The Disappearance of Osomatsu-san

Chapter 56: At The Mercy of Emptiness

It would have been a normal day where they all just complained about boredom.

Winter was indeed a lonely season. But for the Matsuno Sextuplets, even the fifth brother who loathed the coldness of winter, it was a season where they could finally feel like children again and remember the times the six of them waited for Santa Claus, who was actually their father in disguise, to leave a colorful present for each brother. With them frequently doing things together and barely keeping secrets from the other, they knew if they were going to end up Santa's naughty or nice list. Now, as adults, only one of them still believed in Santa, and Matsuzo's place as Santa had been given to Ichimatsu.

Still, that didn't mean they couldn't have other winter fun besides checking their socks to see if their parents had placed another pair of socks for the year. Putting a pair of socks inside a bigger sock had always baffled Choromatsu.

They always teamed up to create a large snowman, the biggest in their neighborhood, and would tie their scarves together to make a long scarf for their big snowman as a finishing touch. They would frequently compete with Chibita and Iyami in making the biggest snowman, though both parties would usually end up running to the Matsuno Household to get a cup of hot cocoa and share stories with each other, laughing as they did so. And the snowman outside, though unfinished, would still be admired by people who passed by.

There was also sledding, and it consisted of three teams; Osomatsu and Choromatsu, Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu, and Karamatsu with Todomatsu. It usually ended up with the three teams suffering from bruises they got from crashing onto trees, but nonetheless, it was fun, even if Osomatsu had suffered splinters numerous times and Karamatsu and Ichimatsu ended up at the hospital for broken legs, with Choromatsu and Jyushimatsu staying with the other two to offer them company, and to prevent Ichimatsu from killing a painfully grinning Karamatsu in his sleep.

Lastly, there was ice skating. Only Karamatsu and Todomatsu knew how to skate without falling on their butts, in contrast to the rest of the brothers, with Jyushimatsu always managing to literally break the ice and accidentally drag Ichimatsu with him as they fell on ice-cold water and probably freeze to death which ends up with the rest of the brothers taking care of them both if they get a cold. And Osomatsu would get frostbite sooner or later, with Choromatsu always fussing about their health and staying off the ice at all costs.

This year, they decided to do something different.

It would have been normal if they just stuck to their daily routine.

Normally, Jyushimatsu hated the cold unless he was going to go play outside with his brothers. But he surprised everyone and made a suggestion, a new game for them to play; Winter baseball! Instead of baseballs, they were going to use snowballs! The rules were simple; each brother took turns swinging one of Jyushimatsu's many bats. Whoever managed to hurl a snowball back at one of the brothers within two minutes scored a point!

The Matsuno Sextuplets always made their own versions of games, so this one wasn't a surprise. They donned their hoodies, colorful color-coded scarves, and coats as they left the household with a box of Jyushimatsu's baseball bats and ran towards the park as if they were children. Matsuyo and Matsuzo knew their children weren't even children anymore, but they couldn't resist not seeing them off and waving them a goodbye, with Matsuyo adding that they should come home before dinner.

It started out just fine.

It would have been normal if they didn't decide to go to the park to play. The beach, the city, anywhere but the park.

Osomatsu wasn't used to handling a baseball bat unlike Ichimatsu or Jyushimatsu, so the fifth brother didn't mind teaching the eldest how to properly swing a bat. Todomatsu thought it would be a great time to take as many selfies as he could with his brothers to share to the world; from making a small snow fortress with Ichimatsu, to taking a selfie while Jyushimatsu encouraged Osomatsu to swing the bat with all his might, to watching Choromatsu furiously drag his fingers on the surface of Jyushimatsu's bats to check if it would cause any splinters, and to just taking a picture of Karamatsu building a snow statue of himself.