"My Enemy" A Karamatsu Short Story

"Awakening"

Tw: sleep paralysis, nightmares, slight gore, mention of harming people, unliving people, and depression.

There he was, floating in the dark. The only sound? The whisper was one of the most hurtful words he was used to hearing.

"Painful"

"Shitty"

"Cringe"

The list went on and on-

He found himself tied up with a black substance that also covered his mouth. He tried to say something, to scare away those terrible words. But his voice wouldn't make a sound. Then, among all that darkness, there he was, the one he feared the most.

Himself.

The sparkle in his eyes was gone, and his face reflected hatred and the desire to cause harm. He was the same, but very different; his hair was just as messy as his brother in purple, and his thick brows furrowed aggressively. His face was somewhat shaded. Completely broken and hopeless. Enraged.

He didn't like that.

His gaze turned perturbed, and he tried to say something to his dark reflection. No words could come out of his mouth. His pupils shrank in sheer panic, and sweat started to pour out. His heartbeat quickened, and his body began to tremble as the dull version of him slowly approached. A foul smirk appeared on his features.

He grabbed Karamatsu's face aggressively and looked him dead in the eye, this time emotionless, showing the emptiness in his eyes with no sign of color.

"You're so weak, it's pathetic.".

Karamatsu looked at his shady self in fear. He walked around him, inspecting him, looking carelessly.

"You're so strange, ridiculous, and stupid, so... naive." He continued, making a frustrated gesture with his hands.

"All you want is to feel appreciated, to be accepted, but let's face it, your brothers would never come to that. They won't even care if you are dropped dead. They never cared, and they never will. They are nothing more than little pieces of shit". He talked, ire could be heard from his groggy, deep voice, keeping his hands and fingers together as he talked concentratedly to the actual version of himself, the one who was always trying his best to remain humble but miserably failed and was always rejected.

He disappeared in the shadows for a moment and then appeared behind his actual self that was tied up, whispering in his ear and causing him to shiver.

"But I do care.".

He faced him, smirking with vileness.

"You are all that I need, Karamatsu, I can help you feel empowered, I can free you from that pain." He walked in circles around him as he spoke.

"I can help you not be taken advantage of or mistreated, I can make you powerful." He got closer.

"Release me."

"I can make them pay for your suffering."

"One."

"By."

"One."

He disappeared into the shadows once again. The sudden smell of iron came to his senses.

Moving his head towards the unsatisfying smell, he turned to see the worst scenario of his entire life.

Osomatsu was lying on the floor, blood coming from his mouth, with a can of beer right next to him.

He was poisoned.

Choromatsu had a pair of scissors stabbed through his chest, and his mouth hung open.

Ichimatsu was hanged.

Jyishimatsu's forehead was bleeding, along with a bloody baseball bat that lied next to him.

Todomatsu, being the last one remaining, was now tied in a seat, unconscious. His phone by his side turned down to shreds.

Karamatsus's face was full of despair, tears falling over his desperate and fearful eyes. He struggled to get out of the black substance that had him tied up, but it was hopeless.

"I'll do what you were never capable of finishing."

His shady self appeared behind his younger unconscious brother, holding his head up, a sharp knife visible at Todomatsu's throat, waiting for the right moment to cut flesh.

He went for a strike

Karamatsu screamed.

"Oi, Karamatsu, what's up with the yelling? It's 3 am." Osomatsu said. He was very sleepy, with the rest of the brothers waking after him.

He was sweating, his chest was going up and down from the heavy breathing, and tears were falling from his panicked eyes. He looked around, He looked at his brothers.

It was just a nightmare.

"A-ah, forgive me, my lovely 'bruzzas,' It is nothing really, just a... silly dream."

" Well, that 'silly dream' really got you worked out and us up for nothing," Todomatsu said, sleepy and irritated.

"Gee, talking about overdramatic..." Osomatsu said, yawning and going back to sleep.

" Sleep tight, bruzzas, good night~," he said, trying to sound like his normal self.

They all went back to sleep except for the second brother, who inspected each of his brothers while he lay down in the futon with worrying eyes. Each of them was sleeping peacefully. Karamatsu sighed in relief and shut his eyes to try to fall asleep again, but with that nightmare he had, it was going to be almost impossible. He gave it a try anyway. Was it a nightmare, though? It felt so real... That didn't matter to him at the moment. He didn't want to overthink it.

They were all okay.

Everything was going to be okay.