Jesse arrived at Miss Satomi's door early on Monday morning, carrying a clipboard with a series of orders and other paperwork relating to the upcoming season.

The first time she pressed the door chime, nothing happened. She pressed it again and still nothing happened.

Is she even here?

Jesse tried the door handle and found it was open. She peered inside and shielded her eyes against the brightness of the early morning sky shining through the windows.

Miss Satomi was there. She was sitting behind her desk, typing something on her computer. Jesse also noticed that she had headphones over her ears.

That's why she didn't answer.

Jesse entered the office and walked forward until she was standing directly in front of Miss Satomi's desk. "Good morning, Miss Satomi!" she said.

Miss Satomi looked up from her computer and was surprised to see Jesse standing there. She smiled as she removed her headphones. "Morning, Jesse. I didn't hear you come in."

"That's okay. I have the paperwork you asked for."

"Great, thanks."

"What are you listening to?" Jesse asked. She made her way around Miss Satomi's desk so that she could see the computer screen.

"Just some old music that I like," Miss Satomi answered.

"Can I have a listen?"

"Sure."

Miss Satomi passed Jesse her headphones as she began to review the paperwork Jesse had brought her.

Jesse slipped the headphones over her ears and was immediately awestruck at what she heard.

Let me love you, let me love you.

Free of all rituals, nothing habitual.

Something you can sink your teeth into.

"Wow…" she breathed.

Miss Satomi glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. She grinned when she saw Jesse's reaction.

Jesse removed the headphones once the song concluded. "That was great, Miss Satomi."

"You really like it?"

"Yes!"

"I'm glad. I like it a lot too," Miss Satomi said.

"I haven't heard that song before. When did it come out?"

"Oh, back when I was in high school, so about ten years ago I would say."

"It must've been really popular back then."

"It was."

Jesse clasped her hands in front of her. "So…"

"So what?" Miss Satomi asked.

"So…was there someone you were thinking of?"

Miss Satomi raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"When you listened to that song. Was there someone you were thinking of whenever you played it?"

Miss Satomi's response was a light sigh. "I already told you I've never been in a serious relationship, Jesse."

"I know, but it doesn't hurt to ask." She added, "With a song like that it's hard not to think about someone that you care a lot about."

Miss Satomi smiled. "I know."

Then she added to herself, it would be nice to have someone like that.

Mark did a double-take when he saw the results of the on-track test they ran earlier in the morning. Holy…

He had been expecting the new aerodynamic upgrade to the mechs to have provided some improvement on their performance, but these readings were staggering.

Takeshi had been at the controls of his mech while Mark followed in one of their test models conducting performance evaluations on the mech's new additions. From what Mark could see, Takeshi didn't do anything abnormal or overly finesse when he was out running; he had even used the average line around the track.

Mark stepped back from his computer monitors and glanced up at the mechs. He folded his arms and smiled.

If the test results are this good, Mark thought, we may have quite the season in store for us.

"You certainly look pleased."

Mark turned to see Miss Satomi and Jesse approaching him. He placed a hand on his head. "Well, it may be unfounded but I think we may have some reason for optimism this season."

"Besides the influx of sponsors we've have during the off-season?" Miss Satomi asked lightly.

Mark laughed. "That does help…"

"Do you need anything else from me, Miss Satomi?" Jesse asked.

"I think that's all for now, Jesse."

"Then I think I'm going to take my leave. I'll go and see what Liz and the others are up to. Call me when you need me."

"I'll be sure to."

"Bye, Mark!"

"See you later, Jesse. Oh and watch your step on your way out, I haven't had the chance to clean up some of those grease stains yet!"

"I will thanks!"

After the peppy-assistant took her leave, Mark motioned for Miss Satomi to come closer to him. "What is it?"

"I want you to see something, Miss…Michiru," Mark said, quickly correcting himself.

She smiled. "You're still not accustomed to calling me by my first name, are you?"

"No, that may take a little while," he admitted.

"So what do you want me to see?"

"Take a look at this." He pointed to one of the monitors on his work-station.

"What am I looking at?" she asked.

"These are the results of the first on-track test we did the week before last season," Mark explained. "Here's your total lap times, your speed through the speed traps, and other readings that we look for when we're analyzing the performance of the mechs."

"Okay."

"Now take a look at this." He pointed to the monitor to the left of the first one. "These are the results of the same exact test we did this morning."

Michiru's eyes widened. "Are these…accurate?"

"That was my first reaction when I saw them, too," Mark said. "But I already made all the adjustments for wind-resistance and track temperature. The readings don't lie."

"Geez," she murmured. "If this is accurate…"

"Yeah. We may see something really special this year."

"And this is all from the update you did a few weeks ago."

Mark shrugged. "I wouldn't go that far. Takeshi's gotten much better as a pilot, and he's been working with me to develop the new setups, so some the credit has to go to him."

"I understand that." She turned so that she was facing him completely. "But I also know how hard you've been working this off-season to make sure we're still on top. I can't tell you how much we all appreciate that, Mark."

He could feel his cheeks beginning to turn red and he turned his head slightly so as not to be embarrassed. "It was nothing," he said. "It's just what I do."

"And you do it really well," she added.

Mark smiled and rubbed the back of his head with his palm. "Speaking of thanks," he said after a pause. "I never got the chance to thank you for what you did for me last Friday."

She rolled her eyes. "You already said thank you, Mark."

"Yeah, but I didn't tell you how much it really meant to me." He paused, trying to find the right words. "I don't know how I could possibly repay you for your kindness."

She smiled and his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. "You don't owe me a thing, Mark," she said softly. "It was nothing. I would do that for any one of my friends."

He blinked. "Then I'm really glad you're my friend, Michiru."

"Me too, Mark."

He smiled back at her. "I really appreciate that, you know?" She nodded in response.

"I have other stuff to get to," she said. "I'll see you later." She started to walk past him.

He turned back to the monitors. "Be careful. There's-."

Michiru didn't notice the patch of grease on the ground until her high-heeled shoe had already slipped on the oily surface sending her falling over backwards. She cried out in shock and Mark bolted forward just in time to catch her as she fell.

His arms were wrapped around her and her back was pressed to his chest. "Are…are you okay?" he asked.

Michiru had to catch her breath. The near fall had frightened the life out of her and her heart was pounding like mad. A sudden loss of balance like that would scare anyone, though.

It was then that she noticed where she currently was. His arms were wrapped around her, warm and secure. She could feel his heart beating within his chest against the back of her head. She couldn't believe it, but she actually felt quite comfortable.

She then remembered the vision she had had a few days earlier, where they had danced together under the moonlight. The feeling of being in his arms now, was an even greater feeling than she had imagined.

Mark too was experiencing a feeling that he hadn't anticipated. She was so slender that he could wrap his arms completely around her and when he inhaled, his nostrils picked up the delightful scent of her perfume. It was invigorating. He had never experienced a feeling like this before. He wasn't about to say it, but he was relishing in this feeling while it lasted.

"Are you okay…?" he whispered again.

She slowly turned her head so that she could see him. Her gray eyes met his brown ones and drank in the sight.

"Yes…" she murmured.

They stayed like that for a long period of time, neither one of them noticing just how much had passed.

"Hey, Mark!"

Andrei's gruff voice brought both of them tumbling back to reality.

Mark instantly released her from his grasp and stammered, "Uh…y-you had stuff to do…?"

"Y-yeah…" Michiru responded, her voice equally flustered. "I-I'll catch you later, Mark."

"Yeah. See ya!"

Mark refocused his attention on the monitors and Andrei came beside him shortly thereafter. "I heard that you got some results from the test this morning," the older man inquired as he stepped beside him.

"Yeah…here, take a look."

While Andrei studied the monitor, Mark looked to his right, at the spot where Michiru had been moments before. She was gone, having quickly departed seconds before.

Mark found himself feeling as if something were missing inside of him.

Why do I feel like this?

Andrei grunted. Mark glanced at him. Andrei had a peculiar expression on his face. "What?" Mark asked.

Andrei shrugged. "Nothing."

Mark was worried that Andrei had taken something out of the scene that wasn't there, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he continued working…

…and missing the feeling of having her in his arms.