Jin’s POV
   Oh joy, the day is finally here. Christmas Eve. And the Christmas Party held by his class is tonight. Naturally, Jin doesn’t want to go. Who’s going to care whether he’s there or not-

   His phone vibrates thrice, indicating that he has just received a message. He takes it out from his pocket and checks the screen. It’s from Estyshana.

   “Come over to the Wakaba household right now.” the message writes.

   “What for?” he types in order to ask.

   “Just do it. And make it quick.”

   Well, time to head out. He changed his clothes and cooks a simple breakfast for himself and Nyri as quickly as he can, then devours his share of the meal with the same swiftness.

   “Aren’t you being rather enthusiastic?” the dragon asks.

   “Von Mantus wants me to head over to her place.”

   “Ah.”

   “And I guess we’ll be heading straight to where the party is after that.”

   “While you’re having fun outside, I have to eat takeout again...” she grumbles.

   “Cheer up. I’ll make sure to bring you to a nice restaurant and have an expensive meal before the year ends.”

   Her expression brightens the moment she heard the offer.

   “Really?”

   “Sure. As long as there aren't any world-ending threats or whatever going on.”

   That cheered her up. Until she remembered that she can’t consume a lot of food while she’s in that little girl form.

   “If you told me earlier, I would have enough time to morph into my onee-san form…” she grumbles.

   “Tough. Take it or leave it.”

   “Fine…”

   And with the Elder Dragon sort-of satisfied, Jin heads outside while holding a paper bag which contains the present he bought for the gift exchange session later.

   Once he has reached the front gate of the Wakaba household, Kana-san is the one who opens it up so that he could come in. And she’s smiling from ear-to-ear.

   “Merry Christmas, Minase-kun. Are you here for Esty-chan?” she asks him.

   “Merry Christmas, Kana-san. Yes, I am. Is she inside?”

   “Oh, she certainly is. And she had been refusing to come out of her room until you arrived.”

   “Why? What exactly is she doing there?”

   Kana-san looks surprised by his question.

   “Oh my, it wasn’t your idea?”

   “What isn’t my idea?”

   “Strange. Esty-chan claimed that it was your fault.”

   Jin tilts his head in confusion.

   “Well, it’s fine if you don’t know. Just come inside and see for yourself.” she invites while smirking mysteriously.

   “Um, sure. Pardon my intrusion.”

   Seriously, what’s going on?

   He goes inside the house with Kana-san following him from behind. After reaching the living room, he sees the two Wakaba sisters and even Watanabe all sitting at the sofa.

   “Merry Christmas, Minase-kun.” Watanabe greets him while waving her hand.

   “What are you doing here, Watanabe?”

   “Don’t mind me. Just go upstairs and see Esty-chan in her full glory.”

   “In her what now?”

   “What she said, Minase-kun. You definitely won't regret it.” Sergeant Wakaba encourages.

   “Rather, it’s better if you brace yourself. You might end up getting a nose bleed if you’re not careful.” Wakaba giggles.

   Jin is getting more and more confused by the second.

   “By the way, where is Shun-san?” he asks Kana-san. “I would like to greet him.”

   “Oh, don’t mind him. He’s been out since early in the morning to play shogi with his shogi buddies. You just head upstairs.”

   “Understood.”

   As per told, Jin heads to the second floor and straight to the room that Wakaba and Estyhana share. He then knocks on the door.

   “Is it you, Jin?” the demon’s voice comes immediately.

   “Yup,” he confirms.

   The door opened, and Jin got so surprised at the view in front of him he blinked a few times.

   Estyshana is wearing a Santa costume, the type that shows lots of skin. She’s also wearing a Santa hat, a pair of red gloves and most importantly a pair of black pantyhose.

   “Can you stop staring at my legs?” she growls.

   His eyes move to hers immediately.

   “Um, what’s with the cosplay?”

   She stares at him like she couldn’t believe what she just heard.

   “Are you saying that you forgot about the bet that we had? You know, the one at the bowling alley?”

   “Ah, that one. Things have gotten so crazy lately I’ve completely forgotten about it.” he confesses.

   She gawps at him.

   “Are you saying that I did this for nothing? You can’t be serious…” she sobs.

   “There, there. If it’s any consolation, you look very good in it.” he comforts.

   That made her extremely flustered and caused her face to become as red as her hair.

   “F-F-Flattering me won’t get you anything!” she stutters. “Now go on! Take pictures of me!”

   That surprised Jin.

   “Wait, you’re actually letting me do it?”

   “I just gave you permission, didn’t I?”

   “Right. Just a moment.”

   Jin took out his phone and started taking pictures.

   SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

   “Hey-”

   SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

   “Hey!”

   “Hmm?”

   “You’re taking way too many!”

   “Am not. You think I can be satisfied with just one or two pictures of you? Get real.”

   Instead of saying something, she just glared at him while crossing her arms.

   He puts away his phone reluctantly. “…Fine.”

   “Good. Now wait outside. I’m going to get changed.”

   “You’re not going to the party while wearing that?” he asks innocently.

   “Of course not! I don’t plan to humiliate myself!”

   “A shame.”

   “Plus, I want you to be the only one to see this.” she says softly.

   Admittedly, Jin was rather taken aback by that.

   “Oh, I see.”

   “Now that you get it, wait downstairs already.”

   “I could never understand why I can’t just watch you change. For one thing, I’ve already seen your-”

   SLAM!

   And he was chased out. He turns around and sees a crowd staring at him with all of them grinning and smiling. He rolls his eyes in annoyance.

   “Don’t you people have anything better to do?” he asks.

   “We were worried since the two of you were shouting near the end.” Watanabe says with a straight face.

   “Wow, I feel so bad for making you all worry…” Jin says sarcastically.

   “Well, that was fun. I could work hard after this.” Sergeant Wakaba says.

   “You’re working on Christmas Eve, sergeant?”

   “It’s precisely because it’s Christmas Eve that I have to work. Who knows what might happen if we’re not outside patrolling the street.”

   Poor her. Lots of normies are out there having a date together, and she has to work. If only she could find a guy who can tolerate her nagging-

   “Were you thinking of something rude, Minase-kun?” Sergeant Wakaba asks while showing an extremely cold smile.

   Jin averts his eyes.

   “You must be imagining things.”

   “Oh, you. You’ve become a bad liar just like Esty. Maybe you’ll learn to change your way if I bring you out to patrol the street with me.”

   Jin knocks frantically on the door of Estyshana’s room.

   “Open up and let me in, Von Mantus.” he pleads. “There’s a scary woman out here who plans to do terrible things to me.”

   “Don’t you use that as an excuse to come in!” comes a muffled shout. “I’m still changing, so go away!”

   Jin clicks his tongue.

   “Well, I’m off to work.” Sergeant Wakaba announces. “You kids have fun.”

   “Be careful out there, Chinatsu.” Kana-san tells her eldest daughter.

   “Will do.”

   “I will definitely be there to help her if something do happens.” Jin promises Kana-san.

   The mother of the Wakaba family smiles gratefully at him.

   When Estyshana comes out, she has already changed out of her Santa costume. She is, however, still wearing her pantyhose.

   “Not one word.” she growls.

   Jin shrugs. He knows better than pushing her and making her mad.

   “There’s still quite some time before the party begins. You can hang out here in the meantime, Minase-kun.” Kana-san offers.

   He inclines his head at her.

   “Thank you. I shall do just that.”

   “I’m so glad to hear it. And I’m pretty sure that someone is too.” Kana-san says while smiling and casting a side-glance towards Estyshana.

   “I don’t care.” the demon says as nonchalantly as she could.

   She would have been convincing if she didn’t avert her gaze.

   Kana-san chuckles. “If you say so, dear.”

   In the end, Jin even ended up having lunch together with them. After a short rest, it’s finally time to leave. The two girls and demon, like Jin, are also holding paper bags of various designs and sizes, presumably filled with a present that they bought.

   “So, where’s the party held?” he asks once they’re outside.

   Wakaba looks at him and lets out a sigh.

   “What?” he demands.

   “You weren’t listening when we were discussing the venue last week, were you?” she asks with a tired tone.

   “Nope.” he confesses.

   Estyshana raises up her hand.

   “I wasn’t listening too! I was too busy sleeping!”

   Another sigh from Wakaba.

   “We’re going to the café Yamada-kun’s family owns. We figured that it’s better to rent an actual restaurant if we want to have a Christmas party.”

   Jin scans his brain in order to remember what Yamada looks like.

   “It’s the one who’s in the soccer club.” Estyshana offers.

   “Nope. Still doesn’t ring a bell.”

   “The one who bragged that he bought a pair of expensive shoes, only to accidentally drop it inside a pile of mud on the next day?”

   A face finally appears inside Jin’s head.

   “Ah, that one. Yeah, I remember him now.”

   “Regular people wouldn’t even need to have his memory jogged so that he can remember the name of his classmates.” Wakaba says to him pointedly.

   Jin shrugs at that.

   “I’m generally bad at remembering those that I’ve never spoken with before.”

   “By the way, why do we need to head there this early when the party is held at night? Can’t we just depart only when it’s almost time to start?” Estyshana asks.

   “We need to prepare food for the party, you know.” Wakaba informs.

   “I need to ask this just in case. These two aren’t going to take part in that, right??” Jin asks while pointing at Estyshana, then at Watanabe.

   “Of course they aren’t.”

   “Whew. I was really worried for a second.”

   “What’s that supposed to mean, Minase-kun?” Watanabe asks frostily.

   “Look, you know and I know that the two of you can’t cook. Just accept reality, already.”

   She looks away while puffing up her cheeks. “Hmph!”

   “Bah, who needs to learn to cook…” Estyshana mumbles.

   “Well, aren’t you glad that your future boyfriend knows how to cook?” Wakaba asks while smiling mischievously.

   Estyshana’s face blushes immediately.

   “W-Why are you bringing up J-Jin here?” she demands while stuttering.

   Wakaba’s smiles got even wider.

   “Did I ever mention Minase-kun?”

   “Gah, you’re always teasing me like this!”

   Jin quickly looks away before Estyshana catches him staring and decides to snap.

   They enter the shopping district, where the coffee house owned by Yamada’s family is located. The signboard reads “Coffee Yamada”.

   “What’s with the plain name?” Estyshana asks the moment she saw the name of the shop.

   “It fits his plain face, doesn’t it?” Jin asks her.

   “True.”

   “The two of you are being really rude!” Wakaba chides. “You better behave after we go in!”

   “Yes, Mama Chifuyu.”

   “Sorry, Mama Wakaba.”

   “Can you guys stop that already?”

   The interior of the place is, as expected, plain. It functions well enough, Jin guessed. There are the usual tables and chairs for customers, and there’s a small pile of presents at one corner right below a Christmas tree that is made of plastic. Some of his classmates are already here and making themselves at home while chatting leisurely among themselves. There are some nice smells coming from the back of the place. Some of those who can cook are probably beginning their preparation inside the kitchen.

   A man and a woman in work uniforms, whom Jin assumes are Yamada’s parents, step forward.

   “Good evening. Are you perhaps Manabu’s classmates?” the man asks.

   “Yes, we are.” Wakaba confirms. “Thank you for allowing us to use your establishment tonight.”

   “Oh, it’s no problem at all. It’s not often that Manabu invites guests over, after all.”

   Neither of them are surprised nor act differently despite seeing Estyshana, who’s obviously a foreigner. They’re probably used to seeing non-Japanese in their store.

   After the pleasantries have been exchanged, the four of them take out their presents from their respective paper bags below the Christmas Tree. Upon closer look, Jin notices a paper with a number written on it pasted on the surface of each of the presents. He assumes that all of them will be given to someone by way of drawing lots.

   “Well, let’s go inside the kitchen to help out, Minase-kun.” Wakaba tells Jin.

   “Right.”

   “Esty and Anri, you girls stay here, got it?”

   “Yes, yes. We won’t even dream of sabotaging you.”

   “Got it.”

   Watanabe and Estyshana go on to have a chat with their classmates, while Wakaba and Jin head inside the kitchen. Five of their classmates are inside doing various works, including Ayumi. All of them look up the moment they spot the newcomers.

   “Good to have you two here. We still have lots of things to do, so we need all the help we can get.” Yamada, the son of the owner of this place, says to them.

   “We’re more than happy to help.” Wakaba says while smiling.

   “Thanks. Just don’t push yourselves. Thanks for helping out too, Minase.”

   Jin was surprised that someone in his class other than the usual three girls and one demon actually spoke to him. He’s so surprised he was stunned for a second.

   “Um, sure.”

   Ayumi beckons him over.

   “Come and help me with the vegetables, Minase-kun.” she says to him.

   “Coming.”

   Jin got a knife and a chopping board before heading to where Ayumi is. He then assists her in cutting potatoes into cubes.

   “You know, I find it really weird that a shrine maiden is actually joining a Christmas party.” he says to her while they’re working.

   She laughs at that.

   “True. Then again, it’s not like I’m converting to become a Christian, so no harm done.”

   “I bet that’s how you convince yourself so that you don’t feel guilty as you chomp down the food.”

   “Oh my, have I been found out?”

   “I’m rather feeling guilty that a celebrity is actually helping us out on the prep.” a classmate of theirs, Jin believes her family name is Ishida, says to Ayumi.

   Ever since the television had broadcast the bravery of the onmyojis at fighting off the ghosts and yokais, Ayumi has been getting the celebrity treatment from pretty much everyone in their class.

   “Please don’t call me that. I’m just a shrine maiden doing my job.” the shrine maiden pleads. “I-oops!”

   She accidentally dropped a potato on the floor right next to where Jin is.

   “If there’s a job for dropping potatoes, I sure want to do it. It sounds really easy, after all…” Jin mumbles as he picks it up nonchalantly.

   He got a kick to the back of his leg for that remark. A few snickers and giggles were heard.

   Moments later, two more classmates arrive to help out. Between the nine of them, they made short work of the prepping. Some of the food takes longer to cook, so they have to wait for them to be done. Meanwhile, the food that was done was served on plates of different sizes and moved outside.

   “Let’s take a short break.” Wakaba tells the rest of the kitchen crew. “I’ll be outside in case some of them are thinking of nibbling.”

   “It’s okay, all of you can go outside. I’ll remain here to watch over the food.” Jin offers.

   “We’ll take turns then.”

   Jin shakes his head. “It’s fine.”

   It’s not like he has anyone to chat with to pass the time anyway.

   “Well, if you say so…”

   As Jin is left alone in the kitchen, his thoughts starts wandering around.

   So there’s still a few more days until this year is over. Time sure flies by. He went to Ifezan, came back, and had lots and lots of trouble even after he returned. After this year, or probably during the next few days, things will definitely become very hectic. The remaining two Demon Marquis, their boss the Demon Lord, King Atwood, Alistair Graylock-

   “Hiya!”

   Jin reaches out his left hand nonchalantly to block a forehead flick done by Estyshana. She clicks her tongue in frustration at the failed sneak attack.

   “Man, I could never pull a fast one on you…” she grumbles.

   “What are you even doing here?”

   “Nothing much. Just here to check on a certain dull human-I mean boy who hates the crowd.”

   “Aren’t you supposed to hate me?”

   “Well, I figured that since it’s the holiday and all, I figured that I’ll cut you some slack.” she says with a cute wink.

   “Right. As if you didn’t want to flirt with me.”

   “That’s part of the reason.” she confesses.

   Jin couldn’t help but notice that it’s completely quiet outside. Something tells him that most, if not all of them are listening to the conversations between him and Estyshana.

   “What’s wrong?”

   Yup. As expected, the demon is too much of a numbskull to notice.

   “Nothing.”

   He decides to keep quiet since he doesn’t want her to leave that quickly.

   Estyshana moves to his right. The two of them are so close their shoulders are almost touching-

   BUMP!

   Never mind, they’re totally touching now.

   “Say, since we’re having a truce and all, is it okay if I hold your hand?” Jin asks.

   “Don’t push it.”

   “Ah well, it was worth a try.”

   While watching a turkey being roasted inside the oven, the two of them share a session of harmless banter.