There’s no reason it had to be Sendai-san. It could’ve been Ichio-san, or even Gotou-san. Heck, a stranger would’ve done just fine as well.

           But even so, it must’ve been fate that led me towards choosing Sendai-san… Well, if only that were the truth. In reality, it was nothing more than a coincidence. It was all thanks to a series of coincidences, combined with my whims, that ended up bringing Sendai-san to my room.

          Once a week, for three hours of her time.

          I’d pay her five-thousand yen for it.

          That was the sort of contract we had.

          Well, I say that, but it wasn’t like anything was set in stone.

          Sometimes, I’d pay five-thousand yen for two hours of her time, and other times, it’d be three-and-a-half hours. There were some weeks where we’d only meet up once, but there have been times where it’d be twice. Basically, the amount of time we’d spend together and the number of days we’d meet up in a week were quite flexible. The only thing that remained unchanging was the amount I paid her each time. Anyway, regardless of the length or how frequently we’d see each other, the fact was, I was buying Sendai-san’s time for the price of five-thousand yen.

          Plain and simple.

          「Miyagi, hand me the sequel to this.」

          Sendai-san, who was lying on my bed, said as she tapped me on my shoulder.

          I turned around to face the bed I was just leaning against and noticed she’d been tapping me on my shoulder with the manga volume that she’d just finished reading.

          It was already December, and today happened to be ridiculously cold, so I kept a space heater running in my room in order to combat the freezing temperature. However, it seemed that it was too hot for her, seeing as how she’d already taken off her blazer. She’d also loosened her necktie and was lazing around while wearing nothing but her blouse and a short skirt, which made her look quite sloppy. It felt like, if you really wanted to, you could easily peek up her skirt.

          At school, Sendai-san had a reputation for being neat and proper, so I bet if any of our classmates saw her like this, they’d immediately become disillusioned with her.

          「Go get it yourself.」

          I said, with an indifferent look on my face, as I pushed the manga volume – labeled as volume three – back towards Sendai-san.

          Her position on the school caste was only a step below from the very top.

          Even if Sendai-san removed the subtle amount of make-up that she typically wore, she’d probably still hover around the upper-middle level of the caste. That’s how beautiful she was. She was also quite smart to boot. If I remembered correctly, her grades were considered one of the highest.

          That was probably what made her so popular in the first place.

          ―― At least, that was what I imagined. The reason why I say that is because I’d never actually seen her popularity in action before.

          She could be described as a “normie” who belonged to the higher levels of the school caste – though it would be more accurate to say she sat at the lower end of the upper ranks. Well, in any case, she stood out among our classmates, so it wouldn’t have been unusual for her to be deemed popular.

          「You’re so mean. Can’t you just get it for me?」

          Without warning, Sendai-san stretched her arm out and dropped volume three straight onto my thighs.

          「Hey, what exactly do you think I am?」

          「The person that’s closest to the bookshelf.」

          「Just go and get it yourself already.」

          I said coldly as I placed volume three onto my pillow.

          Considering my place in the school caste was somewhere near the bottom – probably second from the bottom, if I had to guess – if we were in school at this moment, I wouldn’t have the audacity to speak to Sendai-san as arrogantly as I have been.

          I was only able to because we were in my room.

          Because I paid Sendai-san five-thousand yen for her time.

          On that note, I had no idea why she agreed to being rented by me so easily. Since it was Sendai-san we were talking about, if she wanted to, I’m sure she could’ve gotten ten-thousand or even twenty-thousand yen without issue.

          As long as she flaunted her high school girl status, with her good looks, she definitely would’ve been able to find someone who’d be willing to pay that much for her. 

          So, for someone like me, who could only be described as average both in appearance and intelligence, having the chance to keep Sendai-san all to myself like this is something that would usually never happen. Because of that, I consider the time we spend together to be incredibly valuable.

          「Oh, alright, fine. I guess I just have to grab it myself.」

          Sendai-san grumbled as she rose from the bed and walked over to the bookshelf. She sat down in front of it, mumbling to herself as she started searching through the books.

          「Where’s volume four?」

          Her long hair was styled in a half-updo, with braids framing both sides and gathered in the middle at the back. Although her hair leaned more towards brown in color than black, the teachers didn’t seem to take issue with it, even though it was technically against school rules. This leniency was likely due to her neat appearance and well-kept hairstyle, which diverted the teachers’ attention from reprimanding her. Not to mention, her impressive grades might’ve also contributed to why she wasn’t cautioned.

          That said, I find it unfair to have to live in a world where showing favoritism is accepted.

          I got up and then flopped onto my bed.

          It wasn’t like I wanted to be Sendai-san or anything, but I had to admit, I was a little envious of her.

          I had submitted the wrong assignment to our teacher today, and they got mad at me for it. I bet if it were Sendai-san who made the same mistake, she wouldn’t have gotten scolded.

          「Wait a sec, Miyagi. Volume four’s not here. You should’ve told me earlier that you don’t have it.」

          Sendai-san – who enjoyed the privilege of a more laid-back high school experience than most – shot me a displeased look.

          「It’s there somewhere.」

          「It’s not.」

          「It has to be there.」

          「I’m telling you, it’s not here.」

          Her insistence causes me to retrace the steps in my memory.

          I could clearly remember the release date of volume four.

          However, I couldn’t say for certain if I actually bought it or not.

          「I know volume four started going on sale last week, so I could’ve sworn I bought it. Oh well, I guess I forgot.」

          I mumbled to myself while making a mental note to go and pick up a copy tomorrow.

          When I buried my face into my futon, I noticed a pleasant scent that didn’t belong to me, which kind of got on my nerves. 

          「You actually look up the release dates?」

          「Yeah, I do.」

          「What a nerd.」

          「Shut up.」

          I raised my head and looked over at Sendai-san.

          It wasn’t like Sendai-san said anything particularly rude. I could tell it was just banter, but still, all it did was make me feel even more annoyed.

          When I looked out the window, it was already starting to get dark. The lights in the other apartments were starting to turn on as well.

          Night was approaching.

          I went over to close the curtains and sat back down onto my bed.

          I wasn’t exactly having a good day today.

          If anything, I’d say my feelings were about as dark as the sky right now.

          「Sendai-san. Come take a seat over here.」

          I called out to Sendai-san, who was still hanging out by the bookshelf.

          「Is it time for your order?」

          「Yep.」

          I stared at Sendai-san as I crossed my legs.

          Although my uniform’s skirt was a little longer than Sendai-san’s, it was still considered shorter than what was accepted by school rules. Unlike Sendai-san, however, I didn’t have nice, slender legs that I could flaunt, but there was nothing I could do about that.

          「So, what do you want me to do?」

          Sendai-san asked as she sat herself down in front of me.

          I uncrossed my legs and quietly said,

          「Take this off.」

          I placed my right foot on her thigh and pointed at the navy-blue sock I was wearing.

          「Sure, sure.」

          「Don’t give me that. Just say “sure” once.」

          「Sure, sure.」

          As if she had no intention of obeying that last order, she intentionally replied with “sure” twice as she took off my right sock.

         「The left foot too?」

         She asked.

         「No, leave it. Now lick it.」

          When I poked her stomach with my bare foot, Sendai-san shot me a dubious look in return.

         「You mean your foot?」

         「Yep.」

          I’d been paying Sendai-san five-thousand yen for her time since summer, but today was the first time I’d ever given her an order of this magnitude. Usually, I’d just ask her to read me a book or do my homework or get her to do other trivial things along those lines.

          For five-thousand yen, Sendai-san will do anything that I tell her to.

          To me, that was the most important part, so it didn’t really matter what I got her to do for me. That was also why I never gave her any “real” orders to obey. But today, I wasn’t really in the mood to order her to do something inconsequential.

          I wanted to give her an order that she would be unwilling to obey.

          However, I hadn’t anticipated that after adhering to only the most trivial commands until now, Sendai-san would actually comply.

          「…… Alright.」

          She hadn’t agreed to it immediately, but contrary to my expectations, Sendai-san accepted it nonetheless. There wasn’t a hint of emotion in her voice as she placed her hands on my ankle.

          Sendai-san stared intently at my foot.

          I felt a shiver run down my spine.

          A warm breath brushed against the top of my foot as she gently lifted it up.

          And then, I felt a soft sensation.

          Sendai-san’s tongue touched the top of my foot.

          The five-thousand yen I would always pay Sendai-san in advance acted as chains tightly binding her to me. She couldn’t defy me.

          That was the nature of our arrangement within this room, and she effectively carried out her duty.

---

Credits to himi for proofreading and editing this part!

If you enjoyed reading this part, please consider donating a few dollars to my Ko-fi by clicking here.

---

Next part >