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The three men wake up on the curb, their heads fuzzy, mouths dry, and headaches that worsened whenever one of them grumbled.
Osomatsu had come to Chibita’s stand last night, all mopey that he didn’t spend any time with his brothers even when they were off work. Apparently Karamatsu and Ichimatsu didn’t want to spend their day off at the place worked, which was totally reasonable, but Osomatsu had been so lonely lately! Normally only one person would be at home other than him, and that was when they were sleeping because they had the night shift. He was proud that they were being responsible and took a load off of their father, but he still wished that they could spend some time together.
As he was sulking at the bar, a common thing for him to do whenever he visited, Iyami came by to check on the stand.
“Ooh Chibita,” he had started, “me would like to ask for a discount on your amazing, delicious, nearly-as-great-as-France oden for being your oldest friend.”
“Oldest age-wise?”
“Shut it Ichimatsu, zansu.”
“I’m actually Osoma–”
“No can do Iyami,” Chibita stated, his arms crossed, shaking his head in a disapproving manner.
“SHEEEH?! Why not? Surely Choromatsu over here isn’t paying for his.”
“I’m Osomatsu, and I am.”
Iyami looked at the red-clad Matsu incredulously before looking at Chibita as though he had said the world’s funniest joke.
“It’s not a joke Iyami, he works at the Chinese Restaurant near the plaza.”
He looks between the two of them for a long time, his face blanching as he realizes that this was not, in fact, a joke.
“S-SHEEH?!?!?!”
After paying for his food with what little money he had left in his wallet, Iyami stood up from his seat when Osomatsu declared that the three of them should drink together.
“What’s your motive Todomatsu?”
“I’m Osomatsu, and hey! I was being genuinely unshitty, I just want some company while I drink.”
Osomatsu pouted as he feigned a look of hurt, Chibita and Iyami snickered and rolled their eyes in response.
“I mean cmon Chibita, it’s already midnight, you won’t be getting any more customers!”
“Hey!”
“And Iyami, you’re homeless after me and my brothers took apart your house, you might as well stay as long as you can!”
“You brats never paid back for that Jyushi–”
“I’m Osomatsu, and I’m right, aren’t I? We’re all single men who can’t get boyfriends or girlfriends, it’s a Saturday night, and the world is ours! Let’s drink the night away!”
The Showa-era pair share a glance as they decide that there’s no harm in humoring the eldest sextuplet, so all three of them drink until they pass out.
––––––
“Ugh, this headache is killer,” Osomatsu clutches his head, standing up albeit shakily and looks around Chibita’s stand for bottles of water.
Iyami rubs the sleep from his eyes as Chibita grumbles something about water being in the cabinet near the cash register.
“Me needs to pee,” Iyami suddenly stands up, doing the pee-pee dance, before running to the nearest bush. The nearest bush, unfortunately, was very close to the oden cart.
“Eww! I don’t wanna see London, France, your underpants, or your junk Iyami!”
“France is amazing, zansu!”
“WILL YOU IDJITS SHUT UP?!”
Chibita cradles his head in his hands before walking over to a nearby bench, relishing in the chill the metal provides as it presses against his skin, thanking Osomatsu as he hands him a bottle of water. Iyami walks over to them soon after, wiping his hands on his pants before sitting down next to the other two men.
“You know, Karamatsu–”
“Osomatsu.”
Iyami sighs before retrying, “You know Osomatsu, if you ever need people to talk to, Chibita and moi are here.”
Osomatsu blushes a bit at the statement, the straightforwardness and sincerity of the offer catching him off guard.
“Where’d that come from?”
“You idjit, do you seriously not remember?”
Osomatsu rubs his nose as he tries to recall the events of the previous night. Nothing comes to mind, but it must’ve been something pretty bad if those two were so concerned for him. He scuffs the bottom of his shoes against the pebbles on the ground, the sound unpleasant for all of their heads as he comes up blank.
“What did I say?”
Osomatsu was ready for something silly and embarrassing to be uttered; like how he was caught wearing Matsuyo’s dress a couple of days ago, how he was accidentally caught ogling that Oyama guy while serving him at the restaurant and accidentally spilling hot tea on him, how Totoko noticed him trying to sneak a peek under her skirt when it was windy yesterday and how he got punched by her and his boss, or how he-
“You cried yesterday Osomatsu,” Chibita started, an awkward grimace on his face as though he didn’t know how to have such serious conversations with the eldest Matsuno, “I’m sure Totoko would be a better person to talk to about this touchy-feely sorta shit, but are you alright?”
“Of course I am,” Osomatsu replied, forcing a smile across his face as the first few rays of light begin to show over the riverbank’s horizon.
“Osomatsu,” Iyami began with a somber tone, looking at the man with pity and understanding in his eyes, “you and Chibita were there for me when me was most alone. Me almost killed myself when the two of you did your best to stop me. What you said was… personal and raw, and Osomatsu, please don’t push us away.”
The man in question nervously grips his knees as he takes a few big gulps of water, as though he drinking some would keep him hydrated after all the crying he felt was about to happen.
“None of you told me what I even talked about,” Osomatsu realized.
Sharing a look, Chibita and Iyami swung their arms around Osomatsu’s neck in a half-hug before taking a few gulps from the water in their free hands, all of them fighting their hangovers as the sun threatened to come out soon.
“You talked about how lonely you feel,” Chibita confessed, hand fiddling with the now-empty bottle’s cap before attempting to shoot it into the recycling bin a few feet away and missing.
“You’re not the only one who feels that way; look at us zansu!”
Iyami had gestured between himself and Chibita.
“Me got arrested, the girl me saved doesn’t know who or where me is now, and then you and your brothers take my house and now me lives under the bridge over there,” Iyami points at the bridge close to the riverbank, and if Osomatsu squinted he could see the shabby set up over there; the pieces of cardboard which had been flattened into a bed, some dried-up flowers in a basket that looked like they were ready to turn into dust any minute now, an extra purple jacket, and some toothpaste.
Yeesh, the world hadn’t been very kind to Iyami. No wonder he was such a sad and plain man when you took away the purple suit, overbite, and funny voice. He was just a lonely and starving man looking to get by. Like him, if you took away his brothers and his hoodie.
“What about me ya idjit,” Chibita cleared his throat and got the attention of two taller men, “I don’t know who my parents or my family are. I just remember living in some of those construction site pipes,” Osomatsu’s grimace goes unnoticed as the short man continues, “and my only family were you sextuplets and Iyami. Oden is like… the only thing I have.”
Chibita fiddles with the whiskers(?) on his face as he looks down at his feet.
“I always wished to have a family like yours, and before you go onto the whole six enemies bullshit, I know you don’t actually feel that way,” the sun’s rays begin to illuminate the previously darkened street as well as accentuating the shine of unshed tears in their eyes.
“Osomatsu you idjit, I hope you realized that yer loved immensely and that you’re not a failure of an oldest brother despite what you think.”
“Oh gosh,” some tears are dangerously close to leaking from Osomatsu’s eyes now, “I mentioned that shit too?”
“Yeah,” the two other men awkwardly mumble, hoping that they were helping him more than embarrassing him.
Osomatsu sniffles, catching their attention as he wipes at his eyes.
“I-I’m fine, don’t look at me like that!”
“Osomatsu,” they had both started before Chibita allows Iyami to take control of this conversation.
“Osomatsu, it’s okay to not feel alright sometimes. Crying doesn’t make you weak, a failure, a coward, or a bad older brother. Despite all of you ruining moi’s life sometimes, you crying shows that you truly love them.”
Osomatsu is quick to hide his face, burying it in the faux Frenchman’s fancy purple jacket as he cries in the early morning sun, which has just started to come up, bathing all of them in it’s warm glow. Gripping onto the man’s jacket, his breath hitches as he feels two tiny arms hesitantly wrap themselves around his torso, and his cries get louder as Iyami’s two large, bony arms wrap themselves around the two of them, encasing all of them in a giant group hug that they desperately needed.
By the time they’ve all shed their tears, thoroughly embarrassed, Osomatsiu stands up to leave before realizing he hasn’t paid yet. He could just leave, like the old days and have an unchanging constant to ground him, but he turns around to Chibita with his wallet in his hand.
“Here Chibita,” he says, enough money for the meal and the beer plus a hefty tip is offered to the oden-cart owner who accepts it after a fair amount of bickering and insistence.
“And you Iyami,” Osomatsu offers his whole wallet?!
“SHEEH?! Me cannot take this, zansu.”
“Iyamiiiiiiiiiiii,” Osomatsu whined, before realizing that the man would not accept the wallet no matter what, so he does what all his time with Jyushimatsu had prepared him for.
Osomatsu winds up his arm, looking at the small area Iyami had claimed for himself under the bridge, before throwing his wallet there.
“EH?!”
The wallet lands a few feet short of the cardboard, luckily not falling into the water.
“Osomatsu,” Iyami warns before he’s cut off with another hug from the younger boy.
Osomatsu pulls Chibita into the group hug as well before extracting himself.
“Thanks guys,” Osomatsu says as he flashes a genuine smile towards them, feeling a tad bit hungover, but ultimately more refreshed as he rubs the underside of his nose, “how about we meet for drinks next week? We can make this a weekly thing for the three of us.”
“I’d like that ya idjit,” Chibita says with a smile, a warm feeling growing in his chest.
“Moi would like that too,” Iyami adds on, his overbite not diminishing the sincerity of his smile.
The three of them chuckle awkwardly as they felt, just a bit like they were family.
Osomatsu walks home, a pleasant smile on his face before looking at the sun in the sky.
Today was going to be a great day.