Chapter Text
Jyushimatsu has never taken care of a child before. The only younger sibling he had was Todomatsu, and even then his youngest brother was the same age as him. It was different; looking out for a younger brother to make sure they didn't get hurt wasn't the same as taking care of a younger brother to make sure they grew up to be big and strong, as well as a good person.
He helped his small older brother out of his now over sized clothing, bundling it up to the side before wiping Karamatsu's face with the end of his sleeves.
Karamatsu was still sniffling, still overly confused as to what was happening around him. One moment he was an adult who (mostly) had his life together, and now he was a small child wondering where he was and why his younger brother was not younger than him anymore. His memories were a bit muddled and it was difficult trying to remember what his life was before all this, because the memories of his grown up life almost seemed like a really vague dream that he doesn't quite remember but is certain that they happened.
In short, his mind was a mess, his memories even messier, and he was hungry and he was tired and now he wasn't even wearing any clothes. He sneezed, and sniffled, feeling tears well up at his eyes again. The only reason he was able to hold them back this time is because Jyushimatsu was still there with him, hands over his shoulders as he listened to Professor Dekapan's explanation. He tried to listen too.
—ould wear of in maybe a week, or maybe two!" Professor Dekapan explained as he pulled shelves open and looked under various stacks of paper. "Making the antidote itself is pretty easy, the difficult part is that I just can't remember where I put my notes! I'm sure they're here somewhere," the professor said. He remembers making the de-growth formula as well as the re-growth antidote almost as if it were yesterday, and he very clearly remembers that he wrote down the process in one of his notebooks.
"Professor Dekapan," Jyushimatsu called, raising his hand in the air like a child waiting to be called in class. When the professor acknowledged him, he put his hand back down. "Do you have clothes that nii-san can borrow? His old ones are too big now and he might get a cold if he just stands here naked."
Karamatsu nodded in agreement, tugging Jyushimatsu's long sleeves over the front of his body to at least hide most of his private parts.
"Oh! Actually," the professor said, turning around to face them. "I have this invention, you see! It works like an ordinary washing machine but it shrinks clothes! How convenient, right?" He pointed over to the far corner of his lab and his ever trusty assistant and best friend Dayon pulled at the drapes to uncover the washing machine in question.
It looked like a frog's face for some reason, but that didn't bother Jyushimatsu in the least. He jumped up with an excited "WHOAAA!!!!!" and picked up his older brother's discarded clothes before skipping over to the frog washing machine to examine all it's different buttons and functions. He pressed a blue button and the frog's mouth opened, so he dumped the clothes in there. He closed the lid, then pressed the red button and soon enough the machine was whirring into life, vibrating almost violently as it washed and shrunk the clothes inside.
"Wahoo!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed as he climbed on top of the machine, his body vibrating along with it. "It's like a roller coaster!"
For some reason, Dayon climbed on top of the machine with him. Jyushimatsu's exited exclamations were joined with Dayon's enthusiastic cheering.
Feeling vulnerable now that his brother was not at his side, Karamatsu felt like crying again. His lip wobbled as he came closer to crying, his vision blurring as tears began to swim at his eyes again. But he picked up a book from the floor to cover his indecency.
Professor Dekapan was aware of the small child's distress. In order to quell his tears, he crouched down and put on the most responsible scientist voice he could muster. "Karamatsu-kun," he called the boy's attention and smiled kindly as the blue one looked at him with his big, innocent doe eyes. "Are you alright? Do you remember who I am?"
Karamatsu looked down in thought, searching through his memories for the answer. He nodded slowly but uncertainly.
"I'm Professor Dekapan," the professor explained. "I've known you and your brothers since you were small children."
The statement confused Karamatsu, seeing as he was technically a small child and he barely remembered the man in front of him.
"Don't you worry," the professor told him, tentatively patting the blue one on the head and let out a small sigh of relief when the boy let him. "We'll get you back to normal in no time. Just leave it to me!" And then the professor laughed in that odd but familiar way of his, going back to the task of finding his notes.
Karamatsu stood there for a while, not really sure what he should do next. He wanted to sit down, or maybe take a nap, but first he wanted his clothes back. He didn't want to stay naked for any longer, even if no one seemed to mind his nudity at the moment. He turned his attention to his brother, who was still excitedly waving his arms as the machine continued to violently vibrate. "J-jyushimachuu," he called. He was so confused and he wanted to cry again. So he did. "Jyushimachuuuuu....!!!" he wailed, one hand still firmly holding the book to hide his privates, the other going up to wipe away his tears. "Jyushimachuuuuu!!!!"
Jyushimatsu's cowlick went rigid and straight as he heard his brother's cries. Oops, he left him alone! Jyushimatsu jumped off the washing machine, leaving Dayon to ride it alone as if it were a mad bull, an bounded over to his brother in a few couple of seconds. He scooped his brother up into his arms, squishing their cheeks together as he walked back to the washing machine. "Do you wanna ride it?" He asked. "It's really fun!"
Karamatsu wiped his tear stained face against Jyushimatsu's long sleeves then nodded.
"Okaaay!!!" Jyushimatsu cheered, climbing back on with Karamatsu still in his arms. "We're going to..... Mars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Jyushimatsu, Karamatsu, and Dayon excitedly went to mars together as Professor Dekapan tried to look for that confounded notebook. The sound of laughter filled the lab, everyone unanimously deciding to stay optimistic about the whole situation.
"Where's Jyushimatsu?" Ichimatsu asked, holding a baseball bat in one hand and a roll of rope in the other. It was about time that they did The Thing and yet his brother was nowhere to be found. It's not like they did The Thing everyday, but Jyushimatsu usually gave him a heads up before making other plans.
"He said he was gonna go to Professor Dekapan's place," Choromatsu answered pretty quickly, browsing through his magazine without really reading anything. While he did love his brother, it was nice and peaceful when he wasn't around. "I think he brought Karamatsu with him."
"Ehhh...." Ichimatsu replied with a frown, tossing his things to the side.
"Aww, do you miss your little brother?" Osomatsu teased, grinning at the fourth brother with a playful glint in his eyes. Osomatsu seemed to be the only brother who did not fear Ichimatsu's wrath, or maybe he was just too stupid to realize that teasing his brother could potentially mean death. "It's okay, Ichimatsu. I miss my little brothers too! Two of them aren't here! It sucks, you know? They didn't even invite meeeee," he whined as he rolled on the couch.
"Do you think they went to play pachinko?" Todomatsu asked without looking up from his phone.
Choromatsu clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I just said they went to Professor Dekapan's lab!"
"They can't have stayed there this whole time," Todomatsu replied with a roll of his eyes. He very maturely stuck his tongue out at Choromatsu.
Ichimatsu wandered to the window of the room where the warm sunlight was pouring in. Well, he didn't mind if they didn't do The Thing today. A cat brushed against his leg for a few moments before spreading itself out on the patch of sunlight on the floor. The fourth brother followed suit, curling up with the cat for a short nap.
"Ah, look at that," Osomatsu said mostly to himself. "He can be really cute sometimes."
"I'm hommmmuscle!" came Jyushimatsu's familiar greeting, accompanied by the front door slamming against the wall. The impact was strong enough that it almost felt like the whole house rattled, but no one really cared since this was a usual thing.
"Uuugh," Choromatsu whined, planting his face into his magazine. The silence was nice while it lasted.
The door to the room opened, revealing their yellow brother.
"Welcome home, Jyushimatsu nii-san," Todomatsu greeted, again not bothering to look up from his phone as he typed away.
"Ous! Ous!" Jyushimatsu cheered, a sleeping and thankfully clothed Karamatsu bundled up in his arms.
A chorus of "welcome back" spread across the room, no one really realizing that Jyushimatsu had a child in his arms.
Jyushimatsu padded towards their most responsible brother then sat next to Choromatsu as he carefully adjusted Karamatsu in his arms. His older brother cried a whole lot since turning into a child, and Jyushimatsu supposed that the whole transformation must have really tired him out. "Nii-san," Jyushimatsu called in a relatively quieter voice. He poked Choromatsu's arm when his brother didn't respond right away. "Nii-sannnnn."
"Whaaat," Choromatsu replied grumpily, his face still very much pressed against the pages of his magazine.
"How do you take care of a kid?" Jyushimatsu asked.
Choromatsu paused, confused with the question. While Jyushimatsu was an enigma within himself, it was still a pretty odd question coming from him. Finally, he pulled his magazine away from his face to look at his younger brother. "Why do you a—WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!?!?????" He screeched, jumping up like a spooked cat. Ichimatsu, from behind him, did the same at the sudden high pitched scream.
Everyone looked at Jyushimatsu then, and the sleeping child in his arms.
Jyushimatsu adjusted his brother in his arms again, rocking him slightly. "It's Karamatsu nii-san!"