Author's Note: Gonna be gone for the next week, though I'm sure that doesn't deter anyone. My update's follow a week or so, anyway. But, I felt an obligation to finish this chapter, so here you go! It's a bit of a filler, in a way, but I hope you enjoy, nonetheless!

Chapter 5
Day 2- End

She fizzled down after quite some time had passed. Specifically, it took her about as long until they had gotten back to her apartment. It was always her apartment- out of consideration and sanity. While his apartment didn't stink, it could still be called a disaster zone. However, he did keep it quite clean in his disorder, thank you.

Primarily, the only thing that kept her mind off Spud was Kariya's unnamed challenge. Unnamed, completely avoided and frankly rather obscure to both of them. Kariya had his ideas, of course, but he knew none would quite foil her.

"So what is it?"

"It is," he said, then paused, "a secret." He was teasing on the outside, of course, but on the inside he was quite seriously, frantically searching for a sufficient challenge.

Half of him said, "Is it so bad? Make it so she has a chance."

The other half stated quite bluntly, "No. That's an awful idea. Just tell her no."

And, of course, there were his natural instincts which said, "Oh God no! Make it impossible for her! What if she finds something?"

So, on the inside, he was a bit of a mess.

Competition based? Maybe. Patience based? That could work. But what? How many marshmallows can you hold in your mouth? Going forty days without a shower? Okay, no.

His smile was lopsided, like he had slapped it on quickly to hide his turmoil.

He had.

"Bullcrap. You're just stalling," she said, presumably upset. Her lips were twitching though, and she was acting a whole lot more like she was enjoying this than resenting it all.

"And if I am?" he said, letting his bag fall to the floor and fumbling for his iPod. He was becoming oddly dependent on it whenever his emotions were out of whack or running high- and he was honest-to-goodness panicking. He kept thinking of the little things in there that she could hyper analyze. He had just braided her hair, for heaven's sake, and she started questioning him about it. What would she do if she saw some of the things he had kept? Stolen from his old apartment, taken from his own funeral? They were just little things!

He shouldn't be thinking about this.

"Oh my God, Kariya. Are you okay?"

His hands were shaking so badly that he gave up on his iPod and shoved his hands in his shorts pockets. "Of course."

He couldn't get rid of anything. There was no way he could make himself. Even though he had gotten past everything, he couldn't imagine letting any of it go- and hiding them would just be delaying the inevitable.

Assuming she won.

Kariya stared at her undiscerningly before saying, "Do you have tea, Uzuki?"

She blinked, then, as her eyebrows creased just slightly, she said, "They SAY that people like tea primarily because it gives them a sense of love. The warmth simulates that."

Kariya fidgeted. "Who's they?" he wondered, but his voice faded.

"If you'd rather, hugs are gifts I give freely," she said- so calmly and carefully that it was impossible not to listen.

He considered the distance it would take to jump from hiding to feeling. He thought of how odd it was that Uzuki was always the more level-headed, comparatively, whenever something broke inside him like this. When she was always the one that fired up first.

Kariya wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't hide things from her- even when even he didn't want to revisit them.

He hesitated, but she was never one to wait. Her arms went around him, pulling at him, and yet holding him together. He knew she had to be on her toes the way she leaned into him, and he could almost feel his resolve crumbling.

His hands came up to hug her back after his initial hesitation. "Sorry, Uzuki," he muttered.

"Well, I guess I'm sorry, too, then." She turned her head up to look up at him, pursing her lips. She tapped his back a few times, trying to distract him out of his own head. "Hey."

Kariya swallowed. "Hi." For a moment, his grip tightened around her. He picked her up- easy- like she was a feather, and turned about, spinning her with him. "Hi, missy," he said, as she gave a wicked giggle. "You drive me insane."

She grinned crookedly. "I try."

"Oh, I know." He bent his knees to set her down, gently. "And you need to give me some space."

She folded her arms. "Can I say something? Ask something?"

"Yes." He put his hands back in his pockets. "Both of those."

Just for a moment, her hands moved from her hair to her mouth to her hips as she gathered her thoughts. He watched, meticulously emptying his thoughts. "Did you erase all of who you were before your death? Because... My memories make me who I am. Did you start over?"

"I-" He took a breath, bit his lip, then scratched at his nose. "No. My old life is still a part of me." His expression showed that he knew exactly what she meant by asking that, but she said it anyway.

"Then it's an important part of you. I'd like to know that part of you, too."

Kariya could bring up what he had before- that his past isn't as important as the present. And yet, her words were as justified as his. He resented the idea of reaching back so far to provide answers, and yet, the mere fact that it frightened him almost proved it was worth doing.

"Please don't put it off."

He looked down at her, then squinted up at the ceiling. "What are your questions? I can't promise I'll answer all of them, but..." His eyes met hers, and he shrugged. "Maybe it'll get you to stop mugging me with them when I'm not ready."

She gave a small, hopeful smile.

He returned it.

Day 3- Start

She woke up still thinking about what she had managed and what he had answered. For minutes on end, she thought of that hug, and how as soon as she had a moment alone, just the thought of it had filled her with butterflies. His smile, his hands- he was torturous just by standing next to her.

And then... And then how he had finally allowed her in. He didn't get as technical on the questions as she would have believed. He didn't answer any, but he listened.

She ran her hands through her hair, thinking, "This is a big thing!" Her smile was big on her face, and mildly still overwhelmed.

When she rolled over to her side, her clock stared back at her, blinking a steady 8:13. Expression falling from excited to "Oh shit" in two seconds max, she vaulted out of bed.

A striped tank top was thrown on with neon, frayed shorts and flats and she was out the door. She jumped down half the steps, shoving a hair band into her hair and going shoulder-first out into the Shibuya streets.

"Woah there, lady," said Kariya, upon being her slam-buffer. His hands gripped her shoulders and moved her back. She was blushing to the tips of her ears, and a sprig of hair poked up at the back of her head dutifully.

"Sorry," she gasped.

"Did you sleep in?" he asked, hardly suspicious, as it was relatively clear. He grinned when she looked away. "I thought so."

She rubbed at her nose. "I bet my breath smells awful."

He still smiled. "Maybe. I'll keep my distance."

A punch to the gut didn't wipe his smile. Instead, it grew cockier. "Hey, it happens. And really, you're not that late. Besides," he said, and took a brown bag out of his satchel. "I already bought breakfast."

He held it out for her as she stared. "For you. I ate mine."

She took it almost as if she didn't believe him.

"What?" He raised a single eyebrow.

"You're acting odd."

His other eyebrow went up. "What? Getting you breakfast suddenly makes me off in the head?"

She peeked into the bag and had mixed feelings about the fruit cup and muffin she was seeing. "It's about the fact that you knew what position I was in, magically, then got me everything that I could possibly want." She frowned at him, then remembered, "Sans tea."

His expression jumped from patient to pleased, and a bit surprised. "That's right!" He pulled out his thermos and presented it with a flourish. "All needs now accounted for!"

Her eyes narrowed as she took it, screwing the top off with some maneuvering and effort. "Well, there you go. Everything accounted for, indeed." She inhaled the smell of the citrus blend to stop herself from crumbling to pieces.

He smiled at her, looking remarkably cheery, and she thought she'd be just about ready to be erased off the planet. "You're welcome," he said, snapping out a hair tie off his wrist.

"Thank you," she muttered, fishing the muffin out of the bag.

He busied himself with pulling back his hair at the nape of his neck as she took a nibble. There was an odd, thick feeling in her throat that made it hard to swallow. It was like her throat had decided that happiness was enough sustenance for her alone. Forget the muffin. Who needed fruit and tea when... When... Dammit. She wanted to cry.

I love you, she wanted to scream, you selfish freak.

But she just nibbled at her muffin, trying not to make her feelings too obvious.

His ponytail wasn't helping.