"Eve of the First Real Battle" "Hey, Aoki, you're not being honest. You saved Yoichi Saotome, but you say it was convenient. Are you the typ
"Eve of the First Real Battle"
"Hey, Aoki, you're not being honest. You saved Yoichi Saotome, but you say it was convenient. Are you the typical cold-outside-warm-inside type?" Shinoa Hīragi interjected, her signature cunning smile on her face.
Aoki's tone was slightly annoyed. "Can't you say something nice? And stop changing my name. It'll be confusing with Yūichirō."
Yūichirō Hyakuya: "Hey, I don't like being called 'Yūichirō' either."
"Oh, don't say that. Since we're on the same team, how about this? You're 'Aoki,' and he's 'Yūichirō.' That way, it's easy to distinguish," Shinoa Hīragi said, ignoring Aoki's annoyance and offering a solution to the name confusion.
Guren Ichinose approached, smiling.
Then, he kicked Yūichirō Hyakuya in the stomach. "You're too late!"
"Why me?" Yūichirō Hyakuya clutched his stomach, staggering before falling to the ground.
Guren Ichinose then turned to Yoichi Saotome. "You're talented, but you're burdened by guilt over failing to save your sister. Your will to live wasn't strong enough. But today, you found it—your reason to live: protecting the comrades who helped you."
While Yoichi Saotome had defeated the demon with Aoki's Sharingan genjutsu, the genjutsu was merely supplemental; his own strength was the deciding factor.
Even the strongest genjutsu wouldn't have worked without his own power.
"Don't fixate on revenge," Guren Ichinose said, approaching the fallen Yūichirō Hyakuya and lightly kicking him. "And you, idiot, forget your past family."
Yūichirō Hyakuya immediately stood up, surprised. "What? My family is the only reason I'm still alive! I desperately want to kill vampires to avenge them. How can I forget them?"
Guren Ichinose ignored him and continued. "From today, everyone here is your new family. Fight for them, idiot! Don't let your desire for revenge on your past family endanger your present family. That would be far more painful than losing your past family."
"The past is gone. You only have the future."
Yūichirō Hyakuya thought of Mikaela Hyakuya, his most important past comrade. He would fight for his new family, but forgetting his past family was impossible.
"You're annoying," Yūichirō Hyakuya mumbled, unable to argue.
Perhaps sensing Yūichirō Hyakuya's feelings, Guren Ichinose changed the subject, pushing back his bangs. "Well, you've all obtained Cursed Gear and shown some teamwork. Let's send you to the front lines."
"Really? We can kill vampires?" Yūichirō Hyakuya was ecstatic.
Guren Ichinose nodded. "Yes. We learned that vampires in the Kansai region are planning to seize Shinjuku. Investigate."
"Real combat, immediately?"
"No rest?"
Guren Ichinose: "Raising these brats is exhausting."
The next day…
The day after receiving their Cursed Gear, Yūichirō Hyakuya put on his Moon Demon Company uniform and equipped his Cursed Gear, heading to the station to travel outside the walls.
At the bottom of the underground stairs, he found Shinoa Hīragi and Aoki waiting. They were also in Moon Demon Company uniforms—men's for Aoki and Yūichirō Hyakuya, women's for Shinoa Hīragi.
"You're here," Aoki said casually, leaning against a pillar.
"Aoki, Shinoa."
Shinoa Hīragi, unlike Aoki, approached Yūichirō Hyakuya. "Oh my, Yūichirō, this uniform suits you. Aren't you charmed by Shinoa in uniform?"
The train arrived, and the three boarded.
The empty train was tense.
"What's up?" Yūichirō Hyakuya broke the silence.
Shinoa Hīragi answered before Aoki. "We're delivering orders.
Vampires in the Kansai region seem to be planning to seize Shinjuku."
The train entered a tunnel, the lights going out until they emerged.
"We can kill vampires in Shinjuku, right?" Yūichirō Hyakuya wasn't concerned about the vampires' plans, only about killing them.
He dreamt of killing vampires.
Shinoa Hīragi didn't answer directly. "Don't be so bloodthirsty. Before the battle, we need to strengthen Shinjuku's defenses. Listen carefully; you won't survive outside the walls otherwise."
The train emerged from the underground, revealing the desolate city outskirts—a stark reminder of the apocalypse.
They arrived at their destination, the city's outer perimeter, closest to the walls.
At the wall's exit, they were stopped by soldiers in vampire extermination unit uniforms.
Shinoa Hīragi explained, "We're from the Moon Demon Company, vampire extermination unit. We need to go outside."
"Moon Demon Company." The soldiers murmured amongst themselves.
"The elite squad?"
"But aren't they just kids?"
"Shh, idiot! They'll hear you. Even if they're kids, they're in the Moon Demon Company. Their strength is unimaginable."
Aoki, Yūichirō Hyakuya, and Shinoa Hīragi overheard. Shinoa Hīragi teased Yūichirō Hyakuya. "Yūichirō, they called us kids."
Yūichirō Hyakuya, annoyed by Shinoa Hīragi, retorted, "They're talking about you, shorty."
Shinoa Hīragi was just over five feet tall, the shortest member of the vampire extermination unit Aoki had seen.
However, she was also the strongest besides Guren Ichinose.
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