As soon as Karamatsu pulled up to the school, there awaited Jyushimatsu, his eyes red and his face stained, showing he had most likely been sobbing. Doing such was very unlikely for this child. He was supposed to be happy.

"Uncle Karamatsu!" Jyushimatsu cried, running towards the car as soon as Karamatsu climbed out, beckoning for the little boy. "Where is Ichimatsu?"

Jyushimatsu clung to the hem of Karamatsu's winter coat, staring pitifully up at him, his eyes swimming with tears again.

"Now, now," Karamatsu said, trying to stay calm. He bent down on the snow covered sidewalk and caressed the child's hair, smiling softly. "Everything's going to be alright, Jyushimatsu. Don't worry about a thing. I've got this. I've got this."

Jyushimatsu hugged his older brother's leg, shaking a little bit from the cold.

"Is nii-san okay...?" Jyushimatsu asked innocently.

Karamatsu nodded his head fervently.

"He's fine," he replied, opening the back door to his car.

With all the care and love in the world, Karamatsu grabbed Jyushimatsu's tiny hand, helping him climb into his old, gross car.

"Buckle up," Karamatsu said, smiling still.

Jyushimatsu nodded his head, sniffing a little.

"What is Ichimatsu up to..." Karamatsu thought as he shut Jyushimatsu's door and climbed into the driver's seat. "He should have been here by now...what went wrong...I don't get a good feeling from any of this...Today hasn't been a good day at all. Ever since that Todomajo showed up..."

Just minutes later, Karamatsu noticed huge black clouds of smoke rising from behind several tall trees from afar. From the direction the smoke was coming from, he knew it had to be near their home.

"No..." Karamatsu thought, glancing in his mirror to look at Jyushimatsu.

Luckily, the innocent boy had fallen fast asleep due to large amounts of worry and stress.

"Good.." Karamatsu thought, his hands beginning to tremble as heads of sweat trickled down the sides of his face.
"H-He doesn't need to get scared...because...I-I'm sure...everything is just fine..."

Hands trembling even more, flashbacks of Osoma and Todomajo suddenly crossed his mind.

"They..." Karamatsu spat under his breath as the car grew closer to the clouds of smoke. "They wouldn't have...done..."

Karamatsu rounded the corner.

The entire area was nearly blackened with smoke. There was so much of it, there was no way on earth that it was just regular smoke. It had an unsettling, yet magical, aura to it.

Then, as the car neared his home, he slammed on his brakes at what he saw.

"NO!" Karamatsu yelled, turning off the car, awakening Jyushimatsu.

Kicking open the driver's seat door, the young man ran towards the blazing building, a place he had once called home.

"ICHIMATSU!" Karamatsu yelled, a sudden strong wind blowing back his hair, causing his lungs to fill with the smoke. His voice was muted.

Tears welling up in his eyes, bottom lip quivering, Karamatsu wheezed his younger brother's name before he threw himself to the ground in despair.

The snow which had once beautifully covered his front yard had now melted, only black ash remaining.

Jyushimatsu, whom had been staring out the window, bit his lip, fighting back his own tears.

"Ichimatsu would want me to be happy..." Jyushimatsu said, forcing a smile on his face as he unbuckled himself and gently opened the car door. "Ichimatsu would tell me...that everything is okay."

Jyushimatsu dizzily stumbled about, the smoke going to his head. It was almost like the gas one would have to be put to sleep for surgery.

Karamatsu grabbed the ashy, gross grass beneath him, sobbing grossly.

"I-I..." he wheezed, his head on the ground, despair overwhelming all of his emotions. "I failed...again..."