When the camera crew took at short break Ryu
called for attention and had his groups walk past the set. He made a
show of walking over to Kuri and exchange pleasantries. In reality he
asked her how Urufu was doing, but that wasn't what it looked like.
As an added bonus he received a few murderous
stares from the male models, especially after Kuri saw through his
ploy and gave him a friendly hug in the Swedish fashion he still had
problems getting accustomed to. Urufu was just as bad and usually
hugged people left and right when greeting them.
He high fived Kuri and made off with two groups
before Noriko came up to Kuri and repeated the process. She got no
murderous stares though, but Ryu felt rather certain a few of the
crew leered at his sister. He'd seen her get her fair share of looks
in school, and compared to what the models here wore she could as
well have been undressed.
“That's my friend and she's off limits!”
Kuri's voice confirmed his suspicions and he
turned, prepared to interfere. There was no need. How do you
manage to look down on someone half a head taller than you? The
next sight caught him by surprise and he slapped a hand to his mouth
to stop the laughter that was bubbling up. Way to go sis! And
you're even shorter than Kuri is.
“Gentlemen, let's proceed to the next station,”
he said to the members of his two groups who stood studying the
silent exchange between the girls and the models. “On our way there
I want you to find a solution to the last problem, but this time the
setting is Normandy a generation after the invasion of England.”
“Normandy?”
“You have your tablets. Look it up! Noriko will
help you with locating any specifics you believe are needed.”
Running a walking talking session was more fun
then he would have believed, and Ryu began to understand why Urufu
put so much effort into them. By now it was clear that the problems
themselves held less importance than the process of solving them. The
answers, right or wrong, mattered little.
“I have a question about late eleventh century
banking in Europe,” one man said.
Grinning Ryu waved his sister to him and had her
help that group.
The next step would be harder. Collecting and
understanding process data was beyond him. Urufu always did that
work, and Ryu had noticed how even Kuri sometimes was left
flabbergasted. That guy sure knows his crap. I'll steal her from
you but still keep you as my friend. How he would succeed with
that was still an unknown, but solving social problems was what made
him tick. In a sense he suspected he was a lot more similar to Urufu
than he wanted to admit.
I'll need you after lunch. Kuri's busy so I
guess I'll have Yukio get you down. Ryu kicked some sand into the
air and silently cursed Principal Nakagawa.
Around him the middle managers were occupied with
the problem he had invented and this time both Yukio and Kyoko were
able to participate. They had done a thorough reading on medieval
Europe when Urufu forced the club to compare Heian era Japan with
Saxon England less than two weeks earlier.
Noriko shone as usual. That day she had left Urufu
laughing curled up in a ball when she caught him in some kind of
error where he painted himself into a corner. Exactly what was so
funny about it Ryu never understood, but she had made a conclusion
that had Urufu laughing helplessly while at the same time giving her
a look filled with admiration.
I can see why you're in love with him, but he's
wrong for you. Too old and too cynical. And that thought had Ryu
reflecting on his own feelings for Kuri. But she's not cynical,
just awfully cold sometimes.
He had to admit Urufu and Kuri made a good pair,
but Nakagawa's latest brainchild only served to drive them further
apart. Now, there's a cold man. We're just tools to him. But I
think he cares for us in his own twisted way.
Feeling depressed he wondered how his parents had
gotten involved so closely with the principal. They were alumni of
Himekaizen, Ryu knew that much, but Nakagawa couldn't have been their
principal back then.
Gods! I need a nice chat out with some of the
girls. Karaoke would have been nice. Damn, they should be on their
way down from the camping site by now. He wondered who had taken
command now that none of the founders of the club were present.
Caught up in his thoughts he almost missed their
next station. It was a simple thing with foldable chairs and tables.
A few bags held large sheets of paper, post-its and marker pens in
different colours.
“This will be the last task before lunch,”
Yukio said to the questioning faces looking at Ryu for instructions.
Thanks Yukio. It felt good knowing he had
his back covered. Wingman. I think I understand what sis meant
when she told me you need one to shine.
Kyoko helped her boyfriend with setting up the
tables, and Noriko quickly instructed the groups one by one.
“What's the point with this exercise?” For
once it wasn't the old goat who had complained about just everything
the entire morning, but the mid thirties something Kuri had warned
him of.
Ryu bent over the man's shoulder and resorted to
more or less quote Urufu. “Called retrospective. Basically four
quadrants representing what worked, what didn't work, which processes
should be used in the future and problems that need fixing.”
“And the purpose being?” the man said smiling.
He didn't look malicious, just interested in a condescending way.
“It's a powerful tool for teams adhering to an
ideal of continuous improvement. Primarily for processes,” Ryu said
not knowing exactly what it meant. “If I'm unclear Noriko would be
better for clarifying the underlying concept,” he continued and
hoped it would be enough to let him off the hook.
She had heard him and came over. Sis, you're
also covering for me. This gang is the best!
A short conversation between Noriko and the man
told Ryu how much better she had grasped Urufu's teachings. Whenever
it was a matter of knowledge she was brilliant in a way he would
probably never become.
The time at the station ran to its end, and Ruy
sighed with relief. Exhausted, he wouldn't have guessed how tiring it
could be. The baking August heat didn't help neither, but the knew it
also made the businessmen less alert in catching up on the errors he
must have been guilty of the last three hours.
Now he only needed to get them all to the dining
hall, and that should buy them another hour. After that it was a
matter of make or break with Urufu either handling the afternoon or
staying like a zombie. Zombie would be bad, very bad.
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