Coach Marumo. We're ready.
Okay. Keep your eyes open and watch the ball.
First up is Kaoru. Let's go.
What was that? We're not playing volleyball, you know.
However, that was nice play that you let it drop in front of you.
Thank you.
Oh, there's Hayato-kun.
Is he your classmate?
-He's alone again. -What do you mean again?
Hayato-kun's daddy and mommy are busy
so he's always playing by himself.
Then go see if he wants to join us, Kaoru.
-Is it okay? -Two or three, same difference.
-I'll coach you all. -Yes, Coach.
Hayato-kun.
Huh? Hayato-kun?
Marumo, we're gonna be late if we don't get going.
I know. We're almost done, so just hang in there.
Tomoki, finish eating now. I tell you, we're going to be late.
-Hey, don't move. -I'm done eating.
Okay, done.
-They're uneven. -Are they?
Look, if you look at it like this, it's even. Right?
-Yeah. -Yeah, thanks.
We're going. -Okay, see you later.
See you later.
I tell you, they're uneven.
It's the thought that counts.
Safe.
Oh, there's Hayato-kun.
Hayato-kun, why did you leave yesterday?
Coach Marumo was gonna teach us catch.
You're always alone, aren't you? Come practice with us.
What?
Hayato, you're gonna play catch with a girl?
No, I'm not.
-Why? -Because.
Playing catch is fun.
Be quiet, Sasa Buta*. (*Buta = pig)
-You're Sasakura so you're Sasa Buta. -I'm not a pig.
Hayato-kun, her name's Sasakura Kaoru, not Sasa Buta.
Sasa Buta Gaoru. (Ga oru - literally, is here, ie., Sasa Buta is here)
He said Sasa Buta is here.
Sasa Buta Gaoru.
-But I'm not a pig. -Sasa Buta Gaoru.
Hey, don't run around in the classroom.
-You could get hurt. -But Hayato-kun...
No excuses.
Sasakura-san, hurry up and sit down.
-Takagi-san? -What? Oh.
-Hello. -Makimura-san, hello.
Thank you for helping me out the other day.
Are you alright now?
Yes. I'm sorry for asking you for such a strange favor.
To ask you to pretend to be my fiancee
was such a impertinent, no, bold, request.
Although I was a little nervous since I've never acted before.
I'm very disappointed and regret that I didn't get to see it with my own eyes.
-Makimura-san. -Yes.
Um...If it's okay with you, I'd like to thank you.
Um... Would you like to go to dinner sometime?
It's alright if you don't want to. It's perfectly alright if you don't want to.
-I would love to. -Really?
But don't leave me behind this time, okay?
Huh? Did that ever happen?
-It did, didn't it? -It did... I'm sorry.
That won't happen again. Never, never again.
Sorry.
Hey, do you guys remember Makimura-san?
Oh, the onee-san who came here when Marumo had the mumps?
-Tomoki, you're right. -Yes!
I have a dinner engagement with Makimura-san.
-What's dinner engagement? -That's, you know, dinner?
To put it simply, it's a d-date.
-Date? -Is that an overstatement?
Maybe a date is an overstatement?
-Too overjoyed. -Who, me?
What's that mood there. Is something wrong, Kaoru-chan?
Um... Today, Hayato-kun...
It's nothing. It's nothing.
What, say what's on your mind.
Really, it's nothing.
Hey, we have an okite to say what's on our mind.
Hayato-kun called me Sasa Buta.
You got teased?
He changed Sasakura to Sasa Buta.
He said Sasa Buta Gaoru.
Isn't he horrible?
That's pretty good for a first grader. Huh?
-It's not funny. -Listen, Kaoru.
It's a habit for the boys to tease the girls.
When boys see cute girls, they just get the urge to tease them.
-That's disgusting. -Hey, that's not disgusting,
that's just a practical joke. That's togetherness. Okay?
You have to let it go. Just ignore it.
Takagi-san, you just don't understand.
Kaoru-chan will be even more hurt if you say it like that.
She was just teased, you know. If she gets upset every time she's teased...
It's a very serious problem for girls.
And there you go, saying things like let it go and ignore it,
the very things you shouldn't be saying.
Aya-san's right. You don't understand at all.
Why are you here?
Can't you see? I'm drinking shochu.
He's been coming quite often recently.
He's a regular customer. Right?
He lives in the complete opposite direction, you know. It's really far from here.
I don't think distance has anything to do with it.
But leaving that aside, Takagi-san, you don't know women at all.
I bet you've been insensitive since you were a kid.
How am I supposed to know girls' feelings. I'm a boy.
Woah. He's assuming a defiant attitude.
I'm not being defiant. It's the truth, isn't it?
Enough about this already.
Just now, you were thinking this is a pain, didn't you?
That's not a good attitude, you know.
Pops, give me a beer.
Ignoring. Ignoring is the worst thing to do. That's definitely the worst.
Takagi-san, you're not gonna be able to marry if you don't change your ways.
Even if by chance you find a wife, she's going to leave you.
If by chance?
Aren't all men like that?
Generally speaking,
if you don't have an open mind to accept that kind of things,
-you just might fail. -Fail...what?
What are you insinuating?
-Nothing. -Insinuating? Insinuating?
Dad, are you thinking that I was at fault?
Well, I wasn't. He's the one
-who was sneaking around with a woman. -He? Who's he?
Just because he fooled around once,
-isn't it a bit harsh to unilaterally cut off all ties? -Cut off what ties?
Can you be quiet for a while, please?
Once. -What do you mean once?
All I'm saying is you should forgive him for that one time.
I can't believe what you just said.
Takagi-san, don't turn out to be like him.
You have to listen to what Kaoru-chan has to say.
Yes.
-Rinka-chan. -Yes?
Were you ever teased by boys when you were little?
Of course I was.
All the girls were, weren't they?
Would that be considered an unpleasant experience?
That goes without saying. What?
Didn't you even know that, Takagi-kun?
Takagi-san's just now learning now that he's almost 40.
How do I explain it.
It felt like I was stepped on all over by someone's shoes.
-Muddy shoes at that too. -It's that bad?
Takagi-kun was one of the boys who teased, huh?
Yes. I did tease all the girls I liked, so?
Why do you tease them if you like them?
Don't you tease them because you like them?
What's that supposed to mean.
-Takagi-kun. -Yes.
-Can I see you for a minute? -Yes.
I'm going to visit a regular customer tomorrow. Let's go together.
-It will be a good learning experience for you. -A regular customer?
Yes. Last month's reports. Go over them, okay?
Yes.
What's a regular customer? Is it a customer who complains regularly?
I've never met this person, but
Samejima-san goes for a visit once in a while by himself.
Personally?
Maybe he's planning to
have Takagi-san take over that regular customer?
Does that mean I'm going to be dealing with him instead?
By telling you to go over the reports
isn't he telling you to use discretion in your interaction?
-That's scary. -But why me?
Athlete Kaoru, here it comes.
Bring it on.
I can't catch it if you don't throw it here.
You're hopeless.
Give it back. We're practicing on our own. Coach Marumo told us to.
He's just telling you to practice on your own because he got tired of playing with you.
Marumo isn't your real dad, is he?
Marumo is Marumo.
If he's not your dad, why are you living with him?
That's because we're family.
That's weird that he's family even though he's not your dad.
He'll get tired of you right away and abandon you.
Marumo won't do that.
Pretty soon he's gonna start saying he's too busy at work
and make the kids eat and go to sleep by themselves.
He's not going to be playing catch with you either.
The ball.
Marumo's gonna abandon you anyway. Kaoru's gonna be abandoned by Marumo.
Okay, done. Sit down, guys.
Itadakima~su.
Aren't you eating, Marumo?
Huh? I don't have time to think about eating right now.
If I let my guard down, I might be trouble tomorrow.
Marumo, hang in there.
You guys sure have it easy.
I want to clean up soon so
hurry up and eat.
I don't feel like eating.
I took time out of my busy schedule to make it, so eat up.
If you're disobedient, I'm gonna kick you out. I'm gonna throw you out with oversize trash.
Tomoki.
What?
Do you enjoy being with Marumo?
-A lot. -Me too.
But I wonder if Marumo enjoys being with us.
We're always happy but
maybe Marumo doesn't like making meals,
and cleaning, and working until late at night.
I don't know.
Okay.
What happened?
Hey, what are you doing?
Something smells.
What?
Hey, that too?
I was trying to make breakfast for Marumo.
So how did it turn out like this?
Don't make more work for me. Really.
What are we going to do with this?
Onee-chan, first period is language.
-Oh, okay. -Good morning, Sasa Buta.
Hayato-kun, shh~.
Onee-chan's down because she messed up breakfast.
Everything turned out black. Marumo's papers got all black too.
Tomoki.
Did you interfere with his work?
That's bad. Marumo's gonna abandon you.
Oh-oh. You're gonna get abandoned.
-Marumo and Sasa Buta are gonna be separated. -Be quiet.
Sasa Buta and Marumo are gonna be separated.
We're not gonna be separated...
Ouch.
Hayato-kun, are you alright?
Tea alright?
Tea's fine. Make it cold.
You nervous?
But who is that person?
-Date-chan. -Date-chan?
He's a former complainant.
Former meaning he's not now?
Shall we say he's now an outside consultant?
Actually, I'm just consulting him on my own so
maybe he's my private outside consultant.
Anyway, he's done a lot for me.
Considering that, you don't even bring gifts when you visit, do you.
A long time ago, I took Date-chan's complaint.
Talk about persistent.
That's because of the flimsy pencils you guys were making.
See what I mean?
Everyone got so scared, no one wanted to deal with him.
Thanks to me, though, you came up with a sturdy pencil with unbreakable lead, right?
-Yes, yes. -What happened?
He was so persistent that I talked it over with the top
and based on Date-chan's complaint, we made a slight improvement to the product.
Although it took a long time.
-It was from that time, huh? -Yeah.
That I sometimes discuss the complaints we get
at Customer Services with Date-chan.
You know, for every complaint we get,
our interpretation and theirs are different, right?
Ah, so that's what you meant when you told me to review the reports.
By the way, what happened to the strawberry glue?
The uproar's somewhat under control, but
-looks like the production will be decreased. -The feeling is that
strawberry glue caused too much commotion.
I bought it for my grandkid too, but
he found it so amusing, he pasted things like
flyers and receipts all over the place.
-Everything got sticky. -We're very sorry for the inconvenience.
No, that's okay.
There aren't too many office supplies that make you want to use it
-for no apparent reason. -Well, I suppose.
So the production will be decreased, huh?
Seems like a waste to let an opportunity to please the customers slip away
because of the seller's circumstances.
Doesn't what he say make sense?
Excuse me.
It comes down to the fact that our company doesn't handle
-fancy goods like that very well. -So that's what it's about, huh?
-Marumo? -Kaoru.
Ta-Takagi-san. -Why are you here?
Hey. Huh? Where did you get hurt? Are you alright?
Um..that's not it, Takagi-san.
Taniguchi-san's the one who got injured, and
Sasakura-san is the one who caused the injury.
What?
The injury's just a light bruise.
We had a doctor take a look just to be sure,
but the injury's so minor, you didn't need to come...
Kaoru, did you apologize properly?
-Go apologize. -But I didn't do anything wrong.
What do you mean you didn't do anything wrong when you made him get hurt.
Go on, apologize.
Now, now Takagi-san.
It doesn't sound like Sasakura-san was totally in the wrong
since they were both joking around.
I'm very sorry.
My apology won't do, will it?
It doesn't matter.
What about Hayato-kun's parents?
Due to circumstances at work, they said they couldn't come today.
Both of them?
Yes. They must be busy.
Kaoru, why didn't you apologize?
I didn't do anything wrong.
You still saying that?
I know because I apologize every day.
"I'm sorry" opens up the other person's heart.
But I don't want to apologize.
When you apologize first,
lot of times that can bring you closer.
I don't care if I'm not close to him.
I give up then. I'm disappointed in you.
-How's Kaoru? -She went to sleep without even eating.
You say she caused the injury, but wasn't it
-like it just happened by chance? -Well, yes.
But she won't apologize.
I don't know if she's stubborn or insolent or what.
But I'm surprised. I thought she'd be a bit more mature.
She has the nerve to sulk and be miffed.
Really makes me mad.
Why are you laughing?
Being able to sulk and get mad
means that ...you know. That you're a family.
It's proof that
you're not holding anything back from each other.
That's a good thing. To be able to say what you want without holding anything back.
That's right. Aya-chan and you're like that too.
-Us? -You were fighting the other day too.
Yeah...I guess.
You know, all fathers go through
a period of time when their daughters won't talk to them.
During that period, my wife died,
and things just got worse.
It's only just recently. That we got comfortable enough to fight.
-I'm done eating. -Okay.
Kaoru, you apologize to Hayato-kun today.
No. I'm not going to school.
It's best if you apologize and you two become close.
I don't care if we don't get close.
Weren't you saying that someone who teases a friend is disgusting?
Then isn't someone who causes a friend to get hurt
and refuse to apologize disgusting? That's the worst, isn't it?
I'm not the worst.
"Oh-oh, you're gonna get abandoned."
"Marumo and Sasa Buta are gonna get separated."
I don't like people who won't accept advice.
But Hayato-ku said we...That Marumo would...
What did I do? Are you putting the blame on me?
But...
Forget it. Just be like that, you spoiled baby.
Tomoki, we're going.
I hate you, Marumo! I don't even want to see your face!
Oh, I see. I get it. Let's go.
You're by yourself?
Onee-chan didn't want to come to school.
It's because Hayato-kun gives her a hard time.
You're the worst.
Kaoru-chan, I brought you lunch.
Aya-chan.
Hm? What?
Marumo and us are family, aren't we?
Yes, didn't we talk about this before? You're living together so you're family.
I wonder if we can keep on being together.
If we're separated, is that the end of our family?
What? What are you saying all of a sudden?
Don't tell Marumo, okay?
Okay.
Hayato-kun said we're going to get separated sooner or later.
He said that?
Aya-chan, Marumo isn't our daddy.
So if we're separated, is that the end of our family?
-Good night. -Good night.
[I hate you, Marumo! I don't even want to see your face!]
[Oh, I see. I get it.]
Takagi-kun, get that report done today please.
Yes.
Takagi-kun?
Shiozawa-san, you have a child, don't you?
-I do. He's in high school. -High school, huh?
When your child was in grade school,
did he ever have problems at school and refuse to go?
Why are you asking about that out of the blue?
No, I just wondered.
Mine isn't very bright,
so he used to say he wasn't going to school because he didn't want to study.
What did you do at times like that?
I'd buy him a new notebook. Nice and blank.
-Notebook? -Yes.
Boys are pretty simple-minded, aren't they?
He must have felt smarter or something just because he got a brand new notebook.
It's like he got motivated suddenly and wanted to go to school.
Isn't he stupid?
I see. He is simple-minded.
Of course, that's what makes him so endearing too.
I understand.
Takagi-kun, you get motivated too and finish that up, okay?
I'm leaving first then.
Good night.
What a nice story.
-What? -What Shiozawa-san was talking about right now.
It means that stationery isn't just supplies.
It would be nice if there were stationery that's not just practical
but something exciting that would encourage children, don't you think?
I'll leave first then.
Good night.
Encourage...
Found them.
-Onee-chan, Marumo's late, isn't he? -Is he working overtime?
Marumo doesn't have overtime. He said so before.
He should have been home long time ago. I wonder what happened.
-Hello? -This is Aya.
Oh, thank you for bringing Kaoru's lunch.
I'll make sure she goes to school tomorrow.
About that...
-Yes? -She told me not to tell you, so
I wasn't sure whether I should.
What is it?
The reason Kaoru-chan didn't want to go to school
wasn't just because she was being teased by a boy.
-What? -She was told that
since you're not the real dad, you won't be together for long,
and that's what upset her.
Listen to what Kaoru-chan has to say when you get home, okay?
Good bye then.
Yes.
[It's a habit for the boys to tease the girls.]
[You have to let it go. Just ignore it.]
[But Hayato-ku said we...That Marumo would...]
[What did I do? Are you putting the blame on me?]
[I hate you, Marumo! I don't even want to see your face!]
Looks just like Mook.
Shaggy hair.
Onee-chan, what's wrong?
Onee-chan.
Tomoki.
What?
Marumo's late, huh?
What should we do if Marumo doesn't come home anymore?
[Don't make more work for me. What are you doing?]
[What do you mean you didn't do anything wrong when you made him get hurt.]《
[I'm really sorry.]
[I hate you, Marumo! I don't even want to see your face!]
[Oh, I see. I get it.]
I made trouble for Marumo at home and at school too.
I even got into a fight so
Marumo might not come home because of me.
-What? -If he doesn't come home
and we get separated,
that's the end of our family. Because we're different.
No, I don't want that to happen.
I won't be able to eat the food Marumo makes.
He won't be sprinkling the goma shio boss, and
he won't be playing catch with us.
We'll never get better.
I want to be with Marumo.
I'm sorry, Tomoki.
Onee-chan.
Kaoru, do you like Marumo?
-A lot. -Then all you have to do is apologize.
I want to apologize to Marumo. Let's go, Tomoki.
Which way?
When he doesn't come home, does he sleep at the office?
Then let's go to his office.
Okay, the station's that way.
Which ticket do we buy?
Let's go over there.
What are those guys doing?
There's a lot of stations.
Where's Akebono Office Supplies?
I don't know.
We should have learned how to ride trains, huh?
We can't go to see Marumo by ourselves, can we?
Tomoki, when Marumo comes home,
let's help him out a lot, okay?
Okay. We can't cook, but we can clean and do the laundry.
Yeah. And we can't be fussy about our food.
Okay. I'll eat all my carrots too.
I hope Marumo comes home.
I'll have to apologize when I see Marumo.
Like how Marumo did with Hayato-kun. Bow properly like this.
Marumo, I'm sorry for burning the breakfast.
Marumo, I'm sorry for not apologizing to Hayato-kun.
Marumo, I'm sorry for saying that I hate you.
And, and...
Kaoru, Tomoki.
Where are you guys going?
Marumo.
Sorry.
Marumo.
Hey, hey, why are you crying?
We were afraid Marumo wasn't coming home.
Of course I'm coming home.
I don't have any place else to go home to.
You guys too.
The 2nd floor of Kujira is all we have.
But Marumo, you don't like Kaoru, right?
Let's see. There could be times
that I may think I don't like you.
That's what I thought.
If you don't like me, we can't live together, right?
We'll be separated.
What? What are you saying.
Of course we'll still be together even if we don't like each other at times.
-Why? -Because we're family.
Stay together if you like each other and go our separate ways if you don't.
A family isn't something that should be taken lightly like that.
To stay together whether you like it or not, that's what family's all about.
Even when Kaoru grows up and says things like "Marumo, you smell,"
I won't go away, and when Tomoki grows up
and says things like "Marumo, you're super annoying," you can forget about it.
Because we're family.
What was that.
Anyway, we'll always be together.
I'm glad.
Okay, let's go home then.
Look. I was late because I was making these.
Open it and see.
Did you make these, Marumo?
There were a lot of these unsold erasers at the office. My failed idea.
I used those and tried making some hand-made stamps.
-I made them for you. -Thank you.
Try it.
Cute.
Is this Mook? He's big.
There's Marumo and Onee-chan, and who's this?
-That's you. -He looks like me.
It's a family stamp. See, we're all together.
Then here's today's okite.
Whether you like it or not, we're family.
Alright.
Okay, let's go to sleep now.
Good night.
I want to sleep with Marumo.
-Me too. -Wait, wait, the three of us
can't fit in here. Hey, wait.
Hey, no, no, you're falling off. Wait...
We'll be okay.
No, no, no, hey. It's too cramped.
-It's cramped. -No it's not.
-It's hot. -No it's not.
Excuse me.
Looks like you're having fun, so let me join in too.
Wait, wait. No, no more.
No, no, no, no.
That tickles. That tickles.
Mook, Moo... Get away from there, Mook.
Don't thrash around in there, Mook.
-Good morning. -Good morning, Kaoru-chan.
-Good morning. -Good morning.
Hayato-kun, I'm sorry for making you get hurt.
Marumo taught me how to apologize
so I'm just practicing.
Sasakura-san, I'm sorry for teasing you.
This is just practice too.
You don't have a choice, Hayato-kun,
since you like Onee-chan, right?
What? What are you saying?
Marumo told us that
boys tease girls they like.
So that must mean Hayato-kun likes Onee-chan.
I don't like her.
Oh, Hayato-kun, you must like her.
-He's turning red. -He is.
Look, he's turning red, red, red.
Marumo made it for us. Family stamp.
-What's that. -That's so cute.
Isn't it? Isn't it?
Then one more.
Quit it.
Wait.
Hey, don't run around in the classroom.
"I'm sorry"
Let's get begin the class. Everyone get back to your desk.
What's that?
Huh? What? What?
Remember that first complaint I took?
That woman who used the cap as a ear cleaner and bled.
Oh, yeah, I remember.
I was wondering
if that woman would be agreeable if there was a pen like this.
-What? -No, it was just an absurd idea...
No, no.
That's interesting.
Write it up in a proposal and submit it to me.
I'll be looking forward to it.
Coach Marumo. Please train us.
Okay, here it goes.
What was that.
However, I'll give you credit for going all out to go after the ball.
Thank you, Coach Marumo.
Here we go.
Oh, there's Hayato-kun.
Okay, next up is Athlete Hayato. Let's go for it.
-You're hopeless. -How do you expect to catch a ball just standing there.
-Come here, we're gonna practice. -Come on.
Come on, Hayato-kun.
Coach Marumo, please train us.
Okay then, next is fly ball.
Who's gonna get that. Call for it. Go, Kaoru.
-Mamoru-kun, long time no see. -What happened, Sasakura-san?
-Sorry for just showing up.
Truth of the matter is, the twins' mother contacted me.
Ayumi-san did?
She found out somehow that
Junichirou passed away.
And she's saying she wants to see the twins.
I see.
I didn't know what to say.
Of course, I told her she couldn't, but I thought I'd at least let you know.
I see. I understand.