We opened the front door to our apartment.

            After stepping inside, I clutched the scarf I’d just received tightly in my hands.

            It felt nice and warm.

            I’m glad I didn’t tell Maika I wanted a scarf, I thought to myself.

            「Miyagi, how long are you planning to stand by the door? It’s freezing out here, you know.」

            Sendai-san said from behind me, poking me lightly in the back to hurry me along.

            「Yeah, I know.」

            I said as I took off my shoes.

            After carefully removing my scarf and coat, I headed into the living room with Sendai-san. As I reached to turn on the lights, Sendai-san picked up the air conditioner remote.

            「You’re not going back to your room?」

            「Were you about to go back to your room, Miyagi?」

            「It’s getting late, so I want to sleep.」

            The Christmas party had been fun, but I was tired.

            Besides, the date was about to change.

            It was almost the twenty-fifth.

            Which meant it was almost the day of our promise.

            「Come on, let’s talk for a little longer. Besides, there was something I wanted to ask you.」

            Ignoring the fact that I’d just said I wanted to sleep, Sendai-san switched on the air conditioner and hung her coat over the back of a chair.

            「Something you wanted to ask me?」

            「Yeah. When you were picking out my earrings, did you ask anyone for advice? Or did you choose them all by yourself?」

            「Of course I didn’t ask anyone else for advice.」

            The earrings I gave Sendai-san were meant to mark her as mine and keep her under my control. That was why it mattered that I was the only one involved in choosing them.

            It wasn’t something I would’ve asked someone else for help with. No, more than that, it was definitely not something I’d let anyone else have a say in.

            I had no need for anyone else’s input when it came to marking Sendai-san as mine.

            「That’s good.」

            Sendai-san said quietly as she reached for my earring. Her fingertips, still cold from outside, pressed against it before gently stroking my earlobe.

            「… Did you ask anyone else for advice when you were picking out my earrings, Sendai-san?」

            「Nope. I picked them out myself. I didn’t ask anyone else for help.」

            She answered in her usual gentle tone before pressing her lips against my ear.

            It wasn’t unusual for Sendai-san to kiss my earrings.

            It was something she did often.

            But today, it made my body tense up.

            I stiffened and instinctively pushed her away by the shoulders.

            「Was that all you wanted to talk about, Sendai-san?」

            I asked as I glanced at the clock.

            The date still hadn’t changed yet.

            It wasn’t like I was consciously keeping track of the time, but I still couldn’t stop myself from feeling restless about it.

            「No, not yet. I’m going to make some tea, so why don’t you sit down?」

            With a smile on her face, Sendai-san pulled out the chair she’d hung her coat over.

            「I don’t want tea. If there’s something else you want to say, then hurry up and say it.」

            「Okay, then I won’t make tea. But at least sit down.」

            Her tone was light, almost casual, like she was giving me a choice. But I knew I didn’t actually have one. She grabbed my arm, practically trying to force me into the chair with her coat hanging off it.

            「If you have something to say, I can listen just fine while standing.」

            「Come on, why are you in such a hurry?」

            I didn’t really think she’d demand I fulfill our promise the moment the clock struck midnight, but I still felt too uneasy about the time to calmly sit there. Even so, Sendai-san refused to let go of my arm.

            I glared at her.

            「Fine, I’ll sit down, so let go already.」

            I snapped, and only then did she finally release my arm. I placed my scarf and coat on the table before sitting down.

            「Turn this way, Miyagi.」

            Sendai-san really was full of demands today.

            It felt like things would end faster if I just listened to her instead of resisting, so rather than argue, I turned both the chair and myself to face her.

            「What do you want to do tomorrow?」

            Sendai-san asked cheerfully. Even though she’d been the one to make me sit down, she herself was still standing.

            「… Go somewhere.」

            There wasn’t anywhere in particular I wanted to go, but if we stayed home, I knew the only thing I’d be thinking about was that promise. I wanted us to be somewhere outside where Sendai-san wouldn’t be able to do anything to me.

            「Where do you want to go?」

            「I don’t know. We can just wander around somewhere.」

            「Well, if that’s what you want, Miyagi, then I’m fine with it.」

            「I want to eat out too.」

            「Sure. What do you want to eat?」

            「Anything. I’ll decide tomorrow.」

            「Okay.」

            Sendai-san replied as she played with my hair, wrapping a strand around her finger before letting it slip free. She kept repeating the motion absentmindedly until I kicked her in the leg.

            「Have we talked enough yet? I’m tired. I want to sleep already.」

            「Come on, stay up with me a little longer.」

            「No. I’m going to sleep.」

            I answered curtly. Just as I started to stand, Sendai-san grabbed the scarf from the table and wrapped it around my neck again.

            I liked the scarf, but I didn’t want to wear it indoors. When I tried to take it off, Sendai-san stopped me.

            「It really suits you. You look really cute.」

            I could hear how pleased she sounded, but I wasn’t happy at all. Her unnecessary words refused to sink in, and I kicked her in the leg again.

            But Sendai-san only said, “You’re so cute,” one more time before pressing a kiss to my cheek.

            Once, then twice.

            She covered my cheek in kisses I never asked for, gradually warming my skin. When I tried pushing her away, she answered by kissing my temple instead, her warmth lingering against me.

            「What are you doing, Sendai-san? I told you I wanted to sleep.」

            I complained as she pressed a fifth kiss to my cheek.

            「I didn’t get to do this earlier, so I wanted to now.」

            「Earlier?」

            「Yeah. When I gave you the scarf.」

            「Well, are you satisfied now?」

            「Not yet.」

            「Well, I’ve had enough.」

            「Just let me have one more kiss.」

            Sendai-san smiled as she stroked my cheek.

            Not much time had passed since I last checked the clock, so the date still shouldn’t have changed yet. It was almost the day of our promise, but it still wasn’t the twenty-fifth. Nothing should happen yet.

            I looked into Sendai-san’s eyes.

            If I wanted to get back to my room, I had to deal with the girl standing in front of me first.

            I tried stepping on her foot, but she didn’t move at all.

            She clearly had no intention of letting me go unless I let her have the kiss she wanted.

            Just as I was about to check the clock again, I stopped myself.

            If it’s only one kiss, there should still be enough time.

            「Just one, okay?」

            I stressed the point before tugging lightly at Sendai-san’s clothes.

            The hand that had been touching my cheek moved to my lips.

            I’d assumed she meant another kiss on the cheek, but apparently I was wrong. Still, since we’d already agreed it would only be “one” kiss, I didn’t think it was worth arguing over, so I quietly closed my eyes.

            Something soft pressed against my lips.

            Our lips met gently, and I thought they’d separate right away, but they didn’t.

            Slowly and quietly, my warmth mixed with Sendai-san’s.

            But the softness of the kiss didn’t last long.

            Something warm, different from her lips, brushed against mine before slipping inside as though it belonged there. Sendai-san’s tongue entered my mouth naturally, without hesitation.

            This heat felt different from the warmth of our bodies touching from the outside. A moment ago, it had felt evenly shared between us, but now it felt like Sendai-san was pouring all of her heat into me alone.

            It became hard to breathe—suffocatingly so. Instinctively, I grabbed onto her arm.

            The mass of heat tangling with my tongue made me forget how to breathe at all.

            Her tongue was soft yet firm, burning hot, and the sensation felt good and suffocating at the same time—so intense it felt like my mind might go blank, and that frightened me.

            Desperate for air, I dug my nails into the arm I was gripping, and only then did Sendai-san finally pull away.

            「You never said you were going to kiss me like that.」

            I complained as I kicked Sendai-san in the leg.

            「I mean, a kiss is still a kiss no matter how you do it, right?」

            「You’re so annoying.」

            Whenever she did weird things like that, it always made it harder for me to fall asleep afterward.

            The room, warmed by the air conditioner, felt stiflingly hot. I tried taking off the scarf around my neck, but Sendai-san stopped me again.

            「… Don’t tell me you’re just trying to stall until the twenty-fifth.」

            I asked Sendai-san, who still wouldn’t let me go back to my room.

            「And what if I am?」

            Her voice was flat and completely unreadable, and I stomped down on her foot as hard as I could.

            「Ow!」

            「If it hurts, then move already. I’m going to bed.」

            「But didn’t you say you’d give me all your time on the twenty-fifth?」

            「About that promise, when—」

            I started to ask, then stopped myself.

            I’d wanted to ask exactly when on the twenty-fifth we were supposed to fulfill that promise.

            But it was probably better not to pin it down so precisely. If I asked, it would turn into another promise altogether—one that would decide the exact moment it had to happen.

            「… Never mind. I’m going to sleep.」

            Still wearing the scarf, I pushed past Sendai-san, stood up, and picked my coat up from the table.

            「Well, if you’d rather do it right now, I’m fine with that too.」

            「I never said that. And even if I did promise to spend the whole day with you, I still need to sleep.」

            「I guess that’s true. Okay then, get plenty of rest for tomorrow. Good night.」

            Sendai-san spoke in her usual tone, and after replying with, “Good night,” I opened the door to my room.

            Just as I was about to step inside, Sendai-san called out to me, and I turned back toward her.

            「Merry Christmas, Miyagi.」

            She said quietly, smiling softly.

            There really wasn’t much difference between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

            To me, they were both just ordinary days. Nothing special.

            Or at least, that was what I’d always thought. But hearing Sendai-san say those words somehow made Christmas feel a little special after all.

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