Tokyo: Oreimo

"Isn't it a cell phone? I thought you bought it for me specifically for Christmas."

Ling Nai's ears turned another shade red.

"That was...that was just a coincidence! I didn't choose it on purpose! It was because the salesperson kept pushing it on me that I..."

Her voice grew fainter and fainter until it was completely swallowed by the snow.

Ryosuke looked at her and couldn't help but laugh.

"understood."

"...What? That expression."

This guy isn't disappointed at all?

The only thing he didn't care about was not giving her gifts.

Ling Nai turned her head away and drew a circle on the snow with her toes.

"Consider this punishment for you, because when we were buying the phone, you said something weird like 'cute girl,' which caused the salesperson to misunderstand and force me to buy a matching couple's phone..."

She mumbled, her voice muffled behind her scarf, as if complaining, but her ears were so red they looked like they were about to bleed.

Ryosuke took a step forward and stood beside her.

"Then I'm so wronged, I didn't lie."

Ling Nai's body stiffened for a moment.

".....What?"

"She said you're cute, that's true."

Ling Nai lowered her head, her golden bangs obscuring her eyes, only her slightly parted lips were visible, her breath condensing into wisps in the cold air.

"...You bastard."

"Since when did you become so good at saying these kinds of things?"

"Did you learn it from the Female Giant?"

"I've corrupted you."

The girl muttered to herself, but couldn't help but smile, as if she didn't want Ryosuke to see it, and strode forward.

The golden ponytail swayed in the wind and snow, like a flame burning in the snow.

Ryosuke smiled and followed.

.....

As evening approached, the snow gradually subsided.

The two took a train from Shinjuku back to Chiba.

The carriage was much emptier than when they arrived. The two sat side by side, with Ling Nai leaning on his shoulder, holding a hot cocoa she had bought from the Christmas market and sipping it slowly.

A canvas bag and several paper bags were piled up at her feet, bulging as if they contained the entire Christmas.

"tired?"

Ryosuke turned his head to look at her.

Ling Nai's eyelids were already drooping, but she still forced herself to finish the hot cocoa and stuff the empty cup into the bag.

"...A little."

She mumbled a response, nuzzled her head against his shoulder, and found a more comfortable position.

"It's all your fault for making me walk so far."

"You were the one who said you wanted to go to the market."

"Wordy."

Her voice already carried a clear hint of drowsiness.

The tram traveled through the twilight, the snow outside the window turning from pure white to gray-blue, and the streetlights lit up one by one, casting streaks of light across the tram window.

Ryosuke felt the weight on his shoulders getting heavier and heavier.

Ling Nai's breathing gradually became even and long, his golden hair falling over his shoulders, a few strands brushing against his neck, tickling him.

She fell asleep.

Ryosuke didn't move, just let her lean against him.

The tram passed one station after another, and the number of people in the carriages dwindled until only a handful of passengers remained.

The station announcement sounded.

"Next stop, Chiba."

Ryosuke gently patted Ayano's shoulder.

"Ling Nai, we've arrived."

".....Um."

She mumbled a response, but didn't open her eyes. Instead, she buried her face even deeper into his shoulder.

Ryosuke gave a helpless smile.

"Ling Nai."

"...Five more minutes."

Her voice was muffled and heavy with sleepiness.

The tram began to slow down.

Ryosuke sighed, moved the paper bags to one hand, and put his other arm around Ryo's waist, helping her up from her seat.

"I'm leaving. I'll go home and sleep then."

Ling Nai was half-supported and half-pulled to her feet by him, and staggered as she followed him out of the carriage.

A gust of cold wind blew in from the platform, making her shiver and finally bringing her to her senses.

".....arrive?"

She rubbed her eyes, her voice still hoarse from just waking up.

"Ah."

Ryosuke released his arm from her shoulder.

Ling Nai looked down at her empty shoulder, then at his hand.

"...Just now, you let me lean on you?"

"if not."

".....What is that?"

She buried her face in her scarf, leaving only her sleepy eyes showing.

"Then you can lean on it a little longer."

She muttered something under her breath, then quickened her pace to walk in front of him so he wouldn't see her face.

......

By the time I got home, it was completely dark.

The entryway light was on, so Mieko and Takashiro Isao were probably in the living room.

After changing their shoes and saying goodbye to their parents, Ling Nai went back to her room first.

The girl piled the canvas bag and several paper bags on the tatami mat in the room and began rummaging through them.

"Aunt Mieko's cookies, Dad's tie clip, Ruri's scented candles and scarf..."

She carefully sorted out the gifts one by one, as if she were doing something extraordinary.

In the end, only two small boxes remained in the bag.

One was the pair of star-shaped earrings that she intended to give to Saori Hououin.

She pulled the other one out from the bottom of the bag, held it in her hand, and hesitated for a moment.

This was something she had put in her bag before leaving home; it was a gift she had prepared well in advance.

"That guy, he probably doesn't want it either, right?"

Ling Nai sat on the tatami mat, clutching the small box in her hand.

The box was simply packaged in dark blue velvet, without any ribbons or decorations.

She opened the box, and inside lay a fountain pen, its body silver-gray, with two small letters engraved on the cap.

NJ.

She picked out this pen two weeks ago at a stationery store next to Chiba Station.

She went there alone after school that day and stood in front of the pen counter for almost an hour, trying out every pen in the store.

The shop assistant was a middle-aged woman wearing glasses. Seeing her hesitation, she asked who the gift was for.

"Brother." She remembered saying that.

Her ears turned red when she said those two words.

Because that was the first time she had called Ryosuke "brother" in front of others.

".....What?"

Ling Nai turned the pen cap around and rubbed the two letters with her thumb.

"That guy doesn't lack pens."

She muttered to herself, closing the box, opening it again, closing it again, repeating this several times, as if performing some meaningless ritual.

The sound of Ryosuke walking around came from the next room.

"Forget it, I've already bought it, so I might as well give it to that guy. I have no use for it."

It was as if I had convinced myself.