A cute girl with sparkling eyes dressed as Santa stood in front of me.
…Well, I mean, it looks just like me, so it’s a bit odd for me to say she’s cute.
Honestly, when I first saw her through someone else’s eyes, I thought she was an adorable and pretty girl, so that’s not exactly a false statement.
Although my Yakuza uncle occasionally did such events when I was a daughter, seeing Koko, who looked like she was in her teens, react completely like a little child made it hard for me to figure out how to respond.
After all, he did say that his daughter didn’t respond like this once she grew up.
“Santa Claus!”
Koko said, eyes sparkling.
I can’t really say it matters how Koko woke up…
She might have opened her eyes by chance, after all. People sometimes wake up suddenly to noise they wouldn’t normally react to while sleeping.
That really could be described as unfortunate.
It wasn’t just my Yakuza uncle who was unlucky.
At the sound of Koko shouting “Santa Claus,” the kids in the room also began to awaken one after another.
“Umm… Koko? What’s going on…?”
Yuka, rubbing her eyes and asking Koko what was happening, froze up when she saw the Yakuza uncle.
…
Ah. Right.
Thinking back, this was just a room full of high school girls.
Fortunately, among the kids here, there was no one wearing only underwear. In fact, that’s only natural. No matter how close friends may be, sitting there in just underwear in front of each other requires a lot of courage unless you’re roommates.
The problem was that only about half of them shared the thought of “thank goodness.”
First was me. Then there was Koko, who was thinking about nothing in particular. Yamashita, who prepared this event. And Kaoru, who was still half-asleep.
The remaining girls were either pulling up their blankets to cover up as much of their bodies as possible or turning bright red while trying to jump at Santa Claus.
By the way, the ones who jumped up from their spots were two people.
Koko, trying to rush over to Santa Claus.
And Yuka, who was also rushing over to Santa Claus.
Ironically, the reasons for both were completely different.
“Wait, Yuka—!”
I reached out toward Yuka and yelled, but her feet had already left the ground.
Not only did she learn how to swing a knife, but it looked like she had also learned some sort of martial arts, as her flying kick landed perfectly in the middle of Santa Claus’s body.
Moreover, right below that, Koko’s rugby-style tackle—which didn’t specifically have malicious intent but could easily surpass a human’s physical abilities if she felt like it—added onto the blow.
“Ugh.”
Santa Claus couldn’t even scream.
The “ho ho ho” sound was replaced by a deflating noise, and he went flying backward.
Thud!
Even though Japan’s mansions have some modernized elements, this wasn’t just any Japanese-style mansion.
It was, after all, a Yakuza mansion from a light novel.
So, it’s only natural that the doors leading to the hallway were traditional Japanese sliding doors, commonly seen in Japanese works.
There was no way I could withstand the heavy body of Santa flying at high speed.
The slightly open door bent backward in the middle and then flew away.
Bam!
Yakuza Santa skidded across the floor and slammed his head into the hallway wall.
And then just lay there.
“……”
All this happened in less than thirty seconds after Koko woke up.
I blinked in disbelief.
The lights in the room turned on, and the hallway lights came on as well.
“What’s happening!?”
From where they had been hiding, the Yakuza members came pouring in. Though thankfully, not as many as last time.
“Santa Claus…?”
Seeing Koko shake the unconscious Santa’s body, she said.
“…Santa?”
After safely landing on the floor, Yuka, still having her fists clenched and in a battle stance, muttered.
I turned my head to look where Yamashita was.
Yamashita had one hand on his forehead.
Yeah, that makes sense.
In a typical situation like this—especially one he created himself—he would be embarrassed, even if he didn’t mean for things to go this way.
After all, the more far removed embarrassment is from intentionality, the greater it tends to be.
*
Fortunately, there was no incident where Santa would forever sleep, causing Yuka to become a killer or digging up the mansion’s grounds in the middle of the night.
After being knocked out for about five seconds, Santa blinked awake when Koko shook him. It seems the big bag on his back— not a bag full of thieves but a gift bag— served as a cushion. Given that what was inside was mostly dolls, that made sense.
I just hoped the dolls hadn’t been crushed.
Perhaps he had taken in the advice to relax his eyes, Santa’s makeup looked slightly different from the last time I saw him.
Specifically, he had covered his black caterpillar-like eyebrows with fake white eyebrows made of cotton.
It looked incredibly itchy just to look at.
“Ho…ho ho.”
“Santa!”
Koko’s eyes sparkled again at the laugh of Santa, who wasn’t really in the profession.
Wait a minute. Did the memory of flying away just barely escape his mind? Considering his eyes seemed a little unfocused, I thought that was probably the case. Thanks to that, he looked a bit kinder.
I felt a poke in my side. It was Yuka.
“What’s going on?”
Koko’s sensitivity to her surroundings was far more developed than a normal person, so she might have been able to hear quiet whispers.
If it were any other day, I wouldn’t have paid much attention to whatever conversation we had. While there weren’t too many topics that would be off-limits in front of Koko, she generally didn’t care much about our talks.
However, I couldn’t exactly bring up conversations that could lead to proof that “Santa does not exist” in front of a child who believes in Santa.
Instead of answering, I turned to look at Yamashita, and Yuka’s gaze followed suit towards him, who had his face covered with his hands.
Yamashita’s rare gesture served as a good answer for everyone there.
It was clear he was the one who created this situation. And that Yuka had misunderstood and dashed over.
After all, someone must have seen me leaving the room earlier.
“What’s going on!?”
A bit late, the door to the adjoining room swung open, and Sasaki sprang out.
And then they stood there, gaping at the situation before them.
Right? I thought so too.
I wasn’t sure what Sasaki was thinking, though.
“…Koko…”
It seemed Yakuza Santa had a brief moment of deliberation on what title to use for her.
“Koko-chan.”
And after a moment of deliberation, that was the best title he could muster.
“Santa Claus!”
Koko looked at Yakuza Santa and then glanced at me again. I nodded my head.
I didn’t really know what I was doing, but it felt like a good idea. To be honest, in this situation, thinking too much was a pretty burdensome task anyway.
“Grandpa, Santa Claus?”
“Ho ho ho.”
When Koko looked at him with sparkling eyes and asked, Yakuza Santa let out a laugh.
Was it just my feeling that his laughter didn’t seem as artificial as smoke?
“That’s right, it’s Santa Claus.”
Yakuza Uncle said with a gentle expression.
“I’ve come to visit for Christmas.”
“Wow!”
It seemed Koko hadn’t really recognized that she was the one who had sent Santa flying.
Koko’s reaction was very high energy. Perhaps because of that, Santa’s eyes sparkled. After all, it would be rather difficult not to smile in front of such a beaming Koko.
Moreover, Koko was precisely a ‘high school girl who truly believes in Santa.’ She was just too cute.
“Koko-chan, have you been a good girl this whole year?”
“Yep!”
Koko answered without hesitation.
Well, that’s true.
If Koko really had a character like a little child, I would still be facing quite a bit of trouble.
She understood everything when I said it, and tried her best to study too. She did have a bit of a greedy side at first, which caused some trouble, but once she understood how hard I was actually working, she didn’t mess around anymore.
I understood how difficult that was.
After all, I’ve certainly caused my family enough trouble.
…
That’s right. Koko is a really good child.
If this kid didn’t receive a Christmas gift, that would really be strange.
Upon regaining my senses, I noticed that all the kids surrounding Koko and Santa were silently staring at them.
As if they were watching some sort of ceremony.
I somewhat understood their feelings.
Santa adjusted his posture. Then he pulled the gift bag he had been sitting on forward.
The cord that tied the bag loosened, revealing the gifts inside.
Among them were the large cat dolls I had bought ahead, along with other dolls that were nearly identical to those.
Well, right now, they were just visible in shape. All the dolls had been wrapped with care. It was only that they weren’t in boxes that made them not square-shaped.
“Let’s see.”
Santa looked at the name tags attached to the dolls one by one, and pulled out the gift with Koko’s name on it.
“Koko-chan.”
“Wow!”
“Here’s your Christmas gift.”
For a brief moment, Santa’s gaze turned toward me.
His eyes slightly sparkled.
“From now on, you must listen to your older sister, alright? You want to receive gifts again next year, right?”
“Yes!”
Koko nodded her head up and down vigorously.
Santa then placed the gift into Koko’s hands.
“Wow!”
Koko jumped around the room, hugging the wrapped gift that hadn’t been opened yet. The people looking at her just stood there, a smile creeping onto their faces.
It really felt like a Christmas atmosphere. Even though she wasn’t an outright child, her innocent demeanor was decidedly fitting for the situation.
“Well then, next up…”
Santa pulled another gift from the bag.
Since he was Santa, it was only fair to give one to the other children as well to shed any doubts Koko may have had. That was… Yamashita’s idea.
He always seems expressionless, but he also has a meticulous side to him.
If he didn’t have such a meticulous personality, he wouldn’t have run away the moment he heard his dad was remarrying.
That’s evident from the fact that he’s still hiding his face.
“Kotone-chan.”
Since he knew I was Koko’s sister, was this just the next gift chosen by chance?
It didn’t really seem to matter.
I approached Santa.
“You’ve done well this year.”
It was praise from someone I didn’t know. Now that I thought about it, it felt a bit funny. He wasn’t really Santa but a Yakuza, so he must have been someone who couldn’t possibly do anything bad.
“……”
I received the gift without saying a word.
“You’ve been good too, Kotone-chan!”
“……”
I had even less to say in response to Koko’s remark.
Though it was wrapped, I got the feeling I could guess what the doll inside was like, and I embraced the large doll with both arms.
The sound of the wrapping paper crinkling could be heard, along with the softness of what was inside.
The gifts were distributed among everyone.
They all appeared to be dolls.
“Ho ho ho.”
Once the gift bag had become lean, Santa stood up.
“Well then, children, I’ll see you again next year!”
Even though none of us were actually children, no one could argue with that. What could we say?
Santa dashed off quickly, disappearing out of sight in the blink of an eye.
Luckily, Koko didn’t follow Santa to see Rudolph.
“Let’s see the gifts!”
Instead, Koko shouted with sparkling eyes.
Normally, people would check in the morning.
But now that everyone was awake, if we didn’t look, I could only imagine Koko going “Uwaaa…,” and losing her energy.
And then that would break my heart.
So it was better to open them now.
As I looked around, the kids exchanged looks and nodded.
…Ah.
But wait, Sasaki didn’t get a gift.
Well, that was only natural. She came in later.
…And besides, doesn’t she happen to be rather mischievous? Harem systems are typically frowned upon in modern Japanese society. Unless you’re in a light novel or a love comedy manga, you wouldn’t be forgiven.
Sure, this world is based on a light novel’s universe.
*
The large black cat doll was so adorable that Koko ended up hugging it tightly while she fell asleep.
The doll I received was similar. It was also a black cat, though a slightly less black shade of fur than the one Koko was hugging.
I placed the doll beside my head and stared at Koko, who was sleeping soundly on her side.
“…Aren’t you sleeping?”
Yuka asked me out of the blue, as if she knew I wasn’t asleep.
“…Trying to.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Yuka was quiet for a while, then,
“Thank you for today.”
She suddenly expressed her gratitude.
Was there a reason for her to be especially thankful for me today? This gathering was prepared by Yamashita, and we all shared the gifts together.
“…It’s my first time coming to a gathering like this.”
Ah, I see.
Yuka seemed to know a few kids in the neighborhood, but since they didn’t attend the same school as her, that was the crux of the issue.
You can often meet someone occasionally, but it’s much harder to maintain a distance with the person you see every day and talk to every day.
“Of course, I should invite you.”
I replied like that and stared at the ceiling again.
For a while, Yuka didn’t speak up.
“…Good night.”
“Yep. You too.”
We exchanged our good nights and then drifted back to sleep.
*
The next morning, after waking up, having a warm meal, and goofing around until lunchtime, I realized quite a bit.
“Ah, that was fun! Should we get together once more at the beginning of the year? Let’s discuss that later!”
For instance, Fukuda, who may look like a fun-loving gal on the outside, was surprisingly one of those kids who would hide under the covers when Santa came in.
It’s not a big deal, but isn’t it true that as friendships continue over time, you get to know parts of each other that you didn’t know before? That’s the fun of sharing those experiences.
“I was originally planning to hold a year-end party, but this turned out like this. Well, how about we meet again at the beginning of the year, before the break ends?”
“Sure, let’s meet again! We have plenty of time, right? Since we’re third years starting next year, we should make the most of this time.”
Kaoru and Izumi said with smiles as they discussed it. Seeing Izumi’s cheerful smile, they seemed to enjoy this party.
Yeah.
I hope we can meet again soon.
After all, it’s vacation time. As long as we can get through the Hyakki Yagyō, we will meet again shortly.
We might even be able to do something akin to a training camp again.
“…Goodbye.”
Because of yesterday’s events or feeling shy, I wasn’t sure which, but I waved back at the somewhat bluntly said goodbye from Yamashita.
“Senpai, I had a lot of fun.”
“Me too… um.”
Shii politely greeted us as always, while Sasaki… well, it didn’t seem like she had much to say in return.
Though she did try to get involved, there was no question that the degree of closeness was quite different.
After checking in with both of them, only Koko, Yuka, and I remained.
“…Um, you see…”
Yuka’s eyes were darting around.
I quietly waited for her to speak.
“…Would you like to come to our shrine during the New Year’s?”
Yuka said a bit bashfully.
“I don’t mind going to other shrines…”
“I’ll go!”
I answered before she could make an excuse. Yuka’s face lit up.
“Okay! I’ll contact you then! Ah! That doesn’t mean I won’t contact you until then!”
The train arrived, and Yuka waved her hand eagerly. It was a lively sight of a high school girl, excitedly waving with a large doll cradled in one arm.
Watching Yuka board the train, I turned to Koko and said.
“Koko, there’s a place I want to go before we head home. Is that alright?”
“Uwu?”
Koko tilted her head at my words, but soon the tilt turned into a nod.
“Thank you.”
I replied.
*
The place we headed to was Kagami’s bar.
Honestly, I was worried about what I’d do if Kagami wasn’t around. After all, this is supposed to be his workplace. It didn’t seem like he was necessarily staying here.
But I didn’t know any other places that belonged to Kagami.
Though I had things I wanted to talk about, today wasn’t about sharing stories. Honestly speaking, I felt like it was a day I didn’t want to deal with “work.”
“Merry Christmas.”
Fortunately, Kagami was present at the bar.
Considering it was still around lunchtime, his early arrival made me wonder if he didn’t have anything to do after all.
Ah, but maybe that’s not the case. I noticed the bar looked quite clean.
It was Christmas Eve, after all.
In Japan, Christmas isn’t a day of rest, but it isn’t ignored either.
Some might have come here with their significant others or to find one.
Although that ‘significant other’ probably shouldn’t be a typical one.
“Could I get a Christmas gift?”
“Sure.”
Kagami’s line felt like something said solely to mess with me.
When I answered without hesitation, Kagami looked a bit surprised. It was amusing to see.
I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out something I hadn’t taken out since leaving home.
It was a keychain. I bought it while shopping with the kids.
“This.”
“……”
As I reached out, Kagami extended her hand to receive it.
The keychain wasn’t something I had specifically thought about picking for anyone in particular. It just so happened to be a cat, and it shared the same color as the black cat keychain that Koko had received.
“Merry Christmas.”
“…Would you like some warm cocoa?”
“Do you have any?”
After hearing that, I felt a little cold.
“…I’ll prepare it.”
While Kagami busied herself for no good reason, both Koko and I placed our dolls side by side on the chairs. Leaning towards the table, they didn’t tumble down at least.
Then, Koko and I sat side by side while we waited for Kagami to bring us cocoa.
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