In the middle of the night, I looked at the mark Miyagi had left on me.

         The red color stood out clearly in the mirror.

         There was no way a mark that fresh would be gone by morning.

         I set the hand mirror down on the table and leaned back against my bed.

         I could try covering it with concealer or foundation if I really wanted to. But there wasn’t any point if I was going to stay home anyway.

         「… I guess I have no choice but to stay at home, huh. How boring.」

         It wasn’t like I had anything in particular I wanted to do at home, but the idea of going out while constantly worrying about the mark Miyagi left just wasn’t worth the hassle.

         I hadn’t made any plans to meet up with friends either.

         I had thought about maybe going somewhere with them, but there wasn’t anywhere I especially wanted or needed to go. And once the break was over, I’d be seeing them at university whether I liked it or not anyway.

         There was nothing wrong with just lounging around at home.

         But the more I thought about what Miyagi had done, the more restless I felt.

         Even back in high school, it always felt like I was the one getting treated the worst.

         Like when she left a hickey on my arm just to see if lemon juice would make it fade faster.

         Or when she unbuttoned my rain-soaked uniform and left a mark on my chest.

         Miyagi was always doing sketchy things like that.

         And yet, I’d still chosen to live with her.

         If someone had told me last year this would be my reality, I wouldn’t have believed them.

         I pressed my palm over the mark she’d left.

         Miyagi never seemed like the type to go easy on people, but she had held back at first. Nowadays, she didn’t hesitate at all.

         I peeled my back away from the bed and hugged my knees.

         My eyes drifted to the platypus peeking out from under the table.

         The tissue box, with tissues sprouting from its back, was supposed to be shared between us—though it still felt like it was Miyagi’s. And probably because it resembled the crocodile tissue box in her room, I didn’t mind having the platypus in mine.

         Back then, all of her stuff piling up in my space had felt like a burden. But now, both her school uniform and the shirt tucked away in my drawers felt like they belonged here.

         I stood up and picked up an accessory case off the top of my dresser.

         Setting it down on the table, I opened it and took out the pendant Miyagi had given me.

         I hadn’t worn it since the day it was handed to me in exchange for that envelope on our graduation day.

         I wanted to touch her again, the way I had during the days I still wore this pendant.

         I wished I’d kissed her while she was watching the movie.

         I laid the silver chain across my fingers.

         I looked at the small crescent moon-shaped charm in my hand.

         I traced the chain with my fingertips, then curled the charm into my palm.

         I didn’t want to go back to those days, but I couldn’t help envying the me from back then.

         I pulled the platypus closer and set the pendant gently on top of its head.

         Then I laid down on my bed and tapped the wall with my fingers.

         There wasn’t a response—not that I’d made much noise at all—but I heard something from the other side.

         It was dead quiet in the middle of the night, so I didn’t have to strain my ears to hear the soft creak of a door opening.

         I got out of bed.

         I wasn’t sure whether I should go out into our shared space or not.

         It wasn’t like I had anything to talk to her about.

         But after thinking about it for a moment, I stood up anyway.

         I was glad I’d thought to buy a set of sweats—not having to worry about what I was wearing made it easier to step out.

         When I opened the door, I saw the light on.

         Miyagi was standing in front of the fridge.

         She was wearing a sweatshirt I recognized—the same one I’d borrowed from her during winter break when I stayed over at her place.

         「You’re not going to sleep?」

         I asked as I stood near the table.

         「I was going to sleep, but I just got thirsty.」

         She pulled a soda bottle out of the fridge, poured it into a cup, and drank about a third of it.

         「What about you, Sendai-san?」

         Miyagi asked, holding the cup in her hand.

         「I thought I’d get something to drink too.」

         I replied, using that as my excuse for coming out into our shared space.

         「Should I grab you the orange juice?」

         「Hmm, I’ll just take some of what you’re having. Can I have a sip?」

         「But it’s soda.」

         「Yeah, I can tell.」

         「… You can have the rest, then.」

         She walked over to me and handed me the cup.

         「I don’t really need this much.」

         I wasn’t actually thirsty, and I didn’t like carbonated drinks either. I didn’t want to be forced to drink most of it just because of the excuse I’d made up.

         Still, I took a sip like I said I would. When I tried to give the cup back, Miyagi wouldn’t take it.

         So I reluctantly drank about half and placed it on the table.

         「Sendai-san.」

         Miyagi spoke.

         「Are you going out tomorrow?」

         「Well, you know, thanks to a certain someone, I can’t even if I wanted to.」

         「Hm.」

         Even though she was the one who asked, she seemed completely disinterested in what I said as she finished off the rest of the soda. Then she said she’d wash the cup and stood up.

         「How about we chat a bit more?」

         I said, grabbing her arm.

         「What is there to even talk about?」

         「We can just talk about anything, can’t we?」

         I said, taking the cup from her and setting it on the table.

         I took a step toward Miyagi.

         I reached out and touched her lips with my fingertips.

         「What happened to talking?」

         Miyagi frowned. Her face made it clear she was in a bad mood, but she didn’t try to leave, so I let go of her arm.

         「Come up with something to talk about, then.」

         「You’re the one who said you wanted to talk, Sendai-san.」

         「Oh, was I?」

         I ran my hand along her cheek and pressed my palm against it.

         She had to know what I was trying to do, and part of me thought I should back off while I still had the chance.

         But my mind wandered back to high school—after the cultural festival, when I’d called her to the music preparation room.

         That day, she’d been having fun without me, so I’d grabbed her arm and told her if she didn’t want to be kissed, she should leave.

         I hadn’t really meant to kiss her back then—but I’d wanted to, and I did.

         This wasn’t the exact same situation, but it felt similar.

         I leaned in closer toward Miyagi.

         She said nothing, but she didn’t close her eyes either, so I closed my own.

         And then, our lips met.

         Her lips felt so familiar—so soft, and so warm.

         But maybe because it had been so long, my heart thudded so loudly it felt like it might break.

         My head went blank.

         Our lips had barely touched, but it already felt like it was getting too hard to breathe, so I pulled away.

         Then I kissed her again.

         This time, I pressed my lips against hers even harder. I grabbed onto her arm, but when I tried to pull her closer, she shook my hand off and shoved me away by my shoulders.

         It wasn’t enough.

         I wanted to kiss her more.

         I grabbed her hand.

         But she shook me off again—and this time, she kicked me in the leg as well.

         「Why didn’t you run away?」

         Miyagi never ran away when I wanted her to. Even though I’d expected her to, she just accepted it. If she had walked away before I kissed her, maybe I wouldn’t have ended up feeling like this—like I wanted more.

         「… I was just testing you to see if you were a liar, Sendai-san. So you are a liar after all. When we agreed to watch a movie, you promised not to do anything weird.」

         「I meant I wouldn’t do anything weird in my room.」

         「That’s what I don’t like about you, Sendai-san.」

         She said bitterly, then kicked me just above the ankle—harder this time.

         「That hurt.」

         She was clearly holding back, but it still hurt. When I complained, she kicked me in the same spot again.

         「I’m going back to my room.」

         Miyagi turned her back and started walking away.

         As she took three steps toward her door, I called out to her from behind.

         「What are you doing tomorrow, Miyagi?」

         「I’m hanging out with Maika.」

         She answered without looking back.

         「The weather forecast said it was going to rain tomorrow.」

         「You’re such a liar, Sendai-san. When I checked just a little while ago, it said it’d be sunny.」

         Miyagi turned around and refuted the fake weather report I’d given her.

         「Huh. Maybe I misremembered. Are you free the day after tomorrow?」

         「… I am.」

         「I can’t go anywhere with this thing on my neck, so let’s watch another movie together.」

         I said, smiling as I touched my neck.

         It wasn’t fair that I was the only one stuck inside. Since she was the reason I couldn’t go out, the least she could do was keep me company.

         I wasn’t expecting her to make it fun or anything—I just wanted her to stay with me.

         「As long as we’re not watching anything you like, Sendai-san.」

         「That’s fine.」

         I said with a smile, and Miyagi replied with, “Good night,” in the most annoyed voice I’d heard from her all day.

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