Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 12 - Chapter 1.6

6

With thirty minutes to spare on the Mont Blanc’s life span, Sakuta finally reached Fujisawa.

He’d known two hours would be enough to make it home, but until the train actually pulled into the station, he’d felt like he was carrying a ticking time bomb. An extremely unnerving exercise.

What if the train ran late? What if an accident caused a delay? Any problem could easily have delayed him until he ran out of time.

Fortunately, the train got him to Fujisawa right on schedule.

Now he just had to walk to his apartment on his own two feet. He went as fast as he could without jostling the cake box too much.

He made it home without incident. The Mont Blanc was safe and sound, and there was still time left before it expired. Relieved, he put his key in the door.

“I’m home,” he called, and he took his first step in—and froze.

There were too many shoes. Girls’ shoes.

Sakuta slipped his in at the end of the row and stepped up into the hall.

He could hear people moving but nobody talking. Only music, with a girl’s voice singing.

He didn’t know the song, but he knew the voice.

Up-tempo, sprightly rhythm, pleasant to the ear.

But the vocals and lyrics were forlorn, bittersweet.

Sakuta remembered what Touko had said to him.

“You’re kidding…”

Was this her Christmas song?

He had to be sure, so he rushed into the living room.

“Sakuta, welcome back,” Mai said. Of the four girls on the couch, only she turned to look at him. The others simply mouthed a greeting, their minds entirely on the TV screen. A cable ran to it from the laptop, the feed coming from a video-upload site.

Pure-white snow. Someone looking out of a room. A cat rubbing against their feet. No one else around. Someone lying on a bed, hands reaching up to the ceiling, grasping at something…but there was nothing there.

Where are you now? Who are you with? What’s on your mind?

I’m alone at home. With my cat. Thinking of you.

But I’m not lonely. Not sad. The tears aren’t flowing.

Not choking up, no pain in my heart, not suffocating.

So come on…

Let me know (I don’t wanna know) who you love.

I have to know (I don’t wanna know) about the one I love.

The visuals alone were nothing special.

But combined with these lyrics and vocals, they made it hard to breathe.

The song’s name was “I Need You.”

Release date—today. One hour before.

She’d mentioned Christmas Eve so he’d let his guard down.

Sakuta had assumed it wouldn’t be today.

Touko Kirishima’s name was right there in the uploader field.

Not long after, the song ended.

A momentary silence fell over the room.

Kaede reached for the laptop, lowered the volume, and hit play again. Then she finally said, “Welcome back, Sakuta.”

“Yeah,” he said, his eyes shifting to her side—where Nodoka and one other girl sat. “Why are you here, Zukki?”

He’d expected Mai and Nodoka, but Uzuki was a surprise. No wonder there’d been too many shoes at the door.

“I came to eat cake!”

There was a cake on the dining room table with several slices already missing.

“Wrong answer. You mean to celebrate Mai’s birthday.”

“I sang the song and everything!”

“Kaede and I sang with her,” Nodoka added.

“Huh,” he said, looking at his sister.

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked with a scowl.

“What’s in the box?” Mai asked, glancing at his hand.

“Mont Blanc that only has fifteen minutes left to live.”

Everyone had already eaten one slice of cake, yet Kaede, Nodoka, and Uzuki all wolfed down their share of Mont Blanc. This was a perfect example of the “sweets go in a second stomach” rule.

He’d only bought four of them, so he and Mai wound up splitting the last one. By the time they finished doing the dishes, it was almost eight.

“’Kay, I’m gonna walk Uzuki to the station.”

“Zukki, you’re not gonna spend the night at Mai’s?”

“I’m heading to Hiroshima early tomorrow!” She grinned at him, flashing a peace sign. “Gotta get home and pack!” she added, following Nodoka to the door. Kaede tagged along and threw a coat on.

“I’ll go with them part way. I wanna stop at the store.”

“Okay, take care.”

Sakuta finished drying his hands and poked his head around the table just in time to see Uzuki’s hand waving one last time as the door clicked shut.

He went back to the living room.

“Kaede’s being all considerate,” Mai said.

It certainly didn’t hurt to get a few extra minutes alone together on her birthday.

“Should we cuddle?”

“No.”

“Aww.”

“You met with her?”

That meant Touko Kirishima.

Mai’s eyes were on the Mont Blanc cake box.

They’d just heard the Christmas song she’d said she was working on, which largely negated everything he’d felt like he’d gotten out of her.

Still, he relayed their conversation to Mai.

How she hadn’t been a miniskirt Santa this time.

How she’d made him buy her Mont Blanc and tea.

That Touko knew her songs were causing Adolescence Syndrome.

And that she’d once had it in for Mai.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“Nothing. Never even met her.”

“Do you get a lot of one-sided envy?”

Mai’s status was rock-solid as an actress and a model. She’d gained fame as a kid and was popular with audiences from all walks of life. That meant there were also people who didn’t care for her, who weren’t happy about her success. Envy, jealousy, and inferiority were inescapable parts of the human experience.

“I do.”

Mai nodded as if it were only natural. She was simply doing her best with the work she was given, but she was well aware that alone hurt people’s feelings. Nodoka was only one person who’d wrestled with those emotions.

“But in your view, she’s not specifically trying to harm me, right?”

“Right.”

She definitely had thoughts on Mai. But he hadn’t felt anything sinister enough to lead to crimes or accidents. The way she’d spoken about how she used to feel seemed more like how you avert your eyes from a bright light.

That meant they had to be on guard against the second possibility Rio mentioned.

The other main takeaway from his chat with Touko was the Christmas song. The one she’d wanted people to listen to the night before the big day. Perhaps she had further plans for Christmas Eve proper.

“Um, Sakuta…”

“Mm?”

“Don’t make plans for the twenty-fourth or the twenty-fifth.”

“I’ve kept them open so I can be with you, Mai.”

“I don’t want you fretting, so I’ll be with you the whole time.”

“Really?”

“Let’s hit up a hot springs in Hakone and relax together.”

“You’re not gonna be all ‘Sorry, work came in’ on the day of, right?”

That had led to tears before.

“I’ve told Ryouko not to let that happen this time.”

Still sounded risky.

“Toyohama and Kaede won’t be with us?”

“Nodoka’s got a Christmas concert, and Kaede’s attending. Said she’s gonna spend the holidays with your parents once that’s over.”

Sweet Bullet always had a Christmas concert lined up. Kaede had already told Sakuta she planned to go. Neither would be there to ruin his time with Mai.

“This is my Christmas present,” Mai said. “Be there.”

Naturally, Sakuta whooped it up.

And that very night…Sakuta Azusagawa had a strange dream.