35 Chapter four, 2016, early resolutions: 1 (2/2)

”Ageruman-san!”

”She's so beautiful!”

'Listen to that choir.'

”Who's that guy?”

”Is he? Whoa!”

It had to be Urufu-kun, but the voices were just a bit too surprised for Ryu not to turn and look.

'What?'

Kuri-chan came walking between the benches toward them. She wore no make-up at all, and her school uniform was in perfect accordance with the regulations, and so was Urufu-kun's.

He walked beside her, carrying two identical bento boxes. He wore no glasses, and he had a totally new hairdo. He looked... normal. And tall. He looked, Ryu acknowledged, like a rival.

Behind them Kyoko-chan tagged along with her cafeteria bought lunch.

”Yu-kun, your lunch,” Kuri-chan said and gave him the third box in a set. She looked flustered.

Ryu had to know. ”Did something good happen yesterday?” he asked.

Kuri-chan glanced at Urufu-kun. And shot him a stunningly beautiful but strangely shy smile. ”I forgot my birthday. He remembered it. So yes, something good happened.”

That was far from everything she had to say. Ryu could see that but he wasn't sure how much further he should probe.

”Look at that! Being friends with Ryu-kun make even geeks look good.”

The derisive comment came from one of the girls. Saki-chan? Yes, from 1:1. And she had known Urufu-kun was the geek from 6:1. 'But you were never a geek to begin with. It was all an act wasn't it?'

”How come Urufu-kun knew it was your birthday? Geek stalker?” And that was the Hitoshi moron from 4:1. If it wasn't for the stupidities he usually spewed out of his mouth he might have been a match for Ryu in terms of popularity.

Kuri-chan replied with an angelic smile that transformed her from a princess to an empress. ”Didn't I say? I'm such an airhead sometimes. I totally forgot that yesterday was my birthday, and he was the one who reminded me.”

The implicit meaning wasn't lost on anyone.

”Yesterday? You saw each other yesterday?”

”Whoa! You two went on a date?”

Kuri-chan shook her head theatrically and her hair caught in the wind.

'She made it blossom! It's a golden flower!'

She hummed tunelessly while she waited for shouts of admiration to quiet down. Then her voice turned sugary sweet. ”But he looks so stunning! How could I not?”

Ryu looked at his sister. She had shrunken to almost nothing. For the second time he saw her drop her lunch.

”I forgot I have something to do. See you at class.” Noriko rose, and with eyes glued to the ground she rushed into the cafeteria.

Kyoko-chan looked at his sister with eyes full of worry, and then she shot her best friend a surprisingly angry glare. Kuri-chan just shrugged in return.

'Damn, he beat me to it. I can live with that. But sis, I'm so sorry for you!' Ryu rose, nodded curtly at Urufu-kun and followed her.

'Urufu-kun, I'll get you for this!'