We walked without any rush.

          I made a brief stop at a convenience store, about a five-minute walk from my house, to purchase a bottle of tea and a bottle of soda.

          The reason for this small detour was simple.

          I didn’t want my family to know I was having a guest over.

          Carrying two cups to my room would have been too conspicuous.

          However, I couldn’t let the two of us walk through the scorching heat without at least offering something to drink.

          That was the only reason why I decided to stop by the convenience store.

          「We’re here.」

          We stopped in front of my house. I felt a bit uncomfortable in the sticky heat that made my t-shirt cling to my back. When I glanced over at Miyagi, she seemed like she had nothing to say. Instead, her gaze was fixed on my rather unremarkable house, as if she was looking at something unusual.

          I took my key out of my bag.

          However, before I could put the key into the lock, the door suddenly opened.

          Is this bad timing?

          Am I just unlucky?

          Or is today just a terrible day in general?

          I wasn’t sure which one was the right answer, but in any case, my unfriendly mother emerged from the front door.

          「Hello.」

          Miyagi spoke softly, her voice tinged with nervousness, as she lowered her head.

          Normally, in situations like this, a typical mother would respond with a “Hello” or say something like, “Make yourself at home,” but my mother opted for silence. She just nodded her head and walked right past us.

          I felt bad that my mother had left without a word despite Miyagi’s greeting, but there was nothing I could do about it.

          「Sorry about that. Don’t mind her.」

          I apologized to Miyagi as I watched my mother walk away. Miyagi seemed somewhat troubled but nodded in response.

          There was a chance we’d run into my parents.

          I had considered the possibility of this happening before our visit, but I never thought we’d actually encounter my mother. I felt the urge to vent my frustration to Miyagi, who had suggested the idea of coming here, but I acknowledged that it was my decision to bring her along, so blaming her wouldn’t be fair.

          「Let’s go inside.」

          I opened the door and invited her in before the atmosphere became too tense. As I did so, I heard a faint voice from behind me.

          「Sorry for the intrusion.」

          The two of us took off our shoes and went up the stairs, stopping in front of one of the two doors that lined the hallway.

          「Sorry, give me a moment. I need to tidy some things up in my room first.」

          「Are you the type who keeps your room messy?」

          「Not really, but you know, just in case.」

          I didn’t particularly enjoy cleaning my room, but it was usually kept tidy. However, since I hadn’t expected to bring any guests over and Miyagi was about to enter, I felt compelled to at least give it a quick once-over.

          I made Miyagi wait in the hallway.

          As I glanced around my room, my gaze landed on my piggy bank, perched on top of my dresser.

          Inside, I had stored all the five-thousand-yen bills I had received from Miyagi. It wasn’t that I minded her seeing it, but given its contents, I preferred to keep it out of sight.

          For the time being, let’s turn on the air conditioner as well.

          I pulled out the drinks I had purchased earlier and set them on the table. Then, I discreetly stashed my piggy bank inside my closet before inviting Miyagi into my room.

          「Feel free to sit wherever you’d like.」

          「Your room is pretty big.」

          Miyagi said as she glanced around my room before taking a seat on my bed.

          「Your room’s pretty big too, Miyagi.」

          My room might’ve felt spacious, but Miyagi’s was probably even bigger.

          「Was that your mother just now?」

          「Yeah.」

          「Does that mean no one else is home right now?」

          How troublesome.

          This was one of the consequences of letting people into your personal territory.

          I knew what would come next as soon as I invited Miyagi over, but I couldn’t help finding it bothersome anyway, and I wished she hadn’t asked me that question.

          I hated letting people over.

          I found it extremely bothersome, so I chose to ignore Miyagi’s voice. Instead, I reached over the table, grabbed the bottle of soda, and handed it to her. Then, I sat down with my back against my bed. As I opened the lid on my own drink,

          「Sendai-san.」

          Miyagi said, as if pressing me for an answer.

          「There’s probably someone else at home right now.」

          「Who is it?」

          Miyagi was seated on my bed, acting as though it were her own room, but her restless legs revealed her discomfort.

          「My perfect older sister.」

          My older sister, currently a university student, came home as soon as summer vacation started. I hadn’t seen her all day, but she was likely in her own room right now.

          「In the room next door?」

          「Yeah.」

          「How far apart are your rooms?」

          I understood that Miyagi’s question didn’t stem from any ill intentions.

          Rather than asking out of genuine curiosity, she was likely just attempting to break the silence with whatever came to her mind. Nevertheless, her constant questions were starting to annoy me.

           「You ask too many questions, Miyagi.」

          After taking a sip of my tea, I set the plastic bottle back on the table and reached for her restless right leg. Her legs were extended, and because she wore shorts, her knees were visible. I pressed my lips against her knee and let my tongue continue from there.

          「Hey, I didn’t tell you to do that.」

          I pretended I couldn’t hear her voice as I removed her sock.

          The air conditioner I had turned on earlier didn’t seem to be working yet.

          Perhaps it was the heat’s fault that I felt like I could do these things she hadn’t ordered me to do.

          I put my tongue on top of her foot and went all the way up to her ankle. Her soft skin felt more moist than usual and tasted like sweat.

          「Stop it.」

          Miyagi said firmly as she shoved my head away with the plastic bottle in her hand. I snatched the bottle from her and placed it on the floor. As I caressed her calf and softly pressed my lips against her shin, she fired another complaint my way.

          「I didn’t order you to lick my foot.」

          「You were going to, weren’t you?」

          「No, I wasn’t. Let go of my foot.」

          「I’m not letting go.」

          Miyagi could’ve ordered me to let go, but she didn’t. A simple request wasn’t enough to stop me, so I gripped her ankle and bit down on her big toe.

          「That hurts, Sendai-san.」

          Miyagi was being noisy, but at least she wasn’t asking me unnecessary questions anymore. Plus, she still hadn’t ordered me to stop yet.

          Whenever things get like this, it felt as if both Miyagi and I wanted it to keep going.

          In any case, it was better than her continuously asking me about unimportant things.

          Afraid that things might escalate and change into something else, I decided to bite down even harder on her big toe.

          「I told you, that hurts!」

          「Don’t make too much noise or else someone might hear you.」

          The walls in my house weren’t paper-thin, so voices from next door weren’t easily audible. However, what we were engaged in wasn’t something suitable for others to overhear, so I cautioned her.

          「But this is your fault, Sendai-san. If you stop, then there’s no reason for me to be making any noise in the first place.」

          「Well, then order me to stop.」

          I maintained eye contact with Miyagi as I spoke, and she returned my gaze with a glare. However, she remained silent. So, I ran my tongue over the bite marks I had made and planted kisses on the top of her foot repeatedly. I traced my tongue along the bone of her ankle and placed kisses on the underside of her knee, prompting Miyagi to withdraw her leg.

          「Come here.」

          She said in a hushed tone.

          「Is that an order?」

          「Yes.」

          I followed her instructions and sat down beside Miyagi. As I glanced at her, she touched my lips with her fingers, gently tracing their contours. But as she started to withdraw her hand, I grasped her wrist.

          I couldn’t understand why Miyagi was so reluctant to touch me sometimes, but she often acted like this. It kind of bothered me.

          「You have another order for me in mind, don’t you? Just spit it out.」

          「I’ll tell you if you let go.」

          「Fine.」

          As soon as I released her wrist, Miyagi pulled her arm away. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she slowly brought her index finger to my lips again.

          「… Lick it.」

          That was probably not what she wanted me to do either, but without pressing her further for answers, I gently brushed my tongue against her fingertip, taking the rest of her finger into my mouth up to the second joint. As I wrapped my tongue around her finger, it ceased its exploration of my mouth and remained still. I continued to move my tongue along her finger until she eventually withdrew it.

          I licked the tip of her finger, as if chasing after it, and I let my tongue move closer to her knuckle. Then, I pressed my lips against the back of Miyagi’s hand and gently ran my tongue from her wrist all the way up to her arm.

          「The way you lick me is disgusting.」

          Miyagi said as she tried to pull her hand away, but my lips were still pressed against it, and I firmly stuck my tongue in the space between her wrist and her elbow.

          「Sendai-san, cut it out!」

          She said as she forcefully pulled her arm away.

          「Didn’t I tell you to not make a fuss?」

          「I wasn’t making a fuss.」

          She replied with a frown on her face. When she tried to stand up, I grabbed her by the arm.

          Whenever I let my guard down, Miyagi will try to run away from me.

          So, it was my responsibility to catch her.

          Today was no exception.

          I pushed Miyagi down onto my bed so that she wouldn’t be able to leave.

          「Get out of the way.」

          Naturally, Miyagi sounded angry.

          「Just shut up for a second.」

          The thought of shutting her up by kissing her crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly dismissed it.

          My mind had been polluted with ideas from all the manga that Miyagi liked to read.

          However, it served as evidence of just how frequently I visited her place and how many books I’d read from her shelf. I couldn’t help but sigh at the realization.

          A year ago, I could never have imagined that we would find ourselves in a situation where I would be pushing Miyagi onto my bed. If anything, Miyagi was the one always pushing me around.

          「Isn’t this against the rules?」

          Miyagi was asking yet another question.

          Before she could pile on any more, I silently bite her neck.

          I sank my teeth firmly into her skin, causing Miyagi to fall silent for a moment.

          However, that moment didn’t last for very long, and she quickly went back to making a fuss.

          「Sendai-san, that hurts.」

          Miyagi protested as she pushed my shoulders.

          However, I wasn’t going to stop myself.

          「Hey, I said that hurts, so stop it already.」

          She genuinely didn’t like this.

          The hands attempting to push me away with filled with force.

          「You say that, but you do this to me all the time.」

          I said, lifting my head as I stared at Miyagi’s neck.

          I felt a little bad because the place where I had bit her turned red, but part of this was Miyagi’s fault too.

          Although the place where I bit her was a bit different, she’d do things like this to me all the time. I had done it before too, but Miyagi was way worse about it because she would never hold back.

          The more pain I felt and scars I got from her, the more it forced me to think about Miyagi.

          She needs to get a taste of her own medicine every once in a while.

          「… You’re not wrong, but…」

          Miyagi mumbled as she held her hand against her neck.

          She rubbed it for a while, as if it still hurt.

          I laid down right next to her.

          Miyagi and I were both on top of my bed.

          This wasn’t the first time we were on a bed together, but we were always at Miyagi’s place. It felt a little strange having Miyagi on my bed now.

          「Sendai-san, there’s not enough space.」

          Miyagi expressed her dissatisfaction as she attempted to shove me aside.

          「Well, this is my bed, so don’t push me. It hurts.」

          「I’m the one that’s still in pain, you know.」

          She said as she sat up and kicked my leg.

          「I know.」

          Miyagi had left marks on me countless times in the past. I knew better than anyone just how painful it could be.

          Well, I did kind of regret doing it, though.

          I hadn’t invited Miyagi to my room with the intention of things turning out this way, but it ended up like this anyway. If I were to associate Miyagi with my bed from now on, I suppose I’ve unwittingly placed a curse on myself.

          「Let’s start studying seriously next week.」

          I stated, aiming to repair the emotions that seemed to be veering off course and taking an unexpected turn.        

           「I think that’s for the best.」

          Miyagi quietly replied.

---

< Previous Part | Next Part >