Chapter 35: The Angel and Her New Year Plans (1/2)

Christmas had passed, and the world was now entering the end-of-year mood.

The night lights remained as they were, but the commonplace Christmas trees had been down, the various vibrant decorations replaced with Japanese ones.

The shops had begun selling New Year goodies and foods, and all signs of the Holy Night were nowhere to be seen.

Change sure comes quickly, so Amane thought as he looked at how everyone was preparing for the new year around him, burying his face in the muffler to keep warm.

The monotone checkered muffler was the Christmas present he received from Mahiru.

It is important to dress the neck too, or so he was told, before receiving such a great gift from her. It was really comfortable, great at keeping himself warm, practical, and trendy looking.

Amane was not one to wear mufflers, but seeing as how he had received it from Mahiru, he wore it gratefully.  He checked the contents of the shopping bag in his hand.

While they were supposedly splitting the shopping duties, it was Amane who typically bought the ingredients according to the note he would bring along, all to alleviate Mahiru’s burden.

It was extremely cold, and a hotpot appeared to be on the menu, for the bag contained vegetables, mushrooms, meat and the like. There were more vegetables, probably because of Mahiru’s insistence on balanced nutrition.

Once he saw that he did not miss out on any ingredient, he hurried home, grumbling as the weather got colder.

“Welcome back.”

It was evening when he returned, and Mahiru welcomed him back.

It was a strange situation when an unrelated outsider welcomed him home, but recently, he was getting used to it.

“Nn, I’m back…you don’t mind that I bought some sliced rice cakes?”

“You are intending to scrub the pot, no?”

“Oh. I bought some ramen for later too.”

“…I cannot eat that much, you know?”

“It’s fine, I’ll finish off most of it.”

While Amane was not a big eater to begin with, thanks to Mahiru’s cooking, he was eating lots for dinner.

Her food intake was sufficient enough for her to not gain fat, for she might have been worried about the calories intake; Amane was a little worried as he would eat more than her, and had begun training his muscles.

Perhaps Mahiru was thinking Amane should have some extra meat since he was so skinny. He hoped to gain muscles, and not fat.

“Well, it is fine if you are eating that, Amane-kun. Please give me that, I shall put it in the refrigerator. Do wash your hands, Amane-kun.”

“Got it.”

Amane handed the shopping bag over to Mahiru, and went straight to the washroom.

“Anyway Mahiru, how do you normally spend your New Year?”

Amane finished the dinner that was really delicious, as usual, and was cleaning up when he suddenly asked Mahiru in the spur of the moment.

“I find it pointless to head back during the New Year…so I remain here.”

He realized his miscue when he heard such a flat tone from her, but Mahiru did not appear to mind.

She was not on familial terms with her parents, so she would always act aloof whenever they talked about her family.

But in that case, would Mahiru be spending the New Year alone?