[That's how Ichimatsu wanted the world to think he viewed it. It's so, so much easier to pretend he doesn't care. To talk flatly, to never open his mouth entirely when he spoke, to never open his eyes entirely when he looked. Apathy, disinterest, sluggishness... Coupled with his frequent tendency to wear a cold mask even when he wasn't sick, most people avoided him. He didn't deserve the attention of the world, even if he was capable of handling it. He could barely handle the attention he got from his brothers.]
[Karamatsu's rougher response is a much more welcome one-- being told he was just as important, and that his back was covered... He wouldn't have known what to do with that. He'd have probably just yelled or stomped on his foot or punched him, and run off to feed the cats while he figured out how to breathe again, leaving Karamatsu to dine alone at some asinine hour of the morning after an argument over pee-pacts.]
[He pauses again, asking a surprisingly honest and potentially lucrative question.]
All right, so if you're protecting us, then who's protecting you?
no subject
[Karamatsu's rougher response is a much more welcome one-- being told he was just as important, and that his back was covered... He wouldn't have known what to do with that. He'd have probably just yelled or stomped on his foot or punched him, and run off to feed the cats while he figured out how to breathe again, leaving Karamatsu to dine alone at some asinine hour of the morning after an argument over pee-pacts.]
[He pauses again, asking a surprisingly honest and potentially lucrative question.]
All right, so if you're protecting us, then who's protecting you?