Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 10 - Chapter 3.2

2

The next day, Sakuta left the house on his way to college and found Nodoka out front. Hat pulled low, eyes downcast, her back against the wall by the entrance. She saw him step off the elevator, and the look on her face was definitely “Finally!”

This was no chance encounter. She had clearly been waiting for him.

“No Mai?” he asked, coming closer.

“Her shoot ran late, so she crashed at a hotel and is going straight to class.”

She seemed in unusually low spirits.

“I know—she called last night.”

They’d mostly talked about plans for Saturday. Mai had a rare day off and suggested they go somewhere together. But Sakuta had a shift at the restaurant until three and couldn’t get out of it. They’d ultimately agreed to meet near Fujisawa Station once he got off. Mai had mentioned a movie she wanted to see, so they’d likely end up one station over, at the Tsujido movie theater.

“Then don’t ask.”

Nodoka was definitely being unusually downbeat. Less hostile than…dead on her feet.

It was just past nine, and he had a second-period class at ten thirty.

He wasn’t sure what Nodoka wanted with him, but he didn’t want to miss his train, so he started walking. She matched his pace.

It was a ten-minute walk to Fujisawa Station. At this hour, people with regular jobs or school were all done with their commutes, so traffic was light. No crowds to push through.

Not far from the apartment building, they passed the park where he’d once traded butt kicks with a high school girl. And from that point on, it was a gentle downslope.

Nodoka didn’t say much at first, but halfway down this hill, she blurted, “I got a favor to ask, Sakuta.”

“If it’s Mai, I’m on it. We’ll make a happy home together.”

“I’m not asking about that.”

Even this lacked her usual spark.

“Then what? Zukki?”

“……”

His abrupt swing left her momentarily speechless, but she recovered fast enough.

“Yeah. This is about Uzuki,” she admitted. “We had dance practice yesterday.”

We was Sweet Bullet in this case.

“And?”

“Everyone else was out on other jobs, so it was just me and Uzuki.”

She broke off, like an idea hit her.

“Did I say we’ve got a pair of concerts this weekend?”

“Kaede told me.”

Saturday was a joint concert with other idol groups. Sunday was an outdoor music event on Hakkei Island.

Kaede wanted to go to both, but Kotomi Kano wasn’t available on Saturday, so she’d abandoned the idea. She and Kotomi were both going to the Sunday event, and she was excited about it.

“I know I always say this, but if she calls me, I can hook her up with tickets.”

“Kaede’s a Zukki stan and doesn’t wanna rub that in.”

“That does sting.”

Her glare suggested she blamed him.

“So what happened at rehearsal?” he asked, ignoring her.

Nodoka didn’t look pleased, but she got back to the point. “The dance teacher got pissed off at her. That never happens—like, legit the first time ever.”

“Why?”

“Like, she just wasn’t focused. Out of it the whole time.”

“So…?”

“So I got worried and asked if she was doing okay.”

“And?”

“She blew me off with a fake smile. ‘I’m fine, sorry. Got myself an earful!’”

Nodoka was keeping her voice flat, but that just drove home how big a deal that was.

“Whoa, that is serious.”

“I know, right? Uzuki always shared everything.”

The back half was a whisper, like it wasn’t for him. She looked wistful.

“And that’s got you all depressed.”

She’d been in the dumps since they met up. Clearly, this was why.

“I don’t know what’s going on with her.”

“You used to?”

That was itself an accomplishment.

“…Well, no, but that’s not what I meant.”

“I know.”

Previously, her unpredictable behavior had mystified everyone.

But now she was consciously hiding how she felt. The nature of the mystery was fundamentally different. Diametrically opposed, even.

“Online, they think she’s gearing up to leave Sweet Bullet.”

“Yeah?”

That was news to him.

They got caught at a red light, so Nodoka took her phone out of her purse. She tapped the screen several times, then showed it to him.

There was a site collating idol news.

It didn’t exactly give sources, but there were articles with headlines like “Uzuki Hirokawa’s Graduation Imminent?!” or “Zukki’s Solo Debut Incoming!”

“That commercial sure has the office in an uproar. I asked the chief manager and was told to focus on our next concert. Pfft.”

“Like admitting there’s stuff they can’t talk about.”

“Yep.”

“And you’re connecting that to her performance in rehearsal.”

Her mind had been elsewhere. But where? On leaving the group? On a solo debut? Or on something else entirely?

Nodoka was staring grimly up at the red light. There was no way she was thinking about anything besides Uzuki’s potential exit. But the sadness in her eyes was likely more because Uzuki had refused to confide in her.

Whether the rumors were true or not, if she heard the news from Uzuki, Nodoka would probably accept it. Part of her wanted what was best for her friend. But instead, Uzuki had given her a phony smile. And that had left Nodoka high and dry, unable to press the point further.

“So what do you want from me?”

“If Uzuki’s in trouble, help her out.”

Nodoka just laid it out there, not mincing words at all.

“That’s it?”

“I mean, if you can pry anything out of her, then do that.”

“I gotta interrogate her?”

“God no.”

She looked genuinely mad at that one. Her eyes said, “Don’t push your luck.” If he kept cracking jokes, she might actually kick him. Sakuta didn’t see the point in inviting violence, so he took the hint.

The light turned green, and he fled her scary stare.

“Are you even listening?”

“I’ll do what I can. But I can’t do what I can’t, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“Mm. Thanks.”

That seemed like it took a load off. She looked way less tense.

At Fujisawa Station, they boarded the Tokaido Line and exited at Yokohama Station. The train into the city was still fairly packed, even at this hour.

For that reason, they didn’t talk much, just minded their own business.

Once they’d switched to the Keikyu Line, they were outbound, and the vibe was much more relaxed.

The express for Misakiguchi raced along, skipping most stations.

Sakuta and Nodoka were hanging on to straps, jostled by each bump, talking about the school festival next month. Apparently, there was a beauty contest.

“Holding one of those with Mai around sounds like hell on earth.”

“The male side of the competition allows entry by proxy. Should I put you in?”

“I don’t wanna get any more popular, so I’ll pass.”

At that point, the train pulled into Kanazawa-hakkei Station.

The doors opened, and he followed Nodoka out.

As he did, he thought he recognized someone’s back out of the corner of his eye.

He caught a glimpse through the doors between cars.

In the car ahead of theirs, Uzuki stood on the side away from the open doors.

He could see her face reflected in the glass.

The bell rang, warning that the train was leaving.

Before the doors closed, he jumped back on.

“Sakuta…?” Nodoka asked, spinning around. She looked surprised and confused.

But the doors slammed before he could explain. He just pointed at the car ahead.

Looking even more confused, she glanced that way—and hopefully spotted Uzuki, but before he could be sure, the train pulled out, leaving Nodoka behind.

Smartphones sure did help with moments like this, but Sakuta didn’t have one.

With no means of contacting her, he gave up and settled into an empty seat.

He glanced up at the map above the door. The express stopped at Oppama Station, then both Shioiri and Yokosuka-chuo Station. After that, it stopped at Horinouchi and turned into the Kurihama Line. From the point, it stopped at everything until the tracks ended.

Where was Uzuki going?

She was still leaning against the door, vacantly watching the view go by. It didn’t seem like she’d simply missed her stop.

Uzuki didn’t get off at any stations on the way.

Half an hour after leaving Kanazawa-hakkei, they reached the end of the line—Misakiguchi Station.

Sakuta did consider getting up and speaking to her, but he wanted to see what she was up to, and he wound up leaving her to it.

The doors opened, and the few remaining passengers disembarked. The man across from him pulled a fishing kit off the rack, slung a cooler over his shoulder, and said, “All right!”

Even with the train empty, Uzuki didn’t move.

Was she gonna ride it back to college?

But then she seemed to realize it was the end of the line, looked around, and got off…like she had nothing better to do.

Sakuta followed her out.

She was about five yards away, her back to him.

Tailing her any farther would be creepy. Objectively speaking, anyone following a college girl idol around was bad news. So he elected to call out to her.

“Skipping school, Zukki?”

Her shoulders quivered. Then she turned slowly around, frowning. When she saw Sakuta, she blinked in surprise. She didn’t ask why he was here. She could probably imagine why, or maybe she simply didn’t care.

“I was in the mood to…to find myself,” Uzuki said, as if that was a joke. It didn’t sound like one.

“You do that at Misakiguchi?”

“I dunno. What’s around here?”

“I think they have tuna.”

He glanced at the station sign. They were so hype on tuna here they’d even made the sign say MISAKI MAGURO instead.

“Welp, I’m pretty hungry. Wanna go have some tuna and think?”

It was eleven now. A bit early, but arguably lunchtime.