It had never once occurred to him the sort of event that could arise in a situation such as this.
Lights out, it was difficult for Karamatsu to gracefully manoeuvre his way through the hallway. But then again, his iconic shades did little to help. Every second step he took caused the floorboards to creak in an eerie manner and that, combined with the chilling atmosphere of the dark house, was like something out of a horror movie. Horror movies were definitely not his thing for sure. But even so, he willed his legs to take him further and deeper into the depths of the abyss, where the living room lamps shone no light upon. It was then when he heard a low groan. The sound seemed to echo throughout the entire building, though he was the only one who heard it. The others were too busy attacking each other with insults and arguments over which television show to watch. As always.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" It was a foolish question. His parents were out on their anniversary dinner and wouldn't be back until early in the morning. The groan immediately stopped however. That left Karamatsu uneasy and wondering where the creature making the sound could be.
There was a loud click right behind him as the bathroom door slowly creaked open. His heart in his throat, he whipped his head around just in time to see Ichimatsu closing the door behind him.
"Ah. Buraza." He nodded in greeting, feeling foolish for being so scared. The other male simply nodded back in response, and began to trudge away. Karamatsu silently watched as the slumped figure slipped further and further into the distance, into the pitch blackness of the hallway.
Afterwards, that particular incident never leapt to mind ever again. At least, not until a similar event was bound to occur. By then, Karamatsu was almost prepared for it; back then, he did have his suspicions but never had the chance to confirm anything.
It was a night just as cold and dark as the last. Only this time, he was no longer wandering aimlessly around the house, imagination running wild. In an instant, the wooden bathroom door was already jutting out in the darkness, begging desperately to be opened. But despite the unbearable temptation to simply yank it open, Karamatsu instead placed an ear upon the cold wood, pushing his shades up onto his head. From within, he could hear loud groans and heavy breathing. His suspicions were instantly confirmed.
This particular bathroom had a broken lock, so it was practically impossible to have it barricaded from within. Not that it mattered anyway as hardly anyone used this one, isolated from most of the rooms. This one was only reserved for emergencies, or in some situations, absolute privacy.
"Not private anymore." Karamatsu muttered softly under his breath, before suddenly yanking the door open and ungracefully stumbling in.
The fourth oldest instantly leapt up from the ground in surprise, dropping from within his hands, a magazine decorated with images of muscly, buff men. Ichimatsu's sweat-covered face darkened, but his droopy eyes were filled with the regret of carelessly selecting this unprotected place.
"Shittymatsu, you just had to come and find me in here, huh?" He hissed at his older brother, taking several menacing steps towards him. The other male simply sighed dramatically, unaffected by the poison dripping from his words.
"Non, non, my dear buraza..~ It was merely an accident that I stumbled upon your little show-"
His earnest reply was greeted with a swift punch to the face, knocking him clean off his feet. There was a loud thump as he landed ass-first on the tiled floor. "Ahhh I'm in pain..." He winced, struggling to force himself back up, but to no avail.
"Shut up, you goddamn drama queen. Else I'll chop your fucking dick off." Ichimatsu threatened menacingly, glaring down at his vulnerable brother splayed across his feet.
The latter abruptly closed his mouth. The possibility of losing his private man-parts was far more of an issue at this point in time.
Noiselessly, he managed to pull himself back up, though his ass cried in pain.
"Now get out and act like this never happened." Ichimatsu continued, pointing at the door. His foot tapped on the floor impatiently, giving him the appearance of an angry mother scolding her child.
Karamatsu was more than willing to comply with that demand. He turned his back towards the exit and suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Every part of his body was yelling at him to walk out the room, but his heart had other ideas. It was his duty as the second oldest brother to help out the younger ones after all.
"Wait, buraza! I want to help you!" He blurted out, outstretching a hand towards Ichimatsu as if to highlight his point.
Said brother scowled in contempt, spitting at the floor. "I don't need your damn help."
"No, no, wait! Just think about it! How much do you think you'll be able to achieve on your own?"
Karamatsu felt like a whiny, spoiled brat desperately trying to get his own way, but he wasn't going to give up just yet.
"And what makes you think you'll actually be successful in helping me?"
"Relax, you can count on me. You know I have lots of experience in this!"
Ichimatsu's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but he knew for a fact that those words weren't entirely false. And as much as he despised the thought of Karamatsu possibly touching him at some point in time, he felt like he had no choice.
"Fffine." He finally responded with gritted teeth, dragging out the first few letters of the word to emphasise his reluctance.
The oldest of the two instantly beamed, fist-pumping the air in victory. He quickly regained his calm and collected composure after a moment, and smirked.
"Alright, buraza. But just know that I won't be going easy on you..."
Just a few minutes later, ten at most, and Ichimatsu was already sweating like a pig. His face and neck were completely drenched with sweat, and it felt disgusting. His arms and legs ached like hell, and he was already regretting his decision to accept his brother's assistance.
"Come on, go down lower! You think you can get abs like mine by doing such pathetic push-ups?!"
Karamatsu's sadistic, provoking words did little to aid with his growing frustration.
"Shut up, Shittymatsu, I'm going to kill you for this...!" He hissed under his breath, gasping for much-needed air at the same time.
The latter simply chuckled nonchalantly in response, as he perched daintily atop Ichimatsu's back, observing his slow progress in getting his dream six-pack.
"Hey, Osomatsu nii-san." The yellow-hooded brother suddenly piped up.
"Hm? What is it, Jyushimatsu?" The oldest brother asked, his eyes glued to the television screen.
"I keep hearing strange sounds coming from the bathroom."
"Nah. Just ignore it, it's probably nothing."