December 31st.
Yuta came home, took one look at the state of his apartment, and sighed.
This was the downside of not having a girlfriend. The place had to reach a certain level of disaster before he'd bother cleaning it.
Then again, it was mostly because he was constantly busy.
He'd been in this world for nearly a year now and had barely given himself a single day off. He usually didn't get home until ten or eleven at night, which left zero time for housework.
"Next year. Next year I'm definitely getting a girlfriend."
He muttered that to himself, then started tidying up.
Arcane had actually paid out a portion of Starfall's revenue share by now. It wasn't a huge amount, but it was enough for Yuta to finally pay off all his debt.
Hiring a cleaning service wouldn't have been extravagant at this point.
But since he had nothing else to do today, cleaning up himself was perfectly fine. No need to spend the money.
That evening, Yuta drove his beat-up car out to buy food.
He might be a party of one, but he still wanted a decent meal tonight.
Unfortunately, his cooking skills were nothing special, so most of what he bought was premade stuff that just needed to be heated up.
He did pick up a few fresh ingredients, but not many.
At the supermarket, just as he was about to head home, a familiar figure appeared. It was Yuzuki Amane.
At the office, Yuzuki was never seen without her arm sleeves. Today, though, she wasn't wearing them.
She had on a cream-colored coat over a skirt with black tights underneath. Her delicate face showed no trace of makeup, and her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail.
Three or four kids surrounded her.
The oldest was a girl who looked like she was in middle school or high school. Next came a pair of twin boys, probably fifth or sixth graders. The youngest was another girl who couldn't have been older than first or second grade.
"P-President?" Yuzuki spotted Yuta too and looked caught off guard.
Yuta walked over and glanced at the kids beside her. He couldn't help asking, "Are these your siblings?"
"Yes." Yuzuki nodded.
Her brothers and sisters politely chimed in together. "Hello, mister!"
"Hey there."
Yuta smiled back while thinking to himself: their parents were certainly... productive.
He had some snacks among his purchases, so he handed a few out to Yuzuki's siblings, chatted with her briefly, and then waved goodbye.
It was just a small moment in his day.
Back home, Yuta got back to work in the kitchen.
After a good while of effort, he managed to put together a full spread.
It wasn't gourmet, but it wasn't bad either.
The only problem was that looking at this generous spread and knowing he was eating it alone made him feel a pang of loneliness.
"Next year, I'm definitely getting a girlfriend!" he told himself again.
This time, his voice carried considerably more conviction.
After dinner, he settled in to watch NHK's Kohaku song competition.
Kohaku was basically Japan's version of a New Year's gala, though the comparison only went so far. The show was all music, featuring the year's most popular singers. No comedy skits or variety acts.
Yuta didn't recognize most of the performers, and some of the songs weren't to his taste at all, but the majority were pretty good.
He wouldn't say he was riveted, but it passed the time.
Around eight thirty, a phone call came in.
Yuta didn't bother checking who it was and just picked it up. An unfamiliar voice came through the receiver. "Big bro Yuta, there's only a few hours left until the new year! Happy New Year in advance!"
'Big bro?'
Yuta was confused.
'Who on earth is this?'
He checked the caller ID and saw the contact name said "Mikage." Then it clicked. There was a family named Mikage who were distant relatives of his, living out in the countryside far from Tokyo.
The caller was the Mikage couple's daughter, Kotone Mikage. She was currently in her third year of high school, and in terms of family relations, she was basically Yuta's distant cousin.
Being distant relatives, they normally had no reason to keep in touch. But exchanging a phone call around the new year was perfectly reasonable.
With that sorted out in his head, Yuta said, "Happy New Year, Kotone."
After a pause, he asked, "Have you decided what you're doing after graduation?"
"Of course I have."
Kotone said, "I'm taking the entrance exam for a university in Tokyo. Starting next April, I might need Big bro to look out for me."
"No problem," Yuta said without hesitation.
Japan's college entrance exams were different from the American system. Testing usually happens between January and March.
Also, the Japanese school year had three terms, with the first term starting in April.
If Kotone actually got into a university in Tokyo, she'd definitely be moving to the city in April.
Even if they were just distant relatives who only spoke on the phone once a year, relatives were still relatives. Helping her out when the time came was only right.
"Oh, Big bro, Clannad is made by your company, right?" Kotone suddenly asked.
Yuta didn't answer directly and asked instead, "You've seen it?"
"No, no! My parents said I need to focus on studying for exams and won't let me watch anime. But my classmates have talked about it," Kotone explained.
"I see."
"My classmates say you're really amazing. That you can do everything."
"Do they?"
"And I heard the second season is coming out soon?"
"Yeah. January 11th."
"Good luck, Big bro! I'll get my parents to turn on the TV and help with your ratings."
"Thanks, Kotone. Good luck on your exams too."
...
After hanging up, Yuta put down his phone, went to the bathroom for a shower, and threw his clothes in the wash while he was at it.
By the time he finished, it was past nine.
He watched TV for another couple of hours until the clock finally hit midnight.
On screen, the New Year bells began to ring.
For his first New Year since transmigrating, Yuta quickly made his wishes. "I hope this year I find a girlfriend. And I hope every anime Starfall makes from now on will move people to tears."
His phone started filling up with messages, all New Year greetings from people he knew. There was even one from Aoi.
Japan was a bit different from other countries in this regard. Phones had a texting function, but since the carriers' messaging systems didn't connect to each other, everyone preferred email instead. At least until the messaging app LINE came along, that's how things worked.
Yuta read through every message he received, though he didn't reply to all of them. He picked out a few important ones and responded to those.
By the time he was done, he checked the clock and realized it was already twelve thirty. He turned off the TV and went to bed.
_______________________
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