"Osomatsu?" Matsuyo, mother of Osomatsu and supposed to be the mother of five missing little brothers, called from the other side of the bedroom door with her voice filled with concern. "You haven't been going out lately. Your friend Chibita stopped by to ask how you were doing. Are you okay, my little NEET?" No, he's not okay, because she has five other NEETs she should be concerned about, all of which are younger than Osomatsu himself. "You've been locking yourself up in your room recently. If you're not eating or going to the bathroom, you're always staying inside your room. Is everything okay in there? Are you feeling sick?"

A week had passed. Osomatsu didn't dare go see the world that functioned normally without the presence of his brothers. The photo album lay on the floor with Osomatsu, lying on his stomach on the futon as he flipped through the pages he had already seen before. A birthday party consisting of only Osomatsu, his parents, Totoko, Hatabou, Chibita, and Iyami. Class pictures without the rowdy group of sextuplets on front, and Osomatsu was just a regular student. His high school graduation picture of only him, no other brothers present. Every single picture had no place for Osomatsu's little brothers, and Osomatsu began to wonder if he was insane all this time. That everything about his little brothers had been a lie.

And that damn alarm clock, the one that Choromatsu bought and was supposed to have little traces of cat scratches and glitter as well as childish stickers, it was just sitting beside his futon as the time passed. A gleaming, silver alarm clock. No signs of Ichimatsu's cats laying their paws on it. No signs of glitter that rained down from Karamatsu's glittery outfits like snow. No signs of Todomatsu's and Jyushimatsu's cheap, yet colorful and bright stickers they bought from the little shop right next to Sutabaa. That alarm clock was just sitting there with no signs of Osomatsu's brothers ever laying a finger on it.

Osomatsu ignored his mother as she spoke. Bags were underneath his eyes, hair messier than Ichimatsu's, and he probably didn't eat much besides one bowl of rice and a few sides. Snacks were out of the question, since his mother tried so hard to get into his room, but seeing three snack cakes made him feel worse. He ate half of one cake and left it there, thinking that his little brothers would appreciate it more if he didn't eat their share. But of course, in this sick dream he's trapped in, he had no little brothers. He couldn't even sleep without them.

He was used to Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu rough-housing whenever Choromatsu and Todomatsu went to the bathroom. He was used to Karamatsu humming lullabies despite the fact Ichimatsu hated them. He was used to seeing Jyushimatsu roll up on the futon before he and the rest of the brothers slipped under the covers. Now, it was only him. It was only him, a futon for one person, and that alarm clock that Osomatsu desperately wanted to throw away, but couldn't. Choromatsu bought it. But there was no Choromatsu in this world.

Which begs the question.. if the pictures showed no sign of the brothers' existence, and the alarm clock itself didn't have the damages caused by the brothers.. why was the alarm clock itself even here in the first place? Osomatsu wondered.

"You have a package, by the way. I didn't open it, seeing as how it's adressed to you. I found it at the front door this morning, but I haven't had the chance to give it to you yet since you didn't even bother coming down for breakfast." Matsuyo continued to try to talk to him regardless. Osomatsu didn't have the heart to tell her to just go away. He didn't know why he was here in the first place or how he ended up being an only child, but he sure as hell didn't want to make his mother worry by making her think he's gone insane. "It doesn't have an address of who sent it. But it's from someone named Choro."

Osomatsu snapped his head up. He stood up as quick as he could, scrambling to get the comforter off him and nearly knocked the alarm clock in the process, but he slid his bedroom door opened and found Matsuyo standing there as she delicately held a box wrapped in green gift paper. Scribbled on the smooth surface of the wrapping paper were the letters "FROM CHORO" in big, bold letters. "Do.. do you know this Choro person?" Asked his mother, tilting her head confusingly.

He took the package. "Can you bring me some snacks later? Thanks a lot mom." He said distractedly, hearing his own stomach growl.

He didn't see Matsuyo seem to smile at the fact her son hadn't lost her appetite yet and was still acting like the spoiled little boy that he used to be and still was. Though she was a bit grossed out at his messy hair, she didn't say anything about it as she turned away from Osomatsu's room with Osomatsu sliding the door shut almost in excitement. Osomatsu sat down on the futon again, green package in his lap. He unwrapped it almost like it was a Christmtas present and underneath all that crudely wrapped paper lay a box. It wasn't any box, if anything, it was a seemingly normal square box that Jyushimatsu's autographed baseball was delivered in. Osomatsu's breath hitched as he saw marks on the box, like a cat had scratched it widely.

It was the same small box at the Matsuno household that was located near Ichimatsu's sulking corner. It was the box of that rare and somewhat expensive baseball Jyushimatsu ordered online using his own saved money. He gave the box to Ichimatsu afterwards, and the fourth brother probably used it to attract mice for his cats to play with, or where cats would sit. Kind of big for a box meant for a baseball, but that baseball was rare and had arrived in a cushion of packing peanuts, so it made sense.

He removed the lid of the used box and looked at the contents. As expected, some fur of Ichimatsu's cats were still stuck in the corner, but Osomatsu wasn't bothered by that fact. Inside the box was a red cushion, and Osomatsu instantly knew it was his. It was the same cushion he used when he laid down on the floor and nearly got stepped on by Jyushimatsu, as the fifth brother ran around the secondary living room. But on the top of the cushion were items that looked familiar; a pink phone with a glittery pink phone case of the Matsuno's family symbol, a worn-out yellow notepad decorated with baseball stickers, a red pen, a syringe, a bottle of unknown liquid, and finally, a colorful knitted scarf. The scarf had the colors red, blue, green, purple, yellow, and pink in that order, reminding Osomatsu of his little brothers.

Then again, the entire box was a reminder of his brothers, and Osomatsu didn't even notice a tear trail down his cheek. He really missed them. One week of not having them in his life and he missed them.

He picked up the phone and inspected it. He then realized it was Todomatsu's. When he unlocked it, surprisingly it had no password, he was confused on why the phone only had one option. Text. He frowned. This wasn't Todomatsu's then? Todomatsu's phone had a lot of games and social media accounts everywhere, but this phone only had one function. Odd, considering this was a smartphone that was supposed to do more than texting. When he took a look at the other items, he recognized two items that seemed familiar; Jyushimatsu's doodling notepad as well as the red one of his colored pens. It was a yellow, worn up notepad with baseball stickers. It practically screamed Jyushimatsu.

The syringe, the bottle of liquid, and the scarf looked unfamiliar to him though.

"The hell? This is Todomatsu's phone.. and that's Jyushimatsu's little drawing pad during our days in high school." He muttered to himself. Why was Todomatsu's phone and Jyushimatsu's notepad in Ichimatsu's "cat box"? He hadn't seen a trace of his brothers except for the alarm clock, but now, Todomatsu's beloved pink phone he got from somewhere and Jyushimatsu's little doodling notepad was with him. What gives? "What even is going on.. how did they get here in the first place-"

Suddenly, the phone started ringing, blasting Choromatsu's beloved Nyaa-chan's hit song and nearly destroying Osomatsu's eardrums. Osomatsu nearly dropped the music-blasting phone as he fumbled with it, before managing to open the only application installed in it. "DimensionTextingAppTest476..?" Osomatsu clicked his tongue as he read the application title. "Tch. What kind of name is this? For a texting application, it seems kinda gloomy.. and the hell was up with that ringtone? Fappymatsu, I swear to god."

The screen the lit up, displaying a wall of text that flickered from different letters and numbers before it finally formed one sentence.

"If you receive this text, please reply immediately. It's Choromatsu."

He felt his heart skip a beat. He pinched himself. Was he in a dream? Was throwing him into a world where he didn't have any little brothers wasn't enough? Did he have to receive a package containing the belongings of his little brothers and also received a text from someone claiming to be the brother he was closest to? "Are you really Choromatsu?" Osomatsu muttered as he texted the words that came right out of his mouth. He had to know.

Almost instantly, he received a reply.

"Yes. I'm the legit Choromatsu Matsuno, one of your little brothers who hasn't gotten a decent sleep ever since you disappeared."

What.

What the fuck.

What in the actual living fuck.

"The hell are you talking about?! I'm the one who disappeared?! It should be you guys!" Osomatsu nearly yelled as he furiously typed a reply which mirrored his reaction to the current situation at hand. "Where the hell are you guys?! Where am I?! Why am I in a world where I have no brothers?!" He yelled, his words mirroring his text exactly. He was just screaming to let his confusion out.

Another instant reply within a few seconds after he sent the text.

"I can't explain right now, it's kinda long and complicated. It's easier to tell you once you've returned. Anyway, you got the texts and it seems you're able to reply. Todomatsu's with me, but he's sleeping right now. Karamatsu's taking care of both Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu at the house right now. None of us have slept. Karamatsu and I can afford to stay up for another month, but those three can't anymore. Jyushimatsu's sick, Ichimatsu's moodier than usual, and Todomatsu acts like a teenage girl."

A month.

A week.

Choromatsu claims that he and Karamatsu haven't slept for over a month, in which Osomatsu woke up in this odd place a week ago. And the three youngest brothers are having problems right now, with only Fappymatsu and Shittymatsu dealing with it. "What is going on." He nearly growled as he texted the same words to Choromatsu. As the eldest, he demanded an explanation. "Where are you. Where are all of you." They weren't even questions anymore, they seemed like demands. "How can I find you all."

"Long story short, we're communicating via Todomatsu's phone through alternate dimensions. We got it tweaked by Professor Dekapan, the same professor that made the bottle of liquid that came with the phone and the notepad. You're in another dimension, so asking Professor Dekapan to even find a way to communicate with you was already hard enough. Todomatsu was the only one with a phone."

"Why am I in another dimension, Fappymatsu?" He clicked his tongue again as he texted his question, along with a supposed insult. More tears seemed to be streaming down is cheeks, but he didn't really pay any attention.

"Glad to see our separation from each other hasn't made you insane enough to forget your brothers. As I said, it'll be long and complicated, so I'll save it until we manage to get you back here with us."

"And how does that happen?"

"Slow down, Osomatsu-niisan. I know you want to see us again as soon as possible. But you're currently in an unstable dimension opposite from ours. Hell, if you make absolutely one mistake, chances are, you're gonna die."

Even though each word that escaped Osomatsu's mouth mirrored the words he typed and sent to Choromatsu, he wasn't planing to frantically type out a text of intense screaming, which he muffled by burying his face on his pillow. He forced himself up again and though he wanted to strangle the answers out of Choromatsu, he couldn't bring himself to be angry. A week without his brothers proved he couldn't stop his constant fussing over how they were doing. Their two weeks of failure at being independence (two weeks prior to the baseball match), Osomatsu could handle, since he knew they were still in the same world, just separated. But this?

His brothers probably weren't breathing the same air he was breathing right now.

"I want to go back." He muttered as he texted to Choromatsu. Something wet dripped from his cheek to the floor.. ah, it was his own tears. "I don't know how I got here, but I want to go back."

"That's why we sent you those. We can't necessarily go there and help you out ourselves, but Todomatsu was willing to sacrifice his own phone if it meant getting you back here with us. You may think you've been gone for a week, but really, you've been out for a month. Karamatsu-niisan's not even bothering to be painful or supposedly cool, since he believes he has to take care of all of us in your place. Ichimatsu and Todomatsu are both moody, but they really miss you. Jyushimatsu might be becoming a bit depressed, too. It's always best to have someone with him in case he tries anything stupid."

If the sunny brother himself is getting depressed, it was already a big enough sign that he needed to get home. "Choromatsu, please tell me how to get out of here. I can't stay here any longer. It's driving me insane."

"You just got the supplies we sent you since you only answered my text today, right? I think it's best you let everything sink in. It's gonna be hard, but I think you already know dealing with us was never really easy to begin with."

"Stop stalling, Fappymatsu." He muttered to himself, pressing his fingers against the screen. "I'm the eldest. It's my job to take care of all of you. I can handle anything, just tell me how to get back to you guys."

Choromatsu replied with all of his texts instantly, but this one took about ten seconds. Osomatsu bought the phone closer to his face as he squinted his eyes, tears blurring his vision.

"You need to find the us and the you in that dimension."

..Maybe Choromatsu was right. He just dealt with waking up in a place which showed no sign of the existence of his little brothers. He just dealt with hearing he was in another dimension. But hearing there was another him, another version of his brothers, in the world where he was right now? He could say utter bullshit, but with everything that seemingly unfolded today..

It didn't seem far-fetched, Osomatsu had to admit.