Hajime - A Pubescent Low-Life Dreams Not of An Impish Kouhai

A Pubescent Low-Life Dreams Not of An Impish Kouhai

A Pubescent Low-Life Series Volume 2

Author: Kamoshida Hajime

Illustrator: Mizoguji Keeji

Translator: MPT

Editor: Futhington

Illustration Editors: Flashkirby99, Frozen, and MPT

That day, Azusagawa Sakuta woke up to yesterdays morning.

Well done, team Japan! The inexhaustibly excited announcer began the morning news. Good morning, today is Friday, June the twenty-seventh. I think well start the day on football!

The TV in the living room was showing the highlights of a world cup match that had taken place on the other side of the world. It was the second group league match, which had been played late at night for Japan itself. It was just before halftime, and the Japanese team were a single point behind. Number 10 had dribbled the ball all the way up the pitch but was taken down by an overzealous defence from the opponents. The whistle pierced the stadium and they were given a free kick from just behind the penalty area.

Number 4 placed the ball down and backed up step-by-step. You could feel the tension, even through the screen.

Sakuta watched the screen absently.

Ive seen this.

He wouldnt have watched a late-night game live. Sakuta had watched these highlights yesterday morning. The ball would go past the keeper and find its home in the netting of the goal.

Holding his breath, Sakuta watched the highlight. The ball arced through the trajectory just as Sakuta had remembered it, flying into the goal.

They had drawn even and their opponents were chewing their lips in consternation. Number 4 gave a roar of triumph, echoed by the other players and their supporters.

With the momentum of that goal, the Japanese team had gained an additional point in the second half and maintained that lead to a glorious victory.

The results played out just as he remembered them, so to reassure himself that he wasnt insane, he stuck his head back in his room to check his alarm clock. It sat at the side of his bed, its digital display showing the date as well as the time.

June 27 th .

The same as the announcer had just reported.

What on Earth From what Sakuta remembered, it should by the twenty-eighth. And yet both the TV and the clock said it was the twenty-seventh. So today was yesterday, and yesterday was today. I see, a dream.

Sakuta got back into bed, covered himself in the quilt again and went back to sleep.

If today was yesterday, he could sleep until tomorrow. Just as he had that thought and had closed his eyes, the door clicked open.

Onii-chan, werent you just up? He heard his sisters voice. She approached with a quiet patter of footsteps. You cant go back to sleep, wake up.

She shook him.

Im sleeping until tomorrow.

Youre alright with missing school?

Yeah.

Then Ill sleep with you, she said, burrowing her way into the quilt as she spoke.

Ill get up then.

He rose abruptly.

Eh? So quickly!?

He stood, almost like he was passing Kaede on her way into the bed wearing her panda pyjamas. He moderated his escapism and returned to the living room. The morning news was still talking about the football.

Kaede came pattering in just behind him.

Hey, Kaede.

Yes?

Im going to ask something kind of weird.

I-its not anything perverted, is it?

Its not.

Y-you cant do something like that, Onii-chan, she said as she squirmed and covered her face, not listening to him.

Did you see this report yesterday?

The football report? She asked, peeking through a gap in her fingers.

Yes.

Umm, I didnt? Kaede almost asked, confused at what he was questioning and frowning slightly.

I figured thats fine then.

As he answered, Sakuta felt a sense of unease brewing in his stomach, like he was about to get involved in something bad.

Still feeling like he was in some kind of delusion, Sakuta ate breakfast with Kaede, and still not understanding, left for school.

Maybe itll become clear if I go outside? , he thought.

See you later, Onii-chan.

Kaede watched him leave with a smile. Contrary to his usual habits, he headed towards the station while paying careful attention to his surroundings. He walked past the flats and detached houses that lined the streets by the side of the park and crossed the bridge that came into sight onto the main street. As he approached the station itself, his sight was filled with business hotels and electronics wholesalers.

Throughout Sakutas journey, there was nothing that stuck out to him. There were other commuters heading to the same Station as him, housewives putting out the rubbish and even the old man that ran the flower shop cleaning up around the store.

It had taken him around ten minutes to walk to Fujisawa Station, right in the middle of the city of the same name, in the Kanagawa Prefecture. There were crowds of commuting workers and students walking to and fro around the area. The workers were transferring to the Tokaido Line and the students were streaming through the Odakyu ticket gate towards the Fujisawa Enoden station, the same as Sakuta would be. None of them seemed to falter in their walks, just briskly proceeding towards their destination. None of them even spared a sideways glance, Sakuta was the only one looking around restlessly, watching the actions of others.

Is it just me?

As he passed through the ticket gate, he could feel a sense of unease prickling under his skin that this was indeed the case.

He waited on the platform for two minutes before boarding the train as it arrived. It was old-fashioned, only four carriages long. The bell rang to warn of the doors closing and the train pulled away.

After being rocked by the train for about fifteen minutes they had arrived at Shichirigahama Station on the coast, a few minutes walk from Minegahara High School, the school Sakuta attended. Other students in the same uniform milled out onto the platform. The scent of the salty sea breeze hit Sakuta as he stepped outside, a sign of the approaching summer. In another ten days, the beaches nearby would be opened and filled with people going to swim in the ocean.

When he looked towards the sea, he could see the sails of several windsurfers that were making the most of the clear day within the rainy season. It was a familiar sight, with nothing particularly odd about it.

The short road to the school was the same as always, packed with Minegahara High School Students. There were first-year boys messing around with their classmates, third-year students with textbooks in hand, girls chattering about the karaoke night theyd had after school the night before