Mid May, and
the temperature was reaching summer levels. Ryu wiped sweat from his
face. The air-conditioner in their classroom definitely wasn't up to
the task.
He jumped down
the stairs, half a flight a jump, and bounced to the entrance floor.
From the relative light in the stairwell he reached the darker
corridor and shouldered his way to the cafeteria. More than a few he
passed yelled insults after him, but he really didn't care.
The cafeteria
was full, as always. The third years always made it there first. He
rushed headlong anyway. They'd have lunch in the shaded area between
the cafeteria and the gym hall, and he wanted to make sure they got
seats there. By this time of the year any sunny day promised an
invasion of the cafeteria backyard.
Behind him he
heard Noriko declare his dubious heritage in a voice that carried
through both wings.
He zigzagged
his way through the cafeteria and left it from the great glassed
doors facing the gym hall. Ryu found the seats he was looking for.
Now he just had to wait for someone else in the gang to show up
before he could buy his lunch.
He just had
time to look at the great sails above him before he was greeted.
“Mind if we
join you?”
He looked
around to see who had addressed him. “Yu-kun, please.”
“Go get your
lunch. Urufu-kun and Kuri-chan are on their way here as well.”
Their
way? “Uh,
sure.” Ryu rose and made for the glassed entrance. Their
way?
The
queue to the counter had built up while he secured a spot outdoors,
and he barely made it
to
Noriko's space in it.
“Seems we're
getting company from the club core sis,” he said. He was probing
for a reaction, and he wasn't disappointed. She blushed red and
muttered something about not caring the least.
Still, it
bothered him that Kuri-chan and Kyoko-chan hadn't joined them in
their race for lunch.
“Did you see
where Kuri-chan went?” he asked, not certain if he was probing his
sister or himself.
“Kuri-chan
went with Kyoko-chan to the left wing. She really has to make up with
Yu-kun, you know.”
Ryu
didn't need a name to know that Noriko meant Kyoko-chan. I
wonder who went with whom though. Could
it be that Urufu-kun is making a move on her? He's been on a roll the
last week after all.
All
of a sudden he felt ashamed. I
like Kuri-chan a lot, but sis, you've really fallen in love, haven't
you?
He
couldn't understand what they saw in the geek. It wasn't as if he was
outgoing or anything. Well,
I can see what Kuri-chan sees in him,
he admitted to himself. They're
both from the same country after all.
The
queue moved a bit forward and they got to make their picks. Bounty
in hand they headed for the spots Yu-kun held. Over
half a dozen students were already there. Yu-kun must have told them
he and Kuri-chan were coming.
Ryu
grinned at the girls present when they waved at him. “Good to see
this much beauty in one place,” he offered. Behind him Noriko
groaned.
“Hello
Wakayama-san!”
“Over
here!”
Noriko groaned
some more.
He took a seat
on a bench and made place for his sister. Silently he nodded thanks
to Yu-kun for keeping the spots open.
“Aren't
we missing a few people?” Noriko said.
So, that's
the limit of your patience?
Ryu had just
opened his pre-packaged lunch when the students around him fixed
their attention on the cafeteria behind him.
And we have
incoming.
“Ageruman-san!”
“She's so
beautiful!”
Listen to
that choir.
“Who's
that guy?”
“Is
he? Whoa!”
It had to be
Urufu-kun, but the voices were just a bit too surprised for Ryu not
to turn and look.
What?
Kuri-chan came
walking between the benches toward them. She wore no make-up at all,
and her school uniform was in perfect accordance with the
regulations. And so was Urufu-kun's.
He walked
beside her, carrying two identical bento boxes. He wore no glasses,
and he had a totally new hairdo. He looked... normal. And tall. He
looked, Ryu acknowledged, like a rival.
Behind them
Kyoko-chan tagged along with her cafeteria bought lunch.
“Yu-kun,
your lunch,” Kuri-chan said and gave him the third box in a set.
She
looked flustered.
Ryu
had to know. “Did something good happen yesterday?” he
asked.
Kuri-chan
glanced at Urufu-kun. And shot him a stunningly beautiful but
strangely shy smile. “I forgot my birthday. He remembered it. So
yes, something good happened.”
That was far
from everything she had to say. Ryu could see that, but he wasn't
sure how much further he should probe.
“Look
at that! Being
friends with Ryu-kun make even geeks look good.”
The
derisive comment came from one of the girls. Saki-chan?
Yes, from 1:1.
And she had known Urufu-kun was the geek from 6:1. But
you were never a geek to begin with. It was all an act, wasn't it?
“How
come Urufu-kun knew it was your birthday? Geek stalker?” And that
was the Hitoshi moron from 2:1. If it wasn't for the
stupidities he usually
spewed
out of his mouth he might have been a match for Ryu in terms of
popularity.
Kuri-chan
replied with an angelic smile that
transformed her from a princess to an empress.
“Didn't I say? I'm such an airhead sometimes. I totally forgot that
yesterday was my birthday, and he was the one who reminded me.”
The
implicit meaning wasn't lost on anyone.
“Yesterday?
You saw each other yesterday?”
“Whoa! You
two went on a date?”
Kuri-chan
shook
her head theatrically and her hair caught in the wind.
She made it
blossom! It's a golden flower!
She
hummed tunelessly while she waited for shouts of admiration to quiet
down. Then her
voice turned sugary
sweet. “But he looks so stunning! How
could I not?”
Ryu
looked at his sister. She had shrunken to almost nothing. For the
second time he saw her drop her lunch.
“I forgot I
have something to do. See you at class.” Noriko rose, and with eyes
glued to the ground she rushed into the cafeteria.
Kyoko-chan
looked at his sister with eyes full of worry, and then she shot her
best friend a surprisingly angry glare. Kuri-chan just shrugged in
return.
Damn,
he beat me to it. I can live with that. But sis, I'm so sorry for
you!
Ryu rose, nodded curtly
at Urufu-kun and followed her.
Urufu-kun,
I'll get you for this!
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