If Miyagi didn’t reply by noon, I’d go find her.

         That was what I had decided on, but noon slipped past in the blink of an eye, and now it was nearly two. I still hadn’t heard anything from her.

         I lay in bed, glaring at my phone. I’d promised myself I’d only wait until noon, which meant I should’ve been getting up and heading out already.

         I still had work today.

         Skipping lectures was one thing, but I couldn’t skip work—not with a student waiting for me. If I kept stalling here, waiting for a message that wasn’t coming, I’d be giving myself no time to go and look for her.

         But even knowing that, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. The thought of actually seeing Miyagi again made my stomach twist. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to talk to her normally, or even look her in the face.

         And if she were to notice that, she might misunderstand and think I regretted what happened on Sunday. I wouldn’t be able to handle that.

         But if I tried to clear it up by telling her I liked her, it might seem like I was trying to use those feelings to excuse what I’d done to her on Sunday. That wouldn’t capture how I really felt at all. And besides… if I confessed, Miyagi would almost certainly disappear again.

         「Yeah, no way.」

         I muttered to myself, stood up, and glanced at my phone again. Still no reply. Frustration welled up, heavier than my actual desire to see her.

         『Miyagi, respond to me already!』

         I fired off another message, laced more with irritation than hope. The screen stayed dark, as expected. Time dragged on, uselessly, until finally I forced myself out the door.

         The afternoon sun was bright but not unbearable, a few clouds drifting in an otherwise clear sky. I walked quickly to the station, boarded a train, and sat with my phone silent in my bag. Even as the car rocked and rattled, it didn’t make a sound.

         I pulled it out anyway, but as I thought, there was still nothing. The urge to get off at the next stop and turn back was strong, but somehow I made it all the way to my destination.

         Dragging my feet like they were made of lead, I walked toward Miyagi’s university. Eventually, the campus came into view, and I paused in my tracks.

         「… Come to think of it, I never really looked anything up, did I?」

         I knew where the school was—I’d checked back when I was apartment hunting—but I hadn’t bothered to research the campus itself. I’d been too preoccupied with Miyagi, and nothing else. With a sigh, I pulled out my phone and searched what I could.

         「I really hope I can find her…」

         I knew this before I even left the apartment, but a large, crowded university campus was really no place to be looking for someone. Even at my own university, it was almost impossible without knowing their schedule or having a way to contact them.

         I wandered around anyway, weaving through crowds of students, checking the obvious places, but there was no sign of her. For all I knew, she might not have even come to school today.

         After nearly an hour, I slumped onto a bench, drained despite having done little more than walk in circles. My phone screen was still blank. I wanted to text her, asking her where she was right now, but if she found out I was here, she’d probably run away. But still, wandering aimlessly wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

         「Maybe I should just wait by the front gate.」

         At least then I’d have a chance of catching her as she passed by.

         I stood up and started walking toward the gate. The breeze carried a bit of relief, but even so, the heat clung to me. The sky stretched above, infuriatingly blue.

         Normally I’d have called it perfect weather, but right now, the brighter it was, the more it irritated me.

I let out a sharp sigh, turning back to search one more time—when a familiar face caught my eye.

         「Oh!」

         My voice came out louder than I expected it to.

         「Utsunomiya!」

         「… Huh? W–Wait, what?! Sendai-san?」

         I hurried over, grabbing her arm before she could slip away.

         「Wha—wait, what are you doing here, Sendai-san?」

         Utsunomiya asked, bewildered.

         Just as I thought.

         Miyagi had told me she’d explained our living situation to Utsunomiya, but if that were true, Utsunomiya wouldn’t look so shocked to see me. I’d figured Miyagi hadn’t been telling me the truth, but this just confirmed it.

         「I’m looking for Miyagi.」

         I felt a little bad about doing this, but I mentioned Miyagi’s name anyway.

         「Miyagi… Oh, you mean Shiori?」

         「Yep. That Miyagi. Has she been staying over at your place?」

         「… Why are you looking for Shiori?」

         「Did she not tell you anything?」

         「Tell me what?」

         Utsunomiya frowned, sounding confused.

         Miyagi would definitely be furious if she knew I was spilling this.

         But we’d graduated from high school already, so there was no reason for us to be hiding our connection with each other from Utsunomiya anymore. If it caused problems for Miyagi, well, she’d only brought it on herself. She was the one who lied. She was the one ignoring my messages.

         「I’m actually living with Miyagi. By the looks of it, I’m guessing she didn’t tell you anything about that.」

         I said, smiling at Utsunomiya.

         「She never mentioned it. Is that true?」

         「Yeah, it is.」

         「Shiori told me she was living with a relative.」

         Utsunomiya frowned again, then sighed before continuing.

         「… I never really believed she was living with a relative, but I didn’t think her roommate would turn out to be you, Sendai-san.」

         「So she told you it was a relative, huh…」

         「Yeah.」

         It wasn’t a terrible excuse, but it was definitely a lie that could be exposed easily. In fact, that was exactly what was happening right now.

         「Why are you living with Shiori?」

         It was only natural for Utsunomiya to ask that, but it was the question I least wanted to answer. Considering how Miyagi and I had never spoken at school back in high school, I understood her curiosity. Still, it was hard to explain. So, I ended up blurting out a lie even more obvious than the one Miyagi had given her.

         「I guess it’s because we’re friends.」

         「I never believed you when you said this before, but back in high school, when I asked if you and Shiori were friends, didn’t you tell me you weren’t?」

         「Did I say that?」

         Of course I knew what she was talking about, but admitting it would only complicate things further.

         「You did.」

         「Oh. Well, no, we are friends.」

         I hadn’t had time to come up with anything better, so instead, I doubled down. Forcing the biggest smile I could manage, I looked at Utsunomiya.

         「Okay, but how did you two become close enough to live together? You didn’t seem all that close even when we were in the same classroom during our second year.」

         Her serious tone made it even harder to answer. Miyagi hadn’t told Utsunomiya anything about me—not now, not back in high school. I doubted their friendship would fall apart over a few secrets, but I still didn’t want to risk being the cause of a rift.

         「Well… I forgot my wallet once, and Miyagi ended up lending me money. That’s how we became friends.」

         「This is the first I’m hearing of that. But is borrowing money really enough for you two to become close enough to live together?」

         Unsatisfied with my vague answer, she pressed for more.

         「Hmm… well, you’ll have to get the details from Miyagi.」

         She was Miyagi’s friend—it should be up to her to decide how much to share. I didn’t want to ruin their relationship by saying too much, so I pushed the troublesome part onto Miyagi and tried steering the conversation back toward my original goal.

         「Anyway, going back to before. Miyagi’s been staying at your place, right?」

         「Before I answer that, could you let go of my arm?」

         「Oh, sorry.」

         I released the arm I’d been unconsciously holding onto this whole time. I’d grabbed her to stop her from running, but she wasn’t Miyagi. She wouldn’t flee just from seeing me.

         「Yeah, Shiori’s been staying over, but… That means the person she fought with was you, Sendai-san.」

         「Fought with?」

         Her words caught me off guard, and I found myself repeating them without thinking.

         「Shiori said she fought with the person she was living with, and that’s why she wanted to stay over at my place.」

         Utsunomiya stared at me as if piecing things together. It made sense—there had to be a reason Miyagi would stay at someone else’s place for several days, and she couldn’t exactly tell Utsunomiya what had really happened between us. Whatever excuse she’d used, I decided to go along with it.

         「Well, I guess we are fighting. We got into a little argument over something trivial.」

         「An argument? With Shiori?」

         Utsunomiya sounded surprised.

         She seemed to accept that we might bicker over something small, but “argument” clearly wasn’t a word I should’ve used.

         「Yeah, with Miyagi.」

         「I can hardly imagine Shiori fighting with anyone, let alone having an argument with them. Just what kind of relationship do you two have?」

         The conversation was veering in a strange direction, but my thoughts were elsewhere.

         To me, it wasn’t strange at all for Miyagi to argue with me. But the Miyagi that Utsunomiya knew wasn’t like that. Which meant the Miyagi I knew and the Miyagi Utsunomiya knew were two different people. I’d known that for a while now, but hearing it said aloud stirred a strange mix of superiority and irritation in me. A tingling sensation ran through my chest, as though someone had brushed a hand against my heart. My fists clenched on their own.

         「We’re just roommates. But more importantly, can you tell Miyagi to come home soon?」

         「She’s at school right now. Why not tell her yourself? If you’re willing to wait, I can call her over.」

         「That won’t work. She’ll definitely run away the moment she sees me. That’s why I want you to ask her for me.」

         「… Was your fight really that bad?」

         「I guess you could say that.」

         「Then that’s even more reason to talk face-to-face.」

         Utsunomiya really was a kind person.

         Even though she didn’t seem to believe everything I said, she was still worried for my sake.

         「Yeah, but I can’t imagine her doing anything but running if she sees me.」

         「How about you come over to my place, then? Shiori said she’d be staying over again tonight.」

         If I confronted Miyagi there, she couldn’t avoid me. But I couldn’t imagine it ending well. She’d realize I’d exposed her lie, and things would only get worse. And besides—I still wasn’t sure I could look her in the eye like before.

         「I wish I could, but I have work soon. I’m a private tutor, so I can’t just take the day off. I’d really appreciate it if you could tell Miyagi to come home.」

         This time, I decided to give her the truth, hoping she could convince Miyagi for me.

         「You’re working as a private tutor? I never would’ve guessed.」

         「Really? I’m actually pretty good at teaching, you know.」

         「Then why not come by after you’re done?」

         「It’ll be late.」

         「That’s fine.」

         She gave me her address. It seemed I had no choice but to go. I had a bad feeling about it, but at the very least, Miyagi wouldn’t treat me coldly in front of Utsunomiya.

         「Thanks. Just in case, I’ll give you my number too.」

         We exchanged contact information, and I agreed to visit Utsunomiya’s place once work was finished.

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