Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

At first when you saw him, or, more accurately saw them, you were a little over half way through your morning shift. You thought it was your mind playing tricks on you, which wouldn’t have been anything new ever since your schedule changed from afternoon to early mornings. Though you ruled that out because you were on your third cup of coffee and a little overly aware.
Then you remembered such things as twins exist and the brown haired young man in the male boutique store could simply be the brother of the less fashionable young man in the leather jacket looking at the dazzling embroidered jeans and tacky bejeweled belt buckles at the men’s discount clothes barn at the store across the way. For possible twins, they really had different taste in fashion.

Then that’s when you saw it. Another one. A third one.

Working out in the open in the middle of such a large mall gave you certain advantages, and seeing all the shops and customers roaming around was one of them. It had a lot of downsides, though, too. You worked at a toy train ride so you dealt with a lot of kids, which is why the mornings are brutal. Sometimes you have nightmares keeping you up in the wee hours of the night, just hearing distant echoes of crying, yelling, or laughing children. That’s why you second, and now third, guessed yourself on the whole twin thing.

Though if the third identical young man in yellow is related to the other two, wouldn’t they be triplets? You had to question your sanity as you watched the one in a yellow baseball uniform violently swings baseball bats in the sports outlet at such velocity that couldn’t be human.

The high-pitched shriek of a child ripped you from your matrix theories or cloning speculation, and when you turned to both wind down the train and look at the screaming child you saw a spilt milkshake you would have to clean up before you could clock out. The same milkshake you had told both the parent and child wasn’t allowed on the train.

You swallowed your bitterness and wound down the train, letting off the sticky child and less sticky children before directing them to the exit. Once the gate was closed, you quickly looked over to the three stores the identical men were in, only to see all three of them gone.

Maybe were hallucinating.

In fact, you had almost talked yourself into believing it was all a trick your mind was playing on you until after your shift and you ventured in to the mall to do some shopping of your own and you saw it again; that same face on a different person.
Unless, that is, one of the three you saw early completely changed their wardrobe just to go to a music shop. This one was in a green plaid shirt staring intently at some cat girl idol CD. You almost approached him. Almost. 

The more you thought about it, the more you wanted not to think about it. You wanted to go home and relax for the rest of the day instead of thinking up bizarre conspiracies that your paranoia cooked up. Instead you decided just to pick up some cat food for the strays outside your apartment, grab some food for yourself, and try to get a good night's sleep…Even if it was only two in the afternoon.

Conveniently for you there was a pet store in the mall, though you had to mull over the thought of staying in the crowded place but in the end you decided the cats outside were worth it so you almost literally ran passed the green wearing clone man and power walked to the pet store.
You thought you would be safe there. No more pod people would be in here, right?
Wrong.

Standing between you and the food for your beloved strays was yet another one in purple, reading the back of the cat’s wet food tins. He only noticed your presence when you yelped and ducked back in to the birdseed section.

Or at least you think he noticed you. He stared for a while at the birdseed you were hiding behind before placing the can of food in his hand held cart and shuffling away to the front. He took the long way, avoiding the area you hid so you were more than sure he did notice you.
You had to admit you felt a little bad because 1: you were obviously overreacting, because 2: He was not a clone, pod person, body snatcher, or shape shifter. He was probably just a dude getting food for his cat, (which he obviously loved enough to check the can to make sure the food was good for it), and you quite literally hid from him like he was Jason freaking Voorhees.

So you shamefully purchased your cat food and started the long walk through the mall, which leads you to now.

You stare in awe at the scene before you, nearly dropping your bag of cat food. The scene alone was enough to catch the attention of onlookers, but most just did double takes and continued on their way. Almost as if this was normal… Was this normal?

In front of you, at the kiddie train where you work, after the aloof teenage boy took your place in the kiosk following your shift, six identical adult men rode the train. Once again, a train made for children.

And they were absolutely loving it.

Everything and nothing made sense at the same time. You were comforted by the fact you hadn’t lost it, or was exhausted to the point that you were seeing things. But at the same time, you felt like a complete jerk to these… sextuplets? You ran away from one and hid from another, and thankfully to your sanity you didn’t encounter the red one.

Speaking of the red one, as soon as he saw you he started to call out.
“Oh, train lady! Hey, hey! Train lady!” He frantically waved you over; at the same time catching the attention of the others riding with him and you found yourself staring directly at six same faces.

The ride slowly came to a stop and before it even stopped moving, the red one started unbuckling his seatbelt, which caused your working mode to activate.

“Wait until the train is at a complete stop to unbuckle your seats and leave the vehicle.”

“Ah, sorry! Sorry!” The red one scratched the back of his head.

“Jeez, you should know that at least.” The green one you encountered in the CD store scolded the red one.

“Can we go again?” The yellow one asked, bouncing lightly in his seat.

“Non, non, non, Jyushimatsu, the reason we boarded the train was to seek the beautiful conductor, and when found we shall cast aside our modes of transportation and walk barefoot down the sinful tracks of-“ The blue one was cut off when the train came to a complete stop and the one in pink skipped out and immediately made his way towards you.

“Hello, my name is Matsuno Todomatsu, but you can call me Totty if you want. I caught you watching me shop earlier. You know if you’re that curious about me we can always exchange phone numbers?” He brought out his phone before he was violently pushed away.

“Not so fast!” The red one cut Todomatsu off.
“I was scoping her out in the food court way before you or even Karamatsu noticed her!”

“Ah, yes… My beautiful Karamatsu girl… Our eyes met while I was securing more of my high end fashionable items and I knew it was destiny!” The blue one, who you assumed was Karamatsu held a rose out to you, before doing a few more dramatic poses with it.

If you did meet eyes with him earlier, you had no idea. He was wearing those sunglasses, after all. Inside. So it was kind of hard not to stare, even if he had the same face as the man across the mall. Also, the fact the red one had been watching you from the one area you hadn’t looked gave you a little chills. You were pretty much done. Done with this day, done with the paranoia, done with everything. You desperately needed to sleep.

“No.”

...

“…Eh?” They all looked over to you in unison, each wearing similar faces of confusion. Though the one in purple stood out, because he seemed to be trying his hardest to keep his expression disinterested.

“My shift is over and I am too tired to for… All of this right now.” You motioned to the entire group as you backed away.

“It’s nice to meet you all, but right now all I want to do is go home, eat my leftover curry rice, drink a beer, and pass out. So, peace.” You continued backing away before you got to a certain distance away from them and they had still made no move to follow you, so you turned around and continued your way home for a much needed break.

“Well... Not now doesn’t mean not ever.” The red one turned to the others with a wide grin as he shrugged, and though you didn’t hear that, you still felt a small twinge of worry that tomorrow would be even more exhausting than today.

Chapter Text

By the next morning you were able to chalk up yesterday’s fiasco as a bad dream. Of course you knew it wasn’t a dream, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pretend it was and just repress that memory. Its not like stuff like that happens all the time, right? After all, you’ve been working in the mall for nearly three months and yesterday was the first time you saw them. At least yesterday was the first time you noticed them.

When you arrived at the small train station the next morning, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. There was no doppelgangers lurking around, waiting to crowd you and stare you down with their same faces on six figures.
Of course it was only eight in the morning and the mall was just opening so there was still time.

You shivered a bit as you went through your opening checklist, occasionally looking up from the clipboard to look around the nearly empty mall to make sure they hadn’t multiplied. Of course you still felt like a jerk for overreacting and shutting them down, but if they wanted to talk to you they didn’t have to do it in an Alfred Hitchcock way and make you feel like you were losing it. They all seemed to have very overbearing personalities, so you prayed silently that they didn’t travel in a pack because you knew you wouldn’t be able to handle them all at once again.

You tend to get overwhelmed easily, so one might ask why you, of all people, chose to work somewhere that meant dealing with a lot of kids and operating heavy machinery.

Well, for one, since it was a Wednesday morning, it was almost a ghost town. There was still the occasional stay at home parent taking their kid shopping so you booted up the train at least a few times, but other than that it was just you and your book in the little conductor kiosk waiting for your lunch break.

You were so into your book, in fact, you didn’t notice the approaching figure until he stood in front of the ticket window and propped himself on his elbow against your desk.

“Hey, train lady.”

You snapped your head up, nearly dropping your book at the familiar voice and almost paled when you saw that face again.

It was the one who wore the red sweatshirt, although today he wore a red jumpsuit with the top half tied around his waist.

At least you hoped it was still the red one from yesterday. You couldn’t remember if the voice and color matched up, and you hoped they didn’t switch colors on you.

“Please don’t call me train lady.” You hesitantly replied, knowing you were going to have to talk to him some way or another and you preferred he didn’t call you by that nickname.

“Sorry, sorry! Ah…” His eyes traveled down to the name tag on your chest, lingering a bit too long for your comfort.
“(Y/N)!” He snapped his eyes back up to yours only to find you scowling, but it didn’t seem to detour him in the slightest and he continued talking.

“I’m Matsuno Osomatsu! So, what time do you get off for lunch?” Osomatsu leaned in slightly, sticking his face through the ticket window.

You leaned back as he leaned forward to avoid letting him in your personal bubble, and glanced at the small clock inside the kiosk to check the time.

You were due for lunch in only fifteen minutes, but you weren’t entirely sure if you wanted to tell him that so you answered his question with a question.
“…Why?”

“Hahaha, why? So we can go together, of course. Oh, but I don’t have any money. Spent it on the train ride yesterday. So I guess I can watch you eat? Unless of course you want to treat me?” He added a sneaky wink to the last part, as if he was sweetening some sort of deal.

“Adult rides only cost ¥100.” You were both confused and vaguely concerned, ignoring his slightly scummy flirting at the end.

“Yep.” He replied without missing a beat, staring blankly at you as if he was stating the obvious.

“And you only rode once?” You watched him unsurely before he replied again, almost instantly.

“Yep.”

Ok, you had to admit you were getting a bit curious. He is an adult sextuplet who spent the last dollar to his name on a kiddie train ride. You felt like you kind of had to learn more about him and lunch was only a half hour commitment.

“…Ok, Osomatsu, was it? Lunch is on me.” You eyed him skeptically before clocking out, not missing the incredulous face he made.

“Really?! Seriously?! This is a date, right? Like a date, date?” Osomatsu was absolutely beaming, leaning even further in to the kiosk window to the point you had to put your hand on his shoulder and lightly push him out.
“Ah, you touched me…”

“Yes, yes, sure. A date. If you call half an hour at KFC’s a date. We can split a bucket.” You hung up your conductor’s hat in the kiosk before stepping out and locking up.

When you turned to look at him his eyes were almost shining, gaping at you like one would gaze at an angel appearing from the heavens above. It was flattering, but a bit creepy at the same time. You still didn’t know the guy that well, after all.

“…You coming?” You decided to ignore his gawking and nudge your head towards the food court before turning and heading there yourself, encouraged by the quick footsteps behind you.

...

You never realized you could talk so much. After the initial awkwardness after sitting down with Osomatsu, the conversation just felt natural. You found out he was the eldest of the sextuplets, you learned and forgot his brother’s names, were told he was a NEET and proud of it,(which help made sense of a lot of things), and that he loved pachinko, beer, and horse racing.

In return you told him a little bit about your home life, your hobbies, and you bonded over your mutual love of the Colonel’s fried chicken.

Osomatsu sat back in his seat, laughing a bit after the conversation lulled.
“Man, I should have asked you out months ago!”

You cocked your brows, looking at him curiously as you set down your soda.
“Months?”

“Ah, maybe I shouldn’t have said that? Haha, I’ve been kind of… Watching you since you got your job. Not in a creepy way, I swear. I come here a lot for the pachinko slots in the adult game room and I saw you at your interview and I couldn’t help looking at you. You’re so cute after all. I was just curious at first and watched you train when I came in and then it sorta became a thing… Sorry, is that creepy?” He rubbed under his nose with his index finder, a look of both nervousness and bashfulness over his face.

You could feel warmth spread across your cheeks and a tingling in the pit of your stomach. Sure, it might be a little weird but at the same time it was… Flattering?
No, it’s… Well, yeah it’s a little creepy, but it’s also kind of… sweet?”

Osomatsu laughed, sitting back up in his chair before leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table.
“You don’t sound too sure.”

“Well, I’m not repulsed by you or anything.” You quipped back, a small smirk playing on your lips.

“That’s the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me.” He wore an almost unbreakable façade of seriousness before the two of you joined together in a fit of laughter.

“Well,” You began, standing up from your seat and collecting your tray, “I have to get back to work… But I have lunch at this time tomorrow.”

“I can see you tomorrow?” Osomatsu jumped up from his seat, both hands flat on the table in astonishment.

“Sure. If you want to, that is.” You were pretty sure he was into it, but you still had a small insecure feeling he would reject the idea.

“Of course I want to! Tomorrow, right? For sure tomorrow?” He nodded his head so fast that you got a bit worried for his neck.

“Yep. Tomorrow. See you then, Osomatsu.” You chuckled a bit at his over enthusiastic agreement before you tossed your trash. You could feel him watching you as you made your way back to the kiosk, and you had to admit that you didn’t hate it.

 ...

The next day became the start of a routine. On the days you worked, Osomatsu would meet you for lunch and the two of your would spend your half hour of free time talking over a bucket of fried chicken. It was really… Fun.

You began looking forward to your little lunch breaks, so much so that you were able to go through your brutal mornings with ease because you had something to look forward to…Someone to look forward to.

“Hey…” Osomatsu’s voice seemed uneasy, causing you to immediately look up from your drumstick and towards his almost solemn expression.

You chewed carefully and swallowed before answering.
“What’s up?”

“I was, uh… Wondering if you wanted to meet outside of the mall? Maybe catch dinner? I can pay this time, I promise.” He watched you expectantly.

You let out a small breath as relief washed over you. The way he was acting had made you a bit anxious so you were relieved that was all he asked. You had that small voice of fear telling you that he didn’t want to see you again.

“Yeah, sure. I mean, of course.” You tried not to sound at nervous or excited as you inwardly were and played it cool.

Now it was his turn to sigh. A smile replaced his apprehensive look as he continued,
“Awesome! How’s tonight?”

“Tonight? Can’t get enough of me, huh?” You laughed, a felling that familiar lightness in your stomach at his eagerness.

“I could say the same thing. You accepted pretty quickly.” Osomatsu smirked, resting his chin on his hands as he rest his elbows on the table.

“Oh, I’m the eager one?” You rolled your eyes at his teasing, standing up from the table to collect your trash.

“I’ll pick you up after work!” He called after you when you tossed your trash and headed back towards the kiosk.

“Kay, you know where to find me.” You waved with your back towards him as you headed towards the train.

…

Osomatsu arrived just after closing, and to your surprise he wasn’t wearing his red hoodie or his red jumpsuit. Instead he wore a blue coat over a white shirt and black tie, with black slacks and shoes.

“Hey, you look fancy.” You looked him up and down as he stopped in front of you.

“Yep. Got a hot date tonight.” He grinned, obviously enjoying your attention.

“Aww, anyone I know?” You joked as you finished locking up the kiosk.

“Depends. How well do you know yourself?” He quipped back, tilting his head to the side as of he was acting cute.

“I see your question and raise you another: What’s for dinner?” You crossed your arms, taking a rather sassy stance as you waited his reply.

“…How do you feel about oden?” 

…

The date was almost the same as the lunches you two spent together, but with added commentary from the chef, Chibita. Apparently him and Osomatsu go way back, and he was shocked beyond words when Osomatsu placed money on the counter after receiving the bill.

The only difference from this night and your previous lunches was that Osomatsu walked you home. It was a very sweet gesture, but it made it harder to say goodbye. You practically dreaded seeing your door, not wanting to leave the warmth of the jacket he placed on your shoulders or even the clamminess of his slightly shaking hand.

Both of you stood at your doorway in silence until Osomatsu grew the courage to speak up,
“So, how was our first real date?”

“First? Did the other, like, 12 no count?” You laughed softly as he let go of your hand and the two of you faced each other.

“20.”

“What?”

“We went out 20 times. You’re a train conductor, you know. You really shouldn’t lose track.” He cast you a cheeky grin, but faltered when your expression changed to one of surprise.

“D-did I say something wrong?” He fumbled a bit, but stood dead silent as you gently reached out your hand and caressed his cheek.

It almost felt like slow motion as the two of you leaned in, softly and slightly clumsily pressing your lips against one another. The kiss was short and definitely unpracticed, but that thought was on neither or your minds when the two of you pulled apart.

For a moment you both just gazed at each other and you watched as Osomatsu turned redder and redder.

“Wow…” You said dreamily, your voice trailing off into its normal tone as you continued,

“You don’t taste nearly as cheesy as I thought you would.”

Osomatsu’s sheepish expression contorted with laughter, lightening the mood and at the same time putting him more at ease.

“Is that going to happen every time I make a pun? Should I make some more?”

“No.” You broke into a grin as he continued.

“Aw, come on. I can come up with some decent one-liners.” He leaned in, pressing himself against you and wrapping his hands around your waist.

“Noooo stop!” you laughed, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and lightly pressing your lips against his once more before you pulled away,
“I have to go, I have work in the morning.”

“Ok, ok… See you tomorrow?” He more than reluctantly pulled away before you unlocked your door and headed inside.

“Of course. See you tomorrow.”

 And you always did.

Chapter Text

The morning after that embarrassing, and rather exhausting, experience happened to be pretty busy so you didn’t have time to think about those sextuplets, or alien clones, or what ever. On one hand you were thankful you were too busy to talk yourself into an anxiety attack, but on the other hand you came to work feeling fatigued so it stressed you to have to keep up your child friendly conductor appearance.

It finally started to wear down around your lunchtime and you were all too eager to go on break. Your feet were killing you and you were both mentally and physically drained…but it was nothing a frosty at Wendy’s couldn’t cure.

After the last train full of kids got off the platform and passed the little rainbow gates, you checked to see if there was any other kids waiting in line before clocking out. You were just about to flip the open sign to “CLOSED, OUT TO LUNCH” when you clumsily managed to knock the small chain sign off it’s hook and to the floor.
It wasn’t that big of a deal, but still you groaned with irritation when you bent down to pick it up. When you stood up to put the sign back on the hook there was a figure in the kiosk window.

“My Karamatsu girl-“

You screamed.

He screamed.

You dropped the sign again.

Once the initial surprise left your system you let out a slightly relaxed sigh, seeing as the man standing on the other side of the window was probably just a man. Granted, one of the men that nearly gave you a heart attack yesterday, and now today, but still just a man.

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Did I come on too strong? I have been told that I can be a bit overwhelming because I have such an intense, sinful soul.” He cleared his throat and fixed his sunglasses as he spoke to you, flipping his hair and posing as if he was in an impromptu photo shoot.

“What. No, sorry, it’s my fault, I wasn’t expecting to see anyone there when I stood up…” You stared at him quizzically for a few seconds before your eyes darted down to the sign you dropped for the second time.

“Ah, yes, love can come quite unexpectedly and leave you speechless!” He almost looked like he was supposed to be reciting cheesy poetry on stage. You were kind of glad he wasn’t wearing that leather jacket with the shirt of his, (or maybe one of his brothers?), face on it.

You immediately became disinterested in the current conversation so bent down and picked up the sign and then casually placed it on the hook with the words “CLOSED” facing the man.

“Uh huh, well, I’m going to go to lunch so-“

“I would be honored to accompany you.” His words made you whip your head around towards him and, despite his confident voice, his outward appearance looked like a nervous wreck.

You so very badly wanted to tell him that he was not invited, but something about his fake bravado and his now trembling, yet still self assured, form kind of made you pity him… Plus you really did feel like garbage for treating him and his brothers the way you did yesterday…

“…Ok, sure.” You sighed. You’ve been sighing a lot today.

“For real?!” He gaped, then cleared his throat and smirked as if his voice hadn’t raised ten octaves a few seconds ago.
“Of course, my Karamatsu girl~ I shall treat you to only the finest-“

“Karamatsu? Is that your name? Well, I’m going to Wendy’s. Company policy says I have to stay within sight of the train during lunch.” You placed your conductor’s hat on a hook by the kiosk window before slipping out of the small stall and locking it shut.

“Oh, yes, excuse me, mademoiselle! How could I have made such a grave error? I truly am a sinful man… Not to introduce himself to such a beautiful potage!” He paced behind you as you continued to power walk towards the food court.

“I’m pretty sure you just called me soup.” You couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as an amused smile forced passed your attempted uncaring demeanor.

“Ah, so you know French? The language of love?” He seemed more impressed at your knowledge than embarrassed at his mistake.

“I know soup.” You answered simply.

“… We have so much in common, mon fromage! Oh, forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. Matsuno Karamatsu, at your service.” He gleamed at you, attempting to lower himself to the ground on one knee.

Unfortunately you were still walking and he tripped while doing so, falling face first against the cold stone floor of the mall food court.

You turned around after hearing an unflattering yelp and rushed over to help him.

“I’m (Y/N)(L/N).” You once again felt a laugh trying to sneak out from between your lips, but forced it back with an amused smile as you held your hand out to him.

Karamatsu just stared at you from over the top of his sunglasses. It was as if he was hypnotized and looking up at you like some sort of…

“Karamatsu angel…”

“Are you going to take my hand or am I going to have to see if I have enough upper body strength to lift you up?” Your expression was less playful than before as irritation wormed it’s way back in to you, and he seemed to contemplate what you had said before taking your hand.

“So soft…” His voice came out so quiet you barely heard him as he gripped your hand and helped him up.

His eyes were glued to your intertwined hands and you waited for him to let go.
He didn’t.

“Ok, guess we’re holding hands now.” You rolled our eyes.

You weren’t particularly angry or uncomfortable with it. In fact, this guy in general was rather entertaining to be around. Even with his flowery speech and not so subtle narcissism. He was really hard to pin down and understand because one second he could be over confident and the next he could be super self-conscious. He cried when you bought him lunch.

“Are you sure I can have this?” He asked for the third time, motioning to the simple burger, frosty, and fries.

“Yes, I’m sure. Except for this one.” You reached out and seized one of his fries and popped it in your mouth.

“Sh-sharing food… Heh… It almost seems like a date.” Karamatsu pushed up his sunglasses before gleaming at you expectantly.

You chewed thoughtfully, going over the pros and cons. On one hand, he and his identical brothers could mob you all at once again… But on the other hand he’s kind of fun to hang out with. He’s weird yet thoughtful, egotistical yet sweet… Plus he’s kind of cute. What did you have to lose?

“Sure. It’s a date.” You finally nodded at him, and he looked like someone punched him in the gut.

“I see… So you cannot resist my Karamatsu charm… You truly are the conductor of my heart…” He held his chest, looking at you with tearful, sparkling eyes.

You almost spat out a mouthful of frosty, resulting in a rather painful swallow and small coughing fit in attempt not to laugh.

“…Thanks…” was all you managed to say.

….

He came by everyday like clockwork after that, just in time for lunch. It became something you looked forward to. Though always inwardly, he made you laugh. His ridiculous words and actions became a sort of de-stressor to you, and over the weeks you kind of felt yourself becoming a genuine Karamatsu girl, as he called it. But of course outwardly, you still appeared the same as usual so it was like nothing had changed between the two of you.

Karamatsu was late today. He missed your lunch hour, and all throughout the day after that you found yourself glancing worriedly at the clock and around the mall.
It didn’t help that he had no cellphone and when you called his house one of his brothers just said he was “dead, probably.”.

Minutes felt like hours, hours felt like days, and before you knew it, it was closing time.

The mall was growing dim as shops around you closed up, but you still stood there at your kiosk in hope he would come.

“Excuse me, ma’am? The mall is closing, you really should close up.”

The voice of a passing security guard shattered your worried thoughts, and you turned towards him with an apologetic smile.

“Ah, sorry. I was just waiting for my… My boyfriend.”

The two of you never really discussed what your relationship was, but it just felt right to call him that in this moment. You really wanted to make the plunge but you just couldn’t seem to articulate yourself properly.

“WHAT?!” A sudden surprised shout caused you to nearly jump out of your skin and snap your eyes towards the kiosk window, where you saw a figure.

You screamed.

He screamed.

He dropped what ever was in his hands.

“Karamatsu! Where were you? Oh my god, what happened to you?!” You immediately calmed down once you recognized the figure as the person you were waiting for, only to grow even more concerned when you saw him scratched up and bruised.

“I fell off a cliff- But more importantly, did you just call me your… B-boyfriend…?”

“Hold on, that can wait. Back up. You fell off a cliff?” You rushed over to him and inspected his face between your hands, seeing the small scrapes over his plump cheeks.

“What were you doing on a cliff?”

“Well, as you know I have no money, but I needed some way to convey my feelings for you. We have been going on dates for a while now but I wasn’t sure how you felt so I had to find a proper way to tell you…” Karamatsu’s face was instantly flushed when you touched him, but he still managed to gesture to the hand picked forget-me-nots spread out on the mall floor.

You felt like a jerk. You had been going out with him for weeks but couldn’t tell him how you felt, and it stressed him out to the point he felt like he had to make this grand gesture in order to even confess to you.

“Oh, Karamatsu… Of course I like you! I just… I just can’t always…”

Karamatsu smiled, softly pulling you close to him as he finished your sentence.

“Express yourself?”

You laughed. For the first time in a long time you didn’t feel like you had to suppress it or hide it, you just laughed. Karamatsu joined in with a genuine chuckle, his expression lax as if a huge weight was lifted off his chest.

After moments of much needed laughter, you looked up into his eyes. Thankfully he wasn’t wearing those sunglasses so you could actually see in to his slightly wavering eyes.

“Maybe I’m not good with words… So please accept this as my feelings.”

You leaned in, softly pressing your lips against his. You could feel him stiffen against you, but after the initial contact he moved against you to return the kiss. It was slow and sweet, as well as rather chaste and clumsy, but the two of you had time to get it right.

When you pulled away he was absolutely beaming.
“Finally, my one true Karamatsu g-“

“Excuse me? Ma’am? The mall has to be locked up so can you and your boyfriend please leave?” The security guard from before must have circled back, causing the two of you to practically jump apart.

“Oh, I’m sorry. W-we were just leaving.” You grabbed Karamatsu’s hand.

“Y-yes, we are about to travel a new pathway down the road of life together, in a loving-“

“Please just leave.” The guard cut Karamatsu off with a deadpan expression, gesturing towards the nearest exit.

You and Karamatsu looked at each other and chuckled before heading towards the door, and to a new chapter in your lives together.

Chapter Text

You felt hung-over. You weren’t, of course, because going to work with a hangover could not only get you fired, it would be 10x worse for you because you constantly have to deal with children.

Despite not drinking enough to get even the slightest bit drunk, you still felt like crap the next morning.

As soon as you had gotten home the afternoon before, you passed out for half an hour and then woke up to eat and have a beer. The rest of the night was spent tossing and turning, trapped in your anxious and paranoid mind. You kept recalling yesterday, and felt like more and more of an idiot for being so rude to customers. Granted, you weren’t on the clock and they did kind of play a mind game on you (albeit accidentally), they were just people trying to introduce themselves to you. Weird, identical people, but people nonetheless.

So you decided, around four in the morning, that if you saw them again, you would apologize.

The lack of sleep and overworking of your brain made the morning almost impossible, but thankfully not too many kids showed up so your suffering was not as bad as it could have been.
You were in the need of some coffee, and scolded yourself for not grabbing a cup when you got in, even if you were running a bit late.
Besides you, there was only one other person and the manager working, and there was no way the manager was letting you go. If you were fired, or quit, the only person left working would be him and the lazy teenager who would rather be anywhere but work.

But still, you had a pretty large sense of duty and ended up skipping coffee in order to clock in on time.

That didn’t stop you from staring wistfully at the Starbucks that was sandwiched between the music store and the nail salon.

…Maybe you had a slight caffeine problem…

“E-Excuse me, Miss…?” A hesitant voice lightly croaked from the kiosk window and you tore your eyes away from the Starbucks and towards the owner of the voice.

One of the sextuplets examined you uneasily, his face faintly flushed and somewhat sweaty, with an angular smile.
He wore a blue blazer with a white button up shirt beneath it, and a dark blue tie to complete the look.
Because he wasn’t wearing any discerning colors, you couldn’t tell which one he was. But from you could at least tell he wasn’t the purple one, sunglasses one, or crazy baseball one.
You really wanted to apologize for yesterday and figured not knowing who you were apologizing to was a bad start so you more or less guessed.

“Ah… You are the one from the music store…?” You only decided after you said it, that guessing in your half awake and miserable state was probably not the best idea. For one, you were guessing which identical brother this was, and two; you literally don’t know any of them to begin with.

He looked utterly taken aback, before a wide, genuine smile spread across his face and he seemed absolutely brimming with joy as he nodded.

“I am! I’m amazed you recognized me… My name is Matsuno Choromatsu!”

You felt an overwhelming urge to pat yourself on the back for pulling that off, but lacked the energy.
“My name is (Y/N)(L/N).”

Choromatsu looked even more pleased that you were continuing to speak with him, and you had to admit that kind of made you feel bad. He probably had a horrible first impression of you from yesterday if he’s happy that you’re even introducing yourself to him. He was the one you literally ran away from, after all…

“I was wondering if-“

The muffled sound of a cell phone alarm cut him off, prompting him to silence as you fumbled, pulling your phone from your pocket.
The alarm reading “LUNCH TIME” was like a beacon of hope, like a cactus full of water in a desolate desert.
But before you could do anything, you had to resolve things with this guy… Or you could do both.

“Want to grab coffee with me?”

Choromatsu stared at you like you just threw off your clothes and slathered yourself in honey, both in shock and awe, plus he was drooling a bit.

“What? Like now? Right here, right now?” he tugged a bit at his necktie as if he was over heating.

“Unless you don’t want to…?” You looked at him through half lidded eyes that went from him to the register as you sneakily clocked out.

“N-No! I mean, yes! I mean!” His voice changed octaves in the middle of every other word until he cleared his throat and slightly tugged his blazer,
“I would love to go with you.”

“Great!” You replied a bit more eagerly than you anticipated as you threw off your hat and clumsily locked the door, and then proceeded to grab Choromatsu by the hand and jog towards Starbucks.

The noises Choromatsu made behind you were priceless; though you were too focused on getting your caffeine fix to pay any attention to his mixture of yelps and nonsensical words.

Once you reached the counter, you came to an abrupt stop, which almost caused the already fumbling man to ram in to you. Luckily, he was able to catch himself, but he stood closer to you than he planned.

“Cool, so, what do you want?” You asked him without facing him, your eyes glued to the menu.

“Oh, I didn’t bring any money with me.” His voice was still a bit wobbly, more so when he noticed your hand still around his.

You released his hand, unknowingly prompting a frown from him, and reached in your back pocket for your wallet.
“It’s on me.”

“You really don’t have to-“ He began, but let his words drift off unsurely.

When his sentence, and voice, wavered, you casually responded with;
“I got it. You can think of it as my apology. You know, for overreacting yesterday.”

“I don’t really think you overreacted… My brothers are unreasonable.” He mumbled the last part under his breath, though you heard it just fine.

“Well, sorry for that, too, but I meant running away from you in the music store.” You let out an involuntary chuckle and almost winced at how exhausted you sounded.

“What? The music store?! Y-you saw me there?!” Choromatsu looked sincerely shocked, before quickly lowering his voice and looking at you sheepishly.
“Y-you didn’t see what I bought… Did you?”

You thought back to yesterday when you saw him. He was holding a CD with a cat girl idol on it… Nya-Chan, if you remembered correctly… You weren’t sure if he actually bought it, but you were more surprised that he didn’t notice you watching him in the aisle and then literally running passed him like a mad man possessed.

“Nya-Chan, I think?”

At first he looked terrified, almost, but the simple uncaring in your tone seemed to soothe him.
“Is that okay…?”

“Is what okay?” You were a bit more confused that before, and desperately just wanted him to pick something off the menu so you could order.

“Me… Liking idols...?” His voice sounded so…insecure, and almost needy. Personally you never found anything wrong with idol fanboys, unless they were the stalker kind, but since he was here right now and not out creeping on Ms. Nya-Chan, you figured it was safe to assume he wasn’t a stalker.

“I don’t care. You can like whatever you want. It’s cool you have something to be passionate about.” You said the first part comfortingly, which he seemed to appreciate, but became more demanding at the end.
“Now order something.”

“Y-Yes!” Choromatsu straightened up and faced the counter almost robotically, spouting out an order with a shaky voice.

…

You felt more like an existing, living being once the caffeine woke you up and you filled your belly with a Panini. Choromatsu, on the other hand, looked even more uneasy as he sat across from you at the small table. He kept glancing up at you, only to meet your eyes and quickly look back at his drink.

“So, uh… What brings you to the mall today?” You casually attempted conversation.

Choromatsu snapped his head up, as if suddenly remembering something.
“That’s right! I was going to ask for an application, um, if that’s ok?”

Huh. You were not expecting that, of all things. Actually, you didn’t even know what you were expecting.

“Of course, we’re always hiring new conductors. In fact, I would say you have a good chance of getting hired because there are literally no other applicants.”

“I don’t have much experience, though…” He twiddled his thumbs, suddenly doubting himself.

“Are you legally allowed near children?”

“Yes?”

“Then you’ll be fine. The rest can be taught to you.” You took one last sip of your coffee when you finished speaking.

A sly look crossed his face after the nervousness ebbed away, and he looked at you with a small smile.
“So… I’ll be trained?”

You were glad you finished your coffee; otherwise you might have choked when he said that. A small laugh left your lips as you nodded at him.
“Save that for the boss, he loves train puns.”

Choromatsu seemed pleased; both at your comment, and that he made you laugh.

After your lunch was over, the two of you walked back to the train and once you clocked back in, you gave him an application. He seemed a bit perplexed at it, so you offered to help him fill it out.

He sat at the near by table and frequently asked you questions about the application, which you responded in ways to help him better his chance at landing the job. You were able to learn a great deal about him this way.
You learned he was a NEET, to which you provided a proper way to write that on an application without sounding demeaning, and that oh my god he loves this Nya-Chan. That part wasn’t on the application, of course, but said idol was mentioned a good number of times before the application was filled and fleshed out.
He ended up staying with you the rest of your workday, even after handing his application in, and you had to admit, it was pretty fun.

…

You were off when Choromatsu had his interview, but the fact he was called in for one in the first place was already promising. You could just imagine the tense look on his dopey looking face, kind of like a puppy. Or, like, a nervous frog.

The only confirmation you got that he had even got the job, since you were a dope and didn’t exchange phone numbers with him, was a call from your manager telling you that you were training a new employee for a few weeks.

You were actually surprised how quickly Choromatsu was able to get the hang of everything. The controls of the train were a synch to him, and he was easily able to figure out the register. The only problem was cleaning, in which you became painfully aware he has never been independent before. There were times where he was cranky and irritated, but that was to be expected for his first job.
Other than that, it mostly felt like the two of you were trapped together in the small kiosk, talking about random things and occasionally giving rides.

It felt like it was supposed to be that way. Standing, squished together in a box while talking about his crappy brothers, slowly talking about Nya-Chan less and less.
His sudden lack in interest in talking about the cat girl idol made you concerned a bit, but you weren’t sure if it was something that you needed to worry about. Though it did make you a bit curious.

…

Today was the first day he was going solo, and even though you had the day off, you couldn’t help but keep an eye on him just in case. You trusted him of course, but he had the tendency to overwhelm himself so you couldn’t help worrying.
As expected, he did well on his own and you only approached him when he was closing. He was humming a Nya-Chan song, but you couldn’t remember the name of it.

“Congrats on your first solo day.” Even though you put on your kindest tone, Choromatsu still jumped nearly a foot in the air.

“(Y-Y-Y/N)! How long were you standing there?” He instantly looked red and sweaty.

“Um… Since the start of the song you were humming.” You were a bit worried because he was breathing really heavily. Did you really scare him that bad?

“You heard that? I’m so sorry…” He looked down, as if ashamed for some reason.

“For what? You already know I don’t care about you liking idols and stuff.” You felt bad at making him look at you this way, but didn’t understand what he was thinking.

“I just… I didn’t want you to think I like Nya-Chan more than you.” His serious voice, accompanied with his flustered demeanor caught you off guard. This almost sounds like a confession…?

“What? You can have more than one interest, you know.” You shifted your weight from foot to foot, feeling your cheeks grow warmer as you stared at the ground.

“I guess… I guess I just have a one-track mind.”

You slowly looked up at him, too surprised to laugh at the pun.
“What do you mean…?”

Choromatsu clenched his fists before unclenching them and suddenly wrapping you in a tight embrace.
“I-I… I want to think only of you! I like you, (Y/N)!”

You froze in his arms, your mind processing what he said before you were able to speak.
“Was… Was that a line from a dating sim?”

“Yes, but it’s also how I truly feel!” His voice wavered with embarrassment when you called him out, and finally you were able to laugh.

“I like you too! Achievement Unlocked: New girlfriend.” You playfully quipped, and he almost jumped away from you.

“Are you serious? You don’t mind dating me?” He watched you carefully, almost as if expecting you to reject him last second.

“Not only do I not mind, I want to. Choromatsu, I like you.” You tentatively placed your hands on his shoulders.

He went silent, and the two of you stared at each other almost awkwardly before you leaned in and he got the memo to follow your lead and his lips met yours. You could feel him trembling from beneath your kiss, ever so slightly clanking your teeth together.

“I-I’m sorry!” He backed away as if you were a hot frying pan, and you laughed in response to his reaction.

“It’s ok. We have time to get it right.”

Achievement unlocked: First Kiss!

Chapter Text

Gray clouds spread across the horizon, blocking out the sun and leaving only a dim light in daytime's place.
This morning was gloomy, and it wasn’t just you.
It felt as though the day was a manifestation of how you felt on the inside- melancholy and drab.

On the bright side the headache you had from yesterday had finally gone away, but that only gave you more energy to focus on the events that had unfolded before you had gone home.
It wasn’t as if those, um, sextuplets, intended to scare you. (You couldn’t remember how many there were, but did remember thinking the term “sextuplets”, so you assumed there had to be around six. But of course in the state of mind you had been in, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you had miscounted.)
At least, you think they didn’t plan on scaring you. You didn’t know who they were, so they could as well be the type to do such a stunt.
But you shouldn’t assume. Like you said, you didn’t know them. And you were a bit rude to them, after all.

It was like this since you woke up. You were talking yourself in circles and forcing yourself on an emotional roller coaster. First angry, now sad, now self conscious, and then angry again…
When you saw the clouds outside, you felt in tune with the universe. And then you felt frustrated because you had to walk to work in this dreadful weather. 

When you arrived at work everything was as it should be. Shops were starting to open up and only very few people who didn’t work at the mall were there… And when you arrived at the little kiosk that was decorated to look like a miniature train station, three cans of cat food sat on the outside ledge of the closed window.

Ok, well, that part wasn’t normal.
Before you fully arrived at the station you could clearly make out the small cat on the wrapping of the tins, but when you unlocked the booth and opened the stand’s window you saw a note under the pyramid of cans.
It was a simple folded piece of paper with a few stains on it. When you opened it up, there were a few words crossed out at the top on separate lines as if the person writing the note had trouble deciding what to say.
They settled with “SORRY” in large print spreading the width of the paper, complete with a few blots of ink and a few smeared cat paw prints.

You peeked your head out of the kiosk window and looked around to see if the perpetrator was still skulking around, but you only saw clerks raising the metal bars to open their shops, and a mom walking around with her toddler.

Part of you felt uneasy, but another, bigger part of you felt somewhat grateful. 

As you wondered who could have made this gesture, and what in the world they were sorry about, you instantly found yourself thinking back to yesterday as you vaguely recalled childishly hiding from one of the sextuplets at the pet store.
It would make sense. He saw you in the cat food aisle before you darted behind the massive stack of birdfeed.
But he didn’t have any reason to apologize. You did.
You acted like a survivor in a zombie movie, him being a zombie. All he did was buy cat food and ride a kiddie train with his brothers.

The grateful feeling you had suddenly turned to shame and you decided, right then and there, that if you found that man you would apologize. 

You continued to recall the events from the pet store as you opened up, and then even more throughout the day. If you remembered correctly, he was the one in purple. Unless they changed colors every day, because that would make things more confusing. 

Holding on to the hope that they color-coded themselves, you kept an eye out for the color purple all morning.
You saw a lot of purple in an array of shades, but none of them were on the person you were looking for.

You sighed, staring at the can of cat food in your hand as you leaned back in your chair. It was nearing lunchtime and you were starting to regret skipping breakfast. You hated to admit it, but the glossy picture of tuna was making you hungry.

You look towards the small clock besides you, hanging up on the wall next to the kiosk window. To your delight, it said that it was your lunchtime.
As you began to close down for lunch you eagerly glanced towards the donburi café, when a purple hoodie caught your attention.

It was him! Or at least you hoped it was him. Even as he stared mesmerized by the colorful pictures on the overhead menu, you recognized the face. Plus he was in purple, and now that you remember it he had kind of a bedhead going on.
You were almost positive this was the sextuplet that you met in the pet store, so he must be the same one that left you the cat food.
This would be so much easier if there weren’t six of them.

Either way you hurried to close the station even faster than before, worried you would lose him again. You were half way towards him after locking up before you realized that you still had our conductor hat on, but it would take to long to put it back now.

He stood still, almost eerily still, as he stared up at the picture of a tekkadon. His face was unreadable, definitely less expressive than the red and yellow one.
As you neared him you suddenly lost confidence.

What would you say to him? Sorry for acting like you were trying to kill me but thanks for the cat food?

He didn’t seem to notice you, even when you were almost next to him. His eyes were focused, fixated on the delicious picture of the tekkadon.
It almost seemed like he was thinking about something important, so you stayed silent until you heard the small distant rumbling of a stomach.

He shifted uncomfortably and placed a hand over his growling stomach, letting out a sigh of defeat.

“Hungry?”

He turned towards you in a way that reminded you of a cat seeing a cucumber before going completely rigid. A strained silence ensued.

You smiled at him calmly before walking passed him and towards the cashier at the café.
“Two tekkadon please.”

The man behind you looked around, as if for another person you could have spoken to. He looked uncomfortable and almost like he was going to run away, so you put you hand on his shoulder as you waited for your order.
Never in your life did you think it was possible for someone to shake so much or so fast. It was like he was vibrating. He was starting to sweat too.

As you received the tray with your food, you nodded your head at him to signal he follow you. You were sort of surprised when he did, but when it came to sitting he made sure to pick the chair farthest from you so you had to slide the tekkadon across the entire table.

“This is what you wanted right?” you smiled at him, but he was only looking down at the food with a complex expression.

“Trash…”

You only heard that part of what he mumbled, and you tilted your head not sure if you had heard him right.
“Pardon?”

“You… Must think I’m trash. So pathetic that I need handouts.” He didn’t look up at you and continued to mumble, but this time you were able to hear.
“That’s why… You ran, right? I’m so detestable you were able to tell with just one look.”

Ow. That actually hurt. Like a lot. You felt a stinging pain in your heart as he spoke, making you feel even worse about before and feel a bit rude for forcing your goodwill on him. But at the same time…
“I’m sorry I ran away from you. You were in the pet store, right? I was having a weird day yesterday and I didn’t mean to overreact.”

He was still silent, still looking into his bowl without making another move.

You sighed a bit, reaching in your purse to pull out a can of cat food and slid it towards him on the table.
“Was this a handout?”

He stiffened, looking at the can.
“Apology…”

“And this is mine.” You motioned to the food.

His shoulders slumped as a gained a more relaxed composure, hesitantly reaching towards his pair of chopsticks. You smiled as you watched him slowly eat.

“What’s your name?” You asked him after a while.

He looked up at you, meeting your eyes before quickly looking back down.
“Why? Are you going to put a curse on me or something?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. Is a name all you need for that? I thought you would need like… Hair or blood or something.” This guy was definitely interesting. Something about his dark demeanor yet obvious shyness just kept drawing you in. You wanted to know more about him.

“Heh… You know your stuff. But the most powerful curses only need a name.” You felt a strange airy feeling when he let out a small chuckle.

“Well, my name is (Y/N) and I trust you not to put a curse on me.” You smiled, unable to hold the upward curl of your lips at the sound of his voice.

He looked perplexed, his eyes never leaving the table until he finally looked up at you and spoke with a deep monotone voice.
“Ichimatsu.”

“Well, Ichimatsu, if you don’t mind coming by tomorrow I can tell you how much the cats in my neighborhood enjoyed these.” You gently tapped the top of the cat food.

It was subtle, but he nodded in response.

…

Getting Ichimatsu to talk was incredibly hard. Most of the time you talked about random stuff and he occasionally responded. But still, like clockwork, he met you for lunch every day at the same time for the passed two weeks.

The rare moments he spoke about himself, they were always such negative things. After a while, some people might get annoyed trying to talk to someone so depressing, but for you it was different. It kind of hurt. As if he was saying those things about you, or someone you care about.

It dawned on you the fourth week after he opened up and began talking more about himself. He was describing one of the stray cats that he cared for, and the fond expression on his face made you almost vomit butterflies.
You were in love with this weirdo.

You weren’t exactly sure how to go about this new discovery, especially since he was still slightly skittish towards you so you were afraid he would run away and you’d never see him again.

Today his hoodie was purring.

Ichimatsu glanced around the mall nervously as you two walked towards the food court, before making a sharp left in the hall towards the back of the shops.
You knew why. It was obvious. His jacket meowed impatiently.

“This my friend. The one I told you about.” He spoke in a hushed tone as a small orange cat head popped out from his jacket.

“Aw. He’s so sweet. I didn’t know cats could wear glasses.” You reached out your hand to the cat in Ichimatsu’s arms, letting the feline sniff you before you softly scratched behind his ears.

“He’s very interesting. I haven’t seen many other cats like him. Which is why he’s my best friend.” Ichimatsu smiled down at the cat in his arms, who was rather enjoying your soft touch.

You looked up at his soft smile. He looked genuinely happy at that moment, the words slipped out of you before you had a chance to realize your lips were moving.

“Ichimatsu… I love you.”

His eyes snapped towards yours in a look of shock and confusion. His brows were tightly knit together as he opened and closed his mouth as if he was trying to talk but no sound would leave him.
The cat in his arms meowed.

“Hey. Hey! You two, no animals are allowed in the mall!” A voice boomed, bringing both of your attention to the fast approaching security guard.

Seeing the man, Ichimatsu took off running and you watched woefully as he disappeared out the mall doors.
After you explained to the security guard it was a misunderstanding, you went back to work. The scene of him running away replaying in your mind over and over again until it was time to close.

…

He didn’t show up the next day, or the day after that. By the third day you were convinced you were never going to see him again.

The day dragged on like the last two. Storm clouds not only hanging over your head, but also blocking out the sun outside. Maybe you really were in tune with the universe. Or maybe the universe is making fun of you for coming on too strong.

You sighed your millionth sigh, wiping down the register in the kiosk as you waited for customers. You wondered if it was going to be like this the rest of your life, or if you should try to track him down and apologize or something. He had six identical brothers running around town, if you didn’t find Ichimatsu then maybe you could find one of them?

Or would that be creepy?

“Do you really love me?”

You nearly jumped out of your skin, suddenly hearing his voice. You thought you might have imagined it but he stood there in your kiosk window, wearing a blue suit and tie.

“Ichimatsu!” You cried in relief, feeling a heavy sensation inside of you.

“Why?” He stared at you as you steadied your breathing.

“Why what?” You were just so relieved to see him; you didn’t realize he had asked you something.

“Why do you love me? I’m trash. Lower than trash. I’m a train wreck.” His voice was shaking almost as he spoke. 

You felt a painful tug in your heart, one you were used to feeling every time he spoke about himself like this. You gently leaned over the register, using one hand to keep you steady as you leaned outside of the kiosk window towards Ichimatsu.

“That’s ok. I’m good with trains.”

You tipped your conductor's hat towards him, smiling softly in hopes to lighten the mood and make sure he knows you weren’t going to let go that easy.

You only saw the expression on his face for a second, before you felt his warm lips against yours in a kiss that almost made you fall out of the booth. But you weren’t really worried about that; in fact you weren’t worried about anything.