6-year-old Mio had moved with her family to the big city. It was a little scary to go to a new home and a new school, especially when you don't know any of the people there. There were so many new faces and the teacher was teaching subjects that she didn't know about. All of this was rather intimidating, so when recess started, Mio felt a bit of relief.

Mio went over to the sandbox, watching the other kids play. She wanted to make friends, but was too shy to ask any of them, so she decided to play in the sand instead. As she was pouring a bucket of sand upside down to form a cylinder, part of it got knocked over by what looked like a red and white stick. Mio looked up to see a boy around her age with hair that covered his ears. Mio started to cry as one of the teachers went over and lead the boy away from her. The other kids walked over to Mio.

"Are you okay?" asked one little girl.

Mio nodded, wiping away her tears.

"That Hyakkimaru. Always messing things up for everyone." said a little boy, "None of this would've happened if he was normal like us."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Mio.

"You don't know? He's blind and deaf." said the boy.

"Blind and deaf?" asked Mio.

"Yeah, like Helen Keller." said another little girl.

Mio had no idea who Helen Keller was, but the thought of someone not being able to see or hear was something new to her. Mio looked over at the teacher who was signing into Hyakkimaru's hands.

"Why is she making hand gestures into his hands?" asked Mio.

"That's the only way the anyone can talk to him." said the first little girl, "Since Hyakkimaru can't see or hear, he needs someone to sign into his hands."

"He's a weird kid though." said the boy, "He's always putting things in his mouth that aren't edible like rocks and stuff."

'Rocks? Well that was unusual.' Mio thought.

"Say, do you wanna play Keidoro tag?" asked the second little girl.

"Okay!" said Mio.

As she got up to go play, Mio looked over at Hyakkimaru for a short minute before going to play.