I couldn’t lift my spirits.

          Today was rather uneventful; nothing particularly good or bad happened. As a result, my mood remained indifferent, and I couldn’t find a way to improve it. However, since Sendai-san would hunt me down if I didn’t call for her at least once a week, I decided to summon her to help me with my homework.

          For some reason, she looked amused.

          Sendai-san seemed as if she was enjoying herself as she wrote in her notebook with her pencil. In contrast, I seemed to be the only one in a sour mood.

          My body felt heavy, as if a rock were tied to my stomach, making it difficult to find motivation for anything today. Nevertheless, even on these gloomy days, tomorrow would inevitably arrive. Summer vacation was just around the corner, and before I realized it, it was only one week away.

          Today was probably the last time I’d get to see Sendai-san before the break.

          「Sendai-san, go pick out a novel from my bookshelf.」

          I commanded as I snatched the pencil out of her hand.

          「Go pick one out yourself.」

          She replied with a slightly grumpy tone in her voice.

          「I’m giving you an order. You can pick any novel you’d like, so go grab one.」

          「Sure, sure.」

          Sendai-san spoke as she had no other choice. She got up from her seat and walked towards the bookshelf.

          I told her to pick any novel she liked, but she didn’t return immediately. Instead, she wore a serious expression on her face as she took her time selecting a book before making her way back to me.

          「Here you go.」

          Sendai-san said in an exaggeratedly formal tone as she offered me the book, but instead of accepting it, I simply rolled the pencil across the table.

          「Now read it to me.」

          「I thought you’d say that, so I chose one with the least amount of pages.」

          Sendai-san took a seat beside me and cracked open the novel.

          It was a collection of short stories, and she began reading from the middle. This choice was unusual for her, yet it wasn’t entirely out of character. It seemed she preferred seeking loopholes in my orders rather than adhering to them obediently.

          I found that part of her personality troublesome.

          At school, she always portrayed herself as kind and virtuous, but whenever we were alone like this, her true nature emerged. She constantly did things I hadn’t asked her to do. It was maddening how, instead of directly defying my commands, she consistently sought subtle ways to oppose me.

          Well, at least her voice had a pleasant tone to it.

          Listening to her had a calming effect, making me feel somewhat drowsy.

          「Hey Miyagi, lower the temperature on the air conditioner.」

          Suddenly, the voice that had been reading from the novel was now asking for cooler air.

          「No. Now get back to reading.」

          「I don’t mind reading to you, but it’s way too hot in here.」

          Sendai-san picked up her notebook that was on the table and began fanning herself with it.

          To me, the room’s temperature felt just right, and it had always been that way, be it during the winter or the summer.

          After all, it was my room, and I had set the temperature to suit my preferences.

          But considering we wouldn’t have the chance to see each other for a while, perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to make a compromise for Sendai-san’s comfort every now and then.

          「Fine. If that’s what you want, then lower the temperature yourself.」

          I said as I pointed at the remote for the air conditioner on the table.

          「You’re so stingy, Miyagi.」

          Despite my effort to sacrifice my comfort for her, Sendai-san responded with a rather impolite remark. Nonetheless, she grabbed the remote and lowered the temperature to a point where it felt a little too cold.

          Seemingly content with the air conditioner now blowing cold air, Sendai-san took a sip of her barley tea and continued reading from the novel’s pages.

          Listening to her read aloud was making my eyelids grow heavy.

          I laid my face against the table.

          It felt nice and cool against my skin.

          ―― Actually, no, it was a little too cold.

          I sat up and reached for Sendai-san’s arm, noticing that her body felt rather cool.

          「Wait, Miyagi. It’s kind of hard to read like this.」

          Sendai-san grumbled as I gently squeezed her arm a few times. My fingers then trailed along her arm, moving up to the inside of her elbow. As I explored her upper arm, Sendai-san spoke to me in a low voice.

          「Stop touching me unless you want me to stop reading to you.」

          「You don’t have to read it anymore. Also, turn up the temperature of the air conditioner. It’s too cold.」

          I said as I let go of her and started rubbing my own arms instead.

          「If I raise the temperature, it’s going to get hot again. If you’re cold, just put something on.」

          She said with a dissatisfied tone in her voice.

          「How about you take something off if you think it’s so hot?」

          「I don’t have anything else I can even take off.」

          「You don’t need to wear your blouse, right?」

          「You’re such a pervert, Miyagi.」

          I wasn’t being serious, so her words were a little uncalled for. Then, I took the remote and adjusted the air conditioner to a higher temperature without further discussion. After a while, the once chilly room returned to the ideal temperature, causing Sendai-san to furrow her brow and heave a sigh.

          「It’s too hot in here.」

          I’d known this for a while, but Sendai-san and I were completely incompatible both at school and in private. I had attempted to accommodate to her ideal temperature on a whim, but ultimately, I couldn’t tolerate my own room being too cold. In any case, Sendai-san should be the one making compromises when visiting my place, not me.

          I unfastened a button on Sendai-san’s blouse.

          「It’ll be a little cooler like this, right?」

          There were times when I was permitted to undo the third button on Sendai-san’s blouse, and others when it was off-limits. Today appeared to be one of those days when it was allowed, as she didn’t voice any objections.

          I ran my fingers over Sendai-san’s chest, specifically around the spot where I had left a hickey on that rainy day.

          「…… Did the hickey fade away quickly?」

          I finally asked the question that had been on my mind for a while but hadn’t been able to ask before.

          「Yeah, it did.」

          Upon hearing her mumbled response, I increased the pressure of my fingertips on her chest.

          However, I couldn’t bring myself to ask her to show it to me.

          「Give me your arm.」

Without waiting for her response, I grabbed her by the wrist. However, she shook her hand away, as if disobeying me.

          「If you’re going to do it again, then leave one somewhere else.」

          「All I asked for was your arm. I didn’t say anything else.」

          「I already know you want to leave another hickey on me. It’ll stand out too much if you put one on my arm, so don’t even think about it.」

          「Fine. Where else can I leave one on you?」

          「I don’t know. Come up with something yourself.」

          Sendai-san said curtly as she glared at me.

          She probably had a lot more things she wanted to complain about, but refrained from doing so as knew she had no choice but to obey my orders.

          That was likely her train of thought.

          「It’s fine as long as it’s in a spot that’s not visible to others, right?」

          I already knew the answer, but I wanted confirmation nonetheless.

          「Yeah.」

          Sendai-san responded as if the answer should have been obvious.

          I fixed my gaze on her. Considering there were only a few concealed spots, the only feasible location for leaving a hickey would be somewhere beneath her uniform.

          I grasped her blouse, which already had three buttons unfastened, and unbuttoned the rest of it, revealing her chest and a peek of her undergarments. I briefly closed my eyes, then slowly opened them, focusing on the area just above where I had previously marked her with a hickey.

          「Miyagi, it really is too hot in here.」

          She said.

          Nevertheless, I pressed my lips against her skin. Just like she said, her body felt hot.

          It was different from last time when she was damp and chilled from the rain.

          I sucked on her skin even harder than before, hoping to leave a mark behind.

          As I moved back, I noticed a red mark that seemed like it was dark enough to last throughout the entire summer vacation. I lightly pressed my finger against the mark and caressed it. When I brushed the area just above it and tried to bring my face closer to her chest again, she pushed my head away.

          「You’re really into erotic things like this, aren’t you, Miyagi?」

          Sendai-san said as she buttoned her blouse back up.

          「I don’t think I’ve done anything that could be considered erotic though.」

          「Isn’t what you just did considered pretty erotic?」

          「No. It’s only erotic if you make it erotic.」

          Sure, if there were any hidden intentions or deeper meanings behind it, Sendai-san’s label of “erotic” would be fitting. However, I had no such ulterior motives or profound emotions attached to my actions today, so what she said was wrong.

          I hated the fact that I was attempting to justify myself by relying on the word “today.”

          I didn’t want to recall that rainy day again.

          I didn’t want to remember it or the feelings I felt back then.

          Summer break was unreasonably long, but I had to admit, it was the perfect opportunity to reset my emotions.

          I would be able to rid myself of any feelings I couldn’t handle during the break. If I could just erase them, I was confident our relationship would go back to normal.

          I stood up from my seat and collapsed onto my bed, lying face down.

          “Keep reading from the novel.”

          As I hesitated about whether to say that or not, I heard Sendai-san speak.

          「Miyagi, have you decided on which university you want to go to yet?」

          「Anywhere that’ll accept me.」

          I answered without looking at Sendai-san.

          「You’re taking this too lightly. Second semester starts right after summer break, so if you don’t make up your mind soon, you might end up running out of time, you know?」

          「It’s okay, I’m not really interested in university anyway.」

          「Okay, then what else are you planning to do over summer break? You might as well attend a cram school or something.」

          Sendai-san started nagging me about things even my own father wouldn’t bother with. I just wanted to cover my ears and tune her out.

          Maybe it was because my father didn’t take much interest in me, but he never asked about my career choices or pushed me to prioritize my studies. Even though I might not pursue higher education or a conventional job, ever since I entered high school, we never clashed over my future. He simply provided me with way too much allowance for a high school student, no questions asked.

          「I’m pretty sure I already told you what my plans over summer break were.」

          Having to explain my plans once again to Sendai-san, who lectured me even more than my own family members, seemed like a hassle. I had already told her what I was going to do, so I saw no need to repeat myself.

          「Right. You said you didn’t want to attend one. Well, in that case, why not hire a tutor?」

          「There’s no way I’d ever do that. Also, you’re being kind of annoying, Sendai-san. Why don’t you just mind your own business and let me do whatever I want over the break?」

          I sat up on my bed and threw a pillow at Sendai-san. She effortlessly caught it in her hands and replied:

          「No, listen. I know someone who’d make a great fit, so I thought I’d introduce you to them.」

          「You’re so stubborn. I don’t need you to introduce me to anyone.」

          「Their asking price is five-thousand yen for three sessions a week. Isn’t that pretty cheap?」

          「They charge five-thousand yen every session?」

          I wasn’t familiar with the market rates for private tutors, so I couldn’t determine whether it was genuinely cheap or not.

          「No, I’m fine with being paid five-thousand yen for all three sessions in a single week.」

          「―― What do you mean you’re fine with it?」

          I stared dumbfoundedly at Sendai-san, who had said something weird with a grin on her face.

          「Hire me as your tutor, Miyagi. I’ll help you study.」

          Sendai-san was acting strange.

          This was not the Sendai-san I knew.

          Essentially, she was offering to come over even on days when we didn’t have school.

          She’d never suggested anything like that before.

          「…… Didn’t we agree that we wouldn’t meet up on weekends or days off?」

          If my memory served me right, it was Sendai-san who had established the rule that we wouldn’t meet on our days off. However, on days we had school, she was willing to obey any order I gave her for the price of five-thousand yen.

          Even during the previous summer vacation, we adhered to that rule, and I never met up with Sendai-san even once. The same held true for winter and spring breaks, as well as weekends.

          「Consider this my way of making it up for that time I damaged your textbook.」

          Sendai-san said nonchalantly.

          I didn’t have to search too far in my memory to recall the creases Sendai-san made in my contemporary Japanese textbook.

          But was she seriously using that as an excuse now?

          That had happened a long time ago, and it didn’t seem significant enough to bring up again. Besides, I had already considered it settled when I bit down as hard as I could on her arm.

          「You want to make it up to me by becoming my private tutor? I thought we already settled that matter.」

          「That was something you had decided on your own. I never agreed to it.」

          「Are you really that desperate for money?」

          When you think about it, there was really no other reason for her to keep coming over all the time, and now she was even willing to break a rule that she had made. In fact, it’d be incredibly strange if she wasn’t in it for the money. Sendai-san didn’t appear to be struggling financially, but I couldn’t think of any other motive behind her behavior.

          「Well, I guess you could say that.」

          Sendai-san said quietly.

          「…… I don’t mind paying you five-thousand yen, but you still have prep school to go to, don’t you?」

          「My schedule’s a little more flexible during the break, so I can come here once I’m done. I’ll give you until the start of summer vacation to make your decision. As long as you’re willing to study, I’ll let you determine the schedule as well.」

          「What happens if I don’t make a decision?」

          「Well then, I won’t tutor you, and just like last year, we’ll go about the rest of our vacation without seeing each other.」

          Sendai-san replied casually as she flipped to the next page of the novel without reading any of the words out loud.

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