Christmas Eve—Merrymaking

Watching the two of them turn their heads at the same time, their excited expressions almost perfectly synchronized, Mitsuzuri, who had somehow appeared in the café, laughed brightly.

"You two really are exactly alike."

"Who's exactly like this guy?!" ×2

The two retorted in unison, only to grit their teeth and glare at each other at the very next moment.

"Ahahaha, I can't take it anymore." Mitsuzuri clutched her stomach, unable to stop laughing. "That was way funnier than my best jokes."

"Tch!" The two of them clicked their tongues at the same time, then simultaneously folded their arms and turned away.

"So, why are you here, Mitsuzuri? Isn't it Christmas Eve?" Rin asked.

Seated in the booth, Mitsuzuri shrugged casually. "My parents got drunk already, and now they're doing karaoke in the living room. It was way too noisy, so I came out for some fresh air. Then, when I passed by, I saw a really unusual pair or something. I got curious, so I came in."

"Anyway, don't get the wrong idea. I only happened to run into this guy," Rin said with an arrogant look.

Shinji gave a light snort and replied casually, "Maybe I forgot to check the calendar before leaving home. To think I'd have such bad luck as to run into this woman or something. Looks like I should tell my fortune before I go out next time."

At that, Rin's eyes curved instantly as she revealed a sweet smile. "Oh my, Matou sure knows how to joke. Clearly, I'm the unlucky one here, aren't I? Next time I go out, I'll check the horoscope forecast on TV first."

Shinji returned a polite smile. "No, no, that would be too much trouble. I can handle that troublesome task myself. Tohsaka can go out without a care in the world, anytime she likes."

Bang!

"You bastard!" Rin's expression changed as she slapped the table and stood up, gritting her teeth at Shinji.

"What?"

Shinji stood up as well, folding his arms as he looked down at Rin impatiently.

Watching the two square off, Mitsuzuri suddenly thought of something. "Do you two know the word 'frenemies'?"

"Mitsuzuri, don't say such nonsense. We're clearly enemies."

"That's right. The kind who won't stop until one of us is dead," Rin nodded, offering no objection.

"But from where I'm standing, you really do just look like frenemies."

"We are not!!" ×2

Covering her ears, Mitsuzuri could only smile wryly. "Please keep it down. My eardrums are going to burst."

The heavy snow showed no sign of stopping, and the park benches beneath the dim streetlights had long since been buried beneath thick, pristine snow.

"Haa—"

Standing nearby, Rin rubbed her hands together and gently exhaled a white puff of breath.

Serves her right, Shinji grumbled inwardly.

In weather this cold, she wasn't even wearing pants. She deserved it!

Still, despite thinking that, Shinji casually held out the hot drinks he had bought from a vending machine to Mitsuzuri and Rin.

"Oh my, I never thought Matou was such a gentleman." Mitsuzuri teased as she accepted her drink.

"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about? I'm just worried that if someone catches a cold, they'll shove the blame onto someone else."

"I'm curious who this 'someone' in Matou's words is," Rin asked with a smile as she accepted her drink. "And what's with that hand you're holding out?"

"One hundred and fifty yen."

After a long silence, Rin pointed at Shinji and looked to Mitsuzuri. "...Mitsuzuri, do you really think this guy's a gentleman?"

"I'm treating Mitsuzuri. Yours is 150 yen."

Rin: ...Are you seriously just targeting me?

"Then thanks, Matou." Mitsuzuri thanked him without ceremony, before suddenly remembering something. "I almost forgot the time. I should get back. My little brother might not be able to keep things under control by himself."

"Do you need a gentleman to escort you home?" Shinji asked without thinking after accepting the two coins Rin handed over with extreme reluctance. "If you need one, I can play the role of a flower protector for once."

"Aww, Matou really doesn't understand anything. In a certain sense, I'm creating an opportunity for you two right now."

"Huh?"

"Anyway, goodbye." With that, Mitsuzuri waved farewell, not forgetting to wink at the two of them. "Good luck, both of you."

"What exactly was she talking about..." Shinji watched Mitsuzuri jog away, speechless.

At the foot of that familiar long slope in Miyama Town.

Two people stepped out of the taxi that had come to a stop—Shinji and Rin.

Not in any hurry to go home, Shinji walked over to the railing by the roadside, his hands in his coat pockets as he braved the cold wind and idly gazed at distant Shinto.

About five minutes later, Shinji finally couldn't hold back any longer. He turned to look at Rin, who was also standing in the cold wind, her hair already dusted with a layer of snow.

"Why are you still here? Don't tell me you're scared of walking alone at night?"

Rin, hugging herself and shivering from the cold, retorted, "Of course not! I'm just a little bored, that's all."

"Is that so? Looks like the two of us really are alike after all."

"By the way, didn't you buy a drink for yourself back then?"

"No, I actually wanted to..." As he spoke, Shinji pulled two cans of beer from inside his coat. "Just try some beer. But since you wouldn't leave, I felt a little awkward about it."

Looking at the beer in Shinji's hands, Rin propped up her chin and curled her lips slightly, an intrigued expression on her face. "So Matou has a side like an ordinary boy too. Wanting to taste alcohol before you're old enough and all that."

"I don't want to hear that from you." As he spoke, Shinji casually opened one of the cans. "All right, my first sip of alcohol since being born into this world."

"Wait..."

"What?"

"I, um, also... you know..."

Seeing Rin suddenly grow a little bashful, Shinji finally realized something and tested the waters. "Don't tell me you want to try it too..."

"That's enough! Just give it to me already!"

"Minors aren't allowed to drink."

"You're one too!"

"It's different. I look more like an adult."

"There's no difference at all!"

In the end, the overly curious minor—Rin—still snatched a can of beer from Shinji.

"Yaaah—!"

After taking a huge gulp of beer, Shinji let out a satisfied cry.

"It's really hard to describe."

Looking at the beer in his hand, Shinji felt a little nostalgic. How many years had it been since he last drank something like this?

"How is it?" Shinji turned and asked Rin, who was holding her beer with her head lowered. The only response he got was a belch.

Watching Rin raise her head, her eyes hazy with drunkenness and her face wearing a mischievous smile as she kept belching now and then, Shinji suddenly realized something. Several black lines appeared beneath his eyes.

...She was drunk, wasn't she?

"Shinji..."

"What?"

"Go die!!"

Smack!

Shinji, whose face had been plastered with an entire snowball, froze. It took him a long while to come back to his senses.

After that came the late-night snowball fight between two "drunks." As for why there were two drunks, perhaps because it was also Shinji's first time drinking in this life, he was starting to feel a little lightheaded too.

A full half hour passed before the panting Shinji and Rin stopped at the same time. But just then, Shinji suddenly spotted a wooden board by the roadside.

And so, after the snowball battle, the two began a new round of downhill sledding competitions.

Under the effects of alcohol, what had originally been one person at a time sliding down the slope on the board had somehow turned into the two of them riding together.

Sitting on the wooden board, neither of them remembered how many times they had cheered as they slid down that long slope, only to tumble together into the thick snow.

"Ha... ha... ha..." Shinji lay in the snow, his face covered in a light sheen of sweat as he panted softly.

After catching his breath, Shinji turned to look at Rin, who was lying in the snow beside him as well.

"I knew letting you control the direction wouldn't work. So, how about another—"

Before he could finish, perhaps because the alcohol was wearing off, or perhaps for some other reason, Shinji froze for no reason...