“It’s cold.”

It was way past midnight.

Having finished his part-time job at the bookstore, Ryoma sent Aira and her friends home as usual and endured the freezing temperatures as he walked back home.

『zzzz-zzzz』

Just then, the phone in Ryoma’s pocket, which was on silent mode, started vibrating at a steady rhythm. In order not to miss the call, he quickly picked up his phone,

“Aira?”

A name came floating in Ryoma’s mind.

Several minutes later, after Aira and the others had left, Ryoma received a phone call. He quickly pushed the call button, wondering what the purpose of this phone call was. As soon as he held his phone close enough to his ear, he heard a familiar cheerful voice.

“Hello, Ryoma-senpai? Are you free right now?”

“We just broke up, so I’m free.”

“Heh Heh~, that’s right.”

As always, Aira continues to add an interesting twist to her laugh.

“So what can I do for you, Aira? Since you’re calling me instead of texting me, I can assume it’s urgent?”

“Yes, yes. There are three things that must be done. Ever since I arrived home, a bunch of things have been happening in my house, which is why I went out of my way to call you.”

“That’s a lot.”

“Whether it’s a lot or not doesn’t matter. I’m going to move on to the main topic now, Ryoma-Senpai.”

As promised, the delighted Aira immediately focused on the topic at hand.

“To begin with, and this is the most important one, is the renewal of your contract, along with an advanced reservation.”

“Huh…..? Renewal !?”

“Eh…? Why so surprised, Ryoma-Senpai? It’s only natural, given that you’re the only one who can keep me entertained. Plus, I’d prefer not to lose this contract since it would mean losing the possibility to interact with my ‘favouriteeeeeeeeeeeee’ Senpai in this manner, which would be disappointing.”

The ending of the word ‘favourite’ was continuous. In terms of Aira’s personality, the longer this string of letters goes on, the more he realizes that Aira has no intention of backing down at all. As a result, Ryoma decided to keep quiet for the time being.

“Well, now that I know what it’s about, can we discuss it again the next time we meet, since it’s a particularly important matter.”

Aira mentioned the word ‘renewal’ because Ryoma’s one-month contract hadn’t ended yet. In addition, just before his contract ended, Aira wanted to book a meeting with him in advance. You could feel how serious Aira’s intentions were.

“All right then. I’ll ask you about it next time.”

“And what’s the second thing?”

“Do you remember the second contract we made, Ryoma-Senpai? The one where I invited you for a Christmas date? Do you remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. You said it would be on the evening of the 25th, but…did something unexpected happen?”

“Yeah…I can’t make it on that day. I’m very sorry.”

“Were you asked out by a guy you were interested in?”

“Of course not! In the first place, I’m only going to go on a Christmas date with Ryoma-senpai, and I’m not going to renew my contract for that reason.”

“I see.”

Aira’s voice changes from an apologetic tone to a serious tone at once. Ryoma was surprised by the change and what he just heard.

“The reason I can’t make it for our date is cause I just received a call from my mom and dad, and they told me that they were coming home for Christmas. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them, so I thought I’d spend some time with them like how a normal daughter would. There was also talk of going on a short trip for a few days.”

“I see. If that’s your reason, make it your top priority. I think a family reunion is more important too.”

“Senpai, I don’t like it when you’re kind to me. You’re the one who made me feel lonely at home in the first place.”

“Don’t worry. I’m holding myself fully responsible on that matter. I’ll make it up to you somewhere along the line.”

“Are you sure you’re not looking forward to a date with me?”

“No.”

“Mou~ Stop trying to act tough, Senpai!”

When Aira heard this response from Ryoma, she jumped up and down happily. Even if they had to make up for it, their schedules would be off, but at least they wouldn’t have to see each other less often. It was only natural for Aira to be happy.

“And now for the third thing, this is good news for you too, Ryoma-senpai!”

“Oh?”

“Actually, I’m thinking of making it up to you as well. Instead of going on a Christmas date with me, how about we go on a New Year’s Day date? What do you think?”

“New year’s visit, huh? That sounds like a good idea.”

“Yeah! Then it’s absolutely confirmed! I mean, you don’t have any ‘right of veto’ Senpai, so it’s confirmed anyway. Since you’re renewing my contract with me.”

“Everything makes sense now. Did you say ‘contract renewal’ first to win that argument?”

“Yup! That’s right!”

You’re pretty smart, Aira. By calculating how to utilize the term ‘contract renewal’ to your fullest advantage, you were able to block off all my escape options effectively.

“But you have to forgive me for this, Okay? I’m not the one who didn’t want to go out with you for our Christmas date in the first place, Senpai.”

“Maybe Aira was looking forward to the Christmas date more than I thought?”

“Har!? I’m sure you were looking forward to it more, Senpai!”

“Ahahaha, sorry, sorry.”

“That’s fine. Then I’m looking forward to it the next time we meet!

“Of course I am.”

Ryoma replied lightly to Aira, who probably had a smirk on her face.

“Because…I’m cute?”

“Yes, yes, you’re very cute, Aira. I’m ‘definitely’ not praising you cause you want me to.”

“Arigato. Then it’s settled. Since I’m going on a trip very soon, I won’t be able to see you as often as I’d like, so be prepared to have a sleepover call with me, Senpai~.”

“Looks like I’m going to be spoiling you till the very end, huh.”

“Sorry, sorry. Well then, thank you for your hard work today, Senpai, looking forward to our New-year’s date!”

“Understood. See you later, Aira. It’s been a cold day, so make sure you don’t catch a cold.”

“Yes! You too, Ryoma-Senpai!”

Following this conversation, the call ended. Ryoma turned off his phone and tucked it away in his pocket as he walked back home in the chilly weather. A faint smile could be seen on Ryoma’s face in the distance.

“I’m glad to see that Aira’s feeling much better…”

To this day, Ryoma has yet to touch the contract money from Aira. From another person’s perspective, this could be a bad thing since Ryoma was working for free. However, since they were good friends, he didn’t think much about it.

The meddlesome Ryoma was happy that Aira was in a better environment.

“Well, now that everything’s settled, time to go home.”

So, inhaling a white breath, he went down the straight path towards home, one step at a time. Then something strange happens.

Then, as Ryoma exhaled a white breath, he walked down the straight path toward his home slowly, step by step. Suddenly, he noticed something strange.

“Hmm…it’s starting to get really cold out here, isn’t it?”

“Ugh….”

“eh!?”

Just as Ryoma was speaking to himself, he heard a loud groan. At the unexpected event, he paused and opened his eyes. As quickly as he could, he searched for the source……on the side of the pole, just in the blind spot from Ryoma’s point of view.

“Uhm, hey?”

To confirm his suspicions, Ryoma let out another cry.

“Nnggh…”

“…..!”

That reply is definitely human…Someone is lurking there… Ryoma closes his eyes and tightens his lips in fear. He does not take any steps forward but backs away slowly in an effort to not make any sounds.

[It’s pretty late at night, so it’s not all that surprising that suspicious people are out and about.]

That was the first thought that came to Ryoma’s mind.

Just as he was about to take the obvious action of taking a different route home for safety’s sake, he was met with an unbelievable sight.

“Huh!?”

A pair of legs came flying out of the telephone pole like a rocket. An image of a calf was lying there on the ground…

TL notes: I’m going to start editing Vol 1 of Koibito to make reading a little simpler as I go on Tling my other novels.(Since I’m better than I was starting off.)

After I finish editing each of my individual chaps of v1 koibito, there would be an [Edited] label on the top left as an indication of it being edited. I will begin with the prologue, to the epilogue(Excluding the afterward). Should be done in about a week if nothing else comes up.