r/SeishunButaYarou

It was also expensive, but worth it😭

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**Scheduled for release on October 9, 2026** — the second "Aobuta" short story collection:

**"Rascal Does Not Dream of Doctor Pig +"**

The opening of the title story, a brand-new original novel written by **Hajime Kamoshida** exceeding 60,000 characters, is now revealed to the world for the very first time!

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**Rascal Does Not Dream of Doctor Pig**

**Chapter One: Beyond Hilbert Space**

That day, Sakuta Azusagawa was sitting in the tatami room of an izakaya, seriously contemplating how many more glasses of oolong tea he would need to drink to make the all-you-can-drink deal worth it.

If a 2-liter plastic bottle costs 200 yen at the store, then the 1,200 yen all-you-can-drink fee would let him buy six bottles — in other words, 12 liters.

Drinking that much in two hours wasn’t realistic. It was basically a penalty game. The shop had designed it properly to make a profit. Still, it was a nice system for customers who wanted to drink as much as they liked.

Thinking that, he finished his third glass.

“Excuse me, another oolong tea please.”

He called out to the passing waitress. As if riding the wave of his order, more voices came from the surrounding tables: “Beer too,” “Highball over here!”, “Lemon sour for me,” “Another lemon sour!”, “Two Uron Highs please.”

“Yes, coming right up!”

The cheerful waitress smiled and disappeared toward the kitchen.

While waiting, Sakuta put the remaining ice from his glass into his mouth. Before it could fully melt, the waitress skillfully returned carrying a large tray of glasses and mugs.

“Here’s your oolong tea.”

She placed the glass with a straw on the table with a light *thunk*. She quickly moved on to the next table with the beers, highballs, and lemon sours.

Just as Sakuta was about to take a sip,

“Excuse me, is this seat free?”

A sudden voice spoke up.

He looked up from his glass to see a female student standing right across the table in the tatami seating. She wore a long dress cinched at the waist with a ribbon-style belt, layered with a military-style jacket with the sleeves rolled up.

Her lightly brightened hair was styled in a loose half-up bun. The overall impression was casually cute without being overly sweet. However, she had a slender, delicate build. Despite smiling, she somehow looked a bit troubled — perhaps because of the tear mole under her left eye.

“I’d have to say… it’s not really free.”

Sakuta answered honestly.

“......”

The girl with the tear mole blinked silently, not looking away. She clearly hadn’t expected to be turned down.

“Why not…?”

After a three-second delay, she asked the question and, while carefully minding her skirt so it wouldn’t wrinkle, sat down right in front of him anyway. Even though he had gently refused…

She placed her half-full glass on the table. The ice had melted, leaving the glass quite sweaty. She prepared a new plate and chopsticks, clearly intending to stay.

“Well, the stares from the table diagonally behind me are pretty painful.”

He didn’t even need to turn around to check. The table where she had been sitting earlier had one short-haired girl who seemed to be her friend, and three guys. When he had ordered his oolong tea earlier, he saw them exchanging phones and saying things like “This is my ID.”

It looked like an ID exchange session was about to start, so she apparently escaped to this table.

“If you don’t like it, you could have just refused, right?”

“Normally, yes, but…”

The girl with the tear mole made a troubled face at Sakuta’s advice. Though maybe that was just how her face naturally looked, and she wasn’t actually troubled at all.

“Is there a reason it’s not normal?”

“…I don’t have a smartphone.”

After a short pause, that was her answer.

“That’s pretty rare these days.”

“That’s why no one believes me.”

“Did you get pissed off and throw it into the sea?”

“Are there people who actually do that?”

“Maybe in some other world?”

“What’s that, some isekai thing?”

At Sakuta’s casual reply, she laughed brightly.

“I’m Miori Mitō, first-year in the Faculty of International Commerce.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Well, of course I already knew who you were, Azusagawa-kun.”

“I guess I am kind of famous.”

The one who was truly famous was Sakuta’s girlfriend — the nationally beloved celebrity **Mai Sakurajima**. She was active in movies, dramas, CMs, fashion magazines, and more. Last year in the second half, she played the heroine in the morning drama *Okaeri*, which felt like a perfect “welcome back” for someone who had debuted in a morning drama. Her presence had grown even stronger this year.

The fact that Mai and Sakuta were dating had long surpassed the level of rumor and was common knowledge on campus.

Since Mai attended the same university, it was only natural. That’s why Miori said “of course.”

Now, half a year after Sakuta’s enrollment, almost no students teased him about it anymore. Strangely enough, it was rare for anyone to directly ask, “Are you two actually dating?” He could count the times on both hands.

He thought everyone was curious, but openly acting like a fanboy or fangirl was considered lame. A natural atmosphere of mutual restraint had formed on campus.

“Must be nice having a beautiful girlfriend. I want one too.”

“I’m not giving you my Mai-san.”

“Must be nice…”

Miori’s eyes looked beyond envy — almost resentful.

“If you want a boyfriend, just pick someone you like, right? You seem popular.”

He glanced at the table diagonally behind them. With one more girl added, they were still chatting happily. It was too noisy to hear the details though.

This time Miori looked at him with clear resentment. “You’re so mean,” her eyes accused.

As he averted his gaze from hers,

“Azusagawa, you drinking~?”

A cheerful voice called out, and a male student came over, sitting right next to him as if they were best buddies.

His name was Takumi Fukuyama.

A third-year in the Department of Statistical Science.

Even though he had enough credits, he was taking the introductory seminar again out of pure interest — a bit of an oddball. Sakuta had met him in the same seminar last semester. He was also the first person who had directly asked Sakuta, “Is it true you’re dating Sakurajima Mai?” That became the catalyst for them occasionally chatting on campus and even eating together in the cafeteria.

“I’m enjoying my fourth glass of oolong tea.”

“Drink more~! You gotta get your money’s worth from all-you-can-drink.”

“Please drink the remaining eleven liters for me, Fukuyama-san.”

“Why eleven liters?”

While they were having this pointless conversation,

“Alright, we’ve got about five minutes left, so feel free to chat casually. Oh, and we’ve planned a second party at karaoke, so everyone please join!”

The announcement came from the table farthest back. The male organizer was using his hands as a megaphone, but only about half the people were listening.

“Azusagawa, you coming to the second party?”

“I’m heading home.”

He had a part-time job after this.

“C’mon, let’s gooo~”

Takumi put his arm around Sakuta’s shoulder affectionately.

Shaking him off,

“Aren’t you worried Iwamizawa-san will get mad if you get too excited?”

He warned him by mentioning Takumi’s girlfriend’s name.

“Yeah, I’ll head home too.”

Takumi immediately dropped the act and stood up first.

Sakuta stood up a bit later and left the tatami room with him to put on their shoes.

“By the way, Azusagawa.”

“What?”

“Weren’t you talking to someone earlier?”

Takumi looked back at the table with a puzzled expression.

“It was just me and you, Fukuyama-san.”

As he answered, Sakuta also looked at the table. There were three glasses left, but no one was sitting there anymore. He didn’t pay it any mind.

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**The continuation is highly anticipated — please look forward to the release!**

This second “Aobuta” short story collection includes the brand-new **“Doctor Pig”** story plus bonus novels **“Animal Land”** and **“Spring Days”**. Scheduled for release on **October 9**!

**Special Edition with Drama CD also available for pre-order now!**

For guaranteed availability, we recommend pre-ordering by **July 8, 2026**!

The Drama CD scenario is also a complete original by Hajime Kamoshida!

Mai and Shoko throw a celebration for Sakuta after he passes the first stage of the teacher employment exam. Then the three of them do a mock interview for the second stage—?

A Drama CD depicting Sakuta, Mai, and Shoko a little further into the future ✨

An e-book version with the Drama CD audio is also planned for limited one-year sale on BOOK☆WALKER from the release date.

Goods bundles are available for reservation at Animate, Gamers, Melonbooks, Toranoana, and Kadokawa Store — don’t miss them!

**Reservation at Kadostore here** ▽

https://store.kadokawa.co.jp/shop/e/ern00316/

This is a must-read story to go along with the theatrical anime **“Rascal Does Not Dream of Dear Friend”**, releasing on **October 16**. Please look forward to the release!

I hope that you and I will both visit Shichirigahama Beach and repeat this pic...
that's my dream^^

sauxe https://x.com/mmm29japan/status/2073967130438193612?s=46

I saw this graduation version of Mai figurine in a store yesterday and I couldn't resist it. I'm very happy with this purchase!

Our gng 💦💦

Is she stupid?

I'm pretty sure Mai wouldn't like AI art or anything related to generative AI that would hurt hardworking artists

Hope I don't cry this time

But did they HAVE to get rid of the scars? I get that due to the timeline change this now never happened but they were so sexy ughhhhhhh