Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 8 - Chapter 4.2

2

The next day was Saturday the twenty-eighth—the last day of February. And Kaede was rushing him all the way to Fujisawa Station.

“Sakuta, hurry! Komi might be there already!”

Kaede was using her nickname for Kotomi Kano, a friend from when they’d still lived in Yokohama. Both families had lived in the same apartment complex, so they’d played together since before either could remember. Kotomi had become Komi because Kaede had been so little that she couldn’t wrap her tongue around that many sounds. For the same reason, Kaede had been shorted to Kae.

Kotomi had visited once over winter vacation and had left her e-mail address on an “if you feel up to it” basis. And last night, Kaede had initiated contact. They’d gone back and forth a few times and decided to meet up today.

That might sound like a hasty arrangement, but his plans with Mai were frequently no more complex than:

“You free today, Sakuta?”

“Yep.”

“Then it’s a date!”

So he just figured that was how these things went sometimes.

At Fujisawa Station, Sakuta and Kaede headed for the JR gates. A train must have just come in, because a flood of people was pouring out.

“Oh, Komi! There she is.”

Kaede found her first and started waving.

Kotomi saw them and hustled over. She stood right in front of Kaede, took both hands, and said, “Kae! Finally!”

She sounded delighted.

“Mm. Thanks for coming!”

“I had to. Anytime! I can’t believe you actually e-mailed me.”

One look at her eyes made it clear she meant every word. They were glistening with tears, like the joy of that moment was still with her.

Kotomi knew all about the bullying at Kaede’s previous junior high. They’d both gone there.

They’d been in different classes, and Kotomi had bitterly regretted being unable to help.

And on top of that, Kaede’s dissociative disorder had meant the two of them moved out without even saying good-bye.

It must have been a huge loss to her.

But that was exactly why she was so glad she could see Kaede again and even e-mail her.

And the emotions had Kaede misting up a bit, too.

She may have struggled with her classmates, but she still had real friends left. Like Kotomi, people who liked her as she was.

He didn’t want to go around looking for the silver lining in that whole mess, but it had taught Kaede who actually mattered to her. And that was why she’d followed up her practice session with Mai and Nodoka by e-mailing Kotomi. She wanted to see her again. And Kotomi felt the same way.

“Sakuta, thanks for coming,” Kotomi said, bowing her head to him. She wiped tears away under her glasses.

“It’s cool. I need to pick up some rice and soy sauce at the store on the way back anyway.”

“I’m happy to help carry!”

He’d been half joking, but Kotomi tended to take these things seriously.

By the time they got back to the apartment, each lugging a bag of groceries, the clock read 11:10. They led Kotomi into the living room and put some tea in front of her.

Sakuta changed clothes in his bedroom and then went to the kitchen to get lunch ready. Potatoes, carrots, onions—these could wind up as curry or stew. Kotomi saw him at it and offered to help.

“You’re company! Sit down.”

“Let me help.”

Before he could say anything else, Kotomi started washing her hands. If she was that motivated, it seemed silly to argue.

He had her start peeling.

Kaede usually never helped, but she couldn’t well just sit there watching. They wound up making curry together like it was a home ec class.

The finished product sure had a variety of veggie sizes and textures. They hadn’t had time to let it simmer, so the roux was kinda watery. But it was weirdly good despite that.

“Kae, this is so good.”

“Mm, I know!”

The girls were super proud of their work.

“We might have made a bit too much, though…”

Kotomi glanced at the stockpot on the stove.

“It’s enough for three days even we eat it for all three meals.”

“It’s good, but not that good,” Kaede said, quickly revising her opinion downward.

“I’ll just make Mai and Toyohama come over to help.”

If he told them Kaede made it, they’d be only too happy to join in. Mai would probably scold him for using his sister as an excuse, but that was just killing two—maybe three!—birds with one stone. They’d totally have to throw a curry party after graduation tomorrow.

Once lunch was over, Sakuta handled cleanup. While he was doing dishes, the girls sat at the kotatsu, looking at her laptop.

From the fragments of conversation he caught, they were talking about high school. Kaede was showing Kotomi the homepage for the remote-learning school she was interested in.

Kaede had clearly been very worried about how Kotomi would react. “Wow, this school really offers a lot of subjects!” Kotomi said, sounding genuinely impressed. And that loosened Kaede up enough to tell her all about what she’d gleaned from meeting Uzuki Hirokawa.

“That’s really something.”

“Yeah, they have so many options—”

“No, I mean you, Kae.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t pick my school like this. I didn’t research it or anything. My teacher just said, ‘With your grades, you should consider this one’ and I just went with it. You’re way more independent.”

Kaede had not expected this compliment and turned bright red, but even from the kitchen, he could tell she was tickled pink.

Sakuta thought Kotomi coming over at this juncture was the right move. It put wind in Kaede’s sails just as she’d finally started moving forward.

When he was done washing up, Sakuta retreated to his room to change again. He had a shift starting at three.

He poked his head into the living room on his way out and found Kaede and Kotomi still at the kotatsu together. Still peering at the laptop screen. But they were now watching videos of goats screaming or cats that wanted to sit on top of the TV. Kotomi catching Kaede up on the latest viral vids.

“Oh, this one’s also really big right now.”

Kotomi clicked the search bar and loaded up another video site.

As Sakuta peered over their shoulders, he caught the poster’s name: Touko Kirishima.

“Touko Kirishima?” Kaede said, reading it aloud.

“Mm. Really pretty visuals, and the song’s nice, too.”

Kotomi clicked the play button, and the trippy visuals were accompanied by heartrending music.

It was a different song and video from the one Mai had shown him. If Kotomi knew it, the girl’s work must have been really popular.

“I’m off to work,” he said.

“Oh, right. Have a good one,” Kotomi said, looking back.

“Kano, make sure you get home before dark.”

“I plan to.”

“Sakuta, you’d better get going.”

Kotomi bowed her head, and Kaede gave him a wave. He moved to the door and was putting his shoes on when the phone rang. Their home phone.

He turned back and found Kaede out of the kotatsu, in front of the phone. Peering at the screen from one step too far back.

They knew that number.

“Ms. Miwako, right?” Kaede said, checking with him.

“Yeah,” he said, reaching for the receiver. Before he could…

“Can I answer?” Kaede asked.

“As long as it isn’t Mai, you can pick up for whoever you want.”

He pulled his hand away, giving her room. Kaede stepped closer, took a deep breath, and picked up the receiver.

“H-hello? Azusagawa speaking.” Her voice broke on the first syllable. After a moment, she continued, “Yes, it’s Kaede. He’s here, but…it was your number, so I figured… Yes.”

She seemed to be conversing just fine.

“Okay. Right…”

He couldn’t hear Miwako’s end, so he had no idea what this was about.

“Huh? I passed?”

This only made Kaede’s surprise all the more shocking for him. Kotomi was watching over her from the kotatsu and appeared equally startled. Her eyes met Sakuta’s, exchanging quizzical looks.

But Kaede had just said passed.

Passed what?

Or who…?

He was lost.

Kaede was just saying “Okay…okay…” over and over. It didn’t sound like her emotions had caught up yet. Her mind was clearly elsewhere.

“Kae…?” Kotomi called.

“Kaede?” Sakuta asked.

“Passing you to Sakuta,” Kaede squeaked, and she handed him the phone.

It would undoubtedly be faster to talk to Miwako directly.

“This is Sakuta. Ms. Tomobe?”

“Oh, Sakuta…you need me to catch you up?”

She heard the query in his voice.

“Yes, please.”

“Short version…”

“Yes?”

“Kaede got into Minegahara.”

“……”

“She passed.”

“Hng?”

He made a very odd noise.

He couldn’t believe his ears.

Kaede passed.

At Minegahara.

“How?” he asked, voicing the first question that came to mind.

“Pretty simple, really. They just came in under quota.”

“I thought it was supposed to be competitive?”

Even if the actual percentage cutoff was lower than expected, it hadn’t seemed like the number of applicants would go below the number of slots available. The famous Mai Sakurajima went there, so the school itself was pretty well-known…

“Initial applicants were actually twice that number.”

“Then what happened?”

“Everyone realized they only had a fifty-fifty shot of getting in, so lots of people changed their target school. More than ever have before. Apparently, rumors were running wild on social media, panic mongering about how it was impossible for anyone to get in.”

“…Really.”

Everyone got caught up in the notion that they’d be in trouble if they didn’t switch. The idea preyed on their already raw nerves.

“But however she did it, Kaede’s in.”

“Okay.”

“But you need her ticket to receive the formal notification. Do you still have it?”

“I’d have to check with Kaede.”

He hadn’t seen it since the day of the test. When he’d picked up her things for her.

“There’s lots of paperwork, so once you figure out what you want to do, get in touch.”

“Okay. I’ll have a long talk with her.”

“Please do. Bye.”

“Bye.”

“Oh, wait…”

“What?”

“Congratulations.”

“I’m not the one who passed.”

“I already told Kaede.”

And with that, Miwako hung up.

Her words hung in his head. The warmth with which she’d said “Congratulations.” He wasn’t used to having family members with anything to celebrate, and it felt weird. But it was extra welcome precisely because it wasn’t his deed.

Words could do that. It felt like a new discovery.

He put the phone down and turned slowly around.

Kaede was staring right at him. Her gaze sent a strong message. He knew what she wanted.

He didn’t need to ask.

But she still opened her mouth to speak. “Sakuta, I…”

And what she said next was exactly what he expected.