Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Osomatsu-san series, it rightfully belongs to Yoichi Fujita (in honor of Fujio Akatsuka) and Pierrot.
Please enjoy!
Thank you!
Nya~!
Ichimatsu lifts the cattail in his hand a bit higher. The kitten before him lifts a paw in attempts to catch it. He was smiling. Something he didn't do too often. The alleyway was dark, empty, much like Ichimatsu was. Only the sound of a cat's meow was comforting to him.
A wet drop falls onto Ichimatsu's nose. He wriggles it a bit, then looks up. The sky was clouded, thunder could be heard in the distance. He stands up, smiling at the little kitten. "See you later." He sets the cattail on the ground and heads out of the alleyway. He puts up his hood and his white mask over his face. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he begins to make his way home.
The rain came not long after Ichimatsu had noticed it coming. A harsh wind picked up. Ichimatsu slid open the door to his home, soaking wet. His brothers were all gathered around the kotatsu, holding hot drinks and laughing about something. All laughing stopped when Ichimatsu entered.
Osomatsu's jaw dropped. "Ichimatsu, you're soaked!" He scrambles up from his comfortable spot. "I'll get you a towel!"
"No thanks." Ichimatsu walked right past him. Osomatsu was taken aback. "I'll be upstairs."
"I'll go with you!" Jyushimatsu piped up, about to get up from his spot.
"No." Ichimatsu harshly answered.
Jyushimatsu felt a chill go up his spine, and he slowly sat back down.
Choromatsu held up a finger. "You need to change out of those wet clothes, at least."
Ichimatsu headed upstairs, ignoring the useless babble from his brothers. He heads into the upstairs family room, shutting the door behind him. Two cats sat on the windowsill, patiently waiting for their snacks. Ichimatsu heads down to the ground, pulling their favorite snacks out from underneath the couch. The two cats meow in excitement. Ichimatsu climbs onto the couch and hands a cat a little fish snack, which it happily takes. "I hate my brothers. They're always worrying about me." He tells them, lowering his head. "I'm trash. Nothing. They shouldn't worry about something as worthless as me." The cat meows in response. Ichimatsu couldn't help but smile again.
"Ichimatsu-nii-san~!" Jyushimatsu roughly opens the door to the upstairs room. He was holding his giant bat and some rope. "Wanna play?" He was bouncing up and down in excitement. Ichimatsu looked to Jyushimatsu, then back to his cats. He set the bag of food down on the window sill and went with Jyushimatsu to be tied up to the bat and swung around.
It was still raining out, and even thundering. But Jyushimatsu had no problem with the rain. He held Ichimatsu high up. Back and forth, back and forth. Ichimatsu felt sick to his stomach. But he didn't mind. Well, that wasn't necessarily true. He hated being swung back and forth. He did this for Jyushimatsu.
"236, 237, 238…"
Maybe I deserved it, anyway.
"572, 573, 574…"
I don't belong here.
"1,148, 1,149, 1,150…"
I wish I could just…
"Ooooii!" Ichimatsu's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Osomatsu's loud voice. The eldest Matsuno stood in the doorway. Ichimatsu's vision was swirling, unbalanced. Jyushimatsu lowered Ichimatsu.
"Yeah?"
"We're headed off to the bath house. The rain calmed down, so we figured it would be best to go now." Choromatsu chimed.
Ichimatsu looked up to the sky. Even with blurred vision, he noticed that the rain had slowed, and it wasn't so intense. How had he not noticed before? Jyushimatsu set Ichimatsu down on his feet. He swiftly turned Ichimatsu around and helped to untie him. "Let's go get clean, Ichimatsu-nii-san!" The rope fell to the ground, and Jyushimatsu caught the bat before it could fall to the ground. He ran inside to put his bat away, coming out seconds later with his towel. "Let's go, let's go!"
Karamatsu was already dressed in his robe, his face sewn on the top left. His hair was all ruffled up, and the tips of his fingers were on his forehead. "Bathing cleanses the soul and-"
Ichimatsu punches Karamatsu in the gut before he could finish. "Shut up, Shittymatsu."
The five brothers began their journey to the bath house, leaving Karamatsu to slowly crawl behind. "Wait, brothers!"
Ichimatsu kept his head low, his gaze dark. His brothers all walked ahead of him, chatting about what experiences they had today, or possibly the day before. Ichimatsu payed no attention to them. I wish they would just…shut up.
"Come…" Ichimatsu lifted his head, looking around to find the source of the voice. It was a whisper. Not much could be heard, other than some muffled noise. His eyes widen as he hears someone's footsteps behind him. Twisting around to catch the follower, he was surprised to see no one was following him.
"Come…help…" More muffled noise. It still wasn't clear enough for Ichimatsu to hear.
"Hey, Ichimatsu-nii-san, are you okay?" Ichimatsu turns back around to see that his brothers had all stopped to wait for him. They had worried looks written all over their faces.
"Tch." Ichimatsu stuffs his hands into his pockets. "I'm fine." His brothers all looked at each other, then back at him, beginning to walk again.
On their way to the bath house, Ichimatsu couldn't help but spot a new building in the area. His brothers all seemed to notice it as well.
"I don't remember there ever being an antique shop here." Choromatsu pointed out.
"Yeah, me neither." Osomatsu answers.
"How long do you think it's been here?" Karamatsu asks.
Choromatsu shrugs. "We walk by these buildings all the time, and we're just noticing it now. It must of just opened up."
"What's an antique?" Jyushimatsu innocently inquires, his arms moving dramatically back and forth as they all walk past.
Ichimatsu stops in front of the display window, looking inside of the shop. It was closed for the night, the antiques only being lit up by moonlight. Ichimatsu walked to the window and presses his face against it, looking inside at all of the dusty and boring antiques. He cups his hands around his face to try and help focus his vision.
"Come here, I'll help you." The voice was loud and clear. Ichimatsu's gaze fell upon a standup mirror, one taller than him. It's frame was brass, swirling around at the top, and pointed at the bottom. Ichimatsu couldn't stop looking at it. The mirror…it was so…beautiful.
"Ichimatsu-nii-san, come on, come on!" Jyushimatsu called, snapping Ichimatsu out of his trance. He looks over in Jyushimatsu's direction to see that he had come back for him. Ichimatsu looks back to the mirror, his hands falling from the display window. He turns and runs to Jyushimatsu, slowing down to his usual slow walk once he caught up.
"Sorry."
The bath house was warm and welcoming, as it usually was. It could be a little less bright in there, in Ichimatsu's opinion. The brothers all strip down and head to the showers. They sit in their usual line, beginning the process of washing their hair.
Todomatsu leans back so he could see Ichimatsu. "Hey, Ichimatsu-nii-san, what happened back there?"
Ichimatsu didn't even look at Todomatsu. "What do you mean?"
Todomatsu leaned forward again, looking up as he recalled what had happened. "You kind of just stopped walking when we got to that weird place. The one that sells a bunch of crappy stuff."
Ichimatsu didn't answer. Jyushimatsu quickly scrubbed his hair, being the first done. "He liked the old things, haha!"
Osomatsu sighs. "Hey, cut it out already. If he doesn't want to talk about it, then he doesn't want to talk about it."
Why does he do that…? Why does he try so hard to stand up for me like that? Stupid. Go die.
They all finish washing their hair and move on to washing each other's backs.
"Ah, it's still bothering me." Choromatsu says. "That antique shop wasn't there yesterday, I swear!"
"Well, maybe it was and you were just too busy fapping to see it!" Todomatsu remarks with a chuckle.
"YOU SHUT UP, TOTTY!" Choromatsu rebuttles.
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Todomatsu shouts back.
Osomatsu sighs and looks up. "Yeah, but Choromatsu has a point." Osomatsu states.
"Eh, he does?" Todomatsu was surprised by the comment his older brother made.
"Yeah. We all walked past there yesterday, and I don't remember seeing it there either."
"But you have a bad memory, Osomatsu-nii-san."
Osomatsu looks over his shoulder to Todomatsu, who was in the back of the line. "Do you remember seeing it?"
Todomatsu was taken aback by the question. "W-well…no…" He looks away, blushing out of embarrassment.
"That's what I thought."
Ichimatsu looked down to the ground the entire time as he washed Chormatsu's back. The conversation sparked a thought in him. "Did anyone else hear a voice?"
All of his brothers stopped scrubbing and looked at him, confused. "A voice?" Osomatsu queries.
Ichimatsu simply nods.
"It may of been the voice of my soul, calling out to you, my dear brother~"
"Shut up, Painfulmatsu!" Todomatsu scolds.
"Owowowowow!" Osomatsu grasps at his chest, leaning over. "It hurts, owowowow!"
Karamatsu's eyes widen. "S-sorry! Please, don't let my foolishness cause you pain!" He covers his eyes with his arms, crying. "Forgive me, brother!"
"Switch!" Osomatsu calls. They all hand off their rags to the brother in front and turn around.
"Hey, are you feeling alright, Ichimatsu?" Osomatsu asks, worriedly.
"Yeah, if you're hearing voices, you might need to go see a doctor." Choromatsu adds.
Ichimatsu bit his lip. How dare they? He was silent.
"Ichimatsu-nii-san," Jyushimatsu starts, "It's okay, you can tell us!" He said in his normal cheerful way. All of his brothers await Ichimatsu's response.
After a moment of silence, his brothers all seem to give up on Ichimatsu responding. They shower off and head to the bath.
Once they were all satisfied with their hot bath, they all dry off and get dressed, slipping their sweatshirts on.
"That was a great bath!" Jyushimatsu comments as they all walk out.
"Agreed." Karamatsu piped.
Everyone agreed upon the visit being nice. Ichimatsu trails behind them once more. The conversation didn't seem to interest him.
It didn't take long for them to make it back to the antique shop. Ichimatsu stops in front of it, looking inside through the display window. To his surprise, a light flickered on. It was dim, and it seemed to be dying. Ichimatsu walks up to the window, looking back at the mirror.
"You won't regret it."
Nya~
Ichimatsu looks to his left to see a small black kitten, pawing at the door of the antique shop. It looked up to Ichimatsu with its violet eyes. Ichimatsu looked up to the sign next to the door. Kibōshomo? He walked to the door, and the kitten stepped aside. He carefully opens the door to the shop. It was unlocked. The little bell sounded, something that didn't make Ichimatsu too happy. He didn't want anyone knowing he was here. But it was too late now.
The kitten scampered into the story and made its way to the mirror. It sat in front of it, its tail swaying back and forth. It looks back to Ichimatsu…smiling?
Ichimatsu slowly works his way through the shop. There was so much to look at. Old clocks, little wooden boxes, vases with various artworks on them, old lanterns, rice paper, and so much more. But his journey ended at the mirror. He looked at himself, a cold chill going up his spine.
"This is what you want." Ichimatsu looks down at the kitten, eyes wide.
"W-who are you?" The kitten doesn't answer. Instead, it just looks back at the mirror.
Ichimatsu's eyes follow. He looks at himself in the mirror. He lifted his hand, carefully reaching for the mirror. Something was pulling him to it. He wanted to touch its glass surface. Only his fingers graze the surface, and the mirror ripples, as if he was touching water. Ichimatsu takes his hand away from the mirror. "What was that?" He looks at the kitten, angered with it. "What's going on?! Tell me!"
The kitten looks back to Ichimatsu, smiling.
"You don't like this world, isn't that right? You wish things were different. You want something new. Something that will accept you. Something that cannot be provided to you here."
Ichimatsu was bewildered by the speaking cat. The kitten giggles at him before stepping through the mirror, leaving ripples behind. The ripples disperse, then disappear.
Knock, knock, knock!
Ichimatsu whisks around to see his brothers at the display window, pounding wildly with worried looks on their faces.
"Ichimatsu!"
"Ichimatsu-nii-san!"
"Oi, Ichimatsu!"
"Ichimats, Ichimats!"
"Brother!"
Ichimatsu furrowed his brows. He looked back to his hand against the mirror. Maybe…this will be better.
"I can assure you that it will be better."
The pounding continued, his brothers still calling for Ichimatsu. Ichimatsu pressed his hand harder on the mirror until it slipped through. He reaches his other hand to the mirror, allowing it to pass through. He smiles, lowering his head. "Shut up." He steps through the mirror, only the ripples left behind.
Jyushimatsu was used as a ram, and the brothers succeeded at knocking the door down. But it was too late. "ICHIMATSUUU!"
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new FanFiction! Hopefully it will end up being a really good one. I'm excited to write more of it. Please Rate and Review, I would really appreciate the feedback! Don't be afraid to be brutally honest, either!
~OfferJoy