A/N: This one is a little shorter. Also I forgot to be put a warning out there. This story may bring up some bad feelings for readers. So be careful about reading this. This are real problems and feelings of actual people who may suffer from anxiety, social anxiety, or depression.

Protective

Karamatsu loved his brothers. That's a fact that he knows will never change. Often he his vain showcasing and admiration of his looks is in some odd way a compliment to his brothers as well. But above all else he wishes to be able to protect them from what may come. Support them in their goals and dreams. He wants the very best for them, and will see to the downfall of anyone who may try to get in the way of that. He considers it a thankless job, it is rather easy to be overlooked as the second born. Often when Osomatsu isn't around responsibility skips him and falls onto Choromatsu. Honestly, the only one who calls him nii-san regularly is Todomatsu and Jyushimatsu. It's a role that simply doesn't fit him, but it's a role that he can fill if the need arises. If Osomatsu is being unreasonable or if Choromatsu's ideas clash with his own he'll step into that role. Often when he does the others are rightfully put off by it, so much so they fall in line. Choromatsu shoulders a lot of responsibility partially because he wants to, and Karamatsu allows him to do that. He wouldn't dare say he does just to make Choromatsu feel better, but he is a bit of a control freak. But sometimes Karamatsu has to snatch that from him to remind him that he is still second born, that this type of responsibility is only on loan. Admit able this allows him to goof off a bit trying to be cool for his younger brothers. He won't lie some of his "painful" personality is for show, but his upbeat attitude never fails to lift their spirits. Osomatsu himself even commends him. Even though he's painful, he shouldn't be ashamed to be who he is and Osomatsu isn't ashamed of him. None of his brothers are, to a point, even if they didn't agree with his perfect fashion.

But this isn't about him, this is about his little brother. His poor brother Ichimatsu. After Osomatsu took Ichimatsu out the two returned home with kerosene in hand. Ichimatsu claimed he was tired and went straight to bed. No one questioned it, although Osomatsu made it a point to make sure Ichimatsu was settled in before returning. Even while he was explaining he'd excuse himself to go check on Ichimatsu periodically. Basically, he says that Ichimatsu might be depressed. He couldn't explain it as anything else even as they all knew little to nothing about depression. Karamatsu clenches his fists. He wants to protect his younger brother just like any of the others, but how do you protect someone from themselves?

Osomatsu said Ichimatsu had cut himself. Ichimatsu promised not to do it again, although the promise felt hallow to him. This information made everyone stare in horror as their faces go white. Surely they should've seen something like that. Surely they would've noticed if something like that happened. After all, Ichimatsu hardly goes anywhere and stays in the same spot you can find him. At what time could he have done it? But it was because he was so easy to miss. He could slink away without a word and leave. There were times that he entered a room and they were left wondering when he had left at all.

"He thinks we hate him…" Osomatsu continues.

"Well did you tell him we don't!?" Choromatsu exclaims panicked not wanting his any of his brothers to ever think that. "You let him know that's not true right?!"

"Of course I did!" Osomatsu responds. "But…he gave me this look…like…"

"He didn't believe you?" Karamatsu supplied. Osomatsu jerks his head toward Karamatsu to nod.

"Did…has he tried to…" Todomatsu wanted to ask but his heart twisting in knots at the thought. The word itself brought images to his mind that he couldn't quite handle.

"He said he hasn't…" Osomatsu says catching on to what Todomatsu is saying. "But he didn't say too much about that. He said he just doesn't want to burden anyone and feels things will just be easier without him…"

"How can he think that?!" Jyushimatsu exclaims beside himself as his smiles has left his face to shift into a stern frown. Jyushimatsu stood to his feet. "I'm going to tell nii-san how wrong he is!" Jyushimatsu moved to the door.

"Wait Jyushimatsu, let him rest," Karamatsu spoke up suddenly halting the yellow Matsuno. Jyushimatsu turns to Karamatsu with a flat expression clearly considering disobeying him.

"He hasn't been sleeping well these past few days. If he's actually asleep, please let him sleep," Karamatsu says.

"He hasn't been sleeping well either?!" Choromatsu demands.

"Some nights, I go to sleep and wake up to him staring at the ceiling. Other days he can sleep the whole day away as I'm sure you guys have noticed that. I had thought it was just insomnia and the sleep cycle was affecting his mood." Karamatsu looks back to Jyushimatsu. "Please, let him sleep for now. When he wakes up we can try talking to him."

"Not unprepared we're not, if he actually is sleeping then we'll have the morning and a good part of the afternoon to figure out a game plan," Osomatsu adds on. At this show of enthusiasm to help their fourth brother Jyushimatsu relents from barging upstairs into their room to wake Ichimatsu. "But it is late, for now let's all go to bed anyway." Clearly Osomatsu still didn't want Ichimatsu out his sight for too long. The brothers move to head upstairs but Osomatsu stops Karamatsu for a moment. "Hey Karamatsu, I'd hate to ask this but-,"

"I planned on watching him anyway," Karamatsu states reading his older brother's mind. Osomatsu was a bit put off that Karamatsu didn't add any unnecessary dramatic language the entire time that night. It was great that he could recognize the situations of when to flip it on or off. He just wished that his younger brother did that more often. He had never dared to say that Karamatsu was at his coolest when he dropped that incoherent dribble of his.

"Great, reliable as always Karamatsu," Osomatsu says and he really did mean that. He could ask Karamatsu for anything, he'd get a painful response, but he could consider it done none the less. "Do…do you think we can help him?"

"I don't know," Karamatsu responds honestly. Good intentions can often lead to bad outcomes sometimes. But the fact is they needed to assess how bad off Ichimatsu was before they push for anything more serious. "But being here for him is a good start. I'm glad we decided to do this before it was too late to save our precious little bruzza."

"Right, let's head to bed," Osomatsu says. In their shared bedroom everyone quietly got ready for bed. Glances were shot at the seemingly asleep Ichimatsu who didn't stir. And when everyone settled down to sleep with the lights out Karamatsu shifts to stare at the back of Ichimatsu's head. He wasn't planning on staying up all night, but he would if need be. He wants to make sure Ichimatsu is actually asleep. He has pulled stunts like this before where Karamatsu would relax seeing Ichimatsu asleep. But then wake up the next morning to see Ichimatsu the first one up, an occurrence that never happens, with tired eyes. Karamatsu doesn't know how long he's been up, he's sure it must've been a while since the rest of his brothers were all now asleep. He could tell they took longer to fall asleep because of their own worry and the tension. Ichimatsu said he wouldn't cut anymore, but with things like that it's hard to make such a promise. Finally, fatigue begins to take hold of Karamatsu as his eyes flutter close as his mind becomes at ease. He feels himself about to be fully asleep when he feels the shift. It felt so distant and slight he thought it was just one of his brothers moving under the blanket. But then he heard their bedroom door slide open ever so softly before it closed. This caused his eyes to leap open as he looked around panicked for a moment. He sees Ichimatsu gone and he immediately began to panic slightly. He careful removes himself from under the blanket to gently slide the door open. He looks down the darkened hall to try and figure out which way Ichimatsu had went. He glanced toward the bathroom to see the light off and he didn't hear anything. But on his left he distinctly saw a hint of light. He slowly inches out of the bedroom shutting the door. He slowly walks down the hall to the top of the steps to see that the light in the living room was on. Good, it was a relief to know he didn't leave the house. Karamatsu walks down the stairs to slide open the living room to see Ichimatsu in his corner, knees to his chest, and staring off at nothing.

"Ichimatsu?" Karamatsu questions closing the door behind him. "What are you doing up my bruzza?"

"Go back to bed Shittymatsu," Ichimatsu responds in his usual monotone voice.

"Well without the warmth of my third youngest brother beside me I find it difficult to focus on the tasks of sleep to keep my beauty as radiant as always. Without that how will I be able to face my Karamatsu girls. You see this is a very critical ma-," Karamatsu cut himself off this time. Completely startled that he had made it that far in his speech without being interrupted. Granted he still had lines more to go, but Ichimatsu was the one who had the least amount of patience for his antics. He definitely would've cut him off by now. He looks at Ichimatsu to see his brother's gaze faraway as if he was no longer in the room. Karamatsu remembers that gaze. He remembers coming home one day in the best of moods. He actually had a chance to almost but probably not obtain a Karamatsu girl. And it didn't end in him getting pulverized this time! He was so excited with the news he shared it with the first brother he saw. His excitement blinded him to the fact that it was Ichimatsu he was talking to, but after he'd finished that fact slowly sunk in. He looked at Ichimatsu who hadn't stirred since he started talking. This was the very first sign, to Karamatsu, that something was wrong with Ichimatsu. "Bruzza, please, tell me what troubles you." Karamatsu says flicking his perfectly groomed hair as he sat across from Ichimatsu.

"Go back to bed Shittymatsu," Ichimatsu repeats in the same tone of voice.

"I'm worried about you," Karamatsu says plainly, dropping the rosy speech for a moment.

"I'm not going to cut myself. I stopped doing that about a week ago."

"What is the reason you started?" Karamatsu questions.

"I don't know…"

Karamatsu understood that Ichimatsu would do things. He would do things and not really fully understand why. He didn't know how to vocalize his feelings, so they stayed bottled up. Bubbling inside him and he having no idea how to discern one from the other. He probably truly didn't know why, but Karamatsu was going to help him find the root of the issue. "Were you curious?"

"I don't want to talk about this." Ichimatsu responds. His eyes finally focus on Karamatsu. "Go back to bed Karamatsu-niisan."

Ordinarily this would melt Karamatsu's heart since Ichimatsu hardly ever calls him nii-san. Choromatsu only doing it a bit more frequent then him, but again still not as much as Jyushimatsu and Todomatsu. "Then come back up with me bruzza. I will not abandon you to the demons in your mind." Karamatsu reaches out but Ichimatsu draws in farther away.

"I'm fine."

"You said you had cut yourself."

"But now I don't."

"Well why is that?"

"…I don't need to. It hurts too much."

"If that were true you would've stopped the first time you tried it. So, back to my question, was it curiosity?"

"Just go back to sleep, I'm sorry I woke you just go back to sleep Shittymatsu…"

Karamatsu doesn't say anything for a moment. "You know I love you," those words seemed to Ichimatsu flinch. "I love you my bruzza. I will say that to you every single day and every time I see you. Because it's the truth, and because I love you I don't care how I feel right now. I am here because I care, not just because you're another brother, but because I care about you Ichimatsu."

"…Why…I don't get it. Why care about me. I don't think I'm all that special. I can hardly make friends. I hang out with cats. I can hardly talk to you guys. What the fuck is so special about me?" Ichimatsu was started to cry. The fourth brother truly didn't understand what his worth was.

"You're Ichimatsu, that's what special. You're special to me, to our brothers, in different ways for each of us. You're the warmth beside me each night. Great taste in fashion too," Karamatsu winks making Ichimatsu grimace a little. "You're special because you're you. You haven't given up yet, so keep fighting for us." Karamatsu says patting his brothers soft ruffled hair. Ichimatsu's tears never stopping their flow for a moment.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be I'm here because I want to be. Now, talk to me…"

"…At first…it was because I was curious. Then…it became a release…something to focus on. It made me feel better."

Karamatsu moves close to his brother pressing his body against his for comfort. "Tell me more."