The next morning you feel something shift next to you and crack your eyes open. You hum softly before turning to the side and seeing Ichimatsu looking at you intensely. Your cheeks heat up and you watch as he smirks before sneakily kissing your forehead. You look around to find that you and Ichimatsu are the only ones around. You sit up and smile towards the purple brother.

"Where is everyone?" you ask gently.

Ichimatsu shrugs, "They went out, and told me to watch over you since I usually stay here or Osomatsu usually stays here."

You nod, "Well I guess you and I can spend the day together hmm?"

He seems a little taken aback before nodding, "We could go visit some of the cats if you wanted…"

You beam, "I would love too."

He nods before hopping up and holding out his hand to you. You smile and take it deciding to wear your clothes again. You could just wash them later after all. You and Ichimatsu leave the house and head out to see the cats smiling. Ichimatsu seems to be in a pretty good mood, and that puts you in a great mood too.

You arrive and find a bunch of cats all waiting for Ichimatsu it seems. They see you and hide a bit before you walk over. You stay a fair amount away but kneel down gently to show you mean no harm. Ichimatsu seems to do something as well because with one small nod the cats walk over to you.

"They are so pretty," you whisper awe struck.

Ichimatsu smiles, "They seem to like you."

You grin at him and stroke one behind it's head. The cat meows and nuzzles into your palm causing you to giggle. It's is a white cat with black ears and two black spots next to each other on its back. The cat also has beautiful blue eyes that stand out in the sunlight.

"I call her Angel…" Ichimatsu mutters.

You glance down and smile, "Because of the spots on her back I'm guessing?"

He nods, "And because of her white fur and blue eyes, she always stood out from the others when I visit this place… I um thought you'd like her…"

You smile sweetly, "I love her, she's gorgeous…"

Angel meows and licks your hand as if saying thank you and you giggle. Angel then hops onto your lap before curling into a ball. You smile and stroke her fur gently letting her purr in your lap. Ichimatsu smiles gently watching you interact with the other cats.

"Oh looks like we have another visitor," you say as a big mangy grey cat stalks up.

You reach out to pet it when it hisses and attempts to claw you. Ichimatsu sticks his hand out and hisses at the cat loudly. The cat seems to grumble before stalking away.

"Sorry he's an old cat and not much of a people person…" Ichimatsu says holding his wrist.

"Let me see," you demand seeing a blotch of red form.

Ichimatsu hesitates, "It's fine…"

You shake your head, "I don't care, let me see. That way we can see if you need stitches or if we need to wrap this up quickly so it won't get infected."

Ichimatsu looks defeated as he slowly sticks out his arm and you pull of the sleeve. It's not a deep cut, and you realize that it'll heal completely in a few days.

"It's good, but we should still put a bandaid on it or something…" you tell him.

Everything looks fine until you notice the linear scars on his arms. You stare at them examining each one until Ichimatsu pulls his arm away.

"Sorry…" you tell him.

He looks away with shame and says, "I didn't want you to see that… Now you'll think I'm a freak…"

You desperately shake your head, "No no no! I don't think that at all Ichi! In fact…."

"I'm no better…"

He looks over to you curiously and you smile weakly before pulling up your pant leg. You pull it up to your upper thigh and that's when he sees them. Terrible strangely cut scars that litter your entire upper thigh. They look deep, shallow, long, short, and some even say words…

"You…" Ichimatsu starts but can't figure out what to say.

You smile weakly, "With my own parents thinking I'm a screw up and a disgrace for wanting to be me, I got depressed and found a coping mechanism. I'll admit it's a terrible one and only makes you feel shittier once the high is over, but for a while it helped. Once my parents found out they took me to all these shrinks who told me I was doing it for attention, and that didn't help me at all…"

"So it got worse…" Ichimatsu says.

You nod, "It got a lot worse I started to do it everyday and once I moved out it became every hour until I found myself on that damn bridge."

Ichimatsu looks up to you, "When I see all of those terrible scars it makes me feel stupid for even doing that is the first place."

You shake your head, "We did it to feel something other than self hatred. In the end that's what we all do, those who cut use it to stop feeling a one kind of pain so you can focus on a new kind of pain…"

Ichimatsu gapes at you, "I never thought I would be able to relate to someone about this…"

"Were not too rare in this world sadly…" you tell him.

He nods, "I suppose you're right…"

You touch his shoulder, "I bet you get this a lot, but if you ever feel like doing it again you can talk to me. I can probably understand a bit more…"

He nods, "Sometimes I just do it because I feel no one loves me…"

You stare surprised before saying, "Well if you honestly believe your brothers don't love you, or your parents don't love you, or even if these cats don't love you I want you to know something."

"I love you."

Ichimatsu freezes and looks into your eyes incredulously. He blinks owlishly at you before looking away. You blush slightly realizing you probably embarrassed him when you feel soft lips against your own. You burn as you feel Ichimatsu lean back and smirk at your flushed expression.

"Thank you…" he says softly.

You smile genuinely, "Anytime."

He smiles before you say goodbye to the cats and head home hand in hand. Ichimatsu seems a little awkward about holding your hand, but you squeeze his hand and smile. He relaxes a little more after that, but still doesn't seem too comfortable with it just yet. Once you arrive back at the Matsuno's you see that some of the others are home.

"We're back!" you yell.

All of a sudden Jyushimatsu appears lifting you up and spinning you around. You giggle and laugh before being set down gently. You laugh and look up to the yellow matsu when he gently kisses you before running off again.

'Man that's gonna take some getting used to…' you think to yourself.

Sadly you can't stay because opening day is not to far away. You grab all of your things once more, and get stopped by Todomatsu.

"Please let us come help," he asks pouting.

You smile, "Tomorrow you can come by and help if you want, but I need some 'me' time Totty."

He smiles and nods before kissing your cheek, "Alright it's a deal, I'll definitely stop by."

You laugh and say farewell once more before finally heading home. You stretch and yawn getting closer to your cafe when you notice Angel sitting on a fence nearby. You cock your head to the side before walking up to her. Angel jumps down and trots down another street. However she doesn't move any farther as if she's waiting for you….

"What the hell…?" you mutter to yourself.

You follow Angel curiosity getting the best of you when you find a young girl on the sidewalk crying… Angel looks to you and you sigh wondering how this cat is so smart. You slowly walk forward so you don't startle the girl or make her even more upset.

"Hello?" you ask gently.

The girl shoots up ready to strike as you shield yourself from any incoming damage. She stops and sees your no threat before dropping back down. She has brown hair that's in pigtails and a pink headband on as well. She has brown eyes, and a pink sweater and green skirt on too.

"Are you alright..?" you ask softly.

"Do I look alright?" she replied brokenly.

You're not positive on what to do but you kneel down in front of her.

"Well, wanna tell me about it then?" you ask gently.

She look up with tears in her eyes and sighs, "I'm trying to become a star, but it's been a little more difficult than I imagined. Today EVERYONE started making fun of me and saying I couldn't do it…"

You blink and wonder if you were destined to meet, "Well EVERYONE used to tell me I could never make a living off my food and soon I'll be opening up my first cafe!"

"Really?" she asks smiling weakly.

You nod, "Yep! Everyone even my parents didn't believe in me, so I believed in myself and followed me heart."

She smiled more, "You're so strong…"

You snort at that, "Not really, I was so upset I planned on killing myself but someone saved me and now I'm here to save you!"

"Save me?" she asks confused.

You chuckle, "I'll help you! Maybe you can perform at my cafe or something! I'll help you prove all of those jerks that they are wrong and that you should ALWAYS follow your dreams.

The girl smiles, "I uhm Thank you I mean that, my name is Totoko…"

You smile back, "My name is (y/n) it's nice to meet you."

She nods and says, "You're willing to help me with no money at all? No profit?"

You laugh, "I don't care about things that I want, I worry more on things that I need…"

Totoko smiles, "Thank you (y/n)."

You grin, "It's no problem Totoko!"

"Wanna come grab a bite? I'll make us dinner…" you offer gently.

She smiles and nods, "That sounds great."

And that's how a beautiful new friendship started~