During the New Year, in addition to drawing lots, people also write New Year's greetings, which are given to people they need to thank for the past year.
Back at the office, Guangyou and the others sat down at the table to write this year's New Year's greetings.
This should have been done earlier, so that the recipient could have received the New Year's greeting on the first day of the new year.
However, due to the special circumstances this year, Guangyou scheduled this task for the first day of the new year.
He didn't have many people to thank: Akemi, Narumi, Professor Agasa, the teachers at Teitan Elementary School, and others like Ruri Amashiro, with whom he had dealings.
Even combined, this is still a bit short of the average of 32 emails sent per person per year that Guangyou had heard about.
As for Ai, she has even fewer thank-you letters to write, and the number of New Year's greetings she needs to send out is in the single digits.
New Year's greetings don't need to contain much information; two or three sentences will suffice, so it's not a big hassle.
In just a few minutes, Ai finished writing the New Year's greeting card she would send out this year.
She saw that Guangyou had written a long paragraph, so she curiously leaned over to take a look.
"This was written to the dean."
After glancing at Ai, Kōyū shifted his gaze to the letter and said:
"I want to tell him about my recent situation."
At this point, he sighed:
"Unfortunately, he can't see it."
If it weren't for Dean Ikeda, he probably wouldn't be alive today.
As he wrote, he said to Ai:
"I don't know if people in Japan burn things for the deceased, but people in China do."
"It is said that the deceased in another world can receive it."
"Based on our current understanding, this is impossible."
"When a person dies, they're gone; when things are burned, they're burned. How could the other party possibly receive them?"
"However, I still want to do it."
"Then... I'll write two too." Ai thought for a moment, then took two blank sheets and started writing. "I also have something I want to say to them."
"Ai, let me write a few words after you finish writing," Kōyū said to Ai without looking up. "I also want to say a few words."
"Um."
It took the two of them nearly fifteen minutes to finish writing these three special New Year's greetings.
After dropping all the New Year's greetings into the special mail box for New Year's greetings, the two returned to their room to prepare to "send" the remaining three special New Year's greetings.
Watching the New Year's greeting card burn to ashes in the flames, Kōyū imagined in his mind what it would be like if the old Dean Ikeda received it.
He didn't actually know what the old dean looked like.
During those years, his condition was special, and he could hardly remember anything. After he recovered, the old dean had already passed away.
However, Guangyou felt that he must be a kind and benevolent old man.
Based on these impressions, he filled in some scenes in his mind.
"Don't worry, all the people you helped back then are doing well now," Guangyou said softly, his eyes reflecting the flickering flames.
Then, the other two were "sent" to the Miyano couple.
On the first day of their new life, Mitsuyu and Ai wanted to share the good news with the Miyano couple.
As Kōyū previously stated, with current understanding, it is impossible to confirm the existence of a world where the deceased live.
Once something is burned, it's simply burned.
From a rational perspective, this behavior is meaningless.
From an emotional perspective, the items that are burned embody people's longing for the deceased.
During the "sending" process, Ai asked Kousuke to leave for a few minutes, probably because she wanted to say something but was too embarrassed to say it in front of Kousuke.
Perfect timing, Guangyou still needs to go to Uncle Maoli to ask for this year's New Year's money.
After getting two New Year's money from Uncle Mori, he knocked on the door and went back to his room.
"I feel much better," Ai said to Kōyū as he entered, letting out a sigh of relief.
He walked over and sat down next to Ai, gently ruffled her brown hair, and said:
“You had no one to talk to before, but now that you’ve spoken out, of course you’ll feel better.”
"Now that you have me, you can tell me anything."
"Hmm." Ai glanced at Kouyu, her eyes smiling.
"I will definitely take good care of her, don't worry."
After saying this as if to himself, Kōyū extinguished the flames.
The ashes left after burning the New Year's greeting card remained at the bottom of the basin.
If another world truly exists, then Kōyū hopes that the former Dean Ikeda and the Miyano couple there can receive these New Year's greetings with special meaning.
Having lived in this world for so long, there are not many things he regrets, but the matter of former Dean Ikeda and the Miyano couple is one of them.
So many years have passed, and he and Ai cannot change anything from back then. All they can do is live well with their blessings.
...
I say it's unserious because I think this extra episode is too mundane and lacks sweetness.
I've been thinking about a proper side story.
I have four or five scenarios in mind, but they span different time periods, such as weddings. However, if I write about weddings, I can't write about my childhood anymore.
So I need to think about how many chapters to write at each stage...
The update date for the bonus chapters is irregular. Sorry.
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