Watching the cats all crawl into the cardboard boxes and refuse to come out, Haruno propped her chin on her hands and asked curiously, "Are cardboard boxes really that fun?"
Holding a cat treat in her hand, Yukino fed the cats one by one before replying, "Cats generally like small, enclosed spaces. Places like that make them feel safe. But I think ours just like lying in boxes because they don't usually get to play with them."
That made sense. There were rarely this many cardboard boxes at home, so it was only natural the cats were excited.
However, after playing for about half an hour, their interest gradually faded. One by one, they climbed out of the boxes and returned to the cat tree, their beds, or the sofa.
Only Peppa remained, still lying comfortably inside a box.
Ichin walked over to take a look and found the little one was almost asleep.
Shaking his head, he didn't bother taking Peppa out and just let him be.
Leaving the cats to play downstairs, Ichin went upstairs to the home theater room, grabbed his Nintendo Switch, and played for a while. Soon, the door opened, and Utaha, Yukino, and Haruno walked in, all freshly showered.
As they sat down, the scent of body wash drifted into Ichin's nose.
Putting down the Switch, Ichin picked up the remote and asked, "What movie are we watching today? It's not going to be a horror movie, right?"
Haruno smiled as she took the remote. "Don't worry, I already picked something. It's really good!"
She opened the folder on the external hard drive connected to the projector and selected a movie.
Doraemon.
Well, that was indeed a good choice, and also a childhood memory for Ichin.
Since there was nothing else to do that night, and seeing how enthusiastic the three girls were, he simply joined them and watched.
The movie was Doraemon: Nobita's New Dinosaur. Ichin could no longer remember the plot clearly, so it didn't feel boring at all.
...
December 24th, Christmas Eve.
Ichin knew that everyone at the company had their own plans for the evening, so instead of keeping the usual schedule, he let everyone off work early at 2 PM.
After packing up his things and stepping out of the office, Yagami Kō and the others were already prepared. Ichin smiled and said, "Since everyone's ready, let's go."
Ichin and the group headed home to set up the Christmas party, while Haruno would leave the company at 3 PM and then go pick up Shizuka Hiratsuka, so she would arrive a bit later.
Once they got home, a large group immediately started decorating the first-floor living room. Besides the items already purchased, Kō and the others had prepared some additional decorations as well.
While they worked on decorating, Ichin took Yukino and Rin with him, and the three of them drove out in two cars to buy ingredients for dinner.
As for cakes and desserts, they had already been ordered from the Miyamura family's cake shop. They would just pick them up along the way, saving time and ensuring great taste.
After a big shopping trip at the supermarket, they bought several bags of meat, vegetables, and drinks, stuffed everything into the trunk, and drove to the Miyamura family's cake shop.
After parking, the three of them got out and entered the shop.
Inside, Miyamura was helping out today. When he saw them, he smiled and greeted them, "Senpai, welcome. Long time no see."
"Good afternoon, Miyamura," Ichin greeted with a smile. "The cake I ordered the other day is ready, right?"
"Yes, I'll bring it out right away."
Soon, Miyamura brought out three large cake boxes.
After paying, Ichin didn't stay long. He chatted briefly with Miyamura before saying goodbye and leaving.
Back home, the living room was already about halfway decorated. Compared to speed, everyone cared more about making it look nice.
After putting the ingredients in the kitchen, Ichin walked over to Utaha and helped her hang a ribbon on the wall.
"Anything else left to decorate?"
"The wall decorations are mostly done," Utaha said with a smile, pointing toward the Christmas tree. "Next is that. Ichin, go help Kō organize the light strings. We tested them earlier when they arrived, but we still need to check them again. I'll head to the kitchen to help Rin."
"Alright, I'll handle the lights."
He went over to Kō and helped check the lights, then slowly began wrapping them around the Christmas tree.
After a few rounds, the tree was decorated, and the remaining lights were arranged along the walls as planned.
Looking at the finished lights, Kō smiled. "We've decorated for Christmas parties in previous years too, but we've never prepared this carefully. This time it's definitely going to look amazing!"
"Ah!! Don't take it!"
Suddenly, Kousaka Kirino's shout rang out. Ichin and Kō turned their heads to see Kirino chasing after Peppa, who had a roll of tape in his mouth, clearly fascinated by the round object.
Fortunately, on the other side, Gokou Ruri stepped in, blocked Peppa's path, picked him up, and retrieved the tape.
It was their first time joining the Christmas party with everyone, but since they had already been working at the company for a while, they fit in easily.
Walking over, Ichin looked at Gokou Ruri and asked, "You came to join the party this time. Your two younger sisters didn't object?"
Holding Peppa, Ruri smiled. "They complained a little, but after I bought each of them a Christmas gift, they stopped. They're easy to deal with."
Now that Ruri had a stable job and had become the backbone of her family, her parents fully supported her attending a high-level Christmas party like this. Especially since they had met most of the people here, they felt at ease.
Kirino came over to take back the tape and said dissatisfied, "Didn't I tell you to bring Hinata and Tamaki along to play too?"
"Don't think I don't know what you're planning," Ruri shot her a glare. "If you weren't coming, maybe. But since you are, I decided it's better to let them stay home. They should have less contact with you."
"Shut up! That's a huge misunderstanding!"
The two bickered as they continued decorating.
After working for a while, Ichin returned to the kitchen to continue preparing the dinner feast.
At around 4:30 PM, Haruno finally came back, bringing Shizuka Hiratsuka with her. And besides herself, Hiratsuka had also brought several bottles of alcohol, clearly intending to make the party even more lively.
...
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