A glass of barley tea that wonât diminish and a glass with a drop of water.
Miyagi, who had not drunk the second cup of barley tea she had asked for, said nothing.
We are having a Sunday that seems the same as usual, but is somehow different.
ãAh, right. The earrings, when weâre going to buy it?ã
I mention a bland topic, a promise that has been hanging in the air since Thursday.
I am concerned about Utsunomiya, but I want to take my feelings in a slightly different direction.
ãI havenât decided yet.ã
Miyagi says as she wipes a drop of water from her glass with her fingertip.
ãI seeâ¦ã
ãAnytime I want, you told me that, no?ã
ãI know. Does Miyagi have any earrings you want?ã
ãIsnât Sendai-san supposed to choose it?ã
ãIâm going to pick one, but I thought Iâd ask you what you wanted, just in case.ã
The earrings are special to me because they remind me of my promise to Miyagi.
I want it to have a special meaning for me, even if itâs no longer attached to me at that time, as if itâs a sign that Miyagi is mine because I drilled a hole in it.
So I want to buy it with my own part-time money, not with the money in my wallet, from which my parents are the source.
Miyagi is not the type of person who would seriously want something so expensive that I canât afford it with my part-time job money, but I want to know in advance if there are any earrings she want because I want to put the earrings I bought in Miyagiâs ears so much that I want to give them to her even if she tells me those things.
Of course Iâm not going to tell her that Iâm going to spend my part-time money, because of course Iâm going to tell her that she doesnât have to buy it.
ãâ¦Nothing in particular, and you can do as you please, Sendai-san.ã
Miyagi says curtly.
ãOkay, let me see your earrings.ã
ãWhy should I show it to you?ã
ãI just thought Iâd help you choose.ã
Today, Miyagiâs earrings are hidden by her hair. I know what kind of earrings she has, but I want to see them.
ãIâll show you when you go to buy the stuff.ã
I wasnât expecting a good answer, but itâs too boring for an answer.
I hesitate for a moment, then stand up and reach for the Miyagi.
But before my hand could touch her hair, Miyagi pulled herself away. The legs of the chair rattled and I stopped before I could touch her. My hand, having lost its way, ended up landing on the table, and I let out a small gasp.
I wondered if Utsunomiya would make it easy for her to show her the earrings.
At the same time that I am concerned about such things, the feelings that have been smoldering in my heart grow.
I want to touch Miyagi.
Not long ago, I would have already touched Miyagi, put her hair over her ears, and looked at her earrings. But the memory of last week was so vivid that I was lost. And Miyagi reacted in a way that seemed excessive.
ãYou donât have to be so surprised.ã
I said lightly and smiles.
I donât want to weigh down the seemingly calm air.
But I feel like I wonât be able to touch Miyagi for a long time if I donât.
ãI wasnât trying to do anything weird.ã
Iâm now slowly reach out her hand.
Miyagi doesnât run away.
My hand touches her for the first time in a week with the intention of touching her. I grabbed Miyagiâs arm at Utsunomiyaâs house, but all I wanted to do at that time was to take her home.
Just the mere touch of her hair makes my heart beat so loudly that Miyagi could almost hear it.
I am surprised at myself for being nervous over such a trivial thing.
I brush her soft hair and put it over her ears. I stroked the piercing and felt the hardness of the silver it, then crawled my fingers up to her earlobe.
Miyagi almost grabs my hand and stops.
Our eyes meet, but she didnât complain.
The fact that my hand that deserves to be grabbed isnât grabbed, that it wasnât rejected in a gruff voice, makes the act of touching, which has been repeated so many times, seem to have a different meaning than it did before.
My hands grew bolder, taking advantage of Miyagiâs lack of resistance.
I slide my hand, which had been touching her earlobe, down her neck.
I press my fingers hard against her throat and let them crawl downward. The smooth skin is pleasant to the touch and brings back memories of last week. My heart ached when I remembered Miyagiâs voice at that moment, and the Utsunomiya that had been sitting in my head disappeared.
Slowly, I touch her collarbone.
As I stroke over the bone, Miyagiâs body shivers a little and her hand finally catches me.
ãDonât touch anything that isnât my ear.ã
She squeezes my arm.
ãI know.ã
She let go of my hand as Miyagi pulls herself to me.
I sat down meekly in the chair and looked at Miyagi.
She doesnât get up or glare at me.
And my heart is clearly beating fast.
Itâs a small thing, but different from usual.
We are changing colors little by little like the sky changes colors from night to morning. But I am also inclined to hope that the change will be dramatic enough to overtake the change.
If nothing changes after something like that, there is no opportunity for change anywhere. But if I stay the same, Miyagi will stay here as my roommate while we are a college students. If we try to force a change, Miyagi may run away again and never come back.
ãIâm going to go back to my room now.ã
Before I can settle my mind, Miyagi says in an unfriendly voice.
ãJust wait.ã
ãIâm not waiting.ã
ãWhy?ã
ãSendai-san, you seem like youâre going to do something strange.ã
Miyagi stands up.
I grab her arm before she goes back to her room.
ãWhat kind of strange things?ã
ãIf you put your hand on my chest and think about it.ã
If I put my hand on Miyagiâs chest, I can think long and hard about it.
As I think about such foolishness, I hear Miyagiâs gruff voice.
ãLet me go, Sendai-san.ã
I let go of Miyagiâs arm and grab her hand.
ãThatâs not what I meant.ã
I know, but I donât want to send Miyagi back to her room like this.
My feelings and Miyagiâs feelings do not overlap.
Still, we can be together thanks to the word âroommateâ we left on Sunday. It is a word that is constricting to me, one that I would like to lose someday, but I hesitate to lose it right now. However, I would like to return to a relationship where we can do what we have been doing. To put it bluntly, I want to at least kiss her. But to do so now would require the courage of talking to a stranger.
I thought for a moment, then chose one of several acts that even Miyagi would be willing to forgive me for now, and put my lips on her fingertips.
Miyagiâs hand tightens.
ãMiyagi, is this strange?ã
She didnât answer, but she didnât run away either.
I kiss the top of the second joint, relieved that Miyagi is right in front of me.
Her fingers twitch.
When I pressed my lips hard enough to feel the hardness of bone rather than the softness of skin, Miyagi said,ãSendai-san,ãharder than bone.