(Epilogue) No title

Midnight, December 25th.

Christmas has just now arrived.

"Merry Christmas... hey, it arrived before I could send it..."

Of course, I tried to send a message to Shiho, but I was having trouble operating this and her message arrived first.

"Merry Christmas! Sleep properly and stay warm so you don't catch a cold, okay? Santa Claus doesn't come to bad children. Don't wait for Santa to come, no matter how much you are looking forward to receiving presents. Santa Claus only comes to good children who sleep soundly."

... Shiho is still amazing that she can type such a long text in an instant.

Reading her smiling text, I send her a message as well.

She would sulk if I didn't reply right away, so I typed the message a little hastily.

"Merry Christmas. Shiho, don't stay up late and be a good girl, okay? Otherwise, Santa won't come."

I hit the "send" button and put my phone down on the bedside table.

It's a very simple message, but just chatting with her like this makes me happy, which is a strange thing.

In the pitch-dark room, I wait for her reply.

I was somewhat tired, and if I'm not careful, I might fall asleep. ...I was afraid that if I closed my eyes, I would be lured into a dream world in the blink of an eye, so I dared to keep my eyes open and wait.

......Hey?

For Shiho, the reply is late.

Perhaps she fell asleep? I was a little puzzled because usually I get a reply within a few seconds.

(Waiting for Santa to come...)

As expected of a high school student, I don't think that's possible, but come to think of it, I've never asked Shiho if she 'believes in Santa Claus'.

I wouldn't be surprised if she still believes.

(It would be cute if she was excited and sleeping or something)

I wonder if she stayed up late and went to bed because Santa wouldn't come if she didn't behave well.

My cheeks relaxed at the adorable thought of her like that.

(Finally, we are back to our normal routine.)

Then, I should reflect on how happy I am to be back to my normal relationship with Shiho.

Just today, we have finished the second semester and are now on winter break. I finally got a break from the midterm exams, which I also finished without incident.

Since the beginning of December, my relationship with Shiho has been a little awkward, but just the other day we finally started to communicate as usual.

A lot really happened during the second semester.

I was especially troubled by the incident with Kurumiawa-san, and although that incident has not been cleared up, I am still glad that my relationship with Shiho has returned to normal.

(It's as if nothing ever happened.)

Just until last week, I couldn't even look at Shiho's face properly because of my guilt.

Even though we had crossed paths so much, after a short time, our relationship returned to normal. While I'm happy about that - I'm still stuck somewhere in the back of my mind about how it ended.

As a result - there was no change at all in the relationship between me and Shiho.

When Kurumizawa-san first appeared on the scene, I thought that Shiho and I had put some leverage into our romantic comedy, but when I opened the ... lid, I found that was not the case at all.

There was a little bit of misunderstanding, but that's all there was.

After that event, in a normal story, it would be natural for there to be a change in the relationship. However, there was no change between me and her.

It may be the same as the saying, "When it rains, the ground hardens".

The same is true of stories, where it is standard practice for the hero and heroine to become closer after the case is solved.

Or, they get to be even worse off.

There are "changes", both good and bad, which become the "mountains" and "valleys" of the story. The ups and downs are what move the reader's emotions and lead to a pleasant after-reading feeling, or what is called "catharsis".

Therefore, a story with small ups and downs is considered a "bad story" by the public.

In other words, the story in which I was the main character closed as a bad story, so it may be natural that there is no change in my relationship with Shiho.

(... Really, is that so?)

However, I can't help but get caught up.

Before the mid-term test started, I saw "Shiho's unknown side that i don't know" at the back of the school building, and it really bothers me.

(Though nothing changed for me.)

Mob characters, as usual, were 'mob characters' and were tossed around in the story.

On the other hand, what happened to ... her?

(I just don't know... has there been a change in Shiho?)

At first glance, there appears to be no change in the relationship.

But that is only a superficial difference, and if you look at the content of the relationship, ... it may actually be quite, quite different.

Because, unlike me, she is the 'main heroine'.

She has the power to move the story, which means - her change is the starting point to encourage the story and lead to a result.

If that is the case, it is not surprising that there is a change in Shiho.

(There is a "Shiho" I don't know.)

For me, Shiho Shimotsuki is a girl whom I "love", "adorable", and "cute". She may be a bit "clumsy" and "love-heavy" in some aspects, but she is a "lovely" girl all the same.

But maybe that's not all there is to her.

If there is a "Shiho" that I still don't know, I want to know it.

――Thus, Part 3 ended as a waste.

What kind of romantic comedy will be created in the future between me, who is just a mob character, and Shiho, the main heroine?

Only the god of romantic comedies knows the answer to that question.

"I hope Kotaro and Shiho's romantic comedy won't be cancelled."

Mary's words are still etched in my mind.

I don't think that's possible, but ... I just couldn't forget those words.

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