CH 41

Outside the window is wet with large raindrops.

The sudden rainfall has soaked and drenched all people, cars, and street trees equally.

The rainy season has not yet ended, so it is not surprising that the weather forecast was off, but raindrops were falling from the sky in what could be described as a torrential downpour. Perhaps that is why Sendai-san does not come easily.

Until now, she had never failed to come when I called her.

The rain is intensifying.

If I had known it was going to rain like this, I would not have called Sendai-san. When I see the city drenched in rain, I can’t help but think of all the bad things I’ve done. But Sendai-san will come even if I tell her not to come now, and all I can do is wait for her arrival.

As I recall, the rainy season was already over by this time last year.

In July, after the final examinations were over, the rainy season ended early, and I met Sendai-san at a bookstore. That’s how I remember it.

Last year, my grades on the final exam were neither good nor bad, but somehow this year they are a little better thanks to Sendai-san’s diligence in teaching me how to study.

But this is not a good memory.

I lay down on the bed and close my eyes.

Memories of something I did with someone else are building up. Then I would label some of them as anniversaries and organize them.

When I do that, when something happens, all the labels come off at once and replace them all with bad memories. The more fun days I have, the more bad memories I will have.

It’s a good thing I don’t remember exactly when I met Sendai-san at the bookstore. I don’t want to put a lot of labels on her.

With time, something will always change, even if I don’t want it to.

Like a kind mother leaving her child, even things that don’t need to change are changing.

——I don’t know why my mom left home without me or what she was thinking. I never asked my father.

Maybe one of them said something to me, but I don’t really remember because I was a child. In my memory, my mother left home suddenly one day.

Now that I am no longer a small child, I sometimes imagine that there may have been a reason. But that doesn’t change my memories of my mother into good memories.

The same is true of my relationship with Sendai-san.

She talks a lot, but she doesn’t say the most important things, so I don’t know what she is thinking. If Sendai-san were to suddenly disappear from my life, I would still not know why.

We are changing little by little.

If possible, I wanted to keep our relationship the same as when we first met.

The alteration caused by time does not allow us to be anything more than what we were when we first met.

From the bed, look out the window.

My hair feels a little heavier on a rainy day.

I touched my hair, wondering if it was the same for Sendai-san, and sighed as she entered the space between my thoughts.

I pick up my phone, which is still lying on my pillow.

There is no message from Sendai-san.

It’s slow.

It’s too slow, even for the rain.

With the sound of rain coming from inside the room, I think that maybe I should tell her that she don’t have to come today, even if I have to tell her strongly.

Lost in thought, I display Sendai-san’s name on my phone.

But before I can make the call, the intercom rings. Instead of going to the living room, I answered the intercom from my room phone and the voice I heard belonged to Sendai-san, and I hurriedly opened the entrance lock. Then, within three minutes, the chime rings again. I opened the door to find a soaking wet Sendai-san standing there.

「Didn’t you have an umbrella?」

「You’d know it if you saw myself holding it. Sorry but, can I borrow your towel?」

The weather forecast was sunny, so it was not surprising that she did not have an umbrella. But Sendai-san did not seem to believe the weather forecast, and in her right hand was a small umbrella.

「Just go in there.」

I call out to Sendai-san, who is dripping water from her uniform.

「I’ll get your room wet.」

She is right.

If Sendai-san walked around soaking wet, even though she was apparently holding an umbrella, the hallway and my room would be flooded. Still, I cannot leave her wet.

「It doesn’t matter. If it gets wet, just wipe it off.」

「It’s not alright. Give me a towel.」

「I can bring a towel, but I’ll lend you a change of clothes, so why don’t you take off your uniform first?」

「Right here?」

「Right here. There’s no one here but me, and no one’s coming, so don’t worry. Besides, wiping it off won’t dry your clothes, and they’ll get wet when Sendai-san comes into the room.」

Sendai-san’s uniform is not in such a state that wiping it with a towel will help. If she don’t want to wet the room, she need to dry her uniform. If there was a way to dry the uniform without taking it off, I would adopt it, but there was no such method. But Sendai-san was stubborn.

「I’m not into taking my clothes off at the door.」

「If you’re worried about getting the room wet, take off your clothes here.」

「Give me a towel.」

Sendai-san says strongly and clearly.

You mean you really don’t want to take it off?

For Sendai-san, this is someone else’s house, and I understand how he feels. I don’t want to take off my clothes at the entrance of someone’s house either.

「I’ll bring it to you, so wait here.」

After saying this, I heads for my room.

After pulling a face towel out of the wardrobe, I reconsider. When I returned to the entrance with a bath towel, Sendai-san was untying her hair, which she always braids.

Her wet hair hung in gentle curves over her shoulders.

I have seen this kind of appearance several times after PE.

But I haven’t seen them since the class split up.

I have never seen them in this house either.

If I looked closely, I could see her wet blouse stuck to her body and her underwear was transparent. My heart almost quickens at the sight of Sendai-san, whom I haven’t seen in a while, and the sight of her I now realize, and I hand her the towel I brought with me as if to push it to her.

「Here.」

「Thanks.」

Sendai-san thanked me briefly and then began to wipe her hair.

「What about your uniforms」

「I’ll wipe it down, that’s it.」

「I’ll lend you a change of clothes, so take them off.」

「You want me to take off my clothes that badly?」

「That’s right. You’ll catch a cold if you keep it up.」

The human body is not so conveniently made that it does not catch a cold because it is July. Even in July, if you get wet, you will get cold and catch a cold. Sendai-san must not be so stupid as not to know that, but she was not likely to take off hee uniform here.

「Don’t move.」

I tell her the words I have said many times before and grab Sendai-san’s hand to wipe my hair.

「An order?」

「Yes, it’s an order.」

When I said this, Sendai-san stopped wiping her hand, which was wiping her hair.

I look at her wet blouse.

The first button is undone as usual.

The second button had not yet been undone.

I remove her tie and also unbutton the second button instead of Sendai-san.

「I don’t have any change of clothes.」

「Like I said, you can borrow my clothes.」

The day I made her hide an eraser in her uniform and look for it.

I remember that she told me to add to the rules, “No taking off your clothes.” But it is not clear whether the rule has been formalized.

I slowly unbutton the third button.

Sendai-san does not resist.

I put my hand on the fourth button, but she did not say anything.

We know that it doesn’t matter what we do.

But since Sendai-san will follow any orders, I want to test how far she will go to do what I say. I feel like she would forgive me if I chained herself up in this room like a dog, and even allow me to do things I promised myself I wouldn’t do.

……No, it is not.

This is what I am doing for Sendai-san.

It’s to make sure she doesn’t catch a cold, and it’s not an act of testing or breaking a promise.

I am a little nervous, but this is just my imagination.

When we were in the same class, we changed in the same locker room. I’ve never had to take my clothes off, but I’ve seen many near-naked things.

It’s no big deal to take off her clothes.

I undo the fourth button and all the remaining buttons.

I grabbed her between the second and third buttons and opened the front of her blouse to get a better view of her underwear.

It was simple white underwear, nothing special. It was a design that could be found anywhere, and there was nothing novel about it. I’m sure there was a time when I would have worn a little more fancy underwear, but what I’m wearing today is something that even I would have.

And yet, my heart is nagging me.

I just take them off because she’ll catch a cold.

There should be no other intention, but I now want Sendai-san to stop this hand. It was also proof that there were other intentions.