Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 9 - Chapter 1.4

4

“Odd,” Rio said. “I thought you weren’t a pedophile.”

This was what he got for telling her about actually encountering the mini Mai from his dream.

“I’m not!”

Sakuta sat down on a stool, doing up the buttons of his shirt. (He’d removed it to show her the scars.)

The day after graduation, Monday, March 2. The day before Hinamatsuri.

Classes were over, and the baseball team was yelling on the field outside the windows. Typical afternoon sounds. They’d just held a graduation ceremony the day before, but the school itself was back to normal. It was a bit quieter without the third-years around, but not enough to feel weird.

Sakuta had rolled into school like always, taken classes like normal, and swung by the science lab just like he usually did.

Third-years had been largely absent from school since optional attendance began in February anyway, so he’d naturally acclimated to their disappearance. He’d never spoken to any third-years but Mai to begin with, so their graduation didn’t really hit him the same way.

“……”

While Rio put her thoughts in order, Sakuta did his best not to distract her and ended up staring vacantly at the bubbles on the sides of the beaker. The flame of the alcohol burner swayed as he breathed.

When the water came to a boil, Rio silently put the cap on, extinguishing the flame.

“Situationally speaking, it seems safe to assume the cause lies with you or Sakurajima.”

She used a glass rod to stir her mug of coffee, then added milk, watching it swirl with anticipation. She took a sip and then put it back down on the table. Rio looked up, scanning his face for clues. Checking to see if he had any idea why one of them would be back in Adolescence Syndrome mode.

“I’ve got the cutest girlfriend in the world, so what worries could I have?”

The only hard part was all this studying he was doing to grant her wish.

“So you think it’s her?”

“Not that she’s aware of. She and her mom don’t exactly get along, so I assumed that was it, but…”

“But something suggested it isn’t?”

“Apparently, they’re taking baby steps toward mending things.”

Mai had voluntarily introduced Sakuta to her mother the day before.

She’d talked as though her issues with her mother weren’t going anywhere, but to him, it felt like the passage of time was slowly leading them in the right direction.

Sure, the bad blood between them would probably never go away completely.

But they no longer felt like something raw enough to cause Adolescence Syndrome.

Mai had the strength to handle the emotions her mother dredged up, was aware of her own hang-ups, and was trying to move toward closure. Like going from stark black and white to shades of gray.

Sakuta considered that a good thing and likely the only real resolution anyone could expect.

Mai knew full well her relationship with her mother would never be pure, simple, and clean again. She’d accepted that and the natural implications. And that was why Sakuta felt she’d be okay.

“So then the problem is with you?”

“Like I said, nope.”

“Maybe you’re scared of being this happy.”

Rio took a sip of coffee. She didn’t seem all that concerned.

“Do you really think that would cause Adolescence Syndrome?”

“I don’t see why not. All kinds of fears lurk in the hearts of man. Stands to reason some are afraid of losing what they have.”

Rio shook her head, like that would never apply to her.

“But I’m planning on becoming even happier, so I’ve got nothing to be scared of.”

“That’s optimistic,” she said. But there was a hint of a smile; there was no real spite in her quip. Perhaps a raised eyebrow or two, but obviously she wished him the best with that.

“But there’s still the kid who looks like Sakurajima,” Rio said, getting things back on track. She looked a bit tense.

“Mm?”

“Only you saw her.”

“Yeah.”

“Sakurajima was there but didn’t?”

She was really trying to be clear about this.

“That’s right,” Sakuta said with a nod.

“If that means they can’t both exist at once or can’t both be perceived at once, then that means Sakurajima and the knapsack kid are bound by fate somehow.”

“Like how we couldn’t observe both of you at the same time, Futaba?”

“Or how we never saw big and little Shouko together.”

“……Ahhh.”

“And I have no idea how that relates to the new scar on your side, Azusagawa.”

“You were my sole hope there.”

“If you’re clutching at straws, maybe run it by Shouko?”

“I suppose that’s one course of action.”

“She has memories of many potential futures, after all.”

“That’s why I don’t wanna ask.”

“Because she flew off to Okinawa without warning you?”

“Yep.”

If she’d intentionally not mentioned it, then it just wasn’t worth mentioning. Something minor enough that he would definitely be able to handle it on his own.

But if that wasn’t it, and Shouko had never come across anything like this in all her futures, then he really couldn’t ask. It would just make her worry.

“Makinohara is busy living her best life.”

And he didn’t want to interfere.

“She deserves to be happier than anyone.”

“Are you allowed to rank her above Sakurajima?”

“Mai and I will be more than happy enough together.”

They’d promised they would be, and even if they hadn’t, Sakuta would’ve made it happen anyway.

“Then this is no time to be getting weird scars on you.”

“I know!”

He glanced at the clock above the chalkboard.

It was almost four.

“You got a date?” Rio asked.

“Something like that.”

He stood up and shouldered his backpack.

“Don’t cheat too often,” Rio called.

And with that, Sakuta left the science lab behind.