Track 8

Well then, let’s start Sonia’s welcome-back hotpot party!

Cheers!!

Cheers!

Thank you everyone for shelebrating my return!

Actually, Toi was the one who came up with this idea.

Sho it was Toi-shan!

He even went out and bought all kinds of ingredients… I can’t thank you enough.

Don’t worry about it! I was really looking forward to it too. It’s Frid– Um, it’s Saturday now… But anyways, don’t hold back and eat as much as you want!

Nagi-kun. I’m going to open the donabe’s¹ lid. Could you put Tuesday back in his cage so he doesn’t get burned?

Okay—.

Okay then. I’m going to open it now… Ready!

Woah…!

It’sh packed with ingredients… It looksh shoooo yummy…!

I didn’t know hotpot could look this fancy…

It ish totally different from your usual all-pea-sprouts hotpot, Nagi-shan…

And they’re all homegrown too.

I happened to run into Danny-san when I was shopping, and he gave me all kinds of tips.

Thanks to him, I made a soy sauce-based yosenabe² today ♪

Nice one, Buchi-san. Oh, I’ll serve the food.

You’re already helping out for such a low pay, I’d feel bad making you do more.

Don’t be! I’m the older one here, so don’t worry about it!

And besides, I’ve actually always dreamed of having a hot pot party with friends.

Huh? You too? …I’ve also secretly hoped I could do one too.

(Stuff like this kind of feels like we’re a family.)

Do you want to eat this fish, Toi? The white one.

That sheems to be cod!

Yep, I do!

Okay—

Here you go.

Thank you, Nagi-kun.

I’ll take some carrots and mochi kinchaku³…

What about the cod? I put in some chicken meatballs too, so grab some of those!

This is way too luxurious… I could eat three bowls of rice with just the broth alone.

Ah, that’s right! I made some rice too! Here, I’ll serve you some!

This huge mountain amount of rice…! I’ll split the meatballs into smaller pieces and savour them bit by bit…

Hehe. We’ve got plenty of meat, so don’t fill up on just rice, okay?

Tuesday’s owner will be coming to pick him up soon.

It’ll be lonely without him, but it’s a good thing he’ll be able to see his family again.

……

Here, Nagi-kun. I put in a lot of meat for you. It’s hot, so be careful!

Woah… Thanks. I’ll savour it to the fullest.

…Oh, it’s good… The flavour’s spreading throughout my whole body…

Come to think of it, the event ish happening tomorrow, yesh?

Right! I hope lots of people will have fun.

Ah… We’ve run out of vegetables already.

Want to try adding edible flowers then? They might be pretty different in taste from vegetables though.

Huh? Why…?

…? Oh, right. You’ve never tried them before.

Astaroth has been wanting to eat flowers as a reward for doing spirit readings lately. By the way, today’s edible flower is snapdragon.

Aachama wanted to…?

Aren’t edible flowersh pretty expenshive…?

Oh. Well, I managed, somehow.

…Nagi-shan. Did anything happen while I wash under maintenance?

Gulp.

I’m worried, Nagi-shan… You look like you’ve lost some weight too.

Ah… Um, well—

A-About that…!

So we decided that everyone in the Night Team would work together to make this event a success and help the shop get back on its feet. Sorry for not telling you earlier…!

Are you for real…!?

Nagi-shan! That’s why I alwaysh tell you not to just go along with everything and buy whatever people shay!

Sorry.

If you’re really reflecting on what you did, then go get refundsh for whatever you can!

That’s impossible…

Hmph—!!!!

Wah, don’t fight…!

Thish kind of shtuff happens the moment I take my eyesh off you!!!!! You need to properly thank everyone in the Night Team!

Yeah, I know.

I’m not done yet! And alsho, alsho—...!

Your habit of hiding thingsh that are inconvenient for you is honeshtly really not good, Nagi-shan. Like the other day—

Yes, I’m reflecting on it.

Ah, um…

No matter how many timesh I tell you, you never line up the bathroom shlippers, and you act like folding the futon is shuch a hassle—

Yes, I’m sorry…

(The meat’s going to overcook, so I’ll just put it aside...)

……….*sigh*. My battery might degrade at this point. I’ll shtop here for now.

I’m going to put Tuesday to sleep. Pleashe finish eating while I do that.

Good nightie!

Phew…

Sonia was really angry… I’ll apologise later too.

No. I’ll give her the new flavour of her favourite snack I bought later, so it’ll be fine… Probably.

Really?

Yeah. I’m sure it’ll cheer her up.

(Nagi-kun really understands Sonia like they’re family…) 

(So he has someone who’s really special to him too…)

If you cherish everything that’s right in front of you, you won’t be able to protect what’s truly special.

(I understood those words since I have Anisama.)

(But I wonder if Nagi-kun does understand what’s “special” to him…)

Hey, Nagi-kun.

Hm?

Right now, there’s shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, and cod left in the pot, right?

Yep. They look delicious.

Just as an example… Let’s say you haven’t eaten anything yet and you’re really hungry…

Then someone also really hungry shows up too. If they ask you if they can have some of the hot pot, what would you do?

? I’d let them eat, of course.

Okay, so let’s say there are five hungry people, but there’s only three things in the pot.

Hm…

Ah. Then I’d give one each to three of them, and I’d split the rice I saved for making porridge later between the remaining two…!

You have to keep some for yourself! You’ll end up with nothing otherwise!

Oh…

I see… Because I can’t save anything for myself, I’m putting this shop that was entrusted to me by Minemori-san into a crisis.

What's “special” to you, Nagi-kun? It can be a person, thing or a place too. Anything or anyone is fine.

Special…?

Yep! Special!

…. Sonia… and the shop…

Uh-huh.

…And Toi, Ryui, Netaro, and Yodaka-san. Buchi-san too.

Huh?

Everyone at HAMA Tours, Minemori-san, the children from the orphanage and Ms. Elisa, the regulars at FloLau…

Stop, Nagi-kun! That’s way too many people~!

I mean the “special” someone among those!

Among those? …Like how you have Ryui?

Yeah! I’d pay any price as long as I get to be with Anisama… He's that “special” to me.

Anisama always gives me everything. He puts me above everyone else, protects me, and devotes himself to me… He loves me…

Do you have anyone, or anything, like that?

Love…

Wouldn’t it be creepy if I felt that way about someone?

Of course not!!

Um…

I got it! Let’s figure out what’s “special” to you! Do you have a type, Nagi-kun!?

HUH!?

Isn’t that kind of a huge leap in the conversation?

Nope! Tell me now!

F-For me to like someone… That’s just way too laughable. It’d just make people uncomfortable…

I don’t think that’s true at all though…

Nope, impossible. No way. No way, no way, no way, no way, no way, no way, no way, no way, no way, no way.

N-Nagi-kun…! You sound like a broken record…!

Ah! Here, have a drink. You might feel more like talking since the sake’s tasty.

Nagi-shan’s type… I’m shuper curious too!

Huh, Sonia? How long have you been listening….

Ever shince you mentioned my name in your “shpecial” lisht!

So you heard basically everything….

…...

My head hurts… I drank too much…

…….

Looks like Sonia fell asleep too…

You say you care for everyone, but that is the same as caring for no one.

…!

Don’t you think so?

…That’s… not true.

Humans are always trying to establish superiority, and fight and hurt each other driven by their desires.

And yet, it’s precisely that greed that has allowed your kind to dominate this planet as its rulers.

Hm? Mm…

But you, Hachinoya Nagi. You’re not very human.

…...

No. I might just be more greedy than anyone.

I didn’t say this because I thought it might make everyone uncomfortable, but deep down, I’ve always envied how Toi was born with someone “special”.

Toi’s different from me. Or rather, I’m the one who’s different from everyone else.

(I wanted to imitate everyone else… That’s why I brought Sonia in. Yeah, that’s exactly why.)

I’ve lived my life without ever feeling that I’m “special” to someone, or been in a position to think of someone as “special”.

I want everything, I think.

Oh?

I don’t want to let go of anything I’ve managed to get my hands on. I’m a nobody, and I have no power. It wouldn’t be surprising if I were abandoned at any time…

If it’s possible to create something “special”, then I’d like to try…

…Heh.

Then I shall grant it to you. I’ll divine a “special” that will never make you cry again, and will whisper choices to you each day that ensure you’re never abandoned.

In exchange, offer me the flower of your life.

Pray. To this flower. Pour your entire being into it.

Ah… This flower…

(What was… the meaning behind it again…? I’m too drunk to remember…)

Ummmmm…

!?

What are you doing to my favourite?

You…

…Hm, Netaro?

…Mmm~ I came to do that, but you already have alcohol in your system, huh~

Do you want a drink too, Netaro? Here.

Mmm…

Cheers~!

…....

I’m already full, so you can eat all the remaining stuff. Oh, just leave the broth. I’ll drink it tomorrow.

Here, Astaroth-san. Have some edible flowers as a snack—

I wanna eat some too!

Yeah, you too. Here.

…Peh! Gross!

Well, they’re flowers, after all. Then have some of this cod instead.

Just like Ivan, huh…

Ivan?

Hoh~ Gii really is like Ivan the Fool! I read about him in a book I borrowed!

“Ivan the Fool”…Yeah, I know that one too.

Heh… If only people like him gathered together, perhaps Ivan’s kingdom could have become a reality.

Meh~ That kind of kingdom sounds sooooo boring though.

…?

Hey, you devil or whatever personality or something. Drink more! You’re here anyways.

Hmph.

From a neuroscience perspective, I propose the theory that there’s no such thing as humans without desires. Gii’s got an appetite too, ya?

I do.

There’s the desire for sleep, the desire for approval, and of course, sexual desire too.

Oh?

.........

You just don’t have many people you can show that side to~ Maybe you’re just in a shy phase of forming attachments slowly.

Um, is that a next-level insult?

As proof, Gii actually picks who he deals with, and there are times where he can be pretty shameless—. Not as much as me though! My cuteness gets me out of anything!

Hm. From a devil’s perspective, it’s easier to manipulate someone who’s greedier. But sometimes, people like him who are indifferent and lacking in desire, can be troublesome.

In that case, how would you control someone like that?

Hm~ If you want to make humans greedier, you’d fire up the neural circuit called the dopamine reward system, and the nucleus accumbens, VTA, the prefrontal cortex—...

Wait. Start explaining from the dopamine part.

(...Yeah. I have no idea what they’re talking about…)