The noon sun blazed above the Yagyu estate as Kentarou parked his small compact car next to the old red jeep Nasuti refused to part with.  The air hung thickly clinging to his skin as he surveyed the abnormally calm drive he stood in.  He strained his ears but could not make out a bird or even an insects song.  A cold shiver ran down his back as he approached the front door.  Large cracks in all the windows caught his attention as he knocked on the door.  He knocked again, harder, but still no sound came from within.
      “Nasuti?” Kentarou called out as he peered through the cracked glass by the door.  He could see the furniture toppled and bashed with glass covering the floor.  Deciding to ignore common curtsey he reached for the door and pushed it open.  He began to slip his shoes off, but decided otherwise remembering the glass on the floor.  Forcing himself to forgo a life long habit he stepped up from the entrance and walked into the dinning room.
      The table had been blown against the fireplace, two of its four legs broken on impact.  The chairs had smashed into pieces upon impact with the walls.  The couch that once sat near the windows was now blocking the stairs, one of its arms dangling loosely.  Every window had been blown in.  Pieces littered the floor, and were embedded in the walls and even in the stone of the fireplace.  Kentarou walked to the middle of the room where the table once sat.  He surveyed the damage, turning to take in the entire room.  As he turned toward the fireplace a pink slipper caught his eye.  He walked over and picked up the solitary slipper.  As he straightened up he saw a foot sticking out from behind the half demolished table.  Kentarou dropped the slipper and grabbed the table, pulling it away from the fireplace.  Glass cut into his hands he cleared away the debris.  Nasuti lay on the hearth, small pieces of glass embedded in her hands and face.  The table had protected her from most of the glass, but she was unconscious.  Kentarou checked her pulse and was relieved when he found it, even though it was weak.  Setting to work at removing more debris, he hurried to gain the room needed to treat her.  He had just retrieved a clean blanket from the living room to move Nasuti when he heard a cry come from the back yard.
      Kentarou had heard of the white tiger that watched over the five troopers, but had never seen it himself.  However he knew that the crying he heard could only belong to Byakuen.  Kentarou stood and slowly made his way toward the balcony.  As he pulled open the door, the hinge broke, and he allowed it to just fall to the ground.  Slowly the green grass of the clearing appeared before him.  What he saw before him triggered a reaction that he could not control.  His hand covered his mouth as he looked away in an attempt to regain control.
      “I’m a doctor,” He thought to himself, “I shouldn’t be having this type of reaction.  I should be able to deal with this.”  Slowly he looked back out over the scene below him, his eyes resting on each of the three bodies that lay down below.
      The blond haired warrior of light lay flat on his back, his long hair had been chopped off and was now laying half hazardly over his body.  An old katana had been thrust deep into his chest and only the hilt could bee seen.  His crystal blue eyes were dull and blurry as they starred endlessly at the bright sun above.
      Not far away lay the blue haired warrior of the air.  The pupils in his cloudy blue eyes were mere pinpricks.  His mouth hung open in a silent scream.  His neck had been twisted; he was lying on his stomach yet looking toward the sky.  His right arm had been twisted and pulled from its socket and laid limply across his back.  His other arm Kentarou could not see.  So much were his legs mangled, Kentarou could not even tell where his knees should have been.
      Kentarou forced himself to look away from the mangled body to look at the third warrior.  His black hair askew from his struggles, the warrior of fire resembled a lifeless marionette propped against the base of the tree.  Kentarou could just barely see some dark shadows along his neck and some dried blood on his chin and hands.  He assumed he had been strangled and was possibly forced to watch his friends die before he was finally killed.
      A pair of brown eyes locked with his own.  Kentarou blinked and focused on the tiger that stood next to Ryo.  His black and white fur was matted with dried blood and mud.  Kentarou knew that it was more than just the blood of his charges that covered the tiger’s fur.  Byakuen took his eyes off of Kentarou and looked up at the next floor, toward the room that was once Ryo’s.  Kentarou followed the tiger’s gaze.  He could not see anything but heard the faint muffled cry of a baby.  Stepping on and breaking the fallen door Kentarou rushed into the house.  He scrambled over the couch and leapt up the stairs.  He threw the door to Ryo’s room open and gazed around the room.  The two beds had been slammed against the wall next to the door.  The glass door that led to the balcony was mangled in the blue curtains and its glass littered the floor and walls much like the dinning room.  He listened again for the crying and followed it toward the closet that was built into the wall.  He pulled on the door but it would not budge.
      “Sayako-san, are you in there?” Kentarou knocked on the door and pulled on it again, “It’s Kentarou, Sayako-san.  Please open the door.”  He pulled on it again but to no avail.  He listened as the crying became even more muffled.  Kentarou looked around for something that would allow him to pry his way in.  A small thump sounded from inside the closet and the door slowly slid open.
      Sayako crawled out onto the glass littered floor with Michio in her arms.  Her back was covered with glass and cuts were evident on her face.  Kentarou squatted down and picked her up off of the floor.  Carefully he carried the two down the stairs.  Sayako gasped as she saw the dinning room and hid her head in Kentarou’s shoulder when she saw Nasuti lying limply on the floor.  Kentarou took them into Touma and Seiji’s room, pushing the two beds together.
      For the next few hours Kentarou worked on bandaging Sayako and Nasuti’s wounds.  He cleaned up Nasuti’s room, covered the broken windows with sheets before he laid her down to rest.  He worked on cleaning up the kitchen so he could fix Michio something to eat.  Once that was done he set to work on the dinning room.  Kentarou walked over to the balcony to pick up the damaged door when the sight outside caught his eye once again.  Ignoring the broken door Kentarou gathered some sheets and torn curtains he was going to throw away and walked outside.
      One by one he wrapped the lifeless bodies in the torn and tattered fabric.  The putrid smell of death filled his nostrils.  The thought of burning the bodies then and there crossed his mind, but decided that their families deserved to bid their last farewell to the three warriors, and that they also deserved a proper burial.
     Kentarou looked down at the three tightly wrapped bodies and wondered what he should do with them.  Byakuen, who had been sitting off to the side watching, walked up to Kentarou and the bodies.  He bent down and sniffed them before giving off one more deafening cry.  Then he lay down next to one on the end.  Kentarou watched the tiger, unsure of what it was doing.  Byakuen once again locked his eyes with Kentarou and then to a door in the distance, under the balcony.  Understanding, Kentarou lifted the first body onto Byakuen’s back.  The tiger then stood and stepped over to the second body which Kentarou laid just behind the first.  Kentarou then picked up the third body and followed Byakuen to the small weight room.
 
      As soon as the bodies were placed in the workout room Kentarou turned toward Byakuen,
      “If you wish, I could tend to your wounds.” Byakuen locked eyes once again and then nodded, “Maybe a bath would be best first, for both of us,” Kentarou sniffed his hand and crinkled his nose at the foul stench that had seeped into his skin.  Byakuen nodded his head once more and turned toward the lake.  Kentarou made his way into the house, over the couch and up the stairs toward the bath.  He sat in the deep hot water and allowed his thoughts to wander.
      Sayako hadn’t said or asked anything since he had found her.  She seemed content to stay on the bed watching over her son whom she had risked her life to protect.  Kentarou wasn’t sure whether or not to tell her that her brother’s friends had died.  He wasn’t even sure how he was going to tell Nasuti.  Somewhere deep inside he hoped that she knew already.
      Slowly he stood up out of the bath, wishing he didn’t have to go back to the cold wasteland that the house had become.  Dressing in some of Seiji’s old clothes he bundled up his own clothes, ready to burn them with the rest of the destroyed cloth he had piled outside.
      Making his way down the stairs he kicked the loose arm from the couch to make the stairs more accessible.  Sayako stood in the middle of the dinning room with Michio strapped to her back, broom in hand.
      “Sayako, you need to rest.  I’ll take care of the cleaning,” Kentarou stated as he took the broom from her.
      “Is Nasuti-san…” Sayako asked in a bear whisper.
      “Nasuti will be fine.  She’s just resting,” Kentarou reassured her.
      “You don’t need to lie to me,” Sayako turned on her heel and looked Kentarou in the eye, her voice firm.
      “I swear, I am not lying.  She’s in her room, you can go see her,” Kentarou motioned to the door to the right of him.
      “What about…” Sayako trailed off glancing out the shattered windows.
      “Ryo, Touma, and Seiji…” Kentarou sighed trying to find the proper words.
      “Their yoroi disappeared just after the demon showed up.  Seiji-san told me to hide in the closet as he grabbed a katana from Nasuti-san’s den.  I didn’t obey him and was injured.  Thankfully I had set Michio in the closet already,” Sayako explained as she continued to clean, picking up pieces of the chairs and piling them in the corner, “Shin and Shu-san had disappeared.  They had no yoroi.  There was no way they would survive, yet they still fought.” Kentarou listened quietly as Sayako spoke, her voice remained strong through soft.  He realized how strong of a women she was. “If there is anything you need help with,”
      “Do you have a cell phone? The lines are dead here.”
      “Yes, It’s in Michio’s bag.”
      “You must rest, let your back heal.  However, it is imperative that their families know of the events that have taken place,” Kentarou explained, “I’m sure they will want to give them a proper funeral.” Sayako nodded and entered the kitchen to start on her project. Kentarou busied himself with the cleaning of the dinning room.  He covered the lower windows with blankets and sheets found around the house.  It was only an hour later Sayako emerged from the kitchen.
      “Were you able to get a hold of everyone?” Kentarou asked as he attempted to somewhat fix the broken legs of the table.
      “Kenji is on his way.  Seiji-san’s family as well,” Sayako stated, “Sanada-san should be here shortly, and Shu-san’s family will be here by morning.”
      “What about Touma’s family?”
      “Well, I know that Touma-san’s mother and father didn’t know about the yoroi, so I figured it would be too hard to explain it on the phone.  I told his mother that there had been an accident.”
      “Knowing how she reacted to his collapse earlier I’m sure she’s on her way.”
      “No.  She said, ‘Silly girl.  You must be mistaken, I don’t even have a son.’  And then the phone was cut off. There’s no more signal.”
 
      It was in the middle of the night when Nasuti finally awoke.  Kentarou had remained by her side in a chair since early in the evening.  Slowly Nasuti stood and looked toward her windows that were now covered with blankets and sheets.  She walked over and pulled one of the blankets aside and looked at the calm land around her.
      “Nasuti, be careful.  I haven’t gotten all the glass cleaned up,” Kentarou stated sleepily as he walked up beside her.
      “They’re dead, aren’t they,” Nasuti asked refusing to look at Kentarou.
      “Nasuti…”
      “Of course they are.  They didn’t have their yoroi.  What chance did I think I had running out to help,” Nasuti let a small laugh of failure escape her lips, “What about Sayako and Michio? They weren’t hurt were they?”
      “Michio no.  Sayako had only minor injuries,” Kentarou slipped his arm around Nasuti and pulled her toward him, “Sayako called their families.  Sanada-san arrived a few hours ago.  The others should be here by morning.”
      “What did you do with the bodies?”
      “They’re wrapped up in the workout room. Sanada-san is already at the lake.  He wanted to get started on the arrangements for their funeral.  He wanted to make sure that they had a warriors burial.”
      “I would have to agree,” Nasuti laid her head on Kentarou’s shoulder and allowed him to pick her up and lay her back into the bed.
      “Get some rest, tomorrow will be a tiring day.”
 
      By nine o’clock in the morning all the families of the troopers had arrived at Nasuti’s home.  Mama Shu busied herself in the kitchen preparing food for everyone with the help of her four other children.  However it seemed that sometime during the night the electricity had gone out, so they decided to go about it the old fashioned way.  Sanada-san returned to the house from the lake and informed them that the electricity had gone out on him during the night as well.  He also asked for help in taking the bodies down to the lake where the funeral would be held.  Papa Shu, and Kenji volunteered for the task.  By noon everything was ready, and the rest of the families were led to the lake.  The three bodies of the Samurai Troopers were laid out on three identical platforms that were covered with white sheets.  The bodies of the three which had been wrapped by Kentarou the day before were laying peacefully on top, covered by red, blue, and green sheets respectfully.
      “Where is Hashiba-san’s family?” Yayoi Date asked as she held her two year old boy on her hip.
      “When I tried calling, his mother said that she didn’t have a son,” Sayako explained as she adjusted Michio who was now tied to her front.
      “I have the feeling that the demon who killed them had been busy the past couple of days,” Nasuti stated as she ambled up next to them relying on Kentarou for support, “It’s too odd that she would react in that way, plus the sudden lack of electricity and phone lines in the area.”
      “Not to mention the cars disappeared soon after we arrived,” Yayoi added.
      “All we can do is wait and see what he has planned for this world,” Kentarou whispered as he watched the preparations being completed on the three funeral daises.
      “And hope that Shin and Shu will return soon,” Nasuti added.  The four were quieted as Grandfather Date, with the help of his son-in-law stood before the families.  He looked to everyone gathered before he turned toward the three bodies.  Grandfather Shu had also taken the time to come and stood next to Grandfather Date, for they had volunteered to speak.
      “These three boys lived sternly by the virtues that they believed in.  Date Seiji was a samurai just as he was trained, his Rei very strong as a kendoist, warrior, and person.  Hashiba Touma, a genius by medical standards, showed that the wisdom he followed was not only of his mind but also of his heart.  And Sanada Ryo, who not only followed the virtue of benevolence, but who was the very soul of it.  These three men will never be forgotten by anyone who knew what they had sacrificed their lives for,” Grandfather Shu stood tall with a stern face, his indigo blue eyes misty.
      "The battles they fought against Arago and then against the black yoroi was only the first sacrifice they made, and they did anything to keep them from taking our home and lives from us, and of every person in this world.  They then accepted that they would no longer be happy as they fully accepted the responsibilities of their yoroi. Swearing that they would forever fight to protect the Earth.  This battle however they could not win.  Even without the aid of their precious yoroi, they fought to protect the world and those they loved.  They will never be forgotten," Grandfather Date bowed.  Sanada-san handed a lit torch to Grandfather Date and his son-in-law who helped him stand, and to Grandfather Shu and Papa Shu.  He then took one for himself and they lit the daises on fire one after another.
      "They will live forever in our hearts and in our minds not as boys, but as great men who will be forever more missed."  Everyone then bowed their heads and prayed to the gods above.  Not a dry eye was among the group.  Everyone stayed until night had fallen.  The women then moved into the cabin with the children as the men began the actual burial of the ashes.  A nice shaded spot had been picked earlier in the day.  It was just inside the woods near the lake so they could look out over it’s still surface at the mountains beyond and the reflection of the sky within.  Three great trees surrounded the area and would forever protect the three brave Samurai Troopers.