Ge-ge-ge no nyobou 8/6

[mbarker]

a.k.a. Endings...

Fukuzawa sat in a chair in the kitchen. He had a neat bandage on his forehead, and Fumie was trying to clean the corner of his lip with a wad of cotton. Izumi watched. Shigeru said, "What happened to you?"

Fukuzawa winced, then pushed Fumie's hand aside. "I... I had a fight." Shigeru said, "I guessed that. But why?" Fukuzawa looked at the table. "I... you heard about the merger with Narita Publications?" Shigeru nodded. "I thought it was good, we'd have some money to do more, give better advances, do some new things..."

Fukuzawa remembered sitting down with the man in the suit who had asked him to explain the merit of new artists. He looked at the papers that the man had given him, then at the man. "So I'll still be in charge of our magazine?" The man said, "Mostly." Fukuzawa glanced at Kanou, sitting nearby. "And Kanou?" "That's up to you." Fukuzawa nodded, then got out a schedule. "So, here's the schedule for the artists that I was thinking about. It's..." The man took it, glanced at it, and said, "Well, now, there's a problem." He took a red pencil from his pocket and started drawing lines through several names. "See, what we suggest is that you tell these people to take a vacation..." Then he circled several lines on the schedule. "And we'll take as much from him as you can get..."

The man handed the schedule back. Fukuzawa glanced at it. The only name left was Shigeru Mizuki. Fukuzawa said, "I thought you were buying a publisher?" The man shrugged. "We know what we want." Fukuzawa shook his head. "All you're doing is grabbing Mizuki because he's popular."

Shigeru asked, "So, what about the merger?" Fukuzawa shook his head. "It's off. I refused to sign." Then he frowned. "And Kanou... she quit. She wished me well, but she handed me her resignation and walked out the door. I think... she was so excited about the merger, and when it fell through..."

Fukuzawa shrugged. "So I went drinking. I was slugging back whiskey. The bartender worried that I was drinking too much. And then this bunch of salary men behind me got noisy about how manga are ruining kids. And when the bartender told them to hold it down, that I was a manga publisher, some loudmouth started yapping about how the manga publishers are just doing it to rip off the kids, that we're just money grubbers." Fukuzawa smiled, then winced as his lip pulled. "That's when I stood up and told them that they had no idea what the manga business is like. And one of them pushed me. I guess I pushed back. And... then I staggered over here."

Shigeru said, "So what are you going to do now?" Fukuzawa shrugged. "Quit, I guess." "What about Zeta?" Fukuzawa shook his head. "Zeta? Zeta was Kanou's. It's over."

Shigeru smiled. "You're probably right. You're not going to keep Zeta going. But... you're a publisher. You'll build a new magazine, and the one after Zeta is going to be great." Shigeru leaned on the table. "You can do it." Fukuzawa looked at him, then gave a small smile. "Maybe..."

Later, Izumi talked with Fumie. "Kanou leaving him... that was cold-hearted. I thought she was so admirable." Fumie looked thoughtful. "Well, maybe. But, you know, after he was in the hospital before, she really helped him build his business." She looked at her hands. "Sometimes to make a difference, you have to really know what you want, and hold on to it." Izumi sighed. "I don't think I know what I want." Fumie laughed. "I don't always know, either. But Kanou did so much, for so long, with Fukuzawa. Maybe she just wore out."

Another day, Fumie proudly held a driver's license in her hands. Shigeru and Izumi looked at it. "I did it! I got my driver's license." Shigeru smiled. "You sure did. Congratulations!" Izumi nodded, then said, "Well, now that you have that, maybe I'll got home." Fumie gulped. "You mean back to Genbee?" Izumi nodded.

Later, Fumie asked Izumi, "What about the marriage proposal?" Izumi shook her head. "I don't think... I'm going to tell Genbee that isn't what I want." Fumie said, "Why are you going home then?" Izumi said, "Right now, I need time to think. I'm not sure I'm ready to live as an artist's wife, but I want to look at it from a little distance." Fumie said, "Um, are you talking about Kurata?" Izumi smiled. "Yes. He works so hard. He isn't a top artist yet, but..."

A few days later, Sugai and Komine came out of the workroom. They bowed to Izumi, who stood with her suitcase, and said goodbye. Izumi said, "Where's Shigeru?" Komine said, "He just got a telephone call." Shigeru dashed in, "I just got the news! The sponsors have agreed to put Ge-ge-ge no Kitaro on television!" Izumi smiled. "That's great news!"

Sugai said, "Where's Kurata?" Komine said, "He called and said he would be a little late." Sugai grumped, "Late? Today, when Izumi is leaving?"

Izumi said, "Well, thank you all. I've been very happy here." Sugai said, "Maybe I should go to the station with you?" Izumi shook her head. "No, you need to work."

Aiko came in, and said, "Izumi? Please come back?" Izumi knelt down, and said, "Of course, I'll come back." Izumi looked at Aiko's hand, and stroked the small scar.

As Izumi and Fumie stepped outside, Kurata walked up the street, carrying a large envelope. Fumie stopped on the porch and let Izumi meet him. He held up the envelope and handed it to her. "Here's the present I promised you." Izumi opened it, and slid out a large sheet of paper. She looked at it. Kurata said, "I'm sorry it's so late. I fixed it so many times, trying to get it just right." Izumi looked up. He said, "I just... I thought maybe if you had it, you could always be laughing." Izumi looked down at the portrait of her, with a laugh caught on her face. Then she smiled at him and said, "Dan-dan." (Japanese colloquial thank you).

Fumie drove Izumi to the station, at the end of her long summer vacation with them.

<to be continued>

Comments

[dialyn.livejournal.com]

I am still enjoying these summaries of this series....it's really interesting how they try to show the reality of being an artist, and the demands this makes on the family. I look forward to your postings. I don't know how much longer the series will run, or how long you'll be willing to post the summaries, but I look forward to them. Thank you!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I do wonder sometimes if anyone is reading, and now I know. I like this series -- it's not a high-action thriller, but it does seem like a good portrayal of the life of an artist and family. As for length -- it should be 6 months from start to finish. I think end of September, maybe? I'm going to try to finish out the set, although there will be a postponed set when I go to a conference in the middle of September.

[dialyn.livejournal.com]

I don't always comment but I read each episode, and I look at the photographs (which help a lot in keeping everyone sorted out). I do appreciate your effort.