Choromatsu sighed in frustration as Todomatsu explained their current situation. Karamatsu was outside by himself, avoiding his brothers. He knew that his older brother was afraid to face them. He had made a mistake, a huge one. Choromatsu will admit, it was probably a good mistake, as the man, he had brought with him knew how to cook. He had sworn just earlier; his lips were sealed. He didn't even need to be threatened, much to Ichimatsu's dismay.

The rest of his brothers were by the campfire, watching Chibita cook. Their mouths were watering after a day without any food in their stomachs. They had quickly accepted him into their group as soon as he said, he can cook. Osomatsu had welcomed him with open arms. Choromatsu, however, was taking his time. Watching Chibita from afar, if he tried anything. He can quickly get rid of him.

"You hungry?"

Choromatsu quickly snapped out of his thoughts to see Osomatsu staring at him, he was offering bread with fried fish that Chibita had cooked. Choromatsu hesitantly took the plate from his eldest brother's hands, inspecting it.

"Worrywart." Osomatsu teased. Choromatsu twitched at him, he took a bite of the fish and his taste buds immediately exploded.

"This is delicious."

"Told you! You have nothing to worry about."

"Excuse me, for having legit concerns about our new friend here." Choromatsu huffed at him, taking more bites out of his food.

Osomatsu chuckled, patting his brother on the back, "I'm at ease; because of you, you know?"

Choromatsu smiled at this, "Really?"

"Really."

"Just be on your guard, Osomatsu. You can't trust everyone."

"I know."

"Tomorrow, we'll have to leave again." Choromatsu said. He feared that Tougou could be catching up to them as they speak. The wizard knew that the brothers were alive and could be actively searching for them. He wanted to be far away from the kingdom as possible.

Osomatsu frowned at this. Choromatsu understood how he felt about the whole situation. Until, they could be able to recapture their home, they were powerless to do anything.

"We'll be able to reclaim our home. Right?" Choromatsu asked his eldest brother.

"How? How are we going to do that?"

To be honest? He didn't have a clue, how, he was going to do that. He was more focused on running for now. Perhaps, going into hiding. His magic was no match for Tougou, especially since Tougou had taught him how to use magic, "I don't know. We'll figure it out, Osomatsu."

Osomatsu nodded. A determined look written on his face. That's what he liked to see, His brother confident. It puts him at ease, seeing him this way.

"I'm going to kick Tougou's ass."

"We'll all do it together."

"Where are we going?"

"Well, Totty said they were soldiers in the nearby town. We may have to travel to the next town. If I am correct, it's a village with a small population. It might take us two day's tops."

"That's sounds tiring, Choromatsu!" His older brother let out a whine. Choromatsu grew annoyed with his older brother immediately.

"You have any better ideas?"

"Nooo."

"Then, hush."

Karamatsu sighed. He had disappointed his brothers' once again. They did seem to enjoy Chibita's company. The scorn look that his youngest brother was giving him throughout the journey back to the barn, never left his memory. It was a look that he often got from his siblings, all too often. No matter what he does, one of his brothers would always yell at him, insult him. He had tried many times to defend himself from their insults.

He started humming a song under his breath. It would normally calm him when he felt distressed. Like his mother, who could sing. He had learned to sing from her. He often recalled her, holding him close, singing to him while his brothers' were sleeping.

He hoped his mother was safe.

"Kara!"

Karamatsu glances over to the voice that called him. Chibita held up a plate in front of him, "Eat up, idjit!" He smiled proudly at him, "You need it for your journey!"

"Ahh, thanks Chibita!"

Are you okay?" Chibita asked, sensing something was up with his new friend.

"Nothing, my dear friend. I am fine!" Karamatsu smiled at Chibita, striking a pose for him. He took a bite of his bread, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He gives Karamatsu a thumbs up.

"Your brothers said I could travel with them!"

Karamatsu immediately perked up, upon hearing this, "Really?!" This was great, he finally had a friend to talk to. He didn't have any, back home.

"Yeah!"

"It appears that our fates have intertwined." Karamatsu grinned at his friend, "Destiny awaits us."

Chibita laughed which caught Karamatsu by surprise. Normally, his brothers would groan at him, whenever he spoke like that. But, Chibita laughed. A genuine laugh. Karamatsu laughed along with him, finally happy to have a friend.

"Come on, inside. Idjit. It's cold out here."

"Coming!"

Karamatsu quickly went inside the barn. He was in a happier mood than before. This won't be so bad after all.

His brothers were surrounding the campfire. Ichimatsu was glaring at him from where he was sitting. Karamatsu's eyes darted his eyes to avoid eye contact. He didn't know what he did to deserve such scorn from his younger brother. He probably hated him more, due to his screw up. It didn't matter to him right now; apparently his brothers' had something important to say. If they were all together.

"So." Choromatsu began, "We're going to be leaving here tomorrow. We are going to be traveling to a village a day from here, so there is going to be a lot of walking. I-We don't know what we are going to do, at the moment. It's something we're going to be talking about in the future. Right now, I'm focusing on getting as far as possible."

"We're running away, then?" Ichimatsu frowned at his eldest brothers, "What are we? Cowards?"

"You want to take them head-on, Ichimatsu?" Osomatsu said, arching an eyebrow at his brother, "We don't have an army. We have nothing."

"I'll kill them, myself. If I have to."

"Nii-san!" Jyushimatsu scolded Ichimatsu, "Stop being so difficult!"

"It's only until we reach mom and dad. I'm sure they know what to do." Choromatsu chimed in, "We'll get support there."

"Now, for our next discussion. We have a new friend joining us, as you know."

Everyone turned to Chibita. He waved at the brothers with a smile on his face, "He'll be cooking for us for now on, so food is no longer a problem for us." Choromatsu casts a glance towards him,"You can actually thank Karamatsu for once."

"Anyway," Osomatsu interrupted, "The next thing, is that we have to burn our suits." They were loud murmurs among his brothers. Osomatsu waited for his brothers to stop talking before continuing on, "It's the only way, we only have the two hoods that we found in the barn. We have to burn our suits because it screams royalty and we want to avoid that."

"We're going to look like commoners?!" Todomatsu shrieked, clutching his suit.

"Sorry, Totty."

"I vote Totty goes first." Ichimatsu says, grinning evilly at his younger brother.

"Me too! Me too!" Jyushimatsu bounced up and down.

"Don't worry, Todomatsu. I know how you feel." Karamatsu soothed, trying to comfort his younger brother. It went unnoticed, sadly.

"Come on, Totty." Choromatsu sighed impatiently, "It's not that difficult."

Karamatsu watched as his youngest brother slowly took off his suit and threw it into the fire. Followed by Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu, Karamatsu took off his suit next, and threw it in the fire. Osomatsu and Choromatsu did the same.

The brothers went their separate ways, shortly after. All of them took their places on the uncomfortable hay and eventually everyone went to sleep.

" Come here, my son." King Matsuzo gestured towards his eldest son. Eleven-year-old Osomatsu made his way into the throne room, where he greeted his father.

"Yes, dad?" Osomatsu didn't know why he was brought into the throne room. He shifted nervously. He was normally brought here when he was in trouble. This time, he was met with his dad smiling down at him. Osomatsu immediately relaxed.

"I would like for you to meet someone," He gestured towards the red curtains behind him. A man with black hair appeared with a staff. He was a tall and slender man. The way the man smiled, was just off-putting.

The man smiled at him. For some reason, Osomatsu felt creeped out by him. He couldn't explain it, there was something off about him.

"Who is he?"

Matsuzo frowned at his son, "It's polite to introduce yourself, first."

Osomatsu looked at the man, "I'm prince Osomatsu, It's a 'pleasure' to meet you."

"I'm Tougou." He grinned at the young prince.

"He's a wizard from the country." Matsuzo explained to his son, "He has come to teach Choromatsu magic! Isn't that exciting? "

Ahh, so that's what this was about. Choromatsu's magic abilities had just awakened. It was unexpected. No one really saw it coming and it was kept secret from the kingdom. The nobles weren't keen on magicians and often fought to have them, separated from everyone else. However, his father wouldn't have it. 'Everyone is equal' His father would say.

" Yes," Osomatsu nodded, "Why couldn't you just bring Choromatsu in here?"

His father frowned at him once again, "I wanted you to be acquainted with him before I introduce him to the rest. Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing, dad." Osomatsu shook his head, "May I leave now?"

"You may."

Osomatsu quickly left the room. Matsuzo turned towards Tougou with an apologetic look on his face, "I'm sorry about my son. He can be rude at times."

"Worry, not." Tougou waves his hand dismissively, "He'll come around eventually."

"Osomatsu."

"Huh?"

"Totty's back with clothes."

Osomatsu didn't know how Todomatsu got the clothes. He didn't care as long as he didn't attract attention. Which didn't seem to be the case; He said that he had talked his way into getting these for them and that they should be grateful for it.

"Karamatsu-niisan. These are for you." He tossed him a blue tunic, with light blue pants. He held up black boots for his older brother to take, "Here." When his brother took them, he went digging for Ichimatsu's outfit, It was the same as Karamatsu's, but purple. He gave each of them their respective hoods.

The rest of their brothers took their clothes off and put them on. Todomatsu put on his outfit, despite his reservations. If he was going to dress as a commoner. He was going to be a fashionable commoner, if that made any sense.

Their swords were hidden by the hoods.

"You idjits, ready to go?" Chibita asked.

All of them exited the barn, and heads out towards their journey.

"Admit it, Choromatsu. We're lost."

They were walking on a thick, narrow path in the middle of nowhere. Trees surrounded the group, It was almost nighttime.

Choromatsu grunted at his eldest brother with disdain. They had been traveling since they left the barn. Which was yesterday; Everyone was groaning and complaining about how much they needed a break. He wanted to move on.

"It's only a few more hours."

"Come oooooooooon." Osomatsu whined at his younger brother, "We need to rest."

"Fine!" Choromatsu threw his hands up in the air in defeat.

The brother threw themselves on the ground. Chibita got out bread for the brothers, "Here you guys are." He handed out the bread to the brothers. They sat down, relaxing.

The bushes started rustling and low muttering can be heard. Choromatsu heard it, he casts a glance towards his brother. Osomatsu gave him a confused look, "Did you hear that?" Osomatsu narrowed his eyes.

"No, I didn't. It's probably the wind, Choromatsu."

Choromatsu grunted. He sure as hell, heard something. It wasn't just his imagination-

More of the bushes started moving, until four buffed men appeared from the bushes. Everyone jumped up from the ground, their hands on their swords. The men chuckled. Bandits, no doubt.

He wanted to say, 'I told you so.' To his brother. Osomatsu shot him a glare as if he knew, he was going to say that.

A man with disheveled brown hair with a purple tuxedo appeared. He had a huge overbite. Osomatsu could barely contain a snort. He wasn't taking this seriously.

"What do you want?" Choromatsu asked, trying to act brave. He wasn't expecting bandits to appear. He should have known.

The thief smirked at his prey, he had them right where they want them, "Me wants your money. Isn't that right boys?" He said, turning towards his chanted loudly.

"We don't have money." Karamatsu said. He was acting a lot braver than Choromatsu, "Please leave, we do not like to use force."

"Then give us what we want!" One of the bandits demanded, brandishing his sword.

"We already told you, we don't have any money." Ichimatsu clutched the handle of his sword, "Leave, or I'll kill you."

"I guess, you gave me no choice! Get them boys!"

"Chibita! Hide!" Karamatsu yelled out. One of the bandits charged towards him with his sword. The bandit swings his sword at his target. He easily dodged the sword by moving out the way. He swung again, this time, Karamatsu blocked it with his own sword. He looked back to see Chibita gone. He sighed in relief.

Karamatsu kicked the bandit in the knees making him stagger back, he swung his sword, the blade slicing the bandit's chest.

The bandit screamed in pain, which made Karamatsu falter, "Are you alright?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

The bandit punched him in the face, making Karamatsu fall to the ground with a thump.

"Karamatsu!" He heard Choromatsu call out to him.

The bandit stood over him, the blade raised over him and quickly went for the kill. Karamatsu was sure he was going to get stabbed. Nothing happened.

He looked up to see Ichimatsu blocking the bandit's sword with his own. He kicked the man back, his foot connected with the bandit's stomach. The thief doubled over in pain, taking this as an advantage. Ichimatsu plunged his sword onto the man's back.

Karamatsu paled upon witnessing this, "I-I-Ichimatsu...?"

Ichimatsu pulled the sword out of the man's back, "Get up, you idiot." He grabbed his arm and harshly yanks him up, "Go help the rest, NOW!"

With that, Ichimatsu was gone.

Karamatsu glanced down at the bandit. He wasn't moving, his body surrounded by blood. He looked over to the man with the overbite, who looked as shocked as he was.

He looked at the battlefield and noticed Todomatsu having trouble with another bandit. He dashed over to his younger brother to assist him.

Osomatsu blocked each and every one of the guys moves. He could tell his opponent was getting frustrated. Once in a while, his opponent managed to get a few hits. He had slash marks on his face, it stung. It was the least of his concerns at the moment.

The bandit swung his, the blade hitting his waist. Osomatsu winced in pain. He stood his ground, letting out a pained smirk.

"Is that all you got?!"

The bandit lets out a battle cry, charging towards him. Osomatsu waited for the bandit to come closer. He kicked the guy in the balls. When he was down, he used the swords handle to knock him out.

"I was really hoping, you would put up more of a fight." He bends down, poking the guy's head.

Todomatsu holds his sword awkwardly in his hands. He barely blocked the bandits. He lets out a whimper as the bandit swung again. He ducked down and moved away. He kept running and the bandit ran after him, laughing at him.

"You're weak!" The bandit taunted him.

Todomatus cried out for one his brothers to help him. He felt the blade hit his leg, he immediately fell to the ground. Todomatsu started sobbing. The gash on his leg looked deep, blood seeping from his wound. He pats the ground, looking for any weapon he could use to fight the bandit. He grabs a rock from the ground and throws it at the bandit.

"Why, you-" The bandit sneered, wiping his face.

He was cut off when Karamatsu tackled him to the ground. He wrapped his arms around the man's neck, The bandit struggled with him, thrashing around until the bandit is knocked out.

"Karamatsu-niisan."

"Come on." Karamatsu helped his brother up, having his arm around Karamatsu's shoulders.

"It's going to be okay." His brother comforted him, leading him away from battle.

"Thank you, Karamatsu."

Taking notice of his fallen men. The leader backs away, about to head out. He felt hands wrapped around him tightly.

"You're not going anywhere!" Jyushimatsu laughed happily. He lifts him up and slams him on the ground.

Ichimatsu was already by his side, pointing his blood-stained blade at his throat, "Should we kill him?" He said. He gave the man below him a death stare.

"No! We shouldn't! Let's wait for the others to decide." Jyushimatsu said, sitting on the man.

"You're no fun..." Ichimatsu sat next to him.

That takes care of that. Choromatsu sighed, he wished things would have ended well. Ichimatsu had just killed one and the rest is knocked out as far as he's concerned. He made sure every brother was accounted for. Chibita reappeared again after the fight. He went to join the others who had the leader.

Choromatsu looked at the fallen men. Wait, weren't there four of them? He frantically looked around for the fourth bandit.

Osomatsu noticed his panic, and rushed towards him.

Behind him, the bandit stabs him in the stomach. A blood curdling scream escapes his throat.

"Choromatsu!" He heard someone call out his name, he didn't know who.

He appeared dazed. He felt the guy wrap his arms around his throat, lifting him up from the ground. The bandit's hands wrapped around his throat. Choromatsu lets out a strangled cry. Black spots appeared in his vision.

This was it, he was going to die.

Who the hell gets killed by lowly bandits?

No. No.

He can't die.

He won't die.

NO!

He will be damned if he died, right here.

Choromatsu's eyes turned green. His hands engulfed in green flames. Roots emerged from the ground and wrapped itself around the bandit, making him let go of Choromatsu. The roots wrapped itself around the man's throat under Choromatsu's command.

"Choromatsu!"

Roots grip on the man grew tighter.

"Choromatsu!"

And tighter.

"CHOROMATSU!"

Choromatsu snapped out of his trance, falling to the ground. The roots loosened it's grip on the bandit, letting itself slink back to the ground, "Choromatsu!" He shook his brother, "Choromatsu!"

There was no response.