Transition And Restart

"What"s that?"

Ryu looked around . Kuri-chan had arrived in a dress that was best described as rustic . Yellow and blue . And she wore a white blouse under it . And of course she managed to look stunning .

"National traditional dress," Kuri-chan explained . "Some of the guys from Sweden brought it for me . "

"What?" Ryu took a few steps to get away from the steady stream of arriving festival visitors .

"In exchange for me being their mascot earlier this week . "

Kyoko-chan frowned . "That"s most improper . Freshman high school student all alone with university students . "

Advertis.e.m.e.nt"Think so?" Kuri-chan looked genuinely surprised .

"Yes, in this case I"m bound to agree," Urufu-kun said . "It would be improper back home as well . "

"Boring . " Kuri-chan pouted and stuck her tongue out at Urufu-kun . "Anyway, I can"t walk properly in a yukata . "

"Urufu-kun did you mean thirty years ago or now? No probably now as well . Some of those guys are over five years older than us . Ryu shook his head . Bet that third year we Skyped with earlier is involved . She said her boyfriend attended university . "

"You can"t walk?" Ryu said when he had decided to change the topic . Kuri-chan probably knew how to handle both boys and men .

"No . Toes inwards and cuteness galore, like this . " She pulled her dress tight and showed them a perfect display of a beautiful woman in a kimono . "I"d go nuts in ten minutes . "

Kyoko-chan clasped her hands to her mouth . It had been a perfect display, and even Ryu"s usually unperturbed sister stared . It took some serious training to walk that way .

"How can you walk then," Ryu challenged her .

"This dress should be worn like a bell and the wearer is supposed to be a beauty of nature . Like this . " And the dress rang around her, very much like a western style church bell with her legs as bell hammers . "Rustic innocence wouldn"t you agree," she laughed .

"So you knew exactly how that dress looked on you . Who were you in your previous life?"

"It"s a bit hard with this fabric, but a more elegant dress is usually worn the traditional way . " She let her hands fall along her sides and gathered parts of her dress into them . Suddenly she was more slender and walked away like the model she looked like . She turned on her toes and walked back . Her face challenged the world to look at her and her feet circled and conquered enemies beneath her .

More than a few arriving visitors had stopped to look at the show . A few appreciating wolf-whistles flew through the air followed by raucous suggestions .

Ryu threw an irritated glare after them before he returned his attention to Kuri-chan . "Strange, her smile was natural until just now, but it"s like she"s remembering how to perform an act . "

He could hear his sister choking beside him .

Sis, what was that just now?

"Model?" Noriko asked in a voice that had yet to be fully restored .

Kuri-chan looked at Urufu-kun . "I"ve had a shot or two taken . You saw those?" And she winked at him .

Urufu-kun just shook his head but his eyes never left her . There was something sad about his smile, like he also was immersed in memories .

Noriko looked up at Ryu . "Bro, not fair . We can"t follow them there," she sulked .

"So that is the look of memories . But they never told us they met before . In that other world . "

Yu-kun had stood a bit apart under a tree and watched the impromptu show . Now he left the canopy and came closer . "Ladies, beautiful all . I have to admit, though," he turned to Kuri-chan, "that I prefer the yukata . "

Kuri-chan tip toed and clapped her hands . "I"m devastated, but then how could I possibly compete with her?"

Kyoko-chan and Yu-kun flashed red in seconds, but then in an unprecedented act of bravery he faced Kuri-chan and smiled weakly . "You can"t . "

"Well done, that was well done . " Ryu felt his respect for Yu-kun grow a few notches . There was more to the loyal wingman than met the eye .

Kuri-chan"s face opened up in a big "O" but her eyes still glittered with mirth . "I"m mortally wounded! Betrayed! Betrayed I say!" She threw an open hand across her forehead, rolled her eyes and fell backwards dramatically . Only to be promptly caught by Urufu-kun who had apparently been waiting for the show .

"She"s such a stage monkey," Noriko said, her voice rumbling with disapproval .

"I don"t care she says she"s fifty . I don"t care she"s a foreigner . I don"t care she"s taller than me . I don"t even care she loves Urufu-kun . She"s easily the most beautiful thing I"ve seen in my life . "