He took in a sharp, surprised breath and knew now what had woken him. His second brother was flat on his back, rigid with tension and gleaming with sweat. He pushed himself up onto his elbow as Tsuzuku tossed his head back and forth on the thin pillow and muttered something against the events of his dream.

He put his hand on his brother's shoulder and shook him gently, hoping to snap him out of whatever nightmare held him in its grip. He barely managed to stop Tsuzuku's strike, catching his brother's wrist in his hand and halting his palm two inches from his nose.

"Tsuzuku!" he snapped and gave the shoulder under his hand another shake, this one much less gentle.

Tsuzuku recoiled away from him, eyes wide and unfocused as he tried to jerk his wrist out of Hajime's grip. Hajime kept a firm hold of the wrist he had and captured Tsuzuku's free hand with his other as it flashed towards his chest. A rush of steps informed him Amaru and Owaru were on their way.

"Whoa! Tsuzuku, calm down!" Owaru grumbled as he threw his arms around his second brother's shoulders and upper arms and subdued his struggles.

"...no..." it was a whispered moan, heart wrenching in it's despair.

Hajime shook Tsuzuku gently once more and called his name as his second brother continued to struggle weakly against Owaru's arms. He glanced up and sideways as Amaru leaned against his back and reached out to put his fingertips on their brother's forehead.

"Tsuzuku, wake up!" he commanded softly.

Their brother stilled, and Hajime felt Tsuzuku focus, saw awareness of the here-and-now come back into the deep emerald of his eyes. Eyes that still glowed with barely constrained inner fire as Tsuzuku locked his gaze with Amaru. Their second brother's chest heaved with the effort of trying to pull in great gulps of air. Gods, what had Tsuzuku been dreaming about? What could have upset him this much?

The green fire slid from Amaru and locked onto Hajime.

"Let go of me." There was fury seething underneath that calm request.

Hajime opened his hands as Tsuzuku twisted his shoulders out of Owaru's relaxing grip with a jerk. His second brother drew his hands back slowly, the coiled tension that quivered through his body an almost physical presence in the room. Hajime knew Owaru was aware of it also as his third brother continued to hover at Tsuzuku's back, almost as tense, ready to restrain his brother again if Tsuzuku went for Hajime once more. For a moment Hajime thought that was exactly what was going to happen.

Gods, what happened? What did I do?

Then Tsuzuku lowered his head, the gesture almost submissive.

"Tsuzuku?" All of Hajime's concern and questions were wrapped around his brother's name.

Tsuzuku ignored him, kept his head down as his fingers went to knot into the rumpled sheet of the futon cover. Hajime took a deep breath, ready to demand an explanation.

"Brother, let him be for a bit," Amaru jumped in before Hajime could speak. "Sometimes it takes a little while to separate yourself from Them," Amaru continued as he moved around Hajime's back and settled next to his distressed brother, leaning toward him so he pressed gently against Tsuzuku's shoulder and arm.

Hajime could feel the tension in his brother start to dissipate as Tsuzuku began to relax, taking comfort from his youngest brother's touch and presence. The overhead light snapped on, driving the darkness and the shadows away. Delicate hands came to touch Hajime's shoulders, and he covered one with his own, taking his own comfort from Matsuri's presence.

"Amaru is right, Hajime-san. You and Owaru-kun, come help me make some tea and give Tsuzuku a chance to wake all the way up and gather his thoughts," she said with a smile toward them all and a force behind her words that warned that she would accept no opposition to her suggestion.

Hajime glanced up at her, ready to refuse anyway as Owaru shrugged and rose. He desperately wanted to know just what Tsuzuku had dreamed, to know what had occurred in their past lives that could make his second brother glare at him with such fury. Anger that was directed specifically at himself, he knew without a doubt.

Just give him a few minutes, Elder Brother. Hajime's eyebrows went up in surprise as that soft whisper brushed against his mind.

He frowned, knowing that his youngest brother and Matsuri were right as his beloved's hands left his shoulders and she herded Owaru towards the kitchen. Then he heaved a mental sigh as he gathered himself to rise. He reminded himself as he followed Matsuri into the kitchen that he needed to ask Amaru how long he'd been able to do that!

Ten minutes later they emerged from the kitchen. The clink of ceramics and soft rush of water was loud in the silence as Matsuri set out cups and filled them from the teapot while Hajime and Owaru positioned themselves at the table

"Thank you, Matsuri-chan," Owaru muttered around a large yawn as he rested the side of his head against his fist.

Hajime flashed her a tight, anxious smile as he took his mug and sipped, his eyes going sideways to look at his huddled brothers.

He saw Amaru nudge Tsuzuku with his shoulder, and then head for the table. Tsuzuku followed slowly, his eyes still downcast. Hajime was very relieved to see that the anger that had held his brother's features had smoothed out into the distant expression he wore when he was deep in thought.

"So, you had a Dragon Dream, huh?" Owaru asked bluntly as he swirled his untouched tea around in his mug.

Tsuzuku nodded as he settled into his normal place at Hajime's left. Hajime gave a little smile full of relief. He had half expected Tsuzuku to position himself at the far end of the table, as far away from his oldest brother as he could politely get.

"I'm beginning to feel left out here," Owaru's tone was half a tease, half a hurt grumble.

"Don't be, Owaru-kun. Mine have not been particularly easy experiences so far," Tsuzuku answered. "I'm beginning to agree with whoever it was that said that ignorance is bliss. But I've got another piece of the puzzle, Elder Brother."

He met his oldest brother's eyes for the first time. "We were exiled from the Heavenly Spheres and banished onto the Wheel of Human Reincarnation for 117 generations."

Owaru's head came up with a snap. "HUH?"

Hajime became perfectly still.

"We were what?" Their oldest brother asked softly, his voice full of disbelief as a fine spider web of cracks spread across the surface of the mug in his hand from the pressure of his fingers.

"We were exiled and sentenced to 117 lifetimes as human beings," Tsuzuku re-stated flatly.

"Why?" Owaru demanded as he slapped both palms down flat onto the table, making the cups and teapot bounce.

Tsuzuku tipped his head slightly to the side and frowned. "I'm not certain of the details. The Heavenly Emperor was...," he paused for a moment,"...missing." There was a hint of a question in his last word. "And we were somehow blamed for his absence."

"What, they think we killed him or something?" Owaru bit out.

Matsuri blinked in surprise at the strange, almost haunted look Hajime shot at her.

"I don't know, Owaru," Tsuzuku answered his brother as he kept his focus on Hajime. "It agrees with the family legend, though."

Hajime put the mug down carefully, knowing it was close to shattering. The floral essence of the tea turned bitter on his tongue as his stomach knotted. They would never do such a thing. He would never do such a thing. His eyes went to Matsuri once more and the knowledge of Hakkei and Taishinoufujin's passionate and forbidden love flashed through his mind. Would he? Or a better question, would Hakkei? He cursed his inadequate memories of his past life.

"We didn't do it," Amaru said with absolute conviction into the silence that had fallen around the table once more.

"Of course we didn't do it!" Owaru backed him up, certain of that fact, even though he didn't know why.

"I concur, Brothers. We did not do it. Though we seemed unable to prove that to the Council who stepped in to take the Emperor's place," Tsuzuku added his certainty to his brothers' claims.

It eased Hajime's mind a bit. Though a little, slinking nag of doubt still held a place in the background of his thoughts. He took a deep breath, unwilling to drag his brothers into his uncertainty and forced a smile.

"Well, now we know how we came to be here," he offered lightly and hoped his tone would help to lift the dark mood that flowed between his brothers. "And I, for one, find it a very encouraging discovery."

"Well, how come if we are done with our sentence we are still stuck down here?" Owaru asked with a frown. "Shouldn't they let us back in, or come and get us, or something?"

Hajime just blinked at his third brother. He didn't have an inkling of an answer for that very astute question. A question he had only formulated an instant ago himself.

"We're not supposed to be 'Awake' yet," Amaru said softly.

All three of his brothers focused on him and he squirmed a little uncomfortably.

"Why not?" Owaru asked.

Amaru hitched one shoulder. "We're just not. It isn't the right time. Our enemies are trying to force us into an early confrontation."

Owaru scowled at his brother. "What are you talking about, Amaru?"

Amaru swayed and his eyes widened, the deep blue of his irises darkening as a flickering swirl of lightning stirred in their depths. Then they took on a silvered sheen as he sagged.

"Amaru! What's wrong?" Owaru reached for his youngest brother, then leaned back as he felt the gathering of power. "Oi! What are you doing?"

Amaru straightened suddenly, and Owaru and Tsuzuku both jumped to their feet and dropped into fighting stances as something else looked back out from Amaru's eyes.

"Forgive the intrusion, Dragon Kings," a deep, smooth voice addressed them.

The creature in Amaru flinched back, its expression startled as the glowing blue aura of Hajime's power sprang into existence.

"Peace! Peace, Goukou-sama! Gouen-sama has given me his consent to use this body for a few minutes."

"Who are you?" Hajime gritted out.

"A servant of Heaven, like yourselves. And a friend. It was deemed necessary that I contact you at this time with a warning."

"Deemed necessary by whom?" Hajime inquired, his voice now calm but his aura still very visible.

"A Great Lady who has a fondness for dragons. Now, enough with inane questions. I do not have much time here. I am to tell you that the reason for your banishment and why your heavenly attributes were submerged was for your protection. The Great Lady convinced everyone, even yourselves, that it would be a terrible punishment. In reality, it was to hide and protect you from the Gyushu until it was time to fulfil the Will of Heaven."

"And what exactly is the Will of Heaven?" Hajime almost growled.

"To rest and then rise to destroy the Gyushu at the appointed time."

"And just when is that time?"

The creature in Amaru tilted his head and smiled. "It is unknown to me."

Hajime ground his teeth with frustration, then forced himself to be civil once more. "How will we know?"

"You will know. And now, the warning. The Gyushu have awakened you before you were ready. You do not have control over the Heavenly aspects of your natures yet. You must not let them goad you into an all out confrontation, for you will lose. And, if you lose, then all of the Spheres will fall into Darkness."

Owaru couldn't hold his tongue anymore. "And just what is that supposed to mean? We aren't supposed to protect ourselves? If you guys haven't noticed, there is a whole planet full of angry bad guys hunting us!"

"Owaru." Hajime's voice stilled his brother's beginning tirade.

"Has the Emperor returned?" Tsuzuku asked with a calculating look.

"No. Now, I must bid you farewell, Dragon Kings."

"Wait!" Hajime bellowed as Tsuzuku and Owaru sprang for the crumpling form of their youngest brother, but he knew it was already too late as he saw the tail of the flash of white-blue power surge through the ceiling, the messenger well on its way back to the Heavens.

He moved to join the huddle of his brothers.

"He's all right. Just asleep," Tsuzuku informed them with a relieved smile.

"That was stupid, Amaru!" Owaru grumbled softly as he brushed the tousled bangs away from his little brother's face.

Hajime agreed as he gathered his little brother up into his arms. Though he understood why Amaru had allowed it. His youngest brother knew just how desperate he was to discover what had happened in that other time, why they were here and how to keep them all safe from the enemies, human and supernatural, that threatened on every side. But he would never be desperate enough to want Amaru to let himself be possessed by anything. When his youngest brother woke up, he was going to impress that fact on him firmly. That if anything else came knocking, Amaru was to send it directly to him.

"Well, I believe that the excitement is over for the moment," Hajime said as he rose and headed for the bedroom. "Owaru, I think you should get a couple more hours of rest," he advised as he laid Amaru onto his futon. "You've got a lot of work to do at the library tomorrow," he said with a smile as he heard Owaru take a breath to argue.

"Well, I for one am going to! I have to go to work tomorrow," Matsuri jumped in before Owaru could get a protest out. "And I agree with Hajime, Owaru-kun. You are such a bear if you don't get enough sleep," she put her hand around Owaru's arm and pulled him all the way into the bedroom and dazzled him with her sweetest smile.

"I'm not!" Owaru protested weakly as Matsuri pushed him gently toward the empty bedding next to Amaru.

"You are, so you will lay down and go back to sleep, right? Besides, if you are in here, then I'll be able to rest and not worry about keeping an eye on Amaru."

"O.K. O.K." Owaru grumbled with a slightly reproachful look at his cousin as he dropped cross-legged onto the futon.

He knew he was being manipulated, but like the rest of his brothers, he just couldn't resist Matsuri for any length of time and knew better than to even try. He put his arms under his head as he leaned back and grinned as Matsuri stood on tip-toe to give his oldest brother a fast kiss right on his lips. He was still somewhat surprised that the sleeping arrangements hadn't been changed. Then he shrugged to himself and closed his eyes, giving them a little privacy as Hajime gathered her in for a hug. As soon as he did, an image of himself and Jesse sprang into being in his brain, copying Matsuri and Hajime's little show of intimacy.

He rolled over onto his side quickly and pulled the pillow over his head to hide the blush he could feel burn his face as his stomach fluttered strangely.

"If you want me to sleep, turn off the light," he growled.

"See? A bear!" Matsuri said with a little giggle as the light went out.

"I'm not," he grouched back at his cousin as he heard her settle onto her bed, determined to get in the last word even though he still was hiding under his pillow...just in case she might somehow still be able to detect that his face was glowing like he had a third degree sunburn. Man, why am I thinking stuff like this? I never thought like this about my other girl friends.