The Six of Us are One

One osumemetsu placed on semi-hiatus!

He had been on a roll. His hand flowed as the page all came together; blocking, then buildings, and then finally, the characters themselves, all in a beautiful flow of ink-splattered fingers and pristine white paper. His eyes were widened, his pupils dilated fully as Rohan worked.

Screaming brought his hand to a stop before the mark could be messed up. His pupils retracted to a normal position, and his head whipped around, a scowl written deep inside of his mouth. His eyebrows scrunched, bringing his headband down with them.

Apparently, though, he didn’t: only looked surprised and happy at the idea of offered snacks, and so Ichimatsu spits a scoff from between his teeth, looking faintly irritated, and turns away from the sound of joyous munching and thanks as he thinks about how he’s going to have to buy some more later, at the rate his older brother’s eating them now. ESP Kitty meows from atop a box by his heels, and lowers his head to take a nap.

Ichimatsu’s gone to petting the tabby, now, pulling his fingers through her rather well-kempt fur, pausing to give her a little itch behind her left ear; she seemed to enjoy that one, as she plops onto her side and flails her paws at the sky, pink belly of soft fur unraveling. Ichimatsu lifts his hand, warily, in case she got feisty and wanted to take a nip. Meanwhile, to Osomatsu he says, “Feeding the cats. And I know. I just happened to buy the snacks here. I don’t want to walk all the way to somewhere else.”

And then the munching falters. Ichimatsu looks up, a bit startled by the sudden silence with a couple of blinks, and sees Osomatsu’s expression before frowning up at it.

“It’s just...” he started, before clearing his throat slightly, “I mean, isn’t this place just super weird, Ichimatsu?” Pushing away from the rail, Osomatsu crouched down next to his brother, staring at him intently as though wondering whether he would suddenly morph into someone different, or just disappear altogether. “Tell me, when’s the last time you remember seeing me, ever?”

❥ || @firstbornmatsu

The demon scoffed to himself. Today, normal as ever - humans were far too wimpy to even take a step into this place. He expected that, and began to gnaw lightly on his pointed fingernails, out of what he could call complete boredom. Or what anybody could call it. Who wouldn’t be lonely given these circumstances?

Being a demon certainly did have its downsides. All of the other devils down there in Hell, Osomatsu deemed bullies. (He wasn’t wrong, though, really! Rather, he didn’t think he was wrong….) Ruthless predators who ate humans every other day. That would make others think that he was a bully, too. How assumptive. Personally, Osomatsu thought humans were kind of cute, although a little stupid - that latter opinion tied into that of their ‘assumptive’ trait.

He let his wings drift in the light breeze, lidding his eyes a little exaggeratedly; dramatically, that is. The demon was glad he let the wind play with them, because that allowed him to see something that really caught his attention. Much like an alert dog, he raised his once-slouching back; widening his red eyes; stilling his tail.

The sight was all thrilling, surprising, and very, very unexpected.

Osomatsu rubbed his eyes, blinking them repeatedly, trying to convince himself that he was nothing but merely hallucinating. Or dreaming. But yet the figure still stood there - the figure that resembled him, minus the demon parts. But still - what the hell? This was like his human counterpart… he could say that with more than just ease. Anybody would say that. 

Or… no. Maybe the person could be some sort of exorcist. Trying to trick him, trying to confuse him; once given that they’d pour holy water on his wings, chop off his tail…! That was probably the most plausible answer, seeing as someone who looked exactly like him, out here, meeting so indirectly and randomly - that, that was stupid. (Destiny probably wasn’t real. Who believed in that stuff?) With that thought, immediately it became the only one, the only answer he considered. Osomatsu tensed his shoulders, snorting as he did, with what resembled a smirk more than anything else.

“Oh, little human,” he mused to himself, as if trying to tone his voice for when he would approach his prey. “Hm. ‘Why is it that you have the same face as me? Surely that isn’t a coincidence.’” Even in the midst of the hunt, he let himself chuckle, shielded under his hand. “I like the sound of that!” he cooed playfully to himself, trying to prevent his earlier snicker from turning into a blatant cackle. 

Osomatsu took his every step with a sly caution, his red eyes narrowed, fixated on his victim. It was hard for him to be seen in any case, even though it was in the early morningtime. The forest was naturally pitch-black, seldom did it let even the tiniest slivers of light in. But he took notice that his human doppelgänger had approached the light - wow, they were at the entrance of the place? He hadn’t noticed, whoops - and so maybe this hunt would be a little more difficult.

But given that the human was off-guard; unaware, perhaps it wouldn’t be as difficult as perceived. Judging again, he realized that all it took was for him to slink up to the other’s back, and block out the light by spreading his wings… how dramatic!, but it certainly would add tension. All more fun.

The mortal hadn’t noticed him yet. That was good.

The demon scoffed, first, but then let it roll into a quiet laugh. Grasping the other’s shoulders, he lightly dug his pointed fingertips into the human’s clothing. He slowly waved his tail back and forth, as if he was pleased, awaiting to see his prey’s reaction. “Little huuuman,” Osomatsu purred, bringing out the latter word. “What’re you doing here? How especially suspicious, seeing how if we gaze into each other’s eyes, we see our own faces… it’s like a looking-glass.

...And apparently, also worth getting lost for, as Osomatsu was quickly realizing. How exactly two blocks had become ‘all the way to the edge of town,’ as well as how exactly he managed to get lost on the way back from a place he’d thought he knew like the back of his hand, the eldest Matsuno had no idea. He gave a sigh as his stomach growled. “I’m hungry... Maybe I’ll get home if I turn around and go straight back,” he muttered to himself, turning away from the dark forest and heading back out into the light. Why exactly he’d chosen to go any distance into the forest in the first place was also not something he was giving much thought to.

Though, now that he knew there was a huge, dark forest here, maybe he’d take his brothers exploring one day or something. This place was as good as any for a hangout, and coming with them would make it much more fun than being here alone--

Ow. Osomatsu flinched a bit as he felt several sharp points pressing against his shoulder, interrupting his train of thought, but relaxed when he heard what the person behind him was saying. Even though he hadn’t heard the other approach, it was very obviously one of his brothers coming out to find him, and then trying to scare him after they’ve succeeded, right? Edge of forest at dusk, the whole ‘little human’ thing, ha ha. Sure, if the situation were reversed, he’d totally pull the same prank, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was super weak. Not to mention rude, because whatever his brother was using to simulate fingernails was going to rip actual holes in his hoodie. Osomatsu crossed his arms, speaking without turning around for a moment.

“Ok, if this is your idea of a joke, let me, as the oldest brother, tell you that I wouldn’t give it a score of more than--” He finally turned. And promptly fell silent, the bag in his hand falling to the ground in a rustle of plastic and clinking of glass.

Yeah, this wasn’t one of his brothers. The whole demon getup with the wings and the tail, sure, they had costumes of that at home, but said appendages were currently moving, which was not normal by any stretch of imagination. The face that looked back was also his - not one of his brothers’, he could tell even in this dim light - not to mention this guy had his voice, now that he really focused on it, and this made no sense at all. Osomatsu shuffled back several steps.

send me a “✎” and ill draw your muse 

He’s stuck in a new trashy city, living in a new trashy district, which is rather fitting. Or— that’s what they call it, at least. Beta, or whatever, as if they’re cool for naming places after Greek letters, and that naming them all fancy would somehow make up for how messed up this all is. If they really wanted to be smart they should’ve put him in Alpha, or Delta, but they’re probably too stupid to do that, anyway, though it’s not like Ichimatsu’s complaining any.

Anyway.

He’s got ESP Kitty with him, at least, and even though he’s lost that weird psychic ability of his and can’t spit out that bullshit anymore, Ichimatsu can’t help but feel grateful for the company. With the cat in tow, he’s managed to find the same snacks he’d fed to the strays back home to offer to the strays here, too. Maybe strike up some friendship with the the same way he’s done it at home, and make living here even at least little more bearable.

Ichimatsu’s waggling a snack at one of them— a small long-haired tabby with striking green eyes— when he hears someone approaching. Blinking, he looks up.

He frowns.

“Ichimatsu!” he exclaimed, leaning over his younger brother and grinning, not only at the pleasantly surprising meeting, but also at his rather unexpected generosity with his food. “Awesome, thanks!” Osomatsu grabbed a large handful out of the proffered bag, starting to pop them into his mouth as he leaned against a nearby, grimy rail. Man, these tasted just the same as the ones back home.

“Oh yeah, Ichimatsu, what are you doing all the way out in this icky place?” he asked with his mouth full, “There’s cats in the other sectors too, you know? Or do you live here or something?”

...Osomatsu paused, mid-chew, at his own question, feeling a sense of déjà vu creeping up in his mind. Didn’t he already know where Ichimatsu lived? But he couldn’t have, because this was the first time he’d seen his fourth brother in the city... Wait, was it?