Karamatsu stood in front of two gravestones, holding his umbrella over them so they wouldn't get wet in the thunderstorm.

"Ichimatsu...Jyushimatsu...?" Karamatsu said quietly, smiling bitterly, biting his lip as he fought back tears. "Thank you...for spending more time with me than I ever asked for...you helped me through my life...I don't think I could have ever made it this far...."

Karamatsu rubbed his eyes, though he couldn't tell if they were his tears or just the rain that he was getting soaked in.

Droplets of water dripping from the tips of his jet black hair ran down the middle of his nose, slipping inside his mouth from time to time.

"Ichimatsu..." Karamatsu said, staring solely at his younger brother's gravestone. "I'm sorry for being such a bully to you...when you were still here. I regret doing that. But, I do realize...we had many fun times together as well. I still wish...we could have built another snowman together. That one time we did it...I loved every moment of it. I know that girlfriend I had never pleased you, and I understand why now...she wasn't for me. In fact, I still think you were for me, but you're gone now, so it will never happen...I just can't thank you enough still...for not allowing yourself to rest peacefully because of me...despite what a jerk I was, you stuck around. Even though you were suffering, you stayed here just for me...thank you Ichimatsu...thank you so much....I know you and Jyushimatsu could have just played in the afterlife together...but you both came back for me..."

Karamatsu sniffed, turning back to look just at Jyushimatsu's grave.

"Jyushimatsu...you made Ichimatsu so much happier when you were born. Though you only lived to be five years old...you were a true gift to him. I hated to see Ichimatsu so upset, and I really did want to go back and make him happier again. But once I saw how happy you made him, I knew Ichimatsu didn't need me. I can't blame Ichimatsu for committing suicide when you saved that girl's life...I had made him a miserable wreck. You died because you saved her, Homura, I believe was her name, right...? Anyways...you were an angel, Jyushimatsu. A true angel...but Ichimatsu couldn't live without you..."

Karamatsu pulled his umbrella away, finally deciding to cover himself so he wouldn't catch a cold.

"Please...stay well, wherever you are..." Karamatsu prayed, closing his eyes. "Not a single day will go by that I won't think of you. That's what love is, right...? I hope so..."

From a distance, Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu watched their older brother.

"Come on," Ichimatsu said quietly, his transparent hand reaching for Jyushimatsu's, beginning to gently pull him through the rain.

Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu then broke into a run, throwing themselves at Karamatsu, hugging him tightly.

Even though Karamatsu couldn't see them or feel their weight, he felt the comfort of their presence.

Karamatsu looked to the sky, muttering "thank you" to any god who would hear him.

Ichimatsu buried his face in Karamatsu, inhaling deeply, taking in the comforting scent his older brother always gave off.

Jyushimatsu, having grown since the year he died, wrapped his arms more tightly around Karamatsu's waist.

"We love you," they both whispered to their heartbroken, but still living brother before letting go.

"Stay strong," Ichimatsu said, though it sounding like a demand, not an encouragement. "We'll still be here for you.."

Karamatsu sighed, resting both of his hands on his two brothers's gravestones.

"I'd never die for you both," Karamatsu said, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'm going to live for you instead. After all, your deaths weren't all for nothing."

~ The End ~