123 - Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

Chapter 123 On the table, there's a plate with toast and scrambled eggs, alongside a glass of orange juice. Across from me sits Sendai-san. I’m still not used to having Sendai-san sitting across from me when she used to always be by my side, whether we were studying or eating. But it's just another week, maybe a month at most. I believe that as we continue to eat together, I'll get used to seeing Sendai-san sitting in front of me. I spread butter and jam on my toast and glance at the glass. "Sendai-san, why orange juice?" "Did you want soda instead?" "I thought you’d have chosen tea." I don’t mind what drink it is. It's not that I have a particular preference. After all, it was Sendai-san who prepared breakfast, and I don't really have any complaints. Yet, I feel a tiny hint of dissatisfaction that the electric kettle we went out of our way to buy yesterday wasn’t being used. "If you prefer tea, we can switch to tea from tomorrow." I look at Sendai-san. Our eyes meet, but she doesn’t look away. That reassures me; I don't want to start my day with a sour mood. "Tea or anything else is fine, but what about the electric kettle?" "You mean, you want me to use it?" "There was no need to buy it if we're not going to use it." "We'll need it eventually, even if not right away. Besides, shopping was fun, wasn’t it?" "That's not the point." I bite into my toast and sip the orange juice. Sendai-san eats her toast, also covered in butter and jam. "That's exactly the point. Anyway, Miyagi, are you heading to university after breakfast?" Though I’m still left unsure if the kettle will be used tomorrow, Sendai-san changes the subject. "Yeah, I am." "In a rush?" "Not really." "I see." The conversation ends there. I don’t know what Sendai-san has planned for the rest of her day. Asking might feel like prying too much into her life, so I keep quiet while we finish our plates and glasses. "I'll wash them." Clearing the dishes, I declare my intent. "It's fine. I can do it." "You made breakfast." "Alright, I’ll leave it to you then." With that, Sendai-san returns to her room, and I quickly handle the dishes before heading back to mine. While I’m not in a rush, the journey to university takes time, so I prepare with a comfortable margin. I tidy myself and glance in the mirror. Sometimes, I wish I had a uniform for times like these. It’s tedious to think about what to wear every morning. I envy my past self, who solved everything with a single uniform. Sighing, I grab my things. As I open the door, I find Sendai-san, now with her makeup done, in the shared space. "I'm heading out now." I call out to her in the chair. As I move toward the entrance, Sendai-san suddenly catches my arm. "Miyagi, wait." "What?" "Let me do your makeup." "My makeup?" "Yeah, I'll do it for you." She smiles brightly. Whatever she has planned seems to be one of her mischievous schemes. "I'll be late." "You said you weren't in a hurry." "True, but that doesn’t mean I have time to spare." "How about just a bit of lip balm? Your lips look dry. It won’t take long." Sendai-san’s thumb lightly presses against my lips, testing their texture with a gentle caress. I don’t dislike Sendai-san’s touch. It feels nice after so long. "Miyagi, is it okay?" When she withdraws her hand, she asks again. "They’re not that dry." When I checked in the mirror earlier, my lips didn’t seem chapped. "They are dry. It’ll just take a moment, so have a seat." She tugs my arm, making me instinctively reach out. Just like she did to me, I press my thumb against her lips. As I exert some pressure and wipe her lips, the lipstick smudges onto my finger. "Hey, Miyagi!" In what seems like anger, she grips my arm tightly. "If you fix that, we definitely won’t have time." "You're ridiculous." I shake off her grip and turn away. "Do you have time tomorrow?" Her voice sounds annoyed. "No." "Make some. I’ll make you look cute." "I don’t need it." "I'm going to do it anyway." "I said no." "Come on, just let me do your makeup. Seriously, you’re so stingy." "Sendai-san, be quiet. I'm leaving." Ignoring the platypus tissue holder, I head toward the sink instead. Before turning on the water, I set my things down. I look at my thumb. It’s stained the same color as Sendai-san’s lips. In the mirror, my unchapped lips reflect back at me. See, not dry at all. I touch my lips with my forefinger, sliding smoothly along until reaching the corner of my mouth. As I almost trace my lips with the lightly tinted thumb, the thought of Sendai-san’s soft lips flashes in my mind. But instead of lingering, I just wash my hands thoroughly, scrubbing away every trace of color, before leaving the house. I take the train, spending a fair bit of time heading to the university. It's a little annoying that it's not closer, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Passing through the gate, I enter the university. This place still feels out of place, far from home. I have a few acquaintances that I can chat with when we meet, although it hasn’t reached the point of being enjoyable. Plus, there are plenty of nuisances. The biggest one being course registration. It’s a hassle to decide which lectures to attend and plan the schedule. Planning a schedule that fulfills the credits required for graduation is quite a chore. If Sendai-san were at the same university, she’d probably handle it for me, but she attends a different one. I enter the lecture room and glance around. Naturally, Sendai-san isn’t there. Flopping onto a seat, resting my head on the desk, I hear the sound of something being set down with a clatter. Then, hearing my name called, I look up to find Maika. "Didn’t get enough sleep?" Maika asks as she takes the seat beside me. At first, I wasn’t used to seeing Maika out of a school uniform, but now I've gotten accustomed to it. Back in high school, she didn’t wear this light makeup, but now it feels like a part of who Maika is. "No, I slept well. By the way, sorry about yesterday." I had already said “sorry” over the phone on Saturday, but I apologize again today. I told Sendai-san I had nothing planned, but I’d actually made plans to meet Maika on Sunday. I feel guilty for canceling a prior engagement and fitting in later plans. "It’s alright. So, what did you end up buying yesterday?" I’d told Maika I was going to buy things to share with the person I’m living with. And then, I went shopping with Sendai-san. "An electric kettle. We didn’t have anything to boil water." "Now? Really?" "I’d been too caught up to go buy one before." "The person you’re living with is a relative, right?" "Yeah." I’ve kept it a secret that Sendai-san is my roommate. It's not that I haven’t had the chance to tell Maika, but I don’t know how to explain my situation with Sendai-san, so I ended up just saying I live with a relative. I know that eventually, I’ll have to tell her the truth. But once I mention it’s Sendai-san, Maika is bound to ask for an explanation of how I ended up sharing a room with her. And frankly, I don’t have an answer for that. "Is that person particular about things?" "Why?" "Because saying your friends can't come over sounds pretty particular." If Maika were to visit the place where I live with Sendai-san, it would lead to complications. That's why I hastily made up the rule, "I can’t have friends over," and told Maika. I feel guilty stacking lies, but I can’t let her discover that my roommate is Sendai-san, not in this current state. "Well, I think she's a normal person. Probably." "A normal person, huh. Alright then." Maika looks like she wants to say more, but she doesn’t press further. She’s always been kind like that. Since high school, I’ve relied on Maika a lot, and that hasn’t changed even now that we’re in college. "Oh, by the way, since you didn’t hang out with me yesterday, I tried getting a piercing." "A piercing?" Hearing Maika's words, I glance at her ear and see a small silver earring. "You did it yourself?" "Yeah." Maika hasn’t become flashy, nor has her circle of friends changed. But she has grown more stylish. Her makeup looks different than in high school. As her environment changes, Maika is changing too. Sendai-san might not seem to change, but perhaps she is different when she’s not around me. This thought makes me feel left behind. "It surprisingly suits you." I say while looking at her piercing, and Maika arches her brow dramatically. "The 'surprisingly' isn’t necessary, you know." We laugh it off, then start chatting about where she bought it, but soon the door opens. A slightly intimidating-looking professor enters, signaling the start of the lecture. It's a little odd that Sendai-san, who seemed like she might try piercings once she was in college, hasn’t done so, while Maika has. I wonder if Sendai-san will ever get her ears pierced. I don’t know. Ever since high school, she’s been an enigma to me, and now as a college student, she’s even more of a mystery. I realize I know nothing about the Sendai-san who attends university. In the past, when she mentioned her friends’ names, I could picture their faces. If she talked about a class, I could imagine the teacher. Everything about school was something I could visualize, but now, I can’t picture any of it. What is Sendai-san doing right now? I could find out with a single message. But the scene doesn’t form in my mind. I'm frustrated by this — by the uncertainty of her world and by my own mundane grievances. It’s tedious. The rules that both of us adhere to, Sendai-san and myself. I glance at my thumb and stroke my lips with it.