Seishun Buta Yarou Series - Volume 13 - Chapter 3.2

2

“Super-duper yikes.”

Sakuta had split up with Miori at Ofuna Station and taken the train back to Fujisawa. On his usual walk home, he found himself saying that word over and over.

“Yiiiikes.”

On the gentle slope.

As he passed the park.

As he peered into his mailbox.

And on the elevator up.

He said “Yikes” again as he turned the key in the door.

He’d lost count of how many times he’d said it.

Because Nene Iwamizawa wasn’t the only invisible woman?

Or because he’d found that out?

Likely the latter.

If only he’d remained blissfully ignorant.

“Seriously, yikes,” he said, stepping inside.

As he took off his shoes, the phone rang.

“Yes, yes, coming,” he said, hustling down the hall.

The number on the display looked vaguely familiar.

He went ahead and answered.

“Hello?”

Proper manners.

He heard someone gulp. They seemed tense.

“Is this the Azusagawa residence?”

That voice told him at once who this was. No wonder the number had looked familiar.

The caller added, “This is Fukuyama speaking.”

“It’s me. What’s up?”

“Whew! Azusagawa! Get a cell phone, man. It was hard as hell digging up your number. I started with Asuka from the mixer…”

“The future nurse?”

There’d been a couple of girls from the nursing program at that mixer. Asuka and Chiharu.

“Yep, yep. That got me to Kamisato, then to her boyfriend, and finally to you.”

“Surprised Kunimi told you.”

Personal information was sensitive these days.

“I told him it was an emergency, and he hooked me up.”

Since he’d gone through Saki, the couple had known who Takumi was. That had probably done the trick.

“So what’s going on?”

“First, sorry about the airport thing.”

“You did nothing wrong.”

“I didn’t really listen. I had no idea what you were getting at.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Nene was the one who’d taken that hard. Sakuta had no clue what she’d been up to since. He’d called a few times, but she hadn’t picked up.

“I said a lot at once, Fukuyama. How you handling it?”

“Uh, well, that’s why I’m calling.”

Just as it had at the airport, his tone dropped a notch. He seemed to be talking slower than usual, and that was likely the case. Before he spoke again, Takumi let out a long sigh—probably entirely unconscious.

“I got called back to Hokkaido.”

“That sounds like bad news?”

“Yeah, it was. Classmate of mine from junior high got hit by a car, passed away.”

His voice sounded distant. As though he was talking to himself.

“You were close?”

“Different high schools, hadn’t seen each other since we graduated…but we talked a lot in junior high. He’d transferred in from Tokyo in our second year.”

This must be the transfer student Nene had told Sakuta about. The same one who’d first made her notice Takumi.

“I was headed to his funeral, couldn’t really think about anything else.”

“I sure picked the worst timing, then.”

“But rushing back home was the right choice. They say funerals are for the living, and I get why.”

There was a wistful note in Takumi’s voice, like he was talking to the skies above.

“So you said your good-byes?”

“I did. Bawled my eyes out. Old classmates laughed at me.”

He chuckled, trying to cheer himself up.

But the emotions were flooding back, and his voice had choked up.

“You called to share that?”

“No, well, yeah, but…this is something I heard at the wake.”

“What?”

“About the dreaming hashtag.”

Sakuta hadn’t paid that phrase much attention the last couple of weeks. After Coming-of-Age Day, the media had largely dropped the topic, so it had been out of sight, out of mind.

It felt like a thing of the past already.

“Is that still big up in Hokkaido?”

“Still is in Tokyo, too. Comes up at every mixer.”

“First I’ve heard of it.”

“You ain’t on social media much, huh?”

“So what’s the hashtag got to do with it, Senpai?”

“The friend who died? He didn’t have a Christmas Eve dream.”

“Yeah?”

Most grown-ups hadn’t experienced these freakishly real dreams. Even in his own generation, there were exceptions—like Mai and Touko.

“People think they show the future, right?”

“That’s a widely held view.”

Sakuta had them pegged as something else, though.

“So our old classmates are thinking if you didn’t dream, it’s because you’ll be dead.”

“……”

This had not occurred to him.

If you didn’t exist in the future, how could you dream about it?

The equation added up.

The logic was sound.

“I know it’s far-fetched, but I feel like you mentioned Sakurajima not having one of those dreams, so…”

So he’d felt the need to call.

“I agree it’s far-fetched, but I do appreciate the heads-up.”

Nothing revealed here was set in stone.

But Takumi had helped him put several pieces together.

Tomoe’s dream.

Mai’s lack thereof.

If Mai really did wind up in a coma after being police chief for a day, and she was still unconscious by the date of so many other dreams—April 1—then that would explain why she hadn’t dreamed.

But there were still contradictions. In those same April 1 dreams, Mai had been up and about, onstage telling everyone she was Touko Kirishima.

If she was in a coma, how was she onstage, showing off her singing chops?

Did that bring Ikumi’s theory into play? That these dreams weren’t the future, but a glimpse of another world? Another potential reality?

The truth seemed to be leaning in that direction, but it would never do to assume.

Takumi had helped him find more possibilities. But he felt like this was only the tip of the iceberg.

“Also, Azusagawa.”

“What, Senpai?”

“That right there!”

“What right there?”

“Why’d you start calling me that?!”

“I respect my elders.”

“……”

Takumi seemed dumbfounded.

“Turns out, you’re two years older than me.”

“How do you know that?! I never told anyone!”

His voice was almost a yelp.

“Heard about it from someone who knows you well, Senpai.”

“You mean…the girlfriend you were talking about at the airport?”

“Yep.”

“Then I really did forget about her.”

He sounded convinced. More than Sakuta had expected.

“You’re buying into my ravings?”

“I’ve had this nagging feeling I’m forgetting something. Like that time you asked me why I’d picked this college.”

Sakuta hadn’t read much into it, but Takumi had certainly seemed rather confused.

“Like, I should know this…so why don’t I?”

That made sense now.

Sakuta knew exactly why Takumi couldn’t remember the motive behind his choice of higher education.

He’d only taken these exams to be with Nene Iwamizawa. But he could no longer perceive her. With Nene at the heart of his motivation, her absence removed his very reason to be here.

“And what you said at the airport—about the scarf? I started thinking, Maybe that’s why.”

“If you’re taking my word for it, try to remember her.”

“I’ll try, sure.”

“Try harder! She didn’t dream, either.”

“……”

He heard Takumi gulp.

“She might be in trouble.”

“That bad?”

“That bad.”

“……”

“I’ve got my hands full with Mai, so she’s all yours, Senpai.”

“If I pull it off, will you promise to stop calling me that?”

“Sure thing, Senpai.”

“Consider me motivated.”

Takumi chuckled.

Sakuta found himself relaxing a bit, too.

“Might be for the best you’re back home. Try looking through your yearbooks. Maybe it’ll trigger something.”

“Got it. Worth a shot. I’ll call if I get anywhere.”

“Same.”

“Then this is good-bye.”

The call ended.

Sakuta put the phone down but picked it back up immediately.

He dialed Mai’s number.

It rang several times before she answered.

“Sakuta? What is it?”

That alone prompted a sigh of relief.

He could only reply with one word.

“Mai.”

“Yes?”

“Can I see you right now?”

“You have excellent timing.”

“Oh?”

The intercom rang.

Hoping, he pressed the answer button.

Mai was on the display.

“It’s cold out. Let me in.”

“Right away.”

He pressed the unlock button and hung up the phone.

Unable to wait for her to reach his floor, Sakuta moved to the door, put sandals on, and stepped outside.

He heard the elevator doors open down the hall.

And a moment later, he saw her.

“Mai,” he called.

She looked a bit taken aback, but that soon softened.

“What’s wrong?” she said, approaching him.

Sakuta moved toward her.

The distance between them was five yards.

With each step, that shrank. Four yards. Then three.

Finally, Mai stopped a step away from him.

Sakuta didn’t stop—he swept her into his arms.

“Seriously, what’s the matter?”

Mai’s tone didn’t change at all.

But she could feel his arms shaking.

“What’s wrong?” she asked again, gently.

He had only one answer.

“I’ll keep you safe,” he said.

That didn’t tell her much.

She didn’t know what he did.

But she knew something had happened.

And that was enough for them.

“Then I’ll keep you safe, Sakuta.”

With that, her arms closed around him.

Back inside, the phone was ringing.

Nasuno looked up at the sound, and it went to the answering machine.

“I need your help with something. On February third, be at the following address: Yokohama City, Kanazawa—”

It was Touko Kirishima calling.