The air outside was muffled and humid, causing a thick fog to settle over the woods dangerously. Shintaro had to squint to see where he was going, though he wasn't quite sure where he was actually heading. He was simply walking aimlessly toward his father, a place he knew not where he would find. For months he'd wandered the woods aimlessly, searching for Kai but mostly trying to figure out a plan. 

How would he put The Dark Lord back where he rightfully belonged? The key had been found, used, and destroyed, which basically made the task impossible. The first time Shintaro had defeated his father, he'd used used that gemstone, hiding it safely then afterwards. 

Shintaro refused to let his mind drift back to when he'd defeated his father and lost everything. He clenched his fists tightly and gazed straight ahead, carefully maneuvering around trees that suddenly loomed in front of him. 

As he walked, Shintaro realized he had been holding his breath. His chest burned as he trudged through the forest, and he instantly released the air from his lungs. But the feeling lingered in his chest, taunting his mind of the time he'd nearly drowned. 

Before he could force it back, the rest of the memory played in his head. 

Shintaro was on his hands and knees, his back arched his and head bent forward as he hacked water onto the grass before him. Between coughs, he gulped for as much air as he could, grateful to feel the sensation of breathing oxygen again. He felt cold and shivery, soaked and weighted as he recovered from the shock. 

"Are you okay, Taro?" Cami's soft, breathless voice asked gingerly from in front of him, using the nickname he'd given his older brother when they were young. He sounded exhausted, like he had just run a marathon. 

Feeling a twinge of guilt in his stomach, Shintaro spit out the last bit of water from his mouth and lifted his head to look at his younger brother. Cami was only a year and a half younger than him, but he was extremely weak and fragile due to the illness he suffered, one that effected his lungs and stomach, which prevented him from eating properly. 

"I'll be alright," Shintaro replied gently, leaning back onto his knees and flinging his wet hair out of his face. On the inside, he was mortified, never wanting to get near a large body of water ever again. He felt like even the insides of his body were trembling in terror and cold. He never wanted to feel that same fire in his chest that he'd felt under the water. 

Is that was Cami feels every time he has an attack? Shintaro wondered, gazing at his gasping little brother. Shintaro felt pity squeeze his gut, and he scooted forward on the sodden grass so he was sitting directly in front of Cami. 

"Are you alright?" he asked the younger boy softly, touching Cami's shoulder gently, carefully. 

Cami's green eyes met his, and he gave Shintaro a small smile that was obviously forced. "I'm okay. I'm just going to sit down for a while." He touched his chest gingerly with his left hand, breathing deeply through his nose. 

"We should go inside," Shintaro said tensely, fully aware that his father was home but wanting to care for his brother. "You're soaked. You could catch a cold." He took his brother's hand in his, wrapped his right arm around Cami's lower back, and helped his brother to his feet. 

Indeed, Cami was shivering from head to toes, and his soaking wet clothes weren't helping him warm up. "You could too, you know," Cami said matter-of-factually, casting a sideways look up at Shintaro.  

"Not at easily as you," Shintaro argued, taking a step forward carefully, watching protectively as Cami did the same shakily.

It was true. Due to Cami's sickness, his immune system was much worse than the average male, and he caught colds and fevers easily. Shintaro had only ever been sick three times, at least that he could remember. 

As they walked slowly toward their house, Shintaro felt his nervousness rise with each step. Cami's steps were getting slower, shakier, and sluggish. He wasn't bothering to breathe deeply through his nose anymore; instead, he was gasping through his mouth, not even lifting his head to watch where Shintaro was taking him.

"You should have gotten Mother," Shintaro said roughly to his brother, concern itching in his stomach as he slowed down for Cami's sake. Carefully, he forced Cami to stand straight before he slumped forward completely. 

"Mother... is napping," Cami choked out between breaths. "And father... would have made you... swim up, though he knows... that you can't." His eyes were clenched shut as he spoke, his chest rising and falling rapidly. 

Shintaro felt a pang of embarrassment sail through his chest. He was twelve, his little brother knew how to swim (though Shintaro wasn't sure why), and yet he didn't because his father hadn't bothered to teach him, and his mother thought swimming in the lake was a bad idea. 

Besides, if his mother wasn't napping or reading or out shopping, she was either arguing with Brethren or hiding from his wrathful strikes. 

"She's got to be awake by now," Shintaro said quietly, mostly to himself, as if wishing it would make it come true. He didn't want his father to be the one to find them, because that would turn out bad. 

Just as Shintaro helped Cami up the back porch, his brother erupted into coughing. He crumpled forward, slipping through Shintaro's arms and landing on his hands and knees on the steps. Between hacking coughs, he gasped for the air that he could hardly get into his lungs. 

The back door suddenly swung open, the screen door banging against the brick wall a moment after. Shintaro looked up and found his mother rushing toward them, wearing black leggings and a plain, baggy T-Shirt. Her silvery, white hair was hanging loose on her shoulders, and she'd looked like she'd just woken up. Yet she looked alert, nervous, and calm all at the same time. In her hand was a white inhaler, Cami's. 

She hurried down the first two steps and knelt down on the third one, leaning over Cami's other side. Shintaro grabbed his brother's shoulders and rolled Cami onto his back, which he knew would be uncomfortable on the stairs; but they had to take action now, before the attack got worse. 

Their mother uncapped the inhaler and touched Cami's cheek, tapping it gently to get his strained attention. "Cami, look at me," she instructed, and her youngest son opened his eyes, lifting a hand to cover his coughing. 

"Don't do that," their mother said, moving Cami's hand away. "Try to stop coughing and just focus on breathing. Keep your eyes on me," she added when Cami began to clench his eyes shut again.

Shintaro's heart pounded in his ribs as he watched his mother place the end of the inhaler into Cami's mouth and press the top, forcing air into his little brother's lungs. She did this twice, and Cami's breathing began to slow, the coughing ceased. 

"There you go," their mother said gently, caressing Cami's cheek tenderly. "Breathe deeply, Cami. You're alright now." She set the inhaler on her lap and delicately touched Cami's chest, which was rising and falling more evenly now. 

"What happened?" Shintaro's mother asked, lifting her gaze to her older son's face. "Why are you both soaking wet?" As usual, her voice wasn't condescending at all. She simply wanted to know what had happened and how she could fix it. 

"I fell into the lake," Shintaro admitted shamefully, lowering his eyes to his hands. "Cami jumped in after me. He shouldn't have," he added roughly, clenching his hands. "And this is why. He knows he shouldn't have." 

"If I was drowning," Cami croaked weakly, "what would you do, Taro?" 

Shintaro opened his mouth to reply, realized that Cami was right about how he would do the same thing, and closed it again with a huff. "Whatever," he grumbled, standing up. "Come on, let's go inside and let Cami lie down." 

Suddenly, a loud, angry voice yelled from inside the kitchen - "LILAC!!" - and Shintaro turned sharply to find a tree looming beside him.

He was back in the woods, the fog thick around him, the air sticky against his skin. He took a long, deep breath through his nose, staring at the tree beside him to keep his focus off the memory.

He didn't want to relive the rest of that day. 

Ever. 

~

Fourth chapterrrrrr! 

Mostly memories again.

But whatever, I love doing that.

Because I love how freaking TORTURED MY BOI ISSSSSS-

I know, I'm really really weird. 

But that's okay. 

Because I'm me weird.

So deal with it, haters. 

I don't even know where that came from, because I don't think I even have any haters XD

Anyway, thanks for reading!!!!

P3ac3!!!~~~