After an evening of tossing and turning, Taro's eyes snapped open. He glanced over at his new VCR. The display read 5:45 AM. Taro smiled to himself because he hadn't set it.

Ryoko had.

Who was this Ryoko Asakura girl? Before going to bed, Taro had done a search on her name but it came up with nothing. Of course that didn't mean she didn't exist. He was pretty sure he wasn't imagining this person. He had cleaned up two tea cups last night, and hers was empty.

The girl wasn't a normal human, he was sure of that. And she wasn't a ghost. He looked over at the red tape, its edge peeking out of the VCR after having been partially ejected after the auto-rewind. Did she really live in there? In that tape? In that video bedroom?

Taro switched his gaze over to yesterday's window repair. He chuckled. Did Taro really live here? In this warehouse? In the worst part of town?

His parents weren't happy about his plans to pursue an art career. Even after winning the Nindento contest, they didn't see art as Taro's future. As the oldest son, he was supposed to take over the family business, a small grocery store located out in the sticks, miles away from the center of town.

But Uncle Shiitake had given him a chance to pursue what he truly loved. And his uncle had somehow convinced his mother that this was the best thing for him; to pursue his dreams. And at first it was. He sculpted and painted, and his stuff was good.

But then came the block. And the warehouse started to feel like a prison. And he had to leave…

And now Ryoko was here. Stuck on the tape, it seemed, in a prison of her own. "I'm a girl who's doing her best to survive from day to day," she had told him. Which was something Taro could relate to.

"I'm not here by accident," she had also told him. What in the world did that mean? Which led to... "I'll model for you."

Taro was very happy about that because the artist inside of him saw the potential in Ryoko the minute he first saw her on the screen of that TV set in that cabin. That cabin he rented for a song because someone had...

Taro hit his forehead with his palm. "Snap out of it." Then he smiled. Because he was about to paint of one of the loveliest models he'd ever had the opportunity to paint, dressed in whatever he wanted… "provided it's more than a pair of flannel socks." He laughed. This girl was fun. She was beautiful and fun. Focus on that!

What was his model going to wear? "I can clothe myself in any way you want."

Well that was fine, but what was his theme? What did this girl and this painter have in common?

Taro smiled. Because he had the perfect theme. And he just needed some props to make it work.

Taro took the elevator down to the ground floor and walked over to the building's utility room. He unlocked it and stepped inside. The room was dank and dusty, filled with junk; some of it his uncle's junk; some of it stuff left by the previous tenants.

Two items in the room fit the bill; an old sledgehammer and a length of heavy chain. Taro lifted the heavy hammer by its broken handle and laughed when he remembered the remarks his uncle had made about it. "A sledgehammer is a very useful tool when you need to unstick a stuck machine. Or anything else for that matter!" In addition to being useful, it was also a very heavy tool. But Taro managed to drag it and the chain back to his studio.

A he suspected, Taro was able to find the other item he needed a couple blocks away at a local playground - a rubber kick ball. The deflated ball had been abandoned by the kids because it didn't bounce and wouldn't roll. But for Taro's purposes it was perfect. Taro took the ball back to his studio.

He spent about thirty minutes in his studio with a roll of duct tape and a couple cans of spray paint, preparing the props for Ryoko's arrival. When he was satisfied, an excited Taro ran back to his living area, switched on his TV, and pushed the red tape into the VCR.

Ryoko's image came up immediately. She sat cross-legged in her black pajamas. "Hi, Taro!" She waved at him with a happy smile. "Did you sleep in?"

Taro stood in front of his LCD set and crossed his arms. "Nope. I just had to prepare some things for you."

Ryoko giggled. "Sounds like you have some fun planned for us." She put her hands out to the side. "So what would you like me to wear?"

"I want you to wear a striped dress with black high heels." Taro smiled as Ryoko gave him a perplexed look. "I want the stripes on your dress to be black and white, each stripe about three inches wide, running horizontally."

Ryoko was shaking her head but still smiling. She giggled. "And heels?"

"Yes. Black. Three inches high, please."

"I think I'm starting to see where you're going with this," Ryoko replied with a cute grin.

"Could you please make the dress, um…," Taro could feel his face flush, "um…"

"Sexy?" Ryoko winked. Then she nodded. "I can do that."

Taro gave her a thankful smile.

"But you're going to have to move the TV over to the other side of the room if you want me to last for more than ten minutes."

"Okay. Yeah, I forgot you mentioned that." Taro was about to ask Ryoko why, but she cut him off -

"I'll change while you move the set over there."

Taro reached for his remote. "I can shut everything down?"

Ryoko nodded. "I'll be fine."

Taro turned off the set and then turned off the VCR. It took him ten minutes to transfer the two devices over to their new location at the other side of the room next to the concrete pillar. The LCD TV wasn't that heavy, but it was unwieldy. He decided not to use the stand but rather set the TV down on the concrete floor. After connecting up the VCR and running a long extension cord over for power, Taro was ready to go.

He almost fell over when he hit the Play button and Ryoko's image appeared.

Ryoko was lying in a classic reclining pose; on her side, one hand below her tilted head, one hand on her hip, one leg forward over the other; a portion of her long lovely hair falling forward over her shoulder. The pose accentuated her curves as well as her legs, which were largely left uncovered by the tiny little dress. The "V" neckline plunging down between her breasts topped off a stunning image.

An image which a stunned Taro stood and stared at with his jaw hanging down to the ground.

Ryoko smiled, then giggled. "I guess I overdid the 'sexy', didn't I?"

Taro nodded.

"Should I change?"

"Don't you dare."

"Okay. Turn around," Ryoko said sweetly. "I'm coming out and I don't need you peeking up my skirt."

Taro nodded and turned. "I've seen you in your panties before. Remember?" he teased, reminding Ryoko of the first time they met.

Taro turned when Ryoko tapped him on the shoulder. She gave him a confused look. "Oh. You didn't specify panties."

Taro's mouth dropped open again.

Ryoko laughed. "I'm just kidding!" She did a quick spin. "I hope you're not disappointed that I couldn't fit too many stripes on this thing."

Taro just shook his head. "You're really enjoying this aren't you."

Ryoko laughed and lifted her chin. "Yes, I am. I really am. Thank you, Taro. It's been a long time since I've had this much fun." She grabbed her wrist behind her back and stood up straight. "Okay, tell me about your idea."

Taro walked Ryoko over to the makeshift platform he had set up across from his easel.

"I thought it would be cool to go with a prison theme. Stand here, okay?"

He guided her into position on the platform, setting the sledgehammer to her right and the ball and chain to her left. He leaned the sledgehammer's duct-taped and freshly painted handle over so Ryoko could grab it with her right hand. Then he wrapped the end of the chain around her left ankle, closing the chain loop with a short piece of string. Ryoko looked down and saw that the chain was connected via duct tape to a rubber ball which Taro had spray-painted black.

"They're just props," he said, looking down. "I'll make them look much better when I paint them." Then he looked up at his model. "And if I can convey even half of your beauty on to my canvas…"

Ryoko smiled at the sincere praise. Then her face took on a more serious expression. "A girl in prison. Is that how you see me?"

Taro walked back to his easel. He pulled a brush off of a nearby stand and added some paint to it. "It's how I see myself," he said. "And yes, maybe that's how I see you, too."

Ryoko returned an understanding nod. Then she remained silent as Taro started transferring the image he saw before him onto the blank canvas.