I reached my hand out toward Miyagi.

         I ran my fingers through her black hair, combing through it gently.

         My hand stroked her cheek, then traced the outline of her lips with my fingertips.

         Miyagi didn’t seem to mind—but she didn’t react either.

         She was always complaining about something, yet today, she stayed quiet.

         When I leaned in close, she simply closed her eyes with a helpless look on her face. It almost felt like she was being unusually obedient right now.

         I pressed my lips to hers and slipped my tongue inside her mouth.

         She didn’t push me away, nor did she bite back like she sometimes did. Her passiveness surprised me, but it also unsettled me—Miyagi wasn’t putting up a fight at all.

         Still, I felt like saying anything about it would just annoy her, so I kept quiet.

         I kissed her lips over and over again, then moved to her neck. I left soft kisses there, careful not to leave any marks.

         Miyagi let out a faint breath.

         I loosened her necktie and removed it completely, then slowly unbuttoned her blouse, one button at a time.

         As I kissed along her collarbone, Miyagi clung tightly to my shoulders.

         But she didn’t say no, nor did she tell me to stop.

         So I slipped her blouse off and gently pushed her down.

         Of course, I already knew the truth.

         I knew this was just a dream.

         Summer vacation, winter break—

         Moments from all those days, tangled together into one.

         We were wearing our old school uniforms, the ones we didn’t need anymore.

         And this wasn’t the first time I’d had this dream. I’d seen it again and again—even after we moved in together.

         I need to wake up soon.

         But even so, I wanted to stay inside this dream just a little longer.

         I bit softly into her shoulder, sinking my teeth into her skin.

         Her warmth seeped into me. Her body felt soft beneath my lips and hands—but I couldn’t tell exactly how soft, or how warm. My senses felt hazy, melting together.

         「Miyagi.」

         I called her name.

         But she didn’t answer.

         Wanting to hear her voice, I slipped off the last piece of clothing covering her chest.

         Still, she stayed silent.

         No matter how much I touched her with my hands or lips, she wouldn’t speak.

         All I could feel was the blurry yet distinct sensation of her skin against me.

         Though I’d never really touched her like this before, I could tell that everywhere I touched felt soft. My dream conveniently filled in the gaps where my memories fell short.

         I pulled off her skirt.

         As expected, there was no protest.

         I let my hands wander beneath her ribs, tracing her soft stomach, brushing over her hips.

         My fingertips reached the waistband of her underwear.

         I paused.

         I knew this was only a dream.

         Even so, I wasn’t sure if I should really cross this line.

         「Sendai-san.」

         Her voice called out to me, soft and pleading, urging me forward.

         But the Miyagi I knew wasn’t someone who acted like this. She wouldn’t be so honest about what she wanted, and she definitely wouldn’t call my name in that kind of voice.

         Even so, I slowly slid my hand beneath the fabric.

         And then—

         And then——

         And then———

         My hand grabbed my phone, which wouldn’t stop ringing.

         「… Figures.」

         I sighed and silenced the alarm.

         Setting the phone back down, I pressed my hand against the wall beside my bed.

         Miyagi was just on the other side of this wall.

         That wasn’t good.

         Right now, it felt like I was too close to her.

         I knew, rationally, what was acceptable and what crossed the line—but I didn’t have that same kind of control in my dreams.

         Now that we were living together, I fully understood that I could never do the same things to Miyagi that I did in my dreams.

         Still, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little interested in doing something like that to her.

         And I felt like it was exactly because Miyagi was so close by that I kept having dreams like this.

         「… I really am the worst, aren’t I?」

         It wasn’t the kind of dream I should be having.

         I’d bet even Miyagi had no idea that someone was dreaming about her like that, just on the other side of her bedroom wall.

         And because I’d had a dream about something I absolutely shouldn’t have, I couldn’t help but want to curse myself.

         I sat up for a moment, then laid right back down.

         I didn’t want to leave my room at all.

         But I had to go to campus today.

         I’d already finished registering for my courses, and now my schedule was set.

         It finally felt like my university life was starting for real.

         I couldn’t let myself get used to skipping classes already.

         After lying around for a while—long enough that it could almost be considered a nap—I finally worked up the motivation to get up.

         I rolled out of bed and opened my drawers.

         Pajamas felt too casual to wear out into our shared space. Maybe, after we’d lived together for longer, I’d get used to wearing them out.

         But for now, I wanted to make sure I was dressed properly.

         Suddenly, I remembered the time I stayed over at Miyagi’s place.

         Back then, I borrowed a set of sweats from her.

         Maybe, instead of pajamas, I could just wear sweats like Miyagi always did.

         That way, I wouldn’t have to bother changing into a full outfit.

         While I was still considering whether I should buy a set of sweats, I pulled out a blouse and a pair of flare pants from my drawers.

         After getting dressed, I left my room and saw Miyagi making breakfast.

         We’d agreed that whenever we shared a meal, we’d cook together, but we hadn’t decided on who’d make breakfast. Usually, whoever woke up first would make it, and the other would do the dishes. Before I even realized it, that had somehow become an unspoken rule between us.

         Miyagi wasn’t exactly the best cook, but food always seemed to taste better when someone else made it.

         「Morning.」

         I called out to Miyagi from behind her.

         「Good morning.」

         Having someone return my “Good morning” while they were making breakfast for us made mornings not so bad.

         ―― If only I hadn’t had that dream today.

         Even though I didn’t choose to have that dream, it still made me feel awkward.

         I couldn’t look Miyagi in the eye, and I had no idea what kind of expression I was supposed to wear around her.

         Back before we moved in together, we’d been in different classes.

         If I wanted to avoid seeing her, I could simply wait until after school, when my mood had recovered.

         But things weren’t like that anymore.

         Miyagi was always just a few doors away now. It was nearly impossible now to avoid her from morning until after school.

         「What are you making?」

         I couldn’t sort out my feelings properly, but the silence was making it even harder to calm down.

         So I called out to Miyagi, who had been staring at the frying pan the whole time—but there was no reply.

         「Miyagi?」

         Even when I called her name, she still didn’t respond, and I started worrying about how our breakfast was going to turn out.

         Right now, I felt like I couldn’t keep a composed expression at all.

         I didn’t really want to get too close to Miyagi, but I was curious about breakfast, so I walked over to check.

         On the frying pan was something that looked halfway between a fried egg and scrambled eggs.

         「Did the yolks break?」

         「They just broke on their own.」

         Miyagi muttered as she turned to face me.

         「Fried eggs and scrambled eggs are all the same once they’re in your stomach, right? So it’s fine.」

         「I mean, I guess…」

         I could feel Miyagi’s gaze on me, but I just couldn’t bring myself to meet her eyes.

         「I’m going to go wash my face.」

         I turned my back to her and headed toward the bathroom.

         Behind me, I heard her reply with a simple, “Okay.”

         I took a deep breath in, then slowly exhaled, and then inhaled again.

         Consciously focusing on something automatic like breathing helped calm me down a little.

         Lately, my dreams had been filled more and more with things that hadn’t happened in reality, and I didn’t want to think about what might’ve happened next in them. But if I kept dwelling on them, I’d end up obsessing over it, so I pushed them to the back of my mind as best I could. I couldn’t erase them completely, but at the very least, I needed to make sure they wouldn’t get to me.

         I gave my cheek a light slap and returned to the dining area.

         「Breakfast is ready.」

         Miyagi said, and I looked over at the table.

         There were several plates and two glasses of orange juice. The eggs looked like scrambled eggs now, with the yolks and whites completely mixed together. And not only that, there were slices of toast and well-cooked sausages, too.

         I took a seat, and after hearing her say, “Let’s eat,” I followed suit and started eating the scrambled eggs.

         This rule we’d set about eating together was being fulfilled in a way I never would’ve expected. I’d originally suggested it just hoping we could share dinner sometimes—but here we were, even eating breakfast together.

         「Have you bought any interesting new manga lately?」

         Still unable to meet Miyagi’s gaze, I picked a random topic and asked.

         「Yeah, I have.」

         「Can you lend me something to read? I’m okay with anything that seems interesting.」

         「I can choose anything?」

         「As long as it’s interesting.」

         As I took a bite of my toast, spread with butter and jam, I glanced over at Miyagi’s hands.

         She poked her fork into a sausage and brought it to her mouth.

         「I don’t know what sorts of things you find interesting though, Sendai-san.」

         Hearing the slight dissatisfaction in her voice, I looked up at her.

         Just for a moment, our eyes met, and I could feel my heart beat a little faster.

         Right then, I realized—maybe I could use borrowing manga as an excuse to go into her room.

         「Then how about you let me choose for myself?」

         Today wasn’t really the kind of day I wanted to get close to Miyagi.

         But that didn’t mean I wasn’t interested in getting close to her at all. I wanted to know what her bedroom looked like, and I was curious about what kind of manga she owned.

         「… I’ll lend you something to read, but I’ll be the one to pick it out and hand it to you.」

         Miyagi said, as she took a bite of her toast.

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