I awoke with a shudder, feeling the chill air outside of the futon as I curled up into a tight ball, rubbing my arms to try and warm them as I looked behind me to where Ichiko had been sleeping. Her futon was already folded up and set aside, leaving the space empty.

"Ichi...ko?" I called out, pulling the duvet around me tightly as I sat up to look around the room.

The window was open, revealing a light snowfall outside. Children laughed as they played in the first snow of winter while parents called out for them to be careful or to come back inside. Other ambient noises told me that the town of Awa was wide awake, so I hurried to get ready. Carefully folding the futon and duvet up, I adjusted my yukata and donned one of the winter furs I had before going towards the window, kneeling by it and looking outside.

There were people walking through the streets, creating small paths through the fallen snow as shopkeepers swept away the front path to their shops. There were several people huddling around a small market area with a few stalls set up to protect the merchandise from the weather and sun, many of customers wearing straw hats to keep the snow from gathering on their heads.

"Oh, you're awake," I heard Ichiko's voice call out from behind me, the door closing shortly after I turned towards her. She had changed the outfit from last night, swapping the dark kimono for a white one. The underlayer was a dark gray, complimenting the fade towards the bottom of the kimono where the white shifted slightly in color towards gray. A light gray sash was tied around her waist, intertwined with a light purple rope that wrapped around her waist and torso, groupings of three dark purple beads interspersed along the length. A wide brimmed straw hat was carefully held in her hands, the partially transparent veil gathered together.

"I woke up a few moments ago," I closed the window before fully turning towards her, "I wasn't expecting winter to chase us down the mountain."

"It followed on our heels, didn't it?" Ichiko lowered her head a little, laying the veiled hat flat before moving towards me. Kneeling in front of me, she put both of her hands on my cheeks and cupped my face carefully.

Her skin was cold.

"Ichiko?"

"I'm losing myself faster than I thought would happen."

I stilled, looking over every detail on her face when she looked up at me. The 'makeup' from yesterday had shifted to a dark gray color, tracing her lips and bordering her eyes before a single line on either side of her face curled downwards over her cheekbones.

The eyes were a brilliant blue, reminding me of how Karamatsu and Todomatsu had looked yesterday.

"But...you're still you...right?" My lips trembled in worry. I didn't want to lose Ichimatsu so soon after he found me.

"For now..." She shifted her hands towards my back, pulling me in close for a hug, "The more power I use, the more the monster wants to take control."

I returned the hug without hesitation, tears threatening to fall from my eyes as I pressed my face into her shoulder, "Please hold on...I need you..."

"I'm trying, (y/n)," Her hug tightened for a moment before pulling away, wiping something away from her eyes in the same movement, "There is some good news that I was able to grab. The pass through the mountains to Tokushima will stay clear for the next few days, so we'll have no issue on that leg of the journey."

"That is some good news," I tried to recover from the fact that Ichimatsu was losing the battle with the kitsune, giving a half smile instead of a full one, "I'll need to restock on my supplies, but we should head out as soon as we can to take advantage of that."

"That's the other good news. The local market had a lot of what I thought you would need, so I filled your bag with supplies," Ichiko pointed towards the sling bag lying near the door, noticing that it was much fuller than it was yesterday.

"Oh! All right," I stood up, my movement mimicked by Ichiko as we started to gather our things before heading out of the room. The bill was paid and Ichiko put on the veiled hat, adjusting the veil before stepping out into the snow as I followed. Turning east towards the rising sun, we made our way out of Awa and further down the mountain road. I noticed that Ichiko held herself a little higher, her frame growing a little as she turned back towards me with the face I recognized.

"Did you find anything useful in the book?" The dark voice of Ichimatsu was comforting to listen to. I nodded before I realized that he was waiting for a verbal answer.

"The author said something about praying to a tree and crafting a fude brush out of the branch it gave him, sealing away a monster that was causing trouble in someone's storeroom," I reached up and grabbed the sling across my chest tightly, thinking back to what I had discovered, "He mentioned that it was a white pine tree that he had prayed to."

"A storeroom?" Ichimatsu lifted a hand to his chin, rubbing it slightly before looking back towards me, "That doesn't line up with any of the yokai that we have."

"I took that as a clue that there are more brushes out there, more than just the seven I found in my family's home," I nodded in agreement.

"That could be troublesome..."

I nodded once more.

The seven that I had found were dangerous, but to think that there were more somewhere in the country was blood-chilling. There was no way to know how many unless we found either the brushes or the users.

"I don't think we'll have an issue, but...what will you do if we come across one?"

"I won't use the brush, if that's what you're implying," I glanced over to Ichimatsu, meeting his blue gaze, "I was raised to be a wife, not a soldier...besides, any strength that I would gain through training wouldn't amount to much against a monster like an oni. Even the samurai warriors of legend couldn't hold a candle to Osomatsu's strength."

"Then we'll sharpen your mind," Ichimatsu gave a small sigh, "If you're able to hold your own by creating riddles for them to solve or crafting tokens to give them as peace offerings, then I think you'll be fine...when I'm gone."

"Ichimatsu, stop," I clenched my fists on the strap, shaking my head, "Stop saying that! The more you say it, then the more I'll believe it and give up hope..."

"Why are you burdening yourself with this problem, (y/n)?" Ichimatsu stopped and watched as I continued a few more steps before looking back at him, "We were eight years old when this all started. You didn't force us to use the brushes nor did you threaten us if we didn't use them. Why do you feel like you're the one responsible for changing what we brought upon ourselves?"

I opened my mouth to answer before closing it, the same question rising in my head as I tried to think of an answer.

Was it guilt? Not really, as the guilt was equally spread amongst the brothers and I for using them even after finding out what happened with too much use.

Was it redemption? Was I trying to redeem my actions by suffering the consequences? That question didn't feel right, like it didn't hold the right answer for me.

No, the want to reverse what I had done felt like it was deeper than that...for a much darker reason.

What was it? What had I done that instilled such a drive for me to redeem myself? I couldn't think of anything that would warrant such a deep seated passion for apology.

Another...life?

A sharp pain lanced through my head, making me cry out as I grabbed the sides of my head, the thudding of my heart echoing louder in my ears as it felt like my skull would split open with each beat. Tears flooded my eyes as I heard Ichimatsu call out my name, a strange echo sounding from it as I heard someone else call my name at the same time.

My vision shifted upwards from the ground, looking at a worried Ichimatsu that had pushed the veil aside to hold my head between his hands. Something caught my attention just behind him, my eyes glancing over to see someone standing far behind Ichimatsu.

The figure didn't approach, simply standing there as it looked at me. The dark cloak that covered its body gently swayed in the wind, not moving the hood that covered its face. The clothing that I could see from this distance was torn and ragged, the dark blue color visible before the black cloak covered it again.

When I blinked, the figure had disappeared and the pain in my head slowly vanished. Ichimatsu called out my name again, his cold hands giving a soothing sensation against my skin as I looked back towards him.

"(Y/n), are you all right? Can you hear me?" Ichimatsu's fingers danced over my face, tucking some loose strands of hair behind my ears while tilting my head up to look at him.

"...yeah, I'm fine now," I gave a light nod, moving my hands from my head as I regained my composure, "Just had a sudden headache, that's all."

"Don't worry about answering my question, okay? I just want to make sure that you don't feel pressured that you need to take on this burden," Ichimatsu pulled away slightly, "No one's forcing you to do this, right?"

"No, it's something that I want to do of my own will," I gave him a reassuring smile, taking one of his hands in mine, "I want to do it with you by my side, though."

He returned my smile with a sad one, "I'll do my best."

----

The trek to Tokushima was mostly in silence, only small bits of conversation exchanged between the two of us before we arrived at the busy port city. Ichimatsu had stayed in his male form as we passed through the city limits, keeping the veiled hat on as another light snow began to fall. I had donned another piece of fur clothing, wrapping it around my shoulders to keep my upper arms warm while I tugged the fur gloves off.

The sounds of the city were loud compared to the quiet walk from Awa, vendors calling out their wares and prices to try and get that last sale before they closed for the night. Women were tittering from the brothels while men discussed what prices they were being offered for a night of companionship. I kept my head down as we passed through the two districts, following Ichimatsu's lead before I felt a hand grab my right wrist and jerk me to the side, another hand clamping down over my mouth to keep me from yelling out. My screams were muffled as I felt someone pick me up by the waist and run further into the maze of alleys, struggling against whoever was holding me.

"Are you sure you got the right one?" A breathy voice called out from behind whoever was carrying me, sounding like a young man.

"She's wearing the same clothes," My captor sounded confident, "Her escort was wearing the veiled hat, just like we were told."

My heart dropped to my stomach before I closed my eyes, fighting more against whoever was holding me. Pulling away from the man holding me, I was able to get an arm free from his grip and shoved against him to try and free the rest of my body.

The hand over my mouth tightened the fingers together, the thumb pressing my nose against the index finger and completely cutting off all air. I reached up and scratched at the hand, feeling some of the skin catch under my nails before my lungs spasmed, desperate for fresh air.

"Don't kill her, you dolt!" The first voice almost yelled, the noise sounding faint in my ears, "We need her alive to get paid."

"Just teaching her a lesson," The captor laughed a little, my body growing limp like a doll before he finally removed his hand from my face, the fresh air cold and sharp as I took in a gasping breath.

His laughter was cut off by the echoing sound of wood clicking against the stone ground, the rhythmic sounds patterned as someone's footsteps. I struggled to keep my eyes open, only seeing a single man walking methodically towards us.

The clacking sound came from his geta, the rhythm stopping as the running men were coming closer. The lone man held a staff that was almost as tall as he was, the top and bottom wrapped in strips of cloth with two pieces of stiff paper cut into jagged pieces. A ragged wide-brimmed straw hat covered his entire head, tilted downwards to hide his face. The cloak wrapped around his shoulders was dyed a deep black before fading to a pure white near the bottom of the fabric, the cloak partially open to reveal white and gray Buddhist robes with dark gray underclothes.

The color scheme reminded me of Ichimatsu's new outfit.

As the men kidnapping me slowed down, the priest shifted his grip on the staff before pointing the tip towards us. A sudden strong gust of wind ripped through the alley, lifting the men up and pulling me from their grasp before launching them somewhere into the night sky screaming, my body landing roughly on the ground in front of the lone man.

I groaned a little as I righted myself, wondering what the man did to create the strong wind as he partially bent down towards me, a gloved hand extending to me for assistance. I looked up towards the man, my hand reaching out towards his before quickly withdrawing it as I recognized his fully revealed face. The pointed frown didn't move as he remained still, dark gray marks spotting the corners of his lips while similar colored marks created a thick border on the outer sides of his eyes, the same piercing blue color that the other brothers had.

Choromatsu, the daitengu.