Maybe it wasn’t fair, but she really would do almost anything for him. Building a life just to leave it behind and starting all over again, however, wasn’t included in almost. When she got older she might change her mind. People did change after all, but right now she couldn’t see herself marry, have children, watch them grow up and just one day desert them the way Urufu had been forced to do.

Marry, when did I start thinking about marry? When Urufu started talking studying together for more than the life she had lived, that’s when. We haven’t even slept together, so what gives me the right to think about marrying him?

The random thoughts were all excuses. She might have forced the topic upon Kuri, but it wasn’t one she liked to linger on. Noriko admitted it to herself. She wanted him, she wanted a life with him, she wanted kids with him, but most of all she wanted him to want her. Maybe it wasn't healthy, but it was what it was.

Short legs and long streets were, as always, a reason for her to be tardy, but now jumbled thoughts made her steps even slower than usual. Half an hour earlier she declined Kuri’s offer to share a taxi to their hotel, and by now she already had to apologise quite a few times to people she walked into.

Attention on your surroundings. Urufu would have said that. He did, more than once, when they walked in magic greenery to meet Kuri earlier.

She stopped to pretend looking at the view offered by a wide boulevard. In truth it was a rather boring view with an endless line of temples darkening one side and the Kyoto Tower far behind her. She was reminded of an old paper back fantasy her parents had in their shelves, or rather a lot of them, all in hideous colours and written in English. Pratchett or something like that was the author, but a memory lingered of her mother telling her the real author of that scene was far older still.

Kuri’s world. Those books belong to her world, and my parents’. That meant they belonged to Urufu’s as well, and Noriko sulked when she allowed that admission to climb foremost to her mind. That world wasn’t hers.

How do I make mine his to share? She dug in her pocket for her phone. Why not call him and ask?

Gods! The inbox looked like as if she had stayed bedridden for days. What’s going on? Jeniferu! There were several messages from the charismatic little monster, and while she was more subdued since her disgusting experience she still retained that natural ability to make friends. Lots and lots of friends. Most of the circles where Noriko kept acquaintances swollen by dozens of new members told their story of Noriko’s new won fame.

It just never ends, does it? Among the comments were several which still echoed of the chaos last year. While Noriko suspected her life lost most of its familiar obscurity with only her test results being part of the rumour mill, the sheer magnitude of her blindness shocked her. From the moment she got involved with the arrivals her life was turned upside down.

No, that’s not right. From the moment she made true friends she wanted around her for years and years ahead she became part of their lives. I might as well admit it. She added her own share to the insanity they called high school days. Being one half of the twins including Ryu was more than enough to elevate her fame.

But I never knew about you. Or rather she never accepted how much Urufu influenced those around him. Kuri’s stardom created an illusion of obscurity. Noriko shook her head and smiled. So she was famous among the Irishima first and second years as well now. She had no right being surprised. They made up the majority of the club after all.

Third years? That can’t be right. Those names definitely belonged to their seniors. Ah, of course! The first cultural festival. There were messages from members of the student council from that time. There was also one from Nao. Noriko stared at her phone. I almost forgot. Reading his name hurt more than she thought it would. Idiot! You should just have told me. But they would still have broken up. If not now then when he left school to pursue whatever dreams he had.

Her steps brought her out of the perfect grid making up most of central Kyoto. Her hotel lay close by. Whatever thoughts she needed to digest in solitude had to be handled right now. Time’s running out. Should I tell Kyoko? That wasn’t the question. Urufu? Could couples keep secrets from each other?

Waiting for a taxi to pass her Noriko played with that question in her head. What would the adult answer be? It had to be the adult one, or else she wouldn’t be able to stay by Urufu’s side.

Gah! My head hurts! I’m still a child after all. Suddenly all her wants felt like grand delusions. Life, marriage, children. Such grand dreams when she didn’t even know the answer to such a simple question. Two answers. Yes or no. What right did she have to aspire to a lifetime together if she couldn’t pick one out of two?

Urufu’s voice rang in her head. His admonishing voice, his loving voice, his scared voice, his arrogant voice, but foremost of them all, his caring voice. “Does it have to be easy?” it said. “Must there be just one answer?” it added. “I’ll listen to you even you have no answer.” The last promise came with a timbre she knew all too well. Almost, she almost had her answer.

“Noriko! I was worried.”

Huh? That didn’t sound like a ghost in her head. Noriko looked up from her phone. Urufu! “I felt like walking,” she said.

He rushed to meet her. “Noriko, where have… Noriko, I hope you had fun.”

There it was again. This time for real and not just in her head. Urufu’s voice held both uncertainty and worries. Ah, I understand! He’s just older. He doesn’t know everything. He worries. Noriko opened her arms and allowed herself to be swallowed in his embrace. No, small as she was, she swallowed him up as well.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

So that’s it! You’re not an adult because you know everything. You’re an adult because you keep living despite not knowing anything at all. She made her decision.

***

Kyoko pouted. She felt in her bones how she was left out. Kuri-chan knew something, something she shared only with Noriko. Kyoko could live with that. Or rather she could almost live with that. Despite being parted from the science classes by two cars Hitomi acted on her curiosity and left theirs in search of Noriko. She’s got more guts than I do.

Something had happened. Well that was an understatement. With their Line circles swollen with new members and most every message covering only one topic since Noriko’s unexpected stunt, to say that something had happened would be the understatement of the year.

That something, however wasn’t what had Kyoko worried. Kuri-chan might be a former global celebrity, and she might become one again. That just meant she knew how to look more beautiful than just anyone else – she still sucked at keeping it a secret that she kept a secret.

How the hell did you build a business empire if you’re a danger to yourself at the poker table? Kyoko sulked some more when the answer came to her. You just steam-rolled everyone into submission. Maybe the world of fashion wasn’t one of subtlety. All gods knew Kuri-chan’s earlier campaigns of infamy lacked just about everything in that department.

Outside the landscape rolled by. With Nagoya a station behind them there wasn’t all that much time until sprawling Tokyo made itself reminded again. While large in its own right Kyoto still couldn’t compare with the insanity that was the capital. Rather Kyoto never felt the need to.

Hitomi having the guts to act on her curiosity wasn’t the only reason Kyoko sulked. A gutsy Hitomi meant a Hitomi two cars away, which pretty much left Kyoko alone with her class. Until a month earlier that wasn’t bad in itself. Sure, taking a stand against Kareyoshi meant most classmates didn’t dare being associated with her, but a substantial minority never accepted their insane principal.

A month ago she made a very public announcement together with Yukio however. Now anyone complaining about it could go to hell, but it still left her with very few who sought her company, or at least very few she wanted to keep company with. To add insult to injury more than one boy had appeared out of nowhere with one suggestion dirtier than the other.

Should I push Kuri-chan a little? Kyoko smirked. That would do no good. Kuri-chan never budged once she took a stance. Just leave it be? Probably the best alternative, one that respected Noriko’s privacy as well, but good friends kind of didn’t bother with privacy all that in the first place.

Just as Kyoko made ready for another silent round of complaints the door to their car opened and Hitomi returned from her mission. She promptly sat down in her seat two rows behind Kyoko’s.

Kyoko rose and walked to her friend. Smug as her face had been at her return it meant very little. In difference from Kuri Hitomi wasn’t anyone Kyoko ever wanted to play poker with. The benefits from a thoroughly polished bad upbringing Hitomi once called it. That bordered on cynicism of the first degree, but Kyoko never questioned the results.

“Switch with me?” she asked the girl beside Hitomi.

Kyoko got a polite nod in return and watched the backside until she sat down in what had been Kyoko’s seat just moments earlier. Infamy went a long way towards making people do as you wanted.

“Spill!”

Hitomi’s smug expression turned into a more neutral one, just as if the beauty had anticipated Kyoko’s actions. As if. My arse. She knew.

“Nothing to tell,” Hitomi said.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.” Hitomi tore open a small bag with snacks and offered Kyoko some.

Staring over the bag while her hands accepted the gift Kyoko watched how rice paddies suddenly got replaced by hillsides, and moments later they were in a tunnel. Shinkansen was nothing like the sedate local trains in Tokyo.

She put half her booty in her mouth and chewed. Salt and sugar mixed, and somehow the experience of mixed tastes only got stronger from feeling the roughness of what was left in her hand.

“Nothing at all?” Kyoko probed.

For the first time since returning Hitomi smiled. “Explicitly so, as Urufu would have said. Noriko told me whatever happened would remain a secret.”

That meant part of what had happened. The main part was anything but with photos of Noriko racing the net to whoever was interested in the midget who received Kuri’s blessing.

“But something did?”

Hitomi swallowed her discomfort when they left the tunnel and air pressure suddenly changed again. “Yes, something did. She sat with one of her classmates and I didn’t see Urufu anywhere.”

Kyoko nodded. The two classes had gone to extremes, just as hers and Yukio’s had, when it came to accommodate a famous couple. Well at least she and Yukio were famous before the trip started. “I don’t think they angered anyone,” Kyoko mused.

Hitomi shook her head. “Noriko certainly did. A lot of people want their fifteen minutes you know.”

“But that’s not it,” Kyoko filled in.

A small portion of nuts and rice crackers travelled from bad to Hitomi’s hand and then into her mouth. “No,” she agreed after she had swallowed. “Even if it had been an issue you just don’t piss off the number one among the second years.”

Especially not when she’s an item with the hero number three. “Urufu wouldn’t keep his distance,” Kyoko said.

Hitomi guffawed loudly enough for a few faces to turn in their direction. “He just pretends to be aloof. But for all of Noriko’s clinging to him like a stamp he’s really the needy one.”

“He is, isn’t he?”

The two girls exchanged grins of agreement.

“No, this once Noriko needed some lonesome,” Hitomi said.

Kyoko mulled over the last sentence while the train rushed into yet another tunnel and left it mere seconds later.

“I wonder if it’s something bad,” Kyoko said when the windows once again displayed small towns and an occasional glimpse of the sea.

“Can’t say. Look, Kyoko, I need to catch up on some sleeping.”

Kyoko had to respect that.

“It’s not Vegas, but…” Hitomi’s voice started sleepily.

Vegas?

“I guess we have to accept that what happens in Kyoto…” Hitomi never finished the sentence, and the two of them spent the rest of the ride to Tokyo in silence.