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Chapter 175
What I want to do to Sendai-san for no reason — 175
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
We get on the train, and get off afterwards.
Now I just walk next to Sendai-san.
This is because even on the morning of this day, the destination of the excursion remains a “fun” destination, and the “fun” continues even after we leave home.
Only Sendai-san knows where we are going.
Of course, I complained.
I asked Sendai-san, who had been in a good mood all morning, where we are going and told her I couldn’t choose what to wear if I didn’t know where I was going, but she didn’t tell me where we are going and handed me a skirt.
「Come to my room after you change.」
I was dressed by her, who said as a matter of course, and even thinly made up, and she was fulfilling our promise to go out together in the morning without revealing where our destination is.
「We haven’t arrived yet?」
When I asked Sendai-san, who was walking next to me, she replied,「We’ll be there soon.」
「How soon it would be?」
「That soon will be soon.」
I don’t know if it is really soon, but Sendai-san walks without hesitation.
She is wearing a camisole with a blouse and a cool colored skirt. Sendai-san looks good in any outfit, but she looks more beautiful than usual today. It could be just my imagination, or it could be because I am walking in a different place than usual.
Either way, it looks a little different than usual and somehow makes me a little nervous.
「Miyagi, we’ll get there after riding this.」
Sendai-san says in front of an elevator.
「Is the destination an aquarium?」
「Correct. I’m glad you figured it out.」
With Sendai-san’s light voice, the elevator comes and we get into the little box.
「I could tell when we got here. The signboard said it was an aquarium. Why did you keep it a secret?」
In the blue-painted elevator, Sendai-san growls a small「Nhn—」and falls silent. Instead of her not speaking, a child’s voice echoes. Perhaps because of the summer vacation, the box heading to the aquarium was crowded to the limit with people, and it was noisy in its own way, but Sendai-san remained silent. After a while the elevator stops and we step outside.
「Because I don’t want you to say you’re not going.」
As we were walking through the aquarium entrance, swept away by the waves of people, Sendai-san reminded me.
She’s good looking, smart, and can handle anything with ease.
I can only think it’s a lie that Sendai-san, who seems to have nothing to be afraid of, is so concerned about my reply that she can’t tell me this destination. But it didn’t sound like she was lying.
She could have at least invited me to the aquarium like a normal person.
I had no intention of breaking my promise to go out, so I didn’t refuse to go to the aquarium when I said I was going.
「Why the aquarium?」
I ask while standing in line to buy tickets.
I have never heard Sendai-san say that she likes aquariums or that she likes fish. I think that aquariums are rarely mentioned when people talk about going somewhere with friends to have fun in the first place. So I am curious as to why she chose an aquarium as our destination.
In my mind, this is the kind of place you would go with your family or on a vacation, or, if I had to name one more place, on a date.
No, a date is obviously something I’m thinking too much about, and I think I’m being overly conscious of it because of the strange things Maika has said to me.
「Because I love animals, Miyagi.」
Just as my head is about to fill up with Maika’s words, Sendai-san starts to ramble incoherently and I find myself staring at her.
「
An aquarium is a place to look at fish, though.」
Whether she was an animal lover or not, she have a strange choice of destinations.
「Good, we’re of the same opinion. I was afraid what I would do if someone said it was the place to see giraffes.」
「That’s not what I’m talking about. Normally, if you’re taking someone who likes animals, it’s the zoo.」
「Broadly speaking, fish are animals, so they are similar to giraffes, and there’s nothing wrong with aquariums. In general, zoos are hot because of all the walking around outside. Don’t you think the aquarium is cooler?」
Sendai-san said in a cheerful voice and looked at me as if seeking my agreement.
「Yes.」
I too would rather be in a cool place than in a hot place, but I think Sendai-san’s categorization is too broad, as if fish and giraffes are the same thing and aquariums are chosen as such.
「Was it better if we’re at the zoo, Miyagi?」
「The aquarium is fine.」
「Then we’ll go to the aquarium this time. When it cools down, we’ll go to the zoo.」
My schedule is about to fill up on its own, and I respond immediately.
「We don’t have to go there.」
「It’s alright. Let’s go there. You like animals, right?」
「I don’t like them that much.」
「You’re going to love it.」
The line to buy tickets is swarming and crowded. I don’t have enough common sense to make a fuss about not liking this place or kicking people, so I have to be mature and accept Sendai-san’s words.
「
I don’t mind going if you insist that far.」
I don’t particularly like animals, but I don’t dislike them, so it’s okay to have a day to go see them.
「Well, then, that’s that.」
We somehow made a promise after the summer was over, and Sendai-san bought the ticket with the money she saved from the 5,000 yen I gave her. I wasn’t happy about spending that money, but I had no choice because Sendai said she would spend it and wouldn’t give it up that morning.
Still, I swallowed the complaint that was about to come out of my throat and entered the museum, where I found a blue space as if I was at the bottom of a deep ocean. It was crowded and buzzing with as many people as fish, but I didn’t mind the sound of people so much because I was surrounded by the quiet blue.
「Can we just follow the route?」
Sendai-san’s voice answered,「Okay,」and we walked on.
We pass by a tank full of brightly colored fish, a school of sardines, and an oddly shaped shark. There are many people in the museum and I see children walking happily with their mothers and fathers, but I don’t think to compare them with my own past. It is more fun to look for fish with Mr. Sendai.
However, there are some things I am curious about.
It was people walking around holding hands and holding each other’s arms, and I knew that the aquarium was also the kind of place where people go on dates. And seeing those people reminds me of the day Maika came to visit.
I have yet to hear the answer to the question Maika asked at that time,「Is there anyone you like, Sendai-san?」
I stop in front of an aquarium where large stingrays and sharks are swimming.
「
Sendai-san, don’t you ever have a boyfriend?」
It’s a bit far-fetched, but I feel it’s not unnatural to talk about it here, where people come with their boyfriends ans girlfriends, so I ask as I watch the stingrays swim through the air.
「I don’t have one, nor I would bother to make one.」
Sendai-san says without hesitation.
「Why?」
「A lover is not something you make, but something that comes naturally when the time is right.」
「I think that’s the idea of someone who is popular, that you can have one naturally.」
「I’m not popular.」
When she simply denied what I said, Sendai-san asked,「Isn’t that yellow fish cute?」I denied her and continued with my words,「Not really, it’s not cute.」
「You were told in high school, right?」
「Well, it’s not that it doesn’t happen. What’s the point if you’re not popular with the people you like?」
Sendai-san, who was staring at an aquarium that looked like it was cut out of a piece of the ocean, said in a very serious voice and then looked at me.
「What about Miyagi? Do you want a boyfriend?」
「I don’t want one.」
「I see.」
Sendai-san’s eyes turn from me to the fish in the tank.
Even without being sworn by my earring, I know that Sendai-san is not lying when she said that she will never have a boyfriend. But I don’t know if she like someone or not.
This is something that I will never know the answer to unless I put it into words, and I think the only chance I have to ask is now.
I take a small breath in, let it out slowly, and then voice out what I wanted to hear in my head.
「
What about someone you like? Sendai-san, when Maika asked you, you didn’t answer.」
「Isn’t this unusual? For you talk about this kind of thing, Miyagi.」
「It’s not that unusual. Answer me.」
「People who I like, right. Let’s see
」
A quiet voice is heard and is quickly interrupted.
In the deep blue, Sendai-san made an unnaturally bright smile and looked at me.
「——I have one.」
「Eh?」
I couldn’t help but speak up and want to cover my ears.
I don’t want to hear names I know or don’t know, and I’m not sure if I should ask who they are. I know that it would be unnatural for me to remain silent, but I can’t speak up.
While I was thinking about what to do, Sendai-san started to speak.
「Mike-chan. Wasn’t she adorable?」
「
That, That’s not a person, it’s a cat.」
I don’t know if she was serious or joking, but the name I heard made my shoulders relax, and I slapped Sendai-san’s arm, who was giggling.
Mike-chan is a tortoiseshell cat that Sendai-san often meets on her way home from college, and she adores that animal. I didn’t want her to talk about her favorite cat.
「Because right now, the only ones like that are cats.」
Then Sendai-san added,「Let’s move forward,」and started walking away.