C'mon, Kashima! Come to the movie with us!
We're seeing R-15 Splatter!
But I can't just leave Kotaro here...
By all means, allow me to handle it.
School Babysitters
Thanks for doing this. I'll try not to be out late.
Um... Are you really sure you don't mind doing this, though?
Saikawa-san, I can still turn them down if you want...
No, the chairwoman has informed me that encouraging social relationships
with your schoolmates is to be prioritized.
After being invited by my classmate Usokawa,
I'll be going out without Kotaro this Sunday for the first time since we got here.
Kotaro will be staying here with Saikawa-san while I'm out.
Do take care, Ryuichi-sama.
Yes, sir.
Kotaro, I'll be back as soon as I can,
so do what Saikawa-san tells you and be good until I'm back.
Well, please take care of things here, Saikawa-san.
I shall.
I, Saikawa, hereby pledge to protect Kotaro-sama with my life.
Uh, n-no, you shouldn't have to go that far...
Okay, I'll be back soon.
Take care.
Saikawa-san is a pretty enigmatic person...
But he had to take care of the kids in the daycare room just recently,
so I feel a little guilty going off to have fun all by myself...
Kotaro-sama.
Shall I prepare you a snack of some kind?
Snack Strategy
The snack strategy has failed.
In order to restore his mood, I may need to make an offer of play.
Come, play to your heart's content.
R-15 Splatter
Hey, Kashima! Took you long enough.
Sorry. Am I the last one here?
No, we're still waiting on Kamitani.
Sorry, got delayed.
Kamitani!
You have bite marks on your face!
Hey, were you with a girl?!
Oh, this?
No, the stupid brat bit me, trying to get me to take him along.
I wanna go, too!
No! Stupid Nii-chan!
I hit him and left, of course.
P-Poor Taka-kun...
These brothers, man...
Did your brother cry?
No, Kotaro was fine.
It's more my own fault I'm late, because I was too worried to just leave...
You love your brother too much.
A feeling that's completely alien to me.
What's this? Kashima, you've got a brother complex?
Crazy!
Okay, I'm gonna tell all the girls tomorrow!
None of 'em will like you anymore!
Don't do that. It'll backfire, idiot.
Look, let's just go inside.
B-Brother complex?
It's more like "worry" than "love," though...
I hope Kotaro is being good and doing what Saikawa-san says...
Will this suit you, Kotaro-sama?
Ryuichi-sama
By all means, "fetch."
Nii-chan!
How tremendously adorable.
Kotaro-sama, you must not go too far...
This room is the library used by the late master and mistress.
To put it more simply, it belonged to the chairman's son and his wife.
A library is a room in which one stores one's books.
Like you, Kotaro-sama, the two of them were deeply fond of books.
Saikawa! Hey, Saikawa!
Come here and join us for a minute.
This joke collection is a masterpiece.
Come here, and I'll read it to you.
Just once before I die, I want to see you laughing your head off!
I regret that I was unable to grant you that sight, Master.
That joke collection was not the least bit amusing.
There's no point in cleaning a room that nobody's going to use.
But despite the chairwoman's disingenuous statement...
She still airs out their room, and occasionally cleans it.
For the sake of the two who will never return.
And most likely...
Sai-chan.
Love Poetry
You wish me to read this book to you?
Then I shall do so.
...for the sake of the two who will grow up here.
"Ah, my beloved Venus..."
What nonsense is he reading to him?
See ya!
Bye!
I'm a little later than I expected...
I'd better hurry home.
I-I'm ba—
Nii-chan.
Kotaro? What were you doing right by the front door?
He seemed so impatient to see you
that as the time for your return neared, we decided to wait here for you.
Saikawa-san...
Welcome home, Ryuichi-sama.
I am relieved to see that you are safe.
W-Well, thank you.
I only went to see a movie, though...
Oh, right.
As a thank-you of sorts for watching Kotaro, I bought you a souvenir.
Zobbie!
S-Sorry. You wouldn't want this, right?
This kind of thing was all they were selling...
Not at all. I am delighted.
Thanks to the two of you, I have had a truly wonderful day.
It's been a year since I came to this house with Kotaro.
You two!
How long are you going to stand there babbling on?
Saikawa, have you gotten started on dinner yet?
Ma'am. I shall begin preparations at once.
Ryuichi, go assist him.
Y-Yes, ma'am!
For now, at the least, the place I think of as home...
Um, ma'am?
Yes?
Um, "I'm home now."
I didn't announce myself properly, did I?
...is definitely this place.
Welcome home.
Love Poetry
Uh, Saikawa-san...
Ryuichi-sama
Exactly what were you two playing together?
Well, we played all the standard games.
Such as this.
Ryuichi-sama
Nii-chan! Ball!
As December begins, the city's shifted completely into Christmas mode...
And Kotaro is obsessed with all the Santa Clauses everywhere.
Kotaro, you're going to tip over.
We're going to be late, too.
Kotaro, I don't think he's Santa...
Ah, I see.
I was wondering how you ended up getting here later than me for once.
It seriously took forever.
And you indulged him every step of the way, Ryu-chan...
So, why is Kotaro staring at that pachinko flyer?
He seems a little young for gambling.
Actually, I think it's the picture of Santa on it...
What picture?
Here.
That's tiny!
I'm impressed he even found it.
I met a way cooler Santa than that!
Morning, Taka-kun.
He was in the toy section!
And I... I asked him for a transformation belt!
Playing right into the department store's hands, eh?
Sorry to tell you, Taka, but Santa only visits good boys and girls.
So he might not come see you this year.
Hey, Usaida-san...
I... I'm a good boy!
But you never eat your broccoli, do you?
That's 'cause... I don't like... bokkody...
Ah, probably not gonna happen, then.
Also, it's "broccoli."
Usaida-san...
Then... I'll eat it.
Really?
Taka-kun!
Cut the act.
Kamitani!
I made him want to eat broccoli. What's the problem?
You just wanted to make him cry.
Couldn't help it. It was just too funny.
Usaida-san...
Nii-chan, w-will Santa come to our house?
Of course he won't.
Our mom got our presents at the depart—
Kamitani!
How could you tell him that?!
You can't shatter his dreams! You can't!
How would I? He was with us when she bought them.
Taka-chan. Good boy.
Will Santa come?
Santa, huh...
I asked Santa for... I asked Santa for...
Actually, I'm not gonna tell!
Kirin! You're so cute!
Did you see that, Ryuichi-kun? Did you see that?!
It's so darn cute, I can't stand it!
But don't you dare fall in love with her!
I asked Santa to make sure me and Kazuma can be together forever!
M-Me, too... to be with Takuma...
Ryuichi-kun, what should I do?
Takuma and Kazuma are such good kids,
I can't decide on a present for them!
Help me, Ryuichi-kun!
U-Um...
Listen to this, Ryuichi-kun!
I finished the Santa outfit for Yutaka-san to wear!
I might not be as good at sewing as Usaida-san,
but I'm sure it'll be perfect on Yutaka-san!
He does seem perfect for the role...
That's right. Santa's gotta have the beard... and...
Kashima! What are you doing?
Oh! This is just...
I was trying to figure out how I could look more like Santa!
I thought you were pretending you were pregnant...
K-Kashima-kun, what are you...
Don't peep on the boys while they're changing.
Hey, is this for your little bro?
You're gonna play Santa for him?
How come?
Isn't that stuff your dad's job?
You idiot.
Did you forget Kashima's family situation?
That's right... S-Sorry, Kashima...
Hey, it's okay. You don't have to walk on eggshells about it.
My parents took that stuff really seriously.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I believed right up until third grade...
My brother really believes in Santa, too,
and he's been really waiting to meet him.
Last year, I didn't have time to think about it,
but this year I thought I might play Santa instead.
Kashima!
How good of a big brother can you be?
It's amazing that you believed all the way until third grade.
So, do you have a Santa suit yet?
Not yet...
They're pretty expensive, actually.
Have you tried looking them up on your smartphone?
Actually, mine's been acting up lately...
Oh, hang on a sec, then.
That's right, your smartphone got wrecked, didn't it?
The chairwoman's crazy rich, isn't she?
Why not ask her to buy you a new one for Christmas?
Oh, I couldn't!
Actually, since she took me in, I thought I should probably get her something...
Though the best I could give her would be stuff like free shoulder massage coupons...
I knew that old lady was a cheapskate.
Is she torturing you, Kashima?
O-Of course not!
The chairwoman is a very nice person.
Kamitani, if you're heading out, I'll go with you.
No, I'm ditching.
Chairwoman's Office
I prepared this for the two of you.
Please, help yourselves.
Th-This is clearly too much for the two of us...
God would punish me for sure if I said we were oppressed after all this.
Um... Where's the chairwoman today?
She is currently attending a very important dinner.
I see...
Baa-chan.
What about you?
I have a bit of work to finish, as well, so I do apologize,
but I must take my leave now.
Sai-chan...
Oh, um... Thanks for taking the time when you're so busy otherwise.
Kotaro, you thank him, too.
Um, sorry. Don't worry about us. Go back to work.
No, I shall stay!
Or so I would like to say.
The truth is, the matter is a very important one, so I really must go.
Oh, uh... Okay.
But if I may be so brash,
it makes me unspeakably happy to see how much you will miss me.
Well then, Ryuichi-sama, Kotaro-sama, Merry Christmas to you both.
Kotaro's gotten a lot more open with his feelings since we got here.
And since he's gotten more open, it's a lot easier to comfort him when he's lonely.
Kotaro, come on.
Your brother's still here. Let's eat the food Saikawa-san made for us.
Besides, I'm sure Santa will be here soon.
I've got to do it properly, just the way Dad used to...
But it's just the two of us here!
When am I going to be able to change into the Santa outfit?
Dad used to wear this at New Year's parties. You can use it.
Thanks to the guys, I managed to get the beard and everything together, but...
Um, Kotaro, Nii-chan needs to go to the bathroom.
I need to get the outfit on, give him his presents, then go back right away.
Nii-chan.
O-Okay.
If I can just get into the bathroom by myself and get changed...
K-Kotaro... you wouldn't rather wait outside?
No?
Of course not...
How was it that Dad came out as Santa, again?
I think he'd slip away while we were focused on our cake and stuff.
Then, suddenly, the doorbell would ring...
Santa!
Wait... It couldn't be...
Merry Christmas!
Ryuichi-kun! Kotaro-kun!
Ryuichi.
Ma'am!
Give that to me.
I dislike children who fail to mature,
and children who show unnecessary consideration.
Remember that.
Um, ma'am... what about your important dinner?
That nonsense?
I left early, of course!
Inside the gift-wrapped box was a smartphone exactly like my old one.
Kamitani apparently told the chairwoman that my smartphone was broken.
Mom, Dad...
The moment I opened that door,
I felt a little disappointed that it wasn't you guys there...
But that was outweighed by how happy, content, and emotional it made me.
Okay, here we go!
Five!
Four!
Three!
Two!
One!
Merry Christmas!