Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 12 - Chapter 2.3

3

When work ended, Sakuta left the restaurant. It was 9:05. Not wanting to keep Sara waiting, he’d punched out at nine on the dot. He’d changed, said bye to everyone else working, and been out the door.

He headed toward the station, down a road covered in Christmas decor. He soon heard footsteps coming up behind him. Just as he started to wonder, someone threw their arms around him. Gloved hands covered his eyes.

“Guess who!”

Who did he know who’d pull a prank like this? The first person who popped into his mind was currently in far-off Okinawa. And if it were her, the voice alone would have given her away.

After a moment’s thought, he found the answer.

“Study-slacking Himeji.”

“Bzzt, incorrect.”

She sounded put out. The hands left his eyes and her weight no longer pressed on his back. She circled around to stand in front of him.

“The correct answer is that it’s me, just taking a breather.”

Sara smiled, happy her prank had been a success.

“So you do have a childish side, then.”

She seemed more levelheaded than most people her age. His impression of her was that she was collected and mature, so this came as a surprise.

“I am still a child, you know? Three years younger than you, Teach.”

She held up three gloved fingers.

“I feel like saying you’re a child proves you aren’t.”

At the very least, the way Sara used it proved she knew how to use that word to her advantage.

“But do you actually think I’m a grown-up?”

“The word I’d go for is adolescent.”

He chose that word intentionally, going for a light jab. If his dream was right, and she had Adolescence Syndrome…and knew she did, then he’d hoped he might get a reaction from her.

But Sara didn’t bat an eye.

“That’s definitely accurate.”

She just caught the ball and ran with it. No signs of raised hackles. No surprise, trepidation, or unease. Just a pleasant smile, beaming back at him. This told him nothing. He’d have to find another angle.

“Oh, I left my bag in the study room.”

“Then let’s head back there. It’s cold out.”

“True!”

It might have been half past nine, but the cram school interior was still brightly lit. Unthinkable at regular schools, but normal here. Still, it was Saturday, so there were fewer people actually hanging out.

“Anyone in the classrooms?”

“Classes have all wrapped up.”

“I’ll grab my bag, so wait for me there.”

Sara vanished into the self-study booth, so Sakuta headed on to the classroom, the smallish cubicle he always taught in. With only a table and a whiteboard, it seemed hardly worth calling a “classroom.”

He was still standing by the whiteboard when Sara caught up, bag in hand.

She smoothly pulled out a chair and took a seat. Both had assumed positions like class was in session. The only difference was the lack of textbook, notes, and writing implements in front of her.

“Kind of exciting having no one else here,” she said, leaning across the table, one hand by her mouth to project the whisper.

During regular hours, this place was filled with the murmur of students asking questions and teachers explaining things. Having none of that felt novel to Sakuta, too.

“Any problems you didn’t get on finals?”

Sakuta taught math, and that exam was on the first day—yesterday.

“Totally nailed it. Your exam strat worked like a charm, Teach.”

“Let’s hope it worked for Yamada, then.”

“If he’s lucky!”

She was in his class, and her laugh suggested she knew better. He must have sounded pretty hopeless after the exam. Kento was totally that type. Sadly, it was far too easy to picture.

“Well, if this isn’t about the exam, then…?”

He put the query in a look. Sara caught his gaze and held it.

“Teach…you know about the dreaming hashtag?”

“Been hearing that term a lot, yeah.”

He’d just talked to Tomoe about it earlier.

“Well, I had a strange dream this morning.”

“Uh-huh. And you think it’s related?”

He had not prepared for this eventuality. But in hindsight, it did seem like a reasonable one.

“It took place on Christmas Eve…”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And I was with you.”

“……”

“I think we were on a date.”

So far, it matched his dream exactly.

“Were we making a pinkie promise on the Enoden?”

“Huh…?”

“Just past Gokurakuji Station.”

“What?!”

Sara was totally reeling.

“……Teach, you mean…?”

Sakuta answered in the affirmative.

“Probably the same dream.”

“Is that even possible?!”

Sara sounded thrilled. Curiosity defeated surprise or unease.

“I guess so. It happened to us.”

If the dreams came from things that would take place, it made sense that the people involved in that future event would both have the same dream. It wouldn’t add up if one of them was off on their own, doing something else when the day came around.

And if this dream showed Sakuta and Sara’s future, he had some questions.

“Just to be clear…”

“The Adolescence Syndrome thing?”

This time she got ahead of him.

“Yeah. That true? You said I’d promised not to cure you.”

“Totally true. I do have Adolescence Syndrome.”

Sara’s smile was open, the admission ready. No trace of guilt or hesitance. It didn’t seem like she was the least bit put out by it. Like he’d asked if she could play piano and she’d simply said yes.

“What kind?” he asked.

“That’s a secret!”

The exact same tone, but this time she wasn’t answering.

“Since when?”

“The first day of Golden Week.”

That she was willing to answer. And with immense precision. It was December now, so she’d been like this the better part of a year. If she still knew the exact date, something pretty memorable must have happened.

“Did you have a real bad day?”

“Got my heart broken.”

Again Sara answered, but with no signs of lingering grief.

“But not like a boyfriend dumped me or I asked someone out and got rejected,” she added, before he could say anything else.

“Then it must’ve been the other cliché. You found out the person you liked was in love with someone else.”

“Please don’t make it sound so predictable.”

The implication must have rankled. She half blushed and pouted.

“But it doesn’t seem like it bothers you anymore.”

“Nope! I’m over it.”

She appeared to be telling the truth. Nothing seemed forced. Sara was just speaking her mind.

“Adolescence Syndrome got me through it.”

He was fairly confident she meant every word and believed what she was saying.

But that’s what bothered Sakuta. Sara herself was totally convinced she’d gotten over it, so why was her Adolescence Syndrome ongoing? That didn’t add up.

“Every day is a blast now. I know I said it in the dream, but, Teach—please don’t cure my Adolescence Syndrome.”

“Do I look like a doctor specializing in weirdo diseases?”

“Not at all.”

Sara laughed out loud.

“Why do you think I said that?”

“Beats me.”

“Oh, and can we keep this just between the two of us?” she added, as if it just occurred to her.

“This?”

“You know. Don’t make me spell it out. My Adolescence Syndrome, obviously.”

“I won’t tell anyone.”

“Really?”

Her smile faded, and she gave him a look.

“Even if I did, no one would believe me. They’d just think I was crazy.”

Sakuta gave her a reason to believe, and Sara smiled again.

“True,” she said.

“And if I don’t even know what kind of Adolescence Syndrome it is, I can’t exactly make a good story out of it.”

This was his roundabout way of posing the question again.

“You’re that curious?”

She’d undoubtedly caught his drift.

“Well, if it doesn’t hurt me, I’m not that interested.”

If pushing didn’t work, then maybe pulling would.

“You should care more about your students, Teach.”

“Will that make you tell me?”

“Let’s make it a homework assignment. You have to figure out what my Adolescence Syndrome is.”

“Always hated homework.”

“Turn it in once exams are over.”

“Is there a reward if I do?”

“Let me think,” Sara said, making a pensive face. Then she smiled. “If you get it right, I’ll do any one favor you ask.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Obviously, no sexual favors.”

She laughed out loud but was interrupted when the phone in her bag vibrated.

“Oh, that time already?”

The clock showed it was almost ten.

“Mom’s picking me up at the station, so I gotta run.”

Sara hopped up and shouldered her bag, putting the phone to her ear.

“Oh, Mom, sorry! Still inside. Be right there!”

With that, she hung up. On her way out of the cubicle, she turned back one last time.

“Don’t forget your homework!” she said with a breezy smile.

Sakuta made a face, which seemed to please her, and she trotted off down the corridor.

“No running in the halls!” he called, but she was out of sight before he finished.

“……”

He was left alone in the deserted school.

“Well, that was a weird turn.”

Rather than making progress, he’d wound up with more problems. Where was this all headed? He couldn’t begin to guess.

“……Well, I’d better go home.”

Sitting here wouldn’t resolve anything. That alone was certain.

He headed down the corridor Sara had taken, back to the faculty area. There were still teachers at work beyond that counter.

Not wanting to interrupt them, he kept the obligatory good-byes barely audible—a token nod to manners—and left the school.

He pressed the button for the elevator. It was already on its way up, so it reached the fifth floor in less than ten seconds. A soft ding, and the doors opened.

“?!”

He heard a gulp of surprise from within.

He’d assumed there was no one on board, but he was proved wrong. And he knew who—that question was resolved instantly.

“’Sup, Futaba.”

Rio stepped off the elevator.

“I…forgot something yesterday,” she said. Excuses.

“That’s not like you,” he said. Even weirder that she’d come to get it at this hour.

“Why are you here, Azusagawa?”

“Should I not be?”

Rio’s tone was positively accusatory.

“Something came up. But, uh, I am glad to run into you. Wanted to pick your brain—you free after this?”

It was pretty late, but if he’d caught her, that worked for him.

“Just give me a minute. I…I probably need your advice, too.”

That was not a line he heard from her every day.

Rio soon came back from the locker room, now carrying a gray coat.

“That’s what you forgot?”

“Come on!” she said, ignoring him and stepping onto the elevator.

But leaving without your coat at this time of year took some doing. Something unprecedented must have gone down the day before.

Which was probably why Rio needed advice.

Outside, they headed south toward the station and turned in to a hamburger joint just down the Enoden tracks. This place had a liquor license, and a couple of large parties were already yukking it up.

Sakuta was hungry, so he placed an order. Not long after, they brought out a hefty-sized burger on a plate. Rio had ordered nothing besides a caffe latte, but he paid that no heed and took a big bite. The look in her eyes clearly communicated “That many calories, at this hour? Seriously?”

When he finished his burger, he started picking at his fries and filling her in on the day’s twists.

The dream he’d had.

How he’d been with Sara.

How she’d mentioned Adolescence Syndrome.

And then how he’d met up with her just now and verified that fact.

When he was done, Rio sighed.

“And you’ve already broken your promise and told me.”

“Well, apparently, I’m a liar.”

“I knew that.”

“What do you make of it?”

“Well, your dream at least clarifies the threat to Sakurajima.”

“Does it?”

He had no clue what Rio meant.

“You cheating on her is as good as stabbing her in the back.”

“……I suppose that would count as ‘Mai’s in danger.’”

But it didn’t connect to “Find Touko Kirishima.”

“Jokes aside…”

“With you, it might not be a joke.” Rio sounded like she meant this.

“You think I’d cancel an all-night date with Mai to go out with Himeji?”

“Not if it was just an ordinary date, no.”

“See?”

“But I bet that changes if you’ve got a lead on curing her Adolescence Syndrome.”

“If Himeji’s Adolescence Syndrome puts Mai in danger, then yeah.”

If that was the deal, he’d have to cancel their plans. Or preferably, postpone them.

“I feel like you’d go even if Sakurajima wasn’t involved.”

“If no harm, no foul. I might ignore it completely. She doesn’t even want to be cured.”

If Sara wanted to keep things the way they were, who was he to argue?

“Then you’ll just have to do this homework and work out if her Adolescence Syndrome is harmful or not. As long as there’s the slightest chance it’s related to that warning.”

“I guess.”

That would let him figure out his next move. Finishing that homework was the only way to know for sure.

“Homework. Ugh,” he grumbled.

The worst part was he had no clues to work with. All Sara had admitted was that heartbreak had triggered it and this had occurred during Golden Week.

He’d need a better hint than that before he could even start brainstorming.

“If you don’t want to solve the problem yourself, just cheat,” Rio said. How inappropriate.

“Cheat how?”

Sakuta was all in favor of that. The rules here were hazy, and no one would question his approach.

“Sara Himeji isn’t the only one who might know the answer here,” Rio said.

That got him there. “…Oh, Touko Kirishima?”

If Sara’s Adolescence Syndrome was a gift from Touko, then there was a chance she’d know the specifics. Touko had known exactly what was going on with both Uzuki and Ikumi.

“Guess I’ll just have to meet her again.”

Either way, he still had loads of questions for her.

Curing Touko’s Adolescence Syndrome might well be the most urgent task on his list. And meeting her in person was the fastest, surest means of finding a clue on how to do that.

That was likely a shortcut to solving Sara’s homework, too.

“Glad I talked to you, Futaba. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

She grabbed a single fry and ate it, like that was her fee. Sakuta waited till she swallowed, then changed the subject.

“So what advice did you want?”

“Well…”

Rio’s gaze dropped, and she studied the foam on the latte.

“……”

“……”

He waited, but no further words emerged.

Was it really that hard to talk about?

“What, did someone ask you out?”

“?!”

Sakuta had just been trying to loosen her lips, but Rio’s reaction was all too obvious. He might have hit the jackpot.

“……Seriously?” he asked.

Rio managed a very small nod.

“Who?”

“One of my…”

“Oh, Toranosuke Kasai?”

“……How did you figure that out?!”

Rio glared up at him through her lashes. With her face that red, it was not the least bit intimidating.

“Well, he’s been radiating a love aura for ages.”

“…And you didn’t tell me?!”

Her glare grew baleful.

“I thought it would be funnier… No, that’s not true. It’s just not fair to go behind the kid’s back.”

“……”

Her silence signaled resentment. But Sakuta was pretty sure he had the moral high ground here. It wasn’t right to blab other people’s feelings.

“When was this?” he asked.

“Yesterday,” she said, hands clutching her latte cup.

“Where?”

“My classroom at the cram school.”

“How’d he bring it up?”

“He’d been having trouble focusing on the lessons lately, and I wondered if something was on his mind, but when I asked…”

“That’s totally your fault.”

“I wouldn’t have if you’d warned me!”

“So what’d you say?”

“Before I said anything, he said he didn’t need an answer and left.”

“Aha.”

Probably couldn’t handle the embarrassment. He’d seen the boy with Rio before, and just standing next to her had left him in a tizzy.

“What should I do?”

“Whatever you want to do, Futaba.”

“I’ve never even thought about it.”

“Then here’s your chance.”

“I hate it when you’re right.”

“I think this is a good opportunity for you.”

He took a sip of the coffee he’d ordered with the burger.

“Opportunity for what?”

“I don’t think dragging Kunimi around forever is good for you.”

“I’m not.”

“Reaaaally? Aren’t you still comparing every other guy to him?”

“……No.”

She might deny it, but her body language was not convincing anyone. She likely wasn’t consciously making those comparisons; in all likelihood, she’d only just realized when he pointed it out, which explained her reaction.

“Don’t do that. You’re never gonna find anyone better than Kunimi. His sole flaw is his taste in women.”

“Kunimi’s girlfriend is a perfectly fine individual.”

“Is she?”

“Kunimi’s mother works at a hospital, right? She heard about that and decided to become a nurse herself.”

“How do you know this, Futaba?”

“Before we graduated, I asked him what he liked about her, and that’s what he told me.”

“……What a terrifying question.”

Bad for the heart. Even hearing it secondhand, well after the fact, Sakuta was ready to suffocate. He almost went blue in the face.

“But wait, does that mean you knew? That Kamisato was in the nursing school at my college?”

“I knew that, yeah.”

Neither Yuuma nor Rio had breathed a word about it. Six whole months had passed in blissful ignorance before he ran into her at a mixer, of all godforsaken places.

That had nearly killed him, and he could have used a warning.

“We are friends, right?”

“Some things you can’t tell your friends.”

That phrase clearly didn’t apply here. He would die on that hill.

Rio swiped another fry. She cleaned her fingers and said, “But, uh…thanks.”

“Mm?”

“Talking about it has helped me collect myself.”

“I will hear you out on anything this funny.”

“I’m definitely asking someone else next time.”

Rio drained the rest of her latte. The clock had hit eleven thirty, and the shop was ready to close.