"Thanks for doing this," Sumire said again.

She and Nick were walking along a shady street near Nick's house in Bel Air as Sumire held her phone between them, two pairs of earbuds plugged into it so they could both listen. It was a warm afternoon, though not uncomfortably so, especially because the streets where they walked were so deeply shaded from the old growth trees which grew there.

Nick shrugged. "I go to the gym and exercise and all that, but I don't just get out and walk nearly enough," he said. "I'm sure that breathing the fresh air, or what passes for it in LA, is good for me." He looked around and smiled. "It's really pretty, here. And you're sure those trees, those jack-o-lanterns or whatever, are blooming now?"

Sumira smiled. "Jacaranda, Nick-san, jacaranda. And no, it's a rumor, more like an urban gardening legend, I guess. I've heard, in gardening circles at UCLA, that there are some jacarandas up here in Bel Air, some late blooming jacarandas that are hidden away, and are blooming around this time of year and are really pretty. I've never had a chance to see them because when am I ever in Bel Air? So this seemed like a perfect time to kind of look around, you know?"

"An urban gardening legend?" Nick repeated, and Sumire could hear the laughter in his voice. "You hang around with really, really cool people, don't you, Sumireh-chan? Hm?" And he lifted his leg backward at the knee so he could kick her from behind like a little kid.

"You're right," Sumire returned with a straight face. "I don't kick it with people who like to get it on in the middle of the day in my den with the doors wide open. And none of my friends have been arrested for statutory rape." This had happened to one of Nick's recent co-stars last week.

"Touché," Nick replied with a smile as they continued walking.

The sound of birds was very loud in the lush, green neighborhood where they walked. It was almost jungle-like, and there was surprisingly little traffic, which only enhanced the wild ambience.

"So it occurred to me that I've been saying your name wrong," Nick said, changing the subject.

"Oh? How so?" Sumireh asked in surprise.

"Well, I've been saying Su-mi-reh, with an 'r' sound, but Japanese doesn't have an 'r' sound, does it?" Nick asked, taking a swig from his water bottle as they walked. "And when Nishimura-san says your name, it sounds almost like a 'd' sound, you know?"

Sumireh looked pleased. "Your ear is getting so good, Nick." She nodded. "In linguistic terms, that sound is called an alveolar flap, and it's sort of a mixture between an 'l' and a 'd.' This is why Japanese people have so much trouble with 'l' and 'r,' though, because both those sounds become a flap in Japanese."

"Sumireh," Nick said experimentally, practicing the flap. "Sumi-reh, Sumi-reh, Sumi-reh," he said loudly, smiling. He could tell he sounded right.

"Very good," Sumireh praised. "It feels weird to hear my name spoken so loudly outside, though, kind of like my Totto-san is calling me from somewhere." She poked at his shoulder. "Keep your voice down, please."

"Do all little kids call their fathers Totto-san? Sumireh-chan?" Nick asked with a grin.

Sumireh shook her head. "I don't think so, no. It's almost like baby talk, you know? Because I couldn't say Otosan when I was really little? So that's what I called him, and I never stopped. I probably would have when I got a little older, but I never got the chance." She gave an involuntary shiver.

If it had been anyone else, Nick would've put an arm around her, but he was learning her boundaries, so he kept his hands and arms to himself. They continued walking, looking for the elusive, mythical jacaranda tree of Bel Air As they listened to his dialogue from the movie.

"So, okay, you hear how you went up on the word 'hi'?" Sumireh asked. "That makes what you said mean something completely different. What I said, what you were supposed to say, was 'Somewhere the sun will hit it,' but because you stressed the word 'hi,' what you said was 'Somewhere the fire will hit it.'"

"What?" Nick burst into laughter. "Because I stressed the wrong word? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Sumireh shook her head. "No joke, Nick. You have to say it exactly the way I do, same stress, same rise and fall in pitch, okay? Now try again--" she said the sentence slowly, and Nick repeated it.

"Good! Much better, now you're not setting anything ablaze," Sumireh said with a small smile.

"Hey! You just made a joke!" Nick praised, and this time he did touch her, giving her shoulder a gentle push.

Sumireh shrugged away from his touch, though in a joking manner.

"I have a sense of humor," she retorted. "When I'm with funny people," she added with a tiny smile.

"Oooh, you just insulted me," Nick said, his jaw dropping as he smiled back. "I'm very funny, I'll have you know. My last comedy grossed, well, I don't know exactly, but a helluva lot of money."

"I guess there's no accounting for taste."

Nick gasped. "You little--"

"Look! Nick, look! A jacaranda!" Sumireh actually reached out and touched his arm briefly as she pointed.

He turned in the direction she was pointing. Sure enough, in someone's back yard, hanging over into their side yard, was a large tree with beautiful purple blooms all over it. The branches were heavy with them, hanging quite low to the ground, nearly obscuring the fence.

"Look at that," Sumireh murmured, her voice quiet with awe. "Isn't it gorgeous?"

"Yeah, it is," Nick agreed.

He turned to look at Sumireh, whose face was aglow with the joy of having discovered the secret tree. He decided that she, too was gorgeous, even though she obviously tried so hard to hide it. He also decided that if she wanted to hide it, he should respect that and relate to her as a person, as his tutor, no more, no less.

They stood and admired the tree a little longer, then turned and began walking back, while continuing to work on the dialogue and talk about the movie.

"So in this movie, Minami is the mixed race daughter of a lord who's supposed to marry the son of another lord, but is balking because she doesn't want to, right? Because she doesn't love him?" Sumireh asked.

"Right," Nick answered, nodding. "So I'm sent from Edo, the capital, to try to change her mind because this marriage will join together two warring factions and stop fighting that has been going on for years. So I arrive, and we fall in love instead, and it's very secretive and passionate and steamy and forbidden and all that."

"And there's racism and prejudice because of her being half foreign, and you being foreign and everything, which makes it very exciting, too," Sumireh added. "And the climactic scene when the other man, who really loves her, asks her if she'd rather stay with you and die? Oh my god, it's so romantic and pathos filled, my god!"

Nick turned to look at Sumireh as they walked. This was the most animated he'd ever seen her, except when she'd been furious with him and ordered him out of her apartment that night.

"Yeah, right," he finally said. "It is. I hope this movie is a hit, it's the highest profile film I've ever done, and the most significant."

They walked on in silence for a bit, a bit faster than before, since it was downhill.

"I'm going to New York in August, to visit my family before we go to Japan," Nick told Sumireh.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, though I should just say 'my sister,' I suppose," he corrected. "My younger sister, Darcie? I'm closest to her of all my siblings, probably because we're closest in age. The divorce was hardest on us, I think, and we stayed together for our visitations, while the older ones kind of got shuffled around. New York in August is a bitch, but we'll be in Japan until January, which means we're going to miss the holidays, and I'm going to miss Darcie's birthday and everything, so I figure I'd better go while I can, you know?" He turned to Sumireh. "You going to sneak in a visit to your parents before you go?"

Sumireh considered, then shook her head. "I don't think so. I can't really afford it, and I have a bunch of stuff I have to get done before we go."

"Oh, come on, Purple, not with the money again!" Nick stopped walking. "I'll give you--no, no--sorry--" he held up a supplicating hand, "--I'll lend you the money, so please go see your family, please. You're going to miss Thanksgiving, Christmas--when's your birthday?"

Sumireh looked at him. "August 30th," she said unwillingly.

"Oh god, you're going to miss spending your fucking birthday with them," Nick practically shouted on the quiet street. "Please, please go!"

Sumireh quietly shook her head, pulled her sweater closer and continued walking, leaving Nick to catch up.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry I brought it up, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't be upset, Mimi-chan--" he entreated as he followed her.

Sumireh turned to him. "I'm not upset, don't be ridic--what did you call me?" She had stopped, dead in her tracks, right in the middle of the street, which was luckily deserted.

"What?" Nick, too, stopped. "Nothing, I--oh. Mimi? Mimi-chan? It just came out, you know, Su-mi-reh?"

Sumireh grasped at his arm, which shocked Nick.

"My father used to call me that," she whispered, her face white. "How did you know that?"

"He did?" Nick, too, was quiet with surprise. "I didn't know that, I didn't. Like I said, your name just lends itself to it, Su-MI-reh, just makes sense. But I don't have to use it, I won't, okay? I promise." He nodded for emphasis.

Sumireh shook her head and took one shaky step back so she could sit on the curb. Nick carefully lowered her down, took her water from her, uncapped it and handed it back so she could take a drink, which she did.

He watched her carefully to make sure she wasn't going to topple over into the street or anything.

"No," she said, shaking her head, and Nick wasn't sure what she was saying no to until she continued speaking. "I don't mind if you call me that, honestly." She looked up at him with a child's smile. "I kind of like it, actually. No one's called me that but him, ever."

She lifted a hand for Nick to help her up, again, surprising him, because Sumireh just didn't invite physical contact like that. He reached out and lifted her, noting in passing that her hand felt warm and dry, which was a relief.

"Okay then," he said with a smile. "Sumireh-chan for everyday, Purple for when I'm teasing you, and Mimi-chan those rare times when you're being nice to me, then, how's that sound?"

Sumireh made a noise that was half way between a laugh and a snort. "Sounds fine, Nick-san. And look, we're back at your mansion."

She walked to her car.

"Thanks again for going jacaranda hunting with me," she called as she opened the door. "Keep working your dialogue, and on not setting things on fire, okay?"

He laughed and waved. "You got it, Mimi-chan."