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Everything was fine up to a moment ago, well, at least it seemed like it was. The last thing Todomatsu remembered was going to bed with the rest of his brothers; it was after an argument they had when Osomatsu went to give Choromatsu a sign after catching him masturbating. A lot happened in that evening for sure.
Then the next thing he knew, he woke slumped over a table in Sutabaa. How embarrassing. He didn’t even remember how he got there but there he was. He looked down to examine himself, he had a backpack with him somehow and he was wearing his usual pink hoodie. Except it wasn’t the same pink hoodie he remembered.
It was still the same pink shade he was used to, but the Matsuno pine symbol was a white rabbit instead. It was very different. Todomatsu rubbed his eyes and took a tissue to wipe his face from any signs of sleepiness. Once he was done he moved to check his backpack with a yawn.
Inside were his cell phone, a couple sets of clothes, and a few other essentials; as well as a wallet full of money and a brochure to what seemed like a Net Cafe. He noticed that it was one of those Net Cafe’s people could live in. He wondered if he was supposed to be staying there.
“Totty, did you sleep well?” A voice asked with a laugh.
Todomatsu looked up to see Sacchi walking over to clean his table. His face flushed for being caught in such a state but he brushed it off and laughed along. He was surprised though, because with the way she was acting with him seemed like the incident with his brothers never happened.
“I guess I did.” He replied, shifting his things off the table for Sacchi to clean.
“I was really surprised when you walked in with such a huge bag with you.” Sacchi said as she cleaned off the table, “I was even more surprised when you told me you were going to try living on your own too.”
“Living on my own?”
“Yeah.” Sacchi gave him a gentle smile, “You seemed to be quite stressed with how your home life was being, but I didn’t think it would end up like that. Then again, I guess that’s how life goes sometimes.”
“A-Ah yeah. Sometimes you just gotta try and expand your horizons.” Todomatsu chuckled nervously. What in the world happened that he wanted to run off?
“Do you need anything else?” Sacchi asked, “You only ordered a drink when you came in.”
“Huh? Oh uh, m-maybe another drink would do.” Todomatsu smiled, “I’ll go to the counter and order.”
“Alright then.” Sacchi finished up before she returned to her place by the counter. Leaving Todomatsu to his thoughts.
It was a rather strange encounter, but he decided not to think too much about it. Opting instead, to check his cell phone. He pulled it out of his backpack and turned it on; wondering slightly why it was off in the first place. As soon as the screen lit up and everything loaded in, his ringtone went off as message after message, missed phone call after missed phone call suddenly showed up. He hastily turned his phone on silent so as to not bother the other Sutabaa patrons.
“What the..” He muttered, glancing through the notifications with a raised brow. “Mom..Dad. Mom and Dad...Home...huh.” Sacchi was right when she said he seemed stressed about his home life. If he managed to get his parents this worried about something he did, something really must have happened. He wondered if it had anything to do with his brothers but then he stopped; noticing the pictures he used for the contact pages of his parents.
They were not Matsuyo and Matsuzo.
Todomatsu stared at the pictures, his hand trembling around his phone. Who were these people? Why were they listed as his parents? Todomatsu went to his photos and looked through them, hoping for some kind of weird explanation. He found pictures of him with some friends; Aida and Sacchi, Futsuumaru, Kusosuke, and even Atsushi, pictures of the people who seemed to be his “parents” were in there too. But none of the people he wished to see in his photo album.
His eyes dropped as he felt his heart sunk. What was going on? He continued to stay that way until his phone lit with another notification; a message from his so called mother.
“Todo, where are you? We’re really worried about you. Your father and I are deeply sorry about what happened, we only wanted the best for you. You’re our only son, and our pride and joy! We respect that you have decisions you want to make for yourself, you’re already in your twenties and we understand that. But please, at the very least let us know that you are doing okay. We love you Todomatsu.”
Only son? What in the world happened to the rest of his brothers? Wasn’t he a sextuplet? Todomatsu shook his head. There must be some kind of explanation for all of this. Maybe it was just some stupid prank his brothers did. He remembered the argument they were having. Sextuplets being half-assed, the Totty shouldn’t exist theory. Todomatsu wondered if it had something to do with that. He didn’t think they would go that far though. Maybe they did something similar with Karamatsu though, he couldn’t remember.
But the thing is, he didn’t remember going into Sutabaa with his backpack. He didn’t remember even packing anything. He didn’t remember talking to Sacchi and he certainly didn’t remember saying anything about running away. Sure he argued with his brothers a lot but it never escalated to something like that.
Maybe a coffee drink would help him sort things out.
Todomatsu moved to pack up his things and got up, slinging the backpack around his shoulders before walking to the counter.
“Hey Totty, ready to order?” Sacchi asked.
“Yeah.” Todomatsu smiled, “I’ll just get a Strawberries and Vanilla Cream frappuccino to go please. Uh,” He paused, “Maybe make it the biggest size...I feel like I’m going to be going through a lot today.”
“Alright, coming right up.” Sacchi pulled out a cup, writing his name on it before setting it aside.
Todomatsu paid for his drink and waited at one side for his drink, lazily scrolling through his phone; not that it really did anything to help him. Once he got his drink he thanked Sacchi and left Sutabaa.
“I’ll see you on Monday!” Sacchi waved at him, implying that he still worked at the cafe; though he already figured that out more or less from the uniform he had stashed in his backpack.
He walked down the street, pulling out the brochure for the internet cafe he was supposed to go to. He figured that if he was going to end up angry, maybe actually staying at the cafe would help clear his head. It was becoming a thing nowadays where people stayed in Internet and Manga cafes, mostly because it was much cheaper to stay in compared to other establishments. Todomatsu figured if he was going to stay there, it would be easy for him to save the money he got from his Sutabaa job. Thankfully it wasn’t very far from the cafe. He quickly finished his drink before he made his way to the Net cafe.
He was quite pleased with how the Net cafe looked; it was clean, fairly spacious, and provided various facilities like free showers, and it even sold personal items as well. Though Todomatsu had to figure out if there was a dry cleaners nearby so he could wash his clothes on a regular basis. It wasn’t the best place honestly, but it was affordable and it was better than sleeping out on the street.
As soon as he arranged everything he stashed his stuff in a locker; only taking his phone and wallet, before deciding to head outside. He might as well try to find his brothers while he was at it. If it was a prank he was definitely going to be angry, and he needed to get to the bottom of all of it. He released a big sigh before making his way home.
“Yes? May I help you?” Matsuyo’s voice asked Todomatsu gently, showing no indication of knowing who he was. “Well, you look a lot like my sons how funny.” She laughed slightly, “Maybe I have a sixth son I didn’t know about. I’m just kidding.”
Todomatsu stared at Matsuyo, he absentmindedly knocked on the door but he didn’t think he would be greeted like that. His own mother not knowing who he was? What?
“But then again sextuplets? That would be a lot for me to handle.” Matsuyo continued, unaware of the shock that was apparent on the youngest’s face. “I already have NEET quintuplets.”
Only five sons, Matsuyo had. Todomatsu didn’t know what to do. Quintuplets? Quintuplets?? What a sick joke. What a sick sick joke. If his brothers put their mother up for the joke then it had gone too far. His heart pounded and his head span; feeling a slight bit of wetness in the corner of his eyes but he brushed it off. He wasn’t going to cry over some silly prank.
“Are you okay?” Matsuyo noticed the youngest sextuplet had a look of distress upon his face. “Maybe you’re looking for my sons? Sorry, my useless NEETs all went out to eat. You can come back later if you want. Though I’m surprised, I didn’t think they had a friend.”
“A-Ah…” Todomatsu’s mouth quivered, “I got the wrong house sorry!” He cried out in a panic before running off; his heart sunk low, and his stomach grumbled as if he was about to be sick.
Todomatsu ran and ran, his feet carrying him as far as he could go. Even when his legs tired out, when his thighs hurt and his feet hit the ground in pained bursts, he continued to run and run. He just didn’t know what to do with his feelings. First he suddenly woke up in Sutabaa, Sacchi told him he was supposed to be running away from home, suddenly he had a new set of parents, and then his actual birth mother; who he remembered for as long as he could, had no clue who he actually is.
Todomatsu continued to run, even when he ran past the river, even when he ran past various streets and Totoko’s place, even when he ran past Chibita’s oden stand, he just ignored everything around him and ran. Focusing everything he could on the movement of running. His body began to ache but he pressed on. Anything was better. Anything was better than crying out loud. The silence of his voice and the sound of his feet was better than shouting and screaming and crying.
If it went any other way, he would’ve embraced the opportunity to be independent. He was the star of hope, the youngest son sent ahead to graduate from NEET status and function properly in society. But this? This was alien to him, and he hated to think what he would be like if he met his brothers. There was a small spark of hope in him that this was just a terrible prank and that once he found them, he would get the truth out and everything would be fine.
Eventually he tired out and fell flat on the ground, crying out loud but refusing to let any tear escape him. He laid face first on the ground for a while, clutching the white symbol on his pink hoodie as he desperately caught his breath. Todomatsu curled up, not caring if he got his clothes dirty. He was tired and confused and just needed comfort.
“Oi~ Hey are you okay?” A familiar voice echoed in his ears as he felt fingers prod his head. “Are you alive? You’re lying down in the middle of the sidewalk so suddenly.”
Todomatsu immediately pushed himself up and launched himself onto the red hoodie wearing man before him with an angry cry. He didn’t need to double check to confirm anything, because from the tone of voice alone he already knew who it was.
“Agh!! What the hell?!” Osomatsu cried out as he was suddenly tackled to the ground, his cheek coming into contact with Todomatsu’s fist as he was suddenly beaten up by the pink Matsu.
“Osomatsu nii-san!”
“Osomatsu!”
With the chorus of voices that echoed around the two, Todomatsu figured the rest of his brothers were there too. But he didn’t care. He was just angry. What kind of prank did he pull? What ever made Osomatsu think it was a good idea to do something like that to him. Yes. He went too far. Osomatsu crossed the line. Not just Osomatsu even. The rest of his brothers crossed a line that should never have been crossed.
Technically speaking, Choromatsu was the one who started the whole “Totty shouldn’t exist theory” but only Osomatsu seemed like the type to actually try a prank from it. Which was why Todomatsu lurched for him first.
“Hey you! Get off our brother!” Karamatsu’s voice was stern as he quickly pried a flailing Todomatsu off Osomatsu; holding him tightly in his arms to prevent him from moving. “Jyushimatsu! Help me with him!”
“Yes!! Karamatsu nii-san!!” Jyushimatsu bounded over to Todomatsu, holding him around the waist while Karamatsu held him from behind; his arms looped around Todomatsu’s from under his underarms. They held on tightly restraining him the best he can.
As they restrained Todomatsu, Choromatsu and Ichimatsu went over to Osomatsu; who was on the ground with a few bruises forming on his face. Though Osomatsu wasn’t the only one with bruises. While he was being slugged by Todomatsu, he managed to swing a few punches himself in self defense. Ichimatsu noticed Todomatsu beginning to sport a black eye; small tears beginning to prickle from his eyes as well.
“Osomatsu nii-san,” Ichimatsu started, “Did you do something?”
“Of course not!” Osomatsu cried out angrily, “I don’t even know this guy and he suddenly started attacking me! What is wrong with you?!”
“What is wrong with me?!” Todomatsu retorted, “What is wrong with all of you?! What made you guys think this sort of joke is a good idea?!” He tried to wriggle his way out of of his other brothers’ grasp but they continued to hold on tightly.
“Joke? What joke I don’t even remember doing anything to you!”
“Don’t lie to me Osomatsu nii-san! You know who I am just spill it already!”
“I really don’t know who you are!”
“You really don’t know?! It’s me Todomatsu! To-do-ma-tsu!! The youngest sextuplet!” Todomatsu was beginning to get frustrated. He hoped that this was just some hidden camera gag or something, but he quickly realised no joke would’ve continued if he was already to the point of beating someone up. Unless they were really determined to keep it up.
“Sextuplet?! What like, us?” Osomatsu rubbed a bruise on his jaw; Todomatsu really hit him hard there. “We’ve been quintuplets for as long as we could remember. We don’t know any Todomatsu.” Osomatsu calmed down slightly, seeing the panicked look on Todomatsu’s face. He must have mistaken them for someone else, but he knew Osomatsu’s name somehow.
“Look, Todomatsu.” Osomatsu started, making his way to Todomatsu who had long since stopped squirming, “We really don’t know who you are. Maybe you got us confused with someone else. Whatever happened with your brothers, we had nothing to do with it okay? Sorry.” He figured maybe apologising would make Todomatsu calm down, even though he should be the one apologising to Osomatsu.
When Todomatsu remained silent, Osomatsu gestured for Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu to release him. Todomatsu slumped to the ground on his knees; staring intently at the sidewalk without saying another word.
“Uh bye then.” Osomatsu muttered awkwardly before turning to leave; letting Todomatsu stay kneeling on the ground.
“Are you okay Osomatsu nii-san?” Choromatsu asked hesitantly.
“Huh? Oh I’m fine.” Osomatsu grinned with a finger under his nose, “It’s just a couple of bruises they’ll heal.”
“I wonder what was up with that guy.”
“Maybe he was just hurt.” Karamatsu replied, “What a poor young soul, lost and pained by his cruel cruel brothers! Whoever they may be, I hope they realise the pain they have inflicted on their youngest companion!”
While four of Todomatsu’s supposed brothers walked away, Ichimatsu stood quietly; observing Todomatsu for a moment before crouching to give the youngest tissue. He saw that he looked like he was about to cry and assumed something really bad suddenly happened to him. When he handed the tissue, Todomatsu looked up at Ichimatsu with a look on his face.
“What’s with that character…” Todomatsu mumbled, gratefully taking the tissue into his hand, “You’re acting like a total normie Ichimatsu nii-san…”
Ichimatsu wondered how Todomatsu knew their names. “...You should really take care of those bruises as soon as possible.” Ichimatsu merely spoke before turning to catch up with the rest of his brothers, only looking back when he heard a small sniffle from Todomatsu.
Todomatsu sat there for a moment; tissue used up and ready to be tossed, his mind reeled and his stomach dropped once more. His fists were clenched and they shook as they rested on his thighs. His lip quivered as he stared blankly at the sidewalk.
“AGH FINE!” Todomatsu tossed his arms up and cried out, “If that’s how it’s going to be then I’ll just live by myself for the rest of my life! I’ll become a proper member of society and I’ll show them that I don’t need them! I don’t need brothers like them! I’ll show them I can make it on my own!” He snapped; shaking his fist in the air. He stood up and turned to the direction he came from, “I had it with them. If that’s how they’re going to play their stupid prank then I’ll let them be.” He stomped his feet, making his way to the Net cafe as he noticed the sun was already setting.
“I don’t need them. I don’t need them at all.”
Later that night Todomatsu couldn’t sleep. The crampedness of the cubicle he was sleeping in, proving to be less than comfort. As well as the eerie darkness that was enveloping him; a sort of silence that unsettled him greatly. Todomatsu pulled up his phone, grateful for the source of light. He looked at all the messages he had, he looked at all the photos he had. It was just all so elaborate for something like a prank. The photos of himself with his so called parents looked way too good to be edited, the messages he had were all properly timestamped for them to be messed with, it was like he really had a whole life before today.
A life as an only son.
Todomatsu wondered what it was like, but he wasn’t particularly fond of the thought. It just, felt lonely. Sure he was embarrassed by his elder brothers, and he really didn’t like it when they messed with him and screwed him over, but they were still brothers. They were still always together. Now he was alone and he didn’t like how it felt. He didn’t like how the phrase “only son” tasted in his mouth. It was severely unfamiliar.
But if this was some kind of opportunity for him to be independent and graduate from being a NEET then fine. He’ll live with it. It was their fault to begin with anyway. If he never returned to them, if he never forgave them, it was their fault. Todomatsu decided he was going to try and live the best life possible. He’ll make them see the mistake they made.
However suddenly being forced to rely on no one but yourself was easier said than done. Todomatsu managed working at Sutabaa just fine, and he was doing fairly well managing his living situation despite staying at a Net Cafe. He found a dry cleaners nearby and that was where he did his laundry. The bathroom and showers at the cafe were clean and so he didn’t have to be too afraid of dirty old man ass. He still took precautionary measures though.
Todomatsu managed to live like that for at least a week. Every now and then passing by what looked to be the “Matsuno quintuplets.” Sometimes Osomatsu would check on him just because, but they never had a lasting conversation. But Todomatsu found himself growing wearier and wearier by the days.
“Totty are you okay?” Aida walked up to Todomatsu; waving her hand in front of his face as he was leaning by the counter, it stopped being busy so they could relax but Aida found that Todomatsu seemed really out of it lately.
“H-Huh?” Todomatsu jumped slightly from Aida waving her hand in his face but he chuckled in response, “I’m okay. I’m just tired.”
“Really?” Aida gave a look of concern, “You seem really spaced out lately, and you had that black eye of yours too. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m really okay, promise.” Todomatsu smiled before hearing the door open and seeing the Matsuno quintuplets enter.
Matsuno quintuplets. What a dreadful sounding thing to hear. Todomatsu sighed as he observed them for what seemed like the umteenth time this week, watching as they talked together in the usual double act comedy that tends to happen; one of them would say something off and then Choromatsu would respond accordingly. He watched them with a faraway look in his eyes, they seemed funnier with an odd number.
Well, they certainly weren’t his brothers anymore.
“Oh hey it’s you!” Osomatsu smiled kindly as he recognised Todomatsu, “I didn’t realise you worked here.”
“Do you know them Totty?” Aida asked. “Eh?” She paused, “You all look alike! But I thought you were an only child!”
“Totty?! What kind of name is that?!” Osomatsu laughed loudly, his hands on his stomach. It brought a familiar feeling to Todomatsu, and a stinging pain in his chest.
He bit his lip slightly before brushing it off, “Hah, it’s just a name. Plus,” Todomatsu gave a strained smile, “It’s just a coincidence that we look alike. That’s all.”
“Oh I see.” Aida smiled, “Well it’s a pleasure. I have my break coming up, so I’ll see you later.” She then left the counter to Todomatsu.
“Well?” Todomatsu slid a menu in front of them, “Are you going to order?”
“Ahh…” Jyushimatsu walked over to the menu and scanned it a bit, “Do you have beef bowls?”
“No!” Todomatsu suddenly raised his voice in reaction but he then remembered himself and calmed down. “We don’t.” He gave another strained smile.
“I want Takoyaki!”
“A Frankfurter!”
“Soft serve.”
“What do you think this is? A rest stop?!” Todomatsu felt the veins pop in his head, and the stinging pain in his chest grow bigger as the familiar feeling continued. He knew this was deja vu. He knew he experienced this before. But these were not his brothers. Not anymore. Their silly prank was the last straw for him. He was still a Matsuno, but he was not their Matsuno anymore.
It still didn’t stop it from hurting though.
“What about you Karamatsu?” Osomatsu asked, his hand in the air.
“Heh,” Karamatsu was leaning on the counter, “I want a tall sized latte. Make it a doppio on the espre--”
“ENOUGH!” Todomatsu cried out. He had enough of the so called act. He had enough of the so called game.
“Is everything okay?” Sacchi had suddenly appeared by Todomatsu’s side, “Are you okay Totty? Why are you yelling at the customers?”
“Sorry.” Todomatsu’s hands were on the counter, and he was staring at the floor. “Can you please take over for me? I don’t think,” Todomatsu’s voice faltered for a brief moment, “I don’t think I’m feeling very well.”
“My,” Sacchi had her hand over her mouth, “You should tell the boss. Maybe you should take the rest of the day off if it’s really bad.”
“I’ll be okay. I just need a short break.” Todomatsu took deep breaths, “Sorry to put this on you.”
“It’s not a problem.” Sacchi replied, “You’ve been working very hard.”
Todomatsu kept his head down as he left the counter and made his way to the bathroom, leaving Sacchi to finish taking the orders from his so called brothers. Once he was in the bathroom he let out a heavy sigh. What was he going to do? It was as if everything was just fine. But Todomatsu knew it wasn’t. He felt out of place. He sort of understood how Karamatsu felt, even if the whole ignoring thing was just a gag. But Todomatsu wasn’t being ignored. Todomatsu wasn’t being ignored at all. But it still felt like he didn’t properly exist.
He was still Todomatsu Matsuno; even his boss still referred to him by his family name. But he wasn’t Todomatsu Matsuno the Matsuno sextuplet anymore. Sometimes Todomatsu found it hard to believe that it was still a joke. It was as if he legitimately was unknown to them. They continued to play off each other naturally. They continued to do whatever they did as NEETS together naturally.
Todomatsu wanted to succeed in society. He was doing a pretty good job without them honestly. But that was the scary part. While they were having fun as quintuplets, he was doing well off as an only child. It was as if; it really was as if, in this world, Todomatsu Matsuno the sextuplet was never meant to be.
No more sextuplet gags.
No more sextuplet brothers.
No more splitting into even pairs.
No more youngest three.
No more eldest three.
No more F6.
No more.
Todomatsu raced into one of the cubicles, feeling himself sick to the stomach as he hunched over the toilet seat, clutching his stomach in agony.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay Matsuno-kun?” Todomatsu’s boss had been waiting in front of the bathroom; having heard from Sacchi that he wasn’t feeling well.
“Ah, I’ll be okay.” Todomatsu’s voice was croaky having after finished with the bathroom. He blinked when his boss handed him a bottle of water.
“Maybe you should head home for the rest of the day.” His boss sighed, “But you better be prepared to come back and work harder than ever alright?”
“A-Ah, thank you.” Todomatsu wearily took the bottle in his hands and drank from it. “I’ll do my best.”
As Todomatsu slunk over to the back of the cafe to retrieve his things and change out of his uniform, he spotted the quintuplets from the corner of his eye. They were really enjoying themselves. He didn’t want to look any longer; after getting the hint that they were better off the first few times, so he just entered the employees room and getting his things from his locker.
“Totty, I heard from Sacchi.” Aida; who has having her break, watched him as she was seated at the table, “Feel better okay?”
Todomatsu opened his locker and got the bag with his spare clothes before heading to the changing room, “Ah yeah, thanks.”
“Totty.” Aida’s voice was soft, “Are you okay?” She heard rustling from inside the changing room before she got an answer.
“I’m okay. A lot of things have been happening.”
“How has living independently been? Is it alright for you?” There was more rustling before she got a response.
“More or less.” Todomatsu paused, “It’s not what I thought it would be though.”
“I see.”
Todomatsu emerged from the changing room in his regular cuffed jeans and a grey hoodie. But instead of the Matsu pine symbol on it, it was a pink rabbit instead. He had the bag with his uniform in it in one hand, and the other hand was clutching the rabbit symbol. He was staring down at it in disgust before turning it to that strained smile he had earlier.
“I guess I’ll be heading off early today.” He said, taking his phone and the bottle of water and making his way to the door.
“Ah okay. Take care.” Aida smiled.
“You too.” Todomatsu left the employees room, bidding goodbye to his boss and Sacchi as he left. From the corner of his eye, he saw those quintuplets watch him with concerned looks on their faces.
Not that it mattered to him. He didn’t want to care anymore.
“Hey.”
Todomatsu kept walking.
“Hey!”
Todomatsu continued to walk.
“Oi, I’m trying to talk to you.”
Todomatsu never stopped walking, taking a drink from the water bottle as he made his way towards the Net cafe to probably take another shower, and brush his teeth as soon as he was able.
“Would you just, stop for one second?!” Osomatsu gripped Todomatsu’s shoulder and spun him around; nearly making the youngest brother spill the bottle he was holding. Osomatsu looked irritated but stopped when he saw Todomatsu’s exhausted face.
“Oi..”
“Will you just leave me alone from now on?” Todomatsu asked, his voice was low. “I promise I won’t do anything like attack you, and I promise I won’t do anything else. Just please, stay away from me from now on.”
“What the hell…” Osomatsu leaned forward to get a better look at Todomatsu, “Look I just wanted to see if you were alright cause you looked really sick.”
“And I don’t want you to do that anymore!” Todomatsu snapped and slapped Osomatsu’s hand away.
“Hey! What’s your deal?”
“What’s my deal? What’s my deal?!” Todomatsu was furious, “I had to suddenly deal with a situation where my parents didn’t remember me, my brothers didn’t remember me, and everything I have lived up until this point seemed like some kind of stupid lie!” He shoved Osomatsu away from him, “What’s my deal?! What’s my deal you ask?!”
Todomatsu waved his arm and pointed to the quintuplets who had somehow decided to chase after him. “All of you are what my deal is! I hate you all! Just leave me alone!!”
“H-Hey you don’t have to be so aggressi--”
“Shut up Shittymatsu!!”
Osomatsu’s vein popped and he gripped Todomatsu by the neck of his hoodie, “Oi, don’t you dare say something like that to my brother.”
“Osomatsu..” Karamatsu raised his hands towards the both of them, “Osomatsu let him go.”
“Tch.” Osomatsu released Todomatsu and turned away.
“I hate all of you.” Todomatsu’s voice shook, “I just want my own brothers back is that too much to ask?”
All five of them turned to look at Todomatsu.
“ARGH I’M SORRY OKAY?! What more do you want from me?!” Todomatsu dropped everything in his hands, the bottle spilt all over the sidewalk and people were staring but he didn’t care. He dropped to his knees and slammed his fists into the pavement, punching it harder and harder, until his hands felt numb and his knuckles were raw and red.
“Hey don’t do that you’ll hurt yourself.” Choromatsu’s voice piped up, “Hey, Totty--”
“SHUT UP!” Todomatsu’s breath was uneven as he stared at the redness of his knuckles. His head lowered and facing the pavement, his jeans slightly stained with the blood from his hands. “I’m sorry for punching you Osomatsu nii-san.” He started, his voice already way too shaken to be coherent, “I’m sorry for always ignoring you Karamatsu nii-san. I’m sorry for laughing when Osomatsu nii-san called you Fappymatsu.”
“W-Wha--”
“I’m sorry for making fun of your feelings Ichimatsu nii-san. I’m sorry for not being a good brother Jyushimatsu nii-san.”
“How do you know our names..?” Choromatsu asked but his question was met with silence.
“I just want to be with my brothers again! Is it too much to ask for something like that? How much more do I have to apologise for things? “Totty shouldn’t exist” theory? I don’t want that!” Todomatsu looked up at all of them, heavy tears streaming down his face, snot falling from his nose. He was crying.
“I want us to be sextuplets again! I don’t like this joke anymore! I’m the youngest you know?! This is going way too far!!”
“Totty…”
“Shut up! Don’t call me that!”
“Totty.”
“Stop!!”
“Todomatsu.”
“WHAT?!”
Todomatsu felt his whole body shaking for some reason. He felt the tears from his eyes being wiped away even though no one had made a move. Todomatsu felt himself choke, and a bunch of sharp pains being inflicted on his cheeks. He was confused; no one was moving. But there he was, knees on the sidewalk, snot and tears covering his face in full view of everyone who passed by, but yet he was feeling so many sensations in his body.
Suddenly he felt something bang into his forehead, and he opened his eyes.
“Todomatsu!”
Todomatsu winced and narrowed his eyes. He was faced with a sudden brightness and a sudden wetness in his eyes, which blurred his vision. He felt tissues being patted on his face and under his nose, and while he had to close his eyes when the tissues were wiping them, eventually his vision cleared. He suddenly understood everything.
He was lying on his back, the pillow under his head and the warmth of the blankets stuffed around him. Choromatsu was hovering to his left, throwing away tissues that he had on his lap. Osomatsu was sitting on his lap, his hand held up ready to slap him. Jyushimatsu was sitting behind his head, a redness on his forehead as if he banged it into something. Karamatsu was hovering to his right, his hand gripping Todomatsu’s with a servere expression of worry on his face. Ichimatsu was also on his right, but he just sat there watching.
“You’re finally awake Todomatsu.” Osomatsu grinned, “You were screaming and crying you know? We’ve been trying for ages to wake you up. Choromatsu didn’t want us to dump a bucket of water on you.”
“Because we still need to sleep and I don’t want to wet the futon!?” Choromatsu retorted.
“It would’ve been fine!” Osomatsu waved it off, “We could just sleep on the dry areas.”
“You realise we already have a hard time fitting on this futon with all six of us right?!”
“Totty!” Jyushimatsu leaned over, “Are you okay?”
“Did you have a nightmare brother? Anything we can do to remedy it?” Karamatsu leaned closer as well.
But Todomatsu didn’t answer them, “Oi, Chorofappyski nii-san.”
“EH?!”
Todomatsu ignored Choromatsu’s response and continued, his gazed fixated on the ceiling; a blank expression on his face. “Do you really think sextuplets are half-assed?”
“Hah?” Choromastu raised a brow, “Don’t tell me…” A wide teasing smile grew on his face, “You were actually worried about that Todomatsu~? You actually had a nightmare and were crying about it~?”
“Heeeeh~” Osomatsu also grew that same smile, “You were upset because you didn’t want us to go off without you, were you~?”
“Brother~ You must really like us that much to be that worried~” Karamatsu joined in, cooing at his youngest brother.
“You really like your unburnable trash elder brother?” Ichimatsu had a small smile on his face.
“TOTTY!” Jyushimatsu pulled on Todomatsu; making Osomatsu fall off of the youngest’s lap, and hugged him tightly, “Totty~!!!”
Osomatsu was momentarily surprised by the sudden movements but he recovered, sitting up and piling himself on Jyushimatsu and Todomatsu, “Totty!!”
“Totty~!!”
“Totty!!”
“Totty….!”
Todomatsu sat there in the midst of a hug pile from his elder brothers; his face was red and burning, and he was biting his lip in irritation. He had a strange look on his face, as the five of them were hugging him closely.
“Sh-Shut up all of you, you shitty eldest brothers!!!”
But he supposed he didn’t really mind too much. Even if they fought a lot, and said all sorts of things to each other in the process. They would always and forever, be the same sextuplet brothers that Todomatsu has always been with. The same brothers Todomatsu would be stuck with for a majority of his life.
“Totty, I’ll be frank.” Choromatsu started, “You don’t have a heart.”
“Hah?!”
“You’re a dried up monster who can’t care about others.”
“Wait wait wait wait. I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.”
Maybe sometimes things were just best left as a one time memory. At the very least, Todomatsu didn’t have any strange dreams like that ever again.