If she remains in middle school she can be a senpai Ritsu admires for her hard work and dedication! Admittedly it's harder to gather up the middle school folks because most everyone places their kids in high school, but! Tiny children! ;o;

AU-wise he's also been in a car accident, though he didn't get paralyzed... it can be one of those strange things they find as a commonality once they've bonded. He's kind of a mess as far as associating with people outside school things, but they can start out from being nerds together and go from there!