Noriko glared at her phone when it rang.

Since Urufu’s suspension she refused to enter the school and spent her days at the Stockholm Haven café instead. Usually an insanely stupid thing to do, but with the vice principal of Irishima High giving interviews where he described Principal Kareyoshi as the second coming of Adolf Hitler the fallout was certain to be minimal, if any at all.

Irishima High had a stellar reputation, but Red Rose Hell less so, especially now when it had all but gone belly up.

Vice Principal Noguchi never lost an opportunity to insinuate that Kareyoshi was tied to Red Rose’s darker pasts.

Then there was the thing with her phone ringing.

What are you thinking?

While she could afford playing the truant, her brother definitely couldn’t, and he just rang her during school hours.

“Noriko here.” It had better be good.

“I’m on a date with Kuri,” came the moronic response.

“You’re what?”

Noriko rose from her chair and went inside the inner room.

“She wants to know Urufu’s midterm results. She says it’s important.”

What? Damn you! “Why don’t she ask him herself?”

“Sis!”

On the verge of biting his face off Noriko realised why Kuri avoided contacting Urufu directly. Both of them danced around each other in a futile attempt not to hurt the other more than necessary.

“I’ll ask him,” Noriko said and nodded as if her brother was present and not at the other end of a phone call. “I’ll call you back.”

Noriko looked across the table. A dozen club members, all of them among those who made it into the top fifty in their respective year, sat around it, mesmerised by Urufu as he ran a lesson in English, in English to boot.

That was his idea of teaching a foreign language. Speaking it and demanding that the rest of them did likewise. She hadn’t believed him when he told them it was the superior method, but that was a year ago. Now she knew he was right.

“Urufu, you’re going to fast for them,” Noriko said and looked at Ai-chan and a Himekaizen freshman whose name Noriko couldn’t remember.

A dozen club members, and three of them belonged to Irishima High. Their vice principal sitting in the café proper meant their presence was sanctioned by their school. He probably considered this an advanced class, which it was.

“Tomasu-kun, could you take over?” Noriko said. The former Stockholm university professor in classic Japanese should be a massive overkill for the purpose of teaching high school English in Japan, but she couldn’t tell the rest of them why she knew that.

He turned. “Sure, but why?”

“I need to speak with Urufu.”

Tomasu-kun gave her a knowing look and grinned. By his side Jeniferu-chan did likewise.

I wish, but it’s not really that way. Yet.

“Noriko?”

She listened to his voice. During the last months his Japanese had audibly improved, but that wasn’t why she clung to his words. Crap, I have it bad this time.

She did so the last time, and the time before that. Noriko knew that, but those were memories, and this was now.

She looked at his hands when he made his way to the door she headed for. Large hands, larger than her brothers, the way all of Urufu was larger than her brother. Only when it came to effortlessly socialise with others did Ryu shine brighter. Or? Well, that was why she asked Urufu to follow her now.

Noriko heard his walk behind her through the door to the inner room, under the bell as it jingled when she entered the pavement outside the café and into the noise of cars and people. Daytime this was the world of adults, and more than a few of them glanced at them, or rather their school uniforms.

I really should have worn casual clothes, but Urufu said skipping school wasn’t a reason to skip school. Sometimes what he said just didn’t make any sense, but in the end everyone at the cafe wore their uniforms despite being absent from their respective schools. Well, the Irishima High students kind of didn’t count as they had their vice principal present.

“Yes, Noriko?”

“It’s not about that,” she said without thinking.

“About what?” Urufu responded. A teasing note played in his voice.

“About me confessing to you,” Noriko admitted. “I already did that, so get over it!” To her embarrassment she could feel her cheeks heating up. That definitely took some of the edge away from her response.

They walked a little down the street, and she suppressed an urge to take his hand when he came up beside her. Because it’s not like that between us.

Unable to bear his silence, but grateful that he didn’t push her, Noriko took a left turn at an intersection and walked into a ramen shop. The very ramen shop they ended up in after Urufu’s disastrous midsummer’s dinner last year.

He remained silent while she ordered for them both, and it wasn’t until they were both seated by a table that his eyes showed his impatience.

“Your midterm results,” Noriko said when their noodles arrived. I need to know. Kuri needs to know, but I think I can guess why.

She stared at her bowl, grabbed a pair of chopsticks and went to work on her food. Her request must have sounded insane.

From across the table she heard Urufu eating his meal. They’d finish it in silence. Noodles weren’t the kind of food you could spend time chatting over. They’d get soggy in no time at all.

From time to time Noriko stole glance at the man she had fallen in love with for the third time, or probably had never fallen out of love with, which meant she cheated on Nao during their entire relationship. Or had she loved Nao honestly? She wasn’t sure, but she thought so. There were mostly fond memories of him from the half a year they spent as a couple.

Then Urufu downed his broth and grinned. “What about yours?”

Noriko had expected him to do this. “You saw. Second.”

He nodded back at her. “As a matter of fact I didn’t. Suspended, remember.”

There was that. “Your midterm results,” Noriko persisted. She couldn’t let herself be led astray by him.

***

Ulf fought down an urge to tease the girl in front of him a little more. Despite being a kid she adamantly persisted in her notion of being in love with him. From time to time he played with the thought of taking advantage of it, just to help him get over Christina, but he’d told Noriko he was bad rebound material, and he refused to hurt her in more ways than declining her feelings for him.

My midterm results? Ulf forced his thoughts to the reason she had called him out.

“Not the top fifty, or you would have known,” he said.

“Stop avoiding my question!”

Why does she want to know? “I’m not absolutely certain, but top hundred at least.”

Noriko blanched. “You made it into the top third?”

Top fourth, more likely. Still a long way from the top ten where he really belonged. Rather than answering he nodded.

“Scores?” Noriko said.

She really doesn’t let go, does she? Reluctantly Ulf dug up his phone. He had the results there.

“Per subject?” Ulf pretended to look if there was any ramen left in his bowl. If it had he wouldn’t want to eat it anyway, but it was worth a try to see if she would drop the topic.

Noriko tapped his hand with her fingers and nodded. “Per subject.”

Better not give her a shock immediately. “Japanese 62.”

Noriko nodded again. Apparently she took his improvements with the language for granted.

“English 78.” And Ulf knew he was an idiot for answering the exam questions the way they were written rather than the way they were supposed to be written. He could have crammed out another four points.

Once again Noriko nodded.

“Social sciences 80.” Which was OK. At the rate his Japanese improved he’d score higher next time.

Noriko just looked at him and smiled.

Well, guess I can’t keep it a secret. “Science 95.”

“95?” This time she didn’t just look at him.

“Uhum.”

“Wow!”

“You do know I’ve done this before?”

“Still, wow!” Then she tilted her head and looked at him. “Math?”

Here goes. “Nailed it.”

“Nailed it? Eh, no way!”

That made him feel more than a little self conscious. “Yes way. 100,” Ulf said and grinned.

She was really cute when her eyes opened in surprise, and Ulf could see how she summed the numbers up and compared them with some kind of information he didn’t have access to.

“No way!”

Now what? For the first time Ulf felt genuinely interested. “What is it?”

“You almost caught up with Ryu.”

“Huh?”

“Urufu, you barely missed the list!”

Top fifty? Impossible. There are just over 300 of us. Something nagged at the corner of his mind. Crap! This was Himekaizen, and not his old high school in Gothenburg. Aw I forgot just how huge the difference is.

“Sorry, I took my old school for granted.”

“Old school?”

“Yeah, back in Sweden, all those years ago. We don’t grade this way, or didn’t at least, but I’d be below average with results like these.” Among the bottom 20 percent more likely, but there’s no point in boasting about my old school.

Come to think of it. Ulf admitted he had absolutely no idea how well the school did now, and in this version of Sweden.

The sound of trapping fingers brought him out of his thoughts, and he just had time to see how Noriko punched her screen before she slid her phone back into her school bag.

Did you just send an SMS? Eh, Line message. People didn’t use the messaging system he was used to from Sweden, and when he finally caught up with the way email was used instead, it also fell out of fashion.

“Noriko, were those my results?”

“Want some water?”

Ulf stared at her. Now it was her turn playing the game did earlier. “Noriko, please answer me. Did you just send my midterm results to someone?”

“Ice or not?”

Ulf decided to cut to the chase. “Either you answer my question or I’m cutting all contact with you.”

She flinched as if he had struck her. “Kuri,” she said so fast the two syllables rolled over each other.

Ulf felt sorry for her. He’d never cut the contact for something like this. Sulk and avoid her for a day or two maybe, but she was one of his best friends. Without thinking he reached out with a hand and clasped hers.

Once again she gave him a start. Her hand was whipped out of his, and when Ulf looked up Noriko’s face had flared red.

“Don’t! Not when you don’t love me back.”

Shit! I’m sorry. Somehow he’d slid back into old habits, and the habits of old friends. They were a lot more physical in Sweden. Then Ulf mentally cursed himself. A girl with a crush on him during his freshman year in university had reacted just like this.

“I apologise.”

“Don’t!”

Huh?

Noriko stared down at the table. When she spoke her voice was very small. “I don’t want you to apologise for touching me. That’s even worse.”

You’re not making this easy. Ulf withdrew his hands and placed them over each other. “Christina, my scores, why?” he said to lift the mood.

“I don’t know. Ryu said it was important.”

“Ryu said it was important you send Christina my scores?”

“No, yes.”

This time Ulf didn’t hesitate. He reached over the table and tapped her forehead. “Something wrong in there?”

“Sorry, my bad,” Noriko said and smiled. “That didn’t make any sense, did it?”

Ulf shook his head in response.

“Ryu called me and said Kuri wanted your midterm results, and that it was important.”

“Why?”

“He didn’t say.”

Ulf grumbled. If she wanted them she could just have asked him directly.

“I don’t think she could, you know,” Noriko said as if she had just read his thoughts. “You two, well, there are things unfinished between you. Am I right?”

He had to admit she was. Getting a call from Christina would have his stomach in an uproar. You’re right, we’re not finished with each other. I wonder if we’ll ever be.

“It hurts you know. Knowing you broke up the way you did.”

“Sorry for us?”

“Yes, but that’s not what I mean. If you break up when you still love each other you’ll hurt a lot of other people.”

Ulf hadn’t thought of it that way. “I’m sorry,” he said and hid his face in his hands.