DUO – Episode 10: “Driftwood Hearts”

Theme: Isolation, subtle guilt, longing

Tone: Quiet, atmospheric, emotionally heavy

Visual Palette: Cold mornings, fogged windows, lonely streets, soft dusk tones

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[OPENING SCENE]

Visual: A paper boat floats down a storm drain, caught in whirlpools, spinning endlessly.

Narrator (V.O.):

“When two tides pull apart… what’s left adrift begins to rot, or find new land.”

Title Card: DUO – Episode 10: “Driftwood Hearts”

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Scene 1: Kusabimaru’s Fog

Location: Small town outside Tokyo

Kusabimaru stays in a worn guesthouse, working at a ramen stall. He’s dull, quiet—smile gone.

Boss:

“You don’t talk much, huh?”

Kusabimaru:

“Never had much to say.”

He chops onions. Tears come. Maybe not from onions.

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Scene 2: Yuji’s Shadow

Location: Tokyo’s backstreets

Yuji starts moving alone. Eyes always watching corners, alert like prey. He’s leaner, angrier, sharper.

He makes money fixing broken radios and old vending machines. Barely speaks.

Old Man Vendor (watching Yuji work):

“You fix things… but you look like something broke in you.”

Yuji doesn’t respond.

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Scene 3: Ito’s Letter

Location: High school classroom – late

Ito writes a letter under desk light. Her hand shakes.

Ito (V.O., writing):

“I don’t know if I deserve forgiveness. I don’t know if either of you do. But… I still see us—back then—on that rooftop.”

She burns the letter with a lighter. Regret flickers in her eyes.

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Scene 4: Phone Booth

Location: Roadside, near Kusabimaru’s job

Kusabimaru enters an old phone booth. Dials an old number. It rings.

Cut to:

Yuji’s broken flip phone buzzes on a table. He stares at it. Doesn’t answer.

Phone stops. Silence.

Kusabimaru (to himself):

“Yeah… didn’t think so.”

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Scene 5: The Dream

Location: Rooftop – Dream sequence

Yuji and Kusabimaru are laughing, sharing ramen under the stars.

Ito shows up. They both smile. The rooftop lights fade to gold.

Then it all freezes—color drains. Ramen spills. Yuji’s alone again.

He wakes up breathing hard.

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Scene 6: Cracks in the Mirror

Location: Ramen stall

Kusabimaru watches a father and son eat together. He holds a tray, frozen.

Flash of his father yelling. His hand clenches.

Later, he smokes under a streetlamp. Stares at a cracked mirror behind the shop.

Kusabimaru (V.O.):

“We never got to be kids… we just pretended to survive.”

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ENDING SCENE

Location: Rooftop near train station

Yuji stands alone on the rooftop where he and Kusabimaru made their pact. He drops two stones on the spot where they shook hands.

He whispers:

Yuji:

“I never hated you.”

[Wind howls.]

[END CREDITS – Minimal piano and wind ambience]

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Post-Credit Scene:

Kusabimaru takes a train back toward Tokyo. He clutches a small, half-burnt photo Ito dropped—a blurry shot of the three of them.