Katsu1

[Title page: Mitsuru holds his coat over his head.]

(*)

[Outside shot of Kouryuu Temple. Inset of the Ikedas' front door.]

Narr: December 27th.

Mitsuru's voice: I'm ho-ome!

[Mitsuru and Hasukawa stand in the entryway as Mrs. Ikeda comes out to greet them.]

Mrs. Ikeda: Okaeri.

Mitsuru: [Jerking his thumb in Hasukawa's direction] I brought a helper.

Mrs. Ikeda: [Smiling broadly at Hasukawa] Ah! Welcome! You're Hasukawa-kun?

Hasukawa: [Who still hasn't gotten over the shock of seeing Mitsuru's *mother*] Uh. Ojama shimasu. . .

Mrs. Ikeda: I've heard various things about you from Mitsuru. I'm counting on you today!

Hasukawa: Um. Yes. Nice to meet you. . .

(*)

[Mrs. Ikeda becomes exceedingly animated and

vigorously thwacks a startled Hasukawa on the back.]

Mrs. Ikeda: What's with the lifeless voice? Cheer up! Cheer up!

Back-slapping FX: BA-SHI!

Mrs. Ikeda: At our house we don't distinguish between the kids

who come over, so work hard, okay?

Narr: Hasukawa Kazuya came to work at the Kouryuu Temple's

annual big cleaning.

Hasukawa: [Still in shock] (That's Mitsuru-sempai's mother, huh? . . .) Oww.

Mitsuru: This way.

[Mitsuru leads Hasukawa through the house and garden. A bald old monk stands in a doorway.]

Mitsuru: [Addressing the monk] Jiichan! (Gramps!) Waiting long?

Grandfather: Oh, you came, did you?

Hasukawa: Good afternoon.

Grandfather: Well, first let's strip[?] the doors. [The verb is "dopparacchimaou".]

Hasukawa: [Staring wide-eyed] (That's Mitsuru-sempai's *grandfather*. . .)

Mitsuru: Okay! [Noticing someone] Ah!

(*)

[A dark-haired boy is propping some brooms against the wall.]

Mitsuru: [Calling out to the boy as Hasukawa stares] Sho!

Sho: [Smiling warmly] A. Welcome.

Mitsuru: This's my little brother, Masato, but we usually call him Sho. This's Hasukawa.

Hasukawa: (This is Mitsuru-sempai's little brother. . . *THAT* little brother, huh?. . .)

Grandfather: Heyy! If we don't hurry up it's going to get dark!

Mitsuru: [Unbuttoning his overshirt] Okay!

Mitsuru: [Helping to carry a papered door outside] Is it all right if I tear up this shoji?

Grandfather: Yup.

Mitsuru: Let's do it!!

Narr: [Switching gears] At the end of November. . .

(*)

Okazaki: [Stunned] Just now, Mitsuru. . .?!

Pug-nosed kid: [Coming to a sudden realization] Ah! "Toritsu--"! Isn't that --

Boys: [Suddenly understanding] -- His little brother's school?!

Hasukawa: [As narrator] (Mitsuru-sempai's two week younger little brother. . .)

[All the boys (except Shinobu) rush out after Mitsuru, but he's already gone.]

Dorm Lady: I hope he's all right. . .

TV announcer: . . .Continuing our coverage of the bus accident. . .

Boy: Hey! It's on again!

TV announcer: This evening at 5pm, the Yamaguchi Prefecture bus went out of control and plunged off the
road into the woods. In this accident, six students received minor injuries to their faces and so forth. . .

Hasukawa: [As narrator] (In the end, the damage done by the accident wasn't serious. . .)

(*)

Hasukawa: [As narrator] (That night Mitsuru-sempai came back to the dorm.)

Mitsuru: [Looking a little disheveled] I'm back.

Hasukawa: (We were surprised.)

[Pic of Mitsuru laughing it off with Okazaki and the pug-nosed kid.]

Hasukawa: [Remembering Mitsuru's look of shock] (But, I never thought Mitsuru-sempai could make a face
like that.)

Shun: [Sitting in room 211 with Hasukawa and Shinobu] I don't get it --

Shun: I thought for sure Mitsuru-sempai didn't want to spend much time at home because they're not his real
family, but -- Was I wrong?

Shun: Shinobu-sempai, you've been to Mitsuru-sempai's house before, haven't you? What's it like?

Hasukawa: [Indignant] Hey!

(*)

Hasukawa: Don't you think it's bad to meddle in the family affairs of others?

Shun: Huh. You're not interested, then, Suka-chan?

Hasukawa: [Blushing] No-- That's not . . .

Shinobu: His relationship with his brother is normal.

Shinobu: His house is different from mine: [it's very open and affectionate]. [kazetooshi ga yokute ii zo]

Shinobu: I found it rather disturbing.

Hasukawa: (At least, Mitsuru-sempai's little brother is really important to him. If it's as Shinobu-sempai says,
Mitsuru-sempai didn't have to enter the dorms, did he?)

Nasu Yukie: [As Shinobu smiles innocently] What, you're going to believe what he said so easily?[sweatdrop]

Hasukawa:[As narrator] (I was still thinking about it just at that moment. . .)

Mitsuru: [Walking up to Hasukawa] Hasukawa, are you free over winter break?

Hasukawa: Yes?

Mitsuru: Good. It's settled.

Hasukawa: ?

Mitsuru: It's the big clean-up of the temple. Since Ma's offering to pay about as much as an allowance, I
thought you could use a part-time job.

(*)

Hasukawa: [Fired up] I'll do it!

[Boys with cleaning supplies congregate around Hasukawa]

Boys: Is that so? You like that kind of work? Well then, do this -- and this --- and this -- etc.

Hasukawa: [Back at Kouryuu Temple] (I came here to do this but. . .)

Mitsuru: [Assumes a martial arts pose he prepares to KO the shoji] Haaa--

Mitsuru: [Rapidly striking each pane of paper] Acha! Acha! Acha! Acha!

Sho: [Unimpressed] You do that *every* year! Aren't you sick of it yet?

[As Mitsuru strikes a final pose in front of the utterly denuded shoji, his mother baps him on the head with a
big duster.]

Duster FX: Pen!

Mrs. Ikeda: We're not here to play!

Sho: Sheesh!

[Sho walks away, disgusted. Hasukawa follows.]

Sho: Isn't he kind of an outcast at school and in the dorm?

Hasukawa: [Startled] Mitsuru-sempai?

(*)

Sho: Since he was entering a place like Ryokuto, which didn't seem to suit him, and he's so high-spirited, I
thought he'd become an outcast. I was worried.

[A gaping Hasukawa shakes his head vigorously. Head-shaking FX: bun bun.]

Hasukawa: Everyone's like that.

Sho: [surprised] Really? But, if you compare him to Shinobu-san. . .

Hasukawa: *He's* a horse of a completely different color!

Sho:. . . Is that so?. . .

Hasukawa: [smiling] It would've been really great if you had come too.

Sho: [nonplussed] . . . . .

Sho: As easy as that, huh?

Sho: I flunked the entrance exam.

Hasukawa: [horrified] A!

[Arrow pointing to Hasukawa: He's totally forgotten his own hardships.]

Sho: [laughing] It's fine. I didn't think I'd pass from the beginning. But. . .

Sho: I had a feeling Shinobu-san would pass.

Sho: There's a great variety in Ryokuto's students, huh? I see.

(*)

Mrs. Ikeda: Lunch!

[Everyone sits on the porch (engawa) eating nigiri.]

Mrs. Ikeda: [Serving Hasukawa] You really saved us! Eat a lot, okay?! [Her smile takes up half her head.]

Mrs. Ikeda: We always do this together, but this year Dad couldn't get a vacation.

Hasukawa: [To Mitsuru] Eh? Isn't your father a monk?

Mitsuru: He's a teacher at the Buddhist school.

(*)

Hasukawa: [Surprised] Then -- the temple. . .

Sho: [Matter-of-factly] Mitsuru will inherit it. After all, he's the oldest son.

[Uncomfortable silence. Sho calmly drinks his tea.]

Grandfather: [Cranky] No one wants it. Fine! Do whatever you want! I'll just run the temple until I'm 200!

Grandfather: [Walking away] Come on! There's cleaning to do!

[Sho stomps off as Hasukawa looks after him.]

Mitsuru: [Moving a table with Hasukawa] . . .two. . . three!

(*)

Hasukawa: [As they set the table down] Sempai.

Mitsuru: Huh?

Hasukawa: Will you really become a monk?

Mitsuru:. . . Well. . . .

Mrs. Ikeda's voice: Don't worry about what Sho said.

Mrs. Ikeda: [Scrubbing the floor, smiling] That was just because he wants you to be at home. It seems he
doesn't like Mitsuru living in the dorms. He's not a child any more -- he's become that age where he's always
lonely. What do you think, Hasukawa-kun?

Hasukawa: [Startled] Huh? Uh. . . That is. . . sure enough, it'd be lonely. . .

Mrs. Ikeda: Maybe so. Even at this age.

Mrs. Ikeda: From the beginning they had a good brotherly relationship. Even though they fought a lot. . . and
broke a lot of fences and windows. . . and other things. . .

Mitsuru: [sweatdrop] What are you telling my high-school guest?

(*)

Mrs. Ikeda: [To Mitsuru] But, please do the things *you* like. Don't worry about Sho and the rest of us.

Mrs. Ikeda: Do the things you want to do. Okay?

[Elsewhere in the temple. . .]

Grandfather: Sho.

Grandfather: Do you really hate the thought of becoming a monk?

Sho: . . .

Sho: [Staring blankly off into space] I don't hate it. . .

Narr: But. . .

(*)

[Hasukawa and Mitsuru are outside, sweeping the grounds.]

Hasukawa: These temple grounds -- They're not the regular shape for a temple, are they?

Mitsuru: If you ignore the limitations of the site, it's a fine temple.

Mitsuru: About 15 years ago, the street out front was extended. The temple and graveyard lost a lot of land.
They became this compact shape.

Mitsuru: [Pointing across the busy street] The front gate was there. . .The path to the shrine went this way. . .

Mitsuru: [Pointing] That tree was over here. . .

[Mitsuru and Hasukawa stand by a nondescript wall.]

Mitsuru: . . . And I was found here.

[It's just a patch of concrete now.]

Hasukawa: [Sweatdrop] Sempai. . .

Mitsuru: Huh?

(*)

Mitsuru: [Staring incredulously at Hasukawa] A! Didn't I tell you?!

Hasukawa: [Sweatdrop] No, I heard. . . but from Shinobu-sempai.

[The sky is starting to darken as night approaches. Everyone is still busily working.]

[Mitsuru and Hasukawa are now sweeping the graveyard.]

Hasukawa: . . . You knew all about your circumstances, didn't you?. . .

Mitsuru: Because they told me about it many times. Ever since I was a kid.

Hasukawa: [Wide eyed] Since the beginning? They never tried to hide it from you?

Mitsuru: It wouldn't have worked. Everyone in the neighborhood knew.

[In Mitsuru's memory, we hear his mother's voice.]

Mrs. Ikeda: That day -- A warm day in April. . .

(*)

Mrs. Ikeda's voice: You were under the Forsythia flowers. All around you, the petals of the trees in the garden
had fallen. You were sound asleep.

Mitsuru: They probably didn't want me to experience the shock of finding out at some random time.

Mitsuru: I think I'm glad they did that for me.

Hasukawa: Did it bother you? Thinking about your real parents. . .?

Mitsuru: Yeah. "Why was I here?" I wondered. But. . .

[Mrs. Ikeda ruffles a child-Mitsuru's hair as little Sho looks up at her, happily.]

Mrs. Ikeda's voice: You came into this house along with Sho. I love both of you.

Mitsuru: The people in this family are so open in their expessions of affection. . .

[A young Sho stands crying. It looks like he's been in a fight. A young Mitsuru looks on helplessly.]

Young Sho's voice: Mitsuru's part of *our* family, isn't he?! He's not some stranger's child, right?!

(*)

Mitsuru: I couldn't very well go astray.

Hasukawa: (The people in this family are so loving. . .)

Hasukawa: Then. . . why are you living in the dorms?

Mitsuru: I thought I should leave home as quickly as possible.

(*)

Mitsuru: Right now I'm completely in my parent's debt, but I'll get used to how it feels.

Sho's voice: [From behind Hasukawa] I knew it!

[Sho has quite an impressive black aura rising from him. Mitsuru drops his broom in surprise.]

Sho: So *that's* your intention, is it?!

Sho: In any case, even if you think that's so --

Mitsuru: . . .Sho. . .

Sho: [Shouting angrily] Why do you want to be such a stranger?!

Sho: The only proof that "you and I are family" is you being here! Don't you get it? Why?!

Mitsuru: Sho.

(*)

[Hasukawa leans close to Mitsuru as Mitsuru bends to pick up the fallen broom.]

Hasukawa: Se -- Sempai, that was . . .

Mitsuru: The truth is the truth. There's no use covering it up.

Hasukawa: But --!

Mitsuru: Being at home. . . I don't want to live a lie.

Mitsuru: [Straightening up] Say, Hasukawa. . . Sure enough. . .

(*)

[Mitsuru leans on his broom, head bowed.]

Mitsuru: . . . Strangers can't be as close as real brothers, can they?

Hasukawa: [As narrator] (The cleaning was finished and the sun had gone down by the time his father came
home.)

[Mr. Ikeda stands in the entry with his coat on.]

Mr. Ikeda: [Smiling] Sorry. Sorry. Thank you for your help today.

[Mrs. Ikeda sees Hasukawa and Mitsuru to the door.]

Mrs. Ikeda: [Smiling at Hasukawa] You'll come to hatsumoude, won't you? [Hatsumoude is the traditional first
temple visit of the New Year.] Please drop by!

[Hasukawa and Mitsuru are walking back to Uguisudani station.]

Hasukawa: (Again, at first glance, sure enough Mitsuru-sempai doesn't resemble the rest of his family. But
even so. . .)

Hasukawa: Umm. . . About what you said before. . .

Mitsuru: Before?

Hasukawa: It's none of my business, I think, but as far as family relations are concerned. . .

Mitsuru: [Slightly alarmed and turning pink] (Oh, *that* "before.")

(*)

Hasukawa:(It's all right, because. . .)

Hasukawa: I think the essential thing is love.

[Mitsuru blushes.]

Hasukawa: (Love is. . .)

[Someone is approaching from the opposite direction.]