98 Chapter three, 2016, field trip revised: 5 (2/2)
Ryu studied his friends. The tired look Urufu carried like a shield, Yukio's concern and Kyoko pointedly watching the other tables to stay out of the way. Noriko played her part in the game as well by staring at everything Urufu except his eyes.
Ryu groaned inwardly. He was aware his own crush on Kuri hadn't abated one bit, but that was it. A crush. His sister though, she had fallen deeply in love with Urufu when he allowed her inside his sphere of close friends.
”Then you'll help Ryu wrap the walking talking up? And lead the afternoon sessions?” Yukio asked.
'Crap, he doesn't know!'
Urufu shook his head, and an amused glimmer reached his eyes. ”You're walking talking with the club on our field trip? Poor sods!” He leaned his head onto his shoulder and looked at Ryu. ”Wrap it up?”
That was more than he could take. Ryu felt a shiver run through him as it dawned on him that the rest of them counted on him. ”I'll handle it,” he said, ”but I need you for the afternoon.”
Urufu gave him a tired look. Then he slovenly raked the contents of one plate into his mouth. ”Eah, ay e ere,” he said with his mouth full of food.
Ryu stared at the vulgar display and hoped it really meant that Urufu planned to be there for him. But if it did then Urufu still believed it was all a matter of handling the club members up at the camping site.
”Urufu, man, we have a problem,” Yukio said, and Ryu was grateful that the wingman took some of the burden off him. ”It's not the club members.”
That woke Urufu up. ”Christina's in trouble? She walked out on us earlier, didn't she?”
'I'd hate to be in her shoes,' Ryu thought. 'She saved the day yesterday, and I didn't even know she had this shit coming.' He finally realised why the dining hall was full of people in the fashion business. ”Urufu, she's fine, but she can't help us right now. Only you can.”
When he looked across the table he saw how Yukio nodded in approval, and even Kyoko stopped pretending her lack of interest and shot him a grateful glance.
In her chair Noriko hastily swallowed the last of her miso soup and looked at Urufu. ”I'm afraid my father and Principal Nakagawa messed up,” she said. ”There are a lot of TAP customers here as well.”
Ryu wasn't the only one throwing her an angry glare.
”TAP customers?” Urufu drawled absently. ”That's a long time ago, and it's not like I could go back there to help them now.”
What was done was done. It was now or never. ”The hotel is crammed with executive drones,” Ryu said and placed a finger to Urufu's forehead. ”I'll handle the morning, but they want to see you after lunch. I don't have your knowledge so I can't even begin to plan the afternoon.”
”We need your help,” Noriko shot in. ”We'll help in any way we can, but we're out of our depth here.”
”Sure, I'll do it.” Urufu shrugged, and Ryu didn't believe a word he had said.
'Damn! We could have used Christina if Urufu's like this, but she's probably locked down outdoors for the entire day.'