When I woke up, I noticed the black cat plush wasn’t around.

         I reached around, searching for the stuffed animal that should’ve been next to me.

         My body, still half-asleep, felt stiff, as if I’d been stuck to the bed with duct tape. As I fought against my heavy eyelids, my hand came into contact with something firmer and smoother. It clearly wasn’t a stuffed animal, but something much larger instead.

         Not knowing what it was, I grabbed on tightly.

         I could clearly feel warmth under the palm of my hand.

         I thought I even heard a groan along with it.

         ― There was something strange on my bed that wasn’t a stuffed animal.

         My eyes, which had been closed until now, suddenly bolted open.

         「… Huh?」

         In front of my eyes was not the black cat, but Sendai-san, who wasn’t supposed to be here.

         And what’s more, she was really close.

         Our bodies weren’t touching, but if I reached out even slightly, I’d be able to touch her cheek. And it seemed like what I’d touched was, in fact, her head.

         I ran my fingers through her hair.

         Her long hair fell softly, as if escaping between my fingers.

         Her eyes remained closed.

         Now that I thought about it, I’d fallen asleep in Sendai-san’s room last night.

         The weather was all windy and terrible.

         I hated nights like that. Scary things always happened in TV shows and manga whenever the weather was awful or the wind too strong, so whenever I stayed up too long, I’d always end up too scared to fall asleep, fearing that something might happen.

         But unlike before, it didn’t scare me as much anymore.

         And the reason for that was lying right in front of me.

         「… Sendai-san.」

         I called her name gently as I touched her cheek and pinched it lightly.

         Sendai-san shuffled around, but still didn’t wake up.

         I had always used to be alone all night, so just knowing that someone else was in the apartment with me nowadays made me feel a lot safer. I wasn’t good with thunder either, but I could deal with the rumbling without needing to crawl under my covers.

         I had planned to deal with it alone last night.

         But instead, Sendai-san had come over to my room.

         I felt more at ease actually having her by my side than just being able to sense her presence on the other side of the wall.

         I slid my hand from her cheek down to her lips, tracing them with my fingertip.

         These lips had touched me so many times, even while we were on this bed.

         Memories suddenly started rushing back into my mind, making me want to leap straight out of bed, but I kept myself in place.

         A considerable amount of time had passed since that day already, so I wanted to be able to recall those memories without getting flustered. But the more I thought about it, the more separated it became from every other day, and it would turn that Sunday into something more special than it should be.

         It was best to act as normal as possible.

         I closed my eyes and let the memories that had surfaced sink in.

         Yesterday, I’d mustered up the courage to do something I normally wouldn’t have done and chose not to leave Sendai-san’s room. I didn’t want to hog her bed all to myself while she stayed up all night, so that was how we ended up in the situation we were in now.

         Everything’s fine.

         I kept my eyes open and stared at Sendai-san.

         She seemed to be sleeping soundly, without a care in the world.

         Sendai-san, who was curled up at the edge of the bed, looked more cute than pretty like this.

         I pinched her cheek once again, but was met with no reaction.

         I was having trouble falling back asleep, so I was a little jealous of how soundly Sendai-san was sleeping. It was her bed, so it made sense she’d sleep well in it, but the more I thought about it, the more unfair it felt that she could just rest there with such a calm, untroubled expression. After all, the reason my life had been filled with so many more moments that demanded I summon my courage was because of her.

         — It was kind of irritating.

         So I slipped my finger just slightly into her mouth.

         Her hand twitched in protest when my fingertip brushed against her teeth. A drowsy, “… What?” came from her, and I used her parted lips as an opportunity to slowly push my finger deeper.

         My fingertip grazed her warm tongue, and when I pressed lightly, she bit down. Tracing my finger along the edge of her teeth made her bite harder, until I finally pulled it free.

         「Don’t wake me up so weirdly.」

         Sendai-san said, furrowing her brow—a rare sight.

         「I didn’t do anything to wake you up. You just woke up on your own.」

         「I think anyone would get woken up if they had a finger shoved in their mouth. If you’re going to wake me up, just do it normally next time.」

         Her voice sounded more dazed than usual, and she followed it up with a yawn.

         When I tugged lightly at her bangs, she ruffled her hair with a tired sigh and shut her eyes again.

         「Are you going back to sleep?」

         「Yeah, I’m still sleepy.」

         「But if you’re already awake, you should get up.」

         「Not happening.」

         Sendai-san answered curtly, keeping her eyes closed.

         I reached out and touched her ear.

         「You should sleep some more too, Miyagi.」

         She mumbled as she brushed my hand away.

         Instead of replying, I touched her ear once again, tracing the outline of it as if to get a feel for its shape.

         My finger slid down to her earlobe, which, unlike mine, was bare. It felt cooler than her cheek, and also very soft and pleasant. My gentle touch didn’t seem to be enough to get Sendai-san to open her eyes. But when I slipped my finger into her ear, she grabbed onto my arm.

         「Hey, that tickles.」

         Sendai-san had never stopped even when I said the same thing to her last time I was on her bed.

         I tugged on her ear, hard.

         I wondered how she’d react if I kissed her ear right now, but I quickly shoved the intrusive thought out of my mind and let go of her ear. Then, I lifted my body up slightly and placed my lips on Sendai-san’s neck instead.

         She flinched.

         I couldn’t tell if her eyes had opened, but the sweet scent of her shampoo filled my nose.

         She always smelled good.

         I licked her skin as if tasting it, then bit down hard, until my teeth sank into the firm muscle beneath the softness. She smacked my shoulder. I eased up, but continued to lick her with my tongue. This time, she shoved me back with more force.

         Reluctantly, I pulled away—only to find her half off the bed. Panicking, I caught her sweatshirt and pulled her toward me with all my strength.

         She flopped back onto the mattress, facedown with a soft thud.

         「Why are you trying to wake me up in all these creative ways?」

         Sendai-san asked, stroking the spot I’d just bitten.

         「I’m just bored.」

         「So you decided to bite me just because you were bored? Isn’t that a little weird?」

         「Are you not going to get up?」

         「Nope.」

         「Fine, then I’m going back to my room.」

         Suddenly, the hand she’d been using to stroke her neck stopped. Sendai-san, still lying face down, turned to face me.

         「Why don’t you just sleep a bit longer with me? You don’t have any plans for today, right?」

         This time, it was my sweatshirt being tugged.

         「I don’t, but…」

         Even without parting the curtains, I could tell the weather was still terrible outside. So even if I did have plans, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere anyway. But still, I wasn’t sure if I should stay in bed like this with Sendai-san.

         「Don’t worry. I’ll keep the promise I made you yesterday.」

         She wouldn’t do anything strange to me until I left her room.

         That was the promise she’d made yesterday.

         And I still hadn’t left the room yet.

         Sendai-san, who was known for breaking promises, always seemed to keep the ones she swore on my earrings.

         That fact alone reassured me.

         It made me feel like I could actually trust Sendai-san more than I used to.

         These earrings were special.

         Maybe they were kind of like a charm, just like she said, after all.

         I reached up and touched my earrings before giving her my answer.

         「Fine. Just for another thirty minutes.」

         「How about an hour?」

         Sendai-san said as she inched closer, and I pushed her away with just enough force that she wouldn’t fall off the bed.

         「No, thirty minutes.」

         「Okay, thirty minutes it is, then.」

         Sendai-san said quietly as she closed her eyes again.

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