Apparently all of the brothers knew about the relationship this time around. Choromatsu had yelled at the 'lovebirds' to just shut it and cuddle'.
"But we can't agree on who he should face!"
"Face Totty now like you did all night, Ichimacchan tonight," Osomatsu grumbled, pulling the covers over his head. Jyushimatsu was still asleep.
"Ah, okay…" Karamatsu muttered, turning onto his left side, opening his arms for Todomatsu to dive in, which he did.
"Fine, but tonight, he's mine," Ichimatsu said bitterly. He turned to face away from the rest, but kept his back pressed against Karamatsu's.
As it was still only about five in the morning, they all went back to sleep, even Karamatsu. After all, cuddling the two on either side of him was nothing new, but the fact that they were… dating… That made it weird. Closing his eyes made it easier to pretend everything was normal.
He dreamed that night of his brothers' laughter, but for some reason, it was unsettling.
᛫ ᛫ ᛫
The next day, Ichimatsu and Todomatsu sat on either side of him. All day. They stayed home and didn't talk much, but neither seemed to want to be more than a couple feet away from him.
At bedtime, he cuddled up to Ichimatsu.
When he woke up, he was laying on his back, a weight on his front. He glanced down. It seemed sometime during the night, Jyushimatsu had left his spot on the futon to lay on Karamatsu. Who suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
Jyushimatsu must have been awake, and noticed the change in Karamatsu's breathing.
"Niiiii-saaaaan~ Come with me!" He whispered excitedly.
Karamatsu bit back a groan, but complied. Jyushimatsu dragged him to the bathroom, locking the door behind them.
"Karamatsu-niisan?" He faced the door as he spoke.
"Y-yes? My little Jyushimatsu?" He gulped.
"Heehee! I love it when you call me that. I had a dream last night. It was about you…
"And Ichimatsu-niisan…"
Karamatsu felt sweat beading at his forehead. "Oh? And what happened in the dream?"
Jyushimatsu finally turned away from the door to face him instead.
"He liked you. And you liked him. Do you like him, Nii-san?"
"Well, he's my precious brother, of course I like him."
The younger chuckled. "You know what I mean.
He didn't know how to reply. How well could he trust his memories? How much was real? Was this a test? He was so confused. Scared, even. He stayed silent too long.
"I see, I see. Well, what about me? If you like someone who hates you, what about someone who loves you? Hmm? Because I do love you, you know."
He felt so trapped. His voice caught in his throat, he could only nod.
"Yay! Nii-san loves me!" He said, far too loudly.
Suddenly, someone tried to open the door, causing Jyushimatsu to growl, turn to the door, and unlock and throw it open. There stood Choromatsu, looking distressed.
"Ch-Choro-" Karamatsu stuttered.
"No, please. Please! I, I never even had a chance to tell you yet! I would have, I was waiting for the right time!"
"Tell him what?" Jyushimatsu said sharply.
"I love him!" Choromatsu seemed on the verge of tears. "If I'd known you-"
"What, you wanted to get to him first?"
"Well, at least I could have had a chance to know his answer!"
"You still have that chance, Nii-san. Ask him."
The two looked at Karamatsu, waiting.
"You… want me to choose? Between you? I-I can't. I love you both! Equally!" He tried to keep his voice down.
"We're stressing him out," Jyushimatsu pointed out. "Hey, Choromatsu-niisan? Why make him choose?"
They shared a look for a long moment, nodded to each other, and faced Karamatsu.
"Please date us!" They said, bowing. Perfectly in sync.
Karamatsu felt the blood leave his face, the breath leave his lungs. He felt so empty. He felt tears prick his eyes. He never asked for this. Any of this. The dreams, the false(?) memories, none of it!
But seeing the looks of concern of his little brothers' faces, he faked a smile.
"If you're both fine with it. But, let's not tell the others, at least not yet."
Both brothers beamed at him, and rushed to embrace him. He held out his arms and accepted them.
He hoped to God this was just another nightmare.