Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Karamatsu Matsuno had been an actor. He would go up on stage all through middle and high school,performing his heart out. He would show the world what he could do. Maybe even leave an impact on someone. In a way he still was performing, it was clear in the way he moved, in the way he talked, even in the way he presented himself. The theater was ingrained in him. In more ways than one.

This is why when he was walking on the way home from Chibita’s one day. Karamatsu paused, feeling the cool Fall breeze on his skin, and watching a single leaf fall slowly to the ground. On a normal day he would think of many lines to describe the beautiful sight before him. Thinking of colorful ways to tell of the red, orange, and yellow tones the leaves showed. Or describe to himself how the calming breeze mixed with the sight to give a mystical feeling. However, today, he paused not just to admire the scenery.

Karamatsu had stopped in front of the Akatsuka theater company. Large black letters read, “Hairspray the Musical Auditions today” on the sign underneath the name of the theater.

He felt his legs move on their own, drawn back to when he would stand center stage. No one could ignore him when he was bathed in spotlight, proudly showing his heart. The feeling of sweat on his skin from the heat, and the joy in his heart as the audience cheered. His brothers congratulating him all in their own way. This was something he alone could do. He knew it.

And so he opened the door, not prepared at all, but knowing he had to try. He was going to rock this audition.

At least he had that confidence until he heard one of the other actors inside sing. Their voice was loud, but enchanting. It pulled you in. How in the world was he supposed to compete with that?! He hadn't even touched a script since he graduated.

Kara fiddled with the hem of his shirt, nervously, feeling sweat start to form on his forehead and the back of his neck. Maybe it wasn’t too late to back out? He was a NEET afterall. He has no plans. It isn’t like anyone expected this of him. He could leave now before he embarrassed himself.

“Karamatsu Matsuno?”,a short girl called from the door to the audition room, which was really just the backstage dressing room.

“Um. Yes, that is me”,he stood up quickly, breaking off his train of thought. Too late to back out now. All there was to do now is to stand there, answer the questions, and try his best.

He knew what song he would sing, just one minute of one he prefered to play on his guitar. It would have to be acapella. He had one minute to prove to everyone there he was right for this show.

Karamatsu fiddled with his hair, adjusting it best he could, before walking in.

The audition itself wasn’t too bad. The people watching encouraged him to try his best, and were attentive. It felt worse before rather than the actual audition. It had gone surprisingly well. The only bad part was when his voice cracked right at the beginning of the song.

Now, it was the thought of waiting that drove him crazy. Karamatsu felt like he would burst from anxiety before the cast list was announced. If he didn’t get an email in a week, he failed. The thought of not getting in left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I’m home!”, the second born shouted, opening the front door, only to be greeted by a yellow blur nearly slamming into him.

“We’re going to Pachinko!!”,Jyushimatsu said, excited. It had been a while since all the brothers had gone out gambling. Mainly because a certain red hooded brother kept on begging his brothers whenever they went out for extra money.

It wasn’t long before the rest gathered near the front door, all ready for a night out gambling, and maybe ending up drunk somewhere along the line.

“Hey Kara, you coming?”,Osomatsu asked, smiling, his eyes trailing over to the paperwork in Karamatsu’s hand. They lingered there for a few seconds and Kara shifted to have the papers behind his back slightly. It might have been stupid, but he didn’t want anyone to know about the audition. What if he didn’t get it? Or what if they thought it was stupid or something? He wanted to wait until he knew for sure.

“Of course, dear brother. Spending time with you all is more of an honor then I could hope for. Just let me put my things away then we may be off into the night!”, he said with a flourish.

“Ow ow ow, I think you broke a rib. If I lose tonight you owe me money Kara~”,the eldest exclaimed with a cheeky grin, rubbing under his nose.

“Just hurry up, before it gets too late”,Todomatsu complained, eyes focused on whatever was going on on his phone screen.

Karamatsu hurried up the stairs, shoving the paperwork in his guitar case, before rushing downstairs. His brothers having already started to make their way outside. He stepped out quickly, joining them.

“You got home pretty late, you missed dinner.”,Choromatsu said, walking just behind Osomatsu in the group of six.

“I was merely distracted by the dazzling colors Autumn brings dear brother. The leaves bring such a calming feeling, as they dance along as they have done for ages, and the breeze brings about the hopes of many for the coming celebrations and-”

“Forget I asked”,the third born sighed, quickening his pace.

Karamatsu smiled, for once glad for both his acting skills and his brother’s distaste for his descriptions of life (though in his personal opinion they were quite good). Even though the way he lied to his brothers at times left him with an edge of guilt in his stomach, like a small weight had been placed there. It wasn’t like it was his first time passing something off though.

The brothers made their way to the small pachinko parlor they frequented, getting side looks from the employees who recognized them. Each going in groups to their own machines. Jyushi went with Ichi to a far corner, more secluded where Ichimatsu could be more comfortable. And Jyushimatsu could be louder in peace. Todomatsu wandered off alone, managing to place himself in the middle of some more fashionable looking people. While Choromatsu, Osomatsu, and Karamatsu were left to make their own group. Oso placing himself inbetween his younger brothers while he focused on the machine in front of him excitedly.

Kara smiled, trying to turn his anxious mind off from worrying about the audition. Focusing on the familiar sounds, and the comfort of his brothers company. It didn’t seem to work though, as he thought of the other auditions he had heard. Some sang the overplayed songs his teacher had always warned him never to sing, and others had cracked, but there were many who were, very obviously better. He was a NEET, he hadn’t been in a play of any sort since high school. How the hell did he expect to succeed.

Karamatsu was so distracted by his thoughts, he didn’t realize he had stopped playing until he felt a hand shaking him softly. He turned to see his vaguely worried older brother.

“Hey why’d you stop playing? Already out of money?”,Oso asked, his voice teasing but his expression was questioning.

“Oh. No dear brother. I am merely debating the magnificence of life, being able to spend time with my brothers on this gorgeous night. It makes my heart soar higher than the most majestic bird with graceful wings can fly-”

“Ow ow ow ow! Aw. I lost. You owe me money now Karamatsu~”,Osomatsu interupted, poking the second born’s cheek.

“Oh. Of course I am sorry to have caused you any misery a few yen are the least I can do to convey my sorrow at causing you any pain.”,Kara said, handing the other some of his own yen. It would cover for him to not have to talk about what he was really thinking about.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully. Oso complained about losing, Choro scolded the eldest for using all of his money, Totty went about his own business, Ichi stayed pretty quiet, and Jyushi bounced around into bed. Meanwhile Kara felt a sense of dread. Maybe the audition was a mistake if it left him feeling like this. Only time could tell.

Chapter Text

Osomatsu wasn’t the best brother. He knew that. However, he also knew when his little brothers were upset at least. He didn’t think he was that much of a failure of a brother.
So when Karamatsu had walked into the door, home late. He knew something was up.

His little brother was carrying papers, clutching onto them, and tried to hide them from view. Then was distracted the whole night. Hell. He had stopped playing in the middle of gambling. Something was up. Oso wasn’t sure if he should press for details or not.

Of course, the eldest was curious. Especially when he knew Kara had gotten up that night and gone to the roof. It wasn’t a rare occurrence, but it wasn’t like Ichimatsu had taunted the other all day, or anything. The brothers were pretty good that night. They didn’t even leave him behind. Granted. No one bothered to save him dinner or wait for him. If he had gotten home later they would've left him. But that was Kara’s own fault for getting home late.

Maybe something had happened with Chibita? That was unlikely, and wouldn’t explain the papers.However was always a possibility, maybe. Probably. He didn't know. Osomatsu frowned and turned on his side, looking at the empty spot on the futon where the second born usually would be. Kara’s behavior felt familiar. Though he couldn’t place it.

Finally, he gave up and turned back around, bumping into Choromatsu next to him who grumbled in his sleep. Oso waited for a second, but the third born didn’t seem to wake up, good. He didn’t want to get yelled at right now.

Osomatsu settled down and started to let sleep overtake him, vaguely registering the sound of shuffling as Kara returned from the roof.
Oso let himself drift off to sleep.

In the morning, Osomatsu woke up last, as usual. He sat up, seeing everyone else already getting ready. “Good morning Osomatsu Niisan!”,Jyushimatsu practically shouted from across the room as he shoved his head through the yellow hoodie.

“Morning”, Osomatsu yawned, standing up, and shuffling over to the closet. Karamatsu was there, most likely having woken up just before if the other’s sluggish movements were anything to go by. Oso looked at him, taking note of the bags under his eyes, and the more sluggish than the usual way he moved in the morning. Kara probably hadn’t slept even after he came in from the roof, and if he had he didn’t sleep well.

Osomatsu decided not to comment on that, grabbing his usual red hoodie and slipping off the pajama shirt.

“Good morning dear brother. Did you have a restful slumber?”,Kara asked. Oso could hear the strained way his voice sounded, forcing more bravado into it than usual to make up for it. Wait, restful slumber? It was too early to keep thinking so he just gave a slight hum of acknowledgment and merely said,”Yes”

Just as he finished changing, the familiar smell of breakfast drifted upstairs. All of the brothers paused, looking at each other, waiting for one to bolt.

Jyushimatsu didn’t wait long, bounding out the room, shortly followed by Osomatsu, who stumbled down the stairs after him. The rest followed suit, rushing to be able to get food. Karamatsu and Ichimatsu taking up the rear.

Osomatsu flung into the kitchen, where Jyushi was already starting to devour the rice and miso soup set on the table. Oso plopped down beside him right as the others started to file in, each taking a seat, starting to devour the food in front of them quickly. Todomatsu, who sat across from the eldest paused only to arrange his food and snap a picture before joining in.

Even with his unusual behavior recently, Kara, who had sat between Jyushimatsu and Choromatsu scarfed up the food just as fast as the rest of them. Osomatsu felt his worry be forgotten at the familiar setting, and shoved more food in his mouth, finishing rather quickly.
“Hey Choromatsu~”, the eldest said, leaning forwards.

“No”, Choro said in between bites, not bothering to hear the question that was sure to come.

“Aw cmon, Niisan needs some more food, Choro~ Choro~”, Oso pressed on, satisfied by the annoyed look on the green hooded brother’s face.

“Osomatsu last time I shared some of my food you stole half of it when I was only giving you a quarter.”

“People can change.”

“Pretty unlikely for it to happen overnight”, Choromatsu huffed.

Oso pouted at that, turning to Karamatsu,”Hey Kara, you’re a better little brother then Fappymatsu right?”,he asked, smirking slightly when an insulted scoff came from the third born.

“Hm? I am very sorry brother, I was distracted by the delicious, breathtaking, food our dear mommy has prepared for us on this fine morning. What is it you were asking?”,Karamatsu paused in his eating, posing with his hand under his chin in attention. Osomatsu felt like he had cracked a rib.

“Ow. And you will share some food with your Niisan, right?”,Oso asked it was most of the time a given Kara would give him food. The second born did not disappoint, giving about a quarter of his rice to his older brother, saying something about the bond brothers shared and how beautiful it was to express his gratitude or something he didn’t know, tuning it out. Soon the rice was gone as well.

Oso turned his attention to his other brothers, who all either ignored him (Ichimatsu), insulted him without bothering to look up from texting/ eating (Todomatsu), or just laughed and finished their food in one alarmingly big bite that Oso was surprised they didn't choke on (Jyushimatsu). Osomatsu pouted, sitting back with an annoyed sigh. His brothers were so lame. The least they could do was share a bit of food with him.

He stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, contemplating on if it was worth it to get up and go upstairs, maybe read some manga. Or he could just lay here, and maybe take a nap. He was still sleepy after all. Kara had kept him up, he should really get over whatever was troubling him soon. Oso didn't like having to be worried.

He supposed that was his job as eldest, he was supposed to keep tabs on his little brothers. He was the one who had to make sure they were ok. If he was necessarily good at that was up for debate, but he could at least tell when they were upset. Something was making his little brother nervous, and if it kept up that nervousness might just spread to him too. Maybe it already was if he was laying here thinking about it.
All of this was making his head hurt.

At some point in the midst of his thoughts, Jyushimatsu had run out, shouting at the top of his lungs about swing practice, Ichimatsu shuffling slowly after. Ichi had grabbed some rope from the corner of the room on the way out. Todomatsu had gotten up and left, talking cheerfully to someone on the phone about meeting up with them. Which left the three eldest once again.

At least it would be if Choro hadn't gotten up announcing he was going somewhere, not explaining where exactly. Which meant he was going to go be an otaku and didn't want his brothers following even though they all could completely see through him.

Which left the first and second born to be the only ones left in the kitchen. Oso couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at that, but maybe he could press the issue.

"So. How are things with Chibita?", Oso asked suddenly, taking mental note of how Kara's cheeks flushed at the mention of the short oden freak.

"Nothing of note, just our glorious and strong friendship.", Karamatsu covered, fishing out his sunglasses from his hoodie pocket, putting them on a bit too quickly. They were indoors, why did he even need those things.

Osomatsu snorted,"Cut the crap we all know you have a thing for him.",he teased.

Kara was thrown off by that,"I... Yes, my heart does long for the sweet romance of....", he trailed off for once, obviously embarrassed, but recovered quickly, "But there are no troubles to speak of dear brother, be it with Chibita or otherwise."

Oso looked at the younger,"Mmmhm. If you say so", he wasn't convinced, but he supposed he could let it slide. Besides, he got Karamatsu to admit his crush at least. Though they were both so fucking obvious about it that it was a small victory. Only so many times you could sit eating dinner with those two unconsciously flirting without catching on. Maybe he could nap now. Yeah. Naping sounded nice

Osomatsu closed his eyes and dreamed of boobs and lazy summer afternoons. An odd combo but a good dream. He forgot his previous worries, and of his lame little brothers. Osomatsu would leave things for later. He didn't wake up as Karamatsu put a blanket over him before leaving the eldest alone in the kitchen.

Chapter Text

Karamatsu was nervous. He knew that much. It might be stupid, but for some reason he kept thinking over the audition, finding more and more mistakes, even if they weren’t really there. Did he do this every play? He could remember the feelings that had drawn him back, but he couldn’t remember being this damn self-conscious about it before. Though he had only done school plays, this was his first time ever auditioning for something outside. School guaranteed a part. The real world didn't

The second born laid back, feeling the coolness of Autumn on his skin. It was afternoon, and he lay on the roof. About an hour ago he had left the eldest to his peaceful rest in the kitchen, and all of his younger brothers were still out. For now, he was alone. Left to his thoughts.

He knew Osomatsu was suspicious. Maybe admitting his crush would keep his older brother quiet for long enough that callbacks would be done. Though the fact Oso now knew made his cheeks heat up. The worst part was his older brother had said everyone knew. Was he really that obvious? Sure, he had a habit of going to Chibita’s nearly every day and could talk to him easier than he could anyone else, and he admired the passion the other put into his dreams. And he was there for him, even though the brothers weren’t always able or willing.

Maybe Karamatsu could talk to him about the audition? Even though Chibita never seemed exactly interested in the theater, it might be nice to just try and get his nerves in check. However, what if he didn’t get in? Would he disappoint Chibita if he didn’t? Somehow the thought of disappointing Chibita left him with a worse feeling then not getting a part did. Besides that, the oden chef had other things to worry about, he probably shouldn’t trouble him.

Karamatsu stared up at the clouds above him, trying to find shapes that could distract him. He was in the middle of imagining one looking like a giant pair of sunglasses when a familiar, and loud shout caught his attention.

“Hussle Hussle!”, Jyushimatsu exclaimed, coming into view quickly. He dragged his bat behind him, practically a bright yellow blur. He paused turning to shout behind him, ” Hurry up Ichimatsu niisan!”

Ichimatsu shuffled after him, looking slightly green. They had gone out for Jyushi’s morning exercise then, as expected. The purple hooded Matsu turned, glancing up, and scowled at Kara when he spotted him on the roof. Ichi wasn’t in the best of moods then. Though he never seemed to be towards his older brother. Maybe he could cheer up the other with some light song? Or no. Ichimatsu always left the room if he did. Maybe if he offered to buy Ichi his own version of Karamatsu's own perfect fashion? The purple hooded brother had worn it before. Though, Ichimatsu had threatened his life if he ever brought it up. Though, maybe after a punch, the other would appreciate it. Ichi could just be shy and embarrassed at getting his own jacket.

He stopped his mental debate when Jyushi spotted him,”Hi Karamatsu niisan! We’re home!”

“Hello my little Jyushimatsu. I am pleased to know you and Ichimatsu have made a safe journey back to our beloved house.”

Ichimatsu’s sour expressed deepened,”Save it Shittymatsu we were only out for an hour”

Karamatsu smiled, though felt a slight sting from the harsh words, he was sure Ichimatsu didn’t truly mean them though. “Karamatsu niisan are you going to play music!? Can I join? Can I! Can I?!”, Jyushimatsu bounced in place, smiling up at his older brother on the roof.

“Why yes of course dear little Jyushimatsu. For you, I would sing until my very being is torn apart and my throat aches fr-”

“At least if you’re torn apart you would shut up”, Ichimatsu interrupted, continuing inside the house.

Karamatsu paused for a second before smiling down at Jyushi,”Let me retrieve my guitar and then we can begin the magnificent thing that is music!”,he said, starting down from the roof. Jyushimatsu had already run inside in the middle of his older brother’s sentence. There was the sound of something falling over, quite loudly, and Ichimatsu crying out. It was shortly followed by the sound of Jyushimatsu shouting out a loud,” Sorry!”

Kara chuckled as he slipped in through the window, grabbing his guitar case, opening it. He looked at the paperwork he had stuffed in the front pocket hurriedly the previous night. The second born knew he would have to find a better place to hide them soon. It was obvious the eldest was catching on that something was up. Karamatsu would deal with that later though, fishing out the package of picks he kept in that pocket, before zipping it back up.

He was quite proud of the picks he had found, a deep blue with silver sparkles all over them. They gave a nice contrast to the dark brown, smooth wood of his guitar. Kara hummed to himself contently as he felt the familiar strings, and grabbed it out just as Jyushimatsu came bounding into the room.

The first thing the blue hooded Matsu noticed was that the fifth born was soaking wet. “What exactly happened my little Jyushimatsu?”,he asked.

“I knocked over a vase and the vase knocked over Ichimatsu niisan!”,Jyushi cheered, though he looked slightly guilty as he said it. That would explain the crash.

“Our dear Ichimatsu is alright right? I would be greatly heart broken if any harm came to my dear darling brothers.”,Karamatsu asked, standing up with his guitar in hand, starting to put his recently bought strap, which matched the pick over his shoulders.

“Yep! Niisan is ok!!”,Jyushi bounced back from his guilt, it was hard to tell he had even looked like he regretted it.

“Ok then, shall we start our adventure into the world of song, or harmony brightly shining out to the world? Dazzling all as they gaze at our blood bond allowing music to flow from-”

“Painful….”, Jyushimatsu deadpanned. The typically smiling brother stared intently at the second born, though the bright smile returned just as quickas it left. Karamatsu just couldn’t seem to finish any of his marvelous speeches it seemed.

He was about to say something back, perhaps ask what had harmed his younger brother. Only to be interrupted again by the other’s excited cheering for them to hurry up to the roof. The second born didn’t protest that, going over, getting up first. He settled back down into a comfortable spot just as an inhumanly fast yellow blur darted over to stand next to him. Karamatsu smiled, it was always nice up on the roof with the ever smiling fifth brother. It was peaceful, despite the loud cheers Jyushi would give at the end of each song.

Jyushimatsu always had a way of making you forget your stress, even if for a little while.

Karamatsu strummed his instrument lightly, taking note of a few out of tune notes, focusing on meticulously fixing them. Jyushimatsu watched intently. “So my dear brother, how did your morning practice go with Ichimatsu?”,Kara asked, not looking up from his guitar.

“It went great! Ichimatsu even lasted for two hundred more swings than usual! He said he felt dizzy after though! And he fell as soon as I put him down. He was pretty grumpy after that.”,Jyushimatsu said. Karamatsu refrained from chuckling, Ichimatsu was probably just embarrassed about falling or something then. It put his mind at ease to have a simple explanation for the other's bad mood.

”How did your audition yesterday go niisan?”

Karamatsu sputtered and turned the tuners hard, nearly breaking the strings as his hand jerked. How did Jyushimatsu already know?! He had tried to be careful to not say, or let on about how nervous he was. Kara heard Jyushi laugh behind him.

“Niisan is so silly.”,he said, moving to hug his older brother. The hug being almost too tight for Karamatsu to breathe, though he wasn't exactly focused on that right at the moment.

“How…. did you learn about that Jyushimatsu?”,the surprise had made him lose his cool. The normally deeper voice he pushed for being replaced by his normal one.

“It’s simple! You had papers, and have been really nervous. It is the same type of thing you did all through high school!”, Jyushi informed happily, not missing a beat.

It was sort of scary how easy it was to forget how observant Jyushimatsu could be. “So you have known since the beginning then, my little Jyushimatsu?”, Karamatsu asked his younger brother, trying to regain his cool.

“Yep!”

Karamatsu could only stare. This might be harder to hide than he thought.

Chapter Text

Osomatsu laid beneath a tall tree, grass swayed softly, and a warm breeze ruffled his hair. He sighed contently. This was something he could do every day, especially since there happened to be several very hot, and very big chested women around him.

Oso sat up and did what was expected of any guy who had big boobed, and very cute girls around him. He groped them. What else was he supposed to do? He would have enjoyed this more if things didn’t suddenly get dark, and the tree branches that once swayed peacefully above him didn’t morph into gigantic claws that looked like knives.

He couldn’t breathe, something was choking him. Osomatsu wanted to scream, how could something great turn into this? He was touching a boob damn it why couldn’t he breathe. Something was covering his mouth, but there wasn’t anything there.

Osomatsu jerked awake. Not automatically registering the change as it was still dark, but something was sitting on his face, restricting his breathing. He flung up, roughly pulling the offending object off his face. Said thing let out a loud meow in protest, squirming and scratching his arm, startled.

Oso gasped, panting and cursed loudly at the sudden pain. Ichimatsu sat across from him, hurriedly taking the cat away,”He was just laying on you.”,he said, glaring slightly at the eldest as he cradled the small white cat who had laid on Oso’s head.

“Just laying on me?! It was choking me!”, Osomatsu cried out in protest, calming down enough to examine the scratch that had started bleeding down his arm. It wasn’t too bad. Osomatsu could admit that. Plus it wasn’t really the cat’s fault. Not like the ball of fluff had laid on him with intent to kill. Still didn’t mean he wasn’t annoyed that the cat interrupted right as he got to the good part though.

“Not like it killed you”, Ichi said passively, checking over the cat, who was just a bit startled from its bed suddenly shoving it off. Once he knew the cat was fine, the purple hooded brother turned to Oso, hesitating before asking a quiet,”Are you ok?”

Osomatsu smiled broadly, it was rare to get any open concern or affection from the fourth born. It was a pretty good mood booster,”Of course your niisan is ok. Sorry for overreacting”, he said, giving a cheeky grin, and rubbing under his nose. Though the motion made blood go onto the blanket that was over him. Oops.

“I’ll go get a band-aid.”, he said, standing. Ichimatsu gave a small nod in response, before going back to tending to the small cat. Oso left him to his own devices, walking over to the bathroom, yanking open the medicine cabinet. He wouldn’t bother with much, it was just a cat scratch. If Choromatsu were here the third born would be fussing over him, but he wasn’t. Oso was too tired still to deal with it.

He grabbed a band-aid, sticking it quickly over the scratch. Simple but effective, at least enough for him. Osomatsu turned, starting to head upstairs. Since he was awake, maybe he could read some manga while laying on the couch or something.

Osomatsu opened the door to the sextuplet’s shared bedroom, starting to grab one of his mangas when he heard two familiar voices from the roof. A quick glance around the room confirmed their identity. Jyushimatsu’s baseball bat lay in the corner, while Karamatsu’s guitar case was distinctly guitar free. It wasn’t considered the best brother thing to eavesdrop. But when was Oso ever the best brother?

He went over to the open window, listening quietly.

“Please my little Jyushimatsu, keep this secret from the others.”

Osomatsu’s eyes looked up, secret. So Karamatsu did have something to hide after all. Why would he tell Jyushimatsu and not him though? Kara always talked about his troubles with Oso. The eldest felt a spark of jealousy. No. Keep it cool. It could just be a simple thing. Jyushimatsu didn’t reply, at least not verbally. He heard Karamatsu continue.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I promise this ruse will not last long, it is merely until the end of the week. Now, my brother, shall we serenade the world on this great day?”

“Yep!”,came Jyushi’s excited reply, followed by a very out of tune guitar strum.

Oso moved to sit on the couch. Two of his younger brothers now were both hiding something. He supposed that it was possible for him to find out naturally very soon. Jyushi was infamous for being bad at secret keeping. That was unless it was serious. If this was serious, the eldest had to know. What if Karamatsu had found himself in trouble? The second born was notoriously gullible. Anyone, especially a cute girl, with a sob story could have dragged him into trouble. Though, what trouble included paperwork? Plus Karamatsu had just said it would only be until the end of the week.

Osomatsu gave a frustrated sigh, being the eldest was hard work. Especially when your brothers didn’t tell you anything. He closed his eyes, leaning back into the couch. He was probably overthinking things. Besides, Kara himself just said it would be over in a week. So he shouldn’t stress. Stressing out was Choromatsu’s thing. Osomatsu wanted no part in it at all.

The soft music of Karamatsu’s guitar drifted into the room, accompanied by the sound of both his younger brother’s voices. That was normal at least, as was the sound of familiar footsteps shuffling into the room.

Ichimatsu looked around,”Shittymatsu’s guitar still sounds out of tune.”,he muttered.

Osomatsu smirked,”And how exactly would you be able to tell that?”,he asked, teasing.
Ichimatsu blushed, looking caught, before glaring defensively,”Because he tortures us with it all damn day”

Osomatsu smiled cheerfully, taking note of how Ichimatsu sat in the corner closest to the open window, facing away from the eldest. The fourth born’s body was tensed from being called out, though it slowly relaxed as the music seemed to calm him down.

Osomatsu chuckled, Ichi really was easy to read at times. He settled back, and picked up his discarded manga, starting to read. It was a rare moment of ease in the Matsuno household. It was only interrupted when Osomatsu’s thoughts started to wander.

Karamatsu’s behavior really did feel very familiar. The fact he couldn’t place it was frustrating him. Maybe he should just look for the papers. That way, Oso would know and be able to fix it. A nervous Kara was not normal. It made him uneasy. If his little brothers would just tell him things god damn it.

Osomatsu sighed and was pulled from his thoughts when the guitar made a loud, out of tune twang. Ichimatsu gave a half lidded glare to the open window.

The sound of Jyushimatsu laughing and Karamatsu loudly complaining about the fates being cruel came from outside.

“One hundred yen bet on Kara just breaking his guitar string”, Oso said, sitting up.

“I bet he just messed up.”, Ichimatsu challenged.

Osomatsu smiled lazily, it was probably nothing. He stood up, excitedly anticipating gaining a hundred yen.