I woke up feeling more refreshed than usual.

          The reason for that was simple: it was all thanks to Umina.

          We had plans for Saturday, but I ended up getting dragged around by her on Sunday too, which left me so tired that I didn’t have time to think about unnecessary things. I hadn’t planned on spending two days in a row with her, but at least it kept Miyagi off my mind, and I managed to get some good sleep in.

          Thanks to that, I was able to go to prep school as usual before heading to Miyagi’s place.

I could get by without any problems as long as I could ignore a little bit of awkwardness.

          Like a treasure box that shouldn’t be opened, neither Miyagi nor I mentioned what happened on Friday. She gave me a five-thousand-yen bill as usual for my tutoring services and quietly placed her worksheets on the table while I kept working on my own homework.

          It felt peaceful in this room today.

          We both knew we were keeping the events of Friday concealed within our workbooks, pretending they didn’t exist while we worked on answering our problems. Still, studying in a calm atmosphere – even if it was just for show – was much better than a tense one.

          Our conversations, which were never particularly lively to begin with, now stagnated further, enveloping the room in silence. However, that didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. The world wouldn’t crumble due to a lack of conversation, and neither would our relationship.

          I did think it was a little too quiet in here, but it was better than it being too noisy.

         I reached for my cup on the table and took a sip of barley tea.

         Miyagi seemed less attentive to me today, and the room felt a bit hotter than last time.

         I wanted her lower the temperature by a few degrees, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

         At the very least, it was cooler in here than it was outside, and I didn’t want a repeat of what happened on Friday.

         「Sendai-san.」

         Miyagi suddenly started speaking out of the blue.

         「Were you hanging out by the train station on Sunday?」

         「Yeah, I was. Why?」

         When I lifted my head to meet Miyagi’s gaze, it seemed like she had been staring at me too.

         Perhaps my impure thoughts had been scorched and consumed by the blazing sun on the way here, but even with Miyagi sitting next to me today, I didn’t find myself bothered by them as much.

         「I saw you walking around with Ibaraki-san.」

          “Then you should’ve come and said hi.”

          I swallowed those words that I nearly blurted out.

          We didn’t have that kind of relationship.

          「Were you hanging out with Utsunomiya?」

          I asked, replacing the words I originally wanted to say.

          「Yep, I was out with Maika and Ami.」

          「What did you guys do?」

          「We went shopping.」

          Miyagi replied casually, even though she hadn’t responded when I asked about her plans at the start of summer break.

          「What were you guys doing, Sendai-san?」

          「The same. I was just accompanying Umina while she was shopping.」

          「Was it fun?」

          Perhaps Miyagi was getting tired of doing her homework – either that, or she was getting sick of the silence – as she was now asking questions that she wouldn’t normally ask.

          「I guess so.」

          I replied, and she gave me a skeptical look.

          I didn’t consider my time with Umina so boring that it warranted such a doubtful look. When I had responded with, “I guess so,” it was at least half true. I was tired out after being dragged around everywhere by Umina, but I also had fun.

          「Did you have fun too, Miyagi?」

          It would’ve been too much of a hassle to try and dispel Miyagi’s doubt, so I decided to ask her about how her Sunday went instead.

          「I wouldn’t do anything I don’t find fun.」

          「I see. Did you buy anything?」

          「Yeah, I bought some things.」

          「Like what?」

          「Does that matter?」

          It seemed that my luck with getting Miyagi to answer my questions had run out, and the conversation ended then and there. However, judging by her voice, it seemed like she had enjoyed herself yesterday, and her tone didn’t seem that cold either.

          I didn’t really know much about Utsunomiya, but I knew she was on good terms with Miyagi. I wasn’t sure how long they’d known each other for, or how close they were, but at the very least, they seemed to be good friends.

          Their friendship was something I didn’t share with anyone else.

          My relationships with others were always calculated, which made me somewhat envious of their friendship. Moreover, it triggered unnecessary thoughts in my mind.

          For example, if I were Utsunomiya, I bet I could touch Miyagi without a second thought.

          I knew it was odd to have to add “without a second thought” to that statement. Normally, those kinds of clarifications weren’t necessary among friends.

          I’d believed that my impure thoughts had disappeared, but it was merely wishful thinking. It seemed I still had about half of them lingering, leading me to think about things like this.

          ―― This is the worst.

          I dropped my pencil on the table before planting my face against its surface.

          When my forehead collided with the table, it produced a dull thud, but I didn’t pay it any mind.

          「What’s up with you all of a sudden?」

          Miyagi sounded surprised as she asked, but I ignored her by posing my own question with my face still lying on the table.

          「Are there any parts you don’t understand? Tell me if there are and I’ll teach them to you.」

          「The only thing I don’t understand is why you suddenly decided to face plant against my table.」

          「In that case, continue with solving that problem set.」

          「No, seriously, what’s with you?」

          「I’m just feeling a bit disillusioned with myself right now.」

          If I let myself remain in this state, I might end up doing something similar to what happened on Friday.

          I never realized how unreliable my own rationality was. I used to consider Miyagi troublesome, but now I realized I was even more troublesome than she was.

          「What are you even saying? Take this more seriously.」

          Miyagi’s words sounded a lot like what I would normally say.

          「I already gave it my all this morning.」

          「But that was for prep school, right? Take your studies seriously while you’re here too.」

          If studying seriously could free me from this foolish obsession, then I’d dedicate all my energy to it. However, I doubted it would work. If anything, I felt like I’d have a better time just taking a walk under the scorching sun.

          「Hey Miyagi, do you have any bread at home?」

          I asked as I sat back up and looked over at Miyagi.

          「Like, regular loaf bread?」

          「Yeah. Oh, and what about milk and eggs?」

          「I don’t have any of those, but why are you asking?」

          「Don’t you feel like having some French toast?」

          「No, I don’t.」

          「But I do.」

          We weren’t close enough for me to invite her on a walk, and I couldn’t just venture outside without a pretext, so I figured I could easily fabricate a reason.

          I just needed a change in scenery to lift my spirits, hoping that when I returned, I could sit next to Miyagi and finish my homework without being weighed down by unnecessary thoughts.

          Miyagi rarely ever brought food to her room, but I didn’t think it was a bad idea for the two of us to have a snack every once in a while.

          「I’m going to go buy some ingredients for it, so wait here.」

          I said as I stood up and grabbed my bag. It didn’t matter to me whether Miyagi wanted to eat it or not.

          「I don’t care about the French toast. Just start studying properly already.」

          Miyagi sounded grumpy as she tossed a box of tissues with a crocodile cover on it at me. However, I managed to catch it and put it back where it belonged.

          「I never thought I’d hear you say that.」

          「Sendai-san, every time you try to start something, it always ends up turning into something troublesome, so quit it.」

          「The way you say that makes it sound like I’m the one always stirring up trouble.」

          「That’s because you are.」

          「No, I’m not. Plus, the only thing I was planning to do was make some French toast.」

          Though, the only reason why I wanted to make French toast was because I wanted to avoid stirring up any trouble, but I wasn’t going to tell Miyagi that.

          「Okay, I’m heading out now. Unless you want to come with?」

          I stated firmly, making it clear that I had no intention of changing my mind, and I included some magic words that would make Miyagi send me away.

          「No. If you want to go, then go by yourself.」

          Miyagi responded exactly as I had expected her to, and then she lowered her head to concentrate on her workbook.

          「Alright, then wait for me here.」

          If I could, I wanted to avoid going outside in this sweltering midsummer heat.

          It felt tormenting having to walk through the city under a sky with no clouds and no breeze.

          But right now, I had no choice but to go outside, where it felt like walking into a steam bath.

          Leaving Miyagi behind, I left through the front door and got onto the elevator.

          As soon as I exited the apartment building, sweat drops began to form on my forehead.

          Having something sweet should lift my spirits.

          I didn’t really have any basis for that claim, but it was what I told myself as I walked along the sidewalk.

          I feel like I’m doing something Miyagi would do.

          I heaved a sigh as I searched for a shaded area to walk under.

         She was always so unpredictable in her actions and would flee at the first sign of trouble.

         Perhaps it was because we had been spending so much time together that I found myself acting more and more like Miyagi. I didn’t want to believe that we were becoming too similar, so I tried to dismiss my actions today as a mere coincidence.    

         I pressed my temples firmly, trying to push Miyagi out of my mind.

         I needed to buy some loaf bread, eggs, and milk.

         I hadn’t asked her earlier, but she probably didn’t have any sugar at home either.

         I sped up my pace so I could finish up this simple errand.

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