With only a few days left until the short third school term Ryu returned to his senses after over a week's worth of luxury spent with Ai-chan.

He liked her enough to disregard everything that happened around him when he was together with her, even though he admitted that his prior crush on Kuri had been deeper.

Hence it was a rude awakening when he noticed that his sister was far too polite and silent for being her usual midget sized ball of opinionated energy. It wasn't until he asked her to join him for a double date with Ai-chan and Nao-sempai that he understood something was wrong.

“What do you mean he isn't answering,” Ryu asked as they walked out of the Shibuya station to pick up Ai-chan. Noriko had spent both local train and subway in sullen silence, and by now Ryu was thoroughly tired of her attitude. He hadn't done anything wrong.

Faced with a direct question she couldn't ignore it, and he watched her screwing a smile to her face before she replied. “He's in Kyoto. With Kuri.”

He's what? Ryu wondered if he should poke some more or wait until Noriko continued of her own volition. In the end he settled for the latter as he saw Ai-chan waving at him from a bench close to the statue.

“Nao got caught up with whatever punishment Kuri received for spending Christmas with Urufu,” Noriko said, something that Ryu barely registered when Ai-chan rose and hugged him.

When Noriko and Ai-chan greeted each other Ryu took a look at his surroundings. Even though it was a clear day, January was as stingy with its warmth as usual. A lousy two degrees barely kept things above freezing, and anything even resembling a gust of wind blew right through his coats and chilled his bones. For once he wished he had one of Urufu's atrocious jackets.

Is it colder where you used to live? Ryu doubted the polar bears, but Sweden was pretty far north. Maybe like in Hokkaido, which meant freezing your butt off.

“Ryu, I heard rumours, are they true?”

Rumours? “There are a lot of rumours about me,” Ryu said and grinned.

Ai-chan gave him a playful box on his arms. “Not about you, stupid!” She smiled and laughed. “I heard some people from your school got caught up in gang violence.”

Huh? “No, not that I know of. Noriko, you?” He didn't exactly expect her to answer. It wasn't like his sister followed the rumour mill; she was just a bit too studious for that.

A sudden tug at his jacket made him turn around. Noriko stared at him with worried eyes. “Ryu, I was about to say. Thing is, none of them are answering.”

'Them' could only mean one out of two things. Urufu and Kuri, or all four of their closest friends. “Kyoko or Yukio said anything?” Ryu asked to narrow down the options.

Noriko shook her head. “I can't get through to them. I was going to ask you if we should contact Sato-sensei.”

Sato-sensei? You're worried for real, aren't you? “Don't you think it's a bit rude to disturb them during break,” he said instead.

He looked at Ai-chan where she stood and looked a little abandoned. To make up for his chatting with his sister he took her hand and squeezed. He was rewarded with a smile and the feeling of her fingers hugging his. 'Don't worry,' they seemed to tell him. 'If it's your sister it can't be helped,' her smile said, but Ai-chan's eyes didn't agree.

This was our date. Sis just tagged along after we failed to reach Nao. “Sis, this isn't really a good time,” Ryu said. Noriko was the only girl he could be inconsiderate with. That was what siblings were for after all.

Noriko nodded understanding, and Ryu felt he should at least show her the courtesy to stay waving with Ai-chan until she vanished back inside the station.

After that he and Ai-chan started hunting for shops, just as they had planned from the beginning. He got a new pair of casual trousers, she a new jersey and a fluffy something only girls could really think was cute, but boys had an obligation to say was. At least if the boy wanted to be seen as someone who knew the basic rules of the boy meets girl game, and Ryu was one such boy.

He even allowed her to make him buy a pair of mittens that he wouldn't be seen with outside dates with her. It helped that today was abysmally cold and that the knitted horrors felt warm on his hands. It helped doubly that they had room for her hand as well.

So all in all it was a pretty good date.

But there was something.

Going down the escalators in a department store he finally caved in and grabbed his phone with his free hand. He and Ai-chan made it well into the next section before he gave up on calling any of the four of their shared friends.

“Something to drink? My treat,” he offered.

Ai-chan shone up, and he left her at a table with their bags. It really was an ugly excuse to get some time away from her, but Ryu didn't want her to listen in on his next call. He didn't intend to call Urufu's guardian, but rather Principal Nakagawa, who knew all about Urufu's and Kuri's real backgrounds.

“This is Wakayama Ryu speaking. I wonder...” Ryu began after the old man answered his call. He got no further.

“You're needed at the clinic,” Principal Nakagawa cut him off. “Your sister as well.”

After the call there was time to gulp down the drinks, but after that Ryu spent the extra cash on a taxi and made sure to pick Noriko up on the way. Ai-chan rode with him. Given the contents of that last phone-call he wasn't going to let her get back home on her own.

***

“They're on their way here,” Sato-sensei said.

Yukio looked at her from his bed. By now he had recovered enough to walk around, but the nurse wanted him lying down as much as possible.

“They?” Yukio wondered.

Sato-sensei looked at him. “The Wakayama twins, and the girlfriend.”

Girlfriend? Ai-chan?

“OK, this is it. Up you go, kiddie.”

Yukio gave her a tired smile. With some luck he didn't look like a monster grinning at her, but with the bruises covering his face that was rather unlikely. At least they didn't hurt any more.

He shifted in his bed, moved his legs outside and stood. He was still a little wobbly, but both legs were comparatively undamaged. A fractured rib and another fracture that kept his left arm in a sling were all the lingering results from the attack. Sato-sensei said they hadn't really tried to inflict damage on him, just to scare the living daylight out of both of them. Then something went horribly wrong.

“Kyoko?” he croaked.

“Yes. Now or never.”

The two of them left the room and entered the corridor. Urufu and Kuri stood waiting for him there, and Yukio nodded his thanks to them.

Two days they had spent here. Two days for him and Kyoko. Who could wish for better friends?

“The doctor should be here soon,” Sato-sensei said.

Yukio could see how both Urufu and Kuri flinched at those words. He had been warned. Kyoko wasn't safe yet, and after her parent received the final verdict he and his friends had been promised to be told as well.

A tall man in a white coat came walking down the corridor towards them. He looked anything but Japanese.

The doctor is a foreigner?

He was, and he approached Yukio. “She'll live.”

Days of fear ran off him in a moment. Yukio sank to his knees. Let me look like a girl. I don't care. She'll live. Kyoko, Kyoko!

“But she'll never bear children. I'm sorry.”

“Who cares, she'll live!”

“Yukio! That's awful!” Kuri rushed to the doctor. “Does she know? Ko-chan I mean.”

The doctor shook his head. Yukio still didn't understand what all the drama was about. Kyoko was saved. Who cared about anything else?

Urufu grabbed his arms. “We're going to have a conversation about what you're allowed to say about women and childbearing.”

Yukio didn't understand what was happening, but both the doctor and Kuri inclined their heads to Urufu. A sure sign of approval.

“For every item you fail to grasp I'll personally use my fist and slug one tooth out of that grinning mouth of yours,” Urufu continued.

Yukio looked around himself for help. It didn't seem to be coming.

“I'd advise against that,” the doctor said.

Finally a sane person!

“Wait until I've called for a dentist.”

Kuri nodded in fervent approval.

What the hell? They just told us Kyoko's going to be all-right, and suddenly everyone's going comedy central on me!

“Doctor, what the young lady here just asked,” Sato-sensei said.

“We will, but first we want her to wake up properly. Allow her a day before giving her that kind of shock, OK?”

At his side Kuri gasped and clutched Urufu closer to her. “Poor Kyoko!”

What's the big deal? But Yukio understood that he was being pigheaded one way or another, and watching the stricken looks on all adults present, including Kuri and Urufu, not having children apparently was a bad thing, or possibly 'Bad Thing' with capital letters. He'd ask them properly when the rush of giddiness left him. Kyoko would live. Who cared about anything else?

About the same time as the doctor turned on his heels and returned from whence he came, a door opened behind them and let angry voices into the corridor. Yukio turned to better see the disturbance.

“Where are they?” Ryu's irritated voice carried over the one of an older male, who apparently tried to stop him.

“In here,” Sato-sensei said.

Through the door Ryu, Noriko and Ai-chan came running.

“Been a while. How was hatsumode, man?” Yukio asked and hoped he sounded cool.

“Yukio, what have they done to you?” Noriko answered instead, and suddenly he was covered by midget arms and bosom. “Where's Kyoko,” she said, and there was just a hint of accusation in her voice.

Shit, she doesn't know.

“Takeida-san is otherwise occupied,” Sato-sensei said.

Yukio shook his head. He didn't want to downplay it like that. “Noriko, she got hurt. Badly. It was I who couldn't be by her side, not the other way around. This is nothing.” Now when he didn't care about sounding cool any longer, Yukio realised he probably did.

“Kyoko, hurt?”

Yukio looked at Noriko and Kuri exchange looks. The three girls had grown so close the last months that he no longer could tell who were best friends with whom.

A few steps further away Ryu and Ai-chan held on to each other, but they didn't try to join the chaos closest to him. Ryu had something guilty in his eyes, but mostly his face showed wrath. Ai-chan looked worried more than anything else, but then she hadn't been involved with everything since the start.

Yukio grimaced. There was one thing he needed to verify. He looked at Kuri and Urufu, then at Ryu and last at Ai-chan. The third time he repeated the sequence Ryu shook his head, and Yukio had to suppose Ai-chan still hadn't been told about the arrivals.

Crap, I'm tired. I want to talk with you guys, but not with her here, he thought and looked at Ryu's girlfriend. And Kyoko's fine, or mostly fine. This time he threw a self-conscious look at Kuri and Urufu. We have to get rid of this Red Rose crap once and for all. I hate those bastards!

Because he had deduced from what Sato-sensei had said earlier. Once again Red Rose had been involved with attacking them. For the first time in his life Yukio agreed fully with Urufu's version of honour. They were going down, and this time forgiveness and redemption was no longer an option. 'While you may occasionally break your promises, never, ever, break your threats' Urufu had said.

I'll see you dead or in prison for this. I'll never rest before I do.