Chapter 35: New Year’s Eve with my Fiancée

TL: lime
ED: Spynine01

When we came home after shopping for the last supper of the year, I found Shiori in the kitchen preparing dinner for us.

I set up the cassette stove that my father gave me on the dining room table, even though I never thought that I would actually ever use it before.

It was a good decision to have it as a backup in case the stove ever broke down.

It only took a second for me to prepare the cassette stove, so I got bored and headed towards the kitchen.

I could smell the delicious aroma of sukiyaki¹ Sukiyaki, in Japanese cuisine, a dish of beef and vegetables prepared in the nabemono (one-pot) style wafting from the kitchen.

Shiori was watching the pot, wearing a different dog apron instead of the cat apron that she was wearing earlier.

First of all, I don’t wear an apron at all, but Shiori seems to have a completely separate one for cooking and cleaning.

I wondered if she was a cat person or a dog person with those aprons…

“What?”

She noticed me and tilted her head. “Nothing…” I said nonsensically, moving closer to Shiori.

“It smells good――.”

I glanced at the pot as I said this.

It seems that it has not turned into dark matter for once.

“Phew. Rest assured. I cut corners this time.”

“I don’t think there’s anything tricky about making a one-pot meal… Well, it does look delicious.”

“It’s almost ready, so have a seat at the table and wait.”

“Okay.”

I was about to go back to my seat, but I took two raw eggs out of the fridge and two small plates from the kitchen cabinet and went back to my seat.

“――Hmm?”

I felt her eyes on me, so I turned around and saw Shiori looking at me.

“――Nothing…”

Shiori turned her attention back towards the pot. I sat down at the dining table with a question mark formed in my head.

♢

“――Oh―… That was delicious.”

I sat down deeply on the living room sofa and said with satisfaction.

I finished eating the sukiyaki and quickly put away the dishes and cassette stove so I can keep the room clean.

This way, we can pass the year with a clean room.

“Yeah. It was delicious.”

Shiori turned her gaze from the TV to me and said with a satisfied expression on her face.

“I’m glad I went for the expensive meat in the end.”

“You were very hesitant when you were buying it, though.”

“Of course I was hesitant when buying it. It’s not something a student can easily afford after all.”

“That’s true.”

Shiori smiled and affirmed.

“Ah…. That’s right…. I have to find a part-time job next year.”

The savings I had accumulated over the summer were almost over already. The money that my parents gave me was enough for me to live off of, but human beings are greedy creatures in nature. We buy things that we don’t need for the sake of entertainment, and so the money we earn grows wings and flies away rapidly.

“That’s Kojiro’s goal for next year?”

“Goal… Yeah.I guess so. That’s it.”

I’ve made a goal for next year in a situation that I never thought I’d ever be in.

Well, it’s a good opportunity for me. I think it’s better to live life with a goal, so I’ll leave it at that for now.

What about Shiori?

I was about to ask her that, but then I heard a superstar actor say something on TV that he would never say usually, and the comedians were busy laughing at that.

“AHAHAHA!”

As the superstar actor was laughing, they would be laughing too.

Surprisingly, Shiori was also laughing along with them.

――Uwah. Now that’s painful…

The comedians are not allowed to laugh in this show, and if they ever do, they get punished by having their buttocks spanked on TV.

When I look and think about that, Shiori says to me,

“Do you want me to do that to you?”

“Who said anything about that?”

“You looked like you wanted it badly.”

“No, I didn’t!”

While we were having this exchange, the video cut to the news.

Well if it was a long program, there would occasionally be a commercial break in the middle of it.

The news anchor took up the news. The news anchor’s story featured a shrine, and I couldn’t help but say, “Shrine?”

The year is almost over, and tomorrow is New Year’s. It’s the start of a brand new year.

Speaking of New Year’s, I usually used to go to the Shrine but… I don’t know what I’ll be doing this year.

Last year, I went to the shrine to pray for my success in the entrance exam… But, where are the shrines around this area? If I were to actually go to one, I’d have to start by looking for one nearby.

“Hey? Kojiro.”

“Hmm?”

While I was thinking about this, Shiori called me over.

“Do you go to a shrine often?”

“Ah. Well, I do.”

When I answered, Shiori nodded lightly and said, “Really?”

“――Well, then… Um… What is it…Ni-kai mairi?”

“You mean Ni-nen mairi² Ninen mairi (two-year shrine visit) is one style of hatsumode (the practice of visiting a Shinto shrine on New Year’s Day). When, late on New Year’s Eve, people visit a shrine at around midnight, the visit essentially straddles both the old and the new year, and thus is called the “two-year visit.”?”

“That. Have you ever been to that before?”

“Hmm.. No… I haven’t…”

I answered whilst going back in my memory bank..

“I see…”

Shiori kept her face down and said, “Well then…” chewing slightly as she continued her words.

“Ni-Ni-nen mairi… Do you want to go with me?”

If she said it like that, then she must really want to go.

“Do you want to go with me?”

When I asked her, she shook her head.

“I don’t really want to go but… It’s just that it seemed like Kojiro really wanted to go.”

“Me? I’m not really――.”

“I’ll go with you if you want to?”

“Like I said, I’m――.”

“I’ll go with you if you want to?”

Aren’t infinite loops scary?

“――I-I want to go… I guess.”

When I said that, she looked a little happy and let out a sigh, “Good grief.”

“If you want to go that badly, I won’t blame you. I’ll go with you, don’t worry.”

You’re the one who wants to go there. ――I was about to say something , but it wouldn’t do any good, so I kept quiet.

“Okay. But, are there even any shrines around here, though?”

Scratching my head, I was about to take out my phone and search for nearby shrines but-

“It’s alright.”

“Eh?”

“I’ve already looked it up.”

She showed me her phone while saying it.

“Isn’t this place a bit far for us?”

“It’s not that far. And it’s pretty famous too. It’s the only place for us to go to.”

“It’s a good idea to go there, but there’s no train back here, you know?”

“There’s a special schedule for New Year’s Day. So there’s no problem.”

“You know a lot about this place, don’t you?”

“I just checked it out.”

You were really really ready to go, weren’t you?

Well, it’s good that you looked it up anyways.

“Then we’ll have to eat our New Year’s Eve soba before we go.”

“That’s right. We can’t miss the soba.”

Shiori said as she stood up.

“Wait for me. It’ll be ready soon.”

“Ah, hey. Just wait a little――.”

Without listening to me, Shiori went straight to the kitchen.

I had just eaten, so I thought it would be okay to wait a little longer, but… well, that’s fine.