「Where are we going?」
Miyagi, with a bored look on her face, blurts out.
「I don’t want to go anywhere.」
I think so, but it is a better answer than “I don’t want to go,” I ask with a smile.
「Anywhere is fine. Is there anywhere you want to go, Miyagi?」
I will be home with Miyagi for the entire holiday weekend.
Even though she had plans with Utsunomiya, I want her to cancel them and stay at home with me. But I also want to go out with Miyagi if she allows it.
I have always had conflicting feelings inside me, and they lean heavily one way or the other from time to time. But no matter which way my feelings lean, I know where they will end up.
She’s not going anywhere anyway.
I don’t even think she would honestly spend time with me even if we were to spend it in this house.
Miyagi is always difficult.
So I have to check them one by one.
「There’s nowhere I want to go, and I don’t have to go anywhere during the holidays.」
After giving me just a little bit of hope, Miyagi uttered the words I didn’t want and kicked the floor with a thump.
「Then let’s walk outside together in the morning.」
Going somewhere.
That destination can be anywhere. If I can achieve my goal of “doing something alone with Miyagi” during the Golden Week holidays, I don’t mind doing something as simple as taking a walk around the neighborhood.
「Does that mean we’re going for a walk?」
「Yeah. I got up a little early.」
「I don’t want to get up early on my day off, and I don’t want to go for a walk or anything.」
「You’ve gained weight. Let’s exercise, every morning.」
「Absolutely not.」
Miyagi assures me and tries to get up. I throw out another idea before she runs away from the common space.
「Then, travel.」
「Going for a walk and then suddenly going on a trip, that’s a strange connection to the story.」
「It’s not strange. Let’s go to the hot springs.」
「Hot springs? I told you I don’t go to hot springs before.」
Apparently, Miyagi remembers words I have uttered in the past.
Last year, I invited Miyagi to go on a trip to a hot spring during the summer vacation.
I am pleased that Miyagi is interested in me enough to remember such trivial events, but Miyagi’s refusal to travel is not welcome.
「In general, Sendai-san, you want to save money, right? So much so that you even work part-time during Golden Week.」
Miyagi spoke unwelcome words again, much to my delight.
I want to save money.
That is still something I said in the past, and I am glad that such things are etched in Miyagi’s memory. But I don’t think I want to be denied the opportunity to go out because of that.
「What about spending our money together?」
I know this is not a very good suggestion.
The money saved from the 5,000 yen that fell between me and Miyagi when I was in high school was used once to rent this room, and I haven’t been able to find a use for it since I came back. Although I am keeping the money to use for the two of us, I am not sure what it should be used for. We would use it for small purchases together, but we never moved it significantly.
The two of us will spend more money than ever before if we travel. I am indeed lost when I think about it. However, I feel that it is only useful in such a case.
「I’m not spending it.」
As if to cut off my hesitation, Miyagi says emphatically.
「Why?」
「…I still think Sendai-san should spend that money.」
「Why?」
I repeated the same words like an idiot, and Miyagi stared at me.
「If you save the money with your part-time job, you can live here forever, Sendai-san.」
Miyagi’s awfully serious voice rings in my ears.
Normally, Miyagi would have told me to put the money into savings and quit my part-time job, but she didn’t say anything like that. She just keeps looking at me silently.
「…Does that mean you’re going to live with me, Miyagi?」
How we spend our money.
I hope it will be enough to continue this life with Miyagi for a long time.
「I didn’t say that.」
The answer comes without hesitation.
Miyagi is still not working the way I want it to.
「Then I’ll say it’s still our money.」
「Why don’t you just use your money and save it, Sendai-san?」
「You don’t have to decide that now. What you need to decide now is the schedule for the holidays.」
I don’t think it’s a good idea to put everything on hold, but I also don’t think it’s a good idea to answer everything. The relationship between me and Miyagi is fluffy and not definite. The word “roommate” is just a misnomer to summarize the fluff.
It seems to me that a relationship that isn’t firmly formed could easily fall apart, and it seems better to leave topics that might involve this future of ours ambiguous.
「If not walking or traveling, where would you go with me, Miyagi?」
Back to the subject that has been diverted.
「None, so I don’t have to go.」
A curt answer comes back.
「If you are not going anywhere, what are you going to do during the holidays, Miyagi?」
「I’m at home. Maika and Asakura-san both have part-time jobs.」
「It’s the opposite of last year. Last year I was home. I should say I couldn’t go outside because Miyagi did something weird.」
「I won’t do anything that prevents you from going out this year, so if you go out with Mio-san…」
Miyagi says something uninteresting.
I don’t want her to do something that prevents me from going out because I have a part-time job, but I also want her to do those things, so it sucks when she says she doesn’t. And I don’t want to be told that I should go out with Mio.
My consecutive holidays are for Miyagi.
My part-time job is important and I have to do it, but it is also connected to Miyagi. Getting a place to stay without having to return to a home with family follows the possibility of living with Miyagi.
「Like I said before, I want to go out with you, Miyagi, not with Mio. If you don’t want to go out, let’s do something at home this year like last year.」
「There’s nothing I’d rather do.」
Well, yes.
It’s a miracle that she didn’t immediately refuse my invitation to go somewhere together for the consecutive holidays, and it is more normal for Miyagi to say no or not to go or something of that sort. So this answer was expected even if the answer is not interesting, and further discussion of this story will not overturn the answer.
「Then we don’t have to go anywhere or do anything during the holidays, I want to kiss you now.」
I get up and go to the front of Miyagi.
「That has nothing to do with the holidays.」
She sits in my chair, grumpy and her misbehaving feet kick me.
This sort of thing has happened recently.
That was when I licked Miyagi’s foot at this place and she was in a bad mood that day too. But she doesn’t seem to be in as bad a mood as she was then.
「It doesn’t need to have a relation to that. If nothing else, just a kiss.」
I touch Miyagi’s cheek.
When I put my palms close together and brought my face close to hers, she pressed my stomach.
「…The penguin can look at it.」
Miyagi says in a small voice without looking at me.
It was a reply that perhaps we could go to the aquarium or the zoo, and I touched the plumeria earrings I had given her.
「You’re booking a date, right?」
I said it as casually as possible and kissed Miyagi’s ear.
There are many things that cannot come true between me and her, but I think this much can be forgiven. But Miyagi made a face of blatant disapproval.
「I don’t like that kind of stuff.」
「What kind of stuff?」
「A normal appointment, a date. That’s what people in a relationship call it.」
「Dating does not mean that it should be used only by lovers, and it should be said among friends as well. Even Utsunomiya doesn’t say that much, does it?」
「…She said, though.」
Miyagi stepped on my foot as I said this with a look of disapproval on her face. Gripping my foot. She stepped on my foot with quite a bit of force and glared at me.
「Then, it’s fine, right?」
I pulled myself out from under Miyagi’s foot and smiled.
「It’s not fine.」
「Then think of something other than “date,” Miyagi.」
「No need to think about it.」
「Well, it doesn’t have to be a date, but what about penguins?」
Miyagi wrinkles her brow at my words. Then she tugged at my clothes and said,「Come a little closer,」and I tried to kiss her, but he strongly denied it, saying,「Not that.」
「Sendai-san, you said you would give me this, right?」
The whole blue stone is pulled out of my ear.
「I said it. It’s Miyagi’s.」
My ears were given to her for her birthday in Miyagi.
So Miyagi is free to use my ears.
「I promise you as my property, so don’t give your promise a strange name.」
Before I can reply, Miyagi’s lips gently touch my ear.
Not only the part Miyagi touches, but my cheeks and neck also tingle because she is so close. Her body heat is too close and heats up everywhere except where she touches me.
I grab Miyagi’s shoulder and her lips leave mine.
But they soon stick, and her teeth sink into my earlobe.
Strong in its own way.
She bit me with more than enough force for the promise to be engraved on me, and more force was applied when I called「Miyagi.」Swallowing the word “pain,” I gripped my fingertips gripping her shoulder and squeezed harder. I slide my hand down, looking for a soft spot in the hardness of the bone, and my ear is released.
「Going to see the penguins is just a promise, but not break it.」
She whispers in my ear.
Instead of replying, I pull her closer and her lips are attached to my ear again.
「Where are we going?」
Miyagi, with a bored look on her face, blurts out.
「I don’t want to go anywhere.」
I think so, but it is a better answer than “I don’t want to go,” I ask with a smile.
「Anywhere is fine. Is there anywhere you want to go, Miyagi?」
I will be home with Miyagi for the entire holiday weekend.
Even though she had plans with Utsunomiya, I want her to cancel them and stay at home with me. But I also want to go out with Miyagi if she allows it.
I have always had conflicting feelings inside me, and they lean heavily one way or the other from time to time. But no matter which way my feelings lean, I know where they will end up.
She’s not going anywhere anyway.
I don’t even think she would honestly spend time with me even if we were to spend it in this house.
Miyagi is always difficult.
So I have to check them one by one.
「There’s nowhere I want to go, and I don’t have to go anywhere during the holidays.」
After giving me just a little bit of hope, Miyagi uttered the words I didn’t want and kicked the floor with a thump.
「Then let’s walk outside together in the morning.」
Going somewhere.
That destination can be anywhere. If I can achieve my goal of “doing something alone with Miyagi” during the Golden Week holidays, I don’t mind doing something as simple as taking a walk around the neighborhood.
「Does that mean we’re going for a walk?」
「Yeah. I got up a little early.」
「I don’t want to get up early on my day off, and I don’t want to go for a walk or anything.」
「You’ve gained weight. Let’s exercise, every morning.」
「Absolutely not.」
Miyagi assures me and tries to get up. I throw out another idea before she runs away from the common space.
「Then, travel.」
「Going for a walk and then suddenly going on a trip, that’s a strange connection to the story.」
「It’s not strange. Let’s go to the hot springs.」
「Hot springs? I told you I don’t go to hot springs before.」
Apparently, Miyagi remembers words I have uttered in the past.
Last year, I invited Miyagi to go on a trip to a hot spring during the summer vacation.
I am pleased that Miyagi is interested in me enough to remember such trivial events, but Miyagi’s refusal to travel is not welcome.
「In general, Sendai-san, you want to save money, right? So much so that you even work part-time during Golden Week.」
Miyagi spoke unwelcome words again, much to my delight.
I want to save money.
That is still something I said in the past, and I am glad that such things are etched in Miyagi’s memory. But I don’t think I want to be denied the opportunity to go out because of that.
「What about spending our money together?」
I know this is not a very good suggestion.
The money saved from the 5,000 yen that fell between me and Miyagi when I was in high school was used once to rent this room, and I haven’t been able to find a use for it since I came back. Although I am keeping the money to use for the two of us, I am not sure what it should be used for. We would use it for small purchases together, but we never moved it significantly.
The two of us will spend more money than ever before if we travel. I am indeed lost when I think about it. However, I feel that it is only useful in such a case.
「I’m not spending it.」
As if to cut off my hesitation, Miyagi says emphatically.
「Why?」
「…I still think Sendai-san should spend that money.」
「Why?」
I repeated the same words like an idiot, and Miyagi stared at me.
「If you save the money with your part-time job, you can live here forever, Sendai-san.」
Miyagi’s awfully serious voice rings in my ears.
Normally, Miyagi would have told me to put the money into savings and quit my part-time job, but she didn’t say anything like that. She just keeps looking at me silently.
「…Does that mean you’re going to live with me, Miyagi?」
How we spend our money.
I hope it will be enough to continue this life with Miyagi for a long time.
「I didn’t say that.」
The answer comes without hesitation.
Miyagi is still not working the way I want it to.
「Then I’ll say it’s still our money.」
「Why don’t you just use your money and save it, Sendai-san?」
「You don’t have to decide that now. What you need to decide now is the schedule for the holidays.」
I don’t think it’s a good idea to put everything on hold, but I also don’t think it’s a good idea to answer everything. The relationship between me and Miyagi is fluffy and not definite. The word “roommate” is just a misnomer to summarize the fluff.
It seems to me that a relationship that isn’t firmly formed could easily fall apart, and it seems better to leave topics that might involve this future of ours ambiguous.
「If not walking or traveling, where would you go with me, Miyagi?」
Back to the subject that has been diverted.
「None, so I don’t have to go.」
A curt answer comes back.
「If you are not going anywhere, what are you going to do during the holidays, Miyagi?」
「I’m at home. Maika and Asakura-san both have part-time jobs.」
「It’s the opposite of last year. Last year I was home. I should say I couldn’t go outside because Miyagi did something weird.」
「I won’t do anything that prevents you from going out this year, so if you go out with Mio-san…」
Miyagi says something uninteresting.
I don’t want her to do something that prevents me from going out because I have a part-time job, but I also want her to do those things, so it sucks when she says she doesn’t. And I don’t want to be told that I should go out with Mio.
My consecutive holidays are for Miyagi.
My part-time job is important and I have to do it, but it is also connected to Miyagi. Getting a place to stay without having to return to a home with family follows the possibility of living with Miyagi.
「Like I said before, I want to go out with you, Miyagi, not with Mio. If you don’t want to go out, let’s do something at home this year like last year.」
「There’s nothing I’d rather do.」
Well, yes.
It’s a miracle that she didn’t immediately refuse my invitation to go somewhere together for the consecutive holidays, and it is more normal for Miyagi to say no or not to go or something of that sort. So this answer was expected even if the answer is not interesting, and further discussion of this story will not overturn the answer.
「Then we don’t have to go anywhere or do anything during the holidays, I want to kiss you now.」
I get up and go to the front of Miyagi.
「That has nothing to do with the holidays.」
She sits in my chair, grumpy and her misbehaving feet kick me.
This sort of thing has happened recently.
That was when I licked Miyagi’s foot at this place and she was in a bad mood that day too. But she doesn’t seem to be in as bad a mood as she was then.
「It doesn’t need to have a relation to that. If nothing else, just a kiss.」
I touch Miyagi’s cheek.
When I put my palms close together and brought my face close to hers, she pressed my stomach.
「…The penguin can look at it.」
Miyagi says in a small voice without looking at me.
It was a reply that perhaps we could go to the aquarium or the zoo, and I touched the plumeria earrings I had given her.
「You’re booking a date, right?」
I said it as casually as possible and kissed Miyagi’s ear.
There are many things that cannot come true between me and her, but I think this much can be forgiven. But Miyagi made a face of blatant disapproval.
「I don’t like that kind of stuff.」
「What kind of stuff?」
「A normal appointment, a date. That’s what people in a relationship call it.」
「Dating does not mean that it should be used only by lovers, and it should be said among friends as well. Even Utsunomiya doesn’t say that much, does it?」
「…She said, though.」
Miyagi stepped on my foot as I said this with a look of disapproval on her face. Gripping my foot. She stepped on my foot with quite a bit of force and glared at me.
「Then, it’s fine, right?」
I pulled myself out from under Miyagi’s foot and smiled.
「It’s not fine.」
「Then think of something other than “date,” Miyagi.」
「No need to think about it.」
「Well, it doesn’t have to be a date, but what about penguins?」
Miyagi wrinkles her brow at my words. Then she tugged at my clothes and said,「Come a little closer,」and I tried to kiss her, but he strongly denied it, saying,「Not that.」
「Sendai-san, you said you would give me this, right?」
The whole blue stone is pulled out of my ear.
「I said it. It’s Miyagi’s.」
My ears were given to her for her birthday in Miyagi.
So Miyagi is free to use my ears.
「I promise you as my property, so don’t give your promise a strange name.」
Before I can reply, Miyagi’s lips gently touch my ear.
Not only the part Miyagi touches, but my cheeks and neck also tingle because she is so close. Her body heat is too close and heats up everywhere except where she touches me.
I grab Miyagi’s shoulder and her lips leave mine.
But they soon stick, and her teeth sink into my earlobe.
Strong in its own way.
She bit me with more than enough force for the promise to be engraved on me, and more force was applied when I called「Miyagi.」Swallowing the word “pain,” I gripped my fingertips gripping her shoulder and squeezed harder. I slide my hand down, looking for a soft spot in the hardness of the bone, and my ear is released.
「Going to see the penguins is just a promise, but not break it.」
She whispers in my ear.
Instead of replying, I pull her closer and her lips are attached to my ear again.
