Christmas '23 Omake – Last Christmas Part 1

-Christmas many years ago- 

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house... was the smell of Kentucky Fried Chicken brought home by a spouse.

The Saito family was seated at the dining table. Decked out in warm colourful winter sweaters. Little Reina was drooling over the huge bucket of KFC fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits their father, Saito Atsuhiro, had brought home with him.

Their mom Yuzuki had coaxed them in decorating the house and dining table with her in Christmas cheer, there was even a small Christmas tree in the corner decorated with lights, garland, ornaments and a star on top.

"Oto-san c-can we start?" Reina asked impatiently.

Their father smiled. "Go ahead," he said.

Their mother started serving up the food filling all their plates except Reina who got just a little bit of everything.

Reina looked at everyone else's full plates. "I want more too," she whined with a pout.

Their mom chuckled lightly. "Eat that first and if you finish it I'll give you more," she said.

Reina's serious pout slowly melted. "Do you promise?" she asked seriously.

Their mom nodded. "Of course," she said.

It didn't take long before Reina's smile returned. "Yay!" she cheered grabbing onto one of the drumsticks. She started gnawing at it like her life depended on it.

Hisashi smiled watching his little sister go. "Don't go too fast, there's cake for desert too. If you eat too much and are sick tomorrow then all the presents will be mine muahahaha" he said theatrically.

Her eyes went wide with the drumstick still in her mouth. "No way Hisashi-oniichan! Those are mine," she said warily. It was hard to make out with the drumstick muffling it though.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," their mother warned.

Reina looked away nervously. She ended up nibbling on the drumstick until there wasn't a shred of meat left on it.

Hisashi served some mashed potatoes and gravy on her plate.

Reina grimaced. "Boo, I want more chicken," she said.

Hisashi smirked. "If I fill you up on mashed potatoes there will be more cake left for me," he teased.

She seemed appalled at the mere idea. "Nuh-uh. Cake goes in the desert stomach," she said indignantly.

He smiled back. "We'll see about that," he said.

Their father had loosened his tie and was nursing a beer that went well with the fried chicken. "Alright you two, don't make a mess," he said.

He looked over at Hisashi. "How are things going at college?" he asked.

Hisashi looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "They are going well father, the programming electives I chose are really paying off," he said.

"Are you sure? I still think studying business would have been better," his father responded.

Although his father had allowed him to pursue a degree mathematics degree with multiple computer science electives, the field was still brand new leading to him questioning Hisashi about his choice of career quite frequently. Hisashi knew it came from a good place.

Hisashi smiled softly. "You don't have to worry father, give it a few years and this will be the biggest thing," he said confidently.

His father smiled back and decided to give up on trying to change his son's mind. He knew his son was brilliant and thought he could achieve great things if he got a solid business degree and joined a reliable company, possibly even the company he himself worked for. His usually filial son had always been stubborn about this one thing though so he relented.

Their mother just rolled her eyes at the two of them. "More importantly, tell me have you met any girls yet?" she asked.

She shot him a light glare. "You aren't planning to make me an old grandma or worse are you?" she asked before he could even answer.

Hisashi coughed awkwardly. "Mother, you know how it is. None of the girls in school see me as boyfriend material since I'm 4 years younger than them and I don't meet girls outside of school," he said.

She sighed in response. "I knew I shouldn't have agreed to them letting you skip those classes. What about that girl in your Kendo class?" she asked.

He grimaced in response. There was a girl in his Kendo class that was a year younger that seemed very interested in him. They had known each other for a few years now. Unfortunately he wasn't really into 15 year olds. She was a nice enough girl and they could be considered more than just acquaintances, but she was still far too immature. Who knows, if she persisted for a few more years and matured things could change. However as things were he just saw her as the little girl she was.

He sighed. "M-maybe in the future," he said.

She looked over at Reina putting her hand on her head. "I'll just have to rely on you in the future little Reina-chan," she said with a theatrically dramatic sigh.

Reina seemed confused as she couldn't understand what they were talking about, but decided to just smile along for their mother's sake.

Now it was Hisashi's turn to roll his eyes. "Just give it a few years mother," he said.

The one thing that excited her more than the fried chicken was the cake they had for desert. Once she had finished her slice though she was so full she could have gone straight to sleep.

Reina finished the cake with a few chocolate smudges on her cheeks. Hisashi took a napkin and cleaned up the worst of it. "Aah...nooo," she shouted dramatically trying to escape his hands.

Hisashi was undeterred though and on a mission to make sure she was clean.

After they cleaned up the table Hisashi lifted her up carrying her to the couch. He put on a Christmas movie and curled up together under a blanket on the couch.

Reina didn't even make it to the end of the movie before she ended up nodding off, her head dropped against his arm. When the movie ended he was careful not to wake her up while he carried her to her bedroom and tucked her in. He was sure she would be up early for presents the next day.

He helped his parents clean up some more before heading to bed himself a little later.

-X-X-X-

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Writing Soundtrack: Sleeping With Sirens - Various Tracks