The first thing Shouko did was take a selfie by the Makinohara Rest Area sign. Then they perused the offerings in the gift shop. The area was known for tea, and they had lots of tea-related stuff to choose from. Shouko wound up buying a roll cake, and Sakuta bought some pudding for Kaede.
“Sakuta, let’s have some of that,” Shouko said, pointing, and they each bought some soft serve. Shouko went with a mix of green tea and milk flavors. Sakuta went with houjicha.
This rest stop had a dog run. Not something you saw every day. There were several dogs happily racing around as the skies tipped toward evening.
Watching them go, Sakuta voiced a thought.
“There’s no do-overs like with us.”
Even if there were, and Touko survived…there was no telling what would happen to Shouko. Chances were there’d be a future where she didn’t make it.
“We’re in the present now, so that’s not possible.”
“I thought so.”
She was right.
They’d managed to change things because that timeline had always been the future. They’d been able to return from the future to the present. But there was no way to go from the present to the past. He remembered Rio explaining why that was so much harder.
“Which means I’ve just gotta go see Mitou empty-handed.”
He took a bite of soft serve. Each bite filled his mouth with the nutty flavors of the houjicha.
“Want to read the exchange diary, Sakuta?”
He considered that.
“……I’d better not,” he said, shaking his head.
“It might provide some insight.”
Shouko sounded concerned.
“I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t hesitate. He wasn’t super sure what he meant by fine. But he was weirdly sure about how to approach Miori.
“I figured it was high time we actually became friends.”
“Even if it’s my fault Touko died?”
“Even if it was my fault Touko Kirishima died, I’d still wanna be Mitou’s friend.”
With that, he popped the last bite of the waffle cone into his mouth.
✦ ✦ ✦
Sakuta and Shouko pulled out of the rest area at half past four. The skies in the west were just starting to turn red.
The car soon got up to speed, sweeping them along at sixty-five miles per hour. Roughly two hours later, at six thirty, they were back in Fujisawa.
Before returning the rental, he stopped by his apartment building, intending to drop off Shouko and the gifts they’d bought.
As he did, he spotted a familiar white minivan outside the building across the street. It belonged to Mai’s manager, Ryouko Hanawa.
“Looks like Mai just got back.”
He hadn’t seen her since the bus serving as her greenroom at the music festival.
When Sakuta got out, the rear door of the minivan slid open, and Mai hopped out. She must have spotted him from inside. She came over, not looking at all surprised. She had a hint of grump around her eyes—and he knew why.
“Why does Shouko get a lift before I do?” she grumbled, pinching both his cheeks and pulling them apart.
“Sakuta did nothing wrong! I begged him to spend the day with me!” Shouko declared, before he could make any excuses.
Mai’s gaze turned to her.
“……”
“……”
Their eyes met, and a silence fell. A tense one.
But only for a moment.
“Welcome back, Shouko.”
“It’s nice to be back.”
The shadow over them passed.
“The Minegahara uniform looks good on you.”
“I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Lets me wrap Sakuta around my finger.”
“You’re even talking like the older Shouko now.”
Her rapid growth left Mai somewhat perturbed.
“Mai,” a voice called from behind her. “I’m gonna take your stuff up to your room.”
It was her manager, Ryouko. She dragged a suitcase out of the van and headed to the door.
“No, I’ll handle it. You go on home, Ryouko. Get some rest.”
Mai took a few steps away, then turned back.
“Shouko, we’ll have to catch up soon,” she said.
“Sure.”
“Sakuta, make sure she gets home.”
“I planned on it. If that won’t piss you off?”
“Rest assured, I’m livid.”
She flashed a smile, then took her suitcase from her manager, waved at Shouko and Sakuta again, and vanished into the building. He watched until she was out of sight.
Ryouko got back in the van, bobbed her head at Sakuta, and drove off. She turned left at the corner and was soon in the wind.
That left just the two of them.
“You are loved, Sakuta.”
“I know.”
“Mai was certainly acting like herself.”
“Other than claiming to be Touko Kirishima, she is.”
“And that’s what’s got you so rattled?”
“She’s Mai, but not.”
“And also not Mai, but she is?”
Shouko had him dead to rights.
“Either way, the ball’s in Miori Mitou’s court,” Shouko added.
Right she was. For that reason, Sakuta settled for nodding.
“It sure is,” he said.
✦ ✦ ✦
Thursday, April 6.
A sunny day.
The air felt fresh—they’d just welcomed a whole new crop of students to the campus located a convenient three-minute walk from Kanazawa-hakkei Station.
Orientation had been the day before, and the freshmen were beset with invites from clubs and teams along the gingko lane.
“I guess they did this last year, too…,” Sakuta muttered, one eye on that bustle as he headed to the main building.
This was the first day back for sophomores, and all he had was an orientation for statistical science majors.
He was about to step into the third-floor class when he heard footsteps running up behind him.
“Good morning, Sakuta!” a cheery voice cried.
Only one person got that bright and lively.
Puzzled by it, Sakuta turned around.
“Let’s make it a good one!” Uzuki said, beaming at him.
“Why are you here, Zukki?”
“We’ve got orientation!”
“Didn’t you drop out of college so you could dual-wield a solo career and Sweet Bullet?”
“I told you this. I’m doing both and going to college! Triple wielding!”
Sakuta had no such memory.
Uzuki had left school last fall for the reasons he’d stated.
“Good morning, everybody!” Uzuki cried, being very much herself.
Oblivious to his consternation. She jogged off to join a group of girls. Nobody seemed baffled by her presence. She clearly belonged here.
There wasn’t much point in letting this trip him up, so he simply followed her in.
Takumi spotted him and raised a hand.
“Yo, Fukuyama,” Sakuta said, settling down next to him.
“Mm?”
“What’s your take on Hirokawa?”
His eyes were on the far end of the room, where Uzuki was chatting with the other girls.
“I think she’s cute.”
A breezy answer.
Takumi clearly had no questions about Uzuki’s presence here. Like the rest of the students, he thought she belonged.
Reality had been rewritten. This wasn’t the world Sakuta knew.
“Yo, Fukuyama.”
“What now?”
“I hear you shouldn’t call other girls cute when you’ve got a girlfriend.”
“Don’t tell Nene.”
“If you buy me lunch.”
As they kept up their idle banter, Sakuta felt eyes on him. Their curiosity was palpable. He knew why. This was about the events of the April 1 music festival.
“So did you know all along, Azusagawa?”
“I did not.”
“Huh? What?”
“You mean Mai being Touko Kirishima, yeah?”
“Can you read minds?”
“That happened once, temporarily.”
“Hah? Now you’re scaring me.”
Takumi recoiled, covering his chest with both arms. Apparently, he believed the mind was in the heart.
“I’m kidding.”
“I figured,” Takumi laughed, like he always did.
At this point, the white-haired professor came in.
Chatter died down, and students took their seats.
There were no well-intentioned preambles—the statistical science orientation got right down to business. The professor mostly spoke about their attitudes and the program direction.
“You’ll be attending more lectures in your major, so if you failed any of the core curriculum classes, be sure to make those up before the year is out.”
“Did you blow any, Azusagawa?” Takumi whispered.
“I’m not you, so no.”
“I didn’t fail any, either!”