Unfortunately, I'm not feeling very well today. I wasn't able to finish the new Servant Prince chapter because of it. However, it'll be here Thursday, along with a special fic. Please look forward to it!

Candy Games

Everything was a game for Jyushimatsu, Karamatsu had noticed. The younger brother had always seemed very carefree and open about his emotions. Karamatsu always had the passion for the flair, for the purple prose, for the dramatics, as they said. Jyushimatsu never pretended he understood Karamatsu's flowery words but he would get the gist of what he said.

And yet, it surprised Karamatsu that every time he and Jyushimatsu would go to the pachinko parlor together – and he'd always win. At first, Karamatsu had thought it was just a coincidence – sometimes he'd get a lucky streak but other times, not so much… at least, that's his usual luck with his brothers.

"Nii-san!" called out Jyushimatsu as the pachinko pellets fell out of the machine as he hit the jackpot yet again. "You won again!" He cheered and danced around the second eldest brother as Karamatsu was struck with awe yet again. He had come over every day to the parlor without Jyushimatsu and tested his luck then – nope, he lost and badly.

And yet with Jyushimatsu, it always seemed to bring him more luck – when he managed to bring him along, that's when Karamatsu won greatly.

So, he devised a plan, or rather, a game. It was hard enough to get Jyushimatsu interested in pachinko constantly since, outside of his fellow brothers, he didn't seem to have an interest it and had more interest in playing baseball. In order to convince Jyushimatsu to come with him constantly, they'd play a game.

At first, it seemed innocent enough. Karamatsu would have a bowl of lollipops with all kinds of flavors – he'd pick one of lollipops at random and he would give it to Jyushimatsu and the younger one would gulp it down. Now, in the beginning, Karamatsu would ask for Jyushimatsu to breathe on him so he could guess the flavor's scent; if Karamatsu guessed right, he'd stay at the parlor with his dear older brother and play pachinko – but if Karamatsu is wrong… then he'd give up for the day and practice baseball with him. It did seem that, for a while and at first, they managed to get it – with Karamatsu mostly winning with him occasionally playing with Jyushimatsu until Karamatsu realized Jyushimatsu's attention had already started to wane. He then devised and altered the game – when he was a child, Jyushimatsu was extremely affectionate towards his brothers and always kissed them. Most people found that adorable and cute because the brothers were children but as the sextuplets got older, it became strange and less endearing.

Jyushimatsu did stop being so affectionate but he saw how the younger had always acted around Ichimatsu. Karamatsu knew deep down, sweet, affectionate, little Jyushimatsu still resided there.

Karamatsu, one day, kissed him. This surprised Jyushimatsu – usually he'd have a silly comment to make, or even an outrageous pun, or even his usual "Hustle, hustle! Muscle, muscle!" catchphrase. The taste of lime graced his lips and it was stronger than when Jyushimatsu breathed on his nose. Often, other smells had gotten mixed in with the lollipop but Karamatsu didn't mind as much – even though occasionally it ranked something bad – he wouldn't know what the other had eaten although he figured that was the point.

"It's lime," Karamatsu responded after he determined the taste. The younger brother was still somewhat surprised at the sudden kiss but resumed smiling his huge smile. He seemed a little too happy about being kissed, Karamatsu noticed, but perhaps he thought too hard on it.

"Niisan, you're right, you're right!" The other finally announced. He laughed and twirled around – Karamatsu smiled and posed his usual cool romantic poses.

"Of course, my dear brother," he crooned. He whipped out his triangular sunglasses and placed them on though there were no sun that peeked into the room at the moment. "You have very sweet kisses."

The other brother seemed to ignore that comment though Karamatsu couldn't deny how it tickled his lips and left a lingering feeling in his heart. However, Karamatsu shrugged it off for the time being and the two got ready to go back to the pachinko parlor.

When Karamatsu started this game, it was usually every once in a while. He usually didn't plan to go to pachinko unless the mood struck him hard. And yet, he didn't realize when he'd started to play the game more frequently with the younger.

He couldn't explain it but he found himself buying more lollipops with more varieties of flavor that he wasn't sure if Jyushimatsu would even eat. He found himself always asking Jyushimatsu for kisses even when Jyushimatsu had to explicitly tell him at certain points that he just wanted to play baseball that day. Karamatsu would have to learn to hold himself back and sometimes he couldn't wait till the next day.

He didn't know where this obsession came up for Jyushimatsu's kisses – it wasn't anything special. All the kisses were just affectionate and with the candies mixed in, it made it extra sweet. It was something completely different from the cruel ignorance of his other brothers, especially the more toxic words from Ichimatsu. It always stung him whenever his brothers don't appreciate his prose, or longing to be acknowledged for the good big brother that he was.

Spending all the time with Jyushimatsu though made him yearn for the other's affection so much more. And yet, once Karamatsu gave the other his space and after some time, Jyushimatsu came back. He came back wanting to play the game, perhaps he needed to refresh himself from playing too much but Jyushimatsu became more and more willing to kiss him for the Candy Game, something that they both sort of agreed to call it.

This time, Karamatsu tried to mix it up – he'd guess wrong on purpose and he'd guess wrong because he really was wrong. He didn't want to scare away the younger one with his new quiet obsession with his kisses. He had to give the other some leeway – as in, actually playing baseball with him just so he could keep things interesting and keep Jyushimatsu's boredom at bay.

He hoped that Jyushimatsu would still keep playing these Candy Games with him until he can understand himself the game within his heart.