Don't Worry

Chapter Twelve

Two months later...

Osomatsu sat down at the dinner table with his brothers that evening, fear mixed with excitement twisting his stomach into a tight, sickening knot. He knew what he had to tell them, after all, he couldn't keep it back anymore. He had to leave the next day, and he didn't have a choice now.

Choromatsu sat down beside Osomatsu, blushing just a little, keeping his head down as Osomatsu grabbed his hand and held onto it tightly.

"I don't want to do this to you, Choromatsu," Osomatsu thought, squeezing his brother's hand more tightly. "I don't want you to be upset again..."

"Here you go, my NEETs!" Mrs. Matsuno exclaimed, placing a platter of sushi in the middle of the table as well as a basket of pears for dessert.

"Thank you, mommy!" Karamatsu exclaimed dramatically, grabbing his plate and chopsticks, taking what he wanted from the platter.

"This atmosphere doesn't feel right..." Ichimatsu muttered as he began to fill his plate as well.

"Yeah, you're right, Ichimatsu nii-san," Todomatsu said, giggling a little. "It seems almost wrong, but I don't know what it could be!"

"Maybe it's baseball!" Jyushimatsu exclaimed, letting out a series of loud, obnoxious laughs as he also filled his plate.

"Can they really tell?" Osomatsu thought anxiously, still holding Choromatsu's hand under the table, his palms soaking wet from his nervous sweat. "I don't want to ruin the entire meal for everyone, but this is the only time of the day where we're all together, focused on one thing...if I wait until we're all done, they'll all start doing their own thing."

"Hey, you two," Ichimatsu muttered to Osomatsu and Choromatsu as Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu leaned on their melancholy brother while eating. "What's wrong with you...something doesn't feel right. I can't deal with this negative aura I feel..."

"I might as well just spit it out then," Osomatsu thought, tears almost welling up in his eyes as he looked at all of his younger brothers around the table. "It's going to be so hard to leave you all..."

Choromatsu slipped his hand out of Osomatsu's and began to eat his food, not saying a word. It was almost as if he knew, but Osomatsu knew he couldn't. There was no evidence, except for the single plane ticket that remained in his hoodie pocket.

"Do you have something you're not telling us, Osomatsu?" Todomatsu asked, putting down his chopsticks, his eyes filling with devilish worry.

"I..." Osomatsu mumbled, immediately shoving sushi into his mouth, not wanting to answer the question.

Choromatsu paused while eating, just staring as his older brother in angst.

"Well?" Karamatsu asked, also putting his chopsticks down. And before Osomatsu knew it, all of his brothers had stopped eating, just waiting for him to reply.

"I guess I have something I haven't been telling you all..." Osomatsu sighed.

"Is it the fact that you like Cho-" Todomatsu began, but was quickly silenced (surprisingly) by a kick in the knee from Karamatsu.

"I..." Osomatsu choked. "I got a job."

The entire room feel into dead silence. Choromatsu began to tremble as he tried to pick up his chopsticks to begin eating again.

"B-but the thing is," Osomatsu chuckled nervously a little, rubbing under his nose out of bad habit. "It's in America."

"How did you get a job in America?!" Todomatsu yelled, banging his hands on the table angrily. "You're so dumb you can barely survive in Japan! How the heck do you expect to survive in America?! How can you even get a job in America if you've never even studied the language?! Nobody speaks fluent Japanese there! You're going to die, Osomatsu nii-san!"

"My brother," Karamatsu said, grabbing Todomatsu by his shoulder, shaking his head no. "Right now isn't the time."

Todomatsu let out a sigh and pulled out his phone, beginning to text furiously.

Ichimatsu didn't say a word, and nor did Jyushimatsu. They were too shocked.

"W-W-Weeeeeell..." Osomatsu stammered, laughing nervously as he scratched behind his head. "I've been taking online college classes and while I was at that, I studied English."

"Online college classes?!" all the brothers exclaimed in shock, except for Choromatsu. He just kept quiet, staring at his food as he trembled, tears welling up in his eyes.

"When are you leaving?" Ichimatsu finally asked after the silence of the shock.

"Tomorrow morning at 5 A.M," Osomatsu said, reaching into his pocket, pulling out the plane ticket to show them.

"So it's true...?" Choromatsu finally said, whimpering. "You're leaving us...?"

"Says the one who left us first," Todomatsu snorted, making Choromatsu feel even worse.

Choromatsu's entire face grew pale as he staggered to his feet, running out of the room, making his way towards the bathroom.

"Choromatsu!" Osomatsu called out with a sigh, but he knew it was already too late. Osomatsu, once again, had screwed up.