This is Mac, one of the respondents.

I’m Flagmaker, a columnist. Sorry for the late comment, but this is what I would say: “Thank you! Just knowing you feel that way is enough for me this time! In return, if I’m ever short on money in the future, would you let me ask you just once to meet without an allowance? m(_ _)m” Would I be happy to hear that? Honestly, more than happy, I’d feel relieved, haha. I’d think, “Wow, she’s such a great person!!” and want to treat her well.

I’m in Seattle. I really appreciate you being willing to forgo the allowance just this once. It means a lot that we’ve built the kind of relationship where you’d think that way. I’ll definitely make it up to you next time or on White Day—maybe with a gift card or something.

I’m Taro, a male member. That’s an interesting idea. I think I might be happy about it too, but… hmm. On second thought, I might feel a little uncomfortable first. In my case, after the second meeting, we usually don’t talk much about the allowance, and when I give it to them, I tend to do so casually. As we spend more time together, it gradually fades into the background. So if someone told me, “The fact that you don’t receive an allowance is something special,” I think I’d feel as though they had dug up something I’d been trying to let fade away and put it right in front of me. I’d understand that they meant it in a positive way, but at the same time, I might feel that we have different values. If we had reached the point where we could talk openly about anything and regularly joked around like that, I’d probably enjoy it, and it might even bring us closer. That sounds fun in its own way.

I’m Paper Airplane, a male member who was a little happy to have a brief exchange with my son for the first time in months. Hearing that would make me happy too. It’s also nice to do the little things that ordinary couples or family members do.

I’m Date◎Yume, a male member. Haha! That’s great! I’d honestly be happy to hear that. My favorite girl—the one who seems like she might say something like that—is already getting the most I can give her, so of course I’ll get her Godiva chocolates for White Day（笑）

I’m Kazu, a male member. Once, when I helped my partner solve a personal problem—not for any special occasion—she told me she couldn’t accept an allowance that day. I was happy because it made me feel that she was engaging with me as a person, rather than treating our relationship as purely financial. Still, I believe an allowance is a matter of keeping things clear, so I thanked her for her feelings and gave her the allowance as usual. However, if she told me it was a Valentine’s Day gift, I might accept it. Then, the next time we met, I’d probably give her a gift card worth the allowance. > Mac Yes, it made me happy. My opinion of her skyrocketed. Perhaps the flaw in this idea is that a woman who would say something like that is probably already someone special to you. I’ll give her something separately for White Day. If I can’t think of anything suitable, it’ll probably be another gift card（笑） I gave it to her before White Day because I thought she might have trouble if one allowance payment were postponed by a whole month. Actually, for the women who gave me Christmas presents, I knew whether each of them preferred Amazon or Rakuten, so I gave them a gift card for whichever one they used more often. > Mac again Yes, it makes me happy. There was a question just recently about moments when people feel love. It may not go as far as love, but I felt affection and genuine feeling in realizing that I wasn’t merely a source of money to her. When someone offers me something of their own accord, I can feel their sincerity, and I feel that I should respond to it.