They made their flight with seconds to spare, and then the true torture began. The plane sat idle on the tarmac while the flight attendants strolled—so casually—up and down the aisle, patting the bags in the overhead compartments to make sure everything fit. The pilots leaned out of the cockpit, chatting with them as they passed.

"Where exactly is Zoe staying?" Takuya asked Shinya in a love voice.

"Bangkok." Takuya nodded in time with his bouncing.

At last the last plane rolled lazily from the gate, building speed with a gradual steadiness that tortured Takuya further. He expected some kind of a relief when they achieved liftoff, but his frenzied impatience didn't lessen.

Koji lifted his cell phone before they'd stopped climbing, turning his back on the stewardess who eyes him with disapproval. Something about Takuya's expression stopped the stewardess from coming to protest.

He tried to tune out what Koji was murmuring to Zoe; Takuya didn't want to hear the words again, but some slipped through.

"Where you are…What are you going to do there…How long are you going to be there…

"I know. I don't know when he's gonna learn." Takuya's voice dropped till it was nearly inaudible, though Takuya was sitting inches from him. Contrarily, Takuya and the rest listened harder. "I'll tell you what you gotta do…well, you've got one week vacation in Thailand…just relax…think about it, Zoe. What do you think you should do in Thailand, Bangkok?

Koji nodded. "Exactly. I think nobody's going to bother you there—you're not alone…leave Takuya to me; have a good vacation."

Koji laughed then, and there was a catch in her voice. "I've thought of that…I hope you and Takuya feel better." His voice became pleading. "Follow you? Why would Takuya do that? I mean…he's not a stalker. I promise, Zoe. I'll keep an eye on him. One way or another. No 'I love you' for Takuya? Kidding!"

Koji hung up, and leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed. "I hate lying."

"Tell us everything, Koji," Koichi begged. "I don't understand. Why did you lie, won't that help?"

"Two reasons," Koji whispered, his eyes still closed. "The first I told Zoe. We could ruin everything for her—if we get our hands on her, we can convince her to talk to you. If she knows we're coming for her, she'll avoid us or something like that.

"That's the second reason of course, the reason I couldn't say to Zoe. Because if she founds out, she'll kill us, all of us are going to have a fight." He opened her eyes and stared at his friends, beseeching. "If there were any chance we could win…if there were a way that Zoe would talk, maybe it would be different this time. That would be up to, Zoe."

"Wow. I didn't know you could be clever like that," Shinya commented.

"I'm just smarter than my twin," Koji replied.

"I could be smart," Koichi protested.

Takuya realized why Koji's eyes begged for their understanding. Koji was protecting both Takuya and Zoe, at their expense. He understood, and did not think badly of him.

"May I have a Coke?" The words snapped the boys back from the edge of hysteria.

From their mouth, Zoe's low, rough voice—broken and strangely childlike—"Zoe." they all whispered together.

"Where is she?" Takuya asked.

Koji stood carefully and scanned the seats carefully and finally, he caught Zoe. He sat quickly.

"Don't tell me she saw you," Takuya hissed.

"Don't worry, she didn't," Koji gasped. "She's pretty close to our seats."

"Where?" Takuya questioned.

"Just don't be too obvious," Koji hissed.

Not that there was any justification, either way. Takuya still couldn't believe that he's was capable of reacting like this. It made no sense! He remembered with painful clarity Zoe's words while ago, right after he sang to her, one after the other. I don't love you like I loved you yesterday, she'd said, as if should be such an obvious conclusion. But the words she had spoken in the street as she'd left Takuya canceled all that out—forcefully.

"If she would listen," Koji explained, pretending to be reading a newspaper. "But believe it or not, it's possible to lie. If you or Zoe lies, that won't be our problem anymore. And I'm sure she would be thinking, 'I love you, Takuya, I love you' as hard as he could. You know that."

Takuya ground his teeth in mute frustration. Covering his face with a pillow and shouting through it.

"If there were any way to do this without you guys, I wouldn't pulled you like this. It's very wrong of me," Takuya shoved himself to his seat.

"Don't be stupid. We're the last thing you should be worrying about." Shinya said.

Takuya shook his head impatiently. "Tell me what you meant, about hating to lie."

Koji smiled a grim smile. "I promised her I would keep an eye on you. It's not something I guarantee—not by a long shot." He raised his eyebrows, as if willing Takuya to talk to Zoe more seriously.

"You think Zoe's going to forgive me this time?" Takuya demanded in a whisper. "What makes me so bad?" It was hard to imagine something scarier than that.

Koji took a deep breath, and then abruptly leveled a dark glance on Takuya's shoulder. Takuya turned in time to see the man in the aisle seat looking away as if he wasn't listening to them. He appeared to be a businessman, in a dark suit with a power tie and a laptop on his knees. While Takuya stared at him with irritation, he opened the computer very soon and very conspicuously put headphones on.

"I was surprised that you ask," Koji said. "That you understood so immediately what you're going against—of course, because if she doesn't, she won't be able to move on. I thought I would have to explain. Well, even a good person makes a bad thing."

Takuya took a deep breath. "Things are going to get…serious this week,"

"Oh, it is," he assured him. Koji opened his mouth, and then closed it.

Takuya nodded again, as if he understood exactly what he was thinking. "I must be the most stupid enough to get in this mess."

"Who could be stupid enough to listen to you?" Koji wondered.

"Didn't Koichi tell you who would that be?"

"Yeah, right," Koji said, feeling the blank expression on Takuya's face.

Takuya's eyes popped with wide shock. "Cover up," Takuya ordered.

"Why?" Shinya asked in a voice that was too loud.

"Just do it!" His friends obeyed him.

When Zoe passed the second to the front seat, she stopped and turned around. All she can see was two men reading a newspaper and the other two covered with blanket. She thought she saw Takuya.

"So many things had happened to me today I'm imagining Takuya," Zoe whispered angrily. "That stupid son of a jackal!" Zoe stomped her way back to her seat.

Koji chuckled once at Zoe's reaction. "Couldn't it be more complicated than this, Takuya?"

Koichi uncover himself. "Well, you know what they say…the more you hate…"

"The more you love," Shinya added.

"I hope she thinks about that, she can probably figure it out for herself," Takuya sighed.

Koji thought about it. "Nope, she doesn't have any idea."

Takuya shook his head, disappointed. "Maybe we're too obvious. W e just have to keep this a secret to Zoe."

"She'll find us out," Shinya mumbled. It was obvious.

"It makes sense, she still loves you," Koji continued. "But, she wants to forget about you. If she gets bored, or crazy, she'll find a way to forget—"

"So shut up…" Takuya interrupted.

"I wonder where Zoe's planning to do in Bangkok—maybe a tour," Shinya wondered.

"I'll do what I can. It's not over yet," Takuya muttered.

"Not yet." Takuya let Shinya comfort him, though he knew Shinya though their chances were poor. "Hope you don't mess up."

Koji stiffened. "You say that like you mean it."

Shinya shrugged.

"Knock it off, somebody's sleeping here," Koichi snapped.

"Sorry," they apologized.

"You know what. If I get pissed off for Koichi, I'm going to do my damnedest to kick his butt on our way back home," Koji whispered.

"And I don't want any trouble from you. Do you understand that?" Takuya pointed to Shinya.

"Sure, big brother."

Takuya pulled back slightly so that he could glare at Shinya. "No trouble."

"Scout's honor," Shinya muttered.

Takuya rolled his eyes.

"Sleep would be nice, now," Shinya relaxed.

"Good idea," Koji yawned.

Koji and Shinya let their head fall against the seat and closed their eyes. Takuya watched Shinya in fascination for a long time. Eventually they became utterly motionless, Shinya's face like a stone sculpture. The minutes passed, and his friends fallen asleep. He didn't dare to interrupt them to eat.

Takuya wished there was something safe for him to think about. He couldn't allow himself to consider the horrors they were headed toward, or more horrific yet, the chance that they might fail—not if he wanted to keep from screaming aloud.

He couldn't anticipate anything, either. Maybe, if he were very, very, very lucky, Zoe would somehow be able to give Takuya a chance. But he wasn't as stupid as to think that giving him a second chance would mean that he could stay with her. He was no different, no more special that he'd been before. There would be no new reason for Zoe to want him now. Seeing her and losing her again…

He fought back against the pain. This is the price he had to pay for her to forgive him. He would pay it.

They showed a movie, he put his headphones on. He watched the figures moving across the little screen, but he couldn't tell if the movie was supposed to be romance or a horror film.

Zoe waited patiently as she could. When it was dark again, she opened the window to stare out the flat black that was no better than the window shade.

She was grateful that she'd had so many months' to practice with controlling her thoughts. Instead of dwelling on the terrifying possibilities that, no matter Koji said, she did not intend to survive, she concentrated on lesser problems. Like, what she was going to say to Nathan if she got back? That was a thorny enough problem to occupy several hours. And Takuya? Would she forgive him and forget everything she saw, what Takuya did, what they both said? Would Zoe end up home alone in Shibuya, with no one at all? Maybe she didn't want to survive, no matter what happened.

It felt like seconds later when she hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep.

"Zoe," she hissed, her voice a little too loud in the darkened cabin full of sleeping human.

She wasn't disoriented—he hadn't been out long enough for that.

"What's wrong?" She asked herself.

Zoe's eyes wide in the dim light of a reading lamp in the row behind her.

"It's so wrong." Zoe pouted fiercely. "Takuya. Please tell me you're not following me." She was talking to herself as she saw Takuya.

Zoe unfastened her seat belt but before she stood, and attendant tiptoed down the aisle to her. "Can I get you a pillow?" His hushed whisper was a rebuke to her comparatively loud conversation to herself.

"No, thank you." Zoe beamed at up him, her smile shocking lovely. The attendant's expression was dazed as he turned and stumbled him way back.

"Damn, I lost him," she breathed almost silently as the attendant walked away.

Takuya shook Koji's shoulder—waking him up.

"She saw me," Takuya whispered.

"What?"

"She saw me, I'm very thankful to the attendant." He grinned. "The longer she spends on her plans, the better for us."

It wasn't enough to make him hopeful, to make him feel the relief Koji obviously felt. There were still so many ways that she may not forgive him.

"So that's the first good news—the first break?" Koji asked, yawning. "What were you doing?"

"Well, I decided to watch Zoe while she's sleeping. Man," Takuya snorted. "I feel awful when she cries."

"I'm confused. How can she seeing you so clearly? And then other times, she sees you far away—she pretty clever."

Takuya's eyes tightened. Koji wondered is he guessed what he was thinking of.

"It's clear that I could be stupid, jerk, and I'm really concentrating to this kind of stuffs. Things happen—Zoe's pretty much of an observer. Plus, she's really, really hard to get. And a bad liar."

"And pretty stubborn," Koji reminded him.

Takuya shook his head. "Not so much."

Koji sighed. "I really wish you could have been right about her. In the beginning, when you first saw her, before you confessed…"

"What do you mean?"

"She's really wonderful." Koji barely mouthed the words.

He sighed. "Everything's possible for her."

"Actually, Takuya…" Koji hesitated. "Honestly, when her mind is set, there's no way stopping her. I think she could be pretty ridiculous sometimes."

Takuya stared at him, frozen with shock. Instantly, his mind resisted his words.

"She could be pretty scary when she's really my," Koji shivered. "I never want to underestimate Zoe."

"What's wrong with her?" Takuya gasped. "Oh, Koji, I don't know what else to do after this! I didn't know if this is going to help her so much—and I could slow things down for her." Takuya shoved a pillow to his face and screamed.

"Shh," Koji cautioned. The attendant was looking in their direction again. "Try to be reasonable," Koji whispered. "We have a lot of time. Will follow her. Even though it's going to be a pain." Koji made a face. "And be quiet, Zoe could hear you."

Takuya bit his lip. "I wonder if we could be friends with her grandparents."

"Yes." Koji smiled, his expression happy. "I think we will. Zoe will be furious, but what will she able to do about it?"

Takuya's heart beat faster. "Nothing at all."

Koji laughed quietly, and then sighed. "We'll have to split into to, Takuya. We'll stay a minute at her grandparents after Zoe leave while Koichi and Shinya will follow her."

"We'll take our chances on our brothers."

"This is so bizarre but fun."

"Oh well. This is purely hypothetical at this point, anyway. First we have to live through tomorrow."

"Good point." But at least they had something to hope for if they did. Takuya wouldn't let Zoe be distracted.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. Koji will go back to sleep," Koji said. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"Can't sleep…I'll wake you up when there's something new."

"Right," Koji grumbled, certain that sleep was a lost cause. He rested him head against the seat, fading away.

Takuya looked at the slight gray glow that shone through the opened windows.

After an eternity, the plane began to descend toward Thailand, Bangkok. His friends remained in their trance. Takuya dithered reaching out to touch his friends, only to pull his hand back again. This happened a dozen times before the plane touched down with a jarring impact.

The pilot came on over the intercom, announcing, first in Thai and then in English, our imminent landing. The seat belt lights dinged and flashed.

"Guys," he finally said. "Guys, we have to go."

He touched their arms.

Their eyes came open very slowly. They shook their head from side to side for a moment.

"Anything new?" Koji asked in a low voice, conscious of the man listening on the other side of Takuya.

"Not exactly," Takuya breathed in a voice he could barely catch.