It was hot outside.

         No matter how easily I got cold, summer was always unbearable.

         Even though it was nearly evening, the air was still heavy and warm, and I would’ve much rather stayed home than gone out in the heat to buy ice cream.

         But Sendai-san didn’t seem to feel the same.

         「Come on. Walk a little faster, Miyagi.」

         About three steps ahead of me, Sendai-san turned around and called out cheerfully. Even though she was usually sensitive to the heat, she seemed to be enjoying being outside and this small trip to the convenience store together.

         「It’ll just feel hotter if I speed up.」

         「Well, if you keep walking that slowly, it’s just going to take us longer to get there.」

         Sendai-san pulled me along by the arm and started walking again. I followed, letting myself be pulled along, but my feet refused to move any faster. When she realized I wasn’t planning to speed up, she took my hand instead.

         We ended up walking side by side, hand in hand.

         Walking like this made me remember what Maika once said—that when two people live together, anything they do together can count as a date.

         Strictly speaking, she’d been talking about couples, not roommates like us.

         Still, holding hands and walking side by side like this almost felt like a date.

         「I’ll walk at a normal pace, so let go of my hand already, Sendai-san.」

         It wasn’t that Maika’s words bothered me.

         And I knew we weren’t actually on a date.

         But for some reason, I just didn’t feel like holding her hand, so I pulled away.

         「Aw, come on. It’s fine if we hold hands, isn’t it?」

         Somewhere nearby, cicadas were chirping—a reminder that it really was summer. The breeze that passed now and then was warm and sticky, and the shade from the street trees was too thin to really block the sun. The sky hadn’t started turning orange yet.

         It was hot.

         Our hands were hot. Our bodies too.

         I wanted to let go, so I gave our joined hands a firm swing, but she still didn’t let go. Instead, her grip tightened, and just as I opened my mouth to complain, Sendai-san suddenly stopped and said, “Oh, it’s Cali¹.”

         「Cali?」

         「The calico cat I told you about before. Look, she’s coming over here.」

         Following her gaze, I spotted the same calico cat I’d seen once with Maika—the one Sendai-san and I had gone looking for together.

         「Is that its name?」

         「No, I just call her that because it’s a calico cat.」

         Sendai-san said as she easily let go of my hand—the same hand she’d refused to release no matter what I did—and crouched down at the edge of the sidewalk.

         「Come here, Cali.」

         The cat stopped and looked at us for a moment before walking up to Sendai-san and letting out a soft meow.

         I wasn’t reflected in the cat’s eyes—or in Sendai-san’s.

         She crouched there, gently stroking its fur.

         「It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, huh?」

         She said.

         Since the start of summer vacation, we’d been spending most of our time at home, so she hadn’t had a chance to see the cat on her way back from school.

         「You’re still as cute as ever.」

         The cat purred and rolled onto its back, responding to her voice. It seemed friendlier than the day Maika and I had found it—maybe because it liked Sendai-san. It lay down right there on the sidewalk, inviting her to rub its belly.

         Her hand moved back and forth along its fur, and she kept petting it like she’d forgotten I was there at all.

         The cat looked happy, like it wanted her to keep petting it forever.

         But since she’d be spending all summer with me, there wouldn’t be many chances for her to see it again.

         「Hey, how long do you plan to keep petting that cat for?」

         I didn’t feel any ill will toward the cat, but I didn’t like being ignored for so long. Watching her attention shift somewhere else made my chest feel tight.

         The anxiety that had melted away the day I touched Sendai-san was starting to take shape again. It gathered somewhere inside me, making me more aware of her than ever—of every small thing she did, and how easily it could stir up my feelings.

         「Why don’t you pet her too, Miyagi?」

         It wasn’t the cat I wanted to touch.

         But I couldn’t say that out loud, so I crouched down and reached my hand out. The cat’s ears twitched the moment it noticed me. I froze for a second, hoping it wouldn’t run off, then tried to pet it gently. But before I could, it darted away.

         「Sendai-san.」

         It wasn’t her fault, but I called her name in an accusatory tone anyway.

         「I guess she feels threatened around someone of the same species.」

         「I’m not a cat, you know.」

         「I said it before, but you really remind me of one.」

         「I don’t think I’m like a cat at all.」

         I said as I stood up and tugged on Sendai-san’s arm, who was still crouched down.

         「Come on, let’s get going. It’s too hot out here.」

         「Okay, okay.」

         Sendai-san got to her feet, and I let go of her arm.

         The cat was nowhere to be seen.

         With nothing left to steal her attention, the restless feeling in my chest finally began to settle.

         I started to wonder if touching Sendai-san, and letting her touch me in return, was the only way to keep the anxiety away.

         「Miyagi, don’t space out like that. It’s dangerous.」

         Sendai-san gave me a light tap on the shoulder, and I started walking again.

         This time, she didn’t reach for my hand.

         We walked quickly through the thick, muggy air. Before I knew it, we’d reached the convenience store, bought enough ice cream for three days, and headed back home.

         Even though we walked faster on the way back, by the time we got to the refrigerator, the ice cream—which had slowly been cooked under the harsh sun—was already covered in condensation, as if it were starting to melt.

         「Sendai-san, I’m putting all the ice cream in the freezer.」

         Without waiting for an answer, I stuffed everything we’d bought inside. But Sendai-san immediately opened the freezer again.

         「Why? Let’s eat some now.」

         She pulled out a soda-flavored popsicle and a strawberry one.

         「They look kind of melted. Wouldn’t it be better to let them freeze a bit first?」

         「They’re not that melted.」

         Sendai-san didn’t look like she planned on giving in, and she headed back to her room with the popsicles. I had no choice but to follow behind her.

         We sat on the floor against her bed, and she handed me the soda-flavored one.

         I tore the wrapper open and took a bite of the sky-blue colored popsicle.

         「I told you we should’ve let them freeze a bit first.」

         I complained, taking another bite. It tasted good, but the texture was soft and a little mushy.

         「Oh, come on. It’s only a little melted.」

         「I don’t like it. It feels like it’s going to slide right off the stick.」

         「Well, guess you’d better eat it quickly, then.」

         Sendai-san said, taking a big bite from hers.

         There were plenty of things I wanted to say to her, but instead, I stayed quiet and kept eating.

         It was unbearably hot outside, but eating this popsicle almost made me glad we’d gone out to buy it.

         I glanced to the side and saw Sendai-san looking pleased.

         「Want a taste?」

         Sendai-san asked, holding out her strawberry popsicle toward me. I hadn’t meant to bother her, but she offered anyway. I looked at the red popsicle—already a third gone—then turned my eyes to her instead.

         「Miyagi?」

         She called my name, and I took her by the arm. But instead of biting her popsicle, I licked her lips with my tongue.

         It tasted sweet.

         But that alone wasn’t enough to tell what flavor it was, so I licked her lips again—this time making sure to taste the faint strawberry from the popsicle.

         「Sendai-san, your lips are cold.」

         Even then, I still couldn’t make out the flavor.

         「… Well, I was eating a popsicle, you know. But when I asked if you wanted a taste, I meant the popsicle, not my lips.」

         「If it’s just a taste, does it really matter where it comes from?」

         「Yes, it does. And weren’t you the one who said you’d had enough kissing for today? Did you already forget?」

         「That wasn’t a kiss. I was just having a taste.」

         And because it wasn’t a kiss, I could touch her lips if I wanted to.

         Even if it had been a kiss, when I said I’d had enough for today, that only applied to her—not me.

         「In that case, let me have a taste too.」

         「No.」

         I said, pressing my half-eaten popsicle against Sendai-san’s neck.

         「Wha—hey, that’s cold!」

         Sendai-san exclaimed louder than I expected and tried to back away.

         With the faint stain of melted popsicle on her neck, I leaned forward, bit her there, and stopped her from moving any further.

         I’d bitten her neck so many times before that my teeth sank in easily. I held back, careful not to hurt her so she wouldn’t try to escape, and pressed my tongue against her skin.

         Her neck, chilled slightly by the air conditioner, tasted so sweet it didn’t seem like human skin. The spot that should’ve tasted like soda instead tasted like something else—a mix of Sendai-san’s scent and sweat.

         「Miyagi.」

         She tapped my shoulder lightly, and I pulled my lips away—only to bite her again. Then, I traced my tongue slowly down her neck. The sweetness had already faded, but I still pressed my lips against her collarbone, biting gently again and again. She stayed quiet this time, unlike the day I’d touched her.

         That day was burned into my memory. No matter how much I tried to forget, I couldn’t. I could still recall everything: her voice, her warmth, the way my fingers had gotten wet.

         I wanted to see her look at me that way again, like I was the only one she wanted. I even wanted her to touch me again too. But doing things like this tied us together too deeply, and I knew it wasn’t something we should keep doing.

         「Hey, Miyagi!」

         Sendai-san smacked my shoulder hard.

         So I bit her shoulder back just as hard.

         The popsicle in my hand had started to melt, sticky syrup running down my fingers.

         「Miyagi, your popsicle’s going to melt all over the floor.」

         I heard her but pretended not to, and kept biting her shoulder.

         Sendai-san took the popsicle from my hand and called my name again. I reluctantly looked up at her.

         「Open your mouth.」

         Her voice was low, and when I did as I was told, she stuck the popsicle into my mouth.

         I had no choice but to finish the rest of the half-melted popsicle before wiping my sticky hands with a tissue.

         「My hands are all sticky.」

         It wasn’t a wet tissue, so of course it didn’t help much.

         「Obviously. And thanks to you doing something weird, now I’m sticky too.」

         Sendai-san sounded exasperated as she finished her own popsicle.

         「I’m a cat, so it’s fine if I lick you, isn’t it?」

         「Huh?」

         「You said I was like a cat when we were walking to the convenience store, didn’t you?」

         「I did, but why would you do that while we’re eating?」

         「Do I really need a reason? Besides, if I hadn’t done it, you probably would’ve, so I just beat you to it.」

         「You’re such an idiot, Miyagi. If you’re going to do something like that, at least wait until we’re done with our popsicles.」

         Sendai-san said, then pressed her lips to my neck.

         Her breath was warm and damp—it tickled, and it felt nice.

         But I’d already said I’d had enough kisses from her today, and if I let her keep going, I knew it wouldn’t stop there. So I pushed her away.

         「Miyagi. Are you free the day after tomorrow?」

         Instead of complaining, she just asked about my plans.

         「Yeah, I’m free.」

         「Then how about we go out that day, like we talked about before?」

         「Sure. Where are we going?」

         「You’ll find out when we get there.」

         Sendai-san said happily with a smile on her face.

---

1. In Japanese, the word for “calico cat” is 三毛猫 (mikeneko). If you break the kanji down, the 三 (mi) means “three,” the 毛 (ke) means “hair” or “fur,” and 猫 (neko) means “cat.” Calico cats are a breed that have a tri-colored coat — and supposedly, 99.9% of them are female.
   In the original text, Sendai refers to this stray cat as “ミケちゃん” (mike-chan), which, as you may have noticed now, is because the cat is tri-colored.
   I’ve decided to make the choice and localize it as “Cali” because it was a similar way of short-handing the word for “calico.” It wouldn’t make much sense leaving it in Japanese (English speakers would then be like, “who the hell is Mike?“), especially when Sendai’s next line explicitly states she nicknamed this cat based on its coat. ↩︎

---

< Previous Part | Next Part >