I want to see Miyagi over the break.

          Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure if that was what I was actually feeling, but offering to be her tutor over the holidays likely conveyed that impression. I didn’t regret my words, but I did wonder why I had uttered them.

          Not to mention, calling myself a tutor to someone in the same grade as me felt somewhat presumptuous.

          Plus, it must’ve given the impression that I was being greedy and solely motivated by financial gain.

          I submerged myself deeper into the hot water in my bathtub, with only my head above the surface.

          「You’re such an idiot, Miyagi…」

          My complaint echoed throughout the bathroom.

          The first day of summer break was tomorrow, and I hadn’t heard anything from Miyagi yet. I should’ve expected as much. I knew she wasn’t too keen on hiring a private tutor in the first place.

          We had agreed not to meet on our days off, so it wouldn’t have been surprising if Miyagi were to turn down my proposal. But I was curious about her reaction to my sudden suggestion.

          I preferred to be regarded as a good person rather than a bad one, and I’d rather be well-liked than despised by others.

          “Sendai Hazuki” lived by clear and easily understood principles. I made an effort to carry myself similarly in my interactions with Miyagi, though I had my doubts about how she saw me. Nonetheless, the last thing I wanted was for her to misinterpret the intentions behind the suggestion I made.

          Money played a central role in our relationship. I recognized that my connection with Miyagi was simply that, neither more nor less. I tried to make an effort to accept it for what it was, but there were moments when I felt a strong sense of guilt for accepting money from a classmate. The existence of the five-thousand-yen note between us was something I couldn’t quite reconcile with.

          As my connection with Miyagi grew stronger, the importance of the five-thousand-yen note became increasingly pronounced.

          Nevertheless, I had grown so accustomed to our weekly or bi-weekly meetings that not seeing her left me feeling uneasy. I had even reached a point where I’d start worrying about her if there was no contact from her.

          To be honest, I knew that I shouldn’t be spending time with Miyagi during the break.

          Lately, I had noticed that my emotions were getting the best of me.

          It was important to take some time away from each other. By dedicating my time to other activities, I might be able recover the rational side of me that I had lost at some point and regain my composure.

          Well, if it’s best for us not to meet during the break, then I guess whether she responds or not doesn’t really make a difference.

          I looked down.

          A small mark could be seen on my chest.

          You don’t have the guts to undress me, yet, you somehow have the courage to leave a hickey on me?

          Miyagi was such a strange person.

          She was always coming up with weird ideas.

          Even when I raised objections, she would end up doing whatever she wanted anyway, and I didn’t want to bother arguing with her either. But I did regret letting her leave marks on me.

          Seeing these reminders of Miyagi always made me think about her, even when I didn’t want to, and I would reflect on our past experiences together. Because of this, I hesitated to leave the bathroom, fearing that I might find my phone devoid of messages from her.

          I hope the hickey goes away soon…

          Summer vacation was just around the corner.

          I’d be attending prep school and spending some time with Umina and the others.

          My schedule was busier than last year, so I couldn’t continue dwelling on Miyagi.

          「I can’t stay in here much longer. It’s too hot.」

          I stepped out of the bathtub and went to dry myself off in the changing room¹.

          Once my hair was dry, I made my way to the dimly lit kitchen. I grabbed a sports drink from the fridge before heading back to my room.

          I glanced at my smartphone resting on my desk and noticed a blinking light, indicating that I had unread messages.

          Oh, what a pain.

          It was already past midnight.

          The only people that would message me at this hour were either Umina or Mariko.

          Chances were, they wanted to make plans for something like a karaoke session or a mixer.

          Earlier today at school, they were discussing their plans for tomorrow and the days ahead, so most likely, their messages were related to that.

          Umina mentioned her parents had forced her to start attending a cram school during the break, and she was also considering taking on a part-time job. Meanwhile, Mariko had also joined a cram school. However, both of them insisted they couldn’t do without karaoke sessions or mixers.

          I was excited about spending time with the group, but I wasn’t particularly keen on going to a mixer. The guys Umina and Mariko brought along were often good-looking, but lacked personality.

          I picked up my phone and sat down on my bed.

          Just as I predicted, when I glanced at the screen, Umina and Mariko’s names were displayed, and their messages were exactly as I had anticipated.

          I can probably get away with turning down some of their invitations by using the excuse that I’m busy with prep school this year.

          Right as I had that thought, I took a closer look at my phone screen and noticed that I had an unread message from Miyagi.

          『Come over on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Let me know what times you’re free. Also, remember to give me a heads-up before you come over.』

          The message had apparently come in a little before midnight, which meant she’d technically sent her answer just before the start of summer break.

          She had diligently followed the conditions I had established, and before I could even respond to the messages I received from Umina or Mariko, I replied to Miyagi’s first, confirming our plans.

          I was going to see Miyagi three times a week.

          Admittedly, I knew this wasn’t a good idea. Still, I felt a bit curious about how things would unfold, especially since we were about to meet more frequently than ever before. Part of me was a little glad to have something to occupy my free time with besides attending prep school or spending time with Umina and Mariko.

          To be honest, I wasn’t really that excited about going to prep school.

          The teachers approached their classes with dedication, yet their explanations were clear and easy to understand, and led to an improvement in my grades. It was enjoyable tackling problems I couldn’t previously solve, and seeing my test scores rise was a gratifying experience. I liked being able to see the immediate results of my hard work.

          Nonetheless, I had long understood that no matter how diligently I applied myself in my prep school lessons, my grades wouldn’t reach the level required for the university my parents aspired for me to attend. The reason why I wasn’t too excited about attending prep school over the break was because I had no choice but to go.

          Despite having grades that could get me into excellent schools, it didn’t really mean much to me.

          I replied to the messages that Umina and Mariko sent me.

          I embellished the messages, aiming to reply in a way consistent with the Sendai Hazuki they were familiar with at school, before sending them. However, the plans I had agreed to were solely those not involving mixers, so that idea was temporarily put on hold.

          Ever since I got involved with Miyagi, I became aware of just how much I cared about what others thought of me, and it bothered me.

          I felt most comfortable when I was with Miyagi. I could be myself around her, and her room was more comforting than mine.

          But I didn’t want to feel this way, so I had conflicting emotions about it.

          According to the schedule Miyagi sent me, our first tutoring session would be on Wednesday.

          I’d go to prep school in the morning and then head straight to Miyagi’s place in the afternoon.

          All we were going to do was study, yet I couldn’t help but wish Wednesday would come sooner.

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1. I wasn’t sure if this was one of those things that warranted a footnote or not, but better safe than sorry! In Japan, many bathrooms in homes or apartments have a separate room within the bathroom. Basically, you would have the sink and toilet in one room, and the shower and/or bathtub in the other, so when Sendai says the “changing room” here, she’s just talking about the room outside of where the bathtub is, and not a whole locker room.
   
   I translated it this way because most North American homes (I can’t speak for other parts of the world, but I would assume Japan is a bit unique in this) have the shower and/or bathtub in the same room as the toilet and sink. If I wrote, “[…] went to dry myself off outside the bathroom” (LIKE, WHERE ARE YOU CHANGING, GIRL? IN THE HALLWAY?), or “[…] went to dry myself off in the bathroom” (IS SHE NOT ALREADY IN THE BATHROOM?), it’d be a little confusing. ↩︎

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