The skies were as gray as a rainy day, but not a drop had fallen. In the midst of the dreary scenery stood a trio of identical brothers, all glaring a scary, yet familiar foe.

"What… what have you done...?" the red-clothed one's voice quivered as he spoke, a tear escaping his eyes. Choromatsu tried not to shiver as he stood up and Karamatsu clenched his fists, clearly upset. They all stared at the silhouette in front of them, which its head seemed to have a bright red glowing point.

Yes, it's me, Osomatsu Matsuno. There I am with two of my brothers staring at some kind of evil creature that really wants to destroy us.

But how did things get so ugly? Where are our other brothers? Hell, where's anybody? And what is that freaky alien right in front of us? Well, to answer all of this, maybe it's better to start from the beginning…

It all started after we lost in the most humiliating way possible on the Intergalactic Baseball League. We were back at our house, completely and horribly humiliated. Everyone else that helped us was back into their own lives… and we sextuplets were shut in our room, completely pissed off.

In the Matsuno household, Todomatsu angrily tapped away at his phone, most likely tweeting about how they'd lost and how the game was rigged. Jyushimatsu hugged his baseball bat and a bag full of dirt from the diamond, wailing rather noisily. Choromatsu and Osomatsu were upset as well, glaring each other down with evenly matched anger. Ichimatsu, sitting in his usual corner, held an expressionless stare down with his hands in his lap. Karamatsu - in his ever-exaggerated and extravagant glory - stood stoically by the window, dressed in black mourning clothes as he wept for his certain social death, tears strategically hidden by his sunglasses.

"We got so far… just to lose so pathetically..." Osomatsu, clenching his fists, finally broke eye contact with the younger brother and spoke forlornly.

"Well, I could have saved myself, if you hadn't ripped me away from my job!" Choromatsu scolded. "I could have kept the spot I had earned and become independent by myself, but you ruined everything by calling us back for that stupid, waste-of-time selection!"

"Shut it, Fappymatsu! You chose to quit and join us!"

"Now, now, brothers, let us calm down and face our defeat with dignity, non?" Karamatsu, adjusting his sunglasses, attempted to remedy the situation. "My social life is as good as ruined, but at least I-"

"Stay out of this, Shittymatsu!" both shouted at him. Matsuzo and Matsuyo observed their sons fighting and glanced at each other, quickly running out of condolences for them.

"I don't know, maybe this was meant to be... it wasn't unexpected..." the father pointed out.

"You are our sons and we love you... but what a way to lose," the mother sighed.

"Once again, saying terrible things in a nice way! Why can't you just say what you mean, instead of sugarcoating everything?!" Choromatsu began pulling at his own hair. As the situation escalated, Ichimatsu, who had remained silent the entire time since they'd returned, suddenly then stood up.

"I'm out of here." Taking a still-wailing Jyushimatsu by the foot, he dragged him out of the room. There was a tense moment of silence as Todomatsu grew more and more agitated, clenching his phone tightly in his fist. With a strength even unbeknownst to himself, he was startled when he heard a loud crack and felt something give in his hand.

He slowly uncurled his fist, horror dawning on his face as he realized what he had just done to his prized possession. The remaining members of his family stared on with muted panic, an almost literal time bomb having been set off right before them..

"... I'm going out." Totty, with a oddly fear-inducing level of tranquility, picked up his hat from the table and placed it atop his head. He stood quietly and stepped out of the room. They listened carefully, receiving the metaphorical explosion when the front door slammed shut and muffled screaming could be heard from outside.

Osomatsu sat stiffly, watching as the rest of his family left the room one-by-one after a moment's hesitation. He sighed and rubbed under his nose. Despite all that had happened, he still found himself with a small smile, and chuckled to himself.

Even though we lost, it wasn't all that bad. I had got what I had wanted: my brothers were back home, and I wasn't alone anymore. It sounded like things were going to be better… but I would never guess that something was going to change this idea of mine.

In outer space, a large spark of red, surrounded by a blinding violet light, hurtled at full speed towards Earth. Despite its distance, it was briefly visible in the sky overlooking Akatsuka Town. Osomatsu caught a glimpse of it for only a second before he blinked and it had disappeared from sight.

"... That… was probably nothing," he muttered to himself assuredly. Yet he was not entirely convinced it was a mere trick of the eye, and his gaze lingered at the sky a moment longer before he shifted his attention elsewhere.

Ichimatsu continued to drag Jyushimatsu by the ankle, muffled sobs permeating the air. A trail of dirt and tears had marked the carpet on their way out of the house and eventually the concrete behind them.

"Just stop crying, Jyushimatsu. I don't wanna keep carrying you everywhere."

"No, no, no no no…."

"Why don't you go practice some home runs while I feed the cats?" Ichimatsu moaned, slightly annoyed. The sound of that idea made Jyushimatsu open his bloodshot eyes.

"Alright! Sounds like fun! Muscle, Muscle! Hustle, Hustle!" Jyushimatsu suddenly shot up and out of Ichimatsu's grip, barely missing kicking him in the face by only centimeters. Ichimatsu smiled a little to himself, pleased with how quickly the younger had recovered from his despair. Satisfied, he began making his way towards alley to start his feeding rounds, not too far away from where Jyushimatsu was practicing his swings.

"One! Two! Three! F-"

The baseball bat flew out of Jyushimatsu's hands, whipping through the air and smashing into someone's car windshield. His heart stopped as the alarm went off, and he covered his mouth, ready to flee. By the time he swung around for Ichimatsu, he was already gone. Jyushimatsu ran, and didn't look back. The violet thing in the sky passed by, unseen by the fifth of the sextuplets.

Todomatsu stormed down the sidewalk, cradling his broken phone in his hands. It was still somewhat functional, sure, but the screen was indented with two angry thumbprints and was shattered beyond repair. The shards of thick glass jutted out of the phone. He wanted to call someone, anyone, but he didn't want to cut himself.

"This is such bullshit… how much would this even cost to repair?" Todomatsu kicked himself mentally for letting his emotions get the better of him once again. Passersby, who curiously watched, quickly turned away or pretended not to notice. Had his mood been any better, he might've thought to fix his appearance, but as it was, he couldn't bring himself to care any less right now.

CRASH!

The violet thing in the sky crashed down the streets, startling many people around, except for the inattentive Totty.

"... I might have to bury it…." He hung his head with defeat. He had no clue where to get the phone repaired - if it was even repairable - and wasn't willing to shell out for a new phone entirely. Lost in his own self-deprecating thoughts, he hadn't noticed the thing standing directly in his path until he walked right into them, nearly knocking himself over in the process.

"Excuse m-"

Upon further inspection, the figure was the alien. That eye-like alien that kicked the Matsuno team's sorry butts in the Baseball League. Its aura however seemed more sidious than last time.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" Totty wondered, his heart caught in his throat, sputtering in disbelief. "Did you came here just to rub your victory in our faces?"

The alien didn't respond, his red gem glowing as energy flowed from his body.

Todomatsu shivered at the sight of that energy. It looked stronger than Ichimatsu's negative aura. He was scared, but he kept asserting himself.

"Go back to your planet! We've had enough of you!"

Still, the alien didn't react.

"Didn't you hear me?! Leave!" Todomatsu, angered, threw his shattered phone at the alien. It smacked it in the face, but it had no effect. It hit the ground lifelessly, then it burst into flames. The shrillness of Todomatsu's scream echoed down about five city blocks, and prompted citizens to turn in his direction. Although he was screaming about his phone, the citizens turned and ran towards the alien.

Choromatsu was booed and kicked out of Nyaa Hashimoto's show stage. A fight broke out during the concert where a fan was rumored to have looked up Nyaa-chan's skirt. While the fantasy seemed ideal for him, Choromatsu definitely was innocent and became a victim of miscommunication that he was the perverted fan. He was thrown out by the back of his shirt onto the ground below.

"Ouch! Stop that!" he tried to protect himself. "You can't blame it all on me!"

"Get out of here!" and "You can't come here anymore!" were shouted from almost every direction. Choromatsu gritted his teeth and dusted himself off, sore from being grabbed and even hit in some places. He looked to the other side of the sidewalk and spotted a bunch of girls who were throwing a variety of different items at Karamatsu's head, shouting things like 'pervert' and 'painful'.

"C-calm down, please, Karamatsu-girls..." He was bleeding pretty badly from the assortment of hard, heavy objects being thrown at him, and his face was messed up as well. Birds of a feather…

As he turned to limp the opposite direction, Karamatsu suddenly fell into him, and the two ended up back-to-back on the sidewalk.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Heh. Look who's talking."

Both then turned to see the raging crowds after them. Choromatsu decided to ignore the dispute, as he didn't want to be slaughtered by angry women and raging fanboys in one sitting. The brothers ran away together, trying to find a safe place to hide. Huddled in the alleyway, Ichimatsu pet and scratched the cats behind their ears. A female had just given birth to a bunch of kittens.

"How cute… I'm happy for you, friend," he said, solemnly petting the brand new mommy.

Osomatsu walked along the sidewalk, attentively watching the skies for more of that strange silhouette.

"Maybe it wasn't anything..." he thought. "I guess I'm as stressed as the others about th-"

A shriek. Then other screams, belonging to people who were running either away or towards the scream. Then he saw a bunch of people huddling around something.

"P-Please… leave me alone..." Totty covered his face. His phone was still burning, the alien stoic. Beyond his vision, a bright light was increasing. The others crowded around were mesmerized by the light, easily being shoved out the way by Osomatsu. Todomatsu's eyes were wide and horrified. His jaw slowly loosened.

"Totty!" Osomatsu gasped, and stopped shoving to cover his eyes as the light got stronger. As it vanished though, the sight wasn't much better: all that was left of Todomatsu was his hat, the young man himself nowhere to be seen. "T-Totty..." He tiptoed to the hat, shivering. Then, glanced up to the alien observing him and all the people around.

The eerie lifting of the alien's head was enough for Osomatsu, and the rest of the group, to run away scared.

There, on our planet, was that alien again. But wasn't winning enough for him? Why would he want to come over to Earth!?

Jyushimatsu kept training his home runs, having produced another baseball bat in the form of a large, heavy stick.

"861! 862! 863!"

Sweat rolled down Jyushimatsu's forehead and shoulders as he kept swinging the stick. Splinters eased into his hands, making it harder for him to continue.

"Sheeeeeeh!" Iyami suddenly screeched into the air, running towards Jyushimatsu. He was holding the baseball bat, as though he was a punk about to start a fight. "You damned sextuplets! Your baseball bat smashed into me car, zansu!" Jyushimatsu smiled at him happily. "Choromatsu!"

"I'm Jyushimatsu!"

"Whatever! Me doesn't have time to-"

Iyami made eye contact with the figure that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and immediately dropped the bat and tripped, confusing Jyushimatsu, who was blissfully unaware of the alien looming behind him. His face morphed into one of terror as he backed away frantically. He scrambled to his feet, abandoning the baseball bat, and hightailed it out of there.

"Sheeeeeeeh! Me is gettin' out of here, zansu!" He ran. Jyushimatsu then felt the aura's presence, and turned around slowly, sizing up the alien. Having retrieved his steel bat, he felt it shouldn't have been too difficult to take down the alien… at a rematch.

"Enemy! Came for another game? Then, prepare yourself! Batter up! I'm ready!" Jyushimatsu kept his smile on, swinging his bat all directions. The alien was not amused in the slightest. His aura strengthened itself as he approached the excited fifth brother. "Muscle, Muscle! Hustle! Hustle! Muscle, Musc-"

SMASH!

"I-I think we lost them all."

Stopping for a moment to take their breath, hiding in another alley, Choro and Kara took a minute to register each other, and a smile appeared on Choromatsu's face. He couldn't help but snort.

"What?" Karamatsu looked at his younger brother.

"Look at you. You're all beat up."

"Heh…" Karamatsu moaned triumphantly, pulling his shades off in a "cool" manner. "I seem to have angered the ladies somehow. Perhaps it was my desperate desire of keeping my life going on despite our failure. And you?"

"Y'know. People get angry… Some for what matters, others for nonsense..." Choromatsu wiped the blood from Karamatsu's nose with his own sleeve. "They've beaten you up hard here, huh?"

"B-brother..." Karamatsu's eyes widened.

"When we get home, I'll take care of this." He continued to pat the blood off of his brother's face. Choromatsu's cheeks flushed as he watched his brother's eyes well up with tears. "It-It's just the right thing to do! Don't look at me like th-"

Karamatsu pulled Choromatsu into a tight hug. Choro couldn't help but smile and pat his brother's back. From behind the brothers, the sidewalk began pounding beneath them. Choromatsu opened his eyes and saw Osomatsu, amongst a group of other people, sprinting towards them.

"Osomatsu?"

He stopped dead in front of them, his eyes filled with a mix of sorrow and rage. He was panting, his fist full of Todomatsu's hat. Karamatsu took the hat from his hand, holding it curiously. Choromatsu's jaw tightened.

"B-brother, what's wrong?"

"Please explain! What's going on?!"

But instead of giving an answer, Osomatsu grabbed both of their arms and ran as fast as he could. "Where are we going?!" they both asked as Osomatsu pulled them with him.

Ichimatsu's peace in the alley, observing the cats was disturbed by the feeling of a presence behind him… and the alien was right there.

"What are you doing here? Go away." He tried not to look at the thing behind him. Maybe if he showed no interest in whatever he was planning...

The alien then stretched its arm and attacked. Ichi dodged, but it nearly hit the kittens.

"I told you to go away!" Ichimatsu, in his Cat mode, pounced on the alien, scratching him with his claws.

"Eh?! He's WHAT?!" Choromatsu couldn't believe what Osomatsu had just told him, as they ran by the sidewalk. "B-but how..."

"The Baseball League... that alien from it…"

"Eh?! That guy?!"

"But why would he do this?!"

"I don't know! But if he got Totty, we have to protect the rest of our brothers! No, the rest of our team!"

The three older brothers however arrived far too late where Jyushimatsu was.

"Jyushimatsu!" the three gasped at the sight: their brother's head was practically crushed by a baseball bat. What a bloody, yet ironic way to die…

"Oh, no..." Osomatsu hesitated.

"J-Jyushimatsu…" Choromatsu whimpered. "I'm glad his girl's not here to see this. She would maybe try to kill herself again." Then, they heard the sounds of loud blasting lasers everywhere.

As they ran in the opposite direction, a freaked out Chibita ran away, his clothes turned to shreds.

"Run, idjits! Get the hell out of here!"

"Help me-dayon!" Dayon ran down the sidewalk.

"I'm too beautiful to die!" Totoko cried as she ran away, then the brothers knew they were on the right track.

Then, the sounds of panicked meows and many cats running away alarmed the three eldest brothers to a specific direction.

"Please… let's not be too late…" Osomatsu pleaded as the three ran to find the fourth brother. When they reached a specific alley, they were in horror.

"Ichimatsu...!"

There was the purple-dressed brother lying on the ground in the alley, with the remaining cats in the alley all crowded around him, meowing in grief. Blood was escaping from his covered mouth.

"I guess he tried fighting back..." Choromatsu hesitated as he turned the body around.

"M-my Karamatsu Boy..." Karamatsu's eyes closed as he clenched his fists.

"Now there's only us left! What are we're going to do?" Choromatsu was desperately clinging to Ichimatsu's body. "How are we gonna explain this to Mom and Dad!?"

"How should I know?!" Oso screamed angrily and despairingly. "I never saw this happening to us! I could never expect this to happen EVER!"

"Osomatsu…" Both of the younger brothers that were still alive turned to Oso.

"You two, get our parents, and everyone left of our team and the city, and get them somewhere safe." Quickly, Osomatsu sprinted away before his remaining brothers could argue.

Both brothers stared at each other. They had no choice but to obey.

Soon, who remained of the team as well as some people of Akatsuka Town were safely hiding in Doctor Dekapan's laboratory. Fortunately, Choro and Kara had brought many people, before the city had turned into pure shades of grey.

"I can't believe someone could reach the point of such insanity," Dekapan pointed out. "Killing each member of the rival team is possibly something that could lead to expulsion."

"Who cares about that?! My oden kart's practically destroyed!" Chibita scolded.

"They destroyed my room and my friends-dajo!" Hatabo was crying, remembering his destroyed home.

"My room was detonated too!" Totoko yelled angrily at him. "Along with all my idol gear!"

Karamatsu continued looking outside the door, hoping Osomatsu would show up. He was obviously concerned. Choromatsu was bandaging up his older brother as promised. Once he was finished, they made eye contact, Kara with a serious look.

"We have to find him." Choro nodded and the two stood up.

"You two are going?!" Chibita questioned. "That thing wants to kill you, you idjits!"

"But it'll kill Osomatsu too. And he's still out there," Choromatsu argued with a serious face. "The whole city will pay the price if we don't do something."

"If we couldn't beat him in the baseball game, why should we try fighting back?!" Totoko scolded them.

"That idiot isn't worth it, zansu," Iyami said. The two brothers were immediately glaring at him, making everyone in the shelter cower a little.

"We know he's an idiot... but he's OUR idiot older brother." Karamatsu was serious, not even bothering into cracking his usual voice. "You all saw us growing up together, so you must know how he matters to us, no matters how much of a jerk he is!"

"... You're right." Their parents walked up to them, clearly worried. Matsuyo took their hands gently in hers for a moment. "As much as we are against this… we know this is what you want and need to do." Matsuzo put a hand on her back to support her. "You now have only each other, and we must be ready for anything. Just try to be safe, my useless, wonderful boys."

Oso picked up the metal bat that was near his brother's body. As he turned around, he was stunned to find Kara and Choro waiting.

"What are you doing here?!"

"We lost half of us and we are not losing more, much less our leader!" Karamatsu protested. Oso was taken aback.

"You may be an irresponsible idiot, but we're all we have now," Choro stated. The three turned toward the city, where smoke was beginning to rise in dark clouds of it. "At this rate, that monster will level down the whole city just looking for us."

"You want to end this. So do we," Kara said. Karamatsu and Choromatsu reached their hands out to Osomatsu. Oso stared with glowing eyes before nodding with a serious face and they joined hands.

Silently, they headed towards the center of the city. Just as they thought, the alien was right there. Dekapan's lab door was destroyed, and all the people inside, trembling with fear.

"No, no! Don't do this, please!" Chibita feared for his life.

"I'll pay anything you want to leave us alone-dajo!" Hatabo tried to negotiate.

"I've never been to Paris, zansu!" Iyami lamented.

Before the trio could hurry, the monster let out a blast of light. There were screams of pain and the building collapsed into rubble.

"No!" all three of them gasped in horror. Everyone they knew, everything they had was destroyed… practically buried under the ruins of Akatsuka City.

Well, here we are now. The three remaining Matsuno brothers against the enemy that, who knows why, has come to Earth to destroy us…

"What… what have you done...?" Osomatsu said, barely audible. "How could you do this?"

The beast didn't say a word.

"Tell me why! You won the baseball game! SO WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Osomatsu shrieked with his tear stained face. "Why my brothers and the entire city?!"

"You… are an idiot…"

"Wait, that thing talks?!" Choromatsu freaked out.

"Speak up, monster! Why have you done this to our younger brothers and Akatsuka Town?!" Karamatsu shouted.

"... Humans are imperfect… You are natural losers… and yet I had to jump through so many hoops just to make sure I had an easy win against you six…

"My team provided the energy I needed to finish you all in the end… the energy of many aeons of training and effort…

"Your energy was weak compared to ours, for its only purpose of existing was because of a female… It wasn't true heart energy… and that is why it was easy putting your team to shame."

"He does have a point..." Choromatsu pointed out. "The only reason we worked together that time was to have the chance we wanted with Totoko… It was a futility-driven effort… a weak effort from our part…"

"But somehow, just defeating you was not enough. Not when I had to use that energy in the first place to beat you. I just needed to see you completely annihilated..."

"Kill us off because of a stupid mistake?!" Osomatsu reminded.

"I guess that amount of energy his team gave him has driven him crazy," Karamatsu remembered the aliens sharing their energy to defeat the sextuplets.

"Maybe… but who is crazier? Me, who used all of our team's energy and effort to keep our place in the Intergalactic Baseball League intact… or the selfish idiot who called in a team of incompetent losers?!"

That hit Osomatsu like a punch in the gut. It was one thing to hear his brothers call him selfish, but coming from the monster that killed all of the team and his family as well… Perhaps he was right. They were doomed to that fate because of him… because of his stupid selfishness.

"N-no..." He trembled and fell to his knees.

"O-Osomatsu!" Karamatsu called for him.

"Okay, we got it! We were all selfish and untrue to our feelings and team spirit!" Choromatsu tried to argue. "But you also committed a huge crime by killing our entire team, our family and destroying our city! You're also not being loyal to your team's effort anymore, and that makes you really hypocritical!"

"SILENCE!" The alien stretched his arm again and tried hitting Choromatsu, but Karamatsu pulled him out of the way, and let the alien destroy the closest rock formation. "I wanted to see you crumble… crumble as everything you've cared about is destroyed as well. But now that all is already turned to ashes..." The alien reeled back, its red center glew intensely, its arm alight with an ominous glow. "You're the only thing left to be reduced to nothing!"

Osomatsu closed his eyes tight, expecting the worst.

Karamatsu quickly leapt out in front of him and took the blow with a painful (literally painful) scream. Osomatsu looked up to see the blood on Kara's chest as he was thrown several feet away.

"Karamatsu!" Both brothers rushed to his aid. The second eldest brother struggled to turn, but he stared weakly in surprise at the two as they knelt beside him.

"Wh-what…?" the blue clad brother muttered.

"Idiot! What were you thinking?!" Osomatsu scolded. "That shot was meant for me! How can you be such a selfless idiot?!" He teared u, as Choromatsu pulled Karamatsu onto his lap.

"Heh… y-you really do care..." he muttered in his real voice.

"Eh!?"

"All this time, since we've grown up… I was sure no one cared about me… that you all hated me..."

"How could you even think that?!" Choromatsu snapped in disbelief.

"Don't play it cool, Choromatsu… you said it as well… I was not even supposed to be born, you all said-"

"You just don't get it, do you?!" Osomatsu's eyes cried apparent waterfalls. "We were joking! That was meant to be funny! Y-you are a pain, but you're our brother a-and we only said that because we think you're great the way you are, without this stupid personality you-"

Karamatsu coughed, blood spattering his chin, cutting his brother's teary lashing short.

"I was sure no one else cared about me… but you're here… you BOTH are here..." Karamatsu coughed a bit, but then he weakly smiled with tears. "I at least have you… here with me one last time… thank you, b-brothers…." He exhaled deeply and closed his eyes, falling limp with a peaceful, happy smile.

He was gone.

"Karamatsu..." Osomatsu cried out, sobbing while Choromatsu held their now-deceased brother tightly. The alien observed the display, amused.

"Quite pleasant show…. but we must keep business going."

The amusement was a bad choice as Osomatsu glared through his tears.

"Y-you monster..." He clenched his fists, his voice deep and furious.

"Osomatsu-nii-san…" Choro called, hoping his brother wouldn't do anything that could be a bad decision.

"Look who's talking..." The alien kept the psychological torture game going. "The selfish idiot that ruined its family and friends' lives..."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Osomatsu had enough as he ran against the alien. With one swing of a long, purple arm, the alien's strength hit Osomatsu right in the chest, knocking the air out of him and forcing him onto his back. Choromatsu gasped, and seeing the alien about to go after his older brother, he knew he had to act fast. So he quickly grabbed a handful of dirt and tossed it into the alien's eye. It reeled back, screeching.

Osomatsu, once regaining his breath, took a firm grasp of Jyushimatsu's bat, and saw the alien turning to Choromatsu and the recently-deceased Karamatsu still in his arms. With one final scream of anguish and wrath, tears of rage streaming, Osomatsu brought the metal bat down on the alien that killed almost everyone - everyone that he never told before how much they mattered to him.

In one loud crunch, the alien went down. But Osomatsu still felt his blood boiling from just the sight of the creature and continued striking it with the bat.

"Osomatsu! Osomatsu!" Choromatsu called. "OSOMATSU-NII-SAN!" he shrieked in desperation, and grasped his older brother from behind. Time seemed to still. "It's over… Stop..."

Osomatsu breathed heavily as the bat slipped from his hands. He looked at himself, seeing the redness on his hands from both holding the bat so tightly and the blood of the alien. Dark red stains dotted his shirt and pants, and he could swear he felt it on his face. His legs quivered as he fell to his knees again. Tears started to fall on the floor.

"I-It's all my fault…"

"Osomatsu..." Choromatsu placed a hand on his shoulder.

"H-he was right… I-It's all my fault!" Oso covered his face. "If I knew this was going to happen, I would have never pulled you guys out of your newly-chosen lives… y-you would still be safe and no one would have to suffer… I take all the blame! I am a stupid, selfish, cowardly person that ruined everyone's lives! I'm the real monster! I wish he'd killed me!" He sobbed harder, hugging Choromatsu. "It should've been me… not any of you…"

Both of them shared each other's suffering. They were seemingly alone now. No, they were alone. Everything had been destroyed.

Then, both saw a slight glow coming from the alien. There, on the center of his eye-like head, was a red gem that glowed with an intense light. Perhaps the source of the alien's powers…

"Not all is lost, Osomatsu Matsuno," he heard a voice say. It sounded familiar... but it seemed that he was only one who heard it. He stood up and saw the gem float to his direction, stopping in front of him. "This universal relic might be the key to solving your problems… which surely, for a NEET, are many already… but for someone who have lost all hope, is much more...

"Osomatsu-nii-san?" Choromatsu didn't hear a thing, only seeing Osomatsu watching the floating gem.

"You are a person with many dreams, objectives, many things you desire to conquer… and with the relic, any wish you desire… you shall have it. However, it is something to be thought carefully about. For with any granted wish, there is a consequence."

"Anything…" Oso reached out and took the gem in his hands. Then, he looked back at Choromatsu and the recently deceased second brother. He already knew the consequence of his selfish wish, so he knew what that voice meant… and exactly what he wanted.

"... I wish... " Osomatsu held the gem in his hands firmly. "I wish to go back to the day before Choromatsu moved! It was where this all began… and where I want to restart!"

"Osomatsu..." Choro's eyes widened. The last thing he saw was Osomatsu's smile and tear-dotted eyes and a powerful bright light covered everything. It spread itself to all directions, covering the deceased bodies, the destroyed buildings, all the chaos the alien caused… It all was gone in an apparent flash.

Osomatsu gasped silently, as he looked up. There he was again, knelt in front of the table, while the rest of the family celebrated Choromatsu's luck. He was precisely back where he said he wanted to be… and it seemed as though nothing had happened at all.

"Let's party, brother… no, family!" Karamatsu exclaimed.

Looking over all five of his brothers - all very much alive, and not battered, bloody, and dead - he smiled shakily.

"Guess someone just needed a nap!" Jyushimatsu laughed, flapping a sleeve in front of Osomatsu's face. Karamatsu, already noticing Osomatsu had something wrong, touched Jyushi's shoulder and both stepped back.

Osomatsu then stood up slowly, putting the whole family in a moment of deep silence. Karamatsu feared for the worst - knowing his older brother and his impulsive and sometimes violent tendencies - and moved to stop Osomatsu… but the older Matsuno brother only tightly hugged the third brother.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Choromatsu," Osomatsu sobbed, surprising Choro and everyone.

"Osomatsu-nii-san..." Choromatsu was speechless; this didn't sound like his older brother at all. Was he simply pretending just to play some bizarre prank on him?

"I'm sorry about everything… for not being the supportive big brother you deserve, for letting you and everyone down so many times, and for not being able to show you how much I truly care about you." No… even if it was a prank, he knew he truly DID care about his brothers. In his idiotic way, but he sure did care.

As he let go of Choro, Oso turned to address the others.

"Guys, I'm sorry to you as well. I was also a big burden for you all. Always ignoring your existence, mocking your choices, mistaking your intentions and hurting all of you." Osomatsu paused to wipe his eyes before continuing. "B-but I have to be honest… I admit I'm really scared… I'm scared of all of us never being the sextuplets we used to be once Choro leaves… no, of us all being apart in general... but the least I can do, despite what I may feel, is support his choice." He looked up with a teary smile. "And I hope that one day, if any of you guys decide to do the same… to leave this house in search of your own happiness… then don't quit. Because… I believe in you." The Matsuno family all felt silent, surprised at Osomatsu's unusually wise words.

"Osomatsu..." Choromatsu couldn't hold back his own tears and, overcome with emotions, leapt into his brother's arms. "I-I'm scared as well! T-this is a big change, and I-I'm not sure about anything! I s-say it a lot and sound like I'm ready, b-but I'm actually r-really insecure and afraid of what may happen to me!"

"I know. But you know you can come back here. I'm here for you, Choromatsu," Osomatsu said, as they both started to break down in tears. "I love you, you big doofus!"

"You jerk! You're the best idiot older brother ever!" Soon, the commotion hit everyone around.

"Oh, brothers!" Karamatsu started to cry loudly, and he ran for the hug. "Why do you make me emotional like that?!"

"You're so embarrassing, but I love you guys so much!" Todomatsu hugged them all, and Jyushimatsu joined them.

"Ugh, dammit!" Ichimatsu couldn't resist all of them, and joined that group hug.

The sextuplets huddled together in a teary group hug, their parents watching on with small sad smiles, wiping their tears. Inside their teary hug, Osomatsu slowly smiled.

They might not know what made me change like that… but I am sure it's a good way to start again.

Well, things got as they were supposed to… Choromatsu left and this time, I was there to support him.

Choromatsu bid his last good-byes to everyone, and Osomatsu was the last one to wish him luck, with another teary hug.

As the others decided to follow his idea as well, I struggled to be strong and kept supporting them. With the smallest things and the biggest issues as well.

When Totty's turn to leave came, Osomatsu helped him to make his new house not that scary, with flashlights and pretty decoration. Then came Karamatsu's turn, which Oso made sure to help him practice for job interviews and convinced Chibita to let him be his roommate (in his way, of course).

It still hurts they aren't here with me… but I am happy now. They're alive and safe, after all.

Oso brought comfortable stuff for Ichimatsu to live in the alley with the cats, like sleeping bags and plenty of cat stuff. Jyushimatsu was given some protective gear, just in case something could possibly go wrong.

And even if we are called on again… I hope they listen to the first good advice I ever gave them.

The door of Osomatsu's room opened. His mom had an envelope in her hand.

Once again, Osomatsu was there for the baseball selection, but this time, only he was there with his parents.

"Matsuno family." At the call of their surname, Osomatsu stepped forward. "Only one of the brothers?" There was some murmuring from the crowd, but Oso paid no mind. As the items were presented, he looked at the snake for a second. He chose it last time and his team got to play that year. No, he wasn't going to make that choice again.

A soft light caught his attention, even with his eyelids closed. He looked towards the light and couldn't describe why, but it just felt that bright thing was what he wanted. And so, that's what he selected: a star the size of a melon.

"The Matsuno family chose a very unusual item," the announcer pointed out. "A star."

The crowd began to murmur again, only louder. The press box was completely silent as Osomatsu picked up the star.

"We have come to a decision after much discussion!" the announcer came back on. "In one year, the Matsuno team will have the privilege to participate in the League!" The crowd cheered.

"One year..." Osomatsu held the star tightly. "One year to create a better future…"

As they were walking out of the building, Osomatsu saw what he didn't expect… waiting for him.

"Osomatsu-nii-san!" all of his brothers greeted. They were all reunited with their luggage.

"W-what are you guys doing here?" he asked them.

"We needed to come back..." Choromatsu rubbed the back of his head.

"Eh?"

"The house is set to be demolished." Todomatsu tapped his fingers.

"Chibita and I didn't work well as roommates," Karamatsu sighed.

"The cats moved to the alley nearby the house," Ichimatsu pointed out.

"The team was made of jerks and the coach wasn't nice either," Jyushimatsu pouted for a moment.

"... C-Choromatsu-"

"Don't worry. I didn't quit my job. Just my old new home," Choromatsu said. "We reunited and talked… and after what happened that night… guess we all felt it wasn't right for us to go on without you."

"But-"

"Ah!" Karamatsu stopped him. "You said you will support our decisions."

"... Yes… I did." Osomatsu rubbed his nose.

"And we decided to come back... because you need us, Osomatsu-nii-san. We won't leave our older brother behind," Choromatsu added in.

In any way or fate, even if I didn't call them back... they would be there for me.

When had I forgotten this link we had? This deep feeling of brotherhood I wanted to regain, but ended up forgetting as well?

"Y-you guys..." Osomatsu muttered with a smile. "You wonderful bunch of NEETs!" He looked up, tearing up again, then pounced to hug them. "Thank you! I love you all so much!"

"Well, we tried," Matsuzo sighed, as the sextuplets' cheery voices were heard.

"Guess they aren't that ready yet for the real world..." Matsuyo pointed out. "Except for Choromatsu, maybe."

"Come on, could you stop sugarcoating your rudeness that much?!" Choromatsu asked. "They at least tried!" There were a few nervous chuckles.

Osomatsu smiled… not selfishly, but out or relief and happiness. All of them then started to return home together.

Well, this bitter restart is my chance of regaining this link. I have this year to start all over. To protect my brothers from what will come in the possible future. After all, I still want us to win… but this time, for the right reason! For what made us Osomatsu-kun… and what must make us a better Osomatsu-san!

"Well, this is a good way to start, huh?" Osomatsu commented, as the brothers stared at the audience, back in their household and oi their living room. "It feels great to be back."

"We could have never returned if it wasn't for your support," Choromatsu admitted.

"Especially from all the Karamatsu girls and boys!" Karamatsu adjusted his glasses and winked at the screen. "I am glad to see someone actually hears me!"

"Yay! We have more to come!" Jyushimatsu assured.

"Thank you so much for all your support!" Todomatsu said.

"Ichimatsu, want to say something?" Osomatsu asked. Ichimatsu didn't say anything, except a small grunt of acknowledgement before weakly smiling.

"Well, then that's all for now. See you next time."

"Thank you!" They all said, bowing in respect. Then, Osomatsu lift up his head.

"And stay tuned for future stories!"