Almost

Chapter One

Ichimatsu stood still, his eyes twitching ever so slightly as sun shined directly into his eyes. Mouth open in awe, he inhaled deeply. He was soaking in all the fresh air, out in the well manicured garden he was presently standing in.

Though it was miserably hot outside, cicadas seemingly causing it to feel even hotter than it really was, Ichimatsu's body seemed to ignore it all. For, before the young man, was standing in a garden of peace trees, ready to be harvested.

"Woah..." Ichimatsu breathed.

Karamatsu approached Ichimatsu from behind, resting a hand firmly on his brother's shoulders.

"Another summer is coming to an end, huh?" Karamatsu smiled, proceeding to walk past his brother, a basket in his arms. "And these delicacies wont harvest themselves!"

"Tch," Ichimatsu spat. "They're hardly delicacies. You know, for something to be a delicacy it has to be expe-"

"But they taste good, right?" Karamatsu interrupted his brother, already having picked several peaches off the first tree before them. Gently, he tossed one of the firm, fuzzy fruits at his brother.

Ichimatsu stared down at the peach, unsure of himself. The fruit felt strange in the palm of his hand. It was the perfect size to throw around as a ball.

"Try it," Karamatsu excitedly urged his brother, proceeding to take a bite of one of the fresh peaches himself. "They're amazing!"

Karamatsu chuckled a little as sticky juice from the peach dripped down his chin. He made no efforts to wipe it away. Unlike his brother, Karamatsu didn't mind the stickiness the ripe fruit would soon bestow upon his rounded chin.

"What are we even going to do with all these peaches?" Ichimatsu mumbled, still staring down at the peach in his hand. "There's so many. We can't possibly do anything with them..."

"Have you tried it yet?" Karamatsu asked without turning to face his brother, jumping up to snap a peach off of a very high branch. "I think you'll understand more once you've truly experienced this fresh delicacy!"

"You should really stop misusing that word..." Ichimatsu muttered, still unable to build up the courage to bite into the peach.

"Hm~ Hm~ Hm~" Karamatsu hummed the tune of a familiar song as he worked. "People in this world are incredible~ So strong and so admirable~ Each one is a miracle~"

Karamatsu began singing softly to himself, leaving Ichimatsu to lose himself in his thoughts. His signing was quiet and slightly out of tune, but the joy pouring from his heart seemed to push that silly problem away.

"How can I even bite into this fruit..." Ichimatsu asked himself. "I don't know what's crawled over this out here...I have nothing to wash it off...and- what's with the fuzz? I can't just bite into that! I'm not some wild animal here!"

"Hm~ Hm~ Hmm~" Karamatsu continued to hum to the tune of the song, which was stuck in his head.

Karamatsu, his basket now full of peaches, sat down on the ground at the base of the peach tree, smiling. He closed his eyes, letting the gentle breeze ruffle his hair.

"Karamatsu won't see me now if I don't try this stupid fruit," Ichimatsu thought, feeling at ease. "Then, when we're baking pies...or whatever he really wants- he won't ask me to try a peach then. Large doses of sugar make me want to vomit."

Ichimatsu walked up to the tree and sat down next to his brother, who had already fallen asleep.

Quietly, Ichimatsu rolled the peach into Karamatsu's basket, then closed his eyes as well, losing himself in his thoughts.

"Karamatsu can sleep through anything," Ichimatsu mused, listening to the sounds of nature surrounding them both. "But somehow, he also seems to hear everything. He's carefree, but also caring. He's simple, but not simpleminded. He's not hard to please, either. And Karamatsu may not be perfect in the eyes of others, but he's perfect to me. This Karamatsu I know now- he's the one I'm proud to call my brother. I don't want things to ever change."

Ichimatsu slowly nodded off, and was soon fast asleep, his head resting heavily on his brother's shoulder.

Feeling sudden weight on his arm, Karamatsu opened his eyes, then smiled the moment he noticed Ichimatsu.

Looking down in his basket, Karamatsu's heart sank a little, noticing that the peach he had given Ichimatsu was now in the basket.

"Even if you'll refuse to try the peaches, year after year," Karamatsu laughed a little, softly. "I'll never stop pestering you to try them. So, maybe one day, you'll see how sweet, soft, and amazing they are."

Despite feeling quite weak, Karamatsu carefully moved his brother's head off of him as he stood up. His body was aching in a strange way, which could possibly indicate some sort of joint or muscle issue.

The sun was beginning to set in the distance; the sky was painted with pinks and oranges, "quietly" fading together.

"We better head back now," Karamatsu spoke, picking up his basket of peaches, looking down on Ichimatsu. "Stay here, and I'll bring you to the car in a second."

Singing on the way back to his car, basket of peaches in his arms, Karamatsu felt as if someone had stabbed him in the stomach.

"Good grief..." Karamatsu thought, stumbling for a split second. "It's getting worse, huh? I really don't want Ichimatsu to worry, but maybe I should tell him before it's too late."

Karamatsu opened up the door to his car, putting the basket of peaches on the floor of the vehicle.

Back at the tree, finally, Karamatsu used all of his strength to pull Ichimatsu up onto his back, giving him a piggyback ride back to his car.

Ichimatsu flopped around like a rag doll, completely relaxed as he continued to sleep.

Arriving once more at his car, Karamatsu collapsed from the weight of his brother, hitting his head on the ground.

Ichimatsu was immediately awake, though he struggled to understand his current situation due to his drowsiness.

"Karamatsu!" Ichimatsu rolled Karamatsu over and shook his brother desperately. "Wake up!"

Choking a little, Karamatsu blinked opened his eyes, then smiled. His head was bleeding a little, but he didn't seem to have an apparent injuries.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Karamatsu chuckled, though he used Ichimatsu to help him get back on his feet. "I must be low on sugar or something. I don't usually fall like that. I'm sorry if I scared you, Ichimatsu."

"Good grief..." Ichimatsu spat. "If you feel like you're about to fall, at least yell or something! I could have gotten hurt too, you know."

"I know, I know," Karamatsu sighed. "I'll be more careful in the future, my brother."

"Riiiiiiight," Ichimatsu muttered as the two climbed into Karamatsu's car.

"Are you really feeling alright, Karamatsu?" Ichimatsu thought to himself, glancing worried over at Karamatsu as he drived, a little bid of blood dripping down his forehead. "If you're lying to me, I'll have to kill you and your little smug, peace craving face..."