"So…you're the one Karamatsu's been seeing?" Ichimatsu had brought the newly exposed Chibita, Jyshumatsu, and himself to an uninhabited room of the Matsuno home. The mischievous smirk still marked Ichimatsu's face and thus caused discomfort in Chibita.
"Y-Yes." Chibita was cursing himself in his head, still dumbfounded that his secret identity had been so easily uncovered. With his back literally against a wall, Chibita tried his best to dodge Ichimatsu's eyes glaring over him. He instead looked at Jyshumatsu, who was simply listening and flailing his oversized sleeves about in excitement over knowing a secret.
Ichimatsu released a short laugh. "And you named yourself Chiharu? Heh, I should have guessed it. It's like you weren't even trying to hide who you really are." Ichimatsu took a step forward and rested his elbow against the wall, which made his face only six inches from Chibita's; Chibita cringed at the heat of Ichimatsu's breath cascading along his forehead and nose area.
"L-Look," Chibita began with a tone of shaky courage, "I know your brother has a right to know this, but I want to be the one telling him. So I'd appreciate it if you two idjits kept your mouth shut about this."
"Well, I can certainly guarantee we'll keep your charade unfounded…for a price."
Chibita's eyebrows narrowed and his fist balled at his sides in frustration; he should have known Ichimatsu would play dirty. Through his teeth Chibita replied, "And what price is that?"
Ichimatsu's smirk evolved into a wicked smile that showed off his white and oddly sharp teeth. "For my silence, I want you to be my personal maid."
"YOUR WHAT?" Chibita felt red rise to his cheeks.
"You'll be my maid. You will do my laundry, cook oden meals for myself and my brother, and run errands for me. Oh, and you'll have to address me as Ichi-sama."
"Y-You have go to be—"
"Jyshumatsu?" Ichimatsu looked over his shoulder to his brother, who was now on his back with his legs doing bicycle kicks in the air. Jyshumatsu paused mid-motion and directed his attention to his brother.
"Nii-san?" Jyshumatsu gave an innocent, gaping smile to his sibling.
"Do not tell anyone about Chibita's secret. If you do tell without my say so, I won't let Chibita cook you any pork oden after our afternoon baseball practices."
Jyshumatsu suddenly sat up straight with pleading eyes and his hands between his crossed legs. "I won't tell! I promise to be good, nii-san! I double tentacle promise!" Jyshumatsu began flailing his arms about as if they were tentacles while keeping the same face of sincerity and pleading.
"Good. Then we all understand another. We will keep our mouths, and 'Chiharu' does whatever I say from now on."
Chibita bit his bottom lip hard. How dare Ichimatsu give him such a degrading role! Still, the cross-dressing man knew he was trapped. In defeat, he looked at his feet and gave a solemn nod. "Damn it, I'll do it."
Ichimatsu chuckled to himself in sadistic delight as he backed away from Chibita. "Excellent. Don't worry; I won't bug you on your date tonight, but I won't be so generous tomorrow." Ichimatsu reached into the pocket of his purple hoodie to retrieve Chibita's wig and gingerly placed it upon Chibita's head for him, making sure the hairs were neatly smoothed and styled around his face. Sliding open the door of the room, he ushered Chibita into the main hallway of the home. With Jyushimatsu following behind Ichimatsu and Chibita, the trio bound by blackmail walked into the dining area; inside, the remaining sextuplets were sitting around the table while having light conversation amongst themselves. Ichimatsu coughed loudly, gaining the attention of his brothers.
Returning to his regular monotone voice, he gestured toward the internally frustrated Chibita and said, "Karamatsu, this girl says she knows you."
Karamatsu, who was sitting between Choromatsu and Osomatsu, stood up in excitement and ran to embrace his love interest. "My star! Oh, how I missed you!" He placed his arm around Chibita's shoulders and adjusted his sunglasses with a prideful smile. "I'd love to stay and chat, my fellow Matsus, but it would not be gentlemanly to make my date Chiharu here wait. Chiharu, bid my brothers a quick farewell so that we may go on our third date."
Chibita gave a half-hearted smile to Osomatsu, Choromatsu, and Todomatsu. "Um, nice to meet you," he shyly said in his feminine voice. He almost let a frown come across his face as he heard Ichimatsu snicker in his throat.
The three brothers at the table looked to Chibita briefly as if to process the person in front of them. Todomatsu suddenly gave a cry of glee and turned toward Choromatsu's direction. "Well, Choromatsu, it looks like someone owes me a week's worth of bubble tea!" Totty laughed happily as Choromatsu thrust his hand into his pocket and offered a handful of cash to him with a grumble.
"Wow, I guess I owe you both an apology," Osomatsu stated. "Sorry, but we were certain you were going to be one of Kara's imaginary girlfriends."
"He's made a new one almost everyday since we were kids!" piped Jyushimatsu who walked into the room and sat next to Todomatsu to watch him count his gambling reward.
"AHAHA! H-HE'S KIDDING! HAHAHA, MY LITTLE JYUSHIMATSU'S SOO FUNNY!" Karamatsu's overzealous exclamation and laughter gave Chibita the feeling that his brother was being completely honest. Karamatsu soon cleared his throat and collected himself so that his calm and cool personality showed again. "Anyway…my star and I better get going. We wouldn't want to waste any time that we could cherish together while on our date."
With that, Karamatsu took "Chiharu's" hand in his and lead her towards the front door. As they stepped outside the home, Karamatsu faced Chibita and picked him up by his waist. Raising Chibita a foot off the ground, Karamatsu spun them both in a circular motion while letting out shouts of victorious glee. As much as Chibita's mind was still focused on his unfortunate fate, he couldn't help but smile back at the joyous boy embracing him so dearly against his body.
"Hey, spin a little slower, damn it. I'm getting kinda sick up here," Chibita ordered after close to a minute of spinning. Karamatsu stopped his rotation and gently brought Chibita back down to earth. He kept his arms around his date in a tight hug and rested his head against Chibita's shoulder.
"Forgive me, my starry beauty. I've just never been able to prove myself to my brothers like that in such a long time. Thanks to you, their respect for me will increase, and they'll think again before questioning my worth!" Karamatsu let out a final sound of giddiness and planted a kiss on Chibita's forehead. "You're truly a star, Chiharu. With you, my wishes have come true."
Chibita smiled up at him, finally distracted from his misfortune. "Come on, idjit," Chibita said while taking Karamatsu's hand and leading him in the direction of his home. "This date's not going to start itself."
XOXO
By the time Chibita had led Karamatsu back home, the sky had purpled from the sun setting. It didn't take them long to get settled once inside the apartment. Walking into the kitchen, Chibita began to rummage through the cabinets in search of a large snack bowl. After finding a green one hiding behind his pots and pans, he took out several bags of different flavored chips and poured even amounts of each into the bowl. Karamatsu watched his date silently, attempting to pull off cool and seductive poses against the kitchen counter whenever Chibita paused his snack preparation to give him a kind glance.
"Did you want tea or something?" Chibita opened the fridge and took out a strawberry soda for himself.
"Do you have any cola?"
"Um…" Chibita pushed aside some containers of milk and ingredients pre-diced for his oden cart. "Aha! Here's one!" Reaching on tip-toe, he was able to retrieve a cola can that had been nuzzled in the far right corner of the fridge and hand it to Karamatsu.
"So…" Karamatsu traced his finger along the top of unopened can. "Have you decided a movie for us to watch?" Though he kept his cool stance, the light crack in his voice indicated his true nervousness.
"Not yet, but I have a few to choose from that I know are good. They're all saved on my TV." Chibita took the Matsu boy's hand, guiding him the area of his flat where to his floor bed and television resided. Chibita began to readjust some pillows on his bed when he suddenly heard a high chattering sound. Glancing over his shoulder, he realized the sound was coming from Karamatsu. His teeth shakily clicked together and beads of sweat formed along his face. His sunglasses had slid down to the edge of his nose, revealing his pupils shrunk with panic.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Chibita stood up straight and reached to feel his forehead. "Damn it, you're burning hot! Are you sick or something?"
Suddenly, Karamatsu fell to the floor and bowed directly at Chibita's feet. In a shaky and high voice, Karamatsu spoke. "OH MY STAR CHIHARU! I AM HAPPY TO ACCEPT YOUR GRACIOUS OFFER! I SHALL DO ALL I CAN TO MAKE THE EXPERIENCE WONDERFUL FOR YOU! I SWEAR TO DO ALL YOU DESIRE AND NOT MAKE IT FEEL AS IF I DEFILED YOU IN YOUR OWN HOME!"
Chibita raised his eyebrows trying to process what was being said. Looking from Karamatsu to the bed, he grew bright red for he understood what Karamatsu was talking about. He quickly began to shake his head and hands to deny Karamatsu's idea.
"No, you idjit! My only television's in here, and I don't have much other furniture! We're not gonna do…that!"
Karamatsu raised his head with a slight look of confusion on his face. Then, after realizing his mistake, Karamatsu slammed his face against the floor again and loudly apologized. "OH MY CHIHARU! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I SWEAR I DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO GIVE ME SUCH AN OFFER TONIGHT NOR DO I WANT TO DEFILE YOUR BODY! IF YOU DESIRE ME TO GO, I WILL DO SO FOR I HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT A TERRIBLE NU—"
Chibita leaned down to Karamatsu's level and placed his finger under Karamatsu's chin. Without warning, he raised Karamatsu's face and kissed him firmly on the mouth. As he squeezed his eyes closed, Chibita felt the sextuplet slowly rise to his knees and wrap his own arms around him. Being drawn closer into Karamatsu's body left Chibita feeling both light-headed and heart-heavy. From the scent of his cologne mixed with leather to the way his fingers gently stroked Chibita's back, the kiss was an experience both strange and intoxicating to the oden lover. As their lips pulled away, they were left staring into another's eyes while embracing upon the wood floor. Chibita bit his lip and lowered his eyes to the floor, suddenly embarrassed for committing such an act. Karamatsu continued to massage Chibita's back with his fingers and finally broke the dwelling silence.
"W-Why did you do that, my star?"
Chibita toyed with a strand of his wig as he replied, "Well…I wanted you to stop shouting over nothing, damn it. Plus, I've been wanting to do that for awhile." That last part even shocked Chibita; it was the first time he admitted his yearning to be intimate with the wannabe cool guy aloud.
Karamatsu smiled and gave a small snicker. "I'm sorry for the confusion, my star. I'll try to stop jumping to conclusions from now on." Karamatsu stood up and extended his hand out to Chibita, who took it and hoisted himself to his feet with it. The two innocently held another's hands while giggling to themselves over what they had just experienced. Finally, Karamatsu sat Chibita onto the bed next to him. With pillows placed against their backs, he covered both their legs in the warm comforter and wrapped his arm around his lovely date. Karamatsu found the television's remote and offered it to Chibita.
"How about we watch a movie now?" Karamatsu's gentlemanly nature yet again brought a blush of infatuation to Chibita's cheeks. Chibita took the remote out of Karamatsu's hand and placed it on the bed, causing Karamatsu to raise an eyebrow. Scooting in closer against Karamatsu, Chibita gingerly ran his right hand through the Matsu's soft hair and whispered, "We can…but I want to keep kissing for awhile first, Karamatsu."
Karamatsu gave a soft chuckle as he pushed his glasses up onto the top of his head. Slowly adjusting their bodies so that he was almost hovering over Chibita, he kissed his date on the nose and said, "As you wish, my shining star."