Chapter 274: White Christmas Signifies Auspiciousness, According to the Encyclopedia
"It's snowing outside."
Shinomiya Kaguya stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the snow fall in the courtyard.
"Snow is a solid form of precipitation formed when water vapor in the air sublimates. Its structure changes with temperature, and it's usually hexagonal, resembling flowers, which is why it's called snowflakes." Sakurai Saki held his phone, reading from an encyclopedia.
"You really don't get the mood at all, Sakurai-san." Shinomiya Kaguya cast him a glance.
Kaguya: (¬`‸´¬)
This was a true White Christmas; last year there hadn't even been one.
"White Christmas symbolizes good fortune and fulfillment, the highest realm of Western Christmas. That's what it says on Google."
"That's why! I already told you! Stop Googling on your phone, Sakurai-san!" Shinomiya Kaguya covered her face, utterly hopeless before someone so devoid of romance.
At first she had thought that Sakurai Saki—the guy who could confess openly during the sports festival—would at least understand a bit of romance, but apparently not.
Poor Ai-san, having a boyfriend like this.
"Kaguya-san, this must be your first time spending Christmas with everyone, right? Happy?" Sakurai Saki's voice suddenly softened.
Caring for lonely children without a place to belong—that was a grown-up's responsibility, after all.
"You're always like this." Shinomiya Kaguya murmured a mild complaint.
Always attacking by surprise—so annoying.
"Hm? So you're not happy?"
"No! I'm happy. I even received a gift from Ai-san." Shinomiya Kaguya pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window and stepped outside.
Sakurai Saki followed her into the yard.
Above, the moon was perfectly round. He stretched out his hand, catching a few snowflakes that quickly melted in his palm.
"Kaguya-san's birthday is coming up, isn't it?"
"How do you know?" Shinomiya Kaguya also held out her hand to catch the snow.
"Ai-chan told me."
"Every year I have to go back to the main house for New Year, so I never really get to celebrate my birthday." Shinomiya Kaguya's birthday fell exactly on January first, the very start of the new year.
She herself wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.
"Having a birthday on New Year's Day sounds nice. Everyone's already happy, so it feels like, 'ah, my birthday makes everyone happy too.'" Sakurai Saki smiled at her.
Shinomiya Kaguya shot him a glance, then deliberately turned to look at the trees in the yard. "Self-absorbed."
"New Year, huh." Sakurai Saki exhaled a white puff of breath; it was freezing outside.
Before frost it's cold, after snow it's bitter. Tomorrow might be even colder.
"This year's already gone. So fast."
In the blink of an eye, he'd gone from a pure rookie to a scumbag. Sakurai Saki, you've changed so much.
Last year you were still pretty innocent in love.
Sakurai Saki silently mocked himself, then couldn't help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Shinomiya Kaguya asked in confusion.
"Nothing." Sakurai Saki tightened the scarf around his neck—this one was a special gift from Ai-chan. He explained, "Before, when I saw girls, I never thought about wanting to win their favor. Now I've started to care about what girls think."
Kaguya: ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
"W-why are you suddenly saying something like that?" Shinomiya Kaguya instinctively put a bit more distance between them, looking uneasy. "You already have Ai-san, there's no way for us!"
Hey! That "good guy" rejection line rolled off her tongue way too smoothly. Just how many confessions has she turned down?
Makes sense, though—Shinomiya Kaguya was actually pretty popular with "weeds," but when she received love letters, she usually didn't respond at all.
"Even if I were to fool around, it wouldn't be with you. Girls who are overly self-absorbed aren't liked by anyone." Sakurai Saki said irritably.
What a narcissist.
"What? Are you denying my beauty?"
"Kaguya-san, surely no one thinks their looks alone are enough to make someone fall in love at first sight, right?"
"There are. My looks could." Shinomiya Kaguya saw absolutely no problem saying this.
"From the aesthetic perspective of carbon-based lifeforms, Kaguya-san can indeed be called a beauty."
Sakurai Saki disliked lying, and even more disliked saying meaningless falsehoods.
"Then…" Shinomiya Kaguya's beautiful eyes turned toward him as she softly asked, "Do you have feelings for me?"
"No, no, absolutely not, not even a little!" Sakurai Saki fired off four straight "no"s.
Shinomiya Kaguya snorted. "You're really cruel!!"
"..." Whether good words or bad, he'd said them all.
A moment ago she kept him at arm's length, but when he told the truth she looked wounded.
This girl was so troublesome—like leaving the house and only then realizing you forgot to turn off the gas.
"Oh right, this is for you."
As if suddenly remembering, Shinomiya Kaguya took a small, pretty gift box from her coat pocket.
"A private Christmas gift is usually only given to someone you're close with," Sakurai Saki reminded her.
"Umu, it's for you." Shinomiya Kaguya didn't deny it.
Inside was white chocolate.
Sakurai Saki hated sweets the most; both Hayasaka Ai and Kaguya knew this. In fact, judging from his usual habits, Kaguya had guessed it too, since he always drank black coffee.
Opening the box, Sakurai Saki's face was full of dark lines. He knew it—no way would she be that kind. "This again?"
Forget it, he'd just take it home for Shinobu, the girl loved sweets.
"Hmph hmph." Shinomiya Kaguya's lips curved slightly into an incredibly cute smile.
"Your expression right now is really interesting."
"I don't like sweets." Even though he was sure she already knew, Sakurai Saki still explained.
"Why?" Shinomiya Kaguya asked.
Sakurai Saki looked up at the falling snow, which was growing heavier.
He recalled and said:
"When someone you always trusted betrays you, then no matter how beautiful the memories are, there's nothing worth remembering."
"I don't get it." Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't understand, but she sensed his mood wasn't good.
"Kaguya-san, you know, when you cry until your heart hurts, even candy stops tasting sweet." Sakurai Saki smiled faintly. "This little piece of knowledge, probably very few people know."
Shinomiya Kaguya took out her phone to search the encyclopedia. "Liar, there's no proof at all, no papers on that."
"Google isn't necessarily reliable. This is my personal experience—should be convincing enough." Sakurai Saki gave a small laugh. "Maybe it's just my own peculiar constitution."
"We're actually very alike, really alike." Sakurai Saki looked at Shinomiya Kaguya, then a few seconds later turned his gaze away.
Bad memories flooded back.
"Alike?"
"No, just… it feels like there should be more trust between people." Sakurai Saki turned to head back inside. "When did the trust between people start to disappear?"
"Today you sound like some third-rate screenwriter, spouting strange riddles."
Shinomiya Kaguya called toward his back: "Eat all the chocolate for me! Don't waste it!"
Sakurai Saki turned his head and gave her a glance. "I'll eat it properly."
He stepped back into the room.
The others had just returned from the kitchen after cleaning up the 'death hotpot.'
"Saki-kun, did you just go outside?"
"Umu, it's snowing."