Chapter 296: Chapter 292: Sendai-san never tells the truth — 292

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

I don’t know if the distance between neighbors is close or far.

However, in the restricted space of a room that isn’t so large, it’s natural that Sendai-san is close enough for us to almost touch each other’s shoulders.

From then on, the tablet kept showing a movie in front of us, which was about as far away as we could get, until the end of the movie, which I don’t know if I wanted to watch or not.

I let out a gasp and hit the surface.

Bashan.

The sound of water echoes in the bathroom, wetting my face.

I close my eyes and shake my head.

Then I let out a small「annoying」sound.

After watching the movie until the end roll, we had a game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would get into the bathtub first. I won, and I was the one about to drown in the bathtub. Sendai-san is in her room.

I opened my eyes and look at the surface of the water, stained blue by the bath salts.

After pressing the play button of the movie, which had been interrupted by the kiss, there was nothing between us because Sendai-san’s reason continued to retain the form of reason and did not seem to disappear. I don’t think that is something to complain about, as I was able to watch the film all the way to the end without incident and in peace.

I didn’t want to do anything to Sendai-san beyond watching the movie, nor did I want her to do anything to me, so I shouldn’t have any complaints about that, but I find it boring.

「…It’s bad enough that the movie wasn’t interesting.」

I couldn’t keep looking at the screen with interest, so I became aware of Sendai-san next to me.

Maybe Sendai-san could have done to me what she did to the Penguin, or I could have done to her.

How the inevitable was almost born from somewhere in me, then erased, then born again, and so on.

Even now, I almost wish I had followed her lead and gone on.

I have a hazy feeling inside me that won’t go away even if I am in the bathroom without Sendai-san. Instead, the haze turned into something heavier than hot water, darker than the blue of the water’s surface, and headed toward the “Sendai-san” inside me. I slapped my cheek as the elusive thought seemed to take on a definite shape.

I wonder what Sendai-san would do in a situation like this.

Such a thought pops into my head and I rush to turn it off.

This is not something to think about.

Because, Sendai-san is alone——

I almost recall a secret of hers I had heard in the past, but I hastily dismiss it.

「Really, it’s frustrating.」

What I need to think about now is not Sendai-san, but the place where the two of us promised to go to see the “penguins” during the holidays. Now that I’ve said I’ll decide, I have to pick a “destination” before the holidays are over.

The aquarium I went to with Sendai-san.

The zoo I went to with Sendai-san.

Penguins were in both places, so I could do either of those. But penguins aren’t that rare, so there are a number of places where I can see them if I look for them. So, other places are fine. If I’m not sure, I can choose by ladder lottery, or you can look for a place that is the closest to here.

To begin with, penguins should be unimportant to Sendai-san, and it should be no different no matter where we go to see them.

Perhaps Sendai-san does not like penguins that much.

It’s not just penguins.

Animals and non-animals alike seem to like it equally and not so much. At the same time, there doesn’t seem to be anything that could be called something I dislike. Maybe it is something that I can call unimportant.

The “likes” and “dislikes” she refers to are like fluffy clouds, easily changing shape and seemingly disappearing.

When I am with Sendai-san, I sometimes feel that I am one of those things that she doesn’t like so much, and that maybe she just doesn’t dislike it.

At such times, it seems as if Sendai-san, who looks at me and touches me as a matter of course, is looking at me and touching me by some mistake.

I don’t mind if her tutoring students are like that, but it is not interesting for me to be like that.

「…It’s all your fault, Sendai-san.」

I slap the blue surface. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

I don’t care how Sendai-san feels right now.

I want to see the penguins during the holidays, and if I’m going to go see them anyway, I’d better do my research before I go.

I leave the bathroom, change into a sweatshirt, and go to the common area. Place a glass on the table, take an orange juice out of the fridge and pour it. I take a sip and look at Sendai-san’s room. The door doesn’t open. I take another sip and exhale.

There is no point in staying here, so I grab my glass and try to go back to my room, but the door that didn’t open earlier opens and Sendai-san comes out into the common space.

「You just got out of the bath?」

A soft voice asks.

「You know it when you see it, right?」

「I know, but let me check.」

As she said this, Sendai-san came up to me and lightly pulled my hair.

「Miyagi, your hair is still wet. Did you dry it properly?」

「Most of it dried out.」

I wiped my hair after getting out of the bath, although it may not have been as “properly” as Sendai-san said. It might be wetter than usual, but I wiped it off, so there should be no problem.

「What do you mean “most of it”? Wipe or dry off more or you’ll catch a cold.」

Sendai-san says it like the nagging parents you see in dramas and manga.

「It’s you who catches cold, Sendai-san, isn’t it? And I don’t.」

Before and after I came to this house, it was Sendai-san who had a cold. I may have been sick, but I never fell asleep.

「Maybe so, but even you might pull it off, Miyagi. I’ll bring you a hair dryer. Stay here.」

「Don’t bother bringing your hair dryer.」

「Okay, I’ll just towel you off.」

「I don’t need the towel as well.」

「I won’t hesitate. Wait for me.」

My words are ignored and Sendai-san disappears. She then quickly returns with a towel.

「Miyagi, sit here.」

She pull out the chair I always sit in, and Sendai-san smiles at me.

「Why?」

I ask her as she stares at me.

「Because it’s hard to wipe your hair.」

「I can at least wipe my hair myself.」

I avert my gaze from Sendai-san.

I don’t want her to touch me now.

The haze I felt in the bathroom has not gone away.

I was trying to fill my head with thoughts of where the penguins were, but that didn’t work out too well. I think if Sendai-san touched me now, the haziness would grow even bigger and I would crush the penguins.

「Do you really want me to wipe your hair that badly?」

I can’t answer the question.

I gulp down my orange juice and pass it to Sendai-san.

「I’ll give you the rest, so give me the towel.」

Sendai-san said nothing.

It was too quiet and I glanced at her and she said,「Okay, here you go,」and a towel was placed on my head. I pick it up and spread it out, it smells good, and I turn my back to Sendai-san. I scrub my hair with the towel she gave me and tell her in a small voice,「It’s tomorrow.」

「What about tomorrow?」

「A day to see the penguins.」

「Isn’t it too sudden?」

「If you don’t want to go, that’s fine.」

「I didn’t say I wouldn’t go. So, have you decided where we’re going?」

When I turned around after being poked in the back, the orange juice was gone from the glass she was holding.

「…I’ll tell you that tomorrow. We’re going out for lunch early, so make sure you get up.」

I don’t want to say that I don’t know where we’re going.

I don’t want to tell her what we’re going to find out.

If I told Sendai-san, she would probably make a lot of noise, and I don’t want her to follow me to my room and say we’ll decide together. If she were next to me, I wouldn’t be able to calmly investigate.

I don’t want to decide where the haziness is going before I decide where I’m going tomorrow.

「Miyagi, you should get up as well. No oversleeping and cancelling appointments!」

「I never oversleep.」

「if that’s the case…」

Sendai-san then handed me the empty glass and added,「I’ll leave the washing to you.」