Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 5 - Chapter 6

Last Chapter – Chance Encounter

The results of an extensive battery of tests showed nothing was physically wrong with Kaede. 

But the hospital took their time releasing her. 

She was fully conscious and alert, but there was an obvious two-year gap in Kaede’s memories. All the time she’d spent as new Kaede was missing. 

From her perspective, she’d just woken up one morning to find two whole years had passed. That was a lot to take in, and they decided she’d need some time to adjust to the changes in her life. 

She no longer lived in the same town or attended the same school. She’d woken up thinking she was a first-year student, but she was now in her third year of junior high. And near the end of the second term. 

There was no way she could just accept all of that, process it, and go back to living like nothing had happened. 

The gap between her perceptions and reality was far too vast. 

She was even a little uncomfortable being around Sakuta. 

“It’s like you’re a grown-up,” she’d said. 

They would have to work through each discrepancy. And that couldn’t be done overnight. 

A week in the hospital would help lay the groundwork. 

Sakuta didn’t see a reason to argue with that. He swung by the hospital every day after school. 

December 1. Monday. 

Only one more month left in the year. 

When classes finished, Sakuta had some time before his shift at work, so he swung by Kaede’s room at the hospital. 

He knocked at the door. 

“Come in.” 

When she answered, he slid the door open. 

Kaede was sitting on the bed, her back against the wall, her knees up. There was a book resting on her knees—but not a novel. 

A notebook. New Kaede’s notebook. 

When she’d asked about the missing two years, he’d brought it here for her. 

She’d been reluctant to look at it that day, but it seemed curiosity had gotten the better of her. 

She was pretty absorbed in what was written on those pages. 

Sakuta sat down on the stool by the bed. Kaede closed the book. For some reason, she was blushing. She put the notebook down on the bedside table, acting a little flustered. 

“Something weird in there?” 

What he knew of the contents wouldn’t provoke a reaction like this. 

“N-no! Not at all,” Kaede insisted. Still very red-faced. “Uh, um…” 

“Mm?” 

“I have an important question for you.” 

“You do?” 

That was oddly formal. 

“I-if it’s not true, just say so.” 

“Okay.” 

“So, um, well…” 

Kaede glanced at him. 

Then she hugged a pillow to her chest. 

“Well? What?” 

“D-did I climb into your bed?” 

“You did.” 

“D-don’t let me!” 

“I mean, you did it of your own accord. No way for me to stop you.” 

“I didn’t! I would never!” 

Kaede buried her face in the pillow. Even her ears were red. 

“That would be waaaay too mortifying.” 

She was talking into the pillow. 

“I certainly wouldn’t recommended it at your age.” 

“Well, I still feel thirteen!” 

She peeped out from behind the pillow, glaring at him. 

“I think the second you start junior high, you’re already too old.” 

“Hngg…” 

Kaede seemed to disagree. Not wanting to touch that with a ten-foot pole, Sakuta changed the subject. 

“Oh, right, Kano said she wanted to come visit. You up for it?” 

He’d called Kotomi Kano yesterday, telling her Kaede’s memories had returned. She’d been shocked into silence, but when he explained more, she started crying. Tears of joy. 

“Komi?” 

“Yep.” 

“……” 

Kaede’s eyes locked onto her bedsheets, frowning. Probably thinking about everything that had happened at her last school. How everyone had used social networks, forums, and free messaging apps to say mean things about her. It had been a rough time. 

And for her, it didn’t seem like all that much time had passed. She’d spent the last two years on break. 

So nothing was really resolved. 

Even now that Kaede had her memories back, she was avoiding phones. If someone near her used one, she’d turn away. And she still jumped when she heard one ring or vibrate. 

Sakuta knew this was a problem Kaede was going to have to overcome. Along with the Adolescence Syndrome. 

After a long think, Kaede looked him right in the eye. 

“I’d like to meet her,” she said. 

“I’ll tell her that, then.” 

“M-mm. And also…” 

“Mm?” 

“W-will you come with me?” 

“Yeah, if you’re gonna meet up somewhere, I’ll tag along.” 

“Mm.” 

Looking relieved, she hugged her pillow again. 

“Anything else you’d like to do?” 

“Like what?” 

“Anything after you get outta here.” 

“Let me see…” 

She paused to think, but it didn’t take long. 

“Oh!” she said. “Er, uh…Sakuta.” 

Kaede turned to look right at him. He could tell from her eyes how nervous she was. 

She took a deep breath. 

And then another. 

“I want to go to school,” she said. “I want that to be possible.” 

Her eyes shifted from him to the side table. The notebook new Kaede had left for her. 

“You’re not scared anymore?” 

Back in the day, Kaede had constantly said she didn’t want to go. Every morning, she’d refuse to get out of bed, hoping the day would just end. But morning always came again, and the cycle of suffering continued. 

“I—I think I’ll be okay.” 

The tremor in her voice did not inspire confidence. 

But she put her hand on her chest, and he knew what she wanted to say. 

“Because I’m not alone,” she said with an embarrassed smile. It was a little forced. Putting a brave face on it. 

But it made Sakuta feel a bit better. 

Like everything was gonna be okay. 

They hadn’t accomplished anything yet. That was still all ahead of them. 

They hadn’t even taken the first step. All they’d done was look up. 

But there was a warmth in Sakuta’s chest. 

He was full of the kindness new Kaede had left him. 

After seeing Kaede, Sakuta worked his shift, getting back to his apartment around half past nine that night. 

It was raining, so he paused outside the door to brush the water off his uniform. It was a mist-like rain, so he hadn’t bothered using an umbrella, but now that he actually bothered to check his clothes, he realized he was pretty wet. His hair was dripping, too. 

He pulled his key out of his pocket. 

“I’m home,” he called. The lights were already on—at the entrance, in the hall, and in the living room. 

The sound of slippers came down the hall from that brightly lit living room. 

“Welcome back!” said an older woman in an apron, with a smile. “Will you have dinner? Or a bath? Or maaaaybe…” 

“Are you gonna finally explain what this is?” he asked, interrupting the cliché joke. The question caught in his throat. 

The woman in the apron—Shouko—had been staying with him since that fateful day. Shouko Makinohara. If he took her word for it, she was nineteen. “I don’t actually have a place to stay. Can you put me up for a while?” she’d said, the day after they were reunited. That Friday evening. 

What with Kaede and everything, Sakuta’s head was still spinning, so he allowed it. But that and a lot of other details had wound up on the back burner until now. 

And Kaede was definitely one reason for that. Sakuta just hadn’t been able to focus on anything else all weekend, so here they were, on Monday. 

But the other reason was because every time he asked, Shouko deflected. 

He’d asked the same question the day before, and she’d said, “Time for my bath!” and pushed him away. And when she’d gotten out, she said, “Staying up late is bad for your skin! Good night!” and gone right to bed. 

“Teenage girls need our secrets,” she said, clearly hell-bent on wriggling out of it once again. 

“Teenage? Shouko, you’re basically an adult now. I think you’ve grown out of secrets.” 

She definitely seemed way more mature than he remembered her. She’d gone from a high school girl to a college girl. 

“I’m risking a lot letting you stay here, you know.” 

If Mai found out about this, there was no telling what she’d say. The only reason they hadn’t already been caught was because Mai was on location, filming. Away from home for ten whole days. But that wouldn’t last forever. On the phone last night, she’d said she only had three more days to go. 

Which meant that was his time limit. 

He had to do something about this situation before Mai got back. At the very least, he wanted to arm himself with the information needed to explain it. 

Who was Shouko? Her connection to the junior high Shouko remained a mystery. He’d tried calling the younger one two days ago, but she hadn’t picked up. Or returned his call since then. 

“Fine,” Shouko said, sighing. “I’ll explain, but first, take a bath. This is gonna take a while, and you’ll catch a cold if you stand there dripping.” 

This didn’t sound like another trick, so he did as she suggested. The cold winter rain had certainly taken its toll on him. 

He took a nice long soak. 

Until the warmth had dispelled the last of the chill the rain had given him. 

Part of him was feeling pretty impatient. He wanted to hop right out and hear Shouko’s long story. 

The reason he didn’t was because he didn’t want to seem too eager. That would just put him at her mercy. And she might find another way to worm out of it if he wasn’t careful. 

That trace of stubbornness, and a bit of a gamble, meant he took a much longer bath than usual. By the time he left, he was thoroughly baked. 

His skin was flushed red from the heat. As he dried himself off, he worried that might give her yet another opening. 

Worrying about that, he put his underwear on—and the intercom rang. 

“Coming!” 

A pair of slippers went down the hall outside the changing room. Heading for the door. 

But it was past ten. Who could that be at this hour? A delivery? He hadn’t ordered anything. 

“……” 

He had a bad feeling about this. 

“No, wait! Shouko!” 

He hastily flung open the changing room door. His instincts were screaming that he had to stop Shouko before she opened the front door. Every part of his body yelled “Danger!” 

But, well. It was already too late. 

The door had swung open. 

And Shouko was beckoning someone in with a smile. 

“……” 

Sakuta’s mouth opened to yelp, but no sound came out. He froze halfway out the changing room door, unable to move. Dressed only in boxers, he felt time stop. 

There were two girls in front of him. Both older than him. One had been staying with him the last few days—Shouko, still wearing that apron. 

And the other was Mai, wearing a sedately colored coat. She had a paper bag in one hand. Likely some souvenirs she’d bought in Kanazawa. 

Mai looked him right in the eye and turned on her heel. 

“Uh, wait! Mai!” he yelled. But this was the wrong response. 

There was a click. 

Mai had locked the door. She even put the chain in place. Like she was trapping someone in a cage. 

“I thought you were acting funny on the phone the last few days,” she said, turning to face them. “So this is why? And here I thought you were all depressed about Kaede. I came home right away because I was worried.” 

She took her shoes off and stepped up into the apartment. 

“Sakuta,” she said. 

“Y-yes?” 

“You’re going to explain everything.” 

“Well, yeah. I’ll try.” 

But the only problem was, he didn’t really get it, either. What was going on here? 

“What’s the word for situations like this?” Shouko asked, like she wasn’t a key part of it. “Oh! A crisis!” She clapped her hands, grinning merrily. 

It was going to be a long night.