The usual after school, the usual room.
Sendai-san does not unbutton the second button.
Today, her blouse is still fastened by the second button. I want to spend the same after-school time as usual, but I canât relax because Sendai-san doesnât do the same thing as usual.
It is obvious that the summer vacation was the cause, but since this is the second time we are meeting like this since the start of the new school year, I think it is time for Sendai-san to do the same as usual.
If she was aware of me in a strange way, I would be concerned too.
I canât sit next to Sendai-san forever.
It may be a small thing, but I canât even concentrate on my homework because Iâm worried about one button. To begin with, I donât want to do my homework. Iâm just doing my homework to forget about the little things that inevitably bother me. And yet, there is no point in doing homework if I canât even concentrate on the textbook in front of me.
ãTodayâs orders is?ã
I hear a voice from across to me and look up.
Sendai-sanâs notebook, where she usually does her homework diligently, is the same as when I saw her earlier. It remained mostly white and did not appear to have more text.
ãUnbutton it.ã
I utter an order to return the unusual Sendai-san to her usual self.
ãButton?ã
ãThe button of your blouse.ã
ãLewd Miyagi.ã
I got an answer I hadnât imagined, and I think itâs over the top, even unbuttoning one of the buttons on my blouse. It is not a big order because Sendai-san will remove it herself, not me.
However, I realized that my words were not conveyed correctly to her, as she did not want to undo the button.
ãThatâs not what I meant.ã
ãWhat do you mean by that?ã
ãIt means you donât have to take it all off. Itâs usually more erotic to think that if I tell you to unbutton a button, but itâs all of them.ã
ãYou didnât say you thought it was an order to take it all off.ã
ãI didnât say it, but you thought it.ã
When I folded my words, Sendai-san admitted,ãYes, butãand continued her words.
ãSo how many do I remove if not all?ã
ãOne.ã
ãJust one?ã
Sendai-san looks at me as if to remind me.
I told her to take off two things, but her didnât.
The third button is fluid; sometimes it is allowed to be undone and sometimes it is not. I donât know what kind of day it is today, but I donât want it removed and I donât think she will.
ãI donât know how many you want to remove, Sendai-san, but I donât have to remove two or three.ã
ãIf thatâs the case, fine.ã
When I said this, Sendai-san easily unbuttons one of the buttons.
ãIs this okay?ã
ãItâs okay.ã
Unlike at school, she is the usual Sendai-san I see in this room, wearing a blouse unbuttoned to the second button. But there is still a sense of discomfort, and it looks different from before the summer vacation.
I canât stare at her, but I canât take my gaze off her. I stare at Sendai-san as if looking for a mistake.
ãWhat?ã
Sendai-san sounds dubious.
Her reaction is the same as usual in such situations.
It is weird to not be able to grasp the true nature of the feeling of discomfort.
ãDo you want me to do your hair again?ã
The words spoken to me in silence are a hint.
Come to think of it, Sendai-san often had her hair untied during summer vacation.
Although Sendai-san is the one who braided my hair, which is set with my uniform, I was more likely to untie it during the vacation, so my memories no longer overlap well.
ãForget my hair, Sendai, untie your hair.ã
ãWhy?ã
ãWhy not? Itâs easy enough to untie, right?ã
âYes, but,â says Sendai-san, untying her hair. Her hair, which is browner than mine because it has been braided all my life, is not straight. Itâs like a gentle wave unlike summer vacation, but summer vacation and now blend together just fine in my mind.
ãAnd then do it like you always do.ã
No longer wanting to give orders, I throws the rest of her time to Sendai-san.
ãWhat do you mean, like always?ã
ãSay something.ã
ãWhat do you mean by, anything?ã
ãAnything is fine.ã
Without wanting to give any particular orders, I called Sendai-san.
But I couldnât tell her that, and if I didnât order her to do something, she would get suspicious. Even if I were to give an appropriate order, it is difficult to say it because any order would likely lead to the last day of summer vacation. There is a way to not call Sendai-san if there is nothing to order, but that method was not one I wanted to actively adopt.
So, anything that she speak is fine as long as she can consume the orders.
ãYouâre rightâã
Sendai-san grunts as if she is trying to find a common topic of conversation that doesnât exist. Then, after a while, she said,ãWell.ã
ãWhere are you applying to college? Itâs not like you havenât decided by this point in the year.ã
The topic, which I donât like to be exposed to, makes my brow wrinkle involuntarily.
Perhaps Sendai-san knows I donât want to talk about this and is asking me about it.
ãYou told me to say something, Miyagi, so answer me.ã
Itâs just that itâs kind of hard to say because I just kind of decided, and a career path is nothing to hide. Besides, she will eventually find out, even if I keep quiet.
I mention the local university, regretting that I did not limit the topic.
ãWhat about Sendai-san?ã
I donât want to hear it, but if I donât, I canât pause.
ãAn university outside of the prefecture.ã
She said plainly, and Sendai-san added the name of the university.
ãAre you serious about that?ã
The college she mentioned is one that you canât get into if youâre just a little bit smart. As far as I know, no one has ever gone there from our high school. I am sure that even Sendai-san will not be accepted.
ãItâs a lie. Iâve been trying to get there, but itâs never going to happen.ã
Sendai-san says with a smile.
ãYou were going for it.ã
ãI knew it was impossible, though.ã
I thought she was joking, but the fact that she didnât deny my words indicated that she really intended to take the way. I donât know why she is aiming for such a university, but she is serious about attending prep school and maybe still wants to take it.
ãIâm only telling Miyagi about this. Donât tell anyone else.ã
ãIâm not going to say it. I mean, I donât have anyone to tell.ã
ãâ¦Yeah, right.ã
The truth is, we donât want this kind of thing.
We have enough secrets between us, and I donât want any more. The more secrets I have, the heavier and harder it is to move. I feel as if I will not be able to go anywhere from in front of Sendai-san.
ãWhere do you actually take the test?ã
When I asked in passing to dilute the secret I had heard, she mentioned another out-of-state university. This time, with the name of a university that Sendai-san would likely have been accepted to, I know that what she told me was true.
Nevertheless.
It was natural, considering her grades, and although I thought it was not so, I did not feel so good when she told me she was going to a university outside the prefecture from her own mouth.
I was concerned about the new secret I shared with Sendai-san, but now my mind is occupied even more with the university she is actually applying to. It is hazy, trying to scrape away the heart together with the mind.
ãHey, Miyagi. You should apply to the same college as me.ã
As if it were nothing, Sendai-san pushes me to do something unreasonable. Given my grades, itâs not an easy college for me to get into.
ãDonât say such random things. Thereâs no way I can go.ã
ãThatâs not true.ã
ãWhere it falls down, I donât want to bother taking it.ã
ãYou donât know if youâre going to fail or not until you take the test, and why not take the slip? Youâve been studying seriously lately, and I think if you work a little harder you can get there.ã
ãIt doesnât make sense for us to go to college together.ã
ãMaybe so, but you should go to a good college if you can.ã
ãAbsolutely not.ã
I donât want to put in the effort to go to a good college.
Besides, the time I spend with Sendai-san is only until graduation.
Thatâs why, there is no way to go to the same college.
Even Sendai-san should know that.
It doesnât matter to me that she is about to leave the province.
Thatâs right, good grief, I donât care, not one bit.
ãEnough about this, next order.ã
I donât have an order I want to give. But I donât want to continue to talk nonsense about career paths on the sly, so Iâm going to think of an order I can give right now.
ãYou still give the orders.ã
ãYouâll do it, so listen.ã
ãWhatever you want.ã
Sendai-san said, not hiding the expression on her face that she had not spoken enough.