Episode 393: Santa-san

Who on earth was that voice from the ceiling just now…

I tried acting it out with a bit of deliberate exaggeration.

Following the mysterious voice, a crisp jingle-jingle sound began to echo. Soon, one of the windows opened, and there stood a figure with a white beard, dressed in the characteristic red suit…

「Aaaaaaaah, it’s Santa-san!!」

「Woooow, Santa-san!!」

「Yaaaaay!!」

While Mio-chan and the others watched in high excitement, Santa-san nimbly hopped into the room through the window and let out「that laugh」once more.

Then, as he adjusted the characteristic white bag slung over his back with an exaggerated motion, Mio-chan and the others, who had been watching with sparkling eyes, all ran toward him at once…

「Santa-san!? Are you the real Santa-san!?」

「Ho ho… that’s right. I’m Santa Claus.」

As he said that, Santa-san gave his outstretched left hand a quick twirl toward the girls. In his hand, a single small flower appeared where there should have been nothing. With every subsequent twirl, they increased to two, then three… Oh, that’s actually pretty impressive.

Though… I don’t know if magic tricks have anything to do with being Santa.

「Ooooh!!」

「Amazing, it’s the real Santa-san!!」

「Santa-san, welcome!」

But the effect on the children was super… or rather, the opening move seemed perfect. Mio-chan and the others clung to Santa-san, surrounding him.

Mmm… I definitely couldn’t have pulled off a performance like this if I’d done it myself. It was really the right call to ask for this.

Well, the person inside isn’t the real Santa or even an acquaintance, but a street performer that Nishikawa-san hired.

「Ahaha, Mio-chan and the others are so excited.」

「Yeah. They look very happy…」

「We’ve gotta cherish children’s dreams, after all.」

「Thank you so much for going this far for the children…」

「But is it really okay? I mean, including the artificial snow outside, all the people who came to help, the food, and even this…」

「Fufu… please don’t worry. We have solid sponsors for that side of things.」

「S-Sponsors?」

Of course, the sponsors Nishikawa-san mentioned are the Satsukawa and Nishikawa families who provided the backup. But as for why they’re「sponsors,」apparently the two families have a “simple request” for the three of us… Sara-san, Nishikawa-san, and me… at a later date.

Since we’d received such a huge amount of support, we couldn’t exactly turn them down flat, so we accepted for now. Still, I’m feeling a bit uneasy about what’s coming later… Mmm.

「Onii-chan, you come too!! Santa-san says he has presents!!」

「Oh, that’s incredible. Then I guess I’ll go say hi to Santa-san too.」

「Yeah!」

「Onii-chan, this way!!」

Well, I’ll think about the later stuff later. For now, I’ll go to Santa along with Mio-chan and the others who came to fetch me.

Looking at him again from up close… yeah, he’s the picture-perfect image of Santa. Not just the clothes, but even the fake beard and wig are really realistic and high-quality.

「Hi there, young man. Welcome.」

「Hello, Santa-san. Thank you for coming today.」

Since this development was planned, we exchanged the greetings we’d decided on beforehand. I feel like my delivery was a bit wooden… but give me a break, I’m an amateur.

「Hey, hey, Santa-san, do you have a present for Onii-chan too?」

「Ah… unfortunately, there’s no present for the young man.」

「Ehhh, why!?」

「Ho ho, that’s because the young man is already a “grown-up.”」

「Oh, I see…」

「Muuu…」

Mio-chan and the others looked a bit unconvinced that there was no present for me.

Seeing the three of them like that made a surge of happiness well up in me… but I need to back Santa up here.

「Santa-san, thank you for all the presents up until now.」

「Ho ho ho, you’ve grown quite big. I’m happy too.」

「Santa-san, do you know Onii-chan?」

「Of course. I know all about the good children.」

「What about Mio!? What about Mio!?」

「Of course I know. I know Mio-chan, Sakura-chan, and Yuki-chan too.」

「Wow, amazing!!」

「Then, then, Santa-san, did you read the letter Sakura sent!?」

「Yes, it arrived safely. Along with Mio-chan’s and Yuki-chan’s letters, too.」

「Yaaaaay!!」

「Santa-san…」

「Look, try looking inside this.」

Santa took the bag off his back and spread it open so the inside was easy to see. But the expressions of Mio-chan and the others as they jostled to peer in quickly turned to confusion. When I looked over their shoulders… well, there was no bulge in the bag, so I expected it, but the inside was indeed empty.

「Santa-san, there’s nothing inside?」

「Ho ho ho… just watch closely.」

Santa closed the mouth of the bag. As he started stroking the top of it while muttering some incantation-like words… suddenly, that spot puffed out, and something with a solid presence appeared!?

「Waaah!?」

「Something came out!?」

「Eh, eh!?」

While Mio-chan and the others watched with blinking eyes, and everyone else watched with interest, Santa opened the bag once more… and there, a neatly wrapped box about A4 size existed where there should have been nothing just a moment ago.

…Eh!?

「Amaaazing!!」

「Onii-chan, look, look!! A present came out!!」

「Y-yeah, I wonder how he did that.」

As far as I could see, Santa didn’t put his hand inside or under the bag. And it’d be impossible to rig the carpet already laid out in the assembly hall, plus there’s no doubt the bag was empty at first.

But in reality, a present was right there…

「Here, this one is for Sakura-chan.」

「Yaaaaay!! It’s Sakura’s!!」

Santa handed the gift from the bag to Sakura-chan and gave a satisfied nod before closing the bag again. Then, just like before, he mutters the mysterious incantation and starts stroking the now-flat bag… and it puffed up again!?

「Ehh!?」

「H-how is that even working!?」

「Y-yeah… that’s incredible.」

「Grr… if I can just find the trick…」

While everyone else was equally unable to hide their surprise (except for one person who seemed different), Santa watched them with enjoyment and opened the bag again… this time, something a bit thinner, but larger in size than I expected and beautifully wrapped, appeared…

「Ho ho ho… this one is for Yuki-chan.」

「Waaay, thank you Santa-san!!」

Yuki-chan received the present with great joy and hugged it tight while singing something cutely,「Kyua-kyua, kyua-kyua♪.」

It’s probably a song related to the contents… I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before, but maybe not?

「Hmm, hmm, well then, next is…」

As if teasing us, Santa stretched the bag out with his hands and slowly stroked it two or three times… and just like before, that part popped up, bulging out from the inside.

Since it was her turn, Mio-chan knew it was her present. She squeezed my hand tight with her eyes sparkling…

「Ho ho… well then, Mio-chan, here’s your present.」

Santa snapped the bag open. There, a small item wrapped in the same patterned paper as Sakura-chan’s appeared… the present for Mio-chan. Mio-chan took it, her expression lighting up brilliantly…

「Thank you, Santa-san!! Onii-chan, I got one from Santa-san!!」

She held it to her chest as if it were precious, along with the gift I’d given her, and reported to me with great joy.

「That’s great, Mio-chan.」

「Yeah!! I’m gonna go show Mama too!!」

Mio-chan trotted off toward Kazumi-san with a slightly wobbly run, and Sakura-chan and Yuki-chan followed after her toward their mothers.

And then Santa…

「Well then, I’ll be going now…」

He whispered in a small voice only I could hear. While the attention of Mio-chan and the others was diverted toward their mothers, he quickly went back out through the window he’d entered.

He’s as nimble as ever… that Santa.

「Wait, where’s Santa-san?」

「Santa-san isn’t here?」

「Santa-saaaan?」

A moment later, Mio-chan and the others noticed Santa was gone and called out. As if in response, a jingle-jingle sound began to play from the speakers hidden in the ceiling decorations…

「Ho ho ho. I’m off to deliver presents to the next child, so this is goodbye. Let’s be good children so we can meet again next year…」

As Santa’s voice echoed slightly, Mio-chan and the others rushed to open the window… but of course, no one was there.

「Santa-san, thank youuuuu!!」

「Come again next yearrrrr!!」

「Byeeee-byeeeee!!」

The three of them called out to the night sky and stayed there for a while, staring up at the empty air…

I’m sure Mio-chan and the others could see Santa Claus flying through the sky in a reindeer sleigh… or so I’d like to think.

「Santa-san went away.」

「Yeah, I wanted to play together…」

「Santa-san…」

I went over to Mio-chan and the others as they murmured sadly. I softly closed the window that was letting in the cold night wind, and the three of them leaned into me, clinging tight…

「Onii-chan… do you think Santa-san will come again next year?」

「Yeah, of course he’ll come. If everyone stays as good as you’ve been, he’ll definitely come again.」

「Really?」

「Really really?」

「Really really. That’s why…」

「It’s fine!! If he says he won’t come, I’ll give him a good smack on the butt!!」

Before I knew it, Natsumi-senpai was there… everyone gathered around, stroking the heads of Mio-chan and the others as they pleased…

「This big sister is very scary, so even Santa-san can’t go against her, you know?」

「Hah? Who are you calling scary?」

「You’re already scary, Natsumi-san…」

「It’s okay. Everyone is such a good child that Santa will come to you first. I guarantee it.」

「That’s right, that’s right. Just like this tiny big sister says!」

「It’s okay, Mio-chan. Santa-san has always brought you presents until now, right?」

「Yeah… Marina onee-chan.」

「Since Santa-san said he’ll see you next year, he’ll definitely come back.」

「I see… okay!!」

Smiling at everyone’s encouragement, the three of them looked at each other and gave a big nod.

That’s a relief… I thought they might cry, so I’m glad.

A fun party has to stay fun until the very end, after all.

「Fufu… well then, everyone, shall we have the Christmas cake you’ve been waiting for?」

Returning at just the right time, Sara-san and Sachie-san were carrying an extra-large whole cake of indeterminate size, and another large, long cake beside it…

That’s the Buche de Noel that Sara-san and Mayumi-san collaborated on! I’d secretly been looking forward to it too!!

「It’s hereeeeeeee!!」

「T-this is…」

「Waaaah, it’s beautiful!!」

「Incredible!! This cake definitely puts high-end shops to shame!!」

「Satsukawa-san really can do anything, can’t she…」

「Right. I wonder how much effort it takes to become like that…」

Faced with this masterpiece, everyone was even more excited than they were during the first meal, especially Natsumi-senpai…

「Cake!! Christmas cake!!」

「Mama, a big cake!!」

「Hurry, hurry!!」

「Fufu… please wait just a little longer, okay?」

As Sara-san watched Mio-chan and the others leaning in toward the cake on the table with a smile, she brought out… candles.

I see, those are definitely a Christmas staple…

「It’s actually common for people abroad not to use candles on Christmas cakes, you know?」

「Is that so?」

As if supplementing my thoughts, Nishikawa-san, who was standing next to me, murmured quietly.

「Yes. Perhaps because the image of birthday cakes is so strong in Japan, it seems to have become a standard for Christmas cakes as well.」

「Heh… oh, but now that you mention it.」

It’s true that for a birthday cake, you’d put candles on based on age… but when it comes to a Christmas cake, I’ve never heard a reason for the candles or how many you’re specifically supposed to put on.

「Honestly, Eririn!! Don’t say things that totally kill the mood like that.」

「Fufu… sorry. But using candles creates a dreamy atmosphere, so I think they’re essential for a Christmas cake too, don’t you?」

「You should have just said that from the start… honestly.」

I also think the sight of a room lit by the flickering flames of candles is dreamy… so I think candles on a Christmas cake are the right choice.

「Well then, I’ll turn off the lights.」

Sara-san lit the several candles on both cakes and turned off the room lights… The area around the cake became softly bright, and the flickering shadows created by the candle flames produced a unique atmosphere, instantly turning the place into a dreamy world.

The Santas and snowmen decorating the top of the cake looked as if they were alive… in that mysterious space, where it felt like we’d wandered into another world, everyone’s faces were bathed in a soft, gentle light.

「♪~.」

Among them, my eyes were particularly drawn to Sara-san, who looked almost too dreamy and far too mystical… For a second, she looked toward me and gave a soft smile. She immediately closed her eyes and began to hum a Christmas song in a clear, transparent tone that sounded like a melody being played.

「♪~.」

「♪~.」

Me, everyone else, Mio-chan and the others, the mothers…

As if drawn in by her singing voice, everyone began to hum the same song together. Eventually, the song came to an end…

「Now, Mio-chan, Sakura-chan, Yuki-chan…」

「Yeah!!」

「Okay!!」

「Understood!!」

Called by name by Sara-san, the three of them understood what she meant. They looked at each other and took a deep breath together…

「「Phuuuu~.」」

They blew out the candles. In the next moment, a world of darkness enveloped us.

But that quickly ended. When the room lights snapped back on…

It was a moment that made us clearly realize we’d returned to reality from that「dreamy world」…

But right now…

「One, two!!」

「「Merry… Christmaaaaas!!」」

Merry Christmas… Mio-chan.

And… Sara-san!!