Ichimatsu couldn't move, the snow falling onto his face as he lay motionless in the endless field of white. His heart yearned for him to get and look for (y/n), to find her and keep her safe from both of his older brothers that still stalked the area, but his body refused to respond.

The fight with Osomatsu had completely drained him, eventually falling to the raw brutality of the oni's strength before being launched out of the rotting house and into the snowstorm that had been brewing throughout the night. When he landed, Ichimatsu couldn't attempt to stand up as his stomach begged for food, something that he had been willfully ignoring for the past week. As a yokai, he wouldn't die of starvation, but the lack of food had clearly impacted his strength much more than he thought it would.

He was forced to shed his larger kitsune form when he couldn't stay awake any longer, waking up hours later when the sun was starting to rise from the horizon as the snow drifted down much slower than the storm in the night hours.

"(Y/n)..." His throat was parched, rough from the howling and yelling last night. Weakly rolling from his back onto his stomach, Ichimatsu managed to get his legs and arms underneath him before attempting to stand up in the snow. His clothes were completely stained with blood, the wounds slowly healing throughout the night as he rested, but they clearly marked where he had landed and slid to a stop in the pure white snow.

Right now, (y/n) needed him to be with her...she was just a human that couldn't hold her own against the yokai that were hunting her down.

Ichimatsu staggered forward, one foot hesitantly moving in front of the other, as he followed the faint scent of his fiancée deeper into the woods.

The trail bobbed and weaved through the trees until it met a road carved right through the forest, the snow pressed down by several feet and carts that had passed by during the night. (Y/n)'s scent was harder to detect under the more recent smells but it suddenly veered back off the path, drawing Ichimatsu's curiosity as he cautiously moved back into the forest. As his fiancée's scent weaved through the trees haphazardly, an familiar old scent followed right behind hers as Ichimatsu's heart began to pulse with anger.

Karamatsu had found her.

Ichimatsu hurried onward as the scent grew thicker, fear and anger fighting with each other in his heart as he hobbled. The scents led him to a scene of ruin.

Trees were ripped up from their roots, fresh dirt exposed deep in the earthen wounds as large claw marks scratched at the trees and long gouges in the ground that resembled something taking a bite out of the dirt. Blood was sprayed in almost every direction around Ichimatsu as he moved towards the center of the battleground, his icy blue eyes taking in as much information as they could. An amalgamation of scents hit his nose, the most pronounced one was (y/n)'s fear.

If Karamatsu was drinking in that fear, then it was possible for him to overpower whatever had challenged him here. The question was, though, who had enough courage to challenge an ao-andon while it was feeding?

Ichimatsu's stomach sounded its protest, making him double over in pain as he fell to his knees on the ruined ground. Gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to mentally shove the pain to the back of his mind before he could feel his other self start to take over, his teeth growing sharper as his fingernails extended into wicked looking claws.

A certain scent caught the other's attention, surging forward as Ichimatsu's control of his own body was wrenched away from his grip, mentally yelling at the other to stop as his body shifted further into the full form of an enlarged kitsune.

----

My body felt sore as a warmth softly caressed my skin from underneath a heavy weight pressing me down into the ground. I cautiously opened my eyes to see a rock wall that extended past my vision, the dirt pressing up against it as I lay on the ground with something black and fuzzy resting near my face. Gingerly lifting my hands up, I felt the rough fur of a bearskin draped over my body, a rush of heat hitting my face as I quickly looked up to where the heat had come from.

Two wide eyes stared down at me, the winter blue color unmistakable as a large white cloth covered the lower half of their face. The man was sitting with his left side facing me, looking back towards the low fire that he was tending to, something wrapped up in some kind of leaf that sat directly on the coals. His white-colored robes looked just like the newer outfits that the brothers had been wearing as winter closed in, an empty arrow quiver slung across his lower back with a bow resting next to him.

I quickly gathered my clothes about me, throwing off the bearskin and backing up to the rock wall while my gaze remained fixed on the man. The room shifted into a cave, large enough to house the two of us while having a sloped roof that allowed the smoke from the fire to travel along.

"...I'm happy that I was able--"

"Don't mess with me anymore, Todomatsu!" I shouted at the man, fury rising as he quickly looked back at me, "I promised Ichimatsu that I wouldn't trust anyone else, so don't try to convince me that you're someone you're not!"

The man who was clearly a sextuplet eyed me cautiously before reaching over and grabbing the bow at his side, standing up in the cave and moving towards the opening, "Then I'll leave."

Without a word more, I watched in growing horror as the man vanished out into the blinding light of the snow, the dark hair no longer visible as the sun started to shine down on the freshly fallen white terrain. The fire let out a dying crack as I realized the man had taken the leaf-wrapped objects with him, presumably food, and ducked out of the cave to try and figure out where I was.

"You're leaving?" Another voice caught my ear as I pressed myself back into the cave entrance, the question being asked from further out as my eyes adjusted to see a small clearing within some kind of forest.

"...she didn't want help," The man from earlier responded, drawing my attention towards the treeline near the left of the cave. I saw him look up towards another man sitting in the higher branches before glancing back at the cave, hiding myself from view, "...she thought I was Todomatsu."

"Considering he's a tanuki and a very good shapeshifter, it shouldn't be that surprising," The man laughed a little before dropping down to the ground behind the other man, "Despite being the one that dragged her here, I'm a little shocked that you're this quick to abandon her."

"...I'm not," The first man huffed as he began to walk into the forest, "...just getting her food."

I peeked enough around the edge of the cave opening to see the first man move further into the forest as the second man turned towards the cave, his eyes catching mine before I ducked back out of sight. My heart thundered in my chest as I covered my mouth to silence my panic, fully recognizing the second man as I heard his footsteps crunch in the snow.

"You don't have to hide, (y/n). We're not going to eat you," The familiar voice brought tears to my eyes as I heard Todomatsu mimic him not even two days ago, the memories flooding into my mind as the kind and stern face of the daitengu had morphed into the sneering face of the tanuki, "Though, I have a feeling that's not what you're afraid of."

"Stay away!" I shouted as a black gloved hand reached around and gently rested on the lip of the cave entrance, backing up as tears streamed down my face, "Get away from me!"

The wide straw hat lifted from the man's head, revealing the sorrowful expression on Choromatsu's face as he lowered the hat to hang from his neck. The ice-blue eyes regarded me without contempt or judgment as his pointed frown seemed to deepen, his focus falling from my face to my figure. My hands instantly gathered my clothes tighter around me, my mind unable to remember what had happened after Karamatsu pinned me to the tree in the forest...and I could only assume the worst.

"I can see that there's nothing I can do that will help calm you down," The daitengu didn't advance into the cave, lowering his hand from the cave lip as a calm wind tugged at his flowing robes, "Is there anything that I can say instead?"

"I can't trust you...I can't trust anyone anymore!" My heart shuddered heavily as Ichimatsu's words left my lips.

"Then the damage is irreparable already," The finality of Choromatsu's words struck a chord deep within my chest, his eyes closing as he turned away from me, "I'll inform Jyushimatsu that his attempt has failed before it could even begin and he'll destroy himself before he can turn on you."

"What do you mean...?" I took a step forward before pulling away from the daitengu. He glanced back towards me from over his shoulder.

"Surely, you remember that Jyushimatsu is an inugami, a loyal dog meant to serve one family faithfully. Since his creation was because of the brushes you gave us, he was determined to serve your family and has been searching for you for six years," Choromatsu didn't turn around any further, his eyes slowly meeting mine as I stood rooted to the spot, "I met him on the road a few months ago and decided to follow him to satisfy my curiosity. Last night, Jyushimatsu found you beneath Karamatsu and took you somewhere safe while I searched for the one who was supposed to be with you."

"You mean...Ichimatsu?" I barely noticed the daitengu's slight nod, "He was fighting...Osomatsu in an abandoned home somewhere near here."

A look of concern covered Choromatsu's face as he lifted a hand to his chin, taking a few steps away from the cave before looking in the direction that the other man, presumably Jyushimatsu, had left.

"In your travels with him, did you see him eat anything?"

"Why would I tell you?" I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

"I understand your hesitation but if Ichimatsu hasn't eaten anything to fuel himself, then we need to make sure that there's an offering he can focus on. Some yokai prefer certain foods as sustenance and the kitsune is more partial to fried tofu," Choromatsu wheeled back towards me, his eyes open with both hands splayed out in my direction, "Did you see him eat it or any food in your travels?"

I could only shake my head as his pupils shrank, his left hand suddenly reaching out grabbing my right forearm and dragging me out of the cave despite my vocal protests.

"Kick and scream all you want, (y/n), but there's a chance that Ichimatsu may not be himself when you see him next--" The daitengu suddenly stopped pulling before quickly turning around, his hand dragging me behind him as a lone man was revealed to be standing right behind where I was.

My eyes widened in shock as I recognized the face of my betrothed, but he stared down at me with an empty look, showing no signs of life in his cold blue eyes. Ichimatsu was bloody from head to toe, the kimono that used to be white as snow now just as crimson as a blood-red sunset, the fabric torn apart in places and his hair clumped together by large swaths of dried blood. The bright red markings on his face blazed to life as the blue color grew more intense, his fingers now tipped with claws that were still dripping from some fresh kill, the blood smeared across his lips as it mingled with the older dried blood splashed over his face.

"Damn...out of time," Choromatsu yanked the hat from his neck as he pulled out a long staff from somewhere, the wind picking up as the cloth straps surrounding the top of the staff were pulled away to reveal a large leaf fan, "(Y/n), run. I'll cover you for as long as I can."

"Ichimatsu, it's me!" I cried out as his pupils dilated into narrow slits, his blue hues glowing vibrantly, "I'm safe!"

Without warning, Ichimatsu dashed towards Choromatsu's right, stepping out of the staff's reach before rushing back in my direction. His right hand tensed as the talons lanced towards my face, shock rushing through my nerves as Choromatsu kept up with the sudden burst of speed, the length of the staff colliding with Ichimatsu's hand and deterring the attack.

"He's not himself, (y/n)! Run!" The daitengu grunted under the strain before pushing the kitsune back a few feet, adjusting his position and following up on the defensive throw with an offensive strike.

I didn't give it a second thought and willed my feet to push me towards the thicker wood where I had seen Jyushimatsu walk into, my eyes closing as tears fell from my eyes.

My fiancé, the man that I had fallen in love with, the very same man that swore to protect me...was now after my life.