Disclaimer: Do not own anything.

~~ An Unknown Connection ~~

~~ 14. December, Midday ~~

"So you agree to our little agreement?" The man in black asked and took another deep breath from his cigarette.

"Yes, under the one condition! Don't forget that I have only agreed to you under this one condition!" Nanjiroh spoke honestly and gritted with his teeth. He had no other choice. He hoped his family could and would forgive him one day.

'I'm sorry, Rinko. I did something horrible! I could only save one of our sons.'

"Good, then let's go. We're going to train you before we meet up with them anew. Akito wasn't as successful as we thought. So we're going to attack when we're strong enough. I'm close to fulfill my dearest wish and I'll reach my goal!" Cole spoke more to himself than to his new member. They had the master's father a.k.a. ex-master of the manbeasts, soon enough they would have someone who had even more influence of the little prince.

'I'm curious how you'll react and decide, little master!'

The creatures were back to normal - gambling, fighting, loving and making fun of each other. They all had turned back into human form for safety before Ryoma would see them and would try to run away anew. Sanada and Ryoma had been carried into the room where Ryoga had slept before. The older brother got dragged to the hospital when the weather had calmed down and was sleeping there with Yanagi as a bodyguard if something should happen to him. Ryoma slept in the whole time in Sanada's weak arm in the bed. Both hadn't moved or reacted in any way, only sleeping in the bed and breathing calmly. They all felt the strange bond between them so they let them stay together as for not to cut the new bond.

Fuji and Yukimura didn't leave their prince's side, not even when their family brought them 'food' - the two hadn't eaten, more or less, enough the last time. They drank quickly, swallowed and let his friends remove the dead bodies. As long as their Ryoma hadn't completed the pact with them, they were still uncontrolled. They cleaned the mess up in the rooms while the day flew out of their hands. The night came in a rush.

~~ 15. December, Dawn ~~

They were interrupted in their activities by a surprising sound. The male teens turned their heads in the direction where the sound came from and were surprised to see their prince in tears. They rushed to his side and tried to figure out what was wrong but no one could see any painful bruises on Ryoma's body. The wound at his chest would be there for two or three more days but the pain should have been gone by now or only appear if the boy would move too much. The last master hadn't woken up since the two tensais had brought him in the house and had given him their blood.

"Yukimura, can you tell us what he needs?" Atobe asked worriedly and stroke with his right hand over the boy's forehead. The two tensais stared at the hand with golden, glowing eyes for a short moment but relaxed shortly after the hand was taken away. The king didn't get any reaction from the teen, not even a change of position or an uncomfortable moan. At the same time, Fuji was stroking Ryo's cheek with his right hand and holding the young teen's hand in his left. The bluenette nodded, bowed down to his love, let their foreheads touch each other and focused on one special thought in the room – Ryoma's thought.

A little boy with short, black hair and a cap on his head walked behind another child which wore a kimono. At the first sight, the child looked like a girl but on a closer look, he saw it was a boy, too. The kid had dark, blue hair, a beautiful face, soft and creamy skin. The thing which took all his attention was the pair of violet eyes – like an shining amethyst.

The boy with the cap followed the beauty everywhere and when they reached the playground, the beautiful boy turned around and faced his follower. A small smile and sparkling eyes on his fine face.

'It had never been anyone else, only you!'

Another scene played now in front of his eyes.

The boy with the cap was older now and alone, sitting at his desk and scribbling something down on a piece of paper. The door behind him opened quietly and the boy with dark, blue hair walked silently inside the room. He tiptoed to the boy in the chair and viewed over his shoulder.

"What are you writing?"
The beauty asked with a soft voice and made the other boy jolt. The pen fell down to the ground, the paper was grabbed and hid under the desk. The boy with the cap blushed crimson and stuttered shyly.

"N-Nothing…"

'I never wanted you to know that it was a love letter for you. I wrote it only for myself, to make sure my feelings were true. I feared you would break every connection to me if I told you. Can you forgive me for loving you?'

"So..?" Atobe asked impatiently and stroke Ryoma's bangs out of the shut eyes.

"…" Yukimura was mute and still like a stone. Why had his love memories of his childhood time with Sanada? Who showed his memories to Ryoma? Or maybe…

No, that couldn't be, could it? The guilty feeling grew stronger when he had recognized his friend's thought and remembered them.

'It should be me asking you for forgiveness! I'm sorry! Please, wake up. I want to tell you, I'm sorry. I need you!'

"So...?" Atobe questioned again and frowned as he still didn't get any reaction. Before he walked back to his lover, who had been sitting in an easy chair all the time, he stroke the pale cheek of his master. The diva sat down on his boyfriend's lap and laid his arm around Tezuka's shoulder. The leader looked angry for a moment, wanted to push the arm away but he was far too weak. He would need more human blood or his master's blood but as he saw it, Ryoma wouldn't give his sweet, red liquid to him soon. He would need to rely on Kirihara once more or another human who was dumb enough to pass by. Yeah, something like Kirihara, they had never seen anything like that. The boy was a half. His father was a manbeast - his mother a human. The genes of the mother side were stronger and made him weaker as a manbeast - because of it he had only two tails. His blood was the same as a human's but the teen could still change his form.

'He shouldn't be able to… I can't explain it.' Yukimura glance up to the smiling Fuji, he ignored the glares from their friends, who knew that they had one of their mind-conversation now, and viewed in clear, blue eyes.

'Saa, perhaps he has already accept us?' The mask was on his face once more. The little hand in his was twitching from time to time – a good sign. The boy was slowly waking up.

'But... he needs to complete the bond to…' Yukimura didn't even hear the questions from the others and stared down to the two unconscious people when he noticed too the slightly change of their love.

'He's waking up. I think we shouldn't be so close to him. The last time he saw us, he was scared as hell.' Fuji smile widen when the small hand grabbed his. The way-too-happy-smile made the other manbeasts back away and leave the five-tailed ones alone in the room with Ryoma in Sanada's arm.

'Wrong, the last time he saw us, we were in our manbeast form and he had tried to run away but stopped halfway as I had looked and pleaded to him. It means he wasn't too much scared of us and he feels something for us.'

They stopped their… fight as the boy began to stir and toss his head and body to another side, he gasped at the sudden pain but his eyes reminded closed.

"Good morning, my princess." Someone hushed in Ryoma's right ear while another one kissed his collarbone. The boy reacted out of instinct and slapped his hand around in the air, shooing the sound away. The sudden touch on his cheek made him jump out of the bed, run to the other side of the room; totally disoriented and confused. He held his head with his left hand as everything was still waving in front of his eyes and wouldn't stop moving. His other hand reached out and wavered around to hold his balance. His legs couldn't hold him anymore and he slid down the wall to the floor. His brain needed a little bit time to work again and the memories hammered down at him.

'The creatures which I feared,
the strange dream of the two boys,
the creatures who had saved me from Akito and
Akito who had shot at me in the forest.
Akito!'

His head shot up once more, his breath had risen up just like his pulse. He tried to breath calmly and deeply but he nearly hyperventilated.

'Akito…Where is Akito? I'm alive? My wound? I got shot but….? The storm and…the others! Are they all right? Ryoga? What about the old man?'

"Your brother is fine and in the hospital right at the moment. Akito is…" The person paused for a moment. "...you're safe right now and everybody here is fine. Thanks for the worry." A soft and angel-like voice said from his right side. Ryoma hadn't noticed the closeness between him and the brunette. The brunette was still standing too far away as to touch him. The young teen was relieved, they were alright but it was still hard to breath. Something took his air away and pressed hard on his chest. He turned his head slowly to the right and gazed in clear blue eyes. Ryoma was closely drowning in the color and was amazed it truly gave such a gorgeous color. It made him forget the last few hours of death and blood.

'Like a pure ocean or the sky.'

'I'm happy you like my eyes. Thanks for the compliment!'

Ryoma shrieked back, didn't understand for a moment what had just happened before he remembered what Akito had said.

"You can hear my thoughts?" He asked curiously, just to make sure it was true. The person on the right side moved closer. The unnoticed people smiled at him and looked nervously through the open door while Fuji knelt down and lifted his right hand to comfort his love but Ryoma shrugged away, still scared of them. The small prince admitted, there was something shoving him and telling him to trust them but the fear of every human didn't go away from only one unbelievable feeling. These creatures were strong enough to fight against him and kill him.

Fuji's heart was ripped into pieces; he couldn't even touch the person he wanted to be close to. How long would it take them to make him theirs? Fuji nodded in front of a sceptic Ryoma and the emerald-haired teen noticed only then the warmth before him and looked in slow motion straight forward. A pair of clear violet eyes – like an amethyst - locked him. Ryoma frowned as he remembered where he had seen them before.

'Are these the same eyes as from my dream?'

Without noting, he leaned closer to these eyes, but didn't touch Yukimura. The emerald-haired boy drowned himself in them, trying to find out if it were the same eyes from his strange dream. They affected him like a magnet, took all his attention away. As Ryoma's face was close to Seiichi's, he felt his breath. The bluenette leaned closer, broke the distance entirely and kissed softly and lightly the trance-like boy.

A light humming feeling rushed along the master's body. The young teen's eyes slowly shut but snapped open when he recognized what exactly he was doing. His hands pushed away the person with full force. The teen stumbled back. The feeling on his lips felt right but wrong, it wasn't his heart which broke in two but whose was it then? The emerald-haired teen didn't note the hurt look on Seiichi's face as another series of picture floated in his head. His hands were back on his head, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't hear how the other people spoke and nearly shouted at him or see how they closed the distance.

The boy was now a teen, his short, black hair made him look handsome and beautiful. He walked straight to the tennis courts with his bag over his shoulder.
The pupils' eyes were directed at him with admiration and addiction but his eyes lay only at one special teen with dark blue hair.
The screams from the girls were uncontrolled, two beauties at one place was too much for the female students.

The eyes from the bluenette showed happiness and freedom - the eyes of the other male were filled with longing and sadness whenever he looked to his friend.

'You were and are the only thing I want.'

Another scene.

Snow covered the creatures with glowing eyes in an old building. One of the many beasts shivered and whimpered from the freezing cold.
A manbeast with brown fur and another with black fur snuggled closer to him and shared their heat with him.

'Don't worry. You're never alone. I'll always be there.'

"We don't know what Akito had told you about us but we would never hurt you like he did! We see you as a part of our family and we wouldn't just use you to live longer. What are you so afraid of? Yeah, it is true that we tried to... kill you at our first meeting but we haven't, right? If we wanted to, we would have done it already. What shall we do to earn your trust? I don't want to lose you, too. It's enough if Sanada is nearly dying!" Seiichi shouted and a tear welled out of his eye. Weak. He felt pathetic and weak. His life crumbled whenever Genichirou wasn't there. Syusuke rushed up to him, followed by Kunimitsu and Keigo, and took him in an embrace. They had been happy, their bluenette had stopped crying a few hours ago. Now was everything starting from the beginning again?

"Shh... it's alright. Gen will wake up." The smaller brunette kissed his forehead and pulled their heads together. "He'll wake up and Ryoma will see, we aren't as scary as he thinks. Give them time."

"Maybe tomorrow the brat will understand how many of us care for him." Atobe stroke the blue hair and put his free hand around his lover's waist. Ryoma had curled up in a ball and had rested his spinning head on his shaking knees which he had pressed against his hammering chest with his arms around the legs. Everything was like a bad dream or a nightmare. In the few days he had arrived here, he had seen more unbelievable thing as an old man with grey hair. Since when was it real to see such monsters of animals or see people who were faster than a car? It couldn't be true but he couldn't forget the pictures in his head which he had seen, especially the last one.

The three creatures, taller than a person and with sharp teeth and claws. Their fur was long and fuzzy with different colors; their golden eyes glowed in the darkness and showed everyone their dangerous personality; their howls made everybody shiver and let everybody know they were near. It couldn't be real but the pain in his chest made him believe it was real, someone whispered in his head, he should trust them and believe them but could he really do it? He had never trusted somebody so far as to trust the person with his life. Why was everything so damn complicated? What should he do? Where was his brother when he needed him? Why was everything around him getting black?

"Fuji, Yukimura, I think you two should carry him back to the bed, it seems he is in no good condition." The stoic leader was back to normal. The two tensais nodded, walked carefully to their love and carried him back to the bed in Sanada's arms. First, they were surprised about the silence but when they saw the closed eyes and the regular breath, they knew their master had lost consciousness once again.

'I want to wake up from this nightmare!'

He spoke into the darkness. Everything got more and more unbelievable, nothing seemed real, everything was like a bad dream – the best nightmare someone could have!

'Nightmare? Which one?'

A sad and husked voice asked him.

'Everything is like a bad fairytale. I have seen things which shouldn't exist! I was never so scared and I don't know what I should do. They touch me so easily and every time my body is burning or under electricity. I don't want to fear them but I can't help it. My body is reaction on its own. Damn it!'

'Why not telling them? I think they would understand you.'

'Never had anybody understood me. My family had never listened to me, why should they do it and besides, it's embarrassing.'

'Your pride is high but how should they understand you if they don't know what you need?'

'If you trust somebody, you will only fall down when they break it.'

'So you fear they could hurt you emotionally? Had your last lover broken your trust?'

'I-I never had a lover, the girls are all crazy and noisy, but my family had once.'

'How about Syusuke and… Seiichi? They like you, so why not try it? Get in touch with them before they make the first move. And if you're still scared, I can say they aren't the only ones who can look behind everybody's mind. When the time comes you can read our minds too, so how could we betray you? Your situation is completely different as the time back with your family. You need to understand it. Let them explain everything and then you can judge us.'

'I'll think about it and I hope you know that they are guys, do you? And who the hell are you?'

'Sanada Genichirou. Can I ask you a favor, Ryoma? Trust them, they really love you and adore you, especially Seiichi and Syusuke.'

'You saved me from Akito, too, right? Ehm… thank you and I'm sorry. '

'Huh?'

'I can feel it. You're hurt probably because of me. I don't want to be indebted, so tell me, what can I do?'

'No, it isn't your fault. If I were you, I would take the chance and be with the two people who love me. Seiichi… is someone special to me and I hope he gets special to you, too. He is stubborn and hates it to feel weak and alone.'

'Special? Was he once your lover?'

'No, but I love him dearly as one. I wouldn't tell something like that to anybody but something inside me tells me I should tell you. I'm too weak to speak and I haven't enough strength to move. Do me the favor and take care of them.'

'….'

'...'

'…If…if I …maybe if I give you… my blood…'

'You should already know the consequents if you give me your blood. You will be stronger but you will be bonded at us entirely and when you break the connection we all will die because you're the last one. Think clearly about your decision and don't feel guilty. I would risk my life to protect you, we all would do.'

~~ 15. December, Night ~~

Silence.

The bond broke and Ryoma woke up from the thoughtful dream. His eyes fluttered open, met the darkness in the room and the quiet mood. Not a single voice could be heard nor could he see any moving objects but the snoring noises from the room besides him made him sit up. The manbeasts were sleeping soundly, stressed and worn out from the action in the last three days. They needed more sleep than usually from lost of blood and power. The emerald-haired teen glanced next to him to the sleeping person - short black hair, the face peaceful and neutral, simple with one word - quite beautiful. Ryoma took one of the still hands; they were cold just like the face.

'Sanada Genichirou, what have I thought when I offered you my blood? Why hadn't the thought disgusted me as much as I thought? It felt… right at the moment but earlier I was afraid. Since when do I change my decisions so often? Since when am I such a coward?'

The young teen stood up, got carefully out of the bed and moved quietly, after making sure nothing was wavering like before, without thinking to the door where the snoring came from.

'Alright, don't be a wimp!'

He opened the door without any sounds, discovered a clean room with dimmed light and strange sounds. It didn't look like a place where monsters had fought with ...well, Ryoma didn't want to call Akito a human anymore. He took one step forward and as soon as the teen saw the furballs on the floor, his body froze, his heart sped up and cold sweat appeared on his forehead and temples. The manbeasts' style of sleeping looked like a dogs.

'Get in touch with them before they make the first move, you said. Yeah, I want to try it. Ryoga had trusted them, too, he is an idiot sometimes but I believe he isn't too dumb to trust a person who wants to kill us.'

He took one little step after another, his feet felt as heavy as a truck, his heart was racing against his chest – making it hard for him to hear anything else than his own heartbeat.

'Calm down, Ryoma. You're never nervous. An Echizen doesn't lose.'

A handful of steps more and he would reach a purple and a dark blue furball. Their chests moved up and down, their breaths were regularly, nevertheless Ryoma was sure they had already heard his footsteps or at least his loud, hammering and smashing heartbeat.

'If anybody of you hear me... at least act as if you would be deep asleep.'

The young teen swallowed hard, clenched his hands into fists and bit on his button lip; he forced his feet to move forward and stopped only as he was exactly in front of the two sleeping manbeasts.

'Don't let is get you. They promised not to hurt you. I trust you, Sanada.'

He repeated these words as a mantra, trying to give him braveness and enough will to make the first step. The teen sat slowly down with his trembling body next to the stomach of one of the manbeasts, his shaking left hand reached out for dark blue fur but stopped an inch before it got in contact. He took one more deep breath. His hand touched soft and fuzzy fur, a welcoming heat floated inside him from the light touch and a small smile formed itself on his face.

Ryoma was proud at himself and stroke the soft fur again and again, he even slid closer to the heat and rested carefully his head on the soft, warm and good smelling fur with his hands over the furry body. It lulled him into sleep, he didn't notice anymore the already lifted heads from every manbeast in the room. Seiichi waved with his five tails and laid them like a blanket over his love's body while Atobe moved closer to him, helping him to warm Ryoma up in the icy cold room. The heater was defect and the temperature had sunk drastically outside. Syusuke was on the other side of the bluenette while Kunimitsu lay next to his lover. From above, it looked like a big ball with different colors.

'How cute.'

'Fshuu.'

'He really is something, really is!'

'I think, we made a step forward but how comes he was suddenly not so scared as before?'

'I believe, I know the answer.'

'Seiichi, you think Sanada had talked to Ryoma like today's morning?'

'They have a bond which we don't know.'

A soft yawn escaped the blue-furred manbeast and he rested his head near Ryoma's feet. A satisfied moan rang in his ears and he giggled which sounded strange in his manbeast form but he was in a better mood now. Maybe they had a chance to make him their lover. Hopefully, his dear friend would see it, too.

'We all should sleep and regenerate from the mess a few days ago, especially you Seiichi and Syusuke.'

'Wow, I never knew you are at first name basis with the two, Tezuka. Can I call you at your first name, too?'

'No, Momoshiro, you can't or you'll be running outside around the forest for the next two days and I mean it!'

'That is soo mean! It always has to do with you all are five-tailed ones. Really always.'

Laugher escaped their mouth and filled the not-so-cold-anymore-room. The moon was hidden behind the clouds; the quietness was replaced from loud snoring and 'nya-ings'. Nobody saw the twitching fingers from the room next to them and the tears which streamed down his eyes.

'Thank you, Ryoma.'

"So you are..?" Ryoga asked the teen with dark brown hair.

"Yanagi Renji. Nice to meet you." Yanagi sat in a visitor chair and leaned back, trying to keep his tired eyes open. The chair was uncomfortable and cold. The blanket over his body didn't work and the cold weather from outside made him shiver. It was so damn cold!

"You know, you can sleep in the bed next to me. I can't allow one of my little brother's friends to freeze to death. Also you look pretty tired. So why not try it?" Yanagi opened his eyes for a second but shut them again. He moved slowly his frozen bones and snuggled into the longing human heat.

"Thanks.." He mumbled and closed his eyes. Good sleep greeted him.

"Good night. I hope my brother is doing fine."

"Don't worry. Tomorrow is a new day and I have heard your brother had already woken up a few hours ago. The snow had finally stopped but our friends will be in the house for quite a while. I think we should use this chance and sleep too before we need to go to school again. I'm curious how he will look like after his change. How he will react at our bodies..."

"What do you mean with 'react at your bodies'? Hey Yanagi! What do you..." The room was filled with loudly snorings and Ryoga gave up with asking questions. His brother was save with the manbeasts - there was no doubt - but why did he have the feeling he needed to protect him from the two tensais? What did the changes mean? Would his dearly brother recognize him? Was he still the same after he had bonded with them? Doubt and fear of the changes overwhelmed him.