Ms. Fujisaki's grace in her movement was similar to Nadeshiko's, Rima noticed, but it lacked warmth and had a sharp edge to it.

To say the conversation was stunted or awkward would have been an understatement, as there was no conversation to speak of.

Both Ms. Fujisaki's and Ms. Mashiro's faces were marred with equal parts venom and unfriendliness, and were averse to being the first to speak.

Therefore Rima busied herself by intently studying Nadeshiko's mother as she passed the pitcher of water.

Rima heard a ringing sound, and Nadeshiko rose, however, Ms. Fujisaki motioned her to sit back down.

'Please continue to eat supper. I will answer the telephone.'

A collective exhale of breath was heard from the two Mashiro's when Ms. Fujisaki left the room. As a result of the troubled look in her mother's general demeanor, Rima almost felt bad for her. The Fujisaki's were a very 'proper' household and Ms. Fujisaki looked at Rima's mother the same way one might look at a dead animal at the side of the road; with pity, but also with a great deal of disgust.

'How was school this week?' Ms. Mashiro dared. 'Did you sleep early every day?'

Rima rolled her eyes. 'Yes, we did.'

Evidently Nadeshiko had more patience than Rima. 'Of course, Ms. Mashiro. We know how important a good night's rest is.'

Unlike the teachers at school who always fell for Nadeshiko's charm and manners, Rima's mother wasn't so easily fooled.

'Oh, come on now. Surely you stayed up a little late one night, talking about boys and whatnot.'

In this case Rima didn't find her mothers' ignorance to Nadeshiko's true gender amusing in the least. She saw Nadeshiko's slight flinch and she felt bad for ever having teased her about it. If her expression were any indication, Nadeshiko felt distressed in more ways than one.

'I can assure you my daughter does no such thing.' The moment she entered Ms. Fujisaki instantly came to her child's defense.

Thus the war was re-declared and the hatchet was dug back up. In an instant, the muscles in Ms. Mashiro's shoulders tensed and her eyebrows knitted together in a frustrated fashion.

'It's normal behavior for girls of this age. I don't know what kind of house you keep, but Rima is allowed to go out with boys.'

If she wasn't terrified their mothers were going to brawl, Rima could have celebrated this remark as a victory.

The mark of anger in a Fujisaki was subtle, yet to an expert like Rima it was obvious. Ms. Fujisaki raised her chin, narrowed her eyes and her nostrils flared slightly. When she opened her mouth to speak, Nadeshiko interrupted her.

'Pardon me, mother.' The look in her eyes seemed to convey a request for restraint. 'Who was it on the phone?'

This momentary interruption seemed to bring Ms. Fujisaki back to her senses.

'It was Ms. Hinamori, Amu's mother. Your friend is sick, and they will not be joining us today.'

Rima cursed her luck under her breath. Amu's mother was a sweet-tempered ditzy woman, and for this reason Rima had hoped she might have improved the atmosphere a bit. Unfortunately it was not so.

Shortly after Ms. Fujisaki sat back down the trouble continued, and they continued to eat their meals in silence.

'The weather was beautiful yesterday.' Nadeshiko said conversationally.

'Yes. Spring is upon us and the cherry trees will soon blossom.' Ms. Fujisaki replied.

'Hopefully we will have an opportunity to go see them.'

'God willing.'

The stale tension continued and Rima wanted to bang her head into the table.

'It's been so long since we've done that.' Ms. Mashiro said, to Rima's surprise. 'Your father always thought it was too dangerous, with so many strangers about..'

With trepidation, Rima smiled at her mother. 'I know you were just trying to protect me...'

'Still, it's not right to deprive you of this experience.' Uncertain of how to continue, her mother shifted in her chair. 'Maybe I can convince your father to let us go sometime.'

The sentiment died as soon as the words were spoken, because of the doubt evident in Ms. Mashiro's eyes. The pictures in her head turned to ash, and Rima lowered her eyes with bitterness. Markedly, Nadeshiko seemed to notice.

'Mother, perhaps we could all go together?'

The apprehension was visible in Ms. Fujisaki's expression, in spite of this, she smiled.

'That would be wonderful dear.'

Finally Rima felt the veil was lifted, and the mood improved. It was unlikely their mothers would ever become the best of friends, however, at least they were willing to suffer each others presence for the sake of their children.

The rest of dinner was uneventful. After dessert had been served, Ms. Mashiro thanked Ms. Fujisaki politely for ''taking such good care of her''.

The moment the door shut and her mother was out of the house, Ms. Fujisaki turned to Nadeshiko.

'Go change your clothes darling.'

'Yes mother.' Nadeshiko bowed slightly and turned a corner.

The sweet tang of the watermelon hit Rima with full force, and it distracted her from the annoying sound of the caged canary made. It was loudly chirping from its resting place just behind the sliding door. Despite its presence a full room away in the hall leading to the veranda, its powerful chipper drew every ear, with the exception of Nagihikos'. Evidently he was used to its out-of-tune screeching.

To Rima's greatest surprise, Nagihiko's eating habits were unrefined when no one was watching. He had no regard whatsoever for the fate of his face and clothes. For some reason she felt scandalized and fascinated watching him, even though her default reaction should have been disgust.

The entirety of his face was pink, and not by normal means. No part of his upper body was spared as the juice dripped down neck and onto his T-shirt. It spread everywhere as he continued to devour the melon.

'Nagi, have ye no mercy?' She asked in jest.

'What?'

'Go easy on that poor watermelon. You're tearing it apart like it owes you money.'

He looked at her for a brief moment in surprise, and then burst out laughing.

'Watch out! You're spitting it everywhere!'

With a grin, he pulled her to him and tried to plant a kiss on her cheek. However, she wiggled free and scooched away for him.

'You can kiss me when your mouth is clean.'

'I can't believe you're being the responsible one.'

'For the first time in my entire life. So go clean your mouth and make sure it never happens again.'

After Nagihiko had made sure he was no longer half watermelon, Rima leaned against him while he finished off the rest of his food in a more acceptable manner. The atmosphere was so peaceful she felt all the stress of dinner seep out of her. As she listened to the sound of Nagihiko's heartbeat she drifted off to sleep.

When she felt his body move away, she awoke with a start, irritated at the interruption.

Sleepily, she turned to look at his face in order to investigate what the cause of the ruckus was. He looked grey and ashen. In front of him, Rima's mother was standing with her mouth agape.

'You'd forgotten your schoolbooks so I came over to bring them in case you wanted to do some homework...' The explanation fell on deaf ears.

With shame, Rima detached herself from Nagihiko and looked at her mother to face her.

'Thank you.'

No one wanted to address the elephant in the room.

'Who is this? You didn't tell me there was a boy living in this house as well. And one you seem to know rather well...'

The gears in her mother's head were visibly turning. There was nothing they could have done to stop her.

'You are Nadeshiko, aren't you?

Because they had been caught red-handed, it was difficult for Nagihiko to lie, regardless of the fact that it had never been before. Rima felt guilty. It was her fault. All her fault. If she hadn't been there...

Her mother shook her out of her thoughts.

'Wait here a moment, I will go fetch your mother, and then we are going to have a talk.'

At the same time her steps echoed into the house, Nagihiko started to cry and Rima's heart broke.

'Nagi, don't cry, it'll be alright.' She tried to console him.

'No.' The soft tone of voice that he spoke in sounded so devastated that Rima felt a pang in her chest. 'Mother will make me change schools and forbid me from seeing you.'

Even as she felt him slipping through her fingers, she grabbed onto his arms and shook him.

'Don't say that. Surely she wouldn't do something so cruel?'

'You don't know her like I do.' He whispered fearfully, as tears continued to stream down his face. Not knowing what to do, Rima wrapped Nagihiko in a tight hug even as he attempted to free himself from her grip.

'They'll be here any minute now.'

'We're damned if we do and damned if we don't.'

Upon hearing her words, he calmed and buried his face in her hair.

True to his predictions, Ms. Fujisaki was furious and reacted with disgust at seeing the two of them. Conversely, Ms. Mashiro features were schooled into with the determination of a person on a mission.

'Let go of my son at once!'

Just as Rima was about to protest, her mother surprised her and did it for her.

'No. You be quiet and listen to me a second.'

Ms. Fujisaki was about to breathe fire, nevertheless, Ms. Mashiro shushed her and launched into an enraged rant.

'I can't believe the sheer gall you have of coming into my home, lecturing me about my parenting, when you're raising your only son as a girl!'

'How dare you-' Ms Fujisaki started.

'Look at the boy! He's clearly miserable. You're ruining his entire youth for the sake of learning a couple of dances!'

In reaction Ms. Fujisaki turned as cold as stone and spoke to Ms. Mashiro in a condescending manner.

'Nagihiko understands that sacrifices must be made to master the art of Buyo.'

Whereas Ms. Fujisaki's icy fury was intimidating Rima into silence, Ms. Mashiro was having none of it. Iddly Rima wondered where all this bravery went when speaking to her father.

'Why don't you ask him? Ask him if he wants to be a girl for the rest of his life so that his mother can have a doll to play with?'

If looks could kill, Ms. Mashiro would already have been bleeding all over the veranda. As it was, however, she was currently staring down Ms. Fujisaki as if the angels themselves had bode her to do so.

As a result of Ms. Mashiro's challenge, shot an angry yet questioning look at pleading guilt she saw in his eyes was the only answer anyone needed.

In the way she deflated and lost her angry passion, decades of grief were hidden and squashed. Suddenly she looked ten years older and her eyes held tiredness.

To Rima's horror Ms. Fujisaki started crying in the same fashion that Nagihiko had.

Beseeching eyes of the same color met. Ms. Fujisaki bowed deeply to Nagihiko.

'I offer you my deepest regrets. I've put you through the same hell my mother put me through, that I swore I would never inflict on anyone else.'

Nagihiko wrenched himself loose from Rima's embrace, stood up and montioned to his mother to do the same.

'I forgive you.'

Jokingly he had referred to her earlier as the 'responsible one', be that as it may, she knew she was nowhere near his level of maturity as he held his mother's hands while she cried. He repeated over and over again that he forgave her and that he loved her, but she was inconsolable, much like he had been before.

Finally, Ms. Fujisaki apologized to Ms. Mashiro and Rima and shuffled off.

'Rima, I think it's best you go back home tonight.' Her mother said sternly.

Because of the obviousness of her mother's request, Rima suppressed rolling her eyes and instead nodded firmly.

'Can I say goodbye to Nagihiko first?'

Ms. Mashiro agreed gruffly. 'I'll be waiting in the car.'

Neither knew what to say as her mother walked away as well. After the display of emotions Rima had seen that night, she realized she didn't know Nagihiko as well as she thought he did. There was no tension felt between the two of them but rather a soul-wrenching weariness.

When Rima looked up at Nagihiko she saw that he was pensive and sad. The pain that she saw in his eyes was almost as vast as the one she saw in Ms. Fujisaki's eyes.

Some small part of her wondered if it was somehow all her fault. That her touch was destructive, and that she had wrecked Nagihiko's home-life the same way hers was a mess.

However, a louder voice rejoiced that a person she loved so dearly had finally gotten the freedom he deserved. If she were optimistic, she believed that they could weather the storm together and become their true selves. In the same way he had been there for her, she wanted to be there for him.

Mirroring his actions from earlier, she took his hands in hers.

'I've let everyone down.' He said sorrowfully.

'Nagi, look at me.'

Pulling himself out of the darkness he was in, he looked up and faced her.

'You've let no one down. This is not your fault.'

He shook his head in disagreement. Many unspoken sentiments hung in the air, crushing Rima with their unbearable weight. Because of his confrontation with his mother, he looked as pale as a ghost and as frail as glass. More than anything she wanted to shake him to make him feel that he was alive, and wanted to scream at him that he had worth.

'You deserve to be yourself, you don't exist to serve your mother.'

He snapped his head up and their eyes connected with a shock. As she looked at him, she could see that he was fighting an internal battle that he had fought many times before.

'Mother never forced me. I want to be the best dancer I can be.'

'It's okay to be both, you don't have to choose.'

Tears threatened to fall again, and for this reason he turned to look away. He sighed heavily and turned back.

'I know you're right. I know. But sometimes I feel like I'm just not good enough.'

On impulse she touched his hand. She hadn't realized he felt that way too, and therefore she felt encouraged to reach out to him. For a long time she had felt that her parent's marital problems were her fault. If she had never been kidnapped, she had often thought, they would've still been a happy family. On miserable days, she'd imagine what that would be like.

Nevertheless, that was not the reality.

As a matter of fact, she had been kidnapped. And she was not to blame for that. By the same token, the abominable state of her parents' relationship was not her fault either, nor could she fix it in some way.

In the case of Nagihiko, it was the same scenario. He felt guilty for the actions of others and for other things he had no control over.

'Me too.' She squeezed his hand. 'We just need to remind each other that we are enough.'

Although she knew he wanted to believe it, she could see the doubt in his movements.

The words wouldn't come out. 'But it's so hard.'

'I know. It's a battle, because there's always a voice saying you're not trying hard enough. Or that you're not smart enough. Or not pretty enough, or whatever it is you want to be. However, you are what you are. You're not perfect, but no one is. The only thing you can do is accept yourself for who you are. It's not easy, it's the most difficult process you ever have to go through. But it gets better.'