After the initial cheer wore off the brothers were beginning to make their leave.
They would've all liked to just stay and keep company to their brother but they had work to do and money to earn.
Osomatsu voiced a question everyone had on the tip of their tongue, "So, who's going to be staying in for the night?"
"Leave it to me, brothers", Karamatsu broke the silence.
"You're the only one who hasn't stayed in yet. That'll work perfectly", Osomatsu concluded, "We'll be counting on you."
As the rest of the brothers were leaving, Ichimatsu was glued to his spot. There was no way he'd let Shittymatsu stay with his little brother.
"Come on, Ichi", Totty pleaded trying to drag him out of the room, "It's just for the night. You'll be able to see Jyushi when you come to stay in the morning. What's the worst that could happen?"
"That is the one thing I don't want to think about", Ichimatsu mumbled as he was dragged out of the room with the help of Osomatsu and Choromatsu.
Before leaving Ichimatsu stuck his head into the room once again, "If you do as much as touch him, you'll be dead. Keep those pants of yours away from him."
"Okay, okay, off we go!" Osomatsu sighed as he pulled his little brother off the hinges of the sliding door.
He could've sworn there was a sound of the door breaking when he pulled Ichi away.
"Don't worry, brothers. I'll take good care of Jyushi", Karamatsu tried to reassure them.
He ended up sounding even more suspicious.
To the point where Ichimatsu tried to struggle away from his brothers' grasp and return to Jyushi's side.
"He didn't have those stupid pants on him, did he?" Choromatsu whispered to Totty.
"I guess not, since it didn't hurt to stand next to him", he whispered back, "But who knows, maybe he has a pair in his bag."
They both gulped in unison.
Karamatsu would be so dead in the morning.
Karamatsu sat still for exactly two seconds before springing up.
"Is there anything you need, brother?" Karamatsu began, "A change of clothes? A bath?"
Jyushi of course didn't answer but it didn't mean Karamatsu took that as a negative answer.
"Silence means 'yes'. How about we go give you a bath and then get you a change of clothes? Sounds good? Great, let's do it."
It was easier said than done.
Karamatsu dragged his brother to the conjoined bathroom with the power of sheer determination alone.
He had actually asked the nurses if the maneuver was alright with his brother's current condition. They had told him he'd be alright if Karamatsu managed to keep his head still and not hit it anywhere. They had even provided him with a neck rest for the tub.
Jyushi was now sitting upright in the tub with the help of the neck rest whilst Karamatsu was rolling his sleeves up getting ready.
He had actually even taken his sunglasses off for the occasion meaning he was dead serious.
He was going to get his brother bathed and dressed even if it meant he had to go into the tub with him.
"You ready for this?" Karamatsu asked Jyushi, "I'll be careful."
"Let's begin by getting you some warm water for the bath", he twisted the knob carefully, "Got to learn how to operate this spaceship first. You can never be too careful with these. There, perfect."
"Then we add some bubbles" he poured in a generous amount of bubble bath solution, "It has sparkles in it."
Karamatsu poured a bucket of water onto his brother's head whilst shielding his eyes from the soap, "Got to get your hair wet first. Next up, scrubbing."
Karamatsu had to mind Jyushi's both hands.
The other one was wrapped in a huge plastic bag. Not to get the plaster wet. The one with the tubes was in a plastic glove for the same reason.
Soap and medical equipment didn't mix.
"Did they clean you up at all? I'm seeing some dry blood here", Karamatsu pointed out combing his hand through Jyushi's hair, "They manage to keep you alive yet they don't even take care of basic hygiene. I'll fill a complaint before leaving."
Karamatsu succeeded in his bathing mission.
His brother was clean and now it was time to pick out some fresh clothes.
"Hmmm, what are we feeling today? The basic pajamas? Jumpsuit? I have some pants for you if you want to try those on", Karamatsu rambled on, "The jumpsuit? Got that, brother. Just let me go get that."
"Here we go", he came back after a moment, "We need to dry you off a bit before dressing up though. Don't want you ending up with a cold or anything. I'll call a nurse in and ask her where the hair dryer is."
After having found out where the dryer was kept, Karamatsu began drying Jyushi's hair, "Gotta get it nice and dry. Let's comb it a bit, too. Make it look neat."
"There, all dry. Now, some lotion and then clothes", Karamatsu continued telling Jyushi his every move.
The clothes had been a pain to get on but they had somehow managed.
Now Jyushi was back in his bed after Karamatsu had changed the sheets.
"Fresh bed, fresh brother", he told Jyushi as he sat down on the hospital chair.
He took out his guitar he had had with him.
The other brothers hadn't noticed but he was prepared to spend the night keeping company to his little brother.
"How about a song?" Karamatsu ran his fingers over the strings making a random melody, "I've actually been composing a new song. It's a new piece for our duets. Let's hear it."
A delicate yet uplifting tune came from the guitar as Karamatsu began playing.
He wasn't sure how the nurses would react but to be honest he didn't care. He'd play for his brother if he wanted to.
"I bet Totty would be telling me to shut up saying it hurts", Karamatsu sighed frustrated, "I still don't know how I could hurt anyone. Am I just too perfect? A sinful man?"
He continued strumming the guitar, "Does this also mean you're strong? You've never told me I hurt you with my existence or the things I do."
Karamatsu also knew Jyushimatsu didn't cut him off on purpose. His attention span was really short. He also loved to ask questions, usually succeeding in cutting people off with them.
They were both also prone to injuring themselves. Jyushi would come home bruised and scraped from practice. Karamatsu would at least get stomped on by women in high heels after a failed flirting attempt.
"Like two peas in a pod", Karamatsu sighed.
He had entered his dreamland of good relationships with his brothers.
He took Jyushi's hand while hallucinating so the next thing he felt seemed like a part of that, too.
A twitch.
A miniscule twitch.
Jyushi's hand moved in Karamatsu's.
"Brother?" Karamatsu sounded panicked yet unbelievably happy, "Can you hear me? Can you do that once again? For me?"
Karamatsu pressed the nurse button so hard he thought it'd break.
The nurses came running.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" the nurse working in the night shift asked.
"His hand moved! It moved!" Karamatsu was screaming.
"Right, let's see", she said clearly not believing the man's words.
She wanted to see for herself.
Jyushi would need to move his hand once again.
"Jyushi, you need to move that hand one more time. Come on, you can do it", Karamatsu cheered.
A minute passed, then another.
The smallest of movements could be seen.
Jyushi's hand was moving once again.
Did this also mean he could hear what his brother was saying?
"I'll go tell the doctor. This is great news", the nurse told Karamatsu with a smile in her eyes.
The doctor came rushing in, "I heard the news. We'll need to run some tests."
"Right. Is he waking up?" Karamatsu nodded.
"Most likely. I'd give him two of three days", the doctor told him, "Inform your family. We'll be going now."
Karamatsu looked as his brother leaved the room pushed by the same nurse who had seen the hand move.
He took out his cellphone and dialed the first number in it, Choromatsu.
"Hello? Have you seen the clock lately, Karamatsu?" Choromatsu picked up.
"Jyushi is waking up! His hand moved! I felt it myself!"
"Wh-What? Did you talk with the doctor? Did you hit your head or something?"
"I talked with him! He's taking Jyushi to run some tests on him."
"I'll wake the others up", there was rustling of sheets heard in the background, "We'll be there."
The brothers arrived after calling in sick from work.
Osomatsu had been working but came with the others all the same.
When they opened the room's door, the doctor was back in the room with Jyushi.
"What's the situation?" Totty asked him.
"The swelling in Matsuno's brain has all gone down. To the point where he might actually even wake up today. Let's not get too positive, though."
"What do you mean 'let's not get too positive'? Of course we're getting positive!" Osomatsu screamed, "Our brother could be waking up today!"
"Okay, okay. I get it", the doctor told them, "I'll leave him in your care now."
The brothers glared at the doctor's retreating back.
How could he say such things?
"Hey, Shittymatsu. What's up with Jyushi's clothes?" Ichimatsu asked his brother.
Karamatsu puffed his chest looking really proud of himself, "I changed his clothes of course. After bathing him."
The rest of the brothers looked at each other, 'Yes, he's going to die.'
"You did what?" Ichi wasn't even shouting.
He was talking in a calm, quiet voice which only made things worse. It meant that he was really pissed off.
"Like I said-", Karamatsu couldn't finish his sentence.
He was hit to the face, hard.
"Don't do that again", Ichimatsu whispered to Karamatsu's ear before pulling away.
"Okay", Karamatsu chocked out, "I was just helping him. They didn't do a very good job with the cleaning."
Ichimatsu sat down on the chair Karamatsu had occupied just a moment ago. He shot a meaningful glance in Karamatsu's direction warning him once again.
"Talk about overprotective", Todomatsu whispered to Osomatsu, "He even checked to see if Jyushi's pants were normal. He's wearing a jumpsuit for god's sake!"
Osomatsu chuckled, "Wouldn't you be worried about the pants?"
"I would."
There was a sudden a rustle coming from the bed.
Ichimatsu shot up and took Jyushi's hand to his own, "Jyushi?! Jyushi, are you waking up?!"
The rest of the brothers swarmed around the bed encouraging their brother to open his eyes.
Jyushi's eyes moved under his eyelids and he shook his head a bit, "I-Ichi?"
His voice was raspy of course but there it was.
The small sound was enough to get the brothers' shoulders to relax.
Their little sunshine was waking up.
He cracked one eye open and closed it again.
The hospital room was too bright for his sensitive eyes.
"The switch", Ichimatsu commanded.
The room was dimmed.
"Come on, try again", Osomatsu told Jyushi with a pat to the knee.
He tried again. With more success this time.
Jyushi looked around for a while looking confused, "W-Where?"
"You're in the hospital, Jyushi. Ichimatsu can tell you the details later", Totty told him.
He was teary eyed after seeing his brother's eyes once again.
The lazy eye was incorrectly posed of course. It was to be expected.
He felt like telling him about it like before but decided to just let it be this time.
Choromatsu and Osomatsu were getting tears in their eyes too.
Karamatsu hid his behind sunglasses but they all knew the tears were there.
Ichimatsu was lying on top of his little brother, hugging his midsection and mumbling 'sorry's and other nonsense.
Choromatsu lifted the hospital bed to a better position so that Jyushi would be sitting up.
"Welcome back", he told Jyushi with a firm squeeze on the shoulder, "Say something to Ichi. He's getting melodramatic."
"Ichi, why are you crying?" Jyushi asked his brother after a glass of water for his sore throat, "Are you upset?"
"No, no I'm not", Ichimatsu sniffled, "I'm just happy you're awake. I'm so sorry for what happened."
"But it wasn't your fault", he mumbled, remembering nothing but hazy images of what happened.
His eyelids were drooping, "How is Batter? Is he alright?"
"He's doing great", Osomatsu butted in.
"That's good", Jyushi's head was beginning to sway.
He was going to fall asleep.
Choromatsu had read about comas and knew that Jyushi would be very sleepy for a few days despite just having woken up.
"Jyushi's very tired", Choromatsu pointed out, "Let's let him sleep. He needs it."
The others nodded as Choromatsu lowered the bed back down.
Ichi held his grip on Jyushi's hand determined to stay with him.
All of the brothers decide to crash in for the rest of the day.
They were all getting ready to settle in when Osomatsu suddenly spoke, "Hey, isn't there someone we should call?"
Ichimatsu was already dialing the number.