Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 13 - Chapter 1.6

6

Winter vacation ended, and college resumed the next day, January 6.

Sakuta got ready early and left in time for his first-period class. At Fujisawa Station, he boarded the Tokaido Line to Yokohama Station. From there, he switched to the Keikyu Line and disembarked at Kanazawa-hakkei Station. The whole commute from home took about an hour.

The platform was filled with students. All forming lines and shuffling through the gates. Sakuta was merely a part of that crowd.

This was the same thing he saw every morning, reminding him he was back on the college routine.

But something felt slightly off.

Different.

He felt more eyes on him than usual. More than he got by just being Mai Sakurajima’s boyfriend.

Puzzling over that, he stepped through the gates and went down the stairs on the west side of the station. Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, he followed the road along the tracks—and heard footsteps running up behind him.

“Azusagawa, cheers to the new year, man.”

Pulling up alongside him was Takumi Fukuyama. Like Sakuta, he was a statistical science major. He wore a black down jacket with an eye-catching orange scarf.

“Happy New Year.”

“Wish ya a good one.”

“Let’s make it a good one.”

Sakuta elected to enunciate.

“You’re so formal.”

“The world’s cutest girlfriend trained me to take salutations seriously.”

“Now I’m jealous.”

Takumi took his joke seriously. Maybe it wasn’t really a joke.

“So, about the world’s cutest Sakurajima—is that shit legit?”

“Which shit?”

Mai was famous—there was always something to buzz about.

“Online, they’re saying she’s Touko Kirishima.”

“You can’t believe everything you see in dreams.”

“But word is, this mass precog thing does come true.”

Takumi showed Sakuta his screen. On it was an article from a news site. The headline had the phrase mass precognition in it—certainly not a thing you saw every day. According to the article, there had previously been similar phenomena observed overseas. It attempted to offer up a viable-sounding explanation for the Christmas Eve dreams so many young people had experienced. But the more Sakuta read, the less it made sense.

“Did you dream, Fukuyama?”

“I was in Hokkaido.”

“Why Hokkaido?”

“I’m from there,” Takumi said, grinning.

“First I’ve heard of it.”

“I swear I said it when I introduced myself!”

“Is coming here from Hokkaido a big deal?”

He knew someone else from there—Touko Kirishima. He’d seen that info on Nene Iwamizawa’s profile.

“What?” Takumi said, looking baffled. He didn’t know about her.

“I met someone else from there recently.”

“Knowing you, I bet she’s cute.”

Takumi was leaning in, a bit too eager. Sakuta backed away, maintaining distance.

“Not as cute as Mai.”

“Introduce us!”

He’d love to, but it was physically impossible. Only Sakuta could actually see her. But telling Takumi something that out-there would just make him sound crazy—naturally, he wasn’t about to say the truth here. Best to just change the subject.

“Fukuyama, why’d you choose this college?”

If you were just trying to get to the city, there were any number of options. It seemed probable that he had a specific reason for choosing one run by the City of Yokohama.

“Don’t just change the subject! She must be real cute.”

Sadly, Takumi was not that easily dissuaded. He was starved for love.

“Fine, if she’s cool with it, I’ll introduce you.”

“Seriously? Now I’m glad I’m your friend.”

Would he be as happy if he knew she was invisible?

Sakuta wondered about that as they passed through the college gates.

It had been a while since he’d been on campus.

The tree-lined row was entirely free of gingko leaves.

“Uh, Azusagawa…”

“Mm?”

“Why did I pick this school?”

“……”

Assuming Takumi was joking, he glanced at him—and found his brow furrowed.

“Uh, Fukuyama?”

“Mm?”

“Are you all right in the head?”

Why else would he forget something like that?

And with that, they reached the classroom building.

Sakuta felt eyes on him the entire day.

During class, in the halls, as he dug into his curry in the cafeteria…there was nearly always someone looking his way. A wordless question, asking him if Mai Sakurajima was actually Touko Kirishima.

Each time, he offered the silent cry “She isn’t!” but his wail reached no one.

“That thing you mentioned this morning, Fukuyama? Looks like everyone knows.”

“Well, they would.”

Takumi shrugged it off, working through his own plate of curry. It was no big deal in his mind—just public knowledge. The idea had become so pervasive it’d be weird not to know.

It felt like what should have been rumor was being taken as fact.

The morning alone had been enough for him to realize how prevalent this topic was and how fast word had spread.

“Good thing Mai’s not here today.”

She was off to Kyoto for the week, filming a TV show.

Even Mai would likely get frustrated by this web of lies.

“Oh, right. Azusagawa.”

“You’ve got curry on your face.”

“My birthday’s the thirtieth. This month.”

Wiping his face, Takumi offered information nobody had asked for.

“Well, congrats.”

“So hook me up with this Hokkaido girl first.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

Sakuta was finally freed from the obnoxious looks during third period, a core curriculum class.

As the professor had warned, they had an exam.

Many standard classes wrapped things up with a report, but this class offered a test filled with essay questions.

The professor allowed notes and reference materials, but not phones. This was a rule that Sakuta had never encountered in high school.

For the first forty minutes, the only sound was mechanical pencils on paper, occasionally punctuated by Takumi making thinking noises.

Otherwise, silence.

A tense sort of silence, and Sakuta assumed that hush would continue until the exam ended—but not today.

There was a loud rattle from the back.

Someone had thrown open the sliding door.

Yet nobody turned around. Thirty students all stayed focused on their essays.

Sakuta himself kept on writing.

He assumed it was just a classmate running late.

Then he heard heels coming down the aisle, as if heading straight for him. They stopped right next to Sakuta. A shadow darkened his page.

“Join me a moment,” the intruder said.

Puzzled, Sakuta looked up.

A college girl stood there.

Touko Kirishima—actual name, Nene Iwamizawa.

“We need to talk,” she said, once she had his attention.

Everyone in class should have heard her speak, but not one student looked up, not even the white-haired professor killing time with a book.

No one reacted.

Not because they were focused on the exam. In the next seat over, Takumi was aimlessly flipping through a reference book, his concentration having long since run out. Quite a few students in front of them had finished up and were just vacantly staring into space. The rules said anyone who’d finished could start filing out after an hour, so they were presumably waiting for that time.

Either way, if someone had suddenly started talking, they’d have looked up. The professor would have done something.

This weird lack of reaction was only possible because they were unable to see Touko. Could not hear her voice.

 I’m taking an exam.

Unable to answer aloud, he scribbled this in his notes.

“Then I’ll wait till you’re done.”

Touko sat down sideways on the seat in front of his. Looking right at him. Watching his every move. Glaring pointedly at him.

This made it impossible for him to write.

It’d be best to take care of whatever she’d come for and finish the test afterward.

“Excuse me! My stomach hurts. I gotta run to the bathroom,” he announced, standing up.

He bent over a bit, one hand rubbing his belly. A terrible performance—Mai would definitely have laughed at him.

But the professor just said, “Go ahead,” and pointed at the door.

So he headed for the exit.

Touko got up, looking pleased with herself. The chair squeaked, but nobody noticed. Then Touko saw that Takumi’s scarf had fallen to the floor. She bent down and picked it up, dusted it off, then put it back on his desk.

“……”

Takumi didn’t react, and she gave him a long look. Waiting for him to thank her? To no avail—he didn’t notice.

It was no surprise that he couldn’t see her, and it didn’t look like Sakuta would be able to introduce them. He’d have to think of some other birthday present.

“Hmph,” Touko snorted, then turned and sailed out of the room. Sakuta trailed after her. Still pretending his stomach hurt.

Miori was seated near the back, and she caught his eye, shooting him an accusative glare. Did she think he was faking it? Probably.

Outside the exam room, Touko walked all the way down the long corridor and entered an empty classroom. Sakuta followed and closed the door behind him.

With just the two of them, it was even quieter than the exam hall.

“What did you want?” he asked, getting to the point. Hoping to get back to his essay.

“What’s your girlfriend up to?”

“Meaning?”

“Everyone’s saying she’s Touko Kirishima.”

“Somebody gave them all a weird dream.”

“She’s your girlfriend. Make her fix this.”

“That’s for her own good, so I’d love to. But if you’ve got a problem with it, why not just come forward as the real Touko Kirishima?”

The central garden was right outside the window. That was where Touko had done her Christmas Eve live broadcast.

“You could stream right here and now. I’ll help.”

That seemed fastest.

“No use.”

“You’ve tried it?”

“Nobody can see anything that’s got my face in it. Best I can manage is a long shot of my back.”

Where they could only make out her silhouette.

“Then you’ve just gotta make yourself perceivable again.”

And to do that, he needed to know just why Touko had become invisible. He didn’t imagine she’d tell him that easily…and it was always possible she didn’t know, either.

“Kirishima, do you know why you’re like this?”

“Nope,” she snapped.

“Does Iwamizawa know why?”

“……”

That earned him silence.

Silence signaled agreement.

“I’m taking that as a yes.”

He’d talked with her enough to realize she was bad at lying. And she had a habit of clamming up when he was right.

“Your girlfriend needs to deny it.”

“Once a rumor or mistake spreads this far, it’s pretty hard to refute.”

Some people believed it unquestioningly. Others didn’t care either way and the truth didn’t matter. Trying to passionately explain the truth to them would likely not get much across. The truth was as they perceived it.

“And if you know that, you’ve got a plan, right?” Touko said, giving him a searching look.

“If I do, is there a reward?” he asked, meeting her eyes.

“Hmm,” she said, crossing her arms.

She thought of something soon and smirked.

Catching his eyes again, she said, “I’ll take you on a date.”

“If it’s not a sleepover date, I’m hardly tempted.”

“I wouldn’t mind. If you aren’t scared of that girlfriend of yours.”

The gleam in her eyes indicated that she was trying to wind him up. She was enjoying this.

“You win. I’ll do something.”

“Then it’s a deal.”

She offered up her hand, and he shook it.

If they could clear the air around Mai and learn more about Touko, that was two birds with one stone. Forget the joke about a sleepover.

“Get it done,” she said, turning to go.

“What dream did you have, Kirishima?” he asked.

He’d figured she’d just ignore it, but she paused at the door and turned back.

“I didn’t have one.”

A surprising answer, at this stage. Mai wasn’t the only one.

“Same as Mai,” he said.

Touko made a face.

“Do you have time for this? You’d better get back to class. You’re cutting it close.”

At that, the bell rang. End of the third period—and the end of his exam.

It was his turn to make a face. Clearly what she’d been after. Touko said “Laters,” fluttered a hand, and was gone.

By the time Sakuta got back to the core curriculum room, it was deserted. His answer sheet had been collected, and the only things left were his stuff—and a girl, sitting across the aisle from his belongings. He recognized that half-up, half-down hairstyle—Miori had taken the same exam.

She heard him coming and turned around.

“Welcome back, pukeface.”

“What is that, the title of a morning soap?”

“Nobody would watch that.”

She laughed, amused.

“Everyone took off already. Planning a new-term party or a post-exam kegger.”

Miori glanced around the empty room. Takumi had mentioned something like that. Sakuta had actually met Miori at one of these core curriculum parties.

“You didn’t join them, Mitou?”

“If I go, I’ll just get hit on.”

It was amazing how she managed to keep that from sounding spiteful.

“And I had a question for you, Azusagawa.”

“My type? It’s Mai.”

“Then who was the girl you left with?”

“……”

This was the last question he’d expected, and it left him dumbfounded.

“Sneaking off for a tryst, mid-test? My word.”

It took him a minute to even register what he was hearing.

What was Miori saying?

“She dresses up like Santa sometimes, yes? Miniskirt and everything.”

She just kept mercilessly piling on.

And he could no longer reject the idea.

“……You can see her, Mitou?”

“She marches right in like that, how could I miss it?”

“No, I mean, you could see her?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Miori looked baffled, obviously not following what he was saying.

“You and I are the only people who can see that woman.”

“……”

Now it was her turn to freeze. She likely wasn’t processing that at all. It didn’t seem like she’d understood his words.

For a long moment, she simply blinked at him.

“……”

“……”

A very, very long silence passed.

Her lips didn’t move again until the fourth-period bell rang.

“Azusagawa,” she said.

“What?”

“Are you insane?”

It had taken her a long time to reach that conclusion.

But it was by far the most appropriate one.