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Choromatsu was buying his train ticket when he saw her. She was obviously a tourist, what with her natural blond hair and way of dress. Choromatsu didn’t mean to stare, but he found her extremely pretty, although he didn’t pay much mind to foreigners most of the time. Her hair was tied into a loose ponytail, but a few strands of hair still poked out from beneath her blue baseball cap to prettily frame her round face and smooth features. She looked like she was going hiking honestly. Along with her hat she wore a white tank top and blue denim shorts with comfortable looking sneakers. An outfit that Choromatsu rarely saw on the average local, but maybe the outfit was actually for a purpose when he saw her tracking a train line on the map that would lead to the more rural part of the country.
She suddenly turned her head and caught him staring and he instinctively stiffened and turned back to buying his ticket. He placed a few coins into the machine and pressed the appropriate buttons for the ticket that he needed, and he automatically reached for his stub and change quickly before making his way to the platform to wait for his train and away from the woman that he could swear he could feel staring at his back as he walked away.
As he waited on the platform he could feel himself breathe a little easier. He knew how much of lowlife he was and he knew where he stood when it came to women, even though he would deny it with his every breath when Osomatsu and Todomatsu decided to pick on him. But he was absolutely certain that that tourist would have been the death of him. She was way out of his league. Miles, galaxies, lightyears, out of his league. He had only watched a handful of American movies with Karamatsu when he was too bored out of his mind to do anything else, but he was pretty certain that she had looked like every protagonist that had starred in each film. He had no chance.
“Oh, there you are, brother.”
Speaking of Karamatsu.
“Where were you, Karamatsu, I was just about to leave you behind,” Choromatsu groused, a little irritated that the train hadn’t arrived fast enough for him to ditch his embarrassing and painful older brother.
Karamatsu chuckled, seemingly unaffected by Choromatsu’s attitude, “Why, brother, if you really need to know, I was-”
“No, not really, I was just disappointed you made it here on time.” Choromatsu sighed, turning away from his brother. He was pretty sure that he could hear his brother stuttering to make a response, but he suddenly went stiff when in the distance he could see the same tourist from before making her way through the crowded train station platform. She looked confused and a little worried as she glanced from the ticket stub in her hand and the signs around her, but when she looked up again amongst the crowd, their eyes met, and to his horror she began to walk over with a look of intent.
Choromatsu could still hear Karamatsu stuttering and trying to grab his attention, but he couldn’t focus on his brother at all as, too soon, the woman came up to him and gave a sheepish smile, her hands folded in front of her lightly.
"I’m sorry to bother you, but do you speak English?”
“Ah, ehm, uh-” Choromatsu choked.
He had recognized some words from the distant English class he had taken in highschool, but over all he had no idea what she was saying. And she was so close too, and pretty, and real, and a girl. Choromatsu didn’t know how to process it all, but then suddenly a warm hand was on his shoulder, pushing him slightly to the side so that Karamatsu could see who had come up to him.
”I can speak a little. Do you need help?” Karamatsu asked, his English heavily accented and choppy, but understandable.
The girl seemed to almost sag with relief, and soon the two of them were going back and forth, too fast for Choromatsu to understand. He stood there, frozen in shock as he watched Karamatsu have an actual conversation in another language with a total stranger. A girl to boot. He could tell that the words and sentences they used were almost childish and overly polite for giving simple directions, but Choromatsu still couldn’t believe that Karamatsu knew this much English to begin with. He and the others had only ever heard him use it to make himself sound more ridiculous than he needed to be, but did he actually know how to speak it? Fluently? The evidence poured out before him as the girl and his brother exchanged information and hand gestures, the tourist seeming to relax from understanding.
“So, make a left, then a right, then straight?” The girl asked, pointing her hand in a direction as she spoke.
Karamatsu nodded, “Take the train on your right. Wait ten stops. That is your destination.” He explained, gesturing dramatically with his hands. The girl nodded, eyes bright, then bowed awkwardly to Karamatsu and to him, “Thank you so much,” She recited before turning and jogging back the way she came to catch her train.
“Eh,” Choromatsu gaped, watching the receding figure in the crowd, then turned wide eyes to Karamatsu, “Eh- W-Wait. H-How- When-” he sputtered, pointing from his brother to the direction of the girls shrinking back.
“Hm? What’s wrong brother?” Karamatsu hummed, his tone slipping back into that annoying grating baritone.
“How long have you been able to speak that much English, huh?” Choromatsu interrogated, suddenly incredibly annoyed. Grabbing Karamatsu by the front of his leather jacket, he shook him slightly to get an answer. He was distantly aware of a few people glancing their way, but Choromatsu paid them no mind as he glared at his brother.
“A-Always?” Karamatsu squeaked, confused by his brother’s anger, “I did exchange programs in highschool remember?”
“Exchange programs?” Choromastu repeated.
Karamatsu opened his mouth to speak, but then their train pulled up into the station and instead he gestured for them to board, and so Choromatsu followed him, his eyes narrowed.
They found themselves standing in the back of the train, and Choromatsu lightly slapped Karamatsu on the shoulder to get him talking as the train started to move.
“Our school had a student exchange program. I’m actually surprised you didn’t know about it until now,” Karamatsu began and Choromatsu shrugged. He hadn’t been that interested in their school activities since he hadn’t fit in that well with anyone. He was surprised that Karamatsu had though.
“Well, I volunteered to help out since the teacher said I was doing well in class, and it didn’t interfere with Drama Club,” Karamatsu continued, “Mom and Dad couldn’t afford for me to go visit schools in America, but I would go and talk with the students that came from other schools to ours. I learned a lot of stuff from them. And then after highschool, I didn’t really have anyone to practice with, so I like to hang out in the city to pursue my Karamatsu Girls and Boys, but most of the time it’s tourists that come up to me to ask for directions.” Karamatsu shrugged, and Choromatsu blinked at his brother.
“So you’re telling me that you’ve been able to speak English near fluently for years, and you never told us? Who are you, Totty?” Choromatsu seethed, gritting his teeth. Karamatsu was starting to look nervous now, and he leaned his weight away from Choromatsu in an attempt to put distance between them.
“Well… I did,” Karamatsu mumbled, shifting from foot to foot. Choromatsu paused at that and he gaped.
“When?” Choromatsu near shrieked, before snapping his mouth shut and glancing around at the irritated occupants of the train before turning his attention back to his brother.
“Um, multiple times?” Karamatsu shrugged, his voice had gone almost flat at this point, and Choromatsu wasn’t that close to Karamatsu, but he knew enough to know that he was getting irritated, “Whenever we went to town, or when one of you needed help reading something on a snack, or there was some trailer on TV, I was always there to help you guys translate and I’d tell you all how I knew what stuff said. So… I thought you all knew.” He ended in a whisper.
Choromatsu went quiet and stared at Karamatsu, who didn’t turn to look at him, but was looking intently out the window. Choromatsu turned his gaze to look out the window as well, and their silence turned painful. Not the kind of painful that Choromatsu was used to either. It was restrictive and hurtful and Choromatsu didn’t know how to deal with it.
Choromatsu bit his lip and began to regret his attitude towards his brother. He was beginning to realize just how much he didn’t know, and it wasn’t because of Karamatsu’s decision to be a sneaky, salty, asshole that kept everything to himself. It was because he never listened to him. It was because of his own conscious decision not to learn anything about him, and Choromatsu could feel his chest tighten with something like guilt. He tried to be a good brother to the rest of his siblings as much as he could be, but he hadn’t realized just how much he ignored his immediate older brother.
They stayed silent as they exited the train at their stop, and Karamatsu didn’t even look in his direction when they made it outside to the sidewalk. Choromatsu turned to make his way home, but he paused when he saw Karamatsu heading in the opposite direction. He desperately wanted to call out to him and ask where he was going, but he stopped himself from doing so, too self-conscious to ask. So he watched Karamatsu walk away, his back shrinking just as that tourist’s had, until he was lost in the crowd and distance.
Suddenly, Choromatsu felt an arm snake over his shoulders and he screamed just as he heard a familiar sleazy chuckle.
“Osomatsu-niisan! What are you doing!?” Choromatsu shouted, pushing his oldest brother off of him in irritation.
“What? Am I not allowed to say ‘Hi’ to one of my baby brothers?” Osomatsu pouted, reaching out to pinch Choromatsu’s cheek, and Choromatsu slapped his hand away in retaliation.
“No. You’re not. I want nothing to do with you.” Choromatsu automatically replied, but then he nearly choked when he realized what he had just said. He turned to look down the sidewalk again, the back of a leather jacket long gone as Osomatsu continued to whine beside him.
“Hey, Osomatsu-niisan,” Choromatsu asked calmly, and Osomatsu hummed as he stuffed his hands into his hoodie pocket.
“Did you know that Karamatsu is actually really good at speaking English?” He asked, and Osomatsu blinked in surprise at the question.
“Karamatsu? Oh, yeah. He helps me read my American comics sometimes. Didn’t you know he took classes with exchange students or something in highschool?” Osomatsu said, rubbing a finger under his nose to seem nonchalant. Choromatsu could tell though that he sensed something was wrong. Atleast one of them was a good brother.
“I see.” Choromatsu sighed, finally turning his way back home. Osomatsu followed silently beside him.