315 Sendai-san Beside Me - Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

Sendai-san Beside Me Chapter 315 There is no proper measure for good and bad things. Just when you think a lot of good things have happened, bad things come all at once. Life sometimes presents a sandwich with good things sandwiched between bad things, or an anpan with bad things stuffed inside a crust of good things. There's nothing that's just delicious. I bite into the toast spread with jam and butter. The bread is the usual. The jam and butter are the same as always. Although it’s the same breakfast, somehow, it tastes different today. Not that it’s bad, but it seems lacking in sweetness and saltiness. Yet across the table, Sendai-san is enjoying the same thing with delight. "…Miyagi, do you want my bread?" Even though I hadn’t called her name, Sendai-san looks at me. "I didn’t say that." "Then what? You’re looking at me because you have something to say, right?" "Is the bread tasty?" "It is. Isn’t yours, Miyagi?" Sendai-san makes a puzzled face. I gaze at her, her expression unchanged. Unlike yesterday, her cheeks aren't flushed. "Just normal." I mutter and take a large bite of the toast. There's hardly any flavor. I wash down the loaded toast with orange juice. The sausages and salad, which also seem to lack flavor, are eaten, leaving the plate empty. The breakfast, which feels like it’s missing something, isn't the fault of the bread, jam, or butter. Of course, the sausages and salad aren’t to blame either. The bad thing is Sendai-san. Because of her strange reaction yesterday, it has stayed in my mind, messing with my taste buds. "If you’re tired of jam and butter, I can get peanut butter or apple jam next time?" Sendai-san suggests in her gentle voice. Her kindness is unchanged from yesterday. The Sendai-san eating breakfast with me is the same one who will be heading to university today as she was last week. "Jam and butter is fine." "Alright then." After saying that, Sendai-san takes a bite out of her remaining toast and spears the last tomato from the salad with a fork. Even so, as if probing for something, she asks me: "…Did you have fun yesterday?" "I already I said I did." "I remember." I'd be troubled if it was forgotten. The aquarium was fun. And that counts as a good thing. But what was bad was that in response to what I did, Sendai-san said, "Let's choose another day." It's like bad things piled on a plate made of good things, poking at me with a prickling pain in my stomach. "Do you want to go to the aquarium again, Miyagi?" "If you don’t take a ridiculous amount of photos, I wouldn’t mind." "But you said I should take photos." Sendai-san replies with dissatisfaction and pops the tomato into her mouth. "I meant not of me, more like the fish and stuff." "But I did take those, so what’s the problem?" Hearing Sendai-san’s words, I think it would have been nice to capture a picture of her with flushed cheeks from yesterday. A Sendai-san like that was rare. Just as it was rare for me too. Yesterday, after returning from the aquarium, I did something. I didn’t directly say I wanted it, but I did something that was obvious in what it implied. Even though it took a lot of courage, I think it’s unfair for Sendai-san, who usually seeks such things, to refuse. I gulp down the rest of the orange juice and stand up. "I’ll do the dishes." Gathering the plates and glasses from the table to take to the sink, Sendai-san comes next to me saying, "I'll help." I wash the dishes, and Sendai-san wipes them. Even though she rejected the "flow" I created yesterday, today, without even asking, Sendai-san is creating a flow, and I can’t reject it. The Sendai-san standing next to me doesn’t blush or put off the dishes for another day. That’s natural, yet it doesn’t sit right with me. If she's going to be an erotic demon, then she should act like one. What happened yesterday isn't fair. Sendai-san should take responsibility for her everyday words and actions. "Miyagi, the plate." She extends her hand to take the cleaned plate from me, saying, "If you daydream, you might drop it." "Don’t worry, I won’t drop it." I’m not daydreaming but deep in thought, so I won’t drop or break a plate. As I rinse the glass under the flowing water, I glance sideways. There’s still something bothering me. The Sendai-san from yesterday belongs only to me, and yet, she doesn’t. The Sendai-san outside isn’t the same as the one at home, nor is she the same as the Sendai-san who rejected my advances. When she’s outside, she doesn’t laze around like she does at home, nor does she make a blatantly displeased face. She always wears a smile and is considerate. Aside from taking too many photos, she’s kinder and more elegant than other university students. I don't dislike that type of Sendai-san, but there’s a sense of distance. Not as artificial as when she was with Ibaraki-san during high school, but there are moments where she seems crafted and not only mine. When she's beside me, she should only be my Sendai-san. I have no need for a fake Sendai-san. "Miyagi, the glass." Sendai-san speaks in a voice she wouldn’t use outside. "I was going to give it to you anyway." "If you don't want to be told, then hurry up. If you dawdle, you'll be late for university." Sendai-san says something she wouldn’t say to anyone else but me. I imagine she wouldn't show this side even to her university friends. But maybe she’d say such a thing to Mio-san. "It's not that time yet." I mutter in response, passing her the glass. Sendai-san said she wouldn’t buy a souvenir for Mio-san at the aquarium, but she would for Ibaraki-san. If she was with her friends, buying souvenirs would naturally be an option. Yet, she chose not to for Mio-san. This suggests there’s no need to accommodate for Mio-san, making Mio-san closer to Sendai-san than Ibaraki-san and the others. It annoys me. But just as I have Maika, Sendai-san having friends she can be herself around is a good thing. I wash the sponge used for the dishes and look over. "Do you and Mio-san ever hang out?" "We do occasionally." "And today?" "You know I have work." "After you finish work, maybe?" "I won't." Sendai-san puts away the dishes, firmly stating while looking at me. "Then, if you didn't have work?" "I still wouldn’t." "Why?" "Because I want to come home early." Hearing the answer I wanted, I feel relieved. I can’t forgive a Sendai-san who prioritizes her friends. Such a person would keep her from being just mine. Yet, it’s not right to take friends away from her. I dislike it. It annoys me. It’s unforgivable, but it’s something I must accept. "What about you, Miyagi? No plans with Utsunomiya today?" "Maika has work." "Ah, I see." In front of the sink, Sendai-san quietly speaks. Even though the dishes are put away, she remains still. "Sendai-san, what about your necklace today?" I point out what's different from yesterday. "If you want me to wear it, I will." "You don't have to." I'd been curious since seeing her in the shared space, but it’s not like I actually want her to wear a necklace. Besides, I hadn’t seen her wear it since becoming a university student, so it's not something to fuss over. Still, I asked her because I didn’t want the conversation to end. I don’t have anything in particular I want to say, but I don’t want Sendai-san to leave the shared space. It's not really a good thing to be thinking about this since morning. However, my emotions are all tangled up, with the fun memories from the aquarium mixed with what happened afterward. "Are you heading to the university right away?" Even though I know she’s not, I ask Sendai-san. "Not yet. I’ve got some leeway today." Sendai-san smiles brightly. I reach out for her. As my fingers touch her cheek, Sendai-san jolts and steps back. I’m not amused. I close the gap she created, leaning in and placing a kiss on her lips. "…What kind of kiss was that?" "Because you’re running away, Sendai-san." "That’s not really a reason, is it?" "…You're acting strange." Normally, Sendai-san doesn’t back off when I get close. "Is that so?" She speaks as if it’s nothing, and I step closer to her. Yet, again, she creates a distance, and we're separated by a step. "Sendai-san, you're running away." "It’s not that I’m running away." "Then why did you move just now?" "Because my reason flies away when I’m with you, Miyagi." With a smile, Sendai-san says something awful. "It's time to head to university now." "Indeed." Her smile is so exaggerated it's almost unnatural. Her timing truly is strange. I stomp hard on Sendai-san's foot.