The day was much colder than usual. Six young brothers born on the same day, sharing the same face, stumble upon their old friendly rival, lonely little Chibita, who was enjoying a stick of oden, his favorite dish. The sextuplets recalled how awful Chibita's last prank was just the other day. He had stuffed all their clothes in the snow while the brothers were at home and unaware. Their clothes got wet from the snow, and then froze over from the cold, and when their mother tried to salvage the frozen clothes with hot water, they all shrunk to a size too small for even a toddler. Too poor to buy new clothes, the boys had to settle with their single set until their parents' next pay day. Remembering the awful prank deeply infuriated the boys, and they all gathered around the tiny orphan child. Chibita already understood what his bullies were planning and clung onto his oden.
"We're going to make you pay for what you did to our clothes!" Osomatsu, the eldest of the sextuplets, declared. All six raised their fists ready to pulverize the small child. His punishment would have been more immediate if the sextuplets were able to find him, but the long wait made their search for justice all the sweeter.
Chibita took every blow the larger boys threw at him. Reddened marks formed on his bald head and body, but he used every fiber of his strength to protect his favorite food. Revenge had become a common and simple resolve for the opposing boys. If either side wronged the other, retribution was imminent, growing into a game of tag where whoever was "it" was seeking vengeance. This time the boys were "it", and they were tagging Chibita back with all of their fury. The sight of the small boy being so resilient fueled their rage further, forcing the eldest of the sextuplet to snatch the oden from the orphan's hands and throw it on the ground. To hurt him more, Osomatsu crushed it beneath his feet, mixing it into the dirt and snow. The poor look of distress upon the tiny boy's face was completely ignored by the satisfied brothers. He bought the oden with money he found on the street, and it was not often that he could buy oden especially in the winter. His face was twisted, trying to hold back his tears as his own searing rage burned within him. The cruel boys took this opportunity to run away, and the hungry orphan chased after them.
His resilience to pain was nothing compared to his unrelenting drive for justice. Chibita had chased down the brothers throughout almost the entire neighborhood. At this rate, they would end up in another town.
"Okay, let's split up. He'll just chase after one of us," the eldest planned, and his younger brothers agreed, "We'll meet up at home once we lose Chibita."
"Right!" the rest cheered.
As they ran, they broke off from the group one by one, however, it was clear that Chibita had his sights on the eldest brother, Osomatsu. The third brother, Choromatsu, escaped into a bookstore, the second brother, Karamatsu, hid behind a trashcan, Todomatsu, the youngest, found sanctuary with some house wives at a market, and Jyushimatsu, the fifth brother, threw himself into a shrub. Ichimatsu, the fourth brother, followed an alley which led to a playground. After seeing that the little orphan was not after him, he decided to enjoy himself at the playground before returning home. He slid down the slide, swung on the swings, and even monkeyed on the monkey bars, but despite the fun he had throwing his body around, he felt lonely being away from his brothers. He realized that this was the first time he was by himself. At the very least he would have been paired with one of his identical brothers, but it was just him all alone in the playground. The sudden solitude made him wonder if Chibita had always felt this way, and he started to feel awful. No wonder he had befriended so many animals, when he had no parents or siblings to come home to. Despite the loneliness, that orphan had always managed to pull through, and maybe it was because he had the sextuplets and that con-artist, Iyami, around, even when they constantly bullied and deceived him. Without the eldest around creating a hive mind among the sextuplets, Ichimatsu was able to collect his thoughts and think for himself. He wondered if what he and his brothers were doing to the orphan was actual justice or just plain cruelty.
Footsteps were heard as they crunched on the sand, making the fourth brother leap up to his feet. Assuming the worst, he turned with his fists up, ready to fight off the vengeful orphan, but calmed when he saw it was just a little girl.
She was much smaller than him, possibly younger as well, and she was covered in warm clothes from a soft fluffy scarf over her face to her fuzzy mittens over her tiny hands. She arrived not noticing the boy already in the empty playground with her wide black eyes glued to her violet boots as she walked along the playground's sand, heading towards the swings. There was no one else around, and a girl that young and small should have a parent nearby. It was so strange, but to Ichimatsu, this meant he had someone to play with.
"Hey! Do you want to play?" he asked, rushing up towards her. Her reaction clearly showed how shy she was, as she took cover behind the metal structure of the swing set. The look of fear in her doll-like eyes was quite alluring to the boy. "Don't be scared," he said as he tried to calm her, "My name is Ichimatsu! What's yours?" She remained silent, puzzling the young boy, but the look of fear completely wiped from her face. The boy was relieved to see her move away from her hiding spot, and once she was completely out, she bowed to him. Caught off guard from the suddenly politeness, he bowed back. The girl was so peculiar to him; she would not speak, but would bow to him. Perhaps, she was much younger than what he thought she was.
"I didn't learn your name," he mentioned again, but she stayed silent. "Your name?" he asked again, but there was still no response from her. "N-a-m-e?" he enunciated, but still received nothing from her. Then something clicked in his mind; perhaps she was some sort of animal dressed as a human, like that pig, Hanako. He pulled down the scarf covering her face revealing nothing but a cute little girl with her little nose and cheeks red from the cold. She jerked back covering her freezing face with the scarf again, and the boy learned nothing from this. If she was not an animal, why could she not reply to him? He then thought maybe she was mute.
His thoughts were put on hold when she tugged on his coat and pointed at the swing set. Despite her silence, he understood that she wanted to play on the swings with him. It had been a while since he was chased down by the little orphan, and he should get back home to his family. However, there was no one else here for the girl, and it just felt wrong to leave her here. Ichimatsu figured she must have wandered off from her family and ended up here. If his brothers were around, they would have easily decided to leave her behind all alone, and only god knew what would happen to her afterwards. The short time he had to himself gave the initiative to make a conscious, responsible decision: he had to stay for her. Trying to make the best of this situation, he figured spending time with a new face and away from his brothers would be a good change even if it was just for today.
They played merrily on the swings as happy as children would be in a playground. Through the joy, the boy heard the girl's voice as she laughed and cheered on the swing set. She was not a mute at all, but it made no sense. Why could she not respond to him then? A thought came across him when he remembered the orphan's predicament. He remembered that Chibita was illiterate, and perhaps the girl suffered the same kind of lack of education the orphan boy had. Perhaps it was so severe that she did not even know a single word. That was absolutely tragic, he thought. What kind of family would let their daughter be silent like this?
"Since I don't know your name, and you can't tell me your name, I'll just call you 'Shizuko'!" he told her. She stared at him as he talked, but through her blank expression, it was clear that she could not understand him. "It's fun swinging on the swings, isn't it?" he asked, knowing he would receive nothing but silence.
Time had passed quickly as the boy tried to talk to this girl, trying to get her to respond with something, but to his dismay, she still remained silent. His efforts pushed him as far as to teach this girl to speak. His first attempt was to teach her his name.
"I'm Ichimatsu," he told her again, "I-chi-ma-tsu." He pointed to himself, repeatedly sounding out his name.
Finally, she pointed at him and said, "Ichimatsu," in a child-like tone as if it was her first word.
"Yeah! You got it! Great job!" he cheered, which made her giggle and clap. He taught her more words like "yes" and "no", and she caught on rather quickly thanks to his gestures. Through practice, he saw that she easily understood gestures rather than the words, but she now knew how to say three words: his name, "yes", and "no".
The fourth brother heard his name called by several familiar voices. His brothers had been searching for him for a while, and they grew upset with him once they learned that he had spent all this time hanging around at a playground. The four escaped brothers were unscathed, but Osomatsu took the full brunt of Chibita's wrath, looking scruffy and beat-up. The little girl clung onto the fourth brother as the other five arrived. However, she looked astonished to see five other boys with the same face as the boy who kept her company.
"What are you doing here? Who's this?" Choromatsu asked.
The fourth brother paused, trying to find a good explanation, "Her name is Shizuko. She's here all by her lonesome, and I'm staying with her until her parents come for her."
"Are you sure it's not a date?" Karamatsu teased, "I didn't take you for liking the younger ones!"
"That's not true!" he cried out, blushing out of embarrassment, "I'm just helping her out!"
"I think she feels that way!" Jyushimatsu teased as well, pointing out how she clung onto his coat.
"H-hey, Shizuko, you're embarrassing me," he told her, trying to pull away, but she still clung onto him.
"It's not really our problem if she's lost. We have to get home before we get in trouble," Osomatsu said coldly.
"We can't just leave her here!" he contested.
"What are you saying? She'll be fine!" the eldest consoled, "Nothing happens around here anyway."
"You're so cruel, Osomatsu!" the fourth brother yelled, "Bullying Chibita isn't enough for you, is it?"
All six brothers went silent, surprised to see the reality check that they had been needing. The eldest finally took a moment to think; perhaps, he had been taking the rivalry a bit too far. Worst of all, he had been acting cold towards the little lost girl. The feelings were shared by the other five brothers, realizing the obligation that had snuck upon them by entering the playground.
"So, Shizuko, how old are you?" Todomatsu asked, but was puzzled when she would not respond.
"She doesn't understand. She can't talk much either," he revealed to them, "Shizuko isn't even her name. I had to give her a name."
The other five became solemn, commenting how tragic it was that the little girl lacked the ability to speak. Almost a half hour had passed since their fight with Chibita and no one had come to claim the girl. The idea that she was abandoned became more and more acknowledged. Only awful parents would abandon their child and neglect to teach them to speak and understand, they thought. The atmosphere grew more depressing the more they felt sorry for the girl.
"Let's play a game with her!" Osomatsu exclaimed, breaking the gloomy tension, "It'll be fun to see if she can guess which one of us is Ichimatsu." There was an obvious attachment between their fourth brother and the lonely girl, and the eldest wanted to test it for fun. This was not a solution at all, but it allowed them more time to spend with her before they had to leave her and go home.
Since he was brutalized by the angry orphan, Osomatsu decided to stick by the lost girl as his younger brothers shuffled themselves inside the plastic play-dome, and then came out, one by one. At glance, they were all identical with the same face, same clothes, and the same smile. Any normal person would not be able to identify who was who.
"Alright, which one is Ichimatsu?" the eldest asked. As if she knew what was going on, she rushed towards the brothers and clung onto the correct brother, surprising all of them.
"You gave her cues, didn't you, Ichimatsu?" Osomatsu scolded.
"I didn't!" the fourth brother swore.
"Okay for the next one, one of you except Ichimatsu has to wave at her," the eldest planned, pulling the girl away as the rest of the brothers retreated into the play-dome.
Once they exited, Todomatsu waved and beckoned her to come towards him, trying to trick her into thinking he was Ichimatsu. Immediately, she rushed towards the five brothers again, but clung onto the correct one for the second time in a row. Still in disbelief, Osomatsu could not accept that she was able to differentiate them and demanded one more round.
"Ichimatsu! Don't come out," he ordered, and the five brothers returned to the play-dome and only four emerged. The fourth brother stayed inside the play-dome as the other four brothers beckoned the little girl to come towards them. To their surprise, she ignored them and crawled into the play-dome where Ichimatsu waited.
It was unbelievable to the boys. Some random lost little girl could differentiate them better than their parents could. For ten years, they were mistaken for each other which then led to them eventually adapting to a lifestyle of no individuality. Regardless if they were six different people, no one saw them as individuals, just six of the same person, or even worse, just six Osomatsus. The evidence that someone could identify at least one of them as their own person was mind-blowing to them. Perhaps they can stop being the same, and finally be separate people.
"So cool!" Jyushimatsu cheered, jumping up and down from excitement.
"Wow, good job, Shizuko!" Choromatsu congratulated.
"I'm really impressed!" Todomatsu exclaimed sweetly.
"Guddo jyobu!" Karamatsu said in English despite his thick accent.
Osomatsu grinned, scratching the bottom of his nose, "That was awesome!"
Ichimatsu smiled at the little girl clinging onto him, "You did it!"
Seeing the cheeriness upon the sextuplets' faces made the little girl feel jubilant. The sadness, the guilt, and the pity were completely washed away by the joy, the fun, and the growth they experienced. The joyous moment could only last so long as it was almost getting late. Their mother should be making dinner by now, and by the time they got back home it should be ready.
"We can't leave her here," one of them spoke up.
"What if her parents never show up?" another asked.
"It'll only get colder tonight," another mentioned.
Osomatsu then suggested, "Let's bring her home!" If their elder brother was okay with it, then so were the rest of them. In fact, they were all very delighted.
Ichimatsu faced the little wordless girl, and asked her, despite knowing she would not understand, "Aren't you hungry? Want to come over for dinner?"
All six looked at her with bright smiling faces, and as if she could understand, she nodded, "Yes!"
"Alright, we're off!" the brothers cheered, marching in their group with their fourth brother holding the little girl's hand.
They were not even a mile from the playground when a strange man approached them. They had never seen this man before in their small neighborhood, nor had they ever met a man that gave off such an uncomfortable presence. He was a rather large man, in both height and weight, and smelled awful. Like he had not bathed in days and just reeked of sweat and garbage. His wide eyes and toothy smile made the boys shiver, as if the cold weather was not cold enough. It was blatantly obvious that he had his sights on the little girl.
"She's a cutie," he spoke in a low voice mostly through his breath, "Is she your little sister?"
"N-no," one of the brothers answered, and kept it brief, "She's our friend."
"We were waiting for her parents to show up," Jyushimatsu revealed, forcing Choromatsu to grab onto him to try to quiet him.
"Waiting for her parents? You little boys are way too young to handle that kind of responsibility. Let me take her to the police station. A nice policeman will find her parents," he suggested.
"That's alright. We've invited her to our house where our parents are waiting," Ichimatsu stressed.
"That's no good at all. Her parents must be worried sick. You don't want to keep their daughter away from them, do you?" the man spoke, trying to guilt them into giving her up.
The danger signs that the man gave off made even the boys quake. All six looked at one another and agreed that he could not be trusted. They needed to devise a plan to get as far from him as they possibly could, and their words were not enough. The fate of their new friend was at stake, and they needed to remedy this predicament as quickly as possible.
"Get away from us!" Karamatsu yelled out, "We don't trust you at all!" It was sudden but bold and courageous.
"If you try anything, we'll call the police!" Todomatsu joined, mostly bluffing. None of them had any money on them to use a payphone, and such sweet irony it was when there was one just a few feet away.
"Don't think of me like that. I'm not at all what you're implying!" the strange man tried to console, "But, please, let me take her somewhere safe. She has been away from her parents for a while now." How did he know, they wondered. Had he been watching her?
He extended his fat hairy arm towards the little girl. Her eyes were wide, terrified by his presence ever since he showed up. As he reached in closer, she clutched onto Ichimatsu and screamed her lungs out, "NO!". That was their cue, and the five brothers attacked the man, letting their fourth brother run away with the lost girl. Ichimatsu was running too fast for the girl to catch up, and she tripped and fell on the asphalt, scraping her knee. It started to bleed.
The brothers in battle fought harder than they had ever fought before, worse than with Chibita, even worse than with each other. Despite the obvious size difference, it was still five against one, and the man was losing. The man could only cover himself as the boys thrashed about like wild animals, punching, kicking, scratching, and biting him. After a good beating, the strange man fled, letting the victorious brothers catch their breath from fighting.
"Yeah, you better run, pervert!" Osomatsu yelled, feeling good for winning a fight today.
"We better let Mr. Police Officer know about that guy," Choromatsu mentioned, catching his breath.
"He won't be after anymore kids ever again!" Karamatsu posed.
"Are you alright?" Ichimatsu asked, looking at her wound. A child her age would be crying from a fall like that, but she did not cry at all. Though it was bleeding, she just dusted herself as if her wound did not even exist. He was deeply impressed by her strength.
"Ah! She's bleeding!" Todomatsu cried out.
"I have a band-aid!" Jyushimatsu mentioned, and pulled a single band-aid from his pocket.
The fourth brother took the band-aid and fixed the girl's wounded knee. To their surprise, she hugged the fourth brother with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, deeply appreciating the care he put into her, someone he just met today. He could not help but to blush, and knew that he was not going to hear the end of it with the rest of his brothers who were snickering.
"It's not like that!" Ichimatsu cried out, but they were still snickering at him, "Cut it out!"
The snickering stopped when they heard yelling in the distance. It was the sound of a man, a woman, and an older child. They looked towards the sound and saw a man in a clean suit, a woman in a beautiful dress, and their older daughter in similar outfit as the lost girl. It was obvious who those people were, and it was obvious what had to come next.
"Mommy! Daddy!" the little girl shouted calling to their attention. The boys understood her clearly, but she was not speaking Japanese. It was in perfect English, and suddenly everything made sense. She was not abandoned, and she was not uneducated; she was just a lost foreigner. The sextuplet managed to make a connection with a foreigner despite not knowing she was one to begin with. Somehow, they were able to communicate despite that language barrier.
The mother, father, and older sister latched on to their lost girl, hugging and kissing her. They spoke English to one another, completely unknown to the boys as they just stood and watched. Despite not being able to understand, they were quite happy that they reunited the girl with her family. It was a joyous sight to a family embrace each other as they did.
"Thank you very much!" the mother spoke in Japanese.
"Thank you very much!" the father repeated.
The accent in their Japanese was thick and almost difficult to understand. Their faces were Japanese, but they spoke their language as if it was not theirs at all. It was a strange sight for the boys to witness, Japanese who could not speak Japanese.
The mother rummaged through her purse, and pulled out several ten-thousand-yen bills. The father pulled out his wallet as well, and took out another several ten-thousand-yen bills. They gave them to the brothers, practically shoving them into their hands and begging them to take it for protecting their daughter. None of them considered that the girl's family was rich. They should have noticed from her warm clothes, but it just never came across their minds. When the brothers counted the money, it was almost three hundred thousand yen!
"W-wait! This is way too much!" Choromatsu stammered. The sextuplets had never held this much money before, but this would help their family so much, especially after losing all their clothes. If it were any other time, the boys would have kept the money without a second thought, but it was so overly generous for such a small deed that none of them could accept it without some concern.
No matter what the boys said to her parents, the parents could not understand due to the language barrier. Their concerns and humbleness were brushed off. The foreign family only responded in gentle, grateful smiles, and bowed profusely, thanking them again and again before leaving with their found daughter. It felt bittersweet to watch the girl they just met leave. The fun they had at the playground, the individuality they discovered, and the money in their hands made them happy for the moment, but they were losing a friend who helped them obtain this joy. They were never going to see her again.
Ichimatsu screamed out, "GOOD-BYE! SHIZUKO!"
The little girl turned back and waved, as if she understood them. All six waved back, holding back their tears, and they continued to wave until the family disappeared into the distance. Finally, they returned home. Their parents were shocked that they came into so much money, assuming the worst, but after explaining what happened and convincing them that it was not stolen, their mother and father were quite humbled.
"I knew my boys were good," their mother smiled, "We can buy new clothes and maybe even go out to eat!"
"Let's go out in honor of little Shizuko," the father agreed, and the boys cheered and shouted in glee. It had been so long since they went out to eat.
"Mom, when we buy new clothes, can I get something in red?" Osomatsu asked.
"Oh! I want something in green!" Choromatsu exclaimed.
"Yellow! I want something yellow!" Jyushimatsu shouted.
"I need something cool, like blue," Karamatsu mentioned.
"I'll go pink! Girls like that!" Todomatsu grinned.
"Purple is a good fit for me, mom!" Ichimatsu stated.
It was such a small act of kindness, almost nothing at all, just a bunch of brothers keeping a little girl company long enough for her parents to find her. From the bottom of their hearts, the sextuplets hoped that one day they could meet again and still be friends.