Sendai-san looks at her newly pierced ears in a hand mirror and says in a good mood.
Although the piercing is on my ear, it feels more comfortable on Sendai-sanâs ear.
ăWhat do you think, Miyagi?ă
Sendai-san puts down the hand mirror and looks at me.
ăThe piercings?ă
ăYes.ă
The piercing on her ears are the same ones I used to wear until a few months ago. Nothing strange since she used the same piercer that I used, and several people who used the same piercer have the same piercing.
So itâs a matter of course that the same earrings I wore in the past are on Sendai-sanâs ears, nothing special. This is just an ordinary looking piercing, though itâs one that holds the promise of next year. And yet, to me, Sendai-sanâs piercings look very beautiful.
ăThe piercings make it look harder to bite.ă
I canât put into words exactly what I think, and I say what was small in the corner instead of what was in the center of my head.
ăYouâre just less likely to bite, but youâll bite anyway, even if theyâre pierced.ă
ăSendai-sanâs ear, are mine, and I donât mind if I bite it.ă
I felt bad about touching her newly opened earring, so I tugged a little above Sendai-sanâs earlobe to release it.
ăThatâs not what I meant when I said Iâd give you my ear. You know what I mean. I mean, thatâs not what I wanted to hear.ă
With a quiet voice, Sendai-san touches my earrings.
Her fingertips caress the tiny flowers and lightly press my earlobe.
I take a small breath as she tells me to answer seriously.
ăâŠThe piercing, it suits you.ă
I answer with an exhaled breath.
My voice wasnât very loud, but Sendai-san seemed to get the message and gave me a soft smile.
ăI see. Iâm glad.ă
The piercings look good on Sendai-san and fit in as if they had been there for a long time. She feels like the real Sendai-san, because she had the air of someone who could have had her ears pierced since she was in high school.
ăIâll give you this as a thank you for the compliment. Another gift.ă
After saying this, Sendai-san produced a small bag, more solid than the one that contained the piercer, and placed it in front of me.
ăWhy do you have two presents?ă
ăMiyagi also gave me two gifts. You listened to me and gave me a chopstick rest the next day. So I will give you two gifts too.ă
Sendai-san smiles and adds,ăOpen it.ă
Looking inside the bag, I saw a small, neatly wrapped box. Gently taking it out, I saw that it was a rectangular box covered with a ribbon and shaped like a gift.
I donât need this.
But I donât think Sendai-san will take my word for it. But I would like to return it as is if possible. Thatâs because I can guess whatâs inside from the shape of the box.
It is an elongated rectangular box.
No stick glue comes out of this.
Nor should dry cell batteries come out of it.
What will come out will be something I donât use very often and am not related to.
ăMiyagi, hurry up and open it.ă
Rushed, I have no choice but to unwrap the ribbon and peel off the wrapping paper. Inside, an expensive-looking lipstick comes out and I sigh.
ăYou donât have to look so disappointed, you know.ă
Sendai-san complains.
ăBecause Iâm not good at this kind of thing.ă
I donât like lipstick because it makes my lips sticky. In the first place, I donât like makeup itself, and Iâm sure Sendai-san knows that.
ăI thought you would say that. But thatâs the kind of thing Miyagi would want to use. Maybe youâll like it even if youâre not good at makeup.ă
Sendai-san, who has done some makeup on me in the past, which I was not keen on, makes me smile.
ăI donât think Iâm going to like it.ă
ăThatâs not true. It smells good. And itâs delicious.ă
ăDoes it smell like strawberries or something like that?ă
I couldnât care less about the lip, but when I tried to remove the cap because of the smell, Sendai-san took it away from me.
ăIâll paint it for you.ă
ăYou donât have to paint it to smell it, Iâll just give it back.ă
ăThat would be boring, wouldnât it?ă
ăItâs fine if itâs boring.ă
ăYou should use it in front of me at least once.ă
ăI donât want to.ă
ăBut Iâm using the chopstick rest that you gave me, Miyagi.ă
Unusually, Sendai-san said in a resentful voice and looked at me sulkily.
On purpose.
Absolutely on purpose.
I just sound resentful because I want her to listen to me, and sheâs pretending to sulk.
ăMiyagi.ă
Today is my birthday and it is wrong for me to concede.
But Sendai-san kept her promise to eat the whole cake with me, and she promised to do so again next year. She also gave me a sign that I had always wanted for her, the piercings.
I sighed loudly and turned my body toward Sendai-san.
ăDonât be such a baby.ă
Sendai-san reminds me and removes the cap of the lipstick. Then, she put her hand on my cheek and pressed the lipstick to my lips.
Itâs not unusual for Sendai-san to be close. Itâs not uncommon for her to be so close that our shoulders touch each other or our lips touch each other.
But today, Sendai-san is too close, and I close my eyes, not knowing where to look.
In the darkness, sticky stuff covers the lips.
I feel a gaze on my lips even though I canât see it.
I donât even have to move my nose to smell the sweet, fruity aroma.
ăYes, itâs done. It turned out so pretty.ă
I hear a voice and open my eyes.
Sendai-san is staring at me, and I involuntarily look away.
ăYou donât have to do that.ă
ăBecause itâs the truth.ă
ăShut up, Sendai-san. Just stay silent.ă
When I slap her thighs, she asks me ifăit smells good.ă
ăIt does.ă
I answer shortly and touch my lips.
The lip sticks to my finger and the sweet smell moves to my finger as well. If you ask me what kind of fruit it smells like, I canât answer clearly, but there is no doubt that it smells good.
ăThey say it tastes good to lick it.ă
I hear her happy voice.
ăWhat does it seem?ă
ăIâve never used it before. I researched so that Miyagi would use it, and I checked the smell at the store, but I havenât checked the taste, so try licking it.ă
When I licked my lips as I was told, the tip of my tongue had a lip and I felt a slight sweetness.
ăâŠDelicious?ă
ăReally?ă
ăYeah.ă
ăThen, let me have a taste.ă
Even though I didnât say she could do it, Sendai-san brought her face closer. When I reflexively closed my eyes, Sendai-sanâs lips touched my sweet-smelling lips, and I felt a soft touch and something moist. Even though itâs just a taste, the wet stuff doesnât lick my lips and tries to get inside me.
When I grabbed Sendai-sanâs arm instead of protesting, our lips parted once. But immediately, her lips pressed against me even harder than the first kiss, and the tip of her tongue entered me. Itâs sweeter than the lipstick and the cake as it tries to entangle my tongue.
The tip of her tongue sticks together and separates.
A small sigh escapes.
Sendai-san, who should be a foreign body, melts into me and feels like a part of my body. I can feel the heat coming in.
Her lips part and the tip of her tongue licks the freshly applied lipstick.
ăThat was delicious.ă
Sendai-san smiled.
ăYou can get the lipstick yourself.ă
ăThatâs true.ă
With a light voice, Sendai-san approached me again and I pushed her shoulder.
ăI did say you can get the lipstick yourself, though.ă
ăIt doesnât go away after a few kisses, so itâs okay. thereâs still a lotă
ăJust because it had a lot doesnât mean you can kiss me that much.ă
ăYouâre really stingy, Miyagi. Itâs okay to have a lotă
ăIâm okay to be stingy. Roughly how many times are you going to kiss me anyway?ă
ăIs the lipstick I gave you enough?ă
Sendai said with a serious face.
Iâm in trouble because she seriously carries out what I can only think of as a joke. I donât hate kissing, but itâs okay to continue this next time.
ăSendai-san, arenât you stupid? Today is done.ă
I pushed Sendai-sanâs body with a jerk.
I expected her to complain about something, but she obediently let go of her body and put her back on her bed. Then she called me as if she remembered,ăOh, right, Miyagi.ă
ăAfter about a month from now, you can bite my earsă
ăDo you mean if the piercing hole was stabilized?ă
ăIâm talking about that.ă
When Sendai-san replied in a quiet voice, she smiled.