Mike and Emily were in the sitting room, surrounded by screws, metal bars, wooden planks and polystyrene packaging. Having destroyed the television, when Mike had introduced her to his Nintendo Wii, they had been sent to the electrical appliance shop down the street to buy a replacement. Strictly speaking, the academy was Master Ji's home, and he had been kind enough to take them in when they came to him for training, so it was only fair that they repair the damage they had caused.

Mike was kneeling on the floor, surrounded by parts, staring at the construction in front of him, while Emily perused the instruction manual intently, her expression betraying her confusion.

"Well, the stand looks absolutely nothing like it does on the box." He blurted out as he gestured to it. "Are you sure we shouldn't just use the wall brackets?"

"After how much it cost us for this thing? Are you kidding?" She grumbled, staring at the garbled and nonsensical instructions yet again, hoping that somehow her mind would just turn into the Rosetta Stone and she'd suddenly get it. "Who the hell prints these things? I can read English and Japanese. Trust me to pick the TV with the instructions in German."

"Well we need to figure something out. If Master Ji misses his programme, we'll be doing sit-ups till the morning run." He told her, taking the instructions off her. He inspected them himself, before shaking his head.

"Um...ok, the power symbols are easier to understand than these diagrams." He agreed. Just then, Jayden came into the room and looked at it.

"OK what's that meant to be?" He asked them.

"The new TV stand." Emily whined. "There are wall brackets, but we've already smashed one television. I'm going to be broke for the next couple of months. I can't afford to replace another one!"

"Well I used to do all Master Ji's flat pack furniture." Jayden told them, taking the instructions off them. "I should have this ready in no time. You just clear away the old one."

"Thanks Jayden." Mike replied gratefully as they got up and left. They had packed away what was left of the old television in a few boxes, and were just waiting until they were finished to take them out to the curb for the trash man. Mike bent over, picking up one of the boxes and handing it to Emily, before picking up another of them.

As they headed outside, it was a beautiful evening. The sun was just starting to go down, and the sky was displaying a beautiful variety of yellow, red and orange shades over the tops of the trees and buildings. As they put the boxes down on the edge of the pavement, Emily sighed as she looked to the sky.

Mike couldn't help staring at her. For the first time in the last couple of days, she appeared peaceful and content. He knew that Negatron had reminded her about a lot of what was happening at home in her absence, and had brought up a lot of her insecurities. It wasn't helped by the fact she had kissed him and he hadn't responded in any real way, but she caught him off-guard. The incident with the television had done no good whatsoever, but for some reason this put her at ease.

"It's a nice night." He stated.

"It's lovely." She agreed. "It, um...it reminds me a lot of home. There aren't many cars or factories around, so we get nice nights like this all the time."

"The smog's been quite low today." He told her. "That must be why the sky's so clear."

"My sister loved the sunset." Emily told him. "She used to take me onto the porch some nights to watch them. Mom always used to insist we only did it on weekends so we would be OK for school, but sometimes when I'd been really sad, when the kids had been really mean, we'd sneak out."

He took her back into the garden, and sat with her on one of the benches.

"She'd just play her flute for me, and we'd talk." Emily told him. "A few times, I'd fall asleep while we were out there and Serena would have to carry me back inside. I always woke up in my own bed, no matter how long we talked."

She paused as she thought about her home and her beloved sister. She knew that contacting her family was forbidden for their own safety, but that didn't make it any easier. So far, she knew that Mike had seen her contemplating calling her sister, but as far as she knew, he hadn't told any of the others, least of all Master Ji. She remembered when Mike had visited his friends at the arcade; Master Ji had given him a long lecture about the rules. If he knew, then he would have done the same with her. She was sure of it.

"She was so strong." Emily told him. "When she got sick, all she did was apologise to me for the fact I'd be in danger. All she could think about was me and the fact I'd have to try and fill her shoes."

"She's not the only one that's strong." Mike told her. As she looked at him, he bent over and picked up a training sword. She just looked at him a little confused. "You really don't know how strong you are do you?"

"Mike?" She asked him.

"We all see it in you. Even Master Ji's said it." He told her. "You only do this to yourself. When you have a sword in your hand, you're a completely different person. You're strong, decisive, you just...you don't let anything scare you."

"I was taught to use a sword since I could walk." Emily replied. "It's second nature to me, like riding a bi..." She tailed off as she looked to Mike realising what she was about to say. He just let out a small laugh.

"I guess my sword lessons aren't the only thing I let slide as a kid." He said quietly, looking to the sword. "You know what the difference is when you have this?"

She just shook his head, looking into his face as he smiled at her.

"When you're holding this, you don't think so much." He told her. "You know what you need to do and just do it. You don't think about what can go wrong, you have confidence. You show us all what we all already know about you, that you're one of the strongest samurai there is."

"Thanks Mike." She replied, reaching for the sword. He didn't hand it over though, which confused her. "Um...why aren't you giving it to me?"

"I guess I'm just worried." He told her. "Like I said, when you have this, you're stronger. You kick my butt all the time with it."

"That's only in training." She reminded him.

"What if I did something you weren't expecting?" He asked her. "I made a huge mistake."

"What mistake was that?" She asked him.

"Emily, I'm talking about the other day." He clarified. "You know...when you kissed me."

She wrapped her arms around herself as she heard this. Although she wanted more from Mike, when he hadn't said anything after the kiss, she presumed that he just wasn't into her. It was something of a blessing that he hadn't said anything, somewhat sparing her dignity after she laid herself on the line like that. By now, she was hopeful that he wouldn't speak of it again.

"Emily, I'm sorry I never said anything." He told her. "It's just...you took me by surprise. I never would have thought you thought about me like that."

She just shrugged her shoulders, trying to look away from him and hoping that the conversation would just end, or at very least, that he'd get it over with quickly.

"It's alright, I get it." She sighed. "I'm sorry. I guess..."

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop being sorry?" He asked her. "The thing is, I just...this has never happened to me before. I'm kind of in new territory here."

"You?" She asked him. "But...I thought..."

"You don't know much about the gaming culture do you?" He asked her. "It's kind of male-dominated. It isn't really seen as being as glamorous or spectacular as being into sports or music or...well, I guess the simple way to put it is that back home, my friends and I aren't exactly considered cool. I'm kind of a nerd."

"I don't understand." She said a little nervously.

"I guess I was worried that if I gave you this," he began, nodding to the sword, "you might not let me try to correct my mistake. You might not let me kiss you."

"There's one way to find out." She replied, taking the sword from him gently. They turned towards each other, looking into each other's eyes, at which they started to lean in towards each other. Emily closed her eyes as her heart started to race. She didn't know if this was real, or if she was dreaming, but she soon got her answer as Jayden walked out, the sound of the door opening interrupting them. They pulled away from each other, straightening themselves out as Mike turned to face him.

"I figured out the TV stand." He informed them. "Mike, would you come and help me set up the TV?"

"I guess." He replied. As he turned and left, Mike looked back to Emily regretfully. "Sorry about this."

"Me too." She replied as he got up to leave. "Um...if you want to try again..."

"I was hoping you'd say something like that." He told her in a sigh. "You can be sure of it."

As he left, she got up, putting the sword up on a rack as she came inside. She couldn't help thinking of Mike, and what he had said. She was sure after the way he reacted, or more accurately hadn't reacted that he didn't return how she felt about him. Now though, she couldn't help feeling like the fact she was going to be broke for the next couple of months wasn't so bad. After all, she was sure they'd get to know each other better after a few nights at home.