With the two young ladies' careful efforts, the Christmas tree was finally decorated after twenty minutes.
Cotton is used as snow, balloons, ribbons, and gift boxes are hung, and tree trunks and branches are decorated with colorful lights, making the decoration quite complete.
The ten-meter-high Christmas tree hung with ornaments stands in the living room, and it looks dreamy just by looking at it.
Toru Watanabe put away the ladder and asked the two ladies if they needed any help.
"Leave the cooking to us." After saying that, Kiyono's mother looked at her daughter, "Rin, take them to your bedroom to play."
Qingye Lin frowned slightly: "What's fun in the bedroom?"
"Look at your childhood photos. Isn't this very interesting? I think Watanabe-kun will be interested too?" asked Kiyono's mother.
Mother Jiu Tiao, who was coating the chicken nuggets with flour, echoed:
"I remember there's a photo of Meiji and Xiaolin, right ? Remember to take it down so we can look at it together later. It's really nostalgic. We're all getting old in the blink of an eye."
"Stop talking. You're getting younger and younger lately. I'm the one who's really getting old. Tell me the secret."
"Because I have a son."
"Ah," Kiyono's mother stroked her face with her right hand, "So if I adopt Watanabe-kun as my adopted son today, will I also gradually become younger?"
"I'm afraid an adopted son won't work. It has to be a son-in-law."
"Rin, please do it for mommy's sake."
...What was the topic just now?
Kiyono Rin held her forehead with a headache, and said helplessly to Watanabe Toru and Kujo Miki:
"Come with me."
She walked up the stairs and escaped from the disaster scene called "Urgent Marriage".
Miki Kujo followed her up two steps, then suddenly turned around and looked down at Toru Watanabe behind her.
"Do you want to go to Qingye's room?" She said with a smile on her face. If you didn't know better, you would have thought she was a friendly and beautiful idol.
One thing must be made clear, no beautiful girl idol is as pretty as Kujo Miki. At most, they are only as pretty as Tamamo, which is an 8 point mark.
"I want to go." Watanabe Toru answered honestly, "I mainly want to see photos of you when you were a child, Miki."
"So you like me so much."
"I like Meiji the best."
"real?"
"Of course it's true. Nothing in the world is truer than this. Just like apples must fall, humans evolved from apes, and the earth revolves around the sun. You can disbelieve the truth of science, but you can't disbelieve my sincerity."
After hearing these words, the smiling Kujo Miki's face turned gloomy.
"Stay here!" she ordered in a stern tone, without any room for rejection.
“…”
Miki Kujo turned around and prepared to go upstairs.
Watanabe Toru quickly grabbed her little hand: "Meiji!"
"You don't listen to me?" Miki Kujo turned around.
"Of course not." Watanabe Toru glanced at the cooking table, leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You can't leave me here alone to recognize my mother!"
Miki Kujo glanced at him, then looked at Kiyono's mother who was talking about skin care with her mother.
She snorted coldly, shook off Watanabe Toru's hand, and went upstairs with her arms folded.
Toru Watanabe followed behind her at a leisurely pace.
Under the red Christmas dress, the round and firm buttocks twist and turn.
Fortunately, Watanabe Toru was wearing a deer horn hat. If it was a cow horn hat, he might have bumped into it.
After all, everyone knows that Watanabe Toru is an experiential time traveler. Since he is dressed as a cow, he will naturally be irritated by the red cloth.
But now it's a deer, does that mean it's going to be ridden by someone?
You can try it!
Besides, if reindeer were riding Santa Claus, such a contrast would be reasonable, right?
tonight……
Miki Kujo suddenly stopped, and Toru Watanabe, the distracted deer, almost bumped into her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Kujo Miki crossed her arms and looked at him as if he were trash: "I feel a very obscene gaze."
"...Ahem." Watanabe Toru cleared his throat, "I like you, there's nothing I can do about it."
"You go ahead."
"We two are still like this..."
"Um?"
Toru Watanabe walked in front of her.
In front is Kiyono Rin, with two swaying legs, as white as porcelain, under the small skirt of the Christmas dress...
"Forget it, just follow me."
Your Majesty, changing your mind every day is a taboo. I strongly disagree with this - Watanabe Toru did not dare to say this.
The three of them walked up the stairs with ivory handrails.
"Come in." Qingye Lin said, "I haven't been back for a long time."
The room is as big as a living room, and this is the visible space. The rest of the toilet, bathroom, cloakroom, powder room, etc. are either in separate cubicles or hidden behind walls.
The whole house is of European style, but this bedroom has a more Japanese style.
Despite the heating, Toru Watanabe and Miki Kujo still sat in the kotatsu.
Qingye Rin made tea for them and brought a box of biscuits.
"There is no fruit in the room, so I won't bother the servants," she said.
"It's okay." Watanabe Toru nodded.
Miki Kujo had already laid down, resting with her eyes closed.
Qing Ye Lin looked at Watanabe Toru, with a slight hesitation on his face, and asked hesitantly:
"You, do you want to see it?"
"don't want."
Qingye Rin glared at him, then turned around and took the photo album from the bookshelf.
"Watanabe-san, let me make it clear in advance that these photos were all taken of me by my mother without my permission." Kiyono Rin handed the photo album to Watanabe Toru and put her bare legs into the kotatsu.
"Yeah, I understand." Watanabe Toru said perfunctorily, his attention now focused on the photo album.
The album is substantial and the content is very interesting, you could even say it is a treasure.
There are photos of Kiyono Rin when she was just born;
“What big eyes!”
"Thank you." Qingye Rin took a sip of tea, "But most babies' eyes look very big, nothing to praise."
There are photos of Kiyono Rin sucking on a pacifier, with big black eyes staring blankly at the camera;
"Kiyono-san, you suck on a pacifier too?"
"I know you've been worshipping me as a god, but unfortunately, my body is just that of an ordinary human."
"Does it mean that the spirit has become a god?"
Qingye Rin put down the teacup, brushed the long hair off her shoulders, and smiled lovingly:
"If not a god, then an angel."
“This pacifier must be very expensive, right?”
"If Watanabe-san likes it, I can have someone find it."
There are photos of Kiyono Rin and Kujo Miki wearing the same dress, chasing each other on the lawn;
"Ah, what a good relationship, and they're even wearing couple costumes."
"This is called the same style, which is different from the couple's outfit you mentioned."
There were photos of Kujo Miki crying, Kiyono Rin looking at her angrily while she was about to burst into tears, and toys scattered all over the floor;
"What's going on?"
"Kids quarrel, and Kujo-san loved to cry when he was little."
Kujo Miki, who was sleeping with her eyes closed, snorted without comment.
There are photos of Kiyono Rin wearing a small suit and Kujo Miki wearing a wedding dress, both of them smiling cutely;
"Meiji, you're getting married for the second time?!"
"Shut up."
"Poor me."
There are photos of Kiyono Rin carrying a black backpack and Kujo Miki carrying a red backpack, both in first grade;
“This one is the cutest.”
"Lolita control?" asked Qingye Rin.
"If it's this cute, and it's the two of you, I might really become a lolita."
"Watanabe-san, what you said can already be regarded as a declaration of crime."
"I'm praising you."
Before Watanabe Toru could finish his words, Kujo Miki twisted his thigh hard.
"hiss--"
From here on, the expressions of Kiyono Rin and Kujo Miki in the photo became more and more awkward.
Further back in the photo, only Kiyono Rin is left, carrying a backpack but with no expression on her face; Kiyono Rin in junior high school, carrying a school bag;
Lonely, strong, and beautiful.
After looking at the photo album, the food downstairs is not ready yet.
With nothing to do, Toru Watanabe lay down and continued to flip through the photo album. Because the temperature was so comfortable, he fell asleep unknowingly.
I had a dream in a daze.
◇
Kamikawa, after school.
He said goodbye to Keisuke Saito and the others, and for some reason he did not go to the Human Observation Department, but went downstairs directly.
Looking out from the school corridor, it was probably winter.
The sky was dyed crimson, and the airplane clouds were spiral-shaped for some reason.
Looking down, in the atrium, on a bench under a ginkgo tree, Kiyono Rin was sitting there alone, gazing at the spiral clouds of airplanes.
'Are you not observing humans anymore, but starting to observe celestial phenomena? The "Night Stargazing, A Practical Guide to Astronomical Observation" is finally going to come in handy,' he thought.
Walk downstairs.
Through the glass window of the stairwell, he could see Rin Kiyono sitting alone.
I was about to be by her side, about to smell her scent, about to talk to her.
What can I say?
Can you first explain the causes of airplane clouds?
The footsteps were light, and although it was clearly winter, the cuckoos were singing.
There is a faint sense of warmth in my heart.
Why do I feel this way? I don't understand.
It would be nice if we could continue on this path.
He walked down the last staircase and only needed to go a little further to enter the atrium and call out the girl's name.
"Watanabe."
Just as he was about to take a step, he heard a voice calling him from behind.
Look back.
On the staircase leading from the first floor to the second floor, Miki Kujo was standing on it with her arms folded.
◇
"Watanabe."
"Um?"
"stand up."
Without opening his eyes, Toru Watanabe squirmed his body towards the source of the sound until he touched his knees.
Holding down his knee that was about to escape, he raised his head slightly and rested his head on it.
"Meiji, I dreamed of you. Let me say hello to you in my dream." Watanabe Toru muttered.
The right cheek pressed against the smooth thigh was slightly deformed due to its softness, and a warm feeling was transmitted to it.
"Oh, it's so soft. I can't take it anymore. It's going to sink in." Toru Watanabe showed an unguarded, life-giving smile.
He rubbed his cheek against the decadently soft thigh.
"Meiji, you're awesome, let's stop here for today, I'm going to sleep like this."
"hiss……"
"Hiss~" Before he could finish his sentence, he was hit hard in the face.
A foot-shaped object stepped on his face, causing his mouth to become crooked.
The touch, size, temperature, all in the shape of Kujo Miki.
"Wait!" Watanabe Toru's mind suddenly became clear.
The one stepping on his left cheek was Kujo Miki, so whose thigh was his head resting on his right cheek?
He opened his eyes.
Qingye Rin's expression was shaken, her face turned red, and her eyes looked away.
"Meiji, listen to me...mm!"
As he said that, Toru Watanabe tried to stand up, but was stepped down by Miki Kujo!
She folded her arms, just as she had in the dream, and looked down at him with a cruel look on her face.
Being attacked from both sides, Toru Watanabe pouted.
Miki Kujo's feet twisted hard on his face, as if she wanted to crush his face.
Watanabe Toru put his arms around her feet:
"Meiji...listen to my explanation! You were standing behind...Qingye...and calling me...I thought it was you!"
"Watanabe-san, can you please stand up? I'm going to sue you for harassment."
"…Sorry…I remember that too."
Just when I wasn't sure whether I was enjoying myself or suffering, there was a knock on the door.
"Rin, Miki, Watanabe-kun, it's all right, come out quickly!" The voice was gentle, it was Kiyono's mother.
Miki Kujo finally took her feet away.
'Aunt Kiyono, you are indeed my mother!'
Just as he was thinking this, Watanabe Toru's ear was grabbed and he was forcibly pulled up.
"Are you going to get stuck?"
"I thought it was you!"
"So soft?"
"I thought it was you!"
"Going to bed?"
"I thought it was you!"
"hoarse?"
"I thought it was you!"
…
Kiyono's mother looked at Watanabe Toru's red ears and asked curiously:
"What's wrong with your ears, Watanabe-kun?"
"Nothing, I just had a bad sleeping position."
"Then why are you rubbing your face?" asked Kujo's mother.
"My face is numb too."
"What kind of sleeping position is this? Why is it like this?" The two mothers looked curious.
Qingye Rin turned her face away, revealing her snow-white shoulders under her Christmas dress, shaking them slightly, trying to hold back her laughter.
Kujo Miki glanced at her and snorted.
"Okay, let's get the Christmas party started!"
Qingye's mother pressed a switch, and the castle-like chandelier above went out. Except for the fireplace, the living room was dark.
But the next moment, the lights on the ten-meter-high Christmas tree lit up to the sound of "Jingle Bells".
Although it is not bright, it is enough to see the surrounding light, which fills the entire living room.
Under the pressure of the mothers, the five people each held a firecracker.
The mother of nine counts: "One, two, three!"
"Merry Christmas!"
Everyone opened the firecrackers.
After setting off the firecrackers, the five of them drank a glass of wine - even though three of them were not yet of drinking age.
"Okay, let's exchange gifts!" Kujo's mother put down her wine glass and said impatiently, "Watanabe-kun, I have prepared a very good gift for you."
"Shall we just exchange directly?" asked Toru Watanabe.
"Of course not. Although I really want you to get it, you have to follow the rules." Kujo's mother clasped her hands together, and waves of emotion surged on her chest.
Watanabe Toru looked away, deciding not to look at her.
"I have asked someone to prepare it." Qingye's mother rang the bell, and a maid came over and saluted everyone.
Watanabe Toru looked at the scene in confusion.
Kiyono's mother explained:
"Yingzhi will sing Christmas songs later, and we will pass each other's gifts in a clockwise direction. Yingzhi stops, and the gift in his hand is his Christmas present."
Yingzhi saluted again.
"What about getting yours?" asked Qingye Rin.
"Then continue, do you understand?" Qingye's mother glanced at the three young people.
"Let's get started!" Watanabe Toru took out the Christmas gift he had prepared, "I can't wait!"
"Watanabe-kun is really impatient, but mom doesn't hate him." This was said by Kiyono's mother.
“…”
"Watanabe-kun is my son!" Kujo's mother reminded.
"It's our son." Qingye's mother said with a smile, and looked at the maid standing by, "Yingzhi, thank you for your help."
"yes."
The maid named Yingzhi sang "Jingle Bells" softly, her voice was gentle and pleasant.
"Jingle bells jingle bells"
『Jingle all the way』
"Oh wha t fun it is to ride"
The two beautiful girls looked refusal, but the two aunts were very excited. Not only did they sing along, but they also occasionally looked at other people's gifts with an expression as if they were secretly looking at their cards.
Women always say that men are children who never grow up and that they themselves will always be girls.
Yingzhi stopped singing when he sang "We are sitting on the sled."
"Did everyone get their gifts?" asked Qingye's mother.
"No." Watanabe Toru replied.
"Me neither." said Qingye Rin.
"No." Miki Kujo didn't get it either.
"Let's start opening our presents, too. Let's start with you, Watanabe-kun, okay?"
"no problem."
The bag that Toru Watanabe got was the ugly bag of Kiyono Rin.
The second one was Miki Kujo, who received a Christmas gift from Kiyono’s mother, a white wide-brimmed sun hat.
"Let's go on vacation to New Zealand this winter." Just when Watanabe Toru was wondering why to give a sun hat in winter, Kiyono's mother suggested.
"Yes." Kujo Miki nodded, "Thank you, Auntie."
The third one is Kiyono Rin, the Christmas gift from Kujo’s mother.
"This is incredible." Kujo's mother said this when Kiyono Rin was opening the gift.
Afterwards, Kiyono Rin took out a red box the size of a cigarette box from the beautifully packaged box, with "0.01" written on it.
"I prepared it for Watanabe-kun. After all, he is still young." Kujo's mother said with a smile.
"Auntie Kujo..." Qingye Rin clasped her hands together and pressed her forehead against them. She faced the table, her tone full of helplessness.
"Don't be angry, why don't Rin and Watanabe-kun swap places?" Kujo's mother acted as if she had come up with a good idea.
"What I have in my hand is Kiyono's Christmas gift." Watanabe Toru raised the ugly brand-name bag in his hand.
"Then only you and Xiaolin have switched, Miki." Kujo's mother looked at her daughter.
Miki Kujo took a deep breath , put her white sun hat on the table, and reached for the box of "0.01".
Qingye Rin did not stop it, and it was unclear whether she agreed or just didn't come to her senses.
Kujo Miki's slender white hands formed a sharp contrast with the red box, and Watanabe Toru couldn't help but take a peek.
Kujo Miki noticed his look and threw the box on his lap:
"Here."
"We also..."
"Be careful and restrained." Kujo's mother looked at the two of them gently.
"……Um."