“Hahaha, so, you’re going to kill e

“Hahaha, so, you’re going to kill every single vampire and then build The Empire of Yuu-chan in here. Is that it?”

“Hey, now you’re making fun of me!”

Mika laughed at that, but then he stretched out his hand and touched Yuu-chan’s hand, gently.
“I’m not… I believe you.”

Yuu-chan looked this way. Then he frowned in embarrassment a little.
“…”
He didn’t say anything else.

The two of them already knew they felt the same way. They have been together in here for four years now. Four years ever since the world fell into ruin. The two of them, the oldest among the orphans, have been desperately walking down this road for four years, carrying the lives of the surviving children on their backs. This is why they can tell what each other is thinking even without saying a word.

How can we get out of this situation?
How can we show the children a future again?
How. How?

“…”

Lately, Mika could only think about that as well. Yuu-chan seems to think that they can figure something out after they kill the vampires, but he doesn’t think that’s possible. This is the world of vampires. They’re livestock here, the vampires are absolutely dominant. However, if they seriously wanted to do something about this messed up situation, they needed to know more about them. He even thought he should look into ways of gaining their favor, if necessary. Then finally, he stumbled upon something that looked like a breakthrough.

“…Ferid Bathory.”
He tried muttering the vampire name, quietly.
A Seventh Progenitor. A Noble with distinct power and influence, even among vampires. And according to the rumor that Mika heard, human children were frequent visitors at this Noble’s residence.

Unlike the other vampires, this one was interested in humans. According to the information he got from the other groups of kids, sometimes, he would assist them in order to improve their way of living.

In that case, I will also…

As the blood donation time was over, Mika and the others exited the facility.
In this underground vampire city, there was no sky. Only a tall ceiling. For these past four years they were always looking up at that ceiling, it felt suffocating.

“…”
With his eyes up on that surface, Mika was once again lost in thought, resuming where he was just a few moments ago.

“Hey, Mika.”

“…”

“Mika!”

“Oh. Yeah?”

“What’s wrong? You’re spacing out.”, Yuu-chan said from the side.

He smiled a little at that and answered,
“I get tired whenever they take my blood.”

“I know, right?! That’s why we HAVE to hurry up and destroy those damn vampires!”

As Mika put on a tired look, Yuu-chan started talking about how he was going to kick some vampire asses right that instant.

And then,
“By the way, I know you’re lying. You looked worried. If there’s something wrong, you need to tell me. Don’t carry that weight on your own.”, he ended up saying something unexpectedly sharp.

But he couldn’t get him involved in what he was planning. One wrong move could get them killed. If both him and Yuu-chan died right now, there would be no one left to protect the children.

Laughing, Mika changed the subject.
“Nah, it’s nothing to be worried about.”

“What is it?”

“Well, I was thinking that I never got to hear your last name.”

“Huh?”

“It just hit me while they were extracting our blood. I don’t know your family name, Yuu-chan.”

“My family name?”

“Yup. Didn’t the world end just after you came to the orphanage?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I think that’s why I never got to hear it. So, Yuu-chan, what’s your last name?”, I asked, but well, it’s not like it would really matter now. Our parents are dead. The adults were infected by the virus and died. Then came this world, a world where surnames or anything like that aren’t needed. Besides, Yuu-chan said his parents used to call him a devil and tried to kill him, then they ended up killing themselves. Maybe he won’t like being asked about a name that reminds him of them, he thought to himself.

He remembered how offended he would get whenever someone asked anything that had to do his parents some years ago. He would say, “My parents called me a monster, they said I was the devil and almost killed me! This world doesn’t need someone like me!”, then he would stay quiet for a while.

But right now…
“…My family name. Family name, huh.”

Having spent these four years together, Yuu-chan would no longer be mad at it. After making a somewhat visible effort to try to remember, he said,
“To tell you the truth, I don’t really remember that much. I do remember my parents calling me a monster, though.”

“You don’t remember your name?”

“Nope. By the way, what about you?”

“Hm?”

“You’re obviously not Japanese. I mean, your hair is blond.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“Are you from another country?”

“My mother was Japanese.”

“Meaning, your father wasn’t?”

“Hmmm. I think he was from Russia or something.”

“You’re Russian~?!”

“I just told you my mother was Japanese. Well, they’re both dead, anyway.”, Mika laughed.

Yuu-chan looked at him a little worried.
“Bad memories?”

“I wonder.”

“Do you remember your family name?”

“It was Shindou, if I remember correctly.”

“Oh, you have a Japanese surname. Then why do you call yourself Hyakuya Mikaela? You already have a name.”

Mika laughed at that as he said,
“Geez~ Didn’t Akane and I have this conversation with you countless times already…?”

Disgust was written all over Yuu-chan’s face, yet again.
“Ohh yeah, okay, okay. It’s because ‘everyone at the Hyakuya orphanage is a family’, right?”

“That’s ri~ght. That’s why you’re also Hyakuya Yuuichirou, Yuu-chan.”

“Why do I have to be a Hyakuya…”

“Like I said, because we’re a family.”

“I told you before, I don’t have a famil…”

“No, no, no, it’s too late now. You’re already part of our family. Not to mention, you already think of us as your family, Yuu-chan~”