This is the revised version. Enjoy!

…

Takashi Chiyo sighed, sipped her coffee, and tried once more to reread her email from Gerald Johnson. She'd not had the greatest night's sleep, and too much tea was the likely culprit. So, she wasn't entirely awake yet.

Ms. Takashi,

Gerry Johnson here. I've already talked to my colleagues about this, and they're as interested as I in cross-referencing your timeline with some of our materials here. This is truly an interesting project and we'd love to be able to lend out some of our materials if you so require. We realize this is a fictionalized miniseries, but as this was a fascinating time for-

Chiyo groaned, blinked her eyes rapidly, then glanced down at her notes. If she caught Tsuruga-kun or Nick-san later, she might have them just translate it into proper Japanese for her. Gerry spoke conversational Japanese well, but it hurt her eyes to read what he tried to write.

She perused her timeline notes some more.

- Michitada: B 1899. D. 1950. Known after marriage as Yoneda Michitada-sensei.

Yoneda Yaeko: B. 1903. Becomes Matriarch of the Yoneda family in 1945.

Yoneda Son: B. 1926. Missing, presumed KIA, 1945.

Yoneda Yumika: B 1928, She and Michitada survive Firebombing of Yokosuka summer of 1944 only with the help of Akiyama An and Akiyama Nozomi.

Jack Taylor: B. 1929, graduates with William 'Bill' Burnham from Annapolis Naval Academy in 1947. Both arrive at Yokosuka base in Autumn, 1949.

Yoneda Yayoi: B. Summer, 1931. Meets Yamamoto Daisuke in August of 1945. They're married Spring of 1950.

Manchurian Incident: September, 1931.

Japan Surrenders to U.S. & Allied Forces: September, 1945. Occupation of Japan begins.

NKPA cross the 38th Parallel, June 25, 1950.

Chiyo sighed, blinked some more, and downed the last of her coffee. She'd been pretty positive that the first student and labor protests in Japan had begun in Spring of 1950 as well, but it appeared to not be in her notes.

But what about her Spring at Mt. Oguso timeline could be so intriguing to the American base personnel they were coordinating with? As Gerry had said, this was highly fictionalized. She scratched at her scalp with a pen and sighed again. Perhaps she would just have a talk with Gerry, Tammi, and Mick at dinner that night. It was one of the only times Shingai had scheduled to have all the big players of the production to have a night spent together not working.

Chiyo nodded absently to herself. Yes, dinner that night would do. Her eyes drifted back up to her timeline, ...survive firebombing...only with the help of Akiyama An and Akiyama Nozomi. Kotonami Kanae had questioned her extensively yesterday about why on earth she had to narrate for episode four, when the episode had clearly been designed to highlight another relationship other than her own character's. You're a funny one Kotonami-kun. Chiyo smiled as she thought this.

Michitada narrated the first episode, because everything began with him and his choices. Yayoi narrated the second episode, because she had held the greatest respect for Michitada. Typically, that might have been done by Yoneda Yaeko, seeing as how she was Michitada's wife, but Chiyo had made a deliberate choice there in the structure of the story. Thank you for your perseverance Sugaya-san, thought Chiyo wryly as she thought about Yoneda Yaeko's position in the narrative. However much she liked the character of Yaeko herself, the focus was on Yayoi after all, and Yayoi had just lost her hero to yet more violence.

Then, Yoneda Yumika had had to narrate the third episode, otherwise the connection between the Yonedas and the Akiyamas was left unexplained. Which did no one any good, because at its heart, Spring at Mt. Oguso was about people connecting, and reconnecting, in several ways, many times over their lifetimes, and growing and changing because of those connections. It was titled Spring at Mt. Oguso after all. And spring was for renewal, rebirth, and growth.

But, as she'd explained to Kotonami-san, Akiyama Nozomi narrated Act Four for a few reasons. One reason was because the Yonedas were larger than life characters, due to their traditions and philosophy, and the general audience needed to connect to the humanity of those less fortunate. Kotonami-san had scowled, but Chiyo had thought she understood.

Akiyama Nozomi and her sister had been left orphaned by the war. They'd become survivors because of their hardships. An had fully embraced modern womanhood, and had never married. But Nozomi, she liked the traditions of the Yonedas, and that's part of the reason she liked Yayoi so much. But Nozomi was also excited by the new people in Japan, and all the new stuff they brought with them. And she especially liked Tanaka-san, the kind-hearted interpreter that could smooth out problems and communicate well enough to be thought of as respected and reliable. He was dependable. And Nozomi had always wanted someone she could depend on.

If there was a woman alive today that couldn't understand that and connect to that concept, Chiyo would eat her hat. And it was proven fact that the audiences in the present day admired the bravery of the women of Occupied Japan for being trailblazers on their way to modernity. Nozomi narrated episode four for all those reasons, but also because Nozomi's courage to take what she wanted was what Yoneda Yayoi lacked.

This story was about connections and growth, that was true, but it was primarily shown in how it affected Yoneda Yayoi's life. If not for her connection to her father, she would not have grown to be so centered and grounded. If not for her connection to her mother, Yayoi would not have grown to respect the traditions of the Yoneda family. If not for her connection to her siblings, Yayoi would not have learned selflessness. If not for the Akiyamas, she would not have learned bravery.

In Chiyo's opinion, it was always easier to show all the different sides to a person by mirroring what they did with someone else's actions. The narrative structure she had in place at the moment was simply the best plan they could have gone with to make it successful. She'd heard that Kotonami-san had schedule to be in the voice-over booth today, so she imagined that Kotonami-san probably understood that too.

Chiyo glanced back at her opened email, then abruptly shut her laptop. At the very least, she needed more coffee to try to deal with that writing.

Kyoko spent most of her Sunday morning oscillating between the excitement of watching Kanae work on her narration, and the seriousness of the material of episode four. In between that, she did her best to shove down her feelings that were overflowing and bubbling over from the night she and Ren had had last night. This was less than successful when she would open her phone to find their picture together as her screensaver. (She'd installed that pic as the screensaver in a feverish half-dazed fashion somewhere between two and three am that morning).

By the time dinner rolled around, Kanae and Oohara-san had long since gone off to rehearse one of their own scenes and Kanae had said she'd meet up with her after at the dining hall. Kyoko would like to say she picked out her clothes for dinner calmly, and with consideration to professionalism. (That a flirty skirt snuck in, was simply happenstance).

She was striding down the hallway to the dining room, after chatting with Kinji-san on security duty for a little while, when she saw Ren coming around a corner. She perked up immediately. She'd no idea what his schedule had been like today, and he hadn't answered her text about rehearsal yet either.

He caught sight of her as well and almost simultaneously, they waved to each other, even though they were only a few feet apart. Kyoko promptly blushed while Ren turned his gaze away, and cleared his throat.

"Tsur-"

"Moga-"

They blinked at each other, and all their awkwardness seemed to vanish as they both chuckled.

"Please Mogami-san, you first."

She sent him a small smile, "Tsuruga-san, how are you today?"

"I'm well. You?"

She shrugged, "Same. Oh, but rehearsal times, any ideas?"

Ren sighed, "I'm actually kicking myself for stopping you yesterday, I've not been able to get a hold of Yashiro-san to set something up today."

She shot him a surprised glance, "That's unusual."

"Yeah, I checked with security, seems he had to leave this morning on a personal errand." Kyoko frowned when Ren related this to her.

"Well, I hope he's ok."

Ren patted her reassuringly on the shoulder, "Security did mention that he said he'd be back in the afternoon. So he'll probably be at dinner."

"Oh good." They smiled at each other, then almost jumped a foot in the air as they heard an angry voice echo down the hallway.

Ren probably should have thought it through more, but as startled as he was, he just shuffled himself and Kyoko into a nearby room and closed the door. He pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear who was angry and why. He shifted, trying to get a better position and heard a squeak. He blinked, and stared down at a very red-faced Mogami-san. He'd not let her go yet. He stepped back, and released her, wanting to kick himself for reacting in such a strange fashion.

"My apologies Mogami-san."

"It's, ah, it's okay Tsuruga-san."

They were interrupted once more by the angry voice that now sounded remarkably like one Yashiro Yukihito.

"..absolutely unacceptable. What have I said before about you avoiding your responsibilities? Think of how this reflects on us! How could you be so selfish?! I told you then that you were too young to take this seriously! But of course, I definitely had no idea what I was talking about, right?!"

His voice was louder, but his steps sounded further away, so Ren assumed he was striding towards the hall for dinner as well, even though he was beginning to yell. He exchanged a worried look with Kyoko, but then they heard his voice again.

"Well you should have thought of that beforehand, shouldn't you have? And she's just a teenager! Do you know how difficult this will be on her? Has she even decided on her post-graduate plans?! No? I wonder why!"

Ren and Kyoko winced almost simultaneously at the harsh reprimand in Yashiro's voice. An odd, unsettling feeling overcame Ren, and he stepped even further away from Kyoko, who was still red as a beet and staring at the floor. They waited there a couple more moments, before Kyoko peeked back up at him.

"I think it's safe to leave now." she whispered to him. Ren didn't want to leave though. He wanted to bury his hands in Kyoko's hair and kiss her senseless. But he only cleared his throat again, then said,

"Yes, yes of course. Sound logic there."

She blinked at him. "Tsu-Tsuruga-san? Are you ok? You seem uh…flushed."

Ren tried his best to talk without his voice cracking as he saw sweat drip down her collarbone, "Fine! Everything's a-ok here."

A sly expression crossed her features then, giving Ren emotional whiplash, and she stepped forward, "Is that right?"

Ren nodded fervently, but Kyoko curled her hands into his shirt collar anyway.

"Reeeen. You can talk to me you know. Is there something stopping you from leaving this room?" Her eyes challenged him and Ren swallowed hard, and shook his head. His feet still didn't move.

"Well, I think you need to pay a toll." Her voice dared him to do it, and God help him, he could no longer resist. He buried his hands in her hair, lifting her face to his. He pressed his lips hard to hers, and she returned his efforts in kind.

A moment later, her moan startled him into letting go of her, and she sat back hard on her heels, blinking dazedly up at him. She swiped her tongue across her lips, chasing the taste of him and with great effort, Ren kept his hands off her.

"Dinner." Ren rasped, trying to focus. Kyoko just smiled sweetly, making his heart pound.

"Sure. Dinner. Shall we Ren?" She grabbed the doorknob behind him, and turned it, and he quickly stepped out, straightening his clothing. She followed suit, as they checked for any onlookers.

Ren had no idea how they'd gotten so lucky, but he breathed a sigh of relief when the hallway wound up deserted. Keep your focus, he thought harshly to himself. This isn't a good time for this. Focus.

As he was admonishing himself, Kyoko strode ahead, plastering an unconcerned and pleasant look on her face. Ren did the same, but damn it, it was hard to repress the urge to tangle her fingers with his.

They entered the dining hall shortly thereafter, and Ren heard Shingai's voice call out.

"Ren-kun! Over here! Need you for a thing!"

Ren and Kyoko nodded and went their separate ways, Kyoko to find where Kanae was, and he to attend to the director.

What Shingai wanted wasn't much, just to return a certain two inch by three inch photo as inconspicuously as possible. Ren's attention was grabbed by various naval base personnel after that though. He did his best to answer their questions and strike up good conversation, but it was hard to keep his focus when all he wanted was to return to Kyoko's side.

Once he'd settled matters there on that side of the hall, he returned his attention to seeking out where Kyoko was, but instead found Yashiro and Shingai in a serious-looking discussion. Ren frowned and wondered if Yashiro's personal errand had something to do with all this odd behavior. He ventured towards them, and only caught,

"My apologies for troubling you Director, but thank you for granting me the favor."

Shingai nodded, "So long as it doesn't interfere with the day to day routine, it'll be fine. No worries here."

Although Ren's curiosity was piqued, Yashiro and Shingai caught sight of him then.

"Did Nick find a fellow with a harmonica?" Yashiro teased, his seriousness apparently completely gone. It caught Ren off guard, but Ren nodded.

"I was actually looking for him. Or for Kyoko. Seen either?" He asked them. Shingai shook his head but Yashiro replied affirmatively.

"Oh yes, actually. Ah, I saw him, oh, there he is." Yashiro gestured and Ren followed his gaze to find Nick, Noa, Kanae and Kyoko all sitting together. Well, that solved that.

He gave them his thanks, and turned away, but before he could leave, Yashiro piped up again.

"Ren, you might want to check Ogata-san's twitter." Unbridled amusement filled his voice and Ren facepalmed and groaned.

He strode determinedly away, but still heard Yashiro and Shingai laugh. Ren sighed. He was never going to take another group selfie again. It only appeared to cause him a manager's heckling.

Dinner had been delicious, and Kyoko had had fun chatting with everyone she'd been sitting near. Ren had sat to the left of her, and Nick, Kanae and Noa were to her right. While she and Kanae had contented themselves with a lot of people-watching, Nick and Noa had told increasingly outrageous stories, though for what purpose, the girls didn't know. Ren had simply been content to be a part of the group, thought he frequently tangled their feet together underneath the table. Kyoko had been proud that she hadn't blushed once throughout dinner because of it.

"Ah now see, this is champagne-like, so if you tried to swig it all at once, you'd get horribly sick." Nick was saying as he eyed their sparkling grape juice in suspicion, acting wise and sage in the years he had on the rest of them. Noa rolled his eyes, while Ren shook his head, despairing of the level of maturity of the company he kept.

"Had experience with that Nick-san?" asked Kanae drily. Kyoko giggled.

Nick shuddered theatrically, "It's not as bad as trying to swig two fingers of a thirty-year-old scotch in one go, but those bubbles will get ya. Quinn tried that once. It...was not pretty."

Kyoko snorted and Kanae sighed. But when Nick brought up Quinn, Kyoko remembered something she'd been curious about the day before.

"Niall-san's and your's project. Did you decide? Is that why you needed a harmonica?"

"Ahhh, call him Quinn, please, he'll leave me if he's learned that I told you guys his first name."

Kyoko gasped, intentionally being over-dramatic, "Noooo! Say it isn't so!"

Nick nodded gravely, but Kyoko caught the sly glint of humor in his gaze, "Quinn, or nothing. This is crucial for you to understand. My eternal happiness depends on it."

Ren snickered and muttered something, and Nick shot him a dirty look while Noa struggled to keep a straight face. Either way, even though Kyoko was slightly familiar with English slang, she definitely couldn't comprehend why he'd call Nick an otter-lover.

"The point being Kyoko-san, is that the answer to that is yes. We finalized our decision Friday. All that's left is to present it to Takashi-san." Nick smiled and she returned it excitedly.

"Oh, when will that be?"

"Now." The voice came from above them, and Shingai gazed down at them in amusement.

"Eavesdropper," Ren muttered and Shingai just smiled. Nick shoved a little at Noa though, and said,

"You got it then?"

Noa nodded in response, "Where's Mick though?"

Ren, as he was the tallest of all of them, stood to get a better idea of where people were in the hubbub, "Ah! I thought Takashi-san and he were talking about something. Yes, he's already there. Come on."

He gestured for the other guys to follow him and Shingai called after the group, "Speaker and a mic were set up over there." Shingai gestured near where the dining hall windows were and Nick gave him a thumbs up in response as they hurried to catch Mick and Takashi-san.

Shingai took it upon himself to settle on the bench with Kyoko and Kanae.

"What are they doing?" Kanae asked curiously.

"So sailors use songs to keep time while they work, and there's a ton of different kinds, depending on the nature of what the sailors are doing and the culture they're from. Nick and his boyfriend were running through them as part of prep for some of the scenes in Act Five. I hadn't realized they'd already decided though," said Kyoko, gazing after them eagerly.

"Decided what?" asked Kanae.

"In the script, it just says Lt Burnham starts up one of these songs in the leaving scene they have at the beginning of episode five, but it doesn't give specifics. So Nick took it upon himself to figure out what he thought would work for it." Kyoko replied. It appeared Takashi-san was nodding along from what Kyoko could tell as she observed the group from across the hall. Maybe they'd convinced her?

Kyoko felt a swell of excitement come over her. Nick had loved that Quinn could help him with something, even when they were separated by miles of ocean since Quinn was working a job in Seattle at the moment. It'd mean a lot to the both of them if Takashi-san liked it.

Kyoko, Kanae, and Shingai looked on curiously as the group nodded, and left Takashi-san, to take up spots surrounding the mic setup.

"If they're half as good as what their practice sounded like Friday, they'll have this in the bag," Shingai murmured as Nick tested the sound and the ruckus around the room quieted in anticipation of someone at the mic setup.

Kanae hummed thoughtfully, "But would the sound editors allow it? All that noise on the supply ship set? That'd be so hard to edit, right?"

Shingai shook his head, "Not as much as you might think. If they're wired up right, it should be fairly easily to isolate with the right software. And our voiceover booth or our A/V room setup would help if they need to add it back in."

"Huh, who knew." said Kanae absently, studying the four of them like they were a script she'd just recieved.

Kyoko was nearly at the edge of her seat in anticipation as she watched Mick and Noa play around with the harmonica. It seemed they were deciding which of them should use it. Once that was settled, Nick faced the rest of the room and spoke into the mic.

"Excuse our interruption. We would very much like you all to witness the efforts of something we put together. Please treat us kindly."

There was ripple of curious murmuring around the room, but as the four of them began to clap and tap out a beat with with their feet, nearly every head in the room turned to watch, silent in respect for their effort. To Kyoko's surprise, Noa stepped up to the mic first. She wondered why, when the script specified that Lt Burnham started it off. She was distracted though, when Noa began to sing.

"I'll bring you flowers, when you're dead and gone. Asleep in the pines, in the valley of the mountain. Next to you I'll lay my bones...when I've reached my prime, beside the brandywine, where I finally find my rest."

"Good countertenor," Shingai said softly as all four of them stepped up to the mic for the chorus.

"Oh lover I'll see you there, waiting in the willows with your autumn hair. Oh lover I'll see you there...after many miles."

Ren took the mic next, and Kyoko's heart near stuttered to a stop when he glanced right at her.

"I swear I've known you from another time. And I caught you down the line, but I couldn't stop you moving. And when I found you by the riverside...It's waters wild and wide, you left me again."

Then the chorus again. And then it was Nick's turn, "An echo of an echo...It's the semblance of a sound, and I've prayed and I've waited, with my ear upon the ground. But the shovel it digs deep, and the calluses grow over. Like a mirror to a mirror, the canyons call your name."

Then Mick, as everyone stepped up to the mic for the chorus, began to lightly play the harmonica. The trill of it only seemed to be able to be highlighted by the resonance of the rest of their harmonized voices, and the moment when it hung past the voices for one last note, was a moment that brought tears to Kyoko's eyes.

"Wow." said Kanae softly, sounding just as touched as Kyoko felt. Others in the room seemed just as touched by the short little song the group had trotted out, and the applause that started up after that first startled moment was loud and appreciative.

"Well done boys." said Shingai, smiling. The three of them turned to look at Takashi, who was writing furiously and glancing between that, and the boys, with an oddly fierce, contemplative expression.

Shingai laughed, "Well, they've done it now. Takashi-san is gonna have them do probably three different versions before she finds one she likes."

As Kyoko watched the guys, and Ren caught her gaze again and smiled, she had a feeling that Nick's morning call to Quinn was going to be a happy one.

Kyoko started her Monday feeling refreshed, and as bright and sunny as the outdoors were. She'd gotten in some line-reading with Kanae the night before, so she felt much more prepared for the day ahead of her. She was grateful for this, because her most important scene that afternoon was one with Ren. She knew he'd talked to Yashiro at dinner last night, as she'd seen it happen, but she'd still not heard back about scheduling rehearsal time, so she was determined to catch him before their time on set later.

She had to giggle though as she remembered how excited Nick, Ren, Noa and Mick had been as they'd discussed things with Takashi-san over dessert the night before. Ren excited was always adorable. It was one of the things she never tired of seeing him express.

She shoved those more dangerous thoughts away though, to focus on her work. Episode four was the Akiyama wedding, and was interspersed with scenes of various base personnel readying to set off for Korea. It was interesting how Takashi-sensei had highlighted and contrasted the festivities of a wedding and a wedding feast with scenes of readying for war. There was something about reading the script for Act Four that just made Kyoko feel unsettled.

By the time she was through doing her morning scenes, and getting to her lunch, she was pleasantly surprised to also catch sight of Yashiro in the dining hall. She hurried his way with her tray, and sat next to him with a relieved sigh.

"Yashiro-san, it's so good to finally catch you. You never answered my text yesterday, is everything well with you?" She looked up at him expectantly, and was startled to see an uneasy expression on his face. Then, from across the table, Kyoko heard a voice.

"Hello. You must be Kyoko-san, how do you do?" Kyoko swung her gaze that way, confused, and was surprised to see a teenager. She gaped for a second in her shock; the girl was nearly identical to Yashiro.

"I'm well, how do you do?" Kyoko managed to get out, staring between the pair, trying to place the connection. Yashiro groaned, and gestured between them.

"Kyoko-san, meet Yuki-chan. Yuki-chan, this is Kyoko-san. She's my niece."

"Wow!" Kyoko gasped, "Well hello! It so great to meet you!"

"You as well Kyoko-san."

Kyoko chatted with her excitedly, eager to get to know her better, but while Yuki-chan seemed sweet, she was also very obviously, a reserved individual. Kyoko cleared her throat when she realized Yashiro had said nothing in at least ten minutes.

"Yashiro-san, was it take your family to work day?" Kyoko teased gently as she nudged him. His brow furrowed, but cleared after a second and he sent her a polite smile.

"Not precisely no. I just have family near here and an interest was expressed that I thought I could fulfill." Kyoko struggled to maintain a pleasantly neutral expression as Yashiro gently rebuffed her inquiry. But that did remind her why she had originally searched him out.

"Well, I'll be out of your hair shortly, ah, but may I see Ren's schedule please?" Yashiro looked surprised at the request, but handed over the planner.

Kyoko did her best to maintain a polite distance as Yashiro-san and his niece talked too quietly for her to overhear while she checked her and Ren's planners. She frowned as she studied his schedule in comparison to what she had scheduled. It seemed each time she had an hour free, his time was taken up with the heading, Base Unit Prep.

"Ah Yashiro-san, sorry to interrupt, what is this? I see it several places this week."

Yashiro adjusted his glasses and studied it as well, "Ah, prep for the naval base units for episode five it seems. I'm afraid that just takes up much of Ren's schedule."

"I see." Kyoko murmured, dissatisfied with the answer, but knowing she wouldn't be able to change it. Yashiro studied her downturned face for another moment.

"Kyoko-chan, did you happen to need rehearsal time for episode four?"

Kyoko sighed, and nodded.

Yashiro pulled the planner closer and pointed out a block set aside on Wednesday, "We scheduled this about a week ago now, would that be ok? Takimoto-san requested it."

Kyoko glanced over at her own schedule. Kanae and she would be shooting scenes with Iwasaki-san the AD, for part of that block of time, but if they hurried, and nailed everything in one take, she might make it.

"I'll make it work somehow," said Kyoko, frustrated, but trying to bury it. Yashiro sent her a sympathetic expression.

"I was supposed to be with Ren tomorrow for his on-location work at the base, but would you like me with you?"

Kyoko waved her hand in dismissal, "Don't worry Yashiro-san, my schedule isn't as packed as his tomorrow. Just please remind him to eat."

"Yes Kyoko-san, I'll make sure to take care of it."

"Thank you Yashiro-san." Kyoko sent him a smile.

After Kyoko had left, her lunch finished, Yuki turned to her uncle.

"Yashiro-jii-chan. I don't mind if you tell them. They're your work family right?"

Yuki watched, slightly concerned, as Yashiro pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "Please don't worry about it Yuki-chan. Just focus on what you need to, alright? You said you wanted to observe right? Where would you like to start?" He crossed his arms and leaned forward, sending her his best smile.

Yuki sighed. Her uncle was as stubborn as ever, "Well, alright. I suppose it'd be cool to go look at the cameras, or maybe watch people do the set dressing. It's probably different from my theater work, right?"

Surprise flashed across his face, but then her uncle sent her another pleased smile, "Well alright, shall we go then? They're setting up for a scene in the ikebana room for this afternoon. We can hit two birds with one stone that way."

"That'd be great. Thanks Yashiro-jii-chan."

He leaned over and ruffled her hair, "No problem kid. That's what I'm here for."

They strolled out of the dining hall, his arm tossed carelessly around her shoulder, and the warmth from his tenderness didn't leave Yuki for the rest of the day.

"Tsuruga-san." Kyoko-san said, as she settled in next to him.

He nodded, "Mogami-san."

Yuki watched them, fascinated, as she sat near Yashiro-jii towards the back of the room. She'd not realized when she'd suggested what she did, that these two were who she'd be watching that afternoon. Yashiro-jii was typing furiously on his phone, his safety gloves on, and didn't appear to be as interested as Yuki herself was, which she thought was strange. The last family dinner he'd been at, he'd been tickled pink and had not shut up about the two funny clients he had.

She looked between her uncle, and his clients, and sighed. She knew why he was busy, but she'd hoped to distract him that afternoon. She returned her gaze to Kyoko-san, who she admired greatly. Kyoko-san was only a year older than her and just appeared so much more mature that Yuki was envious. Yuki desperately wanted to be that mature. She thought if she was, she'd have a lot less drama in her life.

She cocked her head and tried to listen to them some more.

"..shiro-san already helped me out. But really, your schedule seems too cramped this week, Tsuruga-san. I was hoping you'd have time today after this."

"I deeply apologize, Mogami-san. I had no idea that the base personnel would take up so much of my time."

A frown passed over Kyoko-san's face and Yuki saw Tsuruga-san look worried when he saw it.

"Ah, but that Wednesday block, could you make it?"

Kyoko's brow furrowed, "I'm at least going to try."

"Ah, good, good." Tsuruga-san sounded relieved and that also made Yuki frown. Yuki didn't know much, but she recognized when men thought they were getting away with something they actually weren't. Tsuruga-san didn't seem to realize it, but the disappointment crossing Kyoko-san's face was obvious to Yuki.

"They are pretty interesting Yashiro-jii-chan." She said softly.

"Hmm?" Her uncle glanced her way curiously, but she didn't repeat herself.

Yuki settled back to watch the professionals at work. She had lots of notes she wanted to write to take back to her buchou at the Theater Club.

…

Yayoi entered her ikebana prep room, surprise crossing her face as she saw someone already occupying the space.

"Oh I didn't expect to see you today!"

"No I don't imagine you did." The commander's voice was soft, and pensive. But the way he glanced her way out of the corner of his eye made Yayoi's heart pound. She scolded herself as that thought crossed her mind. Here the commander was, likely feeling a little heartbreak, and that's what she thought of? She internally scolded herself again for good measure.

Yayoi licked her lips nervously, and tried again, "Ah, that pretty flower, is it a gift for someone special? Do you need it left in their room maybe? I can have one of our cleaning girls find a vase and put it in their room when they go to clean."

"No. No, that won't be necessary."

"I see. Ah, then is there something I can do for you?"

"You had not let me know of Akiyama-san's wedding when we last spoke. I confess, I'm surprised. I thought we were friendly enough that you would have informed me."

Yayoi's fingers clenched nervously together, but she maintained her neutral expression.

"I uh, well this is embarrassing. I uh, I had thought, as you two have spent a great deal of time together, that ah, perhaps..." Yayoi stopped, straightened her spine, and said more firmly, "I had been under the impression that you might have found your Persephone in Mi-chan. I um, I was concerned that the news might have disturbed you unnecessarily amidst your, um, preparations."

"I see." Jack brought the flower to his nose so he could sniff its fragrance for a moment. Yayoi grew increasingly uneasy as he watched her from behind the blossom.

"Did you wish to leave that behind as a gift for her?" she asked. It was the truth that she had found them talking frequently together at the teahouse many times in the past few weeks. Surely they were friendly then? That would simply be a nice gesture if that was the truth of why he was there. Yayoi ignored the pain that flashed through her at the thought and maintained her sweet smile.

The commander huffed out a quiet laugh, and set the daisy down on the table, along with a note. As she stared at the piece of paper, Yayoi struggled to remain composed.

"That will not be necessary."

"Right. Might make things awkward with Tanaka-san." Yayoi smiled again, projecting as best she could, a sense of polite disinterest.

"Tell me, Yoneda-sama, have you just grown used to playing dumb? Or do you come by it naturally?" Yayoi's smile disappeared.

"I beg your pardon?"

The commander watched, amused, as Yayoi's usually polite demeanor shifted into a scowl.

Jack settled back onto a table, crossing his arms as he studied her. She bristled internally with irritation, but suppressed her outward reaction as much as she could.

"Did you know, you and your husband are famous 'round these parts?"

Yayoi sputtered, her confusion mounting, "Lieutenant Commander Taylor-san, if I cannot help you, I insist that-"

"That caretaker at the orphanage sure likes to chat about how much you two are just like a fairytale couple."

Completely diverted from her previous train of thought by this comment, Yayoi stared down at the floor, cursing Kaede obaa-san in her mind.

The commander continued, "She couldn't stop talking about how beautiful the wedding feast was when we were visiting the orphanage last week. And she went on and on about how romantic it was that a poor orphan boy was plucked from obscurity by the wealthy and powerful Yonedas the summer he arrived, just to give him a place to live and work. And then he tops it all off by marrying the heiress!"

"She shouldn't have gossiped so. I apologize for her impertinence. If she in any way stopped your unit from completely their work while there, I'll go there myself to reprimand her." Yayoi said firmly, doing her best to put the whole confusing and irritating encounter to rest.

"Such strong words from the Yoneda heiress. Do this often, do you?"

Yayoi said nothing in reply and Jack studied her carefully before he spoke again.

"You know, I thought it was obvious in the beginning. I had thought you knew. You were so sincere and kind after all. First it was daffodils, then forget-me-nots, then daisies. Sometimes a combination of all three. But there was always a note. Be honest Yoneda-sama, haven't you gotten these before?" Jack asked quietly as he picked up what he'd left on the table.

Yayoi couldn't suppress the blush that rose in her cheeks but refused to reply.

Jack straightened from where he'd been leaning against the table, and walked over to her. He placed the daisy and the note on the table she'd been standing near. He leaned his weight on the table, and reached out with a hand that Yayoi didn't stop, frozen as she was in consternation at his behavior.

He slid a hand carefully into a pocket in her outfit, pulling out a thin scrap of paper. "Well, well, well. I thought I caught you doing this the other day. How long do you keep the notes with you, Yoneda-sama?" Jack sent her a challenging glance as he took a step back.

Irritation flickered across her face, but Yayoi set her jaw, burying her burgeoning panic, and locked her flinty gaze on his, "Commander-san, this is preposterous! I was simply-"

He let out a low, admiring whistle at seeing her so agitated, "Well, well. Whatever happened to your calm composure Yoneda-sama?" Jack's tone of voice was ever so slightly mocking and Yayoi stiffened, visibly recollected herself, and pressed her lips together to stop words from spilling out of her mouth.

Jack shook his head and tsked when he saw her do so."Ahh, Yoneda-sama. There's no need to keep up the act. I know you know about these. You've known for a while. Far be it from me to dash the romantic notions of an unhappily married young woman, but do us both a favor and quit pretending that's not what this is."

"Commander-san, I must insist you step away. You appear to be determined to pressure me about something inappropriate and I will not have it."

A low chuckle came from Jack, and he didn't move. Instead he said,

"Is it not the truth that you've kept every single note? Even though you're married? That's not me pressuring you about anything. That's you and your romantic, whimsical notions."

"That's simply an outrageous accusation. I have no such notions. I simply enjoyed the kindness of an anonymous note writer."

"Hah, kindness. Yes I suppose when you were complimented on your ikebana, or your calligraphy, or your tea ceremony, you simply thought of it as someone being kind." Jack smirked when the look on Yayoi's face seemed to transition to something more relaxed, and agreeable. He gestured in her direction with the note he'd plucked from her pocket. She paled when her gaze refocused on it.

"But tell me, was it kindness when your anonymous notewriter wrote about how getting lost in your eyes left him breathless? Was it kindness when your notewriter said your beauty was greater than all the stars in the sky and all the flowers on the earth? Tell me Yoneda-sama, is it kindness when I say your passion leaves me aching to touch you?"

It was a struggle, but Kyoko was able to shove down her reaction to those words. The timbre of his voice was inspiring far too inappropriate a reaction within her and she hung onto Yayoi with every trick she had at her disposal.

He pressed in closer, the note with the last thing he'd quoted still pressed between two fingers. "Hmmm? Well?"

Yayoi hurriedly backed away, putting a table between them. She refused to capitulate to the demand…or even to look up and see what she knew would be a victorious expression. She should have known, she should have known, her pulse raced as this thought was repeated over and over in her mind. Of course the notewriter had just been testing her. A fury stirred within her and she glanced up, her face expressionless, except for a dangerous glare pointed at Jack.

"That is enough Commander-san. There is nothing to gain from pursuing this. Leave this be."

"Tell me the truth then. Are you happy?"

There was a long moment of silence and Yayoi cursed herself because all her words had left her.

"I'll stop with the notes, with the daffodils, the forget-me-nots, the daisies, I'll stop it all if you say you're happy. If they trouble you, if they trouble the happily married newlywed, I'll gladly drop it."

His voice was challenging and she looked his way, determined to respond with a sharp retort, but instead flinched from the fierce intensity in his eyes.

He picked up the daisy and the note he'd brought with him. He stepped around the table, and tucked the note that had come from her pocket back in it, along with the daisy. Then Jack grabbed her hand in his, placed the note he brought with him into her palm, and closed her fingers tight around it.

"Don't worry, we're done here. Even if you can't be sincere with me, you'll at least have the satisfaction of being completely honest with yourself."

He stepped back after he said his piece, and studied her face once more. After a moment, he dropped her hand, gave her a small bow, then turned on his heel and exited the room.

Yayoi stood there, staring at the note in her hand, as a tear dripped down her face. The droplet hit her note and she reflexively sniffled and hesitantly opened the note. There was no delicate and beautiful calligraphy. It was an obviously hastily written note, the paper even torn from a memo pad. The writing was bold and spiky, and in English.

To fool others, you must first fool yourself.

"Damn you Jack Taylor." she muttered as another tear dripped onto the note, smudging the ink. Despite herself and her anger, she did not let go of it.

She heard the clapperboard snap shut and Yayoi abruptly left Kyoko, leaving her dazed for a moment. As the director called cut, Kyoko stepped off the set and sighed in relief. Ren met her with her water bottle, and a smile.

"Fantastic work Mogami-san."

"Same to you Tsuruga-san."

Yuki, still near Yashiro, sputtered in confusion.

"Yashiro-jii-chan, Yashiro-jii!" She pulled on his sleeve agitatedly and Yashiro smiled down at her.

"Yes Yuki-chan?"

Yuki stared after the pair of them as the director stepped up to discuss something with them, "Do they even know what they look like?"

Yashiro tossed his head back and laughed, "Ah Yuki-chan. That's the question of the ages."

Kyoko did her best, but she knew her mood was gloomy all the way until Wednesday came around. Well, a mixture of baffled and gloomy. She still couldn't figure out the Yashiro Issue, as she'd titled it, but she had some of her own issues currently taking up prime real estate in her thoughts.

Not only had Kanae snapped at her about her mood, but even Atsushi-san and Miura-san had mentioned she seemed a little down. Kyoko sighed, aggravated even more when she realized she'd have to rush to get to the studio room where they had set up to rehearse that day.

She, Miura-san, Atsushi-san and Kanae had done their best with their work though, and hopefully Kyoko would only be late to the rehearsal by a half hour. She went through wardrobe fastest she ever had, feeling increasingly concerned that she'd miss the others. As she hurried over, she wondered at this anxiety that had begun to make her worry so.

Takashi-san had warned her that the teahouse scenes were going to be difficult, especially the last one they were to shoot Friday, but she thought this frantic worry was a bit uncalled for. Hmm, maybe I should do another line-read with Kanae? Kanae would be eager to get away from Nakano-san (who was, apparently, terribly curious about everyone and a huge gossiper), so Kyoko thought she might be able to convince her.

She then realized that while she'd been lost in thought, she'd already arrived. She opened the studio door, happy to have reached it only somewhat breathless. She walked inside, running a hand through her hair to set it to rights. She soon saw Tsuruga-san going through blocking with Noa, Jin, and Takimoto-san. Takimoto-san was the first to catch sight of her and waved at her to join them.

Kyoko plastered a smile on her face, "Thanks for letting me join. I appreciate this."

Takimoto-san sent her a reassuring look, "Of course. Tsuruga-san is working with blocking with Noa-kun and Hayashi-kun right now, but I'd be happy to work with you. I already did the work I needed to with Tsuruga-san."

Kyoko sent her a more sincere, and grateful expression, "That'd be lovely."

The part of the scene that included her and Takimoto-san was not very long, so Kyoko went ahead and suggested they do a couple of different attempts to pin down the right balance of exasperation, worry, and frustration they should express.

Once they worked it out to where they were both satisfied, Kyoko turned to the part of the room where Noa and Jin had been working with Ren, only to see Ren had stepped away, frowning as he talked to someone on his phone. Noa and Jin stood off to the side, and seemed as if they were trying to figure out what the problem was. Dread hit her then, and she rushed over to Ren, barely managing to politely excuse herself from the rest of the group.

She fluttered anxiously around his left elbow, and he shot her a sympathetic look, motioning that he'd talk to her in a second. She waited, but caught only snippets of dialogue that meant nothing to her.

"Yes sir. I understand. Yes, yes, that'll be fine. If that's what it takes to get it done, that's what we'll do."

As soon as he said his farewells, and had disconnected, she blurted out, "Please tell me you have time right now. We need to rehearse."

Ren groaned, rubbing his face agitatedly. "I'm so sorry Mogami-san."

She stiffened, dismayed. Then Kyoko set her jaw, and stared back up at him determinedly.

"Tsuruga-san, please tell me there's a time you have free to do this before Friday afternoon."

Guilt filled his features, and Kyoko found herself clenching her hands tight together to help her maintain control over her emotions. She stared him down some more, and he rubbed at the back of his head.

"I can switch around my morning that day? That would leave me free after nine until, I think, we shoot that afternoon?"

Kyoko wanted to scream, why do you sound so unsure of yourself?! She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, then looked back up at him.

"Do it." she said firmly.

Ren nodded back at her, and she relaxed some as determination crossed his face, "Then I'll see that done. I can meet you here again, if you'd like?"

"Works for me."

"Alright, then I really need to get going, a problem came up with the unit personnel. Again, I am so sorry." He apologized, then said a hurried farewell to her and Takimoto-san. Noa and Jin exited with him, all of them seeming rather agitated.

Kyoko stared after them all, frustrated beyond belief.

"Is this ok, Kyoko-san?" Takimoto-san asked her softly, glancing in the same direction, worry apparent on her face.

"It'll have to be," Kyoko replied grimly.

...

Thanks for reading.

-artsy