The timeline was various.
The perspective was Toriumi’s.
He was somehow very troubled.
There were many shops in Deichemoore.
The city of water had a lot to see and was quite enjoyable, so even if we came for another purpose, we ended up staying a bit longer.
So, we came to Deichemoore to get George to copy the compass that pointed to the Origin, and we ended up doing a bit of sightseeing.
“They sell a lot of things here.”
“Seeing places like this makes me feel like I’m in another world.”
Hariu immediately approached a street stall while saying “Wow,” and President also approached with interest. By the way, the stalls were selling strange things. I mean, these things could only be described as strange. There were dolls made of wire that moved around, small hemp bags that wriggled, and gems with limbs that did squats. I had no idea what else to call these but strange!
While waiting for George to finish copying, we decided to wander around and check out the stalls. I mean, it would be a disaster if the Origin was being sold here, right? We had to collect it, right? So this was a necessary action. Right? It wasn’t just for fun!
“Hey there, handsome young men! Come check out our stall!”
But, well, when someone says that, we can’t help but go see. Even if the shop doesn’t seem to be selling the Origin, we go check it out because we’ve never been called ‘handsome young men’ before!
“Welcome! Take a look! We pride ourselves on quality! Look at the intricate craftsmanship! Isn’t it beautiful?”
“This is…”
What the shopkeeper showed us was…
“This is something far from our interest.”
“Indeed.”
It was clearly a shop for women’s accessories! Too bad!
“Far from your interest? No way! Come on, you handsome young men must have at least one or two or three or four good people in your lives, right? How about a gift for them?”
The shopkeeper tried to persuade us further, but it only hurt us! That sales talk had a negative effect on us!
“Come on, buy it! I’ll give you a discount!”
“Sorry, we don’t need it…”
Look at the subtle expression on Suzumoto’s face as he refused! All of us had faces like that, and the shopkeeper’s innocent puzzled face made us feel really bad! Sorry, shopkeeper! Next time, you should use that sales pitch on someone who looks like they have a girlfriend!
…So, we left the accessory shop.
Well, you know, just by chance, something caught my eye as we were about to leave.
“Hmm?”
It was an ordinary hair ornament (I think!), but it looked like an unusual flower from another world. Since I got used to looking for strange plants while gathering ingredients for elixirs, I looked at it reflexively.
When I crouched down to look, it wasn’t a flower but a crafted item. Yeah, it was just a hair ornament (I think!).
“Oh! You have a good eye! That one was made by a craftsman who carved it from the shell of a sea god’s pearl! Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s beautiful.”
Ah, I see. I understood a bit after hearing the material. Shells look like this when carved. Interesting.
“How about it? Even if you don’t have a lover now, you might have one in the future, right? Why not buy it now for when that time comes?”
Well, I thought that was a bit much… but… hmm.
…Setting aside the Schrödinger-like existence of a future lover who may or may not exist, I suddenly thought it might suit Maito. Yeah.
“How much?”
“Are you buying it?”
When I took out my wallet, Suzumoto looked at me in astonishment. Hey, isn’t that a bit harsh? Isn’t that face a bit harsh? Right?
“Three silver coins! How about it!”
“Okay. Here you go.”
So, I paid with silver coins and made the purchase. Thanks for your patronage.
“Wow, he actually bought it.”
“What are you going to do with that?”
“Are you going to stash it away?”
“I get it! Toriumi is going to wear it himself!”
Though they teased me relentlessly, I put the hair ornament the shopkeeper quickly wrapped into my pocket and explained.
“No, I thought it would suit Maito. It’s a souvenir.”
Well, we did leave Maito to watch the house while we were sightseeing in Deichemoore, so there’s a bit of guilt… It’s not such a bad thing, right?
“…How should I put this?”
The reaction from everyone was mixed. Did I do something wrong?
…Though I kind of understood why.
“Wouldn’t it be awkward for her to receive something like that? Not that I mind, but…”
That’s true. I started to think about it after buying it.
I realized Maito might not like receiving something like this… After I bought it. After buying it, I realized this possibility. Hmm… what should I do?
“Since she’s been watching the house, can’t it be a souvenir?”
“I personally don’t think it’s a problem.”
When I asked because everyone’s reaction worried me, President was quite tolerant. Yeah. Thanks, thanks.
“Well… I wouldn’t say it’s bad, but…”
On the other hand, Suzumoto seemed a bit opposed.
“I feel like it might trouble her for two reasons if she receives something feminine.”
Two reasons. Huh. …Two?
“First, I think she’d dislike being treated as a woman.”
Yeah.
“And the second is… well, it’s hard to explain, so I’ll be roundabout, but… if we were women, there wouldn’t be any issue giving it to her, I think.”
…Ah, I see.
Yeah. I get it. That’s what you mean. Ah…
…This is troublesome. The more I think about it, the more complicated it gets. What should I do?
“If it were a necessity, it’d be different, but that’s not the case here.”
Ah, yeah, that’s true.
Well, I think food items would be a safer souvenir for Maito…
“Wait a minute. Haven’t we already given Maito accessories?”
“Accessories, or rather equipment. If it has some effect, that’s a different story.”
Well, I know that. I said it knowing that. The main purpose was to enhance Maito’s abilities, not whether she liked it or not. The ‘Transfer’ item is exactly that. Without it, Maito might have died several more times.
“Does this have any effect like increasing defense?”
“No. As far as I can tell from my ‘appraisal,’ it doesn’t.”
“Ah, I see.”
Hagasaki-kun also had a bit of a grim face. Well, I understand. I understand the cautious stance!
“It’s not that big of a deal. She could wear it when there’s no need for combat.”
“Are there times like that?”
…Well, Maito is often close to dying everywhere we go. I’d rather she always be in full gear, though.
No, ah, ah! It’s not like that, I can’t explain it well!
“Um… Maito already have something on her head. Like the ‘Transfer’ one, or the maid’s… what do you call that?”
“Maito-san calls it the ‘standard maid headgear’.”
“Oh, right, that. Since she already have that… I thought maybe you can’t equip anything else.”
Kadomi-kun said this so seriously that we couldn’t help but feel a bit warm inside. In reality, there’s no limit to the number of equipment slots, right? Actually, we stack layers of clothing all the time.
…Well, yeah, that’s another story. Equipping three or four headgear pieces is probably a different matter. Yeah.
“I wouldn’t do it. I want to be safe and there’s nothing rational about it.”
“I think it’s fine.”
While Hagasaki-kun had a sour expression, President, who is like the embodiment of rationalism, said the opposite, which surprised me quite a bit.
“It’s not like it’s a problem to have it. It doesn’t seem to have any buffs, but it doesn’t seem to debuff either. If you don’t like it, you can just throw it away.”
“No, I think that takes quite a bit of courage!”
President was indeed President! Amazing!
“Hmm… I’d turn it into food.”
Kadomi-kun is the type to go with a safe option. Yeah, yeah.
“Huh? Are we all supposed to say something? I never even thought about giving Maito-san a souvenir!”
I feel like Hariu might be the most admirable in a way. I mean, Maito-san loves taking care of people the most, so maybe she’d be happiest with someone who doesn’t require any of her care at all!
“I’m… hmm, it’s difficult. I’d probably think a lot about it and end up not doing anything.”
I understand because Katori is also quite cautious.
“No, I think it’s fine! Maito-san should be allowed to act like a girl once in a while!”
“We’re discussing whether that’s just pushing our goodwill onto her.”
Wow, Hagasaki-kun cuts straight to the point! Kariya is stuttering. I kind of want to stutter too.
“…I don’t have any right to interfere with Toriumi’s actions, so he can do whatever he wants. Despite everything I’ve said. Yeah, um, sorry.”
As I was contemplating, Suzumoto added that with a somewhat apologetic look.
“Well, I wouldn’t do it. Definitely not, but it’s not like Toriumi can’t do it.”
Even if you say that, I’m already in a dilemma mode here.
“…I’m no good at this. Thinking about how the other person might feel.”
Ah, yeah. Suzumoto tends to overthink things. On the other hand, I know I don’t think enough, so it’s not like Suzumoto is wrong, and, ah…
So, I ended up going on a journey to find the source of the problem and muddled things up, and now there’s this hair ornament package in front of me that I’d completely forgotten about. What should I do with this?
To sum it up, giving something cute and pretty to Maito-san might make her feel like she’s being treated as a girl, which she might not like.
And another thing is… it’s from me, a guy. Would she be happy receiving something from a guy? It’s difficult.
Thinking about all this makes me feel like just saying, “Enough thinking! Go for it!” Maybe even worrying about this is not what Maito-san wants, which makes me even more stuck in a rut.
I mean, Maito-san seems to want us to interact with her without overthinking. …But is that really the case?
Trying to guess what others are thinking isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but at some point, it becomes pushing your goodwill onto them. Drawing that line is really hard.
I feel like I get along well with Maito-san, and I think we have similar vibes or styles. Somehow.
So, I have some confidence that I understand Maito-san’s feelings, but once you start questioning that confidence, it quickly deflates.
…I thought Maito-san might like this. I was quite confident.
You see, Maito-san likes pretty things. With Maito-san, whether it’s a gem, clothes, a knife, or a beetle’s wing, they all seem the same. She gets mesmerized by things like knives or Suzumoto’s sword too.
And she likes cute things too. Like maid dolls and Hunter. Though her standard for cute things includes jellyfish, cacti, and mud balls, so it’s hard to tell.
…So, I thought she might like this.
Whether she wears it or not, I thought she might like just looking at it.
But you know, if I give it to her, she might feel obligated to wear it! Ah!
Ah! No more! I can’t think about this anymore! And Toriumi stopped thinking!
“And that’s how it is, Maito-san.”
“I see, that’s a difficult issue.”
So, I resorted to the last option. Ask the person directly. I think this is the quickest way!
“Well, to conclude, I think this is pretty. Even if it doesn’t suit me, I enjoy looking at it. I definitely couldn’t buy it for myself, but I’d be happy to receive it. Thank you.”
When I showed her the actual hair ornament and asked, Maito-san started to smile as she looked at it. Ah, good. At least 90% of the problem is solved. Yeah.
“…You sure are quite timid, aren’t you?”
Then Maito-san said that.
“I thought you were the type who could just GO without thinking about things.”
“Well, I’m aware of that, so… it’s the opposite…”
That’s both my strength and my weakness. Yeah.
I can lead people without considering how they feel. You could say I have the drive or I’m a good hype man, but that can also be seen as insensitive, right? And there’s a chance I could make a huge mistake without realizing it.
…This club has a lot of cautious people. That makes me think about it even more.
“Well, I understand how you feel.”
So, Maito-san, who leans more towards the reckless side, seemed to get it easily. Yay.
“But, well, humanity is diverse, Toriumi-kun. And when diversity leads to misunderstandings, humans use language to achieve mutual understanding, Toriumi-kun.”
“Right.”
I nodded with a slightly serious face. Maito-san also nodded seriously, and that was the end.
…Then, restart.
“…But, there might be people who feel bad just from having these language exchanges.”
Sorry, I’m at an age where I worry about these things. Yeah…
“If you start saying that, just being here makes me a nuisance to everyone.”
…Sometimes, Maito-san can be really blunt.
“My very personality isn’t that commendable to begin with, so that’s one thing for sure…”
Maito-san was counting something on her fingers with a very serious look, but what is this? Should I stop her?
“Adding to that, well, I make people considerate, and they become considerate about not being considerate, and then they become considerate about not being considerate about not being considerate… and they become considerate about not being considerate about not being considerate about not being considerate…”
“Isn’t an infinite loop scary?”
“It is!”
Being in that exact infinite loop, I couldn’t say anything!
“Well… I just decide to be selfish and stick to it.”
“Yeah…”
…I realized for the first time that for Maito-san, this is ‘selfishness’. No, that’s a lie. I probably knew but was ignoring it.
At the same time, this is ‘selfishness’ for me too. It’s impossible for humans to fully understand others, so it’s impossible to completely eliminate selfishness from interactions… Ah, no. This isn’t good. Yeah. Overthinking isn’t good. Infinite loops are scary. Maito-san’s expression is starting to darken too, so it’s time to cut this off!
“Then, let’s believe that this selfishness will save the world!”
“Our adventure is just beginning! …Decided!”
“Decided. So, good night.”
“Good night.”
Well, fortunately, since Maito-san and I are quite similar, we can end things like this freely.
…So, in the end.
Maito-san didn’t wear the hair ornament that often.
Well, I understand. There’s no merit in equipping it. It doesn’t increase defense or anything. And Maito-san tends to be better off fully equipped at all times given her fragility.
…But, ‘not that often’ means she did wear it occasionally.
Like when she was surrounded by the theater club members and participated in their play. Or when she attended a party hosted by Itoigawa-senpai. Also, simply when she went sightseeing. You see, with the ‘Transfer’ equipment, I also have some that I can equip, so when I’m with her, it’s fine even if there are limits on the headgear slots. Yeah.
So.
Even when she wasn’t wearing it, Maito-san somehow had a box where she kept her accessories, including the hair ornament, a scarf clip she used before, and a ring with the effect of ‘Holy Protection’. She would sometimes look at these and smile, so… well, I consider this a success, for now, self-evaluation-wise.
“I’m back! Maito-san! I’m hungry! What’s for dinner? By the way, I found some weird meat and brought it back!”
“What is that cartoonish meat! Shall we grill it? We have to grill it! Let’s grill it perfectly!”
…But you know! This feels more like the right answer!
Yeah! Well, variety is good, and humanity is diverse. I think it’s fine for me to do things this way, and there’s no point in overthinking it! Even if it feels like acting without thinking is the right answer, there’s really no point in dwelling on it!
Alright! Believing that our diversity will save the world! The end!