A slight feeling of guilt overcame Todomajo as he watched the fiery tongues lash out, spreading throughout the house.

Despite his wish to eliminate Ichimatsu's entire family, Todomajo sat down beside the unconscious teen's body, creating a protective barrier around the two of them through witchcraft.

"The house will be burned to the ground by the time Karamatsu gets home," Todomajo mused out loud, stroking Ichimatsu's back gently, content to know he was still breathing. "Heartache is what he deserves."

Todomajo stared down at Ichimatsu, his eyes full of sympathy.

"It's not my fault you're like this, you know," Todomajo whispered as he listened closely to the crackling fire around them. "I was told to hurt you. I have nothing against you, Ichimatsu..."

Ichimatsu suddenly rolled over onto his chest, hacking and coughing loudly, struggling to breathe.

Todomajo jumped back, shocked to see he was conscious again.

Ichimatsu gagged, pounding a fist on his chest. It was as if something were stuck in his throat.

"Calm down," Todomajo said harshly, standing up, crossing his arms over his chest, attempting to look powerful as he glared down at the weak boy.

"K-Karamatsu..." Ichimatsu suddenly wheezed, his eyes barely opened as he struggled to crawl across the floor. One of his hands exited the safe barrier, immediately getting burned by one of the flames that was making its way towards the chest full of photos.

"Be careful!" Todomajo yelled, grabbing Ichimatsu by his shoulders, pulling him back. "You'll get hurt! Don't do that again!"

Ichimatsu lifted his head up pitifully, his mouth hanging open a bit as he struggled to breathe.

"I-I can't..." Ichimatsu rasped deeply. "I need them.."

"What do you need?" Todomajo asked irritatedly. He didn't dare offer to move the barrier to where Ichimatsu wished to go, but then again...

"I need the pictures..." Ichimatsu said before he began to hack and cough disgustingly again.

The smoke from the fire really seemed to be getting to his lungs, just as Todomajo wanted.

"Fine..." Todomajo sighed, walking closer to Ichimatsu, expanding the barrier just enough so he could reach the chest. "But make it fast!"

Ichimatsu nodded his head, letting out a tiny whimper of pain as he jerked open the chest drawers, pulling out the few photos he loved seeing. Grasping them tightly in his hand, he let out a sigh of relief.

At that moment, Todomajo's barrier suddenly failed, leaving Ichimatsu to burn in the flames.

Screaming out in pain, Ichimatsu held the pictures close to his chest, careful not to let the flames touch them.

"Ichimatsu!" Todomajo yelled out, running through the flames to the teen's side, not wishing for him to die just yet.

Since Todomajo was a witch, he was resistant to natural sources which he could easily create in seconds if he wanted to. Despite that, when he grabbed Ichimatsu, the flames still wrapped their tongues around the teen.

"No no no no no no," Todomajo hissed, putting out a few of the flames with a handy bottle of holy water, which he had stolen from a nearby shrine. Of course, the fact that it was holy water didn't really make any difference. Water is water, and it'll put fire out. Well, a little bit of it at least.

Once a few of the flames had died down in a small spot in the living room, Todomajo sat down on the floor, creating a new, stronger barrier around the two of them.

Ichimatsu in his lap, the witch carefully tended to the few burns he had, making sure they would heal in a few moments.

After making sure the teen was okay, Todomajo began to massage him, sucking the power and life out of him as he did such.

Quickly, Ichimatsu lost consciousness once again, yet his hand still held tightly to the photos he had retrieved.

"Just how much does this Karamatsu mean to him...?" Todomajo said, laughing a little in spite of himself. "There's no use pretending you despise the painful man, Ichimatsu. I can tell that you love him very much, even if you yourself can't seem to understand that."