I knocked on Miyagi’s door before breakfast and again before lunch, knocking twice each time. I called out to her both times, but she stayed in her room without so much as a reply.

            And I knew exactly why she was refusing to come out.

            It was because of what had happened yesterday.

            The promise she kept for me on Christmas was now keeping her away from me. It was better than having her run away from home again, but if she wouldn’t even come out of her room, then it wasn’t all that different. Being in the same apartment, knowing she was deliberately avoiding me and not even being able to see her face, hurt.

            I took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

            This time, I knocked a little harder on the door.

            Knock, knock.

            I strained my ears, but not a sound came from inside. This was the third time I’d come to her room today, and I was being ignored once again.

            「Miyagi!」

            I called out her name loudly, but there was still no answer.

            I wanted her to at least open the door once before I left for my part-time job at the café, which was starting today.

            I knocked on her door once again, louder than before.

            The room remained silent. I pressed my head against the door as I stroked the back of my neck.

            I couldn’t feel any warmth.

            All my fingertips felt was the fabric of my turtleneck sweater hiding the bite marks Miyagi had left on me yesterday.

            「You’re in there, aren’t you, Miyagi?」

            She still didn’t answer me, nor did she come to open the door.

            What was even the point of having a door if she wasn’t going to open it?

            The door separating me from Miyagi right now should just be torn down and thrown away. And while I was at it, I wanted to tear down the wall separating my room from hers too, then throw all that useless junk away together.

            As I imagined doing all the things I realistically couldn’t, I knocked on the obstacle separating us one more time before reaching for the doorknob.

            「I’m coming in.」

            I declared confidently, but my hand refused to move. I couldn’t help feeling guilty about barging into her room without her permission. It would’ve been easier if I could’ve thrown away my common sense and sense of morality, but I couldn’t.

            I knocked on her door once again.

            「I really am going to open the door.」

            I said, almost pleadingly, and for the first time today, I heard Miyagi’s voice.

            「I never said you’re allowed to come in.」

            「Then give me permission to.」

            「No.」

            「I have to go to work soon, so at least let me see your face before I go.」

            “Miyagi,” I called her name as I pulled my forehead away from the door.

            The voice that had answered me earlier was gone, replaced by silence.

            「So, can I open the door?」

            This time, she didn’t object.

            Taking that as permission to enter, I quietly opened the door. As soon as I stepped into her room, I saw a figure curled up beneath the blankets and called her name.

            「Let me see your face, Miyagi.」

            「No.」

            Miyagi, who had cocooned herself in her blankets, replied.

            「Have you eaten anything?」

            She didn’t say anything.

            But I already knew the answer since the food I’d made for lunch and left in the fridge hadn’t been touched.

            「I made fried rice for lunch and put some in the fridge for you, so make sure you heat it up and eat it later.」

            I said as I walked over to Miyagi, who still refused to show me her face, and sat down on the bed beside her.

            Then, I heard her quietly mumble, “Thanks.”

            「Miyagi.」

            I tugged on her blanket as I called her name, but she immediately pulled it back.

            「You have work today, don’t you, Sendai-san? You should get going, or you’ll be late.」

            「I still have a little time.」

            “Miyagi,” I called her name again as I patted the blanket, but she stayed cocooned inside, and I began to regret what I’d said yesterday.

            I probably shouldn’t have used the word “sex” so bluntly.

            I just wanted her to be more conscious of me.

            I wanted her to be fully aware of what we were doing together.

            That was what I’d been thinking when I used that word, but there was no point in making her aware of it when I wasn’t even going to tell her I loved her. I never wanted Miyagi to end up hiding under her blankets like this.

            I sighed deeply and reached for the blanket again.

            「Miyagi.」

            I called her name, trying to act as if yesterday had never happened and gave the blanket another tug.

            「You’re so noisy, Sendai-san.」

            Miyagi, wearing sweats instead of pajamas, finally poked her head and shoulders out from beneath the covers, her brows furrowed.

            「Are you not going to change out of those clothes?」

            I knew that no matter how conscious she became of me, or how aware she was of what we were doing, she would never tell me she loved me. Even though she kept doing things for me that I couldn’t help but interpret as her loving me, Miyagi just wasn’t the kind of person to say those words.

            So it was for the best if we just went back to how things had always been.

            「I’m going to study later, and I have no plans to go out today, so I’m fine in my sweats.」

            Miyagi replied in a low voice, glaring at me.

            She was clearly in a bad mood.

            Then again, it wasn’t like she had any reason to be in a good one.

            I forced a smile as I pointed at her neck.

            「You’ve got a mark right there.」

            The hickey I’d left on her yesterday was still clearly visible. I traced a fingertip along her neck, gently stroking the mark until she slapped my hand away.

            「What did you come here for?」

            「I’m here because you still have a promise to fulfill.」

            「Didn’t I already do that yesterday?」

            「We have another promise together, don’t we?」

            「No, we don’t.」

            Miyagi replied bluntly, but I wasn’t wrong.

            She still had another promise she needed to keep.

            「Weren’t you the one who said you’d leave marks on me whenever I had work? Did you forget? If you did, then I want you to remember it right now.」

            Miyagi had been the one who said she’d leave marks on me on the days I worked at the café over winter break. On top of that, she’d also made me promise not to go anywhere except work.

            I intended to keep my side of the promise, so I expected Miyagi to keep hers too.

            「… Don’t worry about it today. You should hurry up and get going, or you’ll be late.」

            Miyagi, still peeking out from under the covers, said in an unfriendly tone.

            「You’re the one who came up with the promise in the first place, so you should follow through with it.」

            「I just said not to worry about it today.」

            「Then let’s make a trade. I’ll let you off the hook this time if you answer my question.」

            「You’re just going to ask me something weird, aren’t you?」

            「I’m not. I just want to know if you dreamed about me.」

            Even though I knew she wouldn’t answer, I asked while looking at Miyagi. Her lips moved as if she were about to say something, but they closed again. Then she grabbed her pillow and smacked me on the arm with it.

            「That hurt.」

            「I knew you were going to ask something weird.」

            「People ask each other what they dreamed about all the time. You’re the one making it weird, Miyagi.」

            「… What about you, Sendai-san? Did you dream about me?」

            「I know I’m always telling you not to answer a question with another question, but… yeah. I dreamed about you last night, Miyagi.」

            Even though I was the one who told Miyagi I wanted her to dream of me yesterday, I ended up being the one who dreamed of her instead. As stupid as that sounded, it was exactly what I should’ve expected.

            There was no way I wouldn’t dream about what happened with Miyagi yesterday.

            My mind took what had happened and added things that hadn’t, weaving them into a dream I never wanted to wake up from. It was such a good dream that it made me want to do the same thing again today.

            「So, did you have a dream of me too, Miyagi? 」

            I snatched the pillow from beneath the mountain of blankets wrapped around Miyagi, but she grabbed my arm and pulled me toward her instead. My body tilted in her direction, and a warm breath brushed against my ear.

            Being on the bed with Miyagi right beside me made yesterday come rushing back.

            My body tensed, and dangerous thoughts crept into my mind.

            「Miyagi.」

            The moment I called her name, she grabbed the collar of the sweater covering my neck. Without the slightest hesitation, she yanked it down, and something hard pressed against my neck.

            Her teeth dug into my skin as though they were trying to tear through it, and pain spread across my neck.

            She was probably biting the very same spot she’d sunk her teeth into yesterday, hard enough to leave a mark.

            It hurt.

            The sensation mirrored what I’d felt yesterday, pulling me back into that moment. The burning pain made everything that had happened yesterday even more vivid.

            Like how her body had responded more honestly than it had the first time I’d touched her.

            Like the way she’d called me “Hazuki.”

            Those memories were even more vivid than my dream, and I pulled Miyagi out from beneath the blankets and into my arms.

            If I could, I’d skip work, pin Miyagi down on this bed, and stay here with her instead. I’d forget about everything else and do exactly what she’d said—stay in this apartment with her forever, never leaving to go anywhere.

            I tightened my arms around her back.

            The sharp pain of her teeth digging into my skin nearly took my breath away. When I whispered her name, she suddenly pushed me away.

            「There. I left a mark.」

            Miyagi muttered as she pulled away from me.

            「Leaving one there is kind of a problem, though.」

            I said, rubbing the spot over my sweater where she’d bitten me.

            「We agreed I could leave marks wherever I wanted, and as many as I wanted, didn’t we? Besides, the only reason you’re wearing that sweater is because you want me to leave marks there, isn’t it?」

            「I’m wearing it because I can’t go to work unless I hide the marks you left yesterday.」

            「Whatever. Hurry up and go to work already.」

            Miyagi muttered in a low voice, trying to push me away. Instead, I caught the hand she was using to shove me aside, and this time she bit my neck through my sweater. It was better than having her bite my bare skin, but it still hurt.

            Even so, I didn’t want to let her go. I wrapped my arms around her back again, only for her to pull away.

            ｢Are you done leaving marks on me?｣

            ｢Yeah.｣

            She answered curtly.

            Miyagi was in a terrible mood, as if yesterday had never happened.

            She wasn’t smiling, and I’d bet she’d rather die than call me “Hazuki” again, but I found her cute anyway.

            ｢I’ll be home late tonight.｣

            I told Miyagi, who was clinging to her blanket instead of me.

            ｢… What about dinner?｣

            ｢What about it?｣

            ｢I mean, what are you going to do for dinner, Sendai-san?｣

            ｢I’ll be eating at work tonight.｣

            ｢Then what about my dinner?｣

            ｢Your dinner?｣

            ｢I don’t feel like making anything today.｣

            Miyagi muttered, lowering her gaze to the blanket.

            ｢Are you asking me to cook for you?｣

            ｢It’s fine if you don’t want to.｣

            ｢I don’t mind, but are you sure? I have a feeling you’ll be starving by the time I get back.｣

            ｢If I starve to death, I’ll pin the blame on you, Sendai-san.｣

            ｢Okay, okay. I’ll get back as soon as I can.｣

            Miyagi never actually said she’d wait for me, but the tension between us eased all the same. I leaned in toward her, but before our lips could meet, she shoved me away with both hands against my shoulders.

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Chapter debt: 92

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