I couldn’t decide what to do during Golden Week.

         I hadn’t heard anything from my family.

         Well, I’d expected that much, so it didn’t really bother me. If anything, I would’ve felt more uncomfortable if they had asked me to come home. And honestly, it didn’t even make me sad anymore, knowing my parents didn’t want me back either. It was convenient for me, considering I’d never intended to go back in the first place. But that also meant I now had way too much free time on my hands.

         I wanted to spend some of that free time with Miyagi.

         It had been a few days since I had that strange dream, but I still hadn’t gotten around to asking Miyagi about her plans for the break. At the very least, I knew she wasn’t going home either.

         The problem was, I didn’t know anything beyond that.

         It wasn’t like I found it hard to ask Miyagi if she wanted to hang out, but I doubted she’d just say yes that easily.

         I let out a sigh.

         Then, I shifted my attention to the teacher standing at the podium.

         The slides kept flipping by, one after another.

         As I listened to the teacher’s voice echo through the lecture hall, I remembered the fried eggs I’d eaten earlier in the morning.

         The egg Miyagi had made was cooked perfectly this time, and the yolk hadn’t broken on its own either.

         Maybe that’s why she’d been in a better mood than usual—but thanks to one dumb comment from me, I’d ruined it.

         I really shouldn’t have said anything about her hairstyle.

         They say it was best to let sleeping dogs lie, but apparently, I didn’t always make the best choices in life.

         Lately, I’d been wanting to get even closer to Miyagi—who I wasn’t allowed to touch anymore—and sometimes, I’d end up making unnecessary comments that upset her instead.

         Because of that, I’d left the apartment this morning without asking about her Golden Week plans, which was something I’d been meaning to bring up.

         I couldn’t even find a part-time job, either. It felt like nothing was going my way.

         I let out another sigh as I kept my eyes on the slides.

         I needed to get serious now that I was in university.

         I shouldn’t be putting so much focus on my social life.

         I didn’t need perfect grades, but I wanted to graduate in four years and land a decent job afterward.

         Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about Miyagi.

         The teacher barely ever wrote anything on the board. If I didn’t pay attention, I wouldn’t be able to follow the lecture at all.

         I told myself to stop thinking about Golden Week and focus on class instead.

         Then, I tried to concentrate on the teacher’s voice.

         Unlike high school, these lectures lasted ninety minutes, and they felt painfully long.

         I scribbled notes with my pencil as fast as I could.

         Thirty, then forty minutes passed, and before I knew it, the lecture finally ended, just a little short of the ninety-minute mark.

         「Hazuki.」

         As I closed my notebook, I heard my name being called. I looked up and saw Mio—one of the friends I’d made at university—glancing back at me from the seat in front of me.

         「I’ve got some good news for you.」

         I didn’t want the same kind of friendships I’d had in high school, so I hadn’t planned on expanding my social circle here.

         Still, I’d ended up making a couple of friends anyway—people I could chat with about random things whenever I was bored.

         「You do?」

         「Yep, so wipe that bored look off your face and listen to this with a smile.」

         「Whether I smile or not depends on what it is.」

         I said that, but it felt like Mio was smiling for me instead.

         「You said you were looking for a part-time job, right, Hazuki? So I figured I’d introduce you to something.」

         She spoke in her usual cheerful tone.

         It was true. I’d told Mio I was job hunting.

         Technically, I could get by without one, since my parents were covering my living expenses.

         But I wanted my own money.

         I didn’t plan to move back home after graduation.

         I wanted to find a decent job and live here. But things might not go the way I wanted, and I could end up needing to find a new apartment.

         With so many uncertainties ahead, I figured it was smarter to save up while I still had my parents’ financial support.

         「What kind of job is it?」

         「Private tutoring.」

         Mio and I walked out of the lecture hall together as I asked her that. She still had that bright smile on her face.

         「Wait, you’re a private tutor, Mio?」

         「Do I look like one?」

         「No, not really.」

         Mio was smart and friendly, but she didn’t seem like the type to think too deeply about things.

         Optimistically, she was decisive.

         Pessimistically, she could be careless and impulsive.

         I could see her being a fun tutor, but I wasn’t sure her students’ grades would actually improve.

         「Wow, you answered that fast. Well, anyway, if you’re interested, I can introduce you.」

         「To the student?」

         「What? No, of course not. I meant my upperclassman. They’re looking for people interested in tutoring.」

         Her words brought back memories of tutoring Miyagi.

         It wasn’t just thanks to me, but Miyagi’s grades probably had improved from those study sessions.

         I didn’t think that alone meant I was cut out for tutoring, but I definitely enjoyed teaching her.

         「Can I ask them a few questions first?」

         「Sure, no problem.」

         Mio replied casually as we walked down the hall, though I wasn’t sure if it really was “no problem” or not.

         「Alright then. Introduce me to your upperclassman.」

         I wasn’t sure yet if I’d take the job.

         But I was at least a little curious.

         I had no idea what kind of person this upperclassman was, but I figured I could at least scope things out.

         「Okay, I’ll let them know.」

         Mio said in a cheerful voice, pulling out her phone. After exchanging a few quick messages with her upperclassman, she looked back up at me.

         「They’re busy right now, but they said they’d like to talk to you directly as soon as they have time. Want their contact info?」

         「Sure.」

         I handed her my phone, and Mio entered their contact information. Then she added, “They’ll probably call you in about three hours.”

         Mio went on talking about her upperclassman—how she was a third-year student, and shared all sorts of personal details about her. But even after my afternoon lectures ended, I never heard from her upperclassman. Even after I got on the train and went back to my apartment, there was still no message or call.

         I took out my key and opened the door.

         The lights were on, and I saw Miyagi’s shoes by the entrance.

         It looked like she’d come home earlier than me today.

         I took off my shoes and went inside. I figured she’d be holed up in her room, but instead, she was standing in front of the fridge.

         「I’m home.」

         I called out to her from behind.

         「Welcome back.」

         Miyagi had apparently gone shopping, judging by the grocery bag by her side.

         「So, what are we making today, Sendai-san?」

         「Is there anything you want to eat?」

         「Doria¹.」

         She said as she stuffed the rest of the ingredients into the fridge and stood up.

         「I’ve never made that before. Are you sure there’s nothing else you want?」

         「You’re the one who asked me what I wanted to eat, though.」

         「I just asked what you wanted to eat. I never said we were actually making that. Besides, did you even buy the right ingredients for doria?」

         「I didn’t know what we needed for it, so no.」

         「How are we supposed to make it then?」

         I looked up the recipe on my phone as I checked the fridge, but we clearly didn’t have the ingredients.

         「Well, if you want it that badly, do you want to just go out for dinner?」

         I suggested something more realistic.

         「No, forget it for today. I already bought a bunch of stuff, so let’s just make something with that.」

         Her voice was as cold as expected.

         I thought it’d be nice if we could go out to eat together once in a while, but it didn’t seem like Miyagi wanted to.

         「Wanna go out tomorrow, then?」

         I knew she wouldn’t say yes, but I decided to ask anyway.

         「… Sure.」

         I found myself staring at Miyagi, surprised by her unexpected answer.

         “Where do you want to go?”

         “What time do you want to go?”

         As I tried to figure out what to ask first, my phone started ringing.

         「Oh, hang on for a second.」

         I took out my phone from my bag, which was still ringing.

         When I glanced at the screen, I saw the name of the upperclassman Mio had told me about.

         It seemed she hadn’t forgotten about me after all.

         When I answered, a calm voice on the other end briefly explained the details of the job.

         After about five minutes, the call ended, and I apologized to Miyagi.

         「Sorry. I don’t think I can do tomorrow anymore. Something came up. Can we go the day after instead?」

         「What came up?」

         Miyagi asked in a low voice.

         「I need to meet up with someone who said they can help me get a part-time job.」

         「―― You’re going to get a part-time job, Sendai-san?」

         Miyagi, now seemingly more interested in my business than the doria, asked as she stared at me intently.

         「Yeah. I figured I should start earning and saving up some money.」

         It wasn’t like I was hiding it from her or anything—I just hadn’t had the chance to bring it up yet. Miyagi was the type to either be in a bad mood or avoid me right when I was about to bring up something important.

         「I gave you money back in high school, didn’t I?」

         Miyagi’s voice grew even lower.

         「I already told you—that money isn’t just mine to use.」

         「Even if it’s not, you’re allowed to spend it however you want.」

         Miyagi said as she kicked my leg.

         It didn’t hurt, but I glared at her exaggeratedly, as if it did.

         Miyagi had been pretty calm lately and hadn’t done anything like kicking or biting me in a while, so this felt just like how things used to be between us.

         Still, I knew what she’d done just now wasn’t actually a good thing.

         I moved away from her and sat down in my usual spot.

         「Are you going to break your promise, Sendai-san?」

         Miyagi said in a dissatisfied voice, still standing in front of the fridge.

         「Sorry.」

         I apologized, putting my hands together.

         It wasn’t like the doria was going anywhere, but if I missed tomorrow’s meeting, I didn’t know when I’d get another chance to meet with such a busy upperclassman.

         Finding a part-time job was something I’d been wanting to do since starting university, so I wanted to put off the doria until the day after tomorrow instead.

         But Miyagi stayed quiet, neither agreeing nor moving from her spot.

         「Does it really have to be tomorrow?」

         I found myself starting to wonder if I should be prioritizing eating doria with Miyagi over meeting with the upperclassman.

         As I thought about it, I glanced at Miyagi.

         「… The day after tomorrow is fine, but you’ll need to accept a punishment.」

         「Huh?」

         「You get punished if you break a promise, right?」

         Miyagi said, as if it were the most obvious thing, leaving me dumbfounded.

         「Wait, hold on. We agreed punishments were only for breaking rules we came up with together, right? They don’t apply to everyday promises.」

         「We both agreed to go out tomorrow, didn’t we? That’s basically the same as making a rule together.」

         「That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?」

         Calling these little promises “rules” felt like too much, but Miyagi clearly wasn’t backing down. She placed her hands on the table and leaned over it.

         「We never said punishments only applied to breaking house rules, did we? So I don’t think it’s strange to punish you for breaking the promise we just decided on, Sendai-san.」

         Strictly speaking, she wasn’t wrong.

         We never explicitly stated that punishments were limited to breaking the house rules.

         But that didn’t mean I had to accept her logic.

         It was absurd—unreasonable, even.

         Miyagi probably knew that herself as well. She was just saying this because she knew I’d go along with her ridiculous punishment anyway.

         I let out a quiet sigh.

         「Fine, fine. I’ll let you have this one. But what kind of punishment are you thinking of?」

         「I haven’t decided yet.」

         「You’re really going to take your time on this?」

         「Why not? It’s not like there’s a deadline for coming up with a punishment.」

         I had a bad feeling about this.

         If I let her take her time, she’d definitely come up with something terrible.

         「Then at least decide by tomorrow.」

         「I can’t.」

         Miyagi rejected that firmly.

         「It’s not that you can’t. You just don’t want to. I’m fine with whatever you decide, so just tell me once you’ve figured it out.」

         I was used to following her orders anyway.

         So I figured I could handle whatever she decided.

         I was no stranger to doing questionable things, after all.

         So this wasn’t really a big deal.

         With that in mind, I stood up.

         「Anyway, Miyagi. What do you want to do for dinner today?」

         I asked.

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1. Doria is a gratin-like Japanese dish. It’s basically a rice gratin covered with white sauce, cheese, and then grilled. It can be paired with other ingredients or toppings as well, most notably seafood. ↩︎

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