Chapter 1

"Hey, Kurumi."

"Yes?"

"Where are we going?"

Today Shido and Kurumi had indeed decided to go on another date. Since it was Christmas Eve, both of them felt that simply doing whatever they pleased would be the best way to enjoy their date, however they had been walking around town for nearly half an hour.

While it was cold outside, it wasn't cold enough to the point where the both of them needed to go inside a building to stay warm.

"That's a good question."

"Are you really okay with just walking around?"

The hugging sensation around Shido's arm grew more firm.

"So long as it's with you, I'd enjoy doing anything, Shido-san."

Shido rubbed the back of his head, his heart feeling as if it had just skipped a beat.

"Well, if you're really okay with it."

"Yes, I am."

Shido was starting to wish that he had planned something for the date, but Kurumi insisted that they should try to enjoy whatever came their way naturally.

The couple continued to walk for several more minutes. Eventually, they noticed that they were approaching a café. A girl was standing in front of the building.

As he and Kurumi were walking closer, Shido began to recognize the girl, and he noticed that she was passing out fliers.

"...Natsumi?"

Hearing her name being called, a tall girl with long, jade hair and eyes looked at Shido and began to wave at him and Kurumi while calling out to them.

"Shido-kun~ Kurumi-chan~"

Natsumi ran towards the two familiar faces that she knew.

"I'm surprised to see you at a café."

Shido couldn't think of a reason as to how Natsumi could have anything to do with a café.

"I could say the same thing about you two."

"Good evening, Natsumi-san."

Kurumi spoke to Natsumi as if she had known her for a long time.

"Ah, good evening."

Natsumi gave a nod of acknowledgement towards Kurumi.

"Hey, Natsumi. Why are you…?"

Shido had noticed that Natsumi was in the form of an adult woman. Since that wasn't how she actually looked, he couldn't help but worry.


Natsumi was one of the spirits that Shido had saved last year on October. She was also considered to be one of the gentler spirits according to Shido, but if anyone knew about her secret, that gentleness was able to transform into hostility.

Shido had discovered Natsumi's secret when he tried to save her, and so he had to go through many ordeals to seal her powers.

Despite having her powers sealed, however, Natsumi was also considered to be one of the most mentally unstable, which meant that her stress had the potential to return all of her abilities as a spirit to her, presenting more risk.

Natsumi actually has an inferiority complex, revealing that she experiences stress often. She could take almost any word personally and convince herself that she was unattractive, which was what she believed often. In order to cope with the stress of comparing herself to other people, she used her convenient power of shapeshifting to give herself an attractive figure. Ideally, the figure was the adult woman who Shido and Kurumi were talking to now.


"Oh, this was actually something that Kotori-chan suggested."

"Kotori?"


Kotori Itsuka was Shido's little sister. They weren't related by blood, but Shido was adopted into her family, and they had known each other since they were little.

Kotori was a spirit like Natsumi, and she was also saved through the same method Shido used on the person he was talking to now.

Kotori was also the leader of the organization that gave Shido support during his missions to save the other spirits, and she had two types of personalities. How she was involved with Natsumi's current circumstances, Shido couldn't tell.


"Yeah, the truth is, Kotori-chan said that working here might help me with my confidence issue, but the moment I spoke to the first woman passing by, I couldn't help but turn into this."

Natsumi gestured to her current form. She had a Santa hat on top of her head and wore knee high socks that were striped with a red and white pattern. She also wore a red frock that had a Santa Claus design to match.

"Um…isn't that a little…?"

Shido wasn't sure if he should finish asking his question and stopped talking mid-sentence.

"My, you look wonderful, Natsumi-san."

Kurumi on the other hand couldn't help but admire the outfit. Her praise rang in Natsumi's ears.

"Really?"

Natsumi looked at Kurumi eagerly, holding both of her hands. Kurumi nodded.

"Of course. I can see why there are so many people inside the cafe now."

Natsumi gave a cheerful smile.

"Well, when you say it like that..."

Natsumi turned to Shido and looked at him confidently.

"Well, Shido-kun? What do you think? Even your girlfriend seems to like how I look."

Shido gave a slight nod.

"Yeah, it looks good on you."

Natsumi's smile grew wider.

"Then how about you be my boyfriend?"

"Sorry, not happening."

There was a brief pause.

"…you answered that pretty quickly."

"You know how it is."

"Wah, Kurumi-chan! Shido-kun doesn't think I'm attractive enough!"

Natsumi threw herself onto Kurumi and began to cry, though it all looked as if it were an overdone act. Unfortunately, Kurumi decided to play along and began to stroke the crying girl's head.

"There, there."

Kurumi turned to Shido and gave him a sad look.

"Shido-san, you're so cruel."

"W-Wait a second! I just said that the dress looked good on her!"

"Yes, but you didn't tell her that she was attractive."

Natsumi continued to fake her crying. Despite the exaggerated performance, Shido felt people beginning to stare daggers at him.

"Ah, fine, you're attractive. Really attractive!"

Natsumi's crying began to slowly fade. She gave a sniffle before she completely stopped.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Shido was slightly annoyed.

"Thanks, Shido-kun, I think you're attractive too."

"Thanks…"

"But I think Shiori-chan was cuter."

Shido twitched at the mention of that person's name.

"I thought she was rather cute also."

Kurumi clapped her hands together as she agreed.

"Hey, then what are we in this relationship for?"

Shido spoke, feeling slightly depressed.

"I didn't say that she was cuter."

Kurumi looked at Shido passionately, causing him to once again become speechless for a moment. Eventually he looked away, his cheeks flushed.

Natsumi watched the couple excitedly.

"Now, now, Shido-kun, no need to be so shy."

Natsumi walked to Shido and began patting his back. Suddenly, an idea came to her.

"I know, how about you help me out?"

"Huh?"

Shido looked at Natsumi a little wide-eyed. The smile she gave was a little wider.

"It'll help you with your shyness."

"How does that help anyone with shyness?"

Shido didn't deny his underlying problem.

"It's all about being confident in front of people."

"Isn't that your problem?"

"Yeah, but if I'm doing this with friends it'll be much easier."

"That sounds like fun."

Kurumi was growing excited over the idea.

"Is it alright if I joined you too, Natsumi-san?"

Natsumi's smile grew even wider, yet it was still able to look warm.

"Of course."

Natsumi grabbed Shido and Kurumi's wrists and walked them inside the café.


Shido never thought that he would see the day when Kurumi would be passing out fliers. No, that wasn't the problem.

The real problem was that Shido never thought that he would see Kurumi passing out fliers in a Santa Claus outfit. It was the same as Natsumi's, and yet it made Shido think that Kurumi would look amazing in anything she wore.

Kurumi noticed Shido watching and winked. He looked away and handed his own fliers, attempting to hide his embarrassment. Kurumi hoped that he didn't notice her own cheeks turning slightly red.

After Shido and Kurumi handed out a few more fliers, Natsumi went inside the café to grab more of her own and came back out.

"Shido."

"What's wrong, Natsumi?"

Shido was passing out another flier and wasn't looking at Natsumi.

"Here."

Shido could see a cup of hot chocolate being handed to him from the corner of his vision.

"Oh, thanks."

Shido attempted to grab the hot chocolate out of Natsumi's hands after giving away the flier, but he noticed that he had to reach lower than he expected. He turned to see a little girl with hair and eyes the same color as Natsumi's when she took on the form of an adult woman. She wore the same Santa Claus themed outfit that Kurumi was wearing, only it was smaller.

It was as if Natsumi had expected this outcome.

"You're back."

"Yeah…"

"As expected."

"What was?"

"Your costume looks good on you like that too."

"…"


The little girl Shido was looking at was Natsumi's true form, and although she thought that it was an ugly form herself, Shido would never say otherwise. He thought her true form was just as attractive in its own way.

Apparently Natsumi was beginning to agree if she was able to be out in the open in her current form.


"…thanks for helping me out."

Natsumi's face had grown red from Shido's compliment. Seeing her acting nervously reminded him of Yoshino, making him smile. He looked at Kurumi and noticed that she was also smiling.

"Anytime."

Shido began to pat Natsumi's head. She smiled wamrly at the gesture. The moment he stopped patting her head, she sighed.

"Well, my part is done."

"Eh?"

Shido couldn't quite understand what the little girl in front of him had meant.

"If I can be out here in this form, then that means I'm closer to solving my problem. So I think that's enough for today."

"Are you going home now?"

Natsumi nodded.

"Yeah."

"Can you just leave like that?"

"I was only helping out for today. I don't really work here."

"That's nice of you."

Natsumi remained quiet.

Until…

"Hey, Shido…"

"Hm?"

"You love Kurumi-san, right?"

There was a moment of silence.

It seemed Natsumi used different honorifics when she was in the form of a little girl.

Shido hesitated in answering Natsumi's question, worrying over how she would react.

"…yeah."

Natsumi nodded, as if she was expecting that answer.

"And Kurumi-san loves Shido."

Natsumi turned to Kurumi.

"Right?"

Kurumi nodded.

"Of course."

Natsumi gave a light nod.

"Yeah…that's how it should be…"

Shido could see that Natsumi was trying to convince herself of something. The mood was starting to feel a little depressing.

"Hey, Natsumi."

Natsumi turned to look at Shido.

"It's true that Kurumi and I are a couple…"

Shido paused to see if Natsumi was paying attention. She nodded, telling him to go on.

"…but Kurumi and I love you too."

Another moment of silence.

Natsumi stared at Shido and Kurumi, who were now standing side by side, with slightly widened eyes. Her expression eventually softened, giving a sad smile.

"Ah, I can't tell if I just got rejected or not."

Suddenly, Natsumi's cheeks felt ticklish. She touched both of them with her hands and noticed that they were wet. Tears had begun to roll across her face. She rubbed them away and tried her best to smile, but her best didn't last very long. In the end she stood there softly crying. She knew which answer it was.

"Shido-san, you just made a little girl cry."

"Hey, come on, I was trying to cheer her up."

Shido turned to look at Natsumi.

"Sorry, Natsumi."

Natsumi shook her head while still wiping her tears away.

"No, it's alright. Like I said, this is how it should be."

From Shido's point of view, the situation that he and Kurumi were currently in could be considered a dangerous one.

If Natsumi's mental stability dropped, her sealed powers would return to her, but for some reason, Shido wasn't worried.

It was possible that Natsumi's mental state was in danger, but Shido had a feeling that she would be okay. In fact, he believed that this moment would be the start of her long journey in becoming stronger by herself.

Shido and Kurumi took turns patting Natsumi's head, comforting her until she sorted her feelings out.


Kurumi and Natsumi had changed back into their original clothes. Surprisingly, the girls were allowed to keep their outfits since they were only helping out for today, but they both declined, not knowing what they'd do with those outfits after Christmas was over. They stand in front of the café with Shido.

"Are you sure you don't want us to walk you home?"

Shido and Kurumi were planning on leaving with Natsumi, but it seemed that Natsumi herself was planning on going in a different direction.

"No, I've got somewhere else I need to be."

Natsumi gave a rare smile that Shido had never seen before.

"Be careful, okay?"

"I know I'm a little girl, but I can take care of myself."

Natsumi spoke proudly. It was as if she was already outgrowing her old self.

Shido couldn't help but grin happily.

"Looks like you've got plenty of confidence already."

"No thanks to you."

"Hey, aren't you this way now because we helped?"

Natsumi giggled. She turned away from Shido and Kurumi and stood in place for a few seconds.

Finally…

"See you later."

With those words, Natsumi ran off.

Shido continued to stare at Natsumi until she turned around a corner. He could see her rare smile, even from where he was standing. It made him happy. It was a new smile that she could have only learned how to make if Shido had rejected her. But even so, there was a bit of guilt that he felt in his heart.

Shido began to feel a soft sensation on his right hand. Kurumi had tangled her fingers into his.

"Sorry, Kurumi."

Kurumi shook her head.

"No, I'm partly to blame."

Shido and Kurumi remained holding hands.

"Shido-san."

"Hm?"

"It's not too late."

"What do you mean?"

Shido turned his head to look at Kurumi. She was giving a sad expression that reflected the guilt that he was feeling. The sympathy helped him understand what Kurumi was trying to say.

"That's not going to happen."

Shido held Kurumi's hand more firmly.

"I knew what I was getting myself into, and in the end I chose to go with this anyway."

Kurumi remained silent.

"Besides, how can I leave you when you say something like that?"

It was Kurumi's turn to start holding Shido's hand more firmly, her face now showing a grateful smile. He couldn't help but make a smile of his own at her reaction.

"Kurumi."

"Yes?"

"I don't regret this at all."

Kurumi nodded, still smiling.

"Thank you, Shido-san."

Shido returned Kurumi's gratitude with a nod of his own. That was the first time Kurumi had ever verbally thanked him for something.

"Yeah."

Smiling, Shido looked ahead at the path in front of him. He noticed small white specks falling onto the ground, causing him to look up into the clouded sky.

A moderate amount of snow was beginning to fall and cover Tenguu City.

"Snow? But aren't we covered by the Fraxinus?"

Shido looked back at Kurumi and saw that she was staring at the sky with an awed expression.

The snow looked as if it was making Kurumi even more attractive. Shido stared at her in stunned silence. Eventually he managed to come back to his senses by shaking his head.

"W-Well, should we continue walking around the city?"

Shido's question brought Kurumi back to her own senses. She turned her head to look at Shido and gave another gentle smile.

"Yes, let's."

Holding hands, Shido and Kurumi resumed their walk around Tenguu City.

To Be Continued