Ichimatsu crept cautiously into the living room as soon as he had finished his call with the paramedics, wondering how bad off Karamatsu exactly was.

"He's still breathing..." Ichimatsu mumbled, his heart beating extremely fast as he tried to avoid touching the dried blood on his brother's face. "But why...I know he wouldn't do anything to make Akane mad...he only wanted her to be happy...he told me so himself..."

"Nii-san...?" Jyushimatsu whimpered, beginning to crawl into the room.

"Stay back!" Ichimatsu snapped harshly, then added more gently, "I don't want you to get cut by the glass."

"But you could get hurt too!" Jyushimatsu cried, legitimately fearing for his brother's wellbeing.

"That doesn't matter..." Ichimatsu sighed, trying to pick Karamatsu up off of the ground. But, unfortunately, he was too heavy for him.

"I'm hardly helping..." Ichimatsu thought, staring hopelessly at Karamatsu's blood stained face. "I wish I could..."

Several hours later....

"Would you like to see him now?" a nurse asked Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu who were sitting in the hospital waiting room at three in the morning.

Jyushimatsu was fast asleep in his older brother's arms, letting out quiet snorts every now and then.

Ichimatsu caressed his brother's head as he attempted to wake him up, knowing he was too heavy to carry.

"Jyushimatsu," Ichimatsu whispered, poking him on the nose. "Wake up. We can go see Karamatsu now."

Jyushimatsu blinked open his eyes which were cloudy with tiredness.

"But I wanna sleep..." Jyushimatsu whined, burying his face in his brother's neck. "I'm tireeeeeed..."

"I am too," Ichimatsu sighed, gently pushing Jyushimatsu onto the floor, forcing him to stand up. "But right now Karamatsu is more important than our sleep."

"But I wanna..." Jyushimatsu said, stumbling to the floor, almost beginning to cry.

"Shshsh it's okay," Ichimatsu quickly comforted his brother, grabbing one of his hands, pulling him to his feet. "Let's go."

"Follow me," the nurse said, smiling a little, but Ichimatsu could clearly tell that she was growing rather impatient with the two of them.

The nurse held open the small hospital door, motioning down the long white, depressing hallway.

"He's in the room on the very end. But don't worry about him, he should be able to go home with you tomorrow. You just have to keep a close eye on him. Luckily, the glass in his foot was easily removed. We also didn't find any damage to his skull," the nurse said with a sigh, staring at her clipboard. "That's all I have written down to tell you."

"Thank you..." Ichimatsu mumbled, tightening his grip on Jyushimatsu's hand as they walked down the hallway, making their way towards Karamatsu's room.

"I guess I should be glad that he can go home tomorrow..." Ichimatsu thought, stopping in front of the room door. "But I feel like he won't be able to cope without Akane, despite the abuse she's brought to him. She won't be there, meaning nobody can take care of him. Tomorrow is a Sunday though...so maybe I could spend the day watching him. Maybe I can skip school on Monday as well. It's not like anyone notices that I'm there..."

"Nii-san what's the matter?" Jyushimatsu asked, slipping his hand out of his older brother's. "Why aren't you going on?"

Ichimatsu couldn't help but smile down at his little brother as he proceeded to open the door.

"He's so young and innocent..." Ichimatsu thought, stepping inside Karamatsu's room. "I want him to stay that way for me forever."

"I'm glad you came, my brothers," Karamatsu said with a cheery smile, sitting up in his bed, managing to weakly throw a bit of English into his sentence.

"Hey," Ichimatsu mumbled, approaching his brother's bedside. "What even happened?"

Karamatsu's face lost all joy at that very second, a few tears welling up in his eyes.

"Sorry..." Ichimatsu mumbled as he turned around to help Jyushimatsu into a cozy rocking chair in the corner of the room.

"It's fine..." Karamatsu said. "I knew her love wouldn't last."

"Then why did you do it?" Ichimatsu sighed irritably.

"Because she was alone all her life. I wanted her to feel special and loved for once. I should have known early on...that Akane was alone for a reason," Karamatsu wheezed, painfully forcing himself to spit out his former wife's name.

"Don't worry about it, Uncle Karamatsu!" Jyushimatsu suddenly laughed, rocking back and fourth gaily in his rocking chair. "We're here for you!"

Ichimatsu inhaled a little, quickly turning to look at Karamatsu. He really hoped he hadn't thought Jyushimatsu was serious.

"I can take Karamatsu up to a certain extent. Yes, I care about him very much, but I don't...I don't want him to think I'll be there to help him all the time..." Ichimatsu thought.

"You two are so kind to me," Karamatsu said, managing to smile at his two brothers. "Your support means a lot to me."

"Thanks, Jyushimatsu..." Ichimatsu thought with a sigh. "But from here on out, the drama is going to come to an end. Life will be much more peaceful without Akane around..."

But at that moment, there was a rough knocking on Karamatsu's hospital room door.

"Is this the room of Karamatsu Matsuno?" a loud, booming voice asked, sliding open the door, revealing a tall, broad shouldered man in a police uniform.

"Y-Yes, it is..." Karamatsu said, sighing a little in pain.

"Do you happen to be married to Akane Matsuno?" the officer asked, briskly walking into the room, a shorter man following him with a notepad and pen in his hands.

"I-I..." Karamatsu mumbled, his voice cracking, trying to block out the nasty words he could still hear her screaming. "I was up until several hours ago....she left me."

"I see," the officer said, narrowing his eyes at Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu. "And who are these two?"

"They're my younger brothers, Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu," Karamatsu replied, trying to remain calm. He had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"So I take it that you're related..." the officer mumbled.

"Of course we're related!" Ichimatsu snapped, causing Jyushimatsu to curl up in a tight ball in the rocking chair out of fear.

"Ichimatsu don't be angry," Karamatsu said a bit more calmly. "But what is it that you want, sir?"

"Akane was found dead after a massive accident on the highway. From her behavior in driving, she was drunk. Do you have anything to do with this?" the officer demanded, and Karamatsu quickly shook his head, staring down at his hospital bed sheets.

A single tear ran down his face, but Karamatsu felt more relieved than devastated.

"Akane killed two other people in the process. We found their drivers licenses, and they turn out to be Mr. and Mrs. Matsuno, the people we believe are your parents," the officer said seriously.

Jyushimatsu jerked back up into a sitting position, tears swimming in his eyes. And despite the complete shock Ichimatsu also felt, he didn't feel the least bit upset.

"M-Mommy...?" Jyushimatsu whimpered, looking up at the officer. "You took Mommy...?"

"He didn't take our mother, Jyushimatsu," Ichimatsu said, quickly sitting down in the rocking chair, pulling his brother into his lap. "She's just fine. We won't see her for awhile though."

"I want Mommy!" Jyushimatsu whimpered, beginning to cry into Ichimatsu's shoulder, his hands tightly gripping his brother's purple coat.

The officer turned to Karamatsu, saying much more quietly so Jyushimatsu wouldn't hear, "Their bodies are pretty bad off at the moment. There's no way we can possibly get someone to fix them so you can have a funeral."

Karamatsu sighed and nodded his head solemnly. "I understand."

"Well then!" the officer said more loudly, turning around, about to leave the room with his assistant, who had been writing down literally everything. "My work here is done. I am terribly sorry for your losses though. I wish you luck."

Just in less than ten hours, the three brothers' lives had changed drastically, and there was nothing that could fill the sudden emptiness in all of their hearts.