At Litters, a cafe on the first floor of a shopping mall.
I was sitting alone at my table, waiting for the girl in the Santa suit. I rolled up my sleeve to check my watch. It had been forty minutes past our meeting time.
Well, it was only natural if I were to think about it.
No matter how many excuses I could pull out, the most I could do in the end was to apologize to the superiors with her. The more I thought about it, anyone would think it’d be absurd to accept compensation for ruining some flyers.
And to think I was so nervous that I took out my wallet earlier. I took one last glance at my watch and rose from the table. Then I remembered the other coffee on the table and drank the lukewarm beverage in one go.
I left the store, walking with heavy steps through the bustling shopping mall.
Now that I was calmer, I wondered what kind of apology the girl and I could have said. It must’ve looked like a kind of pick-up act to her. She must have been wary of me earlier.
Heck, if I were in her position, I would’ve also thought, ‘What the hell is up with this guy?’
…That couldn’t be helped. But still, it was rude of her to stand me up, forcing me to have dinner all by myself and wait there.
As I ruminated over my thoughts, I noticed a young couple in front of me. They were looking at each other as they walked, oblivious to the world, oblivious to me.
I took it upon myself to tear the couple’s hands apart.
“Excuse me.”
After the deed was done, I turned around and made a slight bow.
The couple, who were probably high school students, didn’t even notice my interruption. They simply rejoined the hands that I’d separated, still looking like romantic idiots.
“…Huuuh…” I let out a long sigh. I felt more ashamed than angry.
Obviously, those high schoolers would be spending Christmas night with each other. I wondered if they would also reserve seats at a fancy restaurant, even though they surely couldn’t afford that.
I put on some earphones, slipped my hands into my jeans pockets and cranked up the volume of my favorite music, drowning out all sounds around me. Being lonely had always been painful, but I couldn’t help questioning why Christmas seemed so unsympathetic to singles.
I considered going home to read some manga. That was what I was going to do all of Christmas Eve and Christmas.
Then I felt a soft, hesitant tap on my shoulder.
I turned around to see a strange girl. Not just any girl, but the girl who had just been wearing a Santa suit. Now, she was wearing a beige coat.
It was hard to tell her age when she was dressed as Santa, but seeing her dressed like this, I got the feeling that she was younger than me.
“What’s up?”
“Oh, um… I’m the girl you met earlier.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you weren’t coming, so I was about to go home. What do we do now?”
Feeling slightly guilty for leaving our meeting place, I avoided her gaze.
‘Maybe I should have stayed a little longer. No matter how late she was, it wasn’t too long of a wait,’ I thought.
“It’s okay. I’ve already handled it.”
“Eh?”
“In other words…”
“Huh?”
“I quit.”
“What!?”
The girl laughed casually. “I quit being a Santa,” she said.
I was taken aback.
“Well, I was planning on quitting anyway. But I’m still a little sad that I can’t dress up as Santa anymore.”
“Are you okay with that?”
“Em, I am?”
The girl bit her lip. She gave me the impression her job scope was not as simple as it looked on the surface.
“I’m sure I’ve said this earlier: I’m Shinohara Mayu. Please don’t call me you , you .”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate… Should you be letting strangers know your name so easily?”
After all, we had only met each other on the street by scattering flyers everywhere.
“What’s wrong with that? You make it sound like I’m an easy woman.”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant… I just wanted you to be extra careful… I was just worried about you, but it’s none of my business anyway.”
Shinohara widened her eyes as I apologized, unsure of what to say.
“No, no… don’t apologize. I was just joking.”
“Oh, you were joking?”
“Yes, I was kidding.”
That was a difficult joke to understand… I thought I had really offended her.
“Oh, Hasegawa-san… are you a sophomore too? I’m a sophomore at the nearby university.”
“Well, I’m a year older.”
“If you’re older, then please, call me by my name. I’d feel awkward otherwise,” said Shinohara with a frown.
Reflecting on it, the only time I’ve ever been addressed as ‘-san’ was at my part-time job; I’ve never been greeted as such by an older student. She might be feeling the same way.
“Well then, Shinohara. Is there anything I can do to apologize? Even though you were originally planning to quit, the fact remains that I am the reason you quit today.”
When she heard this, Shinohara crossed her arms and fell into deep thought, furrowing her eyebrows. She even groaned in frustration.
“Do you have plans tomorrow?”
“What?”
“I have a place I want to visit.”
So saying, Shinohara took out her smartphone and started tapping away. After a few seconds, she held up the screen for me to see.
“It’s a pretty good place. I’m sure of it.”
“…No, this…” I sputtered.
The screen read, ‘French Christmas course: 8,000 yen per pax.’ I wondered if I was imagining things.
“….Why?”
“Why? Well, you know… We’re from the same university, right?”
“Is this appropriate?”
“It’s a random idea. So why not take it and start living a life of randomness?”
“Yeah…”
“I was pulling your leg. Like you said, you’d do this as a sign of apology, right? It’s okay for me to request something as selfish as this, isn’t it?”
“Ugh…”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. I was indeed the one who had offered an apology just a few seconds ago; it wouldn’t be an apology if I were to decline her proposal.
“What is it, senpai?”
I had been in college for about two years now, and I was not called ‘ senpai ’ very often, even by a fellow student younger than me—that was, unless I was at club activities. I hadn’t been called ‘senpai’ since I was in high school.
“I’m sorry, it’s just a habit. I’ve been in a club until recently, so I tend to call older people ‘senpai.’”
“Oh, so that’s how it is when one is in a club?”
“No, I don’t think it’s that common… If you don’t like it, I won’t call you senpai.”
I was only feeling embarrassed remembering the old days when I was called a senpai, but that was it. I had no other reason to refuse.
“You can call me whatever you want.”
“Okay then, senpai. Let’s exchange numbers, shall we? After all, we’re going to that restaurant tomorrow, right?”
“Oh… yes.”
‘What should I do now…,’ I thought to myself.
Since I was the one who’d brought up the apology, I had to follow Shinohara’s lead. And so, I made a dinner engagement with Shinohara Mayu, the former Santa Claus.
The Christmas course cost 8,000 yen per person .
I had a hard time shaking off the feeling that I was about to lose much more money than that…
T/N: The protagonist is kinda pathetic lmao. Poor him. (*´-`)