Miyagi had dreamt about me.

         I didn’t know what kind of dream it was, but I never would’ve imagined that she’d see a dream with me in it.

         I dove into my bed and curled myself up.

         Miyagi wasn’t the type to tell me if she ever saw me in a dream, so the fact that she’d told me at all made my chest feel warm. Even without taking a bath, the tiredness from work seemed to melt away.

         「I asked her to call me “Hazuki,” huh?」

         I repeated the part Miyagi had mentioned.

         I wanted to know more about her dream.

         It was hard not to.

         I wanted to hear more from her, but even if I asked, she probably wouldn’t tell me the details. And even if she did, there was no guarantee she’d tell me the truth. I wished she’d at least remembered whether she’d called me “Hazuki” in the dream or not, but she said she’d forgotten. And even if she had remembered, I doubt she would’ve told me.

         Well… I doubt she called me “Hazuki” anyway.

         I wished she’d at least call me by my given name in her dreams, but I couldn’t even imagine her saying it in my own. The thought left me feeling a little disappointed. And if she did call me “Hazuki” in a dream, I knew I’d feel disappointed about it too. I wanted her to say it in real life, not just in our dreams.

         I placed my hand on the wall that separated Miyagi’s room from mine.

         Our rooms were right next to each other. I wanted her to spend more time in my room, or I wouldn’t mind being in hers either. If she was going to talk to me in her dreams, then I wanted her to talk to me in real life too.

         It felt like she’d been waiting for me in the shared living space today, and that alone made me happy. I wished she’d greeted me in a slightly better mood, but I understood why she’d been a little grumpy.

         It was because I’d picked up the lip balm—the one I gave her for her birthday.

         More accurately, she probably hadn’t wanted it to be rolling around on the floor in the first place.

         But I was glad that it had.

         If it hadn’t, I would’ve assumed she was just hanging out in the shared living space like normal.

         But the lip balm had rolled over to me, and I hadn’t seen any trace of it on her lips. It didn’t seem like she’d been there to put it on either. She’d looked flustered and acted a little strange too.

         All of that made it seem like she hadn’t been there for no reason, so I asked her if she’d been waiting for me.

         Miyagi denied it, but a part of me still felt like she’d been waiting for me.

         I knew that no matter how many times I asked, she’d probably keep denying it, but every time I put the pieces together, I always ended up at the same conclusion — that she had been waiting for me.

         But at the same time, I kept telling myself it was just my wishful thinking, that I was twisting things into whatever I wanted to believe.

         And when Miyagi tugged on my clothes earlier, it only added more impure thoughts to the mix.

         I let out a long sigh.

         It felt like she’d been asking me to kiss her again.

         But I was glad I didn’t.

         If I had, instead of patiently waiting for Miyagi until she was ready and staying roommates like she wanted, I wouldn’t have been able to contain my feelings, and I would’ve ended up pulling her in and trapping her in my heart.

         I knew right now wasn’t the right time.

         I also understood I needed to wait until Miyagi was ready.

         Forcing anything now wouldn’t lead to anything good.

         I tapped lightly on the wall in front of me and let out a breath.

         Pulling my hand away, I closed my eyes and thought back to how she’d acted earlier.

         It was rare for her to look like she wanted another kiss.

         I wanted it to happen again

         Miyagi had been so cute when she tugged on my clothes, and the way she looked dissatisfied had been adorable too. I wanted to see it again—today, tomorrow, and the day after that.

         She hadn’t said she’d visit or anything, but I really wanted her to come by the café while I was working sometime.

         I hadn’t been able to visit her class during our high school cultural festival, so I wanted to go to her university’s school festival this year.

         My head was starting to feel a little fuzzy.

         As I grew sleepy, all the things I wanted to see in a dream began drifting through my mind.

         I was already in bed, and even though I hadn’t meant to fall asleep yet, I started losing track of time as different images of Miyagi appeared and disappeared in my mind. I could feel myself dozing off, aware I was about to fall asleep and dream of her—imagining her face in my head—when a knock at my door suddenly woke me.

         I sat up and climbed out of bed.

         Still half-drowsy, I walked to the door, opened it, and found Miyagi standing there with her hair wet.

         「I’m done with my bath.」

         Miyagi muttered as she looked at me.

         Normally, she would’ve gone straight back to her room after saying that, but today she didn’t. She stayed where she was, standing in front of me without moving, so I stepped closer to her.

         「You smell nice.」

         「That’s because I just got out of the bath.」

         「How about I dry your hair for you?」

         I asked, playing with a strand of her wet hair. She answered in a dissatisfied voice,

         「No, I’ll do it myself.」

         She said, brushing my hand away.

         「Hey, Miyagi.」

         「What?」

         「I think you smell good right now, but you should use my shampoo next time.」

         「And why do I have to do that?」

         The earrings and the lip balm I gave her weren’t enough.

         I wanted more of me to stay in Miyagi’s thoughts. I wanted her to think of me whenever she smelled my scent.

         I wanted it badly, but I knew if I said anything like that directly, Miyagi would never use the same shampoo as me.

         「Well, we live together, so having two different bottles feels wasteful. Wouldn’t it save money if we used the same one?」

         I gave her an excuse that might make it easier for her to agree.

         「… Well, I’m almost out of shampoo anyway, so I guess I’ll use yours once I’m done with mine.」

         I’d thought I’d need more excuses, but surprisingly, Miyagi accepted it right away.

         She really was acting a little strange today.

         Even after the conversation died down, she still didn’t go back to her room.

         If this was because of the dream she’d seen today, then I hoped she’d see the same one tonight.

         「Miyagi.」

         I called her name softly and took her hand.

         I pulled it toward me and kissed the back of it.

         I wanted these days to continue, with Miyagi coming to get me once she’d finished her bath.

         If that was the kind of life I wanted, then I should stop after kissing her hand one more time. But the two of us had already shown we could go further than just kissing, even as roommates. We’d done it a few times, and if Miyagi allowed it, we could do it again.

          “I’m okay with staying as just roommates.”

         I almost said out loud, but swallowed the words.

         I kissed her fingertips, then traced them with my tongue.

         It felt like I had an angel and a devil on my shoulders, and all I could hear was the devil whispering to me.

         If I kissed her on the lips right now and pulled her by the arm, I felt like I could bring Miyagi straight into my room—

         I lifted my head and looked at her.

         Our eyes met—hers filled with displeasure.

         When I let go of her hand, she grabbed onto my clothes.

         As long as I held back from kissing her, I’d get to see that expression on Miyagi’s face again and again. And if I kept this up, maybe one day she’d be the one to ask me for a kiss—or even say she wanted something more.

         「I’m going to go take a bath now.」

         I whispered, kissing her cheek.

         I knew I wasn’t being very nice today.

         Giving in to my small, selfish urge, I gently pulled her hand away from my clothes.

         「Good night.」

         I said, even though I wasn’t sure if she was planning to go to bed yet, and she answered in an irritated tone.

         「Good night.」

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