(Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm not very good at putting my feelings into words, but I really appreciated your comments and the warmth behind them. I truly wish you and everyone you care about good health, happiness, and all the best.)
Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy the story)
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The sun climbed to its highest point. And then, slowly, it began to sink.
At the same time, the true culprit behind everyone's frantic rushing around all day, Christmas-sama, finally began.
Just as planned.
First came the classical performance. After that, the symphony orchestra.
The classical segment was handled by Kaihin High, and just like Sobu High, they'd brought in outside help.
Inside the venue, soft, elegant music drifted through the air. The elderly audience wore expressions of pure contentment.
And it wasn't for show. Kaihin had spent serious money to hire several professional classical musicians, all of them fairly well-known around Chiba.
The piece they played was fitting for the occasion— Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.
As the piano reached its climax, Oikawa found himself closing his eyes, letting the music wash over him.
Ryuichi Sakamoto really was a genius.
For a moment, Oikawa felt the urge to attend one of his concerts someday. However, it had been a long time since Sakamoto had held one.
(A/N: The legend Sakamoto passed away on March 28, 2023.)
...
The music ended. And thunderous applause filled the hall.
"Talk about pressure."
Backstage, Haruno Yukinoshita let out a long breath.
But Oikawa didn't see even a trace of fear in her eyes.
A family trait of the Yukinoshitas, maybe?
A smile tugged at his lips. Unfortunately, Haruno caught it.
"Oikawa-kun... were you laughing at me?"
"No, no." He waved his hands quickly. "I was just thinking you look really cool, Haruno-senpai. Makes me excited to see your performance."
"Well, aren't you smooth." Haruno raised an eyebrow, then turned to the others behind her.
Throwing up her arm, she shouted, "Let's tear this place apart!"
"YEAHHH!!"
The roar echoed backstage.
Every member of the orchestra looked fired up, marching out like they were heading into battle.
Some people were just born to lead.
"Suck-up." Yukino had appeared beside him without him noticing. Her voice was as cool and flat as always... though there was a faint trace of playfulness mixed in.
"It's called admiration. You wouldn't get it." Oikawa fired back instantly.
But Yukino wasn't one to lose in a verbal exchange.
"I also admire," she said coolly. "But I heard the readers are already planning to form groups and stab him. Do you think he's scared?"
"Not a chance." Oikawa rolled his eyes. "The people on social media are just joking. Deep down, they all love Copycat-sensei."
Yukino let out a soft laugh. "Well, I'm sure he hopes so. But reality tends to say otherwise."
Neither of them backed down.
But when the music started again, they both fell silent.
The orchestra's piece was a standard Christmas tune.
Livelier than the previous one. And much more popular with the kids.
After all, not everyone in the audience today was elderly.
Haruno showed exactly why she was the conductor.
The lingering sadness in the hall was swept away, replaced with cheerful energy.
"My sister really is amazing."
"She is," Oikawa said. "But you're not bad either."
The two stood there, watching the stage.
That was the end of the conversation.
At the corner of Yukino's lips, a tiny smile quietly appeared.
Suddenly, Oikawa walked over behind the side curtain.
There, Isshiki Iroha stood wearing headphones, staring anxiously at the audience.
That look... he'd seen it before.
Back during the school festival. On Yukino.
"Senpai, what do I do? I feel like I'm definitely gonna mess this up!" Isshiki looked panicked.
But only a little.
It felt fake, like she just wanted him to comfort her.
"Drop the act. You weren't like this during rehearsal." He shrugged. "Honestly, I was surprised. That script you guys wrote is pretty good. It's not gonna fall apart."
Isshiki stuck out her tongue and grinned. "Caught me."
"The script was written by the secretary, sure... but I helped a lot too, okay? I haven't slept properly for days."
That part was probably true.
The dark circles under her eyes had gotten noticeably worse lately.
And even her clothes and makeup weren't as polished as usual.
She really had been working hard.
"Good job." Oikawa gave her an approving nod.
Isshiki puffed out her chest proudly. It was obvious she wanted to prove something to him.
But from Oikawa's perspective... even if an A became a B... how was it supposed to compete with an F or a G?
Girl. Stop fighting reality.
At this point, only silicone injection could save you.
A trace of pity showed in Oikawa's eyes.
Isshiki froze. Then she glared at him furiously.
For some reason, she felt like her dignity had just been deeply insulted again.
…
..
There was no doubt about it.
The Christmas event had been a huge success.
There were tears, there was laughter, and even the smaller acts in between had been warmly received by the audience. Ebina's production of The Little Prince had also gone over incredibly well.
Before long, it was time for the final performance. The grand finale.
The lights slowly dimmed.
Even the audience seating sank into darkness.
Under the spotlight, a blonde girl stepped forward.
From the darkness came the narrator's voice. "No matter how I count it… it's still not enough to buy Mom a present. And tomorrow is Christmas… what am I supposed to do…?"
Oikawa recognized the girl immediately. It was the kid who'd been isolated during the forest camp.
Sumi? Yumi? Something like that.
He couldn't quite remember.
To be honest, Oikawa didn't particularly like the girl.
Isshiki knew that too, which was why she'd never once asked him to help with the children's performances.
It seemed... Yukino had been the one helping instead.
"It's The Gift of the Magi," Yukino explained beside him. "Isshiki chose the script... She's clever. It's a short story, and most of it is narration. Perfect for children to perform."
"Yeah." Oikawa kept his eyes on the stage. "It's a good choice."
And the girl onstage... she had real talent.
"Rumi apologized to the friends she hurt before." After a pause, Yukino spoke again. "But they still haven't forgiven her."
"Got it."
Oikawa didn't say much more.
Why should the people who were hurt be expected to forgive?
That wasn't how it worked.
After watching a little longer, Oikawa turned and left.
...
..
The evening sun painted Sobu High in deep shades of red.
After carrying a pile of miscellaneous props back into the student council room, Oikawa headed into the club building once more.
Since school was on break, the activity building, usually bustling after classes, was unusually quiet today. And colder, too.
Oikawa tightened his coat around himself and headed for the Service Club.
He still had to report the Christmas event's expenses and remaining budget to Shizuka Hiratsuka.
Technically, that was supposed to be Isshiki's job. But she was still swamped in the student council room, so it had been shoved onto him.
Besides, he'd been planning to head back to the Service Club anyway.
Not just for the report. The club was holding an internal meeting too.
Organized by Yukino, apparently.
Something about reviewing what went well and what didn't.
Oikawa thought that sounded like overkill.
When he reached the clubroom door, he noticed it was plastered with little animal stickers.
The sight made him smile. Somehow... it made the Service Club feel a little like home.
He pushed the door open.
The familiar scent of black tea greeted him instantly.
It was a smell he'd been craving lately.
No matter how he brewed it himself, it never tasted as good as Yukino's.
And inside, it was much warmer than outside.
That was thanks to the space heater Oikawa had generously contributed.
"Ah, Oikawa-kun, you're here. Welcome back." Yui Yuigahama waved at him enthusiastically.
Yukino, meanwhile, only glanced up briefly before returning her attention to the novel in her hands.
The scene looked exactly like the first time Oikawa had ever walked into the Service Club.
Man... that really brought back memories.
"Where's the old wom... I mean, Shizuka-sensei?" Oikawa walked over to his seat as he asked.
Yui giggled. "Oikawa-kun, if Sensei heard you call her an old woman, she'd tear you apart."
"She went to a matchmaking meeting," Yui said. "Before she left, she said whatever money was left over could become the Service Club's budget. No need to report to her."
She handed him a piece of cake, apparently leftover from the civic hall.
"The tea's ready," Yukino spoke up suddenly.
"Got it."
Yui stood up from her chair, grabbing her dog-patterned mug. She also picked up Oikawa's cat-patterned mug.
Yukino glanced at them, then rose with her own delicate teacup in hand.
When she returned with the tea, she pulled something from her pocket. "Your Christmas gift."
It was a panda bookmark.
"A return gift." Smiling, Oikawa reached into his bag and pulled out an illustrated cat book.
The moment Yukino saw it, delight flashed across her face instinctively.
But then... the second she remembered it was from Oikawa, her expression snapped back into stern seriousness.
The rapid switching between the two looked almost ridiculous.
Oikawa nearly laughed.
But the murderous look in Yukino's eyes made him straighten up immediately.
"Yukinon, wanna go do karaoke later?" Yui beamed brightly. "We should celebrate, right? It's been such a good day."
Then she turned to Oikawa, "What do you think, Oikawa-kun?"
"I'm fine with it."
Oikawa didn't have anything else planned, and karaoke sounded like a solid way to end the day.
Especially considering both Yukino and Yui had great singing voices.
"Sorry, I—"
"Yukinon, pleeease. It's been forever since we had a proper group outing." Yui grabbed Yukino's hand before she could finish.
Yukino let out a helpless sigh.
Then she shot Oikawa a cold glance before saying, "Certain people can be irritating... but if it's your invitation, Yui, then I'll agree."
Certain people. She couldn't possibly mean him, right?
Oikawa forced a smile and looked back at Yukino.
'Don't get mad. Don't get mad. If you get mad, she wins.'
He repeated the mantra in his head, trying to calm himself.
"Really? Then it's settled!" Yui's face lit up instantly. "Awesome! The Service Club is heading back into a KTV. This is a historic day."
Just then, the clubroom door opened again.
Isshiki peeked her head inside and slipped in. "Yui-senpai, are you guys going to karaoke? Can I come too?"
She put on her usual fragile, pitiful look.
If it had been up to Oikawa, he would've rejected her without hesitation. A flat no.
But unfortunately for him, she'd asked Yui, the kindest person in the room.
"Isshiki-san, you want to come too? Then... sure, let's all go together!"
'As expected,' Oikawa looked at Yui's profile and smiled helplessly. Then he rested his chin on his hand and turned toward the window.
Late December. The sun seemed even more eager than usual to clock out early.
It wasn't even six yet, and it was already preparing to disappear.
Nightfall... was just around the corner.
...
..
The "Copycat Fan Club" group chat—
Lately, the people in this group had been living brutal schedules.
Up earlier than chickens. Sleeping later than pigs.
Every bit of their time had been spent trashing "Copycat" and Clannad online.
Of course, their "trashing" mostly meant going into fan communities of classic mainstream literature and making up nonsense slander.
At first, it had caused a bit of a stir.
But after that? Almost no effect at all.
Most fans of those classic literary works were middle-aged men, usually around thirty-five on average.
People like that didn't spend much time online to begin with.
["Are we really gonna keep this up? I'm seriously hitting my limit. Can't we just stop? Even overworked salarymen get a few days off during New Year."]
["Honestly, this is more exhausting than school. I'm done. Burn it all."]
Negative messages started piling up.
And once it started, it spread fast.
The group leader, Kentaro, quickly jumped in.
[Kentaro (Admin): "Guys, don't quit now! The last stretch is always the hardest! Think about it. What matters more? A little suffering now... or getting Clannad the moment it releases? And there'll be signed copies too! Come on, keep going!"]
After that... silence.
For a long while, no one responded to Kentaro.
Three or four minutes later, a voice finally spoke up.
[Justice Bringer: "Don't you guys think... we're being kind of selfish? Yeah, not getting Clannad right away sucks. I get that. But do we really need to go this far just to attack Copycat?"]
[Justice Bringer: "Honestly, he's a really talented writer. I admire him. And a few days ago, my uncle took me out for dinner. At the table, he brought up Copycat... and Clannad. My uncle's a huge fan of Keigo Higashino. He said lately a bunch of people claiming to be Copycat fans have been hurling abuse at him nonstop. All because my uncle said that since Clannad hasn't even been released yet, there's no point comparing it to Journey Under the Midnight Sun."
[Justice Bringer: "I don't know if the people doing that are in this group or not. But the more I think about what we've been doing... the more disgusting it feels. I... forget it. I'm leaving."]
——(Justice Bringer) has left the chat——
The tiny system notification appeared on the screen.
A second later: "I'm tired too. Sorry."
——(Kaori Didn't Die) has left the chat——
——(Ryo Yagami) has left the chat——
"If I can't buy it, then I can't buy it... I... sigh~"
——(Great Love Immortal Venerable) has left the chat——
.
.
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