What Miyagi wants to see — 242
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
I check the weather forecast on my phone.
Sunny and sometimes cloudy.
Ten percent chance of precipitation.
There’s no reason for Miyagi to be complaining about not wanting to go to the zoo today. I have checked the weather many times since this morning, but the weather is fine and it doesn’t look like it will rain. I think it’s safe to say that it’s a good day for the zoo.
I hope it was worth making.
I pick up the teru teru bozu hanging on the doorknob. It was supposed to be in Miyagi’s room, and it did its job well. I kiss the little doll made of tissue and hang it on the doorknob again. I went to the common area and prepare an early lunch.
Get out the frying pan, lay out the ham and drop in the eggs.
Add water to cover and Miyagi comes out of the room.
「I’ll help, Sendai-san.」
「Then toast some bread.」
「Okay.」
A short time after Miyagi began toasting the bread, the ham and eggs are ready. Butter and jam are prepared and placed on the table along with a plate of ham and eggs. Soon Miyagi had two glasses of orange juice on the table, some baked bread, and we sat down in our chairs.
「Itadakimasu.」
Our voices are aligned, though not in concert.
Miyagi spreads butter and jam on bread and bites into it. When I spread butter and jam on my bread in the same way, she called me「Sendai-san.」
「What is it?」
「Are there any animals you’d like to see?」
「The shoebill.」
Mouthing the names of animals that I would’ve never mentioned in my life if not for Miyagi, I bite into a piece of bread. Butter and jam mingle in the mouth, spreading just the right amount of sweetness.
「Besides the shoebill.」
「What about you, Miyagi?」
「It’s not me, it’s the animals you would like to see, Sendai-san.」
I was asked the same question last year, but no matter how many times I am asked, the answer remains the same.
I am happy as long as I can see Miyagi looking happy.
But that is not something that should be spoken, so I convert it into something bland.
「I guess I’d like to do some people watching.」
「What’s that? I’m not an animal.」
Miyagi says in a low voice and pokes the white of the fried egg with a fork.
「Humans are animals too.」
「That’s true, but…」
「Are there any other animals you want to see besides the shoebill, Miyagi?」
I stare at Miyagi, who looks dissatisfied.
「…A tiger.」
Okapi, or a tapir, for example.
Last night, as I was checking the park map alone, I was thinking that Miyagi would want to see such unusual animals, but I was wrong. I didn’t expect to see a tiger, an animal that is so commonplace.
「What about penguins?」
I throw out the name of an animal that Miyagi would definitely want to see.
「I’ll see it.」
Her short but clear voice responds.
It seemed that she likes penguins after all.
I decide to take a picture in front of the penguins, although I’m not sure if she will smile as she did when we went to the aquarium.
「When we finish eating, can I go to your room, Miyagi?」
「I don’t want to.」
The answer came as expected, and I took a bite of ham and eggs before asking why.
「Why?」
「You’re going to tell me to put on a skirt or something like that.」
「You don’t have to wear a skirt. I don’t want you to catch a cold, so dress warmly. Miyagi, just lend me your face.」
I would be happy if she wore a skirt, but I don’t want to overstep the bounds of Miyagi, who will be cold. But I want to put makeup on her.
「Why don’t you just make your own face, not mine?」
Miyagi, who seems to have figured out what I want to do, raises her eyebrows and drinks her orange juice.
「Because it’s light. Lend me your face, Miyagi.」
I look at Miyagi, who crumbles the yolk of her fried egg and chews on the white.
She is pretty without makeup.
But Miyagi with makeup is cute too, so I want to see her like that sometimes.
And then.
I want to be as close to Miyagi as possible, using makeup as an excuse. I want to touch her hair, touch her cheeks, and see her close up, with her brow furrowed in disapproval. Miyagi is cute when she complains but closes her eyes when I ask her to close them, and Miyagi is cute when she lets me apply her lipstick. So I would like to watch her like that for as long as possible.
「…I don’t want to.」
「You don’t have to like it, but I can go to your room, right?」
「If you just come to my room, you don’t have to ask me every time.」
「I’ll still ask you, okay?」
「Do whatever you like.」
Miyagi says tiresomely and bites a piece of bread with his big mouth. I too munch on a piece of bread, chew it, and eat a ham and eggs. After munching and munching and eating an early lunch, I say「Thank you for the food,」and I hear「Thank you for the food,」from Miyagi as well, and we both clean up the dishes. We didn’t have a leisurely meal, but time had passed at a reasonable pace, and I hurried back to my room to change my clothes and put on my makeup.
I put on the skirt I told Miyagi she didn’t have to wear, and after a little hesitation, I tie my hair into a ponytail and go to her room along with the makeup kit Miyagi said she didn’t want. The door opened with two knocks, and Miyagi, dressed warmly in a sweater and denim, looked blatantly uncomfortable.
「It’s light, and so don’t worry.」
When I approached Miyagi, who was staring at a case containing makeup tools, she said,「Come in,」and I entered the room. I put the case on the table and sat in my usual place. But Miyagi sat in a different place than I sat in front of the bed.
「Can I come over there?」
I’ll ask in a moment.
「You can’t.」
「Then, sit over there.」
I tapped Miyagi next to me and looked at her, who was lost for a good 30 seconds before coming over to me on all fours, flopping down like a cat. Then she sat down next to me and stroked my neck.
「It had already disappeared.」
The place where she stroked me is where Miyagi gave me a hickey the day before yesterday, barely hidden by my hair. I’m wearing my hair in a ponytail today, so I don’t have to go to the trouble of telling her that I don’t have a mark, but I’m going to tell her aloud.
「I know it when I see it.」
Miyagi’s finger crawls over the spot where the mark was made.
The mark was so thin that it disappeared faster than she thought it would.
「Don’t mark me in somewhere prominent today.」
I grab Miyagi’s hand that caresses my neck.
The mark made yesterday before I went to my part-time job remains in what can only be described as a safe place. If it’s the same place today, that’s fine, but I don’t want to be marked in a place where my clothes won’t hide me. It doesn’t mean that I won’t be able to go to the zoo, but the mark that Miyagi puts on me is a kissmark, so if it’s put on a place where everyone can see it, I will have to make an effort to hide it, which will delay the time we leave home.
「What if it’s not in a prominent place?」
This isn’t good.
I know we better get ready and leave the house early, and today is not a day for part-time work. So I want to be marked by Miyagi even though it shouldn’t be fine. Moreover, there is also me who doesn’t mind it being conspicuous.
It was the same the day before yesterday.
The markings on the places that couldn’t be hidden by the turtleneck weren’t so much noticeable as they were hidden by the hair, but they could have been seen by anyone. However, I could’ve hidden it with foundation if I wanted to. But I chose to go to my part-time job without hiding the mark.
Maybe I wanted someone to find my mark.
To be more precise, I think I wanted Mio to tell me that it was a hickey and to ask me who the person was who made the mark. Even though I knew that it would be troublesome if Mio knew about my feelings for Miyagi, there was a part of me that thought so.
In the end, though, I was never noticed by the thinly veiled marks.
「I didn’t say that. And I’m going to do your makeup, so just be quiet.」
When I released my grip, Miyagi wrinkled her brow as if she didn’t want to, but she didn’t say aloud that she didn’t want to. So I gave her a light make-up and then kissed her.
「Sendai-san, you do unnecessary things right away.」
Miyagi, who has a low voice, pushes my shoulder.
「It’s okay. If there’s at least a kiss.」
「It’s not okay. Let’s go quickly.」
Miyagi gets up and puts on her coat. Without marking me, she held her scarf and gloves and called me, as if to hurry me along,「Sendai-san.」
「Wait for me at the door.」
I say this to Miyagi and return to my room to put on my coat. When I go to the entrance, Miyagi is waiting for me, and we put on our shoes and go outside.
I go down the stairs first and turn around to look at Miyagi.
My earrings and matching scarf.
I think the blue stones and the blue sky go perfectly with the blue scarf.
Going to the zoo.
I’m the only one who thinks that something as simple as going out with friends is a date, but I hope today will be a fun day.
Platypus' Monologue
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
I’m not much having fun these days.
I know why.
A newcomer who came to this room at Christmas, round and able to get into the master’s bedding.
It’s not fun because of that penguin.
The master has not been very fond of me, the platypus tissue cover, since that came along. No, they were never that endearing to begin with, but I feel like she doesn’t care about me as much as she used to.
For the most part, penguins have names like Pen-chan, but I don’t.
Since I play the important role of supplying the tissue that grows on my back, it would seem that I could be called Kamo-chan, but the master does not. If she doesn’t want me to be Kamo-chan, I can become Nohashi, but I don’t think she will call me that.
I think it’s unfair that penguin had even called Shiori, rather than having a name. Even I should be able to at least take the place of the person who calls Master Sendai-san, but she won’t.
I feel a difference in affection.
But I don’t want to be the number.
Master has her number one, Miyagi Shiori.
Miyagi Shiori, the person who chose me, the person who inspired me to come to this house, and the person who calls the Master Sendai-san. She is a very important human being of Master, she is a strange person who comes to this room and holds my hand and beats Master with me.
Master likes that kind of person.
I have no problem with the fact that Master’s number one is Shiori Miyagi, and I don’t mind her holding my hand, but I don’t think the act of hitting Master by me is acceptable. I don’t want to hit Master.
However, Master doesn’t care whether Miyagi Shiori beats her, kicks her, bites her, or in short, doesn’t care what she does to her, but rather often looks pleased with what she does to her.
However, it’s difficult to accept the Penguin.
I too want to be kissed and hugged a lot by Master like that little girl. But the Penguin can’t be the number one because Master kisses Miyagi Shiori more times than she kisses the Penguin.
The number one is Miyagi Shiori, and the Penguin is forever number two.
…It’s strange. And frustrating.
The number two is me.
The penguin should be number three because she is new.
If she become number three, I can be friends with the Penguin.
I am not sure why, since the penguins’ floppy feet are not unlike mine. And the penguin have beaks, too. I might even tell her a little story someday.
But absolutely.
It’s only after I’m the Master’s number two.
