so quiet and bordering awkward between them?

Yuu and Mika were a pair that had their silent moments, but more than half the time they were both chattering nonstop about something.

Yuuichirou and Mika were even worse. Whenever the two of them were together it was like neither of them ever stopped rambling and laughing.

The problem didn’t even lie with Mikaela, because Yuu had witnessed how talkative Mikaela was capable of being whenever he was around Yuuichirou or even when he was in the presence of both Mika and Yuu at the same time.

It seemed like he only ever closed up around Yuu.

“Do you not like me or something?” Yuu found himself bluntly inquiring after he picked up a random hardcover book and turned around to face the blond whose back was still facing him.

There was honestly no other explanation.

His older counterpart and Mika got along so well.

It was natural, wasn’t it?

To dote on the younger version of your lover so affectionately?

If that was the case, why didn’t Mikaela ever seem to regard him with anything more than distanced politeness?

Ever since he first made it to the future, Mikaela just didn’t seem overly fond of his presence… As if he only dealt with him out of the natural humility inside of him, not because he actually loved him.

Not that Yuu should even be really surprised even though it was a tiny bit confusing.

Maybe there was just something about him that made him unlikable to adults that he would eventually grow out of? Perhaps that was why Mikaela loved Yuuichirou so warmly, but didn’t really have much to spare when it came to Yuu.

The straightforward question clearly came at the blond with no preparation whatsoever.

Mikaela quickly turned around in his chair with his eyebrows furrowed incredulously, “Yuu-chan, what—“

“It’s not like I care or anything.” Yuu intervened with a swift lie that actually hurt a bit to say verbally, “But… I don’t want you feeling obligated to pretend to like me or whatever. Just say you want me to stay away from you and it’ll make things easier for the both of us.” He muttered out in disdain.

It hurt the more he realized his situation.

This was Mika he was talking to. There was an actual version of Mika that quite possibly wanted nothing to do with him. The same Mika, who once upon a time promised to always be his family.

Faster than Yuu could even blink, he was suddenly encased in a large and warm embrace.

His green eyes attempted to adjust to the split second change as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his small back and pull him closer. Yuu’s brain then began to register the fact that it was Mikaela holding him in a hug.

He had moved from across the room so fast…

Though there was a part of him that was still in awe at the super display of speed, Yuu’s mind was more focused on blond holding him tightly.

The young boy blinked his eyes. “Y-You—“

“I’m so sorry, Yuu-chan. I’m so, so, sorry. God, I hadn’t realized that I… I…” Mikaela grunted before he pulled away from the hug slightly, only to stare Yuu in the eyes. Regret was all too evident in the light shown in the older male’s scarlet irises, it nearly made Yuu’s breathing pause in surprise.

“I’m so sorry that I came off as if I disliked you. That wasn’t my intention at all, I promise you that. There is no force on the planet that could ever make me not like you. I love you, okay? I’ve loved you since the day we first met, I love you now, and I’ll love you until I give my last breath of life. Beyond that even.” Mikaela confessed to him seriously and Yuu felt his entire face heat up, not at all ready for that much honesty.

He stammered, “B-But— T-Then why were you always avoiding me as if I smelled bad or something!? You don’t do that if you love someone!” Yuu attempted to argue though the end of his words came out as more of a childish whine.

Mikaela exhaled wearily, though he seemed to be more at ease with the fact he was still on Yuu’s good graces. “I noticed the way you looked at me the first time you saw me. Considering I’m a vampire and you just came from being stuck in Sanguinem, I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. I know how much you hate vampires, so I kept my distance to keep you at ease.”

His explanation immediately made Yuu’s expression severe, “What the hell kind of excuse is that!? Why would I be uncomfortable around you!?” He barked out with a glare.

“Yuu-chan—“

“No, don’t ‘Yuu-chan’ me! If my future self is comfortable around you, why would you ever think I wouldn’t be? As a matter a fact, forget my future self. You know exactly how I am. You know I would never be uneasy with you, Mika.” Yuu crossly voiced with his eyebrows furrowed.

Just thinking about it made him so upset.

Mikaela stared back at him silently, awe evident in his facial features. And it was then that Yuu had to take the time to note how just like with Yuuichirou, Mikaela’s eyes brimmed with maturity.

The past ten years shaped him into just about a different person from the younger Mika who Yuu was accustomed to.

They shared the same physical likeness, but it was clear that Mikaela had just about witnessed his entire world get crushed into dust too many times to count and he had become tired of wearing the same mask his twelve year old counterpart wore.

A mask that was made to fool others into believing he was okay…

With Mikaela still speechless, Yuu took that opportunity to take in a deep breath, his eyes shutting tightly while he allowed his petite hands to grasp at the sides of the blond’s face, “You’re the one always saying we’re family. Well, if we’re family, I honestly don’t care what you become. A vampire, a demon, or a giant scary monster… I’ll still like you, Mika.”

“Yuu-chan…” Though his eyes were still closed, Yuu could practically feel the smile radiating off of how Mikaela said his name so tenderly.

Just as he cracked his eyes open despite the fact his face felt as though it had been lit on fire, Yuu found himself sputtering wordlessly as Mikaela leaned up a little to plant a chaste kiss on his forehead after having brushed away his black bangs from the skin there.

“You’re right. You’re completely right. I’m just really thoughtless at times. I’m so sorry.” Mikaela breathed out while lowering himself back down to eye level with the boy that felt his brain begging for him to curl up beneath the older male’s gaze.

He wasn’t used to this kind of attention or physical affection at all.

He had no idea how to handle it.

Mikaela gave him a handsome, gentle smile that made Yuu’s bottom lip tremble while he reached for his hands, “You’re so kind to me. I honestly don’t know what I ever did to deserve you. Thank you for putting up with me. I know your Mika can be a pain sometimes, but he really does love you. He loves you with everything he has and he always will. I can confirm that.”

He was now beginning to see why his future self saw Mikaela in a romantic light.

As much as it pained him to admit it to himself, he could feel his knees getting weak.

“That should be my line…” Yuu lowly mumbled with his eyes fleeting to the floor timidly, all his former hotblooded emotions evaporated into nothing.

Mikaela laughed a little before he straightened up.

Yuu’s lips pursed while he took a step back, still unwilling to meet with the blond’s eyes.

“But now that there’s no more of that boundary keeping us apart, do you want to read with me, Yuu-chan?” Mikaela inquired with a sweet smile after he took his seat back at the desk.

Yuu stared back at him in an attempt to fully process his words and Mikaela continued, “Don’t tell Yuuichirou this, but I’ve been feeling a bit left out with how comfortable he and my younger self have been lately.”

“Tell me about it..” Yuu sarcastically voiced as he now made his way over to where Mikaela sat.

Without a word, he propped himself up to sit on the older male’s lap before snuggling up closer to his chest, his cheeks only slightly rosy, but threatening to become darker as Mikaela reciprocated his display of affection with a small laugh in such a Mika-like fashion.

He tried to maintain his composure while Mikaela’s hands reached for the book on the desk to tilt over the edge for the two of them to see.

Yuu reconsidered the male’s earlier words.

Mikaela kept his distance due to how Yuu first reacted upon seeing him…

Admittedly, that placed some blame of the misunderstanding on his end and he felt bad about making the older male even think for a second that he didn’t want to be around him.

While Mikaela had been the one apologizing and reassuring him, it honestly should have been Yuu doing that.

He needed to fix that.

“Mikaela?” Yuu spoke up not even after a minute of silence had passed between them.

“Hm?”

Yuu’s green eyes remained on the pages of the book steadily. “I’m really sorry about making you think I disliked you just because you’re a vampire… I mean, we both know I don’t, but I know my first reaction to seeing you may have made it seem like I did the more I think about it…”

He trailed off for a moment, waiting to see if Mikaela would interject after a second or two before he kept going, “I was just surprised and upset. I hadn’t… I hadn’t expected it. I wasn’t upset at you, by the way. I was upset at whichever one of those bastards turned you.” He truthfully murmured.

It was easy to be upfront with him.

It felt as though Yuu were speaking to his own Mika. He wondered if this was how his Mika and his older self were able to get along so well.

Everything just felt natural to them.

“It’s okay, Yuu-chan. You don’t need to apologize.” Mikaela softly reassured him, “Like I told you before, you were in Sanguinem only a couple hours before you saw me. Of course a negative reaction was expected—“

“No, you idiot!” Yuu grunted as he tilted his head up to glare at older male in irritation, “Don’t say that! You should never expect me to treat you like you aren’t…” He paused, now trying to find the correct word without appearing foolish or utterly embarrassing himself.

His gaze fleeted away from the blond, who had been watching back at him in surprise from his outburst.

“Like I said before, you’re always the one going on and on about family. I’m not saying we’re family, because I don’t have one, but if you think that’s what we are, family wouldn’t care about that.” Yuu finished much more lowly than when he started.

Mikaela seemed to catch himself from the initial surprise at Yuu’s words and his expression softened into that of fondness.

One of his hands settled in Yuu’s hair before he began gently petting him, his fingers lacing through the boy’s dark locks gently, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Feeling Mikaela’s hand soothingly rub at his head felt nice, Yuu gradually felt his tense posture become more lax.

The book now forgotten, he leaned found himself leaning into Mikaela’s warm touch, which now increased to both hands playing in his hair and rubbing along the sides of his face.

“Stop apologizing, dummy…” Yuu quietly voiced almost in a sigh at the way he was being handled.

Mikaela gave a small laugh and, ironically enough, another apology, though he kept his hands in Yuu’s hair, now beginning to hum a song. It was one that Yuu was instantly to recognize as one his Mika frequently sang to the younger Hyakuya orphans whenever they woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare of some sort.

It was reassurance that this Mika and his Mika really were one and the same.

Even if they had their differences, at heart the two didn’t change as much as Yuu initially thought they did.

Time had caused this Mika to be a bit more broken than his, but that was okay. He was still Mika.

The two of them sat like that for a while. Yuu wasn’t quite sure how long, but at a point he had nearly dozed off only to wake up to Mikaela’s hands out of his hair and returning to the book on the desk ahead.

He almost let out a childish whine of protest at being pitched aside for a book, but he merely adjusted himself more properly on the blond’s lap and chest.

“Sorry, Yuu-chan. You can keep sleeping, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Mikaela lowly remarked from the moment he spotted the small scowl on the younger boy’s face.

Yuu’s eyes shyly fleeted from the blond’s face in favor of the wall, “I wasn’t sleeping…”

When Mikaela let out a slight laugh and Yuu was able to catch better sight of his fangs from his newfound position near the blond’s neck.

He blinked.

A recollection of the last bit of Mikaela and his older self’s conversation that Yuu managed to hear through the door now began to come back to him.

Yuu stared up at him plainly. “Hey, Mika?” He didn’t realize he addressed him by the ‘wrong’ name until after he paused.

It didn’t matter.

The amount of times his older self did it with the two Mikas was far more than Yuu himself messed up anyways.

When Mikaela glanced down at him inquisitively, Yuu returned his stare, almost cautious to continue, “You get your blood from Yuuichirou, right?”

“Yeah… I do.” Mikaela spoke with a breath of evident reluctance while he returned his attention back to his book.

There was an air of finality in his answer. However, Yuu didn’t really seem to notice it because now all the questions that he never once thought of before were now starting to fall on him all at once.

Mika definitely wasn’t a monster. He was too nice to be like the other vampires that treated humans like nothing more than livestock and killed like they stepping on mere ants.

It only made sense that Yuu would be his source of blood.

He didn’t mind the thought of that at all… It meant he could be of use to Mika somehow.

“You’re thirsty now, aren’t you?” Yuu asked, though it was entirely rhetorical.

From the exchange he heard earlier, Mikaela wasn’t exhausting himself out to the last days of his hunger.

Mikaela gave him a guarded smile, “Yuu-chan, I’m fine.”

“But—“

“I promise you, I’m alright.”

There was that conclusive tone to his voice again, but Yuu refused to let it end.

The young boy sat up more, his green eyes determinedly staring into Mikaela’s red ones, “Yuuichirou said you started pushing your thirst because of me and Mika staying here longer than expected. You don’t have to do that. We don’t care if you have to drink blood. You need it to survive!”

His eyebrows furrowed and though Mikaela looked ready to retort, he continued, “You can drink from me if you want. I don’t care if you do.”

He was forced to have that thick needle stuck into his neck routinely down at Sanguinem to feed vampires he just about hated with every fiber of his being.

Letting Mikaela stick his teeth into his neck probably wouldn’t feel any more pleasurable than that, but if he was helping someone he cared about that was enough for Yuu.

“Oh my God…” Mikaela practically choked out before he burst into a short lived fit of laughter, one of his fists moved to his mouth in an almost pointless effort to contain the laughs erupting from his mouth.

Confused, Yuu glared at him, now adjusting himself on the blond’s lap so their chests would face one another’s, “Why are you laughing!? I’m serious! I once read how starved vampires are usually in a lot of pain! They even go a little crazy sometimes! If you push yourself, you’ll also…” He frowned tightly while the older male shook his head, his laughter coming to an end but the amused smile on his lips refusing to fade.

“I’m sorry for laughing, Yuu-chan. I wasn’t mocking you or anything. I was just… Things with you haven’t changed at all in the past ten years is all. I just found that fact funny.” His hand went to ruffle the male’s black hair but Yuu didn’t bother giving the smiling male the satisfaction of seeing him melt under his hand again.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yuu questioned in irritation all the while fighting the urge to close his eyes and lean into Mikaela’s gentle touch.

Thankfully, the blond pulled back his head with another chuckle, “It means that the Yuu-chan I have the privilege of being able to call my boyfriend is exactly the same as you. You both worry over me a bit too much. I’m fine, alright? I’ve been a vampire for a while and I definitely wouldn’t push my limits with you and Mika around. Have a little bit of faith in me, Yuu-chan.”

“We don’t worry too much!” Yuu hurriedly denied as he felt embarrassment threaten to leave its mark along his cheeks.

He’d thought he was used to the fact that his older counterpart and Mika’s were lovers after having spent so many days around them already. However, hearing Mikaela admit to it so straightforwardly was still strange to him.

“Or at least I don’t. My future self is weird, he probably does. If you’re anything like my Mika, you’re too…” He struggled to find the proper word with dark knitted brows while he allowed his hands to clasp along the sides of his face, “You’re too annoying!”

Mikaela wasn’t the least put off by the childish declaration.

He smiled at him with the same warmness he always did while he allowed his own hands to go over Yuu’s before lowering them from his face, “Calling me annoying is a little mean, don’t you think?”

The expression he flashed him didn’t make Yuu’s scowl go away, though it did make him grumble as against himself, he felt his face heating up once more.

“It’s an understatement. You’re the same as Mika, just taller.” Yuu muttered out stubbornly before hiding his face into Mikaela’s chest.

Yuu inhaled, not at all surprised that Mikaela smelled as good as he did, and he tried not to give any noises of complaint when he felt the blond’s body give small quakes of laughter from below him. However, just as that thought crossed his mind, he felt one of Mikaela’s hand return to playing with his hair.

The twelve year old didn’t bother to fight the small smile that came to his face as he pressed himself closer to the vampire’s chest.

Yeah, he was definitely annoying.

But Yuu liked his brand of annoying.

 “So what’s first on the list, Mika?”

Mika blinked his blue eyes before he brought his gaze to look up at Yuuichirou enquiringly.

The walk there had been mostly uneventful, though at a certain point instead of holding his hand while they walked down the streets of the city, Yuuichirou had lifted Mika to sit on top of his shoulders.

Though his stay in the future had exceeded a week at this point, the blond still loved going outside at whatever chance he got.

Things were still a bit disheveled compared to when he’d last been on the surface in his own timeline four years ago, but according to Yuuichirou everything looked way better than when he had first made it out of Sanguinem.

That story was one that Mika still had yet to fully hear and so it was a whole other can of worms entirely.

He tried to focus his thoughts on how despite the fact that humanity was still slowly, but surely reclaiming lands back from the monsters and vampires beyond the ever expanding walls that covered more than ten cities now.

When they made it to the grocery store Yuuichirou had taken him down from his shoulders, Mika was honestly astounded with how tall Yuu was set to become in the future, and grabbed a shopping cart before dashing through the aisles with Mika at his heels.

The young adult slowed his steps as they trekked further into the utensils aisle.

“Ah! You said we needed more milk, cheese, potatoes, onions, some bread… Hm…” Mika counted off on all five of his fingers as he tried to recall the earlier conversation between them, “Oh! Oh! Also canned beans!”

At his words, Yuuichirou laughed, his arms leisurely resting on the shopping cart’s handle while he continued pushing it ahead, “Well, that’s the boring stuff. We’ll deal with those later. I meant, what’s first on the list for what you actually want?”

Confused, the twelve year old’s head tilted to the side questioningly before what he meant suddenly clicked within his brain.

His eyes grew a bit wide, “What I want? Oh, I don’t really want anything…”

“Lies, lies, lies!” Yuuichirou exclaimed, though the teasing tone was all too evident. As they went past an older woman that seemed to be inspecting two kettles, Yuuichirou said, “I remember you used to talk about how much you liked ice cream when we were younger… Hm… What flavor do you want?”

Mika sheepishly scratched his cheek as the older male made a sharp turn to the left, bypassing three aisles entirely.

It was weird how things changed entirely overnight.

Two weeks ago he had been in Sanguinem…

He had to give up something of his in order to receive what he wanted.

Using the blood within his body as a way to get higher quality goods for his family was just about the only way he could be treated to something above the nutritional rations they were given.

Since arriving in the future, everything was pretty much handed to him for free.

Mika definitely wouldn’t classify that as a bad thing, but the sudden change was still taking a bit of time to get over.

Under normal circumstances, he supposed he would have had some sort of doubt or suspicions at the excess amount of kindness and hospitality shown to him and Yuu, but considering the fact it was literally their older selves, he knew he had nothing to worry about.

The love they were being showered with was unconditional. That much Mika had confidence in.  

Although he originally had some qualms about his future counterpart given the fact he was a vampire, those doubts all immediately changed at about the fourth day.

It had only taken one moment. A moment when Mika walked into the kitchen with an empty cup he had finished drinking juice from so he could wash it, but Mikaela had already been doing the dishes at the time while Yuuichirou lingered, sitting on the countertop speaking to him. Mika couldn’t remember the specifics of their conversation, but he could definitely remember how his future counterpart had been openly looking on at Yuuichirou while he spoke with nothing but pure love.

Mika didn’t know much about romance was besides what he read in story books since his time in the orphanage. He was sure his parents loved one another, but from what he could recall about their relationship prior to his mom’s entrance into the cult and his dad’s alcohol binges were blurred.

But the way Mikaela’s crimson eyes so amorously regarded Yuuichirou as though he were a blind man graced with the sight of the Sun for the first time gave Mika nothing but reassurance that no matter how many years went by, vampire or not, Mikaela’s love for Yuuichirou was practically something out of a fairytale.

There was no way he would ever hurt Yuuichirou or Yuu.

“Yuu-chan likes chocolate… So let’s get that…” Mika mused out thoughtfully.

The two made their way to the freezer aisle and the petite blond found himself bringing his steps closer to Yuuichirou while the male slowly wheeled the cart down the corridor.

Yuuichirou clicked his tongue, “Forget about me, him, whatever. I asked what flavor you wanted, Mika.” There wasn’t exactly irritation in his tone, but there was something of close relation to it.

As they came upon the area that held the different kinds of ice cream, Mika allowed his cold fingers to curl beneath the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt, “I don’t really care what flavor we get! So getting what Yuu-chan likes is—“

“Nope. Trust me, Yuu-chan doesn’t care about what flavor we get either.” Yuuichirou intervened while walking closer to the display while he overlooked the different tubs, “Since you want to keep playing this game, I guess I have no choice but to buy every flavor here.”

“Huh!?”

“Mikaela will probably kill me, but hey, one of these has to be your favorite, right?” He whistled before reaching in to grab the containers of matcha, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, and caramel ice cream before dropping them in the cart casually.

Mika stared at him in disbelief, “You’re buying all of those!?”

“Yup. So what’s next? Do you want chips and cookies? Maybe some tiny cakes or donuts or something?”

The blond felt his eyes widen as he rushed to catch up to the dark haired male that continued pushing the shopping cart to get out of the aisle.

Sure to his word, Yuuichirou made his way to the small bakery corner of the store all the while Mika hesitantly looked between him and the container of cookies that Yuuichirou was skeptically eyeing.

As much as he wanted to protest, there was that childish part of him that did want the cookies.

Still, he promised his older self he wouldn’t let something like this happen.

Mika was a boy of his word.

“Yuuichirou, Mikaela said we have to be food, not just junk.” He sighed while grabbing hold of the male’s free hand and shaking it a bit.

Without even sparing him a glance, Yuuichirou raised his hand that Mika held before rubbing the palm of it in the blond’s face, which easily resulted in Mika’s cry of protest, “Hey!”

Yuuichirou’s hand moved beneath his neck and the young boy immediately squeaked in surprise sensitively, already recognizing what he planned to do.

“No tickling!” He exclaimed with half fear and half exasperation before he grabbed Yuuichirou’s wrist with both of his hands in an effort to remove the offending hand from his neck.

A woman who looked about Yuuichirou’s age walked into the bakery section. Hearing Mika’s words made her curiously glance up from the muffins she was placing into her cart and when she saw the display between the two males, she giggled a bit prior to returning to her own shopping.

“Mika… Chocolate chip or sugar? Or both? I think we should get both.” His lack of regard and casual way of speaking made the boy sputter.

“You’re exactly like Yuu-chan! Do you purposefully ignore what I say or what!?”

At that, Yuuichirou let out a laugh of amusement and Mika pouted up at him.

The young adult ruffled his hair affectionately, a blindingly warm smile on his lips that made Mika’s cheeks flush a bit. Yuuichirou’s smile didn’t fade as he stooped down to get eye level with him, “You realize that I already know about all that you used to do for us back in Sanguinem, right?”

Unprepared for the abrupt question, Mika’s eyes averted, “I figured that since we first got here… You won’t say how Mikaela turned into a vampire, but I’m sure Lord Ferid was the cause because our blood deal somehow…”

Yuuichirou’s hand went under his chin gently and Mika found his gaze returning to the older male’s timidly as he spoke back in a low tone, “I’m not going to tell you if you’re wrong or right with that assumption, but the point is that I’m returning the gesture to you now. I know these petty snacks don’t account for all the good meals you managed to get us back in Sanguinem after you literally gave up portions of your own blood routinely to that bastard, but you deserve whatever I buy for you and more, Mika. You spent four years trying to keep all of us in that gloomy city happy and content at the risk of your own wellbeing. Be fair and let me try to spoil you with what you want, at least just this once, please?”

His words stunned the blond completely speechless.

He stared back at Yuuichirou silently as the older male grinned a bit wider while one of his hands made it to the side of Mika’s head to rub at gently, “Sound good to you?”

Realizing he was expecting an actual response, Mika nodded, an overwhelming burst of emotions flooding into his heart all at once as he attempted to return the smile Yuuichirou gave him.

“Y-Yeah…”

It had been about four years since he took on the role of a surrogate adult.

Both he and Yuu were pretty much forced to take on the position to ensure their family stayed together and safe.

Mika thought adjusting to being cared for the past several days would be easy enough since he trusted their older counterparts with just about his life, it helped that their lives were pretty much one and the same anyways, but apparently he still had to loosen up in some areas.

“Great!” Yuuichirou cheerfully exclaimed and Mika’s blue eyes went wide as he suddenly found himself being picked up from beneath his arms. His feet lost contact with the floor while Yuuichirou effortlessly deposited him into the shopping cart.

He immediately got to his knees, his hands gripping the front part of the metallic cart before he sent the dark haired male a look of confusion, “What’s this now…?” He reluctantly asked as his companion placed two containers of cookies into the cart.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like sitting in the cart? I’ll try to push you fast.” Yuuichirou glanced over at him in mild surprise after he began moving the cart once more.

Oh…

Oh!

Mika’s expression instantly lit up in realization. Though he never got to ride in a shopping cart when he was with his parents nor those rare occasions he got to go to the grocery store with the director from the orphanage, he often saw other kids doing so with their own families.

It had always looked fun.

“Go as fast as you can!”

“Nah, don’t think you can handle that level of speed! But I’ll go close to it!” Yuuichirou smirked mischievously before he started sprinting down the dairy aisle, very nearly running over a young girl that had to be pulled out the way by her grandmother.

Despite that, Mika couldn’t contain his laughter while they blazed ahead.

By the time they made it to the register, their cart consisted entirely of junk and probably just one hand of bananas—that hadn’t even been on their original list, Mika had no idea how it even got into the cart.

Though the twelve year old had been a bit confused on how they were going to manage to carry everything home, Yuuichirou proved himself to be way more resourceful than Mika would ever think his own Yuu to be and gathered everything into enough bags that he could hold with a few degrees of concentrated effort.

The young blond tried as he could to share the load too.

Their walk back to the apartment was one that Mika was happy to say that after the amount of times he and Yuuichirou had gone out, he could remember the way back.

He’d actually been trying to commit it to memory since the first time Yuuichirou took him and Yuu out.

After all, there was no telling if an emergency would spring up or something.

What if he ended up getting lost? Telling the authorities or anyone else capable of helping him was out of the question considering it ran the risk of them discovering he was here due to forbidden spellcraft.

Not that Mika could actually see himself getting lost.

If he and Yuuichirou weren’t holding hands, Mika’s steps beside him were magnetically close, they nearly brushed fabrics from their clothing.

There was just something about Yuuichirou that made Mika gravitate to him.

Mika honestly wasn’t sure how to describe it.

It was the same sort of pull he felt to Yuu, except since Yuuichirou was older, it seemed like his compelling force was stronger.

He shared so similarities with Mika’s Yuu. Appearance was a blatant likeness for sure and though he was more willing to smile and display his positive emotions without feeling embarrassment right after, he still the oblivious, walking piece of sunshine that Mika loved so much.

Ten years didn’t change any of that and he couldn’t have been happier about it.

Yuuichirou took to his presence just as positively and unlike his Yuu, he was so eager to call him family as well as reciprocate all of Mika’s physical displays of affection.

Yuuichirou was literally like some dream version of Yuu.

Mika wasn’t surprised that his older self was so smitten with him.

On the thought of his future self, the blond supposed it was really ironic how he didn’t spend even half as much time around him as he did with Yuuichirou…

Even though Mikaela was obviously a safe and stable vampire to be around, Mika still didn’t feel entirely too comfortable about being around him.

His reason was cowardly, but he couldn’t help it.

There was just something about him that made him so nervous.

The way he carried himself and the way his face seemed to harden when neither Yuu nor Yuuichirou were within his immediate presence signaled that the ten years between the two of their existences hadn’t exactly been kind to him.

The world treated him cruelly, in more ways than just turning him into a vampire.

Mika was certain about that.

And with that thought in mind, it actually terrified him to think that if he and Yuu were following the same timeline that Mikaela and Yuuichirou did, everything that occurred to his older self was just waiting through the seams of time to hit him in the exact same way.

He wasn’t ready for any of that at all.

Being around Yuuichirou quelled that anxiety of the future though.

So, Mika would just push all of that to the side in favor of being able to be as close to the older male as he could.

“Alright, so what are we going to tell Mikaela when we head in?” Yuuichirou broke the light silence between them as they now neared the apartment complex.

From behind his brown paper bag, Mika blinked. “That you have zero self-control and as a child I had absolutely no control over your actions?”

“Hey, hey! Don’t toss me under the bus!” Yuuichirou whined with a helpless look down at the blond, who laughed in response.

“I mean… You can always lie and tell him that the store ran out of everything except this stuff, so we only ended up taking what we could get.”

“That sounds decent. You’re him… Tell me, would you believe it?”

“No, of course not. And I’m 12. Mikaela’s got ten more years of knowledge on him so he’ll definitely know.” He retorted back with an expression that practically screamed ‘Seriously, Yuuichirou?’ he shook his head with a sigh while they began going up the stairs, “I like to think that I have a sensor in my brain that tells me whenever Yuu-chan does something unbelievably stupid. Mikaela’s sensor has probably been beeping off since you first put those five tubs of ice cream into the cart!”

Yuuichirou snorted. “I got them for you! The least you can do is back me up!”

“I don’t want to fight in a battle where we’ll be destined to lose though.” The young boy easily retorted as the two now neared their door.

It was kind of sad how Mika was beginning to think of this place as home.

Though technically it was his home, just not yet, he knew that he shouldn’t be thinking of it like that. After all, soon Yuuichirou would find the right spell and he and Yuu would be back in Sanguinem like they were supposed to be…

After Yuuichirou struggled to get his key out of his pocket and into the doorknob, he pushed the door open allowing for Mika to rush in first.

“Yuu-chan! We’re back!” He cheerfully announced while he took himself into the kitchen to put down his bag of groceries to the countertop.

Yuuichirou soon followed behind him with a heavy breath of relief when he finally got to rest the abundant amount of items down.

When there wasn’t an immediate reply or sign of the younger Yuu, Mika blinked his eyes before skipping out the kitchen and heading to the master bedroom in search of his usual companion.

“Yuu-chan?” He inquired curiously while peeking in though he was quick to discover that the boy in question wasn’t in there.

Mika directed his attention to the study room next, cracking open the door without much restraint.

The moment he fully opened the doorway he came upon the sight of Yuu seated in between his older self’s legs, close up to his chest on the floor and braced up against the wall facing opposite to the door. The two of them both held a bright covered book in their hands though Mikaela appeared to be pointing at something on one of the pages.

There was a split second prior to Mika fully entering that he had been able to see how content the pair had appeared together.

It nearly took him by surprise.

His mouth formed into an ‘o’ before it was replaced with a grin.

“Oh, Mika! You guys are back already?” Yuu inquired while the book he and Mikaela held was lowered to the twelve year old’s lap.

Yuu leaned forward from his position so close to the vampire’s chest with his green eyes so bright with curiosity whereas Mikaela seemed to straighten himself up more, his own piercing red eyes watching at Mika readily.

They clearly looked comfortable. Just about as comfortable as he and Yuuichirou had become in the passing days.

So it took about ten days for his future self to break against Yuu’s charm.

That was way longer than Mika would have otherwise expected, but then again he didn’t know the full extent to the older blond’s obvious self-deprecating manner.

 “Yes! We got lots of snacks too!” Mika beamed innocently with his hands going behind his back, “Come help Yuuichirou and I pack them away!”

At the word ‘snacks’ Yuu was already springing up from his spot against Mikaela. “Good! I was getting hungry!” He turned to Mikaela with a firm look in his eyes before he more sternly commanded, “Don’t forget to go to Yuuichirou and drink.”

Mika blinked while Mikaela cracked a smile up at him. “Aren’t I supposed to be the parent here?”

“No, because you’re so annoying you’ll sooner ask me and Mika if we’ve wiped ourselves properly before even thinking of your own health.” Yuu bluntly voiced, his steps now approaching the younger blond before he walked past him and out the room.

As he made it out of earshot, Mikaela began picking himself up from off the floor with the yellow novel in hand.

The remaining preteen in the room sent a smile over to his older counterpart. “You finally opened up to him! Ah, I was waiting on that!”

Mikaela gazed over at him silently with a near sheepish expression while Mika scratched his cheek with a small laugh, “We both know how much we like him. I knew there was no way you’d be avoiding him to be purposefully cruel or anything!”

“You say that, but we both know it was a very stupid thing for me to do…” Mikaela almost hesitantly replied before sighing as one of his hands ran through his hair, “He’s not as straightforward with his feelings at that age. I kept thinking he was bold as my Yuu so my distance hadn’t affected him much at all. I didn’t even consider how he only recently got mistreated by his parents and how he might have thought—“

“It’s okay!” Mika quickly intervened, earning a look of near surprise from his elder self from the abrupt exclamation, “All he wanted was to make sure you liked him! You do and you’ve just got to keep proving it to him! Don’t burden yourself more than necessary!” He paused for a second, a small smile coming to his lips that he wasn’t too sure matched his eyes, “I think we have a bad habit of doing that, don’t we?”

The older blond paused, a similar expression appearing on his face while he nodded with a slight laugh, “Yeah, unfortunately, we do…”

Having a conversation like this felt eerie in a way, but it was also satisfying to be able to give a form of advice to his older and supposedly wiser self.

Brightening up, Mika started to turn out the door, “Come help us pack up the groceries! Yuuichirou bought no proper food, only junk! I want to see him get scolded by you!” He practically sang out with a mischievous air about himself while he set his sights back to the kitchen.

Quite possibly using his vampire speed, Mikaela blazed past Mika way faster than the young boy ever could have anticipated.

Mika immediately knew when he made it into the kitchen when he let out a loud, and entirely exasperated, “Yuu-chan!”

“… Yes?”

“No, not you, Yuu-chan. I’m talking about the older, irresponsible, hardheaded, soon to be a single man Yuu-chan.”

“Whoa, what did I do!?”

“Exactly what I told you not to do! For Christ’s sake, did you buy anything we can actually cook for these kids!?”

“Well—“

“No, Yuu-chan. The answer to that is no. Don’t even try to go around it.”

“Okay, I admit what I did may not have been the most responsible decision, but it certainly did not deserve the threat of you breaking up with me. There are some lines we aren’t supposed to cross when we’re mad at each other, Mika. That’s one of them.”

 On the twelfth day of them still being in the future when Yuuichirou offered to take them to the park, Mika honestly felt so excited.

According to him, there was a giant playground there that you could sometimes even catch people his age goofing off on.

He claimed that typically around sunrise or sunset were the best times to go. The Sun wasn’t so hot that the metal materials that a person played around on scorched their skin, which Mika was familiar with from back at his days in the orphanage.

There were more than a couple instances of the younger orphans coming to him in tears after having worn shorts or a short sleeved top and ending up being burned just from going down a slide or touching the chain links of a swing set.

After receiving those two times Mika insisted on them going at sunset.

He knew Yuu wouldn’t be bothered to wake up before sunrise just to go to a playground. They’d both be too tired anyways.

Not only had Yuu agreed to go, but Mikaela did as well.

The vampire and Yuu ended up sticking together like glue overnight.

Mika wasn’t sure what exactly happened when the two reconciled while he and Yuuichirou were at the grocery store the other day, but whatever it was had Yuu following the blond vampire around the apartment like an ownerless puppy.

He had remarked on it teasingly when he and Yuu were getting into bed together only yesterday night and Yuu heated up in embarrassment while irritably stating, “The only puppy here is you! Don’t act like you don’t have some kind of crush on Yuuichirou!”

It’d be a peculiar accusation that actually stunned Mika for a fraction of a second.

Though he quickly played it off while wrestling himself onto Yuu to give him a hug before reassuring the dark haired boy that the only person he had a crush on was him.

Yuu, very predictably, didn’t take too pleasantly to his teasing.

It had been adorable.

The hours leading to sunset actually went by fast.

Yuuichirou managed to pull out a deck of card for the four of them to play and Yuu had been positively ecstatic while he babbled on about beating everyone.

Crazy Eights was a game they were familiar with playing when they had acquired cards back in Sanguinem.

Their older selves seemed to have forgotten how to play, but Yuu and Mika had both been incredibly enthusiastic to reteach them.

Though given the impish grins Yuuichirou flashed Mikaela while Mika hovered near him carefully explaining the rules of the game and the fact Mikaela shared a similar, but more subtle sort of smile on his lips from his spot across from them where Yuu was practically on his lap going over the rules more personally with him as well, Mika suspected the two of them both remembered fully well how to play.

Adults were strange.

Nonetheless, Yuuichirou nodded off at everything Mika told him with a hand to his chin thoughtfully while he processed the information before the game was allowed to commence.

The first round saw a swift victory for Mika that Yuuichirou immediately praised and Yuu flatly denounced him off as just being lucky.

When they played for a second round, Yuu came out victorious and that was Mikaela’s cue to applaud him. To make Yuu’s ego even bigger, both Yuuichirou and Mika joined in the ‘celebration’ for the petty win that Yuu took to with a childish amount of pride.

Yuuichirou claimed he was only so happy for him because Yuu winning was technically a win for him since they were the same person.

Mikaela then insisted a second-hand win might as well be a loss.

The two began their usual light hearted bickering while Yuu and Mika set up to play again.

After that, they switched up the games they played.

All of them, Yuuichirou and Mikaela both had ‘no idea’ how to play and were stuck with Mika and Yuu teaching them respectively.

Honestly, when they said they didn’t know how to play Go Fish Mika immediately knew they were just saying putting up an act to make them feel smarter or something.

Given how Yuu’s enthusiasm in having a chance to teach Mikaela something new never once seemed to fade, Mika was positive that Yuu was a bit oblivious to the matter.

When they tired of card games, they ate, with Mikaela giving into another rant about how Yuuichirou needed to go back to the store for actual food and not sugary garbage, and then the four of them all settled on the couch for a bit.

Mika’s mind had been entirely set on going to the park and he was pleased to see that Yuu’s mind was on the same wavelength as the moment Yuuichirou gazed at the time and then shot a look out of the window and claimed, “I think we should get going now.” Yuu was the first one to spring up and rush to the front door.

His zeal was met with a light scolding from Mikaela who insisted he wasn’t going out in the clothes he’d been wearing in the house all day because outside would get much colder as the sun went down.

It was actually hilarious to see how concern for Yuu’s wellbeing turned into something that bordered being described as motherly.

God knew if Mika didn’t take care of Yuu, the boy wouldn’t do it himself.

Ten years and vampirism certainly didn’t change that either.

“Mikaela! Mikaela! Mikaela!” Yuu grinned up at the as the four of them walked along the sidewalk.

Yuu often criticized Mika as being the more noisy one of the two, but man, the past few days since he and Mikaela opened up to one another did Yuu get loud.

Mika was situated between Yuuichirou and Yuu while Mikaela was at the end of Yuu’s other side, leaving the two twelve year old’s in the middle of the small lineup. Yuuichirou held the blond’s left hand in his right while Mikaela had a grasp on Yuu’s right hand with his left.

Given their positions, Yuu really had no need to project his voice at such a high volume.

“Yes, Yuu-chan?” Mikaela gently smiled down at the dark haired boy that practically bounced under his gaze.

“You’ll push me when we’re on the swings, right!?”

“If you want me to, of course.”

“You have to use all your strength so I go up super high!”

“I’ll use every muscle in my arms.”

“Hey, I’m not joking! I’m serious!”

“So am I?”

Yuu squinted up at him suspiciously while Mika leaned over to bump shoulders with him, “Hopefully you’re joking. If Mikaela used all his strength to push you on the swing, he’d probably crush every bone in your body, Yuu-chan.”

Yuuichirou snickered and Mikaela let out a small sigh as Yuu turned to give Mika a heated glare of irritation, “I don’t recall anyone inviting you into this conversation, Mika!” He tried to bump him back, but the blond quickly took a couple steps back to evade his retaliation.

The light haired preteen smiled innocently, “You were technically talking to me, weren’t you?”

“No, he was talking to Mikaela.” Yuuichirou came to his younger self’s defense while he placed a hand on Mika’s head calmingly.

Mika’s lips gave into a slight pout at the fact Yuuichirou hadn’t taken his side, though Mikaela smoothly took an opportunity to state, “Yes, and we are both Mikaela. You just proved his point. Use your brain, Yuu-chan.” He stared over at the other young adult in mild amusement before shrugging, “Time travel is odd. Let’s not argue about it.”

“Okay, but just know that if this was an argument, Yuu and I totally would have won.”

“Yes!”

“Shut up, Yuu-chan.”

“Yuuichirou, no.”

The remaining walk to the park had been filled with light hearted chatter mostly instigated by both Mika and Yuu to each other’s older counterpart respectively.

When they finally made it there, Mika couldn’t help but instigate Yuu into a quick race over to the swing sets.

True to Yuuichirou’s word, the place was definitely bigger than any park Mika had been to before.

There were at least eight different available swings.

His brief distraction in taking in the sights around him that were now becoming tinted with a variety of warm, orange colors due to the Sun beginning to touch the western horizon caused the blond to be entirely disadvantaged in his short race against Yuu that now pulled a lead over him.

“I’m going to win!”

“Nooo!” Mika laughed in between his pants for breath while he continued running.

Yuuichirou watched the two kids take off toward the playground with nothing but amusement and general positive emotions in his system.

Since the both of them came to his timeline he often felt this way.

It was like a twisted nostalgic-like feeling in a way.

Beside him, Mikaela let out a breath, “I honestly can’t believe we used to be that cute.” There was a smile to his face as he now began following after them, albeit in a calmer manner.

Yuuichirou followed beside him with a laugh, “I can! You always looked like a cute little cherub, honestly. But I never realized how much I resembled a puppy.”

He couldn’t remember the last time he actually came to this park.

It must have been sometime over a year ago when he and Mikaela were just walking around with one another to relax outside of their apartment.

“You still do.” The blond remarked airily as though it was obvious before he reached over for Yuuichirou’s hand in order to intertwine their fingers, “You honestly need a mirror for those moments where I deny you a kiss. The puppy dog pout you do is honestly impressive.”

“Not impressive enough to get my cheated kisses back though.” Yuuichirou muttered in disdain with a slight glare down at his boyfriend that laughed in clear mirth.

Up ahead his green eyes caught sight of Mika and Yuu already on the swings, though only Mika was on one while Yuu shook the chain links to it in what appeared to be frustration.

There were other people still at the park, unsurprisingly. Other kids with their family or friends on the expansive playground and other older people walking the trails of the park getting exercise done.

“Don’t act like you don’t cheat me out of kisses too sometimes.” Mikaela wryly retorted with a half lidded stare up at him.

Yuuichirou clicked his tongue, his steps now coming to a pause while he seriously watched down at his companion, “I admit I can be a tease at times, but sometimes the shit you do is downright cruel. Remember that one time like two months ago after we finished watching that movie Shinoa let us borrow how you threw yourself onto me and you even started ripping off my clothes—thanks to your strength that tank top is no longer with us by the way, and then right before you started taking off my boxers you got up and left me there.”

“We’re talking kisses here. Anything beyond that has no relevance to the conversation.” The blond quickly countered as he turned his attention away.

“The hell it doesn’t, jerk.” He couldn’t help the bitterness from seeping into his tone and he had to bump into Mikaela’s shoulder when the male evidently found some sick amusement in Yuuichirou’s disdain on the topic, “You’re such an ass. You get pleasure out of seeing me squirm, don’t you?”

Mikaela chuckled lightly, bringing up their intertwined hands before planting a short kiss on Yuuichirou’s, “We’ve been together for over half a decade, Yuu-chan. I thought you’d have realized that by now.”

Yuuichirou’s shook his head, his eyes meeting with the shorter male’s briefly, “Yeah, yeah. You’re lucky I don’t judge.”

As the shorter of the two took a step forward to continue walking over to the swings, an idea spontaneously appeared in the thick of the dark haired male’s mind.

He grinned widely while removing his hand from Mikaela’s and when he received a quizzical look from him, Yuuichirou began sprinting forward, not even bothering to turn around as he voiced out, “I’ll race you to the swings! Loser owes the winner a favor!”

Given the fact that Mikaela had nothing but the utmost absolute advantage given his vampire strength it was an obligation that Yuuichirou gave himself a head start of some sort before announcing it out.

“You’re just giving me a free favor, aren’t you?” Mikaela smirked as he ran up to Yuuichirou’s side in just about half a second.

He didn’t reply to him, however when he saw the blond beginning to quicken his pace, Yuuichirou reached out to grab one of his arms.

Of course, given his strength that little trick didn’t do anything to particularly stop him, but it was enough to slow the vampire down a bit as he laughed out Yuu’s name in protest.

Yuuichirou held onto him, struggling to keep up with his run before hopping on the male’s back, “I’m not losing to you!” He declared in between his laughter, not at all caring if they were making a scene in the slowly darkening park.

Even with Yuuichirou now clinging to his back, Mikaela continued his sprint towards the swing sets. From the moment they made it to the large sanded box the swings were in, Yuuichirou hopped off his back before racing to one of the empty swings to sit.

“I win, Mika! You owe me a favor now!” Yuuichirou sang out proudly, however Mikaela said nothing. Instead, the blond settled himself to sitting on Yuuichirou’s lap.

A passive aggressive smile made its way to the vampire’s lips while one of his arms wrapped around the male’s back to stabilize his balance, “You really have a thing for second-hand winning, don’t you?”

“There was NOTHING second-hand about that win!”

“You owe me two favors for riding me like some sort of city bus and for actually claiming that as a victory of yours.” Mikaela stubbornly stated.

At this, Yuuichirou smirked cockily up at him, his face going at the male’s neck to kiss at the exposed skin there fleetingly, “Well, I could always return the favor of one of those. Though I don’t think I’d be riding you ‘like a city bus’ when I do.”

Mikaela snorted, his hand moving to push at Yuuichirou’s offending face to prevent him from delivering more kisses. Yuuichirou immediately let out a small whine of protest though Mika hushed him, “Smooth one. Though I admit my wording left a real good opportunity for that.” His eyes glanced away from Yuuichirou’s in favor of the other swing sets near them.

Yuuichirou followed his gaze and felt himself flush a bit at the fact Mika and Yuu were evidently observing the two of them curiously from the swings they sat at.

“We have to keep this child appropriate. No scarring little Yuu-chan.” Mikaela teased with a small laugh before getting up from his lap in order to approach their younger counterparts.

“He’ll remain pure well into his late teen years, trust me.” Yuuichirou snorted as he followed behind him, his sights already set to the twelve year old Mika that expectedly watched at him with a growing smile with each step closer he took.

Unable to help himself at all, Yuuichirou found his expression mirroring the young blond’s. “Want me to push you?” He asked though he were already making his way behind him.

Similarly, Mikaela had already begun pushing Yuu on the swing and the dark haired boy’s cries for him to help him go higher were floating within the background noise of Yuuichirou’s mind.

Mika nodded his head eagerly. “I know you won’t kill me by pushing too hard, so feel free to not hold back!”

Yuuichirou gave him a gentle push forward, briefly catching him as the swing brought him back and repeating the action with a little more force the second time, “I may not be as physically strong as a vampire yet, but I’m getting there.” He assured the blond before repeating the process again.

“Vampires are seven times stronger than humans! Are you six times stronger than the average human!?” Mika asked in between his laughs of excitement as the swings brought him further into the air.

As a result, Yuuichirou had to take a few steps backward in order to properly catch his back and maintain his swinging rhythms.

“Good question!” He grinned as Mika’s swing brought him backward again and the boy’s pale legs pumped as a way to maintain momentum, “I like to think that I’m about 5.5 times stronger than the typical guy.”

Mika clearly saw through his lie and let out another onslaught of light hearted laughs that honestly made Yuuichirou’s mood grow that much more.

Hearing that kind of laughter from Mika had been lost ten years ago from their attempted escape from Sanguinem.

These past twelve days he’d been hearing it daily and each time he did, it never failed to put a smile on his face.

Mikaela and Yuu appeared to be having just about the same amount of fun on their end of things, though Yuu was recklessly insisting the vampire stop holding back his strength for the sake of the young boy going as high as possible on the swing.

In the back of his mind he could hear Mikaela attempting to explain to the preteen that if he did that it would be incredibly dangerous and borderline suicidal on Yuu’s end, but the boy still tried persuading him to do it.

When the two young boys grew tired of the swings, they took to the other parts of the playground. By that time the sun had disappeared entirely and the only source light were the lampposts posted around the park.

The other civilians had long left around the same time as the sun and Mikaela and Yuuichirou both settled themselves on the swings while their counterparts burned themselves out.

It took about two hours for that happen and when it did, Yuuichirou had absolutely no qualms about carrying an exhausted Mika on his back all the way back to their apartment.

He was positive Mikaela felt the same way about carrying Yuu.

“I feel like we’ve become their parents.” Mikaela admitted after Yuuichirou opened the front door to their home.

About halfway through their journey back Mika had grown silent, apparently falling asleep. It had only taken Yuu about two minutes to do the same on Mikaela’s end.

“Well, they do look exactly like us.” Yuuichirou tried to support his reasoning though all he earned was an eye roll.

The two began making their way to the master bedroom, the room once reserved for them that they gave to the younger pair in an attempt to be more comfortable the past two weeks. They both settled on the pull out bed that their couch had because although their bed was probably large enough to hold the four of them, they didn’t want to ‘impose’ on them as weird as it sounded.

Mikaela carefully moved place Yuu on one end of the bed while Yuuichirou did the same with Mika, though he did end up getting a small groan from the blond as he placed him near the center of the bed.

A silencing finger came to Mikaela’s lips before he gestured for the two of them to exit the room.

The two gradually shut the door from behind them and after that was done, Yuuichirou released a heavy breath while Mikaela sighed, “I can’t believe they’re sleeping in those clothes they rolled around in the park with. If they weren’t so cute, I’d throw them in the bathtub while they slept.”

“Geez, you weren’t lying when you said you felt like a parent. Baby fever starting to hit?” Yuuichirou questioned his boyfriend with a smile.

Mikaela rolled his eyes, “No, not yet at least.” He reached for Yuuichirou’s hand and gently rubbed his thumb along the other’s skin with a short sigh, “I’ve noticed the past couple days you stopped talking about finding them a way back home soon… Please don’t tell me you’re giving up the search.”

Both males began walking over to their couch before sitting down beside one another.

Yuuichirou was silent and also a bit surprised at the fact Mika had been able to pick up on that.

Truthfully, he did put a pause on his searching through the spell books.

Not out of bad intentions or anything though…

“Do we really have to send them back?” Yuuichirou settled on questioning while sending a longing look in the direction of the master bedroom door, “I’ll end up finding the spell to take them back eventually, but… A part of me kind of doesn’t want to anymore.”

Mikaela shared the same expression even as he glanced over at his boyfriend, “You know we can’t. Even if we’re not messing up our timeline, there’s another version of us that we’re probably screwing over just by keeping them here this long.”

Even with his sensible words, Yuuichirou sighed heavily and leaned his head down to rest on one of Mikaela’s shoulders, “But I mean… They’re so cute… Can’t we just… Keep them forever?” He proposed half-heartedly though he already knew what answer he’d receive.

“They’re kids, Yuu-chan, not puppies.” The blond sighed heavily with his arms folding over his chest.

“I know, but… You saw how they looked when they asked us to carry them! Very puppy-like! And don’t even lie, you love little Yuuichirou a tiny bit more than you love me.”

His teasing made Mikaela open his mouth to retort, clearly annoyed at his suggestion, but just as quickly as he opened his mouth, he closed it. A slight flush of pinks made it to his face while he attempted to remove Yuuichirou’s head from his shoulder, “Point taken, but we are not keeping them.”

Yuuichirou snickered at the blond’s firm and oh-so serious way of speaking. He tilted his head a bit in order to plant a kiss on the vampire’s chin, “Killjoy," he paused for moment before continuing, “I’ll keep looking tomorrow. They’ll get back to their own timelines soon.”

With that promise in mind, the two fell into a more peaceful state for the night, not unlike their sleeping counterparts a room away.