Baka to Tesuto to Syokanju:Volume12.5 Me, Christmas Eve and the Whirls of Conspiracies (Second Half)
Me, Christmas Eve and the Whirls of Conspiracies (Second Half)
"Well seriously, that was a cruel sight in the afternoon."
"...(nods)"
"Really? I was enjoying myself there?"
It's night, right after the school activities have ended
Everyone's gathered at my house, celebrating the Silent Night.
Me, Christmas Eve and the Whirls of Conspiracies (Second Half)
"Baka onii-chan, thank you for inviting me."
"No no, I'm thankful that you're able to make it here, Hazuki-chan."
I pat Hazuki-chan on the head as she continues to thank me, and she closes her eyes comfortably like a cute kitten.
"Sorry about that, Aki, there's a lot of us here, and you had to invite Hazuki alone."
"It's fine. Besides, the more the merrier."
This time, including the usual gang of me, Yuuji, Hideyoshi, Muttsurini, Himeji-san, Minami and Kirishima-san, there's also Kudou-san, Hazuki-chan and nee-san, so there's 10 of us. Looking at this, the living room's really dazzling right now. If the guys in our class is to see this now, Yuuji, Muttsurini and I will definitely be killed off by them.
"Aki, where do we place the gifts?"
"Ah, well, nee-san wants them gathered together, so can you put it there?"
"Okay. Come on, Hazuki."
"Alrighty!"
Minami and Hazuki-chan are each carrying a wrapped gift as they head to the next room. Yuuji, Muttsurini and Hideyoshi pass by them, and walk towards me.
"This gift exchange really does give a Christmas feel."
"...Not bad to have such things once in a while."
"I'm looking forward to see the unique traits of the chosen presents."
Since we have a rare Christmas party right now, I thought of coming up with this gift exchange. The budget for each person cannot be more than 2,000 Yen, and they can buy whatever they want. I wanted to limit the budget to within 500 Yen because of Hazuki-chan, but Minami said "Don't worry, I'll give her some money to spend.", so I left it to her.
"You handed your gifts to nee-san?"
"Yeah."
"I just did."
"...(nods)."
Once she heard of my plan, my serious sister said 'in that case, there's a need to make sure nobody knows who prepared which present', and took up this role. Thanks to her, even I, as the organizer, don't know whose present is whose.
"Speaking of which, Akihisa."
"Hm? What is it, Yuuji?"
"You did mention that thing to Himeji before, right?"
Yuuji asks me, giving me a serious look.
And in response to that, i too give a serious look, answering,
"Well, of course...it's a matter of life and death."
Yuuji gave me a suggestion regarding today's gift exchange. I told Himeji-san beforehand that 'I want anything other than food'.
"...I'm relieved."
"If you didn't want it, she would have prepared something else."
"Especially since you have Akira-san making sure you have proper nutrition here."
"Yeah, thanks to that, Himeji-san doesn't have to worry about that."
The four of us laugh. Thanks to Yuuji, we can proceed to exchange gifts with relief.
At this moment, I see Himeji-san, who's returning after handing her gift to nee-san, talking with Minami.
"I put some handmade cookies inside."
"You made something, Minami-chan? I did too.."
"""..."""
The conversation between Himeji-san and Minami causes us to sink to the depths of hell.
"Wh-what's the matter with you guys, Muttsurini-kun, everyone/"
"Why are you covering faces and shivering, onii-chans?"
Kudou-san and Hazuki-chan are worried about us while we're crying. Looks like we're fated not to have a nice party today.
"Akihisa! Did you really tell her!?"
"I-I did! I told her 'we have food and drinks, so bring something else'!"
"...Then why did it end up like that?"
"The temptations of cakes and stuff is troubling~"
"...Sweets are different from savory food."
I can hear the conversation between Kudou-san and Kirishima-san giving me the answer. I-is it because of my poor choice of words...!?
"Well, it's Akihisa."
"Um, can't be helped."
"...Right decision."
"Nonono! This responsibility should be on Yuuji for not giving the right advice--"
"Oi Himeji! Akihisa wants to get your gift no matter what, so can you give some hint on the appearance?'
"Eh? A hint?"
"--Hold it right there Yuujiiii!! Let go of me, Hideyoshi, Muttsurini! I need to hurry and stop that idiot!"
"This is fate."
"...Just accept this obediently."
Hideyoshi and Muttsurini press me down while I'm trying to stop Yuuji. Is this the only moment when everyone's combination is perfect!?
"Ahaha. I'm happy that Akihisa-kun's thinking of me like this, but I think such cheating isn't right."
"That might be the case, but please understand that Akihisa's feelings."
"No, it's fine, because--"
"Give up already, Akihisa!"
"...You're being dishonest."
"It's not that kind of person, okay! This is a matter of my own life--"
"That's because I prepared one specially for Akihisa-kun."
"Well, Himeji-san, if possible, do you mind telling me the unique traits of your present?"
The moment I heard Himeji-san's words, I'm mentally prepared, and I ask her with a refreshed tone while Hideyoshi and Muttsurini are pulling ,e
(T-this bastard...!)
(He wants us to follow him on his demise!?)
(...Evil...!)
Since my death's a done deal, I have to ask Himeji-san for the unique characteristics of her gift, and then I'll wait for one of Yuuji and the others to get that gift. As for why that's the case, we're buddies, sworn brothers. We're to be born together on the same day, and die together on the same day.
"You can't do this, Akihisa-kun, Sakamoto-kun. This is considered cheating."
Himeji-san raises her finger to criticize me. That action's cute, but I can't forget the fact that she's trying to end my life here.
"Where is it?"
"No means no. A game is about following the rules so that it can be enjoyed, you know?"
Himeji-san leaves these words and turns away to leave to stop us from having such thoughts.
(((Saving my own life's more important than the rules...)))
And as we watch her leave, we're shivering in fear due to this death game that is about to happen.
