December.
The cold weather that started at the end of November continued and I had gotten used to it by now.
"…Urk…"
I woke up and turned off the alarm on my phone.
I was about to complain about how cold it was, but I could only manage to make a grunt.
It had been getting colder, especially in the mornings. It got harder to leave my bed because of it. Even if I were to go to the living room, it would take a while for the heater to kick in and warm the room.
Well actually, it only took a few minutes, but those few minutes feel like an eternity.
Nevertheless, I still had to get up.
I endured the cold, washed my face and tidied my appearance a little.
"This should be enough."
I muttered to myself as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. The dark circles under my eyes were slowly fading away, probably because I hadn't been staying up late.
My bangs were getting longer. Although there was no rule at school regarding the hair length, having my bangs hanging over my eyes like this was annoying. I should visit the barber soon.
I started to make a habit of taking care of my appearance a little more.
"Good morning, Maki."
"Good morning, mom. You look sleepy."
"I only slept for four hours last night…"
The living room was starting to warm up. I made her a cup of coffee to help her wake up.
My mom worked at a publishing company. At this time of the year, she was especially busy.
She still had the time to go home and sleep, but as the end of the year approached, the time she spent working overtime increased and she couldn't make it back home often.
I secretly prayed that I wouldn't be involved with this kind of job in the future.
"Speaking of which, Maki…"
"Hm?"
"Do you have any plans for Christmas?"
"No, not really."
Why Christmas? There should be more important events than Christmas, no? I mean, the final exams start next week and also New Year's Eve.
Christmas should be irrelevant. I have no reason to care about it… Or that's how I used to think.
After all, I've been spending the end of the year alone up until last year.
"…If you're talking about Umi… I haven't made any plans with her yet. Give me a break, the month just started, mom…"
There was a girl I was close to.
The face of a certain friend of mine, grinning impishly, flashed through my mind.
Her name was Asanagi Umi.
We've been friends for a little over three months, but we've been through a lot together and our relationship developed to the point where we were now more than friends.
We've hung out a lot during the weekends, playing and eating together, holding hands and she even kissed me that one time… We aren't lovers yet, for some reason, but whatever…
Anyway, this is our first Christmas since we got to know each other. Since the winter break will start before Christmas, we should be able to plan something during that time.
"Really? In that case, talk to her quickly and book her during that day. If you think that you can take your sweet time, perish the thought, someone will overtake you."
"…I doubt that's the case…"
"Umi is popular at your school, right?"
"Ah… right…"
She has a point. Umi had a lot of acquaintances at school and most importantly, there was also her best friend, Amami-san. It wasn't impossible that she would spend Christmas with them.
I didn't really care about that, but mom would probably scold me if I were to say that.
"Well, if you're going to bring her home for Christmas, do it as soon as possible. Also, notify me when you do, okay?"
"Got it."
Normally, mom wouldn't say anything about our relationship, but she was unusually pushy today.
Maybe it was because Christmas was a day filled with bitter memories for both of us.
That was probably the main reason why she was being pushy, she wanted me to overwrite that memory with happier ones.
Well, I also wanted to spend as much time as possible with Umi if I could.
"Ah, right, Maki. Before you invite Umi here, I have something to tell you."
"It sounds important… What is it?"
"Mm. You see…"
Her face turned serious.
"Use protection."
"…"
What the fuck?
Anyway, I kicked her out of the house immediately.
Seriously, stop worrying about useless things and get to work.