With the
unexpected arrival of trucks carrying everything in her wish-list
Noriko dared lean back in her chair and sort out other problems in
her enormous inbox.
Stay busy.
Stay occupied. Make sure you don't have time to worry about him.
She leaned
further back and rested her head on Nao's shoulders. He sat on a
chair behind her and hugged her. Had done so since she forced herself
to shoulder the broken remains of Urufu's planning. Not once did he
comment on how she had her mind full with another man.
“Noriko?” Her
radio crackled and the led light stared accusingly at her.
She smirked and
pushed the button. “Noriko here.”
“Kyoko here.
You can move half the security from the service gates. I don't think
the police will leave it before the festival ends. Over.”
“Thank you.”
For once Noriko remembered Urufu's instructions from the day before.
“Over and out.”
She split the
four students from 9:1 into two pairs, had one take a break and the
other carry supplies to the stalls needing it most. With a scowl she
realised that was just about every stall on the main street.
“Nao, help me,”
she said. She sighed and rose from her chair with the help of her
arms. All strength long gone from her limbs she needed physical
support to move from their office area to the lounge part.
He didn't answer,
but he put his right arm around her and held her waist with his hand.
It probably looked a bit indecent, but it allowed her to sag in his
embrace without falling to the floor.
It's time
for some bad acting. Here goes nothing. “Guys,” she
said facing the club members. “We don't have time for apathy now. Urufu worked his arse off to make this work, so why the hell are you
sitting here you lazy bastards?”
She only wanted
to join them, but in the long run that wouldn't make anyone feel
better.
“Shut up
bitch!”
“I'll shut up
when you start working again. Urufu and Kuri are absent. That puts me
in charge here. Get the hell out of here and fill up the stalls!”
Does that make me sound arrogant enough? Did I make them angry
enough to care again?
A couple of
members growled, but stood anyway. “Whatever, you piss-ant,”
Nori-kun said. “You heard the midget bitch. Let's get moving before
she starts wailing.”
Screw you!
Noriko stared at Nori-kun as he led a team through the door. Wait
a minute, did you just wink at me?
“Yeah, this
room stinks of bad mood. I'm off as well,” Hitomi-chan said and got
another half a dozen members moving.
Noriko wanted to
thank the beauty in Urufu's class, but something told her the timing
was off. I deserved that. Thanks guys, seeing through my act and
playing along with it anyway.
After that the
remaining members walked out in pairs or small groups, and as the
room emptied the festival committee members present got more lively.
Slowly the club room transformed into the head quarters it had been
before the assault on Urufu.
Back at the desks
in the office area two festival committee members threw her searching
glances, and Kenshin-sempai, the council treasurer, had a playful
smirk on his lips.
Noriko wiped some
non-existent sweat from her brow and walked up to the windows.
Somewhere out there Rie-sempai was making herself useful rather than
stalking Yukio. That in itself earned her a name upgrade from merely
being the nameless student council president.
Below the windows
she saw the bike-stand that indirectly had brought Yukio and Urufu
into her life, even though she now knew Urufu would have contacted
Kuri sooner or later anyway.
Almost half a
year. Has it been that long already? She put her hands to the
window pane and listened to Nao coming up behind her.
“Noriko, I'd
better help as well. Call me if there is anything.”
Don't turn
around. Her need to have him close to her almost overwhelmed her,
but he was right. She duped the rest of the club into work mode, and
with that she lost all rights to enjoy time with him.
He squeezed her
shoulder gently and left the room.
He knows my
mind is full of Urufu. I should be more grateful for his strength
when I feel this helpless. She took a step backwards, turned and
sat down by a desk. With a pang of regret Noriko pushed the button to
he radio and called Yukio for a bird's view report on the situation
on the school grounds.
The short
conversation helped a bit with taking her thoughts from Urufu and
whatever hospital he had been taken to. Checking off the items on her
laptop helped some more, and by the time she ordered two club members
onto the right wing rooftop some of the joy of juggling the festival
chaos returned to her.
Another two
hours and we're done.
Two hours of
keeping it together. The chaos wouldn't get worse, because with Kuri
absent most of the sensation seekers left the school as well. The
festival stayed crowded beyond reason though. While many guests left,
a lot of those caught in the queue outside the gates opted to go
inside for lack of anything better to spend their Sunday afternoon
on.
This is about
the amount of insanity I can handle. Noriko sighed, but when the
last of the air left her she allowed her face to split into a smile.
She couldn't do anything about Urufu, but she could do something
about the here and now. That was good enough.
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