Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 10 - Chapter 2.5

5

The night came and went, and it was Thursday, October 6.

On his way to college, Sakuta changed to the Keikyu Line at Yokohama Station and bumped into Uzuki on the red train. Not in the flesh or anything—just her photo hanging from the ceiling ads.

She was all on her own on the cover of a shounen manga magazine.

She was sitting down, one leg pulled up against her chest. An oversize sweater fell off one shoulder while her black hair spilled over her pale bared skin—it was oddly alluring. But she was biting into an orange, and her expression looked rather surprised—which was cute in an age-appropriate way. Like you were seeing the real her, a face only her boyfriend would normally get to see.

Sakuta thought it was quite a photo. He decided to pick up a copy for Kaede on the way home.

He was still staring on it, thinking all that, when a voice behind him said, “Sakuta, you’re staring too hard!”

He turned his head and found a girl in a mask and a hat.

The real Uzuki.

“I guess the real one’s better,” he said, turning to face her.

But this one had her shoulders covered. No skin anywhere. A severe lack of allure.

“On second thought, I prefer the other one.”

He looked back at the poster. Honed by all that dancing, her skin had a healthy glow, sexy in a way he could stare at all day.

“Y-you’re not allowed!” Uzuki squeaked, pulling his arm to turn him around.

This wasn’t her typical reaction. He’d shown up with a magazine featuring her in a swimsuit once, and she’d just been excited, asking what he thought.

But if she was gonna be all embarrassed, that made him feel like he was doing something wrong. That just made him want to tease her more, but he didn’t want Nodoka getting wind of that, so he let her spin him around.

They had plenty to talk about.

“You’re on a roll,” he said.

“Yep, counting my blessings.”

“I saw that commercial.”

“It even reached you?!”

Her voice got real quiet.

“Kaede was making a fuss about it last night. Sounds like it’s a hit.”

“Apparently. My manager called me this morning, saying I should be careful on my way to school.”

Uzuki normally didn’t hide her face at all, but today she was fully incognito.

The disguise was apparently working; nobody around them seemed to have spotted her. But quite a few had their eyes glued to the poster above them. The response to the recent commercial was strong.

Two high school girls were chatting by the door.

“That’s her, right? From yesterday?”

“Oh, the commercial!”

“Yeah, yeah. What’s her name?”

“Wait, I’ll look it up.”

They both took out their phones.

The old Uzuki likely would have gone over to them and introduced herself. Oblivious to how shaken they’d be. She’d probably have insisted on an enthusiastic handshake, too. But the new Uzuki didn’t budge.

She just stood bolt upright, looking tense.

“Right, Uzuki Hirokawa.”

“Is this true? It says she’s going to the Yokohama city college.”

“Then she might take this train!”

“Wow, we might actually run into her!”

Uzuki didn’t seem to know how to handle any of this.

But an announcement came over the loudspeaker, cutting them off. The next stop was Kamiooka.

“Wanna get off next stop? Maybe switch to another car?” he suggested.

Uzuki didn’t understand at first, but a moment later, she caught his drift. Her eyes went wide, then she nodded.

Sakuta and Uzuki hopped off the car at Kamiooka, but the next car also had high schoolers talking about her commercial. Three boys, this time.

“Her voice is so good!”

“And she’s cute.”

“You gonna buy that magazine?”

“You first.”

It was way too early for that energy. Horny energy.

They ended up getting off again at the next stop, Kanazawa-bunko Station, before moving to a third car.

“It’s like a secret date,” Uzuki said, grinning. But Sakuta was Mai’s boyfriend, and their current situation was mildly nerve-racking.

Regardless of his true reasons, if he was spotted with Uzuki now, people would think he was her boyfriend, and all kinds of bullshit stories would circulate. He really wasn’t up to facing accusations of two-timing.

Once they finally reached Kanazawa-hakkei Station, he let out a sigh of relief without even realizing it.

They passed the gates and went down the stairs to the west exit.

Almost everyone walking this way was in college. Or faculty.

“That’s some impact,” he said.

The night before, he had not expected it to change things this much.

“Yeah,” Uzuki said, agreeing with his consternation but not looking all that thrown by it. Why would she be? This was just another success stemming from the career she’d built. She’d finally gotten a chance to make her popularity explode, so that would mostly feel like a good thing. Train rides might become a tad more difficult, but she’d live.

“It’s a one-way trip to Koshien.”

“That’s baseball, Sakuta.”

“The Japan National Stadium?”

“That’s soccer.”

“Hanazono?”

“Rugby.”

“Ah, then it must be Ryogoku.”

“So close, but that one’s sumo.”

Uzuki nailed every single reference, fully aware he was doing a bit. She matched his timing perfectly. The old Uzuki would have just asked, “Why Koshien?” and made things awkward for him. How many times had she made him explain his own jokes?

“I’m trying to get to the Budokan,” she added. Well aware he knew that.

“Is it getting any closer?”

“That’s a good question,” she said, straightening up. With the mask on, subtle expressions were hard to catch, but her tone of voice and the way her eyes stared straight ahead made it clear she wasn’t going easy on anything.

Sakuta wasn’t exactly caught up on the inner workings of the idol industry, but her attitude showed just what a big deal the Budokan was. At the very least, it wasn’t the kind of place Uzuki currently felt like promising she’d get to, even in jest. She was picking her words carefully.

“Why Budokan anyway?”

“As long as we had a goal, I didn’t mind where it was.”

“Oh?”

“I told you before, right?”

“What?”

“How I stopped making friends in junior high.”

“Yeah.”

“So everyone in Sweet Bullet meant a lot to me. More than friends.”

Only Uzuki could know how important they were. So Sakuta said nothing. He had no right to say he understood.

“Aika and Matsuri may have graduated, but the rest…Nodoka, Yae, Ranko, and Hotaru. I still want to go there with them. Together.”

The last word was a whisper. Which made it clear that was what really mattered here.

And the success of this commercial would put the wind in their sails, hopefully helping them achieve their goal. It wasn’t just another step—it was three or four.

But from a different perspective, her agency was already thinking about giving Uzuki a solo debut, and this could be the start of making that happen. After all, that commercial was all her.

If you were gonna make a move, it was best to strike while the iron was hot.

Just walking with her like this made it clear how much the world’s eye was on her right now. The students around them were giving them lots of looks and pretending not to notice.

Uzuki was well aware of their attention and was doing her best not to look his way.

“Half of these are for you,” she said.

“What?”

“The looks.”

Looks of envy, wondering how he came to know not just Mai Sakurajima, but also Uzuki Hirokawa.

“But I’m glad we met.”

“I appreciate your candor, but I’m afraid my heart belongs to Mai.”

“Hopes dashed! I didn’t mean ‘met at all’—I meant ‘bumped into each other on the train today.’”

Obviously, he knew exactly what she meant. And if Sakuta knew it, then she knew he knew it. And in full knowledge of that, she’d gone along with the joke and laboriously explained the whole thing.

“Sakuta, you are an incorrigible tease.”

“You only just worked that out?”

“Yeah. I had absolutely no idea.”

They passed through the main gates.

As they followed the path through the trees, they drew even more looks.

This was the break between first and second periods. Between the students arriving for second period and students moving between classes, there were crowds of people.

If this were anywhere else, hardly anyone would have spotted her. But everyone here knew. It was common knowledge Uzuki Hirokawa was a student here.

And if you were aware you might spot her on campus, then it was easier to see through her disguise. The mask and hat weren’t really doing much here.

“Maybe I’ll add some glasses tomorrow.”

“Mai said it helps if you change up your hair.”

“Oh! Good idea.”

Uzuki was still staring straight ahead, as if the attention wasn’t fazing her. But she knew exactly what was going on. She could feel it in the air.

Then her eyes darted to the side of the gingko path.

To an area filled with boards listing canceled classes, syllabus information, etc. A girl was standing in front of a board covered in club recruitment posters, calling out to students passing by.

“Interested in being a student volunteer?”

Sakuta knew her.

It was Ikumi Akagi.

“We only just started out, and we’re eager for more members.”

She was holding out flyers, but no one was taking them.

A pair of girls passed right in front of her, busy chatting. A man wearing wireless headphones raised a hand, rejecting the offer.

“We’re supporting the education of children who refuse to attend school, and we still need more help.”

Ikumi’s voice was calm and clear, undaunted.

But not a single student stopped to talk. A few shot her puzzled frowns, but they exchanged glances once they passed her, smiling and whispering, “Volunteering, huh?”

Their eyes were saying, “Wow,” or “Couldn’t be me,” taking stock of each other’s values.

And once they’d done that—they were satisfied. They never even looked at Ikumi again. The conversation shifted right back to cafés with hot waiters or whatever.

No one else even slowed down or showed any interest.

Ikumi kept on talking—until someone finally stopped.

The girl next to him.

Not because Ikumi had spoken to her.

They were still a good ten paces away.

But Uzuki had stopped and was staring at Ikumi.

And at the crowd passing her by.

He could tell she was looking at the little smiles on their faces.

Uzuki’s lips quivered. The edges of her eyes turned down. A hint of sadness.

“Sakuta…”

“……”

He waited for her to speak again.

Pretty sure he knew what was coming.

He’d thought this might come.

It was an exchange he’d hoped to avoid.

But Uzuki wasn’t about to let him off the hook.

Once she’d realized, she had to ask.

Her mask was off, and she was looking right at him.

“They laughed at me, too?” she asked.

Her expression didn’t change.

And he had no words for her.

Only the tiniest of nods. Barely one at all.