Chapter 153 - Christmas — Part 3 (2/2)

“I guess I’ll have to believe in your unfounded confidence.”

“Yeah. Leave it to me… But, it really wasn’t supposed to be like this… I was planning on acting like a very adult Haruka-san.”

Hiiragi-chan, who was on my lap, was the stable clumsy and airheaded Hiiragi-chan.

We spent the day relaxing, looking back at the pictures we took yesterday and watching Christmas specials on TV.

“It’s done. I’m completely fine now.”

She said that after getting up. Since her complexion was a lot better than this morning, even if she wasn’t completely healthy, she seemed to have returned to physical form.

“That’s great.”

“It’s thanks to the power of Seiji-kun’s lap.”

“Does that really work on a hangover?”

“Nope. Not on the hangover, but just for me personally.”

She said with a smile. It was a line that made me embarrassed just listening to it.

After saying that she was going to go shower, Hiiragi-chan left the living room.

As we were doing this and that, it finally turned around to 5 PM.

“I have to prepare to go out.”

Hiiragi-chan hid her face with her towel, and passed by the living room to enter her bedroom.

She’s still adamant about that.

After waiting for another 30 minutes.

“Thank you for waiting!”

Hiiragi-chan came out of her bedroom ready to go out.

“…Where are we going?”

“Fufufu. You’ll see after we leave.”

While happily spinning her car keys around her finger, the two of us left her house and climbed into her car.

Our destination seems to be a bit of a surprise, so I decided not to ask any further.

“I made a reservation at a restaurant.”

“So, you are going to tell me?”

“I mean, I ended up wanting to tell you.”

“Then that means we’re having dinner at a restaurant on a Christmas reservation…”

It’s a pretty cliché date, but it’s maybe so cliché that it couldn’t be helped.

“It went full circle to being okay.”

“Right? I’m really looking forward to it.”

So that’s why she dressed up a bit today. Won’t I stand out going to a restaurant like this? I am wearing a jacket that looks kind of like a suit, so I guess my clothes will somehow have to do.

With safe and stable driving, it took about 30 minutes. We arrived at our destination. It was a restaurant on the upper levels of a high-rise hotel. The car was parked in the basement parking lot.

Hiiragi-chan mentioned her reservation to the waiter, who looked at me curiously for a moment, but ended up guiding us to a seat by the window.

“Wow… The night view is pretty.”

The restaurant was high enough to allow people to overlook the entire city, creating a scenery that looked like many colored stars shining in the night.

It was a French course meal like I expected, as the dishes came out one after the other. Isn’t this going to be quite expensive? As I was a normal citizen, I ended up slightly worrying about it.

Hiiragi-chan was enjoying the wine and the meal. I’m glad that she isn’t drinking like she was last night. For me, I had Oolong tea, and sometimes some orange juice.

I thought that the French cuisine wouldn’t match the taste of a normal person like me, but it was still quite good. It could be that it just so happened to fit my taste, because I’m a middle-aged man on the inside.

While having some meaningless conversations, the courses went by in a blink of an eye, and it soon came time for the last order.

“What are we doing after this?”

I wasn’t really that worried, but if she’s drinking, we can’t really head home.

“It’s a secret ♡”

Does that mean there is a plan? I guess there was no reason to worry about a destination after this.

Hiiragi-chan got ready, then stood up from her seat to finish the payment… I took a glance at the amount, and all I can say is that it was quite large.

“Haruka-san, is it really okay? For me to not contribute at all.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine. It was my choice to do this after all.”

Once we got into the elevator, Hiiragi-chan pressed the button for the first floor. Aah, I somewhat have an idea of what’s planned after this.

Speaking of the devil, my thoughts were completely on point.

“A reservation for Hiiragi.”

After speaking to a receptionist, she was then handed a key. Room 3505.

“Your room is on the 35th floor.”

It was on an even higher floor than the restaurant from earlier.

With some guidance, we once again got into the elevator.

Hiiragi-chan didn’t say anything and just held onto my hand.

Once the elevator stopped and we got out, we soon found our room.

A set of white sheets were laid out on a double bed, and beyond the open curtains, a night view that surpassed the one from the restaurant could be seen.

“When did you plan this?”

“About a month in advance!”

That’s quite early.

Separating from me, she fell onto the bed.

“…Seiji-kun”

She spread out her arms in preparation of accepting me.

…We ended up doing it on her birthday, but never did it a second time. We either missed the chance, or there was no opportunity in the first place. I was scared of being rejected, so I never had the courage to take it a step further.

Slowly, I fell into the bed as if to cover her.

As I was trying to take off my jacket, Hiiragi-chan placed her hand on it.

With a little bit of resistance, I slowly took off my clothes.

With a stiff face, Hiiragi-chan took a breath.

“Is something wrong?”

“No… It’s just, I feel a bit embarrassed…”