It was amusing watching Miyagi look so confused.

       If I said that, it’d probably make me sound like I had a terrible personality. But in my defense, Miyagi was acting incredibly guilty, like she had something she needed to confess.

       「Wait, stay still.」

       I said, stretching my arm towards Miyagi, who sat across the table from me. However, before my fingers managed to reach her,

       「What is it?」

       She asked warily.

       「You’ve got a hair on you.」

       When I gave her my reason for extending my arm out, Miyagi looked up from her book and asked, 「Where? 」

       「I’ll get it for you.」

       I put my hand on the table as I leaned forward over it.

       I reached my hand towards Miyagi’s chest and lightly brushed her neck with my fingers.

       I had barely touched her.

       The contact between us lasted for less than a second.

       Yet, Miyagi recoiled more than necessary, as if I was about to do something outrageous to her.

       This all started a few days ago.

       On the day I accidentally fell asleep in her room, I woke up feeling ticklish around my neck. However, being half-asleep, I wasn’t really sure what was going on.

       Well…

       At first, I thought it was all just a dream, but then it turned out that it wasn’t.

       Seeing Miyagi’s reactions more or less confirmed it for me.

       On that day, Miyagi had placed her lips on my neck.

       I pulled at her hair, which extended slightly past her shoulders.

       「Ouch.」

       「Oh, sorry. It was still on you.」

       I said, although the strand of hair that I initially claimed was stuck on her wasn’t something that could actually be plucked out.

       「You’re just doing this on purpose.」

       「Well, it looked like a loose hair to me, so I thought I’d get it for you.」

       I didn’t deny that I was doing this on purpose.

       After all, she wasn’t wrong about that.

       I usually left two buttons undone on my blouse, but this time, I kept the second one fastened.

       Before I even stepped into her room today, I made sure to wear my necktie more neatly than usual. Yet, for some reason, it felt like she was intentionally avoiding looking at me.

       Ever since that day, Miyagi had been acting strangely.

       Even now, it felt like she was overreacting to the little prank I had just pulled on her.

       「Hurry up and finish my homework.」

       Miyagi said, sounding displeased.

       The stray cat I thought I’d tamed had become wary of me once again.

       That was the kind of vibe I was getting from Miyagi today.

       「You don’t have to rush me. I’m almost done.」

       “Do my homework.”

       That was the order that she gave me about an hour ago. However, with us being in separate classes this year, doing her homework had become more tedious than before. When we were in the same class, our assignments were identical, so I only needed to answer the questions once and then copy what I’d written after. But now that we were in different classes, it meant I had twice the amount of work cut out for me.

       Miyagi didn’t have the highest grades. Although, despite struggling with some subjects, they weren’t exactly terrible either.

       But with the entrance exam approaching this year, it would’ve been better if she was more dedicated to her studies.

       After all, doing well in school opened up more options, and having good study habits was more beneficial than not.

       Plus, top-performing students had a wider range of universities to choose from, which in turn, meant they had more career choices in the future.

       That being said, having good grades didn’t necessarily guarantee success, so some of those efforts could easily end up going to waste as well.

       「So, have you decided on a university yet?」

       When I first asked Miyagi this question back in April, she had answered with, “I’m not sure”.

       「No, but if I do end up going to a university at all, then I’m fine with any school that will accept me.」

       Miyagi replied with a similar, yet slightly different answer than before.

       「You’re being way too casual about this.」

       「I’m not interested in these things anyway. More importantly, you should get back to finishing my homework.」

       「Yes, yes. I know.」

       What a shame.

       It wasn’t like I was about to ask her to attend the same prep school as me, nor was I about to force her into taking her studies more seriously, but Miyagi seemed a little too unmotivated.

       Miyagi was always like this – so negligent and irresponsible.

       On that day, she had taken the initiative to press her lips against my neck.

       Rather, I guess it was more accurate to say she had simply done it without my permission.

       I put my hand to my neck.

       I had no idea why she had put her lips there. I thought she’d done it because her mind was still on the whole hickey thing, but if that were the case, then she would’ve left one on my neck.

       So what did it mean if all she did was press her lips against it?

       If the reason why she did it was to hammer in the fact that we weren’t friends, then I was fine with that. But it was starting to feel like her actions were rapidly turning our relationship into something other than friendship.

       I was glad she was opening up to me more, but it’d be troublesome if things continued like this.

       I was afraid of deepening my relationship with Miyagi.

       I didn’t want us to end up getting too close.

       I wanted a friendship that was neither black nor white; something grey might be fine.

       Otherwise, I feel like I’d end up having a hard time saying goodbye next year.

       Plus, I didn’t particularly dislike what Miyagi did to me either.

       The fact I felt that way was wrong.

       I couldn’t explain why it was wrong, but it just was.

       I picked up my eraser and threw it towards Miyagi.

       The slightly curved eraser flew in the air and landed on the textbook beside her.

       「You’re not talking much today. Did something happen?」

       As Miyagi raised her head in response to my question, I casually unfastened the second button of my blouse, causing her to quickly avert her gaze in an unnatural manner.

       It didn’t sit well with me that I was the only one whose emotions were in turmoil.

       I wanted Miyagi to feel troubled as well.

       「No.」

       Miyagi responded with an indifferent tone and then immediately went back to reading her book.

       「Do you want to gossip about love?」

       「No.」

       Just as I thought.

       She didn’t really seem like the type to be interested in that sort of thing.

       I assumed she usually kept away from things like gossip, but I was wrong. She was aware that I’d been confessed to, so she probably had her own little network of connections.

       「You don’t have anyone you like, Miyagi?」

       「I don’t really like talking about this sort of stuff.」

       「Well, in that case, why were you so curious about what happened with me?」

       I mean, she seemed pretty eager to talk about love when she wanted to know why I rejected the confession I received.

       I wasn’t going to let her dodge the question by saying she forgot about it.

       「……」

       However, it didn’t seem like she had any intention of answering the question at all. The only thing that could be heard was the rustling of pages as she flipped through her book.

       「Miyagi. 」

       I urged her for an answer.

       But she didn’t flinch.

       However, when I looked closely, I could see wrinkles forming between her brows.

       I gently stroked my neck.

       This is all because you tried to kiss me here.

       You reap what you sow.

       She needed to reflect upon her actions.

       However, being in the same room with her wasn’t fun when all she was doing was ignoring me.

       「Oh, I know. Can you lend me a book to read over Golden Week?」

       Deciding that perhaps it was about time I forgave her, I changed the subject.

       「I don’t want to. 」

       「I knew you were going to say that.」

       Now she was starting to act like the Miyagi I knew.

       If only she was like this all the time.

       As long as things stayed unchanged, our relationship would remain peaceful.

       I really didn’t want to have to go through another emotional roller coaster.

       So it felt reassuring seeing Miyagi return to her usual self.

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