My Romance Life System-Chapter 202: Thursday Adjustments

Ruby was definitely sick. Jake played the role of worried nurse, bringing her soup from the dining hall which she couldn’t eat.

"This is miserable."

"The health center says it’s a campus-wide flu."

"That doesn’t make me feel any better."

Kofi and Nina stopped by her dorm room. They brought class notes and homework assignments.

"You look terrible."

"Thanks, Nina. Very helpful."

Ruby was pale and shivering under three blankets. Her roommate had decamped to a friend’s room to avoid infection.

"Anything you need?"

"A new immune system."

"We’re fresh out."

They left her to sleep. Outside her dorm, Jake was pacing.

"She never gets sick."

"Everyone gets sick, Jake."

"Not Ruby. She has perfect attendance records going back to kindergarten."

"Maybe her body is forcing her to rest," Nina suggested.

"That’s not how biology works."

"It’s how stress works. The dojo fight, Yuna leaving, midterms. It adds up."

Jake stopped pacing. ’She has been pushing herself hard.’ He nodded slowly.

At the student union, they saw David from the kendo team. He looked stressed.

"Captain, we have a problem."

"What now?"

"Three people want to quit. They said without Yuna and Ren, there’s no point."

"That’s ridiculous."

"That’s what I told them."

Kofi sighed. ’This is my problem now.’

"I’ll talk to them at practice."

The afternoon practice was tense. The three potential quitters stood together, a small pocket of defiance.

Kofi gathered the team.

"I heard some of you are thinking about leaving."

They looked uncomfortable but one of them, a junior named Mark, spoke up.

"It’s not the same. Ren and Yuna were the best. They pushed us."

"You’re right. It’s not the same. It’s our team now. We decide what it becomes. They left to get better. That’s what this program is about. Growth."

"It’s not as intense without them."

"Then we make it intense. We push each other. We don’t need them to set our standards. We have our own."

The conversation continued. By the end, two of the three agreed to stay. Mark, the junior, quit anyway.

’One step forward, one step back.’

After practice, Kofi stayed to train alone. The dojo felt too large and quiet. Nina found him there an hour later with sandwiches.

"Team troubles?"

"We lost another member."

She listened while he explained.

"Maybe it’s for the best. The committed stay, the tourists leave."

"We need a certain number of members to keep the program funded."

"Then we recruit new people."

"It’s the middle of the semester."

"So we get creative. Host open classes for beginners. Partner with the wellness center. Market kendo as stress relief."

"You think people will buy kendo as stress relief?"

"It’s all in the marketing."

They ate sandwiches on the dojo floor, brainstorming recruitment strategies.

Kofi’s phone buzzed. A message from Yuna in Japan. "First day of training. Everything hurts. Teachers don’t speak English. I miss arguing with you about footwork."

He showed Nina the text.

"She definitely misses us."

"She misses having people who understand what she’s doing."

"Basically the same thing."

They walked home through a campus that was settling into its nighttime rhythm.

"Did you ever think our life would get this complicated?" Kofi asked.

"When we were freshmen? I thought life was simple."

"It wasn’t. We just didn’t know it yet."

At their apartment, there was a package at the door. No return address.

’Not again.’ Kofi felt a flash of old paranoia. He opened it carefully. Inside was a book. ’Advanced Kendo Techniques.’ A note was tucked inside. "Thought you might want to study the competition. - Ren."

"He sent this from Japan?"

Nina checked the postmark. "California. He must have sent it before he left and timed the delivery."

"That is the most Ren thing ever."

They looked through the book. Complex diagrams and descriptions in both Japanese and English.

"This is way above my level."

"He thinks you’re ready for it."

"Or he’s mocking me from across the ocean."

"Also possible."

The next day was Friday. Gray and rainy. Ruby insisted on going to her art history seminar.

"I can’t fall behind."

"You’re going to get pneumonia."

"I’ll wear a scarf."

Jake walked her to and from class, a human umbrella.

At lunch, their table felt a little more normal with Ruby there, even if she only ate crackers. Kevin from the newspaper stopped by.

"Nina, the faculty advisor wants to see you about the editor application."

"Now?"

"Soon as possible."

She left with Kevin. ’She’s going to get it,’ Kofi thought. ’She’s the obvious choice.’

’Nothing is obvious in university politics,’ a cynical part of his brain answered.

After lunch, Kofi had his meeting with the wellness center coordinator. He pitched his idea.

"Martial arts for stress relief? Seems counterintuitive."

"Physical activity is a proven stress reducer. Disciplined practice provides structure and a sense of control, which many students lack."

"Our students definitely lack control."

"Everyone does."

The coordinator was intrigued. "Submit a formal proposal. We’ll review it next week."

It was progress. Small, but progress.

That evening, Nina came home with news.

"I got it. Editor-in-chief, starting next semester."

"That’s amazing! Congratulations!"

"It’s terrifying. The paper is a mess and Kevin is graduating."

"You’ll fix it. You’re good at fixing things."

"With smaller feet, perhaps."

"With your own style."

They celebrated with takeout from the good Chinese place. The one they saved for special occasions.

"A toast," Kofi said, raising a container of rice. "To Nina Shoka, future queen of all media."

"To staying local and building something that matters."

After dinner, they settled on the couch. Nina was already reviewing the paper’s budget. Kofi was trying to decipher a technique in Ren’s book.

"We’re very boring," Nina observed.

"What?"

"It’s Friday night. We’re sitting at home with work materials."

"We’re focused."

"On being boring."

"Would you rather be at a frat party?"

She considered it. "No. But I feel like we should want to be."

"Why? We’re not typical college students."

"No," she said. "We are definitely not."

They read until their eyes were tired. The day had been full of small adjustments, small victories. Their lives were settling into new patterns without Yuna and Ren. Not better, not worse. Just different.

---

The rain continued through Saturday morning. Kofi woke to the sound of it on the roof. Nina was already at the kitchen table with her laptop.

"You don’t take a day off, do you?"

"The news never sleeps."

"You’re editing the campus paper, not running the Washington Post."

"A commander is always prepared."

He made coffee. The apartment smelled like rain and ambition.

"Going to see Ruby later?"

"After my practice."

The dojo was quiet on Saturday mornings. Only the most dedicated showed up. Today, that meant David and two other sophomores.

"Where is everyone else?"

"Sleeping off Friday night, I guess."

"Or they quit without telling me."

"That too."

The practice felt hollow with only four people. Kofi pushed them through drills, but the energy wasn’t there.

’The recruitment events can’t happen soon enough.’

After practice, he stayed behind. He spread his notes on the dojo floor and started writing the proposal for the wellness center. He used their language. Mindfulness through movement. Stress reduction through disciplined practice. Community building through shared challenge. ’It sounds good, at least.’

Nina arrived as he was finishing. She’d brought more coffee.

"How’s the propaganda coming along?"

"It’s full of buzzwords the administration will love."

"Perfect."

They went to Ruby’s dorm. She was dressed and sitting up, which was a significant improvement.

"I am now functional."

"You still look exhausted."

"I’m functionally exhausted. It’s a delicate balance."

Jake was there, homework spread across Ruby’s desk. It was their new normal. A quiet, shared study day.

They stayed for an hour, helping with homework and trading campus gossip.

Around two, they left Ruby to rest. The rain had finally stopped, but the sky was still gray.

"Want to do something fun?" Nina asked.

"Fun? What is this ’fun’ you speak of?"

"Something not related to our many, many responsibilities."

They ended up at the campus art museum. A small, quiet building most students ignored.

"I haven’t been here since freshman orientation," Kofi said.

"Neither have I."

The current exhibition was photography of urban decay. Stark, black and white images of abandoned buildings.

"This is kind of depressing."

"It’s artistic."

"Depressing can be artistic. They’re not mutually exclusive."

They wandered through the quiet galleries. A few other people were there, moving slowly, speaking in whispers.

Nina stopped in front of one photograph. It showed an old, abandoned music building, its windows broken, weeds growing through the cracks in the steps.

"That one looks familiar."

"The old music building. Where they locked Ruby up."

"Yeah."

They stood looking at the photo.

"That feels like a lifetime ago."

"It was two weeks ago."

"Time moves strangely when you’re constantly in crisis mode."

They left the museum and walked across campus. The sun was breaking through the clouds.

Nina checked her phone. "Yuna sent an update. Training is brutal but she made a friend who speaks some English. She’s eating a lot of rice."

"She’s communicating more than I expected."

"Loneliness is a powerful motivator for communication."

"Is that what happened with us? In the beginning?"

Nina looked at him.

"Are you asking if we only got together because we were lonely?"

"I’m asking if our initial connection was based on a shared loneliness."

"Maybe. You were alone in that big apartment. I was alone with my ambition. We found something in each other."

"And now?"

"Now we’re together by choice. Not by necessity."

They got dinner at the campus pizza place. It was crowded with students getting ready for Saturday night.

"We could go to a party," Nina suggested.

"You hate parties."

"I hate most parties. Some parties might be good."

"You want to go to a random party just to prove we’re not boring adults yet?"

"When you put it that way, it does sound stupid."

"Because it is."

But Nina looked around at the groups of friends laughing and making plans.

"I feel like we’re missing something, though."

"Like what?"

"The normal college experience."

"Our experiences have been memorable. Just not normal."

"Fighting corrupt lawyers and saving kendo dojos isn’t a typical extracurricular."

"Would you trade it for typical?"

She thought for a moment. "No."

"Then why do you care about normal?"

"Because sometimes I wonder what it would be like."

They finished eating and walked home. The campus was coming alive. Music drifted from dorm windows.

"We could host something," Kofi said.

"What, a party?"

"No, a gathering. Not a party. Just our friends."

"Our apartment is tiny."

"So we keep the guest list small."

He considered the idea.

"Who would we invite? Jake and Ruby. David from the team. Kevin from the paper. Thea, if she can come up."

"That’s six people in our living room. It’s manageable."

"When?"

"Next Friday? Give Ruby time to fully recover."

"What would we do? Sit around and discuss the socio-economic impact of pizza toppings?"

"We could eat food. Talk. Play a game. Normal things."

They decided to think about it. At home, they settled into their routine. Nina worked on her transition plan for the paper. Kofi studied the techniques in Ren’s book.

He stood up to practice a stance.

"This move requires perfect balance and timing. Your weight shifts forward while your arms move back. It’s completely counterintuitive."

"Show me."

He demonstrated the stance. Nina tried to copy him and immediately lost her balance, stumbling into the couch.

"How does anyone do this?"

"Years of practice and patience."

"Two things I have in very short supply."

They gave up on kendo and decided to watch a movie. Something mindless with explosions.

"This is an objectively terrible film."

"That’s why it’s perfect for a Saturday night."

Halfway through, Nina’s phone buzzed. It was her mother.

"She wants to know our Thanksgiving plans."

"Thanksgiving is six weeks away."

"My mother operates on a different temporal plane. It’s all about advance planning."

"Are you going home for the holiday?"

"Probably. What about you?"

"My parents are going to be in Brazil for a project."

"You could come with me."

Kofi looked at her.

"To your parents’ house? For Thanksgiving?"

"You’ve already met them."

"Briefly. This would be... a statement."

"A statement about what?"

"About us. About being serious."

Nina turned to face him fully on the couch.

"Are we not serious?"

"We are."

"Then what’s the problem?"

"Meeting the entire extended family at a major holiday is a big step."

"We’ve been together for over a year. We live together. We’ve fought actual criminals side-by-side."

"This feels bigger than fighting criminals."

"My mother’s green bean casserole can be a criminal offense."

He knew she was right. They were serious. A holiday visit was just acknowledging a fact that already existed.

"I’ll think about it."

"That’s all I’m asking."

They finished the movie and went to bed. Sunday would bring more planning, more homework.

"Goodnight."

"Night."

Kofi lay awake. He thought about Thanksgiving and families and taking steps that couldn’t be undone. He thought about building a life, not just reacting to one.