To answer my own question: No. At least, not right away. Sachi’s moms came by almost immediately after, to check on everybody and the cafe, and upon hearing that Strife’s family had cancelled all their holiday plans in light of Kannya going missing, they had decided to throw together a cozy Christmas party right then and there. And honestly, after all the craziness going on this past week, I welcomed a return to normalcy. Even if that normalcy came in the form of hastily conjured mashed potatoes, ham, steak, and other festive foods, it was still nice to relax with everyone and celebrate Kannya’s reunion with her dad.

Mark sent out some last-minute invitations, and soon the cozy atmosphere was abuzz with polite conversation between Sachi’s and Ada’s families. By some stroke of luck - definitely not me - my mom and Evan’s dad managed to get off work in time to join the festivities. Oh, and Strife’s husband even managed to make it! He was dressed like a jester- comedy mask and all, and he made his entrance by falling through a portable hole in the sky, much to the delight of Kannya, who clapped and hugged him close. The sight of it all made my heart feel full. But, there will still a few things I needed to take care of before the end of the night.

I approached Strife and his family, and the Jester’s smiling mask grew wider as he excitedly shook my hand. “You must be Miyu! How I’ve been dying to see you! At my behest, I insist you call me Fess! Thank you for caring for my daughter, and for being the one who sought her!”

Okay. Rhyming jester. Not what I expected, but we roll with it. “Um, you’re very welcome, Mr. No. I’m just glad I could get her home.” I paused, letting my curiosity get the better of me. “Um, this might be a weird question, but is your last name actually NoLastName?”

Strife chuckled. “No, it’s not. A lot of my students try to make a pass at me since I’m part incubus. NoLastName was just the worst last name I could think of to deter everyone.”

“Huh. Guess that makes sense.” It was kind of comforting to know that even adult magic users struggled with managing their powers sometimes.

With that new piece of knowledge in mind, I dug into my pockets, pulling out the fang Kannya had given me. “Anyways- I wanted to give this back to you. We found it in Kannya’s clothes, and then she gave it to me to hold onto. I’m not really sure what it is, but it looks important… and kind of dangerous.”

The jester took the fang, dropping it in yet another portable hole. “It’s a relic, stolen off academy grounds. Likely the reason you had vampires abound. I’ll see it returned- safe and sound.”

“It’s the fang of the first vampire,” Strife explained. “If a vampire were to attune with it, they’d become more or less invincible… at the cost of their sanity.”

“Oh.” I oh’d. Good thing I didn’t give it to Evan or Ada. “How’d Kannya get her hands on this?”

“Vampire. Issue skill.” Kannya contributed using her AAC device. Strife’s husband must’ve brought it from home, because the app looked significantly more complex and personalized than the one Sachi and I had set up for her.

The professor laughed, patting Kannya on the head. “Scarlet DeSanguine- the vampire you fought? She stole it from the Rivenwood Vaults about a week ago, using Kannya as a hostage. Kannya must’ve stolen it back when she escaped.”

Again, not the answer I was expecting. And somehow, not the most unbelievable thing I’ve heard or seen this week. “I-I see. Sounds like you really saved the day, Kannya!”

“Kannya. Good girl.”

“You’re a very good girl, Kannya,” Strife affirmed, continuing to ruffle Kannya’s hair, much to her delight.

I smiled at the touching sight. “I know we didn’t know each other long, but I’m gonna miss you, Kannya.”

“Play. With. Miyu. More. Later,” She requested.

Fess smiled at me, handing me a piece of paper with a phone number on it. “This isn’t goodbye, my dear. We’re only a call and portal away- no need to disappear.”

“Oh, right,” I said, taking the piece of paper. “I’ll definitely come and play again, Kannya!”

“Hooray!” Kannya cheered, putting her hands up in celebration. Ugh- so cute!

Strife gently shooed me away. “Don’t let us keep you, Miyu. Go and enjoy the party.”

“I will! Merry Christmas, everyone.”

“Mewwy Chwistmas!” Kannya echoed back. Girl, my heart can’t take all this cuteness!

I waved goodbye to Strife’s family before Kannya could sugar bomb me any further. In my hasty retreat, I bumped into a young girl in a Santa dress focused on balancing a plate of food in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other.

“Whoa!” She exclaimed, wobbling slightly to keep her meal intact. I quickly grabbed her plate, freeing her hand to get the glass of hot chocolate under control. Once she determined her drink was safe, the girl looked up at me with big scarlet eyes. She kinda looked familiar, but I was pretty sure we’d never met before.

“Wow. That was close. Thank you for helping me,” the girl said politely.

“Of course,” I smiled. “It was my fault for not watching where I was going. I’ll help bring your food to your table. Can you lead the way?”

“Okay!” The girl chirped. She weaved through the multitude of tables, stopping right in front of the table Evan and Ada were chatting at. “I’m back, big sis! Look, I made a new friend already! Her name’s- uh…”

“Miyu,” I supplied. “Ada’s your big sister, huh? What’s your name?”

“I’m Scarlet!”

I nearly dropped her plate of food as it all clicked into place. She looked familiar because she had just trapped us in a scary basement room not more than 2 hours ago. Yet here she was, no older than ten and happily mingling with everyone.

“Holy shit…” Evan breathed.

Ada cracked a smile. “That’s a much more valid ‘holy shit,’ babe. Remember how Sachi said Scarlet got adopted?”

“Yeah…?” Evan replied, gears turning. “Wait, so your mom, like, mind wiped her and turned her into a kid so she can raise her ‘right’ or something?”

Scarlet raised her hand. “Uh- I still remember some things, but some things are fuzzy…”

“To put it as simply as I can… Mom consumed her malice- all of it. Which, for most of Mom’s adoptees, means most of their adult lives.” Ada explained.

“... So… what happens to the other ‘adoptees’? The ones whose, uh, malice is more than ‘most of’ their life?” Evan asked.

Ada grimaced. “Do you really want to know?”

Evan’s face contorted, considering.

“...I’m good,” I decided. Evan didn’t seem to disagree.

 Scarlet’s peppy demeanor had faded into a frown. “D-did I hurt you two before? I’m really sorry. Does… this mean we can’t be friends?”

I am so weak to puppy dog eyes.

I knelt down to get to her eye level. “Not at all. I’d love to be your friend, Scarlet.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really?”

Evan stood, clenching his fist. “What the fuck, Miyu? You can’t be serious right now. You’re just going to forgive her? After what she did to us? To me?! Just one little sorry, and you’re willing to be friends?”

Scarlet took a step back behind me, shaking slightly. Ugh. Dammit. This must be why Mom says I’m caring to a fault.

“It is,” I said, standing my ground. “I know she did some awful things to you, Ev. But forgiveness starts with sorry. I’m not asking for you to be her new best friend… but give her a chance. Please?”

Evan sighed. “I- … Fuck you’re such a softie, Miyu…and way, way too nice. Just–”

“I also really don’t want to make Ada’s mom mad.”

“...Fine. But don’t expect me to babysit her or whatever.”

Situation thusly de-escalated, Scarlet and I relaxed. I did not expect to be defending the girl who had tried to kill me a few hours ago, but that’s how Kincade magic goes, I guess.

“Thanks, Miyu,” Ada said. “I’ll work on him.”

“I promise I’ll be good,” Scarlet added. “Uh, from now on.”

I gave her an encouraging smile. “I believe in you. Do your best.”

“MIYUUUUUUUU!” Yuki screamed, barreling towards me, tackling me square in the chest. Ow, again! That was the second time today!

“Oof! H-Hi… Yuki. Good to see you too.”

“Nyu won! Yay! But more important- Mom and Dad, big thing! Follow!” With that half explanation, she springboarded off me (Ow x3!) and took off towards the back patio.

“What was that about?” Evan asked. Right. He can’t speak cat.

“Yuki says Mom and your dad are doing something important? Wanna go check it out?”

Evan nodded, and the two of us weaved through the party and towards the back of the cafe, opening the back door that Yuki was pawing at just a crack, just in time to catch the end of a proposal.

“...Will you marry me?” Evan’s dad asked, kneeling and pulling out a ring. Oh my god!

My mom was tearing up, holding her hands to her face. “I thought you’d never ask.” Evan’s (my?) dad smiled and stood to put the ring on my mom’s finger.

“NYAAAYYYY!” Yuki cried loudly, barging through the door and running in circles around the two. And much to my surprise, she began to glow. “GoodLuckGoodLuckGoodLuckGoodLuckGoodLuckGoodLuckGoodLuck!”

“H-Hey, Yuki!” I protested, opening the door wider and trying to grab her.

“Were you spying on us?” Evan’s dad asked as I wrangled the crazy cat.

“Yeah, sorry,” Evan apologized. “Yuki told Miyu and me to come here and see something.”

“Congratulations,” I offered. “Sorry for ruining your private moment.”

“It’s alright, hun,” My mom said. “And thank you. But… we’re not going to turn into cat… people, right?”

I held Miyu out in front of me, giving her a questioning look.

“Nyooo….”

Uh oh.

“...I’ll make sure Yuki doesn’t catify you.”

Evan’s dad laughed, holding my mom close. “Hey, what’s one or two more magicals in our family? We’ll figure it out.”

“Careful what you wish for, Dad…” Evan warned, gesturing to his body in general.

That sobered him up quick. “Uh, right. Well, let’s not worry about that right now. Go and enjoy the party. We’ll go mingle with your and Miyu’s girlfriends’ families.”

“Wait- I don’t-” I trailed off. I should probably go clarify that with Sachi. I’m not sure if she just said some things in the moment or if she was well and truly into me.

“Why don’t you go talk to her, Miyu?” Mom gently suggested.

“Y-Yeah.” And so I went.

As I reintegrated myself back into the party, the number one question of the night pulled me aside near the stairway up to the cafe’s balcony.

“There you are!” Sachi said, smiling at me. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“S-Sorry,” I stammered, suddenly nervous. “I- a lot has happened today.”

“Mhm,” Sachi agreed, patting the bench next to her. I obliged, stiffly. “Totally agree. You know, I found out today that we weren’t on the same page on a few things.”

“Uh-huh…” I squeaked.

Sachi giggled. “Why are you nervous? I’m the one who’s gonna ask.”

“I-I don’t know,” I admitted.”I don’t want to mess things up.”

“I’m kinda worried I’m messing things up already, but I’ve gotta know. So… here goes.” She took a deep breath, turning to face me. “We… We’re dating, right?”

My mouth suddenly felt dry. “I-I didn’t think we were?”

“Oh. I thought we were on our second or third date already.”

“Oh.”

That explained so much. And the awkward silence between us confirmed that we were both terrible at communicating with each other.

Sachi was the first one to break the silence. “I- sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable at all! I thought- I mean, you were responding to my flirting positively and- I thought we were just taking it slow?”

“I think I’m just oblivious. I- I like you… But I thought you were way out of my league. And like, I thought you were just being a really good friend?”

Sachi facepalmed, laughing.

Honestly? Fair.

“You-you useless lesbian!” She laughed. “Well, I like you too. So why don’t we start again, on the same page? Do you wanna go out with me?”

Yes! Oh my God, yes! How do I speak again?

“I-” A soft sprig of… something hit my head from above.

“Mistletoe?” Sachi asked, glancing upwards. Above us, Kannya and Yuki were watching us, and Kannya had her arm stuck through part of the banister. When she realized she had been caught, she gasped and quickly retracted her hand.

“Uh oh.” Her device said. Yuki, the traitor, helpfully dropped a second sprig of mistletoe from her mouth and pushed it towards Kannya. The girl giggled and returned to holding her new sprig over our heads. Aiyah… these two together definitely made quite the troublemaking tag team.

“Yeah, I would really like to go out with you,” I told Sachi. “I want another date- now that I know we’re having dates.”

“Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. Kisskisskiss.” Kannya chanted.

“Missile toes! Missile toes!” Yuki mewed along.

“They’re not gonna leave us alone unless we give them what they want,” Sachi said, smiling at me. “Is that… something you want?”

I squeaked out something that vaguely sounded like ‘yes.’ At least, I think I did; my brain was too fried from what followed to remember. It was a careful, tender kiss, almost like she was asking for permission that I had finally granted. My first kiss wasn’t as mindblowing as the media would have you believe, but it was definitely something I was going to need more of. When I wasn’t being coerced by my cat and her partner in crime.

My brain came back online as Sachi pulled away. “I’ve been waiting two months for that,” She teased.

“S-Sorry for being a useless lesbian,” I stammered, still halfway in a daze.

“Issue skill,” said Kannya from above.

Wha-

I know, Kannya, I know! 

“Did you add that to her home device, too?” I asked my girlfriend. Holy shit, she’s my girlfriend!

Sachi laughed, putting a finger to her lips. “Don’t tell Strife. Now come on, why don’t we go rejoin the party? Cera was gonna give Evan a potion that’ll turn him back into a cis guy!”

Without waiting for my response, she took my hand in hers and walked me back towards the party proper. If anyone was gonna be able to fix him, surely it was the catgirl who had potions that made her part dragon. In fact, Evan’s male friends seemed to have come to the same conclusion and were currently in the middle of downing potions. I watched briefly as their forms shifted to smaller, curvier, and more feminine styles.

That’s… interesting. So Evan’s toxic friends were just spiky eggs? Huh. Guess I’ll have a chance to give them a stern talking to after all.

“About time!” Evan shouted at us. His voice sounded different. His resonance was lower, as was his pitch, just subtly so. Wait.

Sachi and I spotted him at the same time. Evan was smiling. Like, a pure and genuine smile. His shoulders were broader, and his hair had gotten shorter. I could even see muscles under his shirt again. Also, his very male nipples were poking out just a bit. That shirt was way too tight now that he was back to normal. But hey, he was back to normal!

“Evan, wow!” Sachi said, dragging me over to him. “That potion, like, worked.”

I had to agree with her. The potion had returned him to normal and then some. He was very conventionally boy attractive. Like, front page of a magazine-worthy, for sure.

“Wow, yeah… Congrats, Ev. You look great. And happy again. It’s been a while.”

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it has. Thank you- both of you. Congrats to you two, too, for uh, finally figuring things out?”

Sachi playfully shouldered me. “Yeah, finally.”

I’m gonna be labeled as the useless lesbian for the rest of my life. In that case, might as well get some PDA out of it. I grabbed her shoulder and leaned on it. “Yeah,” I agreed.

Evan snorted. “Get a room, you two.”

“Gayyyyy!” Yuki mewed from the balcony somewhere above. Brat.

“Maybe we will,” Sachi returned, not missing a beat.

“I-”

Get owned, Evan. My girlfriend is cool enough to out-quip you. But she did also just imply that we should get a room and- 

Wait a second. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?!?!?

Ada stood from her seat at the table, laughing.“Stop, before Miyu passes out from all the blood rushing to her face. C’mon, let’s sit together as couples. It’ll be cute.”

With no reason to disagree, we pulled some chairs up to take a seat. Sachi and I cozied up together, while Evan and Ada did the same. As did Evan’s friend, Val, and Desiree.

Huh. That one’s new. Let’s go, lesbians.

Relaxing like this was a perfect way to unwind from all of the craziness that had happened over Winter break so far. It was warm and comforting. It was home.

“Excuse me,” Fess said, approaching our table.

I looked up from the cozy scene around me to see Fess and Strife approaching, with Kannya waving from her spot on Strife’s hip. Fess addressed Evan, Sachi, Ada, and me as he continued.  “In light of the aid you gave my family, let’s have a little chat, shall we?”

“Um, sure,” Evan said, glancing at me.

I nodded and stood, and the four of us followed them in file, away from the noise of the party.

“We wanted to offer you our thanks again,” Strife said, adjusting Kannya on his hip. “I know you all are still finishing up high school, but…” Strife paused a minute, sifting through his pocket to pull out a crisp, unfolded pamphlet for Rivenwood Academy. Literal pocket storage magic, huh?

The professor continued. “If you all want a college campus you can be yourselves at, and not have to hide who you are… Rivenwood would be happy to have you.”

I accepted the pamphlet, glancing around at my friends. Was he offering us a letter of recommendation to magic school? How competitive was it to get into magic college, anyway?

“I don’t know what to say, Mr. -er, Professor No. Thank you. We’ll definitely think about it. Right, everyone?”

Evan skimmed the front page of the pamphlet in my hand. “Yeah, definitely,” he said. “Thank you.”

“An invitation to my dream school?” Sachi said excitedly. “Definitely! I’ll be there! As long as my application gets accepted, that is.”

Fess’s mask smiled unusually wide. “Should you decide to attend, not a cent will you have to spend. As thanks for your service in saving our daughter, you’ll have our support come Hell or high water.”

Sachi let out a mild shriek. “Wait. You’re offering us Scholarships!?”

“If you want them, they’re yours,” Strife confirmed. “You saved our daughter’s life and returned an important artifact to our school. A few scholarships are the minimum we should be offering you.”

Sachi squealed. “Oh my god, yes! Thank you so much!”

“Congrats, Sachi,” Ada said. “I think the rest of us need some more time to think it over.” Evan and I nodded.

“Miyu. Evan. Sachi. Ada. Come. Play. School. Kannya.” Kannya tapped out on her device. Urk. Do not commit to a college you know barely anything about just because Kannya asked you to. Resist, Miyu!

“They have to finish high school first, my little angel,” Strife chuckled, unknowingly saving me from blurting out a ‘yes.’

Kannya pouted, tapping her new favorite button. “Issue skill.”

Strife sighed. “Who taught you that?”

Evan busted up laughing, as did Sachi. I rolled my eyes. I’ll apologize in their stead later.

For now, though, it was time for a hard-earned celebration! We returned to the party in high spirits, despite most of the guests starting to wind down. Sachi definitely didn’t go easy on me, though. She hooked up her phone to the cafe’s speakers and put on slow dance music for all the couples. After a couple of good-natured digs at each other (some of which backfired, especially on Evan), the couples took to the impromptu dance floor, swaying back and forward gently. Sachi and I shared our second kiss as we danced.

With my forehead pressed to Sachi’s, I relished in the feelings of hope and excitement for the future that were steadily growing in my heart. Whatever magical nonsense the world threw at me next, I knew everything would work out as long as I had my friends and family by my side.

“Uselesslesbiansayswhat?” My dance partner said.

“What?” I replied before I parsed her comment. “Ah- hey!”

Sachi giggled, nuzzling into me. “Merry Christmas, Miyu.”

I smiled back, returning the gesture. “Merry Christmas, Sachi.”