"Me is sorry!" Iyami the thief shrinks under the sight of the blade being pointed at his throat. Ichimatsu was close to killing the man below him. He wasn't so tough, now. He pressed the blade, drawing blood, " N ow, you're begging for forgiveness? After what you did? No, I don't think so. You could have killed our brother. I think I should return the favor."

"Me didn't who you were, zansu!" It was all the more reason to kill him in Ichimatsu's mind. He knew who they were. He raised the sword in the air, about the strike the man.

"Don't." His eldest brother ordered, "Don't do it. You'll be sinking to his level!"

Ichimatsu let out an irritable sigh. He turns towards his brother with a scowl, "You're going to let this man get away with what he has done?!"

"We're not going to focus on that, right now! Just let him go!"

Osomatsu turns towards Choromatsu. His little brother was lying on the ground, out cold. Chibita was working on him along with Jyushimatsu's help. Osomatsu returns his scowl, approaching his brother, "I SAID. PUT. THE. SWORD. DOWN. If I have to stop you myself, I will." This was one of the rare moments where his eldest brother was serious. Ichimatsu lowered the sword, making a loud 'tch' sound at his eldest brother.

He wanted to mutter out 'coward' out loud. He didn't. He kept his mouth shut as Iyami slowly got himself up from the ground, stumbling away. This man; knew who he was now. If Choromatsu found out about this, he wouldn't be too happy about it.

"Ichimatsu."

He heard Jyushimatsu say behind him. There is blood coated on his sleeve. Ichimatsu glanced over at his youngest brother. He was sobbing like a baby. Karamatsu was tending to him.

"If you want, I can take 'care' of him. " He said, referring to Iyami.

"Don't." He shrugged his shoulders as if the situation didn't bother him, "It's not worth it..."

"Come," Ichimatsu felt Jysuhimatsu grab his hand, pulling him towards his brothers, "We have to help."

"There should be some plants here I could use to help with the stab wound." Chibita eyes with met with Ichimatsu, "You! Ichimatsu is it? I need you to find some Achillea Millefolium."

"Eh?"

"Better known as yarrow, it's uh." He continued, "It's white, like a feather. I need several of them for both of your brothers."

"I'll go with Ichimatsu!" He heard Jyushimatsu say happily. Why was this idiot so happy? Doesn't he know the situation they were in, right now?

The two went off the trail to look around for some Yarrow.

"You killed someone, today."

Ichimatsu casts a glance at Jyushimatsu. His brother had a serious look on his face. He gave his brother a squeeze, "You were protecting, Karamatsu-niisan."

"The idiot was in the way..." He averted his eyes away from his younger brother, "He should have watched, where he was going."

"You care..."

Jyushimatsu would never understand it. How, he felt. There was a moment of panic when he saw Karamatsu. He was about to be cut down as if he was nothing. He had no choice, but to act. He would never forget the look, Karamatsu gave him when he killed the bandit. His brother must think he was some kind of monster. He didn't blame him.

"Nii-san, look!"

Jyushimatsu pointed towards the field of yarrows. He ran towards them, picking them up with his hands.

"Get a handful. We might need them later."

Jyushimatsu grabs the flowers and walks back towards the rest. Ichimatsu sullenly followed behind his younger brother.

"I got the yarrows!" Jyushimatsu waved the flowers in the air. Chibita got up from the ground, taking one of the yarrows. He took the yarrow leaves, rubbing the leaves on Choromatsu's wounds.

"The wound is deep and he may need to be stitched up." He peers up to Karamatsu, handing him one of the leaves.

"Thank you, Chibita." Both Ichimatsu and Karamatsu looked at one another. Karamatsu gave him a sympathetic look. Pft! He didn't need his sympathy. Unlike him, he can keep it together.

Osomatsu had Choromatsu on his back. He had taken off his hood to wrap around his brother's wound. They had to find someone who could stitch Choromatsu's wound. Todomatsu looked like he was holding it together the last time Osomatsu checked. He was limping. Maybe, when Choromatsu woke up, he could heal the wound.

The blood soaked through Choromatsu's own cloak, so they had to replace it with his. With the help of the herbs. The bleeding managed to stop. Chibita says, he's worried about Choromatsu gaining an infection. According to Choromatsu, before he was stabbed; they were only several hours away from a village. What that village was, he didn't know.

He could hear Todomatsu whimpering in the back. Karamatsu humming to calm him down. It seemed to be working as Todomatsu's sobbing was replaced with soft snoring.

It was a risky move, walking like this. He would have to have Karamatsu got into the village to get him a new hood.

After hours of walking, they finally made it.

A strong breeze flew past them, they were on a hill that was overseeing the village. The ocean nearby by the village. The houses were white huts, they were windmills far from the village. It seemed quiet and isolated. He couldn't tell if this was a good or a bad thing. If he wasn't in a worry to get Choromatsu some help. He would have admired the view.

"Look!" Chibita pointed towards a small hut. It was close by. There was a farm behind the hut, smoke appearing from the chimney, indicting that someone might be home.

They walked down the path towards the hut. He was still worried about his younger brother not waking up. So far, he was only pale and the bleeding had stopped. Chibita had said, he was just out cold, and he was lucky to be alive.

Osomatsu was the first to knock on the door. There was no response at first, he was going to knock again. Until the door creaked open. A woman's face appeared at the door,

"May I help you?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour." Osomatsu said, rubbing the hair behind his head, "My brothers are hurt, and we need help."

The woman stared at him. Her eyes widened in shock. Osomatsu gulped. She probably figured out who they were.

To his surprise, she opened the door wider, moving aside to let the boys in, "C-Come in." She said rather nervously.

"Thank you." Osomatsu said, walking inside the hut. The place was rather big inside. There was a small cot near the window that was pointed towards the ocean. There was a small dining area that consisted of a table and several chairs.

"Just put him on the cot and the other one on the couch," She said, referring to Todomatsu, she took notice of the slash mark on his ankle, I'll tend to them, immediately." She instructed. Osomatsu placed his younger brother on the cot gently. Karmatsu placed Todomatsu on the couch as the lady instructed.

Osomatsu observed as she opened his shirt to see the wound, "Well, the good news is that it doesn't look infected." That made Osomatsu sigh of relief, "However, I may need to stitch him up, alright?" She looked back at Osomatsu, she didn't appear worried,"The wound is deep and I need to close it up, in case, he does get infected and I- might have to ask for your brothers to leave."

He turns towards his brothers; who were crowding the hut. He nodded towards the rest. They all nodded, leaving. He caught Jyushimatsu staring at the girl, his mouth closed for once, before leaving.

Osomatsu chuckled to himself.

Choromatsu woke up to feel the breeze blowing at his hair. He felt comfortable. His surroundings were fuzzy before his eyes finally adjusted. He was in a room, covered by a white fluffy blanket. Where was he?

"Heey, Choromatsu!"

He peers up to Osomatsu, staring at him with a grin, "How've you been?"

Choromatsu was about to sit up until Osomatsu laid him back down, "Don't. Homura had just stitched you up. You don't want to re-open those, do you?"

"Who's Homura?!" Choromatsu demanded. He felt his head and realized, he didn't have his hood on, "No, no, no-"

"Relax. We're going to be fine. Homura's really cool. She even helped Todomatsu!"

"Osomatsu..."

Osomatsu knew what he was going to say, he was about ready to tune him out, "She helped you, she helped Todomatsu. It's been a day since we've been here. Don't you think she would have told someone by now?"

He grumbled. It was a sign that his older brother had won the argument for now.

"Where are we?" Choromatsu asked.

"Kyofu valley."

"Ahh. So we made it, after all." he said, relaxing, "Good."

"How's the magic?"

"I feel weak, nii-san."

"Ah." There was a long pause before he continued, "You uh... lost control of yourself."

A heavy sigh escaped his lips. Of course, he did. He always did. He had no better control of his powers from when Tougou was teaching him. In fact, it had gotten worse over the years.

"How bad?"

"Really bad."

"Great..."

"Hey, hey. Don't feel bad. It wasn't your fault, okay?" His older brother tried to reassure him, "It was their fault for attacking you in the first place!"

Choromatsu eyes saddened. His brother's reassurance went on deaf ears, "Yeah..."

"You'll get better at it. You were just defending yourself." His brother rests his hand on his shoulders. He winced. But, didn't move away, "Don't feel too bad about it."

"Did they die?"

"No idea." Osomatsu shrugged his shoulders, "I was more worried about you than the guy. So, I didn't really check. You bled through your clothes, so we have both Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu going to the village and getting you, new clothes.

"At least; everyone is okay." He resigned, that's all that mattered to him.

"MOM! DAD! HELP ME!" 11-year-old Choromatsu cried out in fear. His eyes were glowing green, his hands were also green. Furniture in his room lifted up.

Suddenly, the door busted open, his father, mother, and his eldest brother was running towards him. Matsuyo wraps her arms around her younger son, humming a tune to calm him down, "Shh! It's okay, Choromatsu. It's okay."

"Calm down, Choromatsu!" Osomatsu said, grabbing his brother's hand, "It's going to be okay. There's no need to be scared!"

"I CAN'T CONTROL IT, NII-SAN!"

"You just need to breathe, son," Matsuzo said. He was by his son's side, rubbing his back, "Breathe."

Choromatsu took deep breaths, he didn't understand why this was happening to him. He knew of mages, he was aware of how they were treated. This scared him terribly, but the support from his family started to calm him down.

The furniture dropped to the ground, some of his furniture broke upon impact.

"My son, a mage. " Matsuyo finally said; after things had calmed down, "This is good news."

"There hasn't been a mage in our family for decades." Matuzo grinned at his son, "I'm very pleased."

"Congrats, Choromatsu!" Osomatsu grinned at his younger brother, his eyes beaming with pride.

" You guys... are happy for me?" Choromatsu's eyes widen in shock, tears threatening to spill, "I thought, people hated mages."

"Why would we hate you?" Matsuyo strokes her son's hair, "Sure, we might have to-" She pauses and then sighs, "We can't tell anyone about this, Choromatsu. Your brothers' deserve to know, but that's as far as it goes, do you understand me?"

Matsuzo nodded his head in agreement, "We would never hate you, Choromatsu. This is great news! You have been blessed with a gift. Use it wisely."

Choromatsu was glad for his parents' acceptance. He knew a lot of people weren't so lucky.

"We will get you a teacher as soon as we can." Matsuzo reassured, moving away from his sons, "Remember, this stays between us and the family, no one else. Do you understand?

"Yes, dad." Choromatsu said.

"Good boy." Matsuzo grins at his son and leaves. Matsuyo gives her son, one final squeeze before leaving. Osomatsu stood behind, wanting to make sure his brother was okay.

"I'll protect you, Choromatsu." He said.

"Huh?"

"If anyone gives you a hard time, I'll take care of them for you."

"Thank you, Nii-san."

Karamatsu had wanted Totty outside for him to get some fresh air. Todomatsu was somewhat grateful for it. It was nice and breezy outside and the surrounding area was nice. Karamatsu had gone with Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu to get some new clothes for Choromatsu and they told him that they should back before sundown.

With Homura's permission, Chibita had started cooking inside the hut. He could already smell the soup. It smelled nice. It was a good decision to bring Chibita along. They would have starved without him.

Homura had wrapped bandages around his leg and gave him herbs to prevent a fever. She was nice and caring. Also, cute.

He was going to flirt with her until he saw the way Jyushimatsu was staring at her. He knew that look. It was rather obvious that Jyushimatsu had a crush on her, only after knowing her for a day. He decided, he was going to help his younger brother with his crush.

Sundown arrived, just on cue. His brothers had arrived. Karamatsu held the clothes in his hands. Ichimatsu had his head in the clouds like he normally does and Jyushimatsu seemed happier for the most part. Karamatsu had gone into the hut to give Choromatsu, his clothes. Ichimatsu decided to wander around. Jyushimatsu was going to follow him, "Jyushimatsu-niisan! Can you come here for a second?"

Both brothers exchanged looks before Jyushimatsu shrugged, walking towards his youngest brother, "Yes, Ototo~?!" He exclaimed, happily.

"I've seen the way, you look at Homura." Todomatsu had decided to get right to the point.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Totty!"

He was an awful liar. He could tell the way, Jyushimatsu was looking away.

"Do you like her, nii-san?"

His brother knew he was caught, he started to rub his arm nervously, "Yeah!" He said, "I don't know how to talk to her. She's always busy."

"So talk to her, when she's not." He grinned at his brother, "I know her routine, already. She's tending to Choromatsu at the moment and then she is going to check up on me. After that, she tends to her farm." He gestured his head towards the field, where the animals are, "I suggest you talk to her then. She's really nice, trust me."

"I know." Jyushimatsu face flushed with red from ear to ear, he squeezed his arm tightly, "She's really pretty. What if she gets scared of me?"

"You're not that scary." Todomatsu chuckled.

"What if she rejects me?"

"Only an idiot would reject you, nii-san."

"I will only bring her pain. I'm a noble after all-" Now, he was just making excuses to not see her. It was starting to annoy him.

"Go see her, Jyushimatsu."

"Okay..."

Jyushimatsu sat next to Todomatsu and waited for his Homura to come outside. It didn't take long for her to do so. She had a bucket filled with hay in one hand, while having a bandage on the other. Homura puts the bucket to the side. On cue, Homura re-bandaged Todomatsu, "Good! It's healing, just like I promised." She smiles at Todomatsu reassuringly, "I still want you to take some of the herbs, Chibita had brought with him."

Todomatsu made a disgusted face while Homura laughed, "I know! I know! Yarrows can taste nasty. It's so that you won't get sick. You should have seen Choromatsu's face when he tasted the herbs. He almost looked he was going to vomit. Anyway-" She stopped mid-sentence to re-bandage him, "There! All done!"

"Thank you, Homura-chan!"

Homura grabbed her bucket again, "Homura-chan! Let Jyushimatsu help you with the bucket! He's really strong, trust me!"

Homura glances towards Jyushimatsu. He peers down in embarrassment, "Are you sure? I don't want to bother anyone." She said, blushing as well.

"I-It's no problem." He looked up at her, grinning from ear to ear. He took the bucket in his hands, "Just tell me what to do."

The two of them walked towards the field, together. Todomatsu smirked as he watched the two. He can be a good brother at times.

"Just put the hay in front of the horse." Homura watched in amusement as Jyushimatsu did what he was instructed to do.

The horse came into view, eating the hay from his hands. Jyushimatsu laughed; because the horse's mouth tickled him.

Homura laughed again, "You're so good with animals, Jyushimatsu-kun!"

"No, my brother is the one who is good with that stuff!"

"You could have fooled me."

"Have you always been here, Homura-chan?" Jyushimatsu looks at her while petting the horse.

"I have." Homura nodded at him, "Since I was little. My grandpa and I lived here."

"Where's your Grandpa?!" Jyushimatsu said, looking around the area.

"He's gone." Homura smiled sadly, "He died a few years ago."

His smile fell. He was an idiot for bringing this up, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay!" Homura soothed, "Don't worry about it, you didn't know, okay?"

Jyushimatsu moves away from the horse. He had to be the idiot to mention her grandpa. He probably just messed it up for himself. Totty would be so disappointed.

"Homur-" He began. He stopped when he saw soldiers approaching the area. So much for peace and quiet. He took notice of Homura hiding behind him, "They're here."

"They?"

"They come to take my land."

Not on his watch.

"Stay here."

"Jyushimatsu!"

"Stay put!"

"Jyushimatsu." Ichimatsu was already outside, sword in his hands. His older brother looked like he was ready to kill someone again. He wanted to avoid that. He wanted to avoid any type of violence for today.

Karamatsu was by Todomatsu's side, having him in one arm while having his other hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Troubles always follows us." He grumbled under his breath, "Let's go inside." He said to Todomatsu.

Jyushimatsu stood in front of the house; his sword was sheathed. Unlike, his brother. He didn't bother to bring it out.

Karamatsu reappeared shortly afterwards. His hand still on the hilt. A moment later, Osomatsu appears. Choromatsu didn't appear, meaning he was still in the house.

No one moved for a moment.

Osomatsu was the one to step forward. A frown clearly evident on his face, "What do you want?" He demanded, he was calm and was in no mood for disturbances.

"Where's Homura?!" One of the soldiers demanded, snickering to one of his pals.

"Not here, obviously." Osomatsu answered.

"Maybe, she's in the barn." One of the soldiers gestured towards the barn. He went towards the direction to the barn.

On instinct, Jyushimatsu stepped in front of the soldier, "You need to leave."

"Oh?" The soldier got closer to Jyushimatsu, withdrawing his sword. In an attempt to be intimidating.

"What are you going to do about it?" Jyushimatsu did not flinch nor did he move from his spot.

"You should go." He repeated, a little less patient this time.

"There's four of us, and three of you." Osomatsu said, "Do you really want to fight us? It won't end well."

The soldiers seemed to consider this. The soldier, or the leader that spoke up first, had a cocky grin on his face, "Tell Homura, if she knows what's good for her. She'll meet us here tonight. She has a lot of 'work' to do." The leader nudged towards his friend, who snickered.

The soldiers left.