The timeline is around the usual time.
The viewpoint is Hariu.
We’re arranging analog games and playing with house rules.
“Speaking of which, I got a proposal today.”
Everyone was surprised by Maito’s statement.
“…What did you do?”
“The fact that the word ‘do’ comes up first tells me a lot about how Suzumoto thinks of me.”
Well, I feel the same way, but… a proposal… what…?
“If you ask what I did, well, I was walking around town and stopped by the market. I saw something like a rose with a sign that said ‘Perfect for stews!’ and bought it.”
“And then, suddenly, you got a proposal.”
“Yeah.”
Seriously… isn’t this other world too scary? That’s practically a random passerby. If it wasn’t, then it’s a stalker. Either way, it’s scary!
“So, who was it? What kind of person? Was it even a human?”
“Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if it was a water flea, a sea urchin, or a sea slug, but unfortunately, it was a local from this world.”
Well, yeah. Water fleas, sea urchins, and sea slugs don’t talk. If they did, I’d like to see that.
“Um, by the way, was everything okay? No trouble or anything?”
“Yeah. I just said ‘I’m already married,’ and they backed off, so I ran away.”
“When did Maito become a married woman?”
“I was married from the moment I refused the proposal until the moment I turned it down.”
“To whom?”
“A water flea.”
…I don’t think that’s a very good way to refuse. But if you’re someone who can lie smoothly, maybe it’s fine. Yeah. People in this world seem pretty persistent. Saying ‘I’m already married’ is stronger than ‘I’m not interested.’ Hahaha.
“So, onto the main topic.”
When Maito said that, we got a bit on guard.
“Wait a minute. That wasn’t the main topic?”
There’s more to the story than getting proposed to, the person being from this world, refusing, and running away?
“Yeah. Well, I just thought, it’s amazing how they come up with proposal words. ‘Are you the fairy of the rose? Would you marry me?’ It’s incredible how they can say that with a ring.”
Oh, is that what you mean?
…I was worried for nothing! I thought it was something more serious and important, but it was such a light and trivial matter!
“By the way, there’s a game like that, right?”
And Toriumi immediately turned it into a game discussion!
“Since we’re here, let’s prove that our minds are sharper and our sense is better than the residents of this world!”
And somehow, he made it into a competition!
So, we started the game in a casual mood. Haha. Well, it’s the usual, isn’t it?
“The rules are simple! Take five cards and come up with the best proposal words! The idea is to combine the words on the cards to make a good proposal. Since we don’t have the original cards, let’s make our own as usual.”
And we can create cards based on our memories even without pre-made cards. Well, it’s not surprising since it’s usual for us.
“Words like ‘I am’ or ‘You are,’ or ‘to you’ or ‘with you,’ those words with ‘I’ and ‘you’ and particles can be used freely. Also, ‘I love you’ and ‘let’s get married’ can be used regardless of the cards.”
Following Toriumi’s words, Maito quickly made the cards. It looks like she can dye letters on thin wooden plates. It’s fun to see unnecessarily high-quality cards being made.
“Next, we need a lot of cards with various words. I think we can all come up with words and write them down, right?”
“Combining these to make proposal words, right? Then we need to include the best words.”
“That’s right.”
“We need something that hits the heart.”
So, we each wrote 11 cards randomly! I don’t think we’ll come up with any sensible words, but that’s part of the fun! Even in the worst-case scenario, we can make a proposal with just ‘I love you’ and ‘Let’s get married’ since they’re free to use! Haha.
After a bit, everyone finished making their cards, and the game began!
The first dealer, who lost at rock-paper-scissors, was Kadomi. This means everyone would propose to Kadomi. So, everyone tried to come up with proposal words that would resonate with Kadomi.
…So the cards I drew were, ‘Like a white lily,’ ‘Dog,’ ‘Beautiful,’ ‘Miso soup,’ and ‘Lightly salted.’
Well, it’s decided with these!
“Okay, it’s time for everyone to propose to Kadomi! Yay!”
“Uh… I don’t really want to…”
“But the dealer is the judge, so just accept being proposed to.”
Kadomi was fidgeting, but that’s how it goes, so Toriumi started the proposals!
“Let’s have miso soup together every day! Marry me!”
…
“Uh… no.”
“Ah, Kadomi. You judge after hearing everyone’s proposals, okay?”
Well, it’s clearly a no even without hearing everyone’s…
Next, Maito.
“I feel destiny with you! Marry me!”
“Oh, that’s normal.”
Nice. It feels like she got a good draw there.
Next, Suzumoto.
“I want to be your knight. Marry me.”
“He even added furigana!”
He got a good draw too! Amazing!
Next, Hagasaki.
“I love you. Marry me.”
“Oh, you couldn’t make anything.”
“I couldn’t help it! Look at this!”
Hagasaki proposed using only the initial hand, and when I looked at his cards, they were ‘Miso soup,’ ‘Cat,’ ‘Bed,’ ‘Kickboard,’ and ‘Rice.’ Terrible!
Next, Katori.
“Let’s rendezvous together. Marry me!”
“Who wrote that card?”
Next, Kariya.
“Let’s merge together!”
“If it was ‘you’ instead of ‘you,’ it would have been perfect.”
Next, President.
“I’ll surely make you happy for life. Marry me.”
“Oh, that’s normal…”
Lastly, it’s me!
“You are as beautiful as a white lily! Marry me!”
“Well, that’s normal.”
“Yeah, normal.”
…That’s harsh! I had a really good draw!
“Okay, Kadomi, whose proposal resonated with you the most?”
“Um… well… Suzumoto’s had the highest completion.”
“Alright.”
So Suzumoto scored the first point. Completion, huh? I was confident too, but oh well. I’ll do better next time.
“After trying it once, I realized this game is pretty much luck-based.”
“Yeah. But if you use the technique of overlapping cards, you can make better phrases.”
Suzumoto showed me how he overlapped cards.
By cleverly stacking the cards ‘In my heart,’ ‘fireworks,’ and ‘covered in mud,’ he created the phrase ‘A spark in my heart.’ Oh, wow.
“If you apply this rule, you can actually create various things.”
Oh, I see. That’s a strategy that requires a lot of thought. It might work if you take your time, but doing it spontaneously is quite tough.
“Hmm, if I draw a power card, I usually try to attach something before and after it.”
Well, that’s simple and strong. ‘Like a white lily’ was my power card too.
“But Toriumi’s result was ‘Let’s have miso soup together every day,’ right?”
…Yeah, if you draw weird cards, it gets tough. I had cards like ‘Dog’ and ‘Lightly salted’ that were unusable this time.
“Okay, now it’s your turn to propose to me! I’m looking forward to your proposals!”
“It’s like in those shounen manga, ‘I’m looking forward to everyone’s letters!'”
Next, Toriumi is the dealer. This means completion and sense are also important. Probably.
Alright. This time I’ll score for sure!
First up is Maito.
“I’ll make a grave for you. I love you. Marry me.”
“Stop! Don’t fight over me! Don’t increase the number of corpses!”
“If someone proposes to you like that, running away is the correct answer.”
“Well, there’s a possibility they’re just a stonemason.”
“Still, I wouldn’t want a proposal like that…”
Next is Suzumoto.
“I want to live destiny with you. Marry me.”
“Why is Suzumoto always so lucky with the cards?”
Next is Hagasaki.
“You are beautiful. I love you.”
“It feels just slightly underpowered.”
“What are you talking about!”
Next is Katori.
“You look great in glasses. Marry me.”
“Come to think of it, you are a glasses fetishist. I can’t believe it reflected in your card draw.”
“Uh… Katori, is it okay to use up your luck here…?”
Next is Kariya.
“A cat is beautiful. Marry me.”
“To a cat!?”
“Proposing to a cat for Toriumi’s proposal.”
“Does that mean I’m a cat?”
“Do you need a medicine to grow cat ears?”
Next is President.
“I’m crazily in love with you. Marry me.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Yeah, it’s not funny.”
“It’s not funny!”
Finally, it’s my turn!
“You are my first star. Marry me!”
“It’s quite well-put but lacks power.”
Isn’t that harsh!? I really tried!
The last one is Kadomi.
“…I’ll make you happy.”
Oh, short. But very Kadomi-like. Wow.
“Now for the results! I’ll choose Kariya!”
“He’s turned into a cat…”
“Who benefits from that way of talking?”
Oh, Kariya… So, does that mean going for jokes works better?
“Alright! Next, I’m the dealer! Nice to meet you!”
Next, Maito is the dealer.
…Uh.
Somehow, I feel like… yeah! I’ll go for the jokes too! I’ve decided!
First is Suzumoto.
“I like dogs. Marry me.”
“Sudden dog lover declaration.”
Next is Hagasaki.
“Let’s burn down the house every day from now on.”
“That’s a reference from a certain character, isn’t it?”
Next is Katori.
“Straight right miso soup.”
“Don’t come up with weird-sounding techniques.”
Next is Kariya.
“The bed looks like it’s going to explode. Marry me.”
“Is it a Chinese-made bed?”
Next is President.
“Are you lightly salted? Marry me.”
“Scary! That’s scary! No! Don’t eat me!”
Next, me!
“I might probably love you. Marry me.”
“Why did you add unnecessary words?”
Next is Kadomi.
“I felt the darkness.”
“That’s not even a proposal.”
Finally, Toriumi.
“I’m a Tororo with you! Marry me!”
“Wait, what was that?”
“It’s ‘I’m with’ and the ‘To’ from ‘tokimeki’ and ‘Ro’ from ‘romantic.’ So, it’s ‘I’m a Tororo with you!'”
“That reminds me of that game where you combine Ghibli titles and the funniest one wins…”
“…Suddenly, everyone started going for jokes, and I’m confused.”
Well, yeah. Haha. But I saw it coming.
“I knew it would turn out like this someday, right?”
“Well, with everyone’s creativity and quick thinking, this level of jokes is easy to come up with. Anyway, as a joke, the most original was the Tororo proposal, so I’m marrying Tororo.”
“Yes!”
So, Toriumi won this round. The one strong in jokes wins this game.
…After that, we played a few more times, made new cards, and the content became even more chaotic.
Stuff like “The most beautiful fire jutsu like time stopped!” or “Let’s go straight home” or “Miso soup is life” were also popular jokes. There were also ones with a weirdly strong storyline, like “I’ll take the enemy to the grave,” “I’ll keep chasing you who burned my dog,” “I’ll stay in bed for life,” “You set the house on fire,” and “I’ll win every day from now on.”
Yeah, it became less about proposals midway, but it was still fun, so it’s fine. Haha.
After the game, we went back to the story of Maito getting proposed to out of the blue.
It was resolved too!
“Who knew such an easy solution existed… I’m moved.”
“Are you really okay with that?”
So, Maito decided to wear an apron with our joke proposals written in the other world language when she goes shopping!
…Basically, a strange apron with big phrases on the chest like “My me will explode” or “I won’t stop smiling and using fire jutsu until you die.”
Even if she looks like a beautiful girl, nobody would propose right off the bat if she’s wearing such a weird apron! That’s the plan!
…At first, we thought a ring would be enough, but it felt awkward. So we decided going for jokes to get laughs would be better.
In reality, Maito proudly said she started getting avoided a bit. Proposals almost stopped, and even the number of pickups decreased significantly. (Though it’s surprising there are still a few persistent ones. Haha.)
Thanks to that, when we went shopping together, we had to fend off potential kidnappers or well-meaning suitors much less often, and we could focus more on shopping, making it more enjoyable! Yay!
Then.
“By the way, Maito, do you have a specific type of proposal you’d like?”
When Toriumi asked, Maito thought deeply.
…And the answer was.
“Honestly, I’m not looking for anything too romantic, so I’d prefer something humorous. Or just efficient communication would be fine.”
So, yeah, that was her answer. Typical of Maito, I guess.
“You don’t seem like you’ll get married.”
“Oh, Hagasaki, ever heard of ‘birds of a feather’? That includes you.”
“Stop it! Don’t start a fight that drags us all in! It’ll hit everyone!”
…We all ended up taking damage, but yeah…
I’m not really at the age to think about this stuff, but honestly, if it’s a weird proposal like this, it might be fun. Haha.
Though I won’t be the one doing it.