Once July was over, August came and took its place.

          After that day I visited Sendai-san’s house, she became more dedicated to her tutoring responsibilities, and I, in turn, started approaching my studies more seriously. As a result, I have now completed most of my homework.

          There was no need to rush to finish the rest.

          The time I spent studying with Sendai-san wasn’t exactly what I would call fun, but it wasn’t too bad either. However, I felt like it wouldn’t hurt if we slowed down a little. I was starting to get tired of solving problems and writing papers all the time.

          But Sendai-san appeared to have a different perspective and continued to teach me earnestly without taking any shortcuts.

          As evidence of that, today my table was filled with numerous open textbooks, reference books, and workbooks that she had brought with her.

          I began to understand that the reason Sendai-san visited so frequently probably had something to do with her home situation.

          This was the conclusion I came to after the day I went over to Sendai-san’s house. 

          Well, it didn’t matter what her reason was. The most important thing was that as long as she agreed to come over whenever I summoned her, it was fine. However, I couldn’t help but wonder why Sendai-san, who had initially established the rule of not meeting on our days off, had a change of heart this summer vacation.

          Even if something did happen at home, I wouldn’t expect that to be the reason.

          I mean, it wasn’t as if her home situation had suddenly changed or anything.

          Moreover, she hadn’t suggested coming over during the last summer vacation.

          She hadn’t attempted to change the rules during winter or spring break either.

          So why now?

          The mystery remained unsolved.

          It’s possible that something happened at home that made her uncomfortable enough to not want to stay there, to the extent that she was willing to alter the rules of our arrangement. Or maybe there could be another reason altogether.

          「Hey, Miyagi. I don’t see your hands moving.」

          Sendai-san – with her hair not in its usual braid – said as she poked my arm with a pencil.

          「I’m just taking a break.」

          I glanced at the air conditioner remote and then took a sip of my soda, which had lost its ice. The fizz traveled down my throat and settled in my stomach. The soda wasn’t very cold and didn’t taste amazing, but I was fine with it.

          「Miyagi, don’t you think it’s kind of cold in here?」

          Sendai-san asked as she rested her chin on her hand.

          「It doesn’t feel that cold to me.」

          「I guess it wouldn’t, since you are wearing long sleeves today.」

          Her soft voice echoed in the room before fading away.

          Because I had pressured Sendai-san into revealing something she had been determined to keep hidden, I hoped to alleviate my guilt by adjusting the room temperature to suit her preferences. As a result, I had put on long sleeves to ward off the chill, and at the moment, I didn’t feel cold enough to complain.

          「It’s kind of irritating seeing you be so considerate of my feelings.」

          Sendai-san said as she tugged on the sleeve of my shirt.

          「Who said I was trying to be considerate of your feelings?」

          「……」

          She didn’t reply.

          Continuing the discussion about why I adjusted the temperature to accommodate Sendai-san’s preferences would inevitably lead to revisiting the events of the other day. Knowing how much she wanted to avoid talking about it, she chose not to respond to my question.

          With both of us having things we didn’t want to say to the other, we passed our time together in silence.

          Most likely, the reason why Sendai-san was holding back her words was because she wanted to ask me something she knew I wouldn’t want to answer.

          She probably wanted to know why there was never anyone home at my place, and how I managed to afford paying her five-thousand yen all the time.

          She never pried into the things I didn’t want to talk about, which was why I usually refrained from asking too much about her as well.

          ―― But I messed up the other day.

          Feeling a need to reflect on my actions from the other day, I chose not to push her for an explanation for her silence.

          「I don’t mind if it gets a little hot in here, so just raise the temperature.」

          Sendai-san said as she pointed at the remote sitting on the table.

          「I’m adjusting to your preferences, Sendai-san. Why not just happily accept it?」

          「So you were trying to be considerate of my feelings, huh.」

          「I never said that.」

          I replied curtly as I went back to focusing on my homework.

          Then, Sendai-san raised the temperature of the air conditioner on her own.

          「It’s pretty hot today, so if you increase the temperature, it’s only going to get even warmer in here.」

          「Well, if it gets too hot for you, why not just take your clothes off?」

          I shot a glare at Sendai-san, seated beside me, with a strong sense of déjà vu.

          I remembered saying something similar during the previous summer vacation.

          Back then, I had raised the temperature on the air conditioner that Sendai-san had adjusted.

          「Fine, I will.」

          The long-sleeved shirt I was wearing was solely to help me keep warm. I was still wearing a t-shirt underneath, so I had no qualms about removing the outer layer and took it off without hesitation.

          「So what about you, Sendai-san?」

          「I don’t feel that hot right now, so I’m fine.」

          「What a liar.」

          「Look, I’m happy to adjust to your preferences, Miyagi.」

          Sendai-san said as she raised the temperature once again.

          「Never mind me, isn’t this too hot for you, Sendai-san?」

          「Not really.」

          That shouldn’t be the case.

          The temperature that suited me best had always been too hot for Sendai-san, and she would often complain about wanting to lower the air conditioning.

          Perhaps she had already decided where this conversation would go and I was merely being led there. Until Sendai-san spoke the lines she had in mind, the room’s temperature would remain unchanged, and our conversation would linger on.

          Sendai-san had been in charge ever since the start of summer vacation, and I wasn’t really a fan of that.

          Moreover, I hated not knowing what her intentions were.

          I didn’t want to continue going along with this any longer.

          I solved a few unanswered questions and filled in the blanks in my workbook.

          「Miyagi.」

          The one who had insisted on us being more diligent in our studies extended her hand and closed my incomplete homework.

          It wasn’t my intention to obey Sendai-san.

          However, if I left things as they were, Sendai-san would only grow even more annoying, and nothing interesting would happen.

          「It’s really hot in here, isn’t it? You’ll feel a bit cooler if you just take your clothes off.」

          I said, speaking the words that Sendai-san likely wanted me to say.

          「Well, if you want me to take my clothes off, you’ll either have to order me to let you undress me, or order me to do it myself.」

          「I don’t have the right to order you around.」

          「I’ll let you do it, since you went out of your way to accommodate to me earlier.」

          Sendai-san had been acting overbearing ever since the start of summer break.

          She was behaving as if she were the owner of my room, making decisions without consulting me first. The fact that she was “granting” me the right to order her around seemed so arrogant, and right now, it would be problematic if I actually had the right to do so.

          After all, the money I was paying her over summer break wasn’t so I could buy the right to give her orders.

          The five-thousand-yen I had been giving her was to cover the price of her tutoring services.

          It was different from our usual after-school arrangement.

          She was probably just trying to tease me a little bit and then be done with it.

          I wouldn’t be surprised if that was what she was going for.

          「Are you not going to give me an order?」

          Sendai-san asked, as if she knew exactly what would come next.

          At the moment, she was sitting so close to me that I could easily reach out and touch her.

          If I wanted to, I could undress her, just as I had done on that rainy day.

          Right as I was about to extend my hand out, I stopped myself.

          My palms felt sweaty, as if they had been dampened by the rain.

          So instead, I simply stared at Sendai-san.

          「Will you take your clothes off if I order you to?」

          「Why don’t you try and see?」

          Sendai-san said with a smile.

          However, it was just a fleeting smile, like a flyer meant to be discarded, and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking behind it.

          Sendai-san’s words were like a maze. Although it seemed like there were many paths to choose from, there was only one that would lead to the exit.

          Even if I didn’t want to, I decided to speak the words she had been guiding me towards.

          「Fine, then I order you to take off your clothes.」

          She was wearing a blouse and a pair of shorts.

          Sendai-san, wearing a similar outfit as she did at the beginning of summer vacation, began unbuttoning her blouse without hesitation.

          One button, then two, and then a third.

          She continued until she reached the last button before trying to take off the blouse entirely.

          「Wait, wait, hold on a minute.」

          Out of reflex, I pulled her blouse back up for her, which looked like it was about to fall off her shoulders.

          「Miyagi, don’t grab my hair. That hurts.」

          Sendai-san spoke with a calm tone in her voice and a composed expression on her face.

          While it was true that I had accidentally pulled some of her hair while raising her blouse, that was a minor concern compared to the larger issue at hand.

          「Why are you actually taking it off?」

          「Wasn’t that what you ordered me to do?」

          「Yeah, but you do know I was just joking, right?」

          「Well, even if it is a joke, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s an order.」

          Sendai-san shook my hand off and then removed her blouse.

          I did give her the order.

          But I hadn’t expected her to actually listen just because I followed her script.

          I had no intention of undressing Sendai-san or seeing her naked.

          Those thoughts were far from my mind at the moment.

          But for some reason, my heart started pumping so hard that I could almost hear my blood flowing through my veins, and I instinctively looked away.

          「Is there a reason you’re not looking at me?」

          「Normally, I don’t stare at people when they’re undressing.」

          「Has anything you’ve ever done been normal, Miyagi?」

          「What, are you trying to say that you want me to look at you?」

          「No, not really, but it’s kind of annoying when you immediately look away like that. Just turn and face me already.」

          I was the only one whose words held authority, and Sendai-san had no right to issue orders to me, so I could easily dismiss what she said.

          But still, I turned my gaze towards Sendai-san anyway.

          「It’s a little hard for me to take off my clothes now that you’re staring.」

          「You’ve got a lot to complain about, don’t you, Sendai-san?」

          When I said that, Sendai-san laughed as she took off her blouse.

          Her shoulders were slowly being exposed.

          In my direct line of sight, Sendai-san’s upper body was now only covered by her underwear.

          What temperature did she set the air conditioner to?

          My room felt a bit warm, and a rather pointless thought began to cross my mind.

          Sendai-san dropped the blouse that was in her hand onto the floor and brushed aside the hair that was in the way.

          I clenched my dampened palms into fists as I admired her beauty.

          The outside temperature had exceeded thirty degrees since the morning. It was a scorching midsummer day, and it was so hot that if I cracked open the window, I felt like I could die from the heat. However, the temperature inside my room had been carefully adjusted to suit Sendai-san’s comfort.

          The temperature had increased slightly now, but it wasn’t so hot that she needed to remove her clothes. However, Sendai-san decided to do it anyway. All I could think was how the heat had seemingly fried my brain, melting away the screws that held my sanity intact. Things had been getting strange since the beginning of summer vacation, but today had been the strangest day by far.

          I hated the fact that I couldn’t grasp what was happening anymore, and it was driving me crazy.

          Why was Sendai-san doing this?

          I wanted to find out, yet at the same time, I felt like I shouldn’t.  

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