Uryu slammed the door as he entered his room, angrily cursing himself for how he treated Nemu, wishing he had a way to vent his frustration at the situation. He was supposed to be the smartest of his friends, why was he acting so stupidly? Nemu never lied to him, so he had no reason to ever doubt her. Why did he have to spoil a nice dinner with his nasty accusations? He paused in his pacing...nice dinner? He would have called the meal a lot of things, but that wasn't one of them. Uryu took a deep breath...the inadvertent change in his train of thoughts had at least snapped him out of his anger. And made him realize who he was really mad at...if he wanted answers, he needed to go to the source. But first he had to apologize to Nemu. His determination to get answers that he had jeopardized the first real relationship he ever had. Relationship...could he really call it that after what Nemu said? The thought tormented him as he entered the dining room...his lack of experience bothered him just as much. He hadn't understood why supposedly mature intelligent people would behave so irrationally when they become a couple, not until now. Having Nemu in his life had made things so unbelivably complicated for him, yet he was so grateful for it.

Not finding anything but the remains of their dinner in the dining room, he tried the kitchen next, but she wasn't there either. He started to worry and hurried to the library, but that was empty too. Racing upstairs, he headed to the guest bedroom. His worry started to turn to fear as he didn't find her there. He started calling out her name as he rushed for the front door. Catching his breath, he tried to concentrate on spirit ribbons to find hers when the faint sound of her melody reached his ears. Smiling in relief, he followed it until he was standing under the tree his friends used for cover. "Nemu, would you please come down from there?" he asked. Unfortunately he made the mistake of not looking up, and when he moved to try and not be in her way when she leaped down, the next thing he knew he was flat on the ground entangled with Nemu in a manner reminescent of their first night together.

"I'm sorry that..." she started to say while attempting to get up, but Uryu interrupted her on both counts.

"Stop please. I wasn't angry at you, and I'm sorry. I had no right to behave that way to you." he told her.

"Then who are you angry at?" she questioned him. His silence told her all she needed to know, but she was grateful he wouldn't say it out loud. "Before I accept your apology, I need to know why you lied to me."

"When do you think I lied to you?" Uryu was totally caught off guard by her question.

"You...you said I was perfect but you obviously know I'm not. Why?" she asked with some difficulty, but she had to know the answer. Letting him down with her imperfections hurt her almost as much as it did when she disappointed her Captain.

"I do think you're perfect!" he protested. "It doesn't mean I think you've achieved perfection and are without flaws, it means I think you're perfect for me."

"How can perfection not be perfect?" Nemu was totally confused by his answer. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I guess not, but it's how I feel." he told her.

"So what makes you think I'm perfect for you?" she asked.

"You're smart, kind, sensible, beautiful, and a capable fighter." he answered almost immediately.

Remembering what he said about perfection prompted her next question. "But you do think I have flaws?"

Uryu hesitated before answering, knowing where this was going, but he didn't want her to think he was lying. "Yes."

"What are they?" she asked.

"Are you sure you want to know?" he asked back.

"Yes." she replied firmly. She was so relieved that he didn't expect her to be perfect that she couldn't imagine any flaws he perceived to be serious at all.

"Promise me you'll forgive me first." he insisted.

"I forgive you." she assured him.

"You're a Squad 12 Soul Reaper who can't cook." Uryu told her reluctantly.