We laughed a lot back in those days.
At the same time and at the same place...
...we sketched out our favorite dreams together...
Say, say. What do all of you want to be in the future?
I'll become a star beautician!
I'll become a school teacher!
How about you, Mayuri? You'll follow something to do with music, right?
That's my hope.
How about you, Kasumi?
I'll get married at twenty.
At twenty?!
Yeah. I'll find someone rich...
...give birth to an adorable child and live a graceful life.
If we could have seen how totally different things would be for us now...
...compared to the futures we saw for ourselves back then...
...and if we could stand there again once more...
...could we have restarted our lives then and there?
Okay! We can expect some great ratings from today's Episode Two, can't we?
Well, that'd be great...
At this rate we'll be running alone at the top of the charts.
I think we definitely will!
Since I don't want to be disappointed by raising my expectations too high...
...I won't say anything.
"Refrain After School" has a great rep in the audience questionnaires.
And hits on our drama website are through the roof, too.
Really?
Because you'll be getting your first Drama award with this one...
...the public spotlight will be quite intense on you.
Well...
Thanks for your hard work.
You won't be returning to your office again today, will you?
No.
Shall we go to your apartment?
We can't go back to that second Summer of high school. And...
...we are living in a reality different from the ones we dreamed of back then.
Heiwa Fansubs Presents
Haburashi (Toothbrush)
Premium Drama
Women Friends
Episode 1 "Premonition"
Thank you.
Good night.
What is it? Did you forget something?
Who are you?
Um... Makabe-san?
Mizue?
It's been so long...
What's the matter?
Ah... Sorry for appearing out of the blue.
How many years has it been...
Suzune, you're looking great!
We haven't seen each other since graduating high school?
Since I changed schools in our second year, it's been since then.
That's right, isn't it?
And? Has something happened?
Ah...
It's embarrassing to suddenly appear and ask you for a favor like this, but...
Could you put us up for the night?
Eh?!
I'm really very sorry! But there's no one else I can ask...
Just one night will be fine. Please.
No, no, hold on a minute...
Um... Even the hallway or anywhere'll be fine!
Because my son needs to sleep...
I've put the towels here.
Thank you.
You can use this room.
I couldn't ask this of you. Anyplace will be fine for us...
The room over there is filled with all my work materials. And besides, I have things to do there after this.
I really am sorry about this.
Yeah.
There...
Mizue, he is your child, right?
Don't say that. Of course he is.
Walking around with someone else's child at this time of night would be kidnapping, wouldn't it?
His name is Kouta. He'll be in grade school this Spring.
Since he's fallen asleep, I'll have him make his greetings in the morning.
You don't have to do that.
Working?
Ah... Yeah. I'm under a bit of a deadline.
Must be tough, huh?
Want some water?
Yeah.
Here.
Thank you. You go to the trouble of buying water...
Still, you found out about my address here, huh?
Even though I only gave my contact info to those I work with.
I called your parent's home and they told me.
I see...
To have both an apartment like this and a work office as well is something else.
No. It's a worn-out, thirty year old apartment complex.
I've lived here a long time. It's just easier for me to write here than over there.
Suzune, you keep active, don't you?
I've watched "Refrain After School." I even read the blogs for it sometimes.
Really?
This is about us, isn't it?
Ah... It's not, particularly.
But we're the models for those characters, right? The Girl's School chorus.
There are differences in the fine details, though.
That's why it's fictional.
You're incredible, Suzune.
That's not true.
You've climbed on top, haven't you?
Say. Something's happened, hasn't it? For you to suddenly come to my place.
Truth is... I was laid off.
Eh?
I've been searching for a job for so many months now...
...but haven't found anything at all...
I got turned down at lots of places when I told them I had a child, too.
Eh? Mizue, aren't you married?
I thought you'd written you had on a postcard that came to my parent's home long ago...
We broke up last year. After our break up, I came out here.
At first I would leave Kouta with my aunt in Yokohama while I worked part-time...
...but she passed away...
And since my job wasn't one that paid all that good a salary, either...
...the rent and living expenses just kept piling up...
Say, couldn't you ask your ex-husband for some financial help?
I don't want to get involved with him anymore. I don't want to meet him...
But...
What do you intend to do from here on out?
Because there's a job I've been introduced to, I'll go there tomorrow.
What about a place to live?
I've heard they have a company dormitory.
You've got all sorts of problems, don't you...
Is this all of your bags? You have more stored elsewhere, don't you?
No. That's all of it.
Look. Feel free to use as much skin lotion as you want.
Is there anything else that you need?
Ah... Um, could I get a toothbrush?
Huh?
I should have stopped and gotten one at the convenience store, though...
Ah... A toothbrush? Yeah. Um... I have some spares.
Could I borrow them? One for me and for Kouta.
I'll buy new ones tomorrow.
That's okay. They're just toothbrushes.
Here.
Thank you.
Because we know you've been lying, Mayuri!
I haven't been lying.
Don't play dumb with us!
Only one person's been doing an end run on us and giving presents to the teacher!
Is that true?
It's not...
Liar! You're always making fools of us like this.
(She's putting away her seal and bank book account)
Suzune.
Thank you so much for today. Goodnight.
Goodnight...
So long. We were under your care.
Work hard.
Yeah. Suzune, do your best at your job, too.
Thank you.
Kouta-kun, stay healthy.
So long. Let's go.
Suzune-oneechan, thank you
Huh?
Where did my hairpin go?
Huh?
Ah... I'm blocked...
Yanai Mamoru
Hello?
Where are you right now? At your office?
Yeah, that's right. What's up?
Is that manuscript coming along?
Ah... It has a "so-so" feel to it.
Where should we go for dinner this week?
I want to treat you for the high ratings we're getting.
Really? All right!
Where would you like to go?
Hmm... Then, that restaurant I told you about before.
Where the two of us could see the stars.
Should you and I share it?
Yeah.
Hold on a minute.
There's lots of people here, so let's go over there.
Furusawa Mizue?
Was there someone like that? I don't remember her.
Since you weren't a member of the chorus, you probably wouldn't have known her, Mihoko.
And since she changed schools during our second year.
Ah... then I wouldn't have known her.
I hadn't seen her since high school, but she had changed so much that I was surprised.
Huh? In what way?
Hmm... Wonder if you could say she had this "tired of life" feel to her.
Look, everyone changes like that twenty years after graduating from high school.
What's more, being divorced and raising a child alone.
Still, would you go to someone you hadn't seen in twenty years...
...and show up suddenly in the middle of the night, child in tow?
Didn't she just want to have a peek at the life of a popular screenwriter?
Geez, don't go making such an image out of me like that.
All I did was work my butt off everyday sitting in front of my computer.
What she said was, "You've climbed on top."
Incredible! I've only heard that sort of thing during sex.
Ah... but still, I've been hearing such stories a lot recently.
Eh?
Stories about "I'm divorced, stuck with a kid and laid off."
Still, if not for the person themselves, you do feel sorry for the child.
That's true, isn't it? Because she had her child with her...
...there was just no way I could turn her down.
Still, when you think about it, those of us without children...
...and who have so few troubles just might be the lucky ones.
Right, Darling?
Eh?
Somehow marriage hasn't come to me yet.
That reminds me. Weren't you the one long ago with the strong desire to get married?
"I'll be a young Mama," you said.
I said that back in high school, right? If I bore a child now...
...when that child became an adult... it'd be right at my sixtieth birthday.
Ah!
Huh?
I have to buy baby shower gifts for my little sister.
Ah!
I'd better buy them before she complains.
Thanks for the food.
Yeah. Thanks for coming.
See you again.
Yeah.
How about this one?
Ah, it kicked!
Is it you like this one?
Then Daddy'll buy this one for you.
Oh, he's generous, isn't he?
Ah... I'm sorry.
It's stuck to you.
Eh?
Ah.
Ah...
I'll do it. I'll do it.
Ah, thank you. Sorry about this.
Ah! I'm sorry!
Sorry. I said something I shouldn't have. I'm sorry.
I wonder where this one went...
I have no idea where these were originally.
I'm sorry.
Will that be okay?
Yes.
So long.
Thank you.
Welcome back. Out shopping?
Mizue, what is it?
I forgot something.
Eh?
I was going to phone you, but the battery had died.
Mama, I need to pee.
Oh no, right now? I'm sorry. Could we borrow your bathroom for a bit?
There.
I bought some candy a the convenience store. I thought we could eat it together.
What was it you forgot?
Ah.
Let's see... here. Seems I left it in your bathroom.
Want some?
Here.
Thank you.
How did the job go?
It didn't work out...
Eh?
They said the company dormitory doesn't allow parents with children...
Mama, can I watch TV?
Ask Suzune-oneechan.
Can I watch it?
Go ahead.
Don't turn it up too high, okay?
Say. What do you intend to do from here on?
That's the thing...
To say this just when we met after such a long time...
...I do feel really sorry about it.
But... I want your help.
My help?
Let us stay for just two days.
Eh?
Please! We won't do anything to bother you.
During that time I'll make all the meals and do all the cleaning.
But I...
If I haven't found a job in those two days...
...then I'll go to another friend of mine. So please don't worry.
Please! Think of it as hiring a housekeeper.
All right...
You'll give us shelter?
For just two days, okay?
Thank you! This really will be a big help.
Kouta. Say "Thank you" to Onee-chan here.
Thank you.
No...
Thank goodness. Seems he likes it here, too.
Then I'll put away my bags.
Sorry about the curry. Because Kouta said he wanted to eat some.
No. It's delicious.
Really? I'm so happy. I do love to cook.
I feel sorry about this, but...
...he wondered if he could have milk this morning, so I checked your refrigerator.
I was surprised that there wasn't anything in it.
Since I'm always eating out, I hardly ever cook for myself.
There's the cost of ingredients for just one person.
Can your health last like that?
I get by somehow.
Kouta, you're behaving badly.
But I want to watch this.
Make sure to clean away your dishes.
I told you you couldn't watch TV until then, didn't I?
Just this much is fine, isn't it?
Disciplining him is my responsibility.
Kouta!
You're a proper Mom, aren't you?
Because I'm a Mother.
Recently, even though they aren't ready to become parents...
...there are many people who give birth for their own convenience, aren't there?
The sight of such people pisses me off.
That's right. Back in high school...
...you said you wanted to get married at the age of twenty didn't you, Suzune?
Did I?
You did. I remember that very well.
Even though it was more than twenty years ago...
...I remember the things that happened back then clear as a bell.
Strange, isn't it? Maybe because I enjoyed it so much.
That's true.
Are your parents healthy, Suzune?
Huh?
Because when I called her the other day...
...your Mother seemed tired somehow.
Truth is... My Father was admitted to the hospital with a cerebral infarction last month.
Eh?!
My Mom visits him there every day. My sister goes there sometimes to help out, too.
That must be tough. Shouldn't you go back there, Suzune?
Since I have my work to do.
I see...
Your parents must be so lonely.
Suzune.
Thank you for these.
Eh?
I bought new ones, so I'm returning these.
You didn't have to return them...
Why?
Because... Why did you buy new ones?
Ah, to use before my job interviews.
Here.
Yanai Mamoru
Good evening.
Good evening...
Suzune-san is taking a shower right now.
Ah...
Come in.
Haburashi
Women Friends
Episode 1 "Premonition"
END