Pretty short chapter, this one. Meh... WARNING(?): Mention of somewhat graphic injuries.

Crossing the bridge

Todomatsu and Dekapan talk about the mysterious boy.

It didn't take long for Todomatsu to arrive at Dekapan's place.

After the phone call, the shaken teen dialed a taxi cab and dragged the unconscious man inside. Thankfully, the driver didn't notice the blood stains on their dark clothes and Todomatsu was able to fool him, claiming his 'buddy' was just passed out and drunk.

Unsurprisingly, Dekapan was bewildered when the two knocked on his door around 2 am.

"Todomatsu-kun! What happened? Who is-"

"Questions later. Help him first." Was all Todomatsu said.

They set the injured man up on a futon in the upstairs guest room and Dekapan got to working; Todomatsu at his side.

"Is he dying?" Todomatsu questioned. He watched the man's chest move up and down with each labored breath. He wiped the crusted blood and sweat from the man's face; his expression full of pain and discomfort.

"He looks flushed." Dekapan pressed a gloved hand to the on the boy's forehead. "He might have passed out from a fever."

"Here," Dekapan ordered. "Help me remove his sweater."

Now with lights on, they could see the damage done in full, clear view.

As they carefully removed the black sweater, Todomatsu noticed ugly purple and black bruises along the other teen's arms and stomach which could be seen through his white t-shirt that was damp with sweat. He had a few scraps and cuts as well, especially on his hands and palms. His face and head seemed to be where most of the blood, thankfully drying up, came from: a trickle seen from the corner of his lip, a broken nose, and obviously the wound on the back of his head. Todomatsu couldn't help staring all over the stranger's figure.

He was pale aside from the reddened cheeks. He height and slender frame was like his and Choromatsu's, but he was a bit on the scrawny side. There was a large bruise on the side of his face, but it was still like staring into a mirror. It bothered Todomatsu.

Dekapan turned the man's head to the side to get a better look at the gash.

"Well the wound is beginning to stop bleeding," Dekapan examined. "But he'll need some stitches." Dekapan then lightly pressed his hands around the boy's chest. "Some bruised ribs but thankfully not broken. We'll focus on the stitches and the fever."

"Right," Todomatsu quickly rushed to the bathroom; grabbing towels and a basin of cold water.

He stopped for a moment, looking at the mirror. He recoiled in disgust to see his neck was starting to form the purplish color of a bruise.

A reminder of what happened barely an hour ago.

With an irritated growl, he pulled the drawstrings of his jacket away from him. Subsequently, the hood of the jacket shrunk and scrunched up; tightly wrapping around his neck like a scarf and covering the blemish as best as it could.

When he came back, Dekapan was preparing a syringe of Lidocaine.

"I'll place those towels on him after I stitch and bandage the wound," Dekapan noted. "If he's needs a transfusion, hopefully one of us has the same blood-type."

Dekapan said this as he gently injects the perimeter of the head wound with the numbing fluid. "But overall, I think he'll be fine."

Todomatsu noticed Dekapan had pulled a thin blanket up to the stranger's chest. There was creases on Dekapan's furrowed eyebrows.

"What's wrong?"

Dekapan voiced hitched. "It's nothing."

The later wanted to roll his eyes. "I don't believe you."

The elder sighed, clearing his throat. "As you said earlier Todomatsu-kun, questions later."

For the next 30 minutes, Todomatsu cradled the stranger's head; keeping it steady and blotting any trickles of blood away with a clean cloth as Dekapan painstakingly stitched up the wound. The whole process was uncomfortable and awkward with Todomatsu trying to carefully prompt the limp body up from the floor.

"I'm almost done," the doctor announced as he grabbed his scissors and snipped the rest of the thread off.

The older man then walked over to the desk of supplies and put away the thread and needle; grabbing some gauze. Todomatsu continued to keep as still as possible for Dekapan while the man wrapped the roll of gauze around the unconscious boy's head.

If felt like the young teen was holding his breath for a long time, staring down at the man before him until Dekapan tapped at his arm signalling him that he was finished.

As Todomatsu carefully set the stranger's head to side onto the pillow, he looked at the older gentleman questioningly.

"Do you need anything else?"

"It's alright, I have everything handled from here." The later grabbed a towel and placed them under the cold water.

He then turned to the young teen. "I'm just going to check on his fever and then bandage up those cuts and bruises. Thank you for your assistance Todomatsu-kun. Why don't you go downstairs to the family room and wait? You could also sleep on the couch if you want."

Despite his exhausted mind, Todomatsu sensed the feeling that he was being pushed away. He shook his head. "It's okay. I'm not tired."

Still, without arguing, he slowly walked to the door, pulling out his cellphone. Before leaving, he turned his gaze to the look-alike and then back at Dekapan.

"Call me when you're done or if you need me."

Dekapan's doorbell began to ring. There was a high-pitched female voice on the other side.

"Dekapan Ojisan! It's Totoko! I'm here for the ointment for my father's muscle pain."

Dekapan opened the door, letting in the cold morning air and greeting his visitor with a welcoming smile. "Ah Yowai-kun, good morning!"

He handed the girl a bag with the ointment. "Here you go, just as promised. Be sure he doesn't apply too much of it in one go. A thin layer is more than enough."

"Thank you," the young woman bowed gratefully. However, her expression morphed into worry when she noticed his tired eyes and pale face. "Oji-san, are you okay? Did you sleep well last night?"

"Oya?" Dekapan paused. His eyes widened in realization and shook his hands in front of her defensively. "O-Oh! Yes yes! I'm fine! I slept plenty. Thank you for your concern though."

Totoko looked confused but didn't say anything. "Hey Ojisan, sorry to bother you, but have you also heard from Todomatsu-kun recently? Choromatsu-kun and Karamatsu-kun has been trying to get in contact with him but he won't answer."

"Ah... ah no, I haven't. Tell his brothers I said sorry. I'm sure he'll turn up soon. You know how he is." Dekapan gave a small laugh.

"I see," Totoko then sighed and shook her head. "Humph! Honestly, I swear those boys will be the death of me. Well, I'll be off now. Thank you again Ojisan!"

"Have a nice day and stay warm!" The older man beamed as the girl walked off. When she was out of sight, he let out a long breath; closing the door behind him.

"You're a terrible liar," Todomatsu said nonchalantly as Dekapan walked into the kitchen. "Seriously, you sounded so unconvincing." The boy took off his hat and pressed his hands against his face. "Well, it's Totoko so I highly doubt she suspected anything," he commented almost mockingly.

"I feel bad," The old man answered back; grabbing a kettle of hot water from the counter. "She seems worried about you. She said your brothers have been looking for you."

"Don't care." Todomatsu said bluntly, rubbing his eyes. He then looked up at Dekapan. "Anyways, thanks again, Oji-san."

It had been five hours since Todomatsu arrived with the mysterious teenager. Dekapan worked tirelessly through the night: closing and wrapping the boy's wound, cleaning and bandaging the cuts, icing the swelling bruises, and bringing down the boy's fever. Around 4 am, he had to call a barely awake Todomatsu over to check his blood for a transfusion.

He had the same blood type as the the boy. Todomatsu and Dekapan both refused to comment about it.

Needless to say, the strange individual was now asleep and healing up in the room above them.

"I must say, I was quite shocked to see you come to me for this. It's...it's been awhile since I've done work like that as a doctor," Dekapan laughed quietly. "I prefer doing medicinal work these days."

"Sorry," Todomatsu looked at him somewhat apologetically. "He- I didn't know where else to go. I thought you could help."

Dekapan nodded as he poured hot tea into two empty cups. "Amazing that you found him when you did. Ignoring his physical wounds, there was a higher chance for him to freeze to death instead. Thank goodness it'll stop snowing for the next few days."

He gave one of the cups to the teen and sat down opposite from him. "I believe I'm right when I say that the boy upstairs isn't Karamatsu or the others, are they?"

"Yeah…." Todomatsu continued staring down at the steaming tea in his hands. "You could tell?"

"Not at first," the older man said blowing on his tea0. "But I couldn't help but feel this familiar aura coming from him."

"Aura?" The younger questioned, looking at him incredulously.

"He's also been through a lot even before you found him like this. Hasn't bathed, slightly malnourished, blisters on his hands, old scars..."

The younger observed how Dekapan shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Todomatsu-kun," Dekapan said; his tone a mixture of excitement and wonder. "Is he Osomatsu-kun?"

Todomatsu bit the bottom of his lip. He didn't answer, watching Dekapan instead chuckle in disbelief, almost like some revelation was finally sinking in the old man's mind. "I can't believe it...It's...It's jarring. A miracle really! Ha ha! He was missing for all these years. They said it was possible he might have been...To think he's still-"

"That's what I would like to find out," Todomatsu cut the man off; clenching his cup tightly. He looked up at the doctor with a stoned expression. "Frankly, it would be better if he wasn't. So if he truly is the eldest son, I want to be sure."

"Todomatsu-kun?"

"I want you to use mine and his blood for a dna test. You have plenty from both of us to use for your samples don't you?"

The later scratched the back of his head in contemplation. "Do you really think that's necessary? You already gave him some of your blood from the transfusion. That proves you both have the same blood-type like how identical twins do."

"Yeah and so do complete strangers," the teen retorted. "Blood type doesn't matter."

He picked up his tea and took a few sips. "I want to be sure. Test and all. I want it done soon or even now. Before he wakes up preferably."

"It wouldn't be consensual," Dekapan argued. "Why not ask him when he wakes up?"

Todomatsu scoffed. He leaned the palm of his hand against his cheek. "He can't do anything to argue about it. Besides, we don't know how long it'll be until he wakes up and we're both dying to know now...but we each want different results."

He glared downwards as his hand moved down to neck, caressing scrunched up fabric of his hood. "In any case, he owes me for making me do things the hard way."

Dekapan looked at him addled but Todomatsu just turned and gave the elder an innocent smirk.

"He doesn't need to know. Simple as that."

They stayed there in silence for a few minutes. The two just continued to stay seated until they finished up their drinks. As he took his last gulp, Dekapan spoke in a solemn voice.

"So Todomatsu-kun… Are you sure that's what you want?"

The way he said it almost startled Todomatsu, but immediately shook it off.

"Yes," the teen answered. He stared at the man with a determined look in his eyes.

Dekapan hummed in thought for awhile before shaking his head. "I see now," he sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. It only seems reasonable and fair to do so. However…"

Todomatsu gave a puzzled look as Dekapan got up from his chair and walked up in front of him. The man placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and looked at the boy with a concerned frown.

"What is it?"

"What happens if this person is your brother?" The small old man asked, prompting the boy to look back up at him in confusion.

Dekapan's voice was careful, serious, but kind. "It'll be alright wouldn't it? Easier? If he wasn't him, that is?" For some reason, Todomatsu couldn't help but flinch at the remark.

"You and him then wouldn't have to talk or see each other after this. But what if it's not what you hoped for and this person is actually Osomatsu-kun?"

The teen felt the wrinkled hand tighten. "What will you do? Will you tell your family? Matsuyo? Your brothers? You need to prepare for both results Boya."

"And of course, I will too," he flashed him a sincere smile. "So I apologize for being inconsiderate and getting too excited."

Todomatsu turned away quickly and swatted the hand off his shoulder. He gritted his teeth; face pensive in thought.

There was a pause before the young man took a long, deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"Fine…" he relented. "Just get it done soon."

Dekapan nodded in acknowledgement before giving a long tired yawn.

"Yosh! Leave it to me."

His mannerisms went back to his usual laid-back self; almost as if the atmosphere wasn't so tense a minute ago.

"I'm pretty tired so you don't mind if I do it later after I take a nap?" He rubs the back of his neck. "What a shame. I was supposed to meet with Dayon for lunch today."

With another yawn, the older man trotted back into the hallway and towards the stairs; Todomatsu got up and followed behind. As he went up the stairs, he looked back at the young man. "Will you be staying?"

The later shrugged, placing his hands in his pocket. "Guess so, got nowhere else to go until the test results."

"That's fine. Feel free to get some sleep as well. If you're hungry, you can leave the door unlocked if you want to go grab something and come back."

Todomatsu simply nodded in return. "Thanks." His eyes gestured to upstairs. "And what about him?"

Dekapan hummed. He crossed his arms, uncertain. "Well, it's a little hard to guess. I believe he'll be out for a few more hours due to his fever. Probably go in and out of consciousness at times."

He gave the boy a reassuring smile. "I'll check up on him in an hour or two. But in the meantime, I'll be in my room if you need me."

"See you later," Todomatsu said simply, waving to the old man as he disappeared up the stairs. The swish sounds of a door opening and closing was heard. Then silence.

Todomatsu was left alone.

Stretching and yawning, he ambled towards the couch and threw himself on it. He took relief in the soft comfort of the cushions especially after a night such as this. He just wanted to sleep the whole day away.

Unfortunately, he couldn't help stop the still lingering feelings that kept haunting his mind. He couldn't stop it last night and he certainly couldn't stop it now.

'Ah, Oji-san...that stupidly naive, old fool.'

His eyes drew themselves to the hallway that led up the stairs.