Jyushimatsu blinked open his eyes the very next morning, sunlight peeking through the green curtains in the sextuplets's shared bedroom.

Carefully, Jyushimatsu wiggled out of the futon, making sure not to wake up any of his brothers.

He walked down the hallway sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he made his way towards the bathroom. The bathroom door was shut, but nobody was in there. For a split second, Jyushimatsu had a flashback to when everything went wrong.

Jyushimatsu shook his head, trying to forget the vivid memories of Ichimatsu lying on the floor, unconscious and bleeding everywhere.

He picked up his toothbrush and squeezed a small amount of toothpaste onto the brush. Then, Jyushimatsu pulled out his comb and fixed his messy hair.

Seeing himself with messy hair in the morning sometimes painfully reminded him of Ichimatsu. And today was one of those days.

Jyushimatsu looked away from the mirror and stared at the bathroom floor.

"Ichimatsu wouldn't want me upset. I need to keep going! Hustle hustle! Muscle muscle...That's what he would like me to say, right?" Jyushimatsu thought, quietly walking back into his bedroom.

He swung open the closet door, pulled out his yellow hoodie, shorts, and yellow slippers. He quickly dressed himself and left the house while his brothers were still fast asleep.

"Ichimatsu needs me! He needs me to be there for him! I can't let him down!" Jyushimatsu thought, walking down the street with his permanent
open-mouthed smile.

"Good morning, Jyushimatsu!" Kanola said, waving as she swept leaves and dirt away from the cafe entrance. "Would you care for breakfast? You look quite pale!"

Jyushimatsu glanced at Kanola, then looked down the street to where the hospital was about a mile away. He nodded his head.

"I think I have time," he sighed, and Kanola swung open the glass cafe door for him.

"Help yourself to anything you'd like!" she said cheerfully, bending down to pet a cat that was rubbing its head on her legs.

"I think I'll have two...blueberry muffins!" Jyushimatsu said, his stomach growling loudly.

"Two blueberry muffins?" Kanola asked, raising her eyebrows as she walked behind the cafe checkout counter. "These muffins are pretty large, you know, Jyushi. Is one for-"

Jyushimatsu nodded his head.

"One is for a friend!" he said, trying not to show the slightest bit of sadness in his voice. "My best friend, that is."

"Who's your best friend? Have they ever been here before?" Kanola asked, handing Jyushimatsu a brown paper bag with the two muffins in it.

"Yeah," Jyushimatsu replied, "He really wanted to get a job here just the other day! But, you know..."

"Oh dear..." Kanola muttered, "Ichimatsu then? I hope he wakes up soon, Jyushimatsu. Everyone does. Your mother came here just yesterday and told me everything about him."

"I'll go now!" Jyushimatsu said cheerily, "Thank you, Kanola!"

"It's no problem, Jyushimatsu! Stop by later when you have the time!" Kanola replied, waving goodbye as Jyushimatsu left, continuing his short journey to the hospital.

It was starting to get hotter and hotter outside, and Jyushimatsu was sweating in his yellow hoodie. He trudged down the sidewalk that would eventually lead to the hospital in vain.

But finally, to his relief, he was at the hospital before he knew it. The freezing cold, yet refreshing air hit Jyushimatsu in the face as the sliding doors to the hospital opened.

Panting, Jyushimatsu walked towards the front desk.

"You're here to see Ichimatsu, are you?" the woman at the desk asked, typing something in to her computer then looked up at Jyushimatsu.

"Yes, ma'am!" Jyushimatsu replied.

"He's in the same room still. 344, third floor. He probably won't be there tomorrow or this afternoon though. Make sure to check in tomorrow when you come just to make sure he hasn't been moved." the woman replied then looked back at her computer.

Jyushimatsu ran towards the elevator, pushed the button for it to open, and went inside it. He had always loved the smell of elevators, but this one smelled sickly. Not like something you could catch an illness from though. Just...sickly depressing.

The elevator stopped on the third floor, and Jyushimatsu tumbled out.

It wasn't a surprise to him when he saw the blonde headed girl in her wheelchair again. She was sitting in a small sitting area that was off to the side of the elevators all by herself. Her hands were clasped around something, her eyes were closed bitterly, and her lips were moving slowly.

Jyushimatsu kept walking, glancing back at the girl from time to time. She didn't look very happy today. But then again, who could be happy in such a depressing hospital.

Jyushimatsu stopped in front of room 344 and pushed the heavy door open.

Ichimatsu lay in bed, just as peacefully lifeless as before. Not a sound could be heard from him. The only comforting thing to notice, was that his chest was rising and falling.

"I'm glad you're still alive, Ichimatsu," Jyushimatsu said, sitting in the chair by his bed. "So how are you? Are you doing okay? I hope so. I hope you're not suffering in your mind right now. I hope you're with all those cats you love to death. You always smile when you're with time. I want to see you smile again. Ichimatsu, please don't not wake up. If you can hear me, wake up! Set yourself free..."

There was a soft knock on the door, and a nurse soon opened it up, walking in with a cart filled with things.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I have to clean Ichimatsu and check everything the doctor asked me to," she said.

"Can I help?" Jyushimatsu asked, longing to do anything he could to make Ichimatsu better.

"Of course," the nurse replied. "Start by rubbing his arm over and over again. That way, if he possibly wakes up, he won't be paralyzed for life."

Jyushimatsu nodded his head, doing exactly as the nurse told him. It took several hours to care for Ichimatsu, but they finally did it.

After they finished, the nurse began to perform a few tests on Ichimatsu, asking Jyushimatsu to leave.

He walked slowly down the long hospital hallway, feeling a bit happier that he had been able to help Ichimatsu. He still had his two blueberry muffins with him from earlier that day, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with them.

"Excuse me, sir!" the blonde headed girl said, waving at Jyushimatsu from the sitting area. "May I ask you something?"

Jyushimatsu quickened his pace, sat down in a chair across from the girl, and nodded his head.

"How come your other brothers are never here?" she said, looking Jyushimatsu in the eye.

"They're usually asleep when I leave each morning!" Jyushimatsu replied, laughing. He glanced down at his brown paper bag then added, "Would you like a muffin? I got an extra one for my brother here in case he was awake, but he's not."

"Oh..." the blonde headed girl said, looking down at her legs in her wheelchair. "Could you hand it to me? I don't think I can stand up to get it. I'm sorry..."

"No, it's fine!" Jyushimatsu said, smiling as he handed her the muffin.

"Thanks!" the girl said gratefully, taking a small bite out of the muffin.

Jyushimatsu nodded his head, stood up, and began to walk away towards the elevator.

"Wait!" the girl nearly yelled, causing Jyushimatsu to stop in his tracks. "Will you be back tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Jyushimatsu replied, punching the button to the elevator door. "I'll be here every day until Ichimatsu is back!"

The elevator door slid open and Jyushimatsu went inside. There was that smell, again. The awful depressing smell.

"Ichimatsu will wake up soon, won't he...?" Jyushimatsu thought as the elevator reached the bottom floor and opened up.