Ichimatsu struggled to fall back asleep, finding that the longer he lay on the sofa in the dark, away from Jyushimatsu, the lonelier he felt. That wasn't something he enjoyed to feel, and he hoped that his younger brother didn't feel the same. His little brother didn't deserve to ever be all alone in life. Yet...he was, which was something that greatly concerned Ichimatsu.

"Why am I thinking of this right now..." Ichimatsu thought, rolling onto his back on the sofa, keeping his eyes squeezed shut despite the fact that all the lights were off now. The only bit of light he could see was the light coming from Karamatsu's 'office'.

Sighing, Ichimatsu's heart began to race at an unsteady pace. Nothing was right. Nothing was ever right in the first place, yet now life's problems only seemed to grow bigger and bigger by the second.

"Why does Jyushimatsu not have friends at his school...well, he has that one girl he talks about sometimes...but she's often out because she was born with some illness that makes her so weak she can't walk or move at all...at times...but why and how..? How can Jyushimatsu do it? He seems so happy around me...but is he really just hiding everything for my sake? Is he living a lie just as I did? Surely not...he's too young and innocent to do such filthy trickery. I just..." Ichimatsu's mind went blank as he suddenly found that he was very focused on the sounds of Karamatsu typing on his loud computer keyboard.

Blinking open his eyes, head still pounding, Ichimatsu listened closely to the sounds coming from his older brother's office.

"Why is that sound so calming..." Ichimatsu thought, his eyes becoming heavy. "I...I...I wonder what happened upstairs..."

The keyboard clicking stopped, irritating Ichimatsu.

"I forgot!" Karamatsu 'whispered', running into the kitchen, grabbing a roll of paper towels. "There's a wet spot on the floor!"

Karamatsu ran into the living room, flicking the light on, completely forgetting that his younger brother was trying to rest.

"I'm sorry!" Karamatsu sighed, blotting the damp spot on the floor where he had meant to water his plant. "I didn't mean to wake you up..."

"Tch..." Ichimatsu spat, trying not to cringe in pain. "It's not like sleep comes to me that easily anyways. I-I'm fine..."

"Do you have insomnia?" Karamatsu asked, still blotting the carpet in the living room.

"Yeah..." Ichimatsu mumbled. "I've managed to sleep the last few nights...but this s-stupid headache..."

Karamatsu stood up, his eyes full of sorrow as he stared sympathetically at his younger brother.

"I-It'll go away," Karamatsu said, almost like he was trying to convince himself instead of comforting his brother. "I've had bad headaches before."

"You're the headache itself," Ichimatsu spat under his breath.

"I was just trying to relate," Karamatsu sighed, turning off the light as he left the room. "But try to sleep, okay? I need to work on some research."

"Wait!" Ichimatsu called out, trying not to be too terribly loud. "What even is your occupation? I'm surprised you have work..."

"I'm a teller at the local bank," Karamatsu said somewhat sheepishly.

"Oh? So you can flirt with customers all day?" Ichimatsu snorted.

"No!" Karamatsu yelled, but quickly lowered his voice, "It was the only thing I was qualified for..."

"How do you have to do research then..." Ichimatsu sighed, closing his eyes again, finding that Karamatsu's existence wasn't as painful as his headache.

Karamatsu grew very quiet, not replying for several seconds.

"Good night, Ichimatsu," Karamatsu whispered, quickly walking away.

With a huge sigh, Ichimatsu closed his eyes, managing to fall asleep in just seconds.