Ichimatsu sat on the floor, rubbing one of the cats as several more crowded around him. He, as usual, felt at ease around so many cats at once. Just their soft purrs of appreciation made him feel calm all over. Like he could actually breathe for once.

"Shshshsh..." he whispered, gently rubbing one on it's head as several more rubbed their heads on his legs and arms.

"Wow, Ichimatsu nii-san!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed as he sat down at one of the cafe tables. "Cats really like you!"

"Yeah..." Ichimatsu whispered, slightly smiling as a smaller cat curled up on his lap, falling asleep immediately.

"It's like you're a completely different person around cats!" Jyushimatsu laughed. "I hope you get this job!"

"I could do without the job, but if I could just play with these cats all day, I think I'd be fine..."

"I wish you would always smile like that, Ichimatsu!" Jyushimatsu said, staring at his brother thoughtfully.

"I'm smiling...?" Ichimatsu thought.

"Tch...I'm just enjoying myself," Ichimatsu replied.

"Kitties! Kitties!" the lady called from across the room, shaking a plastic bag of cat food. "Dinner!"

All of the cats jumped off of Ichimatsu and scattered towards the owner of the store.

"Let's go now, Jyushimatsu," Ichimatsu sighed, standing up. His pants were covered in cat hair, but he didn't mind. It only made him look more like trash anyways.

"Okay, nii-san!" Jyushimatsu replied, walking towards the door with Ichimatsu. "We're going now! Bye bye!" Jyushimatsu laughed, waving at the lady.

The lady politely waved back, then returned to feeding the cats.

"That was fun!" Jyushimatsu laughed as the glass door closed behind them. "I hope we can go again!"

"Yeah..." Ichimatsu mumbled.

"So, nii-san, where do we go now? The interview is later today! We still have all day to do stuff!" Jyushimatsu laughed.

"I think I'll go somewhere by myself now..." Ichimatsu mumbled in reply. "I need to think..."

"I'll go to the beach then!" Jyushimatsu laughed, but Ichimatsu quickly grabbed his arm.

"Please don't go there..." Ichimatsu pleaded. "I don't want..."

Jyushimatsu looked at Ichimatsu in the eye then laughed.

"Homura-chan said that it's okay to let go of things! She said that life will keep on going even when people don't! So I'm gonna keep going for her! If she can see me right now, I want to make her laugh again, Ichimatsu!" Jyushimatsu replied, and Ichimatsu let go.

"Just don't hurt yourself..." Ichimatsu said worriedly. "Please..."

"Why would I do that, nii-san? After all, Homura-chan would be disappointed!"

"You're acting like she's still alive..." Ichimatsu muttered.

"She is! She's alive up there!" Jyushimatsu said, pointing to the sky. At that moment, those same five birds flew over them. "And I know she's happy as long as I am too!"

Ichimatsu turned away from his brother.

"I'll be going then. See you later, Jyushimatsu."

"You too, nii-san! Good luck tonight!"

Several minutes later...

"I shouldn't have reminded him of Homura-chan!" Ichimatsu thought, walking into the alleyway. "I'll only make him feel worse...."

Ichimatsu sat down between the two trash cans.

"But...what if my entire existence makes everything worse...? I wish...I wish I didn't exist. Everything would be better then. Maybe even Homura-chan would still be alive. If I hadn't been there to delay Jyushimatsu from going to the beach...no. No...I didn't do it...but it feels like I did...If I hadn't been born...maybe Jyushimatsu would have never left Homura-chan's side...maybe he could have stopped her...maybe..."

Ichimatsu closed his eyes. He just wanted it all to stop. To end. His life and everything about it made him feel sick.