The first mail
arrived a bit after lunch. The twentieth less than ten minutes later.
When he checked his on-line waterholes they had exploded with the
news.
At three in
the afternoon he grabbed a bit to eat in what was supposed to be a
trendy place in Sapporo. Around him young people talked about what
had happened in Tokyo earlier that day.
Feels
strange, he thought as he gobbled down his sandwich in silence.
Where I come from people talk about me, and Kuri. Here I'm a
nobody. He rose and went for another round at the soft-drink bar.
On the way he flashed a grin at the girls filling up their glasses
and was rewarded with long, admiring stares. OK not a nobody if I
make an effort.
When he sat
down again he noted, not without some satisfaction, that at least one
table ran two topics while they stole glances at him. But Kuri didn't
even need to be here to take centre stage.
Ryu fought a
childish urge to stand up and do some advanced name-dropping. They
might even believe me, but that's not the point. The point is that I
feel doubly lonely up here when she's down there and at the same time
the main menu on everyone's lips.
For the first
time he felt locked away. He had looked forward to the trip north
even knowing he wouldn't see her for some time, but he hadn't
expected to hear about her wherever he went.
Or watch.
Pictures and videos spread like wildfire, and the net was ablaze with
her images. Images of an almost otherworldly beauty planting her
banner in central Shibuya and claiming it for her own.
By nightfall
she made it to the major media. It wasn't big news by any means, but
late in a TV-newsreel Ryu saw her face flash past again in a short
story about noteworthy commotions in Tokyo.
In the middle
of the news-downpour he almost missed the really big news. Noriko
called him after he failed to respond to her mails. Kyoko and Yukio
had finally removed their blindfolds and become a pair.
He mused on
that piece of news after they hung up. Lucky bastards! Twice
lucky. After Kuri's public stunt you'll be left alone. It suited
them better, he guessed. He would have flaunted his girlfriend to the
world, but those two were more grounded. More solid. They made
perfect wingmen and were both loyal to a fault. Yukio even dared
facing off against Ryu when he suspected an intrusion on Urufu's
turf. Ryu respected that and he felt genuinely happy for both Yukio
and Kyoko.
Does that
leave us as the comedy duo, Noriko? Never happened before. But
strangely enough he only felt lonely. There was no jealousy when he
thought of Kuri and Urufu. Ryu might be in love with her, but they
were two of his closest friends. We are the same sis. I see you
laughing as well when you pull your pranks on them Noriko. It doesn't
hurt as much any more, does it?
The Wakayama
twins. The bond they shared stretched thin but not broken by the
distance between Tokyo and Sapporo. Obon, and after that I'm back
home again.
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