On a white Christmas, I surprisingly received a very rare visitor. Stepping out of my house I gazed at the parade of Mercedes and a silver limo packed outside my house. I looked at the grey haired youth in front of me and said to him.
"The hell is with this show Metori"
The grey haired youth smirked smugly at me and said to me in a condescending tone.
"Hmph! This is just a tip of my wealth. Let these Plebs marvel at this young master and shower me with praises".
I slapped the back of his head and said to him "Enough of your boasting Metori. Sigh, how did the cute crybaby from back then become such an arrogant prick"
The grey haired youth with his right hand covering the part of his head I smacked said to me in a pompous tone, "Who was a crybaby? I've never cried in my entire life. And besides don't pretend you had no hand in me becoming like this. You where the one who said a real man needs to be like Sentarou".
Sigh, I can't believe one careless remark from me still sent this crybaby on the path of being an arrogant prick. For those of you who have not yet caught on, this fellow here is my oldest childhood friend and also my first friend, Metori Saiko.
For those of you wondering about who Sentarou is, well, we will have to go back in time to four years ago.
Flashback - Four years Ago
Metori who had been rejected in his confession from his first love was crying behind the school building. I, who was looking for him to go home together heard this familiar crying and went to check it out.
There he was, Metori Saiko, tears overflowing with snot running across his face looking quite miserable and gross. Without knowing what happened to him I cheered him up and then asked the reason. Well after knowing why he was crying I understood his plight but it still pissed me off that he would cry at the smallest inconvenience. So to get him to man up I offered a careless remark.
I looked him in the eye and made an example using his favorite manga at the time, The ever-optimistic Sentarou. I told Metori that only cool guys like Sentarou got the nice chicks. I swear I just spoke of it casually, who would've thought this idiot took my words as some sage advice and stood by it.
He quickly withdrew from school and began homeschooling acting all cool while spouting nonsense like "Only sheep's move in groups, top predators hunt alone". From there his arrogant steak started.
Flashback ends
I shook my head and sat in the limo with Metori. We drove to his house where we were going to have our Christmas breakfast. Yeah you heard it right, not Christmas dinner but breakfast. Thus cause Mr.Saiko still had to work on Christmas. Dude really takes 'married to your job ' to a whole other level.
We arrived at the Saiko Estate in all of its magnificent glory which makes Versailles look like a vacation home. Walking down the long corridor adorned with crystal chandeliers, imported marble and of course Christmas decorations, I marvel to myself hypocritically at how luxurious and wasteful these damn rich folks are.
The giant door to the dining room opens as Metori and I make our way to the room. I scanned the room quickly, long mahogany table, lavishly spread with a three-course breakfast. Sitting at the head of the table was Mr.Saiko himself, to his right was his wife, Saiko Haruno, an elegant and domineering female CEO in the fashion industry.
"Ah, En-chan is here. Come and give Mama a hug. Mom missed you so much" said Mrs.Saiko getting up from her seat and walking up to me with her arms wide open.
I gave her a warm hug and then turned to Mr.Saiko and said to him with a smile
"Hey there uncle, how have you been? You look pretty tired. Don't over work yourself okay? You can just hand over company matters to loyal subordinates to take care of while you relax at home or go on dates with mom. After all, isn't the purpose of seeking wealth to live your life doing what you want and saying no to things you don't wanna do?"
Mr.Saiko beamed at me and replied, "Endou, my boy, you always know how to cheer Uncle up. I've been good, it's just a little overtime, nothing serious. And about the subordinate thing. I'll think about it, for now have a seat, let's enjoy our feast ".
The feast began with Mr.Saiko and I talking about business. Mr.Saiko talked about some challenges some of his companies where facing, semiconductor shortages, AI infrastructure and shipping route instability in the Red Sea.
I told him about how my logistics company preemptively diversified supply routes two years prior. We agreed to collaborate on some projects. He talked about predictive modeling, AI forecasting systems, and vertical integration strategies.
Mrs. Saiko who was watching us with a smile turned to Metori and asked him in a hushed tone. Metori who was scrolling tiktok videos on his phone immediately looked up at his mother.
Mrs. Saiko sighs.
"Metori, do you know what vertical integration means?"
Metori raised an eyebrow, thought for a long time and replied in an unsure tone
"Is that like… buying vertically structured companies?"
I almost choked on my juice when I heard him. Damn this idiot, if you don't know just say you don't. Mr.Saiko who had already seen what was going on sighed helplessly and turned to me saying
"You built revenue-generating ecosystems with the pocket money I gave you from over the years, while he" he said pointing to Metori
"Builds nightclub tabs".
I spoke up for my bro and reassured them that Metori was just in his rebellious phase and that he was enjoying his youth. I told them he would probably pick up his act by twenty when Mr.Saiko starts to train him in company affairs. Seeing Mr.Saiko wanting to use me as reference, I quickly told him that I was the weird one and that it was very difficult to find another like me.
Mrs.Saiko and Metori looked at me gratefully while Mr.Saiko just glared at Metori and turned away. The mood gradually switched as Mrs.Saiko glided in to the conversation, taking over from Mr.Saiko. We talked about travel, private islands in the Maldives, cherry blossoms viewing in Kyoto. We then talked about fashion with her asking me about the brands my entertainment company celebrities will be pushing next year. Metori and I also chatted about lots of things from games to movies to music. After dessert was served, the feast came to an end. I thanked the Saikos and borrowed a car to drive home.
At noon, I took my mom, Kaede, out on a Christmas date. Where we had lunch at a fancy restaurant, went shopping for clothes and jewelry and finally exchanging Christmas presents with each other.
Later that evening, Kusuo visited me saying his mom had invitede me to a Christmas dinner. I put on my fancy clothes and we headed out. The night of Tokyo was very splendid especially in this Christmas season. Everywhere I looked there were Christmas trees and pretty lights, happy-faced couples and families crowded the streets.
"Wow, look at that guy he's so handsome" said a girl to her group of friends.
"Is he a model? Maybe an actor?" A mother asked her child.
Such exclamations were heard as the ladies around us looked at me with starry eyes under the furious looks of their male companions.
I looked at Kusuo once again doing a ridiculous monologue about the dark side of Christmas in other people's hearts and said to him
[What do you mean by the only people who genuinely enjoy Christmas being only children and couples who are madly in love]
Kusuo shot me an annoyed look and just walked ahead. Finally, we arrived at the Saiki residence and man was it bright. These guys really over decorated the house. 'Who's paying for all these electricity bills' I thought to myself . Kusuo opened the door and we were greeted by Kurumi and Nendou in party hats right at the entrance. Kusuo quickly shut the door. I shook my head in amusement and opened the door.
"Oh hey there En-chan, Merry Christmas, here put on your party hat." Said Mrs.Saiki handing me the hat.
"Thanks mom and a Merry Christmas to you too" I said as I put on the party hat.
"I'm back" The front door opened as Kuniharu in a Santa outfit walked in with a sack on his shoulders.
"Merry Christmas, Santa is here with presents" he said before noticing Nendou.
He stared at Nendou for a while and then signaled for Kurumi to meet him in the Kitchen. Kurumi explained that Nendou was Kusuo's pal from school.
"Kusuo has a friend?" Kuniharu exclaimed as he burst into tears. I mean the heck is wrong with this guy crying all of a sudden and why are you surprised Kusuo has a friend, the heck did you think I was to him.
Kuniharu introduced himself to Nendou as Kusuo's dad. Nendou later told him he really thought Kuniharu was the actual Santa Clause, which elicited a blush from the middle aged man. Kuniharu brings down the mood by bringing up Nendou's dad. He later pretended once again to be Santa just to make Nendou happy. Well after all that drama we began our Christmas dinner.