On the table were plates of toast and scrambled eggs, along with glasses of orange juice.

         Sendai-san was sitting across from me.

         I still wasn’t used to her being across from me, since whenever we studied together or had dinner together, she had always been sitting right beside me.

         But in just one more week, it would mark a month since we started living together, and maybe by then, I’d finally get used to having her sit in front of me while we ate together.

         As I spread butter and jam on my toast, I glanced over at my cup.

         「Sendai-san, why orange juice?」

         「Huh? Did you want soda or something?」

         「No, I just thought you wanted to drink tea.」

         It didn’t really matter what we were drinking.

         I wasn’t particularly picky anyway.

         Sendai-san had been the one to prepare breakfast for us today, and it wasn’t like I had any real complaints. Still, I felt a little annoyed that the electric kettle we went out of our way to buy yesterday wasn’t being put to use.

         「Oh, if you want black tea, I’ll brew some for us starting tomorrow.」

         I looked at Sendai-san.

         Our eyes met, and she didn’t look away either.

         I felt a little relieved by that.

         I didn’t want to start the morning off in a bad mood.

         「I don’t really care about the tea. I was just wondering about the electric kettle.」

         「Did you want me to use it?」

         「If you weren’t going to use it, then why did we have to go buy one yesterday?」

         「Even if I don’t use it right away, it’s still something we needed to buy eventually. Plus, wasn’t it fun going shopping yesterday?」

         「That’s not the point.」

         I bit into my toast and took a sip of my orange juice. Sendai-san also took a bite from her own toast with butter and jam.

         「Well, that aside, you’re going to your university after you finish eating, right, Miyagi?」

         Not knowing whether she was actually planning to use the kettle tomorrow or not, she quickly changed the subject.

         「Yeah, I am.」

         「Are you in a hurry?」

         「Not really.」

         「I see.」

         The conversation stopped there, even though I didn’t know what Sendai-san was planning to do after she ate. I felt like if I asked too much about her, it’d seem like I was prying into her life, and before I knew it, both our plates and cups were empty.

         「I’ll go wash the dishes.」

         I said as I cleared both plates and cups from the table.

         「Don’t worry about it. I’ll do it.」

         「No, you prepared breakfast for us today.」

         「Oh, okay. I’ll leave it to you, then.」

         Sendai-san said before heading back to her room. I quickly washed the dishes and returned to my own room. I wasn’t exactly in a rush, but it took quite a while to get to my university from home, so I liked to leave with plenty of time to spare.

         I got changed out of my clothes and looked at myself in the mirror.

         At times like this, I couldn’t help but wish we still had school uniforms.

         It was such a hassle to think about what to wear every morning. I envied my past self, back when everything was solved just by putting on a uniform. I sighed and picked up my schoolbag. When I opened the door, I saw Sendai-san sitting in our shared space, putting the finishing touches on her makeup.

         「I’m heading out now.」

         I called out to her as she sat in her chair. As I headed toward the entrance, Sendai-san stood up and grabbed my arm.

         「Miyagi. Hold on.」

         「What is it?」

         「Can I borrow you for a second?」

         「Why?」

         「I want to put some makeup on you.」

         Sendai-san said with a grin on her face.

         She seemed to be in an unusually good mood, but what she was asking felt kind of pointless.

         「I’m going to be late.」

         「Didn’t you just say you weren’t in much of a hurry?」

         「I’m not, but that doesn’t mean I have time to spare either.」

         「At least let me apply something to your lips. They look chapped. You’ve got enough time to spare for that, right?」

         Sendai-san said, her thumb brushing against my lips.

         She gently pressed her fingertip against my lips, softly stroking them as if checking their texture.

         I didn’t dislike the sensation of Sendai-san’s fingertips.

         In fact, it felt nice to feel her finger on my lips again after so long.

         「Come on, Miyagi. What do you say?」

         She asked as she pulled her thumb away from my lips.

         「I know my lips aren’t chapped.」

         When I looked in the mirror earlier, my lips didn’t look chapped at all.

         「They kind of are. It won’t take long, so come take a seat.」

         Sendai-san said as she pulled me along by the arm, and I reflexively reached out toward her.

         I pressed my thumb against Sendai-san’s lips, just like she’d done to me. I wiped her lips with my fingertip, and the lip makeup that had been on her smudged and got on my finger.

         「Hey, Miyagi!」

         Sendai-san exclaimed angrily, tightening her grip on my arm.

         「I’m not going to have any time left after you finish fixing that.」

         「You’re such an idiot.」

         I shook off Sendai-san’s hand and turned my back to her.

         「Will you have any time to spare tomorrow at least?」

         She asked in a grumpy tone.

         「No.」

         「Well, make some time for me, then. I promise I’ll make you look cute.」

         「I don’t need you to do that for me.」

         「Come on, it’s fine, isn’t it?」

         「No. Just drop it already.」

         「A little makeup never hurt anybody, right? Don’t be so stingy.」

         「Shut up, Sendai-san. I’m leaving now.」

         The platypus-covered tissue box was sitting on top of a storage box, but I didn’t need it as I headed over to the bathroom sink. I set my belongings down in front of the mirror and turned on the water.

         I glanced at my thumb.

         It was stained the same color as Sendai-san’s lips.

         I looked into the mirror again, and just like how I saw it earlier, my lips weren’t chapped.

         As I thought, Sendai-san had been lying.

         I touched my lips with my index finger.

         My fingertip slid smoothly from corner to corner of my lips.

         My lightly stained thumb nearly brushed against my lips as well, and the sensation of Sendai-san’s soft lips came to mind. But I washed my hands without touching anything else.

         I scrubbed my hands together.

         After carefully washing off the stain, I left the apartment.

         I took the train, and it took quite a bit of time before I arrived at my university.

         I wished it was closer, but I didn’t really have any other choice.

         I passed through the school gates and entered the campus grounds.

         I still didn’t really feel like I belonged at my university, as if I were completely out of place here. I had people I could call out to and make small talk with when I saw them, but I didn’t think we were close enough to be considered friends yet, and I still wasn’t sure if those interactions were actually fun. And there were a lot of things that felt like hassles.

         One of those things was course registration.

         I had to decide which classes I wanted to take and design my schedule by myself.

         It was a pain to have to make a schedule on my own and think about the credits I needed in order to graduate. If Sendai-san and I went to the same university, she’d probably be willing to do it all for me—but we went to different schools.

         As I entered the lecture hall, I looked around.

         It went without saying that Sendai-san wasn’t here.

         I took my seat and rested my head on the table. A moment later, I heard the sound of something being set down on the table, followed by a voice calling my name.

         「Shiori.」

         When I looked up, I saw Maika.

         「Did you not get enough sleep?」

         Maika asked as she sat down next to me.

         At first, it felt strange seeing Maika not in a school uniform, but now I was used to it.

         The light makeup I’d never seen her wear back in high school had also now become part of her.

         「No, I slept plenty. Also, sorry again about yesterday.」

         On Saturday, I had called Maika to apologize in advance.

         But I felt like I had to apologize again today too.

         I’d told Sendai-san I was free on Sunday, but the truth was, I’d already made plans with Maika. I felt guilty for canceling, since I’d made those plans before I agreed to go out with Sendai-san. I should’ve been prioritizing her instead.

         「It’s fine. So, what’d you guys end up buying yesterday?」

         “I need to go shopping for appliances with the person I’m living with.”

         That was what I’d told Maika before I went shopping with Sendai-san.

         「An electric kettle, since we didn’t have anything to boil water with.」

         「You guys only bought one just now?」

         「We’ve been a little all over the place lately, so we hadn’t had a chance to go shopping until now.」

         「You’re rooming with a relative, right?」

         「Yeah.」

         I hadn’t told Maika that Sendai-san was my roommate.

         It wasn’t like I never had the chance to tell her, but I didn’t know how to explain Sendai-san’s presence in my life, so I ended up telling her I was living with a relative.

         I knew I’d have to tell her the truth someday, but if I told her I was rooming with Sendai-san, she’d definitely bombard me with questions about how we ended up living together.

         And I still didn’t know how I was supposed to answer that.

         「Are they shy by any chance?」

         「Why do you ask?」

         「I was just wondering, since you said you weren’t allowed to have friends over.」

         If Maika ever came to visit, she’d end up finding out about Sendai-san. That would only cause trouble.

         That was why I’d made it a rule that we couldn’t bring friends over, and I’d vaguely told Maika about it, too. I felt bad for piling lies on top of lies, but I couldn’t let her find out that I was living with Sendai-san—not right now.

         「Hmm… No, I think she’s actually pretty normal.」

         「Normal, huh… Oh well, it’s fine.」

         She looked like she still wanted to say more, but she didn’t press me further.

         She was always so kind like that.

         I’d been relying on Maika’s kindness ever since high school, and even now, as university students, I was still leaning on her the same way.

         「Oh, right. Since you weren’t free yesterday anymore, I decided to get my ears pierced.」

         「You got your ears pierced?」

         I glanced at her ears, and sure enough, she was wearing small silver earrings.

         「Did you do it yourself?」

         「Yep.」

         It wasn’t like Maika had suddenly turned flashy or started hanging out with different people, but lately, she’d been looking more and more fashionable—especially with how she wore makeup now. She had changed since our high school days.

         Everything around me had changed. Even Maika had changed.

         I didn’t really think Sendai-san had changed much, but maybe she had in ways I hadn’t noticed yet.

         The more I thought about it, the more it felt like I was the only one being left behind.

         「Surprisingly, they look good on you.」

         I said, still staring at her earrings, and Maika gave me an exaggerated frown.

         「What do you mean “surprisingly”?」

         After I told her I was joking, we started talking about where she bought them. Before long, the door to the lecture hall opened, and the professor walked in with a slightly intimidating look and began the lecture.

         Sendai-san seemed like the type who’d get her ears pierced after starting university, and Maika didn’t seem like that type at all. Seeing the difference between them felt strange somehow.

         It made me wonder if Sendai-san wanted to get her ears pierced too.

         I had no idea what she thought about things like that.

         I barely understood her back in high school, and now that we were in university, I felt like I understood her even less.

         I didn’t know anything about the university student version of Sendai-san.

         Back then, whenever she talked about her friends, I could at least picture them. When she mentioned her teachers, I could picture them too. I could even picture the school itself.

         But now, even if she mentioned her classes or her friends, I wouldn’t be able to picture any of it.

         I wondered what she was doing right now.

         I could probably find out if I just sent her a message.

         But even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to imagine the scenery around her.

         That thought left me strangely unsettled.

         But what frustrated me even more was how annoyed I was over something so trivial.

         How dull.

         We were both sticking to the rules we’d agreed on, just like we were supposed to.

         I looked at my thumb.

         Then, I lightly brushed it over my lips.

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