Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Day 1: Monday, 10:30 AM

The eldest Matsuno son yawns as he trudges down the stairs and into the kitchen, tiredly rubbing his eyes as he peers over and spots his mother, Matsuyo. She’s standing in front of the fridge, humming in annoyance, then turns to look over at Osomatsu. He’s still in his pyjamas, his hair ruffled from sleep, but he catches her gaze with a worried look. Something’s wrong.

“We’re out of milk,” Is all she says. Ah, so he was worried about nothing. He silently curses and nods, looking toward the stairs.

“Then go get more. I’ll tell the others when they wake, okay?” He covers a yawn with the back of his hand. Matsuyo stands there a second as if trying to decide if he’s trustworthy to watch the others but, then again, he is the eldest- besides, it’ll probably be easy when the others wake since the second eldest or third eldest will help. She finally nods and turns, going to find Matsuzo.

“Honey! We’re going shopping, we’re out of milk. Let’s go,” She calls for him and hurries to the door, sliding on her coat and shoes before waiting a few seconds for him. He leaves their room a few seconds later and also puts on his coat and shoes, waving to Osomatsu before taking her arm. “We’ll be back soon,” Matsuyo coos to Osomatsu and blows a kiss before they leave. Alone with the silence and his thoughts, Oso decides to go wake the others.

He groans and climbs back up the stairs, tired. Why couldn’t they just leave a note? He could’ve got more sleep then! He opens the sliding door with a squeak and turns on the light, seeing a few of his brothers are already awake or waking up.

The third eldest, Choromatsu, yawns and stretches, sitting up and rubbing his eyes while a triangular frown rests on his face. He peeks around, squinting against the sudden bright light.

“Osomatsu? What are you doing? Turn that off, please…” He tiredly mumbles, his frown only deepening when Oso simply shakes his head. “What? Why not? Is it time to wake up?”

“It’s 10:40, let’s get up! We need to eat,” Oso claps and pulls Choro up; together, they go around and shake everyone awake. Once everyone is finally up, they all gather to brush their hair and teeth, and then get dressed. Now donned in their colour-coordinated hoodies, they gather around the table to eat and chat.

“Oh, right! Mom and Dad are out shopping ‘cuz we ran outta milk. They left at… 10:30 ‘kay?” Oso looks around as the others simply murmur and nod before carrying on their quiet conversations. At least he remembered to tell them.

Day 1: Monday, 12 PM

Choro sighs and checks the time again before looking around. Everyone’s gathered in the shared bedroom, boredly sprawled out in different areas and doing different things; he can see Jyushi and Ichi playing with a cat, Kara’s strumming his guitar, Totty’s on his phone, Oso’s eating chips- ah, Oso. That’s who he needed.

“Oso Nii-San. It’s… pretty late, yeah?” Worried green eyes meet red ones, though Oso just shrugs and nods.

“Maybe- it’s only 12, y'know. Why, what’s wrong?” Oso frowns and squints up at him, realizing that, yes, something’s wrong again. He hopes he isn’t worried about nothing again.

“Where’re Mom and Dad? They should’ve been back already, right? It’s 12! They left at 10:30!” Choro rambles, gesturing to the clock, “Are they alright? Do you know?” He’s worried- scared, even. He always was the mother hen, but this is different. These are their parents. The people that raised them. His sudden panic earns a few of the others’ attention.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess they have been gone for a bit… Totty, can you message Mom on your phone?” Oso sits up, worry finally settling on his face. “Just stay calm though, she may have found other things to grab. Though… she still would have been back by now..” He finally frowns, looking around at the others.

“Well, stay calm until we get a response. If we don’t get one for another hour or two, then.. well… fuck, we’ll worry then. Okay? Okay,” Oso shakily sighs and flops onto his side, curling up by the table. “I’m gonna… I’m gonna nap. ‘M tired.”

Everyone goes back to doing their things to ignore the worry settling into the air, though they still can’t escape it when they try. They still think and worry; just not out loud. An unbearable silence fills the air. The silence is almost suffocating before it’s suddenly driven away by soft snoring. Then breathing.
Surprisingly, it’s calm now.

Day 1: Monday, 5 PM

Karamatsu suddenly wakes up when he’s shaken awake by a worried-looking Todomatsu. The youngest is leaning over him, frowning and glancing over at his phone every now and then.

“5 PM. No response. Kara Nii-San, it doesn’t even say she opened it! What do I do? Should I wake Oso-Nii?” The younger one whines and looks around- some of the others had fallen asleep, having nothing else to do but sit around and wait. It seemed that only the eldest trio had fallen asleep while the younger one stayed up together, talking.

“I’ll get him,” Kara grumbles, fixing his hair, “You just breathe. Do not worry, my Brother,” He flashes him a smile and crawls over to the other two, quickly shaking them awake. Both of the older two blink awake and sit up, grumbling and stretching.
“Nii-San. It’s 5 PM and there’s no response- Totty says that she didn’t even open it. What do we do?”

The two are immediately up now and everyone’s worrying.

Oso decides to report them missing.
Kara and Choro are trying to keep everyone calm.
Jyushi’s comforting Totty, who’s afraid and near tears.
Ichi’s calmly sitting to the side, holding a cat. He’s shaking, but quiet.

At 6 PM, Choro turns on the news. It’s quiet now and calmer; everyone stopped crying and panicking, but they're still afraid. They all huddle together in their large blanket, crowding around the TV to watch for any recent news of disappearances for events. Anything. Any little hint, please-

“They say there’s a disease going around,” The TV drones, the quote suddenly catching everyone's attention. “It seems lots of people have been disappearing lately while others have been seen speaking of monsters. We have yet to see any footage or pictures, but something serious may be going on. Please stay indoors until we get more information- stay safe!”

The news clicks off.

“Monsters? Ehhh???” Jyushimatsu’s the first to speak up, tilting his head in confusion.
“Huh… creepy~” Ichi mumbles and darkly chuckles, peering over at Jyushi.
“Uwaaah, what if a monster got Mom and Dad?!” Todo suddenly cries, grabbing the person nearest to him in a sudden panic- he ends up grabbing Kara’s arm and whines, clinging to him.
“There’s no such thing as monsters, don’t worry! Besides, if they were real… well, your Nii-Sans would probably have to fight 'em, huh?” Oso speaks up and grins, rubbing the area under his nose. Everyone’s at ease now, deciding to trust each other.

They always say there’s safety in pairs, right? So they were lucky. Very lucky.

Chapter Text

Day 1: Monday, 7 PM

It’s late now and the clock reads 7:05 in bright blue lettering, but everyone’s still awake and doing their own thing. Todomatsu’s in another room, printing missing posters to hang outside. Everyone else is getting ready; grabbing their coats, shoes, maybe small weapons just in case. Jyushimatsu grabs a bat that has nails sticking out of it- a weapon he made with Ichimatsu. Ichi has a small switchblade in purple while Kara also has one in blue; Oso and Choro have nothing, but they insist they’re fine. They have their battle buddies, each other, so they’ll watch everyone.

Todomatsu joins them with his papers in hand and everyone forms a circle around him since he has no weapon and no buddy; just him, his papers, and a stapler to hang them. He’d use the stapler as a weapon, but they’re hard to use.

“Let’s go,” Oso turns around to watch their back as they all leave, quickly making their way toward the long street in front of their house. Todomatsu quickly runs to a pole to hang up the posters as the others spread out, peeking around. It was quiet. Empty.

“Uwaaah, a person!” Jyushimatsu suddenly screams and leaps onto something, causing another scream to be heard. Ichi and Oso quickly run over to look, the others staying by Todomatsu to protect him from anything else that appears from the shadows.

“Dayoooo! Please get off, dayo~” Dayon is there, crying, also holding papers, “I need to hang theeeese!” He wails, holding up the papers; they seem to also be missing posters, but for someone else. The paper reads ‘Dr Dekapan’ in big red lettering, a black and white photo of the man below the words. So he’s gone too.

Day 1: Monday, 8:15 PM

They sit in the brothers’ shared bedroom with Dayon, listening to him cry and explain what happened. It seemed that Dekapan simply went out one day, looking for supplies, and never returned; Dayon did find a messed up box of supplies a few days later though, on the ground down his street. So he began to make posters. He was afraid of what might have happened to his beloved partner. They went through everything together and now here he was, alone searching for his love with monsters lurking around every corner. His breath hitched as he thought about the endless possibilities of what could have happened to Dekapan. The words got caught in his throat, only a garbled mess coming out of his mouth. He couldn't stop the flood of tears pouring out of his eyes as he hunched over on the ground. Karamatsu hesitated a bit, before laying his hand on the poor man's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

The sextuplets looked at each other, glancing from one brother to another; they were also afraid of what could’ve happened to their parents, but they would be okay, right? Their parents were strong people, they raised six demon children after all. Still they couldn’t help but wonder, would everything really be fine?

Day 1: Monday, 8:45 PM

It took a long time before the six of them could calm Dayon down, anything reminding him of Dekapan instantly making him burst out into tears once more. Osomatsu had left the room, not feeling like he could help much in this situation. Not long after Ichimatsu and Todomatsu came downstairs too, joining their big brother at the kotatsu in the living room. It was quiet. The three of them sat there, not speaking. Osomatsu looked at the light shining into the room, it was an orange hue, indicating that the sun was already setting. They wouldn’t be able to go outside and hang the posters anymore, it was too dangerous. Osomatsu turned his head to face the person sitting in front of him and let out a dejected sigh.

“What are we going to do now?” Osomatsu voiced his concerns, making the other two jolt in surprise. Todomatsu and Ichimatsu looked at each other, both trying to think up a plan of action.

“Maybe we should look for other people too,” Todomatsu started, “the larger the group, the more chance at survival, right?” His voice got shaky as he finished speaking, looking down at his phone to distract himself of the agonizing thoughts of what the outside world had to offer.

A silence once again fell over the trio and Osomatsu looked at the door leading to the front door once again, the light that was previously shining in now growing weaker until only darkness seeped in. Looking for others, like their friends, raised the possibility of finding them missing. Osomatsu thought about all their friends; Totoko, Chibita, Hatabou, Iyami. Would he really be able to handle them been gone too? He turned his gaze back to his brothers. Maybe it was alright to hope they were all still fine.

“Okay, then starting tomorrow we will look for the others,” Osomatsu exclaimed to the two present as he sat up properly. They were going to find a way to survive, they just had to. The two nodded at the eldest his words.

“There are still some walkie talkies laying around in the closet, I’ll go get them,” Ichimatsu said as he stood up from his place. Just as he was going to open the door, Choromatsu entered. He slightly jumped, not expecting to see his brother so close on the other side. Choromatsu stepped aside to let Ichimatsu pass, slightly bowing to hide the awkwardness show on his face. Ichimatsu hurried out of the room, escaping from the unpleasant situation. As soon as Ichimatsu was out of sight, Choromatsu focussed on Osomatsu.

“We managed to calm down Dayon, but he fell asleep in the progress,” Choromatsu stated, slightly rubbing the back of his head, “We were thinking it might be smart to head to bed early today.”

Osomatsu only stared blankly at his brother. It didn’t feel right to occupy the house now that their parents were gone. He snapped out of his little trance, slowly regaining his voice as he spoke up, “Ah yeah. It’s already dark outside, we can’t do anything anyways now.”

Choromatsu sighs and looks around at Osomatsu and Todomatsu, silently counting to himself. He stops at the number seven and nods, pointing to Todomatsu.

“Can you help Ichimatsu find the walkie talkies, and then help him and Jyushimatsu set up the futon? Also, tell Karamatsu we want him when you see him. Got it?” Choromatsu raises a hand to give him a thumbs-up and a questioning look. When Todomatsu finally nods, he relaxes and smiles.

Todomatsu stands, leaving to find the others. He does everything as told; makes sure Ichi gives the four walkie talkies he found to Oso, makes sure Jyushimatsu is setting up the futon and Ichi is helping- he even checks that Dayon has blankets and pillows too. He finally finds Karamatsu when he checks the roof.

Karamatsu’s laying on the roof with a sparkly blue notebook and pen on his stomach while he stares up at the night sky. He softly hums something, tapping a quiet beat on the roof tiles. It’s calm.

“Hey,” Todomatsu speaks quietly, as not to scare him, “Oso and Choro want you.” He smiles when Karamatsu grumbles at that and pushes himself to sit up, quickly grabbing his pencil before it rolls away.

“Sorry. I was just sharing a date with the moon- she’s awfully lovely tonight, isn’t she? And the stars that shine by her… ah, I love it. I was waiting for inspiration for a song, but… I’m just too worried for anything nice to come. Bad things keep coming,” Karamatsu mutters and frowns, grabbing his notebook and standing up. “Well, let’s go then.”

The two climb back inside through the open window, quickly going different ways to do their tasks. Todomatsu joins Ichi and Jyushi at the futon, helping them to set up and fix it with blankets, while Karamatsu goes down to find Oso and Choro.

He opens the sliding door to find them sitting by the table, waiting. Choro’s eyes are closed and his arms are crossed while Oso’s looking at the four walkie talkies on the table. It’s quiet. Karamatsu joins them and sits, looking around with a worried expression.

“What’s up? Totty said you needed me.” He breaks the silence and Choro sighs, looking toward Osomatsu.

“Tell him the plan I guess,” Choro grumbles as Oso just smiles, rubbing the area below his nose with his forefinger. Oso finally hums and claps, grabbing one of the walkie talkies.

“Alright! So, in the morning, I think the three of us should go out to check on everyone. We’ll split up and use these- there’s four so each of us can have one, plus we can leave an extra at home with the others. Choro will check on Totoko, you can find Chibita and I’m gonna check for Iyami! Sound good?”

Osomatsu glances around as Choro simply shrugs and looks toward Karamatsu. The second-eldest hums and seems to think for a minute before finally nodding and smiling at the others. He flashes them a smile and does a thumbs-up, then stands.

“Sounds good. If that’s all, then let’s go sleep and rest up. Big day tomorrow!” He cheers, almost seeming excited. Well, it would be nice to have more people…

Chapter Text

Day 2: Tuesday, 10:30 AM

After a night full of tossing and turning from everyone, the eldest finally gets up once the clock reads 10:30 in its usual bright letters. Osomatsu pushes himself up with a yawn and looks around, noticing the almost fully empty futon- only one other person’s asleep still. Once he recognizes the faint scent of coffee he finally crawls over and shakes whoever it is awake, hoping whoever it is doesn’t kill him for waking them.

Tired eyes blink open, the green colour staring up at Oso. Good, it was Choro. He was pretty harmless, but pretty exhausted until he had breakfast or coffee to help him wake up. Good thing he could smell coffee- actually, who was even making it? He idly hoped it was Todomatsu, since he worked at a coffee place for a short while. Todomatsu was probably the best at making coffee.

“What is it? I’m tired,” Choromatsu grumbles and sits up, rubbing his eyes and covering a yawn with the back of his hand.

“Let’s get up and go soon. I can smell coffee, let’s get some before it’s all gone!” Osomatsu grins and grabs Choromatsu’s hand, pulling him up and down toward the dining room.

Four heads are gathered around the table and talking; the missing head is Todomatsu, who is the one in the kitchen making the coffee. Dayon peeks up from where he’s sitting next to Jyushimatsu, curled up in a blanket.

“Ah, Oso, Choro, come join us? Todomatsu-San is making coffee for everyone, dayo~” He finally smiles, seeming a bit calmer. Todomatsu suddenly exits the kitchen, carrying more mugs of coffee. The mugs are colour coded of course, and even have little designs in the coffee. Choro and Oso sit down next to each other, carefully sipping at their coffee.

They finish their drinks one by one and sit around the table in silence while Choro finds someone to wash the dishes. Since their parents were gone, one of them had to- which was unnatural and felt odd, but they had to somehow live without them. They can’t sit and cry, praying for them to return.

After a bit of arguing, Dayon ends up washing the dishes for them; the others discuss their plan of going outside, talking loud enough so Dayon could still hear them. With a small sense of familiarity that seemed wrong in a situation that was all but familiar, the brothers end up having a small argument, living up the quiet solemn morning they were experiencing up until now.

"What do mean you'll go search for others "separately" ?!" The youngest exclaims, disbelief at his brothers' stupidity in his voice. "Don't you know that that's such a bad idea in our situation?! People always die when they go alone in horror movies and we are basically living through one right now!!" His anger seeps through his words, the fear of losing another family member present in the way his body shakes with the added stress.

Osomatsu leans back onto his hands, slightly pouting as Todomatsu's eyes shoot daggers into him. Ichimatsu quietly snickers to himself as he speaks up, “How would you know Totty, you’ve never actually watched a horror movie until the end.”

A gasp escapes Todomatsu’s lips as he redirects his fiery glare to Ichimatsu. Choromatsu sighs at the display and rubs his fingers at his temple, trying to not let the absurdity of the situation get the better of him. He opens his eyes, opening his mouth but quickly closing it once more to silently contemplate how to tell his younger brother the reasoning behind the plan. Choromatsu opens his mouth once more but is promptly cut off by his immediate elder brother.

“Don’t you worry, my brother . We are perfectly capable of being the heroes in the gruesome story that became our reality. The lone wolves you call your dear elder brothers, will surely be triumphant in succeeding in this daring quest to bring light into our lives in the form of the dazzling presence of our friends who are awaiting us to come to their rescue with bated breath,” Karamatsu stood up during his speech which was only met with the blank stares of his brothers, who didn’t take longer than a couple of seconds before completely ignoring what had just happened.

Choromatsu takes a deep breath, while focusing on Todomatsu’s fearful eyes. His mouth moves before he notices, the words falling out with no sincere emotion behind them, leaving a bitter aftertaste in his mouth, “Look Todomatsu, it’s just easier this way. As the eldest three we should take responsibility and go out - alone - so we don’t endanger you guys too much.”

Todomatsu pouts at his words, sensing the insincerity but deciding to not push the matter any more. It felt wrong. It felt oh so wrong and he couldn’t stop the fear from settling in his heart. What if they don’t come back home, just like mom and dad did?

Osomatsu sits up straight again when another silence fell over the group and claps his hands, “Okay so are we done here? Then it’s time to get ready!”

They separate and gather the four walkie talkies so the eldest trio each have one, and then they leave the last one with Todomatsu. He was probably the only one in the younger trio who could be trusted with an electronic like that. Once everyone knows how to use the item, they begin to grab everything else they need; small weapons, jackets, shoes.

While the eldest trio is searching for their respective weapons, Karamatsu, in his hurry to locate his switchblade, passes by a crouched Ichimatsu who's watching his every move. Karamatsu can feel the eyes following him as he bends down to look for his blue weaponry. He retrieves it from under the couch, which Ichimatsu occupied and as Karamatsu gets back up he can't help but still his movements as he hears the small tch coming from his younger brother.

"Honestly, I don't even know why you think you need that, your ridiculously painful outfit would drive away any monster on sight," Ichimatsu remarks. It's just like always, just some sibling banter, but somehow it seems so out of place and for once Karamatsu can't stomach it like all the other times. Karamatsu quickly leaves the bedroom, opting for joining his other brothers downstairs. Ichimatsu stares at him as he leaves and curls up even more, letting the moment play over in his mind and silently cursing himself for the fact that those might as well be the last things he ever said to his brother.

Karamatsu tightly holds his small blue switchblade while Oso and Choro rummage around in their closet, finally coming out when Choro finds a pair of scissors and Oso takes one of Jyushimatsu’s bats. They’ll be good enough. Not like they’re expecting to find anything, anyway.

Day 2: Tuesday, 11:05 AM

When everyone’s finally prepared, the clock reads 11:05 in it’s bright letters. The eldest trio gathers at the door with their weapons and walkie talkies in their pockets.

“We’ll be back later,” Osomatsu smiles, “That’s a promise. Now, let’s go.” He turns, leading Kara and Choro outside.

“Now we split up. Remember to use the walkie talkies to contact each other or home, alright? Seeya!”

They split up and go their separate ways; Osomatsu and Karamatsu heading the same way while Choromatsu goes down their road toward Totoko’s house. Karamatsu turns onto a separate road after a bit to head towards Chibita’s stand, while Osomatsu continues on toward Iyami’s house.

It's quiet, eerily quiet, but it's better than hearing screams and inhuman shrieks. Still, Karamatsu audibly gulps as he makes his way to the riverbank, where Chibita's oden stand always stands. His footsteps on the asphalt make more noise than he would like to, even if he's being as silent as humanly possible.

Ignoring the shadows he keeps seeing, he walks onward toward the familiar stand that rests in it’s usual spot. It looks messy and broken, the sight driving fear and anxiety into Karamatsu immediately. The cart. It’s empty; Chibita’s nowhere to be seen. Actually, the whole area is emptier than usual.

Swallowing his anxiety, he continues on toward Chibita’s house- it’s the only other place the small oden man would be at, so it’s worth a shot. His footsteps pound now because he’s running, practically sprinting, to make sure the other was safe. To make sure he was still there, alive, well.

Karamatsu finally stops once he reaches the man's house and quickly pounds on the door, anxiously waiting. With every second that passes and nothing happening, he grows more and more worried-

The door creaks open a little and a small face peeks out, staring up at him. He recognizes Chibita’s brown eyes.

“Ah, Karamatsu!” The door’s thrown open and Chibita pulls him inside, quickly locking the door behind them. He’s shaking, clearly terrified of something. “Why were you out there, you idiot? It’s dangerous! There’s monsters all over, damn it!”

“Chibita, my darling, do not worry! I have brought a weapon and come to save you from this horrible nightmare~” Karamatsu smiles and shows him his switchblade, “See? Now, come with me- we must go reunite with the others!”

The two exit and head back homeward, happily walking side-by-side while Karamatsu softly hums a tune. He’s clearly happy that he found Chibita safely, though a bit shaken. He gets distracted, idly wondering what happened and what Chibita meant by monsters.

Karamatsu pauses to question Chibita a bit more when he suddenly hears something rustle in the alleyway next to them. Something rattles and catches Chibita’s attention; he turns while Kara grabs his switchblade, the two being scared but brave. Prepared to face anything, the two slide into the alleyway- maybe it’s something important. They need to check.

*

Choromatsu runs, his footsteps pounding as he rushes towards Totoko’s house. She was always a crybaby and easily scared; he couldn’t help but feel worried for her, wondering if she was alright or alive. He stops at her house, noticing how silent it is- though, it has been silent for a while. It’s unnatural, but almost calm in a way.

He knocks on the door and it’s practically thrown open; Totoko stands there with wide eyes, almost looking hopeful. She seems to frown a bit when she notices it’s just Choromatsu, but she still seems at least a bit glad to see him or someone she knew.

“Choromatsuuuu,” She wails, beginning to tear up, “Aaaaugh, I hate this! Why couldn’t you come sooner, stupid?! My parents have already disappeared! I’m scared! I hate it, you dummy!” She chokes back tears and pouts, crossing her arms while trying to act brave. It doesn’t work well since Choromatsu already saw the tears and heard her complains. Like the mother hen he is, he begins to worry and fret.

“Ugh, stupid! Hmph… huff, It’s fine though! I-I can take on anything on my own! Come at me, monsters! We’ll fight, yeah!” She puts up her fists and Choromatsu can’t help but laugh- she’s really too cute.

“Oh, really? Are you sure I shouldn’t protect you?” He’s only teasing but laughs again when her face lights up and she looks up at him, hopefully.

“Can you? Pleeeeaaaaase~? I don’t think I can really survive a whole ton on my own, plus then I’ll have six bodyguards! Ehe~” Totoko grins, but flinches and squeaks as there’s a sudden clang and a small cat runs past the doorway. Ah, poor girl really was afraid on her own.

“Fine. Follow me,” Choromatsu takes her hand and begins to lead her back toward their home, making sure his walkie talkie and scissors are safe in his pocket.

*

Osomatsu’s creeping up to Iyami’s house, feeling nervous because he notices the door is broken and half-open. He can’t help but think about the rumour of monsters and diseases, and suddenly feels an odd fear for the older man- despite them never being super close, he feels scared for him.

A girlish scream breaks the eerie silence and causes Osomatsu to flinch, but he quickly starts running again when he realizes where it came from. The house in front of him; Iyami’s house. He bursts into the living room to see Iyami curled up with a small girl that he recognizes as Homura, the girl Jyushimatsu likes; she looks scared and is holding her hands over her mouth, staring over toward a doorway.

Osomatsu slowly turns.

It’s dark, but he clearly sees a humanoid monster there; it seems like it has no eyes, only empty sockets, so it must rely on hearing. Which meant that it had heard Homura, which was proven correct when it turns, grumbling,

“I… heard.. youugh..” The monster groans and stumbles forward, toward the frozen trio. Osomatsu finally snaps out of it when he realizes that it’s up to him to protect the group and grabs the baseball bat he’d taken, quickly running and smacking the monster with it. All it does is knock it over, but it’s good enough- he grabs the two and runs back toward the Matsuno household.

Their feet hit the asphalt hard and their fast breathing fills the empty silence of the world. He doesn’t dare look back. It relied on hearing and Osomatsu feels like every single step they take is the loudest in the world, so he just hold on to his two companions and continues running. The three of them finally reach the house and Osomatsu practically slams the door shut. Homura and Iyami are as exhausted as he is, the trio just stands in the hallway for a moment, trying to regain their breath .

Todomatsu opens the door to the living room and Osomatsu turns around to greet him, but something’s not right. Osomatsu sees Choromatsu is safely there with Totoko. Someone’s missing.

“Where’s Karamatsu?”

Chapter Text

Karamatsu and Chibita creep into the alleyway and Karamatsu audibly gulps, tightly holding onto his switchblade. He sharply turns a corner, holding out the small weapon, and yelps when he comes face-to-face with a humanoid monster.

God, he can’t even say humanoid though; it’s tall and almost looks like it’s face is stretching, but what really scares him is the giant eyeball. Only one. Chibita peeks around the corner and yelps too, seeming to pull a large ladle out of nowhere.

“Hhhuuuun… gghhrrryyyyy….” The monster croaks and stumbles toward the two, an odd tentacle-like appendage reaching up to grab at one of the two; Karamatsu is quick to flinch away from it just in time, but Chibita decides to avoid it and run toward the monster, swinging his ladle.

“Die, damn it!” There’s a loud ‘thwack!’, but nothing happens. The monster just stands there, trying to grab at Chibita while he continues to dodge and attack, dodge and attack. It’s a cycle that’s going nowhere, but Karamatsu can still feel fear and anxiety creeping into him. He can see the monster getting angrier and angrier. No one can win.

Karamatsu takes a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest, and leaps to grab Chibita. He wraps an arm around the smaller male’s waist and quickly scoops him up, deciding to carry him while he runs; with how short Chibita is, he’d probably get left behind if Karamatsu began to sprint and not carry him. It’d be bad.

He runs out of the alleyway and sharply turns, knocking over a garbage can that rests there from a while ago, but ignores the loud clangs and monster screeches as he continues to run. The wind stings his eyes and cause small tears to blur his vision, but he has to ignore it. There’s no time to stop. He has to get home.

His feet slam on the ground as he runs, the items in his pockets jostling around a bit before he feels one slide out- something slams to the ground, but he can’t stop. There’s no time.

“Ah, your walkie talkie!” Chibita cries, peeking behind them, “Shit… no time to grab it. Keep running, damn it!” He huffs, probably unhappy at being carried, but it’s the only safe option until their back in Karamatsu’s neighborhood.

They finally reach the Matsuno house and Karamatsu throws the door open, stumbling inside. The door to the dining room is already opened and Karamatsu can see the youngest trio plus Dayon sitting in the room. Osomasu’s group and Choromatsu are quietly arguing while Totoko stands to the side, seeming annoyed.

The two stop to turn when they see Karamatsu, their faces quickly changing into wide smiles.

“You’re safe! We couldn’t reach you on the walkie talkie, what happened?!” Choromatsu’s quick to jump like the mother hen he is, and everyone’s crowding around to make sure they’re okay; it’s loud and many questions are exchanged, but Kara’s head is pounding. He sets Chibita down and slowly slides to the floor, allowing himself to finally breathe.

“Chibita!” Iyami and Dayon are by him in seconds once they spot him, happy that their small group is together, “Are you okay, zansu?!”

“Yeah, I’m fine, idjit. Get off me, damn it-” Chibita laughs as he’s hugged close by the two. Everyone’s happily talking, glad to be reunited with certain people or just glad to be in a large group.

Jyushimatsu peeks his head out of the doorway, smiling despite the tears that are forming in his bright eyes. He steps into the hall, watching the small brunette girl who nervously stands by the wall and looks around in content.

Their eyes meet and she smiles, raising a hand to wave to him.

“Jyushimatsu-Kun!” The two run to each other and share hugs and soft whispers, happy that they finally get to see each other again after such a long time.

Day 2: Tuesday, 1:30 PM

Eleven people cram into the living room and try to comfortably sit together, quietly murmuring to each other. The three eldest sit by the table together, collecting the walkie talkies. Only three are left.

“Mine fell when I was running from a monster. There was no time, sorry.” Karamatsu mutters, his head down in apology.

“Ahh, that’s okay! Yeah, I saw a monster too… it was scary, huh??” Osomatsu sighs and rubs the back of his head.

Choromatsu looks at the two in confusion. He hadn’t seen a monster; he’d only heard the usual screams, rustling, and other sounds outside. But he hadn’t SEEN anything. Not yet, anyway.

Choromatsu audibly swallows as he continues to listen to his two older brothers. Karamatsu tells about the large monster with one eye. His eyes show his genuine fear of running into something like it again as he vividly describes the monster’s tentacles. Osomatsu in turn tells about his encounter with a monster that relied on hearing. Choromatsu hadn’t seen a monster yet, but upon seeing his brothers showing such fear in their eyes, he definitely didn’t want to ever run into one.

“We’re not patrolling alone anymore,” the words fall from his mouth before he notices. Osomatsu and Karamatsu turn around, their focus now completely on the third born. He's surprised by his own actions, not expecting himself to voice his worries, but he continues on anyway.

"We're not patrolling alone anymore. From now on we'll go in teams. We were alone out there. You two ran into monsters. You made it back this time, but what if..." Choromatsu couldn't finish his sentence. What if you two hadn't made it back...

Choromatsu turned his gaze back onto the three walkie talkies lying on the table, in an attempt to focus on the fearful gazes of his older brothers. Three walkie talkies while it should've been four. Another reminder of the cruelty the outside world had in store for them. In a shaking voice and tears brimming at the corners of his eyes, he concluded, "We're not patrolling alone anymore. That's final."

* * * * *

Somewhere else, a group of four people walk together, footsteps crunching too hard on the gravel road. One girl softly hums, a green curl bouncing as she skips alongside the others. Two brunette girls walk side-by-side, holding hands. The fourth person is a man; he's tall and, surprisingly, still has a nice suit that's in one piece. The group pauses to look around the deserted area; Tokyo. It's different.

"What happened?" The taller brunette girl mutters, her ponytail bouncing as she quickly glances around. The shorter girl huffs and holds her hand tighter, her own wavy hair ruffling in a gust of wind.

"It's quiet. I wonder if it's like this at Sutabaa too?" She tilts her head and looks up towards the only male before adding, "What do you think, Mr. Atsushi?"

"I just hope Todo-Kun's okay. What about you, Miss Reika?" Atsushi looks toward the pink haired girl with a soft smile.

"It's awfully quiet." Reika looks around with a frown and hums, wandering to peek into empty stores.

"Don't go too far!" One of the brunette girls call to her and she quickly assumes it's the taller one- somehow, the taller one was more wild and energetic, while the shorter one seemed to know how to make her calm down. It was almost funny.

"I'm just looking, don't mind me. I'm gonna take a peek in here!" Reika grins and slips into one of the stores, looking around at the supplies still sitting all over the floor. It's a disaster.
Something growls and crunches, a sharp footstep causing the girl to flinch and squeak.

"S-Soohmmmone thhheereeee?" A small humanoid monster peeks its head out of the aisle, blinking up at Reika with three- no, five, eyes. Its five wide eyes stare up at Reika with an odd emptiness that sets fear into the girl and she screams, causing more sounds to echo around her- more rustles, more crunching.

Two more humanoid monsters poke their heads out of aisles; one of them is missing the top of it's head, the other one seems pretty normal besides its long arms. They hum and growl, creeping closer to her and pushing her toward the back door- the front. It's blocked.

"Ah... h-hey!" She shouts, "Aida? S-Sacchi?" She's scared, inching toward the back door, hoping they'll hear her. Nothing happens. They can't hear her.

Reika whimpers and turns, quickly rushing out the back door and into an alleyway. She continues to run and take a few turns, breathing hard. No. No.

She runs until she comes to a long road, slowing down when she realizes. She recognizes the area- from a concert, maybe?

The concert venue. The stage is still set up from when she had her concert a while ago, and she can still see signs hanging everywhere. There's even dressing rooms still in the back, though the dresses are laid all over the floor. It's messy.

Reika sighs and sits on the stage, finally allowing herself to cry.

She's alone. Scared.

* * * * *

Atsushi's alone, all alone. Everyone was gone, dead, disappeared; and he could only sit and watch as Aida and Sacchi bravely tried to hold back a monster, but they failed. They fell, holding hands, and- he had to look away, to run, to go, anything. It was terrible. The screams. The sounds.

The screams. Piercing his ears.

He breaks into a sprint, his heart pounding with every footstep he hears, and he can't breathe. He's sure his footsteps are too loud because he can hear them too loud and he can hear the monster and he can still hear the screams. Aida and Sacchi are gone. Reika, small little Reika with her odd pink hair, she had gotten separated from them somewhere; he hadn't even noticed, and he didn't know where she was now. No one knew.

He just hopes she's alive.

Atsushi doesn't want to be alone. He doesn't even like to be alone, he hates it, even if he's supposed to be some cool rich guy. He hates it.

Choking back his fear and worries, he continues to run until he begins to recognize the area from his video chats with Todomatsu.

Ah, Todo-Kun. That was why Atsushi was even in this mess. To see his precious friend, and possible crush. He misses him.

"Please, be alive."

Atsushi runs past the familiar bridge, and he recognizes an oden cart from his selfies, and then a few stores. He recognizes a few houses and he realizes he's getting closer to his house, his home- where he stays with his five other brothers, and it must be more because it's actually sort of louder in this area. He can hear talking, laughter, and it just sounds like warmth! It sounds like home. Happiness. Even in this quiet, gray, place, it sounds good.

Lively.

He stops at the house and takes a few deep breaths before knocking on the door.

The door opens and he sees pink, but it's not the familiar pink he knows. It's a bit brighter, more... girly. Sure his friend was girly at times, but he preferred his light shade of pink- plus, he was sure his friend didn't have boobs.

"Hey, you pervert, my eyes are up here!" A female voice practically screeches at him and breaks him out of his trance, causing him to quickly look up. Ah, a gentleman shouldn't stare at bad areas.

"My bad, Miss. See, I'm currently searching for someone- a friend of mine." Atsushi offers her a warm smile, trying to think of who she is. She seems familiar- maybe she was in photos he'd seen from Todo? Oh, she must be the Totoko girl him and his brothers seem to adore so much!

"Is Todo-Kun here?" He leans over to try looking past her, but she leans up to block his view inside. Hm, maybe that was a bit rude?

"Oh, that dummy. Yeah, hang on... OI, TODOMATSU! SOMEONE'S HERE FOR YOU!" She yells and turns, walking off. Ahhh, scary...

"Oh, one moment~!" Todomatsu's familiar voice calls, filling Atsushi with joy. His friend was safe.

The familiar boy exits from a room and rushes over to the door, smiling when he recognizes Atsushi.

"Atsushi! Hi hi~! So you're safe..." Todo hums and bounces a bit, happily staring up at the man, "I was worried when my phone stopped working. I couldn't contact anyone!" He huffs and pouts, causing Atsushi to softly chuckle.

"Oh? Well... I'm safe. I can't say the same about Aida and Sacchi, those poor souls... we had another girl too, but we lost her somewhere. I'm sorry." Atsushi sighs and looks down, frowning a bit. Him? Frowning? Todomatsu hates the sight of that and wishes he could make him smile. It'd look much better on the taller male.

Being bad at comforting people, Todomatsu does all he knows how to do. He pulls the taller man close to himself and wraps his arms around his waist, relaxing into his chest. It's warm.

He sighs and peeks up at Atsushi, who's finally smiling down at him. A hand lightly touches his chin and Atsushi's bending down suddenly, tilting Todo's head up to meet his. Atsushi places his lips at the corner of Todo's mouth in a small kiss, keeping his lips there for a few seconds before pulling away. Even if it's just a small action, Todomatsu feels like he could melt. Or overheat. Or maybe that was just because his face was burning.

Despite his flushed face, he snorts and winks up at Atsushi, teasing him, "Oh my, how brave~ Stealing a kiss when someone might see. You know my brothers would go crazy." He jokingly huffs and quickly glances around before leaning up on his tiptoes, pressing a quick kiss to Atsushi's cheek.

Now he's the one with the red face, and Todomatsu laughs at the sight.

"Oh? Now you're all flustered? Ahah, how cute..." The two share more sneaky kisses and simply hug, holding each other. Glad to be together again.

Chapter Text

"For now, we just need to survive."

That's what the group agrees on before they settle down for the night, ready to sleep. Thankfully, they even have enough blankets for everyone; since they have the long futon, that's six beds, plus the two from their parents. Eight. They search for more blankets and find an older blanket in the closet- it's a long one, like it was meant for the brothers, or maybe it was even from their past. 14. It's more than enough, so they all set up and argue about who sleeps where. Eventually, they finally settle with people they searched for; Todomatsu and Atsushi are curled up together while Oso and Kara are curled up with Iyami, Chibita, and Dayon. Jyushimatsu, Ichi, and Choro are with Totoko and Homura. Everyone's happily with someone.

* * * * *

It's late.

Dayon sharply sits up from a nightmare about Dekapan, worriedly looking around. It's quiet and everyone's asleep, a few of the people snoring. It’s almost calming.

But he misses Dekapan.

He won't rest. He can't.

"Thank you, Dayo," He whispers and stands, gathering his items plus an extra flashlight, before setting out into the night to find his precious friend.

Ignoring the eerie silence and darkness of the night, Dayon walks onward toward the lab. His home.
A streetlight clicks on, flickering a few times before finally settling and staying on. It's dim, but it offers a small hint of safety- though the street is still dark. It's scary.

Dayon huffs and clicks on his flashlight, shining it around the area before beginning to walk again. He's walking faster now, anxious and excited to begin looking for his friend and partner. He finally approaches the lab and pushes the doors open, quickly looking around for any clues he may not have noticed before.

It's somewhat messy, papers and tools being all over the floor, so he begins to organize them into a few piles; papers, tools, trash. He'd check the papers first.

They're only business and research papers, though one specifically catches his attention; it's research for some kind of pill, and then notes and doodles about some type of monster - it seems pretty odd, though familiar. It almost reminds him of the monsters that Oso and Kara had spoken of.

Something rustles and Dayon turns, panic in his eyes. A shadow looms over him, growling,

"Foooundd yooouugh..."

"Dayo--"

*****

Day 3: Wednesday, 11:30 AM

It's almost afternoon when Osomatsu finally wakes up, the smell of fresh coffee paired with the sounds of bickering reaching his ears from downstairs. He pushes himself up and quickly notes that he's the last one to wake, so he rushes to dress and go down to join the others.

When he enters the living room, Choro and Kara are yelling at each other. Iyami turns his head and waves to Oso, looking a bit nervous and almost out of place from where he sits on the couch. His hair's messy from sleep and he still looks tired, but he cradles a warm mug of dark liquid in his hands. Probably the coffee.

"What's going on?" Oso quickly slides over to him and plops himself onto the couch next to Iyami. The taller man simply shrugs and shakes his head, looking toward the bickering brothers.

"Dayon's missing," Is all Iyami mutters.

"I said no! We have to wait, so just be patient and wait! I don't want to wake him, he clearly deserves some rest being the eldest and looking after our crazy, dumb, family!" Choro angrily yells, his face red, and Kara frowns, taking a step back.

"Crazy or not, we're still a damn family! Besides, I'm the SECOND eldest. I think I can take care of myself, non?" Karamatsu's nervous, never one to enjoy fighting with others, but he's still sticking up for himself. "Besides, he's out there- alone! I want to find him. Please." He seems sad now and there are tears in his eyes; maybe from anger, maybe sadness. Or frustration.

Osomatsu finally stands up to step forward and hum, looking at the two.
"You were waiting for me? What's up?" Oso grins, rubbing the area under his nose with his forefinger while the other two stare; in shock mostly, but Kara's face changes into a glare. Surprising.

"He wants to run off alone to look for Dayon," Choro points and adds, "I told him to wait because I have a better idea, but he won't listen!"

"Ooh, an idea? Share!" Osomatsu signals something to Jyushi, who was standing by Homura but now moves to grab Kara. Sure it's rare for him to get mad, but he can still pack a punch!

"Yes, we should look for others- and maybe Dayon- but in pairs." Choro looks around at everyone, "We can group up and look around for stuff- food, others, tools. Weapons, maybe. To be safe." He hisses out the word ‘safe’ and looks at Karamatsu, who in return struggles in Jyushimatsus hold.

“Oi, oi, calm down. No fighting! We’ll split off into pairs like we always do… but, we can’t all go separate ways. We only have 3 walkie talkies left. Got it?” Osomatsu states, giving the others a stern look.

Kara and Choro huff, sharing a few angry looks before Choro finally grumbles and nods. Everyone turns to look toward Karamatsu, who at least seems finally calm. He shoots Choro an annoyed look before shrugging, allowing Jyushi to finally let go of him.

“Nii-san, no fighting! Okay? Gotta hustle hustle, muscle muscle, cuz you guys are the older three! Gotta keep the peace and calm! Hustle hustle!” He cheers, normal bright grin resting on his face. Well, at least they always have Jyushimatsu to keep things calm and to motivate them with his energy.

“So, then, who’s going with us?”

Three hands fly up, though one seems a bit nervous. Totoko. Iyami. Chibita.

“I’m going with Chorofappymatsu, okay~?” Totoko hums, grinning when Choro screeches at the name. “He said he’d protect me, buuuut who’s gonna protect him? Hmmm? Me! Totoko Yowai, ready to fight~!” She cheers, holding her fists up.

“Oh, yeah? You mean the same girl who was crying when I found her?” Choro teases her, only causing her to huff and pout at him. The other two volunteers sigh where they sit.

“Me will go with Osomatsu-kun, zansu.”

“I’m going with Kara, damn it.”

Osomatsu looks at the three volunteers, a grin spreading over his face. He was used to battle alongside his brothers, this was sure to be something different. His gaze lands on Iyami, his now designated battle buddy, who smiles back at him. Maybe there’s some advantages to this impending apocalypse.

“Okay, then let’s get ready once more. We have a big day today too!” Osomatsu cheerfully says.

Karamatsu looked about ready to burst through the front door, eager to find their missing friend. Choromatsu just frowned once more, speaking up before his elder brothers could act on their stupidity.

“Maybe we should, oh I don’t know, discuss where we will head today? And which groups stick together?”

A frown replaced the happy and determined looks on the two eldest. In truth, they had no idea where to even start searching, but any place was a good place, right?

The three of them became silent and the others didn’t dare speak and interrupt their thinking. Slowly one of them did speak up, seeing as the three had difficulty with coming up with a plan of attack. Atsushi’s clear voice broke the silence.

“There were many shops in the area I came from. They didn’t look too bad, besides having a few monsters inside. If you have a map, I could try to show you where?” He frowns and looks down, tightly gripping the bottom of his shirt before continuing, “Ah… that’s where we lost Reika, and those two barista girls…” His voice cracks, wavers, and he stops. His mouth opens and closes a few times, but nothing comes out besides a choked sob.

Todomatsu quickly stands up from his spot on the floor near the doorway, lightly pulling on Atsushi’s arm to guide him upstairs and away from prying eyes. Most likely to comfort the older male without an audience.

Choromatsu doesn’t waste any time as Todomatsu leads Atsushi out of the room, “I’ll go that way.”

His brothers give him a worried look and almost start questioning his decision, but a voice cuts through before they even open their mouths.

“WHAT?!” Totoko leans forward from where she’s standing, her face contorted with anger, “You mean to tell me you plan on dragging your ass to a place with MORE MONSTERS!! AND FOR WHAT?! YOUR STUPID IDOL CRUSH?! Did you forget I’m your partner now? I’m not willing to be put in such danger!”

Choromatsu is taken aback at his childhood friend’s anger, but that doesn’t last long before he’s willing to start retaliating, “OF COURSE I WANNA GO THERE IF THERE ARE SUPPLIES AND-” It takes a bit before Totoko’s words fully settle in his brain. “Did you say Idol?”

"Well, yeah! He said that's where he lost Reika," Totoko states as if it's obvious. Reika. Choro mulls over the name, but… it doesn't mean anything to him. Plus, the only other idol he really liked besides Totoko was always Nyaa-Chan! Unless-

"Nyaa-Chan?!" He asks, his eyes wide and face quickly flushing at the idea. Totoko only frowns, nodding in response. “I… I didn’t even know, honestly,” he lowers his voice to softly talk to Totoko, “We could still use any resources we can find over there. I get it’s dangerous, but at least we’ll have each other?” He offers the smaller girl a gentle smile, but laughs when she blushes and pouts, turning her face away from him.

In the end, they finally agree to head toward the shops, leaving the elder two to discuss where they’d head with Iyami and Chibita.

“Man, I kinda wonder how Hatabou’s doin?” Chibita softly mutters, scratching the back of his neck. “I mean, he has a mansion and all, so it’s good - but also bad if anything does get in, yknow?”

“Oh, me completely forgot about him, zansu!” Iyami speaks a bit louder than the smaller boy, his eyes wide. “Ah, hopefully he’s alright…”

“Maybe we can check his mansion?” Osomatsu asks, looking toward the second eldest as he speaks, “Us four can go together since it’s a bigger place. You alright with that?”

Karamatsu nods in response, figuring it would make more sense to have a bigger group for a bigger location. Plus, it’d be easier to find things since Oso and Iyami could go in one direction while Kara and Chibita looked in another; a perfect plan. So, everyone goes to gather their needed supplies and weapons, getting prepared for the adventure ahead.

Day 3: Wednesday, 12:30 PM

Everyone pauses to find food for lunch. Luckily, since it’s only been a few days, they still have quite a few things that are good to eat - it’ll be awhile before they need more, but with three meals a day and a large number of people combined… rationing would definitely be hard. Todomatsu frowns, standing in front of the fridge.

“We should get solar panels,” He mutters, poking at the fridge light that flickers every few seconds, “And a garden.”

“Well, if we happen to see a solar panel, I guess we could just carry it~” Choromatsu jokes, leaning against the counter. They both know it’d be too heavy, even for two of them to carry one. “Although…” Choro continues, looking toward the youngest this time, “a garden doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Right, right~? We could have sooo many fruit and vegetables - as long as no monsters mess it up, but it’s been pretty quiet over here!” He smiles and closes the fridge, instead going over to a pantry. “Anyway, solar-powered stuff would work nice. The problem is finding panels and getting them here.”

“What if…” Choro pauses, thinking over his idea for a moment, “What if we had a vehicle?”

“Nii-san, can you drive?”
“Well, no, but-”

“Heh, hello, my brothers! How are you all doing on this lovely afternoon~?” Karamatsu steps into the kitchen, wearing sunglasses, and everything almost feels normal for a minute. Almost.

“...he can.” Choromatsu finishes his sentence, and Todomatsu cringes. While it’s true that Kara can drive, no one really wanted to accept or trust that quite yet. But, in an apocalypse, sometimes you need to trust idiots - even if they’re painful.

“Ughh, I hate that you’re right!” Todomatsu pouts and stomps his foot, still looking into the pantry for food to make.

Everything almost feels normal like this.

Chapter Text

Day 3: Wednesday, 1:30 PM

By the time lunch is over, the clock reads 1:30 in soft lettering. They’ve been done for half an hour, looking through supplies and bags to make sure they’re ready. Ready to go outside, ready to go through potentially dangerous areas. Ready to find their friends. The three groups say their final farewells, a few groups sharing nervous looks and quick hugs and-

“I’ll be back soon,” Osomatsu softly pats Todo’s back, the smaller boy clinging to his red hoodie.

“Promise?”

“We promise,” Karamatsu ruffles his hair, a soft smile on his face. Todo yells something in protest and moves to fix his hair, their loud comments and laughter filling the room. From the doorway, Ichi cowers, watching. Fuck, they’re going to leave soon. If anything bad happened and he forgot to say goodbye- damn it. He growls and pushes himself to stand up, quickly walking towards the group.

His pale hands tightly grip that painful blue hoodie, holding it close for a moment. He feels Karamatsu freeze, his hands hovering over Ichimatsu’s back, unsure.

“You better come back home, shittymatsu.”

It only takes those words and that small bit of hidden affection for Karamatsu to ease at his brother’s touch, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he fully embraces Ichimatsu, who in turn struggles in his grasp. Shaking hands gripping into the purple fabric, in contrast with his steady voice as he replies with confidence, “Of course we’ll come back home, my brother!”

Ichimatsu struggles in his deadly hug some more before breaking free, muttering an almost silent “ew gross” as he pushes away from Karamatsu and retreats back to the living room.

Karamatsu only has a big smile on his face as he bids farewell to the rest of his companions and joins Chibita outside their home.

Osomatsu and Iyami are about to head out after them when small hands catch hold of their wrists. Osomatsu is the first to look back, seeing timid Homura slightly shaking with her head down. She speaks softly, so he has to strain to hear her voice.

“Thank you for yesterday… Come back home safe,” She lifts her head as she finishes and releases their wrists with a small smile on her face. Jyushimatsu soon joins her side, his own large smile on his face as the two of them wave goodbye to the departing group.

Choromatsu stands alone, watching Totoko say goodbye to Atsushi. So that's the guy who was with Nyaa before.

"I promise we'll bring her back safely," Totoko smiles and holds up her fists, determined to return with her rival. Choro can't help but smile at it. Even in this hell of a world, she can still manage to be so bright. Bright, huh?

Yellow fabric catches his eye, and his feet move without thinking.

"Jyushimatsu," he calls, the younger one looking over with wide eyes at his voice. He, too, still smiled, but it was always scared. Hesitant, but he continued to keep it up for the others.

Choro frowns, fidgeting with his sleeves before gently patting the other boys’ head.

"I… I'll come back. Okay?" He says it, even if to reassure himself that he’ll be safe away from the elder two, but Jyushi nods. There’s an unspoken promise there; a promise that they’ll all stay together. Safely.

(A promise to return home.)

Finally, all of the leaving groups meet outside for one more farewell. Karamatsu is the first to reach his immediate younger brother, pulling him tightly into his chest, trembling hands fidgeting with the green hoodie. A broken sob leaves Choromatsu’s mouth as he buries his face into Kara’s shoulder, gasping for air. Not now, not now. The second time he wheezes for air, Osomatsu is at his side, worried. His outstretched hand hovers there, unsure, not quite reaching them.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’ll come home.” Finally, he places his hand on Choro’s shoulder, smiling at him. “Besides, you’ve got this babe protecting you! She’ll bring you home, right?” He laughs, and Choro is sure he hears Karamatsu let out a broken laugh too.

“Yeah,” Totoko gives them all a thumbs up, “I’ll bring him home. Promise!” She huffs, leaning over to squint past the Matsunos and at their own partners. “Oi! Chibita, Iyami - you better bring these idiots home, too.”

“Huh?! That idiot already saved my ass once, damn it! Of course, I’m gonna repay it!”
“Me… will try, zansu? Osomatsu did save me too, but me can’t fight like Chibita, zans.”

The group laughs and the brothers separate, wiping away stray tears. Finally, after one more farewell, the two groups split and head their separate ways. One toward an old friend’s mansion, and the other to search for a missing idol.

Group B: Choromatsu, Totoko

Choromatsu and Totoko walk away from the other group, slowly, quiet except for Choro’s sniffles and soft sobs. He stumbled often, constantly rubbing his eyes and wiping away more tears, softly muttering to himself. Totoko had to strain her ears to understand what he was rambling,

“- stop crying, fucking baby, you’ll go home,” He was saying, his hands shaking. Of course, he’s scared. He’s away from his family, with only Totoko for company. Choro gasps and pauses walking, a tight fist pulling at his hair, “Breathe-”

Totoko stops and turns to him, reaching up to grab the hand in his hair. She carefully, gently, pulls it away, holding it in her own hand. Choro never meets her eyes, but he grows quiet, his breathing calming down.

“It’s alright. Remember? I promised.” Totoko grins and resumes walking, still holding his hand the entire time. She’s still holding his hand when they reach an area matching Atsushi's description, and still when they reach a concert venue. Posters are hung on the walls or littering the ground, advertising different idols, groups, or even merch. Nyaa-chan’s face smiles at them from different angles. Right. She was supposed to have a concert soon.

Totoko bends down to pick up one of the posters, frowning at it for a moment before letting it go, watching the wind pull it away and back toward the ground.

“...let’s go-” She starts to say, but breaks off as a scream echoes through the empty area, coming from a nearby building. They both turn to it with a wary look, nervous, but holding onto their weapons, ready to investigate. Totoko reaches the double doors first and pushes them both open, tightly holding onto a crowbar she had found.

The smell hits Choro first and he gags, wide-eyed, placing a hand over his mouth. Something’s rotten - no, not rotten. Dead, he realizes, his eyes following a trail of blood until he sees two unfortunate guys getting eaten alive by a monster. Luckily, the monster keeps them mostly out of his line of sight.

“Hey!” One of them is cowering against the wall, staring at them. “Help u-” the monster moves, fast, and- Choro turns away, and vomits. Well. There goes his lunch, he thinks, panting.

“Choro?” Totoko steps away from the door, her face pale. “We have to run. Now!” Her hand is on his again, dragging him away, quick. He glances back once, making eye contact with the monster. It’s tall and pure black, but there are eyes staring at him, and teeth spread into a wide smile. Those eyes. They’re so deep and dark, like an ocean dragging Choro in.

He doesn’t realize he’s fallen until he hears Totoko shouting his name, shaking him. His thoughts come back as soon as she moves in front of him, and he finally sees her fear.

“You have to get up!” She looks back, but the creature stays in the building, unmoving. That thing - Choro sits up, fast.

“Don’t look at it!” He grabs her hand and stands back up, slowly, his legs still feeling like weights. Whatever that creature was, it had done something when their eyes connected.

Totoko supports his body, half dragging him away, farther and farther from the monster. They reach a dressing room and finally stop, allowing themselves to breathe and talk in soft whispers. About the area, where Nyaa-chan could be, about the monster. Anything.

“Thank god it didn’t follo-” Choro’s words cut off as something slams into the back of his head, hard, and his vision quickly fades to black.

Group A: Osomatsu, Karamatsu, Iyami, Chibita

The group heads toward their destination in mostly silence, besides the two Matsuno brothers that fall behind, walking so close that their shoulders touch. Osomatsu stumbles, his hands tightly holding onto the younger one’s sleeve. They didn’t have to share looks or words to know; they both were fearful of being separated. From their home, from their family - from the third sibling left with only Totoko.

Iyami and Chibita lead the group, making sure to walk slow enough that the other two stay close. They only speak when they finally reach the mansion they’d all recognize towering above them all, decorated with the flags that symbolize their mutual friend. Hatabou. Hopefully, he’d be here, alive.

“We’re here.” It’s Iyami who says this, and Osomatsu jumps in surprise at how close he’d gotten. He hadn’t even noticed. “Will you be okay, zansu?” He raises a hand, probably to comfort the eldest Matsu, but it quickly falls back to his side.

“Yeah, sorry. Let’s go,” Osomatsu mutters and nods, lightly kicking at the gate surrounding Hatabou’s home. It creaks open like it was never closed. Like something opened it, and simply didn’t close it. He shivers and brushes the idea away, telling himself it’s just an old gate.

“Ah, brother,” Karamatsu clears his throat, nervously looking up at the large building, “Might it be better if we… go our separate ways? It is a large area after all, non?”

“Are you- you’re kidding.” Osomatsu forces out a laugh, pointing up at the other with a shaky hand. “You’re not fucking serious, are ya? We JUST left Choro, and now YOU wanna run off on your own too?!”

“I’m not. I know how it seems, but… it’s a large area. Besides, I won’t be alone!” Karamatsu gestures to Chibita, who’s walking by his side while they approach the entrance.

“No!” The elder one shouts, his hands balling up into fists at his sides. “You- you can’t! I’ll be alone!”

Kara glances at Iyami, but he knows. That isn’t what he means. He doesn’t want to lose anyone else. He turns away, covering his now tearful eyes. First their parents, and then Dayon...

Iyami sighs, walking through the group to push the doors open. The mansion is surprisingly dirty, with tables and pictures knocked over. The open room before them is quiet, which means hopefully empty. Iyami and Chibita lead the group inside now, looking around. Connected to the open room is more hallways full of doors, and a staircase leading to another floor. Chibita groans, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“Great! We’re here and it looks bad, damn it!” He huffs, storming off down a hallway to start testing doorknobs. Karamatsu slowly trails behind, clinging onto his walkie talkie. Iyami glances at them, down at Oso, and turns to check the opposite hallway. Doorknobs rattle, doors open and close, footsteps echo.

Someone shouts in surprise, running into a wall - the right hallway. He looks down toward Karamatsu and Chibita, seeing them backing up away from an eyeless monster. Jesus. Its ears are huge, though without eyes it’d probably have to rely on hearing. The two quickly back farther away from the creature, trying to stay quiet as to not be spotted. A door at their side rattles and breaks, another strange creature leaving the room, one large eye looking at the area around itself before landing on the group of humans.

These creatures… they have flags on their heads.

Iyami gasps, a few doors from the hallway he was in beginning to also rattle and break open, revealing more strange creatures. All with more flags on their heads. The group meets back in the center of the main room, almost trapped - almost. Osomatsu eyes the stairway, noting how empty it seems.

“This way, quick!” He calls, racing the other three up the stairs. Iyami is the first to get there, being the tallest of the group, and is already moving a dresser to block the stairway when the others reach the top. “Do it.”

A dresser blocks the way, and they quickly begin working on stacking more items on top to keep anything away longer. Finally stacked up with miscellaneous items, they begin backing away, hoping. It’s not zombies though - these things are smart! Osomatsu flinches, seeing one attempting to climb up the banister, and hurries into the nearest room.

Iyami locks the door, blocking it with another dresser before allowing everyone to relax for a moment. Luckily, they weren’t officially trapped yet, as this room had a door on either side. Hopefully, the monsters weren’t smart enough to know this.

“F-Finally,” Iyami falls to his knees, panting, tired after moving so many items and running from the monsters. He rests there for a moment to catch his breath and, when he looks up, Osomatsu is watching him.

“Hey, Chibita and I are going to check the other rooms. We’ll take a peek, and then we’ll come back. Okay?” Karamatsu asks, and Oso blushes, quickly looking away from Iyami.

“Ah, sure.” He mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. Oso watches the other two walk toward the left door, softly talking to each other. Karamatsu was smiling. He was holding a knife, ready to see what was in the next room, but he was smiling so gently at Chibita.

The door creaks open, and a lightswitch clicks.

“His office!” Chibita calls to Kara, who watches him from the doorway. Staying so Osomatsu could see one of them. “There must be something-” He says, walking toward the desk before stopping, looking toward a dark figure in the corner with curious eyes.

“Chi...bita?” The figure looks up, large, sad, eyes staring at him. This surely wasn’t a human, but it recognized him - spoke to him. It seemed so small, huddling in the corner, fidgeting with a flag.
Wait.

“Hatabou?” He asks, hating the way his voice cracks when he does. No. No. There’s no way this thing is Hatabou, but the way its eyes light up at the name, the way it holds the flag out and repeats Chibita’s name- He turns, running back toward Karamatsu. “Shut- shut the door!” He sobs, not even realizing he had been crying. “Please.”

Karamatsu pulls him into the room and slams the door shut, pulling a desk halfway in front of the door to block it without question.

“I’ll… check the other door. You should, um, s-sit down?” He stammers, nervous, but flashes a small smile when Chibita nods and goes over toward the other two to sit down. The right door, then. He walks to it and gulps, hand lingering above the doorknob.

Osomatsu hurries over with a smile and pulls the door open, waving Karamatsu inside. The light switch clicks on again. It’s…

“Ugh, books. Boring!” Oso rolls his eyes, but smiles, clearly joking. “So? Anything inside?” He asks, poking his head in to look around the room. Karamatsu stands in the center now, alone. He shakes his head and grins, turning toward the bookshelves.

“Lovely! That means I can safely find stories for our dear brothers and friends!”

Oh shit! Osomatsu hurries over, picking up random picture books, mangas, and magazines. “Oh fuck, are there any hot babes in here? Or, y’know, dudes-” He wiggles his eyebrows to Karamatsu and points at the door, lowering his voice to a whisper. “So, Chibita?”

“Ah,” Kara makes a choked sound and splutters, his face red, waving his hands. “No no no, I just- I--” He sighs, looking down, “Was it too obvious?”

“Not to him,” The eldest laughs, flipping through a few mangas. Choro would like these. He goes back to the other room for a moment before returning with a bookbag, placing some of the books inside. Kara grows silent for a minute, seemingly occupied with the task of finding perfect stories for everyone, sometimes dropping a random one inside the bag too. Finally finished, they wave the other two inside, showing off their discovery.

“We can leave once we’re done here,” Chibita says, flipping through a few cookbooks. “Hatabou’s…” He chokes up, opening and closing his mouth a few times. He doesn’t have to finish the sentence though, because Osomatsu is patting his back and frowning.

“Alright. We’ll sneak around those bastard monsters then!” He picks up the bookbag to put it on and slowly opens the door to peek out into the hallway. Only a few creatures linger, trying to break into different rooms. They were paying the blocked stairway no attention, though how to get down when it’s been blocked… ah, they really should’ve thought about this better.

Iyami pulls the door open wider and sneaks out into the hallway, ignoring Oso’s panicked whispers, quietly hurrying to the next room. He opens the door, steps inside, and disappears from Osomatsu’s vision. He curses under his breath, looking around at the monsters again. They were by the ends of the hallways now, so maybe they wouldn’t notice-

The doors bang open and Iyami runs out toward the banister, pushing a mattress over the edge until it crashes onto the floor below. The monsters turn, staring, one already heading toward him. Oso moves without thinking, rushing over and tackling Iyami off the banister, landing on top of him when they hit the mattress.

“Oh, thank god, it worked, zansu.” Iyami lets out a sigh of relief, one of his hands against Oso’s back. “Come on, now. Get up, we have to hurry, zans.” He pushes himself to sit up with one hand, the other still holding Oso to him. To keep him close? To make sure he’s really there? He isn’t sure why.

“Oh fuck, Kara and Chibita- they’ll be fine, right? Oh, shit, we gotta move.” Osomatsu is quick to his feet and attempting to pull Iyami up, struggling for a moment with the height difference, and they hurry toward the exit. He pushes the doors open and pulls Iyami outside, ducking behind one of the walls to breathe. An area where they could watch the door, and easily run away if anything came. Perfect.

However, the situation was not perfect for the other two. Karamatsu and Chibita were still inside, upstairs, with the strange creatures hissing at the banister.

“Look!” Chibita points to one, recognizing the large ears, “It’s the blind one. It seems like they’re communicating - I think that one’s helping it to see? I just need…” He trails off, looking around for a moment before bending down to pick up a broken piece of wood. Karamatsu holds the door open wider while Chibita holds it back, aiming for an area farther down the hallway. He throws, watching the wooden piece sail through the air before thumping against a door. The two creatures turn, immediately running for the door, breaking it down. Perfect. They’d think it was something inside, not outside.

Karamatsu mutters a quick apology before picking up Chibita, hurrying over to the banister, and jumping down. They land safely on it; Kara landing on his back, holding Chibita close to him the whole time so he wouldn’t get hurt.

“Ah, if only this had better cushioning…” Karamatsu laments, setting Chibita down so he could stand and stretch. Chibita swears he heard at least 7 things crack, but Kara brushes it off with a laugh, leading the way outside so their group could meet up again to finally head home.

They head home in silence, stuck thinking over the events of the day. How they went, just to find Hatabou, and he was already…. something. Chibita would never tell what he saw, so they just had to make guesses. Clearly, dead or a monster. Actually, could people be monsters? Osomatsu frowns at the thought but brushes it off, walking faster to reach the house quicker.

They soon spot the familiar house and hurry inside, excited to see friends and family again. Todomatsu is at their side immediately, a tearful smile on his face.

“You’re home!” He sobs, grabbing Oso’s hoodie with one hand. “Where- where’s Choro?”
“He’s… not here?”

Slowly, Choromatsu opens his eyes, flinching at the dull pain still throbbing in the back of his head. There are two voices arguing, but he doesn’t try to sit up or turn to see who. Not yet.

The voices go quiet though, and Totoko is suddenly at his side, helping him to sit up. She holds a water bottle to his lips, helping him drink some- and then he sees pink hair, and chokes, his eyes going wide.

“N-Nyaa-chan?!” He pushes the water bottle away, coughing into his arm. “Oh my god- sorry-”

“I’m really sorry!” Nyaa cries, bowing her head in apology, “I didn’t know you were human and attacked without thinking!”

“Oh, we defeated the monster that was here!” Totoko says, grinning, “And your brothers made it home safe. They were scared, but I told em what was goin’ on.” She explains, gesturing to the walkie talkie lying on a box nearby.

“Ah…” Choromatsu looks back and forth between the two, his face red, “That’s good! And, um, it’s okay. I’m glad you’re safe!”

“Yeah, yeah, now we can all head back together. Whatever.” Totoko pouts and stomps her foot, jealous of her rival being the center of Choro’s affection. She picks up the walkie-talkie and turns toward the two, waving to the door. “Let’s go?”

“Wait, wait, I have so many questions and- things I want to say! Nyaa-chan! You’re so amazing!” He begins to ramble, holding her hands in his own. “I really love-”

He cuts off, staring toward a towering figure behind her. Apparently, they didn’t check for more monsters. It reaches out with two sharp tentacles, piercing through Nyaa’s chest. All that leaves her mouth is a choked sob before the tentacles pull in opposite directions, ripping her apart.

There’s blood. On his clothes. So much of her blood. Someone screams then and Totoko is back at his side, grabbing his hand and running. He realizes it was him who screamed, noting the way his throat burns from his open sobs and the way his vision blurs with constant tears. They keep running, never slowing down, even when Choro stumbles over cracks in the road and almost falls. Totoko keeps pulling him along, quiet, her face blank.

They reach the house and crash inside, immediately falling toward the ground. Someone catches Choromatsu, and he immediately buries a bloody hand into the already red fabric, his entire body wracked with sobs.

“Choromatsu?” Kara joins their side, worried, “What happened?”

“Fuck!” Totoko yells, punching the wall next to her, “We were rivals but I never- I didn’t want- not this!” She sobs, hiding her face behind a shaky hand.

Chapter Text

After the events of the day, Choromatsu hides away in the shared room with Totoko, both hidden in the corner surrounded by blankets. It takes an hour for him to start breathing normally again, tears slowing to a near stop. Ichimatsu is the one who stays with them the entire time, making sure they drink water and take small bites of food.

Finally, the tears end but are replaced with soft apologies. Ichimatsu shakes his head, pushing a water bottle into Choro’s still trembling hands.

“It’s alright,” he says softly to them, comforting, “You’re okay.”

When everyone else enters to relax for the evening, it’s Chibita who joins them, sitting in silence. Though he hadn’t spoken of it to anyone, they all knew - it was hopeless to search for Hatabou again. So, he sat in their group, everyone having the same shared trauma. And Ichimatsu looked on, unknowing. He understood the sadness after years of depression, but something like this… something like this was too much.

Death, loss, hopelessness. He could only grasp some of it from their missing parents, missing Dayon, friends in unknown states. Hell, he was even curious about all of his cat friends. But that was different.

“Here. Water.” He pushes a bottle towards Chibita, uncertain, but the other picks it up after a moment. Luckily, they’d be fine on water bottles for a while, but getting everyone in the house to eat food… meals would be harder for this amount of people. Choromatsu and Todomatsu had organized the food a while ago by what would expire first to last, so they had time. An unknown amount of time, but it was time.

Any time was enough.

“Heeey, now that everyone’s here,” Osomatsu stands up from where he’s sat, opening a bag he’d been holding the entire time. “Gifts! There was a library there so y’know I had to raid it for shit! Got picture books, mangas, magazines, novels… lotta random stuff!”

Before Jyushi has a chance to pounce on the books, Oso quickly dumps a few at Choro’s feet. Some old novels, a few mangas, some thin magazines. Their eyes meet for a second and, finally, Choro smiles.

Oso returns to the kotatsu, spreading out the rest of the books on the table. Jyushi and Kara join, looking through picture books and fashion magazines. Choro hums, flipping through the pages of his books, then nudges one closer to Totoko.

“Here. You read this manga.”

She listens, and everyone falls into a comfortable silence, each doing their own things. Reading, sharing soft whispers, discussing future plans for exploration or food. Time passes this way, and it’s still calm when they figure out dinner and even after everyone eats.

Finally, it’s dark outside. A few people clean everything up, pull out the futons and blankets, and get ready to rest. Karamatsu softly strums his guitar, sitting on the balcony in silence. The door is open, a gentle breeze passes.

In the bathroom, blood drips from a lone girl’s nose. Napkins cover the floor, falling from shaking hands. A voice whispers somewhere, hissing, heard only by her. She ignores it though, pushing the blood-covered napkins into a bag and returning to the bedroom. Desires? Yeah, right. Everything she needs is right here.

Homura undoes her braid and lays on a blanket by the wall, curling up as if nothing had happened. No one would notice, surely. The bag was tied, labelled to be thrown out in the morning. If she was up early enough, it’d be fine!
… right?

Yeah. It had to be. She pushes any other thoughts down and rolls over, trying to fall asleep.

The light clicks off, but some of the group stays awake. Time passes, on and on, anxious hands trembling still. Choromatsu sits up from where he lays, taking deep shaky breaths. Guess it’d be a while before he’d be able to peacefully sleep again. He looks around at the other figures in the room, curious as to who else would be awake. Someone surely was. There was a gentle glow of a phone, soft turning of pages, a quiet sigh. He isn’t surprised to see Totoko and Chibita awake, but he is surprised when the phone turns and he sees long brown hair. Homura.

Totoko, though… he picks up one of the new spare blankets and goes over to her, sitting by her side. They don’t talk, in fear of bothering others, but her smile is good enough. He can be here. By her side. So, he lays down, and she quickly curls into his chest. It’s peaceful like this. Laying with Totoko, the silence broken by book pages turning and soft breathing. He isn’t sure how long it is before he falls asleep, but he does.

When he opens his eyes next, it’s sunrise. Totoko’s asleep, and everyone else who was awake is quiet. There are no book pages, no phone clicking. Everyone’s asleep.

He turns to the clock, but it’s dark. So the power would finally be failing them soon. He rolls back over onto his back, breathing for a moment. In the early silence, he allows himself a moment to relax.

Right now, it’s calm. Safe. He can lay there and breathe, forgetting all of his worries and anxiety for now. The sun is still beginning to rise, casting a soft glow into the room.

Right now, everything is fine.

Day 4: Thursday, ???

Choro isn’t sure what time it is when others begin to get up, but they slowly rise eventually. They’d seen so much and people had been lost, but everyone knew they had to continue on. It’d be pointless to sit inside and rot away with guilt and grief. So, Todomatsu brings everyone coffee or tea while rambling to Atsushi about plans for food and water. Osomatsu picks up trash and organizes the books everyone had left lying in random spots, and Karamatsu folds the blankets.

The world really doesn’t stop turning, then. When they lose and keep losing, the world still spins. The sun passes, and then the moon, and the days only continue. Choromatsu sighs and pulls the front door open, standing outside for a minute to enjoy the fresh air and gentle breeze. It’s been oddly quiet lately, he noticed.

Maybe, quiet enough to go exploring? They’d need more supplies, and to check the surrounding areas, make sure they’re safe… maybe check for survivors again? There still had been no signs of Dayon, their parents, or any other friends or people they might recognize. And the power was failing too, so the fridge would be gone - they’d be losing some food and cold water. Canned food lasted longer anyway, so they’d have to find more of that…

Choro groans, head aching, but there’s too much to do. So much to find, so much to plan, all to survive. That’s all they wanted. To survive. So, why did it feel so impossible? As if the world, that refused to stop spinning, was against them. The missing people, the losses, the strange monsters…
But the damn sun was still shining.

“Mmmm, maybe we should get solar panels…” Karamatsu sighs as he steps outside, staring up at the clear sky. “Isn’t there a field full of them nearby? Out west, but… transporting them…”

“Ah, excuse me?” Atsushi leans out of the doorway, raising one hand. “I also know how to drive, if we can find a big enough car? Although, a truck would work better.” He hums, looking both ways down the road. A stack of solar panels could definitely fit in the back of a truck - it would be more of a problem to find one, make sure it’s safe, and functioning. “We wouldn’t need a key. I know how to hot-wire them.”
Ah. That solves one problem, at least.

Choro and Kara both stare at him, curious. So, Todomatsu’s boyfriend was handsome and helpful. “If you break Totty’s heart, I’ll feed you to the monsters.” Choro nods, expression serious, but the other two only laugh in surprise.
( At least they could still joke like this. )

“I wouldn’t!” Atsushi sighs and turns, looking inside, watching the group. “He helps me, too. I’m only here because of him- without him, I probably would’ve… died with my group.” He mumbles the last part, frowning.
Choro shivers, feeling as if he took one step forward, only to suddenly fall back. It always came back to this.
The losses faced.

“...yeah. I get that.” It’s Karamatsu who speaks up, now sitting on the front steps. He stares down the street, watching the clouds. “There’s been so much scary stuff. But, I have my brothers, and my friends. So, maybe it’ll be okay!”
( Choro wishes he could believe that. Just a little bit, he wanted to believe, to hope. But, all that comes to mind is Nyaa-chans smile, and he loses any hope he has. )

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save Reika.” Apologies. It’s all he can think of, in that moment.
“You saved yourself. That’s good enough.” Atsushi shrugs and leans against the doorway, smiling at the two. “I’ll get back in there.”
With a wave, he heads back inside, leaving Choro and Kara alone.

…
“He’s right, you know.”
“Hm?”
“You came back alive.” Karamatsu smiles.
Choro wanted to have hope. He wanted to fight, to live longer. To keep seeing those smiles, to keep hearing their laughs.
“Well.” He smiles back, leaning over to playfully kick Kara’s leg. “Someone’s gotta make sure this place doesn’t burn down!”

Chapter Text

The group sits around outside at what they believe is noon, idly talking while sharing a small lunch of crackers and meat. They discuss anything; plans for the future, ideas, what they’d like to do. Opinions on the books or mangas they read, or what that cloud looks like. Anything.

“We should find a car,” Atsushi sighs, lying in the grass, watching the clouds pass by. “Preferably, a truck.” He adds, slowly sitting up, looking towards the eldest three.

“I was thinking before that it’s been quiet lately. Maybe, we can look around? It’d be good to find more canned food.” Choro hums, wiping some cracker crumbs off his shirt. He’s still slightly trembling even now, but the stress of yesterday is manageable. 

“Ah, I guess so, but…” Osomatsu frowns, taking note of Choro’s still trembling hands. He shakes his head. “You just… I mean, you saw something awful. Stay home longer. Let me take care of it, alright?” He nervously smiles, pointing at himself.

“Rely on the eldest!”

Choromatsu frowns at that, but doesn’t argue like he usually would, the eldest was right after all and the thoughts were still vivid in his mind. 

It was Karamatsu’s turn to speak up, 

“How are we going to divide the groups? We can’t have them the same as last time since Choromatsu is staying home. I’d prefer to stay home too, to take care of him if I’m allowed to.”

“You don’t have to Karamatsu-nii-san, I’m fine, I swear!” Choromatsu quickly butted in. It was one thing to stay home himself, it was another to have somebody stay home for him.

The two elder brothers just stared at him with a blank look, both not believing him one bit.

Atsushi had been quietly observing the trio throughout the exchanges, but he couldn’t help but want to know,

“So, what will we be searching for? One group goes for a car and the solar panels, what will the other group do? We still had three walkie-talkies, right?”

“I think the other group should focus on collecting more food, we are running out fast with this many people.”

“So it’s decided, the bigger group, with me in it, shall go look for food, while the smaller group, Atsushi’s group, can look for a car. Atsushi, you’ll need a partner, who will you take with you?” Osomatsu said.

Atsushi surveyed the others gathered outside, his gaze lingering on Todomatsu. 

“I’ll take Totty along, if he’ll be fine with that.”

“You can always ask him, but he’s a scaredy cat so it’ll be a miracle if he comes along immediately.” Osomatsu said as he too looked over at the younger trio sitting a bit of a distance away.

Atsushi stood up,

“I trust you’ll put together the groups for real, but in the meantime I’ll go ask him so we will know for sure.”

Atsushi crossed the little garden to the other side where Todomatsu sat with his other brothers.

“Hey, Totty. I had a little question. We are putting together the groups for today and I was wondering if you’d come along with me to look for a car?”

“Outside?!” Todomatsu softly screamed, too afraid of attracting things even when everything was so quiet.

“I’ll be by your side all the way, sweetheart. We’ll be together, nothing to fear that way.”

He still looked reluctant.

“Then, how about this,” Atsushi looked at the brothers around him, and when his eyes landed on Ichimatsu, he smiled, “Ichimatsu will come along too.”

“Huh, what?” Ichimatsu looked at him with an incredulous look, “Why me?”

“Why not?” He smiled back at Ichimatsu, “So, that’s settled, right?”

Todomatsu chewed on his lip, eyes scrunched shut tightly, weighing his options.

“Fine, I’ll go, but you guys better protect me!”

Atsushi walked back towards the three eldest.

“I’ll be going with Totty and Ichi.”

“Ichimatsu too?”

“Had to bring along somebody else to put Totty at ease.”

“So how will the rest of the groups be?”

“Let’s have Totoko stay home too, she also saw something awful after all and she’s still not over it.” Osomatsu decided, “Not like she’ll be for quite some time.” 

“Let’s have Homura stay for her too, girls stick together better, right?” Karamatsu added on.

Jyushimatsu looks over when he hears Homura's name, raising and lowering his hand. Maybe it’d be better if he explored as well? Even Ichimatsu got to join a group! He pouts, looking towards the eldest while fidgeting with his sleeves. “I can go?”

Osomatsu looks over towards him, a little surprised by the question, but he immediately regains his senses and smiles brightly while rubbing his finger underneath his nose, “Of course! Welcome to the team, Jyushi!”

“That only leaves Iyami and Chibita without a team. Guess they'll have to join mine. Sweet.” 

A little blush adorned his cheeks.

“Yo, Iyami, Chibita, you guys are with me for exploration later!”

The two look his way from where they’re sat together, quietly talking. Chibita waves, and Iyami gives him a thumbs-up. “That sounds good with me, zansu.” Iyami smiles, and Osomatsu quickly looks away, flustered.

This was going to be impossible.

“Aw, I guess we’ll be separated. Damn.” Chibita huffs, looking towards Karamatsu. “You’ll wish me luck, won’t ya?”

“Of course!” Kara quickly nods, blushing when Oso gives him a funny look. “You’ll do great. You saved me last time, didn’t you?” He softly laughs, lightly pushing Oso when the other playfully nudges him.

“Come on, there’s never going to be a better time!” The eldest whispers, gesturing to Chibita with a wave. He loudly giggles when Karamatsu jabs his side, getting a weird look from the two.

“And what about you, hm?” Kara lowers his voice, smirking.

“Huh? What do you mean?” The eldest freezes. His eyes widen a bit, looking nervous.

“Iyami?” Karamatsu teases, pointing at the man, laughing when Osomatsu shoves him.

“No no no, no way! I mean, there’s-”

“You said it yourself. There’s never going to be a better time.” Karamatsu shrugs, waving to the two staring their way. “Sorry, sorry! Just arguing about plans!” He lies, smiling as usual, but they soon go back to their own quiet conversations.

It’s easy, passing time like this - discussing the plans, the teams, while softly joking and teasing each other.

*****

A few more hours pass before the groups gather at the door, looking at the evening sky. The sun is lowered, and the sky is turning hues of orange and pink; the street lights flicker, giving the road an eerie feeling.

Todomatsu, Atsushi, and Ichi wait outside.

Karamatsu stands with the other group, fidgeting with his hands, looking between Osomatsu and Chibita. There really wouldn’t be a better time. He knew this was risky for them, going out there, such a large group. He groans, quickly approaching Chibita, crouching to speak softly to him.

“Come back safe. I…” He looks away. “I love you. There. I said it.” He nods and stands straight, watching Chibita. “I would’ve been dead without my brothers, sure, but you kept me going too. You can give me a response when you come back home alive, got it?”

Chibita just stares with wide eyes, wordless, a light blush on his face. “Eh? Ah… yeah! You got it. I-I’ll come back, and…” He looks away, lightly grabbing Karamatsu’s hand. “I’ll give you a response then. So… so, wait for me.”

Chibita nods again before letting go of Kara’s hand, joining his group. Osomatsu looks between them for a second with an odd smile, wiggling his eyebrows at Kara, teasing.

The second eldest only rolls his eyes, quickly approaching his elder to pull him into a hug. “Good luck.”

“Yeah.” Osomatsu sighs, tightly holding onto Karamatsu for a second, nervous. “I’ll be back- no, we’ll be back!” He softly laughs as he corrects himself, patting Kara’s back before heading outside to meet the other group.

Karamatsu turns, but freezes when a pair of strong arms wrap around him. He looks down at yellow sleeves, feeling warmth against his back.

“Take care of Choro-nii. And… Homura, too. Okay?” Jyushimatsu mumbles, his hands trembling.

“Of course.” Kara turns, ruffling his hair.

Jyushi lingers another second before he quickly leaves, wordless, hands still trembling. But he still smiled.

It’s strangely quiet without the large groups.

*****

“I guess we’ll be heading off.” Atsushi sighs, holding Totty’s hand tightly in his own. Ichimatsu looks between the two, frowning, then towards Jyushimatsu. He waves, worried - before, it was the older group going out, exploring. Now, it was the younger trios turn. And, already, they were being split up?

Jyushimatsu would probably be fine.

Besides, Ichi and Jyushi were trusted with the walkie talkies this time - they’d be able to keep in touch!

“I guess so.” Osomatsu nods, grinning. He raises a hand, but doesn't quite wave. “Keep my little brothers safe. Alright, Atsushi?”

“Always.” Atsushi smiles back, lightly squeezing Totty’s hand. The groups split, heading down the street in opposite directions, both worried about the goals ahead.

Ichimatsu fidgets with the walkie talkie in his hands.

Jyushi chews on his sleeves, worried to leave Homura behind.

And deep down everyone worries, hoping they’ll stay safe in this cruel new normal.

Chapter Text

“Where are you going, miss? Don’t you know that way is infested with monsters?” An older man asks the tanned girl walking in the opposite direction from all the others being evacuated. 

She stops to look at him, a small smile grazing her face as she recollects her reason to travel to Tokyo. 

“I know, sir, but I was going to visit some friends of mine and I have to make sure they are okay.”

She waves goodbye and keeps walking against the stream of people. Her short hair rustling in the small breeze, reminding her of better times, of the sextuplets she grew so close to. She was determined to face whatever adversities the world would throw at her, just to see those six again.

*****

Her white shirt wasn’t so white anymore, the dirt and blood collecting on the pristine fabric. Her shorts had frayed a little because of the times she had to run so fast from monsters. But her determination never wavered. Weapon on hand, and a hijacked car as her transport, she had made it quite far in those four days since the outbreak, nearing the familiar neighbourhood with each passing day, she was almost there, she would reach them today. And with all the horrors she had seen, she just hoped they’d be safe.

*****

Group B : Chibita, Jyushimatsu, Osomatsu, Iyami

The group had decided quite quickly to go to the shopping district in their town, stopping by each store on the way there as well, to see if anything would be useful. Bags on their backs, which they’d almost forgotten to bring if it weren’t for Homura bringing them out and chasing after them at the last minute. It had worried Jyushimatsu to see her out of the house, but Karamatsu was dutifully keeping watch from the end of the street. Giving them a thumbs up as he guided her back home.

And because of that, they’d also discussed their battle strategy: two would go inside the store, while the other two would keep watch by the doors, one inside, one outside, to keep their eyes on all possible threats.

Their patrol went quite alright, it was quiet and calm. They managed to scour three stores for food, filling their bags with canned goods halfway already, when they entered the convenience store in the shopping district. Yet it seemed that this store had been plundered already, food and shelves knocked over, empty rows of aisles after aisles, or only expired and moldy goods remained. The only canned produce they found were canned oysters. 

Osomatsu picked one up, immediately smelling the oysters even with the lid still on, and oh boy, did it smell bad to him. He gestured to Iyami, who was scouring the other aisle. As he held up the can, Iyami’s face contorted.

“You aren’t serious about taking that with you, zansu.”

At that, Oso grinned widely.

“Oh, but I am!”

He wasn’t originally going to take them, but they could come in handy eventually. Maybe as a stink bomb.

Regrouping with Jyushimatsu, who was standing inside, and Chibita, keeping watch outside, they saw that Jyushimatsu’s smile had faltered, and Chibita worriedly glancing back and forth.

“Nii-san, there were-” Jyushimatsu softly started, only to be interrupted by the walkie-talkie.

Garbled sounds and a distant scream came through it. Like whoever was in control had dropped the device, and it got stuck being on, recording the ongoing battle for survival.

They all looked at it in shock and fear. Which group was it that was in danger?

They had a bad feeling.

Osomatsu was the first to break from the group and sprint back the way they came, not caring for the added weight of the food. Iyami soon followed. Chibita and Jyushimatsu were rooted to the spot. Gazing after their retreating forms, worried but paralyzed about the prospect of what they would find. But soon, even their feet slowly moved them forward, until they too sprinted back home.

*****

Group C : Todomatsu, Atsushi, Ichimatsu

Todomatsu held on tightly to Atsushi’s hand, trembling with each step, always looking left and right, gazing into the houses with broken doors from a distance, hoping and praying he’d see nothing at all. Atsushi couldn’t help but glance his way frequently, silently checking to see if the smaller man was okay. His gaze lingered on him often. 

In the back, Ichimatsu sauntered along, grip tight around the walkie-talkie. He liked hearing what Jyushimatsu had to say, and what the home team responded to Jyushimatsu’s many finds. He stayed quiet though. Their team hadn’t had much luck in finding a working car yet, they’d walked quite a while, but all the cars they found were busted beyond belief. Ichimatsu was starting to lose hope they’d ever find something, when they all heard a soft rumbling. Not like a monster, as Atsushi assured when Todomatsu held on tighter to him, but of a vehicle softly approaching them.

They stayed still, listening to where it was coming from. Atsushi in hopes of more survivors, Todomatsu in hopes of avoiding the confrontation, and Ichimatsu in hopes of stealing the vehicle for themselves. It was what they had to find after all.

Before long, they saw a white van down the street approaching them slowly. They were on edge until it was close enough to recognize who was driving, as they stuck their head out the window and waved excitedly. Tan face, short brown hair, and beautiful blue eyes stared back at them, a big smile greeting them. It was Kinko, their friend and neighbour from months ago. The two brothers instantly relaxed, and Atsushi, while not knowing her, waved back with a smile of his own.

Kinko stopped right next to the group and got out to hug the brothers she knew and loved. 

“Todomatsu! Ichimatsu! It’s so good to see you're alive and well! And who’s this? Either way, 

thank you for keeping them safe.”

Atsushi held out his hand, and Kinko eagerly took it, with a firm shake he introduced himself, “Ah, I’m Atsushi, Todomatsu’s… friend.” 

At that, Todomatsu pouted.

“You know the brothers?”

Atsushi asked further, caressing Totty’s back in a form of apology.

“Yeah, I was their neighbour for a while, we had quite some fun together. I’ve come to visit them.”

Kinko beamed.

“You shouldn’t have, it’s a mess here now.”

Ichimatsu couldn't help but speak up, feeling guilty for having her come all this way to visit trash like him and his brothers, especially with the outbreak ruining everything.

Kinko looked back at him and only smiled more as she put her arm around his shoulder, making the poor boy look away, a blush adorning his face.

“All the more reason to come, Ichimatsu. I had to make sure you’re safe.”

It was Atsushi who spoke up again when silence started to fall.

“And you got a van too. Lucky. We were looking for a car to use, but all the ones we found were destroyed or otherwise unusable.”

Kinko looked at her van, a little beat up, but definitely still able to run smoothly as it brought her all the way here.

“Yeah, I did get lucky. Not many cars were in decent shape anymore. But this bad boy can fit a lot of stuff!”

“Even solar panels?”

The question left Todomatsu before she fully comprehended what was going on. Bashfully hiding his mouth in faux embarrassment, he curiously looked at Kinko as she cocked her head.

“Solar panels?”

“Our electricity is failing, so we wanted to get solar panels to help with that.”

Atsushi was the one to give the clarifying statement.

Kinko looked back at her van, placing her hand on the side of it.

“It should fit small ones, but not that many, I think.”

A silence fell over them as they contemplated the next move.

Kinko happily spoke up, looking back at the group, 

“If you know where to find them, want to go get them?”

The others looked at each other, nodding to one another, before Atsushi opened his mouth to affirm the decision. It was then that their walkie-talkie sprang to life, garbled noise coming through. Ichimatsu looked over at his brother, a questioning gaze on his face, before his face fell when the clear yet very distant command from one of his brothers came through. 

“Run.”

As the group stood plastered to the ground, Kinko was the first to direct them to take action.

“Hop in.”

*****

Group A : Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Totoko, Homura

As soon as they were all settled at home, Choromatsu and Totoko on the couch reading some more, and Karamatsu occasionally checking in on everyone, Homura had started to feel faint. She had excused herself to the bathroom, and had stayed there for the majority of the time as her nosebleed had started up again, the voice in her head back again with more taunts about desires. Hissing about how her body is weak, unable to protect those she cares for, how it would all be better if she just let go of control. Yet she tries so hard to resist the changes, to block out the voice. Hands trembling harder than before, she shoves more napkins in the trash bin, wishing for it all to end.

When Homura looks up from the sink, it’s no longer her own freckled face that looks back. Instead, what looks back is deformed, greyer, lankier, with misplaced eyes. Almost unrecognizable.

She lets out a small shriek to the gruesome transformation happening in front of her eyes. To her own transformation reflected in the mirror.

Blood starts dripping faster and faster from her nose, and in a futile effort to stop it, she holds tissue after tissue to her face. Seeing her hands grow longer and sharper with each passing second.

She’s startled when a knock on the bathroom door is heard, and Karamatsu’s voice on the other side sounds worried when he asks,

“Is everything okay in there?”

She wants to reply that everything is fine, but what comes out of her mouth instead is a small squeak, and when she tries again, louder this time, it resembles a growl. Homura drops down onto the floor, silently weeping as the knocking grows more frantic, Karamatsu’s voice growing more worried. But it fades into the background, only muffled sounds from the outside register in her ears as the inner voice grows louder with each passing moment. Her vision is blurry from all the tears she weeps. And she knows, she can’t hold back any longer.

The last thing she registers consciously is the door opening and Karamatsu looking at her transformed body in horror.

And what registers in her brain is an immense hunger for bloodshed.

Karamatsu had been frantically knocking on the bathroom door after Homura had holed herself in there for what seemed like hours. He didn’t want to infringe on a lady’s privacy, but when a growl and weeping had resounded from the occupied space, he knew he had to check in on her. The sight before him was one of a horror show. Blood littered the floor and sink, and in the midst of that was a greyish, lanky monster weeping its multitude of small eyes out. Claws were scratching at their skin and the floor, leaving blood-red marks on the surfaces. Karamatsu was stunned, frozen solid in fear as the creature looked his way.

“Karamatsu-nii-san? Is everything okay there?”

It was only when Choromatsu’s weak voice echoed through the hallway that he got rid of his stupor. He had people to protect, after all.

Slamming the door back shut and, with all his might, shoving the hallway cabinet before the door, he hurried back to the living room.

One.

Only Choromatsu was in sight.

“Where’s Totoko?” He asked, surprisingly calm for what he had just witnessed.

“I’m here.” She said from the connection to the kitchen, glass of water in her hand and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She looked worse for wear with the eyebags under her eyes, which, for once, she didn’t try to hide.

“We have to run.” Karamatsu looked straight at them as he grabbed the walkie-talkie on the table, and before they could question him further, a crash resounded through the house. Totoko dropped her glass, and as it shattered on the floor, a monster barged through the door from the hallway to the living room. She wasted no time in discarding her blanket and making a run for it through the back door. 

“Run.” Karamatsu had commanded. He made his own run for the front, but when he looked back, he saw that Choromatsu was frozen solid in his chair, looking on in absolute fear of the monster mere meters away from him. It didn’t seem to approach just yet, seemingly fighting an inner battle, but Karamatsu would be damned if he let a brother of his die this way. Running back, he grabbed Choromatsu’s hand, but it seemed the monster didn’t like that and let out an unholy screech. It knocked Choromatsu and Karamatsu into the side hallway. And as they scrambled to stand up, the monster approached. Choromatsu’s knees buckled from under him, and Karamatsu grabbed him tightly. Dragging him along by the hoodie, as Choromatsu couldn’t help but look back at the monster, they sprinted to the entrance. Choromatsu’s feet refused to work, and they stumbled when they almost got to the door, giving the monster time to catch up. 

They had to get out, they just had to. 

Karamatsu looked back at the monster as he helped Choromatsu to his feet. It was closer than he thought it’d be. There wasn’t enough time.

As the monster neared and got ready to attack, he had to make a decision. Door still closed, he used all his strength to throw his younger brother to the door, breaking it in the process as Choromatsu landed on the steps outside. His younger brother looked upon him in horror.

The sharp claws of the monster stuck into his back, slicing flesh and sticking out of the front. He knew this was the end for him.

He looked up, hands still gripping the doorway with all his weakening strength, and found his eyes landing on Choromatsu.

Karamatsu mustered a small smile as he said, with a breathy voice, “Go on now, Choromatsu. Live. Make me proud.”

Choromatsu was in shock, silent tears running down his face.

“No, you can’t do this to me, Karamatsu-nii-san.”

“It’ll be okay, Choromatsu. I’ll always be there with you. Through hell and back, I’d go anywhere for you. I’d do anything for you. So please, for once, live a little longer, my brother.”

Choromatsu couldn’t do anything as he saw the light leave Karamatsu’s eyes, as he saw his body go limp, sliding off the monster's claws and dropping onto the ground. He looked back up, straight into the monster’s eyes, and when he closed his own, he was fully prepared to let the monster take him as well. But Karamatsu’s words ran through him, and through gritted teeth and with tears running down his face, he did what he should have done from the beginning, what might have saved his brother.

He ran.