Not dropped, not even on real hiatus

Just to clarify.

The story is not dropped, and I haven't even really put it on hiatus.

Working as a teacher I'm currently switching from on-site lectures to running them all remote. That comes with some rather heavy re-planning of both content and methods used. All in all I'm currently swamped with handling moving from classroom education to an on-line one.

Another week or so should see both me and my students accustomed to the new normality, in as much as anything could be called normal at the moment.

Chapter four, 2018, white Valentine, segment seven

After the disaster at the café any serious talking had to wait until evening. Well, evening came, with a conversation and all, and in the end Ryu managed to convince both girls to attend a birthday celebration. One out of two since both Yukio and Kyoko were adamant they’d have the other for themselves.

Ryu found no flaws in their reasoning. He’d be damned if he had to give up on celebrating Kuri, and Noriko’s pairing up with Urufu at least carried the advantage of brother and sister no longer needing to express how much twins they were during their shared celebration.

He also found it rather cute and amusing how Yukio and Kyoko handled their birthdays. With their respective days of celebration just one week apart they apparently saw it as one event in two parts. That was, Ryu mused, probably the only sane thing to do. For Yukio and Kyoko this was a month long insanity with Valentines, two birthdays, white day and end of school more or less evenly spread out. A week to catch your breath, if even that.

Now that first birthday was here, the one that Yukio and Kyoko decided was a combined celebration together with friends. For an occasion like this Ryu didn’t have to go far, and neither did his sister. The entire gang, strengthened by Hitomi, Tomasu and Jeniferu all sat in the Wakayama living room. Another six people were on their way here.

“You have everything you need?”

Ryu looked up. The question was superfluous at best, but during the last hellish year there had been few occasions for him to bring friends back home, and Ryu guessed his parents were worried. In the end he just nodded.

“Then I’ll have dinner with Tadao. Please don’t be too late.”

It wasn’t like they planned to run around late at night, but since that dinner meant an overnight stay at an onsen Ryu accepted that his mother didn’t want over a dozen teenagers to run rampant in the house all night long.

“Some of them are staying over,” he said. She already knew, but he wanted her to reaffirm that she did.

“We only have six extra futons, remember?”

That had to do as confirmation. “I know mom. Have a good time.”

She just smiled. “We always do.” There was something naughty in her voice, something he’d rather hear from a classmate than from his mother. “It’s been a while since we had an outing just the two of us.”

He definitely preferred something like that from a classmate. “Take care.”

“I will,” she said. She was halfway through the door when she turned and looked at him. “I won’t do anything you haven’t already done,” she added with a wide grin on her face. For a moment his mother’s face lit up like a mischievous devil, twenty years old rather than forty. Then she was outside, and Ryu wondered what kind of life she once led as a teenager.

“What was that about?” Noriko asked from her seat in the sofa.

Ryu frowned. “Dunno.”

By Noriko’s side Kuri and Urufu looked at each other and laughed.

“Bad girl!” Kuri said.

“Very bad,” Urufu agreed. “There’s a bad boy waiting for her,” he said.

“Look, that’s my mother you’re talking about,” Ryu protested.

Both Kuri and Urufu shook their heads.

“No,” Kuri said. “That’s a girl ten years younger than me. Damn she’s cool!”

“Grew into it?” Urufu said.

This time only Kuri shook her head. “Don’t think so. She probably dared everything I didn’t myself when I was fifteen. She’s a natural you know.”

“Mum's awesome,” Noriko broke in.

“Yeah, she is,” Kuri said. “She must have made a lot of enemies as a kid.”

“A lot of friends as well,” Urufu countered. “I don’t think being on her bad side would be good for your health.”

Noriko bent forward and poured some tea for herself. “Mum’s awesome,” she repeated with a happy smile on her face.

Ryu looked at his sister. They were twins. While outsiders always compared him with their parents, in truth Noriko inherited the invisible parts. Brains to begin with, but also the inner strength their mother really had and their father pretended he had.

The doorbell rang and Ryu hastened to it. Outside Ai waited with her best friend. Behind them four former Himekaizen students, all members of the club, lined up by the gate. They carried paper bags in their hands, and Ryu suspected Yukio and Kyoko would return home laden with presents.

Then Ryu noticed a surprise guest. Oh, been a while! A classmate from middle school, and one of Noriko’s few close friends from that time. What connection, if any, she had to Kyoko Ryu didn’t know, and Yukio, well Ryu didn’t even remember him from middle school despite sharing the same grade for three years.

Guess food will be enough for one more. Wonder what she’s doing here though. He invited all seven and waited for Noriko’s surprised outburst when she saw who had come to visit.

It didn’t happen. When the unannounced guest entered the living room Noriko just nodded, excused herself and followed the girl up the stairs to her room.

With a tinge of irritation Ryu shrugged it off. A boyfriend and girlfriend each meant brother and sister were no longer as close as he’d grown used to. Maybe it was as simple as a matter of age. He didn’t know.

“We’re having hotpot,” he announced after giving his sister another thought. “A lot of hotpot. Who’s helping me prepare it?”

Kuri smiled and raised her hand into the air like an elementary school kid.

“That’s one. One more,” Ryu said. Spending time alone with Kuri in the kitchen wasn’t time wasted, but she was an awful cook.

“Two more,” Jirou said.

Ryu looked for Sango by his side and she nodded. The couple followed him to the kitchen and with three and a half chefs they made short time of the ingredients. Preparations went even faster when Ai and friend unasked set the tables.

Chapter four, 2018, white Valentine, segment six

“So, lunch date with your ex. What would Kuri say?”

“She’d say I’m a decent man for not breaking off all contact because our relationship went south,” Ryu said. Once lovers but no longer they somehow still managed to grow an awkward friendship which allowed room for some friendly insults and bantering.

Around them tables quickly filled up, and Ryu noted how more than a few high school students were among the guests. By this time of the year seniors didn’t make anyone raise an eyebrow since the only thing they did was wait for the outcome of their entrance exams. However, if even half of the school uniforms here were seniors Ryu was willing to eat his own cardigan.

I’m bad company even for those I’ve never seen before. He accepted the smugness in that thought. It was all a part of being Wakayama Ryu.

“Girls coming here as well,” Ai said and rudely ripped the carpet from under his feet.

Ryu glanced around him. The tables had filled with a lot less girls than he had expected. Sure enough, three of them only had female customers throwing him looks that were anything but shy, but the glances from boys weren’t directed at him.

Ai’s cute and all, but she’s hardly… Just as Ryu changed his mind and reconsidered how beautiful his former girlfriend had grown the last year Jeniferu boxed Ai on her shoulder and gave her a naughty grin. Seconds later a blast of charisma had just about everyone in the café rise from their chairs. Girls or boys mattered little.

Ah, I forgot.

“It’s been too long,” Jeniferu said and giggled.

You’re a pain in the arse, but I’d like to see more of that side. That he had forgotten what she did to a room filled with people if she wanted reminded him of why he was here in the first place. Was if because Tomasu didn’t come running like a puppy whenever you pulled that stunt? Maybe. Ryu didn’t know, but he could see how someone like Jeniferu would be interested in men who didn’t react to her games.

One boy, a freshman most likely, proved braver than the others and tried to join the three of them at their table.

“Do you mind?” he asked.

Ryu stared at eyes filled with experience from playing around. I could have been like you, he thought, but sis pulled in the reins. Suddenly Ryu felt a surge of gratitude for the midget sized bulldozer he grew up with. “We’re having a conversation,” he began in what he hoped was a polite enough voice.

“We finally got to have the Prince of Himekaizen for ourselves,” Ai broke in. She put her cup to the table. “What makes you believe we’d be interested in anyone else?”

The boy fidgeted a little, but Ryu guessed he didn’t get those eyes from backing away at every setback.

“He’s just one guy.”

“He’s just the guy Ageruman Kuritina chose. Just your average supermodel boyfriend,” Ai responded and upped the ante. There was still a glimmer of resentment in her voice, but only students at Irishima High would know the reason.

There was a sound of another cup hitting the table. Ryu noticed from the corner of his eye how Jeniferu played around with a prank probably best left alone.

The door opened and another group of guests arrived. This time just girls who came to drink a little and stare at him quite a lot.

“Ryu needs two girls to keep him occupied,” Jeniferu said.

Oh no, you don’t!

She blasted away once more and waited for everyone in the cafe to fixate on her. “Well, maybe just one of me. I was referring to mere mortals after all.”

That was nasty. Ryu felt sorry for Ai. Besides, you just got another two dozen enemies in here.

“So I need her to keep me in check, which makes up both quite busy,” Jeniferu continued. Then she nuked the café a third time. “Don’t you agree?”

Poor sod! Ryu stared at how the boy deflated. He might be used to the boys and girls game, but no one got used to being around Kuri and Jeniferu. Kiddo, you’re out of your league.

Suddenly Ryu understood why Urufu used that expression. Over thirty years of added experience was another way to cheat in that game. Urufu might not have the natural ability, but he had years and years of added memories to compensate with. And he has his own way of shining like a star. Whenever chaos engulfed a group of people Urufu turned into an inhuman monster. Sometimes I just hate you. You eat chaos for breakfast and shit out order.

The sound of clattering metal brought Ryu out of his thoughts. He blinked and a teaspoon dancing on the table caught his eyes.

“What did you just say?”

What? Damn, I just said that aloud, didn’t I? “I… nothing.”

Across the table Jeniferu guffawed. Ai threw her questioning eyes and Ryu wished he could vanish through the floor.

“Now there’s a boy where one of me isn’t enough,” Jeniferu said. “He shits out order you said,” she added and laughed again.

By now Ryu thoroughly regretted coming here. No cafe after that ramen joint would have been a good start. No he should have bought something to eat and spent the lunch at their school. At least he was a known entity there, and a few girls aside this circus would never have happened.

“What’s going on?” the boy asked. He still hadn’t left the table. Just like the everyone else in the cafe he stood rooted to the floor after Jeniferu’s brutal show earlier.

“Just chatting about a friend,” Jeniferu offered. “He shits out order,” she clarified, “and he’s the only man I know who could give Ryu a run for his money.”

Ryu grinned. He threw the boy and evil smile just for the hell of it. “Welcome to reality,” he said. “Enjoy your high school days.”

The last month of his junior year turned out a lot more absurd than Ryu had expected. Like a prolonged Valentine’s day. More like a month long white Valentine to put him in his place.

Chapter four, 2018, white Valentine, segment five

Ryu swore a little. Then he tried to come up with an excuse to get out of it. After that he swore a little more.

With February turning into Mars the end of the year wasn’t just something close. Now it was breathing down his neck.

One good thing about being together with Kuri was her looks, and almost two years earlier that would have sealed the deal. Ryu was two years older now though, and while he certainly enjoyed staring at her beauty that was no longer the reason he loved her, or at least not a major part of it. For him she looked like Kuri. If anything he loved the Kuri-ness of her, if such a word even existed.

One good thing about being together with Kuri was how he himself became even more popular without having to reject girls confessing to him every so often. That was joy and the practical combined into one.

One not so good thing was how it took him the better part of two weeks to eat all the chocolate he had been given. He did eat it all. That was only being respectful. Besides he had nothing better to do while keeping tabs.

One bad thing was the keeping of tabs. White days closed in on him, and he’d make good use of the leftovers from Urufu’s inflated salary during winter break. Carrying his return gifts to school meant slinging one of Urufu’s atrocities across his shoulders, because the bag Ryu normally used simply couldn’t fit it all inside.

Still, a matter of showing proper respect.

Thus it was that Ryu grumbled and made his way to Irishima High. Sure, he could have caught up with Ai in the café, but that would be doing her a great disservice, and she deserved none of that. While his face was known at the other high school he was nowhere as famous there as at Himekaizen.

In his pocket he carried a letter signed and sealed by the vice principal of Irishima High. Ryu had acquired it last evening, and it gave him blanket permission to enter the school grounds.

He barely made it into the school before a teacher apprehended him.

“Your business here?”

Ryu dug into his bag and showed his letter. “I’m here on behalf of the exchange club. There is a… are members in this school I’m meeting.” Jeniferu might be his real reason for being here, but not talking with Ai would be rude to put it mildly.

“Names?”

“Hasegawa Ai and Cooperu Jeniferu, sensei,” Ryu said. He didn’t know where their home rooms were, so any help from the staff here was appreciated.

“Would you mind waiting in the office until lunch?”

Ryu bowed and followed the teacher. While polite that question held undertones of: how come you’re skipping school? Apparently a letter signed by the vice principal here had less value than the fact that a student visited another school during what was obviously a school day.

Walking through a corridor and up some stairs was short business. Irishima High was substantially smaller than Himekaizen. In ways it looked more like a rural middle school than the prestigious private high school it was.

While Himekaizen by no means belonged to the group of schools with a poor reputation, being neighbours with Irishima High stained it. Not being as good as somehow came to mean pretty bad. In that sense Red Rose Hell served as a nearby example of what a school with poor academic performance really was, but now that hell hole had closed down. Sure, their middle school still had students, but nothing could save it from the downwards spiral, and besides you just didn’t compare middle schools with high schools.

Ryu left the train of thoughts when he was let inside the teachers’ office, found a chair by a window and sat down to study how these school grounds differed from the ones he was used to.

No large, gravelled expanse to begin with. To reach the buildings you had to walk a paved walkway separating sports ground from a line of bike stands which gave way to a narrow area where they grew vegetables. This school must have some kind of gardening club.

“Would you like some tea?”

Ryu turned at the sound. “Yes, yes thank you,” he said. After that he returned to watching the outside. Somewhere in his mind a nagging voice told him he’d done something wrong, but he couldn’t find out what.

“Here you are.”

“Thank you.” He took the offered mug and sipped a little. Ah, of course! Three years at Red Rose Hell taught him a few bad habits. “Would you want me to buy something for you in the cafeteria?” Ryu asked. Just because the female teacher was young it didn’t mean he should take it for granted that she offered domestic chores.

“Thank you!” Her face lit up. “But there’s no need, and besides there’s no cafeteria in this school.”

Ryu smiled. Now when she mentioned it Irishima High’s reputation was based on academic merits. It wasn’t a fashionable school in any way. If anything they took pride in being a little old fashioned – sailor uniforms and gakuran only reinforced that impression.

With nothing else to do he whiled away the time sipping tea and studying the school exterior until bell rang for lunch and he was showed the way to the first year classrooms. He’d grab Jeniferu there and pick up Ai on the way out. His letter allowed him to bring friends for a meal outside the school provided he escorted them back well within time for the next period.

The same shabby concrete floors he was used to from Himekaizen led him to a corridor feeding classrooms, and someone must have told Jeniferu of his arrival, because she stood waiting for him outside what he guessed was her classroom.

She led him to the second year area and minutes later they headed through gates and in the direction of a cheap ramen shop where you could have your fill even as a ravenous teenager. For once Ryu felt happy both girls discarded their girlishness in favour of a solid meal.