Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 12 - Chapter 3.5

5

“A hot springs with Mai. Can’t wait!”

Settling into the tub, he found those words bubbling out of him.

The warmth permeated his body. His belly was full of Mai’s cabbage rolls in consommé. His heart was full of thoughts of their Christmas getaway.

But he had good reason not to count his chickens.

“Sure would be great if we could clear all this up by Christmas…”

Chances of that happening were dim.

Today was the fifteenth. He had barely over a week.

Could he cure Touko Kirishima’s Adolescence Syndrome by then?

Could he cure Sara Himeji’s?

The former was nigh hopeless. He’d made some progress today, but he had failed to obtain anything that got to the crux of Touko’s issues.

Sara’s issues also seemed unlikely to wrap up that soon. He’d have to see how she responded in their next class; it could still go either way.

Ultimately, Adolescence Syndrome lay in the heart of the individual. No matter how much Sakuta poked and prodded, in the long run Sara would have to work things out herself. He couldn’t do everything for her. He never had, and that was not about to change.

“What happens, happens.”

He gave up worrying about it, and since he was thoroughly warm, he got out of the bath.

In the changing room, he dried his hair with a towel, then dried his body top to bottom. As he did, the phone rang.

“Sakuta! Unknown number!” Kaede called.

“Can you grab it?”

An unknown number might well by Touko. In which case, he couldn’t let this chance pass by. He wanted to talk to her every chance he got. Each opportunity got him a little closer to knowing who she was. And that might let him find a thread leading to a cure for her Adolescence Syndrome.

“Eh, I don’t wanna…”

But despite her grumbling, the ringing stopped.

Kaede had picked up the receiver.

Sakuta hastily finished drying and put his underwear on.

“……Yes, that’s right.”

As he stepped out into the living room like that, he saw Kaede with the phone to her ear.

“Sakuta, someone from the cram school,” she said, holding it out.

“Who…?”

“Some guy.”

Clueless, he took the phone.

“Hello? Sakuta here,” he said.

“Oh, Azusagawa!”

The principal’s voice.

“What’s this about?”

“Sorry to call this late. We just got word from Himeji.”

“What about?”

Sara’s name made him ask again.

“Nothing major. She just wanted to know your number. Something about wanting to discuss the date of your next class, but since the number’s personal information, I wanted to check with you first.”

“Oh, thanks. I don’t mind. Feel free to give her my number.”

“Okay. Keep up the good work.”

“Will do.”

He waited for the click, then put the receiver down.

He figured it would ring in a few minutes, once Sara had the number.

The principal was likely calling her back right now.

How long would it take for her to write the number down, thank him, and hang up?

His phone could ring at any minute.

But five minutes passed, then ten, without any signs of it ringing.

Maybe the principal hadn’t managed to get back to her immediately.

“Sakuta, you’ll catch a cold.”

Kaede had been watching a video lecture on her laptop at the kotatsu. She had a point; it was hardly the season to stand around in your underwear.

Sakuta headed back to his room to get dressed.

Naturally, that’s when the phone finally rang.

“Kaede, get that!”

“Ugh, again?”

But he heard her getting up and her feet stomping across the room. Three and a half steps to the phone. At which point, it stopped ringing.

“They hung up!”

He finished changing and went back to the living room.

Kaede slipped back into the kotatsu, and he took her place by the receiver.

He reached for the button to check the last number, and it rang again. An eleven-digit number starting with 070.

Sakuta picked up the phone.

“Azusagawa speaking.”

“Oh. Uh, I’m Himeji, Azusagawa-sensei’s student.”

She sounded a little tense.

“Himeji? It’s me.”

“Whew! Glad it’s you, Teach!”

“You sure are making a big deal over a simple call. Why’d you hang up the first time?”

“Who actually dials a landline these days? I got all nervous and accidentally hung up.”

“Fair enough.”

He didn’t own a cell phone, so he didn’t really get that.

“Teach, you have got to get a phone,” she grumbled. “It was a nightmare getting your number from the cram school.”

“Sorry about that. I should have mentioned it earlier. Oh, but you could have just gone through Koga?”

“I can’t do that twice,” she said, sounding very firm on the matter.

This must be a matter of principle for her, but it made no sense to him. He didn’t see how it would hurt to ask. She’d simply forgotten to ask his number the last time they’d met.

“Point is, this was awful!”

Even over the phone, he could tell she was sulking.

“Them’s the breaks. You said this was about our next lesson?”

“That was just an excuse to get your number.”

“Then what’s this actually about?”

No use beating around the bush. He heard Sara take a deep breath.

“I wanted to apologize for my poor behavior yesterday.”

Her whole tone changed, and she sounded suitably chagrined.

“No need. You weren’t out of line at all. I was actually pretty pleased.”

“Huh?”

“You were all, ‘I’ve got a teacher.’”

“Augh! Forget I said that!”

Her voice went up and then died back down. He barely made out the end of it.

“But you could have said all this at our next class.”

Certainly wasn’t worth going through all the trouble of getting his number.

“I couldn’t wait. I had to get this done ASAP.”

“Seriously, I wasn’t upset.”

“You should be! It’s like I don’t matter to you.”

“You do matter, which is why I think you should give serious consideration to what we talked about yesterday.”

“You mean Futaba’s classes?”

He could tell she didn’t even wanna talk about that.

“It doesn’t have to be her specifically, but I think it would be better for you to have a teacher at your level.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.”

This sounded like a suggestion.

“What?”

“What if you got yourself to my level, Teach?”

She intentionally made her voice sound pompous.

“I think my level’s capped.”

“You can do it! I’m cheering for you!”

He certainly didn’t mind hearing that. It even made him want to try. But he didn’t go so far as to make promises.

Sara’s decision in this matter could affect her college plans. It’d be best if he avoided saying anything careless and let her think on it some more. They should talk it through properly.

“Himeji, do you have time tomorrow afternoon?”

“Where’d that come from?”

“I figured we should meet up and talk about this.”

“I suppose. Oh, but…tomorrow…”

“Not a good time?”

It sounded like she had plans.

“No, just…”

She sounded weirdly reluctant. Choosing her words—searching for the right phrase.

“If you can’t say, fine.”

“No, it’s okay. I was considering telling you anyway.”

“Oh? What’s going on?”

“Thing is, Sekimoto-sensei really wants to see me again.”

That name threw him for a second, but he dug into his memories and found a match.

“Isn’t that your previous…?”

“Yeah. He taught me before you.”

What would meeting him mean? At the least, the world would not look favorably on that. She’d switched to Sakuta’s class because this Sekimoto had fallen in love with her. There was no telling how he felt now, but either way—those emotions were entirely one-sided. It didn’t seem right for Sara to see him at this point.

“Himeji, what time are you meeting him? Where?”

And having heard this news, he couldn’t exactly stay uninvolved.

“Five, by Fujisawa Station.”

“Got it. Then let’s do this…”

He offered up a proposal.

One that made her gasp.