When I woke up, there was no present from Santa by my pillow, but on my desk sat the wristwatch and fake glasses I got last night, along with one half of the matching rings.
I crawled out of bed, shivering from the cold, and checked the time on the clock. I’d woken up later than on a weekday, but still early enough to call it a decent hour.
As I opened the curtains and window to let in some fresh air, I was greeted by a world blanketed in white. It didn’t seem like a morning to take my time getting ready.
I quickly changed and headed to the living room. Hearing movement from Yuna’s room, I started lining up the French toast I’d soaked last night in the frying pan.
I rinsed some vegetables to go with it and plated them simply on the side.
The smell of the toasting bread must have lured her down, because I soon heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
「Morning, onii-chan」
「Morning. This is breakfast?」
「Yeah. It’s almost ready, so get the drinks ready」
「Aye aye, sir」
Despite having a friend over, Yuna didn’t seem to care and acted just as she always did. I smiled a little at that and gestured for her friend to sit at the table.
「Wow」
「It looks like a hotel breakfast」
「This is the famous cooking Yuna-chan’s always raving about」
As I brought over the finished breakfast, their eyes lit up as if they were staring at a work of art.
No, it’s really nothing fancy—so getting treated like I just served a gourmet meal is kind of embarrassing.
「Kyo-chan, the roast beef from yesterday was made by onii-chan too」
「What? Seriously? Yuna-chan, can I have your onii-chan?」
「No fair, I want him too. Let’s trade for my onii-san」
「No way. I’m not giving him away or trading」
Their lively chatter reassured me that Yuna had built strong friendships. I’d worried a bit about any lingering bad reputation of mine, but it seemed my concerns were unnecessary.
「Well, if you come over again, I’ll whip up something else for you」
「Really?」
「Yeah, if this kind of thing is good enough for you」
「Onii-chan, you’re too soft」
I lightly patted Yuna’s head as she pouted, then took a bite of the French toast.
「By the way, is your onii-san popular?」
「Huh? No, I don’t think so」
「My onii-chan’s always flirting with Mei-san.」
「Ah, so he’s taken already」
Taken, huh. Well… yeah, I guess that’s true. Are middle schoolers really talking about stuff like this these days?
If I stopped to mentally respond to every comment, I’d never finish breakfast, so I let their lively girl talk wash over me while I quietly focused on eating.
When I finished breakfast a little early and opened the front door, I was greeted once again by the snowy world outside. I couldn’t help but sigh. Fortunately, there were only a few centimeters of snow, but I’d still have to clear the path from the front door to the sidewalk. Looking around, I spotted a few fathers with similarly reluctant expressions, shovels in hand.
Moments like these made me miss my dad. Would be nice if he could shovel the snow for me.
Well, there was no point dwelling on that thought. I took a deep breath and lightly stabbed the shovel into the snow.
I continued shoveling lazily for about twenty minutes. Despite the winter chill, I was starting to sweat from the exertion, and the cleared path was growing steadily. Still, there was a long way to go.
「Souta!」
「Huh? Mei? What are you doing here?」
Just as I was thinking of taking a break, Mei appeared, wrapped up in a coat. For a second, I thought I might be hallucinating from exhaustion, but her bright smile looked far too real for that.
「I said I’d come help if it snowed, remember?」
「You did, but…」
「Besides, they told me to come pick you up and kind of kicked me out」
「Oh… I see」
「Where’s Yuna-chan?」
「She’s upstairs playing with her friends. I didn’t want to drag her out to help with this」
Mei wiped the sweat off my forehead as she spoke, prompting a sheepish smile from me.
I didn’t expect to get this worn out from clearing just a few centimeters of snow. Guess I’m more out of shape than I thought.
「Want me to take over?」
「It’s pretty tiring. You sure you’ll be okay?」
「I’ll do what I can」
Before I could say much more, Mei practically snatched the shovel from my hands and tossed her coat at me. Without hesitation, she started shoveling the snow efficiently.
「Aren’t you fast?」
「This is normal, right?」
Your boyfriend can’t even reach ‘normal,’ you know. Sorry about that.
I thought about taking over once I caught my breath, but clearly, that wasn’t necessary. Mei cleared the snow from the sidewalk and the front entrance in no time.
「Whew, all done!」
「Nice work. Honestly, that was impressive」
「It’s thanks to you starting first, though」
「I didn’t get that much done, to be honest」
「I think you did」
As we stood by the front entrance, sipping canned coffee and chatting, the door suddenly opened.
The person who stepped out was one of Yuna’s friends, holding her belongings.
「Yuna-chan, your onii-san’s outside」
「Huh? Really?」
「Yeah, he’s talking to some woman」
After some loud conversation, there was the sound of footsteps thundering down the stairs. Moments later, Yuna opened the door.
「What’s the rush?」
「I forgot to give you your present. Here」
With those curt words, she handed me a small box neatly wrapped in paper.
「Thanks. But you didn’t have to rush like that」
「Well, you’re with Mei-san, so I thought you’d leave right away」
「I see. Can I open it?」
「I guess. It’s just a pen」
Even if I know what it is, I still want to see it. When I opened the box, inside was a pen – the same design as one I’d seen before, but in a different color.
「Thanks, Yuna」
「I do it every year」
As I ruffled Yuna’s hair, she seemed a little embarrassed, her usual energy momentarily replaced by shy awkwardness. Watching us, Mei and Yuna’s friends exchanged amused smiles.
「Yuna-chan’s so cute」
「Yeah, she looks just like Souta did not too long ago」
「Seriously? I was like this?」
At my reaction to Mei’s words, Yuna, unable to handle the teasing anymore, bolted like a rabbit back inside the house.
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