She stared
after Urufu when his shoulders sunk and he walked around the
bookshelf to the office area. If they had been alone she wasn't sure
she could have kept herself from hugging him.
That
modelling job had better be worth it. You're hurting him, even if
he's trying his best to hide it. A couple of months earlier that
thought would have come with equal parts shame and glee, because Kuri
hurting Urufu brought them that much closer to breaking up. Now
Noriko only felt sad. Urufu hurting hurt her as well. That hadn't
changed, but her own plans had.
I'm moving
on, Kuri. If you break him I can't promise I'll be here
to pick up the parts. It wasn't that she had stopped loving
Urufu, but there was no coming between Kuri and him as long as their
relationship worked. It was exactly because Noriko still loved
him that she had to move on. To be the friend he needed she had to
find someone else to love, or at least to get along with well enough
to substitute for love.
Cold and
cynical her brother called her. Well, no one tried to rape him. No
one tried to take his body for money. That was probably the worst of
it. They failed, and she had been rescued by not one but two knights
in shining armour, so the feeling of helplessness left her long ago.
But they had been paid. The bastards hadn't even tried to rape her
because they wanted to rape her. Her body wasn't even worth
taking unless you were paid in advance, and that still hurt.
Deep inside
her she knew her self loathing was a lie. Yukio had confessed to her
– three times. And that model, Takado-sempai, singled her out that
evening on the beach. And when she wasn't around Kuri boys stole
glances at her, but then nobody could compete around Kuri. Not
true. You could, Kyoko. Yukio never looked at Kuri that way.
Sometimes she
wondered if she shouldn't have rewarded Yukio's persistence, but at a
closer look it wouldn't have worked. He lacked the hardness of
character she required.
“Noriko,
what's up?”
Someone was
speaking to her. “What?”
“Noriko, you
should leave him alone. Everyone here can see that you like him if
you stare after him like that,” Midori-chan said and placed a hand
on her shoulder in sympathy.
Noriko blushed
a little. Midori-chan had misunderstood some of it after all, but she
was probably right when she said Noriko wore her feelings like an
overcoat right now. “It's all-right, I've already confessed,”
Noriko said. “He knows and he rejected me,” she continued and
looked at Midori-chan's stunned face. “Don't give me that look.
It's not like you didn't know anyway.”
“You're
awesome. You're so cool!”
That put a
smile on her face. Cool was good. Awesome was better. She could live
with that. “Sure, but it's nothing you need to announce. Will only
make me look like stupid, you know.”
“I wouldn't
dream of it!” Midori-chan promised.
And it'll
be all over the grapevine within days. Oh well, she's an airhead,
can't be helped. “Thank you, that really makes me feel better,”
Noriko lied. She took a few steps into the lounge part. That sofa by
a low table looked really inviting, or maybe one of the arm chairs.
In the end she
settled for an arm chair. More members were on their way and even
though she was a midget, sleeping on the sofa would still have
occupied three seats.
There would be
some harsh words come autumn. Their club already attracted a lot of
attention, and with their new room from out of the blue it would
become clear they had a better contact with the principal than was
normal. The student council had a lot of clout, but nothing near
ordering the remaking of a run down classroom. It even had an AC
better than the one in their classroom.
Time to
plan for the culture festival as well. I'll have to do most of the
planning I'm afraid. Urufu never got to experience one, because he
was incarcerated for saving me. Se really did owe him. He'd even
saved her brother from the fallout.
The door
opened and Ryu arrived with parts of his and Kuri's fan club in tow.
They carried bags with food and drinks and snacks. That left Yukio
and Kyoko who had their own scavenging patrol. They had promised
something great, but Noriko had no idea what it was.
When the door
opened the next time two of the girls entered with a microwave. They
were met with jubilation but just kept smiling as if they'd been let
in on some great secret.
“Peeps, need
some guys out here for the carrying slings!” Yukio's voice shouted
from the corridor. Noriko watched some of the boys leave the room.
“Whoa! Man!”
she heard a while later.
It took a
minute. It probably took several, and when Kyoko opened the door
again Noriko heard the sound of people carrying something heavy. Then
she saw one end of something shiny. Are you nuts? Are you for
real?
The room
filled with a roar of approval when the full height fridge was
carried through the opening.
You're
absolutely wonderfully insane you lot! With guys like you I'll never
be able to keep my cool. For once she didn't try to avoid her
brother when he came sailing through the room with a high five
prepared.
“Man, we've
got cool, cause we are cool.” Yukio shouted from somewhere, and
during the commotion Urufu came out from his hiding space and smiled
at what he saw. With a calmer face he met Ryu's high five. Calmer,
but he still met it with one of his own. It had to be some kind of
male thing.
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