128 - Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

Chapter 128 In my hand is a paper bag. Inside are items I purchased with Maika. Yesterday, after having doria with Sendai-san, I intended to give it to her but couldn't. Today, after dinner, I still haven't managed to hand it over due to my indecision. Pacing around the room, I exhale in front of the bookshelf. The black cat stares at me. What should I do? After a brief moment of contemplation, I exit the room and glance towards the shared space. Sendai-san seems to be in her room as I don't see her around. Picking up the platypus perched on the color box, I knock on Sendai-san's door for the first time since arriving here. Knock, knock—on the third try, I hear her voice from within, and the door opens. "What's up?" "Let me in. It's time for the penalty game." "Now?" Sendai-san looks a bit perplexed, glancing at the paper bag and the platypus in my hands. "Yes, now. It won't take long. If you don't want to let me into your room, you can come out here." The clock I saw before leaving my room showed it was past nine, so it's not too late. It's too early to sleep, and there's definitely enough time for a penalty game. What I'm planning isn't that severe. It involves using the contents of this paper bag, and it won't take long. Asking her to do one thing shouldn't be too much. "My room is fine. Come in." With that, Sendai-san opens the door wide. I pause briefly to consider whether to say 'excuse me,' then silently follow her inside. There’s a small table by the bed, along with a bookshelf and a desk. This is my first time entering Sendai-san's room, and it feels different from the rooms I've seen her in before. There are fewer books on the shelves, and her bed is a simple pipe bed. I haven't been to her room often enough to be familiar with it, but this new room doesn't quite feel like hers. The unfamiliarity makes my chest feel uneasy. "Sit wherever you like." Sendai-san sits on the floor, using the bed as a backrest. I hesitate, then settle down beside her. "What’s with the platypus?" She lightly taps the head of the tissue box cover I'm holding. "Tissues." "That much is obvious. Are you using it for the penalty game?" "Probably." "'Probably,' you say. What do you plan to make me do?" "This is the penalty game." I hand the paper bag to Sendai-san and place the platypus on the table. "What’s this?" "Go ahead and look inside." With my prompting, Sendai-san opens the paper bag. "Miyagi, this..." Her voice drops to a lower tone, and she furrows her brows. She starts laying the contents of the bag on the table. A piercing gun. Disinfectant. Cotton. Everything needed to pierce ears. Sendai-san lets out a sigh. "...This isn't acceptable. Even though the promise was to do one thing, I'm not agreeing to just anything." "But there wasn't a rule against piercings, was there?" "True, but it's obvious a penalty game shouldn't involve making permanent marks on your body." Though her voice is exasperated, she's not angry. This response is exactly what I expected. I pick up the piercing gun from the table and forcibly hand it to Sendai-san. "It's not unacceptable. Use the piercing gun." "Even if you’re okay with it, I don't want to." "It doesn’t matter whether you’re okay with it or not. I'm the one getting pierced." "...Eh?" "Not 'eh.' This is so you can give me a piercing. Use it to pierce my ears, Sendai-san." I knew she’d refuse if I wanted to pierce her ears. So, I came up with a way to keep the promise while avoiding that. The answer came quickly. Keep the promise on myself. It's my body, so I can do as I wish. Since it’s not about piercing her own ears, she should agree to follow through. “The penalty game is for you, right?” “Yes. So listen to me. Use this to put a piercing in my ear—it’s simple, really.” I point to the piercing gun I handed to Sendai-san. “Doesn't that seem weird?” “No, it doesn’t.” “Did you want a piercing, Miyagi?” “No, I don’t. I dislike pain and have no interest in piercings.” In fact, it doesn't matter much to me, but I emphasize my lack of interest strongly. “Then why do it?” “So you won’t forget your promise, Sendai-san.” “That doesn’t make sense… What does that mean?” I understand that once she starts tutoring, she'll have obligations that can’t be easily moved, unlike me with no job. And I get that promises with me can be easily postponed, seen as less important and easier to shift to the back burner. Though I know it's selfish, having my promise moved aside doesn't sit well with me, whether she chooses to tutor or not. I don’t want it forgotten. So, I've chosen to add a small weight of significance using myself. “By piercing someone's body, you won’t forget what happened today. Every time you see me, you’ll remember your promise with me.” There’s a limit to what can be remembered continuously; you can’t retain everything. However, if the action is memorable, it should linger. By associating keeping promises with the act of piercing, she shouldn’t easily forget. Thus, the piercing must be done by Sendai-san on my ear. “Then, every time you regret breaking your promise, you’ll remember it.” “Are you serious about this?” “Yes, I am.” “Why not do it yourself? I don’t want to force a piercing on you if you’re reluctant.” “No. You, Sendai-san, should pierce my ear against my will and feel guilty for it. At least a little.” I want her sense of guilt to be significant. Remember that she forced a piercing on me when I was hesitant. I want it etched into her memory. “—I’ve never used one of these before.” With a sigh, Sendai-san opens the packaging of the piercing gun. She takes out the instructions and begins to read. “Have you ever pierced Ibaraki-san's or others’ ears?” “No. They all did it themselves. You're the first, Miyagi.” Knowing she hasn’t done this before eases my mind. If it’s her first time, it’ll surely be more memorable. I briefly explain the procedure to Sendai-san. Disinfect, then mark it. It's likely the same as the instructions, but I tell her what I researched. “Start with the disinfection.” Saying this, Sendai-san tucks my hair behind my ear and follows the procedure with the disinfectant. She then gently pulls on my earlobe, as if to confirm something. “If you touch it, doesn’t that undo the disinfection?” I lightly slap Sendai-san’s arm. However, she doesn’t pull back. She keeps touching my ear. “It’s ticklish." “I thought I should savor your ear as it is before piercing it.” As she said that, Sendai-san let her hand slide away from my earlobe. Her fingers brushed behind my ear, trailing down my neck. The ticklish sensation intensified. What was once just her fingertips now felt like her whole palm pressing against my neck, and I could feel the warmth flowing from it. This closeness made me push against her shoulder. "Disinfect it again." "Got it." With that, Sendai-san wiped my ear with a damp cotton pad and picked up a pen. My ear felt cool, probably because of the disinfectant. "Where do you want the piercing?" "Anywhere’s fine." "Alright, then I’ll choose." After a slight hesitation, she marked my earlobe with the pen and picked up the piercing gun. "Are you really okay with this?" "It's fine." It's going to hurt. Definitely. Maika said it wasn’t as painful as she thought, but with a thick needle piercing through, it couldn't possibly be painless. What’s more, not knowing how painful it would be made it scarier. I tightly closed my eyes. But no matter how long I waited, the pain didn’t come. "Sendai-san, still not done?" I opened my eyes and asked. "Well, I’m just wondering if it's really okay for me to do this." "I told you to go ahead." "I’m really going to do it." With a rare hint of uncertainty in her voice, she pressed. "Stop being so persistent, Sendai-san. Hurry up." I swallowed the words, 'I’m scared.' "Alright, here goes." With that, the piercer touched my ear. I clenched my hands tightly, and with a fairly loud snap, the sound echoed in my eardrum, followed by a rush of pain in my ear. However, the pain was brief and less intense than I feared. The tingling sensation in my earlobe concerned me more. "I’m going to do the other side now." With a cotton swab pressed against it, my ear felt cool again. This time, I opened my eyes and looked at Sendai-san. At her cue, the snapping sound echoed again, followed by pain. Sendai-san exhaled and placed the used piercing gun on the table. "Are you okay?" As she asked this, she disinfected my newly pierced ear. "It hurt a lot. My ear still feels like it’s throbbing." I exaggerated the pain, despite it not being as bad as expected, and touched my ear. My fingers brushed against something small and round, something now there on the back of my ear that wasn’t before. "Do you want to take a look?" She handed me a compact mirror, and I looked at my ear. A small silver adornment. Though not exactly matching Maika’s, they were similar enough piercings. The new embellishment made me see myself differently than usual. "It feels strange." I touched my ear again and averted my gaze from the mirror, only to meet Sendai-san’s eyes watching me. "It suits you." She said with a smile, though I couldn’t tell if she truly meant it.