Transition and Restart, book one: Arrivals

Chapter four, 2016, early resolutions, part two

They were finished with club hours. Ulf planned to invite them all to the café he had stumbled upon the evening before, but first he had to clear something up before they arrived at the coffee house.

Ulf watched the evening sun set behind some rooftops before he finally made his mind up. He pulled Ryu aside and pointed the other four in the direction of the worn sign. Christina nodded understanding and walked ahead with the other three in tow.

"Ryu, we need to talk."

"You're rather familiar with me, aren't you?"

I don't have time for proper naming conventions. "Look, I'm gaijin and all that. Keigo isn't my thing."

Ryu nodded. He wasn't going to make an issue of it, and it spared Ulf a lot of problems. His Japanese wasn't anywhere near the level where he could master the nuances without making an arse of himself. He instinctively felt that Ryu came from a very different background.

"It's about Yukio, and Christina. And Noriko, I guess," Ulf said. He passed outside an illegally parked car and waited for Ryu to respond.

"Yu-kun?"

It seemed they had a conversation started after all. "Uhum, he's more involved in this than you know. And he's not looking for Noriko, which is part of it."

Ryu raised an eyebrow. That made him look oddly cool.

The prince of Himekaizen. Yes, I can see why. That makes me the king. "You know, the first time we met." Ulf didn't really relish bringing it up, but it was where it all started.

Ryu's face filled with disgust, but Ulf knew he wasn't the target. "Yes," Ryu said.

"Yukio was there and helped me clean up after you left. I owe him, and so do you."

"Yu-kun?" Ryu asked for the second time.

Ulf stepped up on the side-walk and leaned his back against the wall. Ahead of them their friends had already arrived at the café and went inside. He looked after them, and Ryu followed his stare with one of his own.

"I might behave like a..." What's that expression in Japanese? "... eh rhino, buffalo, elephant?"

"Yeah, yeah, I understand what you mean. Get to it!"

"But I kind of like you all. I care for you, in my own way, and I don't want to lose you." Because loss hurts. Because loss scares me. "So I want you to understand that Yukio isn't only important to me, but he should be to you as well." Expressing emotions wasn't exactly one of his strong points, and Ulf didn't know Ryu well enough to feel comfortable with the topic.

Ryu straightened and came to attention. "You said he was there the first time, after you saved my sister?" His voice had grown much friendlier. He even made an effort to remind Ulf about the debt the twins shared.

"Yes he was. He was a clumsy kid, and well-meaning. And he took a great risk for Noriko because it was important to him."

"Please, Hamarugen-san, tell me."

You didn't have to get that polite. But yes, Yukio, you were there all-right. I remember, yes I remember.

Once again Ulf's mind travelled to that day.

"Because I saw it."

Ulf let go of the leg he held for a moment. The kid helping him drag the unconscious bodies out into the open barely spoke functional English. "Why are you helping me?"