Ichimatsu sat down in his usual corner, thinking of all the ways he could possibly hurt himself. All around him were his brothers. The people who acted like they cared, when really they just didn't want to deal with him. Yet, something about being around his brothers made him very happy.

Ichimatsu buried his head in his arms, trying not to smile as Osomatsu cracked nonstop jokes.

"Hey! Todomatsu!" Osomatsu laughed, banging his arms on the floor as he laughed. "Why did the nose cross the street?"

"I don't know. Why?" Todomatsu asked, slightly sighing as he picked up his phone to reply to a text.

"Because he was being picked on!" Osomatsu laughed even harder, and everyone else joined in.

"Such immature jokes..." Ichimatsu thought, even though he was trying not to laugh.

"Hey, Ichimatsu! Wasn't that a good one?!" Jyushimatsu asked excitedly, sitting down beside his brother.

"Tch..." Ichimatsu spat.

Suddenly, the living room window shot open, letting in a strong gust of wind.

Five birds hopped in along with the gust of wind. And one by one, all of the brothers dropped dead. All of them, that is, except for Ichimatsu.

"What the heck?!" Ichimatsu wheezed, pushing Jyushimatsu's lifeless body off of him. "Get out of here you stupid birds! You're the reason nothing is right anymore!"

But the birds weren't there anymore. In fact, nothing was. Ichimatsu just stood there in a world of complete darkness. So dark, that he couldn't see his own hands in front of his face.

A cold slimy hand grasped Ichimatsu's hand and hummed an eerie song in his ear.

"Come with me..." it hissed, dragging him towards door. "You need to remember something..."

Ichimatsu jerked away from the hand grabbing him.

"Get the heck away from me!" he spat. "I don't need to remember anything! If I've forgotten something, that means it wasn't important to me!"

"Oh really?" the voice chuckled. "Well you're a terrible person then. To just forget memories that mean so much to someone else. You're a terrible person, Ichimatsu."

Ichimatsu didn't reply, slightly sighing as the hand locked around his wrist again.

"This way, weak one...." the voice hissed, opening what seemed to be a door.

A bright light flooded all around Ichimatsu, blinding him for a moment at such sudden brightness.

And before he knew it, Ichimatsu was experiencing something he KNEW he had once experienced before, but he couldn't remember it a single bit...

Ichimatsu was sitting on the roof with Jyushimatsu, not saying much, as usual.

The sky was completely cloudless, and a cool breeze filled the air. It wasn't summer anymore. No, it was autumn.

"Ichimatsu?" Jyushimatsu asked, sitting a bit closer to his brother. "I met someone today. And they made me very happy."

"Really? Who were they?" Ichimatsu mumbled.

"It was a girl! Her name was
Homura-chan. She was going to kill herself, but when she saw me nearly drowning in the ocean by accident, she saved me. I guess I saved her life too! I really like her, nii-san...I don't think I've ever felt this happy in my life!" Jyushimatsu replied, smiling even bigger than he had on the past.

"That's great," Ichimatsu mumbled. "I'm so happy for you, Jyushimatsu,"

As soon as Jyushimatsu replied, his words were drowned out by a loud screeching as Ichimatsu was pulled into another memory.

Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu were walking down the street in the winter, snow piled on both sides of the sidewalk.

"Hey, Ichimatsu! Look!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed, stopping in front of a pet store window. "Look at that cat! Isn't it cute! It looks like he has goggles around his eyes!"

Ichimatsu stopped and looked at the cat, nearly pressing his face against the window. The cat was way too cute!

Ichimatsu immediately walked inside the pet store and talked with the owner about adopting the cat.

"He's going to be put down tomorrow if nobody claims him. Heck, he comes with free cat food, treats, and a cheap green feather toy. The cat's free too! Just take the ugly thing!" the owner said somewhat angrily.

"Do you mean that?" Jyushimatsu asked, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Sure," the owner replied, walking outside the store with a cigarette in his hand and a lighter in the other. "The free junk with the cat is just behind the counter. Take it. See if I give a crap."

An elderly man who also worked at the store decided to get the things for the two.

Handing them the free things, as well as the cat.

"So cute..." Ichimatsu mumbled as the cat jumped into his arms.

"I'm so glad you saved that cat, boys," the old man croaked. "He's a special one, you know."

Ichimatsu, felt the cold hand wrap around his wrist again, dragging him back to an even more faded memory.

"Hey, Jyushimatsu?" Ichimatsu asked while walking through the park in early spring. "Are you sure you don't mind this?"

Jyushimatsu looked up at Ichimatsu, and laughed. He was dressed up as a dog, walking on all fours.

"Of course I don't mind, nii-san! This is fun!" he replied, running a little bit, causing Ichimatsu to run along with him.

Ichimatsu felt a smile creep across his face as he ran around the park with his younger brother.

The disgusting hand grabbed Ichimatsu AGAIN, dragging him even FURTHER back into forgotten memories.

Ichimatsu sat down in the back of his class at school, letting out a sigh. He flipped open his arithmetic book and sighed even more.

"More pre algebra today?" he spat. "Great..."

"Hey, Ichimatsu!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed, running into class. "Why are you sitting in the back again?"

"Because, I belong back here. That way, the bullies won't notice me." Ichimatsu replied, gesturing to a group of fat boys in the front of the class, all laughing obnoxiously.

"Nii-san! They're not that bad!" Jyushimatsu laughed. "Maybe they're just jealous!"

"Of what? Not having friends? Tch..." Ichimatsu mumbled.

"You can only make friends if you speak up, you know!" Jyushimatsu said, sitting down at the desk beside Ichimatsu.

After class, Ichimatsu walked down the hallway. He noticed Karamatsu was talking to a girl around their lockers, and he let out a depressive sigh.

"Hey, you!" one kid yelled, throwing a book at Ichimatsu's head.

"Who the heck are you?! Who do you think you are? Emo kitty loving boy," another boy sneered.

Ichimatsu kept on walking. He wanted to go to the library during "recess" just to escape these kids. But apparently they weren't going to let him.

"I bet he's so weak and stupid, not even his own brothers want to fight him! It's too boring!" another laughed, slapping his friends' hands.

"Leave me alone," Ichimatsu mumbled as he stopped walking.

"Oooooo emo Kitty boy wants to be left alone!" one of the boys laughed while another picked Ichimatsu up by the collar of his school uniform.

"Get lost, you waste of space! Go kill yourself! Nobody cares who you are! Everyone would be happier if you just died!" he yelled, punching Ichimatsu across the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Leave my brother alone!" Jyushimatsu yelled, butting into the fight, punching the boy who punched Ichimatsu. "You have no right to say that to him!"

"Oh look, he sent help!" a big sneered.

Ichimatsu stumbled to his feet, but only found himself being punched back down to the ground.

"Go live in a trash can, Ichimatsu!" the leader of the boys yelled.

Jyushimatsu's eyes filled with rage as he began to attack every single one of the boys, trying his hardest to make them go away.

"Hey! Stop this fighting right now, boys!" the principal yelled, and all of the bullies scattered away. "Ichimatsu, stop picking on them!" he scolded.

Ichimatsu didn't say anything, he just hung his head.

"He didn't pick on them! He just wanted to go to the library for recess! They wouldn't let him!" Jyushimatsu said, defending his brother.

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. All of those boys are nice young men. I will see you both after school today!" the principal yelled, walking away.

The hand grabbed Ichimatsu again, pulling him back to the darkness. But this time, it didn't pull him anywhere else.

"See how much he cares about you, Ichimatsu?" the voice asked. "And you completely forgot everything he ever did for you. He was doing everything to make you happy, and yet look at yourself now. YOU CAN'T ESCAPE THIS WORLD. YOU NEVER WILL BE ABLE TO. And the funny thing is, if you had just stayed with Jyushimatsu, none of this would have ever happened. You would probably be happy just like him right now."