Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Choro-Chan!”

Choromatsu groaned to himself, his grip tightening on the pen in his hand. He reluctantly tore his gaze from his job magazine and shot a glare at Osomatsu, who leaned across the table and watched him intently.

“What, Osomatsu?” Choromatsu asked irritably. “I’m in the middle of something.”

“Choro, you’ve been poring over that magazine all morning,” Osomatsu lamented. “I think it’s time you ought to take a break from the job-hunting.”

“It’ll be time to take a break once I actually find a job,” Choromatsu muttered, returning to his magazine.

“Seriously, Choro—when was the last time you ate?” Osomatsu pressed, keeping an imploring gaze on Choromatsu, which the third brother tried to ignore. “It’s been hours since breakfast, hasn’t it?”

“I’m fine,” Choromatsu responded with a curt shrug, hoping Osomatsu couldn’t hear the way his stomach grumbled pitifully. He was hungry, but no way was he giving up this search now. He had to find a job, he just had to…!

“Choromatsu.” The sudden shift in the oldest brother’s tone caused Choromatsu to peer up at him again, and to his surprise Osomatsu’s stony expression was more serious than usual.

“What?” Choromatsu folded his arms and did his best to maintain an air of defiance.

“You know I’m not doing this to annoy you, right?” Osomatsu asked unexpectedly. “I know you don’t like being told this, but...you need to take a break once in awhile. I don’t wanna see you get so stressed over this job hunt that you let yourself get so burnt out again.”

Choromatsu had forced himself to keep his gaze level with Osomatsu’s, but now his eyes shifted down toward the table, his hand absentmindedly tapping his pen again his magazine. He didn’t want to admit it...but Osomatsu was right. The more he pored over job listing after job listing and deemed himself unqualified for most positions, the more frustrated and upset he got. Not something he wanted to exacerbate with anxiety as bad as his...not after the last time he pushed himself to try getting a job.

“C’mon, Choro,” Osomatsu coaxed, gently intercepting Choromatsu’s thoughts. “Just an hour. Take a break for an hour to get some food and relax, and then you can get right back to it.”

Choromatsu bit at his bottom lip, eyeing his magazine pensively. He really should just keep at it, just keep skimming job titles and circling the ones that might be right for him…

But instead, he sighed. Screw it, he thought, lowering his pen to the table. It can wait a little longer—it’s already waited this long, hasn’t it? Besides, I’m hungry and thirsty and just need some time to chill.

“Okay, fine,” he said with feigned exasperation, not wanting Osomatsu to completely catch on. “I’ll take a break, but only for an hour.”

“Good enough for me!” Just like that Osomatsu’s grin was back, and he hopped up from the floor. “Wanna go to Chibita’s?”

“Sure, as long as he doesn’t kick us out again.” Choromatsu rose, too, and had to admit it felt good to stretch out his legs and move a little. A break really was what he needed, after all, not that he’d so willingly admit that to Osomatsu.

Even if he was secretly grateful to him for insisting on it in the first place.

Chapter Text

“This is your fault, Osomatsu,” Choromatsu mumbled, words slurring together almost incomprehensibly.

“My fault?” Osomatsu protested, his voice equally saturated with alcohol. “You’re the one who said we should turn left. I knew we shoulda turned right…”

“I told you, that’s where we came from, dumbass,” Choromatsu argued, though it was impossible for him to be the more defiant, rational one when he was so unsteady on his feet that the oldest brother had resorted to carrying him home on his back.

There was no doubting it; the two brothers were drunk and lost, somehow losing their sense of direction—among other things—between the bar and their house.

“C’mon, let’s stop and think...and get offa me, you’re heavy.” Osomatsu shifted enough to drop Choromatsu off his back, and the third brother yelped in annoyance as he landed on his butt on the cold concrete sidewalk.

Osomatsu flopped down next to him and hiccuped. “Let’s just wait for someone t’ come by an’ get us,” he said.

“Who’s gonna come get us in the dark…?” Choromatsu wanted to know.

Osomatsu shrugged, then lay down on the sidewalk, shivering slightly, and gazed up at the night sky. “Say, look...look at all th’ stars. Think we can count ‘em all?”

“Dumbass,” Choromatsu grumbled again, laying down on the sidewalk as well. “Oso, what if we never get home again…? Who’s gonna take care of my special-edition figures if I’m not there?”

“I dunno...who’s gonna keep everyone in line if I’m not there?” Osomatsu wondered suddenly. “They’re all gonna be so lost...they need their big bro.”

“Think they’ll even notice we’re gone?” Choromatsu asked, with contempt oozing into his voice. “They wouldn’t notice their own brains were gone unless someone told ‘em. Bunch’a dumbasses…” It seemed to be the only word in his vocabulary then.

“Duh they will, we’re their big bros…an’ Kara can’t handle them all himself.” Osomatsu let out a shaky sigh. “I wanna be home with our baby brothers…”

“I just w-wanna be home…” Choromatsu’s voice pitched upwards in a whimper then, and suddenly the two found themselves crying, clinging to each other tightly.

“Choro, we’re gonna die out here,” Osomatsu blubbered. “An’ I gotta confess somethin’ to you...I stole money from you t’ pay for the drinks tonight.”

Choromatsu sniffled. “It’s okay...that was the money I stole from you t’ buy a new CD...I never even got t’ listen to it!”

The two bawled harder, clutching each other for dear life.

“What the hell are you two idiots doing out here?”

Shocked, Osomatsu and Choromatsu lifted their gazed to find Todomatsu standing over them, lip curled upward in distaste.

“Totty! Our favorite baby bro!” Osomatsu pushed Choromatsu aside in order to hug the youngest, eliciting a disgruntled yelp from the third brother. “You found us! I shoulda known!”

“Found you?” Todomatsu repeated incredulously. “You were never lost! You’ve been sitting in front of our house for the last five minutes crying! I thought I’d finally check on you before you make us the laughingstock of the neighborhood.”

The two older brothers dazedly turned around, and their eyes widened upon seeing their house right behind them.

“We’re home!” they cried joyfully, scrambling to their feet and running toward the front door—or, running as fast as their shaky, uncoordinated legs would allow. “Thanks, Totty!”

Todomatsu sighed gustily through his nose as his drunken brothers stumbled into the house. “Dumbasses,” he muttered under his breath, before reluctantly following them.

Chapter Text

It was one of those days.

Ichimatsu sighed heavily to himself, curling up with his chin resting on his knees and his arms wrapped around his legs. He was sitting on the back porch, the bright rays of the sun warming him, but he still felt heavy and tired.

There wasn’t any reason to feel this way, like he was just dragging himself along. But he found himself feeling this way sometimes anyway—empty and numb, like he was missing something but couldn’t pinpoint what. It left a hollow ache in his chest that was impossible to ignore.

On those days, he never knew what exactly he wanted. He wished to be left alone, and yet the thought of being by himself too long was unbearable. If only his stupid brain would make up its damn mind for once.

How long have I been like this, anyway?

Ichimatsu clutched tightly at the sleeves of his hoodie, and let out another trembling sigh. Too long, that was the answer. He knew he needed help, that he needed to talk to a doctor or someone about the way he felt, but that seemed like too much work. Besides, he didn’t want his family to waste time of money worrying over him. He was fine.

Or maybe he’d be if he kept repeating it to himself.

“Ichimatsu-niisan?”

Ichimatsu glanced up at the sound of the voice, which sounded quite a bit gentler than usual. Jyushimatsu hovered over him, a smile stretched across his face, though it was less comically exuberant than the norm.

“Hmm, what is it, Jyushi?” Ichimatsu was conflicted—he didn’t feel like talking much right now, but by the same token he couldn’t bring himself to cut him down and tell him to go away. Shittymatsu? Yes, always. But Jyushimatsu? He didn’t have it in him.

Jyushimatsu didn’t say anything. Instead he lowered himself to the porch beside Ichimatsu, gazing out at the horizon.

Ichimatsu kept an expectant gaze fixated on him. “...did you need something?”

Jyushimatsu didn’t respond. Instead, he placed an arm around Ichimatsu, tugging him close. Ichimatsu stiffened at first, which was always his initial reaction to physical contact, but after awhile the embrace felt...nice, in a way. He relaxed into it, huddling up next to Jyushimatsu.

“It’s okay to be sad sometimes, Nii-San,” Jyushimatsu said at last, in probably the softest voice Ichimatsu had heard from him, though it was still accompanied by a smile. “And if you are, you can tell me, and I’ll keep you company. Just like this. Okay?”

Ichimatsu gazed up at Jyushimatsu, stunned. He didn’t realize anyone had noticed.

But of course he had—Jyushimatsu was more observant than he ever let on. He knew what Ichimatsu needed before he even did, didn’t he?

“...thanks,” was all Ichimatsu could think to mumble in response. He still felt lousy, but the heaviness in his heart eased just slightly at the comforting presence of his brother.

The two sat like this for a long time after that in silence, simply content in each other’s company as they watched the sun set on another day.

Chapter Text

Ding-dong!

Totoko rolled her eyes and tossed aside the magazine she’d been reading, standing up and stretching at a leisurely pace. She knew who to expect on the other side of the door. And she wasn’t in any particular hurry to let them in, either.

Still, good thing they remembered...otherwise I would’ve clobbered them.

Just as she suspected, when she swung open the door (plastering on her best, prettiest smile just in case), she was greeted by six identical faces, bearing six nearly identical bouquets of flowers. The flowers had been wrapped haphazardly in tissue paper and their roots still dangled from them, indicating they’d been plucked straight from the ground rather than purchased from a florist.

“Happy birthday, Totoko-Chan!” the sextuplets cried out enthusiastically, bowing slightly as they extended their gifts toward her.

Totoko knew she had to play it up, in case anyone walked by and saw her. “Thank you, boys!” she said, clasping her hands and smiling at them, feigning delight at their mediocre gifts. Ugh. “You shouldn’t have, really!”

“We couldn’t ignore you on your birthday, Totoko-Chan!” Osomatsu declared with a grin.

“Indeed!” Karamatsu nodded, flashing a bright smile. Yikes, here we go. “Though of course, no flower could even begin to compare to the radiant beauty that is your visage—!”

Ichimatsu cut him off sharply with a jab of his elbow to the older brother’s ribs. Karamatsu yelped quietly, but he did shut up. Good.

Totoko forced the smile to remain plastered to her face. “Here, come in—you can put yours with the other ones in my room.”

The boys seemed to share a quick, quizzical glance at the mention of “other” flowers, but regardless they wasted no time in trailing her up the stairs to her room.

“Wow!” Jyushimatsu exclaimed as they entered, greeted by the site of several enormous, fragrant displays of flowers around the room. “Look at all the flowers! It’s like a garden in here!”

“Who gave all these to you?” Choromatsu wondered, eyes wide with surprise.

Totoko shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, my fans.”

“Sheesh...this one must’ve cost a fortune,” Todomatsu muttered mostly to himself, eyeing a massive bouquet of roses placed prominently on her bed.

“Yeah, I guess my fans must really love me!” Totoko beaned charismatically.

The sextuplets grew silent, glancing down at their mediocre offerings in comparison.

“Well, ah...I guess we’ll just leave these here, then.” Osomatsu placed his flimsy bouquet on the bedside table, and the others followed suit, creating a pile of limp flowers.

They didn’t linger for long after that. Totoko was more than willing to usher them out quickly. Once she’d escaped to the private sanctuary of her room again, she exhaled a small sigh.

Her gaze swept across the elaborate bouquets surrounding her. No one could ever learn that she had bought all of these flowers for herself, just to make her look better. She felt a little guilty now, rushing the boys out of her house so quickly.

It may look shitty...but at least they cared enough to give me something. At least they still remember my birthday even if they can’t retain anything else.

She walked across the room to her bedside table and plucked up one of the droopy flowers. It was wilting a little, but it was still sort of pretty and smelled sweet. She smiled a little sadly to herself as she tucked it into one of her pigtails.

Thanks, boys. Happy birthday to me.

Chapter Text

“ Choro-Chan…”

“No.” Choromatsu didn’t even glance up, instead concentrating on the worksheet in front of him.

“Come on, just this once?” Osomatsu clasped his hands pleadingly in front of him, giving Choromatsu his best puppy-dog eyes.

“Osomatsu, I told you a hundred times already, I’m not going to let you copy my math homework again,” Choromatsu stated in a no-nonsense tone, still refusing to look up from his homework and thus successfully dodging Osomatsu’s pitiful gaze. “I mean it.”

“Aww, you’re so mean to Nii-San.” Osomatsu pouted, crossing his arms and glaring at Choromatsu. But despite his teasing exterior, mounting dread was beginning to consume him. There was no way he could finish all of his homework by tomorrow morning, and if he failed to turn in another math assignment he might get detention! There had to be another solution…

At that moment Karamatsu entered the room. Osomatsu’s eyes lit up. “Kara! My favorite brother!” he exclaimed.

Choromatsu rolled his eyes, not buying the act for a minute, but he said nothing. It wasn’t his problem anymore, after all.

Meanwhile, Karamatsu looked stunned by the statement. “F-favorite brother…? Surely you’re joking…”

“Why would I joke about that?” Osomatsu stood up and slung his arm over Karamatsu’s shoulders. “You’re my second in command, of course you’re my favorite!”

“Why, uh, thank you, my dear Osomatsu,” Karamatsu stammered, confused but clearly flattered.

“Of course!” Osomatsu grinned at Karamatsu, laughing inwardly to himself. This plan might just work out. “Say, Kara, I have a favor to ask of you, my favorite little brother.”

“Yes, what is it?” Karamatsu’s bright tone indicated he was likely to say yes to anything.

“Can I borrow your homework? I didn’t finish my math homework, and I don’t have time to either. I’ll get in big trouble if it doesn’t get done.” Osomatsu sighed, feigning sadness. “And you wouldn’t want that to happen to me, would you?”

Karamatsu shook his head vehemently. “Of course not! Here...I finished my homework earlier. You may borrow it to your heart’s content!”

He reached into his school bag and produced a neatly written sheet of math equations—all written in blue glitter gel pen, but whatever. Osomatsu snatched it eagerly regardless.

“Thanks, little bro!” he singsonged happily.

“Anything for you, my brother,” Karamatsu responded sincerely, smiling at him.

As Osomatsu settled down at the table to copy Karamatsu’s homework answers into his own sheet, Choromatsu leaned in to him and hissed in his ear, “You disgust me.”

Osomatsu shrugged and smirked in response. Who cared? As long as he got his homework finished, that was all that mattered.

————

Osomatsu had forgotten just how bad at math Karamatsu was. His graded homework came back to him with a big D slashed across the top in red ink. He never used that tactic again.

Chapter Text

Choromatsu had been alone in the living room, reading his newest light novel (and struggling to contain his tears at the heart-rending events of this particular volume) when the doorbell rang, breaking the peaceful silence that had once enveloped him. With a sigh, he marked his page and stood up, heading for the door.

This better be worth it and not one of my idiot brothers forgetting their keys again…

The moment he swung open the door, though, his irritation melted into pure confusion—mixed with just a little fear.

Someone in a massive pumpkin head stood on the porch, two eyes blinking out at him from behind a toothy jack-o-lantern grin.

“Trick or treat!” a muffled voice bellowed from within the pumpkin mask.

Choromatsu squinted. That voice…he knew it all too well.

“Jyushimatsu?”

“Yeah, it’s me! Trick or treat, Choromatsu-niisan!” As if to emphasize this Jyushimatsu thrust a plastic pumpkin bucket out toward Choromatsu.

Choromatsu tipped his head to the side, regarding Jyushimatsu quizzically. “Jyushi….why are you trick or treating?”

“Because why not?”  Jyushimatsu replied. “It’s free candy!”

“No, I mean...uh, Jyushi, you do know Halloween is in October, right?”

“Right!”

“But...it’s November.”

A pause. Jyushimatsu stood frozen in place.

“That means Halloween was almost a week ago now.”

“....Ah.” Jyushimatsu’s tone sounded utterly deflated, and Choromatsu honestly felt bad to burst his bubble like that. He wanted to ask how Jyushimatsu could have possibly missed an entire holiday but thought better of it—Jyushimatsu was often in a world of his own. That had to be why.

“Well, come in anyway. I bet we have some candy lying around,” Choromatsu said at last, swinging the door open wider.

“Okay!” Just like that Jyushimatsu’s enthusiasm had returned as he stepped into the house and began removing the cumbersome mask. Choromatsu smiled a little to himself as he began to walk off.

“Choromatsu-niisan?”

“Hmm? What, Jyushimatsu?”

“How many days until next Halloween?”

Chapter Text

“Todomatsu, I can't believe how ridiculous you’re being right now!” Choromatsu exclaimed, exasperated. “I told you how important this job fair is to me, and yet you won’t cover for me?”

“Why should I?” Todomatsu retorted. “Why should I have to do the chores Mom asked you to do? It’s not like you ever do me any favors.”

“Well, I will this time,” Choromatsu said, almost pleadingly. “Anything you want, I promise I’ll do.”

Todomatsu folded his arms over his chest. “Why don’t you get someone else to do it?”

“Because no one else is at home!” Choromatsu’s patience was long gone at this point. “It has to be you—please, this fair starts in an hour and I still need to catch the train there.”

“Well, I have plans with friends,” Todomatsu countered. “Plans I’ve had for over a week now, and I’m not breaking them now just to do chores for you.”

Choromatsu glared at Todomatsu, barely able to contain his contempt. “I thought you of all people might understand, Totty. You’re the only one of us who ever held down a job for any length of time, who wants to be better than just a lazy NEET...I thought you’d get it more. I guess I was wrong.”

Todomatsu scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Please, you think I buy that? You’re such a hypocrite, Choromatsu-niisan. You talk big and get on our cases about working, and yet look at you—you’re just as much of a pathetic NEET as the rest of us. I bet you’re not even going to a job fair, it’s probably just an idol concert!”

Choromatsu’s cheeks flushed red. “It is not! And where do you get off calling me a hypocrite, you dry monster? At least I’m trying to change my ways!”

“Ha!” Todomatsu laughed rudely at that. “Could’ve fooled me. Face it, Choro, you’re as bad as the rest of us even when you put yourself up on a pedestal. Go to this job fair if you want, but it’s not like you’ll be qualified for anything there. It’s not like you’ll come back with your delusional fantasy job or whatever.”

Choromatsu drew back then, looking like he’d just been slapped, and only after they’d left his mouth did Todomatsu realize the blunt harshness of his words. He hadn’t exactly meant to say all that...and seeing the way Choromatsu swallowed hard and dropped his gaze made his stomach sink.

“Choro, I didn’t...I didn’t mean to say that….”

“Why would you say it if you didn’t think there was any truth to it?” Choromatsu asked. It sounded like he was trying to maintain an angry exterior, but there was the tiniest wobble to his voice that indicated Todomatsu’s words had hurt.

Todomatsu bit his lip. “Um…”

“Just...please.” Choromatsu sounded resigned, still not meeting Todomatsu’s gaze. “Please just do this for me, this once. I’ll make it up to you.”

Slowly Todomatsu nodded. What else could he say? “Sure. I will.” He didn’t try to wrangle any benefits out of it, it no longer felt right.

“Thank you.” Choromatsu responded in a monotone. Without another word he spun on his heel and stalked out of the room, head hung low.

Todomatsu stayed there for another minute. He felt a little sick, and he couldn’t imagine how Choromatsu felt then. This probably wasn’t the first time he’d hurt the third brother’s feelings, but something about it seemed to sting worse than usual today.

I should apologize.

And yet he didn’t move right away. Instead he stayed, listening as Choromatsu put on his shoes, then opened the front door. It slammed shut hard behind him.

Todomatsu sighed, his shoulders slumping.

I guess it’ll have to wait until later. I hope he forgives me.

Chapter Text

A bitterly cold wind blew, and in the distance thunder rolled ominously. Thick gray clouds filled the sky, with the threat of heavy rain on the horizon.

Ichimatsu rushed home, hunched over, arms wrapped tightly around his midsection. He peered anxiously up at the sky, and flinched as a fat droplet of water fell from the sky and landed on his eyebrow. Crap, the rain is already starting.

He picked up the pace, breaking into a jog as more raindrops dotted the sidewalk, darkening the cement and soaking his feet (which, unfortunately, were in sandals). He ran the rest of the way home, still securely clutching his midsection, and by the time he arrived the rain had turned into a steady downpour that pelted mercilessly against the streets and soaked his sweatshirt almost all the way through.

Finally. Ichimatsu sprinted up the front walk, unlocked the door with one hand, and let himself in. Once he was safely inside the warm, dry house, he leaned against the door and let out a sigh. The coast seemed clear.

“Okay...we’re home.” Ichimatsu lifted his hoodie, shaking it out a little. “You can come out now.”

A black cat tumbled from his hoodie then, landing gracefully on her four paws. Once she was on the ground again, she peered up at Ichimatsu and tipped her head to the side, as if to question him.

“Sorry...I had to hide you, in case my brothers were home.” Ichimatsu knelt down and gently stroked between the cat’s ears, smiling fondly when she began to purr. “But I think we’re safe.”

The cat mewed, butting her head against his hand, as if asking for more pets. The tiny, affectionate gesture was enough to melt the edges of Ichimatsu’s heart. He wished so badly that he was allowed to keep a pet...but he knew his family wouldn’t be so receptive of that, not after years of pleading and bartering with no success. That’s why he had to be so sneaky now.

“Come with me.” Ichimatsu scooped the cat into his arms, and she readily obliged. “I gotta change my clothes, and I don’t want you wandering around the house too much.” He didn’t want to risk his kitty friend knocking something over and breaking it, and having to concoct an explanation for it to his mother that would inevitably get him punished.

He made his way up the stairs to the sextuplets’ room, then lowered the cat to the floor as he grabbed a new shirt and a pair of sweatpants from the closet. Outside, rain slashed aggressively against the window, and he was relieved he’d rescued his friend before the brunt of the storm had rolled in. He felt bad he couldn’t bring all of the cats with him, but…

“Hey, I’m home!”

Ichimatsu’s eyes widened at the sound of the voice and the slam of the front door that accompanied it. Crap--Osomatsu was home.

He whipped around frantically, searching for his cat...only to see with alarm that she’d darted out of the room at the sound of his older brother’s voice. He frantically finished getting dressed and dashed out of the room as well, abandoning his wet clothes in a pile on the bedroom floor. Whatever, he’d let someone else deal with it--hopefully Karamatsu.

Ichimatsu reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped short, frozen in place by what he saw. His cat had wound herself around Osomatsu’s legs, her tail wrapped around his ankles as she rubbed her head against him.

Osomatsu knelt down and lightly patted her head, eliciting a small purr from her. “Hey there, you a friend of Ichimatsu’s?” he asked, casting a quick glance and a smile up at Ichimatsu.

Ichimatsu panicked, but tried to play it off as irritation. “It’s...it’s not what you think, I didn’t bring her home intentionally. She started following me after I’d fed the other cats, and with the storm coming in I couldn’t just leave her.”

“Relax, Ichimatsu--I understand.” To Ichimatsu’s surprise Osomatsu was still petting the cat, and doing so gingerly. Not something he expected from the rowdy eldest.

“You...you do?” Ichimatsu asked, blinking with unmasked surprise.

“Well, yeah! These cats mean a lot to you, so I get that you wouldn’t wanna just abandon one with such a bad storm coming in,” Osomatsu replied. The cat was now nudging Osomatsu’s hand, silently demanding more attention, and Ichimatsu felt almost jealous that she was getting along so well with him. “But I know Mom doesn’t want them in the house. So I won’t tell her about this. It can just be between the two of us.”

“I...um. Okay.” Ichimatsu was stunned that Osomatsu was so willing to go with this. He squinted suspiciously as a thought crossed his mind. “You’re not just saying this to try and get money or some kind of favor out of this, are you?”

Osomatsu laughed. “Ichi, have a little more faith in your Nii-san sometimes! It just so happens that I like cats too--I don’t wanna kick her out, either.”

“...oh.” Ichimatsu didn’t know how to respond to that. Osomatsu seemed to genuinely mean that--he never thought Osomatsu cared much for animals before.

“Come on...why don’t we dry her off and give her something to drink before everyone else gets home?” Osomatsu suggested. “Then we can think of where to keep her hidden until the storm is over.”

Ichimatsu nodded slowly. “Okay.”

He never thought he’d admit to this--and he never would out loud--but it was nice to have a partner in this for once.

Chapter Text

“Mom, will you tell us a story before we go to bed?” Osomatsu asked, tugging on his mother’s sleeve. She’d been sitting on the couch, reading a book, but now all the sextuplets had gathered around her, clad in their pajamas and sporting hopeful smiles.

Matsuyo peered up from her book, at all of their expectant little faces. Well, she couldn’t very well just say “no” to them, could she? She gave them a smile as she marked her place in her book. “Of course, dears. Go get into bed, and I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Yay!!” the boys cheered eagerly, and hurried to race each other up the stairs, nearly tripping over each other in their haste. Matsuyo shook her head and chuckled to herself.

When she entered their room a few minutes later, she found them sitting obediently in their futons. Osomatsu had a thick book of fairy tales resting on his lap, and he offered it to her the moment she settled down on the floor between them all.

“Ah, you want another fairy tale tonight?” she asked, accepting the book.

The boys nodded eagerly, crowding around her, keeping their blankets wrapped snugly around themselves. A bitter winter chill had blown into Akatsuka ward, and even inside the house was cold.

“Let’s see…” Matsuyo thumbed through the book, searching for a story she’d yet to read the boys during their nightly routine over the last several days. They’d already been through Jack and the Beanstalk ... Goldilocks...Cinderella ...her eyes lit up as she fell upon one they hadn’t touched yet. “What about The Snow Queen?”

“Ooooh,” a collective murmur of approval rippled through the room.

The boys huddled closer to Matsuyo as she began to read the story, keeping her voice low as she told of an evil queen with icy powers. They didn’t breathe a word, not wanting to miss a moment of the story--a rare occurrence among the rambunctious sextuplets.

“So the Snow Queen can create snow and ice, like magic?” Ichimatsu asked in awe, once the story had ended.  

Matsuyo nodded. “Yes, like magic, Ichimatsu.”

“And is she responsible for all the snow and ice every winter?” Jyushimatsu wondered.

Matsuyo assumed a knowledgeable expression as she said, “She just might, Jyushimatsu--snow is quite like magic, isn’t it?”

“But...if she’s the one who makes the snow and ice...is she trying to trap us in winter forever?” Choromatsu questioned nervously, hugging his blanket tight.

“No, of course not.” Karamatsu shook his head at his younger brother. “She got defeated, so she’s not allowed to use her powers for evil anymore--only good, like making snow in the winter so we can have fun and take a day off school! Right, Mom?”

Matsuyo’s smile twitched as she suppressed a laugh at Karamatsu’s reasoning. “Precisely that. No worries, boys, she won’t harm anyone anymore.” She glanced at the clock then and rose to her feet. “Anyway, it’s late. Better go to bed now, boys.”

“Awww,” Todomatsu whined. “Can’t we have one more story, Mom?”

“You can hear another one tomorrow night--right now, it’s time to sleep. You have school in the morning.”

The boys all groaned, but reluctantly crawled back into their beds. Matsuyo switched off the light and said good night before returning to her novel.

----------

Osomatsu was the first one to wake up the next morning, and the first one to discover the layer of frost coating their bedroom window, causing the sunlight to look hazy as it streamed into their room. He yawned as he got out of bed and shuffled over to the window, then rubbed a circle in the frost to peer outside.

The second he did, his eyes widened in amazement.

“Guys!!” he shouted excitedly. “Wake up, look!! The Snow Queen was here last night!”

“Huh...?” Choromatsu mumbled, waking up slowly. He soon joined Osomatsu at the window, and became more alert as he took in the view as well. “Whoa, you’re right! She was here!”

Soon the other boys scrambled to join them, and gasped in delight when they saw the world outside blanketed in a layer of sparkling white snow. Everything glittered beautifully in the sunlight, like an incredible winter wonderland.

“It’s...it’s magic!” Ichimatsu exclaimed.

“Yes!” Jyushimatsu cried happily. “It’s amazing!”

“Come on!” Osomatsu backed away from the window, beckoning his brothers toward the closet. “Let’s get our coats on and go out to play! School has to be cancelled with this much snow!”

The boys didn’t have to be told twice. Soon enough they were dashing out the front door, bundled up and excited, cheering as they played in the snow. Matsuyo and Matsuzo watched them from the window, smiling to themselves and knowing that one day the boys would be too old to believe in fairy tales

But for now, it was nice to pretend.

Chapter Text

The ocean seemed to stretch on endlessly, disappearing into the horizon, where the dark blue waters met with the soft pinks and oranges of the sky as the sun began to set. Waves lapped gently against the shore, the tide low enough not to pose a serious risk for those still there.

Jyushimatsu sat in the sand near the edge of the ocean, arms wrapped around his knees as he hugged them to his chest, letting the cool water splash against his bare ankles. For once, he wasn’t smiling his usual bright, cheerful smile.

This particular view of the ocean held bittersweet memories for him. Somewhere in this very spot, on this very beach, he’d met Homura for the first time...though not under the usual circumstances one might meet their first true love. Suffice it to say, she’d saved his life...and unbeknownst to him at the time, he’d saved hers as well.

In some ways, the memories were so sweet, because this view reminded him of the first time he’d seen her face--she was beautiful, even though she always denied she was. It was also the first time he’d seen her smile, and heard her laugh. It wasn’t a memory he’d ever be able to forget, and he was happy to hold it in his heart forever, along with the many other wonderful moments they’d shared together.

But...the memories were tinged in a sorrowful bitterness, too, because for all the good memories the ocean view brought...it also reminded him that she was no longer there. She’d moved back to the country, back with her family, and much as they’d loved each other that family didn’t include him. He’d watched her leave on the train that day, seen her smile and laugh through her tears one last time. And then...she was gone.

He missed her, almost more than his heart could bear. Some days he could push through his sadness, and others...it wrapped around him like a suffocating, melancholic blanket. On those days, he just wanted to be alone.

And so he came here.

Maybe it wasn’t the best place to go to, as full to the brim as it was with memories of her, but in a way it felt good to soak in those memories, to reflect on them and think of the happier times again. In a way, it made it feel like she was still here beside him, sharing the same gorgeous ocean view as him and laughing at his jokes so hard that she passed out.

Jyushimatsu tightened his grip around his legs, resting his chin on his knees and sighing to himself. He wished she was here right now. It had been so long since he’d held her hand in his.

Suddenly a movement far off in the ocean caught his eye, like something had risen from below the water and was skimming the surface of the ocean. He lifted his head, tracking what looked like a smooth, gray creature rising from the waters.

Is that...a dolphin?!

He blinked, then rubbed his eyes and looked again.

Oh...no, I guess not. Must’ve just imagined it.

Or did he…?

Dolphins...I’d love to swim with dolphins one day. No, I’d love to BE a dolphin. Maybe one day I can be!!

He wasn’t entirely sure where this thought had popped up from, but once it did it made a smile tug at the corners of his mouth again for the first time all day. For some reason, a reason he didn’t know of yet, he was sure this was a good idea. And one day, he would make it happen.

Just like one day, maybe he’d see Homura’s smiling face again.

Chapter Text

Totoko never thought she’d be dating another idol--much less one of her biggest rivals in the idol business. It just wasn’t something that was ever done, not that she’d ever known of anyway.

And yet here she was, walking through the mall side-by-side with Hashimoto Nyaa, once her biggest rival...who was now her girlfriend. How in the world had that happened?

Not that she was complaining.

They had to be covert about it, wearing disguises so no one would recognize them, since it could destroy their idol reputations if anyone caught them. But even so they were enjoying themselves--admiring the displays in the store windows, trying on (and buying) new clothes, and playfully bickering with each other here and there. At one point they stopped for ice cream, and sat on a bench to eat it, their hands meeting and intertwining with each other as they rested on the bench. It felt almost bizarre, not being openly hostile with each other as they had been in the bitterest days of their rivalry. But it was fantastic, too, putting those days behind them and embracing this new future together.

At one point, they strolled past a store stocked full of idol merchandise. Totoko faltered, briefly scanning the area to ensure a certain green-clad NEET wasn’t around loading up on merch he really couldn’t afford...but luckily the coast was clear.

On display in the window was a huge assortment of Nyaa-Chan merchandise, however. Totoko pouted to herself, raising an eyebrow. Hmph, no one ever wants to display MY merch in the mall...I’d be more angry about this if she wasn’t so cute.

She glanced toward Nyaa, and was surprised to see she was gazing at the merchandise in the window almost wistfully.

“Hey, are you okay…?” Totoko bumped her lightly with her hip.

“Oh, yeah...just thinking.” Nyaa sighed. “Sometimes I just wonder if I made the right choice being an idol...do you ever think that?”

“Well...yeah.” Totoko shrugged, sighing as well. “Sometimes I feel like maybe there was something else out there I should be doing instead...something better.”

“Yeah, and…” Nyaa’s voice became quieter as she continued, “if we weren’t, we wouldn’t have to hide our relationship, either.”

“True...but you know,” Totoko began, with a little smile, “if it hadn’t been for us being idols, we probably never would have met. So there’s that at least.”

“Oh, wow. You’re right.” Nyaa smiled a bit as well, considering this.

“See? The idol business had at least one benefit for us.” Totoko’s expression softened as she inched closer to Nyaa, and without thinking much of it she gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Nyaa blushed to a rosy shade of pink, but she returned the gesture, giving Totoko’s cheek a quick peck as well.

“So…” Nyaa slipped her hand through Totoko’s then. “Want to go catch a movie at the cineplex before we call it a day?”

“Sure, sounds good.” Then with a playful smirk, Totoko added, “Your treat.”

Nyaa stuck her tongue out teasingly at Totoko, a gesture that Totoko returned. Then, giggling to each other, they headed for the cineplex, strolling hand-in-hand.

Chapter Text

“We’ve been wandering the desert for days!” Jyushimatsu lamented, throwing a hand over his forehead dramatically. “We’re never going to find our way home!”

“Don’t give up, Jyushimatsu!” Ichimatsu exclaimed, grabbing Jyushimatsu by the arm. “We still have a chance! Maybe we’ll find a camel we can ride—then we can find a way out quicker!”

“No, no...we’re lost forever.” Jyushimatsu collapsed to the ground, laying in the sand and shielding his eyes from the blazing sun above. “We’ll be left here to die, and soon we’ll only be skeletons!”

“Ooh.” Ichimatsu shuddered at the thought. “Creepy.”

Of course, neither of them acknowledged that the “sand” in which they laid upon was just carpet, and the sun burning away above was just the light fixture on the living room ceiling. “Desert explorers” was the latest installment in a series of pretend games that Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu had invented that week. They’d already pretended to be doctors, cooks, and superheroes—but this game was their hands-down favorite.

“Ichimatsu, this is it….We’re not going to make it out here much longer without water.” Jyushimatsu faked a frail cough. “We’ll never survive...we probably only have a few hours left.”

“You’re right,” Ichimatsu said with dismay, dropping to the floor next to Jyushimatsu. “There’s no water for miles, not even a puddle.”

“We’ve been tricked by too many mirages already—I give up.” Jyushimatsu rolled over to face Ichimatsu. “It’s been good working with you, Ichimatsu, but I guess we’ll never discover the lost pyramid and all its treasure now.”

“No...we won’t.” Ichimatsu sighed. “But I just wanna let you know...you’re the best explorer I ever worked with before.”

“Thanks.” Jyushimatsu smiled at that. “Same to you, too.”

From there the boys acted out their dramatic deaths, complete with agonized groans and flailing limbs, plunking themselves heavily to the floor and not moving an inch.

“Boys?” Their mother appeared in the doorway then.

No response.

“Boys? Can you hear me?”

Still silent.

“Hmm.” Matsuyo gave an exaggerated sigh, then began to walk away. “Oh, well, I guess your brothers and I will have to eat all of these cookies I just baked ourselves…”

“Cookies?” That was enough to drag Jyushimatsu out of his act.

“Wait up!” Ichimatsu added, scrambling to his feet.

The two boys bolted out the door together, laughing and discussing plans for their best pretend game. Desert explorers had been fun, but it was time for something different—they decided playing astronauts would be in order.

After their cookies, of course.

Chapter Text

“Ah, what a beautiful day!” Karamatsu exclaimed grandly, peering up at the bright blue sky with a wide grin. “It’s seems that the sun is smiling radiantly upon us, isn’t it? Truly a marvel to behold…”

“Kara, just shut up,” Todomatsu cut him off, lifting his sunglasses up to glare reproachfully at his older brother. “If you don’t I’ll make you sit on the other end of the beach, far away from me.”

“Fair enough.” Karamatsu still grinned as he lowered himself to the blue towel spread out in the sand next to Todomatsu’s pink one. Fortunately, he said nothing else.

Todomatsu sighed contently, basking in the sun’s warm rays. Now this was how to spend a vacation, sunbathing on a beautiful beach. He was glad they’d made the trip out this weekend.

Todomatsu had almost nodded off when he heard something ominous—a low “Heh” from his brother. He glanced warily up to see Karamatsu posing with his hand on his chin in typical dramatic fashion, eyes scoping out the beach from behind his sunglasses.

“That lovely lady over there.” Karamatsu pointed out a woman in a two-piece red suit, her straight black hair cascading past her shoulders. “She’d be a wonderful Karamatsu Girl, would she not?”

“Not.” Todomatsu frowned, all but smacking Karamatsu’s hand down. “And don’t point. I thought you said you wouldn’t do anything painful on this trip.”

“You’ll have to forgive me, dearest Totty, for I am truly a guilt guy and cannot let this opportunity slip through my fingers!” Karamatsu stood up, brushing the sand off of his blue swim trunks—at least he’d skipped the speedo he’d almost worn here, at least Todomatsu could say that. “Just watch, and observe a master of his craft at work.”

“A master of what craft—failure?” Todomatsu cracked, but Karamatsu had already traipsed too far away to hear him. Todomatsu groaned to himself and leaned back, figuring he might as well just enjoy the show.

It went about as predicted—Karamatsu approached the woman and used one of his recycled lines on her, only to be met with rejection in the form of her fist connecting with his face. The impact sent him sprawling on the sand, and the woman marched off elsewhere.

Todomatsu rose and stretch, then waltzed over toward Karamatsu’s prone body in the sand and quipped, “Are you done yet?”

Karamatsu sighed, voice muffled against the ground. He lifted his head and spat out a mouthful of sand before responding dejectedly, “It would appear so. Too bad, she was quite pretty…”

Todomatsu almost felt bad for Karamatsu...or at least as bad as he was ever capable of feeling for his demon brothers. “Come on, let's go to the boardwalk. I’ll get you a shave ice.”

Karamatsu glanced at him as he pulled himself up, adjusting his now-crooked sunglasses. “Blue raspberry?”

“Sure, any flavor you want.”

And with that, they set off, Karamatsu’s ego slightly wounded and some of Todomatsu’s previous ire diminished. After all, it was a lovely day at the beach—not one to dwell on anything heavy. It was time to enjoy their vacation.

Chapter Text

“Choromatsu-niisan?”

Choromatsu glanced up from his backpack when he heard Jyushimatsu enter the room. “Hi, Jyushi.”

“You’re getting ready for your first day of college tomorrow, right?” Jyushimatsu asked, observing the backpack and the textbooks Choromatsu still had strewn around him.

“Yeah.” Choromatsu made himself smile at Jyushimatsu, despite the nervous pounding of his heart.

Jyushimatsu flopped to the floor beside him. “Are you excited?”

“Well, yes...I mean, I’ve wanted to go to college for as long as I can remember. And I’m so happy to finally be doing it, too.” Choromatsu glanced downward at his hands, which he was absentmindedly wringing in his lap. “But…”

“But…?” Jyushimatsu prompted when Choromatsu’s voice trailed off and he failed to produce an answer. He tipped his head curiously to the side.

“But...I’m scared, too.” Choromatsu sighed, forcing himself to stop fidgeting with his hands. “I’ve...been scared since I enrolled, actually. I just...I don’t know, I’m probably being stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, Nii-San,”’Jyushimatsu retorted adamantly. “You’re smart! Why would you think that?”

“Ah, thanks, Jyushimatsu.” Choromatsu chuckled slightly, though it was still tinged with anxiety. “It’s just...I’m worried I’m not going to be cut out for it. Like I’m not going to meet my own expectations and it’ll be too much for me...I don’t know. It’s just a lot to deal with at once, I think. It’s a whole new beginning for me.”

While he listened to Choromatsu talk, Jyushimatsu had his sleeve-covered hand pressed to his mouth, his eyes wide and serious as he nodded along. After a moment, though, he reverted to his usual cheerful self.

“That’s true—it is a big new beginning,” Jyushimatsu conceded. “But you can’t worry so much right now! You’re just getting started, if you worry too much now you won’t enjoy your first day tomorrow. And besides, you don’t know yet if you’re cut out for it or not. Maybe you’ll be an amazing student!”

Choromatsu lifted his gaze to meet Jyushimatsu’s, which didn’t seem insincere in the least. “You...you really do think I can do this?”

“Yes!” Jyushimatsu nodded emphatically. “You just need to believe in yourself, Choromatsu-niisan! And you know what? I believe in you!”

Choromatsu actually cracked a smile at that. He still felt apprehensive about starting college, and he knew he was in for some big changes in his life—but then again, that’s what life was all about, wasn’t it? And no matter what happened, it seemed he could always count on his family for support.

“Thanks, Jyushimatsu. That means a lot,” he said at last, earnestly.

“Yeah!” Jyushimatsu flung himself at Choromatsu in a hug then, which the older brother reciprocated. “Want some help getting your bag ready for tomorrow?”

Choromatsu knew he could just as easily do it on his own and organize it to his taste, but all the same he nodded. “Sure, Jyushimatsu, that sounds good.”

It was nice to have this bonding moment, for once. He wasn’t sure how many more they would have under this roof together anymore, which everything changing so rapidly around them now. But at least they had this moment together, before this new chapter of his life began.

Chapter Text

“Hey...Kara?”

Karamatsu had been examining himself in the mirror again, smiling somewhat fondly as he smoothed back his hair, but at the sound of Osomatsu’s voice he lifted his gaze. “Yes, my brother?”

“I, well, I have a confession to make.” Osomatsu cleared his throat, glancing down at his sneakers. “I know I should’ve asked you first, and Choromatsu told me not to do it, but I borrowed your sunglasses and…”

Karamatsu raised his thick eyebrows questioningly at Osomatsu, imploring him to continue.

“I sort of...forgot I had them in my back pocket.” With a sheepish, forced chuckle he produced the sunglasses from his hoodie pocket, snapped in two. “I’m...really sorry, Kara. It was an accident.”

Karamatsu stood up and took the splintered pieces from Osomatsu, inspecting them. They were beyond repair, and Osomatsu flinched, expecting a sharp reprimand.

But surprisingly, Karamatsu looked back up and smiled at him. “It’s fine, brother. I forgive you.”

“Wow...that easily?” Osomatsu asked, stunned.

Karamatsu laughed. “Of course! I couldn’t bring myself to hold a grudge against any of my dear brothers, especially over something as trivial as sunglasses. It’s really nothing, in the grand scheme of things.”

“Well...thanks, Kara.” Osomatsu grinned, brushing his finger under his nose, relieved to be let off the hook so easily.

“Besides, it’s not like you destroyed all of them.”

“Er...excuse me?”

With a dazzling grin Karamatsu strutted over to the closet and swung it open, then pulled out a box for Osomatsu to see—one with his name written on the side in sparkly blue pen. He opened the box and revealed the contents to Osomatsu, who could only gape at it.

Inside was...well, a shit-ton of new sunglasses, all identical to the ones he’d just broken.

“They break easily, but these are my favorite style. So, one day I simply bought as many as the store had for my own backup stash!” With a flourish Karamatsu whipped out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, then posed with his hand on his chin. “Brilliant, isn’t it?”

Osomatsu shook his head to himself, but it was more affectionate than anything else. “Karamatsu, don’t ever change,” he said with a laugh.

Karamatsu beamed. “That I won’t, brother, that I won’t.”

Chapter Text

Jyushimatsu’s hands trembled, tightly clutching the bouquet of sunflowers in his hands. Their bright yellow color blazed just like the sun above, but he could scarcely focus on that now. Right now, as he stood as close to the edge of the train tracks as the line on the platform permitted, craning his neck to see above the dense crowd, his mind was focused on only one thing.

His heart raced as he saw it--the train’s headlights came into view first, followed by the gleaming silver train itself as it sped along the tracks. He swallowed hard, sudden nerves causing a lump to rise in his throat.

What if she’s not on the train…?

He told himself not to think that way. She said she would be, so why wouldn’t she? Unless she changed her mind…

The train ground to a halt as it pulled up to the platform, and with a whoosh the doors opened up. People began filing out of the train, spilling out onto the platform and mingling with the group  already standing there waiting to board their train.

Jyushimatsu shuffled in place, eyes trained on the exiting crowd, searching for that familiar face that had danced through his memories for the last several months, that graced the pictures they’d taken in their time together. Of course he would recognize her face even in the thickest of crowds--but would she still recognize him?

What if she’d rather not see me, after all…? What if she just stayed home? What if….

Suddenly all of his thoughts flew from his mind, because in that moment he saw her-- her, weaving her way through the crowd of people, tugging along a small wheeled suitcase and peering around as if searching for something. He would recognize her adorable freckles and long brown braid anywhere.

“Homura!” he burst out then, waving to grab her attention. “Homura! I’m here!”

Homura turned toward the sound of Jyushimatsu’s voice, and the moment she spotted him her warm brown eyes lit up. The smile on her face nearly melted his heart and reduced him to a puddle. She picked up the pace as she hurried toward him, and Jyushimatsu was practically sprinting as he rushed to meet her halfway.

The second they were reunited Jyushimatsu swept Homura up in a hug, lifting her off her feet and swinging her in a circle. Homura laughed in delight, sounding like music to Jyushimatsu’s ears. He’d missed that beautiful, tinkling laugh of hers so much!

“Homura! You’re here, you’re really here!” he cried, finally lowering her gently to her feet again.

Homura’s smile was broad as she slipped her hands into Jyushimatsu’s, holding them tight. “I’m so happy to be back, too. I missed you...every day, I thought of you.”

“I thought of you all the time, too!” Jyushimatsu’s gaze trailed down to her wrist, spotting the faded yellow band wrapped around it. She kept that...she really kept it. His heart swelled with joy.

He presented the flowers to Homura, and she accepted them graciously, touched that Jyushimatsu had remembered which type was her favorite. Then, hand-in-hand, they left the station, already chatting in a fevered rush to catch up with each other, both in near disbelief at being reunited once more.

This time, things would be different. This time, they weren’t going to give up on each other, over fear of rejection and heartbreak.

This time, they were too helplessly in love to call it quits.

Chapter Text

On the surface, Osomatsu seemed absolutely fine.

He joked around with his brothers, teasing them mercilessly over anything he knew would annoy them and then laughing when they lost their temper at him. He indulged in his favorite hobby, gambling his meager funds away at horse races or pachinko, and was more than happy to partake in a few beers when he was done. One might call these habits almost an addiction, but to Osomatsu, he was just having fun.

He was what everyone referred to as a jerk, a jackass, a poor excuse for an oldest brother. But he still had their backs, and his brothers knew this and--almost begrudgingly--gave him respect for it.

They knew his ways. They knew him inside and out, practically. As sextuplets, it would be almost impossible not to.

But as it turned out...they didn’t know everything about him. And this was intentional on his part.

They didn’t know what had happened all those long years ago, when that horrible lodger had kidnapped him. They didn’t know what torment he’d put the poor child through, forcing him to steal and threatening to hurt his family if he refused to oblige.

They didn’t know how many nights of sleep Osomatsu had lost after that incident, terrified that the lodger would return even after he’d been locked up in prison. They didn’t know how often he woke up in a frenzied state even now, horrendous nightmares having jolted from his sleep and filling him with unspeakable terror.

They didn’t know, because he didn’t tell them. He didn’t want to tell them, even though he knew he should. He wanted nothing more to push the fear and anxiety and pain even thinking about it brought with it out of his mind forever. He didn’t want to saddle his brothers with something so heavy and gruesome, even though he suspected they were aware that something...something wasn’t right with him.

But no...he didn’t want to tell them that. Instead he kept a wide grin plastered on his face, and kept his secret locked away in his heart, buried like a forgotten memory, forever.  

Chapter Text

“Boooring…” Osomatsu groaned to himself, clicking through the channels on TV and landing on nothing but game show upon game show. Not that he didn’t enjoy a good game show once in awhile, especially ones with hot contestants to root for, but he wasn’t in the mood for that today.

He kept cycling through the channels, not finding anything that caught his interest, and was about to turn off the TV when he stumbled upon something...a televised ballet performance. He almost switched it off anyway, eyes glued to the screen as he raised the remote to turn it off. But then...he didn’t. He lowered the remote and leaned forward, watching with suddenly rapt attention.

It was a performance of “Swan Lake.” He sat perfectly still in front of the screen, transfixed by the dancers’ fluid movements as they leaped and twirled across the stage. The score was one he was familiar with--he’d danced to it countless times before, back when he was still practicing ballet. Back when he was just a kid.

Way back before the kids at school had caught on to his hobby, and bullied him for participating in such a “girly” sport.

He’d dropped out and never went back, and even that didn’t stop the relentless teasing from bullies on the playground for a long time. By the time they reached high school it had become a distant memory for most of them, and Osomatsu fell once more into the crowd, just a part of the gang.

And yet….he’d never stopped loving ballet. He just never pursued it again.

He wondered now what could have come of his life had he stuck with ballet, the way he wanted to. He didn’t mean to brag, but he’d been really good at it--even his instructors had praised his form and his skill. It was about the only lesson he could ever expect to pass with flying colors, had there been grades. He might’ve been discovered by some elite dancing academy and made it in via scholarship. He could’ve been famous, just like the dancers on TV now.

But instead...he quit, all because of some stupid kids calling him dumb names. He could’ve kicked himself for it.

Maybe...it’s not too late to try again?

Slowly Osomatsu stood up and stretched, filled with renewed determination. He mentally reviewed what of his ballet training had been stored in his memory. Did he even remember those five positions anymore, the ones every dancer was supposed to learn…?

“Let’s see…” he mumbled to himself, bracing a hand against the wall for balance. “What was first position again…?’

He stood with his feet together, his heels touching. Yeah, that’s it, he thought to himself with a little smile, pleased to have remembered it after all this time. He then changed positions slightly, his feet now farther apart. And I’m pretty sure this is second position, right…?

He went through everything he could remember off the top of his head, and when he’d gone through everything he repeated the cycle, reviewing it all over again. He hummed one of the songs from “Swan Lake” to himself as he did so.

He was so wrapped up in what he was doing that he never noticed when his brothers returned home, and he didn’t see them sneak a peek at him in the living room before heading quietly upstairs. They didn’t bring it up at dinner, allowing him this one private moment to himself for once.

They did unanimously decide, however, that when their birthday rolled around next they knew exactly what to get the oldest brother—a new pair of ballet slippers. Maybe that would be the inspiration he needed to go back to what he loved.

Chapter Text

“Jyushimatsu, quit nudging me,” Todomatsu harrumphed, shooting his immediate older brother a grumpy glare. “You almost made me drop my sweet potato.”

“Sorry, Totty!” Jyushi didn’t sound particularly apologetic as he leaned in closer to the crackling flames of their bonfire, holding the skewer containing his sweet potato on it closer to the fire to roast.

Karamatsu cast a glance toward Jyushimatsu, the flickering of the flames reflected in his sunglasses before he raised them to his forehead for a better look. “Ah, Jyushimatsu...how did you happen to come across a sweet potato so large…?”

Jyushimatsu beamed as he pulled his now perfectly roasted sweet potato from the flames. It was indeed significantly larger than everyone else’s potato, roughly half the size of his head if one were to guess. “I have my ways!” he declared cheerfully, before cramming roughly half the sweet potato into his mouth at once.

Osomatsu snorted, blowing on his sweet potato and taking a much smaller bite than Jyushimatsu had. “Kara, you know better than to question Jyushimatsu by now, don’t you?”

Karamatsu chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “I suppose you’re right, brother. Perhaps it’s best left a mystery.”

“Crap!!” Suddenly a startled shout brought their attention to the other side of the bonfire. Everyone turned to see Choromatsu frantically yanking his sweet potato from the fire, the potato now engulfed in flames. He tried blowing on it in a panic, but it only seemed to feed the flames.

Osomatsu turned toward Ichimatsu. “Ichi, the water,” he commanded.

“On it.” Ichimatsu had been prepared for this cue. He grabbed a bottle of water he’d had sitting next to him and spun around to face Choromatsu, quickly dumping the water on the potato and dousing the flames with a hiss.

“Ugh…” Choromatsu sighed, slumping as he gazed dejectedly down at the ruined, soggy potato on the end of his skewer. “Thanks, Ichi.”

Ichimatsu grunted and gave a short nod of acknowledgement.

“Sheesh, Choro, we really can’t trust you around fire--that’s why we came prepared,” Osomatsu remarked with a laugh. “Hey, maybe we should start calling you ‘Pyromatsu’ instead!”

“Haha, very funny.” Choromatsu frowned, glowering at the eldest.

“Ah, c’mon, lighten up a little. We’ve got more sweet potatoes--just let me roast this one for you,” Osomatsu said with a smirk.

Choromatsu rolled his eyes...but in the end he conceded. “Fine...thanks. But you’re still an ass.”

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way, right?” Osomatsu snickered to himself as he set to work skewering a new sweet potato for his brother.

These were the moments he lived for, all of his brothers gathered around doing something fun and teasing each other light-heartedly. It was moments like these he wished would last forever, even though deep in his heart he knew they wouldn’t.

But for now, he just had to live in the moment and enjoy it.

Chapter Text

“Race you home!” Osomatsu’s shout rang out merrily through the schoolyard, and with a laugh he bolted toward the school gates.

“Hey! No fair!” Todomatsu protested, and rushed to catch up with him.

The oldest and youngest brothers were the only two leaving the school at the time--while the others brothers had gone ahead home earlier, the two of them had been stuck in detention for a prank they’d pulled that day. It had been worth it, they decided later. It had been too funny to see the way their teacher had freaked out upon finding a spider (a rubber one, but she hadn’t known at the time) on her desk chair.

Osomatsu laughed as he sprinted ahead. “Can’t catch me!”

“Wanna bet?” Todomatsu countered, putting on a burst of speed.

He ran as fast as possible, and soon found himself gaining on Osomatsu. He let out a triumphant laugh. The oldest wasn’t going to win this time!

“Gotcha!” he hollered, reaching out to grab the back of Osomatsu’s shirt.

“Nuh-uh!” Osomatsu swiftly dodged the pounce, moving to the other side.

“Ah!” Todomatsu had thrown himself with such momentum that it made him lose his balance when Osomatsu moved. He tried frantically to regain it, but ended up stumbling and falling to his knees instead.

“Ow!” he cried out as soon as he hit the ground. His knees were stinging, as were his palms from attempting to break the fall. He rolled over and sat on the sidewalk to examine his knees--and to his horror his pants had been torn at the knee, revealing bloody scrapes underneath. Scrapes that hurt, a lot.

Tears sprung up in Todomatsu’s eyes, and before he could stop himself he was whimpering, on the verge of full-on sobs. He was so distracted by the pain and the scary sight of the blood that he didn’t notice at first when Osomatsu skidded to a halt, then backtracked to join him.

“Todomatsu, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for you to get hurt!” he exclaimed, kneeling beside his younger brother with a worried frown. “Are you okay?”

Fighting back tears, Todomatsu shook his head and indicated toward his knees with a shaky hand. Osomatsu quickly inspected them, then sagged with relief.

“That’s not too bad.I can fix you up! Here.” Osomatsu extended a hand to Todomatsu. “Can you still walk?”

“I th-think so.” That was all Todomatsu could manage to squeak out.

He wiped at the tears gathered in his eyes and accepted Osomatsu’s hand, letting him pull him to his feet. His legs trembled at first and his achy knees felt stiff, but with Osomatsu’s arm wrapped securely around him he managed to hobble the rest of the way home.

----------

Not long after, Todomatsu was still sniffling to himself as he sat on a chair at the kitchen table, letting Osomatsu tend to his wounds. He was careful when he cleaned them and applied the same ointment their mother used on him, but it still hurt, and Todomatsu did his best not to cry. He felt much better once Osomatsu put the bandages on him--they were cute yellow ones with little orange cats on them.

“There, all done!” Osomatsu proclaimed with a grin, standing up. “Feel better now?”

Todomatsu sniffed once more, then managed a small smile. “Yeah...a lot better. Thanks.”

“No problem! You can count on your big brother!” Osomatsu rubbed the underside of his nose, a habit he seemed to have started picking up without realizing. “Hey, you wanna go find the others so we can play a game?”

Todomatsu nodded eagerly, sliding off the chair. Now that his knees were fixed up and he couldn’t see the scrapes anymore, he was ready to have some fun again.

As he followed after his brother, he felt lucky to have Osomatsu watching out for him. He wasn’t always the greatest role model, but sometimes...sometimes, Todomatsu looked up to him as his hero.

Not that he’d ever, ever tell Osomatsu that.

Chapter Text

“The sky is so beautiful tonight!” Jyushimatsu’s voice seemed hushed in reverence as he spoke, as if he didn’t want to disturb the peace of the evening. On this surprisingly warm fall evening he was laying on a blanket in the park with Karamatsu and Choromatsu. The other brothers had opted out, not wanting to spend their evening stargazing, but none of them minded.

“It is indeed!” Karamatsu gazed upwards at the vast, deep blue sky, dotted with dozens of twinkling stars on such a clear night. “It truly is a blessing we’re in such good spirits and good health to appreciate what beauty nature has to offer us!”

Even Choromatsu was more relaxed than usual, and didn’t comment on Karamatsu’s verbose speech. “It really is a great night for this--the sky is so clear.” He sighed. “I wish I’d brought a book of constellations, though. Then we could’ve looked for some.”

“Nevermind that, brother. It’s fun enough to simply gaze up at the gorgeous sky together.” Karamatsu folded his arms behind his head, settling in comfortably. “If you really look, you can make out shapes for yourself in the stars.”

“Ah! You’re right, Karamatsu-niisan!” Jyushimatsu agreed, pointing upwards at the sky. “Look--that formation looks like your sunglasses!”  

“Heh, you do indeed have a visionary flair, Jyushimatsu!” Karamatsu declared with a flourish.

Choromatsu squinted upwards skeptically. “I don’t know, I don’t really see anything…”

“Look a little closer, brother...and think creatively!” Karamatsu pointed out another cluster of stars. “See over there--don’t those stars all grouped together look a bit like a frog?”

Choromatsu stared at the spot in the sky Karamatsu directed him to, as if focusing as hard as he could, then frowned. “I still don’t see it,” he said with a sigh.

Karamatsu reached toward him and patted his shoulder reassuringly. “No worries, Choromatsu. Perhaps it’ll make itself clearer to you in time.”

“Oh! Oh! Up there!!” Jyushimatsu suddenly pointed frantically, his voice excited. “A shooting star!”

Karamatsu and Choromatsu followed Jyushimatsu’s point to the sky, where they caught a shooting star soaring through the dark sky, glowing brilliantly.

“Quick! Make a wish!” Jyushimatsu instructed, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so.

Choromatsu and Karamatsu exchanged a quick glance, then shrugged and closed their eyes as well. Within their own minds, each of them made a secret wish. When they next opened their eyes, the star had faded from sight.

“So...what’d you wish for?” Choromatsu asked.

“You can’t tell!” Jyushimatsu protested. “Otherwise it won’t come true.”

“Heh, Jyushimatsu has a point--we can’t risk being denied our heart’s deepest desires by telling,” Karamatsu added with a little smile.

“Oh, that’s just superstition--they probably won’t come true, anyway,” Choromatsu pointed out, but he didn’t press further. Somewhere in his heart, he was hoping his wish would come true as well.  

The three resumed their stargazing then, chatting casually with each other, all the while secretly watching out for any more shooting stars. There weren’t any, but that was okay...even without their wishes coming true, it was enough to just enjoy this time together.

Chapter Text

Ichimatsu was cold.

He didn’t feel like picking himself off the couch to grab a blanket though—he felt cold and heavy, a deep-seated exhaustion having settled in and making its unwelcome home. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with him...he felt vaguely achy and his head hurt. Maybe he was getting sick.

Great. Just what I need.

He shivered, curling in on himself and huddling as snuggly in his hoodie as he possibly could. It did little to provide any extra warmth, though.

Just get off your ass already. Go get a blanket, make some tea...anything to warm yourself up. Just do it.

But still, he couldn’t bring himself to. Trekking to the kitchen or even to the hall closet to grab a blanket sounded like far too much work for him at the moment. And there wasn’t anyone else around to ask to do it for him. Not like he would’ve asked, anyway.

He sighed, which ended in a raspy cough, and closed his eyes in a feeble attempt to try falling asleep. It was what his body desperately needed, but he was shivering too damn much for sleep to take over.

Maybe I’ll die like this, he thought dramatically, coughing again. Just wither up and die.

He didn’t know how long he lay there trembling with chills, struggling to drift off. His eyes kept popping open when a particularly bad chill jolted his weak body. Ugh. He hated this.

And then...something covered him. Something warm, fleecy, soft...a blanket. Ichimatsu lifted his head and blinked at the blue blanket that had been draped over him, surprised.

“You looked cold...I thought this might be of good use.” Of course. It had to be Karamatsu to come and tuck him in, and who was now standing beside him at the couch, looking him over carefully with worry in his eyes.

Ichimatsu grunted in response, trying to hide his flushed face in the blanket.

“You felt awfully warm, Ichimatsu—do you have a fever?” Karamatsu didn’t sound quite as painful as usual as he asked. He seemed more concerned than anything else.

“Hmph...I dunno,” Ichimatsu muttered, even though he knew he did.

Karamatsu hummed, placing a hand on Ichimatsu’s forehead and then drawing back. “I’ll get the thermometer, and some medicine as well...I’m sure it’s only a minor cold, but we should get you taken care of, anyway.”

“Hmph…” Ichimatsu mumbled again, though without much irritation. Shittymatsu...wants to take care of me? Even after I’m so mean to him? Damn...who knew.

“I shall return momentarily!” With that Karamatsu spun on his heel, but Ichimatsu reached out from the warmth of his blanket and tugged on his sleeve, pulling him back. Karamatsu regarded the younger brother curiously.

“....thank you,” Ichimatsu said quietly, not quite meeting the other’s gaze. “For...you know, the blanket and whatever.”

“Of course, my little Ichimatsu,” Karamatsu responded sincerely. “It’s my duty to look after my dear little brothers, after all!”

“Yeah, whatever. Just don’t tell anyone else I thanked you or I’ll clobber you.”

Karamatsu chuckled, shaking his head slightly to himself as he left the room. “I wouldn’t doubt that for a minute.”

Chapter Text

Choromatsu woke up abruptly, heart racing and eyes frantically scoping out his surroundings. He was enveloped by darkness, nothing but darkness, and for a terrifying second he thought he was dead.

He sat up quickly--too quickly. He flinched and doubled over slightly at the searing pain that flared up in his chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him. Shit...that hurts…

Somehow the pain helped to ground him as he focused on taking short little breaths until the worst of it subsided. In that time his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he realized he was on the couch in the living room, his blanket twisted around him. He was home. He was safe.

But that awful nightmare still raced through his mind, replaying itself over and over. It wasn’t even just a nightmare--it had actually happened. He could still vividly recall the sharp swerve of the vehicle, the crunching of metal against metal, the shattering of breaking glass, the way his seatbelt had dug into his chest as he was flung forward in his seat...he shuddered, suddenly shaky and upset.

“Choro…?”

Choromatsu lifted his head slowly, knowing moving too suddenly would only aggravate the pain again. “Totty? What’re you doing up…?”

“Just getting some water,” Todomatsu replied, keeping his voice a whisper as he spoke so he wouldn’t wake up everyone else. “Um, what about you?”

“I…” Choromatsu swallowed hard, and admitted quietly, “...I had that nightmare again. About the accident.”

“Ahh.” Todomatsu shuffled in place, before finally stepping forward and perching carefully on the edge of the couch beside Choromatsu. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I mean, I guess there isn’t much to talk about...I just keep going over it again and again.” Choromatsu sighed, and then winced at the pain that spread through his chest again at the gesture.

His pain must’ve registered on his face, because suddenly Todomatsu’s expression became much more concerned. “Does your chest hurt again, Nii-san?”

“It’s fine, just give me a minute,” Choromatsu responded through gritted teeth, waiting out the pain again. In a surprising gesture, Todomatsu leaned closer and placed a hand on Choromatsu’s back, rubbing it gently.

“Seriously, Choro...you don’t think you need to go to the hospital again? It seems like your pain’s only getting worse, not better.” Todomatsu bit his lip anxiously.

“No, remember, the doctor said it’d take awhile to heal...and he took X-rays of my chest and said I didn’t have broken ribs or anything, just bruises. Bad ones, but that’s all.”

“Okay...if you’re sure.”

The two lapsed into silence then, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Todomatsu piped up softly. “You know...I keep thinking about that day, too, and what a jerk I was to you about that job fair. I really, really regret what I said.”

“You’re still thinking about that…? Totty, that was almost two weeks ago…”

“But look at you!” Todomatsu burst out, and Choromatsu noticed his little brother’s eyes were filling with tears. “You got in a car accident on the way to that job fair, all because you missed that train and had to take a cab instead. A massive truck hit the side of the cab! You could’ve died, and it would’ve been my fault, because if I hadn’t kept you waiting while I yelled at you, you would’ve made your train and not needed a cab! And...and if you died...I wouldn’t have gotten to say I’m sorry.”

“T-Totty…” Choromatsu’s head spun trying to process everything his brother had just said. It was an awful lot to take in. Todomatsu blamed himself for the accident? “Totty, that’s not true…”

“Of course it is! Because I’m a stupid, selfish brother who wouldn’t even do one little thing you asked me to...and I just…” Todomatsu broke down sobbing then. “I’m sorry, Choromatsu! I’m so sorry!”

“Totty...listen.” Choromatsu rested a hand on Todomatsu’s trembling shoulder. “It is not your fault. This entire thing was a fluke...I wish it hadn’t happened, and I know you do, too. But you didn’t cause it. It’s not like you would know I was going to get in an accident. I mean, for all I know it’s fate’s way of telling me to stop rising so much.” He tried to smile a little, intending that last bit as a joke, but Todomatsu didn’t respond to it as he continued sniveling.

“What I’m getting at is that I never once considered this your fault. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. And it makes me sad knowing you felt this way. But the thing is...I’m okay. It was a bad accident, and I got hurt, but no one died. You can’t overthink something that didn’t happen.”

“Why not, you do it all the time,” Todomatsu mumbled with a sniffle, but at least his crying had died down significantly.

“Yeah, I guess I do,” Choromatsu conceded. “But I don’t want you to, not over this. I forgive you for saying all of that, and I’m ready to just move on if you are.”

Todomatsu brushed away a few stray tears, gazing up hopefully at Choromatsu. “You really, honestly mean that?”

“Of course. After all...we’re brothers. We’re going to have to make up and move on, because we’re just going to keep getting into arguments anyway...and we can’t worry that everytime we do that one of us is going to get into an accident. Right?”

This time Todomatsu managed a weak chuckle at the comment. “Thank you, Nii-san...I’d hug you, but I know that’d probably hurt right now. So I’ll just say...I’m sorry, and thank you.”

That was good enough for Choromatsu. Even if he still had nightmares, even if his wounds took time to heal, it was a relief to know that the air had been cleared between him and Todomatsu. He was glad about that at least.

Chapter Text

The last time Homura had been on this beach, she was at the lowest point she had ever been. Even when circumstance--or more likely, fate--had intervened and prevented her from jumping off that cliff on that day, she still didn’t think she’d ever return to this same place again, thinking the memories might be too painful.

Now, here she was, sitting on a towel in the sand next to the same man who had saved her life that day, watching as the sun rose over the ocean and made the water sparkle like its surface was sprinkled with diamonds. Jyushimatsu’s hand snaked out from his long hoodie sleeve and  clasped itself over hers, and she returned the gesture, giving his hand a tight squeeze.

So much had changed since that day, and so many new memories had been made between her and Jyushimatsu--some painful, but mostly happy. She was in a better place now. She couldn’t say everything was perfect. There were still dark days, and she knew they would never fully go away. But she was working on improving and taking care of herself, and having Jyushimatsu at her side made it all a lot easier to handle than being alone.

In a way, Jyushimatsu was like sunshine. Her sunshine. Even when she was at her worst he never gave up on her, doing anything he could to make her smile again. And when she was feeling okay, he kept at it, making her laugh until her sides ached and she nearly passed out. He was always so cheerful and bright that it often made her feel as if she were glowing, too. It was a feeling she wanted to hold onto, for as long as she could.

Jyushimatsu turned to her then, a wide smile stretching across his face. “It’s so pretty, isn’t it, Homura?”

“Yes, it is.” Homura had to agree, of course. The sky looked marvelous, painted in soft pink and gold hues as the sun slowly rose, casting a warm light across the beach.

“I’m so happy I could share it with you again, Homura-chan!” Jyushimatsu’s smile relaxed a little then, into something more subdued and genuine. “I hope we can do it again sometime soon...do you think you’d want to?”

Homura smiled at him, scooting a little closer. “Of course. I’d love to.” And then, almost daringly, she leaned in and kissed his cheek.   

It was just a small peck, but Jyushimatsu’s cheeks still flushed bright red and a huge smile lit his face once more. Homura rested her head against his shoulder, and together they watched the sun rise the rest of the way up in the sky. She didn’t think she’d ever seen a more beautiful day.

Chapter Text

Todomatsu hated storms, especially ones that brought thunder and lightning with them. And especially when these storms happened in the middle of the night, when he was trying to sleep and when everyone else had already drifted off, leaving him all alone.

That was the situation he found himself in tonight. It was a raging storm, too--thunder roared and lightning flashed across the sky, lighting up the otherwise pitch-black bedroom. Rain poured down and wind howled past their window. For once, the noise outside was enough to drown out the sound of Jyushimatsu snoring.

Todomatsu shivered, pulling the futon up to his nose, unable to tear his gaze away from the window no matter how desperately he wanted to cover his eyes. Thunder and lightning had been a fear of his since childhood, one he always assumed he’d outgrow as he got older--but no, if anything it seemed like it got worse.

He remembered those nights as a kid when a storm would blow through Akatsuka ward. Some nights he was so frightened he’d race down the hall to his parents’ room, eyes brimming with tears and pleading to stay with them until morning. Other nights, if he was lucky, one of his brothers would hear his quiet whimpering and wake up enough to check on him, often inviting him to stay in their futon until the storm died down. It had all been comforting and cozy, and made him feel safe.

Now, even though he was surrounded by his brothers on either side, he still couldn’t shake that stupid fear. Another clap of thunder boomed outside, and Todomatsu whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn’t see the lightning that followed.

“Hey...Totty?”

Todomatsu jumped slightly, stifling a startled yelp, and turned to the source of the voice. “O-Osomatsu…?” He hated the way his voice trembled as he whispered.

“You okay?” Osomatsu had one eye squinted open as he regarded Todomatsu, still sleepy but with a hint of concern in his expression.

“F-fine.” Todomatsu didn’t want Osomatsu to think he was a pathetic loser, being so scared of the storm.

Osomatsu just looked at him, clearly unconvinced. But instead of making a big deal and questioning him too much on it, Osomatsu simply lifted an arm and gestured for Todomatsu to come closer. “C’mere, Totty.”

Todomatsu hesitated, then reluctantly scooted closer. Osomatsu draped his arm over his little brother, holding him closer, and pulled the blanket up so it was snug around them.

“Better?” Osomatsu asked.

Todomatsu breathed out a tiny, shaky sigh. “Yeah...better.”

“Good.” Osomatsu yawned then, closing his eyes. “Good night, little bro.”

“‘Night,” Todomatsu murmured, shutting his eyes as well. With his brother’s arm protectively around him now, he had a much easier time relaxing and letting himself get the rest he needed.

Maybe one day he’d get over this fear, but at least he had someone to watch over him until then.     

Chapter Text

“Matsuzo, look.” Matsuyo entered the living room carrying a leather-bound photo album. “I was cleaning out the closet and found the boys’ baby album. Care to look with me?”

“Of course.” Matsuzo switched off the TV. He hadn’t really been watching anything, and besides, spending some time with his wife sounded better anyway.

The two settled onto the couch, and Matsuyo opened the book, the spine crackling with age.

“Oh, look at this,” Matsuyo said, pointing at the first picture. It featured her sitting on the couch, surrounded by six babies bundled in blankets. “That was from the day we first brought them home from the hospital. They were so tiny then…”

“They were tiny, sure, but when they cried it was loud enough to bring the house down,” Matsuzo remarked with a chuckle.

Matsuyo nudged him, but she laughed as well. “Don’t be so mean, they were only babies then!”

“And this one,” Matsuzo went on, pointing at another picture. “That one was from their first birthday.”

The picture showed all six boys gathered around the table, cake smeared all over their mouths...and hair, and clothes, and just about everywhere else.

Matsuyo laughed. “Oh, I remember that day! Right after that picture was taken Todomatsu threw a piece of cake at Karamatsu, and Karamatsu started crying.”

“And Osomatsu tried to steal everyone’s gifts and keep them for himself,” Matsuzo added, shaking his head with amusement. “I suppose they’ve grown up quite a bit since then, haven't they?”

“Yes.” Matsuyo gave a little sigh. “I guess I can’t call them my babies anymore…”

Just then, they heard shouting coming from upstairs.

“Mom!” Todomatsu bellowed. “Osomatsu stole my money again!”

“Shut up! I did not!”

Matsuyo and Matsuzo exchanged a look, and then smiled wryly.

“The again, I guess some things really never change, do they?” Matsuyo noted.

“It seems so, honey,” Matsuzo quipped with a laugh. “It sure seems so.”

Chapter Text

It was a cold, rainy day, the sort of day no one would want to be caught outside in. The Matsuno sextuplets, somehow, were undeterred, leaving the house to go to the movies. Or at least, most of them had.

But not Choromatsu. He hadn’t really felt like going to see a movie that day, especially in such a torrential downpour. So he’d declined, saying he’d rather stay home, and after a little pestering to try and get him to join the others had left.

And now, for once, he was enjoying a peaceful afternoon, all by himself. He’d brewed himself a cup of tea and then brought it with him into the living room, where he curled up on the couch with a blanket and a book. He didn’t start reading right away, though. Instead he just gazed out the window and watched the rain fall as he sipped his tea. It was sort of soothing, actually, the almost rhythmic pelting of rain on the window, and not bad to watch as long as he was cozy and warm inside his home.

It struck him then that for once he actually felt... calm. Completely tranquil and at ease. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to.

Huh...strange…

But he was grateful for it, too. Recently his anxiety had been really bad, to the point where he’d had what was definitely his worst anxiety attack since being diagnosed with GAD, and peace was a hard thing to find. A reprieve from his exhaustingly overactive thoughts was completely welcome.

It would be nice if it was more than just that, though. If he could feel this relaxed all the time. He knew that was probably asking too much--after all, he’d never been a calm person by nature, always the nervous and frantic one among his brothers. But if he could have more days like this, he’d certainly be a lot happier.

He took another long sip of his tea, and smiled a little to himself. He wouldn’t let himself overthink it now, though, wondering how long he’d feel okay until worry settled in once again. Instead he simply embraced the calm. Maybe he could take it as a sign that he was actually getting better. That would definitely be nice.

Well...I guess I should start reading before everyone gets back and shatters the peace…

With that he picked up his book, wrapped himself more cozily in his blanket, and began to read, letting the story carry him away.

Chapter Text

Karamatsu was stuck.

He sat on the rooftop, one arm draped over the guitar propped up in his lap, his notebook and a few crumpled pieces of paper next to him. He gazed at the city below, a dismal expression on his face.

I’ve been working on these lyrics for the last hour and nothing sounds right...I was so excited for this idea, and now I can’t come up with a singler verse that I like!! What’s wrong with me? Has all my inspiration been completely tapped?! Oh, woe is me….

“Kara?”

Karamatsu glanced up to find Choromatsu had joined him on the roof. “Yes, brother?”

“It’s almost time for dinner,” Choromatsu replied, surveying the rejected papers scattered around Karamatsu. “Do you want some help tidying up the roof before we go down?”

“Non, I’ll take care of it.” Karamatsu sighed. “I’ll be down shortly.”

Choromatsu frowned slightly, noticing how despondent Karamatsu sounded. “Is everything okay?”

“Well….” Karamatsu let out a long breath. “The truth is, dear brother...I appear to be stuck in a rut. I want to create, for I am overflowing with passion for my craft! However...even though the idea is there, I can’t seem to find the words. I’m afraid my career as a songwriter has perished before it even peaked.”

Choromatsu raised an eyebrow, then gave a small nod of understanding. “I understand that feeling...but I wouldn’t say that, exactly. It’s probably just writer’s block. Sometimes even when you’re excited about an idea, it can be hard to get it off the ground. But I’m sure you’ll get over it.”

Karamatsu gazed up at Choromatsu hopefully. “You truly mean that?”

“Of course!” Choromatsu offered Karamatsu a reassuring smile. “You’ve been up here working on it for a long time today already, maybe you’re just a little burnt out. Maybe if you take a break and come back to it later, you’ll be able to think of what you want to write.”

“But if I take a break, it may never get finished…” Karamatsu lamented.

“Kara, it’s better to take a break and take longer to finish something than to try rushing it and getting yourself too worked up over it,” Choromatsu pointed out. “Look how many songs you’ve already written. Even if some go unfinished, you’ve already accomplished a lot. You’ll get your inspiration back and be even better than ever. So don’t be too down on yourself, okay?”

Karamatsu reflected on that for a few seconds, and then managed to return his brother’s smile. “Perhaps you’re right, Choromatsu...thank you.” He sprang to his feet then, filled with renewed determination. “Yes! My inspiration  will return, stronger than ever before! This world has not heard the last of Matsuno Karamatsu!”

Choromatsu just shook his head and chuckled. “I’m happy to hear that you’re not giving up. So, ready to go down to dinner?”

“Absolutely. I’m famished.” Karamatsu gathered up his papers and guitar and followed Choromatsu back into the house. He hummed a little to himself as he did so. Hopefully, his inspiration would be back soon--and when it returned, he’d be ready for it.

Chapter Text

“Man, I can’t believe they sent us out to get the kerosene,” Osomatsu complained, rubbing his arms and shivering. “It’s freezing out! We should’ve just made Choro go on his own again.”

Choromatsu raised an eyebrow at him, unamused. “After last time? No thanks, and we are not stopping at the bar this time, either. Just straight to the store, and straight back.”

Karamatsu nodded. “We’ll make it as quick a trip as possible! And then soon we shall be huddled around the warm embrace of the kotatsu once more….”

“That wording didn’t even make any sense.” Choromatsu shook his head. “So painful…”

Osomatsu let himself fall back as the other two began to talk to each other, a sneaky smirk crossing his face. He bent down and picked up some snow, then tiptoed ever so quietly forward….

And before the other knew what was happening, Osomatsu tugged at Choromatsu’s hood and dropped the snow into the back of his jacket.

“Ah!” Choromatsu jerked himself away from Osomatsu with a startled yelp, quickly shaking out his jacket to get the snow out.

Osomatsu started laughing, nearly doubled over, and Choromatsu whipped around to glare at him.

“That wasn’t funny, you jackass!” With that Choromatsu scooped up a handful of snow and hurled it at the eldest.

Osomatsu was so busy laughing that he didn’t see the snowball coming at him. It hit him right in the face, causing him to reel back and almost lose his balance.

Karamatsu chuckled. “Nice aim, Choromatsu!”

Choromatsu laughed back. “Thanks.”

“Ick!” Osomatsu swiped the snow off his face, shaking it out of his hair, then shot his brothers a challenging look. “Oh, so you want a snowball fight? Then you’ve got one!”

With that he scooped up two handfuls of snow and hurled them at his brothers, who dodged them as they scrambled to grab their own handfuls of snow.

It didn’t take long for a full-blown snowball fight to break out between the three of them. They lobbed snowballs at each other—sometimes with striking aim, sometimes not—shouting and laughing the whole time. They got a few strange looks from people passing by, three grown men engaged in such a silly activity, but in the end they were having too much fun to care.

The kerosene had been completely forgotten.

Chapter Text

Another day...another failure.

Choromatsu sighed heavily to himself as he trudged home, weighted down by the burden of his own failure yet again. He’d had another job interview that day, one for a company he really wanted to work for...but by the time he’d fumbled his way through the interview it was apparent that he would not be considered for the position.

He was used to rejection at this point, but for some reason it hit him especially hard today, to the point where he hadn’t been prepared to go home and face his family yet. So he’d wandered aimlessly through the streets of Akatsuka ward, not really walking in any particular direction, and had ended up spending a couple hours sitting silently on a bench in the park. He didn’t start heading for home until he noticed the darkness quickly gathering in the sky and realized night was falling. It was getting late—he didn’t want his family to worry about where he was.

But...he hated knowing he was crawling back to them, only to tell them he was still unemployed.

Oh well...I guess they’re used to my ineptness by now. I’ll just have to deal with a few sympathetic looks and endless digs at how I’m “rising” too much and I can just shove the whole day behind me.

Eventually he arrived home, back to the house he’d lived in all his life. He exhaled another sigh as he pushed open the door.

“I’m home,” he called dejectedly.

“Choro, dear?” Matsuyo bustled into the entryway. “Oh, thank goodness! You were out so long, I was getting worried about you!”

“I’m fine,” Choromatsu responded glumly, not particularly wanting to go into detail.

Matsuyo traced a hand along his cheek. “You’re cold, though—it’s freezing outside. Here, take off your shoes and join us at the table. Dinner’s ready, that should warm you up.”

“Okay…” Choromatsu could smell something delicious cooking. His stomach rumbled as he realized it had been a long time since he last ate. His mother’s concern for him was a bit touching, as well, after the rejection he’d faced that day

Soon enough he was joining everyone else at the table, his mother serving them bowls of soup. Choromatsu ate silently as the others talked around him, though he didn’t mind—there was comfort in being surrounded by conversation, and it was just nice to enjoy a hot meal after letting himself get so cold and hungry.

When the question of his interview was at last brought up, he reluctantly admitted, “I didn’t get it. I guess they’ll find someone better for the job…”

“Oh, well. Better luck next time,” Matsuzo said lightheartedly.

“Yeah, you’ll knock ‘em dead next round!” Jyushimatsu declared.

“Eh, I bet you wouldn’t have liked working there anyway—too many stuffy types,” Osomatsu stated, and gave his brother a grin. “The next place will be just right for you, I’m sure of it.”

“...thanks.” Choromatsu wasn’t sure he could trust the reassurances of his family, when they were basically the same ones he heard every time he was rejected.

But...at least every time I’ve failed so far, I haven’t had to deal with it alone, he thought suddenly. At least they try to support me...and at least I have a nice, warm home to return to every night. No matter what happens or how long it takes me to get a job, I’ll always have home.

The thought was comforting enough to help a little of his apprehension and disappointment melt away. For the first time all day, he let himself relax, and admitted to himself that he was happy to be home with his family.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad place to stay for awhile, after all.