Gabriel's POV:

Redecorating my Trouble's house while she was in the meeting with Kota and Blackbourne-san is the most fun I've had in a while.

I had always liked art and beautiful things, but I never had the opportunity of stylizing a whole place before; another good thing that had come with allying ourselves to Sang-chan.

Now we could do the things we loved with freedom and even be appreciated for it instead of just having to fucking kill and spy for our master.

Her room I had given rose pink walls, burnt orange bedding, with pillows in the colors turquoise, emerald green and dark red.

Her furniture was dark wood and I had added some potted plants as well.

It was colorful, lively, fun and I freaking' hoped she liked it.

It was also a mixture of what I knew she liked with our own preferences, I hadn't been able to resist putting mine and my brothers tastes there along with hers, making it our place. And by the look in the other guys' faces they didn't seem to mind either.

"I think I will hide a few kunais and knifes around here." North said with a "thoughtful scowl"; which looked a lot like his "irritated scowl", "confused scowl" and, my favorite "I-am-going-to-fucking-kill-you scowl".

Doc had disappeared down the stairs and come back with a first aid kit that he put into the bathroom.

"Can you make some paper decorations for the room, Doc?" I asked him and he smiled happily at me.

"Of course!" he said before he left for his own room in search of materials.

I'd have to keep an eye on him or he'd turn Trouble's room into a paper-Wonderland.

"Hey, Gabe. I wanted to bring the piano in here." Vic suddenly said.

I looked at him as if he were crazy and North began to protest.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me, Vic!" North bellowed.

"No, I am not." Victor answered seriously, "Our Princess has nightmares often and music seems to calm her."

North softened at that and a new kind of scowl showed on his face, it seemed I needed to add the "I-am-worried-about-Sang scowl" to my list of "North' expressions".

"Do we have a plan for that?" he asked.

"There is nothing I can do with medicine." Doc said, sadly, as he came back into the room. "All we can do is diminishing her stress as much as we can, keep her happy and try making her talk about it."

North nodded his head thoughtfully, "I will make her talk." He said it the way you would expect he would when talking about a prisoner in questioning.

I snorted. "Good luck with that. Let's go and get that piano, it don't be easy to move." I said, walking out of the room with that others following behind.

We managed to put the damn piano into the room, miraculously, without making the place look crowded and without breaking any walls.

The rest of the house was easy, with the addition of some ornaments and flowers here and there. The place was already fucking beautiful, just lacking some personality. And that was something we had in spades.

"I will go and check the how things are going in the kitchen, it's almost lunch time." North said before he disappeared downstairs.

We watched him go in silence and smiled at each other. Our big brute was becoming a mother hen around our little mistress.

I was going to fucking love watching him fall.

......

Owen's POV:

Sang had proved to be a bold and intelligent woman when it came to handling the clan's business.

There hadn't been a lot for me and Kota to do really except for giving a few suggestions here and there and ensuring all the paperwork was handled quickly.

The changes she was intending to bring to the Sorenson' clan would solve the problems of poverty and bring a better life for most of the population.

The only problem was that the richer families wouldn't be too happy with it since it was money that would originally go to them that would be used for the restoration of the houses and purchase of supplies.

We were also going to make a renovation in the economy. The Sorenson clan owned plots and plots of land that could be used for farming.

Sang had also decided to keep the gold extracted from the mine for emergencies, which was smart.

"Well, I think we've covered everything." I said once we concluded the discussion about the last item in Kota's list of priorities.

Sang nodded, "Yes, I will have to prepare myself. Once word gets out about the changes the richer families will want to have a meeting with me. I'd like it if the two of you came along." She said.

We both agreed, Kota with a big smile and I trying to keep mine to a minimum.

It was hard not to be drawn to her like my brothers were obviously being, but someone had to keep a clear head.

Looking over at Kota I could see he watching her from the corner of his eyes, a decidedly goofy smile on his face.

He wasn't the only one in our family that was falling for our mistress and that was a huge complication.

Normally, a clan head took a rich merchant or another heir as a spouse, which meant that neither I nor my brothers would be appropriate mates for our new mistress.

On the other hand she seemed to like and trust us all, not showing preference. It made me wonder if we could perhaps form a different arrangement.

Sang's little sigh drew my attention back to her, she looked tired the meeting having taken a lot out of her.

I stood up and walked out of the room, coming back with her violin in hand.

"Here, Sorenson-sama." I said, handing the instrument to her, she needed to relax.

She smiled up at me from where she sat in a comfortable armchair, tucking her violin under her chin as she began to play.

Her melody was soft and slow, daunting, sweet and heartbreaking.

I sat back in the couch beside Kota to listen and we stayed silent while she let her emotions come out.

I hadn't though she would begin to play with us still in the room. The last time I had heard her I had seen how personal and intimate her music was and I half expected her to blush and refuse the violin I had brought until she could find some solitude to play.

But she'd surprised me again with her willingness for showing us what she carried in her heart, without even a second though.

It dawned in me suddenly that she was a giver.

She gave us her friendship, her trust, her protection and if things kept on the way they were she would give us her heart too.

I didn't know whether to be amazed or terrified at the prospect.

Later that morning I met with Sean in the garden and sat beside him in one of the benches.

"We are all falling for Pookie, Owen." He commented lightly.

I looked over at my best friend in the whole world. He had an amused smirk on his face and his green eyes shone with happiness and excitement.

Sean had always been a fairly happy guy, but there were also many shadows in his eyes, a result of his work for our old master.

Now he was almost content and I knew that Sang was the final ingredient to reach that.

"So we are, Sean." I admitted to him.

He studied my eyes for a moment, his gaze softening. "It will be okay, Owen." He said.

I frowned at him "You can't know that."

He gave me that irritating, arrogant smirk of his. "Of course I can. We are all destined babies."

I rolled my eyes at his silliness when suddenly something occurred to me. "Uh. Sean?"

He glanced over at me questioningly.

"Sorenson-sama doesn't have an heir, yet. You know the clan's people will demand that of her eventually." I tried to keep my face impassive while imparting that bit of news.

Sean looked frozen for a moment. It was tradition that demanded whenever a new head took over the governing of a clan that he or she must find a spouse and bear a child, an heir.

I didn't think the people of the Sorenson clan would be willing to wait too long for that.

Sean smiled widely at that. "We have very little choice now, uh, Owen?" he said.

"I don't think she has thought of it yet." I told him.

He shook his head, "No, she probably didn't or she would be freaking out by now." He said. "Can you imagine that, Owen?" he asked me softly, "Our Pookie growing heavy with our child?"

The prospect brought me a feeling of warmth unlike anything I had felt before.

A child. Mine and my brothers for us to love, protect and spoil.

And it would be Sang's as well.

"It would be a scandal, the head of a clan marrying one of her servants." I murmured.

"Not one, but nine." Sean added.

"Surely she wouldn't agree with it?" I questioned quietly.

"Maybe not." Sean agreed readily.

"What do you propose then?" I asked him.

"Well... we could start by getting her pregnant." He answered with a cheeky grin.

I kicked him in the leg lightly. "Idiot."

He just laughed delightedly.

But the images of our future together had started to bloom in my chest where before it had only been a sliver of hope, a distant dream.

I decided then that I wasn't going to stand back, only watching, observing, and hoping.

Not this time, not about this.

I was going to talk with my brothers and convince them this was the best way, and then...

Then we would all court our little mistress.

Sang Sorenson was going to be ours.

......

Sang's POV:

By lunch time the boys had finished their renovations of the house, thought I wasn't allowed inside my own room yet.

We sat around the table, eating and talking as we had in the morning, discussing the decisions made in the meeting and the changes Gabriel had made.

Having already looked around the house I turned to him and said. "You did a really good job with the decorations, Gabriel-san. For the first time I feel like this place were a home and not just a house. Thank you very much." I had stood up from the table and bowed at him.

He blushed beet red, which made me smile and want to hug him, but I stopped myself.

"That was nothing, Trouble." He said quietly.

"It was not nothing, Gabriel-san and never say the contrary." I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze before letting go. "It is perfect. Thank you." I said again and this time he just smiled happily at me. Turning to the others I thanked them too, knowing they had helped.

They accepted my thanks readily, with smiles on their faces.

Sitting back I turned to Blackbourne-san I asked. "Any news on the others?"

"No, Sorenson-sama. But that is actually good news. They will only contact us if they get in trouble. This silence means all is going as expected."

That didn't make me feel better, but I chose to accept it for the moment.

The servants came in to take the plates and food, away and brought back a kettle of tea and some sweets already served in their plates for us.

I took a sweet in the shape of a flower and lifted it to my mouth, noticing a strange, unrecognizable scent in it.

Shrugging I put the sweet into my mouth, savoring the sugary sweetness as it melted in my tongue before swallowing.

As soon as the sweet hit the pit of my stomach I felt a burning sensation start in my tongue.

The first thing to pass through my mind was: "pepper".

But the pain, sudden lack of air and thickening of my tongue told me another story.

I stood from my seat in a hurry, causing the chair to fall to the ground and the boys to turn startled eyes my way, Sean's widening in horror.

My vision began to fade and I felt dizzy from the lack of air.

Their screams of my name was the last thing I heard before darkness overtook.

......

Wil's POV:

I was sitting in my office when a guard came to tell there was a Geisha, a Sumo wrestler and a Miko priestess were outside hoping to speak with me.

I raised an eyebrow at the weird group of people, sensing that the weirdness of the situation was about to get worse, not better.

Sighing in resignation I walked to the main gates of my home, Karen at my side, ready to kill any threat that might present itself.

"Uhuul!! Winchester-sama! Uhul!" The Geisha began saying in a sing-song voice as soon as I came into view.

Recognition came as soon as I laid my eyes on the other two people standing outside the gates to my house.

Laugher bubbled up my throat and spilled to the air, Karen gaping at the three idiots before us.

Nathan was the one dressed like a Sumo wrestler, the white cloth covering his groin area, thought he was obviously a light weight compared to most fighters of the style.

Luke was the geisha and Silas was the tallest Miko in existence, a long-haired wig of dark hairs on his head, his expression set in a scowl that one would expect to see in North's face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as soon as I could grab a hold of my laugher.

Luke smirked at me, "We came to finish our investigation on Elise and Marie's disappearance."

"They've not been found yet, eh?" I said musingly. This was bad, those two needed to be contained quickly.

The boys shook their heads in the negative.

I let out a sight and allowed them entrance, "Come on, let's see what we can find out."