With the unexpected arrival of trucks carrying everything in her wish-list, Noriko dared lean back in her chair and sort out other problems in her enormous inbox.

Stay busy. Stay occupied. Make sure you don't have time to worry about him.

She leaned further back and rested her head on Nao's shoulders. He sat on a chair behind her and hugged her. Had done so since she forced herself to shoulder the broken remains of Urufu's planning. Not once did he comment on how her mind was full of another man.

“Noriko?” Her radio crackled, and the led light stared accusingly at her.

She smirked and pushed the button. “Noriko here.”

“Kyoko here. You can move half the security from the service gates. I don't think the police will leave it before the festival ends. Over.”

“Thank you.” For once Noriko remembered Urufu's instructions from the day before. “Over and out.”

She split the four students from 9:1 into two pairs, had one take a break and the other carry supplies to the stalls needing it most. With a scowl she realised that was just about every stall on the main street.

“Nao, help me,” she said. She sighed and rose from her chair with the help of her arms. All strength long gone from her limbs, she needed physical support to move from their office area to the lounge part.

He didn't answer, but he put his right arm around her and held her waist with his hand. It probably looked a bit indecent, but it allowed her to sag in his embrace without falling to the floor.

It's time for some bad acting. Here goes nothing. “Guys,” she said facing the club members. “We don't have time for apathy now. Urufu worked his arse off to make this work, so why the hell are you sitting here you lazy bastards?”

She only wanted to join them, but in the long run that wouldn't make anyone feel better.

“Shut up bitch!”

“I'll shut up when you start working again. Urufu and Kuri are absent. That puts me in charge here. Get the hell out of here and fill up the stalls!” Does that make me sound arrogant enough? Did I make them angry enough to care again?

A couple of members growled, but stood anyway. “Whatever, you piss-ant,” Nori-kun said. “You heard the midget bitch. Let's get moving before she starts wailing.”

Screw you! Noriko stared at Nori-kun as he led a team through the door. Wait a minute, did you just wink at me?

“Yeah, this room stinks of bad mood. I'm off as well,” Hitomi-chan said and got another half a dozen members moving.

Noriko wanted to thank the beauty in Urufu's class, but something told her the timing was off. I deserved that. Thanks guys, seeing through my act and playing along with it anyway.

After that the remaining members walked out in pairs or small groups, and as the room emptied the festival committee members present got livelier. Slowly the club room transformed into the headquarters it had been before the assault on Urufu.

Back at the desks in the office area two festival committee members threw her searching glances, and Kenshin-sempai, the council treasurer, had a playful smirk on his lips.

Noriko wiped some non-existent sweat from her brow and walked up to the windows. Somewhere out there Rie-sempai was making herself useful rather than stalking Yukio. That in itself earned her a name upgrade from merely being the nameless student council president.

Below the windows Noriko saw the bike-stand that indirectly had brought Yukio and Urufu into her life, even though she now knew Urufu would have contacted Kuri sooner or later anyway.

Almost half a year. Has it been that long already? She put her hands to the window pane and listened to Nao coming up behind her.

“Noriko, I'd better help as well. Call me if there is anything.”

Don't turn around. Her need to have him close to her almost overwhelmed her, but he was right. She duped the rest of the club into work mode, and with that she lost all rights to enjoy time with him.

He squeezed her shoulder gently and left the room.

He knows my mind is full of Urufu. I should be more grateful for his strength when I feel this helpless. She took a step backwards, turned and sat down by a desk. With a pang of regret Noriko pushed the button to the radio and called Yukio for a bird's view report on the situation on the school grounds.

The short conversation helped a bit with taking her thoughts from Urufu and whatever hospital he had been taken to. Checking off the items on her laptop helped some more, and by the time she ordered two club members onto the right wing rooftop some of the joy of juggling the festival chaos returned to her.

Another two hours and we're done.

Two hours of keeping it together. The chaos wouldn't get worse, because with Kuri absent most of the sensation seekers left the school as well. The festival stayed crowded beyond reason though. While many guests left, a lot of those caught in the queue outside the gates opted to go inside for lack of anything better to spend their Sunday afternoon on.

This is about the amount of insanity I can handle. Noriko sighed, but when the last of the air left her she allowed her face to split into a smile. She couldn't do anything about Urufu, but she could do something about the here and now. That was good enough.

Watch me, idiot bro! Watch your midget sister grow into a giant!

***

Over the radio Ryu heard how his sister got things more and more under control, and by now both student council and festival committee were firmly dedicated to finish the festival in good style.

He decided to spend the last hour and half together with the girl from Irishima High, who hooked up with him a little earlier. According to her they had met before summer break, and he owed her a goukon.

Ryu did have a vague recollection of bantering with a group of girls on his way to the old mall, and when she insisted they had already exchanged email-addresses he put her to the test.

That event took place just before he decided to spend the afternoon with her, led to him spending it with her if he was honest with himself. Ten seconds it took before his phone flagged an incoming mail. Ryu's weakness for girls who dared him and won got the better of him.

She had an older brother here, or had had if he understood her correctly. The brother of hers transferred abroad, to their sister school in Sweden of all places.

There was an interesting tale involving a girl to be told, and Ryu made a mental note to himself to check it out later, but right now he wanted to get to know the tomboy by his side better.

He turned in the direction she wanted as yet another slap smarted in his lower back; her very special way of getting his attention in the noisy bedlam around them.

“You know I'll have bruises there if you keep at it?” he said to her.

“Sorry about that Wakayama-san,” she said with a toothy grin that revealed exactly how sorry she was.

Ryu pretended to growl and pulled her to the stall she pointed at. “Something to eat together with the Ramune, Ai-chan?”

She shook her head. “Someone's behaves pretty familiar with me,” she said.

“Prefer Hasegawa-san?” Ryu countered and exchanged some coins for two glass bottles. The girl in the stall gave him a long look, and Ai-chan an even longer one.

Ai-chan shook her head. “First name is fine.”

“Then call me Ryu, like everyone else please.”

The girl in the stall gave him another stare. 'Everyone else' didn't include those outside 3:1, their club or the remains of his fan-club, but he wasn't about to say that.

He had to shield her back from the crowd when they fled indoors, but as they climbed the stairs to the topmost floors the mass of people thinned out. When they reached the last flight to the rooftop he found them ample space beneath the windows to sit down and share a meal.

“Meat-bun?” Ryu asked and picked up some of his bounty from his bag.

Ai-chan gave him a pair of big eyes before accepting. “When?”

Ryu unpeeled the paper wrapping and grinned back at her. “Your third or fourth slap. When we rounded the corner to the main street.” He put his teeth into the food and waited for her to say something.

“Our cultural festival was nothing like this,” she said.

“Missed it. We were busy planning our own.”

Ai-chan nodded. “Juniors told us we never get many guests from Himekaizen. Sucks.”

She joined him in attacking the food, and they ate in silence only broken by two pops when Ryu pushed down the glass beads sealing their Ramune bottles.

Before they ran out of drink he produced two paper wraps with bean paste cake.

“Second last slap,” Ryu said before Ai-chan had the chance to ask.

She grinned sheepishly and downed the cake together with what little soda she had left.

“So how come you have time for me,” Ai-chan asked and pointed at his armband hastily prepared the evening before.

Ryu got to his feet and looked out through the window. He didn't have the time, to be honest, but he also didn't care all that much any longer. “Something came up.”

Ai-chan joined him by the window. “Something came up, and you got more spare time?”

Student council finally got their heads out of their arses, he thought, but I can't say that. “Yeah. A matter of getting your priorities straight,” Ryu said instead. You're our guest, and you don't need to know the one who managed this madness got jumped by those Red Rose bastards.

Ai-chan wiped her trousers clean. In Yukio's 2D world anything female spent every day all year round in short skirts, but in reality the girls were a lot more sensible than that.

During the walk here Ryu had made an effort to remember her. If she was the one he recalled from summer, she had filled out a bit in the chest area since then, as well as grown her hair some. And wasn't it dyed that time?

“What do you want to do next?”

She looked at him and smiled. “I'd like to visit that famous club of yours.”

Of all things she could have said, that was about the last he had expected, but it made sense in a way. Her brother attended the school on the other end after all.

Ryu dragged her all through the main building corridor to the left wing, past one classroom turned café and another displaying whatever the literary club found interesting or produced themselves. The next door was their club room.

“Sorry if it's a bit chaotic, but we're running the festival from here,” Ryu said before he even realised it came out as boasting.

Ai-chan grabbed his arm before he pulled the door open. “The cultural exchange club runs the festival? What about your student council?”

“We're helping,” Ryu said. The truth wasn't something he should tell an outsider. With that he peeled her hand from his arm and opened the door.

Noriko sat inside and looked up at him when he entered. Then Noriko's eyes wandered to Ai-chan and back to him again. Ryu smirked and shrugged. What could he do? Ai-chan interested him, there was no denying that.

“So, this is where we sit,” he said.

Ai-chan looked at the recharging rack with walkie talkies loading and stared at him. “What on earth?”

“We borrowed some,” Ryu said. Then he noticed the over-abundance of armbands present. He let his eyes walk over three festival committee members and student council treasurer who shared the office area with Noriko. “We help each other,” he added. Because you usually have four members of the festival committee sitting in your club room. Way to make an arse of yourself, Ryu.

A concerto of snores from the lounge area told him Midori-chan and Sho-kun took a break from the madness, and at Ryu's side Ai-chan bent forward to be able to see who produced the impressive sound.

Superb timing guys.

“Nothing more interesting to show your guest?” Noriko asked.

Ryu grimaced. “Most of the festival should be more interesting than this, but she wanted to see our clubroom,” he said and nodded at Ai-chan.

Noriko's eyebrows rose.

“Her brother transferred to Sweden,” Ryu said.

Noriko's eyebrows rose some more.