Sixty years ago....

Karamatsu pulled on his black suit and straightened his tie, giving himself one final glance in the bathroom mirror.

"I should say something, shouldn't I?" Karamatsu asked himself, making "attractive" faces at his reflection. "Today's my first day of work!"

Leaning on the bathroom counter, Karamatsu ran his fingers through his thick, black hair.

"I'm beautiful," Karamatsu thought, giving himself a wink.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash coming from the living room. Jyushimatsu let out some sort loud, panicked screech, as did the rest of Karamatsu's brothers.

"ICHIMATSU!" Jyushimatsu yelled. "ICHIMATSU!"

"What's going on?" Karamatsu sighed, exiting the bathroom to investigate the situation before he departed for his new occupation.

Standing in the doorway of the living room, Karamatsu noticed a small pool of blood on the floor, a shattered cup, which seemed to have previously contained water, and all four of his brothers, crowded around Ichimatsu.

"What's going on in here?" Karamatsu questioned seriously. "What just happened?"

"Ichimatsu just dropped his glass of water for no reason," Choromatsu replied. "We thought it just slipped from his hand at first, but then he collapsed. I'm not sure where the blood came from..."

"His ears!" Todomatsu gasped, pointing to Ichimatsu, whom Jyushimatsu was now partially holding in his lap. "His ears are like waterfalls of blood!"

"Should we call the doctor?" Osomatsu asked, rubbing under his nose, though he wasn't smiling while performing his bad habit.

Karamatsu looked down at his wristwatch. He despised having to leave Ichimatsu when he was injured, but he couldn't be late for work, either. (And on his first day at that!)

"Forgive me," Karamatsu muttered, leaning against the doorframe now. "I'll be late for work. Todomatsu, please call me once you all know what's happened. Goodbye."

Several hours later...

Karamatsu was straightening up his desk at his new office, making sure all his work was ready for the next day, when his phone began to buzz from inside his briefcase.

"I can't believe I almost forgot about this morning's incident!" Karamatsu thought to himself, cursing under his breath a little as he frantically searched from his phone.

Eventually, after having rummaged thorough his briefcase, Karamatsu found his phone, and it was ringing yet again.

Quickly, the young man answered the call, for it was from Todomatsu.

"Hi, Karamatsu nii-san!" Todomatsu laughed cheerily into the phone. "How was work today?"

Karamatsu sighed and ignored Todomatsu's question by replying with his own question. "How's Ichimatsu?"

"Ohhh," Todomatsu's voice lost some of its cheerfulness. "He had to go into surgery, I think. I don't know why, but apparently something is wrong with his brain and ears? I'm not sure. The doctor didn't say it made any sense either! All I know is that, well..."

"Well?" Karamatsu pushed, surprised that he himself was so concerned for Ichimatsu, the brother who hated him the most.

"Hold up," Todomatsu said, then began to speak with someone who sounded like either Osomatsu or Choromatsu. Karamatsu couldn't tell them apart over the phone.

Through the muffled words he could hear from Todomatsu's phone, Karamatsu picked up simple phrases that made him feel sick.

"Couldn't save him,"

"Too late"

"He's gone deaf?!" Todomatsu nearly screeched. "I don't want to learn sign language! I'm too old to learn new things! I'm like...in my late twenties!"

Karamatsu ended the call, having a feeling the youngest brother wasn't going to continue speaking with him.

He'd just have to go see Ichimatsu himself.