Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
I bite into the second piece of karaage and gulps it down.
I’ve been on vacation for so long that my body still hasn’t gotten used to being in a place called a university. But unlike me, Maika and Asakura-san are enjoying their lunch.
Spring break is over, college has started, and I’m a sophomore.
I noticed that everyone was attending lectures with a normal face, as if there was no vacation. I’m the only one who is forever put off by spring break. The noisy university cafeteria is no different than it was before the break.
「Isn’t it early for spring break to be over?」
I swallow a sigh and ask Maika and Asakura-san, who are munching and chewing.
「Not so fast. Wasn’t it crazy long? I mean, if it were any longer, it would ruin a person.」
Maika says in a light voice, dexterously wrapping the pasta around her fork and eating it with a snap.
「It’s nice to have lots of part-time jobs, but not for too long.」
Asakura-san, who was eating an omelette, agrees with Maika, but I disagree with both of them.
「The longer the vacation, the better. I’d rather just hang out at home all the time.」
Looking around us, the three of us around a square table, I will see a brightly lit dining room filled with sparkling people, laughing happily at what is so interesting. If Sendai-san were here, he would be laughing in that circle as a matter of course.
I don’t dislike college and I enjoy being with Maika and the others, but I am more comfortable at home because I can’t be like Sendai-san.
「Shiori. That’s not the point of being a college student.」
Asakura-san’s voice follows Maika’s voice, which sounds like she’s taken aback.
「Miyagi-san, you’re a real indoor person, aren’t you? Wouldn’t it be hard to hang around at home if you shared a room? Oh, perhaps Sendai-san, too—— she’s probably not hanging around.」
「Only Shiori is the one who’s gawking around, and Sendai-san seems to be neat.」
Giggling, Maika wraps the pasta around her fork.
It’s a terrible thing to say, but it’s true.
Sendai-san lived a more regular life than I did during the vacations. Summer, winter, any time of the year, any vacation. She eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner properly. She clean, do laundry, and keep her room neat and tidy.
She is always neat and beautiful.
Her face, her body, everything.
I don’t think there is a big deviation from the image of Sendai-san that everyone knows.
But even she has a part that no one knows about, and I know it.
I am the only one who knows Sendai-san on the bed.
And I do that kind of thing with her again——
「Shiori, you’re spacing out again. No matter how much you want to take more rest, you’re still too spaced out, don’t you think?」
Maika calls me to come back to consciousness, which was almost trapped by Sendai-san.
No.
This is not something to think about in a place like this.
「Good luck for Golden Week.」
I mouthed my little goal and bit into a piece of karaage.
I also gulped down some miso soup and brought some rice to my mouth, said Asakura-san, who had eaten half of the omelette.
「Miyagi-san, don’t you work part-time during Golden Week?」
When college started and Maika mentioned to Asakura-san that she would be working part-time, she asked,「What about you, Miyagi-san?」I say again the same words as the answer I uttered then.
「I’m not cut out for part-time work.」
I told Sendai-san,「I might do it too,」during spring break, but that was not serious. She probably doesn’t think I meant what I said, but that was just taking it out on her.
I do not want to hear about part-time work from Sendai-san.
But I also cannot allow Sendai-san not to talk about her part-time job.
Contradictory feelings make me say things I don’t need to say.
I don’t expect Sendai-san to give up her part-time job with words like that, and I know I can’t make her give up, but I can’t help but say a few extra words.
「Wouldn’t you be bored if you stayed home all the time?」
「Shiori’s place, Sendai-san is there.」
Maika answers before I can say anything and adds,「I guess you can spend as much time as you want.」But Asakura-san looks at me and asks,「Eh—?」
「Sharing a room doesn’t mean you spend all day with the other person, right?」
「We have separate rooms, and we don’t spend all day together, but we do a lot of things together.」
「Is that so? But I still can’t believe that Miyagi-san and Sendai-san are sharing a room. I can’t imagine what kind of conversations you two are having.」
Asakura-san says a line I’ve heard a few times before, and then she tucks into her omelette.
「Speaking of which, Sendai-san, she got a new part-time job, didn’t she? You’ll have more time alone, so why don’t you get a part-time job too?」
「If I get a part-time job, where?」
I hate part-time jobs.
I don’t want to.
Still, I can’t be here and say I’m spoiled for choice if I never want to do this.
「What about my place with me? Let’s sell burgers. They’re looking for part-timers.」
「Customer service is impossible.」
「Then the cafe where Sendai-san worked part-time.」
「It’s still customer service.」
「I’ve been found out. Then a tutor.」
Maika says teasingly, to which I reply,「Much more impossible.」
Yes, absolutely impossible.
I hate tutoring jobs in particular, and I would never do it even if I were smarter than I am. And yet, Sendai-san is getting more part-time tutoring jobs.
I drop my gaze and look at my fingers.
I should have known Sendai-san better than anyone else, but I am not satisfied.
The more deeply I get to know Sendai-san, the more deeply she becomes a part of me. Just by mentioning Sendai-san’s name in casual conversation like this, everything becomes connected to her.
「Everyone gets a part-time job and it’s boring.」
I sigh exaggeratedly.
I don’t like an empty house, but in high school I could see that’s what it would be like without anyone. But now I am gone, I am used to being alone, and I want Sendai-san to stay with me all the time. So I can’t allow myself to take it for granted.
On days when she had a part-time job, she just comes home late.
I haven’t been able to tolerate that since she started working part-time, and now it’s even more unforgivable than before.
At times like this, I wish I had the blue scarf.
If I hold it tightly, I can calm down a little.
「If it’s so boring, why don’t you get a part-time job too? It would be fun to work at the same place.」
「It’s nice to be with Maika, but I can’t work part-time.」
「You don’t have to work part-time, but what about finding a job, Miyagi-san?」
Asakura-san looked at me with a serious face as she said this.
「That’s the only way to do it, though.」
「Ah, you look very uncomfortable.」
Asakura-san said with a laugh and took a quick bite of the omelette. Then he took another big bite and emptied her plate.
「How about having Sendai-san take care of you?」
Maika starts to say irresponsible things.
「We share a room, but only during college.」
「Why don’t you just live with her when you get a job? It would be easier to live there when the rent is half of what it used to be.」
The future that Maika mentioned shook my heart.
All the time.
From now on.
Even after college.
Innread.com].
If I stay with Sendai-san, the house I return to will be “someone’s house.” The future after graduation from the university is vague, and I do not know its color or shape. I can’t imagine myself working, and I don’t know if I will be able to find a job. But I can imagine a “home with someone else.”
「…Yes, but that’s not what we promised.」
I let out a small breath and then shoved all the karaage into my stomach.
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
I bite into the second piece of karaage and gulps it down.
I’ve been on vacation for so long that my body still hasn’t gotten used to being in a place called a university. But unlike me, Maika and Asakura-san are enjoying their lunch.
Spring break is over, college has started, and I’m a sophomore.
I noticed that everyone was attending lectures with a normal face, as if there was no vacation. I’m the only one who is forever put off by spring break. The noisy university cafeteria is no different than it was before the break.
「Isn’t it early for spring break to be over?」
I swallow a sigh and ask Maika and Asakura-san, who are munching and chewing.
「Not so fast. Wasn’t it crazy long? I mean, if it were any longer, it would ruin a person.」
Maika says in a light voice, dexterously wrapping the pasta around her fork and eating it with a snap.
「It’s nice to have lots of part-time jobs, but not for too long.」
Asakura-san, who was eating an omelette, agrees with Maika, but I disagree with both of them.
「The longer the vacation, the better. I’d rather just hang out at home all the time.」
Looking around us, the three of us around a square table, I will see a brightly lit dining room filled with sparkling people, laughing happily at what is so interesting. If Sendai-san were here, he would be laughing in that circle as a matter of course.
I don’t dislike college and I enjoy being with Maika and the others, but I am more comfortable at home because I can’t be like Sendai-san.
「Shiori. That’s not the point of being a college student.」
Asakura-san’s voice follows Maika’s voice, which sounds like she’s taken aback.
「Miyagi-san, you’re a real indoor person, aren’t you? Wouldn’t it be hard to hang around at home if you shared a room? Oh, perhaps Sendai-san, too—— she’s probably not hanging around.」
「Only Shiori is the one who’s gawking around, and Sendai-san seems to be neat.」
Giggling, Maika wraps the pasta around her fork.
It’s a terrible thing to say, but it’s true.
Sendai-san lived a more regular life than I did during the vacations. Summer, winter, any time of the year, any vacation. She eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner properly. She clean, do laundry, and keep her room neat and tidy.
She is always neat and beautiful.
Her face, her body, everything.
I don’t think there is a big deviation from the image of Sendai-san that everyone knows.
But even she has a part that no one knows about, and I know it.
I am the only one who knows Sendai-san on the bed.
And I do that kind of thing with her again——
「Shiori, you’re spacing out again. No matter how much you want to take more rest, you’re still too spaced out, don’t you think?」
Maika calls me to come back to consciousness, which was almost trapped by Sendai-san.
No.
This is not something to think about in a place like this.
「Good luck for Golden Week.」
I mouthed my little goal and bit into a piece of karaage.
I also gulped down some miso soup and brought some rice to my mouth, said Asakura-san, who had eaten half of the omelette.
「Miyagi-san, don’t you work part-time during Golden Week?」
When college started and Maika mentioned to Asakura-san that she would be working part-time, she asked,「What about you, Miyagi-san?」I say again the same words as the answer I uttered then.
「I’m not cut out for part-time work.」
I told Sendai-san,「I might do it too,」during spring break, but that was not serious. She probably doesn’t think I meant what I said, but that was just taking it out on her.
I do not want to hear about part-time work from Sendai-san.
But I also cannot allow Sendai-san not to talk about her part-time job.
Contradictory feelings make me say things I don’t need to say.
I don’t expect Sendai-san to give up her part-time job with words like that, and I know I can’t make her give up, but I can’t help but say a few extra words.
「Wouldn’t you be bored if you stayed home all the time?」
「Shiori’s place, Sendai-san is there.」
Maika answers before I can say anything and adds,「I guess you can spend as much time as you want.」But Asakura-san looks at me and asks,「Eh—?」
「Sharing a room doesn’t mean you spend all day with the other person, right?」
「We have separate rooms, and we don’t spend all day together, but we do a lot of things together.」
「Is that so? But I still can’t believe that Miyagi-san and Sendai-san are sharing a room. I can’t imagine what kind of conversations you two are having.」
Asakura-san says a line I’ve heard a few times before, and then she tucks into her omelette.
「Speaking of which, Sendai-san, she got a new part-time job, didn’t she? You’ll have more time alone, so why don’t you get a part-time job too?」
「If I get a part-time job, where?」
I hate part-time jobs.
I don’t want to.
Still, I can’t be here and say I’m spoiled for choice if I never want to do this.
「What about my place with me? Let’s sell burgers. They’re looking for part-timers.」
「Customer service is impossible.」
「Then the cafe where Sendai-san worked part-time.」
「It’s still customer service.」
「I’ve been found out. Then a tutor.」
Maika says teasingly, to which I reply,「Much more impossible.」
Yes, absolutely impossible.
I hate tutoring jobs in particular, and I would never do it even if I were smarter than I am. And yet, Sendai-san is getting more part-time tutoring jobs.
I drop my gaze and look at my fingers.
I should have known Sendai-san better than anyone else, but I am not satisfied.
The more deeply I get to know Sendai-san, the more deeply she becomes a part of me. Just by mentioning Sendai-san’s name in casual conversation like this, everything becomes connected to her.
「Everyone gets a part-time job and it’s boring.」
I sigh exaggeratedly.
I don’t like an empty house, but in high school I could see that’s what it would be like without anyone. But now I am gone, I am used to being alone, and I want Sendai-san to stay with me all the time. So I can’t allow myself to take it for granted.
On days when she had a part-time job, she just comes home late.
I haven’t been able to tolerate that since she started working part-time, and now it’s even more unforgivable than before.
At times like this, I wish I had the blue scarf.
If I hold it tightly, I can calm down a little.
「If it’s so boring, why don’t you get a part-time job too? It would be fun to work at the same place.」
「It’s nice to be with Maika, but I can’t work part-time.」
「You don’t have to work part-time, but what about finding a job, Miyagi-san?」
Asakura-san looked at me with a serious face as she said this.
「That’s the only way to do it, though.」
「Ah, you look very uncomfortable.」
Asakura-san said with a laugh and took a quick bite of the omelette. Then he took another big bite and emptied her plate.
「How about having Sendai-san take care of you?」
Maika starts to say irresponsible things.
「We share a room, but only during college.」
「Why don’t you just live with her when you get a job? It would be easier to live there when the rent is half of what it used to be.」
The future that Maika mentioned shook my heart.
All the time.
From now on.
Even after college.
Innread.com].
If I stay with Sendai-san, the house I return to will be “someone’s house.” The future after graduation from the university is vague, and I do not know its color or shape. I can’t imagine myself working, and I don’t know if I will be able to find a job. But I can imagine a “home with someone else.”
「…Yes, but that’s not what we promised.」
I let out a small breath and then shoved all the karaage into my stomach.
