Kyoko stared at the apparition making its way to their table. What the?

“Breakfast is served,” Kuri-chan said entering the dining hall with a serving trolley. She wore nothing as otaku friendly as a maid costume, but her attire wasn't far off enough to abolish such thoughts entirely.

Why is Kuri-chan working in the kitchen? Kyoko bit her lower lip. Oh well, it's Kuri-chan. Count on her to do something strange.

They were the only guests at the resort, so the trolley Kuri-chan pushed toward them carried all the breakfast they needed. If it could be called breakfast. Somehow part of it looked eerily like Urufu's midsummer's disaster earlier that summer. There was no miso soup and none of the pickled vegetables Kyoko had gotten used to during their time here. Even rice was lacking.

Across the table Urufu broke down in laughter and sat bent over the table coughing his mirth out while Yukio slapped his back in that friendly and all too hard way only boys did.

“Kuri-chan, what is this?” Kyoko asked.

“I and the owner seems to share an interest in cooking, so I helped out.”

A glimmer of hesitation passed over Kuri-chan's face during the explanation, and Kyoko suspected there was more to it than she said. Kyoko decided it wasn't worth probing. “OK, that's how it was done, but what is it?”

Kuri-chan started dumping plates onto the table. “Cereal, milk and sour milk, bread and butter, ham, pickled gherkins, cheese, boiled eggs and; Ulf listen up, pickled herring!”

That only had him bury his nose even deeper into the table.

Kyoko noted that the trolley had a lower section as well. She nodded at it and shot Kuri-chan a questioning look.

“Later,” Kuri-chan said and emptied the last of the plates onto the table. She sat on her knees and pulled out three metal containers from the lower section and placed them on top. “Bacon, baked beans and scrambled eggs.” She waved and ran for the kitchen.

Am I supposed to eat this in the morning? Frowning Kyoko started loading some of the least offensive items onto her plate. She glanced over the table where Urufu expertly filled his bowl with cereals and poured milk into it. After that he stacked his plate with everything cold apart from one boiled egg.

Funny way to eat breakfast, Kyoko thought and began copying him.

“Salt or sour?” Yukio asked and pointed at the herring.

“Mm, all sour. Don't usually serve the salty kind for breakfast,” Urufu answered between two mouthfuls.

Kyoko saw how both Ryu and Noriko carefully selected whatever they deemed edible, and then Kuri-chan returned with two pitchers filled with juice.

“Fill up,” she said. “This is your last decent meal this side of Tokyo.”

“Decent?” Ryu murmured, and his sister agreed.

“Shut up silly!”

“Meal?” Noriko pondered, and her brother agreed.

“You're hopeless, both of you.”

“This side of Tokyo?” Urufu shot in.

“Eh, yeah, sorry about that. Our tickets won't leave us enough time to eat in Nagoya. We have less than fifteen minutes.”

“Fill up it is then,” Urufu said and started shovelling food into his mouth.

Yukio followed his example, and faced with the prospect of an entire day's travel on an empty stomach Kyoko reluctantly grabbed a bowl, filled it with cereals and milk and started eating for real.

With that silence settled over the table. It was only broken by Kuri-chan taking her seat and loading food onto her plates. Even the Wakayamas were unusually subdued and made their best to try the odd food out.

When they were done Kyoko quickly made for her room and the last of her luggage. Everyone else's already stood in the lobby, and when she came down again two taxi cars already waited on the courtyard.

It was with mixed feelings she climbed into one. The time at the hotel had seen her grow. She didn't know how, but she knew that she had definitely taken an important step towards adulthood. And she had become closer to Yukio.

She waved to the staff through the window, and shortly after the taxi started rolling she could only see the courtyard through the rear window, and after that, nothing at all.

***

“See you later.”

Just a few days until autumn term, so 'later' wasn't exactly some distant occasion. Then why did it feel like a farewell? Ryu waved after Kuri and Urufu as they headed for the local trains. Yukio and Kyoko trailed behind because they would share another train anyway, and both wanted something to eat after the awful train-ride all the way from south of Ise to Tokyo.

He looked out the entrance to Tokyo central station. Their mother would pick them up by car. After that Ryu guessed Kyoko and Yukio would return inside and head for a late evening subway.

Ryu wondered about that. How quickly they all had gained the trust of his parents and Urufu's guardian. Too quickly. They had been left to their own devices the last week. Sure, Principal Nakagawa stayed to handle Kuri's make-up exams, but he didn't patrol the corridors at night to make sure they didn't sneak into each others' rooms.

It wasn't that Ryu disliked it. Freedom meant responsibility, and he guessed he had grown enough to want to shoulder some. Him and his sister.

“Ryu!”

What?

“Ryu, wake up!”

Sis? Oh, mom's here already. “See you, guys,” he shouted to Kyoko and Yukio. Ryu waved after them when they turned and walked to the subway area.

“Coming sis.” He shouldered his backpack and with the help of his sister they carried the large bag to the waiting car. Mom, you're not supposed to park there, but you never did care much for rules, did you?

He lifted all bags into the trunk and took his seat beside his mother. Noriko opened one of the rear doors and he saw her buckle up in the rear mirror.

“Fun field trip?” she asked as if she hadn't spent the last couple of weeks with him.

“Yes, but I'm tired and hungry now. Mom what's for dinner?”

“Hot pot. Dad's preparing it right now. It'll be ready when we come home.”

Ryu grinned where he sat. By now he longed for a bath and something more normal to eat than the food they had been served at the resort. It had been good food, but in the long run he missed his parents' cooking, and especially the bantering around a simmering pot.

“How was work?” his mother asked when they stopped for a red light.

“Wonderful!” Noriko exclaimed from the back seat before Ryu had a chance to respond. She leaned forward as far as her seat belt allowed. “I've learned so much. I never guessed he knew so much.”

“Who?” their mother asked, but it was a redundant question. Neither mother nor son needed to see Noriko's furious blush to know the answer.

“You like him, don't you?” their mother asked when Noriko refused to answer. “Why don't you steal him from her?”

“Fat chance,” came the sullen reply. Then Noriko's voice lit up again. “But I'll move on. I think being friends with him is the most important, and I like Kuri as well. She's a much better friend than I had thought.” There was a moment of hesitation, and Ryu could hear her leaning back in her seat again. “I think she's really awesome when she works, but she's more like dad than you.”

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“I think you're right,” their mother said. “I got a good impression of her, but she can be cold sometimes.”

After some silence Noriko coughed. “Mom, what do you think about Urufu?”

They drove through a tricky intersection in silence, but Ryu could see how his mother mulled over the answer to that question. “He's a good man I believe, but sometimes I wonder if he isn't broken. Something bad happened.”

Yeah, you could say that. Principal Nakagawa and his manhunt happened, but I don't know if we can tell. Then Ryu remembered the promise he had given his mother in Sapporo. “Mom, he got caught up in a suicide. Principal Nakagawa used him to find one of the guys from last year.” How much can I say? How will sis react?

“Don't worry about me. I'm mostly over it,” Noriko said from the rear as if she had read his mind. “But yes, it ended with a suicide and Urufu had to watch it all.”

Did we ever tell mom about what really happened a year ago? When he put the question that way Ryu realised there was no chance his mother didn't know. She just hadn't said anything.

“I hope she's strong enough then,” their mother said. “Noriko, you should stay away from him apart from the friendship you share. At least until he's whole again.”

If he ever will be. There are things about him you don't know mom. Things you wouldn't believe or understand. Ryu shuddered, and the feeling of being unable to handle a secret of this magnitude weighed him down. He didn't like telling half-truths to his parents. It was almost as bad as lying outright.

They drove the rest of the way in silence, and sometime after he heard his sister snoring softly he must have fallen asleep himself, because when he was about to ask his mother about something he had seen as they passed by he found out they were already home.

***

Kyoko grinned as she walked beside Yukio.

The shared dinner, their first shared dinner alone, was fantastic. Not because the food was exceptional, because compared to what they'd grown used to the last weeks it wasn't anything special. And it wasn't the place either. The resort outclassed it in every romantic way possible, but this time it was something only the two of them did together.

Despite feeling sweaty and dirty after a long day on trains Kyoko saw herself as a princess for the first time in her life. Maybe because that was the image mirrored in Yukio's eyes whenever she looked at him.

“We'd better go home now,” Yukio said. He tightened his grip on her hand. “Funny, I've longed for being just normal for a while now, but now. I don't know.”

She looked at him again. Dishevelled clothes and hair that needed washing despite the last day's hot spring bath. He had dirt under his nails, and his shirt sported a stain from their dinner. He was the most beautiful person she had ever seen. And you're all mine! The thought scared her a bit. Does that make me yours?

“I know what you mean. So let's catch a train,” she said. No, it doesn't scare me. Not if it is you.

On their way to the subway she saw students from different schools returning home from cram school. It was still summer, but the faces they met were already preparing for autumn. So much that has happened. And it's only been a month. But from now on we're back to our usual lives. “Yukio?”

“Yes?”

“I haven't told my parents about you. Do you hate me for that?” Where did that thought come from?

He stopped and took both her hands in his. “Why would I?”

“I don't know. I'm sorry. It was just a stupid thought.”

He leaned closer to her face. “Don't call yourself stupid. I can't talk with my parents about my parents, if you know what I mean.”

She thought she understood what he was thinking. “Uhum.”

“There are things we don't want to talk about. Not the same things for everyone, but I believe all of us has something we feel uncomfortable talking about.”

Yes, she had understood. We think alike. This isn't just me falling in love. I can love you and be friends with you at the same time. “I want to introduce you, but I think you'll get a cold welcome. That scares me.”

“As long as you prepare me for what they don't like it's fine.”

Kyoko felt frustration rise in her. “It's so stupid. They're like really old fashioned, and for them a divorce is because those involved were bad people.”

“Maybe they were,” he grinned. “It ended up in a divorce after all.”

“Yukio! Don't joke about that! You've never said anything bad about your parents. Just that they can't live together.”

“Yeah, sorry my bad. I didn't mean to make you angry.”

She sighed and let go of one hand. The other she kept in a firm grip as they started walking again. “I'm not angry. It's just that… It's just that I want them to like the one I like. Ah, that didn't make any sense, did it?”

Yukio laughed and pulled her close. “It makes a lot of sense. I often feel that way myself.” He turned silent and took a few steps more. “You know, when I find someone who makes me laugh I want the entire world to laugh. When I found you I wanted everyone to love you as well.” He blushed at his own words. “But I wanted you to love me more than any of the others.”

Kyoko smiled. Those words filled her with warmth and a tingling sensation of being special. “I do.”

“Yeah,” he whispered. “I dare to believe that now. I really love you.”

They got on a subway train, slept a little shoulder to shoulder and got off at a station where they changed to a local train that took them to their station. From there it was half an hour's walk home. It was a little heavy with their bags, but she didn't mind.

When they passed the mall where she had seen him the first time she absent-mindedly noticed that Urufu's bike wasn't locked to the stand. And it shouldn't have been. She knew that, but seeing that bike under the café had once meant that she could find Yukio upstairs. Now he was by her side.

“I wonder how they're doing,” she said. “Urufu and Kuri-chan I mean.”

Yukio dropped his bags to the ground, looked up and stretched. “I know what you mean,” he said. “Let them out of sight and you never know what stupid things they'll do.”

They shared a laugh at that.

“Sometimes Kuri-chan feels like an unruly little sister that I have to take care of,” Kyoko said. She looked at Yukio and saw a knowing smile play over his lips.

“Urufu, my little brother. Yep, that's about it.”

And they laughed again, loud enough for some people around them to frown. That only made them laugh some more.