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‘I didn’t have any plans to meet up with him today, but I was coming out of Sogo Department Store and I saw him walking from the station. I was going to rush up and say hello when I noticed that he wasn’t alone.’ Yuriko took her hands off the bike handles to blow her nose and wipe the mascara away from under her eyes as she peddled. ‘He was with a young, pretty girl about our age. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions and get jealous and upset, because I thought she might be his sister or someone like that, so I decided to follow them.’
    Haruka crossed her legs and leant forward. ‘So you decided to follow them,’ she repeated, nodding her head and urging Yuriko to continue.
    ‘Yes,’ Yuriko replied. ‘I kept my distance so they couldn’t see me and they started to head towards Chinatown.’
    ‘Go on,’ Haruka said.
    ‘Well, you’re not going to believe this, but as they walked through Chinatown, Rytook the girl’s hand, and they walked down the street, both of them looking blissfully happy – and that’s when I started to get upset, wondering what my boyfriend was doing behind my back.’ Yuriko’s face started to contort again and tears started running down her cheeks.
    Haruka went over and placed her hand on her shoulder.
    ‘But that’s not the worst part,’ Yuriko said between gasping sobs. ‘I kept following them and of course they didn’t see me, because they were so wrapped up in each other, and before long I could see where they were going.’
    ‘Where were they going?’ Haruka asked her face incredulous.
    ‘They were going to a love hotel!’ Yuriko replied, still peddling like a crazy woman.
    ‘ Noooo ,’ Haruka said, now feeling really upset about what Ryhad done to her friend. ‘What a sleazy two-timer.’ She sat down on the edge of Yuriko’s bed.
    ‘Oh, yes – I hate Ryand I never want to see him again,’ continued Yuriko. ‘If he tries to call me, I won’t answer and if he sends me a text message, I won’t respond to the sleaze.’
    ‘Yes, that’s exactly what you should do,’ Haruka reassured her. ‘Come on, get down off the bike before your legs fall off.’
    Yuriko slowly wound down and eventually dropped off the bike and fell onto the bed next to Haruka, curling up into the foetal position. Haruka stood up to give her more room and went over to sit down on the bright pink candy-striped sofa chair opposite, very concerned about her friend.
    ‘I’m thinking of buying some laxatives,’ said Yuriko, looking at picture of a skeletal girl jumping in the air on the front cover of the magazine at her side.
    ‘You can’t do that – laxatives will make you ill,’ replied Haruka.
    ‘But I’ve put on a kilo and I want to lose it quickly. I read on the internet about a girl that lost two kilos in a week just by taking laxatives for a few days.’
    ‘Did you know that you could have a heart attack if you take them for the wrong reason?’
    ‘Don’t be silly, Haruka. I’m not going to have a heart attack,’ said Yuriko. ‘You do make me laugh.’
    ‘I’m not joking. Promise me you won’t try laxatives or any other weight loss tablets you read about on the internet,’ said Haruka, covering her eyes in shock and shaking her head.
    ‘Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,’ Yuriko replied, laughing at Haruka’s obvious concern. ‘I’ve been taking weight loss pills on and off for six months and I feel fine.’
    They sat there in silence for about ten minutes. Yuriko flicked through the magazine in front of her and Haruka looked around the room, searching for any evidence of weight loss pills. She noticed a container beside Yuriko’s pillow, but she didn’t want to give her another lecture. Haruka decided that her friend needed support, not criticism, so she kept quiet.
    Bored with flipping through her magazine, Yuriko sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. ‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ she said. ‘I just need to use the