Mizue?
It's been so long...
Still, would you go to someone you hadn't seen in over twenty years...
...and show up suddenly in the middle of the night, child in tow?
Welcome back.
Let us stay for just two days.
Ah... I'm sorry.
Thank you for these.
Eh?
Good evening.
Good evening...
Suzune!
What is it?
A guest has come for you.
Eh?
A Yanai-san. He says he's a TV producer.
I just called for her.
Ah...
Would you like a beer?
No... I don't want any alcohol.
Ah, I see... Oh my, sorry... about us.
Are you a relative of Makabe-san's?
No, we were classmates in high school.
I'm a bit of a freeloader for right now.
A freeloader?
Yes.
What's this about?
Since I was in the neighborhood, I came to deliver this completed package.
Thank you for going to all the trouble.
Here you go.
Thanks.
I was surprised when a stranger appeared at your door.
Maybe you shouldn't come without warning like this...
I had sent a message to your cell phone earlier, though.
No way...
She says she's freeloading off of you?
Yeah. She was laid off...
...and she's staying with me since she says she has no one else to turn to.
Is that right.
Yeah.
Huh? You still have some business with me?
No. No "business" per se, but...
Will you be okay?
About what?
It's not like you to let friends stay over.
I hope it doesn't affect your work.
Don't worry.
Look, this isn't a situation I can discuss at length with you tonight.
All right.
Thank you for the completed package.
Not at all.
Thanks for your hard work.
Thanks for yours.
TV people work until this late, huh?
Can you not just let people into my apartment?
I'm sorry. I thought it was okay since he's always coming here.
Eh?
I saw him here yesterday, too.
Just when I came to your apartment yesterday...
...I saw him coming out.
Since he's someone with the TV station, right?
We had a business meeting planned.
I thought as much. Must be tough, huh?
Kazumi, got a minute?
Ah, yeah...
Mayuri hates me.
I don't think that's true.
She acts all normal around us...
...but she bad mouths us to you, doesn't she?
I have no idea what her true feelings or thoughts are.
I wonder why Mizue has come to visit me like this after twenty years?
I wonder why I've let Mizue into my home?
Inside my heart, an unease I'd never known before had just been born.
Heiwa Fansubs Presents
Haburashi (Toothbrush)
Women Friends
Premium Drama
Episode 2 "Regret"
I'm sorry. Did we wake you?
No, since I intended to get up about now anyhow.
Really?
I'm sorry. Kouta said he wanted to watch that.
Kouta-kun, you like TV, don't you?
Yeah.
Breakfast'll be ready in just a moment.
I always just have coffee in the mornings.
You'll have a fruit yogurt, won't you? I'll whip one right up, so sit down.
Let's see... spoons...
Ah, found them.
Here.
Thank you.
I'm going to Hello Work today.
(the Japanese government's employment agency)
I've got to hurry and find a job.
That's true, isn't it?
Say, what'll you do about Kouta-kun?
Since if I go to the Mother's Hello Work...
...they'll have a space there for children to play, so don't worry about it.
Ehh... They have that sort of thing, huh?
What about you Suzune? Will you be home late today?
Ah... Um, I don't know. Why?
I think I'll probably be returning here early.
Sorry about this, but I thought if you were going to your office...
...if you wouldn't mind letting me borrow your key?
Ah... that's true, isn't it? It'd certainly be inconvenient if you didn't have a key.
I'm sorry.
Ah... I'll give you a duplicate key for now.
This is the key to the entrance downstairs and this one is the key to my apartment.
Yes. Thank you.
And then... I'm really sorry I have to ask for this, but...
Huh? What is it?
Could I borrow a purse for the interview? All I have is my traveling bag...
Sure.
And then some cosmetics, if possible...
Yeah...
Are you sure about lending me a jacket like this one?
Since I don't wear it anymore.
Such a waste...
I hope you find work right away.
Mama, you're pretty!
Thank you!
It's all thanks to Suzune-oneechan.
Then, we'll be off.
Have a nice day.
Thank you for this.
In that case, how about this job offer?
I think in terms of the salary, this is quite the preferential treatment.
Ah... but I have a child and Saturdays and Sundays aren't days off here.
Ah, and then if possible...
...I'd appreciate a company with a dormitory.
That might be a little difficult...
Most dormitories are for singles...
...and finding a place that meets everything you've told me you're hoping for would be a little...
Are you sure about giving her the keys like that?
That's why I moved all my valuables over to my work office.
Look, just on the off-chance things turn unpleasant.
To be honest, I see that happening already.
Eh?
By asking for two more days, isn't she and that child just intending to stay with you?
No, no, no...
I don't think she'd go that far with it.
She'll just sweet-talk you into it somehow, Suzune.
Anyway, two days from now, whatever their situation is...
...I intend to kick them out. This is starting to affect my work.
Really?
Yeah.
It's like my workflow has broken down somehow; my concentration's all messed up.
That is bad.
Tell me about it.
Say, what's been happening recently with that guy?
"That guy"?
Yanai-san. I thought that was still going on.
I guess. Well but, I'm not that deep into him.
Having an adulterous affair with him for five years is being "deep into him," isn't it?
What I mean is in the emotional sense. I don't have any excessive expectations of him...
...so if I wanted to break up with him, I could at any time.
Hmm...
Well, Yanai-san and I... How do I put this...
We have a relationship not so much as a man and a woman one, but as comrades in arms.
I didn't say anything.
If you go on seeing each other in the future and it doesn't result in some scene of carnage...
...and you like that, then there's no helping it.
Ala?
So long.
Ah... I'm sorry about yesterday.
Nada's Rare/Old Books Store
As I recall, this place had an elderly man here...
Ah... Um, that was my Father. He hurt his hip a little...
...so I've reluctantly taken it over for him.
Is that right?
Yes.
Excuse me...
Do you have a book of old haiku around?
By what author?
Her name is Suzuki Shizuko.
Suzuki Shizuko...
I want to use it for an article in my work, if possible.
"Sour Summer Oranges, A Pure Heart For Now."
You know it well, don't you?
Since I'm a bookseller for the time being.
However, it's not "Pure Heart," but "Purity."
Huh?
"Sour Summer Oranges, Purity For Now."
Erotic, isn't it?
That one comes and goes, so I'll confirm if we have it.
I'll contact you if I find it.
Ah... then please do that.
This kanji is read as "Suzune-san," right?
Yes.
Then I'll contact you if I confirm we have it.
Then please do.
Yes.
Ah... If you'd like, take this!
Ah... I'm sorry!
I'm sorry!
Here, take this.
Store Manager Nada Koushi
Nada-san?
Yes.
Thank you very much.
Urgently Recruiting
Floor Lady
Will You Work With Us?
Dorm Rooms
Here, I've brought this. It's your favorite.
It's rare for you to come here.
Because that high school friend of yours is coming to your apartment, isn't she?
I was able to make reservations at the restaurant you said you wanted to go to two months ago.
Wonderful, aren't I?
You came just to tell me that?
How cold. What are you being peevish about?
I'm just barely going to make it in time. Don't go bothering me.
Has something happened? What's happened?
Just something or other?
Having an adulterous affair with him for five years is being "deep into him," isn't it?
We have a relationship not so much as a man and a woman one, but as comrades in arms.
If I wanted a child with you, could I give birth to one?
Eh? What's this out of the blue about?
Would it be okay to give birth?
I'm joking. I just wanted to try saying it.
Oi...
Look, only use lines like that in your Dramas.
I know.
Or else...
Could it be you have been thinking seriously about that?
I haven't told you the things I think seriously about, Yanai-san.
Because whenever I did start to tell them, you'd cut me off.
What's this about?
Ah... Sorry I'm so late.
What about dinner?
Since I had something to eat, I won't need it.
Kouta and I were waiting to have dinner with you.
Then since it was getting late, I even went and did that, too.
"Did that"?
Nothing.
Welcome home.
I'm home. Sorry Kouta-kun, for being late.
Yeah.
Did you do the cleaning?
Yeah. Only the kitchen and bathroom today.
Thank you.
Thank you for letting us stay.
I told you to use me like I was a housekeeper.
You don't have to worry about that.
Ah... it's fine not to clean my room.
Um... it's cluttered, but if you cleaned it, I wouldn't know where things are.
All right.
Ah, the bath is heated up. Will you get in it right away?
What's this? You bought all this food?
Yeah. Since it's cheaper to feed three if you buy in bulk.
I see...
Say, Mizue. Want to drink some wine?
Are you sure? What about your work?
I can't write unless I have some wine.
Then, shall I have some? It's been a long time since I had wine.
How'd it go at Hello Work?
Like I thought, it won't be easy finding a job that matches my conditions...
Keep making conditions and such and you won't be able to settle on any job.
Hmm... Well, that's true, but...
I'll take that.
If you're thinking of working at a place for a long time...
...don't you have to consider what conditions you have?
Well, I can understand how you feel.
You wouldn't understand, Suzune.
Here you go.
Wonder if this is what it's like having a wife in the house?
Eh?
Coming home and having meals prepared for me...
...and having the bath all heated up...
It was like this for me the entire time I was married.
My ex-husband was someone who drank, too.
We used to talk about that a lot on the school rooftop back then, didn't we?
About what all of us would be doing ten years later...
...and about how many children we wanted.
Yeah.
I thought you were going to be a singer, Mizue.
It's such a waste you didn't since you had a truly beautiful voice.
Still, I never would have imagined I'd still be single at this age.
Suzune who said she'd marry at twenty but is still single...
...while I, who aimed to be a singer, uses her voice to scold her child instead...
Ironic, isn't it?
Did you know? Seems our Ewa Girl's School will become coed next year.
I'd heard. And somehow the school buildings are being rebuilt somewhere else, right?
That's right. Seems sad somehow...
Even though we have so many fun memories of that place...
Is there anything that stays as is forever?
Suzune.
Could it be you're going out with that man who came here yesterday?
What's this out of the blue about?
Because he doesn't have that "he's just a colleague" feel to him.
And so, what about it?
That man's married, isn't he?
We're not young anymore.
I think having an adulterous affair is a waste of time.
It has nothing to do with you.
But if you're thinking you can win out over his wife...
You have no right to be saying such a thing to me, Mizue!
It's a better life than having a child, getting divorced then laid off...
...and having to depend on people, isn't it?
And thing is, why depend on me?
Say. We haven't met even once in these last twenty years, right?
You must have made lots of other friends since we were in high school, didn't you?
Suzune, you're blessed with luck.
You're successful at your job...
...and you didn't take time getting yourself a husband or children.
And your income is higher than the average person's too, isn't it?
You're different from other people.
I didn't do well at either my work or marriage.
So why did you choose me?
You can't be like some child who thinks a person has a wonderful life just because they're single.
Is that why you thought of depending on me?
I didn't think such a thing.
Even I've got all sorts of troubles!
And yet you can tell me that I'm the lucky one?
Mizue, you wouldn't know this, but I had to work really hard to get here!
Suzune...
...are you saying that I didn't work really hard?
I didn't say that, now did I?
But...
You made the decision to get married and have a child yourself, didn't you?
Then it would have been better if I hadn't gotten married?
It would have been better if I hadn't given birth to Kouta?
That the reason I'm in so much trouble now is because I'm bad at making decisions?
I didn't say that, now did I?!
Because all I make are bad decisions...
...and because I can't even find a job...
...then I should have stayed behind to be beaten by my husband?
Mizue?
Were you being abused?
3 pm...
Ah... the manuscript...
You told me you'd send it in first thing in the morning.
I'm sorry.
All the scheduled Art Department meetings and the location hunting teams were upset and troubled by this.
For now we'll move forward using the manuscript you sent in earlier...
...so fix up the fine details and get it to us.
Yes.
Renovated - Move in immediately!!
Ameer Kagurazaka
Kouta, which among these houses would be best for us?
Suzune-oneechan's house is the best.
That's true, isn't it?
Ah!
Eh?
Nothing.
I'm home.
Welcome back!
It was cold out, wasn't it?
Because the vegetables were so cheap today, I made plenty of pork miso soup.
It'll warm you up.
It's warm...
Were you at your work office all this time?
I was late... for my deadline...
Will you be okay?
How did things go for you?
I was at Hello Work since first thing this morning, but...
Like I thought, it's hard finding the right job.
Still... tomorrow's the day I promised to leave, isn't it?
When it's come to this, I'll have to take any kind of part-time job and make money.
Say, what time did you leave this morning?
Hmm... around eight, I guess.
I called out to you, but you were fast asleep.
Suzune, you don't look so good. Are you okay?
I am feeling a bit off. I've got a headache...
Caught a cold?
I'm fine.
We feel we have a bit of a cold ourselves. That's why we'll go to bed early today.
I haven't heated up the bath yet, though...
That's okay. I can do it myself.
Suzune! Suzune, there's trouble!
What is this?!
Ah...
Ah... I'll go get that.
Sorry.
Yes?
Hey! There's water leaking down on us from your floor!
Ah... I'm sorry.
Episode 2 "Regret"
Haburashi
Women Friends
END