Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 8 - Chapter 2.5

5

As January drew to a close, the temperatures got that much gnarlier. The weather report yesterday had said, “Cold flowing down from the north will make it chilly enough for scattered snowflakes, not just along Kanto’s northern mountains, but in the flatlands to the south and along the coasts.”

That forecast had proved unusually accurate. Sakuta lived on the coast at the southern end of Kanto, but there were definitely tiny snowflakes in the air.

Afternoon and fifth-period math rolled around with no signs of the snow stopping.

Sakuta sat by the window, so he could easily tell how cold it looked. On a clear day, this seat gave him a magnificent view of the sea, sky, and horizon. Today he had a rare glimpse of snow falling on the ocean, as far as the eye could see.

But Sakuta was not in the mood to enjoy that winter wonderland. The clock had all his attention. He’d been checking at least every three minutes since fifth period started.

When the teacher finished explaining an example integral problem, Sakuta made sure he had everything in his notes and checked the clock again.

It was almost two PM.

Probably the right moment for it.

So he raised his hand, calling the teacher’s name. Chalk in hand, they turned toward him—as did the eyes of every classmate.

“Yes, Azusagawa?”

“Can I go to the bathroom?”

“Hold it.”

“Can’t.”

“Then go on.”

Permission granted, he got up. As he passed the board, he said, “It’s a number two, so it might be a while.”

“Too much information,” the teacher grumbled.

His classmates’ laughter still ringing in his ears, Sakuta left the room.

With classes in session, the halls were eerily quiet. The faint drone of teachers’ voices through the doors, the sounds of students scribbling notes or shifting in their seats. A manufactured hush.

Sakuta’s footsteps felt extra loud.

He was alone in the halls. That was kind of a rush, but there was a grain of guilt hidden within. He walked right past the men’s room.

And down the stairs.

Not because the faculty toilet was better suited to giant dumps.

He sailed past the main entrance, heading for the side of the school, where the visitors’ entrance lay. Over by the main office.

The reception window was open, and a fortysomething female faculty member was on duty. They did not normally have anyone sitting in this window, but the sign saying APPLICATION COUNTER made it clear why someone was there today.

It was January 29. The prefectural high school application window had started yesterday, and it closed tomorrow.

Sakuta had been keeping one eye on the time because this was when Kaede had planned to hand in her application.

Neither she nor anyone her age was anywhere to be seen. Miwako had said this was the eye of the storm and the least popular time to turn anything in; clearly, she’d been right.

Afternoon on day two.

Most students either got it over with on the first day or fretted about it till the last second and came running in on day three.

After talking it over with Kaede, they’d agreed she should bring hers by today. The fewer people she ran into, the better.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?” The lady at the window gave him a searching look. He was definitely not supposed to be wandering around the halls while classes were in session.

Before she could start to pry, he asked, “Has Kaede Azusagawa turned in her application yet? She’s my sister but has been out of school awhile. I’m worried she won’t even make it here.”

Best to just tell the truth here. He pulled his student ID out of his jacket pocket, proving he was really a student here and his name really was Sakuta Azusagawa.

The faculty lady was clearly a bit taken aback but got why he was concerned. “Just a minute,” she said and riffled through the stack of applications she’d received. “She hasn’t shown up yet.”

“Thanks for checking.”

He left the reception window and went out the visitors’ entrance, still in his school slippers.

Sticking to the roofed area, he looked toward the gate. There were three people her age with umbrellas there, but he could tell none of them were Kaede. All were wearing pants.

“Can she really do this?”

When he’d left the house that morning, he’d definitely asked if she could make it all the way to Minegahara on her own, but she’d insisted she could do it.

He wanted to believe in her. To respect her choice. She’d spent the last few days in an indignant huff, which certainly didn’t inspire confidence.

Ever since she’d caught him flirting with Mai on Sunday, Kaede had clearly been in a mood.

They were still eating breakfast and dinner together, and she was still asking for help with her studies, but the look on her face suggested she was still holding it against him.

He waited for Kaede a while longer, but she didn’t show.

Wanting a better look, he left the roofed area and headed toward the school gate. He didn’t have an umbrella, and the snow was getting all over his uniform. It was snowing much harder than it had looked through the window. Each individual flake was tiny, so it wasn’t really accumulating on the ground, but it was enough to turn Sakuta’s shoulders white.

The wind was bitterly cold. He fought off the urge to flee back to the warmth of his classroom and peered around the gate.

The bells at the crossing were ringing. Train coming. He could see it pulling out of Shichirigahama, bound for Kamakura. Which meant it had come from Fujisawa. Kaede might have been on that.

The bells stopped.

Not long after, people coming from the station rounded the corner carrying umbrellas. They were junior high students in unforms and winter coats. Six in all, keeping their distance from one another. They all entered through the gates and walked past Sakuta, each one with a tense look on their face.

Kaede wasn’t with them.

“The next train, then?”

He sighed, making a white cloud. His fingers were going numb. At this time of day, the next train was twelve minutes off. Just as he was starting to consider going back inside, he saw a new umbrella round the corner. A plain, unadorned navy blue.

She had the umbrella held out before her, so he couldn’t see her face. But he knew it was Kaede. She was wearing the coat Mai gave her over her uniform and had mittens on. And a scarf that matched those mittens. Black tights to stave off the snow’s chill. It was the same look she’d shown him that morning.

One mitten held the umbrella, and the other was clutching a transparent plastic folder. Kaede kept stopping and checking the folder. It probably contained the map Sakuta had given her. Most people didn’t print out maps these days, since they could pull them up on their phones, but Kaede’s social life had collapsed after a phone-related squabble, and she still tensed up if she heard a ringtone, even on vibrate. She couldn’t exactly carry one around with her.

She reached the little bridge before the crossing. She made it halfway across, then stopped dead in her tracks.

She’d spotted a uniformed girl coming back after turning in her application. Kaede didn’t move another step until that girl was safely behind her.

After that brief hiccup, she set out again. But one returning student after another passed her, and each time, she hid beneath her umbrella.

“……”

It would be so easy to run over to her.

For him to help her turn in the application.

But watching her push herself here, one step at a time, he knew he shouldn’t.

Sakuta retreated back inside before she saw him.

He passed a few kids coming back from turning their forms in. They saw him covered in snow and looked puzzled. One boy straight up gave him a head tilt. They must have thought he had a screw loose.

Sakuta didn’t give a shit. He didn’t care what they thought. The opinions of strangers never meant anything to him.

He wished he could share that mind-set with Kaede. But that was impossible, so he just went back to the office window and waited quietly for her to get there.

He shook the snow off his uniform, but still no Kaede.

Five minutes. Ten. No Kaede.

Sakuta grimly hung on, and at last she stepped in the visitors’ entrance. She shook the snow off her umbrella. She found the sign for the application desk and looked relieved.

And then she saw him standing there.

“Huh?”

“Applications go right here.”

“R-right.”

He took the umbrella from her. She put the map folder away and pulled the application folder out—all with her mittens on. That was odd.

Still all gloved up, she moved closer to the window. Scarf still wrapped up tight, too.

“H-hi,” she said, holding out the envelope with both hands.

“Hello. Let’s see…you must be Kaede Azusagawa, yes?” the woman asked.

She took the form, glanced it over, and took a good look at Kaede’s face.

“Th-that’s right.”

“We’ve received your application. Good luck on the test.”

“Th-thank you.”

Kaede bowed her head and left the window. She came trotting back to Sakuta.

“Why are you here?”

“I had to go to the bathroom, so I swung by.”

“Are there bathrooms outside?”

“What makes you think that?”

“You’ve got snow all over you.”

She was staring at the sleeves sticking out of his blazer. He’d brushed himself off, but there were still flakes hidden.

“These coastal winds are fierce.”

She was still staring fixedly at him, so he reached out and patted her on the head.

“Huh? What’s that for?”

“Good work getting here.”

“I just turned in a form!”

But she definitely seemed pleased.

Not long ago, she could never have done this. And doing so gave her confidence.

“Then I’d better get home.”

“Wait, Kaede.”

“Wh-why?”

“Take the scarf off a sec.”

“?!”

She didn’t have to ask why. She flinched—and that was his answer.

He reached for the scarf’s coil, and she grabbed his hands, stopping him.

“Don’t!” she snapped.

But her elbow caught her sleeve, and he caught a glimpse of wrist between coat and mitten. Sickly-pale skin that had never seen the sun. And a faint bruise.

“No, it’s not…,” she said, stepping back and dropping her hands. She hid the wrist, shaking her head.

“Look, Kaede…”

“It’s fine! It’ll heal right up!”

There was desperation in her voice, and she kept denying it, but even as she did, the bruise spread up her neck to her chin.

“I can take the test! I can go to high school!” she said, on the verge of tears. “Don’t…tell me I can’t. I can work just as hard…!”

She looked up at him, scared.

It sounded like she was comparing herself to someone else.

Just as hard as…?

Who?

Everyone at her school who was actually attending class?

That didn’t feel right.

He was pretty sure she was thinking of the other Kaede here. The one who’d spent two years working hard in her place.

“Kaede.”

“…I can do this.”

“Why do you want to come to Minegahara?”

He could guess.

“……”

So when she avoided his gaze and hung her head, he didn’t press the point.

“Maybe that’s not important. I chose it pretty much at random myself.”

He reached out and lightly pinched her cheek.

“…Wh-what’s that for?”

“Nobody said you couldn’t.”

“…Yeah?”

“If there’s something you wanna do, I’m here to help you do it. No matter who says otherwise.”

“……You swear?”

Kaede looked up at him, eyes glistening. He was still pinching her cheek, so this was pretty silly looking.

“I swear. But in return, don’t hide the bruising from me.”

“O-okay.”

He’d known Kaede’s Adolescence Syndrome had never fully gone away. He was well aware they’d have to beat it one step at a time. He’d had a feeling this would happen eventually the moment she said she wanted to take the exams.

“We’re doing a full body check when we get home.”

“Um. You’re doing this?”

“If I don’t, how will I know how far we can push things?”

“B-but, like…” She waved a hand. “It’s embarrassing.”

She’d turned pretty red and was muttering under her breath.

“Not like I’m gonna look up your nose.”

“I-it’s my body I don’t want you seeing!”

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Sure, I’m nothing like Mai, but…”

She shot him a reproachful look. She definitely seemed a lot more relaxed now. The bruise on her chin was retreating like a wave on the beach. Sakuta was relieved to see that and finally let go of her cheek.

“Let’s be clear, Kaede.”

“A-about what?”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve even comparing yourself to Mai.”

“I—I know that! But hearing it from you is just…argh!”

“Why?”

“Too many reasons.”

She puffed out her cheeks, growling. It only made her look ridiculous, and he wasn’t exactly shaking in his slippers.

“If you’ve got the energy to do the teenage-sister act, you oughtta be able to make it home alone.”

“I am a teenage sister! So, uh. Just be more careful.”

“Careful?”

“About stuff. Like what you were doing with Mai on Sunday.”

She got redder and redder, and by the end of that sentence, her voice died away to a whisper. He could barely make out the last word.

“Fair. We’ll save that for when you’re not around.”

“Don’t even talk about it! I’m leaving!”

Clearly feeling much better, she snatched her umbrella from him and dashed out the visitors’ entrance. He followed her as far as the roofed section.

“Thanks,” she said softly.

“For what?”

“For the moral support. I’m glad you were here.”

“Watch your step. You don’t wanna slip up and fail.”

“Don’t say that to an exam student!”

She shot him an uneasy smile and then put her umbrella up, setting out into the snow. She turned back once a few yards out, smiled when she saw he was still watching, and then waved good-bye.

Kaede spent the next few weeks doing the groundwork for the test itself.

Weekday mornings she went to her junior high to study in the nurse’s office. She came straight home after and studied more. Saturdays she spent the whole day hunched over her desk.

When she got stuck, she had Sakuta help, and when she was studying late, he’d make her a late-night snack. Mai and Nodoka stopped by when they had time and helped her study.

The fruits of her labors were apparent, and each time she went through a set of old test problems, she got a better score. If she had a proper transcript, she could easily have made it into Minegahara. Miwako seemed genuinely impressed by her progress.

February passed one day at a time, and each of those days was rewarding. Then the day of Kaede’s battle arrived—Monday, February 16. The day of the prefectural high school exams.