Ichimatsu was perched on the roof of the house. A light breeze blew by, ruffling his hair a bit, but other than that, it was a pleasantly warm day outside. Not too hot, not too cold. All of his brothers had gone out for the day which left Ichimatsu at home with nothing to do. He had already gone out to refill the cat bowls he had placed around all the local alleyways and returned home so he wasn't sure what else he could do. It's not like he had something important to do.
Loud shouting from up the street caused the fourth brother to lift his head and look in that direction. It didn't surprise him when his younger brother came marching up the street in his baseball uniform, chanting his usual catchphrase as he went. I suppose it is around time that he came back, since he didn't have anyone to practice with today. Ichimatsu sat and watched him right until he disappeared out of sight from the roof and loudly announced his arrival throughout the house despite the fact that the only person home already knew he was there.
Ichimatsu waited, returning his gaze back up to the sky. It was only a matter of time before his younger brother found him sitting up here and came to join him. Shortly after, just as Ichimatsu predicted, Jyushimatsu had come up to the roof to see if anyone was hiding up here.
"Ichi-niisan!" He shouted, quickly coming out of the house to join his older brother. "What'cha doing on the roof?"
Ichimatsu sighed quietly, keeping his eyes focused on the sky. "Just thinking."
"About what?" Jyushimatsu asked, his head tilting to the side, his ever-present smile taking up his entire face.
"Nothing important." Ichimatsu replied.
They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes until Ichimatsu felt something lean against his shoulder, causing him to gasp and turn to look. Jyushimatsu had rested his head there, his eyes were half-lidded as he started falling asleep there. Ichimatsu gulped and slowly moved to reposition his younger brother so he wouldn't be so cramped when he woke up later.
After situating themselves once more, Jyushimatsu was practically in his older brother's lap, head resting against his chest as he slept. The only noise was the sound of Jyushimatsu's loud snoring. Ichimatsu sighed, gently running his fingers through his brother's hair and returning his eyes to the sky. Jyushimatsu was usually the only brother who seemed to understand each and every one of his siblings. He knew things about them that the others didn't or he would know about it long before the rest of them found out.
That's something that has confused all of them. He couldn't keep a secret if asked but with the little things he found out on his own, he was able to keep completely silent about. Maybe that's why he was always creeping around on occasion, he was just observing his brothers. They all tended to assume that Jyushimatsu was rather foolish or crazy to pay attention to things like that but they had all been proven wrong.
Ichimatsu kept his eyes on the sky until he felt his brother stir beneath him. Turning his gaze downwards he was met with the happy stare that normally emanated off his brother's face. Startled, Ichimatsu immediately moved back in fright before realizing what had happened and evening out his breathing.
"How did you sleep?" The fourth brother asked, trying to play off the former event as if it had never happened.
"It was nice." The younger brother answered, not really answering the question, "Though it could have been softer. We are still on the roof though, right?"
Ichimatsu nodded, returning to his former task of watching the sky and running his fingers through the others hair. It felt nice and...soft. Ichimatsu quickly shook the thought out of his head, he didn't need to think about that right now.
"Maybe we should go inside and use the couch instead. It would be a lot softer than the roof." Jyushimatsu added, breaking the silence.
"Good idea." Ichimatsu added, patting the younger brothers back to urge him to get up, which he did gladly, skipping inside. Ichimatsu followed him inside...only to find him gone the minute he got there. The older brother looked around for a bit until Jyushimatsu stuck his head in through the door.
"What are you waiting for Ichi-niisan?" He asked curiously.
If anyone had asked if he jumped, Ichimatsu would never admit it. He turned to face his younger brother and followed him into the next room where one of the couches was. Ichimatsu sat down first and started getting comfortable but didn't have any time to, for Jyushimatsu was jumping on the couch and curling up on top of him, eyes closed, ready for sleep once more.
Ichimatsu couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips as he started running his fingers through the younger brothers hair once more. He remembered reading somewhere that this could help relieve stress. He was certainly enjoying it and by the looks of things, Jyushimatsu was too. After a few minutes, it seemed as though Jyushimatsu had fallen asleep. Ichimatsu bit the inside of his lip before tilting his head down and gently kissing the younger brothers head.
For the third time that day, Ichimatsu's younger brother surprised him. After lifting his head from the kiss, Jyushimatsu nuzzled his head into his chest.
"Thank you Ichi-niis-" Was all Jyushimatsu could get out before drifting off to sleep.
This time, Ichimatsu didn't bother hiding the smile that played at his lips as he too drifted off to sleep.