Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 10 - Chapter 4.3

3

Nodoka’s response arrived an hour later.

We’re at the hospital.

A short text to Mai’s phone.

It sounded like the second they left the stage, they’d taken Uzuki to a doctor.

Mai asked where, saying she’d pick her up, and it turned out the hospital was close to Odaiba.

By the time Sakuta and Mai reached the hospital, it was eight thirty PM.

The lot was almost empty. Mai put the parking brake on, and they took off their seat belts. They opened their doors and stepped out.

“Is that the right entrance?” Mai asked.

Outpatient hours were over. The back entrance had a red light out for emergency patients, and that was the only passage that seemed to have lights on. Figuring they could go in elsewhere if the staff said to, they headed toward it.

And on the way, they ran into a couple of familiar faces.

Uzuki, with a bench coat around her shoulders. She was still in her stage costume and hadn’t even removed her makeup. Almost like she’d just shed the jewelry and run straight here.

By her side was her mom—Sakuta had met her once, a while back. She’d been a teen when she’d had Uzuki and hadn’t quite left her thirties behind—she definitely didn’t look like she had a daughter in college.

They both saw Sakuta and Mai coming.

“Sakuta! Long time no see,” the mom called. “And Mai.”

They both bobbed their heads. Then turned to Uzuki.

“You okay there, Zukki?” Sakuta asked.

“……”

She didn’t answer. Just smiled awkwardly.

“Sorry, her voice just isn’t working right now,” her mom said, not changing her tone at all.

“……”

“……”

That left Sakuta and Mai speechless.

Mai had called it.

Her voice really had died.

In the car on the way here, Mai had told him a few stories about people with these symptoms. Too much stress or bad news from work that left them temporarily unable to speak, no matter how they tried. She’d seen people lose their hearing or suddenly start slurring their speech, too.

He didn’t find this hard to believe because he’d lived through the memory loss Kaede’s dissociative disorder had given her.

Human emotions and bodies are more entwined than most people think.

“We’ve been told to get some rest for now. She has been busy,” Uzuki’s mom said. “Well, probably not as much as you, Mai.”

Uzuki looked like she had something to say but…couldn’t. Her mouth kept opening and closing.

Sakuta was watching her do this, and she noticed, meeting his eye. She managed a smile and quickly looked away.

“If you’re here for Nodoka, she’s still inside, talking to the manager. About tomorrow.”

Sweet Bullet had a Sunday concert, too. That would require contingency plans.

Uzuki’s mom pulled her car keys out of her jacket pocket.

The lights on a minivan behind them flashed.

“Hate to run, but I’m gonna get her home.”

“Take care.”

What else could he say?

Uzuki gave him a little wave, bobbed her head in Mai’s direction, and slid into the passenger seat. Her mom made sure her belt was on, then waved to them and drove away.

The van quietly pulled out of the hospital lot.

Half the lights in the hospital halls were off, and it was rather gloomy. There was no one around. Sakuta’s and Mai’s footsteps echoed.

The hall went on for a while, but when they turned the corner, it got much brighter.

They heard voices.

“So you are talking about having Uzuki go solo?”

The speaker sounded pissed. Was that Nodoka?

They stopped, peering ahead. Five figures stood before the internal medicine outpatient desk. They were in a little meeting area, but none of them had taken a seat.

The Sweet Bullet members were all wearing the same bench coats as Uzuki. Nodoka Toyohama, Yae Anou, Ranko Nakagou, and Hotaru Okazaki. All four sets of eyes on an adult woman facing them.

“Nodoka’s manager,” Mai whispered.

She looked to be around thirty. She wore a well-cut suit jacket and glasses that made her look intelligent and collected. She definitely wasn’t having the best day, but she didn’t seem defensive.

“Well?” Yae said.

“You gotta tell us!” Hotaru said. She had kind of a baby voice.

“Manager!” The last plea came from Ranko, the most grown-up-looking member.

“…Fine,” the manager said, throwing up her hands. “The chief said to keep it quiet, but it’s true. There’s talk of having her go solo.”

“Would that mean she graduates?” Hotaru demanded.

She didn’t specify graduate from what, because everyone knew already, and she probably didn’t want to say it out loud.

“……”

But neither side said anything further.

Had he timed it, the silence would probably have been only five seconds. But it sure felt agonizingly long.

“The chief thinks that’s for the best.”

“……!”

All four girls bit their lips.

“But Uzuki rejected the idea.”

“……”

Nodoka looked up, frowning. She wasn’t ready to celebrate.

“Why?” she asked.

“I couldn’t say.”

“When was this?” Yae asked.

“Right after they shot the commercial. Like…end of August?”

“That’s…” Ranko gasped. She probably meant to add “so long ago”?

“At the time, the chief let it drop. But after seeing how people reacted…well, he couldn’t leave well enough alone. He wants more people to see how great she is. Truth is, we’ve been getting offers to launch a solo career from some pretty heavy hitters.”

Sakuta assumed that meant big-shot producers in the music biz.

“And you told Uzuki this?” Yae asked, making sure. It sounded like she was chewing over each bit of information, one at a time. Nodoka stood next to her, with the same look on her face, thinking hard.

“We have not. The chief said he was waiting for the right moment.”

“Then why has Zukki been acting all funny?” Hotaru wondered. That question got right to the heart of the matter.

“……”

But it didn’t seem like the group’s members had any answers.

They’d all sensed it. They’d all noticed the change in Uzuki.

And they’d all secretly assumed this must have been about the solo career offer. But from what their manager said, that theory was off base.

But they couldn’t be sure. They didn’t have enough clues. What was Uzuki carrying that left her without a voice?

“What about you?” the manager asked. “Any idea what could be weighing on her?”

“……”

No one said anything. Another long silence. But this one had a very different meaning. The girls were looking at one another. And there were definitely ideas.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“……”

But still none of them spoke.

“If you don’t wanna tell me, fine. Can you figure it out?”

Yae nodded, for everyone.

“Then we’ll be there tomorrow, as scheduled.”

““““Yeah,”””” all four said in unison.

“Just be ready for the worst.”

Even Sakuta knew what that meant.

If Uzuki still didn’t have her voice…