Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 9 - Chapter 3.2

2

For the most part, 2-1 was the same set of faces.

This was the class Sakuta knew.

Only Ikumi Akagi was different.

Sakuta’s stock hadn’t gone up, either. Yuuma’s girlfriend, Saki Kamisato, still had it in for him, and the rest of the class generally kept their distance.

Over the first few hours, he had a pretty good idea why.

This was all because of the junior high hospitalization incident. The truth seemed to be the broadcast booth occupation Kotomi had mentioned, but the story got inflated until he’d sent a teacher to the hospital. The whole school knew. Apparently.

That left him isolated, meaning most of his classmates didn’t really bother talking to him. Since this new world made it hard for him to be on the same page with anyone, being left alone wasn’t a bad thing. Still…

That was just avoiding some minor trouble while the bigger issue loomed overhead. Just going to school wasn’t enough to figure out what had happened to him, and it hadn’t even provided any leads.

Clearly, this was too much to handle alone, so the moment fourth period ended, he headed for the science lab.

If he was still friends with Tomoe and Yuuma, he could safely assume he still knew Rio.

That assumption proved correct.

He took a seat across the lab table from her, took out the lunch his mother had given him, and began filling her in on the whole mess.

The little girl who looked like Mai.

The mystery scar.

The world he’d lived in, like here, but a bit different.

How they’d gone to see their mother for the first time in years.

And how the next day, nobody had seen him.

And finally, how he’d met mini Mai again—and the next thing he knew, he woke up in a different world.

He told her everything.

And asked for her help in sorting this all out.

He needed Rio’s expert opinion. That was his only route to an escape.

She finished off her instant harusame and took a sip of coffee.

“Talk to a shrink,” she said.

“I’m not sick.”

“The only reasonable conclusion is that you’ve finally lost it.”

“I swear it’s true.”

He put a hand on his heart and then finished off the last chicken nugget. The soy sauce seasoning really hit the spot.

“Even if it was all true…then you’re right about one thing.”

“Right how?”

“You’ve been living in a world stemming from one possibility, and you’ve shifted over to a different one.”

She took out a Magic Marker and wrote A and B on a pair of beakers, then set them down on the table. There was a glass stirrer in beaker A, but she moved it over to B. Each beaker was a world, and Sakuta was the stirrer.

“Look, I know I came to you, but are you crazy?”

Her explanation sure sounded bonkers.

“This is merely speculation based entirely on the hypothetical that your babblings are true, leaving me in the clear.”

And that sure sounded like he wasn’t.

“And there’s a quantum explanation for all possible worlds existing close at hand, including the past and the future.”

“But I thought you generally can’t perceive that.”

This was something Rio had explained in the other world.

“They exist side by side, but imperceptibly. Even if we could see them, our minds would naturally reject that. That’s how it normally works.”

Rio gave him a pointed look on the word normally.

Sakuta didn’t believe himself special or messed up. But meeting Shouko had taught him a thing or two. Given him personal experience.

There were worlds where he died and worlds where Mai was in an accident. He knew these potentials existed.

So perhaps this was also one of the futures Shouko had seen. It existed because she’d seen it, and he was merely visiting. That made sense to him. No way could he create a whole parallel world just for his own benefit.

“But are there really loads of these potential worlds, all existing at the same time?”

It would still make more sense if he was just dreaming this. Sakuta retained that much common sense.

“To be more accurate, since you’re perceiving that to be true, there are for you. Since I am not, then they don’t exist for me.”

That was clear and consistent. Everything came down to that quantum stuff.

“Okay. So how would I get back?”

He grabbed the stirrer and put it back in beaker A.

“That’s up to you, Azusagawa.”

“……”

“You knew that already.”

“Yeah…”

He wasn’t completely dense. From what she’d said, if this was his Adolescence Syndrome, then the cause was pretty obvious.

His mom.

“Futaba, what do you think about your mother?”

“……?”

It was apparent from her reaction she had not been expecting that question and was genuinely surprised. Behind her glasses, he could see her eyes searching his face for an explanation.

The specifics of it were different from his, but Rio’s relationship with her parents was also not exactly normal. Her father worked at a university hospital, and he lived and breathed workplace politics. Her mother was a boutique owner who spent the bulk of the year overseas doing acquisitions.

Rio was their only child, and she was left alone in a house far too big for her. She said it had been years since all three of them ate together.

Last summer, the isolation had gotten to her, and she’d developed her own case of Adolescence Syndrome. That was when Sakuta learned about her family problems.

“I guess…,” Rio said, eyes on the contents of her cup. Thinking it over, searching for the right words. “I feel like she’s someone who refused to become a mother.”

She took a sip of coffee, her expression never changing.

Not quite able to grasp the implications, Sakuta waited for her to explain.

“Being a mom means your life revolves around your kid.”

She sounded ambivalent. That clearly didn’t feel real to her, either.

“Sounds right,” Sakuta said, feeling the same thing. He didn’t have kids of his own yet, so he didn’t really get it, but he felt like he at least had an idea. And that idea was what Rio was trying to say.

“And if kids are the center of your life, nobody calls you by your name.”

“What does that mean?”

“Yours gets called ‘Sakuta’s mom,’ or ‘Kaede’s mom.’”

“Oh…”

That did make sense.

“And…mine just couldn’t accept being ‘Rio’s mom.’ Bringing me up was never the center of her life. I guess a nicer way of saying it is that she never let her kid get in the way of doing what she wanted.”

She was picking her words carefully, as if she was talking about a stranger. But objectively, what she said felt right. It explained what she meant when she said “refused to become a mother.”

“And I guess that’s one way to live.”

“You’ve made your peace with it?”

“You and Kunimi helped me get there.”

The emotion here wasn’t quite resignation. The needle leaned toward acceptance, toward understanding. Not all of it, but she was clearly on the road to working through things.

“More him than me,” Sakuta said.

Rio just glared at him. He pretended not to notice, avoiding her eyes.

“But it’s really your choice to make, Azusagawa.”

“What choice?”

“Are you gonna do what you always do? Go back to that world and work through things?”

“Is that what I always do?”

“Or are you gonna lie down like a whipped puppy and whine?”

“You are being so harsh today.”

“From what you’ve told me, you basically ran away. To a world that was easier for you.”

“I am kinda cut up about it, so…be nice.”

“I’m being as nice as you deserve.”

“How so?”

“You weren’t at all nice when I was fretting about Kunimi.”

That was a very Rio reason. And one he couldn’t argue with.

“I guess you need friends who’ll kick your ass when your ass needs kicking.”

His new life motto.

The way she put it, he really didn’t have a choice.

Then he heard a low hum. Rio ignored it, sipping her coffee.

Figuring she hadn’t noticed, he said, “Futaba, your phone’s ringing.”

“That’s not mine. It’s yours.”

“Huh?”

“In there.”

She took the stirrer out of the beaker and pointed at his bag.

There was a phone sticking out of the pocket. Vibrating away.

“Seriously?”

Apparently, in this world he owned a phone. Since he’d saved Kaede from the bullies, he’d never had a reason to throw his cell into the ocean.

And the screen had Mai’s name on it.

“Hello, it’s your Sakuta.”

“Answer faster.”

Hardly worth the tongue lashing, but that was very Mai, so he already felt secure in the knowledge that he was talking to her. It lifted his whole body up, like all his cells came alive.

“You couldn’t wait one second to hear my voice?”

“Exactly.”

He’d been hoping to banter about that for a while, but Mai just up and owned it. There was a delighted grin hiding beneath that word, like she was the one teasing him. That, too, was the Mai he knew and loved. He’d been longing to see her again all day yesterday, and there she was, on the other end of the line.

“Sakuta, what are you up to now?”

“Eating lunch in the science lab.”

“Is that what you do there?”

“They provide coffee. I highly recommend.”

Rio was just pouring instant coffee into the extra hot water. The clear liquid visibly turned brown, then black.

“You said you have work today?”

“Yep.”

“What time?”

“I start at four.”

He glanced up at the clock above the board; it was one fifteen. It only took half an hour to get from school to the restaurant, so he didn’t need to rush.

“Come over till then?”

“Over where?”

“My place.”

“If you promise we can flirt.”

“I’ll be helping you study for next year.”

“I might consider it if you wear the bunny-girl outfit.”

“I threw that thing out.”

“Aww. That’s a shame.”

What a twist. Apparently, in this world it hadn’t wound up in his closet. Since he hadn’t lived across the street, the opportunity had never come his way. Such a tragedy.

“So are you coming or not?”

“Mm, I’ve got stuff to hash out with Futaba, so better not.”

“Oh?” She sounded surprised.

Across the table, Rio looked just as shocked. Her eyes had opened a tad, and she was giving him the look you would an unusual animal. He could almost hear her thinking, Turning down Mai? What a rascal!

“Sorry, Mai.”

“It’s not worth apologizing for.”

“Then thanks.”

“I haven’t done anything to warrant that.”

“But I love you.”

“I know that.”

“More than anyone.”

“I’m hanging up now.”

He could just see her shaking her head, blushing slightly. And she really did hang up.

Sakuta put the phone back in his backpack.

“You’re a liar in every world, Azusagawa,” Rio said.

He drank the coffee she’d made for him. It was instant, but it tasted like coffee and smelled like coffee. You got used to the beaker thing, too.

“I do love Mai.”

He knew that wasn’t what she meant, but he pretended he didn’t.

“That right there,” she said. “You could just go enjoy a date with her.”

“That would shake my resolve.”

“To do what?”

Rio knew the answer already. She was only asking to make it easier for him to put it in words.

“If I see Mai here, I’ll start thinking maybe it’s okay if I just find happiness in this world.”

He’d get used to running and never make it back to his world. He’d drown here, in a world without problems.

That wasn’t the worst fate, but it also wasn’t the Sakuta he wanted to be.

Talking to Mai like that had made him acutely conscious of her. He could feel himself wanting to rush home and see her again.

So he had to go home. To his real home.

To the Mai he’d promised to be with.

“But how are you planning to get there?” Rio asked. The obvious question.

“Any ideas?” he asked. He might have his emotions in line, but he was still missing key information.

“Maybe you can try to do the opposite of what got you here and go looking for the kid who looks like Sakurajima? She brought you here when you were lost, right?”

“I suppose.”

“Any clue where to look?”

“Maybe.”

Not a strong lead, but…he felt like if he went there, he’d see her. He’d met that girl three times. The first was a dream, but the other two were on Shichirigahama Beach. So was the dream, really.

He couldn’t say anything for sure, but he felt like he’d see her if he wanted to. If this Adolescence Syndrome was his…then she’d be there.

He put his empty lunch box away.

And finished his coffee.

“Thanks,” he said before rising from the stool.

“Azusagawa.”

Rio stopped him as he turned to go. She was looking up at him, worried—but he wasn’t sure why.

“What?” he asked.

“The logic of your potential world-hopping Adolescence Syndrome makes a certain kind of sense to me. If you can perceive an alternate potential world once, then you should be able to repeat that process. We can assume the scar on your belly is a product of your emotional state. The previous one was.”

Her words were clear, but her expression said otherwise. There was undoubtedly something still bothering her.

“So what’s the problem?”

“In light of all that—the girl who looks like Sakurajima doesn’t fit into the logic anywhere.”

Sakuta had instinctively felt the same thing. One weird thing after another had happened to him, so it was natural to assume they were connected, but it was entirely possible each thing was happening independently. And since it was happening to him, he was acutely aware of that.

Rio’s words felt right.

The kid didn’t fit.

“Let’s just assume my love for Mai cannot be contained.”

That wasn’t exactly logical. It wouldn’t convince Rio. But he figured it was better than silence. His words might not make sense, but his motives did, and it earned him a smile.

“Tomorrow I’ll be my usual self again,” he said.

“Don’t make that promise and then come back for help right after.”

“Well, if I do, you’ll just have to laugh in my face.”

He grabbed his book bag, said good-bye like they’d definitely meet again, and left the science lab.

He probably would see Rio tomorrow. This world’s Sakuta, and this world’s Rio. And if he met her himself, it would be the Rio from his original world. That’s how things should be. That’s how things had to be.