Ge-ge-ge no nyobou 9/24

[mbarker]

a.k.a. is there a poet in the house?

Late that night, Shigeru, Kinuyo, and Fumie walked into the living room. Shigeru was wearing a suit, carrying a clothing bag that held the tuxedo. Kinuyo said, "Home, at last." Fumie said, "You must be tired." Kinuyo said, "There were so many people to be polite to." Then she clapped Shigeru on the shoulder and said, "Shigeru! A really good party, wasn't it?" Shigeru grunted.

Aiko and Yoshiko walked in from the kitchen together. They said together, "Father?" He looked at them. They smiled and continued, together, "Congratulations for 20 years." Yoshiko stepped forward and handed him a big bouquet of flowers. Aiko said, "You've worked hard for a long time." Yoshiko said, "And we hope you'll keep going." Shigeru took the flowers and said, "Oh..."

Then he turned, and handed the bouquet to Fumie. She looked at him and said, "Oh?" Shigeru said, "These are for you. If you weren't here, I couldn't have done it." Kinuyo, sitting between them, looked from Shigeru to Fumie, and blinked. Fumie said, "Oh, Shigeru."

Shigeru stood up. He said, "Well, I should do some work. Deadlines are still coming." Fumie said, "Uh..." He stepped into the hall, and mumbled, "Bring some tea." He went on.

Kinuyo looked at the girls and said, "Shigeru is shy."

Aiko lifted her hands with a small box in them. She said, "Well, Father gave Mother the flowers. We had a present for Mother, but..." Yoshiko said, "I think a brooch is nice, but I'll bet Mom likes getting the flowers from Dad better..." Then Yoshiko looked at Fumie, who was still looking at the flowers. "Mom?" Fumie looked up and smiled at them all. "Today is a really good day, isn't it?"

Later, Kinuyo knelt in her room in front of a small household shrine. There was a small picture of Shuhei in it, with a plate with a couple small rice cakes sitting in front of it. There also was a candle, a small vase with flowers, and incense. Kinuyo looked at the picture, and laid a small box holding a folding fan in front of it. She said, "Here's a souvenir. It was a really good party." Then she opened the larger box, and got a mug out of the wrapping paper inside. It had an eyeball perched on the lip, and a clear picture of Ittan Momen, the flying roll of cotton, on the outside. She chuckled and held it up to the picture. "Look at that. Eyeball father, and here, this is Fumie!" She pointed at the flying white sheet. Then she laughed. "There was a real funny thing just now. The girls gave Shigeru flowers, and he turned around and gave them to Fumie. It's hard to believe such an obstinate person would think of doing that." She tucked the cup back into the box and set it aside. Then she looked at the picture and shook her head. "If you had lived just a little bit longer, we could've seen it together. You died too early..."

Downstairs, Shigeru was working in his office. Fumie walked in and set a cup of tea on the visitors' table. She said, "Here's your tea." She looked over, and watched. He was focused on a sheet of paper, holding it down with the stump of his left arm, drawing on it with a pen in his right hand. And as he worked, his face moved. His lips moved in, and out, and tightened. He squinted. He made small noises. Fumie remembered watching him long ago, drawing and making faces. She muttered, quietly, "You never change, Shigeru."

The next day, Fumie was in the living room with several souvenir boxes and bags. Yoshiko said, "What are you doing?" Fumie looked up at her and said, "Oh, Yoshiko, could you help me with this? I'm putting together souvenir bags." Yoshiko said, "Where are you going to take them?" Fumie said, "I thought I'd take them to the shopping center. The wives didn't come to the party, but I thought I'd give them souvenirs."

The phone rang. Fumie got up and answered it. "This is Murai." After a moment, she said, "Oh, Matsui. I was just about to come visit you." She smiled. "Okay..."

A little later, Matsui, the wife turned cosmetics saleslady, Miura, the short wife, and Yamada, the young wife, stood in the entryway with bundles in their hands. They chorused, "Hello?" Fumie came around the corner and looked at them. They said together, "Congratulations on 20 years!"

Matsui said, "We talked about sending flowers to the party, but that was really business." Miura said, "But we wanted to do something." Yamada said, "So... here it is. We brought you a celebration!"

Then Matsui said, "Oh, and we brought someone." Fumie said, "Someone?" Matsui stepped outside, and pushed Kameda, the pawnshop owner, inside. Fumie said, "Oh, Kameda." Miura said, "No, not him." Kameda stepped outside, and came back in with a tall figure. Kameda was pulling him. Fumie looked at the tall man and said, "Taichi?" He nodded.

At the table, Matsui looked at one of the teacups with the eyeball on the rim. She chuckled. "These are really funny." Fumie said, "I was going to bring them to you." Kameda said, "could I have one, too?" Fumie said, "Of course.The one sixth bank has helped us for a long time." [one sixth bank is a slang Japanese term for a pawnshop] Yamada said, "So are you the bank director?" Kameda grinned, and coughed into his hand.

Fumie looked down the table where Taichi sat at the far end. She said, "So, Taichi, you're in Fukushima now?" Taichi said, "Yes, the factory is there." Matsui said, "And he's a manager now." Fumie said, "That's wonderful." Taichi shrugged. "It's just because I've been there a long time." Then he shook his head. "I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch more. Just New Year's postcards." Fumie said, "I understand." Then he said, "When Yamada told me about your 20 year anniversary, I tried to think of a present." Miura said, "And you brought something, didn't you?"

Taichi said, "Yes. Here." He got a large envelope out, and handed it to Yamada. Yamada glanced at it, and handed it to Miura. Miura passed it to Matsui, who handed it to Kameda. Kameda turned it over, and gave it to Fumie. Taichi said, "It's from Michiko." Fumie said, "Really? A letter from Michiko?" She opened the envelope, and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. She unfolded it, and looked at an old hand-made poster for one of Shigeru's books from the rental manga store that Michiko ran. She handed it to the others to look at.

Next, Fumie pulled out a folded letter, and opened it. She read, "Congratulations on 20 years..."

Taichi waved at the poster. "Michiko closed her bookstore recently. She said she found that poster folded up in an old book."

Fumie looked at the letter. It said, "Fumie, Sensei has been able to work for so long because of your help. Keep going, Fumie."

Later, in the workroom, Shigeru handed a page to Sugai and said, "Please take care of this." As Shigeru started back to his office, one of the new assistants stood up and showed a page to Sugai. Sugai looked at it and said, "It needs a little more detail over here." The assistant turned and sat down. Shigeru watched, and nodded.

Then Yoshiko stepped into the workroom. She said, "Father? Fumie said there is an unusual visitor, and you should stick your head in." Shigeru said, "An unusual visitor?"

At the table, they were starting to eat from the food that the wives had brought. Matsui said, "Since Fumie first came here, lots of things have happened. Lots of fun." Miura said, "Yes. We've gotten a lot of readers." Fumie said, "Do you remember me giving you posters? And you took them, hit your chests, and said leave it to you."

Kameda chuckled. "That's a good story. But you should've asked me, too. I would've given you something." Yamada said, "Your wife would have gotten upset, giving things away." Kameda said, "Well, I would have insisted." Everyone laughed.

Shigeru stepped in. He looked down the table and said, "Oh, Kameda." Then he walked up beside him and said, "Actually, I was thinking about you recently." Kameda said, "Oh? Do you need a loan?" Shigeru said, "Actually, I thought I probably left something there." Kameda looked puzzled. "Well, if you did, I forgot." They all chuckled.

Taichi said, "Sensei?" Shigeru looked down the table and said, "You? You're... the poet, right?" Taichi  nodded.

Shigeru sat beside Fumie. He looked at Taichi and said, "Are you still writing poetry?" Taichi said, "As a hobby, yes." Shigeru said, "That's good." Taichi said, "I still read your manga. From the original Kitaro to now, there are some real differences, but your stories are always fun." Shigeru said, "If you've followed Kitaro from the rental manga time to now, you must really be an expert on Kitaro's world."

Taichi shook his head. "Well, I'm just one reader. A thousand, a million, I don't know how many there are, but I think we're all the same. We have fun waiting for the next manga. We're Kitaro readers. So, please keep drawing? I'll keep reading."

Matsui said, "The future is really long, isn't it?" Then she looked at Shigeru and said, "Sensei, you need to eat, so you'll have energy."

Fumie said, "Should I get more tea?" She got up and went into the kitchen. As she walked, she thought about the company party, and Michiko, and the wives, and Taichi.

Standing in the kitchen, she looked out at the table. She said to herself, "To all the people who have helped us, dan dan."

In September, cool winds blew through their life. Fumie sat in her room. A tear ran down her face. She looked at the picture of Toshi, her grandmother, and said, "Grandma? Genbee is with you now." Shigeru came in behind her and said, "Let's go together." Fumie said, "What about work?" Shigeru said, "We'll manage."

He walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. She reached up and squeezed it. He said, "We'll all go together."

<to be continued>