Juuto was very glad to put those event behind him. Even though it was near impossible to just ignore what happened, especially since that woman still continued to live near some of his friends. That was something Rame always made sure to remind him at work… Usually.

This time though, she was struggling to stay awake at the register while he was stocking the shelves.

“You’ve been pretty tired these nights.” He commented as she gave off a major yawn. “I know you want the employee of the month, but you might be taking too many hours during the day.”

“It’s no big deal.” She gave herself a long stretch. “I’ve just been lucky that the morning and afternoon shifts usually have someone who’s sick.” With it being the beginning of flu season, that was no surprise to him. In fact, last year he had to pull a lot of double shifts during the holidays. So he understood the strain she was putting on herself.

“Just be careful not to get sick yourself.” When he said that, it made the man wonder if someone like her could get sick from the viruses of Earth. With that, he finished stocking the items and was able to get to the next task. That being to set up the display for a giveaway the store was doing for a few of the latest game consoles.

‘What are those?” She prodded him as he put up the cardboard cutouts of the game characters featured for these consoles.

“They’re from something we call video games.” He explained the type of entertainment to her, most of which flew over her head. “Anyway, there’s a new generation that just released in time for the holiday rush. So we’re doing a little promotional deal for people to try and win one as a prize.”

“Do you want one of them?” She asked.

“It’d be cool if I won a Gamestation or Zbox.” He told her. But as an employee, he wasn’t allowed to enter for this contest. “But what I really want is a Mintendo Flip so I can take it to work to play when no one’s around.” Sure, goofing off is technically not allowed, but he was the boss. So who was going to tell him not to do it when no one’s around the store? “What do you want for Christmas?”

“Want for… Christmas?” She was bewildered by his question. “Why would that matter?”

“Oh right, you’ve never celebrated it.” He sometimes forgot about her lack of knowledge with the traditions of Earth. That girl usually acted so normal that he would even forget that she’s a demon lord. “There’s a lot of things about it, but one of the traditions with it is that we give gifts to each other. So what would you like?”

“Hmm?” She had never given it any thought. There was never a point in her life where someone just gave her something as a gift. If she ever wanted something, she would just take it as she pleased. “I got nothing.”

“It’s fine.” He got back to work. “You got time. But whatever you want, I can get it for you.” That was a first for her. Someone just willing to go out of their way for her like that. “Well, as long as it doesn’t go beyond my paycheck.” As they chatted, some customers walked into the store. However, they weren’t here to shop for anything.

“Hey finally got off my shift.” Asaga entered with a bright glow. He didn’t look it, but the man just had a brutal day with all the new shipments coming in for the holidays. “I wanted to ask y’all something.”

“Ask us what?”

“Well, I actually called Mifuru to come over so I can tell all of ya about it.” That was interesting to Juuto. He never thought that he would’ve cared about her enough to want to get the group together.

“Is it about the Winter festival?” When Juuto asked, Asaga hung his head down in disappointment.

“Aww, I wanted to surprise ya about it.” His attempt made little sense seeing as Juuto had lived his entire life in this town.

“I already knew about it, but I don’t know if it’s really something for any of us to go to.”

“What?” Rame couldn’t believe her ears when he said that. “Why not?” He told her that he’d explain once their other friend arrived so that he wouldn’t have to repeat himself. And so they did, but no one was expecting her to bring along some uninvited guests.

Marie and Akitomo were right behind her as they entered the store. When Mifuru had started to leave for the store, she ran into the woman who was a little curious to hear about what type of news Asaga had to share. Of course, the boy wasn’t just about to let her go without someone keeping an eye on her, even though there were plenty of them already they. So he joined despite the manner protests coming his way.

It didn’t matter who else was here to hear the news. So Asaga went and told them about the Winter festival he heard the other people at work talking about.

“They got all these games to play and you could win some prizes and some guy called Santa shows up…” He went on and on, which was getting a little annoying to Juuto since he was already more aware of the whole deal. However, he also noted that there was one important thing that the man was leaving out as he was explaining it. “And that should be it.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun.” Rame commented. “I don’t know why Juuto doesn’t want to go.”

“It does sound odd.” Mifuru agreed. “Is it because you’ve had a bad experience there?”

“I’ve never actually been to one.” He admitted, which caused more confusion for the rest of them. “You see, that’s because there’s a bit of a rule for it.” This was a rule that he didn’t really agree with. The town he lived in apparently was a bit obsessed with romance and so this festival had a rule where adults should be with only one other person. Of course because this was supposed to give people a little push to confess their feelings. Just in time to celebrate the Christmas spirit and usher in a new year.

“I see…” Marie believed she understood we he was coming from. “So you’ve always been a single loser.”

“That’s only… Half true.” Relationship experience was something he never had. Still, he wouldn’t consider himself a loser. “Either way, that means we can’t go to it as a group.”

“That seems to be a silly rule.” Mifuru wasn’t wrong, but it’s not like they can do anything to change it.

“Well I still want to go.” Rame took Juuto arms as if calling dibs. “So I guess it’s just me and Juuto.”

“When did I agree to that?” He didn’t side with her on that declaration, but arguing against her wasn’t going to work well. When that girl made up her mind, it was final.

“B-but my lady.” She was hurt hearing that. “I’ve been your loyal retainer for years. Surely it could just be us.” It was already too late as Rame repeated her statement.

“That’s fine.” Asaga laughed. “I don’t got a buddy so maybe we could go together.” The girl sighed at hearing that suggestion, but she didn’t have a choice.

“Then it looks like me and Merlin will make the final pair.” Marie also made her claim without asking for the boy’s permission. He brought up his complaints, which led to this next response. “Well, I’d like to go. Plus, last time I checked you’re the one who made the declaration to keep an eye on me for the entire time we’re here.”

“F-fine.” He crossed his arms and tried to play it off. “But only because I want to go too...”