336 - Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

### Chapter 336 Orange juice. Toast spread with jam and butter. Wieners and scrambled eggs, and the shredded cabbage that Miyagi prepared even though she said she'd let me do it. An unchanging menu, yet sufficient as a breakfast, vanished into our stomachs. And now, Miyagi is in my room. Though we didn't agree to meet up in my room after getting dressed and having breakfast, Miyagi arrived with a soda and barley tea in hand. She isn't particularly in a good mood, but neither is she in a bad one as she silently sits beside me. "Miyagi," I softly call her name, and she responds with, "What?" I wish times like this could last forever. I want tomorrow and the day after to be Sunday again. To put it more accurately, I want Miyagi's part-time job to be off tomorrow and the day after as well. "I just thought you'd be beside me," I say. “Well, you can see that, can't you?" “I suppose," I reply, though it's as if I want to confirm that Miyagi is indeed beside me. Without Miyagi, I end up pondering unnecessary thoughts, turning absurd fantasies that she never even mentioned into supposed facts. The longer Miyagi is away, the more solid these delusions I conjure become, dragging me into the quicksand of anxiety where I nearly stumble. "You said you'd talk, Sendai-san, so talk." Miyagi—the one who can make me both happy and unhappy—directs this at me. "What should I talk about?" "Think about that yourself.” Today’s agenda is "talking," as agreed, with Miyagi specifying that "I" would be the one to do it. It was all my suggestion, and I meant to follow through, but I hadn't decided what to talk about. In short, as long as I could be with Miyagi, the topic didn't matter. "Hmm," I ponder, holding Miyagi's hand as I try to think of something to say. When I grip her hand a little tighter, she suggests, "Use this hand instead," and offers me the platypus plush. "Why?" "It's not that kind of time right now." "When will it be 'that kind of time'?" "Dunno. For now, just be friends with the platypus." Miyagi’s hand slips away, replaced by the soft, short arm of a plushy platypus stuffed with tissues. It feels rather dull. I clasp the soft hand of the platypus firmly. We didn’t promise to hold hands today, but since we slept in the same bed, woke up together, had breakfast, and are now side by side like this, Miyagi should at least permit the holding of hands. If she doesn’t, it’ll make me want to voice thoughts not even worth saying. "…Can I talk about anything at all?" I ask, tweaking the platypus's beak, my gaze fixed on it. "If it's boring, I don't want to hear it." "Then I'll skip it." "Were you planning to say something boring?" "That wasn’t my intention..." "It's awkward to stop midway—finish what you started." Miyagi, speaking in slightly lowered tones, tugs at the platypus's tail. What I was about to discard is an indelible gray mass inside me, something better left unsaid. "...Hey," I start, the loss of Miyagi's warmth from my hand making the gray lump rise to the surface. "What?" she asks, tugging the platypus once more, prompting me to pull back. A small sigh escapes me. I lift my gaze to meet hers. "...You aren't saving up money from your part-time job to move out of here, are you?" The time Miyagi spends away at work feels excessively long to me, steering my thoughts toward incessantly unsatisfying conclusions. Of course, I quickly discarded such thoughts, yet I remain ensnared in the pessimistic notion that Miyagi might be eager to leave here soon. Hence, I wanted to sleep together and greet the same morning. I needed to assure myself that Miyagi wasn’t going anywhere. "I'm still a sophomore," comes a low voice from beside me. "Yes," I nod. "I said until I graduate university, I’d live here with you." “You did say that.” "Are you implying that you want me to leave, Sendai-san?" "No, that’s not what I’m saying." "Then stop saying weird things. I’d have nowhere to go if I were kicked out." "But you have a place, don’t you? Utsunomiya’s, for instance… When you ran away, you stayed at her house the whole time." “If I ran away from here, it means this place is my home,” Miyagi retorts with a hint of irritation, pressing her palm firmly against the floor. "Does that mean even if you run away, you’re sure to return?" "I’m not going to run away anymore. Say something more interesting, Sendai-san." "Alright then," I agree. This conversation holds no deeper meaning. Miyagi honors the deadlines she sets. Even as a high school student, she attempted to adhere to our agreement that our relationship could only last until graduation. So she’ll also keep her promise to stay until she graduates from university. She won't just up and leave before the agreed time. I'm only reconfirming what I already know. Yet, I find myself confirming it over and over, realizing this much Miyagi still isn't enough for me. "Why are you silent?" Miyagi asks, claiming the platypus from me, sounding bored. I thought that if we sleep together, there wouldn’t be any mental room left for unnecessary conjectures. But how much space within me I wish to fill with Miyagi was beyond my original anticipation. It looks like the time until we graduate won’t be enough, and I find myself wishing to spend even longer with her. —I haven’t found a way yet to extend the time we have together though. "Because I want to hear your voice, Miyagi." Ideally, I’d love to hear her voice claiming we’ll live together even after college. I know she won’t say it, but still, I hope. "Hey, Sendai-san was supposed to talk," she points out. "Do you want to hear my voice that much, Miyagi?" "That’s not the point." I understand it's not leading to the promise I hoped for. "Sendai-san, you should go to sleep already today," she suggests suddenly. “What? We just got up." “Yeah.” “Why should I sleep?” Sunday, which I had been eagerly awaiting, had only just begun—sleeping now seems premature. It's not unusual for Miyagi to say whimsical things, but I’d like at least to know the reason behind this one. "You seem sleepy today, Sendai-san." "I'm not," I deny, though it’s half a lie. However, since I’ve been eagerly anticipating Sunday, I think it's okay to lie a little. "Go to bed. You’re saying weird things because you're sleep-deprived." "Then sleep with me, Miyagi." "Sleep by yourself, Sendai-san." "If you let me use your lap as a pillow, I’ll sleep alone.” This is something I genuinely mean. If Miyagi agrees to let me, I’d willingly lie down. But I also know she’ll refuse, and thus I anticipate her next words. "Sendai-san, are you stupid?" As expected, her words are a bit boring. "Then, let me give you a lap pillow, Miyagi." "You don't need to." "Then let's watch a movie. I'll sleep if I get drowsy; is that acceptable?" "…What movie?" "Anything but horror." I smile at Miyagi as I suggest this, and she responds, "In that case, I’ll watch." Though it turns out to be a Sunday different from what we had promised, I am not fixated on sticking to our promise. Therefore, I stood up to fetch the tablet.