A shudder ripped through my body as I stirred from sleep, finding myself alone in the book room. The sliding door was open and there were several stacks of books that had been organized since I fell asleep, most of the shelves now empty of their burden. Stifling a yawn while gathering my clothes around me, readjusting them as needed before shivering again from the cold, I crawled over to where my journal lay open with the charcoal wedged into the break between pages.

Glancing over my handwriting, I took a deep breath before slowly releasing it, coming to the conclusion that if my ancestral home did hold clues about what I could do to help the brothers, I was closer to Nagoya and should continue heading there to find out what I could. If that didn't hold the answer that I was searching for, then I would make my way back towards my hometown...

"I had told you that I'd be leaving soon!"

A dark voice shouted out forcefully, each syllable bitten out like a command. I stilled before looking back towards the door, flinching and covering my mouth with a hand when a figure was thrown past the doorway, the details blurred in my eyes.

"Get out of my way," Another voice yelled out, the pitch slightly higher than the first speaker, "That smell is too fresh to be an 'old scent'."

I quickly looked around the room and found a small corner that was hidden from the doorway, scrambling up and pressing myself into it while covering my mouth with both hands, my fingers trembling against my skin.

Heavy footsteps marked the intruder stopping by the door, a deep inhale rousing their attention before stepping into the room. A hot temperature radiated out from the newcomer, the sweat starting to bead on my skin as I grew uncomfortable in the heavy winter clothing.

From my hiding spot in the corner, my eyes widened as the intruder stepped into view behind the bookcase, the frayed white hood covering their head and revealing their face.

The dark lines over their cheeks were accented by a darkened area underneath their searching eyes, the bright blue hues glittering like icicles in sunlight. They swept around the room in a slow, methodical pattern, turning more towards me and fully revealing who it was.

Osomatsu, the oni yokai.

My heart thudded in my chest, fear racing through my system as he seemed to pick up on some kind of trail that only he could see, his winter eyes locking onto the ground and moving towards where I was hiding.

"You're not welcome here, Osomatsu," Ichimatsu groaned from the doorway, drawing Osomatsu's attention before he could see where I was, "Go crawling back to the cave you call home."

"Last I checked, this is my home," The oldest brother growled, the black fur wrapped around his shoulders bristling before he disappeared from my sight, "You are the one who isn't welcome here."

A loud yelp sounded as the room shook, the walls reverberating from some kind of impact. I wanted to run out and see what happened, to make sure that Ichimatsu was okay, but I knew that the only thing that was on Osomatsu's mind was finding me...and possibly eating me as a snack.

Another crash sounded further away, wood splintering from the collision as it sounded like half of the house was starting to collapse. Ducking out of my hiding spot, I grabbed my journal and the scroll that the stranger had found, shoving them both into my sling bag before ducking out into the destroyed hallway. Now able to see what the extent of the damage was, I paled when I saw a large hole in the room next to where Ichimatsu and I were staying for the night, the trail of destruction mapping out where the fighting brothers were.

I bit down on my bottom lip when a loud roar rang out from somewhere nearby, feeling the effects of the yokai fight through the floorboards as I raced towards the closest exit. My heart worried for Ichimatsu, knowing that Osomatsu was probably the strongest of the sextuplets physically, his raw strength alone enough to level the building we were in. The other brothers were more powerful in other aspects, but in a direct fight against Osomatsu...there was no contest.

I skidded to a halt when Ichimatsu was thrown against the wall in front of me, his form battered and bruised as he slumped to the floor. The white fabric of his outfit had absorbed the red color of his blood, staining the beautiful outfit into a twisted and tattered sight. The lower extremities of the robes had scorch marks, the red embers marking them as someone else's fire. Ichimatsu's nine tails were limp as his left ear perked towards me, his blue eyes barely visible underneath his roughed-up dark bangs.

"You're less of a fight than I remember," Osomatsu's voice echoed through the opening where Ichimatsu was thrown from, my mind screaming at me to find somewhere to hide before a hand gripped the outer edge of the person-sized hole.

I ducked into a small closet, holding my hands over my mouth and trying to quiet my rapid breathing as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. A slow coldness began to form near the small of my back, bringing my mind to the cursed fude brush that lay hidden in my sash. Quickly dismissing the thought of using it, I tried to think of another way for both Ichimatsu and I to escape.

"Are you sure...about that?" Ichimatsu groaned, his voice sounding strained as I heard him stand up, "The punches that you've grown to be so...proud of feel like childish slaps now."

I flinched as the crack of wood echoed through the hallway, tears streaming down my cheeks as the house rocked around me.

"You think that you can taunt me, kitsune?" Osomatsu growled, the sound of fabric rustling nearby, "No...I know what you're doing."

I stilled as I heard footsteps start to walk towards me, my hands pressing tighter against my mouth. A deep inhale could be heard through the hallway followed by an exhale that rolled into a laugh.

"Considering that you haven't even tried to transform into your full yokai form means that you're holding back," Osomatsu's voice grew closer, "Even with the damage you've sustained, that should be an easy thing for you to do...and that means your little pet is close by."

The door of the closet was ripped off its hinges, a pleased smirk resting on Osomatsu's face as he stared down at me, my terrified hues looking up into his shining blue colors with fear. His smirk widened, the lips parting to reveal the sharp teeth of the oni.

"I found you."

I screamed as his hand gripped my wrists tightly, pulling me out of the closet before slamming me against the opposing wall, his nails digging into the old wood and pinning my wrists high above my head while I tried kicking out at him.

Osomatsu was massive, larger than when I last saw him in his human form. He leaned down as a satisfied laugh rolled within his chest, his lips parting and allowing the hot breath to flow over my face and neck. I winced and tried to wrench myself away as his other hand reached for me, the long talons catching onto my clothes.

"You're still a human, (y/n)," Osomatsu's tongue quickly swiped over his upper lip, his brilliant blue eyes partially closing in contemplation as his gaze wandered over my form, "I don't know if I should be pleased or disappointed about this, but it won't really matter in a moment."

"Release her!"

The demand was closely followed by a sudden drop to the floor, my wrists freed from Osomatsu's grip as a large creature darted past my vision and began fighting with the oni. Barely recovering from my fall, I glanced over to see a wall of tails engage with a transforming Osomatsu, his white clothes turning red and black as several eyes opened within the fabric.

Ichimatsu barely turned back towards me, his hands pinning Osomatsu beneath him as the red marks on his face and blue eyes glowed vividly, "Run, (y/n)!"

Without further instructions, I gathered my feet underneath me and ran out a damaged outer wall and into a massive snowstorm that had been brewing in the night, snow swallowing my vision as I pressed on into the darkness. I didn't have the courage to see if Ichimatsu would be all right and I didn't want to waste the time that he had given me by fighting against Osomatsu. Tucking my hands into my sleeves, I kept my head down as the wind whipped up into a frenzy around me, blowing the snow about and blinding me.

Pressing on, I saw a faint light ahead and wandered towards it, fighting against the strong wind and furious snow to come to a sort of branching road junction. The light was from a lamppost, the little lantern swaying heavily in the wind as the flame inside struggled to stay lit. I tread down from the forest that I had passed through, the abandoned home tucked away somewhere far behind me, and I glanced around the area to try and find my bearings. Nagoya was only a day or two away from where Ichimatsu and I had stopped, but I wasn't sure if it was north, east, or northeast.

The fire within the lantern suddenly dipped in intensity before blazing back to life in a blue flame, my eyes widening as I quickly ran down the north path. The blue flame grew in intensity behind me, casting my shadow along the ground before the fire somehow jumped from the lantern, dancing along the side of the road and keeping up with me.

My panicked breath came out in thick wisps of hot air in the snowstorm, quickly vanishing in the violent wind as I raced back into the trees that lined the road, turning away from where the fire was. The tears that I had previously shed were frozen on my cheeks, the sting beginning to hurt as fresh trails tried to fall despite the freezing wind stopping them right beneath my eyes.

Blinking harshly to try and clear my blurred sight, I collided with something soft on the road and fell down to the snowbank with whatever it was. Sputtering out apologies as I clambered off, I opened my eyes before my heart nearly stopped.

Karamatsu smiled up at me, the large straw hat knocked off of his head as the white cloth-like scarf blew about gently in the wind. His glowing blue eyes held me in their gaze as he reached up and caressed my cheek, his fingers just as cold as the snow around us.

"You're a fool to wander off the road, (y/n)," Karamatsu sat up as I tried to run away, his eyes holding mine in thrall as my body slowly responded and backed away while trying to stand up, "Don't you know that it's dangerous for a human to walk the road during a snowstorm?"

"...leave me alone..." My throat suddenly tensed up as Karamatsu got to his feet, closing in on me before I felt something hard press against me. Sparing a quick look, I whimpered when I realized that I had backed right into a large tree, Karamatsu's lantern grabbing my attention as he planted the enlarged staff into the snowy ground right next to me.

"Oh, (y/n)," His blue eyes danced with a dangerous emotion as both of his hands played with the fabrics of my outfit, "You know that you're my little storyteller. I can't leave you alone...not when you've been given to me on a silver platter."

"Stop it!" I cried out as I shoved his hands away, wrapping myself tighter in the furs. Karamatsu pulled back a little before letting out a sigh.

"If I did stop, where would that leave you?" His words drew my attention back to his eyes, "The fact that Ichimatsu even let you run off alone is proof that he doesn't care about you."

"You're lying--"

"Oh, am I?" Karamatsu raised an eyebrow in thought, "He had hid something from you in Osomatsu's home, didn't he? A scroll that gave you the answers that you've been seeking for the past five years just happens to be hidden from you, but you don't even bat an eye that it could've been Ichimatsu that kept you from finding it."

He leaned in a little closer, his breath dancing on the dying wind.

"Five years, (y/n)...my little brother left you alone for five years to try and find something that would give you hope, to find something that would give you purpose again," I leaned away from him as far as I could with my back pinned to the tree bark, "Let me tell you a little secret."

Karamatsu pressed himself against me, his lips resting by my left ear as his hands propped up most of his body weight against the tree.

"He knows where to find the answer to your little problem, but refuses to let you find it."

"You're...wrong..." My heart began to ache as I tried to sound confident, "Ichimatsu would never...do something like that..."

"Are you so certain?" Karamatsu's voice grew soft, "He's a kitsune, just as capable of the tricks that tanukis can perform. Do you have proof that Ichimatsu isn't leading you astray?"

"I'm his fiancée," The words sounded hollow to my own ears, making me close my eyes as tears threatened to fall, "I'm...bound to be his future wife..."

"Just like you were for me," His tone was suddenly harsh, "Just like you were for my other brothers. You may have been promised to Ichimatsu, but you were mine first."

I pressed my hands against his shoulders as I cried out in fear, feeling his hands suddenly shift from the tree to my clothes.

"Now, my little storyteller..." Karamatsu barely pulled away, his eyes hooded with a dark smirk resting on his lips, "Tell the story of what happens here, and you'll be one step closer to the end."

His cold and chapped lips crashed onto mine, smothering my pleas of rescue as the snowstorm picked up around us.