We were in my room after school, just like always.

         But for some reason, Sendai-san hadn’t undone the second button on her blouse today. I wanted our after-school time to feel just like usual, but seeing her acting differently made me uneasy.

          I knew it was obviously because of what happened over summer break, but this was already the second time she’d come over since the new semester began. By now, I felt like she should’ve started acting like her usual self again.

          Seeing her so self-conscious affected me too, and even after all this time, I still couldn’t bring myself to sit next to Sendai-san.

          That single button might’ve seemed trivial, but it was enough to keep me from focusing on my homework—not that I really wanted to do it anyway. I was only using it as a distraction from the little things that were bothering me. But if I couldn’t even concentrate on the textbook in front of me, there was no point in trying at all.

          「What are you going to order me to do today?」

          Hearing a voice call out to me from across the table, I raised my head.

           Sendai-san’s notebook, which was normally filled with answers to her homework, looked the same as it had a while ago—mostly blank, with little writing since the last time I checked.

          「Undo your button.」

          I gave Sendai-san an order, hoping it would make her stop acting differently and return to her usual self.

          「My button?」

          「The button on your blouse.」

          「You’re such a pervert, Miyagi.」

          She responded with something I hadn’t expected. Was asking her to undo one button on her blouse really that big of a deal? It wasn’t like I was going to do it for her, so it felt like she was overreacting.

          But seeing how she wasn’t unbuttoning anything, I realized that my words might not have been conveyed correctly.

          「I didn’t mean it like that.」

          「Like what?」

          「I wasn’t asking you to undo all of them. Besides, aren’t you the one who’s being perverted for assuming that’s what I meant?」

          「I never said that’s what I thought you meant.」

          「You didn’t say it, but I bet that’s what you were thinking.」

          “That’s true,” she admitted after I pressed her on it.

          「So then, how many did you want me to unbutton?」

          「Just one.」

          「You’re fine with just one?」

          Sendai-san stared at me as she asked, as if seeking confirmation from me.

          ‘It’s not like you’d do it even if I told you to unbutton two.’

          The third button was more of a wildcard—sometimes it was okay to ask her to undo it, and other times, it wasn’t. I wasn’t sure what the situation was today, but it wasn’t as if I actually wanted her to unbutton it. Even if I did, it’s not like she would have been willing to, anyway.

          「I don’t know how many you want to unbutton, Sendai-san, but it’s alright if you keep the rest fastened.」

          「I see. That’s fine, then.」

          Sendai-san said as she undid one button on her blouse.

          「Is this okay with you?」

          「Yeah.」

          Sendai-san, who always kept her second button fastened at school, had now unbuttoned it in my room, just like she usually did. Yet, the unease lingered. Something still felt off—different from how things were before summer break.

          I wasn’t trying to stare, but I couldn’t look away. My eyes were fixed on her, as if searching for what had changed.

          「What’s up?」

          Sendai-san asked with a suspicious tone in her voice.

          She was reacting the same way she usually did.

          It was unsettling not being able to pinpoint what exactly was making me uneasy.

          「Do you want me to do your hair for you again?」

          Sendai-san’s words broke the silence and brought me to a sudden realization.

          Come to think of it, Sendai-san usually had her hair down during summer break…

          I was used to seeing Sendai-san with her hair braided when she wore her school uniform, but since she often left it unbraided during the break, my memories of her felt slightly distorted.

          「No, but you should let your hair down, Sendai-san.」

          「Why?」

          「No reason. But it’s not like letting your hair down is that hard, right?」

          “I guess you’re right,” Sendai-san replied as she untied her hair.

          Perhaps it was because her hair was usually braided, but her slightly wavy, brown hair—lighter than mine—wasn’t as straight as it had been during summer vacation. Still, it was enough to reconcile the image I had of her now.

          「And lastly… just act like you always do.」

          I had nothing else I wanted to order her to do, so I simply left the rest up to Sendai-san.

          「What do you mean “act like I always do”?」

          「I don’t know, just talk about something.」

          「Does that mean I can talk about anything I want?」

          「Sure.」

          To be honest, I had asked Sendai-san to come over without having any specific order in mind to give her.

          But I couldn’t just tell her that. If she found out, it would only make her suspicious. Even if I thought of giving her a random order, I hesitated, knowing it could easily lead to a repeat of what happened on the last day of summer break. I knew I could simply avoid calling Sendai-san over if I didn’t have any orders for her, but that was something I wanted to save as a last resort.

          As long as it fulfilled the order quota, I didn’t really care what Sendai-san wanted to talk about.

          「Hmm, let’s see…」

          Sendai-san groaned, clearly struggling to come up with something to talk about. After a brief pause, she finally said,

「Which universities are you applying to? Don’t tell me you’re still undecided.」

          I frowned as soon as Sendai-san brought up a topic I wasn’t eager to discuss. Maybe she mentioned it precisely because she knew I didn’t want to talk about it.

          「You’re the one who told me to find something to talk about, so you should at least give me an answer.」

          It was a little awkward for me since I’d chosen a random school on a whim, but it wasn’t as if I was trying to hide my plans. Besides, even if I stayed quiet now, she’d find out eventually.

          Slightly regretting that I hadn’t been more specific with the conversation topics, I replied that I was planning to attend a local university.    

          「What about you, Sendai-san?」

          I didn’t really want to know, but if I didn’t ask, there’d be nothing left to talk about.

          「I’m planning on going to a university outside of the prefecture.」

          Sendai-san replied, adding the name of the university afterward.

          「Wait, are you serious?」

          The university Sendai-san mentioned wasn’t one that could be entered just by being smart. To my knowledge, no one from our high school had ever been admitted, and I doubted Sendai-san would be the first.

          「Nope, I was just kidding. Well, I was aiming for it at one point, but I knew it was impossible.」

          Sendai-san responded with a smile.

          「But you were aiming for it.」

          「It was never going to happen.」

          I thought she might be joking, but since she didn’t deny it, she was likely serious about aiming for that university. I didn’t understand why she was targeting that particular school, but considering she was still attending prep classes diligently, there was a chance she was still interested in going for it.

          「You’re the only one I’ve told about this, Miyagi. Keep it a secret.」

          「I won’t tell anyone. It’s not like I have anyone else to tell anyway.」

          「That’s true.」

          Still, I found this a bit troubling.

          We already had plenty of secrets between us; I didn’t need any more. The more secrets we accumulated, the heavier they became, making it harder for me to move forward. It was starting to feel like I couldn’t go anywhere without Sendai-san being around.

          「So then, what university are you actually planning to apply to?」

          I asked, hoping to lighten the weight of the new secret we had just created. Sendai-san then mentioned the name of another university outside the prefecture. This time, it was a school she had a good chance of getting into, which made me realize there was some truth to what she had said earlier.

          Still…

          Given her grades, her choice made sense and was what I had expected, but hearing her say the name of a university outside the prefecture out loud left me with an uneasy feeling.

          Though I was uneasy about the new secret I shared with Sendai-san, what was consuming my thoughts now was her choice of university. It was gnawing at my mind and leaving me with a lingering sense of discomfort.   

「Hey, Miyagi. Why don’t you apply to the same university as me?」

          Sendai-san casually suggested something that seemed impossible for someone like me. Considering my grades, getting into that school was no easy feat.

          「You say it like it’s so easy. We both know it’s impossible for me.」

          「That’s not true.」

          「I don’t really want to go out of my way to apply for a school that I know I can’t get into.」

          「You won’t know unless you try, right? Just make sure you have a backup school and it’ll be fine. You’ve been studying a lot more lately too, so I think if you pushed yourself a little more, you’ll actually have a decent chance of getting in.」

          「There’s no reason for us to go to the same school, is there?」

          「That’s true, but I still think if you’re able to, you might as well try and get into a good school.」

          「That’s not happening.」

          I didn’t want to put in the effort into applying for a good university.

          Besides, this relationship of ours would end as soon as we graduated from high school.

          There was no point in us attending the same university.

          Sendai-san should’ve known that too.

          The fact that she was planning to apply to a university outside our prefecture was also none of my business.

          It was absolutely and definitely none of my concern whatsoever.

          「We’re moving on from this topic. I have another order for you.」

          I didn’t have any other orders in mind, but I wanted to steer the conversation away from this pointless discussion about our futures, so I needed to come up with something quickly.

          「There’s more?」

          「Yeah, so listen up.」

          「I’ll do whatever you tell me to.」

          Sendai-san replied, not bothering to hide the expression on her face that looked like she still had more she wanted to say.

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TL note: Well, I took a one week vacation about two weeks ago, and it took me a lot longer than I expected to recover from it. I’m back on my feet now. Sorry for the delay! I will be translating the extras from volume 2 of the light novel when I find time.

On another note… August 23rd is Sendai’s birthday! Wowee. How time flies. It’s actually 5 am at the time of this post, so honestly, Sendai is also making me lose sleep. Buy one, get one free. Well done, Sendai Hazuki.

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