"That day, Eeyo and I were with our group headed to the institution for the handicapped." "Stop!" "Can't have this here." "No, you can't..." "Please?" "Give me a hand." "Awful." "They from that place?" "That's why I didn't want it around here." "Sex friends!" "Damn!" "They're stuck." "Mustbeinheat." "Uh-oh." "Those kids have turned into magnets again!" "Let's help them." "Come on." "Excuse me!" "Excuse me." "Please let go!" "Sorry folks." "Stand up." "We've caused a problem." "Let's go." "Are you okay?" "I'd just as soon let them go until they're satisfied." "How is it with Eeyo?" "Any problems like that?" "Well, he doesn't have anybody to play magnets with." "So there's no problem." "I guess not." "Eeyo, let's go." "A QUIET LIFE" "This is my family." "My father is a novelist better known abroad." "Mom, whose gentleness binds the family." "Is very strong." "My younger brother is the family clown." "And here I am." "Some day I want to write picture books." "This is my older brother, Eeyo, who is handicapped." "Father was invited to a university in Australia and Mother was going with him." "Here is our story." "It was the day bef ore Father and Mother's departure." "See you!" "Come straight home." "Big family dinner." "It's our Last Supper." "Good grief, that's so morbid." "What if the plane crashes?" "A death wish - Dad's speciality." "Well, that's my Papa!" "Off to cram school." "Study hard!" "What's up?" "Eeyo needs some kind of sport." "Swimming again, maybe." "Something in the paper?" "No, it's nothing." "I just thought he might need to vent some energy." "Look how big your sex organ has gotten." "Go to the toilet." "It's not really a sex organ, is it?" "For him it has nothing to do with sex." "Oh, no!" "GIRL ASSAULTED" "IQ TEST GIVEN TO ACCUSED" "SEX CRIMES BY RETARDED" "What about Eeyo?" "Full of concern." "Father and Mother left for Australia." "May I help you?" "Wait..." "Not again." "I want him to quit, but no way we can contact him." "We must catch him in the act." "I bet he's some kind of a fanatic." "Remember Papa's TV appearance?" "Said he was not religious but felt something he called "prayer"." "That attracted some fanatics." "I have a son who is mentally handicapped." "When he was little he didn't utter a single word." "Not only that, when his mother tried to talk to him, he didn't react." "In those days, we had a phonograph record of birds with various bird call, then their names." "Such as." "We'd listen to the song of the bulbul." "Then the announcer says, "That was the bulbul."" "For some reason my son reacted only to this record." "So we played it from morning till night." "My son was already six, listening to the record but still not uttering his first word." "Summer came." "I took him to our cottage as I do every year." "One morning I walked in the woods, my son on my shoulders." "A water rail cried." "A voice above my head said" ""'That was the water rail."" "I wasn't sure whathadhappened" "It can't be my son." "I passed it off as a hallucination." "But then a part of me felt my son had spoken." "I hoped the water rail would sing again." "If it calls out again, and if I hear my son's voice, perhaps he would start speaking." "So I waited." "A birch tree shone in the sun and swayed in the wind." "And I waited, looking at it." "I believe at that moment I was praying." "I'm neither a Christian, nor a Buddhist." "I have no faith - and yet, at that moment," "I am sure that I must have been praying." "The bird called again." "I heard above my head the clear voice of my son:" ""'That was the water rail"." "All those religious people and cultists came over." "Papa's been strange since then." "So this man came to convert Papa?" "Year, to sign him up." "So what about this water?" "Maybe it holds the spirit of God..." "Don't be stupid." "It's just plain water." "I've got a scientific mind." "The weather:" "Overcast in the south." "Clear over the Sea of Japan." "Please look after him." "Eeyo, see you at home." "Watch out for cars." "Yes." "I have... taken care of myself." "Eeyo!" "Eeyo!" "A car accident?" "It doesn't look that way." "Thank God." "It looks like a child molester." "Molester!" "Where's Eeyo?" "He left some time ago." "Eeyo!" "He grabbed the little girl, pushed her into the hedge, unzipped his pants." "...And spurted in her face." "'Facial ejaculation'." "The girl's face was all with tears - and..." "What if he had AIDS?" "There was someone lurking by the hedge the other day." "Could it be the boy who lives here?" "Eeyo." "Eeyo, thank God." "Was it really true Eeyo was lurking by the hedge?" "What was he doing?" "I've got to go to the store." "Go home when you're finished." "Y es, I will go home." "Partly cloudy." "Scattered showers expected." "Eeyo?" "What's come over you, Eeyo?" "It's the wrong way." "Let's go home." "Eeyo, come on... " "We're going home." "Hey up there!" "Help!" "Please help!" "It's him." "Excuse me." "Yes?" "Is that man connected to religious cult?" "What?" "Religious cult?" "Why would you think that?" "Is this holy water?" "These perverts always prowl around hunting for girls." "But they run a risk of being detained by police." "As an alibi, he probably picked your house." "So he could say he's delivering water to this famous writer." "I see." "So the pervert was dealt with but I was still worried about Eeyo." "Let's go." "What's up, Eeyo?" "Let's go inside." "That was an excellent Mozart." "Sonata K. 311." "It'll be okay." "No more difficult parts." "Let's go home." "Papa had decided to go alone to Australia to deal with his problem." "To explain." "Let me go back." "Mahchan, I've decided to go to Australia." "I thought Papa was going alone." "I decided to go along." "For how long?" "He's invited for eight months." "About taking care of Eeyo..." "Mahchan, there's no need to worry." "Ah." "You'll take care of answering the phones." "Papa's really down." "He's in his biggest depression ever." "But Australia has forests." "We could even live there." "Papa grew upin the forests" "Whenever he's depressed he retreats to nature." "It's true he's been kind of spaced out lately." "Up to now he used to come out of it on his own." "Get it together, Dad." "He's gotten old." "I wonder if the drain fiasco really broke him?" "THE NEXT MORNING" "Not bad, eh?" "Okay!" "Now you can run all the water you want." "THE FOLLOWING MORNING" "God." "What a mess." "Another weekend warrior." "The water drains like a dream." "Why didn't I realize there was another lid?" "It doesn't matter." "But it does." "Look - see how it gets stuck here?" "I should have known." "It's all right dear." "The plumber fixed it." "No, it's not!" "A good chance to act as head of the family, and I blew it." "I'm beginning to wonder if life's worth living any more." "It's 4:30 in the morning!" "Papa was rehearsing his suicide in his study." "The drain incident was the last straw." "He didn't get like this overnight." "I know it'II be hard on you, but I must watch over Papa." "Dear Mama, I dreamt Papa's play was being performed." "Odd, since he's never even written a play." "What's more, you and Papa were the actors." "You both held dolls." "The dolls seemed to look like Eeyo and me." "I can'tsee." "Let's go closer." "Not so fast." "You can't come up here." "Back to the cheap seats." "We thought about your dream." "Going to Papa's play and getting shabby treatment may symbolize that you're treated badly by us now." "Papa says in the dream you are preparing for the time when we are both dead, and you become orphans." "After Father and Mother left, a change came over Eeyo." "Mr. Dando." "His composition teacher." "First noticed it." "Is this note okay?" "Eeyo, here." "This note?" "Look, this B... - ." "Does it work?" "Listen carefully." "Instead of B, try A." "What do you think?" "It's not A." "It's C." "Ah, C." "That's good." "Five stars!" "Mahchan!" "Something's wrong!" "It's a seizure." "See how red his face is?" "He's got a fever." "I wonder why?" "He's taken his epilepsy medicine today." "It's doesn't look too serious." "He'll be okay." "I hope I'm not intruding, but..." "Eeyo wrote this composition after your parents left." "It's a tremendously sad piece." "What do you think?" "FOUNDLING" "See this title." "'Foundling'!" "Are your parents aware of this?" "Depression or not..." "Such heartbreaking music..." "He's even titled it 'Foundling'!" "My dear, it won't do for you to get all worked up." "Mahchan will have the hardest time." "You can't just go to pieces yourself." "You're so right." "Why don't I fix some tea to calm us down." "Umm-what's Papa's depression all about anyway?" "The direct cause is his new novel:" "It isn't going well." "He hasn't been able to solve the core of the story." "You see, writing and living are the same to him." "So if he's stuck in a novel he's stuck in his life?" "Right." "If he can solve his novel he can deal with his life." "As a writer, that's just how he lives his life." "What's the problem?" "Umm..." "I'm not sure myself." "Probably what Kei's termed 'the subject of the soul.'" "Can one reject everything for the sake of the soul?" "Everything?" "Yes." "Would that include Eeyo?" "I guess everything would have to include him." "Now you're done it." "Mahchan's ready to cry." "Are you happy now?" "She's miserable." "Eeyo, is this a sad piece?" "Are you expressing sad feelings?" "About abandonment?" "It is in G minor." "Sad?" "Well..." "I don't know." "Father's older brother died." "Eeyo and I flew to Father's hometown for the funeral." "My deepest condolences." "My... condolences." "Thank you Eeyo, for coming so far." "You too, Mahchan." "It was good of you to make the trip." "You know, I'm eighty years old now." "Eighty years old!" "Oh, that's awesome!" "If you are eighty, you must be about to die!" "Far out!" "Yes, yes." "It is... really far out." "I thank you for worrying about me." "Gather your energy and do a good job of dying." "Yes, I'll gather my energy and do a good job of dying." "Eeyo, it sounds like you want her to die." "I beg your pardon." "It was not the right way to say it." "Take your energy live until you die, and then die!" "I meant that." "Your uncle has gone back to the forest where he was born." "Gone back..." "Eeyo, our village is part of all this." "In all this grandeur some strange things take place." "There's an old legend in this village." "Little children being spirited away, then many of them were later found in the forest." "Your dad heard the story as a boy." "He felt they were from another planet carried here on a rocket." "These abandoned children multiplied and became the people of this earth." "Eeyo, what music have you been writing recently?" "It's called'Foundling'." "Tell me more about it, Eeyo." "Yes indeed." "Since your parents left, Eeyo feels abandoned, doesn't he?" "I don't think so..." "But he did write a piece called 'Foudling'." "Why don't you call your Papa and ask him to come home?" "But Eeyo seems to be doing just fine." "Well, I don't know." "There used to be a mill here in the old days." "When he was little your Papa went to have flour ground and read about St. Francis of Assisi in a magazine." "He thought that to save people he must immediately give up everything he had... parents, brothers, friends - everything." "See where the river shines in the sun?" "We found him there hugging the sack, crying pitifully, his face covered with flour, looking like a tiny raccoon." "He was trembling, thinking St. Francis would take him." "I learned the secret behind 'Foundling'." "'Foundling' is the short name." "The full title is 'Save the Foundling'." "Oh, I remember now, Eeyo!" "Once we went to a park and you found an abandoned baby." "That's when Eeyo must have decided they must be helped." "So that's it, Eeyo!" "No wonder the music sounds so sad!" "You felt sorry for that baby, right?" "Eeyo!" "Don't push!" "He's sick!" "Please!" "Retard!" "If I'd been there I may not have slapped the girl but I would have made her take 'retard' back." "On important things, you must speak out." "She was barely a teenager." "Besides, she was a cute girl." "All children are cute." "Mahchan." "But underneath are the seeds of an ugly adult." "Beyond the pretty face you should've seen the prejudiced housewife thirty years hence." "Remember the time Mr. Dando and I went to Warsaw?" "Everyone was shivering in the cold airport." "We waited and waited - still no baggage." "A government official had his bag taken care of." "We were made to wait because of this one man." "Mr. Dando complained to a guard about the delay." "Naturally, he ignored us." "Then my husband yelled out," ""What's socialism if you can do something like that?"" "Such courage is important." "I believe on this:" "None of us are 'special'." "Entitled to special favor." "We're all born as ordinary people, live as ordinary people, and die as ordinary people." "And die." "And die." "Did that part about death scare you?" "I'm sorry." "But I have one more scary thing to say." "If you live as a 'small person'" "It's easy returning to 'zero' when you die." "Because you've already been living so close to zero." "I think you can die without much fuss, as if stepping down one last stair." "Poland's Chairman Jaruzelski made a state visit to Japan." "Mr. Jaruzelski!" "Mr. Jaruzelski!" "A message from the Japanese people." "Please!" "The handbill demanded freedom for writers and artists in Poland." "My wife has an impetuous streak." "She forced him to take one." "The police knocked her down And she broke her collarbone." "What happened to the bills?" "They're still here." "We'll take over for her." "What do you mean?" "Just that I'd be glad to help out." "Thank you, Ohchan." "There's a reception at the Polish Embassy tomorrow." "All gone." "Please." "Thank you." "Excuse me." "Give me a flier." "Damn." "I'm sorry." "We've just run out of it." "There're one more in your pocket." "Oh yeah." "Oh wait:" "I've written some calculations on the back." "Thank you." "Hi kids." "You three did a fine job handing out the leaflets." "I'd shake your hands if it weren't for the garlic." "Here." "Thank you Eeyo," "Thank you, Mahchan and Ohchan." "We're already had some response." "This is from the lady who took the last one." "A grand plan to reform Poland's agriculture." "Wish she could use her skills there." "Ohchan, she adds that your calculations were excellent." "We, the common people of Japan, did our best for the common people of Poland." "This calls for a celebration." "That's why you're here." "'THE RIBS' 'The Ribs?" "'" "Welcome back!" "Thank you, Eeyo." "Oh Eeyo, was this written for Mrs. Dando's recovery?" "But she hurt her collarbone, not her ribs." "She hurt her ribs." "No, Eeyo." "It was the collarbone." "Broke the collarbone, hurt the ribs." "No, the ribs weren't hurt." "It was the collarbone." "Collarbone hurt, ribs broken." "No, the ribs aren't broken." "The ribs are not broken, so the ribs got hurt." "No, that's still wrong." "Never mind, Mahchan." "Eeyo likes the sound of the word 'ribs'." "Right?" "'The Ribs' sound better." "Eeyo decidedly lives in a world of his own!" "If Eeyo was born normal he would've been quite a man." "He already is!" "Sorry." "But that's what we've always thought." "Papa and Mama too." "We never think what it would be like if Eeyo wasn't handicapped." "You're right." "Of course." "What I said was stupid." "Sorry." "God!" "You're something, Mahchan." "You're one hell of a person." "Isn't she, Eeyo?" "Does that mean something good?" "Sure does!" "The very best!" "I think that Mahchan is... one hell of a person, too!" "As we'd been planning, Eeyo started his swimming lessons." "Should I go look for your little brother?" "He's my big brother." "Oh... sorry." "It's okay." "Happens all the time." "He takes his time..." "Should be out any minute." "Come on, Eeyo." "Watch your step." "This is Arai." "He often swam with your dad when he used to swim here." "Often swam with him." "I've got a lot of time so I can coach Eeyo." "Well..." "Let us do that." "Your key." "Thank you." "It's kind of you." "One, two three, four." "Okay." "Now run is place..., ready?" "One." "Two." "Raise your thighs." "Don't laugh, Eeyo." "They aren't up." "Don't come forward." "One, two, one two." "That's it." "Right there." "One." "Two." "One." "Two." "Now put your face in the water." "Come." "This way." "It's okay." "Put your face..." "Like this." "See - it feels good." "Your turn." "You're okay." "Okay." "Very good." "Way to go." "Try again." "More this time." "Try." "It's okay." "That was good." "Way to go." "Here's Mahchan." "Okay, Eeyo." "Let's go see her." "Come on." "Come on over." "Not like that." "Just go under." "One more time." "We'll go together on a count of three." "Ready - One." "Two and three..." "What's wrong?" "It's okay." "Come over here." "You'll be okay." "Take it easy." "This way." "Don't be scared." "It's okay." "Relax..." "Good." "Terrific." "You were great!" "Okay, dive in..." "Go." "Go" "Go" "Cross your arms like this." "Bringthembehindyourears." "Now put your face in the water." "Slowly bend your legs." "Then kick." "Watch me." "Kick like this." "Come over here." "You can do it!" "It's okay." "I'll catch you." "Kick." "Face in the water and... kick!" "A little more..." "That's it." "You did it!" "Did it!" "Did it!" "Way to go, Eeyo." "For a first lesson, I'd say you did terrific." "What was that?" "I said you did terrific, Eeyo." "'A first lesson'... then what?" "Oh... - for a first lesson you were terrific." "Again, please." "What was that?" "For a first lesson you did great." "Sorry." "When he's happy he wants to hear it repeated." "ANOTHER DAY" "One." "Two." "Face in the water." "Your head down." "That's it!" "Way to go!" "Hmm." "I must say, Arai's really a good coach." "Arms up." "That's good." "Ready?" "Now kick." "Come on." "You're okay." "Okay." "Way to go." "A little more." "You did it!" "ANOTHER DAY" "Catch the water." "Pull." "Push way back." "Catch the water." "Pull." "Push." "Got it?" "Eeyo?" "Come on, Eeyo." "Pay attention to the coach." "What's wrong?" "I see." "Are you interested in her?" "Umm... that lady over there..." "I'll talk with her." "This is Miss Sonoko Makimura, the TV weather reporter." "Rain is forecast in Tokyo and Kanagawa." "Heavy in some areas." "Don't forget your umbrellas." "I see you saw my report." "You bet." "Sorry it turned out wrong." "Your voice..." "Yes?" "It is a tone higher." "Hmm?" "He means your voice is an interval higher than on TV." "My brother has perfect pitch." "What a wonderful ear." "On TV I deliberately lower my voice to sound persuasive." "Thank you for noticing, Eeyo." "You have such a gentle face and sweet expression." "Let me take a look." "Wonderful." "What was that?" "She said you were wonderful." "What does she mean?" "That's your marvelous." "What was that?" "That's your marvelous." "What was that?" "That you're marvelous." "What was that?" "Eeyo's marvelous." "What was that?" "When he's happy he wants more." "Eeyo, come swim with me." "Yes, lets!" "Today's weather..." "Sunny over the Sea of Japan." "Did you by any chance plan this?" "Whenever Eeyo talks about TV Sonoko's name always came up." "She's an old acquaintance of mine so I invited her over." "The weather will improve." "Fair skies tomorrow." "This has been the weather." "Let's call it a blind date, okay?" "Hmm..." "She's got an open heart." "His handicap won't bother her." "Who knows?" "Maybe they'll hit it off and become lovers." "It's his life." "You're acting like a jealous wife." "Don't eat this one, Eeyo." "It's dead clam." "There is sand in this clam." "If it opens it only brings trouble to one who eats it." "Maybe that is why..." "it won't open." "Eeyo, that's marvelous!" "You're a genius!" "What was that?" "Would you like to dance?" "Your real name's Akane, right?" "So why 'Mahchan'?" "It started as 'Mari'." "My father called me that." "Mari - a ball?" "Because my head was so small and round." "One day he explained why my head was like that." "Four years before my birth," "Eeyo was born with a deformed head." "More accurately, there was a small hole in his skull." "When such things happen nature reacts ingeniously." "A big instantly developed outside the hole using the cerebral fluid to press the brain matter in." "As Eeyo was being born, the nurse screamed." "Then Mama passed out." "The nurse must have thought he had two head." "It took real courage for Mama to have another baby." "Her body was determined to have a baby without a bulky head." "A baby with a little head but a big brain." "That's how I, with a tiny round head, was born." "Anyway, that's Papa's theory." "Good thinking!" "Where's Sonoko?" "I have to leave." "Who's that?" "A bad guy." "Just like you." "Got to go with the bastard." "I'm sorry, Eeyo." "You have the most beautiful soul." "That one's a slimeball." "Sorry, Mahchan, but with Eeyo... he just couldn't be my boyfriend." "It would be charity." "Goodbye." "Er..." "What's up, Eeyo?" "That goodbye she said just now..." "It was a tone lower." "I'm very pleased to hear that Eeyo started swimming." "You wrote that he's learning to do the crawl." "He's makingfantastic progress thanks to a wonderful coach named Arai." "Arai?" "He said he knows you well." "You swam together, right?" "Hello?" "Can you hear me?" "Yes, yes, I hear you." "So Arai's back." "Uh-huh." "Is something wrong?" "Oh, no." "Just a little surprised, that's all." "When he was a law student there was some serious trouble." "Trouble?" "I'd rather not say." "He's really been helping us, Papa." "Mahchan, will you promise me one thing?" "What's that?" "When you go to the pool." "Try to go with Mr. Dando." "When Arai coaches Eeyo, always have other nearby." "Never meet him alone." "Promise me that." "Okay?" "Come on, Eeyo!" "Come on, Eeyo!" "He did it!" "Wow, twenty meters." "With the breathing yet." "Thank you both." "Arai, Mr. Dando... you two have been wonderful." "You surprised me!" "I finally caught up with you." "Are you done for today?" "Eeyo did so well today, I'll give you a ride home." "Hop in." "Watch your legs." "Eeyo, want anything to drink?" "Coffee would be nice." "Get him a can." "I heard something good today." "Really?" "What?" "Mahchan's secret." "Oh, really?" "What is it, Eeyo?" "Later." "A hint:" "It has to do with dreams." "Yeah." "Mahchan's dream." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Do you want to wait?" "Or you can go on home." "Er... my kid brother's at cram school, so it's just the two of us here." "Um..." "I think I'll say good bye." "Thank you for the ride home." "Eeyo, come on." "We shouldn't keep them." "We shouldn't keep them." "Hey..." "No pressure, babe." "Just got out first to let you out of the car." "Buying them coffee?" "Oh, I'm sorry." "I was just going to pay for it." "Stronger!" "Okay, turn." "Now turn." "Kick." "That's it." "I promised Papa I wouldn't see Arai with no one around." "Perhaps I hurt his feelings." "If that's the case, could you patch things up for us?" "Well, all right." "I'll have a talk with him." "Why don't you have a seat?" "Want some beer?" "No, thanks." "I don't drink while I'm training." "Well, them..." "Isn't it better to talk somewhere quiet?" "Shall we go?" "Mahchan had a dream about me." "She married me and brought Eeyo with her." "Dig that." "In her dream I've got a two-bedroom apartment." "Through the kitchen door is a pool in the next room." "Eeyo's swimming back and forth with me coaching him." "Mahchan's still in her bridal gown, with a wilted bouquet." "She's standing on the wet pool deck, bewildered." "What a hoot." "You know what she has in mind." "Wait a minute." "How do you know all this?" "How?" "Did Mahchan tell you?" "Well, no." "It was Eeyo who told me." "Oh, come off it." "You know Eeyo wouldn't volunteer that." "We'd have snips of conversation during our breaks." "This dream bit just came out them." "Bullshit." "You weaseled it out of him." "Now you're blabbing it." "You're causing her such trouble!" "Trouble?" "Tell that to Kei." "His writing about me has brought me nothing but trouble." "Get off it." "Kei wrote about you because You sold him your notes." "Thanks to him everybody thinks I'm a sex criminal." "How you gonna fix that?" "I don't give a damn." "But I am going to say this:" "Stay away from Mahchan." "What's the idea of waylaying her in town?" "Hey - it's none of your business." "Are you telling me what to do?" "I'm Mahchan's guardian while Kei's away." "It's my job to protect her and Eeyo from scum like you." "What are you doing?" "Stop that!" "Don't be shocked." "Mr. Dando looks pretty awful." "Oh, my - what has happened?" "I am shocked." "Look at me." "That Arai doesn't stop halfway." "Maybe he was guilty in that incident." "He's talking about an old case involving Arai." "But he had nothing to do with it." "That's what the police concluded." "It's not fair to make him a criminal on mere speculation." "Mere speculation!" "Lately all our disasters seem to involve broken bones." "Except for me it really was the ribs." "Say, Eeyo... would you play 'The Ribs' for me?" "Um... what incident was Arai implicated in?" "There's a video here somewhere." "More on the 'Cruise to Death' incident." "A passing boat found the bodies." "Much of the incident still remains a mystery." "Three members of a Tokyo swim club took a cruise from Numazu to Oshima." "The three were Chikako Suzaki, 35, a travel agent" "Shingo Kurokawa, 50, an insurance salesman and Yasuo Arai, 21, a law student." "Let's look at the map." "Having left Numazu, they'd just entered here at dusk." "Exactly what happened that fateful night when Kurokawa and Suzaki were last seen alive?" "The two were spotted at dawn by a passing fishing boat." "They were already dead." "Police autopsied the bodies with mystifying results." "Police say Kurokawa had drowned and Suzaki was thrown overboard after being strangled." "Who strangled Suzaki?" "Why had Kurokawa drowned?" "Where was Arai, the third shipmate, all this time?" "I was asleep all night." "It was my turn to stand watch early next morning." "I went below at 10 p.m. And fell asleep in my cabin." "I woke up at 5:30 when the alarm went off." "I went topside but no one was there." "I thought the two had accidentally fallen overboard." "I radioed the Coast Guard and waited for their boat." "It was the dead of night." "No witnesses." "Only three know the truth, but two are dead." "The other claims to have been asleep." "The truth, therefore, remains a mystery." "Kurokawa's widow now offers startling new information." "Police say my husband went to settle his affair with that Suzaki woman." "They argued." "He killed her." "Then himself." "Well, I don't buy it." "Wasn't Arai her lover?" "Weren't they engaged?" "What about Suzaki's life insurance policy?" "My husband sold it to her." "It was worth 130 million yen." "You know who's the beneficiary?" "It's Arai, that's who." "Arai." "Whew!" "Eeyo's music really soothes my poor old ribs." "Oh, were you watching that?" "Thank you, Eeyo." "Have a seat." "So what happened after that?" "It's still a mystery." "Police called it a murder-suicide." "Was there really insurance?" "Sure." "Arai was the beneficiary." "People all over Japan were blaming him." "Desperate, he sold his notes to your father." "Then Papa wrote his novel?" "Yes - based on Arai's notes." "You haven't read it?" "No, nobody in my family reads Father's works." "That's right." "I forgot." "Did the novel help save Arai?" "No, I don't think it did..." "The situation has been completely changed." "In the book Arai is a high school boy." "The lonely boy falls for a girl who works from the same town." "His infatuation with her keeps building, and decides to wait for her." "He wasn't able to put his feelings into words." "Help!" "Somebody!" "Hey!" "You!" "You're one of the kids from our school." "What's this?" "Did you have the hots for this girl?" "You killed her." "Jesus Christ!" "You haven't even done her yet..." "You've had it." "What a mess." "Your life's over." "Kid." "Stop bawling, for chrissake!" "Beat it!" "I'll take over now." "Get out!" "Leave the rest to me." "Get lost!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Did Papa want to be the scapegoat to save Arai?" "It seems like his variation on Christ's crucifixion." "The boy has the dead girl's body in front of him." "He knows his life is finished." "He sees no way out." "Redemption in real life?" "Is a clean slate possible?" "Enter a fifty-year-old man-drunk." "Papa's dark side right?" "Sees the despairing boy and says." ""I'll be your savior"." ""I'll sacrifice myself to deliver the grace of God."" "In truth, others sacrifice for your Papa." "Right." "He pleads depression." "Then flees to Australia with your Mama, leaving you with Eeyo." "Then I get beaten up by Arai instead of him." "Your Papa is too easy on himself." "Because he feels he's special, he unconsciously makes others sacrifice for him." "I don't feel I'm sacrificing." "No, you wouldn't." "Caring for Eeyo isn't self-sacrifice." "It's just living your life." "I'm sorry." "Put my foot in my mouth again, didn't I?" "As I said before, you're one hell of a girl, Mahchan." "Isn't she, Eeyo?" "Hmmm..." "Mahchan is one hell of a girl." "Anyway, you'II see what your Papa meant from the novel's opening lines." "Father once said to me" "one day when I was a child," ""Don't ever think another human being" "will sacrifice his life for you." "For to think someone would do that" "is the lowest depravity of a human being."" "One person is not a tool for another." "Eeyo, are you sure you want to go?" "Let's skip the lesson." "Mr. Dando couldn't come with us." "He has enough problems with his rib injury." "I, however, shall swim." "Eeyo, let's go." "So you heard all the gossip." "The cops cleared me, but people still suspect... even you, Mahchan." "Maybe there's a flaw in my character." "But I'm trying, I really am." "That woman who got the coffee." "She's..." "I know." "She's Mr. Kurokawa's widow." "We're living together." "I'm supporting her." "I want to start over." "Think I can?" "I'm sure you can." "Look, there he is." "Damn busybodies!" "Let's go over Eeyo's training plan outside." "Pity, but the way things are I can't coach Eeyo anymore." "You shouldn't quit swimming." "Not after coming so far." "I still want you to continue without me." "Promise?" "Yes." "But how...?" "You'll need a good guidebook." "The one I used for Eeyo is very good." "You want to use it?" "Yes, if you'll lend it to us." "No problem." "I'll make it a gift." "It's at home now." "Let's go get it." "Where to?" "My condo." "It's right over there." "Just a minute." "Mrs. Kurokawa lives here." "I live here." "But they're both mine, of course." "Come in." "I am not fond of rock or new pop music." "Oh, right." "If you want classical, it's next door." "Like this." "Go on in." "Why not come over here?" "I won't do anything." "How can we talk with you there?" "I know how you feel about me." "Want to marry me and bring Eeyo?" "You can move right in." "See, Eeyo can sleep In Mrs. Kurokawa's room." "Come on." "Cut the demure act." "I've seen your breast stroke with your legs wide open." "What's wrong?" "You never had a date?" "You never had sex?" "If you want, I'll show you what you're missing." "But Eeyo's next door." "We don't want him to hear, so..." "Just show me something to mark our new relationship." "Not the tits." "I've seen you in a swimsuit." "How about what you've got down below?" "In your father's novel he wrote" "I spread the girl's legs apart to form the letter 'M' as I exposed her belly." "It'll be fun using his own daughter to do that." "Let's put your legs into an 'M'." "Would it be like this?" "Or like this?" "What's this?" "Stop it!" "You shouldn't do this!" "Can't you see?" "I'm not a tool for you..." "Don't you understand?" "No!" "This is terribly wrong." "Stop... please!" "You okay, Mahchan?" "I fought for you." "You were in a tight spot, but I took care of him!" "Everything's fine here." "What about you?" "Papa is all right now." "His depression has passed." "Yesterday he read all day, then at dusk he began." "Fixing dinner." "Completely forgot about me." "I think I'll come home this week." "What did Papa make?" "Stewed tongue." "I'd say he had you out of his mind for a long time." "Even a tough stewed tongue takes about 3 hours to cook." "Actually, the tongue was very tender." "He's in the kitchen now doing who knows what." "I'm off. 'Bye." "'Bye." "Oh, I almost forgot." "I came in fifth in Science II." "Which means...?" "That's I'II have my pick of good colleges, no sweat." "Good for you!" "Congratulations." "I owe it all to you and Eeyo." "See you later." "Eeyo, Mama's coming home." "So this diary is over." "It needs a title." "You're the expert on titles." "Got a good one for me?" "How about..." "'A Quiet Life'." "That most certainly is our life, is it not?" "'A Quiet Life'."