With the help of the Nishimiya sisters, Sato finished clearing all the snow from the courtyard. He even swept away the snow covering the stretch of road in front of the apartment.
The grass in the yard had already turned yellow, looking far less lively than it did in spring or midsummer.
After returning the snow-clearing tools to the storage room, Kanna's friend, Saikawa Riko, arrived as well. Sato greeted her before turning toward the Nishimiya sisters.
"Come with me first to pick up your presents."
"Okay!"
Nishimiya Shouko nodded.
Nishimiya Yuzuru followed quietly behind her sister, looking noticeably more embarrassed than before.
Room 302.
As soon as the door opened, the mountain of gifts piled up in the entrance stunned both Shouko and Yuzuru.
"T-There are this many?!"
"Honestly, it's not that much."
Sato answered casually.
Compared to before, this really was not that much. A large portion had already been given away.
He had never paid much attention to it before, but while preparing gifts over the last few days, he suddenly realized he actually had an absurd number of friends.
At school alone there were the girls from the Light Music Club, Hirasawa Ui, the three members of the Service Club, Komachi, plus Kirito, Saiki, Iroha, Megumi, Utaha, and Eriri...
Besides them, there were the Nishimiya sisters, Gabriel, Tohru, Kobayashi, Rikka, Umaru Doma, Saitama, Sagiri...
There were also his "disciples," Kuroneko and Aoyama Nanami ...
And that was not even counting the gifts he had mailed to Asahigaoka.
The moment he made the list a few days ago, he finally realized what an exhausting task this really was. Finding suitable presents for everyone was definitely not easy.
Sato walked over to one pile of presents and found the gifts he had prepared for Shouko and Yuzuru.
"This one is for you, Nishimiya."
"And this one is for Yuzuru."
"Thank you!"
"T-Thanks..."
Shouko happily accepted hers, while Yuzuru looked awkward and fidgety.
Looking at the mountain of presents stacked near the entrance, Shouko still could not help asking in shock,
"These... are all gifts you still haven't delivered?"
"Not exactly."
Sato scratched his head and pointed at the smaller pile.
"These are the ones I still haven't sent out."
Then he pointed at the much larger stack beside it.
"And these are gifts people gave me."
The Nishimiya sisters stared blankly at the towering pile. Just estimating roughly, there had to be more than ten gifts there already.
He really was popular.
Both sisters arrived at the same conclusion.
At that moment, footsteps suddenly sounded from the stairway. Soon, a mailman appeared before them.
The mailman paused after seeing everyone standing there, then glanced at the room number before looking toward Sato.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. Nohara Sato?"
"Yes."
The mailman visibly relaxed and smiled.
"There are several packages for you. Please sign for them."
"Please wait a moment, I'll get my seal."
In Japan, many deliveries required a personal seal upon receipt. Sato took his seal from a small storage shelf by the entrance and walked back out. The mailman had already pulled out several wrapped packages from his large delivery bag.
The Nishimiya sisters watched this scene in stunned silence. Today had truly broadened their horizons.
Their expressions turned strange as they looked at Sato. For some reason, the phrase social butterfly suddenly appeared in their minds.
"Besides these, there are also several larger packages downstairs. I'll bring them up in a moment."
"Are these from Asahigaoka?"
After stamping and signing the form, Sato asked.
"That's right."
The mailman nodded.
Sato nodded in return. Judging from the quantity alone, he had already guessed they were from Asahigaoka.
"Then we'll head upstairs first. I'll bring the gifts down later."
Seeing how busy Sato was, Shouko thoughtfully said this.
"Thanks."
After receiving all the packages from Asahigaoka, Sato stood there with his hands on his hips, staring at the enormous pile of gifts in the entrance with mixed emotions.
This was really way too many.
He muttered to himself, somehow feeling there were probably quite a few duplicate gifts inside.
Not long later, Shouko also brought down her present. She even passed along a message from Yuzuru.
"Yuzuru said she'll prepare one for you next year too."
Sato could not help laughing.
"She's not going to give me some of those old photos she used to take, right?"
Shouko smiled brightly.
"Yuzuru doesn't take those kinds of photos anymore."
"Oh? She stopped liking photography?"
"Not really. She likes taking landscape photos now."
"That's good then. She should like the gift I gave her."
"What did you give her?"
Shouko asked curiously.
"You'll know once she opens it herself."
After Shouko left, Sato also delivered the remaining presents to the other residents of the apartment.
In the end, he returned fully loaded himself.
That honestly surprised him. He had not expected everyone to prepare gifts for him too.
A warm feeling rose in his heart. The people in the apartment really did feel like family.
The one who surprised him most, however, was Gabriel.
Because that lazy angel had actually prepared a gift too.
"Huh?! That's unexpected!"
"Then get lost if you don't want it!"
Bang!
Gabriel slammed the door shut in embarrassment and anger.
...
Night fell, and Christmas songs filled the room.
"Sato, can I open the presents now?"
Kanna asked expectantly.
There were many gifts piled in front of her as well, some from classmates, others from the apartment residents.
"Go ahead."
The moment Sato nodded, Kanna happily began tearing into her presents.
Sato observed her for a bit before eagerly starting to open his own gifts too.
Ten minutes later...
Ignoring all the other presents beside him, he stared silently at the six knitted scarves and three pairs of knitted gloves laid out on the table.
Why did this somehow not feel surprising at all?!
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