"Ichimatsu, stop!" I cried out to the man in a purple yukata fighting with a large red monster, yelling past the crushing weight on my chest as a bare foot pressed down hard on my sternum. The owner of the foot laughed heartily above me, leaning down and licking his lips...sharing the same face as the one I called out to.

"Forfeiting your own life, (y/n)?" The shift in his weight pressed even harder on me, "You know you can't beat me without that brush!"

"Karamatsu, stop hurting her!" I heard Ichimatsu yell out, the familiar crackle of energy filling the air whenever a cursed ink brush was used.

Don't...! I tried to call out, to stop the process that Ichimatsu was undergoing, but the weight Karamatsu had on me was too much for my lungs. I could only watch as the inkbrush of purple in Ichimatsu's hand became swallowed up by the darkness that had previously tainted the handle, shattering in his hand as purple vapors swirled around him. My eyes shifted to my own white inkbrush a few inches away from my outstretched hand, the pure white not as tainted as Ichimatsu's brush. I couldn't move any closer to it, not with the weight of the second-oldest brother pinning me down.

I had to stop the brothers from fighting each other, especially when both were on the verge of falling to the darkness.

The purple vapors were blown away as Ichimatsu revealed a new form; the nine fox tails trailing behind him with much darker fur than the cream color it used to be, and his ears were a little longer while the tufts became more ragged looking. The beautiful purple and gold of the kimono were completely dyed black and gray, the article of clothing now loosened to fall off his shoulders and revealing the garments underneath.

"Shame that you couldn't stop him, (y/n)..." Karamatsu looked back down at me, his grin revealing the sharpened teeth that were just as pronounced as his blue horns, "This started with you, so it'll end with you."

He raised his foot slightly before sending it crashing down onto my head.

I felt warm, grasping at the fabric wrapped around me before I felt a hand lightly touch my forehead, something pressing against the skin before pulling away. Slightly groaning, I opened my eyes to find my head propped up on someone's lap, the walls around us degraded and suffering from disrepair.

"Don't move...you'll aggravate it."

The familiar commanding growl drew my attention above me, seeing the grayed vulpine ears twitch at my movement and catching myself staring into a pair of deep red eyes looking down at me from underneath the messy black fringe. The eyes narrowed a little before the person pressed a damp cloth against my forehead, the rough fabric catching my raw skin and wiping away something.

"Ichimatsu?" I partially lifted myself off of his lap, his face finally registering in my head. His left ear lowered and twisted back, giving him a look of agitation as I reached up to run my left hand through his frazzled hair. Ichimatsu tore his eyes from my stare as I took in the change of his appearance, the dream-like memory filling my head.

The vulpine ears had indeed grown larger in both width and length, fur rising from underneath Ichimatsu's hair. My fingers trailed down the side of his face, thumbing over the red markings that nearly surrounded his eyes and realizing that the marks had grown larger and connected with each other to form mock scratch marks. The red markings on the corners of his lips had stretched to a point and I pushed his top lip up with my thumbs in a near panic, revealing his elongated and sharpened canine teeth.

My breathing hitched as my vision finally trailed down to his shoulders and chest, the clothing no longer any shade of purple or bordered with gold. Black had stained everything he was wearing -- including the kimono wrapped around me -- with small accents of dark gray on the kimono and deep red on the inner clothes. A flash of dark cream caught my eye, drawing my attention to the nine tails laying behind Ichimatsu, their fur matching the color of his ears.

"Wha--"

"Before you ask: no, I don't have it anymore; yes, I think this is permanent; and no, I didn't kill him..." Both of Ichimatsu's ears tucked back and his lip curled up in a snarl, "...probably should have."

My mouth opened and closed as I tried to gather my thoughts, fear and panic threatening to overwhelm me. If he didn't have it, then that meant his inkbrush really was destroyed. I fumbled around the sash of my yukata, feeling for the soft fabric of the rolled up brush holder that I had bought for carrying my own inkbrush. Untying the ribbon and seeing the naked interior, I looked back up at Ichimatsu to see he held out a handcrafted fude. The belly and tip of the bristles were snow white, but the carved handle was mostly black.

I gently took it from his hand, looking carefully at the ornate design depicting a woman with long hair standing in the middle of a snowstorm. What should have represented a pure white snowstorm was now dyed black, covering almost all of the handle in an inky darkness that rested just below the bristles. My face went pale at the sight.

"What's going to happen to you now?" Slipping the brush back into its pouch and tucking it away, I clung to Ichimatsu's still extended hand. His ears tucked back further before facing towards me, his eyes unsure.

"Probably do the same thing as everyone else..."

"You can't lose yourself, Ichi!" I tugged on his hand, snapping his full attention back to me and holding contact with his wide red eyes, "Please...Promise me that you'll resist losing yourself. If I lose you--"

"(Y/n), you know that I can't promise that," Ichimatsu folded his ears back again and lowered his eyes, "You've seen how quickly my brothers fell and I know that I'm not strong enough to keep this at bay. Karamatsu was the strongest of us mentally, yet he still turned!"

"Don't tell me this is hopeless, Ichi..." I fought to keep the tears from my eyes, "You're the one that kept urging me to not give up."

Ichimatsu hung his head low, pulling his hand out of mine and holding his knees close, curling up into a tight ball of cloth and fur. I didn't move from my place, only shifting to sit more comfortably. The warm kimono started to slide off my back, slightly distracting me as I reached back to grab it and pull it into my lap. My furrowed brow relaxed as I let out a slow breath, partially standing on my knees as I threw the garment around Ichimatsu's shoulders, fastening the kimono around him.

"That wasn't fair of me," My voice softened as I watched his form relax a little, "I'm sorry, Ichi...If there was an easy way to stop the sealed monster from taking over, then we would've been able to find it by now. I'm scared of being alone while you and your brothers tear the country apart around me. This was my fault to begin with...If I hadn't found those cursed brushes, then none of this would've happened and your family would still be together."

"We were kids, (y/n). Everyone's an idiot at that age."

I could see him peek over his arm at me, seeing a glint in his eyes that made me smile a little.

"Yeah, you're right," I settled back in front of him, my thoughts drifting to the problem that I had started. Hearing Ichimatsu's position shift, I looked to see that he had curled around me, two of his long tails covering me like a fluffy blanket.

"I'll start searching, okay? Just promise me that you'll stay human for as long as you can..." Ichimatsu's voice rumbled against my back, his arms pulling me close against his chest before offering his arm as a pillow. The position reminded me of how we used to cuddle, away from the constant teasing of his brothers. I felt my face flush and pushed back into him.

"You still want to look?"

"Yeah...if I can save anyone from turning into a monster, I'd rather it be my betrothed," The soft growl against my back felt like a cat's purr, sending me swiftly into a deep sleep.

That was the last time I saw Ichimatsu.