「Did you find out what the differences between seals and sea lions are yet?」

         Miyagi asked, and I answered while looking at my tablet.

         「Hmm, maybe it’s the way they swim, or whether they have external ears or not. Things like that, I think.」

         After eating the bento boxes we’d bought on our way back from the aquarium, Miyagi had followed me into my room as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and she’d been sitting next to me ever since.

         「External ears?」

         Miyagi asked, and I looked up at her. She should’ve been reading the pamphlet we’d brought back from the aquarium, but somehow, our eyes met instead.

         「Yeah, it means they have ears that stick out. Like this.」

         I reached out and traced the outline of her ear with my fingers, then gently tugged on her earlobe. I could feel the firmness of her earring beneath my thumb before letting go. I was about to bring my lips to it, but before I could, Miyagi quietly called out to me.

         「Sendai-san, is it seals or sea lions that have the external ears?」

         「Sea lions. It says here they’ve got these little flaps that look like earlobes.」

         I said as I handed Miyagi the tablet—and kissed her on the ear.

         「What exactly do my ears have to do with this?」

         Miyagi asked, her voice cold as she pushed me away.

         「Well, it’s not like there are any sea lions around.」

         「Does that mean you’d kiss its ear if there was one around?」

         「Sea lions are pretty cute, but I don’t think I’d kiss one. Anyway, didn’t you want to see what the differences were?」

         I asked, pointing at the tablet I’d handed to her.

         「I do.」

         She muttered, turning her attention to the screen.

         「We should go and see the differences for ourselves next time.」

         「I thought we were supposed to go to the zoo next?」

         Miyagi asked, her eyes still on the tablet.

         「We can go to both the zoo and the aquarium. Don’t you want to see the sea lions’ ears for yourself, Miyagi?」

         「Yeah, I do.」

         「Then it’s settled. We’ll visit both.」

         「… Are you sure? I don’t remember you liking fish enough to warrant visiting the aquarium more than once.」

         She asked, lifting her head from the tablet screen showing a close-up of sea lions’ ears to look at me.

         It’s rare for her to be this considerate of my feelings, I thought to myself.

         Miyagi had been a lot more tolerant since summer break began, but today she was so open and kind that it almost scared me. It felt like I was getting all the best parts of summer break at once—even though we still had half of it left to go—and using them all up this early felt like such a waste.

         I wanted all the best parts of summer to be spaced out evenly, just so this happiness could last longer.

         I couldn’t help thinking that—but maybe it was just my way of admitting I wasn’t expecting much from the days ahead. If I treated today as the peak of summer break, then it would only make the rest of our time together feel like it could never live up to it.

         「I really enjoyed the aquarium today, so I do want to go again. You said you had fun too, didn’t you, Miyagi?」

         I answered, believing there were still better days waiting for us.

         It would’ve been boring if the aquarium were only about fish, but it had become an important place to me now. Miyagi had looked like she was genuinely having fun, and the penguins she liked so much were cute too. I wanted to go back as many times as we could—and it would make me happy if Miyagi felt the same way.

         「… I mean, you’re right.」

         「Then let’s go again sometime. We can do it before or after the zoo.」

         「I guess that works.」

         She didn’t exactly promise we’d go, but her answer sounded like she was agreeing to it.

         Miyagi set the tablet down on the table.

         「Sendai-san.」

         She said softly, looking at me.

         「What is it?」

         I asked, waiting to hear what she wanted to say.

         Time seemed to slow around us, but Miyagi didn’t say another word.

         「Miyagi?」

         Even after a long pause, she didn’t respond. She dropped her gaze, as if hesitating.

         「What’s wrong?」

         I asked, confused. Then, she suddenly grabbed my arm.

         Without answering my question, she pressed her lips against mine.

         I didn’t mind kissing—whether I was the one kissing her or the one being kissed, I liked it all the same.

         But I hadn’t expected her to kiss me out of nowhere, and as our lips touched, I couldn’t help but wonder what had made her do it.

         Maybe it was her way of thanking me for taking her to the aquarium.

         That was the only explanation I could come up with before she pulled away.

         Our eyes met.

         But before she could say anything, I closed mine—and she kissed me again.

         It really did feel like I was taking in all the best parts of summer break way too soon.

         Today felt almost too good to be true.

         Moments like this made it seem as if Miyagi and I were actually dating.

         Before I could even figure out why she’d kissed me a second time, her lips left mine, and she grabbed my arm tightly.

         When I looked at her closely, I saw that her cheeks were faintly flushed.

         「Miyagi.」

         I called her name, though I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say.

         Her hand, which had been gripping my arm, slipped up to my shoulder. Then she leaned her weight against me, and I toppled backward without much resistance.

         From the cold floor, I looked up at Miyagi. Our eyes met again.

         I brushed my hand against her slightly flushed cheek.

         「Close your eyes.」

         She said softly, her gaze still fixed on mine.

         「I don’t want to.」

         She was probably planning to kiss me again, but it felt like such a waste to close my eyes.

         I wanted to keep looking at her—at this version of her I might never see again, flushed and leaning over me, wanting to kiss me.

         But Miyagi didn’t seem willing to grant me that wish.

         Even though she was the one who’d pushed me down, she started to pull away, so I caught her arm.

         「Just kiss me like this.」

         What I really wanted, more than the kiss itself, was to ask what she was feeling right now.

         But I knew that if I did, it would put a stop to everything that was happening right now.

         And if that was the choice I had to make, then I’d rather have the kiss than nothing at all.

         「Miyagi.」

         I called her name again. When she didn’t move, I added, “You can still kiss me even if I don’t close my eyes, can’t you?”

         「No, I can’t.」

         She said firmly.

         「Then let’s do something else instead.」

         「What are you talking about?」

         「I’m saying I’m fine with it.」

         I moved my hand from Miyagi’s arm to her neck, tracing along the back of it. As I pulled her closer, she spoke in a faintly displeased tone.

         「Fine with what, exactly?」

         「You pushed me down, and I didn’t resist. So I’m saying you can go further if you want.」

         「I’m not fine with that, though.」

         「Then how about you keep the promise you made me last time?」

         I ran my hand along the side of Miyagi’s waist through the fabric of her T-shirt. Then, I took hold of the hem and slowly lifted it.

         I had no intention of taking her clothes off.

         If I did, Miyagi would probably run away—and if I wasn’t careful, she might never let me touch her again.

         Just as I’d raised her shirt to just below her ribs, she flinched slightly, and I stopped.

         「Sendai-san, what promise are you talking about?」

         She asked, sounding annoyed.

         「After you were done touching me last time, I said I wanted to touch you too, but you said “not now,” remember?」

         「That doesn’t mean I promised you could do it next time.」

         「If it wasn’t okay then, doesn’t that mean it should be okay now?」

         「No, it doesn’t. I don’t want to do it right now either, so stop.」

         Miyagi said in an irritated tone as she tried to grab my hand, but I slipped it under her T-shirt before she could.

         I traced the outline of her ribs, my palm brushing against her smooth skin, and stopped just below her chest. I stroked the side of her body with my fingers, as if to pour my warmth into her, then moved my hand around to her back.

         I’d touched Miyagi directly like this once before.

         Back then, the room had been dark, and I couldn’t see her face—but now, I could see everything clearly.

         Her cheeks were more flushed than before.

         Her lips were slightly parted, like she had something she wanted to say.

         I wanted to pull her close and kiss her, yet at the same time, I wanted to keep looking at her like this.

         When I gently pressed on her spine, just above her waist, Miyagi’s body twitched, and she furrowed her brows.

         「I told you I didn’t want to do it right now, didn’t I?」

         Her voice sounded irritated, but she didn’t actually try to stop my hand.

         I ran my fingers up along her spine, and Miyagi called my name again—her tone firmer this time.

         「Sendai-san, stop.」

         「Don’t say that. Just let it happen.」

         My hand moved to the back of her bra.

         I felt the clasp under my fingertips and hesitated.

         I wanted to undo it, but I also didn’t want to do anything that would upset Miyagi today.

         「Can I take this off?」

         I asked, and without a second’s pause, she answered,

         「Absolutely not.」

         ― Right. I figured as much.

         I’d asked knowing exactly what she’d say, but I had no intention of forcing her to let me.

         Still, I didn’t want to stop, so I moved my hand to her chest and touched her over her bra. As soon as I did, Miyagi grabbed my hand.

         「How come you don’t want to touch me—or let me touch you—right now?」

         If she didn’t want to do it today, I was fine with waiting until she was ready, but I at least wanted to know why.

         But Miyagi didn’t answer.

         「At least tell me the reason.」

         「I’ll tell you if you move your hand.」

         Miyagi said, sounding genuinely displeased.

         「Then you’ll have to let go of my hand first, or I can’t move mine.」

         I countered, and Miyagi released my hand.

         I pulled mine away too.

         「Is this good enough?」

         I asked, and Miyagi averted her gaze before finally speaking, her voice soft and uncertain.

         「… The reason I don’t want to right now is because… it’ll just make everything confusing. I feel like it’d mess up the memories I have of us going to the aquarium today.」

         Her words completely caught me off guard.

         I couldn’t take it any other way than her saying that both touching me and being touched by me felt good.

         And on top of that, it sounded like she meant it would feel so good she’d lose all sense of what was happening—to the point where the memories of our trip to the aquarium today would get muddled.

         Would Miyagi really think something like that?

         Well, since she’d said it herself, it had to be true—yet I still couldn’t quite believe it.

         「It’s kind of crazy hearing that from you. Are you okay?」

         I couldn’t help but worry that maybe Miyagi had lost a screw holding something important together in her head.

         「Of course I’m not okay. Now fix my T-shirt for me already.」

         She shot back bluntly, glaring at me.

         Now I really wouldn’t be surprised if I just suddenly died today, I thought as I pulled her T-shirt back down, smoothed out the fabric, and watched Miyagi sit back up.

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