I walked up the stairs to the third floor of the building.

         Then I made my way down the hallway, and when I reached the front door of my apartment, I took out my keys.

         After unlocking the door and stepping inside, I noticed it was dark inside. I turned on the light and looked down, seeing the spot where Miyagi usually left her shoes was empty. That’s when I realized she hadn’t come home yet.

         Still, I tried calling out, “I’m home”, but there was no response.

         I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

         I wanted someone to reply with a “welcome back” whenever I said “I’m home.”

         The dream I’d had this morning had already faded from my mind while I was at university.

         Miyagi wasn’t always the one who came home first, but now that I’d calmed down enough to look her in the eye and talk to her again, I found myself wishing she was already here.

         「Well, not that there’s much for us to talk about.」

         Miyagi hadn’t said anything about being late today, so we were supposed to have dinner together tonight.

         I walked deeper into the apartment, wondering what we should have for dinner. As I’d expected, there was no one around.

         「I’m home.」

         This time, I muttered it toward the dining area, fully aware no one was here to hear it.

         Then, just as I was about to go into my room, I noticed something piled on the table.

         「Are those… books?」

         I walked over for a closer look.

         Sure enough, it was a stack of books—several volumes of the romance manga I’d been reading in Miyagi’s room, along with a few shounen manga series even I’d heard of before.

         This must be what she meant when she said she’d pick them out for me and give them to me.

         Letting out a small sigh, I set my bag down on the chair Miyagi usually sat in.

         Even though I knew she wasn’t home, I still went over to her door and knocked.

         I heard the sound of my own knocking echo, but there was no sign of anyone inside.

         「Miyagi.」

         I called out to the door.

         But of course, there was no reply.

         I pressed my palm firmly against the door.

         It felt like there was a whole other world on the other side—a world I wasn’t allowed to enter right now, and one I had no idea when I’d be allowed into again.

         I wanted to be on the other side of this door.

         I wanted to see if the black cat plush I’d given her was still sitting on her bookshelf like before, and whether that tissue box with the crocodile cover was still there too.

         I wanted to know what she kept in her room, to see what she’d left behind.

         Right now, the only thing separating me from all that was just a slab of wood.

         It wasn’t like I couldn’t open it if I wanted to.

         If I broke the rules, I could find out everything I wanted to know right away.

         As long as I didn’t touch anything and came right back out, Miyagi wouldn’t even know.

         And if she didn’t find out, it wouldn’t really count as breaking the rules either.

         Or maybe… it’d actually be better if she did find out.

         Because the one who broke the rules had to listen to one thing the other person wanted them to do.

         That was what we had agreed on. If I broke a rule, Miyagi would give me an order—just like before.

         Well, technically it wouldn’t be an “order,” but it’d still be something close to it.

         「… No, I can’t think like that. I can’t just go into someone else’s room without permission.」

         Even putting the rules aside, going into someone’s room without their permission was just too much.

         And if Miyagi found out, she’d probably move out before I even got the chance to be punished.

         I leaned my forehead against the door.

         As I did, I heard a soft thump and felt the cool surface against my forehead.

         Then, I brought my lips close to the door—but before I could say anything, I let out all the air from my lungs.

         「What am I even doing?」

         I’d been feeling off all day because of the dream I had this morning.

         I felt disappointed she wasn’t here to welcome me back home, but maybe it was actually for the best that Miyagi wasn’t here right now.

         If she was, things might’ve gone in a completely different direction.

         「Miyagi, you idiot.」

         I muttered toward the door, then turned my back to it.

         I picked up one of the romance manga volumes from the table and sat down in my chair.

         I flipped through the pages, but I couldn’t really remember the story from the earlier volumes.

         I wanted the previous volumes to help me recall my hazy memory, but I couldn’t get to them right now.

         Even though they were sitting on a bookshelf just beyond this door, they felt so far away—and it irritated me a little.

         I set the romance manga back down on the table and picked up one of the shounen manga instead, starting from the first volume.

         I opened it and read through a few pages.

         It was easier to enjoy than trying to piece together a story I barely remembered, but the memory of when I could freely read whatever I wanted kept flashing through my mind, making it hard to focus on what was in front of me.

         Still, I managed to get through two volumes, and I picked up the third.

         I was halfway through when I suddenly heard a voice say, “I’m home”, and I looked up.

         「Welcome back.」

         「You know you could just read those in your own room, right?」

         Miyagi said, glancing at what I was reading.

         「I thought maybe you’d want to hear me say ‘welcome back’ in person.」

         「That still doesn’t mean you couldn’t have just read those in your room, though.」

         「Yeah, but this seemed easier.」

         Miyagi didn’t say anything back. Looking a little annoyed, she walked over to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of soda, and poured herself a glass.

         She took a sip before setting it down on the table, then looked at me.

         Our eyes met.

         Just like this morning, I didn’t try to escape her gaze, and I looked right back at her.

         「Is it interesting?」

         Miyagi asked, not mentioning the manga directly, but there wasn’t anything else she could’ve been talking about besides the book in my hands.

         「It’s not bad.」

         「Let me know when you’re done, so I can put them away.」

         Miyagi turned to head back to her room, but before she could, I picked up the romance manga I’d barely touched.

         「Wait, do you have the first volume of this?」

         「I do. Why?」

         「Lend it to me. I forgot what happened in the earlier chapters.」

         I wasn’t all that interested in reading a story I could barely remember, and I wouldn’t have minded just leaving it that way. It was the kind of thing where, if I were to read it again, starting from the volume before this one would’ve been enough to jog my memory. I didn’t think it was worth the trouble to go all the way back to volume one—but it worked as a good excuse for what I really wanted.

         「I’ll bring it out for you. Just wait here.」

         「I can get it myself. Let me come with you.」

         I said, standing up right beside her.

         「Huh?」

         「Let me into your room.」

         「… No.」

         Miyagi refused after a short pause.

         「Why not?」

         「Because you’d definitely do something weird, Sendai-san.」

         Her words instantly reminded me of the dream I’d had that morning.

         I could pretty much imagine what she meant by “something weird.”

         But honestly, the dream I had was probably way worse than anything she was thinking of.

         The thought made my chest tighten a little.

         Still, that wasn’t the reason I wanted to go into her room.

         I just wanted to see what her room—somewhere I used to be able to come and go from freely before we moved here—looked like now.

         There wasn’t anything I needed to feel guilty about… or at least, probably not.

         Some ambiguous feelings stirred inside me, but there wasn’t any need to say them out loud, so I simply denied what Miyagi had said.

         「I won’t. Seriously, what kind of person do you think I am?」

         「… You’re my roommate.」

         Even though what I’d said was wrong and dishonest, Miyagi answered honestly.

         It was just like Miyagi said. We were roommates, and if we wanted to keep living together peacefully for the next four years, we couldn’t be anything but that.

         But after just a few weeks of living with her, I was already starting to wonder if asking Miyagi to be my roommate had really been the right choice. I was beginning to question everything about this arrangement—how, just by being roommates, I wasn’t even allowed to touch her.

         「What is it?」

         Noticing I’d gone quiet, Miyagi gave me a confused look and asked.

         On the day of our graduation ceremony, I’d pushed Miyagi to move here and be my roommate—changing the relationship we’d had up until then. Back then, I honestly thought it was the only choice I had, and the best one too.

         「It’s nothing. I was just thinking how weird it feels, being roommates now.」

         I said with a small smile, as if trying to convince myself of what I was saying too.

         Miyagi frowned.

         「You’re the one who wanted us to be roommates, Sendai-san. You better take responsibility and act like one.」

         「Yeah, yeah.」

         「I’ll bring the book to you, so wait here.」

         「No, it’s fine.」

         「Huh?」

         「Forget the book for now. Let’s start making dinner.」

         I said, walking over to the fridge instead of following her to her room.

         「Isn’t it kinda early for dinner?」

         「Well, I’m hungry.」

         I replied casually, making up an excuse. Then, after glancing at what was in the fridge, I asked Miyagi what she wanted for dinner.

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