CH 210

After Miyagi — 210

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

We leave the house in a flurry.

We walk down the street where I sometimes meet Mike-chan and head for the station.

I walk at Miyagi’s speed, which is quite fast.

「Hurry up, Sendai-san.」

「I’m telling you there’s no need to rush.」

I had to change my clothes and reapply my makeup to cover the marks that Miyagi had left on me.

And while I’m at it, I give Miyagi a light makeover as well.

As I was doing this, we left the house later than we had planned.

「It might not be all right, you know.」

She is one step ahead of me, and she is grumpy, even though it is mainly Miyagi’s fault for leaving the house so late.

There is no need to rush to get to the appointment on time.

But Miyagi walks away from me.

Maybe she doesn’t like what I did.

Was it wrong that she wore makeup or that I said she was pretty? Maybe the kiss at the end was a bad idea. No, I’m sure it was all a bad idea.

Miyagi, who is ahead of me, keeps walking without looking back.

I stroke the red mark on the knit covering my neck.

Autumn is starting to head towards its end and the wind is getting colder, but today the weather is nice and warm, so I wanted to wear something that wasn’t a turtleneck. I wish I didn’t have to cover my neck without the mark Miyagi put on it, but I rejoice in the fact that even though it is visible, it’s only fading away, adding to the marks that were never supposed to be put on me again.

I press and release the mark on the knit.

Look at the swaying skirt and Miyagi’s legs.

Right, left, right.

Her feet are moving regularly and at the same speed.

Her speed never slows down

Looking up, a blue sky with thin clouds stretching across it came into view, reminding me of Miyagi and the flying penguins I saw at the aquarium.

Come to think of it, we had yet to visit the zoo we had talked about going to in the fall.

The sky is farther and higher than summer.

If we don’t do something soon, it will be winter.

Miyagi, who is cold, may not go to the zoo when winter comes. I increase the speed at which I move my legs and go next to Miyagi.

「Miyagi, remember when we promised to go to the zoo?」

When I called out to her, Miyagi, who was walking briskly, suddenly stopped and looked at me.

「…You’re a liar, Sendai-san.」

「Eh?」

「It’s winter already.」

「Winter is a little further away, isn’t it? But you remembered we promised you’d go in the fall.」

I had never heard the word “zoo” from Miyagi’s mouth, so I thought maybe he had forgotten about it.

So I am glad.

I am so happy that I want to jump up and down here and skip to the station. But Miyagi is not in a good mood.

「You forgot about that, didn’t you, Sendai-san?」

Miyagi’s voice is lower than before.

「How could I forget that?」

I remembered, but before I invited her to go to the zoo, there was my birthday and Miyagi’s birthday. Then I started a new part-time job and my vacations were filled with it, and I had more things to do at the university. The gaps in my schedule were rapidly disappearing, and I found myself speeding toward the end of autumn.

「But you had a part-time job, right?」

The legs that I can see through Miyagi’s skirt move. She takes a step or two and then rushes to move her feet as she tries to leave me behind.

「I’m sorry about that. Sorry.」

「That’s not something you should apologize for.」

Miyagi says in a voice that doesn’t hide her frustration.

「Is that promise still valid?」

「Do you want to go, Sendai-san?」

「I’m thinking of going, but when would you prefer, Miyagi?」

「Spring.」

I was surprised at the short reply, but it was better than if she had said she wouldn’t go. If it had been before, she would’ve said she wouldn’t go.

「Okay, let’s do it in the spring.」

We arrived at the station without seeing Mike-chan and went through the ticket gate. As we joined the crowd of people heading for the platform, Miyagi called me「Sendai-san」lightly.

「What is it?」

「Is the zoo good in the spring?」

「If Miyagi is okay with winter, I’ll do winter. Winter seems to be less crowded, and we can relax, don’t you think?」

「I don’t want to slow down in the cold.」

「So if we don’t slow down, you don’t mind if it’s winter?」

「…Warm weather is fine.」

I hear a small voice and I answer before she changes her mind.

「Then, a warm winter day, it is.」

No reply from Miyagi.

I’m not saying it’s good or bad, but if she didn’t like it, she would’ve said so, so the fact that there was no reply suggests that the proposal of「a warm winter day」was accepted.

It could be during the winter break, before or after.

Wrap a scarf around Miyagi, who is sensitive to the cold, and make her wear thick clothes, and the two of us go to the zoo.

If this wasn’t a train station, I would swear by Miyagi’s earring.

If I kissed her ear and swore a promise, I want Miyagi to kiss my ear too. I want Miyagi to tell me that she wants to keep her promise too.

「That’s a promise.」

Instead of kissing her, I put the back of my hand on her hand with a tapping motion. Miyagi still didn’t respond, but that was okay, because she didn’t refuse.

When we arrive at the platform, the train comes quickly and we board.

We talk about the school festival, though we don’t have much to talk about.

The train stops, the word stops, a reasonable amount of time passes, and the destination station gets closer. I look out the window and see the scenery that Miyagi always sees. I saw Miyagi when she ran away from home and went to the university to look for her, but she didn’t seem to be looking around me at that time.

I don’t want to have that feeling again.

Miyagi should be next to me.

We get off the train and walk down the platform.

There is nothing unusual outside the window or at the station as seen from the train. It’s all very mundane, the kind of thing I would find on my way to college, but I wish I could see the scenery that Miyagi sees every day.

I wish I could see the same scenery Miyagi sees every day, attending the same university and taking the same lectures.

Share more time than I do now.

How nice it would be if we could spend our four years like that.

I hold my head down, thinking about the future I didn’t get.

I can’t see it, but Miyagi remains here.

A red, skin-burning mark that takes root and heads deep within me.

I am missing something in my body that Miyagi left behind that won’t go away for days. I want heat, not just a mark that makes me feel her. I would like to have the heat of Miyagi that is hot, warm, and melts the core of my body.

In the station heading out, I touch Miyagi’s hand, which I only bumped into earlier. I grab her fingertips, and her hand slips away from me.

「What is it, Sendai-san?」

I hear her slightly low voice.

「Let’s hold hands.」

「We’re almost at the meeting place.」

「I know that.」

We and Utsunomiya are meeting at a bookstore near the station.

「I absolutely won’t hold you.」

I don’t think we should hold hands either, but I also want to hold hands, even if it’s only for a short time until we get to the meeting place.

「There are plenty of people holding hands, you know.」

「I don’t want that when there’s a lot of them.」

It’s not unusual to see people holding hands.

Even if Utsunomiya saw us, I don’t think she would suspect anything. Even though it may seem strange, she wouldn’t know what kind of relationship Miyagi and I have. Besides, we are only roommates.

We’re not friends, were not lovers, we’re not anything, we’re just roommates.

——That’s all Miyagi will allow.

「Miyagi.」

I go through the turnstiles and grab Miyagi’s hand once more.

But the hand that grabs her quickly escapes.

「Let go, Sendai-san.」

When I said this, Miyagi pushed my arm gently.

And with a lot of force.

Just as I stumble over and say,「That’s dangerous,」I hear a bright voice.

「Decisive moment obtained.」

I looked toward the voice and saw Utsunomiya holding a smartphone.

「Eh, Maika? The meeting place is a bookstore, right?」

Miyagi says in a surprised voice, not the gruff voice she had been making earlier. But it’s understandable that Miyagi is surprised, since Utsunomiya showed up at a place that wasn’t the meeting place.

「I thought it was about time you came over, so I came over here. Then I saw the two of you milling around, so I wondered what you were doing.」

「We didn’t do anything. The decisive moment, did you take a picture of us?」

Utsunomiya chuckled at Miyagi’s voice.

「I took it. I want to title it “Shiori Miyagi, the other side of her face.” So, what was the dispute about?」

「We’re not even in dispute. It’s just that Sendai-san was wrong now.」

With a voice that hides her dissatisfaction, Miyagi taps my arm as I stand next to her, followed by a crunching, electronic sound.

Play

Unmute

「I’ve added another one.」

「Maika, you don’t have to take pictures.」

「I think it should be like a frame before going to the school festival. I think I’ll title it “Miyagi Shiori hitting that Sendai Hazuki with a sticky rice cake” and send it to Ami.」

Utsunomiya turns her phone screen to us and shows us the photo she just took.

Me and Miyagi.

And a part of the scenery that Miyagi always sees.

Cut out on Utsunomiya’s phone, it was the first time I had ever seen it. We had never taken pictures before.

「You’re definitely going to get in trouble. If you send it, I’ll hate you for the rest of my life.」

Hearing Miyagi’s voice, I resent the past me.

Why?

Why didn’t I take a picture of Miyagi?

Why didn’t I notice how easy it was to get a piece of Miyagi?

Not only Utsunomiya, but even I could see Miyagi anytime just by using a small machine called a smartphone that I have, but I haven’t used it for a long time.

If I could, I would like to go back in time and take a picture of Miyagi laughing at the aquarium, or even Miyagi on her birthday. There are many other Miyagi’s I would like to photograph.

「Eh, what should I do?」

I can hear Utsunomiya chuckling happily.

I let out a small breath.

Like it’s nothing.

As casual as asking about tomorrow’s plans.

Say the words that will get you what you want, accompanied by a smile.

「Hey, Utsunomiya. I want you to send me that picture later.」

「Oh, I’m sending it now. I’ll send it to Shiori too.」

When I say so, Utsunomiya immediately sends me a photo.

I look at my phone and see two photos of us cut out earlier.

One shows a grumpy Miyagi pushing my arm, and the other shows an unnaturally affectionate Miyagi tapping my arm.

「Thanks.」

Miyagi smiles and says the same words with reluctance.

「Speaking of which, do you have any pictures of the two of you together? I’d like to see them.」

I look at Miyagi, but she doesn’t seem to be planning to answer, so I answer for her.

「We never took a picture together, though.」

「Eh, why?」

「Nhn, I wonder why. I don’t have a particular reason.」

In high school we were not the kind of people who take pictures.

When we were in college, it was all about being together so much that we didn’t even notice that we can take pictures.

「Now that we’re done talking about pictures, let’s go.」

Miyagi said to hurry up and grabbed Utsunomiya’s hand and pulled it, even though she didn’t hold mine.

「Shiori. You don’t have to be in such a hurry.」

As I watched Utsunomiya walking as if being dragged along, I thought to myself, “That’s not fair.”

「Sendai-san, hurry.」

Miyagi called me and I exhaled.

We couldn’t hold hands, but I got one treasure.

I tucked away Miyagi’s time-locked phone in my bag and followed them.