"Honestly, another gloomy day."
Rubbing his bleary eyes open, Asuma turned his head and glanced at the overcast sky beyond the window. He then closed his eyes, turned back, and let out a helpless sigh before grumbling irritably.
After grumbling, Asuma did not linger in bed. He sat up abruptly and began getting dressed.
However, after getting up, Asuma did not head downstairs to wash up. Instead, he stopped before the table in his room, looking at the box on it and the card-like piece of paper resting atop it.
I never thought that guy would...
After staring at it for a while, a warm smile unconsciously appeared on Asuma's lips. His mind drifted back to the scene from the previous evening, when his mother had found the box at the door and handed it to him.
At the time, he had been exhausted after training alone. He had only glanced at the piece of paper his mother had specifically pointed out on the box, paid it little attention, casually tossed it onto the table, and gone to sleep.
Now that he looked closely, the unsigned note bearing the words "Happy New Year" was unmistakably written in Chiba's handwriting.
Clearly, Chiba had sent it to him.
This truly took him by surprise. He had never expected that training fanatic, who only knew how to cultivate, to think of giving him a gift—and during the New Year, no less. The sun really had risen in the west.
"Let's see what you sent me!"
With that thought, Asuma sat down and impatiently opened the remarkably heavy box.
"This!"
When he opened it and saw what was inside, he froze slightly.
"So he not only thought to give me a gift, but also remembered what I need most right now. Looks like I