“I knew your
parents when they were students here.”
Students here?
Yes, almost forgot that.
“They haven't
told you yet?” Principal Nakagawa asked, as if he had read her
thoughts. “You'll find them in the news club archives.” His face
turned serious and sad. “I wish we could have done more for them,”
and then he brightened “but I guess they turned out all-right in
the end.”
She loved her
parents. It made her warm inside knowing other people did as well.
“I was a
teacher here during those days, and now I'm nearly done here.”
“Done?”
“Yes, I'm
retiring.”
Things will
change. The next
principal will be, eh,
less lenient I guess.
“Off with you.
You don't want to miss class.”
Noriko bowed and
made to leave the office.
“Give my
regards to your parents,” Principal Nakagawa said just as she was
about to close the door. “Tell them I'm sorry. I'll apologize
properly at a later date.”
After he has
retired. When he has severed his connections to the school. What's
going on?
She quickly
walked to her classroom. Thoughts of worry and wonder danced in her
head all the way to her desk.
Inside her
classroom the mood was different from the usual, had been so for a
week now. Kuri was absent again.
One more
month. Kuri, you can't afford staying away from here. But Noriko
knew all too well by her friend never came to school. Breaking up
with someone you love must hurt. Still, one more month until year's
end. Those exams decided whether you passed the year or not, and Kuri
wasn't exactly one of Himekaizen's best students.
Noriko threw a
glance at Kyoko's seat. The two of them had grown closer in Kuri's
absence. You know, you should run to Yukio more often. Much
more often, and she would have, Noriko knew that, if it wasn't for
3:1 and 6:1 not being on the best of terms with each other.
In 3:1 Urufu was
a loser who had done something bad enough to their celebrated beauty
to force her to break up with him. In 6:1 Kuri was the bitch who
played with and hurt their hero.
That was it,
their hero. Noriko had missed out on what kind of reputation Urufu
gained in his class after the cultural festival. They had experienced
death among them as well, and only now she learned he'd been there,
sitting in his hospital bed, comforting those who couldn't keep
silent any longer.
That made Kuri
the villain, and Kyoko was Kuri's best friend, and only after Urufu
shouted at his own classmates did they agree that Kyoko wasn't bad
for Yukio, Urufu's best friend.
When did
things get this bad?
Some of that
animosity even crept into the club, with the difference that there an
overwhelming majority saw Kuri as the evil villain. Noriko could see
why. With a third of the members former Red Rose middle schoolers,
Urufu could do no wrong.
He tried, Noriko
saw that. He told them Kuri hadn't done anything bad, and that she
had problems of her own; the members gave him comforting claps on his
back – girls even spontaneously hugged him, just like he and Kuri
used to do, and they said how strong he was, what a kind and
goodhearted man he was, and they despised Kuri even more.
It hurt. Kuri was
a good friend, a broken friend who hurt more than Noriko could
understand. It hurt, because Urufu hurt. It hurt, because all stacked
together what had happened this far during their last term as
freshmen made her look at Nao with new eyes.
He'd done nothing
wrong neither, but his right choice made them spend time apart rather
than together. She loved him, and wanted him for herself, but between
studying for the exams, club hours, part time work, all too seldom
did the few hours she had free coincide with his. The same way as she
did, he studied, spent his club hours and worked his part time job.
Difference being he spent very few club hours and an absolutely
absurd amount of time modelling.
Noriko sighed and
walked over to Kyoko's desk. Their teacher was late and Noriko wanted
to know how things went down for Kuri's wingman, abandoned since a
week. When she arrived she saw Kyoko with her nose into her phone.
Good girl! The
rest of us try to be so smart, but you just solve your problems.
From this
distance Noriko could see the phone vibrate when Yukio's mails
reached it, and Kyoko didn't waste a second sending him a reply.
I'll leave you
two alone. Seeing that made me happy.
A little lighter
at heart Noriko took her seat and dug up the books for the class.
Just as she was done the teacher walked in through the door opening.
The class
representative rose.
“Stand!”
The class rose.
“Bow!”
The class bowed.
“Sit!”
The class sat
down again, and the lesson started.
Days grew into a
pattern of classes only broken by lunch and club hours.
Noriko saw Yukio
and Kyoko grow closer together, and she shared they joy. She saw her
brother and Ai-chan playing their game, something that became harder
as their exams loomed closer, and she saw Kuri return to class, a
hollow shell of her former self.
Why anyone wanted
to take photos of the girl was a mystery, and eventually Kuri told
her they didn't. When she broke up with Urufu Vogue loosened their
inhuman schedule a little. From what Noriko could see, their latest
golden hen had been thoroughly potty-trained. She didn't as much as
whisper a word of love about Urufu.
As for herself,
she tried. Both of them tried. Nao used as much of his free time as
possible to date her, but she could see in his haunted face how Vogue
pulled in the reins whenever he spent too much time with her.
Days became a
week, and one day, at the end of February, neither Yukio nor Kyoko
showed up at club hours.
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