"I'm so glad you could come over this evening," greets Ryuu as he slides his wheelchair out of the way so Aya can enter his home. She steps hesitantly into the room while nervously running her hands down the front of her skirt. Self-conscious, she tugs at the edge of the short, soft, feminine top that she is still not sure why she choose to wear today.

Aya glances nervously around the room as she answers that she really needs her English book back so she didn't have any choice. Unaware of the two fold reasons for her avoiding his home, her friend looks slightly hurt at her reluctance to visit him again.

"Is Namada-san around?" she hesitantly inquires.

Rolling his chair into the kitchen, Ryuu replies "no, Ko has to work late tonight."

Some of the tension leaves Aya's stance as she follows her friend into the kitchen where he has been boiling water for the instant ramen which is sitting on the counter. Sheepishly, he offers Aya some supper. Returning his grin, she accepts.

"Well, then you'll need to get your own noodles out of the cupboard," Ryuu instructs as he points to the third door above the counter which is well beyond his restricted reach. Aya sidles past him and opens the cupboard door. As she stretches to the third shelf her shirt raises in the back to reveal the sickly green, yellow and purple bruises ringing her back and sides.

"Damn, Aya," Ryuu cusses as his fingers reach out to lightly touch the injury. Aya jumps and drops the noodles. In her panic, she knocks a number of other items off the shelf too.

"How'd that happen?" her concerned friend asks.

Aya pulls at her shirt to make sure that all her skin is covered and looks scared for a moment before schooling her face and brushing off the question. She kneels to pick up the dropped food items.

"I had an accident."

Suspicious, Ryuu asks what kind of accident.

Instantly defensive, Aya snaps, "the kind of accident that happens when I do stupid stuff."

She slams the food on the counter.

"I need to go."

Ryuu catches her hand with his own when she tries to move out of the kitchen.

"Don't go. I was just worried about you. If you don't want to tell me, you don't need to but I'm just worried about it. Those are some serious bruises. They must hurt something awful."

All the indecision pent up in Aya swirls across her face as she considers her options. Fear, shame, and anger do battle in silence as not only Ryuu but the entire set holds its breath. A small spark of hope settles into Aya's eyes as she gently squeezes the hand in her own.

"I think the water is boiling," she states with a ghost of a smile as she moves to the stove and turns off the burner.

In silence, she efficiently prepares both packets of instant noodles. She sets the two meals on a tray and checks two cupboards before finding a pair of glasses. She opens the refrigerator and pulls out some tea and fills the glasses and places them on the tray too. Her companion just watches her with concern the entire time. As Aya returns the tea container to the refrigerator, Ryuu pulls some chopsticks from the drawer and adds them to the tray. As the two friends move out of the kitchen, the director calls cut.

Sato allows for a ten minute break while they reset lighting and cameras for the next scene. Yuudai unfolds from the wheelchair and follows Kyoko off the set.

"You sure you're feeling better?" he asks for the second time that day.

For a moment, Kyoko has to shuffle through Aya's emotions to be able to find her own. She finally smiles kindly at Yuudai and assures him the she really is well now and that she had actually felt better by Friday morning.

"Well, if you're feeling better, would you feel up to having dinner with me this evening after we finish shooting? I remember you telling Sato-san that you could stay late tonight if needed but it seems like we might even get to leave early since the scenes are going so smoothly. What do you say?"

"If we don't run late, I guess I can eat with you. We both have to eat anyway so why not eat it together."

"Cool, it's a date," her co-star replies before meandering back onto the set.

Her stomach doing a strange little flip flop at the word date, Kyoko likewise follows Yuudai back onto the set and back into Aya'a head.

Newly steaming noodles are placed on the table before the scene starts. As the dialog begins, Ryuu gently prompts Aya back to discussing the bruising. As if reciting facts about the weather, Aya relates how much her life has changed since her brother's death: her mother's illness, having to leave her private school because of the money issues from her mom no longer working, her father's depression and then his anger towards her because he sees her as the reason his precious son was hurrying home in the car at the time of the accident.

In an attempt to provide comfort to Aya, Ryuu moves his wheelchair close to her chair at the table and reaches out to embrace her. The director calls cut. Sato is unhappy with Yuudai's maneuvering of the wheelchair in the scene so he makes him redo the action thirteen times before he is finally given a pass. The scene finally ends with Ryuu promising to help her find some way out of the situation. Thankful for the sentiment but not believing that there is a solution, Aya gently scolds Ryuu that his food is getting cold. The scene ends with Aya starting to eat as if nothing out of the ordinary has occurred and Ryuu watching her with concern as his own foods sits forgotten.

When the director calls the end of filming for the evening, Yuudai escapes the set and silently enters the dressing room. Kyoko watches him go with a look that mirrors Ryuu's at the end of the scene. Her grudge antenna stretches taught as it tries to follow the young actor into the closed room. Kyoko forces the grudge sensor to reel back when she enters her own dressing area. The actress quickly sheds her costume and hangs it carefully before slipping into her own clothes. She hurries out of the dressing room only to find herself waiting for her dinner companion.

Most of the crew leaves before Kyoko starts to wonder if Yuudai decided to skip supper and left without her. Timidly, she knocks on the dressing room door. When she hears no reply, she nervously looks around the studio before deciding that it would be silly to keep waiting if he already left. At the same time, since it would be rude to leave if he is still in the room, she has no choice but to check.

"Yuudai?" she calls softly as she pushes open the unlocked changing room door. She steps into the male dressing room and finds that it looks exactly like the female one except that this one's couch has a mostly naked actor laying on it.

"Um, are you are okay?" asks the blushing actress as she makes a point of looking at the floor instead of Yuudai who is lying on his stomach in nothing but a pair of silky red boxers. His costume is thrown in pieces all over the room. In a bid to calm her nerves, Kyoko bends down and starts picking up the discarded articles of clothing. Startled, she jumps when Yuudai suddenly screams into the pillow. The combat boot she is holding falls to the floor with a loud thump but she maintains her hold on the jeans and shirt she has retrieved.

Kyoko busies herself by hanging up Ryuu's clothes as Yuudai finally sits up and offers her an apology. Unconsciously, she darts a glance at her co-star when he speaks to her but this only further embarrasses her. Her ears and neck flame as red as her cheeks and Yuudai's underwear. She squeezes her eyes shut tight to avoid any more inadvertent glimpses.

In the darkness behind her eyelids, Kyoko can still hear Yuudai shuffling clothes and then zipping his pants.

Although his tone lacks its normal humor, Yuudai still teases "Alright, all the important parts are covered."

Kyoko opens first one eye and when she sees her co-star properly attired, she opens the other one. With her modesty appeased, she asks Yuudai what is wrong. He looks at her in disbelief.

"THIRTEEN N.G.s. Thirteen," he rants. "What am I, a useless hack? A talentless newbie with no concept of my job?"

Like a spoiled child, Yuudai flings himself back onto the couch. He rolls onto his back and covers his face with his arm. For a split second, Kyoko is reminded of Shotaro when he was a child. Stomping on the thought in her mind, she gives her attention back to her co-star.

"Ugh, I am just so mad at myself. And at Sato. I mean, was he just yanking our chains with so many do overs? Was there even any difference between shot number twelve and number thirteen. By that time, I was so frustrated, I couldn't even tell what I was supposed to do anymore let alone if I actually did anything different."

Kyoko perches on the edge of the couch near Yuudai's legs and pats his shin. "Sato-san is just a stickler for physical movements. Everyone of us has had to repeat some of our action scenes."

Yuudai lowers his arm and gives his co-star an annoyed look. "He only made you run up the street three times. That is distinctly less then thirteen."

"You do realize I have an easier role than you do, right?"

"Ha, right. The emotionally and physically abused sister whose family is practically haunted by the memory of the dead older brother is easier than the teenager whose only issue is a physical disability."

"For the physical scenes that mean so much to Sato-san your part IS harder. Aya is a teenage girl. Yes, she is abused but the last time I checked, I am still a teenage girl. I look like one and move like one. It is natural for me. You on the other hand are an active, physically fit young man who is trying to play the part of a boy who has been in a wheelchair for years. You not only have to create Ryuu's emotions and thoughts. You also need to create his entire physical presence. A presence completely contrary to your normal self. Don't you think that is harder, especially when you're being judged by a director who stresses the physical?"

The two co-stars sit in silence until Yuudai finally swings his feet to the ground. He rubs both hands back the sides of his head until they meet at the back of his head. He turns the move into a stretch before rolling his head twice.

"For what it's worth," adds Kyoko, "Sato-san once made Hizuri Kuu run up and down the steps eleven times before he was finally happy with a scene."

"Seriously?" Yuudai asks sceptically, turning his head to see if she is teasing him.

"Of course, father wouldn't make something like that up."

The teen actor stares at Kyoko for a few moments as his good humor flows back. In the light of her earnest and encouraging expression, he starts chuckling. As his chuckles turn to laughter, he stands up and lifts Kyoko off the couch. He spins her around until they are both laughing joyfully. Smoothly, Yuudai slows his spinning and allows Kyoko to slide down his chest until her feet lightly touch the ground. Both are slightly out of breath from laughing.

As if staged perfectly into the moment, Yuudai raises his hand to lift Kyoko's chin and bends down until their lips meet. His dark eyes drift shut as Kyoko's fly wide open. The feather light touch of his lips suddenly turns a bit more demanding as Yuudai attempts to tease Kyoko into opening her mouth. His tongue prods gently trying to gain access to her warmth. Yuudai's arm at her waist pulls her fully against his body. A shiver runs up both their spines. Mirroring Aya's reaction to Ko's kiss, Kyoko raises her hand to Yuudai's chest and she takes a step back forcing his hands to fall away. Under her hand, she can feel Yuudai's heart beating erratically as his chest rises and falls with each breath. Kyoko drops her hand away from his chest as her other hand raises to her lips.

She suddenly bows.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers as she rises and flees the room.

Confused, Yuudai watches her flight and wonders why she was the one who apologized.


In Kyoko's mind's eye chaos reigns. The earth heaves throwing rocks and debris into the air. A maelstrom of swirling grudges, dirt and the shattered remains of the conference furniture bluster violently across the space.

Buffeted by the vicious winds, three angels huddle together as they whip about at the mercy of the storm. Desperate to protect the tiny scrap of an angel in their hands, they allow themselves to be pummeled by the mind's eye shrapnel instead of subjecting the little treasure that was born so recently to receive any damage.

Above the thundering cacophony, Cunning attempts to shout orders to try to negate as much damage as possible. It's a loosing battle but she has Stubbornness so thoroughly subjugated that at least one grudge listens to her.

The earth belches more thought rock into the air and Malice cackles gleefully as a number of pursuit grudges are battered brutally. Her evil amusement is cut short though when Revenge looses control of her attempts to swim safely through the dirt bath and slams into Malice and flattens her against the wall.

"Get a hold of the damn stuck thought!" screams Cunning. "It seems to be the most stable place!"

Grudges of all sizes, shapes and jobs fight to cluster in the shadow of Kyoko's impenetrable thought rock. Living up to her namesake, Stubbornness clings desperately to the edge of the rock even after her work helmet flies loose to reveal her dusty halo. Pinned to the ground under Revenge, Malice can only gnash her teeth in frustration when she sees the almost full manifestation of Determination in her fellow grudge.

"Damn, there goes my best minion," worries Cunning as she reaches out and pulls two sentry grudges closer to safety.

Suddenly, a great rending sound bellows across the expanse only to echo back its reverberations as the upheaval begins to slowly subside.

Through the thick dust hanging in the air, Cunning catches a sparkle reflecting onto the far wall. Her vision follows the path of the strange illumination back to the thought to which she is currently clinging.

"What the hell is that?" demands Malice as she tries to slide her finger into a crack in the stone. "Ouch," she cries as she pulls her pinched finger out of the crevice.

All the grudges clamber around the still stuck thought as they try to determine what the twinkle is deep inside the rock. Only Cunning notices the battered angels collect Determination into their midst and slink off into the shadows. Watching them hide, she feels a strange itchiness on her shoulders.

"No, no, no," she silently cries as she scratches her back and knocks loose some feathers. Running her grudgy hands through her hair she sighs in relief when she finds no golden ring. "I'm not defeated yet," she whispers as she rubs off the last of the itchy feathers and turns back to the dilemma at hand.

Hours later, Kyoko lays under the covers on her futon exhausted but still not sure what to make of the chaos of the thoughts keeping her awake. The agitated actress finally falls asleep as Cunning also settles to rest in a tattered corner of her thoughts.