Haibara’s Teenage New Game+ - Volume 2 - Chapter SS

Bonus Short Stories

After School with Sakura Uta

One day after school when I didn’t have work or other plans, for no particular reason, I stood on top of the roof and gazed out at the view of the town while listening to music. No, strictly speaking, there was a reason, but it was merely because that felt like a youthful thing to do. Perhaps I’d watched too much high school life anime. I did it because I had wanted to try it, but in reality, I wasn’t getting much of a kick out of the experience, so I was about to head home. People tend to behave bizarrely when they have too much time on their hands.

“Hyah!”

“Oofwah?!” An extremely pitiful sound escaped from my lips as someone suddenly smacked me on the back. Flustered, I turned around to see a certain somebody beaming at me, full of pride over having caught me off guard.

“Ah ha ha! C’mon, you get surprised way too easily!”

“I didn’t notice you because I was listening to music,” I replied as I took out my earphones.

Uta’s eyes trained onto them. “Oh? Whatcha listening to?” I showed her my phone screen, and she instantly lit up with enthusiasm as she exclaimed, “Oooh! BUMP’s ‘Route 66’! Natsu, you know your stuff!”

Excited, she nudged me with her shoulder. Um, you’re way too close, you know?! My heart pounded from the physical contact, but Uta didn’t seem to notice and began scrolling through my phone.

“Oho! Natsu, I like your playlist! You’ve got great taste in music! Ah, you’ve got Ellegarden too. Very nice!”

Heh, I know, right? I especially like Elle’s ‘Kaze no Hi.’ I used to only like cool and edgy songs, but recently I’ve been into mellow, positive music too... Hold on, now is not the time to be nodding away!

“Hey! Don’t edit my playlist without permission,” I yelled.

“Heh heh heh! I added a few of my recs!”

I checked my personal playlist, and sure enough, a few songs I hadn’t heard of had been added to it.

“We’ve got the same taste in music, so I’m sure you’ll like these too!” she said with confidence.

“Hmm... All right, I’ll give them a try.” I put my earphones back in and casually tapped play.

“I wanna listen too!”

Uta snatched one of my earphones out and put it in her own ear. She sidled up close, and I could feel her arm against mine. My earphones weren’t wireless (well, the wireless kind didn’t exist yet at this point in time), so due to the length of the cord, we were practically glued together.

O-Oh the nerves... I’m amazed Uta can be so nonchalant, I thought as I glanced at her face out of the corner of my eye. Contrary to my expectations, she was bright red. So you are pushing yourself! I screamed internally. My face was also crimson though, so I didn’t call her out. And so, the deep bass of rock began playing in one ear.

No one else was on top of the roof. The two of us leaned against the fence and drew close to each other. I wondered what we were doing there, almost cuddling together, but I honestly didn’t want to move away.

Our hair fluttered in the breeze, and an aggressive guitar phrase assailed us. Uta swayed in rhythm with the song; she was grooving out hard. The song ended, and I wondered why I hadn’t heard of it before.

She took the earphone out and asked, “Wasn’t it good?”

I nodded. We really do share similar taste in music. Thanks! I’ll have to confer with you more often. “I’ll listen to the rest later.”

“You’ll definitely vibe with them too! They’re all my top recs!” Uta said with a bright smile. She blinked a few times and then asked, “Anyway, why were you listening to music on the roof?” She sounded hesitant, as if it was a bit too late to be asking.

I didn’t want to tell her that I’d done it to experience youth. Desperate, I blurted out, “Uh, I just kinda felt like it?”

She pushed my shoulder. “What kinda answer is that? Spit out the truth!”

“That aside, what about you, Uta? Shouldn’t you be at practice?” I asked after a moment, blatantly avoiding the topic.

She promptly answered, “Today’s a rest day! We get two or three days off every month.”

“Really? I didn’t know that,” I replied. Makes sense. There’s no such thing as a club without any break days. Curious, I returned Uta’s earlier question to her. “Still...why’d you come up to the roof?”

For some reason, her cheeks flushed, and she turned away with a huff. “I just felt like it.”

“Huh?”

“You just felt like coming up here too, right?! So I just felt like it too!” Uta frantically tried to defend her answer. I shot her a baffled look until she finally turned back and locked eyes with me. “A-Anyway, I’m going home! Bye-bye!” With that, she whisked through the door and disappeared like a sudden passing gale.

What the heck was that about?