Imouto yo

Episode Two

Yukiko and Masashi are sitting in a coffee shop.  Yukiko wonders if Masashi has been waiting for her in the street for very long, and Masashi says that while her address was on the umbrella, he felt it would be better to meet her here.  He looks over at her shopping bag and she’s embarrassed to be caught buying ready-made food, and says that she normally makes her own meals.  When he asks her about her work, she disseminates again and says that she works in a 9-5 office job, and he asks her out for the coming weekend. Before he leaves, he gives her his mobile number. 

Back inside his car, Masashi thanks his driver for not throwing away the umbrella.  His driver replies that he doesn’t like waste.  Meanwhile, Yukiko’s staring at Masashi’s namecard, and thinks back to the party when they were dancing together.

The next day at work, Yukiko shows Masashi’s card to her coworker but Nakamura is quite cynical, and says that Masashi probably has an ulterior motive in approaching her.

Masashi tells his father about Yukiko, as his dad starts to bring up the issue of his engagement to another girl called Hatsue.  Masashi obviously does not want to marry her, and asks his dad if he’s free this weekend to meet Yukiko.

Yukiko gets a care package from home and a note from her brother Kikuo telling her that everything’s fine at home and he’s already recovered from his “breakup”.  He wants to start over again, and plans to come to Tokyo.  Yukiko’s shocked by the news and calls him up on the phone to confirm, and he tells her that he’s forwarded his luggage to her place already, and will be arriving in town tomorrow!

Meanwhile, things aren’t well in the Matsui household, and their father tells Kikuo not to let Yukiko know about their debts and how they may have to close down the family inn.  He tells Kikuo to pretend to Yukiko that going to Tokyo was just his own idea and has nothing to do with the money problems they’re having.

The next day, Kikuo’s stuff arrives and Yukiko has a hard time fitting it all in her small flat!

Masashi’s driver has tracked down his sister’s news and tells him that she had been jamming with a band, but after putting out one record, they disbanded and now she’s living with one of the bandmembers.  Masashi looks at the photo of the guy, and it’s the same one that had beat up Kikuo previously.  Masashi then goes to the guy’s place, and when he arrives at the door, he hears a woman’s voice inside, so he rushes in, but it’s not his sister but some other girl and guy.

Meanwhile, Yukiko picks up her brother at the station and takes him home.  She keeps asking why he’s doing this, but Kikuo evades her questions, saying that now he’s 30, a man must establish himself, and that it’s his last chance to do so.

Hitomi’s at the night club but Kenji has already left. She decides to quit for the night, even when a customer is there asking for her.  In the meantime, Kenji’s playing pachinko with the two people Masashi had seen at Kenji’s apartment.  Apparently, the guy has managed to scam some money off Masashi already and asks Kenji if he wants Masashi’s contact number so he can make some money too.  Kenji starts to get intimate with the girl, when Hitomi walks in and sees them all over each other.

The two of them are now in the street, with Hitomi a few paces behind Kenji.  He gets irritated and tells her not to shadow him like that and she says that he’s all she’s got.  He relents a bit and suggests that they go for dinner.

At his own place, Masashi’s looking over the report on Hitomi and seems quite worried…

Kikuo is in Yukiko’s apartment, scanning the newspaper.  He comes across this article showing Masashi’s photo, and is stunned to learn that Masashi earns 50 million yen a year, saying that he only earned 200,000 yen!  He starts to doodle on Masashi’s photo, and when Yukiko gets upset at him for doing it, he comments that she has really fallen hard for the guy and that she should be careful, because rich people like Masashi are different from them, and charity functions like the party they were at are nothing special for them.  Yukiko tries to convince him that she’s not affected at all by Masashi by doodling on his photo as well.

The next morning, Kikuo is complaining that Yukiko hasn’t prepared a traditional Japanese breakfast for him, but she tells him that there isn’t enough time, and promises to do so the next morning.  As they throw out the garbage, she sneaks a look at the defaced photo of Masashi on the newspaper…

Miura has arranged for Masashi to have lunch with Hatsue, without telling him beforehand.  Although Masashi’s annoyed, he sits down to eat with her, and she starts tot ell him about her charity work, etc.  He suddenly breaks in and tells her that he has no intention of getting married right now as he’s just taken over his father’s business.  She seems to take this quite calmly and says that she has heard from her father about the girl he’s currently seeing.  When he asks her what her father said, she replied that sometimes when a person is accustomed to eating all the best foods, sometimes he will want to have something simple and casual.  She says that she won’t let herself be bothered by these “simple tastes”.

Kikuo is not having much luck with his job hunt.  He calls a friend of his from high school but the friend brushes him off.

Yukiko is eating lunch with her co-worker Nakamura and talking to her about Masashi. Nakamura finds it strange that someone like Masashi would be interested in Yukiko and Yukiko shows her his card with the mobile number on it.  Nakamura calls up Masashi and tells him quite rudely that Yukiko already has a boyfriend that she’s about to marry.  She then says that if he’s serious about Yukiko and wants to win her over from the b/f, he should meet her at this place tomorrow at 1 pm, and then hangs up the phone.  Yukiko’s obviously flustered by Nakamura’s actions but she says that it’s just a trick to make sure that he doesn’t think Yukiko’s so easy and available – and that if all goes well, it should help link the two of them up.

Kikuo’s at a job interview but the interviewer tells him to go home and wait for news.  Kikuo is a bit desperate and says that he’ll do anything, even photocopying but the guy replies that it’s not really appropriate for someone past 30… Kikuo then says that he’s actually only 19! – but it’s obviously a lie and he’s asked to leave.

Hitomi is with Kenji, who is preparing to go off somewhere as business is pretty slow.  Hitomi asks him why he doesn’t practise his guitar anymore but he gets irritated by her nagging and pushes off.  Hitomi runs into Kikuo and they go off for ramen.  Hitomi asks Kikuo about how his marriage plans are coming along – but he tells her that it’s off and that he’s given up on love, marriage, the whole works.  She’s disgusted by how easily he’s giving up and leaves.  He goes after her and as they’re standing on this bridge together, she offers herself to him to change his mind…

As Masashi reaches his house, he finds Kenji waiting outside for him.  They make a deal whereby Masashi will give him some money in return for his leaving Hitomi.  After Kenji leaves, Masashi gets a call from Yukiko, who wants to apologize for her friend’s call that afternoon.  He tells her that he doesn’t give out his cell number easily and tells her to forget about their date this weekend if she already has a serious boyfriend.  She tells him quickly that it’s a lie and she isn’t seeing anyone and they arrange to see each other on the weekend.  He then tells her that he’s glad she called because he’s just had a rather annoying incident happen and there’s no one to talk to at home because he lives alone.  She says that she also lives on her own and that it can be quite lonely at times… He tells her that she can call him anytime she wants to talk to someone.  Before hanging up, she reciprocates the offer and says that if there’s ever anything she can do for him, he only has to ask…

Kikuo is in a love hotel with Hitomi, but he decides at the last minute not to go ahead with it and starts to put his clothes back on as Hitomi comes out of the bathroom.  He tells her that he can’t get into it because Hitomi reminds him of his little sister and it’s not really appropriate for her and she shouldn’t force herself, and that it’s not the real her.  Hitomi starts to cry.

When Kikuo gets home, he looks so awful that Yukiko starts to ask him what’s wrong but he locks himself in the bathroom.  She starts to knock on the door, and he comes out and tells her that it’s nothing and he just wants some peace and quiet and that’s why he went into “his room”. (Yukiko’s astonished to hear him call the bathroom his room!)  They decide on a privacy signal whereby if one of them wants to be alone in the house, they will hang the red umbrella outside the door handle.

Hitomi finds the envelope with money in it and asks Kenji if he got it from her brother, and she gets upset at him for doing it, and they start to fight.

Yukiko’s all dressed up for her date with Masashi but he takes her to a hotel room and asks her to change into one of the outfits hanging on a rack in there.  It’s full of designer clothes and as she’s looking at them curiously, Miura comes in with matching accessories and through him, she realizes that Masashi wants her to help him to avoid the arranged marriage with Hatsue.

Yukiko goes down to the coffee shop to find Masashi.  Although she’s still wearing her own clothes, she tells him that she’ll help him to play the part and not to worry as she’s had some acting experience before when she starred in a school play.  His father arrives and Yukiko starts to tell him her background: how she grew up on the island and about her family’s inn business, the unexceptional university she went to, and how she’d wanted to be a flight attendant but that she ended up working in Tokyo in this food manufactory … and how meeting Masashi has been like a dream to her… The father listens politely but doesn’t say anything…

Afterwards in the car, Masashi comments that she’s quite good to make up such a fairytale like that.  She mentions the play she did in high school and how it was about this plain girl who was helped by a forest spirit to become beautiful – and ended up becoming a princess. As he drops her off, Masashi gives her a bouquet of flowers and thanks her for her help, saying that the next time they meet, she won’t have to play a role.  Yukiko asks him “if this was something you’d planned all along… from the very beginning, even when you’d returned my umbrella?  That you’d just wanted to use me?”  She tells him that she was not acting in the restaurant, and that what she’d said to his dad was all true.  She came because she wanted to see him.

That night, in her home, Yukiko finds an envelope with money inside the bouquet of flowers that Masashi has given her.  Looking at the money, she starts to cry…  Meanwhile Kikuo finds employment at a swimming pool, and he’s very happy as he goes home – but then he finds the red umbrella hanging outside the door…