This paper reports speech codes employed by Japanese and English speakers in repairing problematic situations. This in-depth interview analysis discloses that Japanese-speaking participants’ use of a code presenting detailed clarifications can be a way to negate having caused another person trouble, thus being irreconcilable with their “apology ”meaning. The English-speaking participants employed a code in which presenting and harken to clarifications is a way to demonstrate they care about the relationship and to rake pardon. The analysis elucidates how the participants employed these codes as resource to draw a border between two speech communities.