How to keep Sendai-san intact — 219
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Earrings, earrings, earrings.
No matter what I do, I can’t stop thinking about earrings.
Today I came to see a movie with Maika and Asakura-san, but all I could see was my ears on the screen.
November has passed and we are already in December.
I think I need to pick out her earrings as soon as possible.
No matter how much I wonder and think about it, it won’t change who I am. There’s no way I can choose the earrings that Sendai-san thinks are good, so I keep thinking about it, wondering if I should just give up and choose them as soon as possible.
I think it would be easier to pick out a collar and give it to her.
A beautiful red collar.
It could also be black.
It would surely suit Sendai-san well.
Although she might be angry with me for being an idiot.
「Shiori, are you coming by here?」
I hear Maika’s voice and realize I had stopped in my tracks. My eyes look to a store that sells imported goods and I touch my ear.
I remember the store where Sendai-san bought these earrings was like this.
This store is in a station building with a movie theater, so it is different from the store where Sendai-san bought my earrings. But the atmosphere is very similar.
「Can I come by?」
I call out to Maika and Asakura-san, and they both reply,「Yes,」and we go inside. On a reasonably crowded Sunday afternoon, we pass by the stuffed animals and knick-knacks, look at the bags, and arrive at the earrings. There are a lot of earrings lined up like in the store I went to with Sendai-san, but I don’t know which ones would suit her best.
「Shiori, are buying an earring?」
Maika says, looking at the earrings next to her.
「I don’t know if I’ll buy it, but I was wondering if they have anything beautiful.」
「Not cute, but beautiful?」
「I’m fine with cute, but…」
I am not particular about the design of the earrings.
Cute ones are fine. But I think something beautiful would suit Sendai-san better than something cute.
「Nhn—」
As I groaned and looked at the rows of earrings, Maika said,「These are cute,」and pointed to a pair of earrings in the shape of a four-leaf clover.
「It really is.」
The words that come out of my mouth do not lie.
The earrings Maika pointed to are indeed cute.
However, they are not the image of Sendai-san.
It reminds me of a necklace I gave her in high school.
I had given that necklace to Sendai-san because I thought it would look good on her, but it was something that would be hidden and I didn’t really care that much whether it actually looked good on her.
I pick up one of the many earrings in the row and look at it.
The earrings are the ones that control Sendai-san and are visible to everyone.
It is different from the necklaces of those days.
Therefore, I want to choose something that will not detract from Sendai-san. Even if she wears the earrings I gave her, she must be the same Sendai-san she always was.
「I like these earrings. They’re cute.」
Asakura-san says sincerely.
I put down the earrings in my hand and asked her, who wasn’t wearing anything in her ears,「Don’t you wear earrings, Asakura-san?」
「I think it’s nice, but I’m afraid I’ll catch it somewhere and rip my ear off.」
「When you say it like that, you’re really afraid it’s going to rip.」
Maika chuckled as she lightly tapped Asakura-san’s arm after she mentioned something that seemed likely.
「Shiori, you must’ve been pretty scared, aren’t you?」
「I don’t want it to hurt.」
「That’s true, but they don’t rip that easily.」
「It might rip it, you know?」
Asakura-san says in a rather serious voice, and Maika laughs,「It’s fine, isn’t it?」We walk away, talking nonsense about whether or not our ears will rip.
「Shiori, did you not have to buy those earrings?」
「It’s fine. I didn’t see anything I liked.」
I couldn’t find any earrings that would suit Sendai-san, and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to buy them in front of Maika and Asakura-san.
「Ah, yeah. I wanted to ask you both something. It’s Christmas Eve, the 24th, do you have plans?」
At the sound of Maika’s happy voice, I reply,「No, but…」
「I have my part-time job.」
「Asakura-san, you work part-time for Christmas, too?」
「There’s nothing in particular I want to do, so I thought I’d get a part-time job.」
To Maika, Asakura-san replies as a matter of course.
「I see. Me and Shiori were supposed to exchange gifts for Christmas.」
When she looked at me and nodded, Maika continued to speak.
「Then I thought it would be a good idea if we all got together at my house and did something. I should have said something earlier.」
「Invite me next year. I might be working part-time this time.」
Asakura-san laughs “ahaha.”
「Eh, I’ll ask you early next year.」
Maika answered cheerfully and looked at me,「Shiori.」
「Do you know what Sendai-san’s plans are?」
「Eh?」
A name comes up that I wasn’t expecting and I can’t help but ask back.
「I was going to invite Sendai-san, but she has plans for Christmas. I guess I should have told you earlier.」
Sendai-san’s Christmas plans.
I had never thought of such a thing.
I never cared about my own plans, or anyone else’s, because Christmas was for no one, and it wasn’t fun. So I never expected Maika to ask me to get together for Christmas.
But it is normal for people in the world to get together and have fun at Christmas. Thinking about it, it is not surprising that Sendai-san has plans to go out with her friends. No, it would seem strange if she had no plans.
The words Asakura-san said earlier come to mind.
Her part-time job.
Sendai-san said she wanted to get more part-time work during winter break, so she might have a part-time job for Christmas even if she doesn’t have plans to hang out with friends.
「Well, but I’ll contact her just in case. She might not have any plans.」
Christmas is nothing special for me, but I would hate it if Sendai-san had plans. But if she didn’t have plans, the three of us would meet.
I enjoy meeting with Maika.
I think we will have a good time at Christmas too.
Even though I think so, it is not fun for Sendai-san to meet Maika on Christmas.
「I’ll ask Sendai-san when I get home.」
I can’t say that I don’t want Sendai-san to contact her.
I don’t know how she will spend Christmas, but I want to be the first to know what her plans are.
「Then, please.」
「Okay.」
I answer shortly, and then I hear Asakura-san’s voice.
「Miyagi-san lives with Sendai-san, right?」
「Yes, but…」
「As I said before, the two of us are completely different types of people and don’t seem to have any contact with each other, so it’s strange. I might get nervous if I see her again.」
As she said she had told me before, she told me something similar after the school festival. I don’t think she was kidding when she said she would be nervous if they met, but Maika quickly dismisses that.
「I thought she was from a distant world when we were in high school, but after talking to her properly, it wasn’t like that, and I think she’ll enjoy meeting you. Right, Shiori?」
「Yeah, well, she’s kind.」
「She’s kind?」
Asakura-san looks at me.
「I was taught to study in high school by her.」
「I’m not surprised she was teaching you how to study.」
Asakura says so and continues,「I’m hungry.」
「What are Miyagi-san and Utsunomiya-san going to do now? Why don’t we have meal and go home?」
It has been quite some time since we saw the movie and it’s already evening. It’s a little early for dinner, but it’s not surprising if you are hungry.
「I’m okay with that. Shiori?」
Maika smiles and looks at me.
「Sorry. I’m just… I’m having a bit of a day.」
「You have a promise to Sendai-san?」
「Yeah, something like that?」
Today, Sendai-san is out, as am I, and we haven’t made any kind of appointment. But she said we would have dinner at home.
I leave them and get on the train.
I take out my phone in the swaying car.
It displays a picture of Sendai-san and I look at her ear.
A silver ornament that has been attached to the pierced hole since the day it was opened.
I will change these to earrings of my choice. In this way, the earrings become not just something to hold the promise of a birthday, but something to manage so that she is mine and always will be.
Play
Unmute
——But.
I feel like that would also mean that I am hers.
I have earrings in my ears that she chose me to wear.
If choosing and changing Sendai-san’s earrings means that I own and control her, then it’s not surprising that the earrings on my ears have the same meaning.
It may not mean that, but I am curious.
I touch my ear and stroke the earring.
I don’t belong to Sendai-san, but these earrings are very important to me. I have to have the earrings here because they serve the purpose of keeping my promise to her.
I put my phone away and continue to ride the train.
I get off the train at my usual station and walk toward home.
The nights are early in winter.
The wind is cold and I put my hands in my coat pockets.
My walking speed naturally increases.
I went up the stairs to the third floor and opened the front door to find Sendai-san’s shoes. When I closed the door and went to the common space, I found Sendai-san looking in the refrigerator and said,「I’m home.」
「Welcome home. Did you enjoy the movie?」
Sendai-san approaches, closing the refrigerator.
「Just so-so.」
「What about the earrings, Miyagi?」
Sendai-san comes within touching distance and crawls his fingers over my piercing.
「I still haven’t chose it yet.」
I kick her in the leg for asking me something she didn’t have to ask.
「Maybe you didn’t pick the earrings because you wanted to mark me?」
「It’s not about that.」
When Sendai-san asked me,「What about my earrings?」to which I replied,「I didn’t choose them,」one mark would be added to Sendai-san’s body and one to mine. We have done such things several times since the day we marked each other’s bodies, though we did not make a promise.
I trace Sendai-san’s neck with my fingertips.
Stretch the knit neck a little.
I bring my lips to the bottom of her collarbone, where it is hidden by her clothes, and suck hard on her skin. Sendai-san’s hand goes around my back. She hugs me loosely, and I can feel her body heat not only from my lips but also from her body.
Suck long enough to leave a mark, then release my lips.
Check the red mark, then bite lightly.
When the arm around my back was undone and my body was separated, Sendai-san now put her lips on the same place where I had put mine.
Sensation of being strongly sucked.
The same shampoo smell coming from my hair.
They all feel good and make me want to touch Sendai-san more.
Our lips part and our tongues crawl.
I am ticklish, and my back is creeping, pushing Sendai-san away from me. But I squeezed her leg as her hand quickly reached up and traced my ear and stroked my neck.
「You don’t have to be so vigilant.」
Sendai-san complains.
「I will.」
There is no reason not to.
I still have in my mind what Sendai-san said,「Eventually.」I don’t remember agreeing to it, but she intends to touch my body when the time comes, and I am restless, having not yet heard when that time is.
「Don’t worry, one of these days will still be one of these days. If you have a preferred date, I’ll listen to your request.」
「You don’t have to ask.」
If she wants to listen to me, she should listen to me, not request me. I have to ask Sendai-san about her Christmas plans, even though I don’t feel like it. But before I can say I have something to say, Sendai-san starts talking.
「Miyagi, help me prepare dinner.」
「What are you making?」
「This one.」
Sendai-san then opened the refrigerator.
