On the morning after the supremely exciting class Christmas party, I woke up much later than usual.
The day before, we had gotten together around noon to start our hangout in the party venue. We went out around the middle of the party when we ran out of snacks, and ended up bringing back beef bowls despite the fact that they were not at all on theme.
We obviously didn’t serve any alcohol, but we were all acting so giddy that you could’ve sworn we were drunk anyway.
When I got home and told Baron-san that while going around our game’s Christmas campaign, he said to me, “The power of youth allows you to act drunk when you haven’t even had a single drink...”
Apparently adults needed to have alcohol in their system in order to get so worked up. Would I get so excited when I started drinking as an adult?
We had fried chicken and cake, but I felt like all we did for our Christmas party was just hang out and get rowdy.
The big thing to me, though, was that even though that was all we did, it was...really a lot of fun. Though if I had acted so wildly that I carried it all over to the next day, it would all have been for naught. At least I didn’t seem to have any lingering tiredness.
Well, then. On this new day, which was supposed to be the real deal...
“Are you going on a Christmas date with Nanami-san?” my mom asked.
“I am, but...what makes you ask that all of a sudden?” I returned.
As if she had read my mind, first thing in the morning, my mom correctly guessed my plans for the day.
More importantly: Why is she even here? It’s a weekday, and even if we don’t have school, my mom... Oh, I see, she’s not going into work until the afternoon. Gotcha.
“Won’t you have breakfast? We still have some stew left over from last night,” she said.
“Oh, yeah. Thanks. I’d love some,” I replied, grateful for the offer after having assumed I’d have to make my own breakfast this morning.
Still, it was kind of embarrassing to have my mom remind me about my date; I had a feeling that this was something I would never get used to. Denying it brusquely would feel even more embarrassing, though, because if I did it would seem like I was getting all sensitive and self-conscious. The only thing I could do was probably to admit it without making too much of a fuss.
I knew I should have been over it by now, but because of everything that had happened in the past, I still felt weird when people pointed out stuff to do with me and girls. I guess this was something I would have to deal with for the rest of my life.
Actually, it would have been more tolerable had my mom been grinning or smirking, or doing something to more obviously poke me about this. Right now, though, she was her usual, casual self, speaking as if she were just stating a simple truth...which then made it impossible for me to talk back to her. I would’ve felt more at ease had she laughed or teased me, which seemed...ironic, if anything.
“Here you go,” my mom said, setting the stew in front of me. “Would you like bread to go with it? I can toast one up for you.”
“Oh...I think I’m good,” I replied.
Maybe because I ate too much yesterday, or because I got up late this morning, but I didn’t quite have my appetite yet. I at least wanted to eat some stew, though. I hadn’t had it in a while, and it was something my mom always made when the weather turned cold. As usual, it had potatoes, carrots, onions, chicken...plus the rogue shiitake mushrooms.
Having shiitake in stew seemed like an uncommon addition; I asked Nanami about it before and she told me that that seemed kind of rare.
It was actually really tasty, though. Maybe I should make some for Nanami next time so that she could try it.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Bon appétit,” my mom replied.
I spooned up some of the stew, picking up a piece of shiitake because I’d already been thinking about it. Steaming white liquid along with some black shiitake... When I put the combination in my mouth, the warm, gentle taste spread across my tongue, followed by the aroma of the shiitake. Its unique texture also pushed back against my teeth.
“Mmm, good as usual. What a comforting taste,” I murmured.
Warm food on a cold day was a true delicacy. Letting the stew rest overnight resulted in a richer flavor, too, making my stomach more happily active than usual.
Personally, I had to admit that I also really enjoyed having stew with white rice.
“Do you know where you’re going with Nanami-san today?” my mom asked.
“I have work today, so we were thinking of going to see the Christmas lights at night. We also have coupons we got a while back, so we were thinking of having dinner somewhere we could use those,” I explained.
The coupons were ones we’d gotten when we won the couple contest at the school festival. Actually, maybe they weren’t coupons, but rather actual gift certificates. I had thought that maybe they were coupons for a particular establishment, but it seemed we could use them at a few different places. And the gift certificates were worth several thousand yen, which, for us, was huge.
Nanami and I were going to see some holiday lights, have dinner, and exchange gifts. We had a rowdy party last night, so we wanted to spend a quiet evening together, just the two of us.
It was rare, though, for my mom to ask me what plans I had for our date.
“I see, so you’re going out at night. That sounds perfect,” my mom said.
“Perfect for what?” I asked.
“Your father and I, for the first time in a number of years, are going out on a Christmas date tonight too.”
Excuse me? My brain froze upon hearing my mom’s sudden declaration of a Christmas date. Uh, what am I supposed to do with that information, exactly?
My mom seemed nonplussed, though, as though she hadn’t said anything particularly shocking. I actually couldn’t tell from her expression what she was thinking at all.
“You aren’t gonna suggest we do a double date, are you?” I asked. I was worried enough to feel the need to confirm, though I was also prepared to reject the idea with everything I had, had my mom actually suggested it. I didn’t even want to imagine the possibility.
I wasn’t so pathetic that I would want to go on a double date with my parents. Though something told me Nanami might enjoy the idea.
It turned out, though, that my worries had been completely unfounded.
“Oh my, you talk like you’ve been on a double date before,” my mom began. “But don’t worry, I wouldn’t dream of going on one with my son, of all people. You wouldn’t like it either, would you?”
“Well, that’s good, but... Wait, what do you mean, ‘of all people’?”
“We’re planning on a double date with Tomoko-san and her husband.”
What in the world?! No, seriously, what in the actual world? I’m so lost and confused that I feel like Space Cat. She’s saying this as if it’s the most normal thing ever. But is it really normal to spend time with your kid’s girlfriend’s parents like that...?
“Saya-chan’s going to a Christmas party and sleepover with her friend, and Nanami-san’s going on a date with you, right? So they thought it might be nice if us parents all went out too,” my mom explained.
“Ah, well...when you put it that way, I guess it makes sense.”
Language sure was strange. Saying that the parents of two families were going on a double date somehow sounded unbearably awkward, yet once it was packaged as just two pairs of parents getting to know each other better made everything seem totally normal indeed.
I guess it does matter how you say things. I should keep that in mind as well.
“So, since we’ll be spending the night at their house,” my mom went on.
“Oh, I see. In that case, I—”
“You can spend tonight at our house with Nanami-san.”
“Huh?”
“You two can spend the night here, as long as you don’t do anything questionable.”
Space Cat, round two. I didn’t know how to react to my mom suddenly giving permission for me and Nanami to spend the night together, so I was stuck just opening and closing my mouth without uttering a single sound. They’re letting us spend the night together, at this point in the relationship? Are they out of their minds?! I mean, even though I genuinely can’t process what she’s saying, I also can’t fathom what might happen if we actually take her up on the offer!
My mind couldn’t keep up with this unexpected turn of events, just couldn’t wrap itself around getting permission for something that even Nanami didn’t think she could get from her own parents. They didn’t even let us do this for our birthdays, so why now?
“Except, once you two come home, make sure you video call us periodically to let us know how you’re doing. Even though we’re in different houses, we can still feel like we’re spending Christmas together,” she concluded.
Isn’t that what’s called a virtual drinking party nowadays? Though I guess we’re underage, so we won’t be drinking. I only know about it because I’ve seen it in manga and stuff. More importantly, though...
“Why would you have us do something so annoying?” I couldn’t help asking.
“What else are we supposed to do? If we leave you two be, you’ll most definitely do something you shouldn’t. It’s better for you both to be in a place where we can still keep an eye on you,” my mom explained, an awkward and troubled smile spreading across her face.
Wow, how rude... Though I probably can’t say that. Still, I should put up some kind of a fight.
“Have some faith in your son,” I muttered.
“It’s precisely because you’re our son that we worry!” she shot back.
What in the world did you two do when you were young? Actually, I think I’m too afraid to know the answer to that.
“And for the record, Tomoko-san was saying basically the same thing,” she added.
That, I could understand, given what Genichiro-san had told me before. But to think that my own parents had done similar things...
In any case, I guess I should be grateful for this unexpected opportunity for me and Nanami to be alone.
I had this vague feeling that this was, in a way, the Christmas present that our parents had come up with for us.