Chapter three (segment two), 2017, January, Christina

Fuck it! They got me good this time. Christina swore a little more, and this time she didn't even bother with giving the representatives from Vogue a false smile.

The new year was already an hour old, but any opportunity to see Ulf vanished several hours earlier when she boarded a helicopter for a flight the a domestic airport where a private jet waited to take them as close to Kyoto as possible.

Another short flight with helicopter later and an even shorter drive in a gaudy limousine she arrived at some shrine where her celebrating hatsumode turned into a monkey show with her entering and exiting a freezing tent to change clothes over and over again.

The exhausting shoot took over two hours, and when it was finished she was dragged inside to play the exotic and awestruck foreigner visiting a shrine for a New Year's celebration Japanese style.

They even took her phone away, so she hadn't been able to tell Ulf that she wouldn't show up. He'd forgive her when she explained, Christina knew that, but right now he was probably angry and sullen.

And they'll just keep going. How did I end up in this shit? Winter term would come as liberator a week down the line, but until then she was tied up with shoots every day.

To make things worse she didn't have Dai, her personal photographer, with her. He was still tied up by his contract with her old employer. Damn arseholes! They sold me like cattle. Christina grimaced. She hardly had any right to complain about that part. After all it was her who had forced the issue. She just hadn't been prepared for them to play her just as well as she had played them.

More or less without thinking she went from pose to pose, each kept to a minimum. It should show she was aware of the camera, but nothing more. It took all her experience from being a super model to make it look like she was chatting with her best friend who just happened to have a camera instead of a face.

This is my golden prison.

That she was a golden opportunity for Vogue went without question. The number of sixteen year old models with fifteen years experience from modelling was exactly one. Add twenty year's worth of experience from designing and marketing global fashion and you had a monstrosity that had no right to exist. But I wonder who's the real monster. You or me? Thinking of Ulf made her heart hurt, but the question remained. Sometimes she fantasised about Ulf wanting to change the destiny of an entire nation, and sometimes she wondered if she had fantasised in the first place.

I hate this! Christina resolved to give Ulf a call first thing in the morning. After that she had to call the Wakayamas, the older version of them. Either parent would work. Her legal guardian had sold her out, because she doubted Vogue would have dared to fly her from Tokyo to Kyoto for an overnight stay without the written consent of the old hag.

Maybe I should ring Ulf's Amaya as well. Ulf's thirty year old guardian was one of the few persons who could shut Christina up with a single glare. Christina had the utmost respect for anyone who could, and she admired the woman more than she wanted to admit.

Besides, Ulf's guardian knew how to pull strings. The débâcle with Vogue's security detail during Christmas had proven that.

While the camera crew switched positions and waited for lightning to change Christina looked sideways and sent an apologetic shrug to her right. My bad. I got you caught up in this as well.

Nao shrugged back and closed the distance between them.

“I know what you're thinking. I don't mind, the way you do.”

A mug of almost hot tea materialised in her left hand and Christina sipped it before answering. “What about Noriko?”

There was a smile on Nao's face that Christina didn't entirely like. One that she would have loved twenty years ago.

“This is the best career chance I'll ever get, but I'll tell Noriko I was forced to. With your New Year's celebration down the drain as well she'll believe me,” he said and confirmed that he was indeed fully devoted to a modelling career.

Careful kiddo, it'll cost you. But then maybe he didn't care all that much. “Why did you confess to Noriko if you're going to lie to her about this?”

“Are you going to tell on me?” Nao asked instead of answering Christina's question.

She drank some more of the tea, which had cooled considerably, and slid into a new pose just in case someone was shooting.

“No, I'm not,” Christina said after she had swallowed the by now lukewarm drink. “Still want you to answer my question though.”

Nao climbed a peg or two in Christina's opinion when she saw him giving that answer a good thought. At least he was going to be honest about it.

With both hands combing through his hair, and destroying over fifteen minutes of work for some poor sod at make-up, he sucked at his lips before meeting Christina's gaze.

“I like her,” he said. “I really do, and I did back then as well, but it's not like I plan to marry or anything.”

“Go on,” Christina nudged.

“Noriko's like super smart, and I'm not. After I graduate we'll break up one way or another. I'm good at modelling and she'll be good at whatever university brings her.”

Well, there's that. Fair enough. He's just a lot more grown up than I gave him credit for. Reassured that Nao wasn't just another good looking arsehole Christina smiled at him and nodded. “You don't have to lie about it, you know. I think she knows.”

“That's what I'm afraid of,” he answered with a sheepish grin. “I don't want to lose her just yet.”

Ah, maybe I should worry about Noriko after all.

Chapter three (segment one), 2017, January, Ulf

Who the hell decided hatsumode at a major shrine was a good idea? I mean, what's with this crap?

For the umpteenth time Ulf regretted that he'd allowed himself to be talked into visiting the Meiji shrine because 'that was what someone living in Tokyo did for New Year's eve'.

It was insanely crowded and he had long since given up on finding Christina among the mass of people surrounding him. In theory he could have called her, but the cell network was brutally overloaded and his smart-phone only served as a paperweight in his pocket.

Screw this! It was the first day off for Christina since they spent Christmas together, and for the rest of the winter break there would only be tomorrow as a free day. All the other she was booked solid.

Damn, they got her good this time.

Those thoughts didn't help. Ulf pushed his way a little further inside the compound and grit his teeth. While her schedule for all effective purposes created something like a prison, it also accelerated her fame towards the point where her career became stable. That magazine, Vogue, used her, and Ulf could only hope Christina used them in return.

The orderly crowd around him moved yet another few steps and he let himself be pulled along with it. It would be hours before he could escape so he could just as well pretend to enjoy whatever went for a New Year's celebration here.

He'd missed out on the last one as a result of tightened security around Christmas and New Year. It had been an institution for juvenile delinquents after all.

At least he was almost half a head taller than most of the crowd, which was a small blessing. He could see what was going on. If he'd been built like Noriko this would have been a world of coats, elbows and the occasional child.

Ahead of him there were people queuing to get to the shrine, queuing to buy snacks and drinks, queuing to buy their fortunes and queuing just to get out of the area. All in all it was a horrendous waste of time.

But I guess Christina would have loved it. She shines when she's surrounded by people.

Ulf smirked and followed the crowd forward. Another quarter of an hour and he'd be able to make his pick of a queue.

At least he wasn't cold. With so many people gathered human bodies worked like a giant radiator even outdoors.

Wonder if people felt this way during the cultural festival? Ulf grinned. If he was honest the festival had been nothing compared to this. There were literally tens of thousands of people around him.

A little later the quiet mob split into three queues, and Ulf chose the one that fed the stalls. Praying at the shrine could have been a fun and touristy thing to do with Christina, but he had no reason doing it alone.

It took him another half an hour to buy some of what went as fast food in Japan. It didn't taste bad, but Ulf really couldn't say that it tasted well. At least it was warm, which he welcomed.

Damn, I wanted you by my side tonight, he thought when a tall blonde made him look twice before he saw that it wasn't Christina.

I'm sorry Maria. I've fallen in love with another woman. To his surprise that admission didn't fill him with shame or regret any longer. His old life was lost, never to be had again. Accepting it had taken a long time, but Ulf understood that he had finally given up all hope of going home. Then how do I build myself a new home and a new life? Christina, what part can you play in it?

Bells started ringing in the new year. One hundred and eight times they would toll the desolate sound of melancholy longing that Ulf had come to associate with a country that just might become his new home.

Because going home would be even worse, he realised. As long as I'm here I can dream about Sweden as home. He bumped into a woman and they both bowed an apology almost as a reflex. See, I even behave like I belong here, he thought and gave her a faint smile.

Slowly bells rang out the old and welcomed the new, but he felt he was the only one listening to them. No, I'm not really at home here. Back home I'd never notice the church bells. But there was still something that had just clawed itself inside his mind. Yes, going home would be worse. I don't want to live in a Sweden where I haven't already carved out a space for myself.

With the back of his right hand he wiped away tears from his eyes. I miss her, Ulf thought. Standing with a half full box of food he allowed himself to be filled with longing for Christina. It's more than love. You're the anchor in my life that keeps me from going insane.

Suddenly he was afraid of them breaking up, even though he suspected they'd eventually go separate ways despite none of them wanting it. If he stayed with her he'd destroy the future she struggled for. Unfair, he yelled silently. What has unfair to do with anything. Get real Ulf! You only look the teenager, but you should know what life's about by now.

But the rational thoughts of a grown man lost to the needs of the him here and now, and with his phone in one hand he pushed himself into the crowd in a frenzied attempt to find her wherever she was. It was futile; he knew that, but right now it didn't matter. He only wanted to see her as soon as possible, to feel her close to him, to listen to her voice and feel how she loved him back.

Midsummer's day, 2040, lazing in the sun

“Do you really celebrate midsummer's day as well in Sweden?”

Ulf looked at Kyoko who had climbed down to the cliffs by the water. “Officially not,” he said. “But if you travel out of the cities like we've done it only makes sense to spend the weekend though.”

Kyoko spread her blanket on the rock and waved for Yukio to join her.

“You know, I can't get used to this kind of coast,” she said after she had failed to find a comfortable way to lie down.

Ulf shrugged. “I grew up with this. It's how we sunbathe in the archipelago unless you prefer the crowds on our crappy sandy beaches.”

“That's an alternative, but no thanks. I'll take the discomfort together with you guys.”

Thanks Kyoko. You were always a good friend. Ulf smiled but refrained from answering. There really wasn't much to say.

Behind them Yukio got caught in a conversation with James, so Ulf tapped Kyoko's blanket and pointed up the hill. She looked in the direction of his hand and grinned.

“Let him. It's been a long time since they last met,” she said. Then she turned serious all of a sudden. “Do you regret it?” she asked.

“Regret what?”

Kyoko could be really cryptic sometimes, and more so after a long marriage with Yukio where they must have learned to communicate telepathically with each other.

She squinted against the sun and drew a deep breath. “Destroying Red Rose Hell,” she finally said.

Ah, of course. “No, not at all. That hell-hole had to go.” Ulf smirked when he realised he hadn't been entirely honest. “I regret what came after,” he admitted silently.

There was something pained in Kyoko's eyes, but Ulf saw how she shook it off before she lay down on the blanket. “Just wondering,” she said. “If you don't mind I'll do like you Swedes and tan in the sun like a moron.”


“Be my guest,” Ulf said. I'm so sorry, Kyoko. I'm so sorry.

Chapter two (segment ten), 2016, December, Wakayama Tadao

Wakayama Tadao looked at Natsumi when she let loose another barrage at Mitsuo.

There's no stopping you when you're like this. Then he smiled. I guess that's why I fell in love with you.

Love or not. He still felt a bit bad for their friend who got caught in the crossfire.

Both their kids, Noriko and Ryu, were out skiing, or more accurately, Ryu was out snowboarding with his girlfriend while Noriko stumbled around in the children's slope alone.

Tadao grimaced. Noriko's boyfriend hadn't shown up because he got swamped with some kind of model job back in Tokyo. That was the reason his Noriko was all alone since she had inherited Tadao's acrobatic skills, which were all but non-existent.

Ryu, however, got his from his mother, and she had been like a frenzied monkey during their high school years. My beautiful monkey, Tadao thought and smiled at his wife.

“I know you said you'll stay out of it, but I'll have none of it. I need those hundred years of experience you have, and I'll have them or else your wife is moving in with us come January.”

Give up Mitsuo. You married Natsumi's best friend so you had it coming sooner or later. Because if Natsumi placed one phone-call she'd leave that onsen back at Ise and get right back to Tokyo, and there just wasn't anything Mitsuo could do about it.

A light snowfall obscured the view of the mountainside, but it was nowhere dense enough to prevent Tadao from seeing the kids in the slope closest to the hotel. One of them had to be Noriko, probably one of those sitting on their butts.

Well, it was time to come to the rescue, and in so doing betray his best friend.

“Love, go easy on him. We're supposed to celebrate hatsumode together in a few days.”

“We are?” Mitsuo said, and from the look in his face Tadao saw a glimmer of recognition.

“Yes. Three or four of us. What would you prefer?”

“You bastard!” Mitsuo said as the trap closed around him. “I need our place staffed over New Year's. Three, three of us.”

“Isn't that wonderful?” Natsumi said and gave Mitsuo a cheerfully false smile.

Poor sod. Your fault to begin with. You taught us manipulation when we were kids. Which was the one area where Tadao had caught up faster than his girlfriend. She was just too gleefully open with whatever did. So of course she trapped him and married him. Not that he was ever been hard to trap to begin with, he knew that, and he didn't regret a single day they had shared together.

“You could at least tell me why,” Mitsuo said.

Tadao saw how his wife looked around to make sure no-one was within earshot.

“Some moron had the two arrivals targeted.”

Mitsuo sighed and bowed his head. “I know that, but I know it had nothing to do with the factions, so not good enough.”

It was his time to nail the coffin shut. Tadao swallowed a mouthful of lukewarm tea and turned to his friend. “It does now.” Hot damn! What did they use instead of tea?

“What?”

“The kids brought that Red Rose asylum down pretty much on their own,” Tadao said. He licked the inside of his mouth to get rid of some of the awful taste. “Sure, they got some help from Nakagawa, but your granddaughter turned out to be a monster when she got angry enough.”

“I would expect nothing less. She's my family after all,” Mitsuo said, and Tadao could see how proud he was of the girl.

He sighed and made the mistake of drinking some more of the swill. It was just as disgusting as before. “Someone pulled rank. They got a member of the diet involved. It was all I could do to save Hamarugen-san's company.”

A flash on anger flared alive in Mitsuo's eyes and vanished. “OK, I accepted him as her boyfriend, but he'd better run his own business. What's it to me?”

“You met him, didn't you?”

“Sure, so what?”

“Would you picture him as someone who'd crawl around begging for help?”

Mitsuo grimaced. “No, he's way too arrogant for that.”

“Well he did. While they dragged his company down he was pleading for me to help your Tina.” For the first time Tadao felt irritation at his friend's stubbornness. “If you're not willing to help Natsumi you'd damn better be prepared to help the man who was willing to sacrifice his future for your granddaughter!”

It was like watching someone turn on a switch. Mitsuo's face froze into an absolutely neutral expression. You had to have known him for years to know how he expressed rage.

“You're going to tell me everything that happened. And by everything I mean everything, got it?”

Tadao flinched but nodded. Across the table Natsumi did the same. When Mitsuo looked this way he was scary, but only the two of hem knew exactly how scary he really became. And they needed that hidden demon.

“I promise,” Natsumi said. “We both do. You can trust us.”

“What do you want,” Mitsuo growled.

Tadao felt something cold crawl down his spine, and from Natsumi's eyes he knew she felt the same.

“I want that diet member destroyed. I want every remnant of the lunatics behind Red Rose permanently disgraced...” Tadao began.

“I want you to side with us,” Natsumi interrupted. “The other faction is going down, and you'll help us pull them into the abyss.”

You always had a flare for the theatrical. I must have caught some of it, Tadao added in his mind and grinned.

“You won't like what you'll see. I did some things during my previous life that I'm not very proud of,” Mitsuo said, and Tadao saw something in his friend's face that belonged to another man from a very different time.

Tadao understood part of it, and right now he needed that part of his friend. “We'll have your back, like we always did. We're your friends.”

A little bit of life left Mitsuo's eyes. “I hope you will still be when we're finished. With your help I'm going to hurt a lot of people.”

Even though he had requested it, Tadao still shivered despite the foyer being anything but cold. “I understand,” he said and met his wife's eyes.

“No you don't,” Mitsuo said. “When we're done you will. It will haunt you for the rest of your lives.”

Chapter two (segment nine), 2016, December, Yukio

Three days earlier he had spent a fantastic day together with Kyoko. From morning to late evening and even her father had sent them away with a smile when Yukio came to pick her up. That blessing alone kept her grinning like a happy fool for half the day.

Yukio remember how he spent more money on a date than he usually spent over an entire month, but with his New Year's gift within sight he could afford it.

The only shadow on their date was Kyoko's grumbling when he gave her the cashmere scarf, but as he had guessed she stopped grumbling the moment she felt it around her neck.

Yukio in turn frowned when he received a pair of gloves that must have bankrupted her, but damn they felt good on his frozen hands.

At the moment both of them were busy working off their debt to Urufu, because he'd be damned if he'd allow his best friend to buy him clothes, even if Yukio knew he really didn't need the set of high class, elegant casuals he had received a day earlier.

Neither did Kyoko, but glancing at her when she distributed the fourth set of documents to half a dozen men in business suits, Yukio had to agree that she looked stunning.

“Gentlemen, before we welcome our guests, that would be your employees and your customers, let's start by answering a few 'why' questions.”

Yukio looked at Urufu who had fired up the beamer. He was the only one of the three of them who wore a business suit. If Yukio remembered correctly it was the insanely expensive one Kuri had ordered for him during their summer break.

Makes sense, Yukio thought. I could never wear anything like that. He wasn't as certain about Kyoko, but Urufu had been adamant that he'd never dress her up like an old school secretary. Yukio wasn't sure what Urufu meant by that, but he was happy to see Kyoko in clothes she could use on dates as well.

“Urufu, the new slides are up. Kyoko cleaned up the charts for you,” Yukio said and nodded at his girlfriend when he spoke the last words.

Urufu didn't say anything, but he gave Kyoko a thumbs up and prepared the slides.

A tap on his shoulder made Yukio turn, and he remembered the man beckoning him from the first session Urufu ran after rumours about his year in an institution for juvenile delinquents leaked onto the net.

“Yes?” Yukio asked.

“What's the difference here?”

Yukio looked at where the man pointed and tried to remember what Urufu had said. “Let me see. Vanilla agile is mostly based on the idea to deliver more value early whereas lean software development focusses on removing waste.” Ah yes, I even understood this one. “Basically it's an aggressive viewpoint contrasted against a defensive one,” he said.

To a certain degree Yukio wondered how something Urufu had managed to teach the gang in less than half a year could be so horribly difficult for adult professionals to grasp. Maybe Urufu was right when he said it was simply too easy to understand.

The businessman stared at Yukio as if he had been some kind of ghost, and earlier it would have made him feel uncomfortable. This group, however, was one they had seen several times since the chaotic days during summer break.

They seemed to have gotten used to the young staff, and Urufu and team no longer thought twice about running the sessions.

“You know you're a lucky one, kid,” the businessman suddenly said out of nowhere.

Huh? “Pardon me?”

There was something pained in the expression of the man. “Japan's changing. I'm one of those who can see how we need to adapt to those changes.”

“Yes?” Yukio didn't say anything else, because it was clear there would be more to come.

“You won't need adapting. You'll be one of those who lead that change. I envy you.” The last words came as the businessman turned and threw Urufu a long and thoughtful glance.

You don't know half of it. James said Urufu's unchanging. He might lead the change, but unless he adapts he'll break under it himself. The thought surprised Yukio. He knew it to be right, but he couldn't understand from where it had come. Am I growing up?

“I have a good teacher,” he said instead, because that was probably what the man in front of him wanted to hear.

Around the conference table those seated adjusted their chairs when Urufu coughed, and the two who had stood around a small table laden with sparkling water and fruit quickly grabbed a bite each and returned to their chairs.

That was their signal. Both Yukio and Kyoko bowed and left the room. As the work on whatever case Urufu had chosen progressed Yukio needed to process the data with the help of Kyoko who had proven to be far more meticulous than he was. On top of that Kyoko knew how to make it all come to life with her sketchpad.

An ugly part of him resented that her abilities already had overtaken his. It made him feel like the least important of them, but Urufu promised that he valued Yukio's special talent just as much. That talent was yet unknown to him, and sometimes Yukio wondered if Urufu just tried to be kind.

“Something for me yet?” Kyoko asked from her laptop.

Yukio firmly shoved his thoughts away and sent her the highlights. “Uhum, you it it now.”

“Thanks. Eh, Yukio, why did you remove the organisation chart?”

He looked at his screen. “They're setting up the new process Urufu talked about earlier.”

“Won't they need an organisation for that?”

Damn, did I do something wrong? Yukio took a second look at his screen. Hell no! “That just has to be backwards. If they do it in a new way they'll have to restaff anyway. If we leave it out they'll create new teams based on the process.”

“Huh?”

Something itched inside of him. “Let's put it this way Kyoko. If we send the old chart back, won't they try to plug a square hole with a round peg?”

Kyoko looked back at him with big eyes. “OK, I'll use your data.”

Damn, I wish Ryu was here, or even better, his father.

Chapter two (segment eight), 2016, December, Noriko

Having arrived yesterday, but without Nao, Noriko felt a little nervous when she shakily navigated the slope down to the short road that connected skiing facility with the small cluster of hotels where they lived.

Nao was arriving by bus and should be here any moment now, and Noriko didn't plan to miss out on more time with him than needed.

Suddenly her feet shook more than usual, and as they had done with depressing regularity her skies betrayed her again. She was left as an undignified heap on the ground.

Noriko suspected she spent more time getting back up on her feet than skiing and cursed whoever had decided that alpine skiing was a fun way to spend your free time.

After she managed to get back on her feet again Noriko reluctantly left her dignity behind her and punted her way to the parking place.

The bus arrived, but Nao didn't. Another arrived an hour later, but still no Nao, and he didn't even reply to her mails.

Distraught she went inside the foyer, bought a cup of tea and seated herself by the windows from where she could see the buses arrive. Three cups later and another bus without Nao she gave up and took the elevator to their room.

Worst Christmas ever, she thought as she dragged out a futon and threw herself on it. Noriko knew she behaved like a spoiled child, but it just wasn't fair that her idiot brother was out there having the time of his life with Ai-chan while she had to wait for a boyfriend who didn't even have the grace to tell her he was late.

Sucks, she sulked.

But even sulking got boring, and in the end Noriko tired of playing the lonesome orphan. She sent Nao a choice nasty mail and went down for the last few hours of humiliation on the slopes.

Well outside she couldn't stay angry for long. Despite making a habit of falling on her butt with the grace of a lame elephant the whiteness surrounding her was simply breathtaking.

With temperatures at a friendly minus two or three she was never cold, and with renewed vigour she finished her lonely skiing day and returned to the hotel. Nao or no Nao, after a day like this taking a hot bath outdoors promised to be heaven.

Noriko slipped inside the women's locker room, stripped and brought her towel into the bathing area. Ai-chan was already there rinsing off before the baths, and so was Noriko's mother.

“Hi mom,” Noriko said and sat down on a pallet.

“Where were you all day?”

“Waiting for Nao, and failing. Yeah and trying to ski, and failing.”

Both mother and brother's girlfriend displayed risen eyebrows.

“Nao didn't come, and he hasn't mailed me.”

Ai-chan dunked herself with water and moved to the exit. Noriko's mother followed her, so Noriko found herself in a sudden hurry. Outside she sank into the shallow pool and waited for the interrogation to continue.

“Does he usually do that?” her mother wanted to know.

Noriko was prepared for that question. Her mother positively despised people who didn't communicate.

“No, he only does during a shoot, because they're not allowed to have their phones on,” Noriko said. Crap! Don't tell me he got dragged into whatever problems Kuri brought onto herself! Still, that only made sense, and if so Noriko feared Nao might not show up at all.

“What's with that face?” her mother said.

Noriko pouted and slid deeper into the water to hide her sulking expression. This was her own problem, and nothing she wanted to drag her parents into. But I wanted Nao here. Stupid Kuri! First you took Urufu away, and now Nao as well.

She submerged to wash away that thought. Kuri hadn't taken anyone away, and Noriko knew she was being unfair. OK, maybe you didn't, but I'm still the only one without someone now. And that thought was a lie as well. If Nao couldn't join them then that meant Kuri and Urufu had no way of meeting as well.

When she came back up above the surface for a breath her mother was waiting, and Noriko noticed how Ai-chan just waited for an answer.

“Spill it!” That wasn't her mother's friendly voice. That was the voice of her mother the few times Noriko knew she could outmatch Kuri.

“I want to know as well. We're involved now?”

“Involved with what?” Noriko's mother said, and by now her tone had taken the quality needed to cut through stone.

“There's a lot of students at Irishima high...”

“Irishima high?”

“Yeah, and a few teachers as well...” Ai-chan continued.

A few teachers? Idiot! You got your principal salivating all over the place at the chance to sink Red Rose.

“Teachers?”

“Yes… we're kind of not friends with Red Rose Academy now,” Ai-chan said, and Noriko coughed when she heard that understatement.

“Noriko,” her mother began. “You're going to tell me exactly what you've been up to. I know some of it, but I didn't know you got Irishima high involved as well.”

Tonight will be no fun at all. Then Noriko spilled all of it, or almost all. The secret about Urufu and Kuri living their lives for a second time had to stay a secret.

As she talked she saw Ai-chan raise her eyebrows from time to time at some choice details that hadn't made their way to her yet. It wasn't as if Noriko had tried to keep them secret from her or anything, but so much had happened that some parts just got forgotten.

She began from the attempted rape, continued with Urufu's expulsion, glossed over Kuri's dangerous stunt as a hostess and the assault on her in the girls' locker room the previous spring. She told them about the revenge mission Principal Nakagawa had sent Urufu on, about the suicide and the attack on Urufu behind the gym during the cultural festival. Last of all Noriko told them about Kuri's smear campaign and the dirty war that followed.

Talking about it all made Noriko remember. Parts of it she relived, sitting there in the hot spring water, but other parts she hadn't experienced herself. It's been a long year. A long year and a half. Was it worth it? Yeah, I fell in love and broke my heart. Then I fell in love again, and I made friends with you all.

The strangest of her new friends were Yukio and Kyoko, maybe because they were so normal. I hope you had a good Christmas date.

Chapter two (segment seven), 2016, December, Ryu

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.