Chapter 54
After showing his sister his house, Ryuichi had to deal with their parents' wrath about him helping Shizue move out. They threw their rage-charged words like fiery spears, but the more they had to say, the more reasons Ryuichi saw to justify his decision to help his sister. The verbal assault didn't hurt as badly as he thought it would, but once his parents ran out of things to say, Ryuichi was allowed to stumble out of the emotional toxic dump that was the Okazaki family home. Astonishingly, their parents didn't try to stop them when they packed up Shizue's stuff and moved her into the new house.
Between school, the culture festival, working at the restaurant, helping his sister move, caring for Megumi, and climbing Tartarus late at night, Mitsuru made sure that Ryuichi got ample time to rest. It was Mitsuru who managed to hold off Toshio's and Ayumi's wrathful lecture for a few days until Ryuichi had some time to recover, and even after getting cleared by the doctor, she made sure to limit how much work Ryuichi did during the day and evening.
At school, she made him take numerous breaks while they set up for the culture festival and made sure he always had cool water available to drink. Her constant care sparked jokes and rumors among their classmates about them possibly dating, some even suggesting that Mitsuru was the one who had a crush on Ryuichi.
"Guys, knock it off," Ryuichi sighed when some of his classmates made another joke about him and Mitsuru.
"I can't tell if you're lucky or unlucky to have Miss Student Council President herself hounding you about your health," one guy chuckled.
"Maybe that's the kind of thing he's into," another guy snickered, the others laughing with him.
While they had a good laugh about it, Ryuichi noticed Mitsuru coming up from behind them. It was all it took for their laughter to die down before they whirled around and cowered from her presence.
"I believe there are some posters that need to be painted," she said to them. She showed no fury, no indication that she had heard their jokes, but it was enough for Ryuichi to see the panic cross their faces.
The three boys murmured their agreements before fleeing, leaving Ryuichi to carry on with his poster that he had been working on. Mitsuru requested for him to go with her to the Student Council Room for help with some of the paperwork, but he sensed that it was just so that she had an excuse to have him sit in an air-conditioned room. He didn't complain about it, as he was grateful for the help, but he did wish that she would stop giving their classmates fuel for poking fun at them.
"Do the rumors bother you that much?" she asked on their way down to the second floor.
"Well, yeah. It's your image their messing with."
"Don't let it get to you. You know we're just friends, and you know that as such, I am concerned about your health after what happened before."
He let out a miserable sigh. "Yeah, you're right," he reluctantly agreed. "Thanks for looking out for me."
"It's the least I can do, since you've done the same for me for years now," she said with a nod.
There were some student council members already doing some work in the room. When Ryuichi opened the door for Mitsuru, they swarmed her with news that their culture festival could be cancelled due to a storm heading their way.
"So the typhoon didn't change course after all," Mitsuru said glumly. "Everyone's hard work was for naught."
"We don't know that for sure!" a guy insisted. "Maybe it'll just barely miss us!"
"Yeah! There's still a chance!"
"We can't quit now!"
While the others were determined to keep the culture festival going, Ryuichi immediately thought about Shizue and Megumi. "I gotta make a quick phone call," he told Mitsuru before heading out. His sister picked up on the second ring.
"Hey, Little Bro! What's up?"
"Did you know a typhoon's coming?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I know about it."
He tensed up. "So, are you going to be okay?"
"Well, Mom and Dad already asked me and Megumi to stay with them until it passes, and since we've all had some time away from each other, I think we should be fine."
Skepticism made him forget to breathe. "Are you sure about that?"
Some other students in the hallway stared at Ryuichi when they passed by. He turned his back to them and walked briskly towards the stairs.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. They were really nice about it, so I think we really just needed some space."
He still wasn't sure how his sister could be so cheerful about it. "Okay, uh, do you guys need anything?"
"We're all shopping right now, so I think we're good. Thanks for looking out for us, Ryu-chan!"
Ryuichi finished his call and thought about everyone at the dorm. Did they have enough food to last them that wasn't just instant noodles or canned fish? Was there enough for ten people and one dog? Did they have enough water? Rice? Batteries? What if there was a power outage? Candles? Did they need to stock up on toilet paper?
He returned to the Student Council Room where he was put to work filing papers. His body moved on its own while his mind planned out what meals he might have to cook for everyone at the dorm and other things they might need. He was also curious if Mitsuru would also have to eat his commoner cuisine, or if Kikuno had something prepared that she could just heat and eat.
Back at the dorm, he took a moment to look through the refrigerator and the pantry, finding mostly canned goods, instant noodles, and a bunch of snacks. After preparing tea and snacks for Mitsuru, he announced that he was heading out to get supplies.
"I'll go with you," she said, rising from her chair.
"Oh, you don't have to," he said as he readied his keys. "I'm taking my motorcycle, so—"
"Just a moment. I need to get my helmet."
Ryuichi blinked as she hurried upstairs. "I'll go attach the sidecar," he murmured uneasily on his way to the back door.
As he prepared the sidecar, he spotted Mitsuru's motorcycle standing apart from his. For months now, it stood off to the side beneath a white sheet that Kikuno kept free from dust, never having been ridden since the night they rescued Fuuka. He hadn't asked if the damage was irreparable, nor had he bothered to look beyond the bent front tire visible beneath the sheet.
He wondered why Mitsuru hadn't sent it in for repairs yet. He hoped it could be repaired, but if not, he speculated that she kept it for sentimental reasons. Sadly, he realized that he started to forget that it was even there, despite seeing it every time he went to take his motorcycle out.
When they were ready to leave, Mitsuru sat in the sidecar while he drove. At the supermarket parking lot, they milled around with many other cars in search of parking. Cars stalked shoppers with carts full of supplies as they headed to their empty vehicles. The cars behind the stalkers wound up trapped while they waited for the shoppers to load up their cars and leave their spot. After getting trapped twice that way, Ryuichi left the parking lot to find a spot elsewhere.
Customers flooded the grocery store in preparation for the typhoon. A cart attendant barely brought in the carts he had just collected from the parking lot when he was swarmed by customers. Ryuichi nearly dove into the crowd to claim a cart, relinquishing his prize to a little old lady who flashed him the saddest eyes he had ever seen. Another cart attendant brought more carts, and Mitsuru miraculously grabbed onto the last one.
"That's what happens when they announce a storm too late," Ryuichi muttered as he pushed their cart into the fray.
"Is it always like this?" an awestruck Mitsuru asked.
"If there's a storm, yeah. If it's a holiday, not so much. Oh, and Sundays are usually the worst."
"Worse than this?"
"Nah." He ended up chuckling at how intrigued she was. "Let's grab bottled water first."
They could only take one case of bottled water, as that would be the only one to fit in his side car. Ryuichi pushed past a group of people loading up on instant noodles with Mitsuru sticking close behind him.
"These prices are incredible!" he heard her remark. "Is it really profitable for them to sell for this cheap?"
Ryuichi tossed several packages of instant noodles into the cart. "Since they manufacture everything so cheaply, they can."
"Yes, but the quality—"
He added some boxes of curry blocks next. "Sometimes I actually crave the cheap stuff," he told her, smiling. "And—Dad'll kill me for saying this—sometimes I even go to Wild-Duck for their burgers."
She gasped. "Does your father know?"
"Nope, so don't tell him."
"Well, I can't at the cost of my bodyguard."
"Only a bodyguard?" he asked, pouting.
"Ah, that's right," she said with a simper. "And sandwich craftsman."
He steered his cart in a sharp turn just as more people flooded the aisle, separating Mitsuru from him. He turned around and laughed, seeing her frantically search for a way through.
"Just push your way through!" he called to her.
"I can't! There's no room!"
"Just sneak through! Like, there—No, there! Argh, you missed it!"
He left the cart and went back for her. So many people went in and out of the aisle's end that, each time Mitsuru took a step forward to slip through, someone was coming from the opposite direction, making her step back to give them room. Feeling bad, Ryuichi reached a hand over a little old lady's head to Mitsuru. She took it, allowing him to pull her through.
"There you go!" he said on their way back to the cart. "And by the way, I also prefer my other name: dessert connoisseur."
She chuckled. "That title still goes to Kikuno, so you will have to settle for sandwich craftsman," she jabbed playfully.
He pouted again. "At least add 'master' to the title."
"Not until you've proven yourself worthy of it."
There was only so much they could bring back, and Ryuichi knew he would have to make another trip or two to ensure that he had enough for everyone at the dorm. They made sure to grab fresh fruits and vegetables to round out the first trip, and when Ryuichi was about to pay, Mitsuru beat him to it by setting down her credit card into the little payment basket on the counter.
"The Kirijo Group will cover the costs of these supplies for everyone in SEES," she said as she took her change. She had a playfully smug smile on her face while Ryuichi's expression soured.
"Nah, that's just to get back at me for buying you lunch before," he said, his frown turning into a grin.
"And for putting you through the trouble of taking me to my first grocery shopping experience. Though I must say, I think you had a little too much fun."
With a wry chuckle, Ryuichi pushed the cart all the way to his motorcycle, where he and Mitsuru packed the sidecar full with all their goods. It was a small sidecar, but just enough for them to fit everything and shove smaller items into the sides. He used tarp and bungee cords to tie everything down, and made sure that everything was secure enough to not fly out during the ride.
"Uh, I guess you have to ride in back this time," Ryuichi said to Mitsuru.
She dutifully took up her helmet and settled in the seat behind him. "This is almost like back then, when you used to let me ride on the back of your bicycle," she said.
Ryuichi started the engine. "At least you get to sit this time," he said over his shoulder. "You'd better hold on to something."
"Right."
He flinched when her hands found his sides. "Not there!" he blurted out. "That tickles!"
"Then, where?"
"Um, just, grab on, I guess?"
She wrapped her arms around his middle, leaning into his back. "Is this all right?"
He tensed up at her touch. "Y-Yeah," he said nervously and revved the engine. "Hold on tight!"
As he approached the first red light, he noticed that Mitsuru didn't loosen her hold on him. He got to thinking about back when he first joined SEES in middle school, how she would stand behind him on the pegs of his bicycle with her hands on his shoulders while she scanned for Shadows. It had been a few years since then, and yet, riding with her now, the memories came flooding back to him like he was fifteen years old again.
"It's like old times, isn't it?" she called to him over the engine.
He gave one vigorous nod, startled from having been abruptly awakened from his thoughts.
Back at the dorm, Mitsuru let him go to dismount from his motorcycle. His body felt oddly light without her holding on to him, but then again, she never loosened her hold on him during the entire ride back. He could still feel her arms around his middle while they brought in the groceries, the two joking and discussing what else they needed before the stores ran out of supplies.
When Ryuichi went to retrieve the case of water bottles from his sidecar, he paused to look at Mitsuru's battered motorcycle with pity. He wanted to asked about it, but he didn't want to ruin the good vibes they had, especially after the harrowing week he had just survived.
"Thank you for humoring me today," Mitsuru said once everything had been put away. "That was my first time at a grocery store."
"I swear, it's not always that insane at the store," he vowed, holding his hand up like a scout taking an oath. "Judging by what we saw earlier, I think I'll have to go back to pick up more stuff right now."
Her eyes widened. "Right now?"
"Yeah." He bowed to her. "Thanks for going with me and for paying for everything."
Mitsuru looked down at her helmet in her hands. "I won't be able to go with you a second time today, but thank you for bringing me along," she said in an apologetic tone. "Be sure to give me the invoice so the Group can cover the costs."
"Sure thing," he said coolly. "And don't worry about not being able to come with me. The stores are all air conditioned, and I'll just chug some water before I go."
She didn't seem convinced. Still, she wished him a safe shopping trip as she started up the stairs. When Ryuichi remembered about her motorcycle, he called to her to ask about it.
Mitsuru stopped on the third step, taking hold of the banister. "Oh. To be honest, I wasn't planning on having it repaired," she answered.
Ryuichi's eyebrows shot high up on his forehead. "What? Why not?"
Mitsuru stared at a spot on the wall away from him. "Since I don't have much time to ride it anymore, I wasn't sure if I should even bother."
Ryuichi nodded, saddened by the news. "It's a shame, since I know it means a lot to you."
"It does, but some things can't be helped," she said with a sigh. "Though, after today, I suppose it would've been useful when we were shopping. I must have been a hindrance, taking up space you could have used for more supplies."
"Not at all!" he hastily replied. "It was fun, and you helped out a lot!"
Mitsuru smiled softly. "I enjoyed myself, as well," she told him, and Ryuichi couldn't help but grin.
"So, is there a chance you might get your motorcycle repaired someday?" he asked, his voice rising with hope.
There was a lost look in her eyes as she tapped her long nails onto the banister. "I will think about it."
"I hope you do," he insisted. "You deserve some enjoyment, right?"
She eyed him for a long time before giving a single, slow nod. She thanked him again and continued upstairs, and that was the end of their brief conversation.
He snatched up his helmet from the dining table. "Better go now," he muttered to himself, thinking about the crowds and the little old ladies conning him out of his shopping cart. When he returned from his second trip, he found a Kirijo limousine waiting outside with two maids.
"Ojou-sama informed us that you needed some help preparing for the typhoon," one of them informed him. "We are here to assist you in your preparations."
Ryuichi made sure to text Mitsuru a quick "You're the best!" before reviewing his shopping list with the maids.
The news of the typhoon didn't completely dishearten the students as they continued to prepare for the culture festival. They worked harder than ever, including Ryuichi, who practiced as many songs as he could, giving each one the jazzy flair as needed.
He learned later that the girls making the costumes opted to just let the boys wear their school uniforms with the cheap fedoras they found in discount stores so they could focus on the girls' costumes instead. Apparently, they wanted to make costumes for the servers, as well, but as predicted, there just wasn't enough time. Their class was disappointed to hear the news, but some offered to just wear trench coats with the fedoras to maintain some of the noir theme on a budget. Some girls even asked for fedoras, trying on the few that the costume makers bought already.
On the Thursday before the culture festival at Mitsuru's request, Ryuichi brought his saxophone and his mp3 player loaded with recordings of himself playing a piano accompaniment. She wanted their classmates to sample some of the songs he prepared, and also so he could familiarize himself with how to set up his equipment.
They borrowed a small stereo from the music room to let him hook up his mp3 player. He nervously played with his saxophone's keys, feeling them spring right back up as the intro for the song began. He kept his head down so the brim of his fedora blocked his view of his classmates, feeling like he was an intruder who made them stop their work to make them listen to his contribution to the culture festival.
At the first few notes on his saxophone, all the chatter and noise died away. The room became still, and Ryuichi filled it with smooth jazz. The song was shaky at the start, but as he immersed himself in the song, the tremble in his notes became a rich, velvety vibrato. When he finished, his classmates applauded.
"You even drew a crowd," Shiori said to him and gestured to the windows showing the hallway. Students from other classes peered into the classroom, some even poking their heads into the open doors.
Ryuichi shyly lowered his hat even more. "I-It wasn't that good though," he murmured bashfully. "I was sick when I worked on it, so—"
"You did great!" Shiori looked to the other windows showing the clear blue skies. "I just hope the typhoon skates past us so all your hard work won't go to waste."
Mitsuru approached the pair. "C'est magnifique, Ryuichi," she said, smiling. "I knew I heard you practicing in your room. The song turned out splendidly."
He grinned like a fool. "Oh, it wasn't that great."
"But it was. Tell me, did you also happen to do that one song? Something about the rain?"
Ryuichi scrunched up his face, trying to remember which one.
"It's on the CD you gave me," she added, and Ryuichi snapped his fingers.
"Oh! You mean 'Kiss of the Rain'?"
Mitsuru beamed. "That's the one."
"Ah, sorry, but I didn't get a chance to record an accompaniment for that one," he said apologetically.
"That's all right," Mitsuru replied. "And no need to trouble yourself over it. I was just curious."
She praised him again before heading off to check on some of their other classmates. In his head, Ryuichi already began composing an arrangement for her requested song.
"Oh, yeah. You guys live in the same dorm, don't you?" Shiori asked, cutting his thought process off.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, we do." Ryuichi busied himself by scrolling around on his mp3 player. "It's how she heard me practice all these songs."
"I see." She eyed his saxophone. "With so many others living in the dorm, does anyone ever complain about your playing?"
"Not at all. I almost never get to play anymore anyway, so it was kind of nice to be able to play again."
Their classmates started asking him to play another song. Ryuichi went up and down his playlist, wondering which one to perform next when Shiori spoke up again.
"Do you never notice something about her?"
He rubbed his thumb over the play button. "About who? Mitsuru?"
"Yeah." Shiori shifted her weight to one foot. "I don't know, like, the way she's been on your case about drinking plenty of water or getting enough rest, it just feels a little, like—you know?"
Ryuichi shrugged. "That's just because she doesn't want me getting sick again," he played off as coolly as he could manage. "I really messed myself up before, and it was just lucky that I didn't end up in the hospital."
"I guess, but there's something else—"
She was cut off by their classmates, all calling out requests for another song. Ryuichi tried to find one of their requests in his playlist, hoping to put an end to his conversation with Shiori. He had a feeling that she was going to imply that the rumors and jokes about him and Mitsuru had some truth to them based off of her observations, and he just didn't want to hear about it anymore.
He had to go to the restaurant after school that same day. When he arrived, he stopped in front of the doors, shocked to see a sign saying that the restaurant would be closed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday due to the typhoon. It took him about a minute to collect himself, feeling like he had just floated out of his body when he saw the notice. He couldn't remember the last time his father closed the restaurant for any reason, including a storm.
"I love my job but I'm not stupid. I know when a typhoon's got me licked," his father told him gruffly when he asked about the sign. Ryuichi agreed that there was no way his father could be that dumb. Headstrong, maybe, but still...
"Heard your culture festival's supposed to be this weekend," Toshio said to him. "What's your class doing this year?"
"Well, if the typhoon's merciful, we should be doing a noir restaurant-slash-cafe," Ryuichi replied, no longer sure of what it was his class was doing. "They asked me to play the sax for our customers."
"The sax?" Toshio stared at his son. "Since when did you start playing the sax?"
"Well, I started in middle school—"
"That long ago? Where did you get the money to buy one?"
"From my job as Mitsuru's bodyguard," he said nonchalantly on his way to clock himself in. When he returned, his father was still giving him strange looks.
"I thought you played the piano."
"I still do. In fact, I recorded some songs with me playing piano to accompany me while I play the sax."
His father's eyes widened. "You recorded yourself?"
"Yeah. Since we couldn't get anyone else to play an accompaniment with me, I had to make my own arrangements for songs and record them."
Toshio was stupefied by the news. "First you buy a house, then you get a saxophone, and then you record yourself playing the piano so you can accompany yourself on the sax?" he muttered to himself while squashing some burger patties flat.
Ryuichi tried not to cringe as he watched the juices get squeezed out of the meat. "I also play guitar," he added, trying hard not to sound so smug.
"No way."
"Yeah."
"Following in your old man's footsteps without me even knowing." Sadness shone in his father's eyes. "It's like I barely know you, son."
Just then, Shizue came out of the pantry holding up two heads of lettuce in her hands. "'Sup, Bro!" she called to Ryuichi with a big grin. "Can you help make some more ranch dressing?"
His sister was unusually chipper at the restaurant, and their father was the one who seemed dejected for a change. Ryuichi was all too happy to escape from his father and grab the ingredients for their ranch dressing.
"So, how's Masabuchi-san working out for you?" he asked of the new nanny.
"She's, well, she's no Kimura-san, but she's pretty cool," she said. "It's kinda like having a chill aunt hang out with you, which is nice, but she still has trouble getting Megumi to calm down when she starts crying."
"She just needs some time to learn her cries."
"That's true. I actually like her a lot, and I think Megumi does, too, so I hope she picks up quick."
She washed and cut the lettuce and set to work assembling some orders. Ryuichi watched as she traced a finger down the diagrams of one of the burgers hanging over the assembly station.
"Wait, they're laminated now?" he yelped in surprise.
"Yup! The older versions were getting kinda gross, so we made new ones with color pictures and had them laminated," she told him proudly. "It was so effective that even newbies can put together a burger within a minute. They just don't really know how much of each thing to put yet."
It seemed to him like things had settled down at the restaurant. Even more astonishing was when Toshio announced that they were closing up early as a precaution for the storm. After the other workers finished cleaning up, Shizue clocked out with the rest of them while Ryuichi and Toshio prepared to make the usual batch of meats.
Before she left, Shizue, Toshio, and Ryuichi exchanged the first genuine hugs that Ryuichi felt in the past many months between them.
"Are you sure you don't want to just come over tonight?" Toshio asked his daughter. His voice came out gruff, but there was concern in his frosty blue eyes.
"We don't know if the typhoon might hit earlier than predicted," Ryuichi added. "You might as well just stay with Mom and Dad tonight."
"I'll be okay, you guys," she reassured them both. "But, Dad? Can you come pick Megs and me up around noon?"
Toshio seemed reluctant to wait that long. "How about ten? I'd rather be safe than sorry."
They came to an agreement that they would both be ready by eleven. Toshio hugged his daughter again, then went to go prepare the meats.
"Take care, Little Bro," Shizue said to Ryuichi, hugging her brother once more. "And don't worry—I'll lock up your place nice and tight."
Ryuichi wanted to ask why she even agreed to stay at their parents' place when she had spent so long trying to escape it, but was afraid to start another rift between her and their parents. He took comfort in knowing that she and Megumi wouldn't be alone during the typhoon, but he began to worry that a few days trapped in a house with their parents would only cause another flare up of tempers between them all.
After his sister left for the night, Ryuichi returned to the kitchen to help bring over all the different spices for his father. When he brought over some ground beef, he noticed how crestfallen his father appeared, with the light in his eyes dimmed.
"Everything okay, Dad?" he asked tentatively.
His father sighed. "I'll be honest, son: I don't like that your sister's living on her own like this."
Ryuichi started blending spices in a metal bowl. "It'll be okay, Dad. She looks like she's doing better. You look like you're doing better."
"Yeah, well, I've been getting more sleep lately, now that Megumi's not there, but—"
He sighed again, his shoulders sagging. "I'm just worried for the both of them, you know? Your mother's worried, too, even if your sister still sometimes drops Megumi off at the house before work. We just want to make sure that they're both doing all right."
"As far as I know, she's doing pretty well," Ryuichi told him. "I get worried, too, but sometimes you just gotta give her some breathing room. You were all miserable living under one roof, remember?"
"I remember," he said with a bitter groan. "She was a handful, I'll tell ya."
Ryuichi was relieved to see that his family was starting to get along better, now that they had some distance from one another. Even he felt better, not just with his own health, but with the comfort in knowing that Shizue and Megumi were finally free from all the negativity, at least outside of work hours. It was all he could ever want for his family, and he hoped the peace between them all would last.
After they finished preparing the meats, Ryuichi and Toshio cleaned up and closed up the restaurant. Outside in the sticky night air, Toshio pulled his son into a tight embrace.
"You be safe," his father told him. "I don't want to get any more phone calls from Mitsuru-san saying you got sick again."
Ryuichi smiled bashfully. "You got it, Dad."
The next day, everyone at Gekkoukan High seemed to be watching the dark clouds roll in. The winds started whipping and whistling outside, rattling the windows like ghouls begging to be let in. The teachers glanced towards the windows as often as the students, and some of them even made some comments about the weather during their lecture. As far as Ryuichi could tell, Mitsuru was the only one still taking notes.
Before the last class of the day started, Ryuichi quickly packed his bag and slipped out undetected. He hurried to the train station, which was already packed with men and women on their way home from a half-day of work or some last-minute shopping. With help from some of the train station workers, Ryuichi was shoved into an already bursting car and wedged up against the door for the whole ride.
At the dorm, he dropped off his bag and hat and grabbed his helmet and the spare he kept for passengers. He rode his motorcycle back to school, crossing the bridge where cars were in complete gridlock trying to flee the storm. He passed right between the streams of cars with ease, trying his best not to look too smug while frustrated drivers honked their horns and unleashed muted yells at the cars in front of them.
He parked just outside the school wall, where he wouldn't be seen from the windows. He kept his helmet on, grateful for the extra protection from the strong winds.
"Come on, come on." As he waited for class to let out, he stared at the time on his cell phone, urging the numbers to change faster through a clenched jaw.
As soon as the final bell rang, he sent an email to Mitsuru, telling her to meet him outside the school gates. When at last she appeared, her icy glare shot him in the chest.
"Unbelievable," she said in a low, exasperated tone when she saw him with his motorcycle. "Was it really worth sneaking out of class just for this?"
He held out the spare helmet to her. "I had my reasons."
Other students who passed by paused long enough to gawk at Ryuichi's motorcycle before hurrying off. The skies had darkened, and the threat of rain chased everyone off the artificial island.
Shaking her head in annoyance, Mitsuru took the spare helmet from Ryuichi and swung her leg over the back of the motorcycle. She situated her school bag between them before wrapping her arms around him.
"Honestly, shirking your studies just so you can show off," she chided.
"You're gonna be glad I did this," he said, starting the engine. "Trust me."
