The Disappearance of Osomatsu-san

Chapter 2: The Message from Choromatsu

"Osomatsu?" Matsuyo, mother of Osomatsu and supposed to be the mother of five missing little brothers, called from the other side of the bedroom door with her voice filled with concern. "You haven't been going out lately. Your friend Chibita stopped by to ask how you were doing. Are you okay, my little NEET?" No, he's not okay, because she has five other NEETs she should be concerned about, all of which are younger than Osomatsu himself. "You've been locking yourself up in your room recently. If you're not eating or going to the bathroom, you're always staying inside your room. Is everything okay in there? Are you feeling sick?"

A week had passed. Osomatsu didn't dare go see the world that functioned normally without the presence of his brothers. The photo album lay on the floor with Osomatsu, lying on his stomach on the futon as he flipped through the pages he had already seen before. A birthday party consisting of only Osomatsu, his parents, Totoko, Hatabou, Chibita, and Iyami. Class pictures without the rowdy group of sextuplets on front, and Osomatsu was just a regular student. His high school graduation picture of only him, no other brothers present. Every single picture had no place for Osomatsu's little brothers, and Osomatsu began to wonder if he was insane all this time. That everything about his little brothers had been a lie.

And that damn alarm clock, the one that Choromatsu bought and was supposed to have little traces of cat scratches and glitter as well as childish stickers, it was just sitting beside his futon as the time passed. A gleaming, silver alarm clock. No signs of Ichimatsu's cats laying their paws on it. No signs of glitter that rained down from Karamatsu's glittery outfits like snow. No signs of Todomatsu's and Jyushimatsu's cheap, yet colorful and bright stickers they bought from the little shop right next to Sutabaa. That alarm clock was just sitting there with no signs of Osomatsu's brothers ever laying a finger on it.

Osomatsu ignored his mother as she spoke. Bags were underneath his eyes, hair messier than Ichimatsu's, and he probably didn't eat much besides one bowl of rice and a few sides. Snacks were out of the question, since his mother tried so hard to get into his room, but seeing three snack cakes made him feel worse. He ate half of one cake and left it there, thinking that his little brothers would appreciate it more if he didn't eat their share. But of course, in this sick dream he's trapped in, he had no little brothers. He couldn't even sleep without them.

He was used to Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu rough-housing whenever Choromatsu and Todomatsu went to the bathroom. He was used to Karamatsu humming lullabies despite the fact Ichimatsu hated them. He was used to seeing Jyushimatsu roll up on the futon before he and the rest of the brothers slipped under the covers. Now, it was only him. It was only him, a futon for one person, and that alarm clock that Osomatsu desperately wanted to throw away, but couldn't. Choromatsu bought it. But there was no Choromatsu in this world.

Which begs the question.. if the pictures showed no sign of the brothers' existence, and the alarm clock itself didn't have the damages caused by the brothers.. why was the alarm clock itself even here in the first place? Osomatsu wondered.

"You have a package, by the way. I didn't open it, seeing as how it's adressed to you. I found it at the front door this morning, but I haven't had the chance to give it to you yet since you didn't even bother coming down for breakfast." Matsuyo continued to try to talk to him regardless. Osomatsu didn't have the heart to tell her to just go away. He didn't know why he was here in the first place or how he ended up being an only child, but he sure as hell didn't want to make his mother worry by making her think he's gone insane. "It doesn't have an address of who sent it. But it's from someone named Choro."

Osomatsu snapped his head up. He stood up as quick as he could, scrambling to get the comforter off him and nearly knocked the alarm clock in the process, but he slid his bedroom door opened and found Matsuyo standing there as she delicately held a box wrapped in green gift paper. Scribbled on the smooth surface of the wrapping paper were the letters "FROM CHORO" in big, bold letters. "Do.. do you know this Choro person?" Asked his mother, tilting her head confusingly.