Magical Girl with Demonic Time Magic-Chapter 109: Christmas

A few days passed, and I spent them buying things for Christmas. I’m buying presents, Christmas ornaments, and various foods and ingredients to make Christmas treats.

I plan to make this Christmas special! After all, Christmas is a time of happiness, and even if the important part of the holiday is the symbolism and family unity, I still want to enjoy it and just for this moment, not think about anything bad.

"What do you think of this, Septarion? The tree looks really cute, right?" I say with an excited smile, showing off the decorated Christmas tree. It’s a plastic tree, but I tried my best to make it colorful and vibrant.

"Yes, Ayane, it’s truly beautiful. It’s also great to see you finally spending a little money on yourself. Who are you planning to invite for Christmas?" he asks, making me look at him with a hint of sadness.

"...Christmas...it used to be a unique family date...my family always did something with just the immediate family, so it was only me and my parents...but I don’t want to be alone!! So I sent a nice invitation to Setsuna, asking her to spend the 24th and 25th with me!" Only Setsuna is close enough to keep this family tradition going, even if she isn’t exactly family.

"I think she’ll accept! And if she doesn’t...well, I’ll spend Christmas just with you..." I say, moving a fake present box under the tree to complement the decorations, making it look very pretty, colorful, and "stuffed" with gifts.

"I’m sure she’ll accept, Ayane! Don’t worry! Besides, even if she doesn’t come, you can still celebrate," he says, landing on the small table as I head to the kitchen.

"Yes! I’m going to enjoy my Christmas to the fullest! I can’t change the past, but...I can make the future better!!" I quickly go to the kitchen to prepare the chicken.

I take it from the freezer and place it in the sink so it can thaw out and lose its hardness. After it thaws enough, I’ll season it and put it back in the freezer to freeze with the seasonings.

"Septarion, I’m going to be busy for a while; I need to prepare the food! The chicken needs to marinate in sauce for a few days before it goes in the oven, and I also need to prepare lots of other dishes!"

"What will you do with the leftovers?" Septarion asks as I ponder for a moment.

"I’ll donate everything that’s left over!" I say, moving my still very small wings on my back. I’ll donate all the leftovers to help more people; after all, wasting food is bad.

"Exactly what I thought you’d say. Well, I’d love to help, but well... I’m kind of like an animal at the moment, so I can’t really hold things properly to help. However, I’ll keep you company the whole time! Things are improving quite a bit!"

"Your angelic presence has started to drive away weaker monsters, and now the number of incidents has dropped, which is giving me a bit more time to talk like this," he shares some great news.

"Really? That’s great!" I’m happy that I’m already able to help people without even doing much.

"Yes, your angelic power is growing! And it repels those malicious beings that roam the city! Although, unfortunately, only the weak monsters are disappearing. Normal and strong monsters are still around," Septarion says without much enthusiasm.

"Don’t worry, Septarion! Once I become a full angel, I’ll defeat all the monsters, and we won’t have to see dozens of magical girls suffering anymore!" I say with conviction.

"Of course, Ayane! I trust that you’ll manage it!" I go back to what I was doing, hearing the confidence he has in me, and soon start chopping the vegetables I’ll use in some of the dishes.

While I’m chopping some vegetables on the counter, I hear the sound of my phone, a ringtone I know well. I pause briefly to see who it is, spotting a message from Setsuna.

[Good evening Ayane, I received your invitation... I was going to do something else... but I think I can finish it early just to join the party with you... what I mean is, I accept your invitation and I’m very grateful for it.]

[I’ll give you an amazing present that day, so you can look forward to it.] I read her message and quickly send a reply.

[I can’t wait, Setsuna!!! Please come! My home will always be open to you! And you don’t need to bring food; I’ll make everything! I’m going to do my best with this meal... I might not be good at it, but I think you’ll like it! OwO] I send the message with an emoji.

[I see you’re awake now. That’s fine. I won’t bring food, but I will still bring a present. I hope you like what I choose. And thank you for the invitation. I’d love to invite you to my house too... but it’s complicated, so let’s leave it at that for now.] She sends another message.

[I understand! You don’t have to force yourself! We’re dating now, but we don’t need to push beyond our limits! (> - <)] I send another message with an emoji for her, giving a soft smile to my phone.

[Thank you for being understanding. Maybe in a few months, things will be fine for you to visit me at my house and I can cook for you. I’m a great cook... well, at least I cook relatively well.] She sends another message after a 1-minute wait.

[Of course! I’d love to stay at your house and taste your cooking! So I’ll look forward to it!] I send another message with a big smile.

[Ayane, I have to go now. I’m hunting a monster and can’t get distracted. And don’t worry about it; it’s a weak monster. I’ll deal with it quickly.] She sends just that, and the status shows her going offline.

’Ah... she’s gone...’ I think about sending a message, but if I do, her phone will ring or vibrate and that might disturb her, so I give up and place the phone back on the counter.

’Well... I wish I could help, but I don’t even know where she is, and I can’t just drop everything to go there and end up getting in her way.’ I decide not to do anything to avoid bothering her.

"Septarion, that was Setsuna! She’s coming. I’m so happy to hear that," I say, my heart racing at the thought of her trying my food! I need to try even harder to make the food as good as possible.

"That’s great, Ayane. I’m glad she decided to join you," he says, landing on the counter beside me and waving a wing.

"Yes! So now I need to make the food the best it can be. I hope I don’t ruin everything. I’m not that good at cooking, and I’m going to cook using my mother’s recipe book," I murmur, walking over to the book on the table.

This book is one of the few things I have left of her, and I keep it very carefully. I hope Setsuna likes these recipes.