Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 11 - Chapter 1.4

4

Long story short, Mai’s approval was granted with shocking ease.

Before afternoon classes began, he’d swung by the pay phones near the campus clock tower and called her number. He figured she’d be at a shoot and unable to answer. But she picked up on the first ring.

“What?”

Mai had been checking a text from her manager between shots.

She seemed surprised to hear from him, so he patiently walked her through it.

“Got invited to a mixer.”

“And?”

“Someone dropped out last minute, so it’s today.”

“So?”

“The girls are from the nursing school here. I still shouldn’t go, right?”

He really sweated that last line.

“Why not?” Mai said, like this was no skin off her back.

“I mean, I can’t,” he said, vetoing his own proposal.

“Sakuta, if you blow this chance, you’ll never get another.”

“You should still stop me. You’re my girlfriend!”

“I’m granting you special permission, just this once.”

“Still…,” he fretted.

“You’re the one who asked me,” she scoffed. “Why are you trying to back out of it?”

They had definitely swapped positions somewhere along the line.

“You’re sure?”

“If you’re this reluctant, I’ll allow it.”

She sounded pleased.

“What if I was super eager?”

“I’d insist you come see me right now.”

She let out a mischievous laugh.

“I might’ve preferred that.”

“We’re filming. You’d be in the way. Stay put.”

“Aww.”

“I hope you figure something out,” she added, the emotion draining from her voice.

He knew right away she was talking about Ikumi Akagi. The moment Sakuta mentioned the nursing school, she’d understood why he’d brought this mixer up. And while fully aware of that, she had toyed with him for a while first.

“Not getting my hopes up,” he said. “But I’ll give it a shot.”

Even if these girls were from her major, they might not know anything about Ikumi. There were tons of students in every major, and you never matched names to faces for the majority. Even if one of Ikumi’s friends happened to be at the mixer, it wasn’t exactly the sort of scene where you could sit and talk for any length of time about someone who wasn’t even there.

Best he could hope for was to say, “Oh yeah, there’s a girl called Ikumi Akagi in the nursing school, right? I went to junior high with her,” and sound like he was bragging about being from here.

“Saying that you’re going in with low expectations is just mean to the girls who’ll be there.”

“Then I guess I’ll carry a faint hope.”

“Maybe they’ll be cute!” Mai said, playing along.

“Fukuyama says they’re all cute.”

“Cuter than me?”

“I couldn’t handle that.”

“Argh, wardrobe call. Gotta go.”

She instantly snapped back to work mode, and he heard a woman talking behind her. Her stylist and makeup artist must have stepped into her trailer.

“Knock ’em dead.”

“Will do. Bye.”

And she hung up.

And thus, Sakuta was allowed to participate in the mixer with nary a word of scolding.

When fourth-period core mathematics ended, he and Takumi got up and left together. Down the teeming corridors, down the stairs, and out the building they went.

The gingko lane was packed with students heading home. The procession continued on the far side of the gates, along the tracks to Kanazawa-hakkei Station.

On the sunset-drenched platform, an express bound for Haneda Airport had just pulled in, and they managed to squeeze through the doors in time.

They stood at the door, gazing through the window.

“I’m starting to tense up,” Takumi said. He was being completely serious. They’d just reached Kanazawa-bunko Station. Only one more stop.

“I know a good way to relax.”

“Yeah? What?” Takumi took the bait.

“First, put your index fingers in the corners of your mouth.”

“Like this?”

“Then turn them out, pulling your lips to both sides.”

“Anh?”

Takumi did exactly what he was told.

“Now say ‘Kanazawa-bunko.’”

“Kanazawa-unko.”

“Ha! Made you say poop.”

With his lips pried open, he couldn’t make a b sound.

The doors closed, and they pulled out of the station.

“……”

Takumi took his fingers out of his mouth, quietly waiting for a justification.

“Weird, that got a big laugh at my elementary school.”

“We’re in college?”

“Feel free to bust that out at the mixer if you can’t think of anything to say.”

“I’ll do absolutely everything in my power to avoid that.”

They rode the rest of the way to Yokohama Station in silence.

They made their way through the hub’s crowds to the JR Negishi Line. They took that train one more stop to Sakuragicho Station.

Past the gates, they used the east exit and immediately spotted the lights of the Landmark Tower and the coastal shopping district. And of course, the colorful illumination of the Ferris wheel. One of Yokohama’s signature views. This much was just typical Sakuragicho Station.

But today was October 31.

The costumed crowds in the square outside had transformed the place into an enchanting wonderland. The pumpkin festival’s popularity had reached the youth of this town, too.

Halloween had not been on Sakuta’s mind at all, so he was taken aback.

Wizards, vampires, Red Riding Hoods, and popular movie and manga characters surrounded them. There were even a few people wearing famous politician masks, likely as a joke.

Several groups had phones out and were taking pictures; some were filming videos. Others were getting into the partying mood and chatting up the opposite sex.

“Stay close to me, Azusagawa.”

“If I get separated, I’ll just go home.”

He had no clue where they were going and no way to get in touch, so it wasn’t like he had much choice.

“That’s why I’m warning you.”

“Should we hold hands?”

“Oh, please.”

Takumi stuck out his tongue and headed away from the clearing. Sakuta followed. Despite the size of the crowd, it didn’t feel packed—probably because most people weren’t moving.

They made steady progress.

But no sooner had he started to relax than he almost bumped into a girl wearing a nurse costume.

They saw each other just in time and stopped inches away.

She was wearing not the plain white angelic outfit common in most hospitals, but an old-fashioned look like the mascot on the lip balm packaging. In true Halloween spirit, she had blood applied to her nose and just below the eyes.

When their eyes met, she looked surprised.

Sakuta wasn’t sure why. She was the one in an unusual costume, and he sure hadn’t expected to run into her out here.

But when she bobbed her head and turned to leave, her name crossed his lips.

“Akagi…?”

The nurse’s back went still.

Quietly, she turned halfway toward him.

Her gaze wavered awkwardly.

Still rattled by running into him here? He was, too. He hadn’t prepared for this and didn’t know what to say.

And as he struggled to react, Ikumi said, “Sorry, gotta go,” and moved away.

He considered stopping her but couldn’t think of an excuse.

And she seemed to be moving with purpose. Her path took her right toward the streetlight in the center of the clearing.

Was she meeting someone there?

He thought so at first. But the way she acted suggested otherwise. Ikumi had reached the light and was staring up at the glass pumpkins they’d installed for Halloween. Occasionally, she checked her phone. Was it to keep an eye on the time?

And she was watching the crowd intently, like she was searching for someone. She seemed to be taking this very seriously.

She stuck out like a sore thumb standing there surrounded by partygoers. She was the only person not having fun.

And past her, Sakuta spotted a tiny figure running up to the pumpkin lantern. It was a little girl dressed as Red Riding Hood, her parents right behind.

“Take a picture with the pumpkin!” she cried, pointing up at the lantern.

As the girl tried to take a step closer—

“Not there!” Ikumi yelped, grabbing her shoulders.

Surprised, the girl stopped.

Then—

—the pumpkin lantern fell.

It hit the ground and shattered, sending shards of glass flying in every direction.

The little girl had been less than a yard away.

If Ikumi hadn’t stopped her, it would have landed right on her red riding hood. That might not have been fatal, but she definitely would’ve been hurt.

The wizards and vampires near them stopped chatting and filming and stared at the lantern, the girl, and Ikumi. “Huh?” “What happened?”

Ikumi bent down and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Mm.”

Her parents came rushing over. “Miyu, does anything hurt?”

“Nope!”

“Thank you,” the father said, bowing to Ikumi, who shook her head.

“Come on, Miyu, thank the nice lady.”

“Thank you, lady!”

“You’re welcome.” She stayed at eye level to give the girl a big smile.

A man patrolling the square came over and started checking if anyone was hurt. He had a Yokohama armband, so he must have been employed by the city.

Once he was sure there were no injuries, he politely asked the crowd to stand back and began cleaning up the shattered glass.

Other staff members brought in some orange cones. They soon had a barrier set up around the lantern. Leaving the first man to handle cleanup, they focused on crowd control.

And the onlookers soon turned back to their own fun.

It was just a fallen lantern.

No one was hurt.

So what did it matter?

Most of them would not even remember it tomorrow.

That was the general feeling.

Sakuta was the only one certain something was very wrong.

This had been downright disturbing. Unnatural.

How had Ikumi known to stop the little girl before the lantern fell?

Like she’d known it was going to happen.

“……”

He stared at her from a distance, and when Ikumi noticed, she turned toward him.

Their eyes met again.

But only for an instant.

She quickly broke eye contact and vanished into the sea of Halloween costumes. He lost her behind someone who’d really gone all out on the zombie makeup, and he was unable to find her again.

“What is she doing…?” he muttered.

That was all Sakuta had really gotten out of this. What was she doing? What had she done? His head was full of questions.

“I could say the same thing!”

A hand clamped down on his shoulder, and he turned to find Takumi looking out of breath.

“I seriously thought I’d lost you,” Takumi said, forcibly turning Sakuta around. “This way, straight ahead.”

He got a good grip on Sakuta’s rucksack strap and pulled him away to their mixer with the future nurses.