Episode 6: D-day approaches for the two Yumis
Nakano Yumi and Tamura Yumi live two years apart from each other. Tamura Yumi died two years ago when she fell from her apartment’s verandah. And yet these two women see each other’s lives with unsettling clarity in their dreams each night.
21 April arrives. Tamura Yumi, who saw how Nakano Yumi reacted to Yohei’s kiss in her dream, greets the morning of the day of her death with a mix of emotions. Before Yohei leaves for work, she fusses with his jacket and asks again if it will difficult for him to come home early. He reminds her that he has to entertain. Moreover, Ikuko is supposed to come over this evening. Yumi thinks she probably will not so Yohei says that he will call her. As he heads to the front door, she rushes out from the kitchen but pretends that nothing is wrong. She sends him off with a forced smile.
After that, Yumi walks Ami to the playschool. Along the way, mother and daughter sing the children’s song while holding hands. Tears well up in Yumi’s eyes and she starts to cry. At the playschool, she tells Ami that she loves her and will watch over her no matter what happens. Ami innocently tells her mother that she loves her too and throws her arms around her.
On the way home from the playschool, Yumi catches sight of Tatsuno who is standing on the opposite side of the cana. He turns to look at her. Stricken with terror, Yumi frantically takes off at a run and he appears to go after her. Yumi runs all the way to a park in some neighbourhood. Just as she reaches one of the benches, she suddenly gets an acute headache and blacks out.
Nakano Yumi wakes up from the dream clutching her head too. Scared about what lies in store for her, she tries to call Yohei. He is the only person she has been able to turn to all this while as she lives in fear that she may be Tatsuno’s next target. However, Yohei is clearing out his wife’s clothes from the wardrobe and does not hear his phone. He comes across a paper box which had been concealed by the clothes. When he opens it up, he sees the letters from his wife addressed to Nakano Yumi … …
Meanwhile, Yumi receives a phone call from Ikuko who tells her that she left her handkerchief behind yesterday. She offers to send it over after the memorial service for Yohei’s wife is over and asks what time Yumi will finish work. When Yumi says that she does not intend to go to work today, Ikuko responds that she will bring it over to her house. Hearing the hesitation in Yumi’s voice, Ikuko assures her that it is okay since she is always on the go. Yumi takes the opportunity to ask whether Ikuko can keep her company into the night, explaining that she would feel lonely if she is by herself because quite a lot of things have happened. Ikuko jokes that that is something one says to a boyfriend and suggests that it is Yohei that Yumi wants to be with rather than her. Nevertheless, she agrees to keep her company. Yumi gratefully thanks Ikuko with a sigh of relief. But as she stands at the sink in the kitchen, she suffers from a sudden headache and collapses.
At that moment, Tamura Yumi regains consciousness in the park. She decides to leave this town, reasoning that she may escape her fate if she is not at her apartment’s verandah at her estimated time of death. As luck would have it, train services have just been temporarily suspended at the station that she arrives at due to signalling problems and it is not known when services will resume. Yumi gets the feeling that she is being caught up in a maelstrom beyond the power of humans and gloomily wonders if she can escape her fate. Just as she is trying to figure out what to do, she hears Ikuko call her name. Ikuko worriedly demands to know where Yumi has been because she was not at home when she went over and also not answering her phone. Relieved to see Ikuko, Yumi grabs her hands and asks if she can keep her company into the night. Ikuko reminds her that that is what she intends to do.
Yumi goes home with Ikuko who assures her that she will stay until Yohei comes back. However, the onset of another acute headache comes without warning and Yumi blacks out again.
On the other hand, Nakano Yumi awakens and realises that while she and Tamura Yumi have usually been seeing each other’s lives every other day, the pattern is different on this day. It has become more frequent. She discovers that she had missed three phone calls from Yohei during the time she was unconscious. Before she can call him back, Ikuko arrives at her apartment. Yumi enquires about the memorial service for Yohei’s wife and is told that it went well. So she died after all, Yumi mutters loudly enough for Ikuko to hear. She comes right out and asks if Ikuko did not go to the Tamuras apartment on this very day two years ago. Ikuko is taken aback by the question. However, Yumi plunges on to reveal that she saw that she did go and wants her to tell what happened, “It may still not be too late to save Tamura Yumi.”
Ikuko’s countenance unexpectedly changes. She grabs a knife from the kitchen and turns towards Yumi who gasps in shock as realisation hits. “I love Yohei. But he didn’t see me as a woman. So I introduced him to women. Those who seemed to listen to what I say. If Yohei’s wife could be controlled, I can be with him forever. Isn’t that a good idea? But along the way, everyone would no longer listen to me.” When Yumi asks if that is why Ikuko killed Yohei’s wife, Ikuko unremorsefully corrects her. She did not kill Tamura Yumi. Tamura Yumi fell off after she was pushed, and luck was with her because the police ruled it as an accidental death. Ikuko also confirms that she was behind the death of Yohei’s late girlfriend too. Now, it is Yumi’s turn.
Ikuko thrusts the knife at Yumi who manages to block her, but in their struggle, she takes a tumble on the floor. Her position makes her vulnerable to Ikuko’s attack and as she desperately struggles to defend herself, the doorbell rings. Yumi frantically calls out for help. Then someone stumbles into the apartment. It is Yohei. Ikuko freezes at the sight of him. Yumi takes advantage of her temporary distraction to scramble over to his side, urging him to flee.
Before they can escape, Ikuko comes charging at Yumi with the knife. However, it is Yohei that she ends up stabbing in the chest. Ikuko stares at him in stunned horror and staggers backwards, pulling out the knife. Yohei collapses to the ground and blood quickly soaks his white shirt. A frantic Yumi cradles him and keeps calling his name but he loses consciousness. At that moment, Tatsuno enters the apartment. He takes out his police badge and informs Ikuko that he is arresting her for assault.
In the ambulance, Yohei weakly tells Yumi that he knows she and his wife are acquainted because he saw the letters his wife addressed to her. So Yumi responds that they had never met but her consciousness is linked to his wife two years in the past. She tearfully admits that she initially thought she was being possessed by a ghost and got involved in their family despite herself. Then she reveals that she felt troubled when he proposed to her because his wife can see everything. Nevertheless, his wife told her to turn to him out of concern. A guilt-stricken Yumi blames herself for what happened but Yohei is glad that he managed to protect her this time. As soon as he says this, he goes limp and the heart rate monitor’s alarm goes off. Yumi hysterically shakes Yohei, telling him not to die. When he still does not respond, she desperately confesses her love for him and begs him to stay alive. All of a sudden, she gets another severe headache and passes out … …
Tamura Yumi jolts awake to find a worried Ikuko hovering over her in the living room. With the memory of what happened to Yohei and Nakano Yumi still fresh in her mind, Yumi cannot hide her fear and revulsion. When Ikuko tries to assist her, she brusquely brushes her off and says that she will get up from the sofa on her own. She hastily moves to put distance between herself and Ikuko but ends up with her back to the open verandah door. Irked by Yumi’s behaviour, Ikuko starts to rant about how ungrateful she is. Pointing out that Yumi was the one who turned down her invitation for the barbecue that they were supposed to have, she demands to know why she was rejected and why she is being treated like a nuisance. She declares that Yumi is not fit to be Yohei’s wife and is better off dead.
Looking half-crazed, Ikuko pushes Yumi out onto the verandah. Yumi struggles to fight back but is not strong enough to overpower her. With her back pressed against the railing, she looks as if she is about to fall over … … In the next moment, Yohei suddenly appears and grabs hold of Ikuko. Yelling at Ikuko to stop, he pulls her off Yumi. Yumi faints from shock and Yohei rushes over to her side in concern.
Yumi is hospitalised while Ikuko is arrested by the police. Yohei tells her that Ikuko was also behind his ex-girlfriend’s accident and the detective Tatsuno had been keeping an eye on her. Yumi already knows this and is more interested to find out why he came back home after all. And so, Yohei describes how he felt a sudden sharp pain in his chest when he was at work, and was reminded of her. Yumi calls it a premonition. But he just tells her that he is glad to have made it in time.
Nakano Yumi wakes up to a new morning. 22 April. She arrives at office and is startled to see Yohei seated with her boss. Hayashi introduces him to her as a salesman for office supplies, but he shows no recognition. When she asks if they have met before, he tells her that he believes it is the first time. After Yohei leaves, Hayashi reminds her that the managing director of a client company is still interested in matchmaking her with his son. He wonders if her answer is still the same. To his surprise, Yumi smiles and says she will give it a try, making him wonder at the sudden change in attitude. She tells him that she wishes to fall in love.
On that same day as Yumi walks along a bridge, she passes by someone who drops a pen without realising it. Bending to pick it up, she calls after the person and finds herself face to face with Tamura Yumi.
Related Posts:
All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.
