松野一松 「мaтѕuno ιcнιмaтѕu」 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ichininyaanshi) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lifenet2018-08-11 03:21 pm
ichininyaanshi) wrote in lifenet2018-08-11 03:21 pm
farstones; aug 11
[It opens to a wet, spitting noise, followed by a bleak chuckle.]
Emotions... honesty? That's what you guys are saying, huh? It's supposed to be as easy as that? [a beat.] Tch... I don't usually do the story thing, b-but I guess... this is gonna be my only chance, so here goes nothing.
[Ichimatsu draws a slow, deep breath; or one that tries to be deep, but seems to drag along the way, stuttering through his airway like a broken windshutter.]
Once there was a bunch of shitty, useless brothers. Six of 'em. All they did was bother everyone and t-take up space. Annoying, loud, selfish, meddlesome... that was all of them in a nutshell.
... except the fourth son. The others were just a pain in the ass to deal with, but the fourth one... wasn't even that. He was just a sad, unburnable piece of trash with no will to live. And you know what? He didn't need the others. He was better off without 'em. They just... held him b-back... and he didn't miss 'em at all.
[A violent, retching cough, followed by a few seconds of silence; then he clears his throat, as if nothing had happened.]
And they're pr... obably better off, too. That's the sort of happy ending this cursed family can look forward to. Them, and any of the fourth brother's new friends... who make it out of this.
[He pauses, as if waiting for another quick retribution, but this time... nothing. He gives a soft and wheezing huff of laughter.]
... but enough about those guys. If we're gonna talk like it's easy... like we're better than all the jerks who died here before... why don't you tell me about all the stuff you won't acknowledge? I'll be the one who takes your shit to the grave for you.
Heh... or maybe I'll j-just see you there. We're just the same as them in the end, right?
Emotions... honesty? That's what you guys are saying, huh? It's supposed to be as easy as that? [a beat.] Tch... I don't usually do the story thing, b-but I guess... this is gonna be my only chance, so here goes nothing.
[Ichimatsu draws a slow, deep breath; or one that tries to be deep, but seems to drag along the way, stuttering through his airway like a broken windshutter.]
Once there was a bunch of shitty, useless brothers. Six of 'em. All they did was bother everyone and t-take up space. Annoying, loud, selfish, meddlesome... that was all of them in a nutshell.
... except the fourth son. The others were just a pain in the ass to deal with, but the fourth one... wasn't even that. He was just a sad, unburnable piece of trash with no will to live. And you know what? He didn't need the others. He was better off without 'em. They just... held him b-back... and he didn't miss 'em at all.
[A violent, retching cough, followed by a few seconds of silence; then he clears his throat, as if nothing had happened.]
And they're pr... obably better off, too. That's the sort of happy ending this cursed family can look forward to. Them, and any of the fourth brother's new friends... who make it out of this.
[He pauses, as if waiting for another quick retribution, but this time... nothing. He gives a soft and wheezing huff of laughter.]
... but enough about those guys. If we're gonna talk like it's easy... like we're better than all the jerks who died here before... why don't you tell me about all the stuff you won't acknowledge? I'll be the one who takes your shit to the grave for you.
Heh... or maybe I'll j-just see you there. We're just the same as them in the end, right?
no subject
[When he finally answers her, his voice is bereft of the mocking, erratic tone it held before; it's calm and steady.]
Ah... sorry. Guess it slipped my mind.
Osomatsu. Karamatsu. Choromatsu. Ichimatsu. Jyushimatsu. Todomatsu.
That's us. The Matsuno sextuplets.
no subject
Sounds like a wild fuckin ride. People already couldn't handle two of us, let alone six. [It's said jokingly, like can you imagine more than two elf twins? The gods themselves would've had to come down and nerf 'em. Actually, their parents probably would've drowned them like kittens, is the bleak truth that passes through her mind.]
What's that like? Did y'all live together?
no subject
[He can play along for a while.]
... yeah. Just a bunch of scummy, deadbeat sons, leeching off our parents... we were pretty terrible. Dunno why they put up with us. Not anymore, though. At least a few of us made it out.
Like I told Osomatsu-niisan even before we came here, things ending up this way... is how it should be.
[He doesn't sound particularly bitter or angry about it; just calm, accepting.]
You only ever met Shittymatsu, huh?
no subject
Things aren't ending up any fucking way, dummy. You've been here long enough to know this isn't gonna be permanent. We're still gonna get home and you can be a better son than you were, or whatever. [Granted, maybe not her best pep talk. Blame it on the fever and shit.]
Right, that's-- the cringey one? He'd called me-- shit, it was really somethin'-- fiery angel! [She chuckles a little at the memory, fondly if hoarsely.] And straight up dedicated a song to me at our party! Listen, his like, technique? Could use a loooot of work, but I liked his gusto. And his shades. Is he always like that?
1/2
[His breath hitches, and he muffles the stone with his hand to turn away and cough violently. Whether it's here or back there, he's not seeing a bright future, but... that's how it is. It's only a second or two before he's back, laughing with a genuine snort of amusement at her tale of being victimized by Karamatsu.]
That's Shittymatsu through and through. Nothing about him is honest except how painful he is. This place would've... k-kicked his ass.
... Osomatsu-niisan, too. All of my crappy older brothers.
[He trails off.]
no subject
no subject
And she's about to say as much, when she's struck dumb by his question, sure like lightning and just as painful.
He should've asked about her, she could've brushed it off. But Taako?]
... He's-- [Already worse off than her, worse than most people in camp. She's more scared for him than she could put into words even if she'd felt any inclination to admit it. So she pretends it's anger instead, and refuses to let the sudden ache wreathing her heart show in her voice.]
He's being a jackass about the honesty thing. Guess he thinks he can wait until the stupid honeysuckle's coming outta his ears before he'll suck it the fuck up and make an effort like the rest of us. [And stop worrying her to death.] But he's-- he'll come around.
no subject
[He asked, of course, and he's not gonna get pissy when she gave him exactly what he asked for. It's supposed to be good for her too, right? It just sucks. In a way, Ichimatsu knows that he's got it easy. He can talk like he hates his brothers all day, but he wasn't lying when he said that this disease would have killed them. He doesn't care about what happens to him -- so it's better this way. That they're not here.]
[So that they don't all have to watch each other die.]
[Ichimatsu isn't great at handling heavy stuff, but at least he knows when not to be a jackass. He inhales, and it's only able to fill about half his lungs, but his voice is level when he uses it to reply.]
... don't give up. Dying feels like a shitty thing to do when you've got a good sibling around.