Work Text:
You thought that food had tasted a little funny, but you kept eating it anyway. You should have stopped way before you did, and now you were paying the price. You struggled through the work day, nearly threw up in the bathroom on your break, and now you were stepping through the door of the Matsuno residence, grumbling out an “I'm home.” as you slipped off your shoes. You expected at least one of them to make their appearance, but you didn't see or hear any sign of the boys. Well good enough anyway. That meant you could get some rest. You made your way up the stairs, just planning on sleeping on the couch for now. Maybe you should get a tub or something just in case you felt sick again. Stopping beside the closet in the hall, you looked around for a cleaning bucket before snatching it and heading into the room. You didn't even both to take off your work clothes, just fell face down onto the couch and laid there a few moments, hand still on the handle of the bucket.
It was a couple hours later when you were startled awake by the sound of Osomatsu's laughing, loud and obnoxious, added to the sound of the door slamming open as the brothers started to file into the room. However they stopped when they saw you laying halfway on the couch, still in your work clothes, still in the same position you had been when you got home.
“Oi, you alright?” Osomatsu said, the brothers looking around him towards your body looking like it had been haphazardly thrown like a ragdoll. You didn't answer, you just wanted some sleep.
“Osomatsu-niisan, I think they're not feeling well.” noted Todomatsu. “There's a bucket next to them.”
“Sick?” said Choromatsu, and pulled away from the group first to make his way to your side. He was fully prepared to see the mess that was in that bucket, but thankfully you had been sleeping most of the time they were gone, so there was nothing in it, and he was relieved. He then placed his hand on your shoulder, giving it a small shake. “Are you feeling alright?”
“No.” you suddenly spoke, causing Choromatsu to step back a few paces.
“O-Oh, what's wrong?” he asked.
Great, you didn't want to have to explain to them that you probably got sick from eating food that had gone bad and you were just too much of a moron to stop eating it. The last person you wanted looking at you with judging look was them. They had no room to talk anyway! So you thought about how you were going to answer him, and finally turned your head to look at him.
“I think I got the flu. I feel nauseated and I just wanna sleep.”
The brothers looked at each other, and then back at you, until you turned yourself on the couch so you had your back to them.
“There's only one thing we can do.” said Karamatsu, flicking up some of his bangs. “We need to take care of them until they are better.”
“For once you're right.” said Choromatsu, looking to his older brother. “We should find out what we can do for them.”
“How about we ask Mom!” said Osomatsu.
“She's not home and Dad is at work.” said Ichimatsu, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Come on, we're not dumb. Well some of you aren't.” sighed Todomatsu. “It shouldn't be that hard to take care of someone when they're sick.”
While the brothers were talking among themselves, Jyushimatsu had broken away from the crowd, going to the closet and pulling out a blanket. He held it bundled in his arms and made his way over to you, where he let it unfurl and laid it over your body, tucking you in nice and neat. It took a moment for it to register, but when you realized what he had done, your face lit up in a hot blush. HOW DARE HE BE THIS CUTE?! Good thing you were facing away from all them because your embarrassed blush would just make this more awkward for you.
His brothers had been watching him as well, mouths slightly agape as Jyushimatsu joined the group once more, mouth open in a wide smile like he didn't just do what he did. This . . . this was war! Jyushimatsu couldn't just show them up like that! Todomatsu was the first to step away this time, reaching into his pants and pulling out his wallet.
“I'm going to go buy some medicine!” he chimed out. Surely that would win him points of your affection. He was even using his own money to do it! He left before anyone could question him, and in turn caused the rest of the boys to glare at each other. They had to be the best! Better than Todomatsu!
Ichimatsu had left without a word to his brothers, already knowing what he was going to do.
“I'll make them better by fighting the germs!” Jyushimatsu called out.
“NO!” the rest of his brothers cried out, grabbing onto his body and holding on as if their lives depended on it. Jyushimatsu just looked down at them with a confused look. “Eh?”
“Y-You already helped with the blanket.” said Choromatsu, looking up at him with panic filled eyes. “Why don't you go see if we have some crackers! They might get hungry later!”
Jyushimatsu nodded, bringing his sleeve covered hand up to his forehead in a salute before heading out of the room. That left the three oldest.
“I know what to do!” said Osomatsu with a grin, walking over to the small dresser that had most of your clothing in it. “They shouldn't be sleeping in their work clothes. I'll get them something comfortable to wear.”
Wow, that was actually kind of sweet? You didn't Osomatsu was capable of that emotion. Most of the time he was selfish. Well they all were a little selfish, but Osomatsu more so. You peeked over your shoulder to watch him dig through your stuff, squinting your eyes at the amount of time he was taking. What the hell are you doing, going through my things? Eventually he turned around though, and started heading towards the couch. Oh good, he had gotten some pajamas. Those would be nice and comfortable.
“Hup! Here we go!” he called out, the blanket suddenly pulled from your body and your eyes widened at the sudden rush of cold air that swept in it place. What the hell--
“OSOMATSU!!” your voice suddenly screeched out when he sat himself on your legs and was starting to lift up your shirt, Choromatsu wasting no time in kicking him in the face to get him off you.
“IDIOT OLDER BROTHER! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” he screamed as Osomatsu hit the floor with a hard thud, holding his cheeks with his eyes squinted shut. You were already sitting up, holding the blanket against your chest like you had just been violated.
“I was gonna help them change into something comfortable!” the eldest whined as he rubbed his cheek. Choromatsu crossed his arms, tapping his foot before pointing out to the hallway. “GO OUT THERE.”
Osomatsu didn't have to listen to him! But he didn't feel like getting yelled at again, or kicked, so he grumbled and stood to his feet, muttering under his breath and shuffling out into the hall. You watched him go with wide eyes before looking to Choromatsu and Karamatsu, the third eldest apologizing profusely for Osomatsu's stupid antics. You just waved your hands in front of yourself, that blush on your face still very much evidant, but eventually it calmed down, and you laid back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling.
“You probably won't be able to eat anything solid if it's a stomach virus.” said Choromatsu, stepping up and pulling the blanket back over you. “Do you want me to see if we have any soup?”
“That would be great.” you grunted out, your eyes lowering to look over at him. He seemed to freeze a moment as you stared at him, color coming to his face before he quickly backed up and pointed out the door.
“S-Sure! I'll go check and make some if we do!” and with those words, Choromatsu was out the door. All that was left was Karamatsu, who was walking to the closet and opening it to pull out one of the six pillows stored away in there.
“Here, resting your head on the arm of the couch is probably not very comfortable. Please use mine.”
“It's o-- ah, alright.” You had started to speak, but he was already lifting your head and pushing his pillow underneath it. You had to admit, it was pretty soft, and it smelled like him. Body sweat. When was the last time this pillow case was washed? At least it wasn't too strong of a smell. You could probably ignore it.
“Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?” he asked, pulling out his guitar from behind the couch. You almost automatically refused, but it might be nice to hear him sing. Albeit a little painful.
“Sure, after I change, alright?” you said, looking over at him. He paused, shock on his face. Nobody really ever wanted to hear him sing, Jyushimatsu did sometimes, but everyone else just brushed him off.
Karamatsu smiled and nodded, and once he stepped out a moment and you changed, he sat down on the floor next to the couch, eyes closed and a smile on his face as he tuned up his instrument. When he was happy with the results, his fingers gently strummed over the strings, and he began to sing a song softly.
You had been too engrossed in the song to actually fall asleep. What a . . . painful song. And actually really sad. You stared over at Karamatsu, he actually sung all of that in English too. Good English. You ended up tilting your head at him, opening your mouth to ask him about what the song meant to him but the moment you did, the door to the room opened, and Ichimatsu walked in, a tray in his hands that had a bowl of cold water and a towel rolled up and on the side. He stared at Karamatsu with a small look of disgust before sitting down beside the couch, setting the tray down and getting to work soaking the towel.
You didn't really have a fever, but you didn't have the heart to tell him when he was trying so hard to take care of you.
“T-Thanks, Ichimatsu.” you said with a soft smile. He just let out a small grunt before wringing out the cloth and folding it up, placing it on your forehead. You didn't have a fever, but it actually felt pretty nice. Ichimatsu watched you a moment, you swore you saw a smile but he ended up looking back to Karamatsu, his gaze lowering down to his guitar.
“What are you trying to do, make them go deaf with your shitty singing?” he snarled out. Karamatsu blinked, looking taken back but another Matsuno entered the room before he could say anything in return.
“I FOUND CRACKERS!” Jyushimatsu called out, holding an industrial size box of saltines above his head. All three of you looked up at the box, blank expressions. Where did he even find that, because you were pretty sure Matsuyo didn't have INDUSTRIAL SIZED BOXES OF SALTINES JUST LYING AROUND HER HOUSE. He stepped over next to the couch and dropped the box at the end of it, causing the floor to shake a little from the impact.
“A-Ah . . . t-thanks, Jyushimatsu.” you stared at the box, and he began to open it, pulling out a pack and pulling it open for you.
It wasn't long before the door opened again, and Todomatsu stepped in, holding a plastic bag in his grip. He actually went out and got you medicine.
“Sorry it took a bit.” he said as he walked over to the couch, sitting on the floor beside Ichimatsu. “I got some flu and stomach medicine. I wasn't sure which one you would need so I got them both!”
His elder brothers just glared over at him. Of course, he'd spend his own money to make himself look better. You smiled and sat up, taking hold of the stomach medicine and looking to Todomatsu with an appreciative look.
“This will help, thank you.” you said, beaming a smile at him and causing the brothers to glare at him more intensely. You opened it up and took a couple gulps of the liquid, cringing at the taste until Ichimatsu got up and came back with a glass of water. You stared at the four of them with a small smile, and soon your cheeks were starting to gain a rosy tint.
“I really appreciate you guys taking care of me.” you said, smile bright. “You didn't have to.”
“Of course we didn't have to.” Osomatsu's voice came from the doorway, where he was standing beside Choromatsu as he held a tray with a bowl of Okayu. Everyone looked towards him as he made his way inside the room, and Choromatsu brought the tray to you, letting it sit across your lap and taking the cloth from your head so it didn't fall into the porridge.
“We wanted to.” Osomatsu continued. “It'd be pretty boring around here if you were stuck being sick for a while.”
The brothers looked at each other, but you all knew what he meant. The eldest rubbed his finger under his nose, letting out a small “Hehe.” before sitting on the floor with everyone else.
“We . . . care a lot about you.” said Choromatsu, looking away so you couldn't see his blushing face. “So of course we're going to try and help you feel better!”
“Yeah!! You can't watch my practice swings if you're sick!!” said Jyushimatsu.
“And . . . you can't help me feed the cats.” mumbled Ichimatsu.
“I can't take cute selfies with you if you're not looking your best!” added Todomatsu, winking at you with that sickeningly cute smile.
“Your well being is far too important to ignore.” said Karamatsu, grinning and giving you a thumbs up. You felt like tears were going to come to your eyes. They were all being so nice, so attentive! Who the hell were these people?! Not the NEETs you normally knew!
“T-Thank you!” you struggled to say through the lump forming in your throat, fighting back happy tears. The boys all grinned, looking to each other as if they were proud of themselves. They made you so happy that you were crying!
The mood drastically changed when you suddenly leaned over the couch, puking your guts out into the bucket on the floor and causing Todomatsu to shriek in horror as the back splash hit him in the face.