章節 53: A fleeting Christmas party

At Mirai's home, she had been with Azami for a couple of hours as she set everything up for the little party/gathering.

Mirai's home was huge, almost a mansion and everything was decorated in a cozy Christmassy way, with little candy canes and Christmas trees here and there.

"Hey Azami, do you know of any specific allergies they have that I should be worried about?" Mirai said thinking about that small detail suddenly after preparing many snacks of all kinds.

"Mmmmm, I'm not sure, we should ask…" Azami said rather more worried for not having thought about that, dressed in a Christmas sweater and green pants just like Mirai.

"Meh, if they have a seizure we'll call an ambulance, it's not a big deal either" Mirai said shrugging her shoulders without worrying too much about it.

Azami wasn't too surprised by that answer even if it sounds like a joke, but just when she was going to speak again...

*ding dong** ding ding*

The doorbell sounded like any other at first although those last two notes made it special, and in addition to this it marked the arrival of the first guest.

"Oops, who will it be?" Mirai said quite expectantly as she went to open the door and Azami stayed behind to take care of the food.

Mirai walked alone in her socks across the wooden floor until she reached the door and opened it to receive the first guest.

"Welcome first guest!" Mirai said quite animatedly looking at the first guest who was...

"What's up Mira? I brought cookies" Yoshino said also wearing a pink Christmas sweater and a box of Christmas cookies.

"Yoshi! Don't tell me you stole them from some poor devil" Mirai said greeting her friend happily, and also with blank eyes as she asked that last question.

"Of course not... I bought them, that makes them more special, although I have to admit that I did think about it for a moment" Yoshino said somewhat indignant at the accusation, and then stuck out her tongue mockingly.

"Come in, come in, the cold is coming in and it still makes me a little sick" Mirai said letting Yoshino pass as her nose began to turn red from constipation.

Yoshino looked around her rather curiously and said...

"So? Where is your father? I thought he was going to appear with a thousand questions to see if I'm worthy to enter" Yoshino said a little confused, noticing that everything said about Mirai's father was perhaps an exaggeration.

"I sent him for a walk, he must be on a park bench with depression" Mirai said shaking her head since even convincing her father of the little party was a pain.

"It shows that you love him very much" Yoshino said laughing slightly at seeing the strange but close relationship between Mirai and her father.

They both walked to the kitchen where Mirai quickly went to continue helping Azami with the food while Yoshino sat on the counter without seeming embarrassed in any way.

"What are you doing? Don't tell me they're gingerbread cookies, that would be a cliche too powerful" Yoshino said with a bit of curiosity as she watched Mirai and Azami move around the kitchen.

"Of course not... I saw a recipe online about a Christmas drink that I didn't know until now, it's sweet and it's called cream punch" Mirai said with an explanatory and proud tone, although if you did pay attention you could see Azami hiding gingerbread cookies in the background.

"Cream punch? It's the first time I've heard something like that" Yoshino said trying to remember if she had heard of that drink without any success.

"It's a variety of the common American eggnog, only it has the absence of egg whites, since they really turn my stomach" Mirai said with an explanatory and confident tone, despite the fact that she barely remembered the recipe.

"Eggnog, you do realize that drink has alcohol in it, right?" Yoshino said frowning slightly seeing that this could get out of control very quickly.

"I told my father and he explained to me that it is almost impossible to get drunk or for something dangerous to happen with something so sweet, he also gave us permission since this recipe has very very little, although it was horrible to convince him" Mirai said, still with an explanatory tone and blank eyes remembering everything she had to beg to be allowed to make the damn punch.

"Besides, we're already 17 years old, we only need one more to be adults, for something we have to start before trying alcohol, right?" Mirai said with a slight smile causing Yoshino to also smile slightly.

"Well well, you convinced me blonde, I want to try some" Yoshino said giving up and turning a blind eye as she got up from the bar and walked towards the kitchen.

Mirai took some of the pot of freshly brewed punch and poured it into a small glass before handing it to Yoshino with considerable anticipation.

Yoshino sniffed the drink closely and it just gave off a sweet smell and as its name said, it actually smelled like cream.

She took a small drink instantly and waited for the taste quite curiously, while Mirai and Azami seemed to be in a master chef chapter.

And suddenly... Yoshino just shrugged not knowing quite what to say.

"It's very strange, it's terribly sweet and I didn't feel anything else apart from that" Yoshino said in an explanatory tone as she continued to drink the punch in small sips.

"If it's so weird why do you keep drinking it?" Mirai said somewhat offended after that strange criticism.

"You didn't let me finish, it has quite a creamy texture too, and even though it's so sweet I can't stop drinking it, that's why I'm drinking it like this" Yoshino said as she continued with her explanation about the drink.

"I don't feel weird either or I feel the supposed taste of alcohol, honestly I'm more afraid of a diabetic attack" Yoshino said with blank eyes, although she didn't stop drinking the punch.

At the explanation Azami and Mirai also tried the drink, instantly noticing that Yoshino was right about the terribly sweet taste, plus it was really hard to stop drinking.

"Mmmm, it's not bad, although I'd prefer any regular soda, it's quite Christmassy" Mirai said without taking too much delight in the sweet taste, although it was quite acceptable in her opinion.

"I would prefer a coffee, but I have to admit that it's perfect for the occasion" Azami said also in agreement after trying it, to then continue drinking little by little like the others.

After a few more minutes of chatting and tasting the punch, the doorbell rang again.

*Ding Dong**Ding**Ding*

Mirai left the punch on the kitchen counter and quickly went to the entrance again to receive the new guest and opening the door she was met with...

"*Achu* I-It's horrible man I-I'm freezing" Oboro said shivering like jelly as he had on a reindeer Christmas sweater and jacket as well along with gloves.

"Really? I have a little of heat" Doryoku said with some confusion while also wearing a much more comfortable and thin sweater with a picture of a smiling snowman, besides having a green and red box in his hands.

"Guys! I thought you would arrive much sooner, especially you sensitive redhead" Mirai said welcoming her friends with a lot of emotion and without losing the opportunity to annoy Doryoku.

"This idiot was throwing snowballs at me all the way and making snow angels, that's why he looks like an ice cube" Doryoku said pointing at Oboro who felt offended, although it wasn't noticeable since his expressions were also frozen.

"W-well at-at least I didn't l-look around like a kid in a c-candy shop" Oboro said launching an argument as well after seeing Doryoku walk so slowly and look around curiously.

"Mmmm, okay it was my fault too" Doryoku said also realizing that he had given too much attention to detail that he hadn't noticed before.

"Come in you guys, I can listen to your misfortunes better if you're not frozen" Mirai said laughing slightly since they hadn't even arrived and they already had a ridiculous anecdote.

After entering the home and Oboro sitting by the fireplace in the living room to thaw, the group of friends was almost complete.

"What's redhead? I honestly thought you'd run away or something" Yoshino said giving Doryoku's shoulder a light pat in greeting.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to, Oboro basically camped out at my home to make sure I came" Doryoku said with a nervous smile after seeing Oboro at his home for the whole day today as he had the box on his lap.

"Besides, Okā-chan seemed very happy with the idea of me going to a party, in short it was inevitable" Doryoku said with a slight smile also remembering how happy his mother was for something so strange for him.

"Hell, could you stop being so soft for a moment? I almost feel like an impure demon around you" Yoshino said laughing nervously as did Azami and Mirai at how soft and innocent Doryoku was sometimes.

"Tell me about it, although with time you will get used to it" said Oboro understanding the feeling and with an experienced and proud tone like a war hero.

"By the way, I don't know why it took me so long to notice it, but what's in the box?" Mirai asked with great curiosity as she took the box from Doryoku's legs and took a closer look at it.

"It's a cake, although I barely realize that it is the biggest Christmas sweet in Japan, I should read more about the traditions" Doryoku said with calm and a little concern for not having paid as much attention as he should to the traditions.

"Uhhhhh, I have to see if it is poisoned!" Mirai said rather impatiently before running to the kitchen for a fork.

"Hey wait! I'm sure I'll resist the poison better" Yoshino said quite impatiently too as she followed Mirai.

"Come on guys, they won't come back unless they finish the cake" Azami said with a nervous smile before running towards the kitchen to stop them being followed by Oboro and Doryoku.

Arriving in the kitchen they could see that Mirai and Yoshino had already taken a bite of the strawberry whipped cream cake and seemed quite happy with the taste.

"Delicious! Where did you buy it emo? Apart from the simple presentation it's wonderful" Mirai said enjoying the taste as she took another bite of the cake happily.

"I made it myself, I'm glad you like it although the presentation hurt a bit" Doryoku said feeling a little hurt since he really had no imagination.

Mirai stared at Doryoku waiting for some punchline of a sarcastic joke, but finding nothing...

"*Coff Coff Coff*" Mirai said choking in surprise as she hit her chest several times to keep from dying and Yoshino raised her eyebrows in shock as she looked at the cake.

"I didn't know you knew about cooking Suzuki-kun" Azami said also somewhat surprised as she looked at Doryoku.

"Don't worry, he didn't know either until we almost burned down the kitchen on the first try, that fish was burnt but the taste was still great for some reason" Oboro said with a mocking smile at first and then a bit traumatized after what passed that day.

"You're right about that, although I'm not proud of that fish" Doryoku said with recognition and blank eyes too as he remembered that poor burned fish.

"I see" Azami said with also blank eyes and not sure if she wanted to know that anecdote.

*Ding Dong* *Ding**Ding*

The doorbell rang again and this time Oboro and Doryoku went to open the door since Azami was looking for water for Mirai, who was still choking a bit on the cake, and when they opened the door they found Aizawa and Hizashi.

"Hey! I have a great story behind the delay" Hizashi said with a wide smile and with his hair much more stiff and spiky than usual.

"I had to fix a lot of things along the way, more than I should cover as a friend" Aizawa said tiredly as he put put the fire on his shoulder quickly.

And with this the whole group was complete, and in case you were wondering, Hizashi's story had to do with cheap hair gel and weak power cables...