Part 1

.....Mm.

Yawn.....

.......Looks like I dozed off while doing a final check on the script.

.....Oh? A blanket?

I don’t remember grabbing one myself, which means..… Mom or Dad must’ve checked in on me during the night—

Ah.......

There’s a box on my desk..… Red and green, Christmas colors…... I don't remember putting something like this on my desk.

I didn’t even notice. Can’t say I’m surprised; Santa’s been doing this for years, after all.

Good! Looks like everyone’s here!

We just need to wait for the car now, right?

Mhm! ♪ Ehehe, I’m soooo excited for the Christmas show!

Yeah. Let’s make sure the guests at the ski resort leave with a fun show and great memories.

"Yeah!"

Speaking of presents, I got an incredible one from Santa this morning!

And lo and behold! A full three-part documentary covering my idol, the legendary Seiichi Amami!

A full three-part documentary? That must be a lot.

Well, of course!

It follows the entire production journey of the musical Amami-san leads in; From the first day of rehearsals to the final performance, all of that is captured in this documentary!

Woow, that sounds pretty cool. Tell me how it is after you watch it.

Sure! In fact, we could all watch it together!

Ooooh! Then I want all of us to play the game I got from Santa— Poporo-Go¹! Towards the Stars! ♪

Oh, I think I know that one. It's the game where you manage an organization while building a space shuttle, right?

......Space shuttle?

Yep! You play as the head of KASA², a space research organization, and develop a space shuttle!

And Santa’s letter even said, "This game makes learning management skills easier and more fun, so you should give it a try" ♪

Fufu, even explaining the reason behind the gift; Santa sure is meticulous when it comes to you, Emu-kun.

That’s less "Santa" and more...… well, whatever.

Hey, hey! What about you, Nene-chan? Did Santa stop by?

Ah, yeah. Sort of.

I told Santa I wanted an air purifier, so I got exactly what I asked for.

Oh, an air purifier, huh! That sounds great for keeping your throat in top shape.

Yeah, that’s exactly why I b— asked for it.

Fufu.....

…...Hey, what are you laughing at?

Oh, nothing at all.

…...Anyway, what about you, Rui? You got a present too, right?

Well. I got the book "What If Humanity Evolved from Feathered Species?" from the Hardcore Sci-fi series

…...Oh boy, here we go. You really love that series, huh?

This is my first time hearing about it....… What even is that?

It's a monograph about leading experts of various fields from all over the world who gathers to have serious discussions and conduct experiments related to the presented theme.

Living up to its namesake as a hardcore series, even if the topics seem silly at first glance, they go all in on dissecting them.

I see..... And the theme of the book you got is, uh.....

"What If Humanity Evolved from Feathered Species?"

Feathered species..... As in, dinosaurs³? Or is it birds?

It's about birds.

Funny enough, the inspiration behind this idea is from my favorite animal, the platypus

Platypuses are mammals that lay eggs, so it raises the question: could humanity have evolved that way too?

The book started with that concept and brought in experts from all sorts of fields, not just biology, to share their theories.

I can hardly wait to read it.

Ehehe! Rui-kun's smiling ear to ear right now~♪

Fufu. As long as we can deliver a successful and amazing Christmas show today, I can enjoy my book with no worries.

That's right.

Just like how receiving these presents made us smile, we’ll bring smiles to the audience with our show!

"Yeah!"