I slowly crawl my finger to Sendai-sanâs lips.
It is softer than the hand that was holding it.
A light press and the lips open.
I push my fingers inside just a little and she bite loosely.
All she asked for was a kiss, and I canât watch the rest of the movie at this point.
There is no reason to hesitate.
I pull my finger out.
I look into Sendai-sanâs eyes, who didnât want to push me down, but I had to push her down.
Her eyes look straight at me.
Relieved or thrilled.
That day, that time, that hour.
The feeling from her eyes is different.
I am a little nervous today.
I donât want to know why.
I bring my lips close together and ask before I touch her.
ãSendai-san, youâre not going to watch the rest of the movie even if I kiss you, right?ã
I know how she responds in these situations.
There is a flow that Sendai-san has decided upon, and we are not allowed to go against it. The conversation lands in a fixed place.
ãThatâs not true.ã
ãYou are. You lie so easily, Sendai-san.ã
ãTry it and see if Iâm lying.ã
Sendai-san chuckles beneath me.
I instantly know that the smile I often see is made up.
I donât like it.
The words coming out of her mouth are exactly what I expected and what I am about to do is exactly what she expected. I know and I donât complain because I know. Any effort to change the direction of the conversation is futile. No matter how differently we try to go about it, the end result of a kiss can only be the same.
Is it one kiss that is sought after or two?
Is it more than one?
I attach my lips to that of Sendai-san without asking her about such things. But when I quickly released my lips and tried to release my body as well, Sendai-san tugged on my arm, as if she didnât like the touch for less than a second in time.
ãMiyagi.ã
A slightly low voice calls me.
We have kissed in exchange. So, even though my lips should have no more use for it, Sendai-sanâs lips are still attached to mine. As it was, her arms were around my back. Her body was almost as attached to me as her lips, so I grabbed her arm and peeled it off.
ãI knew it was a lie. You said earlier that you only tell the truth.ã
I bring up what she said to me when we had the mapo tofu.
Sendai-san ate the mapo tofu I made and said it was delicious. When I told her those words were a lie, she told meãshe was only telling the truth.ã
Sendai-san always does.
She always does things that make me lose faith in her.
ãIâm only telling you the truth.ã
Sendai-san tells lies with impunity.
ãThen watch the rest of the movie.ã
ãKisses, Iâm missing some of them.ã
ãSendai-san, you never said how many times.ã
Sendai-san didnât say how many kisses, and I didnât ask. I knew this would happen, but I accepted the exchange she offered.
Sendai-san should obey me and I donât want to obey her.
Thatâs what I think. And yet, there are times when I move as if I were her puppet in this way.
Itâs as if I want to kiss Sendai-san again and again.
I didnât intend to do so, but it seems as if I do, so I sit up and sit on the floor.
ãâ¦You donât have to watch the movie.ã
ãDoes that mean you want more kisses?ã
Sendai-san utters an answer that she knows is wrong.
ãNo. Iâm going back to my room.ã
If I was at her beck and call for an exchange price, it will be more than just a kiss.
Perhaps Sendai-san wanted to go beyond the kiss and brought up the ridiculous exchange terms. And we have done that kind of thing so many times that Sendai-san is allowed to do that.
ãWhat about the movie?ã
Sendai-san, who had just sat up, blurted out.
ãâ¦ã
Itâs not a long halfway vacation, my close friends are working part-time and Iâm the only one with time on my hands. I am not a person who likes to be alone, but there is a gap in my life that allows me to feel that it might be okay to have such a thing with Sendai-san.
Only I touch Sendai-san, and Sendai-san touches only me.
I feel that with that kind of time, I wouldnât have to think about what Sendai-san is doing at her part-time job.
ââAm I really?
ãMiyagi.ã
I stare at Sendai-san, who naturally sits next to me.
Sendai-san is going to work part-time as a tutor. I am convinced about that, but the face of her student, whom I did not know before, comes to my mind along with the word âpart-time job.â
Itâs uninteresting.
Itâs boring.
Itâs gut-wrenching.
I feel so bad that none of them apply.
I feel so bad that even if Sendai-san was mine, it wouldnât be enough.
ãMiyagi.ã
A soft voice calls out.
But I canât reply.
ãI guess Iâll watch the rest of the movie.ã
With a gentle voice, as if nothing had happened earlier, the tablet on the bed is placed on the table.
ã⦠Iâm not watching it. Iâm going back to my room.ã
ãDonât say that, just watch the rest of the movie. If you prefer not to continue, Iâll play a different movie.ã
ãThatâs not it.ã
ãThen, what is it?ã
Sendai-sanâs hand reaches out and touches my hair. Her fingertips intertwine with mine as if it were nothing, and she tugs lightly on it. I take her hand in mine and stick it to the floor.
ãWhat? Iâd rather touch you than the floor, Miyagi.ã
When she said this, Sendai-san barreled her hand off the floor. Then she tried to touch my hair again, and I slapped her hand.
ãâ¦Sendai-san, do you touch your students?ã
I ask in a voice that is quieter than I expected, and a flat voice responds.
ãDo you think thereâs an element of touching students when Iâm teaching them to learn?ã
ãI donât know, but there might be some.ã
When I was in high school, Sendai-san touched me while I was studying.
I touched Sendai-san, too.
ãNone. I donât need to touch them to teach them to learn.ã
ãAnd what about from the students?ã
ãIs that student KikyÅ-chan?ã
ãAnd the other kid.ã
ãThere is no element of a tutor being touched by a studentâ¦ã
I hear the same voice as when I tell her the menu for dinner, and it breaks off in mid-sentence. The words do not continue in a broken line. I felt uncomfortable and was about to pull a tissue out of the platypusâ tissue cover when Sendai-san started to say something like,ãIs thatâ¦ãand I kicked her leg.
I donât want her to say that I am jealous.
This is a different emotion than jealousy.
I donât want Sendai-san to do to anyone else what she does to me.
Just that, nothing more, nothing less.
I get up, grab the penguin off the bed, take it, and place it next to Sendai-san.
ãThis, my alternative. If thereâs something you want to do, you can do it with the penguin.ã
I go crazy when Iâm with Sendai-san.
I say things that I would never say to Maika and the others, and I think things that Maika and the others would never think.
I know this is because Sendai-san and Maika and the others are classified as different.
Maika and the others are friends.
Sendai-san isââ
Just as Maika and the others are tucked away in the place marked âfriend,â Sendai-san is tucked away in the place marked âroommate.â However, there are times when I donât feel like reading the letters that categorized Sendai-san.
This kind of thing is not good.
The distance between me and Sendai-san is too close now.
It must be a distance of about one penguin.
ãâ¦So this is Miyagi. Well, you two look exactly alike. Itâs pretty much out there.ã
Sendai-san holds the penguin and pats it on the stomach.
ãI donât have that much of a belly.ã
I squeezed Sendai-sanâs leg and then sat down a little farther away from her.
ãReally? Can I check?ã
I didnât say anything good or bad, but Sendai-san closes the distance on her own and pats my stomach.
ãAnnoying.ã
I slap Sendai-sanâs hand as hard as I can.
ãItâs alright, just a little bit.ã
ãItâs not alright. If you want to touch me, touch the penguin.ã
ãDoes that mean I can do whatever I want to Pen-chan?ã
ãâ¦What are you going to do with it?ã
I push Sendai-sanâs shoulder and look at her, and she gives me a meaningful smile.
ãWhatever I want?ã
ãItâs not fair to ask questions like that. You always do that, donât you, Sendai-san?ã
ãI thought I would do what you want you to do, Miyagi. Pen-chan, youâre taking Miyagiâs place, arenât you?ã
ãYouâre going to do something weird, give it back to me.ã
ãI told you I wouldnât do anything weird.ã
Smiling at me, Sendai-san kisses the penguinâs beak and then its belly. When I thought she would stop at that, her lips would stick to its short legs, and I would take the penguin there.
ãI knew you did something weird. Sendai-san, you pervert.ã
She really doesnât do fragile things.
I put the penguin back on the bed and glare at Sendai-san.
ãI donât think itâs as perverted as it looks.ã
ãItâs definitely perverted.ã
ãWell, Miyagi. What about your promise to go see the pervert and the penguins? You havenât decided on a destination yet, but would you say youâre not going?ã
Without reaching out or closing the distance, Sendai-san holds my knees.
ãâ¦Iâm going.ã
ãWhere would it be?ã
ãI decided.ã
ãMiyagi?ã
Sendai-san says and looks at me in surprise.
ãYes. So, Sendai-san, donât make a mess. And Iâll watch the movie, so just be quiet.ã
After reminding Sendai-san that I only do what I donât have to do, I pressed the play button on my tablet.
Announcement:
I will be the reducing the chapters being scheduled from 4 to 2, starting at Chapter 292, and once we reached Chapter 301, I will be reducing the chapters scheduled into 1. Also, I will be updating the older chapters to get them revised because I now have the capabilities to do so.
I will be also translating two new Yuri series which is currently in the drafts. One is game/reincarnation-themed where a girl is reincarnated as a rival lady which is in love on her favorite villainess, and because the heroine is going to a route which leads to the ruin of that villainess, the reincarnated rival lady will do her best to save her. (Edited this one, there might misunderstanding if I didnât do so)
The other one was sports-themed in which the Kendo-playing heroine lost against the strongest female Kendo-player in middle school, but both already quitted the sport at high school, and now the latter offered the former training with the condition of âif the former wins against latter, she will join the Kendo Club.â
Further announcements for these two series will be in Travis Translations Discord Server.