Not long into their trip to the fairground and Osomatsu seemed to have already forgotten the reason they'd even gone in the first place.
"Look that roller coaster goes upside down! Lets ride it!" The eldest cheered over the shrieks and noisy chatter of the crowd. Turns out the place was a lot bigger then they'd expected, there was even a few theme park rides dotted around the mass of striped tents and food stands.
"Definitely not." Choromatsu said quickly looking at the ride that looped around multiple times, slowing down as the participants hung upside down then gearing back into a nauseating speed, immediately feeling queasy just at the sight of it.
"I second that motion." Todomatsu grimaced, thinking of the hundreds of thousands of germs brewing on those disgusting seats that probably hadn't been washed since the day they'd been constructed. He carried around a little bottle of hand sanitizer and applied it every time he made contact with anything within the boundaries of the fairground.
"Killjoys." Osomatsu muttered. What was the point of going to a fair if they weren't even going to have fun? He locked eyes with a haunted house attraction and wondered if he could convince his wimpy younger brothers give it a try.
"Oh by the way I looked up some stuff on your phobia."
Osomatsu's energetic almost immediately diminished. "Oh yeah.. that."
"What's it called?" Chimed in Choromatsu.
"Ugh It's really long. I can't even begin to pronounce it. It starts with an M... I think."
"Well that's useful." Choromatsu said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I did get some good information! Fear of Mimes, clowns, people in disguise, that's you right Osomatsu-niisan?" Todomatsu questioned, digging out his phone and revisiting the article on the phobia.
"Yeah, aside from the clown bit."
"Okay well it says you need therapy and stuff but we can't afford that so we're just gonna show you a bunch of mimes instead until you get better."
"Uh... I don't think that's going to work."
"Might as well try it!" The little devil was smiling of all things, he just couldn't wait to see his older brother terrified of something so tame.
"How much money did Mum give us to spend anyway?"
"A thousand yen, but we need five hundred to see the mine performance so that's half gone."
"Can we please just skip it?" Osomatsu pleaded giving his two brothers a pathetic look.
"No way! That's the only reason we're in this hell hole remember?!"
Osomatsu continued to whine while Todomatsu and Choromatsu continued to ignore him.
"It's in half an hour, I told the others to meet us there so we can regroup. That is, if they remember." Todomatsu said, checking the time on his phones lock screen. "I wonder if they're as bored as we are."
He didn't let it show, but when Ichimatsu saw that cat plush hanging off the prize rack, he was determined to win it. It was surprisingly well made for a fairground prize, with no loose clumps of fake synthetic fur or botched stitching visible from where he stood. It was a dark orange, embroidered with blue thread, bearing a striking resemblance to ESP Kitty. He wanted it. Badly.
Unfortunately, as Ichimatsu soon learned, he absolutely sucked at dart throwing. He thought he was doing everything right, holding it correctly and positioning his aim as perfectly as he could manage, which admittedly wasn't very good. Despite his efforts, to Ichimatsu's utter embarrassment the dart landed literal metres away from his target.
"I-It's rigged." He tried to explain himself, face red.
That would have been the end of it, if it weren't for the fact that he had had two brothers that just couldn't accept defeat beside him.
"Another dart if you would, good sir." Pushing a few coins onto the counter, the vender sighed and handed Karamatsu the sharp projectile. He gave Ichimatsu a confident smile. "Worry not, my brother. I will retrieve the prize you desire."
"Go niisan, go!" Jyushimatsu cheered as his older brother aimed carefully and drawing a deep breath, released.
To his horror the dart flew right past the balloons, and instead ricocheted off a glass bottle right into his face. Karamatsu cried out in pain and held his hand to his face, letting out a soft, pitiful whimper. Whelp, there went the tough guy act. Ichimatsu would have laughed at his brother's misfortune if it weren't for the fact that his chance of getting that cat plush was even further diminishing.
"...How is that even physically possible?"
"The universe hates you Karamatsu-niisan!"
"Ah... I apologise for my failure." Rummaging through his wallet for the second time, Karamatsu shook the last of his loose change onto the counter. The employee gave him an annoyed look.
"Look pal I've got over people waiting. Give it up already would ya?" He scoffed gruffly.
Regardless of the fact that there really was nobody else lining up for a turn, Ichimatsu slumped his shoulders and prodded at his stubborn brothers.
"Come on... He's right. Lets just go already."
"Nope!" Jyushimatsu stayed put, as did Karamatsu. "You really want it right? So we'll get it for you!"
Jyushimatsu stepped up to the counter. "I'll give it a go this time!" He winked back at his brothers and Ichimatsu was genuinely terrified of what he would try.
Picking up the dart, he held it tightly as started to swing his arm as if preparing to throw a baseball. Jyushimatsu aimed for the balloons, but just before releasing the dart, he suddenly shifted direction. Letting out a cheer as he did, Jyushimatsu instead launched the sharp object at the vender.
The burly man shrieked, the dart hitting with so much force it knocked him to the ground. Not wasting any time Jyushimatsu lept over the stand and swiped the cat plush from it's hinge with a smile similar to that of a mad man. Before the vender even had a chance to realise what had happened, the three brothers had taken off running.
"Here you go Ichimatsu-niisan!" Jyushimatsu beamed, handing the stuffed toy over.
Panting, Ichimatsu bent over to catch his breath. "Thanks." He said smiling.
"Ah the time!" Blurted out Karamatsu, looking down at his recently acquired watch.
"What about it?" Ichimatsu murmured with a bleak stare.
Karamatsu gave them a worried glance. "We're late for the act!"
"Oh... Whoops."
Grabbing each of his brother's hands and dragging them along, Karamatsu set off in the direction of the big red and white striped tent. "We have to hurry!"
The act was already in motion by the time they slipped in. Locating their other brothers, they took a seat next to them in the three spots they'd saved. Todomatsu glared at them as they entered but didn't say anything as to not distract the performers onstage. It looked like the mimes were yet to appear, and Ichimatsu was glad to have not missed Osomatsu's reaction.
Despite this, the eldest already looked incredibly pale. He was clutching the edges of the seat so tightly his knuckles had turned a ghostly white. The act already in full swing seemed to be coming to a close, and the next performers paraded onstage. Osomatsu's breath hitched in his throat. Faces caked in makeup, a fashion disaster of meshed together black and white stripes. Their movements were awkward and disjointed, looking like they belonged in a mental asylum rather then in a circus entertaining crowds of people.
Choromatsu glanced over to Osomatsu, who was cowering and had shut his eyes tightly.
"Tell me when it's over." He whimpered with a shaky voice.
"No way! It doesn't count if you don't open your eyes!"
"Volume!" Shushed Todomatsu, not wanting to have any unwanted attention directed towards them.
"I'm not looking at them."
"Jyushimatsu. Octopus hold." Ichimatsu practically purred with a sinister smile.
"NOT IN THE THEATRE!"
But it was too late, Jyushimatsu had already jumped from his seat and held Osomatsu down in a mess of flailing limbs. The eldest let out a strangled scream and it wasn't long until everyone was staring. Even the mimes onstage had stopped their act and were looking at the odd display in confusion. Todomatsu shrunk into his seat, silently groaning and pulling his beanie over his face in desperate attempt to not appear associated with any of them.
There was a tap on Osomatsu's shoulder. A very displeased looking security guard was giving him a hard glare. "You're disrupting the other viewers. I'm going to have to escort you and your family out of the theatre."
"Good." He grinned, looking back at his brothers who all looked disappointed to have had their plan thwarted. Dejectedly, they followed the guard out of the tent, muttering amongst each other on the unfairness of the decision. It had only been Osomatsu and Jyushimatsu that had been causing trouble after all. With not much else to do, they hung around the circus entrance until the show ended. As soon as the mimes began to exit, Osomatsu was gone. Karamatsu spotted him hiding a good few metres away, peeking from behind a pole with wide, terrified eyes.
Then Todomatsu had an idea. Grabbing onto one of the mimes' wrists as they emerged from the tent, he pulled out a wallet, producing a crisp green note. "I'll pay you if you follow that guy over there in the red hoodie." He tempted with an evil smile.
The mime blinked in disbelief. "Just... Follow him?"
The rest quickly having catched on nodded furiously, with equally evil grins.
"Yeah even if he throws stuff at you."
Whoops, that alarmed him. "I mean he's not necessarily violent as much as he's... Unpredictable." Choromatsu quickly added with a nervous smile.
"But... why?"
"He just loves mimes is all."
Still looking unsure, he none the less excepted the money and looked back to the cowering mess that was Osomatsu. The moment the mime's gaze met his, the red clad Matsuno literally jumped in fright, then took off running.
"Chase him dammit!"
"R-right!"
Osomatsu couldn't believe his eyes. They were actually talking to it. His throat felt dry and his knees were wobbly and weak. What were they planning? Totty, the human embodiment of satan himself was offering the monstrosity something. Wait... Was that his wallet?!
The mime suddenly swivelled to face him and Osomatsu yelped, almost even fainting. The thing looked like it was going to break into chase at any moment, it's lipsticked mouth opening into a smile. Osomatsu immediately turned and ran as fast as his legs could manage in the opposite direction. He, without a doubt absolutely hated people in disguise.
Giving a quick glance behind him, Osomatsu practically screamed. The mime was right there, close on his trail. The hideous thing was taking quick strides, staring him down and making weird hand movements. Everything about it was unnatural, from the ridiculous amount of make up, and the way it felt the need to copy people's every move. It was the creepiest thing he could imagine. Osomatsu just didn't understand how nobody else saw them that way.
"Leave me alone! Or you'll regret it!" Osomatsu gulped as the mime showed no signs of slowing down. He had tried to sound intimidating, but judging by the way his weakened voice faltered by the end he hadn't come across as much of a threat. The spectacle was turning heads. Many people pointed and flashed pictures of the ridiculous sight while giggling as they ran past.
"It's not funny dammit!" He wailed, but the laughter only increased in volume. Dodging past stalls and attractions, Osomatsu purposefully tipped over bins and anything else that obstructed his path in an attempt to slow the beast down. In his eyes, this was a matter of life and death.
Looking behind him, Osomatsu felt like crying. The mime still hadn't given up chase and was doing it's weird mime things. It wrapped its thin gloved hands around a non existent rope and pretended to climb it, then pressed it's fingers into thin air. Just the sight of it made Osomatsu feel like puking.
"THERE'S NO WALL THERE MAN! STOP BEING CREEPY!"
They were approaching a mini golf course, and Osomatsu felt as though he couldn't keep running for much longer. His legs ached and his lungs hurt doubled with the fact that he'd never exercised much to begin with. The mime still managed to maintain perfect, synchronised movement. It hadn't even broken a sweat. Panting heavily, Osomatsu decided then that the thing wasn't even human.
Mentally he wasn't ready to give up, but his physical body decided otherwise. What would the mime do when it caught him? Osomatsu's legs finally gave in and he was forced to stop and catch his breath. The mime stopped too, running on the spot as if waiting for him to start moving again, so he could keep chasing him forever more. Osomatsu was terrified. He'd never been this close to one of them before. He could make out detail of the grotesque being without even trying to hard.
They were on a little bridge connecting two sections of the mini golf course. Underneath there was a shallow pond filled with tiny plastic boats. It was mainly for attraction, but perhaps it could be of some use.
Osomatsu took a long, deep breath and got behind the mime. With trembling hands he gave it a hard push, causing it to topple over head first into the water with a loud splash.
Oh god... He had touched it.
He tried to rub off any kind of mime cooties on the firm wooden banister. Osomatsu bent over the railings to see the mime, soaked with it's make-up drooping off revealing perfectly normal human skin. So it wasn't some kind of deformed freak of nature. Oh well. It's not the first time one of his conspiracy theories had turned out wrong. Looking at the mime in such a pitiful state he almost felt empowered. His mortal fear really was just some loser wearing lipstick.
"Ha! Not so scary without your makeup!" Just saying it made him feel a bit better, and the butterflies in his stomach soon dissolved into giddy fits of laughter.
"What's your problem?!" The mime cried, sluggishly making it's way to land.
"My problem? Look at yourself! What are you doing with your life?"
The mime gave a long blank look, and suddenly widened his eyes. "...Good point."
Osomatsu, now feeling elevated left the thing (he still wouldn't refer to it as a human) and began the search for his brothers amongst the crowds of previously gawking bystanders. People were still giving him funny looks, but he guessed that was to be expected. He eventually found all five of them huddled around a dart-throwing stall. The first thing he noticed was that Ichimatsu was holding a large pile of cat plushies topped up a good few metres in the air.
"It's all in the wrists." Todomatsu boasted smugly, holding Osomatsu's now empty wallet.
"Osomatsu-niisan's back!" Jyushimatsu yelled over their excited chatter, waving to his older brother.
Karamatsu smiled at his brothers appearance. "Ah so he is. Do tell us how your endeavour of fear conquering went."
"Pretty good actually. Turns out mimes are just losers that made bad life choices."
"I guess we're all doomed to become mimes then." Ichimatsu joked dryly, attempting to keep his mountain of stuffed animals to topple over.
Osomatsu shuddered.
"At least you have some incentive to get a job now." With a dart in one hand, Choromatsu made a clean throw, smiling when it just barely hit the target.
"Too soon." The eldest grumbled, then gave a nervous look around. "Anyway I think we better leave now."
Totty gave an surprised glance his brother's way. "What? But there's still a few prizes left to win..."
"Um I think we have enough..." Choromatsu said, gesturing to the towering pile of cat plushies Ichimatsu was struggling to keep a firm hold on. "Anyway I thought we used up all the money?"
"I was going to use Karamatsu-niisan's wallet next." Todomatsu answered with a devilish smirk.
"Come on guys I want to go home!" Osomatsu whined loudly, pulling at his younger brother's sleeve.
With an irritated sigh, Todomatsu finally pulled away from the stall. "Ugh fine you big baby."
On the way back, Osomatsu couldn't seem to stop recounting the tale of how he'd "defeated" the mime, no doubt highly exaggerating the actual events in his favour.
"So does that mean you're not afraid of them anymore?"
"I dunno. I guess I'll have to wait for the next time I see one." Osomatsu replied happily with a bounce in his step. "I do feel a bit better though."
"Ahem! Where's our thank you?" Todomatsu huffed, still annoyed about having to leave early.
"You stole my wallet!"
Todomatsu rolled his eyes. "Oh please there was barely anything in it."
"That's the price of our fear conquering support!" Jyushimatsu contributed with a wide smile.
"Speaking of which..." Choromatsu began, looking amongst his brothers.
"Who's next?"
AN/ I don't have any order in mind, so please tell me who you want to face their fear next!