Minna-chan! I am glad to say that I have completed yet another chapter (this time it has been betaed? and perfected, thanks to Mei-chan/Akamatsu-san.)

Oh, and since a question has been raised I'll explain.

The reason that I smushed Sengoku, Kikumaru, and muromachi together is because, well, the first two allegedly have superior eyesight, characteristic of cats (Eiji's like half cat anyway). Muromachi (if you don't know he's the Yamabuki dude with sunglasses) was thrown in becuase I have never seen him without his infamous shades sunshine or no. This is just my way to explain it (besides, I don't think he gets enough love).

Discalimer: I don't own anything except the powers the plot and some of the setting I suppose. Heck, I don't even own the bubblegum (I can't seem to find gum in green apple flavor.)

Hajimari: Chigau Shokan

Ryoma let out a sigh of contentment as he leapt from roof top to roof top in the middle of a triangle of large demon cats. Normal people would be frightened and questioning their sanity possibly calculating a means of escape. And then of course there is the little fact that normal people don't usually know how to haphazardly leap across roof tops, especially while they're trying to keep up with tiger sized felines.

But why should he care?

He wasn't normal.

Using the side of one of said buildings he twisted his body in a perfect mid-air somersault. And it only put him a couple steps behind.

Still he frowned.

Ryoma was fully aware that none of them were going at full speed. It irked him that he still wasn't fast enough despite the months he spent wandering the nights like this.

But he guessed it was acceptable. In any case it was still improvement from how he was previously.

He sped up a bit as the darkness closed in on them with as much familiarity as a mother would embrace her child. Gradually he lifted their cover and left their safety to the cloak of night.

Ah night time, it always brought out his animalistic side. He had learned so much from it, even more than his own parents or any school teacher could ever show him. And besides, it delivered him to the best friends a twelve year old misfit could ask for.

Beneath them, the shadowed alleys hid all except a pair of glowing eyes full of mischief.

Ryoma had no idea what happened. One minute he was happily running alongside his friends. The next there was nothing, nothing but excruciating pain. He couldn't see and could hardly breathe. Everything around him was just too damn bright. It felt like he would die, and honestly, death didn't seem like such a bad option if it would stop the pain. And yes, the pain, there were gashes across his body that he could only feel and an evil laugh coming from seemingly everywhere echoing in his head until he finally fell unconscious.

Touji looked up from his work as a soft groan escaped Ryoma's lips. Good, he was regaining consciousness. However the groan soon turned to a painful whimper. Gently he moved to nuzzle the boy hoping to offer some comfort. Even when Ryoma's fingers tangled in his fur and the nails dug into his skin, he did not complain or move away, anything for his precious kitten.

"It's alright kitten," he purred. Ryoma only gave a nod as he winced again from the pain.

He did not move as Touji's rough but gentle tongue started working its magic on the cuts adorning his face. Kiyosumi had already healed one of his arms, and Eiji was working on the large gash across his abdomen. He comforted himself with the thought that they would soon be gone. In a few hours there would be nothing left, not even scars.

"Touji," they were startled by the usually happy-go-lucky orange cat demon's uncharacteristically agitated voice. "The tissues aren't reacting normally. I've managed to stop the bleeding but these will scar."

"I don't care, as long as he's stabilized." Eiji frowned. But it was strange. Normally the regenerative properties of their saliva were able to prevent any scarring.

"Look more closely, Kikumaru." Eiji was taken aback. It's been months since any of them referred to each other by family titles. However he complied with the other's request……and gasped.

The scars all ran together to form letters, words written not in any human language, but the message was still clear.

Thy blood shall spill to maketh way for past glory.

Eyes wide and worried, they lifted the boy onto Kiyosumi, by far the strongest of the three, and stole off into the night at full speed. Their bodies blurred into their surroundings. Each one was praying that they would be able to protect their surrogate brother from the clutches of death.

In the back street near the alley a pair of lavender eyes widened and a pair of emerald green ones narrowed. The red head's shaky voice was the one that spoke up first.

"Akaya, please don't tell me we just saw what I thought we just saw." The other boy avoided his gaze. Marui's once desperate eyes hardened.

"I'm sorry" the younger boy whispered.

"Don't be." Akaya bit his lip as his senpai sighed. "Finally, it has begun. Come on, we'd better get a move on."

"Usu." And they too melted into the shadows.

Muromachi Touji had been born alone, with nothing except his mother's dying body by his side. She had been able to last long enough to provide him with milk sufficient fro a week, but after that he was on his own. So naturally, it was he who led the pride outside of the city and deep, deep into the countryside. They didn't stop until they reached a good sized but out-of-the-way cottage that looked more or less abandoned.

The other two frowned at the dilapidated hut. "Tou-chan, are you sure we're at the right place?"

Touji simply smiled and opened the door. "Why don't you head in and see for yourself?"

Have you ever heard the story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame?

It goes like this. There once was an orphan abandoned by his family because of his deformed face. Despite that, he was able to grow up into a righteous, moral conscious person.

Well, a house can't really be righteous or morally conscious, but despite the exterior, it was a pretty decent place. It was a traditional sort of house, you know with a raised wooden floor. The rooms were carpeted with tatami mats and there was even a fire pit in the middle of the floor.

Eiji and Kiyosumi couldn't help but stare until Touji wrestled Ryoma from them and settled him into a futon in one of the rooms. Then he smacked them as painfully as he could while still attempting to maintain a reasonable silence. Honestly, was it that surprising? It wasn't even as nice as Kiyosumi's house, much less Eiji's. Touji was really starting to wonder if they were trying his patience on purpose.

"What the hell? You never told us you had a place of your own!" He sighed. Well, at least they were making an effort to be quiet.

"I won the lottery a couple years back." He kneaded his temples. "Fixed up the inside."

"But they don't let teenagers pick up lottery money." Oh great, now they were confused. This was too troublesome.

"Teenagers don't get to pick up the lottery." They repeated their protest. Touji was thinking fondly of the duct tape he kept in the kitchen. It would have come in handy.

"No, but they do let 65 year old well fare cases pick them up." He clamped his hands on their mouths to stifle the shouts of 'WHAT!' "We're demons you idiots. Did you forget?"

They averted their eyes making Touji feel bad. Goddamn, it was like taking cat nip away from kittens. "It's alright. I was just agitated. You guys staying here tonight? If you are then there'll be four of us in the same room. I only have one bedroom and one futon. Never thought I'd have company."

Nodding, they followed their friend and curled up around Ryoma. As their eyes closed, the very first rays of sunlight peeked through the wooden shutters.

Miles away a boy with hair the color of fresh blood shrugs into his school uniform. For once he was not blowing bubbles, but still proceeded to mutilate his green wad of gum, a sure sign of his uneasiness.

"Life is only going to get harder from now on." He thought grimacing. "Like it wasn't hard enough already."

"BUNTA!" he was smacked out of his thoughts by the loudest screech in the world.

"Na-nani?" Timidly he poked his head down stairs…….to come face to face with various items popping into and out of sight around his clearly very angry sister.

"I don't know what you problem is and personally, I don't give a damn." She growled. "JUST PUT EVERYTHING BACK!"

"Ha-hai." He flicked both wrists and the things stopped moving. With several waves of his arms, he sent them back to their original places.

The girl sighed as she handed her baby brother his lunch. "Honestly, you need to learn to control your temper. Now get outta here before you're late."

As soon as he caught sight of the clock on the kitchen wall, Marui literally disappeared. It was almost natural for him now really.

He was a tensai after all.

And not just any tensai either.

He was Marui Bunta, the Dimension Breaker.