As the magazine is being circulated around town, both Takako and Ryo are shocked by the article, which starts off with: "Even though she had the ability to win the award and as her talent is being acclaimed by the art world, the artist herself is not capable of understanding the significance of her success... So how can she take off with her newfound success? She has said that she wanted to become a bird, but she will rise as a phoenix in the world of Fine Art, or remain grounded as an ugly duckling..."

Machiko feels bad for Yuka, saying to Ryo that the reporter seemed to take a malicious delight in his writing, and Ryo looks down at the credit and sees Toru's name. Ryo is really angry and he storms over to the news agency to have it out with Toru. When he gets there, Ryo punches Toru once in the face before the others pull him away.

Yuka's drawing in the park, when two schoolgirls come giggling up to her, asking if she is Yuka-san. They say that they recognised her face from the magazine, and then runs off in excitement, telling her to "ganbatte kudasai".

Takako is complaining to Komiya at New Age about Toru's article, saying that she didn't want to subject Yuka to that sort of press harassment, and she wants to cut all ties with New Age and offered to return the award. But Komiya calms her down, saying that she didn't want to see Yuka's talent wasted, and ask Takako to let them handle the situation with The Move.

Back at the Move, they're still talking about Ryo's attack, and Ooya says his actions amount to attacking the freedom of speech. Toru looks up and asks him outright, what his real intention was behind doing all this. Ooya says that "if the article hadn't been written in such a way, it wouldn't have been such a sell-out..." Asako says softly to Toru that he's been made the scapegoat.

The scene fades back to the night before, and what really happened was that Ooya had rejected Toru's draft, and rewritten it on his own, substituting the blurry photo of her reaching for paper scraps with the ones that Toru had previously chosen! (Asako knows this as well as Toru, since she was still at work when it happened.)

Takako gets a call from Komiya saying that she's straightened everything out with The Move, and she asks Takako to bring Yuka to attend a European Fine Arts exhibition that they're holding next week.

Walking home that night, Ryo asks Takako if that Komiya woman is really to be trusted. Takako repeats what the woman had said about not wanting Yuka's talent to go to waste, saying that as Yuka's mom, she can not disagree with that, although she's not sure if that will be what's best for Yuka. Ryo notes that this is quite a change of stance for her, as she has previously resisted exposing Yuka to anything but she admits that while she wants to protect her daughter, she won't always be able to do so as Yuka will outlive her... but Ryo tries to tease her out of her sombre mood, making a crack about how she will live so long, they'll wonder why she's still around and she jokes back about him cursing her. As they reach the house, Ryo wonders if Yuka had seen the article yet, but Takako think it unlikely. Ryo asks if Toru actually knows Yuka, and Takako admits that he does, and the thought has crossed her mind that he was the one who showed her news coverage to Yuka.

Yuka comes out to greet them, and she's bought a whole pile of The Move magazines! She tells them how happy she is that Toru's written about her and it's obvious that she doesn't understand the article. Ryo starts to tell her but Takako checks him, wanting to leave well enough alone, and simply asks Yuka to promise that she won't do any more media interviews. She says later to Ryo that there's no point in upsetting Yuka, as she is not going to see that reporter again anymore. (But it sounds more like she's trying to reassure herself...)

Ooya is in Sekawa's (the publisher) office, who tells him that Takako is not pressing charges against them. He then asks Ooya who the reporter was that wrote the article and Ooya says it's Toru, former reporter of the news agency, and Sekawa makes a comment about Toru being a pretty "tough" (?) character. Sekawa then warns Ooya that the situation must be handled very carefully, otherwise it could "blow up" on them.

Takako shows Yuka the invitation to the exhibition, and Yuka tells her that she wants to go and she'll be fine on her own.

Meanwhile Ooya tells Toru to attend the exhibition saying that Yuka will be there and he should try to make amends. He tells Toru that their magazine plans to follow her story. Toru doesn't want to go but Ooya says there's no one more suitable. Toru says Yuka won't trust him anymore, not after the article, but Ooya says it doesn't matter and he's ordering him, saying it's your job. Toru asks him if he hasn't already achieved his purpose with the article, but Ooya replies, "it's just the beginning..."

Yuka sees Toru at the exhibition and he's bemused that not only is she not upset, but she thanks him for the article! (Although she's a little unhappy he used a photo that he promised he wouldn't...) She suggests they go outside to talk, as they have to whisper in the exhibition hall.

They're at a zoo, looking at the giraffes. She envies the giraffes for their long necks, saying they're so much closer to the sky, but he points out that she could go to the top of a building and then she'd be closer. She ponders on this but decides that they're still better off as they can be that tall all the time but she can't stay at the top of the building forever. But then she sees that they have problems reaching things close to the ground, and decides it's best to be herself. Toru wants to leave, and he says it's getting chilly, but then she runs off to buy him a hot drink.

At the restaurant, Machiko comments that the media's been quite quiet lately, and Ryo jokes that his punch must have made its mark. Machiko then says he's always so happy whenever Yuka's name is mentioned. She then notices a tear in his chef's jacket and offers to mend it for him.

Yuka comes back with two cups of coffee but spills one when she helps a little boy catch a balloon that he'd accidentally let go off. The brat doesn't seem grateful though, and points to her spilt cup, saying she shouldn't litter in the zoo. Toru comes up to her and she hands him his cup, but when he drops his cigarette on the ground to drink the coffee, she mimics what the little boy had said to her about littering.

They go into a café, and he's watching her drink her beverage. He comments on how her world's always so happy and asks if she never encounters things that made her sad. She says that of course she has - that everyone has, and it's just part of life. She then asks Toru if he's unhappy, and seeing the bruise on his face (from Ryo's punch), she reaches up and touches it, saying she hoped it'd be better soon. She gives him one of her "genki" candies. Yuka suddenly gets inspired with a new idea for her work and says she has to go, but makes a "yakusoku" (she chants the ubi-kiri song as she links fingers with Toru) with Toru to see it when she's finished it.

Meanwhile, Asako passes by outside and sees the two of them in the café.

Yuka's watching the weather report on TV and Ryo asks her how the exhibition went, saying that she'd been gone longer than he'd expected, and that it's too bad he had to work or he would have gone with her. He then suggests that they go out on a "date" on his next rest day, and Yuka does a "ubi-kiri" with him... half-way through it, she thinks back on her ubi-kiri with Toru and pauses, but when Ryo asks what is it? - she shakes her head and goes back to the TV.

At the restaurant, the boss is telling Machiko how Ryo had turned down an opportunity in the past to go to France because he has to remain in Tokyo for "someone", and he guesses that someone to be Yuka.

Asako is at Toru's again. She picks up his faxed assignments, and sees that he was given a job to interview the mother of her estranged 17-year old boy who'd been accused of raping and murdering a girl - and whom the mother had abandoned years ago. She makes a snide remark about how it looks like meeting Yuka is more "newsworthy" than interviewing the murderer's mother. She tells him that she saw them in the café today... But he looks unimpressed and just tells her to leave.

At the restaurant, Ryo's upset by a customer's comment after seeing Yuka's sculpture there that he'd be interested in seeing "what Yuka looked like", having read Toru's article. Ryo almost takes a swing at his departing back, but the others hold him back.

There's a lot of media milling in the yard outside the house of the murderer's mother, but she refuses to come out. (She's obviously not wealthy as she lives on the second floor of what looks like a two-storey tenement with a uncared for yard in front.) They're shooting questions at her through her door, but she just asks them to go away, saying the boy's not her responsibility anymore. Toru gets upset at her words, and makes her way to the front of her door and says to her that "she was the one who the boy should have killed. She didn't want to be a single mom so she gave him away after giving birth to him 10 years ago and it's her irresponsible action that led him to commit such crimes." She answers emotionally that it has nothing to do with her and that she now has a new life.

Yuka brings her new sculpture to the restaurant, but at the door, she hears Machiko discussing with her co-worker about her magazine interview and she realises that the article is not complimentary. She leaves the sculpture at the door, and leaves.

Toru's colleagues tell him that he's smart to have said things that riled up the woman enough to give them printable quotes. They comment on the case, saying that it's not just the victim that should be pitied, and that the boy's mom did a very unspeakable thing in abandoning her own child and it was as Toru had said, that the woman was "saitee" (the lowest). Toru suddenly speaks up, saying... "yes, but aren't we like that? You guys, and me too..."

Ryo's back at the restaurant and they've discoverd Yuka's sculpture and realised what had happened. Ryo goes off to look for Yuka.

The publisher Sekawa introduces Ooya to his "source", Komiya from New Age Fine Arts. He tells Ooya their plans to open a personal exhibition for her. He want New Age to be the sole agent of Yuka's works and to take her on board as their exclusive artist-in-residence. (I think New Age and The Move belong under the same parent company, Sekawa's publishing house.)

Ooya then realises that Sekawa planned to use The Move to help promote Yuka, so that she in turn to help bolster his flagging fine arts business. He seems a bit cynical and Komiya says that he shouldn't phrase it in such harsh terms. Sekawa tells Ooya that it'll be his job to take care of Yuka.

Yuka's been wandering in the streets all day and she's even bought a copy of The Move. After nightfall, she wanders by the place where Toru is (outside the woman's house) and she goes up to him and tells him that other people are saying he'd written something bad about her. Toru tells her the article does not talk about her work at all, that it talks about her strange behavior because that is, after all, what people are interested in. He says the world's not as wonderful as she sees it, that there really are good and bad things, but the bad things are a lot worse than she imagined them to be. He calls her a "caged bird", one that couldn't fly even if she had wings. He starts to walk off, saying "...and I am not a good person."

Yuka calls after him, saying that he is, because he's the only one who'll tell her the truth. She says he is a good person, only he has broken wings...

The other reporters start to notice the two of them, and recognise Yuka. Thinking there could be a story in it, they move in on her, crowding her and plying her with questions. She doesn't answer, and looks at Toru steadily as he turns away and leaves.