"After Daddy died, Kaoru and Tomoki were separated." "But Daddy's friend Marumo said we could live with him." "I'm thinking about living with these kids." "Along with a dog called Mook." "Can you talk?" "Of course I can." "We made an Okite* Notebook (*rules/code) so that the three of us can live together happily." "Kaoru and Tomoki will soon be first graders." "First time I've had to do two loads of laundry." "Finally done." "He looks dirty too." "Hey." "Hey." "I'll let the dog stay, but he's gotta get washed." "Bring him here." "No, no, no, I don't wanna be washed." "You're going to be living with us so you have to get clean." "I can't take it anymore." "I'm hearing things again." "Mook!" "Get him, get him, get him." "Hurry, hurry, hurry." "Stop!" "Look what you've done." "I was almost finished too." "You guys...this.." "You drew on the poster I made, I didn't you?" "I drew the flowers." "Aren't they cute?" "That's too much.。" "They shouldn't stand out more than the dog." "And this... this must be Tomoki, huh?" "What's this...this picture of seaweed." "That's Mook." "I give up." "What a mess." "Oh, dang." "It's time." "Hey guys, we're going out." "Hurry up and get ready." "Hurry up, hurry up." "The (school) entrance ceremony will be held on April 6th." "From the following day, they will only have classes in the morning for a while, and they will come to school in groups." "The meeting places are noted in this handbook, so please make sure you verify your location." "Yes, I'll do that." "Um..." "Excuse me for asking, but these children aren't your real children, are they?" "No, they're my friend's children." "You're not the guardian either." "The children's uncle is their guardian." "I'm just taking care of them." "Is that a problem?" "No, no." "Technically, there's no problem, but will you be alright?" "There's quite a few school supplies and such that will be needed." "You're right." "There's quite a few." "Oh, and these are the various expenses, like lunch fees, that you'll have to bear." "These are for one child, so for two children, you'll have to double up everything." "Double?" "Supplies to be provided?" "Apron, ...rags for cleaning, bag for indoor shoes." "Wow, we got our work cut out, huh?" "I will now take roll." "Sasakura Tomoki-san." "Here." "Trade places." "I will now take roll." "Sasakura Kaoru-san." "Here." "Are you guys looking forward to school?" "Yeah." "I can't wait to be in first grade." "Me too." "Do you guys know what you do at school?" "It's not a place you go to play, it's a play you go to study, you know." "I want to study." "Sasakura Kaoru-san," "don't forget that spirit." "Yes." "I want to eat the school lunch." "And I want to play with my friends, and then I want to eat the school lunch." "Sasakura Tomoki-san, you eat too much school lunch." "Yes." "It's exciting, isn't it?" "Oh, and I wanna go look for ransel* too (*leather backpacks used by Japanese grade schoolers)" "A black and definitely cool one." "That's right." "We have to buy ransel too." "Will we have just enough time?" "Let's go buy it now." "Yay." "Alright." "Ransel." "A black one." "Ransel." "Black one." "Ransel... 45,000 yen?" "(approx. $558)" "Times 2 is 90,000 yen?" "This is our most popular model." "Would you like it?" "Um...give me 5 seconds..." "I'll take them." "Red and black, one of each." "With this card." "In installments." "Thank you very much." "Yay, I got a black one." "Yay, I got a black one." "Kaoru, what's wrong?" "Nothing." "We have other colors too." "Maybe you'd like a different color?" "Kaoru, do you want a different color?" "I want a pink..." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Pink is a very popular color, and it's currently out of stock." "Red's okay then." "I'm sorry." "So will red be alright?" "Kaoru, let's look for a pink one then." "Okay?" "Can we?" "Sure." "I'll look for it." "Okay, thanks, Marumo." "Oh, excuse me for a moment." "Hello?" "What are you doing, Takagi-san?" "Oh, I'm shopping for ransel." "Ransel?" "No, no, I mean..." "I have the morning off today." "We have a big problem." "What?" "It's this." "The Strawberry Glue that went on sale last month." "The stationery glue made to look like strawberry jam." "Oh, the one that's been selling well." "What's the problem?" "There's been a rash of children who mistakenly licked it." "The phone's been ringing off the hook with complaints." "Look, it even has seeds, and there's this scent." "You can't blame them for making a mistake." "They got us here." "It certainly makes you want to lick it." "I've had it with these complaints about getting sick from eating the whole jar." "I bet they're lying." "But why are we getting these complaints all of a sudden?" "Someone wrote about it on a mother's blog." "So people jumped on the bandwagon and are making false claims." "Even so, we're still responsible." "We didn't have a cautionary note on it saying that it should not be consumed." "We didn't?" "We should've just stuck to our standard merchandise." "It was out of character for us to try to sell fancy supplies." "I still think it's cute." "Yeah, I thought it was a great idea." "Samejima-san and the managers from PR and Sales" "are going around apologizing to the customers." "Wow, that's a tough job." "Hello, Customer Service." "Oh, the strawberry glue." "We're very sorry." "Tada~." "Wow, cool." "Looks good on you." "That's nice." "What about you, Kaoru-can?" "Where's your ransel?" "I don't have mine yet." "The store didn't have the one I wanted so Marumo's going to look for it." "Is that right?" "How exciting." "Oh, let me see." "What should I do?" "Here." "Thanks." "Are you still taking care of the kids?" "Oh, I decided to take them in." "Take them in?" "Yes." "What, what, what." "You mean you're going to be like a foster parent?" "That sounds exaggerated, but I guess that's what it means." "That's not exaggerated." "To take in other people's kids means that you need to be determined and responsible, even more than real parents." "I realize that, of course." "You're not gonna get away with it if you think you can do it half-heartedly, you know." "I know." "Can you really do it?" "Hey, your food's here." "My specialty, Kuji Rice." "Oh boy, the kani-san sausage is on top too." "Cute." "Looks good." "Itadakimasu." "Itadakimasu." "Okay, eat up." "Itadakimasu." "Is it good?" "It's good." "I'm glad." "Why don't you come for lunch tomorrow too?" "I'll make something cute with a sausage for you again." "Yay." "Yay." "You come down if anything happens too, okay?" "No, that would be imposing on you too much." "Besides, I have readymade stuff for their lunch." "Readymade stuff won't do." "Children have to be fed properly." "You have to buckle down" "if you're going to be a foster parent." "I'm sorry." "What's this?" "Oh this..." "It's a list of supplies they need for school." "Bag, lunch bag, apron, cleaning rags, bag for indoor shoes ..." "That's a lot of work to make all these." "What?" "I have to make them?" "Of course." "Everyone makes them." "Don't make it sound so simple." "I haven't sewn anything since life science class in grade school." "That would be impossible." "I want Marumo to make mine." "Sasakura Tomoki-san, don't talk when you eating." "Yes." "Impossible." "Absolutely impossible." "Impossible." "It's too soon for you to get cold feet." "Aya, Aya." "Why don't you help him out." "With what?" "You know, you were saying that lunch bags and stuff are handmade." "Why me?" "Because you have the time." "So this was Hatanaka-san's storage room." "He didn't tell you?" "Pops just told me not to open the door, so at first I was scared that maybe he was hiding a corpse or something." "Why would he do something like that." "I'm sure Mom's old sewing machine was in here somewhere." "I'm sorry for troubling you." "Huh?" "Where did it go?" "It is here?" "Oh, here it is." "I wonder if it still works." "You place the fabric here." "And bring this to the back." "Back?" "Bring it down." "That's right." "And you adjust the speed by stepping on the pedal, as you guide the fabric with your hand." "Guide it." "Ah..." "H-h-how." "Hey, how do you s-s-stop..." "Help!" "Lots of kani-san sausages were attacking me and I couldn't eat all of them." "What kind of dream is he having..." "It's a little noisy at night, so let's just sew by hand." "Sew by hand?" "That's it." "Put the needle through one more time." "Yes." "Yes, that's it." "Finished." "Finally." "Huh?" "Huh?" "I give up." "We're very sorry for the inconvenience we caused you." "Be careful from now on, will you?" "They come complaining to us." "Really getting tired of it." "For the time being, take these back." "Yes, we're sorry." "Stationery supplies are nothing to sneeze at." "Gotta cut my expenses where I can." "Takagi-san, what are you doing?" "Makimura-san." "I was just..." "You're thinking about taking some supplies for your personal use, aren't you?" "No, no, no." "Of course, I'll pay for them." "If I cheat like that, it would be considered corporate embezzlement." "People who do that should be fired." "Fired." "Wow, you're pretty hard-core." "What are you doing here, Makimura-san?" "Oh, my pen's out of ink." "I'm embezzling." "And cheating." "Don't tell, okay?" "My pen's out of ink." "I'm embezzling." "And cheating." "Here's the pattern for apron." "Oh, apron." "Thanks." "Also, go ahead and use these fabrics." "I'll give them to you." "They're cute." "Aren't they?" "Where did you get them?" "I just happened to find some cute fabrics, so I bought them." "Oh, they're cheap ones so don't worry about it." "Thanks a lot." "Oh, that's right." "I have some school supplies for you guys." "Let me see." "Let me see." "Tada~." "Pencils, eraser, notebook." "What's this." "They're not cute at all." "Huh?" "There's a lot of cute ones out there." "You know, the ones with characters and glittery and colorful ones." "But these are fine for me." "They're fine for you too, right, Tomoki?" "I want the one with Ultraman." "These look more" "grown up and cooler." "No." "Yeah, these are better." "Oh, look at this." "Tada~." "That's cute." "Stationery glue ala strawberry jam." "It's called just that too - strawberry glue." "It looks so good." "But you can't eat it." "We're having major problems because of that." "This is stationery glue, so you use it to do things like paste paper, crafts," "spread it on bread." "Right, spread this all over lightly toasted bread, and bite into it..." "Hey, that's not it." "You're not supposed to do that." "You're not supposed to put it on bread." "So you guys sell this kind of things too." "Yes, but this is the only thing geared for children." "Oh speaking of, have you found Kaoru-chan's ransel yet?" "The entrance ceremony's coming up soon, isn't it?" "I'm still looking for one, so don't worry." "Okay?" "Okay, it's bedtime for the munchkins." "If you don't go to bed early, you're not gonna get to be in first grade." "Aren't you going to bed, Marumo?" "Not yet." "You're not gonna get to be in first grade." "You just worry about yourself." "Should I sleep for a while?" "Yeah, it'll be more efficient if I take a quick nap and work on it some more after I wake up." "Yeah, let me sleep for a bit." "Just for a little while." "I'm just going to lay down." "But you're gonna end up sleeping all night, aren't you?" "Yeah, soundly until morning." "I heard it again." "[In your case, you may be hearing what you're feeling in your heart.]" "[Your subconscious feeling is taking the form of a voice.]" "Yes, you're absolutely right." "Actually, I know that too." "I always do this and end up sleeping until the next morning." "Alright, I'm gonna try to go on a little bit longer." "Did you make that yourself?" "Huh?" "Yeah, I'm trying to cut down on my expenses." "That's really sad." "Leave me alone." "Hello." "Hello." "Why are you here, Makimura-san?" "Is it ready?" "Yes, this is it." "To deal with the issue with the strawberry glue, we made a poster and stickers with a warning note." "Does this mean you want us to go around the stores putting this sticker on?" "Yes, please." "Wait, give me a break!" "The past several days we've been going around apologizing and the phone calls have finally settled down too." "It's okay." "I said we'd do it." "But Samejima-san..." "What are we going to do with the inventory if more stock is returned." "It's the right course of action for the company." "But is that our job?" "If the warning note is there, the customers are less likely to misunderstand, and as a result, we'll get fewer complaints and claims." "Even if it's a lot of work now, our department will benefit from it too." "Thank you." "We'd appreciate it if you could get it done this week." "I'll go." "I'm going." "Huh?" "What?" "Mashima, let's go." "What?" "Huh?" "Wait, Takagi-san." "Let's go." "We're counting on you." "Yes!" "Oyaji-san, you're cruel." "Good bye, Mr. Fish." "That's why when we eat, we put our hands together and say itadakimasu." "It means you're going to eat with gratitude." "Mr. Fish, itadakimasu." "It's too early yet." "Tomo-kun, do you want to go for a walk?" "Let's go, let's go." "Where's Kaoru-chan?" "Come to think of it, she hasn't come back since she went upstairs a while ago." "Let me see." "We have language class tomorrow, so I'm studying Japanese." "I have to be able to write hiragana properly." "A-I-U-E-O" "What are you doing?" "Nothing." "How far shall we go?" "I want to go to the school." "Me too." "Alright, the school it is." "Okay, let's try to remember the way to school then." ""When I become a first grader, when I become a first grader"" ""Will I make 100 friends?"" "I used to walk by this shopping area to attend the same school as you guys, you know." "The same one?" "Wow." "Brings back memories." "This area hasn't changed at all." "[Daddy, when are you going to get better?" "]" "[Real soon." "Why, I'll be all better before you know it.]" "[Will you be better by the time I'm start first grade?" "]" "[Yes, I'll definitely be better by then.]" "[When I get better, let's go buy ransel together, okay?" "]" "[Okay." "There's a ransel that I want.]" "[It's pink, and it has lots of hearts on it.]" "[It's really cute." "That's the ransel I want.]" "[I definitely want a cool one.]" "[Okay, got it." "It's a promise.]" "[Pinky promise then.]" "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "What a cute ransel." "It has a lot of hearts." "I hope Marumo-san buys it for you." "You sure threw me off, acting cool all of a sudden, Takagi-san." "I wasn't doing that." "That's a lie." "You got motivated as soon as Makimura-san asked you." "There's a hungry kid who actually wanted to put this on toast, you know." "It needs a warning note." "Besides, it's an item that's selling well." "Right?" "By the way, how many more stores do we have?" "Three more." "That many still, huh?" "Mashima, I'm going to the restroom." "Takagi-san, the restroom's the other way." "Oh, really?" "Ah, found it." "It's pink, and half-price too." "I want this." "I want this no matter what" "Takagi-san." "What are you doing?" "What?" "Mashima." "Why do you need a ransel?" "I don't need it." "I was just looking at it." "But you were saying "I want it no matter what" just now." "That's because, um, this..." "Oh, use it for a shopping bag?" "Look." "See, the opening is wide, right?" "So you can put milk and shoyu and all kinds of things in it." "Yeah, it's real practical." "Plus, see?" "It frees up your hands, so it's very convenient." "It's sturdy and fashionable." "Like in Daikanyama*..." "(fashionable district in Tokyo)" "Everyone in Daikanyama's riding their bicycle with this on their back." "The reason being, it frees up their hands." "See, you can wave your hand too." "I've never seen anything" "like that." "You've got to look around." "Pay more attention." "Let's do lunch sometime, with this on our back." "Okay, I'm buying this." "What?" "Why does it fit so well." "This is just great." "I finally met you." "Where were you until now." "Thanks." "Thank you." "Thank you." "You know." "What?" "Did I ever have reservations about asking you for something when I was a child?" "Nope." "Although there were times" "I wished you had reservations." "Right?" "Why are you asking all of a sudden?" "Are you finally feeling bad about it?" "What are you saying." "I'm talking about Kaoru-chan." "She's really careful about holding back her feelings from Takagi-san." "Well, that can't be helped." "It hasn't been too long since they started living together." "But I feel a little bad for her." "Don't go sticking your nose in other people's business, you hear?" "He has to learn to deal with the kids himself." "Takagi-san, let's get started." "Oh, you already started." "I'm in a panic mode." "I only have until the day after tomorrow." "That's admirable." "Oh, how cute." "You finally got your ransel." "Look." "[It has a lot of hearts.]" "[I hope Marumo-san buys it for you.]" "Thank you, Marumo." "Yeah." "I'm really looking forward to the entrance ceremony." "Marumo, you have to come too, okay?" "Yeah." "Seriously, what the heck is Takagi-san doing?" "He won't even pick up his cell phone." "Is this it?" ""We found a lost dog."" "What's that guy doing?" "Excuse me, did you want something?" "Oh, um..." "Takagi Mamoru-san lives up there, doesn't he?" "Yes." "Open that door there..." "I'm Takagi-san's colleague, Mashima Takanori." "Nice to meet you." "Ah yes..." "Nice to meet you." "Cute." "Takagi-san, are you sleeping?" "Wake up." "I'm here to get you." "Takagi-san, we have to visit five stores today." "This is Takagi-san's house, isn't it?" "Yes." "Who are you?" "Who are you, Oji-san?" "Oji-san..." "Oji-san is..." "I mean.." "I'm actually Onii-san..." "My name is Mashima." "Shima-shima?" "What?" "Not Shima-shima." "Mashima..." "Wait." "Hey." "But what's a little girl doing here." "Don't tell me he has a secret child?" "Marumo." "Shima-shima's here." "Huh?" "Shima-shima?" "Shima-uma (zebra)?" "Shiro-kuma (polar bear)?" "What the heck is that." "Mashima." "So you took them in?" "Both kids?" "Yeah." "No wonder you were acting weird lately." "Yeah." "I'm a fool, huh?" "I'd say." "Where else would you find such a soft-hearted guy." "I'm home." "Sasakura Kaoru." "...kura Tomoki." "...kura Kaoru." "Sasakura Tomoru." "Not Tomoru." "That won't do." "Okay." "Alright, I made it." "What~." "Marumo, you can't come to the entrance ceremony?" "I have lots of work again today." "So I can't come to the entrance ceremony." "Come with us, Marumo." "If you don't, you're not gonna get to be in first grade." "You guys being in first grade is good enough." "But." "Kaoru, you're the big sister, so you'll be alright, won't you?" "I'll be alright." "Then you take of Tomoki for me, okay?" "Okay." "Alright, go on then." "We're going." "Have fun." "Don't you have to go?" "It's the entrance ceremony, isn't it?" "I don't have time for that right now." "I don't have a choice." "We're done with the stickers." "Again, we apologize." "We're sorry." "Please be more careful." "Where to next?" "The Home Center." "I bet they have a lot." "It might take a while." "Can we just come in without permission?" "They don't have enough space right now." "And there's gonna be three of them from now on." "Oh, you're home by yourself?" "Good boy." "Mook?" "What do you have there?" "What?" "Bag for indoor shoes?" "They should have taken their indoor shoes today..." "He must have forgotten them." "Excuse me." "Oh, sure." "Hello." "Takagi-san?" "Today's the kids' entrance ceremony, isn't it?" "Yes." "Did you forget their indoor shoes?" "Indoor shoes?" "I'm not sure." "What do you mean you're not sure." "Where are you now?" "Aren't you at the school?" "I'm at work." "Work?" "This is the entrance ceremony, you know?" "Why didn't you go?" "There's been some trouble at work, so at a time like this how can I say "Let me attend the entrance ceremony"?" "Everyone else is working." "I can't believe it." "Children's entrance ceremony takes precedence for normal people." "Those poor kids." "Don't act like you know it all when you don't know anything." "Tomoki was a little disappointed, but Kaoru understood." "You're the one who doesn't know anything, Takagi-san." "What?" "Kaoru-chan's desperately trying to hold it in." "I'm the one who was desperately trying to get everything ready for them." "What does Kaoru have to hold in?" "Things like desks and cute stationery..." "The things every child wants." "And the ransel too." "I did buy her one." "The pink one that she wanted." "What she really wanted was the ransel with the hearts." "Hearts?" "I can't buy everything the children wants." "Besides, she never told me anything about hearts on the ransel." "She couldn't tell you because she didn't want to impose on you." "Huh?" "Children normally won't hesitate to say it" "If even they know they won't get it, to be able to say" ""I want it" - that's what kids do, right?" "But she held it in and couldn't tell you." "[I want the pink...]" "[What's wrong?" "]" "[Nothing.]" "[" "Thanks, Marumo" "Yeah.]" "[I'm really looking forward to the entrance ceremony.]" "[They're not cute at all." "There's a lot of cute ones out there.]" "[You know, the ones with characters and glittery and colorful ones.]" "[But these are fine for me." "They're fine for you too, right, Tomoki?" "]" "[Kaoru, you're the big sister, so you'll be alright, won't you?" "]" "[" "Okay." "Alright, go on then.]" "Both of them were practicing their answer over and over for when their name was called." "[" "Sasakura Tomoki-san." "Here.]" "[" "Sasakura Kaoru-san." "Here.]" "[" "Sasakura Tomoki-san." "Here.]" "[" "Sasakura Kaoru-san." "Here.]" "[Hey, how many times are you going to practice?" "]" "[As many times as we can." "We're gonna answer real loud so that Marumo can hear us.]" "[" "Sasakura Kaoru-san." "Here.]" "Takagi-san, is something the matter?" "Today's the kids' entrance ceremony." "Yeah, it is." "I swore to myself that I'd watch over them in Sasakura's place." "But I wasn't watching them." "I wasn't watching over them like I should have been." "Can't you still make it?" "Sorry." "We will now call out the names of the new students." "When your name is called, please stand up and answer loud and clear." "Asakawa Daichi-san." "Here." "Andou Yuria-san." "Here." "Ishii Itsuki-san." "Here." "Ishikawa Tsubasa-san." "Here." "Itou Arisa-san." "Here." "Endou Manami-san." "Here." "Kawaguchi Kenta-san." "Here." "Kubodera Kei-san." "Here." "Tezuka Minami-san." "Here." "Look, Marumo's here." "No way." "Koizumi Taiga-san." "Here." "Kogure Aoi." "Here." "Saitou Subaru-san." "Here." "Sasakura Kaoru-san." "Here." "Sasakura Tomoki-san." "He~re." "Shiina Mio-san." "Here." "Taniguchi Hayato-san." "Here." "Togami Genki-san." "Here." "Nakamoto Yuzuki-san." "Here." "Hirose Hibiki-san." "Here." "Machida Haruka-san." "Here." "The 24 new students of Hirokawa Elementary of 2011." "Marumo!" "Marumo." "Marumo." "Marumo, Marumo." "Marumo, you came." "Thank you." "Um.." "Sorry." "Anyway, sorry." "For saying I couldn't come." "We didn't think you were coming." "The bag that Marumo made for me, my friend said it's cute." "This bag too." "Is that right?" "I answered loudly too." "You know, Tomoki's cracked." "He said "He~re."" "I got nervous." "Were you watching, Marumo?" "I was watching." "I watched very carefully." "Okay, let's get going." "Hey, shall we take a picture too?" "Excuse me." "Excuse me, but" "can I ask you to take our picture?" "Sure." "Thanks." "It's all set up to go." "Oh, Mook's here." "Mook." "What?" "Why is he here?" "You're taking a picture, aren't you?" "Don't forget about me." "What?" "Did he talk?" "Are you ready?" "Did you perhaps cry?" "No, I didn't." "What?" "Again." "Excuse me, are you ready?" "Yes, please." "Sit." "Here we go." ""We're in first grade now"" ""We have 100 friends now"" "You guys lie." "Be careful now." "Your head." "See, what did I just say." "You're home." "Hi, welcome home." "Hi." "Hi." "Huh?" "What's this." "It's a desk." "Wow!" "That's my hand-me-down, but it's a present to celebrate your admission to school." "Alright!" "Thank you." "I'm not using this storage room anyway," "so do what you want with it." "You really mean it?" "Thank you very much." "Let's sit down." "Let's study." "Let's study." "Look, a pencil sharpener." "Yeah." "Everyone, gather around." "What?" "It's a new okite." "Oh, you can't read it, can you." "Enryo* is...?" "(*to hold back)" "Enryo wa muyou* (unnecessary)" "What's that?" "We're a family, so we should say whatever's on our mind." "If there's something you want, say so." "It means it's okay to do that." "Okay, Kaoru?" "Okay, Marumo, I want ice cream." "You just had one." "But I want another one." "Didn't you say enryo wa muryou?" "It's muyou, not muryou*." "(*free)" "That doesn't mean you're going to get everything you ask for." "Ice cream's gonna attack you." "What are you going to do?" "Good morning." "Morning." "Oh, it's a heart." "Well, I couldn't buy you the ransel with hearts, but that's a heart too, right?" "That's so tacky~." "What?" "It's cute." "Thanks, Marumo." "Oh, it's an onigiri." "It looks yummy." "No, I tell you, it's tacky." "Why?" "It's cute." "It looks yummy" "No, no, it's definitely tacky." "I say it's cute." "I say it's yummy." "I say it's tacky." "You're kidding me?" "Did he just talk?" "Were you talking with the dog?" "What?" "I mean, the dog's voice is really the voice of my heart, and he's actually not really talking, and..." "What?" "Why?" "What?" "Why are you talking?" "He talks." "He talks." "I talk." "What~?" "Why?"