22 Chapter two, 2016, buddying emotions: 9 (1/2)
”Get out!” Ulf shouted.
”What?”
This was the boys' locker room after all, but it couldn't be helped. ”Girl incoming. Out!”
He helped Christina inside and glared at the boys as they exited. A few showed signs of reluctance and needed some help convincing. ”Get the hell out of here! You don't help them when they're in trouble, you don't bloody get to look at them!”
That convinced the last ones.
'When did it get this bad? I got photos from her locker and desk, but I never believed they'd actually beat her up.'
Christina had made it to the toilet and locked herself inside when he heard voices behind him. ”Outside!”
”What makes you...” he started before he thought of listening to the distinctly female voice inside the boys' locker room.
”Look,” Noriko, because it was Noriko with Kyoko in tow, said in a much friendlier tone. ”I like your good intentions. Pity they didn't come with a brain.”
Ulf stared at her. Then he stared at the bundle she held in her arms. 'Dry clothes? Dry clothes! Brains one, white knight zero.'
He bent his head and gave his feet a long stare as he shuffled outside.
There he took up guard by the door. Yukio was already waiting, and down the right wing stairs, several steps at a time, Ryu came jumping and joined them.
'You get an F for tardiness and an A for attitude.' Ryu's face was flaring with rage.
”Teachers coming?” Ulf asked Yukio.
”Hope so. This is getting dirty,” Yukio answered and threw an exaggerated look at the left wing stairs.
Boys from second and third grade were slowly descending on them.
”I'm not moving,” Ryu growled silently, as if he was worried about how Yukio and Ulf would handle the threat.
”You freshmen, get away from there!” And now the threat had been verbalised.
”Make me!” Ulf suggested. It didn't matter any longer. Any hope he had left of maintaining the fiction of being a member of geek squad was already destroyed. 'Spreading the graces. Bye bye monopoly, 3:1.'
”Learn to respect your elders you little shit!”