Chapter 22
Junpei remembered returning home that night. The animals he was able to move to shelters as well get them to proper authorities if they were endangered. Yet, when he arrived home. Tanso was waiting for him, all the animals that died on their journey were now his familiars and appeared to be very content with the notion. "Wow, that's a new legion there… is that an alligator?" he asked pointing to a small reptile near by.
Tanso nodded and then pointed to the woods. Junpei turned and saw the sorcerers had been turned. Tanso now had five at his command, but once more, they moved very slowly, very zombie like. "You turned them alive didn't you?" he asked offhandedly.
He nodded. "Okay, next time, I think they are better off dead. Take into consideration, maggots eat the dead, not living flesh… well… sometimes they do but dead remains are easier for them to break down. Okay?"
He agreed on the notion, but for the rest of the night, he tended to his new familiars.
#
The next morning.
Junpei wondered about the forest, he liked to have some time to himself without the brothers dotting over him every so often. Today, he was merely listening to music, and singing along. He had fallen in love with a band called Linkin Park, and he knows all their songs off by heart. Half of the time, he didn't realize he was belting out the tunes.
He also didn't realize either, that his side mouths too were also singing. That discovery only happened shortly after his latest venture into the woods. He was singing 'From the inside' when he felt the side of his mouths moved oddly. Taking his headphones off, he heard them. The mouths… are able to sing!
"Huh? Really? Then again, these things are oddly connected to me…" he muttered. Not only can he breath and now sing out of these mouths. He can eat with them too. That was a little trick Suiryu did to him a while back. Junpei was resting, Suiryu wanted to train with him so he passed the time, throwing bits of food in the larger mouth that was exposed. According to Choso, he continued to do so for twenty minutes, until Junpei woke up, feeling oddly full.
Well he shouldn't be THAT surprised anyways.
As time passed, he got really good at controlling the pitch and sounds that came out of each mouth. He could harmonize them or he could have them sing at different points. All in all, he was his own back up singer!
He also started spending more time with the brothers. Matters didn't help much when they got jealous since he has spent a lot of time with most of them. Sanso and Sho have been feeling left out recently.
So, he divided his time between the two. Sanso he helped him establish a little garden. Sanso was determined to grow food to help Eso and his cooking. "Little brother is a very good cook, but I can only wonder as to how much more delicious it would taste if I grew the food for us." He explained.
"Home gardening is a great idea. What did you have in mind?"
He named off the vegetables the family has been eating a lot of as of late. Leeks, cabbage, carrots, daikon and so on. They would spend a good week planning the garden, making the beds, tilling the soil and preparing the seed. When satisfied, Sanso began to his gardening.
Now, he had to spend some time with Sho.
Junpei ventured back into the house. Sho likes to spend his time reading, but he has also taken up writing. All over the floor, papers were scattered, some crumpled, others just left there without thought. "Sho?" Junpei called gently.
He was slightly startled. "Oh… little brother… what brings you here?"
He smiled warmly. "I've been spending so much time with the other brothers, I haven't had properly spent time with you. I'm all yours!"
It took his older brother aback, but he smiled proudly. "Really? Okay, I'm not much fun though. I've been doing a lot of reading as of late, trying to better understand the world we are in. At the same time, I've been writing things. They don't make much sense to me, but I have the urge to write them down."
Junpei picked up some of the loose papers, he read over a few of the words before he paused. "Sho, this is poetry," he explained gently.
"Poetry?"
"Yes, when you express emotion through written words. You have poetry here… but the thing is… it's all the same." He explained.
Sho began to pick up some of his discarded pages, he peered them over before realizing Junpei was right. "Ah, I see your point." He said.
"But don't get discouraged, you haven't really been out yet. I think this is a good venture for you to try. Who knows, maybe we will become a band and you can write our lyrics!"
Sho's eyes shined. "Really?" he asked.
"I don't see why not, but I'll help you write, but as I said, we got to get you guys out more… speak of which, I haven't seen Yuuji or Suiryu in ages."
"Oh, Suiryu had just called. Apparently little brother is in a new elemental phase."
"Already?" Junpei didn't realize that a few months had already passed. Then again, he's been so busy, he hardly notices the time that has passed… but that does explain the weather. It has snowed recently too!
"Ah, then we shall not interfere…"
"Suiryu thinks Yuuji won't be in this phase much longer. Apparently the dragon in little brother, his element is water."
"Ah, that's good to hear… still… why is Yuuji going through an elemental phase?" he wondered aloud.
"I think it's the dragon." Sho explained. "I've been reading up on them, although humans have a different perspective to these creatures, the one thing I noticed is that they are linked to nature very strongly. Why this particular dragon isn't and little brother has been gathering the element for it… I don't know. But the fact remains it is happening and we should support him."
'Just how on earth do you do that?' Junpei wondered. He has always worried for Yuuji, and this phase as they are all calling it… it doesn't sit well with him. Yuuji has no control over himself when he is in an 'elemental' phase, does this really mean he is going to be okay?
"Anyway…" Junpei took a seat. "Let's spend some time together big bro, I think you got the soul of a poet…"
