206 - Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

Chapter 206 "If you don't like being home alone, why not come over?" Sendai-san had mentioned that, so I went to her workplace. But when I got back home, I was alone again. Even if I waited for an hour or two, she wouldn't return, and having been with Maika until just a short while ago only made the loneliness feel sharper. "Even if I go over, it's the same, isn't it?" Lying on the bed, I was tempted to toss the black cat plush I was holding towards the door, then stopped myself. The black cat wasn't at fault. The blame lay with Sendai-san, who didn't come home early. Working part-time on a Sunday makes me want to take my frustrations out on the plush. I rolled onto my side, placing the black cat on my stomach. It's not that I've eaten too much or that I'm starving, but there's a sense of dissatisfaction. A vague irritation coils within me. Yesterday, Sendai-san was here on this very bed, yet today she's absent. There's only my own scent and body warmth—there's not even a trace of her now. For such a small thing, just that much, and Sunday feels like the worst. I really should've just not gone to her workplace. I'm curious about what kind of person that senior she was chatting with is. I'm curious about what kind of person the shopkeeper she was smiling with is. From one or two points of curiosity, questions start to merge—what were they talking about? Do they meet outside that café too? All these stupid questions keep growing. I'm curious about the face Sendai-san shows while working on days other than today, and I'm also bothered by how she looks at me as just one of many people. I sigh, tugging at the black cat's tail. Whether she's here or not, Sendai-san makes me irritated. I pull the covers over myself and close my eyes. Yet, I can't erase Sendai-san from my mind, curling up into a small ball. In the darkness I've created within the bed, after five or ten minutes, I hear a soft knock, knock. "I'm home." Following the sound of the knock, I hear Sendai-san's voice. I slowly sit up and get off the bed. After returning the black cat to the bookshelf and taking a breath, I open the door and say "Welcome back" in a small voice, to which Sendai-san responds with a smile. "I'm going to have some orange juice. Would you like something too, Miyagi?" "I'll have some." "What would you like?" "The same as you, Sendai-san." "Do you want to come over here? Or should I bring it over?" "Bring it here." "Alright, just wait a moment." Saying that, Sendai-san turned her back to me, and I closed the door. In less than five minutes, the door was knocked on again, and I let Sendai-san into the room. She set two glasses filled with orange juice on the table and sat beside me. Using the bed as a backrest, we both drank our orange juice side by side. "Did you take off your lip balm?" Sendai-san asked in her usual voice, reserved only for us. "Yeah, I did." "It looked good on you, though." Her gentle tone does not reveal what she's thinking. I place my half-empty glass of orange juice down and look at Sendai-san. But even looking at her, I can't discern what she's thinking, as she just continues to smile quietly. "I was happy that you came today, Miyagi. If you don't want to come alone, it's fine to come with Utsunomiya like today, so please visit again." "Maika said she wanted to see you working, so I just went with her. I won’t go anymore since the school festival is soon, and you’ll be done with your part-time job anyway, right?" "Well, that's true." Sendai-san said lightly, taking a sip of her orange juice. Her lips touched the glass, the orange liquid inside diminished, and her throat moved. I could only trace the path of the orange juice; beyond that lay an unseen passage. The glass, now reduced by a third of its contents, was placed back on the table. Wanting to touch the vanished orange juice, I began to reach towards the area below Sendai-san's throat, somewhere between her collarbones, but stopped myself. "Honestly, I think mentioning the school festival was a bit sneaky." I grip the hem of Sendai-san's skirt and give it a tug. "Sneaky? What's sneaky about it?" "You thought if you told Maika, she'd say you should come. So instead of asking me, you told her about the school festival, right?" "That's right. I don't want you to tell me not to come." With that, Sendai-san reached out and attempted to touch the hand holding her skirt. "…That's disturbingly honest." I pulled back my hand before she could catch it. "Isn't that harsh? Normally, people would be happy about honesty." "I'm not happy. Suddenly being honest is suspicious and unsettling. ...What are you plotting?" "Plotting? If I'm not honest with you, Miyagi, you won't let me do anything. That's all." She spoke quietly and turned her body towards me. Her gaze was intense, and I couldn't continue looking at her, so I averted my eyes. "What do you mean?" I murmured. In response, Sendai-san brushed her fingers over my earring. "You won't let me kiss you, or touch you. I don't like that." Her fingers, having trailed over the earring, now touched my lips. Her warmth approached, and she whispered in my ear. "I want to kiss you, Miyagi." "We're not talking about that right now." I pushed against Sendai-san's body, distancing her warmth. "Even if we're not talking about it, I suddenly wanted to." "Just because you say whatever doesn't mean it's okay." "If you would say it, Miyagi, then I wouldn't need to, but you won't say it, will you?" "I don't need to." "I figured you'd say that. That's why I'm the one saying it. Give me a kiss, Miyagi." Sendai-san says such things unabashedly. I don't understand how she can be so straightforward in expressing her desires. She speaks with a calm voice as if it were the most natural thing, pulling me by the arm. Yet, she doesn't push further, waiting for my next words. It's rare for her to force anything upon me. "Miyagi, just say it's fine." With a hint of strain in her voice, she tightened her grip on my arm. I removed her hand and looked at her. "Kissing isn't what I want." "Then what do you want?" "I want to make sure." I tugged at the knit covering Sendai-san's upper body. "…Make sure of what?" "To see if the mark I left yesterday is still there." The red marks covering her upper body. They remain on Sendai-san even when she assumes a form unknown to me, while neither the senior at her university nor the people at her workplace can see them. Even if she's somewhere unknown to me, it's something only I know. I want to confirm that even now, after her shift is over, it's still there. "I wasn't late enough for any kind of penalty game." "It's not a penalty game, so if you don't like it, I won't look." When I said that, Sendai-san replied, "Do whatever you like."