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“If you even glance away for a moment, you’ll be touching my companion.”

I missed the chance to catch the wolf-like monster that, if lost, would keep me up at night, but it seemed I wasn’t the only one who didn’t care.

Zion was approaching with an angry expression, looking ready to explode.

“That can’t be true, Zion!”

“Then what did I just see? Hanamana looking all embarrassed with her head down, her face all red with a strange smile while Hop Harvey was petting her and trying to hug her…”

“What? Was Hanamana making that kind of expression?!”

“You really managed to see that in the heat of a battle, huh? Although, he wasn’t actually trying to hug her.”

“Eh? Senpai, are you saying you’re not denying that Hanamana’s face looked like that?! If so, does that mean she really had that expression…?”

Hanamana was caught in the chaos of Zion’s misunderstanding.

She looked a bit pathetic, but I didn’t have the luxury to worry about Hanamana right now.

It seemed that my explanation was lacking because Zion was still glaring at me, angry even after joining us.

“Then can you tell me what you talked about with Hanamana?”

“She thanked me for fixing Zion.”

“So you just petted her, huh?”

“Well… right?”

“Is that even a logical story?”

“Ugh. Well, you see…”

Originally, I was comforting Hanamana because she felt gloomy about not noticing that Zion was deteriorating, but when it came to explaining that to Zion, I skipped that part because I thought it would make her feel bad, and now it had turned into a nonsensical story.

There was no way I could start over and explain everything now…

“Can’t you just trust me?”

“Of course not! Just try to sneak past this!”

“Think about it, Zion. With such a pretty and lovely Zion here, why would I mess with perfectly fine Hanamana?!”

“So now you’re trying to move on with flattery? Clearly, you have something to hide…”

“Huh?”

Zion suddenly fell into thought mid-sentence.

What’s going on? What is she thinking all of a sudden?

“Wait a minute, I clearly…”

Zion’s previous fiery anger came to an abrupt halt.

I had no idea what thoughts were swirling in her mind, but I hoped the situation wouldn’t worsen…

“Perfectly fine Hanamana, huh…”

Zion had a serious expression as she pondered my words.

Did I say something special?

‘Perfectly fine Hanamana. What does that even mean…? Oh!’

Could it be? Zion…

“I see. Hanamana is different from Naato. Hanamana is fine, so…”

So this means she thought I wouldn’t touch Hanamana since she wasn’t broken!

Should I be happy or not?

And going by that logic, it seems like the misunderstanding about Hanamana has been cleared up, but…

“Excuse me, Zion? It’s a misunderstanding when you say the princess wasn’t fine, and that it means I touched her.”

The suspicion about touching Naato remained.

Come to think of it, at that time we were both so busy confessing our feelings that we didn’t clarify everything properly.

“Where’s the misunderstanding?”

“At that time, the princess just fell and I caught her.”

“It looked like you knew she was going to fall when you caught her.”

“Th-That was…”

Well, I did think she was about to fall and grabbed her, but it wasn’t like I had any weird thoughts about wanting to hold Naato…

“You knew, didn’t you? That Naato was going to fall.”

“I didn’t know it from the very start! I was only worried halfway through!”

“You were just waiting for her to fall, huh? Just dying to get a hold of her.”

“Touching? What are you talking about…!”

“If it were me, it’d be totally fine to touch her as much as I wanted…”

Zion glared at me with a look full of anger, biting her lower lip.

“As much as you want to touch her, why do you keep touching other girls… and my companions?!”

Let’s think about this for a second.

Even though Zion was mistaken about me, the atmosphere didn’t feel overwhelmingly bad.

Zion looked furious but was glaring at me with eyes that seemed on the verge of tears.

When guys get into misunderstandings with girls, the biggest mistake they tend to make is obsessing over facts and repeating the conversation to correct the misunderstandings.

In fact, that was a mistake I had already made once.

Earlier, it would’ve been an easy fix if Zion had just kept quiet the moment she thought Hanamana was fine and that I wouldn’t mess with her. But now the rumors about Naato had caused things to escalate into this situation.

Of course, it’s frustrating to be misunderstood about the facts, but right now, it’d be better to do what Zion wants.

Zion acts this way because she has feelings for me. Knowing that those feelings wouldn’t waver allows me to let go of my current grievances.

Clearing up misunderstandings is something to be done later when emotions have cooled. For now, I just need to soothe Zion as best as I can.

“I’m sorry, Zion. I wouldn’t touch your precious companions…”

“It’s not because they’re precious.”

“Then…”

“Of course, both Hanamana and Naato are valuable companions, but the reason I hate it when you touch them is for another reason entirely.”

Since I had apologized, Zion’s expression softened a little.

She seemed to have calmed down a bit, now looking down with a gloomy expression.

“If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t mind, but those two are amazing people. Unlike me, they’re still strong, beautiful, cute, and glowing, plus they’re kind, cultivated, and knowledgeable. If someone like Hop Harvey approaches them, it makes me uneasy. I worry you might actually come to like them…”

As Zion continued to describe her feelings about these two, her voice grew softer and she shrank away further.

So it was just that Zion was feeling anxious. She wasn’t really angry at me; she was just trying to stop me because she felt genuinely worried.

“Zion.”

“…!”

I placed my hand on her head, just like I had done with Hanamana.

“Have you forgotten that I don’t really like things like that?”

Beautiful, glowing things? Was Zion scared I might be taken away by them?

Even though I know rationally that I have a tendency to gravitate toward broken things, understanding it fully is still a challenge.

Of course I don’t hate beautiful and good things, but the feeling I get when I gaze upon something broken is something I subconsciously pursue and desire.

Honestly, even I don’t know why I feel this way. It just feels that way somehow.

Expecting a rational explanation for something that’s not normal is foolish; I just accept it as it is.

And even after hearing my words, Zion wasn’t at ease. She lowered her head where my hand rested and leaned against my chest.

“Even so, I’m still uneasy.”

“After all that reassurance?”

“Of course! Because from now on… I’m going to become someone who shines far brighter than either of them.”

Zion stepped closer and began to snuggle her face against my chest.

“You won’t even be able to imagine how I will come back as a healthy person. If I become reborn far brighter than my prime that you know, will you still like me? Even if it becomes hard to find even a trace of my broken self?”

Zion tightened her embrace, pulling me closer.

It was clear that right now, Zion was different from before.

If this were the past, she would be trembling and sobbing, barely able to hold onto me while begging me not to go.

As much as I loved how she used to be, a healthy Zion holding me tightly like this is just as wonderful.

What is love?

I think love is about ‘not caring.’

No matter what Zion looks like, as long as she is Zion, I’ll like her.

I love the Zion who is broken and in pain, and I love the healthy and happy Zion just as much.

So, with my hand still on her head, I pull her in for an embrace.

“Of course I’ll like you. I’ll like you no matter what form you take.”

“Really?”

“How many times do I have to say it for you to believe me? Ah, I can’t do this. I can’t touch anything else, or else my one and only precious person will become uneasy, so I have no choice but to do this much.”

With that, I moved my hand from the top of her head to start petting her hair.

“Are you treating me like an object?”

“You declared that you’re mine in front of everyone, so what else can I do?”

Pet, pet, pet…

“Ugh, but I’d like you to treat me a little more preciously.”

“Since you keep feeling uneasy, I’ve been toying with the idea of breaking you instead, you know.”

“Is that all you do, pet my head…?”

As we continued our conversation while I patted her hair, Zion began to shy away from my hand slowly but surely and eventually pulled her head away, quickly escaping my embrace.

“How long are you going to just keep petting my head…!”

“Well, you know… I have to keep it appropriate since Hanamana is here too.”

“Hanamana isn’t a child! She’s over 200 years old…!”

“Don’t, don’t bring up age, Zion!!”

At that mention of age, Hanamana suddenly looked startled, her small hands tapping Zion’s arms in surprise.

I can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu here…

“More importantly, since I brought it up…”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Hanamana suddenly grew serious. What on earth was she trying to say that required such a tone?

“Are you ignoring Hanamana’s opinion?”

“Opinions? What do you mean by that…?”

“I just feel uneasy that the senpai might like Hanamana. I don’t mean to offend, but wouldn’t that mean that you also have a type…? Like, um…”

She set a serious tone but ended up mumbling her words. Could it be…?

“Are you saying you find me… unappealing?”

“W-Well, unappealing is a bit harsh! That’s not it, it’s just that you’re not Hanamana’s type!!!”

So that’s what all the dramatic seriousness was about?

Hanamana… seems like she’s definitely not just a child.

She’s bold enough to say she has her own type.

“So what kind of guy does Hanamana like?”

“Oh? I’m curious too!”

“Zion doesn’t know? Haven’t you discussed this with Hanamana?”

“Why would a hero party discuss such things?”

“Well…”

It’s not like we couldn’t, but we were skipping over it for now.

“H-Hanamana…”

All my focus was on the words that came from Hanamana’s tiny lips.

Because she’s saying that someone like me is not her type—what kind of guy could she possibly like?

 

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