Hello everyone. It's me, ya boy. I'm a little late but as the title suggests, this is a Christmas one-shot for a little competition. I was reading Himouto! Umaru-chan (for the third time) and thought, "Hey, this could work..." And here we are, hopefully still on time to drop something festive. Also, while I was doing this, I ended sawing the story in half, so there's another side to it. Dunno when I'll release the other half, but sometime in the future. That said, I hope you had a merry Padoru Day and have a happy new year~
All I Want For Christmas is Onii-chan
Christmas. A time of the year to cheer up, celebrate, enjoy the company of your dear ones, or simply relax for a while away from work, school, and any other obligations of a functional member of society. Or, if you're Doma Umaru, a mix of all options, with emphasis on relaxing. The high schooler didn't need any reasons to slack off, but the holidays were an occasion for some special kind of slacking, the kind that came with benefits. Yes, Christmas was the time where she had all the excuses to not care about anything that wasn't purely recreational in nature, and there was little her older brother could say or scold her about. However, unlike past years, where she would dig through her stash of potato chips and cola, play games, watch anime, and read the latest edition of Jumpu, Umaru had plans for today.
Well, it was more like a small detour, as she was still planning on relishing in snacks and carbonated goods. The difference was that she would have the company of her friends. You see, in the outside world, where all the eyes are upon her, Doma Umaru is your perfect high school girl, with many talents, perfect grades, polite and sweet, beautiful, practically a heavenly presence among mortals. But in the cozy confines of the apartment she lived in with her brother, she was anything but that. So here lays the conflict, she didn't want to simply dismiss her friends, as she legit had tons of fun last year. However, the prospect of a gaming marathon with potato chips was pretty tempting.
That's when her older brother came up with a suggestion. Instead of going out with them, why not invite the girls there? That way, Umaru could do the things she wanted while having them around. It was bound to be more fun with more people, right? Umaru was hesitant at first because she would need to keep her Umarun~ form, which kind of defeated the point of staying at home. But she did like it when Kirie visited her, although she had to come up with a different "persona" for that. Plus, last year at Sylphyn's house was pretty nice, so she guessed it wouldn't be so bad to have them over. Little did she know, Taihei used this as an opportunity to push his lazy-but-perfect little sister out of her comfort zone, in hopes that she would at least drop the act around her friends. Or perhaps have a shock of conscience and be more proactive in life.
The former was more likely.
"Umaru, are you done preparing everything for the guests?" Taihei asked her as he noticed her scuttling around the small apartment, akin to one of her hamsters.
"Onii-chan, where did you put the bottles of coke? And the sour cream potato chips? Umaru saw them yesterday." Umaru was going through her "secret snack hideouts" but didn't seem to find what she wanted.
"They're in the fridge and in the kitchen cupboard."
"Eh?! How did they get there?! Umaru made sure to spread them across the room for easy access!" She said, rushing past her brother to retrieve the goods.
Taihei sighed and shook his head.
"Umaru, I already told you, don't hide food around the house. You'll forget they're there and it will bring in pests. Besides, it gets really disorganized and–"
"Forget? Impossible! Umaru would never forget to eat her precious snacks. To refrain from consuming such delicious treats… would be a sin! No potato chip is left behind!" She said, propping herself on the center table, with the pose and feelings of a soldier talking to its fellow men.
Taihei deadpanned at the scene. Honestly, he didn't have any doubts about Umaru's consumption of snacks. He just wished she would have more self-control, eat healthier, and keep the room clean. Was that too much to ask? Apparently, yes.
"Anyway, I made an exception this time because you'll have your friends over, but don't expect me to spend money on these snacks like that again." He pointed at the center table full of said snacks, then looked back at the kitchen, where more of them were stored. Umaru really did a number on his pocket, buying a week's worth of actual food in her favorite treats, which were many. She actually brought a list, a quite long one. What was the point in calling it "favorites" then?
"It can't be helped, Onii-chan. Umaru wants to be the best hostess, and as such, Umaru can only serve the top-tier snacks."
"... Just make sure to not litter the entire place. I don't know exactly when I'm coming home, but don't stay up all night again, alright?" He said, fixing his tie and grabbing the overcoat and scarf from the hanger.
"Yes, yes, Umaru will not… eh? Onii-chan? Where are you going?" Umaru stopped assorting snacks on the table and setting up her console, going after her brother as he headed to the entrance.
"Huh? I warned you yesterday, didn't I? I have work today."
"Eh?!"
Umaru was too engrossed gushing over all the cola stored in the fridge to register when Taihei said he had some extra work the next day. This was part of how he came up with the idea of inviting the girls here today, as he didn't want to leave his sis alone during all of Christmas.
"W-wait, Onii-chan, it's Christmas, right? Why are you going to work?!"
"~sigh~ Something urgent came and I'm involved in the project, so I have to go." He calmly explained, saving her from the technical details. Taihei put on his shoes and closed the overcoat, making sure no cold wind could enter.
"But why?! What kind of horrible place is that company? Could it be… Onii-chan, are you being employed by Ebenezer Scrooge?!" She said in shock, having a mental image of her older brother covered in coal and dust as some faceless evil shadow called "Boss" laughed in the background.
"Hahaha, sometimes we do get overworked, but the company gives us proper vacations. This doesn't happen all the time, don't worry about it." He said, petting Umaru as she grabbed onto his leg with a worried face. Well, if he had to be honest, some days were pretty gruesome in matters of workload, but half of the time it was due to Taihei finishing whatever work Bomber had left behind.
"But… Onii-chan…" Umaru looked up at him with watery eyes. She had her mind on the celebration part of today, but now that she learned he wouldn't be around, she felt sad about not spending Christmas with him.
"Don't worry, Umaru. You'll have a lot of people to make you company. I bet you won't even see time pass. Plus, we still have New Year's Eve. If I finish all the work today, hehe…"
"Eh?! On New Year too?!"
"I'm joking, I'm joking." He said, laughing at his pouting sister.
The doorbell rang, getting their attention. Umaru quickly got into her Outdoors form, hanging her hoodie/cape.
"Ah, it must be them," Taihei said, opening the door.
"Umm, isn't it a little early for them to arrive?" She thought, trying to look more Outdoors Umaru presentable.
The person at the door wasn't someone she expected, but it was a familiar face alright. She had gray-brown hair and brown eyes, and she was wearing a thick coat and earmuffs. In her hands was a shiny red paper bag, and she stood still tensed up like a statue.
"G-good morning, Taihei-kun! Merry Christmas!"
"Good morning, Kanau-san. Merry Christmas to you too."
"Boss girl?!" Umaru let that escape in her minor shock. Both Taihei and Kanau looked at the blondie. "Erm… good morning…" She said, trying to be a little more polite.
"Good morning, Umaru-chan," Kanau said, waving at her with a gentle smile. "Umm, are you ready to go, Taihei-kun?"
"Mhmm. Did you ask if she wanted to come?"
"Ah, yes, just lemme…" Kanau turned around, speaking to someone behind her. "Come on, Hikari, say hello too."
Poking out her head, a white-haired girl with the same brown eyes as her sister stared at the black-haired young man, then at the blondie next to him. Sparks flew instantly as the two young sisters exchanged glares.
"Ah! You!" Umaru let a shout escape, breaking her Outdoors appearance a bit.
"Good Morning and Merry Christmas, Onii-chan. And you…" Hikari said, still hiding behind Kanau. The two older siblings held nervous smiles. Perhaps this wasn't a good idea after all.
"Umaru, please be more polite. Hikari-chan is spending the day here too."
"Eh?! But why?!"
"Kanau-san is going to work too, and she will be alone all day long. So I thought she could pass the time with you and the girls."
"It can't be... betrayed by Onii-chan…" She said, pouting at him.
"As I thought, it would be too bothersome," Kanau said, getting Umaru's attention. "Sorry Tahei, I'll have to bring Hikari back home. But I'll be at the office as soon as possible!"
"No no, Kanau-san, there's no need to. I'm sure we have space for one more-"
"It's okay, really. Umaru-chan clearly planned things thinking of her friends. We can't simply invite ourselves, right, Hikari?" She said, looking back at the white-haired girl.
Hikari also had a pout of her own as she stared at the Doma siblings. When her older sis told her they were coming to Taihei's apartment, she had high hopes for spending all day with him. She was equally surprised by this unfolding of events, but if Taihei-Onii-chan wasn't staying, what was the point? She couldn't help but look a little letdown, though, going back to fully hide behind her sister. She hid the red bag she was carrying behind her back.
Seeing this, Umaru felt a weight in her conscience. She wasn't happy about not having her Onii-chan around for the day, but at least she would spend the day with her friends. Hikari, on the other hand…
"Well, it can't be helped then. It's my fault, I should have asked before–"
"Onii-chan…" She said, averting direct eye contact. "If she wants to stay… I don't mind one more person…"
He looked quite surprised with the sudden change, as Umaru could be very stubborn, but the look on her face told him all he needed to know. A smile formed on his face.
"Is that so...?"
Then, it was Kanau's time to encourage her little sister.
"What do you think, Hikari-chan? Isn't it better than being alone in the apartment all day?"
Hikari poked her head out again, making that "empty head" expression she usually did, and after some thought, she ended up agreeing with a nod.
"Hmm. But… will Onii-chan be back later?" She asked her sis and the young man in question.
"Well, so long as we finish the job, yes." That answer sealed the deal, as Hikari jumped from behind her and quickly made her way into the house, but not before tackling-hugging Taihei.
"Oi! Don't go hugging Onii-chan out of nowhere, that's Umaru's job!" She said, hugging him from the other side.
"Hikari only sees Onii-chan once a week. That's monopoly."
"Onii-chan is Umaru's onii-chan, so clearly Umaru has hugging privileges."
"Hikari contests that."
"Now, you two, please let go. We have work to do." Taihei said, trying to calm down both clingy girls by patting their heads. They complied, but not without pouting and staring laser beams at each other.
"Humu, don't complain about it, you already come here on Tuesdays."
"Bread Tuesdays are sacred. Hikari shall come more often."
"Oi!..."
The two girls followed with their banter as they went outside, leaving Kanau and Taihei at the door. They exchanged weird smiles, laughing at the antics of their respective younger sisters. Considering they had the same age and similar tempers, they imagined they would get along better. However, they didn't expect the competition to get Taihei's attention. Not that he noticed it anyway. Kanau was all too aware of how he could be in that regard.
"Shall we go? Now I definitely don't want to leave them waiting." He said, stepping outside and closing the door.
"Y-yes! Let's go!" Kanau once again failed to hide her excitement, but she was going to the office with Taihei. It was like walking home together but for adults, or something like that.
She wouldn't mind if they did that every day. In fact, it would be even better if they went all the way together, implying that they lived at the same place, also implying that they would be sharing a house, and–
"No no no no no, it's too early for those things!" She thought while shaking her head. You could almost see the steam coming out from her vivid fantasies.
Outside in the cold breeze of Christmas morning, Taihei and Kanau made their way to the office building. They just dropped at the train station, and from there it was a five-minute walk. Despite the urgency of the task at hand, they didn't have much hurry in their steps, perhaps an influence of the atmosphere around them. People were filling the streets as they headed to meet other people, some rushed past them, probably going to an event or something similar. But most of them were just strolling around, be it with their friends, as a couple, or with their kids. Speaking of which, as a small family passed, the kid promptly noticed Taihei and Kanau, pointing at them and making sure his Mom was aware of them. "Look Mama, a couple."
Not only that, he "made sure" Kanau and Taihei heard that, much to the girl's embarrassment. Not that she was opposed to the idea, on the very contrary. Still, this was like having her inner thoughts exposed in broad daylight, in a way that wasn't one of the three thousand, four hundred and sixty-four possible scenarios she planned in her vivid imagination. Ok, perhaps she didn't imagine that many different scenarios, but it was still something she didn't feel ready for. At least not yet, because Kanau did have a plan for today.
No, she didn't summon Taihei to work so she could have him all to herself for an entire day. As tempting as this idea was, the brunette vowed to never abuse her leadership powers, even if that meant more chances to be with Taihei. Plus, he was a promising professional in the company, and she couldn't hinder his productivity just so she could indulge in his lovely presence. She couldn't, right?
Anyway, the kid pointed at them, made his comment free of any malice, and just as quickly he got a lecture from his mother. Kanau mentally thanked the kind lady.
"Hehe. Kids, right?"
"Yes?!"
She was so distracted that when her brain registered Taihei's voice, it translated "kids" as "do you want to have kids with me?", and the answer was obviously yes.
"They say whatever comes to their minds, right?" Taihei said, glancing back briefly.
"A-ah, yeah. They are like that. I guess it can't be helped…" Luckily, the cold breeze was a good excuse for the blush she knew was forming in her face.
"~sigh~ I wish Umaru was more honest like that…" He exhaled.
"Hmm? Your sister?"
"Yeah, I mean. She's always speaking her mind to me but, how can I explain this…?" The black-hearted young man tried to find a good way to exemplify the curious case that was his younger sister. "Let's say she has a split personality."
"Split? As in, some evil twin?"
"No no, nothing like that. Actually…" He paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No, Umaru… she's a completely different person when no one is looking."
"Well, I guess a lot of people act differently when they're alone. Is it that serious?"
"I think you don't understand when I say she's completely different when it's just us at home." Taihei tried to convey the large discrepancy, but all he did was look mentally exhausted. Sometimes, dealing with Umaru's antics drained his energy to the very bottom. "To an outsider, Umaru probably looks like a role model student, a perfect high school beauty, maybe even an angel!"
Kanau laughed lightly at the thought of Taihei's younger sister walking by the school hallways, with a crown of light and heavenly golden wings spreading behind her, as people watched in awe and occasionally got on their knees. From what she could see, it wasn't far from the truth, but as an older sister herself, she wasn't a stranger to "enhancing" some aspects about your younger sibling. She knew Taihei cared deeply for Umaru, and his currently concerned face was the proof.
"Well, sounds about right."
"I know, right? But! The moment she gets home, I swear, Umaru transforms into a whole new person. She's lazy, always leaves a mess behind her, keeps eating snacks and junk food. And she's always playing games, and she stays up late when there's school the next day, and she delays her homework to the last minute. Seriously!"
The brunette listened to every word he said in his mildly frustrated rant. It seemed like he had to vent off some of that steam. But even then, Taihei didn't look particularly angry. Annoyed, yes, but it wasn't as if he was mad at his sister's shortcomings.
"Is this for real?"
"Yeah, I couldn't make that up. But maybe that's my fault, I think I spoiled her too much. I'm always doing things for her, and when I don't she throws tantrums, and I end up bending the knee. And what's worse, I fear I'm giving her a bad way of living her life…"
"Hmm?" The last bit made her a little confused, even more with his ever more worrisome face.
"If Umaru grows up to always be like that… I don't think she would survive on her own. She can be very social, and polite, and she can do basically anything she wants if she puts herself into it, but I still worry, you know? Thankfully, I think she's starting to open up more, with her new friends around her, but she still keeps up appearances..."
There it was. That gentle smile that she fell in love with. Despite his crestfallen expression, Taihei had the shiest but also cutest smile crossing his lips, lips Kanau wanted to kiss so badly right now. It really made her heart flutter at how much he cared for his sister, despite complaining about her just a minute ago. At surface level, it sounded like a simple case of scolding the child due to some misbehaving, but she could feel the thoughtfulness and the care. More importantly, she felt the worry for her wellbeing, in the present and for the future. If only he would care about Kanau like that too.
That was one of the reasons why she liked him so much, Taihei always put others before him. It was like that back at Highschool, it is like this now, and she couldn't think of someone as compassionate and openhearted as him. If only Taihei would notice her intentions… Perhaps Kanau also had to be more honest and speak her mind to him too. But this would have to wait, as they arrived at the office building. Very unfortunate to the young manager, as she was liking the casual talk. It's been a long while since they last talked like that, due to work talk taking over most of their time together.
"Ah, here we are…"
"Yep. Let's get this done, and I hope Umaru doesn't turn the apartment upside down…"
Almost at the same time, the aforementioned blondie sneezed again.
Contrasting to the increasing volume of the Doma household, the office building was dead quiet. The only noise was that of typing, in one specific room. Taihei typed away with unmatched speed, following the rhythm at which Kanau explained the errors in the system and the necessary corrections. She also had the work of checking the outputs to make sure the fixes were working as intended. Unfortunately for them, it seemed that as they advanced with the task, more problems emerged in other places.
"~sigh~ Seriously, I'm going to have a talk with the person who made that last update. So many things crashed because of that, we can't have that kind of sloppy development cycle." She complained, glancing at the pile of reports she had to compile the previous night.
"It happens sometimes. With systems big and complex like these, you don't have to make tests across the board." Taihei said, making a pause to stretch his arms up.
"That's precisely why we can't afford for those mistakes to happen. Look at where we are now! Plus, it doesn't happen when you are in charge of the updates."
"Well, I try to mitigate issues as much as possible, but it definitely takes more time to release."
"And you still deliver on time. I'm looking at the reports and whoever was responsible for it delivered with a four-day delay! Totally unacceptable!"
"Sometimes things happen that were not accounted for."
"~sigh~ You're such a good professional, Taihei-kun. I'll never understand why the higher-ups take so much to recognize your work. I know I would give you all the promotions if I had the position~" Said the brunette, leaning in closer and playfully poking his cheek.
"Hahaha, I think people would be suspicious if that happened. Plus, I'm not that good, I just am good at figuring things out." He said. Taihei was anything but humble when it came to his work.
"And you never brag either! That's what I lo– l-like about you. But you know, Taihei-kun, you should be more proud of what you do. Believe me when I say you're one of our best here. You even make up for Bomber's pitiful performance!"
Poor Bomber felt his nose itching.
"I don't know, Kanau-san. I try to make sure it is adhering to the company's quality standards, but I always wonder if it could be better…" He confessed, staring at the screen. His face seemed less cheerful than before, which made Kanau feel a little guilty about bringing this topic up. How come someone gets broody when you're complimenting them? She shook her head.
"You have always been like this, haven't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly like this. Ever since we met, you always put others before you and your needs, while holding the bar impossibly high for yourself."
"It's not that bad... is it?"
"Oh, I think it is, Doma "Oni" Taihei~," She said, teasing him with his nickname from high school.
Kanau wasn't a bad student at all. In fact, she was one of the best in her year every grade, but even then, there were some subjects she struggled with. That's where she differed from taihei, in that regard. No matter the subject, the then teen managed to score one hundred percent no matter how complex or tiring the tests were, even in subjects that he, later on, admitted having some difficulty with. At first, Kanau was "attracted" to him due to her competitive side, but that soon turned into admiration, and the admiration into a crush, and the crush into love.
She would find any excuses to spend time with him since she was one grade below him, usually asking for help with her studies. And being the kind-hearted person he was, taihei always made some time for her, no matter how busy he was or how demanding his own studies were. These were some of the traits she loved the most about him, how he was so diligent about the things he did. Unlike the other jerks and empty-heads from her year (in her opinion), he was someone of focus and commitment, someone reliable. Someone who she could lean on and build a life together.
Yes, she did envision the day of their marriage and the happy life ahead of them ever since she realized her crush wasn't a crush, which didn't take that long. To be honest, it scared her a little at first, just how fast she had fallen for him, and how hard. There were days, and some nights, when all she could think of was the black-haired teen with a single spike in his hair. She had lost herself in those incredibly smart eyes behind glasses more times than she could remember, often leading to embarrassing situations. What sealed the deal was that visit to her house, when he first met her little sister Hikari. It looked like she wasn't the only one who liked Taihei, and she would gladly have Hikari calling him Onii-chan, as that meant they were almost family already.
Back to the present, as she reminisced of some fond memories with the young man next to her, Taihei seemed lost in his own thoughts. He just recently learned of that nickname from high school, or rather, that he had such a reputation. thing is, he never had many friends, to begin with. Aside from Bomber, who he knew since the early days of middle school, he knew Kanau. Later on, he became sort of friends with Alex, although it wasn't on the same level yet, and that was it. Truth is, he wasn't the most sociable creature around, unlike his younger sister, who seemly had a natural charming aura to attract people.
None of that really bothered him, but it did make him think in certain ways about himself. Such ways as, he was sure that he was a boring person to be around, and that his life lacked very interesting events to share. He also didn't think much of his looks, though he wouldn't call himself ugly either. He was okay enough, he guessed. He took pride in his cooking, but he was far from a chef. He might do a good job at work, but he wasn't a top-quality, indispensable-type employee. All in all, he was just an average guy, leading an average guy. High school was probably the peak of his life, where he at least had his perfect scores to brag about. Then again, he never felt the need to, he just thought it was expected from him as a student.
"~sigh~ You know, sometimes I wonder, Kanau-san. Just what am I doing with my life…?" He said in an unusual melancholic tone, which immediately caught her attention and made her worried.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Ah, it's nothing too serious, just…" He looked at her and seeing her worried face, he decided she didn't need any more reasons to stress over as of now. "Just meaningless things. Heh, my sister did say one time that I act like an old man–"
BAM!
He got cut short and startled as the girl next to him stood up, hitting the desk with both hands. Folders and report papers fell down, but she didn't seem to mind at all. Her eyes were focused on him, eyebrows slightly furrowed and an upside-down curve on her lips. Did… did he do something wrong?
"Taihei-kun, that's enough, don't you think?" She said with such confidence, but he didn't really get what she meant by that. Enough what? Work? They still had a lot of issues and bugs to cover…
"Enough… what, Kanau-san?"
"Enough putting yourself down like this. I hate to see you doing that to yourself."
"Eh? I'm not putting myself down, I'm just being honest and realistic about–"
"No, you're not. You may not say it out loud, but I know you think yourself to be just some average person. And you're anything but average." She affirmed him, and her tone was almost the same she used when she was talking to some slacker employees. So much that he naturally fell into his normal office behavior.
"I-I-I'll do my best, Manager-Kanau–"
"Don't "Manager" me, Taihei, this is serious! I don't want you to keep looking down like this. Not when you're so special to me–" Oops. She might have said too much.
But how could she not? There was a storm of feelings raging inside her chest. She barely got any sleep last night, as the idea of spending the whole day with Taihei was just too exciting. Yes, they had work to do, and yes, the fact it was Christmas was also quite the bummer, but it wouldn't be the first time she turned some business matter into a pseudo-one-sided date. If nothing, she could still twist things and score a win by the evening. But definitely not with Taihei looking so sad.
"... Special?" He looked at her with a confused face, both for the choice of words and the sudden mood change.
Well, what was she waiting for, really? Why was she always so hesitant about expressing her true feelings? Sure, Kanau wasn't shy about flirting with him, but it clearly flew by his head. So much for a smart person like him. She thought about it many times before and perhaps he didn't like her in that way, or she wasn't his type, but she refused to accept it. The least he could do was say no to her advances, or look bothered. But no, not a single reaction aside from his usual kindness. No matter how you look at it, Taihei was the only one not noticing her affection towards him.
And not only her affection either…
The mood got weird and heavy pretty quickly after her little burst. Taihei typed away at the same speed, but it was clear that he was under pressure here. As for Kanau, the poor girl didn't know where to look. She tried to point out the bugs with the least possible amount of words, and Taihei answered in a similar way. The positive side is that they were burning through the task at hand pretty fast. At that rate, work would be over soon, leaving them free to spend the rest of Christmas as they wished.
And this notion consumed Kanau from inside out.
"What should I do? I meant to say that to him, but it came out the wrong way… I'm so stupid…!"
But perhaps there was a way to fix this. Yes, she could still save this, she could still show him what she truly meant, her honest feelings… All it took was a good dose of courage to ask. The words were not that complicated, she rehearsed them for a long while. She just had to spit it out, loud and clear. Do it, Kongo Kanau!
"... Taihei–" "Kanau-san–" They said at the same time.
"U-umm, you first, Taihei-kun."
"Oh, umm… I think I'm done with this section. Anything else needing revision?"
She fumbled through the report papers.
"I… I guess that's everything. We only need to make the test run, log in the results, and we're done." She hoped her voice didn't sound as disappointed as she felt right now.
The black-haired young man quickly typed away some commands, hit the last key, and let the system do the rest. Luckily, this would be everything for today. He didn't like to leave Umaru at home during Christmas, even though she had her friends over there. It felt like his duty to be with her on such an occasion, but he also had to take care of his job. Sometimes he was pressed to make a choice in priorities, but most of the time it wasn't that hard to decide. The exception was when it involved his younger sister.
"Huh, I guess Kanau is right. I do put Umaru and others in front of me, don't I…?"
In the silence of the office building, the tension between the two co-workers increased.
"... Kanau-san–" "Taihei-kun!" They had to work on that timing.
"Do you… want to say something?" She asked awkwardly.
"No, you go first." He insisted.
"W-well, umm, you see… erm, we finished it earlier than I expected. As expected from you, Taihei-kun, hahahaha…"
The silence came back, and he patiently awaited her to continue.
"S-so I was thinking… W-would you like to, you know… g-go out with me after… after w-we are d-d-done here?!" She said, almost shouting the last bit. Kanau lowered her head and closed her eyes, hoping this would hide her face because it felt incredibly hot. There were the longest and most tense ten seconds of her life so far.
"Umm, sure."
"Eh?" Did she hear that right?
"Yeah, I think it would be nice. To be honest, I was thinking of heading straight home because Umaru is there, but she must be having fun with her friends. I think she'll be fine…" He said, looking to the side and scratching the back of his head. For the first time, Kanau wasn't sure if what he said was specifically tied to his younger sister. Regardless, she just got a golden opportunity in her hands, and she had to seize it. Who knows when the next would appear?!
"T-t-then! Let's wrap up here, shall we?!" Kanau could barely contain her excitement.
"Hmm. Where do you want to go?" He asked her, turning back to the monitor, to check the progress. It shouldn't take much longer.
"Oh…" She didn't think of that. Kanau made many, many plans involving Taihei in settings that could classify as a date, but right now her mind was empty. She just spilled the words in a boost of courage, almost like a leap of faith. Now she was free-falling, what to do?
"We could…"
What? What could they do? Were there any places open now that weren't flooded with people? Should she even aim for something that allowed alone time with him? What if he got the wrong idea? Wait, rollback a little, did Taihei even understand what she meant by "going out with her"?!
"W-we could…"
She was at a loss for words and ideas. Meanwhile, Taihei checked again on the progress. Guess their job was done here. He finished the logging, saved everything, and shut down his terminal.
"Well, I guess that's it. Ready to go?" He said, getting up and grabbing his coat and scarf. She could only respond by doing the same.
The ash-brown-haired girl fumbled to gather all the papers on the desk into a messy pile, then grabbed her things and walked out of the office next to him, closing everything as they left. Once outside, the duo stopped by the entrance and Taihei patiently waited for her to decide where to go.
"Umm, w-would you mind if we walked a bit?" She asked, without looking at his face directly.
"Hmm, it's fine with me. Where to, though?"
"A-ah– let's… just… walk by the mall. I bet they have something fun over there…" This was more a wish than a certainty.
And off they went, silently as before. There wasn't a single topic in her mind that wasn't related to work, and she was desperate to find anything worth striking a conversation with him. Looking aside, she thought of commenting on the decorations around, or maybe how winter was really intense this year.
"I-it's pretty cold this year, right?"
"Yeah, maybe we'll get a White Christmas again…" He said, reminiscing of last year. "We had to do some last-hour work last year too, right?"
"Y-yeah! Again, sorry about that, I know the company shouldn't ask this from the employees, but there's not much I can do…"
"It's okay, I know you're doing your best. The least I can do is do the same." He said with a warm smile that made her heart skip a beat and her face heat up again. However, for all her hesitation, Kanau decided on making Taihei realize how special he was. To her or otherwise.
"T-Taihei-kun!"
"Hmm?"
She looked away from him, fiddling with her fingers, then took in a deep breath.
"Umm… I hope you understand how important you are… to our team…"
This time he looked away, scratching his cheek sheepishly. He has always been commended for his performance, but being told he was important to something felt… different.
"I see… Well, you're important to me too, Kanau-san." He said back, not paying much attention to any second meaning his words could carry.
"E-eh?!" She turned to him with a shocked look, wide eyes, and bright red cheeks.
"I mean, even if I was the best developer in the world, there's only so much I can do on my own. It's you as the manager that keeps the workflow easy, and you're always looking after us. Thank you for that, Kanau-san."
The girl felt conflicted right now. On one hand, it was a huge thing for her to be praised by Taihei, of all people. It reminded her of her younger sister. On the other hand, he was being mostly professional about it, so was it really praise for her, or for Manager Kanau? Yes, she was probably overthinking it and she should take the compliment, as both persons were herself. Why bother making a distinction? But… was that the full extent of his feelings for her? Implying he held any feelings towards her, to begin with. She wished there was a way to know the answer. Aside from asking him directly, that is.
As she kept going around with her thoughts, Kanau spotted something interesting.
"Ah, this cafe is open. Do you want to eat something?" She said, pointing at a cafe across the street.
It wasn't particularly large or fancy. It had a large glass pane spanning across the front, giving a full view of the interior. There was a counter with some stools and a couple of tables by the window. And the best part was that no one seemed to be inside, so they would practically have it all for themselves.
"Sure. Let's go." It was a little past his time to eat, and honestly, Taihei would prefer to have a proper meal, but he supposed since he was here with Kanau, he might as well indulge a little. Plus, the place looked really nice.
Once inside, they were greeted by a charming waitress with dark hair, dressed in some kind of Christmas-themed maid outfit. She kindly showed them a table by the window, with seats for two. It was at that moment that Kanau realized: this setting was perfect for a date! It seemed the waitress read her mind because the moment she turned to the girl to ask for another place, she gave her a wink and handed them the menu, giving them some time to decide. Was she really that easy to read? And was Taihei that oblivious? The answer to both was yes.
As the waitress left, they got into reading the menu. Well, Taihei did so, while Kanau shifted between that and stealing glances at him. He held a tiny smile all the time, which he hoped was an indicator of him being pleased with the atmosphere. She made a mental note to come back here on future dates. If they ever happened, that is!
"So, can I take your order now?~" The waitress politely asked.
"Hmm, I'll have a cup of black coffee and… a cinnamon roll, please." Said the black-haired young man.
"Right. And for you, miss?"
"A-ah, I-I'll have, uh… a-a mocha and a cinnamon roll too!" Kanau picked the first thing her eye landed on. Good thing she liked mocha anyways.
"Okay~ A mocha and a black coffee, and two cinnamon rolls, coming right in~" She excused herself, leaving the two of them alone again. Now, back to the arduous task of finding something to talk about.
"W-wow, another year passed, right, Taihei-kun?"
"Yeah, time seems to fly by." He said, looking out the window.
Silence.
"... Do you think Umaru and Hikari are doing well together?"
"I hope so. For some reason, they bicker with each other. Hopefully, it's not something serious."
"They bicker because they want to have your attention, Taihei. And I want it too…"
Silence. Again.
"... Umm–"
"Alright, here are your orders. Two cinnamon rolls, hot mocha, and black coffee to warm the lovely couple~" The waitress came right on time. As expected, the C-word made Kanau blush, while Taihei didn't seem to pay any attention to it, simply thanking the charming lady. To make things "even better", Kanau noticed an extra item on the table, two heart-shaped cookies, decorated with some kind of chocolate.
"S-sorry miss, but we didn't order t-this!" She said, pointing at the cookies.
"Oh, it's okay, that one is on the house, a small gift for cute couples. Enjoy~" She said as she walked away, again giving a playful wink to Kanau, who also noticed the barman giving her a thumbs up. She was really easy to read, wasn't she? So why on earth was Taihei so blind to her advances?! And why was she panicking now?!
"Heh… that's a nice customer service to have." The young man commented, before taking a sip of his coffee. "Oh, and this coffee is amazing. I wonder if they are busy on normal days, the atmosphere is amazing."
"Eh?"
"Yeah, it's very cozy, and the tables for two by the window are very nice. It would be very popular with couples, don't you think?"
She stared at him in utter silence for a minute, incredulous.
"Yes…" She agreed, with a hint of defeat in her voice.
The two young adults enjoyed their warm drinks and cinnamon rolls in silence. Some people passed by outside, but right now it felt like it was just them existing in this silent but comfy place. Of course, Kanau kept on stealing glances at him the entire time, at his gentle smile. It was so pleasant to look at, especially as he chewed a bit of the sweet bun. She could spend hours straight just looking at him. That would totally make for a Christmas gift. Oh, right…
"I just remembered–" "Right, I forgot–" Both said at the same time.
"You were saying?"
"N-no, you first, T-Taihei."
"Well," He scratched the back of his head. "I ended forgetting to buy you a gift. Sorry about that, Kanau-san…" He admitted, with a hint of shyness in his voice.
"O-oh, t-there's no need to! Plus, I forgot to buy you anything too, s-so we're even!"
"Even then, I got something to Umaru, and to Hikari-chan too. We were going to make a small exchange today. I should have thought of something for you too…"
"Seriously, there's no need to. Don't feel obliged or anything." Once again, his thoughtfulness made her melt inside. If it was from Taihei, she would accept and treasure the cheapest of gifts. Even a lump of coal!
In fact, if there was one thing she wanted from him…
"No no no no, I can't possibly ask a k-k-k-kiss from him as a gift! What would he think of me?! Probably nothing much… he would probably give me a kiss on the cheek… like a friendship kiss, maybe…? Friends do that, right?!"
Kanau was lost in her own thoughts when she noticed Taihei staring at the plate with cookies between them.
"Is something wrong?"
"Oh no, it's just…"
Then she realized.
"Oh, right. You're not a big fan of chocolate. But…" She picked one of the cookies, the one that had a darker color to it, and took a bite. As she expected… "this is dark chocolate. It's easily seventy percent cocoa, if not more. I think you'll like it, why don't you try?"
"Cocoa, huh…" He picked the cookie Kanau offered to him, taking a bite from the other side. "Wow, it's pretty bitter for chocolate."
"Mhmm. Chocolate and coffee go well together, but you usually want to balance the sweetness from one with the bitterness from the other. Since you asked for black coffee, they served a sweeter cookie." She explained.
"Wow, I didn't know you were interested in these things." Taihei had cooking as a hobby of sorts, but he didn't expect the same from Kanau, though she did try to make him food back when they were at high school, with mixed results.
"Well, let's say I did some research…" And research she did. Knowing he wasn't very fond of chocolate, Kanau had to come up with a good choice for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, this year she missed the opportunity to give him anything. "You can have mine if you want."
"Thanks." He said, taking another bite from the cookie, still surprised with how much he liked this taste. Meanwhile, Kanau was freaking out internally with the prospect of an indirect kiss.
After paying for the food and thanking the kind waitress, who wished the lovely couple a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, they were once again walking side by side on the chilling streets. They spent more time at the café than they expected. The sky was starting to shift into yellow and orange tones, and the streets were starting to brighten up with colorful lights. Despite the cold weather, they didn't have any haste in their steps. Kanau was once again stuck in that cycle of coming up with a topic when she noticed Taihei wasn't by her side. He stopped a few steps behind her, looking up at a bright storefront. It was one of the local arcades, and this one, in particular, was one they used to frequent back then.
"Can we stop here for a moment, Kanau-san?" He asked.
"S-sure!" She said, quickly following him inside.
She didn't expect him to invite her anywhere, but she was glad for any extra time she could expend with him. Even in the holidays, the place was busy with kids going around the many games and machines. Taihei looked around for a while until he found the one he was looking for, a classical crane game. He looked in his pockets for a few coins and inserted them into the machine, all that while Kanau watched with curious eyes.
He moved the crane, his eyes focused on the pile of plush toys behind the glass pane. These machines were rigged to eat as many coins as possible from innocent players, yet, for some reason, his younger sister always came back home with dozens of prizes. He felt sorry for the owners of the arcades, as the little blondie alone probably brought their profit close to a zero. In a similar fashion, Taihei didn't really pretend to spend all his coins on this machine. Once he spotted the right target and the, he hit the "catch" button and the claw made its slow descent to pick the prize.
Again, these machines were rigged, so of course, the claw didn't have a lot of strength to it. However, if you aimed at the right spot, you could make one of the claw pincers hook on the small tag of the plushies, effectively securing the catch even if the toy slipped from its grasp. And just like that, he secured a prize, picking it from the prize boot. It was a cat doll, colored gray-brown with darker brown ears, paws, and tail. It also had a yellow bow on its head.
"Here." He said, offering her the plushie.
"E-eh?"
"I know this is nothing special, but I didn't want to let today go by without getting you a gift. Plus… it kinda reminds me of you." He said, placing the cat doll in her hands.
Kanau looked at the gift she just received and at the person who had just given it to her, and she had to turn around to hide her strong blush.
"T-t-thank you, Taihei!" She said, holding the doll close against her chest. She couldn't hold back the smile crossing her lips. "But…" Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she looked back at him. "now I really feel bad for not getting you anything…"
"It's okay, I'm the one being stubborn here. So, since we're here anyway, why don't you come home with me? Umaru is having her friends there, but I bet they won't bother with one extra guest."
"Yes!" Her brain just registered the words "you", "home", and "me".
The walk back remained as silent as before, but now she had a cute plushie to hold on to, so she didn't bother much with it. Instead, Kanau was worrying about the approaching end of the day. The sun had gone down the horizon and now the streets were full of bright lights from the decorations. They passed by a large square with a huge tree, and she couldn't help but notice the many couples walking by. She wondered if more people would think of them as a couple, like earlier.
The more she thought about it, the more she worried. Today she practically went on a real date with him, except he didn't catch on to that. Perhaps she was wrong. Maybe the reason why Taihei didn't show any reaction to her advances was that he didn't feel anything at all. There had to be a limit to how dense one could be. If that was the case, she was probably fighting a lost war. However, today of all days, Kanau wanted to be absolutely sure. She already flirted with him occasionally, so being straightforward should be easy, right?
"Taihei… sorry again for dragging you around like this… It's Christmas and I seem to give you one task after the other…"
"It's okay. Honestly, I always spend the holidays with Umaru, so today was pretty refreshing."
"I see…" Well, at least she brought something positive to him. "But still, I'm kinda bothered I didn't get you anything…"
"Please don't be. I like to think the Christmas gift is not an obligation, but something you give because you care about the people you're giving them to." Oh, Taihei. Always so thoughtful and so gentle. How could she not fall in love?
"Seriously… that's so like you to say does things. But you should think more about yourself, you know?" She said, briefly looking at him. He remained in silence for a while.
"Is this about… me being special?" They were back at this topic again, and the awkward mood returned with it. However, Kanau would see the end of that talk this event, no matter what it was.
"Yes… Have you ever thought that you're too kind sometimes…?"
"Well… sometimes I think I'm too lenient with Umaru. I let her do as she wants most of the time, but she still goes well at school. I end letting her slack off and clean up after the mess she makes, but sometimes she does clean on her own–"
"I'm not talking about this, Taihei. Not only this, anyway… You're so kind to everyone around you, to me… and you don't ask for anything."
"Am I… not supposed to…?" Where was this talk going?
"No, of course not. That's one of the things I lo– like in you…"
"..."
"... Taihei."
"Hmm?"
She took a step ahead and stopped in front of him, hugging the doll for dear life. Kanau slowly raised her brown eyes to look directly at his dark brown ones. She would have to ignore the heat coming to her face right now, and her stomach tied into knots.
"What would you like for Christmas? I'll make sure to get you one before New Year."
"You don't have to, Kanau-san–"
"Just pick anything! I don't want to feel like I'm abusing your kindness…" Her intense stare put him under enough pressure to make him think of something.
"Umm, let's see… A new pressure cooker would be nice."
"That's easy. Anything else?"
"W-well, there was that new kitchen knife set I saw the other day–"
"Tell me the brand and I'll get you one. What else?"
"K-Kanau-san, you don't have to buy me a lot of things…!"
"Why not?" She took a step forward, making him take a step back. His eyes looked around, but they were alone in this street. They were not far from his apartment, and to their side was a small playground, full of lights. Courtesy of the neighborhood, he supposed.
"Well, I don't want to abuse your kindness either…"
"And what if I want to be kind to you?"
"You're already too kind, Kanau-san."
"What if I want to be extra kind? I can't?" She took another step forward, and he took another step back.
"You can! But, umm, wouldn't it be better to, you know, be kind to other people besides me…?"
"No."
"N-no?"
"No. I want to be kind specifically to you, Taihei." Another step forward, another step back. They were slowly making their way into the playground.
"Don't you think it would be better spent on someone else…" He asked her, legit confused. Yes, he was glad Kanau was always there helping him, but this felt like it was too much just for him. Especially because it was for him.
"No. ~sigh~ Taihei, when will you understand…?"
"Understand… what?"
"That you're special. To a lot of people around you, like your sister, my sister… and me." Her eyes never left his, despite him looking around nervously. But those last words worked to get his attention. They were now looking at each other eye in eye.
"Kanau-san…"
"I know you don't fully understand what I mean by this. Maybe it is my fault, though it is beyond me how you didn't get it with my nearly daily flirting… The truth is when I say you're special to me, what I mean is…"
She fiddled with her hands a little, her cheeks were bright red, and the words hung at the tip of her tongue. It had to be now, in this lovely park full of lights, as tiny snowflakes fell around them. It had to be now, at this magic moment between just the two of them.
"You're special to me, Taihei, you have always been. You're kind, gentle, and you always place others before you. You're smart, but you don't let it go up to your head. You're always smiling, regardless of how tired you are. You care about my sister the same way you do for yours. You're special to me for all this and it really pains me to see you think so little of yourself. That's why I must let you know that… I love you, Taihei."
There, she said it. But instead of turning away like she normally would due to her embarrassment, she kept waiting for his response, looking into his eyes with clear expectancy.
As for the young man, Taihei was lost. Did she… Did Kanau just confess to him? Was this a joke, or some kind of dream? Would he wake up any time now to Umaru jumping on his futon? Well, Kanau was still staring at him, and the cold breeze felt too real for it to be a dream. He doubted she would try and pull a prank on him, let alone one of this kind. The only thing left to sort out was this "I love you". She loved him… Kanau loved him.
How did he not see this before? Years of memories flooded into his mind, everything connecting and making much more sense. So much sense, in fact, that he felt guilty for not realizing sooner. The young man couldn't imagine just how much frustration he made her feel with his denseness, but at the time he legit thought she was being playful. She had always been like this with him, but that also made sense too.
So, how should he respond? I mean, she was pretty, very pretty. She was smart, dedicated, and kind to everyone around her. Even Bomber, though you could call it "tough love". Kanau was definitely his type, but was that enough? More important, was he enough for her? Yes, she just confessed after listing everything she liked about him, but taihei couldn't help but question if all those "qualities" were enough for someone like her. She was clearly pouring her heart into this, so the question was whether or not he could return her feelings at the same measure.
He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't feel something similar to her because he always did. However, be it the focus on his studies, on his job, or any other responsibilities, Taihei always pushed those back. In his mind, before he could put thought into those feelings, he had to set his life to a decent level. That and the usual thoughts in the back of his mind that he wasn't really special, just a normal guy leading a normal life. Girls liked exciting guys, right? What were his chances?
Apparently, they were pretty good.
"... You're awfully quiet, Taihei. Should I… should I be worried?" She said, with hesitation and worry dripping from every word.
"... To be honest, I don't know what to think of it, or what to say…" He wasn't one to run from problems, but Taihei was finding it really difficult to look back at Kanau, with her eyes full of expectation. And how pretty her brown eyes were. Did they always shine like this…?
"Then how about this? Do you think I'm pretty…?"
"Mhmm…" He nodded.
"Do you like me, to any extent?"
"Yeah, I guess so…"
"Would you say I'm your type?"
"Yes…"
"Then there's only one thing I can think of to trouble you that much. And the answer is yes."
"Huh?"
"Yes, Taihei. You're more than enough to me. You're much more than I could ask for. Actually, I think I'll be a little greedy now. As if I hadn't been dragging you around all day already…" She said, taking a step closer to him. For whatever reason, he didn't move. Like, at all. It could either be a good or a bad sign, but she would take her chances on this.
"Taihei…"
"Hai…?"
"All I want for Christmas… is you. More specifically…"
She leaned in, her eyelids slowly closing. Her warm breath brushed his face, with a faint hint of coffee and chocolate. He might be dense but he wasn't an idiot. He knew exactly what she wanted, and after all this, how could he not? How could he refuse, too? She stopped mere millimeters away from her goal, probably expecting his answer in the form of action. If he was truly up to her standards, if he could give her what she wanted, he would discover later on. Right now, he only felt like closing this tiny gap.
It felt… awkward, for a number of reasons. For starters, they had been friends for such a long time. It should probably feel more natural, but the one-sided nature of this made him feel like this has been long overdue. As for her, it felt like the end of a long, long journey, and there was a huge "what now?" in the back of her mind, way in the back, because the priority now was relishing on that kiss. That awkward, hesitant but sincere kiss.
Their lips were just touching. Should she tilt her head to the side, as she saw in those romantic movies? Should he hold her somehow? He heard girls liked guys that take the initiative. How long was a kiss meant to last? Until you lose your breath? What about that tongue thing? So many questions, but none of them remained around for more than a moment, as they couldn't really think of anything else but the soft sensation of each other's lips. She thought it was so much better than she imagined and certainly softer than her pillow. He thought he was being dumb for missing out on this for so long.
Forget the rules, if there were any. What matters is that they were kissing. Kanau was living the dream while Taihei discovered something he didn't know he wanted so bad. They moved away just enough to look at each other, both with a huge blush on their cheeks. She thought he looked really cute and was glad she found out a new face he could make. He wondered again if her eyes always had this glow to them, and if her hair was always so pretty, and if her face had always looked this cute…
The cold winter breeze, now carrying snowflakes, gently blew by them, encouraging the two to get closer again. Still holding the cat plushie, Kanau wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his chest. He did the same, although his hands were considerably higher than hers. All it took was another glance between them. They wanted to try this kissing thing again.
This time they went a little further, adding a little more pressure, and tilting their heads at a slight angle. It evolved from a shy peck to a full kiss. Kanau was so happy she couldn't contain her smile, making it a little hard to properly kiss her boyfriend. Oh right, where exactly did they stand now? She never asked him to be her boyfriend, and neither did he talk about her being his girlfriend. A few minutes ago, he wasn't even aware of her feelings, but he was kissing her now. Did that count? Was she skipping some important step in this?
"Whatever, I can think about this later~" She thought, breaking the kiss again to look into his eyes.
"I love you." She said, with a huge smile adorning her lips.
"I love you too, Kanau." He told her for the first time, and he felt his heart skip a bit. So this is how it feels to fall in love, huh? And she has been feeling like this ever since they've met? All he could think of was how to show her how he felt. Now he understood what people mean when they say "head over heels". And oh God, she started giggling and doing some tiny skips in place when he said the words. Could she look even cuter?
"You… probably waited a lot to hear this, right?"
"Yes… and the waiting is definitely worth it." She said, pulling him closer, hugging his body tighter. Her eyes with half-closed eyelids stared at his, her lips asked for more. Well, so did he.
Who would've thought kissing felt this good? Or being hugged, and hugging someone back? Was it because they loved each other? Was it the atmosphere around them? Was this the famous Christmas Magic at play? How could they be absolutely sure this wasn't a dream and they would soon wake up in their respective beds to the sound of an alarm clock? Well, the warmth of each other was a good hint. Even with the thick layers of winter clothes in-between, they could sort of feel it. Taihei also learned it wasn't only Kanau's lips that felt soft. He could definitely get used to holding her against him like this.
Not that he held any impure thoughts or anything, but he felt a strong desire to keep her close to him to protect her, give her a home, and supply each and every need she could possibly have. Was he thinking too much ahead? Maybe she didn't think of things like marriage yet. It was a serious thing, after all, and they should talk about this with care. Not that he ever thought about marriage either. In fact, this idea kind of terrified him, but in a good way. It was like the anxiety you feel at the highest point of a rollercoaster, before the first drop.
"I… I can't wait to see where we go from here, but that can wait. What now, all I want is…"
To kiss her more and more. Keep her as close to him as physically possible, have another taste of her sweet lips. Taihei held her tighter, still not sure of what he was doing, but he knew he had to push forward. Hopefully, his feelings would translate and pass to her, and boy, they sure did. Kanau was caught by surprise with this move from him, but she was more than pleased, welcoming him even more in her embrace. Somehow, in their awkward search for the best way to kiss, they ended opening their mouths a bit, and things sort of followed by instinct from there. It felt weird when their tongues touched but in a good way. It was all weird and new, and they couldn't have enough of this.
Unfortunately, humans have to breathe regardless of how much in love they are, so interrupting kissing is not possible, even less with how excited they were. They broke the kiss, breathing heavily, with flushed cheeks and staring at each other eyes. Wide smiles crossed their lips, and in the end, they started to laugh. They laughed and laughed more, realizing they were probably the dorkiest couple in Japan. He for not noticing her feeling before. She for not doing this sooner. Then again, maybe it was the waiting that made this special. In a way, every decision they took has brought them to this moment. In a less grandiose view, the idea of Umaru and her friends spending the day at his apartment along with Hikari has brought them to this moment.
Oh, right.
"We should probably be going, it's already nighttime, and it might snow more," Taihei said, looking up. There were some clouds in the night sky, but the silver light of the moon shone through a gap. It was like someone made a window up there just for them.
"Yeah. Our sisters are probably still bickering, though."
"Hahaha, I was hoping they would get along better. Anyway, do you still want to stay at home with us?"
"Yeah, it would be nice."
He hesitated for a moment.
"Do you want to stay with me?"
She looked at him with a surprised look, that quickly melted into a lovely smile.
"Forever. That's all I want~"
"How did Onii-chan become the main topic in here…?" The blondie thought to herself.
It was supposed to be a day full of games, anime, and delicious snacks with her friends. And it was, but it also involved Hikari, her real identity, and somehow they were now discussing her older brother, for reasons that she failed to grasp. Yes, he was good to her, and she supposed he was good to everyone around him too, but why did they have to discuss what kind of girl he liked? And why did it even bother her anyway?
Maybe this party was a mistake. Maybe she should have just played all the guilty cards she had on him, and convinced him to stay with her. She could have thrown successive tantrums until he called out of work. Not that she didn't like spending time with her friends, and being honest with them felt great, liberating even. But Umaru couldn't shake this feeling of… anger? it didn't feel like anger. Perhaps… envy? Yeah, let's go with that.
She felt envious when Hikari got all comfortable and personal around her Onii-chan. It was Umaru's role. She also felt kinda envious when Kirie and Ebina said nice things about him. Yes, she knew about it all. She was his sister, after all! And then Sylphyn said how she wanted her brother to see her, well, Umaru also wanted that! But the final straw had to be Hikari going on about Onii-chan praising her. If there was someone he should praise, it was Umaru! And what was taking him so long to come back?!
Suddenly came the sound of the door being opened. Umaru immediately got up, running to the entrance in her Indoors form. The topic of discussion has arrived, and he wasn't alone.
"Ah, Umaru. Sorry for taking so long, we took some time to–"
"Onii-chan!~"
His words were cut short as the blondie jumped at him for a tackle hug, her trademark Umaru Dive. Outdoors or Indoors form didn't matter, she just hugged him with all her strength.
"Welcome home, Onii-chan~" She said with a bright smile. He couldn't help but smile back at her.
"Mmm, I'm home~"
Still hugging her brother, Umaru and Taihei made their way inside, with Kanau following right after. Once they showed in the main room, Umaru held a smug look towards the white-haired girl who was munching on her third melon bread this day.
"Good evening, everyone." Said the young man, getting the attention of the girls.
Hikari also got up with lightning speed to Hikari Dive her dearest Onii-chan, as it was the only proper way to greet him.
"Welcome home, Onii-chan~"
"Oi! Umaru already said that. And that's not even your home!"
"Hikari's home is wherever Onii-chan is. Also, welcome home, Nee-chan." She said, turning to the girl next to Taihei.
"Well, I guess I'm home too~" Kanau said, smiling at her younger sister. It seems the little feud between Umaru and her wasn't over yet.
That aside, she liked this idea Hikari proposed. Home is wherever Taihei is, huh? Yeah, that sounded perfect to her.
"Come on, let go of Onii-chan, you're being too clingy."
"Hikari is the right amount of clingy. It is you who looks like a koala hugging Onii-chan."
"Umaru is not a koala! Ans stop hugging Onii-chan!"
"Hikari refuses."
While the two girls argued, another figure got up to greet them.
"M-Merry Christmas, Onii-san!" Ebina said, stealing a glance at the girl next to him.
"Merry Christmas, Onii-san…!" Kirie followed suit.
"Mmm, Merry Christmas to you Ebina-chan, Kirie-chan." Taihei noticed an unfamiliar face among his sister's friends. "Umm, sorry but we haven't met yet, right?"
Immediately the bluenette sprung on her feet to greet the famed "Onii-san" everyone talked about so much.
"Nine to meet you~ My name is Tachibana Sylphynford. I'm Umaru's great friend and rival!~" She said, surprising both him and Kanau. She was pretty excited about simply meeting him.
"Rival, huh… Wait, Tachibana? Say, perhaps you would have an older brother?"
"Hmm? Yes, I do have an older brother. How did you know?"
"Alex-kun is a co-worker of Taihei and me," Kanau answered for him, surprising the girl even more.
"So you know my Onii-sama?! Splendid!~ Is he doing a good job? Will he get a promotion soon? Can he get a raise too?"
"W-well, Alex-kun is doing a great job, but I can't really tell about the promotion part…" Despite being the manager of the team, this was kind of beyond Kanau. If she had the power, Taihei would certainly be the first option.
"Really? Well, that's my Onii-sama for you, desuwa~" She said twirling around with a big smile on her face.
"She looks very proud of her brother, right, Taihei?" Kanau whispered to him.
"It seems like it." He said back, with a warm smile of his own. It was then that he realized something.
"Wait. Umaru?! you are–" He looked in shock at the blondie still clinging to him while she bickered with the white-haired one.
"Hmm?" She turned away from Hiraki and looked at him with a puzzled face.
"You are, you know, Indoors…" He tried to hint at her current form. He was so used to seeing Umaru like this when at home that only now his brain registered that there were more people around.
As for the little blondie, Umaru seemed to get what he meant, and a bright smile appeared on her face.
"It's okay, Onii-chan, Umaru doesn't have any secrets from her friends, right?" She said the last part looking at her friends, who reciprocated with equally bright smiles.
So she finally revealed her "true self", and by looks of it, it didn't change at all her friendship with the girls. That was all Taihei could ask for. Well, he would really be glad if Umaru also learned to clean up after her mess, but he had to be realistic with his wishes. He probably spent all of the Christmas Magic available to him for the upcoming years. Regardless, it made him really, really happy that his younger sister found such good friends. Enough to bring some tears to the young man's eyes.
"Is everything okay, Taihei?" Kanau asked since she saw him taking off his glasses.
"Y-yeah, everything is alright." "Okaa-san, Umaru is finally having a normal high school life. It wasn't too late!~" He said, brushing his eyes with the long sleeve of his shirt.
"Eh?! Onii-chan, why are you crying? And why does Umaru feels a little offended?!"
They shared a light laugh.
"Right, you girls didn't exchange gifts yet, did you?" He asked them.
"No, we were waiting for Onii-chan to arrive, though Hikari didn't expect Nee-chan to be here too."
"Well, in that case, why don't we do it now?" Everyone agreed, moving to pick the gifts they got for today.
Before anyone could say anything, Sylphyn stepped forward, with two gifts in her hands, one yellow with a red ribbon, and the other red, with a purple ribbon.
"I'll go first. I prepared two gifts for my two rivals and friends, but since they're the same person… Umaru-san, here!~" She said, handling both boxes to Umaru with a spin.
"Thank you, Sylphyn-chan, and sorry that you had to buy two gifts…"
"No need to feel sorry. Let's say that for me double challenging you, desuwa~"
Umaru could only respond with a smile. She opened the gifts, taking care to not ruin the pretty wrapping or the ribbons and in the yellow box, she found a cute cat plushie, with a yellow coat and an orange spot on the back. On the red box, she found another box, but this one had Space Street Fighters all around it.
"Uwaah~ The limited edition box set of Space Street Fighters! You literally don't find those around, only in special events!"
"Splendid, isn't it?~ I had to enter a special tournament to get one. And when I asked Ebina-san what did you like, she said you had a lot of cat plushies, so I got one from that arcade we go to~" Sylphyn said, with a victorious look.
"Thank you so much, Sylphyn-chan!~" Umaru beamed. She gently placed her gifts aside and picked the one she meant to give. "Well, I guess it is my turn then. Kirie-chan."
"H-hai!"
Umaru handed the girl her gift, wrapped in a dark purple, shiny wrapper. Kirie opened it as if it was something sacred. It took a while but after opening it, she revealed a small kit full of colored pencils, pens, crayons, and even paint. Needless to say, Kirie was beyond happy.
"Since you want to write storybooks for children, I thought this could help you."
"I-I'll treasure this for the rest of my life! Thank you, Umaru-san!"
Coming down from her hype of getting a gift from Umaru, Kirie picked hers and awkwardly looked for some words before giving it. I-I-I wasn't sure of what would you like, so I ended gathering a couple of things, a-and I asked Umaru for helo so… h-here!" She said, handing the gift in a colorful box to Ebina.
The brunette shyly accepted the gift and undid the ribbon on top of it. Inside the box, she found a cute-looking pillow of Necolumbus. It seems all the girls shared a liking for plushies.
"It's Necolumbus. Oh, and these are…" Ebina noticed there was something else at the bottom of the box. She picked the little cards, each one different from the others.
"I-I thought you would like the food of these places! E-especially the bakery, they have an amazing strawberry shortcake. M-maybe we could go there together, i-if you want…"
"I would love to. Thank you, Kirie-chan~" Ebina said, hugging her new pillow. "And I guess it is my turn now. Well…"
She shuffled a bit before giving her gift to Sylphin.
"It is not expensive or anything, but I hope you like it…"
The bluenette looked at the blue box with white ribbons in awe. I even had some shiny snowflake patterns on it. She almost felt bad for opening such a cute-looking gift. But the best part was definitely inside.
"~gasp~ It's a Witchy PreCure figure, I didn't have any of this series yet. Thank you, Ebina-san!~" She said, surprising Ebina with a hug.
Well, the girls had exchanged their gifts, but one of them was kind of isolated. They planned the gift exchange before Umaru invited them over, and since no one knew Hikari would come, well… The poor girl looked at the floor, fiddling with her fingers, but fortunately, Taihei was prepared.
"Hikari-chan?" He got her attention and then showed her a gift in a wrapper full of stars. Her eyes lit up and she quickly picked the gift, opening it.
"The Cosmos. A journey through the universe and all its celestial bodies…" She read the title of the book she just got and staying true to her name, Hikari seemed to shine with happiness. She then turned around to give him a tackle hug. Just this time, Umaru would allow it, albeit with a pout.
"Thank you, Onii-chan." She said, nuzzling on him.
"Oi, don't get too comfy there…" The blondie complained, earing yet another smug look from the white-haired girl.
"Hikari-chan, why don't you give your gift now?" Kanau suggested, laughing lightly at the little feud between the two girls.
Hikari got up to pick her gift, returning to give it to Taihei. It had a peculiar round shape to it, so he had a good idea of what it was.
"Thank you, Hikari-chan."
"Hikari chose this all by herself." She said, looking at him with expectant eyes.
"Well, let's see… Oh, a frying pan! And an anti-adherent one. Thank you again, Hikari-chan~" He said, giving her a head pat.
"No way!" Umaru shouted, now holding her gift which also had a similar shape.
Taihei opened her gift next and it was a cooking pan, with a glass lid.
"Oh, this one is of good quality too. Thank you, Umaru~" He said with a warm smile, but Umaru scooted closer to him, nudging with her elbow until he understood what she wanted. So he also gave her a head pat.
"Umm…" Ebina shyly stepped forward, hiding her flushed face behind her other gift, which also had a peculiar round shape. It seems they all had the same basic idea.
"You got something for me too, Ebina-chan?" She nodded, giving him her gift. It was considerably heavier than the others, so he wondered what could it be. "Oh, it's a cast-iron pot!"
"I-I asked my Mom to buy one and send it to me since I didn't find one around… We use these a lot back at home…" She said shyly.
"Thank you, Ebina-chan, and to you all. I can't wait to use them~" He didn't care that all three of them got something similar, he was glad for them being so thoughtful. But Taihei noticed Ebina was still shuffling in place, stealing a few glances at him, so he came to a conclusion, based on the previous two gifts, and also gave her a head pat.
And just like that, Ebina had a thin steam line coming out of her head, as she looked down to conceal her smile and flushed cheeks.
Now everyone had exchanged their gifts, Taihei thought about what they could eat, though he imagined the girls weren't that hungry, judging by the many packages of snacks lying on the table. This quantity was impressive, even considering Umaru was here. Before he could suggest anything, Hiraki got his attention again, but by jumping from him to her sister.
"Nee-chan, you didn't get any gifts." She said, looking up at Kanau.
Kanau put a finger on her cheek, making a thoughtful face for a moment.
"Hmm, did I?" She brought her cat plushie closer to her chest, and her other hand slowly sneaked away, finding Taihei's hand and interlocking their fingers. He looked at her with surprise at first, but all it took was an exchange of looks. A smile appeared on their lips.
"You know, Hiraki, I already got my gift."
"Really. And what is it?"
She held his hand tighter.
"Onii-chan~"
"Onii-chan…?" Hikari parroted her sister in confusion.
"Huh? Onii-chan? What does she mean by that?"
"W-well…" He looked to the side, scratching his head.
"Onii-chan, what does she mean by that?! Answer Umaru, Onii-chan! Onii-chaaaaan!"
The End
