Hi there! This is my first Osomatsu fanfic, the story takes place when the boys are 10 years old... the boys act different here since it's from when they are young, I know that in Osomatsu-kun they acted mostly the same but I'll be interpreting them in a way that they can be identified a bit with their osomatsu-san versions. (Their attitudes will vary since they haven't gone through all the stuff the 20 year olds already went through)

It's not an AU explaining exactly what happened to them to end like in Osomatsu-san but an AU explaining what would have happened if certain events did and others didn't... how they would end up like.

Ps. One more thing, there are unknown characters involved in this fanfic but these are not OCs, these were featured in the Osomatsu-kun comics 8D just that in the story they'll be given a special interpretaion as well as a name since even when I did my research... I found few things and these were also nameless except for one character that will be mentioned whose name is official and well... 'Tougou' doesn't count here of course :V he'll appear but he's known by many.

Final Note: This story is a translation from my spanish one so the chapters will be coming out after the spanish versions are uploaded.

Chapter 1. Shield

It was a lovely morning, the sextuplets were still asleep and they weren't planning to wake up for some more time, of course, until their door was opened with force showing a pretty happy mother, she had planned taking her sons to a picnic at the park along with her husband, she had planned today to be a really special and fun day for everyone.

"Boys, time to wake up!" the mother shouted as she saw them sleeping, as she saw how they paid no attention to her, she decided to change her method. "Osomatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu, Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu, Todomatsu! If you are not waking up I won't give you breakfast!"

"Eh?!" everyone shouted in synch, it was really cruel of her to threaten them to not give them breakfast. However, they knew how she was and that it was basically impossible for her to not feed them so they calmed down and went back to sleep. Their mother didn't understand what was going on, why had they gone back to sleep? Wasn't it enough to threaten them with breakfast? What else would work? Matsuyo stayed thinking for some moments and remembered something important about her sons: their lazyness.

"Okay, you can stay asleep. I'll be leaving with your dad to buy some things so the kitchen will be free so anyone that feels like it can use the stove to heat the food I left for you" said Matsuyo as she was about to leave, however, the kids quickly got up and ran to the kitchen. Matsuyo smiled satisfied, her strategy had worked really well.

Matsuyo walked towards the kitchen while watching how the kids waited for their breakfast in the other room. The boys were sitting around the table really eager to eat.

"Hmm... I can't stop thinking that we were fooled" said Choromatsu after seeing how his mother disappeared into the kitchen.

"Maybe so but I wasn't going to heat my food later" said Osomatsu as he laughed.

"That's probably what mom thought" said Choromatsu after listening to his brother's reply. "It's bad that she aimed at our weakness..."

"Do you mean how lazy we are? We still had to get up sooner or later" said Todomatsu "But yes, it was really clever of her"

"Ah... I wanted to keep sleeping..." said Ichimatsu "My bed was so comfy..."

"I agree with you but I was kind of hungry anyway" said Karamatsu.

"Hmm, mom said she was going out... do you guys think she'll take her time to come back?" asked Jyushimatsu sounding worried somehow.

"Maybe" said Choromatsu in response to his brother's question "Why?"

"Ah, it's just that I was planning to go play baseball, but... if we are going to be left in charge of the house then I guess I won't be able to..." said Jyushimatsu.

"Don't worry about that, that's normally Osomatsu's and Choromatsu's responsability" said Todomatsu.

"Ah! You are right" said Jyushimatsu really happy to hear that, the other two siblings tried to argue back but at that moment, Matsuyo came in with the food so they forgot about it completely.

"Oh, cool!" exclaimed everyone as they saw how their mother laid out the food on the table.

"Boys, we are planning to go on a picnic later so we have to go out to buy some things" said Matsuyo "I have a list of other things I want you to buy, anyone can go but I need someone to stay in charge of the house"

"Osomatsu and Choromatsu will stay, mom" said Todomatsu before anyone else could say something. He didn't want to stay in the house, there was nothing to do after all.

"Hey! I don't want to stay here!" said Osomatsu and Choromatsu at the same time.

"It's good to know that the eldest want to stay to take care of the house, of course, I appreciate that the others want to help their mom" said Matsuyo to the other boys who were laughing at the others disgrace.

"But mom, Karamatsu is older!" said Choromatsu clearly not okay with that decision.

"You know what I mean, son, thanks for being the reliable ones" said Matsuyo "Anyway, I'll be back later to cook, take care of the house"

"But... but..." Choromatsu tried to find an excuse but failed miserably.

"We'll see you boys later, have fun" said Matsuzo as he left with his wife.

"Ugh..." Choromatsu wasn't happy with what had just happened, Osomatsu had remained silent since it was typical that he was told to stay and watch the house.

"It's nice that our responsible brothers stay, Jyushimatsu, let's go play baseball" said Ichimatsu while staring mockingly at his two brothers that were returning the stare clearly unamused.

"Yeah! Yeah! Let's play baseball!" said Jyushimatsu really excited. The four kids left their dishes at the sink and then went back to where Osomatsu and Choromatsu were.

"I think you are forgetting that you have to buy the stuff mom asked for" said Choromatsu jealous that they were going to play outside instead of staying in.

"Huh? We didn't forget" said Ichimatsu as he then looked at Karamatsu and Todomatsu "It's just that Karamatsu and Todomatsu are the ones that will buy those"

"Eh?" both Todo and Kara murmured after hearing that "What are you talking about? You guys are coming to the store as well"

"But..." Ichimatsu murmured. Jyushimatsu looked at him and smiled to then nod agreeing with the other two. "Jyushimatsu..."

"Think about it, we promised mom that we'd go for her things... besides, it's not like we'll stay here with nothing to do" said Jyushimatsu making Choromatsu feel how he was thrown rocks at. Ichimatsu smiled at this.

"You are right. Okay, let's go then" said Ichimatsu as he went to the entrance. "We'll see you guys later" the four of them bid them farewell and without losing any time, they disappeared leaving their two unlucky brothers behind.

"Wow... I can't believe this, how horrible! I don't have anything to do here!" said Choromatsu while holding his head in desperation.

"Hmmm... you could wash the dishes" said Osomatsu letting out a small chuckle.

"I can't believe mom thinks we don't want to help her, it was those four that made us stay" Choromatsu kept complaining while Osomatsu watched him clearly bored.

"If you wash the dishes, mom will surely be thankful" said Osomatsu trying to give ideas to his brother... but after seeing he didn't really care about the options he suggested, he just stopped bothering.

"What can I do now? I don't want to wait here until they come back! I'll die!" said Choromatsu as he paced around the room really upset "Next time I'll nominate them to stay"

"Choromatsu, calm down, it's not like this is something new" said Osomatsu.

"What are you talking about? You are the eldest, obviously it's normal for you but... Karamatsu is older than me! I don't have a reason to stay! Besides, I doubt those four will buy the things mom asked for, it's probable that they'll get something wrong or forget something" said Choromatsu.

"Choro, even though Karamatsu is older, it's a fact that we are always made to stay, get used to it"

"But I don't want to get used to it..." said Choromatsu "It's boring"

"Choro, if you are so bored, why don't you do something productive and clean the house or something?"

"What? You are kidding... right? Come on, let's watch some TV" said Choromatsu as he took the dishes from the table to then take them to the sink and return back to where his brother was. "There's probably something interesting!"

Osomatsu watched how he left, TV? Well, at least it was something more than just stay sitting there and wait for them to be back. Osomatsu got up and followed the third brother to watch TV.

xXxXxXxXx

Karamatsu and Todomatsu were looking for the things on the list at the store while Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu played with a shopping cart, Ichimatsu was inside and Jyushimatsu was the one pushing... seems they didn't really care to look for the things they were sent to buy.

"Seems they don't have a hard time showing their lack of interest" said Todomatsu. Karamatsu laughed while listening to his brother.

"At least they came with us, they were about to leave a while ago" said Karamatsu. Todomatsu turned to see them a little confused and then shifted his attention back to Karamatsu.

"Well... if I think about it, we can make them help mom cook and we can excuse ourselves saying we did the shopping" said Todomatsu "I'm not interested in cooking"

"Eh? But I did want to help mom..." Karamatsu was a bit down after hearing Todomatsu.

"Nobody says you can't help her, I'm just saying I can use this as an excuse to not help later" said Todomatsu.

"You don't want to help mom?" Karamatsu looked at his brother while arching a brow.

"Hey, the weird one here is you, not me" said Todomatsu "You always want to help, Karamatsu"

"That's not true, sometimes I want to do other things..." said Karamatsu. Todomatsu rolled his eyes after hearing that.

"It's not like you have to feel bad because you want to help... it's just that you'll probably end up doing their part" said Todomatsu referring to Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu.

"Ah, that... I don't really mind" said Karamatsu completely honest.

"How can you say that?! You don't care that they are just fooling around?!" he shouted while pointing to the other two who had stopped the cart to wave at them.

"No, not really" said Karamatsu. Todomatsu had to squint at him since he swore that his brother was shinning too much for his liking.

"It's okay, it's okay, I get it... let's just continue gathering the things mom needs" said Todomatsu trying to ignore that his brother had just made him feel bad for not being so helpful.

The boys finished buying the things on the list, Todomatsu and Karamatsu called the other two since they were leaving. Jyushimatsu stopped and helped Ichimatsu out from the cart, they then followed them.

They walked for a while making jokes and mentioning the fact of Osomatsu and Choromatsu staying behind, they were thinking on going straight home until Karamatsu stopped suddenly, he had remembered they were missing something from the list.

"Oh no..." Karamatsu checked the list again while looking worried.

"What's wrong?" asked Todomatsu.

"It seems we forgot to buy fish..." said Karamatsu. Todomatsu sighed already mentalizing himself that they had to go back.

"Hmm... you two are really careless" said Ichimatsu. Todomatsu and Karamatsu frowned at him because of his comment but Ichimatsu just ignored them.

"Okay then, let's go back!" Jyushimatsu said as he turned around to walk back to the store.

"Hmmm..." Karamatsu looked around, he wanted an alternative as to avoid going all the way back. "Oh! Look! There's a small shop near the dock, they'll surely sell fish" said the boy with a smile, everything was better than having to go back... of course if it was necessary then he'd go back without an issue.

"Oh, it's true, I hadn't seen that place but it surely has fish" said Todomatsu as he followed Karamatsu to the shop. Ichimatsu asked Jyushimatsu who was walking away to come back and then joined the other two.

"Hi! Can I have three of the most fresh?" Karamatsu showed the list to the man running the place. The man smiled and prepeared the mentioned types on the list to then hand them packed to the boy. Once that was done with, Karamatsu turned around to the dock and saw his brothers throwing stones. "Hey, we need to go back soon"

"Wait, Karamatsu, this is fun" said Todomatsu while competing against his brothers, they were seeing who could throw a stone the farthest.

"I'm not doubting you are having fun but the fish and the things..." Karamatsu was a little worried that they could spoil.

"We're coming, we're coming, let us play for a while though, we won't take long" said Ichimatsu. Karamatsu sighed and decided to give them time to play, he wanted to play too but since he was responsible for taking the food back home he couldn't just drop them anywhere. The young one couldn't do anything but look for a place where to sit, he sat somewhere on the dock and waited for them to finish playing.

"Ahh... I don't want the things to spoil.." said Karamatsu to himself.

"Hmm, quadruplets eh" said the voice coming from the person near him that was fishing. Karamatsu turned to see him, curiosity in his eyes.

"Yes that's right, although we are actually six" said Karamatsu to the man near him.

"Six? Hm, seems you have a party at home everyday" said the man.

"Ah, well yes, we are actually pretty noisy" said Karamatsu to the man as he was fishing.

"And as I see, you're having a feast, aren't you?"

"Yes, we'll be having a picnic later in the day with our parents" said Karamatsu happy that he could kill time talking with someone.

"I see, a special occasion?"

"Not really... or not that I know, just a normal picnic day I suppose" said Karamatsu.

"It's nice that families spend time together like that, it's ideal to have a healthy relationship with those you love" said the man.

"Hehe, yes, I think the same way... by the way, who are you?" asked Karamatsu.

"My name is Toshiaki, it's a pleasure, little one" said the man who seemed to be smiling all the time. "What's your name?"

"I see, my name is Karamatsu"

Back with his brothers, Todomatsu, Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu kept throwing stones trying to get them to go as far as they could, at the moment they didn't know what was happening with their other brother and they weren't really interested since they were more into having fun... still, some time later, when Ichimatsu turned around to see in another direction, he could see Karamatsu talking to a very strange man... he then decided commenting it with the others.

"Hey guys... Karamatsu is talking to a very strange man" said Ichimatsu. The other two turned to see him and watched how Karamatsu talked excitedly with that stranger. "Should it worry us?"

"I don't know... maybe yes..." said Todomatsu "It's a little weird that a man like that talks to a boy our age..."

"Aren't you guys exaggerating? I think he might be a kind man that is distracting him while we play..." said Jyushimatsu then noticing how wrong it sounded "Well, maybe we already made him wait too much..."

Karamatsu kept talking to the man he had just met, he was telling him how Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu were playing at the store, how they had left their other two brothers at home waiting for them and how he had to wait for his brothers to finish with their little contest.

"I see you boys get along really nicely" said Toshiaki. "One would think that with so many identical brothers you would live fighting each other"

"And it is like that sometimes but not all the time, I love my brothers very much, I don't know what I'd do without them" said Karamatsu, as he had said this, the other three appeared with a relatively serious attitude.

"Karamatsu, we need to go back already" said Todomatsu as he held one of the shopping bags that were on the dock. "They're probably getting impatient"

"Oh, okay, that's fine" said Karamatsu as he got up and took the other shopping bag. "Thanks for making me conversation, it was nice to meet you, Toshiaki-san"

"No problem, little one, have a lot of fun" said Toshiaki while the kids took off.

xXxXxXxXx

Once they were some distance away from the dock, the brothers decided to exteriorize their doubts about that weird stranger.

"Karamatsu... who was that man?" asked Jyushimatsu before the others.

"Toshiaki-san, he apparently comes once in a while to this dock to fish" said Karamatsu without really satisfying his brothers discomfort.

"Karamatsu... what were you two talking so much about?" asked Todomatsu.

"We didn't really talk much since you guys didn't take as much as I thought you would but I told him we were having a picnic later" said Karamatsu with an innocent smile, the others turned to see each other now truly worried.

"I don't think it's a good idea to tell our plans to people you just met..." said Ichimatsu.

"Hmm? Why not? I didn't have anything to talk about and you guys were distracted with something else" said Karamatsu without understanding the issue.

"He's a stranger, Karamatsu..." said Jyushimatsu concerned by his reply, he had also thought it wasn't anything bad until he thought about it and noticed how the situation wasn't normal.

"But he was really friendly... you shouldn't worry so much, it's not like I invited him to the picnic"

"Karamatsu! That's not the point!" Todomatsu was now irritated at how oblivious his brother was.

"You didn't tell him where we live, right?" Ichimatsu asked him while staring at him suspiciously. Karamatsu stopped walking and stared at them instead looking really confused, why were they acting so weird?

"Hey... why are you guys acting this way? You never take things like that" said Karamatsu "I've seen Jyushimatsu talking to adults and get lollipops from them and no one says anything"

"Jyushimatsu knows what he is doing" said Todomatsu "Besides, all those adults that give him candy are old ladies... if a man like the one you were talking to did that then we would be concerned"

"I think you are being too superficial... he is a kind person, he just talked to me while you guys played" Karamatsu frowned at them.

"Karamatsu, we'll be honest with you... we believe you are too naive" said Ichimatsu while staring angrily at him .

"Naive? But I'm older than you guys, I can't be naive" said Karamatsu, the others shook their head in denial to that statement.

"It should be that way but you really are too naive and you open yourself too easily, it's really concerning" said Todomatsu.

"But that's what I don't understand... what did I do wrong? It's true that I don't know him but you'll never know if a person is nice or not if you don't get to know them" said Karamatsu.

"Exactly and you really don't know him yet" said Ichimatsu "Of course, you won't get to know him so you can't say he is a good person"

"What? You guys can't order me around, if I wanted to see him again it's my problem" said Karamatsu. He really wasn't thinking on seeing him again but that his brothers were acting that way made him say those things.

"What? You´re not seeing him again, are you?" asked Jyushimatsu a little worried.

"No, I won't" said Karamatsu "He was only a stranger that made nice conversation, you guys are the ones making this into something bigger"

"Oh... I see! Then we did overreact" said Jyushimatsu "Remember mom said to not talk to strangers"

Karamatsu stared at Jyushimatsu, the slight irritation he felt had vanished once he remembered what his mother said and when he understood his brothers were just protecting him.

"So it was that, haha, I suppose I would have worried too" said Karamatsu "Anyway, let's hurry home" the others nodded after abandoning the subject of the strange man. Karamatsu, however, had liked the man, he didn't think it was so bad no matter what his brothers said and honestly he wouldn't mind running into him again.

xXxXxXxXx

The boys went back after a short while, they were wondering what would Osomatsu and Choromatsu be doing. Could their parents be back already? Would their home be a mess?

"We are back!" shouted Jyushimatsu as he waited for anyone to reply back. Karamatsu went ahead into the kitchen along with Todomatsu to put the things in the fridge meanwhile Ichimatsu had stayed with Jyushimatsu. "Ah, could it be they aren't home?"

"Well, they better be, they were in charge of the house after all" said Ichimatsu "In my opinion, they are probably watching TV or something like that"

"Hmm, yes, you are right, they probably didn't hear because of that" said Jyushimatsu to then go in and greet his brothers again. " Osomatsu, we are back!"

"Shh, Osomatsu fell asleep" said Choro as the other two walked inside and looked at their older brother sleep.

"Hmm, it's odd that you care" said Ichimatsu a bit confused.

"I care when i don't want to talk to anybody and asleep he doesn't bother me" said Choromatsu.

"That's weird... did you guys fight?" Jyushimatsu asked "You normally get along really well"

"It's not that, I just wasn't into talking when watching TV"

"Osomatsu rarely speaks while watching TV... although he does make comments now and then when we are all watching" said Jyushimatsu.

"That's..." Choromatsu murmured without knowing what to say. Ichimatsu remained thinking for some moments before coming up with an idea of what was happening.

"Choromatsu, there's nothing wrong in you not wanting to bother him" said Ichimatsu believing that his brother was just embarrassed to admit he didn't want to wake him up.

"Ah... I really don't care but for some reason I just don't want to wake him up" said Choromatsu "We didn't have anything to do so if he wanted to sleep then it was fine"

"I suppose some times you are a good person" said Jyushimatsu as he laughed.

"Hey! I'm always a good person!" exclaimed Choromatsu.

"Not really, but I suppose you aren't so bad either" said Ichimatsu to Choromatsu who just pouted annoyed.

"Whatever... Osomatsu, the others are back" said Choromatsu while kicking Osomatsu lightly. Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu wondered what had been all that show if he really didn't care if he woke him up.

"Uh... what?" Osomatsu said groggily as he rubbed his eyes trying to regain steady eyesight. "Ah, guys, I see you are back... I was already bored of watching TV"

"Yes, yes, it was fun" said Jyushimatsu "Although we still need to play baseball" Osomatsu and Choromatsu remained staring while frowning at them.

"You are not going to leave without us... right?" said Osomatsu "I also want to play baseball!"

"I'm just fed up with waiting here without doing much... I don't think I can stand it anymore" said Choromatsu sounding really frustrated.

"Hmm..." Jyushimatsu stayed pondering something in silence "Okay, I think it wouldn't be so bad to wait for mom and dad"

"Cool! Thanks, Jyushimatsu!" said Osomatsu with a grin from ear to ear. Ichimatsu looked at Jyushimatsu incredulously.

"Hey... are you sure? You've been wanting to play for some time now" said Ichimatsu making his brother nod right away.

"It's okay, we can all play when we go to the park" said Jyushimatsu "There's nothing wrong in waiting some more"

"Yes...I guess you are right" said Ichimatsu while smiling slightly. Todomatsu and Karamatsu came in a little bit later and sat near their brothers.

"Oh, how was it guys?" asked Osomatsu.

"It was fine, nothing really new" said Karamatsu "Of course, a lot better than staying here and not doing anything"

"Well, Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu were playing with one of the shopping carts, they didn't help at all" said Todomatsu while looking at the other two who laughed nervously after hearing that.

"Haha, sorry" both Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu apologized.

"Although we forgot to buy fish so we went to a shop near where we were" said Todomatsu.

"Near the dock, I'm sure it's really fresh and even better than any other from the usual store we go to" said Karamatsu.

"Let's hope mom likes it" said Choromatsu "Wouldn't like seeing her angry"

"Don't worry, I showed the list to the man who was in charge so I doubt I got something that wasn't what mom asked for" said Karamatsu really proud of himself.

"Although, Osomatsu, Karamatsu was talking to a really strange man" Todomatsu confessed. Karamatsu wasn't happy of being accused like this.

"Huh? What do you mean?" both Choromatsu and Osomatsu asked.

"It wasn't anything important, I don't even think it's worth mentioning it" said Karamatsu trying to make it sound like something trivial.

"I actually think it is relevant, you are too naive for your own good" said Ichimatsu.

"I think you are exaggerating, Karamatsu said he wasn't going to talk to him again" said Jyushimatsu "I don't think he needs more lectures"

"Wait, Jyushimatsu, now I do wanna know what happened" Osomatsu said as he gestured the others to sit in a circle to talk about it.

"But..." karamatsu wondered the reason they were going to cover the subject again. "It was nothing..."

"Karamatsu, what happened?" Osomatsu asked while staring suspiciously at him.

"I was talking to a man that was sitting near where the others were playing... it's not a big deal" said Karamatsu.

"Playing?" questioned Choromatsu, they had been playing? Hadn't they said they had just gone buy the stuff and that's it?... although, honestly, it wasn't that surprising to hear.

"Yeah, we were throwing stones" said Ichimatsu "It was after a bit that I turned around and saw that Karamatsu was talking to that man"

"Uhh... well, I don't think it was that bad, someone made him conversation while he waited for you guys... I mean, you were playing, weren't you?" said Osomatsu.

"Yeah, now that you say it... it doesn't sound so bad" said Choromatsu in a contemplative state.

"See! I knew you guys were exaggerating! Besides, I only told him a few things about you all" said Karamatsu trying to defend himself... although this last bit had just succeded to worsen his situation.

"What?! You told him stuff about us?!" Todomatsu was really angry and scared.

"It's still irrelevant... why would you guys worry like that?" Osomatsu asked really curious.

"Why? Why does that worry us? It was an old man with a suspicious appearance and permanent smile... and Karamatsu was talking happily with him" said Todomatsu "He even told him about the picnic!"

"Todomatsu, as I said, it was just a man that talked to Karamatsu casually... it's nothing bad" said Osomatsu.

"Eh? Osomatsu... how can you say that... you'd understand if you saw him!" Todomatsu exclaimed.

"But that's the point, Todomatsu, it's basically impossible for that to happen... it's a man that he won't ever see again" said Osomatsu sounding really uninterested... wow, his brothers did worry about unnecessary stuff. How dangerous could it be? "You guys sound like if old people scared you"

"It's not that they scare us... we just know who is okay and who isn't... besides, mom told us not to speak with strangers" said Todomatsu.

"It wouldn't be the first time... hey, stop making this bigger than it is" said Osomatsu "And also, you almost never listen to mom!"

"Hmmm... Toshiaki-san said he goes time to time to that place to fish" said Karamatsu. "He said we could fish again some other day... but it's not like I plan on seeing him again but I just mention it so you see it's still nothing weird, he was really friendly when we talked" he added while wondering how that'd go when he didn't know how to fish.

"Toshiaki-san...?" murmured Choromatsu "Is that the name of the man you were talking to?"

"That's right" said Karamatsu simply. Todomatsu, Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu were staring at him horrified and worried whereas Osomatsu just looked at him confused.

"Karamatsu... did he ask your name?" Osomatsu didn't know what to think about the situation, on one hand he thought he was exaggerating like his other siblings but on the other he thought there was something fishy about the situation.

"Yes, it's true, but... wouldn't you ask the person you are talking to for their name? I think it's important to know that" said Karamatsu.

"Not if I'm not planning to see them again..." said Osomatsu while squinting at him. It was one thing to talk to the man for a while and not see him again, but... in what kind of temporal conversation people introduce each other?"Karamatsu, tell me the truth, are you thinking on seeing him again?"

"Eh? I already said no! I was just curious to know his name and it's true he asked me for mine but..."

"He asked you first?" Osomatsu asked with no particular expression on his face.

"No, I was the one who asked first, is that a crime?" Karamatsu was genuinely confused.

"Karamatsu, I can't really know what to think about that but for what I understand... I think you shouldn't get close to that man" said Osomatsu

"What...? But you just said they were exaggerating..."

"Yeah since I thought they were making this situation bigger than it was, I though you were thinking on seeing him but I think this is not the case" said Osomatsu.

"But it is true, I don't think on seeing him again, he was just kind to me..." said Karamatsu somehow tired of the subject, there was no way to change their mind.

"We believe in you but remember what mom said... it isn't nice to be talking alone with people we don't know" said Jyushimatsu trying to be understanding, he had thought his brother had enough with the lecture but it was true Karamatsu was behaving in a concerning way.

"But it wasn't a bad conversation..." said Karamatsu while feeling down. Jyushimatsu smiled after seeing his frustration so he tried a different approach.

"We are worried, we don't want something happening to you, do you think you can consider our side?" Jyushimatsu asked with all the patience in the world and with the best smile he could offer him. Karamatsu looked at him and smiled the same way Jyushimatsu was doing, he understood once more that his brothers were just protecting him, he felt kind of bad now that he was trying to defend someone he barely knew.

"Oh... well, it's true, I shouldn't go around talking to people... although I wasn't thinking on talking to him, he was the first one to talk to me... he was really interested in the fact we were sextuplets" said Karamatsu frightening the other five.

"Karamatsu! You have to realize that man isn't normal! Stop answering to everything people ask you!" Ichimatsu shouted really irritated. "You better not have said where we live!" Ichimatsu grabbed him from his t-shirt and shook him. "You didn't, did you?" Karamatsu kept silence as he remembered he was about to do so before the others interrupted.

"Uhmm... no, I didn't" said Karamatsu a little nervous.

"But you were about to tell him... weren't you?" Ichimatsu said. "It's really dangerous to give that kind of information! Don't involve us as well!"

"Ah!" Karamatsu realized his mistake after his brother shouting "It's true... sorry, it won't happen again"

"Okay... as long as you understand" said Ichimatsu while releasing him. "And stop talking to weird people, if they talk to you just cut them off"

"What? I can't do that! That's rude!" Karamatsu replied. Ichimatsu held his face while feeling a lot of frustration... how could his brother be so stupid?

As they both argued, the other five wondered if Karamatsu was a lost case and if he needed to be watched but Jyushimatsu mentioned that after that conversation, he was sure Karamatsu would desist from his apparent curiosity the man caused him... with luck.

After a while of both Ichimatsu and Karamatsu arguing, Matsuyo and Matsuzo came back home with the shopping. All of the siblings stopped talking about the subject as to not worry their parents, they were thinking to do something if Karamatsu tried talking to the man again. Matsuyo had asked for help from the brothers to cook, Jyushimatsu, Karamatsu and Osomatsu had offered their help, Osomatsu was really bored, Jyushimatsu felt bad for not helping at all with the shopping and Karamatsu who really wanted to help because of his fondness for cooking. Matsuzo had said that once the cooking was over then they would head to the park.

xXxXxXxXx

Ichimatsu, Todomatsu and Choromatsu remained around the table in complete silence, they didn't know what to think about what had just happened. Ichimatsu had wanted to help his mom to cook but since his stupid brother was with her he then had given up on the idea, he didn't want to see him as long as he was mad at him.

"That idiot of Karamatsu..." Ichimatsu murmured as he tried containing the anger he still had left.

"We understand, Ichimatsu, we understand" said Choromatsu "It's a bit difficult making him see that these kind of things aren't okay"

"He is too good of a person to understand" Todomatsu added "Although I'd say that in this case he is just being an airhead"

"No, you guys don't understand..." Ichimatsu was keeping a detail that had disturbed him more than normal.

"Eh? What do you mean? Is there a reason you are bothered more than usual?" Choromatsu asked.

"I was waiting to see if someone mentioned it and I was going to do it but I didn't know if it was stupid to mention it... but it won't stop giving me shivers when I remember" Ichimatsu said making the other two looking between curious and baffled.

"Ichimatsu, I don't think it's that big of a problem, we just know he was a weird man but it's not like he had done something specially-" Todomatsu said before being interrupted by Ichimatsu.

"He had a piece of rope around his neck" said Ichimatsu simply. Todomatsu and Choromatsu kept silent after hearing that.

"What..? Ichimatsu... are you sure about that?" Todomatsu asked now newly alarmed.

"Ichimatsu... are you sure you didn't see things? Why would he have a rope around his neck?" Choromatsu asked without being able to fully understad.

"I don't know, that's what bothers me the most... I don't know what to think about that rope, I just know that it can't mean anything good" Ichimatsu said. The other two were about to say something until their father entered the room to sit with them as they waited.

"Ah... such a good day, ready for the picnic?" he asked in a really good humor.

"Yeah..." everyone said not really motivated, they were still thinking on what Ichimatsu had mentioned.

"Hmm? Boys, you don't sound really motivated" said Matsuzo "Did something happen?"

"Hey dad..." Ichimatsu started saying, the other two looked at him surprised, would he tell him? "Ehm..."

"What is it, Ichimatsu?"

"Do you know what it means that a person has a rope around their neck?" asked Ichimatsu.

"A rope around the neck? Hmmm... normally it means the person is trying to commit suicide, no?" their dad said as he thought on what other way that could be used for. "It could be to hang people, but... why would that person have it around their own neck? Wow, I just had this mental picture of someone walking with that, hahah, maybe they just like how it looks... or maybe he or she was walking to their death?"

"Hang people...?" the boys murmured clearly frightened, could it be the man hung people?

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh no, I just remember seeing something like that in a comic" said Ichimatsu trying to avoid the real reason.

"A comic?" their dad wanted to know more about the matter since it was a really strange character,

"Yeah, in it an old man was fishing and had a rope around his neck" said Ichimatsu "I didn't know what to think when I saw that page"

"Oh! Now I understand, an old man huh... he may have tried to fish with that rope or maybe he forgot it around his neck, comics are really weird" said Matsuzo "Although, he may have tried hanging himself, maybe he couldn't die and after that went fishing hahah, weird isn´t it?"

"Wow..." the three murmured finding interesting the way their father saw things. The three of them stayed thinking about it for some moments but shortly after dropped the subject to not make their dad start suspecting.

Ichimatsu, Todomatsu and Choromatsu remained talking between them and with their dad as they waited for the food, they were still bothered by that but they couldn't keep interpreting things, they could only hope that strange man wouldn't appear again and that Karamatsu didn't run into him.

xXxXxXxXx

The Matsuno family went out ready for the picnic, Osomatsu, Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu were in a pretty good mood after forgetting the subjet by helping their mom whereas Todomatsu, Choromatsu and Ichimatsu were in process of forgetting it, they had to since it wasn't pleasant to be thinking about that while being with everyone. Their parents would know about this and... it wasn't so bad unless their brother ran into him again, right?

After reaching the park they looked for a calm place and with a lot of space to run since the brothers wanted to play baseball, it was a nice way to forget unpleasant subjects. Their parents organized everything meanwhile the boys hurried to the field to play, Jyushimatsu was the most excited about it. Their parents watched them play with a smile, they were waiting for them to come back after a while of play so they could all eat together, so, in the meantime they were talking to each other and commenting about the other families and couples around the place.

The sextuples remained playing peacefully for around an hour, luckily that had helped to forget about the man from before and they were back to their usual selves. Time after, they ran to where their parents were and sat down to talk and eat, the picnic had been a great idea. The boys were talking about how the day had gone for them whereas the parents had told them how had it gone while looking for the ingredients, Jyushimatsu mentioned how he would like to play baseball with his parents as well so their parents decided to join them; it was a really wonderful day after all.

After eating, the Matsuno family went to the field where they were playing previously and started to play again, Matsuzo seemed to be a bit clumsy as he failed to hit the majority of the balls that were thrown at him whereas Matsuyo managed to hit the balls in a decent way if not good, the brothers found it funny that their mom was better than their dad but somehow they already knew that.

It was Jyushimatsu's turn to hit the balls, he was really excited to be playing with his family, he wanted more days to play with everyone like this. It was really fun! Jyushimatsu hit the ball and this one flew out of sight, the siblings stared at Jyushimatsu a little angry that he had done that... not really mad but they didn't want to go look for it.

"Haha, I'm sorry" said Jyushimatsu "I'll go look for it" he was about to go when Ichimatsu then started running after it. "Ichimatsu?"

"Jyushimatsu, I'll go look for it!" Ichimatsu shouted as he kept running and looked behind him. "I won't take long!" he then disappeared into the woods.

Ichimatsu ran looking for the ball but he noticed the ball had disappeared, where could it be? Maybe it had flew out really far away? No... it looks like he would have to look for it carefully.

"Wow... Jyushimatsu sure knows how to hit... maybe I won't be able to find it..." said Ichimatsu while looking for it, he tried not to miss it or something. "I'm sure it had landed over here..."

"Meow..." Ichimatsu heard a familiar sound, but... could it be what he was thinking? He stopped looking for the ball to focus on the meowing. "Meow..."

"A cat? I thought I was hearing things but... it seems there is one around here" Ichimatsu said now excited to hear that sound, he liked, no, he loved cats so it was obviously his priority over all things.

Ichimatsu followed the sound which was getting louder and louder, the boy was strongly motivated to find the kitty since he supposed it was from one that was very small, if not from a newborn... and how did he know that? Ichimatsu, many times spent his time with the cats in the neighborhood, he fed them and played with them, he had learned to differentiate the meowing somehow; not perfectly but he could easily distinguish the meowing between adult cats and really young cats... meaning something was starting to bother him, those loud and constant meowing sounds were coming possibly from a distressed cat, it was crying or something was happening to it. Ichimatsu had to find it and see in what he could help it with.

He didn't take long to reach the source, it was something his mind couldn't process... how could that be happening? It could also happen? No... he probably was seeing things...

"What...?" Ichimatsu murmured as he saw a drunk man kicking a cat while shouting incoherences. The boy could feel how his heart shrunk by watching such violence, how could he hurt it? How dare he? And if that wasn't enough... when looking around, he noticed three little kittens that looked really scared; they were seeing how their mother was being seriously injured.

Ichimatsu couldn't bare the sight, he was paralyzed the moment he saw the man kicking the mother and when he undertood the offspring were now defenseless... he couldn't help but feel something inside twisting, something squeezing him. He wanted to cry but at the same time he couldn't, he just couldn't react.

"Cats are so stupid! You deserve to die, useless beasts!" the stranger shouted while still kicking the mother. "This one really resisted, was it so worried about the other three? Ha! That's funny"

Ichimatsu watched in terror how the man turned around to stare at the kittens that were meowing in pure sadness and fright. Ichimatsu started walking to the scene undertanding perfectly what the man intended, but... when he saw how the man grinned devilishly from ear to ear he couldn't help but run instead.

"Die, you pieces of-!" the man shouted in wrath as he tried to stomp on them but he was taken by surprise when a kid had thrown himself to cover the kittens and hug them protectively.

"No...! I won't let you harm them!" Ichimatsu shouted as he stayed in that position while shielding the kittens from the abusive man. The boy observed how near him was the unmoving body of the kittens mother, he felt how his stomach stirred and an overwhelming sensation of nausea engulfed him... Ichimatsu resisted with all his might his urge to vomit and instead started sobbing, the guilt was chewing at him, he couln't do anything to save the mother... he had been useless.

"What? Who are you kid? You better move!" the man shouted while kicking him harshly as he tried to get him to release the cats.

"No! I don't know why you are doing this but I'm not moving!" Ichimatsu shouted while the man kept kicking him over and over.

"Heh, acting as a hero... it won't change anything! I'll make you let go of them sooner or later!" the drunk man kept on kicking him. Ichimatsu could feel his back ache but it didn't compare to the pain he felt when looking at the mother on the floor with blood spreading under her and her poor kittens crying and shivering in his arms.

"They didn't do anything wrong! Leave them alone! Don't you see they are helpless?! They are weak and vulnerable!" Ichimatsu shouted really hurt and mad at the man.

"Weak? Vulnerable...? You think I care about that? That's even more of a reason to do it! It's even more fun that way!" the man said without a trace of regret in his words. Ichimatsu stared at him, he didn't know how it was possible someone could be so inhuman and cruel, the young one was left without words to say... as he received the kicks, he kept listening to the crying of the kittens and at the same time he kept listening to the incoherences the man spout.

"You probably think that I'll stop because you are a kid" said the man as he kept kicking him "Well, I don't care! I don't know where you came from and what you intend by doing this but to be protecting scum makes you scum as well!"

"What are you saying...?" the black haired murmured "Only the wretched dare to hurt such innocent creatures!" Ichimatsu shouted while consumed in frustration and anger. The drunk man stopped kicking him. Ichimatsu stared confused, what was happening?

"So that's what you think eh..." the man murmured while showing him a dangerous smile. Ichimatsu watched nervously and scared... but he wouldn't let go of the kittens no matter how much the stranger insisted with the violence, he wouldn't forgive himself if that mad man took the lives of those little ones. "I'll send you to hell along with those!" Ichimatsu closed his eyes and made sure to shield the kittens while the man focused on kicking him with no remorse.

Minutes after receiving so many kicks, Ichimatsu felt how his body shivered without any strenght, the only strenght left was solely to protect the three that were meowing in his arms. The kicks had stopped, the leftover pain was from the previous kicks... why? Ichimatsu shifted his position a bit as to see what the man was doing, what he saw was nothing of his liking. The man held a stone and as he smiled evilly, he threw it up and down on his hand demonstrating a really hostile appearance.

"Jyushimatsu... I think I won't be able to return with the ball..." said Ichimatsu as he looked at the man approaching him slowly. Ichimatsu closed his eyes and prepared himself to the following strikes while thinking how angry the other would be for not having gone back already with the ball.

xXxXxXxXx

The Matsuno family was in the field still waiting for the return of their fourth son, they did think he would take his time since Jyushimatsu had thrown that ball really far away... but was Jyushimatsu that strong? How far could it have gone?

"How odd... shouldn't Ichimatsu be back by now?" Choromatsu asked while staring in the direction his younger brother had taken.

"Jyushimatsu probably threw it really far away" said Todomatsu to then look at his older brother. "Jyushimatsu, you are a monster"

"Haha, not really" said Jyushimatsu really happy to see the proof of his cool throwing.

"I don't really think Ichimatsu is still looking for the ball" said Karamatsu "Knowing him he would have given up and come back complaining or something"

"That's true..." said Osomatsu "I think it'd be better if we just went to look for him, even if he is still looking for the ball... we'll have to wait for who knows how much longer"

"Yes, Ichimatsu already took his time... please look for him" said their mother "Your father and I will stay here taking care of the things, don't take too long"

"Of course, mom" said all of the brothers at the same time, they then went to look for their missing brother.

The boys looked for Ichimatsu anywhere, even under bushes and shouted his name not so motivated, they kind of thought his brother was not back for some silly reason and that irritated them a little.

"Hey, why do you think Ichimatsu hasn't come back already?" Osomatsu asked trying to find a reason or an explanation to his brothers delay.

"I say he found a squirrel and went running after it!" said Jyushimatsu pretty sure of the reason.

"That's what you would do, I say he went to look for it some place else and just passed it on the way" said Todomatsu.

"Maybe he got tired of looking and went to buy an ice cream or something..." said Choromatsu when thinking on what could have been.

"Maybe he couldn't find it and went to buy another one" said Karamatsu. Osomatsu just stared in disbelief.

"Hey... I asked for the reason he would not have come back... not what you guys would do in his place" said Osomatsu. The other four just laughed.

"We really don't know why" said Jyushimatsu before suddenly stopping "Oh... look, I found the ball" the four looked at how Jyushimatsu took it.

"Hmm? It's true, it was here... but... why would Ichimatsu not have seen it? It wasn't so hard to find" said Osomatsu contemplating other possibilities.

"Maybe my ice cream theory is correct" said Choromatsu. Osomatsu shook his head and kept walking.

"I don't think so... Ichimatsu should have gone back already" said Osomatsu while the five kept walking. The brothers had no idea, they just assumed that he could have gotten lost when looking for it or that he was looking for it in another place.

The siblings kept looking for him without saying much to each other, their parents were waiting so they couldn't take too long. When they were starting to get fed up, the sound of relentless strikes caught their attention. All of them automatically turned around to follow the sound, what could that had been?

"Osomatsu..." the others murmured as they felt insecure of whatever was happening, however, Osomatsu didn't stop. They kept walking to the source and they ran into something disturbing... there was a weird man kicking someone. They couldn't identify the person since the kids could only see his back.

"Should we interfere?" Jyushimatsu asked while doubting his suggestion, wouldn't they get involved? wouldn't they get hurt too?

"Well..." Osomatsu murmured not so sure while Karamatsu approached the scene and looked at the victim from another position, not so close to say he was aside of the aggressor but close enough to distinguish the identiy of the victim... his mind stopped working when he realized who it was... that person lying in a small blood puddle was none other than his younger brother, Ichimatsu.

"Ichimatsu!" Karamatsu shouted really scared, the others turned around inmediately and watched how Karamatsu jumped the attacker and was hitting him with all his might. What was wrong ith him? They had never seen their brother so out of himself, so full of wrath and hatred.

"Karamatsu...?" Jyushimatsu could not believe what he was seing... but worse then, as Karamatsu fought the man, they came into view of the victim behind them. Ichimatsu.

Everyone stood there horrified at the sight of the severe injured body of their brother, his clothes were torn and his wounds looked deep, he also looked to have been pierced with something over and over. After the initial shock, Todomatsu, Choromatsu and Jyushimatsu ran to help Karamatsu hit the man whereas Osomatsu ran to where Ichimatsu was.

"Ichimatsu..." Osomatsu murmured while seeing his unconscious brother."Why...?" Osomatsu couldn't process it, he just couldn´t simply see his brother in that state... tears filled his eyes and a newfound wrath was born inside him, he wanted to beat the man the same way the others were doing but he knew one of them had to be with Ichimatsu. "Why...? You just had to go look for the ball... why would you get involved in this? Why did you end up like this? What were you thinking you piece of-?!" before he could finish, the sound of sad meowing cut him off.

Silence. Osomatsu was confused, really confused, had he just heard meowing? With care and without thinking in anything at all, he approached his brother and tried to move his arms which were curiously really tight, it was a really powerful grip... how could it be? However, Osomatsu used the necessary force to move them, at least slightly, managing to reveal three young kittens.

Osomatsu couldn't believe it, between his arms were three shivering kittens that were meowing really sad and frightened. Speechless, Osomatsu looked around and noticed how the corpse of cat remained not so far from where they were; looking at the cats again, he understood what had happened, he understood why his brother was in such heartbreaking state.

His wrath vanished and instead was replaced by a really intense sense of grief and frustration, he cried inconsolably when understanding, it was obvious, wasn't it? It was likely to think that Ichimatsu would have done something like that... how not to intercede for these defenseless kittens? If he hadn't done that, his brother wouldn't have been able to live with himself, he wouldn't be at peace.

"Ichimatsu... Ichimatsu..." Osomatsu hugged Ichimatsu who was embracing the kittens, it looked like Osomatsu was hugging both his brother and the kittens reassuringly. Without any anger left, he cried over his brother. "Ichimatsu... forgive us for not getting here on time... please forgive me..."

The meowing seemed to drown the world outside of the inmense sadness Osomatsu felt in those moments, why hadn't they gone with him to look for the ball? Why did it have to be this way? Why hadn't they gone to look for him earlier? Why hadn't they suspected that something was wrong?

It didn't matter what kind of questions he did... nothing that had just taken place would change, his brother wouldn't stop bleeding, he wouldn't stop getting colder and colder. His mind wouldn't stop stirring and sinking in pure regret, in the idea that he was careless, in the idea the world was closing more and more on him and so the oxygen seemed to be less and less...

"Ichimatsu... I'm sorry..."