A Seasonal Erotic Short Story - Chapter 1

BZZZZZZZT— Click.

I silenced the alarm clock blaring that harsh, grating sound, reaching out from my fluffy blanket to snatch it and drag it in.

Through blurry, half-asleep eyes, I checked the time: 6:30 a.m. on January 1st.

I, Kitasato Yukari, am a student on winter break, so I shouldn’t have to be up this early. I’d rather still be sleeping. But…

Knock knock knock!

“Yuka, are you up?”

After three knocks on the closed door, my mom’s voice followed. She insists we stick to a daily routine, even on holidays. Every morning, she times it just right, coming to check on me the moment I stop the alarm. I know if I try to fall back asleep, she’ll barge in, so I gave up and got out of bed.

“Yeah, I’m up…”

I stood by the bed, where my blanket lay curled like a shed skin, and called out through the door. I heard my mom’s footsteps retreating down the hall.

The room was cold in the early hours of January. I turned on my small electric heater, and while soaking in its gentle warmth, I quickly changed out of my pajamas into my fleece loungewear.

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Without waiting for the room to warm, I turned off the electric heater and made my way to the sink. There, I stood and brushed my messy black hair, which fell a little past my shoulders.

(Maybe I should cut it a little shorter.)

Preparing the bedhead spray, hair dryer, and brush, I smoothed out my unruly, tangled hair just enough to be acceptable.

(I have no plans to go out today, so this is good enough.)

Feeling lazy, I settled for a moderate fix. I slathered my face with cleanser, rinsed it off roughly, and scrubbed it dry with a towel before heading to the living room.

Entering the living room, I found my mom and dad waiting at the dining table set opposite the open kitchen. The table was set with special lacquered boxes filled with traditional New Year’s dishes.

When I sat down at the dining table, my eyes met with my father’s calm face, who is turning fifty this year. People often say my face resembles my father’s, and that I look kind. Since my mother has slightly sharp eyes, I’m glad that I inherited my father’s features in that regard.

“””Happy New Year.”””

My mother, father, and I, the three of us as a family, exchanged New Year’s morning greetings and then picked up our chopsticks. Each of us said “Itadakimasu” at our own timing, and I was the first to dig into my favorite chestnut sweet, kuri kinton. (TL Note: Kuri Kinton is mashed sweet potatoes with sweetened chestnuts.)

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After eating the traditional assortment of colorful New Year’s dishes packed in special boxes and a comforting soup with mochi rice cakes and vegetables, I was completely full and didn’t want to move, so I just stared blankly at the TV.

The New Year’s variety show ended, and a short news program started. I wasn’t interested at all, but changing the channel felt like too much trouble, so I just let it play.

[An Increase In Child Pornography Sparks Serious Alarm]

According to the announcer, recently, sexually explicit videos of underage girls have been frequently posted on internet video sites. He said scary things like just possessing child pornography is a crime and that it can ruin the lives of children who are victimized.

[There have been many cases of people sending nude images to strangers out of curiosity or agreeing to sexual intercourse when asked.]

I let the announcer’s words, which didn’t really sink in, just wash over me. More than that, something else caught my attention.

“Hey, don’t you think there’s something weird about this announcer?”

“…I agree, there’s definitely something off.”

My mother was the first to react. Then my father also stared intently at the TV screen. The male announcer reading the script kept looking away from the camera and glancing around nervously. He seemed restless. Looking closely, his body was trembling slightly. Gradually, a smile spread across his lips as if he was a child who couldn’t wait to announce something exciting.

[A tragic case occurred in which a girl let a suspicious man pretending to be a family member into her house, was sexually assaulted and recorded, and the footage was spread online.]

I could hear the murmurs of adults coming from the TV, though they weren’t visible on the screen.

The male announcer, eyes wide open and fixed on the camera, threw aside his script and kept speaking about the leaked child pornography as if he had personally witnessed it. His eyes were bloodshot with excitement, and foam began to form at the corners of his slowly up curling mouth.

[Such distressing obscene videos of girls can be found on a video site called Alice Movies. The website address is—]

[Stop!]

“””…………”””

At the same time as a man’s urgent voice came from off-screen, the news program was interrupted and commercials started to play. My mother, father, and I could only remain silent in response to the sudden situation.

After a longer-than-usual commercial break, the next variety show began. The host, a comedian, cheerfully started explaining the program, but his expression looked somewhat forced.

“…I’m going back to my room.”

Feeling that saying anything would only make things awkward, I quickly retreated to my room.

Chapter length 2157 characters.

TL Note: This series is part of my 2025 Halloween releases. I released a bunch of Horror short stories along with a few extra chapters for my ongoing novels! Be sure to check them all out!