"Kotoko?" Naoki stopped at the door of the bathroom and grinned at the young woman tugging portions of her hair in different directions.

"Yes?" She turned to him, a distinct expression of dissatisfaction on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, distracted from his intent.

She pulled a clump of hair in front of her face and scowled at the ends. "It's at that awkward length. It's getting in my way but won't stay up worth a darn."

"Let me see what I can do." Naoki took the brush from her and detangled the strands that she had mangled. "Are things still progressing well with your intern?" he inquired casually while looping a band around half her hair.

"Keita-san?" she replied, watching his movements carefully. "Sure, he's doing great."

"Keita?" He raised an eyebrow. "First name basis now?"

She wrinkled her nose. "One of his nurse friends suggested it. I'm not too comfortable, since I'm still technically his supervisor, but I can't think of a way to reverse my decision."

"I see." So Mother was just imagining things, as usual. A certain tension that he had been unaware of in his chest eased a little. "I'm sure it's not too inappropriate," he assured her. "Besides, he doesn't have much time left here."

"Right!" She grinned at him in the mirror. "And I can remind myself not to do it with future interns. Damn!" Her smile turned upside down. "I forgot there were going to be more after him!"

He laughed and embraced her from behind. "Never fear, I have confidence that you can handle anybody the hospital throws at you."

"Sure I can." She turned and kissed him quickly. "But that doesn't mean that I have to like it!"


"Yo, Ai-chan!" Phoebus propped himself up in Kotoko's doorway. "What's with the hair?"

Kotoko self-consciously grabbed the pigtails just below her ears. "Just trying to keep it out of my face and off my shoulders, with the warmer weather, you know. Does it look funny?"

"No," he laughed, "not if you're a puppy." He easily dodged the stress ball she hurled at his head.

"What d'you want?" she asked grumpily when he retrieved it and placed it on her desk.

"You need to treat your friends and your patients better," he chided her.

She closed her eyes and clapped her hands to her cheeks. "I know. I've felt like such a bitch lately."

"I noticed," he said. "I was about to have Honda-chan buy you a chew toy so you'd leave my butt alone."

Kotoko opened one eye. "I can say that. You can't. Quit stalling."

"Okay. Well," he rubbed hands together, "do you have any afternoons with no appointments, not counting me?"

She raised an eyebrow at the request but brought up the scheduling program. "Let's see, next Tuesday. What's going on?"

"Could you please block it off?" He both bowed and held his hands together in supplication. I'd like to see if one of your suggestions will work out, and I need the entire room for it."

"I'm confused," she admitted as she proceeded to adjust the schedule, "but if it's one of my ideas, I'm sure it will be great."

"Now who's the smart ass?"


"This is your big plan? Use my entire room as a photo shoot location?" Kotoko rubbed one temple as she viewed a scene of chaos in what was once a well-organized rehabilitation center.

"Not just a photo shoot," Phoebus assured her, although the multiple cameras and tripods seemed to make a lie out of his claim. Their conversation was interrupted by the noisy arrival of a trio of sunglasses-clad young men behind a phalanx of blacksuited guards, with Honda bringing up the rear.

"May I present," she said with a flourish after scurrying up to Kotoko, "the rest of Resplendent Olympus."

"Crap," Kotoko muttered before giving them a large smile. The photographers abandoned their assistants and converged on the group that encircled her and her old pal, their camera flashes blinding her. "Hold on a minute!" She waved her hands. "What's going on here?"

"So you're the magic lady that's going to give us back our Phoebus Apollo?" A rainbow-haired man kissed her hand. "Not only healed in body and but also in spirit!"

"Get back, Sy!" Another shoved his way forward. "Don't monopolize our group's possible savior."

"I don't know—"

"Behave!" Phoebus shouted. "Sorry, Ai-chan," he said when the hubbub eased. "The peacock over there is Poseidon; we call him Sy. The dark haired one with all the piercings—even in some interesting places—" he added in a lower tone, making Kotoko's cheeks flush, "is Ares. Pink hair over there is Eros."

"The god of love, at your service," he gave her not a Japanese bow, but one of a medieval European courtier.

"I thought she was a woman," Kotoko replied, blinking.

"She got you there!" The other two began pounding him between the shoulderblades.

"That would actually be Aphrodite," Honda interspersed. "But her son Eros is also associated with love as well. As in 'erotic'," she whispered.

"Ew." Kotoko nodded then looked over each of them carefully. "But you know, I thought the king of Greek gods was Soose."

"Zeus, you heathen!" Phoebus shoved her with an elbow, laughing.

"Yeah, we couldn't use that name," the until-now silent Ares spoke up. "Phoebus here is full enough of himself without being crowned king of the pantheon."

"Although," Sy looked him up and down, "with that limp maybe we could rename him 'Hephaestus'."

"You bastard!" They engaged in some light wrestling, although Kotoko's sharp eyes noticed that they were all careful to be gentle with the recuperating god.

"Why's he so worked up about it?" Kotoko muttered to Keita, who had emerged from the supply closet and had spent the last few minutes observing the show.

"Hephaestus is considered the ugliest of the gods and is usually portrayed as crippled," he whispered to her.

Kotoko rolled her eyes. "Again I ask, 'Why not Japanese gods?' Then I'd understand all these obscure references."

"And where's the fun in that?" Phoebus had broken away and drew near. "The Japanese people are fascinated by foreign things just as the rest of the world is fascinated by us. It gives us a little—what's the word, Honda-chan?"

"Cachet, perhaps?"

"Yeah, that's it." He leaned over and whispered to the two of them. "They actually had to explain it to me too, at first!"

Honda clapped her hands for attention. "Okay, boys! Get in your usual photo lineup for some routine shots, then Sakurauchi will direct you for some posing with the equipment before you start your big project."

"Okay!" "Yes, Boss Lady!" "Aye!"

"Hell," Kotoko said. "I'm going back to my office." She nodded at Keita. "You can watch if you like. Hey! Na-kun!" He turned at her call. "Make sure you get autographs for Nurse Takami's daughter! Oh, and another set for my little brother's girlfriend."

He gave her double thumbs-up then turned back to the crew.

After about half an hour she looked up from her monitor and saw the group marking the floor with masking tape. Intrigued, she rose and stood leaning in the doorway. "What are they doing?" she asked a photographer resting near her, checking the images on his camera.

"Blocking out the choreography for the new songs," he informed her.

"Choreogr—Yo, Na-kun!" She waved. "Don't undo all my hard work!"

"Your hard work?" He approached her smiling, a sheaf of papers in his hand. "I think I was the one sweating it out in here."

"Yeah, yeah." She waved away his comment.

"No, videos for these songs can be recorded with me doing limited movements," he showed her the diagrams that he had drawn during his creative time. "They won't be concert recordings but staged, so I can be spliced here and there. For the stage I promise to be even more careful."

"You'd better!"

"I figure a flashier clothes design than the others and maybe an extra bit of gold to my hair should keep me in the forefront as much as a tumbling routine."

"Good thinking." She gave him a serious look. "You do know that, despite what I put you through, I really care about your health and welfare, don't you?"

He gave her an enthusiastic hug and a smacking kiss on the lips. "Of course I know that, Ai-chan!"

Halfway across the room, a masked photographer's assistant gasped as Honda shrieked, "I said it was pretend!" She and the rest of the interested group (as well as the photographers) hurried over as Phoebus continued.

"Actually, you're the inspiration for not only the idea of returning to the group early, but for a couple of the songs I wrote." At that, the shutters began clicking.

"Me?" Kotoko pointed to herself.

He gave her a pleased nod. "Yep. We have half an album's worth of songs and I've already blocked out moves for at least three videos. We should shoot right back to the top."

"Where we belong," added Eros.

The quartet created a square and grasped hands in the middle. "Resplendent Olympus!" They then leaped into the air, with the exception of Phoebus, who just waved his arms around.

Kotoko shook her head. "Celebrities."


"Now do you believe me about the attractiveness of Resplendent Olympus?" Honda walked towards the exit beside one of the photography assistants.

Mrs. Irie tugged off the thick-framed glasses and pulled down the face mask. "The nerve of him! Stealing my Kotoko-chan's lips like that!"


"Yuuki-kun, will you please stop laughing? It's not funny."

"I hate to disagree with you, Onee-chan. Oh, wait, I don't hate it at all. I think it's hilarious."

"Being an adolescent, of course you do. Now come on, can't you think of any reason to call her back to Tokyo? I mean, you are her son as well. Don't you need your mother's attention?"

"Kotoko, our dads are enjoying this time without her. They can stay up as late as they want watching ball games."

"Staying up late? What about their jobs?"

"Your dad is letting your old boyfriend—"

"Kin-chan was never that!"

"—take over a lot of the restaurant responsibility. And I finally got mine to start delegating at Pandai."

"Food! Meals!" She tried another tack.

"As for cooking, well, you know your father is more than capable."

"Is Ojisama watching his diet without Obasama around?" Mr. Irie had a health scare several years earlier. Kotoko had missed a semester of school getting him on a low-impact exercise program while his wife adjusted her recipes to reduce fat and sodium.

"He's just fine. We're all just fine," he amended. "The only downside is that Konomi has to make our study snacks when she visits. But she," he reminded her with slight malice, "has more skill in the kitchen than some people I know."

"I've gotten better!" she protested with a little heat. "Hey! What do you mean, Konomi is coming over? That's it! She needs a chaperone!"

"What?!"

"We can't have two hormonal teenagers alone in the house, getting all private. That is unseemly."

"Gee, Kotoko, just because you're not getting any doesn't mean the rest of the world has to suffer right along with you."

She gasped. "You mean you and Konomi—!"

"No!" he howled. "It was a joke!"

"But when I tell your mother—"

"Yeah, just try that." His tone became sinister. "You know all she wants is grandkids. If she thinks there's a chance I can provide them to her, she'll stay with you forever."

"Damn your Irie logic!"

"Game, set, match, Onee-chan! Get rid of her yourself! Bye!"

Kotoko frowned at the cell phone. "Little brothers!"