Dancing in a Cage (Mafia!Brothers and Sister!Reader)

Chapter 1

The violin strings strained under the horsehair bow that dragged across them, vibrating out a beautiful tune that sounded throughout the empty padded music room. My long hair was tied back, but swayed with my shoulders as I rocked from side to side and played the sheet music on a stand in front of my chair. I could barely keep still as the rhythm and pulse of the orchestral piece flowed into my mind, the beat making me want to dance around the room without a care in the world. I had to be ready for the concert in a few days, and the conductor was always telling me to stop being so aggressively passionate with the music. It was great to love the music you played, but there was a level of professionalism that was required when playing in an orchestra. Unless the conductor was just as passionate, but Maestro Hagiwara was not one of those people.

'Prim and proper, the orchestra always acts as one unit,' he always said the same thing at every practice, rehearsal, and performance.

His words bounced around in my head until the bow slid upwards, scratching a harsh note out and making me flinch from of my near-trance. I recovered as quickly as I could but felt shame rush up to my face, biting back tears using the inside of my cheek. I wasn't the best violinist in the section -- not by a long shot -- but each mistake reminded me that I had made a promise to my family to create a life not bound by the family work; to not take the 'easy route'.

Unlike my identical sextuplet brothers.

They are amazing men, despite being drawn into the criminal underworld by our parents. I knew that they did what they had to so I wouldn't have to dirty my own hands (as they've told me multiple times whenever I wanted to help out with the safer chores they had), but I still wished that we could have normal sibling relationships that didn't harbor so many dark secrets. My technicolor brothers were all talented in many different fields, and I couldn't help but feel left behind in their shadow, the young sister who was all but abandoned by her parents who ran that criminal underworld.

The string screeched again and I forced myself to stop playing the piece. Silence filled the room and I put the violin and bow down on the chair behind me as I stood up, pulling out my locket from under my shirt collar in the same movement. The tiny picture within portrayed all seven of us, back when we were innocent children and blissfully happy, everyone in their preferred colors: red, blue, green, purple, yellow, pink, then...gray.

Osomatsu was the eldest, always wanting more and more money until he took over Papa's job. Once he had a dose of reality, he took care of everything that the family needed and ignored most of what he wanted. He still had bouts of selfishness, but those never lasted for more than a day. Sometimes it was a woman he saw walking the streets, other times it was vanishing for a day to do who-knows-what. He always came back home with his signature smirk broad on his face, and then everything went back to normal, as if he never left.

Karamatsu was the second-oldest, and he claimed to be the main protector and guardian of us ever since Papa and Mom died, taking on most of the important chores when Osomatsu is busy with other things. He is always kind to everyone, despite the fact that the other brothers jokingly tease him about being too painful at times and calling him nicknames like 'Shittymatsu' or 'Painfulmatsu'. Whenever Osomatsu came back from one of his bouts, Karamatsu was usually the first one to reprimand him and told him to grow up.

Choromatsu was the third-oldest of the six, and most likely the one I'd call the 'shadow leader' of the family. He was the one to talk with the other criminal families and the first to be called on to fix whatever, or whoever, had damaged our family's reputation. He and I used to be close, but ever since my brothers became involved in the family business, we've barely seen each other that wasn't tied to some event in the underground. I would only pass him in the hallways on occasion or during dinner meetings, but I usually have to stay silent during those. I remember him being fun to spend time with.