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Chapter 233
Last day of the year with Sendai-san — 233
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
「Can I call you Shiori? I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time.」
She called me out within a minute of meeting her.
It’s too soon.
I think it’s the shortest record.
I had never been asked before by someone whose name I didn’t even know if I could call them by their name.
Suppressing the urge to run away from the reasonably crowded evening cafĂ©, I look for Sendai-san, who is supposed to be working part-time here, using only my eyes. But I can’t find her.
「Ah, was I being chummy with you? Well then, can I call you Shiori-chan? You can just call me Mio.」
Though the name of the cafĂ© waiter, who introduced herself as「Hazuki’s friend,」was halfway revealed before I could place my order, I wasn’t comfortable with being called Shiori-chan once she knew my first name.
Judging from the words “I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time,” this person was the college friend of Sendai-san’s who introduced the part-time jobs to Sendai-san.
I could say that she’s the one who took away Sendai-san’s winter vacation from me.
No matter how I look at it, getting along with her seems to be a difficult task in itself.
I let out a small breath.
I shouldn’t have come all the way here, alone, on New Year’s Eve.
I can’t help but regret coming to Sendai-san’s part-time job.
I didn’t want to get involved with the waitress who called me Shiori-chan and insisted that I call her Mio, and she would abandon her duty to ask for the order and kept talking to me one-sidedly with questions like,「You’re Hazuki’s friend, right?」 or「You share a room with her?」
「Mio-san, may I place an order?」
I look at the menu, not at Sendai-san’s friend who is looking at me with a friendly smile.
She is a waitress at a cafĂ©, so as long as I place my order, she should go away. I don’t think she would stay here even after hearing my order.
「No, not like that! I told you to call me Mio.」
A bright voice descends and I glance at the troublesome waitress.
「
May I ask your family name?」
「Komatsu. Komatsu Mio, so call me Mio.」
「Komatsu-san. Cheesecake, with tea, please.」
I call her by her family name, which gives me a friendly atmosphere.
I should call her by her first name and force myself to order.
「Ehh. Why don’t you call me Mio?」
Komatsu-san, whose hair color is lighter than Sendai-san’s, says in a bright voice.
I really shouldn’t have come.
If I could rewind time, I would tell the me of an hour ago not to leave my house.
I swallow the sigh that almost comes out and stare at Komatsu-san, whose bob cut suits her well.
It didn’t matter that she wanted to see me, and I didn’t want to see her. I just came to this cafĂ© because it was boring to stay home alone, and I thought it would be nice to go out somewhere once in a while anyway.
But I think I was an idiot to consider that.
This Komatsu Mio person doesn’t look like a bad person, she looks bright and bubbly like blue sky, but she’s not the type of person I am very good at.
「Shiori-chan, try saying “Mio”.」
They say the bad shopkeepers don’t like to give up.
And by the way, beyond friendly, her distance is bugging me.
Why is it that all of Sendai-san’s friends seem to believe that no one hates them?
「Uhh, Mio-san. How did you know my name?」
I will take her opinion and call her by her given name, but avoid calling her by her family name. If I call her Mio even once, she is likely to call me Shiori, and I should deflect the conversation.
I know that she probably knows my name because Sendai-san told her, and she must know my face because she showed her a picture or something, but there is nothing else to talk about.
「Because I heard it from Hazuki.」
The words came back as expected, and I resent Sendai-san.
If Sendai-san had not told me about Komatsu-san—— err, Mio-san in the first place, this would not have happened. No, I didn’t come here because I care about her. It doesn’t matter what Sendai-san said about Mio-san.
「Shiori-chan, you don’t want to call me Mio that much?」
Mio says ruefully.
「We’ve just met.」
「Is that so? Then, just call me Mio-san for now. I’ll call you by your name when we get to know each other better. Oh, but let’s not use honorifics. Let’s not use honorifics, Shiori-chan.」
I don’t want to say I understand, and if I say I understand, she’ll say it’s an honorific.
What should I say then?
Stuck for an answer and searching for Sendai-san with only my eyes, I hear a slightly low voice.
「Hey, hey, don’t bully the customer.」
「Ah, Senpai.」
As if being followed by Mio-san, I looked at the owner of the voice, and the memory of when I came to this café with Maika came back to my mind.
This person was a slightly scary looking customer who was talking with Sendai-san.
She is a regular customer here, and I am pretty sure that she is the senior who introduced Sendai-san to the part-time tutoring job.
What I remembered was not funny, and my brow almost wrinkled. I tug my bangs deceptively and then drink from a pretty glass of water.
「So, Miyagi-chan. Are you living with Sendai-chan?」
Mio-san also abruptly says something that she never said.
Huh.
Strange.
I’m not surprised that this senior knows my name, but I’m not surprised that the inaccurate words came out.
I wonder what Sendai-san is telling this person about our situation.
「Huh? I heard from Hazuki that Shiori-chan is her roommate, but do you live together?」
「Miyagi-chan, how was that?」
I hear a very gentle voice.
But I am scared because she looks at me with narrowed eyes.
「We’re just sharing a room.」
My voice was quieter than I thought it would be, but I corrected the wrong perception.
「Miyagi-chan, I’d like to hear more interesting answers.」
「I don’t know any interesting answers
」
「Senpai. You’re making Shiori-chan feel troubled. Let’s ask something easier to answer. For example, why you share a room with Hazuki, or about Hazuki in high school. Was Hazuki popular in high school, after all?」
My ears twitched at the sound of Mio’s voice and my heart pulsated.
Even in high school.
That means Sendai-san is popular in college as well.
I knew it would be so, but until now I had been able to just imagine it. And yet, Mio-san’s words have confirmed that this is so, and I begin to worry about various things that I have pretended not to see until now.
I wondered what kind of person that person was and how she responded to them.
Things that I didn’t want to think about come up from the back of my mind and I find it hard to breathe, as if the oxygen has become thinner.
I look down at the menu and breathe in and out quietly to drive away the nonsense that occupies most of my thoughts, but the oxygen is still thin and I hold my throat.
Café latte.
Cafe mocha.
Matcha latte.
As my eyes followed the menu in an attempt to distract myself, an interesting voice rang in my ears.
「Mio, the manager wants to see you. Please return to your seat, Noto-senpai.」
I removed my hand from my throat, looks up lazily, and sees Sendai-san standing there with a stranger’s face.
「Hazuki, oops. You got horns.」
When Mio-san was exaggeratedly scared, Sendai-san snapped back,「It’s mot growing.」
「Beautiful waitress, you can at least tolerate the move.」
「I can’t. Senpai, please return to your seat quickly.」
「No choice then. I’ll go back.」
Noto-san, her senior, reluctantly returns to her seat.
「Shiori-chan, you want cheesecake and tea set, right?」
When asked by Mio-san, who seemed to have remembered my order, and I answered「Yes,」and her cheerful voice replied,「Roger!」
「Then, see you.」
I don’t know what it was again, but Mio-san said happily and disappeared into the back of the store. Then, Sendai-san, who was the last one left, stared at me and let out a lower-than-usual voice.
「
Miyagi, you let her called you “Shiori-chan”?」
「I don’t know. She just started saying it on her own. She suddenly wants to call me Shiori, and it’s exhausting.」
「Did you make her call you Shiori?」
「I didn’t make her call me Shiori, so she called me Shiori-chan

 I didn’t say that was okay either.」
「And now?」
「What about now?」
「About the Shiori.」
「I wouldn’t let her call me that. In general, Sendai-san’s friends are——」
I don’t care what I say to Sendai-san, but it’s not good to speak ill of her friends. I know that much, so I swallow the words I am about to say and gulp down a glass of water.
「You can go on and say it.」
「It’s not a big deal, so it’s fine.」
「I want to hear and learn about your impressions of Mio and my Senpai.」
「
They’re too sociable.」
In case she’s wondering, I’ll give her my impression of the two of them in an oblique way.
「Mio is a little too much, but not that crazy.」
「
I don’t think they’re usually like that.」
I think she lives in a different world from Sendai-san, who is always around people and can talk to anyone in a friendly manner. We don’t seem to agree with each other.
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「I wonder. I mean, it’s normal to talk to friends of friends in a friendly way, even if it’s only to varying degrees.」
「Some people in the world aren’t normal like that.」
「Well, maybe that’s true. Oh, right. Miyagi, what did you ask for?」
Sendai-san puts a period on the pointless discussions that have been going on parallel lines and changes the subject.
「Cake.」
「I see. Well, when you’re done eating that, wait here for a minute.」
「Why?」
「I’m finishing early today, so let’s go home together.」
「It’s fine. I’ll go home alone.」
I had heard before I left home that her part-time job would end early, but I didn’t come to the cafĂ© because I wanted to go home with her. Besides, if I stayed here leisurely, I would be asked a lot of questions again, and I don’t think I want to stay long.
「It’s alright. It’s the end of the year. You should go home with me.」
「If those people come again, it’s going to be trouble, and I want to go home first.」
「Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that.」
「Absolutely?」
「Absolutely. I promise you.」
I can hear Sendai-san’s powerful voice, but nothing is absolute. In particular, Mio-san is so close to people that one can only assume that she has no personal space at all, and Noto-san is also very familiar with people. I feel that Sendai-san would easily go beyond the word “absolute” and talk to me.
But today is the end of this year.
I can give Sendai-san a chance.
「
I’ll leave as soon as one of those two arrives.」
「I’ll make sure to stop them.」
Sendai-san chuckled as she said this.