Ge-ge-ge no nyobou 8/30

[mbarker]

a.k.a. taking a break

Fumie opened the door into the garden, looked up, and smiled at the sunshine. "What a beautiful day." She walked back into the kitchen, and looked at Aiko. "Aren't you going to the college today?" Aiko shook her head. "No, I don't have any classes today." Fumie said, "College certainly is easy-going." Aiko laughed. "Yoshiko hasn't gotten up yet, though." Fumie said, "Really? She'll be late for school."

Fumie went upstairs and shook the covers. Yoshiko dragged them back over her head. Then she grumbled, "Yes, yes, I'll get up." Moments later, she came down in her school uniform, and started to eat breakfast. Fumie shook her head. "Always your own pace." Yoshiko said, "Shigeru says you need to sleep and eat at your own pace." Aiko said, "I'm not sure he meant that for third-year middle school students, though." Yoshiko drank some juice. "It sounds like good advice for anyone, I think."

Shuhei walked in. "Fumie, have you seen my bag?" Fumie said, "I don't think so. We can look in the living room though." Yoshiko stood up and put her dishes in the sink. "I'm going to school."

Outside the house, Yoshiko stretched and looked at the sunshine. "Why does school start so early, anyway?" She yawned and started walking to school.

In the house, Fumie and Shuhei were looking around the living room. Kinuyo came in, and said, "I found it!" She was carrying a small black bag in her hands. She handed it to Shuhei. He grabbed it, and said, "Where was it?" Kinuyo said, "It was tucked in the closet." Shuhei hit his head with the palm of his hand. "That's right. I put it there the other day." Shuhei and Kinuyo went back upstairs.

Aiko looked at Fumie and said, "Do you think Grandpa is getting senile? He keeps forgetting things." Fumie shook her head. "When you get older, sometimes you lose track."

Shigeru walked in, yawning. Fumie said, "You're up early today." Shigeru said, "I didn't work so late last night. What did Shuhei and Kinuyo want?" Fumie said, "Shuhei was looking for his bag again." Aiko said, "What's in that bag, anyway?" Shigeru laughed. "He says it's his hobby. Sometimes I think finding it is his hobby." Then he looked thoughtful. "Someone whose hobby is finding his bag? I think I could use that in a manga."

Soon, Shigeru was drawing in his office. In the workroom, Sugai and one assistant worked on panels. Mitsui sighed, looking at the two empty seats, and at his scheduling book.

Mitsui went into Shigeru's office. "Do you have a few minutes?" Shigeru turned. "Sure, what can I do?" Mitsui said, "I was just wondering about the two assistants. Do you think we should hire new people?" Shigeru said, "Well, do we have work for them?" Mitsui said, "Actually, this month we don't have very much. It's kind of unusual." Shigeru shrugged. "The manga business is like that. Sometimes it slows down. Don't worry, we'll be busy again though. What do we have this month, anyway?" Mitsui showed Shigeru the schedule book. "Just a couple deadlines, really." Shigeru smiled. "Maybe we should give everyone a vacation? Before we get busy next month?"

Mitsui walked back into the work room. He set the schedule down, and flipped over to the next month. There were no deadlines, nothing marked in it.

Mitsui went into the garden and stuck his head into the family rooms. He waved Fumie over. Mitsui said, "I don't know what to do. We don't have any business coming in. I talked to Shigeru, and he said not to worry. But if there's no business..." He shivered. "No, I shouldn't think about that." Fumie said, "I don't know about the business. But Shigeru knows what he's doing." Mitsui frowned, but nodded and walked away.

At school, Yoshiko sat in a window, looking at a large book. A group of girls sat in the desks nearby, looking at manga and magazines, and squealing about who was dating who. "What about Murai? Who do you think she likes?" The girl came over and looked over Yoshiko's shoulder. "What are you reading, anyway? Manga?" Then the girl squeaked. "Oh, that's ugly." Yoshiko turned, and smiled. "It's a book of monsters. It's really interesting." She turned the book so that the girls could see the strange monsters. The girls glanced at the drawings, then went back to their desks. They murmured, "She is so weird." Yoshiko shrugged, and went back to reading her book of monsters.

The shopkeepers' wives and Fumie sat at the table in the kitchen, along with another woman. They each had a rose in their hands, pink petals, green stem. On the table sat some curling irons and various craft supplies. Matsui looked at the rose in Fumie's hands. "Oh, your's is so well-done." Matsui held hers up. The petals were a bit flat. The new woman said, "Well, making art flowers takes practice and attention."

Shigeru came in and said, "Fumie, do you know where the duster is?" She got the long stick with a mop of pink cloth streamers at one end, and handed it to him. She said, "Are you cleaning your office?" He shook his head. "No, the art collection." He walked out.

Yamada said, "The art collection? I didn't know you had an art collection." Fumie laughed. "It's his collection of masks. Scary masks. He enjoys cleaning them, but he'll spend all day in there."

Shigeru came back in, holding the duster. "Do you have a dustcloth?" Fumie said, "Yes..." Yoshiko came in, glanced at Shigeru holding the duster, and said, "Oh, are you cleaning the art collection? Can I help?" Shigeru said, "Yes." Yoshiko said, "I'll get the dustcloth." Shigeru and Yoshiko left.

The wives looked at Fumie. "Doesn't Yoshiko spend time with her friends?" Fumie sighed. "She does things at her own pace." Matsui nodded. "Yes, I guess she's at the age where she does it her way." The other wives nodded.

In the room with the masks and statues from the southern islands, Shigeru dusted. Then he set the duster down, and picked up a statue with huge eyes and a nose that reached below its knees. "Take a look at this." Yoshiko took it, and looked closely at it. Shigeru looked around the room. "These are really my treasures."

Yoshiko said, "But what about work?" Shigeru leaned back on the floor. "Today I've got a little time to rest. It's good to be able to spend time with my collection."

Yoshiko frowned. "Did you hear a funny sound?" Shigeru sat up. There were screams from the other room. They both got up and hurried in to the other room.

Shigeru laughed. The three wives were standing on the sofa, pointing and screaming. Fumie held a rolled up newspaper, and stalked across the living room. A black bug scurried across the floor, and Fumie swung at it. Shigeru chuckled. Fumie looked at him and said, "Don't just stand there watching. Do something." She took a careful step towards the corner where the bug had gone.

Shigeru said, "Fight on! I think you've got it cornered." He swung the duster, cheering her on. The bug scuttled out of the corner, and Fumie swatted. Then she swatted again.

Later, Shigeru wandered into the work room. He walked over to the schedule book, sitting on Mitsui's desk. He glanced down at it, and then stared at the empty page for the next month.

<to be continued>

Comments

[dialyn.livejournal.com]

College? I must have missed an episode...she's going to college? Gee, it seems like only a couple of weeks ago when she was being born. This series really speeds along.

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's wild. I think Aiko was about 7 in the episodes last week, and now she's in college. Yoshiko has grown up, too. I think they skipped a ways -- I wonder if the book did that, too, or they are just trying to get done in time?