Chapter 193

“Well, like I said, at the moment, there aren’t too many things that Mahiru wants.” “Last year, you got her hand cream and a stuffed animal, right? You don’t remember anything else she mentioned wanting? Even a general idea could give us something.” “Last year… Well, yeah, there was something she said, but…” She had definitely mentioned something she wanted, but— “Huh, then in that case, as long as she hasn’t bought it herself yet, won’t whatever that is make her happy? Isn’t that a quick solution?” “I know she hasn’t bought it, but, well, it’s kind of…” “Kind of what?” “Well, it’s a whetstone.” “Huh?” “Huh?” “A whetstone.” When they heard that unfamiliar word, the two high schoolers froze, and their minds raced to figure out what he was talking about. I guess whetstones don’t really come up in normal conversation. Their confusion was only to be expected, since it was something that would really only come up if you were close with someone really into cooking. After thinking it over for a good five seconds, Chitose gave Amane a curious look. “You mean one of those things that you scrape your knife over every night?” “I don’t think it’s every night, but yeah.” Amane was confident that even he would lose his nerve if he caught her quietly sharpening knives in the middle of the night. Incidentally, he had seen her use a whetstone before, and from time to time, she brought it to Amane’s place to take care of her knives, but when he saw her sharpening them with a keen eye like some kind of professional, she hardly seemed like a high schooler at all. “…Mahiru sure wants the mega-practical stuff, huh?” Chitose must have been imagining it as well, judging by the faraway look in her eyes. Itsuki simply looked disconcerted and confused. “At the time, she said finishing stones were expensive, so she didn’t really need one. She said you buy it for life, not on a whim.” “…When it comes to things like that, Miss Shiina really is eccentric.” “It’s not exactly the kind of thing other high school girls her age would want.” “Compared to that, I guess Chitose’s an open book.” “Ah-ha-ha, thank you! Yes, it’s me, your typical high school girl. You can get me food, or bath products, or stationery. Makeup works, too!” “Every time I try to give you anything, you make a weird face.” “As a girl, I like makeup, sure, but getting them from someone else is always a crapshoot, you know? If someone gives me something in a color that doesn’t work for me, it’s a mess, ’cause I don’t want to use it and end up looking bad. I want to choose that kind of thing, based on what I already have, what I like, and how it feels after trying it, so it’s not really the sort of thing I like to get from someone else. Of course, it’s a different story if they really know me and do some research about what I want.” “That’s a lot of trouble to go through for a present.” Certainly, Amane understood that different colors suited different people, but he thought Mahiru looked good in anything. It was the first time anyone had pointed out that gifting makeup could be such a gamble. Mahiru didn’t want any makeup, so there wasn’t any research for him to do, and there was a good chance she hadn’t mentioned anything about makeup to Chitose, either, since Chitose hadn’t said anything.