The world was probably going to end tomorrow.

         Or at least, if someone said it would, I wouldn’t even question it.

         That’s how strange Miyagi had been acting lately.

         Ever since we exchanged chocolates, she’d called me over to her place a few times—but not once had she gotten angry, or given me any weird orders. She still wasn’t exactly cheerful, but she was more talkative than usual, and she even let me kiss her.

         It didn’t feel real.

         This couldn’t be the Miyagi I knew.

         But then again, maybe this was normal.

         It’s not weird for people to hold conversations or treat others calmly, even if they’re just acquaintances. In that sense, Miyagi was simply acting like a regular person now. Maybe this was the same version of herself she always showed Utsunomiya and the others.

         Maybe I was the weird one for feeling unsettled by it.

         I leaned against my bed and glanced over the piggy bank sitting on my drawer, stuffed full of five-thousand-yen bills.

         I didn’t know how many were in there. But for a moment, I wished it were empty.

         If Miyagi had never started paying me, we probably wouldn’t have gotten this close.

         And if we weren’t close, I wouldn’t be stuck thinking about her all the time. I’d just be worrying about myself and spring break instead.

         Everything felt like such a hassle.

         Miyagi. Myself. All of it.

         It would’ve been easier if I could just enjoy this “new” Miyagi—someone who wasn’t giving strange orders, who was acting more friendly.

         But for some reason, the nicer she was, the more it felt like something was wrong.

         When I really thought about it, I didn’t have any good memories of her acting this way.

         So I couldn’t help but doubt her.

         Everything she did now felt like it had some hidden motive behind it.

         If I were Utsunomiya, maybe I could accept it all without second-guessing it.

         Maybe I’d even feel so happy about it that I’d start to believe our promise to stop seeing each other after graduation might be called off.

         But I couldn’t bring myself accept it.

         I didn’t believe Miyagi hated me—if she did, she wouldn’t let me touch her or kiss her.

         Still, even though it looked like she was accepting me, it didn’t feel like she really was.

         It was like she was only pretending to be kind.

         And the more I found myself wishing she’d break our promise, the more I felt like that would never happen.

         She still hadn’t told me her exam results either, even though they’d already been released.

         I’d already told her I’d gotten into the school I wanted to attend, and she even congratulated me.

         But Miyagi still hadn’t told me her results, even though she promised she would.

         It wasn’t like I had no other way of finding out whether she passed or not, but I’d been waiting patiently.

         She should just hurry up and tell me already.

         A simple message like “I passed” or “I failed” would’ve been enough.

         「Hurry up and contact me already.」

         Idiot, I thought, and stood up.

         Then, I flopped onto my bed and shut my eyes.

         It was only a little past nine—too early to sleep.

         I hadn’t even taken a bath yet.

         But I didn’t feel like moving.

         As I sighed, my phone buzzed next to me. I glanced at the screen.

         「…Miyagi.」

         Her name slipped out of my mouth.

         The timing was so uncanny it felt like she’d been eavesdropping.

         「She’s not about to tell me she didn’t get in, is she?」

         I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

         It felt wrong to assume the worst right away, but what else was I supposed to think when she hadn’t told me anything? I wanted to hope for good news, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe in it.

         「Hello?」

         I spoke into the phone in a voice that was neither cheerful nor gloomy, and the ringtone was replaced by Miyagi’s voice on the other end.

         「I got in.」

         「Huh?」

         「I got accepted to the same university as Maika. That’s all.」

         「Wait—what? Oh. You got in?」

         After making me wait so long, that was all she said.

         Her announcement was so blunt, I couldn’t even think of the questions I’d wanted to ask.

         Was she really planning to go to the same school as Utsunomiya?

         She hadn’t promised to tell me that part, but I still wanted to know.

         But before I could ask, Miyagi spoke again.

         「Also, there’s a movie I want to watch.」

         「A movie?」

         The sudden change in topic threw me off so badly that everything I’d meant to say vanished.

         Before I could even remember to congratulate her, she said,

         「Yeah.」

         The conversation was moving too fast for me to keep up.

         Despite the good news, Miyagi wasn’t in a great mood, and her silence made it even harder to say what I was thinking.

         But Miyagi was always like this—

         She’d say whatever she wanted without thinking about anyone else, and go silent whenever it suited her.

         And I was the one getting yanked around by her moods—but even so, I couldn’t stop caring about her. I knew I was the one always on the losing end, but I couldn’t let go. Even now, I was trying to think of the right words just so I could talk to her.

         「That’s all.」

         Miyagi said quietly.

         But I knew it wasn’t.

         She was waiting for me to keep the conversation going.

         「Was that your way of inviting me to the movies?」

         「If you don’t want to be invited, then forget it.」

         「So? When were you planning to go?」

         Miyagi told me the date she’d been planning to go—as if she’d had it figured out in advance.

         That’s such bad timing, I thought to myself.

         「I do want to go with you, but I’ve already got plans that day. Can we reschedule?」

         I could hear her grumble on the other end of the line.

         Somehow, what started as a call about her exam results had turned into a conversation about going to the movies. But if I forced the topic back to exams now, I had no doubt she’d never bring up the movie again. So for now, I had to prioritize the movie.

         Besides, university stuff was better talked about in person anyway. If I pushed her to talk about it now, she might end up saying something I didn’t want to hear.

         「Fine. We can move it to an earlier day.」

         “Sure,” I replied, and she told me the time and place.

         It was the same as the time and place we’d gone to see a movie together during summer break. That small detail made my heart flutter.

         It was rare for Miyagi to invite me to the movies, and the fact that she’d chosen the exact same day and place as last time made me feel strangely uneasy. I wanted to ask what she was thinking, but before I could, Miyagi spoke up.

         「Sendai-san.」

         「What is it?」

         「What were your other plans?」

         「Well, now that I’ve finalized my university plans, I was thinking of going around and checking out apartments.」

         That was something I’d decided to do after getting into the school I was aiming for. I could’ve waited until spring break, but people from my prep school said it was better to do it early.

         「What about you, Miyagi?」

         「What do you mean?」

         「If you’re going to a university outside the prefecture, don’t you have to look for an apartment too?」

         It felt like I was allowed to ask her that much. It also conveniently tied back to her university plans.

         「I don’t know. I might just stay here, you know.」

         「And if you don’t stay?」

         「… I guess I’ll live in a dorm or something.」

         「Wouldn’t you hate that? Living with other people?」

         「My dad’s busy and doesn’t have time to help me look for a place. If the dorms don’t work out, I’ll figure something else out later.」

         From the way she talked, it sounded like her mind was already made up: she was planning to attend the same university as Utsunomiya and live in the dorms.

         But I had the feeling that if I pushed her any harder, she’d shut down and insist she wasn’t going after all.

         「You’re just going to wing it, huh. Well, whatever. Anyway, what movie are we watching?」

         「What do you want to see, Sendai-san?」

         「Uh, weren’t you the one who said there was a movie you wanted to watch?」

         I really wanted to pry further.

         What Miyagi was saying now didn’t match what she’d said earlier.

         「I just wanted to ask, just in case. Don’t forget—we’re meeting tomorrow. Good night.」

         Her voice was cold, and without waiting for a reply, she abruptly hung up.

         Saying whatever she wanted, hanging up whenever she felt like it—

         That was just like Miyagi.

         She’d been acting strange lately, and today was no different.

         But at the same time, she was still the same selfish Miyagi I knew.

         There was something unsettling about the way she’d been behaving recently, but at the same time, I felt oddly content knowing she was planning to move into a dorm.

         I set my phone back down beside my pillow.

         Closing my eyes, I started thinking about tomorrow.

         What were we going to do after the movie?

         What would our university life be like?

         And finally, I wanted to ask Miyagi what was going to happen between us after we graduated.

         I wasn’t sure she’d give me the answer I wanted, and I wasn’t confident about asking either—but I still wanted to.

         I opened my eyes and let out a deep sigh.

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