Her bra was a light blue color, almost like aqua.

          It looked much different from the white undergarments I saw her wearing on that rainy day.

          It had delicate lace decorations and looked rather cute. It was a bit different from Sendai-san’s usual style, but it suited her nicely.

          Her breasts weren’t exactly big, but they were a bit larger than mine. As my eyes moved downward, I noticed her abdomen was a little firm and toned.

          I didn’t mean to stare at her like this.

          But I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

          I hoped that the loud thumping of my heart, which I worried Sendai-san might hear, was simply my imagination. It would be strange if it wasn’t.

          「Okay, now it’s your turn, Miyagi.」

          「Huh?」

          I met Sendai-san’s gaze upon hearing my name suddenly.

          「You take off your clothes too, Miyagi. It’s pretty hot in here, isn’t it?」

          Her words reached my ears, but I couldn’t make any sense of them. It felt like listening to a jumbled mix of incomprehensible sounds, as if it were a foreign language from another world.

          「Miyagi.」

          I couldn’t bring myself to move as Sendai-san called my name and closed the distance between us.

          She was getting too close.

          I caught glimpses of parts of her body that were typically concealed by clothing, and my first instinct was to push Sendai-san away by her shoulders. But she resisted my attempt to create distance between us, and instead, she tugged at the hem of my t-shirt. As her fingers brushed against the fabric of my shirt, I finally grasped the meaning behind her earlier words and understood what she had said.

          「No, I’m fine. I don’t find it that hot in here, so I don’t think there’s any need for me to take off my clothes.」

          I said firmly as I shoved Sendai-san’s hands away from me, but she refused to give up.

          「Yes, there is. Now hurry up and take them off.」

          She responded bluntly and, without hesitation, extended her hands once more to tug at the hem of my t-shirt, attempting to lift it up.

          「Hey, wait a minute – Sendai-san!」

          I panicked as I attempted to pull Sendai-san’s hands away. Despite my efforts, she held firm and continued to lift my shirt, revealing about half of my stomach.

          I hadn’t expected this.

          While I had occasionally undressed Sendai-san, I had never considered the possibility of having my own clothes removed by her. It hadn’t even occurred to me. After all, the order I had given her was to undress herself, not me.

          I hit Sendai-san on the head with my tissue box to get her to loosen her grip on my t-shirt. The crocodile cover on the box rustled upon impact, and she responded with a slightly exaggerated, “Ouch”.

          「Taking off your clothes isn’t that big of a deal, right? I mean, you change your clothes at school all the time too.」

          Sendai-san let go of the hem of my t-shirt to stroke the spot where I had hit her, and then brushed her hair back.

          「Yeah, but I’m not changing my clothes right now. You’re just trying to get me to strip.」

          「Come on, Miyagi, don’t sweat the little details.」

          「These aren’t “little details”. If anything, you’re just too broad-minded, Sendai-san.」

          「If you spend all your time stressing over the small stuff, you’ll go bald, you know?」

          Sendai-san tugged on my bangs and said, “So just go with the flow, okay?” before grabbing the hem of my t-shirt once again.

          「No, I don’t want to.」

          I smacked the hand that was holding onto the hem of my shirt.

          「Well, if you don’t want to be undressed by me, then take your clothes off yourself, Miyagi.」

          「I seriously don’t understand. How did it even lead to this?」

          Sendai-san would occasionally do unpredictable things. She would catch me off guard by showing up at my place unannounced or searching for me in my classroom.

          It had been getting more noticeable ever since the start of summer break.

          She’d do all sorts of things that I couldn’t comprehend without taking my feelings into consideration.

          「Would you get it if I said the only reason why I was willing to undress was just so I could get you to do it as well?」

          Sendai-san said nonchalantly while staring at me.

          「… You’re joking, right?」

          「Does it look like I’m joking?」

          She should be joking.

          Taking off my clothes wouldn’t serve any purpose for Sendai-san. There was nothing particularly attractive about me, and I wasn’t all that interesting to look at.

          But for some reason, it didn’t seem like she was joking at all.

          「Anyway, if you’re not going to take off your own clothes, then I’ll do it for you.」

          Before I could react, the hand that still clung to the hem of my t-shirt lifted it up.

          「I’d rather take my own clothes off than to have someone else do it for me.」

          I said as I grabbed Sendai-san by the wrist.

          It appeared she wouldn’t change her mind no matter what I said, so given the choice between stripping myself or being stripped, I opted for the former.

          「Okay.」

          Sendai-san replied as she withdrew her hand.

          I lowered my gaze and sighed.

          When I raised my head slowly, I saw Sendai-san, with only her underwear on her upper body – and now for some reason, I was also getting ready to take off my own t-shirt.

          This incomprehensible situation had me feeling dizzy.

          “Absurd” was the only word I could use to describe what was happening.

          I shouldn’t have to listen to what Sendai-san tells me to do.

          If I got up and left for the kitchen right now, I could escape from this nonsense.

          「Did you want me to take off your clothes for you after all?」

          Sendai-san asked with a grin on her face as she pulled on my arm.

          「No, I’ll do it myself. Turn around for a bit.」

          While she hadn’t explicitly stated that she wouldn’t let me escape, I could sense that she was strongly implying it.

          「Why? You were watching me when I was undressing, weren’t you?」

          「I only did it because you were the one who told me to look.」

          「Yeah, but you still saw me undress, so I think I have the right to watch you do it too.」

          「No, you don’t. Now look somewhere else.」

          I placed my hand against Sendai-san’s cheek and turned her head to face the bed, but she immediately turned back to me and said teasingly,

          「Miyagi, you’re being way too self-conscious.」

          I quickly took off my t-shirt in response to her words, which seemed to imply that there was a deeper meaning behind my attempt to avoid her gaze.

          It was painful having her stare at me.

          I had no idea what she found so interesting, but her intense gaze made me feel uneasy. However, if I attempted to cover my body now, I had a feeling she would tease me even more, so that wasn’t an option.

          If I had known it would come to this, I should’ve worn some cuter underwear.

          The underwear I had on today was my typical white underwear. Naturally, I hadn’t selected it with the intention of showing it to anyone else.

          「I took my shirt, but… Now what?」

          I spoke nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal. When I glanced at Sendai-san, her brows furrowed briefly, and she looked momentarily perplexed. However, she quickly regained her smile and started gently stroking the side of my abdomen.

          「Don’t do that.」

          Without any fabric separating us, her hand brushing against me felt ticklish. I attempted to grab her arm, but before I could, she playfully pinched my side.

          「Hey, Sendai-san!」

          I brushed Sendai-san’s hand away and covered the side of my abdomen.

          「That felt nice and soft.」

          「You’re so annoying.」

          「Come on, it’s fine, isn’t it? It was just a little touch.」

          「No, it’s not fine. Don’t touch me.」

          「That’s okay. I’m fine with just looking.」

          I wasn’t sure what was “okay” about any of this, but Sendai-san was now staring at me without reservation.

          「Don’t do that either.」

          Looking at Sendai-san was one thing, but being the subject of her gaze was another.

          If I continue to go along with everything she says, I’ll just end up matching her pace forever.

          「Miyagi, your face is a little red.」

          Sendai-san said as she slowly extended her hand out and gently stroked my cheek.

          Then, she pressed the palm of her hand against it, as if trying to take some of its heat for herself.

          That alone caused my heart to thump so loudly that I almost forgot how to breathe, and I quickly pulled her hand away.

          「I’m just a little embarrassed, that’s all. I’m not as attractive as you are, Sendai-san.」

          「Girls are cuter when they have a little bit of meat on their bones.」

          「I really don’t like this part of you, Sendai-san.」

          「Oh, does that mean there are parts of me that you do like?」

          「No.」

          I answered immediately before turning away.

          As I hugged my knees together, Sendai-san tapped my arm.

          「That kind of hurts to hear, you know? Give it a little more thought.」

          Her voice had a lighter tone compared to the weight of her words, giving the impression that she wasn’t hurt at all.

          However, since I wasn’t looking at her, I had no idea what kind of expression she was wearing on her face when she said those words.

          「You know, I like you quite a bit, Miyagi.」

          She spoke in a deliberately cheerful voice beside me.

          「Sendai-san, I think your brain is rotting from the heat.」

          「Yeah, you might be right about that. Be sure to look after me, Miyagi.」

          「I won’t. Also, don’t lean so close to me.」

          Before I realized it, there was no space between us anymore, and I couldn’t help but grumble when our shoulders brushed against each other.

          However, Sendai-san didn’t back off.

          Her long hair tickled my arms as her shoulders remained pressed together.

          「I can’t move anymore since my brain’s all mushy now.」

          「That’s such a terrible joke.」

          「Hey, I thought it was at least a little funny.」

          Sendai-san said in an unamused voice.

          「Sendai-san, it’s hot. And you’re heavy.」

          I had never been this physically close to someone, with our bodies touching and our heat mingling, after undressing. I wasn’t sure if this was a common experience for others, but Sendai-san’s body felt exceptionally warm.

          「Calling me heavy is kind of rude, don’t you think?」

          「It’s not rude at all. Now back off so I can get dressed again.」

          As I tried to push Sendai-san – whose shoulder was pressed against mine – aside, she decided to intertwine our arms instead, resulting in even more contact between us.

          「Sendai-san. That was an order. Listen to me.」

          「Today’s order was for me to undress, and I already did exactly as I was told.」

          「Why are you making up new rules on your own?」

          「It’s summer break, so let’s just let loose a little. Things will be more fun that way too.」

          「I don’t like summer vacation. Nothing about it is “fun”.」

          「It’s fine, isn’t it? Having a day like this every once in a while.」

          「No, it’s not fine.」

          My arm was caught in hers, so I couldn’t escape.

          Sendai-san’s arm was brushing against my side.

          I didn’t find this scenario, where body parts that usually don’t touch were now closely connected, to be a positive one.

          I wouldn’t do something like this with Maika or Ami.

          But for some reason, I didn’t find the sensation of our body temperatures blending together all that unpleasant.

          「Oh, right. Do you have any plans for Obon¹, Miyagi?」

          「No.」

          During the Obon festival, my father would be at home on one day, and I had plans with Maika and Ami on a different day. However, if those plans coincided with one of Sendai-san’s scheduled visits, I had the flexibility to either cancel or reschedule them.

          「In that case, let’s study during Obon as well.」

          Sendai-san said as she shifted all her body weight onto me.

          「It’s too hot, Sendai-san.」

          「Don’t worry. I feel hot as well.」

          「Then why…」

          「Because it’s summer, I guess?」

          Sendai-san replied to my question with an answer that didn’t make any sense.

          I felt as if I could hear the sound of a heart beating louder than usual, but I wasn’t sure whether it was my own or Sendai-san’s.

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1. Obon (お盆) or just Bon (盆) is an annual Buddhist event where people welcome the spirits of their ancestors back home. It is one of Japan’s most important festivals and is typically celebrated over three days in mid-August. ↩︎

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