Transition and Restart, book three: Wingman Blues

Chapter five, 2016, days of waiting, part five

It was a strangely subdued Urufu who returned to a hero's welcome and Kyoko mostly felt relieved that he didn't take much part in the circus around him. Part of it because she didn't think it suited him, but mostly because it saved Yukio from being dragged into any new madness.

What surprised her most was how calmly Kuri-chan acted when Urufu came back to school, but Kyoko also knew her friend had visited him almost every day during his stay at the hospital.

"You look pale, man," Yukio observed.

Kyoko could only agree. It was as if Urufu had shrunk a little.

"Wanna reapply for geek squad?" Yukio said and slapped Urufu on his back.

What's with boys and backslapping? She loved her Yukio, but sometimes he behaved like an elementary schoolkid.

"Very funny," Urufu said. "Look, I'm a bit winded and won't recover fully until December they say."

"Bastards!"

Kyoko pulled Yukio closer to her. She didn't like to see his anger.

Urufu pulled open his shoe locker and changed.

Kyoko had to walk to another row of lockers and leave Yukio with his friend. After she had changed from indoor shoes to light boots she ran to the entrance to make sure the two boys didn't leave without her.

She got there in time to see Yukio waiting for them both. Back at his locker she saw Urufu wave away an offer to carry his bag.

Is he an invalid, or what? "How bad is he?" she asked Yukio.

"Don't know, but I think he just needs to be active again."

After some strenuous effort Urufu finally got into his loafers, shouldered his bag and joined them.

"Man, shouldn't you get that awful backpack of yours instead?" Yukio suggested. "Looks like crap, but the way you look right now it would be easier on you."

Urufu grimaced but made no retort.

They went outside, and Kyoko had to hug her coat closer to her when the wind tugged at it and ran an ice-cold tendril down her blouse. With a shudder she opened her bag and grabbed a threadbare scarf which she wrapped around her shoulders. It barely helped keep the wind out.

From the corner of her eye she saw Urufu wink at Yukio who smiled weakly and nodded back at his friend.

"If you're thinking a scarf for Christmas present then just don't. They're expensive and I have more than I need at home," Kyoko said to Yukio.

He just stared at the rag she had wound around her neck.

"Look, it's a gift from my mom when I was a small kid. I like it, OK?"

Urufu shrugged open armed in that western way of his. Some of his bodily expressions required you to get to know him before you understood, but this was one she had seen often enough to know by now.

"Girls!" he exclaimed.

Yukio coughed and laughed silently, but otherwise he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Listening to gravel crunching under her feet Kyoko wondered if there was any point in pretending to be aggravated by the two boys, but in the end she decided to just enjoy the presence of them both. It had been too long since Yukio looked whole like this. Somehow he had seemed like half a man during the weeks Urufu spent at hospital.

Gravel made way for tarmac and they left their school behind them. Their destination was the Stockholm Haven café and a cup or two before Urufu continued on his way to the station. It would be weeks before he got off at the wrong station and rode his bike to the mall.