Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 12 - Chapter 4.5

5

They returned Sara’s kimono to the shop, picked up the Mont Blancs, and left Kamakura behind.

They’d been driving for fifteen minutes now.

It was almost four.

But the campus was still out of sight.

“It doesn’t seem like we’ll get there in time.”

“Sorry! If I hadn’t…”

Sara was shrinking in the back seat.

“Himeji, can you look up Touko Kirishima on your phone?”

Telling her not to worry about it wouldn’t help, so he gave her a job to do instead. Better than just sitting there.

“Okay!” she said, beaming as she pulled out her phone.

A moment later, he heard a sharp breath.

“What?”

“It’s already started.”

As she spoke, the song started streaming from her phone’s speakers.

It was a pleasant, Christmassy song, with lots of bells.

Sara held up the phone so Sakuta could see.

It was showing some sort of garden. A little bridge over a pond. In the distance, on the bridge, was a miniskirt Santa, her back to the camera. Only her outline was really visible.

“That’s the garden on campus.”

He and Mai were students there, so it was easy enough to place. This was right in the center of the C-shaped main building. The view from their classroom windows was right here on-screen.

The GPS showed they still had a bit over a mile to go before they reached school. Less than five minutes.

But the Christmas song playing on Sara’s phone seemed unlikely to last that long. Most songs were four or five minutes, at most. Plenty were in the three-minute range.

Through the windshield, he could see the Keikyu Line. Kanazawa-hakkei Station was up ahead.

The streets and views near their college.

“Approaching your destination,” the GPS said.

He could see the main gates, so the notification was unnecessary.

Mai stopped right in front.

“Go on ahead.”

“Oh, I’m coming!” Sara hopped out after him.

They went through the main gates onto campus.

The Christmas song on Sara’s phone was no longer playing.

But Sakuta hurried toward the garden, careful not to destroy the Mont Blancs he was carrying.

Sara tagged along behind.

“Sakuta-sensei, the live stream’s over!”

“Then we can walk right up to her.”

He didn’t want to accidentally get in the shot and have his face streamed worldwide.

He cut through the building itself, down the hall and out the back door.

Sakuta’s gaze snapped to the center pond and the bridge over it. The miniskirt Santa was walking toward him.

Touko spotted him soon enough.

“You’re late! It’s over.”

“You should have waited! I brought refreshments and everything.”

He handed over the Mont Blanc box.

“……”

“It’s not poison, I swear. But it will expire soon.”

“Then I’d better eat it now.”

Touko opened the box. The Mont Blanc she took out was in a paper cup, like ice cream. She dug in.

“That was good. What a lovely Christmas present. Thanks.”

With that, she walked right past him.

“Nene Iwamizawa, right?” he asked, throwing the question at her back. This was one of the things he’d wanted to confirm.

“……”

She didn’t answer, but she did react. Touko stopped in her tracks.

“International liberal arts major, third year. Won the grand prize in the beauty pageant last year. Born March thirtieth in Hokkaido. And you’re five foot three.”

None of this made her turn around. She kept her back to him.

“I’m Touko Kirishima,” she said quietly.

But firmly.

This was maybe the single most emotional thing he’d heard from her.

The tension felt like a knife pressed against his throat.

He didn’t know why.

But there was undoubtedly something deeper at play.

Something she was hung up on.

“Um, Sakuta-sensei…?” Sara asked on the other side of her.

“What?”

“Who are you talking to…?”

She looked frightened.

Touko walked right past her. Sara should have seen this, but she didn’t react at all. She just stared grimly up at Sakuta.

Sara couldn’t see her. Couldn’t perceive her.

Touko vanished into the school building.

“……Is she still here?” Sara asked, peering around.

“She’s gone now.”

“But she was here?”

“Yeah.”

“But I didn’t see anyone. I could see her when I was connected to you, but…”

“That’s probably why.”

“Huh…?”

“You could see what I could see.”

He only understood because he’d tried remote viewing himself. He’d been sharing Sara’s eyesight. And hearing. All her senses.

He saw what she saw, heard what she heard, and felt what she felt. So when he’d seen Touko, Sara had, too. But with her own eyes—she couldn’t see a thing.

“Then…either way, I couldn’t have helped.”

Sara caught on quick, and her shoulders slumped.

“What a disaster,” she said with a sad smile.

“Better than getting all fired up and whiffing in the moment,” Sakuta pointed out.

She made a face at him, but resignation soon set in.

“I guess,” she admitted, nodding. “I really didn’t do anything.”

She spoke from the heart.

“It’s Christmas Eve, and nothing good happened.”

“Well, we’ll have to buy you some cake on the way home, then.”

“Really? That works!”

Sara clapped her hands, delighted. This was obviously an attempt to please him. That side of her wasn’t likely to change anytime soon. But…that’s just who Sara was.