The festivities were in full swing. The meal gathering, which had been as extravagant as it was delicious, had come to an end, and I had successfully(?) survived that mysterious game of playing house where I nearly lost something precious. Now, we were about to begin one of the day’s main attractions.
It was the gift exchange—a moment of pure fun—to be followed by a special surprise.
“I honestly thought you’d be the one playing Santa, Kazunari.”
“Believe me, I intended to at first. But if I suddenly disappeared…”
“That’s true. With Mio-chan and the others clinging to Kazunari like that, I think changing the plan was the right call,” Sara said.
“No kidding,” Yuji agreed.
Right. If Santa had appeared the moment I went missing, there was no doubt that Mio-chan would have started looking for me. Besides, I never expected Sakura and Yuki-chan to grow so fond of me; there was a high chance that someone as sharp as Sakura would have seen through the disguise and realized it was me. In the end, the change of plans was clearly for the best.
Truth be told, a part of me really did want to be the one to play Santa and see the look of joy on Mio-chan’s face.
“Hey now, what are you boys huddling up and whispering about?”
“The way you put that makes it sound a lot worse than it is. Could you please stop?” I asked.
“Then hurry up and get ready already!” Natsumi-senpai barked.
“Yes, yes…”
“You only need to say it once!”
“Yes, yes…”
“W-why you…!”
I sighed. The wise stay away from trouble.
There was no way I could handle a woman like her, so leaving Natsumi-senpai to Yuji was definitely the best move. I wasn't abandoning him; I was delegating.
Now then, I needed to get ready too—though that simply meant taking a single item out of my bag.
“Alright, is everyone ready?”
“Yessss!!”
Hearing Mio-chan’s energetic reply, I glanced around at everyone. Good, it looked like they were all set. Since I’d given them a heads-up, it seemed even Sakura and Yuki-chan had their gifts prepared.
“Hehe… Big Brother, my present is me, so you can relax, okay?”
“Uh…”
I honestly didn't know what was supposed to be relaxing about that, and there were so many things I wanted to point out about that sentence… but for now, I was certain the girl had no idea what she was actually saying.
Still, where on earth did she learn a line like that? She even went through the trouble of winking. Was Sakura really just a kindergartner?
“Haha, you’re certainly popular, Kazunari.”
“Hehe… Big Brother is handsome, but there’s more to a man than just looks. You should follow his example, okay?” Sakura said to Hayato.
“…Yeah, you’re right. It’s just as you say, Sakura-chan,” Hayato replied with a strange amount of gravity.
“Now, Sakura, stop being so cheeky and come over here! I’m so sorry about her,” Sakura’s mother said, apologizing to me.
“No, no, I think she’s got a good eye for people.”
“Hehe, she’s just acting grown-up and saying whatever pops into her head without knowing what it means. Please don’t take her seriously.”
“Hmph! That’s not true!”
At her mother’s words, Sakura puffed out her cheeks cutely and turned away with a pout. Seeing her act her age for once was actually quite heartwarming.
“Big Brother, this is Yuki’s present!”
“Haha, then make sure you exchange it with everyone else, okay, Yuki-chan?”
“Okay!!”
As for Yuki-chan, she continued to shyly cling to my left hand, showing me the gift she held in her tiny palm with a happy smile. This girl had a way of being subtly sweet that made me worry she’d be a real heartbreaker in the future… though there was no need to overanalyze a child’s personality now.
“Pwesent, pwesent♪”
“Mio-chan is so cute…”
Mio-chan, who was usually the first to volunteer for things like this, was currently hitched onto my back in high spirits. Behind us, Hanako-san was standing on her tiptoes to pat the girl's head, which was another charming sight.
“Now then, everyone, please take your positions.”
““Okay!””
It seemed Nishikawa-san’s preparations were finished as well.
“Well then, let’s start the gift exchange!”
The familiar strains of a classic Christmas song flowed from the speakers. We all sang along as we passed the gifts to the right, one after another.
The gift I had prepared myself passed through my hands several times, and eventually, it ended up with Mio-chan, who was sitting right next to me.
“There!”
The song ended right then. With a final shout, the passing of gifts stopped abruptly. The small box currently in my hands was definitely not the one I had brought, which was a huge relief.
After all, the most awkward part of a gift exchange was ending up with your own present.
“Yayyyyy! I got Big Brother’s pwesent!!”
In Mio-chan’s hands was indeed the gift I had just passed to her. It seemed the Goddess of Fate was smiling on her today.
Or rather, she’d actually memorized the pattern on the box I’d wrapped.
“Hehe… how wonderful for you, Mio-chan.”
“Yeah!! Ehehe, Big Brother’s pwesent!”
Overjoyed, Mio-chan held the gift over her head to show it off, hopping up and down between Sara-san and me. Sakura and Yuki-chan watched her with envious eyes, which made me feel a little guilty, but those were the rules.
Besides, if I were being honest, I had picked out that gift specifically hoping it would end up with Mio-chan.
“Hey, Big Brother, can I open it!?”
“Go ahead.”
“Yay!!”
Once she had my permission, Mio-chan started to vigorously rip into the wrapping paper, but then she paused. She looked troubled, glancing back and forth between my face and Sara-san’s.
What was it this time?
“Hehe… Mio-chan, let me see that for a moment.”
“Okay!”
Sara-san seemed to understand exactly what the girl wanted. She took the box, untied the ribbon first, and then carefully peeled off the tape. She removed the wrapping paper with delicate, cautious movements before folding it neatly.
Ah, I see. That’s what she wanted.
That actually made me pretty happy.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you, Sara Onee-chan!!”
After taking the gift and the neatly folded paper and ribbon, Mio-chan trotted off. She opened her backpack in the corner of the room and tucked the packaging inside like a precious treasure. She even gave the bag a couple of satisfied pats afterward.
“Mmm-hmm, Mio-chan is a girl through and through, isn't she?”
“She is. It’s truly adorable,” Sara said.
“Man, I wish I’d had a phase like that…” Natsumi-senpai mused.
“Huh? Natsumi, since you were a kid, you’ve always been the type to rip the contents out and toss the box aside, haven't you?” Yuji asked.
“Yeah, Natsumi-san is still exactly like that,” I added.
“Yuji!! Takanashi!! Don’t say unnecessary things!”
“Ahaha…”
I certainly felt that Natsumi-senpai was more of a "substance over style" person, so it made sense. Judging by Yuji’s tone, he’d probably been on the receiving end of her messy habits more than once.
“What is it? What is it?”
“Hehe…”
Mio-chan returned to our side and lifted the lid, unable to wait a second longer. When she saw what was inside, her eyes went wide.
“Aaaaah! It’s Miikawa-chan!!”
She pulled a mascot of the protagonist "Miikawa" from the hit anime Miikawa out of the box. It was a brand-new release. I’d found it by pure luck during a recent shopping trip while the shop clerk was stocking the shelves.
According to the clerk, it was a rare item that had sold out instantly online, making it nearly impossible to find at retail without going through resellers.
The popularity of Miikawa was truly a force to be reckoned with.
“Ah, no fair! Sakura doesn’t have that one yet!”
“Aww… I’m so jealous, Mio-chan.”
“Nooo, this Miikawa-chan is Mio’s!! Right, Big Brother?”
“Y-yeah. Mio-chan was the one who won it.”
Staring into Sakura’s resentful eyes made me stammer reflexively. That girl was going to be terrifying when she grew up.
“Mio-chan, let me see!”
“Wow, it’s so cute.”
“Hmm… No wonder the girls in class are obsessed with this thing,” Hayato noted.
“Is it that popular?” Sara asked.
“You wouldn’t know because you only have eyes for Takanashi-kun, but it’s a massive fad!” Hanako-san explained.
“I know at least that much. I even have a large plushie of it at home.”
“Wait, really? Is it one of the prize ones?”
“Yes. Kazunari-san won it for me when we went to the game center a while back.”
“Whoa, how did you pull that off, Takanashi-kun? I tried forever and couldn't get one…”
“Well… luck, I guess.”
Since Sara-san was being so complimentary, I didn’t want to ruin the mood by explaining "hyena tactics." The truth was that the previous customer had sunk a fortune into the machine without winning. I had simply stepped up, put in a single coin, and the machine’s payout probability finally kicked in.
Once those three-claw machines hit their credit limit, they’re actually quite easy to beat.
“Yeah, those three-claw machines are something else,” Yuji said with a knowing smirk. Hanako-san and Hayato both nodded in silent understanding. Most people who looked into how those games worked knew the secret.
“Mommy, look! Miikawa-chan!”
“Oh, how lovely, Mio. I’m glad you got the one you wanted.”
“Yeah! Big Brother gave it to me!”
Mio-chan was genuinely thrilled. She kept looking at the mascot, hugging it tight and stroking its head. Seeing her that happy made me feel like I’d made the right choice.
“Oh, this is a digital photo frame?” Sara asked.
“Ah, that’s mine! Please use it!” Tachikawa-san called out.
“Hehe… thank you. I’ll make sure to display photos of me and Kazunari-san.”
The gift Sara-san won was a sleek, simply designed photo frame. The box mentioned it had a slideshow feature. I figured it would be nice to pick out some of our best photos and look through them together later.
“Let’s see, mine is… Oh, is this soap? It smells amazing.”
“Hehe… you can use it as a room fragrance too, so feel free to use it however you like,” Sara said.
“So this was Sara’s gift.”
Natsumi-senpai had won the fragrance soap Sara-san prepared. The scent was already reaching my seat; it smelled so good it almost felt like a waste to use it for washing.
“Oh, a cute ballpoint pen!”
“Heh… a tabletop humidifier.”
“I got an aroma stone.”
One after another, everyone opened their gifts, showing them off and comparing what they’d received. There were handkerchief sets, hand creams, and stylish sweets. Everyone had clearly put a lot of thought into their selections, and just watching them was a joy in itself.
“Now there’s only Kazunari-san left,” Sara pointed out.
“Eh? Oh, right.”
I’d been so distracted by everyone else’s excitement that I’d forgotten I hadn't opened mine yet.
“It seems my gift found its way to Takanashi-san,” Nishikawa-san said.
“Haha, looks like it.”
Since everyone else had already claimed a gift, mine had to be from her.
“Hehe… if I’d known it was going to you, I would have chosen something more masculine.”
“That would defeat the purpose of the exchange, Eririn,” Natsumi teased.
“I suppose so.”
I followed everyone’s lead, carefully peeling back the wrapping paper to avoid tearing it. With a bit of anticipation, I opened the box to find a single, elegantly designed tin. It had some ornate English script on it, and the word tea.
“Is this black tea?”
“Yes. It’s a variety I drink regularly. I recommend it highly, so I thought you might enjoy it.”
“Thank you. I’ll try some tonight.”
“Hehe, I’ll brew it for you myself,” Sara added.
I drank tea fairly often—mostly because of Sara’s influence—so I was genuinely happy with the gift. I actually thought I recognized the design on the tin from the Satsukawa house; I might have even had it before without realizing it.
“Is that everyone?”
“Looks like it. Well then, that concludes the gift exchange—”
“Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmaaaaaas!!”
A booming voice suddenly thundered from the ceiling, cutting me off.
Everyone froze.
“What was that?”
“Whose voice is that?”
Just as we were about to wrap up, the room was filled with a sound that sent everyone looking around in confusion.