Ryu wondered if
Urufu and Kuri had managed to spend their Christmas together in that
Swedish style Urufu spoke about. If what Urufu said was true then he
spent Christmas like a Japanese New Year's celebration, well, minus
visiting a shrine of course.
If the couple
had, then that was two days ago, because apparently Christmas Eve was
the big event in Sweden rather than Christmas Day as Ryu had been
taught was the western style.
You give me a
headache. Before I met you I could safely assume that 'western' was
the one set of whatever was not Japanese.
The thought made him smile, because Ulf had tried to smooth things
over by saying that most westerners only knew about their own version
of 'western'.
Well, he had
spent a nice enough date with Ai-chan yesterday where they even
quickly showed up at the Irishima high Christmas party. There he had
been displayed like an exotic animal, and for the first time he could
remember he felt uncomfortable being the centre of attention.
Ryu glanced at
the reason for that discomfort. She had fallen asleep in the seat
across his, but she was almost as cute sleeping as when she pulled
him into her shenanigans. Almost. That laugh of hers, or her
inexplicable shyness belonged to her waking world.
“Sis, when is
Nao-sempai coming?” Ryu said and turned to his sister.
Aw, damn!
She had fallen asleep as well.
“Mom, the girls
are no fun!”
His mother turned
and looked at him and Noriko. Then something nasty from many years
ago glimmered in her eyes and she stuck her tongue out at him. “Suits
you Ruy,” she said and returned to her conversation with his father
who drove the van.
What the?
He knew his mother could be surprisingly childish sometimes, but
right now she had behaved like a grade schooler.
Smirking he
pulled up his phone and mailed Nao-sempai a complaint.
The reply took a
few minutes to come.
“They're girls,
leave them be. Kuri-chan sends her greetings by the way and wants you
to give them her best.”
Ryu decided
against calling the junior despite feeling a little uneasy writing on
his phone while the van they rode snaked its way further into the
mountains. Another hour and they'd be at their destination, an onsen
that carried memories for his parents.
“Something
happened?” Ryu wrote and fished for some information on what had
happened between Kuri and Urufu.
While he waited
for an answer they passed through another tunnel, and by now they had
climbed far enough inland for the greenish brown hillsides to become
greenish white. From what he remembered there would be snow all over
the place when they finally arrived.
“Kuri got
scolded, and they scheduled a lot of shoots during winter break.”
Scolded? Good
for you two, Ryu thought.
The only reason people would be pissed off with her was that she had
indeed managed to save the date with Urufu.
“And you got
caught up in it?”
It took Ryu three
attempts to send that last mail, and when it was away they had left
the last of the tunnels and the entire world around him was covered
in snow.
“Yes. I'll join
you tomorrow. Please convey my apologies to your sister if I'm unable
to reach her myself!”
Noriko would
sulk, that much was for certain, but with a promise that Nao-sempai
would show the day after Ryu didn't think the sulking would be all
that bad.
But I don't
remember why
mom and dad wants to go here? Ah, of course. Staring out the window Ryu saw a small winter's resort. It was
nothing compared to the major resorts in the Japan Alps, but it was
definitely enough to enjoy a few days away from Tokyo.
“Send my
regards to Kuri and make sure you're here by tomorrow. I'll keep sis
off your back.”
The mail Ryu
received in return was only filled with smiling emojis.
Well, maybe
you'll get some time off for New Years. I'd like to spend hatsumode
with the two of you. If
he understood correctly Kuri and Urufu were used to spend the
midnight of New Year’s outdoors watching fireworks. Well, there
weren't any fireworks in Japan – those belonged to summer, but
people spent midnight outdoors here as well.
By then they were
almost at their destination. A steep slope, barely cleared enough of
snow to allow their car to climb it, a strangely oversized parking
place and a woman in a kimono who waved them to the entrance, that
was it. Ryu slid open the door, climbed out and woke Noriko.
“Make sure
Ai-chan wakes as well,” he said and grabbed two small bags.
On his way to the
entrance he heard how his girlfriend made sleepy sounds of protests
behind him. Then the sound of the trunk being opened reached him and
he met two porters who hurried to the car. They'd handle all the
heavy luggage, which as usual included a lot more than what was
needed.
You're funny, he
thought. His parents were exemplary in their efficiency packing for
work related trips, but whenever it was time for a vacation they
tried to bring the entire home with them.
As an
afterthought he mailed Urufu as well and wondered about life and the
universe in general. The answer arrived just about the same time as
their luggage and Ai-chan came inside the hotel foyer.
“Got a break.
Bogged down with work. Feels good.”
That was so very
Urufu. Concise to the point of being hard to read.
Ryu sent a reply
and made his way to the table where they'd receive some tea while
their luggage was delivered to their rooms. His phone vibrated almost
immediately.
“Don't worry.
Christina works as well. Good time to make money.”
That was the
constructive way to react Ryu guessed. It wasn't like Urufu could
prevent his girlfriend from taking part in her shoots, and burying
himself in work should make him better prepared for when they finally
had some time together.
December 29,
but I'm afraid they'll push it. Worst case she gets December 31 and
January 1 off, but that will play merry hell with the rest of the
employees. Ryu shook his
head and met his father's gaze. “Sorry, was thinking about work.”
“Do you have
any work to do now?”
“Sorry, not me.
I was thinking of Urufu and Kuri,” Ryu said and added one name to
the truth. Where's sis?
he thought to banish his worries about his friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment