| Guy | .... |
| Homare | Hm, are you alone? |
| Guy | Yes. Tsukioka is away at his part-time job today and I had time on my hands, so I was taking care of the yard. |
| Homare | I see. That’s perfect, then. Come shopping with me. |
| Guy | All right. I was just thinking I needed to buy some fertilizer. |
| |
| Homare | Wait a moment. |
| Guy | ? |
| Homare | Hm, this bicycle certainly has an excellent form. |
| Guy | Are you buying it? |
| Homare | No, I’m poetically inspired. |
| Round and round cycling; ardently rolling; never-ending dancing, doing, swing, ing-ing-ing.... |
| What do you think? |
| Guy | ...I don’t know. |
| Homare | I see. I suppose it’s still too difficult for you. |
| Hm, that coat is also excellent! I’m poetically inspired again! |
| Guy | ...Just as I thought. He seems to have no worries. |
| |
| Homare | That was an excellent buy. |
| Guy | Is this everything? |
| Homare | Well, I’d like to look at the antique furniture store.... |
| Guy | So we’re going to keep shopping? |
| Homare | What time is it? |
| Hm... what, it’s still 15:00? To think it’s only been half an hour since we left the dorms. |
| Guy | It’s 17:03. It’s been one hour and 36 minutes since we left the dorms. |
| Homare | Oh my... I see. It malfunctioned again. |
| This pocket watch breaks ever so often—perhaps because of its age. I need to ask Tasuku-kun to perform maintenance again. |
| Guy | If it’s broken, you should buy a new one. You have the money, right? |
| Homare | ...You’re right. But this is something important to me. |
| ...Let’s talk for a bit. |
| |
| Homare | You said that you were an android with little emotion, right? |
| Guy | Yes. |
| Homare | I, too, was once called a “broken cyborg” because I didn’t understand people’s feelings. |
| For the longest time I believed that I was a defective product who hurt others without regard. |
| This pocket watch I received from my grandmother is like a symbol of that concern. |
| Guy | Why do you hold on to it as if it’s a treasure? |
| Homare | Because I managed to overcome that concern thanks to this same pocket watch. |
| I am a broken cyborg, but “even if I can’t properly understand another person’s feelings, I can put myself in their shoes.” |
| Though this is secondhand telling of a secondhand telling. |
| Even if I am a little troublesome, just like this watch, there is a place that needs me. |
| Just being able to think like that truly put my heart at ease. I carry around this watch so I don’t forget that. |
| Guy | But if you still can’t understand someone, is there any meaning in putting yourself in their shoes? |
| Homare | The meaning does not lie in understanding them, but in the action of caring for them. |
| Guy | ...I don’t understand. |
| Homare | I suppose it’s still too difficult for you. |
| Well, just know that you’re not the only one worrying about emotions! |
| |
| Citron | <<Guy... why must we quarrel among each other like this? Doesn’t this make you sad?>> |
| Guy | <<I....>> |
| Citron | <<....>> |
| |
| Guy | ...Whenever I couldn’t understand someone’s feelings, he would make a sorrowful expression. Is that because I didn’t take the action of caring for him? |
| Homare | Indeed! See, you understand it too. |
| Guy | .... |
| Homare | Hm, that’s right. I forgot to buy marshmallows. That was why I came shopping in the first place; unbelievable! |
| Goodness, Hisoka-kun goes through marshmallows in no time—how troublesome. No matter how much I buy, they’re all gone in a flash. |
| Guy | “How troublesome”? Then why are you smiling, Arisugawa? |
| Homare | Probably because it’s interesting. |
| Guy | Interesting? Mikage is always either eating marshmallows or sleeping, so I can understand why it’d be troublesome to keep him company, but you find that interesting? |
| Homare | Those aren’t the only reasons he’s troublesome. He’s also unfriendly, selfish, and reluctant to do anything. |
| Guy | I didn’t know there were that many reasons. |
| Homare | But he’s fine like that. Because that is what makes him Mikage Hisoka. |
| I prefer Hisoka-kun as he is. |
| Preparing marshmallows is the only thing I can do for him as he fights a lonely battle; that’s why it’s not a burden. |
| Guy | .... |
