"And oh, man, were we in trouble when we got back! I thought Sensei was gonna kill us!"

Mikey's grin widened when Grace laughed; she really had a nice laugh.

"I never got away with much either when I was little," she said. "And I'd be in pretty big trouble if Sensei found out I was going out without backup."

Mikey was about to chuckle when he saw her face change. Her amused look had become solemn, almost dismal. With a slight frown, he leaned forward to get a better look at her face.

"Hey, you okay?"

She blinked and looked up, her intense blue eyes meeting his. And again, he felt that unusual flutter that he just couldn't seem to shake. But he pushed it back, continuing to look at Grace with an enquiring expression. After a few moments, she let out a quiet sigh and directed her gaze back to the street below.

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just… sometimes I do things like this because, well, I wonder if I should even keep trying to please her. I've been trying since I started training, and it just… it just feels like…"

Mikey found himself speaking before he was even aware of it.

"Like it's never enough."

She looked up at him, her look slightly surprised.

"Yes… exactly. But how do you…"

Mikey gave her a lopsided smile and shrug.

"Let's just say I have a lot of experience being a disappointment."

Grace's sharp blue eyes softened at that, and she frowned a little.

"But… you seem like such a capable fighter. One of the best I've seen, actually."

Mikey looked at her, feeling some surprise himself. Then his smile widened; Grace was one of the best fighters he knew, and hearing that from her was more of a pickup than he could have imagined. He hardly ever heard that from his own family; they seemed more partial to pointing out all the ways he fell short.

"Yeah, well…" He shrugged again. "There's just no pleasing some people, I guess."

Grace kept looking at him for a moment, then reached out and placed a hand on his arm.

"Well, for what it's worth," she said softly. "I don't think you're a disappointment. I know that might not mean much, since we haven't known each other that long, but it is what I think."

As she spoke, a warm feeling began growing in Mikey's chest. Almost without thinking, he placed a hand on hers.

"Thanks," he said. "That does mean a lot."

He noticed a slight blush on her face, then realized what he was doing. Quickly, he pulled his hand away as his own face heated.

"Uh, s-sorry, I didn't… I just…"

"No," Grace said right away. "No, it's fine."

Then she looked down at her hand, still on his arm, and the blush grew as she pulled it away, clearing her throat.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," Mikey said. For a while, neither of the two spoke, their eyes roaming over the rooftops and the street below. Mikey slapped himself mentally.

Nice going… now you made things awkward.

But before he could say anything Grace spoke again, her voice quiet and reflective now.

"You know, I've only ever talked about this with Hamari before."

Despite himself, Mikey felt a strange sort of pleasant surprise. Knowing that she considered him enough of a friend to confide in him something she had only ever shared with one person…

"Really?" he asked. She looked at him again, her eyes gentle as she nodded.

"I'm not… exactly sure why I'm talking about it now, but… I just feel like I can talk to you about it. That you'll take it seriously."

Mikey immediately nodded.

"Totally. I know it's hard to keep something like that to yourself."

A slight frown came to Grace's face.

"Who do you talk to?"

Mikey hesitated, his eyes moving from her to the street.

"Well…" he finally said. "I don't, really."

His friend was silent for a moment, and her voice was soft when she spoke.

"Why?"

Mikey shifted a little, then let out a quiet sigh.

"I don't really know. I guess because… I don't know if they'll even take me seriously. I'm not… exactly the kind of guy it's easy to imagine having problems."

He heard some indignation in Grace's voice when she spoke.

"That's pretty unreasonable. Everyone has problems, even upbeat people like you."

"Yeah," Mikey said quietly, then quickly went on. "I mean, I don't know if that's the case. But I just… get really nervous about talking to my bros or Sensei about it."

He glanced over at Grace and was surprised to see anger on her face.

"That's awful, to feel like you can't talk to your own family about your problems." Her look grew gentle and sympathetic. "I can imagine how lonely that must be."

Before he was entirely aware of what he was doing, Mikey nodded.

"It is," he said softly.

A few silent moments followed, then Grace spoke again.

"Well… if it'll help, you can talk to me. I won't tell anyone else anything, I promise."

Mikey looked at her in slight surprise, but the sincerity was clear on her face. Slowly, a smile tugged at his face and gave her shoulder a gentle nudge with his own.

"Thanks. That's really great of you."

She smiled back.

"Well, what are friends for?"

The slight smile grew into a wide grin as Mikey nodded.

"Totally. And if you wanna talk to me, I won't say any of it to anyone either."

He held out a fist, and Grace grinned as well before bumping her own against it.

"Deal." She sighed and stood, noticeably reluctant. "But for tonight, it's getting late. I should get back before I'm missed, and I'm sure you need to get back too."

Despite the similar reluctance tugging at him, Mikey stood.

"Guess so. Want me to walk ya back, at least some of the way?"

Grace gave him a reassuring smile and reached out to pat his arm, and once again that same twinge came at the contact.

"Thank you, but I'm fine," she said. "I don't want to hold you up and end up getting you in trouble."

Mikey gave her another grin.

"Hey, trouble's my middle name. Nothin' I can't handle."

Grace laughed, and his grin widened. He really liked the sound of her laugh.

"Well…" she said. "Till next time, then?"

He nodded.

"Definitely. I'll be here."

She nodded back.

"I look forward to it."

The thought that someone looked forward to seeing him brought a strange warmth to Mikey's chest, and the fact that it was Grace made it all the more meaningful. He wasn't sure why, but he wasn't complaining. He was glad to have someone like her in his life.