I wasn’t really a fan of studying, and I didn’t exactly feel motivated to prepare for the entrance exam either.

       So even if my textbook was undamaged, I never really intended to use it that much anyway.

       “I’ll make it up to you next time,” said the one responsible for the creases in my textbook.

       「I told you, it’s fine.」

       I wasn’t sure how she was planning to make up for it, but letting her do it sounded like a pain. Besides, I didn’t really value textbooks that much.

       More importantly, I felt very conscious of the distance between me and Sendai-san.

       Although my room was quite spacious, the same couldn’t be said about my bed – we were rather close.

       If possible, I would’ve liked for there to be more space between us.

       Since there was a wall behind me, I couldn’t back away any further – all I could do was shift to the side and hug my own knees.

       「But the cover’s all bent. Isn’t that going to bother you?」

       Sendai-san asked, sounding more concerned about the state of my textbook than I was.

       「No, not really.」

       「Well, even if it doesn’t bother you, it bothers me, so I’m still going to make it up to you.」

       Sendai-san was incredibly stubborn when it came to arguments like these, and never backed off. She was a bit like me when it came to wanting to get her thoughts and opinions across.

       Plus, Sendai-san had a lot more integrity than I originally thought: if she was promising to make it up to me, she was most likely going to see it through.

       「I’m okay with whatever. Just don’t go out of your way to do anything special.」

       It felt pointless to spend any more time talking about the textbook’s cover, so I tried to rush the conversation along.

       「Well, I guess that’s that then.」

       I wasn’t sure what she was planning, but Sendai-san ended the topic there. Then, she lightly kicked my leg.

       「So, Miyagi, what do you want to do now?」

       「Nothing in particular. If you want to have dinner here, I’ll prepare something for us.」

       「What should I do?」

       “Hmm…” Sendai-san contemplated with an expression that suggested she wasn’t thinking too deeply about it. Then, as if remembering something, she reached to fasten a button on her blouse.

       I had seen her undo the second button countless times in this room before, yet this was the first time she had ever buttoned it up.

       My body stiffened at the sight of her doing something out of the ordinary.

       Sendai-san shouldn’t have noticed anything.

       After all, she was still asleep when I touched her neck.

       So then, why did she button up her blouse up just now?

       My heart felt tight, like it was being strangled.

       I shouldn’t have done anything to her.

       After all, Sendai-san was not my friend, nor my lover.

       I shouldn’t have done anything to Sendai-san while she was asleep.

       It would’ve been a different story had she been awake. At least then I could’ve ordered Sendai-san to stay still and it would’ve been fine.

       Why did I even do that to her in the first place?

       That was something I didn’t even know the answer to myself.

       「Miyagi, you’re going to end up with wrinkles if you keep doing that.」

       Sendai-san said as she pointed at my face.

       「You’ve got a pretty scary expression on your face right now. I think you should go take a look in the mirror.」

       「No, I’m good.」

       If anything, I would have preferred to run away from this place altogether instead of looking in the mirror. But I couldn’t just leave my room all of a sudden either.

       「Are you not going to say those words today?」

       Sendai-san asked, stretching her arms upward as if she were completely unaware of what had happened.

       「What words?」

       「You know, “lick it.”」

       「No.」

       Today didn’t seem like a good day for that.

       I had a bad feeling about all of this.

       「I see.」

       Even though Sendai-san was the one who asked, her tone sounded indifferent. Then, she started touching my leg.

       She stroked my bare toes and then ran her fingers up to my ankle.

       The fingertips that gently brushed against my skin made me feel ticklish. When I tried to pull my leg away, she grabbed my ankle.

       「Let go.」

       Upon my firm instruction, Sendai-san complied. However, right after she released my ankle, her fingers slid upward, nudging my hands away from my knees. Without a trace of concern, she grasped the hem of my skirt and casually lifted it.

       「Don’t do anything weird.」

       I grabbed her hand out of protest.

       「I just wanted to see if the bruise on your knee was really gone or not.」

       「My bruises disappear just fine on their own. You don’t need to check anything.」

       「Come on, show it to me anyway.」

       Sendai-san said.

       After brushing my hand away, she began touching my knee.

       Even though she was the one who told me to show it to her, she wasn’t actually looking at it.

       She caressed my knee with her fingertips.

       The way she was touching me felt strange.

       A chill ran down my spine.

       I didn’t like this feeling at all.

       「Didn’t you say you wanted to look at it?」

       I protested against Sendai-san, who kept gently stroking my knee.

       「Would you rather I stop?」

       Sendai-san asked, even though she sounded like she wouldn’t listen to me no matter what I said, as her hand continued moving.

       「Stop. Right now.」

       I stated firmly.

       However, Sendai-san did not stop.

       Her fingers slid down from my knee all the way towards the instep of my foot.

       She continued touching it, the same way she did whenever I ordered her to lick it.

       She ran her finger along my foot.

       It felt incredibly uncomfortable, like having ants crawl all over the surface of my skin. Despite that, I knew if I truly wanted to make Sendai-san stop, I could’ve done so by now. Instead, I hugged my knees tightly.

       「Seriously, can we stop now?」

       I pulled Sendai-san’s hand off me.

       「Is this supposed to be payback?」

       Because I touched your neck while you were asleep.

       I asked, wondering if she was just trying to get revenge because of what I had done.

       「For what?」

       Sendai-san sounded a little puzzled, but I couldn’t be sure if she was just playing dumb or not. However, seeing how amused Sendai-san looked was sort of getting on my nerves.

       「If that wasn’t meant to be payback, then forget it. Now, give me your arm.」

       I grabbed her arm without even waiting for a response.

       「Is this supposed to be an order?」

       「It is, so just do as I say.」

       「Are you planning to leave another mark there?」

       「Not exactly.」

       I undid the button on the sleeve of her blouse and rolled it up.

       I stared at the spot between her wrist and her elbow – the same area where I’d left a mark last time.

      Then, I sank my teeth into her forearm, hard. It felt satisfying.

      When it seemed like I was biting hard enough to break the skin, Sendai-san tried to shove my head away.

       「Hey, that really hurts, you know.」

       Feeling a firm push against the crown of my head, I raised my head.

       「I can’t believe this. How can you bite someone this hard? Isn’t that just weird?」

       Sendai-san said, rubbing her arm as she rolled her sleeve back down.

       「We can consider this as you making it up for my bent textbook.」

       「Don’t just decide that on your own.」

       「It’ll be fine. The teeth marks will go away on their own soon.」

       If only everything that I did could disappear just as quickly.

       In any case, since it was an order, she didn’t really have the right to complain. Besides, considering it was Sendai-san, it was highly unlikely that she was genuinely upset with me.

       That was the sort of relationship we had with each other, so it was fine.

       「It seriously hurt, though.」

       Sendai-san said, sounding a bit resentful.

       「It was also a punishment for all the weird things you’ve done before.」

       「Compared to all the strange things you do, Miyagi, I think my actions pale in comparison.」

       Sendai-san said in a slightly annoyed voice as she got off the bed.

       Good, things felt just like usual again.

       Seeing the grumpy look on her face, I was finally able to gain a sense of relief.

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Credits to himi for proofreading and editing this part!

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