By the end of the celebration dinner, it was time to give out birthday presents.
"Christmas happy!!"
"The shop manager officially turns thirty today…"
"Let's end this topic quickly." Seika rolled her eyes, which somehow still looked pretty.
She was not particularly anxious about her age.
It was just that recently, the friends she had met kept teasing her about her age and emotional status.
That made Seika feel a bit irritated.
...
"Ta da~ Sis, this is for you, a massage device."
Nijika handed over a neck massager and explained,
"After work, you can use this to relax. Your shoulders are always stiff, sis. Besides that, I also prepared eye drops, medicated patches, and bath additives that help relieve fatigue…"
Listening to her younger sister list everything so fluently,
Seika felt tired in her heart. She had to admit that she had reached the age where taking care of her body was necessary.
"Thank you."
Up until last year, she had still been receiving plush toys…
"U-um, shop, shop manager, this is my gift for you."
Hitori timidly handed over a handkerchief.
A girl giving another girl a handkerchief was a gift that could never go wrong.
Likewise, it did not carry much sense of surprise.
Plain did not mean bad. At least a handkerchief was usable. Compared to decorations that took up space and had no real use, it was still a step above.
The third person to give a gift, Ryo, handed over an old looking disc. She wiped the corner of her eye and said reluctantly, "Shop manager, please treasure it well."
"What is this?"
Seika had a bad feeling.
"A super rare horror movie disc. Only ten thousand copies were ever released worldwide. I bought it at a second hand store last week."
"…?" Seika tilted her head.
Was this really appropriate as a birthday present?
Although it was indeed quite memorable.
At this moment, Nijika asked curiously, "Ryo, what about the earrings you bought last time?"
"They were too expensive… I couldn't bear to give them away."
That was only a trivial part of the reason.
The deeper reason was that
An accessory personally paid for by Toru, how could Miss Ryo possibly give it away?
She had never intended to pick a gift for Seika in the first place. The earrings chosen during the date were simply a style she herself liked.
"Ryo, that's too mean."
"What about you, Nijika? The Bluetooth earphones Toru-kun bought for you, aren't you giving those to her?"
Silence followed for a few seconds.
"Um…"
Nijika muttered, "That was a gift Toru-kun gave to me. There was no rule saying I had to give it to my sister."
With the idea of keeping things fair and also easing the shura field, Toru had paid for quite a few things during the date.
"Nijika, that's too mean," Ryo said.
PA san wore the expression of someone enjoying the drama, resting her chin on her hands as she watched with a smile.
Oh my.
How interesting.
...
"I'm a bit curious… Kita chan, what are you giving?" someone asked.
"A flower shaped internet famous lipstick. The shop manager can use it to take photos and post on Instagram. It looks amazing on camera."
"I see. I thought you would give the scarf you bought last time."
"Th that…"
Kita casually searched for an excuse. "Uh, I think I bought the wrong size. The scarf is a bit short."
Everyone: "..."
Since when did scarves have sizes?
At least come up with a more serious excuse.
It was only then that Hitori suddenly realized
She was the only one who foolishly gave away a gift that Toru had personally chosen and paid for.
During the date, Hitori had accompanied Toru for over ten minutes while picking it out, only deciding after careful consideration.
The handkerchief was embroidered with little animal patterns.
It might have been a bit childish for an elementary school student, but for a thirty year old Seika, it was just right.
'Eh, you guys…'
Looking around,
Hitori: "6д9"
Why, why were you all so skilled at sneaking ahead?
How many times have you already done this?
Bocchi-chan's mind completely blanked out.
In the end…
Among the four people here, was she the only little idiot?
Bocchi chan realized she was still far too inexperienced.
Regret, in short, she was extremely regretful.
...
A few minutes later.
It was finally time for the finale.
"Seika-nee-san, happy birthday."
This time, Toru had not prepared anything particularly precious.
He chose a gift that absolutely could not go wrong, since his relationship with Shop Manager Seika was not especially close.
Perfume, lipstick, branded bags, accessories and the like felt inappropriate.
Hand cream, as a daily necessity, was just right.
"Thank you."
Seika liked it quite a bit. She was just about to run out of hand cream recently.
This brand of hand cream was also rather expensive.
However, Seika knew that Toru was a rich guy. A gift like this was nothing to him, so she felt no psychological burden.
The birthday gift segment ended.
The Christmas party also came to a close.
Wrapped in a scarf, before leaving, Toru thought about how to give out the two remaining Christmas gifts he had not yet handed over.
The gifts for Ohtsuki Yoyoko, Hiroi Kikuri, and PA san had already been given during the day.
The remaining ones were
For Hitori, he gave some guitar cleaning spray and maintenance oil. This kid really did not know what to give, only guitar related things worked.
As for Kita, he got her a karaoke membership card and promised to go sing with her later.
That left the other two members of Kessoku Band.
Before leaving, he glanced around to check the situation.
Hiroi Kikuri was lying on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, planning to sleep over at Starry. It was late, and no one could send a drunk like her home.
Ohtsuki Yoyoko was eating fries and scrolling through her phone, seemingly in no rush to leave.
Hitori and Kita were pressed close together.
PA-san was chatting with Seika, laughing and talking happily.
Seeing that Toru seemed ready to leave, Nijika put on her down jacket, wrapped her scarf, and wanted to walk him out.
After drawing closer,
"Toru-kun, I'll walk you to the station."
"No need, it's very cold outside."
Toru politely declined, then took out two aquarium tickets from his coat. "I thought about this for a long time as a Christmas gift. I hope you like it."
"Aquarium?"
Nijika examined them with her bright eyes, took two steps closer, and gently pulled one of the tickets away.
Toru understood what she meant.
This counted as reserving an aquarium date.
————
When Toru left Starry and headed home, Ryo followed him since she was also taking the train.
They pushed open the door of the live house.
Both of them exhaled a breath of white mist.
Light snow was falling outside.
"Tokyo hasn't had snowfall for several years," Toru said, wrapped in his coat. He did not feel too cold.
"A white Christmas."
Miss Ryo maintained her usual cool persona.
She was stingy with words.
The world along the street had been dyed white. Strings of colorful lights hung from the trees, and there were very few pedestrians.
At this time, couples had already gone into love hotels.
Children were waiting for parents dressed as Santa Claus to put gifts into their socks.
As Ryo observed the scenery and spaced out slightly, a warm scarf was wrapped around her.
Miss Ryo tugged the scarf down a little, revealing her soft pink lower lip.
She turned her face and discovered that it was Toru, who had untied his own scarf and shared it with her.
"Is it warmer?" he asked.
"Yes."