I won't be a loser.

Thanks to This Place Is Infinite, Butterfly Dances Across the World, Praying for Eternity, Heartless Tears, and Darkness of Labinu for their monthly tickets and blades! Thanks to everyone for their recommendation votes!

Summer Cicadas: 288. Yuka and Sayu, a pair

Without notifying or telling anyone, Xianren returned to Tokyo with his suitcase.

A man stood quietly at the exit of Tokyo Station, looking at the people around him rushing into the station, or people like him coming out of the station. Alone, he thought about where he should go now.

There are still seven days until the New Year, and Christmas Eve and Christmas are coming soon.

"Today is the 23rd. Is tomorrow Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Today...is the national mascot's birthday, and is it also a holiday?"

I looked at the calendar and noticed that today is also a holiday, which is a bit unexpected.

I stared at the calendar on my phone screen, looked at it carefully for a while, and thought about it in my heart. When I returned to Tokyo, I didn’t notice that I would catch up with Christmas Eve and Christmas.

After thinking carefully for a while, Xianren, who had nothing else to do, adjusted his state a little and went to wait for the subway.

"Are you still planning to work overtime today?"

In the staff lounge, Ogiwara Sayu pushed the door open and saw Mito Yuka sitting at the table, taking a break.

During the vacation, Ogiwara Sayu didn't want to go back to Hokkaido and didn't know what to do. She was bored at home for a while. Suddenly, she thought of Mito Yuka, chatted with Mito Yuka, and learned that the other party had been working part-time, so she came up with the idea of working together.

After Mito Yuge's introduction, and because it was a holiday and the number of customers was gradually increasing, the barbecue restaurant where Mito Yuge worked agreed.

"Ah."

Mito Yuge took a sip of water from the kettle and looked at Ogiwara Sayu who came to her side.

"How's the work going? Are you familiar with everything?"

"Well, I used to work part-time in a restaurant. It's a little different from what I do here, but generally it's very similar, so I'm pretty familiar with it."

After hearing Ogiwara Sayu's answer, Mito Yuge nodded slightly, closed her eyes, and adjusted her mood. She had spent almost the whole day here and felt a little tired.

"You'll be off work soon, right?"

"Well, there's still half an hour until it's time to get off work, but there's nothing to do when I go back home, so I'm going to stay and work some more—"

When Ogiwara Sayu was expressing her plan to stay and work for a while with Mito Yuka, Mito Yuka, who was sitting at the table, suddenly lowered her head, glanced at her vibrating pocket, and took out her own cell phone.

Sayu Ogiwara, who was standing aside, didn't know who called Mito Yuka, but seeing the surprised expression on Mito Yuka's face, she thought it must be someone who had a special relationship with her.

"Family? No, remember her family, it seems like they've all become... lovers? Doesn't that mean..."

Mito Yuge glanced at Ogiwara Sayu, who seemed to be thinking about something, and did not look for another place. She quietly answered the phone.

"it's me."

A familiar voice sounded from the other end of the phone. Hearing Kento's voice, Mito Yuka, who was sitting in the lounge, couldn't help but smile, and Ogiwara Sayu, who was standing next to her, was fascinated for a moment.

"came back?"

"Well, I'm back. Are you still working?"

“It’s still in the works.”

"I'm going to your place first. I'll stay with you tonight."

"I see."

"When will you come back?"

"Half an hour."

"I'll leave the matter of the ingredients to you. I'll go shopping for a while."

"Ah."

After a brief reply and communication, everything was confirmed. After Kento hung up the phone, Mito Yuge quietly put the phone back into her pocket. Noticing Ogiwara Sayu's somewhat concerned look, she couldn't help but smile slightly.

"That guy just now... is he back?"

"Well, I think I just returned to Tokyo."

"Aren't you going to work overtime?"

"He's already at my apartment. I need to prepare dinner and go back early. By six o'clock, most shops will be closed."

The shops on the shopping street always close early.

Whether it is summer or winter, the shop closes at six o'clock. It is already four o'clock now, and there are still two hours left. After half an hour of work, there is only one and a half hours left. It will take another half an hour to travel, so there is only one hour left to buy ingredients.

"The vegetables in the supermarket...so I have to go back early."

"This, this is it."

"Want to come together?"

Looking at Ogiwara Sayu who looked a little lost, Mito Yuge looked at her quietly for a while, gazing at the girl's cute face, and smiled and made an invitation.

She was feeling a little low, feeling a little sour about the fact that Kento didn't contact her after returning to Tokyo and was still with Mito Yuka. When she was thinking about what to do alone at night, she heard Mito Yuka's invitation.

His eyes gradually widened and he looked at Mito Yuge beside him. She pointed at him in surprise and unexpectedly.

"me?"

"Ah."

"Is it okay?"

"It shouldn't be a big deal, right? Aren't you and Xianren friends?"

"......"

More than just friends.

Faced with Mito Yuge's invitation, Ogiwara Sayu hesitated for a moment, then her eyes suddenly became firm and she nodded.

Arriving at the door of the apartment, he took out the key from his body, aimed it at the keyhole, and easily opened Mito Yuge's door and entered the girl's room. He put his luggage at the door, entered the house, slowly breathed a sigh of relief, and found a place to sit down.

Looking at the sunset glowing red outside the window, it always gets dark very quickly in winter. Not knowing how long it would take for Mito Yuge to get home, he stood up again and poured himself a glass of water.

The girl's room is clean and tidy.

"call--"

After drinking the water in the cup, Xianren slowly came to her bathroom.

For some reason, she walked to the washing machine, casually opened it, took a look, and saw that it was clean. She nodded, then walked back to the living room and saw the clothes drying in the window.

"........"

It didn't seem like there was any need to put it away, so he took a quick look and headed towards the door.

Go for a short walk on the street. Mito Yuge should still be working now, and there is still a long time before she gets off work. Instead of staying in the apartment, not knowing what to do, it is better to go for a short walk on the street and see what to buy as a gift as a surprise for Mito Yuge.

Going down from Mito Yuge's apartment and walking onto the street, there is a whole commercial street with various shops on the road. Xianren, who is quite familiar with this place, came to a bookstore after leaving the apartment.

The sky gradually darkened, but the bookstore was as bright as day. The light shone on the door of the bookstore, causing the wise man who came to the door to stop in his tracks.

Looking at the light in front of him, he hesitated for a moment.

"......"

After a moment of silence, he walked around the bookstore and headed in another direction. He came to the door of a convenience store and thought that it seemed to be here that he met those two interesting boys last time.

I entered the convenience store, looked around for a while, bought two bottles of green tea and lemon tea, and paid for the bill.

After being out for about ten minutes, he returned to Mito Yuge's apartment, sat down at the desk, took out his notebook, and began to ponder over the document - 'Did I forget something?'

Suddenly I remembered that I seemed to have planned a surprise for Mito Yuge before going out, but after walking around outside, I forgot about it.

"Forget it, there's no need for that today. Let's wait until tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and then prepare a gift for her."

After organizing his thoughts, Xianren lowered his head again, looked at his documents, and thought about what he should write next.

“Do you want to buy so much?”

After finishing her work at the barbecue restaurant with Mito Yuge, she accompanied Mito Yuge to the commercial street. She watched Mito Yuge picking ingredients and goods. When they left the commercial street, she suddenly realized that her hands were already full of ingredients.

I looked at Mito Yuge in surprise. I didn't expect that she would buy so many ingredients.

"This is just enough for the ingredients I might need tonight, plus the ingredients for this week."

In response to Ogiwara Sayu's surprise, Mito Yuka gave an answer and explanation with a smile.

"This week?"

"Usually, I buy food for two to three days each time I go out, because it's too time-consuming to go out every day. Today, you happened to be with me, so I bought some extra. Sorry to bother you."

"It's not a big deal, but...it turns out...I thought we were only going to use this much food tonight."

Ogiwara Sayu looked down at the two full shopping bags that had squeezed her hands until they hurt, and there was a look of relief on her face. If all these ingredients were used, even with three people, it would be difficult to handle them all.

"If we use all of it, I don't think there will be enough space on the dining table. My apartment is not very big, and I don't have a dining table that big."

"I don't know what he is doing now."

While walking on the road, Ogiwara Sayu had already begun to think about what a wise man would be doing in Mito Yuka's room at this moment.

"I usually read a book."

"Reading at your house?"

"Well, every time I get home, I see him sitting at his desk, either reading my music books or magazines he bought from the bookstore downstairs."

Thinking back to every time she returned home and saw the wise man sitting at the desk, a faint smile appeared on Mito Yuge's face. The warm and happy expression made Ogiwara Sayu's heart sink, and she felt that she had lost completely.

Before the battle even started, I already felt my defeat.

"Can you ask him to come out and help?"

"Let me do it. There's no need to bother him."

Hearing Mito Yuka's words defending the wise man, Ogiwara Sayu felt even more awkward.

It took about half an hour to walk back to the apartment from the commercial street. When Ogiwara Sayu felt that the fingers of her hands were almost numb, the two finally returned to the door of the apartment.

Putting down the ingredients in her hand temporarily, Mito Yuge pushed open the door in front of her and entered the apartment, letting Ogihara Sa go in first. She then took the ingredients at the door back into the house and closed the door again.

The wise man sitting at the desk picked up the green tea beside him and took a sip. He heard footsteps at the door, saved his documents, and walked towards the door.

"Xi-sha?"

"Ok?"

Ogiwara Sayu heard the voice of Kento and turned to look at the young man standing in the house with a confused and subtle expression on her face.

"Xisha?"

"A little unexpected."

Looking at the girl in front of him, he originally thought that Mito Yuka was the only one coming back, but unexpectedly there was another person, a person who was very familiar with each other, a girl who probably knew Mito Yuka almost as well as Kento knew her, and she appeared in front of him.

"I was surprised too. I thought it would be difficult for you to come back before the New Year, but I didn't expect... uh huh~"

Ogiwara Sayu paused, thinking of something, a sly smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she stared at the wise man in front of her with a smile.

"..."

He walked up to the girl, took the ingredients from her hand, looked at Mito Yuka who passed by Ogiwara Sayu, and asked about how to prepare these ingredients.

"Leave it to me. Xianren, take a seat and rest. You must be very tired after such a long Shinkansen ride today. Leave dinner to me."

"I'm not that tired. I've been resting here with you for a while and have almost recovered. Do you need to process these ingredients?"

"Just put it in the refrigerator and chill it. There are also some ingredients that can't be kept too much, so they can be used tonight."

"I see."

Seeing the two people in the house suddenly busy, Ogiwara Sayu felt like an outsider and didn't know what to do for a moment. Looking at Kento who stuffed the ingredients neatly into the refrigerator, she slowly came to Mito Yuka's side.

"Um, is there anything I can help you with?"

"...It seems there's nothing else I can help with. Uh, could you please help wash the dishes? Some of them have been sitting there for a long time and haven't been used."

Originally, she didn't think there was anything that could be handed over to Ogiwara Sayu, but after thinking about it, it seemed that it would not be appropriate not to hand over anything to Ogiwara Sayu. Taking the girl's feelings into consideration, she still handed over some insignificant little things to Ogiwara Sayu.

Ogiwara Sayu didn't have any special thoughts about this. She nodded in understanding, helped put the dishes in the sink to wash them, and then handed them to Mito Yuka.

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Thanks to Silver Gospel for the monthly ticket! Thanks to everyone for the recommendation votes!