Chapter 293: Sendai-san never tells the truth — 293
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
When I woke up, a black cat was sleeping next to me, holding a phone.
——To be precise, there was a black cat and a phone lying next to me.
The phone was not a substitute for an alarm. I was not woken up by something, but by nature.
「…What time…」
I mumble a few words, and the words that come out of my mouth hit me squarely on the head, awakening me. The sun’s rays were coming through the cracks in the curtains. That meant morning had arrived, and I jumped out of bed.
I pick up my phone and check the time.
9:12 AM.
I lie down on my bed.
I haven’t overslept.
Today is the day to go see the penguins with Sendai-san.
It’s later than I had planned to ring the alarm, but I didn’t oversleep. We’re going out in the afternoon, so there’s still time.
But there is a possibility that Sendai-san will come to wake me up and complain that I overslept or woke up late because I haven’t had breakfast yet. She has been living a regular life during the holidays.
So I think I should get dressed quickly and go to the common space with the look of having woken up as planned.
But I can’t move my body.
I feel sleepy and sluggish.
Where to go to see the penguins?
I should have been searching on my phone while consulting with the black cat, but it was asleep before I knew it. Perhaps it was not a good idea to get lost, lost, lost too much. There are so many places to see penguins, but it is morning without knowing where to go.
「… I haven’t decided yet.」
The destination remains undecided.
I pull the black cat close and squeezes its belly.
「What should I do?」
I should have left it to Sendai-san from the beginning.
This is what happened because I said I would decide by myself.
It’s not too late.
Just tell Sendai-san,「I still have to decide where to go.」
No, it’s still no good.
If I said such a thing, I would surely get the response,「Miyagi is quick to impose on others.」
Words keep popping into my head, cursing my thoughtlessness. Even so, the place I should go out today doesn’t come to mind, only that I have to decide for myself.
I stick the black cat to my forehead and mutter once again,「What am I going to do?」But the black cat that Sendai-san calls Roro-chan doesn’t give me the power to decide where to go like he does. My head fills up with words that curse me.
I don’t have the strength to pick up my phone.
I roll over and sigh one more time, and then I hear a thump and a knock on the door.
「Miyagi, are you awake?」
Sendai-san’s cheerful voice came from behind the door, and I was about to say,「I’m awake,」when I remembered the black cat. This is the keeper of the bookshelf, not my bed.
I get up and get out of bed and my body fluffs up.
I think it may be due to lack of sleep.
I spent too much time staring at my phone.
「Miyagi, are you asleep?」
I heard Sendai-san’s voice, a little louder than before, and I put the black cat back on the bookshelf before opening the door.
「I’m awake.」
「If you’re awake, fine, but you should at least get dressed.」
As she said this, Sendai-san pulls on my sweatshirt, which I am wearing instead of pajamas.
「I’m about to change now. Sendai-san, you’re so picky every time.」
「If you don’t want me to be loud, get up earlier. Remember our appointment today?」
“I remember,” I replied, and Sendai-san’s hand leaves my sweatshirt.
「What about breakfast? If you plan to eat lunch early and then go out, we can have breakfast and lunch together.」
Sendai-san seems to remember exactly what I said yesterday.
It is already past nine o’clock, and it is too late to have breakfast now if we are going to follow the plan to have lunch early. I think she’s right, I should have breakfast and lunch together. Besides, I’m not very hungry, or rather, I don’t have much of an appetite.
「…That would be fine.」
The impact of not sleeping properly was greater than I had expected, and I answered with regret that I should have left it to Sendai-san to decide where to go today.
「You look really sleepy, are you okay?」
Sendai-san asks in a soft voice.
「I’m alright.」
「Really?」
「Really. You’re persistent.」
「You haven’t heard enough to say I’m still persistent.」
「But still persistent.」
With a snap, I kick Sendai-san’s leg, and her hand is flattened against my cheek.
「I’m not going to kiss you.」
「That’s not it.」
「Then, what?」
I peel off the hand pressed against my cheek, and Sendai-san now puts her hand on my forehead. The cold hand feels so good that it almost relaxes me from my body.
「Do you have a thermometer?」
「No, but why?」
The pleasant hand attached to the forehead peels off on its own.
My fluffy body almost leans toward Sendai-san, and when I grab the doorknob, I find her staring at me with a very serious face.
「I’ll bring it to you. Miyagi, go back to sleep.」
「I’m asking you, why?」
「Because your face is hot.」
「What is it when it’s hot?」
「I say you have a fever.」
「I have none.」
「I’ll ask the thermometer if you have a fever or not. You caught a cold yesterday because you didn’t wipe your hair properly. Go back to bed.」
Sendai-san pushes my body and makes me turn around.
「What about the penguins?」
I ask Sendai-san, who is behind me.
「You can’t go if you’ve got a fever.」
「I have none, so I’m going.」
For the most part, I don’t catch colds like Sendai-san does, and I know my own body best. I’m just a little sluggish today, due to lack of sleep, and I just don’t have much of an appetite.
But Sendai-san doesn’t seem to think so.
「I’ll let the thermometer decide that for me in a moment.」
A presence disappears from behind me. I turn around, but there is no Sendai-san. I had no choice but to go back to bed and lie down, and soon after, the door was tapped twice, and asked,「May I come in?」
「You can.」
The door opens and Sendai-san comes to the side of the bed and hands me a thermometer, saying,「I’ll take your temperature.」
「I don’t want to.」
I lay back down and push her hand back.
「I won’t know if you have a fever unless I measure it.」
「I don’t have it.」
「You know, Miyagi, are you the type of person who gets spoiled when you get a fever?」
Sendai-san says, sounding troubled.
「No.」
「Then, be an adult so I can measure it.」
「I rarely get a fever, I’m fine.」
I can hardly remember ever having to go to bed with a cold.
I’ve never had any major illnesses, and I think I’m stronger than most people.
「If you’re going to go that far, prove it with this that you’re okay.」
A thermometer is offered to me, which I reluctantly accept.
After being told this much, I have no choice but to prove that I have no fever. I turn on the thermometer and measure my fever. The result comes out immediately, and when I try to check the numbers on the thermometer, Sendai-san takes it away from me.
「No penguins today, huh?」
Sendai-san, who was looking at the thermometer, says with a difficult look on her face and pulls the covers back over my body.
「Why?」
「37.9 °C. That’s a fever number by anyone’s standards.」
I was given a thermometer that was taken from me.
It shows evidence that I have a cold, and I begin to feel more sluggish than before.
「…If only Sendai-san can go…」
I turn off the thermometer and place it under the pillow.
「Me? Where will I be going?」
「To see the penguins.」
「I’m not going to go.」
「Why?」
「I have to go with Miyagi because it’s not worth it.」
「Why?」
「It’s boring to watch them alone.」
「You know, it might be fun.」
I blurted out and crawled under the covers.
I wasn’t sure I really wanted to go, but when I realized that I couldn’t go, I felt as if I really wanted to go.
If this is the case, I should never have said I would decide where I was going.
I should have asked Sendai-san to wipe my hair yesterday.
I should never have said I was going to see penguins in the first place.
Only regret fills me and accelerates my weariness.
I feel sluggish, slow-moving, and hot.
Even my breath felt hot, and when I looked up from the futon, Sendai-san, who should have been by the bed, was gone. I wanted to get up, but it was too much trouble and I did not want to get up.
「Sendai-san…」
I called in a small voice, but there was no answer.
Because I didn’t measure the fever honestly.
Because I couldn’t keep my promise to go see the penguins.
I don’t know what was wrong with me, but it seems that Sendai-san was so taken aback by me that she left the room.
I think I deserved it.
But I want someone to be by my side, and I hope that it is Sendai-san.
I don’t know if I think this way because I’m out of shape or if I think this way even if I’m not. I was rarely sick in bed, but I can’t remember what I was thinking about on those few nights when I wasn’t. The only thing I remember is that I was more afraid of one than usual.
My consciousness is sinking into a past I don’t want to remember.
I hate it.
I hate it. I hate it.
I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.
——Knock, knock.
Beyond the thoughts I don’t want to think about, I hear a bright sound.
「Miyagi, I’m coming in.」
I hear a voice helping me and call out「Sendai-san」and she enters with a penguin and a platypus.
「Okay, here you go.」
Saying so, she placed the stuffed animals and tissue covers that Sendai-san had brought around me. Then, she also took the liberty of bringing the black cat and the crocodile and placed them on the futon.
「It’s kind of zoo-like, right?」
Sendai-san said and chuckled.
「Why are you laughing?」
「Miyagi, surrounded by stuffed animals, looking so cute.」
「It’s not cute.」
I grab the black cat and try to throw it to Sendai-san, but before it leaves my hand, she takes it from me and puts it back where it was.
「Go back to sleep.」
「I can’t sleep because of all the clutter around me.」
「Well, let’s have a little chat with me then.」
「I don’t have anything to talk about.」
「I do have, though.」
Sendai-san sits on the edge of the bed. Then she starts talking, even though I didn’t tell her it was okay to talk.
「Maybe you’ve always had a fever and hid it or something?」
It doesn’t look like a good story and I try to throw the penguin, but she still takes it away from me.
「How is it? Miyagi.」
Sendai-san asks with the penguin in her arms.
「I didn’t hide it.」
Sendai-san was not going to give up until I said something, so I had no choice but to answer.
「Really?」
「I never catch a cold.」
Even when I was sick, I did not measure my fever.
If I don’t know I was sick, I won’t get sick. If I don’t know I was sick, I can get by just fine.
「You can rely on me from now on, okay?」
Sendai-san’s hand taps the futon with a plop.
「Rely?」
「If you’re sick, say you’re sick. It’s normal. No more secrets.」
「…It’s not obvious to me.」
「Take it for granted. If we were roommates, you’d at least tell them you weren’t feeling well.」
「…Tell?」
「Yeah, tell me.」
「So you don’t have anything to hide, Sendai-san?」
「I have not.」
Sendai-san smiles when she says something that may or may not be true.
Sometimes I can believe her, and sometimes I cannot. That is because Sendai-san is not only telling me the truth.
Then, today’s Sendai-san is——
My head is foggy and I can’t think.
「Miyagi, why don’t you get some sleep?」
Sendai-san’s hand combs my hair and sticks to my cheek.
Her hands still feel good.
「I can’t sleep.」
「Then we can watch penguins together until you get sleepy.」
「How?」
「Like this…」
Sendai puts the penguin she was carrying on the bed and shows me the tablet she seems to have brought along with the stuffed animals. On the tablet, a video of the penguins is playing.
「The penguins are cute, aren’t they?」
I hear a gentle voice.
I don’t know if today’s Sendai-san is the Sendai-san I can trust.
But it is calming to have Sendai-san nearby at times like these.
So, I am not afraid of being sick today.
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