Volume 6 Bonus Story

 ✧･ﾟ: * Miyagi Shiori* :･ﾟ✧

Nights are meant for sleeping, yet I could barely sleep at all.

The reason was in the next room, and I didn't want to face Sendai-san, the very person responsible for it. But the morning I'd hoped would never come arrived anyway, which meant that if things stayed this way, I'd inevitably end up seeing her.

What I'd done with Sendai-san yesterday wasn't something roommates were supposed to do. Even now that morning had come, that fact hadn't changed. I was still the person who had done something roommates shouldn't do with Sendai-san.

What was I supposed to do?

I still had no idea what kind of expression I should wear when saying "good morning" to Sendai-san.

I curled into a ball beneath the covers on top of the bed.

The black cat plushie that had come to live with me was lying beside my pillow, but right now I couldn't bring myself to press my lips against its forehead the way I had yesterday. If my lips touched it, I'd probably remember Sendai-san, the one who had given me the black cat. And if I spoke to it, I'd surely imagine her voice answering me.

I didn't want that.

Right now, I didn't want to think about Sendai-san at all.

And yet she was right on the other side of the wall. When the time came, she'd leave her room. On any ordinary morning, the two of us would have breakfast together and chat. If that happened, avoiding her gaze would be impossible, and so would keeping my thoughts from drifting to Sendai-san.

I clutched the comforter tightly and squeezed my eyes shut.

If only it were possible, I wished I could simply melt into the futon like this.

I wanted to erase my own existence until I could face Sendai-san as though nothing had happened.

But that was even more impossible than avoiding her, so I let out a quiet sigh.

There had been times when I'd cursed the sun for bringing morning because of a class I dreaded or an event I didn't want to attend, trivial things like that, but never as much as I did today. Right now, I was unmistakably cursing the sun, my spirits having sunk all the way to the bottom of the earth.

That's how deeply yesterday's events had affected me.

I let out an enormous sigh, so deep it felt as though I might pass out from lack of oxygen, then sat up. When I checked the time on my smartphone, it was just past four o'clock. It wouldn't be long before Sendai-san woke up.

She almost never overslept.

Even if I shut myself away in my room to avoid facing Sendai-san, once it was time to leave for university, she'd probably knock on the door. And if I still refused to come out, she might even let herself into the room. I could lock the door, but an indoor lock could easily be opened from the outside if someone was determined enough. In other words, I'd end up facing her whether I wanted to or not.

After thinking everything through, only one course of action remained.

I had to leave the house before Sendai-san woke up.

That way, I wouldn't have to face her.

I got to my feet and stepped out into the shared living space.

I accidentally switched on the light and instantly regretted it.

Sendai-san might wake up. If she saw me, she'd probably ask what I was doing up at this hour, and that would mean facing her.

I quietly made my way to the bathroom. I quietly brushed my teeth, washed my face, and returned to my room.

After changing my clothes, I stood staring at the closet.

I considered what to do next and hesitated for a moment.

An idea that wasn't particularly good had crossed my mind.

Sendai-san would worry, and I'd be causing trouble for Maika.

I clenched my fists, then slowly relaxed them.

I drew in a breath and let it out.

After tugging at my bangs, I pulled out the large bag I'd tucked away deep inside the closet.

"...I wonder if Maika will say it's okay."

It was the bag I used whenever I stayed over at her house.

Normally, I should've contacted Maika first to make sure, but it was still far too early for that. So I decided I'd ask her in person once I saw her at university and started packing my things.

The physical distance between Sendai-san and me had always been so small.

But now, that closeness felt unbearable.

Being seen by my roommate in a way I'd never shown anyone else, and having her hear a voice I'd never allowed anyone else to hear, that's what it meant. I needed both time and distance to properly sort through those feelings and come to terms with them.

I picked up the black cat plushie sitting on the bed and placed it on the bookshelf.

Our eyes met. I reached out to stroke its head, but my hand stopped halfway.

"I'll be back soon, okay?"

I spoke to the black cat that offered no reply, then quietly left my room with my bag.

I didn't switch on the light in the shared living space.

In the darkness, I walked silently down the hallway, then turned back.

"I'm going to stay at Maika's place for a while."

I whispered the words toward the shared space, then slipped on my shoes at the entrance.

There were plenty of ways to pass the time until lectures began.

"...I'm off."

I said it in an even quieter voice than before and opened the front door.

✧･ﾟ: * Sendai Hazuki * :･ﾟ✧

Miyagi was gone.

Even after I got up and went straight to the shared living space, and even while I was preparing breakfast, Miyagi was nowhere by my side.

Now I stood outside her room, having knocked on the door, yet she still wouldn't come out.

Still, after everything that had happened yesterday, I supposed it couldn't be helped.

I'd expected this. Miyagi wasn't the kind of person who could appear in front of me the very next day after we'd done something that couldn't exactly be called roommate-appropriate, pretending nothing had happened. So this was precisely the reaction I'd anticipated.

I stopped my hand just before knocking again.

There was an order to things, and what we'd done yesterday had clearly ignored that order. So this situation was only natural.

No matter how I looked at it, I was the one at fault.

But at the same time, I couldn't shake the feeling that Miyagi had been the one who set everything in motion.

After all, she'd told me to lick her foot. That single sentence had loosened the screws holding my rationality together. My rationality had never been particularly dependable whenever I was around Miyagi in the first place, and the fact that she kept saying things that loosened those screws... No, that wasn't right.

This wasn't about deciding who was to blame, and we hadn't done anything wrong. We'd simply crossed into something that didn't quite fit beneath the label of "roommates."

That was why I believed we should return to the ordinary life we'd shared before, even if it felt awkward.

I didn't know what kind of expression I should wear when I saw Miyagi either, yet I'd still come to stand outside her door. Even so, I understood that she needed time.

I decided to eat the breakfast I'd prepared on my own and took a seat at the table.

I looked ahead and let out a quiet breath.

With Miyagi, who should always have been there, absent, the view before me felt strangely spacious. Awkward or not, I wanted us to eat together, but after what we'd done yesterday, forcing the issue would've been wrong. She'd probably come out of her room when she was ready, so all I could do was wait.

Quietly murmuring, "Itadakimasu," I took a bite of the toast I'd spread with jam and butter.

Calling it bad would be an exaggeration, but it tasted strangely flat.

I never measured the jam or butter precisely, so the flavor always varied a little from bite to bite, but today's toast tasted completely different from the ones I'd eaten before. The sweetness of the jam and the saltiness of the butter both felt as though they'd disappeared. Even the grilled ham and eggs didn't taste particularly good. Eating itself felt unbelievably meaningless.

Of the breakfast I'd prepared for the two of us, I decided to eat Miyagi's toast as well. Moving my hands and mouth mechanically, I forced the food into my stomach. I put the remaining dishes into the refrigerator, washed up, and returned to my room to get ready. I was worried about Miyagi, but skipping university wasn't an option.

Some time after breakfast, I went back to the shared living space.

Miyagi still wasn't there.

At this rate, it didn't seem like I'd be seeing her face anytime soon. Once again, I found myself standing outside her room.

I drew in a breath, let it out, and knocked on the door three times.

There wasn't the slightest response, so I called out to her.

"Miyagi. Miyagi." I called her name again and again.

The owner of the room never came out.

I'd known from the very beginning.

The room was probably empty.

I finally faced the truth I'd been refusing to acknowledge, the thought I'd kept pushing out of my mind.

She must've left the apartment before I woke up.

I hadn't wanted to confront that possibility, so I'd deliberately avoided looking toward the entrance until now.

Miyagi's shoes were gone.

Even though I'd known, I let out a long breath that seemed to come from the very depths of my body.

"Just as I thought."

Pressing hard against my temples, I returned to the shared living space and sank into a chair.

Why hadn't I woken up earlier?

If I'd gotten up before Miyagi left the apartment, I could've stopped her and we could've eaten breakfast together. She probably hadn't wanted to face me, but once we actually did, I was sure she'd have realized it wasn't nearly as unbearable as she'd imagined.

That was why I regretted it.

I wanted to see Miyagi right now.

I wanted to know what kind of expression she'd worn today, what had been on her mind as she walked out of this house.

Had she thought about me, even a little?

Had she remembered what happened yesterday?

I wanted to know those insignificant things that mattered so much to me.

Even if I asked, Miyagi probably wouldn't tell me.

I let out a heavy sigh and went back to my room.

I picked up my smartphone from the table and sent Miyagi a message: "Good morning. Did you leave the house before me?" But even after ten minutes, just as I'd expected, there was no reply.

I collapsed onto the bed.

My blouse and skirt would probably end up wrinkled, but I couldn't summon the energy or the will to care.

Being in this house without Miyagi made yesterday, when we'd been closer than anyone else on this very bed, feel like a lie. But it hadn't been a lie, and that was precisely why she was gone now.

I pressed my palm against the place where Miyagi's head had rested.

I ran my hand gently over it, then gripped the sheets tightly.

Neither the softness of Miyagi's skin nor the lingering warmth of her body reached me.

All my hand could feel was the smoothness of the fabric.

If only I hadn't hugged Miyagi yesterday and let her go back to her room.

Even though Miyagi and I were nothing more than roommates, I couldn't stop myself from thinking that.

I tensed my entire body and curled into myself.

With a sharp "Ei!", I stretched out all at once and sat upright.

I sent Miyagi another message.

"What time will you be back?"

Even after waiting a little longer, there was still no reply.

If I didn't leave for university soon, I'd miss the lecture.

I tossed my smartphone into my bag and left my room.

Even if I couldn't see Miyagi right now, I'd be able to see her tonight.

What had happened yesterday had been a major turning point for both of us, but it wasn't a reason for her not to come home.

I stopped in front of Miyagi's room.

At least reply to my messages, seriously.

I muttered quietly to myself and left the shared space.