Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 2 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – The Start of a Relationship Lie

1 

Ultimately, June 29 arrived in the usual fashion. 

Sakuta, woken up by his little sister shaking him, said, “Good morning, Kaede,” and reached for the digital alarm clock by the bed. 

He checked the date, eyes still half-open, and it said Sunday, June 29, just like it should have. 

“……” 

Should he be glad about that? He wasn’t looping through a day again, but since the cause and reason were still a mystery, it was hard to feel relieved. 

If it would never happen again, he wanted someone to say as much. But if it was still a possibility…well, he’d like some warning. 

Not knowing for sure was unsettling. 

He watched Kaede leave the room in pursuit of their cat, Nasuno, and muttered to himself, “But if I’m spending time with Koga, I’ll figure it out eventually.” 

Part of the reason he’d accepted Tomoe’s ridiculous proposal was that this would help him get to the bottom of her Adolescence Syndrome. The only way to alleviate this unease was to involve himself directly. 

And there was value in studying a variety of Adolescence Syndrome cases. Kaede was still trapped by hers, and this knowledge might help him find a way to free her. 

Fortunately, the physical wounds had vanished, but this was merely the result of avoiding any online interactions. If she was exposed to Internet maliciousness again, he was pretty sure they’d come back with a vengeance. 

But she couldn’t spend the rest of her life cooped up indoors. 

He wouldn’t allow anything that unfair. 

“Besides, not knowing what day it’ll be until you wake up is really unnerving.” 

There was no way to plan the day in advance. Because it might just be the previous day again. 

Sakuta was still feeling anxious by the time he started work that morning. But he didn’t let it affect his performance. 

“But if tomorrow is today again, I’ll have been working for free…” 

He wouldn’t exactly get a bonus for the hours he’d looped. 

Once his shift ended, Sakuta offered a prayer to the god of paychecks, hoping that tomorrow would come. 

He punched his card just after two, left the restaurant, and headed to the Enoden Fujisawa Station. 

His train pass let him through the gates. 

A train had just pulled out, so the platform was deserted. 

He bought some water from a vending machine and sat on a bench. This was where Tomoe had wanted to meet. 

The same platform he used every day on the way to school. Walls covered in posters advertising tourist attractions along the line. On a weekend afternoon, a totally different crowd used this line. Far more tourists than locals. A group of middle-aged women on their way to Kamakura. A family headed to the beach. Young couples going for a date on Enoshima. This was where Sakuta and Tomoe planned to go. 

Time passed slowly. Eventually, he heard footsteps headed his way. 

“H-hey, sorry I’m late.” 

He looked up and found Tomoe looking down at him awkwardly. 

She was wearing jean shorts, with a sleeveless blouse that had frills on the shoulders and sides. Comfortable-looking sneakers. Her bare legs were exposed, but as if blocking his view of them, she was carrying a blue-and-white-striped marine tote bag in both hands. 

A soft, feminine look definitely designed to match the seaside theme of the date. 

When Sakuta said nothing, Tomoe’s gaze started drifting all over the place. A mixture of tension and embarrassment marked her face. 

“You’re bright red.” 

“I was in a hurry!” 

“Well, fine.” 

“Dates are no big deal!” she insisted, making this sound like an excuse somehow. 

“But you’re five minutes late, Koga.” 

They’d promised to meet here at two thirty, but Tomoe had shown up at 2:35, and the hands of the station clock were steadily marching toward 2:40. 

“Well, I was getting ready.” 

“Sure you were.” 

He looked her over again. It did seem like a look that had taken some work. A very modern fashion statement. Not too flashy, just a light accent that blended in well with those around her. 

“Wh-what?” 

“Well, you look cute.” 

“D-don’t call me cute!” 

“Just stating the truth. You’re cute.” 

“You did it again!” 

“I’m docking points for the lack of miniskirt, but you’ve got the legs bare, so I’ll forgive it.” 

“Quit staring at my legs!” 

Tomoe crouched down, throwing her arms around her legs. Such a waste! 

“They’re fat anyway,” she moaned, glaring up at him. 

This just tickled his instinct to tease. His eyes lit upon her round, denim-covered butt. 

“Don’t you dare say anything about my butt!” she warned, jumping ahead of him. 

She was surprisingly on the ball. 

“Why not?” 

“It’s huge,” she moaned. 

“Well, you’ll have beautiful babies one day.” 

“Th-that’s the creepiest compliment ever!” she said, more rattled than he’d ever seen her. “I can’t believe you!” 

She’d turned bright red and was starting to worry that people around them were listening. 

“Where do you buy clothes like that?” 

“Huh? Just, like, normal stores…” 

“Which ones?” 

“Why do you ask?” 

“Once I get paid, I was thinking about buying some clothes for my sister.” 

Mai had just told him to pay more attention to her clothing, and since Tomoe was closer to Kaede’s age, she might be a good reference. 

“You’ve got a sister? How old is she?” 

Tomoe sat down next to him. 

“A year below you. She’s bigger than you, though.” 

“I didn’t ask about her boobs!” 

“I didn’t mean her boobs. Just her height.” 

“I—I knew that… Oh, right, senpai, your ID!” 

As if she’d just remembered something critical, Tomoe pulled her phone out of the pocket of her tote bag. 

“Huh?” 

“I went to warn you I was running late and realized I didn’t know your username,” Tomoe said, looking disgruntled. 

“So that’s my fault somehow?” 

“Being late is my fault. Sorry.” 

She finally admitted it. 

“Well, I’m not that upset about five minutes, one way or the other.” 

“You sure sounded like it! Anyway, your ID.” 

She showed him the registration screen. 

“I don’t have one.” 

“Huh?” 

“No ID.” 

“You don’t have this app?” 

Like he was the last human on earth who didn’t. 

If that was all it took to surprise her, she was in big trouble. 

“I don’t even have a phone.” 

“What?” She just blinked at him. “What does that mean?” 

“I don’t own one.” 

He raised both hands as if confessing. He’d thrown his phone into the ocean on the beach at Shichirigahama. The day he found out he’d passed the Minegahara entrance exams. To permanently cut Kaede off from anything online. 

“Holy moly.” 

“It’s true.” 

“How do you even live?!” 

“I was unaware a lack of phone was fatal.” 

“Very!” she said firmly. “Wait, are you dead?” 

She looked him over like she’d seen a zombie. She’d gone white as a sheet from sheer disbelief. 

She started to say something else, but he ignored her. “Oh, here’s the train,” he observed and followed a beach-going family on board. 

“Ah! Wait!” 

She hastily scrambled after him. 

The warning bell rang, and the doors slowly closed. 

The train quietly rolled out. Sakuta and Tomoe sat side by side, bodies swaying. 

For the first few minutes, Tomoe was still fuming about the phone thing, but by the time they reached Ishigami Station, she’d grown quiet. 

The train lurched into motion again. Sakuta felt a weight on his shoulder. Tomoe was leaning against him. He glanced her way and found her mouth hanging half-open. She was asleep. 

“Hey,” he barked, giving her a light forehead flick. 

“Ow!” Tomoe clutched her forehead with both hands, glaring at him. 

“Who falls asleep that fast?” 

“I didn’t sleep much.” 

“Looking forward to our date?” 

“Everyone was in a big group chat until after two…and then I was watching cute animal videos until morning. Then, I had to get ready for the date…” 

She cupped her face with both hands, yawning. She quickly wiped a tear away before it ruined her makeup, pulling out a mirror to make sure it was okay. 

“Yesterday was your first day working, right?” 

“Mm.” 

“It wears you out, huh?” 

Doing new things made people unusually tired. 

“I was exhausted.” 

“Then you should have gone to sleep.” 

“I can’t go to sleep when everyone else is still up!” 

“You could have watched the animal videos another time.” 

“Everyone else had already seen them, so it’d be a serious problem if I can’t join in the conversation when they come up! And Rena told me they were a must see.” 

“Rena again?” 

Keeping up with friends sure sounded like a lot of work. 

“Oh, right! Gotta tell her what I thought.” 

Tomoe pulled out her phone and activated the messaging function on a free call app. With practiced ease, she typed in a text about how great the videos were. 

The reply was immediate. 

He glanced at her screen, and it was another recommended link. Tomoe would be losing sleep again tonight, he thought. 

But instead, she immediately started watching the video. Some dumb panda tripping over itself on her tiny little screen. Legs splayed out to either side, crotch exposed. 

The train reached their destination, Enoshima Station, before the video finished. Tomoe was too absorbed to notice. 

“Come on, we gotta get off here.” Sakuta interrupted, pulling her by the arm. 

Enoshima Station was one of the largest Enoden stops. This was where you changed to the Shonan Monorail. And it was a short walk to the Odakyu Enoshima Line’s Katase-Enoshima Station, which was modeled after the Dragon Palace from the famous “Urashima Taro” legend. But neither station was actually on the island of Enoshima. They were merely close. 

Sakuta and Tomoe left the station and headed south. Toward the ocean. The wind carried the smells of summer. 

They were walking down Subana Street, a road paved with stones laid out like bricks. There were rows of shops and fancy cafés, and on weekends, it was pretty packed. There were lots of couples today. 

“Couples everywhere!” 

“It is a Sunday.” 

“We look like one, right?” 

“I doubt it.” 

“Why not?” 

“Well…” 

Sakuta eyed the distance between them. Tomoe was walking a good three feet from him. On a road this narrow, they didn’t even look like they knew each other. Quite a lot of people were passing between them. If they looked like a couple, people would be going around. 

Realizing what his glance meant, Tomoe stepped closer. Moving from just over three feet to just under. 

“This far?” 

“That far.” Sakuta pointed at the college couple ahead of them. Their shoulders were almost touching. 

Tomoe finally moved next to him. 

“Then we gotta act like them,” Sakuta said, pointing at a couple their age who were pouring over the menu at a sidewalk café. 

The girl was holding her boyfriend’s fingers—but just two of them. The little finger and the ring finger. 

“You’ve dated boys before, so that much is no big deal, right?” 

“R-right.” 

Tomoe gingerly extended her hand. But instead of taking Sakuta’s, she grabbed something else—the extra bit of belt dangling from his waist. 

Her relationship with her last boyfriend must have been super pure. Assuming the guys had ever existed in the first place. 

She was staring bashfully at the ground. This was clearly the most she could manage. 

Given her small stature, this whole thing did look weirdly cute. There was only one problem. 

“I feel like I’m your dog.” 

“Oh, we have a dog!” 

“We’ve got a cat. But in all seriousness, there’s no real need to force ourselves to act intimate.” 

Maybe at school, but what use was it fooling strangers in a crowd? 

“Well…there might be,” Tomoe said, awkwardly avoiding his gaze. “So, uh…I have a small confession to make.” 

They reached the end of the brick road, and the sea spread out before them. 

Floating on those waters was their destination, Enoshima. A small land-tied island sticking out in the middle of the bow-like curve of Sagami Bay. To the west lay Odawara and Hakone, so if the weather was clear, you could even see Mount Fuji. Today it was cloudy, though, and you could only just make out the outline. 

“This about the three girls following us?” 

He’d felt eyes on him since they reached Enoshima Station. He’d checked behind him while pretending to look at Tomoe and spotted Rena and her two friends, Hinako and Aya. 

“You noticed?” 

“You were acting suspicious.” 

“I—I was?” 

This was not gonna be a simple matter of taking pictures that looked like memories of their date. If Tomoe’s friends were watching the whole time, they had to nail the whole “more than a senpai, less than a boyfriend” vibe the entire time. 

“Rena said she had to pass judgment on you.” 

“She seemed to have her doubts about me yesterday.” 

Not about whether they were lying, but about Sakuta’s tact and basic humanity. After asking Mai out in front of the entire school a month ago, jumping ship to Tomoe this fast was definitely cause for alarm. It made sense that Rena would be worried about her friend. 

“Friendship is a beautiful thing.” 

“You make that sound spiteful.” 

Those friendships were making this way worse, so he thought he’d earned the right. 

Honestly, knowing they were watching made him uncomfortable playing the clown. Those girls seemed sure they wouldn’t get spotted, but it was the role of any senpai to teach a kohai how harsh life could be. 

“Koga, change of plans.” 

“Huh? Whoa!” 

He grabbed Tomoe’s arm and pulled her along Route 134, putting Shichirigahama at their backs and crossing the bridge over the Sakai River where it flowed into the sea. 

“What are we doing?” Tomoe asked, totally lost. 

“Going there,” Sakuta said. 

He pointed at a big square building on the opposite bank—the aquarium. 

Sakuta and Tomoe bought tickets and went inside. There, they were greeted by a variety of sea creatures found right here in Sagami Bay. The animals were swimming all around a giant tank that stretched to the floor below. Sharks with triangular heads. Tasty-looking sea breams. Sea turtles elegantly circling the tank. Two rays passed by together, showing their bellies—which looked like faces. A school of over a thousand pilchards formed a bizarre sphere at the center of the tank as they circled themselves. 

Small children were plastered to the glass, absorbed by sea life in action. Tomoe joined the outer edge of this group, securing herself a first-rate position. A huge shark passed right in front of her. 

“Eep!” 

Tomoe let out an adorable little shriek and fell backward onto her butt. Since Sakuta had been standing behind her, this meant she’d planted her magnificent behind right on his feet. 

Since Rena’s group was watching, he helped her up like a proper boyfriend. 

He had hoped the entrance fee would discourage her friends from following them, but no such luck. But being inside did constrict their movements significantly, so he was waiting for his chance to turn the tables on them. Sakuta was not nearly nice enough to let himself remain a spectacle. 

After enjoying the big tank for a while, Tomoe and Sakuta followed the path farther in. 

Colorful fish from tropical climes. Strange creatures from the ocean depths. The lights in the jellyfish area were lowered, making it feel like a planetarium. 

He saw couples stopping to take pictures. 

A jellyfish wafted slowly by. 

“So cute!” Tomoe gushed, taking out her phone and snapping a picture. 

Another jellyfish looked like it was made of candy. 

“It’s like a macaron!” Tomoe said, clearly thinking along similar lines. “Senpai, take a shot!” 

She pushed her phone into his hands, and he got her and the jellyfish in the frame together. 

“No, not like that!” she said. She shot a meaningful glance at the couple farther down who were standing shoulder to shoulder against the tank. The boy had his arm stretched out, getting both of them in the shot. 

Sakuta did as she asked and bumped shoulders. This slight contact made her jump. He glanced sideways and saw her looking super tense. 

He pressed the button anyway. 

They looked at the resulting picture, and Tomoe was clearly super nervous. 

“Senpai, you have dead eyes.” 

“I always look like that.” 

“Then your eyes are always dead.” 

The laughter seemed to relax her. 

They moved on down the corridor, sensing a crowd ahead. People were packed into one corner of the aquarium. 

There were a bunch of Humboldt penguins on a re-creation of a rocky coast. 

A caretaker with a headset mic was standing in the exhibit—clearly in the middle of a show. 

“Wanna watch?” 

“Mm!” 

The caretaker was explaining the unique characteristics of the Humboldt penguin. Apparently, the patterns on their chests are always unique, but there are resemblances between family members. The keeper picked up a penguin, showing it to everyone. 

The other penguins were gathering around his feet. If he stepped to the right, they all shuffled right. If he stepped left, they all shuffled left. 

People up and down the crowd were whispering “Cute!” 

“They are cute! Really cute!” Tomoe beamed, her eyes sparkling. 

As cute as they were on land, it seemed like they were about to show off how badass they could be while swimming. Sakuta wondered how, but the caretaker just threw a small fish into the water. 

The penguins all dove in. Rocketing through the water like bullets. It was like they were flying. Penguins can’t fly in the air but totally can underwater. 

“Check out that one…” 

“Hmm?” 

Tomoe was looking toward the corner of the rocks. 

One penguin was taking a leisurely nap, totally ignoring the others jostling for fish. 

“It’s just like you, senpai.” 

“Are my legs that short?” 

“The way everyone else is joining in the show, but he can’t be bothered.” 

“So you’re more like that cheery penguin second from the front?” 

That made the one in front Rena Kashiba. The same four penguins were getting all the fish the caretaker tossed in. Penguin society has hierarchies, too. 

“No, I’m more like that one, following everyone around from the back,” Tomoe said softly. 

“It does have a big butt.” 

“I was being serious!” Tomoe yelped, clasping her butt with both hands. She glared up at him. This was a very penguin-like gesture. 

“Why isn’t that penguin with the others?” she wondered. 

The corner penguin had woken up and was slowly looking around. The caretaker noticed and said, “You finally woke up? The show’s already over!” 

But the penguin didn’t seem to care. It went back to sleep. The audience laughed. 

“He doesn’t care if everyone’s laughing… He really is just like you,” Tomoe repeated, as if she’d scored a major victory. 

The penguin show drew to a successful close. 

The crowd began spreading out. 

Sakuta left Tomoe by a nearby sea lion tank, saying he needed to hit the restroom. He walked away. 

But instead of hitting the restrooms, he made a big loop of the aquarium. He’d located Rena, Hinako, and Aya during the penguin show. 

He went all the way back to the entrance, then followed the path they’d taken. He found the girls hiding near the gift shop. Watching Tomoe watch the sea lions. 

He came up behind them and said, “I found some rare fish!” 

Hinako and Aya both jumped. Rena kept her cool, turning to face him. 

“Fancy meeting you here,” she said. 

He was impressed. 

“Schoolgirls these days sure have a lot of time on their hands.” 

“We’re very busy.” 

“You don’t look it.” 

“Are you sure you should be neglecting Tomoe?” 

“Augh, see?” Hinako said. She was wearing those fake-looking glasses again. 

Hinako pointed past the pillar at Tomoe. 

Sakuta looked as well. 

Two men had come up to Tomoe. Both had their hair dyed brown. Both had wallet chains dangling at their sides and were wearing sandals. 

They were probably inviting her to watch the dolphin show with them. One was pointing at the exit. 

“They look a little scary.” 

Tomoe waved a hand in front of her, but one of the men grabbed her wrist. 

“Should we do something?” Hinako asked, turning to Rena. 

But Sakuta was already moving past her. He walked up to Tomoe and bonked her on the head. “I take my eyes off you for a minute, and you’re already getting picked up?” he accused. Then, he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her away from the creeps. 

“You had a boyfriend?” one called after them, sounding annoyed. 

“You were in the bathroom forever!” Tomoe said quietly. 

“Number two,” he said. Not at all what he’d been up to, but this was enough to send the brown-haired duo packing. 

“You took a dump on a date?” one laughed. They moved on. 

Sakuta glanced after them. “None of your friends had crushes on them, right?” he whispered. 

“Of course not!” Tomoe hissed. 

“Then just say you aren’t interested.” 

“I know, but…” 

“But what?” 

“I wasn’t expecting anyone to hit on me! I got all rattled.” 

“You should probably get used to it.” 

The beaches were opening next week. The entire area would be filled with people hunting for love. 

“Why me?” 

“Have you looked at yourself in a mirror?” 

“Every day!” 

Tomoe looked at her reflection in the side of the tank. 

“What do you think?” he asked. 

“…It’s like it isn’t me,” Tomoe said, staring at the floor. 

2 

Having left the aquarium, Sakuta and Tomoe were now on the Benten Bridge leading to Enoshima itself. 

The sounds of the wind and waves and the smell of the sea enveloped them. They weren’t that high above the water’s surface, so it felt like they were walking across the ocean. 

Halfway to their destination, Sakuta paused, looking back. Tomoe had been about three steps behind him, so she stopped, too. 

Tomoe looked downcast. Ever since they left the aquarium, she’d seemed lost in thought. 

“Are we pretending I’m a domineering husband?” 

“No.” 

“Maybe a couple that can’t be seen together?” 

Tomoe slowly stepped closer to him. 

At his side, she put her hands on the rail and sighed. The sun was setting behind the clouds, turning her face red. 

“I told you I’m from Fukuoka, right?” 

“Bragging about home?” 

“No.” 

“Then what?” Sakuta asked, turning and leaning his back on the rail. 

“I wasn’t like this in junior high,” Tomoe said, staring at the water. “Wanna see a picture?” 

“Not interested.” 

“Here.” She held out her phone anyway. 

Seemed like he didn’t have a choice. 

She was wearing an old-style sailor uniform. Skirt frumpily worn below the knees. Her hair was in two braided pigtails. 

“Wow…you were a total hick.” 

“This is why I didn’t want to show you!” 

“You forced me to look!” 

“My dad got transferred, so we had to move to Tokyo.” 

“This is Kanagawa.” 

“Semantics! It’s basically Tokyo.” 

“Sure, fine.” 

“I wasn’t in a main group in class or anything.” 

“Hmm.” 

“But I thought if I wasn’t cool, I’d never make friends in the city. I was scared I’d get bullied.” 

“Things like that do happen.” 

“We learned about Dad’s transfer at the beginning of January, so I spent three months doing a lot of research.” Tomoe reached up and touched her hair. “I started with makeup. I went to a fancy salon and changed my hairstyle. I read a lot of fashion magazines and copied the looks in them. I practiced talking without the accent…and turned into this.” 

“You’re not happy with it?” 

“Huh?” 

“The new you.” 

Tomoe thought about it. After a while she said, “I do like it. A lot.” As if she was taking an inventory of her own feelings. 

“So what are you worried about? It’s ridiculous.” 

“R-ridiculous?” 

“You’re just doing the whole peak of puberty, ‘This isn’t the real me!’ thing, right?” 

“W-well, kinda…” 

“It sucks!” 

“You’re so mean!” 

“But I think that’s fine.” 

“What is?” 

“This is you. However you used to be, you are the way you are.” 

“How would you know?!” She glared at him as if he was clueless. 

“Whatever the reason for it, you’re like this because you worked hard to be.” 

“R-right…” 

“And you enjoy being this way.” 

“Mm.” 

“Then it makes no sense to say it isn’t you.” 

“……” 

“So quit worrying about it!” 

“……I don’t like it.” 

“Huh?” 

“I feel like you’re conning me.” 

“Look…” He was about to complain, but Tomoe was looking at her phone. 

“Oh…it’s from Rena,” she said, opening a message. 

“What’s she say?” 

“‘You look good together. He’s a better man than I thought.’” 

“She finally saw the light.” 

“I’m telling her you said that.” 

“Don’t!” 

“Already sent. She just responded, ‘Pfft.’” 

“Right…” 

Getting stuck in the middle of a high school girl’s conversation was wearing him out. 

“Well, let’s get ourselves to Enoshima.” 

“Mm… Oh, wait.” Tomoe’s attention was suddenly focused on the beach next to the bridge. With the sun setting, the crowds had thinned, but there was someone on the beach, staring at the ground like they were searching for something. Based on the build, it was a girl. 

“That’s Yoneyama.” 

“You know her?” 

“Nana Yoneyama, from my class.” 

Tomoe had actually learned the girl’s full name. Sakuta only knew the family names of the vast majority of his classmates. 

Tomoe turned her back on Enoshima and retraced her steps along Benten Bridge. She left the road, heading down the beach. Sakuta didn’t see the point in going to Enoshima alone, so he followed. 

As they drew near the shore, he got a better look at Nana Yoneyama. Black-rimmed glasses. Her hair was parted like a junior high school girl’s, hanging down in front of her shoulders. Her skirt went below the knees, and she wore a navy-blue cardigan. She was small, like Tomoe, and seemed like the shy and quiet type. Would feel right at home in a library. 

Nana pacing up and down the beach, looking ready to cry. 

“Yoneyama,” Tomoe said. 

Nana’s body quivered, frightened. 

She looked up, saw Tomoe, and flinched again. 

“Did you do something to her? She seems pretty scared,” Sakuta observed quietly. 

“I—I didn’t do anything!” Tomoe whispered. 

“Koga…and the senpai who looped back around. Why…?” 

“Do all the first-years say that about me?” 

When Sakuta’s eyes met hers, Nana looked even more frightened. 

“S-sorry,” she said. 

“What did you do, senpai?” Tomoe seized her chance to turn the tables on him. 

“Nothing. Yet.” 

“Well, don’t do anything in the future, either!” She glared, then turned back to Nana. “Yoneyama, what’s wrong?” she asked. 

“Oh, nothing…,” said the girl. Clearly there was something. 

“Looking for something?” Tomoe tried. 

“M-mm.” Nana bobbed her head. 

Rather than any bad blood between them, it seemed Nana was just shy and, since she’d never really spoken to Tomoe before, surprised by this interaction. Sakuta and his history of dubious rumors only made it harder for her. 

“I’ll help look! What’d you lose?” 

“O-oh, I couldn’t. You’re in Kashiba’s group, after all.” 

That was a fascinatingly specific reason, Sakuta thought. 

One that clearly sketched in the power balance in Tomoe’s class. 

Nana Yoneyama was clearly on the mousey side. Totally not a match for Tomoe’s modern aura or the other members of Rena’s clique. Which made this awkward for her. 

He wanted to tell her that Tomoe had been even worse back in junior high. 

But he’d just finished praising the work Tomoe had put into her transformation, so he decided it would be best to resist the urge. 

“Three’s better than one,” Sakuta offered, looking around, though unsure what he was looking for. 

“See, even he wants to help.” 

“O-okay… It’s a phone strap.” 

“What kind?” 

“There’s a little jellyfish on it. From the aquarium gift shop.” 

“What color?” 

“It’s transparent, but maybe a little bluish?” 

“This is important to you?” 

“Yeah…my friends and I all bought matching ones over Golden Week.” 

It would certainly suck to be the only one who’d lost that. 

And she couldn’t just go buy a replacement. To Nana, what mattered was that they’d all bought these together. 

“Are you sure you dropped it here?” 

“S-sorry, I’m not sure.” 

“No need to apologize.” Sakuta waved her off. He kept his eyes down, afraid meeting her gaze would just scare her again. Having someone this spooked by him was demoralizing. 

“He’s a weirdo, but he isn’t scary,” Tomoe said. 

How rude. Sakuta thought Tomoe was plenty weird herself. 

“M-mm…” 

Nana was still clearly keeping her distance from both of them. 

With this mild tension lingering, the three of them searched for nearly half an hour without finding any sign of the jellyfish strap. The sun was almost gone, and further searching would be difficult. 

And since they barely knew one another, they could only keep this going for so long. 

Just as Sakuta was sure they were out of time, his eye caught something shiny at the edge of the water. 

When the waves withdrew, he saw a jellyfish strap lying on the wet sand. 

“Found it!” he called out. 

“Really?” Tomoe and Nana came running. 

Sakuta tried to pick it up, but the next wave rolled in, so he jumped back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone else dive straight in. 

“Ah! Koga!” Nana cried, trying to stop her, but Tomoe leaned forward, plunging both hands into the water. A moment later, a huge wave washed right over her. 

“Yikes!” She shrieked, losing her balance and falling over. She was completely drenched. 

“Everything okay?” Sakuta asked. 

She turned back, grinning. “Don’t worry!” she chirped, holding up the strap. 

He’d been worried about Tomoe, not the strap, but apparently, that had been lost on her. 

“Are you okay, Koga?” Nana asked. 

She didn’t look okay. She was clearly soaked all the way to her underwear. The white blouse was clinging to her, and Sakuta could see the colors of her bra and skin through it. 

Sakuta stepped into the water, shoes still on, and helped her up. Tomoe’s feet caught on the sand, and she staggered against him. 

“Whoa, stay back! You’ll get me wet!” 

“Y-you’re supposed to be happy, here!” 

“Your eyebrows are melting off.” 

“Augh! Don’t look!” 

Tomoe shielded her face. But that was hardly the only place she needed to hide. 

“Your shirt’s gone see-through, so better cover that first.” 

“Augh! I don’t have enough hands!” 

“I’d be happy to lend you mine,” he suggested. 

Tomoe thought about this for a second. 

“Wait, no! That’s completely out of line!” 

By this point, Nana was laughing out loud. 

3 

The day after his date with Tomoe—Monday, June 30—arrived safely. 

Maybe there would be no more loops. Maybe they’d resolved the Adolescence Syndrome. 

Mulling that over, Sakuta headed to school…and ran into Tomoe on the Enoden Fujisawa Station platform. 

With all the Minegahara students around them, they couldn’t pretend not to know each other. He was supposed to be “more than a senpai, less than a boyfriend,” after all. They needed to act accordingly. With that in mind, he suggested, “Should we head in together, Koga?” 

“Mm.” She nodded. Her voice was hoarse, and he could barely make it out. 

He leaned over, stealing a better look. Her face was flushed. 

“You getting sick?” 

Getting drenched in seawater would do that. They couldn’t exactly get on a train with her dripping, so they’d had to walk all the way back to Fujisawa, a nearly two-mile hike. 

Even in summer, that could take its toll. 

“I’m fine,” she insisted, but her eyes were glazed over. She didn’t even have the energy to look up. Even breathing seemed like a struggle. 

“You really don’t look fine,” said Sakuta, putting a hand on her forehead. She was burning up. If he’d had a fever like this, he would have gladly called in sick. But when the train pulled in, Tomoe hopped right on board. 

He put her down in an empty seat. 

“We’re getting off at the next station and turning back.” 

“Don’t wanna.” She pouted like a small child. 

“You love school that much?” 

“If I miss a day, I won’t know what anyone’s talking about.” 

“It’s just one day.” 

“That’s all it takes to end you.” 

What an exhausting schedule. 

“Then nap until we get to the station. I’ll wake you.” 

“Thanks,” Tomoe said, sounding relieved. Her eyes closed. 

He ended up escorting Tomoe to school. She struggled to change into slippers in the entrance, though, so he force-marched her to the nurse’s office. He left her in the nurse’s care. 

As he left, he heard a raspy voice hiss, “Traitor!” He ignored this. 

At lunch, he ducked out of school, heading for a nearby convenience store. He got his shopping done and was back before any teachers caught him. Then, he poked his head in the nurse’s office. 

Tomoe was lying on a bed. Rena, Hinako, and Aya were gathered around her. 

When the three of them saw Sakuta, they all grinned and left, saying, “Take your time!” 

Seemed like the nurse was busy somewhere else. 

So it was just the two of them. 

“Feeling better?” Sakuta asked, settling on a stool by the bed. 

“Mm,” Tomoe murmured faintly. Her voice sounded better than it had that morning. 

“Want some canned tangerines?” Sakuta offered, putting the convenience store bag on the bed’s table. 

“Slipping out in the middle of the day is against the school rules.” 

“You don’t want ’em?” He pulled the can out of the bag. 

“I do,” Tomoe said, reaching for them. 

He played keep-away. “Hold your horses.” 

“Whyyy? Ya bought it for me, yeah?” 

Sakuta pulled a plastic container full of crushed ice out of the bag. 

“Ice?” Tomoe blinked at him. 

Sakuta ignored the question. He put the ice in some water, then dumped the can in, too, swirling it around. 

“Whatcha doin’, senpai?” 

He was imitating a quick cooling technique Rio had shown him. 

He took the can out after a couple of minutes, opened the lid, and put it in front of Tomoe. 

“Or would you prefer I feed them to you?” 

“That would just make it harder.” 

She took the convenience store fork and ate a bite. 

“Wow, that’s super cold,” she said, grinning happily. Then she caught him staring. “Don’t watch me eat!” 

“Why?” 

“It’s embarrassing.” 

“Again, why?” 

Sakuta’s confusion deepened, but he hadn’t come here to upset a sick kohai. He stood up and opened the window. 

A salty breeze drifted into the air-conditioned room. 

“Oh! I can smell the sea!” 

Tomoe closed her eyes, letting the wind wash over her. 

She sat like that for a while. 

Then she said, “Senpai.” 

“Mm?” he said, leaning out the window. 

“Why did you agree to my ridiculous request?” 

“You mean the ‘more than a senpai, less than a boyfriend’ thing?” 

“I mean that thing.” 

On the Shichirigahama beach, he could see a ton of surfboards in the waves. 

“You seemed pretty desperate.” 

“You barely know me, though.” 

“But we have kicked each other’s asses.” 

“Argh, will you be serious?” 

He glanced over his shoulder and found her sulking around a fork in her mouth. 

“But I knew then you were a good person, Koga.” 

She’d delivered a vicious kick to Sakuta’s posterior because she’d thought he was attacking a small child. She’d been wrong, but not everyone had the courage to take action like that. And this side of Tomoe had come through again the day before, when she helped Nana Yoneyama find her phone strap. 

“Is that why you’re helping?” 

“Well, also because you’re cute.” 

“Again with the jokes.” 

“I dunno if I’d have done the same if you were ugly. Just a sad truth about men.” 

“…I bet you would have,” she said, so softly Sakuta decided to pretend he hadn’t heard it. 

“I’m not nice enough to be nice to just anybody,” he said. 

“But you make up for it by being way nicer to a select few.” 

“Well, I do want some people to think I’m a good guy.” 

“Hmm.” 

She seemed unconvinced but was disinclined to press the point further. She finished eating the tangerines and drank the liquid they’d been soaking in. 

“You in love with anyone, Koga?” 

“Huh?!” she spluttered, clearly rattled by this sudden question. “Wh-why would you ask that?!” 

“If there’s someone you’re crushing on, wouldn’t rumors about you dating me get in the way of that?” 

“I’m not crushing on anyone. Don’t worry.” 

“Not even anyone you’re interested in?” 

“Nope.” 

“Huh. Such a waste.” 

“I just don’t have time for that right now.” 

“Too busy watching all the videos your friends send around?” 

“Now you’re being mean.” 

“It sounds mean because you know it’s a problem yourself.” 

“How so?” 

“If you didn’t have any doubts about it, you’d dismiss me out of hand.” 

“……” 

Her silence signaled agreement. 

“You’re right,” Tomoe said after a while. “I care a lot about what people think of me. Even now, I’m wondering what they’re thinking about me spending the whole day in the nurse’s office.” 

“That’s a bit too self-conscious, Koga.” 

“I think you’re the weird one, senpai. How can you just come to school like this when everyone thinks you’re a weirdo? When everyone’s laughing at you? How do you go on living? How does it not bother you?” 

“I can’t believe you’d say that to my face.” 

“Urp…sorry.” 

“But it’s not like that bothered me, either.” 

“Then I’m not sorry,” Tomoe whispered. 

But the look she was giving Sakuta was very serious. She clearly wanted a real answer. 

Fine. Keeping his eyes on the view outside, Sakuta answered, as if talking to himself. 

“It’s not like the point of life is to have everyone like you.” 

“I do want everyone to like me. Or at least…not hate me.” 

“I’m fine with it being just one person. If that one person needs me, I can go on living.” 

He opened the packaging on an onigiri he’d bought for himself. Pushing the seaweed back in place, he took a bite. Lunch tasted better with an ocean view. This alone made picking this school worthwhile. 

“Even if the whole world hates you?” 

“I’d still be happy.” 

“Would you?” 

“You’ll get it someday,” he said. This conversation was getting increasingly awkward, so he wanted to wrap it up. 

“Ugh, so smug!” Tomoe complained, puffing out her cheeks like a small child. When Sakuta laughed at this, she let them deflate. She must have realized it only encouraged him to treat her like a kid. 

On her first day of work, he’d thought she wasn’t particularly on the ball, but talking with her like this, she was having no trouble following what he said, catching both the surface meaning and the meaning behind it. 

It was more like Tomoe’s attention was always focused on her surroundings, trying not to miss anything. Taken in a positive light, she read the air well. On the negative side, she was too focused on reading the room and she always acted in a way that matched that dynamic. Her makeup, hairstyle, and fashion choices were all perfect examples. 

Even her fake boyfriend was an extension of this. 

She was good at living a life without conflict or even minor frictions. Working hard to avoid making waves. Constantly on edge to prevent problems before they happened. 

Sakuta could never live like that. It just sounded exhausting. 

“Are you thinking rude things?” 

“Not really.” 

“You totally were.” 

“Kinda the opposite.” 

“What does that mean?” 

Sakuta ignored this, asking her a question instead. 

“Koga, if you fell in love with the same person as Rena, what would you do?” 

He could imagine her answer but asked anyway because he wanted Tomoe to reach the same realization. 

Not all friction could be avoided. Doing so would just grind away at you instead. 

“If that happened, I’d absolutely never let Rena know.” 

“What if you liked the same person as Hinako?” 

“I wouldn’t tell her.” 

“Or Aya?” 

“Same.” 

“You’d just give up, then.” 

“I think so.” 

“I figured as much.” 

“Then don’t ask.” 

Giving up was fine as long as you still could. If the emotions were only that strong, it was all okay. But he figured she’d be in trouble if the feelings were strong enough that she couldn’t let them go. The answer Tomoe had just given would leave her trapped. And he thought there was a real danger of that happening. 

“You’re a child.” 

“D-don’t treat me like a kid!” 

“I think that response proves you are.” 

“Urp… Oh, right. Senpai. That reminds me…” 

“Mm?” 

“What happened with Sakurajima?” 

“Still waiting for her answer.” 

“Huh? She still hasn’t said no?!” 

“If the loop phenomenon hadn’t happened, I’d have been officially dating her after lunch that day.” 

“You’re kidding?!” 

“Swear to god.” 

“I don’t believe you.” 

“Why not?” 

“I mean, we’re talking about Sakurajima?! The famous Mai Sakurajima? The Mai Sakurajima?!” 

“Yeah.” 

“Sakurajima said she loved you?” Tomoe gave him a deeply suspicious look. 

“Well…not in so many words.” 

“See? You just imagined it.” 

It was a fact that Mai had never specifically said “I love you.” It was a fact that he really wanted her to say that to him. That would make their relationship feel so much more definitive. 

And Tomoe rubbing it in like this meant it was really bugging him now. Did Mai really love him? After an entire month of asking her out, it was more like she was past caring. And even then, she’d just ignored his declarations. He felt almost like she’d just given up on rebuffing his advances. 

And that left him feeling very uncomfortable. 

“The next time I ask her out, I’ll do my best to make her say that.” 

“She’s totally gonna blow you off.” 

Tomoe was very sure of this. 

“Well, either way, first we finish out this term.” 

They just had to fool the entire student body until then. 

If they couldn’t get through it, neither Sakuta nor Tomoe had a bright future waiting for them. 

“…Mm.” 

Fortunately, there was no sign of Rena catching on. At this rate, they should be able to last the next three weeks. The wild card in the picture was Maesawa. 

Whether he believed Sakuta and Tomoe were dating or not, he might decide to ask her out anyway or do something else to clue Rena in to what was going on. If that happened, they were sunk. Rena could never find out he’d been interested in Tomoe. 

Sakuta found it hard to be optimistic. 

4 

The next day was Tuesday. Flip the calendar—it was the first day of July. Having come to school with a fever and spending the entire day in the nurse’s office, Tomoe had learned her lesson and stayed home. 

But by Wednesday, she was fully recovered, and at lunch, she brought a can of peaches to Class 2-1. 

The eyes of everyone eating in the classroom locked onto the can, clearly wondering, “Why peaches?” 

Presumably, this was to pay him back for the tangerines. 

Well aware of the reason, Sakuta elected to tease her instead. 

“Because you’ve got a peach butt?” he asked. 

“No perving!” she snapped, pursing her lips. 

“Well, I’ll feast on these tonight, thinking of you,” he said, doubling down. 

Tomoe snatched the can out of his hands. 

“D-dumbass!” she squeaked and fled the room. 

“Maybe I went a bit too far.” 

He’d have to do a better job toeing the line next time. 

There were a lot of people staring at him. The girls ripe with scorn, like, “Sexual harassment? So gross.” And the boys enviously, “Flirting in front of everyone!” None of them seemed at all surprised that Sakuta and Tomoe were together. 

All hail the wireless age. Rumors about them had clearly spread through the entire school already. 

Tomoe was still mad at him after school that day. They were working the same shift, so they were both at the restaurant, but every time their paths crossed, she hid her butt and glared at him like he’d murdered her parents. 

But unfortunately, this was not the least bit intimidating. 

By eight, the dinner rush began slowing down. The flow of customers entering ebbed, and everyone seated had their orders taken. Most had their food, too. 

Sakuta was standing by the register when Tomoe came over. 

“There’s just one thing I want to make clear,” she began. 

“I know I’ve got no tact.” 

“I’ve given up on that.” 

“Then what?” 

“……” 

The way she looked at him really made him squirm. 

This felt like it was gonna be a big deal. 

“My butt isn’t that big,” she insisted. 

Not exactly what he’d expected. 

“Such modesty!” he said, patting her shoulder as if comforting her. 

“Wrong response!” 

“You should have more confidence.” 

“In what?!” 

“Your peach butt.” 

“I don’t have one! That’s my whole point!” 

“No, no, don’t deny it!” 

“Argh, I should never have tried talking to you!” 

Seemingly really mad this time, she stalked away. 

But less than a minute later, she took a drink order that was new to her and was forced to come to him for help. 

“What do I do with beer?” she asked awkwardly. 

“……” 

Sakuta pretended not to hear her as he refilled the glasses at the beverage counter. 

“Don’t ignore me!” she wailed, tugging at his apron. 

“……” 

“P-please! Help me out!” Tomoe was starting to tear up. “I—I promise I’ll be prouder of my butt.” 

When he heard that, Sakuta finally met her gaze. 

“You admit it’s a peach?” 

“F-fine! I admit it! I’ve got a peach butt!” 

She was clearly past caring. 

“Well, then fine. Let me show you how.” 

“You’re so mean!” 

Sakuta kept teasing Tomoe until their shifts ended at nine. He then walked her home before returning to his own apartment by nine thirty. 

Kaede was just coming out of the bath, so he took her place, washing off the sweat of the day. 

He emerged feeling refreshed. 

Wearing only his underwear, Sakuta got a sports drink out of the fridge, poured a glass, and drained it. A refreshing chill spread through his still warm body. He’d always liked this particular sports drink, but now that Mai was in the commercials for it, it tasted even better. Every sip he took reminded him of her. 

Mai was in Kagoshima shooting a TV show this week. 

It was past ten, but she might still be working. Or was she back in her hotel by now? It was hard to tell with her line of work. 

He poured himself a second glass. This time he took it slow, drinking it in three gulps. 

Once he finished, he washed the glass and put it on the drying rack. The phone rang. 

He quickly dried his hands and picked up. 

“Yes, Azusagawa speaking.” 

“It’s me.” 

He knew who it was immediately. 

“Mai, how are you?” 

“I figured you’d want to hear my voice by now.” 

“I was just thinking about you.” 

“You’d better have underwear on.” 

She had clearly jumped to the wrong conclusion. 

“I’m well aware you think of me that way, but…” 

Apparently, she’d assumed he was taking action. 

“I am wearing underwear. Just underwear.” 

“Huh? Why just underwear?” 

“I just got out of the bath.” 

“Oh. What a normal reason.” 

Was that a bad thing? 

“Well, if I find myself tossing and turning, I may need your help, then.” 

“Fine, fine, go right ahead.” 

He’d thought she’d get flustered, but she just brushed him off. 

“How are things on your end?” she asked. 

“I dunno, same as always.” 

“Enjoying dates with your cute girlfriend?” 

“They’re all right.” 

Tomoe’s reactions were pretty amusing. 

“Hmph.” Mai did not sound amused. 

“What was the right answer to that question?” 

“You want to run away and come see me in Kagoshima.” 

“Sweep you up in my arms?” 

“That’d be a bit much.” She sounded annoyed. Was it such a bad idea? 

“What about you, Mai? Up to anything besides filming?” 

“I ate some polar bear.” 

“How carnivorous.” 

“It’s a type of shaved ice.” 

“I actually knew that. That’s the one with fruit on top, right?” 

“How dull.” 

The queen was not being fair tonight. 

But her tone was lively, and she seemed enthused about something. Maybe just excited to be acting again. 

“You enjoying the shoot?” 

“I am!” The answer came right away. “Sakuta, do you know what you want to do?” 

“Most high school students haven’t worked that out yet.” 

“Shame.” 

“I’d like to be Santa Claus.” 

“Because you get three hundred sixty-four days off?” 

“That obvious?” 

“Saying dumb stuff will make you dumb. Good night.” 

“Uh, right, good night.” 

Sakuta waited until Mai hung up, then put the receiver back on the hook. 

5 

That weekend, the weather service officially confirmed the end of the rainy season in the Kanto region. Summer was finally here. The real heat was on its way, and with the beaches opening next week, the area around the coast sprang to life. 

Sakuta spotted a number of groups of bored-looking college students dropping in to hang out, and the number of surfers in the waters at Shichirigahama increased on a daily basis. 

While blue skies and seas might be the symbols of the season, Sakuta and Tomoe were keeping their gray-area lie going strong. Both were doing a good job simulating the awkward distance between any new couple. 

There was no need to force themselves to be together. Even on the way to school, they only met up if their schedules happened to align. 

This allowed Tomoe to prioritize time with her friends. 

Seemed like everyone in school knew about their relationship now, and Sakuta could tell his classmates were dying to know more. 

But despite their evident curiosity, no one worked up the courage to actually ask. 

So no one suspected they might be faking it. 

Why would they? Normally, no one would go to the trouble of fooling their classmates like this, and it wasn’t like anyone ever verified the truth behind the latest gossip. Nobody was that interested in anyone else’s business. That level of disinterest played to Sakuta’s advantage this time. 

It meant he didn’t have to worry about getting caught in a lie. 

But an entirely different concern still plagued him. 

The Adolescence Syndrome Tomoe had caused. They still hadn’t addressed the root problem. 

This left Sakuta checking the digital clock by his bed first thing every morning. It was part of his daily routine now. 

So far, no days had repeated since June 27, but he couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t happen again. He never felt safe. 

This anxiety stayed with him all week. It was July 5, exactly a week since he’d escaped the first loop. 

Sakuta waited for school to end, then swung by the science classroom. 

“Futaba, you here?” he called, sliding the door open. 

He found her in her lab coat at the window, talking to someone outside. Someone in a T-shirt and knee-length sweat shorts. Yuuma. He had a basketball in one hand. Must have been on his way to practice. 

Both turned to stare at the door. Sakuta looked from one to the other. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” he apologized. He turned around and left, closing the door behind him. 

He’d been planning on getting Rio’s help with the Adolescence Syndrome, but it seemed best to leave that for another day. Before he got far, though, the door slammed open behind him. 

He looked back and saw a very flustered Rio. 

“Are you a total idiot, Azusagawa?!” she hissed. “Are you genuinely stupid?!” 

She seemed very conscious of Yuuma’s gaze. He was still outside the window, spinning the basketball on his finger. 

“Well, I’m definitely dumber than you,” Sakuta admitted. 

“Don’t try to help me out! Kunimi might notice!” 

“If he was capable of figuring it out from something like this, he already knows how you feel.” 

There was a strong possibility Yuuma was just pretending he hadn’t. 

“That…would suck,” Rio said, barely getting the words out. She was turning visibly red. 

Teasing her any further seemed like a bad idea, so Sakuta stepped past her into the lab. 

“We were just talking about you,” Yuuma said as his friend approached the window. 

“Talking about me behind my back? How cruel.” 

Yuuma ignored this attempt at humor. 

“Is it true you’re dating Koga now?” he asked. 

“It is.” 

“Seriously?” 

“I mean, we’re still just trying it out.” 

“Hmph.” 

Yuuma seemed unconvinced. When Rio caught up with him, she seemed equally suspicious. Rio likely had a hunch what was really going on. He’d already told her Tomoe was Laplace’s demon when they were discussing the current Adolescence Syndrome phenomenon. 

But she didn’t pry further. 

“Well, then I oughtta at least warn you,” Yuuma said, dribbling the ball. “About Koga…” 

He paused dramatically. 

“What?” 

“There’s some ugly rumors.” 

“About her taste in men?” 

Considering Sakuta’s reputation, that seemed pretty likely. The first-years might think he’d looped around to good again, but the second-and third-years still seemed stuck on the hospitalization incident. Once you got a label like that stuck on you, even if you tore it off, the mark remained. 

“Like she’s easy or a slut or sleeping with you.” 

Yuuma lowered his voice a bit, possibly in deference to Rio. Picking up on it, she refrained from directly participating, though she was clearly listening. 

“What?” This was the first Sakuta’d heard of this. 

“It came up in the men’s basketball team group chat.” 

That explained it. 

“You asked about Yousuke the other day at work, right?” Yuuma gave him a meaningful stare. It was obvious where these rumors were coming from. 

“Girls were talking about that in class, too,” Rio added. 

That meant the rumors had spread pretty far. 

Things were taking a turn for the worse again. Sakuta didn’t give a damn what anyone thought of him, but Tomoe definitely would. 

“Figured you oughtta know.” 

“Yeah.” 

Yuuma raised a hand, said, “Gotta get to practice,” and ran off toward the gym. Rio watched him go. 

Not wanting to interrupt, Sakuta turned away from the window and lit the alcohol lamp. He filled a beaker with water and waited for it to boil. 

He’d better do something before rumors about Tomoe spread further. 

“What are you doing, Azusagawa?” 

He looked up and found Rio standing across the desk from him. 

“I figured I’d drink some coffee and calm down.” 

“Not that. What about Sakurajima?” 

“Where’s the instant coffee?” 

She opened a drawer and took out the jar. 

“Fine,” she said. “But what brings you here?” 

“Well, I haven’t looped any days since, so…I’m still wondering why it happened.” 

The water was boiling now, so he extinguished the flame. He dumped a scoop of instant coffee into the beaker, and a black cloud spread through the clear liquid. 

“I assume what you said was right.” 

“Mm?” 

“The first-year you’re currently calling a girlfriend was Laplace’s demon.” 

That was a very deliberate choice of words. Rio clearly knew they were faking it. 

“And she’s rolling the dice until things turn out the way she wants.” 

Rio pulled a die out of her pocket and rolled it across the counter. A five, then a four, then a two. 

“Right now, she’s happy with the way things are working out, so she doesn’t need a redo.” 

The die’s one was painted red. When that came up, Rio stopped rerolling. 

“She’s unaware of it.” 

“If she was, she’d be a real demon.” 

“True.” 

He took a sip of coffee. It was bitter. 

“Sounds like you almost want another loop to happen,” Rio said, taking her glasses off. 

“If it’s not going to happen again, I just want someone to tell me it won’t.” 

She ignored him. “You sure you don’t want a do-over yourself?” she asked. 

Like this was the whole reason she’d brought the subject up. 

“……” 

“So you do.” 

“Have you never thought, ‘If only I’d…’?” 

“Is this about your sister?” 

Rio wasn’t about to let him worm out of this one. Payback for teasing her about Yuuma? 

“Yeah. Is that bad?” 

“It’s not bad, but it is out of character.” 

“I don’t seriously want to go back and try again.” 

“Then what?” 

“I just want to stop thinking about the shoulda woulda couldas when I know they won’t get me anywhere.” 

“That does sound like you.” 

“I can barely manage living in the present. Going back in time…no way I can deal with all the possibilities that brings. It’d be a nightmare.” 

Rio ignored this as she set up her gas burner. 

Sakuta flicked the die on the table. It came up a three. 

“Uh, Futaba…” 

“What?” 

Busy with the flame, she sounded annoyed. Like she’d heard what she wanted to hear and had lost all interest in Sakuta. 

“Any good ways to beat someone bigger than you who’s also an athlete?” 

“……” 

Rio’s hands paused. There was a look of surprise in her eyes. But it quickly faded to scorn. Eventually, she snorted derisively. 

“Not my field.” 

“Thought not.” 

She got the flame adjusted so it was burning blue. 

“But…” 

“Hmm?” 

“Humans aren’t monkeys, so if you use your head…you might have a chance.” 

That was a very Rio solution.