4. What Am I Looking For?
As he was walking through the marketplace, something charged into him from behind.
“Ungh!”
“Wah...”
Though he didn’t quite pitch forward, he did turn around in surprise, and Yume was there. Yume had tackled him.
“...Yu-Yume-san? Oh...! Shihoru-san, too.”
“Meow! Here’s Yume!”
As Yume energetically waved her arms around and jumped up and down, Shihoru stood behind her, waving her hand a little more reservedly.
“...H-Hello.”
“U-Umm...” Moguzo put a hand on his own chest. They had surprised him pretty badly, so his heart was racing.
“Wh-What’s up, you two? A-Are you out shopping, maybe...?”
“Mmm, well, Yume and Shihoru were lookin’ around. Right, Shihoru?”
“...Y-Yeah, that’s right. We were looking at things...”
“What about you, Moguzo? What’re you doin’?”
“Oh, m-me...? Um, I-I’m doing the same thing, I guess? Looking around.”
“For food, maybe?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“You’re a food, after all.”
“Huh...?”
“Oops! Yume meant you’re a foodie. You’re real good at cookin’. Listen, Yume, she’s a big fan of food, too. But makin’ it, maybe not so much. So, maybe she should stick to eatin’ it.”
“S-Sure. Well, um...”
There were times when he couldn’t immediately figure out what Yume was trying to say. When that happened, he always had to pause and turn it over in his head a bit.
“...I-I think I like both, maybe? I-I dunno what it is. When I get the flavor I was trying for, it makes me really happy.”
“Ohhh...” Shihoru’s eyes widened a little, and a look of understanding came to her face.
“Muh?” Yume puffed up one cheek, and poked her jaw with her index finger. “Is it like that thing? Y’know, where you close your eyes, and you try walkin’ straight, but when you open your eyes, nyoo, you went crooked? Is that what it feels like?”
“U-Um... I-I dunno. It’s a bit different... maybe?”
“It’s different, huh.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. Kinda.”
“Yume’s sorry, too.”
“No, I’m sorrier...”
The way the two kept bowing their heads to one another made Shihoru chuckle. When Yume noticed, she cracked a smile, and Moguzo laughed at how silly it all was. The three were all laughing together when, out of the blue, Yume jumped towards Shihoru.
“Gloooomp!”
“Eeeek!”
“Unyaa. Glomp!”
“Hey, Yume, stop...”
“Okay! Yume, she’s gonna stop!”
What were the two of them doing? What kind of communication was this? Moguzo had no clue, but Shihoru didn’t seem to actually dislike it, and they looked like they were having fun.
It felt good to see them getting along. I’m really not cut out to be a warrior, Moguzo thought. Still, for the sake of the comrades who had let him into their party, he had to be the best warrior he could be. He meant to do that, but once he got so old that he couldn’t fight anymore, he thought it might be nice to open a restaurant with his comrades.
“U-Um, so, something happened...”
“Mm-hm, mm-hm. What is it, Moguzo?”
“...For some reason, I’m going to be having a cooking battle with Ranta-kun.”
“Ranta-kun’s being weird again...” The look of distaste on Shihoru’s face made Moguzo smile wryly.
“Sort of, yeah... B-But whatever the reason was, I’ll be happy if I can make something delicious to share with everyone.”
“Ohhhh. That’s the way to be!”
“If possible, I want it to be something I wouldn’t make if it weren’t for an event like this...”
“...I’ll look forward to it.”
Shihoru covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes sparkling. From where Moguzo was standing, it looked like Shihoru might be an even bigger glutton than Yume. Yume stood on her tiptoes to bring her face closer to his.
“And, and?”
“...Y-Yeah. And what? I haven’t thought of anything yet... which is why I was looking around at ingredients.”
“Favor bolds the fortune, y’know!”
“Okay...?”
Moguzo and Shihoru glanced at one another. The look on her face told him not even she could discern what Yume was trying to say. He was just going to have to pretend it made sense.
“Y-Yeah... that’s right?”
“It is, huh? Right, Shihoru?”
“...Huh? S-Sure... I guess?”
“Oh! In that case, Yume’s thinkin’ that Yume, Shihoru, and Moguzo should all look together!”
“You sure you want to? I’d be grateful for it.”
“Of course Yume wants to. And Shihoru does too, right?”
“...Of course. If you don’t mind, Moguzo-kun.”
That was how they ended up looking around the market together. He didn’t get the chance to do this often, so Moguzo tried asking Yume and Shihoru some questions.
“Um, what sort of things do the two of you like?”
“Hmm? Things we like, huh? Let’s see... Yume, she likes wolf dogs!”
“...Yume, he means to eat.”
“Oh? He does? Food, huh? Nnngh. Munnngh. Nunuhhh...”
“S-Sorry, Yume-san. For making you think so hard...”
“Nuwah?!”
“Huh...?!”
“Moguchin, you just called Yume Yume-san, didn’t you?!”
“...M-Moguchin?”
“Moguzo?”
“W-Well, I’m fine with either, but, uh... Yeah. I dunno. It feels weird addressing you without an honorific...”
“You think so?”
“It feels overly familiar, I guess.”
“Is it really overtly familial, you think?”
“I-I don’t know about that.”
“Yume’s fine with just Yume, you know? Yumerin’d be okay, too, though. Or Yummy?”
“...Yume. Yummy would be weird, okay...?”
“Unghhh. Okay. Shihoru’s Shihoru, after all. Just Yume’s fine, huh? Maybe Moguzo should be Moguzo, too. I mean, Moguzo’s cute.”
“...Y-You think so?”
Moguzo’s face felt hot. It wasn’t hot outside, but he felt like he was going to break out in a sweat.
“Yep, yep. Yume thinks you’re cute. Shihoru’s cute, too.”
“...I-I don’t think so...”
“You’re cute, okay? Moguzo, you agree, right?”
“Huh? Uh, sure... Yeah. I-I think she’s c-cu...”
Moguzo covered his face with both hands. He felt intensely embarrassed, but if he didn’t finish what he’d started saying, she might take it the wrong way. He wouldn’t want that.
“...I think she’s cute. Really.”
“Oh...” Shihoru bowed politely to him for some reason. “Th-Tha... nk... you...”
“N-No, thank... you?”
“Nyooh? What’re you two doin’?”
I don’t want to hear that from the person who got us into this mess. That’s what Ranta might have shot back with, but obviously Moguzo couldn’t say such a thing.
“Oh! So, about the food Yume likes.”
Oh, and now we’re suddenly back to that, was something he couldn’t say, either.
“Yume, she’ll eat anythin’ that tastes good, y’know?”
After all that, you’re fine with anything, was, yet again, something he couldn’t say.
“A-As for me...”
What a good person Shihoru is, trying to smooth things over.
“Personally... um, I’d like something that won’t be fattening if I eat a lot of it...”
Diet food?!
That’s what she wants?
That?
Well, she is a girl; maybe that’s just how it is.
Their opinions were even less useful than I imagined.
It must have been apparent to Shihoru that Moguzo was thinking this as he ground his molars, because she ducked her head.
“...I-I’m sorry. That’s not much help, huh? It’s because I’m fat...”
I don’t think that has anything to do with it. I mean, you’re not particularly fat to begin with.
He really wished he could say that. But he couldn’t possibly.
Moguzo stared up to the sky.
He wanted enlightenment.
The moment he wished for it, his stomach grumbled. Moguzo hurriedly looked to Yume and Shihoru. It seemed neither of them had heard. What a relief. Then it happened.
“Ah...!”
Just now, in the corner of his vision, he’d seen something!
“Moguzo? You see somethin’?”
“Y-Yeah...”
With a perfunctory response to Yume’s question, Moguzo started to search for it. There it was. This was the place. There were barrels standing in front of the stall, and he could see inside. Moguzo pointed, and spoke to the owner.
“W-Would that happen to be... rice?!”
The owner of the stall looked at him dubiously and gave a curt nod.
“It’s mainland-grown rice. What about it?”
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