Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

「You wrinkle between your eyebrows, Shiori-chan, just like in the picture.」
Mio-san says while staring at my face.
「In the picture?」
「Hazuki showed me a picture of you, and even in that picture you had a wrinkle between your eyebrows.」
I had thought that Sendai-san might have shown a picture to Mio-san. But from the word “wrinkles between the eyebrows,” I can imagine that the picture was not a good one.
「…What kind of pictures did Sendai-san show you?」
「Just the normal ones, though.」
Sendai-san answers the question that should have been directed to Mio-san.
「If that’s the case, Sendai-san. Let me see that normal picture.」
「I said it’s a pretty picture, so don’t worry about it.」
Sendai-san smiles unnaturally.
「I don’t care if they are pretty or not. I just care what kind of pictures they are. The pictures you showed Mio-san, show them to me too.」
I am grateful to Sendai-san.
Mio’s suggestion that the three of us should have dinner together led us to decide to eat pizza together, but thanks to Sendai-san, we were spared the worst.
Mio-san wanted to eat out and said,「Why don’t we go now?」I prayed for the end of the world when she said that, but Sendai-san said it was too early for dinner and pushed her off by ordering pizza later.
If I had to go out like that, Mio-san was likely to say,「I guess I’ll call a friend,」and I would be troubled if there were more people like Mio-san.
So, I am grateful to Sendai-san, but that is not the same thing as this.
「…I don’t mind if I show it to you.」
「Then, let me see it.」
I hold out my hand toward Sendai-san, who is sitting diagonally in front of me. But she just looks at me and doesn’t want to take out her phone.
「Sendai-san.」
「…I’m not going to delete the picture, okay?」
「If you don’t like it, delete it.」
When I assured her, for some reason, Mio-san blew up.
「Shiori-chan, you’re coming along nicely.」
「Eh?」
「When you came to our part-time job, you talked a lot, but today you don’t talk much.」
「That…」
At the time, I just got caught up in her ability to communicate as if personal space didn’t exist.
「You should talk that much. It’s interesting. And also, again, the eyebrows.」
When I hear her happy voice, she touch my brow and wrinkle it. Mio-san sees this and laughs again, causing my brow to wrinkle again.
「Shiori-chan, don’t you need Hazuki to show you the pictures?」
With a giggle, Mio-san points at Sendai-san.
「Right. Sendai-san, the picture?」
I gave up on the wrinkling of my brow and demands that Sendai-san get out her phone.
「I’ll show it to you if you promise not to erase it.」
「I’ll decide after I see it, your smartphone.」
When I say so, Mio-san’s voice flies in.
「She said don’t worry about it. As Hazuki says, it was a really cute picture. It was just as cute as it is now.」
「I don’t think it’s pretty.」
「Shiori-chan, she said you look pretty. And that skirt looks good on you.」
Mio-san smiles and Sendai-san interrupts before I can deny it.
「That’s the skirt I picked out.」
「Ah, really. I mean, Hazuki is so interesting when she’s with Shiori-chan.」
「Interesting? I think it’s just the normal.」
「Ehh, it’s interesting. Today, you are always interrupting our conversations. You don’t usually do that. You’re really pushy today. Also, you don’t always get upset, but you get upset at the mere mention of a photo.」
「That’s your fault, Mio… And it annoys Miyagi.」
Sendai-san said in a whisper and turned her resentful eyes to Mio-san.
「It’s interesting that you say things like that and make faces like that, too. I mean, it’s rare, isn’t it? Hazuki being like this. Shiori-chan, is Hazuki always like this at home?」
I don’t think I want to mention Sendai-san who is with me in this house.
The real, nobody knows, my own Sendai-san.
I feel that Sendai-san who is talking with Mio-san in this room is close to that kind of Sendai-san.
I do not want to make Mio-san any closer to the real Sendai-san.
「Ehh, I wonder. Maybe a little more gentle, like.」
I say bland words that are not wrong.
「Ah, I’m getting a good assessment. But it seems unclear. Is it possible that she’s really not a kind person, but a selfish big Demon Lord?」
「Such a thing, I don’t think so.」
At the sound of my voice, Mio-san made a face of doubt and looked at Sendai-san.
「Heh—」
「I’m not selfish. We’re done talking about this.」
With a snap, Sendai-san said,「Mio, eat this,」and pushed a bag of potato chips in front of her.
「Well, let’s end this conversation now before Hazuki-mama gets mad at me.」
Mio-san said happily and took a piece of potato chip and bit it. Then she laughed and said,「I would have liked to see more of the interesting Hazuki, though.」
Nevertheless.
If she wanted to see interesting Sendai-san, she didn’t have to come all the way here. Even though it’s rare, she would have had a chance to see that interesting Sendai-san if she were with us. Although I have my thoughts about Mio-san who is with Sendai-san whom I don’t know in a place where I cannot see her, it’s better than her trespassing on my territory.
Haah.
I let out a small breath and drink the cider.
The sweet liquid, nearly uncarbonated, passes down my throat and falls into my stomach. I took another sip and looked at Mio-san, thinking that I should have given barley tea, and she was smiling happily as she talked with Sendai-san.
I look at the glasses on the table.
My stomach grows heavy as I look at the two of them.
「…This kind of thing is not good.」
The words that came to my mind spilled out of my mouth and took my breath away.
But it was a small voice, so I’m sure he didn’t hear me.
I fearfully lifted my eyes from the glass, and my eyes met with Mio-san’s.
「What’s not good?」
Mio-san is looking at me with a straight face.
She is not as beautiful as Sendai-san, but she is beautiful.
I realize that now.
When she talks, she is rough and cheerful, but when she’s quiet, I can see that her eyes and mouth are better placed than others. She should be classified as a beauty and is a little scary when she is silent.
「Eh, ah… I don’t speak very well, so…」
When I said the words, which weren’t right but not wrong, Mio-san started laughing.
「It’s fine, it’s fine. You’re speaking well. And thanks to Shiori-chan, I got to see the weird Hazuki. Both of you were interesting people I’ve ever met.」
Mio-san said in a voice that was more gentle than cheerful and emptied the glass that had cider in it. Then, she compared me and Sendai-san with a soft smile before continuing her words.
「From the last time we met, I knew Shiori-chan was definitely an interesting girl. I came to visit because I was curious about what it was like to share a room with Hazuki, but I’m really glad I came. I also got to know the interesting Hazuki.」
「Mio. I’m not a toy.」
Sendai-san says with a sigh, deliberately holding her forehead.
「I know. But you two are really interesting. It was worth the train ride. I don’t usually get to see Hazuki being scolded.」
「I’m not being scolded.」
Sendai-san counters in a more serious voice than before.
「She just scolded you for showing me a picture.」
Mio chuckles.
When I see her like this, I know she is a nice person. But it’s not enough to be a nice person. It doesn’t change the fact that Mio-san is a difficult person for me to associate with.
Perhaps Mio-san isn’t the same person as me. I am sure that she is a super human being or something like that. If someone told me she came from the edge of the universe, I would believe them. She might be able to talk without oxygen.
She must be such creatures that I have never seen before, so it seems difficult for me to get as close to her as I do to Maika.
「Shiori-chan, do you often scold Hazuki like you did earlier?」
The sound of happy voices echoed and the sound of Sendai-san hitting Mio-san with a bang followed. Still, Mio-san continued to giggle and stood up with a voice that said,「It’s rare that you hit people.」
「I’ll run to the bathroom before I get hit any harder. The place, where?」
Sendai-san gets up and explains the location of the restroom to Mio-san. Mio-san, who was listening to the conversation, leaves the room, leaving a light voice saying,「I’m off.」
「Miyagi, I’m sorry. It was noisy.」
Sitting where Sendai-san used to be, I exhaled loudly, “Haah.”
「I don’t mind, but… something about Sendai-san and Mio-san getting along so well.」
Then I pull a piece of tissue from the platypus’ back.
「We’re friends.」
「Hmph.」
I curl up a tissue and throw it at Sendai-san, who catches it and approaches me.
「Are you in bad mood?」
Sendai-san puts a piece of tissue on the floor and tries to grab my hand. I stroked the mark I had made on her over my clothes before Sendai-san caught me.
「…I should have added more.」
「Do you want to put them on now?」
「Mio-san is coming back, I can’t do that.」
Even if I wanted to, now is not the time to do that.
I know that much.
「Right.」
But I have to continue to see my Sendai-san and Mio-san, who I don’t think is the same person as me, talking together after this and have dinner together. When I think about it, I need something to calm my mind.
What is it?
I stroked the buttons of Sendai-san’s blouse and pressed hard on the marked area.
I want to undress her and touch her body directly.
But I am not allowed to do so.
「…Give me your hand.」
I stroked Sendai-san’s arm and grab her fingertips.
「Go ahead.」
A soft voice echoes in my ears.
I pull her hand and bite her index finger.
Hard, hard over the first joint.
Bite hard enough to leave a firm pain and mark.
Sendai-san doesn’t say it hurts or that she doesn’t like it.
Instead, she combs my hair with the finger that I’m not biting.
「Sendai-san is mine.」
I tell her as I wipe her finger with a tissue, which still has teeth marks on it.
「I know. What about my other fingers?」
「It’s fine… Also, now just do it like you did when you were in college.」
I want her to return to my Sendai-san, my own Sendai-san, but I don’t want Mio-san to see it. Therefore, I want her to show me the Sendai-san that Mio-san knows but that I do not know.
「Eh? What do you mean?」
「If you don’t know, that’s fine.」
I push Sendai-san’s shoulder and then throw the tissue into the trash. Then I sit back down a little further away from her, take a bite of a potato chip, and swallow it down in a gulp. Sendai-san silently began to eat her potato chips, and just as I reached for the third one, the door opened.
「Mio-chan came back to buy us a pizza!」
With a bright voice, Mio-san sat down across from me.
「You’re buying us a food, Mio?」
「I apologize for teasing you two. I’ll buy you three or four pieces, so order whatever you like.」
At the sound of Mio-san’s voice, Sendai-san brings a pizza flyer. She places it on the table with the hand that is not the one with the teeth marks, and the conversation about the pizza begins.
She wants teriyaki or she wants seafood.
The pizza, the result of our discussions, arrived a little early for supper, and in no time at all we were left with only a box and a trash of ice cream for dessert.
I don’t know if biting her finger had any effect.
I was left feeling unrefreshed for a long time, but maybe it was better than not biting.
I cleared the table, thinking about what I would do if Mio-san said that she would stay the night. I was called “Shiori-chan,” and I braced myself. But she didn’t say what I thought she did. She simply said,「I’m going home soon,」and Mio-san, who came like a storm, went away like a storm.
Leaving us with the disturbing words,「I will be back.」
「Mio-san, is she really coming back again?」
We are alone in Sendai-san’s room, and I look next to her as I lean my back against the bed.
「You don’t think she’ll come?」
Instead of answering, “I don’t think so,” I let out a small breath, and Sendai-san added, in an unusually harsh and tired voice for her,「I don’t think it will come soon.」