Something’s about to change.

         Or at least, that was what I had thought when Miyagi toyed with my ear the other day.

         Even though Miyagi had called me over several times after our midterms, our dynamic remained largely unchanged. The sports festival came and went in the blink of an eye, and we were now spending our days together in peace.

         She hadn’t been put off by the kiss we shared, and she hadn’t stopped summoning me since the day she bit my ear either.

         How boring.

         This wasn’t fun at all.

         It was disconcerting just how bored I felt over the lack of change.

         Spending time in this room now felt like when a beloved restaurant changes its tastes. I didn’t think sharing a kiss was going to change anything between us, but perhaps deep down, I wanted it to.

         Well, even if there were changes between us, there was no guarantee that they would be for the better. However, the way Miyagi was acting right now was way too dull. Nowadays, she only ever gave me mundane orders.

         I felt deflated.

         Things weren’t as exciting anymore.

         The other day, Miyagi had licked my ear.

         I wasn’t exactly pleased with her actions, but I was curious about what was going through her head. However, I didn’t bother asking about it at the time, so her behavior remained a mystery.

         Since then, Miyagi had stopped issuing me orders to lick her fingers or her feet. It wasn’t like I wanted her to give me those types of suggestive orders, but I was getting tired of doing her homework and reading manga to her.

         Ah, well…

          I guess there were a couple of subtle changes.

          The table had gotten a little bigger, and Miyagi was sitting a bit closer to me than usual.

          There was more space for us to place our textbooks now.

          Maybe that was why Miyagi was doing her homework next to me today.

          However, it appeared she was determined to avoid any physical contact with me. Moreover, she didn’t seem to be enjoying herself all that much either.

          Miyagi seemed gloomy, much like the erratic weather during the rainy season.

          「You made a mistake there.」

          I pointed at a section on Miyagi’s notebook with my pencil.

          English appeared to be one of her weaker subjects, as evidenced by the other mistakes in her homework, but I chose to address only one of them for now. However, Miyagi stared at me in response with an unimpressed look on her face.

          「I didn’t ask, so I don’t need you pointing out my mistakes.」

          「Well, are you just going to leave it as it is then?」

          「… No.」

          Miyagi furrowed her brows as she erased the letters written on her notebook. The eraser she was using looked new, unlike the one I returned to her.

          ―― It was a little insulting knowing she went out of her way to buy and use a new eraser.

          I shifted my focus back to my own notebook.

          「So then, what’s the right answer?」

          Miyagi, who had been doing her own homework diligently up until now, was now demanding me to help her take the easy way out.

          「Think it through yourself.」

          「I don’t know how to.」

          「I’m sure you can work out the answer if you tried. Do it properly.」

          「Fine, then I’ll make it an order. Tell me the answer.」

          She said as she pushed her textbook and notebook towards me.

         「You’re not actually asking me to tell you the answer. You just want me to do it for you, right?」

         「Yep, exactly.」

         「Sure, sure.」

         If I remembered correctly, this happened last time as well. She gave up on her homework halfway and left the rest to me so she could go read manga.

         I took Miyagi’s notebook from her, as well as her eraser.

         The question itself wasn’t that difficult.

         I’m pretty sure that if she put in the effort, even someone like Miyagi would be able to answer it correctly. But there was no point thinking about it. I was given an order, so I had no choice but to obey. I erased her mistakes off the page and began writing over them.

         「It’s almost been a year, huh?」

         I mentioned casually as I finished correcting her mistakes and moved onto the next question.

         「Since what?」

         「Since I started coming here.」

         「Is that so?」

         Miyagi replied, sounding uninterested.

         「The first time we hung out was around July, right? So it’s almost been a year already.」

         Even though we were classmates at the time, Miyagi and I had hardly ever spoken to each other. Nevertheless, I could vividly recall what led me to start coming over to her place.

         Miyagi had saved my life on that fateful day when I’d forgotten to bring my wallet, generously offering to pay for my purchase! … Yeah, right. If things had actually gone down that way, it would make for quite the fairytale. In reality, she had forced the money upon me and refused to let me pay her back. She even went as far as suggesting I throw the change away if I didn’t want it.

         At the time, I thought of Miyagi as a real pain in the side. Honestly, even now, my impression of her hasn’t changed.

         「Why did you pay for my books back then?」

         「I simply wanted to help out a fellow classmate in need.」

         「Really now?」

         「No, that’s a lie. I just happened to have a five-thousand-yen bill in my wallet at the time.」

         「So what you’re saying is, if you only had one-thousand yen on you, you wouldn’t have helped out?」

         「Maybe.」

         「You’re lying about that too, aren’t you? What’s the real reason?」

         「I just felt like it. That’s all.」

         I wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not, but Miyagi didn’t seem interested in continuing the conversation. She stood up and walked over to the bookshelf, picking out two volumes of manga before lying down on her bed.

          I quickly finished up the rest of Miyagi’s homework and started poking her in the side.

         「Hey, move over a bit.」

         「Why?」

         「That’s my spot.」

         「This is my bed, you know. Don’t come over here. There’s not enough space for you.」

         Miyagi said curtly as she adjusted herself towards the middle of the bed.

          Well, it was true that the bed belonged to Miyagi, and not me.

          But I was always the one on her bed whenever I came over, so I felt like I had the right to at least half of it.

          「Come on, it’s fine, isn’t it? Just move over a little.」

          「It’s not fine.」

          「You’re so stingy, Miyagi.」

          Instead of continuing to poke her in the side, I decided to push her, determined to stake my claim. However, without touching me back, Miyagi replied with,

          「Stop it. You’re being really annoying, Sendai-san.」

          Even though Miyagi was sometimes surprisingly bold in the way she touched me, there were moments when she seemed uneasy about doing so. Whenever that happened, there’d be this look on her face that made it seem like she regretted touching me at all.

          I wasn’t the type of person who could brush everything off with a smile. I had a bit of a delicate side to me, so even I had my limits and could get hurt by other people’s words. There were moments when Miyagi’s insensitivity would cut really deep.

          I generally didn’t mind being touched by Miyagi.

          But lately, I was starting to feel increasingly uncomfortable about it.

          If I had to choose, I’d much rather touch her than to be touched by her.

          I climbed onto her bed and tried to push Miyagi aside to make room for myself. However, instead of yielding, she sat herself up.

           「Sendai-san, take off your necktie.」

          She said out of nowhere as she stared blankly at me.

          Seeing that look on her face wasn’t a good sign.

          Knowing Miyagi, she was probably about to get me to do something unpleasant.

          「Why?」

          「Just do it.」

          Like always, whenever she refused to answer my questions, it was her way of telling me it was an order. Instead of pointlessly fighting back, I did what I was told and took off my necktie.

          「Is this good enough?」

          「Yep. Now, hand it over to me.」

          「My necktie?」

          「Yes, your necktie.」

          The tone in Miyagi’s voice sounded the same as when she had ordered me to do her homework earlier, but still, I had a bad feeling about this. Despite that, I handed my necktie over to her.

          「Turn around.」

          I did exactly as I was told and turned around. Miyagi followed up with, “Give me your hands,” as she grabbed both of my wrists.

          I could guess what she was about to do from here.

          I sighed, though not loud enough for Miyagi to hear, as she pulled my hands towards her. Suddenly, I felt the sensation of cloth tightly wrapping around my wrists.

          「Hey, that hurts!」

          I exclaimed. My wrists were bound together so tightly, it felt like she’d poured all her strength into tying them.

          If she didn’t loosen the necktie up a bit, it was definitely going to leave a mark. Our summer uniforms were short-sleeved, so it’d end up being visible to everyone.

          「Miyagi.」

          When I sternly called out her name, the necktie dug into my wrists even further.

          「You better not leave any marks behind.」

          As soon as I reprimanded her, the necktie loosened slightly. Then, I felt her finishing the knot up.

           「You’re such a pervert, Miyagi. I bet you got this idea from reading a manga, didn’t you?」

          Her bookshelf was filled with books from various genres, spanning from adorable shoujo manga to spirited shounen manga. Among them, there were a few erotic books too, so it wouldn’t be surprising if one of those stories included a situation where the main heroine found herself getting tied up with a necktie by her domineering boyfriend.

          「Oh, were you hoping that I would imitate one of those kinds of stories?」

          「As if.」

          「Well, I wasn’t going to anyway. Now, stay seated like that by yourself for about an hour.」

          「Huh? What? Why? Is this supposed to be neglect play or something?」

          「So you did want me to do something to you.」

          She said from behind me, using my own words against me.

          「You’re quite the pervert, Sendai-san.」

          I could feel her breath against my neck. Suddenly, she sank her teeth into my shoulder.

          「Ow!」

          The word “moderation” clearly did not exist in Miyagi’s dictionary.

          Even when I expressed my pain, her teeth continued to dig into my shoulder.

          「I never said I wanted this.」

          Usually, I’d be able to relieve myself of the pain by pushing Miyagi away by the forehead. But I couldn’t do that today since I had my wrists bound together. I felt like if I turned around now, I’d only end up losing my balance, so all I could do was voice my protests aloud.

          「Miyagi, that seriously hurts.」

          When I called out her name firmly, she finally relented.

          「I thought we agreed not to do anything that would leave any marks. I don’t mind if you bite me, but at least be a bit gentler.」

          「No one would be able to see a mark on your shoulder anyway, so it’s fine, isn’t it?」

          「That’s not the issue here.」

          「Fine, then get off the bed and sit on the floor.」

          “I don’t want to.”

          At least, that’s what I’d like to say, but even if I did, I’m sure Miyagi would force me off the bed somehow. Unlike normal, reasonable people, Miyagi didn’t seem to have any reservations about shoving people away.

          And for me, I’d much rather get off the bed on my own than to get kicked off it.

          I silently did exactly as I was told and sat on the floor. As soon as I did, Miyagi took off her socks.

          「Sendai-san, you know what I’m about to order you to do, right?」

          I looked up to meet her gaze.

         In response, Miyagi kicked me on the shoulder, right where she’d bitten me earlier.

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TL corner: I AM PULLING ANOTHER 24H, SO I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY MISTAKES. I will come back and proofread this more thoroughly after I fix my sleep schedule. THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING!

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