Work Text:
“Today!” he said, turning away from the mirror, finally deciding on an outfit.
The rest of the room groaned.
“You say that every day, Totty! Jeez, give it a rest!”
“Osomatsu-niisan is right, for once. It’s a good plan, but you’ve been working practically non-stop!”
Todomatsu rolled his eyes, “Well, one of us has to work to afford this place!”
Todomatsu worked at a cafe downtown called Sutabaa. On weekday mornings. Then another one at the edge of the district every other weekend and on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. And one in the mall on his off weekends. True, he had little free time, but he had two good motivators.
One: he and his three older brothers, Osomatsu, Choromatsu, and Jyushimatsu, all lived together, and with the rest only having minimum wage part-time jobs, it was ultimately his supporting everyone. With how much he made, they could live comfortably, albeit not extravagantly. He didn’t mind working so much, because of his other motivator.
Two: He was the only one of the four who hadn’t yet found his soulmate. Working these jobs, he was able to meet, and casually touch, hundreds of people. All he had to do was hand them their orders in a way that would ensure their hands would touch.
Osomatsu and Choromatsu had been lucky and unlucky at the same time. They’d known from the moment they were born that they were soulmates. As the oldest of the quadruplets, they’d been placed next to each other after birth, and everyone saw the literal Sparks when they first touched outside of the womb.
Being brothers and soulmates was rare, but not unheard of. Some people disapproved, but it’s not like that would change anything. So, they were lucky that they never had to search, but unlucky that they were too young at the time, just born, to even remember the feeling of that Spark.
The first one is said to be the most special, memorable, important. And they never spent enough time apart to experience any others.
Then, there was Jyushimatsu, who met his when he was bug hunting in the park. He found a boy, stuck in a tree like a cat. When he rolled up his sleeves and helped him down, Sparks flew. They were about 17, surprisingly the same age, down to the day. The boy’s name was Ichimatsu, and since he wasn’t good around people, the two usually spent time at his apartment, shared with his twin, who only Jyushimatsu had met. According to Ichimatsu, they were lucky not to meet him, which made Jyushimatsu laugh, though he never agreed or disagreed.
Anyway, for the past three years, Totty worked and worked, every day telling himself, ‘Today! Today will be the day I meet them! Today, I’ll finally feel my first Spark!’
And every day, for three years, he’d come home in bad mood, having not found them.
Totty looked back in the mirror, nodded, and headed for the door. “If I happen to meet someone, that’s just fate!”
As he put on his shoes, he heard Jyushimatsu call out, “Sounds like something Ichimatsu’s Nii-san would say!”
He ignored him and left.
His walk to Sutabaa was uneventful. His coworkers had everything prepped and cleaned for the day, so all he had to do was flip the sign to ‘open’ and wait.
All the regulars filed in. He didn’t bother touching the ones he recognized, he’d already tried them. Several new people came in as well, and he put on his cutest face to greet them. He discreetly let his fingers brush against each of their hands as he gave them their orders, excitement bubbling, then fizzing out with each failure.
He had just gotten done with a short break, coming back to the counter, when the door opened and he watched in horror as demons entered.
His brothers promised not to bother him at work!
“Hey, Totty! We wanted you to meet-”
“Nii-san! W-what are you doing here~?” He said with fake sweetness.
“...As I was saying, we-”
He really didn’t care. He wanted them gone.
“Here.” He interrupted again, slamming down a menu in front of them, glancing around to make sure his coworkers weren’t nearby. “I’ll take your order. Hurry up and order, drink, and get out of here.”
His brothers looked annoyed, except for Jyushimatsu, who was just smiling and holding Ichimatsu’s (he came with too? Great...) hand.
“Let’s see,” Jyushimatsu said, stepping up to the menu, “do you have beef bowls-”
“No!”
“I want takoyaki,” Osomatsu raised his hand.
Smirking, Choromatsu joined, “A frankfurter.”
Even Ichimatsu was doing it, “Soft serve.”
Another voice spoke, “I’d like a tall latte, make it a doppio on the espre-”
Reacting on instinct, Todomatsu chucked the menu at this new voice.
As soon as he did, he realized it wasn’t one of his brothers speaking.
“Oh, my God! I’m so sorry!”
“Wow, Totty. What a way to greet Ichimatsu’s big brother. Karamatsu was really looking forward to meeting you, too!” Osomatsu scolded.
Todomatsu ran around the counter to who was presumably Karamatsu.
“Here, let me help you!” He held out a hand, and Karamatsu took it, already half standing.
As they touched, a burst of Sparks began to fly from their joined hands.
The entire cafe went silent, and to Todomatsu, it seemed like the whole world stood still. They made eye contact, both open-mouthed and stunned.
The feeling of the Sparks didn’t fade, it felt as though everything was exactly as it was meant to be in that moment. Here, with Karamatsu, touching him. He wanted to be here forever.
He realized there were voices, his brothers, somewhere, but all he ever wanted to focus on was this man in front of him.
Suddenly, Karamatsu dropped to one knee. “Hello, finally, my darling,” he said, pressing a kiss to his hand. For just a moment, he was enchanted, until he heard snickers from the peanut gallery.
He cast a glare over his shoulder, then turned back, urging the other to stand.
“Y-you too, um. I get off work in two hours, if you’d like to hang out?”
Karamatsu smirked and flicked his fringe. “I’d wait for you forever, dearest.”