「So, why are you making me read you a textbook instead of a manga or a novel?」
Sendai-san said as she flipped through the pages of the contemporary Japanese textbook.
「It’s like a lullaby. To help me fall asleep.」
I felt like if I stayed awake any longer, I would only end up saying things that I’d regret.
If Sendai-san had come by yesterday when I called for her, there might have been more to talk about. However, after spending a day alone with my thoughts, I couldn’t find the right words to say anymore.
To begin with, there was no reason for me to summon her just because I’d learned that someone had confessed to Sendai-san.
「You know, if the teachers heard you calling textbooks “lullabies”, they’d probably cry.」
She said, turning herself to face me.
Then, while I was lying down, Sendai-san lightly tapped me on the head with the textbook, just like the teachers would do.
「It’s not my fault the classes are so boring.」
I gently hit her arm in return.
「It’s not good to blame other people all the time, you know?」
She said in a teasing tone.
「Shut up. Now hurry up and read it to me.」
「Fine, I’ll do it. But what am I supposed to do if you actually fall asleep?」
「Keep reading it as I sleep.」
「Huuh? No way, that’s just going to make me sleepy too.」
Sendai-san said with an unmotivated voice as she flopped onto my bed.
Her hand touched my body.
More specifically, it was brushing against the side of my abdomen.
It felt a bit ticklish, so I propped myself up and tugged on Sendai-san’s bangs.
「You’re not allowed to fall asleep, Sendai-san. Get up.」
「Yes, yes.」
Just say “yes” once.
Even if I said that to her, Sendai-san probably wouldn’t listen, so I didn’t want to bother making it an order either.
Instead, I pushed her to start reading.
「I know already.」
She gave a short reply.
Then, a pleasant and soothing voice reached my ears.
It was a voice I heard quite frequently back when we were in the same class in our second year.
During class, she read from the textbooks with an enviable level of perfection. It made me want to be able to read just as proficiently as she did. Even today, her clear voice flawlessly recited the words from the textbook without mispronouncing anything.
As I closed my eyes, I felt at ease, as if I were cocooned in my favourite blanket, shielded from the brightness outside, immersed in a world without light. In this warm, soothing darkness, my only illumination came from the sound of Sendai-san’s voice.
It felt as if we were back in our old classroom – the same one we were in before the start of spring break.
Sendai-san’s voice gracefully flowed out, seamlessly carrying the words from the textbook into my mind. With a tone gentler than a teacher, her voice lulled me into drowsiness, and soon my consciousness faded away.
Nothing as shallow and light as a nap, I had slipped down into the depths of sleep without even realising it.
I didn’t see any dreams.
But by the time I woke up, it felt like several hours had gone by.
In the quiet of the room, my mind gradually cleared out the haze of sleep.
What time was it?
I started to sit up so I could see the time on the clock. Rather than the clock, though, I found myself looking at Sendai-san’s sleeping face.
「Even after I told you not to fall asleep…」
I had no idea when she dozed off, but she was slumbering peacefully beside me.
She wasn’t close enough to have been considered sticking to me.
Sendai-san was sleeping by the edge of the bed, so there was a reasonable amount of distance between us.
She had removed her blazer but kept her socks on while sleeping. Her necktie was loosened, and as usual, she left two buttons unfastened on her blouse.
The light makeup on her face made her look well put-together.
You could even say she was rather pretty.
I softly caressed Sendai-san’s face. If she were to wake up right now, she’d probably be upset at me for ruining her makeup. However, in her current state, she couldn’t say anything. My fingertips traced her mouth, stopping just at the corner.
She had touched my fingers with these lips before.
They’d even been inside of her mouth as well.
The memory of her tongue against my fingers resurfaced – it was softer than this cheek.
The feeling of Sendai-san’s wet tongue licking my blood came back to me.
Her tongue felt warm when it was pressed against my stinging wound. Of course, having Sendai-san lick the wound didn’t get rid of the pain. The displeased look on her face as she obeyed my order and swallowed my blood brought me satisfaction, though.
But when she bit the wound, that feeling of satisfaction vanished instantly, and the pain intensified.
I ran my fingertips towards the middle of her lips.
I hadn’t noticed it before, but they felt as soft as a marshmallow.
I softly pressed on her lips.
Sendai-san didn’t react.
「Say something already.」
I wanted to hear her voice.
I wanted to hear the voice that always denied me.
Normally, she’d say things like, “Stop that,” or, “Are you stupid?” to keep me in check. However, right now, the voice that would usually be there to stop me was nowhere to be heard.
Because of that, my hand wouldn’t stop.
My fingers moved from her lips to her chin and then ventured even further downward.
I traced my fingers along her neck, reaching down to her collarbone.
However, Sendai-san showed no signs of waking up.
If I went down just a little lower, I would reach the area where she told me not to leave a hickey.
After hesitating for a bit, I placed my fingers on her collarbone and followed it until I reached her shoulder.
My palm brushed against the bra strap hidden beneath her blouse, and I noticed the heat of her body. She seemed a bit warmer than usual, perhaps because she was asleep.
Even though it was about time for her to wake up, Sendai-san didn’t show the slightest sign of stirring.
My gaze shifted towards the side of her neck.
That was one of the spots she explicitly forbade me from leaving a hickey.
I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
I took my hand off her shoulder.
Leaning in towards the side of her neck, without unbuttoning anything on her blouse, I caught a whiff of the sweet fragrance of her shampoo.
This wasn’t the first time I had smelled it before.
It had the same scent as my pillow on the nights after Sendai-san’s visits.
As I inched my face closer to her neck, the fragrance grew stronger, causing my heart to beat a little faster.
I brushed my lips against a spot right below her ear, and the sound of my own heartbeat grew louder in my head.
I pressed my lips firmly against her skin, attempting to drown out the sound of my pounding heartbeat. Just as I was about to bite down, the sensation of her soft flesh beneath my teeth snapped me back to my senses, and I quickly pulled away.
I wiped my lips.
As I hastily scrubbed my lips, as if trying to erase the memory of what had just happened, I felt a tug on my blouse.
「What were you doing?」
I turned to the source of the groggy voice next to me and found Sendai-san with her eyes slightly open.
「Nothing.」
I answered curtly, attempting to create some distance between us. However, there was a wall right behind me, preventing me from getting as far away as I wanted.
「Oh, I know. You were trying to do something erotic, weren’t you?」
I don’t think she noticed.
After all, she was asleep.
Since she had just woken up, she couldn’t have known what happened.
―― At least, that should be the case.
「No, I wasn’t.」
I responded firmly to Sendai-san’s question. I could hear the smile in her tone of voice.
「Your face is red, you know?」
Sendai-san said as she extended her hand towards me.
My cheeks didn’t feel hot.
My heart was beating a bit louder than usual, but I was certain that my face wasn’t flushed.
Her hand, which felt warmer than usual, gently touched my cheek, causing me to reflexively back away. However, in doing so, I accidentally bumped into the wall behind me.
Thud.
「Ouch.」
A dull thump resounded in my room, and I instinctively held my head in pain.
I forgot there was a wall behind me.
However, thanks to the shock of hitting my head against the wall, my heart managed to regain its composure.
「You’re lying about my face being red, aren’t you?」
I complained to Sendai-san while stroking the area where I hit my head.
「Now, why would I do that?」
「More importantly, why did you fall asleep?」
I reprimanded Sendai-san by giving her leg a light kick for disobeying my order to keep reading even after I fell asleep.
「I felt sleepy just watching you sleep, and before I knew it, I dozed off too. What time is it right now?」
When I looked over at my clock, I noticed that quite a bit of time had gone by.
「It’s almost eight o’ clock.」
「I want to sleep some more.」
「Get up.」
After giving Sendai-san’s leg another kick, she slowly got up, revealing my contemporary Japanese textbook lying underneath her.
「Sendai-san.」
「Hmm? What is it?」
「It’s all bent.」
I grabbed the textbook from under Sendai-san and held it up to show her. The cover, which seemed to have been pressed against her back, had noticeable creases on it.
「Oh, I’m sorry! I fell asleep while I was reading it. I’m really sorry.」
Sendai-san apologized with a look of remorse on her face.
「It’s okay, I don’t really care. It’s just a textbook.」
While having a clean and undamaged textbook was ideal, I didn’t really mind even if it was bent.
I was only using it for one year anyway.
However, Sendai-san seemed like she really cared about it.
“I’m sorry.” I heard her apologize once again.
「It’s fine. I’m not going to need it for very long anyway.」
After carefully attempting to straighten out the cover, I put the textbook on my pillow.
Credits to himi for proofreading and editing this part!
Ave Lilium Translations 