Choromatsu had been living on his own for a grand total of 3 months now. He was starting to relax at work and had (more or less) settled into his new apartment. Somethings he was still a little bit uncertain on, such as laundry, and grocery shopping, and cooking... Instant ramen and rice in the cooker from his mother were dinner staples. Lunch usually involved going out with co-workers, which was a nice change.
The heat in his apartment was another thing he wasn't certain of. He was pretty sure it worked...most of the time. Like, at least half of the time. Definitely no less than a third of the time.
And getting a good night's sleep was...more difficult than he'd imagined. He hadn't had a solid night's rest since the night before he moved. Well, the one before that anyway.
Choromatsu sighed as his alarm went off, indicating it was time to wake up, as though he were actually asleep. The coldest nights were always the hardest to sleep through...
He got up from his futon (not as comfortable as the one Kaa-san had bought them) and went to start his standard breakfast of plain toast and coffee, frowning at the headache a night of poor sleep always lead to.
Work was anything but spectacular, lunch being even less so. Choromatsu had opted to bring his lunch (a bento of rice and soy sauce), not really feeling up to leaving the office. Which was well enough as it had started raining and he hadn't thought to bring an umbrella – and that stupid headache hadn't let up even after his second cup of coffee.
By the time 5 o'clock finally rolled around, Choromatsu was tired. Exhausted actually. And his head still hurt like hell. And it was still raining. And Cold. And he still didn't have an umbrella. And while the dorm was only 3 blocks away, he really wasn't looking forward to the walk.
He got home drenched and shivering, bemoaning the fact that it was only Wednesday and he'd have to do this all over again tomorrow and the next day and why had he been so insistent on getting a job and graduating from being a NEET?
Maybe Osomatsu-nii-san is right, he thought as he changed into dry pajamas (decidedly not the blue matching ones). He flopped onto his (still uncomfortable) futon, thinking about his oldest brother. All his brothers. He'd only really kept in touch with Todomatsu, seeing as he was the only one with a cell number at the time. He'd gotten calls and letters from the others sporadically, except for Osomatsu. And Ichimatsu hadn't called or written in a while...
Choromatsu hadn't even been up to see his parents since he left. Part of that was knowing how hard it would be to leave again, but mostly he was avoiding Osomatsu. It wasn't like he was mad at him (had never actually been). He was just unsure how his brother would react to seeing him again.
Choromatsu ended up falling asleep imagining different scenarios ranging from Osomatsu killing him to hugging him.
Choromatsu woke unaware that he'd even fallen asleep. He stretched, keeping his eyes closed. He felt much more rested than before his nap. His headache wasn't gone, but it had lessened to a dull ache behind his eyes. He cracked an eye open to glance at the clock. 7:45 am. So he hadn't missed dinner. Wait. A.M.? His eyes popped back open as he realized he'd not only slept through dinner, but also straight through his alarm. He stood quickly to get dressed, wavering slightly at the head rush, before splashing cold water on his face and pulling on his charcoal suit and a green tie. A glance at the clock told him he had 5 minutes to get to work. He'd have to run. And it was STILL raining.
Choromatsu was never a fast runner, especially in the rain, but he managed to make it to the office at exactly 8:01, so while it was officially his first time being late, no one said anything, so maybe it would be okay just this once.
He sat down heavily behind his desk, taking another minute to catch his breath and let his mind catch up. The unexpected burst of exercise caused a tightness in his chest and he coughed a couple time to try and find relief. It didn't help. And now his throat hurt, too. Coffee. That would help. Distantly he realized that he'd skipped both dinner last night and breakfast this morning. There was nothing he could do but wait until lunch, though.
A few hours into the work day (and an abandoned half cup of coffee gone cold), Choromatsu sniffed for the twelfth time that hour. It was usually cold in the office for some reason. His chest was still tight and his throat still hurt. By now he was fairly certain he was coming down with a cold.
Just make it to the weekend, he told himself, also noting to pick up Vitamin C on his way home.
His head also felt...weird. It wasn't quite a headache anymore and the pressure was gone, but it felt...light? Almost dizzy but not quite. He was pretty sure that came from not eating anything but coffee, toast, and rice for 2 days, though. Once he made it to lunch he'd be fine. He'd already agreed to go to lunch with a handful of the other newer employees, so he was sure he'd manage fine until then.
And he did manage fine until then. Right until then. One of the ladies he recognized as Matsuki-san, the head Administrative Assistant, had popped in to ask him if he was ready to go to lunch. He'd nodded, stood, and made it approximately 2 steps from his desk when he suddenly stopped.
"Matsuno-kun?" Matsuki asked, her polite smile turning into a look of worry at how pale he'd gone. "Are you alright?"
"I..." Choromatsu tried to focus, but things were getting hazy and..tilting? And suddenly he couldn't feel his legs or...anything. Except that he might puke. "I don't feel well," he mumbled before everything faded out.
For the second time that day, Choromatsu woke not remembering falling asleep. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking as his office came into view.
"Matsuno-kun?" Matsuki leaned her face over his. "Thank goodness you're awake. Your brother's on his way. How are you feeling?" She rambled on, fussing over him more than necessary.
"Um...what happened?" He asked sitting up, blinking away the spots that swam in front of his eyes.
"I'm not sure. You said you weren't feeling well and the next thing you fainted," she said.
Fainted? Well, that was embarrassing.
She hovered over him like he was going to fall over again, which would have been annoying if he wasn't so out of it. Wait.
"You called my brother?"
"Yeah, I called the 'in-case-of-emergency' number in your file and your brother answered."
Choromatsu thought for a moment about which brother he'd listed. It had to have been Todomatsu, though, right? He was the only one with his own number and he didn't want to put his parents down, because how could he call himself independent if he still relied on them?
"You didn't need to do that." Choromatsu argued weakly. "I'm fine now."
Aside from the fact that he still felt light-headed and shaky and just the slightest bit nauseated and maybe he was starting to run a fever from the cold he was sure he was catching...
"Matsuno-kun, you're not...you can't be fine. Just take the rest of the day off. And tomorrow, too, if you need it. You do get sick days, you know."
Choromatsu sighed, but it was hard to argue with her when he didn't yet have the energy to stand.
Todomatsu yawned, scratching his head as he stared into the almost empty pantry in his room at his apartment. Instant ramen again it seemed. Todomatsu sighed. Being independent sucked. He almost wanted to go home, apologize to his parents and Osomatsu and go back to being a NEET. Almost. But thinking about Osomatsu sulking instead of wishing Choromatsu off and hurting Jyushimatsu – that gave him the resolve to keep living in this crappy, dark, scary hell-hole as long as necessary. But he would have to graduate from eating ramen out of Styrofoam. He stuck his tongue out as he grabbed one of the last few cups. His phone started ringing from where he'd left it plugged in by his futon, but he figured it could at least wait until he was done in the kitchen. And if it was important they'd leave a message.
They did leave a message, it turned out. Just a very short, "You were listed as Matsuno Choromatsu's emergency contact and we need to come down to the office as soon as possible, thank you." *Click*
And that wasn't concerning at all. As much as Todomatsu and Choromatsu had clashed back at home, they'd become a lot closer since they'd both moved out and Choromatsu had gotten a phone. (Totty had spent 2 hours trying to just teach him the basics of owning a smart phone.) After that they'd been texting each other nearly everyday.
Todomatsu abandoned his lunch (no great loss) and caught the bus towards the district Choromatsu worked in.
****
It took longer than he would have liked to find the right building, but he finally made it. None of the brothers had actually been to the office, so Totty was secretly glad to be the first. He was also impressed when he walked into the expansive front lobby, amazed that one of his brothers could actually find work in a place like this. The lobby was quiet, the only sound was the typing from the secretary at the desk. She looked up just as Totty reached the desk and smiled brightly.
"Oh! You must be Matsuno-kun's brother. He never mentioned you were twins." Sextuplets, actually, Todomatsu thought, but decided he didn't want to have that conversation.
The secretary, Matsuki-san, explained that his brother had fainted and looked a little shaky and it was probably best if he didn't try to walk home by himself. She then lead Todomatsu to Choromatsu's office, idly chattering about how her cousin's husband's sister had twins. Fascinating stuff, really. When they got to Choromatsu's office, Totty found his older brother slumped in a chair, eyes closed and clutching his discarded suit coat. He jumped slightly as they entered.
"Hey." He waved lightly. "Matsuki-san said you fainted?" Todomatsu wasn't known for being anything but blunt.
"I didn't faint." Choromatsu pouted, sitting up a little straighter as if trying to prove his point. "I got dizzy and fell."
"Okay, well you were apparently down for like 10 minutes or something."
Choromatsu just shrugged, uncharacteristically quiet.
"Anyway, what happened? Are you sick?" Totty asked, reaching out to feel his brother's forehead. Choromatsu ducked out of the way and Totty backed down for the moment.
"I'm fine." He coughed, then amended, "Just a cold. And I missed breakfast, so I got a little lightheaded. That's all."
Todomatsu frowned at that, but didn't argue. "Anyway, come on, let's go. You can show me your new apartment."
Choromatsu sighed, but wasn't in any position to put up a fight. He pushed himself out of the chair he was seated in, gripping the arm rest a little too tight, for just a little too long.
After wishing everyone a good rest of the day, and receiving confirmation (again) that he was, in fact, allowed to use the sick days provided to him when he got sick, Choromatsu followed his younger twin out the door of the expansive office building and into the rainy streets of Tokyo.
Choromatsu lead Todomatsu the three short blocks to his apartment building in silence. The events of the day pulling him into a dazed state.
Once they reached his apartment, Choromatsu collapsed, shivering, onto the shoddy couch under the one window in his apartment. Totty rummaged through the nearly bare fridge and pantry, looking for something since they'd both missed lunch.
"Nii-san, you don't have anything to eat here! No wonder you got sick..." Totty called across the small apartment. Not that he could talk considering his dilemma just an hour ago, but nonetheless... He looked over to his older brother, noticing him shivering. "Choromatsu-nii-san, go change and I'll go pick up something from that convenience store I saw on the way here. Ehh, but you'll have to give me money, okay?"
Choromatsu, now the Man With A Job, did just that, handing a couple thousand yen to his younger brother and sent him off to collect not only food (for both of them since Totty's lunch had been interrupted), but also an assortment of medicines as well as a thermometer, since he'd been horribly unprepared to get sick.
In the time Todomatsu was gone, Choromatsu had managed to change into his pajamas and curled back up on the couch, this time with his comforter wrapped around him. As much as he hated the idea of having to take sick leave, he really couldn't deny that it was a much needed break. For three months now Choromatsu had been throwing his all into his job. He had a tendency to come in early and leave late, trying to make sure he was ahead (he always was). Even his weekends were spent trying to be as productive as possible, sometimes including going into the office to do whatever work he could. He hadn't gone to an idol concert in months. He'd barely taken a day off in months.
Choromatsu tried to read while he waited for Totty to return. He couldn't stop feeling guilty for taking the day off, though. It wasn't like he was the only one who'd taken a sick day. In fact, he may have been the only one who hadn't since he started. He just felt like he was so far behind everyone else, in the job and in life in general, that he was afraid taking any time off would set him back even further. He had to catch up.
The words on the page started to blur together and he realized his eyes were filling with tears. Why was he crying? It was fine. It was fine to get sick and miss a day of work.
At some point he must have lost track of time, because he was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening. Choromatsu rubbed his face into the comforter, trying to clean his face of all the tears and snot from his little meltdown. He looked up to see Todomatsu, laden with bags and a drink carrier, struggling with the door. Choromatsu instinctively jumped off the couch to help carry something, but immediately fell back as a wave of dizziness grounded him.
"I'm back!" Todomatsu announced needlessly. He struggled to keep a hold of the bags he carried without spilling the drinks while he shut the door behind him. He didn't notice Choromatsu's wavering balance. "I was going to go to that convenience store up the street, but then I noticed a cafe just a little ways up, so I got that instead. They had half sandwiches and soup. I got you a hot tea, too."
Todomatsu deposited the beverages and bag of food in Choromatsu's lap before dropping the rest of the stuff on the kitchen counter. He turned back to join Choromatsu on the couch (which happened to be the only piece of furniture in the tiny apartment). Choromatsu had pulled out both the soup and sandwich Totty had selected for him, but opted for the soup given that he wasn't actually hungry. Of course he knew he needed to eat something.
Halfway through the Styrofoam bowl of soup, Choromatsu felt himself drifting, leaning into the arm of the couch while Totty chattered almost nonstop about how great his life was now that he was independent. Every so often he would ask Choromatsu something and he would nod along having no idea what he was agreeing with (to?). After the third time Choromatsu nearly spilled his soup all over the couch, Totty determined to put him to bed. The extra sandwich and remaining soup were put in the refrigerator and the brand new thermometer was broken in. After registering a temperature of 38.89, Choromatsu opted for a basic fever reducer over the selection of other symptom specific medications Totty had bought.
Choromatsu was finally drifting off into what promised to be the first relaxing sleep he'd gotten in months when he was startled by something cold and damp being pressed into his forehead. He opened his eyes to Todomatsu leaning over him, leaving a washcloth on his forehead.
"Totty... What are you doing?"
Todomatsu looked down on him in confusion. "You have a fever. I'm trying to help." He explained simply.
"But last time any of us were sick you tried to blow up the house..."
"Well...It's different now, isn't it?" Todomatsu sat back against the couch, pulling out his phone, eyes locked on the screen.
"Different?" Choromatsu was beginning to zone back out, but he was curious as to what Todomatsu was getting at.
"Yeah, I mean, we're all independent now, right? It's just nice to know we can still rely on each other even if we're apart or whatever, right?" Totty's voice quieted as he reached the end of the sentence, wavering as though uncertain as to whether or not Choromatsu agreed.
Choromatsu wasn't sure he agreed. When he'd made the decision to move out, it was with the understanding that he would only be relying on himself from then on. The idea of his brothers still being around to help him out had never occurred to him. But...that is what normal families do, isn't it? Keep relying on each other, even after they move on. They don't just abandon each other.
Just on the brink of falling asleep, Choromatsu nodded into his pillow. "Right." He whispered, hoping Totty heard him.