Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 12 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3 - I Need You

1

“Hmm. So now you’re giving her firsthand instruction in romance?” Mai said, stabbing a fork into her salad with an audible crunch.

“That’s what she asked for, but I offered no guarantees. Not doing firsthand anything.”

The weekend was over, and it was Monday, December 12.

The lunch rush was over. Seats were starting to open up in the cafeteria, and the din was starting to die down. The seats on either side of them were empty, too. Which meant they were free to talk about this.

“Sakuta, you’re trying to figure out this girl’s Adolescence Syndrome for me, right?” Mai asked, looking quite bored with her salad.

“Yes. Because you’re in danger.”

“I fail to see the connection.”

The fork left her mouth. Was she intentionally aiming the silver tines at him? Even the most generous read suggested she was.

“Yikes, now you’re the danger.”

Rio’s warning was no laughing matter. This had to be taken care of promptly. But he wasn’t sure how to convince Mai.

A well-timed voice saved him from his predicament.

“Mind if I join you?” Miori spotted them and came over.

“Sit anywhere you like, please.”

“Oh? Really?” She was the one who asked, so why was she surprised? “You usually say, ‘I’d rather you didn’t.’”

“I’m in a better mood today,” he lied, glancing at the chair.

“Then I’ll take you up on that,” Miori said. She glanced at him, then at Mai, and sat next to Sakuta.

“……”

“I’d much rather stare at Mai,” she explained, answering his unspoken question. “You seemed like you were having fun. What’s the topic?”

Miori took a big bite of her katsu curry. Her eyes quickly focused on the gleaming fork in Mai’s hand. It was very Miori to pick up on the tension between them and characterize it as “fun.”

“We’re talking about how to fall in love.”

“Deep.”

She sounded impressed.

“Oh? It’s pretty basic,” he said. That was the opposite take.

“But what brought this on?”

“This cutie Sakuta teaches asked about it.”

“A girl, then?”

Was it necessary to clarify that?

“A female student, yes.”

“Yikes.”

Miori made a show of disgust. Like he was a dirty old teacher. But the joke soon faded.

“Still, I guess I get that,” she continued. “I’ve wondered what love is myself.”

A bite of katsu vanished between her lips. Sitting next to her, Sakuta could hear her chewing.

“You a katsu curry fan, Mitou?”

“Love it.”

She took another big spoonful.

“Then that’s what love is.”

But Sakuta’s courteous explanation provoked a scowl. He could tell from her eyes that she already had a complaint ready, but her mouth was too full to actually talk yet.

She chewed for a minute, then swallowed. She chased that with a big gulp of water. When she finally did speak, she was looking at Mai instead.

“Mai, what made you fall for Azusagawa?”

“Excellent question, Mitou,” he said, following her gaze.

Miori was likely hoping Mai would help her get back at him. It was obvious she was expecting Mai to unleash a tongue-lashing. But this was a doomed strategy. Whether Mai chose to actually answer the question or scold him, Sakuta would deem it a reward.

Both sets of eyes were on Mai.

“He loves me.”

“……”

Miori’s hand paused halfway to her mouth. She clearly hadn’t expected that good of an answer. Her spoon wavered in midair.

“An adage to live by,” she whispered at last. Her spoon dived back into the curry as she forgot her original purpose in favor of savoring Mai’s words. “Oh. Yeah. That would do it,” she muttered.

“Not gonna ask me why I love Mai?”

“I know that already.”

At this point, Mai’s phone vibrated. She snatched it off the table and answered it.

“Yes, no problem. Okay, on my way.”

She hung up and tucked it in her purse.

“Ryouko’s here to pick me up, so I’ve gotta run.”

“Headed to work, Mai?” Miori asked.

Sakuta had prior warning. She was filming a commercial for a moisturizer that made your skin glow. A perfect fit for Mai.

“Yep. Later!” Mai flashed a smile and got to her feet.

“I’ll clear your dishes.”

“Thanks. Please.”

Mai shouldered her purse, waved the hand with her ring, and left the cafeteria.

Once Mai was off to work, Sakuta relaxed in the emptying cafeteria long enough to enjoy a cup of tea. As he did, he told Miori just a bit about his student—Sara. Of course, he left out the Adolescence Syndrome.

By the time he had more or less explained the situation, it was time for him to head to third-period class. From the cafeteria, it was about a hundred yards to the main class building.

“That girl’s something else.”

“Mm?”

“Your student.”

“The way the boys all fall for her?”

“More the way she’s enjoying being the envy of every other girl.”

“You’re not enjoying that?”

From what he could see, Miori was just as popular. Simply walking with her like this, he could see boys looking. And the other girls picked up on that, which made it all too easy to court jealousy.

In actual fact, at the party for their shared core class, she’d found herself targeted by a dude her friend had been hoping to land. He’d gone so far as to try to get her number. She’d wound up at Sakuta’s table trying to extract herself from trouble.

That had likely caused some lingering resentment. For all he knew, her friend was still not over it.

“I can’t, no. They’re mad at me but feel like they can’t win—so they just give up. But there’s advantages to having me around, so they can’t quite bring themselves to cut me loose—and that makes me go, ‘What a pain.’”

She kept her tone light, but she was being pretty brutal. He was genuinely impressed Miori could say all this without rancor. It convinced him that she wasn’t holding a grudge or anything.

“I mean, it’s not like I don’t get any smug sense of superiority out of it.”

She neatly wrapped things up like it was all a laughing matter.

“Superiority, hmm?”

That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was an emotion that went hand in hand with confidence.

“With Himeji, I think that’s winning out over all other emotions.”

“She must like herself a lot, then. Far more than she does anyone else.”

“……”

To Miori, that might well have just been an off-the-cuff observation. It sounded like one. But to Sakuta, those uncannily accurate words lifted the fog lingering in his mind in the blink of an eye.

It seemed like Miori had managed to encapsulate Sara with a simple comment.

He remembered Tomoe’s take.

Sara had been sought-after even in junior high, and Tomoe wasn’t exactly comfortable around her. Her feelings sprang from lingering inadequacy—Tomoe had remade herself at the start of high school. Part of her felt like a fraud and thought Sara was the real deal.

Sara’s cheer was free of spite.

She was friendly without malice.

Even when she’d been teasing Kento, it didn’t come from a bad place. She didn’t let it feel that way. And that’s why he hadn’t taken it badly.

Sara was accustomed to being liked.

It came naturally to her.

Using the right words and gestures were a part of her.

None of it was forced.

She didn’t have to work for it.

There had never been a reason to question why she was always at the center of the crowd—that’s what had taught her to act this way.

From what Toranosuke had told him, Sara had been in an enviable position in junior high, elementary school, even kindergarten. That was how her life had always been; it was normal to her. Everyone looked at her different—and she took that for granted. She’d been standing at the center of the crowd for so long she never questioned it.

But because her classroom life had been so fulfilling, because she’d been so socially blessed—perhaps she’d fallen into a huge trap without even realizing it.

Affection was something others gave her.

All she’d ever done was accept it.

Jealousy was an inevitable side effect. To her mind, it might even be a spice that constantly boosted her confidence.

And after so much time spent like that, rather than love another—she’d learned to love being loved.

Miori’s words had suggested as much.

“If you want insight into a popular girl, ask another.”

“I’m full of insights,” Miori boasted.

“Then let me also ask—what do you think I should do?”

“About your adorable student?”

She put a teasing lilt on adorable.

“Yeah, the cutie.”

Sakuta wasn’t one to let that get to him. Sara’s cuteness level was an objective fact.

“Do what she says and teach her how to love like you do.”

“How?”

“Make her fall in love with you.”

Miori didn’t even get the whole line out before she broke up laughing.

“Brilliant idea,” Sakuta said, looking revolted. That was clearly the response she’d wanted.

As proof, her grin broadened. “I swear I won’t tell Mai,” she insisted.

“Gee, thanks.”

“Oh, but you’d best be careful, Azusagawa,” she said, giving him some side-eye.

“Careful of what?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re walking into the spider’s lair. Don’t become her third horndog teacher.”

She was laughing at her own joke before she even finished it.

“I belong to Mai.”

“Reeeeally? I haven’t heard you talk about anyone but this cutie-patootie student today.”

“……”

That cut him to the quick.

“And isn’t that exactly what your student wants, Azusagawa-sensei?”

She really did know where to stick that knife.

Maybe Sara already had her threads wound around him. If he wasn’t careful, he might well end up trapped in her web. Just imagining that made him grimace.

“I’ll be careful.”

Listening to Miori’s flawless advice had brought them to the classroom building. It was almost time for third period to begin.