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Chapter 76: Chapter 9

December 24th (Thursday) – Asamura Yuuta

"Now we\'ve only got half of our high school lives left, huh?"

I didn\'t plan for anybody to hear the words I mumbled to myself, but my good friend sitting in the seat ahead of me unexpectedly turned his large upper body around—Actually, aren\'t we still in the middle of our short homeroom?

"Asamura. Starting next year, we gotta put an even bigger focus on our entrance exams." Maru commented with a quiet voice.

Our homeroom teacher at the front of the class was telling us to be careful during winter break. And with that voice in one ear, I couldn\'t help but gulp at Maru\'s statement. Entrance exams, huh? Maru continued with a tone of resignation.

"We\'ll be adults in no time, after all."

"I don\'t mind the idea of growing up, though."

If anything, I didn\'t like the idea of always staying a child. I don\'t want to be sheltered for the rest of my life. Well, the fact is that growing into an adult does seem like an exhausting process. I just remembered my old man\'s face… Actually, maybe not that much? Since I can\'t remember his exhausted expression after his remarriage, I guess he\'s feeling a lot better now that my old mother is gone.

"You\'re the type of person who wants to become an adult quickly, huh?"

"And you don\'t, Maru?"

"Good question. Since growing up means learning more and more, I\'d love some kind of time chamber to just live my life at ease."

"Ohhh."

So he wouldn\'t have as much time as he\'d like if he followed the path of the baseball professional.

"I wouldn\'t be able to watch all the seasonal anime."

"That\'s your problem?!"

"I was joking."

I couldn\'t believe my ears and leaned forward as I said that. Was he teasing me or being serious? I still can\'t quite tell. The sun tickled my nape, making me turn towards the window. It was shining brightly on the outside. Even during the mid-afternoon, the sun was low, beaming directly on Maru and I: The people sitting next to the windows. Thus, sleepiness assaulted me. The words from our homeroom teacher started to resemble a lullaby, but since a few more minutes would be all it took to end classes, I put up with it.

Finally, the bell rang from the speakers and our homeroom teacher\'s mumbling came to an end. All our classmates sighed in unison and then cheered. Our homeroom teacher shook their head once and then left the classroom, warning us one last time not to overdo it.

"We\'re still in our second year. Why do they have to give us this whole speech just because it\'s Christmas?"

"Huh?" I tilted my head in confusion when Maru said that.

"Illicit relationships and all that. There\'s no way I\'ll let some adolescent bastards destroy my precious break, right?"

"Agreed. I\'d feel the same way."

"So dear older brother isn\'t worried at all?"

Maru using that teasing tone with that vocabulary caused my eyes to shoot wide open.

"What?"

"Knowing Ayase, she\'ll probably have plans tonight, no?"

"Tonight?"

"Like a Christmas date. Don\'t you think so?"

It took an awfully long time before the meaning behind his words reached my brain. Is he implying that Ayase-san has date plans today? Well, any bystander wouldn\'t know just what kind of relationship Ayase-san and I have. There might be people who would try to invite Ayase-san out on a Christmas date. And at the same time, it might seem weird if she rejects each and every invitation. Maybe she\'ll even agree to one… No, there\'s no way.

Suddenly, I felt a vibration close to my chest and frantically sat up straight. When I took out my phone, I saw that I had gotten a new LINE message. On the lock screen, it said "I\'m coming home after shopping," and the sender was Ayase-san. So she\'s coming home after running some errands… See? I knew it.

"What\'s wrong? Did Ayase-san say she hates her older brother now or something?"

"There\'s no way she\'d talk like the little sister out of some weird anime."

"So it was Ayase-san, huh?"

"Urk."

"You\'re so easy to read."

"I think you\'re just too sharp when it comes to this type of stuff."

"And? Don\'t you have to respond, Mr. Older Brother?"

"Nope, it\'s fine." I put my phone back in my pocket and stretched.

Meanwhile, Maru grabbed his bag and stood up.

"Anyway, catch you on the flip side, Asamura."

"Yeah. We probably won\'t see each other again until New Year\'s, so… happy new year?"

"True, I doubt we\'ll run into each other during winter break, so make sure to have a good start to the new year." Maru turned his back toward me with one hand in the air, walking out of the classroom.

I watched him walk off into the distance and then looked around the classroom once more. Half of our classmates had already left the classroom, presumably because of their clubs or just to head home. Meanwhile, I pondered if I should stop by the bookstore myself. Really, what a needless worry to have… Oh yeah, today\'s gonna be a Christmas party at home, I forgot.

The kitchen walls were sparkling. Naturally, this wasn\'t thanks to me. Akiko-san was the one who suddenly said "I\'m going to give this place a good cleaning today." And of course, she pointed at the kitchen when she said that. Ayase-san and I had offered to help out. Since my old man and I rarely cook, the kitchen was still fairly clean, and we finished getting it all shiny after roughly two hours. This was at roughly 3 pm, so after a break and a few snacks—

"All that\'s left is to prepare the dinner, so you can take it easy now, Yuuta-kun," Akiko-san said and kicked me out of the kitchen, probably because she was looking forward to a thorough cooking session with her daughter. Thus, I had no other choice but to return to my room and open my bag. I grabbed the book I had just bought and turned to the first page, leisurely enjoying my reading time. The next time I raised my head, I realized that the inside of my room started to grow dark. The sun had long set. I read the last bit of the book and then sighed.

—That was great. I read through it all in one sitting. I can\'t believe I read the first volume of a heavy hardcover science fiction story in just two hours, not to mention a translated one. I started to feel like I myself had a grave duty on my shoulders that forced me to travel through space and time. Now I understand why this would receive a Hollywood adaptation. I closed the book when I heard Akiko-san and Ayase-san indulging in a pleasant conversation. Upon poking my head out of the room, Akiko-san spotted me.

"Yuuta-kun, could you turn on the TV?"

"Why the TV?"

"I just wanted some white noise. A movie or something like that will do."

"Ah, I see. Got it."

I searched for the remote and turned on the next best streaming service I could find. If she wants some noise in the background, then a channel specifically for movies should do that trick.

"Would you prefer a Japanese movie? Or maybe a Western one?"

"A western one. With subtitles is fine, too."

"…You\'re really using this as BGM, huh?"

Then again, even the lines can deliver plenty of excitement on their own, even if you can\'t understand them. I booted up a special service for it and chose a random movie befitting the Christmas season. It seemed to be a comedy movie for children. I\'ve seen it many times before. Something about children being left behind by their parents and doing this and that. It seemed to land itself pretty well, as they created sequel after sequel. Then again, it\'s got a very Hollywood-esque approach where it\'s unclear if there\'s any connection between the series. Maybe the parents are divorced in the sequel? I can\'t let down my guard even with family movies like this.

"Thanks, Yuuta-kun!"

"Um… is there anything I can help with?"

"Make it so that you\'re starving!"

"…Huh?"

So, should I do some light training? I glanced over at Ayase-san, who simply hummed to herself while swinging around the frying pan. I guess I shouldn\'t break her concentration, at least.

"Well, feel free to call me if you need a hand."

"Okaaay!"

After cleaning the bath and checking the water level, I went back to the living room. I sat down on the sofa and went back to watch the currently-airing movie. Shortly after, Ayase-san joined me on the sofa, which probably meant that they were done cooking. Even though there was space for another person between us, I was reminded of the night we watched the movie together. I looked over at Ayase-san, wondering if she was watching the movie, but she was going through her vocabulary collection. And since Akiko-san was with us, I wasn\'t even quite sure how to interact with Ayase-san.

Then again, watching TV as a family would be… normal, right? I\'m thinking about it too much. When I looked over at Ayase-san again, she had put her earphones into her ears and was listening to something as she worked through her vocabulary. She\'s not showing any intention of talking to me. Nor is she watching the movie. It\'s like we\'ve gone back to how we were a year ago.

"I\'m home." My old man arrived home with a plastic box in one hand.

He said he\'d be home at around 7 pm, but it was already half an hour past that. He walked past us and directly into the kitchen.

"I grabbed the one you ordered, but the place was crowded, so it took me a bit. Sorry."

"That\'s totally fine!"

He brought back a whole cake that was twelve… maybe fifteen centimeters in diameter? Why can I tell? It\'s because I decided against eating cake when Ayase-san and I were out to eat dinner. Then again, we just didn\'t have the confidence to finish a whole 12cm cake right after dinner. Still, a 15cm cake might be tough, even for four people… But I guess we can just keep any leftovers for tomorrow.

"Let\'s leave this for after dinner," Akiko-san said and put the cake in the fridge with a grin.

Since we had prepared for the end of the year, our fridge and freezer were pretty packed.

"Yuuta-kun, could you carry this and this for me?"

"Sure."

She handed me some beer and non-alcoholic champagne, which I carried to the dinner table. I guess we\'ll need glasses and a corkscrew, too. After making enough space in the fridge, Akiko-san pushed the box with the cake inside. In the meantime, Ayase-san began warming the food, and I carried the heater to the table. By the time my old man came back after changing into a more comfortable outfit, the dining table was already set.

"Wow, that looks mouthwatering."

The main focus of today\'s Christmas dinner was standing in the center of the table: Herb-flavored grilled poultry. That being said, it wasn\'t just any ordinary chicken meat, it was actually genuine turkey meat that we in Japan tend to enjoy on special occasions like this. Though I guess this is normally eaten in other countries around Thanksgiving. It had less fat than regular chicken meat, which is why it\'s found frequently on menus for people on a diet. It wasn\'t an entire turkey, either, but the amount of meat waiting on the plate to be eaten was big enough for me to doubt if we could finish it. My old man apparently had ordered it online, choosing the roasted option.

"Maybe something with pasta would have given this a more Christmas-y feel?" Akiko-san commented as she looked at the fully-loaded table.

I mean, we\'ve got a turkey as the main course, but there\'s still enough rice to make us feel stuffed, and we\'ve got regular miso soup, too. In terms of Christmas colors, this is definitely on the weaker side of things. Ayase-san spoke up, attempting to provide a follow-up.

"Erm, I think this should be fine. We made some regular salad, too. I think this\'ll do as a Western Christmas dinner. Just look at all the dressings, too. Which would you prefer, Stepdad?"

"I\'ll go classic Japanese."

Really, what kind of origin does Christmas even have at this point? I had no problem with a Christmas dinner, but that thought left me bewildered.

"We also prepared some pickled vegetables. Here, there\'s some pickled cabbage and cucumber. You like those. Right, Taichi-san?"

"I sure do. Thanks."

"Mom… Pickles would have been eno—"

Enough—she probably wanted to say but swallowed her words. She probably realized that this wasn\'t enough to comment on. Ayase-san and I flashed a wry smile and sat down. Christmas is supposed to be about love and peace, after all.

"Anyway… Merry Christmas! And Yuuta, happy birthday!"

"Dad, you gotta say that on the actual day…"

"That makes sense. My bad. Happy birthday, Saki-chan. And Merry Christmas!"

"Thank you very much."

"Happy birthday, you two. Now you\'re both 17," Akiko-san said as she looked at both our faces.

Our parents cracked open their beer, with Ayase-san and I having our non-alcoholic champagne, as we put their glasses together for the toast. As you\'d expect, Akiko-san\'s miso soup was absolutely delicious. Just as my old man had said, arguing about Japanese or Western style is a trifling matter. And today, the miso soup was tofu-based. Beautifully-sliced white tofu combined with green onions. The soup itself was made from red miso. Taking a sip from it, I realized something.

…Did she make this with Christmas colors in mind? Well, it should be fine for at least today.

"The sauce is delicious, too."

"And the meat is so pleasant to chew. I guess I scored a good hit with this one."

Akiko-san and my old man shared impressions about the food, telling me that my judgment wasn\'t too far off. After our dinner ended (during which I held back a bit to leave some room for cake), we had some after-dinner coffee and started cutting the cake. The top of the 15cm cake read "Merry Christmas" written with chocolate and a Santa Claus-shaped biscuit next to it. It felt almost like a shame to cut up a cake this beautifully decorated with white cream. Inside the spongy slices of the cake, I spotted the red meat of several strawberries. That\'s typical for Christmas, all right. You\'ve gotta have shortcake.

"It\'s better to keep it classic than to experiment and ruin the day, right?" My old man said.

Well, he\'s not wrong. I poked my fork into the slice of the cake given to me by Akiko-san, and we proceeded to celebrate our first birthdays and Christmas as a family. My old man was happy that my grades had gone up compared to last summer, and asked if Ayase-san had any interest in attending a prep school, too.

"If you\'re worried about the money, then…"

"No, it\'s okay. If I started something new now, I\'d probably only get distracted."

It was a response full of restraint as you\'d expect of her, but my old man still accepted it. Thinking about it, before they moved in with us, Ayase-san and Akiko-san had been living alone together. Getting used to suddenly living with two men must be extremely difficult. Not to mention that my old man and I had been living here before, and they moved in with us. The change in the environment alone must have been oppressive… Man, it\'s already been half a year since I first met Ayase-san.

"If you change your mind, then tell me whenever, okay?"

"Thank you very much… Stepdad."

Adding that last part of the sentence caused my old man to start smiling happily. Good, he\'s growing to become a wonderful helicopter parent.

"Personally, I\'m much more worried about Yuuta-kun. Are you even finding time to relax and enjoy yourself?"

"…Isn\'t it the other way around? I figured you\'d be worried if I\'m studying enough."

"I\'ve never once had to worry about that," my old man commented from the sidelines.

Yeah, I don\'t remember my old man ever telling me to "Go study." That being said, he was very peculiar and attentive to any calls from school that were about me. I don\'t remember how long he\'s been like that, but it\'s probably been since after my mother left. He\'d ask me to show him my report card, as well as all the question sheets up to middle school. Plus, he wouldn\'t even say anything while reading through them. He\'d just nod to himself, asking if there was anything I didn\'t understand. It felt like he was looking at x-ray pictures of me. And then, a few days later, textbooks and reference books for the subjects I was having trouble with suddenly appeared on my desk. That in itself created a lot of pressure. Though once compulsory education was done and I got into high school, he just asked for the report card and nothing else.

"Yuuta always loved reading books ever since he was a child. Your life as a student is short, so you\'ve gotta have fun from time to time."

"So you say, but I\'m enjoying myself, you know?"

"Really? Well, as your parent, I\'m happy to hear that. But leaving that aside…" My old man stopped and winked at Akiko-san.

She stood up and opened the door to their bedroom. From there, she returned with a plastic bag that was hidden behind the door.

"Here, these are our birthday presents for you."

"Hm? This…"

"Are these books?" Ayase-san asked, confused.

The objects wrapped in the Christmas package were quite thick, and the main reason Ayase-san and I could guess that they were books was because we\'re used to wrapping books in the first place. We\'ve seen this familiar sight many times over.

"Can I open it?"

"Of course."

I gave my old man, who kept grinning to himself, a dubious gaze, and removed the wrapping paper. As expected, it was a book. Not to mention…

"A university entrance exam workbook?!"

"I figured this would come in handy since you\'re getting into studying soon. You don\'t have one yet, right?"

"Well, I don\'t, but…"

Ayase-san was just as bewildered as I was, and I didn\'t blame her. After all, the present we received from our parents on Christmas of all days was the "University and Faculty Entrance Exam Question Collection." Since the front cover was red-colored, some people have taken to calling it an akahon, or "red book." Normally, you\'d start gathering these after you set your eyes on your dream university, but these are for all shared problems. Not to mention that it had five copies for all the subjects I had problems with. Needless to say, I was very grateful for this. After all, they could easily surpass the price of three hardcover books together. Allowing me to have them at hand whenever I want will surely come in handy. However…

"This really doesn\'t feel much like a present, though."

"Once you\'ve become an adult, you\'re free to live your lives as you\'d like, but right now, it\'s entrance exam time."

"Do your best, you two," Akiko-san said with a smile.

"Thank you very much. I\'ll do my best." Ayase-san thanked the two of them and lowered her head.

At that time, Ayase-san and I experienced the weird taste of an odd Christmas present, still not knowing why exactly my old man and Akiko-san kept winking at each other. From the TV, we heard the voices of the child protecting their house from thieves.

That night, right when I went to bed in order to get some good sleep, I heard faint sounds. I opened my eyes amidst the darkness. I looked around, spotting nothing out of the ordinary in my room. Or rather, I couldn\'t see anything at all. I grabbed my phone and turned on the screen, checking the time while I was at it. It was almost half past midnight. I had just fallen asleep a bit ago. Then again, I now have winter break starting tomorrow, so sleeping in a bit wouldn\'t hurt.

I then turned my phone around to light up the area around my door. I spotted a small box next to the door that wasn\'t there before. What\'s this about? In order to get it, I\'d actually have to get out of bed… But I was oddly curious. I peeled off my blanket, which caused my body to shiver from the cold air. I felt the urge to hug myself to warm myself up a bit. I turned off the A/C since I didn\'t think I\'d actually get out of bed again. After making my way to the box, I picked it up and returned to my bed, turning on the light next to my pillow.

Since it was wrapped with a ribbon on it, I could tell immediately that this was supposed to be a Christmas present. And it\'s from Santa Claus. That name immediately came to mind, but I quickly shook my head. I\'m not a young child anymore. But how long has it been since I\'ve gotten my hopes up like that? So this is the main gift, huh? I mean, I was happy about getting the akahon for Christmas and my birthday, but I guess that was just a distraction from this, huh? Was my old man the type of person to pull stuff like this? Then again, it might be Akiko-san\'s influence.

There\'s a good chance Ayase-san has received the same thing on her end. I took off the wrapping and checked the contents. Immediately after, something fell to the ground.

"…Is this a letter?"

A present with a card? Upon checking the card, I found that the text was quite lengthy. And it started with \'To Yuuta, who will be an adult next year\'—So basically, since things will be messy and stressful next year, they decided to celebrate us becoming adults a bit ahead of time.

"Oh yeah, we\'ll have to focus on entrance exams starting next year…"

Becoming a third-year in high school means you\'ll have a constant stomach ache from the stress. It\'ll probably be hard to give us something when we\'re constantly under that much pressure. I checked inside the box.

"It\'s a watch… Not to mention…"

It turned out to be a wristwatch from a manufacturer even I had heard of. As a high school student, its price made it something absolutely unattainable. Even a used one could sell for a hefty amount. It would be the perfect present to celebrate one\'s employment.

—To Yuuta, who will be an adult next year.

I felt the gravity of the message written on the card. Next year, I\'ll be 18. I could even get married at that age. And then I\'ll become independent. Though I never really thought about it until now. The idea of working feels so unbelievable. The regular schedule would be to attend university, graduate after five to six years, and then start working—Actually, finding work isn\'t so easy from what I\'ve heard. You need a good amount of luck to find a good job. But I need it to eat food and be independent… and get married…

I shook my head left and right. That last part isn\'t important right now. I took the wristwatch out of the box and put it around my wrist. The silver belt glistened with a light color under the LED light of my room. It wasn\'t nearly as heavy as I expected, and wearing it felt quite comfortable. But for now, I put it back into the box, which I placed next to my bed.

…I want to be able to earn enough money so I can afford this kind of wristwatch. And for that, I need to work hard. I snuggled back under my blanket, and even after I turned off the lights next to my bed, the silver shine of the wristwatch remained visible behind my eyelids.