Lately, Yuzu has been increasingly initiating skin contact with me. The trigger was undoubtedly the cultural festival a month ago. Our days as a fake couple started again and I was reunited with my friend from junior high school, Hina. 

After that event, in which I came to terms with my past and we reached a big climax as a fake couple, something in us undoubtedly started to change little by little.

“Anyhow, I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of scarf Yamato-kun will choose for me.”

After leaving the clubroom, Yuzu blatantly raised the bar for choosing her scarf, as if to get back at me for teasing her earlier.

“Don’t set the bar too high.” 

I didn’t want her to be disappointed on that day, so I cautioned her in advance.

“Really? I think this necklace you gave me is rather nice.”

“That’s— I only found it by chance.”

For a moment, I almost said it was because I had asked Hina about a good shop to choose from, but it was obvious that Yuzu’s mood would deteriorate if I did so; I quietly reconsidered my words.

“I see. I feel like I blatantly saw the shadow of a girl there, but I’ll let it slide in return for your consideration in not mentioning her name. You better appreciate my generosity as your girlfriend.”

“Thank you very much. This time I’ll pick the item out by myself.”

Well, I used to pick out clothes for Hina, and I’d studied a bit about women’s fashion for that, so I should be able to barely manage.

“Mmm, so you’ve been thinking about other girls again.”

“Are you someone with extrasensory perception?”

Possibly because she was super high calibre, Yuzu apparently even showed some psychic insight.

“Well, it’s called a woman’s intuition. As long as I’m your girlfriend, you can’t cheat on me.”

What a frightening woman…

“I have no such intentions to begin with. I’m fully devoted to Yuzu-chan, you see?” I spat out in capitulation and Yuzu nodded her head in satisfaction.

“That’s good to know. By the way, I don’t have a big budget for the scarf. Please don’t choose anything too expensive.”

I completely assumed it was going to be a present from me, but she actually planned to pay for it herself.

“I don’t mind paying for at least one scarf,” I offered, but Yuzu shook her head.

“Nah, it’s okay. There’s Christmas around the corner, so it’s better to save up.”

It seemed that she was being considerate. Since I would likely buy an expensive scarf to put on a show, she wanted to avoid that. 

This thoughtfulness of hers struck my heart.

 “I see… I almost forgot that Christmas is also important to me, so I should save up. Thanks for your consideration.”

When I obediently nodded, Yuzu was a little surprised.

“Huh? Yamato-kun, do you also look forward to Christmas day? I honestly thought you’d be someone who finds it troublesome.”

“How can that be? There’s a lot of interesting titles to be released this year.”

“Titles…? What are you talking about?” Yuzu was baffled.

“I’m talking about the Christmas games sale. In this season, a lot of makers are releasing their featured titles.”

“THAT?! You’re thinking of games at this kind of time?”

As a senior gamer, I kindly taught her a few things, but surprisingly she did not respond well.

“Eh, Christmas is all about games, right?”

Yuzu looked at me with incredulous eyes as I was getting a bit confused.

“Of course not! How much of an RPG idiot are you?! Stupid! Idiot! The most unpopular guy in the whole of Asia!”

“What on Earth is that insult?”

Bewildered, I was unable to keep up with Yuzu’s abrupt mood change. 

“In what world does a boyfriend talk about games when his girlfriend broaches the subject of Christmas?!”

“In our current world.”

“Such a world should just perish! Shouldn’t it be about time that games and I swap places on your list of priorities?!” Yuzu yelled, irritated.

“Even if you ask me that… games are fun.”

“Isn’t it fun when you are together with Yuzu-chan?!”

Well, now that we’ve come this far, I wouldn’t deny that. Unfortunately, there was still one big problem.

“Just think about it. When I’m with you, we’re always playing games, aren’t we? That means when I am increasing my favorability of Yuzu, at the same time my favorability of games is also increasing.”

“What an unexpected pitfall! I think I’ll ban playing games in the literature clubroom now!”

Oh no, at this rate, a ban on games will be issued out of anger. I must appease her somehow.

“No, it’s not that I neglected Yuzu-chan for the sake of playing games.” 

“Explain…?” Yuzu’s lips twitched but she toned her anger down as if she were at least listening to my plea.

“You see, I thought Yuzu might be spending time with Kotani and the others during Christmas.”

Our status was that of a fake couple. A relationship that was specially created to keep Yuzu’s social relationships running without a hitch.

“Well, that’s…”

Yuzu also nodded with a complicated expression, like she had been drained of her venom, probably because she felt that my argument made sense.

After a slightly troubled pause, she continued, “But if I have a boyfriend and we don’t spend Christmas together, it’s going to be suspicious. In times like this, we need to spend time together.”

Well, that’s reasonable, and if Yuzu wants to do that, I have no reason to refuse.

“That’s certainly true. Then, let’s go somewhere together for Christmas.”

When I deliberately invited her, Yuzu’s expression brightened.

“Yes! I’m looking forward to it! Anyway, you have plans ready?”

“Do you think a guy who was just a few minutes ago preoccupied with the Christmas games sale would have one?”

“…Nope.”

Yuzu’s bright face reverted to a sour look.

“Right? On that note, Yuzu, if you look forward to Christmas that much, you must have a place you want to go, don’t you? I’ll leave it to you to decide where to go,” I fully passed the job to her but Yuzu blatantly puckered her lips.

“That’s okay, too… Well, I have no expectations of Yamato-kun anyway… But sometimes, I kinda want Yamato-kun to take the lead. It’s a special day, after all…” Yuzu coquettishly made a sulky comment.

When she said it like this, I couldn’t avoid giving it some thought too.

chocolala: Yuzu was ticked when Yamato not even mentioning Hina’s name~