"Atashi what is that thing doing in your pocket?" Eiko asked curiously.
"Oh I don't know ask my sneaky little sister!"
"Hey what are you accusing me for?!"
Reiji jumped in between them and yelled in an attempt to break the argument but to no avail.
"Stop it already!"
Picking up the totem Atashi held it close to his chest and pointed a finger at Eiko this time he was really furious and Douma couldn't seem to understand why he could only guess the totem meant a lot to him but something about it made him feel uncomfortable and for the sake of his friend's well-being he was going to try finding out.
"Where did you get that Atashi?" Douma asked trying not to sound threatening.
The teen scoffed clearly displeased by Douma's sudden interference but there was no point telling a white lie the blonde was capable of reading emotions somehow, he'd find out eventually.
"A strange man gave it to me. He told me to take good care of it because it might be of greater use to the world."
"And Atashi wouldn't stop rambling about it." Eiko added to which Reiji gave her a look of annoyance. "He's trying to impress his crush Haru, that's why."
"Oh yeah I remember now! Hey Atashi did you ask her out yet?" Grinning Reiji sat back and watched Atashi's hilarious reactions.
"Shut up Eiko!" Atashi yelled flailing his arms defensively.
"Can I see the totem?"
Atashi hesitated before passing it to Douma, watching both him and the other two carefully in case they broke it or tried to snatch it away.
The totem was giving off some kind of strange overwhelming power. Even though Douma was fearless as he may seem given his high resistance, this artifact took the cake for being one of the strangest and unsettling items he ever encountered on Earth. If Atashi continues holding onto the totem something awful could happen the minute he gets consumed by its aura, from the looks of it, Atashi was slowly falling into its trap which is exactly what the totem and mysterious man wanted.
Looking up, Douma held the totem tightly which raised tension in the living room. Eiko and Reiji panicked they could sense something was wrong.
"You can't have this," Douma said iridescent orbs peering into Atashi's dark expression. "It's too dangerous, if that man gives you anything else don't accept it."
"What do you know?!"
Reiji and Eiko looked at Atashi in shock. Did he just talk back to Douma? That has never happened before no doubt Atashi had his own tantrums but it was never this bad.
"Douma is it that serious? Are we in danger?" Eiko asked, voice shaking.
"With this totem I can keep everyone I love safe, I just want people to respect me as an older brother," Atashi started breathing heavily. "I'm sick and tired of being seen as one of the dorks at school. You'll never understand cause you can't feel."
The young founder didn't really know how to respond to what Atashi had just said, it was the truth. Admittedly, he felt hurt no matter how he tried to convince himself that he was incapable of feeling, sometimes it just went through. Processing Atashi's words was dreadful but Douma understood them well and he was not happy about it.
"At least I know what's right, you're not having this." Douma replied sternly, his gaze turned cold.
"This is all your fault Eiko you and your stupid prank!" Forcefully snatching the totem away from Douma and then shoving it down his pocket, Atashi ran towards the door and opened it. He took off running into the worsening storm fast.
Eiko's short strands of hair felt like spikes at the back of her neck as the gust of frost was welcome in their home.
"Atashi come back!" Running after him, Eiko called out his name over and over again hoping he would return.
Upon seeing his cousins running off into the icy abyss especially Eiko who was the youngest out of all of them, Reiji immediately ran after them despite Douma reassuring him that he will find them and bring them home safely.
Reiji's miserable expression sent a wave of guilt that washed over Douma there was nothing he could do the trio was separated now.
But what else could Douma have done? This was the nicest approach to the situation. Douma went after them, shutting the door and sprinting in their direction. It'll be hard for the three cousins to navigate their way, it was overwhelmingly misty. He had to find them fast and the numerous paths weren't helping.
The snow was piling up covering the once dense greenery. Soon the grass would disappear from the face of the Earth. That was how bad the Winter Storm was in only a span of a few hours.
Douma took the less dense route which led to a forest. Footsteps were still visible in the snow but there was no sign of the Tagami kids anywhere. This was going to be tough if they spend too long in this weather they could catch a cold. Douma had to find them quick.
Surprisingly, the rainbow-eyed being caught a glimpse of Reiji running in the same direction as he did which brought his hopes up. Maybe Atashi and Eiko were nearby too.
Even though the howls of the wind blocked off any sound in the storm, Douma's ears were bionic, he could hear every sound made within the storm, even a few beyond the vicinity of the place. One of them being the trio running through a line of trees.
"Reiji! Eiko! It's too dangerous out there!" Douma ran after Reiji's silhouette slowly fading away into the mist.
"Come back! Atashi just stop you don't know what you're doing!"
Suddenly a tree branch collapsed right before the blonde passed it causing the snow below it to crumble. An avalanche was coming and the trio had already gone down the path.
This isn't good I need to find them. Douma heart was racing a landslide of snow would not only engulf anything around it but freeze any organism caught to death.
"Where could they have gone?!" Douma looked around he had to be cautious the snow could collapse at any moment.
Just then he heard the sound of cries coming from the bushes it sounded like a cat meowing in desperation.
Without hesitation, Douma followed the sounds he was fast enough to rescue two parties at once. Hopefully the feline really needed help based on the shrieks it was definitely helpless somewhere. Douma would find the Tagami trio afterwards he wasn't going to leave them, any human or animal he sees along the way would be guaranteed safety.
~~~
There was a river flowing with rocks and pebbles as its base. In this weather the water would be chilling cold.
In between the frost-covered rocks was a tail crushed by the weight as the kitten desperately tried to free itself while its mother struggled to reach the rocks.
Douma rushed over to them crouching down to get a better grip on the kitten's tail. It was unfortunate to be in such a situation during this storm, the mother cat and her kittens were in safe hands now since Douma happened to be wandering there.
The cold water flowed over his hands as the grey tabby watched Douma carefully making sure her kitten was unharmed, the rest of her kittens observed their sibling who was about to be freed with pleading eyes. They tried helping by reaching out their tiny paws towards the grey kitten who tried to pull himself away.
Three rocks were placed on the damp grass. The mother cat watched as her kitten rushed over to his family. Douma smiled knowing they were fine now he just had to get them out of this storm.
"Wait I know! Hop on my back I'll carry you guys home." Douma placed both hands on the ground as the mother cat and her kittens looked at each other before climbing onto his shoulders.
They glanced at Douma and meowed at him, one of the kittens tried tugging at the strands of his shiny blonde hair to which he chuckled they were adorable.
Getting up Douma sprinted towards the same trail he was at before and stopped.
"These footsteps must belong to the Tagamis!" It seems the trio headed back the footsteps were leading to the opposite direction.
Douma followed after that his heart racing while the cats on his shoulders watched closely clinging onto the white collar of his kimono.
"Meowww?" The grey kitten prod his shoulder in curiosity.
"I'm going to see my friends." Douma said patting the little feline's head.
Purring the little feline nuzzled Douma's neck as if it understood what the blonde was saying. He could feel his heart melt a way to keep him warm from the shimmering cold.
Carefully, Douma followed the footsteps taking him back to where the trio took off which lifted the burden of his shoulders because that meant they were home safe and sound, at least that's what it portrayed.
"Oh someone's home I can see some movement through the windows. My eyes sure are spectacular!" Despite what happened earlier Douma didn't seem to be affected by Atashi's harsh words, the young founder was indeed the emotionless person everyone saw him as.
But was he really? Douma wasn't so sure himself saving the cats made him feel fulfilled and that was a feeling. It wasn't his fault that interactions with humans made him seem that way maybe it was a human problem. Afterall back in his world every lifeform lives comfortably unless provoked but even then it was all tamed.
Douma wants to trust humans but spending so much time has repelled bonds from him, it seemed to affect his wellbeing despite being superior. Now he's the void being that everyone talks about when he's just being wary and too disappointed that his view on humanity has somewhat changed.
To add on, his friends don't seem to trust him anymore, maybe after this they won't even look for him, the young founder will spend his remaining time in the shrine. Sitting alone wasn't fun.
Maybe he will leave but not yet, the terrestrial critters are still out there and humanity needs a little saving only he understood what was going on he'd fix the mess in no time. Even if he returns home a little empty from the corruption he faced, recovery was always a possibility it's not like he was going to encounter the same thing.
Soon he reached the Tagami house where the trail of footsteps met their end. The young founder could sense movements and the familiar presence of his friends in the house. Relief washed over him they were safe from the storm.
Quietly he peeked through the window of the house, watching Atashi and Eiko having a conversation while Reiji seemed to comforting them? Atashi still looked mad and judging from Eiko's expression she was nagging at him presumably about what happened. Douma found Atashi's decision to run off into the storm incredibly stupid, he had put everyone in danger. Now this scolding he got from his younger sister is what he gets for causing so much trouble and shaming Douma when he was just trying to help.
There was a familiar figure standing beside Eiko, one with a butterfly clip. Shinobu was here too! So that means she and the Tagami trio know each other they were the friends she was talking about back at the port. The young founder was glad to see that she was safe.
"I'll get the fire totem eventually, Atashi you fool, people like you don't understand the consequences." Douma took one last glance at the window before walking off into the worsening storm, the cats seemed to be paying attention too, watching closely.
The young founder carried on walking back to his shrine not turning back, it was time to move on and continue his mission alone.