Urufu dropping a bomb like that
turned out to be the starting point for some Kyoto shenanigans which
eventually made the field trip quite memorable.
Right now,
however, Noriko had yet to experience any of those, and she reeled
from handling what Urufu suggested an hour earlier.
Right now the
three of them sat freezing over cups of coffee and tea, watching what
had to be a gorgeous view come spring. Now the river felt naked
somehow, lacking the greenery that was to come later.
“So, no I don’t
have any plans to break up with Ryu. You taught me the hard way what
an awful thing it is to give up just because it’s hard,” Kuri
said between sips of coffee. She had said that several times, but
this was the first time she added something akin to regret for
breaking up with Urufu a year earlier.
Noriko clenched
her fists in her lap and pretended she hadn’t understood. Kuri was
a good friend, but she was also an eternal rival. She was one Noriko
needed and yet was scared of. Without Kuri she herself would never
had been given a chance with Urufu, because without Kuri and Urufu
being an item he’d have stayed forever in that black world of his
where he lost wife and children.
Urufu allowed an
almost smile to curve his lips and stared down at his coffee. Almost
regretfully he lifted it and drank a little. The cup hid his eyes and
Noriko wondered what passed his mind. A gust of wind that played in
his hair later he let the cup down again and it met the table with a
brittle sound.
“Fine, you’re
not breaking up,” he said and looked up.
Noriko noticed
how his eyes met Kuri’s, but that little something that had her
worried wasn’t there. Love for certain, but neither the kind of
needy greed of someone staring at his crush nor one half of the
shared happiness of one in a relationship.
“Say
something!”
Urufu shot Kuri
another glance after her outburst. With a cup of lukewarm coffee once
again in his hand he smirked and studied the sky. “What about you
make up? What about you apologise even though it wasn’t your
fault?”
“But I didn’t
do anything...”
“Isn’t he
worth it?”
Noriko stared in
fascination at the exchange of words. Silently she felt grateful the
both of them had chosen Japanese rather than the sing song Swedish
they used when the rest of the world was best kept in the dark.
“What do you
mean with worth it?”
Urufu sighed and
put his cup on the table. This time for the last time. There was
nothing left in it. “Do you love him enough to make use of a white
lie occasionally, even one that hurts you a little?”
“One that hurts
me?”
“We’re the
same, you and me. Too damn proud when it doesn’t matter.” Urufu
shot her a bashful smile. “There’s a difference between integrity
and stupidity you know.”
What, Urufu
admitting a fault of his own? That was a novel thought. It’s
almost as if he’s ready to learn something new. Which was
grossly unfair, but he was rigid enough to merit being that unfair
from time to time.
“I’ll get
something warm,” Noriko said and rose from her seat. “Please talk
things over!”
Kuri gave her a
worried look when she left for the entrance. “A tea for me,” Kuri
said rather than ask her not to leave.
You need to
talk anyway. I need you to talk, or else I’ll always be afraid of
you taking him from me. “Don’t worry. I won’t be long.”
Noriko gave Kuri a smile that maybe wasn’t entirely honest and went
inside.
A waitress behind
the counter gave her a curious look when Noriko beelined directly for
her, and with a self-conscious
smile Noriko
realised she had grown too used to the Haven where you either ordered
at your table or by the counter depending on your mood. Or
on the mood of whoever worked the tables that day for that matter.
Ordering
something warm was quick business and she spent the short respite
looking out the windows. Just outside Urufu and Kuri were busy
talking about Ryu. Noriko didn’t need to hear their conversation to
know. Behind them a street with more pedestrians than cars separated
café from river. Walking the river upstream with her eyes she saw
the famous Togetsukyo Bridge, the main reason for anyone being here
in the first place.
Should have
been the four of us. That
was wishful thinking. More wishful thinking had her and Urufu alone
here. Still, this was better
than the circus back home in
Tokyo. If she asked him
discreetly maybe they’d share the rest of the afternoon together.
She
barely registered a group of four girls from their school who passed
outside the window until one of them returned and stopped by the
table Urufu and Kuri shared. Even from inside the café Noriko saw
how the glare Kuri received was anything but friendly.
What the…
With the door
closed Noriko couldn’t hear anything, but she saw a mouth moving in
agitation and Kuri reeling from the verbal onslaught.
That’s
strange. Kuri hasn’t been up to any of her usual stunts where she
turns strangers into enemies. Noriko quickly went to the counter
and picked up her order. Once again the waitress gave her perplexed
stare, but Noriko decided that right now wasn’t the time to
remember that orders were served at the tables.
With a small tray
in her hands she pushed the door open and went for their table.
Whoever the angry girl had been she had rejoined her friends, and
Noriko stared at her receding backside. So did Urufu and Kuri.
“What’s up?”
Noriko wondered and put the tray on he table.
Urufu guffawed
and Kuri frowned, but she didn’t look angry.
“Fine, I’ll
make up with him,” she said.
“OK, fill me
in,” Noriko said and sat down on the chair she had occupied until
she went for refreshments.
“I just got
told off for not treating Ryu well enough. She told me she’d take
him from me if I didn’t shape up.”
Noriko stared at
Kuri. “That, eh… that sounds unlikely,” she finished.
Urufu just kept
on laughing.
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