Work Text:
Karamatsu saw the storm coming, but he refused to evacuate his home. His parents were currently in the city visiting relatives, and he’d been tasked with looking after the house. He didn’t have much of any plan for how to make sure he made it through the storm in one piece, but he didn’t let this bother him. Whether he was being blindly optimistic or outright foolish was unclear, though he stayed put regardless.
After peering out the window and seeing a speck of a tornado on the horizon, he decided to shut the blinds and sit back in his comfiest chair with his guitar in his lap. Whatever horrible weather was on the way, he figured it was nothing that he couldn’t wait out with a few songs. He began to strum a tune his dad regularly played a record of on the phonograph, having learned the song by ear. A low hum resonated in his throat while he plucked the strings of his guitar and tapped his foot in time with the music.
He resolved to sing in order to keep up his morale, but this proved difficult as the rumbling of the tornado drew closer to where he was. At one point, he noticed that he could no longer hear his own voice over the winds whipping around outside. He was sure that the whirling cyclone was just outside his abode, fast approaching the house he hoped would hold strong. He tried to sing louder, but he could not outperform the rabid gusts assailing the exterior of the house.
Suddenly, Karamatsu felt a fierce shaking, as though there were an earthquake. He could hear the floorboards creaking and the windows cracking on the opposite side of the shutters. He inhaled sharply, his heart thundering in his chest as he was confronted with the full might of the storm outside. He wanted to look outside and see what was going on, but he felt certain that the windows would shatter in his face if he dared to open the shutters. Instead, he set down his guitar and clutched the arms of his chair, doing his best to hold his ground through the onslaught.
The tornado continued to batter the house for what felt like an eternity, subjecting the humble abode to the mighty forces of nature. Karamatsu watched his guitar slide across the floor and bump against the wall, then felt a sense of dizziness settle in. He was still sitting in his chair, and yet he felt as though he were being spun around. He wouldn’t understand the implications of this right away, instead telling himself that the thunderous noise of the storm was what was making him feel unwell.
Karamatsu had no idea how much time was passing, as the only clock in the room had long since fallen off of the wall and clattered onto the ground after the tornado began to bombard the house. All he could do was wait until the storm passed by, then assess the damage and see what he could do before his parents returned. He wasn’t looking forward to any repairs that would need to be done; he wasn’t much for hard work.
While Karamatsu was dreading the labor he’d be expected to put in to get the house back into shape, he noticed that the winds had died down. In his rumination, he hadn’t noticed the storm subside. By the time he snapped back to reality, he couldn’t hear even a trace of the tornado that had wracked his home. He realized that it had likely gone on to claim its next victim and was relieved that the incident was over.
“What a racket; it’s a good thing that Mommy and Daddy aren’t home, or that storm would have scared them half to death!” Karamatsu remarked to himself. He then decided that he ought to take a look at the damage that had been dealt to his house so that he could determine what needed to be done, prompting him to pace toward the front door and head outside. When he opened the door, though, he would be met with a surprise unlike any other.
Karamatsu was expecting to see the rural plains he knew, having no reason to anticipate anything else. However, when he looked beyond his front porch, he would be astonished to see that his house was currently situated in the middle of a lush field of blue grass. Long gone was the dirt prairie Karamatsu had grown up on; Karamatsu had no idea where he was, but he knew he had to be somewhere far from home.
Incredulous, Karamatsu rushed out of the house to take a better look at his surroundings. He glanced at the exterior of the house and could see as clear as day that it had been ripped out of its foundations. It was then that Karamatsu thought that perhaps the tornado had picked up his house altogether, carrying it to the strange land he was now in. He didn’t know how such a thing was possible, but he didn’t have a better explanation.
“What on earth- just where did that tornado carry me?” Karamatsu looked out across the blue field. When he squinted, he could spot a speck of yellow on the horizon in addition to what appeared to be a few small houses. After a moment of consideration, he decided that he ought to explore and make an effort to find someone who could at least tell him where he was. He didn’t want to leave behind the house he’d arrived in, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to find a way home if he stayed where he was.
He ducked into the house and grabbed his guitar, strapping it to his back before heading out again. Keeping his eyes fixed on the yellow speck in the distance, he set out toward it. As he walked through the field, he looked down at the vibrant blue grass and thought it looked peculiar. He’d never been in places with much vegetation, but he felt certain that grass was typically supposed to be some shade of green.
After walking for a full hour, the yellow speck he’d seen came further into view and he was able to make out that it was much more than a speck. In fact, it was an entire road paved with yellow bricks that stretched as far as his eyes could perceive. His boots clicked against the golden stones as he transitioned from the grass to the road.
“Well, if there’s a road, then that’s a sign of civilization. If I want to find people, then all I have to do is follow this road and see where it leads, right?” Karamatsu muttered to himself, trying to reason his way through the strange situation he’d found himself in. He figured that his logic was sound, and that his first objective ought to be to find someone to tell him where he was and how he could get back to where he was from. With a clear resolve, he traveled down the road in the hopes that he would encounter someone helpful.
He kept walking for what felt like the better portion of the day, keeping an eye out for anything worth noticing. As the afternoon grew late, he finally saw what he believed to be a person a little further down the road. His eyes lit up at the sign of other life, prompting him to break into a jog so that he could close the distance between him and the stranger.
“Hey! You!” Karamatsu called out, waving his arms frantically as he sprinted up to the person he’d seen. As he got close, he would be able to better see the scene before him and would consequently be met with his next surprise. “Hey! Excuse me! You there!”
Karamatsu drew closer, at which point he noticed that the person he’d seen was rather strange in appearance. They were in the shape of a person, looking to be about as tall as he was and with a similar build. They were wearing a faded red shirt with long sleeves tied with a rope belt around the waist and blue trousers paired with brown ankle boots. At the end of the sleeves were white gloves. Their shape and attire weren’t what was strange, though. What caught Karamatsu off guard was the appearance of their skin; when looking at the face of the person, Karamatsu could see that it was wrinkled and seemed coarse, as though made of burlap. The person’s face also lacked any defined features- they possessed eyes, a nose, and a mouth, but they seemed completely flat, as if painted on. Not only that, but there was straw sticking out of the spaces where their shirt sleeves met their gloves as well as where the legs of their trousers met their boots. They were an odd approximation of a man; clearly not a person of flesh and bone, but rather some sort of constructed entity.
The curious person was crouched down on the side of the road, digging through a pile of something that Karamatsu couldn’t discern the contents of. He saw flashes of green, blue, and black, but was unable to make out what exactly the person was rummaging through. He paid it little mind for the time being, as he was mostly focused on the person he’d finally encountered.
“Excuse me, sir! Sir, can I bother you for a minute?” Karamatsu called out, returning to a walking pace once he was close enough. As he tried to get the attention of the strange person, though, he received no response. “Can you hear me? Sir?”
Still, the person didn’t respond. Karamatsu furrowed his brow and was about to keep trying to talk to them, but wouldn’t get the chance to before a voice spoke up from seemingly nowhere.
“He’s talking to you, Osomatsu.”
Upon hearing this, the strange person perked up and looked toward Karamatsu.
“You were talking to me?” The person, presumably called Osomatsu according to the voice, cocked his head to the side and looked Karamatsu up and down.
“I’ve been calling out to you for a while now. Didn’t you hear me crooning to the wind?” Karamatsu took a moment to catch his breath, wiping a bead of sweat off of his brow.
“I heard you, but I didn’t know you were talking to me specifically.” Osomatsu told him. “You were calling out to a ‘you’ and a ‘sir’, but those aren’t my name. If you wanted my attention, you should’ve said my name.”
“I don’t know your name.” Karamatsu pointed out.
“You don’t? And here I was, thinking I was the only one who doesn’t know stuff!” Osomatsu laughed, setting down a green chunk of something that he’d been fiddling with. “Well, I’m Osomatsu. You got a name, stranger?”
“My name is Karamatsu.” Karamatsu returned the introduction. “So, Osomatsu, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“You can try, I guess.” Osomatsu said. “Can’t say I’ll have an answer, though.”
“Where am I, exactly?” Karamatsu asked. “I think I’ve ended up a long way from home, but I don’t have a clue where this place is.”
“Oh, even I can answer that. Can’t you see we’re in Munchkin Country?” Osomatsu nodded toward the blue fields. “You did see the grass, didn’t you?”
“Munchkin Country? And… where is that?” Karamatsu furrowed his brow. “What part of Japan is that?”
“Japan? No, I don’t have any pans. They’re all at home, in the kitchen. What’s that got to do with us being in Munchkin Country?” Osomatsu asked, perplexed.
“You don’t know where Japan is?” Karamatsu was baffled to think that he could have ended up in a different country altogether.
“I already told you, the pans are at home, in the kitchen. Not that I go into the kitchen, since my straw would catch fire if I went near the stove. You’re not making much sense, you know.” Osomatsu shook his head. “If you’re not familiar with Munchkin Country, then what part of Oz are you from?”
“Oz? Is that the name of this country?” Karamatsu inquired.
“Last I checked, yeah.” Osomatsu nodded.
Before Karamatsu could respond, the same voice from earlier spoke again.
“Hey, stop chatting and put me back together, dammit.”
“Who said that?” Karamatsu glanced around.
“Hm? Oh, Choro’s just getting impatient.” Osomatsu looked down at the pile of blue, green, and black that he’d been knelt beside. “I was in the middle of getting him back together, but I might have to start over. I think I’ve lost track of which piece is which.”
“Getting him back together?” Karamatsu looked at the pile next to Osomatsu. Upon giving it a further inspection, he was astonished to see a single eye looking back at him. It was attached to a flesh-colored chunk nestled at the top of the pile, and it blinked at him. “What the- what is this?!”
“What, have you never seen a Fuddle before?” Osomatsu was taken aback by Karamatsu’s shock. “I guess most of them stay in Fuddlecumjig, so if you’ve never been there then you might not have ever seen them.”
“Is that- is that a person?” Karamatsu peered at the pile of colorful chunks in disbelief, noticing a mouth on a piece toward the bottom of the pile.
“I’ll be a person again when Osomatsu stops talking and starts putting me back together. We’ve been here all day.”
“I’m doing my best, geez. You try putting a person back together without a brain.” Osomatsu rolled his eyes and turned his attention back toward the pieces of the person. “I’m not made to do puzzles.”
“Which is why I keep telling you to get off your ass and go get some brains.”
“That’s too much effort. I don’t even know where I could get some brains. Maybe if I had some brains, then I’d know where to get some.” Osomatsu mused. He grabbed two pieces of the disassembled person and tried to fit them together, though found that they didn’t match. “This is too hard. How am I supposed to figure this out?”
“Do you want help?” Karamatsu offered, crouching down beside Osomatsu.
“Sure, if you’re offering. Do you have brains?” Osomatsu asked.
“I like to think that I do. Don’t you?” Karamatsu raised a brow.
“The farmer who made me didn’t give me any brains. Said I didn’t need them to scare off the crows.” Osomatsu explained.
“You’re… a scarecrow?” Karamatsu could figure as much from his appearance.
“Yup. I don’t do much scaring, though, except when we’re waiting for Jyushi to sprout.” Osomatsu told him. “Anyway, we better put Choro back together before he throws a fit. I’ve been trying at it all day, but I just don’t know which pieces match up.”
“What does he look like?” Karamatsu asked, picking up a piece of the disassembled man.
“He looks like me, but less handsome.” Osomatsu explained.
“Don’t be an ass.” The pieces on the ground grumbled. “You- you said your name was Karamatsu, right? I’m Choromatsu, and I’m counting on you to put me back together. Otherwise, we’ll be here for who knows how long.”
“Okay, well, what do you look like, Choromatsu?” Karamatsu inquired.
“I look like a person. I’ve got a green shirt, blue pants, and black hair. Honestly, I’m one of the easier Fuddles to put together. Osomatsu just has a hard time with it because he has a hard time doing any thinking.” Choromatsu sighed.
“All right, I’ll do my best.” Karamatsu cracked his knuckles, then began sorting through the pieces of Choromatsu. He decided to start by sorting them by color, thinking that would help him put things together more easily. With this method, he gathered all of the green pieces and formed Choromatsu’s torso. Then, he took all of the blue pieces and assembled his legs. With a bit of trial and error, Karamatsu was able to steadily put Choromatsu back together. “What made you fall apart, anyway?”
“It’s just what people like me do. We fall apart, and then people put us back together. Usually, though, it’s not just me and Osomatsu. I can typically rely on my other friends to put me back together, but they’re back at home.” Choromatsu explained.
“I see. Well, I think I’ve almost got you back together.” Karamatsu picked up the head that he’d pieced together and attached it to the shoulders of the person he’d formed. When the last piece was in place, he stepped back and looked at his handiwork, seeing an ordinary-looking man in front of him. “There we go. Does everything feel like it’s in the right place?”
“Surprisingly, yes.” Choromatsu tapped his joints and stretched. “Thanks for the help.”
“I couldn’t possibly leave you to suffer such a cruel fate as being forever in pieces. My heart wouldn’t be able to take that! So of course I helped you.” Karamatsu puffed out his chest, proud of his service. “Since I helped you, though, do you think you could help me out?”
“I guess that’d be fair.” Choromatsu nodded. “Let me guess- you’re trying to get back where you came from, right?”
“That’s right! A tornado hit my house and somehow, it carried me all the way to this weird place- Oz is what you called it, isn’t it?” Karamatsu said.
“Yeah, this is Oz. Where did you say you were from?” Choromatsu asked.
“Japan.” Karamatsu told him.
“I’ve never heard of it. Is that on the other side of the desert?” Choromatsu furrowed his brow.
“I don’t know of any deserts in the part of Japan I’m from.” Karamatsu shook his head.
“You had to have crossed the desert. That’s the only way to get to Oz from other countries. Even I know that much.” Osomatsu chimed in.
“Since we’re in Munchkin Country, you probably crossed the desert from the east. So it stands to reason that if we send you back across the eastern Deadly Desert, then you’ll end up back in Japan, wherever that is.” Choromatsu reasoned. “The only problem is getting you across the desert in the first place. Anything that touches the sands of the desert turns to dust. You must have avoided that because your house flew over the sand and didn’t touch it, I’m guessing.”
“A desert that’ll turn me to dust? There’s got to be some way to get across it, right?” Karamatsu frowned at the thought of disintegrating.
“I don’t know. You made it across once, so you should be able to do it again, maybe.” Osomatsu shrugged.
“How to get across the desert…” Choromatsu thought for a moment, then looked at Osomatsu. “Wait, Jyushimatsu has crossed the desert, hasn’t he?”
“Has he?” Osomatsu cocked his head to the side.
“He had to have. He’s from the Vegetable Kingdom, and that’s across the desert.” Choromatsu pointed out. “So we should be asking Jyushimatsu about this.”
“Jyushi stayed home, though.” Osomatsu pointed out.
“Then we’ll just go home, obviously.” Choromatsu said. He then turned his attention toward Karamatsu. “If you come with us, we can talk to one of our other friends who’s been across the Deadly Desert.”
“Then I’ll go with you! Right now, you’re my best chance of figuring out some sort of plan.” Karamatsu firmed his resolve. “Lead the way- the adventure continues!”
Osomatsu and Choromatsu guided Karamatsu down the road of yellow bricks, making small talk with him along the way. They asked him questions about where he was from, while Karamatsu kept the conversation with questions of his own regarding the strange place he’d found himself in. Karamatsu wasn’t able to glean much from their answers other than that he’d ended up in a land called ‘Oz’ and that it was a fairy land of magic. The very thought of magic existing seemed too incredible to be true at first, but he had no choice but to believe that at least something strange was going on when encountering a living scarecrow and a person who could fall to literal pieces.
Just as the sun was dipping down below the horizon, the three of them arrived at a small cottage on the outskirts of a forest comprised of blue trees. It seemed as though the thematic color of the country was blue, and Choromatsu confirmed this to be true when Karamatsu asked about it.
“Is all of Oz blue?” Karamatsu asked. “If it is, I might actually like it here. Blue happens to be my favorite color! It’s a cool and manly hue, don’t you think so?”
“I don’t know about that. Anyway, blue is the color of Munchkin Country, but not all of Oz. The other parts of Oz are associated with different colors. Quadling Country is red, Winkie Country is yellow, Gilikin Country is purple, and the Emerald City is green. You can usually tell where you are in Oz based on the colors of peoples’ clothes as well as the surrounding scenery.” Choromatsu explained. “All of that aside, we’ve made it back to our house, so come on in.”
Choromatsu unlocked the front door of the cottage and let them inside. The three shuffled into the cottage; although they’d just gotten home, the lights had already been on when they arrived. Karamatsu quickly discovered that this was because the other people who lived in the cottage were already home. When Karamatsu entered the living room, he saw three strange individuals occupying the area.
“Welcome home! Wait, there’s an extra one of you! What’s that about?” A cheerful young man bounded up to where Osomatsu, Karamatsu, and Choromatsu were. He was the most normal-looking out of the three new faces, with his only odd feature being that his yellow shirt seemed to seamlessly fade into his skin, as though his clothes were growing off of his body.
“We brought a guest.” Choromatsu said. “This is Karamatsu; he’s not from here, so we’re going to try and help him get back home. You guys should probably introduce yourselves first, though.”
“A foreigner! We don’t get a lot of those- the last foreigner I met was me, and I met myself a long, long time ago! Nice to meet you; I’m Jyushimatsu!” Jyushimatsu had an unwavering grin from ear to ear as he reached out to shake Karamatsu’s hand. When Karamatsu politely accepted and held out his hand, Jyushimatsu shook his hand with enough force to move his entire arm back and forth.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too. You’re definitely the first normal face I’ve seen here since I landed in this odd place. I was so captivated by the wonders of talking scarecrows and puzzle-men that I forgot how relieving it is to see a fellow human.” Karamatsu swayed as Jyushimatsu shook his whole arm, with his end of the handshake being much less powerful. When Jyushimatsu finally let go of him, his entire arm felt a bit sore.
“Human? No, Jyushi isn’t human.” Osomatsu shook his head. “Mangaboos sure look like humans, though, don’t they?”
“Mangaboo? What’s that?” Karamatsu raised a brow. “If he’s not a human, then what is he?”
“It’s like Osomatsu said; he’s a Mangaboo. A vegetable person, from the Vegetable Kingdom. He may look like you, but he’s not made of meat like humans are.” One of the individuals who had yet to introduce themselves spoke up, watching Karamatsu. They appeared to be a sentient paper doll, cut into the shape of a person and decorated with an outfit that seemed to be drawn on. “If you cut him open, you’d see that he looks like a turnip on the inside.”
“A person made out of turnips?! I wouldn’t believe something so outlandish if I hadn’t already had such a crazy day… I guess looks can be deceiving.” Karamatsu stared at Jyushimatsu, incredulous. He then looked at the paper person, looking them up and down. “My apologies if this comes across as rude, but what are you? Are you really made of paper?”
“That’s right. I’m a Cuttenclip, from the village of the same name. Even most Ozites don’t know about my people because we usually stay in our village. The outside world is pretty dangerous when you’re made of paper, after all.” The Cuttenclip explained. “Oh, I should probably introduce myself, sorry. I’m Todomatsu.”
“A person made out of paper… fascinating! That’s incredible!” Karamatsu nodded in approval, thinking that these strange folk were incredibly interesting. He then noticed something glimmering out of the corner of his eye and turned his attention toward the only person he was yet to be introduced to. “And you are?”
Sitting on the end of the couch that was closest to the fireplace was a person whose appearance seemed to be a combination of that of a human and a cat. They were person-shaped in proportion, though their arms and legs ended in paws and they possessed the ears and tail of a cat. This wasn’t even their most striking feature, though, as the light of the fire made their body almost seem to shine. Karamatsu realized that the light was reflecting off of the strange cat person as though they were made of glass.
“I’m Ichimatsu.” Ichimatsu said curtly; it was evident that Ichimatsu was the least social of the bunch and wasn’t much for conversation.
“Are you going to tell me about what sort of magnificent creature you are?” Karamatsu asked hopefully. “You might be the strangest person I’ve seen yet!”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Ichimatsu scowled. “If you have to know… then I’m a glass cat. That’s all there is to it.”
“He was originally a figurine, but a wizard turned him into a person! For some reason, though, he’s still made of glass and he still looks like a cat.” Jyushimatsu told Karamatsu.
“Don’t go talking about my past with strangers you just met.” Ichimatsu huffed.
“He’s not a stranger anymore, though! He’s Karamatsu.” Jyushimatsu said as though it were simple.
“Okay, it looks like everyone has been introduced. Now we can get to the reason why we brought Karamatsu here in the first place.” Choromatsu sat down on a free space on the couch, getting comfortable before he kept speaking. “Like I said, Karamatsu isn’t from here and he needs some help getting home. The problem is that he’s not even from Oz, and if he wants to get home then he’ll need to cross the Deadly Desert.”
“As if we could help him with something like that. Nobody could cross the Deadly Desert.” Ichimatsu shook his head. “He’s better off just finding a place to live in Oz.”
“That’s not true, though! I’ve been across the Deadly Desert!” Jyushimatsu declared.
“I know you have, and that’s why we brought him here. We thought you might know how to get him across it since you’ve made the trip before.” Choromatsu said. “How did you manage to get through the desert without getting turned to dust by the sands?”
“Hm… it’s been so long since then. Let’s see… oh, I remember! The Good Witch brought me here! She was visiting the Vegetable Kingdom for the first time and was so amazed by the Mangaboos that she wanted to bring one back to Oz with her.” Jyushimatsu informed them.
“How did the Good Witch get you across the desert? I guess her magic might make it easier, but what exactly did she do?” Todomatsu asked.
“No clue! At the time, I was busy regrowing. I wasn’t awake for it; they pruned my part of the bush everyone grows from off and let her take it home in a big flower pot. I didn’t finish growing and wake back up until I was already in Oz, so I don’t know how she got me across the desert.” Jyushimatsu explained.
“I still can’t believe you passed up an opportunity to live with the Good Witch. How could you get bored in her palace of all places?” Choromatsu sighed. “I’d give anything to be in her court.”
“Who’s the Good Witch?” Karamatsu asked.
“Nyaa-chan The Good Witch is one of the select few people who are legally allowed to practice magic in the land of Oz, since she only uses her magic for good. She’s also the most powerful magic user in all of Oz, and the prettiest, too! She’s smart and talented and kind, and everyone loves her almost as much as they love Princess Totoko- if you ask me, though, Nyaa-chan The Good Witch is even better than Princess Totoko!” Choromatsu started on a long tangent, gushing about Nyaa-chan.
“That’s great and all, but you loving Nyaa-chan won’t help Karamatsu get home. If only Jyushimatsu had been awake when he was being brought to Oz. Maybe then we would know how he got across the desert, and maybe then we could manage to get Karamatsu across the desert.” Todomatsu sighed.
“Why don’t we just go see Nyaa-chan and ask her how she did it, then? It’s not like she’d be upset to see Jyushimatsu. If we go with him to see her, then she’ll definitely let us in, right?” Osomatsu pointed out.
“That’s actually a good idea.” Todomatsu mused.
“A good idea? From the guy with no brains?” Ichimatsu scoffed.
“I didn’t need any brains to know that it just makes sense to ask the person with all the answers. The Good Witch has all the answers, so we just have to go to her and get them. Easy enough, yeah?” Osomatsu reasoned.
“We’re going to see Nyaa-chan?!” Choromatsu gasped softly, his eyes lighting up. “You know what, that’s a great idea! Of course she would know what to do. I can’t believe I didn’t think to go visit her myself.”
“You can barely say hi to her without falling apart on the spot.” Todomatsu snickered.
“I can’t help it! It’s not my fault that she’s so amazing and awe-inspiring and-” Choromatsu started.
“Cool it before we have to put you back together again.” Ichimatsu warned.
“Ooh, I love to put Choromatsu back together!” Jyushimatsu clapped his hands together. “Come on, keep thinking about how nervous Nyaa-chan makes you!”
“Do you all really think that the Good Witch will be able to help me get home? You all seem to think very highly of her. If she’s even half as smart and beautiful as you’ve said, then… then she really will help me find my way home, right?” Karamatsu asked hopefully.
“Of course she will. She’s the Good Witch. ‘Good’ is in her title, and it would be good if she helped you get home, right? So I bet she’ll help you.” Osomatsu insisted.
“All right, then let’s go see her! Where does this fair maiden live? How soon can we get to her?” Karamatsu inquired.
“She lives in Quadling Country, in the southern part of it. It should take a couple days if we don’t make any detours.” Choromatsu informed him. “All of us can set out first thing in the morning. We wouldn’t want to keep her waiting!”
“She’s not waiting for us; she doesn’t know we’re coming to see her.” Todomatsu pointed out.
“Hey, wait a second. What do you mean ‘all of us’. Are you saying that you’re dragging me along?” Ichimatsu raised a brow.
“It’s time for an adventure! We’re going on an adventure!” Jyushimatsu beamed with excitement. “Of course we all have to go, right? When was the last time we took a trip together?”
“I didn’t agree to tag along to help some stranger.” Ichimatsu shook his head.
“Aw, come on, Ichi. You know you wanna come with us. Did you forget that Nyaa-chan keeps dozens of other cats at her palace?” Osomatsu reminded him. “You do want to see the cats, right?”
Ichimatsu paused for a long moment, then sighed.
“...fine, I’ll come with you guys.” Ichimatsu conceded.
“It’s settled, then. We’ll all depart at daybreak!” Karamatsu declared.
“I’m not getting up that early.” Todomatsu shook his head.
“We’ll all depart at noonbreak!” Karamatsu amended his statement.
“Pretty sure that’s not a word, but that sounds better than waking up early.” Todomatsu nodded in approval.
“Thank you all for agreeing to help me. I’d be as lost as a hummingbird at the bottom of the ocean if it weren’t for you being willing to go out on a limb and support a handsome stranger like me! I’m usually more of the lone wolf type on this wild road we call life, but even I can see that sometimes an alpha wolf must rely on the pack.” Karamatsu sat down beside the fireplace, feeling invigorated by the warmth radiating onto him.
“I honestly just don’t have anything better to do.” Osomatsu said bluntly.
“I’m always up for an adventure.” Jyushimatsu grinned.
“It’s just the right thing to do.” Choromatsu shrugged, acting nonchalant.
“You just want to go see the Good Witch.” Todomatsu smirked.
“That’s not it! I agreed to help him before we decided we were doing that, you know!” Choromatsu quickly corrected him.
“Seeing your idol is just a bonus for you.” Osomatsu remarked.
“Exactly- er- that’s beside the point, anyway!” Choromatsu’s cheeks flushed as he was called out and hastily tried to change the subject. “A-anyway, how are you liking Oz so far, Karamatsu? You’re going to see a lot of it on our trip to see the Good Witch.”
“It’s a beautiful country, I will admit. I almost don’t think I mind that I’m stuck here for a bit. The lush fields and cozy cottages are much different from where I’m from, and part of me can’t help but notice the charms of this place.” Karamatsu gave his honest assessment. “I’m fascinated by meeting people as strange as you five. I feel as though we already share a bond that transcends time, space, and species! Perhaps we’ve been kindred spirits all along and it was fate that I’d come to meet you all!”
“We met like fifteen minutes ago.” Ichimatsu muttered.
“And in those fifteen minutes we decided that we’re embarking on an epic quest together! It was meant to be! It was destiny!” Karamatsu insisted excitedly.
“Let’s worry about epic questing later. We’re not leaving until tomorrow anyway, so why don’t we sit back and get to know this weirdo we found?” Osomatsu suggested.
“You guys can do that, but I’m going to make something to eat first. Unlike the rest of you, I need to eat.” Choromatsu stood up, then looked at Karamatsu. “You’re a human, so you need to eat, right?”
“That’s right! I was hoping you would offer me a meal, if I can be honest. I haven’t eaten for almost a full day.” Karamatsu admitted.
“I’ll make something for both of us, then. I’m not the best cook, but I can at least put together something decent.” Choromatsu told him.
“Send my sincerest thanks to the chef- in this case, you!” Karamatsu gave a thumbs up, trusting Choromatsu to provide something edible.
Karamatsu settled into the cottage with the five strange people he’d met since arriving in Oz. It was a lot to take in to be certain, and yet he wasn’t nearly as stressed as one ought to be when finding themselves inexplicably far from home. Karamatsu trusted that he was in good company, and felt certain that he’d be able to find his way back to Japan eventually. In the meantime, it seemed as though he’d opened an interesting chapter in his life that he had no choice but to see it through the end. Despite being thrust into something bizarre and unfamiliar, Karamatsu was as optimistic as ever as to the outcome of things.
He felt a certain kinship with his newfound friends, getting along with the group and slotting into the dynamic almost perfectly. He was thrilled that he would be traveling with them and hoped he would become much better acquainted with them through their journey to see Nyaa-chan The Good Witch. He was so excited to spend more time with the assortment of fairy folk that he could almost briefly start to forget that their reason for questing was to get him back home in the first place.
Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad if he were to stay in Oz for a while.