If I had to choose between whether I regretted it or not, I would say that I did. That was how I felt about what happened between me and Sendai-san the last time we saw each other.

          Sendai-san had gotten unusually angry that day.

          There were times where she’d look unhappy with the orders that I gave her, and other times, they would put her in a bad mood. However, she had never been so blatantly angry before.

          That was the exact result I wanted.

          And yet I found myself regretting it, just a bit.

          “If only I hadn’t done that.”

          The thought crossed my mind many times.

          “But it was something that I had to do.”

          And each time, that was the reason I used to try and justify myself.

          Perhaps because I didn’t have anything specific planned over spring break, my head was being drowned by gloomy thoughts that I typically never had.

          That was the first time I’d ever done something like that to another person.

          I had never covered anyone in popcorn or soda before. In fact, the thought of doing so had never crossed my mind until now either.

          Whenever I was alone in my room, I would always start having depressing thoughts. I had bought a few volumes of manga to keep myself entertained using the money I’d usually give to Sendai-san; however, I was hardly able to make any progress with reading them. None of the pictures or words were registering in my mind. All I was doing was flipping through the pages of the book while pretending that I was reading it.

          I was currently laying in my bed as the sun’s soft rays poured through my window. I lifted a hand to block the light from entering my eyes.

          The wound that I got on the day Sendai-san asked me to slice the cabbage was already long gone. It hurt when I cut my finger, and even more so when Sendai-san bit on it, so I was glad that it had healed nicely.

          However, I was a little bit curious about what sort of thoughts went through Sendai-san’s mind when she licked my blood.

          She was the sort of person who could’ve gone her entire life without taking orders from other people, and yet, in this room, she would obey all of mine without fail.

          Not to mention, she would often do things that betrayed the image I had of her at school.

          I expected her to use some cutesy-looking bandages, but instead, the one that she stuck on me was not cute at all and prioritized function above anything else. And unlike the cheery, sociable girl who was all smiles at school, she looked sloppy whenever she was in my room and would act like she owned the place.

          Her sense of distance was strange as well.

          She was always acting so overfamiliar, completely disregarding the other person’s comfort zone.

          She intruded in my life as if she had always belonged here.

          Because of that, I felt like I was being thrown off my game.

         「It’s almost like we’re friends or something.」

          As I laid on the bed that Sendai-san was always on, I heaved a sigh. I reached out towards the stack of manga on the floor and picked one of the books up.

          「Oh, this is volume two.」

          I hadn’t even read the first volume yet.

          I picked up five more books from the stack in search of volume one, but it wasn’t there, so I put the manga aside and grabbed my smartphone instead.

          「I wonder what Maika is up to?」

         Maika had told me she was attending cram school over spring break – when we met up two days ago, she had been on her way home afterwards, and the chances of her being there right now were high. Despite that, she was the first person that came to mind when I wanted someone to hang out with, and so I sent her a message saying 『I’m bored.』

          However, as expected, she did not reply.

          In that case, I had to dig through my phone to find someone else to talk to. I opened up my instant messaging app to look through my list of friends so that I could ask someone to hang out with me. As I scrolled down the list, Sendai-san’s name caught my eye.

          Since it was the middle of spring break, I couldn’t call for her.

          We had decided that we would only ever meet on school days, so seeing each other during our vacation was out of the question. However, we never said we couldn’t contact each other, so even if I decided to send her a message or two, I wouldn’t be breaking any rules. That being said, I didn’t have anything I wanted to send to Sendai-san.

          Considering the two of us had nothing in common, I didn’t even know what I could even say to her.

          The only reason Sendai-san had for coming over was money.

          If it weren’t for the five-thousand yen bills bridging us together, our relationship would not have been able to hold itself together on its own. But Sendai-san did not seem like she was in any particular need of money, so if she ever got sick of it, she could cut our ties at any moment she wanted to.

          When we first started our arrangement, we didn’t specify an end date. It could go on for a long time, but there was also the possibility of putting a stop to this silly farce just as quickly as it started.

          I stared at my unscarred finger.

          Just like how the wound from the kitchen knife had faded away, perhaps my relationship with Sendai-san would one day disappear as well. That day could be as soon as tomorrow, or it could be a year from now. Either way, all of this would inevitably come to an end.

          Just like how my mother had suddenly disappeared one day back when I was still a child.

          Even mothers could leave their children behind quite easily if they wanted to, so it wouldn’t be surprising at all if Sendai-san – a person who I wasn’t even related to – suddenly had a change of heart in our third year and decided she would never come to this room again.  

          That was why I covered Sendai-san in popcorn and soda the other day – to make her angry.

          I had already grown so tired of waiting for other people that weren’t guaranteed to show up, but if she had a good reason for turning down my summons that I could accept, then I wouldn’t need to fear the day our arrangement came to an end. If Sendai-san no longer wanted to come over, then it would also give me a reason not to invite her anymore.  

          In any case, I should’ve been relieved that I’d created such a good and convincing excuse for myself.

          But the reality was far from it. Instead of relief, there was a part of me that felt like I shouldn’t have done that to her. After all the time Sendai-san had spent in my room, I wanted to keep seeing her here.

          All this should have ever been was a way to pass the time.

          All I wanted was a distraction.

          But if I sat on the floor, I would instantly be reminded of the day I had her feed me chocolate or when I made her do my homework. If I was on my bed, I would think of all the times she would roll around on it while reading manga.

          This was all Sendai-san’s fault.

          I caressed my finger, which no longer had a wound on it.

          If I licked my finger, it would not taste like blood.

          I slowly lifted myself up from my bed and sat myself down next to the stack of manga volumes.

          As I picked one up at random and flipped through the pages of the book, Maika replied to my message with, 『Well, I’m at cram school. 』  

          『Want to go see a movie when you’re done?』

          『Can we move that to tomorrow?』

          『Of course.』

          I felt depressed because I was at home.

          Going out would’ve served as a great distraction, and it was fun just hanging out with Maika.

          It’d be nice if we ended up in the same class together even in our third year.

          And as for Sendai-san――

          Let’s just say it like this: If we end up in the same class, then I’ll continue calling for her, just like usual. If not, then this will be as far as our relationship goes.

          If I left the decision up to a coin flip, then I felt like I could rest easy.

          That being said, even if I did continue to summon her, I wasn’t certain whether Sendai-san would really show up or not.

          The thought of that made my heart feel tense.

          But there was nothing I could do about it.

          『Where do you want to meet up?』

          A message from Maika came in.

          I replied with, “The same place we met at the day before yesterday.”

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Credits to himi for proofreading and editing this part!

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For anyone interested, you can read Maika’s POV after this part by clicking here.

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