Ichimatsu awoke, discovering that he had several more band aids on his arm from vaccines.

"What the heck..." Ichimatsu spat, "What happened while I was asleep..."

And suddenly, a sensation of ice cold waves crashing on top of him overcame him. Shuddering, Ichimatsu tried to forget his dream.

"It felt weird to hear them again...just how long has it been since I've seen them?" he asked himself, when exactly at that moment, a male nurse walked into his room.

"Ichimatsu, you have some visitors. You seemed to be doing a lot better this week, so we decided it would be safe for people to see you a week early," the nurse said, then walked out. "Enjoy!" he laughed slightly.

And in piled in Ichimatsu's five brothers. None of them were smiling, except for Jyushimatsu. But even Jyushimatsu's mouth wasn't open like it normally was. It was just a simple closed-mouth smile.

Ichimatsu looked away, pretending to be asleep. A feeling of guilt washed over him when he saw their melancholy faces. "It's my fault..." he thought to himself bitterly, "They'd usually be laughing...but right now they're not even smiling..."

Nobody said a word.

It was strange, for six people to be in one room, and just not say a word. Almost like they were all complete strangers...

But finally, Choromatsu decided to break the silence.

"So, how are you, Ichimatsu?" he asked, walking up to his brother's bedside.

Ichimatsu sat up in his bed, but didn't say a word. He had wished he could go to sleep on command. Because at that moment, he wanted to have that dream about killing himself again.

"Hey," Osomatsu said plainly, forcing a smile onto his face.

"Hello, brother," Karamatsu said, then proceeded to pull a mirror out of his pocket.

The mood seemed to lighten a tiny bit when Osomatsu whacked the mirror out of his hands, shattering it on the ground.

Todomatsu laughed, "Good one, Osomatsu!"

All of the brothers started to laugh. All, that is, except Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu.

In fact, Jyushimatsu was being surprisingly quiet.

"Hey..." Ichimatsu mumbled, and everyone grew quiet. Extremely quiet. Almost like someone just said there was a flying insect in the room, and everyone was staying quiet, listening for it.

"So..." Choromatsu said, "How have you been?"

"Yay...more guilt...." Ichimatsu thought.

"We've missed you!" Todomatsu said, yet he pulled out his phone and began texting like he could care less.

"When will you be home again? ESP kitty has been hard to deal with without you!" Osomatsu complained.

"Oh, just keep the guilt coming, will you..." Ichimatsu thought again. He looked down, avoiding all eye contact with his brothers.

"Ichimatsu," Choromatsu flicked his head, "Look at us. We're all here."

Such simple words seemed to stab Ichimatsu in the chest. "They care...they care...they care..." he thought, but the thoughts of killing himself still lingered in his mind. "You've got to make your dream a lie. You're not such trash to the point where you don't know how to properly kill yourself, are you?!"

"It'll be okay, alright?" Choromatsu said reassuringly, putting his hand on Ichimatsu's shoulder.

"How can you say that..." Ichimatsu mumbled, "when you don't even know me..."

"What do you mean?" Osomatsu asked.

"We've known you for over twenty years, Ichimatsu. We know everything about you!" Todomatsu said, still looking at his phone like a complete loser.

Karamatsu looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped, pulled out his black shades, and leaned up against the wall.

"You're not going to get a girlfriend at the hospital, Karamatsu," Choromatsu said, shaking his head.

"Tch..." Ichimatsu muttered, "I seem to be the outcast now. But that only makes sense...I've been in this prison so long..."

Ichimatsu immediately stopped talking when he realized that everyone was staring at him.

"What do you mean?" Osomatsu asked, rubbing under his nose, "You're our brother! We can't leave you out of things!"

"He's right. The burning love we feel-" Karamatsu stopped talking and walked out of the hospital room casually.

"Karamatsu, come back in!" Choromatsu scolded.

"I saw a future Karamatsu girl..." Karamatsu whined as Osomatsu yanked him back in.

"So?" Choromatsu groaned, "It never works!"

"I just got a text from Totoko!" Todomatsu said randomly.

"WH-WHAT?!" Osomatsu, Karamatsu, and Choromatsu all said in complete shock.

"When did you get her number?!" Osomatsu demanded somewhat angrily, "What have we been missing out on?!"

"Oh..she gave me her number last year. You didn't know that?" Todomatsu laughed nervously, scooting more towards Ichimatsu.

Choromatsu sighed. "We need to stay focused here..."

"You're not an outcast, Ichimatsu," Todomatsu said, putting his phone down.

"Then what am I to you all?" Ichimatsu spat, "Just go away...it's not like I'll be here much longer anyways. I just have to try harder next time..."

"What are you talking about?" Osomatsu asked, "The next time for what?"

"Tch...like it matters to you?" Ichimatsu mumbled.

"Yes! Of course it matters to us!" Choromatsu yelled, "What are you talking about? Try harder? For what?"

Ichimatsu felt a sudden chill run down his spine as Jyushimatsu just stared at him, his eyes revealing that he was close to tears.

"Nii-san..." Jyushimatsu whimpered, "Nii-san don't go!" he cried, throwing himself at Ichimatsu's hospital bed, hugging him. "I don't want to watch you leave again! Don't go! Please stay..."

"I-I...." Ichimatsu stammered, trying to get his breath back from the sudden 'attack'.

"None of us want you to leave again," Karamatsu said coolly, leaning up against the wall.

"I don't know what we would do without you, Ichimatsu!" Todomatsu exclaimed.

"That was sarcasm...wasn't it?" Ichimatsu spat, still hugging Jyushimatsu who was now sobbing. "Shshshshsh..." he whispered, gently rubbing his brother's back. "I'm not going to...leave..."

"Are you sure about that?" Osomatsu asked doubtfully. "Or are you just saying that so we'll tell the nurse so he can arrange for you to go home soon since you're 'better'?"

Ichimatsu stared at Jyushimatsu's jerking body, then back at his other four brothers.

"They must have been worried for a long time now..." Ichimatsu thought guiltily. "I should have never even been at home on that rainy night. If I had gone looking for Jyushimatsu...none of this would have ever happened..."

"I-I...." Ichimatsu mumbled, still gently rubbing Jyushimatsu to calm him down. "I'm sure..."