129 - Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

Chapter 129 Sendai-san sometimes says things that make it hard to tell if they're true or not. So, when she looked at my earrings and said, "They suit you," I wasn't sure if I should believe her. Her smile seemed like it was just a facade, hiding her true feelings, which made it difficult to trust her. Unable to find the right words in response to Sendai-san, I touched my earrings and glanced at my fingertips. "I thought there might be a little bit of blood." Though I touched the ear where the earrings had just been pierced, there was no blood on my fingers. Somehow, even though you pierce your ears, it seems like not much blood comes out. "Was this platypus meant for when there was blood?" Sendai-san retrieved the platypus from the table that was sprouting tissues and playfully patted its head. "Just in case." When I researched how to pierce ears, it said not much blood would come out, and Maika also mentioned that hers didn't bleed much. Still, I brought tissues just in case, but they ended up being unnecessary. "Miyagi, you're quite a scaredy-cat and a worrier, aren't you?" Sendai-san said, making the platypus's little arms wiggle. "I'm not scared, nor am I a worrier." "You were all jumpy when the piercing was being done." "You seemed more anxious than I was." "Yeah, I guess. They say it's not good if you don't pierce it straight." Sendai-san shifted her gaze from the platypus to my ear, and then she fell silent. "Why did you suddenly go quiet?" "Can I touch your ear?" Her hand reached out before I had the chance to say no, and I promptly slapped it away. "No. They say you shouldn't touch it right after getting a piercing." "But you were touching it earlier." "I'm going to disinfect it afterward, so it's fine." "If you're going to disinfect it anyway, then it's okay for me to touch it, right?" "No, it's not okay. Why should I let you touch it in the first place?" "I just want to make sure the earring is properly in place. If I'm not touching the earring, a little bit of ear-touching should be fine." "You don't need to check. The piercing is straight, and everything's fine. You don't need to look, Sendai-san." There's no need to confirm by touching. Just by looking in the mirror, I can tell the earring is on straight. Claiming she "wants to check" sounds like an excuse to do something improper. Sendai-san always gets up to something strange if I let my guard down. "Miyagi, did you know?" Perhaps giving up on touching my ear, Sendai-san spoke in an unusually gentle voice. "What?" "Earrings hurt more after you've pierced them than during the piercing itself." "I know. I researched it." "I see." Sendai-san placed the platypus on the floor and grabbed my right hand. When I reflexively pulled my right arm back, she tugged it back with quite a bit of force, and something warm touched above my earlobe. Her fingers dug into my wrist. It hurt a little. But more than that, I'm concerned about my ear. What's touching it are Sendai-san's lips, and the sensation, which I haven't felt in a while, is slightly ticklish but pleasant. My heartbeat is faster than before. It's because of Sendai-san. Her lips pulled away and then pressed more firmly against my ear. My ear felt hot. I pushed Sendai-san's shoulder with all my might with my left hand. "Don't do strange things all of a sudden. You could introduce bacteria." "It's alright because it's not a pierced area. Besides, it wasn't something strange; it was a charm to make the pain go away." Sendai-san repeated words I've heard from her a few times before. She'd always just make them up, using them as an excuse. It's not so painful that it's worth making a fuss over, but even with the charm, my ear still hurts. "It won't stop hurting just because of that." "It's not an instant-acting charm." "Sendai-san, stop saying things so carelessly." "You know my charms are effective, right?" An answer that I can't retort to. Sendai-san said that and performed her "charm." Still, I can't say for sure that my passing university exams was due to her charm. No, when you think about it normally, it wasn't because of the charm. It was because I studied. Because Sendai-san helped me study, and the charm, or rather the kiss, had nothing to do with it. "A charm is just you doing what you want." "Then, what do you want to do, Miyagi?" "Not what you want to do, Sendai-san." "If you say you don't want the charm...—does that mean you’ll give me a charm?" "That's not what I mean." "Then, let me give you the charm." Sendai-san tugged on my hand, pulling me towards her. As I was about to tip over, I forcibly removed her hand that was clinging to my wrist. "Hey, Sendai-san!" The hand I had just shaken off grabbed my shoulder. Sendai-san drew closer and pressed her lips to the upper part of my ear. It's the closest we've been since we moved here. Since we started living together, there hadn't been a time when parts of my body were in such close contact with Sendai-san's lips, and I was making an effort to prevent it from happening. More so, I was trying to find a roommate-like distance. But now, Sendai-san was so close, ignoring all that effort, touching me. "Miyagi." She called my name right by my ear. Her breath tickled me. Her lips pressed against my ear again, warming the spot. Too close. I think it's better to move away. But I can't push Sendai-san away like before. Something other than her lips touched me. It was the tip of her tongue, making my ear wet. As she promised, she didn't touch the piercing. I suppose she's being considerate of that. When her tongue moved, it sent shivers down my spine. Ticklish, it felt unpleasant. As she licked the surface of my skin, my breath caught in my throat. It started feeling more pleasing than unpleasant, and I quickly exhaled and pushed her shoulder. "Hey, Sendai-san! Move away." With force in both hands, Sendai-san moved the distance I had pushed her. It might still be too close for comfort as a roommate, but at least it was not a distance where she could kiss my ear. I took a tissue from the platypus near her and wiped my ear. Then, I tapped Sendai-san's thigh with the platypus. "Ouch." Sendai-san exaggerated her pain. "I'm telling you not to do strange things. Roommates don't do that sort of thing." "Roommates can at least do charms, right?" "Not the kind of charms like this. Sendai-san, behave like a proper roommate." "But you—" Sendai-san stopped herself mid-sentence. "What about me?" "...You told me to pierce your ears." "I did, but I didn't tell you to do anything more than that." I tapped Sendai-san with the platypus again. "It hurts." "I'm in more pain. Disinfect it again." I handed her a cotton pad and disinfectant. Without a word, she took them, soaked the cotton with disinfectant, and pressed it gently over the earring. Soon, both ears were wiped, and the cotton pulled away. My wet ears felt cold. Different from Sendai-san's lips or tongue. When she touched me, it was much warmer—. I almost reached to touch my recently disinfected ears but instead clenched my hand into a fist. "I'm going back to my room now." I gather the piercer, disinfectant solution, and cotton, placing everything into a paper bag before standing up. As I do, Sendai-san tugs on my clothing. "Miyagi." "What?" "Like I said earlier, the earrings suit you. I think they're cute." "You don't have to flatter me. These aren't about the design." The earrings that came with the piercer were chosen for their material to stabilize the newly-pierced holes, not for their design. They're made of medical-grade stainless steel, and I don't think they're designed well enough to be called cute by Sendai-san. "I really think they're cute." "You can stop with that." I turn my back on Sendai-san. I take one, two steps forward when her voice calls out again. "Wait. What about this?" I turn around to see her holding the platypus-covered tissue box. "Leave that in your room, Sendai-san." "But I already have tissues." I walk back over to her, take the platypus from her hands, remove the cover from the tissues, and hand the cover back to Sendai-san. "Here." "You want me to put it on my tissue box?" "It looks better with something on it. If you’re not going to use it, I’ll put it back on this one." "I’ll use it, let me have it." Sendai-san accepts the tissue cover from me and adds, "One more thing." "What?" "Do you have any free days during Golden Week?" She catches me off guard with her unexpected question. However, I don't even need to mentally flip through my calendar to respond. "I do, but absolutely no way." "I haven't even said what it's for." "It's to go out or something, right?" "Well, yes, but..." "I’ll think about it if it’s something else." Our interests don't really align. Not that I'm entirely sure what her hobbies are, but with us attending different universities and having different friends, we don't have much in common. Even when it comes to movies, we want to watch different ones. I think it’d be better for us to stay home together rather than go out. "Then make some time, and I'll think of something," she says, patting the head of the platypus now limp without its tissue box. "Okay." I turn away from her once more. As I open the door, she bids me goodnight, and I respond with, "Goodnight."