The Spirit of Christmas

By: MeisterYM

Prologue

Waiting by the ticket booth at Tenguu Qwinted, Shido Itsuka could feel the weak chill that the cold air was giving him. Since he was dressed in winter clothing, only his face and hands were feeling the gentle breeze that was hitting them.

Despite how cold the weather was, Shido had just arrived at the ticket booth a few minutes ago, and so he felt that he could wait outside a little longer.

Today was another special day, however this time it wasn't one where Shido's life was on the line like it used to be.

The person Shido was waiting for would be enjoying a certain holiday with him for the first time. Thinking about the one on his mind made him even more content with waiting outside. He would try to spend as much time with her as possible today.

"Ah."

Hearing a girl's voice, Shido turned behind him to see what looked like a little girl with long blue hair. Her eyes were of the same color. She looked as if she were in elementary school and had a hand puppet resting on her left hand.

"…Yoshino?"

Hearing her name being called, Yoshino timidly walked towards Shido and gave a slight nod.

"G-Good evening, Shido-san."

Shido smiled at Yoshino's bashfulness.

"Good evening, Yoshino."

He looked at the puppet in Yoshino's hand.

"Good evening, Yoshinon."

The puppet raised his right hand and replied heartily.

"Good evening, Shido-kun~ Merry Christmas Eve~"

Shido gave a nod as if he were approving something.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas Eve."

Although Yoshinon was a hand puppet, the truth was that he had a mind and personality of his own when held by his partner, Yoshino. Conversations with either of them were never an act of ventriloquism.

Yoshinon's enthusiasm and lack of introversion made him the exact opposite of his comrade, but he was also considered her hero since he was the representation of what she wanted to be.

Whenever she was separated from Yoshinon, Yoshino would cry and cause trouble around her until she was reunited with him again, and Yoshinon literally couldn't live without Yoshino, making both of them a close team.

"Um…"

Yoshino tried to get Shido's attention.

"What brings you…out here?"

Shido gave another smile as if he just thought of something sweet.

"I'm waiting for someone."

"Ooh~ Could it be her?"

Yoshinon spoke as if he was reading Shido's mind.

"My, it's already been a few months~ They grow up so fast~"

Yoshinon pretended to wipe a tear from his eye as if he had just finished a sad soap opera.

Shido gave a soft chuckle.

"Are you two going to a love hotel?"

There was a grin forming across the hand puppet's face.

"Y-Yoshinon!"

Yoshino covered Yoshinon's mouth.

"W-Why would I!?"

Shido yelled that with what looked like an angry smile on his face, still recovering from his laugh.

Yoshinon moved his partner's hand aside with his own.

"Well, you are a couple, and it is Christmas Eve~"

Yoshino covered her friend's mouth with more force.

"That's not the only thing couples do!"

Shido raised his volume louder than he expected. Some of the other people walking by were now staring at him. If anyone saw this, they would think that he was taking his stress out on a little girl.

Yoshinon was holding Yoshino's hand away from his face with both of his hands now.

"Oh, so you're going to do more~"

Shido wanted to deny that too, but he was at a loss for words. His face was turning a little red.

"S-Sorry."

Yoshino apologized, her own face turning slightly pink.

"No, it's not your fault, Yoshino."

Shido decided to drop Yoshinon's topic.

"By the way, what brings you two out here?"

Hearing Shido's question, Yoshino began to panic and stammer.

"W-Well…I…that is…"

Shido certainly was waiting for a girl, but he thought that Yoshino had her own plans for the day. She wasn't the one he had expected to see.

"Ah, did you have plans with someone here too?"

Yoshino grew more flustered. Her ability to form sentences weakened even further.

"U…Um…"

"Something like that~"

Yoshinon jumped back into the conversation to cover for Yoshino.

"In fact, we're supposed to be meeting with them right now."

"Ah."

Yoshino gasped when she realized that Yoshinon was right.

"Sorry, Shido-kun, but we'll be taking our leave now~"

"Oh, okay. I'll see you later."

Yoshino began to run off with Yoshinon the moment Shido began talking. The hand puppet was still facing him, waving.

Shido returned the gesture with a wave of his own.

Seeing Yoshino and Yoshinon running off to enjoy Christmas Eve made Shido's heart begin to warm up. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and nostalgia. It had been over a year since his life had changed thanks to people like them.


Last year on April 10th, Tenguu City was struck with what was known as a spacequake, and the ones who appeared after many of those anomalies were entities similar to the little girl Shido had just spoken to.

Beings like Yoshino were given the title of spirit, and they were constantly rejected from the world that humans were living in. They also had the potential to ruin several cities, so in order to prevent greater destruction from the aftermath of the spacequakes, Shido was assigned the task of confronting each spirit and sealing their ability to use their power.

However, as if through some cruel misfortune, Shido had become the only person capable of doing something as demanding as sealing the power of spirits. It didn't help that the method to seal those powers was through making them fall in love with him and then having him receive or deliver a kiss.

Not appreciating the alternative of killing spirits and wanting to save them from their painful lifestyles, Shido still took each mission seriously, and over time he managed to seal and save a significant number of them.

Out of the handful of spirits, there was one in particular who Shido had a difficult time saving. She was considered the most dangerous spirit, and the violent moments that he shared with her were more than enough to convince him of that fact. She was fearsome enough that she could kill people in a heartbeat, and Shido had witnessed that with his very own eyes. But despite the darkness that shrouded her, there was a warmth that not many could see.

Shido was one of the few people who could see the worst spirit as someone other than a killer. That part of her brought out feelings that he never noticed, and it wasn't until a few months ago that he realized what that feeling actually was.

After sorting out his feelings, Shido felt as if a fire had been lit, and he also felt as if that fire would last for his entire life.

With those undying feelings, Shido decided that he would put those feelings into words and actions, and had set out to save the worst spirit. Astonishingly, he succeeded.

Fortunately, the worst spirit had reciprocated feelings of her own, and the relationship between her and Shido was able to last until this point in time.


As he was deeply reminiscing in his thoughts, Shido's vision suddenly turned from a well-lit scenery into darkness. Something cold was covering his eyelids, most likely it was a pair of hands.

"Guess who~"

An angelic voice could be heard behind Shido.

"Took you long enough."

The voice giggled.

"I've never heard of that person before."

"That's too bad."

Shido's vision was still being covered, but he felt a grin forming across his face.

"Actually, I'm looking for someone. Maybe you can help me."

"Oh, and who exactly are you looking for?"

"A girl."

"What kind of girl?"

"She's probably like you."

"And what kind of girl would I be?"

"That's a good question."

The voice giggled even louder.

"Do you like people like me?"

"No. Just you."

There was a pause.

"You've gotten good at this."

"We've never done this before."

Shido felt the pair of hands covering his eyelids coming off. He opened them and turned around to face the person who was teasing him. Who he saw was someone he would never grow tired of seeing.

A girl with long black hair tied into two portions stood in front of him. She was almost Shido's height and had heterochromia. Her right eye took on a color of red that was similar to a gemstone, whereas her left eye took on a color of a golden yellow.

The yellow eye had the sketch of a clock, but it was covered by the bangs formed by the front of the girl's hair. She wore a black dress that blended in with the night sky but looked smooth when illuminated by the lights in Tenguu Qwinted. Shido's heart felt warm the moment he saw her.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Shido-san."

"Yeah. Merry Christmas Eve, Kurumi."

Kurumi Tokisaki. Codename: Nightmare. The worst spirit, but to Shido, she was his spirit of Christmas.

"Did you wait long?"

Shido shook his head. It was true that he had spent a few minutes in the cold talking to Yoshino, but that didn't feel like it mattered much anymore.

"No. More importantly, are you up for tonight?"

Kurumi gave a warm smile.

"Of course. I've been thinking about it all day."

"Shall we go then?"

"Yes, let's."

Instead of walking off, Shido waited for Kurumi. A few seconds later, she had done just as he expected. The girl in front of him had done her now usual routine of walking over to his right arm and clinging onto it with both of hers. This was now a force of habit for Kurumi on all of her dates with Shido. Smiling, the two of them begin their walk around Tenguu City.

To Be Continued