Tokyo: Oreimo

The girl's eyes widened suddenly.

"!"

She frantically broke free from his arm, slumped onto the bed, grabbed a pillow and held it to her chest like a shield between herself and Ryosuke.

The color in the girl's face spread from her neck to her cheeks at a visible speed.

What are you doing?!

Ryosuke straightened up and stretched his arms, which were a little sore from her sudden struggle.

"I'll move you back to your room."

"Move...move?"

Ling Nai looked down at herself, then at him.

"Then you could have woken me up! Why did you have to hug me!"

"I called out, but you didn't wake up." Ryosuke said.

"Liar!"

What? Did this guy put his hand somewhere he shouldn't have?

Ling Nai's heart raced, but she glared at Liang Jie with a flushed face.

"If you dislike it, I can apologize."

Ryosuke chuckled.

"Stop making fun of me."

Ling Nai grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

Ryosuke reached out and caught the pillow, then sat down on the chair next to the bed.

Without a pillow, Ling Nai had nowhere to put her hands, so she crossed them in front of her chest, huddled in the corner of the bed, her knees curled up, her toes curled up nervously, and stared at her toes, refusing to look at him.

The room fell silent for a few seconds.

"...When did you get back?"

Ling Nai's voice was much softer than before, with a slightly hoarse quality, as if she had just woken up.

"just."

She rested her chin on her knees and turned her head to look at him.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, falling on her profile and making the blush on her face even more pronounced.

Did you have a good date?

"Ah."

Ryosuke nodded.

Ling Nai's eyelashes trembled slightly.

"...What the heck? It's such a cold place."

She turned her face back.

"And you smell like the sea breeze from head to toe, you stink."

"Is there?"

Ryosuke raised his arm and smelled it. There was indeed a slight salty and fishy smell, but it was mostly the faint citrus scent that Saori wore.

Ling Nai pursed her lips.

'That annoying guy, he's probably hugging and cuddling with the giantess on the beach.'

The girl was quite unhappy about this, but she couldn't think of a suitable reason to vent her anger on Ryosuke, so she could only silently sulk.

"Then I'll go take a shower first, you should get some rest."

"I want you to manage."

Ryosuke stood up, ready to leave.

"and many more."

Ling Nai suddenly called out to him.

Ryosuke's hand was already on the doorknob. Hearing the sound, he turned his head to look at her.

In the moonlight, Ling Nai was still huddled in the corner of the bed, hugging her knees with her hands, resting her chin on her knees, and staring at him.

"Don't forget tomorrow."

Ryosuke turned around and leaned against the door frame.

"Christmas?"

"Hmph, you knowingly consulted the advisor."

Ryosuke chuckled, "I know, I've remembered it well."

......

Ryosuke was woken up by his phone vibrating on Christmas Day.

He groggily reached for his phone, and a series of message notifications appeared on the screen.

Hideo Nomura: "CLAMP-sensei! Merry Christmas! The latest issue of Death Note has moved up two places in the reader poll! At this rate, we'll be in the top three soon!"

Rina Inoue: "Merry Christmas, President! Will you be coming to the company today? Everyone has prepared a Christmas cake."

Many of the well wishes also came from friends I know.

At the very bottom is Saori's message, posted at 1 a.m.

"Merry Christmas, Shi Yuze."

It was followed by a kissing emoticon.

Ryosuke rubbed his eyes, replied to each message one by one, and then got out of bed.

He paused for a moment when he drew back the curtains.

It's snowing outside the window.

It wasn't the light, melting snow that's common in winter, but rather large, fluttering snowflakes.

The rooftops, streets, and tree branches were all covered in a layer of white, as if the whole world had been muted, so quiet that only the sound of snowflakes falling could be heard.

A white Christmas.

Ryosuke stood by the window for a while, then turned around to change his clothes.

As I went downstairs, I heard Mieko's voice coming from the living room.

"Oh my, it's snowing! How beautiful!"

"Ah."

Then came Ling Nai's voice, with a slightly nasal tone, as if she had just woken up.

"...Will the trams stop running?"

"Probably not, the snow has only just started falling."

Ryosuke walked into the living room.

Mihoko was frying eggs in the kitchen, her apron covered in flour, and several cookie doughs that hadn't gone into the oven were on the counter.

It was rare for Takashiro Isamu to be home. He sat at the dining table reading the newspaper, with a steaming cup of coffee in front of him.

And Ling Nai.....

Ryosuke's gaze fell on her.

The blonde girl was wearing a creamy white turtleneck sweater, which made her face look smaller than usual.

She was sitting at the dining table, taking small bites of breakfast, when she noticed Ryosuke's arrival and muttered something in dissatisfaction.

"You're up way too late!"

"Sorry sorry."

Mihoko noticed their conversation and looked them up and down.

"Is Ryosuke going out too? Are you spending Christmas together today?"

As a strange expression appeared on the mother's face, Ling Nai's ears immediately burned, and she denied it without hesitation.

"How could that be? Who would want to live with this guy? We just go out together."

"I made plans to go shopping with Liuli."

The girl used her best friend as a shield.

"Really? So, does Ryosuke also have a date?"

Mieko looked at her son with a rather ambiguous expression.

On a special holiday like Christmas, you can't just go out for a walk by yourself, can you?

Faced with this question, Ryosuke cooperated with Ayano in lying without changing his expression.

"Yeah, I made plans with someone, so I might not be back for dinner tonight."

Upon hearing his answer, Mieko pressed for more details with great interest.

"Huh? Are you with a girl you like?"

When Ryosuke heard her say that, he glanced at Ling Nai, who was looking down and fiddling with the fried eggs on her plate with a fork.

This guy gets nervous whenever he lies to his parents.

He smiled and nodded to Mieko.

"Yes, she's a very cute girl."

Upon hearing Ryosuke's reply, Takashiro Ryouno's hand trembled, and she almost dropped her fork.

A blush crept onto the girl's face as she glared fiercely at her older brother sitting opposite her.