Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 9 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3 - A Dream of Happiness

1

“…kuta.”

A voice.

“…Sakuta.”

Someone calling for him?

“Sakuta, it’s morning.”

Wait, he knew that childish voice. It was his sister’s.

And that made his mind snap awake. Made him sit right up.

“Eep!”

This also knocked Kaede off the bed. She landed on her butt.

“You’ve gotta sit up slower,” she wailed, scrambling to her feet and rubbing her backside. Her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk eating sunflower seeds, only filled with complaints about Sakuta. “Hngg!” she said, glaring at him.

“……”

Sakuta just sat in bed, gaping at her. Looking her over.

“Wh-what is it, Sakuta?” she asked, unable to bear his silent stare.

“……You are…Kaede, right?”

He could tell that much by looking at her, but he had to ask.

“Who else?” she asked, clueless. She tilted her head to one side, baffled. A look of concern filled her eyes.

“You can see me?”

“What are you even talking about?”

She was even more lost now, and her brow began to furrow. But then another voice cut in.

“Kaede, is he up yet?”

He’d heard the voice from the hall before, but it took a long time before his brain processed it, and he realized it was their mother’s. And that realization left him even more at sea.

“What the…?”

His thoughts spilled out of him.

What was going on?

“Kaede!” their mother called again.

“He’s up, but super out of it!” Kaede said, slippers flapping as she left the room.

Leaving him with so many questions.

For now, he got out of bed and looked around the room.

This wasn’t his room, and yet…it clearly belonged to him. This wasn’t the apartment in Fujisawa. It looked more like the place in Yokohama where they’d lived until he graduated junior high. It was that place.

The wood-framed bed that squeaked when he rolled over. A desk that was almost the same color. Navy curtains, faded in the sunlight. Gray carpet, on the hard side.

The sheets and pillowcases had been replaced, but the rest was just how he remembered it. Even where the furniture was—just like it had been back in the day.

Like a trip down memory lane.

But he sure wasn’t basking in nostalgia.

“How is this possible?”

He was too busy boggling at this turn of events to feel anything else.

This was all wrong.

The last thing he remembered was riding the Enoden. He’d boarded the train at Shichirigahama with the girl who looked like Mai—he remembered that much.

No one else had been able to see him. His own mother had forgotten he existed. And he’d never noticed. He’d just been living his life like everything was fine. And the truth had hit him hard.

He’d been all depressed about it…

But this new twist was too baffling, and he didn’t have time to feel sorry for himself.

What was even happening?

Was this a dream?

That would explain a lot, but this didn’t really seem like a dream. It was all too real. He could feel the air on his skin, smell everything. No way was he dreaming. But what else could it be?

His thoughts were going in circles.

And while he was stuck on the first question, Kaede called out again.

“Sakuta! Hurry up!” She was back in his doorway. “Breakfast’s ready!”

She came right on in, grabbed his hand, and pulled. That sensation also felt too real, and he was forced to abandon his dream theory entirely.

Mind still spinning, he followed Kaede out. She pulled him to a long dining table laden with food. Toast, eggs, salad, and their mother was bringing over a plate of croquettes she’d been heating in the microwave. Leftovers from last night.

Their dad was already seated, and Kaede sat down across from him. Sakuta took a seat next to her, and their mother took the last chair across from him.

Everyone sat right where they used to. Just like before. The table and chairs were exactly as he remembered them. His back and butt knew exactly how these chairs felt.

“Time to eat,” their mother said, putting her palms together.

“Good,” Kaede and their father said.

“Yeah,” Sakuta managed softly.

“Mom, I wanna make a croquette sandwich!” Kaede announced.

Their mother grabbed some untoasted bread, stuck a whole croquette in the middle, and handed it to Kaede. She opened wide and took a big bite.

Their father was reading the newspaper on his tablet, sipping at a steaming cup of coffee.

“Dear, we’re eating,” their mother said, glaring at the intruding device. Their dad quickly switched it off.

“Dad got scolded!” Kaede said.

Their father laughed. Like even that was fun. Everyone was enjoying their morning.

And Sakuta just watched everyone else, like an observer in a dream.

Knowing this wasn’t a dream.

His senses told him that.

He knew full well this was real.

The smell of the coffee told him that, and so did the feel of the butter melting on the toast. This could only happen in reality.

When he stared at his toast, not eating, their mother asked, “What’s wrong, Sakuta?”

“……Hmm?”

He looked up. She was right across from him, and their eyes met. She took a sip of coffee—with a lot of milk in it—and said, “Oh, that’s good.”

Her eyes on him. Clearly perceiving him. Seeing him.

“You feeling okay?”

“……Yeah, I’m fine.”

Sakuta looked down, fleeing the eye contact.

“Sakuta, are you still zoned out?” Kaede asked.

“Better eat up, or you’ll be late,” their mother added.

“……Late? It’s only just past seven,” he said. The clock said 7:10.

“Wow, you are out of it,” their mother laughed. “You leave at half past, right?”

That had to mean seven thirty.

“Uh, I guess?” he said.

If this really was their old apartment, then they were in Yokohama, pretty far from the water’s edge. And by late, they must have meant for high school…so which school was he going to?

“Your school is so far away.”

“Is it?”

“Minegahara is nowhere near here!”

Sakuta was a bit relieved to hear that name. Everything else was shrouded in mystery, but at least he knew what school he went to. And it was the same one.

“You’ll be going there in April, Kaede,” their father said. “Make sure you’re ready.”

Wait, Kaede was also going there? Really?

Apparently so.

“I should have picked somewhere closer…”

She wasn’t even making the commute yet, but Kaede already sounded tired.

Sakuta didn’t have it in him to respond. Everything was too different. But some things hadn’t changed. If he was still going to Minegahara…

Then at least some things matched what he knew. Still, the differences outweighed them. Their mother was clearly doing great. She could see Sakuta; they all lived together. Same for Kaede.

All four of them were here. All around the breakfast table, eating together.

This place had everything he’d lost.

He could tell that much, but he had no idea why this was happening. What any of this meant.

“Sakuta, seriously, are you okay?”

He’d stopped eating again, and it seemed his mother was starting to worry.

“……I said I’m fine.”

Sakuta shoved toast in his mouth, washed it down with milk, and swallowed his egg in two bites.

“Thanks,” he said, and he stood up.

In his room, he opened his closet doors. A Minegahara uniform hung on a hanger.

He shucked off the sweats he’d slept in—and saw the scar on his belly. That white mark running along his side. It was still with him. Just as he remembered it.

“So this is still ongoing.”

Ironic. A wound he didn’t understand felt like an anchor of reality in the midst of this baffling situation.

He slipped on his uniform trousers and did up the buttons on the shirt. He put his blazer on over that, double-checked the contents of his backpack, and was ready to go.

“I’m outta here,” he called.

Everyone else was still eating.

“Oh! Sakuta, your lunch!” their mother said, chasing after him.

He’d already got his shoes on, so he took the lunch from her hands.

“Thanks,” he said. It came out naturally, but his mother looked surprised. “What?” he asked.

“You almost never thank me.”

“Really?”

His gaze got shifty. Had he messed up? But his mother seemed to take that as embarrassment, and her grin got real wide.

“Uh, I’d better go.”

“Take care.”

“Oh! Sakuta, good-bye!” Kaede called. She came toward the entrance, carrying Nasuno.

Sakuta waved and left. He headed down the stairs. This was all so strange.

Outside the building, he turned back and looked up at it. Five stories of poured concrete. A square building, with identical balconies. Just as he remembered it.

This was definitely the place they’d lived until his third year of junior high. The same quiet neighborhood.

It had been a while since construction ended, and the asphalt beneath his feet was faded. But the elms along the road had filled in nicely.

The building’s parking lot. Roofs over the spots. Worn-out cars, bikes so old and rusted it was hard to believe anyone used them.

Everything exactly like his memories.

“One thing after another…”

March had been too busy.

The girl who looked like Mai, the scar on his side, nobody able to see him…and now this.

Adolescence Syndrome clearly had a thing for him.

“Gimme a break.”

He’d earned the right to grumble.

“A break from what?”

Sakuta jumped. He’d thought he was alone. He turned toward the voice.

It was Kaede’s classmate, Kotomi Kano.

She has tracksuit pants on and a long-sleeved T-shirt. She saw him scoping that out, turned red, and started making excuses. “I was taking out the trash. Didn’t think I’d run into you. I don’t usually go out dressed like this, I promise.”

“Well, good on you for helping with the housework,” he said.

“Do you think I’m still twelve?” Kotomi said, pursing her lips at him.

“Sorry, that’s fair.”

“It’s fine.”

She was still sulking a bit. Apparently, it wasn’t fine.

“Oh, right, Kano…”

“Yes?”

Trying to change gears, he started to ask a question, and she almost immediately switched over to “earnest” mode.

“About Kaede.”

“What about Kae?”

“The bully thing…”

He had to be vague. He wasn’t sure exactly where things lay.

“Nothing happened since,” Kotomi said, smiling. “She’s got a shot to graduation.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. All thanks to you.”

“Huh.”

What had he done?

“I’ll admit, occupying the broadcast booth was pretty badass.”

“Oh, right.”

Clearly, he hadn’t played it safe. Occupy was a loaded word.

“Kae mentions it sometimes. ‘Thank god Sakuta is my brother.’”

“And she didn’t say not to tell me?”

“So don’t you dare tell her I did.”

She put on an unconvincing glare. Then she started laughing. For a serious girl, she certainly had goofy side.

“You good on time? Don’t let me make you late.”

She turned and darted inside before he could say anything else.

It would never do to be late after his sister’s friend looked out for him. There was still a lot he wanted to ask about, but he headed toward the station, mulling it all over.

He got on the crowded morning train and reached Fujisawa just after eight. He exited the Odakyu Enoshima Line gates and was relieved to see the rest of the station looking familiar. This was where he always wound up in the morning, so it felt like home.

But this wasn’t his destination. To get to Minegahara, he’d have to change here to the Enoden.

He took the stairs to the connective bridge.

As he did, someone called his name.

A blond girl his age had crossed his path. Nodoka.

“……Yo,” he said, unsure what their exact relationship was here.

“Why you acting weirdly dodgy?” Nodoka growled, sensing his ambivalence.

“I thought I was being mugged.”

“Oh, please.”

“Your whole vibe just screams ‘hooligan.’”

“That’s not even a thing!”

News to Sakuta. But fair enough, it had been a while since he’d seen anyone jerk a thumb at an alley and say, “Gimme your wallet.” Maybe it was just an urban legend.

“No school, Toyohama?” he asked. She wasn’t wearing a uniform.

“Gotta get to a photo session for some cover, so I’m out today. Argh, time for my train—catch ya later.”

With that, she turned and ran off.

“Oh, wait!” he yelled, but she never even turned around, vanishing through the JR gates. “I still had questions…”

This had made it clear he did know Nodoka.

But he’d missed his chance to ask the big question.

To ask about Mai.

If he knew Nodoka, he almost certainly had some contact with her. But he had to know if they were still dating.

That was critical.

But with Nodoka in the wind, there was no point standing still. And it was nearly time for his train, too. He hustled toward the Enoden platform.

When he made it through the gates, he saw the train waiting for him. The warning bell was ringing, so he jumped through the doors of the closest car. If he missed this train, he’d never get to school on time.

The doors closed, and the train pulled out. Slowly but surely, they were on their way. The rhythm of the train’s swaying was steeped into his body, and the sounds of the tracks underneath were music to his ears.

Sakuta rode the Enoden almost every day.

This morning had been nothing but weird. Especially the fact that he still lived in Yokohama with his parents and Kaede.

Based on what Kotomi had said, everything was the same right up until Kaede’s bullying started. That’s where things diverged.

Somehow, here—that bullying hadn’t split his family apart. Sakuta had found a way to stop it. By occupying the broadcast room, apparently.

And his mother hadn’t lost confidence in her parenting skills, never had a nervous breakdown, never moved into the hospital.

That was the world he found himself in.

“……It seems so far-fetched.”

He was trying to reject the idea, but he couldn’t think of any other explanation. He had to accept the truth. But it wasn’t as simple as going, “Right, okay, cool.”

And so he spent the whole ride to Shichirigahama thinking. But his thoughts did not get him to any alternatives.

When the train reached the station, a flood of students emerged, all in matching uniforms. Sakuta was but one in the crowd.

As he headed for the gate, a familiar face got off the car in front of him. A petite girl with short, fluffy hair.

She saw Sakuta and raised a brow. She turned her face away—but pulled up alongside him.

“Morning, senpai.”

“Morning.”

Clearly, he was still friends with Tomoe.

“……”

“……”

When he just wordlessly stared at her, she looked disgruntled and said, “That’s it?”

“Would you have preferred the ‘You’re cute again today!’ treatment?”

“I—I didn’t mean it like that!”

Her whole back stretched out as she leaned forward aggressively, protesting with every inch of her body.

“Then what?”

“You always say something unnecessary, so I was wondering if you were sick.”

Weird metric for concern. He wasn’t sure how to take that. But if she was worried, he should be grateful.

“Well, thanks,” he deadpanned.

“You so don’t mean that!”

Not his fault. But he’d said the right thing, so it oughtta count.

“And you’ve got a girlfriend, so you’re not allowed to go around calling other girls cute. And Sakurajima’s way cuter, so it doesn’t even sound true.”

She grumbled her way through a list of gripes. Loud enough that he could hear.

“Well, she is my Mai.”

It sounded like he was still dating Mai. This was a huge relief.

But that also made this all feel too perfect. Everything seemed to be just the way he’d wanted it.

They left the station.

“Oh, Nana!” Tomoe said, looking at someone ten yards ahead.

Sakuta looked up and saw Tomoe’s friend Nana Yoneyama up ahead.

“See you this evening.”

“For what?”

Had he agreed to meet?

“Work? You’ve got a shift.”

“I knew that,” he said, clearly lying.

“You start at four. If you forget, the boss’ll be livid!”

She waved a hand and ran off to catch up with Nana. When she did, she said, “Morning!” and Nana answered with a smile. They were talking and laughing. Both of them.

It was a happy, peaceful morning.

Everyone was acting normal. Chatting with friends, goofing around, boys being extra dumb.

Sakuta was the only one overtly observing things. Everyone else was just living.

Inside the school gates, everything remained normal. No one seemed to have any doubts about the nature of the world, and everyone seemed to know he was there.

As he got his slippers out of the shoe locker, he was greeted by a pleasant voice.

Sakuta looked up and was unsurprised to see Yuuma Kunimi standing there, in shorts and a T-shirt.

“’Sup. Morning practice today?”

“Yep, and tomorrow, and the next day.”

“And yet you’re still smiling.”

This guy always wore that comfortable smile, no matter what.

They changed into indoor slippers and started walking.

“Sakuta, you working today?”

“I am.”

“What time?”

“Four, apparently.”

“You learned this secondhand?”

“Koga told me.”

“You sure are close!”

They went up the stairs to the second-year classrooms, chatting. Their words weren’t entirely purposeless but weren’t particularly purposeful, either.

As they made the turn at the landing, a voice called, “Azusagawa.”

Wondering who that was, he turned around. The voice alone had not clued him in.

“…Um,” he said, at a loss.

He didn’t recognize the girl on the stairs below.

She was five foot three, with very black hair. Didn’t look like she’d ever dyed it. It was cut just long enough to brush against her shoulders. Her skirt was longer than average—which just meant regulation length. Not a single piece of her uniform was out of place, as if she’d just stepped out of the school brochure. It had the combined effect of making her seem all-business. Her eyes were peering up at Sakuta through thin-framed spectacles.

“You’re on duty today,” she said, slowly catching up. “Here.”

She handed him the class log.

Only one way he could react. He took it from her.

“Thanks,” he said.

She looked extremely evasive. “The bell’s about to ring,” she said, and she ran on up the stairs, then vanished around the corner.

“Uh, Kunimi…”

“Mm?”

“Who was that?”

“Huh? Akagi’s in your class. First name’s…Ikumi, I think?”

“Yeah?”

“Good lord, man. Are you doing okay? You said you even went to junior high together!”

“Oh, right.”

This came as a surprise, but Sakuta tried not to let it show.

“You ain’t right, Sakuta.”

“I’m always like this.”

Before Yuuma could prod further, he headed toward class. His thoughts were now entirely on that girl—Ikumi Akagi.

She had not been in the Minegahara he knew.

Sakuta’s primary motivation for sitting exams here had been finding a school nowhere close to his old home. Kaede’s bully problem had wrecked so many things—he’d lost every friend he had.

He’d specifically chosen this school because no one from junior high would go here.

But in this baffling new world, someone was. And she was even in his class.

Ikumi Akagi.

He ran the name through his mind again.

He was pretty sure she had been in his class back in the day.

Only during his third year. She’d probably been class president or on the discipline committee—something like that anyway.

Not the type to hang with the guys—and frankly, she seemed a little on edge just talking to them. She hadn’t really been the center of attention, and that’s probably the reason he’d remembered her at all. That type.

“Sakuta,” Yuuma said gravely. “You know Akagi’s…”

This seemed awkward for him to say, and he ended up not saying it.

“What?”

“Well, if you don’t know, best not to say.”

“Huh?”

The bell rang.

“Whoops, time to go. Bye.”

Yuuma ran off toward his own class. Sakuta watched him go.

“Is this the butterfly effect?” he muttered.

Maybe if he was still living with his family, old classmates would have joined him at Minegahara.