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Chapter Text

          "Um, excuse me?"

          Karamatsu startled from where he was leaning on the bridge railing. Turning around, he saw a girl, just about the same age as him. She was frowning, and her jade eyes were swimming with concern. Her left hand fiddled with her forest colored wool jacket, and her right clutched at his glasses.

          Wait, his glasses?

          He felt around his eyes, where his signature accessory would normally be situated, but alas, it wasn't. He must have dropped it.

          He focused back on the woman and took his glasses from her gently, before thanking her profusely in his normal fanciful fashion. Not long after, the atmosphere had grown into comfortable silence.

         "So," Karamatsu glanced at the woman as she spoke, "What's your name?" She looked at him kindly, breaking the atmosphere.

         "Ah," He posed, hands framing his face and and glasses glistening, "I am Matsuno Karamatsu, my beautiful Karamatsu girl!"

         She giggled at his response, before mimicking his pose and saying just as robustly with childish enthusiasm, "I'm Etsuko Aika, at your service!"

         Karamastu felt his jaw drop as he gaped, before chuckling, is that what he looked like when he did it? She laughed at his reaction, before waving off her funny display. They both leant over the railing and Karamatsu looked at her. He didn't know what it was about her, but he liked her company. She didn't tease him or insult him as seriously as his brothers did, in fact, she only did what she did to get him to laugh, while his siblings only insulted him to make him upset or lose his composure. He recalled a few examples.

         "Go inhale carbon monoxide."

         "Die!"

         "Jump off a bridge."

         "Painfulmatsu."

          He shuddered briefly, and frowned. He thought about Etsuko again. He's never seen her before, perhaps she's just moved in? "I've never seen your beautiful form around here before."

         "Ah! I've just moved in."

         "What, you live by yourself?"

         "Yep."

         "Whoa." Karamatsu thought about his brothers and himself. How they were NEETs and will probably remain with that status for a long time. How Choromatsu moved away, trying to be independent, but the brothers couldn't deal with his absence, and soon, they all moved out after him. One by one. Except Osomatsu.

         They all returned to be the one family they always were. Eventually.

         "So how about you?"

         "Hmm?" Karamatsu responded.

         "Do you live by yourself?"

         "Ah, no."

         "Who do you live with?" 

         "My mom, dad and my brothers." He realized that he hadn't called them his burazas, has this person he's just met, made him so comfortable already? He only ever let his actors mask slip when he was truly comfortable, and even then, it was a conscious decision.

         "How many brothers?"

         "Five."

         She did a double take. "Five?! Whoa. I only have two little brothers."

          Ah, so she's the eldest of her group. Just like Osomatsu. She was probably a lot more responsible though.

          He glanced at his watch, noting the time.

          "I've gotta go home now." Etsuko looked him sadly, before she patted his shoulder gently, with a comforting smile.

          "That's alright. Hey do you mind if I call you Karamatsu-kun?"

          He blushed "Um, yes, that's ok. Is it ok to call you Aika-san?" She pouted. Him seeing this, corrected himself. "I-I mean, Aika-c-chan?"

          "It's ok!" She beamed at him before booping his nose gently. "Take care of yourself!"

          "I-I will!" He grinned at her, just as brightly. He was happy, for the first time in a while. He smiled happily as they parted, waving at each other excitedly.

          "Goodnight!"

          He arrived home, smiling brightly. He took his shoes off as fast he could.

          "Tadaima!" He felt so much like Jyuushimatsu, happy and energetic. He wondered what he would often do to burn off his energy. He ran to the main room, where he was hoping Jyuushimatsu would be. And there he was!

          He excitedly jogged up to him, eyes bright and smile huge. His glasses were nowhere to be found, surprisingly.

          "Jyuushimatsu!" The man in question turned and eyes widened considerably seeing his older brothers unusually boisterous expression.

          "Wha-What's wrong, Nii-san?" Karamatsu just shook his head, feeling a huge feeling of affection overtake him. He smiled even wider and took Jyuushimatsu in his arms and span around, giggling uncontrollably.

           Jyuushimatsu hesitated, before his usual smile grew, seeing his brothers contagious happiness. Soon they were both laughing loudly, spinning each other round and round, with large, sweet smiles plastered onto their faces.

          Osomatsu walked into the room, wondering where all the noise was coming from, until he saw his two younger brothers spinning in each other's arms. He gaped before collapsing onto the ground, a blissful expression on his face. His soul visibly rising out of him. Why were his brothers so cute?!

         Todomatsu walked into the room, eyes on his phone. He looked up, seeing the joyous display. He felt rustling beside him, which was Choromatsu sitting down. Hands on his heart and hunched over. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was smiling.

         Ichimatsu took one look at the room, and left in a uncharacteristic hurry.

         As much as Todomatsu actually loved the display and reactions it was receiving, he had questions.

         "Karamatsu-nii-san." The spinning stopped, so they were just hugging, with still huge smiles on their faces. Both had red, blushing faces, because of the rush. "Even though what you just did was actually cute-"

         A squawk of protest.

         "- we wanna know why you're so happy."

        Karamatsu's eyes widened and he hesitated, letting go. He knew the last time one of them even remotely had any friends, they were always scared off by his brothers. He didn't want to lose her. Not yet.

        "I got hugged by a Karamatsu-girl today!" His glasses were once again on his eyes, and his hands framed his face.

        "Oh! He's talking about the 'Free Hug' business isn't he?"

        The other brothers agreed with Choromatsu. A few seconds later, Jyuushimatsu unexpectedly picked him up.

        "Wah! Jyuushimatsu, what are you doing?!" Karamatsu incredulously questioned him.

        "That spinning thing we did was really fun, Nii-san! You're really good at hugging!" Jyuushimatsu told him unashamedly, before hugging him enthusiastically. Blushing, Karamatsu hugged back and grinned as Jyuushimatsu started spinning them round again.

         Soon, both brothers were back to laughing loudly and joyously, while the rest were ogling them like they were aliens. Well, except for Osomatsu, who was currently unable to.

        But Karamatsu didn't care. He was laughing for the first time in months, loudly and genuinely.

        He finally, finally had a friend.

Chapter Text

          It was only two days after their first meeting, that they met again.

          It was at the same place, but early in the afternoon. Karamatsu was doing his usual business, flashing poses for his Karamatsu girls and looking over the water underneath the bridge, when he heard a familiar voice.

          "Hey! Karamatsu-kun!" 

          He turned at the sound if his name, brightening considerably after spotting his newest friend. His smile grew, seeing her happily jogging up to him, waving enthusiastically.

          "Aika-sa-" He paused at he deadpan look, before his eyes widened in realization. "I-I mean, Aika-c-chan." She grinned at him, patting his shoulder lightly.

          "So!" She paused, looking around, before her gaze focused on a specific area, "Wanna hang at the park?" She glanced questioningly at him, perking up at his hesitant nod. She ran around him, and pushed at his back, toward the direction of the aforementioned park. He relaxed and actually started walking there himself, giving her the opportunity to walk beside him and start a conversation.

          "So, how are you doing?"

          "Ah, I've been okay. How about you?"

          "Mm, living alone has been quite a challenge."

          Karamatsu glanced at her from a corner of his eyes. "Oh? How so?"

          "Hm, you know, I have to get all my food and supplies myself. And clothes, which is an absolute nightmare." She grumbled to herself, arms crossed. Karamatsu glanced bemusedly at her, his form now fairly relaxed. "And?" He urged her to continue.

          "I have, like, zero fashion sense. So I only buy simple clothes, like shirts or trousers. An even then, I try to keep them solid colored." He thought back to his own clothing, how they were mostly with his own face, or lined with glittering material. He recalled his brothers and their reactions to said clothing.

         "Uwah! So painful!"

         "Augh! My ribs! Ow ow ow!"

         "Who are you trying to impress!?"

          "I'm so jealous though!" Karamatsu came to again, looking at Aika confusedly. What was she jealous about?

          She huffed, "I bet you could look good in anything!" Smiling at him, she continued, "At least you won't have to go through the trouble of finding the perfect outfit."

          He was so surprised by the compliment, that he couldn't reply. Aika took one look at his baffled expression and burst into giggles.

          They were sitting on the swings now, moving forward and back with minimal effort. They were chatting about the most random topics known to man. But now, they were engrossed in a heavily complex discussion about a hugely debated topic; parallel universes.

          "But dude, for every decision you make, many other universes are created from the same point of time, but making different decisions to what you made! This could lead them to completely, or slightly different futures to what you could have had!" Aika told him, hands gesturing everywhere with how passionately she was talking.

          Karamatsu scratched the back of his head. "But that would mean the same would apply to those other universes as well. As well as each and every movement they will ever make. So, billions of universes will be created at every move you make, and they will make? So, infinite possibilities?"

          Aika grinned, seeing as he actually understood her word vomit, before explaining. "For example; every time you blink, many other universes will be created, but the you from them may blink a few seconds earlier or later, or maybe facing a different direction. Seeing as the average person blinks 207,612,000 times in their life-time, you can see the amount of possibilities, and then multiply that by all the people who has existed and currently are existing."

          Karamatsu gaped at her, before looking down at his feet, looking like he was solving a complex math problem with sweat pouring down his face. After which he looked at her with tiny pupils for a shocked second, before he collapsed backwards, he soul visibly rising out of his mouth. Aika could have sworn she heard ringing church bells from a distance.

          "Are you ok?! Karamatsu-kun?!"

          "And, you know those little kiddie toys they have? The ones that you push and you walk with it?" Aika waved her arms around animatedly.

          "You mean those kiddie stroller things toddlers always play with?" Karamatsu questioned, a furrow in his brow.

          "Yeah! and when my little brother -Hinata- got his when he was three, he went nyoom! We couldn't catch him at all! It was hilarious, he absolutely loved it!" Karamatsu hid his mouth with his hand inwardly chuckling at the mental image of a happy, bright-eyed toddler zooming around with a baby toy, squealing in happiness.

          Both friends were howling with laughter, listening to each others stories about funny experiences about their own families.

          Karamatsu hasn't ever felt so content with how things were before.

          "What are your brothers like?" Karamatsu asked, his curiosity burning withing him.

          "My brothers? Well..." She lifted a finger to her chin, and looked toward the sky. "They can be really annoying."

          He agreed with her somewhat, but he couldn't really call the people who have supported him, and befriended him for so long annoying, but they had their moments. Moments where Karamatsu was very irritated with his brothers, but never let it show.

          "They're also very...Stupid." But she looked down, smiling slightly. "But I love them, very much." She cast her eyes onto him. "What are your brothers like?"

          "Well," He smiled slowly at her. "They can be pretty stupid...And they are pretty insane most of the time, but..." He gazed into the starry sky, spotted with twinkling stars, forming faraway galaxies and constellations that he would probably look at for years to come.

          "I wouldn't change it for the world."

          The next time they met, they didn't hesitate to start a conversation straight away, talking about anything that came to mind and walking wherever.

          Karamatsu was happy.

Chapter Text

           "So, what do you like to do in your spare time?"

           "I play my guitar, and, um, go through a few fashion magazines." He awkwardly gripped the ground from where he was lying in the grass, cloud-watching with his newest companion. He never knew that spotting shapes in the ordinary, summer clouds were so relaxing. In fact, now that he thought about it, he didn't really relax all that much anyway.

           Said companion fiddled with her curly, black locks of hair that was spread outwards from where she was lying in thought, before sitting up and rushing to her backpack with a muttered "Wait a minute." and rifled through its contents before triumphantly beholding a sketchbook. She proceeded to rip out two blank pages and took out two pencils from the bag. Karamatsu had sat up as well, wondering what she was doing.

           Aika waddled back on her knees to where they both were lying before, and now sat, and thrust the blank paper and pencil into Karamatsu's nervous hands. Her jade eyes glimmered as Karamatsu blinked in confusion, obviously glad to be able to explain.

          "Right, let's play a game."

          She took both sheets and folded them from their short edge twice -so when it was completely unfolded, there were two ridges that went vertically across it, revealing three spaces in between. She handed one of them to the male across her, including the extra pencil.

          "So, in the top space, draw a head and in the second, draw the middle of the person and so forth, understand?" She gestured to said boxes and nodded at Karamatsu's hesitant agreement. "But the catch is, we have to make them as funny and crazy as we can! And every time we finish a section, we have to swap papers and fold it away from us!"

          Karamatsu took up his pencil. "So, after all of it, we'll unfold them and see the results?"  She inclined her head in affirmative, to which he grinned at her with determined brown orbs. 

          "Let the crazier one win."

          "Alright," She paused with her drawing, leaning back to admire it with proud eyes. "You finished yet?"

          Karamatsu added one last stroke of pencil onto the paper and with one final look, he gave it to her. 

          "Right, time for the big reveal." She added, passing her finished drawing to Karamatsu. "On the count of three." She ran through the numbers in one second and impatiently opened hers, to which he huffed bemusedly and followed. After initially seeing the full piece, Karamatsu leaned back and barked a laugh, and descended into little chuckles. Aika took one look at hers and joined him, both laughing with huge smiles.

          Karamatsu sat up after a few minutes, chest heaving and his cheeks rosy. Pausing to glance at the paper, what looked to be a old woman's head, connected the body of a bodybuilder, and having what seemed to be crab legs, with pink painted nails. Karamatsu erupted into giggles and it seemed to be infectious as well, since Aika started cackling like a maniac at the sound of Karamatsu's giggling.

          In a clearing full of blooming wildflowers and glistening grass, gently rustling trees and chirping birds, you could hear the distant sound of rich, melodic laughter. Light shone upon the cheerful duo, and gently cast misty, golden halos over their blushing cheeks and wide smiles.

          Happiness wasn't just a thing of the past anymore.

          "Y'know," She muttered from where she was beside Karamatsu, casually walking through the woods of the park. "You should come over sometime."

           Karamatsu's head whirled around in a blur, before his gaping face came into view. "You want me t-to.." He gave her a questioning look.

          She nodded.

          "As in, you want me to go to your house?"

          "Yep."

          "You're joking."

          "Am not."

          Aika giggled, "Relax, Karamatsu. It's just my house. It's pretty lonely there anyway. I want your company." She stared at him with a small grin, silencing any counter arguments forming in his head. He grew silent, watching the back of Aika's head as she walked forward.

          She turned back to look at him. "You coming?"

          "Ah," He paused, before smiling to himself and jogging forwards. "I'm coming."

         Karamatsu adjusted his leather jacket on his person, and stared at his mirror. Over the last few months, his leather jacket and tinted glasses became a sort of shield to protect him from his brothers. However, as he was getting ready for his meeting with Aika, he felt something was missing.

         He didn't know what though. He had his signature glasses, jacket, ripped jeans and sequined shoes. What could he possibly be missing?

         Fingers scratched idly at his chin as he paused and took time to look back. He remembered how, in the last few months, he felt more comfortable and himself around his newest friend. And, he noted, how frequently his glasses seemed to vanish in her presence, like he knew she wouldn't hurt him. How she single-handedly changed his entire perspective, saying he would look good in anything.

         Some long-silenced part of him pulsed with longing, the part of him which always wished for his family's love.

         He knew now. Aika actually liked him for who he was. She stayed with him. She laughed with him. Not at him.

         He stared at his black-colored jacket and hurriedly dug back into his clothes' drawer, pulling out his signature blue hoodie. His eyes grew shiny, but his mouth and brows were firm.

         It was only a piece of clothing. But now...

         It had its own memories as well. 

         Happy ones, for once.

         "Hey."

         Aika looked up from where she was sketching on the sofa, and peered into Karamatsu's eyes. "Yeah?"

         "What're you drawing?"

         "Oh! Um..." She shyly looked away from him, and flipped over the sketchbook, revealing her drawing. "It's, uh, you."

         At the sound of a gasp, she looked back, confused at Karamatsu's blatant awe. "It's not that good, it could use some work." She continued, "I was a bit bored, okay?"

         "But it's really good!"

         She squawked in embarrassment, "It's not!"

         "It is though?"

         "Stop lying!"

         Their arguing continued with Karamatsu bemusedly complimenting her skills with Aika vehemently denying it. Her hands were covering her stark red face.

         The drawing in question was a picture of a clearing, it had many flowers and moss-covered rocks spread across it. The sky was spotted with white clouds, and a multi-colored rainbow arched above. In the middle, it had Karamatsu, beaming joyfully as he bent over and lent a hand to the viewer of the picture. He had a yellow aura surrounding him, as if he was the sun that should've been in the sky.

         Once he realized the implications of this, his face grew pink, and he averted his eyes with a sigh. "You're so good though. The people I draw end up looking like potatoes."

         "No way." she laughed incredulously.

         She was proven how wrong she was very quickly.

         "You don't watch anime?! No way!"

         "It's true. I never have the spare time to do so anyway..."

         She huffed, her cheeks filling with air, giving her the appearance of a chipmunk. "Well that won't do!" She grabbed his arm and sat him down in front of her TV. She left for a second, with Karamatsu once again finding himself wondering what she was doing, and she returned, this time triumphantly clutching a galaxy patterned blanket and a bowl of crisps.

         She then sat down, encircling them both with the blanket and placed the bowl in front of them. "No friend of mine will be denied the pleasure of watching anime!" She grabbed her TV remote and went to the first episode of...

         "My Hero Academia?"

         She nodded at his question delightedly, grinning in childish excitement. "It's been so long since I've seen the first few episodes!" She cuddled close to his side, "It's a great anime! You'll love it, I promise."

         Karamatsu found that he didn't mind the close proximity, strangely. So he nodded hesitantly at her, and soon the episode started.

         The episode had just ended, and Karamatsu, for the first time in months, found himself unable to say a word.  

         "So? What do you think?" 

         "It-It's..." He turned to look at her, bewilderment filling out his expression, along with a rising realization. "It's great!" He stared at her, both had smiles slowly growing on the faces, and soon Aika grinned at him, sparkles and flowers surrounding her expression. 

         "So, wanna watch more?"

         Karamatsu stared incredulously at the light shining from her, before he found himself making the same expression. "Yeah!"

         ...His brothers had ignored him again.

         He felt like he had been growing invisible lately.

         So there he was, at six in the evening, on a bench. It was in an abandoned part of the park, so no-one would have to see him being so pitiful. His head was in his hands and he was hunched over.

         Was he invisible? Was he truly good for nothing? He thought back to that day, where the thoughts had first started.

         The five brothers were walking into the sunset, Ichimatsu happy at finally finding ESP cat, and Jyuushimatsu more joyful than he normally was, having apologized to Ichimatsu for what he did. The five brothers felt happier than ever in that very moment. There was nothing missing.

         Karamatsu stood behind from where they were walking away, dread and sadness looming over his expression.

        "They're treating him completely differently!" He looked at them with soul-shaking tiredness reverberating throughout his entire being.

        But he smiled deceptively, lying to himself. "There is nothing missing." After all...

        They had everything they needed.

         "No."

         Aika. She was there for him. She supported him for who he was. She wouldn't abandon him. She spent time with him, and laughed with him. She truly wanted him to be there with her. He had someone with him, someone who would never leave him, who would always remember him. So he should return the favor.

         He wiped his flowing tears with his sleeves and stood. He gazed at the night stars once again, and smiled truly, for the first time in years.

         He had never felt so strong.

Chapter Text

           "Okay, so close your eyes." 

           Karamatsu was a bit nervous, he had never got his makeup done before, especially by a girl. Why did he even agree to this? He would probably look terrible by the end of the session! But he nodded anyway and closed his eyes, hands shaking in his lap.

           Slowly, he felt a gentle touch at his eyelid, slowly spreading the the aqua-colored eye shadow they had chosen over it. Was this what having your make up done felt like? Karamatsu relaxed, the delicate touch at his eyes slightly tickling him. He lightly giggled, opening his eyes after she finished. "So? How is it?"

           Aika slowly grinned, bringing up a mirror for Karamatsu, who gasped at his reflection. His brown eyes were also slightly complimented by the indigo colored eye liner that she must have sneakily added, and with the aqua eye shadow, he looked like a mythical being.

          He looked at her flabbergasted. "What? H-How did you..." He groped under his eyes, turning his head at different angles, admiring his never before seen beauty. He then stared at her, before kneeling before her and bowing before her like she was some sort of god.

          "W-What are you doing?!" She laughed at his actions, before bringing her hands to his shoulders and leveling his eyes with hers.

          "Well to answer your question..." She brought a finger to her chin and smiled sadly.

          "I just have lots of experience with these things, y'know?"

          They were sat in restaurant, eating their meals when Aika spotted something near the corner of the room.

          A karaoke machine.

          She grinned excitedly, not even registering Karamatsu's look of confusion at her enthusiasm. She whipped her head around, grabbing Karamatsu and bolting the aforementioned box. Karamatsu looked after his unfinished dinner sadly, like how a child would sadly look after being forced to go home after a day of playing.

          After speaking to a staff member about using the karaoke machine, they were given the permission to use it.

          "Okay Karamatsu, you go first." At this, his head whipped round in astonishment.

          "What?! Why me?" He pointed at himself in bewilderment, eyes wide.

          "Because you will probably have the best singing voice out of the two of us." At Karamatsu's still questioning face, she sighed. "You were the one who said they practiced playing guitar in their spare time. I wouldn't put it past you to sing along as well." She smirked at him holding up her phone. "If you don't know the song to use, I got the perfect one!" She scrolled to something on her phone, and pressed on a video.

          "Cant hold us, by... Macklemore?" At Karamatsu's questioning look, she nodded excitedly and took out some earphones from her bag, plugging it in the phone and and handing it to Karamatsu.

          After listening for a few minutes, he nodded at her, smiling. She mirrored it back at him, before frowning. "We could both do a solo and then do a duet?" At Karamatsu's nod, she continued. "But I know what songs you and we could do, but I'm not sure what I would do..."

          Karamatsu thought for a moment, before he brightened. "Here! Listen to this!" Pressing on a video, she listened and slowly, she began to grin. "I like it! I'll do this one!" 

          "Come on! Let's get ready!"

           Seeing Karamatsu give a thumbs up from his place on stage, she turned on the karaoke machine. She was excited, people were already getting curious as to what was going on, and people were turning to view the place where Karamatsu was set up, a microphone in hand.

          Can't Hold Us - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

          The music had started. More head turned, wondering what was happening. A beat came in. The music lasted another few minutes before Karamatsu readied his voice. A voice came in that was not his and soon, it was his turn.

          "Alright, ok. Ah, alright ok." He started on the lyrics afterwards, going through the words speedily in a low voice, sounding like a few years younger than he was. Aika gaped, she didn't know he was this good!

          "It's like the ceiling can't hold us.."

          "It's like the ceiling can't hold us!" Karamatsu declared it like a war cry, grinning for all he was worth. His arms were raised and his eyes were shining. Some of their audience had started grinning, nodding their heads to the beat of the song. The few children that were present as well clapped along, the youngest of them excitedly stamping their feet. The light seemed to focus on Karamatsu, swathing him in an ethereal glow and make his eyes twinkle like faraway stars.

          "Yup, Bad, moon walking..." Aika was mouthing the lyrics, tapping on the wall in time with his rapping.

          "Who knew Karamatsu could be a good rapper?" She asked herself, ignoring the warm feeling growing in her chest at the sight of Karamatsu's smiling face, and passionate singing. 

          The song kept going for a few more minutes, excited toddlers giggling as they danced with Karamatsu, who laughed with them, happily smiling as he sung. He placed one excited little boy on his shoulders who squealed and clapped his hands. He spun around, blushing and hair a mess. But he was happy. So, so happy! 

          The audience chuckled at all the children surrounding Karamatsu and they all stared at the performance with a small amount of amusement, but everyone could tell they were enjoying the music flowing from Karamatsu.

          "It's like the ceiling can't hold us!"

           After Karamatsu bowed and walked off stage, Aika walked on. Karamatsu noticed she had tied her hair up in a side ponytail. She walked on with a casual grin, and form relaxed. But Karamatsu could see the nervous sweat dripping from her brow. He mentally cheered her on.

           He put on the Karaoke machine after seeing her tap her foot twice, signalling she was ready.

          Try Everything - Shakira

           "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!" She repeated this three more times before starting. She smiled slightly through it, the tapping of her foot getting louder and faster.

           "I messed up tonight..." She began slowly, her melodic voice echoing through out the room. Karamatsu never had heard anything as captivating as her sweet, honey singing in his life. His heart pounded, and he was shaking in anticipation.

           "I always get up now to see what's next." She sang and kept singing. Karamatsu noticed the burning feeling in his cheeks and the rush in his head. He couldn't let it distract him, whatever it was. He had a girl to cheer on!

           "I won't give up, no, I won't give in..."

           "'Till I reach the end!..." She beamed, eyes sparkling as she reached a climax. An army of little girls surrounded her, singing in time with her. One even held her hand, smiling sweetly as they childishly danced together.

           It looked like she was sparkling, a halo of light around her head, crowning her with a shower of diamonds. Karamatsu blushed, wondering where that thought came from, and pushed  it to the back of his mind. He knocked on the wood of the wall in time with her, chuckling at all the excited children crowding around her.

          "I won't give up, no, I won't give in, 'till I reach the end!"

          Aika walked back to Karamatsu, a tired expression on her face. Her hair was matted where she had been sweating hard, however, she brightened once she caught sight of Karamatsu. Grinning, she rushed up to Karamatsu, sparkles radiating from her face. "Hey, Karamatsu!"

          Aika's bubbling excitement was contagious, and soon Karamatsu found himself beaming as well. "Yeah?"

          "How did I do?"

          Karamatsu smiled, a proud glint in his brown orbs, and he gently placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye.

          "You were great."

          The Script - Superheroes

          "All the life she had seen.." Aika started from where she was on stage, beside Karamatsu.

          He slowly smiled, continuing from where she left off. "All the meaner side of me."

          "They took away the prophet's dream, for a profit on the street." They sung in unison, Aika clutching her mic with both hands, while Karamatsu held his with one, trying to be as casual as he could.

          Aika continued, "Now she's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to glow..."

          "All his life he's been told, he'll be nothing when he's old..." The man in blue sung, his eyebrows furrowing with the irony of the previous statement. "All the kicks and all the blows, He won't ever let it show."

          "'Cause he's stronger than you know, a heart of steel starts to grow..."

          "When you've been fighting for it all your life!"

          "You've been struggling to make things right..."

          "That's how a superhero learns to fly."

          "Every day, every hour..."

          "Turn the pain into power!"

          A spark resounded in both of their chests, but the didn't notice, exhilarated by the singing and the audience's enjoyment.

          They were happy. 

          Aika and Karamatsu glanced at each other, grinning as never before. 

          They're not alone anymore.

          The manager of the restaurant, a chubby, but quite bubbly woman, handed a slip with the restaurant's number to the two friends. "Please come again, the customers really enjoyed our singing!"

          The two looked at each other, before Aika voiced their agreement. "Sure!"

          Before they left, Karamatsu asked, "May we know your name?"

          The lady smiled softly at them, "I'm Akiko Chiasa. May I know your names?"

          The girl introduced herself, "I'm Aika Etsuko, and this walnut is Karamatsu Matsuno!" Said walnut squawked in protest.

          Akiko placed a palm on her own cheek, "Oh, so your from that pack of sextuplets, aren't you?" The man wearing blue nodded nervously, but his eyes widened at Akiko's never-changing expression, and she quickly waved them goodbye.

          As the duo walked away from the restaurant, casually chatting, Akiko smiled sweetly, but the surrounding employees shied away from her.

          "I ship it."

          Jyuushimatsu paused from where he was begging Osomatsu to play baseball with him. He turned, hearing the rustling from behind, catching a glimpse of Karamatsu leaving the house with not as much as a word.

          Now that he think about it, Karamtsu-nii-san had been a lot happier than usual. He doesn't even wear his painful clothes anymore!

          But he was happy. That was all that mattered.

          A complete change from his younger days, where he had been a lot more withdrawn, and never spoke with his real voice. A voice that Jyuushimatsu could barely recall. But the bright and hopeful glint in Karamatsu's eyes had affected him too.

          All of the brothers noticed Jyuushimatsu's wider smile, if that was possible. When they questioned him about it, he just waved them off.

          Osomatsu was starting to get suspicious. Why was Jyuushimatsu so much more energetic today, of all days? Was there something that he was missing?

          When Karamatsu knocked the door at Aika's house, he was surprised to see her hair in a tangled mess.

          "Hey, Karamatsu!" Aika finger gunned at him, completely disregarding the mess on her head.

          Karamatsu was silent for a moment, before taking her hand and dragging her to her room. 

          "Whoa! Karamatsu, what are you doing!?"

          Karamatsu turned around, to stare at her with hard eyes. "No friend of mine is going to go round looking like that." He pointed at her hair, but she refused his help, saying it wasn't worth the trouble. He didn't hear her, completely focused with his new mission.

          He sat her down on her chair in front of a mirror, and started running his hands through her hair, untangling various knots. He then grabbed her hair brush, and started moving it through her luscious hair, until it had not a single knot present.

          Aika gasped, as if she's never had her hair so neat before. "Dude."

          She incredulously looked at him, "You, are going to do my hair for the rest of your life."

          Karamatsu laughed at this, hands running through the hair gently. Soon, she had relaxed, a content expression on her face. She didn't notice Karamatsu's fingers had slowly started to separate her hair into three parts, before folding each part over each other.

          After a short moment, he had finished, and Aika, had began to recompose herself. Grabbing the braid that Karamatsu had so diligently done for her, she marveled at the lack of strands sticking out and looked at it in the mirror.

          She whipped around and Karamatsu flinched at the sudden movement, until he slowly relaxed at the feeling of arms encircling him.

          "Thank you."

          He blinked, startled.

          No one had ever thanked him before.

          No one.

          Karamatsu lazed on her sofa, slowly nodding to sleep at Aika's absence, before the door slowly creaked open.

          His eyes snapped open at the heavenly smell that filled his nose.

          "Rise and shine, Karamatsu! I have a little treat for you!"

          Karamatsu sat up quickly, his eyes sparkling as he noticed the cookies in her arms. He looked up her, bashful. "Is that for me?"

          "Yep."

          "What's the occasion?"

          Aika set the plate down, and bonked Karamatsu on the head. "It's been a year since we've been friends, silly!"

          His eyes widened, it's been a year already?

          He's never kept a friend for that long before.

          Though, was she just a friend at this point?

          Karamatsu blushed at the thought.

          Her cookies were great, in the end.

          Aika frowned as Karamatsu left her house, closing the door behind him.

          She's never kept a friend for more than three months, let alone a full year. Her personality tended to make them shy away from her, and others had often teased them for being so friendly with her.

          It was why she had moved here, where no one knew her, and she had a clean start. Her parents didn't approve of her moving, in fact, they had never really approved of any of her decisions.

          She hated having someone making all the choices for her, because they had never considered her, or anyone else. Only themselves.

          But she was so happy! She never regretted the decision of moving away. 

          She had a friend!

          However, she wasn't looking forward to the day where Karamatsu would eventually leave her.

          She sat in the corner of her room, knees clutched to her chest. She didn't stop the sad tears flowing down her cheeks. And she smiled, bitterly.

          The scars on her front and back burned.