155 - Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

Chapter 155 Despite it being a Saturday night, the weather is terrible. I pull the curtain slightly aside to peer outside. The wind is so fierce it seems a typhoon might be passing through, and the rain pounds heavily against the windowpane. Outside, under the lonely streetlight, it looks as though zombies could easily be wandering about. Going outside now, I might encounter something other than a human. As I consider something that would likely anger the easily frightened Miyagi, I close the curtain. "Maybe I'll watch a movie." The weather forecast predicts rain for tomorrow as well, and since I have nothing to do even if I wake up early, I power on my tablet. Preparing my earphones, I start a horror movie. It feels like the perfect night for it. If only I could invite Miyagi to watch with me, but showing her a horror film would surely lead to a lifetime of resentment. Besides, it seems unlikely she'd come to my room at this time of night. Not even thirty minutes into the movie, I find myself thirsty. As I return to my room from the shared space with a glass of barley tea, a heavy rumbling sound comes from outside. Clearly the sound of thunder. When I peek through the curtain after quenching my thirst, the sky flashes in the distance. "Does Miyagi handle thunder well?" Tracing my memory back, I seem to recall her mentioning she didn't like it during high school. I check the clock. It's a time one could easily be asleep. If she's sleeping through the storm, I might end up waking her. With that in mind, I feel it would be best not to go check. Still, I can't help but worry about Miyagi. I pace around my room. Today, I had a dream. A dream that brought clarity to parts that had been vague before, making me reluctant to visit Miyagi's room. It's not that I can't look her in the eyes anymore, but there's a lingering discomfort. Low rumbles continue intermittently from outside. I hesitate for a few minutes. In the end, not going isn't really an option, and I find myself in front of Miyagi's door. Taking two deep breaths, I knock once on the door. Miyagi doesn't answer. Perhaps she's already asleep. Thinking it might be best to head back, I nonetheless find my feet rooted at the thought she might be awake. I'm worried, wanting to see her face, but also feeling it might be better not to. I hesitated before leaving my room and here I am, hesitating again, knocking louder than before. Once, twice. Even after waiting a bit, Miyagi doesn't appear. Just as I resign myself to return to my room, the door opens. "...Sendai-san, you're still up?" Miyagi, dressed in sweatpants, asks in a voice that sounds more annoyed than sleepy. "I was watching a movie. How about the thunder, are you okay with it?" "I'm fine." "Didn't you mention before that you didn't like it?" "…I don't like it, but it's not because I'm scared." Miyagi, saying so, looks no different than usual. Even when the rumble echoes, her expression remains unchanged. "I see. That's good." I feel both relieved and a bit disappointed. Tucking these contradictory feelings away, I bid Miyagi goodnight. A sharp crack—resembling a lightning strike nearby—breaks the silence. Her hand grips my arm for a moment before letting go. I hope she'll hold on longer. If the thunder swells, perhaps she won't let go of my hand. Thinking about things that don't fit the reason I came to check on her, I ask, "Are you okay?" If I were to ask if she's scared, she'd surely deny it and might close the door and not reappear. "I was just startled by the loud noise," she replies. "Do you want to come to my room?" Miyagi remains silent, seeming wary of me. "If you can't sleep, maybe we can watch a movie to pass the time?" When I add this to assure her of my benign intentions, she barely whispers "I'll watch," and steps out of her room. Though I made the offer, her straightforward acceptance surprises me. As I walk back, she follows me into my room, and we sit side by side on the bed, leaning against the headboard. She reaches for the tablet left on the table. "What were you watching?" Before I can answer, Miyagi presses the play button. The connected earphones emit a faintly unsettling melody, prompting her to quickly stop the movie that had just started. "If you were watching something weird, you should've told me in advance." She lightly kicks the area around my ankle. It's unreasonable. I'm not at fault. "You pressed play before I could say anything. Besides, it's not something weird; it's a horror movie." "Horror is weird, and who'd expect you to be watching it on a night like this?" "It's exactly because of the weather—I thought it'd be perfect for the mood." "It feels like something might crawl in through the window; it's scary." Miyagi admits candidly, curling up and hugging her knees. Curled up like that, she resembles a stray cat wary of humans. I want to reach out and assure her it's okay, but if I do, she might bolt like a startled cat before I even touch her. "Pick any movie you like, Miyagi." When I say this, she looks at me instead of the tablet. "Sendai-san, are you going home for summer break?" "I'm not, but what about you, Miyagi?" "I don't plan to." "I see." The conversation lulls. Without searching for a movie, Miyagi lays her hands flat on the floor after uncurling from her seated position. "...Why aren't you going home, Sendai-san?" "Hmm, maybe because I find it more comfortable here. My parents aren't really worried either. Wouldn't your parents worry if you don’t go home?" "They might worry." "Then why not go home?" "There's no point. My parents are hardly ever home during summer break anyway." Miyagi, unusually, shares something about home. Neither of us commonly spoke about family. For me, family isn't a topic I like to talk about, and perhaps for Miyagi, it's the same. When it came to family, if I asked, she'd seldom give a definitive answer. Though I don't know why she'd suddenly share something she'd avoided discussing until now, this small revelation makes her feel closer than usual. I watch her hands, pressed against the floor. I reach out my own hand. But before our hands can touch, Miyagi turns toward me. "Sendai-san." She calls me and waits a moment. Yet, she's silent, with a look suggesting she has more to say. "If you have something to say, just say it." "...Promise not to do anything weird." Miyagi mumbles softly. "Weird as in horror-movie weird?" "No, you know perfectly well what I mean." I do understand. What Miyagi refers to as "weird" is like the dream I had, and although the thought of wanting to recreate it isn't entirely absent, such an attempt would drive her from this room, which I don't want. "I promise. Should I swear on the earrings?" Miyagi nods slightly. I tuck her hair behind her ear and whisper near her lips. "I won't do anything like that right now." Whispering softly, I pressed a kiss to her floral earring, letting my lips trail down to her ear before gently biting her neck. The sweet scent of her shampoo was pleasant. When I bit her neck gently and softly, Miyagi pushed against me. "You said you wouldn't do anything weird. And what do you mean by 'right now'?" "It's part of the promise, plus you didn’t say 'forever'." "Why do you always say such stupid things, Sendai-san?" "Maybe because I am stupid?" "...Enough." Miyagi replied with exasperation and leaned back against the bed. "Is it okay if we hold hands?" She didn't answer. Instead, she silently picked up the tablet from the table and leaned her shoulder against mine. Relieved by the warmth of her proximity, I glanced at the tablet screen. The horror movie I had been watching had vanished, replaced by an older Japanese film. "The weather seems to have calmed down a bit," I said without looking at her. The rumbling sound was still there, but the piercing strikes threatening to break through the walls were no more. "What about the rain?" "Probably still falling. What do you want to do?" I didn't want to ask if she was going back to her room. A part of me wanted to keep Miyagi here, confined within the comforts of this space. "What do you mean by that?" "Nothing. Forget it." "Sendai-san, can we watch this?" Miyagi pointed at the screen on the tablet. "Sure," I replied. With that, she removed the earphones that had been left plugged in and pressed the play button.