There was something annoying about meeting up every other day.

          The reason for that was because I had way too much free time today to dwell on the events of yesterday.

          The longer I thought about it, the more it etched itself into my memory. It worked the same way when it came to studying. It stayed with me during my commute to prep school, on my way back, during my bath, and even as I lay in bed before falling asleep. There were plenty of moments for Miyagi to slip into my mind. And now, even though it was Friday, I couldn’t help but wonder what Miyagi had been doing yesterday.

          There were only so many things a high schooler could do during summer vacation, so a few possibilities crossed my mind, such as karaoke, shopping, watching a movie or going to an amusement park.

          It was unlikely that Miyagi and her friends went anywhere unusual.

          Where did you go yesterday?

          I could ask her right now, but I doubted she would answer me honestly. She hadn’t done so when we last met on Wednesday, after all.

          「Sendai-san, I don’t understand this part.」

          Miyagi, who was sitting next to me, said as she pointed at a question with her pencil.

          「Oh, for this …」

          I explained how to use the formulas that were written on her math homework.

          Explaining concepts I had memorized to her wasn’t particularly difficult. I couldn’t really see myself as a proper tutor, and I definitely wasn’t doing anything deserving of payment. However, I needed an excuse to keep visiting Miyagi’s place during the break.

         I think Miyagi knew that too.

         Miyagi had every right to be upset with me for kissing her neck as some sort of trade for helping with her homework. I was the one working for her money, so I couldn’t blame Miyagi if she didn’t accept the weak excuse I had come up with.

         But how come she didn’t get mad at me after I kissed her on the neck?

         I wanted to ask her about it, but I knew it would be impossible to get an answer out of her. As the number of things I wanted to say out loud but couldn’t continued to grow, I was afraid that one day, I would suffocate from keeping them all inside.

         「… Where did you go yesterday?」

         Out of the two questions I had been holding back, I chose to ask the one that had a higher chance of receiving an answer.

          「I’ll tell you if you do my homework for me.」

          Miyagi answered nonchalantly as she placed her homework in front me.

          Well, of course it was going to end up like this.

          She probably knew there was no way I’d do her homework for her, so this was her way of indicating that she had no intention of answering my question.

          「How about we stop here for today?」      

          I closed Miyagi’s notebook and leaned my back against her bed.

          「Already?」

          It had only been an hour since we started studying, so ending our session now felt quite early. However, since it wasn’t my usual time to leave yet, I decided to make a suggestion.

          「Yep, we’re finishing up earlier today, so if you want, feel free to order me around.」

          「What are you trying to say?」

          「I mean, my time today’s not up yet, and we missed Monday’s session this week, so to make up for your money’s worth, I’m letting you order me around.」

          Hopefully, she wouldn’t point out that those words weren’t something a real private tutor would say.

          「Stop coming up with new rules like that all the time.」

          「You know what they say. Sometimes in life, you just have to wing it, right?」

          「No.」

          「Fine, then you decide on something if you don’t want to issue any orders.」

          I was open to doing pretty much anything. She didn’t need to give me orders, but I left the decision of what to do up to Miyagi. I had no clue whether she had any other ideas in mind because not long after, she said,

          「… I’ll give you an order.」

          「Okay. What do you want me to do?」

          「Take me to your house, Sendai-san.」

          「Huh?」

          「We’re always at my place. Isn’t it fine to change it up every once in a while?」

          Of all things, why did you have to pick that?

          I suddenly had the urge to crack open Miyagi’s head and see what was going on in there.

          Since I began high school, I never invited a friend over to my house. Whenever someone suggested it, I would turn them down. It wasn’t as though my parents would suddenly appear every time I had friends over, but I couldn’t rule out the possibility.

          Plus, if something like that were to happen, it’d just be a pain to deal with. I didn’t want to make it obvious that I had a strained relationship with my parents, and most importantly, I didn’t want anyone intruding on my personal space.

          「I’m just joking.」

          Miyagi responded in a disinterested tone and reopened her notebook.

          「I haven’t even said anything yet.」

          「You were going to say no, weren’t you?」

          「You don’t know that.」

          I said as I tapped Miyagi – who was wearing a pair of shorts – on her thighs, but she immediately swatted my hand away.

          I guess she’s in a bad mood now.

          I took a deep breath before standing up.

          「Okay. Let’s go, Miyagi.」

          「Huh?」

          「What do you mean “huh”? You said you wanted me to bring you over to my house, didn’t you?」

          「I did, but…」

          「Well, if you don’t want to go, then I guess I’ll just sit back down.」

          I was a bit hesitant, but I decided it was okay to invite Miyagi into my house. However, if the person who initially suggested coming over didn’t want to go anymore, there was no need to insist.

          「Okay. Are we going together?」

          Miyagi stood up before I could retake my seat while asking something strange.

          「I mean, if we don’t go together, how will you even know where to go? Do you know where I live?」

          「No, I don’t.」

          Well, of course she didn’t.

          She had never asked me where I lived, and I had never told her. It would be impossible to go to a place without knowing the address, so we had to go together. However, Miyagi stood still, not moving from her spot.

          「Look, if you have something you want to say, just spit it out.」

          「… Other people might see us walking around together. Is that okay?」

          We had agreed to keep our after-school activities a secret, and we didn’t even talk to each other at school.

          Because of our agreement, no one was aware of my secret meetings with Miyagi. It remained our exclusive secret, and it would stay that way. Besides, even if I were to suggest going separately, it wasn’t like it was uncommon for former classmates to casually bump into each other and walk together if we were heading in the same direction.

         Plus, it would be inconvenient to leave separately if we were both going to the same place anyway.

          「Yeah, I don’t mind.」

          I replied curtly, but Miyagi didn’t seem convinced.

          「If you want us to go separately, then just say it. Plus, it’ll be better that way too, right?」

         I wasn’t certain whether Miyagi said that out of concern for me or if she simply wanted to avoid encountering any of her friends, but either way, she seemed really hung up on this.         

         「Nah, that sounds like a pain. Let’s just go together. Besides, it’d be a problem if you ended up getting lost by yourself.」

         「As long as I have a map, I won’t get lost. My sense of direction isn’t that bad.」

         「Even if that is the case, I still think it’s better to go together. It’s not that far from here, and I’m pretty sure we’re not going to run into anyone along the way.」

         Of all the people I knew, I’d only come across Miyagi in this area. I’d never seen her here with her friends before, so we probably wouldn’t bump into them.

         After clearing out the table, I grabbed Miyagi by the wrist and dragged her out of her room with me.

          「It’s about a twenty minute walk. Is that okay with you?」

          I asked while putting my shoes on by the entrance.

          「That’s so far.」

          「I think it’s pretty close.」

          It was only a fifteen-minute walk if we walked quickly, so it wasn’t far at all.

          We entered the elevator, went down to the ground floor, and made our way to the entrance. We exited the apartment together, and although I was walking slowly, Miyagi was falling behind. I paused and waited for her to catch up.

          「Can we stop by a convenience store on the way?」

          I asked Miyagi, who was now standing right next to me.

          「Sure.」

          「Okay, let’s go.」

          As we walked to my house, I made sure to match my pace with Miyagi’s so she wouldn’t lag behind.

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September 26th is Miyagi’s birthday (it’s the 26th in Japan, so this counts, surely)! Happy birthday, Miyagi!

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On a totally unrelated note, I ended up procrastinating on this part because I binge read UsoNatsu (Uso kara Hajimaru Koi no Natsu – this link leads to Steam) in one sitting. Don’t ask me how long that “one sitting” was…

I’d been looking forward to that visual novel for a while now, and it was a really cute read. I’d recommend it to yuri fans out there. It’s only out in Japanese for now, but the English version is on its way.

(Also, don’t mind the fact that there is a girl named Minagi Shiori there… totally different spelling in Japanese, but hey… close enough).

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