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Chapter 118: Sendai-san and the post-graduation ceremony — 118

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

I take off my coat at the entrance.

I went into the room first and turned on the air conditioner. Sendai-san followed me and unbuttoned the second button from the top of her blouse. But she doesn’t take off her blazer.

I look at Sendai-san’s loosened tie.

She didn’t speak at all in the elevator. We walked the hallways in silence, and she’s still silent. She look as normal and unconcerned as ever, but I was restless because the little things are always different.

Sendai-san sits in her usual place in front of the bed.

「I’ll get you something.」

When I approached her and called out to her, she grabbed my arm.

「You can do that later. Anyway, what’s the story?」

She pulls me by the arm and I have no choice but to sit next to her.

「Did you bring the necklace?」

「I brought it, or rather, I’m wearing it.」

Sendai-san tugs at the collar of her unbuttoned blouse.

The bust is slightly open, revealing a silver chain.

She always complain when I ask her questions without answering them, but not today. The reason why she obediently listens to me even though I haven’t given her 5,000 yen may be because she knows that today is the last day to do so.

「Give me that back.」

「For what purpose?」

「Because the order has expired.」

When I gave Sendai-san the necklace, I ordered her to『wear it at school and at home.』At that time, I would have also told her that the deadline was『until the graduation ceremony.』There is no way that Sendai-san who had kept her promise all this time, would have forgotten only the deadline.

An expired order is something that does not need to be kept.

The necklace was given to her by me, and I think I have the right to retrieve it when I no longer have any use for it.

「Just an inquiry, what happens if I returned it?」

「I’m throwing away the necklace, and that’s the end with Sendai-san.」

「What do you mean, the end?」

Sendai-san asks me what she should have known, as if she had just heard it for the first time.

「I won’t be seeing Sendai-san again.」

「If you go to the same university as Utsunomiya, why can’t I see you anytime?」

「You promised from the beginning that you’d see me until the graduation ceremony. Even if you could see me anytime, I won’t. Give me back the necklace.」

「You’re going to throw it away when I return it, right? Isn’t it a waste?」

It’s not a good way to go.

She knew what I was going to say today, and she promised me until the graduation ceremony. I didn’t go so far as to promise to return the necklace, but it wasn’t something that Sendai-san resisted. It should be better for Sendai-san to throw away things like collars.

「It’s not a waste, so just give it back.」

I hold out my hand as if to urge.

「Really, Miyagi is so stingy.」

When she said this, Sendai-san let out an exaggerated breath.

Then she slowly removes the necklace.

「Here you go.」

The necklace is placed on the table.

I reach for the silver one. But before our hands touched, Sendai-san said,「Before that…」

「I’ve got something I’d like you to see. Just a minute.」

「What do you want me to see?」

「Here.」

Sendai-san pulls something out of her bag and places it next to the necklace, saying, “This is it.”

「…A letter?」

It was a cherry-red envelope, to be exact, that lay on the table, with nothing written on the front. It is not thick and looks light, and I can only assume that the contents are letter paper or something.

「No. Inside, look at it.」

I pick up the envelope, which is easily denied to contain a letter, and turn it over. There was still nothing written on the back, and it was not sealed. The flimsy envelope with no glue or sticker on it is easy to open, and a sheet of flimsy paper comes out from inside.

A piece of paper that is not a letter is not a letter.

It is like a piece of copy paper, folded in quarters.

Once or twice folded, the paper was opened to reveal something I had not expected to find written on it.

「Sendai-san, this thing… what is this?」

What I see on paper is not what I see for the first time.

It was something I had seen several times before, but not something I would see now, in this situation.

「A room layout.」

I hear a calm voice.

「I know that when I see it.」

「Then, it’s fine.」

「It’s not fine. I’m talking about why the room layout is coming up now.」

「It’s the layout of Miyagi’s room, so it wouldn’t make sense to show it to Miyagi.」

I don’t understand the meaning of this.

Sendai-san looks unconcerned, but what she is saying is a mess. There are many things she does that I don’t understand, but these are the actions and words that I don’t understand the most. Thanks to her, I will look again at the paper I took out of the envelope.

There are two rooms.

Apart from that, there is a kitchen, dining room, and bathroom, so there is a reasonable amount of space.

「This is a big place for one person to live.」

I have many things to say, but I will mention one odd thing from the information I got from the paper in front of me.

「It’s big enough for one person to live in, but just right for two, don’t you think?」

「——For two, you say?」

I could predict what Sendai would say next.

But I couldn’t help but listen.

「Miyagi and me. You’re not going to live in a dorm, we’re going to live together. The location will be halfway between our universities, so it might take a while to commute.」

Sendai-san speaks just a little too fast and without interruption.

「It’ll be smaller than my current room, but it’s beautiful,」

「Sendai-san…」

「Ah, I’m supposed to get the key when I move in. I’ll give them to Miyagi later…」

「Sendai-san!」

「I told my parents that I would live with Miyagi. My family doesn’t really care about that kind of thing, so I told them to do whatever they want,」

「Sendai-san!! You didn’t say you were going to move in with me, and I didn’t ask you to find me a room. Generally, when you sign a contract for a room, you need money, right? Who paid for mine?」

I don’t know where to begin with all the questions, but I stop Sendai-san who keeps talking anyway.

I look at the paper with the floor plan on it.

It is hard to believe that Sendai-san went looking for this room alone. She should have gone looking for them with her parents, and they should have signed the contract. But there is no way that Sendai-san’s parents would have paid for me.

「I took it out of the piggy bank.」

Sendai-san says, as if it were a matter of course, and I look at her.

「The piggy bank?」

「The 5,000 yen I got from Miyagi. That, I put it all in a piggy bank.」

「You put it in—— You mean you didn’t use it?」

She was not interested in the money I gave her.

I never counted how much I gave her, and I never asked her how she spent it. I just assumed that it was her freedom to use it however she wanted and that she was using it.

「And I didn’t have to use it. So I gave it to my parents saying I kept it from Miyagi.」

To use the five thousand yen I gave her as compensation for the order for me.

I didn’t think Sendai-san was the kind of person who would do such a thing.

It was crazy that she came to my house and listened to my orders for 5,000 yen that she would not use. That’s insane.

「Sendai-san, you’re so smart, but so stupid.」

I fold the paper with the floor plan in quarters and place it on my desk.

「I’ll just be an idiot and choose which way you want to go.」

「What do you mean by choosing?」

I know I don’t really have to ask, but I do.

「Choose whichever you like, the pendant or the envelope. I will follow whichever Miyagi chooses. If Miyagi chooses the pendant, I will not see Miyagi again. Even if I see you, I won’t talk to you. It’s the last day we see each other.」

「What if I choose the envelope?」

「Miyagi will live with me.」

Sendai-san will never be chosen.

She always prepares a choice and makes me choose.

And when she prepares a choice, my answer is also decided. Sendai-san makes me choose it, regardless of my will.

It is the same today.

Sendai-san is trying to make me choose the envelope.

But if I had to choose, it would be the necklace.

We both prefer it that way.

Sendai-san should not be bound by my existence, and I should forget about her and adjust to my new life. To this day, it’s only a small mistake, and when I grow up, I’ll look back and wonder why I did such a stupid thing. It’s not the kind of relationship that drags on into college.

「Can I ask you something?」

I ask Sendai-san before I utter my answer.

「Sure.」

「The room, why did you decide to come here on your own?」

Sendai-san’s strange behavior is complicating the conversation.

In truth, it was a simple matter of not meeting after today.

「What do you mean why? I knew that if I didn’t do this, Miyagi would never see me again. Also, I called you. Miyagi didn’t answer though.」

After going to the movies, there were several contacts.

Some of these were during the period when Sendai-san said she was going to look for a room. I ignored it because it was something about what she was doing or answering the phone, but if I had known she was going to look for a room to live with me, I definitely would have responded and stopped Sendai-san.

「I told you I would move into a dorm.」

I complain to Sendai-san without mentioning that I ignored her contact.

「I know you don’t like places like dorms.」

「…I’m not good at it, but I can handle it.」

The moment when the environment changes is one of closure, and now is the time to detach Sendai-san.

「I think you’d be better off living with me than being forced to live in a dormitory. Instead of living with someone else, you should just do it with me.」

There is nothing good about staying with Sendai-san for the next four years. Sendai-san will adjust quickly to her new life, and once the university starts, she will be with me and my affairs will take a back seat.

If we are not together, even the mark on me will fade at some point.

Once I start my new life in the dormitory, I can’t think only about Sendai-san. Even if it’s not possible right now, or even if it takes time, I should make an effort to adjust to life without Sendai-san.

Absolutely, I should choose to do so.

But still.

Still, I can’t help but ask.

「The envelope… If I don’t choose it, what will you do, Sendai-san?」

I look at the cherry-red envelope.

I look at the spring-colored envelope, which is as beautiful as real cherry blossoms, and I think it looks like Sendai-san.

「I’ll find someone to live with, don’t worry about it. If I go to college, I can at least find someone who wants to share a room with me.」

Sendai-san says softly as petals flutter in the wind.

Her voice, devoid of any trace of seriousness, makes my heart shudder.

Sendai-san will live with someone I don’t know.

She’ll live in a place I don’t know, with people I don’t know, and without knowing all of that, I will never see Sendai-san again.

I am the one who finds such things unforgivable.

I grab the back of my left hand with my right hand.

I clench my fingernails.

It has nothing to do with who Sendai-san lives with, and I have no right to interfere.

I know that.

But, it’s unforgivable.

I don’t like it.

I put my right hand on it.

It hurts.

It hurts all the way to my chest and I can’t breathe well.

I wonder what Sendai-san looks like now.

I want to know, but I can’t look up.

「That’s too uncertain.」

I manage to speak up.

But I can’t say, “I don’t like the idea of Sendai-san living with someone I don’t know.”

「Even Miyagi is being uncertain. If you can’t get a dormitory, you’ll think about it then, won’t you?」

I don’t want to be in a dormitory.

I don’t think I could live with strangers.

But I can’t find a reason to live with Sendai-san.

We are not friends, we cannot be anything other than former classmates.

「If I choose the envelope——」

What should I do?

I’ve heard the answer, but I can’t process it properly in my head and want to ask it again and again.

I breathe in and out quietly.

Then I raise my gaze, which I could not remove from the envelope.

「Sendai-san, are you going to live with me, who is not your friend or anything?」

「Miyagi, don’t you know? You don’t have to be friends to be roommates.」

After saying this, Sendai-san puts the four folded pieces of paper on my desk into an envelope.

「What about Maika? What am I supposed to tell Maika?」

「That’s for Miyagi to decide. So, which do you want, the envelope or the pendant?」

The envelope and the pendant, one of two things.

If I choose one, Sendai-san will accept it.

What should I do, what am I going to do, how can I do this?

How can I avoid regretting it?

「Miyagi, decide now.」

Sendai-san says, as if in a hurry.

I pick up the necklace from the table.

Sendai-san lets out a small breath.

「Turn around.」

I told Sendai-san, who was staring at me, and she silently turned around. I remove the clasp from the necklace and place it around Sendai-san’s neck.

The silver chain fits where it should be and is hidden in her hair.

It’s not that I want to be her roommate.

But it doesn’t seem so bad that we, who are neither friends nor anything else, become something different from what we are now.

I talk to Sendai-san’s back.

「——It’s only for four years. I’d be your roommate for four years only.」

I went to the trouble of freeing Sendai-san, but this is what happens when she goes to the trouble of preparing an envelope.

Sendai-san is really an idiot.

I picked up a lock of her long hair and tugged it lightly.

「Miyagi.」

When I remove my hand from her hair, Sendai-san tries to turn around, so I hold her head and make her face forward so she doesn’t look at me.

「Does that mean you pick the envelope?」

「If I have to pick out the necklace, I will.」

When I said this in as normal a voice as possible, Sendai-san grabbed my hand that was holding my head.

「Miyagi. If you’re going to separate the two years into four years, do your best not to stay.」

「You really have a lot to say, don’t you, Sendai-san?」

I think there is more to say at times like this.

I don’t know what it is, but I am sure that it is inappropriate to say “don’t stay in school.”

「Let go of my hand.」

Sendai-san said so and grasped my hand, which was still in her grasp, once tightly and then released it. I have no choice but to follow her words and let go of her hand, and Sendai-san turns to me. And, as a matter of course, she holds my hand.

「Can I call you Shiori from now on?」

「You can’t.」

「Miyagi’s stingy.」

「Shut up, Sendai-san.」

Sendai-san chuckles with a giggle.

Really, Sendai-san only says what I don’t want to hear.

But for about four years.

I would be willing to spend that much time with such Sendai-san.

I held back her hand, which remained connected and did not move away.