Noriko paid the cashier.

Only two rooms left, she thought.

Tomorrow she'd receive more than a few harsh words from their class rep, but Noriko didn't care. Joining the club members rather than going out with her class was a given, as it had been for almost everyone else.

“Bro, I've paid until eight, but after that anyone staying here will have to pay for themselves.”

Ryu looked back at her from a door opening. “We'll only be one room by eight. I've told them already.”

When did you grow up to be this reliable? Noriko nodded and gave her brother a smile. More and more often he deserved her approval these days.

And who was that Irishima High girl? I can't recall seeing you spend so much time alone with one girl. Ryu without either harem or fan-club was a scary thought. You're changing.

Her brother, no longer 'idiot bro', left the karaoke box and walked over to her.

“Any news?” he asked.

Noriko shook her head. An email told her Kyoko and Yukio were on their way to the hospital. They should have arrived by now.

“Haven café or home?” she asked instead.

Ryu grimaced. “Haven,” he said. “We need to break the news to them.”

“Do we have to?” Noriko said.

“Transparency,” Ryu said. “That's the one thing Urufu is adamant about. They deserve to know, and we can't start cheating now.”

Noriko bit her lower lip and clenched her hands into fists. “How much do you know?” Distrusting her brother wasn't fair, but if he knew anything more she had to know as well.

“As much as you,” he answered. “Honestly. Nakagawa and Kuri might know more, and perhaps...”

“And perhaps Kyoko and Yukio,” Noriko filled in.

“And perhaps Kyoko and Yukio,” Ryu agreed. “You know, sis, I'm scared. I don't think I've ever been truly scared before.”

“It's Urufu we're talking about. The barbarian knight from Red Rose. He's too stupid to know how to be hurt,” she lied. The words came out strange from her mouth, and Noriko hoped Ryu didn't notice. One look at him told her he had.

“Yeah,” he said, “your idiot knight in shining armour.”

Does my voice sound that forced? It probably did, because Ryu's voice held no conviction. My knight in broken armour, more likely.

Looking behind her brother Noriko saw Nao leaving the room.

“Haven?” he asked when he arrived at the counter.

Noriko nodded. “Anyone else?”

Nao looked over his shoulder. “I think the rest from our box will join as well.”

As if to prove him true Sakura-chan and Nori-kun showed their faces and entered the corridor hand in hand. They were soon followed by Fumiko-chan and Hitomi-chan, and with that the remaining eight club members all fit inside the last karaoke box.

Noriko smiled at Nao and made for the exit. “I guess we're leaving then,” she said over her shoulder.

She felt his hand take hers, and when they entered the street outdoors her brother flanked her on her other side. Noriko could hear him speak with Sakura-chan, but as usual there were almost no answers from the silent girl.

With a smirk Noriko tightened her grip on Nao's hand and felt him respond in turn.

The evening turned colder, and she had to button up the collar of her jacket to keep the wind out. Within a few weeks a scarf wouldn't be out of order.

As they came closer to their destination, and for that reason closer to their school, they met more and more groups of Himekaizen students. Most seemed to be on their way home from an hour of karaoke bawling, and in the case of larger parties on their way to some restaurant to celebrate the most insane cultural festival in the history of Himekaizen.

Noriko waved to those she recognized, and their group was waved at from a lot more fellow students. Fame hadn't passed them by.

Before long they arrived at the run down coffee house they'd made their second home. Noriko gave students around her a cursory glance before she opened the door and entered to the sound of jingling bells.

Over a dozen culture exchange club members sat spread around three tables and cheered their arrival. When the karaoke die-hards finally arrived virtually the entire club would be present. Only four members absent, four of her best friends absent, and all of them at the same hospital.

Noriko nodded at James when he pointed a thumb in the direction of the espresso machine. Apart from her coffee she ordered some sweet cake and went to grab a table.

She looked up when Hiroyuki came over to her and shot her a worried look.

“I'll tell all of you later,” she answered his unspoken question.

Ryu, Nori-kun and Sakura-chan joined her, and behind them she saw James carry a tray with their orders. Fumiko-chan and Hitomi-chan chose chairs at the closest table and hung their coats over the backrests.

Noriko waited for James to return with the last of the orders in a futile attempt to postpone the inevitable, but as he left for the counter with an empty tray pressed to his body all conversations around the tables silenced, and a multitude of eyes sought hers expectantly.

She rose and met the eerie silence from almost twenty club members.

“I have something to announce,” Noriko said and felt how brittle her voice sounded. “During today's fashion show Urufu was assaulted by visiting students from Red Rose Academy.”

It took the combined effort from Ryu and Hitomi-chan to silence the angry roar that filled the café.

“He was taken to a hospital, and some of our friends are there right now to find out how bad it is. I'm afraid that's all I know.”

***

“I'm afraid that's all I know.”

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Kyoko tried to wrap her head around those last words. Broken ribs and punctured lungs. How bad is that?

Back at the chairs Kuri-chan had fallen into a fitful sleep with her head in Yukio's lap. Kyoko saw him caressing Kuri-chan's head, but rather than any jealousy she only felt pride for his caring.

It's your best friend. You must be worried sick.

Despite the nurse's advice all three of them decided to stay the night. Not because they could do anything to help Urufu, but because Kyoko didn't have it in her to desert Kuri-chan again, and Kuri-chan didn't dare leaving the hospital. Yukio, well he stayed for two reasons Kyoko guessed.

Looking up at the clock she noticed how Sunday had given way to Monday. A school day she was likely to miss or at least sleep through.

“Something to drink?” Kyoko asked.

She didn't wait for an answer, but walked down the corridor to where she had seen a vending machine on her way here. A few coins lighter, and loaded with an armful of bottles and cans, she returned to where Kuri-chan still slept in Yukio's lap.

“Coffee?”

Yukio nodded in response and looked up at her. “But let her sleep some more,” he said and glanced down at Kuri-chan.

With an effort not to wake her he moved out from under her and replaced his legs with Kyoko's bundled coat. Kuri-chan protested sleepily but didn't wake.

“It's warm,” Kyoko said and handed him a can.

“Thanks.” Yukio took two bottles nestled in her arms and placed them on the seat next to Kuri-chan's head. “Soda or tea?”

“Tea,” Kyoko said. She watched Yukio take the remaining can and put it beside the two bottles.

Yukio broke open his can and tilted it to his lips. His face turned upwards, and Kyoko saw him close his eyes as if that would enhance the taste of his coffee.

Do you know how beautiful you are? Kyoko twisted her bottle open and let the taste of cold and bitter run down her throat. She screwed the cork back on again and went to the windows. Outside the glimmering Tokyo night-lights shone their promise of a never sleeping life. An illusion, she knew, but in the capital of capitals, an illusion easier to keep alive than anywhere else.

“Want to sleep?” The words came from behind her back just as Yukio threw his arms around her and clasped his hands over her stomach.

Kyoko revelled in his closeness for a few seconds before answering. “No, I'll stay up for a while longer.” She turned in his arms. “I should be awake when Kuri-chan wakes.”

Hissing sounds of elevator doors opening announced a late entry onto their floor, and Kyoko tilted her head so she could see past Yukio's shoulder.

“Then I'll stay up with you as well,” he said.

She hugged him closer, but she never stopped peering beside him to catch a glimpse of whoever came to the waiting room at this hour.

Sato-sensei?

Kyoko looked again. It was hard recognising anyone shadowed against the lights in the corridor, but it did look like Urufu's guardian.

“Yukio, I think Sato-sensei has come here.”

The shadowy figure stopped by the chairs where Kuri-chan lay sleeping, hesitated for a moment and moved as if to caress the sleeping figure. At the last moment it stopped and rose again.

“Let her sleep,” Kyoko said. By now she was sure it was indeed Urufu's guardian who had arrived. “Don't you think you've hurt her enough?”

Sato-sensei recoiled as if whipped.

“Kuri-chan told me about your phone call. Of all who said they cared for Urufu she came here first and you last.”

The last words made Yukio flinch in her arms, but Kyoko didn't care.

“It's not that easy,” Sato-sensei murmured.

“It's exactly that easy. When those you profess to love are taken to hospital you drop everything and rush there. That's how easy it is.”

Kyoko prepared herself for a stinging rebuke, but none came.

“How is he?”

Some of her anger ran off her with those words, but far from all of it. “What gives you the right to ask that now?” Kyoko said, and this time Yukio's arms around her tightened to tell her that enough was enough.

“How is my little boy?”

Something in that voice silenced the next stream of angry words from Kyoko before she even had a chance to voice them. She looked at Urufu's guardian. What she saw in Sato-sensei's face was less fear than rage.

“I don't know. Broken ribs and some internal damage,” Kyoko said, suddenly subdued. “The doctor's didn't want to tell me how bad it was. He's in ICU.”

Sato-sensei's mouth was a thin line, and Kyoko found it hard to understand how she managed to voice a reaction.

“They told me on my way here.”

“Why, why didn't you come earlier?” Yukio asked.

From his voice Kyoko knew he was still facing the windows. He never made an attempt to turn and greet Urufu's guardian.

“I was told an hour ago.”

“We called you as soon as we knew,” Yukio protested.

“You called my job. They didn't tell me.”

What kind of awful job do you have? Kyoko knew Sato-sensei worked with the police, but what kind of department kept something like this secret from their employees?

Suddenly Kyoko felt how tired she really was. She glared at Sato-sensei and let go of Yukio. “Promise you wake me up if anything happens,” Kyoko said and walked over to Kuri-chan's side.

“I promise,” she heard from behind her.

That had to suffice. Kyoko moved the drinks to the floor, moved her coat under Kuri-chan's head so there was enough to make a pillow for her as well and lay down to sleep.