"You think we got everything on the list?" Ichimatsu asks his younger brother as they walk home.

It was a thing they did twice a week. They'd draw a pair of brothers to do go to the mall together, and this week the pair just happened to be the fourth brother, Ichimatsu and the fifth, Jyushimatsu.

"Yes, yes!" was the merry response from the younger, who was swinging his two grocery bags around like crazy. Thank god they didn't contain anything perishable.

"And the change? Did you take it?" Jyushi had been adamant on doing the paying and Ichi had been more than happy to let him handle it. It wasn't like he was interested in social interaction or anything.

"Yes!" and to make it clear Jyushi actually dug up the cash from somewhere deep in his sleeves, "Here!"

"Okay, thanks."

"You think mom and dad are doing grocery shopping too?"

A stupid question. Well, nothing out of the usual coming from Jyushi, though. The Matsuno brothers' parents had gone to a month-long trip off to 'anywhere else but Japan' as they had said and left the six to fend for themselves. Not that the brothers could blame them. They needed a vacation after looking after their sons when they all got simultaneously sick about a week ago. It had been a stomach bug, and had lasted for five days straight.

"They're bound to go shopping at some point" Ichimatsu simply stated, hoping the simple answer would make his brother shut up.

"Of course", Jyushi nodded to himself.

At that exact moment a black cat, obviously stray, wandered from the bushes straight to the brothers' path. It mewled in hunger and rubbed its sleek body against Ichi's leg. It hit the bullseye, Ichi's weak spot. There was no running away from this now. They'd have to feed the cat or die trying.

"Kitty!" Jyushi exclaimed, "It's hungry."

"Didn't you have the treats in your bag?" Ichi asked his brother while petting the cat, mumbling sweet nonsenses to it.

Jyushi dug around the grocery store's cheap plastic bag for a good minute before triumphantly raising a bag or treats hight above his head.

'It wasn't like he had found the rarest item on some stupid RPG game or anything. What was the point in making that pose?' Ichimatsu thought to himself but accepted the offered bag.

It wasn't like the rest of the brothers financially supported Ichimatsu's hobby. He had bought the treats with his own pocket money and was going to use them however he pleased. This kitty clearly needed some food, so it would get some. Ichimatsu scooped a handful of treats out of the bag and handed them to the stray.

"He likes them!" Jyushi stated the obvious crouching down with his brother, "He has a round white spot on his fur. I'll call him baseball!"

Ichi felt like laughing to his brother's weird logic and naming skills but decided against it, "How about Batter? I mean you use bats in baseball and naming a cat 'baseball' is a bit harsh."

Jyushi was deep in thought, or at least Ichimatsu thought he was because he had some serious wrinkles on his forehead, "Batter…Batter!"

Ichi had to actually lift the cat to his arms to prevent his crazy happy brother from mauling it with affection. He could be friendly but controlling his strength was one of Jyushi's weaknesses. He'd kill the poor creature.

The cat didn't seem to be one of those lap cats you could carry around. No, it got straight out mad scratching and growling. In the end Ichi had to let go and watch the cat go. He was sad. He thought they'd become friends. Following the cats retreating form Ichimatsu noticed, to his horror that the cat was heading straight towards a busy road.

He panicked. The cat was going to get run over! He had to do something. But before he could even move, he saw a flash of yellow and his younger brother was on the road.

"Jyushimatsu!" Ichimatsu screamed uncharacteristically.

The next thing he saw was a truck colliding with his brother and blood. A lot of blood. And when the initial shock wore off to the extent he could hear again, he heard the screams and calls for an ambulance.

He had to go. He had to go to his brother. His precious little brother. His little brother who was lying on the concrete with a large gash visible on his head. His right hand seemed off too, it was bruised, scraped and twisted. It was his throwing hand too, Ichimatsu found himself chocking.

He quietly sat onto the ground next to his fallen brother and lifted his head to his knees. He should have minded any possible spinal injury, he remembered a bit later.

Jyushimatsu opened his eyes. They were hazy and confused and the lazy eye was all over the place. Ichimatsu wiped the blood off his brother's brow before it could get into his eyes.

"H-How…the c-cat?" Jyushi tried to speak but his speech was groggy.

Ichi, chocked with his tears again told his brother the cat was alright and that the ambulance would be coming. He'd need to stay awake until that.

"Why an ambu-ambulence? Did you…cut youself Icthi?" Jyushi's voice was getting even harder to understand and the confusion was clear in his expression.

"I'm all okay. You're the one hurt here", he didn't want to go into too much detail.

"Oh, okay. Can I sleep Ichi? M tired."

"No, not yet Jyushi. I told you to stay awake", Ichimatsu told his brother.

"But sleepy."

Ichimatsu had to come up with a plan to keep his brother alert or he was going to faint before the ambulance arrives, "Hey Jyushi, do you remember what vegetables we bought? I was thinking of making a hotpot for tonight but I can't remember if we have enough ingredients."

It was a farfetched idea but it got Jyushi's eyes open, "Carrots and a cu-cucumber. Leek?"

"Yes, we did buy those", Ichimatsu hoped the ambulance would be there already. He could see his little brother was losing the fight to sleep.

"On-onions and sweet…sweet?"

"Sweet potatoes? Yes", he could finally hear the sirens.

"Ichi? Why is it so dark?" Jyshi suddenly asked sounding frightened.

"I-It's because the clouds are blocking the sun!" he lied. His brother had closed his eyes and his head lulled on his brother's knees.

"It's….cold too."

Ichimatsu couldn't do anything. He was helpless, "I'll give you my hoodie. It'll warm you up. The ambulance is right here."

When the paramedics arrived to the scene in less than a minute, the younger Matsuno brother had succumbed to loss of blood or something worse and his brother was frantically trying to wake him up. It was a wrestle to get the older brother off the patient. In the end they decided to take him to the ambulance too, since he was in a shock.

They gave Ichimatsu an orange blanket he didn't notice. They tried to get him to lay down but he wouldn't budge from his brother's side. They tried to get them to explain what happened. He didn't answer. He just kept staring at his little brother who looked so fragile on the stretcher. His skin was getting paler by the minute and the paramedics were shouting to each other to hurry up.

When they finally arrived to the hospital, Jyushimatsu was wheeled off into an operating room. A doctor, a kind looking elderly man, came to Ichimatsu and told him all he could do was to wait and inform any relatives.

At that moment something clicked inside Ichi's mind. He hadn't told the rest of the sixtruplets anything yet. He fished his phone out of his pocket halting. Who would he call? Everyone was in work and wouldn't pick up if busy. Osomatsu! He'd have to answer after looking at the caller ID. He'd know something was wrong. A big brother would feel it in his guts.

A couple beeps later the oldest brother picked up, "What is it Ichimatsu? Did you two get lost or something? Does the store not have something on the list?"

"It's Jyushimatsu!" Ichimatsu screamed to the speaker, "There was this black cat, Batter. Then there was this road… and, and a truck. Jyushimatsu has… Jyushimatsu!"

"Calm down!" Osomatsu told his little brother who was beginning to hyperventilate. This kind of action was so unlike of the brother that Osomatsu knew right away that something had upset Ichimatsu, and a lot.

Ichimatsu took a deep, calming breath before continuing with his failed explanation, "Jyushi was… Jyushi was hit by a truck. He tried to save the cat."

The message clearly went through this time, "In which hospital are you?! I'll call the rest! We'll be right there!"

"We're in the one near the station. The one mom takes us."

"Okay!" there was rustling on the line when the oldest brother got dressed while probably holding the phone on his free hand, "You stay there and report any changes in Jyushi's situation and yours too. You're in a shock. Calm down."

"O-Okay."

"We'll be right there", was the final thing Osomatsu told his brother before quitting the call.

The rest of the six brothers arrived in half an hour which was fast considering they were all working prior to Osomatsu calling them. Ichimatsu was bombarded with questions about Jyushi's condition to which he sadly had no answers. All they could do is wait for the doctor to come tell them how the operation went. The doctor had told Ichimatsu his brother had not only lost blood but also had some in his brain. The broken hand would need to be looked at too.

It was late evening when the doctor finally came to the brothers sitting on the uncomfortable hospital chairs, "The good news are that your brother is out of the surgery. We managed to stitch everything back together. The bad news are that he is currently in a coma and we have no idea when he will wake up and how he'll be afterwards."

"What do you mean 'how he'll be'?" Choromatsu voiced his concern.

The doctor remained as stoic as ever, "Your brother had bleeding in his brain. We don't know how that will affect him when he wakes up."

It was Karamatsu's turn to butt in, "Jyushimatsu is Jyushimatsu he'll be back to his cheery self in no time."

"What I'm saying is that the brain damage could change your brother's personality", the doctor continued,

"Why Jyushimatsu? What has he done to deserve any of this?" Todomatsu was weeping, comforted by Osomatsu.

"If you want to go and see him he is in the room number 050", the doctor said before turning away.

"Come on, let's go", Osomatsu said, leading the group to the hospital room's door.

They all stopped in from of the plain, boring door. Would they want to see the damage done to their brother? Looking at Ichimatsu's reaction it was going to be pretty gruesome.

Surprisingly, Ichimatsu was the one to open the door. He stepped into the room and plopped down onto a chair next to the hospital bed. He took his brothers arm to his own and just sat there.

The room was white, too white. Even the only resident didn't bring any color to it. Jyushimatsu was still too pale. He was hooked to many machines that kept beeping away eerily. As if counting the time their brother had left.

Jyushi's calm and quiet breathing could be heard through the machinery. It calmed the brothers down a bit as they all sat around the lonely bed.

"He won't be able to play baseball with that hand", Todomatsu stated sadly, "It was his better throwing hand too."

Choromatsu looked at the bandaged hand lying on the white sheets, "I guess he won't. We'll have to get some therapy for it."

"How are we going to pay for that all? The therapy I mean" Karamatsu pointed out. It was clear they could never afford the therapy with their current financial situation. They'd all need to get second jobs.

"I already informed mom and dad about the situation. They said they would pay the hospital bill but any other costs would be our responsibility", Osomatsu said.

He knew their parents were being fair. They were over 20 year old after all. Proper adults should be able to pay for themselves. In jyushimatsu's situation, it was a different story though. He had looked for a job many times and gotten to a couple of interviews too but it always ended up failing. He hadn't gotten any job in the over three years of him trying to get one. The rest of the brothers had agreed that Jyushi could pursue his baseball career while the rest of the brothers would take care of the money.

"We need part-time jobs", Choromatsu sighed, already flipping through his phone trying to find ads for well-paying jobs.

"I'll take some more shifts in the café", Todomatsu piped in.

Karamatsu flipped his hair, "Maybe I should try modeling."

"It hurts!"

"How about construction sites? We have a lot of those in our area", Osomatsu asked.

"You'd need physical strength. It's not fit for all of us", Todomatsu pointed out mostly referring to himself and Ichimatsu.

"Okay, me and Karamatsu will look into it", Osomatsu told Choromatsu with a nod, "How about you?"

"I have some contacts. I'll manage", Choromatsu answered still on his phone, this time sending e-mails.

"T-Then, I'll ask the guys at the shelter", Ichimatsu suddenly whispered from his seat.

Ichimatsu didn't really have an official job. He worked at a local shelter for cats, dogs and other domesticated animals. It was volunteer work, so he didn't get paid.

"Great! Then we're set!" Todomatsu cheered quietly.

"Hey guys, you think one of us should stay here for the night? I mean, it would be pretty horrible to wake up alone in a hospital bed", Osomatsu asked his brothers.

"I'll stay. The guys at the café are all good people, they'll understand way better than your employers", Todomatsu offered.

"Alright! Then, everyone else, off we go!" Osomatsu said taking a firm grip on the fourth brother's hood.

"I'll stay too", Ichimatsu tried to protest but was dragged away anyways.

"You need your sleep Ichimatsu!" Todomatsu shouted after his brothers.

When the group was sure to have left the building, Todomatsu sat to the now empty chair next to the bed, "What are we going to do with you? You're way too prone to accidents."