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Yuuichirou / "Yuu" | Mikaela / "Mika"

"I don't see why we have to do this," Mika's disgruntled voice sounded from somewhere behind Yuu. The vampire certainly didn't sound like he wanted to be there--but the sun was soon to slip over the horizon, and Yuu knew that it wasn't physical discomfort that was plaguing his friend.

"We don't 'have' to," Yuu countered gently, shifting his grip on the bag in his hands. It made him a little bit sick to his stomach to look at for too long--the meat inside was so fresh, it was like it was still oozing blood. "But it's a nice thing to do."

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Mika eyed the bloody steak with some air of hunger in his eyes, before rolling them and looking off at the tree-lined horizon. Since they ran away from the army and moved out to such a tiny village, Mika had had to grow used to a different sort of lifestyle. It was one he adapted to slowly, but loved deeply with each passing day of peace and quiet with the boy he loved. Slower to adjust had been the residents of the village, to his red eyes and pointed fangs. 'He was a human once,' Yuu had told them, pleaded with them to understand. 'He won't harm anyone. Won't harm any animals. He only drinks from me.'

The stares of the other residents had made Mika's skin crawl. For Yuu to reveal such an intimate fact in front of so many people... but at the same time, they'd believed him quite quickly after that.

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He hadn't realized he'd stopped. Mika blinked back into awareness when Yuu called his name, and he looked over at the other boy, Mika's eyes flickering as they took in the sight of an orange glow haloing Yuu's dark locks of hair. His heart softened with love, for a few moments, and he closed the gap that had grown between them. "Sorry for my sourness," he murmured, and Yuu's brows raised, surprised at the change.

"No problem, Mika," Yuu whispered back, his voice gentle as he placed a hand on the vampire's shoulder. He was quiet for a moment, then cringed, looking at the bag of meat in his other hand. "This would be a lot nicer of a walk if I wasn't holding raw meat. Why d'you suppose we need it, anyway?"

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Mika's nose wrinkled--not out of disgust, but because he was trying to smell the air around the meat. Yuu noticed, and cocked a bemused smile. "Well, you heard the woman," Mika mused. "This lost baby chick of hers only eats meat. Weird as it is, that's what she'd said."

Yuu had taken the job when they'd accidentally run into the lady farmer while the two were out shopping for groceries. It had been an automatic accepting of the task, and the way the woman's face lit up, Mika could've sworn Yuu had just promised her endless treasures.

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Mika supposed, in a way, that was nice. It was nice seeing other people happy about their presence. But humans were rotten--not all of them, Yuu's voice echoed in his head, admonishing--so many of them only wanted you for as long as you were useful to them.

He was selfish. He knew he was. Mika wanted to go back home with Yuu and cook the stew they'd been planning--Mika didn't eat it, himself, but he loved making things with Yuu. Loved spending the alone time with him that they were so deprived of by the war. Yuu, loving thing that he was, seemed to carry himself as if no time had been lost at all.

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There were times Mika felt his heart was too small, and that it could only house the love that Yuu poured into him, nothing else. Yuu's heart, by comparison, was a wonder of the world--enormous in its capacity for compassion and kindness and duty. The way his eyes shone when that woman pressed his hand and shook it... Mika felt his hostility quiet down once more. Yuu... was a good person.

And Mika wasn't even a person.

"Hey, did you hear that?" Yuu whispered, suddenly stopping Mika in his tracks with a hand. Completely oblivious to the inner turmoil in the vampire's mind--Mika decided it was just as well. He'd perhaps bring it up later, or perhaps let it fizzle out like he had so many other times. Eventually, the beast would have to give up the ghost and leave his conscience be.

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"No," Mika muttered, embarrassed he'd been so lost in thought that his hearing hadn't won out over Yuu's.

Yuu's hand moved to Mika's lips, carefully holding them closed with one finger held up to them. Mika blinked, startled by the touch, and Yuu removed it to cup his hand around his ear. "Sounds... well, it doesn't sound like a chick, but it kind of sounds like an animal," he mused, furrowing his brow.

"This is mostly farmland. Of course you hear an animal," Mika chided, wishing that had come out more humorous than flat. Alas.

"I know that," Yuu sighed, frowning at Mika as he listened again. "No, it's not any farm animal I've ever heard. Come on--I think it's coming from this direction," he whispered, waving Mika to follow.

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Yuu tracked the noise with Mika trailing behind him all the way to the edge of a copse of trees. It had grown louder and louder until Yuu had crunched a branch under his feet, and all had gone silent.

Yuu cursed quietly to himself, looking around and trying to spot any sign of the source of that odd noise. Mika watched him curiously, and peered into the trees. Whatever presence had been there, it wasn't that dangerous. Else it would have likely attacked them already.

"Maybe... take the meat out of the bag and set it on the ground?" Mika mused aloud, and Yuu glanced back at him, offering a smile.

"Yeah, not a bad idea at all."

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Yuu held his breath as he opened the bag--thankfully, it didn't stink too badly, despite being out in the sun for quite awhile. Maybe it was a special kind of meat? It was the furthest thing from jerky, though. Yuu decided to try not to think about it too hard as he emptied the bag's contents onto the ground. The thing was so hefty that it flattened the grass beneath it.

"Gross," Yuu chuckled, stepping back to stand by Mika's side. "I guess... now we go hide somewhere close by, and wait?"

Mika glanced up at the trees--the one above their bait was a sizable one, with sturdy, outreaching branches. With Yuu's old war injuries, he'd never be able to climb up there. But... "Why not that tree?" Mika suggested, waving his hand up towards it. Yuu looked incredulous for a moment, before Mika's hand touched his back, and in a swift movement the vampire lifted him into his arms, draped across them both.

"M-Mika--!"

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Before Yuu had much time to protest, they were both up in the tree's lower branches. The way Mika was able to move like that still filled him with a sense of wonder, and even a little bit of fear. He clung to Mika's neck and let out a peal of laughter, nervous tension winding out of him as he settled in Mika's lap, letting himself be held for a moment. "If you drop me, I'm gonna kick your ass," he muttered against Mika's shoulder, smiling at the laugh he got out of the other boy.

Slowly, carefully, they adjusted themselves until both could look down at the ground. And now, it seemed, was the time to wait. As the sun sank lower and lower over the horizon, Yuu was starting to wonder whether this had been a good idea at all.

And then, suddenly, he heard that odd sound again...