249 Chapter four, 2017, dark and bitter: 8 (1/2)

The voices hammering on the door grew angrier.

”Go away!” Noriko shouted. She had barricaded it in case anyone found a key.

The pitiful remnants of what had once been Ageruman Kuritina lay crying her heart out in a corner, and Noriko had no intentions to let anyone see that.

'I didn't want this. Never this way. I wanted to be your rival and friend. I always admired your strength. Kuri, please come back!' But Noriko doubted the proud and strong blonde empress would return any time soon, if ever.

In that corner lay a small girl, sixteen years old, with something dying in her heart. There was not a trace of the billion dollar empress left. And, if Noriko was honest with herself, Kuri hadn't played that card for a long time now. She was truly her friend, and far too fair to do so.

Now her friend lay broken in a shuddering heap on the floor. Noriko couldn't remember when she last had seen so much pain. 'Please come back!'

There was nothing she could do. For the time being Kuri would stay crying her heart out, and Noriko could only wonder what had made the tall beauty chose to break up with Urufu. That they loved each other so much it sometimes was painful to watch because it was too obvious for everyone around them. The absurd promise from a day ago just couldn't be the reason.

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Noriko rose and fetched the other blanket she had stashed away behind a whiteboard. She blew out a deep sigh before she dared the distance to Kuri.

”Get well my friend. We love you.”

With those words Noriko covered the shaking body with the blanket.

Kuri continued crying, but she wrapped herself in the blanket and curled up until only her feet stuck out.

'I'll stay with you for as long as I can stand watching your pain. I'm sorry, but it just hurts too much.'

There was a little shame competing with Noriko's need to be with people who celebrated Valentine in a more sane way. In the end shame won, and she sat down where Kuri had found her a little earlier.

The door bounced three times.

”Go away!” Noriko shouted again. This was going to be a long afternoon.

***

Kyoko stared in stunned incomprehension at the locked door. Club members, together with some other people from 6:1 were the first to arrive at her side. It didn't take long until large parts of 3:1 were here as well, and they all stood banging on the door.

From the inside Kyoko heard Noriko's voice, but rather than letting them in, Ryu's sister shouted at them to go away.

'Why? Why didn't you tell me.'

Hearing Noriko shout at them to leave made Kyoko both angry and relieved. At least Kuri-chan wasn't alone in there. Still, above all Kyoko couldn't understand what had driven her best friend to break with the man she had called the love of her life.

'Is there such a thing? Could you really meet that someone you'll spend the rest of your life missing if you're not together?' Then Kyoko thought of Yukio and drew a long breath. Maybe. And if that maybe was real, then she couldn't afford leaving him hanging in fear of what she needed to tell him. If he wanted her despite her barrenness she'd follow him to the end of the world.

From inside the room she could still hear Kuri-chan's hulking sobs, each of them twisting a knife in her heart.

'I'm sorry, Kuri-chan, but if this is you after fifty years of experience, then I'll never let Yukio go as long as he stays with me.' It was harsh, but it was the best she could do. 'I'll make your sacrifice worth it.'

Kyoko left the group of students banging on the door and took the stairs to the entrance floor. A bit at a loss for what to do, she opened and closed her shoe-locker a few times before she grabbed her loafers and changed.

She still had Urufu's giri chocolate in her hands when she left the building, but by then any thoughts of him were forgotten as she raced to find her own boyfriend. Her feet directed her, and her fear.

The things she had hinted at could very well scare Yukio away, and now she was frantic to find him before they did.

'Yukio!'

While she ran Kyoko relived the feelings of listening to Kuri-chan break down where everyone could hear.

'Yukio!'

Out of breath she suddenly saw her haven, the only haven right now. Maybe he was there.