Trick of the Light {Jyushimatsu}

Todo No Tsumari (In The End)

Karamatsu had been searching all day. His mind was so close to breaking. First, his beloved little brother, Ichimatsu killed himself, for what reason? Then, a week later, Choromatsu went missing. The next day, Osomatsu never came home. So now, Karamatsu was jogging all over town, searching frantically, beyond worried. What could have happened?

He told Todomatsu and Jyushimatsu to stay home, his parents as well, who had hardly left their bed since Ichimatsu's death, distraught at the loss of their son.

Karamatsu decided if he hadn't found his missing siblings by nightfall, he would stop at the police station on his way home to make a report.

He pulled out his phone and sent Todomatsu a text, as he'd promised to update his worried brother often, and it had been at least 20 minutes since his last text.

still looking, he said simply, and pressed on.

He had already looked everywhere he could think of, where could they be? After a few minutes, a thought occurred to him. He hadn't checked the woods.

With an uncomfortable feeling in his gut, he took off towards the bridge he'd need to cross to get there. He had this feeling, oh, this feeling. Bad. Something bad was going to happen. Something bad had already happened. He needed to check on his brothers. He reached for his phone, before he heard splashing from the nearby river. It sent shivers down his spine.

He took off running, and the river came into view. He was frozen. There, leaning over the edge, was Jyushimatsu, hand fisted in Todomatsu's hair, holding him under.

He released his grip, and threw the younger face-down into the water. The splash brought him back to his senses.

"No! Todomatsu!" He screamed, running as hard as he could towards the bridge, noticing Jyushimatsu running away. That thought was for another time.

He crossed the bridge and sprinted to where his brother floated, entering the water and pulling him out. Too distressed to cry, he noted his heartbeat thumping erratically. This couldn't be happening.

He laid his brother on the ground, and immediately began pressing his chest as close to rhythmically as he could. His own breathing was panicked as he performed CPR the best he could. He'd read up on it but never properly learned.

The longer he did this, the closer he got to tears.

Finally, blessedly, the younger moved, coughing and hacking and choking. When he finally recovered, they called the police, both for an ambulance, and to report what had happened.

The police found Jyushimatsu at home, and he surprisingly didn't put up a fight. He seemed disappointed that he couldn't continue his 'fun', doubly so when he was told Todomatsu survived.

He informed the police, quite happily, that he was behind Ichimatsu's death, and well as the disappearances and deaths of Choromatsu and Osomatsu, directing them where to find the bodies.

The parents decided to go see the two at the hospital when they got the call, devastated at losing not three, but four sons, in less than a month, and nearly lost a fifth.

Karamatsu was glued to the side of a nearly catatonic Todomatsu.

The trial was easy and difficult at once. Easy, because the guilty party was obviously guilty, difficult because this was their loved one.

"You should've seen my trick for you, Bakamatsu-niisan! I was gonna set the house on fire and trick you into going in to save me, then trap you in the fire! Then trick mom and dad by pretending to be a different brother every day with my perfect impressions! It would have been so much fun!"

He was found guilty and taken away.

A month later, they received the news. Jyushimatsu had escaped. They had no choice now but to live in fear.