Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 8 - Chapter 3.2

2

Once Sakuta returned home from walking Kaede to the station, he changed back into indoor clothes. Since the classrooms were being used for exams, he had no school today.

He carried his dirty socks to the washroom and dropped them into the laundry machine outside the bath. He dumped everything in the basket in after them and started the cycle.

For a while, he watched the clothing spin, but then he got bored and pulled out the vacuum cleaner.

He went around the living room, dining area, kitchen, entrance, and both bedrooms, sucking up all the dust. Just as he finished, the laundry machine beeped, calling to him.

“I’m coming,” he said.

He put the vacuum cleaner away and went back to the washroom. The spin-dry cycle was done, and he took each article out one at a time, hanging them up. Sakuta’s shirt and underwear, Kaede’s pajamas and underthings.

He felt like she’d once sworn she was gonna wash her own underwear, but that had yet to actually bear fruit.

A few underthings made no real difference to Sakuta’s workload, so he didn’t really care.

Once it was all hung up, he took Nasuno to his room. He turned on the heater and sat down at his desk. Since he’d woken up early, he was craving a nap, but Kaede was out there slaving over her exam, and he figured he’d better get some studying done.

He opened a book of math problems. One designed for college exam prep. He worked out the answer to a problem involving quadratic functions and wrote it down in his notebook.

There were six or seven similar books on his desk. Math, physics, and English. All of these had been added two weeks ago, and none of them by Sakuta himself. Mai was bringing them over, a new one each time she came to help Kaede study.

Half were new, half were hand-me-downs, books she’d used herself. She’d shown no outward signs of studying at all, but these books were pretty well worked over. And since she’d handed them over with a smile, saying, “This’ll help you a lot!” he had to take them.

His bedroom was slowly but steadily getting an exam-student remodel. Contractor: Mai.

He felt like failing was long since not an option. But Mai seemed to be enjoying herself, so it was just a matter of doing his part. If that didn’t work, Mai would forgive him. Probably.

He solved another math problem. This one was a trigonometric function. Stuff he’d covered in his first year.

Since he and Mai started dating, she’d often helped him study for tests, so he wasn’t really struggling that much with the Center Test material. But the tougher problems on his target school’s general and secondary entrance exams were completely defeating him.

Specifically, both math and physics problems were a jumble of things from several different fields. If he couldn’t dig down to what the problem actually was, he had no idea how to even begin tackling it, and even if he got an answer, he often found he’d been solving something entirely wrong. He was starting to see why most people started studying in summer.

He spent a good two hours wrestling with these complexities.

Sakuta’s focus was interrupted by a growl from his stomach. He was hungrier than he’d realized. He looked up at the clock; it was just past noon.

“Time to eat.”

He’d been talking to himself but got an actual answer—Nasuno had been curled up on his bed, but she looked up and meowed at him.

He left his notebook open on his desk and stood up. Nasuno followed him out.

Sakuta fed Nasuno first, then opened the fridge to get his own food ready. He pulled out the leftover ground meat mix.

He formed a large patty, put a depression in the center, and dropped it on the pan. Got both sides seared, then lowered the flame. While he waited for that to cook through, he used the rest of the rice from that morning to make a big heap on a round plate. He put the rest of the potato salad next to it, and the fully cooked Salisbury steak next to that. Did this count as Hawaiian style? Who knew.

No part of the living room felt like a tropical getaway. He sat down at the kotatsu, switched it on, and began eating. The patty was cooked and seasoned well. Kaede would be pleased.

Halfway through the meal, he turned the TV on. There was a news and talk show airing.

They were running a segment where comedians and models ran from one popular sweet shop after another, trying to see who could get the most specialties before they were sold out. Laughs and tears.

Sakuta watched dispassionately, munching on his meal. They cut to a commercial before anyone reached the next destination.

“Oh!” he said—because he knew the face on his screen.

It was Mai.

She was in a snow-covered landscape, on the platform of some train station, sitting alone with a red scarf on.

This must’ve been the commercial she’d filmed in Nagasaki last month. It had snowed heavily in Kyushu, and she said they’d rushed down to get filming done.

She looked sad, like she was waiting for someone. There was no dialogue. Just her white breath in the air, her eyes downcast as she ate a piece of chocolate. The narration revealed this was for a wintertime-limited chocolate said to melt in your mouth like snowflakes. Fifteen seconds into the spot, Mai heard someone coming and looked toward the camera. And smiled.

That look was certainly the capper on the ad. It would never have worked with any actress but her.

“See? My Mai’s the cutest.”

But today of all days, seeing Mai in a commercial like this kinda stung.

It was February 16.

Two days ago had been the fourteenth—Valentine’s Day.

But for three days now they’d been unable to meet up. He hadn’t even heard her voice.

She’d headed out on the thirteenth for a location shoot in Kyoto. And they were keeping her too busy to even call.

He shot a baleful glare at the landline phone. And lo and behold, it rang.

“The hand of fate!”

Even better if it turned out to be Mai. Heart leaping, he scrambled out from under the kotatsu. Picking up the remote, he lowered the volume, then checked the phone’s display. The ten digits shown were his favorites—Mai’s cell phone number.

It was her.

He snatched up the receiver and put it to his ear.

“Tell me, Mai,” he said, immediately disgruntled.

“What?” she asked, on guard.

This was obviously not how she’d expected him to answer. He didn’t care.

“Have you ever heard of Valentine’s Day?” he asked.

“Who hasn’t?” she scoffed.

“I just thought you might not have.”

“Well, I have!” she insisted.

“Then when is it?”

“February fourteenth.”

“So what do people do that day?”

“I’m guessing you wanted to get chocolate from me and then do something even sweeter together.”

“Specifically, I was thinking of you in a bunny-girl costume with my head on your lap, feeding me chocolate.”

“You’d choke on it,” she laughed. “More importantly, how’s Kaede holding up?”

Completely brushing off his disappointment and changing the subject. But that was clearly why she was calling.

“Can’t we talk about me a little longer?”

“You made her the scrambled eggs?”

Sadly, his request gained no traction. Didn’t even warrant attention.

“I did,” he said, pushing aside the temptation to sulk. “She looked really happy about them.”

Mai had taught him how to make those scrambled eggs, so he was honor bound to report the outcome.

“Okay. Good.”

“Kaede set out all fired up. I got out of bed early to make her lunch, and she’s probably eating it now.”

His heart was not entirely in this conversation. He glanced at the TV, and the clock on the screen showed exactly one PM.

“The exam covers English, Japanese, and math in the morning?”

“Right.”

The afternoon was social studies and science. Then they held interviews until the eighteenth. Kaede’s interview wasn’t until the last day, so she’d be coming home after two more hours of testing.

“Should wrap up around three, then?”

“I guess.”

And she’d be home by four.

“You’re worried?”

“Won’t make her scores any better.”

“What were you up to?”

“Studying. Angling to get some approval from you.”

“Fine, I approve,” she said, like she was shooing away a toddler.

“No rewards?”

“Should I come visit with a ribbon round my neck? Apologize for missing Valentine’s Day?”

She was answering his pleas with jokes.

“That sounds perfect!” he said.

“Well, after the exams.”

“Kaede’s?”

Those would be done first. Today, really. The quickest route!

“Nooope.”

Naturally, Mai was having none of it.

“So definitely mine?”

That was at least a year off. Too far to look forward to. And it turned the screws up on the pressure to pass, which got an audible sigh out of him.

“Can you wait that long, Sakuta?” Mai asked. There was a wink in her voice.

“Mm?”

She was taking this a different direction and momentarily lost him.

“This’ll be after my exams,” she clarified. Her voice had grown a bit softer. Maybe a hint of embarrassment.

“Really?”

“Does that not do it for you?”

It totally did. Just…

“I was all assuming you wouldn’t let me lay a finger on you until I got into college.”

“If I said that, I wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on you, either.”

“Mai, are you getting urges?”

“I didn’t mean it sexually.”

He’d been teasing, but her tone was super normal, which in turn seemed off. Usually, when he said things like that, Mai would start making threats, like “Fine, then nothing until you’ve officially passed!” and took delight in making him plea for mercy.

“Mai, are you having a rough time?”

“Where’d that come from? No. Filming’s going great.”

This sounded totally natural, not a hint of anything wrong. But…this was Mai Sakurajima. She could do that. She’d been “acting natural” her whole damn life.

So Sakuta said, “Should I come up and give you a hug?”

“Ryouko would be livid. Better not.”

She brushed aside his offer with a joke. Her tone was very bright. No hint of darkness. Like she was deeply enjoying their conversation. This was the Mai he loved the most.

“You wait right there for Kaede to get home. Her test won’t end until she’s safely back with you.”

As he searched for a response, Mai said, “Oh, sorry, Ryouko’s calling. I gotta go.”

“Mai—thanks.”

“Mm?”

“It’s been a long three days.”

“I promise if I’m on a location shoot, I’ll find time to call every day from now on. And I’ll be back tomorrow. Bye.”

And with that tender note, she hung up. All traces of her vanished in an instant.

There was no point holding the phone any longer, so he put it back on the cradle.

“What part of Kyoto is she in…?” he wondered.

If he left now, what would be the fastest route to get to her? He had a feeling taking the Shinkansen from Shin-Yokohama would be faster than going through Odawara.

But even as he thought about it, the phone rang again.

“Did Mai forget something?”

He checked the number as he reached for the receiver, but it wasn’t Mai’s cell. He knew the area code, but not the number itself.

Which was enough to tell him this was bad news.

“Azusagawa,” he said, as calmly as he could manage.

“Er, I’m a faculty member at Minegahara High School.”

Sakuta recognized the man’s voice—it was his own homeroom teacher.

“It’s me,” he said. “Sakuta.”

“Oh, I see.”

The man’s tone got a tad less formal. But no less tense. The moment the phone rang, Sakuta had known why.

“Something happen with Kaede? My sister?”

He had talked with them about her issues. Explained that after a long time out of school, she might break down during the test.

“Yeah. She started feeling unwell during the lunch break.”

“……”

“She’s resting in the nurse’s office but doesn’t seem to want to talk to anyone.”

It wasn’t like he’d been unprepared for the possibility. Sakuta had known this might happen. But he’d really hoped it wouldn’t, and Kaede had been working so hard, he’d started to think she might actually manage to get through this.

So the news definitely hit him pretty hard.

But this was no time to wallow in depression.

“Azusagawa, can you get here?”

“I’m on my way.”

By the time he spoke, he was calm again.

“We should also let your parents know—”

“I’ll tell them.”

“Okay, then. We’ll be here.”

The call disconnected, leaving Sakuta with the phone buzzing in his ear. He quickly dialed his dad’s cell phone number. It rang a few times, then went to voice mail.

“The school called. Kaede fell apart during lunch. I’m on my way there. I’ll call again.”

He kept it short and to the point and hung up.

Half his lunch was still sitting there, so he quickly choked it down, then changed and grabbed his jacket on the way out the door.