Thanks in particular to Ukyou Kuonji and Julian Fong for many helpful
discussions (and the occasional line; the omake is mostly Ukyou's), and
to Luke Mason and Amelia Corrigan for useful comments.
A word of warning before we begin: this story follows on from the
continuity of my previous stories "STILLE NACHT" and "Susuharai," so
the reader would do well to look over those before proceeding. I hope
that that won't be too much of a burden. ^_^
The English translations of Gilles Vigneault's lyrics are my own. I'd
probably be deluding myself if I thought that my jokes at the expense
of Quebec nationalism were still funny to anyone save myself; however,
Kano was born too early to be a _Gekiganger_ otaku, so SAGN will have
to do. :)
Comments are always welcome.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Paul Corrigan
corrig11@pilot.msu.edu
--
Rei: [Q] You possess a false body and a false soul. Do you know why?
[A] I am neither false nor fake. I am simply me.
[Q] No. You are an empty shell with a false soul...You're just an
object that is pretending to be human. Look deep within yourself. Do
you perceive the almost intangible and invisible presence that lurks
below your waking self, inside your darkest dreams? It is there that
your true identity lies.
[A] No. I am me. I became myself by the instrumentality of the
links and relationships between myself and others. I am formed by
interaction with others. They create me as I create them....
[Q] But there is someone else who is your true self. You don't
know her, but she exists.
--_Neon Genesis Evangelion_, episode 25, 1996
Nanami: I want to surpass everything. I'll beat you, and then my
brother, myself up to now...My brother was part of how I could be myself. I
believed that there had to be some sort of bond between us. But there was
nothing!...Tell me. What do I have? Am I just one more lowly insect?
--_Revolutionary Girl Utena_, episode 32, 1997
--
[Night. The Miyazawa living room.]
[Cut to the couch. A young man, apparently Soichiro Arima, and a young
woman, apparently Yukino Miyazawa, stand before the couch, with the
Arima figure on the left and the Yukino figure on the right; the Arima
figure is holding the Yukino figure's hands in his and staring deeply
into her eyes. The Arima figure is dressed in his black winter uniform;
the Yukino figure is in a white kimono with no motif of any kind. It is
not clear, however, that these in fact are the Arima and Yukino we
know, however, because they seem to glow with an unearthly light which,
for all that, does not seem to light up the room.]
Yukino: I have been expecting you.
Arima: I am honored to be here at last.
[They embrace and kiss deeply.]
[Cut to the floor at the feet of the Arima and Yukino figures. The
Arima figure apparently is wearing black socks; the Yukino figure is
barefoot. We see the kimono slowly slip to the floor.]
[Cut to the easy chair, on which Hideaki Asaba is sitting. Kano
Miyazawa is sitting on his lap. For no apparent reason Peropero the dog
is on Kano's lap. Asaba and Kano are expressionless, apparently staring
at the scene unfolding before them at the couch.]
[Close up on Asaba's face.]
Asaba: [formally] I know what you are thinking. They are like gods.
[Close up on Kano's face.]
Kano: [equally formally] I cannot possibly compare to her.
[Asaba's hand catches her chin, and Asaba turns her face to face his.]
Asaba: What if I told you that you were wrong?
[Kano blushes, but for all that does not stop Asaba as he moves to kiss
her deeply.]
[Cut to a view of the hall from the living room, facing away from the
couch and the easy chair. A figure in an apparently shapeless outfit is
just visible in the shadow, owing in part to round-rimmed glasses that
catch the dim moonlight. Peropero dashes into the dark hall out of
sight.]
Kano: [whispered] I feel strange...
[The light reflected from the glasses of the figure disappears.]
[Cut to the ceiling in the bedroom of the Miyazawa daughters. The main
light is switched off, but is just visible in the dim light.]
Tsukino: [off; whining] Kano! Do you have to be so loud when you're
sleeping?
[Cut to a closeup of Kano's head, poking out from under the futon. She
has apparently just woken up from a dream. Her left hand is tucked
under her head.]
Kano: [groggily] I know for a fact I wasn't crying again.
[Cut to a full view of both Tsukino and Kano in their futons. Tsukino
is curled up in her futon, her eyes shut, having clearly been trying to
sleep and failing, owing possibly to the noise Kano has been making.]
Tsukino: [angrily, through her teeth] No! You were groaning like you
were being tortured or something! Can't you have normal dreams like
everyone else? I need sleep! I need to study all day tomorrow!
Kano: [not sorry any more] Sorry. [looks down towards the end of the
bed; remembers something, looks to her left, freaks] My arm! Oh my God!
Where's my arm?
Yukino: [off camera; mumbling in her sleep] Must...take...test...
Tsukino: [unsympathetic] You're lying on it, stupid.
Kano: [looking to her left] Oh. Right. [sits up; her left arm, clearly
asleep, hangs uselessly by her side] I hate when that happens. [stands
up, using her good right arm to lift herself up, and moves off camera]
Tsukino: Where are you going?
[Cut to Kano at the door of the room, which she has opened with her
good hand.]
Kano: The bathroom. [pins-and-needles finally hit her left arm; she
grimaces absurdly] Ack!
[Cut to a shot of the tap of a bathroom sink, at first running. The
water is shut off.]
[Cut to Kano in her pajamas, staring at her reflection in the bathroom
mirror; she apparently was splashing her face, as some drops of water
are dripping from her chin.]
Kano: [thinking] That was the weirdest dream ever.
[Cut to the upstairs corridor of the Miyazawa house, outside the
bathroom door. The light coming from inside is shut off. Kano emerges,
and starts to pad back down the hall to the bedroom.]
[Cut to the side wall of the corridor. Standing there are the Arima
figure and, to his right, the Yukino figure, clad--and glowing--as in
Kano's dream. They watch Kano as she passes from left to right on her
way down the hall. Kano does not notice them.]
Arima: [looking off camera right; blushing] Was that necessary?
Yukino: [looking off camera right; thoughtful] Perhaps inevitable.
[looks at him, a slight smile; softly teasing] Do you regret it?
[The Arima figure looks most unnerved, and starts looking for escape
routes. In the process, he seems to notice the camera. Apparently
relieved, he splutters and bows politely towards it.]
Arima: Good evening.
[The Yukino figure looks towards the camera, perhaps to see what the
Arima figure is talking about. She acknowledges it and bows low, still
smiling.]
Yukino: And now for something completely different.
--
[BGM: Suitably dramatic and stirring martial-sounding music.]
[File footage of the Tokyo skyline, complete with Tokyo Tower.]
Narrator: [preferably male, authoritative-sounding, suitably
"documentary"] In the year 2001 AD the Japanese Empire lay in ruins.
The bursting of the bubble economy had resulted in record unemployment,
in turn leading to an increase in juvenile delinquency and petty crime.
Foreigners roamed the streets, many of them from Montreal, Quebec.
[File footage from somewhere official in Washington, DC. It might be of
President George W. Bush on Inauguration Day.]
Narrator: In the United States of America, President George W. Bush
assumed power with much doubt cast on his credibility as a people's
tribune. In a close election, he had received slightly less than a
plurality of the vote, but had still won owing to technicalities in the
US presidential election process. Moreover, the bursting of the
Internet bubble had slammed the brakes on an unprecedented global
economic expansion, adding further uncertainty to the future of America
and the world at this time of transition.
[File footage of the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.]
Narrator: In Quebec, the resignation of the provincial premier, the
moderate nationalist Lucien Bouchard, and his imminent replacement by
the harder-line Bernard Landry, cast uncertainty onto the political
future of the separatist Parti québécois, and, by implication, that of
the province of Quebec and of Canada itself.
In short, it was an era of chaos.
[Footage ad lib. from the _Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo_ ("His and Her
Circumstances") TV series.]
Narrator: Meanwhile, in the months leading up to these events, 15-year-
old Yukino Miyazawa, a young woman of humble origins, was the
undisputed queen of the first-year class at Hokuei Prefectural High
School, located in the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture, not far
from Tokyo. She impressed all who met her with her excellent scholastic
performance, her beauty and her grace. However, Miyazawa's public image
was a mere façade covering up a vain, lazy, self-centered interior,
specifically designed to earn the public acclaim she so desperately
craved.
However, much to her chagrin, Miyazawa's "debut" at Hokuei High was
overshadowed by the enrollment of one Soichiro Arima, a young man from
a wealthy family of doctors tracing itself back to the Tokugawa
Shogunate, whose intellect, handsome appearance and breeding, not to
mention his athletic abilities, easily made him Miyazawa's peer.
However, in an incident that need not concern us here, Arima saw
Miyazawa's public image, among other things, shattered before his eyes.
The consequence of this was that Arima became the first outside the
Miyazawa family to know the true personality of Yukino Miyazawa. For
her part Miyazawa was the first that Arima trusted with the knowledge
of his struggle to rise above the shameful circumstances of his birth.
The two made a pledge to abandon their public images and express their
true natures to the world at large. In the process of making this
change in their lives, they became close friends, then somewhat more
than close friends, to being _kareshi to kanojo_ ("boyfriend and
girlfriend"). What commonly follows this was perhaps only a matter of
time.
[Still of the Arima house.]
Narrator: The process was not without incident.
[Close up of the front gate of the Arima house. A brand-new plaque on
the side says TAKESHI ARIMA, M.D., CARDIOLOGIST.]
Narrator: In December 2000, for example, it fell to Arima to ask
Miyazawa for their first Christmas date, which for obvious reasons, and
not so obvious reasons that need not concern us here, she happily
accepted. Without either of them intending it, the events of this
Christmas date contributed to the decision at the New Year of Soichiro
Arima's father, Takeshi Arima, M.D., to disown the rest of his family,
who had, for various reasons, long opposed his decision to adopt
Soichiro. In a related act Dr. Arima renounced all claim to the local
hospital which he had inherited from his own father.
[Still of a medium-sized Japanese city hospital.]
Narrator: Dr. Arima's sudden decision to return to private practice
caused a stir in the medical community of Kawasaki, and led to rapid
changes therein. These included a re-organization and downsizing in the
Kawasaki city hospital, whose effects on the hospital's quality of care
and reputation would be highly uncertain, regardless of the immediate
improvements to the hospital's finances.
[File footage of Valentine's Day candy in various confectionery
stores.]
Narrator: This is how matters stood in February of 2001. The 2000-01
academic year, which had begun in April, would soon be over, and the
entrance examinations for Hokuei High and other local high schools were
rapidly approaching. Also quickly approaching was St. Valentine's Day.
In Japan, for reasons beyond the scope of this story, it is the custom
for women, rather than men, to give gifts to their acquaintances of the
other gender, usually of chocolate, with more elaborate ones given to
their true objects of affection. The men, at least in principle, are to
return the favor on "White Day," a month later on March 14.
However, Soichiro Arima was not fond of chocolate, having been deluged
with it for several St. Valentine's Days in the past, and now that he
had been spoken for was looking forward to not receiving any. To that
end, he had discouraged Yukino Miyazawa from buying him any chocolate.
Miyazawa for her part was overjoyed, being excused from the necessity
of buying any.
Godspeed, Yukino Miyazawa. Godspeed, Soichiro Arima. The world is at
your command, if you so will.
--
[Cut to the ceiling in the bedroom of the Miyazawa daughters. The main
light is switched off, but is just visible in the dim light.]
Tsukino: [off; whining more loudly than before] KANO! Stop talking in
your sleep, already!
[Cut to a close up of Kano's head, poking out from under the futon. She
has apparently just woken up from a dream. Her left hand is tucked
under her head.]
Kano: [aloud] Okay, now _that_ took the cake.
--
Les perce-neiges de février/The Snowdrops of February
--
A _Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo_ ("Karekano") fanfic by Paul Corrigan
--
_Karekano_ concept devised by Masami Tsuda
--
For Amelia
Mon propre petit ange
--
[Cut to a still of an ordinary Japanese junior high school.]
[Caption: SOUTH SHIRAKAWA PUBLIC SCHOOL]
[Still of a corridor inside the building.]
[SFX: A bell rings to dismiss classes.]
[Close up on a classroom sign reading 2-C.]
Teacher: [male; off, from inside the classroom] Well, that's it for
today.
Class rep: [female; off] Stand. [beat] Bow.
Teacher: [off] Enjoy your lunches. Good afternoon.
Students: [wishing him well _ad lib._] Yes, sir...Thank you, sir...Good
afternoon, sir...
[SFX: Students are heard leaving their seats.]
[Still of the scene inside the classroom. Students are eating their
lunch, or are standing around at each other's desks conversing, or are
reading comics, or are studying for the next class, and thus and so
forth.]
[Cut to front view of Kano Miyazawa, sitting at her desk clad in her
winter uniform, her boxed lunch in front of her. She appears lost in
thought. The desks immediately next to her are mostly empty.]
[Close up on the boxed lunch. It is untouched.]
[Close up on Kano's left profile.]
Kano: [thinking] What to do...
[Still of Megumi Sadamoto, a girl of about Kano's age and height,
tomboyish, with messy black hair, clad in a uniform identical to Kano's
and apparently standing next to Kano's desk. She has a blue folder in
one hand, with a white fleur-de-lis on the front. Her expression is
enthusiastic.]
Megumi: [VO] Hi, Kano. Can I sit down?
[Still of Kano, looking up to acknowledge Megumi; she is pleased to see
her.]
Kano: [VO] Oh, hi, Meg. Sure, grab a seat.
[Still of Megumi, perched on the side of an empty desk, the folder on
her lap, apparently looking around the room for something but not
finding it.]
Megumi: [VO] Isn't Yurika here?
[Still of Kano, looking away from Megumi, with a rather peeved
expression on her face.]
Kano: [VO] She went to visit Tsukino. _Again._
[Still of Megumi, her hand covering her mouth to stifle a giggle.]
Megumi: [VO] Are you jealous?
[Still of Kano, her arms folded, looking grumpy.]
Kano: [VO] Why? Can't help it if she thinks my sister's cooler than I
am.
[Still of Megumi, holding out the folder, as if to pass it to Kano.]
Megumi: [VO; disappointed] That's too bad. I wanted you both to tell me
what you thought of this.
[Still of Kano, taking the folder from Megumi.]
Kano: [VO; expository] Hi. I'm Kano Miyazawa. I'm fourteen years old.
I'll soon be finished my second year of junior high school at South
Shirakawa Public School in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture.
[Still of Megumi, looking expectant.]
Kano: [VO] This is Megumi Sadamoto. She's in class 2-D. I'm actually in
class 2-C, but Megumi visits all the time.
[Stock still of Yurika Anami, a girl similar in appearance and build to
Tsukino Miyazawa, although slightly taller and with slightly shorter
hair. She is standing at the left of the screen, in front of and facing
Tsukino Miyazawa herself. Yurika's hands are clasped in supplication;
Tsukino looks apprehensive.]
[Captions underneath:
Left: YURIKA ANAMI, AGE 14
Right: TSUKINO MIYAZAWA, AGE 15]
Yurika: [VO] Please be my _onesan_...!
Tsukino: [VO] Kano, save me...!
Kano: [VO; expository] My other friend Yurika is in my class, but she
has an enormous crush on my sister Tsukino, so she goes to see her
every lunchtime. Tsukino acts embarrassed, but I think she really likes
her back.
[Still of Tsukino at the desk in the Miyazawa girls' room, surrounded
by textbooks, trying to study while Kano tries to pull her away.]
Kano: [VO; to Tsukino, whining] Tsukino, I wanna play...
Tsukino: [VO] Not now! I've got to study!
[Still of Tsukino, Yurika, Kano and Megumi, apparently heading home
from school. Tsukino is making as if to part company with Kano.]
Kano: [VO; to Tsukino] You're not going home again?
Tsukino: [VO] Got to go to the library and study. Tell Mom not to hold
dinner.
Yurika: [VO] I'm coming too!
Kano: [VO; expository] Tsukino hasn't been that sociable with me
lately, what with her studying so much for high school entrance exams.
Yurika probably sees more of Tsukino than me nowadays. She won't take
no for an answer.
[Close up of Kano reclining back in her chair, looking thoughtful.]
Kano: [VO] I can't blame her. In February all young women's thoughts
turn to love. However, I like to think I am more mature than my big
sister in these matters. A woman of the world, if you will. Certainly
the object of my affection is of a more mature sort.
[Still of Hideaki Asaba, in his summer uniform, looking suitably tanned
and beautiful. He is chatting and laughing with someone off camera; it
might be in the girl's room at the Miyazawa house.]
Kano: [VO] Hideaki Asaba. Age 16, first year at Hokuei Prefectural High
School.
[Still of various Hideaki Asaba Dinner Show promotional materials,
picturing Asaba in various glamorous and/or provocative outfits and
poses. One is clearly a gay porn fan comic featuring Asaba and Soichiro
Arima.]
Kano: [VO] Late of the Hideaki Asaba Dinner Show at Hokuei High's
cultural festival in autumn.
[Still of the band of Kazuma Shibahime, Tsubasa Shibahime's
stepbrother, performing in concert at Hokuei High.]
Kano: [VO] It failed to win first prize, which went to a late entry by
students apparently from another school...
[Still of two groups of protesting students. One group at the left
holds banners, reading ASABA WAS ROBBED. Another group at the right
holds banners, reading GET OVER IT. Tsubasa is the apparent ringleader
of the group at the right.]
Kano: [VO] ...a controversial development widely protested by girls at
many area schools.
[Still of Asaba seated, roses in the background, his shirt off, showing
off his beautiful pectoral muscles. He is running his left hand through
his hair and has a come-hither look on his face.]
Asaba: [VO] You know you want me.
Kano: [VO] He is widely regarded as being God's Gift to Females.
[Stock still of Asaba, on the right, and Yukino Miyazawa, on the left,
in the girl's room at the Miyazawas, laughing and talking about nothing
in particular. Yukino is petting Peropero.]
Kano: [VO] I happen to have met and to know Hideaki Asaba personally,
as he is a classmate of my eldest sister Yukino. So, in a real sense, I
am on the inside track to gaining Hideaki Asaba's affections.
[Close up on Yukino's laughing face.]
Yukino: Fortunately Yukino is not a serious competitor for those
affections herself, this shot notwithstanding. She's actually dating
Soichiro Arima.
[Still of a close up on Arima's face, which bears a friendly smile.]
Arima: [VO] Hi.
Kano: [VO] Arima is widely regarded as being God's Other Gift to
Females. Their precise ranking has not been determined.
[Still of Kano and Peropero at a long table, inspecting what appear to
be paper punch-card ballots. Behind them is a blackboard, divided in
half with marks for S. ARIMA on the left and marks for H. ASABA on the
right. It's not clear who's in the lead.]
[Caption: DON'T BLAME THE AUTHOR, HE VOTED IN MICHIGAN]
Kano: [VO] A precise ranking may well be impossible. These things are
partly a matter of opinion.
[Still of Arima (on left) and Yukino (on right) posing glamorously in
their winter uniforms. There might be cherry blossoms in the
background.]
Kano: [VO] However, nobody disputes that Arima and my sister make a
good couple, nor that they're the king and queen of the social world of
Hokuei High.
[Still of Arima and Yukino, blushing like mad, moving in for a kiss in
a terribly romantic fashion. Now there are definitely cherry blossoms
in the background.]
Kano: [VO] I also concede that Yukino has had more experience in the
practical arts of romance...
[Still of Peropero sniffing a snowdrop.]
[Caption above, in cheerfully colored crayon: EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL
DIFFICULTIES, PLEASE STAND BY]
[Caption below, in black type: THE AUTHOR ALSO DOES NOT WRITE LEMONS]
Kano: [VO] ...though I'm not at liberty to say how I know that.
[Caption below, replacing the other: HOWEVER, HE PLEADS GUILTY TO
READING THEM NOW AND AGAIN, IF THEY DO NOT SUCK]
Kano: [VO] However, the hard fact is she had a head start.
[Still of the Miyazawa sisters standing on a medal winners' platform,
the kind seen at the Olympics. Yukino stands on the number one post in
the center, wearing a gold medal (and darned proud of it too); Tsukino
stands at the number two post on the right, wearing the silver (with a
neutral expression); Kano stands on the left at the number three spot
(grumbling silently).]
Kano: [VO] She is, after all, the eldest sister. At any rate, age is no
measure of maturity.
[Stock still of Mr. Miyazawa freaking out about God knows what, with
Mrs. Miyazawa sweatdropping at his side.]
Mr. Miyazawa: [VO; foaming at the mouth] Shotgun! Where's the shotgun?
Mrs. Miyazawa: [VO; nervous] Is the shotgun really necessary, dear?
Kano: [VO] Our father is clear proof of that. He always seemed like a
kid brother to me and my sisters, not so much like a father figure as
most children had.
[Still of Yukino in her ratty old sweatsuit, sitting on the couch and
watching TV. Tsukino and Kano are behind the couch, protesting.]
Kano: [VO; to Yukino, whining] Sis...! I wanted to watch the news...!
Yukino: [VO; snickering] Tough. An all new _Terrance and Phillip_'s on.
Deal.
Kano: [VO; expository] At any rate, Yukino has never struck me as
particularly mature.
[Still of Yukino in her winter Hokuei High uniform from the bad old
days of the Queen of Fake, surrounded by sycophants whom she favors
with a condescending smile.]
Kano: [VO] She maintained a façade of maturity outside the home, of
course...
[Cue stock footage of Yukino making a fool of herself in public after
her relationship with Arima began in earnest. Ideal would be the scene
from episode 10 of her chase of Tsubasa Shibahime through the halls of
Hokuei High in her absurdly exaggerated Hell-Hath-No-Fury-Than-A-Woman-
Scorned persona, which for all its silliness put the terror of God into
Tsubasa and all other witnesses of the event.]
Kano: [VO] ...but much of that was abandoned after she started dating
Arima.
[Still of Arima, in "normal" form, looking suitably handsome and
mature, giving a noogie to a "super-deformed" childish-looking
caricature of Yukino.]
Kano: [VO] Arima does seem much more mature than Dad, in a big brother
sort of way. I sometimes think my sister sees him as a big brother or a
father figure, an authoritative figure of the sort Dad never was...
Yukino: [VO; little-girl voice] I love you, hunny-bunny...
Arima: [VO; fatherly] You're a good girl, Miyazawa...
[Still of Kano, clad in a tweed jacket and seated at a luxurious desk,
the kind owned by Oxford professors in period British dramas, a
bookcase lined with books and journals behind her.]
Kano: [VO] My own personal experience with romance has been somewhat
limited in scope; however, my theoretical knowledge, I think, is far
superior.
[Close up on the books. Serious works from the romantic literature of
many countries are mixed in with volumes of compilations of romance
comics; the "journals" are actually copies of girl's comic
anthologies.]
Kano: [VO] I have consumed every serious work on romance and love that
I could get my hands on, from antiquity to the present day, from the
poems of Sappho to the _Sovereignty-Associationist Girl Nanami_ comic.
I have read of love in all of history's social, cultural, and political
contexts.
[Shot of Kano, standing in her school uniform, alone in a crowd of
faceless boy-girl couples that moves around her.]
Kano: [VO] Alas, I have never known the real thing myself.
[Still of a close up of Kano and Megumi in profile, facing each other,
blushing and making as if to kiss.]
[Caption: THIS ONLY HAPPENED IN KANO'S IMAGINATION]
Kano: [VO] For a while I thought Megumi liked me.
[Still of Kano and Megumi in their summer uniforms, standing before
each other in the school yard, laughing their heads off.]
Kano: [VO] That turned out to be a big misunderstanding...
[Still of Tsukino and Yurika in their summer uniforms, looking on from
an alley between some school buildings.]
Kano: [VO; peeved] ...perpetrated by Tsukino.
[Still of Yurika pleading to Tsukino that Tsukino might be her
_onesan_, in exactly the same spot.]
Kano: [VO] However, Tsukino got hers...sort of...
[Still of Kano and Megumi looking on from the alley.]
Kano: [VO] ...and I made a good friend.
[Still of Kano and Megumi posing together in their winter school
uniforms, grinning and making "V" victory signs.]
Kano: [VO] Turns out we had a lot in common. She even likes _Nanami_.
But even so we're just friends.
[Close up of Arima's friendly, smiling face.]
Kano: [VO] In any case, my wide reading, I like to think, has refined
my tastes in men. Arima's charm is that of an older brother, which is
fine, if you're into that sort of thing. It might be a sign of
immaturity, though.
[Close up of Asaba's glamorous, smiling face.]
Kano: [VO] Hideaki Asaba, on the other hand...
[Pencil sketch of Kano at her desk, without pen or ink, or for that
matter, any facial characteristics drawn in. Where her face should be,
however, a blush slowly but surely appears.]
[SFX: A kettle whistles loudly.]
Kano: [VO; giggles in that creepy way only she can do] ...well, if you
have to ask, you're too young to get an answer...
Megumi: [VO; irritated] Kano! Are you talking to yourself again?
[Cut back to the classroom, fully inked. Kano blinks at Megumi.]
Kano: Oh. Sorry about that. Comic. Right.
[Close up of a page from a _Sovereignty-Associationist Girl Nanami_ fan
comic, penciled but not inked. On the page is someone resembling Nanami
Kiryu from _Revolutionary Girl Utena_, clad in what should be her
Student Council uniform except for the fleur-de-lys emblazoned on the
breast pocket. She is standing behind a lectern, making what must be a
stirring speech, as there are tears in her eyes. However, there is as
yet nothing in the speech bubble, so it's hard to say what it is.]
[Closeup on another page. Nanami walks off into the sunset, a flurry of
lily petals marking her departure. Another speech bubble awaits a
fitting final turn of phrase.]
Kano: [VO] I didn't know you drew comics, Megumi.
[Cut to a front view of Kano at her desk, looking at the drawings,
while Megumi looks over her shoulder to gauge her reaction.]
Megumi: Well, I don't know if they're any good...
Kano: [looking up to Megumi, approvingly] These are cool! Have you
shown them to anyone else?
Megumi: [pensive] Well, I actually tried showing them to Mrs. Yoshida,
the art teacher, but she was like, "I already know how Papino draws,
I'd rather see how you draw." So I figured I'd get a second opinion.
Kano: [getting in Megumi's face; clasping her hands, a pleading look on
her face] Please. I'm begging. You gotta do more.
Megumi: [sweatdropping] I'm not even done with this one yet! [looks
away] Besides, I'm okay at drawing I guess, but I'm no good at dialogue
or stories or stuff...I'm no Ayaki Sawai, you know...
Kano: [level, narrowing her eyes] Listen. Nobody is Ayaki Sawai. Ayaki
Sawai is God. Repeat after me...
Megumi: That's not the point! I mean, I don't know what Nanami should
say in her speech resigning as Engaged One or anything. I could do
more, but I don't know where I should go with it or anything.
Kano: [looking at the sheets] Well, it is kind of final. Is she going
to come back, or...?
Megumi: I dunno. [leans on a desk, looks up at the ceiling] I mean, I
could bring her back, but what would she do? My whole point was she
hadn't been able to successfully fight a Référendum duel, so she had to
go. If she came back, she'd eventually have to fight a Référendum duel,
and she'd have to lose, so what'd be the point? I mean, there were two
Référendum duels in the TV series as it was. What's the point of a
third?
Kano: No, duh! She wouldn't have to win. Don't you see? The whole point
of _Nanami_'s not actually getting sovereignty-association, it's the
struggle! The romance! The inscrutable allusions to hockey!
Megumi: [smiling, apparently reassured] Yeah. Though I don't know
enough about hockey to fake those too well.
[Megumi takes a seat at an empty desk, reclines in it, shuts her eyes
and sighs. Close up on her left profile.]
Megumi: [off in a dream world] Oh, I'd love to go to Quebec, just once,
just to see everything I read about in _Nanami_. See the Habs play...
Kano: [off; freaking out] Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god...
[Megumi turns to her right (towards the camera) to face Kano.]
Megumi: [snapping out of it] What?
[Shot of Kano's head and shoulders; she has turned towards Megumi.]
Kano: Did you hear they got sold?
[Cut back to Megumi, looking thunderstruck.]
Megumi: [snapping out of her daze] What? They _were_?
[Cut back to Kano, looking apologetic.]
Kano: [breaking the bad news] Yipper. Molson sold the Canadiens.
Thought it was time you knew.
Megumi: [beginning to freak] No way! They can't do that!
Kano: [off] Well, they did. Just, like, a few weeks ago.
Megumi: To who?
Kano: [off] Some American guy.
[Megumi looks upset.]
Megumi: [genuinely horrified] Oh God. Quebec's supposed to leave
Canada, the Canadiens aren't supposed to leave Quebec!
[Cut back to Kano, looking a little worried for Megumi.]
Kano: [trying to console her] Look, apparently he's not allowed move
the team. Besides, even if he does, you can still see other stuff,
right? Like the Château de Frontenac...
[Cut back to Megumi. She seems reassured; she turns back towards the
ceiling, a reflective expression.]
Megumi: I saw a picture of the Château in my sister's French textbook.
[Cut back to Kano, whose ears have pricked up.]
Kano: [definitely interested] Your sis takes French?
Megumi: Yeah. They offer three years' worth at St. Francis Xavier.
[Cut to a shot of a classroom impossibly overcrowded by _Sovereignty-
Associationist Girl Nanami_ fangirls, bearing all manner of _Nanami_
merchandise (and a few dressed as their favorite characters from the
show). They have forced a middle-aged white woman with dark hair and
spectacles--presumably the French teacher--into the wall by sheer
numbers.]
[Caption: RE-ENACTMENT]
Megumi: [VO] Apparently the year they started showing _Nanami_ the
enrollment in French tripled.
Fangirls: [ecstatic in their fandom] VIVE MAM'SELLE NANAMI!
Teacher: [venting a terrible oath _en québécois_] Tabernac!
[Cut back to the classroom. Megumi holds a page in her hand, and is
pointing something out to Kano.]
Megumi: So anyway, she helped me think up French titles for my stories.
Like this one. _Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?_ "But Where Are The
Snows of Years Past?" I think it's a poem. I even got a small French
dictionary, so I could look up some words on my own.
Kano: Cool. So like, do you think you'll take French?
Megumi: [pensive] Hm. I dunno. St. Francis Xavier is great, but...
Kano: But what?
Megumi: It's all girls, so I won't get to meet many boys outside of
school, and it's tough so I won't have a lot of time to go out...
[reminded of something] Wait! Now I know what I meant to ask you.
What are you doing for Valentine's?
Kano: [goofy grin, creepy voice] Ooh! I'd rather not say just yet...
Megumi: [puzzled] Why not? Is it embarrassing?
Kano: Not as such, I'd just rather know what the competition is up to
first...
Megumi: [sweatdropping] Uh-huh. [recovering] Hm. I dunno myself.
There's a guy in 3-C who's pretty cute. I might try giving him some
chocolate...
Kano: [unimpressed] Just "a guy?"
Megumi: [defensive] Yeah, a guy. Nobody you know. Why?
[Kano starts to laugh creepily, and makes sure it is a very good and
very creepy laugh. Megumi starts to sweatdrop like mad.]
Kano: [_really_ creepy] Oh, Megumi, darling, you've set your sights so
low. Such low expectations won't get you far in life...
Megumi: [clearly disturbed] Uh-huh...what makes you say that?
[Kano rises from her seat. A tsunami breaks behind her.]
Kano: [triumphantly] I plan to reach for the stars!
Megumi: [laughing nervously] Heh heh...yeah. So...who are you going to
give chocolate to? Anyone I know?
Kano: [looking towards her, a superior look on her face] Only the great
Hideaki Asaba of Hokuei High!
Megumi: [wide eyes] Are you crazy? Why do you wanna give him chocolate?
Why don't you just send Brad Pitt chocolates in the mail?
Kano: [wagging her finger] Now, now. This isn't completely unrealistic.
You see, _I_ just happen to know him _personally_.
[Pan out to a panoramic view of the room. Every girl's ear pricks up.
In an instant they are all upon Kano, screaming with delight at the
chance to know greatness at least second hand, and demanding to know
the scoop. The boys are not amused.]
[Cut to Kano, back in her seat, surrounded by adoring fangirls, and
Megumi, struggling not to be crushed in her seat.]
Fangirls [gushing ad lib.]: Oh my God! You actually know him?
Can I touch you?
I have his Dinner Show comic with Arima!
What's he like?
Is he as cute in real life as in the photos?
Could you get me his autograph?
Can I have _your_ autograph?
Do you know his likes and dislikes?
How about his phone number?
Kano: [calmly, with much false modesty] Now, now. One at a time,
please.
Megumi: [a skeptical look, hard to pull when you're being crushed] How
do you know Hideaki Asaba?
Kano: [exaggerating for the sake of her audience] Oh, that. Asaba's a
_very_ good friend of the family. Comes over all the time.
[Cue ecstatic screaming from the fangirls. One suddenly steps forward.]
Random Fangirl: [not at all amused] Miyazawa! You do know Hideaki Asaba
belongs to all girls, right?
Kano: [waving her off] Have no fear. As of right now we're just good
friends. Of course I intend to change that on the 14th...
Fangirl: [sniffing] I'd like to see you try it!
Kano: I'm on the inside track. Shouldn't be hard.
[Megumi finally gets free of the fangirls, stands beside Kano.]
Megumi: You know, she has a point. How are you going to turn Asaba's
head just with chocolate? Do you have any idea how much chocolate he's
likely to get? A box of chocolates and 500 yen'll get you a cup of
coffee from the likes of him. I mean, he has his choice of girls,
right?
[Cut to a super-deformed Asaba separating boxes of chocolate into two
piles, BABE on his right, SKANK on his left. Both piles are large, but
SKANK dwarfs BABE by any reasonable standard.]
Kano: [VO; confident] Give me more credit than that. Just chocolate
won't work. Never does, you know. Even the best chocolates money can
buy, though of course I fully intend to spare no expense.
[Cut back to Megumi and Kano.]
Megumi: So what will you do?
Kano: Only write him the most beautiful love poem known to man, to
express my love for him, so he can't possibly resist.
[Cut to Kano and Asaba standing in a field of roses, where Asaba is
reading what is presumably Kano's poem.]
[CAPTION: DRAMATIZATION]
Asaba: Ah! What eloquence! How can I possibly refuse you?
Kano: [puckering up] Kiss me you fool!
[They embrace.]
Asaba: Oh Kano...
Kano: [breathily] Oh Asaba...
[Cut back to the real Kano's face, grinning at her own brilliance.]
Kano: [creepy again] That's what will happen! I call it "Operation:
Eek! Hideaki Asaba Is a Hopeless Romantic Who'll Be Bowled Over by the
Force of My Love Poetry!"
[Close up of Kano clasping Megumi's hands in hers.]
[Shot of Kano standing in front of Megumi, looking expectant.]
Kano: But it'll be even better if it has a few French words in it to
make it even more romantic...
Megumi: [skeptical; narrow eyes] Does Asaba understand French?
Kano: [unshakable] That's beside the point. [begging] Pleeeese...
Megumi: [flatly] No.
Kano: [eyes watering] What about our friendship? I need your help! I
mean, I'm no Ayaki Sawai...
Megumi: [imitating Kano] Listen. Nobody is Ayaki Sawai. Ayaki Sawai is
God. Repeat after me...
Kano:
[in unison] Nobody is Ayaki Sawai. Ayaki Sawai is God.
Megumi:
Megumi: [smirking] Good girl.
Kano: [whining] You're mean.
[SFX: The bell rings.]
Megumi: [extracts herself from Kano's grip] Gotta go. Good luck.
[Kano pouts.]
[Cut to a bird's eye view of the classroom after lunch. Everyone is
back at their desks taking notes. The teacher is not visible on camera;
we hear her reading something in English from just off screen. It's not
with a Japanese accent, either, though just what accent is not
immediately clear.]
[Close up on a view of Kano at her desk from above, writing something
in Japanese in her notebook, presumably not notes on the assignment.]
Kano: [VO] I thought it true, though, that if one did one's best, one
could not possibly fail. This is what Rosa Jung-Freud, the Red Rose of
Leningrad, had taught me by her example. I took issue with her
interpretation of Marxism, but that much I accepted.
[Cut to a front view of Kano at her desk. She writes a few words,
thinks a moment, crosses them out, writes some more, crosses those out,
looks frustrated, writes some more.]
Kano: [VO] I like to think I'm an easy-going person. Some have
interpreted this as "laziness." But that's not true. I'm a Miyazawa.
I'm easy-going, but I give my all to whatever I'm doing. In other
words, I do my best.
[Kano crosses out her writing again, grits her teeth, starts again.]
Kano: [VO] So when I can't do something, despite my best efforts, I get
a little upset.
[Kano finishes writing a couple of lines, looks at them, smiles, looks
at them again, stops smiling, gets in a rage, pulls at her hair.]
Kano: [aloud] No, no, no! This is totally stupid!
Teacher: [off; female, contralto, an accent that is almost French, but
somewhat more nasal] Miss Miyazawa?
[Kano looks up. Cut to a shot of the head and torso of the English
teacher. It just happens to be the French teacher from the re-enactment
of the scene in the French class at St. Francis Xavier's.]
Teacher: Can you tell me what is the indirect object in the sentence "I
went to the store this afternoon?"
[Caption off to teacher's left: ODETTE THIBODEAUX, NÉE JOHNSON. BORN
1960.6.22 IN QUEBEC CITY. CAME TO JAPAN IN 1985 WITH HUSBAND.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Or is my lecturing so dull that I was unable to keep
your attention?
[Caption, at Mrs. Thibodeaux's right: TEACHES FRENCH AT ST. FRANCIS
XAVIER CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL IN KAWASAKI. BILINGUAL. MOONLIGHTS AS
ENGLISH TEACHER AT SOUTH SHIRAKAWA PUBLIC SCHOOL.]
[Shot of Kano's desk from front. Mrs. Thibodeaux is at her left
(viewer's right), looking over Kano's shoulder at what she's been
writing.]
Kano: [looks down, blushing; ashamed] Sorry.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: May I see what you have there? [takes the paper off
Kano's desk] Clearly it's more interesting than what I'm talking about.
Mind if I share it with the class?
Kano: [panicking, waving her hands before her in warding] No! I mean
yes! I mean, don't read it, please!
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Go stand in the hall, Miss Miyazawa.
[Cut to Kano in the hall outside the classroom, holding two buckets of
water, one in each hand. She is scowling.]
Kano: [thinking] I've never been so humiliated in my life.
[SFX: Bell rings to dismiss class.]
Class rep: [off, from inside the classroom] Stand. [beat] Bow.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [off, from inside] That's it for today. See you
tomorrow.
[SFX: General muttering from inside the room.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [off, from Kano's left] Miss Miyazawa?
[Kano looks to acknowledge Mrs. Thibodeaux. Mrs. Thibodeaux walks up to
her, holds up a sheet of paper--Kano's "manuscript"--and reads it
aloud, though only loud enough for Kano to hear.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [lyric] The snowdrops of February
Soon will blossom for all to see.
I love you, Asaba,
Won't you please kiss me?
[Mrs. Thibodeaux holds the sheet out to Kano. Kano puts down the
buckets and takes it.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [prosaic, lecturing] If you're going to write such
embarrassing things in my class, write them in English.
Kano: [blushing] Sorry, ma'am. It won't happen again.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Glad to hear it. [off the cuff] Actually, you'd be
even better off writing them in French. At least then I could help you
improve. I can't write poems in English either.
[She laughs conspiratorially, as if to reassure Kano. It seems to work,
as Kano starts to laugh a bit too. After they compose themselves:]
Kano: Say, ma'am--it's no big deal, but how come you speak English
anyway?
Mrs. Thibodeaux: The truth? I learned it to impress my husband. He
didn't speak any French. [as if to declare discussion over] I should
go. Back into class with you.
Kano: [tentatively] Um, ma'am, one more thing...
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [guarded] Not about my life story, I hope?
Kano: No...how do you say "the snowdrops of February" in French anyway?
[Mrs. Thibodeaux blinks.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Oh. [thinks a moment] I used to know this myself.
[chuckles] I've been away too long. Wait, now I remember. Let me see
the sheet again.
[Kano hands it to her. Mrs. Thibodeaux goes to the wall opposite and
writes something below what Kano has written, then returns and hands it
back to Kano, who looks at it.]
[Close up on the page. Below Kano's writing in Japanese are the French
words, in Latin characters:
LES PERCE-NEIGES DE FÉVRIER
with _perce-neiges_ underlined, and then again, in Japanese phonetic
_katakana_ characters:
rei pesu neji do heburiei]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [VO] "_Les perce-neiges de février_." In Japanese,
literally, _perce-neige_ means "pierces snow." Why do you ask?
[Cut back to Kano and Mrs. Thibodeaux. Mrs. Thibodeaux is now beside
Kano at Kano's right (viewer's left).]
Kano: [looking at the page; non-committal] Just wanted to know.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [starting in on a sales pitch] You know, you really
should come to St. Francis Xavier's if you're interested in French...
Kano: [politely cutting her off; still non-committal] I'll think about
it.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [reminded of something] This is beside the point, but
how is your sister Yukino?
Kano: [looking up at Mrs. Thibodeaux] Fine, I guess. Why?
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [a tad nostalgic] I tried to talk her into coming to
St. Francis Xavier to study French, but she ended up going somewhere
else...
Kano: Hokuei High, ma'am.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Yes. What a pity. She was one of the best students I
ever had in English. I'm sure she'd have done well in French as well.
[a bit sternly, lecturing again] It helped that she worried about her
grades and not about boys. You could learn from her example.
[Kano hangs her head.]
Kano: [dejected; just managing to stifle a groan] Yes'm.
[Close up on Mrs. Thibodeaux's face.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Me, I learned another language to impress a boy, but I
don't recommend that to others. You'll have plenty of time for boys
when you're older. When you're in school, worry about school. [smiles a
bit, as if to cushion the blow] That said, good luck.
[Cut back to view of Mrs. Thibodeaux and Kano in the corridor. Mrs.
Thibodeaux coughs, straightens her glasses.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Now, I really must go, or you'll be late to your next
class, and I'll be late to mine. I've got to be at St. Francis Xavier
in an hour. [starts to exit Kano's right; friendly tone] Goodbye now.
[Exit Mrs. Thibodeaux. Kano does not move.]
[Full screen shot of Kano hanging her head and looking miserable.]
Kano: [to the floor more than to Mrs. Thibodeaux] Goodbye.
[SFX: Bell rings to mark class in session.]
Kano: [VO; reflective] I wonder when it was when people began comparing
me to Yukino.
[Black-and-white still of a very young Kano, perhaps at six or seven,
in her elementary school uniform, and proud of it.]
Kano: [VO] It might even have been kindergarten; I don't remember.
Certainly by first grade.
Grade-School Teacher: [female, young; VO; cooing] My! Are you Yukino's
little sister?
[Close up on young Kano's beaming face.]
Young Kano: [VO] Uh-huh!
[Still of young Kano, still beaming, in front of the silhouette of the
grade school teacher, who stands before her.]
Grade-School Teacher: [VO] You're as cute as she was in first grade!
Young Kano: [VO] Thanks!
Grade-School Teacher: [VO] She's such a good student! You must be
really proud of your sister!
Young Kano: [VO] Uh-huh!
[Still of young Kano, still beaming, in front of the silhouette of the
grade school teacher, who now is kneeling in front of her.]
Grade-School Teacher: [VO] Now, you be a good student too, so she can
be proud of you too, okay?
Young Kano: [VO] 'k!
Kano: [VO; expository] And I was too.
[Still of super-deformed Yukino in her glasses and ratty old sweatsuit,
on the couch laughing her head off at God knows what.]
Kano: [VO] Of course, given what I knew about what Sis was really like,
I really should have known better.
[Still of the Miyazawas at the dinner table. SD Kano and SD Tsukino are
laughing their heads off; it must be at some joke at SD Yukino's
expense, because she's looking fearsome, gritting her teeth and
flipping her sisters the finger. Peropero is in his place of honor on
Kano's back.]
Kano: [VO] And I did know better. So did Tsukino.
[Still of a split-screen of the two Yukino Miyazawas. "Public" Yukino,
the beautiful Queen of Fake in her winter South Shirakawa uniform, is
to the left, a false friendly smile on her face. To the right is
"private" Yukino, normal size, but again in her glasses and sweatsuit
and looking positively gruesome.]
Kano: [VO] Heaven knows the dichotomy between what Yukino was like at
school and what she was like at home was a running gag in our house.
[Black and white still of a corridor at South Shirakawa. In the
background to the right is Yukino in her third year of middle school,
in the winter uniform of South Shirakawa, walking to class, looking
suitably queenly. She is being mobbed by first-years, girls Kano's age.
In the foreground on the left Tsukino and Kano, in the same uniform,
are snickering at the first-years' folly.]
First-year Girls: [in unison; ecstatic] Miyazawa! You're our big
sister!
Kano: [VO; creepy] Be careful what you wish for...
Tsukino: [VO; finishing the joke] ...you may get it!
Kano: [VO; expository] But of course, nobody else knew any better, and
we never told anyone otherwise. There was no point.
[Black-and-white still of SD Yukino in her sweatsuit. Our full view of
her is blocked by Tsukino, Kano, and Peropero, who stand in front of
Yukino, dressed as Men in Black in black suits and black sunglasses,
apparently waving away passers-by we cannot see.]
Kano: [VO] You never saw a thing.
Tsukino: [VO] You never saw us.
Kano: [VO; expository] Part of it was a concern for the public image of
the Miyazawa family, and in particular for its secrets. We were
concerned for that as well, though maybe not as much as our sister.
[Black-and-white still of Yukino standing before a class in her third
year at South Shirakawa. She has apparently just finished a
presentation on what might be a math problem. The teacher, or rather
his silhouette, looks on, while the other students, themselves in
silhouette, are taking notes.]
Kano: [VO] The teachers, whatever we thought, thought the world of her.
She really was one of the best students they'd ever had.
[Full screen of Yukino's right profile, as she stands before the
class.]
Teacher: [VO] Excellent exposition, as always, Miss Miyazawa...
[Still of a wall in some classroom at South Shirakawa. A picture of
Yukino in her South Shirakawa uniform dominates the wall, much as walls
of classrooms are often graced with framed pictures of national heroes,
especially in authoritarian states. Her pose is very much a
statesman's, too; she is seated, her posture impeccable, a serious
expression on her face.]
Kano: [VO] She was held up as an example to everyone, including us.
[Still of some posted test results. Yukino Miyazawa has placed first.]
Kano: [VO] And who was I to dispute that? Anyone'd be proud.
[Color still of Kano in a T-shirt that reads on the front 100%
MIYAZAWA. She clearly wears it with pride.]
Kano: [VO] It _was_ kind of cool being Yukino's little sister.
[Still of a back view of Kano. The back of the shirt reads:
NONE GENUINE WITHOUT THIS SIGNATURE
(signed) YUKINO MIYAZAWA]
Kano: [VO] If you came with the Miyazawa brand name, teachers thought
highly of you from the word go, and that meant you got treated a little
nicer.
[Black and white still of Kano happily chatting with Mrs. Thibodeaux.]
[Caption: RE-ENACTMENT]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [VO; friendly] So how is your family, Miss Miyazawa?
Kano: [VO; to Mrs. Thibodeaux] Good.
[Still of Kano at her desk looking studious.]
Kano: [VO] And I tried hard to live up to Yukino's standard, too. To
keep their trust.
[Still of some posted test results. Kano Miyazawa has placed 20th, not
at all bad in a school of South Shirakawa's size, but obviously not on
Yukino's level.]
Kano: [VO] I didn't always succeed as well as I wanted to.
[Black and white still of Kano, hanging her head, being lectured by
Mrs. Thibodeaux.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [VO; sternly] What happened this time? I really
expected better from a Miyazawa, you know...
[Still of some posted test results. Tsukino Miyazawa has placed 18th.]
Kano: [VO] She might have meant Tsukino, but I doubt it. Her grades
were about the same as mine.
[Shot of the Miyazawa family, engaged in their New Year karaoke battle,
perhaps the one from "Susuharai."]
Kano: [VO] Our family were always highly competitive, in a friendly
sort of way.
[Still of a line drawing of Yukino, her face an exquisite depiction of
rapture.]
Kano: [VO] For all that I cannot quite understand why my sister got
such an intense gratification from beating the world at everything, at
any cost. We joked that it might be a perversion, and it did seem more
than a little abnormal, even given the competitive spirit in the house.
[Faded black-and-white photo of the Miyazawa house.]
Kano: [VO] Our lower class background, and a desire to overcome it,
might be part of it.
[File photo of Karl Marx.]
Kano: [VO] But I am not a Marxist, not a vulgar one, at least, and I
recognize class isn't everything.
[Black and white still of Yukino in kindergarten, doing an elaborate
show and tell presentation entitled "WHAT MY DADDY DOES ALL DAY" to her
fellow students, who are all in silhouette. One exhibit is a picture of
the factory where he works. Another seems to be a bar chart of annual
profits. The teacher, also in silhouette, is seated on the floor
looking on.]
[Caption: DRAMATIZATION]
Teacher: [female, young; VO, full of praise] That was lovely, Yukino!
Thank you for sharing!
Kano: [VO] At any rate, Yukino has always been like this, or at least
for as long as I can reliably remember, and small children surely have
no class consciousness as such, so that can't be the whole story.
[File photo of Sigmund Freud.]
Kano: [VO] The roots of complexes and neuroses are just that, complex,
mono-causal theories like that of Freud notwithstanding.
[Shot, from a fair distance, of Kano in shorts and a T-shirt, sitting
slumped in a folding chair, her head hanging, against a black
background. Perhaps it is Shinji's folding chair from _Neon Genesis
Evangelion_.]
Kano: [VO] So it goes. My sister had a complex about her image...
[Close up of Kano slumped in the chair. Yukino is standing behind her
in her winter Hokuei High uniform, her expression unreadable.]
Kano: [VO] ...and one day I woke up to find myself with a complex about
the exact same thing.
[Shot, from a very safe distance of a giant Yukino, preferably in Hell-
Hath-No-Fury mode, doing battle with what might be the Angel from
episode 1 of Eva, naturally in the streets of Tokyo-3.]
Kano: [VO] I felt my sister was a colossus that straddled the earth,
who did battle with giants and could do anything...
[Shot of SD Kano dozing on a quiet hill in the countryside outside
Tokyo-3. A shadow falls over her, which is her cue to stir, look
horrified at the sight above her, and jump up and run for dear life.]
Kano: [VO] ...while the best I could do was try, with varying degrees
of success, to get out of her shadow.
[Shot of young Tonami--the short, pudgy version--on an identical hill
outside Tokyo-3. A shadow falls over him. He looks up, and jumps with
joy and enthusiasm, blushing like mad, and cheering Yukino on.]
[Caption: DRAMATIZATION WITH PROFESSIONAL FANFIC CHARACTERS. DO NOT
ATTEMPT]
Tonami: Oh, yeah! Hubba hubba! Give me some of...
[He pays for checking out Giant Yukino's panties by being stepped on by
Giant Yukino's left foot. It is not clear if it was deliberate.]
[Shot of Kano, eating rice at the Miyazawa table, looking glum.]
[Caption: RE-ENACTMENT]
Kano: [VO] My parents did nothing to help.
[Kano picks up some rice with her chopsticks and puts it in her mouth,
clearly without pleasure.]
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] These are very good grades, Kano.
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] Why yes! But as long as my little princess is happy
at school and there's no problems, I couldn't ask for anything more!
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] Exactly, dear!
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] Granted, they're not on Yukino's level, but that's
okay, right?
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] Exactly, dear! No need to feel bad, Kano. We
wouldn't want you to be Yukino anyway. You're your own person. That's
as it should be. We like you just the way you are.
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] You're not Yukino, but nobody really is. Even
Yukino's not _really_ Yukino, right, honey?
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off; amused] Exactly, dear!
[Loud laughter.]
Kano: [VO] They treated it like an enormous joke like everything else.
The rest of my family's not terribly sensitive, still less mature.
[Still from "Susuharai" of Arima and Yukino on the couch on New Year's
Eve, Arima in uniform, Yukino in kimono, Yukino holding Arima's hand
and looking concerned.]
Kano: [VO] I sometimes think that unless there's indisputably a crisis,
everything _is_ a joke in our house.
[Photo of Mr. and Mrs. Miyazawa holding up a baby.]
[Caption: KANO MIYAZAWA AT SIX MONTHS]
Kano: [VO] At any rate, for parents to be proud of their children is no
great surprise. It's almost a family duty, or perhaps an instinct.
[Photo of Yukino with her sisters and Peropero, all (barring Peropero)
in winter uniform, Yukino in Hokuei's, the others in South Shirakawa's.
Yukino, the tallest, is in the center, her arms around her sisters; all
are smiling and cheerful.]
Kano: [VO] What I really wanted was for Yukino herself to say that she
was proud of me too. So I'd know it was all worthwhile.
[White screen, on which is typed in black:]
[BUT SHE NEVER DID.]
[Black and white still of the sisters, preferably SD, at table. Yukino
is in her sweatsuit, striking a ridiculous pose, perhaps Napoleonic.
Tsukino is trying not to laugh. Kano is clearly upset.]
Yukino: [VO; obviously teasing] When are you two going to accept the
fact that _I'm_ fantastic?
Kano: [VO; protesting] Sis! Cut it out!
Tsukino: [VO; giggling] I do. Talk to Kano...!
Kano: [VO; expository] In fact she was the worst with the teasing,
because she didn't think it bothered me. That was understandable, for
our competition was for all that always friendly enough.
[Split-screen of test results. On the left, Yukino is number one. On
the right, Kano is number 20.]
Kano: [VO] It may have only been so light-hearted, though, because she
may have never seen me as a serious threat.
[Cut back to the framed picture of Yukino on the classroom wall. Kano
is standing before it in her winter uniform, her back turned to us at
just the right angle to let us see the picture but not Kano's face.
Kano's left hand against the wall.]
Kano: [VO] So I did not begrudge her status as an excellent student, or
even as a role model.
[Right profile of Kano standing before the painting, studying it. Her
expression is pained, clearly betraying stress.]
Kano: However, it is possible she didn't know the cost it imposed on my
mental wellbeing.
[White screen, on which is typed in black:]
[IT IS POSSIBLE SHE DID NOT EVEN CARE.]
[Cut back to the shot of Yukino and Asaba laughing and talking.]
Kano: [VO] To her credit it was through Yukino that I met my heart's
desire. It may well be through her that I find the means to win him
over.
[Cut to a close up of Kano in her futon at night, staring above her,
brooding on all this. She looks to her side.]
[Full-screen shot of Tsukino and Kano's futons. Tsukino is sound
asleep, spread all over the futon, her covers kicked off. Yukino,
again, is off camera, so it's not clear what state she is in. Kano is
properly tucked in.]
Kano: [whispering] Yukino? Tsukino? Are you guys still awake?
[Neither Yukino nor Tsukino respond. Kano quietly sits up and slowly
rises out of bed.]
[Shot of the floor. A purse is just visible sitting more or less to the
viewer's right in the dim light. Two bare feet, ankles clad in pajama
bottoms, emerge from viewer's left. A hand reaches down and slowly
picks up the purse.]
[Shot of the Miyazawa upstairs hall. Light leaks from behind the
(closed) bathroom door.]
[Close up of the tap of the bathroom sink. It is off, and does not
appear to have been turned on for several hours.]
[Cut to Kano is sitting cross-legged, in silence, on the cramped floor
of the bathroom, with the purse; our perspective is right profile. She
opens the purse and digs through it for a moment, finally pulling out
what appears to be an address book. She starts to flip through.]
[Close up on the address book on Kano's lap. Kano flips until she comes
to one page, on which has been drawn a map. It is labeled ASABA. She
flips some more, until she comes to another map, labeled SAWADA.]
[Cut back to Kano in profile on the floor. She carefully puts down the
address book for a moment and rummages in the purse again, finally
pulling out some notepaper and a pen.]
[Close up of Kano's lap. Hands--obviously Kano's places the address
book there, open to the SAWADA map. Then the left hand places a piece
of notepaper down on the map; the map is still just visible through it.
Kano's right hand then begins to trace the map on the paper with the
pen.]
[Cut to a suburban street in Kawasaki.]
[Close up of a Japanese stop sign.]
[Close up of an electric pylon.]
[SFX: Noises of construction.]
[Shot of a wall outside a construction site. The wall reads POST NO
BILLS.]
[Cut to a full screen shot of a small, not terribly luxurious but
respectable apartment block in Kawasaki, the kind that might be
inhabited by civil servants and white-collar workers on the lower end
of middle management. It is late afternoon, which in February means the
sky is already turning red.]
[CAPTION: 2001.2.13 16.30]
[Close up on the balcony of the 4th floor.]
[SFX: Someone walking up metal steps to the fourth floor.]
[Aya Sawada emerges onto the balcony from the staircase at the viewer's
left, hidden from view, a scowl on her face. She has apparently just
returned from school, and isn't pleased about it somehow.]
Aya: [to herself] All that, _and_ that damn article due tomorrow. Gad,
I hate my life...
[She lets herself in to apartment 402 with her key and shuts the door.]
[Close up on the door sign for 402. It reads: 402: SAWADA.]
[The light dims just a touch, but for all that too quickly.]
[Caption: 15 MINUTES LATER]
[Pan to the extreme right of the balcony. SD Kano pokes her head out
from the right-hand staircase. She brings her whole self out, still in
school uniform; apparently _she_ came from school as well. She walks
slowly on tiptoe to the door of 402, and stands before it for a
moment.]
[Close up on (normal) Kano's throat as she gulps.]
[Close up on Kano's (shaking) right hand as she moves to ring the
bell.]
[SFX: Door bell rings.]
[Cut to the door itself. After a few moments it opens. SD Aya pokes her
head out the door.]
Aya: If you're selling something, thanks, we've got one, and it's more
trouble than it's worth. If you're from a cult, thanks, we're
Catholics, and it's more trouble than it's worth. [blinks with
recognition] Waitasec...do I know you?
[Cut to normal Kano, standing outside the door on viewer's left, and SD
Aya on the right, poking her head out the door and looking at Kano with
narrow eyes.]
Kano: [hesitant; she might stammer slightly] I don't know if you
remember me...I was at the...at the play last year. I'm Kano
Miyazawa...Yukino's little sister?
Aya: [unimpressed] Uh-huh. And you are here, because...
Kano: Well, I...I really, really liked the play...and I love the rest
of your work too...you write as "Ayaki Sawai," right?
Aya: [on guard, still calm but somewhat accusatory] Who wants to know?
How'd you find out where I lived anyway? If it was someone from my
publisher I'm gonna...
Kano: No, it wasn't...anyway, I really loved your column at
Christmas...
Aya: [all smiles] Cool. Then you'll love the column I'm writing now.
[Close up on Kano's face, who is now smiling nervously.]
Kano: Really? What's it about?
[Close up on SD Aya's face, still all smiles.]
Aya: "Why All Fangirls Must Die." You don't miss it, now, you hear?
[smile vanishes; bluntly] See ya.
[Aya slams the door in Kano's face.]
[Cut to SD Kano standing before the door in silence for a few moments.
She blinks a couple of times.]
[SFX: The wind whistles through the trees.]
[Close up on (normal) Kano's throat as she gulps.]
[Close up on Kano's (shaking) right hand as she moves to ring the
bell.]
[SFX: Door bell rings.]
[Cut to the door itself. After a few moments it opens. SD Aya pokes her
head out the door.]
Aya: If you're selling something, thanks, we've got one. If you're from
a cult, thanks, we're Catholics. [blinks with recognition; starts
looking angry] Are you done, or am I gonna have to call the cops or
your sis to drag your butt home? Jesus, you're worse than Tsubasa...
[Cut to normal Kano, standing outside the door on viewer's left, and SD
Aya on the right, poking her head out the door and looking at Kano with
narrow eyes.]
Kano: [pleading] I need your help! This is something only a master
writer can do!
Aya: [dismissively] Master writer. Right. [all business] What do you
want?
[Close up on Kano's face. She is clearly hesitant again.]
Kano: Well, you see, there's...there's something I have to write, but I
can't do it myself. Will you help me? I don't know if I can pay you
enough, but...
[Close up on SD Aya's face. Once again, all smiles.]
Aya: Why sure!
[Cut to now SD Kano and SD Aya's head in the balcony. Aya pokes her arm
out and noogies Kano.]
Aya: [cheerfully] Sure! Anything for Yukino Miyazawa's little sib even
though Yukinon [her head suddenly expands Soun Tendo style and she
starts to yell loud enough to bowl SD Kano over] IS SUCH A MONEY-
GRUBBER SHE WOULDN'T GIVE YOU THE STEAM FROM HER PEE FREE OF CHARGE!
I'M A PRO, DAMMIT! YOU WANT ME TO DO THIS FOR FREE, ARE YOU AS CRAZY AS
SHE IS?
[Close up on normal Kano, now almost in tears.]
Kano: I'll do anything! I'll give you all the help I can...!
[Close up on SD Aya's head.]
Aya: Listen, this master writer ain't taking on any students. 'Sides,
you don't want to be my slave unless you're the Buddha or brain dead.
Or my friend Rika. But I repeat myself. [with finality] Beat it.
[Close up on normal Kano's face. By now she really is tearing up.]
Kano: How much do you want?
[Shot from above of Kano's outstretched arms; she is holding out some
wadded bills in her hands.]
Kano: [VO; to Aya] This is what's left of my New Year money, along with
my February allowance. If you want more I'll get it somehow. _Please._
[Cut to SD Kano on the balcony holding out the bills (big, watering
eyes) and SD Aya's head poking out the door. SD Aya looks at Kano,
looks at the bills, looks at Kano, looks at the bills, and back and
forth several times _ad lib._, getting faster each time.]
[Shot of Aya, now normal, standing in the doorway, which she has now
opened more fully. She has changed from her uniform to black slacks and
a T-shirt reading HAKUSHENSHA on the front.]
Aya: Well, I guess you really want me to do this, huh. [beat; remembers
something] Can't work 'til I have a smoke anyway.
[Close up of a cigarette being lit by the flame of a lighter. The
cigarette glows as someone inhales.]
[Shot of Aya's left profile as she leans on the balcony, staring into
space as she takes the cigarette out of her mouth and exhales. She
looks towards her left, that is, towards Kano (more or less, but not
quite, towards the camera).]
Aya: Do you mind?
[Close up on Kano's face, her expression neutral.]
Kano: [politely] No, not at all. This is your house.
[Shot of Kano and Aya on the balcony, facing out towards the road. Kano
stands on the left, her right profile to the camera. Aya is looking
out, her back and face turned to the camera, her arms on the railing;
now and again she lifts her right hand to her face, so she can take a
pull on the cigarette. The evening light is dim enough that it is hard
to tell Kano's expression.]
Aya: My folks do. Rabid non-smokers, so I can't smoke in the house,
even when they're not there. When they _are_ here I can't even smoke
out here, so I can't get anything done. Most evenings around now
they're not, though, so it works out okay. [beat; she takes a pull]
Nice that you're cool about it. First time I went out on the town with
your sister, I'm dying for one and I pull one out and light up, and she
grabs it from out my mouth and steps on it and then she grabs my whole
packet and steps on that too, and then she goes slapping me upside the
head and she's like, "Tobacco's bad news, tobacco's bad news, tobacco's
bad news!" like some goddamn public service announcement, and I'm like,
what the hell is this crap? You don't like it, don't smoke, it's not
like we're inside or anything, where there'd be passive smoke or some
darn thing. Because we were out in the street somewhere. Damn busybody.
Being crazy's bad enough. [turns her face towards Kano; the expression
is obscured in the dim light] Do you smoke? You want one?
Kano: [politely] No, thank you.
Aya: [turning back away from the camera] Good girl. I don't recommend
it either. But Jesus Christ...Rika bitches about it too, but at least
she doesn't make a spectacle of herself in public about it. I dunno.
[Beat. Aya takes a pull, then points with her right hand, that is, with
the lit cigarette, into the distance. She exhales, then continues:]
Aya: See that factory over there?
[Kano turns away from the camera to look out towards the road.]
[Still of the factory from a good distance, perhaps through some trees.
It is the factory where Mr. Miyazawa works. In another incarnation, it
is the factory from Arima's nightmares.]
Kano: [VO] Uh-huh. My dad works there.
Aya: [VO] Huh. On the factory floor?
Kano: [VO] No. He works at a desk. I don't know what he does exactly.
Something to do with buying supplies to make gasoline with. Crude oil
and stuff.
Aya: [VO] Hm. [beat; she might be taking a pull] Hey, fangirl. You want
the inside scoop on what I'm really writing about?
Kano: [VO; interested] Sure. Not about why fangirls must die, right?
[giggles nervously]
Aya: [VO; disgusted] No, stupid. [beat; normal] My dad works over there
too. Human resources. He's trying to organize a union over there. He's
a Communist. You know what a Communist is?
Kano: [VO; hesitant] Sort of.
Aya: [VO] Yeah. He heads up the party cell in town. He's even on the
town council, only CP member on it. Factory's his day job. [beat] We
would like to apologize for making that sound more interesting than it
is.
Kano: [VO] Is that a good idea?
Aya: [VO] I dunno. My article talks about what'd be good and bad about
it, real objective like. I mentioned it off hand to my editor and she's
like, "You have the inside scoop! Write about it! Write about it!" So
I'm like, "Okay, whatever, customer's always right." 'Course, if you
ask me the real reason my dad wants to do it is he wants to be in
charge, but he got passed over for promotion at work. He's too damn
stupid to be actually responsible for anything, he just likes to boss
people around, so he sets up a union and orders people around that way.
He's like that at home, too. My dad's an asshole. [beat] My mom's cool
though.
Kano: [VO] She's the one you go to church with, right, Ms. Sawada?
Aya: [VO] Yeah, that's her. She's a sweetheart. [beat; takes a pull] Oh
yeah. Aya's fine. Ms. Sawada's my mom. How old do I look anyway?
[Cut back to Aya leaning on the balcony. She inspects her cigarette,
which is nearly finished.]
Aya: [more or less to herself] These things never last long enough.
[looks in Kano's direction] After I finish this--[holding up her
cigarette]--I have to get my article written, because the editor's
coming for it tomorrow, and I have homework to do too, so you gotta
talk fast. What do you need written?
[Full screen shot of Kano, who has suddenly retreated into herself,
looking embarrassed, studying her shoes. She is silent a moment.]
[Cut back to Aya.]
Aya: Well?
[Cut back to Kano.]
Kano: [finally; very small, little girl voice] A poem.
[Cut back to Aya.]
Aya: [her eyebrow raised] A poem?
[Aya goes SD; she looks unsure, scratches her head.]
Aya: I dunno, I haven't done one of those. 'Least, not on
commission...what about?
[Head and shoulder shot of Kano's right profile.]
Kano: You see...[in one breath] there's a guy I really like, but he's
real popular, so I can't just give him chocolate for Valentine's, so I
was going to write him a poem, but whenever I try myself it comes out
sounding real dumb, so I was kinda going to ask you to help me write
it. [beat] But if you don't want to, that's okay...
[SD Aya sticks her face in Kano's. Kano retreats a bit.]
Aya: And that's what you're willing to sell me your first-born for. So
I can write a love poem that doesn't suck to your big crush, because
you can't.
Kano: [nervous] Uh, yeah.
[Close up of normal Aya's face, framed by roses and sparkles, with Aya
trying to look as beautiful as possible]
Aya: Tell me, Kano, darling. Am I pretty?
[Close up on SD Kano's face.]
Kano: [sweatdropping] I guess...
[Shot of SD Kano and SD Aya on the balcony, Aya in Kano's face. Each
time Aya speaks she thrusts forward, Kano retreating back.]
Aya: Clear skin?
Kano: Uh-huh?
Aya: Well-proportioned face?
Kano: Yeah...
Aya: Not too fat or too thin?
Kano: No'm.
Aya: I wouldn't have anything disfiguring would I, like a hairy mole?
Kano: No'm.
Aya: Or bushy eyebrows?
Kano: No.
Aya: Or big ears?
Kano: No'm.
Aya: Or--heaven forbid--a big nose?
Kano: No, your nose is just fine.
[Aya stops advancing, and lets out a sigh, apparently relieved. Then
she looks back at Kano.]
Aya: You're sure?
Kano: Yes'm.
Aya: Positive?
Kano: Yes'm.
[Beat.]
[SFX: The wind whistles through the trees again.]
[Aya's head swells Soun Tendo style again and she yells (again) loud
enough to bowl SD Kano over.]
Aya: [at the top of her lungs] SO WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK I LOOK LIKE
FRAGGING CYRANO DE BERGERAC, HUH? WHAT'S THAT?
Kano: [yelling back defiantly] You're not very nice!
Aya: YEAH! NEITHER IS STALKING, KIDDO! SINCE WHEN ARE THE MIYAZAWAS
NICE?
[Cut to normal Kano's face in right profile, clearly desperate.]
Kano: [pleading] Please! You've got to help me!
[Cut to full-length shot of normal Kano and normal Aya facing each
other.]
Aya: Well, I can't help you. You've been wasting your time. Go home,
I've got work to do. [turns to go]
[Full-length of Aya's back as Kano's right hand grabs her arm. Aya
looks back.]
Aya: Get your hands off me...!
[Shot of Kano from the waist up in right profile, holding Aya's right
arm.]
Kano: [pleading] Please! I'll give you all the help you want! I'll tell
you just the way to write it. I know what I want to say, but it just
comes out wrong. I just need you to help me make it sound right!
[Shot of Aya from the waist up her head bowed, her eyes shut.]
Aya: [firmly] No.
[Shot of Kano from the waist up in right profile, letting go of Aya's
right arm.]
Kano: [defeated] Then you won't help me. Huh.
[Cut to full-length shot of normal Kano and normal Aya, Aya's back to
Kano.]
Aya: I'm telling you I _can't_.
Kano: Why not?
[Beat. Aya appears to be thinking.]
Aya: [finally] Damn. I dropped my cigarette. [beat] This'll need
another one anyway.
[Close up of a cigarette being lit by the flame of a lighter. The
cigarette glows as someone inhales.]
[Shot of Aya's left profile as she leans on the balcony, staring into
space as she takes the cigarette out of her mouth and exhales. She
looks towards her left, that is, towards Kano (more or less, but not
quite, towards the camera).]
Aya: Okay, grasshopper. You came all the way out here to visit the
master writer, I guess I owe you some words about my philosophy of
writing, just so I don't come off as a total bitch. You want?
[Close up on Kano's face, her expression neutral.]
Kano: Okay.
[Shot of Kano and Aya on the balcony, facing out towards the road. Kano
stands on the left, her right profile to the camera. Aya is looking
out, her back and face turned to the camera, her arms on the railing;
now and again she lifts her right hand to her face, so she can take a
pull on the cigarette. The evening light is dim enough that it is hard
to tell Kano's expression.]
Aya: Okay, here's the deal. Basically, when you write, you take a
subject that, you hope, you know more about than other people do, and
you try to tell other people about it in a way that'll make them
interested in it. So they'll read more, or buy the book, or the
magazine, or the detergent, or vote for your guy, or whatever. [beat;
takes a pull] If you're lucky it will be a subject you care about. Like
Christmas. A lot of the time it'll be a subject that you don't give a
rat's ass about but someone else does, like unions, and they want it
tomorrow or you're unemployed, so you have to pretend it's more
interesting than you think it is. Half the time you don't even have
that, and you really don't have a damn thing to say, but you write
about the first thing that comes into your head, and make it sound
interesting, 'cause you're a pro and you are expected to deliver.
[beat; takes a pull] Writer's block is bullshit. You wanna know why?
Kano: Why?
Aya: Because when you do this for money, you don't have time for it,
and you need something written by five on Friday when the editor comes
by. I used to whine about writer's block too, until I realized this was
serious business. Only amateurs do that. Sure they can think of
something to write, they're just too lazy. That and they want to write
something beautiful when people just want something interesting to read
on the damn train, for God's sake. [beat; takes a pull] Anyway, _you_
being interested in it isn't enough. You need to make the reader
interested too, even when you really know that _they_ really don't
_need_ to know, 'cause it's no big deal really. Because come on. Who
cares what the beautiful and talented Ayaki Sawai or whoever does at
Christmas? World won't end if you never know. So you end up a lot of
the time writing about something like it's a big deal, but really
isn't, except to you maybe. Sometimes not even. I can't bear to read my
own stuff a lot of the time. [beat; takes a pull] It's easier than it
looks, though, if you put a decent effort into it and you're
professional about it. Anybody could write what I write, if they were
in my position. You probably could have written my columns. You're just
not under the same pressure, is all. [beat; takes a pull] Which is
cool. Great, actually. You Miyazawas I guess are all real smart, so you
can be whatever you want. I'm not, so I need to be able to get a job in
something I can actually do and get some fulfillment out of. Beats
flipping burgers. Most of the time, anyway. This is training,
grasshopper. [beat] I know what you're thinking. "Why the hell is she
going on about this? What's the point?"
Kano: [a bit apologetically] Kinda, yeah.
[Beat.]
[Cut back to Aya leaning on the balcony, staring off into space. She
takes a pull, and exhales. She looks at Kano.]
Aya: [flatly] I can't help you because there's no way you, me or
anybody else can do, say, or write that'd make the guy interested in
the fact you like him. That's just the way it is, so I could take your
money and write something, but it'd be a complete waste of time.
Period. I'd just be stealing your money. I can't say I'll do a job if I
know I can't deliver.
[Cut to Kano's face. She is visibly shocked.]
Kano: [protesting] But why? Why makes you think he won't...
Aya: [off] That's just it.
[Cut to Aya and Kano on the balcony, but a bit closer up, so we can
clearly see Kano's and Aya's expressions. Aya's face is not completely
unsympathetic, to be fair; it's more the face of someone breaking some
rather bad news about The Way The World Works.]
Aya: I dunno if he'll like you back or not. [raising an eyebrow] This
guy actually knows you from Adam, right?
Kano: [nodding] Uh-huh.
Aya: Good. Then there are two possibilities. [gestures with her right
hand] Either he'll be interested in you back...[gestures with her left]
or he won't be. If he is interested, just saying you like him'll work
just great, and there's no point writing the darn thing at all. If he's
not...[beat; takes a pull, exhales]...even if you were the greatest
poet in the world there's nothing that you could write that could
change that or make him the least bit more interested in you or the
fact you like him than he already is. Okay? If he doesn't like you
back, there's nothing you can do about it. Come to think of it, there's
nothing _he_ could do about it really, I guess. You sure can't pick who
you like. It doesn't work that way. Which is rough, but that's life.
[Beat; takes a pull, exhales] That's why I don't write love poems,
period. I did, for a while, when I had a crush on a guy.
Kano: [interested] Who?
Aya: [waving her hand] Nobody you or your sis'd know. I sent them to
him and he just laughed. Honest, that's what he did. I saw him reading
them to his buddies and laughing his ass off. I was over it in, like, a
week, though. Asshole. I'm probably better off. Anyway, the poems you
see about love--the ones that aren't the sort of crap in greeting cards
I mean--there's something else in there to make 'em interesting. Either
they're really about sex, which is _always_ interesting to people, or
about man's place in the world, or something deep like that. [stands
up]
Kano: So how do I tell him I like him?
[Shot of Aya's left profile from the waist up. She takes a last pull,
exhales, and flicks the cigarette off the balcony out of sight.]
Aya: Showing it's good.
[Close up of Kano's blank expression.]
[Shot of the upstairs hall of the Miyazawa household at night. Light
leaks from the bottom of the stairs.]
[Shot of Kano sitting in her pajamas on the stairs, her left profile to
the camera, not quite inside the light, hugging herself, as quiet as a
mouse.]
[SFX: Soft but clearly audible mutterings and erotic cries _ad lib._]
[Close up on Kano's face. Her expression is blank.]
Arima: [off; whispered] Should I...?
Yukino: [off; tender, whispered] Let me, okay?
Arima: [off; whispered] Okay...[beat]...ah...Yukino...
Yukino: [off; whispered] Oh...Soichiro...
[Front view of SD Aya.]
Aya: [with finality] Okay, that's enough of that. You have any more guy
trouble, send a letter to Auntie Akiko at my magazine. [beat; rubs her
chin] Actually, don't. She's full of crap. 46-year-old virgin, big as a
buffalo and twice as mean. Try asking your big sister. She actually
knows something about the acquisition and care of a man. Byeee! [makes
to bolt for her door]
Kano: [off; dejected] I can't ask her.
[Front view of Normal Aya turning back, stopped in her tracks.]
Aya: Why not? She charge too much or...
[Full-length shot of Kano, hanging her head.]
[Close up of Aya's face.]
Aya: I said...[disbelief]...oh God, it's not Arima, is it?
[Full-length shot of Kano, hanging her head.]
Kano: No.
[Shot of normal Aya, left background, with the back of normal Kano's
head right foreground, in front of Aya's door.]
Aya: Then who...
Kano: [reluctantly] Hideaki Asaba.
Aya: Asaba?
[Beat. Aya suddenly turns SD and starts laughing her head off. Kano
sweatdrops.]
[SFX: Comical drumrolls.]
Aya: [ad lib.] BWAWAHAHA! Oh my God, what a riot! Oh help me!
HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, this is so great I could just die! BAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh you
poor dear! WAHAHAHAHA!
Kano: [through her teeth; a vein might stand out on her head] It's not
funny!
[SFX: End drumrolls.]
[Close up of Aya's face; she has managed to get back into normal mode.
She wipes a tear from her eye.]
Aya: I'm sorry. It's just...trust me, girl, he is _not_ the man for
you, okay?
[Close up of Kano's face. She is clearly very angry.]
Kano: [furious] Says who?
[SD Aya gets in her face again.]
Aya: So, how well do you know this guy again?
Kano: [defensively] I've met him lots of times! He comes over to our
house all the time! He's real nice!
[Close up on Aya's face in left profile, which has suddenly reverted to
normal.]
Aya: How much do you really know about him? Aside from the fact he's a
friend of your sisters and he's cute?
[Close up on Kano's face in right profile. She blushes and does not
reply.]
[Close up on Aya's face in left profile. Her eyes are shut, with a look
as if suspicions were confirmed.]
Aya: I thought not. [makes as if to turn away]
[Shot of Aya left foreground, facing towards the door away from the
road, Kano in right background.]
Aya: I could say the guy's a lech, but you probably know that. Listen.
Just because somebody hangs out with your big sister does not make them
cool. When your sis decided to make some actual friends she ended up
with the biggest collection of freaks on God's green earth. Especially
her boyfriend, though don't tell her I said that or I'll kick your ass.
Kano: Even you?
[Close up on SD Aya pointing to her own face.]
Aya: _Especially_ me. 'Course I'm a freak, I'm an artist.
[Shot of normal Aya, looking out into the red yonder.]
Aya: [reflective] But I guess she kinda likes us anyway. And in her own
way we think she's kind of cool. [beat] Which is nice.
[Back to SD Aya pointing to her own face.]
Aya: But I don't recommend me to others.
[Shot of normal Aya slapping her right hand on Kano's shoulder.]
[Shot from waist up of Aya (at left) and Kano (at right), the lower
view blocked by the balcony.]
Aya: I can't believe I'm about to do this but repeat after me.
"Sawada's bad news, Sawada's bad news..."
Aya:
[together] "...Sawada's bad news!"
Kano:
[They titter conspiratorially. Aya lets go of Kano's shoulder.]
Aya: [sisterly, not the least bit harsh] Point is, Yukino's Yukino,
you're you. Get your own friends for God's sake.
Rika: [off, viewer's left] Aya! I'm here!
[Aya and Kano look to see who it is.]
[It is Rika Sena, in a cute skirt and sweater, bearing a lunch box, and
smiling as always.]
[Cut to a shot of SD Kano and Aya, left, and SD Rika, right.]
Aya: [beaming, jumping comically] Whoa! Food! Kickass!
[SD Rika laughs happily.]
[Normal Aya goes to the door and opens it.]
[Shot of Rika, right, in front of Kano.]
Rika: [cooing] I remember you! You're Yukino's little sister, right?
What are you doing here?
[Cut to Aya, standing in the door.]
Aya: I dunno, she just kinda showed up. You coming in or what?
[Cut back to Rika and Kano. Rika is looking off camera to her left,
towards the door.]
Rika: [happily] Okay!
[Cut to the door. Rika all but skips inside the apartment and out of
sight. Aya watches her go in, then:]
Aya: [to Kano] Okay. Pep talk over. Go home now. I see you here again,
I really do kick your ass. Got it? And don't tell anyone I live here or
you die.
[She goes in and shuts the door, though not slamming it this time.]
[Cut to Kano, standing in front of the door in silence, her mouth
slightly open.]
[SFX: A whistle sounds signaling the end of a shift.]
[Cut back to the wall outside a construction site.]
Man: [off] It's Miller Time!
[Later. It is a bit after dark. A shopping district.]
[Cut to shop sign, reading CHOCOLATIER KAWASAKI in Latin characters.]
Clerk: [VO; female, middle-aged; a bit unsure] You're sure you want
this one, miss?
Kano: [VO; firmly] Yes'm.
Clerk: [VO] You have enough, right?
Kano: [VO; raising her voice a touch] Yes!
Clerk: [VO] You're sure you want to spend that much? We have some
others that are just as good...
Kano: [VO; starting to whine] I want this one. Really. Can I pay for it
now?
Clerk: [VO; capitulating] The customer is always right. [beat] I
suppose I should wish you good luck. He must be someone very special.
[Cut to Kano, eating rice at the dinner table. Nobody else at table is
within camera range. Kano seems lost in thought.]
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] So, what took so long at club today, Kano?
Kano: [laconic] Stuff.
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] You know what I think, honey?
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] What, dear?
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] I think my little princess Kano was out buying
chocolates for her favorite boy in the whole wide world!
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off; playing along] And who might that be, dear?
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] Me, of course! But she's so bashful she can't say
it!
[Loud laughter.]
Mr. Miyazawa: [off; getting into it] In fact, I bet my other princesses
are off doing the exact same thing right now! I feel so loved...!
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] Now dear, you know Tsukino's studying at the
library and Yukino...well...she has someone else to buy for...
Kano: [bored] He told her not to, Mom. She said so herself. Twice.
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] Even better! All the more for me!
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off, teasing] Come now, dear. Isn't my chocolate
enough?
Mr. Miyazawa: [off; waxing eloquent] Why honey, you don't understand!
As a husband, to get chocolate from my beloved wife is exquisite
enough, but to get it also from three other beautiful and oh-so-
desirable women would be sheer heaven for any man...!
[A stylized bulging vein appears at Kano's right.]
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off; not amused] Re-phrase that. _Dear._
[A sweatdrop appears at Kano's left.]
Mr. Miyazawa: [off; confused] Wh...what'd I say, honey?
[Kano has finished half her rice, but hasn't touched her fish. She puts
down her rice-bowl and chopsticks and rises.]
Kano: May I be excused?
[Close-up of Kano's face, still hard in thought.]
Kano: [VO; thinking] Showing it. Yes.
[Cut to front view of the Miyazawa house. A clear February day.]
[Caption: 2001.2.14 16.00]
[Shot of Peropero dozing in his kennel, his tail turned to the camera.]
[Shot of the Miyazawa living room. The only light is from the front
window, and at this time of day it is poor. The TV set is off, and the
room is completely silent.]
[Shot of the upstairs hall. The only light is from the window at
viewer's left. The hall is also silent.]
[SFX: Someone opening and closing a door.]
[SFX: Someone dropping a bag.]
[SFX: Someone taking off shoes.]
Kano: [off] I'm home.
[Close up of the keypad of the Miyazawa telephone.]
[SFX: Someone--presumably Kano--setting going an answering machine.]
Machine: [VO; recorded voice] One message. First message. At 2:20 p.m.
Mrs. Miyazawa: [VO; from machine; cheerful] Hi kids! It's Mom.
Obviously I'm out right now. Getting chocolates for your father of
_course_!...I just hope there's something decent left to give
him...anyway, I'm going to meet him in town somewhere nice and give
them to him, so you'll just have to forage tonight. Don't worry though,
we'll be home by bedtime! Byeee!
Machine: [VO] End of message. That was the last message.
[Shot of Kano in her uniform, pulling up her sleeves.]
Kano: [determined] Right.
[A freezer door opens. Kano's hands pull out a bag labeled FRENCH
FRIES.]
[Shot from front of an oven door being pulled open.]
[Shot from above of a gloved hand sliding a cookie sheet covered with
frozen fries into the oven.]
[Close up on an oven dial set to BAKE.]
[A cupboard door is opened, revealing all manner of powders, spices and
sauces.]
[Close up on a jar of gravy. Kano's right hand takes it out of the
cupboard.]
[A fridge door opens, revealing all sorts of goodies requiring
refrigeration.]
[Close up on a bag of grated cheese. Kano's right hand picks it up.]
[Close up on a saucepan, sitting over gas, according to the dial at a
LOW setting.]
[SFX: Something viscous, probably the gravy, bubbling in the saucepan.]
[Close up on an empty, clean lunch box, sitting on the countertop.]
[SFX: Someone shutting off the gas. The bubbling stops.]
[Cut to a random, fairly nice street in Kawasaki. A barrier has come
down to let an electric train pass. The train arrives and thunders by.]
[Cut to a not-so-nice street in Kawasaki. The factory, which is within
walking distance, looms over it, stacks spitting God knows what into
the air. Tatty storefronts, as many bearing Korean _hangul_ characters
as Japanese, and tenements are the rule. Many are boarded up and in
obvious disrepair, bearing FOR SALE and FOR RENT signs that have
clearly been there a long time, and covered with miscellaneous gang
symbols, fascist, communist and anarchist emblems, and other graffiti
in Japanese, Korean and English, the English being mostly obscenities.
Any or all of these might be file photos.]
[SFX: A whistle from the factory signaling change of shift.]
[Close up on a discarded bicycle, lying at the side of the street in
front of one of the abandoned storefronts. Someone has drawn crude
genitalia on the wall of the store.]
[Close up on an empty beer bottle.]
[Close up on a discarded black glove.]
[Shot from above of Kano, still in uniform and looking horribly out of
place, her bag on her back, the lunch box cradled in her hands. She is
walking as quickly as possible without appearing to run or look
panicked.]
[Shot of a couple of tough looking youths, sharing a cigarette. They
look up, presumably as Kano passes.]
[Shot from the front of Kano from her waist up. She looks from side to
side, partly from apprehension, partly from incomprehension, as if she
cannot believe this is the place she was looking for.]
[A clearly homeless, just as clearly intoxicated man looks up from a
paper-covered bottle, presumably as Kano passes.]
[Shot of Kano from right profile, still walking. She at last stops,
tries not to make it obvious she is checking for anyone following her,
and looks up and around, presumably at the building before her. As she
does so, an very old, frail woman in kimono passes behind her in the
background from right to left, while a rough-looking man in his
thirties, perhaps a factory worker, passes from left to right,
presumably homeward bound.]
[Shot of the front of the building Kano is standing in front of. It is
a rundown, two-story boarding house, made from cinderblocks; it might
be Maison Ikkoku, stripped of its charm, with a dash of Rei Ayanami's
tenement thrown in for good measure. A sign on the front wall says
MAISON ELLEN DE GROOT.]
[Cut back to Kano looking up at the building.]
Voice: [off; male, foreign accent, slurred] You right, pet?
[Kano looks to her left to see who it is.]
[Cut to the caller. It is a white man, possibly though not definitely
under forty, given his ravaged, lean look. He is almost certainly
homeless: his dark hair is uncut and unwashed; his nails are long and
dirty; his face, with bushy eyebrows and a large, red, triangular,
blackhead-speckled nose, is unwashed and covered with several days
worth of beard. He wears torn blue slacks, old, beat-up hiking boots, a
dirty beige jacket and hat and gray gloves. He is trying his best to
look friendly. He approaches Kano.]
[Cut to shot of both man, left, and Kano, right]
Kano: [a bit afraid] Um...is this Maison Ellen de Groot?
White Man: That it is, pet. Sure, doesn't it say on the front door,
now. Ah, sure, where're me manners, at all. Have to introduce meself
Japanese style, won't I, now? [bows] Peter Roche, King of the Homeless.
Kano: Um...[bows tentatively] Kano Miyazawa. Ch...charmed...
[The white man laughs out loud, then starts to cough violently. Kano is
clearly concerned, but just as afraid to approach.]
Kano: Are you all right?
White Man: [recovering] Oh yes, pet, I'm just...[gasps]...I'm just
grand, now, I am. Sure, this happens to me all the time. I'm not a fit
man, at all, at all, and me having to sleep in the wet. Sure it'd ruin
the health of any man alive. [fully recovered; gets to the point] That
reminds me, pet. I don't suppose you'd be having a little spare change
for a poor man away from his native home, would you, love? I haven't
eaten in three days, and I'm dying of hunger...
Kano: [automatically, firmly; this is how panhandlers are dealt with] I
don't have any money. [makes as if to turn away]
White Man: [making a show of being upset] Ah sure, what's this now?
Sure you won't help a poor man in need. And here I came to Japan
because I heard tell they were the prettiest girls there in all the
world. [smiling at a joke only he gets] Sure the eyes are not as large
as the ones I heard tell of, mind you, but I thought them sweet and
charming just the same, and once I was here I couldn't get home again,
so...
Kano: Where are you from?
White Man: [lyric] I am from Ireland,
And the holy land of Ireland.
Please sir, I beg you,
Come and dance with me in Ireland.
[The man starts to dance with himself, in the process stumbling. Kano
dashes over and catches his arm, helping him up.]
White Man: Oh, thank you, pet. You're a grand girl, you are. Tell you
what, pet. [looks up at her, starting to look lustful] Never mind your
money, I wouldn't take it from a pretty girl like you anyway. Will you
not give me a kiss instead? That'd do me as much good as any food in
the world...
[Kano is revolted and is looking for (non-existent) escape routes, when
something hits the white man square on the head, succeeding in knocking
him down on the road.]
Voice [off; female, gruff] Get yo' cracker ass outta here, you ol'
pervert!
[The white man looks up from where he's lying. He feels his head and
checks his hand for blood.]
White Man: Sure, what's the matter with you? Sure I wasn't doing your
one here any harm!
[A fat middle-aged Japanese woman has emerged from the boarding house,
holding a stone in her hand. She is judging its weight, and looking
vicious.]
Woman: No shit, 'cause I caught you before you could start! Now hit the
road before I give you more of the same!
[The white man struggles to rise, finally succeeding.]
White Man: [at the woman] Y'auld bitch! You'll get yours, you will, and
I'll hand it you in spades! Just say when!
[Cut back to the boarding house door.]
Woman: The heck you will! This here's private property, somethin' you
ain't got, but I do, and I reckon I'll keep it that way, a'right? I see
you here one more time, I kick yo' ass all the way back to yo' pot o'
gold, and you come back affur that, I ax the poh-lice to do it fo' me!
Vamoose!
[The white man stumbles off, cursing under his breath.]
[Cut back to woman.]
Woman: [a bit more nicely, certainly more politely] Sorry, honey. He's
homeless, and drunk most o' the time. He don't hurt nobody really, he's
just a pain in the bee-hind. Hustling people as po' as he is.
[Cut to side view of woman standing at the door, at viewer's right.
Kano approaches from left.]
Kano: [bowing] Thank you, ma'am.
Woman: No problem, honey. You go on home now, and be good. [makes as if
to go in]
Kano: Actually, ma'am...is this Maison Ellen de Groot?
[The woman lights a cigarette.]
Woman: [finally] Yeah. And li'l ol' me's the manager, and I'm damn
proud. C'n I he'p you?
Kano: I hope so...does Hideaki Asaba live here?
Woman: [suspicious] Who wants to know? You his girl or somethin'?
Kano: [not sure how to answer] Something like that...[shows her the
lunch box] I have something for him.
[Cut to a front view of the woman. She seems to accept Kano's answer.
She pulls on the cigarette, exhales.]
Woman: He's in room four, fo' now. His sorry ass is gonna be homeless
too if he don't pay his rent purdy soon. You go up there, you wanna let
him know that, a'right? [starting to rant] He don' listen to me none, I
done told him three times in the past two weeks, 'cause the rent was
due the first o' the month like I tole him...
[Cut back to a front view of Kano. She is clearly pleased.]
Kano: Thanks ma'am.
[Cut to a door with a big 4 stenciled in. Hideaki Asaba answers it.]
Asaba: [beginning to make excuses] No, I don't have it yet, honest. I
haven't found another job yet...[realizing who it is] Kano? What are
you doing here by yourself?
[Shot of Kano Miyazawa in the corridor, holding out the lunch box,
beaming and blushing.]
Kano: Happy Valentine's Day.
--
Mon chemin ce n'est pas un chemin, c'est la neige.
--
discussions (and the occasional line; the omake is mostly Ukyou's), and
to Luke Mason and Amelia Corrigan for useful comments.
A word of warning before we begin: this story follows on from the
continuity of my previous stories "STILLE NACHT" and "Susuharai," so
the reader would do well to look over those before proceeding. I hope
that that won't be too much of a burden. ^_^
The English translations of Gilles Vigneault's lyrics are my own. I'd
probably be deluding myself if I thought that my jokes at the expense
of Quebec nationalism were still funny to anyone save myself; however,
Kano was born too early to be a _Gekiganger_ otaku, so SAGN will have
to do. :)
Comments are always welcome.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Paul Corrigan
corrig11@pilot.msu.edu
--
Rei: [Q] You possess a false body and a false soul. Do you know why?
[A] I am neither false nor fake. I am simply me.
[Q] No. You are an empty shell with a false soul...You're just an
object that is pretending to be human. Look deep within yourself. Do
you perceive the almost intangible and invisible presence that lurks
below your waking self, inside your darkest dreams? It is there that
your true identity lies.
[A] No. I am me. I became myself by the instrumentality of the
links and relationships between myself and others. I am formed by
interaction with others. They create me as I create them....
[Q] But there is someone else who is your true self. You don't
know her, but she exists.
--_Neon Genesis Evangelion_, episode 25, 1996
Nanami: I want to surpass everything. I'll beat you, and then my
brother, myself up to now...My brother was part of how I could be myself. I
believed that there had to be some sort of bond between us. But there was
nothing!...Tell me. What do I have? Am I just one more lowly insect?
--_Revolutionary Girl Utena_, episode 32, 1997
--
[Night. The Miyazawa living room.]
[Cut to the couch. A young man, apparently Soichiro Arima, and a young
woman, apparently Yukino Miyazawa, stand before the couch, with the
Arima figure on the left and the Yukino figure on the right; the Arima
figure is holding the Yukino figure's hands in his and staring deeply
into her eyes. The Arima figure is dressed in his black winter uniform;
the Yukino figure is in a white kimono with no motif of any kind. It is
not clear, however, that these in fact are the Arima and Yukino we
know, however, because they seem to glow with an unearthly light which,
for all that, does not seem to light up the room.]
Yukino: I have been expecting you.
Arima: I am honored to be here at last.
[They embrace and kiss deeply.]
[Cut to the floor at the feet of the Arima and Yukino figures. The
Arima figure apparently is wearing black socks; the Yukino figure is
barefoot. We see the kimono slowly slip to the floor.]
[Cut to the easy chair, on which Hideaki Asaba is sitting. Kano
Miyazawa is sitting on his lap. For no apparent reason Peropero the dog
is on Kano's lap. Asaba and Kano are expressionless, apparently staring
at the scene unfolding before them at the couch.]
[Close up on Asaba's face.]
Asaba: [formally] I know what you are thinking. They are like gods.
[Close up on Kano's face.]
Kano: [equally formally] I cannot possibly compare to her.
[Asaba's hand catches her chin, and Asaba turns her face to face his.]
Asaba: What if I told you that you were wrong?
[Kano blushes, but for all that does not stop Asaba as he moves to kiss
her deeply.]
[Cut to a view of the hall from the living room, facing away from the
couch and the easy chair. A figure in an apparently shapeless outfit is
just visible in the shadow, owing in part to round-rimmed glasses that
catch the dim moonlight. Peropero dashes into the dark hall out of
sight.]
Kano: [whispered] I feel strange...
[The light reflected from the glasses of the figure disappears.]
[Cut to the ceiling in the bedroom of the Miyazawa daughters. The main
light is switched off, but is just visible in the dim light.]
Tsukino: [off; whining] Kano! Do you have to be so loud when you're
sleeping?
[Cut to a closeup of Kano's head, poking out from under the futon. She
has apparently just woken up from a dream. Her left hand is tucked
under her head.]
Kano: [groggily] I know for a fact I wasn't crying again.
[Cut to a full view of both Tsukino and Kano in their futons. Tsukino
is curled up in her futon, her eyes shut, having clearly been trying to
sleep and failing, owing possibly to the noise Kano has been making.]
Tsukino: [angrily, through her teeth] No! You were groaning like you
were being tortured or something! Can't you have normal dreams like
everyone else? I need sleep! I need to study all day tomorrow!
Kano: [not sorry any more] Sorry. [looks down towards the end of the
bed; remembers something, looks to her left, freaks] My arm! Oh my God!
Where's my arm?
Yukino: [off camera; mumbling in her sleep] Must...take...test...
Tsukino: [unsympathetic] You're lying on it, stupid.
Kano: [looking to her left] Oh. Right. [sits up; her left arm, clearly
asleep, hangs uselessly by her side] I hate when that happens. [stands
up, using her good right arm to lift herself up, and moves off camera]
Tsukino: Where are you going?
[Cut to Kano at the door of the room, which she has opened with her
good hand.]
Kano: The bathroom. [pins-and-needles finally hit her left arm; she
grimaces absurdly] Ack!
[Cut to a shot of the tap of a bathroom sink, at first running. The
water is shut off.]
[Cut to Kano in her pajamas, staring at her reflection in the bathroom
mirror; she apparently was splashing her face, as some drops of water
are dripping from her chin.]
Kano: [thinking] That was the weirdest dream ever.
[Cut to the upstairs corridor of the Miyazawa house, outside the
bathroom door. The light coming from inside is shut off. Kano emerges,
and starts to pad back down the hall to the bedroom.]
[Cut to the side wall of the corridor. Standing there are the Arima
figure and, to his right, the Yukino figure, clad--and glowing--as in
Kano's dream. They watch Kano as she passes from left to right on her
way down the hall. Kano does not notice them.]
Arima: [looking off camera right; blushing] Was that necessary?
Yukino: [looking off camera right; thoughtful] Perhaps inevitable.
[looks at him, a slight smile; softly teasing] Do you regret it?
[The Arima figure looks most unnerved, and starts looking for escape
routes. In the process, he seems to notice the camera. Apparently
relieved, he splutters and bows politely towards it.]
Arima: Good evening.
[The Yukino figure looks towards the camera, perhaps to see what the
Arima figure is talking about. She acknowledges it and bows low, still
smiling.]
Yukino: And now for something completely different.
--
[BGM: Suitably dramatic and stirring martial-sounding music.]
[File footage of the Tokyo skyline, complete with Tokyo Tower.]
Narrator: [preferably male, authoritative-sounding, suitably
"documentary"] In the year 2001 AD the Japanese Empire lay in ruins.
The bursting of the bubble economy had resulted in record unemployment,
in turn leading to an increase in juvenile delinquency and petty crime.
Foreigners roamed the streets, many of them from Montreal, Quebec.
[File footage from somewhere official in Washington, DC. It might be of
President George W. Bush on Inauguration Day.]
Narrator: In the United States of America, President George W. Bush
assumed power with much doubt cast on his credibility as a people's
tribune. In a close election, he had received slightly less than a
plurality of the vote, but had still won owing to technicalities in the
US presidential election process. Moreover, the bursting of the
Internet bubble had slammed the brakes on an unprecedented global
economic expansion, adding further uncertainty to the future of America
and the world at this time of transition.
[File footage of the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.]
Narrator: In Quebec, the resignation of the provincial premier, the
moderate nationalist Lucien Bouchard, and his imminent replacement by
the harder-line Bernard Landry, cast uncertainty onto the political
future of the separatist Parti québécois, and, by implication, that of
the province of Quebec and of Canada itself.
In short, it was an era of chaos.
[Footage ad lib. from the _Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo_ ("His and Her
Circumstances") TV series.]
Narrator: Meanwhile, in the months leading up to these events, 15-year-
old Yukino Miyazawa, a young woman of humble origins, was the
undisputed queen of the first-year class at Hokuei Prefectural High
School, located in the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture, not far
from Tokyo. She impressed all who met her with her excellent scholastic
performance, her beauty and her grace. However, Miyazawa's public image
was a mere façade covering up a vain, lazy, self-centered interior,
specifically designed to earn the public acclaim she so desperately
craved.
However, much to her chagrin, Miyazawa's "debut" at Hokuei High was
overshadowed by the enrollment of one Soichiro Arima, a young man from
a wealthy family of doctors tracing itself back to the Tokugawa
Shogunate, whose intellect, handsome appearance and breeding, not to
mention his athletic abilities, easily made him Miyazawa's peer.
However, in an incident that need not concern us here, Arima saw
Miyazawa's public image, among other things, shattered before his eyes.
The consequence of this was that Arima became the first outside the
Miyazawa family to know the true personality of Yukino Miyazawa. For
her part Miyazawa was the first that Arima trusted with the knowledge
of his struggle to rise above the shameful circumstances of his birth.
The two made a pledge to abandon their public images and express their
true natures to the world at large. In the process of making this
change in their lives, they became close friends, then somewhat more
than close friends, to being _kareshi to kanojo_ ("boyfriend and
girlfriend"). What commonly follows this was perhaps only a matter of
time.
[Still of the Arima house.]
Narrator: The process was not without incident.
[Close up of the front gate of the Arima house. A brand-new plaque on
the side says TAKESHI ARIMA, M.D., CARDIOLOGIST.]
Narrator: In December 2000, for example, it fell to Arima to ask
Miyazawa for their first Christmas date, which for obvious reasons, and
not so obvious reasons that need not concern us here, she happily
accepted. Without either of them intending it, the events of this
Christmas date contributed to the decision at the New Year of Soichiro
Arima's father, Takeshi Arima, M.D., to disown the rest of his family,
who had, for various reasons, long opposed his decision to adopt
Soichiro. In a related act Dr. Arima renounced all claim to the local
hospital which he had inherited from his own father.
[Still of a medium-sized Japanese city hospital.]
Narrator: Dr. Arima's sudden decision to return to private practice
caused a stir in the medical community of Kawasaki, and led to rapid
changes therein. These included a re-organization and downsizing in the
Kawasaki city hospital, whose effects on the hospital's quality of care
and reputation would be highly uncertain, regardless of the immediate
improvements to the hospital's finances.
[File footage of Valentine's Day candy in various confectionery
stores.]
Narrator: This is how matters stood in February of 2001. The 2000-01
academic year, which had begun in April, would soon be over, and the
entrance examinations for Hokuei High and other local high schools were
rapidly approaching. Also quickly approaching was St. Valentine's Day.
In Japan, for reasons beyond the scope of this story, it is the custom
for women, rather than men, to give gifts to their acquaintances of the
other gender, usually of chocolate, with more elaborate ones given to
their true objects of affection. The men, at least in principle, are to
return the favor on "White Day," a month later on March 14.
However, Soichiro Arima was not fond of chocolate, having been deluged
with it for several St. Valentine's Days in the past, and now that he
had been spoken for was looking forward to not receiving any. To that
end, he had discouraged Yukino Miyazawa from buying him any chocolate.
Miyazawa for her part was overjoyed, being excused from the necessity
of buying any.
Godspeed, Yukino Miyazawa. Godspeed, Soichiro Arima. The world is at
your command, if you so will.
--
[Cut to the ceiling in the bedroom of the Miyazawa daughters. The main
light is switched off, but is just visible in the dim light.]
Tsukino: [off; whining more loudly than before] KANO! Stop talking in
your sleep, already!
[Cut to a close up of Kano's head, poking out from under the futon. She
has apparently just woken up from a dream. Her left hand is tucked
under her head.]
Kano: [aloud] Okay, now _that_ took the cake.
--
Les perce-neiges de février/The Snowdrops of February
--
A _Kareshi Kanojo no Jijo_ ("Karekano") fanfic by Paul Corrigan
--
_Karekano_ concept devised by Masami Tsuda
--
For Amelia
Mon propre petit ange
--
[Cut to a still of an ordinary Japanese junior high school.]
[Caption: SOUTH SHIRAKAWA PUBLIC SCHOOL]
[Still of a corridor inside the building.]
[SFX: A bell rings to dismiss classes.]
[Close up on a classroom sign reading 2-C.]
Teacher: [male; off, from inside the classroom] Well, that's it for
today.
Class rep: [female; off] Stand. [beat] Bow.
Teacher: [off] Enjoy your lunches. Good afternoon.
Students: [wishing him well _ad lib._] Yes, sir...Thank you, sir...Good
afternoon, sir...
[SFX: Students are heard leaving their seats.]
[Still of the scene inside the classroom. Students are eating their
lunch, or are standing around at each other's desks conversing, or are
reading comics, or are studying for the next class, and thus and so
forth.]
[Cut to front view of Kano Miyazawa, sitting at her desk clad in her
winter uniform, her boxed lunch in front of her. She appears lost in
thought. The desks immediately next to her are mostly empty.]
[Close up on the boxed lunch. It is untouched.]
[Close up on Kano's left profile.]
Kano: [thinking] What to do...
[Still of Megumi Sadamoto, a girl of about Kano's age and height,
tomboyish, with messy black hair, clad in a uniform identical to Kano's
and apparently standing next to Kano's desk. She has a blue folder in
one hand, with a white fleur-de-lis on the front. Her expression is
enthusiastic.]
Megumi: [VO] Hi, Kano. Can I sit down?
[Still of Kano, looking up to acknowledge Megumi; she is pleased to see
her.]
Kano: [VO] Oh, hi, Meg. Sure, grab a seat.
[Still of Megumi, perched on the side of an empty desk, the folder on
her lap, apparently looking around the room for something but not
finding it.]
Megumi: [VO] Isn't Yurika here?
[Still of Kano, looking away from Megumi, with a rather peeved
expression on her face.]
Kano: [VO] She went to visit Tsukino. _Again._
[Still of Megumi, her hand covering her mouth to stifle a giggle.]
Megumi: [VO] Are you jealous?
[Still of Kano, her arms folded, looking grumpy.]
Kano: [VO] Why? Can't help it if she thinks my sister's cooler than I
am.
[Still of Megumi, holding out the folder, as if to pass it to Kano.]
Megumi: [VO; disappointed] That's too bad. I wanted you both to tell me
what you thought of this.
[Still of Kano, taking the folder from Megumi.]
Kano: [VO; expository] Hi. I'm Kano Miyazawa. I'm fourteen years old.
I'll soon be finished my second year of junior high school at South
Shirakawa Public School in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture.
[Still of Megumi, looking expectant.]
Kano: [VO] This is Megumi Sadamoto. She's in class 2-D. I'm actually in
class 2-C, but Megumi visits all the time.
[Stock still of Yurika Anami, a girl similar in appearance and build to
Tsukino Miyazawa, although slightly taller and with slightly shorter
hair. She is standing at the left of the screen, in front of and facing
Tsukino Miyazawa herself. Yurika's hands are clasped in supplication;
Tsukino looks apprehensive.]
[Captions underneath:
Left: YURIKA ANAMI, AGE 14
Right: TSUKINO MIYAZAWA, AGE 15]
Yurika: [VO] Please be my _onesan_...!
Tsukino: [VO] Kano, save me...!
Kano: [VO; expository] My other friend Yurika is in my class, but she
has an enormous crush on my sister Tsukino, so she goes to see her
every lunchtime. Tsukino acts embarrassed, but I think she really likes
her back.
[Still of Tsukino at the desk in the Miyazawa girls' room, surrounded
by textbooks, trying to study while Kano tries to pull her away.]
Kano: [VO; to Tsukino, whining] Tsukino, I wanna play...
Tsukino: [VO] Not now! I've got to study!
[Still of Tsukino, Yurika, Kano and Megumi, apparently heading home
from school. Tsukino is making as if to part company with Kano.]
Kano: [VO; to Tsukino] You're not going home again?
Tsukino: [VO] Got to go to the library and study. Tell Mom not to hold
dinner.
Yurika: [VO] I'm coming too!
Kano: [VO; expository] Tsukino hasn't been that sociable with me
lately, what with her studying so much for high school entrance exams.
Yurika probably sees more of Tsukino than me nowadays. She won't take
no for an answer.
[Close up of Kano reclining back in her chair, looking thoughtful.]
Kano: [VO] I can't blame her. In February all young women's thoughts
turn to love. However, I like to think I am more mature than my big
sister in these matters. A woman of the world, if you will. Certainly
the object of my affection is of a more mature sort.
[Still of Hideaki Asaba, in his summer uniform, looking suitably tanned
and beautiful. He is chatting and laughing with someone off camera; it
might be in the girl's room at the Miyazawa house.]
Kano: [VO] Hideaki Asaba. Age 16, first year at Hokuei Prefectural High
School.
[Still of various Hideaki Asaba Dinner Show promotional materials,
picturing Asaba in various glamorous and/or provocative outfits and
poses. One is clearly a gay porn fan comic featuring Asaba and Soichiro
Arima.]
Kano: [VO] Late of the Hideaki Asaba Dinner Show at Hokuei High's
cultural festival in autumn.
[Still of the band of Kazuma Shibahime, Tsubasa Shibahime's
stepbrother, performing in concert at Hokuei High.]
Kano: [VO] It failed to win first prize, which went to a late entry by
students apparently from another school...
[Still of two groups of protesting students. One group at the left
holds banners, reading ASABA WAS ROBBED. Another group at the right
holds banners, reading GET OVER IT. Tsubasa is the apparent ringleader
of the group at the right.]
Kano: [VO] ...a controversial development widely protested by girls at
many area schools.
[Still of Asaba seated, roses in the background, his shirt off, showing
off his beautiful pectoral muscles. He is running his left hand through
his hair and has a come-hither look on his face.]
Asaba: [VO] You know you want me.
Kano: [VO] He is widely regarded as being God's Gift to Females.
[Stock still of Asaba, on the right, and Yukino Miyazawa, on the left,
in the girl's room at the Miyazawas, laughing and talking about nothing
in particular. Yukino is petting Peropero.]
Kano: [VO] I happen to have met and to know Hideaki Asaba personally,
as he is a classmate of my eldest sister Yukino. So, in a real sense, I
am on the inside track to gaining Hideaki Asaba's affections.
[Close up on Yukino's laughing face.]
Yukino: Fortunately Yukino is not a serious competitor for those
affections herself, this shot notwithstanding. She's actually dating
Soichiro Arima.
[Still of a close up on Arima's face, which bears a friendly smile.]
Arima: [VO] Hi.
Kano: [VO] Arima is widely regarded as being God's Other Gift to
Females. Their precise ranking has not been determined.
[Still of Kano and Peropero at a long table, inspecting what appear to
be paper punch-card ballots. Behind them is a blackboard, divided in
half with marks for S. ARIMA on the left and marks for H. ASABA on the
right. It's not clear who's in the lead.]
[Caption: DON'T BLAME THE AUTHOR, HE VOTED IN MICHIGAN]
Kano: [VO] A precise ranking may well be impossible. These things are
partly a matter of opinion.
[Still of Arima (on left) and Yukino (on right) posing glamorously in
their winter uniforms. There might be cherry blossoms in the
background.]
Kano: [VO] However, nobody disputes that Arima and my sister make a
good couple, nor that they're the king and queen of the social world of
Hokuei High.
[Still of Arima and Yukino, blushing like mad, moving in for a kiss in
a terribly romantic fashion. Now there are definitely cherry blossoms
in the background.]
Kano: [VO] I also concede that Yukino has had more experience in the
practical arts of romance...
[Still of Peropero sniffing a snowdrop.]
[Caption above, in cheerfully colored crayon: EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL
DIFFICULTIES, PLEASE STAND BY]
[Caption below, in black type: THE AUTHOR ALSO DOES NOT WRITE LEMONS]
Kano: [VO] ...though I'm not at liberty to say how I know that.
[Caption below, replacing the other: HOWEVER, HE PLEADS GUILTY TO
READING THEM NOW AND AGAIN, IF THEY DO NOT SUCK]
Kano: [VO] However, the hard fact is she had a head start.
[Still of the Miyazawa sisters standing on a medal winners' platform,
the kind seen at the Olympics. Yukino stands on the number one post in
the center, wearing a gold medal (and darned proud of it too); Tsukino
stands at the number two post on the right, wearing the silver (with a
neutral expression); Kano stands on the left at the number three spot
(grumbling silently).]
Kano: [VO] She is, after all, the eldest sister. At any rate, age is no
measure of maturity.
[Stock still of Mr. Miyazawa freaking out about God knows what, with
Mrs. Miyazawa sweatdropping at his side.]
Mr. Miyazawa: [VO; foaming at the mouth] Shotgun! Where's the shotgun?
Mrs. Miyazawa: [VO; nervous] Is the shotgun really necessary, dear?
Kano: [VO] Our father is clear proof of that. He always seemed like a
kid brother to me and my sisters, not so much like a father figure as
most children had.
[Still of Yukino in her ratty old sweatsuit, sitting on the couch and
watching TV. Tsukino and Kano are behind the couch, protesting.]
Kano: [VO; to Yukino, whining] Sis...! I wanted to watch the news...!
Yukino: [VO; snickering] Tough. An all new _Terrance and Phillip_'s on.
Deal.
Kano: [VO; expository] At any rate, Yukino has never struck me as
particularly mature.
[Still of Yukino in her winter Hokuei High uniform from the bad old
days of the Queen of Fake, surrounded by sycophants whom she favors
with a condescending smile.]
Kano: [VO] She maintained a façade of maturity outside the home, of
course...
[Cue stock footage of Yukino making a fool of herself in public after
her relationship with Arima began in earnest. Ideal would be the scene
from episode 10 of her chase of Tsubasa Shibahime through the halls of
Hokuei High in her absurdly exaggerated Hell-Hath-No-Fury-Than-A-Woman-
Scorned persona, which for all its silliness put the terror of God into
Tsubasa and all other witnesses of the event.]
Kano: [VO] ...but much of that was abandoned after she started dating
Arima.
[Still of Arima, in "normal" form, looking suitably handsome and
mature, giving a noogie to a "super-deformed" childish-looking
caricature of Yukino.]
Kano: [VO] Arima does seem much more mature than Dad, in a big brother
sort of way. I sometimes think my sister sees him as a big brother or a
father figure, an authoritative figure of the sort Dad never was...
Yukino: [VO; little-girl voice] I love you, hunny-bunny...
Arima: [VO; fatherly] You're a good girl, Miyazawa...
[Still of Kano, clad in a tweed jacket and seated at a luxurious desk,
the kind owned by Oxford professors in period British dramas, a
bookcase lined with books and journals behind her.]
Kano: [VO] My own personal experience with romance has been somewhat
limited in scope; however, my theoretical knowledge, I think, is far
superior.
[Close up on the books. Serious works from the romantic literature of
many countries are mixed in with volumes of compilations of romance
comics; the "journals" are actually copies of girl's comic
anthologies.]
Kano: [VO] I have consumed every serious work on romance and love that
I could get my hands on, from antiquity to the present day, from the
poems of Sappho to the _Sovereignty-Associationist Girl Nanami_ comic.
I have read of love in all of history's social, cultural, and political
contexts.
[Shot of Kano, standing in her school uniform, alone in a crowd of
faceless boy-girl couples that moves around her.]
Kano: [VO] Alas, I have never known the real thing myself.
[Still of a close up of Kano and Megumi in profile, facing each other,
blushing and making as if to kiss.]
[Caption: THIS ONLY HAPPENED IN KANO'S IMAGINATION]
Kano: [VO] For a while I thought Megumi liked me.
[Still of Kano and Megumi in their summer uniforms, standing before
each other in the school yard, laughing their heads off.]
Kano: [VO] That turned out to be a big misunderstanding...
[Still of Tsukino and Yurika in their summer uniforms, looking on from
an alley between some school buildings.]
Kano: [VO; peeved] ...perpetrated by Tsukino.
[Still of Yurika pleading to Tsukino that Tsukino might be her
_onesan_, in exactly the same spot.]
Kano: [VO] However, Tsukino got hers...sort of...
[Still of Kano and Megumi looking on from the alley.]
Kano: [VO] ...and I made a good friend.
[Still of Kano and Megumi posing together in their winter school
uniforms, grinning and making "V" victory signs.]
Kano: [VO] Turns out we had a lot in common. She even likes _Nanami_.
But even so we're just friends.
[Close up of Arima's friendly, smiling face.]
Kano: [VO] In any case, my wide reading, I like to think, has refined
my tastes in men. Arima's charm is that of an older brother, which is
fine, if you're into that sort of thing. It might be a sign of
immaturity, though.
[Close up of Asaba's glamorous, smiling face.]
Kano: [VO] Hideaki Asaba, on the other hand...
[Pencil sketch of Kano at her desk, without pen or ink, or for that
matter, any facial characteristics drawn in. Where her face should be,
however, a blush slowly but surely appears.]
[SFX: A kettle whistles loudly.]
Kano: [VO; giggles in that creepy way only she can do] ...well, if you
have to ask, you're too young to get an answer...
Megumi: [VO; irritated] Kano! Are you talking to yourself again?
[Cut back to the classroom, fully inked. Kano blinks at Megumi.]
Kano: Oh. Sorry about that. Comic. Right.
[Close up of a page from a _Sovereignty-Associationist Girl Nanami_ fan
comic, penciled but not inked. On the page is someone resembling Nanami
Kiryu from _Revolutionary Girl Utena_, clad in what should be her
Student Council uniform except for the fleur-de-lys emblazoned on the
breast pocket. She is standing behind a lectern, making what must be a
stirring speech, as there are tears in her eyes. However, there is as
yet nothing in the speech bubble, so it's hard to say what it is.]
[Closeup on another page. Nanami walks off into the sunset, a flurry of
lily petals marking her departure. Another speech bubble awaits a
fitting final turn of phrase.]
Kano: [VO] I didn't know you drew comics, Megumi.
[Cut to a front view of Kano at her desk, looking at the drawings,
while Megumi looks over her shoulder to gauge her reaction.]
Megumi: Well, I don't know if they're any good...
Kano: [looking up to Megumi, approvingly] These are cool! Have you
shown them to anyone else?
Megumi: [pensive] Well, I actually tried showing them to Mrs. Yoshida,
the art teacher, but she was like, "I already know how Papino draws,
I'd rather see how you draw." So I figured I'd get a second opinion.
Kano: [getting in Megumi's face; clasping her hands, a pleading look on
her face] Please. I'm begging. You gotta do more.
Megumi: [sweatdropping] I'm not even done with this one yet! [looks
away] Besides, I'm okay at drawing I guess, but I'm no good at dialogue
or stories or stuff...I'm no Ayaki Sawai, you know...
Kano: [level, narrowing her eyes] Listen. Nobody is Ayaki Sawai. Ayaki
Sawai is God. Repeat after me...
Megumi: That's not the point! I mean, I don't know what Nanami should
say in her speech resigning as Engaged One or anything. I could do
more, but I don't know where I should go with it or anything.
Kano: [looking at the sheets] Well, it is kind of final. Is she going
to come back, or...?
Megumi: I dunno. [leans on a desk, looks up at the ceiling] I mean, I
could bring her back, but what would she do? My whole point was she
hadn't been able to successfully fight a Référendum duel, so she had to
go. If she came back, she'd eventually have to fight a Référendum duel,
and she'd have to lose, so what'd be the point? I mean, there were two
Référendum duels in the TV series as it was. What's the point of a
third?
Kano: No, duh! She wouldn't have to win. Don't you see? The whole point
of _Nanami_'s not actually getting sovereignty-association, it's the
struggle! The romance! The inscrutable allusions to hockey!
Megumi: [smiling, apparently reassured] Yeah. Though I don't know
enough about hockey to fake those too well.
[Megumi takes a seat at an empty desk, reclines in it, shuts her eyes
and sighs. Close up on her left profile.]
Megumi: [off in a dream world] Oh, I'd love to go to Quebec, just once,
just to see everything I read about in _Nanami_. See the Habs play...
Kano: [off; freaking out] Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god...
[Megumi turns to her right (towards the camera) to face Kano.]
Megumi: [snapping out of it] What?
[Shot of Kano's head and shoulders; she has turned towards Megumi.]
Kano: Did you hear they got sold?
[Cut back to Megumi, looking thunderstruck.]
Megumi: [snapping out of her daze] What? They _were_?
[Cut back to Kano, looking apologetic.]
Kano: [breaking the bad news] Yipper. Molson sold the Canadiens.
Thought it was time you knew.
Megumi: [beginning to freak] No way! They can't do that!
Kano: [off] Well, they did. Just, like, a few weeks ago.
Megumi: To who?
Kano: [off] Some American guy.
[Megumi looks upset.]
Megumi: [genuinely horrified] Oh God. Quebec's supposed to leave
Canada, the Canadiens aren't supposed to leave Quebec!
[Cut back to Kano, looking a little worried for Megumi.]
Kano: [trying to console her] Look, apparently he's not allowed move
the team. Besides, even if he does, you can still see other stuff,
right? Like the Château de Frontenac...
[Cut back to Megumi. She seems reassured; she turns back towards the
ceiling, a reflective expression.]
Megumi: I saw a picture of the Château in my sister's French textbook.
[Cut back to Kano, whose ears have pricked up.]
Kano: [definitely interested] Your sis takes French?
Megumi: Yeah. They offer three years' worth at St. Francis Xavier.
[Cut to a shot of a classroom impossibly overcrowded by _Sovereignty-
Associationist Girl Nanami_ fangirls, bearing all manner of _Nanami_
merchandise (and a few dressed as their favorite characters from the
show). They have forced a middle-aged white woman with dark hair and
spectacles--presumably the French teacher--into the wall by sheer
numbers.]
[Caption: RE-ENACTMENT]
Megumi: [VO] Apparently the year they started showing _Nanami_ the
enrollment in French tripled.
Fangirls: [ecstatic in their fandom] VIVE MAM'SELLE NANAMI!
Teacher: [venting a terrible oath _en québécois_] Tabernac!
[Cut back to the classroom. Megumi holds a page in her hand, and is
pointing something out to Kano.]
Megumi: So anyway, she helped me think up French titles for my stories.
Like this one. _Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?_ "But Where Are The
Snows of Years Past?" I think it's a poem. I even got a small French
dictionary, so I could look up some words on my own.
Kano: Cool. So like, do you think you'll take French?
Megumi: [pensive] Hm. I dunno. St. Francis Xavier is great, but...
Kano: But what?
Megumi: It's all girls, so I won't get to meet many boys outside of
school, and it's tough so I won't have a lot of time to go out...
[reminded of something] Wait! Now I know what I meant to ask you.
What are you doing for Valentine's?
Kano: [goofy grin, creepy voice] Ooh! I'd rather not say just yet...
Megumi: [puzzled] Why not? Is it embarrassing?
Kano: Not as such, I'd just rather know what the competition is up to
first...
Megumi: [sweatdropping] Uh-huh. [recovering] Hm. I dunno myself.
There's a guy in 3-C who's pretty cute. I might try giving him some
chocolate...
Kano: [unimpressed] Just "a guy?"
Megumi: [defensive] Yeah, a guy. Nobody you know. Why?
[Kano starts to laugh creepily, and makes sure it is a very good and
very creepy laugh. Megumi starts to sweatdrop like mad.]
Kano: [_really_ creepy] Oh, Megumi, darling, you've set your sights so
low. Such low expectations won't get you far in life...
Megumi: [clearly disturbed] Uh-huh...what makes you say that?
[Kano rises from her seat. A tsunami breaks behind her.]
Kano: [triumphantly] I plan to reach for the stars!
Megumi: [laughing nervously] Heh heh...yeah. So...who are you going to
give chocolate to? Anyone I know?
Kano: [looking towards her, a superior look on her face] Only the great
Hideaki Asaba of Hokuei High!
Megumi: [wide eyes] Are you crazy? Why do you wanna give him chocolate?
Why don't you just send Brad Pitt chocolates in the mail?
Kano: [wagging her finger] Now, now. This isn't completely unrealistic.
You see, _I_ just happen to know him _personally_.
[Pan out to a panoramic view of the room. Every girl's ear pricks up.
In an instant they are all upon Kano, screaming with delight at the
chance to know greatness at least second hand, and demanding to know
the scoop. The boys are not amused.]
[Cut to Kano, back in her seat, surrounded by adoring fangirls, and
Megumi, struggling not to be crushed in her seat.]
Fangirls [gushing ad lib.]: Oh my God! You actually know him?
Can I touch you?
I have his Dinner Show comic with Arima!
What's he like?
Is he as cute in real life as in the photos?
Could you get me his autograph?
Can I have _your_ autograph?
Do you know his likes and dislikes?
How about his phone number?
Kano: [calmly, with much false modesty] Now, now. One at a time,
please.
Megumi: [a skeptical look, hard to pull when you're being crushed] How
do you know Hideaki Asaba?
Kano: [exaggerating for the sake of her audience] Oh, that. Asaba's a
_very_ good friend of the family. Comes over all the time.
[Cue ecstatic screaming from the fangirls. One suddenly steps forward.]
Random Fangirl: [not at all amused] Miyazawa! You do know Hideaki Asaba
belongs to all girls, right?
Kano: [waving her off] Have no fear. As of right now we're just good
friends. Of course I intend to change that on the 14th...
Fangirl: [sniffing] I'd like to see you try it!
Kano: I'm on the inside track. Shouldn't be hard.
[Megumi finally gets free of the fangirls, stands beside Kano.]
Megumi: You know, she has a point. How are you going to turn Asaba's
head just with chocolate? Do you have any idea how much chocolate he's
likely to get? A box of chocolates and 500 yen'll get you a cup of
coffee from the likes of him. I mean, he has his choice of girls,
right?
[Cut to a super-deformed Asaba separating boxes of chocolate into two
piles, BABE on his right, SKANK on his left. Both piles are large, but
SKANK dwarfs BABE by any reasonable standard.]
Kano: [VO; confident] Give me more credit than that. Just chocolate
won't work. Never does, you know. Even the best chocolates money can
buy, though of course I fully intend to spare no expense.
[Cut back to Megumi and Kano.]
Megumi: So what will you do?
Kano: Only write him the most beautiful love poem known to man, to
express my love for him, so he can't possibly resist.
[Cut to Kano and Asaba standing in a field of roses, where Asaba is
reading what is presumably Kano's poem.]
[CAPTION: DRAMATIZATION]
Asaba: Ah! What eloquence! How can I possibly refuse you?
Kano: [puckering up] Kiss me you fool!
[They embrace.]
Asaba: Oh Kano...
Kano: [breathily] Oh Asaba...
[Cut back to the real Kano's face, grinning at her own brilliance.]
Kano: [creepy again] That's what will happen! I call it "Operation:
Eek! Hideaki Asaba Is a Hopeless Romantic Who'll Be Bowled Over by the
Force of My Love Poetry!"
[Close up of Kano clasping Megumi's hands in hers.]
[Shot of Kano standing in front of Megumi, looking expectant.]
Kano: But it'll be even better if it has a few French words in it to
make it even more romantic...
Megumi: [skeptical; narrow eyes] Does Asaba understand French?
Kano: [unshakable] That's beside the point. [begging] Pleeeese...
Megumi: [flatly] No.
Kano: [eyes watering] What about our friendship? I need your help! I
mean, I'm no Ayaki Sawai...
Megumi: [imitating Kano] Listen. Nobody is Ayaki Sawai. Ayaki Sawai is
God. Repeat after me...
Kano:
[in unison] Nobody is Ayaki Sawai. Ayaki Sawai is God.
Megumi:
Megumi: [smirking] Good girl.
Kano: [whining] You're mean.
[SFX: The bell rings.]
Megumi: [extracts herself from Kano's grip] Gotta go. Good luck.
[Kano pouts.]
[Cut to a bird's eye view of the classroom after lunch. Everyone is
back at their desks taking notes. The teacher is not visible on camera;
we hear her reading something in English from just off screen. It's not
with a Japanese accent, either, though just what accent is not
immediately clear.]
[Close up on a view of Kano at her desk from above, writing something
in Japanese in her notebook, presumably not notes on the assignment.]
Kano: [VO] I thought it true, though, that if one did one's best, one
could not possibly fail. This is what Rosa Jung-Freud, the Red Rose of
Leningrad, had taught me by her example. I took issue with her
interpretation of Marxism, but that much I accepted.
[Cut to a front view of Kano at her desk. She writes a few words,
thinks a moment, crosses them out, writes some more, crosses those out,
looks frustrated, writes some more.]
Kano: [VO] I like to think I'm an easy-going person. Some have
interpreted this as "laziness." But that's not true. I'm a Miyazawa.
I'm easy-going, but I give my all to whatever I'm doing. In other
words, I do my best.
[Kano crosses out her writing again, grits her teeth, starts again.]
Kano: [VO] So when I can't do something, despite my best efforts, I get
a little upset.
[Kano finishes writing a couple of lines, looks at them, smiles, looks
at them again, stops smiling, gets in a rage, pulls at her hair.]
Kano: [aloud] No, no, no! This is totally stupid!
Teacher: [off; female, contralto, an accent that is almost French, but
somewhat more nasal] Miss Miyazawa?
[Kano looks up. Cut to a shot of the head and torso of the English
teacher. It just happens to be the French teacher from the re-enactment
of the scene in the French class at St. Francis Xavier's.]
Teacher: Can you tell me what is the indirect object in the sentence "I
went to the store this afternoon?"
[Caption off to teacher's left: ODETTE THIBODEAUX, NÉE JOHNSON. BORN
1960.6.22 IN QUEBEC CITY. CAME TO JAPAN IN 1985 WITH HUSBAND.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Or is my lecturing so dull that I was unable to keep
your attention?
[Caption, at Mrs. Thibodeaux's right: TEACHES FRENCH AT ST. FRANCIS
XAVIER CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL IN KAWASAKI. BILINGUAL. MOONLIGHTS AS
ENGLISH TEACHER AT SOUTH SHIRAKAWA PUBLIC SCHOOL.]
[Shot of Kano's desk from front. Mrs. Thibodeaux is at her left
(viewer's right), looking over Kano's shoulder at what she's been
writing.]
Kano: [looks down, blushing; ashamed] Sorry.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: May I see what you have there? [takes the paper off
Kano's desk] Clearly it's more interesting than what I'm talking about.
Mind if I share it with the class?
Kano: [panicking, waving her hands before her in warding] No! I mean
yes! I mean, don't read it, please!
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Go stand in the hall, Miss Miyazawa.
[Cut to Kano in the hall outside the classroom, holding two buckets of
water, one in each hand. She is scowling.]
Kano: [thinking] I've never been so humiliated in my life.
[SFX: Bell rings to dismiss class.]
Class rep: [off, from inside the classroom] Stand. [beat] Bow.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [off, from inside] That's it for today. See you
tomorrow.
[SFX: General muttering from inside the room.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [off, from Kano's left] Miss Miyazawa?
[Kano looks to acknowledge Mrs. Thibodeaux. Mrs. Thibodeaux walks up to
her, holds up a sheet of paper--Kano's "manuscript"--and reads it
aloud, though only loud enough for Kano to hear.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [lyric] The snowdrops of February
Soon will blossom for all to see.
I love you, Asaba,
Won't you please kiss me?
[Mrs. Thibodeaux holds the sheet out to Kano. Kano puts down the
buckets and takes it.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [prosaic, lecturing] If you're going to write such
embarrassing things in my class, write them in English.
Kano: [blushing] Sorry, ma'am. It won't happen again.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Glad to hear it. [off the cuff] Actually, you'd be
even better off writing them in French. At least then I could help you
improve. I can't write poems in English either.
[She laughs conspiratorially, as if to reassure Kano. It seems to work,
as Kano starts to laugh a bit too. After they compose themselves:]
Kano: Say, ma'am--it's no big deal, but how come you speak English
anyway?
Mrs. Thibodeaux: The truth? I learned it to impress my husband. He
didn't speak any French. [as if to declare discussion over] I should
go. Back into class with you.
Kano: [tentatively] Um, ma'am, one more thing...
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [guarded] Not about my life story, I hope?
Kano: No...how do you say "the snowdrops of February" in French anyway?
[Mrs. Thibodeaux blinks.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Oh. [thinks a moment] I used to know this myself.
[chuckles] I've been away too long. Wait, now I remember. Let me see
the sheet again.
[Kano hands it to her. Mrs. Thibodeaux goes to the wall opposite and
writes something below what Kano has written, then returns and hands it
back to Kano, who looks at it.]
[Close up on the page. Below Kano's writing in Japanese are the French
words, in Latin characters:
LES PERCE-NEIGES DE FÉVRIER
with _perce-neiges_ underlined, and then again, in Japanese phonetic
_katakana_ characters:
rei pesu neji do heburiei]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [VO] "_Les perce-neiges de février_." In Japanese,
literally, _perce-neige_ means "pierces snow." Why do you ask?
[Cut back to Kano and Mrs. Thibodeaux. Mrs. Thibodeaux is now beside
Kano at Kano's right (viewer's left).]
Kano: [looking at the page; non-committal] Just wanted to know.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [starting in on a sales pitch] You know, you really
should come to St. Francis Xavier's if you're interested in French...
Kano: [politely cutting her off; still non-committal] I'll think about
it.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [reminded of something] This is beside the point, but
how is your sister Yukino?
Kano: [looking up at Mrs. Thibodeaux] Fine, I guess. Why?
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [a tad nostalgic] I tried to talk her into coming to
St. Francis Xavier to study French, but she ended up going somewhere
else...
Kano: Hokuei High, ma'am.
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Yes. What a pity. She was one of the best students I
ever had in English. I'm sure she'd have done well in French as well.
[a bit sternly, lecturing again] It helped that she worried about her
grades and not about boys. You could learn from her example.
[Kano hangs her head.]
Kano: [dejected; just managing to stifle a groan] Yes'm.
[Close up on Mrs. Thibodeaux's face.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Me, I learned another language to impress a boy, but I
don't recommend that to others. You'll have plenty of time for boys
when you're older. When you're in school, worry about school. [smiles a
bit, as if to cushion the blow] That said, good luck.
[Cut back to view of Mrs. Thibodeaux and Kano in the corridor. Mrs.
Thibodeaux coughs, straightens her glasses.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: Now, I really must go, or you'll be late to your next
class, and I'll be late to mine. I've got to be at St. Francis Xavier
in an hour. [starts to exit Kano's right; friendly tone] Goodbye now.
[Exit Mrs. Thibodeaux. Kano does not move.]
[Full screen shot of Kano hanging her head and looking miserable.]
Kano: [to the floor more than to Mrs. Thibodeaux] Goodbye.
[SFX: Bell rings to mark class in session.]
Kano: [VO; reflective] I wonder when it was when people began comparing
me to Yukino.
[Black-and-white still of a very young Kano, perhaps at six or seven,
in her elementary school uniform, and proud of it.]
Kano: [VO] It might even have been kindergarten; I don't remember.
Certainly by first grade.
Grade-School Teacher: [female, young; VO; cooing] My! Are you Yukino's
little sister?
[Close up on young Kano's beaming face.]
Young Kano: [VO] Uh-huh!
[Still of young Kano, still beaming, in front of the silhouette of the
grade school teacher, who stands before her.]
Grade-School Teacher: [VO] You're as cute as she was in first grade!
Young Kano: [VO] Thanks!
Grade-School Teacher: [VO] She's such a good student! You must be
really proud of your sister!
Young Kano: [VO] Uh-huh!
[Still of young Kano, still beaming, in front of the silhouette of the
grade school teacher, who now is kneeling in front of her.]
Grade-School Teacher: [VO] Now, you be a good student too, so she can
be proud of you too, okay?
Young Kano: [VO] 'k!
Kano: [VO; expository] And I was too.
[Still of super-deformed Yukino in her glasses and ratty old sweatsuit,
on the couch laughing her head off at God knows what.]
Kano: [VO] Of course, given what I knew about what Sis was really like,
I really should have known better.
[Still of the Miyazawas at the dinner table. SD Kano and SD Tsukino are
laughing their heads off; it must be at some joke at SD Yukino's
expense, because she's looking fearsome, gritting her teeth and
flipping her sisters the finger. Peropero is in his place of honor on
Kano's back.]
Kano: [VO] And I did know better. So did Tsukino.
[Still of a split-screen of the two Yukino Miyazawas. "Public" Yukino,
the beautiful Queen of Fake in her winter South Shirakawa uniform, is
to the left, a false friendly smile on her face. To the right is
"private" Yukino, normal size, but again in her glasses and sweatsuit
and looking positively gruesome.]
Kano: [VO] Heaven knows the dichotomy between what Yukino was like at
school and what she was like at home was a running gag in our house.
[Black and white still of a corridor at South Shirakawa. In the
background to the right is Yukino in her third year of middle school,
in the winter uniform of South Shirakawa, walking to class, looking
suitably queenly. She is being mobbed by first-years, girls Kano's age.
In the foreground on the left Tsukino and Kano, in the same uniform,
are snickering at the first-years' folly.]
First-year Girls: [in unison; ecstatic] Miyazawa! You're our big
sister!
Kano: [VO; creepy] Be careful what you wish for...
Tsukino: [VO; finishing the joke] ...you may get it!
Kano: [VO; expository] But of course, nobody else knew any better, and
we never told anyone otherwise. There was no point.
[Black-and-white still of SD Yukino in her sweatsuit. Our full view of
her is blocked by Tsukino, Kano, and Peropero, who stand in front of
Yukino, dressed as Men in Black in black suits and black sunglasses,
apparently waving away passers-by we cannot see.]
Kano: [VO] You never saw a thing.
Tsukino: [VO] You never saw us.
Kano: [VO; expository] Part of it was a concern for the public image of
the Miyazawa family, and in particular for its secrets. We were
concerned for that as well, though maybe not as much as our sister.
[Black-and-white still of Yukino standing before a class in her third
year at South Shirakawa. She has apparently just finished a
presentation on what might be a math problem. The teacher, or rather
his silhouette, looks on, while the other students, themselves in
silhouette, are taking notes.]
Kano: [VO] The teachers, whatever we thought, thought the world of her.
She really was one of the best students they'd ever had.
[Full screen of Yukino's right profile, as she stands before the
class.]
Teacher: [VO] Excellent exposition, as always, Miss Miyazawa...
[Still of a wall in some classroom at South Shirakawa. A picture of
Yukino in her South Shirakawa uniform dominates the wall, much as walls
of classrooms are often graced with framed pictures of national heroes,
especially in authoritarian states. Her pose is very much a
statesman's, too; she is seated, her posture impeccable, a serious
expression on her face.]
Kano: [VO] She was held up as an example to everyone, including us.
[Still of some posted test results. Yukino Miyazawa has placed first.]
Kano: [VO] And who was I to dispute that? Anyone'd be proud.
[Color still of Kano in a T-shirt that reads on the front 100%
MIYAZAWA. She clearly wears it with pride.]
Kano: [VO] It _was_ kind of cool being Yukino's little sister.
[Still of a back view of Kano. The back of the shirt reads:
NONE GENUINE WITHOUT THIS SIGNATURE
(signed) YUKINO MIYAZAWA]
Kano: [VO] If you came with the Miyazawa brand name, teachers thought
highly of you from the word go, and that meant you got treated a little
nicer.
[Black and white still of Kano happily chatting with Mrs. Thibodeaux.]
[Caption: RE-ENACTMENT]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [VO; friendly] So how is your family, Miss Miyazawa?
Kano: [VO; to Mrs. Thibodeaux] Good.
[Still of Kano at her desk looking studious.]
Kano: [VO] And I tried hard to live up to Yukino's standard, too. To
keep their trust.
[Still of some posted test results. Kano Miyazawa has placed 20th, not
at all bad in a school of South Shirakawa's size, but obviously not on
Yukino's level.]
Kano: [VO] I didn't always succeed as well as I wanted to.
[Black and white still of Kano, hanging her head, being lectured by
Mrs. Thibodeaux.]
Mrs. Thibodeaux: [VO; sternly] What happened this time? I really
expected better from a Miyazawa, you know...
[Still of some posted test results. Tsukino Miyazawa has placed 18th.]
Kano: [VO] She might have meant Tsukino, but I doubt it. Her grades
were about the same as mine.
[Shot of the Miyazawa family, engaged in their New Year karaoke battle,
perhaps the one from "Susuharai."]
Kano: [VO] Our family were always highly competitive, in a friendly
sort of way.
[Still of a line drawing of Yukino, her face an exquisite depiction of
rapture.]
Kano: [VO] For all that I cannot quite understand why my sister got
such an intense gratification from beating the world at everything, at
any cost. We joked that it might be a perversion, and it did seem more
than a little abnormal, even given the competitive spirit in the house.
[Faded black-and-white photo of the Miyazawa house.]
Kano: [VO] Our lower class background, and a desire to overcome it,
might be part of it.
[File photo of Karl Marx.]
Kano: [VO] But I am not a Marxist, not a vulgar one, at least, and I
recognize class isn't everything.
[Black and white still of Yukino in kindergarten, doing an elaborate
show and tell presentation entitled "WHAT MY DADDY DOES ALL DAY" to her
fellow students, who are all in silhouette. One exhibit is a picture of
the factory where he works. Another seems to be a bar chart of annual
profits. The teacher, also in silhouette, is seated on the floor
looking on.]
[Caption: DRAMATIZATION]
Teacher: [female, young; VO, full of praise] That was lovely, Yukino!
Thank you for sharing!
Kano: [VO] At any rate, Yukino has always been like this, or at least
for as long as I can reliably remember, and small children surely have
no class consciousness as such, so that can't be the whole story.
[File photo of Sigmund Freud.]
Kano: [VO] The roots of complexes and neuroses are just that, complex,
mono-causal theories like that of Freud notwithstanding.
[Shot, from a fair distance, of Kano in shorts and a T-shirt, sitting
slumped in a folding chair, her head hanging, against a black
background. Perhaps it is Shinji's folding chair from _Neon Genesis
Evangelion_.]
Kano: [VO] So it goes. My sister had a complex about her image...
[Close up of Kano slumped in the chair. Yukino is standing behind her
in her winter Hokuei High uniform, her expression unreadable.]
Kano: [VO] ...and one day I woke up to find myself with a complex about
the exact same thing.
[Shot, from a very safe distance of a giant Yukino, preferably in Hell-
Hath-No-Fury mode, doing battle with what might be the Angel from
episode 1 of Eva, naturally in the streets of Tokyo-3.]
Kano: [VO] I felt my sister was a colossus that straddled the earth,
who did battle with giants and could do anything...
[Shot of SD Kano dozing on a quiet hill in the countryside outside
Tokyo-3. A shadow falls over her, which is her cue to stir, look
horrified at the sight above her, and jump up and run for dear life.]
Kano: [VO] ...while the best I could do was try, with varying degrees
of success, to get out of her shadow.
[Shot of young Tonami--the short, pudgy version--on an identical hill
outside Tokyo-3. A shadow falls over him. He looks up, and jumps with
joy and enthusiasm, blushing like mad, and cheering Yukino on.]
[Caption: DRAMATIZATION WITH PROFESSIONAL FANFIC CHARACTERS. DO NOT
ATTEMPT]
Tonami: Oh, yeah! Hubba hubba! Give me some of...
[He pays for checking out Giant Yukino's panties by being stepped on by
Giant Yukino's left foot. It is not clear if it was deliberate.]
[Shot of Kano, eating rice at the Miyazawa table, looking glum.]
[Caption: RE-ENACTMENT]
Kano: [VO] My parents did nothing to help.
[Kano picks up some rice with her chopsticks and puts it in her mouth,
clearly without pleasure.]
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] These are very good grades, Kano.
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] Why yes! But as long as my little princess is happy
at school and there's no problems, I couldn't ask for anything more!
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] Exactly, dear!
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] Granted, they're not on Yukino's level, but that's
okay, right?
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] Exactly, dear! No need to feel bad, Kano. We
wouldn't want you to be Yukino anyway. You're your own person. That's
as it should be. We like you just the way you are.
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] You're not Yukino, but nobody really is. Even
Yukino's not _really_ Yukino, right, honey?
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off; amused] Exactly, dear!
[Loud laughter.]
Kano: [VO] They treated it like an enormous joke like everything else.
The rest of my family's not terribly sensitive, still less mature.
[Still from "Susuharai" of Arima and Yukino on the couch on New Year's
Eve, Arima in uniform, Yukino in kimono, Yukino holding Arima's hand
and looking concerned.]
Kano: [VO] I sometimes think that unless there's indisputably a crisis,
everything _is_ a joke in our house.
[Photo of Mr. and Mrs. Miyazawa holding up a baby.]
[Caption: KANO MIYAZAWA AT SIX MONTHS]
Kano: [VO] At any rate, for parents to be proud of their children is no
great surprise. It's almost a family duty, or perhaps an instinct.
[Photo of Yukino with her sisters and Peropero, all (barring Peropero)
in winter uniform, Yukino in Hokuei's, the others in South Shirakawa's.
Yukino, the tallest, is in the center, her arms around her sisters; all
are smiling and cheerful.]
Kano: [VO] What I really wanted was for Yukino herself to say that she
was proud of me too. So I'd know it was all worthwhile.
[White screen, on which is typed in black:]
[BUT SHE NEVER DID.]
[Black and white still of the sisters, preferably SD, at table. Yukino
is in her sweatsuit, striking a ridiculous pose, perhaps Napoleonic.
Tsukino is trying not to laugh. Kano is clearly upset.]
Yukino: [VO; obviously teasing] When are you two going to accept the
fact that _I'm_ fantastic?
Kano: [VO; protesting] Sis! Cut it out!
Tsukino: [VO; giggling] I do. Talk to Kano...!
Kano: [VO; expository] In fact she was the worst with the teasing,
because she didn't think it bothered me. That was understandable, for
our competition was for all that always friendly enough.
[Split-screen of test results. On the left, Yukino is number one. On
the right, Kano is number 20.]
Kano: [VO] It may have only been so light-hearted, though, because she
may have never seen me as a serious threat.
[Cut back to the framed picture of Yukino on the classroom wall. Kano
is standing before it in her winter uniform, her back turned to us at
just the right angle to let us see the picture but not Kano's face.
Kano's left hand against the wall.]
Kano: [VO] So I did not begrudge her status as an excellent student, or
even as a role model.
[Right profile of Kano standing before the painting, studying it. Her
expression is pained, clearly betraying stress.]
Kano: However, it is possible she didn't know the cost it imposed on my
mental wellbeing.
[White screen, on which is typed in black:]
[IT IS POSSIBLE SHE DID NOT EVEN CARE.]
[Cut back to the shot of Yukino and Asaba laughing and talking.]
Kano: [VO] To her credit it was through Yukino that I met my heart's
desire. It may well be through her that I find the means to win him
over.
[Cut to a close up of Kano in her futon at night, staring above her,
brooding on all this. She looks to her side.]
[Full-screen shot of Tsukino and Kano's futons. Tsukino is sound
asleep, spread all over the futon, her covers kicked off. Yukino,
again, is off camera, so it's not clear what state she is in. Kano is
properly tucked in.]
Kano: [whispering] Yukino? Tsukino? Are you guys still awake?
[Neither Yukino nor Tsukino respond. Kano quietly sits up and slowly
rises out of bed.]
[Shot of the floor. A purse is just visible sitting more or less to the
viewer's right in the dim light. Two bare feet, ankles clad in pajama
bottoms, emerge from viewer's left. A hand reaches down and slowly
picks up the purse.]
[Shot of the Miyazawa upstairs hall. Light leaks from behind the
(closed) bathroom door.]
[Close up of the tap of the bathroom sink. It is off, and does not
appear to have been turned on for several hours.]
[Cut to Kano is sitting cross-legged, in silence, on the cramped floor
of the bathroom, with the purse; our perspective is right profile. She
opens the purse and digs through it for a moment, finally pulling out
what appears to be an address book. She starts to flip through.]
[Close up on the address book on Kano's lap. Kano flips until she comes
to one page, on which has been drawn a map. It is labeled ASABA. She
flips some more, until she comes to another map, labeled SAWADA.]
[Cut back to Kano in profile on the floor. She carefully puts down the
address book for a moment and rummages in the purse again, finally
pulling out some notepaper and a pen.]
[Close up of Kano's lap. Hands--obviously Kano's places the address
book there, open to the SAWADA map. Then the left hand places a piece
of notepaper down on the map; the map is still just visible through it.
Kano's right hand then begins to trace the map on the paper with the
pen.]
[Cut to a suburban street in Kawasaki.]
[Close up of a Japanese stop sign.]
[Close up of an electric pylon.]
[SFX: Noises of construction.]
[Shot of a wall outside a construction site. The wall reads POST NO
BILLS.]
[Cut to a full screen shot of a small, not terribly luxurious but
respectable apartment block in Kawasaki, the kind that might be
inhabited by civil servants and white-collar workers on the lower end
of middle management. It is late afternoon, which in February means the
sky is already turning red.]
[CAPTION: 2001.2.13 16.30]
[Close up on the balcony of the 4th floor.]
[SFX: Someone walking up metal steps to the fourth floor.]
[Aya Sawada emerges onto the balcony from the staircase at the viewer's
left, hidden from view, a scowl on her face. She has apparently just
returned from school, and isn't pleased about it somehow.]
Aya: [to herself] All that, _and_ that damn article due tomorrow. Gad,
I hate my life...
[She lets herself in to apartment 402 with her key and shuts the door.]
[Close up on the door sign for 402. It reads: 402: SAWADA.]
[The light dims just a touch, but for all that too quickly.]
[Caption: 15 MINUTES LATER]
[Pan to the extreme right of the balcony. SD Kano pokes her head out
from the right-hand staircase. She brings her whole self out, still in
school uniform; apparently _she_ came from school as well. She walks
slowly on tiptoe to the door of 402, and stands before it for a
moment.]
[Close up on (normal) Kano's throat as she gulps.]
[Close up on Kano's (shaking) right hand as she moves to ring the
bell.]
[SFX: Door bell rings.]
[Cut to the door itself. After a few moments it opens. SD Aya pokes her
head out the door.]
Aya: If you're selling something, thanks, we've got one, and it's more
trouble than it's worth. If you're from a cult, thanks, we're
Catholics, and it's more trouble than it's worth. [blinks with
recognition] Waitasec...do I know you?
[Cut to normal Kano, standing outside the door on viewer's left, and SD
Aya on the right, poking her head out the door and looking at Kano with
narrow eyes.]
Kano: [hesitant; she might stammer slightly] I don't know if you
remember me...I was at the...at the play last year. I'm Kano
Miyazawa...Yukino's little sister?
Aya: [unimpressed] Uh-huh. And you are here, because...
Kano: Well, I...I really, really liked the play...and I love the rest
of your work too...you write as "Ayaki Sawai," right?
Aya: [on guard, still calm but somewhat accusatory] Who wants to know?
How'd you find out where I lived anyway? If it was someone from my
publisher I'm gonna...
Kano: No, it wasn't...anyway, I really loved your column at
Christmas...
Aya: [all smiles] Cool. Then you'll love the column I'm writing now.
[Close up on Kano's face, who is now smiling nervously.]
Kano: Really? What's it about?
[Close up on SD Aya's face, still all smiles.]
Aya: "Why All Fangirls Must Die." You don't miss it, now, you hear?
[smile vanishes; bluntly] See ya.
[Aya slams the door in Kano's face.]
[Cut to SD Kano standing before the door in silence for a few moments.
She blinks a couple of times.]
[SFX: The wind whistles through the trees.]
[Close up on (normal) Kano's throat as she gulps.]
[Close up on Kano's (shaking) right hand as she moves to ring the
bell.]
[SFX: Door bell rings.]
[Cut to the door itself. After a few moments it opens. SD Aya pokes her
head out the door.]
Aya: If you're selling something, thanks, we've got one. If you're from
a cult, thanks, we're Catholics. [blinks with recognition; starts
looking angry] Are you done, or am I gonna have to call the cops or
your sis to drag your butt home? Jesus, you're worse than Tsubasa...
[Cut to normal Kano, standing outside the door on viewer's left, and SD
Aya on the right, poking her head out the door and looking at Kano with
narrow eyes.]
Kano: [pleading] I need your help! This is something only a master
writer can do!
Aya: [dismissively] Master writer. Right. [all business] What do you
want?
[Close up on Kano's face. She is clearly hesitant again.]
Kano: Well, you see, there's...there's something I have to write, but I
can't do it myself. Will you help me? I don't know if I can pay you
enough, but...
[Close up on SD Aya's face. Once again, all smiles.]
Aya: Why sure!
[Cut to now SD Kano and SD Aya's head in the balcony. Aya pokes her arm
out and noogies Kano.]
Aya: [cheerfully] Sure! Anything for Yukino Miyazawa's little sib even
though Yukinon [her head suddenly expands Soun Tendo style and she
starts to yell loud enough to bowl SD Kano over] IS SUCH A MONEY-
GRUBBER SHE WOULDN'T GIVE YOU THE STEAM FROM HER PEE FREE OF CHARGE!
I'M A PRO, DAMMIT! YOU WANT ME TO DO THIS FOR FREE, ARE YOU AS CRAZY AS
SHE IS?
[Close up on normal Kano, now almost in tears.]
Kano: I'll do anything! I'll give you all the help I can...!
[Close up on SD Aya's head.]
Aya: Listen, this master writer ain't taking on any students. 'Sides,
you don't want to be my slave unless you're the Buddha or brain dead.
Or my friend Rika. But I repeat myself. [with finality] Beat it.
[Close up on normal Kano's face. By now she really is tearing up.]
Kano: How much do you want?
[Shot from above of Kano's outstretched arms; she is holding out some
wadded bills in her hands.]
Kano: [VO; to Aya] This is what's left of my New Year money, along with
my February allowance. If you want more I'll get it somehow. _Please._
[Cut to SD Kano on the balcony holding out the bills (big, watering
eyes) and SD Aya's head poking out the door. SD Aya looks at Kano,
looks at the bills, looks at Kano, looks at the bills, and back and
forth several times _ad lib._, getting faster each time.]
[Shot of Aya, now normal, standing in the doorway, which she has now
opened more fully. She has changed from her uniform to black slacks and
a T-shirt reading HAKUSHENSHA on the front.]
Aya: Well, I guess you really want me to do this, huh. [beat; remembers
something] Can't work 'til I have a smoke anyway.
[Close up of a cigarette being lit by the flame of a lighter. The
cigarette glows as someone inhales.]
[Shot of Aya's left profile as she leans on the balcony, staring into
space as she takes the cigarette out of her mouth and exhales. She
looks towards her left, that is, towards Kano (more or less, but not
quite, towards the camera).]
Aya: Do you mind?
[Close up on Kano's face, her expression neutral.]
Kano: [politely] No, not at all. This is your house.
[Shot of Kano and Aya on the balcony, facing out towards the road. Kano
stands on the left, her right profile to the camera. Aya is looking
out, her back and face turned to the camera, her arms on the railing;
now and again she lifts her right hand to her face, so she can take a
pull on the cigarette. The evening light is dim enough that it is hard
to tell Kano's expression.]
Aya: My folks do. Rabid non-smokers, so I can't smoke in the house,
even when they're not there. When they _are_ here I can't even smoke
out here, so I can't get anything done. Most evenings around now
they're not, though, so it works out okay. [beat; she takes a pull]
Nice that you're cool about it. First time I went out on the town with
your sister, I'm dying for one and I pull one out and light up, and she
grabs it from out my mouth and steps on it and then she grabs my whole
packet and steps on that too, and then she goes slapping me upside the
head and she's like, "Tobacco's bad news, tobacco's bad news, tobacco's
bad news!" like some goddamn public service announcement, and I'm like,
what the hell is this crap? You don't like it, don't smoke, it's not
like we're inside or anything, where there'd be passive smoke or some
darn thing. Because we were out in the street somewhere. Damn busybody.
Being crazy's bad enough. [turns her face towards Kano; the expression
is obscured in the dim light] Do you smoke? You want one?
Kano: [politely] No, thank you.
Aya: [turning back away from the camera] Good girl. I don't recommend
it either. But Jesus Christ...Rika bitches about it too, but at least
she doesn't make a spectacle of herself in public about it. I dunno.
[Beat. Aya takes a pull, then points with her right hand, that is, with
the lit cigarette, into the distance. She exhales, then continues:]
Aya: See that factory over there?
[Kano turns away from the camera to look out towards the road.]
[Still of the factory from a good distance, perhaps through some trees.
It is the factory where Mr. Miyazawa works. In another incarnation, it
is the factory from Arima's nightmares.]
Kano: [VO] Uh-huh. My dad works there.
Aya: [VO] Huh. On the factory floor?
Kano: [VO] No. He works at a desk. I don't know what he does exactly.
Something to do with buying supplies to make gasoline with. Crude oil
and stuff.
Aya: [VO] Hm. [beat; she might be taking a pull] Hey, fangirl. You want
the inside scoop on what I'm really writing about?
Kano: [VO; interested] Sure. Not about why fangirls must die, right?
[giggles nervously]
Aya: [VO; disgusted] No, stupid. [beat; normal] My dad works over there
too. Human resources. He's trying to organize a union over there. He's
a Communist. You know what a Communist is?
Kano: [VO; hesitant] Sort of.
Aya: [VO] Yeah. He heads up the party cell in town. He's even on the
town council, only CP member on it. Factory's his day job. [beat] We
would like to apologize for making that sound more interesting than it
is.
Kano: [VO] Is that a good idea?
Aya: [VO] I dunno. My article talks about what'd be good and bad about
it, real objective like. I mentioned it off hand to my editor and she's
like, "You have the inside scoop! Write about it! Write about it!" So
I'm like, "Okay, whatever, customer's always right." 'Course, if you
ask me the real reason my dad wants to do it is he wants to be in
charge, but he got passed over for promotion at work. He's too damn
stupid to be actually responsible for anything, he just likes to boss
people around, so he sets up a union and orders people around that way.
He's like that at home, too. My dad's an asshole. [beat] My mom's cool
though.
Kano: [VO] She's the one you go to church with, right, Ms. Sawada?
Aya: [VO] Yeah, that's her. She's a sweetheart. [beat; takes a pull] Oh
yeah. Aya's fine. Ms. Sawada's my mom. How old do I look anyway?
[Cut back to Aya leaning on the balcony. She inspects her cigarette,
which is nearly finished.]
Aya: [more or less to herself] These things never last long enough.
[looks in Kano's direction] After I finish this--[holding up her
cigarette]--I have to get my article written, because the editor's
coming for it tomorrow, and I have homework to do too, so you gotta
talk fast. What do you need written?
[Full screen shot of Kano, who has suddenly retreated into herself,
looking embarrassed, studying her shoes. She is silent a moment.]
[Cut back to Aya.]
Aya: Well?
[Cut back to Kano.]
Kano: [finally; very small, little girl voice] A poem.
[Cut back to Aya.]
Aya: [her eyebrow raised] A poem?
[Aya goes SD; she looks unsure, scratches her head.]
Aya: I dunno, I haven't done one of those. 'Least, not on
commission...what about?
[Head and shoulder shot of Kano's right profile.]
Kano: You see...[in one breath] there's a guy I really like, but he's
real popular, so I can't just give him chocolate for Valentine's, so I
was going to write him a poem, but whenever I try myself it comes out
sounding real dumb, so I was kinda going to ask you to help me write
it. [beat] But if you don't want to, that's okay...
[SD Aya sticks her face in Kano's. Kano retreats a bit.]
Aya: And that's what you're willing to sell me your first-born for. So
I can write a love poem that doesn't suck to your big crush, because
you can't.
Kano: [nervous] Uh, yeah.
[Close up of normal Aya's face, framed by roses and sparkles, with Aya
trying to look as beautiful as possible]
Aya: Tell me, Kano, darling. Am I pretty?
[Close up on SD Kano's face.]
Kano: [sweatdropping] I guess...
[Shot of SD Kano and SD Aya on the balcony, Aya in Kano's face. Each
time Aya speaks she thrusts forward, Kano retreating back.]
Aya: Clear skin?
Kano: Uh-huh?
Aya: Well-proportioned face?
Kano: Yeah...
Aya: Not too fat or too thin?
Kano: No'm.
Aya: I wouldn't have anything disfiguring would I, like a hairy mole?
Kano: No'm.
Aya: Or bushy eyebrows?
Kano: No.
Aya: Or big ears?
Kano: No'm.
Aya: Or--heaven forbid--a big nose?
Kano: No, your nose is just fine.
[Aya stops advancing, and lets out a sigh, apparently relieved. Then
she looks back at Kano.]
Aya: You're sure?
Kano: Yes'm.
Aya: Positive?
Kano: Yes'm.
[Beat.]
[SFX: The wind whistles through the trees again.]
[Aya's head swells Soun Tendo style again and she yells (again) loud
enough to bowl SD Kano over.]
Aya: [at the top of her lungs] SO WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK I LOOK LIKE
FRAGGING CYRANO DE BERGERAC, HUH? WHAT'S THAT?
Kano: [yelling back defiantly] You're not very nice!
Aya: YEAH! NEITHER IS STALKING, KIDDO! SINCE WHEN ARE THE MIYAZAWAS
NICE?
[Cut to normal Kano's face in right profile, clearly desperate.]
Kano: [pleading] Please! You've got to help me!
[Cut to full-length shot of normal Kano and normal Aya facing each
other.]
Aya: Well, I can't help you. You've been wasting your time. Go home,
I've got work to do. [turns to go]
[Full-length of Aya's back as Kano's right hand grabs her arm. Aya
looks back.]
Aya: Get your hands off me...!
[Shot of Kano from the waist up in right profile, holding Aya's right
arm.]
Kano: [pleading] Please! I'll give you all the help you want! I'll tell
you just the way to write it. I know what I want to say, but it just
comes out wrong. I just need you to help me make it sound right!
[Shot of Aya from the waist up her head bowed, her eyes shut.]
Aya: [firmly] No.
[Shot of Kano from the waist up in right profile, letting go of Aya's
right arm.]
Kano: [defeated] Then you won't help me. Huh.
[Cut to full-length shot of normal Kano and normal Aya, Aya's back to
Kano.]
Aya: I'm telling you I _can't_.
Kano: Why not?
[Beat. Aya appears to be thinking.]
Aya: [finally] Damn. I dropped my cigarette. [beat] This'll need
another one anyway.
[Close up of a cigarette being lit by the flame of a lighter. The
cigarette glows as someone inhales.]
[Shot of Aya's left profile as she leans on the balcony, staring into
space as she takes the cigarette out of her mouth and exhales. She
looks towards her left, that is, towards Kano (more or less, but not
quite, towards the camera).]
Aya: Okay, grasshopper. You came all the way out here to visit the
master writer, I guess I owe you some words about my philosophy of
writing, just so I don't come off as a total bitch. You want?
[Close up on Kano's face, her expression neutral.]
Kano: Okay.
[Shot of Kano and Aya on the balcony, facing out towards the road. Kano
stands on the left, her right profile to the camera. Aya is looking
out, her back and face turned to the camera, her arms on the railing;
now and again she lifts her right hand to her face, so she can take a
pull on the cigarette. The evening light is dim enough that it is hard
to tell Kano's expression.]
Aya: Okay, here's the deal. Basically, when you write, you take a
subject that, you hope, you know more about than other people do, and
you try to tell other people about it in a way that'll make them
interested in it. So they'll read more, or buy the book, or the
magazine, or the detergent, or vote for your guy, or whatever. [beat;
takes a pull] If you're lucky it will be a subject you care about. Like
Christmas. A lot of the time it'll be a subject that you don't give a
rat's ass about but someone else does, like unions, and they want it
tomorrow or you're unemployed, so you have to pretend it's more
interesting than you think it is. Half the time you don't even have
that, and you really don't have a damn thing to say, but you write
about the first thing that comes into your head, and make it sound
interesting, 'cause you're a pro and you are expected to deliver.
[beat; takes a pull] Writer's block is bullshit. You wanna know why?
Kano: Why?
Aya: Because when you do this for money, you don't have time for it,
and you need something written by five on Friday when the editor comes
by. I used to whine about writer's block too, until I realized this was
serious business. Only amateurs do that. Sure they can think of
something to write, they're just too lazy. That and they want to write
something beautiful when people just want something interesting to read
on the damn train, for God's sake. [beat; takes a pull] Anyway, _you_
being interested in it isn't enough. You need to make the reader
interested too, even when you really know that _they_ really don't
_need_ to know, 'cause it's no big deal really. Because come on. Who
cares what the beautiful and talented Ayaki Sawai or whoever does at
Christmas? World won't end if you never know. So you end up a lot of
the time writing about something like it's a big deal, but really
isn't, except to you maybe. Sometimes not even. I can't bear to read my
own stuff a lot of the time. [beat; takes a pull] It's easier than it
looks, though, if you put a decent effort into it and you're
professional about it. Anybody could write what I write, if they were
in my position. You probably could have written my columns. You're just
not under the same pressure, is all. [beat; takes a pull] Which is
cool. Great, actually. You Miyazawas I guess are all real smart, so you
can be whatever you want. I'm not, so I need to be able to get a job in
something I can actually do and get some fulfillment out of. Beats
flipping burgers. Most of the time, anyway. This is training,
grasshopper. [beat] I know what you're thinking. "Why the hell is she
going on about this? What's the point?"
Kano: [a bit apologetically] Kinda, yeah.
[Beat.]
[Cut back to Aya leaning on the balcony, staring off into space. She
takes a pull, and exhales. She looks at Kano.]
Aya: [flatly] I can't help you because there's no way you, me or
anybody else can do, say, or write that'd make the guy interested in
the fact you like him. That's just the way it is, so I could take your
money and write something, but it'd be a complete waste of time.
Period. I'd just be stealing your money. I can't say I'll do a job if I
know I can't deliver.
[Cut to Kano's face. She is visibly shocked.]
Kano: [protesting] But why? Why makes you think he won't...
Aya: [off] That's just it.
[Cut to Aya and Kano on the balcony, but a bit closer up, so we can
clearly see Kano's and Aya's expressions. Aya's face is not completely
unsympathetic, to be fair; it's more the face of someone breaking some
rather bad news about The Way The World Works.]
Aya: I dunno if he'll like you back or not. [raising an eyebrow] This
guy actually knows you from Adam, right?
Kano: [nodding] Uh-huh.
Aya: Good. Then there are two possibilities. [gestures with her right
hand] Either he'll be interested in you back...[gestures with her left]
or he won't be. If he is interested, just saying you like him'll work
just great, and there's no point writing the darn thing at all. If he's
not...[beat; takes a pull, exhales]...even if you were the greatest
poet in the world there's nothing that you could write that could
change that or make him the least bit more interested in you or the
fact you like him than he already is. Okay? If he doesn't like you
back, there's nothing you can do about it. Come to think of it, there's
nothing _he_ could do about it really, I guess. You sure can't pick who
you like. It doesn't work that way. Which is rough, but that's life.
[Beat; takes a pull, exhales] That's why I don't write love poems,
period. I did, for a while, when I had a crush on a guy.
Kano: [interested] Who?
Aya: [waving her hand] Nobody you or your sis'd know. I sent them to
him and he just laughed. Honest, that's what he did. I saw him reading
them to his buddies and laughing his ass off. I was over it in, like, a
week, though. Asshole. I'm probably better off. Anyway, the poems you
see about love--the ones that aren't the sort of crap in greeting cards
I mean--there's something else in there to make 'em interesting. Either
they're really about sex, which is _always_ interesting to people, or
about man's place in the world, or something deep like that. [stands
up]
Kano: So how do I tell him I like him?
[Shot of Aya's left profile from the waist up. She takes a last pull,
exhales, and flicks the cigarette off the balcony out of sight.]
Aya: Showing it's good.
[Close up of Kano's blank expression.]
[Shot of the upstairs hall of the Miyazawa household at night. Light
leaks from the bottom of the stairs.]
[Shot of Kano sitting in her pajamas on the stairs, her left profile to
the camera, not quite inside the light, hugging herself, as quiet as a
mouse.]
[SFX: Soft but clearly audible mutterings and erotic cries _ad lib._]
[Close up on Kano's face. Her expression is blank.]
Arima: [off; whispered] Should I...?
Yukino: [off; tender, whispered] Let me, okay?
Arima: [off; whispered] Okay...[beat]...ah...Yukino...
Yukino: [off; whispered] Oh...Soichiro...
[Front view of SD Aya.]
Aya: [with finality] Okay, that's enough of that. You have any more guy
trouble, send a letter to Auntie Akiko at my magazine. [beat; rubs her
chin] Actually, don't. She's full of crap. 46-year-old virgin, big as a
buffalo and twice as mean. Try asking your big sister. She actually
knows something about the acquisition and care of a man. Byeee! [makes
to bolt for her door]
Kano: [off; dejected] I can't ask her.
[Front view of Normal Aya turning back, stopped in her tracks.]
Aya: Why not? She charge too much or...
[Full-length shot of Kano, hanging her head.]
[Close up of Aya's face.]
Aya: I said...[disbelief]...oh God, it's not Arima, is it?
[Full-length shot of Kano, hanging her head.]
Kano: No.
[Shot of normal Aya, left background, with the back of normal Kano's
head right foreground, in front of Aya's door.]
Aya: Then who...
Kano: [reluctantly] Hideaki Asaba.
Aya: Asaba?
[Beat. Aya suddenly turns SD and starts laughing her head off. Kano
sweatdrops.]
[SFX: Comical drumrolls.]
Aya: [ad lib.] BWAWAHAHA! Oh my God, what a riot! Oh help me!
HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, this is so great I could just die! BAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh you
poor dear! WAHAHAHAHA!
Kano: [through her teeth; a vein might stand out on her head] It's not
funny!
[SFX: End drumrolls.]
[Close up of Aya's face; she has managed to get back into normal mode.
She wipes a tear from her eye.]
Aya: I'm sorry. It's just...trust me, girl, he is _not_ the man for
you, okay?
[Close up of Kano's face. She is clearly very angry.]
Kano: [furious] Says who?
[SD Aya gets in her face again.]
Aya: So, how well do you know this guy again?
Kano: [defensively] I've met him lots of times! He comes over to our
house all the time! He's real nice!
[Close up on Aya's face in left profile, which has suddenly reverted to
normal.]
Aya: How much do you really know about him? Aside from the fact he's a
friend of your sisters and he's cute?
[Close up on Kano's face in right profile. She blushes and does not
reply.]
[Close up on Aya's face in left profile. Her eyes are shut, with a look
as if suspicions were confirmed.]
Aya: I thought not. [makes as if to turn away]
[Shot of Aya left foreground, facing towards the door away from the
road, Kano in right background.]
Aya: I could say the guy's a lech, but you probably know that. Listen.
Just because somebody hangs out with your big sister does not make them
cool. When your sis decided to make some actual friends she ended up
with the biggest collection of freaks on God's green earth. Especially
her boyfriend, though don't tell her I said that or I'll kick your ass.
Kano: Even you?
[Close up on SD Aya pointing to her own face.]
Aya: _Especially_ me. 'Course I'm a freak, I'm an artist.
[Shot of normal Aya, looking out into the red yonder.]
Aya: [reflective] But I guess she kinda likes us anyway. And in her own
way we think she's kind of cool. [beat] Which is nice.
[Back to SD Aya pointing to her own face.]
Aya: But I don't recommend me to others.
[Shot of normal Aya slapping her right hand on Kano's shoulder.]
[Shot from waist up of Aya (at left) and Kano (at right), the lower
view blocked by the balcony.]
Aya: I can't believe I'm about to do this but repeat after me.
"Sawada's bad news, Sawada's bad news..."
Aya:
[together] "...Sawada's bad news!"
Kano:
[They titter conspiratorially. Aya lets go of Kano's shoulder.]
Aya: [sisterly, not the least bit harsh] Point is, Yukino's Yukino,
you're you. Get your own friends for God's sake.
Rika: [off, viewer's left] Aya! I'm here!
[Aya and Kano look to see who it is.]
[It is Rika Sena, in a cute skirt and sweater, bearing a lunch box, and
smiling as always.]
[Cut to a shot of SD Kano and Aya, left, and SD Rika, right.]
Aya: [beaming, jumping comically] Whoa! Food! Kickass!
[SD Rika laughs happily.]
[Normal Aya goes to the door and opens it.]
[Shot of Rika, right, in front of Kano.]
Rika: [cooing] I remember you! You're Yukino's little sister, right?
What are you doing here?
[Cut to Aya, standing in the door.]
Aya: I dunno, she just kinda showed up. You coming in or what?
[Cut back to Rika and Kano. Rika is looking off camera to her left,
towards the door.]
Rika: [happily] Okay!
[Cut to the door. Rika all but skips inside the apartment and out of
sight. Aya watches her go in, then:]
Aya: [to Kano] Okay. Pep talk over. Go home now. I see you here again,
I really do kick your ass. Got it? And don't tell anyone I live here or
you die.
[She goes in and shuts the door, though not slamming it this time.]
[Cut to Kano, standing in front of the door in silence, her mouth
slightly open.]
[SFX: A whistle sounds signaling the end of a shift.]
[Cut back to the wall outside a construction site.]
Man: [off] It's Miller Time!
[Later. It is a bit after dark. A shopping district.]
[Cut to shop sign, reading CHOCOLATIER KAWASAKI in Latin characters.]
Clerk: [VO; female, middle-aged; a bit unsure] You're sure you want
this one, miss?
Kano: [VO; firmly] Yes'm.
Clerk: [VO] You have enough, right?
Kano: [VO; raising her voice a touch] Yes!
Clerk: [VO] You're sure you want to spend that much? We have some
others that are just as good...
Kano: [VO; starting to whine] I want this one. Really. Can I pay for it
now?
Clerk: [VO; capitulating] The customer is always right. [beat] I
suppose I should wish you good luck. He must be someone very special.
[Cut to Kano, eating rice at the dinner table. Nobody else at table is
within camera range. Kano seems lost in thought.]
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] So, what took so long at club today, Kano?
Kano: [laconic] Stuff.
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] You know what I think, honey?
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] What, dear?
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] I think my little princess Kano was out buying
chocolates for her favorite boy in the whole wide world!
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off; playing along] And who might that be, dear?
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] Me, of course! But she's so bashful she can't say
it!
[Loud laughter.]
Mr. Miyazawa: [off; getting into it] In fact, I bet my other princesses
are off doing the exact same thing right now! I feel so loved...!
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off] Now dear, you know Tsukino's studying at the
library and Yukino...well...she has someone else to buy for...
Kano: [bored] He told her not to, Mom. She said so herself. Twice.
Mr. Miyazawa: [off] Even better! All the more for me!
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off, teasing] Come now, dear. Isn't my chocolate
enough?
Mr. Miyazawa: [off; waxing eloquent] Why honey, you don't understand!
As a husband, to get chocolate from my beloved wife is exquisite
enough, but to get it also from three other beautiful and oh-so-
desirable women would be sheer heaven for any man...!
[A stylized bulging vein appears at Kano's right.]
Mrs. Miyazawa: [off; not amused] Re-phrase that. _Dear._
[A sweatdrop appears at Kano's left.]
Mr. Miyazawa: [off; confused] Wh...what'd I say, honey?
[Kano has finished half her rice, but hasn't touched her fish. She puts
down her rice-bowl and chopsticks and rises.]
Kano: May I be excused?
[Close-up of Kano's face, still hard in thought.]
Kano: [VO; thinking] Showing it. Yes.
[Cut to front view of the Miyazawa house. A clear February day.]
[Caption: 2001.2.14 16.00]
[Shot of Peropero dozing in his kennel, his tail turned to the camera.]
[Shot of the Miyazawa living room. The only light is from the front
window, and at this time of day it is poor. The TV set is off, and the
room is completely silent.]
[Shot of the upstairs hall. The only light is from the window at
viewer's left. The hall is also silent.]
[SFX: Someone opening and closing a door.]
[SFX: Someone dropping a bag.]
[SFX: Someone taking off shoes.]
Kano: [off] I'm home.
[Close up of the keypad of the Miyazawa telephone.]
[SFX: Someone--presumably Kano--setting going an answering machine.]
Machine: [VO; recorded voice] One message. First message. At 2:20 p.m.
Mrs. Miyazawa: [VO; from machine; cheerful] Hi kids! It's Mom.
Obviously I'm out right now. Getting chocolates for your father of
_course_!...I just hope there's something decent left to give
him...anyway, I'm going to meet him in town somewhere nice and give
them to him, so you'll just have to forage tonight. Don't worry though,
we'll be home by bedtime! Byeee!
Machine: [VO] End of message. That was the last message.
[Shot of Kano in her uniform, pulling up her sleeves.]
Kano: [determined] Right.
[A freezer door opens. Kano's hands pull out a bag labeled FRENCH
FRIES.]
[Shot from front of an oven door being pulled open.]
[Shot from above of a gloved hand sliding a cookie sheet covered with
frozen fries into the oven.]
[Close up on an oven dial set to BAKE.]
[A cupboard door is opened, revealing all manner of powders, spices and
sauces.]
[Close up on a jar of gravy. Kano's right hand takes it out of the
cupboard.]
[A fridge door opens, revealing all sorts of goodies requiring
refrigeration.]
[Close up on a bag of grated cheese. Kano's right hand picks it up.]
[Close up on a saucepan, sitting over gas, according to the dial at a
LOW setting.]
[SFX: Something viscous, probably the gravy, bubbling in the saucepan.]
[Close up on an empty, clean lunch box, sitting on the countertop.]
[SFX: Someone shutting off the gas. The bubbling stops.]
[Cut to a random, fairly nice street in Kawasaki. A barrier has come
down to let an electric train pass. The train arrives and thunders by.]
[Cut to a not-so-nice street in Kawasaki. The factory, which is within
walking distance, looms over it, stacks spitting God knows what into
the air. Tatty storefronts, as many bearing Korean _hangul_ characters
as Japanese, and tenements are the rule. Many are boarded up and in
obvious disrepair, bearing FOR SALE and FOR RENT signs that have
clearly been there a long time, and covered with miscellaneous gang
symbols, fascist, communist and anarchist emblems, and other graffiti
in Japanese, Korean and English, the English being mostly obscenities.
Any or all of these might be file photos.]
[SFX: A whistle from the factory signaling change of shift.]
[Close up on a discarded bicycle, lying at the side of the street in
front of one of the abandoned storefronts. Someone has drawn crude
genitalia on the wall of the store.]
[Close up on an empty beer bottle.]
[Close up on a discarded black glove.]
[Shot from above of Kano, still in uniform and looking horribly out of
place, her bag on her back, the lunch box cradled in her hands. She is
walking as quickly as possible without appearing to run or look
panicked.]
[Shot of a couple of tough looking youths, sharing a cigarette. They
look up, presumably as Kano passes.]
[Shot from the front of Kano from her waist up. She looks from side to
side, partly from apprehension, partly from incomprehension, as if she
cannot believe this is the place she was looking for.]
[A clearly homeless, just as clearly intoxicated man looks up from a
paper-covered bottle, presumably as Kano passes.]
[Shot of Kano from right profile, still walking. She at last stops,
tries not to make it obvious she is checking for anyone following her,
and looks up and around, presumably at the building before her. As she
does so, an very old, frail woman in kimono passes behind her in the
background from right to left, while a rough-looking man in his
thirties, perhaps a factory worker, passes from left to right,
presumably homeward bound.]
[Shot of the front of the building Kano is standing in front of. It is
a rundown, two-story boarding house, made from cinderblocks; it might
be Maison Ikkoku, stripped of its charm, with a dash of Rei Ayanami's
tenement thrown in for good measure. A sign on the front wall says
MAISON ELLEN DE GROOT.]
[Cut back to Kano looking up at the building.]
Voice: [off; male, foreign accent, slurred] You right, pet?
[Kano looks to her left to see who it is.]
[Cut to the caller. It is a white man, possibly though not definitely
under forty, given his ravaged, lean look. He is almost certainly
homeless: his dark hair is uncut and unwashed; his nails are long and
dirty; his face, with bushy eyebrows and a large, red, triangular,
blackhead-speckled nose, is unwashed and covered with several days
worth of beard. He wears torn blue slacks, old, beat-up hiking boots, a
dirty beige jacket and hat and gray gloves. He is trying his best to
look friendly. He approaches Kano.]
[Cut to shot of both man, left, and Kano, right]
Kano: [a bit afraid] Um...is this Maison Ellen de Groot?
White Man: That it is, pet. Sure, doesn't it say on the front door,
now. Ah, sure, where're me manners, at all. Have to introduce meself
Japanese style, won't I, now? [bows] Peter Roche, King of the Homeless.
Kano: Um...[bows tentatively] Kano Miyazawa. Ch...charmed...
[The white man laughs out loud, then starts to cough violently. Kano is
clearly concerned, but just as afraid to approach.]
Kano: Are you all right?
White Man: [recovering] Oh yes, pet, I'm just...[gasps]...I'm just
grand, now, I am. Sure, this happens to me all the time. I'm not a fit
man, at all, at all, and me having to sleep in the wet. Sure it'd ruin
the health of any man alive. [fully recovered; gets to the point] That
reminds me, pet. I don't suppose you'd be having a little spare change
for a poor man away from his native home, would you, love? I haven't
eaten in three days, and I'm dying of hunger...
Kano: [automatically, firmly; this is how panhandlers are dealt with] I
don't have any money. [makes as if to turn away]
White Man: [making a show of being upset] Ah sure, what's this now?
Sure you won't help a poor man in need. And here I came to Japan
because I heard tell they were the prettiest girls there in all the
world. [smiling at a joke only he gets] Sure the eyes are not as large
as the ones I heard tell of, mind you, but I thought them sweet and
charming just the same, and once I was here I couldn't get home again,
so...
Kano: Where are you from?
White Man: [lyric] I am from Ireland,
And the holy land of Ireland.
Please sir, I beg you,
Come and dance with me in Ireland.
[The man starts to dance with himself, in the process stumbling. Kano
dashes over and catches his arm, helping him up.]
White Man: Oh, thank you, pet. You're a grand girl, you are. Tell you
what, pet. [looks up at her, starting to look lustful] Never mind your
money, I wouldn't take it from a pretty girl like you anyway. Will you
not give me a kiss instead? That'd do me as much good as any food in
the world...
[Kano is revolted and is looking for (non-existent) escape routes, when
something hits the white man square on the head, succeeding in knocking
him down on the road.]
Voice [off; female, gruff] Get yo' cracker ass outta here, you ol'
pervert!
[The white man looks up from where he's lying. He feels his head and
checks his hand for blood.]
White Man: Sure, what's the matter with you? Sure I wasn't doing your
one here any harm!
[A fat middle-aged Japanese woman has emerged from the boarding house,
holding a stone in her hand. She is judging its weight, and looking
vicious.]
Woman: No shit, 'cause I caught you before you could start! Now hit the
road before I give you more of the same!
[The white man struggles to rise, finally succeeding.]
White Man: [at the woman] Y'auld bitch! You'll get yours, you will, and
I'll hand it you in spades! Just say when!
[Cut back to the boarding house door.]
Woman: The heck you will! This here's private property, somethin' you
ain't got, but I do, and I reckon I'll keep it that way, a'right? I see
you here one more time, I kick yo' ass all the way back to yo' pot o'
gold, and you come back affur that, I ax the poh-lice to do it fo' me!
Vamoose!
[The white man stumbles off, cursing under his breath.]
[Cut back to woman.]
Woman: [a bit more nicely, certainly more politely] Sorry, honey. He's
homeless, and drunk most o' the time. He don't hurt nobody really, he's
just a pain in the bee-hind. Hustling people as po' as he is.
[Cut to side view of woman standing at the door, at viewer's right.
Kano approaches from left.]
Kano: [bowing] Thank you, ma'am.
Woman: No problem, honey. You go on home now, and be good. [makes as if
to go in]
Kano: Actually, ma'am...is this Maison Ellen de Groot?
[The woman lights a cigarette.]
Woman: [finally] Yeah. And li'l ol' me's the manager, and I'm damn
proud. C'n I he'p you?
Kano: I hope so...does Hideaki Asaba live here?
Woman: [suspicious] Who wants to know? You his girl or somethin'?
Kano: [not sure how to answer] Something like that...[shows her the
lunch box] I have something for him.
[Cut to a front view of the woman. She seems to accept Kano's answer.
She pulls on the cigarette, exhales.]
Woman: He's in room four, fo' now. His sorry ass is gonna be homeless
too if he don't pay his rent purdy soon. You go up there, you wanna let
him know that, a'right? [starting to rant] He don' listen to me none, I
done told him three times in the past two weeks, 'cause the rent was
due the first o' the month like I tole him...
[Cut back to a front view of Kano. She is clearly pleased.]
Kano: Thanks ma'am.
[Cut to a door with a big 4 stenciled in. Hideaki Asaba answers it.]
Asaba: [beginning to make excuses] No, I don't have it yet, honest. I
haven't found another job yet...[realizing who it is] Kano? What are
you doing here by yourself?
[Shot of Kano Miyazawa in the corridor, holding out the lunch box,
beaming and blushing.]
Kano: Happy Valentine's Day.
--
Mon chemin ce n'est pas un chemin, c'est la neige.
--
