Archive of Our Own

It was Sunday night, and I had just gotten out of the shower.

I was sitting on the floor with a towel around my shoulders, drying my hair slowly with one hand and holding my phone with the other.

The new episode of my favorite detective anime had come out that evening, and I didn’t want to miss a single thing. My favorite voice actress plays the lead detective, and I’d been waiting all week to hear her.

Halfway through the episode, I heard a loud sound from outside.

It was a dull boom, far away, but it was loud enough that I heard it clearly over the episode.

I paused it and set my phone down on the low table, then sat very still with the towel in my hand.

I was worried about what it could be. In the episode, the detective had just walked down a dark alley to check on a strange noise, and it hadn’t ended well.

My imagination was running wild, so I was too scared to go outside and find out.

So I went to the window instead and pulled the curtain aside just enough to look out.

The street looked the same as always, with its single streetlight and a few bicycles parked along the wall. A man was walking his dog at the corner.

He didn’t look worried at all. Nobody had come out of their homes to look, and I couldn’t see anything out of place, so I decided everything was probably fine.

I let the curtain fall, sat back down, picked up my phone, and pressed play.

A few hours later, I had forgotten about it.

It was already late. I had changed into my pajamas and plugged in my phone to charge, and I was sitting on my bed, reaching for the remote to turn off the light, when the intercom rang.

I froze with the remote in my hand. After that sound earlier, a visitor this late at night was the last thing I wanted.

I went to the panel by the door. On the small screen was the landlord, wearing a coat over her house clothes and holding a stack of envelopes. She looked tired.

I pressed the button. “Yes?”

“Good evening, Utsunomiya-san. It’s the landlord. I’m sorry to bother you so late.”

“Good evening. Is something wrong?”

“There’s something I need to tell you. Could you come to the door for a moment?”

“Just a minute.”

I took my coat from the hook and buttoned it all the way up so she wouldn’t see my pajamas, and then I opened the door.

“I’m sorry for coming so late,” she said, and bowed. “I wanted to tell everyone in person.”

She glanced down the hallway, then back at me. “Did you hear a loud noise earlier tonight?”

“I did. I checked the window, but I couldn’t see anything.”

“It was a water main. It burst two blocks from here.” She sighed. “It’s the same line that supplies our building, so the water’s been shut off until they repair it.”

Oh. So that was the sound I heard earlier.

“So we don’t have water right now?”

“I’m afraid not. The repair company says one week. Maybe a little less.”

One week without a shower, a toilet, or a sink.

At least I had showered before it happened.

I hadn’t even noticed the water was gone. I hadn’t touched a faucet since.

“I’m very sorry,” she said again. She took an envelope from the stack and held it out. “It isn’t much, but please accept this.”

Inside was a coupon for one free coffee at the café by the station.

Then she handed me a flyer for a business hotel near the station.

“They’re reasonable,” she said. “I’m recommending it to everyone in the building.”

I looked at the price per night and did the math twice. It might be reasonable for someone on a business trip.

For a college student who had already paid this month’s rent, one night cost what I spend on groceries in a week.

I thanked her anyway. She bowed once more and moved on to the next door.

I closed the door and looked at what she’d given me: a free coffee, and a flyer for a hotel I couldn’t pay for. The coffee wouldn’t cover even a small part of one night.

I put the coupon in my wallet and set the flyer down on the low table.

Then I took off my coat and hung it back on the hook. I trudged back to my bed and sat down on the edge.

The flyer was still there. I looked away, then back again.

In the end, I picked it up and checked the price again, as if it might have changed while I wasn’t looking.

It hadn’t. And one night was only the start. If the repair really took a week, I would need seven.

I folded the flyer and put it in my bag, so I wouldn’t have to keep looking at it. But I still didn’t know where I was going to stay.

The first person I thought of was Shiori.

I picked up my phone from the charger. It was 10:30 PM.

I opened her name and looked at it for a while without pressing anything.

It was late to call, and I didn’t want to bother her. I also didn’t know how to ask for something this big over the phone.

But Shiori usually stays up, and there have been nights when we talked even later than this. If I waited until morning, I would only lie awake thinking about it.

Besides, Shiori had stayed at my place once, last year. Asking her for the same favor didn’t feel so strange.

I put the phone down on the bed, then picked it up again. In the end, I pressed the call button before I could change my mind.

It rang six times, then seven, then eight, and nobody answered.

I ended the call and stared at the screen. Maybe she was in the bath. Maybe she was already asleep. Or maybe she saw my name and decided it could wait until morning.

No, Shiori wasn’t like that, so I stopped thinking about it.

I typed a message instead, rewriting it twice before I finally sent it.

[Sorry for calling so late. I have a favor to ask. Can we talk?]

I waited a while, but no reply came. She was probably asleep already.

I turned off the light and went to sleep too.

——— · · ⸙   ⸙   ⸙ · · ———

The next morning, the light coming through the gap in my curtains woke me a few minutes before my alarm went off.

The first thing I did was check my phone. There was a reply from Shiori.

[what is it?] 

She had sent it at 11:04 PM, more than thirty minutes after I called.

I typed back before I got up.

[I’ll tell you in class.]

Getting ready without water was a hassle. I washed my face over the sink with a bottle of water from the fridge, pouring a little into my hand at a time.

I brushed my teeth the same way. It took twice as long as usual, and I still didn’t feel clean when I finished.

——— · · ⸙ · · ———

Shiori was already in her usual seat by the window when I got to the lecture hall, scrolling through her phone with her bangs half over her eyes.

I sat down next to her.

“Morning.”

“Morning.” She glanced up from her phone, then looked at me a little longer. “You look tired.”

“It was a long night,” I said. Then I remembered the call. “Sorry for calling so late. Did I wake you up?”

“It’s fine. I was… awake.”

She said it to the desk instead of to me. Her eyes slid toward the window, and her cheeks turned a little pink.

She pulled her bangs down over her face as if she didn’t want me to see, so I didn’t say anything about it.

That was when I noticed she was wearing a turtleneck. Shiori rarely wore one, and it was still out of season for it.

Then again, she had always gotten cold easily.

After a moment, she looked back at me.

“What happened?” she asked. “You said you needed a favor.”

So I told her that a water main had burst near my apartment, and that I wouldn’t have water for a week.

Then I took out the hotel flyer the landlord gave me and put it on the desk between us.

She frowned at the price. “That’s not cheap.”

“No, it isn’t.” I sighed.

Shiori looked at the flyer again, like it had personally offended her.

A place to stay was the favor I wanted to ask. But now that she was right in front of me, I couldn’t get the words out.

I’ve known her since the first year of high school. Shiori doesn’t like people in her space, but I’m one of the few she lets in. If I asked, I was almost sure she would say yes.

It wasn’t Shiori I was worried about. It isn’t only Shiori’s place anymore.

Sendai-san had always been kind to me. We were friends now, and she had even helped me pick out clothes when I asked for her advice.

But that was different. Having me in their apartment for a whole week was a much bigger favor, and I wasn’t sure if that would be pushing it.

So I looked down at the flyer too.

Shiori’s eyes went to her phone, then to the flyer, and then back to me. It was a hesitant look, small enough that I would have missed it if I didn’t know her so well.

“Where are you going to stay, Maika?” she asked, her voice softer than usual.

“I don’t know yet.” I tried to smile, but it came out small.

She was quiet for a second.

“You can stay at my place.”

I blinked. “Are you sure?”

“It’s fine with me. I just have to let Sendai-san know.”

“What if she doesn’t want me there?” I asked. “I really don’t want to get in the way of you two.”

“You’re not in the way. I’ll convince her.”

“And if she still says no?”

“Then I’ll convince her anyway.” She picked up her phone. “Wait a second, okay?”

She typed something quickly, then put the phone face down on the desk.

The professor walked in and started the lecture. I tried to take notes, but mostly I thought about how many nights at that hotel I could afford before I would have to start skipping meals.

Twenty minutes later, the phone buzzed against the desk.

Shiori turned it over and read the message. Her mouth pressed into a thin line, and I couldn’t tell if she was annoyed or embarrassed.

Then she tore a corner off her notebook, wrote on it, and slid it toward me.

[She said it’s okay.]

I felt relieved, more than I expected to.

I wrote [thank you] under her message and slid it back. She folded the paper in half without looking at me and put it in her pencil case.

——— · · ⸙ · · ———

After class, Shiori came with me to my apartment to pack.

I packed a week of clothes, my toiletries, my laptop, and the textbooks I needed. When I zipped up the big duffel bag and tried to lift it, it barely left the floor.

Shiori took the strap from my hand and put it over her own shoulder.

“I can carry that,” I said.

“You take the small one,” she said. “I’ve got this.”

She was already walking to the door. I picked up the smaller bag and followed her.

That’s how Shiori is. She won’t say let me help you. She’ll just take the heavy thing and walk away with it before you can argue.

She didn’t let go of it the whole way to the station. On the train, she set it down between her feet and kept one hand on the strap.

I know this line well. I’ve visited Shiori’s apartment enough times that the scenery outside the window felt familiar.

But I had never stayed the night before.

As the stations went by, I recalled the time it was the other way around. It was also the week I first found out about Shiori and Sendai-san.

Last year, Shiori had walked into our lecture hall one morning carrying a big bag. After class, she had asked if she could stay at my place for a few days.

She told me she’d had a fight with a relative. I didn’t really believe it was a relative, but I didn’t push. For almost a week, she slept on a futon in my room. She was quiet the whole time, even for her. She checked her phone constantly, but never answered it.

Near the end of that week, I was walking through the gate of my campus when someone called my name.

“Utsunomiya?”

I turned around. It was Sendai Hazuki.

I remember staring at her. In high school, Sendai-san was part of the popular group, the one everyone noticed. For someone like me and my friends, they were hard to approach.

I had only talked to her once, and I was surprised she even remembered my name.

She asked if Shiori was staying with me. Then she asked me to tell Shiori to come home.

That was how I found out they were living together. I was shocked. Shiori had never mentioned Sendai-san to me, not even once.

Still, I thought about it for a moment. Whatever was going on between them, the most important thing was for them to make up.

So I gave her my address and asked her to come that evening, so she could talk to Shiori herself.

She came, and that night, she took Shiori home.

The next day, Shiori told me they had become close because Sendai-san used to tutor her in high school. That was all she said, and I could tell she was leaving most of the story out.

It still didn’t make sense to me. Back in high school, I was much closer to Shiori than Sendai-san ever seemed to be. I never once saw them talk to each other in our second year.

I still don’t know the whole story of how they ended up living together, or why Shiori ran away that week.

What I do know is that Shiori went home with her in the end. And somewhere after that, without either of us planning it, Sendai-san became my friend too.

The train slowing down for Shiori’s stop pulled me out of my thoughts.

“We’re here,” Shiori said, and picked up the duffel bag again before I could.

——— · · ⸙ · · ———

We walked from the station to her apartment, which wasn’t far. Then we climbed three flights of stairs, and Shiori unlocked the door.

“I’m home,” she said.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” I said, and followed her in.

The apartment was quiet.

“Sendai-san has class until late today,” Shiori said, toeing off her shoes.

Sendai-san’s door was closed. Shiori’s door was the one next to it.

I had been in both of their rooms before, on the days I came to visit. But this was the first time I would sleep in Shiori’s. Her room looked the same as always, with a bookshelf packed full of manga and the crocodile tissue box she’d had since high school.

Shiori set my duffel bag down on the floor. Then she opened a drawer, took out a key on a plain ring with a small plastic tag, and held it out to me.

“The spare key,” she said. “In case our schedules don’t match. Always lock the door when you go out.”

I put it in my coat pocket. “Thank you.”

She was already looking for the extra towels, as if she hadn’t just handed me the key to her home.

While she was digging through the closet, I sat down on the edge of her bed and thought about the flyer in my bag.

A week at that hotel would have cost me more than I wanted to think about. Shiori was giving me a place to stay for nothing, and Sendai-san had agreed to it without a second thought.

“Shiori,” I said. “Let me take you both out to dinner tonight.”

She turned around with a towel in her hands. “Dinner? What for?”

“As a thank-you. For letting me stay.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.” I smiled at her. “It’s still cheaper than one night at that hotel.”

Shiori looked at me for a long moment. Then she let out a small sigh, and I knew she had given in.

“Fine,” she said, and took out her phone. “I’ll tell Sendai-san.”

She typed something short. The reply came back almost right away.

“She says she’ll meet us there after class.”

——— · · ⸙ · · ———

We met Sendai-san at a small family restaurant near the station. She was already waiting outside, and she smiled when she saw us.

“Miyagi, Utsunomiya.” Sendai-san waved.

“Thank you for letting me stay,” I said, and bowed. “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” she said. “But you really didn’t have to treat us.”

“I wanted to. Please order anything you like.”

She laughed and held the door open for us.

When the waiter came, I ordered my drink first. Then, before Shiori could open her mouth, Sendai-san said, “And a soda for her, please.”

Shiori closed her mouth again. She didn’t correct her.

I looked at Shiori, waiting for her to say something. She was already reading the food menu.

I’ve had a hunch about the two of them since the week Shiori stayed at my place.

Back in high school, the one time I talked to Sendai-san, I asked if she and Shiori were friends. She said they weren’t. When I asked Shiori, she said the same thing.

Maybe that was true. Maybe they really weren’t friends. Maybe they were—

The thought made me laugh a little.

Shiori looked up from her menu. “What’s funny?”

“Nothing,” I said, and picked up my own menu.

Shiori has never told me what Sendai-san is to her, and I’ve never asked directly. I didn’t want to push. But I hoped that someday, she would tell me herself.

For dinner, I ordered omurice. Sendai-san and Shiori both ordered the hamburg steak.

When the food came, their plates were covered in broccoli. There was a small hill of it next to the meat, and more of it hidden under the sauce.

Shiori glared at it like it had personally offended her.

“There wasn’t any broccoli in the picture,” she said.

“It says ‘with seasonal vegetables,’” Sendai-san said, pointing at the menu.

Shiori didn’t answer. She picked up a piece of broccoli with her chopsticks and brought it toward her mouth.

Halfway there, she stopped and looked at it for a long moment.

Then she put it on Sendai-san’s plate instead.

After that, she moved the rest of the broccoli over too, one piece at a time, without asking.

Sendai-san watched the pile on her plate grow.

“Miyagi,” she said. “You shouldn’t be so picky.”

“I’m not picky. I just don’t like it.”

“That’s what being picky means.”

Shiori moved the last piece over and started eating as if the broccoli had never existed.

Sendai-san sighed. Then she picked up a piece of broccoli and ate it without another word.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

They both looked at me.

“Sorry,” I said, still smiling. “You two are as close as ever”

“Maika—” Shiori stared at me.

Sendai-san only smiled, and I giggled.

Shiori went back to her hamburg steak and ate it very seriously

After that, we talked about small, everyday things until our plates were empty. When the bill came, Sendai-san reached for it, but I got to it first.

“This is my thank-you,” I said. “I invited you, so I’ll pay.”

She let go of it, laughing. “Then thank you, Utsunomiya.”

On the way home, Sendai-san walked next to Shiori, and I walked a little behind them.

At some point, Sendai-san started leaning her shoulder against Shiori’s as they walked.

Shiori didn’t move away. She just kept walking and let her.

Then a strong wind came down the street and blew straight into us.

I grabbed my coat and closed my eyes. When the wind died down, Sendai-san’s long hair was a mess, with strands blown across her face and stuck to her cheek.

Before Sendai-san could fix it, Shiori reached up.

She pulled the strands away from Sendai-san’s face and tucked them behind her ear. Then she smoothed the rest of her hair down with her fingers, slowly, one side and then the other.

Sendai-san stood very still and let her.

“There,” Shiori said.

“Thank you, Miyagi.”

Shiori didn’t answer. She put her hands back in her pockets and started walking, and Sendai-san’s shoulder found hers again a few steps later.

Walking behind them, I couldn’t stop smiling.

My own hair was a mess too. Nobody was going to fix it for me, so I fixed it myself.

——— · · ⸙ · · ———

At the apartment, I went into Shiori’s room and looked around.

“Shiori, where’s the futon? I’ll set it up myself.”

“We don’t have a futon.” She said it as if it were obvious. “You can sleep with me, although it’ll be a bit cramped.”

Sendai-san was taking off her coat. She stopped with one arm still in the sleeve.

It was only for a second. When she looked up, she was still smiling, but it was stiff and tight, as if she were holding something back.

It's a face I never seen from her. 

“Utsunomiya can sleep in my bed instead,” she said.

Shiori looked at her. “Then where will you sleep?”

Sendai-san opened her mouth, then closed it again. She didn’t answer.

“Goodnight, Sendai-san,” Shiori said.

Sendai-san looked at her a moment longer. “Goodnight, Miyagi. Goodnight, Utsunomiya.”

Shiori closed the door.

Later that night, Shiori and I lay side by side in her bed. It was a tight fit for two, so I stayed close to the edge.

“Is this really okay?” I asked into the dark.

“Yes, it’s fine.”

“Sendai-san didn’t look like it was fine.”

Shiori didn’t answer.

I smiled at the ceiling. “You know, it’s okay if you want to sleep in Sendai-san’s bed instead. I don’t mind having this one to myself.”

The bed shifted as Shiori turned toward me. Even in the dark, I could tell she was glaring.

“Why would you say that?”

“Well, Sendai-san offered me her bed,” I said. “If I took it, she would have to sleep somewhere else. So I thought maybe the better choice was for you to sleep with her, and I’d stay here.”

“No.”

“Sendai-san might prefer that, though.” I couldn’t help giggling.

Shiori made a small, frustrated sound and turned her back to me.

“She’s just acting weird,” she said. “That’s all.”

“If you say so.”

“Go to sleep, Maika.”

I didn’t tease her anymore, but I was still smiling when I fell asleep.

——— · · ⸙   ⸙   ⸙ · · ———

On Tuesday morning, Sendai-san was already in the kitchen when Shiori and I came out of her room. She had made breakfast for the three of us.

“Good morning. Sit down, it’s almost ready.”

The table was set with three plates. Next to them were two mugs and one plain white cup, all filled with orange juice.

The two mugs were a matching pair. One had a black cat printed on the side, and the other had a calico cat. When the mugs stood side by side, the cats faced each other.

Shiori sat down and pulled the calico mug toward her without looking. Sendai-san set the black cat one at her own seat, right across from Shiori.

The chopstick rests matched too. There was a small ceramic calico cat next to Shiori’s plate and a black cat one next to Sendai-san’s.

“These are cute,” I said, looking at the mugs and the chopstick rests. “Where did you get them?”

Sendai-san smiled. “Miyagi gave them to me. They were my birthday present.”

Shiori kept her eyes on her plate. “Sendai-san, you didn’t have to tell Maika.”

“Why not? I like them.” Sendai-san took a sip from her black cat mug.

Shiori just stared at her.

“A matching set for her birthday,” I said. “That’s really sweet, Shiori.”

“Let’s just eat. The food’s getting cold.” Shiori acted like she hadn’t heard me.

She picked up her chopsticks and started on her breakfast.

Sendai-san smiled into her black cat mug. I hid my smile behind my plain white cup.

After that, I began noticing things.

In the bathroom, there were two toothbrushes in one cup by the sink, leaning against each other. I put my own toothbrush in the cup too.

When I came back that night, my toothbrush had been moved to its own glass. The other two were still leaning together in the first cup.

I laughed to myself, left it that way, and made a note of it.

——— · · ⸙   ⸙   ⸙ · · ———

On Wednesday, Sendai-san had early class, and tutoring after that. Shiori and I didn’t see her at all during the day.

We ate dinner at a set-meal place Shiori likes. When we got home, the laundry was dry, so I helped Shiori fold it in the shared space.

I picked up a long-sleeved shirt and held it up. The sleeves were much too long for Shiori.

“Is this yours?”

Shiori took it from me. “That’s Sendai-san’s.”

She folded it more neatly than anything of her own and set it on a separate pile.

“You wash your clothes together?”

“It saves water.” She reached for the next shirt. “And detergent.”

“Very practical,” I said. “Like a married couple.”

Shiori threw a sock at me.

“That one’s Sendai-san’s,” she said, frowning, but the tips of her ears had turned pink.

I giggled, folded it, and put it on Sendai-san’s pile.

When we finished, we went to Shiori’s room and sat on the floor with our manga. I was halfway through a volume when someone knocked on the door.

Shiori got up and opened it.

Sendai-san was standing in the shared space, still in her coat, with her bag on her shoulder.

“I’m home,” she said.

“Welcome back,” Shiori and I said at the same time.

Then nobody said anything.

Shiori and Sendai-san just looked at each other. Sendai-san wasn’t smiling, and Shiori didn’t look away. The silence went on long enough that I started to feel I should look somewhere else.

Then Sendai-san reached out and took Shiori by the arm, as if she meant to pull her out into the shared space.

Shiori brushed her hand off.

“Goodnight, Sendai-san,” she said, and closed the door.

She came back, sat down next to me, and picked up her manga as if nothing had happened.

“It looked like Sendai-san wanted to tell you something,” I said.

“It’s fine.” She turned a page. “If it was important, she would have said it there.”

I looked at the closed door. For a long time, I didn’t hear any footsteps on the other side of it.

I added that to my notes as well.

——— · · ⸙   ⸙   ⸙ · · ———

On Thursday, Shiori and I decided to cook beef stew.

Shiori cut the vegetables, and I browned the beef in the pot. We had just started when the front door opened.

“I’m home.”

Sendai-san appeared in the kitchen doorway. “My student canceled, so I came straight back.” She looked at the pot, then at Shiori. “You two are cooking?”

“Beef stew,” Shiori said without looking up.

“Can I help?”

“No. Sit down.”

Sendai-san went to her room to put down her bag and coat. When she came back, she sat down at the table.

She didn’t take out her phone. She just rested her chin on her hand and watched us, mostly Shiori.

It was the first time all week that she looked the way she had at the restaurant on Monday.

Shiori was cutting carrots. She was faster than I expected, but she kept glancing back at the table, as if she could feel Sendai-san watching her.

“Stop staring,” she said.

“I’m not staring.”

“You are.”

Sendai-san smiled and kept staring.

Shiori looked back down at the cutting board with a small, annoyed sound. A second later, she hissed and pulled her hand back.

A thin line of blood was already coming up on her finger.

“Shiori!”

But Sendai-san was already there.

I didn’t see her get up. One moment she was at the table, and the next she was holding Shiori’s wrist and looking at the cut.

Then she put Shiori’s finger in her mouth.

I stood there with the spoon still in my hand.

Shiori didn’t pull away. She just looked up at Sendai-san, and the tips of her ears turned pink.

After a moment, Sendai-san took Shiori’s finger out of her mouth. Her cheeks were faintly pink too. She looked into Shiori’s eyes and smiled softly.

“There. I disinfected it.”

As far as I knew, that wasn’t how disinfecting worked. But neither of them seemed interested in my medical opinion. So I decided to stay quiet.

Sendai-san looked at the finger again. “It’s not deep.”

“I know it’s not deep.”

“You should be more careful, Miyagi.”

“It’s your fault for staring.”

“Then I’ll stare somewhere else.”

“...You don’t have to.”

Neither of them looked at me. They were in their own world, and I wasn’t part of it.

Then Sendai-san took the first-aid kit from the cupboard and wrapped a bandage around Shiori’s finger. Shiori held out her hand and let her.

When she was done, Shiori picked up the knife again. “I can finish it.”

“I’ll do it.” Sendai-san put her hand over Shiori’s, the one holding the knife. 

“Sendai-san. It’s just a small cut.”

“I know.” Sendai-san didn’t let go. “Sit down, Miyagi.”

Shiori looked at her for a moment. Then she let go of the knife and sat down at the table.

Sendai-san picked up the knife and finished cutting the carrots. Shiori watched her, and this time nobody told anyone to stop staring.

I turned back to the pot and stirred the beef.

Sendai-san is kind and friendly to everyone. She treats Mio and me with the same easy warmth, always smiling and always ready to help.

But when a friend cut their finger, you handed them a bandage. You didn’t put it in your mouth.

With Shiori, it was different. Watching her, I thought she really cared about Shiori, in a way she couldn’t hide even if she tried.

When the stew was done, Shiori took down three plates. She served mine first, then her own, and then Sendai-san’s last.

I saw her search through the pot for the biggest piece of beef and put it on Sendai-san’s plate.

When Sendai-san looked down at her plate, her smile went soft.

We ate at the small table, the three of us close together. Sendai-san asked about my classes and laughed when I told her about the professor Shiori and I both disliked.

Now that I was paying attention, I noticed that whenever Sendai-san wasn’t talking to me, her eyes went back to Shiori.

Each time, her gaze softened and went a little dreamy, as if she could watch Shiori all day and never get bored.

She watched Shiori blow on her stew to cool it. She watched her push a carrot to the side of her plate. When Shiori reached for the water, Sendai-san had already slid the glass toward her.

I made a note of it.

——— · · ⸙ · · ———

After dinner, I went to take a bath.

I sank into the water up to my chin and went over the day in my head. Sendai-san put Shiori’s finger in her mouth, and Shiori did not pull away. The way they looked at each other.

Something was going on between them. I was almost sure of it, but I still didn’t have enough proof.

When I was done, I dried my hair, changed into my pajamas, and opened the bathroom door a little. I was about to step out when I heard Shiori’s voice from the kitchen.

“We shouldn’t do this.”

Her voice was low and sharp. I stopped with my hand on the door.

Sendai-san said something back. She was speaking too quietly for me to hear the words, only the soft sound of her voice.

“Not now,” Shiori said. “I told you, not while Maika’s here.”

Another quiet answer.

“What if Maika sees?” Shiori’s voice went even lower, but it was harder too. “Sendai-san. Stop it. Go back to your room.”

Then there was only silence.

I stood very still behind the door, not knowing what to do.

I had never heard Shiori sound like that with anyone, hushed and tense, as if she were trying to stop Sendai-san from doing something.

She was keeping it quiet so I wouldn’t hear.

Not while Maika’s here. What if Maika sees? My name kept coming up.

They were fighting. It was the only explanation that fit, and from the way Shiori said my name, I was sure it was because of me.

I waited until I was sure they were done. Then I made some noise with the door, as if I had only just finished, and stepped out.

Sendai-san was standing in the shared space, near the kitchen. She looked up when she heard me and smiled.

“Did you have a nice bath, Utsunomiya?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Her smile was there, but everything else about her looked like a dog that had been left out in the rain. Her shoulders were down, and her eyes kept going back to the kitchen.

Shiori was at the sink with her back to Sendai-san, washing a plate that already looked clean.

I went into Shiori’s room and closed the door behind me. I thought I had walked out at the worst possible time.

Later, when Shiori came to bed, I waited until she had turned off the light.

“Shiori,” I said. “Are you and Sendai-san fighting?”

The bed shifted. “What?”

“I accidentally heard you and Sendai-san in the kitchen, when I was coming out of the bathroom.” I pulled the blanket closer. “Is it because of me? Because I’m staying here?”

Shiori was quiet for a long moment.

“We’re not fighting,” she said.

“It sounded like you were.”

“We’re not.” Her voice was softer now, closer to her usual tone. “Don’t worry about it, Maika. It’s not your fault.”

I wanted to believe her. But I lay awake for a long time after she fell asleep, thinking about how sad Sendai-san had looked in the shared space.

——— · · ⸙   ⸙   ⸙ · · ———

By Friday, something had changed between the two of them.

It started with Shiori.

In the lecture that morning, her notebook was open in front of her, but she didn’t write a single note.

Her pen stayed in her hand the whole time without moving. Every now and then, she took out her phone, looked at it, and put it away again.

At lunch, she ordered her usual set meal. Her chopsticks barely moved. When I finished eating, her plate looked almost the same as when it came.

“Aren’t you hungry?” I asked.

“Not really.” She pushed the plate a little toward me. “You can have some.”

When we got home that evening, Sendai-san was already there.

Dinner was quiet. The three of us sat at the same small table as the night before, but nobody said much.

On Thursday, Sendai-san couldn’t take her eyes off Shiori. Tonight, she barely looked up. She poked at her food and pushed it around her plate without eating much of it.

Shiori kept her eyes on her own plate, as if Sendai-san weren’t sitting right across from her.

Twice, Sendai-san started to say “Miyagi—” and stopped herself.

I tried talking about my classes. Sendai-san nodded along, but every answer came a beat too late, as if she had only half heard me.

Then she poured herself some tea and kept pouring until it overflowed onto the table. Even when she set the kettle aside, she just stared at the puddle.

I got up, grabbed a cloth from the kitchen, and wiped it up. She didn’t seem to notice until I was almost done.

“Ah. Sorry, Utsunomiya.”

Later, I found her standing in front of the open fridge. She wasn’t taking anything out. She was just standing there.

Her eyes went from the fridge to Shiori’s door, then back again.

“Sendai-san? Are you okay?”

She shut the fridge and turned around. She didn’t smile. For the first time all week, she didn’t even try.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a little tired.”

Then she went to her room and closed the door.

Lifeless was the only word I could think of, and it didn’t only fit Sendai-san. Shiori had been the same all day. It was as if someone had turned the brightness down on both of them.

Something both of them needed had gone missing, and neither of them had it back yet.

I thought about Thursday night. We shouldn’t do this. What if Maika sees?

Whatever they had argued about in the kitchen, it hadn’t gone away. Since that night, neither of them had been acting like themselves.

When I first arrived, the two of them had been close, closer than any roommates I knew. Now they could barely sit at the same table.

It must have been a serious fight. And it had all started after I moved in.

I went over everything I had noticed that week, trying to figure out what was missing between them. I had a lot of clues, but I couldn’t make them fit together.

Later, when Shiori and I were lying in the dark, I asked her again.

“Shiori. Are you and Sendai-san okay?”

“We’re fine.” It came out too fast, and her voice was colder than usual.

“Really? Neither of you looked fine today. Sendai-san didn’t even smile, and you were absent-minded all day.”

“We’re fine,” Shiori said again, more gently this time.

I stared at the ceiling for a while.

“Thank you for letting me stay,” I said. “You and Sendai-san have been really kind to me.” I pulled the blanket closer. “But I don’t want you two fighting because of me.”

Shiori was quiet for a moment.

“We’re not fighting,” she said. “Go to sleep, Maika.”

I didn’t push. I’ve never been good at pushing Shiori, and I’ve learned it doesn’t work anyway.

I was almost asleep when my phone buzzed on the floor beside the bed.

It was a message from my landlord. The repair was finished, and the water was running again. She apologized once more and said we could return anytime.

I read it twice to make sure. Then I turned toward Shiori.

“Shiori. The water’s back.”

For a moment, she didn’t say anything.

“That’s good,” she said. “I’m glad, Maika.”

“Me too.” I smiled into the dark. “Goodnight, Shiori.”

“Goodnight.”

Her voice sounded lighter than it had all evening.

——— · · ⸙   ⸙   ⸙ · · ———

I packed on Saturday morning. It took less time than unpacking had, which always feels a little sad.

The whole time, I kept thinking about last night. I had gone over it again and again before I fell asleep, but I never found an answer that made me feel better.

I didn’t like leaving while the two of them were still like this. But maybe once I was gone, they would finally talk and make up.

I hoped so, at least.

Sendai-san came out of her room when she heard me in the shared space with my bags.

“You’re leaving already?”

“The water came back last night,” I said.

“Oh,” she said.

She tried to hide it, but Sendai-san’s whole face brightened. It was the happiest she had looked all week.

For someone saying goodbye to a guest, she looked a little too happy.

“We’ll miss having you here, Utsunomiya.”

I turned to face them both. “Thank you so much. Both of you. I really don’t know what I would have done.”

“Anytime,” Sendai-san said.

Shiori reached for the duffel bag. “I’ll walk you to the station.”

“It’s fine. The station’s close.”

“The bag’s heavy.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said.

Shiori held on to the strap for another second. Then she let go.

“Text me when you get home,” she said.

“I will.”

I put on my shoes, picked up my bags, and waved to them from the door.

Then I stepped out. Shiori stood in the doorway and watched me until I reached the stairs. Only then did the door close.

——— · · ⸙ · · ———

I had just walked out of the building when I reached into my coat pocket for my phone and found something else.

A key. Shiori’s spare key, on a plain ring with a small plastic tag.

I had meant to leave it on the table before I left. I forgot.

I looked at it in my palm, then back up at the building.

I could give it to her on Monday at class. But it was a spare key to their home, and I was still right outside.

I should just return it, I thought, and turned around.

I climbed the three flights of stairs with the key in my hand and stopped in front of their door.

I was reaching for the intercom when I heard it.

A thud.

It wasn’t loud. Through the door, it was muffled, like something heavy hitting a wall. But I was sure it came from inside Shiori’s apartment.

I thought of how absent-minded both of them had been these past few days, and I started to worry.

If one of them had fallen, the other was right there to help. I knew that. But my body moved before my head could catch up, and I grabbed the doorknob instead of ringing the intercom.

It turned. The door wasn’t locked.

That surprised me more than the sound. The whole week, Shiori reminded me to lock the door every single time.

I pulled it open.

The thud had been Shiori’s back hitting the wall by the shoe cabinet.

Sendai-san was pressed close against her, and they were kissing. Both of their eyes were closed.

The kiss was slow and deep, as if neither of them remembered they needed to breathe. Their lips parted, and for a second I saw Sendai-san’s tongue slip against Shiori’s.

They were kissing so intimately, like two people who had been missing each other for days.

Shiori was gripping Sendai-san’s shoulders with both hands. Sendai-san’s hands had already slipped under the hem of Shiori’s shirt and were sliding up toward her chest.

Shiori’s shirt had ridden up, and I could see her bare stomach from the doorway.

I was embarrassed just watching them, and I could feel my face flush.

But I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t say anything. I just stood there with the key in my hand.

Then, just like at the end of a detective anime, everything I had noticed during my stay came together at once. All the little things from the past five days finally made sense.

We shouldn’t do this. What if Maika sees?

I had gotten one thing wrong. They were never fighting. Shiori had only been trying not to get caught.

Now I knew what had gone missing between them. Intimacy.

For five days, we lived in the same apartment, and Shiori was always with me, so they couldn’t hold each other or kiss. They were never alone in a room together.

No wonder they had both looked so lifeless yesterday. And the moment I left, they couldn’t even wait long enough to lock the door.

The case of the lifeless roommates was closed.

I was still standing there, feeling a little proud of myself, when Shiori opened her eyes.

They were glassy, and it took her a moment to focus. Then she saw me over Sendai-san’s shoulder.

Her face was already flushed. She pushed at Sendai-san’s shoulders, but Sendai-san kept kissing her. She pushed again, harder, and the kiss finally broke.

“Wait—”

Sendai-san leaned in to kiss her again anyway. When Shiori turned her face away, Sendai-san went for her neck instead.

Shiori tapped her shoulder over and over, panicking. “Sendai-san. Sendai-san! Maika’s here.”

That was when Sendai-san stopped.

Shiori pushed her away and fixed herself, tugging her shirt back down with both hands. She was staring at me, and her face went red all the way up to her ears.

“Utsunomiya?!” Sendai-san gasped.

“Hello,” I said.

“This isn’t—” Shiori stopped. She looked at Sendai-san, then back at me, then at the floor. “We were just—”

She didn’t finish that sentence either.

Sendai-san recovered first. She looked at me, and she smiled.

She looked fully charged again, as if someone had finally turned her brightness back up. The dog left out in the rain was gone. Now she looked like a dog wagging its tail.

“Welcome back, Utsunomiya,” she said. “Did you forget something?”

Shiori turned and stared at her as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

I held up the key. “I took this by accident.”

“Ah. Thank you for bringing it back.”

“You’re welcome.” I set it on top of the shoe cabinet. Then I looked at the two of them properly.

Shiori’s back was still against the wall, and her face was bright red. Sendai-san was still smiling.

I pressed my palms together in front of my chest.

“Congratulations,” I said.

Shiori made a sound I had never heard her make before.

“I’ll leave now,” I said, “so you two can continue.”

“Wait, Maika, it’s not like—”

Shiori tried to step forward, but Sendai-san’s arm was around her waist, and she couldn’t move.

Sendai-san only smiled at me. “Take care on your way home, Utsunomiya.”

I closed the door gently.

On the other side, I heard Shiori’s voice, muffled and furious. “Why didn’t you let me go?”

Then Sendai-san’s voice, laughing. “Miyagi, your ears are so red.”

“Shut up.”

A moment later, I heard the lock click.

I walked back down the three flights of stairs, holding the strap of my duffel bag, and I realized I was smiling.

Since Thursday night, I had been sure they were fighting because of me, but they weren’t. Still, I thought it might be a little my fault that they had looked so lifeless, because with me there, they never had any time alone.

On the train home, I thought about the two of them. I had never understood how they ended up living together.

Back in high school, they both told me they weren’t friends. Maybe they had been telling the truth all along.

They weren’t friends. They might be dating, just like my hunch had told me.

It also explained why Shiori’s cheeks turned pink on Monday morning, when I asked if my call had woken her up.

It was obvious now. But Shiori still hadn’t told me what Sendai-san really was to her.

Knowing Shiori, she would never admit it, not even after I had seen them with my own eyes. She would probably still insist it wasn’t like that.

That was fine. I wanted to hear it from Shiori herself someday. Until then, I would just keep teasing her about it.

I giggled to myself all the way home.