Disclaimer - I don't own The Devil is a Part Timer!/Hataraku Maou-sama! or any characters involved. Copyright to Satoshi Wagahara, White Fox and Funimation.

Ah, well, my children, here it is, time for the Christmas ficlet! I'm going on holiday over Christmas so, yes, I am taking a week-long hiatus and the next ficlet will probably come in the new year. Btw, I finally got my copy of volume 3 of the light novel but I'm saving it to read while I'm away~ ... I'm turning 20 on Christmas Day... I can't even say I'm a teenager anymore, I'm an actual legit adult, this is it... *sigh* Anyway, this is also a follow-up to Sick Of It. I managed to think up a Christmas-themed plot for a headcanon suggested by Hanachana! And it's a long one, probably the longest chapter of the whole collection. And also, if anyone wants to draw Urushihara with his presents, I'll love you forever :p

Merry Christmas, guys~!

Headcanon: Chiho notices that Urushihara is getting annoyed by all the purple in his life and decides to do something about it

The Day Before Christmas

As Winter rolled around, Urushihara found he loved having the apartment to himself the most when snow was falling outside and he could get a sense of smug satisfaction out of the fact that he was safe, warm and dry inside while the others were facing the bitter damp and cold.

Today, however, was not one of those days. Far from it.

Today was December 23rd, only two days before the humans would celebrate Christmas. And even though Japan's way of celebrating the holiday wasn't quite as religiously driven as it was in the west, there was still something about it that made Urushihara a little uncomfortable.

That "something" was mostly people.

Specifically, the people sitting around the table in the centre of the room that he had, once again, been banned from joining them at who were talking and laughing (and shouting) and generally getting on his nerves. The girls had joined them for the afternoon and Ashiya, Suzuno and Chiho had all collaborated in cooking a meal for everyone. Everyone except Urushihara, of course. He was used to it by now, but the noise was especially irritating this time. Who knew Satan would be so excited about Christmas? He had even taken the effort to get some lights and a cheap miniature plastic tree.

Soon after the volume started to rise, Urushihara took out his headphones. He kept his eyes glued on the screen and tried to block out the sounds that still managed to reach his ears, but he only grew more annoyed when he caught sight of his reflection, purple eyes staring back at him obstructed by purple hair. He may have sensed someone shift behind him but he didn't care. He was too focused on his game, and trying not to hate his own face. Every now and then he would sneer and brush his hair away but it always fell back in his line of sight eventually.

He had no idea how much time had passed, but sooner or later, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Surprised, Urushihara removed his headphones and turned his head enough to see Chiho crouched behind him, looking at him questioningly. He glanced past her to where Ashiya and Suzuno were cleaning up in the kitchen while Emi and Maou were engaged in another argument.

Furrowing his brow, he looked back at Chiho.

"What?"

"Um... Are you alright? It's just that you looked like you were getting a little frustrated about something."

... What?

"What do you care?"

Chiho's eyes suddenly began to wonder.

"It's not really that I care, I guess I was just curious, and everyone else is kinda busy..."

As usual.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about, Sasaki." He said lazily and went to put his headphones back in but Chiho spoke up again.

"Is it something wrong with your hair?" she asked, pointing at him, "I noticed you were playing around with it a lot."

"Among other things," Urushihara mumbled. Now he was the one avoiding eye contact.

"Other things besides your hair...?"

What is with this girl...?!

He swung around, looking her in the eye and startling her in doing so.

"... What is it?"

Urushihara huffed. Gritting his teeth, he hissed out the reply to her, not wanting to make this everyone's business. It wasn't important. It was just Urushihara being stupid, like always, right? That's all this was.

"It's my hair, my eyes, my frickin' shirt, my goddamn earrings that I can't bring myself to take out...! I'm just... Ugh..." he turned away again, resting his head in one hand, "I'm so over this..."

He put his headphones in again and went back to his gaming with a quick glare at the high schooler, who only stuttered then shrugged and returned to the table to try and calm the fighting.

What did she know?

It wasn't much longer before the "party" came to a close and the girls finally left. Before following Emi out the door, however, Chiho reminded Maou and Ashiya that she would drop by the next day with their Christmas presents. Meanwhile, Urushihara was watching a video, oblivious to the lingering glance he received from Chiho as she headed outside.

He crawled out of his box tunnel on the morning of Christmas Eve the same as any other day of the year; sluggish, blurry-eyed and hungry. He didn't acknowledge the holiday. He ignored the plastic tree beside his desk the best he could and went about his normal routine. Maou eventually left for work, happy to take the shift even during Christmas, and Ashiya surprisingly had plans with that co-worker of Emi's. Urushihara couldn't help but pull a face at the thought. He sat in his lonely silence, only broken by the sounds from his computer, for a couple of hours eating the leftovers from the party the day before until he heard a knock on the door. Strange, Maou wouldn't be home for at least another hour, and Ashiya could be even longer. Plus, neither of them would knock. He hadn't ordered anything, had he? No, maybe it was Suzuno...? Then a soft voice came from the other side of the door.

"Uh, Mr Urushihara?"

"Chiho?"

Urushihara paused his game and carefully pushed himself up. Sure enough, when he opened the door, there was Chiho holding up two medium-sized gift bags. And... a smaller bag. He blinked.

"What're you doing here now? You know Maou won't be back for a while."

"Oh, I thought I should come by a little early," Chiho explained with a smile. Odd, considering who she was talking to, "Is that alright?"

She took an uncertain step into the room. Urushihara, confused but curious, stood back and let her in.

"I guess."

He turned away and went back to his desk. Chiho knelt down beside the table and placed the two bigger bags down, then turned around to face Urushihara, the other bag still clutched in her hands. Hesitantly, Urushihara turned to her as well.

"I know this holiday must be a little weird for you, especially since you were born an angel," she didn't notice him flinch, "And we don't exactly get along..."

"Ain't that the truth."

"... But, hey, I thought you deserved something. You do always pull through when it really matters, and, well," she held up the bag, "'Tis the season, y'know?"

Urushihara stared at the bag for a moment, mouth agape and face turning red. Was she serious?

"Uh, I-I..."

"Go ahead, take it."

There was still a few seconds before he actually took the bag from her and pulled out a package wrapped in bright red paper. Then another few seconds of awkward nothingness.

"Open it."

Urushihara slowly tore the paper apart as Chiho waited with a smile on her face.

There were two items inside. He unfolded the larger one first - a t-shirt, just like the one he was wearing, but the sleeves were black. Instead of purple. His eyes shifted between it and Chiho a few times.

"... You..."

He put the shirt down and picked up the smaller item. A grey beanie. He put it on, then looked back at her with wide eyes.

"It covers my earrings..."

"Mm-hmm," she nodded, "So you can't see them, but you don't have to take them out!"

Urushihara hadn't realised he was smiling until he noticed Chiho's grin grow wider.

"I don't really understand exactly why you don't like your eyes or your earrings or whatever, but I figured if I could do something to help, maybe you'd stop being such a big grump all the time."

Urushihara frowned and looked away, but blushed all the same.

"Shut up," he muttered, "That's none of your business... But... thanks, Chiho."

Satisfied with that, Chiho stood up.

"Ok. I'm gonna start cooking now so Mr Maou can have the perfect lunch when he gets home!"

Urushihara only grunted in response, back to his usual self now. But when Chiho looked back over her shoulder, he was carefully folding the t-shirt up again and sliding it into the back of his box. And he was still wearing the beanie.

And he was smiling.