I quietly sank my teeth into Sendai-san’s neck. 

           My lips brushed her soft skin, and I pressed my tongue against it. 

           As I thought about how much I’d wanted her to myself today, I bit down harder and grabbed her arm, as if to keep the Sendai-san in my room right now from going anywhere else. 

           「Miyagi.」 

           Her quiet voice rang in my ears.

           I pressed my lips together and set my teeth in again, as if I were about to tear into her skin. I was biting her neck hard enough that it wouldn’t have been strange for her to say it hurt, yet Sendai-san stayed silent. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my back and hugged me. 

           The harder I bit, the tighter her arms pulled me in. The heat from our bodies clinging together seeped into me, making my temperature feel like it was rising.

            When I lifted my lips from her neck, teeth marks were left among the red marks I’d already made. 

           「… Why are you pulling me in? Usually you’d complain about me stretching out your clothes, or about it hurting when I bite you.」 

           I said as I pushed against the body clinging to me, creating a bit of space between us. 

           「You were stretching out my clothes, and it did hurt, but I had a lot of fun today, so I figured I’d let it slide.」 

           Sendai-san smiled gently. 

           「So you’re letting me bite you just because you had fun today?」 

           「You could’ve bitten me in the shared living space, but you went out of your way to call me into your room to do it. That made me really happy.」

           「That sounds like something a pervert would say.」

           「If I’m a pervert, then you’re the one who made me this way, Miyagi.」 

           She pressed her palm to my cheek, stroking it gently, then brushed her fingertips against my earring. 

           「Why did you call me into your room before biting me?」 

           「… Because you looked like you were having a lot of fun today.」

           It was actually because I wanted to keep Sendai-san confined to my room.  

           I didn’t want her to go anywhere else. 

           I didn’t want to tell Sendai-san—who wouldn’t promise to stay here instead of going to work or university—that I’d had thoughts like that. Saying something I knew would never come true would only make her fall silent again, like last time. 

           「What kind of reason is that?」 

           「You don’t have to understand. Just sit on the bed.」

           「Okay, but are you planning to leave more marks on me or something?」 

           Sendai-san asked as she obediently sat down on the bed and looked up at me. 

           「No. Take your phone out.」 

           I said as I handed Sendai-san her bag from the floor. 

           「What are you going to ask me to do once I take it out?」 

           She asked in a low voice. 

           「I’ll tell you once you have it out.」 

           She hesitated, likely because she knew what was coming next. Seeing that look on her face, I knew she wouldn’t take it out if I stayed silent. 

           「Sendai-san.」 

           I urged her on. Sendai-san sighed and pulled her phone out of her bag. 

           「Okay. Now what?」 

           「Delete all the pictures you took today.」 

           「I don’t think I did anything today that deserves a punishment. It’s not like Utsunomiya saw these or anything.」

           She said while stroking the spot where the red mark was over her sweater. 

           「This isn’t a punishment. I just want you to delete them.」 

           「I don’t want to.」 

           「Why not? It’s not like you need those pictures for anything, do you?」 

           She needed to delete all the photos she took today.  

           That included the pictures of me as well. 

           She didn’t need the ones she took of herself or Maika either.  

           Even if it felt like a waste, she should delete them all. 

           「I do need them. They’re my precious memories of today.」 

           Sendai-san said quietly before taking my hand. 

           「Come sit down, Miyagi.」 

           She pulled me along like a puppet with its strings cut, and I sat down next to her. Then she opened the photos she’d taken today on her phone.

           「It’s not like you need memories of the school festival or anything.」

           I said, covering the screen as she showed them to me one by one. 

           「These aren’t just memories of the school festival. They’re memories of the time I spent with you, Miyagi. I want to remember this day whenever I look at them.」 

           「You do?」 

           「Yeah. And I want you to remember it too.」 

           「I don’t need to remember anything about today.」 

           「Does that mean you’re deleting all the photos you took too?」 

           「Well…」 

           I’d told myself I’d delete everything once I got home. But deleting all of them meant deleting the photos I had of Sendai-san too.  

           If I deleted them, the Sendai-san that I could keep locked away inside my phone would vanish, and that made me waver. 

           「Miyagi, if you’re hesitating this much, then don’t delete the photos you took. I don’t want to delete mine either.」 

           The phone I’d been pinning down with my hand slipped out from under me as Sendai-san pulled it back toward her. 

           Still, I felt like all of today’s photos had to be deleted. 

           I didn’t want to see Sendai-san smiling so brightly with Maika, and I didn’t want to see the photos of me and Sendai-san either. 

           Just like Sendai-san said, photos captured memories. 

           They were more reliable than memory alone. Memories could blur and wear away, but photographs preserved a single moment exactly as it was. They turned time into something tangible, a map that led back to the day it was taken. Looking at today’s photos would pull those memories back up, along with the feelings attached to them. 

           The photos taken at the school festival were stained with unpleasant feelings I didn’t want to face. Every time I looked at them, the possessiveness I’d come to realize would resurface. And that would only make Sendai-san—who was already special to me—become even more special. 

           — That was why I wanted the photos deleted. 

           「Miyagi. Look at me.」 

           Sendai-san called my name, and I turned my gaze toward her. 

           Our eyes met, and in the next moment, she pressed her lips gently against my cheek. As her fingertips traced my lips, I grabbed her hand. 

           「You belong to me, right, Sendai-san?」 

           「Why are you asking that all of a sudden?」 

           「Just answer me.」 

           「You know the answer even without me saying it, don’t you?」 

           「No. I won’t know unless you say it.」 

           「… Of course I belong to you.」 

           「Then do as I say. Delete the photos you took today.」 

           Sendai-san fell silent. 

           Her gaze dropped to the floor, and after a moment, she slowly looked back up at me. 

           「… Then tell me why you want me to be all yours. If you can explain that, then I’ll delete them.」 

           Sendai-san’s voice reverberated in my ears, seeping into me and making my heart pound hard. 

           I couldn’t stand the thought of her going to her part-time jobs, or of her growing close to people I didn’t know. Today, I couldn’t stand the way she listened to Maika, and I couldn’t stand the way she smiled beside her either. 

           If I traced those feelings back, they all led to one thing—possessiveness. 

           That feeling had been clinging to me for a long time, refusing to come off no matter how hard I tried to peel it away. It was tied directly to my desire to keep Sendai-san as mine, and mine alone. 

           But she must have known that already. 

           There was no way Sendai-san wouldn’t notice something even I could see myself. Wanting to keep someone to yourself could only come from possessiveness—which meant that probably wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. 

           「Miyagi. Answer me.」

           I didn’t want to answer.

           It was something I shouldn’t answer either.

           What Sendai-san wanted to know lay at the very root of this possessiveness—something better left unearthed. The source of the emotion that made me want to keep Sendai-san shut inside this room wasn’t anything good. It was something that should be soothed, lulled, and left sleeping at the very bottom of my heart.

           Even now, I was being tossed around by my own feelings. It hurt. It was suffocating. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, and if I were to let myself acknowledge the source of this emotion, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to stay by Sendai-san’s side anymore.

           「… I’ll tell you if you delete the photos first.」

           I suppressed the feelings that had almost surfaced and swallowed them back down.

           If I made Sendai-san—who was already special to me—even more special, I didn’t know what would become of me. If something happened and she disappeared from my life, I wouldn’t know what to do.

           So the answer I planned to give her was one she already knew.

           「If I delete them, will you actually tell me the truth?」

           Sendai-san asked quietly, looking straight at me.

           I will.

           I knew that was what I should say, but I couldn’t bring myself to.

           As I gripped the bedsheets tightly, Sendai-san spoke again.

           「You know what? I’m not going to delete them. So you don’t have to explain anything to me either.」

           「… Why?」

           「Because I want to keep the photos I took. You can delete yours if you want, but even if you do, I’ll just send them to you again.」

           「Then there’s no point in me deleting them.」

           「Exactly.」

           She said as she took hold of the hand I’d been gripping the sheets with.

           「Miyagi.」

           She called my name as she leaned closer.

           I didn’t manage to close my eyes in time. I felt her lips touch mine, then pull away. After that, she gently rested her hand against my neck.

           「Hey, Miyagi. I want to leave marks on you too.」

           「No. I—」

           「I know. You were going to say you’re not all mine, right? I belong to you, but you don’t belong to me. That’s why I want to leave a mark—to make that into a vow.」

           She took the words I wanted to say right out of my mouth and kissed me again.           

           「You can make a vow without leaving marks on me, can’t you?」

           「Like when I swear things on your earrings?」

           「Yeah.」

           「Okay, then I’ll make a vow on both your earrings and your body.」

           She whispered into my ear and kissed my earring. Even though I hadn’t said it was okay, she lifted the hem of my hoodie and slipped her hand underneath.

           「Hey, I didn’t say you could leave marks on me, and I didn’t say you could lift my hoodie either.」

           「If you don’t want me to lift your hoodie, then I won’t. But that means I’ll leave marks where people can see them. Is that okay with you?」

           She pressed her palm to my side, slowly moving it upward. Then, she put her lips to my neck like it was the most natural thing in the world, so I pushed her away by the shoulders.

           「No, it’s not.」

           「What was that?」

           Her lips returned to my neck, sucking softly. The hand that had been at my side crept beneath my chest, and I slapped it through my hoodie.

           「Stop it, Sendai-san.」

           「So, what will it be? Should I leave marks where people can see them, or places they can’t?」

           「Neither.」

           「Come on, Miyagi. You should learn to be more agreeable. Let me leave marks on you so I can be with you even when I’m not around.」

           Her lips slid along my neck before she bit my ear. The gentle pressure was ticklish enough to make me flinch, and when her tongue pressed against me, I pushed her away.

           「What’s that supposed to mean?」

           「If I leave a mark, it’ll feel like I’m always with you until it fades, won’t it?」

           The hand still under my hoodie shifted, gently stroking my side.

           「… Fine. As long as you leave it somewhere hidden.」

           If I didn’t stop her, she’d probably end up leaving marks in visible areas, so I reluctantly gave in.

           「Okay, now lie down.」

           Reluctantly—truly reluctantly—I lay down on the bed, and Sendai-san sat down beside me. She lifted the hem of my hoodie, baring my stomach. Sendai-san traced the outline of my ribs, her fingertips sliding across my skin smoothly, as if exploring my body.

           「I never said you could touch me like that.」

           「I was just trying to find a good place to leave a mark. Do you have any ideas?」

           Her fingertips brushed my navel, then slid to my side, and she rolled the hem of my hoodie up until it stopped just under my bra.

           「If you pull it up any more, I won’t let you leave anything on me at all.」

           「Okay.」

           Sendai-san answered quietly. A moment later, something warm pressed against my ribs.

           She licked my skin, slow and careful, like she was testing the taste. It felt gentle at first, then slowly turned firmer as she sucked harder. The warmth spreading from my skin as she sucked felt good. I reached out, my fingertips brushing her hair, and tugged on it lightly.

           Her lips didn’t move away.

           She stayed there, still sucking, her body close. When I tugged her hair again, she finally pulled back, only to press her lips to the same spot once more before lifting them again. Her fingers traced my skin, and her mouth followed right after.

           「That’s enough, Sendai-san.」

           「I’m just doing what you did to me.」

           Ignoring the dissatisfied look she gave me, I tried to pull my hoodie back down. She caught my hand and stopped me.

           「Wait. Hold on for a second.」

           A moment later, I heard a click.

           「… What was that sound?」

           I sat up and saw Sendai-san holding her phone, and I remembered she’d left it on the bed earlier.

           「Oh, it’s just a little something to help me remember this by.」

           Sendai-san said as she showed me the picture on her phone. The screen reflected my bare stomach and the mark she’d left on me, and I reached out to grab it.

           「Delete that. Now.」

           My face wasn’t in it, but even so, I didn’t want a picture of my stomach on her phone.

           「I don’t want to.」

           「Delete. It.」

           「If you want me to delete it that badly, then smile next to me the same way you do when you’re standing next to Utsunomiya. Do that, and I’ll get rid of every picture you want gone.」

           She said with an annoyingly wide smile on her face.

           「You’d actually be willing to delete all of them?」

           「Yep. If you can do that, I’ll get rid of any picture you tell me to.」

           「What kind of condition is that?」

           「It’s fine, isn’t it? It’ll get me to delete the pictures.」

           Sendai-san’s voice was so cheerful, it was almost irritating.

           It didn’t seem possible to snatch the phone from her, so I chose another approach, just to stop her from taking any more pictures.

           「… Forget it. Just don’t take any more pictures of me unless I say it’s okay.」

           「Does that mean I have to ask for your permission from now on?」

           「Yeah.」

           「Okay.」

           Sendai-san said, then added, “I promise,” before kissing my earring.

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