4.Meeting friends～仲間との出会い～
They were walking in the town. They saw the residents. The residents weren’t smiling, and they looked sad. But then, they found a man who was about to falling. They ran to him.
Shinki: “Are you OK?”
The man wanted to drink water. They gave it to him.
The man: “Thank you. My name is Fuma.”
Suntom asked Fuma,
Suntom: “Have you ever heard about ‘those people’?”
Fuma: “…. Yes. That about the people of the outside world.”
Suntom “Are they very strong?”
Fuma: “Yes. But… there are many horrible beasts which eat humans around Weeds Island. Anyone who wants to fight with ‘those people’ must fight the beasts first. But if they can beat the beasts, they can meet ‘those people’.”
Suntom: “Oh.”
Fuma: “Most of people in Weeds Island think they can’t beat the beasts and the people of the outside world. So, most people think they can’t change this world.
Suntom: “But if we are here, we’ll be attacked again and ‘those people’ will drop a lot of bombs.”
Fuma: “And their important things will be broken.”
Suntom: “There is no hope….”
Fuma and Suntom started thinking. But, then Shinki said,
Shinki: “Already, there is a big hope.”
Suntom: “Really? What is it?”
Shinki said to Suntom,
Shinki: “Fuma said ‘Most people thinks they can’t change this world’. He said, ‘Most’, not ‘All’. It means a few people want to change the world, right?”
Fuma: “…. That’s right.”
Suntom: “Oh!”
Fuma: “But it is too few to do that.”
Suntom: “How many people want to change the world?”
Fuma: “I am one of them. And I know… only one.”
Suntom: “Only one? It’s too few!”
Shinki: “We are thinking about it, too. So, there are four people who want to change the world.”
Suntom: “Oh, that’s right.”
Then, Fuma said,
Fuma: “I have some information about the man. Let’s go to my house.”
They went to Fuma ’s house. And Fuma started to look for the information. A few minutes later, he found it, and showed it to Shinki and Suntom.
Fuma: “This is the information about the man. His name is ‘Sun’.”
There was a picture of him.
Fuma: “He also wanted to change the world.”
Fuma showed them one of the papers.
Shinki: “What’s this? It looks like a map.”
There were six overlapping circles on the paper.
Fuma: “This is a map of Weeds Island. The center of circles is Weeds Island. This big circle is a wall.”
Suntom: “A wall? I have never seen it.”
Shinki: “Me, neither.”
Fuma: “Weeds Island is surrounded by it. It’s over 100 meters tall. And it’s made of iron. So, people couldn’t climb the wall. Decades ago, only ‘Sun’ could go to the top. He made this map then.”
Shinki: “But he tried to draw more, right? This drawing isn’t finished.”
Fuma: “…. When he was drawing on the top of the wall, a strong wind blew and he fell to the ground outside the wall.”
Suntom: “Really!? Why was this map found?”
Fuma: “When he started falling, he threw it to Weeds Island.”
Shinki: “Oh. I’m worried if he’s alive.”
Suntom: “No one people have gone out of Weeds Island until now, right?”
Fuma: “Yes. But he may be alive now. And he may be with 'those people' now.”
They were talking for about one hour.
Shinki: “But…. How will we change this world? I don’t think it can be done as it is.”
Fuma: “That’s right.”
Suntom: “But how will we change the minds of all the people in Weeds Island?”
Shinki: “I have idea. We do ‘manzai’ and move people’s hearts through it.
Suntom: “Oh! My father said to me, ‘Laughter is the best medicine’. I think that idea is the best.”
Fuma: “But it’s also necessary for us to ask people to change their mind.”
Shinki: “How about doing both of them?”
Suntom: “What do you mean?”
Shinki: “If we do manzai, people will be happy. And they will be able to unite. After that, we ask people to change their mind.”
Suntom: “Oh, that’s a nice idea! Let’s do it soon. But I don’t know much about manzai.”
Shinki: “Me, neither.”
Fuma: “All right. I know an American man who knows a lot about manzai. I’ll ask him how to do manzai.”
Shinki: “Oh thank you.”
The next day, Fuma went to The American man’s house. But….
The American man: “What can you change with laughter? Laughter can’t change anything. We’ll be here forever because we’re weak. And we’ll be killed here by bombs. Go home.”
Fuma went home. But he visited the American man’s house again the next day. The American man said the same thing. Fuma visited his house many times. One day….
Suddenly, ‘Bam!!’ The American man slammed his hand on the table.
The American man: “When will you understand we’re weak and we can never beat 'those people'!? Why can’t you understand!? Laughter can’t change anything! We will die here! You’re….”
Fuma: “Do you really think we must die here!? Don’t you want to change this world!? Do you really think laughter will be able to never change anything!?”
The American man: “….”
Fuma: “We shouldn’t be here forever. We must fight with 'those people'. So, let’s….”
The American man: “There are many more people than us outside of Weeds Island! I want to change this world, but I don’t know what to do! I studied manzai a lot. But those aren’t useful now! And peoples’ minds in Weeds Island are full of despair. And people feel like they’re falling apart! I can’t do anything!”
Fuma: “…. ‘My life is a thing that I must decide for myself’. Do you know this? This is something that a man named ‘Sun’ said.”
The American man: “….”
Fuma: “And he said, ‘Don’t forget to hope. If you keep having hope, something will happen’.”
The American man: “!!”
Fuma: “Most people don’t think they can change this world because there are ‘those people’, horrible beasts, and so on outside of Weeds Island. They think we can never beat them. But you’re different from them.”
The American man: “….”
Fuma: “You’re great because you hope to change this world actually! You’re right. All right. You’re not alone. I also want to change this world. So, can you help me?”
The American man was listening to him quietly. And nodded slowly.
The next day, Fuma took the American man to Shinki and Suntom.
Fuma: “They are my friends. They want to change this world, too.”
Shinki: “I’m Shinki. Nice to meet you.”
Suntom: “I’m Suntom.”
The American man: “My name is Man Zai. Please call me Zai.”
They shook hands with each other.
Shinki: “You know a lot about manzai right?”
Zai: “Yes.”
He showed a notebook to them. The notebook was full of writing.
Suntom: “Wow….”
Zai: “All the manzai I thought of are written in it.”
Suntom: “This is wonderful.”
Fuma: “I’ll do manzai.”
Shinki: “Me, too.”
Suntom: “Me, too.”
Zai: “I’ll keep making manzai.”
Fuma: “Oh, thank you.”
Shinki: “Let’s go!”
