All For Nothing

Chapter Twenty

Still shaken up over what he heard on the phone, Ichimatsu, legs wobbling, staggered over to the kitchen table, hoping he could rest before he lit the candle for their parents.

"I just pray I won't be lighting it for Karamatsu as well..." Ichimatsu mumbled, slumping down into one of the kitchen table's stiff, uncomfortable wooden chairs.

Letting out a deep sigh, he couldn't help but notice that there was a newspaper on the table. He hadn't noticed it earlier that day, but then again, he didn't notice a lot of things, especially with his head acting up like it was.

"Nyaa..." Ichimatsu mumbled accidentally as he reached for the newspaper. When he realized what he had just said, his face turned red with embarrassment. He knew Karamatsu would tease him if he were there.

"If he were here..." Ichimatsu thought, tears beginning to run down his cheeks again.

Ichimatsu pounded his fists on the table in frustration as he started to cry again. It had taken him forever to stop crying on the floor, and he had hoped he wouldn't cry again.

"Jeez, Karamatsu...I don't even care about him! He's been nothing but trouble to me. A bully in the past, no, more like a terrible brother overall. And now he's been acting like some 'daddy' who's going to fix everything!" Ichimatsu thought, finally grabbing the newspaper as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, sniffing a little.

Staring at the paper, a sickening headline caught his eye in an instant.

Murderer on the loose! Last seen with a strange pink hooded man

"W-What is..." Ichimatsu mumbled, staring at the blurry picture in the paper that had been taken from a convenience store surveillance camera. "They both look exactly like..."

"Like who?" a sudden gay sounding voice said, reaching out their hand, tapping on Ichimatsu's shoulder.

Ichimatsu jerked his head around, but he immediately regretted it, for it made his head pound even more.

Ichimatsu's tear stained face lit up with shock, his bottom lip quivering as he stared at the man behind him. He was at a loss of words, too shocked to even speak.

"What's wrong, Ichimatsu? My dearest apologies if I frightened you, friend," the man cooed sweetly, massaging Ichimatsu's back. "I never mean to bring any sort of harm to my...my patients..."

"W-Who..." Ichimatsu squeaked, finding it difficult to speak. His muscles were beginning to feel relaxed and his headache began to fade away just a tiny bit.

"Are you having problems speaking, dear?" the man said, giggling a little. "I'm sorry if my presence is too calming or...gay as one might say. I hate how people call me that! It bothers me! I'm not gay!" the man stopped massaging Ichimatsu, tapping his black dress shoes on the floor in irritation, breathing heavily.

"I didn't say you were gay..." Ichimatsu mumbled, his headache coming back as soon as the man stopped touching him. It seemed far worse than before, but he knew it couldn't be. He had just gotten used to the peace he felt for just a few seconds.

"I'm a straight man!" the man said, pulling a phone out from under his soft pink hood that remained over his head and draped to the ground. It was much more like a cloak, of course.

"W-Who are you...and why are you in my house...?" Ichimatsu finally asked, getting irritated.

"Oh! My name is Todomajo!" the man said, putting on a fake smile, as he started to text extremely fast on his phone. "Holy..."

"Todomajo..." Ichimatsu mumbled. "as in...Todo witch...?"

"LOOK AT HOW HOT THIS GUY IS..." Todomajo squealed, shoving his phone in Ichimatsu's face. "I could do him."

"Yeah, you're straight..." Ichimatsu muttered, throwing his head down on the table.

Todomajo stuck out his bottom lip then continued to text furiously.

"Oh, and by the way, you're dying," Todomajo said casually. "And that article in the paper is me and Osoma. We're pretty famous now."

"I'm dying...?" Ichimatsu thought wearily. "Dying...? Dying...what does..."

Ichimatsu sat up again, anger pouring out of him.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M DYING?!" he yelled, standing up from the table, leaping at Todomajo.

Todomajo did a backflip and landed on the table, still texting as he did so. Waggling his finger in Ichimatsu's face, Todomajo sighed, smiling innocently.

"You can touch witches," Todomajo said, shaking his head smugly, texting with his other hand without looking. "But witches can touch you~"

Ichimatsu looked over at the clock and saw that it was almost time to burn the candle for his parents.

Sighing deeply, Ichimatsu furrowed his brow and pointed at the door.

"Leave," he hissed.

"But didn't you like it when I massaged you?" Todomajo cooed, floating a bit above the table on his back, still texting without any effort.

"I-I..." Ichimatsu stuttered. "I have things to do..."

"Oh? Like what?" Todomajo asked sweetly. "I can help you if you're in pain, you know..."

"My parents were killed in a car accident because of my brother's stupid wife whom he's now divorced from. I don't really think you need details, do you?" Ichimatsu hissed bitterly.

"Akane was one hot...oh," Todomajo stopped talking. "You're burning the candle for your parents, not Akane?"

"WHY WOULD I BURN A CANDLE FOR SOMEONE WHO KILLED MY PARENTS. NOT TO MENTION, THAT WOMAN MISTREATED MY BROTHER...." Ichimatsu yelled, his eyes flaring with anger.

"Woah, calm down," Todomajo said, floating over to Ichimatsu, not caring to walk. "I'm surprised you're not even questioning some of the things I'm doing. I guess that's what you expect from a dumb cat."

"I'm not a cat..." Ichimatsu hissed.

"Why did you say, 'nyaa' earlier then? Hmm?" Todomajo asked, tickling under Ichimatsu chin.

"Stop it..." Ichimatsu hissed. "Just leave me be."

"I can't," Todomajo said, shaking his head as he grabbed the newspaper off of the kitchen table. "Osoma wants me to...take care of you."

"If you're a witch...." Ichimatsu muttered, hating himself for feeling the least bit concerned. "can you see people in other places? Can you see the future?"

"Oh, Karamatsu is fine don't worry," Todomajo snorted.

"How did you know..." Ichimatsu hissed.

"I can read your thoughts," Todomajo said simply, prancing out of the room, finally on his feet again. "Come on, I'll pray with you to our parents!"

"Did you just say..." Ichimatsu spat, beginning to feel dizzy.

"I said, our parents," Todomajo said back. "But don't sweat the small stuff, kittymatsu, I'll get things just how they should be."