CH 152

Distance chosen by Sendai-san — 152

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

「Shiori. On Sunday, are you free? There’s a movie I want to see.」

On the other side of the table, Maika looks at me after finishing her chicken nanban.

Sunday, of all days.

I sigh in my mind.

I don’t want to say it, but I can’t keep quiet.

「…Sorry. I have an appointment with Sendai-san. Can it be next week?」

Inside the family restaurant, which is reasonably crowded with people who have come to eat dinner, I answer, trying to blend in with the voices coming from all over the place.

I didn’t want to mention Sendai-san’s name because I was afraid she would bring up the subject of “visiting the house,” but I didn’t want to lie to Maika any longer.

「Okay, but are you going somewhere with Sendai-san?」

「Buying some stuff.」

I stopped eating my fried food and answered truthfully.

「Heh. You two were going shopping together.」

I don’t know if she’s smiling or grimacing, but Maika is looking at me with a very happy expression on her face.

「Well, yeah.」

「I don’t think both of you have the same taste. What are you going to buy?」

「Earrings. Sendai-san is supposed to choose it for me.」

On Sunday, I am supposed to fulfill a promise I made to Sendai-san. It was a promise that Sendai-san made to me as a punishment on my way home from Maika’s house, a promise I had not been able to fulfill. I couldn’t keep it on hold forever, so I decided to go out this coming Sunday.

「I see. It’s been more than a month since you had your earrings pierced. Still, it seems strange that you are so close to Sendai-san that you ask her to pick out your earrings.」

Maika says while looking at the area around my ear, which is hidden by my hair and not visible. Then she added as if she remembered.

「Speaking of which, what happened to our talk about going out to play?」

I knew it, this topic seemed unavoidable after all.

I swallow the sigh that is about to come out of my mouth, but it is still not enough, so I take a sip of my oolong tea before answering.

「Ahh— Yeah. Sendai-san was okay with it.」

I now give the reply that I had been leaving unanswered, taking advantage of the fact that Maika did not ask me.

「I’ve always wanted to see Shiori’s room, and I’m glad. When is it okay to go?」

「Can you do it next month?」

「Isn’t it subtle and far away?」

「Should you go early?」

I think I need more time before Maika arrives.

Me and Sendai-san are living as usual, but we are not really back to normal. Not that things will be back to normal next month, but I think we will be more like roommates than we are now.

「Okay then, next month.」

Apparently not wanting to come to our house as soon as possible, Maika accepts my proposal.

「Next month, settled. I’ll ask Sendai-san about her schedule.」

「Okay. I’m always good.」

Reassured by the lighthearted reply, I bit into my last piece of fried chicken.

The fried food made by Sendai-san tastes better.

With this thought in mind, I gulped down the slightly strong-tasting chicken.

「Shiori, what are you drinking?」

As I emptied my plate and bowl and set down my chopsticks, Maika pointed to the glass in front of me.

「Oolong tea.」

「Let me have a sip.」

「…Okay, but,」

「I changed my mind.」

Maika, who said she wanted oolong tea, quickly retracted her words and got up from her seat with a glass. She then returns to the drink bar to fill it with ginger ale.

「You said you wanted it, but it’s not oolong tea.」

「It’s not that I wanted to drink oolong tea.」

「Then what’s with giving you a sip?」

「Shiori is not good at passing the drink around, aren’t you?」

Maika smiles.

「Not that I’m bad at it.」

「Is that so? Ever since high school, you haven’t been asking me to take a bite or give you anything, have you?」

Maika was right.

I’m not a fan of spinning drinks.

But after realizing that constantly refusing to do so would create a somewhat delicate atmosphere, I try to avoid having to say no every time.

「I don’t mind, and if I’m not good at it, I’m not good at it.」

Maika says cheerfully and drinks a ginger ale.

「I’m not very good at it. But it’s not that I don’t like it by any means.」

「What about Sendai-san?」

「Eh?」

「No, I was just thinking that you seemed to be fine with Sendai-san. The other day, when Sendai-san came to my house, it was so obvious that she drank Shiori’s juice, and then Shiori drank it, too.」

Come to think of it, at Maika’s house, Sendai-san drank my half-drunk orange juice, and I drank the rest of it and left.

It was not such a bad event that Maika’s memory had to be erased, but it was something that she didn’t bother to show. For me, there seems to be an impression about Maika that Sendai-san is different from others.

It’s not that Sendai-san is special.

The reason why I don’t mind turning the drink around with her is because there was an order between us. We are touching each other so much that drinking in turns is no longer a big deal.

「At that moment, I was at a loss because Sendai-san came so suddenly.」

I don’t know if this is the reason why I passed the drink around as a matter of course, but I give a reason that sounds like it anyway. I didn’t want to lie, but I couldn’t answer truthfully.

「I see.」

Maika says in a tone of voice that doesn’t sound convinced.

「Oh, right. Have you been in touch with Sendai-san since then?」

It’s an abruptness, but rather than continue this conversation, I change the subject.

「She contacted me several times. She thanked me for my help with Shiori, and Sendai-san is very disciplined.」

Sendai-san did not tell me that she had contacted Maika.

She didn’t bother to tell me, but I didn’t feel good about it. I wanted to hear it from Sendai-san first, rather than from Maika.

But it isn’t a good thing to think like this.

I want to know what Sendai-san is doing without my knowledge, and I even want to restrict her activities if possible. I am aware that this has been the case since high school, but it is more pronounced now.

I take a sip of my oolong tea.

I listen to Maika’s story.

Whether she cares or not, Maika doesn’t talk about spinning anymore. The topic has shifted from Sendai-san to the university.

After a few minutes of idle chatter, Maika and I part ways.

I think about Sendai-san as I am rocked by the train and walk from the station to my house.

Sendai-san works part-time and comes home late.

I thought that if I stayed with Maika, I wouldn’t have to think about Sendai-san, but all I can think about is Sendai-san. I wonder what kind of conversations she was having with her students, what kind of faces she was smiling with, things like that.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

I went up the stairs to the third floor, open the door and take off your shoes.

Sendai-san had not yet returned.

I went to my room and pick up three manga from the bookshelf.

They are all books I’ve read, so I finish them quickly and bring in new mangas. As I am reading the sixth book, I hear a knock on the door. I put the comic down and open the door to find Sendai-san standing there.

「Welcome back.」

「I’m home. I’ll make you some tea, do you want some?」

「I’ll drink, but how about dinner, Sendai-san?」

「I ate a light meal before going to my part-time job, so I’m not going to eat.」

After saying this, Sendai-san had gone to make tea. She prepared two mugs and sit in position. After a while, a mug was placed in front of me and Sendai-san sat down across from me.

「Thank you.」

I thanked her and then told her what I have decided today.

「Sendai-san. Maika, she’s coming next month to play.」

「Next month, huh. That’s a subtle distance.」

「It’s not far. Next month is just around the corner. When would you like it?」

「Anytime except for part-time work days. Miyagi can decide.」

Without confirming the schedule, Sendai-san says lightly and drinks her tea.

Maika said something strange, which makes me wonder about Sendai-san’s mug.

Her lips attach, her throat moves, and her lips part.

Then her mug is placed on the table.

If that was someone else’s drink, I wouldn’t want to sip it. But if it was Sendai-san, I wouldn’t have minded, and I never did. I don’t know what I want to do by looking at it now as if to confirm such a thing, but looking at the mug placed in front of Sendai-san, I feel a stirring in my chest.

——Don’t think too much about it.

Sendai-san is someone I had no contact with to begin with, and this wouldn’t have happened if I had not seen her at the bookstore and she had not forgotten her purse. It was a unique beginning, so it’s not like the others. That’s just it.

「What is it? Is there something interesting?」

Sendai-san turns the mug around on the table.

「The tea, I just thought it was delicious.」

I drink the still-hot tea in one gulp and stand up.

「Miyagi?」

「I’m tired today, and I’m going back to my room.」

「Just wait.」

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Sendai-san stands up and grabs my hand to go back to her room.

I called out to her before my lips touched her fingertips.

「Sendai-san.」

「What is it?」

Sendai-san stares at me, and I stare at her as well.

Her long hair is half up, as it was in high school, braided on both sides and pinned back. Her hair color, which was closer to brown than black, which she felt was inappropriate for school back then, seems to suit her now that she is a college student. Her uniform skirt, which were a little short, were often longer after they were replaced by plain clothes. Her blouse are rarely buttoned to the top as they were in high school, but unlike in high school, she often wears something that is not a blouse.

Sendai-san is the same as it used to be, but different in places.

「Give me your hand.」

When I looked down at the hand that had grabbed me and told her, Sendai-san looked dissatisfied.

「You want me to let go of you?」

「I mean, let go of my hand and give me your hand, Sendai-san.」

「…Okay.」

Sendai-san takes my hand away. She then placed her own hand on top of the palm I had put out.

These things have not changed since high school.

She obey words that are not commands.

I put my lips to the back of Sendai-san’s hand.

When I touch it quietly, her hand trembles so loudly that I am surprised. I don’t think she doesn’t want to, but it feels like she’s being rejected, and I pull my hand away involuntarily.

It’s not that I really wanted to touch her.

I just wanted to get a little closer.

「Sorry. it’s because I’m just surprised.」

Sendai-san said in a panic and held out her hand in front of me. But when I couldn’t touch her hand, she added,「It’s alright now.」

I take her hand and set my teeth on her fingertips.

Sendai-san doesn’t move.

As I tightened the pressure between her fingertips, Sendai-san’s hand also tightened. After biting the hardened fingertips enough to feel the bone, I looked up.

「It’s painful, though.」

When she blurted it out and I looked at her finger, I saw a mark in the shape of a tooth. As I ran my fingers over the teeth marks, Sendai-san grabbed my hand tightly.

「Miyagi. About Sunday, have you forgotten it?」

「I haven’t forgotten. Don’t pick a weird pair of earrings.」

「I’ll pick something pretty for you.」

Sendai-san gave a small laugh when she said that.