I had nothing to do.

         Well, that wasn’t exactly true. I did have things I could do, but I just didn’t feel like doing any of them right now. Which, as far as I was concerned, meant I had nothing to do.

         I knew I should’ve been studying for my exams, but because of Sendai-san, I couldn’t bring myself to.

         「Ugh, she should just—」

         I’d almost wanted to go and tell Sendai-san to take the day off work, but I managed to stop myself from doing that.

         I was lying in bed in my sweats, doing nothing but wasting away under the covers.

         Sendai-san only had New Year’s Day and the fourth off, and today was the second. She had to go to her part-time job this afternoon.

         I knew she had work today, but I still felt uneasy about it.

         We’d had lunch together, but she’d told me not to wait for her for dinner because she’d be home late.

         But food never tasted as good when I ate it alone.

         Anyone who went to a cafe on January 2nd should just disappear. Actually, cafes themselves should disappear, too.

         The first three days of the new year were meant for staying home and relaxing. That was what people should be doing.

         There was also the fact that Sendai-san’s friend, Mio, whom I’d met before, was usually at the cafe. I knew Mio wouldn’t do anything to Sendai-san, and Sendai-san wouldn’t do anything with her either. But just imagining the two of them working together, chatting and laughing happily while I wasn’t there, made my head hurt.

         「I feel so annoyed…」

         I sighed and stroked the black cat plush that Sendai-san had given me, which was sitting beside my pillow. The softness of it calmed me down a little.

         I pulled the black cat plush into my arms and turned over. Then I picked up my phone from where I’d left it beside the wall and looked up shoebills. A strange-looking bird with long legs and a huge beak immediately appeared on the screen.

         I wanted to see a shoebill moving around at the zoo, even though they weren’t exactly known for being active. But seeing one asleep might be nice too. The video I’d seen the other day of a sleeping shoebill was adorable.

         Come to think of it, Sendai-san was the same…

         I opened the picture I had of Sendai-san sleeping with the penguin plush as a pillow.

         Seeing her so different from her usual self was amusing.

         I went through the photos I had of Sendai-san, one after another.

         Before I knew it, my phone was filled with pictures of Sendai-san—someone I hadn’t had a single picture of back when we were in high school. She wasn’t just someone who existed in my memories anymore. Now I had pictures of her too, making her much harder to simply erase from my life. I found myself thinking about her all the time, and if things kept going like this, I might still be thinking about her all the time even after we graduated from university. Just thinking about that made me feel miserable.

         I let out a big sigh. Suddenly, a knock came from my door, making me jump.

         「Miyagi, are you in there?」

         「Wait, I’ll come open the door.」

         Sendai-san almost never came into my room without waiting for my permission, but I quickly grabbed the black cat plush from the bed and put it back on the bookshelf. Just as I was about to open the door, I remembered that my phone was still on, so I hurried back to my bed. I locked my phone, hiding the picture of Sendai-san that was still displayed on the screen, then took a deep breath and steadied myself before opening the door.

         「… Miyagi, are you planning to stay in your sweats all day? Come on, you should get changed.」

         Before I could say anything, Sendai-san, who was dressed in a knitted sweater and a skirt, spoke up with an exasperated look on her face.

         「I’m not going anywhere, so does it really matter?」

         「Of course it does. You’re just being lazy.」

         「It’s still the beginning of the year. Can’t I take it easy?」

         「I think because it’s the beginning of a new year, you should at least change your clothes.」

         「You’re annoying, Sendai-san. Hurry up and go to work already.」

         「That’s why I’m here. You have to leave a mark on me, remember?」

         Sendai-san said, bringing up a completely different promise from the one we’d made yesterday. She looked at me as if telling me to hurry up and let her in.

         There was no reason for me to refuse, so I let her in. I closed the door behind her and let out a small sigh.

         Back when Sendai-san told me she was going to be working two part-time jobs over winter break, we’d made a promise.

         She wasn’t allowed to go anywhere during winter break except for work, she had to wear the earrings I’d given her whenever she went to work, and before she left for work, I would leave a mark on her.

         That was the kind of promise we’d made.

         「So, where are you going to leave the mark?」

         Sendai-san asked as she sat down on my bed without waiting for me to say she could.

         「Stand up and turn around.」

         I stared at Sendai-san from the door, leaning my back against it.

         「You’re going to put it on my back?」

         「Don’t ask questions. Just do what I said.」

         「Is this the order you said you were going to give me yesterday?」

         「No. This doesn’t count as an order.」

         This wasn’t what I wanted to use the order Sendai-san had promised to obey no matter what. I wanted to save it for something that would actually bother her, so using it today would’ve been a waste.

         「Then does that mean I can refuse?」

         「If you don’t want to, then say so.」

         「… You just want me to stand up and turn around, right?」

         「Yeah.」

         I answered curtly, and just as I’d expected, Sendai-san obeyed without needing any convincing.

         Sendai-san really was boring.

         The only time she ever went out of her way to defy me was when it came to work. Aside from that, she listened to pretty much anything I told her to do and accepted it without much of a fuss. I wasn’t sure where she’d left it, but it seemed like she’d completely abandoned her own free will somewhere along the way.

         What could I even do to make her feel uncomfortable?

         I wasn’t really sure.

         At times like this, she should just say no if she actually didn’t want to do it.

         I took a towel from the closet and grabbed one of Sendai-san’s hands, pulling it behind her back as she obediently stood there with her back to me.

         「Give me your other hand, too.」

         Understanding what I meant right away, Sendai-san silently obeyed and moved her other hand behind her back, making it easier for me to tie her wrists together with the towel. I wrapped it tightly around her wrists and said,

         「Now turn back around and sit down on the bed.」

         「Pervert.」

         Sendai-san muttered as she turned around.

         If anything, I thought Sendai-san was the pervert for obediently doing what someone she was calling a pervert told her to do, but I kept that thought to myself. Instead, I gave her a push on the shoulder, and she sat down on the bed as though she’d resigned herself to it.

         Sendai-san was wearing a turtleneck sweater, probably because she expected me to leave a mark on her neck.

         She was right, but she was also partly wrong.

         I was going to leave a mark somewhere on her neck, but I had no intention of putting it somewhere that could be hidden beneath her sweater. Instead, I sank my teeth into the spot just below her ear, somewhere the turtleneck couldn’t cover.

         Sendai-san trembled and instinctively pulled away from me. But with her wrists tied, she couldn’t really resist any further. I grabbed her arm, pulled her back toward me, and pressed my lips against her neck again, sucking hard on her skin.

         The spot where I marked her was somewhere that could probably be hidden by her hair.

         So I at least wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be covered by her turtleneck.

         Other than when she’d tried to pull away earlier, Sendai-san didn’t make any further attempt to resist.

         But even though I was trying to leave the mark somewhere visible, I quickly pulled my lips away so it wouldn’t be too noticeable.

         「Hey, Miyagi. I never said you could leave it somewhere visible.」

         「But part of our promise was that I could leave a mark wherever I wanted, wasn’t it?」

         「I mean, I guess that’s true, but…」

         Sendai-san sighed.

         「Get up, Sendai-san.」

         「Untie my wrists first.」

         「We’re not done yet.」

         「And where exactly are you planning to leave one this time?」

         「You’ll find out once you get up.」

         I said, and Sendai-san did as she was told and stood up.

         「Okay, I’m up. So where are you leaving it?」

         She stared at me as though trying to figure out what I was thinking, and I placed my hand against her chest.

         Right over her heart.

         When I put my hand against it, Sendai-san looked surprised. But she said nothing, and I slid my hand down, letting it rest against the soft curve of her chest.

         Sendai-san didn’t complain.

         She just looked at me in silence.

         Seeing Sendai-san not resist me like this made me feel as though she’d become a twisted version of herself.

         It wasn’t as though she’d only recently started obeying most of what I told her to do. Even so, I couldn’t help feeling that she seemed so different from how she’d been before.

         She’d started wanting me to give her orders, and she’d begun willingly doing things that she’d once only done because I’d ordered her to.

         And lately, it’d be happening more and more often.

         I couldn’t help but feel both happy and irritated that someone who hadn’t used to be like this had become this way.

         「Okay, turn around. I’m untying your wrists.」

         I pulled my hand away from her chest.

         「That’s it?」

         She asked, as if nothing had just happened. Without answering, I grabbed her arm and forcibly turned her around myself. After I untied the towel, Sendai-san touched the spot where I’d left my mark.

         「Have a good day.」

         I muttered before giving her leg a kick.

         「Okay, I’m heading out. Make sure you eat properly.」

         「I would’ve eaten even if you hadn’t told me to.」

         「Well, I’ll see you later.」

         Sendai-san said with a smile and left my room.

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Chapter debt: 81

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