「Shiori, are you free this Sunday? There’s a movie I wanna watch.」

         Maika, sitting across from me, asked as she finished off her chicken nanban¹.

         Sunday of all days?

         I sighed internally.

         I didn’t want to say it, but I couldn’t keep quiet either.

         「… Sorry, I’m hanging out with Sendai-san this Sunday. Can we do next weekend?」

         I answered, my voice mixing with the chatter of the crowded family restaurant.

         I hadn’t wanted to mention Sendai-san’s name, afraid Maika might bring up visiting again, but I couldn’t lie to her anymore.

         「Oh, sure. What are you doing with Sendai-san?」

         「We’re going shopping.」

         I replied before reaching for another piece of chicken karaage.

         「Oh? So you two are close enough to go shopping together, huh?」

         I couldn’t tell if she was smiling or smirking, but either way, Maika looked at me with an oddly happy expression.

         「Yeah, I guess.」

         「You two don’t really seem to have the same tastes, though. What are you shopping for?」

         「Earrings. Sendai-san said she wanted to pick some out for me.」

         This Sunday, I was finally going to fulfill the promise I’d made to Sendai-san—a punishment she’d given me the day we came back from Maika’s place. I’d been putting it off long enough.

         「I see. I guess it has been a month since you got your ears pierced. Still, it feels a little surreal that you and Sendai-san are close enough for her to pick out earrings for you.」

         Maika said, glancing at my ears hidden behind my hair. Then, as if remembering something, she added,

         「Speaking of which, do I have permission to come over sometime?」

         So there was no dodging this topic after all.

         I swallowed back a sigh, then chased it with a sip of oolong tea.

         「Oh, yeah. Sendai-san seemed to be okay with it.」

         I’d been avoiding the issue since Maika hadn’t pressed, but I finally had to give her an answer.

         「That’s good. I’ve been curious about what your new room looks like. Am I allowed to come over whenever, then?」

         「How about next month?」

         「Uh, isn’t that kind of far?」

         「Did you want to come sooner?」

         If possible, I wanted a little more time before Maika visited.

         Life with Sendai-san looked normal on the surface, but it wasn’t quite back to what it used to be. I doubted it would be even by next month, but at least by then, maybe we could act more like roommates again.

         「Yeah, I can do next month.」

         Maika said easily, as if she wasn’t in any rush.

         「Okay, sounds good. I’ll check with Sendai-san too.」

         「Got it. I’ll probably be free anytime.」

         Relieved by her lighthearted reply, I ate the last piece of karaage.

         The karaage Sendai-san made tasted better than this, I thought as I swallowed the overly seasoned chicken.

         「What are you drinking, Shiori?」

         After I set down my chopsticks, Maika pointed at the cup in front of me.

         「Oolong tea.」

         「Can I have a sip?」

         「… Sure.」

         「Oh, never mind.」

         Even though she’d asked, she immediately changed her mind, stood up, and went to the drink bar. She came back with a glass of ginger ale instead.

         「Even though you wanted some of my oolong tea, you got something else instead?」

         「Well, I didn’t actually want oolong tea.」

         「Then why did you ask for a sip?」

         「You don’t really like sharing your drink with other people, right, Shiori?」

         Maika said with a smile.

         「It’s not like I don’t like it or anything…」

         「Really? Even in high school, I never once saw you ask for a sip of someone’s drink, or offer yours.」

         She was right.

         I really didn’t like sharing drinks with other people.

         But I’d realized that always refusing only made things more awkward, so I’d taught myself not to say no every single time.

         「Well, it doesn’t bother me, so I don’t mind if you don’t like it.」

         Maika said cheerfully, sipping her ginger ale.

         「… I’m not a big fan of sharing drinks, but it’s not like I hate it.」

         「What about with Sendai-san?」

         「Huh?」

         「Oh, I mean, you seemed fine with it when it was her. At my place the other day, she took a sip of your drink like it was nothing, and then you drank from it after, too.」

         Now that she mentioned it, she was right.

         Back at Maika’s place, Sendai-san had sipped my orange juice, and I’d finished the rest before we left.

         It wasn’t something so bad that I wanted it erased from Maika’s memory or anything, but there’d been no reason for her to see something like that. She seemed to be getting the impression that, for me, Sendai-san was different from everyone else.

         But Sendai-san wasn’t some special exception.

         The only reason I hadn’t minded sharing drinks with her was because of all the orders I’d made her do. We’d touched each other so much that sharing a drink didn’t feel like such a big deal in comparison.

         「I probably wasn’t paying attention that day because I was so surprised at seeing Sendai-san show up so suddenly.」

         I wasn’t sure if that was a good enough excuse for letting her take my drink like it was the most natural thing in the world, but for now I needed something. I didn’t want to lie to Maika, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth either.

         「I see.」

         Maika said in a tone that didn’t sound convinced.

         「Oh yeah, have you and Sendai-san been talking since then?」

         It was abrupt, but instead of dragging out the conversation, I decided to change the subject.

         「Yeah, she’s contacted me a few times, mostly to thank me for helping get you back home. Sendai-san’s quite courteous.」

         Sendai-san had never mentioned that she’d been keeping in touch with Maika.

         It wasn’t something she needed to tell me, but I didn’t like it. Rather than hearing it from Maika, I would’ve preferred to hear it directly from her.

         But I knew I shouldn’t be thinking like this.

         I wanted to know everything Sendai-san did when I wasn’t around, and part of me even wished I could restrict her activities somehow. I’d been aware of these feelings since high school, but now they were becoming impossible to ignore.

         I sipped my oolong tea and listened as Maika moved on.

         Whether she was still curious or not, she dropped the subject of sharing drinks, and our conversation shifted from Sendai-san to school. After several more minutes of rambling, we parted ways.

         On the train home, I still couldn’t stop thinking about Sendai-san. She was working tonight, so she wouldn’t be home until late. I’d thought spending time with Maika would take my mind off her, but in the end I was still thinking about her anyway—wondering what she talked about with her student, what kind of smile she showed her.

         It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

         I climbed the stairs to the third floor, opened the front door, and slipped off my shoes.

         Sendai-san wasn’t back yet.

         In my room, I pulled three manga volumes from the shelf. I’d read them before, so I finished them quickly and grabbed more. By the time I was on the sixth volume, there was a knock on my door. I set my manga aside, opened it, and saw Sendai-san standing there.

         「Welcome back.」

         「I’m home. I was going to brew some tea. Want some?」

         「Sure, but what about your dinner?」

         「I ate a light meal before work, so I’m fine.」

         She said before heading to the kitchen to make tea. I set out two mugs while she worked, then sat in my usual spot. A few minutes later she placed the mugs on the table and sat down across from me.

         「Thanks.」

         After thanking her, I decided to mention something Maika and I had talked about.

         「Sendai-san, Maika said she wanted to come over next month.」

         「Next month, huh? Isn’t that kind of far?」

         「Not really. It’ll come before you know it. When are you free?」

         「Any day I’m not working. You can decide on the details, Miyagi.」

         She answered easily without even checking her schedule.

         Maika’s comment from earlier made me incredibly conscious of Sendai-san’s mug.

         She brought it to her lips, her throat moved, and then she set it back down.

         If it were anyone else’s drink, I wouldn’t have wanted to touch it. But with Sendai-san, it never bothered me—and it still doesn’t. I wasn’t even sure what I was hoping to find by staring at it, yet just seeing the mug in front of her made my heart flutter.

         ― It was best not to think about it too much.

         Sendai-san and I had nothing in common. If I hadn’t run into her at the bookstore that day, and if she hadn’t left her wallet behind, none of this would’ve happened. Because our relationship had such a unique beginning, she felt different from other people. That was all there was to it.

         「What’s up? Is there something interesting about this mug?」

         Sendai-san asked as she examined her mug.

         「No, I was just thinking about how good this tea tastes.」

         I gulped down the rest of the hot tea before getting up.

         「Miyagi?」

         「I’m kind of tired today, so I’m going back to my room.」

         「Wait.」

         She stood up and grabbed my hand before I could leave.

         But before her lips could reach my fingertips, I called out her name.

         「Sendai-san.」

         「What is it?」

         She stared at me intently, and I stared back at her.

         Just like in high school, she wore her long hair in a half updo, the sides braided and pinned back. Back then I’d thought the brownish shade looked out of place in a school setting, but now, as a college student, it suited her perfectly. The short skirts of her uniform had been replaced by longer ones in her casual wardrobe. And while she still rarely buttoned her blouses all the way up, she often wore other things these days, too.

         Sendai-san looked mostly the same, but many things about her had changed.

         「Give me your hand.」

         I said, looking at both of ours. She frowned slightly.

         「Are you telling me to let go?」

         「I’m telling you to let go so I can see your hand, Sendai-san.」

         「… Okay.」

         She released my hand and placed her own on top of the one I held out.

         She still obeyed me even when I wasn’t ordering her.

         That much hadn’t changed since high school.

         I pressed my lips against the back of her hand.

         The moment my lips touched her skin, her hand trembled so much it startled me. It didn’t seem like she was against it, but I let go instinctively, as if she’d just rejected me.

         It wasn’t that I had to touch her.

         I just wanted to be a little closer.

         「Sorry, I was just a little surprised.」

         She said, flustered, still holding her hand out. When I didn’t take it again, she added, “It’s okay now.”

         I took her hand and bit down on her fingertip.

         This time, she didn’t move.

         I bit harder, and her hand stiffened. My teeth sank into her calloused finger until I felt the bone, then I lifted my head.

         「That hurt.」

         She muttered. I looked at the faint teeth marks I’d left. As I brushed them with my fingertip, she suddenly grabbed my hand.

         「Miyagi. You haven’t forgotten about Sunday, have you?」

         「I haven’t. I just hope you don’t pick out any weird earrings.」

         「I’ll choose something cute for you.」

         She said with a smile.

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1. Chicken nanban is a Portuguese-inspired dish that combines fried chicken with nanban sauce (rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin and sugar) and tartar sauce. ↩︎

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