The Disappearance of Osomatsu-san

Chapter 9: Familiar Faces

Iyami had asked permission from Kara if he was allowed to look through the apartment simply to satisfy his boredom, with Chibita chiming in and asking if he could at least cook something in Kara's kitchen to pass the time. Kara didn't mind and let the two men do as they pleased as he and Osomatsu had a really long chat about alternate dimensions and other selves. Again, Kara didn't believe in Osomatsu as soon as he started talking, up until Osomatsu demonstrated his creepy dimension texting application and texted to Karamatsu, and according to Osomatsu, Karamatsu was his version of Kara. The blue-eyed male was impressed at the application and was amazed at the fact that there was another him who was just as cool.

After explaining his situation perfectly, Osomatsu had carefully asked if he was allowed to inject the syringe into Kara. Naturally, he had been hesitant and really terrified at first, but after hearing what Osomatsu went through and his desperation to find his brothers, Kara couldn't help but be touched at how devoted Osomatsu was to going back to his little brothers. Besides, one of his little brothers was sick! Two of them were sleep-deprived! And the other two were in need of proper rest as well! He needed to get back to his own family and take responsibility of being the eldest! Thankfully, his sleeve had been rolled upwards so Osomatsu simply injected the liquid onto Kara. Kara wasn't afraid of needles, so though it stung, he shrugged it off.

A few minutes after Osomatsu finished explaining everything, he had collapsed on the couch, claiming that he told Iyami and Chibita the same thing a few hours ago and was tired from doing so. Osomatsu was currently doodling on his small notepad with his head rested against a pile of pillows and his legs dangling on the other side of the couch, eyes drooping lazily. Kara let them stay for a few hours before they went to the hotel, and as much as Kara would love for them to stay the night to get to know Osomatsu better, he knew they couldn't. Not until Todo came back home and Kara explained the situation to him.

He was just across the sofa Osomatsu was laying down on, noticing how peaceful he looked as he doodled on the little yellow notepad. "You seem calmer than you were earlier, Osomatsu." He told his supposed older brother. He did ask Osomatsu what he called the other in their dimension, in which Osomatsu only replied with either his name, or with the honorific "nii-san". Osomatsu did tell him he didn't have to call him by that unless he was comfortable, so he was still sticking with Osomatsu's real name. "Do you need anything?" He asked. The poor man had probably suffered an entire week of thinking he was insane, and he probably didn't have any decent sleep because his big brother instincts prevented him from doing so.

Osomatsu looked at him sleepily. "Nah. I'm fine. Thanks for the offer though." He murmured. "Kinda needed to cool down. Too much excitement in one day. We just got from the town to the city, plus, I spent half my morning packing and spent the afternoon setting my plans in motion. Y'know. Stopping by your bud's old workplace, gathering information, and dealing with a hellotta anxiety all at once. I just need to relax a bit before I start clucking around like a headless chicken again. One of my brothers told me that one of our younger brothers wanted me to use his old notepad to jot down notes and draw something to calm myself. Look." He showed Kara the notepad. "I doodled our family symbol. It's always been a pine tree. Lucky for my mom to have that name and my dad to have a nearly similar one, 'cept he also had a surname that matched."

It looked more of a bush to be honest, but Kara didn't dare to say that. He noticed it was the same symbol on Osomatsu's hoodie. "I see. So that symbol must mean a lot to you and your family. You do seem to miss them an awful lot." Noticing Osomatsu's eyes soften once he said that statement, he sighed. He still couldn't process the fact that this man across him was straight from another dimension, but it didn't matter now. "To wake up in a world where your loved ones are non-existent in the face of the earth, in which you feel their unwavering presence in your heart but your eyes cannot see them, your hands cannot reach out to theirs, and you cannot hear their voices or smell the scent their lives give off.. truly, it must be painful."