Noriko ran to her
brother and demanded all extra hands he had available. Outside the
back entrance a truck stood waiting.
A truckload of
clothes, literally. You gotta be kidding me!
She didn't really
have time to explain anything, because the truck blocked most of the
street.
More than a few
faces turned their way when she ran together with her crew past the
gym, across the pool area and to the gate no one had found a teacher
with a key to.
It was late
enough in September for the last remnants of summer to have vanished,
and the end of the festival would see them change into their winter
uniforms. Right now she was happy they still wore their summer ones
as the rush to the truck was sweatier than she had thought.
Of those most
concerned with the load none were present. Kuri and Nao-sempai were
busy preparing them for the show. Apparently walking the catwalk
entailed more than just naturally looking good.
Noriko didn't
know. She'd been part of Urufu's fire brigade from the start, and
things like the sudden appearance of the truck was exactly what she
handled. In all fairness Ryu should have been part of it as well, but
as the festival loomed closer the more occupied he became with the
fashion show. It was a given that he would participate, but Kuri-chan
said you could create a fashion model 101 education based on
everything he misunderstood.
Just as she saw
the truck her phone signalled an incoming message. Nao-sempai, or
maybe just Nao now, she thought. They were dating after all. That
thought had her fingering her ear where a dazzling piece of gold and
ruby adorned it. The pain from piercing it was all but gone, as were
the memories of the verbal bashing she received when she first
arrived home with her earrings.
She led half her
crew around the gates thinking of the tall junior. Nao, her Nao. It
was a cosy feeling. Not the burning longing she once felt for Urufu
but rather a sense of safety.
“One bundle at
a time,” she shouted. “Above the gates, stack them over there and
you four start lugging it to the gym hall!”
It took them a
quarter of an hour to offload the truck, and when they were finished
a short line of cars with irritated drivers stood waiting for the
large vehicle to get moving.
After that they
carried the boxes to the gym hall a little like a caravan of ants
with their load. Another half an hour gone when they had so little
time left, or so she thought when they arrived with the second set of
boxes.
'An increment
must comply with a definition of done', Urufu said, 'and a definition
of done should always result in something practically useful', but
Noriko never understood what he meant by that until now.
Inside the
gymnasium Kuri already had her models clad in whatever clothes were
in the first set of boxes, and Noriko heard her instruct them in how
to wear those clothes and how to walk.
When Noriko and
her porters arrived with the third set the modelling crew received
instructions in new attire. All in all the loss of time could be
counted in minutes.
As the stash of
boxes by the gates shrunk the hangers in the gym hall filled with
clothes tried on, and by the time the last of the clothes were
carried inside the models looked as if the had a pretty good idea
about how to change between sets in an absurdly short time.
While the
exercise served its intended means it also became a show of its own.
An audience gathered, both boys and girls, ogling the models as they
changed. Noriko heard Kuri shout a choice set of Swedish words to the
boys, and there was no need to understand the language to get the
message across.
Hitomi-chan
looked more embarrassed than beautiful and Noriko understood her
perfectly. Changing clothes as a model meant spending a lot of time
half naked in front of others, and no matter how much they tried to
shield her with blankets some of the boys always managed to sneak a
peek or two while she wore nothing but her underwear.
“Kuri, club
room,” Noriko suggested when she understood that nothing Kuri
shouted would help.
Hitomi-chan gave
her a grateful look in return and stared pleadingly at Kuri. When
Kuri started to shake her head Noriko grabbed one of her arms and
yanked.
“What?”
“Club room.
This isn't Sweden. We're not used to having boys stare at us that
way.”
“If you want to
work as a...”
Noriko didn't
allow Kuri to finish that sentence. “This isn't work. It's a school
event and Hitomi-chan shouldn't have to go through this.”
Kuri backed down
at that. Almost. “But the clothes?”
It made sense.
The ones they planned to used from the start lay in the burner after
someone shredded them. “I'll assign people to guard duty here, OK?”
Kuri nodded and
shortly afterwards Noriko watched her leaving the gym hall together
with the models. They carried a box each. Enough to continue training
but most of the clothes were still here. Another half an hour later
saw all boxes empty and the hangers filled to capacity.
Now the time had
come for the more difficult part.
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