TW: Death

You clenched your tight as you used all your strength to hold back Mitsuba's axe. She smirked at you when she noticed you struggling to hold her back.

"Just give up. I'm not going to hold it against you if you do."

"Never."

Letting out a battle cry, you surprise Mitsube enough to push her back. You rush to put some space between the two of you and hold up your sword to wait for her to attack.

"Impressive. I honestly thought you were going to pass out. You always manage to surprise me."

You're struggling to catch your breath so it was difficult to talk. You just give her a smile and motion for her to attack.

"Can't be too predictable."

You brace yourself for impact as Mitsuba runs towards you for another attack.

"Enough!" Mitsuba trips as she hears Shinoa from above. You drop your sword to be able to catch her in your arms. "You've been training for hours! I told you that you needed to rest! Why can't you just listen to me!?"

"Thanks." Mitsuba mumbles under her breath as you help her stand. You think you're imagining things when you notice a hint of pink on her cheeks. Before you could make sure that she was blushing, Mitsuba puts her axe away and heads back towards the dorms. "Sorry, Shinoa. We got carried away."

Shinoa nods and lets Mitsuba pass through.

"We're heading out on a mission in a couple of days. Please avoid doing your weird foreplay before we head out."

"Shinoa!" Thankfully, Mitsuba was already too far away to hear." You put away your sword and make your way to your sister. She laughs when you glare at her. "You can really be annoying when you want to be."

"Yeah? Well you know you love me. I make your life interesting."

You just shake your head as you make your way back to your room. You regretted ever telling Shinoa about the fact that you liked Mitsuba. When you told her that you weren't going to ever admit to it, Shinoa seem to made it her personal mission for you to confess. Usually it involved in making comments or pairing the two of you up.

X

You let out a sigh of relief when you finally laid down in your bed. It seemed like with every training session, Mitsuba was getting stronger. You often used to win during the training matches but they've lately been ending in ties with Mitsuba close to winning. You enjoyed the trainings because it allowed you to spend time with her. You had hoped it would allow for the two of you to grow closer but it somehow did the opposite. Sometimes it seemed that Mitsuba only saw you as a rival that she needed to beat.

Your thoughts are interrupted by someone knocking at your door. Thinking it was Shinoa, you allowed them to come in.

"Hi. I heard you and Mitsuba had another training session." Yuuyuu holds up a bag of snacks in one hand and an ice pack on the other. "I thought you might need this."

You quickly sit up and make grabbing motions with your hands.

"Gimme please! You're a life saver"

He laughs as he takes a seat beside you to hand you both items.

"I worry that one day that one of you might accidentally kill each other with how serious you take your training."

You wince as you press the ice pack on your shoulder. It was only aching due to the strength of Mitsuba's attacks that you had to block. Grabbing a brownie, you take a large bite.

"Nah. It's all friendly. Neither of us will ever go that far. Not that I don't appreciate you coming but what are you doing here so late. Shinoa said we'll be meeting early in the morning for team practice."

"I...." He looks down at his hands as he struggles to find the right words for what he had wanted to say. He had been practicing with Yoichi but now his words were failing him. "I like you! I wanted to know if you'll go on a date with me before we head out."

Before you could answer him, there's a loud sound of glass breaking. You furrow your brows and make your way to check what had happened. You're confused to find a tea set destroyed by your door.

"What the hell? Did they really just run off without cleaning their mess." You scream when you turn around to find Yuu standing right behind you. "Yuu! What the hell?"

You place your hand over your heart as you try to calm your racing heart. He gives you a sheepish smile as he take a step back.

"Sorry. I just wanted to see what had happened."

You nod and simply make your way to grab some cleaning supplies. Yuu attempts to grab some too but you stop him. Before you could head out to clean, you stood before him. You had to tell him how you really felt about him.

"Look Yuu..."

He holds up his hand to stop you from continuing further. He didn't need you to continue to know what you were about to say. He knew it had been a long-shot. He forces himself to smile so it would seem like he was okay.

"You don't have to say anything. I get it. You only see me as your friend." You attempt to comfort him but he pulls back. "I'm fine. I just need some time to deal with my feelings."

He quickly leaves your dorm before you could say anything else. You sigh as you make your way to clean the mess. If only it had been Mitsuba confessing.

X

Mitsuba wiped the tears that had managed to slip. She had expected a rejection but she didn't think it would hurt so much. Yuu had never been shy about showing how much he cared about you so she wasn't surprised that he had confessed. Mitsuba didn't need to stick around to know that you would return his feelings. How could she compete with someone that constantly showed he cared about you when all she's ever done is give you bruises and cuts.

X

"Do you...." You don't even get to finish your question when Mitsuba immediately turns you down. "But you didn't even let me finish."

"You want to train and I don't want to. Shinoa told us to take it easy."

You roll your eyes as you mutter a quiet 'coward' under your breath. Instead of reacting like she had hoped, she simply ignored you and continued on her way. You found it strange that she didn't immediately argue with you. Thinking that she was pissed at your sister for cancelling training, you think nothing of it.

X

Mitsuba had been acting strange for several days. You weren't sure why she was giving you the cold shoulder but you needed to get to the bottom of it. Sure, the two of you weren't exactly on friendly terms but she would never ignore you.

"What's your problem? You can barely even look me in the eye."

"Not everything is about you, (y/n). Leave me alone."

Mitsuba attempt to leave but you block her path.

"No. I know we've never been exactly friends but I care about you. What's going on?"

You get closer to her, making her panic. Just as you invade her personal space, she pushes you. You would've fallen if she hadn't grabbed your hand at the last second.

"I'm sorry. I...I didn't mean to."

You give her a small smile.

"I get it. You don't want to be cornered. I just want to know what's going on? I'm worried about you, Mitsuba."

There was no point in telling you how she felt. You were dating Yuu. The last thing Mitsuba wanted was to get in-between the two of you.

"Just dealing with some things. I'll get over it. I'll be fine in a couple of days."

"Maybe you can let me help?"

Mitsuba sarcastically laughed, confusing you. You couldn't really help, you were the reason why she was upset.

"I'll be fine. We'll be back to beating each other up in a couple of days."

She starts to walk away but you stop her. She turns around as you call her name. If you wanted to help her, you needed to let her know how much you cared about her.

"I really like you Mitsuba and I really care about you. I just want to help you."

"You like me?"

Unable to take back what you said, you nod.

"I want to be more than friends with you. I know that you don't really like me but I care about you. I'm only telling you this because."

"But you're with Yuu. Why are you telling me this? Is this a joke?"

It takes you a second to put everything together. Mitsuba had overheard your conversation with Yuu. She had been the one who dropped the tea set. She was upset because she thought you were dating Yuu. While it pained you to hear that Mitsuba liked Yuu, you needed to tell her what actually happened.

"We're not dating! I only like Yuu as a friend."

"Good." She actually smiles at you for the first time and then leans in close to you. "I really like you too."

Needing to make sure that you weren't dreaming, you pinched yourself.

"I'm not dreaming. You actually like me."

X

The world was cruel. You were a fool to think that you were going to have a happy ending. At least you knew that your squad would be safe. That Shinoa, Mitsuba and your friends were going to make it back home. The pain was getting unbearable but you weren't ready to die. You wanted to at least see them one last time.

You weren't sure how long time passed but eventually you heard a series of boots hitting the ground. Using all your strength to pick up your head, you smiled when you saw Mitsuba among the group of survivors.

"Beautiful..."

You whispered when your eyes landed on Mitsuba. You start to cough when blood begins to fill your lungs. Your coughing grabs their attention and they change their direction when they see you. Knowing this would happen, you had prepared a trap. Before they could get too close to you, you activated your spell tags to cause a serious of explosions to destroy the building. As it explodes, it falls down to bury you and several other vampires still in the building.

X

'Full name'

'A beloved comrade, sister, and partner.'

'Her selfless sacrifice allowed for the safe return of her comrades.'

Mitsuba had lost count of how many times she had read the words inscribed in your headstone. Sometimes she thought about how you knew of what was going to happen. She had originally planned to stay with you but you had sent her away. The thought always made her furious.

She clenched her hands into fists as she sobbed loudly. You were an idiot and she hated you. She hated you for making her fall in love with an idiot like you.