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Hajime lied in his bed, unsure of what to do. Mahiru’s birthday was coming up soon and he didn’t have the faintest clue of what to get for her. Normally he was rather good about getting other gifts, but trying to figure out what to get his girlfriend was leaving him completely stumped. His friend Kazuichi was trying to give him some ideas, but so far none of them were winners.
“Why don’t you get her a new tripod”
“She doesn’t need one, besides if she did, she’d have already grabbed one.”
“Maybe a backpack for carrying her supplies then?”
“I think Mahiru has just about anything and everything she might need for photography.”
“Then how about some lens wipes, the ultimate photographer could always use more of those.”
Hajime sighed to himself, the conversation clearly wasn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon.
“Oh, Why don’t you get her a big print of one of her favorite pictures.”
“Favorite pictures,” said Hajime raising a brow, “you think she stores them somewhere?”
“Come on man, she’s a photographer, she probably keeps her favorite photos somewhere in her dorm”
“Well...how would I even investigate it? There’s not really a convenient time that I can do so without missing class.”
“Oh she’s going shopping with Miss Sonia in an hour or two,” replied Kazuichi without missing a beat.
“Why am I not surprised you know that,” thought Hajime.
————
Hajime felt kind of awkward as he entered Mahiru’s dorm. While she had given him a key, it still felt weird entering without her approval, but he had a mission at hand.
As he entered he scouted out any potential locations of where Mahiru might store her favorite photos. He checked her drawers, under the bed, and the cupboard. But alas, he found nothing.
The only place left to look was her closet.
“It will only be a quick peek, and I won’t move anything.
When he opened the door, a small lock box caught his eyes. There was a white label on the top that said “Mahiru’s Fav. Photos”.
“Jackpot,” thought Hajime.
Now all he had to do was figure out the lock combination. It was a four digit lock, so Hajime had quite a lot of different combinations he could try. First he tried Mahiru’s birthdate, but it didn’t work. Then her birth year, but once again it didn’t work.
“Hmm,” thought Hajime, “Who’s Mahiru close to. It could be her mom’s birthday, but I don’t know it...Wait!”
Hajime tried entering some of Mahiru’s friends’ birthdays. He tried Hiyoko’s, Sonia’s, Mikan’s, and Sato’s, but none were the correct combination.
“Hm...I have one last idea, but it couldn’t be.”
Hajime entered his birthday into the lock; 0101. Much to his surprise, it was the right code.
As he began to look through the photos, one photo in particular caught his eye, a picture that he remembered fondly. It was a picture of the two together that Mahiru had taken on a school trip to Jabberwock Island, right before they began dating. Hajime remembered how apprehensive Mahiru was about letting him see it.
He smiled to himself, he knew Mahiru would like this one.
He left her room with the utmost confidence.
—————
Soon Mahiru’s birthday came around. She didn’t really throw a party, it was just her and Hajime spending a day at a carnival. While they were sitting on a park bench, Hajime decided to give her the gift.
“Well Mahiru, what do you think,” asked Hajime as she unwrapped it, “I bet you’re really surprised!”
“No, not really.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“Well Hajime, a word of advice, next time you take a look through someone’s stuff, you might want to put it back.”
The sound of Hajime facepalming could probably be heard halfway across the globe. Mahiru chuckled and gave him a peck on the lips. Her boyfriend might not always be the brightest, but his heart was always in the right place.