“Amane, do you want to go shopping?” One weekend day, a little while after Amane and Mahiru had started dating— When Mahiru showed up at Amane’s apartment, as was already becoming part of her daily routine, he went to the door to greet her with a comfortable “Come on in,” and Mahiru had barely even said hello before she made that suggestion. Since she’d brought it up while they were headed toward the living room together, Amane guessed she must really have a strong desire to go. Generally, Mahiru wasn’t very pushy. For the most part, she didn’t put her desires into words directly, like, “I want XX,” “I want to do XX,” “I want to go to XX,” and even if she did, she would often preface a request with, “If you don’t mind, Amane.” Since that girl had directly invited him along, she must have had a clear purpose for going with Amane. “Sure, okay, I don’t really have anything to do today.” After they sat down on the sofa together, Amane agreed, and Mahiru’s expression obviously brightened when he accepted her invitation, so he almost couldn’t help but laugh. When he saw her suddenly break into a smile, and saw how happy she was, it lifted his mood as well. “Is there something in particular that you want?” “Yes, well, a few different things.” “Gotcha. Leave carrying the bags up to me.” He was sure she was probably happy about the idea of going on an outing with him, but if she was after a variety of things, then she would need him to be a walking clothes rack to hang all of her shopping bags on. Amane had put on a fair amount of muscle lately, so he got a little excited thinking how easy it would be even if her bags were on the heavy side. He glanced at Mahiru, but suddenly noticed a hint of exasperation in them. “Come on, why did you have to say that…? I want to go shopping with you, Amane. The ‘with you’ is the important part. Do you understand?” He’d meant it half as a joke, but Mahiru was reminding him of what she wanted with a smile, like she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. Under that kind of pressure, Amane had no choice but to meekly nod in agreement. “O-oh, okay… Yeah, I understand.” “Good grief. There’s something I want to pick out with you, Amane, so I want to go together, okay? I wasn’t thinking I wanted to use you for a pack mule. You get it?” “Sorry, sorry. That’s my fault, for not understanding a woman’s heart.” “Very good.” Whenever she scolded Amane, or when she got pouty, she would find some reason to touch him, usually by swatting at him in an adorable way that hardly qualified as an attack. He realized once again that this behavior of hers had gotten more frequent since they’d started dating, and he smiled but hid it from Mahiru. After he had let her vent her frustration for a little while, she seemed to settle down, and when the slaps weakened into pats, and she had adorably made her point, Amane turned to face Mahiru directly. “So what are we going to buy?” When he asked what crucial things she wanted to buy, for some reason, Mahiru pressed her lips together. “Mahiru?” Although she had shown him her strong desire to go out shopping, the moment he asked what they were shopping for, she fell silent. Amane couldn’t help but be extremely bewildered by the abrupt drop in enthusiasm, and he saw Mahiru glance over at him. “…Um, you won’t cringe or get angry?” Amane seriously wondered what they might be going to buy. “I think you know there’s almost nothing that will make me angry.” “Okay, then you won’t judge me?” “I’m pretty sure I won’t. But for now, I think if you refuse to tell me anything about it, we won’t get very far.” Mahiru was a very sensible and levelheaded person, so she didn’t seem like she would go shopping for the sort of things that would make Amane uncomfortable. And anyway, since she was saying she wanted to go shopping with Amane, it couldn’t be anything weird, he thought. And yet from the way she was hesitating to tell him, he guessed it was something embarrassing. Though he tried to imagine something that wasn’t weird, but that she would be resistant to discussing openly, he didn’t have the slightest clue what it could be. He tried to picture something that would be fine for her to buy but might also bother him, something that would make him have that reaction when she showed it to him. After lots of thought, he began to wonder if there was a possibility it might be lingerie. But if that was it, he couldn’t imagine Mahiru inviting him along without a hint of embarrassment. That wasn’t the sort of thing Mahiru would want anyone else to see, and anyway, Amane and Mahiru didn’t have a physical relationship yet. In their current situation, and given Mahiru’s personality, it would be unthinkable for them to openly pick out something like that together. Which meant Amane still didn’t have a clue what she might want to buy. “…A-ah, well, the thing is…I’ve been spending more time at your place, right, Amane?” Without making any attempt to resolve Amane’s confusion, she started talking in a hesitant voice. “More time? You’re pretty much always here, except for baths and sleeping.” “Well, we’re dating now, aren’t we?” “Yeah.” “And so, well, I—I thought maybe I could keep a little more of, um, my stuff over here?” “Yeah, sure.” In other words, she wanted to leave her things in Amane’s apartment, and because they would be in his place, she also wanted to be thoughtful about matching his decor—that had to be what she was getting at. When he heard her unbelievably sweet and adorable request, it made him ashamed of the rude things his imagination had conjured up. Without showing any sign of what he’d been thinking, he readily accepted Mahiru’s modest, unassuming request without any hesitation whatsoever, and Mahiru, the one who had suggested it, went wide-eyed with surprise. “…Well, that was quick.” “I mean, you’re over here a lot, so it makes sense you would need to keep more things here the more time you spend.” Actually, even at the present moment, a few of Mahiru’s personal effects were basically permanent fixtures. She’d left hair care supplies, several textbooks, pens and pencils, recipe books, and other miscellaneous things she needed. He hadn’t really found any of it to be in the way, and luckily, Amane lived in his apartment alone, which was spacious by any account. The apartment had been chosen by his parents, who were most concerned with security, convenience, and location, and Amane had always thought it was too much. But since Mahiru had started spending so much time there, he’d become extremely grateful for the extra space. When he patted her head gently to encourage her and told her she was welcome to keep more of her things at his place, Mahiru looked over at him timidly. “What is it?” “…Um, c-could we get m-matching sets?” “Matching?” Mahiru seemed to sense Amane’s confusion as he wondered what exactly she wanted to match, and she continued awkwardly. “Right now, with our dishes and everything, we’ve got the ones from my place and the ones from yours all mixed together, right?” “That’s right.” Amane had stocked his apartment with really only the bare minimum of dishes he needed. He was living alone and hadn’t thought he was capable of doing much cooking, so he hadn’t figured he needed anything more. He was happy to keep using the cheap plates he had brought with him from home, and some would break from time to time, or to be more accurate, Amane would carelessly break them, so there were fewer and fewer unbroken plates. Since Mahiru had started coming over, they’d added the dishes she brought, and they had been using both sets, but even though they used the ones that were closest to matching colors, it was undeniable that when they were set out on the table, there was no sense of unity. “Um, I’d kind of like to use the same dishes.” “…Right.” “B-but listen, it’s not like you don’t have enough dishes, so if they’ll be in the way—” “It’s fine; let’s buy some. The ones I have are just the cheapest basics, and even if we get more, I’ve got plenty of space.” There was just no way he was going to reject Mahiru’s desire to have matching dishes. “In fact, you probably know that better than I do, Mahiru. You spend way more time in the kitchen, and you’ve seen how clumsy I can be, so actually, I would like to get more.” Since she had a better grasp of things in the kitchen than the guy who lived in the apartment did, she must have known how many plates he had and how much space there was for more. He had a feeling the reason why Mahiru had been hesitant about suggesting they buy a new set of dishes was because she wasn’t sure about pushing her own wishes on him, and because of the question of where the money would come from. As to the first issue, Amane was more than okay with it, and when it came to the second question, Amane still had about a third of the money he’d saved up when he first moved into that apartment sitting in his bank account. Amane had never been very materialistic, plus most of his things he had brought from home or his parents had provided for him, so he had everything he needed, and he hadn’t bought all that much new stuff. Moreover, Amane saved a lot on food expenses, thanks to the fact that Mahiru usually cooked for them, and since he had the type of personality to buy only what he needed, he really didn’t waste that much money. Consequently, he had money left in his bank account, so it wouldn’t impact his lifestyle to buy a few things. He could never truly express how grateful he was to his parents, who not only let him live alone but were supporting his lifestyle, even though it must have cost them a lot of money to do so. He wasn’t going to go out of his way to tell them, but even if he did, he knew his parents wouldn’t criticize him for asking about buying dishware with Mahiru. Instead, they were more likely to say something like, “Preparing for your new life together is important,” and transfer him some extra money. “…I’m not going to force the issue.” “But I think it’s a good idea; it’ll feel more like we’re eating together if we have matching dishes.” “…Yes.” The person who had suggested it in the first place was being shy about it, so in order to reassure her it was all right, Amane hugged her and rubbed her back. Mahiru quietly leaned into him and nodded slightly, seeming happy. They headed to the shopping mall immediately, to strike while the iron was hot, and Amane obediently followed his girlfriend around while Mahiru told him, “There’s a tableware shop I like in here.” To Amane, who rarely went out shopping like this in areas that were usually teeming with crowds, Mahiru seemed like a dependable guide as she pulled him smoothly along by the hand, giving him the sense she was very familiar with the place. Without pointing out her pace was faster than usual and she was bouncing happily along, Amane smiled as he followed. The store they eventually came to seemed to be mostly focused on selling Nordic-style tableware. Even at first glance, the store had a stylish atmosphere, and the chic music tickled Amane’s ears. The dishes on display were refined and simple, yet bright and beautiful, and had such elegant designs. They looked right up Mahiru’s alley. “This place isn’t all that expensive, but they still have nice designs, and their stuff is durable. I use these dishes at home, too.” “So that’s why you were able to come straight here. You wanted to share your recommendations with me.” “W-was that bad? I mean, if they don’t suit your tastes, there are plenty of other stores—” “Don’t be silly. Why do you always think I’m criticizing you when I’m not? I’m just happy you showed me something you like; that’s all.” When it came to dishware, Amane didn’t have any definite preferences, so he was happy to have Mahiru show him what she liked. If they were going to use the same dishes, then of course it was good to get dishes that made them both happy. He had heard from his parents that compromising and being charitable was the secret to a harmonious life. Amane felt like it made sense for the person who wasn’t particularly picky to give priority to the one who was. “I’ll be happy using the ones that you like, Mahiru; we both will. After all, doesn’t it make you happy to see me enjoying things that I like?” “Of course it makes me happy.” “Glad to hear it.” He could imagine that if they had different ideas about that, things might become strained in the future. He was grateful Mahiru was, just as he was, someone who could enjoy the happiness of the person she loved. Impressed by the magnificent foresight of his parents, who had confidently told him that if both partners were happy together, then the happiness they felt would be doubled, and who had always put that theory into practice, Amane squeezed Mahiru’s hand, noting she looked even happier than before, and they walked into the store together. On the shelves were many dishes lined up in neat rows, all of them of high quality. Dishware painted with realistic flowers in pastel colors was quite popular, but Amane had never cared for it much. However, all the dishes lined up in this store were, if he had to describe them, decorated with stylized flowers made into patterns. Even Amane didn’t have any objection to using dishware with such clean lines and tasteful colors. “I want to narrow it down to the sizes we use most often and only buy those, okay? I have a tendency to pick up dishes with nice designs without thinking about it, but if we get ones in the shapes or sizes that are hard to use, then putting them away will be a challenge, so…” Mahiru mumbled her words quietly as she carefully examined the many varieties of dishes. “I understand how you feel.” He had similar thoughts about clothing. Sometimes he bought something because he thought it was nice and liked the design, only to find that, in the end, it was a bad fit for the season, or a poor match for the clothes he already owned, and it ended up just sitting in a drawer. Well, a big part of that is because I hardly ever go out anywhere, though. Since he had never been the type to show off for anyone or try to look fashionable, he had experienced that vacant feeling many times, when he realized something he had bought because he liked it would just go to waste later. And the dishes here were the same as the clothes. No matter how much they liked a certain design, there was no point in buying things they wouldn’t be able to use regularly. If a dish was an inconvenient size or shape for serving food, then he could imagine that after they bought it, it would eventually end up taking a position deep in the back of a cabinet, where it would fall into a slumber from which it might never awaken. “There will be two of us using one of each dish, so we’ve got to take the size of the dining table and everything else into account, okay?” “My table isn’t all that big, yeah.” One more issue to consider was the width of the place where the plates would sit. Frankly, the dining table at Amane’s place was meant for one to two people. After all, he didn’t invite people over, so he’d purchased a compact table that gave him no problems when he was alone. But now that decision was backfiring. “Now I think a slightly bigger table would be better, but at the time I picked it, I was on my own.” “Well, eventually maybe we should think about buying a bigger one. For now, we’ll make do.” “Yeah, you’re right.” If the little table annoyed them in the future, they could always consider buying a replacement. Tucking that thought into a corner of his mind, Amane moved through the shop, keeping pace with Mahiru. This was one of Mahiru’s favorite stores, and she stopped frequently to evaluate the wares meticulously, so they weren’t readily making any decisions. “Hmm, they’re all so good, I can’t choose!” “I’m glad you seem to be enjoying yourself.” “I really enjoy it when we go out together, but you know, I always worry I’ll be having so much fun, I’ll forget myself and grab your hand over nothing.” “I think that’s okay now and then since you’re normally so restrained.” “Absolutely not. If I hold your hand, there’s a very good chance I’ll forget what our original objective was, so I need you to make sure that doesn’t happen, Amane.” “Leave it to me.” He doubted whether he would ever need to fulfill that duty, given Mahiru’s level of self-control, but he went ahead and agreed. Mahiru seemed even more pleased after he gave that answer, and she seemed cheerful as she entered into a decision-making mode, comparing plates that were all not exactly right. As her boyfriend, Amane watched her with a heedless smile on his face, finding her incredibly adorable when she was like that. At times like this one, he thought it might be poor form not to give his own opinion, but he had no intention of putting a damper on Mahiru when she was enjoying herself so much. In a good mood, she mumbled to no one in particular, “This might look good at home,” and placed a simple flat plate painted with a pattern of small flowers and green ivy into the bottom of the shopping basket that was hanging from Amane’s arm. As expected, she looked delighted. “…Mahiru, were you this picky with the dishes at your own place, too?” “Well, I’m careful to choose things I really like. To put it simply, it feels good to eat off beautiful plates, and ones you like, you know?” “Sure, I get it. You kind of get excited looking at them, and it makes everything more delicious, huh?” Even Amane, who was generally indifferent to most things, thought food tasted better when the presentation was beautiful, and he knew the look of a meal could increase his appetite. “You could just eat rice, or if you really want to cut down on how many dishes we need to wash, you could set the frying pan or the pot or whatever it is right onto the dining table and use paper plates as serving plates, but when you do that, it makes the meal feel a little bland, right?” “It makes things easy, but it doesn’t exactly make for a pleasant table, huh?” “Flavor is the most important thing, but presentation is also important, of course. It’s just like with people—you start to form your impression from the very first glance.” “It’s surprising to hear you say something like that, Mahiru.” He wouldn’t have expected Mahiru, who was often judged by her outward appearance, to really say things like that, but she shook her head at him side to side, with a bitter smile. “Cuisine works the same way. If something’s in a sloppy heap, you won’t feel very hungry for it, right? And if no one eats what you’re serving, they won’t know what it tastes like, will they?” “Well, I guess that’s true, but—” “And humans are the same. If someone makes a good first impression, you’ll be more inclined to get involved with them, and it will become easier for them to get to know what you’re like on the inside. Although in that case, it’s more a question of looking decent rather than being pretty or having a cute aesthetic. No one wants to have much to do with people who don’t do the minimum to maintain their outward appearance—isn’t that right?” “Uh…” “Why do you look like that was painful?” “Well, because, until a little while ago, I was someone who didn’t care about my looks.” Until Amane had begun making his efforts to keep up with Mahiru, he had been indifferent to his appearance. He’d figured everything was fine as long as he wasn’t unhygienic, and he had been lazy about ironing his clothes, had let his bangs grow out, and consequently had cultivated a gloomy sort of presence. He hadn’t been unsanitary, but now he could look back and see his appearance hadn’t been at all pleasant, either. “In your case, Amane, you didn’t seem unclean. I just thought you were gloomy, and your room was dirty, that’s all.” “Uh, you really did me a favor back then.” “Heh-heh, and now you can do it all for yourself, which is very impressive.” “Well, it’s not like I could rely on you for everything forever, is it?” “It’s great that you have ambition.” Amane stopped Mahiru before she could reach up and pat him on the head like a good boy, and a look of discontent clearly formed on her face, but when he told her briefly, “We’re in public,” that discontent suddenly disappeared, and in its place, embarrassment colored her cheeks. Amane preferred not to get his head patted in public, so he breathed a sigh of relief that he had managed to check her just in time, but a small part of him did feel like it was too bad. “A-anyway…” Mahiru sounded like she was embarrassed about what she had almost done in public, as she continued talking in a very shrill voice, “Having some lovely plates makes the dining table feel richer, more stylish and pleasant, so I want something nice. But we’ve got to consider your preferences, too, Amane.” “I don’t really have very strong preferences, I guess. I said this earlier, but I’m happy to get the ones with the designs you like, Mahiru. I trust your aesthetic sense, and I also want to learn to love the things you love.” “…You’ve got to stop suddenly turning on the charm like that.” “I wasn’t trying to be charming!” “Geez.” He shot her a skeptical look. Amane really hadn’t been trying to charm her, so he felt like he was being falsely accused of something. Mahiru pouted with an adorable huffy expression that wasn’t quite anger, and she grumbled a line he’d heard often enough before, “This is why I can’t take you anywhere, Amane.” Then she set two plates she seemed to have picked out beforehand into the basket, side by side. “This one, or this one, which do you like better?” One of the plates had a geometrical pattern made up of blues and yellows on a white background, and the other one had a beautiful mint green background with white plants painted over it. Neither of them was too showy, but they had a beauty that would make for a nice addition to their home. Aside from his clothes, Amane personally preferred bolder colors over pastels in his belongings, so he honestly pointed at the plate with the white background and the blue-and-yellow pattern. “I like this one. How about you?” “All right, then, can we collect a set of these?” Mahiru quickly accepted Amane’s opinion and returned the other plate to where it had come from, then she placed a second plate in the pattern Amane had chosen into the basket, so all Amane could do was worry she had yielded to him the choice she had been looking forward to making. “We can, but are you sure you’re not holding back? I’m okay with getting the ones you like, you know?” “Why are you being like that…? I told you at the beginning, I want to make the decision together with you, Amane. I like both designs about the same, and I’d like it even more if we picked ones you also like. That would make it even more enjoyable when we use them, right? I also want to learn to like the things you like, too.” When Mahiru took the words Amane had said and turned them around on him, he really felt what she meant when she said, “I can’t take you anywhere,” and he had to bite back the embarrassment that came welling up from deep within his chest, as well as the happiness that outweighed it. “…Makes sense.” When he quietly agreed with her, Mahiru seemed satisfied she had gotten her payback on Amane, and she smiled brightly and snuggled up close against his arm. “Now, we’ve got a rough idea of what we want, so let’s choose the dishes together… Is that all right?” “Yeah.” This must be the joy of being together. As he steeped himself in the delight that was soaking deeply into his heart, Amane looked at Mahiru, pulling him by the hand with a soft smile on her face, and she responded with the same kind of smile. After the two of them had chosen the plates and soup mugs they would use together, Mahiru paused in a corner of the store that had nothing to do with dishware. At a glance, the store looked like it only sold tableware, but it apparently carried all sorts of kitchen implements, including cookware. In a display case, which Mahiru seemed to be drawn toward, were rows of lunch boxes and thermoses with colorful designs. “Could we check out this section, too?” “That’s fine, but you’ve already got several of your own. Did one break?” “…I mean for you, Amane.” “For me?” The abrupt switch to talking about him made Amane blink his eyes a few times. Mahiru continued, “You don’t seem to understand what I’m getting at. Listen, you and I eat different amounts of food. I don’t think you eat all that much for a guy, but you usually eat more than I do, don’t you? I’ve been thinking my lunch boxes are probably a little small for you. And using plastic containers is kind of boring.” “Ah, uh…” Ever since they’d started dating, Amane had been openly eating lunch with Mahiru, and she often made his lunches for him. Whenever she did, she used one of the lunch boxes she had in her apartment. When they were going to eat lunch together, she packed everything into a two-tiered lunch box, and when Amane ate with Itsuki and the other boys, she filled both layers of a double-layer box with side dishes and rolled-up rice balls for him on the side. Amane wasn’t particularly fussy about what kind of containers his food came in, but since Mahiru insisted using plain plastic containers “offended her aesthetic sensibilities,” he had been letting her do things the way she liked. “Sorry for making you do extra work.” “It’s not every day, and even when I fix lunch, most of it is stuff I made ahead of time, or leftovers from dinner, so it’s not that much extra work. And after all, Amane, you do help me put the lunches together when you get up in the morning. It makes me happy to hear you say how good they are, so it’s no hardship at all.” “Thanks for always doing it. I appreciate getting to eat delicious food every day.” Amane was fully aware he was leading a lifestyle most high school boys, who only periodically got to eat lunches their girlfriends made, would envy. Mentally, he knelt down and paid his respects to Mahiru, whose kindhearted care went beyond angelic and made her seem more like a goddess to him. “Heh-heh, I should thank you, too, for always eating my food with such gusto.” Mahiru was very kind to him in all ways, but still he thought it must be a large burden, so there was absolutely no way he could tell her he wanted her to make him lunch every day. As Mahiru had said, most of the lunch dishes were either made ahead of time, or she made extra food at dinner and carried it over to the next day. But the rolled omelets she put into most of his lunches, or rather that he asked her to put in, were something she never failed to make in the morning, and she was always cooking up some dish that needed to be seasoned ahead of time and left to rest overnight. Really, he wondered when Mahiru had time to sleep. Truly, he couldn’t express how grateful he was. If anything, he felt like he ought to be the one making lunches for Mahiru. Even though he had been helping with dinners, she was largely in charge of that, so Amane felt like he should be the one preparing their lunches. “Could I try making lunch sometime?” “You?” When he tried suggesting it, Mahiru put on the most surprised look he had seen on her that day. “Ah, maybe you’re concerned about my cooking skills? I can cook, you know, more or less.” After all, Amane was sure Mahiru was also aware he had developed some degree of culinary skill, but maybe she was still worried because she was thinking of how he used to be. Even so, he had gotten quite a bit better, and he hadn’t gotten a bad reaction on the occasions when he’d cooked for Mahiru, so he’d made the suggestion without really thinking about it. He figured he could manage to handle packing lunches, and to a certain extent, he did feel confident he could make something work. “Oh no, I don’t think anyone would take a look at you lately and be able to say you’re a bad cook. Your skills have improved a lot, and your food is perfectly tasty.” “Thanks for saying so.” “B-but what’s brought this on all of a sudden?” “Oh, well, you see, I don’t think it’s that great for me to rely on you for all of our meals, Mahiru. Besides, I think I’d like to make food for you, too.” Basically, the burden on Mahiru was too great, so if Amane was able to split that burden up and take some of it onto his own shoulders, he wanted to do that for her. Just because it made him happy when she prepared lunch for him didn’t necessarily mean she would be pleased with his lunches, but if she would be happy about it, then Amane would gladly make her lunch as well. If he could create a chain of happiness by returning the favor and doing things for his partner that made him happy when she did them for him, then he wanted to actively give it a try. “Is that a no?” “I-I’m glad you want to, but…is that really…all right with you?” “Is what?” “…People will see it, you know? When I eat.” In other words, she was asking whether he was okay with the students around her judging his food by its appearance. “Uh, well, there’s nothing I can do about that. If someone says it looks gross, you can go ahead and blame it on me.” “The moment anyone said that, I’d think about keeping my distance from that person. I don’t mind cutting off toxic people.” “That might be a little extreme.” He didn’t plan to make any food that looked gross, and he’d like to think that as long as Mahiru was satisfied, he wouldn’t really care if someone else criticized his cooking. But if that happened, Mahiru would probably feel like her boyfriend had been insulted. “I mean, even if I stayed friends with someone who would openly criticize my lunch right to my face knowing full well that my boyfriend had worked hard to make it for me, they’d probably latch on to something else later and have more to say. Although I don’t remember ever spending time with the kind of people who would do that.” “And I’m in no position to criticize anyone else, but you’re very selective about who you associate with, aren’t you?” “It’s not polite to say, but I think people ought to be selective about their circle of friends. I don’t want to let someone who would harm me or the people I care about get close to me, after all.” “That’s perfectly reasonable.” In that case, the deciding factor ought to be whether that person would cause any harm or not. Humans were all influenced to a greater or lesser degree by the people around them. In other words, it was the environment around a person that built them into who they were, and if there was a problem with that environment, it made it more likely that a person would head down a bad path. “…But anyway, Amane, I don’t really think you would make anything that looks bad, so I doubt anyone will say anything.” “I wonder… I’ve been working hard at it, but—” “I’m the one who knows best just how much better you’ve gotten at cooking, Amane. I’ve been watching by your side, after all.” Mahiru’s complete confidence in his cooking made Amana feel warm all over, and he broke into a broad smile. “Okay, then let me show you the results of all my effort.” “I’m really looking forward to this!” “But I’d like you to keep your expectations realistic.” Mahiru laid on the pressure a little with an impish smile on her face, and Amane gently squeezed her hand again and murmured, “I’ll have to try hard to live up to your expectations.” “Was there anything else we should buy?” After she had put the dishes and a new lunch box into the cart and checked they had generally gotten everything they’d originally come for, Mahiru thought back over it all, to make sure she hadn’t overlooked anything. “I already bought a matching cup to go with yours.” “Mm, if we’re missing anything, I’d say it might be cutlery?” “Ah, you’re right. Since we’re here, we should get the matching pattern.” If they were going to use matching tableware, it would probably feel nicer for the two of them to use cutlery with the same design as well. Mahiru nodded at Amane’s suggestion. “Well, I said that, but the spoons and forks and stuff that are at my place have a really simple design, so we’re already using the same ones, aren’t we? If we’re going to match something, it should be the chopsticks, and I wouldn’t expect this store to carry those.” Since they were in a store that was mainly filled with Nordic-style dishware, there were a few token chopsticks around with cute designs on them, but they couldn’t find any with patterns that seemed like they would go well with Japanese food or even any made from plain bamboo. “We’ll have to look at a different store.” “Yeah, we will. You know, I’m not hurting for chopsticks, but the ones I have now are all different, so it’s annoying when I go to get them out.” “If you don’t sort through them carefully, it’s easy to take a mismatch when you’re in a hurry, isn’t it?” It was annoying to deal with, so for the time being, he was using a bunch of mismatched chopsticks, like ones from a hundred-yen-store bundle bundle that had the same print just in different colors, or plain, straight wooden ones. It would have been quicker to find a matching set if he threw away all but the ones that he needed, but sorting through them would be a pain, so he’d gone on and on using them all, and as a result, he had trouble when he went to take them out, plus the print on the ones that had been cheap to begin with had begun peeling, and the drawer where he stored them had become a chaotic mess. Since they were going to the trouble, Amane wanted to follow Mahiru’s motto of using quality things for a long time and pick out some good chopsticks to use. But even Amane knew that, indeed, if that’s what they were after, the best way to get it was to go to a specialty store. “If we’re going to pick out chopsticks, there is a store here in this mall. Do you want to head over there? We’ll probably even be able to find some to match our plates.” “Good idea. Ah, but your hands are so little, Mahiru. If you get the same exact ones as me, I think they’ll be hard for you to use. If we buy some, maybe we should get different sizes.” When he squeezed her hand he’d been holding, he heard an obvious “Hmph” of complaint. Certainly, he wanted them to get matching designs, but if they got the same size, too, it would be difficult for one of them to use their chopsticks, so surely there was no need for them to be the same in that regard. “It’s because your hands are little that they’re a cute size, Mahiru.” “Are you sure you’re not making fun of me?” “I’m not. Look, they’re small enough that I can wrap them up in mine, which is pleasing for me at least.” After initially letting go of the hand he was holding, he covered it from above and squeezed it lightly, and Mahiru’s small palm fit right into Amane’s palm without any resistance. Mahiru looked back and forth between her hand, which fit completely inside his, and Amane’s face. “See, it’s a perfect fit,” Amane whispered with a smile, checking to make sure the little wrinkle that had formed in Mahiru’s brow had relaxed. “…I’ll let you get away with it this time.” “Thank you for letting me get away with it. Come on, let’s check out.” Even if she didn’t particularly like being told she was small, Mahiru had quietly accepted being told she was cute. Smiling inconspicuously at her reaction, Amane looked around, wondering where the registers were. The register was located a little farther back in the store, so they started to head that way when suddenly Amane overheard two people nearby—a man and a woman who looked like a couple—talking familiarly. “This one’s all right, isn’t it?” “What?! It’s so tacky!” “Hey, come on.” “You’ve got to be joking. We’re gonna start living together today, so we have to do a good job of choosing. This is special.”
Chapter 179
33 min read