Chapter two, 2018, field trip, segment eight

Noriko shrugged once as her brother vanished around a corner with Kuri in his arms. She might not be entirely on speaking terms with her brother yet, but most of the outright antagonism from last autumn was gone now. Most of it due to a huge debt she owed Yukio and Kyoko. There were still rumours about the oversexed couple floating around.

The next time Noriko shrugged was the following evening when Ryu and Kuri failed to show up at their hotel. As far as Noriko was concerned the couple could take some of the heat from Yukio and Kyoko. Besides, Noriko had no doubt about who were the really oversexed ones – she herself most definitely didn’t belong to that group.

That thought filled her with more than a little consternation. Urufu was painfully slow in that department. When asked, a week or so earlier, Kuri confirmed her suspicions. It wasn’t that people born in Sweden during the 1960s shied away from sex during their teens. Kuri was adamant that Urufu behaved like the king of morons. If he spent half a year with a girlfriend who wanted nothing more than to get close and cuddly with him and still not took her to his bed then something was seriously wrong with him.

Like I needed to be told that, Noriko growled silently. There was so much wrong with him she sometimes wondered why she had ever fallen in love with him at all.

She stared at him where he stood surrounded by angry teachers in the lobby and tried to explain why the world wouldn’t go down in flames just because Kuri and Ryu hadn’t arrived yet.

But there is so much right with you as well. Angry at her brother as she was she still filled with warmth at watching how Urufu chose to stand up for him.

“Did you turn in your plans?” she asked on her way to his side. It was a deliberate attempt at taking some of the heat away from him.

“Huh? My plans for after graduation?” he asked and turned. So did half of the teachers as well.

“Yeah, I’m curious you know.”

Urufu copied her earlier expression and shrugged. “I’m dropping TIT. Not my cup of tea.”

“TIT?” one teacher asked and Noriko knew she had them.

“Yeah, tech institute.” Urufu met her eyes. “You know I want to go to the same place as you. Why don’t we just take the exams and match results? We can pick one after that.”

“Tokyo Institute of Technology?” the same teacher added.

“Uhum. Not interested anymore. Toudai, Waseda or Keio. That way her parents can’t complain if we go to the same place.”

The teacher’s eyes bulged. “What did you mean by match?”

“If one of us fail one we just skip that place. Besides, exams might be on the same dates, and then we just have to agree on one of them,” Urufu said and turned his attention to Noriko again.

Yup. That’s why I love you after all. He was oblivious to how insane his statement sounded. One didn’t just make a pick of one of those three universities like it was a matter of candy flavour.

“Toudai sounds boring,” Noriko teased.

There was some more bulging.

“Fine, you make the pick. I’ll just tag along. As long as we’re together I’m happy.”

The bulging continued.

“She thinks Toudai is boring. Well, with her grades and all...”

Noriko looked at the newcomer who had just commented the episode. Ah, the new principal. “What about it?” she asked. She didn’t like how Ufuru was excluded. His grades were just about as excellent as hers.

“No no. Nothing. If you’re happy with someone like him I guess you could just share another four years at university,” he said.

“Nine years,” Urufu shot in.

“Nine?”

“Yeah, I’m not entirely clear about the system here in Japan, but four for the BA, another two for an MA and three for the PhD, or am I wrong?”

PhD? Did you plan to stay in university for like forever? Then what Urufu had just said dawned on her. And you want me to get that doctorate together with you? That’s pretty much the same as asking me to marry you.

“That’s some serious long time planning,” their principal said. “Takes someone like you for it I guess,” he continued.

Wait! He knows about the arrivals? But then so had Principal Nakagawa and Kareyoshi. Which meant Himekaizen really was a grooming institution for the arrivals after all. The thought of attending a black ops institution disguised as a high school wasn’t all that dear to Noriko.

Urufu shrugged again. “Dunno about long term. It’s less than half of our academic careers,” he said and faltered a little at the end. Noriko could see how what he said finally registered in his head. Seventeen year old kids really didn’t plan the next coming ten years.

“What about you enjoy your last year here first,” their principal said and smiled.

“Yes, sensei. I’ll do just that.”

Noriko grabbed the opportunity to drag him with her. For now the problem with Ryu and Kuri was forgotten, and she intended to get herself and Urufu away from here before it resurfaced.

Dinner beckoned, and with a bit of luck their respective classmates had arranged for her and Urufu to be seated next to each other. While they weren’t explicitly an official couple most of their classmates knew well enough.

She shared the lift with Urufu, and for once he held her hand as they entered the dining hall. Usually he lacked a little in the department of showing affection. He was, most would have agreed, a good and traditional Japanese man in that sense.

As far as Noriko was concerned he could do with being a lot more Swedish. She loved him and no other. If he showed his feelings a little more often she’d get a little less interested glances from boys in the other classes. If he showed his feelings a little more often he’d get a lot less glances from girls in the other classes.

Urufu being Urufu never noticed though. Or at least he pretended he didn’t notice. Noriko wasn’t sure which, and it made her pout mentally more than once.