Around the time Shino was raising a war cry of "I got Hachiman-kun!", Komachi had been invited to the Forest of Sleep.
In truth, because both Kiyomori and Tomomori were present, Komachi was quite nervous. However, Kiyomori, having learned that Komachi was a former comrade of Hachiman's, had taken a shine to her and treated her with great favor.
Tomomori, who had been unanimously elected as the new chairman in the subsequent election, was swamped with work, so he was simply happy to finally have a moment to relax.
"Kaede, look here. It's a present from Grandpa."
"Wow! Thank you, Grandpa!"
Kaede happily accepted the giant teddy bear.
Then, Komachi handed over the present from Hachiman—which had been sent to Keiko beforehand—along with a gift from herself.
"Here you go, Kaede-chan. This hat is from Hachiman-oniichan, and these gloves are from me. When you get better and can play outside, use these so you don't get cold."
"Thank you, Koma-oneechan! Kaede will work really, really hard so I can wear these and play outside soon!"
"Yeah. And when that happens, you have to play with me too, okay?"
"Uh-huh! I wish Hachiman-oniichan was here too... I wonder if he's doing okay?"
"Don't worry. Hachiman-oniichan is doing very well."
"I see. I hope I can see him again!"
"Yeah. I'm sure you'll see him again, Kaede-chan."
Watching Komachi crouch down to speak to Kaede at eye level, Kiyomori's fondness for her grew even stronger. Essentially, he had just locked onto her as a potential candidate for Kaede's future sister-in-law.
After the homely and happiness-filled Christmas party concluded, Komachi put on the reindeer hat sent by Hachiman and headed toward Ai and Yuu's room.
"Umm... Excuse me."
"Oh? You are, if I recall..."
Ai showed a momentary expression of caution, but upon realizing it was Komachi, she relaxed. Ai remembered the last time Komachi had visited and had already filed her under the "Safe/No Alert Needed" list in her head.
"Yuu, this person is safe."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. She's the same type of person as Hachiman."
"Okay, if that's the case, we're good!"
Hearing Ai's assessment, Komachi felt a surge of happiness—thinking, As expected of Big Bro to have that reputation.
Komachi then addressed the two of them.
"I'm Komachi Kuninaka. I came today on Hachiman-san's behalf. It's nice to meet you, um, Ai-san, Yuu-san."
"Oh my, you know who we are? On Hachiman's behalf? I see. Nice to meet you, Komachi-san. I am one of Hachiman's mistress candidates, Aiko Konno."
"A-Ai? Umm, uh..."
Yuu was startled, doing a double-take at Ai before turning to Komachi, not wanting to be outdone.
"I'm also one of Hachiman's mistress candidates, Yuuki Konno! Nice to meet you!"
"Ah... I, I see... Ahahaha..."
Hearing their introductions, Komachi thought, As expected... and once again realized her brother's formidable nature—in a very different sense than usual.
"So, what business brings you here today? And what's with the reindeer hat?"
"Ah, right. Today, Hachiman-san asked me to bring presents for the two of you. Since Hachiman-san is Santa, I guess wearing this reindeer hat makes me his delivery deer."
"I see how it is."
"Wow, from Hachiman? Yay!"
The two had celebrated Christmas earlier with the other patients in the facility, but they hadn't heard anything from him then. They realized now that Keiko had stayed silent to preserve this surprise.
Under their watchful gaze, Komachi took out a tablet device, booted it up, and handed it to them.
"Here. He said this is for both of you."
"...What is this?"
"I wonder what it is?"
Displayed on the screen was something that looked like a house.
"He said it's a VR home that the two of you will eventually live in."
"Ah..."
"I get it, this is..."
"Go ahead and tap the screen. You can move inside and go wherever you like."
With deep interest, the two tapped the screen, exploring here and there. Occasionally, exclamation marks would appear; tapping them brought up descriptions of the facilities.
Imagining themselves living there, their hearts began to race with excitement.
"And from me, I have a physical model of that house."
What Komachi held out was a lovely architectural model, looking exactly like what was displayed on the screen.
"This part and this part detach, see?"
The model could be taken apart to view the floor plans of the first and second floors from above. It was a gift worthy of a daughter of the Kuninaka family construction lineage.
"Thank you, Komachi-san."
"I've never seen such an amazing model before! Thank you!"
"You're very welcome. Now then, finally, I'll play a message from Hachiman-san."
The next instant, Hachiman's voice flowed from the tablet.
『Ai, Yuu. You guys doing okay? Preparations to receive you over here are moving along smoothly. I hope we can meet up over here soon. Also, see that 'Save' button on the bottom left of the terminal? That device is set up so you can tweak a bunch of things to match what you want. Talk it over between the two of you and change whatever you like to make the house better. If you press save, the results get sent to us, and we'll implement them into the actual house immediately. Have fun messing around with it together. I'm looking forward to the day we meet again. Merry Christmas.』
Komachi then left the Forest of Sleep.
Until lights-out, Ai and Yuu never grew tired of the device, happily tinkering with their future home together.
"And now, I declare the Valhalla Resort Christmas Party... open."
The following night, a Christmas party was being held at Valhalla Garden. This gathering also served as their end-of-year party.
Since Rose had not created a character in ALO, she was not present. Instead, Shizuka Hiratsuka participated as a guest using a hastily created character named "Silent."
Others invited included Eugene, Sakuya, Alicia, and Fukaziroh.
Incidentally, the only guild member absent was Chrysheight. Thanks to his recent trip to Kyoto, he was currently canned in his office dealing with the backlog. It was entirely his own fault.
Minami wouldn't have been out of place here, but upon learning that Rose was alone, she seemed to have gone somewhere with her, so she was absent as well.
Godfree—or rather, Free Sagami—was currently "Unfree Sagami," busy with his professional duties at the end of the year. Hachiman planned to introduce him to Kirito, whom he was acquainted with, whenever the opportunity arose.
"So this is Hachiman's... and Klein's crew, I take it."
"Yeah."
Though bewildered by the unfamiliar address, Silent managed to adapt to calling them by their player names without honorifics, just as Klein had instructed her beforehand.
"I never thought I'd be talking to you inside a game like this, Sensei."
"Indeed. And this is your and Asuna-kun's daughter..."
"I'm Yui. Nice to meet you, Sensei!"
"Yes, nice to meet you, Yui-kun. Guh... so cute... I want to take her home with me..."
"Please stop, Sensei. Don't kidnap my daughter."
"O-Of course not. But still... guh... I must restrain myself."
Silent patted Yui's head, managing to overcome her internal conflict, and changed the subject.
"Still, I must say, my body feels light. I feel as though I've become significantly younger."
"Well, naturally. You are already over thir—oops."
In that instant, Silent unleashed a fist at terrifying speed.
However, Hachiman caught it easily.
"Kuh... To think you could catch that..."
"Well, this is basically my home turf. I'm not going to take damage here."
"Papa, that was amazing!"
Silent looked at Hachiman with a mix of frustration and admiration.
"Hmph. You really have become strong."
"That's the first time I've ever stopped your punch, Sensei."
"Honestly, your growth never ceases to amaze me. I'd love to retrain myself over here too, but work is just so busy... You know, since I'm a capable woman on the countdown to marriage!"
"Ah... right, yes. That is truly unfortunate."
Silent naturally interpreted his "unfortunate" as regret that they couldn't play together, but Hachiman had imbued the word with a completely different meaning.
Two people were watching them from the side.
"Hey Yukino, were those two always like that in the past?"
"Yes. Though usually, Hachiman-kun would take that Iron Fist punishment and be writhing in agony. It seems today is the first time he succeeded in stopping it, Klein-san."
"I don't have the confidence to stop that punch..."
"Fufu. Well, just take care not to anger Sensei."
Elsewhere, various conversations were unfolding.
"Hey Leafa-chan, do you think the 'Little Sister' character type is at a disadvantage when it comes to romance...?"
"I've been thinking that occasionally myself lately... Hey Iroha, what's the reality?"
"The sister attribute is definitely effective on Senpai. But, it doesn't really link to romantic feelings... or rather, I say that, but I've totally crashed and burned on that front myself. Generally speaking? Hmm, yeah, probably a disadvantage."
"Ah, I knew it..."
"Silica, if it's come to this, we have no choice but to aim to become mature women!"
"Hey Mebius, when are you coming back over here?"
"I plan to return soon, Soleil-senpai."
"Oh, really? In that case, want to just get a job at my place?"
"Hmm, but wouldn't my major in pharmaceuticals be unrelated to your business?"
"That's not necessarily true. Argo-chan, explanation please."
"Aye-aye, Boss. Alright, I'll break it down for ya."
"Kirito, when are we fighting next?"
"That's the only thing you ever say when we meet, Eugene."
"I've devised a special move called the 'Salamander Strike.' I wish to test it."
"I'm a guinea pig?! Fine, when do you want to do it?"
"Sakuya-chan, we've completely become members of Valhalla at this point, haven't we?"
"It seems so, Alicia. Well, this bunch is fun, so that's fine by me."
"Should we just hand over the Lordship seats to our successors?"
"Right. Well, eventually."
"Agil-san, please, teach me how to make love succeed..."
"Oi, why are you asking me, Recon...?"
"Because you're a married man, Agil-san!"
"That is true, but... Hmm. If you become like Hachiman, wouldn't any romance be a breeze?"
"That hurdle is way too high!"
"Yui-Yui, I was thinking, for New Year's this year, maybe the three of us from the old days should get together?"
"Ah, that sounds good. Let's meet up, just the three of us!"
"Come to think of it, Hina's illness has gotten worse than before. Are you okay with that, Yui-Yui?"
"Yeah. I've gotten pretty good at understanding that sort of thing now, so I'm fine. Though, I only understand it; I have no intention of stepping onto that path myself."
"Asuna-san, am I not out of place here?"
"Fuka-chan, it's fine. Hachiman-kun invited you, didn't he? Then I think you should have more confidence."
"It's true that when Hachiman-san called out to me, I felt like I was ascending to heaven... which actually triggered the Amusphere's safety mechanism and logged me out..."
"Ahahahaha! Fuka-chan, you're getting stronger and stronger lately. So don't worry about it now. Just enjoy the atmosphere and prepare to join us later!"
"Liz, I have a request. Will you hear me out?"
"Hm? Kizmel, what's up? You need something?"
"Actually, I was thinking it is time I desired a weapon that truly suits me."
"Ah, I see! In that case, leave it to me!"
After everyone enjoyed the conversation, food, and cake, the party concluded without issue. With Hachiman's closing words, the guild's activities for the year—though a bit early—officially came to an end.
That same night, Shino and her friends gathered at her house for their own Christmas party.
Essentially, the fact that Shino, Eiko, Mii, and Shiina were all gathered here meant that none of them had a significant other. However, since they were having fun hanging out together, not a single word was spoken about that topic.
Instead, the topic of discussion was, naturally, Hachiman and Shino.
"Shino-cchi, how are things with the Prince lately?"
"Ah, um, well... so-so, I guess."
"What's with that non-committal answer? Nothing good happened?"
"Good things..."
When asked that, Shino inadvertently glanced toward Hachiman-kun.
Shiina, sharp-eyed as ever, noticed the doll casually placed next to her pillow.
"Hey Shino, is that maybe... the Prince?"
"Ah... N-No! I just found it by chance the other day and thought it looked like him, so I just sort of bought it."
"Oho, oho, look at you being a maiden. Wait, what's this switch?"
"Ah, don't!"
Shino's protest came too late; Shiina flipped the switch on Hachiman-kun.
Instantly, Hachiman-kun sprang to life and started toddling around.
"Eh? What is this? It moves?"
"Whoa, amazing! But didn't this cost a lot?"
"Yeah, looking at it, it seems expensive."
"Ah... um..."
Seeing Shino hesitate, the three friends sensed something suspicious and closed in on her.
"What? Is there a secret?"
"Come on, come on, confess to us."
"Don't tell me you call this doll by the Prince's name?"
Fortunately, their words were not addressed directly to Hachiman-kun, so the AI determined it wasn't being spoken to and remained silent.
Shino felt relieved, but under the pressure of the three girls, she accidentally let the name slip.
"I-I don't particularly talk to Hachiman-kun or anythi—Ah."
Hearing Shino's slip of the tongue, the three girls grinned.
"Did you just say 'Hachiman-kun'?"
"So this kid's name is Hachiman-kun. I see, I see."
"Hachiman-kun, nice to meet you!"
『Ou. Nice to meet you.』
Suddenly, Hachiman's voice echoed through the room. The place went dead silent.
The three girls looked at Hachiman-kun with shocked faces, while Hachiman-kun waved his hand casually at Shiina.
Creak, creak, creak... The three of them turned their heads slowly toward Shino, practically making sound effects as they turned.
Shino, sweating buckets, desperately tried to come up with an excuse.
"Th-That... That was, right, ventriloquism! It was ventriloquism. I'm good at it, right?"
"Shino-cchi... that's not gonna fly..."
"Yeah, that excuse is a bit much..."
"Well, we can just test it. Hachiman-kun, how are you?"
『Ou. Well, can't say I'm not doing well.』
"""I knew it."""
"Ah... uh..."
Writhing in shame, Shino could do nothing but listen to the exchange between her three friends and Hachiman-kun.
"Hachiman-kun, which one of us do you like the best?"
『That's decided. It's Shino, obviously.』
"Hachiman-kun, what do you think of Shino?"
『Obviously, she's precious to me.』
"Hachiman-kun, are you sleeping with Shino?"
『Yeah. I only got here yesterday, but I definitely slept with her last night.』
Barraged by embarrassing questions and the answers that followed one after another, Shino could only tremble and endure.
Seeing Shino in such a state, the three girls realized they might have gone too far and began to apologize.
"Sorry, Shino-cchi. It was too fun, maybe we overdid it..."
"Sorry, Shino. I'll treat you to sweets tomorrow, okay? Sorry, okay?"
"Of course, we won't tell anyone about this. Sorry!"
Shino was still trembling with a bright red face. Perhaps interpreting Shino's condition as a 'status abnormality,' Hachiman-kun toddled over to her.
Since it was her first time seeing Hachiman-kun act like this, Shino looked at him in mild surprise.
Hachiman-kun patted Shino's knee gently, then spoke.
『When I was in high school, I had almost no friends of the same gender, so I envy you, Shino. You've got good friends. Cherish them.』
Not just Shino, but the other three were stunned by his words.
"H-Hey, isn't this kid a little too smart?"
"Is this that high-performance AI rumored about? And it moves..."
"Shino, seriously, where did you get this?"
"Y-Yeah... Actually, we had a private Christmas party yesterday, and the president of Soleil gave it to me as a Bingo prize."
"The president herself? Wait, is this a legit chunk of high-tech machinery?"
"Seriously, how much does this thing cost?"
"To get this for free... just what kind of circles are you running in?!"
"Y-Yeah... I'm realizing that again myself right now..."
After that, the three stopped asking questions that would trouble Shino and began enjoying various conversations with Hachiman-kun. Perhaps recovering her stride, Shino joined in, asking Hachiman-kun all sorts of questions alongside them.
Hachiman-kun was terrifyingly knowledgeable, knowing many things the four girls did not.
The four of them never grew bored, playing with Hachiman-kun until morning.
Naturally, the next day, they slept like logs until noon.
It goes without saying that in the middle of the four girls sleeping in a heap, lay Hachiman-kun.
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