Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 12 - Chapter 1.1

Chapter 1 - December Gift

1

One day, Sakuta Azusagawa received a new student at the cram school where he worked.

He’d attended classes till fourth period, then ridden the trains back to Fujisawa Station. When he reached the school, it was after six, and the sun was down. The real winter chill was setting in, the days were growing shorter, and the nights were arriving sooner.

He stashed his things in a staff locker and donned a white jacket—the mark of a teacher. He left the locker room carrying just the materials he planned to use in class, only for the principal to call him over.

“Azusagawa, good timing.”

“Good morning.”

Like the restaurant he also worked at, they used this greeting even at night.

“Yes, morning. I’ve got a student I’d like you to take charge of. Starting today, if that’s okay?”

“Today? That’s sudden.”

“Her preference. You know Sara Himeji?”

He did. She’d sat in on his class once before.

“What do you say, Azusagawa?”

He had no good reason to refuse. He got paid on a per-student basis, so he’d been hoping to get more.

Sara was still a first-year. There was no need to scramble in preparation for college exams. Arguably, she was Sakuta’s ideal type of student.

“All right.”

“Okay, good, good.”

As they wrapped up, a girl’s voice called from the self-study cubicles. “Hey, Teach!”

Sakuta knew that Minegahara uniform all too well. She wore hers like a model student—the very girl they’d just been talking about, Sara Himeji.

She’d been studying while she waited for him.

The way she came running up to Sakuta reminded him of a friendly cat.

“Can’t wait to learn, Azusagawa-sensei!” she said, bowing politely, hands straight at her sides.

Perhaps because the principal was watching, she even addressed him properly.

“Glad to have you, Himeji.”

It was nice getting a new student without having to start from square one. And since her school was his alma mater, he had a pretty good grasp on what was being covered in her classes and even what was likely to show up on midterms and finals. He’d been a student there himself just a year before.

“Just do what you always do, Azusagawa.”

“Will do.”

With that, the principal went back to his own desk, muttering, “Now I’ve just got to submit the accounting paperwork and review the applications—augh, so much to do!”

Sara tore her eyes off his back and turned to Sakuta.

“Thanks for taking me on!” she said, bowing again the moment their eyes met.

“Don’t mention it. Thanks to you, my wage is going up.”

“Make sure my grades go up,” she said, making a pouty face.

This girl was sharp enough to riff off his dumb jokes. But seeing her here was a powerful reminder of the dream he’d had a few days earlier.

A very vivid dream, one that didn’t feel like a dream at all.

A dream in which Sara became his student on December 1.

And make no mistake—today was December 1.

The principal’s call, the way he’d brought up a new student, and the timing with which Sara’s head had popped up from the study booth, even the words they’d just exchanged—all matched the dream exactly.

It felt like watching a recording of these exact moments. It was a bit like the time he and Tomoe Koga had been stuck in a loop back during his second year of high school. Only far shorter.

For that reason, the true cause of these dreams eluded him, leaving him more baffled than shocked. It was a weird sensation, like he’d been left behind—a feeling he couldn’t quite shake.

The world felt wobbly beneath his feet, and he couldn’t settle himself.

If the dream version had felt that real—how could he know he wasn’t dreaming now? That seemed just as likely. There was next to no discernable differences between the dream and reality.

“Teach?” Sara prompted, crooking her head.

“Mm?”

“If you’ve got nothing to say, you shouldn’t just stare.”

She put her hands over her face, hiding from him.

“Oh, sorry.”

He hadn’t been looking at her, but his gaze had been aimed in her direction.

He turned toward the school entrance—just as Kento Yamada came in with a very unenthusiastic greeting, saying “’Sup.”

Juri Yoshiwa was right behind him. “Hello.”

Sakuta was teaching math to these kids. Like Sara, they were both Minegahara students. Kento was even in the same class as her.

“Oh, perfect timing, you arrived together. Turns out…”

Before he could tell them about Sara…

“We ran into each other on the elevator.”

Juri’s correction was a bit forced. Saying “Right” here seemed weird, so Sakuta just sort of awkwardly nodded.

“Himeji’s joining my class today. Figured you should know.”

“Hey, Yamada. And Yoshiwa!”

“Oh? Legit?” Kento was very obviously rattled by this news, but not in an unwelcoming way. He had a crush on Sara, so this was entirely a good thing for him—it had just caught him off guard. And left him unable to disguise his reaction.

“Yamada, what’s that supposed to mean?” Sara asked, giving him a searching look.

“Er, what do you mean?” he asked evasively.

“Legit good? Or legit bad?” she pressed.

“Neither!” He turned his back on her, fidgeting.

Sara put her hands to her mouth, stifling a giggle.

Juri brushed past the two of them like this was none of her concern. She headed right to the booth where they held classes.

“Sakuta-sensei, start the class!” Kento said, red-faced. “It’s time!”

“I have never seen you this motivated, Yamada.”

Kento ignored Sakuta’s remark as he chased after Juri.

So transparent. And his reaction had also been part of Sakuta’s dream. The same went for Juri’s impassive response.

Which raised more questions.

If this had just been a one-off bit of weirdness Sakuta alone went through, then he’d have laughed it off eventually.

But he knew full well that wasn’t the case.

Similar stories were showing up all over the internet, tagged #dreaming.

The town was abuzz with tales of dreams come true.

Ikumi Akagi had been actively using the hashtag to save people, which made it impossible to dismiss these incidents as mere superstition. Sakuta had seen a #dreaming post come true—seen it with his own eyes.

Once that happened, he had to believe.

On a daily basis, there were hundreds of posts with that hashtag.

All of them described dreams from the night before.

Everyone was excitedly wondering if they’d come true.

More appeared every day.

Plenty of people were dismissive or mocked the idea, and there were more than a few arguments raging about how seriously these posts should be treated.

Was it a portent? Or was something already going wrong?

Now that it directly involved him, Sakuta couldn’t exactly feign indifference.

And worst of all—he had a hunch who might have caused all this.

Touko Kirishima.

Many knew her as a popular Internet singer who uploaded her work to video-sharing sites.

To Sakuta, she was a mysterious miniskirt Santa only he could see.

He’d have to get some answers out of her the next time they met.

And he had good reason why he had to track her down.

 Find Touko Kirishima.

 Mai’s in danger.

A message from a better Sakuta from another potential world.

Once he’d seen that—

—he couldn’t just leave it alone.

He had to find out what it meant. No matter what.

Still, fretting about it now wouldn’t get him any close to Touko.

Here at work, all he could do was teach these kids math.

Sara was still hanging out by the staff area, so he said, “It is about time. Let’s get started.”

“Okay! Can’t wait to learn, Teach!”

At Minegahara High, final exams started the next day. And the math exam was on the first day, which suited Sakuta just fine. He was planning on making sure they knew how to handle their trigonometry.