By the time Osomatsu and Ichimatsu made it back home, it was time for them to all gather up their toiletries and head to the bath house. It would've been a nice way to relax after such a long day, but his brothers were as rowdy and obnoxious as ever. From Osomatsu asking for a back rub, to Jyushimatsu challenging him to a butterfly stroke race in the giant bath, as well as various other requests in between, Ichimatsu found himself even more exhausted by the time they got home. He was supposed to be their babysitter (apparently), not their slave! How did he even let himself get roped into this?

Sleep sounded like an absolute blessing at this point, so he was more than happy to roll out the futon (of course they made him do it tonight) and collapse onto his spot under the cover. He felt the rest of his brothers join in, but when the presence of darkness didn't appear right away, he anxiously hoped no one would say anything, and maybe they were just waiting for Choromatsu to turn off the light.

"Hey, Ichimatsu?" To his chagrin, all hope for rest went flying out the window when he heard Todomatsu's quiet voice break the silence.

"...What?"

"Can… can you tell us a story?"

"STORY! STORY!" Jyushimatsu agreed cheerfully, loudly, and the others piped up enthusiastically.

Ohh, he could kill somebody right now. Karamatsu was the closest one at this moment, and it was SO tempting, but he had to hold out for Mom's sake (though his mantra had been slowly losing effect all day long). He sat up and returned their expectant stares with a dangerous glare of his own.

"...Once upon a time… there were five little shits that wouldn't go to sleep, until the sixth little shit threatened to smother them all to death if they didn't. Then they all lived happily ever after. THE. END." In one swift motion, he reached up and shut the light off, before tossing himself back onto the futon.

"...Geez, if you wanted to sleep so badly, you could've just said so…" he heard Choromatsu mutter quietly.

Ichimatsu grabbed the pillow from under his own head and pressed his face into it as hard as he could. He wanted to scream, or let the sweet embrace of death take him already, whichever came first.

He guessed he must've fallen asleep at some point because when he opened his eyes next, it was morning. Or late morning, by the looks of it. And his pillow had been tucked neatly back under his head. He didn't remember doing that, and was slightly alarmed to think that someone must've moved it for him. He turned his head to find the culprit, but was surprised again when he found the futon empty. The home was peaceful, so his brothers must've left to their own devices. Thank Akatsuka, because he could use a day off or two after the hell he went through yesterday. Tiredly, he pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the kitchen, only to find that breakfast was already waiting for him there.

"Oh, there you are, Ichimatsu! Good morning!" Matsuyo stepped into the kitchen and greeted him kindly.

"Morning, Mom," Ichimatsu returned the greeting quietly, taking his plate to the dining room.

"If you're wondering, your brothers left a little while ago. They all seemed to be in a bit of a hurry…"

"I wasn't wondering, but fine."

Truthfully, he had been curious as to his brothers' whereabouts. It felt strange eating alone, but he did so without another word on the matter.

"Oh! I nearly forgot! Here," Matsuyo handed him a small wad of bills. Payment for his troubles, it seemed. Not that payment wasn't nice and appreciated, but he probably wouldn't be doing this again anytime soon. Or ever, for that matter.

"I hope they weren't too hard on you, dear. I know taking responsibility couldn't have been easy, but I really appreciate your hard work. Thank you."

Ichimatsu ate silently and considered the events of yesterday. Sure, it was like living a nightmare, a walk through the infernos of Hell, but…

"...It… wasn't so bad." He didn't bother trying to hide the small smile that graced his features, but once again said nothing more.

"That's good!" Matsuyo chirped as she began to tidy up the kitchen. "So, are you going to visit your kitties again today?"

"Of course. They need to eat too."

"So thoughtful, my little Ichimatsu! But take your time. You had a long day yesterday."

Had he been paying attention, Ichimatsu might've noticed the secretive wink his mother gave towards the slight crack in the doorway.

"Ha! Act indifferent all you want, but we know you had fun yesterday," someone spoke in a loud whisper as the door slid shut.

"Osomatsu nii-san, be quiet! Do you want to blow our cover?" Todomatsu reprimanded, though he also tried to keep his voice down.

"Whatever, I know. Hey, you've got the stuff, right?" Osomatsu pointed at Karamatsu.

"Heh… right here and prepared, buraza!"

"Great, just don't… taint it or something," the older waved him off casually and headed outside, the rest of the brothers shuffling after him trying to make the least amount of noise as possible.

"The area is really big, so I suggest we split up to cover more ground," Choromatsu spoke up thoughtfully, scrutinizing a map with great interest.

"True, but we do only have one bag, so I'm not sure how that would work out," Todomatsu gestured to Jyushimatsu, who had the honor of carrying the oversized bag of cat food.

"When Ichimatsu nii-san joins us later, it'll make it faster and easier!" the fifth brother cheered, nearly dropping the bag. Karamatsu rushed to stabilize it before shooting him an exasperated look.

"Anyways, we did pretty much drag him around everywhere… he did everything we wanted to do, so it's only fair that we should do something he wants to do now, right? And we can start by feeding all the cats in the city!" Osomatsu shouted enthusiastically, the others following suit with an equal amount of charisma and renewed vigor.

Needless to say, Ichimatsu was rather shocked when he went out to do his rounds and discovered his brothers hunched down in his familiar alleys, feeding his precious stray cat friends. Unbeknownst to him, they were well-aware of how much he had enjoyed spending time with them.

And most certainly, Ichimatsu would never have to know.


And that's a wrap! Longest fanfic I've written so far, but I had so much fun doing it! Thanks to Sir-Herp for editing the ever-loving crap out of this piece! X)