Ichimatsu shuddered in pain, his head continuously pounding as he lay in his futon, suffering, awaiting for Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu's return from the drugstore. Though it hadn't even been that long, each minute seemed like a year. The pain wouldn't go away.

"Why does it hurt so bad?" Ichimatsu thought, tears welling up in his eyes as he pounded his fists on his head, hoping it would ease the pressure. "I want this to stop so badly...but I can't do anything about it! My body is attempting to defy me..."

Rolling over with a loud sigh, Ichimatsu knew he couldn't stay in bed all day. With great reluctance, he forced himself to stand up, his vision slightly blurring as he stumbled to his feet, leaning against his bedroom wall for support.

"I should at least get dressed and sit downstairs so Jyushimatsu doesn't worry..." Ichimatsu thought, stumbling down the hallway towards the bathroom. "I don't want Jyushimatsu to think I'm ill...I'm just fine. It's just a really bad headache after all! Tch..."

Ichimatsu, his hands quivering from the cold and dizziness, flicked on the bathroom light.

Leaning over the sink, he turned the faucet on, vigorously washing his face with ice cold water, hoping it would help his head just a little. Of course, to his complete disappointment, it didn't.

After a nearly an hour, Ichimatsu had finally managed to get himself dressed and ready for the day.

Slumping down on the cushiony sofa in Karamatsu's living room, Ichimatsu looked around, examining each and every thing.

There were several pictures in various places around the tidy room, but most of them remained empty, leaving a sad frame to stare at.

"What even were those..." Ichimatsu thought, trying to remember, knowing he had once seen images in the lifeless frames the last time he had visited his elder brother. "I feel like there might have been images of our family, but it all seems so vague to me at the moment. I guess I still can't accept the fact that our parents have died..."

Ichimatsu, his head still pounding, managed to ignore the pain for a few moments as he noticed an open drawer on one of the tables. There were several papers furiously trying to escape. Yet from the way they looked, it seemed as though they were pictures.

Ichimatsu arose from his place on the sofa, kneeling down on the floor, pulling open up the drawer a bit more. To his utter dismay, a sickening feeling wrapped around his heart as he saw what was in it.

He had been correct, they were all old photos from before Jyushimatsu was born.

"No way..." Ichimatsu thought, feeling as if his heart were about to explode. "Karamatsu saved these....I thought they were gone..."

Ichimatsu stuffed his hand into the drawer, pulling each and every photo out. Not a single one was of family or friends. They were all of him and Karamatsu, most of which they were smiling together.

"Why does he have these..." Ichimatsu thought to himself, tears welling up in his eyes as he came across a very old photo of eight year old Karamatsu hugging his frail brother. "He never showed he cared after that point in our lives...so why...?"

Suddenly, there was a loud creak, signaling that the front door was being opened.

"We're back!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed, running up the stairs, forgetting to take off his shoes and coat as he looked for his brother. "How are you feeling?"

Ichimatsu nearly choked, stuffing all of the photos back into the drawer, dizzily sitting back down on the sofa before Karamatsu could see him.

"Hey! Ichimatsu...?" Jyushimatsu asked, running back down the stairs after a few moments, his voice filled with worry. "Where is Ichimatsu?!"

The little boy's voice cracked, sounding as if he were about to burst into tears.

Karamatsu knelt down beside Jyushimatsu, setting his bags on the floor as he helped him remove his winter clothing.

"I'm sure he just went somewhere else..." Karamatsu said, rubbing Jyushimatsu on the head before he stood back up. "Don't worry."

"I guess I should just reveal myself..." Ichimatsu thought, his head hurting worse and worse. "It's not like it's some big deal..."

"I'm in here..." Ichimatsu croaked as loudly as he could despite the pain he felt.

"Oh?" Karamatsu asked, grabbing the bags before walking into the living room to greet his brother. "How are you feeling?"

"Worse..." Ichimatsu mumbled, closing his eyes, leaning his head against the wall as he drew his knees to his chest. "It won't stop..."

"Let me get some water for you," Karamatsu said, patting his younger brother's knee sympathetically as he placed the bags on the sofa beside him. "Maybe the pain killer will help."

"Nii-san!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed, storming into the living room, almost knocking Karamatsu over as he left to retrieve a glass of water. "I missed you so much!"

Leaping onto the sofa, Jyushimatsu snuggled up against his brother, leaning his head on his shoulder as he hugged him from the side.

Ichimatsu looked down at his little yellow brother and smiled softly, an ounce of happiness growing in his heart.

"My comfort..." Ichimatsu thought, his eyes heavy from his headache. "My comfort is with me..."

"Nii-san can we play outside in the snow?" Jyushimatsu asked innocently, pulling on his brother's arms. "I want to make a snowman!"

Before Ichimatsu had a chance to reply, Karamatsu was already walking back into the living room with a tall glass of iced water.

"Ichimatsu needs to stay inside today," Karamatsu said, setting the glass of water on the low coffee table in front of the sofa. "He doesn't feel good."

"Since when were you the parent..." Ichimatsu spat. "I can go outside with Jyushimatsu if I want to..."

"How does your head feel then?" Karamatsu asked, raising his eyebrows a bit.

Jyushimatsu frantically looked back and fourth at the two brothers, praying they weren't about to start fighting.

"My head is killing me..." Ichimatsu thought. "There's no way I could go outside with Jyushimatsu when I feel like this...but I don't want Karamatsu to think he's some parent now. He can't tell me what to do. He knows much less than I do anyways. Stupid brick....I don't care if going out is going to make me feel worse...Jyushimatsu doesn't need to worry."

"You got quiet suddenly," Karamatsu said, sitting down next to Ichimatsu on the other side. "Do you feel bad?"

"It's not that bad!" Ichimatsu hissed, staring at the floor.

"Do you want a painkiller?" Karamatsu asked gently, softly poking his brother's cheek with a warm finger.

Ichimatsu nodded his head slowly and reluctantly, grimacing as he felt a new headache beginning to form in the back of his head.

"Here," Karamatsu said, reaching into one of the bags, quickly popping a pill out of one of the small boxes. "Take this with your water."

Ichimatsu snatched the pill from his brother, avoiding all eye contact as he popped it in his mouth, washing it down with a glass of iced water.

Quickly, Ichimatsu slammed the glass on the coffee table, trying to hide the pain he felt all over his entire head now.

"Can we go outside and play then?" Jyushimatsu asked excitedly, almost as if he were asking Karamatsu for permission.

Ichimatsu sighed, not allowing his elder brother to reply and stood up from the sofa, taking Jyushimatsu's hand in his.

"Let's go," Ichimatsu said, keeping his eyes focused on the bright smile his little brother wore. "The snow could be gone soon, you know."

"Yay!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed happily, hugging his brother's leg for a split second before he took off towards the front door, trying to put his coat and shoes on again.

"Do you need help?" Ichimatsu asked, feeling dizzier and dizzier as he tried his best to walk normally towards the front door.

Jyushimatsu pointed at the cost rack, jumping up and down.

"Can you get that down?" Jyushimatsu asked, still jumping. "I don't need help after that!"

Ichimatsu nodded his head, taking down his coat as well as Jyushimatsu's.

"These are the moments Karamatsu never gave me..." Ichimatsu thought to himself after he had gotten his coat and shoes on. As he stood there, watching Jyushimatsu struggle to get his arms in his coat, Ichimatsu couldn't help but aid his brother. "I want to be the brother to Jyushimatsu that Karamatsu never was to me..."

Jyushimatsu reached up at the door, swinging it open gleefully, squealing with excitement as the cold his face.

"Let's go, nii-san!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed, tugging on the hem of his older brother's coat. "Let's build a snowman!"

And with a slight smile, Ichimatsu followed his brother out into the snow, his head feeling worse and worse as the seconds passed on by.