"Todomatsu?" Choromatsu whispered, able to see his breath in the cold.

With a gallon of kerosene at the third son's feet, he proceeded to shake his brother, whom appeared to be half dead on a park bench.

Choromatsu hadn't expected to find his brother of all people, passed out on the park bench near their home at nearly five A.M. Yet, here he was. Somehow, this simple fact created a rising feeling of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach.

Sighing, Choromatsu grabbed ahold of Todomatsu's shoulders, despite the fact that the youngest child was curled up in a tight ball, hugging himself. He was desperately trying to remain warm.

"Wake up!" Choromatsu yelled forcefully, attempting to sound like he had a little bit of authority over Todomatsu.

Todomatsu shivered and opened his eyes, revealing how cloudy and lifeless they were.

Choromatsu had always been awful at reading emotions in one's eyes, yet even he could tell that his little brother wasn't feeling yell. The third son's blood began to boil. What did Todomatsu have to be upset about?

"Get inside!" Choromatsu yelled at his brother, pointing at their house down the street. "You'll get sick out in this cold!"

"Sick, huh..?" Todomatsu gazed up at his brother, stars in his hazy eyes. "It's hot out here..."

Choromatsu grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him up to a sitting position on the bench. Worry taking over his anger, he jerked his head from side to side, praying nobody would see them.

"Are you feeling alright?" Choromatsu whispered as he moved to his knees, eye to eye with the youngest brother. "Y-You're not acting normal..."

"You worry too much," Todomatsu sighed, feeling the demon inside of him trying to escape again. "Honestly..."

A single snowflake floated down between the two brothers, landing on Todomatsu's hand. It only took a few seconds to melt, yet it was much slower than it should have been.

Choromatsu continued to stare into his brother's eyes, trying to grasp what sort of pain he might be feeling.

"Let's just...go home, okay?" Choromatsu breathed softly, taking hold of Todomatsu's frail, ice cold hands in his. "You need some rest..."

A few hours later....

Todomatsu kept his eyes rested on the sky outside the sextuplet's bedroom window, watching the moon fade into the morning sunlight.

He hadn't managed to go back to sleep at all, though he didn't mind that. Sleeping only meant that he would have nightmares.

Looking over at his brothers, all fast asleep on their large futon, chills ran down Todomatsu's spine.

They all looked so serene, so content with life.

"You want that too, don't you?" the caliginous figure challenged Todomatsu, suddenly sitting beside him.

Todomatsu nodded his head, not even attempting to fight off the disgusting illusion from the depths of his mind.

"I can give it all to you, you know. I'm in charge of you, but I will only give you pleasure upon request. That's how I work," the figure chuckled devilishly.

Todomatsu stared at the floor, his eyes swimming with tears that had sprung up from nowhere.

"I just want to feel like I belong somewhere...like someone actually understands me...someone who knows how awful it feels to be alone all the time..." Todomatsu whimpered.

"That's why I'm here," the silhouette reminded Todomatsu. "I've been here to keep you company ever since that day."

"I don't want you here!" Todomatsu howled, forgetting that his brothers were asleep.

Ichimatsu sat straight up, moving his eyes about the room at a painfully slow speed to locate the source of his alarm. Ichimatsy despised being awoken at awkward times.

Squinting his eyes at his youngest brother, Ichimatsu crawled out of the futon, purposely kicking Karamatsu as he did such.

"Don't yell so early in the morning..." Ichimatsu mumbled as he sat down on the opposite side of the window across from Todomatsu.

Pulling his knees to his chest, the fourth brother appeared to be glaring at Todomatsu, though he wasn't. It was simply the natural position of his eyes.

"S-S-Sorry..." Todomatsu apologized.

"Why are you up, anyways?" Ichimatsu questioned, leaning his head on the cold, glass window.

"I couldn't sleep," Todomatsu replied honestly, gripping his hoodie near his heart as the figure entered him again.

"I don't blame you," Ichimatsu sighed, glaring over at his four brothers, still snoring as if they hadn't slept in decades. "They're so loud..."

Todomatsu nodded his head, then as usual, there was a long period of...

silence.

"Where were you last night, by the way?" Ichimatsu demanded, though his voice was still a deep croak from just waking up.

Todomatsu discovered that he couldn't remember what had happened that night at all.

Scratching at his head, Todomatsu pulled on the ends of his hair, trying to remember. It was absolutely frustrating, being unable to remember something from just hours ago.

"Out drinking again?" Ichimatsu sighed disappointedly. "You know, you shouldn't do that. Your heart isn't strong enough already. You're only shortening your already short life."

Standing up, Ichimatsu walked over to their closet, beginning to change into his purple hoodie.

Todomatsu stared back out the window depressively.

"Even Ichimatsu doesn't know how awful it feels..." Todomatsu thought. "The constant fear of not wanting to die...but then the fear of not coming back in a new life to be with my brothers...it's not fair...I just wish I could kill myself before something kills me....That too...I want to die, but then I don't...deep down...I just want to be normal like everyone else..."

"Todomatsu!" Ichimatsu yelled, staring down at his brother from above. He had called his brother's name several times, and never received a proper response.

"W-What?" Todomatsu stammered, forcing a nervous smile on his face.

"I said...tch..." Ichimatsu exhaled, showing his annoyance with his little brother. "If you didn't sleep, maybe you should sleep on the sofa downstairs."

"Why is Ichimatsu being so kind today..." Todomatsu thought, drowning in discomfort. "I don't want to sleep...but if it makes him happy...it's better than getting scolded..."

"They'll probably be sleeping for awhile longer, so it'll be quiet..." Ichimatsu mumbled. "If you need me, I'll be on the roof..."

And without another word, Ichimatsu exited the room, opening up the door to climb the stairs that led to the roof.

"Are you really going to listen to him?" the figure spoke inside of Todomatsu. His voice cracked a little, showing signs of uneasiness. "Sleeping will only bring you nightmares. I can't control dreams."

"I am very tired though..." Todomatsu mumbled, a yawn escaping his mouth as he went downstairs.

Once he entered the living room, he shut the door behind him. He kept all the lights off and even made sure that all the windows were closed with the curtains covering them.

He was surrounded by darkness, just how things should have been.

The moment he closed his eyes once his head was resting on one of the sofa's pillows, he fell into a deep, deep sleep...