334 - Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

Chapter 334 “Miyagi, did you properly dry your hair?” As soon as I step into the room, Sendai-san’s voice reaches me. Since this is her room, it’s not strange for her voice to fill the space. What is strange, however, is her treating me like a little child. I understand it’s my past actions that have prompted Sendai-san’s current words, but she’s worrying too much. "I dried it." "Really?" "Really." Earlier this year, I caught a cold. To be precise, it was during the Golden Week holiday. One of the reasons was because I hadn’t properly dried my hair after a bath, leading Sendai-san to always check my hair since then. But people don’t catch colds so easily. Even more, I've learned my lesson, and I'm thoroughly drying my hair with a blow dryer now. So, there’s really no need for anyone to verify it, yet here comes Sendai-san, approaching the door where I'm standing to touch my hair. “Can’t you tell if it’s dry just by looking?” “It might just look dry.” While I was in the bath, Sendai-san changed into her sweatpants that she uses as pajamas, and now she gently brushes my hair, as I'm wearing a similar pair of sweats. Her touch feels nice, making me want her to keep at it. But if I indulge her in things she hasn’t asked permission for, it could lead to trouble. “Sendai-san, it’s annoying when you talk like a parent.” Lightly kicking Sendai-san’s leg, as she’s come too close, halts her brushing. “Did your parents often ask if you’d dried your hair?” “…They didn’t.” I have no memory of my parents asking me that, but I do recall scenes on TV with parents doing just that. “Then I’m not really saying things like a parent, am I?” “Sendai-san, stop being so noisy. Move aside, I want to put this down.” Using the pillow I’d brought from my room, I press against Sendai-san’s stomach. “Let me do it. I’ll set it down for you.” “No thanks. You’d just put it in the back.” There’s no spare futon in this room, and I haven’t brought one from my place either. Sleeping in the same bed is a given. That is why I must prevent her from getting the pillow. Sendai-san will be on the side by the wall. That’s already decided. If she gets the pillow and I end up sleeping against the wall, she might pin me down, making it impossible to move. “Does it matter where you sleep?” “Yes, it does. Didn’t we agree before the bath? You promised to quietly sleep facing the wall, Sendai-san. So, you go to the wall-side.” “I remember, you don’t have to push it.” Resigned, Sendai-san heads to the bed. She moves the pillow she’d set down to the far side and places the stuffed penguin on the floor. “Is this okay?” Confirming aloud, I move to the bed. “The pillow is fine there, but please sleep as close to the wall as possible.” “Okay, okay.” Responding nonchalantly, Sendai-san lies down on the bed. I place my pillow beside her and give her a light nudge. “Move a bit more that way.” “It’s cramped.” “Even if it is.” “Okay, okay.” “And change your position, look at the wall.” I complain as she’s inexplicably facing me. “Miyagi, you do know there’s a wall there too, right?” Pointing to the wall behind my back instead of the one against which the bed rests, Sendai-san smiles. She can be quite difficult at times like this. She knows full well the wall I mean and deliberately uses a different one to tease me. “Normally, you’d know which wall to face without being told.” “If there’s a specific wall you want me to look at, specify from the start.” “Sendai-san, you're really frustrating.” I know her tendencies, yet her nitpicking is infuriating. But today, I might forgive this side of Sendai-san. It’s lonely to sleep by oneself. I’m not so heartless to push away someone who brings up such sentiments, even if it comes from someone like Sendai-san. “If you don’t mind seeing nothing, then just keep looking at me.” I burrow into the bed, turn my back to Sendai-san, and turn off the lights, plunging the room into darkness without a word. “Turn on the nightlight. Also, face me.” “I refuse both.” “I’ll look at the wall you want when we sleep, but for just a bit, face this way. It’s... lonely.” She’s cunning today. Bringing up loneliness just makes me recall my past self and stop me from denying her. “Just for five minutes.” Setting a time limit, I shift my position. On a bed too small for two, I open my eyes and look ahead. In the darkness, Sendai-san’s silhouette is faintly visible. Her hand warmly brushes my cheek, and slowly, her warmth envelops more than just my cheek as the bed creaks. “Sendai-san, don’t move closer.” A distance where our feet almost touch is too close. I never said it was okay to get this close on the bed. “I just thought Miyagi smells nice.” “It’s the same scent.” We both use the same shampoo. If there’s a nice scent, that’s the reason. “No it’s not. Miyagi smells nicer.” “It’s just your imagination.” “It’s not.” I push at her overly close shoulder, but instead of backing off, she locks me in her arms. “You really do smell nice,” she says. “You’re such a pervert, Sendai-san.” “It’s not my fault I’m deprived of you.” “What are you talking about?” “…I feel lonely coming home, only for Miyagi to be at work.” Sendai-san mutters, tightening her embrace. I don’t recall her ever expressing something like this before. I want to see her face now, to see what she looks like, but it’s impossible. The room is dark, and we’re too close together. “Sendai-san, you also leave me to go to work.” Neither her tutoring job nor the café gig she doesn’t currently have are things I like. I’ve asked her to quit before. Yet, she continues with the tutoring job, and there’s still a possibility she might unexpectedly return to her café job. Sendai-san who doesn’t concede to me on the matter of work has no right to dictate when I can work. “True,” Sendai-san says, devoid of emotion. “You’re not going to quit work, right?” “True.” Repeating words I don’t want to hear makes me want to plug my ears, but before I can, her next words slip through. “…Do you ever feel lonely, Miyagi?” That frail voice seems on the verge of disappearing, so I rest my forehead on her shoulder. “I told you before that I don’t like empty homes.” “I’m sorry.” Even though I didn’t want an apology, Sendai-san apologizes. If she's going to say sorry, I wish she’d quit working. My feelings towards her working haven’t improved. “Let go, five minutes are up.” I push against her body that clings more than necessary. "You're not really timing it, are you?" "I can tell roughly without timing it." The time limit is just an excuse. It doesn’t really matter whether five minutes have passed or not. After all, Sendai-san was the one who broke the promise by not looking at the assigned wall and touching me instead, so I should have the right to break promises too. "Let’s just stay like this," she whispers near my ear. “…For how long?” Even if it’s just an excuse, we still need a time limit. Unlimited contact isn’t right. “Until morning.” “No way. Just five more minutes.” “Then until you fall asleep, Miyagi.” "You’re not really listening to me, are you?" "Let me do this just for today." Sendai-san is really cunning. Cunning, but today I have no choice but to let her. That’s what I think.