"Oi, Choromatsu," Osomatsu said, resting his head on the table in their living eyes were only half opened, giving him a sort of sleepy look despite him being wide awake. He looked over at Choromatsu, who was peacefully reading, not looking up from the pages his eyes were glued to. "I'm bored. Let's go do something."
"I'm reading, Osomatsu-niisan. If you're so bored, then go play Pachinko or something." Choromatsu showed no interest in doing anything but reading his book. He didn't even bother to look up when Osomatsu started shaking him and whining, usually all of his willpower not to yell at him or give him any attention. Which, of course, failed.
"Aaaaah, but I'm broke Fappymatsuuuuuu. Unless of course you want to give me some money." Osomatsu fell over onto his younger brother's lap, looking up at him. "Besides, even if I had money, I wouldn't want to go alone. I get bored after a while if I play alone."
"Hey, I told you to stop calling me that!" Choromatsu snarled, looking down and glaring at Osomatsu. "And if you don't have any money, why don't you go fishing with Totty or something? Stop bothering me." He looked back at his book, flipping the page.
Osomatsu smiled and quickly sat up, crossing his legs as he looked across the table to the youngest Matsuno. "What do you say, Totty? Let's go fishing."
Karamatsu had been avoiding going home for half the day, trying to find places in town to hide where he wouldn't be found. But it seemed impossible. So, giving up, he walked back home, quietly opening the front door and walking towards the living room. However, he stopped when he heard his brothers, leaning against the wall to eavesdrop, breathing softly so he wouldn't be heard.
"Mmm, I'm not really in the mood to fish right now, Osomatsu-niisan," Todomatsu replied, scrolling through things on his phone. "I went fishing yesterday, so I'm all fished out. Why don't you ask Karamatsu-niisan? He might wanna."
Karamatsu smiled a little upon hearing his name. It was rare for any of his brothers to suggesting hanging out with him, and it gave him some hope. But that hope vanished when he heard Osomatsu's answer. "What, no way!" Osomatsu shouted. "You know that he always likes to go fishing with those sparkly blue pants he has! A person can only take so much painfulness in a day and I got my fill this morning when I saw him on the bridge." Osomatsu sighed, leaning on table again. "I wanna do something!"
Choromatsu put his book down, looking around a bit. "Speaking of which, where is Karamatsu-niisan? I haven't seen him since this morning." No matter what, Choromatsu had always been the one that showed any concern towards Karamatsu. But Karamatsu still believed that none of his brother's really cared. Not even Choro. No matter how many times he would wonder about Karamatsu's whereabouts. "I hope he's alright, he seemed pretty tired this morning.
"Ah, don't start worrying, Fappymatsu-niisan," Todomatsu said, looking over from his phone. "Knowing Shittymatsu-niisan, he's probably out think that any girls walking by him are falling for him like always. Even though his so called Karamatsu girls don't exist."
Choromatsu let out a soft chuckle, nodding. "Yeah, you're probably right." He furrowed his brows a bit, slamming his hands on the table. "H-hey, Totty stop calling me that!" Everyone, other than Ichimatsu, started laughing. Osomatsu patted his younger brother on the back, while Choromatsu just looked at everyone annoyed.
Karamatsu hung his head, a couple tears fall from his cheeks to the hardwood floors. He shoved his hands in his pockets, shuffling his feet towards the bathroom. Ichimatsu looked up for a moment, just in time to see the faint shadow pass by the living room door. He furrowed his brows with curiosity, pushing himself up off the floor. The others were too distracted to notice him getting up and walking towards the door, opening it slightly and sticking his head out to see who it was. Karamatsu? he thought, keeping silent. Ichimatsu looked behind him to make sure no one was watching before quietly sneaking out and following his older brother.
Karamatsu slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He took his glasses off and placed them by the sink, kneeling down and opening then cabinets under the sink, reaching in and taking out a small bag. Opening the bag and reaching inside, he took out a small, fresh razor blade, unwrapping it. Karamatsu bit his bottom lip as he rolled up his left sleeve, looking down at his wrist. It had been a few months, but he could still see some faint scars from the last time, lucky that his brothers never noticed. Sighing, he moved the blade to his wrist, wincing as he made a quick swift horizontal cut. Tears started forming from the sting of the cut, opening his eyes to watch the blood starting to drip from the new cut. Karamatsu tried his best to keep his crying quiet as he made four or five other cuts along with the first one. After that, he threw away the blade and just stared at the blood. He grabbed a couple of tissues and gently wiped the red liquid off of his skin, grabbing gauze from under the sink and carefully wrapping his wrist in it, throwing the tissues away and pulling his sleeve down to cover the gauze.
Ichimatsu pressed his ear to the bathroom door, trying to see if he could hear anything. He hoped that Karamatsu was just in their using the toilet, but his heart sank when he heard the soft sobs and sniffles from inside. He bit his bottom lip, forming a fist, lifting his hand and ready to knock. But as soon as he heard movement, Ichimatsu jumped back, freezing a bit. He gulped, keeping calm so that Karamatsu wouldn't be suspicious.
A few seconds after Ichimatsu moved from the door, it opened, Followed by Karamatsu walking out. He looked up at his brother, blinking a few times. "Ichimatsu?" He cleared his throat, smirking and moving out of the way and bowing a bit. "The bathroom is all yours, my brother." Karamatsu looked up, his smiling fading when he noticed the look on Ichimatsu's face. It wasn't his normal deadpan expression. Instead, it was a look of worry. One that was rare to see. "I-Ichmatsu?"
"A...are you okay?" This wasn't like Ichimatsu. To show any sort of concern for anyone was completely unlike him. But Ichimatsu examined his older brother's face, noticing the dark circles under his eyes and the read tint around his irises. "You look like you've been crying."
Karamatsu blinked, eyes widening as he realized he forgot his glasses. He quickly ran into the bathroom, grabbing them and putting them on. Stepping out again, he smirked at Ichimatsu, giving him his normal attitude. "I'm perfectly fine, brother. You do not have to worry about lil ol' me. Now go ahead and use the bathroom." Karamatsu stood tall as he walked past him, heading towards the living room to sit with the others and act like he was fine.
You're lying, Ichimatsu thought. You're lying, something's wrong, something's very wrong and I'm going to find out. Ichimatsu couldn't help but worry, walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. He looked around, trying to find some proof that his older brother wasn't telling the truth. He glanced over to the trashcan, spotting something red on one of them. He knelt down, taking out the tissues that were covered in blood. Ichimatsu could feel his heart starting to pound, his hands trembling as he kept digging through the trash. His eyes widened as he took out the razor blade, a little blood covering the sharp edge of the blade. Dropping it, he felt tears starting to roll down his cheeks. Ichimatsu covered his mouth and closed his eyes, softly sobbing. "K-Kara...matsu."