Irritatedly, yet somehow calmly as well, Ichimatsu slumped down on the floor in the living room, newspaper and lighter in one hand, candle in the other.

Todomajo sat down beside him, giggling as he poked Ichimatsu in the head for several seconds.

Relief shot through Ichimatsu's body the second Todomajo touched him, but as soon as the witch retreated his finger, his headache seemed to be worse than before.

"Ow..." Ichimatsu muttered, setting out the candle on the table, twisting its tightly sealed lid off. "Don't do that..."

"But didn't you feel better?" Todomajo asked, lowering his head a bit so he could see Ichimatsu's facial expression.

"Tch..." Ichimatsu spat, leaning on the sofa to support his back which had began to ache.

"See?" Todomajo giggled. "You need me to help you. After all, I am a witch. I can cure you."

Ichimatsu cringed in pain, almost wishing to ask Todomajo to rid all he felt. Even if it included his emotions, Ichimatsu just wanted to feel better.

"You really do need me," Todomajo smirked, grabbing Ichimatsu's hand. "Do you know what that means, kitty kitty?"

"I have a question then..." Ichimatsu spat. "If you're some amazing witch who can heal people, how come I feel worse each and every time you stop touching me?"

"I already told you," Todomajo said, staring up at the ceiling, his pink hood almost slipping off of his head. "you're going to die."

"I don't want to die..." Ichimatsu mumbled.

"I thought you hated life?" Todomajo snorted.

"But I love Jyushimatsu and I want to be there for him as much as I can..." Ichimatsu mumbled, his voice growing very quiet. "I don't want him to experience what I did..."

"By experience, what do you mean?" Todomajo pushed, even though he could easily read the suffering teen's thoughts. He really just wanted to wring everything out of Ichimatsu that he could. "Was it a rough childhood? Bullying? Depression? Suicide?"

"You don't know what suicide means, do you?" Ichimatsu snapped angrily, pointing the candle lighter in the witch's face.

"Of course I know what suicide means!" Todomajo tittered, quickly whipping a dictionary out from the inside of his hood. "It says right here...suicide: the action of killing oneself intentionally."

"Do I look dead to you?" Ichimatsu hissed.

"Yeah, actually," Todomajo smirked then pulled out his phone again, looking at the time. "Aren't you going to light that candle for our parents?"

"Oh..." Ichimatsu mumbled, sitting up a bit straighter, pointing the lighter at the candle. "I've never done this before..."

"Karamatsu has," Todomajo said with a sly smirk.

"Yeah, his wife died..." Ichimatsu spat.

"No, he didn't burn incense for her," Todomajo replied.

"Then for who?" Ichimatsu hissed.

Todomajo scooted a bit closer to Ichimatsu, placing his ice cold hands on his back, beginning to massage him.

"Calm down, Ichimatsu," Todomajo cooed. "This is a time of prayer to your deceased parents, not a time of violence or anger."

Ichimatsu felt as if he couldn't move a single muscle in his body, all of his pain and worries fading away. Despite that, he raised the lighter above the candle, his eyes getting heavier and heavier.

"That's it..." Todomajo whispered, massaging him even more.

The wick caught on fire, beginning to burn, the sweet scent of apples and cherry blossoms filling the air.

Ichimatsu's entire arm suddenly froze, not able to move at all the moment Todomajo stopped massaging him.

The flame to the lighter was still burning as it slipped from Ichimatsu's now trembling and, landing on the newspaper below. The newspaper lit up in a bright ball of fire, spreading extremely quickly.

A devilish smile crept across Todomajo's face as he stood up and floated a few feet above the ground.

"Go to sleep, Ichimatsu," Todomajo ordered, his voice suddenly much deeper than it had been. All of the deceiving kindness it had once held had vanished.

Not able to control himself, Ichimatsu fell over on the floor in the opposite direction of the newspaper, passing out among the growing flames.