The next morning they had an early wakeup call because Kyouraku came and was knocking with a pretty fierce fist on their door.

They had told him the day before to wake them but apparently they didn't have that on their mind when they said it.

Both frightened by the surprising noise in the middle of their sleep, they bolted up on a sitting position on the bed and looked at each other for a few seconds, so to take an answer as to what was taking place, dumbfounded.

Karin was the first to snap out of it and anger quickly replaced fright on her face as she got out of the bed and stormed towards the door and opened it without pause.

With an irritated face she screamed at whoever it was that disturbed her sleep.

"WHAT…?"

Kyouraku shied away and went into the corner, frightened by her outburst.

Toshiro was put out of his trance by that yell from her. He couldn't say that he didn't expect it but to see it really happening was something else.

He could understand her perfectly though cause he felt like ending the life of the one that woke him up at this moment too.

Then, he remembered that they were the ones that told Kyouraku to wake them up and also that if this man was killed, where would he go when he passed this way.

So no, Kyouraku shouldn't die… At least not now, and from his wife's hands. No, too much work to clean up after and the paperwork. Besides, he hated paperwork.

Finally he decided to go and calm Karin down so that he could save this man's life.

He got out of bed and went to stand by his wife. He put a comforting, and stopping, hand on her shoulder and tried to soothe her with a calm voice.

"Karin… Relax. It's just Kyouraku and we were the ones that told him to wake us up, remember?"

She just looked at him with eyes ready to kill, but when he stood his ground, she sighed in defeat and backed off the door with one final glance at the cowering man.

Toshiro shook his head and looked at the man as he was standing up finally.

"Thanks for waking us up, but you could use a little quieter way. You scared us to death. Anyway, thanks though."

With that said, Kyouraku bowed before leaving and Toshiro closed the door before turning towards his still angry wife.

"Come, we have to begin packing. We have been away long enough."

With those words, he went to get ready while she mumbled something about inn-owners and death before going to get her things ready as well.

After they were all packed and ready, they took their things and made their way downstairs towards the tavern.

They put their things on their horses and decided to have something taken with them so they could eat while on the road.

The way back was very tiring but considerably small since they arrived a little past nine o'clock on their home… palace.

They didn't make any stops, if you exclude the ones that they did so to rest the horses and themselves and to have a bite or something.

When they arrived, a surprise was waiting for them at the garden.

Matsumoto had half turned it into a party wonderland.

By the time that they saw it, Karin was looking at it with worry and confusion in her eyes, while Toshiro was firstly confused as to who have done that and for what reason, but then he discovered the guilty person and was enraged without caring for the reason anymore.

He instantly forgot the time and yelled towards the castle and the sky

"MATSUMOTO….. COME DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT."

From inside the house, you could here someone squealing of fright and a lot of running-for-your-life steps. After some moments of those noises, including some rustle somewhere in the middle, Momo came outside dragging a frightened and squealing Matsumoto behind. They stopped right in front of a startled Karin, from the whole situation because it seamed as though this has occurred before too, and an enraged red-in-the-face Toshiro.

For some time there was only silence as even Matsumoto has shut up and was looking down with shame, praying silently towards every god she knew of, for Toshiro to spare her life, while Toshiro on the other hand was throwing daggers at her direction.

Karin and Momo were silently waiting to see what would happen, though Karin had the hunch that it was for completely different reasons. The one was startled while the other just seemed used to it.

After a few minutes of silence, Toshiro finally spoke with restrained anger.

"Could you please explain me what the hell happened here because I fail to find a purpose as to why everything is the way it is…"

Matsumoto cowered at that but after the heated with anger glare from him, she finally answered.

"I… I just wanted to make a welcoming party for you since we knew that you were returning the other day and I called some friends over to celebrate. Though, you never came, the guests have arrived so we just went on with the plan to party even though the stars of it were missing. Let's just say that after some time, it went a little out of hand and we didn't have the time to make it presentable again before you arrived...?"

She finished with what sounded to be a question, and even though she didn't say it clearly, everybody knew that when she said 'you' at the end, she meant only Toshiro cause Karin knew her only a little over a week and she couldn't possibly know that this happened at every opportunity that she found when Toshiro was missing.

After her speech, Toshiro just sighed out of exhaustion from both his journey and from this thing.

Why did he have to have the same conversation with Matsumoto every time he came back from a tiring trip to another kingdom? Every time it was exactly the same. He was kind of tired of it.

Karin, after she saw her husband be so exhausted only with so little said, she understood that this situation wasn't a first time thing.

Momo's reaction to it was a give away too since the girl was a peace maker by nature and if she wasn't used to it, she was sure that she wouldn't be able to take it.

When Toshiro sighed and looked like he was at least ten years older at that minute and was scolding a child, she took it upon herself to end this situation.

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder to make him look at her, which he did, and shook her head before saying.

"We're tired from an all day trip. Let's just leave it the way it is. Besides, I'm sure that Matsumoto has learned her lesson and she wouldn't make the same mistake again. She will also have it all cleaned by tomorrow. Will you not Matsumoto?"

At being rescued by her, Matsumoto put on her ten-watt smile and nodded her head like her life depended on it, which it probably did at this situation.

Toshiro sighed again because even though she probably meant it, he was sure that this situation was sure to happen again. For some strange reason though, he didn't want to go against Karin's wishes and he really was tired so he let it pass… even if it was only for now.

Besides, one thing he surely knew was that Matsumoto would really have it all sparklingly clean by tomorrow evening for sure.

He just looked at Karin and then turned around saying a faint 'okay' and 'I'm going to sleep, goodnight' and left towards the inside of the house with them following after.

While the other two went towards their bedrooms to sleep too, Karin followed Toshiro to their separate bedrooms without saying a word.

When finally outside, silence befell them and they were just standing there looking at one another and towards their appointed rooms.

Neither wanted to sleep separately after those nights together... Without saying anything of that nature though, they said their goodnights, gave a peck at the lips and went inside with faint pink cheeks.

When they put on their night clothes though and lay down, they felt something (or rather someone) missing and also an unexplainable cold feeling accompanied with emptiness.

They sighed and decided that they would go to one another if this would help them to sleep. It couldn't hurt to try, right?

So, they got up and when they opened their doors… they almost collided with one another while going to the other's bedroom.

They were both startled as to what have happened, before they realised that the one they were looking for was right in front of them.

"What are you doing here?"

They said together as one and then silence. Toshiro was the one who broke it with his voice while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Uh… Yeah! I… I was thinking if maybe we could… Um… somewhat sleep together again. Don't misunderstand though, I don't mean it in any weird way… it's just that I kind of got used to you being beside me. That's all… If you don't want though, it's okay."

Was all he said… firstly bashful, but then with a rush as he was kind of worried of what he had said and what she could possibly think of it.

Her reaction though threw him totally off, as she just blushed a little and nodded her head in agreement. She was feeling the same anyway so if he already suggested it himself, why refuse?

Without words, they decided to go sleep inside the master bedroom (Toshiro's room) and that's what they did.

When inside, Karin was mesmerised by the way his room was decorated.

It had a huge double bed with fluffy white sheets, and a bedside table on each side with a lamp on. The right side's lamp was on and beside that, it also had a book rested on the same place.

Above the bed was the emblem of his family and kingdom, a silver ice dragon. It was craved so beautifully that you thought that any moment it would become alive and fly out of its binds.

The room also had an enormous closet at the other end of the room, besides the window which led to a veranda with two white comfy armchairs and a coffee table in between.

It also had a sword case with one lone sword inside.

That sword was no ordinary one.

Matsumoto had explained the day that she showed her to her room on her first day here that inside his room there was a sword that belonged to him.

Swords were carved for each generation by the best craftsman of the kingdom coming from the soul of its future wilder. It was somewhat like magic.

The swords from the past's generations were stored inside another special separate room that served only for this purpose.

These things made his entire bedroom.

Words were not exchanged by the time they were left alone inside the room with a closed door, till the time that they were already in bed and covered by the blanket.

When they were securely tucked inside the warm double bed, they turned towards each other and were, silently for yet another time, looking at one another's eyes.

Karin was the one to break the thick silence that was building between them by speaking.

"I heard that each generation has one sword craft for them by the best craftsman of the kingdom. Is yours the one that is in that case?"

"Uh… Oh, yeah. Its name is Hiyourinmaru… It was given to me by my father when I was born. It is said that the icy dragon that is the protector of the kingdom and this family, is rested inside that sword, which is why the sword has this name."

"WOW… That's why it has this particularly strange shape. The top of the hilt is shaped like a star while being coloured almost after your eyes. It's very beautiful in general. By the way, is it coloured really after your eyes or was that just a coincidence?"

"Yes and no… Yes, because it really is coloured after my eyes, and no because it is said that it's also the colour of the dragon himself in his real form."

"Oh…"

She was absolutely mesmerised by the story and she would have loved to learn a lot more of him and his life before her.

They were tired from the journey though, and besides, they had a whole life in front of them for her to know more about him and vice versa. Now she just wanted to let sleep overtake her so she could start a new and fresh day tomorrow.

Toshiro probably sensed that and so told her to go to sleep before she even had the chance to open her mouth.

He just kissed her goodnight and turned on his side. She quickly did the same and so another day together had come to an end peacefully.

Nobody though was prepared of what the morning would bring with it the next day.

The next morning came in silence as the occupants of the palace were still asleep at this early hour.

This silence carried a heavy burden as horses could be heard running in the distance heading towards the castle.

Who were the ones that decided to disturb this peaceful kingdom at this hour and what was their purpose?

Matsumoto awoke by heavy pounding on the front doors.

Since the day before she decided to sleep downstairs so to be as farther from Toshiro as possible in case he came to yell at her again and so she heard it like they were hitting her right on the head.

The hangover from the drinks the night before didn't help either.

She groaned from the pain and with one hand holding her throbbing head, she went to open the door so she could stop the pounding.

What she found on the other side of those doors though was something she would never expect.

In front of her were Karin's older brother and his wife.

That wasn't the strange thing though. No… The strange thing was that the man looked pissed, sad and determined at the same time while the red-head woman was crying like her life depended on it and something was missing from the whole picture.

A little boy who used to be in his mother's or father's embrace, was now missing.

When she got out of her shock, she took the younger girl into her arms and beckoned them inside closing the door after.

She took them to the library to sit and wait, and while she went to make something soothing for them to drink, she also woke a waitress to go and wake up Toshiro, Karin and Momo.

Surely, they had something serious to talk about if they had come all this way with their kid missing and the mother pouring her heart out in tears to top it off.