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It’s December 31st. The year is about to end, and a new one is about to start. I finished cleaning my room in the morning, and now in the afternoon, I’m currently helping clean the cafe. As for my plan, all that’s left is for me to wait for its implementation. That’s why I’m just spending my time like normal.

“That should do it here.”
“Cleaning really does get done fast with more people. It took us twice the time to clean last year, you know?”

After all, Misaki is also helping out with the cleanup. Despite how she is, she’s a professional maid. When it comes to cleaning, she’s more skillful than any of us. The only issue is whether she’s motivated or not, but Misaki is easy to handle in that regard.

“Well, after a short rest, let’s finish things up.”
“I’ve been waiting for this!”

This self-serving maid immediately jumped to the occasion when I told her that she’ll get a dessert afterward. She seems aware that she’s being manipulated, but since she seems happy with it, I won’t comment on that. I still plan on working her hard in the future, after all.

“Today’s the last day of the year, huh?”
“It was a pretty good year. We even got a great part-timer.”
“And Kaori even made a close friend. Isn’t that nice?”
“While it’s true that I’m glad to have met Kotone, I feel like I’ve been dragged into a lot of problems around the end of the year.”

I do believe I was well-behaved at first. It was because it took time for me to adjust after becoming Kotone. It was easy to adapt since I didn’t really try to imitate Kotone. I was just being me. Still, I genuinely believe that I was blessed with the people I met.

“We got more wealthy customers too, so I can’t put out half-baked goods anymore.”
“You don’t put out half-baked goods in the first place, Mom.”

It’s precisely why even the people of the twelve families, who have refined tastes, have a want for Saori’s confectioneries. They wouldn’t come here just for me. It’s because she can satisfy their palates that they come back. I’m basically no different from a beckoning cat statue.

“It’s absolutely delicious!”
“Shut up and eat.”

It’s the same reason I can summon Misaki here. At this point, she likely wouldn’t respond to my summons if I don’t have a dessert prepared. There might have been a mistake with her training policy; she’s gotten more gullible.

“Come to think of it, is it really alright for me to join your New Year’s Eve celebration?”
“Didn’t you say that you’re all alone in your apartment? Then there shouldn’t be any problem with inviting you, right?”
“That’s true, but still.”

My neighbors went to visit their family. By that, I don’t mean the Shimotsuki family. I mean Akane’s family. It seems like there’s some event, as they don’t want to go anywhere near the Shimotsuki family for New Year. I hear it happens every year. What’s going on?

“Just what are they doing there?”
“Akane and the Shimotsuki family are on friendly terms, right? So it’s strange that even Akane doesn’t want to be at their place.”
“It’s well-known in the industry. ‘Be sure to stay away from the Shimotsuki during New Year,’ they say.”
“Misaki. Explain in more detail.”

If I don’t think of countermeasures quickly, I might just get involved in something messy. I have to extract what little information I can from Misaki. After all, I’ve promised to go and I can’t go back on it.

“I do not know the details. However, I believe it’s already too late, my lady.”
“I already know that.”

I’ve been informed that a vehicle from the Shimotsuki family will come to pick me up. Even if I try to run away, I’m certain that they’ll chase me down. Dealing with both pursuers from the Kisaragi family and the Shimotsuki family is clearly too much for me.

“Still, Kotone. What you’re about to do is pretty reckless. Like, going around those of the twelve families you’re acquainted with to welcome the New Year and so on.”
“I’m not sure if I can go around and greet everyone, though. Some of the homes are far from each other, after all.”

Many of the twelve families have residences that are closer to the academy and, in most cases, they’d return to their family home for New Year. I want to greet as many as I can, but it’s difficult with my limited transportation methods.

“Shimotsuki and Fumidzuki are a sure visit. After them, Hadzuki will probably be annoying if I don’t pass by his place.”
“For the former two, they’d probably have people to catch you if you don’t go. You promised them, after all.”
“They’re the best places to hide at, though. But it makes me uneasy not knowing what the consequence for their help will be.”

My pursuers aren’t likely to trespass a twelve family’s residence just to find me. And with the families I’m acquainted with, I know that they’d quickly choose to make up reasons to fight them off. I don’t want to see conflict immediately at the start of a new year, but that won’t stop me now.

“But lady Kotone, please visit the Kisaragi residence. Day by day, the master has been in an increasingly bad mood and it’s quite stressful for us servants.”
“I couldn’t care less.”
“The rumors about you have reached your grandparents as well. The two have been looking forward to seeing you again.”
“Let them do as they want.”
“Please don’t be so stubborn.”

Well, going home is vital to the plan. After all, how else can I smack my father? It’s just that I have no idea when I’ll return. The first runaway part is planned to the dot, but the rest of it is sloppy. This is because there’s no anticipating the other twelve families’ movements.

“I already gave Mom my contact info. She can just use it when absolutely necessary.”
“But what if you don’t answer?”
“Well, it’d be more likely that I can’t than won’t if I’m being honest.”
“Ah, understandable.”

We’re dealing with the twelve families here. There’s no telling what could occur. Besides, it’s not like I’m well-versed with all of the twelve families’ peculiarities. Especially the Hadzuki and Nagatsuki families, who seem to have something odd with them. The Nagatsuki brothers are too different in disposition, after all.

“We’ll just have to let things take their course. I’ll brace myself by tomorrow.”
“Though somehow, I have the feeling that you’d probably enjoy it.”

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to keep my sanity. The Shimotsuki family has something I don’t know going on, meanwhile the Fumidzuki family’s head is annoyingly tiresome. Add to that, I can’t even begin to imagine what the Hadzuki family could be up to, I can’t anticipate anything from any of them. I guess I’m also pretty weird for willingly stepping into chaos.

“It’s about time to go home. Misaki, I’m counting on you.”
“Are we really doing it?”
“I promised, didn’t I? Your reward is a cake, a whole cake.”
“I can’t believe you agreed with that.”

Lately, Kaori has gotten more harsh towards Misaki. Even though they haven’t really interacted a lot. Wait, is it that being involved with my mess changed something within her? Even with my old classmates, there were people who experienced complete changes in their personality.

“Are you sure it will really turn out well?”
“If it doesn’t, then I’ll just try something different. Statistically speaking, it should succeed. I have a lot of cooperators, after all.”

Akira and the others also agreed to cooperate with me. It seems like they’ve judged that letting me act alone isn’t a good idea considering their responsibility. It’s probably mostly due to their chief, Isami’s old man, though. Since they have personally seen the mayhem I can cause, maybe it tickled their sense of danger.

“There won’t be any danger to you, Misaki, so don’t worry about it. If things take a turn for the worst, then I’ll personally deal with it.”
“If you do that, it will only complicate the situation even more, so please don’t.”
“Some big shots might even make a move. If that happens, take responsibility and stop them, okay?”