A/N: I don't get it. I get many favorites for this story but not a single review? What did I miss?

Anyway, this is the final chapter of this story.
I hope it isn't too rushed. Thanks to everyone who had read so far.

Pairing: OT6

Disclaimer: Do not own anything.

~~ The Night Of A New Beginning ~~

~~ 19. December, Late Morning ~~

Ryoma watched the snow hovering down and onto the floor. His thoughts circled in different direction. He hadn't visited his brother again and he had no intension to do so. His skin felt ticklish as if he was on electricity or sharp needles pocked him, the hairs on his neck stood up and the many foreign emotions confused him. His family told him about the incoming help, more manbeasts would arrive shortly. It was a slight tickle because those manbeasts weren't under his control but as soon as he accepted them it would stop to hurt, to tickle.

He played unmindfully with the purple colored fur, ran it through his fingers an twirled it around. His back leaned against Keigo's warm body, the diva's tails were around him to keep him warm. The manbeasts did everything to spoil him from head to toe. Seiichi and Syusuke rested beside him, they seemed to sleep but he knew they listened and watched all his moves and thoughts. Maybe because he hadn't talked a single word after he had talked with Ryoga? His brother was still upset about his absence in the near future. Sadness and worry electrified his heart and his free hand moved automatically to the brown-haired tensai's neck and began to pet and massage the knocks out of the muscles. If it was uncomfortable for them to live in their human form?

'In some kind of way.'

'We're used to stay in this form and if it isn't against your will, we would like to keep it as that. We're not used to stay for so long in our other form.'

"Yeah, it might be better. At least I would need to see your faces." He smirked and pulled his hand away right in time before the two tensais could snap at his hand. Ryoma grinned in victory, nevertheless, he had forgotten the diva behind him who was proud about his own beauty. Keigo licked his neck and his left ear. A sensation overwhelmed him, something he had never felt before. The teen cried out in surprise and jumped out of the comfortable warmth. His face grew red when the chuckles and laughers reached his ears. They dared to laugh at their master! He couldn't help but pout which increased the laughers by the adorable sight.

However, the laughers died out when Ryoma flinched and rubbed both of his arms, his head snapped to the outsides. "Is it them? The shadows?" He asked in a hushed voice and tried to listen to any kind of emotions or thoughts, but there was nothing. He couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel anything. It was strange and the fright rose inside his very bone, coldness tightened his heart. Why wasn't it working now? He had felt the emotions from the shadow and also the one from his brother, an ordinary human, and some of the manbeasts, his family. Why wasn't it working now? The door banged open, the wind howled inside and pierced his sensitive orbs. Ryoma shut them immediately, covered them with his left hand and stayed still. There was no need to be afraid, he reminded himself. His family would have reacted long ago if it was an enemy and not an ally.

His eyes sharpened under his eyelids, he could feel it. The needles were one big sponge, rubbed over his skin with electricity. It hurt, but not as bad as it had been at his first encounter with his currently small family. He could endure it.

'He trust you, already?'

'The squirt isn't scared?'

There was no reply to the questions. His family let him speak for himself and he was grateful for it. The door closed once again, the wind stopped to trash his hair around and he opened his eyes, only to be stunned and speechless. Right before him was not just a herd but a wave of manbeasts who were, even with the snarling and growling, beautiful. He had gotten used by the looks, the fright had lessened to a nearly none existing height. Nonetheless, the snarls did stop him from getting too close to them.
One of the newcomers snarled louder than the others, bared his sharp teeth directly at him. Ryoma frowned and glared at the manbeast with confidence and smirked. No, the unknown manbeast wouldn't attack him, wouldn't hurt him. It would be his own death if he did. "Right now, I'm in the better position than you are. If I were you, I would try to be nice and not growl at the one who can force you to sit in the next corner with your tails between your legs."

The snarl stopped abruptly - it was silent. The new manbeast angled his head to the right and then to the left, he wasn't sure how to react at Ryoma's words. The teenager's family chuckled, finding amusement by their master's words. Ryoma viewed over each manbeast, tried to count them - it were too many. His glance stayed by one certain manbeast who stood beside the one who had just snarled at him a few seconds ago. The creature made one step forward, unsure of his action.

It didn't take long for Ryoma to understand the reason, the wish, behind the movement and he smiled in acknowledge. His 'lovers' had told him not long ago how strong his appeal to touch him was - a powerful push which had pulled them to him and his awaiting touch. It wasn't any different for this manbeast. He craved his closeness, so Ryoma stood straight and lifted his hand like he would do it by a horse - the right hand's back was angled slightly to the right. The beast master waited for the manbeast to come to him - not risking to awake another wave of snarling from the other creatures.

The manbeast stepped to him, now with more confidence, and rubbed his head against the warm hand, enjoying the touch. The teenager furrowed his brows, wondered why he still couldn't feel anything. Nothing.

'I wanna play! I wanna play!'

Ryoma jolted out of his trance and searched for the child-like voice. This manbeast couldn't be as old as the others, the voice and thoughts were too much of a kid's. Another manbeast with very light blond fur walked up to him and held something between his mouth. The teen noted it was also something furry which tried to punch the carrier with its tiny paws. He pulled his hand out of the fur, walked up to the blond creature, crouched down to the small manbeast's height and stroke with one finger along the backside. The kid shivered and purred by the touch.

The teenager was thankful for his good reflexes because the one who carried the child let it go. Ryoma caught it right in time but had no idea how to hold the trashing furball, so he tried to hold it like a normal baby. The child licked his cheek countless times and when it brushed the area between his ear and shoulder, he giggled unconsciously. Soft, familiar hands took pity on him and parted him from the small manbesat. Another pair of hands curled around his waist and some other rested on his head, neck and shoulders.

"Sweet, isn't he?" Syusuke asked the newcomer teasingly, messing up Ryoma's hair - who tried his best to stop him but failed -and chuckled. Their little master watched the youngest manbeast twirl in Kunimitsu's arm and whine, which sounded more like a meow, in disagreement. Ryoma smiled when Karupin came in, rushing to Kunimitsu to take a glance at the young red-furred manbeast. The smile left his face when his cat hissed and crouched down, ready to strike the young and now silent manbeast. He grabbed his cat and held it tight.

"Karupin! They're family not foe!" He scolded Karupin and earned a deep bite into his right hand. He was distracted and let Karupin fall out of surprise, the cat sprinted away and up onto the large dresser, hissed all the while. "Jealous cat." Ryoma muttered and licked and sucked on his hand, his blood tasted strange.

"Ahem... Ryoma?" Called teen looked up and shivered, his family's orbs had changed into pure gold. The teenager turned on his heels and was faced with another herd of hungry manbeasts who seemed to like the smell of his fresh blood. He stayed strong, pierced back into those many golden eyes, he wouldn't give them his blood, not when they would have the same effect afterwards like his lovers had for him. Ryoma got the feeling that if he would glance away from them, he would lose something, like a match.

"Give it up, he may be instable and needs a lot of help right now but he is already strong enough from the insides. We doubt it will take long for him to be ready to fight with us against them." The manbeasts shifted, changed into their human form and the sparkles blinded Ryoma's sight. Different kinds of people stood before him and watched him with still hungry, golden eyes. It were the same eyes which he had seen by his family before he had accepted them as his new family. They wanted him to accept them as his family, too. "However, for now, all we need is a little bit more time and a safe place for him to stay. We're not ready to fight the shadows, not yet."

His family walked back to where they had been awhile ago and sat down again. They all introduce themselves. "You want to run away from them? It wouldn't change the situation." said the guy with short, blond hair and followed suit, sat down onto the ground, near his new master. Ryoma could identify him now as Shiraishi Kuranosuke who had the ability to hide his tribe's aura.

"Saa, it wouldn't change it but it would give us time which we need urgently!"

"Still..."

"We have no other choice. We won't let him stay here while all hunters and shadows could get and kill him!"

"If we agree to your plan, where would you hide him?"

"How about America?" It was the first time Ryoma interrupted them by their plans. If they would go to the States he could guide them, he had lived their most of his life.

"What? Why there?"

"No! No, honey, no contact to your mother or any other person who knows you." Syusuke pulled him against his chest and laid his hands on his stomach and chest, keeping him there. "We're sorry, but we can't risk your life. You're too precious."

"Actually, I didn't think about my mother but a place to hide." The teenager took the silence as a sign of attention and continued to speak his thoughts. "When I was little, Ryoga and I had found a large mine which resembles a hall, it's far from my old home in the States. The deeper someone walks in, the darker but steadier it gets. Nobody else than us two know about it."

"No, your brother isn't faithful. He could betray you and tell your father about this place. really could." Momoshiro didn't look at him. The manbeast would never trust the sibling, not in his current life.

"He won't."

"He will!"

"Are you distrusting my words, Takeshi?" The words escaped Ryoma's mouth with a shattering fierce. He hadn't wanted the words to sound so harsh but he couldn't help it. Ryoga wouldn't betray him! He couldn't blame Momoshiro for his distrust against Ryoga, however, after Ryoma had talked and said goodbye to him he had seen the true self of his brother who had stayed hidden behind a mask for too long. He was accepted and loved as younger brother, even if their time together was nearly none existing. The tears and the broken voice of his brother had given him the proof for his loyalty - he would never hand him over to the foe. That's all what he needed to know.

Momoshiro stepped back, opened his mouth and formed silent words of apology. He hadn't thought his master would talk back against him and with such a strength nonetheless. He shook his head and bowed his head for an apology, walked back into the line. "We told you about his mental steadiness. All he need is time to learn more about his and our abilities. Loyalty isn't something we get from him for nothing, it's something we need to earn and the other way around."

"Are you sure your father doesn't know this place?" Ryoma nodded and lifted his head a little higher, glanced up the stairs and stared at nothing. He had managed to say goodbye to his brother but now that his mother had been mentioned, what about her? The manbeasts wouldn't let him get close to her. Would she miss him? Maybe she had been gone for too long to build a steady relationship with her son so she wouldn't miss him too much?

Chorne couldn't ignore it anymore. The feeling, the familiar sensation in his stomach - the butterflies. There was no chance to suppress it any longer. The emotions this certain guy caused in him made him crazy and turned him into a worrywart. There was no way to deny it, however, it didn't mean he was accepting it. He sighed deeply, annoyed about his current situation. No matter how hard he tried to find a way out of all this, he didn't find one, not a single plan to ally with both sides. He didn't want to kill, he didn't want to see death. Chorne had seen it too often in his life, he had had enough of it. He knew he shouldn't feel this way for his old family who had abandoned him long ago. He wanted to help them to stay alive but one of the problems would be the shadows and the hunters.

The other problem stayed by himself - once a shadow, always a shadow. A return of being a master didn't exist. No way back. Now he understood the speech - do not answer so half heartily, think about your very decision. Was it regret which he felt?
No, even if Cole and Akito have turned into some crazy bunch, they had been his family for the past years and he wouldn't forget the memories and their help. He threw the knife with full force, aimed for the target in front of him and managed to earn a perfect score. Akito was the last problem. The guy was completely insane since he had met his old flames. He had given him, Chorne, a very small box, not even a handful, with something sticky in it. He had told him to open it when the last master was beside him.

So he came to the conclusion that it was something poisoning or explosive. No matter what it was, he wouldn't use it. Chorne hadn't forgiven the manbeasts but he didn't hate them anymore. The tribe which he had met, was different than his old one. They all had a closer relationship, he had seen the need of protecting each other in their eyes. How he wished to belong to one of those people. "Forget it. It's too late for such emotions! They have made it clear, their hate against every shadow."

"Cole won't like to hear your doubt about our mission to kill the last master and get finally ride of all those disgusting manbeasts."

"Aktio!"

"Have the few hours with them brainwashed you or something? Have you forgotten the past? How they have treated you, your old folk?"

'Because you can't forget your dead ex-lover doesn't mean I can not do it too. I have seen something in their eyes which my old folk never had.'

"No, I haven't forgotten. And I'm not blinded by them."

"Good because we'll leave this place and drive to the airport. Now."

"Your injury isn't healed yet."

"I don't care about my injury! We can't stay back because we need time to recover. Now that they have their precious master they won't stay long at one place. Not longer than necessary and probably not only in Japan. Nanjiroh believes his son will travel back to his old home."

"What about the hunters? When will they arrive here?"

"Never. Some bastards had murdered them, their legs and arms were bitten off!" Akito spitted the last words out with pure hate. Chorne understood the message. Other manbeasts had entered Japan to meet up with their last one. It were getting more and more with each passing day. The longer they would wait, the stronger and the merrier would they, the manbeasts, be.

~~ 19. December, Afternoon ~~

The night sky was clear in view and the stars shone brightly above his head. Ryoma heard the voice from the inside, still not sure what to do next with him, but didn't listen any closer to the conversation. It was a strange feeling, sitting in a tree and watching his brother's room. Ryoga's eyes were swollen and still red from all the crying. The beast master didn't like the sight but couldn't afford to comfort his older brother. His presence would hurt him only the more, scratching the healing wound deeper.

He closed his eyes, tried to enjoy the quiet while everything around him seemed to be... stressed and in hectic. Quiet, he needed the silence right now, he needed to calm down. He shouldn't think, he should feel nervous, sad, furious, scared by the mere thought of his father. Was the man still his father? Could he call him father after what he had done and wanted to do to him?

Quiet, he needed quiet now.
Time to calm down entirely.
Ryoma closed his eyes and let his body float in the wind. He breathed in the icy air, loosened his muscles and fell into a trance. Everything around him was gone completely, nothing existed for a second till...

"Ryoma! Where are you?" Genichirou's voice trembled like never before, fear, or perhaps confusion, was waving out of it.

'I'm up the tree.'

He was too lazy to open his closed eyes. It had been finally quieten down and now Gen needed to come and call him. A hand grabbed him, pushed him off balance. Ryoma fell down but landed carefully in Genichirou's arms and the following hug was bone breaking. Thankfully it didn't last long. Gen took his face in his hands and stroke his cheeks with his thumbs. "Sorry. Your thoughts, your presence had suddenly disappeared and we thought your father or..."

It was then that Ryoma realized the stares from the door. His lovers had barged out too, wanted to search for him. The other four walked to him, sighed in relief and touched his arms and head in any way, probably making sure if he was alright. "Never do it again, okay? Tells us before you practice to block us out of your thoughts!" Syusuke kissed his forehead and pulled him into a hug. He had blocked them? It was his doing? How? The teenager's gaze wandered from his lovers to the rest of his family. Everyone was shifting, changing their form in silence. How long had he been up the tree?

"It's time to go, isn't it?"

"Yeah. We need to reach the airport on time if we don't want to have any further complications."

"Okay." The rest of his now very big family shifted as well. Ryoma couldn't help but smile a little bit, it was an amazing view and the bare thought about being able to once control them made him excited. He had given his blood - it was necessary for the pact of acceptance - to the leader of both other tribes. The picture - the glance in the future with him sitting somewhere and the manbeasts around him, sleeping calmly on the ground and beside him - it had burnt its way into his brain, he wanted to be the person he had seen thanks to Kunimitsu.

The teenager glanced at a certain window where an older version of him looked out and watched him. The person waved with his hand and nodded, then drove away with the wheelchair and out of sight. A terrifying guess kept him from taking his view away from the window. "I want a handful of you to stand here and watch over my brother till he can walk again. Find a save place for him to stay and keep him save, especially from my father or any other shadow." His stare was still directed at the window.

"Anybody special in your mind?"

"No, anybody is fine as long as the person won't hurt him more than he already is."

"Alright." Surprisingly it was Yanagi who went forward and kissed the forehead of his master. "I'll take care of him and will return to you after he can live on his own. I'll take Kaidoh, Marui, Jackal and Oishi with me." Ryoma nodded and turned around to see the five walking up to the entrance of the mansion and going inside. It was time to go. Every worry was taken care of, every fear would be fought against. A tongue darted out and wanted to lick his right hand, nonetheless, he was faster and caught the snout, held it. Ryoma purposely smirked and viewed at Eiji. "I know, I'm still to slow."

There were laughers and Ryoma loosened his grip around the snout. Eiji sneezed loudly. Ryoma searched for one certain manbeast and walked up to him after he had seen it. He scratched the head gently with his right hand's fingers, saw the enjoyment in the manbeast's eyes - in Keigo's eyes. He used the chance of Keigo's unguarded moment and hopped up onto his back, fisted his hands into the dark purple fur.

Just for fun he clicked with his tongue like someone would do by his horse to get it moving. A growl was the reply and he smirked once more. As soon as the first step was taken he could breath better, think less about the consequence of leaving his old life.

~~ 19. December, Night ~~

They had run for three hours, were finally standing at the private airport of Atobe Keigo and waited for the last few manbeasts to arrive. They had split in three big groups, one was still missing but would hopefully arrive soon. Ryoma heard their thoughts, reassured the others that they were alive and unharmed. Seiichi and Syusuke had shifted back to their human form and stood at his left and right side, massaging and stroking his shoulders and neck. The teenager let them do as they liked - he had reject their closeness but the worried and confused expression made him submit to them. It was the wrong time to fight over something so simple when their lives could end at any minute.

The two groups of manbeast were already in the private plane of Atobe Keigo, making themselves comfortable - at least they tried to. The knowledge the shadows or the hunters could arrive any time made them itchy, nervous and restless as hell. It would last as long as they were still in Japan. They had decided not to go back to America - even if Ryoma's idea was good, it was too easy and their foes would probably look there first thing in the morning. It saddened him to be unable to see his old home ever again but he understood the reason for their reactions. They all wanted to live, wanted to see him alive without any pain. Maybe it was also the reason for Seiichi's and Syusuke's clinginess? "Ryoma, you should go inside. Your lips are blue." A thumb caressed the said lips and kissed him gently to warm them up. "They'll be here soon."

He nodded and walked inside the plane, took place at one of the empty seats in the middle of the plane. Something was wrong, the strange feeling grew stronger. He rubbed his stomach with his left hand, his lungs burnt, it felt cold and hurt as if he had a knot in there. He held his throat with the other free hand and leaned his head back, tried to relax.

At first he thought it had something to do with his own emotions but it couldn't be because it was the same feeling like back then in the classroom. It wasn't his confusion and fright he felt, it came from someone else who he could read thanks to his new ability and whoever it was, the person was frightened badly. The feelings changed, intensified and mixed up with something new which caught Ryoma by surprise and made him gasp. The quiet chatters were stopped immediately when his family saw the sweat on his forehead and his unmoved form, the tight grip of his hands on the seat. He jumped up, stumbled forward and outside. The teenager took a very deep breath and forced his body to stand straight.

The person's emotion changed for the nth time and suddenly a throb of love and wanting reach his heart. Ryoma knew the person, it wasn't a complete stranger to him and it wasn't a foe.

"Who is it?" Seiichi's voice and Syusuke's touch startled him.

"A shadow...Sensei..."

"Alone?"

"I don't know. I feel different feelings, they grew endlessly. He is frightened, helpless and full of desire to protect a certain person in his arms... he doesn't want to fight..."

"Even if his feelings say so, we can't trust it. Please, go inside and wait for us there. The rest of us will be there shortly, I can hear their thoughts."

"No, I want to talk to him."

"Honey, not now!"

"Ryoma!" The voice jerked him out of their conversation, startled him and also the other two. Chorne stood a few meters away from them, hand lifted for him to see that he had no weapons and no desire to fight him. "I need to talk with you and your family." He took four more steps in his direction, too close for his lovers' liking. They growled lowly, warned him clearly. The shadow stopped and continued to talk from his current position. "Your father has the same ability like me. A shield to hide and protect the ones inside the circle. However, the shield has only one strong side while the backside is wide open. Do you understand what I mean?"

Ryoma did, nevertheless, he was also confused. Why would Chorne tell him his weakness? It would be a mistake to trust him completely, though, it sounded logical. He opened his mouth to ask more but he couldn't. The word 'traitor!' echoed over the whole airport. Something silver blinked in the lamp's light, cut across the air. Chorne fell down onto the snowy ground like a heavy stone. The man panted, gasped and groaned in pain. A knife pierced through his upper torso, the tip of it was visible at the front. Blood streamed out and formed a puddle. Ryoma couldn't move by the sight of blood, frozen and sick.

The growls and snarls let him snap his head to the right to see the last group of manbeasts approaching them fast. The emerald-haired teen frowned by the bared fangs but understood the meaning when a feeling of hate and jealousy rose up in his heart. He had no chance to take a glance at the also approaching shadows. Seiichi and Syusuke shoved him inside the plane which started the motor immediately. It was one big mess around him, everywhere were hands, pushing and pulling at him, blocking his sight. He heard rushed words, cracking sounds, shrieks and growls, metal hitting on metal, shouts and curses, howls and suddenly a high shriek. The insecurity, not knowing what was happening outside, made him shiver and fear about the other's well being.

As quickly as it had started it was ended, at least he thought it had ended. The last person who entered the plane and shut the door was Genichirou - his face and body were bloody but mostly unharmed. His lovers rushed to their master, held his eyes and ears shut, covered his mouth with their lips. He blocked every of his senses.

'What is going on?'

With one swift jerk he got a glimpse of a bloody, snowy floor - manbeasts, dead and cold lay there, many were from the last group - Chorne pushed his stabbed body up, Cole shot with a gun at the plane and managed to hit it a few times and Lloyed and his father were watching. Ryoma was shocked the most and scared about the sight of Akito.

He couldn't breathe, he shook furiously in Kunimitsu's arms, his body was numb. "Shh... shh..." He heard someone hush at him, felt the touches from his family but the sight hunt him in his incoming nightmares. Someone had bitten off Akito's whole left arm. Uncontrolled and without any mercy, ripped it off and spit it out next to him.

He lost consciousness and was thankful for it, not ready to accept something like this.

~~ 2 Years later, Midnight ~~

Ryoma petted Karupin, the cat had hid in his luggage, read the thick book and glanced up without changing his expression at the whine. He smiled at the still small manbeast who wanted his attention. The young man left his seat - a high positioned throne made out of stone - and walked carefully past the sleeping creatures and up to the whining child

"Hush, Kintaro. Go back to sleep like your brothers. Tomorrow will be an exhausting day. Have you forgotten? We'll return to Japan."

'No! I wanna play! Not sleepy!'

A glare was all it needed for him to send him back to one of his brothers, snuggling against the blond fur and looking at his master for a mere second before he closed his eyes for the second time.

'Old man, be ready!'

The End

I want to give a special thanks to:

Lady Queria
denizen of the night
Pirate Bo
ryoka-chan
Amy-sama90
Pri-Chan 1410
xxSnowxxAngelxx
Ayingott
ajas136
animelover4ever69
afallenheart
TheDarkesstButterfly
X

because they reviewed more than once and helped me a lot in this story and gave encouragement. It had taken me longer than I thought it would need but I have finally finished this story and I hope my readers have enjoyed it as much as I did.
Thanks to everybody who had reviewed, favorited this story or me as an author. I'm really thankful for it and hope that I haven't disapointed you.

Thanks for reading till the end and I hope to hear from you again.