CH 49

I send up to half of the total.

When I told her I was going home, Sendai-san said something like that and I refused. It was still light outside and I remembered the street, so there was no reason to ask for a ride home. We had nothing to talk about when we walked together.

We didn’t talk that much when we were heading to Sendai-san’s house.

Besides, it’s easier to go home alone.

It’s awkward to think about what happened today.

So many times I told her I was going home alone, but for some reason I am walking home with Sendai-san, dragging on the silence.

She’s a hot mess.

She doesn’t know when the right to give orders was lost.

She chose to ignore my words that it was an order and leave the house with me.

I sigh softly so the neighbors can’t hear me.

I asked Sendai-san to take me to her house because she was too selfish.

She increased the rules and did whatever she wanted without any refusal, as if she could do anything she wanted on her summer vacation. Then, I thought that even I should be allowed to force her to do something difficult, so I ordered her to take me to her room, which I didn’t even know where it was.

What kind of room she spends her time in.

I was just a little bit curious.

She’ll say no anyway.

I regret that I thought so and gave the order so casually.

Some of the things I saw today were things that Sendai-san did not want me to see. It was something she had been hiding all along and would continue to do so.

Sendai-san seems to be loved by her family.

I had such an image of her, but such Sendai-san was only in my imagination. Her mother, whom I bumped into at the door, had gone out without seeing her daughter, and Sendai-san had a delicate look on her face.

An atmosphere where I could tell right away that they didn’t have a very good relationship.

There was definitely something like that between the two of us.

I failed.

I think I talked too much today, even though I was afraid of silence. Thanks to that, Sendai-san had to do that to me.

Now, Sendai-san is silent.

I, too, am silent to make up for talking too much.

I would feel a little better if I apologized for talking too much, but if I did, Sendai-san would definitely get angry. So I had to walk silently next to her.

It’s not so different from walking alone, because there is only silence when we walk side by side.

We can’t look to each, we only look down.

The shadows created by the setting sun fall on the sidewalk.

The pace of walking is slow, and Sendai-san is walking next to me, just as she did on the way there.

「Miyagi, what do you think?」

On the way home, the silence was abruptly broken when, for the first time, I heard the same voice as usual coming from next to me.

「What do I think?」

I looked at Sendai-san, not understanding the meaning of the words she was saying to me.

「You wanted to come to my room, right?」

I answer according to the cheerful tone of her voice, as if she has forgotten what happened today.

「That’s not what I meant. I just wanted a change of scenery.」

「Okay, okay. You put it that way, but at least tell me what you think of the room.」

Sendai-san’s room was neither overly decorated nor so empty as to be bleak. The perfect word to describe it is a very ordinary room. Not so different from my room.

But her bookshelves are different.

The majority of the bookshelves were occupied by problem books and reference books, and not lined with magazines that Ibaraki-san might like to look at from time to time. But I feel it’s not the right thing to say, so I tell her a safe word.

「It was just like any other room.」

「What’s that? What kind of room did you think it was?」

「More like a high school girl?」

「Ah— So that’s the image you have of me.」

「At school, you know, that’s how it is.」

Sendai-san is not the flamboyant type, but she has an image of being conspicuous and sparkling at school. I wasn’t surprised to see the room surrounded by pretty and fashionable things.

「It doesn’t have to be a room feedback, is there anything else?」

Perhaps not satisfied with my words, Sendai-san urges me to go on.

After that, I spent the rest of the day reading the books on the bookshelf.

Not that I was empty-handed, but I didn’t bring any printouts or problem sets, and since I had nothing else, that was my only option. And Sendai-san was also reading a book.

In other words, we spent the time no different from usual.

「It wasn’t like I was going to say what I thought.」

「Well, that’s for sure.」

Sendai-san says lightly and stops.

I stopped too, before her index finger reached out and touched my neck.

「Here, is this fine? It’s still a little red.」

Sendai-san, who pushed me down, did not take it easy on me.

Her teeth dug into my neck so hard I thought I was going to bleed.

I have been bitten by her several times, but this was the worst bite of them all.

「It was painful and still hurts.」

When I replied, Sendai-san’s hand touched the place where it would have been reddened.

The truth is, it doesn’t hurt anymore.

But it tingles as if the pain is still there.

「That’s right. I made it so it would hurt.」

Sendai-san says with a very serious face.

Don’t be like me.

I was about to say that, but then I stopped talking.

I exhale, realizing once again how badly I have been doing.

I peel off Mr. Sendai’s hand that caresses my neck.

It’s okay.

This is nothing.

It may still be red now, but it doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t leave a mark.

「Sendai-san’s a pervert.」

「Maybe, you’re right.」

Sendai-san, who usually speaks in denial, affirms.

She have been going off the rails since the summer break.

The Sendai-san I know knows how to moderate, and she doesn’t push people around. There was no great significance in doing anything out of order.

She touch the skin with her tongue.

That’s all there is to the act of licking. But it seemed to me that Sendai-san was trying to give it more meaning than that at the time.

No, it was my imagination.

It’s all just a big deal, something that will be forgotten tomorrow.

「Let’s go?」

With a voice that seems to be lost in the hustle and bustle of the city, Sendai-san walks out.

I don’t know how fast I walk, as I did when I went to her house.

I can’t decide on my stride, which would come naturally to me with other girls.

Should we walk side by side or a little further apart?

I’m lost and my feet are not moving very fast, but Sendai-san is right next to me.

Ever since we left home, we have been walking the streets side by side.

Sendai-san was walking relatively slowly, as she had done on the way there, but I wasn’t sure if that was her usual speed or if she was trying to keep up with me.

But slowly, the scenery of the city was changing.

I think it would be easier to increase the tempo a bit.

However, thinking that I may never walk the streets alone with Sendai-san like this again, I could not speed up my steps enough to change the speed of this scenery.