It was an unspoken rule that we wouldn’t mention what we did on Sunday.

         It wasn’t something we’d agreed upon or anything, but neither Miyagi nor I had mentioned it once since we came home together that day. We both knew it was a topic we shouldn’t bring up if we wanted to live normally with each other, so we spent Friday and Saturday without saying a word about it.

         But today, I couldn’t help being aware of it again.

         It had been exactly one week since last Sunday.

         And now, we were spending another Sunday together.

         「Do you want some tea?」

         I asked Miyagi, who was sitting quietly across the table from me.

         「Is it hot or cold tea?」

         「Which would you prefer?」

         「Cold tea.」

         「Okay, then I’ll get us some barley tea.」

         I stood up and brought out two cups, adding three ice cubes to each. From the fridge, I took out a bottle of barley tea, and a cool sound rang out as I poured it into the cups.

         「Here you go.」

         I said, placing one of the cups in front of Miyagi before sitting back down.

         「Thanks.」

         Miyagi said quietly, taking a sip.

         「Are you not going out today?」

         「I already told you yesterday. I’m not.」

         Miyagi’s tone was displeased.

         I knew I shouldn’t keep asking the same question over and over again, but she wasn’t behaving like I expected, so I couldn’t help wanting to double-check.

         Considering she had run away from home, I thought she’d try to avoid me once she got back, so I expected her to make up some excuse—like going out with Utsunomiya—and leave first thing in the morning. But here she was, sitting across from me without a single complaint.

         It wasn’t like the awkwardness wasn’t there, though.

         Sometimes, I found myself at a loss for words more than ever before. And I was sure Miyagi felt the same, because every so often, our conversations just trailed off into silence.

         Even so, Miyagi hadn’t run away from me these last few days, and we spent Friday and Saturday together the same way we always did. We even had breakfast today, and now we were just finishing up lunch.

         「Oh yeah. How’d things go with Utsunomiya?」

         Miyagi hadn’t mentioned Utsunomiya’s name once on Friday or Saturday.

         There was no way she hadn’t seen her at university these past few days. And if they had talked, there was no way Utsunomiya didn’t ask about us. If she had, Miyagi would’ve come home saying something like, “It’s your fault I had to go through all that, Sendai-san.” But she never did.

         I didn’t really want to ask, in case it was something she didn’t want to talk about, but since I was involved too, I couldn’t help being curious.

         「Nothing really happened.」

         Miyagi said it in a way that made it sound like something had happened.

         「Well, it’s good if nothing happened, but what did you end up telling Utsunomiya?」

         「I told Maika that after I lent you money, I asked you to tutor me, but I was too embarrassed to admit it, so I kept quiet. I also said I didn’t mention us living together because then I’d have to explain our relationship in high school, so I stayed silent about that too.」

         Her explanation was a little rough around the edges, but it was true I had helped her with her studies. It also accounted for her after-school hours, and her grades had improved, which backed up her story.

         Still, it felt like a weak excuse for staying quiet.

         「Was Utsunomiya convinced by that?」

         「I’m not sure, but I know I’ll need to actually talk to Maika about it someday… I don’t even know where I’d start, though.」

         I’d imagine it was harder for Miyagi—the one who had been paying to order me around—to explain to Utsunomiya than it was for me, who was simply accepting money from her.

         「Well, it sounds like she’s willing to buy your story, so things are fine for now, right?」

         I knew this only pushed the problem back, but for now, we had no choice but to rely on Utsunomiya’s kindness.

         「No, they’re not.」

         「Why do you say that?」

         「… Because Maika said she wanted to come over sometime.」

         The fact that Miyagi had kept this hidden until now was probably why she hadn’t mentioned Utsunomiya lately—and also why Utsunomiya had gone along with her unconvincing story.

         「Why not just have her over, then?」

         It felt like this was Utsunomiya’s condition in exchange for not prying further.

         If that was the case, I didn’t see why not.

         「No way. She said she wanted to talk to you, Sendai-san.」

         「That’s fine. I want to talk to her too.」

         「… You do?」

         「Yeah, she seems like an interesting person. I feel like we’d get along well.」

         I hadn’t noticed it back in high school, but Utsunomiya seemed like the kind of person anyone could be friends with if they just talked to her. Even if she wasn’t, I still wanted to thank her for helping me bring Miyagi home.

         「Are you trying to become friends with her?」

         Miyagi asked quietly, staring at me intently.

         She wasn’t frowning, but her gaze was piercing.

         「Yeah, I feel like she and I could be friends.」

         We’d gone to the same high school and even shared a classroom at one point. And since she was my roommate’s friend, there was no reason we couldn’t be friends too. The only question was whether Utsunomiya wanted to be friends with me, but since she wanted to come over, she was probably at least open to the idea.

         「Sendai-san.」

         Miyagi said firmly. The tone alone told me this wasn’t going to be good.

         「What is it?」

         I asked, already bracing myself for something I didn’t want to hear.

         「Maika is my friend.」

         She said with emphasis, though I hardly needed the reminder.

         To Miyagi, Utsunomiya was probably the closest thing she had to a best friend.

         It made sense she’d feel uneasy about the idea of me taking her away.

         I could understand that.

         I could understand, but accepting it was another matter.

         I was irritated that Miyagi thought Utsunomiya was so important to her that she didn’t want us to have any kind of connection.

         「I’m not going to take her away from you or anything.」

         I said it as cheerfully as I could, not wanting her to realize how I really felt underneath.

         I picked up my damp glass of barley tea and drank half of it.

         The cool liquid slid down my throat, lowering my body temperature.

         My slightly wet hands were cold, too.

         But my head wasn’t cooling down.

         This inexplicable feeling I held toward Utsunomiya—I had always known its name, but pretended not to.

         I was jealous of Utsunomiya Maika.

         I didn’t want to admit I was jealous of the person Miyagi was closest to and spent the most time with. And because I knew Utsunomiya was a good person, that jealousy weighed even heavier on my heart.

         Now that I realized I loved Miyagi, the feelings I’d tried not to notice came to light all at once.

         I let out a small sigh.

         It was normal for her to want to cherish her friends.

         That’s what I tried to tell myself, but my heart wouldn’t calm down.

         I drew in another breath and looked at Miyagi. Our eyes met like it was the most natural thing in the world.

         Ever since that day we came home together, it felt like she’d been looking my way more often.

         「Sendai-san, I’d like some more barley tea.」

         Miyagi mumbled, and when I looked at her cup, I saw that all that was left was ice. I stood up, grabbed the bottle from the fridge, and poured it into her cup.

         It felt like we were both pushing ourselves too hard.

         Normally, Miyagi would’ve gone back to her room by now. But today, she stayed with me. And instead of holding this plastic bottle, I wanted to be touching Miyagi. But I held back.

         I put the bottle back in the fridge and sat down again.

         I was at a loss for what to do.

         Our relationship should’ve been deeper than ever, but we were still just roommates. I was the one who decided we could keep calling ourselves that if it was what Miyagi needed. While I was relieved things hadn’t changed despite everything, I was also frustrated.

         My head was a mess, and I didn’t even know where to start sorting it out. Still, one thing was certain: I could feel how happy I was just to have Miyagi by my side.

         Even if we were just “roommates,” I still wanted to get closer to her.

         As I sat back down, I took a sip of barley tea and looked at Miyagi, searching for the right words to keep a conversation going.

---

< Previous Part | Next Part >