It hadn’t been that long since we last saw each other.

       However, there was something different about Sendai-san today, probably because we had just changed our school uniforms. Maybe that was why, even within the comfort of my own room, I felt restless.  

       「Hey, Miyagi. Did something happen?」

       Sendai-san said while unbuttoning her blouse.

       「Why are you asking?」

       「Hmm, well, because it took you this long to call for me.」

       「I was just busy.」

       「Oh? I see…」

       Sendai-san didn’t ask what I was busy with.

       Of course, even if she did ask, I wasn’t planning on answering her. Truthfully, I wasn’t busy with anything, so I wouldn’t have been able to anyway.

       After I brought in some cups of soda and barley tea to my room, I handed Sendai-san a five-thousand-yen bill.

       「Thanks.」

       She said as she accepted the bill and took a seat on my bed.

       It was a bit reassuring seeing her take the money from me just like always.

       Apart from her uniform transitioning from a blazer to a sweater vest, Sendai-san herself remained unchanged. As usual, she left the top two buttons of her blouse undone and her necktie slightly loosened.

       「Are you not going to take that off?」

       I asked while pointing at Sendai-san’s vest, who was sitting across the table from me.

       「Wow, Miyagi. You sure are eager to see other people undress.」

       She said with a teasing tone in her voice.

       「That’s not what I meant. I was only asking because you’d always take off your blazer.」

       「I know, I know. So, what are we doing today?」

       「You’re quick to change the subject, aren’t you, Sendai-san?」

       Today, I summoned Sendai-san without any specific reason.

       So I hadn’t come up with an order to give her yet.

       「Well, for now, I guess I’ll just start on my homework.」

       It wasn’t like I wanted to study or anything, but there was no other way to get Sendai-san to stay quiet for a while. Technically, I could’ve ordered her to finish my homework for me, but then it’d leave me with nothing to do.

       I felt like if I didn’t keep myself occupied, I’d end up doing something I’d regret.

       「Oh, sure. Pass it over to me.」

       Sendai-san got off the bed and sat right next to me.

       「No, I’m going to do it myself. You can do whatever you want, Sendai-san.」

       I repositioned myself so that Sendai-san was seated across from me again. Then, I pulled out my math textbook and notebook and placed them on the table.

       「Whoa, you’re doing your own homework today, Miyagi?」

       Sendai-san’s surprised tone sounded clearly exaggerated.

       「Yeah, and?」

       「You’re not going to make me do it for you?」

       「No.」

       「Whoa, someone’s acting diligent all of a sudden.」

       「I’ve always been diligent.」

       「Hmm, I guess I should start on my homework too.」

       Sendai-san said, sounding a bit unmotivated as she pulled out an English textbook and notebook from her bag. Then, she placed some worksheets on the table.

       Not long after, I could hear the sound of her pencil scribbling across the papers.

       I focused my attention on my math textbook.

       The textbook was filled with a bunch of numbers, confusing symbols, and random letters from the alphabet. Just gazing at it left me feeling dizzy. Perhaps some people found beauty in the language of math, but to me, it just looked like an array of unsolvable code.

       However, if I didn’t solve the questions, I wouldn’t be able to finish my homework. So, I mentally searched for the formulas to apply. Yet, even though I had learned the formulas, I struggled to find them in my mind.

       I glanced over at Sendai-san.

       Her handwriting was as neat as always.

       Even the sound of the pencil gliding across the paper was seamless. I couldn’t help but feel envious of Sendai-san, who made it appear as though there was no problem she couldn’t solve.

       I went back to the math problem that I was having trouble solving.

       I slowly attempted to answer the question with brief pauses here and there.

       I wasn’t making as much progress with my homework as I’d hoped.

       In fact, it felt like the only thing that was moving forward in this room was time.

       As my eyes flickered trying to keep track of the numbers on the page, a small sigh escaped me. Suddenly, a pencil rolled across from the other side, and when I looked up, I found Sendai-san staring at me.

       「Are you done?」

       「“Done?” It feels like there’s no end to it.」

       I answered bluntly as I returned the pencil to her. When I dropped my gaze to focus on my homework again, I felt something poking me at the top of my head.

       「That hurts, Sendai-san. Don’t bother me.」

       「Do you want me to teach you?」

       I’ll think it through myself.

       Before I could answer with that, Sendai-san came to my side.

       「I don’t need you to teach me anything.」

       「Well, it’s not like I have anything else to do.」

       She said as she snuck a glance at my notebook. I shoved her by the shoulder to create some distance between us.

       「Go read some manga or something, like you usually do.」

       「I think I’ve already read through pretty much everything by now.」

       「I bought a few new books, so go read those.」

       I bought two new volumes this past week.

       Those two books should’ve been enough to pass the time with.

       However, instead of grabbing a manga, Sendai-san took my notebook and pointed at something around the middle.

       「You made a mistake here.」

       「Huh?」

       「You made a miscalculation. Oh, and same thing here.」

       Sendai-san picked up her pencil. Then, despite the fact I hadn’t asked for it, she started explaining and correcting the questions I got wrong.

       Her explanations were easy to understand.

       She taught so well that even I had no troubles with keeping up.

       However, I felt strange about the lack of distance between us.

       「Wait, Sendai-san, you’re too close.」

       Even though there should’ve been some space between us, right now, we were so close that our uniforms were touching.

       「You think so?」

       「You’ve been getting overly familiar lately. It’s kind of annoying, so back off.」

       I pushed Sendai-san’s arm away to the edge of the table.

       「Don’t you think it’s a little cruel to call me “annoying”?」

       「No. Plus, it gets too hot when you stick too close to me.」

       Despite being only mid-May, the weather felt more like summer. Regardless of who it was, I wouldn’t want anyone getting too close to me in this kind of heat.

       「Is that the only reason you don’t want me being right next to you?」

       「It is. I’ll do the rest by myself, so you go over there, Sendai-san.」

       I said, pointing at the bookshelf.

       As I mentioned the titles of the new books I had bought, I retrieved my textbook and notebook, which had somehow ended up near Sendai-san. However, she didn’t get up to grab the manga. Instead, for some reason, she closed the distance between us and pulled the textbook and notebook back towards her.

       「Didn’t I just say it was too hot?」

       「I don’t feel hot though.」

       「Don’t lie to me. Aren’t you supposed to be sensitive to the heat?」

       Sendai-san always took off her blazer during the winter, probably because the temperature of my space heater was always set on high.

       My idea of the perfect temperature was different from hers.

       Considering my natural sensitivity to the cold, if I found the room hot, it was likely even more uncomfortable for Sendai-san.

       「Well, if we do this, then it won’t be so hot anymore.」

       Sendai-san took the remote control for the air conditioner from the table and turned it on.

       「Don’t just turn that on without my permission.」

       I grabbed the remote control from her and turned it back off.

       What was this?

       Why was Sendai-san messing with me even more than before?

       「Hey, Miyagi.」

       I couldn’t be bothered to deal with her anymore.

       I ignored her and went back to focusing on my homework.

       I picked up my pencil and tried to continue with the problem I had left off on.

       However, Sendai-san also chose to ignore my desire to finish my homework.

       「Here.」

       She gently stroked my neck with her fingertips.

       When I reflexively raised my head to look at her, she stuck her hand to the side of my neck.

       「You know why I’m touching you here, don’t you?」

       Sendai-san said quietly and followed up with,

       「Why did you kiss me here while I was asleep?」

       Her hand started stroking the side of my neck once again.

       「If you knew from the start, how come you didn’t ask the day it happened? Why are you asking about it now?」

       「Don’t answer my question with another question.」

       She didn’t sound angry.

       But she wasn’t speaking with a gentle tone in her voice either.

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TL Note: I wasn’t sure if this really warranted a full footnote or not, but thought I’d include a little trivia anyway. Miyagi mentions at the start of this part that they had just changed uniforms. Usually, schools and some occupations that feature uniform clothing wear different clothes in different seasons. If you’re really interested in the history or reasoning behind this, you can look up the term: koromogae (衣替え).

In this case, it just means that Miyagi and Sendai don’t need to wear their blazers for the time being. Instead, they can choose to wear a sweater vest (which Sendai seems to be doing in this part) or just their blouses… Not that it really matters, since Sendai is a serial blazer stripper anyway.

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In other news, it’s (almost) Sendai’s birthday, which is on August 23rd. Like the good translator I am, I will do absolutely nothing for her birthday. Enjoy!

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