*Craaasshhh… Sssshhhhh…*
Under the beautiful half-moon sky, a pair is walking down an empty beach. One is a young human male, while the other is a teenage umamusume. If one doesn't know their background, it would be easy to assume that they are a pair of trainer and trainee.
"Gulp… Gulp… I'm going to need some time to get used to the taste."
"Yeah…"
*Craaasshh… Sshhhhh…*
"Lift your head, Palmer. You won't get anything by looking down."
"Sorry…"
"I don't need your apology. I need your effort to be a better person. Words are the lowest form of evidence in court."
"..."
"Do not feel bad for feeling regret for being born, Palmer. That's a good indication of one's critical thinking. This means that you are evaluating yourself rather than being a complete narcissist."
"That still doesn't erase the pain in my chest, Trainer Igo Heita."
*Craaasshhhh… Ssssshhhh…*
"No. Of course, not. Wasn't meant to. I was simply pointing out a rare occurrence."
"..."
"For your question… Yes, I always think it's a regret that I was born into this world."
"Always?"
The young man was never meant to be born in this world to begin with. He was a resident of a world where umamusumes are characters in a game, not people you share a bus with. He sometimes wonders how different this body would be if it were possessed by its original owner. What path would that man take this body down? The only reason Igo Heita ended up like this was that his body was stolen.
Perhaps this body was meant for someone who will change the world for the better, instead of a selfish bastard who only cares for his revenge.
"Do you want to not feel the pain, Palmer?"
"How?"
"Be satisfied."
"Huh?"
"You feel pain because you feel like you're not good enough to be a Mejiro. You're not satisfied with your current ability. You feel like you don't live up to the name with your current stats. Once you stop caring about the name and are satisfied with yourself… Only then will you be free of the pain."
"...be satisfied with myself… If you know how to stop the pain, why didn't you stop it in yourself?"
"Because satisfaction is the death of progression."
"Even when it means that you will continuously feel pain, you will endure that just to progress?"
"Indeed. I think I'm a masochist because I would rather choose that than live a blissful life. Because for me, a human is a being of progression. Once you stop bettering yourself, you are no longer human in my eyes. Just a cog in the machine for me to use as a stepping stone."
"I want that too…"
"Huh?"
"This feeling… It's not wrong… I feel like if I throw it away, I…I… Something will change. I will no longer be Mejiro Palmer. I will no longer be… Palmer… I will be something else, and I will lose everything. What do I need to do?"
"...Why do you feel that way?"
"Huh?"
"Tell me the reason as to why you feel regret."
"I… I feel like I don't live up to the name of Mejiro… I feel like I mock that name by just having it on me."
"And what does it mean to bear the name of Mejiro to you, Palmer?"
"What does it mean to bear the name of… Mejiro… I don't know."
"Consciously, you do not. Unconsciously, you do. That's why you feel that way."
*Crassh… Sshhhhh…*
"Then tell me!! You train McQueen and are close to Sis Ramonu! You have to know, right?!"
"No. I do not care about that kind of stuff, so I never think of it. You're not going to find any satisfaction with my answer, Palmer."
"..."
"It is your feeling. It is your brain. It has to be your answer."
"I've already told you, I don't know."
"Then stop talking and start searching."
"...How long? How long will it take me to arrive at the answer to my question?"
"Dunno~~ Could be a minute. Could be a month. Could be your entire lifetime. I have lived more than you, Palmer."
*Crassshhh… Sssshhhh…*
The young man stopped walking and stood at the edge of the beach. He let his feet get washed by the crashing waves as both parties looked at each other.
"People say that you should love someone for their personality, not their looks, because it's the only thing that will remain the same throughout their lives. I can tell you with absolute confidence that's a fucking lie."
"..."
"There's no such thing as immortality. My values change, my personality changes, my way of thinking changes, everything changes. Your inside changes as much as your outside."
"..."
"You could've found your answer when you fell asleep today, only to change it two weeks from now once you go through new life experiences. As I said, the only way to stop the pain is to feel satisfied with yourself. The moment you do, you will no longer search for a way to better yourself."
"I don't want that. I want to better myself!! But I also don't like the pain."
"Then I advise you to get used to the pain, Palmer. Not every pain is bad. For example, the pain I'm feeling in my toes right now is telling me that I'm stepping on a crab."
Palmer looked down at the young man's feet and saw a small red claw pinching on his big toe.
"Pft!! Yeah… You're right."
The young man grabs the crab with his bare hand and looks at it menacingly. He lowers his core and pushes his hand away before swinging it toward the sea and throws the crab. The crab was flung like a skipping stone, and its disc-like shape makes it easy for it to accomplish 10 steps before sinking into the water.
"If I don't feel that pain, things might get worse. The crab might start eating my leg without me knowing because I don't feel the pain. The only place free of pain is death, and please don't go there."
"Don't worry, I have no intention of going there. I'm just… I've accepted that some pain is good, but I'm still afraid of the future waiting for me."
"Do you have future sight?"
"No…? Why are you asking?"
"Then don't act like it."
"Huh?"
"I've tried that before, worrying about something in the future, but you know what? It never happened. It's a phase in your life where you are so worried for the future, but as time goes on and as you attempt to take control of the world, you'll find soon enough how impossible it is to predict the world."
"But you're smart…"
"Am I? Aaawww~~ You make me blush, but yeah. Even the smartest man still predicts something wrong. Einstein once believed that the universe is static, and we now know that he is wrong. Do not believe you are capable of predicting the future, Palmer."
"..."
"Look behind us, Palmer."
Palmer looks toward where both of them came from. She saw their footsteps on the sand.
"Now look forward, Palmer."
Palmer turns her head 180 degrees and looks at where they would have walked if they hadn't stopped–a pristine beach with no footsteps.
"Behind us is the past, you can look at it, but the farther it is, the more blurry it gets. In front of us is the future, a mysterious place where nothing is written yet. Do me a favor. Throw a pebble where you think your next step will be if we had not stopped walking, Palmer."
"Over there."
Palmer saw her footsteps from earlier and threw a pebble lightly in front of her. With full confidence, she threw the pebble, believing that she would get it right.
"Now walk then. Prove yourself correct."
Palmer was confused as to why the young man was telling her all of this, but does it anyway. She lifts her leg and pushes it forward toward where the pebble is. She slowly lowered her leg, but before it landed on the sand, the young man pushed her so her leg landed somewhere farther.
"Well, look at that! You are wrong! You can't even predict your own footsteps, let alone the world."
"But you pushed me!"
"Exactly! You can't even predict one factor in such a small action. Let alone billions in a massive world. The one you should worry about is the current you, because it is the only thing you can take care of and will affect your future. You can now continue walking forward or stop, and you do that while standing here. Not the future, not the past, but now."
"The current me…"
"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."
The young man pushed his fist forward to Palmer's hand and opened it to drop an iridescent pearl. He caught the shining pearl with his attentive eyes and purposely stopped above it. To give himself a chance to take the pearl without being suspicious, he shook his feet to agitate the crab so he had a reason to crouch down and grab the pearl.
"The best gift a person could've ever received is being able to enjoy the present, because that means you have been given a chance to improve yourself and your future fate, Palmer. Do not waste them thinking there are more in the future. As I said, nothing is immortal, and nothing is infinite. Even the universe has its edge."
"Yes, Mister Heita."
Palmer looked at the pearl in her palm with complete fascination. The moon might be only half, but the pearl was already more beautiful than anything Palmer had ever seen. A feeling told her to make a memento out of it, something that she could wear every day. Something to hold when she feels vulnerable. Something she can use as a compass when she feels lost. Something she can use to remember the young man when she feels lonely.
A necklace would be nice.