A Shadow From The Past

Mika's P.O.V.

Yoichi lets out a startled exclamation as I intrude on him and Kumizuki. "What the--" Kumizuki's angry remark is cut short by Yoichi.

"Oh, hi, Mika!" he chirps.

"Hello there," I respond warily.

"Oh, it's you," he mutters with distrust.

"Yes, it's me," I concede sharply, "and I have something I want to talk about sooner rather than later."

Kumizuki blinks, annoyed. "well, if it's so urgent, why don't you ask that pretty boy toy of yours to tell you?"

I lean forward threateningly. "He is not a toy, and if you call him that again, I swear--"

Yoichi hops to his feet. In the midst of the little spat, I'd forgotten that he was there. From the look on Kumizuki's face, so had he. He gapes at Yoichi as he runs out of the room, his face crumpled.  "I'll be in the hall if you need me."

Guilt fills Kumizuki's face. He seems to regret upsetting Yoichi as the door shuts and we are left alone. His face softens the tiniest bit and he asks," What did you want to talk about?"

Putting away my nosy thoughts about Yoichi and Kumizuki, I reply,"On my first day here, you called me 'the missing prince.' Back then, I didn't have any memories, so I figured that you knew I was the missing heir to the kingdom. But now I know the truth, and I began to wonder... how did you know that I was the next in line for the vampire throne?"

"Shinoa told me," Kumizuki informs me, unperturbed.

"Right, Shinoa," I repeat curtly," And how did Shinoa know something so important and secret that even Guren didn't know?"

He fiddles with his glasses, uncertain. "Who's to say Guren didn't know?"

"I am. He's the one who let me stay here. Why else would he let the adopted vampire prince stay in his demon-slaying complex, unless he didn't know?"

Kumizuki frowns, itching his chin. He appears to be starting to grasp the implications. "You think Shinoa's a plant for Krul."

An unexpected pang reverberates through my body at the mention of Krul. She may have been the one to turn me into the one I am now, but she had treated me well, at least as a child. She'd cared about me, or at least the powers dormant inside me, enough to let me live, so at least she was better than Ferid. Ferid, who had skewered a whole group of us without a second thought. Nevertheless, I can't let belated gratitude get in the way of rationality, so I push away the unhelpful thoughts.

"Not Krul," I correct," Krul's dead. Even if Krul sent her here originally, she's a plant of Ferid's now."

"So we can expose her and use her to lead us to Ferid, that way we can find a cure for you, Yuu, and my sister," says Kumizuki eagerly.

"Your sister?" I ask, puzzled.

"Oh," he looks sheepish,"You don't know about her. She has a disease that the doctors here have never heard of, but I'm curious. Even if you'd never heard of it, don't you think that prestigious doctors, like the ones we have here, would be able to cure it or mute it? But they either can't or won't. And sometimes I see her with these empty eyes and she's muttering like a psychopath... Kind of like what you said happened to you.  And I was thinking maybe..."

Comprehension dawns on me. Kumizuki has stumbled upon themost pivotal realization. Vampires aren't the only ones experimenting with defenseless human children. If Kumizuki is right, Guren's in on it, also, and we've been caught in the middle of biological warfare. "You think she's a Seraph, too," I finish with dread.

A.N.

Okay, I just heard this song, and it insanely catchy, my God. It's called Talk Too Much by COIN. You guys should all listen to it, it is literally awesome. ^~^ Also, American Money by BØRNS and Somebody Else by 1975.