Last Chapter – And the Fall Brings…
After the press conference, the media storm around Sakuta and Mai died down pretty quick.
The flush of first love on Mai’s cheeks had done the trick and made the public want to watch over her love life protectively.
As a result, when Mai came back to school a few days later, she was able to leave with Sakuta.
The commotion had not blown over completely. There were still new photos of Sakuta and Mai going up on social media.
But these posts were getting flamed by anyone who found them, and the users were quickly forced to abandon the accounts.
By the second week of October, the world had found some new gossip to care about, and Sakuta’s life was back to normal.
The schedule for midterms was announced, and the menu at the restaurant changed to include new fall-themed dishes. Everything going on was normal life stuff, and entirely expected.
The only thing out of the ordinary was the phone call from Mai on Saturday night.
“Come over tomorrow,” she’d said.
Tomorrow was Sunday, the twelfth. Mai had the day off.
He’d given her back the spare key, so this was a rare opportunity to see the inside of her place. And Nodoka had gone home.
That meant he and Mai would finally be alone together.
How could he not get excited?
Sakuta put on a fresh pair of underwear, just in case, and left the house. He buzzed the intercom at two PM, just like she’d said.
She let him in, and he rode the elevator to the ninth floor. When he reached the door to the corner condo, he rang her intercom.
He heard footsteps coming.
“Welcome,” a girl said as she opened the door.
“Huh?” He blinked a couple times.
It wasn’t Mai.
A very familiar blond girl was standing there. He knew her name. And he knew her career as an idol was just getting started.
“Why are you here, Toyohama?”
His excitement was fading quickly.
“She didn’t tell you?” Nodoka asked, adjusting the lay of her wide-necked T-shirt. She was wearing shorts below that, very casual. Her hair was done up with a scrunchie.
For once, her eye makeup was a little less dramatic. This was definitely an “at home” look.
“I haven’t heard a thing.”
“Aha. Well, that’s fine. Come in.”
Nodoka waved him in like she owned the place. Sakuta didn’t think this was “fine” at all, but there seemed no point standing around outside. He went in.
He took his shoes off and stepped up into the room. He looked down the hallway to the living room, and his suspicion became a certainty.
There was a stack of large boxes filling half the hall. Nearly a dozen of them, and the open box on top was filled with clothing far too flashy for Mai to wear.
Nodoka stopped beside them and said, “Move all of these into there.”
She slapped the side of the box pile, jerking her chin at the room next to them.
The room Mai never used. Effectively an empty room.
“You’re moving in?”
That much was obvious.
“She really didn’t tell you?” Nodoka turned toward the living room. “Sis!”
“I’m in here. Come help.” Mai called to them from the tatami room.
She emerged carrying a comforter in both hands. She was not visible behind it. The giant bedding entirely blocked the view. Mai didn’t seem to be able to see where she was going and was picking her way carefully.
Sakuta went over to her and took the fluffy comforter from her.
“Oh, Sakuta. Thanks. Put it in there.”
Like Nodoka, Mai gestured to the empty room.
“Okay, okay,” he said, adjusting his grip. He hauled over and spread it out on the brand-new bed—the only object in the room.
When he turned back, Mai and Nodoka were standing in the doorway, watching him work.
“Mai, what’s going on?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Toyohama’s moving in?” he said, reluctant to put it in words.
“Yep,” Mai said.
“I thought you and your mom made up?”
He looked at Nodoka.
He definitely remembered her going home after getting her body back. She’d barely made the last train, but she’d said she had to get home and have a proper talk with her mom.
And Mai had told him things had worked out between them. Like, two days ago.
So why was she here now? This deserved an explanation.
“I get how Mom feels, and we talked about how I need to make my own choices, but…”
Nodoka shifted uncomfortable.
“But what?”
“People don’t change that fast,” she said, glaring at him.
“So even though you just made up, you already had another fight?”
“I mean, Mom is always this or that, do it this way, do it that way. She just can’t stop meddling. It’s obnoxious.”
“…Look who’s talking.”
So much for happy endings.
But he also got what Nodoka was saying. Their relationship was so deeply in Mai’s shadow that a single reconciliation wasn’t realistically going to lead to a dramatic improvement.
It had taken them years to get where they were.
And old habits die hard. It would take a lot of time and effort to turn things around.
“So we talked it over, and Sis said, ‘Why not live with me awhile?’” Nodoka slipped into an imitation of Mai halfway. She seemed pretty happy.
“It’s a bit far from the dance studio, but basically the same distance from school,” Mai added. Sakuta hadn’t asked.
But this was some harsh medicine to help Nodoka’s mom let go of her kid.
If she couldn’t stop meddling even after they made up, then physical separation might be the right choice. Mai herself had started living on her own after a fight with her mother, so she probably had strong feelings on the subject.
“I went to Nodoka’s house yesterday. We explained our goals clearly and said everything that needed to be said. Don’t worry.”
He hadn’t been worried. His concerns lay entirely elsewhere.
“Aww,” he said. In light of all of this.
“What?” Nodoka demanded, visibly annoyed.
“If there’s someone else here, I can’t flirt with Mai.”
“Good!” Nodoka said, throwing her arms around Mai triumphantly.
“H-hey, Nodoka!”
Nodoka’s face was buried in Mai’s chest. But she shot a look back at Sakuta, like a challenge.
“I can do that, too!” Sakuta said and tried to grab Mai.
“Stay back!” Nodoka snarled, kicking him. Sakuta caught the kick with both hands. “Eek! Let go, dumbass!”
She thrashed her leg around, trying to shake him off, and managed to kick him in the stomach. He doubled over, clutching his gut.
“Damn, girl…”
Nodoka snorted as she tightened her grip on Mai.
“You need to wean yourself off Mai, sister-complex idol.”
“Huh? I don’t have a sister complex.”
“Look in a mirror!”
Nodoka had her arms around Mai’s waist and was clinging to her like a koala.
“There aren’t any.”
“Then don’t look. Either way, Mai is mine. Let her go!”
“She’s my sister!”
“If you two can’t get along, I’ll kick you both out.”
“……”
“……”
They both turned their backs on each other.
“No more fighting. And get these boxes unpacked.”
“Aww.”
“Okaaay.”
When they gave very different answers, Nodoka turned and glared at Sakuta. She was definitely treating this like a competition and was very fired up about it.
Life often didn’t go as planned.
Sakuta and Mai finally resolved the Adolescence Syndrome and freed themselves from the clutches of that No Dating rule, but here was someone else hell-bent on getting in their way.
Life really never works out the way you want it to.
A chilly lesson on a crisp fall day.
Helping with the move itself was over in thirty minutes. It wasn’t like Nodoka had anything big. After that, Mai asked Sakuta to help rearrange the living room. She’d decided to use this as an excuse to change things up.
The tiny dining table was replaced with a slightly larger one, to accommodate the addition of Nodoka. The one Mai had been using was placed on the side of the room, with a flower vase on it.
Between moving everything and cleaning, this took about an hour.
Sipping the tea Mai made for him, Sakuta looked up and saw the clock hands pointing at four. Mai was in the kitchen, putting rice in the cooker.
When he glanced back, their eyes met.
“Staying for dinner?” she asked.
“I would love to, but Kaede’s waiting.”
“I thought you’d say that.”
Mai had already measured out enough rice for two. She really had just asked as a courtesy. She added water, and the rice cooker was ready to start up.
“I’d better go,” Sakuta said, getting up.
Mai walked him to the door.
“Thanks for helping,” she said.
“Next time, let’s make it just the two of us.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
She waved a hand, and he left.
Waiting alone at the elevator, he heard someone coming up behind him. She stopped next to Sakuta but said nothing.
“……”
He turned. It was Nodoka, all right.
“……”
Did she want to talk to him? He waited a moment, but she didn’t say anything. Just watched the lights above the elevator.
The elevator arrived, and they got on without a word. And rode it all the way down in silence.
Sakuta had nothing to talk about, so he just headed toward his own building. It was right across the street. Less than a minute walk.
The moment he reached the other side…
“Don’t just ignore me,” Nodoka called after him, annoyed.
“What?” he said, turning back.
She was standing on the other side of the street, not meeting his eye. Her fingers were tangled up in the sleeve of her T-shirt, and she was fidgeting.
“Do you need the bathroom?”
“Of course not!”
He’d figured. She was old enough to go on her own, after all. Unless she had some weirdly specific fetish, that wouldn’t be a reason to prevent him from going home.
“Then what?” he asked, not really caring.
“I haven’t actually talked to you one-on-one since getting my body back.”
She was still not looking at him. She started twirling her blond hair, clearly uncomfortable.
“Yeah, you were Mai the whole time.”
“So, uh…that kinda makes it awkward, right?”
“Does it?”
“H-how could it not?” She looked annoyed.
“I dunno. Doesn’t really affect me.”
“……”
Her glare grew more baleful, but the awkwardness showed, and she was looking up through her lashes. This was a sharp contrast with her outgoing vibe, and it struck him as funny.
“So? What do you actually want?”
She hadn’t come after him for this. She must’ve had something else on her mind.
“She said I had to say it.”
This sounded like a sulky excuse.
“So?”
“Uh…”
Nodoka looked away again. Without looking at him, she said, “Thanks.”
“For helping you move? No prob.”
“Not just for today. I mean…for everything. For helping me.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I do, though.”
“You don’t need to.”
“……”
“……”
“I think I kinda get it.”
“Huh?”
“Why she chose you.”
“Tell me more.”
“God no! You’re such a dumbass. And just ’cause I get it doesn’t mean I feel the same way or anything! Don’t get the wrong idea.”
He hadn’t suggested anything like that, but here she was turning red and vehemently denying it.
“I don’t!” She suddenly looked very serious. She was all over the place.
“Fine, I won’t get the wrong idea.”
“……”
He’d done what she asked, but she still looked mad at him. Frowning, glaring…what did she want with him?
“…You could, a little.”
“Huh?”
“N-never mind! Don’t look at me!”
“Seriously, what do you even want?”
“Figure it out!” Nodoka spun around, muttering, “I mean, I definitely can’t beat her here.”
“What?”
“Just go home!”
She turned back once more and stuck out her tongue. Then she stomped off back inside.
“You’re the one who stopped me…”
But she was already out of sight and couldn’t hear him. He’d have to complain the next time they met. She’d be in Mai’s place, and he’d probably bump into her outside soon enough. Plenty of chances.
“We’re really gonna have to wean her off Mai, too…,” he muttered.
Then he turned around and went inside his own building.
He checked the mailbox on the first floor. Flyers for pizza and sushi joints. And a light-blue envelope he didn’t recognize. One that opened at the side.
“Mm?”
The envelope wasn’t sealed. Just folded closed.
No stamp or signs of post office processing.
No address or postal code.
All it said on the front was:
To: Sakuta
In round, feminine handwriting.
“……”
Odd, he thought. He reached for the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of paper, folded in half.
He opened it slowly.
There was a short note scrawled on it.
When he read what was written, he grew even more baffled.
The letter said:
Can we meet at the beach at Shichirigahama tomorrow?
Shouko
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login