Chapter 38 : Snow, Cocoa, and Chaos

Christmas morning.
I woke up with way too many things on my mind.

Yesterday, Usagi hugged me.
Like, actually hugged me. Not a “haha got you” shove, not a bully headlock... an actual, real hug. Warm. Soft. Dangerous to remember.

I don’t know how long I lay in bed replaying that moment, but by the time I dragged myself up, my face still felt hot. Great. Just what I needed for Christmas: blushing like an idiot before breakfast.

And then there was the present.

On my desk sat the small gift box she gave me. I must’ve glanced at it ten times while getting dressed. The wrapping was neat, tied with a red ribbon, but that wasn’t what bothered me. It was what she said when she gave it.

“Open it tomorrow night.” (Today)

Why? Why not yesterday? Why not now? Did the box have some kind of time activated surprise inside?
Knowing Usagi, it could’ve been anything from something thoughtful to a bomb made of candy canes and glitters and... a bunny because why the hell not.

I sighed, put my bag over my shoulder, and before stepping out the door, I turned back to it one more time.
“…You better not explode when I open you.”

With that settled, I faced the cold outside.
Snow had fallen again overnight. It wasn’t heavy, but enough to cover the rooftops and crunch under my shoes.
Seiryou High is waiting for me. And so did the chaos.

The classroom was already packed when I got there. Desks were pushed into rows, Christmas decorations sparkled in every corner, and Daiki was trying to hang a mistletoe that kept falling on his head. The place looked more like Santa’s workshop than a school.

“Aha! Tanaka’s here!” Kenta yelled the moment I walked in. “Perfect timing!”

Whenever Kenta said those words, it was never perfect timing.

He grinned like a maniac and held up… a photo.
Not just any photo.

The photo.

The one from yesterday.
The one of Usagi hugging me.

“Behold!” Kenta announced, like some villain revealing his master plan. “Proof that our class’s resident ice queen has a secret lovey dovey side!”

My stomach dropped. Around us, people gasped, whispered, and leaned in closer.

“Wait… is that Fujimoto hugging Tanaka?!”
“No way! She looks so… sweet?!”
“They’re totally dating, right?!”

I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

Across the room, Airi’s face had gone pale. Hina, meanwhile, just stood with her usual calm, like she’d been expecting this.

“Kenta,” I muttered, stepping forward. “Delete that.”

He blinked at me, confused. “Delete? But this is historical evidence!”

Before I could strangle him, Daiki grabbed the photo from Kenta and held it up.
“Ah, That’s a Christmas miracle.”

“Give me that!” Airi snapped, snatching it away. Her cheeks were red, and I couldn’t tell if it was from anger, embarrassment, or both.

The chaos only grew. Everyone was talking, laughing, throwing questions around like it was some kind of interview.
Meanwhile, I was the only one who knew the truth. Well, me, Airi, and Hina.

And none of us could say a word.

Half the class was whispering, the other half was laughing, and I was somewhere between “digging a hole to hide forever” and “pretending none of this ever happened.”

That’s when Daiki somehow disappear and stumbled out from behind one of the props.

“Yuuji!!!” he shouted, arms flailing. “Help, I tried to decorate the lights and now I’ve become the lights!”

Sure enough, he was wrapped from head to toe in the long Christmas light string, blinking like a malfunctioning robot tree. Every time he moved, the plug dragged behind him like a tail.

The class went quiet.
I blinked. “…Why are you like this?”

“I was hanging them! They slipped! Then the chair fell! Then—look, it’s not important!” Daiki wriggled in place, which only tightened the knot. “The point is : I’m glowing!”

“More like blinding,” I muttered.

Hina walked over, Expressionless as usual, and poked one of the bulbs on his sleeve. “At least you’re finally useful as decoration.”

“Excuse me?!” Daiki protested. “I am not a decoration, I am a valuable member of this café—”

“You’re literally the tree now,” Hina cut him off.

He stopped. “…Okay, maybe eighty percent tree.”

I sighed, rubbing my temple. “So, Hina… do we just leave him like this? You know, as our Christmas tree?”

Daiki: “I can hear you!”

“Good,” Hina said flatly.

The whole class burst out laughing, even some of the customers peeking in.

And just like that, the tension from before melted away.

Later, after the uproar calmed down a little, I found myself standing with Airi near the back of the classroom.
She crossed her arms, still looking annoyed, but at least she wasn’t yelling anymore.

“…Sorry about that,” I said. “Kenta’s a walking disaster.”

Airi let out a small sigh. “It’s fine. People will forget eventually.” She hesitated, then glanced at me. “…But you didn’t deny it.”

“…Deny what?”

“That we were… you know ...Dating.”

I nearly choked. “Because if I did, it would’ve just made it worse! You saw how everyone reacted. If I said ‘No, we’re not!’ they’d never let it go.”

She looked away, biting her lip. “…Still. You could’ve said something.”

The air between us went awkward for a second, but then she shook her head and smiled faintly. “Well… Christmas only comes once a year. Maybe I’ll let it slide this time.”

I blinked at her. “…That’s… surprisingly forgiving of you.”

“Don’t get used to it,” she shot back, but her cheeks were still red.

“Alright, people!” Mr. Kumagai’s dramatic voice cut through the room. “The Christmas Café is now officially OPEN!”

Our teacher clapped his hands like this was Broadway instead of a high school festival. Students rushed to their positions maids, waiters, decorations, all in place. At the center, the big gimmick: the Romance Fate Cards.

Customers would draw a card, and staff had to act out the role written on it, Childhood friend, secret admirer, love rival, and so on.
It was dumb, embarrassing, and exactly the kind of thing that would make me want to crawl under a desk.

Unfortunately, Daiki shoved a tray into my hands and grinned. “Congrats, bro. You and Fujimoto are our main actors today.”

“…What.”

“Yup,” he said cheerfully. “Romance Café leaders. You two gotta set the example!”

I looked at Airi. She blinked back at me. Then she smiled in that way that told me I was doomed.

This day was going to kill me.

By the time noon rolled around, the classroom café was in full swing.
And by “full swing,” I mean total chaos with Christmas decorations.

“More tinsel! We need more tinsel!” Kenta shouted like a general at war.

“We already wrapped the blackboard twice,” I said.

“That’s not enough sparkle for romance, Yuuuji!”

Daiki walked by carrying a Santa hat on his head and another one on his elbow like it was fashion. “This is the dumbest but also most genius café idea we’ve ever had.”

I couldn’t argue. The whole setup was… ambitious.
Tables had been arranged into little cozy corners, lights were strung up across the ceiling, and a giant pile of “Romance Fate Cards” sat at the entrance like it was waiting to ruin someone’s dignity.

Basically, every guest would draw a card with a role like childhood friend, secret admirer, or first love. Then one of us had to act it out.
A perfectly normal café. Totally not humiliating.

“Yuuji!” Airi called from across the room. She was adjusting a ribbon on one of the chairs. “Don’t just stand there, go help Hina with the drinks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I muttered, grabbing a tray.

Hina stood behind the counter, perfectly calm as usual. She was pouring cocoa like she’d been born to do it.
“Christmas only comes once a year,” she said quietly when I got closer. “It’s the perfect excuse for people to be honest.”

“Honest about what?” I asked.

She gave me that unreadable look. “…You’ll see.”

Why did I even ask.

The first guests started arriving right after that.
Kenta leaped to the door like a game show host. “Welcome to Class 1-B’s Christmas Romance Café! Where love is served with whipped cream and humiliation!”

“Don’t say humiliation!” Airi yelled, smacking him with a reindeer headband.

The customers laughed anyway and started drawing fate cards.

Daiki whispered to me, “You realize this is gonna backfire on us, right?”

“Oh, I realized the moment I woke up,” I said.

And sure enough, within minutes, we were already acting out ridiculous scenes.
Mika drew “childhood friend,” and poor Daiki had to play along, pretending to share cookies with her like they were back in kindergarten.
Meanwhile, Airi got stuck playing “secret admirer” for some random second year boy who looked like he was about to pass out.

She smiled sweetly and whispered something like, “I’ve always been watching you from afar.”

The boy basically melted into the chair.

And me?
Well, naturally, the box of fate cards decided I should be “shy first love” for some third year girl.

I tried my best, but it came out like, “Uh, yeah, um… I like… snow? I mean, I like you. Not snow. You.”

Daiki almost dropped his tray laughing.

But somehow, everyone was having fun. The room was filled with chatter, laughter, and the smell of hot cocoa.
For once, it actually felt… kind of nice.

That’s when Airi called out, “Alright everyone, let’s take a short break!”

We all gathered near the windows, where the snow outside had started falling harder.
Kenta jumped onto a chair and pointed dramatically toward the courtyard. “And now… the real main event begins!”

I followed his finger and nearly choked.

Out in the schoolyard stood a massive Christmas tree, glowing with lights. Beside it was a small stage with a mic stand. A sign hung above it that read:

“CONFESS OR DARE – Christmas Special!”

The whole class gasped in unison.
I just thought one thing:

…There is no way this ends peacefully.