Three Days of Happiness

119
was when you left my sight. ...And depending on your reply now, I
might have a new best or worst.”
“That was a pretty smooth delivery of such a roundabout pickup
line. I’m impressed.”
“So how do you think Himeno would reply?”
“Ah, well, if it were Ms. Himeno,” Miyagi thought with her hand to
her mouth. “...Perhaps she would say “What’s this nonsense of all a
sudden?” and try to laugh it off.”
“Huh. What if it were Miyagi?”
“...I don’t catch your meaning.”
“Joking. Don’t worry about it,” I chuckled to myself.
“Are you really that kind of person, Mr. Kusunoki? The kind to
joke.”
“Not sure myself. I don’t put much trust in words like “personality”
or “disposition” or “character.” Those things all change depending
on the situation. Looking at it in the long run, what changes people
is what situations they get into. People put a lot of faith in
consistency, but it’s something more superficial than most people
think.”
“I wouldn’t have expected you of all people to say something like
that.”
“Everyone likes to think they’re the exception when there’s a
depressing statistic.”
Miyagi lightly sighed. “I suppose that is true,” she agreed.
When we got tired of walking, we hopped on a random bus. There