Transition and Restart Chapter 190

Yukio slid open the door to Urufu's room, or rather the room he shared with another two patients .

One look inside told him one of those patients had been discharged . The bed was neatly made and still untouched for the day . Urufu sat in his bed by the window and looked out . He barely turned to wave Yukio welcome before he returned to staring outside .

The third bed was currently unoccupied; it's owner away for rehab or something .

'Next week they promised,' Yukio thought . 'You look like a bird in a cage here . '

"Urufu, I have the midterm results," Yukio said and zipped open his bag .

"What's the fallout?" Urufu wondered, but he still didn't look inside the room .

Yukio took the long way, grabbed a chair and positioned himself by the window . He quickly produced Urufu's five exams .

"You won't end up on the wall, that's for certain . "

"Top fifty? No, no I guess not . "

Yukio smirked . It wasn't like he was anywhere close to placing among the top fifty himself . There were close to 350 freshmen, so if he made it into the top hundred and fifty he'd be happy . As it was he scored number 160 overall .

Urufu leafed through the papers . "Fuck! Oh well, could have been worse . "

"How bad?" Yukio asked .

"Three make-up exams . Should have been two, but our beloved basket case keeps screwing me over . "

"English again?" Yukio asked already knowing the answer .

"Yeah, the retard doesn't know the language in the first place, and it shows in his grading . "

Yukio avoided meeting Urufu's eyes and stared at a tray with the leftovers from a nondescript hospital meal . 'Stop being so damn cocky! You're deliberately misinterpreting his tests and receive poor grades . ' But truth be told Yukio did suspect that Urufu's English was superior by far compared to their teacher's .

"You look down," Yukio said to change the subject .

"Don't worry . Just feeling restless . How did the rest of the gang do?"

"Kyoko scored number 130 . She's pretty unhappy about it . "

Urufu grimaced before saying anything . "Soz, but if she ever makes it into the top third that's her cap I'm afraid . "

"Like you've been a teacher!" Yukio said and barely managed to keep his voice down .

"I have, and you know it . Learning assessment was part of my job . Top third in this school if she makes an effort . Push her to make it into double digits . "

Yukio didn't respond . Urufu could be a condescending arsehole, but he was very seldom wrong .

"The others?" Urufu wanted to know .

"Don't know about Kuri, but you can ask her yourself . I think she bombed pretty badly . "

With a sigh Urufu slowly started to laugh . "Yeah, I could see that coming . OK I'll ask her when she comes here next time . The twins?"

"Ryu just made it into the list . Number 48 . "

"Noriko?"

"Make a guess . "

"Hmm, she's been worried lately . Should cost her . She made fifth place and is sulking about it?"

Yukio stared at his friend . "Are you some kind of mind reader?"

There was a short laugh but no answer . If Yukio was honest with himself he wasn't all that surprised Noriko had dropped two positions given all that had happened during October .

He looked out the window, over the small park greeting visitors to the hospital and across a jagged landscape of low-rise buildings in their dirty, yellowish grey . Behind him Urufu stayed strangely silent and Yukio turned and looked at his friend .

For the first time he noticed that Urufu's eyes were tinged with red .

'Have you been crying?' "What's wrong?"

This time it was Urufu who didn't meet his eyes . Instead he looked through the windows at a grey autumn sky . There was something empty in that stare, a desolation Yukio knew from earlier .

"Man, are you back home again?"

Urufu drew a deep breath . "Yes, but it's only a memory now . I don't think I'll ever be able to go back . "

'Did you give up? When was the impossibility of anything a reason for you to give up?' "What do you mean?"

"You know," Urufu began with a voice that was barely more than a whisper, "we've met a couple of arrivals, but I've never even heard a story about anyone going back . "

"Huh?"

"I've been thinking a lot . There should at least be some kind of unconfirmed rumour . Some kind of wishful magic thinking, but there's nothing . "

Yukio wiped his mouth with his hand . He didn't share Urufu's information network, and to be honest he didn't put all that much thought into Urufu's old world . For him Urufu was his best friend, an adult caught in his teenager body, but no matter what Yukio truly saw Tokyo as Urufu's home .

"What's wrong," Yukio asked again .

"I miss them . "

"Sure, you've said that lots of times before . "

"You don't understand . I can't even visit her grave . My little girl, she's gone for good and I can't even honour her memory!"

In the self-deprecating way that was Urufu's he sniffled and cried like a girl . For some reason it never looked like a weakness to Yukio, not once even including that first time a year ago when Urufu cried his heart out longing for his lost wife . This time, however, it looked like a deeper crisis .

"Urufu, man, what's wrong . "

"She's gone, they're all gone!"

From the door the sound of a sudden gasp caught Yukio's attention and he looked up . In the door opening he saw how Kuri slapped her hands to her face with a stricken look before she turned and ran away .

Chapter end