Music Box - The Sought for and What we Search For / Chapter 6
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<Several hours later. Sakuma residence, Ritsu's room.>
Mika: ♪~♪~♪
Mika: ...and, done♪
Mika: I also added some more stuffin' to improve the shape. Here ya go, Ikkun~
Mao: Whooa...! It looks good as new, despite how battered it was...!
Mao: Thanks a bunch, Kagehira. You said you were clumsy, but I really think this is amazing♪
Mao: When the ear first started to come off, my little sister tried to sew it back on. But she had no experience, so it ended up ripping entirely.
Mao: I gave it a try as well, but it didn't work out. So the plushie ended up in the corner of a room, along with the torn off ear.
Mika: I see. So that's why there was a buncha little holes in the fabric.
Mao: Ahaha... I was actually the one who gave her that plushie in the first place.
Mao: I won it in a lottery during a festival at the kid's assembly. That was the second place prize.
Mao: It's obviously a girls' toy, right? I was a little disappointed, to be honest, but it wasn't like I could just give it back.
Mao: So I took it home and gave it to my sister. Though, from my perspective I was just getting rid of a thing that I didn't know what to do with.
Mao: ...But my little sister was super happy with it.
Mao: She still treasures it to this day. That makes me kinda happy.
Mao: That's why I've been wanting to fix it somehow for a long time.
Mao: If it hadn't been for today, and if it hadn't been for you, Kagehira, I don't think I could've fixed it for her.
Mao: You really helped me out there. Thank you.
Mika: Ya don't have ta keep thankin' me. I only did what I know how ta do.
Mika: And I much prefer when people treasure these things instead of throwin' 'em out.
Mika: I told ya I like all the junk at the garbage dump, right? I'm tryin' ta cut back, but I used ta go there all the time ta rummage through it.
Mika: There's all sorts there that people throw out. Things that only got a bit dirty, or things that could work again with just a bit of maintenance...
Mika: and even stuff that looks brand new that people just threw out cuz they lost interest in it.
Mika: ...Well, that last bit is just ma imagination, but I can't think of any other reason ya'd throw some of that stuff out.
Mika: In any case, lotsa those things still have worth in ma eyes, even though they're in a place where they're just waitin' ta be destroyed.
Mika: I know that the people who throw things away have their reasons, but still...
Mika: Junk can't talk. Even if it still wants ta be of use and thinks it can still hold on, if a human throws it out, that's it.
Mika: That's why it makes me real happy that ya kept that plushie and gave me a chance ta repair it.
Mika: Thanks, Ikkun. And give yer little sister ma regards...♪
Ritsu: Come on~ Can you not act all lovey-dovey in my room?
Mao: Ritsu, what are you on about? He repaired a plushie for me, nothing more.
Ritsu: I hope that's all it was. Here you go. Tea and snacks~
Mika: Thanks~ Phew, I really needed that...♪
Ritsu: I've been chatting with Maa~kun and taking lots of breaks, but you just kept searching the whole time, didn't you, Mikarin?
Ritsu: By the way. Maa~kun, what is thiii~s♪?
Mao: Oh! That's a piggy bank that I made in primary school! That takes me back~
Mao: …Wait. Ritsu, why do you have that!? I'm sure I threw that thing away.
Ritsu: Fufun. No matter what you tried to conceal, I would always reclaim those items and take them home.
Mao: That's gross. Don't rummage through trash bins…
Mika: Ikkun, didya throw it away after goin' through the trouble of makin' it? But it's so well made.
Mao: Well~… This is a little hard to say after hearing your thoughts about junk, but…
Mao: I made this thing as a part of my summer homework. I guess you could say it was a compulsory assignment.
Mao: I just made it because I had to, and showed it to the teacher. But Ritsu's was so much more intricate than mine.
Mao: So much so that it could win a prize in a big contest. I got embarrassed about how shoddy mine was, so I threw it away in the classroom's trash bin.
Ritsu: You didn't need to feel like that, though. I just wanted to impress the adults, so I went for "pretentious".
Ritsu: In my opinion, your piggy bank turned out much more precious than mine, Maa~kun. I thought so back then, and I still think so now.
Ritsu: …Oops. I'm sorry, Mikarin. I just got swept up by nostalgia. I didn't mean to make you feel left out.
Ritsu: By the way, were you successful? Did you find what you were looking for?
Mika: About that… Ngah!?
Mao: …Oubfh!? *cough, cough, cough*!
Ritsu: Maa~kun, what's wrong with you?
Mao: I-It's… Kagehira's exclamation startled me, so I started choking… *cough*!
Mao: …Phew. I- I saw my life flashing before my eyes…
Mika: I'm sorry, but I couldn't help yellin'.
Mika: Because, look there. On that shelf, there's a music box…!
Mao: …Oh, there is. It looks just like the one we saw at the flea market.
Mao: Saying that it was right under our noses might not be entirely accurate, but to think that we would find one in Ritsu's room, huh?
Ritsu: I have unfortunate news, though. That's not a music box, it's a jewelry box. See? There's nothing in it.
Ritsu: But if it's good enough for you, you can have it, Mikarin.
Mika: Huh? Are ya sure?
Ritsu: Yup. If I remember correctly, I got it from some relative for some occasion or another.
Ritsu: I only remembered I had it just now, so I don't mind.
Mika: An occasion…? Then it's not junk at all. I couldn't take an important item like that from ya.
Ritsu: Ah, well~… Then, this is what I'll do.
Ritsu: I'll display it in our dorm room as a shared decoration. I'm sure Yume-kun will like the design of it, too.
Ritsu: And I think this will put you at ease a little, too. What do you think?
Mika: That sounds nice. Please do that.
Mika: Uhm, and, I forgot ta say this earlier, but…
Mika: I didn't find anythin' that made me wanna take it home.
Mika: Ah, don't get me wrong. I don't mean there wasn't anythin' that I wanted.
Mika: All the rooms were in disarray, but that's a kinda artwork ta me by itself.
Mika: Everythin' seemed like it had a history. Just lookin' at it and touchin' it really got ma creative juices flowin' already.
Mika: But I felt like I shouldn't take any of it.
Mika: And it's not gettin' destroyed, but sent overseas, right?
Mika: That's just like movin' houses. I think that the "junk" would be a lot happier there than if I took it home.
Mika: I'm still a little frustrated that I couldn't buy the music box at the flea market…
Mika: But if that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have come here. So, seein' it that way makes me feel like gettin' all troubled over it had a purpose, after all.
Mika: At this point, I'm more than happy with this jewelry box♪
Mao: I see. Well, it might not be exactly the same, but the look of it pretty similar, after all.
Mao: …Oh! What do you think about turning that jewelry box into a music box?
Ritsu: What an excellent idea. For Mikarin, that should be a cakewalk.
Mika: Nah, nah, I can't do that. I don't have that kinda skill yet.
Mika: If I fail, I'll have ruined it, so I can't mess with it.
Mika: …But maybe one day…
Mika: …if I become a full-fledged artist, I might do it then.
Mika: I don't know when that'll be. This is me, after all, so it'll probably take a long, long time.
Mika: But please wait fer me 'til then, little music box…♪
~End!~