Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The numbers on the chalkboard were a big, blurry mess to Choromatsu.

He squinted, leaning forward at his desk as far as he could until he was nearly on the edge of his seat, in a futile effort to read the equations his teacher had written up there clearly. His pencil scratched against the paper in his notebook as he wrote out what he could manage to decipher.  

Let’s see...that must be a four...and that’s definitely a three...or, wait, is it an eight? It’s hard to tell for sure from here...ugh, why did the teacher have to give me a desk in the back of the classroom this year?

He was so distracted, pensively chewing the end of his pencil as he struggled to read the rest of what was on the board, that at first he didn’t notice Karamatsu shifting positions in the seat beside him, peering over at his paper. Todomatsu and Karamatsu were the only two of his brothers that were in his class, and as luck would have it he shared his desk with Karamatsu. It wasn’t bad, usually, unless Karamatsu was on one of his theatrical stints that seemed to occur more and more frequently since he joined the drama club.

“Brother,” Karamatsu whispered in English, something else he’d taken to doing far more often than Choromatsu would have liked, “you’ve written the wrong numbers down for questions two and four.”

“Eh?!” Choromatsu snapped his head up in alarm.

Karamatsu pointed at the paper, then gestured discreetly toward the board so their teacher wouldn’t notice as he continued droning on with his lesson. “You put a four down on question two, but it’s actually a five. And on question four here, it’s a six, not an eight.”

Choromatsu glanced up at the board again, then at his watch, noting with a pounding heart that there were only a few minutes left to class. He frantically erased the numbers on his paper, boring down with the eraser so hard in his haste that he nearly tore the sheet, and quickly filled them in with the correct ones.

As he watched Choromatsu write, Karamatsu frowned slightly, his thick eyebrows knitting together in contemplation. “Are you okay, brother?” he asked after a moment, careful to keep his voice down. “It seems like you’ve been having a lot of trouble reading the blackboard lately. It’s not like you to make so many mistakes.”

“I’m fine,” Choromatsu insisted, focusing on the task at hand. “It’s just because I’m so far away from the board. I’m used to sitting at the very front of the class, like we did in middle school.”

“But I’m just as far back as you are, and I don’t have any problems seeing the board,” Karamatsu pointed out.

Choromatsu opened his mouth to rebuttal, not quite knowing what he’d say in his defense, but was interrupted by a stern voice at the front of the classroom.

“Matsuno Choromatsu, Matsuno Karamatsu,” their teacher, Matsumoto-sensei, intoned warningly, “I know class ends in a few minutes, but until then please focus on the lesson. I wouldn’t want to send you both to detention.”

Choromatsu could feel his cheeks burn bright red. He hated having unwanted attention drawn to him like this, and as the other students shifted in their seats to glance at him and stifle their giggles he wished he could just vanish.

Karamatsu, on the other hand, handled the call-out with much more dignity than Choromatsu. He flicked his fringe and flashed his most winning smile at the teacher. “We’re very sorry, Sensei. I was simply helping my brother with a problem. We didn’t mean to disrupt the class, we both value our education too much for that. Please forgive us.”

Despite his embarrassment, Choromatsu couldn’t help but roll his eyes. What a load of crap. Letting him join the drama club was a big mistake.

Matsumoto-sensei didn’t seem impressed, but fortunately he didn’t press the issue further. At that time the bell rang, signaling the end of the class period. The students gathered up their belongings and stored them in their school bags, then bid farewell to their teacher before filing out of the door.  

“Please don’t forget to do your homework tonight,” Matsumoto-sensei reminded them on their way out. “Copy down all the questions from the board and complete them before class tomorrow. Oh, and I have your graded tests back from a few days ago, so feel free to pick that up before you leave.”

Choromatsu breathed a sigh of relief as he finished scribbling out the questions and stowed his materials away in his bag. At least class had ended without any major incidents.

“Ah, Matsuno Choromatsu?”

Choromatsu froze, his blood running cold at the sound of his teacher’s voice calling his name. He raised his head slowly, a pit of dread opening in his stomach. “Yes, Sensei?”

“Would you please stay after class for a few minutes? I need to talk to you about something.”

Choromatsu swallowed hard, his tongue suddenly going dry. “Yes, Sensei.”

Karamatsu hoisted his bag up onto his shoulder, shooting Choromatsu a worried look. “Shall I wait outside the classroom door for you?”

“No, go meet up with the others.” Choromatsu forced a smile, knowing how strained it must have looked. “I’ll be out soon.” There was no way he wanted his older brother to potentially overhear whatever the teacher was going to say to him, if it might be bad. He was just glad Todomatsu had already left, too caught up chatting and laughing with his friends to pay any mind to his siblings.

Karamatsu looked uncertain, but he nodded. “Then I’ll see you outside. I’ll tell the others you had to ask the teacher something.”

“Thanks.”

Choromatsu watched as Karamatsu maneuvered his way through the crowd of students at the door, and waited until the last of them had trickled out before rising from his seat. His knees shook and his legs felt like they had weights attached to them as he hesitantly dragged himself toward Matsumoto-sensei’s desk, his mind going into overdrive.

What on earth could he want? Is he going to punish me for talking in class? But, wait, if he was going to do that he would’ve made Karamatsu stay behind too, wouldn’t he? Or maybe I’m the only one he’s going to lecture, since I’m the responsible one and should know better…

“Ah...what did you need to talk to me about, Sensei?” Choromatsu asked once he’d finally reached his desk, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

“I wanted to discuss the results of your last test with you.” Matsumoto’s expression was severe as he reached into the drawer beside him and produced a piece of paper, which he passed over the Choromatsu.

Choromatsu accepted the paper with trembling fingers and studied it. To his dismay, it was their most recent test, and there was a big “D-” slashed across the top of it in red ink.

“I-I got a D-??” he asked, his heart practically slamming against his rib cage with how hard it was pounding. His breath caught in his throat and he could feel his palms starting to sweat. He hadn’t gotten such a low score in math in ages... and this was a really low score.

Matsumoto-sensei nodded gravely.

“B-but I studied for it!” Choromatsu stuttered, his chest tightening as he struggled to breath. No, it wasn’t possible he could’ve gotten such a low grade, his paper must have been swapped for Karamatsu’s or Todomatsu’s...but no, he could see his own neatly signed name at the top of the page, and the answers on the paper--many of which were circled in red pen--were definitely in his handwriting. Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach. “How did...how did I get so many wrong?”

“Choromatsu, if I may be honest with you, it seems as if your performance is slipping lately,” Matsumoto-sensei began, folding his hands on top of his desk and regarding Choromatsu seriously. “I know the school year is still fresh, but it seems as if you’re struggling, and not meeting the same standards as you did last year according to your middle school records. Has something happened since then that might have caused this?”

Choromatsu shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so...I understand the material when you talk about it in class, and when we do the practice problems I get them right…”

“That’s true. But it seems that whenever I have you copy questions from the board, as we did for the last test and as we often do for our homework, you don’t do as well. Do you suppose that could have something to do with it?”

Choromatsu pensively bit his lip, not wanting to admit that he was having difficulties in any way. He didn’t know why he hesitated, but eventually he responded, “I don’t know, Sensei. I guess sometimes it’s hard to see the board from where I’m sitting, but that’s all I can think of…”

“Hmm...I see. And if I’m not mistaken, you've reported to the school nurse that you’ve been getting headaches lately, am I correct?”

“Well...yes.” Choromatsu had gotten headaches through middle school after reading for long periods, too, but hadn’t attributed it to much. Or at least, he didn’t think he should.

“Ah. I thought as much.” Matsumoto-sensei withdrew an envelope from his desk drawer then, handing it to Choromatsu. “I would like you to give this to your parents tonight, Choromatsu. I don’t need you to have them sign your test, but please have them read this.”

Choromatsu swallowed hard. “Am I, um...am I in trouble?”

“No, not at all. This is simply something I’d like to address sooner rather than later,” Matsumoto-sensei assured him. “You’re a bright student, Choromatsu, and I would hate to see you fall behind when we could easily do something about the problem.”

Choromatsu wanted to ask more about what he thought the problem was, but was almost afraid to. He wordlessly took the envelope, gripping it much more tightly than was necessary.

“Anyway, you may go if you’d like,” Matsumoto-sensei dismissed him. “I know your brothers must be waiting for you. Have a good afternoon, please don’t forget to tell your parents what we talked about.”

“I...I won’t.” Choromatsu bowed slightly. “Thank you, Sensei. See you tomorrow.”

He rushed out of the room then without looking back, all too eager to escape. He glanced at the envelope in his hands, at his parents’ names printed across the front, before hastily shoving it into his bag and hurrying out of the building.

He knew he needed to tell his parents, and that he’d been told to do it tonight...but he didn’t know how he could possibly work up the courage to do so.

----------

“Muscle muscle, hustle hustle!!”

“Jyushimatsu, would you please keep it down?” Choromatsu tightened his grip on his pencil and glared at Jyushimatsu who--instead of working on his homework like was was supposed to--was standing in the center of the sextuplet’s bedroom, swinging a baseball bat back and forth. “I’m trying to focus on my homework here.”

“Relax, Choromatsu,” Todomatsu said distractedly, not looking up from his phone as he typed out a text to one of his friends. The charms dangling from the end of his flip phone clinked together noisily as he tapped away at the tiny keyboard. “Seriously, you’re so uptight sometimes. He’s just having some fun.”

Choromatsu grimaced, massaging his temples as he felt another headache coming on. He’d been staring at his textbook for the last hour, poring over the impossibly tiny text and making notes, but it was hard to retain anything with his brothers being so irritating and making so much noise. Why didn’t they care as much about their grades as Choromatsu did? Didn’t they want to get into good colleges and become productive, respectable members of society as well?

“Man, I’m so bored,” Osomatsu groaned then, slumping over and resting his chin on the table. “This homework is just so stupid and dull, why should I have to do it?”

Ichimatsu shot Osomatsu an incredulous look. “Because it’s homework and the teacher will get pissed if you don’t finish your work...again?” he ventured.

“But whyyy? ” Osomatsu whined. “It’s not like I’m gonna need to know all of this stuff for my future career.”

“And what might that be?” Karamatsu asked him, his expression quizzical.

Osomatsu smirked. “Professional NEET.”

“Ugh. Honestly, Osomatsu,” Choromatsu said with distaste, glaring at him witheringly. “When are you going to realize that you can’t be a NEET your whole life? How would you even be able to survive doing that? You won’t be making any money.”

Osomatsu shrugged. “Wouldn’t have to if I won enough at pachinko. When I’m old enough to play, anyway.”

“Well, good luck with that. Just don’t count on me helping you out when that plan fails.” Choromatsu sighed, rubbing at his throbbing temples.

Osomatsu lifted his head a little, frowning at Choromatsu. “Got another headache?”

Choromatsu just nodded, wincing a little. “It’s not a big deal.”

“You get them an awful lot, though,” Todomatsu quipped, glancing briefly up from his phone. “Maybe you’re dying.”

Choromatsu directed his glare at the youngest. “That’s not even funny. It’s just from trying to read this textbook. The print is too small.”

Todomatsu peered at the words on the page and shrugged. “I can read them just fine.”

“Well, whatever. That doesn’t even matter.” Choromatsu rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I really need to get this assignment done. I don’t want my grades to fall.” He chewed the inside of his cheek anxiously, thinking about the red-covered test he’d pushed to the very bottom of his book bag. He resolved not to let it see the light of day again, if he could help it.

“As if they’d fall.” It was Todomatsu’s turn to roll his eyes now. “You’re constantly studying. You’re like a robot. It’s not healthy at all.”

“Not healthy!” Jyushimatsu repeated in agreement.

“Excuse me for wanting to make something out of my life,” Choromatsu huffed indignantly.  

Just then, they were interrupted by their mother calling from downstairs. “Choromatsu? Could you come down here, please?”

“ Oooooh,” Osomatsu drawled teasingly. “Someone’s in trouble.”

“Shut up.” Choromatsu scowled at him. “I didn’t do anything.” He stood up and brushed off his school uniform, then marched toward the door, ignoring the taunting remarks his brothers were throwing at him.

He did wonder why she needed him, though, and only him. Surely she had no idea what had happened at school...unless the teacher had called her himself? But, no, he wouldn’t have given him that letter to take home if he planned to call. And the letter was tucked safely away in his bag, out of sight and mind.

Or so he thought.

The moment he entered the kitchen, he could feel his stomach twist itself into a nervous knot. Matsuyo and Matsuzo were both sitting at the table in the kitchen, and their no-nonsense expressions caused a shiver to run up his spine. He spied something white and rectangular on the table, and when he recognized it--the envelope with his parents’ name on it, now torn open at the top--he seriously felt in danger of throwing up.

“Wh-where did you get that?” he asked, swallowing hard.

“I was moving your book bag, because you left it in the hallway and I wanted to mop the floor there,” Matsuyo explained calmly, her expression unwavering as she picked up the envelope and turned it over in her hands. “This happened to fall out of it. Were you planning on giving it to us at any time?”

Choromatsu shrank back. “Un...yes, I just hadn’t gotten around to it yet...b-but I swear, I studied for that test! I don’t know why Matsumoto-sensei is making such a big deal out of it…!”

Matsuzo furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Son, what in the world are you talking about?”

Choromatsu froze, looking at both of his parents in turn. “You mean...this isn't about the test?” he asked cautiously.

“No...but that sounds like something we might need to discuss later,” Matsuyo said, motioning toward the chair across from her. “But for now, please sit. We need to have a talk about what’s in your teacher’s letter.”

Reluctantly, Choromatsu took a seat, his hands curled up on his lap in a desperate attempt to stop them from shaking.

“Choromatsu...you should know by now that if something is wrong, if you're having any problems at all--with school or otherwise--that you should come to us, right?” Matsuyo began. “We’re your parents, after all. We’re here to help you with anything, and you shouldn’t be afraid to approach us for any reason.”

“I know that.” Choromatsu wasn’t quite sure where they were going with this. “Of course I do.”

“Your teacher seems to think otherwise, according to this letter,” Matsuzo chimed in. “He thinks you’ve been struggling unnecessarily with something, that he’s recognized the signs based on his experiences with other students. It might not be something you noticed right away yourself, but it would help a lot if we could address it now.”

Choromatsu eyed his parents warily, heart still racing. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“What Matsumoto-sensei suggested,” Matsuyo said, “is that it’s possible you have a vision problem. He’s recommended we take you to an optometrist to get your eyes checked, because you very well might need glasses.”

Choromatsu’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait...glasses? He thinks I need glasses?”

Matsuyo nodded. “He’s noticed you’ve been squinting a lot during class when trying to read the board or your textbook, and that you seem to get headaches easily. That could definitely be a sign that you’re straining your eyes more than you should have to just to read.”

“Oh…”

“Have you noticed anything wrong with your vision, Choromatsu?” Matsuzo asked. “Any blurriness, double vision…?”

“Well…” Choromatsu hedged. “I guess things at a distant do seem awfully blurry, at least compared to something right in front of me...and I have a hard time reading something if the print is really small, too. But I sort of thought everyone saw that way, that it was no big deal.”

“With no basis for comparison, I understand that.” Matsuyo tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Come to think of it, at your last check-up the doctor did say you seemed to struggle a bit with the eye chart, but they hadn’t made a big deal of it so neither did I. I didn’t realize it was a problem. If we took you to an optometrist, I’m sure they’d be much more thorough.”

Choromatsu frowned a little. “But...that sounds expensive. Doesn’t it cost a lot to go to a specialist and get glasses? I know money is sort of tight, and with everyone else costing you money too...maybe I could just do without for now. I’m okay.”

“Choromatsu. We’re talking about something as important as your eyesight here.” Matsuyo rose from her seat and crossed over to Choromatsu’s side of the table, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It’s true, we could always have more money, but we’re doing fine. Certainly well enough to take you to a doctor and get you glasses. Besides, you’re our son. You shouldn’t be concerning yourself with our financial situation, that isn’t for you to worry about.”

“Your mother’s right. Leave the money matters to us,” Matsuzo added, lightly ruffling Choromatsu’s hair.

Choromatsu wanted to be reassured, but couldn’t help still feeling worried. Maybe his parents weren’t aware of this, but there had been a few instances recently when he’d overheard them speaking in hushed tones behind closed doors about the family’s financial situation. He knew they weren’t destitute, which was a relief, but they did have to tighten their belts an awful lot with six kids under one roof needing to be fed and clothed. He knew they didn’t have tons of extra money lying around, either, and even though he knew glasses weren’t a frivolous thing to spend money on...could they really afford it?

“Anyway,” Matsuyo went on, interrupting his thoughts, “I’ll see about finding an optometrist tomorrow morning and try to get you an appointment as soon as possible. You may go back upstairs if you’d like. Are you almost done with your homework?”

Almost numbly, Choromatsu nodded.

“That’s good.” Matsuyo planted a kiss on his forehead. “Like I said, dear, please don’t worry so much. If you need glasses, we’ll get that taken care of, no problem.”

Choromatsu tried not to let on his doubts as he excused himself from the room and headed upstairs again. He felt guilty that they might have to shell out so much money just for him to see.

Not to mention...he wasn’t all that excited at the prospect of wearing glasses, either.

“Ah, you’re back!” Osomatsu said, once Choromatsu returned to their room. “What did Mom want?”

“None of your business, Osomatsu,” Choromatsu responded curtly, sitting back down in front of his textbook.

Osomatsu smirked knowingly. “That means you did get in trouble, huh?”

Choromatsu gave him an icy glare. “ No, I did not, but that still doesn’t mean I have to explain it to you.”

“Sheesh, Choro, no need to get so defensive about it,” Todomatsu remarked with an eyeroll. “Keep your little secrets, if that’s what you want.”

Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu were too focused on helping each other with their homework to comment, and Karamatsu glanced curiously at Choromatsu but said nothing. He hadn’t said anything to the other brothers about Matsumoto-sensei keeping Choromatsu behind, to his relief, but Choromatsu knew he suspected the conversation with their parents had to do with it somehow.

Choromatsu just shrugged dismissively as he turned back to his homework, pretending everything was fine. He concentrated on the textbook spread out before him, despite the increasing tension throbbing away at his temples as he struggled to focus on the words. Now that he thought about it, it did make sense that he might need glasses. It certainly couldn’t be normal, having to put in this much effort just to read things clearly. And it did run in the family--his mother’s own big, round glasses were evidence of this.

But he didn’t feel like bringing any of this up with his brothers, not right now. He was sure it’d be met with teasing, and he had a funny feeling he would face plenty of that soon enough.

Chapter Text

“Okay, Choromatsu, I want you to start on this line,” Dr. Ono said. The optometrist pointed to the second row on the chart on the wall of his office. Each row of the chart was comprised of a series of black rings, each with a small gap that prevented it from completing the circle, and every following line the shapes were smaller than on the last. “When I point to the shape, you tell me what side the gap is on. We’ll see how many lines you can read before it becomes difficult. We’ll do this for each eye, okay?”

“Okay.” It sounded easy enough to Choromatsu, though he still felt ansty as he tried to keep himself from fidgeting in his seat. There was no reason for him to be so nervous, but doctors had always brought out the worst in him--even when nothing was wrong, he was so apprehensive that he couldn’t sit still. And today in particular had him on edge. Getting a simple check-up was one thing, but the fact that there was a specific reason he was here today and that he might be leaving that day with glasses was enough to make him shift anxiously in his seat more than once.

Choromatsu covered his right eye as Dr. Ono had instructed, and began with the first circle he pointed to. “The gap is on the left side.”

“Good, good.” Dr. Ono moved to the next shape. “‘And this one?”

“It’s on the top.”

“And how about this…”

Choromatsu read the whole line without many problems. The next line wasn’t much of a struggle for him, either. When they reached the third line, though, Choromatsu found himself squinting, leaning forward slightly in an effort to see clearly. Suddenly the circles seemed so much smaller, and a little blurry, too.

“Um...that one...the gap is on the left side,” he said, with little assurance.

Dr. Ono merely nodded, which gave Choromatsu no clue if he was right or not. “And the next one?”

“The...uh...the bottom?”

“All right, keep going.”

“Um...the next one...is…” Choromatsu squinted, then sighed, feeling defeated. “I don’t know.”

 “It’s fine, this is just a test to gauge the distance of your vision,” Dr. Ono assured him. “Just answer the best that you possibly can.”

“Okay…” Choromatsu tried his best, fumbling through the next couple of lines before the doctor finally said he could stop. “Um...how did I do?”

“You did fine, all things considered,” Dr. Ono responded, somewhat evasively as far as Choromatsu was concerned. “Now, next I’m going to run a few more tests on you to determine your vision and if you’ll need a prescription...and then, since this is your first exam here, I’d like to dilate your eyes so we can do a more thorough examination of them, make sure everything looks right.”

Choromatsu wasn’t sure what it’d mean to dilate his eyes, but he wasn’t sure he liked the sound of it very much. Still, he swallowed back his worries and nodded, not wanting the doctor to be aware of how anxious he was growing.

The next hour felt impossibly long to Choromatsu as he was subjected to test after test. First Dr. Ono tested his field of vision by having him follow an object that he waved slowly around in front of him by moving his pupils and not his head. Then he was required to peer into a large scope of some sort and recite which of two slides looked clearer to him, over and over, which got repetitive quickly and which Choromatsu questioned the necessity of (but he didn’t, assuming Dr. Ono knew what he was doing).

Soon after this was when Choromatsu learned what “dilating” his eyes meant, and it didn’t take him long to decide this was the worst part of the appointment in terms of the examination. Dr. Ono squeezed some sort of drops into Choromatsu’s eyes that were intended to widen his pupils, making them easier to examine. The droplets stung at first, which would’ve been bad enough on its own, but after several minutes the drops started taking affect and his vision became so fuzzy he could hardly focus. It was worse than trying to read the board from the back of the classroom, and on top of that it made any light that he looked at hurt his eyes. Dr. Ono insisted this was normal and that it would clear up in a couple hours, and Choromatsu conceded that he had to trust the expert on this. That didn’t mean he liked it any better, though.

The rest of the examination wasn’t too bad, Choromatsu had to admit. Dr. Ono looked at his eyes through something called a slit lamp, which resembles a big microscope as far as Choromatsu could tell. He had to press his chin and forehead against the rests on the machine while to doctor studied his eyes, but it wasn’t bad and it didn’t last too long, either.

Soon enough, after a few more tests, Choromatsu found himself sitting in the chair in the back office again, waiting to hear the final results of the exam. He tried to keep himself still, but he bounced his foot a little as he waited, a nervous tic he couldn’t shake.

The door swung open then, and to Choromatsu’s surprise it wasn’t Dr. Ono joining him again, but his mother. “Mom? What’re you doing back here?” he asked.

“Dr. Ono said I might want to hear the results of your tests at the same time as you.” Matsuyo settled herself in the seat beside Choromatsu, offering a gentle, reassuring smile, seeming to read Choromatsu’s mind. “It’s nothing to worry about, dear. He just wants to review everything with both of us.”

Choromatsu wanted to believe that...but inside his fears were starting to mount. Maybe he had bad news to deliver, and that’s why he wanted his mother back there. He wouldn’t have possibly requested that if his eyes were fine, would he? Maybe something was wrong, some really bad reason for him not being able to see clearly. Or...oh no, what if he was going blind and they had to let him down gently? His breath caught in his throat, but he forced himself to take in a deep breath through his nose and exhale slowly. He was really jumping to conclusions here.

Matsuyo seemed to sense his anxiety, and quietly slipped her hand into his, giving it a comforting squeeze. Choromatsu squeezed hers back, feeling just a little better. He would never say it out loud, but he was sort of happy to have his mom there with him. Maybe he was too old to always rely on her, but knowing she was there to support him meant a lot.

Fortunately Dr. Ono didn’t leave them waiting for too long. When he arrived, he took the seat across from them, regarding them with an expression that Choromatsu couldn’t discern as being too serious or not.

“Well, here’s the good news first,” Dr. Ono began. “Your eyes are healthy. You don’t have any problems, no illness or deterioration, no cause for concern.”

Choromatsu had to restrain himself from letting out a sigh of relief at that news. But then he caught something else the doctor had said, and tensed up again. “But...that’s the good news, so that means there’s bad news...right?”

“It’s not bad news, per se,” Dr. Ono responded. “But...the examination did reveal that you are incredibly nearsighted. You’ll definitely need prescription lenses.”

Matsuyo nodded slightly, but Choromatsu blinked, slowly processing the news. “Wait...so you mean I do need glasses?”

Dr. Ono nodded. “That’s right. I already have your prescription here, so all you need to do is pick out some frames you like and we’ll get them put together for you. It’ll take about a week for them to be ready.”

“I…” This was a little too fast for him. Yes, he’d been fully aware of the possibility that he’d need glasses...but he’d hoped beyond hope it wouldn’t actually come to that. And now that he was facing that reality, he didn’t quite know how to feel about it.

Matsuyo lightly touched his shoulder. “Are you okay, dear?”

“Yeah...I’m fine.”

He didn’t want to overreact. After all, he realized glasses weren’t the biggest deal--it wasn’t like he required surgery or anything. In the grand scheme of things, glasses were incredibly menial, something that a lot of people had. He just hadn’t wanted to be among them, if he could help it. And the cost...how much were they going to cost his parents? He didn’t want to burden their finances more than he and his brothers already did. They already drained their funds so much, needing food and clothing and school supplies...and then there was Jyushimatsu’s baseball and Todomatsu’s beauty regime...and…

“Choromatsu? Are you paying attention, dear?” Matsuyo asked, intercepting his thoughts.

“Hmm? Right, sorry.” Choromatsu shook it off and focused on the conversation at hand. “Ah, am I going to need to wear them all the time, or just for reading…?”

“In your case, I’d recommend wearing them at all times, since your nearsightedness is so prominent,” Dr. Ono responded. “It’ll be a bit of an adjustment, but you’ll get used to it quickly, and I’m sure you’ll see what a huge improvement it’ll make. And farther down the line, you could always choose to get contact lenses, or even laser eye surgery. You’d be a good candidate for that.”

Choromatsu shrank back at the suggestion, feeling queasy at the very thought of trying to put something in his own eyes...or having them slit open by lasers, for that matter. Matsuyo must’ve realized this, too, because she cleared her throat and spoke up on his behalf.

“Thank you, Dr. Ono, but I think we’ll save those other options for a later time...much later,” she said. “So what do we do at this point?”

“All that needs to be done now is for Choromatsu to pick out some frames for his new glasses,” Dr. Ono replied. “Then I’ll have you pay for the prescription and frames he selected, and send them out to be made. You should expect a call from us in about a week, once his glasses come in and can be picked up.”

Matsuyo nodded. “Well then, dear, why don’t we go check out the selection? Hopefully you’ll find something you like.”

Choromatsu wordlessly followed his mother and Dr. Ono out of the back office, his mind still reeling. He tried to push his worries aside, though, once they reached the front desk again and he was faced with row upon row of glasses, illuminated by spotlights above. He stood still a moment, taking it all in, when Matsuyo gently nudged him.

“Go on, honey, try a few things on and see what you like,” she suggested. “I’m sure you’ll look good in any of them.”

Choromatsu was doubtful of that. Moreover, he couldn’t believe the prices of some of the frames he picked up. He scanned one row and selected a pair of sleek silver glasses, then turned the tag over and squinted to read the price. That pair alone cost 21,000 yen. He quickly shoved them back into their spot and picked up another pair, some round tortoiseshell frames that looked like they might be cheaper. But when he flipped the tag over, his heart almost stopped. These ones were 35,000 yen! How could anyone afford to see clearly when glasses were so expensive?!

He surveyed a few other options, feeling more and more hopeless and frustrated, before finally approaching Matsuyo and saying as quietly as possible, “Mom….we can’t get any of these. The price is way too high...I don’t want you to have to spend so much on me.”

“Choromatsu, I already told you, don’t worry about it,” Matsuyo insisted, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Please. I promise you, everything is fine. We can afford it.”

Choromatsu bit his lip, unconvinced. “You’re sure?”

“Yes, absolutely. This is something you need, and even if we couldn’t afford it we would find a way to get you what you need.” Matsuyo squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and smiled. “Now, why don’t you try on something, rather than just looking at everything? Has anything stood out to you yet?”

“Not really…”

“Well, what are you thinking you might like? Is there a style you’re interested in?”

Choromatsu shrugged. “I guess something basic, you know...normal-looking. I don’t want them to draw a bunch of attention.”

“Let’s look together and see if we find anything that suits you,” Matsuyo offered, and somehow that made him feel a little better, a little less overwhelmed.

Together they studied the rows of frames, occasionally removing a pair for Choromatsu to try on, but upon inspecting himself in the round mirror at the end of the aisle ultimately rejecting them as not fitting his tastes. It felt like they’d gone through most of the glasses in the store at one point, none of them looking or feeling just right, and Choromatsu was beginning to grow discouraged again.  

“Why does everything look so bad on me?” he muttered. “I look like a nerd no matter what I put on…”

“You don’t, dear,” Matsuyo promised. “I think it’s just that you need to take time to get used to them. All of the pairs you tried on looked fine on you.”

Choromatsu glanced at her, disbelief in his eyes, and Matsuyo sighed sympathetically. “Right. Well, I suppose I felt the same way when I got glasses for the first time, around your age. No matter what anyone says, it’s hard to convince yourself you look good, isn’t it? But you will find something, I’m sure of it.”

Choromatsu wished he could be so certain, but he felt ready to quit searching. He turned his attention back toward the glasses, and suddenly his eyes landed on a pair he’d yet to try on. They were black plastic frames, a simple rectangular shape that didn’t make any statements in particular, good or bad.

Huh…

Choromatsu picked them up and slipped them on, then braced himself to face the mirror again. To his surprise, what he saw in his reflection was...not bad. The glasses looked better on him than he’d expected, giving him an almost scholarly appearance. At least, in his opinion. He adjusted them, smiling just a little.

“Mom?” he asked, turning toward Matsuyo, who was examining a pair of wire-rimmed glasses a couple feet away. “What do you think of these ones?”

Matsuyo peered up at her son, and her eyes lit up. “Oh, dear, those look great on you!”

“You think so?” Choromatsu asked hopefully, fiddling with them self-consciously.

“They suit you perfectly. A very studious look,” Matsuyo affirmed with a nod. “I think you may have found just the right pair there.”

“I do really like them.” Choromatsu took them off, intending to check the tag for the price. “Hopefully they aren’t much…”

“No worrying about that.” Matsuyo gently took the glasses from him before he could check the price. “These are definitely the ones you should get. Let’s go talk to Dr. Ono and tell him these are the ones we’ll be taking.”

“Okay...if you’re sure.”

Choromatsu followed his mother to the front desk, feeling...well, he couldn’t quite define it. He did genuinely like the glasses he picked out, or at least he did right now. But what if he changed his mind later? Then he’d be stuck with this choice for who knew how long. Maybe his choice was actually really dorky, and people would laugh at him. And then there was the whole money matter still eating away at him, no matter how many times he told himself to stop dwelling on it. He hoped they didn’t cost too much, though he supposed he could try to make up for it later...maybe give up his allowance for however long it’d take to pay them off, even if it meant cutting back on buying manga.

I’m thinking too much again, he reprimanded himself. I need to stop doing that so much.

That was enough to slow his thoughts down a little...at least for now.

----------

Choromatsu didn’t think much about the optometrist’s office or his glasses for the next several days--or at least, he told himself not to. Instead he focused on his schoolwork, and more specifically, on not falling behind in any of his other classes. He never wanted his teachers to think he was a slacker or not dedicated to his education, after all, even if his brothers defied that.

Exactly one week after his appointment, Choromatsu walked home with his brothers as usual. As soon as they entered the house, Matsuyo greeted them at the front door, then pulled Choromatsu aside before he could take off his shoes.

“Dr. Ono’s office called,” she told him. “Your glasses are ready. Do you want to walk downtown to go get them?”

“Ahh, they’re in already…?” Choromatsu’s voice trailed off. Well, he supposed he couldn’t put off wearing them forever. Might as well get it over with. “Sure, let’s go.”

Matsuyo slipped on her shoes and grabbed her purse, then informed the other boys that she and Choromatsu were heading out for a bit. The sextuplets, already scavenging the kitchen for an afternoon snack, called out a halfhearted “goodbye” without asking any further questions.

Choromatsu ambled a few feet behind his mother as they walked toward the optometrist’s office, his feet dragging slightly. He chose to take in his surroundings, instead of dwelling on glasses. It was a nice day out, warm and sunny, and now that spring was in the air the flowers were starting to blossom. He could see little buds sprouting on the trees as they passed by, and knew before long they’d be full of vibrant leaves. The thought made him smile a little. Spring was such a nice season, with everything renewed and fresh and green. He loved green.

It only took ten minutes for them to arrive at Dr. Ono’s office, and soon enough Dr. Ono was greeting them as they stepped through the front door.

“We have your new glasses right here, Choromatsu.” Dr. Ono reached into a drawer at his desk and produced an oval-shaped case, which he passed to Choromatsu. “Go ahead and try them on, see if they fit well. I can make any necessary adjustments before you leave.”

Choromatsu took the case and snapped the lid up. Inside, his glasses were nestled in the silky lining, waiting for him. He drew in a small breath, removed the glasses, and put them on.

Wow. He blinked a few times as his vision came into focus again. Suddenly everything was so much clearer and sharper, a striking contrast to the blurriness he’d been accustomed to for so long. It was almost disorienting, seeing the world with such incredible clarity. That would definitely take some getting used to.

“Everything looking good?” Dr. Ono asked after a few seconds.

“Yeah, I’m just...wow. Everything looks so clear now!”

Dr. Ono smiled. “Quite impressive, right? You’ll adjust soon enough, it may take a few days but just keep wearing them and you’ll be fine.”

“And you think I did pick a good pair?” Choromatsu asked, peering appraisingly at himself in the mirror again.

“Very handsome,” Matsuyo enthused, smiling fondly. “They make you look so mature. I guess my boy is really growing up, isn’t he?”

Choromatsu blushed a little at the remark, but let it slide. He did like the idea of looking a little older. Maybe kids wouldn’t laugh at him, after all.

“Do they feel fine, then?” Dr. Ono asked. “Does anything feel too tight or loose?”

Choromatsu shook his head, accidentally causing his glasses to slide down his nose a little. He quickly pushed them back up, and responded, “They feel good to me.”

“Well, then I guess you’re all set to go! If there’s any problems later on, don’t hesitate to come back. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy your new glasses. Just remember to take care of them and be careful, clean them as needed, and you should be good.”

Choromatsu nodded in response, and Matsuyo said, “Thank you, Dr. Ono. We’ll be on our way out now.”

The walk home felt like a completely different experience to Choromatsu, now that he was seeing everything through new eyes. Suddenly he was noticing every tiny detail he hadn’t been able to discern before. The ridges of every leaf in the trees, the petals of every flower, street signs and advertisements in store windows...for the first time ever, he could see it all! He didn’t even have to squint to look at anything. No more would he get sore eyes or pounding headaches when trying to read a book or do his homework. He could read for as long as he wanted now without problems! He’d be able to see everything on the board in class! Who knew? Maybe he’d bring his grades up enough to get into his dream college (not that he knew  which one that was yet, but he didn’t care)!

“You seem so happy, Choromatsu,” Matsuyo noted at one point.

Choromatsu shrugged. “It’s just so crazy, Mom...all this time I didn’t realize how bad my sight was, but now that I’m seeing things clearly for the first time...I can’t believe I was missing out on all this. I mean, the trees, I can actually see all the leaves now! And the flowers are so pretty, and even the clouds in the sky…!”

Matsuyo chuckled. “I understand. The world is such a beautiful place when you can see it, isn’t it?”

“It is. I guess getting glasses isn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.”

“I knew you’d come around.” Matsuyo pulled him into a one-armed hug, giving his shoulders a tight squeeze. “I think you’ll find that glasses aren’t as big of a deal as you thought.”

Choromatsu had to admit, he really was starting to believe that. If it made his life this much easier, there really wasn’t much to debate.

He just hoped that belief would last.  

Chapter Text

Choromatsu’s enthusiasm didn’t last long. In fact, it started to diminish the moment he got back home.

He was aware of his brothers watching him as he tried to do his homework. He did his best to focus on the textbook in front of him--at least it was easier to read this time--but he was so aware of four pairs of eyes on him that it was almost impossible to stay on task.

“What?” he finally asked, jerking his head up and effectively startling the others as they quickly backed off. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Nothing,” Osomatsu said, unconvincingly.

Jyushimatsu buried his mouth in the sleeve of his sweater and stifled a snicker. Todomatsu bit the inside of his cheek, looking like he could start laughing at any minute, too.

Choromatsu frowned. “It doesn’t sound like nothing,” he stated, folding his arms and glaring sternly at them. “So you’d better tell me now.”

Osomatsu took in a deep breath….then sputtered as he started cackling. “You look just like our English teacher!” he exclaimed through a gasp.

Jyushimatsu burst out laughing, too. “Wow, he does!”

Choromatsu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean…?” he asked cautiously, a funny feeling gnawing away at his stomach.

“You know, the intense glare, the crossed arms…” Osomatsu rattled off. “And now, the glasses. I think you have the same pair he does, even.”

Heat rose in Choromatsu’s cheeks. “So you’re saying my glasses make me look like a middle-aged school teacher?”

“I mean, you always act like one, nagging us and bossing us around about our homework.” Osomatsu shrugged. “So you might as well look like one now, too.”

Choromatsu could tell his face was a flaming shade of red, but he tried to shrug off the embarrassment as agitation. “Very mature, Osomatsu. Maybe I wouldn’t have to nag you if you did your work like you’re supposed to,” he responded bitterly.

“Whatever you say, four eyes.” Osomatsu snickered.

Jyushimatsu laughed alongside him. “Yeah, four eyes!”

“Don’t call me that!” Choromatsu snapped, shooting a sharp glare at his cackling brothers. “It’s not like I chose to wear glasses. And it’s not like millions of other people don’t wear glasses, either.” He tried to speak with conviction, but he felt any semblance of self-confidence he’d mustered earlier dwindling fast.

“Seriously, you two. Don’t you think ‘four eyes’ is a bit babyish and overdone?” Todomatsu quipped, barely glancing up from his phone.

“Gee, thanks.” Choromatsu’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he cast Todomatsu a withering look. Sure, that was the important point to bring up here.

“Anyway,” Todomatsu went on, blatantly ignoring Choromatsu’s tone as he swept a critical gaze over him, “they have a point. You do look like you’d be at home at the head of a classroom, grading papers and scolding the troublemakers.You could’ve picked frames that were slightly more stylish, if you’d bothered to ask me.”

“What’s wrong with these frames?” Choromatsu fiddled with his glasses, fighting the urge to take them off and whip them at Todomatsu’s judgmental face. “I thought they looked good.”

“Sure, if you’re forty. They’re just so... blah.” Todomatsu shook his head with barely concealed distaste. “You should’ve gone for something in a bolder color, those are really in this year. Or maybe something with clear frames, so they don’t stand out as much.”

“How would you know?” Choromatsu wanted to know. “You don’t even wear glasses!”

“You don’t need glasses to stay on top of trends,” Todomatsu retorted.

“I think you’re being a bit harsh on Choromatsu,” Karamatsu intervened then, which came as a surprise to Choromatsu. “He wouldn’t be mocking any of you if this fate were to have befallen one of you instead, would he?”

“Karamatsu, can you ever just speak like a normal person anymore?” Osomatsu groaned.

Karamatsu paid no attention, instead turning to Choromatsu and bestowing a bright, flashy grin upon him, “Don’t listen to them, my dear brother. They’re simply jealous. I think you look amazing and intelligent in your new glasses. You picked a perfect pair!”

Choromatsu regarded him warily. He wasn’t so sure how much he could trust Karamatsu’s opinion--after all, this was the same boy who thought it’d be a great idea to bedazzle his book bag just last week. And his jeans. But he was the only one of his brothers willing to express any form of support, and he had to be grateful for that.

“Thanks, Karamatsu,” he answered cautiously.

Todomatsu rolled his eyes as he pocketed his phone. “Whatever. If you can’t take some constructive criticism from your own brothers, then you might as well stay home from school tomorrow.”

Choromatsu was about to argue that making fun of him hardly counted as “constructive criticism” of any form, but Todomatsu’s words gave him pause. “What do you mean, I should stay home from school?”

“I mean,” Todomatsu emphasized, staring squarely at Choromatsu, “that everyone is gonna have a hell of a field day when you walk into the school in those. You really don’t think anyone is going to notice and say something?”

Choromatsu bristled. He wanted to deny Todomatsu’s statement, cruel and cold as it was...but could he know for sure? Could he really depend on no one calling him out on his new look? It was something of a drastic change, after all, and it was bound to stand out even more now that he was the only one of the sextuplets wearing glasses.

Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Choromatsu mentally scolded himself. Why are you letting Todomatsu of all people rile you up? You’re better than that.

He took a breath to compose himself, loosening his posture slightly. “Todomatsu, we’re in high school. I think everyone there is old enough not to tease someone for glasses. Unlike all of you.”

“Suit yourself,” Todomatsu snipped. “But if you’re really going to trick yourself into believing that, I think you’re in for a rude awakening tomorrow morning. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I won’t, because you’re wrong,” Choromatsu shot back.

But even though he’d assumed an air of flippancy, inside his stomach churned nervously at the thought of going to school. He thought it was irrational to think anyone would tease him, when so many people in the world wore glasses...so what if he did now, too? He was still the same old Choromatsu. Not that he’d ever been so popular before, but he didn’t think eyewear would make or break anything.

Unless….maybe he was wrong.

No, stop, you’re letting Todomatsu get to you too much. No one is going to bother saying anything. Everyone here is just laughing at you because they’re your brothers and they love being jerks. Hardly a basis for comparison there.

“Hey,” Ichimatsu said then, poking his head into the room. He’d been downstairs in the kitchen, helping their mom cook. “Dinner’s ready, time to come down.”

“Finally!” Osomatsu stretched his arms and then stood up. “I’m starving, let’s go eat.”

Choromatsu didn’t feel particularly hungry anymore, but he was relieved that it would offer a small reprieve from the relentless teasing. They weren’t as likely to make rude comments with their mother nearby, not unless they wanted to be punished and forced to wash the dishes that night. He marked his place in his textbook and rose, trailing after the other brothers as they headed downstairs.

“Choromatsu?” He hadn’t realized that Ichimatsu was right next to him, giving him a half-lidded look that almost conveyed concern...or maybe it was pity, it was hard to tell. “You okay?”

He could probably sense what the other brothers had been saying about him, but Choromatsu refused to wallow in that too long (not that it was easy to tell himself not to). “I’m fine,” he responded, adjusting his glasses. When Ichimatsu raised an eyebrow skeptically at him, he asserted, “Really, I’m good. Never better.”

Ichimatsu clearly didn’t buy it, but he simply shrugged and moved ahead, to where the other brothers were laughing and bickering.

Inwardly, Choromatsu sighed.

I’m good. Never better. Maybe if I keep telling myself that, I really will be.

----------

“Come on, we’ve gotta get going,” Osomatsu said impatiently, tapping his foot as he watched his other brothers pulling on their shoes and swinging their bags onto their shoulders.

“We’re getting ready, quit harassing us,” Todomatsu harrumphed, sliding his phone into his book bag and adjusting the fluffy pink pom-pom keychain he’d clipped to his bag strap. “Since when have you ever been in such a mad rush to get to school, anyway?”

“Since we’re picking up Totoko on the way,” Osomatsu responded. “And you do not want to leave Totoko waiting. You really want a pissed-off Totoko trailing us to school?”

The boys shivered slightly at the thought. All of them save for Choromatsu, who was calmly tying his shoelaces, not in any rush himself to go to school. That was a definite first. Out of all the brothers, he was usually the one urging the others to get ready to go, while they moaned and complained and said he sounded too much like their mom.

Today, it had taken all of Choromatsu’s strength to resist faking sick and asking to stay home. The only real driving force motivating him to go today was the fear of ruining his attendance record.

“Choro, come on.” Osomatsu said irritably, breaking through Choromatsu’s thoughts. “You’ve been tying that shoe forever now. We need to leave. Do you want Totoko to get mad at us?”

“No.” Choromatsu knew he’d have to be ready eventually, and pushing back their departure would only make it worse, for more than one reason. He finished double-knotting his laces and stood up. “I’m ready.”

“About time,” Osomatsu huffed, swinging open the door and charging outside, taking the lead as always. “Off we go. Totoko awaits!”

“Indeed, we wouldn’t want to leave our fair maiden waiting,” Karamatsu lamented with dramatic flair, stepping out after Osomatsu.

“Do you really have to treat every second of your life like a play audition?” Todomatsu moaned.

They began their walk to school in this way, the brothers huddled close together as they strolled down the sidewalk. Choromatsu stayed on the outskirts of the huddle, arms folded, gazing more at the ground than the sidewalk in front of him. His glasses slid down his nose again, and he pressed them back in place.

I wonder if I need to get these fixed, he thought absently. They feel a little loose...well, maybe they’re supposed to be this way. It’s annoying, though…

He was distracted as the Yowai’s fish market came into view ahead of them, and the other boys sprinted ahead to meet Totoko as she stepped out the front door.

“Totoko, hi!” Osomatsu called, waving. “We’re here!”

Totoko turned to face the boys, her arms crossed and glossy pink lips pursed in a pout. “You’re late,” she said, annoyance flashing in her dark brown eyes.

“Ah, but we’re right on time, according to my watch,” Osomatsu responded, flustered, holding his wrist out toward her and pointing at the digital clock face.  

“Not according to my watch.” Totoko tapped furiously at the her own watch, the strap of which was hot pink and matched the bows the wore to tie back her pigtails. “According to this, you’re a minute late.”

Osomatsu sighed in frustration, knowing that once Totoko had decided on something, there was no changing her mind. “Okay, fine. But we’re going to be late for real if we don’t start walking to school, so let’s go.”

“Fine.” Totoko spun on her heel and marched forward, leaving the boys to trail shamefacedly behind.

Todomatsu attempted to do some damage control. “Well, it wasn’t everyone’s fault we were late. Choromatsu took forever getting ready.”

Choromatsu jerked his head up, glaring harshly at Todomatsu. “Wow, thanks, Todomatsu,” he muttered.

“What? You were dawdling,” Todomatsu protested. He turned back to Totoko and, as if trying to appease her in some way, said, “He got new glasses yesterday, we practically had to drag him out the door today.”

“That’s not true!” Choromatsu argued, his cheeks burning, partly from embarrassment that Todomatsu would accuse him so viciously...and partly from the knowledge that it wasn’t a complete lie.

“Hmm? You got glasses, Choromatsu-kun?” Totoko whirled around to face him, tipping her head to the side. “Oh, wow, you did! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I, um, I guess I didn’t think it was such a big deal,” Choromatsu stammered lamely, swallowing hard. “I mean, they’re just glasses, and I...didn’t think you’d care…?”

“Well, of course I would! I’m only your oldest childhood friend, aren’t I?”

“W-well, yes, but…”

Osomatsu intervened then. “Yeah, he’s been pretty quiet about it. But whatever. Who do you think he looks like in them?”

Totoko’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “Who do I think he looks like…?” she repeated.

“Yeah. Doesn’t he remind you of someone, someone we see in our classroom every day?” A grin played at Osomatsu’s mouth, one that bordered on mean-spirited.

Choromatsu glared at him, wishing he’d shut up. Meanwhile, he was aware his face had grown alarmingly hot. Why was Osomatsu doing this to him? It was one thing to mock him in his own house, but in front of Totoko?

“Hmm.” Totoko tapped her chin, deep in thought. “You mean one of our teachers?”

Osomatsu muffled a snicker with the palm of his hand. “Yeah, exactly. Doesn’t he look exactly like our English teacher?”

Totoko examined Choromatsu for another minute, while he stood rigidly still, arms wrapped around himself so tightly he was digging his fingernails into his arms. Finally, she shook her head.

“I don’t really see it...Choromatsu-kun isn’t old and angry enough to pull that off,” she surmised. Choromatsu felt a stab of gratitude toward her, until she followed up with, “You know what he does look like, though?”

Choromatsu fidgeted uncomfortably under her scrutinizing gaze. Osomatsu studied him, too, and shrugged. “I dunno, what?”

“You look a little like an owl,” she said, giving Choromatsu a smile that was more innocent than her words conveyed. “You know, because the glasses make your eyes look bigger?”

“...um.” Choromatsu didn’t know how he was supposed to respond to that. Was it an insult? A compliment? With Totoko, such a vague comment could be taken either way, and it hadn’t sounded particularly flattering.

“Owls are cute,” Totoko went on, as if that elaborated on her meaning. “And smart, right?”

I still don’t want to look like one, though, Choromatsu thought sourly.                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                “Anyway!” Totoko swung her keychain-bedecked bag up higher onto her shoulder and started walking again. “Let’s hurry. If you’re lucky, maybe I’ll let you walk me home today, too.”

The others jogged to keep up with her brisk pace...everyone except Choromatsu. He once again hung back, stung by the comment, even if it hadn’t really been aggressive. She’d just spoken her mind as usual, probably without thinking, and probably without realizing it’d been hurtful...probably.

That, or she thought he looked as nerdy as his brothers said he did.

“Choro, c’mon, quit dragging your feet,” Osomatsu chided from up ahead.

Choromatsu gritted his teeth. “Coming,” he mumbled, picking up the pace.

“What, you aren’t actually offended by what Totoko said, are you?” Osomatsu asked, dropping his voice low, though not low enough for Choromatsu’s liking. “You know she didn’t mean it as a bad thing.”

“How am I supposed to know that, after the way you all insulted me?” Choromatsu whispered furtively. “You sure didn’t hold back in making me feel dumb.”

Osomatsu shook his head slightly. “You are way too sensitive. Just lighten up, okay, Choromatsu?” Then he snickered. “Or should I call you ‘Owl-matsu’ now?”

Choromatsu scowled, charging ahead past Osomatsu.

“Hey, wait, it was just a joke!” Osomatsu protested, but Choromatsu ignored him.

He’d listened to enough insults for today, and he still had a long, long day of school ahead of him. He just wasn’t aware yet just how long that might be.

Chapter Text

Choromatsu’s day didn’t improve much by the time they got to school and class began. He couldn’t say it started particularly bad, by any means, but it was different, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. He could tell his classmates had noticed his glasses--how could they not, when they’d been so used to seeing six identical faces everyday, only to one day have one of them suddenly change his appearance? Even if it was only a small adjustment, relatively speaking, it definitely stood out. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, aware of certain students around him casting discreet (or trying to be, anyway) glances in his direction and whispering to each other.

What are they saying about me? he wondered, absentmindedly twisting his pencil around in his hand. Are they saying I look ridiculous? They wouldn’t be whispering about it if it was a good thing. Or maybe I’m just being paranoid. Maybe it was just a fluke that they looked over in my direction before they started whispering to each other. It might have nothing to do with me, I’m not really that worth talking about in private, am I?

He tried his hardest to reign in his spiralling thoughts and focus on the work at hand. They were in class, after all, and he didn’t have time to pay attention to whatever his classmates may or may not be saying about him. He was here to learn, so why should he even care what anyone else thought of him? That motto seemed to work, even if only for the moment, so he kept it in mind as he went back to taking notes.

There were some undeniable benefits to having glasses, at least. For the first time in ages, he could see the board at the front of the room without having to squint, efficiently jotting down the points the teacher had written up there in his notebook. He didn’t develop a headache halfway through class like he’d been prone to before, either, which was a major relief. Sometimes his headaches had been bad enough to send him to the nurse’s office, which had only proven to be even more detrimental to his grade in the past. He smiled to himself as he copied the information he needed on his paper. Maybe he looked stupid, but his grades sure weren’t going to reflect that anymore. Maybe being top of the class would be an even trade-off.

This was enough positive reinforcement to get him through his morning classes, and at that point he’d actually convinced himself he really didn’t care about anyone else’s opinion. After all, they were his eyes, and no one else's. He needed to take care of them, even if it meant wearing glasses for the rest of his life. And he liked his glasses just fine, so what else mattered? If he just kept telling himself that, surely it’d sink in.

His newfound positivity only lasted until lunchtime.

Todomatsu went off to join his friends, all of them circulating around one friend’s desk with their lunches so they could spend the break chatting. Karamatsu had a couple of friends he knew from drama club in class, so he met up with them on the other side of the room. Choromatsu didn’t really have any friends in his class yet--his friends from anime club were in the other classroom, along with the rest of his brothers--so instead of trying to find a place to sit with other people he contented himself with staying alone at his desk, figuring he could get  head-start on his homework while he ate. He did that often enough, and wasn’t bothered by it (it was usually a better time to get work done than surrounded by his noisy brothers at home)...though sometimes he did wish things were more like they had been last year, when they’d still been in middle school and he and his brothers had all still been in the same class, and as a result typically ate lunch together. That sort of nostalgia wasn’t really necessary, since he still ate two out of three meals a day with them and wasn’t always pleased by it, but he couldn’t help but feel just the tiniest twinge of loneliness once in awhile.

He pulled a few of his books out of his bag and placed them on his desk, then unpacked the bento his mother had prepared for him and each of his brothers that morning. She’d made extra karaage while cooking dinner last night for their lunch, and packed it with salad and rice. Choromatsu couldn’t help but think that Todomatsu wouldn’t be too happy with the meal--he hated opening up leftovers in front of his friends, because he never wanted them to assume they didn’t have enough money to cook fresh meals for lunch. Personally, Choromatsu didn’t care one way or the other. As long as they were saving money and not wasting food, it didn’t matter. Especially now.

He was about to begin eating, when he heard someone clear their throat beside him.

“So. Are you wearing those glasses because you think they make you look smarter, or because you finally got tired of looking like the rest of your brothers?”

Choromatsu felt his stomach twist into a huge knot. He turned to face Hinata, who was sitting in his desk beside Choromatsu’s, a smirk on his face. He’d only met Hinata this year at the beginning of high school, and it hadn’t taken long to determine that he was an incredibly aggravating person to deal with. He was rude and boastful, always bragging about his grades and his expensive electronics, and the fact that his dad was the bigshot CEO of some company. And for some reason, he’d latched securely onto the Matsuno sextuplets as a constant subject of ridicule.

We’ve never done anything to him, so why does he pick on us so much? Choromatsu thought irritably. Is it because we don’t have as much money as him? Not as smart as him? Or is there some other reason he hates us?

As much as he wanted to confront him on this, though, Choromatsu’s throat went dry the moment Hinata spoke to him. He blinked at him, confused but not knowing how to formulate a response. He knew an insult was incoming, but he didn’t know exactly what it was or how he should brace himself for it.

“Because between you and me...it’s not working either way,” Hinata went on, taking Choromatsu’s failure to reply as an invitation to keep talking. “You just look like you’re trying too hard to stand out. And in case you weren’t aware, that’s not a good thing.”

Choromatsu’s cheeks flushed, but somehow he had the presence of mind to narrow his eyes at Hinata and say, “For your information, I’m wearing them because I need to, not by choice. It has nothing to do with looking smart or looking different from my brothers.”

Choromatsu had hoped such a straightforward answer would be enough to shut Hinata down and get him to leave him alone already, but as usual Hinata was annoyingly persistent. “Sure, if you say so. But even if it wasn’t by choice, why would you choose frames that look like that? You look like an English teacher.”

Choromatsu tried not to let his stony expression waver, but the comment felt like a punch to the gut. English teacher? That’s what Osomatsu said, too...is it really true, then? Oh no, does everyone in class secretly think that??

He felt his breath hitch in his throat, but quickly swallowed hard to hide it. He couldn’t let on his insecurities to Hinata, who was no doubt preying on them already. Instead he sharpened his glare and said, “That’s just stupid.” It wasn’t the best response, but at least he’d worked up the nerve to say something.

“Maybe it is, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.” Hinata’s remark was biting, like another blow to Choromatsu’s stomach while he was still down. He pushed his chair away from his desk with a loud scrape against the floor. “Anyway, word of advice. Get contacts, if you don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb. Karamatsu does enough of that for all of you.” Then he walked off, leaving before Choromatsu had the chance to register that he’d just insulted one of his other brothers in the process. He was just glad that neither of his brothers had been there to witness this.

Choromatsu swallowed hard again, suddenly feeling a lump in his throat like a clump of rice was lodged there before he’d even begun eating. He picked up his chopsticks, but his hand was shaking so much he could barely keep them still as he tried to pick up a piece of karaage three times before finally getting it into his mouth. It didn’t matter, anyway; at that point he’d realized he’d completely lost his appetite. The chicken was dry and tasteless in his mouth, and his stomach was still so tightly wound up from the encounter that he felt like he could barf.

There wasn’t even any logical reason to be so rattled by Hinata’s stupid comments. He was just a jerk. Everyone knew that, and everyone else blew him off easily. Choromatsu had blown him off before, even as the most self-conscious of the sextuplets he knew better than to put any stock into such lame insults.

And yet, being singled out like this felt personal. He tried to block it out of his mind, but he couldn’t seem to ignore it this time. Hinata’s words replayed over and over in his mind like a broken record, taunting him, and he couldn’t help but keep thinking about his brothers’ not-so-kind remarks, too.

They’re just being mean, stop doing this to yourself, he told himself. You’re just easy to pick on because you blow up too quickly. Just let it go.

But he couldn’t quite be firm enough to deny the voice in the back of his head that whispered to him.

Or maybe...they’re right.

----------

“You guys have club meetings today, right?” Todomatsu asked Choromatsu and Karamatsu, as soon as class had been dismissed for the day. He’d stopped by their shared desk as the other students filed past on their way out the door, on their way home or to various club activities. “I’m going to newspaper club.”

Todomatsu was a photographer for the newspaper club. Choromatsu knew he hated writing, and that the only reason he’d joined the club in the first place was because it was one of the most popular clubs at school. He could’ve easily called him out on this, had he been in the mood.

“Ah, yes.” Karamatsu flipped his fringe of hair and grinned. “I have drama club today. Our plans for the play for the school’s cultural festival are coming along swimmingly.”

“Isn’t the cultural festival not until, like...November?” Todomatsu asked, wrinkling his nose.

“One can never be too prepared, my dearest Todomatsu, especially for a performance of this caliber,” Karamatsu proclaimed dramatically.

“Hoo boy...anyway,” Todomatsu went on, restraining from rolling his eyes. “I was wondering if you guys wanted to meet up outside the school when we’re all done and walk home together? I’m not meeting up with anyone else after school today, and everyone else is already heading home now, so it’ll just be the three of us.” Osomatsu and Ichimatsu had elected not to sign up for any extracurriculars this year, and Jyushimatsu’s baseball practices were on a different day.

“But of course!” Karamatsu nodded. “We can meet up at the front gates. What about you, Choromatsu? Would you like to meet up with us after anime club?”

Choromatsu had been packing up his book bag slowly, not paying attention to most of the conversation until then. “Actually, I’m not going to anime club today,” he said, after a moment.

“Huh? Why not?” Todomatsu wondered, raising one eyebrow at him.

“I don’t really feel well...my stomach sort of hurts.” It wasn’t a complete lie. Choromatsu’s stomach had been tied up in knots all afternoon, and it was enough to make him feel sick and like he wanted to go home rather than face anyone else’s line of questioning on his glasses. He just wasn’t willing to explain why.

“Ahh, Choromatsu, I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware you weren’t feeling well.” A frown tugged at the corner of Karamatsu’s mouth. “How long has it been hurting?”

Choromatsu felt a stab of guilt making Karamatsu worry about him. “For a little while,” he mumbled, shoving the last of his books in his bag. “I’ll be fine. I just want to go home and lie down.”

Todomatsu squinted suspiciously at him. “Are you getting sick? Because if you are, don’t even think about touching my stuff,” he said, his tone far less sympathetic than Karamatsu’s had been. “I can’t afford to get sick, I’m supposed to hang out with my friends this weekend in Akihabara.”

Choromatsu glared at Todomatsu. “I’m not sick, okay? So drop it.”

Luckily Todomatsu laid off, seeming to sense by Choromatsu’s tone that he was in no mood to be messed with. “Fine, if you say so.”

“I’ll see you guys later, okay?” Choromatsu lifted his bag onto his shoulder and stood up.

“All right…” Karamatsu looked troubled, like he wanted to say something more but wasn’t sure what. He might have suspected Choromatsu really didn’t feel sick, but he wasn’t about to give it away with Todomatsu standing right there. “I hope you feel better, brother. We’ll talk to you later.”

Choromatsu offered a limp-wristed wave as he walked out of the room. He kept his pace deliberately slow as he shuffled down the hallway, dragging his feet, so that he wouldn’t catch up to his other brothers as they headed for home. He knew he’d end up having to see them once he got to their house, but for now he just felt like being alone, and maybe a walk home by himself would clear up his mind a bit.

Unfortunately it didn’t do the trick, and by the time he arrived home he still felt bad. He shut the front door softly behind him and slipped off his shoes as quietly as possible, hearing the sounds of the television and his brothers’ laughter coming from the living room. They must’ve decided to watch a show before doing their homework. Good, that meant he’d have a bit of time to himself in their room before he had to deal with them again.

“Choromatsu?” Matsuyo asked, as he passed by the kitchen on the way to the stairs. He paused, hovering in the doorway. “What are you doing home so early, dear? I thought you had a club meeting.”

“I did, but I didn’t feel like going.” Choromatsu figured he’d use the same excuse with his mother as he’d given his brothers. “I had sort of a stomachache.”

“Really?” Matsuyo frowned, her voice laced with worry. She stepped closer, pressing her hand to his forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever. How bad does it hurt?”

“Not very. In fact, it feels a little better now that I’m home.” He shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to be grilled on the topic.

“Hmm...if you’re sure.” There was a hint of doubt in Matsuyo’s voice, and Choromatsu couldn’t interpret if it meant she was still concerned or if she had her own suspicions that he wasn’t telling the whole truth. But thankfully she didn’t press the matter too much, choosing to be sympathetic instead. “Well, why don’t you go upstairs and rest for a bit before starting in on homework. You have some time. Hopefully you’ll feel a little better by dinnertime.”

“Yeah, hopefully. I think I will.”

“That’s good.” Matsuyo lightly stroked Choromatsu’s cheek before turning back to her dinner preparations, washing vegetables at the sink.

For a brief instant he contemplated telling his mother what had happened at school that day and why he was feeling so awful. But...no. He hadn’t wanted to explain the situation to his brothers, and he didn’t want to explain it to Matsuyo. She’d only tell him the inevitable, that he just needed to ignore Hinata’s comments because they weren’t true and he knew better...on and on...or worse, she’d want to go to the school and talk with the principal about this issue. It was bad enough when she insisted on doing that back in elementary school, but in high school? The bullying would never end.

No, it was better if he dealt with this by himself. Even if it made him feel horrible and alone in the process.

He trudged upstairs, but instead of going right to their bedroom he made a detour to the bathroom. He leaned over the sink, examining himself in the mirror. First with his glasses, studying himself from all angles. Then he removed them.

Without his glasses, he looked exactly the same as the rest of his brothers. Nothing really distinguishable, nothing that made him stand out too much. But with his glasses...he just wasn’t sure anymore how he felt about what he saw in the mirror.

Are they really that bad? Do I really look like such a dork? Am I really that much different from my brothers now? He put his glasses back on, frowning at himself.

He felt stupid, thinking he looked so much smarter and sophisticated with his new look. Instead he just looked like a bigger loser than he already had been before. Everyone had been right before, even though he hadn’t wanted to admit it.

I’m just...just a big nerd. A dumb nerd. Everyone thinks so.

Choromatsu blinked, hard, before turning away from the mirror and heading for his room, resolving to pull out the futon and pretend to sleep until it was time for dinner. He didn’t want to watch himself cry.

Chapter Text

The rest of the week dragged by slowly. Choromatsu did his best to just focus on his studies and tune everyone else out, which was easier said than done.

His brothers, for one thing, were still pretty relentless with their teasing for the first few days, cracking jokes and coming up with nicknames that he didn’t find the least bit flattering. They tapered off after a few days, fortunately, because even when it came to mocking each other they got bored pretty quickly and moved on to other topics. That didn’t make it hurt less, though, and even though he shouted at them and tried to defend himself when they went too far, he wasn’t really feeling it deep down. That annoying, nagging part of his brain kept telling him they were right, so it was hard to be so vindictive when it came to arguing with them.

School wasn’t much better. It wasn’t like whole groups of students were ganging up on him, throwing insults his way. For the most part, no one said anything, or made a comment in passing about his new glasses. He even got a couple of compliments on them, but he didn’t know how much he could count on them since they were from his friends, and they might feel obligated to tell him he looked good even if he didn’t. He couldn’t help but worry that people were silently judging him the whole time, and it was always a huge relief to finally leave school for the day and not have to think about it as much.

And Hinata...for whatever reason, he wasn’t letting go of this, criticizing Choromatsu every chance he had and occasionally even dragging his own obnoxious group of friends into it. He always made sure to plan his attacks when there weren’t any other students around, so there wouldn’t be any witnesses (Choromatsu figured this was so he wouldn’t tattle, knowing it’d be up to him to speak up...as if he didn’t already know better than that). Sometimes it’d just be a whispered insult as they crossed paths in the hallway, Hinata hissing something inane like “four eyes” in his ear before vanishing into the crowd so Choromatsu didn’t have a chance to respond. Other times he cornered him when he was eating lunch alone, and although he never lingered long his comments were just brutal enough to bring Choromatsu down. As if he already didn’t feel as low as he could possibly be these days. The bullying was enough to keep him awake some nights, simply staring out into the darkness, as his brothers slept peacefully around him.

Tonight was no exception. Choromatsu lay in his usual spot in the futon, sandwiched between Jyushimatsu and Osomatsu, listening to the soft snores (and the occasional buzzsaw-sounding snorts from Jyushimatsu) of his brothers as they dozed. He tossed and turned, shifting positions as carefully as possible so as not to wake anyone up, wishing not for the first time that they all still had their own futons like they did when they were younger. Whose idea was this, anyway?

It was no use, though. No matter how many times he repositioned himself, fluffed up his pillow, attempted to count sheep in his head...he just couldn’t fall asleep. His mind was churning too much, repeatedly reviewing the day’s events and Hinata’s words again and again. Every time he thought about that afternoon, he could feel his stomach twist itself into a knot.

Today Hinata had hung around the front door of the school, waiting for Choromatsu to walk out with his friends from anime club, since they liked to leave the building together before Choromatsu regrouped with his brothers for the walk home. The moment Choromatsu had said goodbye to his friends and watched them walk off, Hinata had pulled him to the side and stated coldly, “Well, looks like your friends don’t care how you look. Good for you. Not that you can trust what they say, considering you’re all in the worst club at school.”

Choromatsu’s mouth had dried up and he’d felt sick to his stomach. Still, he’d managed to croak out, “Don’t insult my friends.”

“Just telling you the truth. It’s good you have each other, at least, since no other club would want you.” And with that he’d let Choromatsu go and rushed off, before Choromatsu could say anything else.

The horrible words replayed themselves in Choromatsu’s head until he couldn’t take it anymore. He sat up slowly in bed, crawling out of his spot and tiptoeing to the bedroom door. He decided that if he got up to get a glass of water, maybe he’d feel better and fall asleep easier.  

He crept down the stairs, padding softly down the hall toward the kitchen. He noticed with surprise that the kitchen lights were still on, and that he could hear snatches of a whispered conversation between his parents.

He knew better than to eavesdrop. If they were up in the middle of the night, holding a hushed conversation between the two of them, then clearly it must’ve meant it wasn’t for the sextuplets to hear. And yet...Choromatsu snuck closer, pressing himself against the wall just outside the kitchen and holding his breath as best as he could so he could listen better.

“...not many ways we can cut back that we aren’t already doing, is there?” Matsuzo was saying, his voice edged with worry.

“We don’t eat out, and we budget carefully when we’re grocery shopping…” Matsuyo rattled off. “There’s just certain expenses that can’t be helped. And then we needed to pay for Choromatsu’s glasses…”

Choromatsu’s stomach plummeted when he heard his name. My glasses…?

Matsuzo sighed. “Well, I guess I could pick up some extra hours at the office...they could always use the help, and it’d be a big benefit to us.”

“But you work so much already as it is,” Matsuyo protested. “We never see you as often as we’d like, and you’re proposing spending even more time away? Certainly there must be something else we can do…?”

“Nothing that will support this family’s needs enough,” Matsuzo answered gravely. “We’ve already tightened our belts as much as we can, and I don’t want to have to take anything away from the kids when we already have to be so thrifty.”

“But will you be okay with it?” Matsuyo wondered anxiously.

“Of course, dear. You know I want to do anything I can for this family, no matter what.”

Choromatsu’s chest tightened and he felt like he couldn’t breathe properly. He quickly pushed himself away from the wall and dashed back upstairs, moving as swiftly and silently as possible, abandoning his plans to get a drink. He’d thought he’d feel better by now, but what he’d just overheard made him feel a million times worse.

We don’t have enough money....we’re struggling...Dad has to work extra hours…

He could feel tears well up in his eyes, which he blinked away furiously.

If I hadn’t needed to get these stupid glasses, maybe things wouldn’t be so bad right this minute…

He somehow made it back to the sextuplet’s room and curled up in his usual spot, burying his face against his pillow, hot tears trickling from his eyes and spilling across his pillowcase despite his best efforts to stop them.

If he’d had trouble sleeping before, he sure wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep now.

----------

Choromatsu slept late the next day without meaning to, and by the time he woke up to find himself in an empty futon with bright mid-morning sunlight pouring through the window, he still felt tired. It was no wonder, though. He estimated that he hadn’t fallen asleep until around three in the morning, and it had been a restless sleep at that. He was just grateful it was the weekend at last and he didn’t have to deal with school for a couple of days.

He rubbed his bleary eyes, then put on his glasses, blinking slowly as he struggled to fully perk himself up. He could smell breakfast aromas wafting up from downstairs, the scent of sausages in particular tickling his nose. It was almost a relief when his stomach grumbled hungrily at the thought of food. He hadn’t had much of an appetite all week.

Without bothering to change out of his pajamas or roll up the futon, he trudged out of the room and down the stairs, joining his brothers at the breakfast table. They had already started wolfing down their food, barely sparing even a few seconds to glance up and greet him when he showed up.

Miraculously, his serving of food had yet to be touched, and he sat down and pulled it closer to him to claim it before any of his brothers could try swiping it from him. Jyushimatsu in particular loved stealing sausages when he thought no one would notice. Wordlessly, he began to eat, not meeting anyone’s gazes.

“Hey, Choromatsu-niisan?” Jyushimatsu piped up out of the blue.

“Hmm?” Choromatsu swallowed a mouthful of rice and glanced up at him. “What, Jyushimatsu?”

“Can I try on your glasses?” he asked, leaning in so close he was practically pressing his face against Choromatsu’s. “Please?”

Choromatsu glanced at him curiously. “Why? They’re just glasses...you wouldn’t be able to see out of them, anyway.”

“I just wanna see what it looks like. Please, just for a second?”

Choromatsu bit his lip, then reluctantly slipped off his glasses and passed them to Jyushimatsu. “I mean, I guess you can. I don’t care. Just be very careful with them, okay?”

“Yeah!” Jyushimatsu eagerly put them on, and Choromatsu couldn’t help but note that Jyushimatsu looked nearly identical to him with the glasses on, just as he’d suspected. Jyushimatsu then swiveled his head around, blinking rapidly as he took in his surroundings. “Whoaaa. Choromatsu-niisan, how do you see out of these things? They’re all blurry, I can barely see a thing!”

Choromatsu smiled faintly, the corner of his mouth barely turning up. “It’s just because of my prescription, Jyushi. Since you don’t need the same prescription, it looks strange to you.”

“Wow! That’s crazy!” Jyushimatsu lifted his hands to his face, wiggling his fingers right in front of his eyes as he examined them through the glasses. “So you mean you really see clearly out of these?”

“Yes. In fact, the way you’re seeing things now is probably pretty close to the way I usually see without my glasses.” It was an interesting fact the optometrist had shared with him, though he hadn’t really thought about it much until now.

Hmm. How is it that we’re sextuplets, yet I’m the only one with vision problems? That just doesn’t seem fair…

“Wait, seriously? I wanna try it out now. Hand ‘em to me, Jyushi.” Osomatsu reached across the table, stretching out his hand toward Jyushimatsu.  

“Huh? Hey, wait, I never said everyone could--!” Choromatsu protested, flustered.

Before he could grab his own glasses back, Jyushimatsu had whipped them off and handed them to Osomatsu, who dodged away from Choromatsu as he put them on. Choromatsu crossed his arms and glowered at him as he adjusted the frames, blinking just like Jyushimatsu had when he’d first tried them.

“Sheesh, you weren’t kidding, Jyushi,” he quipped, opening his eyes wide as he swept his gaze across the room. “Everything’s so fuzzy! You mean you can actually function with these, Choro?”

“Yes, like I just said,” Choromatsu answered through gritted teeth. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, could you please give those back to me? It’s my responsibility to make sure they’re in good hands--and that sure as hell wouldn’t be yours.”

“Ouch, so harsh to your Nii-san.” Osomatsu shook his head in mock disappointment, pressing the glasses up against his nose. “Y’know, these things are pretty loose...are they supposed to be like that?”

“I--”

“Oh! Osomatsu-niisan, give them to me next,” Todomatsu requested. “I want to see how I look in them. I bet it’d be cute.”

Choromatsu turned a furious glare on Todomatsu. “Oh, now you think they’d be cute after you told me how ugly you thought they were before?”

Todomatsu shrugged. “Yeah, but that’s when you wear them. I bet they’d look adorable on me.”

“We look exactly the same, you jerk!”

“Ah, my brothers,” Karamatsu stepped in, attempting to diffuse the situation, “perhaps we should just give Choromatsu his glasses back.”

“Oh, this’ll just take a minute,” Todomatsu said flippantly, taking the glasses from Osomatsu and pointedly ignoring Choromatsu’s glare. He whipped his phone out of his pocket, angling the screen toward him. “Just let me get a picture…”

Choromatsu scowled, his hands curling into fists. “Todomatsu, give them back.”

“One second. Gosh, quit being so uptight --”

“I said, give them back!” Without waiting, Choromatsu lunged toward Todomatsu, almost knocking his phone out of his hand as he swiped his glasses back.

“ Ow! Choromatsu, you could’ve poked my eye out!” Todomatsu yelped, then pouted. “We were only messing around. Why are you being so grumpy about it, all of a sudden?”

“You think I’m grumpy? You want to know why I’m so grumpy?” Choromatsu lashed out, suddenly unable to stop the torrent of words from flooding out of his mouth. “It’s like none of you even thinks sometimes! It’s not like I want to wear glasses, but I have to. And it’s my responsibility to take care of them, not let my stupid brothers play with them after I tell them not to. And it’s funny that all of you even want to try them on now anyway, after you made fun of how I looked all week wearing them. You guys are seriously the worst!”

“Hey--” Osomatsu objected.

“Choromatsu, we--” Ichimatsu began quietly.

Choromatsu wasn’t in the mood to listen, though. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said coldly, pushing his glasses back on his face and standing back up, “I’m going to go back upstairs and start working on my homework.”

Osomatsu snorted. “On a Saturday?”

“I don’t have anything better to do.” Besides, you’ve already made it perfectly clear what a huge nerd you already think I am, so don’t act so surprised.

“But you didn’t finish your breakfast,” Jyushimatsu pointed out.

“You can have it.” Choromatsu stalked out of the room. “I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Choro…” Karamatsu ventured, faltering, as if he didn’t know what to say.

“Just let him leave,” Todomatsu harrumphed, just loud enough for Choromatsu to overhear as he retreated toward the stairs. “We’re just playing around, but if he can’t take it, that’s his fault.”

Karamatsu said something in response, but Choromatsu ran upstairs before he could hear it.

Once he was in the privacy of their own room, he flopped across the unmade futon and let out a trembling sigh. He was determined not to cry, not this time. He blinked a few times, forcing back the tears that threatened to surface, and took a few deep breaths until he’d felt like he’d composed himself enough.

I should’ve known better that I wouldn’t catch a break when I’m always around those idiots… He took off his glasses, rubbing at the lenses with the edge of his pajama top. They got smudges all over them with their grubby hands...gross.

There was a tentative knock on the door then, and Choromatsu resisted the urge to bark at whoever it was to go away. Instead he breathed out through his nose and asked civilly, “Who is it?”

“Choromatsu? May I come in, please?”

Choromatsu felt conflicted when he heard his mother’s voice on the other side of the door. He didn’t really want to let her in and let her see him like this, but on the other hand it’d raise too many questions if he told her to go. Finally he mumbled, “Yes.”

Matsuyo opened the door and closed it softly behind her, then sat down next to him. Neither of them said anything at first, Choromatsu not even meeting her gaze right away.

“Dear...you haven’t seemed quite like yourself these past few days,” Matsuyo finally said, voice laced with concern. “You’ve been very reserved, you’ve barely talked all week. Is everything okay?”

Choromatsu focused his gaze on his socks, swallowing hard before answering. “I’m fine.”

Matsuyo scooted closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Dear, I know this must be a big adjustment for you, so if there’s anything you want to talk to me about you know you can,” she said, giving him a squeeze. “Is everything fine at school?”

Choromatsu’s stomach clenched up as he flashed back on Hinata. “It’s okay.”

“And your brothers…?” Matsuyo pressed, her tone suddenly knowing. “I’ve been able to glean they’ve been giving you a bit of a hard time lately.”

“It’s no big deal.” Choromatsu shrugged. “That’s how they always act, it’s not like I’m surprised or anything.”

“That’s true, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt sometimes. And I just want you to know you can always come to me, no matter what, if you need someone to talk to. You can always count on me.”

Choromatsu bit his lip, wondering for a second if he should just spill every horrible thing he’d been dwelling on that week. Maybe if he just got it off his chest, how mean his brothers and Hinata had been and how awful they’d made him feel, he would feel better.

But...he didn’t want his mom to feel bad for him. That always made him uncomfortable. And when he thought back to the conversation he’d listened in on last night, guilt gripped his heart. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful by complaining about having glasses, not after his parents had paid for them when money was so tight. He decided it was just better to keep everything to himself and ride this out. After all, he’d lived with his brothers for his whole life so far, and was used to teasing at this point. He could take it, right?

“Okay, Mom. Thanks.” He tried to sound convincing.

Matsuyo smiled slightly and patted his back before standing back up. “Just making sure you knew that. Now, do you want to come back down and finish your breakfast before your brothers do it for you?”

“I’ll be there in a minute.” After his dramatic exit before, Choromatsu wasn’t so eager to rejoin his brothers quite yet.

Matsuyo stepped back out of the room, closing the door softly behind her as she did so. Choromatsu drew in another slow, deep breath and gave himself a quick pep talk.

“You’ll be fine,” he told himself quietly. “You’ve dealt with this before. And it can’t be that fun for them for long, sooner or later they’ll move on to something else. You can tough it out until then. It can’t get any worse than this, right?”

At least, I can only hope.

Chapter Text

The weekend went by too quickly for Choromatsu’s liking. For the most part he kept to himself, not speaking to his brothers unless it was necessary. They seemed to sense that he needed some space, and while they didn’t completely avoid him they did seem to go out of their way to not irritate him. It was almost embarrassing, if he were being perfectly honest with himself, almost like they saw him as a bomb with a short fuse that could explode at them any second. But maybe it was better that way. Maybe it was the only way they’d finally stop bothering him so much, even though the damage had already been done.

Monday morning arrived all too soon. Choromatsu dreaded suffering silently through another week of Hinata hurling stupid insults at him. He couldn’t think of anything worse he could say that he hadn’t already said last week, but Hinata was pretty relentless. He was bound to have something horrible cooked up for him.

As he packed up his book bag as slowly as possible, Choromatsu tried to look on the bright side of the situation. He’s already been at this for a week now, he told himself. He has to be getting bored of it by now, right? And maybe he’s forgotten about it after a whole weekend and won’t say anything to me today. After all, even the meanest person can’t harp on the same thing for THAT long, can they?

Still, Choromatsu was afraid to find out.

He followed his brothers to school, dawdling behind them by a few paces, his mind reeling. It was probably a crazy idea, but maybe...just maybe, he could find a way to avoid Hinata completely? He knew it wouldn’t be reasonable to try and avoid him for the rest of high school. After all, they’d be at the same school for three years (and who knew, maybe he’d be unfortunate enough to go to the same college as him, too, in the future). But if he could just dodge him today, just one day, he’d feel so much better about going to school.

Maybe it’s crazy...but it’s worth a try, isn’t it? If I plan everything carefully, I just might be able to pull it off…

Maybe it was ridiculous, but the prospect was too tempting to pass up. So as he walked along behind his brothers, he began mentally forming a plan.

He put this plan into action the moment they arrived at school and began splitting up for the day. They were about to enter the building, when suddenly Choromatsu crouched to the ground, kneeling over his shoe.      

“Eh? Choromatsu, what are you doing?” Osomatsu asked, giving him a funny look.

“My shoe’s untied,” Choromatsu replied, fumbling as convincingly with his laces as he could. “You guys go ahead, I’ll finish tying my shoe and meet you in the classroom.”    

Todomatsu shrugged. “Okay. See you there, then.”

Choromatsu stayed on the ground, watching from under the fringe of his bangs for his brothers to disappear inside the building. Once they were gone, he stood back up and dusted off his jacket, then pretended to examine the contents of his book bag. He knew everything he needed for the day was in there, but he lingered all the same, acting as though he were searching for a pencil at the bottom of his bag. Around him the crowd of students was thinning out as everyone went inside for the first class of the day.

After several minutes, Choromatsu finally headed inside, too, walking down the hall toward his classroom as slowly as possible. By the time he arrived, class was just about to begin, everyone else already seated and waiting. He could feel several sets of eyes--including those of his brothers and his teacher--practically bore into him as he made his way over to his desk, and he bowed his head in an effort to hide his blushing cheeks. He hated being the center of attention for any reason, and being almost tardy for class was probably one of the worst. But at least by showing up so late, Hinata wouldn’t have time to approach him and shoot him down with a cutting remark before class. That benefit definitely outweighed the negative here.

“Is everything okay, brother?” Karamatsu whispered once Choromatsu had settled down at their desk and the teacher began calling roll. “You took quite awhile out there…”

“I’m fine,” Choromatsu whispered back. No way was he going to tell Karamatsu his plan. If he did, he’d only insist that he inform their teacher what was going on with Hinata, which was the last thing Choromatsu wanted.

Karamatsu glanced at him skeptically, but seemed to think better of grilling him at the moment and turned to pay attention to the teacher instead. Choromatsu let out a small sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He didn’t dare spare a glance in Hinata’s direction, just in case.

For the rest of the day, Choromatsu carefully strategized the best ways to avoid Hinata. When lunchtime rolled around he excused himself quickly, telling Karamatsu and Todomatsu that he was going to eat lunch outside with his friends from anime club. And he did go outside...for a few minutes, at least, long enough to wolf down his lunch under the shade of a large tree, far enough on the edges of the campus where he didn’t think anyone would bother him. Then he retreated to the library, where he hid among the bookshelves and read for the entire break, knowing Hinata would never go there during his break.

It dawned on him, halfway through the lunch period, how messed up it was that he felt compelled to actively hide from a classmate. He’d been teased before, yes, but never this bad. Not so bad where he was constantly too aware of how he looked or how other people might see him, or being so nervous to go to school that it almost made his stomach hurt.

But...it’s good that at least I’m dealing with it on my own, right? he thought. He frowned slightly, having to admit to himself that sneaking away and holing up in the library wasn’t exactly “dealing with it” rather than outright avoiding it. It’s still better than giving him the opportunity to knock me down further while I do nothing about it, right? At least he can’t do that while I’m in here…

But now, he wasn’t so sure if his plan had been such a great one, after all.

Still, he stuck to it, staying in the library just long enough so he only had just enough time to race back to his classroom before the next class began. Once again, everyone had already taken their seats, some students still shuffling back to their assigned desks after having finished their lunches with their friends. Fortunately no one gave him any weird looks this time, and he felt himself sag with relief as he claimed his seat beside Karamatsu again.

As the afternoon wore on, Choromatsu felt himself relax. He was mostly in the clear now. If he could just get through the rest of his classes and get out the door quickly enough, he wouldn’t encounter Hinata at all. He’d actually done it, and he felt oddly proud of himself. Even if it was just for one day.

At last, they’d reached the end of the school day, and the teacher dismissed them from class. Choromatsu wasted no time in gathering his things and shoving them into his bag, figuring he’d straighten everything out later once he was home. If he was quick enough, he could leave with the rest of his brothers and not have to worry about Hinata coming up to him on his own.

Todomatsu sidled up to their desk then just as Choromatsu and Karamatsu were standing up. “So, are you ready, Karamatsu?” he asked.

Karamatsu’s eyes sparkled. “Ah. of course!”

“Hmm?” Choromatsu eyed them both curiously. “Ready for what? I thought we were going to walk home together.”

“No, we’re going to the auditorium. The newspaper club wants to interview the drama club and get some pictures for an article today.” Todomatsu crinkled his nose slightly, silently letting Choromatsu know how he felt about the whole affair. “It’s part of a new feature we’re running, highlighting a different club every issue.”

“Oh.” Choromatsu thought quickly. This hadn’t factored into his plan, but maybe he could work around it… “Well, maybe I could join you two?”

Todomatsu shot him a questioning look. “Why would you do that?”

“Uh...because…” He couldn’t very well say outright that he didn’t want to leave the building alone, and he didn’t have a back-up explanation to offer either.

“It probably won’t be of much interest to you, Choromatsu,” Karamatsu said. “You don’t have to hang around.”

“Yeah, it might take awhile,” Todomatsu added. “Why don’t you just walk home with the others? I’m sure they’ll catch up to you outside soon.”

“Okay...I guess you’re right.” Choromatsu tried not to let on any of his distress. It’ll be fine, he told himself. Just get outside and meet up with your brothers. It looks like Hinata already left, so maybe you won’t see him at all. “Then I’ll see you at home, I guess.”

“Goodbye, brother!” Karamatsu said with a bright grin, following Todomatsu out of the room. Todomatsu walked with a far more understated gait, bracing himself for what was sure to be a long-winded interview with Karamatsu involved.

Slowly, Choromatsu exited the room and headed down the hall toward the front doors of the school, weaving his way through the crowd of students. As he emerged into the late afternoon sunlight outside, he glanced around, hoping to see at least one of his brothers there already. But his heart leaped into his throat when he noted he wasn’t alone.

Hinata was there, hanging out just beside the entrance. And he’d definitely spotted Choromatsu, despite his best effort to slip by undetected.

“So there you are...I haven’t seen you around much today. You weren’t avoiding me, were you?” Hinata’s tone was cloying as always, and it made Choromatsu’s stomach turn cold.

“N-no.” Choromatsu hated the way he stammered, always so perturbed by Hinata. Couldn’t he just leave him alone already?

“It sure seemed like you were.” Hinata took a step closer toward Choromatsu, which made him freeze in place despite his desperate desire to flee. “What’s the matter, can’t take a few jokes?”

Choromatsu swallowed hard, his palms sweating. Where were his brothers already? Why weren’t they getting him out of this?

Then again, maybe they’d just agree with Hinata…

“Not saying anything to me this time? Tch, shouldn’t be surprised, you’re always so quiet.” Hinata shook his head to himself. “You probably spent your lunch break in the library, didn’t you? I bet anything you did.”

Choromatsu’s cheeks blazed bright red, unreasonably ashamed that Hinata had been able to pinpoint him so well. He gritted his teeth and, in a meager effort to retain at least a little dignity, said, “Knock it off, Hinata.”

“Fine, fine. You really aren’t any fun, are you?” Hinata roughly shoved Choromatsu before finally leaving.

Unfortunately, the shove had been just hard enough to throw Choromatsu off balance, and although he managed to catch himself from falling, his glasses flew off his face. They bounced off the sidewalk and skidded somewhere into the crowd of students pouring out of the school.

Oh no. Choromatsu’s heart began to race, and he dropped to his knees, frantically searching the ground for his glasses. Oh no, where are they...where are they??

He was an idiot. He’d known they were loose on him, but he never spoke up and got them fixed. What was he thinking?! What if they were lost forever? Then his parents would have to pay for another pair, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Finally he spotted them, several inches away. Relief washed over him as he scooted closer and reached out, just about to grab them…

Crunch.

All of a sudden, to his absolute horror, someone accidentally stepped right on top of his glasses. They didn’t even notice, just continued to walk on by and carry on the conversation they’d been having with their friend. But Choromatsu’s heart sank right through the floor as he finally reached his glasses and scooped them carefully up to inspect the damage.

Broken. His glasses had been snapped cleanly in half. The lenses seemed intact, no cracks that he could tell, but what did that matter? They were useless now if he couldn’t wear them.

Choromatsu clutched the pieces in his trembling hands, his chest rising and falling faster now. He blinked, slowly at first, and then rapidly as tears flooded his eyes and blurred his vision.

No...no no no, this is bad, this is so bad…

“Choromatsu? What are you doing on the floor?”

Choromatsu jerked his head up, terrified for a second that Hinata had returned. But no...Osomatsu stood over him instead, gazing down at him with a worried frown.

“M-my...my…” Choromatsu didn’t trust his voice. Instead, he held the glasses up for Osomatsu to see.

Osomatsu sucked in a breath. “Choro! Your glasses...what happened?”   

“S-tepped on…” Choromatsu choked out, his breaths uneven. Oh god, now he was starting to panic...he didn’t want to hyperventilate, not like this, not in public…

“Crap…” Osomatsu stooped down beside him, placing his hands on Choromatsu’s shoulders. “Take a few deep breaths, okay? Everything’s gonna be fine, this isn’t a huge deal.”

Not a huge deal? How could he even say that? This was a huge deal, and Choromatsu knew that. But he followed Osomatsu’s advice all the same, trying his hardest to take deep breaths and not lose it. Panicking here wouldn’t help.

“M-mom and Dad are gonna be s-so mad…” Choromatsu said once he’d gained control of his breathing again, his voice wobbling.

“No, they aren’t,” Osomatsu assured him. “It was an accident, wasn’t it?”

“It was my fault.” Choromatsu’s grip on the pieces tightened. “If I...if I just….” Tears pooled in his eyes again, and he felt embarrassed and miserable all over again.

“What’s going on?” Oh great, now Ichimatsu was here too. Jyushimatsu was right beside him, and the two of them regarded Choromatsu with surprise and concern.

“I don’t know exactly...but we can talk about that later. He’s upset right now, let’s just get him home.” Osomatsu stood up, and helped Choromatsu back to his feet, too. “It’s gonna be fine, I promise. Okay?”

Choromatsu could only sniffle and nod in response, not believing a word of it. How could it be fine, when his own lack of responsibility was to blame for this? And it was hard to find much comfort in Osomatsu’s words when he just so recently himself had been taunting him.

But he didn’t have it in him to say much of anything now. He just slumped against Osomatsu as he put his arm around him, and trudged dejectedly home, dreading what might come next.

Chapter Text

“Choromatsu, dear, please. Try to calm down, it really isn’t a big deal.”

Choromatsu drew in a deep, shuddering breath, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. He wanted to believe his mother, but he was still so worked up it was hard to convince himself everything really was fine. “Y-you’re really not mad about it?”

“Of course not. Accidents happen, I know I certainly broke my glasses more times than I can count when I was your age.” Matsuyo turned the pieces of Choromatsu’s glasses over in her hands, inspecting them. “I do wish you’d told me they didn’t fit you very well, but it’s okay. We can have them adjusted when we take them in to get them fixed.”

“You mean...you think they can really be fixed? I don’t need to get a new pair?”

“I don’t see why not. It was a very clean break, I’m sure they can put them together easily. In the meantime, I’ll go ahead and mend them with some tape, that way you can still wear them until I can take you back to the optometrist’s office.”

“Okay...thank you, Mom.” Choromatsu was relieved to hear that. Repairing his glasses probably wouldn’t be as expensive as getting new ones, though he still felt a little guilty about causing any extra expenses for his parents. At least that was one problem he wouldn't have to worry about as much…

“Would you mind getting the tape for me?” Matsuyo pointed to a kitchen drawer. “I’ll go ahead and fix them now, before you get to your homework.”

Choromatsu did as she asked, retrieving a roll of white tape from the drawer and handing it to her. Then he sat back down across from her at the kitchen table, absentmindedly tracing his finger along an old coffee stain on the tabletop as she set to work on his glasses.

“There. All fixed...well, as much as I can fix them, at least.” A few minutes later Matsuyo presented him with his now-whole glasses. There was a thick band of tape wrapped around the bridge of the glasses, where they rested on his nose. It wasn’t the most discreet repair job, the white a striking contrast against the black plastic frames, but he would have to accept it.

 Choromatsu slid them on. They sat just a little crookedly on his nose now, but it’d have to do until he could get them properly fixed. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, dear.” Matsuyo offered a small smile, but then her expression shifted to one that was a bit more serious. “Dear...I’ve wanted to ask you about this all week, but didn’t know quite how to go about bringing it up. I tried to ask a couple days ago, but you didn’t really give me answers. I was just wondering...the kids at school, how did they react to your new glasses?”

Choromatsu instantly bristled at the change in subject, then sighed. Maybe...maybe now was the time to finally let himself open up and come clean. His chest felt tight with anxiety at the very thought of telling his mom what he’d gone through that week, but it was nothing compared to how he felt at school anymore.

“Well...it wasn’t all bad. My friends didn’t make a big deal out of it, and for the most part no one else did, either. But…” Choromatsu gulped, tears threatening to surface again as he remembered every awful thing Hinata had said to him in the course of a week. “There was...there was this one kid...he’s not nice to begin with. He likes to pick on us, but we usually ignore him because we know he’s just being mean to get on our nerves. But this week…”

It was like a dam had broken somewhere inside him. Tears filled his eyes, and the whole story flooded out in a big rush. Right down to that day, up to the moment Hinata shoved him and made him lose his glasses. He even told her how badly his own brothers had made him feel, something he’d sworn he wouldn’t mention, though he did leave out the part about listening in on his parent’s conversation about money. Choromatsu hadn’t realized just how much of a burden keeping it all to himself had been, until it was finally out in the open.

When he was finally done he drew in a deep, ragged breath, scrubbing at his eyes with his sleeves in a desperate attempt to stop his tears. “I...I didn’t w-want to tell you, b-because I thought I could deal with it myself...b-but it’s hard. I’ve felt bad all week and...and I don’t know what to do about it anymore. I can’t take Hinata’s teasing anymore...and then I feel like my own brothers don’t care about how I feel, either…”

“Oh, my dear…” Matsuyo moved to the chair next to Choromatsu’s, and enveloped him in a hug. Choromatsu sank into the embrace, sniveling and trying to control his tears. “I thought it was something like that...but I didn’t know it was this bad. I wish you’d come to me sooner.”

“I w-wish I had, too,” Choromatsu confessed, sniffling hard. “I thought maybe I was being too much of a baby, though, letting it bother me so much.”

“Sweetie, anyone would’ve been bothered by what Hinata was saying to you,” Matsuyo said, lightly stroking Choromatsu’s hair. “It doesn’t make you weak, being upset by that. He’s a bully, he wanted to see you react that way. And from the sound of it, I’m sure you’re not his only target, either.”

“He does like making fun of people...and it’s not the first time he’s been mean to me,” Choromatsu admitted slowly. “But it felt more personal this time...I was already nervous about getting glasses, and he made me feel like a loser.”

“And you absolutely aren’t,” Matsuyo insisted firmly, hugging him close again. “You are a bright, intelligent young man who just happens to need glasses now. And need I remind you, a lot of people wear glasses. There’s no reason to be embarrassed by them.”

“I guess not.” Choromatsu adjusted his glasses, pulling away from his mother then. “But if that’s the case, why does he always pick on me, and not any of the other kids who wear glasses?”

Matsuyo tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I don’t know, dear...there’s never really any knowing why a bully picks on the kids he does. He could have his own problems to deal with, he could be jealous of you, any number of reasons...you don’t know much about him outside of school, do you?”

“No…” It was true, he really didn’t know anything about Hinata outside what he picked up from him at school. He had no clue why Hinata might ever be jealous of him, when he practically had everything given to him on a silver platter, but he knew that wasn’t his mother’s point here. “That doesn’t give him the right to be so cruel, though.”

“No, it certainly doesn’t,” Matsuyo agreed. “It’s never an excuse to treat others badly. It’s just something to think about, though. A reminder not to take anything he says to heart.”

“I guess so... I just wish he’d give me a break.”

“I know, dear. Believe me, I understand that it’s hard. Just try to keep your chin up, though. I’m sure he’ll get bored of it and give up soon, or we can come up with some sort of solution. Does that sound okay to you?”

Slowly, Choromatsu nodded.

“Alright. Now...about your brothers. Would you like me to talk to them for you?”

“No.” Choromatsu shook his head adamantly. “They’ll just laugh at me more for having to get you to help me...or mad that I got them in trouble.”

“Ah, I suppose I see your point on that,” Matsuyo replied, thinking it over.

Choromatsu sighed. “I just...I know we make fun of each other a lot. I guess we’re kind of allowed to, with each other. But...I wish they knew how much it hurt sometimes, though. I wouldn’t make fun of any of them for getting glasses or braces or anything...so why do they pick on me so much?”

“It might be because you’re easier to get a rise out of...they know you react more strongly to their teasing, so they keep it up. That doesn’t excuse their behavior either, though.”

“I know it doesn’t. But I don’t know how to stop it, either.”

“Perhaps you should talk to them yourself,” Matsuyo suggested gently. “Tell them how badly you’ve been feeling, and that you’d appreciate if they laid off the glasses jokes a bit. They might like cracking jokes, but I’m sure even they would stop if you asked them to.”

“That’s easy for you to say…but maybe I’ll try it. Thanks, Mom.”

“Of course, dear.” Matsuyo pressed a light kiss to Choromatsu’s forehead. “Now go ahead and get started on your homework, okay? Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Okay.” Choromatsu scooted his chair away from the table and stood up. He had to admit, he felt a little lighter now that he’d told everything to his mom...just a little. It hadn’t exactly solved any problems, but at least he didn’t feel so alone anymore.

As he walked out into the hallway, he nearly collided with Osomatsu. Osomatsu jumped back quickly, looking surprised and--if Choromatsu wasn’t mistaken--a little guilty.

Choromatsu frowned at him. “Were you eavesdropping on me and Mom?”

“No!” Osomatsu answered quickly. “I mean, not on purpose. I was coming down to the kitchen to get a drink and overheard you talking, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“A likely story,” Choromatsu grumbled, sneering at him. He attempted to maneuver past him and go upstairs, but Osomatsu blocked his path.

“Choromatsu...wait, I think we need to talk first.” Osomatsu took Choromatsu by the wrist and led him to the living room, despite Choromatsu’s protests.

“What do we need to talk about?” Choromatsu crossed his arms and glared at him.

“Choro...I heard what you said to Mom. About how bad we’ve been making you feel lately.” Osomatsu looked at him with something like remorse flickering in his eyes. “Is that really true? Have we been that shitty?”

“Are you kidding?” Choromatsu asked incredulously. “You’ve all berated me almost every day with comments about how I look and how nerdy my glasses are. Wouldn’t that upset you?”

Osomatsu winced, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, I guess that would...I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“Well, you should’ve.” Choromatsu glanced down at his socks, telling himself not to get emotionally worked up again. “Because...it really hurts when your own brothers are the ones talking to you that way. Maybe it’s true, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep rubbing it in my face. I know I look like a dork.”

“Man...Choromatsu, I’m sorry.” Osomatsu’s voice was quiet and surprisingly sincere. “I guess I didn’t realize how much it affected you...we just thought we were being funny and playing around. We didn’t think you were taking it so seriously.”

 “That’s still not a good reason to keep making fun of someone, especially your own brother,” Choromatsu said flatly. “The only ones who didn’t tease me were Karamatsu and Ichimatsu. You and Todomatsu and Jyushimatsu were relentless.”

“Well, that’s gonna stop right now,” Osomatsu declared firmly. “I don’t want you to feel like that again...I should’ve noticed sooner. I guess I’m a lousy big brother, huh?”

“The worst,” Choromatsu agreed in a deadpan tone, but he was beginning to soften up a little. “Thanks, though. I think that’d help.”

“Yeah. We’ll try to do better next time, okay?”

“You’d better.” Choromatsu nudged Osomatsu with his elbow, and Osomatsu bumped him lightly back.

“Anyway...what’s going on between you and Hinata?” Osomatsu asked then, his frown deepening again. “I didn’t know he’d been doing anything to you…”

“He’s been tormenting me all week,” Choromatsu confessed, taking off his glasses and turning them over in his hands without really thinking about it. “He’s been cornering me in class to make these mean jokes, and telling me I’m a loser and that my friends are losers...I tried avoiding him completely today, but he still found me and made fun of me. Actually, he’s the reason my glasses got broken.”

Osomatsu’s eyes widened. “He broke them?!”

“I don’t think he meant to go that far...then again, knowing him, maybe he did. He just shoved me and my glasses fell off, and got stepped on.”

“And...you never told anyone about this guy harassing you? Why not?”

Choromatsu shrugged, gaze cast downward. “I guess...I didn’t think you’d care, since you were saying basically the same things he was. I thought maybe you’d take his side. Besides, it was kind of embarrassing, and I didn’t want to bring it up and make a big deal out of it.”

“Wow...we really are shitty brothers, aren’t we?” Osomatsu shook his head slightly. “If I had noticed, I would’ve socked him in the jaw.”

“Probably not the best idea, unless you wanted to get suspended,” Choromatsu pointed out.

“Ehh.” Osomatsu shrugged nonchalantly. “Would’ve been worth it to wipe the smug grin off his face for once.”

“Maybe.” Choromatsu gave him the smallest hint of a smile. “I’d like to see that.”

“Seriously though, Choro, if he keeps messing with you just let me know, okay?” Osomatsu went back to being serious again. “You’re my little brother, I wanna protect you. Especially since I did such a crappy job of it before.”

“I don’t want you to mortify me by creating a whole scene or anything...but it’d be nice to have the backup. Just don’t do anything too rash.”

“No promises.” Osomatsu took Choromatsu by the hand and pulled him back to his feet. “C’mon, let’s go upstairs. I promise, no more teasing.” Then he smirked. “Well, about this, anyway.”

“I wouldn’t expect it any other way.” And with that Choromatsu followed Osomatsu back upstairs, feeling better than he had in days. Maybe things weren’t perfect yet...they hardly ever were, after all. But now that he felt like he could rely on his family again, maybe things would improve. It might take time, but he was ready for it.

He wasn’t about to let Hinata win.

Chapter Text

“Boys, come grab your lunches and get ready to go to school,” Matsuyo called from the kitchen. “You don’t want to be late.”

This was met with some grumbling from a few of the brothers, who were less than eager over the prospect of another long day at school. But they lined up at the kitchen counter to retrieve their bento boxes, anyway.

Choromatsu was the last in line to get his lunch, and as Matsuyo placed the bento in his hands she said, “Oh, Choromatsu, I called Dr. Ono’s office and he said we could stop in anytime to get your frames fixed. Would you like to go after school today?”

“Oh.” Choromatsu self-consciously touched the tape wrapped around his glasses. “Um, okay. If you’re sure.”

“Of course. It’ll only take a few minutes, I’m sure. It’s a simple repair.”

“I know, but…” Choromatsu knew he couldn’t hide his fears much longer. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “Do we have enough money for it? Because I...um, well...”

“Yes?” Matsuyo caught on quickly that Choromatsu needed to say something, but waited patiently for him to form his thoughts.

“It’s just that last week, I heard you and Dad...saying some things. I didn’t mean to listen in, it was an accident,” he rushed on to add, feeling guilty because he hadn’t exactly stopped himself from eavesdropping either. “But...I heard you saying how money is super tight for us again, and that my glasses were expensive, and that Dad has to work extra hours at the office now because of it…I didn’t know things were so bad for us again.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Matsuyo sighed slightly, placing a hand on Choromatsu’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to hear that...our financial situation shouldn’t be your concern, which is why we try not to discuss it around you and your brothers very often. It’s true that we’re in a bit of a tight spot and could use the extra money right now, but we’ve been through this before and made it out just fine. And your glasses, yes, that was an added expense, but that’s certainly not what put us over the edge. We simply need to cut back where we can and save up our funds again.”

“You mean that?” Choromatsu asked apprehensively. “You don’t have to lie to me…”

“Choromatsu, dear, would I ever lie to you?” Matsuyo pulled him in for a quick, one-armed hug. “I promise you, we’ll be fine, and we’ll be able to take care of you kids and support you however you need. I don’t want you to worry about that anymore. Your focus should be on your studies, okay?”

Choromatsu leaned into the hug, wanting to convince himself not to worry. His mother had a point--it wasn’t anything he could control, so there wasn’t much reason for him to fixate on it as much as he did. Maybe just focusing on his schoolwork would be the best option here. He felt a little better once he’d resolved to do that.

“Thanks, Mom,” he mumbled against the soft fleece of her cardigan, his cheek still resting against her shoulder.

“You're welcome, dear.” Matsuyo patted him on the back before they pulled away from the embrace. “Now, you’d better go join your brothers and head to school. I hope you have a good day today, and remember to keep your chin up.”

Choromatsu’s stomach lurched at the thought of facing another day of torment from Hinata. Deep down he knew he couldn’t live in fear of him, and that one day this would all blow over and be nothing but a distant memory, but until that day came it was hard to dredge up much enthusiasm to go to school. Still, he gave his mom a brave smile and headed toward the front door to get ready to leave with his brothers. Much like his family’s financial situation, there wasn’t anything he could do about this, either--school was a necessity, especially if he ever wanted to be successful in his life. He wouldn’t let Hinata keep him from a bright future.

By the time he’d put his shoes on and swung his backpack over his shoulders, his brothers had already ventured outside. All but Osomatsu, who waited for Choromatsu to finish getting ready without complaining as he usually did.

“Ready?” he asked as Choromatsu stood up and brushed off his uniform.

Choromatsu nodded. “I guess so. As much as I can be, anyway.”

“Okay. Just know we’ve got your back if anything happens again, alright?”

“I know.” Osomatsu had been serious when he said there’d be no more teasing from the brothers. Last night he’d encouraged Choromatsu to finally speak up and tell them how he’d felt, with Osomatsu interjecting to say that he personally wouldn’t stand for any more joking. The brothers had all seemed surprised, as if they genuinely hadn’t realized just how much their words had affected him. And although things had been a little awkward at first, they’d all agreed to lay off the jokes (at least about his glasses) and apologized to him. He could only hope they were being sincere--Todomatsu’s apology had seemed a little begrudging--but it was a relief knowing at least he didn’t have to feel targeted in his own home anymore.

“Okay. Good.” Osomatsu clapped his hand hard against Choromatsu’s back and grinned.

“Ow, don’t smack me like that,” Choromatsu protested, backing away and rubbing the sore spot that blossomed on his back where Osomatsu had slapped him. But he still smiled back a little.

It felt good, being able to smile again and mess around with his brother when it wasn’t at his expense. He just hoped things would stay this way.

----------

As soon as he got to school, Choromatsu felt like hiding. He knew the tape on his glasses looked ridiculous, and even though it was just temporary he felt mortified by it. As he walked into the classroom he was aware of the gazes of several students sizing him up, whispering and snickering behind their hands. He inadvertently caught Hinata’s gaze, and his stomach twisted up when he saw the haughty smirk on his face. He could feel his cheeks burn bright red and quickly bowed his head.

Karamatsu cut a glance toward Hinata, then whispered to Choromatsu, “Don’t let him get to you, Choro. It’s not that bad, I promise.”

“Yes, it is...but thanks.” Choromatsu intentionally turned his face away from Hinata to look at Karamatsu, and together the two of them sat down at their desk. His face was still hot, but he was determined not to let Hinata get under his skin again today. He couldn’t let himself feel so ashamed of his looks when it wasn’t something he could help. He knew that’d be easier said than done, but it was something he needed to practice.

For most of the day, though, he kept having to instruct himself to relax. He didn’t know if he could blame his own anxiety or Hinata’s scrutiny for his paranoia, but he kept glancing around himself to see if anyone was shooting him funny looks or laughing at him more. Fortunately, it seemed like everyone was focused on the lesson at hand, not giving him a second thought. He rolled his shoulders in an attempt to ease some of the tension there, and tried to pay attention to the lesson as well.

At lunchtime, Choromatsu elected to eat lunch on the roof with Karamatsu. It was a little awkward at first, since Karamatsu was meeting up with a couple of friends from his drama club, but they warmed up to each other quickly enough. Luckily Karamatsu’s friends weren’t judgemental and didn’t even ask about his glasses, and when they started discussing upcoming events for the club they made sure to include Choromatsu in the discussion when possible. Choromatsu didn’t mind sitting on the sidelines for a bit, though--simply leaning against the tall fence that surrounded the rooftop and basking in the sunlight without having to worry about Hinata’s criticisms was enough for him.

The rest of the afternoon went by smoothly enough. He managed to evade the teacher when students were being called upon to answer questions, not wanting to draw any additional attention to himself. No one called him names or picked on him or generally paid much attention to him, which was what he was used to. Hinata might have been shooting him looks, but Choromatsu wouldn’t validate him by turning around to check. That’s what Hinata would want, and Choromatsu didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.

At last, the school day was over, and students were rushing to pack up their belongings and file out the door. Choromatsu was almost out the door with Karamatsu and Todomatsu when he heard Matsumoto-sensei call, “Choromatsu, could I have a word with you?”

Choromatsu’s stomach sank, and he swallowed hard. “Okay,” he responded weakly, casting a glance toward his brothers. Karamatsu raised an eyebrow, silently asking if he wanted them to wait outside for him, but Choromatsu gave his head a slight shake. He didn’t need his brothers to linger for this, but he couldn’t possibly imagine what this could be about. He felt a sickening sense of deja vu.

Choromatsu approached Matsumoto-sensei’s desk cautiously. “Ahh...you wanted to see me, Sensei?”

“Yes.” To Choromatsu’s immediate relief, Matsumoto-sensei offered him a smile. “I’ve noticed over the last week that your performance in class has been improving. Your grades have gotten significantly better in a short span of time, too, as far as the homework is concerned.”

“Oh! Um, yeah, I guess so,” Choromatsu responded, smiling a little himself at the praise. He hadn’t expected to be singled out for a good reason today, and it was such a pleasant surprise that he couldn’t wipe the grin away. “It does help to be able to see the board now. I hadn’t realized it was such a problem before…”

“Well, it’d be hard to realize you had a problem if you were simply used to your vision being that way. But I’m glad it’s been taken care of now,” Matsumoto-sensei replied. “I’m sure you’ll place far higher on your next quiz now that you can work to your full potential. Keep up the good work.”

“I will, Matsumoto-sensei. Thank you.” Choromatsu bowed slightly. “I’ll see you tomorrow, have a nice afternoon.”

He exited the classroom then, an unexpected spring in his step. He definitely didn’t intend to disappoint his teacher again, and felt confident that he could keep that grade up now. He would strive to keep his grades up in all of his classes, and then maybe if he did well enough in his placement tests he could try to get a scholarship for his dream college so his parents wouldn’t have to pay. It was a good goal to keep in mind.

“So, you’re a teacher’s pet now, too?”

Choromatsu froze at the familiar, cloying sound of Hinata’s condescending voice speaking from behind him. No. Don’t let him get to you. You were doing so good today. He continued walking down the hall, ignoring him.

“As if it wasn’t enough, showing up to school with taped-up glasses.” Hinata snorted. “How’d you break them, anyway? Trip over your own two feet and land on them?”

Choromatsu gritted his teeth and sped up, marching briskly down the hall. What would it take to get Hinata off his back already? Was he really so hard up for something to do that he was willing to practically chase Choromatsu down the hallway just so he could insult him? He would’ve assumed someone like him would have better things to do with his time.

“What, are you ignoring me? Can’t handle the truth?” Hinata taunted, picking up the pace so he was almost side-by-side with Choromatsu. “Can’t handle knowing how pathetic and stupid you look like that? It’s almost impressive that you decided to leave the house today.”

Choromatsu tried not to pay any attention, but it was hard when Hinata was right there cutting him down with absolutely no remorse. It wasn’t like Choromatsu wasn’t already aware of this, so why did he have to rub it in? But heat rose in his cheeks all the same, unable to mask his humiliation.

Just go away already...go away…

“Hey, excuse me.”

Choromatsu stopped, and so did Hinata. They turned to see Osomatsu walking down the hall toward them, arms folded casually behind his head as he sauntered. Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu trailed behind him.

“What?” Hinata asked, once Osomatsu had reached them. His voice held a hint of irritation.

Choromatsu blinked, tilting his head quizzically at Osomatsu. Osomatsu caught the look and gave him a secretive wink in return, which only served to fuel Choromatsu’s confusion...not to mention apprehension. He could only hope a showdown wasn’t about to brew between them.

Osomatsu faced Hinata again and shrugged. “Oh, nothing. Just wondering why you were talking to Choromatsu here, when I know you aren’t friends. With any of us, for that matter. Say, are you thinking of joining the anime club or something?”

“As if,” Hinata scoffed, voice oozing with arrogance. “Why would I ever want to lower myself to that? I have much better things to do with my time.”

“Huh, really?” Osomatsu widened his eyes innocently. “Then how come it seems like you have so much free time to pick on other students for stupid things? Is it because you have no friends?”  

“What are you even talking about?” Hinata wanted to know, narrowing his eyes menacingly at Osomatsu. “Of course I have friends. More than you do, or any of your other geeky brothers.”

“Actually, come to think of it,” Ichimatsu piped up, his voice monotone but his glare sharp as he leveled his gaze with Hinata, “I don’t ever see you hanging out with other kids. Isn’t that right, Jyushimatsu?”

Jyushimatsu nodded vigorously. “Right! He’s always by himself!”

Choromatsu still wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but he thought he was beginning to get a vague idea. Are we just...going to insult him back?

“Now wait, hold on!” Hinata protested. “I do so have friends! I’m president of two clubs here, I certainly have friends there and in my classes!”

“Hmm, funny. ‘Cause I never see you sitting with any of them when we’re in the library for research, or at lunchtime on the quad,” Osomatsu remarked. “What about you, Choromatsu? Does he sit with friends in class?”

“I…” Choromatsu’s tongue went as dry as sandpaper, all eyes suddenly trained expectantly on him. Hinata’s glare was so irate it made his stomach turn to ice. But he saw Hinata in class every day, and he knew the truth. He couldn’t let Hinata keep stepping all over him by uttering some meek cover-up now, defending him when he didn’t deserve it. Instead, he forced himself to straighten his spine and said, raising his voice just slightly and trying to speak with more conviction than he felt, “No, he doesn’t. He always sits by himself there, too.”

“This is ridiculous!” Hinata declared hotly, crossing his arms and squinting at the brothers. “What are you trying to prove here? There must be a point to this nonsense, isn’t there? What do you care how many friends I have?”

“So let me get this straight. You don’t think we should care about if you have friends or if you spend time with them, right?” Osomatsu clarified.

Hinata continued glaring at him, mouth pressed into a thin line. Choromatsu’s eyes darted between the two of them, and all he could do was wait for what was coming next.

“So if we shouldn’t care about that, then why should you care so much about Choromatsu’s glasses?” Osomatsu prompted. “What does it matter to you, if it’s not your business? Why should anyone else’s business in school be yours, if you’re gonna get so testy when someone starts talking to you the same way?”

Whoa. Choromatsu hadn’t been expecting that. Osomatsu had said it so easily, but there was a hint of challenge to his voice as he squared off against Hinata.

“That’s...I…” Hinata sputtered, frustrated. “Oh, this is a huge waste of my time! I’m not going to keep putting up with you losers. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He spun on his heel and stormed away down the hall, soon out of sight.

Choromatsu could only gape in astonishment as Hinata stomped off. “Wow...he actually left. I didn’t think anything could ever get him to shut up…”

“With any luck, he’ll keep his mouth zipped shut, too.” Osomatsu turned his gaze on Choromatsu then. “You okay? He didn’t say anything too bad to you this time, did he?”

“Not any more than usual,” Choromatsu replied. “But, wow...I think you guys really hit a nerve with him just now.”

“Good, then our plan worked.” Osomatsu grinned with satisfaction. “What d’you think? Good plan, right? Hit him right where it hurts, give him a taste of his own medicine?”

“Yeah...thanks a lot.” Choromatsu couldn’t help himself--he was grinning. Not only was he grateful to have Hinata off his back, at least for now, but he couldn’t help feeling a sense of genuine appreciation toward his brothers then. Just days ago he hadn’t known if he could count on them for anything, but now it seemed like they were finally coming around and would have his back if he needed them. Well...some of the time, at least. “That might not stop him for good, though. He could just come back and pick on me again when you aren’t around…”

“True, he might,” Osomatsu replied with a shrug. “But we still got a word in against him for once, so that’s a small victory. And he’s gotta quit targeting you eventually, so just remember that when he’s making fun of you. He may think he’s got all these friends or whatever, but he doesn’t, and even if he does he still doesn’t have the one thing you’ll always have.”

“Yeah!” Jyushimatsu practically pounced on Choromatsu with a big hug, almost knocking him over. “You’ll always have your brothers! We really don’t care if you wear glasses...sorry we made you feel bad about it.”

“Yeah. You’re still, you know... you, glasses or not,” Ichimatsu mumbled, casting his gaze toward the tiled floor. He’d never been very good at expressing sentiment, so that was a lot coming from him.

“Thanks, guys...I really mean it,” Choromatsu said again. “That means a lot.”

Osomatsu slung his arms over Choromatsu’s shoulders. “Ready to head home?” he asked.

Choromatsu nodded, adjusting his glasses. “Yeah, ready.”

Together, the four of them walked out of the school, all grouped close together. It was the first time in over a week that Choromatsu could recall leaving school feeling happy, rather than humiliated and upset and like he wanted to crawl right into bed the second he got home. It felt good, his brothers flanking him like a defensive barrier on either side, Hinata long gone and probably still brooding over what they’d said to him.

Choromatsu was sure this wouldn’t be the last he’d hear from Hinata, or someone else like him. People like him were never quick to change, and he figured he could expect to hear a few more snide comments aimed his way before he finally gave up and moved on to something else. But maybe now, it’d be a little easier to take them, knowing he wasn’t alone. As his brothers had said, nothing had changed about him just because he had glasses, and now that he could rely on them he felt a lot safer and better about himself.

It might take awhile to completely salvage his confidence again, but he felt like he was on his way.

Chapter Text

Come on, Choromatsu--you’re seventeen. You’re a third year in high school. This shouldn’t be so daunting.

“Choromatsu, c’mon--hurry up!” Osomatsu shouted from the hallway, banging his fist impatiently on the closed bathroom door. “We have to leave for school soon!”

“I’ll be right out!” Geez, quit rushing me! Why don’t YOU try putting in contacts for the first time?

Choromatsu took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, watching his reflection in the mirror. Still wearing his glasses. He removed them and set them on the counter, beside the tiny case containing his new contact lenses, then washed his hands like the directions that had come with his contacts had instructed.

Why exactly did I decide to get contacts? Oh yeah--because it’s my last year of high school and I wanted to do things differently. But if I wanted a change, maybe I should’ve done something smaller and not so invasive...like dying my hair, maybe…

He couldn’t chicken out now, though--not after talking himself into this, and convincing his mom through multiple lengthy conversations that he was ready for contacts. His brothers would laugh at him, too, if he acted like a coward about it now. And he’d definitely been through enough teasing two years ago when he got his glasses in the first place. He would’ve hoped that college next year would be different, that the students there would be mature enough not to make him a target for ridicule just because of his vision issues, but why take the chance?

He picked up the container and popped it open, eyeing the two tiny contacts warily. They’re just little contact lenses...it’s not a big deal. I can do this. Even if it means...touching my own eye. Ew.

He carefully plucked one of the contacts out, holding it on the tip of his finger as the directions said to do. He knew he couldn’t hesitate much longer, or else he’d seriously lose his nerve and give up, resorting to glasses for the rest of his life. He faced himself in the mirror, tugging his eyelid open, and then--holding his breath--gently pressed the contact into place. He closed his eye right after, then blinked it back open slowly.

Huh...I guess that wasn’t too bad.

He followed the same procedure with the other eye, moving quickly but precisely so he wouldn’t scratch his eye (that’d be majorly embarrassing, winding up with an eyepatch after his first time wearing contacts). He blinked a few times, adjusting to them at first, before regarding himself in the mirror again.

Wow. It was almost starling seeing himself so bare-faced again, after wearing glasses every day for the last two years. Not to mention, he was able to see clearly--no squinting or leaning in to make out all the details. His vision wasn’t the slightest bit blurry.

But….do I even look like myself anymore without glasses? They sort of became part of my identity after all this time...I got so used to them that I’m not sure I like how I look without them, after all. Maybe I just...need to get used to it again?

“Choromatsu, come on!” Osomatsu hollered from the other side of the door, knocking again. “Other people need to use the bathroom too, you know! Quit hogging!”

“Alright already!” Choromatsu snapped, irritated. He put his glasses back in their case, still feeling a little weird without them on his face. It left him feeling almost exposed, somehow--like he was missing something important , even though he was able to see just as clearly without them now. He stuck them in his pocket, then swung open the door and stepped out into the hall.

“Finally,” Osomatsu groused, brushing past Choromatsu and into the bathroom. “I thought you’d be in there forever.”

“Shut up, shitty eldest,” Choromatsu retorted, grimacing at him. Osomatsu paid no mind as he slammed the bathroom door shut behind him.

Choromatsu could only roll his eyes as he headed into the kitchen.

His brothers were already gathered around the table in the other room, wolfing down their breakfast, but Matsuyo was still in the kitchen busily packing up bento boxes for the boys’ lunch. She glanced up and smiled when she saw Choromatsu enter the room

“Good morning, dear,” she greeted him. Then she did a double-take. “Oh! Choromatsu, you’re wearing your contacts! How do you like them?”

“They’re good...I think. I’m not really used to them,” Choromatsu confessed. “What do you think? Do I look okay..or did I look better with the glasses…?”

“Dear, you look perfectly fine no matter what you choose to wear,” his mother responded, which in Choromatsu’s opinion didn’t really answer his question. “As long as you’re comfortable with it and feel good about yourself, that’s what matters most. And of course, you can always switch between the two as you see fit--glasses one day, contacts the next.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” Choromatsu smiled a little. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, dear.” Matsuyo leaned across the counter and affectionately patted his cheek. “Now go on, get some breakfast before your brothers devour your share of it.”

“If I’m not too late already,” Choromatsu cracked, as he exited the kitchen. Knowing his brothers, they’d probably already scarfed down all the food without him, leaving behind a few measly grains of rice in their wake. And if they did, they could definitely expect a lecture from Choromatsu about it.

In other words, just a normal day in the Matsuno household. His brothers would always be selfish jerks when it came to food--but they were still his brothers. And Choromatsu was still Choromatsu, with or without his glasses. He just had to keep reminding himself of that.

----------

A few years later.

Choromatsu always dreaded springtime. All of his brothers did. Yes, it was beautiful when the trees grew new leaves and the cherry blossoms bloomed in an explosion of bright pink petals. But it also meant pollen floating in the air, and with six brothers with  bad allergies that equated to a pretty miserable time. And somehow, Choromatsu was just unfortunate enough to suffer worse from them than any of the other sextuplets.

“Ah-choo!” Choromatsu sneezed, reflexively grabbing a tissue from the box next to him to cover it up just in time. He blew his nose and sniffled, feeling even more congested now than he’d been already.

“Bless you,” Osomatsu said, not even looking up from his manga this time. Everyone had basically been taking turns saying “bless you” to Choromatsu at this point. The allergy medication had kicked in for them just fine, but Choromatsu was sneezing enough for all six of them now.

“Gross,” Todomatsu sneered, glancing up from his phone long enough to cast Choromatsu a disgusted look. “You better not be getting snot everywhere.”

“Thanks for the sympathy.” Choromatsu’s voice was so plugged-up it barely sounded like his own, and didn’t reflect his intended sarcasm very well. He couldn’t find it in him to care much, though. The sneezing, dry throat, and sinus headache were enough to make him feel like crap, like he had a horrible cold that was lingering on for twice as long as it should’ve.    

And on top of all that, his eyes were an itchy, watery mess.

“Ughhh,” he groaned, putting down the job magazine he’d been trying to read and pressing his hands to his leaky eyes. “My eyes are so blurry, I can barely see. These stupid contacts…”

“Choro, if your contacts are bothering you so much, why don’t you just take them out?” Osomatsu suggested. “You could just wear your glasses again, right?”

“I mean, I guess…” Choromatsu hadn’t touched his glasses in what felt like ages, sticking mainly to his contacts once they’d become second nature to him to wear. Even in situations when he wasn’t up to wearing them, it never dawned on him to get his glasses--he would end up just dealing with his fuzzy vision. He’d gotten so accustomed to having nothing on his face again that he barely even thought of it anymore.

“You complain every year when your allergies kick in that you can’t stand your contacts,” Ichimatsu pointed out bluntly, casting him a look from where he sat curled up in a corner with a cat in his lap. “So just stop wearing them and put on your glasses instead.”

Choromatsu rubbed his eyes, contemplating this. He could switch back to his glasses, but did he want to? It had been so long, it’d feel weird...but then again, it had to be a hell of a lot better than having to handle these bleary, scratchy eyes for the whole allergy season. Maybe it was worth a try.

“I’ll be right back,” he said at last, standing up and heading upstairs.

In the sextuplets’ room, he had to rummage through his dresser drawer for a minute before finally locating his glasses case. At his last appointment with the optometrist, he’d ended up getting a new pair of glasses with his current prescription in addition to new contacts, so at least they were recent.

As he pulled them out, he unearthed another item from underneath a stack of neatly folded white shirts that he hadn’t seen in a long time--the case for his very first pair of glasses.

Ooh...my glasses from high school. That feels like so long ago now...I wonder if they’re still inside.

He picked up the case and snapped open the lid. Sure enough, his old glasses were nestled safely inside, just as he’d expected. They looked smaller than he remembered them being after all these years, and the lenses were a little smudged, but otherwise they were in the exact same condition he’d left them in the last time he wore them.

I wonder if they still fit. Slowly, Choromatsu lifted them from the case, slipping them on his face. Funny, way back when he first got them they’d been so loose on him, and now they almost felt snug. Not to mention, the prescription was so outdated that it warped his vision just to look through them.

He took them off, but instead of putting them back right away he held them a little longer, turning them over in his hands as his mind wandered. These glasses sure brought back a flood of memories...not a lot of which were good. The first thing he remembered was Hinata’s taunting smirk, laughing at him and making him feel like an absolute loser. It may have been short-lived, but those were some really terrible days that Choromatsu was glad he’d never have to relive.

But there were a few nice memories attached to these glasses, as well. He smiled slightly to himself as he reflected on that day his brothers had finally proven they did care about him, squaring off against Hinata for the last time. Did that event magically put an end to the merciless teasing and bickering between the sextuplets? No, absolutely not. But at least it had shown they were capable of being supportive of each other, even if only once in a while.

None of them had heard anything from Hinata since high school graduation. Choromatsu assumed he’d gotten into the college of his dreams and had probably inherited his father’s company shortly after, without having to lift a finger. He wasn’t particularly disappointed to lose touch with him, and neither were any of his brothers.

He couldn’t help but think about himself in that moment too, what he’d been like then compared to how he’d grown up. He had to admit, it was a little disappointing. Back then he’d had such high hopes for the future, determined to go to college and start his career as soon as he graduated. Yet here he was now, a worthless NEET still living at home with his equally jobless and unmotivated brothers.

But maybe...it was never too late for change. Change never comes easily, and often requires a fair amount of adjustment before things settle down and feel normal again. But it wasn’t as if he hadn’t dealt with change before in his life. After all, he’d survived the transition from middle to high school just fine, not to mention getting used to his glasses when he’d first gotten them. Maybe this was symbolic somehow, a sign that he still had time to turn his life around and could still become the productive member of society he’d always wanted to be.

Or maybe, he was just feeling nostalgic and reading too much into things, as he was apt to do. But it could never hurt to try.

Finally he put his old glasses away, tucking them safely back in his dresser drawer. He went into the bathroom, swapping out his contacts and sliding his glasses on, then took a moment to check himself out. These new ones had black, rectangular plastic frames, not unlike his first pair except that the frames were thinner. It was almost off-putting at first, after so long without them, but he figured he would acclimate to them again quickly.

And, he realized, he no longer dwelled so much on his appearance with them on. He was still self-conscious in nature, perpetually overanalyzing himself and how other people saw him, and of course he thought a lot about his looks and always wanted to seem presentable. But he wasn’t in high school anymore--no one was going to criticize him for his glasses, of all things.

Who knows? Maybe they actually do make me look a little more intelligent, a little more capable of finding success one day…

He adjusted his glasses, straightened his posture, and smiled a little more confidently at himself in the mirror. He momentarily envisioned himself at an interview, glasses in place, dazzling his potential employer with a well-structured resume and flawless communication skills, ultimately landing the position...okay, so it was a far-fetched daydream, but maybe it could happen if he worked hard and applied himself. It was a reassuring thought.

With that, he exited the bathroom and made his way back downstairs.

Osomatsu glanced up when he returned. “Hey, dork,” he greeted him cheerfully, smirking.

“Shut up, shitty eldest,” Choromatsu responded crisply, taking his place again and picking up his book. He knew Osomatsu was just giving him shit for laughs now, and he wouldn’t waste any time on it.

Todomatsu glanced up from his phone, appraising Choromatsu. “Those new frames actually look pretty decent on you,” he quipped, which was a compliment coming from him. “They’re nice and streamlined. I hear frames like that are really in right now.”

“Yeah?” Choromatsu never paid much attention to the fashion magazines both Todomatsu and Karamatsu pored over so voraciously, but couldn’t help secretly hoping it was true.

Todomatsu nodded seriously. “Totally,” he confirmed. “Though, they’d look a lot better if you revamped your wardrobe a bit…”

“Ah! Perhaps I could be of assistance with that!” Karamatsu volunteered enthusiastically. “I’ve been staying on top of some of the latest trends, and I believe I found a shirt that would be just perfect for you in one of my most recent magazines…”

“Was it covered in sequins?” Todomatsu inquired drily, raising an eyebrow skeptically at him.

“Well, there were a few...but they were quite tasteful, I assure you!  And all in a magnificent lime green hue!”

“Ugh, lime green sequins? Seriously? What year do you live in where you think those are still fashionable?”

“Shittymatsu’s got shitty taste,” Ichimatsu declared without missing a beat. “What do you expect?”

“Now wait a minute, if you would allow me to show you this shirt I’m sure you’d agree--!”

While the three of them bickered, and Osomatsu and Jyushimatsu watched from the sidelines and snickered, Choromatsu leaned back against the couch and couldn’t help but resign himself to a smile.

My brothers are such idiots, he thought, as Karamatsu persisted, Ichimatsu and Todomatsu resisted, and Osomatsu and Jyushimatsu egged them on. But at least they’re here for me. Well, mostly. And they didn’t make too much of a big deal over my glasses this time, so that’s some progress. I guess people really do change as they get older. Things that used to matter so much don’t anymore, we all have different things on our mind than we did in high school...not necessarily good or bad. That's just life.

“Oi, earth to Owlmatsu!” Osomatsu’s voice jarred him out of his thoughts, dropping him abruptly back into reality. “Aren’t you going to step in and break up their fight?”

“Don’t call me that--how old are you, fifteen?” Choromatsu retorted. “And...no, not this time. They’ll work it out eventually. And if they don’t and start throwing stuff at each other again, then I’ll intervene.”

It was pointless sometimes, trying to stop a fight in a family of brothers who were constantly at each other's’ throats. He was fairly certain there’d never be a time when they grew up completely, when these petty feuds would ever cease. Unlike his prospects for the future, some things just seemed destined to never change.

Despite everything, Choromatsu wouldn’t want it any other way.