I stared at the piercing gun on the table.

         With it, I could pierce Sendai-san’s ears.

         It was something I’d wished for back in high school, and something I still wanted even after we entered university.

         And now she was giving me that right.

         I brought my fingers to my own ear.

         As I fiddled with my earring, I looked at her.

         She accepted just about anything that came out of my mouth.

         Even now, if I rejected this present and asked for something else, I was sure she’d give it to me. If I said I wanted to trade it for the right to order her around, she’d probably agree to it. And if I told her to lick my feet, she’d probably obey.

         There were very few things Sendai-san ever refused to do.

         And one of them was letting me pierce her ears.

         I took a sip of my iced tea, which tasted a little watered down now that the ice had melted.

         Why is she suddenly letting me do this?

         I couldn’t stop wondering why she’d decided to get her ears pierced now, when she’d insisted so firmly in the past that she never would.

         「Sendai-san, didn’t you say you didn’t want to get your ears pierced?」

         「I did, but I also said I’d be willing to consider it if it was for a special occasion, remember?」

         「… Yeah.」

         Small flower earrings adorned my ears.

         When she’d pierced them for me, I’d asked why she didn’t get her own done—and now, as if it were nothing, Sendai-san brushed aside the stubborn refusal she’d always had toward getting her ears pierced.

         「Is today supposed to be some kind of special occasion?」

         「Is it not?」

         「Then what’s the occasion?」

         「It’s your birthday.」

         Sendai-san said casually.

         「Isn’t it weird to treat my birthday as a special occasion for you? Usually, people feel that way about their own birthdays, not someone else’s.」

         My birthday didn’t seem like the kind of day that should make Sendai-san reconsider getting her ears pierced—something she’d always been against.

         「Well, there’s no point doing it on my birthday.」

         「Why not?」

         If this had been last year, I would’ve pierced Sendai-san’s ears without even stopping to wonder why.

         But now, watching her act like she hadn’t been against this the whole time made me want to understand what she was thinking.

         Without knowing the reason, I didn’t want to reach for the piercing gun sitting on the table.

         「Because there’s something I want to swear to you on your birthday using these earrings.」

         Sendai-san said quietly, staring at me intently.

         「What would that be?」

         「That next year, we’ll have another round cake together, just like today. The promise we made last time was only for this year, right?」

         Just like how I’d wanted to pierce her ears, I also wanted to celebrate my birthday the same way again next year.

         I wanted to eat another round cake with her.

         But having her swear on it terrified me.

         A vow like that meant more than any regular promise. It tied words to actions and made them real. Sendai-san had never broken a vow when she swore on my earrings—and if she were to make another one today, after I pierced her ears, I knew it’d be something she wouldn’t go back on.

         But that was exactly why I was so scared.

         If she ever broke a vow that was supposed to be unbreakable—if she disappeared, leaving me to spend my next birthday alone—I knew I’d never be able to trust Sendai-san again.

         「You don’t have to swear anything to me.」

         I was so afraid of her swearing anything—even if it was on my own earrings—that I couldn’t bring myself to accept what Sendai-san was offering me.

         「Okay, what about a regular promise, then?」

         「If it’s just a promise, you don’t need to get your ears pierced for that.」

         I wanted Sendai-san to stay the person who would never betray me.

         「I do, though. I want the promise to be somewhere you can always see it.」

         She said softly.

         「Why are you going this far for something like this?」

         「Because I want to. Do I need any other reason?」

         「… No.」

         「Then it’s settled. My piercings will serve as a reminder of our promise—that we’ll celebrate like this again next year, and hopefully for many years after that, too.」

         Right now, two empty plates and a piercing gun sat on the table.

         Sendai-san’s voice sounded sweeter than usual, and the happy past I’d tucked away in a photo album felt like it was slowly melting into the present.

         「… No.」

         「Why not? You promised me the same thing too, didn’t you? That you’d celebrate my birthday next year, and the years after that. This is the same thing.」

         She said, her tone like she was gently scolding a child.

         「Is it really the same thing?」

         「Yeah, it is.」

         Her calm, reassuring voice lingered in my ears.

         When I looked at her, Sendai-san met my gaze and said, “You don’t need to worry so much.”

         I slowly let out the words I’d been holding back.

         「… Fine. Promise me we’ll celebrate like this again next year.」

         「Okay.」

         Sendai-san smiled as she set a cotton ball and some disinfectant on the table.

         「Are you really okay with this?」

         「Yep. I’ll let you decide where to make the holes, Miyagi.」

         I picked up the piercing gun, and Sendai-san instructed me to sit next to her.

         I did as she said and moved beside her, and she handed me a pen.

         I already knew the steps by heart.

         Disinfect her ears, mark the spots on her earlobes, then use the piercing gun.

         That was all it would take to pierce Sendai-san’s ears.

         It wasn’t hard at all.

         It hadn’t been difficult when she pierced mine, either.

         And yet, for some reason, this felt like the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.

         I set the piercing gun back down on the table and reached for her ear.

         I touched her earlobe, just like she’d done to mine before.

         Piercing this smooth, flawless ear felt strangely important—like I was about to change something about Sendai-san herself.

         I tugged gently at her soft earlobe before letting go.

         The same way she’d cut a round cake into perfect triangular slices, I was about to shape her into something a little different, too. The thought was tempting, but at the same time, I wondered if piercing her ears was really the right thing to do.

         It felt like changing her might also change what we had between us—and I didn’t want that.

         I brushed the back of her ear lightly with my finger.

         「That tickles.」

         Sendai-san said quietly, catching my wrist in her hand.

         I was the one who chose to let my ears go through change, and I had her pierce them for me.

         The holes she’d made, now adorned with the flower-shaped earrings she chose for me, were proof of a promise we’d made together.

         What I was about to do now wasn’t any different.

         At her request, I would be the one to change her this time, creating another promise between us.

         It wasn’t something that would change our relationship in any major way.

         So this much was okay.

         Piercing Sendai-san’s ears wouldn’t change our relationship as roommates.

         「Let go of me.」

         I said, gently tugging on Sendai-san’s earlobe. She released her hold on my wrist.

         I traced the outline of her earlobe before letting go.

         She had such beautifully shaped ears.

         Once she had earrings in them, I’d never be able to see them like this again.

         I leaned in and pressed my lips softly against her earlobe.

         It was a little cold and soft, but pleasant to the touch.

         When I gave it a gentle bite, Sendai-san flinched.

         I’d left marks on her body plenty of times before, though never on her ears.

         But hickeys and bite marks never lasted very long, and they always faded too quickly.

         That was why I wanted to leave something more permanent—something that would stay with her forever, somewhere everyone could see.

         If I pierced her ears, no one would know I’d been the one to do it, but it would still be visible to anyone, and I’d know it was a mark I left behind.

         I touched the spot I planned to pierce with the tip of my tongue, and Sendai-san tapped me on the back.

         「Come on, that’s enough, Miyagi.」

         Ignoring her, I bit her earlobe again.

         Then I pressed my lips just below it and traced the back of her ear with my finger.

         「Hey, stop it. If you keep doing that, you’re going to mess with my head.」

         Sendai-san said, grabbing me around the waist. Her fingers brushed against my sides, tickling me, so I pushed her away by the shoulders.

         「Stop fooling around and just pierce them already.」

         Sendai-san said, pushing the disinfectant and cotton ball into my hands.

         I dampened the cotton and carefully wiped down her ear. After marking the spot with the pen, I opened the packaging for the piercing gun.

         For something that was about to leave a permanent mark on her body, it felt surprisingly light in my hand.

         ― I wondered if Sendai-san had felt the same way back when she pierced my ears.

         「Is this really okay?」

         I asked quietly.

         「Yeah, it is.」

         She answered.

         I gently aligned the toy-like piercing gun against her earlobe.

         All I had to do was press it down, and a hole would be made in Sendai-san’s ear.

         I took a deep breath, then exhaled.

         Everything will be fine.

         When she’d pierced my ears, it hadn’t hurt nearly as much as I’d expected, and it was over in a second.

         Surely, it’d be the same for her.

         And yet, even knowing that, my hand wouldn’t move.

         「Miyagi.」

         Sendai-san called my name softly.

         I was always hesitating, stopping halfway, but hearing her voice gave me the push I needed. I still couldn’t keep up with her pace just yet, but at the very least, my body finally started to move again.

         I tightened my grip on the piercing gun and slowly pressed down.

         My heart pounded so hard it felt almost suffocating.

         I let out a quiet breath.

         Then I pushed the piercing gun down all the way.

         A sharp snap rang out, the earring settling into place, and in that same instant, I thought I heard something quietly crack inside me.

        「Huh, I thought it’d hurt more than that.」

         Sendai-san said, looking relieved as she met my eyes.

         「I’m going to pierce the other one now.」

         I said, touching the ear I hadn’t pierced yet.

         「Okay.」

         After disinfecting the spot and marking it with a pen, I pressed the piercing gun against her earlobe again. When I pushed down, another sharp snap rang out. A hole opened in this ear too, and once again, I thought I heard something quietly crack inside me.

         Now, she had earrings in both ears.

         Those faint sounds I’d heard each time must have been the sound of my own shell starting to break.

         I looked at Sendai-san, now wearing the earrings I’d put on her.

         Through that small fracture within me, it felt a little easier to breathe, and for a moment, I felt like I could see her more clearly than ever before.

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