CH 108

「Here you go.」

As soon as I walk in the door, I was handed 5,000 yen.

「Thanks.」

I thank her and grab the end of the bill she offers me. With a tug, I felt another. But as soon as I put a little bit of effort into it, the five thousand yen came to me.

「Miyagi?」

「It’s nothing.」

I hear voices that sound like they could be anything.

From the moment we met, Miyagi was in a bad mood.

But my mood isn’t so good either.

I did expect to be called up right after winter break, but I didn’t expect to be called up until almost a week into the new semester.

「Isn’t it a little late to be calling me?」

「I can call you anytime I want.」

「Okay, but I’m not fine with it.」

If I wasn’t called, I will face the exams without seeing Miyagi.

That was how close the day of the examination was.

It was a time when we both had to concentrate on ourselves, and the more I was not called upon, the more we were able to study. I was grateful for that, and I didn’t mind not seeing her, but it wasn’t fun.

And she doesn’t even contact me at these times.

I really don’t think Miyagi is interesting.

「I took care of you for the show, so you should be grateful.」

Miyagi says condescendingly and enters her room.

「You didn’t ask me to mind your own business.」

After closing the door with a snap, I take off my blazer and unbutton one button of my blouse. I sit down in my usual spot and Miyagi comes up next to me. My eyes go to her neck on their own. Her blouse is buttoned tightly to the top. No marks are visible on her neck.

No wonder.

It has been quite some time since then.

If a mark is left behind, it means it was not put there by me, but by someone else. So I guess I should be happy about her unmarked neck. But I am discouraged.

I reach for Miyagi’s neck.

But Miyagi stood up before my hand could touch her.

「I’m going to get a drink.」

「I don’t need it.」

「Even if Sendai-san don’t need it, I am.」

Saying in a flat voice, Miyagi leaves the room. Left alone, I lay my reference books and problem books on the table and plop down on them.

After taking a few exams to get into college, the promised graduation ceremony will soon arrive.

There is not much time left for us.

「Sendai-san, what are you doing?」

Whenever she returned, Miyagi’s voice could be heard nearby.

「Sleep learning.」

「Even though you’re awake?」

「I’m sleeping.」

When I answer while plunked down on the table, I am treated「ill-naturedly,」as if I am in the way. I looked up when she pushed me from the side and saw a barley tea and cider lined up behind a reference book. I took a sip of the barley tea and then asked.

「Do you think you’ll be accepted to college?」

「What about Sendai-san?」

「Maybe, I’ll be fine.」

My high school was not the high school my parents thought it would be.

My college, too, was not the college my parents thought it would be.

The university I chosen out of inertia is not what my parents want, but it requires a certain level of academic ability. The prep school says I will be accepted, but I would be lying if I said I am not anxious.

There are no absolutes in this world.

But I can’t make a fuss about it now, and I’ve done all I can. If not, there is always a way out. That’s all I can do.

「And what about Miyagi?」

「I could accept any of them.」

「Isn’t it too random after all this time?」

「I’m not very confident.」

Miyagi says unreliably.

That’s not the way it should be.

Miyagi must be accepted by the university.

If she fails the entrance exam, she will remain here.

And even if Miyagi stays here, I will leave here. If I fail the entrance exam, I will attend a prep school that is not here, so I will only have a future with no place to intersect.

「You’ve already studied, and you should be a little more confident.」

If she says she is not confident, she will not be able to accept what she can accept.

I don’t know which university Miyagi will choose, but I don’t want the option of enrolling in the same university as Utsunomiya to disappear. I want her to take the exam with the feeling that her can pass all of them.

「I don’t like studying.」

「You’re going to fall down when you say things like that, so say something more positive.」

「No way. I mean, if you’re so worried about it, let’s start studying.」

「Nhn— You have to order me to do something first. I’m not in the mood.」

I think she haven’t uttered the word “order” in a long time.

「Study ahead. We’re almost to the real deal.」

Unusually, Miyagi says something serious and grabs a pen. Then she looks down at the problem book. But I don’t think I’m going to look at the issue book like I did in Miyagi.

There are too many things on my mind and I want to reset my mind.

「You could start with an order. If you have to do something anyway, you can study more calmly after you do it.」

「Then, teach me how to make sure I pass the test.」

「That’s what I want to know. You need to be more realistic in your orders.」

「If you’re going to go that far, Sendai-san, think about what my orders are.」

Miyagi looks up from his problem book and says in a tedious manner.

「Me?」

「Yes. Decide for yourself what you want me to order you to do.」

「Isn’t it crazy to think about the orders I have to commit myself?」

I am accustomed to following orders, but not to thinking about them. And it is hard to accept the fact that I have to think of my own orders to follow, as if I have developed a special proclivity for it.

「If you think it’s crazy, just study it first. You’ll think of something by the time you’re done.」

「…I’ll think about it now.」

I think Miyagi’s proposal is too general.

But it is better than her giving me an order that goes too far.

I think as I look at my sweating glass.

A safe order that Miyagi seems to agree with.

The glass is a glass of wine, but the glass is not a glass of wine.

Problems.

Eraser.

Pencil Case.

A hand holding a pen.

My gaze stops there.

「I’ve decided.」

「What?」

「You should order me to do a spell.」

I chuckled, but Miyagi raised an eyebrow.

She is probably thinking about what the “spell” is all about.

But it is like a problem that has no answer, and no matter how much Miyagi thinks about it, she cannot figure it out.

「…Do a spell for me.」

After thinking about it for a good ten seconds, Miyagi utters the order as if giving up.

「Then, let me borrow this.」

Saying this, I take the pen from Miyagi’s hand.

But what I need is not a pen, so I put it on the table. I grab Miyagi’s overtly wary wrist and bring my lips to her fingertips. When I gently touch the tips of her fingernails, Miyagi’s hand stiffens.

「A spell to write the right answer. You told me to tell you how to pass the test.」

To prevent Miyagi’s hand from escaping, I will give a brief explanation.

「I’ve never heard of such a spell.」

「Perhaps Miyagi just doesn’t know about it?」

I put a lot of effort into my hand that grabs her wrist and pulls it toward me. Then I kiss the hand that has touched me repeatedly as it is.

The back of her hand.

Above the joint at the base of the fingers.

Around the center of the middle finger.

After dropping a few kisses, she relaxes from her hands.

I would never touch one end of my body with my lips to anyone else. By doing this only to Miyagi, this act feels better than touching with the hands, as the body temperature is felt closer.

I press my lips hard enough to feel the bone against the back of her hand.

I suck lightly and her hand tries to escape, so I kiss her fingertips one last time and release her wrist.

「…This must be a spell that Sendai-san made up at random.」

Miyagi says grimly and looks at her fingertips.

「I don’t think it matters if it’s something that’s made just now, as long as it works.」

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Pause

Unmute

I would really like to kiss her neck if it were the same kiss and leave a visible mark, but I bet I would be kicked out of this room if I did that. Maybe she will never speak to me again.

「Doesn’t seem to be working.」

I hear a simple voice and I grab Miyagi’s hand again.

「It is, you know?」

After uttering thosd unsubstantiated words, I kisses her fingertips. I then goes on to take Miyagi’s index finger in my mouth. I set my teeth on the joint and pressed the belly of the finger with my tongue. As I slowly crawled my tongue over it, Miyagi angrily withdrew her finger.

「Stop that.」

「Why? Miyagi, you love this kind of thing, don’t you?」

There was a thorn in her voice, but I did not resist grabbing her hand.

I licked her fingers on command many times in the past. There is no way she would be allowed to resist now.

I look at Miyagi.

She doesn’t make eye contact with me, but she doesn’t seem to be in that bad of a mood. When I put my lips on the palm of her hand, her arm twitches. I slip my tongue between her fingers.

「Sendai-san!」

Unusually, Miyagi shouted louder and slapped my arm. Then, she clawed at my uniform as it was. When I let go of her hand at the dull pain, Miyagi pulled a tissue from the crocodile’s back and wiped her wet fingers.

I’ve seen this kind of scene a few times, and I’ve been fine with it until now. But today I am annoyed that she seem to be using tissues to wipe out my existence as well.

More to the point, it’s infuriating.

I reach out and touch her neck, and Miyagi moves back just a little. Now, she can’t tolerate such trivial things. I hug Miyagi and touch her cheek with my lips.

She absolutely resists it.

I thought so, but Miyagi put her hand on my back.

Our bodies were closer than necessary.

「…Miyagi?」

Instead of a reply, her breath blows in my ear and hits something hard. I knew immediately that it was a tooth, and I could imagine what would happen next. But before I could remove myself from Miyagi, she bit my ear.

「Aww—」

I shout out, but Miyagi doesn’t leave.

On the contrary, she bites me even harder, and I feel such pain that I feel as if my ear is going to be torn off. Miyagi said grimly as she grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed my body away from her.

「Sendai-san, what are you aiming at?」

「What’s the matter with you? Stop biting when I don’t like it. It seriously hurt.」

「It’s worse to do something weird.」

I don’t know if Miyagi’s definition of “weird” was licking her hands or hugging her, but she didn’t like it.

「And for that matter, I don’t really bite you.」

「This is not a spell.」

「You said it was a spell. And I told you to think of an order, Miyagi!」

The original was Miyagi, who did not think of the order herself.

She may have thought so, too, but she did not say anything back to me.

「What do you have to say?」

When I asked, Miyagi grabbed a pen that was lying around.

「I’ll hate you if I don’t pass. I don’t want to have to study for another year of exams and stuff.」

「Well, shall I cast another spell for you?」

「You don’t have to.」

Miyagi looks down at her notebook without looking at me.

But no words are written in the blank notebook.

「Miyagi.」

「What?」

「The test, you should take it seriously.」

「I’ll take it seriously even if Sendai-san doesn’t tell me to.」

Miyagi says without looking up.

It’s too heavy to say that she should definitely be accepted in exchange for a lousy spell. Still, I hoped that Miyagi would definitely be accepted.