196 Chapter six, 2016, three schools: 2 (1/2)

When Ulf drummed up the speed of his feet Christina had to pull his sleeve to physically slow him down.

”Ulf, I didn't just accidentally fall behind them.”

”I know,” he answered, ”but I feel well enough to keep up. You don't need to show me this kind of concern.”

'Crap, he thinks I'm worried about his health!' Truth be told she was, and more than a little, but if he said he was good then she needed to believe him. Besides it wasn't the real reason she held him back.

Waiting for two cars to pass them and the sound of engines to die off a bit she walked with Ulf along a 7-Eleven that could have passed for a Stockholm memory from two years earlier.

”Ulf,” she said when both the sound of engines and lit store-front were behind them. ”Are you sure about the science track?”

For once she spoke Japanese with him even though they were alone. Some concepts didn't translate all that well into Swedish, and the Japanese system with a one size fits all freshman high school year didn't exist in Sweden. Hadn't existed when she attended high school the first time, and didn't these days.

He gave her a look of curiosity but responded in Japanese as well. ”It's my main background. I'm in IT, so computer science is kind of natural for me.”

”You're about as much in IT as I'm in modelling,” Christina grumbled, but she regretted her words as soon as she had spoken them. Since a few months she was very much into modelling again.

Ulf pulled her closer to him and laughed silently. ”Fine, I'm into management and development processes.”

'Thank you for forgiving me when I'm an idiot!' ”Ulf, can you handle it with your grades?”

There were a few moments of silence only broken by the sounds of their feet on the ground and the occasional car of the street.

”You know,” Ulf began, ”I think I'll have an easier time with the science track than the liberal arts one. Less dependent on the Japanese language.”

”So you mean your grades aren't that important?”

”They're important and they suck!”

Christina stopped in her tracks at the sudden vehemence in Ulf's voice.

”How come you're so angry about your grades? They're low, but not disastrously so. Look at mine!”

Ulf sighed. ”We'll get to those later. I think Noriko will help, and between the three of us we'll have you above the cut-off.”

'Dammit Ulf, don't treat me like an idiot!' ”You didn't answer my question.”

Ulf took a long time to answer, and they got almost a block closer to their destination. ”I guess,” he said finally, ”that I hate being dragged down because of my Japanese.”

”We both are, and yours is a lot better than mine.”

He nodded but still managed to look downcast. ”It's just… it's just that I grew used to being among the best when I was a high school student for real.”

”For real. Ha.” 'And what exactly do you mean by 'the best'?'

Ulf looked morose for a moment. ”Yeah, you're right. Here we're real students as well. Only makes it worse.” The last came out in Swedish.

Christina decided that language was better for mining his memories. ”Among the best you said?” she suggested, digging for some more knowledge about his past.