"Thank you."Ryu looked at Kuri when she ended the call. Despite the thin tin-can quality to the sound he recognised his sister"s voice from the other end, but he hadn"t been able to listen in to her side of the conversation.
"Sis?" he asked for confirmation.
Kuri nodded and smiled. For once she looked small and vulnerable. "Noriko helped me, and I owe her an apology."
Leaning into the sofa Ryu returned her smile. It was his first time here, which was kind of odd since officially they"d been a couple for half a year. It could have been a perfect love nest, apart from being big enough to run various sports tournaments in, or apart from being furnished in a way that had him wonder if all money ran out after they put up the building.
"There"s a lot of floor," he said.
That bought him a smile from Kuri that showed a little teeth for the first time in days. At last a genuine smile. She flashed her prefect teeth whenever the camera demanded it, but it wasn"t the same thing.
"Never got round to make it my home." Kuri grabbed a towel and went for her bedroom. "Shower"s long overdue. Just wait for me, will you?"
"Of course her bedroom has an attached bathroom." "Sure."
This was the kind of flat that serviced the really rich, but it contained almost nothing inside to prove it. For a moment Ryu wondered why Kuri didn"t care, but then he recalled the reason why Kuri had once moved here.
"Urufu. They broke the two of you apart. But that wasn"t all of it, was it? They broke you as well, or did you do that to yourself?" Whatever he did Ryu knew he could never force a wedge between Kuri and her memories, or he"d lose her. She needed a place for Urufu in her heart.
The smartphone on the table chimed and Ryu threw it a glance. Sunday, noon. Noriko should be home by now. She spent the night with friends, or at least he hoped she did. Just thinking of her spending the night with Urufu made him angry.
"Thank you? I owe her an apology?" No, Noriko hadn"t slept at Urufu"s place after all. Besides, even if she did Sato-sensei probably would put a stop to anything indecent.
He listened to the m.u.f.fled sounds of Kuri showering. A little over a year earlier he"d be blushing to his ears or try peeking; or at least imagine what he"d see if he tried peeking.
"Am I growing up?"
But that was too easy an answer. He listened to some more watery sounds. Last time he had shared the shower with her. There really was no reason to go peeking. Ryu doubted she"d even as much as scold him if he walked in on her.
He sighed and sank down in the sofa. Maybe they could make use of some dating time to buy at least a little furniture for her flat. Enough to make it resemble a home. Maybe they could spend nights here rather than in the down town establishments for couples who didn"t want to bring the other home for one reason or another.
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Another few minutes went by while Ryu dozed off, and in the end he felt Kuri"s hand on his shoulder shaking him awake.
"Afternoon date?"
Ryu nodded groggily and rose. He followed her to the hallway and like always when they found some time for a proper date she slipped into something with heels. Not too much of it, but enough to make it obvious she was the taller of the two.
"You know that"s bullying," he said on their way down in the lift.
She grinned. "Yup." Then the mirth fell off her face.
"Make it a short date? I believe you need to have a chat." There were lots of areas where he couldn"t compete with Urufu, but reading the mood was not one of them. "We"ll grab a late lunch, and..." "Wait, I"ve got a better idea." He told her.
Ryu waited outside the building waiting for Kuri to prepare better for his plans. Two phone calls later he felt like a much better person. When she returned she wore casuals and sneakers.
"You sure about this?"
"Yeah," Ryu said. "I"ll hold on to this until the restaurant."
He led Kuri"s bike with one hand and held hers in his other.
"Almost feels like my boyfriend wants me to cheat on him."
Ryu smirked. That thought had crossed his mind. "This is one of those adult things. I don"t know what you"ve gotten yourself involved in, and I probably wouldn"t understand it fully."
"Continue."
"I"m jealous enough to have preferred if you talked things over with Tomasu, but I"m also honest enough to admit that the one you need talking to is Urufu."
He was rewarded with a shine of grat.i.tude in Kuri"s eyes when he looked at her.
"Ryu, just so you know. You"re growing into a good man. I"m happy to have fallen in love with you."
She didn"t use those words all that often, and whenever she did Ryu felt shivers of pleasure in his chest. Unfortunately they were always accompanied by him blushing like a child.
"It"s not really me trying to be a gentleman," he said to relieve himself from some of the awkwardness. "I have ulterior motives you know. This is just my way of trying to get you into bed later."
Kuri giggled. "Your mind"s in the gutter for sure. Well, I believe that could be arranged," she added and laughed.
With a sigh of relief Ryu squeezed her hand. Bedding her was pleasant enough, but for now he thoroughly enjoyed finally having managed to dispel the dark thoughts that clung to her the last week. If it took a dirty joke to give her joy and peace of mind then he could spend the rest of the day chaining vulgarities one after another.
"I love you too," he said. Those words came easy, because they were true.