Chapter 33: A Bolt From The Sky

Christmas party!

I was taken aback by the unexpected word, but managed to nod quickly.

“Yes! Let’s have a Christmas party!”

“Can I come to your-kun’s house on the 24th?”

I looked at my mother.

I wanted to have a party, but I knew that my mother would have to give the OK for this to go through.

She smiled and nodded at me.

“It’s okay. Please invite Aya-chan.”

Apparently, her voice could be heard through the phone.

I didn’t say anything, but my mother took the initiative and gave me the “OK.

“Aya-chan! It’s okay!”

“Thank you! Then I’ll be going now!”

After saying this, Aya left and Momoka-san took over the phone.

So I handed over the phone to my mother.

It’s a Christmas party!

Seriously? It’s finally time for me to be a part of something like that! Seriously? Is that okay? Even if I’m going to a party like this?

Come to think of it, in my previous life, I had nothing to do with Christmas.

Or rather, I was so uninterested in such events that I didn’t even know it was Christmas until I watched a Vtuber’s video. It was too much.

I didn’t spend time with my girlfriend or get together with my male friends.

It’s supposed to be the positive ones who do such things. But to be invited to a party by a girl might be the happiest thing that has happened to me since my reincarnation.

Well, Aya is only 100 percent a girl because of her “child” factor.

No, but this is the first time in both my previous life and this life that I have been invited to a party by a friend, whether Aya-chan is a girl or a boy. How could I not be happy?

As I was getting excited about the buoyant feeling of an event that far overrides the success of the healing magic, my mother stood up, thanking momoka-san and turning off her phone.

“If we’re going to have a party, we need to get ready.”

“Get ready?”

“Yes, we have to get ready. Because it’s the day after tomorrow, right?”

“…… Right.”

I glanced at the calendar hanging at the end of the living room.

Oh come to think of it, today is the 22nd.

So my magic practice was cut short and we were off to go shopping with my mother.

We got on the bus for the first time in several days and headed into town to do some shopping.

“Pachi! Pachi!”

Hina, who couldn’t say “party” properly, and my mother, who was holding her in her arms, went into a chain grocery store. What they came to buy were balloons. What kind of balloons? I had never heard of it before.

The others came to buy Christmas trees, crackers, and other party goods. It was the first time in my life that I had ever been in a grocery store, let alone bought such things, and I couldn’t contain my excitement.

I feel like I’ve become a positive person.

In my previous life, even as a child, I never had a party like this. I bought a cake, ate fried chicken, and that was it. Maybe my stamp life started back then.

But that’s all over today!

I’m going to enjoy a Christmas party with Aya-chan and her friends!

We went to the general store to buy some goodies and then to the cake shop to reserve a cake.

I thought it would be too late, but I guess the fact that it was a cake shop in town and not a department store helped, because we were still able to make a reservation.

As was the case with the bag shop, my mother tends to prefer shopping at town-based stores rather than at big department stores. Maybe she’s someone who wants to lead a community-based life.

With this newfound knowledge of my mother’s side of life, we headed for the butcher shop.

Naturally, what she buys at the butcher shop is meat. Chicken.

Hina was surprised and looked around the butcher shop for the first time. She was looking around more than she did at the cake shop, so perhaps there was something that tugged at her heartstrings.

After all that preparation, we headed back home.

When we arrived home, it was already late in the evening, and we had a little extra time to practice magic.

“Hey, Itsuki. Hina. It’s Christmas, so think about a Christmas present for Aya-chan. Let’s go shopping together tomorrow.”

“A present?”

It was Hina who asked that, not me.

“Yes, that’s right. We’ll exchange gifts. What do you want to give Aya-chan?”

“Let’s see, clothes!”

“Clothes? But Aya-chan is a big girl, so Hina’s clothes might not fit her.”

As expected of a mother raising two children.

She brushed off Hina’s very ungiftable idea. I wish I had such a strong communicative power.

“What are you going to give her, Itsuki?”

“Eh, umm….”

At Christmas, we exchange presents.

Well, if you ask me, it’s true. Don’t exchange gifts.

What the heck? I’ve heard that heart-shaped accessories are no good for these gifts because they are childish. No, I thought the reason why heart-shaped is bad is because it’s for an adult. Oh no. I’ve never given a present to a girl before, so I have no idea what I should give her to make her happy.

“I wonder if Aya-chan would be happy with what I give her.”

“I think she’ll be happy if it’s something you worked hard to choose.”

“…..Umm.”

That’s the hard part.

While I was thinking about what present would be good, a good idea suddenly came to my mind.

“Umm. How about a hair band?”

“Hair band? I hope there are some cute ones. Let’s look at them tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

Hair bands are not that eccentric and Aya-chan has a lot of different kinds, so one more won’t add to the hassle of managing them. And there are some cute ones out there. It’s a good idea, even for me.

“What are you going to give her, Hina?”

“A picture book!”

“A picture book? I wonder if Aya reads picture books.”

Aya is five years old, so she might not read picture books that much.

Here, too, my mother’s control shone through. She’s a great person in a different vector from my father. I honestly respect her.

I savored the greatness of my parents, and the next day was also preparation for the party.

I bought a gift for Aya-chan, and my mother bought foodstuffs that we couldn’t buy yesterday. She said she was going to prepare a party meal for the party. Hmmm. She’s a great housekeeper. I should learn from her.

And, of course, I cleaned up the house.

There were more things to do than I expected so that it would be safe for Aya-chan and the rest of the Shimotsuki family when they came over.

The biggest mess was the wooden doll I had been using for training.

I couldn’t leave the pieces of it and the broken parts scattered around the yard, so I carried it to the back of the house.

It was hard work to clean up all the pieces of wood, even though it was my fault.

So the 23rd went by, and finally the day of the party, the 24th, arrived.

However, the Christmas party didn’t start until the afternoon.

Of course, it’s not like I didn’t do anything till then.

There were decorations to be done in preparation for the day’s festivities!

“Nii-cha! Put this on top!”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

I manipulate the guiding thread silvate to attach the inflated balloons to a high place on the wall.

This is convenient.

I don’t need my mother’s help to reach the high places.

While we were making preparations like this, my mother was cooking.

Yes, that’s right. She left the decorations to us. This is a great motivator.

After we finished decorating the balloons, we moved on to unpacking the Christmas tree.

This tree even has a rainbow light function when plugged in.

When I tried it out, it glowed in all colors of the rainbow.

Hmmm, this is a gaming tree.

…… No, this is what a Christmas tree looks like.

I shook my head to get rid of the boring thoughts and decorated the Christmas tree with cotton and other stuff. I finished other small decorations and everything was ready to go.

All that was left was to welcome Aya-chan and her friends.

As we waited, the intercom rang.

Our house is an old Japanese-style house, but it has at least an intercom.

“Yes!”

My mother, who answered first, looked at me and smiled.

“Itsuki. It looks like Aya-chan and her friends have arrived, so you should pick them up.”

“Yes!”

I walked with Hina to the gate and there were Aya-chan and her mother, Momoka-san getting out of the cab.

“Itsuki-kun! We’re here!”

“Welcome! We’re already getting ready!”

Aya-chan caught me and I couldn’t help but get excited.

“Oh, you know what? I have a present for Itsuki-kun and Hina-chan!”

“Aya, I think it would be better to give them their presents a little later.”

Momoka-san chided Aya-chan as she hurriedly tried to hand over the gift.

I laughed at her and led them to the house.

“I’ve made some food, so Itsuki and Hina come help out.”

“Yes.”

I set the stew on the table as my mother called me over.

I was looking forward to my first Christmas party in my life, and I couldn’t help but get a little nervous.

I had prepared everything, so I wanted both Aya-chan and Momoka-san to enjoy the party.

With this in mind, the Christmas party was about to begin.

–But with a single thunderclap, the party came to an instantaneous end.

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