"Thank you for not ignoring me this morning," Rie said as she slid in the seat opposite to him.
It was lunch, in the library.
He shook his head in reply, not looking up.
He was reading the same book as always.
"... Why are you here again?" he asked warily instead.
"Well, because I've been thinking about it a lot."
"About what?"
Rie grinned from across.
"About your request. Happiness, I mean."
He glanced warily at her, taken aback.
"Say you didn't mean it.
Say it was just a slip of the tongue."
He forced his mouth shut,
peeling his gaze away.
Rie continued.
"... See, Ao-kun... happiness is different for every person.
The thing is... all you need is to do something you really like, something that makes you forget about your problems.
Like a hobby," she suggested.
He shook his head.
"... I don't have anything I like to do."
She frowned. "Nonsense. Someone always has something they like to do all the time."
He thought about it.
"I don't particularly like or dislike anything I often do," he said.
Rie furrowed her brows.
"Ah... Really?"
"Really."