Shoujoai ni Bouken: Adventures of Yuriko
The Story So Far: Yuriko's night on the town with Midori went
well - very well. Unfortunately, Yuriko promised Aya to do better in school, and ended up
cutting the evening short to go home and get a night of rest before tackling her homework.
Responsibility has a bitter taste this morning.
Volume 4, Issue 11
"Stranger than Fiction"
Yuriko slammed the cabinet closed. Inevitably, it popped open. With an annoyed grunt, she
slapped the offending door shut once more, then stomped into the living area. Dropping the
plate roughly onto the table, she practically threw her book bag against the wall.
"Damn it!" Yuriko shouted to the room in general. She glared at the bag; damning
school, damning acting, fame and other suspect abstractions. She threw herself down onto
the sofa, prepared to sulk palpably for a while. Closing her eyes, she put her arm across
her forehead and laid back, thinking about last night. Despite her mood, a smile formed on
her lips.
Dancing with Midori had been electric. Her body moved beautifully - not something one
would expect from a writer. The woman had captivated Yuriko; they had been so enrapt in
each other that they nearly closed the club. Madogawa had been extremely sorry to bother them.
Yuriko now grinned as she thought of the little word she had had with the club owner, and
the outcome she expected from it. Sometimes, she thought smugly, fame had its uses. She
laughed out loud. "And its price." She opened her eyes and sat up, looking around for her school bag and its
life-sucking assignments. Time to get to work.
She was in deep concentration over a science project when a noise at the front door made
her sit up in surprise. The lock turned and the door opened, admitting Ryo. Yuriko glanced
at the clock in some surprise, noting that she'd been working for several hours. She stretched and yawned,
waving at the young man.
"Sorry to intrude," he said, as he stepped up into the hallway.
"C'mon in - I need a break anyway." Yuriko said as she stood up. "Want some
tea?"
"Sure." Ryo dropped a small bundle of neatly tied papers onto the side table.
"Here's your letters. It's not as bad as it used to be."
"Yeah - I guess everyone is used to me now. I'm old news." Yuriko laughed.
Ryo followed her into the kitchen and tut-tutted at the stove. "You tried to cook
again, I see," he commented, as he ran a finger along a greasy streak.
"Why does everyone say that?" Yuriko whined, "'Tried' to cook. No, I
cooked, thank you very much. Geez, you'd think I was culinarily impaired or
something."
"I brought some sushi for lunch - have you eaten?" Ryo intelligently changed the
subject.
"No, and," Yuriko realized all of a sudden, "I'm hungry."
"Unagi okay with you?"
"Love it. Thanks."
The apartment grew quiet - feeding time at the zoo, Yuriko joked to herself - as they
indulged in their lunch. After they had cleaned up, Yuriko excused herself to finish her
homework and Ryo started in on straightening the apartment.
***
Yuriko frowned down at her keyboard. The final few paragraphs of her
paper seemed weak, but she was done. She saved the file, rolled her head in a few circles
and shut down the computer. Done. Aya would be pleased. Yuriko smiled. She had thought
Kishi was a harsh taskmaster, until she had met her tutor.
"Yo, Ryo!" she called out. The boy had been his usual efficient self today,
going about his business quietly. He came out of her bedroom, bandanna holding his hair
off his face.
"Mmm?"
"I'm ordering out for dinner - are you staying?"
"Well..." he prevaricated.
"I wish you would. You keep feeding me - I feel like I should feed you at least
once."
Ryo smiled. "Sure, why not?"
Yuriko called out for Chinese to be delivered and ordered the boy to relax until dinner
arrived. In any case, she wanted a word with him.
"I've wanted to ask you this for a while now," she said casually, "but
haven't had the chance." Yuriko glanced at him out of the side of her eyes. She could
see him stiffen slightly, but attempt to hide it.
"Did you, by any chance, send me that newspaper clipping?" Yuriko poured out
more tea and set the cup and saucer in front of him.
Ryo didn't answer, but Yuriko could feel the tension in the room thicken.
"Why'd you do it, Ryo-kun?" she asked softly, keeping her voice even and
non-accusatory.
"Do you remember," Ryo spoke after a long pause, "a teacher in your high
school named Kentaro?"
Yuriko thought back, shaking her head in denial. "No...not off hand."
"A new teacher, young, taught math, hated your guts?"
"Oh, sure!" Yuriko laughed. "I remember that little prick. He was a jerk.
Why?"
"He's my older brother."
"Eh?" Yuriko was surprised, but couldn't for the life of her figure out where
this was leading. "Well, it's a small world, I guess," she laughed a little
nervously.
"He came home every night and talked about you."
Yuriko gaped at the boy. "He did?"
"Ken was obsessed with you. Probably not in a good way, I guess. When you left school
he never stopped talking about you. It was kinda creepy. I was about twelve years old when
he started collecting all the new stories about the idol called Yuriko. He always knew it
was you."
"Oookkkaay." Yuriko said, uncomfortably. "But what does this have to do
with..."
"I was living in San Diego, with our mother and father - that's where I grew up. But
Ken used to write me and tell me all about you. I didn't understand what being an otaku
was, then - I mean, I was a kid. I played video games and skateboarded. But he'd always send me clips, like it was
important that I know what was up with you.
"I moved back to Japan last year. My parents are still in America, but I wanted to
live here for a while. I moved in with Ken."
Yuriko was beginning to see where the connection lay.
"So, I uh, knew, when...the accident happened. It was in the local paper. Ken wanted
to put the clipping in his scrap book, but I thought it was gross, so I took it." Ryo
shrugged. "Ken's a weird guy - I moved out a little while later, transferred schools
and then, about three months later you showed up at school. It was really strange. I
didn't tell Ken, because I thought that the last thing you needed was that kind of
weirdness from me - but I felt like I knew you, since I'd been hearing about you so long.
"Anyway, I was cleaning out my desk last month and came across the clipping. And
after all I'd heard and what you'd said, it dawned on me that you didn't know. And I
thought that was wrong. So I sent it."
Yuriko's voice was thick. "And you called to warn me."
"But I chickened out and didn't say anything important."
"You knew when it came."
"I saw the envelopes in the mail slot - so I called Mariko-san."
Yuriko picked up her tea and sipped it. It was cold. "I'm not sure if I'm angry at
you or not," she admitted.
"I thought you should know." Ryo said, jutting his chin out unrepentantly.
There was a knock on the door. "Wong's Wok!" a muffled voice called out.
Yuriko sighed and stood. "Go get some plates," she said, "dinner's
here."