The Witch's Husband

by LostInTheMystery

Twin brothers, twin problems, are faced with the issues of a food shortage and dark intent that lurks around them. Left alone in the woods, they face death when they come upon, of all things, a witch – in a house made of candy. Is this a blessing to the starving village or is the witch looking for more?

12. Burned

Chapter 12: Burned

Toichi nodded, relief flooding him. "The boys had their own room and you are welcome to it. The road east of here leads to it and we can be there by nightfall, sooner if we go straight through."

Shu shook his head. "We take the road. I want to have a look around and running into our own tracks is possible." They could head in a straight line but he wasn't about to go searching for small signs in the forest at the same time he was traveling.

Toichi nodded. "Alright, I can meet you at the road in a half-hour. I need to let Mr. Konosuke know."

"That's fine. I need to settle some things here." He needed to pack for a few days as well. He didn't know how long he'd be away but a day of clothes wouldn't last him if travel was going to take the rest of the day itself.

Toichi nodded. "Thank you so much." He turned, knowing he felt bad about needing to leave so soon but he was doing this for his family and his family was in trouble. He would pick up more odd jobs around town when he returned.

...

Akako found she was pleased the kids were stuck with her and, the longer they were away from their parents, the more so they would become hers. They needed to rely on her and her house right now. They were too worked up about their father and the longer they got used to the idea of being away from him, the better for her. She couldn't stay here forever and the perfect cover for her was with one of them, in a town somewhere far away - where less people knew about her and she had them wrapped around her finger – which would suit her just fine. This house was far too eye catching and it wasn't just humans that could come after her. She'd set up her perfect little cover and have her perfect little fake family while her magic grew. It would just take some time.

...

Toichi greeted a few people he knew when they reached the town, hearing from them that the boys were missing and they were sorry they could not do more. One of the more gossipy of the ladies insisted that since Sharon wasn't too broken up she was sure that she had sold them while waiting. He assured her that that was not the case but it was not the only theory he heard. It hurt him and he was going to make sure she was not wearing any strange necklaces or other jewelry the moment he saw her, just to make sure. As they approached the house, his eyes swept the area, looking for his wife. "Sharon?"

Sharon heard her husband. She hadn't been expecting him back this early but it didn't surprise her too much that he was. She wiped her hands on her smock and stood up, having tried planting a few seeds she picked up days ago. Planting season was over but it was something to start on for next year. She went around the house, seeing the man she married and a younger one that she had never seen before. "I'm here."

Toichi breathed a sigh of relief, going over to her and taking her hands. "Answer me, please. How did I ask you to marry me?"

Sharon was a bit surprised. Something was up. "You puttered around, taking me out to eat and then finding a rose somehow, in the dead of winter, and asked me to marry you."

Toichi smiled for the first time since yesterday, even if it was small, and nodded. "What happened to our boys?"

Sharon mixed a shrug with a shake of her head. "I don't know. I haven't seen them in a few days. It's like they vanished."

Toichi took a deep breath and used one finger to lift her chin and meet her eyes. "And the first time?"

Sharon stayed silent a moment longer than she normally would. She had little issues with the truth though. "And the first time I thought it would be better for us all if we only had one child to look after instead of two. I don't know if I truly thought this or I would have just made sure of that fact. All I know is Kaito disappeared, along with Saguru - who I did not know would vanish as well - and they came back several days later perfectly fine for the experience while I sat here, like I have been now, and worried."

Toichi sighed, disappointed that she admitted it but trying to hang on to the slim hope that it was under a curse as well. "They made it to the new town and found me, both worried about you because you had acted strangely, saying you left Kaito in the woods alone. They disappeared yesterday morning from the very room they were sharing with me after I went three days not knowing them or you. I will find them and we can sort this out."

That was a lot to take in. Sharon had no idea something like that was possible and her husband didn't seem all there. That could have been because he was worried but spewing all that at her and claiming amnesia seemed unlike him if it weren't the truth. "Alright."

Toichi pulled her into a brief hug, vowing to sort this out when his boys were safe, and turned to Shuichi. "Sorry, Shuichi, this is my wife, Sharon, Sharon, Shuichi Akai. He's going to help with the search."

Shuichi turned to the woman and nodded his head, looking towards the forest around them. It was dark but he could make out depth pretty well while they had been traveling. "I take it you hunt there as well." He was going to looking for children. He pictured himself finding one in a trap. That was one way of catching them.

Sharon nodded her head when the man did. The stranger looked younger than her husband, and not bad at all. She looked towards the forest as well. "You think the children are back here?"

"There was a house they said they stayed at, closer to here, and if they disappeared from both our homes after being there, there is a chance that is where they are."

Sharon shook her head. "Well, I haven't seen them."

"I'll look around in the morning." Shuichi wasn't really looking forward to a couch or a child's bed but it was better than nothing. He was hoping for a meal but looking around this place it looked liked he'd have to be the one providing at the same time he was searching for the children. Some rewarding career this seemed to be.

"Thank you, I'll show you where you can put your things." Toichi headed to the house, wondering how things went so much further downhill than they had been. He would send Sharon into town for some extra food. As soon as they found the boys, he would pack them all up and leave here anyway, just to keep them close and mend what was broken.

...

Kaito was so bored. He groaned aloud after eating one of Saguru's not-so-great breakfasts. Dad was even a better cook. He wanted to go outside so bad, just roll around in the mud. He was starting to feel clean, even sleeping on candy. "I want oouutttt," he complained.

"Me too. I never thought I would be bored of reading. I guess 'cabin fever' is real even if there is an entire library." Saguru set up the chair tent again and crawled under it to lay on his stomach and look out the door. "Do you think father has found the lantern yet?"

"Don't know. I don't know how he's going to find this house if magic keeps him out." Kaito sighed. "If it's as good at keeping people out as us in, it seems hopeless."

Saguru tucked his head into his arms and bit his lip. "Maybe... if they get close enough for us to see, we can throw something past whatever is blocking the view. He can figure something out, he has to."

Kaito frowned. He didn't expect that old guy to come with dad, if dad knows where to go at all. Even he didn't know where in the forest they were. "Dad's smart but I'm not sure the distance. If he can't see the house, we can't see him." He wasn't going to say any more about it though. Both of them being more depressed wasn't necessary.

"Well, Mr. Yusaku has that necklace. Maybe its magic will break this one."

"Ha-" Kaito let out a breath. That didn't make any sense. He'd let Saguru think that though. Magic didn't really make sense to him anyway.

Saguru looked out the door again, trying to think but running out of possibilities. "Sorry."

"Sorry for what? Did you eat all the food in the kitchen or something?" Kaito went under the tent and peeked at his brother, laying out on top of him because he wanted to. "Ah, that's better. Company."

"No." Saguru squirmed a little. "I am... I have no idea how to get out of here. Nothing works and... I am just not smart enough to get us home." Saguru finished slowly, embarrassed and trying not to show his tears.

"And I'm the older brother. Stop worrying about it. I'll get us out of here." Kaito reached over and mussed up his hair, not having to move from where he was. "Just give me a bit. An idea hasn't come to me yet. It's there. Give it another day. I'll figure it out."

"Kaitoooooo." Saguru groaned and reached up to fix his hair. "Fine, I can send another lantern to let them know your idea."

"Just send one. I said the idea wasn't formed yet." Honestly he had none, but he was sure he could think of one if he tired. Now he just had to try... Hmmm. There was an idea, but it might take a long time and a lot of work to do. It also involved breaking a lot of rules. "Want to go see the basement?"

Saguru lifted his head and tried to look over his shoulder at his brother. "Are you crazy? She said not to. What if she has something down there that we break? Besides, if we can not even go out an open door, how do you expect s to go through a closed one?"

"It's all candy, right? We can just eat it. Besides, I'm sure if she were in trouble she'd want us to get out and help her. At the very least we can see if she's down there and something happened to her that didn't let her get up here. You don't want her to be hurt, down there all alone, now do you?"

Saguru frowned. He had not heard her but if she was hurt... "Alright, but you better not break anything down there."

"I'll break the door and anything else that needs breaking and try not to break anything that doesn't need breaking." Kaito got off of Saguru, tipping his head. "In the mood for some candy?"

"I guess, I get dibs on the hinges." Saguru crawled out of the chair tent and headed to the door, having eaten the main doors lower hinges the previous afternoon and finding the minty taste of it better than the door itself. Saguru resigned himself to eating the hinge while sitting since this one was a lot harder to break off. He hoped that the door rebuilt itself like the front door did, just in case Miss. Akako was not down there.

Kaito was hoping to get it as big as Saguru got the wall the other day. Unfortunately it was a lot to eat. Breaking it apart seemed like a lot of work though and once he had a hole his teeth were easier to use. Spitting it out seemed gross, even to him. He laid down and let out a breath when it was big enough for them to get through. "Hurry, before it grows back."

Saguru crawled through the hole quickly and his hand met thin air, almost sending him face first down the flight of stairs. He caught the hole in the door with his foot and managed to get on the stairs normally before going down them with Kaito.

Kaito wasn't blind. He'd been eating away at the door and knew there were stairs. Why wouldn't there be with a door like this? He tried not to laugh at Saguru as he got up the energy to get himself through and make his way quietly down. It was still a witch's place. He didn't want to get them into even more trouble than they already were by accidentally setting off some kind of spell. Since he didn't really know what to look for though, being cautious seemed kind of silly.

Saguru looked around when they reached the bottom, a little confused that it all still looked lived in. The bed was made up and she was not in any of the rooms off the one at the foot of the stairs. Saguru looked at the vials on a shelf and sighed. "Too bad none of these are labeled. Maybe something would take the bracelets off."

"We could always mess around with them," Kaito suggested, but even he didn't think that was such a great idea. Who knew what they could accidentally do. He didn't really like the idea of going up to mope around the house again. "I had been thinking that we could kind of dig up and get out of here, but we're pretty far from the ground level now. Messing around with bottles seems easier."

"You are crazier than I thought you were. I would rather try digging than risk winding up melting my hand off. Remember, she said she did not have healing powers so if you do anything to yourself, it better be something we can treat ourselves." Saguru headed toward a wall, trying to find an area that was hidden from view so that, if he was wrong, it would not ruin anything but if he was right, it would be harder to find.

Kaito looked around at the weird things on the shelves. A lot of them were too high and there didn't seem to be a chair around here. He reached up, taking down something from the lowest shelf and sniffing it. He smelled sour and he put it back up, reaching up again and getting something red and sweet smelling. He put his finger in it, tasting it a bit and getting really dizzy before putting it back up. "Maybe this was a bad idea." He'd take his chances with his brother.

Saguru had been running a hand along the walls in a corner near a cabinet of some kind. If the door was opened, it hid this area easily. He started picking at the wall, planning to get a slope upward as soon as he had a hole they would fit through.

Kaito let Saguru go one on one with the wall while he got over his dizzy spell. It took him a while and it felt like there was still some fuzziness around the edges of everything as he went and tried to help Saguru. The opening was a bit small for two people to work on and he could barely get his hand in, so he let his brother do most of it. He'd eaten more than broken the trap door so he was pretty full still.

Saguru managed to break through a good amount of the wall but just when he thought he was through, he suddenly stopped again. He bit his lip. It was just like the hole upstairs. There was no way out for them.

Kaito let in and let out a breath when Saguru made those weird motions from upstairs. He sat down by the wall and looked around. "Well, there's a way." He closed his eyes. They couldn't go sideway, and they couldn't dig from down here... but they could go up. He grabbed Saguru's hand. "Come on. I have an idea."

"Wha- woah." Saguru had little time to wonder as his brother tugged him back to the stairs. "Kaito," Saguru realized something and the hope came back to him. "What is your plan?"

"Pretty much just fill up the living room with stackable things against the wall and see if I can't get to the top. Shouldn't be too hard." It was like a staircase and in this case, everything was replaceable, so he didn't care if he broke or ruined anything as he made it up the stairs and looked around. "Want to help me turn over the couch and we can stack a chair on that?" They'd need a little bit more to put under the chair, but maybe the cushions would be enough.

Saguru looked around, trying to see if he could picture a way to piece the furniture together and make a way to the ceiling. "This will be so dangerous if we do this wrong or fall." He added. "The table would be good too, and easier to move than lifting the couch. Plus, we can stack things on it better."

Kaito shrugged, getting on one side of the table and pushing it. "Come on then."

Saguru helped Kaito get the table and they moved it to against the back of the couch so they could use it to get more things on both. The chairs were next, the bigger ones from the kitchen first but, even if it seemed steady, Saguru was getting more nervous. His brother could climb anything, even if it was swinging or swaying, but Saguru rarely did that and was not always successful. Saguru kept gathering what he could while Kaito stayed higher up to place them. "Can you reach the top yet?"

Kaito stood easily, touching to the - or a part of the edge of the roof - of the house. "Yeah, I'm up here. Give me a minute." He still had to get through to see if he could reach outside. There had to be some gray area to work around with this spell.

Saguru bit his lip and hoped this worked. Even if it did, he was starting to doubt he could follow Kaito out. "Hey, you could have warned me," Saguru called up when a piece bounced off his head and he shifted to stand a little further away.

Kaito looked down, pulling off a bit more of the roof and chuckled as Saguru scuttled even further away before grabbing the edge where some larger rafter of candy was and getting himself up and out.

Saguru blinked and smiled when he saw Kaito climb out. "How is it? Can you get to a tree or something from there?"

Kaito looked around. There were a few trees but mostly, he liked being on a roof. It was really hard to get to their own since there weren't any trees there, and the barn was too tall. That hadn't stopped him from finding other roofs he could climb and it was nice to be taller than everyone else for once. "Yeah, I see a few branches but I'd have to jump to them." He walked to the edge of the roof and put his hand out, feeling where it just didn't want him to reach past. He let out a sigh and bent down near the hole he had made, sticking his head down and lowering his hand. "Won't work. It's nice to have some fresh air though. Come on up, scaredy cat."

Saguru huffed. "I am not a cat, I mean, not scared, or a cat." If they were going to be on the roof, he could send up another lantern and message. "I will be up in a moment." He took off to get the supplies again, wrapping them up and tucking them under his shirt. He looked up and started to make his way toward the ceiling. It had never been heights that he hated, the rug had been fun because just sitting there was easy - climbing on and walking on animals or shaky furniture, that was harder. "How did you climb this without making it move?" Saguru looked up from the chair he was standing on and tried to trust himself to climb onto the back of it and reach for the roof like Kaito had.

Kaito shrugged, his hand still lower. "I don't know. I just felt that, when it started to move one way, I made it move on purpose the other way. I felt it moving on me the whole time. Don't try jumping up here. Just take my hand."

"I have no idea how you could do that. I feel like if I try to move it it will fall over." Saguru took a deep breath and stood on his tiptoes to reach up, grabbing Kaito's hand.

Kaito held his brother. Being twins, they really needed some age difference when it came to one of them being obviously stronger, but he'd gotten used to getting his brother up places by simply being the helping hand and showing Saguru where to grab and where to put his foot as he held on and Saguru got himself up little by little. He let him go once his knees touched the roof. "You have to get out more."

Saguru closed his eyes, letting the fresh air move his hair and feeling the sun come down through the trees. "I will never complain about that again."

Kaito smiled, shielding his eyes from the sun, feeling his heart sink a little even as the light rose. "We're so far in I can't even tell where the forest ends. I didn't really notice when we were in the air."

Saguru pulled the bundle out from under his shirt and smiled. "Then let's make another signal. The house may be hidden but if we keep sending these, someone has to see it."

Kaito nodded. He figured if it made it close to their house than at least some of the other kids would wind up finding it. Grown-ups were so blind sometimes. They'd probably think it was trash.

...

Toichi was up at first light, knowing he would owe Shuichi a great deal after this and fully intending to pay him back however he could. He still felt a little unsure about Sharon, as there had been no blanks in her memory or foreign objects on her either. It hurt his heart to think she had done what Saguru said but she had- no, he would focus on finding his boys first. He put together some food for them from what was there, deciding to get something from town when they returned.

Shuichi could tell this town was struggling as badly as he had heard. Had their own enough resources to provide for both he was sure some would. It looked like this area wouldn't be surviving the coming years though and others like Toichi would be moving on to more profitable towns. He got together some traps of his own, simply because they would need food for the few days they would be here. If he saw no signs of the children by them, odds were they were dead. "Follow me. You're not a hunter, I can tell that on sight. Don't go stepping into any traps or ruining any trails. Stay behind me and only stop or start again while I tell you to, otherwise follow me."

"Of course," Toichi replied, "and thank you again."

Shuichi nodded and started off into the forest. Tracking animals was easy. Tracking children, by the same logic, should be just as simple. The only issue was the boys disappeared more than a day ago. Any signs of them would be worn away by now, and it hadn't rained in some time. The ground was hard and unforgiving when it came to leaving him clues. That didn't mean he couldn't guess at where they were or could be while looking for more human traces, such as a discarded article of clothing or an attempt at a fire - something children would do that would leave an obvious mark.

Toichi listened to the surroundings, making sure his footsteps were as silent as his companion's. He knew time was passing but it was both speeding by and going very slow. It seemed to be every second that they were stopping and yet taking forever before Shuichi signaled another stop.

Shuichi came across a few signs of old trappers. They were obvious and old. It was very eye-catching when he was met with a white piece of paper, even if it was up in a tree and he mistook it for sunlight at first glance. More tree climbing. "Stay here." He wasn't sure if it was important but anything white wouldn't last very long in the woods, so it had newly found its home here.

Toichi followed the man's eye-line and saw something that did not belong. He was not sure how it applied here unless Kaito had climbed the tree and left it there for some reason.

Shuichi had used deer traps before. He was no stranger to heights, though tree climbing itself was difficult. He got up a few branches, shaking the higher one until the paper object fell, far too heavy to have landed the way it did as it hit the ground. He lowered himself, waving Toichi forward as he did. "What is it?"

Toichi reached forward, picking the thing apart and moving it in his hands. "I think it's some kind of floating lantern but... it's not cloth." He tasted a bit, thinking about what his boys had told him and nodded. "Only Saguru would come up with this. A candy lantern." He moved a little more aside and found something else, pulling it away and turning it over to find a note in Saguru's handwriting. The relief turned into a frown when he read it. "It's from Saguru. They're together at the witch's candy house. She's not there but they can't leave because of the bracelets?" Toichi thought back, remembering the bracelets and cursing himself for not thinking to get them off when they found out about the necklace.

Shuichi was mildly confused as to why Toichi had been licking something that had fallen on the ground, but he guessed that if he had decided that something may or may not be candy, he might have licked it as well. All this stuff about a candy house was new to him. He had heard Toichi's retold stories about a witch and magic, but this seemed a little farfetched. "Candy house?"

Toichi shook his head. "I still doubted it but here, it's candy and yet, the texture of a piece of fabric." He held out the candy cloth. "I have no other way to explain it and while Kaito would come up with something like that as a story, Saguru would not."

Shuichi would normally have taken his word for the taste though his curiosity got the best of him and he did put it to his lips gently before putting a corner of it briefly between his teeth. He bit off the piece and spit it out, seeing that it did break apart like candy. He frowned and turned it over. "Well, that makes this search easier. We can't miss a house in these woods."

Toichi nodded, more glad that this was proof they were together and OK. "The wind was coming from that way most of the day so if we head that way, maybe we can find something."

"Most likely, since it was above the trees and the wind would only really fluctuate down here." Shuichi didn't spend any more time looking for a trail. There was no point if there was some magic house here somewhere that had spirited them away in the time it took someone to sleep, where as the two of them had traveled most of a day.

Toichi found himself holding the letter as the two of them set off. They had a direction, now he could only hope they actually found this mystery candy house.

While the trees hid most of the light, Shuichi was good at telling time. After a few hours of wandering around the only likely areas the house could be in, he had to sit and rest, taking a few drinks from his flask. He'd gone with water today, if only for the fact that finding a pair of kids was important. "I can't imagine they could have ever reached something so far away. We can go maybe a mile more east but we'll have to start heading west again if we want to be anywhere near town."

Toichi gazed around again, feeling like they were so close. He didn't want to leave but knew if he didn't, he wouldn't be in any shape to help them.

"How can we be missing a house?" Shuichi thought there'd at least be smoke or something. Dealing with all this magic stuff was new to him, and while he didn't believe most of it, there wasn't much else he could do. "I'm going to check my traps on the way back, hopefully with something to eat. We can look a few more days but I'm surprised none of your hunters found it before now. You lived here for quite a while, right?"

"Yes, I would hunt here myself on occasion and there was never anything to hint that there was a house here." Toichi sighed and fingered the letter again. "We are dealing with something unknown. Maybe we can signal them in return."

"Hm. Even I don't know smoke signals. I doubt your kids know Morse code." Shuichi leaned against a tree, going for a cigarette and smoking while he thought. "We need a net of people for this, but the whole idea of some magic candy house isn't going to get a lot of people on our side. It makes me want to run from this crazy side of things to be honest. I didn't think we'd need a hunting dog or I would have brought one. I'm usually just as good as an animal and I'm quieter. This is looking like one big lost cause you've got here. Even sending a message back, if we can't find them it's all pointless."

Toichi tilted his head. "What did you say? Morse Code." He smirked a little. "Knowing Saguru, I bet he does. I never knew him to use it but the amount of reading he's done, I'm sure he's read about it."

"The trees are too dense. Anything sent out would have to be with sound if we wanted to do it in this area." Shuichi stared up at the tress. "Rocks will even work, though it will be hard to draw out some sounds. Still, there's little point if we can't find them. Shouting would work just as well." Anything loud, really, would work. Words seemed the better choice. "Not sure how that will help us either though. We'll go hoarse before we find them."

"Perhaps a mix of both. Loud noises first and the occasional yell to try and get their attention."

"Huge problem with that there, my friend. Your town is dying. What little that you're catching in the woods will be scared off. Are you willing to help kill the others there to find your kids?" Shuichi would have made the suggestion earlier if he thought it was a good idea. Near his own town it would have been fine, but here... "I'll help you with it, if you want, but I can't recommend it."

Toichi lowered his head. He knew he could never do that, for one, his boys would never want him to. "No. Sorry, I've been focusing more on them and the worry is taking over."

"Don't worry about it. Most people are like that. Kind of makes me glad I never had kids, though I somehow wind up in the lives of a lot of them anyway." Maybe he wasn't a father but he knew quite a few children he thought of like family, even if they weren't. He watched the smoke disperse as he let out a breath, shrugging. "I don't mind going out again tomorrow. I know where we've looked already and where we haven't. This might take some time, and I can't guarantee we'll find a house when the rest of the town hasn't already." There might be a solution there he couldn't see, but right now it wasn't coming to him. He reached in and pulled out another cigarette. "Want one? You need a break. If you don't smoke, I suggest sitting down a moment."

Toichi waved the offer away but sat down and leaned against the tree, closing his eyes to think. "Maybe someone saw the house or even saw her but they thought they were dreaming or something and have not admitted it. If you thought you saw a witch or a house of candy in the woods, would you tell anyone?"

"Well, I would have if I saw a witch, if only because I doubt I'd believe she was a witch. As for a house in the middle of the woods, yeah. I likely would have gone right up to it and checked out who the heck was living in the middle of the woods in a candy house." Shuichi didn't see why anyone would keep a house a secret, and he knew few who would simply pass it by. As for a witch, that was a bit different. There'd be a lot of varied reactions to that. "If they didn't say anything, odds are they don't remember the location. We are pretty deep in the forest." New plan. There had to be something besides aimlessly searching. There had to be something they could do. "If your kids are trapped in some magic house of candy no one can find, I think I'm out of ideas."

"The note said Akako, the witch, hasn't been there at all." He looked down at the note than at the man beside him. "Instead of a house, maybe we can find her first."

"So we go from looking for two kids and a house to some witch we've never seen before and can't recognize?" Shuichi was tired and hungry and blamed those factors on his stark response. "Sorry. I didn't mean it to come out that way. I'd rather go back to my place and get a hunting dog if it wouldn't kill two days. I could always phone and ask someone to bring one, but we've been walking all over the place and I doubt that after days it would be able to track them. Toichi, listen, I know you're worried about your kids but they seem fine right now. If they are in a house and safe right now, and we can't get to them, it's pointless to be wandering around like this."

"If only I could let them know I was looking instead of thinking I forgot them again."

"Give it up. There's no easy way to go about that." Shuichi took his last inhale, breathing out slowly as he made sure the embers were out before dropping the cigarette. "Lets go get you and me and your wife some food, rest up a bit, and wait outside your house tomorrow. I can set up some traps and make sure we all have something to eat and when we figure out if we can get to your kids or they can get to us, there will be food. You can tell them we both tried. I'll be leaving by the end of the week but I'll go out again for a few hours each day to see if I can't pick something up. You'll only get in my way."

Toichi nodded, reluctant but from the sound of it, the man would be better on his own. There may be no easy way but he was willing to do things the hard way. Perhaps he would ask around town and see if anyone had any odd stories.

Shuichi didn't miss the look in the other man's eye. He was sure they were near the same age, but apparently having kids gave you a different level of energy. "Come on. I'm starving."

...

Saguru was getting scared and did what he could to get Kaito to sometimes use father's voice. They had sent more lanterns out but he was starting to doubt they'd be found. He did not want Kaito to know and slipped away after lunch and another note/lantern. He curled into one of the closets with one of the blankets around him to muffle the sounds if he started to cry. He knew it was desperate but he wanted the bracelet off and Kaito's idea of burning had been crazy a week ago. Now, he wanted to see if it worked for himself with one of the candles.

Kaito had heard of people going crazy trapped in houses. He spent all the time that he wasn't reading with Saguru trying to invent new games. He even got his brother to run around the roof with him, seeing as they couldn't fall off of it. If it weren't colder at night, he'd sleep up there. He was laying up there now, watching the clouds after throwing more stuff on the 'ladder' so Saguru would stop freaking out every time he climbed it. He wanted to be a bird and fly away from here, but he didn't wholly mind staying and taking care of his brother. It was kind of okay, if not boring.

Saguru had tears in his eyes and his skin was bright red around the bracelet. He hated it so much and biting down on the blanket was only keeping him from yelling. It was not working and the skin was starting to bubble. He knew he needed water and hoped he could make it to the kitchen without Kaito catching him. He had failed at burning the thing off and was tempted to cut it but his wrist hurt too much and he didn't want to cut it too. He slipped out, hugging his hand to himself and, once he reached the living room, tried to be quiet, turning the water on was harder without the chairs and he could barely reach to get water to his wrist. He buried his face in his arm, crying as the water both stung and soothed the burn.

Kaito heard Saguru scuttling around downstairs and peeked down the hole that he'd had to keep open by placing bits of the couch and anything else he could make sticky so they didn't have to keep reopening it. "What are you doing down there? Want to get another book or something?" He could read outside.

Saguru froze a little when he heard Kaito call to him and tried to decide what to do. There was no way he could answer without his voice choking and he did not want to face Kaito yet. He shook his head and tried to hide his hand, keeping his back to the opening.

Kaito tipped his head, even though it was already kind of tipped the way he was looking down. "I can help you up."

Saguru shook his head again and tried to wipe his eyes at the same time. He swallowed, wanting to stay there longer but Kaito would keep pestering him. He pulled his hand to his chest, deciding he could lock himself in the bedroom for a bit. His soaked shirtsleeve could be wrapped around his wrist for now.

Okay, Saguru was acting weird. Big brother time. Kaito swung down, happy his leg was all up and running like normal again. He had a pretty ugly mark but it was closed and nothing hurt anymore. He slipped down onto the chair and easily off the makeshift ladder. "What's wrong? It's okay if you're missing dad again. I am too."

Saguru wished he had not said that but that had been part of it and it made his breath catch. Still trying to keep his back to his brother, he hugged his wrist to himself.

"What do you have?" It looked like Saguru was trying to hide something from him. He was interested but a part of him was worried. Saguru had been crying. He didn't hide it very well and he always looked all splotchy afterwards because his skin was more pale. "Don't worry, I won't take it from you if you don't want me to."

"N-nothing." Saguru answered truthfully, trying to tug the sleeve over the burn and keeping the hiss of pain to himself.

Kaito frowned. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Saguru bit his lip, torn between running for it and wanting some help. "Sorry." His shame won out and he tried to leave again when his shirt was grabbed. He could not stop the cry this time when the sleeve slid across his burn.

Kaito knew Saguru could be fast when he wanted to be, not that he was ever faster than him but it was still easier to grab him than to chase him. Saguru stopped dead when he did, crying and Kaito didn't miss the very red, injured skin where he'd though his brother had been hiding something. "You idiot!" Worry turned to anger quickly and he hit Saguru on the back of the head. "What did you do!? Do you know how mad dad's going to be when he gets here and I didn't watch out for you? How'd you get hurt?" He wanted to see it. He didn't know how to treat wounds further than 'wash and cover' so that was what he was going to do and make sure Saguru wasn't anywhere near whatever he got hurt on again.

Saguru could not meet Kaito's eye, staring at the floor. "I thought I could burn it off... so we could leave."

Kaito took in and let out a breath, water pricking at his eyes. "I would have done it if I thought we could. I've tried chewing on it and can't make a dent. Of course fire wasn't going to work." He was going to be in so much trouble. Saguru would never have played with fire on his own. "What do you think dad's going to say?"

"I... I have no idea if he will know. If we are stuck here, what if he is stuck out there. With no way to find us. I... " Saguru sobbed and broke down crying. He wanted to get home so badly. See father again, even Mr. Konosuke or Mr. Yusaku would be great, just to prove it was not a dream that they had seen them. He was starting to doubt they would ever leave here again.

Kaito hugged his brother. It was all he could really do. He didn't know when they'd get out of here, but somehow he was sure they would. While he didn't mind the time with Saguru, apparently his brother needed something more than 'big brother', and there was nothing more he could be. He cried silent tears of helplessness as the situation was taking so far out of his hands that he didn't know what to do with it. He waited, his tears calming before Saguru, and he rubbed his brother's back. "I'm here. You're not alone."

"I know." Saguru hiccupped and sniffed and swallowed. "I know you too and you must want to be out more than me. I feel like I failed to think of a way out."

"I promised you I'd get us out. You have to trust me." Kaito still hadn't thought of a way but he knew there was one and he was never going to give up, even if it was nice here. Saguru was going crazy. "Come on. Let's get that wrapped up before the bracelet hurts it more and let me get a book. We both need to relax for a bit."

Saguru nodded but still felt ashamed. "Sorry I upset you."

Kaito rubbed his eye and slowly let Saguru go. "It's okay. Don't do anything stupid like that again. If I do it, I'm not about to get yelled at for you getting hurt, and you're really bad at doing stupid stuff."

Saguru could not help it as he gave a small chuckle. "You do stupid stuff so much that it became normal."

"Yeah but I'd do it the right way, the wrong way." That didn't make much sense. He'd wound up with broken bones and everything else over the years. He, though, was the big brother and better at making stupid ideas come out with better consequences. It was also a lot better to have Saguru doing something with his head - productive-wise and stuff. "Never thought I'd say this before, but you're an idiot." He chuckled. It was kind of fun to say it.

Saguru wanted to be offended but it was true this time. He finally looked up with a small smile. "I bet you wanted to truthfully say that for years."

Kaito shrugged but there was a smile on his face. "Maybe, though I never noticed it before now. I'm going to go check out the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. You..." he waved at the burn. "Clean it? Dry it? Something with it? I'll be right back."

"I know there was a plant that helps but I have no idea if it grows around here. I can just keep putting water on it until you get back."

Kaito shrugged and took off. It wasn't like they could go outside to get the plant even if Saguru could describe it to him. He went through the cabinet, finding the same wrapping that the witch had used on his ankle. He grabbed it and got down, meeting Saguru back in the kitchen. "Dry off and no more being stupid, Stupid."

Saguru sighed, resigned to the fact that Kaito would hold this over his head for a long time. He sat on the floor, carefully helping Kaito treat the wrist. "I am sorry."

"No you're not. You wanted to try it, you did, and you got hurt. If you were really sorry you wouldn't have done it in the first place. You over think things too much and this one had a clear outcome." Kaito tried to be gentle as Saguru moved the bracelet and he was able to loosely cover the skin. "I'm not mom or dad so don't give me any fake apologies."

Saguru blushed and shifted. "I know, but I ended up worrying you and I really did not want to."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Of course I'd be worried knowing you hurt yourself, little brother." He got up and grabbed Saguru by his good wrist. Climbing was going to be out of the question for a while. He might hurt himself. "Let's open the window in the bedroom and I'm picking the book this time."