Dancing in a Cage (Mafia!Brothers and Sister!Reader)

Chapter 1

Ichimatsu was the third-youngest of the sextuplets, spending most of his time with the other men our little family had hired on, taking care of the injured and sick. With him as the doctor, I saw him sometimes whenever I was extremely sick or really hurt, and I tried to not bother him with anything small -- such as a scraped knee or bloody nose -- despite him fussing over me as if I was dying. He's been busy enough with the fights escalating more and more over the past year. Ichimatsu was rarely seen without his favorite cat whenever he was in his lab, an orange-furred tabby with a pattern around its eyes that seemed to mimic glasses.

Then there's Jyushimatsu, the second-youngest. I'm scared of him the most. He can be very happy-go-lucky with whatever he does at home, but when Osomatsu calls on him to lead a job -- he gets scary. The wide, happy smile he normally had just turns into a nasty jeer. I've tried talking with him when he got like that, but...I don't anymore. I try not to be in the same room alone with Jyushimatsu, despite knowing that he's only doing what he's told. I exchange letters with him instead and he consistently replies, slipping the letter underneath my bedroom door in the early morning hours. If I could point at one of my brothers and tell them to change back to how they were as a teen, it would be Jyushimatsu. But I knew he had to do his job, so I didn't verbally complain.

Todomatsu was the youngest of the sextuplets, and the most tech-savvy of the group. He remained in constant contact with me no matter where I went, updating me on areas I should avoid whenever I go out by myself. He was usually seen with his eyes glued to a tablet or phone, and his ear always had a Bluetooth earpiece in it. There used to be a time when all he pined for was being popular and well-liked by the girls, and not being disrupted by his brothers. Now, he wanted to keep an eye on all of us, despite being wolf-whistled whenever he was out on a patrol route with Karamatsu.

Then there's me, the little sister of the family: 5'3" and only a few years younger than my brothers. If someone were to look at my life on paper, they'd find nothing really special about me -- no extraordinary talents outside of loving and making music, no outstanding abilities that made me extremely useful to the family, just a boring girl that seemed to be pampered by her family.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm able to pursue what I want out of life, and maybe make my brothers proud of what I can do without getting my hands dirty. There were times when I was the target of a threat, but nothing ever came of it, thanks to the living technicolor wall that protects me from the criminal underworld.

As I bent down to pick up the violin again, a soft knock brought my attention to the door on the other side of the music room. It slowly opened to reveal the signature blue color scheme of Karamatsu, the twenty-something-year-old man standing within the open door frame.

"Kara! You're back!" I rushed to him, the violin left forgotten on the chair. Giving him a gentle squeeze around his chest while avoiding the pistol holsters hanging beneath his armpits, I stepped back and looked up at him, "How did the event go?"

"It was nothing special," came the usual response from him. He stepped into the room and looked at the music stand behind me, "I didn't interrupt, did I?"

"Oh, not at all. I was just busy thinking about the past..." I shook my head and offered the only chair for him to sit, picking the violin up, "Care to listen for a little bit?"

"Not this time, lil' sis, but I'll try to be there for your big concert. That's coming up in three days, right?" I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah, on the 14th," I gave him a reassuring smile before remembering a notification Todomatsu had sent a few hours before, "Oh! We're still on for tonight, right? The family dinner meeting?"

A dark look passed over Karamatsu's eyes before he offered me a gentle smile, "Yeah. It's formalwear, like normal. I think you're to sit where you usually do, but Choromatsu may have other plans."

"All right, I'll be ready by 4:30 p.m. for an escort," I must've looked downtrodden because Karamatsu moved over to me and held me close for a long while. I hugged him back and leaned my head against his upper chest, listening to his steady heartbeat and breathing, creating his own music.

"I'm so sorry for all of this...I wish we weren't so busy that we can't attend your solo practices or your dress rehearsal," His voice rumbled within his chest.

"It's...not a huge thing. I know it'll slow down eventually, and then you guys can come to whatever practice I have!" I buried my face into his black-striped dress vest. He rested his chin on top of my head and stayed quiet for a moment longer before pulling away due to a vibrating buzz within his right pocket.

"Todo...?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, I gotta go finish up what I was doing," Karamatsu barely glanced at the phone screen before he put the phone back into his pocket, motioning back to my violin left abandoned on the chair, "Maybe after dinner I could round up the guys for a listen?"

"...I'd like that," The answer was courteous, despite knowing that he was saying it to cheer me up, hearing the same offer several times before with no results. He gave me a smile before walking out and closing the solid wood door behind him, leaving the room in complete silence. I stayed still for a moment or so, rubbing my left arm from over my gray sweater. Taking a deep breath, I slapped both sides of my face and focused on the piece I was playing earlier, picking up the stringed instrument and not caring if I swayed with the rhythm.