Chapter 277: Time when Sendai-san is not around — 277
Chapter 277: Time when Sendai-san is not around — 277
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
「Where are we going?」
Sendai-san says, placing her chopsticks on a tortoiseshell cat chopstick rest.
I bite into a piece of toast with butter and jam for breakfast, cursing myself from a few days ago. Then, after chewing and swallowing it slowly, I asked without looking at Sendai-san.
「Where, you mean?」
「We are going out today, right?」
A bouncy voice returns questions to questions, but I can’t answer back.
I was out of my mind the other day.
I’m not the kind of person who would turn to Sendai-san and say, “I want to go somewhere with you” on Sunday. It’s just that being home alone all the time has made some part of me go crazy and I’ve said some crazy things. If I could, I would swallow the words of that day like toast and pretend they never happened, but I can’t swallow the words out of my mouth and they won’t disappear into my stomach.
「Is there anywhere you want to go, Miyagi?」
Sendai-san will not allow us to just sit back and let it slide.
「…None.」
I had no choice but to answer shortly and bite into a piece of toast.
If it was Maika, I could name a number of places I would like to go. But with Sendai-san as my partner, I can’t think of any places I want to go.
「Does that mean I get to decide?」
I looked at Sendai-san’s face, who was not angry with me for simpering, and she smiled across the table at me as she ate half a slice of toast with butter and jam and half a salad.
「Wherever you want to go is fine, Sendai-san.」
I throw her the whole schedule for the day.
「Let’s see. What about the zoo or the aquarium?」
「Why would you want to go to a place like that?」
「If we’re going out in the morning, wouldn’t it be nice to be somewhere reasonable? Also, you promised you’d go with me.」
「I didn’t say I’d go in the morning, and I don’t want to go today.」
「Then we don’t have to go to the zoo and aquarium. Can we go out at noon?」
「…I guess, we’re not going anywhere.」
I pull back the right to make the schedule I would have given her and tell her what I want to do.
It doesn’t matter if it’s morning or afternoon. I don’t have a part-time job to monopolize my property, and I won’t be alone here today. So I think I should just stay home.
If I stay here, I can touch my property when I want to.
Besides, as I said myself, I can’t think of a substitute for a zoo or an aquarium, nor can I think of a place that Sendai-san would want to visit.
「Miyagi, you said we’re going away on my decision, so I should take responsibility.」
Sendai-san rejects my suggestion and drinks orange juice.
「There is no place I want to go.」
「Then let’s go out for something to eat. We haven’t had a good meal together lately.」
Apparently, “not going out” is not an option for her. Since she’s not only goes to college but also works part-time, she tries to go outside on her days off when she should be relaxing at home.
She never mentioned where she was going on Sundays until today, but she never gave up on going out. So I give up and ask,「What is it?」
「Hamburger?」
Sendai-san says vaguely and bites a piece of toast.
「Sendai-san, do you want to eat it?」
「I thought you might like to try it, Miyagi.」
「What would you like to eat, Sendai-san?」
She doesn’t tell you what she wants to eat in these situations.
She puts herself on the back burner and puts me first.
I don’t dislike her like that, but I wish she would answer what she likes just sometimes. But Sendai-san always doesn’t tell me what she likes.
「Nhn, pudding, or cheesecake, I guess?」
「Is that what you really want to eat, Sendai-san?」
I remember her saying she liked cheesecake, but she doesn’t seem to want it now.
「Miyagi, you like it, don’t you?」
The answer is exactly what I thought it would be.
She doesn’t speak the words that are in her heart. Even if I ask her, she won’t say the real words, so I can’t learn more about Sendai-san than I already know.
All that is input into my mind is the feel of Sendai-san’s lips, the softness of her chest, and other things that I can tell if I touch her.
「You don’t have to make it something I want to eat.」
I bite into a big mouthful of toast.
I threw the remaining pieces into my mouth, too, and let the taste drop into my stomach, a taste I wouldn’t have known if Sendai-san hadn’t been there.
「It’s you who invited me to go somewhere on Sunday, so I think I’d like something you want to eat, Miyagi.」
The not-so-interesting answer flies out and I shove the salad into my mouth. Chewing the lettuce, I search for the right answer for what we both eat.
Cakes and parfaits fly around in my head and pancakes go round and round.
But none of them ring a bell.
I take another bite of my salad and then tell you the last thing that comes to mind.
「…French toast.」
It is not something I dislike, as Sendai-san went out of her way to buy the ingredients to make it in the past.
「Well, I guess I’ll just have to settle for French toast. And while you’re at it, come with me to get a new manicure.」
「Eh?」
「You’re not busy anyway. Besides, Miyagi, you said, “Wherever you want to go is fine.”」
「That’s true, but…」
「Then at least go shopping with me.」
Sendai-san smiles at me, having decided my schedule on her own.
「It’s not fair to put it out there after the fact.」
「If I told you first, you wouldn’t leave the house, Miyagi.」
There is no mistaking her words.
But if I say,「Absolutely not,」Sendai-san complies. She pretends that she didn’t have plans that were about to be made and spends time with me in this house. I know she is like that, but it is hard to say today.
「…We’ll be back as soon as we get our manicure.」
I’m the one who invited her.
It’s not mature to complain about an incidental shopping trip.
「That’s fine.」
Sendai-san chuckles.
She is in a good mood today.
It’s not often that Sendai-san is in a bad mood, but today she is in such a good mood that it makes me feel bad.
I empty my plate of salad and pour the orange liquid into my stomach. I put my glass on the table and looked across to see Sendai-san emptying his plate as well.
「Miyagi.」
I hear a brighter voice than before, and I have a bad feeling about it. It’s still before we go out, and I don’t think anything that would make her mood even better would be bad for me.
「I’ll go to Miyagi’s room when I’m done cleaning this up.」
「…Why?」
I can predict what is about to happen, but I’m going to ask just in case.
「To pick out clothes and do makeup on you, Miyagi」
「I don’t want to.」
「It’s alright.」
「It’s not alright. We’re just going to eat dinner and do a little shopping, nothing too much.」
Whenever there is something wrong with Sendai-san, she immediately tries to put on makeup or choose clothes. She should leave her dressing up to herself, but she tries to do something for me, too.
It’s a hassle.
But Sendai-san at a time like this will not give up.
It is really troublesome.
Why did I say that we should go out together on Sunday?
「We’re going out, so be a grown-up and get dressed and made up.」
Sure enough, Sendai-san smiles as if she is in a good mood.
I wish the day I said, “I want to go somewhere with you,” had been thrown into the cauldrons of hell to be stewed and melted.
I look at Sendai-san.
She was still in a good mood and was drinking orange juice with a delicious taste.