Chapter Text
Todomatsu and Jyushimatsu wandered around the neighborhood together. The yellow Matsu has been trying to ask the loitering cats for information but his enthusiasm is scaring them away. It's already 3 o'clock in the afternoon and Todomatsu is very hungry, his stomach has been very persistent in reminding him that. The youngest brother sighed, "Jyushimatsu ni-san, I'm hungry... I to want ramen."
Jyushimatsu is happily walking beside Todomatsu, he doesn't look tired at all which is to be expected from their ball of sunshine. On the other hand, Todomatsu is not the type to run around looking for cats and chase after them every time his very enthusiastic brother had freaked them out. The youngest felt tired and sticky, but seeing his immediate older brother filled with determination had made Todo last until now. But enough is enough, Todomatsu wants food. Now.
At the mention of food, Jyushimatsu's own stomach growled. He nodded, "Yeah! Let's eat!" Jyushimatsu spotted a food stand somewhere in front of where they are currently and aimlessly walking into. He is about to point it out even though he is aware that his younger brother has probably seen it already when he saw a really cute white cat crossing the street.
"Ah! Look Todomatsu!" The elder pointed at the cat instead of the food. Jyushimatsu didn't wait for a response before he run after the cat, suddenly not feeling hungry again.
"Eh??" Before it even registered to Todomatsu, his brother had already disappeared from his side. Todomatsu is very exhausted and still very hungry but he decided to run after his older brother anyway.
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"The girl there is very nice! She pets me a lot too."
"Yes but they have that big dog in their garden, it's scary going there..."
"Oww, you coward."
"She doesn't feed stray cats though."
"Stingy!"
"Even though she lives in a big house?" Ichimatsu asked while feeding the cats some sardines. They are so cute, how can anyone deny them food.
"That's right."
"If you want food, the boy living in the house opposite her mansion always feeds me."
"Ichimatsu is better."
Ichimatsu blushed. He has been chatting with his cat friends for a couple of minutes, which, in reality, has already been a couple of hours. Time flies when you're having fun, huh?
He was surprisingly shy at first, even though he visits these cats almost every day to feed them or just play with them. They chatted about random things. Simple things, small details that people don't usually care about. But the cats do apparently care, they have all the time in the world so they pay attention even to small things.
It is a common knowledge that Ichi loves cats or any type of feline for that matter. He always had those one-sided conversation with them. The purple matsu likes to think that they do comprehend what he is saying somehow, unfortunately, cats apparently doesn't recognize human language, but they sense a person's feelings. They can feel when Ichimatsu is sad, or when something good happens to him. Though it is not impossible to teach cats some basic tricks and would know when you're praising them, they wouldn't understand what humans have to say.
Ichimatsu doesn't mind their senseless exchange and is enjoying every bit of it. He doesn't feel out-of-place at all nor is it awkward. He and his brothers always talk about senseless things as well, because just like these cats, they also have all the time in the world.
In conclusion, due to Ichimatsu's excitement, he had forgotten about the whole purpose of this situation and is yet to ask for information about his missing brother.
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"The game is fun, believe me!" The girl smiles charmingly. "The game is held every 3 years, and the games are different each time. It depends to the game master. I don't know how the games would be this year..it's always a surprise to both the players and us, the audience."
Karamatsu is very disturbed. He doesn't want to look weak, to look un-cool, but superficial details like those are the last of his concern. "So, how do I...uh...win?"
"Hmm? You?" She tilts her head a little to the right, "But you're not Osomatsu."
"Maybe he wants to play instead?" Suddenly, the lamp seems to dim a bit and a gust to cold breeze and tense atmosphere filled the room. And in the empty wall opposite to where the girl is sitting, just directly behind Karamatsu, a woman with glowing red eyes entered the room little by little, red and black butterflies dancing closely around her form. As the woman's hands parted the wall as if its curtain, Sarah turned her attention to her. She straightened up and, despite her eyes being totally black, she is seemingly looking at the person behind Karamatsu.
The blue mastsu didn't dare confirm the presence of another one of the little girl's kind and refused to turn.
"Sister, what are you doing here?" Sarah asked.
The woman, who is apparently the girls older sister has finished entering the room and is looking at Karamatsu's back very intently, patiently waiting for him to turn around and acknowledge her. He didn't dare moved however.
Disappointed, but not quite offended she said instead, "Father is looking for you, but I don't think it's very urgent. Let's chat with Matsuno Karamatsu-san for a bit more."
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Jyushimatsu found himself in the middle of a forest. It is in a very unfamiliar place and he is now in hot pursuit of a squirrel instead of the grey cat he was chasing earlier but he probably haven't realized that yet.
"Hmm..." Jyushimatsu had lost the squirrel and is now wondering where the heck he is, completely unaware of the man who is standing right in front of him.
"What are we going to do about this boy?" It seems to the man that Jyushi is directly looking at him, but the fifth Matsu is oblivious of his presence nor the presence of the other guards.
"He is probably just lost," the another guard replied. They are the guards of the secret mansion that is located at the heart of the forest. It is protected by a seal, so that the mansion won't be visible to outsiders.
Jyushimatsu had unknowingly wondered very closely to the mansion's entrance.
"Are you sure that he can't see us?" The guard asked, feeling uncomfortable that an outsider seems to be looking at him with an unreasonably wide smile.
"Definitely." The other guard answered confidently, until Jyushimatsu asked innocently, "Mister, where am I?"