Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 8 - Chapter 2.2

2

Sakuta left school a little earlier than planned and reached Fujisawa Station and the restaurant he worked at just after four thirty.

He said “Good morning” to the older lady working the register and headed in back to change. He was soon in his server uniform.

Once he was presentable, he returned to the break room, and the time card puncher still said four forty-five. Another fifteen minutes before his shift began.

Normally, he’d have killed this time just staring into space. But today, Sakuta was a new man.

“I guess I’d better.”

He pulled his bag out of the locker and grabbed a book the size of a new hardcover. He brought that to the stool in the break room and sat down.

Sighing, he opened it. It was a book of English vocab. One thousand four hundred easy words. The book was brand-new. No crease in the spine. Mai had given it to him two days ago. She’d called after work and he’d gone downstairs to meet her, like a sucker, and she’d done her cutest smile and said, “I got you a present!”

Never for a moment suspecting it might be a vocab builder, he’d happily taken it.

“Learn all those in three months.”

“That’s…kind of a lot.”

Just flipping through proved there were over three hundred pages.

“I’ll be testing you every week to see if you’ve learned them properly.”

“If I do well, is there a reward?”

“If you do poorly, there’ll be punishment.”

“That’s honestly a fairly tempting offer.”

Perhaps too much information. Mai gave him an extra-nice smile, and he concluded that he probably shouldn’t joke around any further. Naturally, he’d meant every word, but…

So while helping Kaede study was important, Sakuta also needed to start the slow grind toward the college exam a year from now.

A year might seem like a lot, but if he didn’t make smart use of these little pockets of time, he’d never pull it off.

His teacher had said most students started getting ready during summer of their second year. With his late start, he’d have to be that much more dedicated.

He had already committed the words on the first page to memory. The list of English words sat on the left, right alongside their respective meanings. On the right were example sentences using the words. Very easy to follow.

It came with a red plastic filter that would block out the red-ink definitions, allowing him to quickly check if he actually remembered things. Anything he didn’t, he could review again in a flash, burning the words into his mind.

He repeated that, memorizing six pages. Maybe twenty words. Mai had set his target at a hundred words a week, so that was enough for one day…assuming he still remembered any of them tomorrow.

“I’ll give ’em another once-over before bed.”

He couldn’t know what tomorrow would bring until tomorrow, so he’d just have to leave things up to himself then.

As that thought crossed his mind, he heard a door open and close outside the break room. Probably someone coming out of the girls’ changing room.

A moment later, someone came into the break room itself. She passed right next to him, and he heard a slight intake of breath as she spotted him sitting there.

There was a long silence.

“…What are you doing, senpai?” she asked.

He knew who it was without looking. It might be a big universe out there, but only one person in it ever called him that. A first-year kohai from his school and a coworker at this restaurant, Tomoe Koga.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the book.

“It looks like you’re studying.”

She spoke as if this was a mind-boggling wonder.

“That would be right.”

“……”

He’d answered the question but sensed her voiceless query. He gave into his curiosity, looked up, and found her gaping down at him.

“That’s a cute expression,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

“D-don’t call me cute! And what’s wrong with you?!”

“Nothing’s wrong with me.”

“You don’t know?! You’ve really lost it!”

That sounded pretty rude. But they were always like this, so he didn’t mind. Frankly, he was far more comfortable this way. It let him say whatever he felt, too.

“My academic skills are a lost cause, so I figured I’d better fix that.”

He glanced at the time card clock; there were only two minutes left before his shift. He closed the vocab builder and stood up.

As he stuffed it in his locker, Tomoe’s voiced drifted over the top of the rack.

“Are you going to college, then?”

“If I can get in.”

Wishes alone would not get you there. You also needed considerable study skills and equivalent financing.

“You gonna still work here, or…?”

He shut the locker and emerged back into the break room. Tomoe had her lips pursed. Somewhere between a grump and a sulk. She quickly turned away.

“Not that I care,” she said, ending the conversation.

She punched her time card, and his. Then headed out onto the restaurant floor.

Sakuta followed her, saying, “I’ll still be working. Need the money.”

“Right,” she said, perking up a bit.

“Is that a smile?”

“N-no!”

She half turned toward him, cheeks puffed out.

“My financial struggles amuse you?”

“That’s not why!”

“So you admit you were smiling?”

“I—I was not! Argh, you drive me nuts.”

Sulking even harder, she spun around and headed over to bus a just-emptied table. He could hear her muttering away.

“Uh, Koga…”

“Do your job, senpai.”

She was quickly stacking plates, stretching her petite frame out to reach the back of the booth and wipe it down.

“Before that, something important to discuss.”

“What? Is this gonna be weird?”

Still fully stretched out, she turned her head in his direction, a look of deep suspicion in her eyes.

“Um, I guess in a sense? Yes.”

“So what is it?”

His eyes slid down to her butt.

“That skirt’s a bit tight, isn’t it?”

“?!”

Tomoe quickly straightened up and spun toward him, hands clapped over her backside.

“It’s giving you a VPL.”

Not a problem if she was standing upright, but leaning over to wipe the table definitely tugged it flush against the rounded curve.

“Have you put on a few? Again?”

“I have not! And what do you mean, ‘Again?’”

“You were griping about it after New Year’s.”

“Because you were mocking my puffy cheeks!”

“That’s all?”

“And I lost four whole pounds! Look again!”

Tomoe glared at him.

“Still…,” he said, his eyes dropping to her skirt. He was looking at her hips but only interested in her butt.

“Th-that’s how it works!”

“How does what work?”

“S-sometimes you lose the weight and your butt doesn’t shrink!”

Her face had gone all red, and she clearly objected to being forced to say any of this out loud.

“Oh. Well, it’s very you, Koga.”

“What definition of me is that based on?!”

“A butt-heavy one.”

“You’re the worst! I can’t believe I’m still standing here!”

“You’re the one contributing to the decline of public morals.”

He pointedly glanced down again.

“Stop staring!”

Tomoe spread out her apron, blocking his view.

“You should talk to the manager, swap out for a size up.”

“Never.”

It was sound advice, rejected in a word.

“I’m sure my butt will catch up with the diet any day now. It’s gonna shrink!”

“Then we’ll have you focus on orders and the register today. Oh, look, table three’s heading out.”

A customer was heading for the register.

“I’ll bus their table.”

“You really are…”

Tomoe glared up at him. This definitely looked more like a sulk than anger.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

She turned away, toward the register.

“Be right there!” she called, and she headed over, only slightly concerned about her backside.

He left seating customers, taking orders, and working the register to Tomoe and mostly busied himself with busing and setting empty tables, refilling paper napkins and glasses—all jobs that had him constantly in and out of the back.

After two hours spent earning his paycheck, it was just past seven, and he’d recently completed a round of the tables.

“Got a sec, senpai?” Tomoe asked.

“That was fast. Diet already fix your butt problems?”

“If you don’t stop talking like that, someone’s gonna press charges.”

He turned around to find her scowling up at him.

“I’ll be fine.”

“The source of that confidence?”

“I only talk like this with you.”

“I wish I hadn’t asked.”

Her cheeks were rather red.

“Nothing to blush about.”

“I’m not!”

“Your cheeks seem to disagree.”

“That’s anger!”

“That kind of twitching is best left to butts.”

“I swear I’m gonna slim down! And then I’ll make you eat those words!”

She was somehow managing to look ashamed and furious at the same time.

“If that actually happens, sure.”

How many times had Tomoe announced a new diet plan? He felt pretty sure she was telling him about a new one before he could tell if the last was working. In his mind, she was perpetually on a diet. That was her default state of being.

“Well, putting your weight aside…”

“You’re the one who keeps bringing it up!”

“What did you actually want?”

“Oh, right. Over here.”

She’d clearly forgotten, but she turned and headed toward the floor. When Sakuta just stood there, she beckoned.

“Hurry up!”

“What? Is there a customer so weird you’ve gotta show everyone?”

He followed her out and did a scan of the restaurant. He didn’t see anyone particularly noteworthy. A group of four high school girls squealing about the latest romantic gossip. And a young couple occupying a four-top, a businessman with his laptop out, and a group of middle-aged men guzzling beers like this was a pub.

“I see nobody here who could possibly enrich my life in any meaningful way.”

“She’s outside.”

Tomoe moved over to the register, glancing through the glass of the front doors. Sakuta followed her gaze and saw someone gingerly picking their path. All hunched over, to all appearances a bundle of nerves. She stopped just outside the doors, peering through like an animal on the lookout for threats. But before she could come in, another customer left, and she retreated to safety.

She had a coat over a long skirt, giving her a very bulky silhouette. Her hair was neatly cut just above the shoulders. She looked to be in junior high. Sakuta had not only seen her before, he’d seen her every day. They lived together. It was his own sister.

But that was exactly why it felt so strange to see her here.

He was left wondering just what the hell she was doing.

If it was really her at all.

It was that weird for her to venture out on her own.

Kaede had managed to start going to school earlier this year, but she still spent all the rest of her time cooped up in the house.

“She keeps almost coming in and then not. Should I, like, help?”

“I’ll handle it. That’s my sister.”

“Huh? Your— Oh, right. You have one.”

Tomoe kept squawking behind him, but Sakuta stumped right out through the doors to the outside. Kaede jumped at the sound of the doors opening.

“Kaede,” he called.

She’d been cowering to the side, and she flinched at the sound of his voice, then turned slowly toward him.

“O-oh, Sakuta. Um. I was just…”

“You came all the way here alone?”

He got the answer to that before Kaede said anything. He saw someone hiding behind a car in the lot, watching over her.

Long, straight hair done up in braids today, with a pair of fake glasses to complete the disguise. Mai.

“Oh, Mai’s with you?”

She must have gotten back from the commercial shoot.

“That sounded rude,” Mai said, pretending to be cross. She came right up to him and pinched his cheek.

“Always glad to have you pamper me, even on the clock,” he said.

He had to put his joy into words.

“Any seats open?” Mai asked, no emotion in her voice.

He’d wanted her to keep fussing, but she’d already let go of his cheek, her attention moving over his shoulder, checking how busy the restaurant itself was.

“Plenty,” he said.

It was a comparatively slow day. Even on weekdays, there was often a waiting list between six and eight, but today he could seat them right away.

“Come on in,” he said, opening the doors and waving them through. Tomoe handed him two menus, and he led them to the dining area.

Kaede followed after him, looking tense. Head not all the way up, constantly surveying her surroundings. Mai followed right behind her, hands on her shoulders for reassurance.

Sakuta took them to the booth at the very back. Once seated, almost nobody could see them.

“Will this table do?”

“Yes.”

Once Kaede was sitting, Mai adjusted her own long skirt and took a seat herself.

“These are your menus,” Sakuta said, putting one in front of each. “I’ll just go fetch your waters,” he said, and he stepped away.

He was soon back with two cups of water and a hot towel for each of them. He set them out on the table, and Mai thanked him with a smile. Kaede was curling into a ball. She kept glancing up and around. Clearly worried that other customers were looking.

Everyone was deep in their own conversations, paying her no mind at all.

“Being that nervous will just draw attention.”

“I—I know, but…I’ve never been anywhere like this with anyone but Mom and Dad. I’m so out of my comfort zone…”

Kaede looked up at him, searching for guidance.

“Just sit back and relax. Even if anyone looks this way, they’ll be looking at Mai.”

“R-right. I knew that.”

She sounded convinced but didn’t straighten up at all. Like she was trying to make herself as small as possible.

“Don’t worry, Kaede. Only a few customers can see into this booth. Right, Sakuta?”

Mai glanced his way, clearly aware of why he’d seated them here.

“Right you are.”

That seemed to help, and Kaede’s head finally came up. She opened the menu and flipped through it. Seeing all the photos of comfort food seemed to help relax her.

“So what brought this on?” he asked. The obvious question.

“Nothing,” she said evasively. Eyes on the menu. Then she said, “Um…” and looked to Mai for help.

Mai had her menu open to the pasta section and said, “I’ll have this, with this salad,” pointing.

As Sakuta punched the order in, she added, “I brought over the Nagasaki souvenir and found Kaede there alone. She said you had a shift.”

That left the bulk of the reason unstated but sort of made sense.

“Kaede said she hadn’t eaten yet, and when I asked if there was anything she wanted, she said she wanted to see where you work.”

“Oh yeah?”

He’d had no idea she was even curious.

“I-I’ve gotta turn in the application next week, right?”

“Uh, sure.”

He felt like they’d skipped a transition.

“I have to take it to the school myself. I thought it would be good practice for going out.”

Miwako had told him as much when she handed it over. Admissions would verify the applicant’s identity then, so she would have to go in person. Shockingly, mailing it in was not allowed.

Sakuta must have taken care of that two years ago, but he had next to no memories of doing so. He’d probably just taken it to the office right inside the visitors’ entrance, and it had all taken so little time it had left no real impression on him.

It had really been no big deal.

But for Kaede, going outside was always a big deal. She needed to train for it. If she couldn’t turn in the application, she couldn’t take the test. That was a bigger problem than studying for it.

“But you made it all the way here. Even if Mai did tag along.”

“It was easier than going out in my uniform. There were lots of people by the station, and that was intense, but…”

Kaede smiled, putting a brave face on. And he only knew one thing to say to that kind of earnestness.

“Good work.”

“Th-thanks.”

Sakuta’s praise earned another smile. This one wasn’t forced—just a pure reflection of how she felt. But it was soon followed by a wave of awkwardness, and Kaede turned back to the menu, focusing on what to order.

“And thanks for coming with, Mai.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Kaede, ready to order? It’s on me,” he said.

She was flipping back and forth between the page of omelet rice dishes and the list of parfaits.

“It’s dinner time, so better go with actual food.”

“I was just looking at the parfaits!”

She flinched, her voice shrinking. The gleam in her eye had made it clear she was doing more than looking. He went ahead and added the omelet rice to the pasta and salad.

He repeated the order back—by the book—bowed, and left their table. There were plenty of other customers, so he couldn’t chat with them all night.

When he brought their food over, Kaede was busy studying.

She had a notebook out and a book of math problems open, and Mai was teaching her how to handle functions.

“Your food has arrived,” Sakuta said.

Kaede jumped and looked up.

“Your omelet rice,” he said, holding up the plate.

Kaede shoved the open books out of the way, making room for him to set it down. The fluffy yellow of the eggs glistened, and the demi-glace sauce gave off a tantalizing odor.

“That looks good,” Kaede whispered.

He set Mai’s pasta and salad down, too.

“Dig in, Kaede.”

“I—I will.”

They both minded their pre-meal manners, then Kaede took a spoonful of omelet and the rice within. There was melted cheese hidden inside the egg, which also whetted the appetite. She scooped it all up and nervously took a bite.

She chewed a few times, and her lips curled up.

A look of pure bliss.

Feeling like that from eating a bog-standard dish at a chain restaurant meant Kaede was truly blessed.

She took another bite. As if remembering how good the first had been, this time she specifically took time to savor it. But her spoon never stopped. Her smile was infectious.

He was beaming from just watching her, and then he found himself remembering the other Kaede’s smile. His other sister—she’d always smiled around him, always dedicated to the task at hand. He’d never been able to bring her here to eat this meal. He wished he could have.

He was sure she would’ve been delighted, probably grinning ear-to-ear while she said something like “I think my cheeks fell off! Sakuta, are they still attached?!”

But that could never happen now. No matter how much he wished for it, he’d never hear her voice again. And the pain that caused him was proof that she’d been real, and a part of his life for the last two years.

That wasn’t a regret. He wasn’t racked by remorse.

This Kaede was steadily making progress between going out and working hard at her exam prep. And that just made the time the other one had spent with him that much more valuable. It was a happy thought, but also a sad one.

“Sakuta?”

“Mm?”

He blinked and found her looking awkwardly up at him.

“It’s hard to eat with you staring at me,” she said, shifting uncomfortably.

“Pretend I’m not here.”

“That’s impossible and wouldn’t help. You seem strangely out of it, and it’s super weird.”

“Oh? I’m basically always like this. Right, Mai?”

Acting like nothing was out of the ordinary, he turned to Mai for comfort.

And found her mid-pasta-slurp. She reached for a napkin and dabbed her lips before answering.

“Yes. Sakuta is always like this.”

Solid backup, but weirdly demoralizing.

“……”

Kaede seemed unconvinced. She was studying him intently.

“Wait, are you…?” she began, then broke off, staring at her hands.

“What?”

“…Never mind. Uh…are you working the next couple of days, too?”

A transparent attempt to change the subject. Her eyes were on her half-finished food. As she scooped up more chicken and rice, she looked a little downcast.

The next couple of days were a Saturday and a Sunday.

“Got an afternoon shift both days.”

“Oh…”

“So we’ll be studying in the evenings.”

Kaede nodded wordlessly.

“Then you can study with me during the day,” Mai suggested.

“Oh? You’re off?”

“The filming dates shifted. So I’ve got the whole weekend off. I was hoping Sakuta had time for a date, but it sounds like he’s busy with work.”

Mai tilted her head to one side, looking up at him pointedly. The gesture seemed significant. Maybe she’d seen through his lie. And because he’d picked up on that, he didn’t dare look away.

“Wish I hadn’t taken these shifts, then.”

He put on a sad face. Any blown date opportunity was tragic, so there was real emotion behind it.

“Um, then I’d love your help,” Kaede said, looking nervous.

“I’ll be there,” Mai said, smiling warmly.

Kaede’s nerves faded. And with that, Sakuta left their table.

A customer was waiting to pay, so he took over the register. Tomoe was busy delivering food.

“Exact change it is. Please come again!”

He watched them escort their kids out, and Tomoe caught up with him.

“Senpai, you’re not working Sunday.”

She was close enough that no one else could hear.

“What, Koga, were you eavesdropping?”

“I wasn’t trying to snoop.”

She shot him a disgruntled look. Her cheeks puffed out again.

“You shouldn’t talk about poop in front of people.”

“Ugh, so gross.”

She radiated pure disgust. A very hostile look, but not nearly hostile enough. Your average high school girl just couldn’t match Mai’s intensity in that department. Sakuta regularly got bone-chilling stares out of her, and by comparison, Tomoe’s were lukewarm water.

“Why’d you lie to your girlfriend and sister?”

“’Cause some things they’re better off not knowing.”

Like Tomoe said, Sakuta didn’t have a work shift that Sunday. He’d originally had one, but something had cropped up, and he’d swapped with Yuuma.

“Are you cheating?”

Tomoe looked at him like he was filth.

“I’m dating the cutest girl in the whole world. Why would I waste my time doing something like that?”

“The fact that you’re being completely serious just makes it worse.”

Tomoe rolled her eyes at him. Was this what “teenage apathy” referred to? Sakuta hadn’t been trying to make her laugh or anything. He’d just spoken the truth as he knew it, which might well be the objective truth, and perhaps that was why her smile looked strained.

“Fine, I’ll buy you a tantan-men set if you keep silent.”

This was one of the bigger meals on the menu. It came with two chicken nuggets and rice.

“That’s the highest-calorie meal we have!”

“That’s how we keep you being yourself, Koga. Calories.”

“Senpai, you’re gonna have to let me punch you.”

“Oh, I actually have a favor to ask you.”

“Wh-what?” She braced herself.

“Get a strawberry parfait started.”

This was a seasonal special. It had a lot of strawberries in it and was the very thing Kaede had been eyeing intensely.

“Also mad calories!”

“It’s not for you.”

“Then who?”

“Take it to my sister’s table once she’s finished her omelet rice. I’ll add it to the order.”

He already had his pad out and was punching it in.

Kaede had worked hard to get here, and it was a small reward. Couldn’t hurt.