Chapter Three: Thousand Knives:

Akio and Haruka’s children awoke to a strange surprise the next morning. Shichiro first noticed it when he got up early that morning on March first, 1967. That day was mostly overcast, looking like it would rain. The whole house was silent and his parents’ bedroom door was cracked open. The little boy poked his head inside and looked around.

“Mama? Papa?” he asked. Shichiro wandered further into the darkened room. Everything looked clean and in place. The bed didn’t even look like it had been last night with it still being made up and cold. The little boy tilted his head confused.

“Mama? Papa?” he asked again. Shichiro walked out of the room and headed into the hall. The boy walked through the whole house and the yards before he realized that something wasn’t right. He returned to the room that he shared with Yasuo and tried to shake him awake.

“Nii-san,” he whispered. “Wake up! Wake up!” The oldest gritted his teeth as he rolled away from his younger brother under the sheets.

“Go away,” he mumbled, “I want to sleep!” Shichiro didn’t let up on the shaking.

“Mama and Papa are gone!” he shouted. Yasuo paused in his bed.

“What?” he asked.

“Mama and Papa are gone,” the younger brother repeated. The eldest sat up in his futon with a frown on his face and his eyes narrowed.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked, “Where are you getting this crap? Don’t lie!”

“I’m not!” Shichiro argued. “They really are gone! Come and look!” Yasuo narrowed his eyes at him in a glare.

“This better not be some stupid game you’re trying to play with me,” he mumbled as he crawled out of the futon. “I really want to go back to sleep!” The younger brother led the older to their parents’ room. Yasuo looked inside at the darkness and flipped on a light switch. A wave of surprise came over his face when he saw that the now well-lit room was empty.

“Crap,” Yasuo mumbled. “Where did they go?” He turned his attention to his younger brother standing inches behind him.

“Are you sure you can’t find them anywhere?” he asked. Shichiro nodded his head up and down.

“Uh-huh,” he said. Yasuo stood thinking for a little while.

“Oh,” he said. He wandered out of the room and into the kitchen with Shichiro close behind him. They found a note taped to the back door. Yasuo spotted it and tilted his head rather confused.

“Hm? What’s this?” he asked as he pulled it down from the tape. Shichiro walked under his brother, and looked up.

“What does it say?” he asked. Yasuo read it for himself first.

“Dear kids,” he read aloud. “Mother and I went out for a while. Don’t know when we’ll be back. Yasuo, take care of your brothers and sister while we are gone.” He lowered the note and frowned. You’ve got to be kidding me! He glanced down to see his little brother looking at him with his tilted.

“Where are Mama and Papa?” he asked. Yasuo crushed the note in his hand as he clenched his teeth.

“It didn’t say,” he replied as he tried to stay calm.

“But why?” the little boy asked. His older brother took in a deeper breath to try and calm down.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Please don’t ask me any more questions.”

“But…” Shichiro began to say. Yasuo shot an icy glare at the nine-year-old boy.

“Shut up!” he barked. “I said don’t ask questions!” Shichiro’s eyes grew big with scared silence. The oldest son drew in another breath.

“Fine,” he muttered. “Just one question for today and that’s it.” Shichiro trembled at his brother’s rage just a few seconds ago. He almost didn’t want to ask anything at this point.

“What do we do now?” he asked. Yasuo sighed and put the note on the table.

“Well, I have to look after you guys until Mama and Papa get back,” he explained. “In fact, let’s wait until the others get up to explain it to them.”

“Okay,” Shichiro said quietly. Both the boys sat down at the dining table and waited for the other children to find their way down to the kitchen. Around 7:30, one by one the children wandered down to the kitchen half-asleep. Nobu held baby Yumiko in his arms.

“Nii-san,” he spoke up. “Where are Mama and Papa?”

“Sit down,” Yasuo said in a serious tone. The third son led Daisuke over to the table. The oldest child prepared himself to break the news.

“They left,” he said. Nobu blinked at him with a blank face.

“What?” he asked. Yasuo frowned as he tried to think of a better way to word to this to the younger children.

“Mama and Papa left us last night,” he began again. “I don’t know where they went and I don’t know when they’ll be back.”

“But why?” Nobu asked. Daisuke looked at him with a blank looked on his face. Yasuo buried his head in his hands.

“I have no idea and asking me time and time again won’t work. So don’t do it, okay?” he replied. The thirteen-year-old didn’t wait for an answer as he lifted his head. “Now, I will get you breakfast,” he explained. “Go wash up and get dressed for school. I will take Daisuke and Yumiko to the neighbors for the day until I figure something out. Don’t ask questions, just do it. Understand?” The siblings didn’t answer as they hurried back down the hall. Nobu took Daisuke and Yumiko down the hall with him. The oldest watched them with a frown on his face.

Why the hell am I stuck doing this? Yasuo went over to the icebox to look for something to try and make. He didn’t really know how to cook, but he needed to give it a try anyways. Lucky for him, he found some milk and leftover rice and miso. Yasuo took a long second to stare at the contents in front of him and shrugged.

Good enough, he thought. Yasuo pulled out all three items and got to work. Once the kids were dressed and cleaned up, they returned to the kitchen for breakfast. The oldest son gave the second and third son enough money for lunch that he found hidden in one of the drawers near the sink.

“Don’t tell anyone about this,” he told them. “If anyone asks tell them that they went to go see family for a few days, understand?”

“Okay,” the children all said. The oldest brother folded his arms across his chest.

“Good,” he said. “Now go wait in the living room while I go get ready to take you guys to school and a baby-sitter.” At first, the boys stood there staring confused. Yasuo stamped his foot at them.

“What the hell are you all standing around for?” he barked. “Get moving!” The four children rushed to the living room as the oldest stared them down with an evil look in his eye. Yasuo gave himself a moment to calm back down. Mom, Dad, please come back soon, he thought. I don’t think I can handle this much longer. The boy went down the hall to clean himself up and got dressed for school. Shichiro, Nobu, and Daisuke all sat on the couch waiting. The second son looked over at his younger brothers.

“Why would Mama and Papa just leave us?” he asked. “Did we do something wrong?” Nobu shook his head uncertain as he held baby Yumiko in his arms. A minute later, Yasuo walked into the living room and looked at all four of his siblings.

“Everyone ready?” he asked.

“Yes,” Shichiro and Nobu said together. The oldest brother felt much better for once today.

“Good,” he replied. “Let’s get going.” Yasuo took Daisuke and Yumiko down the road to a local neighbor’s house to watch them for the day. He pretty much had to convince the farmer’s wife there to take care of them for the day. Once she agreed, Yasuo, Shichiro, and Nobu went off to school.

The rest of the day went as followed. Yasuo picked up Shichiro and Nobu from school. They stopped by to pick up dinner for the evening. The oldest son was lucky to still have enough money from that stash he found in the kitchen to get them something small enough to eat.

“We can’t have anything big,” he reminded his brothers. “There are four of us and one baby. We have to keep the rations small, you get me?”

“Yes,” both boys answered. Yasuo folded his arms across his chest.

“Now that we understand that,” he continued. “Since I am the one in charge, I am picking what we eat tonight.” Shichiro and Nobu looked at him with big eyes.

“What?!” they cried.

“No complaining!” the oldest son snapped. “I’m the one in charge so I have to make the decisions here. If you don’t like it, then don’t eat. You understand me?”

“Yes,” his brothers grumbled. Yasuo resisted the urge to smack them in the head for even complaining in the first place. The three boys went to the fish shop in town. Yasuo bought the cheapest tuna that he could afford.

“It smells,” Nobu complained as he covered his nose and backed away. The first son gritted his teeth at him.

“You don’t have to eat it!” he hissed. The six-year-old boy drew his mouth closed. Once they bought dinner, the boys headed to the neighbor’s house to pick up Daisuke and Yumiko. The farmer’s wife said that they were well-behaved and gave them apan for treats. At home, Yasuo made dinner and prepared Yumiko’s milk. Once they ate, he helped the older boys with their homework. By seven o’clock, he helped Daisuke and Yumiko change into their pajamas and get them into bed. The older boy went to bed themselves hours later. In his bed, Yasuo wondered when their parents would return. Unfortunately for him, only one of them would return two years later.