Volume 7 Episode 02
02
Episode
Things I Want to Do to Sendai-san for No Particular Reason
2026
Living together was part of it, of course, but ever since summer break began, she'd spent nearly all her time at home. More than that, I'd been spending a lot of time in her room. During Golden Week we'd often stayed home together, but now we were sharing even more of our days than we had back then.
In other words, ever since summer vacation started, Sendai-san had always been close.
Even now, we were supposed to be playing a game together, but she'd already tossed her controller aside and leaned her shoulder against mine. She'd gone out of her way to bring the game into her room, only to lose interest in it almost immediately. Still, the warmth of our bodies touching gave me a quiet sense of reassurance, and I had no desire to pull away.
"Sendai-san, aren't you going out to hang out with your friends?"
She did more than just work at her tutoring job. Surely there were days she'd meet up with friends too. I hadn't expected her to spend almost every day of summer break at home, yet aside from work, that's exactly what she'd been doing.
"I'm not. Miyagi doesn't have any plans either, right?"
"I've already told you, I don't."
"Neither do I. The only plans I've got are spending time with Miyagi."
Whether she meant it or was only teasing me, I couldn't tell. As she spoke, she leaned in a little closer. The shoulder and arm that had already been touching pressed more firmly against mine, and the place where our skin met gradually grew warm.
"Sendai-san, aren't you hot?"
The room was always cool.
More accurately, the air conditioner was set low enough that it usually felt cold to me. But over the past few days, she'd been keeping the temperature a little higher than usual.
"I'm dressed lightly, so I'm fine."
As she said that, Sendai-san stretched out her long, pale legs.
She had a point.
Unlike me, who was wearing jeans all the way down to my ankles, Sendai-san had on a pair of shorts that looked comfortably cool. I reached out and rested my hand against her bare thigh. The instant my fingers touched her uncovered skin, she gave a small shiver.
"Aren't you cold, Miyagi?"
"This is your room, Sendai-san. We should keep it at the temperature you like."
Up until now, I would've complained that it was too cold or secretly turned the air conditioner up when she wasn't looking. But this was Sendai-san's room, not mine. I should respect what she wanted.
My hand, still resting on the thigh that apparently wasn't bothered by the heat, slowly slid across her smooth skin. I couldn't tell whether the warmth came from my palm or from her body, but her skin felt pleasantly warm beneath my fingers.
"Is this okay?"
Sendai-san murmured softly as she wrapped her hand around the one resting on her thigh. This time, the warmth was unmistakable, and my hand slowly grew warmer in hers.
"What about the rest of the game?"
I glanced at the controller she'd abandoned.
"I wasn't going to win anyway, so I'm done. I give up."
"Then let's do something else."
"Something else? Like what?"
"Sendai-san, you decide."
I tried to pull my hand free, but she simply tightened her grip and drew it back. The moment I looked at her, any complaint I might've made vanished before it could leave my lips.
Her lips met mine.
She kissed me firmly enough that the boundary between us seemed to blur, lingering for a moment before slowly pulling away.
Ever since summer break began, she'd started kissing me as though it were the most natural thing in the world. I had no intention of refusing. I'd even told her she could kiss me whenever she wanted more. Even so, I couldn't help thinking she was getting far too bold.
"That's not what I meant by something else. Why do you always jump straight to kissing?"
"Don't you want me to?"
Sendai-san asked quietly.
"I don't like the way you said that."
"Then should I say that I want to kiss Miyagi?"
"That's not it either."
"Then what am I supposed to say?"
"I mean... why do you always say something weird every single time?"
"Miyagi, you're the one who asked first."
"Even so, that's not what I wanted you to say."
Stretching my legs out the way Sendai-san had, I nudged her ankle with my foot.
"Ow."
She acted as though I'd seriously hurt her, even though I'd barely touched her. In mild protest, I nudged her foot again.
This time, the hand that had been holding mine pulled me closer.
When I looked up at Sendai-san, she leaned in without hesitation and pressed her lips to mine. The kiss lasted only a moment before she pulled away. Even when our eyes met, our lips no longer remained together.
I lightly nudged her leg once more, then slipped my hand free from her grasp.
Being close enough to touch her had become something ordinary. At some point, I'd started thinking that our bodies brushing together was only natural. Even though I still couldn't bring Sendai-san into my own room after summer break had begun, seeing her within my line of sight had become part of my everyday life. Sometimes, I even found myself wishing I could keep her trapped there forever.
It had to be because Sendai-san kept doing things that made me feel this way.
It wasn't because I'd changed.
...At least, that's what I wanted to believe.
The only reason I'd just caught myself wanting to kiss her again was because Sendai-san had made kissing without any particular reason seem perfectly normal. More accurately, she hadn't actually taught me that. But after watching her kiss me as though it were the most natural thing in the world, trying to come up with a reason before kissing someone had begun to feel pointless.
Sendai-san had woven herself too deeply into everything that made me who I was.
So many things inside me, and so many things surrounding me, had come from her. The desire to kiss someone. The comfort of another person's warmth. This house. Our life together as roommates. Even my piercings. None of those things would've existed for me if Sendai-san hadn't been here.
"Miyagi."
She called my name in a gentle voice.
"What?"
"Want to hold hands?"
"No."
The answer came out bluntly.
Without another word, Sendai-san leaned back against the bed.
A space about as wide as a platypus tissue box cover opened between us, and the side of my body she'd been pressed against suddenly felt empty.
I honestly thought Sendai-san could be so unfair.
She'd grab my hand or lean against me whenever I complained, pretending not to hear my objections. Yet at times like this, she'd obediently pull away and stay there, never moving close again.
I really couldn't understand what went on inside her head.
"Sendai-san."
I gave the back of the hand resting on the floor a light slap.
"What?"
"...Never mind."
Ever since Maika found out that Sendai-san was my roommate and came over to visit, my thoughts had become even more occupied with Sendai-san than before.
I'd started thinking about things that didn't deserve this much thought.
Like whether Sendai-san might become closer to Maika and start meeting her on their own.
Or whether she'd grow close to someone I didn't even know, then bring that person into this house.
I kept finding myself worrying about things that were, in the end, completely trivial.
I rested my hand on Sendai-san's thigh.
"Miyagi?"
It was the same thing I'd done on the day our relationship became something that couldn't be described as simply living together as roommates.
The uneasiness that should've melted away the moment I touched her had somehow drifted back again, quietly settling inside me once more.
If I could get to know her better, maybe I could make that anxiety disappear again.
I wanted to know more about Sendai-san.
About the person who kept interfering with my life more than anyone else, who'd become entangled with the very person I was.
"...Your hand."
I spoke so softly it was almost a whisper.
The thoughts in my head would never reach her unless I put them into words.
Even if I couldn't express all of them, I wanted to convey at least a small part of what I was feeling.
Still, I didn't think I was doing a very good job.
And I wasn't sure I could keep trying for much longer.
Even now, my shoulders were tense. My head felt heavy, as though something were pressing down on it, and it hurt just a little.
Things that would've been simple with anyone else became impossibly difficult when the other person was Sendai-san.
Like a game I could never clear, simply telling her what I was thinking felt unbearably hard.
"Is this what you meant?"
Sendai-san took my hand and, without waiting for me to ask, pressed her lips to my cheek.
"Miyagi."
She said my name in a voice that seemed to carry the warmth of her own body. The heat flowing through our joined hands spread across my skin until it felt as though even the blood in my veins had grown warmer.
When I slowly turned to look at her, Sendai-san gave me what had to be the umpteenth kiss of the day.
Her lips lingered only for a moment before pulling away, yet somehow my hand felt even hotter than before. Her fingers traced across the back of my hand with a featherlight touch, almost ticklish, and when I squeezed her hand in return, she answered with several soft, fleeting kisses.
I hadn't been lying when I told her she could kiss me if she wanted more. The problem was that I didn't know where I was supposed to draw the line. Since I hadn't settled on any clear boundary, the part of me that wanted to let her do anything and the part that wanted to stop everything immediately argued endlessly inside my head, filling it with noise.
Lately, the line dividing Sendai-san and me had become little more than a dotted one, and she kept slipping through the gaps. The one breaking apart what had once been a single, unbroken line was almost certainly my own heart, something I probably shouldn't examine too closely. If I could, I'd tie those broken pieces back together and make it whole again.
But I already knew how difficult that would be.
I pressed a hand against Sendai-san's shoulder as she leaned in to keep kissing me.
"That's enough."
The moment I said it clearly, she looked at me and asked, "Don't you want some ice cream?"
"We already finished what we bought yesterday."
"I mean let's go buy some at the convenience store."
She let go of my hand and stood up.
"If you want some, you can go by yourself."
"Come on, let's go together."
Bending down again, Sendai-san caught the hand she'd only just released.
"I'll get sunburned."
"I think a tanned Miyagi would look good too."
"Don't just make things up."
"Want me to put sunscreen on you?"
"No."
"Then let's go."
With that, she grabbed only the small bag with her wallet and headed straight for the front door without bothering to prepare anything else. Before I could even pick up my phone, I'd been swept along with her, and the two of us left the house.
As we went down the stairs, my eyes drifted to the white legs stretching out beneath Sendai-san's shorts. Then we stepped onto the sidewalk beneath sunlight so fierce it felt hot enough to fry an egg.
I found myself wondering whether those pale legs would turn red or brown if they got sunburned.
The heat was oppressive enough that thoughts like that floated into my mind as I watched her walk a few steps ahead of me.
I should've just stayed home after all.
Even though it was nearly evening, the air hadn't cooled in the slightest. The one who wanted ice cream should've gone to buy it herself. Dragging me along wasn't fair.
Apparently, Sendai-san disagreed.
"Miyagi, walk a little faster."
She stopped after getting about three steps ahead and glanced back at me. For someone who hated the heat, she seemed strangely excited about this little trip for ice cream, and her voice carried an unmistakable brightness.
"If I walk faster, it'll just feel hotter."
"If you walk slower, we'll be out here longer. That'll probably make it feel even hotter."
She tugged on my arm and started walking again. I followed as though being pulled along, but I couldn't make myself speed up. As expected, I kept moving at my usual leisurely pace. Deciding I had no intention of matching it, Sendai-san reached over and took my hand.
Before I knew it, we were walking hand in hand.
It reminded me of the day I'd gone to the station to meet Maika when she'd come to visit.
Back then, Maika had said something ridiculous. "When two people living together go out, anything becomes a date." To be precise, what she'd actually said was "two people cohabiting," not "roommates" like Sendai-san and me. Even so, walking hand in hand made it feel as though we were on something that looked suspiciously like a date.
"Sendai-san, I'm walking properly now, so let go of my hand."
It wasn't that Maika's words were bothering me.
They'd simply crossed my mind.
I knew perfectly well that this wasn't a date.
And yet, for some reason, I didn't want us to keep holding hands, so I gave our joined hands a sharp swing.
"It's fine. We don't have to let go."
On the way to the convenience store.
Cicadas sang somewhere nearby, filling the air with the unmistakable sound of summer. Warm, sticky air clung to my skin. The shade cast by the roadside trees was thin and unreliable, offering little shelter from the relentless sunlight, and there was still plenty of time before the sky would begin to glow red.
It was hot.
Our clasped hands were hot.
Our bodies were hot.
I wanted to pull away, so I jerked our joined hands once more.
Even then, I couldn't free my hand.
If anything, her grip tightened.
Just as I was about to complain, Sendai-san suddenly came to a stop.
"Ah, Mike-chan."
"Mike?"
"The calico cat I told you about before. Look, it's coming this way."
I followed her gaze and spotted the same calico cat we'd searched for together but never managed to find. It was the very same cat I'd later seen with Maika.
"So that cat's called Mike?"
"It's a calico, so Mike. That's just what I've decided to call it."
As she said that, Sendai-san released the hand she'd refused to let go of only moments earlier without the slightest hesitation and crouched down at the edge of the sidewalk.
"Mike-chan, come here."
The calico stopped where it was and stared at us for a moment. Then it trotted over to Sendai-san, let out a short "meow," and came to a stop in front of her.
I wasn't reflected in the cat's eyes.
Nor was I reflected in Sendai-san's.
Still crouching, she gently stroked the cat's fur as she smiled.
"It's been a while, hasn't it? You're just as cute as ever."
Purr, purr.
Purr, purr.
The cat answered Sendai-san's voice with a contented rumble.
The calico was far friendlier than it had been when Maika and I found it.
Or maybe it was only this affectionate with Sendai-san. It promptly flopped onto the sidewalk, exposing its belly as though inviting her to rub it.
Sendai-san's hand moved slowly back and forth over the calico's soft fur.
She kept petting it as though I wasn't even there.
The cat looked perfectly content, as if it wanted her to keep stroking it forever. But since Sendai-san was spending the entire summer break with me, the cat probably wouldn't get many chances to see her for a while.
"Hey, how long are you planning to keep petting that cat?"
I had nothing against the cat itself, but being completely ignored didn't sit well with me. Watching her attention drift so easily toward something else unsettled me. The anxiety that had quietly taken root inside me rose to the surface again, drawing my thoughts toward Sendai-san even more strongly than before.
"You should pet it too, Miyagi."
It wasn't the cat I wanted to touch.
But I couldn't bring myself to say that.
Instead, I crouched beside her and reached out a hand. The calico's ears twitched. I hesitated for a moment so I wouldn't scare it away, then carefully reached out to stroke it.
Before my fingers could so much as brush its fur, the cat darted away.
"Sendai-san."
It wasn't her fault, but the words came out sounding like an accusation.
"Maybe it's species aversion?"
"I'm not a cat."
"I've told you before, but I think you look like one. A cat, I mean."
She said it with an easy smile, despite resembling a dog herself. More specifically, a borzoi.
"I don't think I do."
I stood up and tugged on Sendai-san's arm while she was still crouching.
"Come on, let's go already. It's too hot."
"Okay, okay."
Sendai-san, who looked as though she might bark but never did, rose to her feet, and I let go of her arm.
The cat had already disappeared.
With nothing left to steal Sendai-san's attention, the turmoil inside me gradually settled.
My anxiety kept swelling and receding, over and over, and lately I'd been feeling strangely unsteady.
If Sendai-san touched me...
If I touched her...
If we kept repeating that again and again, would this anxiety finally disappear?
"Miyagi, spacing out's dangerous."
She tapped my shoulder, pulling me back to the present.
This time, our hands didn't find each other.
We walked briskly, stirring the stagnant, lukewarm air as we went. Before long, we reached the convenience store, bought enough ice cream to last three days, and headed home. Even though we'd walked much faster than we had on the way there, by the time we were standing in front of the refrigerator, the ice cream, slowly but relentlessly baked by the summer sun, was beaded with moisture and already beginning to soften.
"Sendai-san, I'll put all the ice cream in the freezer."
Without waiting for a reply, I took the ice cream out of the bag and stuffed it into the freezer. But the moment I shut the door, Sendai-san opened it again.
"Why? Let's have one now."
As she spoke, she casually pulled out a soda-flavored ice pop and a strawberry-flavored one.
"They're probably already melting. Wouldn't it be better to freeze them again for a while first?"
"They're not melting that much."
She showed no sign of giving up on the idea and headed back toward her room with the ice pops in hand. Left with no real choice, I followed.
We sat down against the side of the bed, and Sendai-san held out the two ice pops.
"Miyagi, which one do you want?"
"Which one do you like, Sendai-san?"
I still had my complaints about being dragged out into the heat, but I wasn't so petty that I'd take the first pick from the person who'd suggested eating them.
"Either's fine. You choose first, Miyagi."
"Then I'll have the soda one."
The ice pops were already starting to soften, so there wasn't time to keep politely passing the choice back and forth. I took the pale blue ice pop from her, tore open the wrapper with a quick rip, and bit into it.
"See? We should've put them back in the freezer for a while after all."
After my second bite, I grumbled at Sendai-san.
It tasted good.
But the ice pop had already gone a little soft, lacking the firm bite it should've had.
"Well, it's fine. Even if it melts a little."
"No, it's not. It's practically sliding off the stick."
"Then hurry up and eat it."
With that, Sendai-san took a generous bite of her ice pop. There were plenty of things I wanted to say, but I kept them to myself and bit into mine instead. It had been sweltering outside, and eating an ice pop like this made me genuinely glad we'd gone out to buy them. When I glanced over, Sendai-san looked perfectly content, and I found myself watching her a little too closely.
"Miyagi, want a bite?"
I hadn't meant to imply anything, yet she held her strawberry-scented ice pop out in front of me. I looked at the red ice pop, already a third gone, then lifted my eyes to her face.
"Miyagi?"
At the sound of my name, I reached out and caught hold of Sendai-san's arm. But instead of taking a bite of the ice pop, I leaned in and licked her lips.
Sweet.
But that alone wasn't enough to tell what flavor it was. To make sure the ice pop really was strawberry, I licked her lips again.
"Sendai-san, you're cold."
Even then, I still couldn't tell whether it had actually been strawberry-flavored.
"...Well, I am eating ice, after all. But when I offered you a bite, I meant the ice pop, not me."
"Does it really make a difference which one I taste?"
"It does. Besides, you were the one who said the kissing was over, Miyagi. Did you forget?"
"That wasn't a kiss. It was a taste test."
That's right. Since it wasn't a kiss, there was nothing wrong with touching Sendai-san's lips.
And even if it had been a kiss, the rule that "kissing is over" was one Sendai-san had decided on herself. It didn't apply to me.
"In that case, I want to do a taste test too."
"No."
I pressed my half-eaten ice pop against Sendai-san's neck.
"Wha... that's cold!"
She yelped louder than I'd expected and jerked away from me.
The ice pop slipped from her neck, so I bit down gently instead, stopping her from putting any more distance between us.
Her neck, one I'd bitten so many times before, yielded easily beneath my teeth. Careful not to hurt her enough to make her pull away, I softened the pressure and let my tongue brush lightly against her skin.
The air conditioner had left her skin cool beneath my tongue. It carried a sweetness that couldn't possibly belong to human skin alone. Yet the soda flavor I'd meant to leave behind by pressing the ice pop there blended with Sendai-san's own scent and the faint trace of sweat, becoming something entirely different.
"Miyagi."
A light tap on my shoulder made me lift my lips away.
But only for a moment.
I bit her neck again, then slowly traced my tongue along her skin. The sweetness had already faded from Sendai-san's skin, yet I continued to nip at her gently, pressing soft kisses against her neck as I gradually made my way toward her collarbone. This time, she didn't let out the same voice she had that day.
The memory of the first time I'd touched Sendai-san was burned into me. It was so vivid that no matter how badly I wanted to forget it, I couldn't. The sound of her voice, the warmth of her body, the way she'd dampened my fingers, every last detail remained painfully clear.
I wanted to touch Sendai-san again, to see her looking only at me and wanting no one but me. Just as strongly, I wanted her to touch me in return. But that kind of intimacy between us felt like crossing a line, and deep down, I knew it wasn't something we should keep repeating.
“Hey, Miyagi.”
Sendai-san gave my shoulder a firm slap.
In return, I bit her shoulder with about the same force.
The ice pop was melting fast, turning my hand a bright sky blue.
“Miyagi, your ice. It's going to fall.”
I heard her perfectly well, but pretended not to, keeping my teeth lightly sunk into her shoulder. With an exasperated sigh, Sendai-san took the ice pop from my hand and called my name again.
“Miyagi.”
Reluctantly, I lifted my head and looked at her.
“Open your mouth.”
At her quiet command, I obediently parted my lips, and she slipped the ice pop between them. I begrudgingly finished the half-melted treat, swallowed the last of it, then wiped my hands with a tissue.
“They're all sticky.”
It wasn't a wet wipe, so no matter how much I rubbed, the sugary residue clinging to my fingers wouldn't come off completely.
“Well, obviously. And honestly, it's because Miyagi keeps doing weird things that I'm sticky too.”
Having already finished her own ice pop, Sendai-san spoke with weary exasperation.
“I'm a cat, so it's fine if I lick, right?”
“A cat?”
“You were the one talking about species dysphoria or whatever at the convenience store, remember?”
“I was, but why are you doing something like this while we're eating?”
“Things like this don't need a reason, do they? Besides, if I'd left you alone, it looked like Sendai-san was about to do it first, so I beat you to it.”
“You really are an idiot, Miyagi. If you're going to pull something like that, at least do it when we aren't eating ice pops.”
As she said it, Sendai-san pressed her lips against my neck.
Her warm, damp breath brushed across my skin. It tickled. It felt nice.
But the kind of kisses that were still considered acceptable from Sendai-san had already come and gone. If I let things continue from here, I had the feeling it wouldn't end with just a kiss.
So I pushed her away.
“If it's fine for me to lick because Miyagi's a cat, then it should be fine for me too, shouldn't it?”
Spouting completely nonsensical logic, Sendai-san smiled.
“Sendai-san isn't a cat.”
“That's true. But I'm a dog, aren't I? Dogs lick too, so I think it works.”
“You're the idiot, Sendai-san.”
When I threw her own words back at her, she didn't protest.
Instead, she asked, “Miyagi. Are you free the day after tomorrow?”
“I am.”
“Then how about we finally make good on that promise to go somewhere together?”
“That's fine, but where are we going?”
“That's a surprise. You'll find out on the day.”
Her voice was bright with excitement, and she laughed happily.
✧✧✧✧✧
We got off the train.
The day after tomorrow had become today, and ever since we'd left home, all I'd done was walk beside Sendai-san.
The reason was simple.
Even this morning, our destination had remained "a surprise," and even after we'd left the house, it was still "a surprise."
Only Sendai-san knew where we were headed.
Naturally, I'd complained.
I'd asked the unusually cheerful Sendai-san over and over where we were going, and I'd even pointed out that if I didn't know the destination, I couldn't decide what to wear. But she refused to tell me. Instead, she simply handed me a skirt.
“Get changed, then come to my room.”
She'd said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Dressed in clothes she'd chosen for me, wearing the light makeup she'd put on me, I was now keeping our promise to go out together without having had the faintest idea where we were headed.
“Are we still not there yet?”
I asked as we walked side by side.
“Almost.”
“How long is 'almost'?”
“Almost is almost.”
Whether we were actually close or not, I couldn't tell.
Sendai-san, however, continued forward without the slightest hesitation.
She was wearing a cool-toned skirt paired with a blouse.
She looked good in everything, but somehow she looked especially beautiful today.
Maybe it was just my imagination.
Or maybe it was because we were walking somewhere unfamiliar.
Either way, there was something slightly different about her today, and it made me strangely nervous.
Last summer vacation had felt like this too.
Back when we were still in high school, Sendai-san and I had gone to see a movie together.
Even then, dressed in perfectly ordinary clothes, she'd stood out effortlessly.
Her everyday look had somehow seemed impossibly stylish, impossibly beautiful.
“Miyagi, we'll be there once we take this.”
The same Sendai-san, who still drew people's eyes wherever she went, spoke as she stopped in front of an elevator.
“Is the destination an aquarium?”
“Correct. You figured it out fast.”
She answered lightly just as the elevator arrived, and together we stepped into the cramped little car.
“Once we got this far, of course I'd figure it out. There was a sign for the aquarium downstairs. Why keep it a secret?”
Inside the elevator, painted entirely in shades of blue, Sendai-san let out a quiet hum before falling silent.
Instead, the chatter of children filled the space.
Maybe because it was summer vacation, the elevator heading for the aquarium was packed from wall to wall and buzzing with noise, yet Sendai-san said nothing.
A little later, the doors opened, and we stepped out.
“Because I didn't want you saying you wouldn't go.”
As we were swept along with the crowd toward the aquarium entrance, Sendai-san spoke as though the thought had only just occurred to her.
She was beautiful, intelligent, and good at practically everything.
It was hard to believe that someone as fearless as Sendai-san would keep our destination secret simply because she was worried about how I'd respond. After all, she'd casually suggested an overnight trip to a hot spring before.
But the way she'd spoken just now didn't sound like a lie.
She could've simply invited me to the aquarium from the start.
I'd already promised we'd go somewhere together, and I never intended to break that promise. Even if she'd told me outright that we were going to an aquarium, I wouldn't have refused.
“Why an aquarium?”
I asked while we waited in line to buy tickets.
I'd never heard Sendai-san say she liked aquariums.
She'd never mentioned liking fish, either.
Besides, when people talked about places to hang out with friends, aquariums rarely came up.
That was why I couldn't help wondering what had made her choose this place.
In my mind, an aquarium was the sort of place families visited together, or somewhere people stopped during a trip. It was also the kind of place couples went on dates.
No.
Thinking of it as a date was obviously reading too much into things.
I was probably still letting Maika's strange words get to me.
“Miyagi likes animals, after all.”
Just as my thoughts were spiraling over what an aquarium was supposed to be, Sendai-san came out with a completely off-target remark, and I found myself staring at her.
“…An aquarium's for looking at fish.”
Whether I liked animals or not wasn't the issue. The logic she'd used to choose our destination was bizarre.
“Good, we're on the same page. I was worried about what I'd do if you said it was a place to see giraffes.”
“That's not what I meant. Normally, if you're taking someone who likes animals, you'd take them to the zoo.”
“Well, fish are animals too, broadly speaking, so they're basically the same as giraffes. An aquarium should work just fine. Besides, you'd have to walk around outside at the zoo, and it's way too hot for that, right? An aquarium's cooler, so I figured it'd be better.”
She looked at me expectantly, her voice bright as if waiting for me to agree.
“Well… that's true.”
I preferred somewhere cool over somewhere sweltering too, but I still thought Sendai-san was being far too casual lumping fish and giraffes together when she'd picked the aquarium.
“Would you rather have gone to the zoo, Miyagi?”
“The aquarium's fine.”
“Then we'll stick with the aquarium this time. Once the weather cools down, let's go to the zoo.”
She was adding future plans as casually as if they'd already been decided.
“You don't have to.”
“Come on, let's go. You like animals, don't you?”
“Not that much.”
“Then start liking them.”
The line for tickets was packed with so many people it was almost overwhelming.
I wasn't lacking enough in common sense to make a scene or start kicking people just because I didn't like where the conversation was headed, so all I could do was quietly give in.
“…If you're going to insist that much, then I guess I'll go.”
I didn't particularly love animals, but I didn't dislike them either. Spending a day looking at them wouldn't be so bad.
“Then it's settled.”
Somehow, we'd ended up making plans for after summer.
Using the five thousand yen I'd handed her from the money I'd saved, Sendai-san bought our tickets. I had a few complaints about using that money, but she'd insisted on it since this morning and refused to budge, so there wasn't much I could do.
I swallowed the protest rising in my throat and stepped inside.
A world of blue stretched out before us, like the depths of the sea.
There were nearly as many people as there were fish, and the place buzzed with activity, yet something about the calm blue surroundings softened the noise until it hardly bothered me at all.
“Should we just follow the route they recommend?”
When Sendai-san asked, I answered with a quiet, “Yeah,” and we started walking.
We wandered past tanks filled with brilliantly colored fish, watched schools of sardines drift in perfect unison, and lingered before oddly shaped sharks.
The aquarium was crowded with children happily walking beside their mothers and fathers, but I never found myself comparing the scene to my own past.
Looking for fish together with Sendai-san was simply more enjoyable.
Still, one thing kept catching my eye.
The couples strolling hand in hand, or with their arms linked.
Seeing them reminded me once again that aquariums really were places people came for dates.
And because of them, I ended up remembering the day Maika had come over to my apartment, even though I'd rather not have.
I still hadn't heard Sendai-san's answer to the question Maika had asked her that day.
"Sendai-san, isn't there someone you like?"
I stopped in front of a large tank where rays and sharks glided through the water.
“Sendai-san.”
It wasn't something I absolutely had to know.
Even so, I felt like I had the right to ask.
I'd answered Maika's question that day.
Sendai-san hadn't.
“What?”
“…Sendai-san, aren't you ever going to get a boyfriend?”
It was a slightly roundabout way of asking.
Still, considering this was also the kind of place people visited with their boyfriends or girlfriends, it didn't feel like an unnatural topic.
I kept my eyes on a ray gliding gracefully through the water as I spoke.
“I'm not.”
Her answer came without the slightest hesitation.
“Why not?”
“Because it's not something you go out of your way to make happen. You don't 'make' yourself a boyfriend or girlfriend. It just happens naturally when the time's right, doesn't it?”
“That sounds exactly like something a popular person would say.”
“I'm not popular.”
She dismissed my words as casually as ever before asking, “Isn't that yellow fish over there cute?”
“Not really.”
I brushed the question aside and continued.
“You got confessed to back in high school, didn't you?”
“Well, it's not like that's never happened. But if it isn't the person you actually like, then it doesn't really mean anything, does it?”
Still staring into the tank that looked like a fragment of the ocean itself, Sendai-san answered in an unusually serious voice before finally turning toward me.
“What about you, Miyagi? Do you want a boyfriend?”
“I don't.”
“I see.”
Her gaze drifted away from me and returned to the fish swimming beyond the glass.
She hadn't sworn on an earring this time, yet I could tell she hadn't lied when she said she wasn't going to get a boyfriend.
But whether there was someone she liked was still another matter.
That wasn't something I could learn unless I asked outright.
And somehow, this felt like one of the few chances I'd ever get.
I drew a small breath, let it out slowly, and finally voiced the question that had been circling in my head.
“…What about someone you like? You never answered Maika when she asked, did you?”
“Isn't this unusual? Hearing Miyagi talk about something like this.”
“Maybe it is. I don't care. It's unfair that I'm the only one who answered, so tell me.”
“Someone I like, huh… Let's see…”
Her quiet voice faded away almost as soon as it began.
In the deep blue light, our eyes met.
The aquarium should've been filled with chatter, yet everything around us suddenly felt unnaturally still.
Then Sendai-san smiled.
It was far brighter than it should've been.
“...I do.”
“Eh?”
The sound escaped my lips before I could stop it.
Part of me wanted to cover my ears.
I didn't want to hear a name, whether it belonged to someone I knew or someone I'd never met.
I couldn't decide whether I should ask who it was.
I knew staying silent would only make things awkward, yet my voice refused to come.
While I hesitated, unsure what to do, Sendai-san spoke again.
“Mike-chan. She was cute, wasn't she?”
“…That's not a person. That's a cat.”
I couldn't tell whether she was joking or being serious.
Either way, the moment I heard that name, the tightness in my shoulders melted away before I even realized it.
I lightly smacked Sendai-san on the arm as she chuckled to herself.
Mike-chan was the calico cat Sendai-san often ran into on her way home from university, the one she spoiled every chance she got.
That wasn't the kind of favorite I'd wanted to hear about.
“At the moment, cats are the only ones I have feelings like that for.”
With that, Sendai-san added, “Come on, let's keep going.”
Then she started walking ahead.
~~~End~~~