CH 1

There is no reason why it has to be Sendai-san. It could have been Ichio-san, or Gotō-san. It could have been anyone, even a stranger would do.

Nevertheless, I chose Sendai-san because of fate… I wish I could have said that, but in reality it was just a coincidence. By a combination of several coincidences, and with my whim riding on it, Sendai-san is now in my room.

Once a week, for three hours.

I pay her 5,000 yen.

That’s the deal.

No, it’s not clearly defined.

Sometimes, it is 5,000 yen for two hours, there are times it is 5,000 yen for three and a half hours. Sometimes once a week, sometimes twice a week. The time and frequency are fluid. But the amount of money, 5,000 yen, remains the same. Anyway, I buy Sendai-san’s time for three hours yen per visit, regardless of time and frequency.

That’s the pure fact.

「Miyagi, give the rest of this.」

Sendai-san, who is lying on my bed, says of course and taps me on the shoulder.

I turned around from the back of the bed to find her tapping me on the shoulder with a manga she had just finished reading.

It is the end of December, and the room was heated by a fan heater to counteract the cold outside, seems hots for her, and she takes off her blazer. She was dressed in a loose tie, blouse, and short skirt, and was disheveled as she lounged around. Even the inside of her skirt looks like it could be seen if she wanted to.

If Sendai-san, who maintains a neat and tidy appearance at school, were to be seen in this outfit, her classmates might become disillusioned.

「Take it off yourself.」

I push back the manga marked volume three to Sendai-san, who is occupying the bed with a cool face.

Above bottom.

If I take away the light make-up, I might be a mediocre, but Sendai-san has such a beautiful face. And by the way, she was smart too, and I think her grades were in the upper middle of the range.

Naturally, she is popular in her own way.

——Apparently. The reason I say this vaguely is because I have never seen her being popular.

She is what is known as a “rear-end student,” and belongs to the upper ranks of the school hierarchy. However, I am still at the bottom of the class. Well, I still stand out in class, and it is not surprising that I’m popular with the girls.

「Stingy. That’s fine, I took it.」

I feel a hand reach out and Sendai-san drops the three volumes on my thigh.

「You know what, what do you think I was?」

「The one closest to the bookshelf.」

「Go get it yourself.」

I say coldly and put the three volumes on the pillow.

If this were the school, I, who belong to the bottom of the school caste, or rather, barely a second-string dropout, would not talk to Sendai-san, in such a high-handed manner.

That’s why in this room.

It was allowed because I paid 5,000 to buy Sendai-san.

However, I’m not sure why she is mature enough to let me buy her. I think Sendai-san could easily get not only 5,000 yen but also 10,000 or 20,000 yen if she wanted to.

With her looks in the brand of high school girls, there must be people willing to pay her that much to buy her.

Therefore, the current situation in which, I, who am of an average class in terms of both head and appearance, have the right to free Sendai-san is probably a very rare occurrence, and this time is very precious.

「Ah—ah, I’ll just go get it myself.」

Sendai-san says tiresomely and gets off the bed. Then she sat down in front of the bookshelf and began to search for the book, mumbling,「Where’s the fourth volume?」

Her long hair, which falls down her back, is in a half updo, braided on both sides and pinned back. Her hair color is closer to brown than black, but the teacher is not offended by this. Naturally, she do not follow the school rules. But I had never seen her being warned about violating school rules, perhaps because of her image strategy through clean clothes and hairstyles. Even her grades are classified as good, so maybe they don’t bother to pay attention.

I think it is unreasonable to live in a world where favoritism is tolerated.

I flop down on the bed.

I don’t want to be like Sendai-san, but I do envy her.

I submitted the wrong set of homework today and the teacher got mad at me. If it had been Sendai-san who made the mistake, the teacher would have not been angry.

「Miyagi, the fourth volume’s not here. If you don’t have it, tell me first-hand.」

Sendai-san, who is having an easier time in highschool than the others, looks at me grimly.

「It’s there.」

「No, it’s not.」

「Lies. It’s there, you know.」

「I told you it isn’t there.」

The strong words jog my memory.

I remember the release date of the fourth volume.

But I couldn’t remember for sure if I bought it or not.

「The volume four, I thought I bought it last week because that was the release date. Ahh, I guess I forgot.」

I mutter to myself and decide to buy one tomorrow.

When I put my face on the bedding, I smelled something that wasn’t mine, and it hit a nerve.

「Release date, were you checking it?」

「I do.」

「Nerdy.」

「Shut up.」

I look up and saw Sendai-san.

Sendai-san’s words were not so harsh. It was within the range of what could be called a joke, but it doubled my irritation.

Looking out the window, it was dimly lit, and there is a light on in an apartment building a few doors down.

Night is near.

I close the curtains and sit on my bed.

Today was not a good day.

My mood is as gloomy as the sky.

「Sendai-san. come over here, and sit here.」

I call Sendai-san, who is in front of the bookshelf.

「Order time?」

「Yes.」

Crossing my legs, I look at Sendai-san.

The skirt of my school uniform was longer than Sendai-san’s but a little shorter than the rule. I could not see my legs as slender as hers, but I couldn’t help it.

「So, what am I going to do.」

Sendai-san asks, sitting in front of me.

I broke my just-crossed legs and said quietly.

「Okay, okay.」

「Say okay once.」

「Okay, okay.」

「Undress me.」

I place my right foot on Sendai-san’s thigh and points to my navy blue socks.

Apparently not planning to listen to me, she deliberately repeated「okay」twice before removing my socks. Then she asks,「The left one too?」

「No, not that one. Lick the one you took off.」

I lightly poked her belly with my bare foot and Sendai-san gave me a dubious look.

「Your foot?」

「Yes.」

I have been paying Sendai-san 5,000 yen since the beginning of summer, but today is the first time I have given her such an order. Normally, I would ask her to read a book, or do my homework, or some other unimportant thing.

For 5,000 yen, Sendai-san will do what I say.

That’s all that matters, the context is not important. That’s why I’ve never given “how” orders. But today I’m not in the mood to give orders that don’t matter.

I was tempting to say something that she would not want to follow.

However, I just didn’t think she would listen to me, as she was used to following stupid orders.

「…I understand.」

Although it was not an immediate response, contrary to my expectations, Sendai-san accepted the order. She put her hands on my ankles and heels, though there was no trace of emotion in her voice.

Sendai-san stared at my legs.

I felt a shiver run down my spine.

My feet are lightly lifted up, and the warm air blows on my instep.

And the soft feeling I felt.

What seemed to be Sendai-san’s tongue touched the back of my foot.

The 5,000 yen I had given her in advance.

It is a chain that binds Sendai-san, and she cannot resist me.

That is the kind of promise we made to this room, and she has fulfilled her promise to listen to me.