Even though it was the last day before winter break, it wasn't exactly a relaxing one for most students. Due to recent changes in the teaching methods, Toyogasaki had ramped up the difficulty of the final exams, and many students didn't perform as well as usual.
But that had nothing to do with Ichin and Utaha. As always, the two of them dominated the top two spots in the grade rankings. Utaha, who came in second, was a full 18 points ahead of the student in third place. Ichin, in turn, had a massive 26-point lead over third place.
Their performance spoke for itself.
With students like them, any teacher would be thrilled. There was no need to worry about whether they were paying attention in class—just let them do their thing and they'd still excel.
By the end of the day, all the teachers had finished going over the exam papers, and homeroom teacher Shizuka Hiratsuka officially announced the start of the winter vacation.
"Finally, we're on break."
Packing up his things, Ichin walked to the first floor with Utaha, waiting for Yukino and Eriri.
"Christmas is next week. Time to start prepping for the Christmas party—and the gifts."
"Have you thought about what to get everyone?" Utaha asked, smiling as she linked arms with him. "As the boss, you have to consider every single person, you know~"
"Well, it's manageable now while our team's still small. But once we hire more people, this kind of thing might get too complicated."
Scratching his head, Ichin said, "It's kinda tricky. Am I really supposed to tailor gifts to everyone's preferences? Utaha, what if I just hand out bonuses? Treat the year-end bonus as a Christmas gift."
"That actually works."
Utaha didn't object. Tapping her chin thoughtfully, she said,
"Bonuses are meant to be given anyway. And giving them out during Christmas would definitely make everyone happy. But you should still prepare a few small gifts on the side. Just let everyone pick one at random."
"Alright, let's do that then. We'll go pick them out tomorrow. I'd rather get it done early than scramble at the last minute."
As they were talking, Yukino and Eriri finally showed up.
Yukino, as usual, had her calm, composed expression, but surprisingly, Eriri was in high spirits, wearing a bright smile.
Right after the exam, Eriri had been really down, convinced she'd done poorly this time. But it turned out things weren't as bad as she'd feared. Just like Sakura Nene had said, a lot of students didn't do well this round, and Eriri's grades ended up being fairly decent in comparison.
She didn't make it into the top 30, but ranking 32nd in the entire grade was still much better than she expected—definitely enough to put her in a good mood.
So from the moment she saw her score that morning until now, Eriri hadn't stopped smiling.
Spotting Ichin and Utaha, she waved enthusiastically.
"Come on, let's head to the studio! Should we grab something to eat on the way? I'm in such a good mood today—I'll treat you guys!"
Wow, someone's feeling generous.
But hey, if she's paying...
Ichin and Utaha didn't even hesitate. In perfect sync, they said,
"No problem. Let's go!"
They stopped by the supermarket to pick up some snacks, and on the way, Eriri even bought everyone bubble tea from a nearby shop—without batting an eye.
Today, she was fully embracing her rich-girl side, not caring about the cost at all.
Back at the studio, Eriri cheerfully shared her good news with everyone, and received a round of heartfelt congratulations.
Well, what could they do? Since Eriri had brought everyone food, a little congratulations was the least they could offer.
After all, everyone knew that Eriri's surprisingly decent grades were mostly thanks to Yukino tutoring her. If she'd been studying on her own, she would've been lucky to score somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Sidling up to Yukino, Utaha asked in a quiet voice,
"You're not secretly planning to become a teacher in the future, are you? I mean, if even Eriri can get results like this under your guidance, teaching regular students should be a breeze."
Wow, how low is your opinion of Eriri's intelligence?
Yukino mentally sighed at the jab but simply shook her head.
"No, I have no plans to become a teacher. As for the future... I haven't really decided yet. And even if I did, it's not something I can decide on my own. I'd have to talk to my family."
That made sense. Utaha didn't press further and, noticing that Yukino had run out of fish snacks to feed Mozuku, she handed her another small pack.
Day by day, the calendar marched forward, and finally, Christmas was just around the corner.
Ichin had already bought all the gifts for everyone in advance. They were stacked in the guest room at home, neatly wrapped in festive paper. He had also withdrawn a large sum of cash, which he packed into envelopes as year-end bonuses to hand out during the Christmas party.
Since they were giving them out at a party, cash just felt more appropriate.
And so, the 24th arrived.
At 9 a.m., after breakfast, Ichin and Utaha headed to the studio. They called up Kō Yagami, who was already up, to help move the gifts.
Seeing the piles of Christmas presents wrapped in all shapes and sizes in the guest room, Yagami picked one up curiously and gave it a little shake.
"What kind of stuff is inside?"
"If I told you, there'd be no surprise."
Stacking a few boxes in his arms, Ichin grinned.
"You'll find out tonight. For now, let's keep a bit of mystery."
"Alright, I'll wait for tonight then. Heave-ho!"
With a cheerful grin, Yagami lifted a stack of presents.
"I'm really looking forward to the party. Oh right—Ichin, isn't Yukino's older sister, Haruno, coming too?"
"Yeah, she'll be here."
As they stepped out the door, Ichin nodded.
"Besides Haruno, I also invited Miss Hiratsuka. Utaha invited Machida-san from the editorial department too. As for Aunt Sayuri, she and her husband are attending a banquet tonight, so they won't be joining us. But they didn't make Eriri go with them, so she gets to stay and party with us."
Honestly, if Eriri had been forced to attend some boring banquet on Christmas Eve, she probably would've had a meltdown.
After two trips up and down, they finally moved everything to the studio.
The Christmas tree for decorations had already been delivered the night before and was now standing in the lounge area—though the lights hadn't been strung up yet.
Once all the presents were stacked up, Ichin handed the task of decorating with lights to Utaha and Yagami. He himself headed out to the supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner. On the way, he gave Hazuki a call and asked her to swing by in her car to help bring everything back, since he'd be buying a lot.
By the time Ichin returned at 10:30 with Hazuki, everyone else had already arrived.
But instead of lounging around like he'd told them they could, they were all crowded around Umiko's desk.
Seeing Ichin and Hazuki walk in, Aoba excitedly waved them over.
"Ichin-kun! Hazuki! Come here—Umiko finished the battle demo!"
Ichin raised a brow and walked over, curious.
"Huh? It's done? Wasn't there still a bunch left yesterday?"
With a smile on her face, Umiko turned to the computer screen and said,
"Well, it's Christmas, right? I figured it'd be even more worth celebrating if we had something to show. So I stayed up three extra hours last night. Nene and Momo helped too."
On the screen in front of them was the game's battle system—complete with music and everything.
...
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