Her phone filled with pictures, or rather her message queue did.

Who gave away my line-id?

Long before dusk draped Kyoto in a dirty yellow, only to give way to night mere moments later, Noriko received her first message from someone unknown. By now most of the pictures came from people she maybe wouldn’t know even if she saw their faces. Kuri, you’re going to pay for this!

They were outdoors again. That meant they were freezing their butts off just as they had done when the insanity started. That also meant Noriko could wave goodbye to any hopes of at least spending the evening alone with Urufu.

There’s nothing left of this trip. I hate this! But in reality she didn’t, not really. The way they were studying she could always call upon Urufu to help her, so time alone with him was just a matter of acting on her longing rather than stay home and pout.

The shoot was more interesting than Noriko wanted to admit. That was where her shame came along. She wasn’t supposed to enjoy working this hard for something as shallow as mere looks. It didn’t matter that she had asked Kuri about it earlier the same day. Looking good for Urufu was one thing. Looking good in general was an entirely different beast.

She posed for the camera and received a disapproving frown from the photographer as a reward. In return Noriko stuck her tongue out at him. This is hilarious! She guffawed until she had to lean on Kuri for support. In the background a smattering of shutter sounds reached her like a distant whirlwind. That made her laugh some more, and this time one of the boys had to stop her from falling over. Noriko grinned at him and regained her balance once again.

Why didn’t he stop me? she thought and stared after the photographer. The staccato from his camera never ceased and she met a grin as wide as her own.

Something moved behind her. “Next set, Kinoshita-sensei?” Kuri’s voice asked.

The photographer nodded. “Yeah, can’t cram out anything better from this one.”

Fun, definitely fun, Noriko admitted. If she couldn’t be beautiful she could at least pretend to be, and if the got a huge laugh out of it, where was the fault in that?

“Exchange line?”

The question brought Noriko out of her thoughts. She turned, looked behind and sought after the voice who had asked the question. To her surprise Kuri’s face showed no reaction at all.

“Tell him you’re together with Ryu,” Noriko suggested and continued looking for whoever believed the shoot was a good opportunity to hook up with Kuri.

“You tell him you’re together with Urufu instead,” Kuri said. This time her face definitely showed a reaction, and a huge grin at that.

“Huh?”

Kuri threw one arm across Noriko’s shoulder and turned. “She’s not available.”

Huh?

“Aww. Of course a cutie like her already has a boyfriend.” This time the voice got a face. One of the crew who’d spent the day scurrying around with all kinds of equipment.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you,” the man said. He smiled at her and shook his head. “You thought I was aiming for Ageruman-san? Not happening. That’s the fast track to unemployment.”

When Noriko looked at Kuri’s face for an explanation she got a nod in return. “I’m working. There’s no time for fending off admirers. Besides, some of them could turn into stalkers, and that’s scary just thinking about it.”

It made sense. Modelling wasn’t just about having fun after all. Then Noriko’s mind travelled back a little. Me? She blushed but brought her scrambled thoughts back in control. “Sorry, but I already have a boyfriend.” Years of being brought up to behave at least decently kicked in. “Thanks for considering me, though. I’m flattered.” She was, or else she wouldn’t have blushed like that.

“Yep, a real cutie,” the man said, but the teasing tone in his voice promised that he’d back off.

Noriko smirked but played along. If he didn’t push it any further she could live with him having the last word.

It was time for yet another freezing change of clothes, and while Noriko failed miserably at keeping up with Kuri’s speed she noticed how her phone came alive again, and again and again. After an approving nod from Kuri Noriko dared looking at it.

The usual teasing message with photos attached to them lined up her queue like dancers on a festival. Noriko grinned as she read them until she happened upon one from Jeniferu. A photo with Noriko clinging to one of the boys in the shoot came accompanied by a message with a sobering effect.

“You sure Ulf approves of this?”

Gods! I haven’t contacted him even once. I suck! Noriko frantically brought up his line-id and started typing. “Got caught up with Kuri. Sorry!”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Being dragged into Kuri’s shenanigans was bad enough. Being caught hanging around a boy for everyone to see with a smile like it was the happiest day in her life was a lot worse. I need to explain this. I hope he isn’t angry. She quickly sent another apology after the first, but before she had a chance to send a third explaining why the second one was so incoherent Kuri dragged her away for the next session.

This is bad! This is really, really bad!

Several long minutes when Noriko made her best to pretend her stomach wasn’t a jumble of unpleasant feelings passed, and in the end Kuri sent her back to the chairs with a worried look. All of a sudden playing model wasn’t fun at all.

“I hope you’re having a good time,” wasn’t the message she had hoped for. Was he serious, or was he just seriously pissed off? With Urufu you couldn’t know. By now she knew his loving her didn’t prevent him from being angry with her at all.

I’m sorry Urufu. Please forgive me! Noriko wondered if she shouldn’t express that thought in a text to him, but before she had a chance to act on it they were all shoved into cars headed for the finishing part of the evening.

***

“I hope you’re having a good time,” was maybe not exactly what he felt, but Noriko’s messages spelled discomfort and Ulf wanted her to know that she had his support when Christina pulled her into whatever craziness Noriko had to endure. Most likely she was dragged from shop to shop in search for clothes she didn’t need in order to look beautiful in his eyes. Possibly in search of clothes for him, and, well, most everyone were adamant about him desperately needing new clothes to look appealing, or even like a human being.

Still, for once he had prepared something of a dating planning and most everything in it went down the drain the moment Noriko vanished.

Guess she needs some girl time. Knowing that didn’t make him sulk any less. Studying with her was all fine and well, but sometimes Ulf just wanted to share a day of sheer stupidity with the girl closest to his heart.

There was a time for work and a time for leisure. The latter were few and far between. Still, I’m whining like a teenager, which, he reminded himself, the doctor a year and a half ago very much had said he actually was.

He managed to get permission to stay out a little longer than the curfew. Not that he really needed to apply for permission, but from what he saw the new principal wasn’t an arse which meant Ulf could do well to keep up a modicum of good behaviour as well.

Permission granted Ulf felt fairly certain their new principal was in the know about the arrivals. Fifty year old men usually didn’t ask if they were allowed to roam the streets during evening, and Ulf had absolutely no interest in neither seedier activities nor any consumption of alcohol. Visiting night clubs, sober or not, came in his twenties the last time he grew up, and it wasn’t like he would have been able to talk himself past the bouncers now anyway.

New life and all, he thought. Night life in Japan belonged to the white parts on his map. Or at least night life for younger adults did. He’d spent a few nights out with his wife, but that came at an age when he’d lost interest in booming music and large amounts of the cheapest alcohol available. Guess Haven’s the closest to nights out I’ve seen, and the Stockholm Haven café closed at eleven.

Right now he slowly walked past burger joints and cafés. Crammed in between were places he still had to wait a few years before he was welcome inside. The streets were eerily empty, maybe because a lot of what attracted those looking for somewhere to spend a late evening was grouped together in two large entertainment districts. High school students like himself weren’t welcome there.

Wonder what she’s doing. Ulf imagined Noriko sighing and trying on yet another piece of clothing she didn’t need, all the time surrounded by tall blonde and the body guards that came with that girl. Poor sod! Still, he could see himself walking between rows of hangers, pulled along by Noriko in search for something she believed wasn’t hurtful to the eyes of their surroundings.

Would you sigh if I was there? Somehow he hoped not. Making her happy had become increasingly important ever since he allowed himself to let his guard down. With Kareyoshi gone they could afford thinking about living instead of merely surviving.

What a year! A black one, and it hadn’t even been a full year. Ulf knew very well why the darkness in his mind stretched to a full one. Kareyoshi wasn’t to blame for the first two months. He wasn’t certain he’d made it though all of him by himself. You saved me, you know that? She was never merely a cute girl lovestruck with him for reasons he couldn’t even fathom. Without Noriko Ulf suspected he would have reverted back to the violence he found himself capable of shorty after he arrived here.

A door beckoned to him and he went inside. Something hot to accompany his thoughts seemed perfect. Damn, wrong place! He’d entered exactly the kind of place that catered to people like him. Large with sections like a diner, well lit and most probably not too expensive. Clusters of high school uniforms everywhere, sometimes mixed up by a bunch of middle schoolers and the occasional group of young people in their own clothes.

Should I leave? If he picked a more high end café he’d be able to have that something hot for double the price, which he could afford, but it also meant finding one in the first place. Screw that! I’m cold.

Ulf found himself a table for four and sat down. For once he was grateful of the drab diner design since the sections limited how many could see him. His nondescript uniform made him stand out like a sore thumb. The kids inside wore an assortment of just about everything that would have looked better than the beige and black of Himekaizen.

Good looking uniforms definitely didn’t make the list as to why anyone would pick the school. Possibly if you hated the gakuran and sailor uniforms enough. He smirked. Even so, if I didn’t know better, I’d probably go for Red Rose Hell. Their red and green was distinct enough to signal a student who belonged somewhere special. That it was special for all the wrong reasons didn’t matter.

There was no Red Rose Hell these days. At least not for high school students. We got that right. But then the plague spread to Himekaizen instead. Funny that it never took hold over Irishima High. Ulf guessed both staff and parents found the strength for integrity in the identity that came with that school. Means we need to make Himekaizen something special as well.

He grinned. It wasn’t his responsibility, not really, but still. One more year. I’ll show you what can be done in a year!

From the next table a smile was sent his way. The girl probably failed to pin point his uniform. Ulf returned her smile and dug for his phone. He could as well try to find out when Noriko’s shopping session ended.