Magical Girl with Demonic Time Magic-Chapter 112: Christmas Morning

"...Hmm..." I wake up on the sofa and smell the strangely familiar, wonderful aroma of pancakes. I take a deep breath, trying to place just what it reminds me of.

"Good morning, Ayane." Setsuna greets me from my kitchen, and I see her there cooking. She’s still in the same clothes from last night.

"W-What?" I sit up, confused, finding myself clutching a bunch of papers and photographs. The memories from yesterday quickly start coming back to me.

"You fell asleep on my lap yesterday, crying from happiness. I think you were just too tired, so I took care of a few things... unfortunately, we couldn’t have dinner, but today is the 25th, so we can have an even more special meal," she says, skillfully flipping a pancake.

"Oh... I-I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble." I apologize for making such a scene, and she didn’t even get to try the food meant for yesterday. It probably wouldn’t taste perfect now.

"It’s no trouble at all. I’m sorry for rummaging through your things, but I wanted to make something special for my dear girlfriend," she says lovingly, tossing the pancake behind her so it lands perfectly on the plate waiting on the counter.

’She’s so skilled... but that smell...’ It reminds me of the pancakes my mother used to make for me. It smells like nostalgia from my childhood.

"You like caramel, right?" she asks, having found my hidden jar of caramel sauce. I’d almost forgotten it was there, since I stopped eating pancakes a long time ago.

"Yes, I love it..." I murmur, getting up and placing the photos and letters back into the box to put away carefully later. I can’t just leave this stuff lying around.

"It looks delicious..." I sit down at the table, looking at the plate of pancakes as she adds two more to the small stack of warm cakes. She picks up the jar and pours caramel over the top.

’It looks so good...’ I can smell the sweet caramel aroma spreading with the steam from the pancakes. Since it’s a bit chilly, it seems even better than on a hot day.

"Go ahead, I hope you like it," she says, sitting across from me with a smaller plate of pancakes.

"You don’t want more?" Her plate only has two, while mine has seven. It seems disproportionate, plus she didn’t even put any caramel on hers—it’s just plain pancakes.

"...Don’t worry. I’m not very fond of pancakes... and caramel isn’t really the kind of topping I like," she says as I pick up a fork and knife to cut a piece.

’So she doesn’t like caramel or pancakes...’ Seeing that she made caramel pancakes just for me, even though she doesn’t like them, warms my heart. Though it does make me wonder why she knows how to make them if she doesn’t like them. Geniuses really are curious people.

"T-Thank you!" I say, spearing a large piece of pancake and stuffing the whole thing into my mouth as I watch her eating small, polite bites.

We’re so different, and yet it feels so right for us to be together like this.

"I have a present for you, too," I murmur to her. She looks at me, listening.

"A present?" she asks, surprised.

"Yes, it’s Christmas. You gave me a present, so obviously I’m going to give you one too. Is there something strange about that?" I ask, confused by her surprised reaction.

"..."

"I’m not used to receiving gifts, but I appreciate the attempt, even if you don’t really know what I like." She hits the nail right on the head. I don’t know that much about Setsuna.

"Well, even without knowing much, I still picked something that looked cool! It’s a... d-don’t be curious!! We have to wait until later for me to give it to you!" I say hurriedly, realizing I almost blurted out what it was. She lets out a little laugh as she takes a bite of her pancake.

We sit in a comfortable silence as she and I finish our meal. We don’t need conversation in moments like these; just being in each other’s presence is enough.

And after we finish the meal, we go to my living room, where I try to think of how to entertain Setsuna.

"..." Setsuna and I sit in the living room, just looking at each other. Setsuna doesn’t seem to see a problem with just sitting like this, but I’m feeling very uncomfortable now, not knowing what to say.

’We’re dating, and I don’t even know what girlfriends are supposed to do.’ I timidly place my hand on my skirt, smoothing it down nervously.

"W-Would you like to play some board games?" I offer, afraid that I’m totally boring her.

"You don’t know what to say, and you’re nervous, right?" She sees right through me, making me feel a bit shy about the whole thing.

"Y-Yes..."

"You don’t need to be. I really wouldn’t mind spending the next few hours just watching you. Besides, no offense... but do you think you can beat me at any board games?" she asks as I think about it.

"..."

"P-Perhaps... w-well... rock-paper-scissors?" I say, unable to think of a single game I could actually win.

"That’s not a board game, but it’s fine. How about we talk about ourselves instead? What do you want for the future? I... wish to become stronger, to protect what’s important to me." Setsuna voices a cute wish.

"That’s a great wish! I... want to be able to do that too, but to protect everyone!" I say with conviction. I will become a powerful angel and make our world much safer and more protected from the evil monsters that hurt humans.

"..." Setsuna has an unusually cold look on her face.

"...?"

"Ayane, answer me. Is that really the future you want? Or is it a future that was shaped for you through experiences?" she asks a confusing question.

"W-Well, isn’t it the same thing? Since our wishes come from our experiences, right?" I give a third option as an answer.

"...Perhaps... Anyway, you’re very altruistic... I suppose that’s good," she says, giving me a smile as I decide to ask my own question.

"Setsuna, what do you wish to protect right now?" Our wishes are similar, but hers seems more reserved, even selective, I’d say.

"Well, obviously, I wish to protect you, Ayane," she says with a genuine, warm smile that makes me feel a little excited.

"I know! I want to tell you about my family. Would you like to hear? I can tell you about my childhood, and then you can tell me about yours." I come up with a very good topic that I think girlfriends would talk about.

"Normally I’d say it’s a bit early for that, but since we were friends before we started dating, I think it’s a good idea. So tell me, Ayane, what was your life with your family like?" she asks, leaning forward with interest.

I start telling her, and she shows genuine interest, which strongly encourages me to talk more.