Disclaimer: VCRx does not own Rascal Does Not Dream. Rights belong to Hajime Kamoshida and Aniplex! Thanks!

One day, Sakuta Azusagawa notices a wild bunny girl at the local library. But it is not simply any bunny girl, she's a senpai from his school, that so happens to be an actress on hiatus. However, something's off: Nobody seems to be able to see or hear her. It is almost like she doesn't exist, and Sakuta will soon discover, it might become just that.

Rascal Does Not Dream of:

A Beautiful Bunny Girl Senpai C3

May 25th

That Sunday, despite the forecast foretelling otherwise, the skies were perfectly clear. It seemed the universe was on his side. It was warm out, yet accompanied by a slight spring breeze which cooled the land from the warmest rays of the sun; perfect for a date out to Kamakura with Mai.

Sakuta had managed to leave work at two o'clock on the dot and whisked himself home. It took him just under four minutes, flying through the streets on his bike.

"Welcome home!" Kaede greeted him. After giving her a warm hug, he went straight to the bathroom. He washed the sweat he'd accumulated from a long morning at work and took greater care than usual at shampooing his messy hair. He changed into his cleanest shirt and shorts, and even a brand new pair of underwear.

Kaede poked her head into his room with a puzzled gaze as he surveyed himself in the mirror. He hadn't told her the exact reason for his day out today, and she was probably wondering why he was suddenly taking good care in his appearance.

"A man has to be prepared for any and all situations!" Sakuta spoke with grandeur, imparting great wisdom. "I'm off, Kaede!"

"See you later, Onii-chan!" Kaede waved him off with Nasuno at her feet. He had checked the time just moments before leaving the door. It was twenty-two past, and he began a brisk jog to Fujisawa Station, careful not to over-exert himself after just showering.

As he marched to his date, his body felt somehow lighter, as if wanting to skip instead of walking normally. It had felt like he had grown wings.

It wasn't just the hop of his steps that felt different; the houses seemed brighter, and the last of the flowers had bloomed after a long spring. The sparrows on the powerlines chirped a happy melody, as if cheering him on.

However, three minutes after he left home, a cheerful and happy Sakuta's day was interrupted by a small girl's cry. Ahead of him, at the entrance to Fujisawa Park, was a little girl bawling her eyes out.

Sakuta walked up to her and crouched down to a knee. "Hey. Hey there. Are you okay there?"

The girl stopped crying at being spoke to and looked at Sakuta.

"Wahhh! You're not my Mama!" she yelled, before immediately resuming tearing by the bucket full.

"...Are you lost?" Sakuta asked, placing a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"My Mama's gonnee!"

"Yup. You're lost."

She sniffled. "Mama's lost."

"Well, I guess that works too." Sakuta nodded with a smile. "Come on, stop crying. I'll help you look for her."

The little girl whimpered, but stopped crying. She looked up hesitantly. "Really?"

"Yea," Sakuta confirmed. He held his hand out, "Come on, let's go -"

Then, the instant that little girl had begun to reach out for his hand, there came a energetic yell behind him, "Drop dead, filthy pedophile!"

He wondered what the hell was happening, but before he could turn around, he felt a sharp pain attack his backside.

"Ooh!" he yelped out as as he landed in a sprawl on the asphalt. He turned to look at who had just kicked him and was met with a girl that was probably around his age.

She had a fluffy hair styled in a bob-cut, long teal blouse and short skirt which complimented her long bare legs. She wore light make-up, enough to be pretty, but not too much as to be zealous about it. She was the very picture of an everyday modern high school girl.

"Quickly! Run for it!" the student shouted at the girl. The little girl just made sounds of confusion at the sudden chain of events. "Come on, hurry!"

He didn't even know what was happening either, but the student grabbed the girl's hand and made a pull to take her away.

"Hurry, before the pedo gets up!"

"Who's the pedo?" Sakuta hoisted himself up while massaging his backside. The strength had vanished from his legs due to the exasperating pain.

"You!" the student accused vibrantly.

"You got it all wrong. I'm no pedo. I was helping her look for her mom!" Sakuta said, abashed.

"What?! Really?" The student looked down at the girl.

"He was helping," the student sniffled in confirmation.

"Eh?" The student cried out in embarrassment. "So he wasn't praying on you?"

"I'm not like that," Sakuta affirmed. "I like older women."

"So you're still a pervert?!" Even with the shock in her voice, the student's expression slightly eased.

"I was helping her look for her lost mother," Sakuta repeated from earlier.

"Wait, wait. She's the one that lost, right?"

"Mama's lost," the little girl told, moving away from the student to Sakuta's side and grabbing his sleeve tightly. It was a complete reversal.

The student gave a pained smile, realizing she was in the wrong.

"Man, my backside hurts," Sakuta complained.

"Sorry, ahaha," the student laughed guiltily.

"I think you split it in two…"

"Eh?! That's awful!" The student's face was filled with momentous horror, before turning to a bright angry red. "Wait, it's supposed to be split!"

Sakuta laughed jestingly. "Ahh, it hurts, it hurts."

"Fine! I get it," the student yelled, then immediately turned around and put her hands on a telephone pole. She thrust her skirt-clad bottom at Sakuta with an energetic yell, "Here!"

She probably meant him to kick her in retaliation, but he hadn't any interest to do such a thing. Especially out here in public.

"Hurry up. I have an appointment with my friends," the student complained.

Sakuta had an appointment too, an important one at that. Every second he hesitated: a second longer he was going to be late. And they also had a lost girl to help; he'll definitely be late now. At this point, kicking her would be quickest.

"Okay… Here then."

He lightly kicked her.

"Harder!" the student yelled over her shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Kick me as hard as I kicked you, so we'll be even. Come on," she told over her shoulder.

"Seriously? Umm, alright. You asked for it."

A girl was asking him to kick her hard in the backside. It would be the gentlemanly thing to oblige.

Sakuta pulled his head back, pivoting for extra strength and then steadied his aim. Then, he swung a serious kick at her bottom.

"Owwwwww!" she hollered.

"Hey, you there! What the hell are you doing?!" a voice called from behind them. Sakuta looked behind him to see a middle-aged policeman in his car: an expression of complete bewilderment on his face. "A park in broad daylight during a holiday isn't the place to be doing perverted activities like that!"

The officer got out of his car.

"No, she's the only pervert here." Sakuta pointed at the student.

"N-no! I'm not a pervert! There's a reason for -" the student frantically began.

"Let's hear it at the station," he grabbed them; his grip firm. Just by feeling it, he could tell he wouldn't be able to escape without some serious effort, which would only make things worse.

"I've got important things to do, let me go," Sakuta pleaded. The station would be the worst possible case. Mai would wait for five - maybe ten minutes. Fifteen would be a miracle. But she wouldn't wait any longer.

After all, she was Mai Sakurajima, a national celebrity.

"Right, right," the policeman grumbled. "Calm down and come quiet and we'll sort this out. You come along too, little miss. Your mother's waiting at the station."

"Mama? Yay!"

And so, Sakuta reluctantly was put into the back of a police vehicle along with the student and found himself with a new appointment at the police station.

The officer finally let them go an hour and a half after. The clock hands had swung dreadfully slow, nearing to the four o'clock mark.

After everything he'd done, his chances had been ruined.

"Geez, this is the worst," the girl voiced tiredly as she walked out of the station next to him.

"That's my line," Sakuta said with a pointed tone. "He had already understood our situation after five minutes, but you kept staring at your phone, which made him keep lecturing us."

"But I had text messages…" the girl defended. "If I don't reply quickly, they'll stop being my friends."

"Then I wouldn't exactly call them 'friends,' Koga," Sakuta told.

She shifted in surprise. "How do you know my name?!"

"Tomoe Koga," he recited her full name. They'd had to tell their names and show the police officer their IDs when he'd taken them in. They had also had to tell him which school they attended; coincidentally, she went to Minegahara too. Apparently, Tomoe had been too distracted with her phone to remember. "It's a cute name."

"Huh?! You know my full name, too?"

"I know everything about you."

"Hah, funny."

"You come from Fukuoka."

"What? How'd ya know?!"

"I'm a psychic," Sakuta said proudly. It wasn't the fact her ID had shown her place of birth.

"Psychic? Then why didn't you dodge earlier?"

"I'm that kind of psychic that can only see you once I hold your hand… Or kick your butt. That worked too."

"Don't go just saying it around!" she complained as she took out her phone. "Well then, tell me your name. It's only fair since you know mine."

Sakuta saw no reason to give her his real name. She'd had her chance to hear it earlier. He decided instead to give her an obvious pseudonym. "I'm Ichirou Satou!"

He thought it would be a name that anyone would realize was fake, but she seemed to readily accept it. It would be a bother to admit it was fake now, so Sakuta decided not to bother correcting her.

She kept staring at her phone.

"Are you always attached to that thing?" he asked her.

"You sound like my dad. I'm busy."

So she was one of those types.

He watched her for a minute as she scrambled to send out emails and texts and even liked a few videos without watching them. He'd seen this before. Frantically attached to the web and social media, living by those stupid rules and pictures and emoticons, needing to stay up-to-date on the latest media trends and such.

It was a exhaustful way to live - and pointless. He doubted she was placing a single semblance of thought into her actions or messages. She cruised across her apps with the efficiency of a machine.

It was a waste.

Yet, this life bounded so many people, connecting them into desperately needed cliques and groups to belong in, attached by vague short meetings of emails and texts and comments.

Then he saw the time in the corner of her phone and remembered his date with Mai.

"Ah, crap! I had plans. See you!" Tomoe shouted, saying the words that he had thought to say moments before he did. She rushed off, and so did he.

He was absolutely late.

He ran hard. He ran past Benny's and into Fujisawa Station and got through the ticket barriers.

Just past the barriers - that was where they had agreed to meet.

As he caught his breath, he scanned the station, looking all over.

Unfortunately, Mai wasn't anywhere in sight.

Regret encroached upon him. He couldn't have just done nothing when he saw that lost girl, but nevertheless, he'd lost his first date. In that moment, he hated himself for not having a phone. If he had, he could've called her and explained.

"Well, I've really done it…" Sakuta groaned to himself. Mai wouldn't have waited for an hour and a half for him. She would now never forgive him. She was probably already in Kamakura and angry at Sakuta for not showing up. "I'm the worst."

"You really are - having the nerve to keep me waiting an hour and thirty-eight minutes."

He turned in disbelief, and behind him, there was Mai, standing defiantly in casual spring clothes. "...You're-"

"What?" she barked, eyes blazing.

Sakuta shifted to an accusing stance. "It's just that Mai-san isn't a lovable girl that would admirably wait for a man running late. You must be an imposter!" Sakuta exclaimed in an exaggerated tone.

Mai narrowed her eyes and suddenly the air around him felt a bit colder.

"So that's how Sakuta sees me?" Mai murmured thoughtfully.

"You forgot the '-kun'," Sakuta said.

"Sakuta barely deserves 'Sakuta,'" as Mai was saying that, Sakuta couldn't help but smile. Even after an hour and a half, she had waited for him when she had told she wouldn't stand a second. "What are you smirking on about?"

"Nothing at all."

He fought to suppress his smile as he looked at Mai again. It was actually the first time he'd seen her in casual clothes. Before, he'd only seen her in the Minegahara uniform and, of course, the Bunny Girl suit. Now, she was wearing a violet knitted hoodie atop a long-sleeve blouse. Her skirt was knee-length, with long black tights that stretched down her legs and fashionable spring boots that came up to just under her knees. Her outfit was somehow balanced elegance and homely perfectly.

It suited Mai very well.

However, there was one thing…

"Something wrong?" Mai frowned.

"A date requires bare legs, Mai-san," Sakuta informed her knowingly, crouching down and analyzing her tights. She was always wearing tights around her legs.

"You have some nerve don't you?" she muttered, swatting him on the head.

"Ehh, I guess I can make do. You do look really cute."

Mai gave him a silent, sidelong look.

Sakuta sighed happily. "You're way too cute, Mai-san."

"It's good to be honest with me."

"My heart's racing. I want to take you home and bring you -"

"If you are about to say anything I'll disapprove off, I recommend you don't say it."

Sakuta smiled. He gestured in the direction of the South Platform. "Shall we go then?"

"There's no reason to rush; the next train doesn't come here for another 25 minutes. Besides, this conversation isn't over. You still haven't given me your excuse for being late and sincerely beg for my forgiveness." It seemed Mai was enjoying herself now. Her eyes were sparkling with life. "If it's not good enough, I'll go home."

Maybe she had waited an hour and thirty-eight minutes just to tease him.

"Well, I was on my way, when at Fujisawa Park when I found a lost child-"

"I'm going home."

"Wait! It's the truth!"

"Why were you by the park?" she asked.

"It's on the way from home. I had went to shower and change underwear, in case tonight..."

Mai sighed in disgust. "Well, that does sound like the worthless effort of a younger boy… so I'll have to accept it."

"Thank you very much, senpai!" Sakuta bowed with great appreciation.

Mai huffed. "However, when we get to Kamakura, you're not allowed to be closer than thirty meters from me."

At that point, it wouldn't be a date. He'd be more of a stalker.

"B-but I was late because I had to take her to the police station," Sakuta begged. He didn't want to get arrested again.

"The lost child was a girl?"

He silently nodded. "She was."

"You have some nerve to keep me waiting for another girl."

"Even though she was only six?!"

He hadn't gotten the little girl's exact age, but six was a good estimate.

"Quite so," she affirmed, to his dismay. "Besides, the station is just over there, isn't it?"

Mai pointed past the entrance of the station.

"She asked me to stay with her until they found her parents. She would start to cry, when I would try leave beforehand." With each word, he dug himself deeper into a pit.

"Hmm." Mai's doubtful gaze stabbed him through the eyes. "You should know, I hate lies."

"What a coincidence, so do I. We have lots in common."

"If you're lying, I'll make you eat Pocky through your nose."

"One stick?!"

"A box."

"Then… can I at least choose strawberry if-"

"Chocolate," Mai decreed sternly. But after a moment of consideration, her eyes slightly softened. "Well, okay, I'm not saying I forgive you, but we can still go on a date."

"Thank you!"

He was about to rejoice when he heard a familiar voice call out, "Ah! The pervert from earlier!"

He looked to the direction of the shout and saw Tomoe Koga from earlier. She was with three other girls - presumably the same ones she'd had plans with. They all looked to be similar in ages, all probably in the same class.

"Ah, the Hakata from earlier!" he called back.

Tomoe sprung forward from the group, her hand forward and tried covering his mouth. "Don't say that!"

"Say what?"

"What you just said. What did you call me?"

"Uh, you were from Fukuoka, right?"

Just then, one of Tomoe's friends grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from Sakuta.

"What are you doing?!" the girl who pulled at Tomoe yelled at her.

Tomoe was visibly confused. "Huh?"

"That's hospital incident," her friend attempted to whisper, eyes pointing in the direction of Sakuta. She had 'attempted' a whisper, meaning cupping her hands around and saying it into Tomoe's ear. However, she seemed to forget the 'lowering of the voice' portion.

"Eh?" Tomoe muttered in surprise. "That's Satou Ichirou."

"Just don't get close to him. Anyway, look who's he's with." They were still 'whispering' to one another.

Were they that ignorant about how loud they were speaking, or did they simply not care?

However, Sakuta then noticed the gathered girls were staring at Mai. Apparently, they could see her.

"Come on, let's go," one of the other girls said, and the group began to walk away rudely in the direction of another platform. However, Tomoe did wave apologetically as they went around a bend.

As he watched them leave his sight, Sakuta realized his mistake. He'd instinctively answered Tomoe. Mai would then figure…

He glanced at Mai. She wore a perfectly blank expression.

"Hey Sakuta," she began.

"It's not what you think."

"What that girl said…"

"Sort of."

Mai blinked.

"Don't worry, I'm not going home." She latched her arm around his. "At least not yet! First, we need to buy some Pocky!"

"...Can we get the thin ones?"

"Course not."

And thus, his first date had begun, and it would involve purchasing his own method of torture.

Fifteen minutes later, an abrupt snap could be heard as Mai bit into a stick of pocky. Each of her bites produce a distinct, loud crunch. She was making sure Sakuta could see how annoyed she was.

He was sitting next to her on the Enoden train, their seats facing the sea.

He couldn't enjoy the scene well, however. He had just finished explaining in full scope and detail the truth for his delayed arrival, and now she was considering his couldn't help but anxiously try to anticipate the timing of the inevitable stab of a pocky into his nose.

And she'd gotten the big ones too.

They sat silently there for a few moments, sitting beside each other; Mai stiffly biting into each pocky one by one. And then, the time came when Mai held out a stick of pocky and said, "Here. Take it."

Sakuta hesitantly looked down at her outstretched hand.

"Umm, I'm full," he answered slowly.

"I don't want to get fat, so help me finish," Mai explained, rolling her eyes.

Sakuta sighed. "Okay."

He reluctantly took the offered chocolate-creme-covered stick.

Mai glanced at him with a slight grin. "You can eat them normally."

Relief filled his soul. "Thank you."

He bit into the pocky with gusto. He'd actually hadn't eaten much all day except a quick sandwich during break before lunch rush.

"Did you really think I'd make you eat them with your nose?" Mai asked. Noticing his enthusiasm, she handed him the box.

Sakuta chewed. Somehow, he had a feeling Mai was the type to find talking while eating rude. Only after he swallowed, he said, "You were very serious when you were telling me to earlier."

"It's called acting, idiot."

"You had me fooled."

"I'm an actress. I'd be worried if you hadn't."

"True."

Mai turned her tired gaze to the window. "You know, this just means I'm going to have you repent some other way."

"I'm sorry I was lying. Great and Beautiful Sakurajima-sama, please forgive me."

Mai didn't respond for a while. She just sat there and stared out at the passing streets and buildings. Sakuta sensed she was in deep thought and decided to refrain from interrupting.

They had passed by several stations and hundreds of houses - Sakuta even finished the rest of the pocky - before Mai's eyes shifted back into the train carriage.

"Hey," her voice cracked. "Why do you look out for me so much?"

He turned in honest confusion. "What's bringing this up?"

"Normal people wouldn't go out of their way to look after troublesome girls like me."

Sakuta couldn't help but narrow his eyebrows in consideration. "It's because of that twisted personality that you don't have any friends."

"How does that relate to-"

"Mai-san, do you enjoy school?" Sakuta interrupted.

Mai huffed and looked away. "What? You mean, do I enjoy school despite having no friends? Well… that's been the case since elementary school, so it's never bothered me that much," she explained with a diminished tone. "Anyway, don't change the subject. I asked you a question. Answer it."

Sakuta knew Mai was a spectacular actress, but right in that moment, he sensed her words to be true ones.

Perhaps she'd never had any friends her age growing up. She didn't feel as much unease with not having anyone as expected, as she'd never held the sensation in the first place.

One couldn't miss something they'd never had.

"What was the question again?" Sakuta feigned.

She glared at him sharply. "Why do you insist so strongly on interfering in my life? You go as far as giving yourself up to that journalist for information on me, and all those weeks you searched for me at school... You must have a reason."

"Maybe I'm just the type not able to leave someone when they need help."

Mai's eyes ignited. "Give me a serious answer."

"It was a serious answer."

"That wasn't it. You're soft-hearted, but not by nature. What drives you? Why are you meddling in my affairs?"

"What the hell does 'soft-hearted, but not by nature' even mean?!"

"Just answer the question!" she silently yelled at him. It wasn't the volume of her voice, but the tone and glare of her eyes that conveyed her intent.

Sakuta looked right back at her. With his most serious expression, he boasted, "I was just enthusiastic for a chance to get close to a beautiful senpai."

"Who taught you to speak so candidly?"

Sakuta didn't know whether to take it as an insult. "Weren't you the one who told me to be serious?"

"Tell me your real reason," Mai scowled.

Sakuta sighed and slowly looked down at his feet. "Because it's the worst when you're in trouble and you don't have someone to rely on."

Sakuta paused, his eyes trained on his sneakers, while he waited for Mai to respond.

When she remained silent, he continued, "When Kaede had her outbreak of Adolescence Syndrome, nobody believed us. My friends would listen, but they'd roll their eyes and laugh. They thought I was..."

"Can I ask you something?" Mai's voice interrupted. Sakuta nodded, without looking at her. "What about your parents?"

Her voice was soft, yet steady, like how one would poke a sleeping bear. After all, she also had an indecent relationship with her mother, so she knew what resentful emotions could be spurred by such a question. He did unintentionally cause her own upwelling of suppressed emotions weeks earlier.

"We live separately now."

"I know that. I noticed when I was at your apartment that day." He guessed that would remove the need for an explanation. It was the same attentiveness that he remembered from when she had memorized his name when they had first met. She had probably noticed the only shoes in the entryway to be his, and the atmosphere of his place to be void of the touch of an adult. "Did they?.."

"They wouldn't believe me. Even when I had recorded her scars appearing before me, my parents screamed at me for faking it and editing the footage," Sakuta divulged. He clenched his fists. "...They called me a liar."

For whatever coincidences or mechanics, Kaede would never get cuts while their parents were around. It had frustrated him for weeks, before he had came up with that solution - only to make things worse.

But even as his fists were on the edge of punching something, Sakuta couldn't blame them. Even now at the verge of tearful frustration, he knew they couldn't help it. They couldn't; how could they? Sakuta might've not even believed it either, if he hadn't seen it himself.

Mai was just silent. She must've not been sure how to respond properly.

He continued, "Eventually, Kaede's symptoms got worse… My mom, well, there was so much already going on. Something happened, and she couldn't handle it anymore. She broke. Her mind refused to believe what her daughter was going through. She got admitted into a mental hospital soon after. Dad looks after her now."

And after all these years, Sakuta still didn't know what to make of his situation. He didn't know how he should feel about it.

Should he feel angry? Should he despise his life? If he did, who would he blame it on? His parents? His sister? The universe? Himself?

Or should he feel regret? Depressed? Something else, or all of the above?

He wasn't sure what to think. The only thing he was sure was that this was his life.

"I-Is that why Kaede?..."

He nodded. "After being rejected by mom, I guess Kaede just shut herself from the world. She blamed herself and…"

"How old was she again?"

"Kaede?" Sakuta asked in clarification, to which Mai hummed in agreement. "Two years younger than me. At the time, she was in her first year of middle school."

"Do you… do you resent your mother?"

"Of course, I did," Sakuta answered bluntly. "Parents are suppose to help their kids. They were supposed to be the ones that believe and help. Not think we're…"

But Sakuta had learned a lot since he and Kaede had moved out: things that would've been impossible otherwise. For example, everyday, his mother had cooked for them, done the laundry, cleaned the house and toilet and such. When they had lived together, she'd taken care of all those responsibilities.

They were things that Sakuta had thought only to be natural beforehand, but now living apart, he had realized how much his mother had done for them.

Now, Sakuta was the one who cooked. He was the one who did the laundry, and cleaned whenever Kaede made a mess. Each day onward, he held a greater appreciation for those days of his childhood - greater appreciation for his mother.

His mother had simple endured things for her family and never showed a moment of demand to be noticed for it.

She'd never asked to be thanked.

So when he thought upon how he never truly thanked her during those days, his resentment felt misplaced.

No, they was misplaced.

He felt the same to his father, who now worked long hours to afford his mother's stacking medical bills, and two sets of apartments, yet still balanced taking care of his mother and monthly checking up on Sakuta and Kaede.

Even if Sakuta worked as much as he could, he knew, in reality, he couldn't sustain that. He'd barely afford the rent of his own place. He had to admit it. He couldn't…

"What happened to Kaede," Sakuta tiredly started, his breathing easing, "made me realize I'm still a kid, and that even adults can't be expected to solve everything. Of course, they can't."

His parents had done their best, he knew. They hadn't believed him when he needed them the most, but they had done everything else, and he didn't have the right to discount that.

Mai raised an eyebrow. "That's amazing."

He looked at her. "Great. Now you think I'm an idiot."

"That's not what I'm doing. Most of your classmates probably don't realize that yet, right? That makes you mature for your age."

Sakuta shrugged. "They just haven't needed to. Anyone would've realized that, put into my situation."

Mai gave him a long silent look. "No - no they wouldn't."

Sakuta sat in silence.

"So, back to the question, why do you care about me?"

Right. This was how their conversation started.

"I was alone," Sakuta began again. "It was after I'd gotten those scars on my chest. The doctors were prescribing me medicine for my head, and well, my parents had already thought I was faking Kaede's scars… One day, while I was still being treated for my scars, I ran away…"

Sakuta gazed silently at the slow lapping of the waves of Shichirigahama Beach. He'd needed to just get away from all of it. Get away from all of them and their looks. The pitying look of all the medical people; the anxious glances of his parents.

The medication the doctors had prescribed him was giving him headaches. Adding it with all the silent whispering about him and the generally sick and depressing sounds of a hospital… it'd driven him mad.

So he left to somewhere that would just not be there. He'd wandered town wordlessly for hours without direction, before finding himself here. There was always something soothing about the sea: the sea was a sanctuary, an escape from the world.

The gulls abroad squawked at one another playfully, and the sea's salty breeze blew gently, caressing his ears. The constant lapping of the soft waves eased his mind from the sounds of the modern world and, as they did, the cool sensation of soaked sand reached his toes.

"Did you know? The distance between your eyes and the horizon afar is about four kilometers," a sweet voice blurted from right behind him.

The voice had shaken him violently from his moment of solitude. He hadn't heard anyone walk up.

Yet, when he turned his gaze over his shoulder, there was a girl. She looked about sixteen - two years older than him. She wore a brown vest with a white dress blouse and a red tie - evidently part of a school uniform - and a short, black mini-skirt which fluttered in the summer breeze. She had stunning blue eyes that seemed like miniature portraits of the sky and long braided indigo hair which felled down to the middle of her back.

She gave him a cheerful smile with a sort of knowing glance, like she had just shared an inside joke to a friend. "Hello, my name is Shoko Makinohara. Makinohara spelled like Makinohara Rest Area, and Shoko like 'child soaring through the skies.' What's your name, young man?"

"During that critical moment - when I thought that I had no one - I met them," Sakuta confessed, thinking on moment he had met his savior, "- and they lended me their ear. If I hadn't meet them, I don't know where I would be today."

There were worse things than being alone.

Having no one was worst.

He was sure that everyone knew that, subconsciously. It was why everyone flocked into cliques and made friends. It was out of desperation, to at least have someone, even if the connection was nothing more than that.

"That someone believed me," Sakuta finished. "And so, when I saw you, I was - I was hoping I could be to you what they were to me."

Just thinking about her made his heart ache. Just her name in general - being on the tip of his tongue made - him feel a variety of feelings he wasn't sure how to handle. And so, he simply bit it down.

"It was a woman, wasn't it," Mai stated, startling Sakuta. She had said it so bluntly.

"Huh?"

"I can see it in your eyes." The train slowed to a halt at Shichirigahama Station, and the instant the doors opened, Mai suddenly stood. "I'm getting off."

Their plans had been at the next stop: Kamakura Station. He called out to tell her, but Mai was already walking off.

He hurriedly followed.

"It's already evening, because you were so late," Mai grumbled as he caught up to her. "It's a little walk, but I have to meet someone on the beach."

"Heh? What?"

"You can come along. We'll head on to Kamakura afterward. It shouldn't take too long." She pointed to the sea and continued her brisk pace. As they were practically marching toward the beach, Mai blurted out of nowhere, "Did you know, even though Shichirigahama begins with 'seven ri,' it's not that long?"

Sakuta nodded. "Seven ri would be 28 kilometers, but the beach is barely three."

"You know some boring facts," Mai muttered blandly, over her shoulder. Apparently, she had meant to tease him with a fact, only for his extent of useless knowledge to foil her plans.

"Weren't you the one to bring up the topic?" Sakuta defended.

"So, what kind of person were they?"

"Hm?"

"The fabled girl who believed your stories."

"Oh, her. You're curious?"

"I was just wondering what her name was."

"That's the definition of curious, Mai-san."

"Just tell me."

"Shoko Makinohara," Sakuta answered, matter of factly. "We met when I was in my last year of middle school, her a sophomore in high school. She always wore her Minegahara uniform."

At that point, Mai finally looked at him. "Is she the reason you came to Minegahara High?"

Sakuta chuckled, caught. There was no denying it now. "You got me there. Things were tough back at home after what Kaede and I had went through, so it was arranged for us to move somewhere the gossip would have a harder time following us. My father let me choose, and well, I didn't really have any idea where I would've liked, so I looked up where Minegahara was…"

"But she rejected you?" Mai interrupted as the concrete sidewalk shifted into the sands of Shichirigahama Beach. Was the universe really trying to play with him, bringing him back to where he and Shoko had met?

"No, actually, I haven't had the chance. I couldn't find her."

"Huh? Did she transfer?"

"I spoke to all the people in her grade. They never knew anyone by the name Shoko Makinohara. I even looked through all the old yearbooks and alumni rosters they had in storage. She wasn't there. No Shoko Makinohara ever attended Minegahara High."

Mai stopped in her tracks and looked at him in complete disbelief.

Sakuta stared in the direction of the sun above. "I don't know what I should do about it, but I'm positive I met someone named Shoko Makinohara, and that their actions saved me."

"Right."

"And as such, there was no way I was able to repay the favor for what she did for me. So, when I saw you, I thought I'd try and spread the good that was given to me." Adolescence Syndrome wasn't something that could be combated and solved alone. One needed someone to believe them and confide with. It would be that presence that would save or destroy someone. "...And there's something else."

Mai raised an eyebrow. "Something else?"

"When I had told her my story, she believed me on the whim," Sakuta confided. "Somehow, I don't think she was just listen out of pity, or that she was simply gullible… I think she believed me because she knows about Adolescence Syndrome. That's why I have to find her. I want to know what she knew."

Sakuta's hand drifted toward his chest. There was still that fact that, while Kaede's scars had healed, his still existed.

They could be a sign his troubles weren't yet over.

"Are you worried about your scars?" Mai asked, voicing his anxious thoughts.

"I guess so," he downplayed. He was really worried. He tried to not to think about it too often, but it was always there: three large, gruesomely deep scars that stretched forever across his chest. "They're especially depressing during summers. I can't be around shirtless when I go swimming at the beach or when I'm just really hot."

"I see."

"And there's also Kaede."

Kaede spent every day inside, hiding away, reading and playing with Nasuno. It was a fine lifestyle, but also a depressing one at that. He wanted to bring her to the park, or walk along the beach, or bring her to see a movie at the theater.

He didn't want her to waste away, forever hiding in the apartment.

Thus, he wanted to learn more about Adolescence Syndrome. He wanted to know how it worked and how - if possible - to cure it.

That was another reason he had been interested in Mai: to see a new case...

"Hey," Mai said. "Do you love her?"

Mai's tone inferred she was asking about Shoko.

Did he love her?

Before, whenever he had thought of Shoko, his chest would tighten and he'd sweat if he thought of her name more than once, like a dizzying madness. But now - now that he was here, with Mai, he felt different.

He felt a lot more… grounded.

"I was totally in love with her," Sakuta admitted, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck in embarrassment.

And with that final admittance, his chest lifted with all the remaining angst it had held for two whole years.

Mai scowled, with clenched fists. "You're horrible, admitting you love another woman while on a date."

"Even though you were the one who asked?" Sakuta barked. "Besides, I said 'was.' Was! That's important!"

She didn't look like she agreed at all, but before she could reply, an alarm rang on her phone, and she took it out.

"It's almost time."

"Huh?"

Mai showed her phone to Sakuta. It took him a moment, but he then realized she had meant him to read what was on there.

It was an email.

[To MANAGER:]

[On May, 25th, come to Shichirigahama Beach. 5 PM.]

It was an email sent to Mai's mother.

May 25th was today's date and right now was 4:57.

"Wait, you're meeting her, now?"

Mai crossed her arms. "It's not that I want to."

"Then don't." But even as he said those words, he knew she had to. Mai's mother was her former manager, and if she was to return back onto the screen with another agency, they would've needed to confront one another sooner or later. "...Are there still things to deal with in your contract?"

Mai shook her head. "I got out of it the same time I went on hiatus, so that's finished with."

So the meeting would only be one of formality. Mai was already free to sign herself to another company. Perhaps she was looking for an apology of sorts or to boast by face that she was returning.

"Well, just don't-"

"It's okay," Mai eased. "I've decided to this. Besides, she's already here."

Mai motioned her head towards the direction they'd came.

There, a silhouette had entered the beach. She was still too far to see, but Sakuta could make out a head of long, black hair similar to Mai's.

"Maybe I should greet her too," Sakuta thought out loud.

"You're not." Mai gave him an annoyed look. "We'll continue our date when I'm done, so wait back a bit."

He raised his hands in defeat.

"Fine."

He distanced himself from her, while she went to approach her mother.

Mai's mother was getting closer now as well, enough that Sakuta could make out her features. Mrs. Sakurajima was tall and slender and didn't look the age of someone with a daughter in her third year of high school. She was in fact a beauty herself and looked very similar to Mai - or it'd be better to say that Mai looked very much like her mother. They wore their hair down the same way and had a defiant way of walking, as if expecting to take on the entire world on a moment's notice.

She wore a dark suit which reinforced her business-ready posture, and she had a strange aura of coldness to her, similar to the one that Mai often gave out when she glared at him.

Mai's mother was approaching closer with each step. The distance between the two Sakurajima women shrunk twice as quick, with Mai was approaching her as well.

But then, Sakuta noticed something off about Mai's mother's expression. Or rather, it was her eyes. Her mother looked to be scanning the beach, looking left then right, as if looking for someone.

It seemed weird to him. Was she expecting someone else to accompany Mai?

His thoughts became unnecessary when Mrs. Sakurajima's eyes wide in surprise, looking in their direction. And when they were just a few yards apart, Mai's steps reached a slow halt, easing into the sand.

But, her mother continued to approach.

Mrs. Sakurajima's eyes were forward, like the space in front of her was bare. Mai began to speak, but her mother continued to walk…

Right. Past. Her.

Their shoulders had missed by a mere inch.

She kept walking, as if she hadn't seen Mai.

Mai turned around in shock.

Sakuta's feet suddenly glued him to the earth. Mai's mother was now looking straight at him.

"You've got to be kidding," Sakuta let out, his voice hopefully lost in the wind.

Mrs Sakurajima stopped just short of where he stood.

"Was it you?" Mai's mother's voice was like a mirror in the way Mai spoke, and Sakuta was taken aback. "Why did you tell me to come here? Who are you? What do you want?"

Mrs. Sakurajima continued the barrage of questions, none he was ready for.

"I'm Sakuta Azusagawa," he introduced himself hesitantly. He shifted his weight and did his best to hold a confident expression. After all, he was meeting Mai's mother. "I'm a high schooler at Minegahara High."

"I see. Well, what do you want Sakuta? I'm a busy person."

"Well, actually, it wasn't me who asked you here. You see, I'm a kouhai of Mai-san's," he clarified.

Mai's mother's eyes furrowed with unease. "A kouhai of...?"

He could feel Mai's gaze from behind her mother.

"Mai-san," he repeated.

Mrs. Sakurajima blinked. "Did she?"

"Yes," Sakuta nodded.

Mai's mother stood there for a moment, unreacting, before her expression changed to one of suppressed confusion. "Who is that?"

Mai's eyes grew in shock.

Her mother had just asked who she was.

"I'm talking about your daughter!" he fumed.

Mai's mother stared back at him with assessment. "What are you talking about? I don't have a daughter. Quit joking."

She'd said those words so easily.

She didn't have a daughter.

She didn't have…

"Who's the one joking here?" he fired back. "Because it's not me!"

How could she say that? Why was she saying that...

Mai's mother stepped back for a moment, before seemingly biting down on her lip with irritance. "I see now. Is this some ploy for a private audition? Did you plan to be part of my agency?"

She was seeing things all wrong. How could she say she didn't have a daughter?

They'd been separated for two years, but pretending she never had one would be a cruel joke.

Yet, Sakuta realized, Mai's mother didn't seem to be the type to joke around. In fact, she was quite the opposite. She was the kind to criticize jokes.

Her expression spelled out complete seriousness.

Her earlier questions had been all genuine. She didn't know who 'Mai' was.

She didn't know she had a daughter - which was impossible.

"Wait," he exclaimed, a light of an idea springing into his head. "The email! Mai-san sent you a message saying she would meet you here, right?"

"You mean this one?"

She pulled out her phone, and on the screen was the exact same email Mai had shown him, only this time from the receiving side.

[From MAI:]

[On May, 25th, come to Shichirigahama Beach. 5 PM.]

Mai's name was right there! Right in the heading!

However, Mai's mother only scowled softly at the message. "I can't figure out who the sender is."

Sakuta began to look to argue, but then he saw the look in her eyes: cluelessness. And then the reflection on her pupils:

A mirror image of her phone in her eyes showed the email… With a blank space for a sender.

Mrs. Sakurajima suddenly began blinking tiredly, like she had just woken from a dream. "Strange... I remember placing this on my calendar and even going out of my way to clear my schedule for this appointment… But what is this all about?"

Sakuta wanted to ask the same thing. For him, 'Mai' was written clearly, light as day, yet...

It was impossible. Somehow, Mai's mother couldn't see her daughter's name on the screen, much less her daughter.

His gaze continued to switch from the phone and Mrs. Sakurajima's face.

He looked at the timestamp of the message. It was three days ago. Which meant three days ago, her mother knew her enough to put through the effort of coming here…

But some point in between, Mai's mother had forgotten her.

It wasn't simply that she couldn't see her.

Mai's mother didn't remember her, as if Mai had never existed!

He lost control.

"This is absurd!" he burst uselessly at the woman in front of him. "You're her mother! How could you forget her!"

Mai's mother seemed in that moment to shake from her dreamful reverie and narrowed her eyes at Sakuta in annoyance. "I'll admit, this is an interesting sales-pitch, but it's a bit outlandish. You have some potential on the emotions aspect, but your lines are complete rubbish. Study a bit more, and try again - preferably with someone else? I don't want to see you in my sight again."

Mai's mother turned on her heel and began walking away.

She had her back towards him like that was it and was now leaving…

He couldn't help himself.

"You're her mother!" he screamed.

She didn't even flinch. Mai's mother's steps were beyond smooth on the sand. She was ignoring him, now. She was still leaving.

"How could you forget your daughter?!"

"...That's enough," Mai's voice broke out beside him.

He had forgotten she was here.

"What? No, your mother-"

"That's... enough," Mai croaked.

"No. It's not enough." Sakuta looked again in the direction of Mrs. Sakurajima. Putting in every morsel of his being, he screamed on the top of his lungs, "We're not done talking!"

"Please… stop…"

His mind froze as Mai collapsed onto his shoulder, trembling with tears. He was hurting her with each scream, and suddenly, the red-hot flames in his head extinguished.

He held her, as she held onto him, crying into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry - I'm really…"

"It's… It's fine," she coughed through her sobbing. "It's…"

But it wasn't. It wasn't fine.

Mai's mother hadn't just not see her. She had fully believed she didn't have a daughter.

What was happening to Mai?

Sakuta had thought Mai was simply becoming inaudible and invisible to people. He was sure that Mai had thought the same too.

But suddenly, they faced a new reality that something much worse was occuring.

"Sakuta?" Mai's voiced pleadingly, reflecting the same doubt he had.

Sakuta and Mai might know anything at all. They had both assumed that people simply weren't noticing her. But if it was not just being seen or heard, but their memories of her vanishing as well…

He felt even more uneasy than ever before and it didn't take long for them to confirm it.

Without even discussing it, Sakuta and Mai made their way back to Shichirigahama Station and boarded on the first train bound for home. At the station and then on the train, Sakuta spoke to dozens of commuters and workers - anyone who would give him a moment - about if they knew about 'Mai Sakurajima.'

"I don't know her." "Who?" "Should I know that name?" "Sakurajima… Was there an actress by that name?"

Nobody he asked seemed to know anything about who 'Mai Sakurajima' was.

It felt too soon, when their train arrived back at Fujisawa Station. The ride back had been one of silent agony.

But not all hope was lost yet. There was possibly one last person he could think of that would know Mai Sakurajima. While Mai went to use the station restroom, Sakuta slowly pulled out from his wallet a business card that he'd meant to toss two nights ago.

He found his way into an unoccupied phone booth, and stared windedly at the handwritten number on the card's back. With heavy hands, he punched each number one-by-one.

It took several rings. A dozen. He realized it was Sunday, and perhaps she wasn't in the office, but then, when he was about to give up, the phone clicked.

"Hello?" Fumika's voice came from the phone.

"It's Sakuta Azusagawa," he greeted.

"Oh Mai-"

His blood stilled. He'd...

Fumika continued, "-to think, I'd get a call from you! This must be quite an occasion."

"Wait," Sakuta exulted, "Do you remember who Mai is?!"

"Hmm?"

"Mai. Mai Sakurajima. It's why I called," Sakuta hastedly explained.

"Who?"

The world crashed down on him. He didn't know how long he was silent on the phone.

"Hello? Sakuta-kun?" Fumika's voice called over the phone.

He tried to keep his voice steady. "Y-you don't know any-nyone named Mai Sakurajima?"

"No. Should I?"

"But you just said Mai…"

Fumika answered with confusion, "Huh? You mean, 'oh my?' The expression?"

She hadn't said Mai. She'd said 'my.' She didn't know who Mai was.

"Then… what about my picture?"

The pictures of the scars on his chest; Fumika had to still have had that, and it had been Mai who had gotten her to promise not to publish it. If he could remind her of that…

"I promise I wouldn't publish that, right? Don't worry, I won't," Fumika responded

"Who did you promise to?!"

"I promised to you, didn't I?" she said simply. "Is something wrong? Sak-"

He hung up.

He placed the receiver down, and when he turned around, Mai was there, waiting.

By the look on her face, she'd heard the whole conversation.

"I see," she drawled dully, her arms crossed, hands on her shoulders. "Welp, thank you for today. Good night."

She started to part in the direction of home.

Her head dipped with defeated. She was giving up. No one knew who she was.

"Mai-san, wait!" Sakuta grabbed her wrist, and even though Mai stopped, she didn't turn around.

Mai raised her face just enough to acknowledge him. "What?"

"There might still be someone somewhere that will see and remember you."

"I doubt it. It's pretty clear only you can…"

Mai seemed to already accept that the world was beyond her reach. She had accepted it too easily. What was wrong with her?

He couldn't accept it. He couldn't. He didn't know what to do, if there was anything he could do… but he still wanted to believe. Somewhere, in some distant town, or across the ocean, there'd be more who could still know and see her.

"Let's go check. If we go to a faraway place, someone's bound to remember you!"

He barely believed the words himself. He had no reason to.

Yet, he had no choice. He had to.

"It'll be pointless. We'll only find out that no one else can see or even remember me! What will we do then? What?!" Mai screamed at him. She started to push off his hand, but it was weak as she was trembling.

"At the very least," Sakuta held her hand firmly, "I can be at your side the whole way we go."

Her hand stopped pushing him away. Her shoulders slackened.

"Mai-san," Sakuta eased. "I want to be with you the entire way. Please, let me."

Mai remained silent, but she didn't start pushing him away again.

"Please."

"How cheeky," Mai murmured, her voice coarse and beyond exhausted. It had been a long day, "-for someone younger than me..."

"We're on a date, after all," Sakuta said kindly.

Mai turned and stared sadly at him with her damp lavender eyes...

She cast them down.

"Very well," Mai whispered. "If you're saying you insist not taking me home yet, I'll continue this date with you."

Sakuta took her arm, and held her.

"Then let's. Come on."

They weren't thinking about where they were going. They simply took the first train out from Fujisawa Station.

It ended up being the Tokaido line - which took them west along the southern coast. It took them through Kanagawa, Atami, and Shizuoka. At each station, new late-evening travelers would board, and each time, Sakuta would try to ask as many as possible if they knew about Mai Sakurajima.

But nothing changed.

Nobody saw her.

Nobody knew her.

Mai would just watch uselessly, as each new test only confirmed her beliefs. She was gone from the world.

The evening soon shifted to night as he and Mai continued west. It became apparent he would not be home that night, and so, he borrowed Mai's cell to call home.

"Please leave your message after the tone. Beep!" the automated answer machine told him.

"Kaede, it's me," he spoke. Every call with her started like this. Kaede never answered the phone to anyone but him. Not even their father.

It took not even a second for her to pick up. "Hello, hello? This is Kaede. What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I'm won't be coming home today."

"Eh?" Kaede yelped.

"I have a far away errand to run," Sakuta explained.

"What errand is that?!"

For a moment, Sakuta was unsure how to answer. He didn't want to worry his sister, yet he also vowed never to lie to her. "Do you remember that girl that came to our place awhile ago, Mai Sakurajima?"

"Umm? No, Kaede doesn't know her," she told him.

He laughed sadly. Of course she didn't. "It's fine that you don't. Bear with me. Can you cook yourself some instant noodles from the covers? Choose any flavor you want. While you're at it, make sure you feed Nasuno and shower and brush your teeth before you go to bed."

It was clear Kaede had only been half listening when she cried in jealousy. "Who's this Mai?"

Sakuta chuckled. "Oh, and you can have an extra pudding tonight too."

"Ah, really?!"

And just like that, Mai was forgotten for a second time.

"Yes," he smiled silently. Pudding was always her favorite. She always had a pudding every night after dinner. "I'll call you again later tonight to check up on you. Good night, Kaede."

"Good night, Onii-chan!"