Waking up in the morning and going downstairs for breakfast went like usual in the Matsuno household.
To be honest, it looked more like a zombie apocalypse than a normal morning routine. That was how it always looked like though. Six bodies rising from the dead, a.k.a. sleep, and crawling downstairs after food.
It was Karamatsu's turn to make food today and he went all out. It looked like a hotel's menu more than something the brothers were used to eating.
Well, the morning went almost as any other, until there was a loud sneeze.
"Bless you, Totty", Karamatsu said from the other side of the table, too busy polishing his sunglasses to look up.
"Umm… Todomatsu said his cold was back and he was going to stay in bed for the day", Choromatsu pointed out.
The five brothers looked at each other in silence for good three minutes.
Then there was another one. A bit louder this time.
It was the fifth brother, Jyushimatsu.
"The doctor said something about this", Choromatsu sighed, "Jyushimatsu's immune system is weak from the stay in the hospital and all of the medicine he's been taking these past few weeks. I thought I told you to be careful around your little brother."
Ichimatsu was wiping his little brother's nose with a napkin trying not to care about the little pout on his face, "What does that mean?"
"I was careful", Jyushi mumbled.
Ichimatsu was ignored. A plot twist.
"I bet you were", Osomatsu patted the fifth's back, "You slept next to each other during the vacation though."
"Let's just say we'll need to look after two sick little brothers now", Karamatsu tried to explain, mentally preparing himself to be a good big brother and take care of his two youngest brothers, "I'll go make some soup for Totty."
"You go make that soup", Choromatsu nodded, "And Jyushimatsu goes back to bed."
"Noooo!" Jyushimatsu pouted, flailing his hands, "I have work today!"
Choromatsu sighed, Jyushi was the worst to negotiate with, "Alright. How about one of us stays home with you two? Would that help at all?"
Jyushimatsu had pulled his hoodie's hood all the way over his head and pulled the strings, "Maybe."
'It was Jyushibug before. Now it must be Jyushibeetle. Such evolution", Osomatsu was eyeing his little brother from the floor where he was lying reading some comics.
"Brother, I'll take care of our dear Granny today", Karamatsu told his little brother, "I promise."
"And I can stay with you two today", Ichimatsu said, "To be honest, I think I'll be the next one to get the bug."
'Bug?' Jyushi perked up.
"Not you too", Choromatsu shook his head. He was also worried he'd come back to a murder scene or something. Ichimatsu-sama wasn't the best to take care of sick people.
"Come on! Chill! They'll be alright", Osomatsu laughed, "You go and get your work done so you can come back early."
"Alright. Let's do that", Choromatsu gave up, "I'll buy you some medicine on my way home."
"Behave yourselves!" the three oldest brothers reminded the three as they were leaving the house.
"There's medicine on the kitchen table for the two. Give them some according to the instructions if needed", Choromatsu rambled on and on about the medicine and other essentials.
"Alright, Mama Choromatsu will have to leave now or he'll be late from work", Osomatsu sing sang, taking his brother's hand and dragging him away, "But yes, do behave."
"I bet Granny will give me something good to bring back to you, brothers", Karamatsu said, "Don't worry, Jyushimatsu. I'll work hard!"
"If you're going to work, take those stupid pants off first!" it was Totty. He was hanging from the bedroom window, looking unwell, "They'll scare the customers away!"
Ichimatsu agreed with a nod, hoping that the apron he'd have to wear would cover most of them so that the customers' eyes would be spared.
"And Choromatsu", Totty added, "Bring me soda!"
"Eh?" Choromatsu turned to look at the youngest, "Soda?"
"Yes. Soda. What? You never feel like drinking soda when you're sick?"
"Alright. I'll bring you some", Choromatsu said. He knew the feeling.
"Yay! And while you're there, could you also bring me some-"
"Let's go!" Choromatsu cut the youngest off not wanting to get a meter-long list of all the things he should bring from the mall, "We'll be late."
"Didn't I tell you so?!" Osomatsu huffed, although he had a smirk dancing on his lips.
After the three had left, the younger brothers were left alone in the big house.
Totty had texted them to be quiet, whatever they did and that he wanted soup for lunch.
Ichimatsu would bring him some more medicine with a glass of water later. But for now, he was going to let his little brother catch some sleep.
"So", Ichimatsu began, "Bed?"
Jyushimatsu was still pouting although he had exited the self-made hoodie cocoon, "Don't wanna."
The previous sentence seemed fake as Jyushi sneezed loudly, followed by a cough.
Ichimatsu flinched. It sounded painful.
"Is your throat sore? Should I get you some tea?" Ichimatsu asked.
"No."
"Listen. It's no use pouting now. You're not going back to work before you're well again", Ichimatsu pointed out, "You don't have to go to bed if you don't want to but you're not going to work either."
"C-Could we maybe write a letter?" Jyushimatsu asked quietly after a long inner debate over the situation.
"A letter?" Ichimatsu had a hunch to who it was for, "Sure. Where do you want to write it? The living room table?"
Jyushi nodded, "Hm. You could help me with the kanji again."
"Alright. I'll go get us some paper and pens. Would you like something to drink, too?"
"Juice."
"Coming right up", Ichimatsu smiled, "Just sit down and I'll be right back."
Ichimatsu ended up stealing some of Osomatsu's snacks, too, while in the kitchen. The oldest would understand. It was for a greater cause after all.
"We had some old letter paper left", Ichimatsu dumped the contents of some old box onto the table.
Soon, the small living room table was filled with everything from paper and stickers to rubber bands and paper clips. In the middle, sat two glasses of juice and a bag of potato chips.
Jyushimatsu picked out a flower-themed paper and took out a pen.
First it looked like he had a clear plan in mind but it soon became evident that the fifth had no idea where to even begin his writing.
"Trouble staring?" Ichimatsu asked, looking through the stickers in hopes of finding some cat ones.
Jyushi nodded, "I though writing a letter was easy. Guess I was wrong."
Ichimatsu looked at the blank page, "How about telling her what you thought of her letter?"
Jyushi's face lit up and he began to furiously write something.
"Ah", he suddenly stopped.
"What is it?"
"I made a mistake."
Ichimatsu had feared this would happen, "I think I saw an identical paper somewhere in the pile. Let me get that."
Ichi handed the paper he found to his little brother but just as Jyushi was going to begin rewriting his letter on the new paper, Ichimatsu stopped him.
"No. Let's learn from our mistakes", Ichimatsu gave Jyushi a blank, white paper, "Here's a draft paper for you. Let's write the letter here first. Then we can write it to the official paper."
Jyushi nodded in understatement.
The pair then began the tough task of writing a letter to a girl.
After an hour of work and sweating, the two were finally done with the draft.
"Okay. How does it look? Like it?" Ichimatsu asked after making sure all of the characters were correct.
"Hm! Let's write it to the paper now!"
"Should I look for good stickers?"
"Yes!" Jyushi agreed, nose already glued to the paper in concentration.
Another hour went by until Jyushimatsu was done with writing the letter.
He must've really wanted his handwriting to look good and legible. He didn't usually have the patience to sit still even for five minutes.
Ichimatsu felt proud as he handed a stack of stickers and colored pencils to his little brother.
Jyushi looked through them carefully before selecting the ones he'd use and set to work.
"Ichimatsu?" he suddenly asked.
"Hm?" ESP Kitty had come to see what the duo was up to and settled on the fourth's lap. Ichi was petting him as he watched his little brother work.
"Can you write something, too?"
"Why? Isn't it your letter?"
"But you helped me write it! And you read the last one for me! You must at least say hello", Jyushi pouted.
"Alright, alright. Give it here", Ichimatsu mumbled with a blush, "Is this okay or were you going to put a sticker there?"
"It's good", Jyushi smiled watching his big brother draw a waving cat.
"Maneki neko!" Jyushi cheered, "So cute! You're so talented."
"S-Shut it", Ichimatsu blushed even more. He quickly wrote a small greeting and gave the letter back, "Here."
"It's perfect!" Jyushimatsu stood up, spinning around with the letter in his hands.
"Here. Don't forget the envelope", Ichi gave Jyushi a couple to choose from.
The two sat down to choose.
It was hard choosing the perfect envelope. It would be the first thing the receiver would see when getting the letter. It had to be perfect or the contents would also be ruined by the terrible exterior.
"This one!" Jyushimatsu finally slammed his sleeve-covered hand on one of the envelopes.
There weren't any flower-themed available so Jyushi went with cute and tiny animals.
"Then, finally, the-", Ichimatsu began rummaging through the box but soon quit, realizing their grave error, "We don't have any stamps."
"Huh?" Jyushimatsu turned the box upside down, successfully littering the table once again when Ichimatsu had just cleaned it up, "No stamps."
"I'll text Choromatsu and tell him to get some", Ichimatsu took out his phone, "We should be able to mail the letter today if Choromatsu can find stamps for us."
"Hmm", Jyushi nodded, his eyes drooping, "I want to send it today. I haven't had the time to write it before so the letter is really late."
Ichimatsu had noticed his brother's decreasing energy ever since beginning the whole letter-writing thing. Jyushi would go straight to bed after he had sent the text.
Totty's bug had struck the fifth Matsuno brother hard, it seemed. His weak immune systems wasn't enough to protect its owner from the virus.
Ichimatsu bet the bug was going to be at least twice as bad as in Todomatsu's case, too.
"There, sent", Ihchimatsu hit the send button, hoping for a positive reply, "Now, off to bed with you."
Jyushimatsu was literally lying on top of the table now, "Don't wanna. Let's watch baseball from the TV."
"Come on you big baby. Upstrairs", Ichimatsu took his little brother's hand and began dragging him, "You're tired. You need to sleep. Plus, there isn't baseball on TV during this time of the day."
"Noooo", Jyushimatsu whined the whole way, "Then, let's play something! Jenga?"
"No. It's either you go to bed or I drag you there", Ichimatsu crossed his hands, trying to look tough.
Jyushimatsu's reply was to flop lifelessly down onto the floor.
"You asked for it", Ichimatsu sighed, getting ready for a week's worth of work.
Ichimatsu was panting by the time the two made it upstairs and into the bedroom. Who knew carrying your little brother could be so hard.
To be fair, Jyushimatsu had decided to help him with the stairs.
"Hello you two", Totty mumbled from where he had been sleeping prior to the two barging in loudly, "What's up?"
"We wrote a letter and now this little shit doesn't want to go to sleep", Ichimatsu tsk'ed, sounding a bit pissed off already, "He only wants me to play with him despite how his eyelids are already half closed."
"Jyushimatsu, won't you come sleep next to me?" Totty asked with his sweet voice usually meant to be used with the puppy eyes, "I've been lonely."
Jyushi's head was lolling to the side. He looked absolutely drained.
Ichi was going to make sure to go and fetch the thermometer next and measure the obvious fever his brother had.
"Hmm, sure", Jyushi mumbled and flopped down next to his little brother.
"Good boy", Todomatsu pet his head, "So, what did you write on that letter?"
"A secret!" Jyushimatsu sang from somewhere midway through dreamland.
Ichimatsu sat down and watched how the youngest Matsuno kept talking nonsense to his big brother about pretty much everything and anything that came to his mind.
Jyushimatsu finally seemed to fall asleep after ten minutes of rambling.
Both Matsunos awake let out a long sigh. Victory.
Jyushi had always been a terrible sleeper when sick. There were two options and two options only, he either slept through the whole thing or didn't want to sleep at all. There was usually no third option but Totty seemed to have found the happy medium between the usual two.
Ichimatsu knew that by not sleeping when sick Jyushimatsu tried to prevent being left alone. When all of the six were sick at the same time, Jyushi slept next to them like a baby. But when only one or two of them were to get sick, there was no guarantee that someone was going to be by his side when he woke up.
Being left alone hurt Jyushimatsu more than anything else.
"I had to distract him", Totty explained as he rolled to face Ichimatsu, "He would've never fallen asleep otherwise. Think of it as a bedtime story of some sort."
"Thanks. He must've caught your bug", Ichimatsu said still sitting on the floor next to the brothers' mattress.
"Yeah. I should've noticed my symptoms earlier. I could've warned you all."
"No use whining now", Ichimatsu said, stretching his sore back, "So, soup?"
"Thank you. Make yourself some, too", Totty thanked his big brother, "And bring Jyushimatsu an icepack. His fever seems to be skyrocketing."
"Should I call the others? Choromatsu said that the doctor mentioned this before."
"I can send him a text. Just go get that soup."
"Whatever you say."
Choromatsu had finished his work earlier than usual, just for his little brothers.
He went to the local super market and pharmacy to get things for the sick brothers back home.
He remembered the stamps when he was at the checkout, paying for the soup, tea, soda and cough drops he had picked out. He asked the nice cashier for some and luckily they had what he needed. Choromatsu bought some extra since they apparently had absolutely no stamps at their place.
Chormatsu happened to run to Osomatsu and Karamatsu when he exited the pharmacy with the medicine Jyushi's doctor had suggested he should buy.
The third brother had phoned the doctor later that day, after learning that Jyushimatsu was also down and with a high fever, too. He had asked if there was something that he needed to do and if Jyushi's previous hospital stay affected the treatment methods in any way.
The doctor had told him to first of all calm down. He had also advised Choromatsu that he should follow how things developed and call if anything got worse, especially the fever.
Choromatsu was somewhat taken aback by the doctors calm determination but also slightly calmed down by it. The brothers would manage. It wasn't the first time their little brothers were sick, after all.
"Choromatsu! What were you buying?" Osomatsu asked, swinging his arm over his little brother's shoulders, "Is there anything for me?"
"From the pharmacy? No", Choromatsu said, "Jyushimatsu's situation has gotten worse. He's luckily asleep now."
"Poor little sunshine", Karamatsu mumbled, "Granny gave me some fresh bread to eat but I guess if Jyushimatsu doesn't have an appetite…"
"I offer myself as sacrifice!" Osomatsu jumped, "I'll eat the bread."
"I bet he could have some with the soup if he feels like eating something tonight", Choromatsu pointed out.
"True", Karamatsu agreed.
The three arrived into a silent house.
"Hello? Anybody home?" Osomatsu peeked into the living room, "Not here."
"Maybe they're upstairs?" Karamatsu suggested.
As the three walked past the kitchen to get to the stairs, Choromatsu happened to look into the room. It was a complete mess. There were unwashed dishes everywhere, accompanied by empty soup cans.
'I'll have a word with Ichimatsu about this later', the third mumbled to himself.
Osomatsu opened the bedroom door with a slam and looked in.
There were three lumps on the bed.
Totty and Jyushimatsu sleeping away with icepacks on their heads.
Ichimatsu was sleeping by their feet like a cat, curled in a ball.
There was a quiet sniffling noise coming from the two sick people and Ichimatsu snored.
The big brother, not having the heart to wake up their sleeping little brothers, switched to sign language. Or, well, a Matsuno brothers' non-verbal way of communication, to be more accurate.
In the end the three decided to throw a blanket over the fourth brother and leave the room quietly.
'Let the sleeping ones sleep', they thought.
Waking them up would only lead to disaster.
Totty would be whining and Jyushimatsu would never fall asleep again.
Ichimatsu would be super pissed since he had managed to get the two to calm down and sleep. He had also been taking care of them the whole day and was sure to be tired himself.
The big brothers would warm up some soup before barging in with the medicine and waking the brothers up.
So the three were safe, for now.
Todomatsu actually ended up waking up all by himself.
He slowly made his way downstairs after the delicious smell of food and in hopes of getting some medicine for his headache.
"Evening", Totty mumbled as he entered the kitchen, "Choromatsu, did you bring the pills I asked for?"
"Yes, they're over there", Choromatsu pointed to a counter to his left and continued stirring the soup, "Would you like something to eat? The soup is almost done and Karamatsu brought some bread with him, from Granny."
Todomatsu twisted the bottle's cap open with lighting speed and popped two into his mouth before speaking, "Sure. Should I go wake the others up?"
"Do that, but careful", Choromatsu said, taking some bowls out for the six.
"Sure", Totty winked, "I'm going to wake up the sleeping tiger, after all."
And yes, after ten minutes of careful coaxing, Totty had managed to get the two missing brothers downstairs and to sit down by the table.
Jyushimatsu seemed really out of it. His face was flushed red and his bloodshot eyes rivaled the color of his red cheeks. The cough was also back with more power than ever.
Ichimatsu looked no better. He was still tired after taking care of his little brothers all day.
"Evening, brothers", Karamatsu greeted them handing them their bowls of hot soup, "Here. Would you like some bread?"
"Hm", Ichimatsu nodded taking the spoon and shoveling some of the soup into his mouth, "Good."
"Thanks", Choromatsu smiled although all he had done was reheating the soup, "It's fish soup. I first thought about making chicken noodle soup but this seemed even better."
Jyushimatsu had not made a single move to pick up the spoon. He hadn't answered his big brother's question either.
"Jyushimatsu? Do you want any bread?" Karamatsu asked again.
The fifth made a half shrug like move, staring at his bowl.
"No appetite, huh?" Choromatsu sighed, "At least take some meds. I'll go get them for you."
Choromatsu rose from the floor, "What would you like with them?"
After a minute of silence, Ichimatsu spoke up, "He had some juice before. Try that."
"Alright."
"You really ought to eat something, too, brother", Karamatsu leaned closer to his little brother, "How about crackers? Would you eat those?"
Jyushi shook his head slowly, swaying a little.
Karamatsu then took the spoon from the bowl, blew into it and offered it to Jyushimatsu, "Come on, just a few bites. For me."
Jyushimatsu opened his mouth lazily accepting the soup. He chewed slowly and swallowed.
"Good job! Another one?" Karamatsu continued to spoon-feed his little brother for good five minutes before Jyushimatsu was simply done and lied down on the floor.
"Jyushimatsu, your medicine", Choromatsu sighed, bringing Jyushi a glass of juice and an assortment of pills.
"He's asleep", Ichimatsu said after checking, "He'll take them later."
"How come he went so bad so fast? What were you two doing down here?" Totty asked sounding concerned.
"We wrote a letter", Ichimatsu mumbled.
"A letter?" that got Osomatsu's interest. The Matsunos wrote no letters.
"To the girl", Ichimatsu explained, "She wrote to him before."
There was a shared 'Aaa' among the brothers. That girl.
"And he got so excited that he forgot about his previous sneezing and coughing?" Choromatsu asked.
"Yes", Ichimatsu nodded, "He wouldn't stay still."
"That's so like him though", Osomatsu smiled, "Always so reckless."
Choromatsu and Karamatsu nodded in agreement.
"But you know, we can't let Jyushimatsu sleep on the floor the whole night", Todomatsu finally pointed out when the brothers were done with their dinner, "He'll freeze."
"True", Ichimatsu agreed, "What should we do?"
"We'll need to carry him if he doesn't want to wake up and walk", Choromatsu sighed, sitting next to the apparently sleeping fifth brother.
Choromatsu poked Jyushimatsu's cheek gently and when there was no reaction he poked a bit harder.
Jyushimatsu mumbled and cracked one eye open, "Hm? What?"
His fever-dazed mind couldn't comprehend the situation seeing his gaze wandered around the room from one brother to another. He probably didn't even know whether he was awake or not.
"Do you think you could take some medicine and climb upstairs?" Choromatsu asked his little brother.
Jyushi stood up slowly to sit down, leaning to his big brother the whole time.
"Medicine?" Choromatsu offered the glass of juice.
Jyushimatsu nodded and took the glass, letting Choromatsu put the pills into his mouth.
He didn't even ask what the pills were for, which concerned Ichimatsu who knew his little brother had been terrified of pills ever since the incident with his old doctor.
The process took about five minutes after which Jyushimatsu seemed even more tired than before.
"The medicine will help you. You'll feel better when you wake up tomorrow", Choromatsu assured, "Do you think you could make it upstairs?"
Jyushimatsu nodded and tried to stand up but his legs soon gave in under him and he toppled back down.
"Alright", Osomatsu sighed, "Brothers, get ready. We'll need to carry our brother upstairs."
Choromatsu nodded. Their baby brother needed them.
"Totty, you sit still and watch", Karamatsu told the youngest who was sick himself.
Totty was ready with his phone. This would be interesting.
Karamatsu and Ichimatsu took the legs, while Osomatsu and Choromatsu took the front.
The staircase wasn't meant for things like this. It was fairly cramped as it was but five brothers trying to squeeze themselves up the stairs at the same time was just impossible.
Somehow the five managed to carry their little brother up the stairs and into their bedroom. Although it took more than ten minutes, a lot of bruises and cursing to accomplish.
They were all panting hard by the time they had tucked Jyushi into bed.
Totty had brought an icepack and placed it on his big brother's head. He wished it would at least bring some comfort to the raging fever.
"Poor thing", Totty mumbled sneezing loudly, "I hope the medicine will work."
Choromatsu agreed, "We'll need to monitor the fever closely. The ones still healthy will need to wash their hands and take vitamins. The last thing we need now is us all getting sick. "
"Agreed", Karamatsu nodded.
"We need to make sure Jyushimatsu doesn't hurt his hand", Ichimatsu mumbled, "The current cast is a soft one, right? He might move in his sleep and hurt himself more."
"Of course", Choromatsu said. He had completely forgotten, "Could you do it Karamatsu? You're good at stuff like this."
"Of course, brother", Karamatsu gave the thumbs up and set to work.
They didn't have any fancy hospital stuff so rolls of bandages and some sticks or small blanks for support would have to do for now.
Jyushimatsu's immobilized left hand looked monstrous by the time the second brother was finished with it. There was more bandage and supports than hand on the left limb.
"Well, at least it won't move", Choromatsu sighed eyeing the package.
"Agreed", Osomatsu nodded, "Let's hope it isn't too warm and itchy though."
"I bet that's the least of our worries now."
Karamatsu agreed, getting his guitar out to play some sweet tunes. A lullaby for his sick brothers to help them sleep.
"Alright, I'm going to bed, too. Let's hope my bug is gone tomorrow", Totty yawned, "Good night!"
The youngest had been watching the big brothers take care of Jyushimatsu this whole time. In a way he was jealous that the fifth got more attention than him, but he quickly forgot those feelings as he watched Jyushi's sleeping face and listened to him cough his lungs out.
Totty would make sure to spoil him tomorrow if Jyushi was still feeling sick.
"Good night!" the rest said.
The four brothers watched their two youngest sleep for a while after which they got to sleep, too.
They wished that a new day would bring improvement on both of the brothers' condition.
