“Why did you call me yesterday? Wasn’t there something you wanted to talk about?”
I wouldn’t have been surprised if Sendai-san had asked me those questions.
But instead, she’d been sitting quietly next to me since she arrived. The only thing she’d said so far was, “Sorry I’m late.” Now, her attention was entirely on the reference books spread across the table.
She had arrived a bit later than I expected today, likely trying to be considerate by showing up at all despite it being nearly eight o’clock. Perhaps her decision to not bring up yesterday’s phone call was just another way of showing kindness.
Still, something about this felt unnatural.
Normally, the first thing Sendai-san would do is ask about the phone call. But instead, she sat silently in this awkward atmosphere, and it made it hard for me to speak up. Meanwhile, Maika’s words kept replaying in my mind.
I glanced over at Sendai-san as I took a sip of soda.
「Are you not going to ask about yesterday?」
If I didn’t bring it up, the day would probably pass without us doing anything but studying.
That was what we’d agreed to do over winter break, so it wasn’t like there was anything wrong with that. But today’s study session was clearly just an excuse. If we didn’t talk about it, there’d be no point in calling her over in the first place.
「You mean the phone call?」
Her curious voice came from beside me.
「I thought for sure you’d bring it up today.」
「I came to help you study. Isn’t that what you asked me to do yesterday?」
Sendai-san replied, lifting her gaze as she placed her pencil on the table.
Then, she turned to face me directly.
「But if there’s something you want to talk about, I’ll listen. There’s something on your mind, isn’t there?」
Her tone was reluctant, but not enough to seem annoyed or like she found this bothersome.
I should’ve been used to seeing her like this, but for some reason, I felt uneasy today. Maybe it was because she wasn’t wearing her school uniform.
Instead, she had on a simple knit top and a skirt—nothing special, the kind of outfit you could find anywhere. If I wore something like that, it’d probably look cheap, but on Sendai-san, it suited her. She had a way of making plain things seem polished. I hadn’t seen her in casual clothes since summer break, so seeing her like this now felt strange, like there was an odd distance between us. And because of that, I couldn’t summon the courage to ask her what I really wanted to.
「… What about you, Sendai-san? Don’t you have anything to say to me?」
「You asked me that yesterday, too. I told you, I don’t. Now, what about you, Miyagi? What did you want to talk about?」
The whole reason I’d asked her to come over was to have this conversation. If I wanted to get it out, today had to be the day. But even though the words were clear in my mind, they wouldn’t leave my mouth. The silence dragged on until, finally, Sendai-san spoke up instead.
「I’m guessing the thing you want to talk about isn’t something I’d want to be asked about anyway. And honestly, you don’t seem to be in the best mood right now. If you don’t feel like saying it, why not just drop it?」
Her tone was heavier than before.
I took a deep breath, exhaled, and finally forced myself to speak.
「Sendai-san, tell me what you and Maika talked about when you bumped into each other in the hallway.」
「What I talked about with Utsunomiya…? Oh, you mean that time we were both headed to the school store?」
Her voice immediately softened, quieter now, as though I’d just touched upon something she’d rather avoid.
「Yeah.」
「I thought I already told you. She just asked me about that one time I came to your classroom to find you.」
There was no way I could forget that.
She’d told me the same thing that day we met up in the music preparation room, and I’d believed her. But now, I knew she had left parts of the truth unsaid.
「That’s not everything, is it? You talked about other things, didn’t you? Like what university I’m applying to.」
「… Oh, I see. Utsunomiya told you, didn’t she?」
Sendai-san’s voice softened, as if everything had suddenly fallen into place for her.
「Yeah, she told me yesterday. You already knew which university I was aiming for, so why did you ask me about it in the music preparation room? Was it just to see my reaction and mock me?」
She must’ve assumed that, with my grades having improved recently, I’d changed my first-choice school to chase after her. And I couldn’t help but feel that she’d kept quiet about it on purpose, waiting for the right moment to confront me and tease me about it.
But that wasn’t why I’d changed my school of choice.
I wasn’t following her, and I’d already decided I wouldn’t see her anymore after graduation.
It was a coincidence—nothing more. The school I switched to was close to Sendai-san’s, but that wasn’t my intention. I’d changed it because I wanted to go to the same school as Maika, nothing else.
It’d be ridiculous if there was a deeper meaning behind it, and Sendai-san would be mistaken if she believed there was.
And now, I just wanted her to answer me.
But instead, she just stayed silent, a serious expression etched onto her face.
「Answer me, Sendai-san.」
I pressed her, my tone firm, and finally, she replied with a voice as grave as her expression.
「――Did it seem like I was asking because I wanted to mock you?」
Sendai-san’s gaze wandered to the bookshelf, landing on the black cat plush she’d given me.
「I just wanted to hear about your university plans from you directly.」
She responded without waiting for my answer despite being the one who had asked a question.
「If that’s the case, you could’ve just asked me. Or told me you’d heard it from Maika already.」
I wasn’t trying to sound angry, but the firmness in my voice made her shift her gaze from the plush to me.
「If I had asked you, you’d probably just deny that you were applying to the same university as Utsunomiya.」
「That’s――」
She was right. If she’d told me Maika had mentioned it, I would’ve brushed it off as a joke or something I’d said casually, then picked a different school instead.
「So, what are you planning to do for university, then?」
Her question sounded like one a teacher would ask.
「I’m not telling you.」
「Come on, just say it.」
「I haven’t decided.」
「You know it’s too late to still be indecisive. I’m sure you’ve decided already, but if not, you should go to the same school as Utsunomiya.」
She was right—it was too late to be uncertain, and I had already made my decision. I was going to apply to the same university as Maika, but I didn’t want to admit it to her.
It felt like agreeing with her would make it seem like I was doing it just because she said so. I had my own reasons and choices. I didn’t want everything I did to feel like it revolved around her. And besides, why was she so obsessed with wanting to know where I was applying to anyway?
「Why do I even need to tell you my plans? And why do you keep pushing for me to go to the same university as you or somewhere close to you? Does it matter where I go?」
Though my tone was a bit sharp, it wasn’t like I was angry. Still, Sendai-san’s expression clouded, and she fell quiet.
I took a few sips of soda to fill the awkward silence, but a faint unease crept in, as if I’d just said something out of line.
I wasn’t feeling cold or anything, but I reached for the air conditioner remote. Just as I was about to raise the temperature, Sendai-san spoke up.
「―― Miyagi, don’t you want to keep seeing me?」
Her words didn’t answer my question at all and came out softly, tinged with an anxious tone I’d never heard from her before. It reminded me of a lost child timidly asking for help.
「We agreed, didn’t we? That we’d stop seeing each other after graduation.」
It wasn’t something I wanted to bring up again, but I needed to remind her of the terms we’d settled on.
She hadn’t answered my question, and I could’ve avoided hers too. But hearing her speak in that tone made it hard to ignore.
「I know that. But I want to hear it directly from you—do you really not want to keep seeing me after we graduate?」
「… What about you, Sendai-san?」
「I want to keep seeing you, Miyagi. I think it’ll be fun.」
I’d expected her to reprimand me for answering her question with another question, but instead, she answered honestly.
「I don’t know about you, Miyagi, but I’ve come to really enjoy being in this room. I think it’d be boring if we ended things.」
Sendai-san said something she usually wouldn’t.
“I want to keep seeing you.”
Those were words anyone could say, but even if they meant them today, they might not tomorrow.
Even my father had made plenty of promises to me—saying he’d come home more often or that we’d have dinner together—yet he rarely ever kept them.
And Sendai-san wasn’t exactly good at keeping her promises either. She often broke the ones she made with me.
One of the few promises she did keep was continuing to wear the necklace I’d given her. But since she wasn’t in her school uniform today, I couldn’t tell if she still had it on, and I doubted she was wearing it now.
Maybe if she’d been wearing it like always, I’d find it easier to believe her words, but I couldn’t bring myself to check. Instead, all I managed was a self-deprecating remark.
「Yeah, right. Like you actually enjoy coming to my place after school just to get paid to be ordered around.」
「I mean, wouldn’t it make me a pervert if I did enjoy being ordered around?」
「See? That just proves you weren’t having fun this entire time.」
I said coldly, and Sendai-san gave me a troubled look.
「I wouldn’t say that. It’s just… I didn’t know you very well at the start. I bet you didn’t really enjoy being around me back then either, right?」
In the beginning, I’d thought a relationship that started on a whim could end just as easily. If I ever got bored of her, I’d simply stop asking her to come over, and that’d be that. But the truth was, I hadn’t found her uninteresting.
「Well, I was pretty amused by how you always listened to my orders.」
「Wow, you’ve got quite the terrible personality, huh?」
「Only when it comes to you, Sendai-san.」
I answered her comment with a curt reply. A soft sigh came from beside me before she spoke again, her tone serious.
「So, Miyagi. How do you feel now? Do you think it’s fun being together?」
It was either yes or no. I had to pick one.
When I thought about it, though there were some things to consider, the answer was obvious.
「…It is, as long as you don’t try to do anything weird.」
「Hey, Miyagi. Tell me you want to keep seeing me even after we graduate. I swear I won’t do anything weird to you.」
She was trying to get me to say something that went against our arrangement. Those were words I really didn’t want to say, not when I could hardly trust Sendai-san, and I didn’t want them to change anything between us either.
As I stayed silent, she let out a long sigh and leaned her back against my bed.
「Okay, fine. Let’s put that aside for now. At least tell me what university you’re going to once you get accepted.」
「Why should I tell you?」
「Because we’re study buddies. We may not be friends, but we did study a lot together. Don’t you think it’s only fair to tell me that much?」
「Well, maybe…」
「Not ‘maybe.’ It is fair, so make sure to tell me what university you’re going to.」
Sendai-san spoke as if it were only natural for me to tell her, casually forcing it on me.
I’d already decided which university I was applying to, and she knew it too. I doubted she believed me when I said I hadn’t made up my mind yet. Even if I didn’t say anything, she’d probably figure it out easily enough after our entrance exams were over anyway.
There wasn’t much point in hiding it.
「…Fine, but no promises.」
「Okay.」
Sendai-san responded with a gentle tone, as if she was satisfied with my vague answer.
“Okay, let’s get back to studying.”
I thought that’s what she would say, so I picked up my pencil from the table. But instead, Sendai-san started putting away all her books.
「I’m going to head back now. I got here pretty late today, after all.」
It was true; she had arrived later than usual. But there were days when she’d stay even later. Without thinking, I instinctively grabbed her by the arm.
「You’re going home already?」
Not everything had been settled, and we hadn’t really resolved anything either, but I had finished saying what I needed to say. Plus, studying had just been an excuse for us to meet up and talk today, so we didn’t have to continue. But it didn’t feel right to have her leave so soon after we’d just spent all that time just talking.
「Yep.」
I couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated, remembering what I’d had to go through just to get her to come over during the break. I didn’t want her to go home so easily. I wanted her to stay just a little longer. I figured I had the right to at least that much.
But to make that happen, I had to find a way to get her to let her guard down.
「… What about our kiss?」
That was the only thing I could think of as Sendai-san stood up, getting ready to leave.
「Our kiss?」
「That was part of our deal, right?」
「That’s true, but it’s not like I helped you study today or anything.」
Sendai-san was hardly the type to do anything sensible, but for some reason, she was being unusually reasonable now. I tightened my grip on her arm, unable to let go just yet.
「Hey, Miyagi. That hurts.」
「Help me study a little before you go home. You promised you’d do it yesterday.」
「It’ll be really late by the time I get home if I help you study now.」
I let go of her arm, taking a small breath.
After hesitating for a moment, I mumbled,
「―― Look, if it gets too late, you can just stay over.」
「Huh?」
「You’re the one who suggested it over the phone yesterday, right? That you wanted to stay over.」
She was the one who wanted this.
All I was doing was granting her wish.
「You’d really let me stay over?」
「Well, no one else is home today, so it’ll just be you and me.」
「That sounds kind of weird when you put it that way.」
I meant exactly what I said—no one else was home right now, and my father wasn’t coming back later either. There was no other meaning behind it. If it sounded weird to her, that just meant Sendai-san was the one thinking strange things.
「Actually, never mind. Just go home.」
I pushed her arm away, and Sendai-san responded with, “Hey, I was just kidding.”
Her jokes were always in bad taste, and that one was way too loaded to be a joke. If I took everything she said seriously and responded accordingly, I’d just end up getting hurt. But at the same time, I had to be extra careful with my words, or who knew what she’d do to me.
「…I’ll let you stay over as long as you promise you won’t try anything weird.」
「That’s not really something you need to be saying to another girl, is it?」
「Sendai-san, you should reflect on what you’ve done to me so far. And if you’re not going to help me study, I’ll show you to the door.」
I said, and in response, Sendai-san pulled out her phone and said, “Okay, I’ll let my parents know first.”
Ave Lilium Translations 