She's a stressed and struggling student in Osaka, living alone and barely managing to pay off her debts to keep herself off the streets. But an encounter with her used-to-be favourite utaite, Mafumafu, might change all of that!
"That can revert the mischief that happens in this world"
"Muting all those cries, let the Christmas bells sing and echo"
"Are you still praying for a silent, peaceful holy night?"
I sigh as Mafumafu sings loudly. "Soraru-san, he's being loud again." I grumble, but to no avail. "It's just the Christmas spirit, ###-chan." Is his smug response.
"THIS LOVE IS FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT NIGHTMARES"
"SO WHY IS IT CONSTANTLY BEING FANTASIZED?"
"I'M GOING TO WAKE THAT "YOU" AT 12 O'CLOCK STRAIGHT, MIDNIGHT"
"THOSE COLD STREET CORNERS, THEY'RE THE DEFENITION OF CHRISTMAS (CHRISTMAS)"
Soraru belts in response, and I roll onto the couch, holding a pillow to my ears. Honestly, could they be any louder? As I stare blankly and try to ignore the noise, my eyes rest on the Christmas tree. "Hey Soraru-san, we haven't gone Christmas shopping, right?" I ask him. "Eh? I don't think we have" Soraru answers as Mafumafu goes over to the Christmas tree to search for presents yet again. "Hmm, nothing yet..." He mutters in dismay, and walks back to the couch. "When are you gonna tell him that Santa isn't real?" I hiss into Soraru's ear. He pinches me in response. "Shush! I don't want his imagination to be ruined!" Mafumafu looks over to us. "What are you two talking about?" He asks, and Soraru quickly moves away. "Nothing at all, Mafu-kun." Soraru said, trying to be convincing. "Mafumafu-san, let's go Christmas shopping" I say, trying to help Soraru out. "We still need to buy presents for everyone else, right?" Managing to convince him, I grip Soraru's back. "You owe me one" I whisper under my breath, grinning. He groans.
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About an hour later, me, Soraru and Mafumafu have arrived at the mall. It's not far from our prefecture after all. Looking around, I can see Christmas shoppers everywhere. It's really crowded. I wonder what I should buy? "Alright, let's all split up. In 3 hours, we meet back here." Soraru instructs, and I look around, this is the food court. I should be able to remember this place. Strapping on his mask, he nudges Mafumafu to do the same. Time to head off.
I wonder where I should head first? Looking around, there's various stores. Stores for clothes, electronics, a supermarket, and of course that one doujin stand. Yucky. Spotting a cute store that sells keychains, plushies and other cute things, I walk inside.
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Walking inside, I can already see things that are potential presents, especially for Mafumafu. He'd take ANYTHING cute. My eyes settling on a small mafuteru chain, I can't help but snicker as I take it. Only for 400 ¥, it's a pretty sweet deal. An evil-looking black cat bag chain that I chose for Soraru is the same price too. For Kirika, I settle on a red lipstick and Luz a little chain with a smiling devil's face emoji on it. The total price is 2000 ¥ cause the lipstick cost 800 ¥. For me, I buy myself a shapeless smiling plushie with cat ears, which cost an additional 1000. Bleh.
Walking to the food court, Soraru stands there, worried. "What's wrong?" I ask, when I go up to him. "Have you seen Mafu-kun?" He asks "It's been 3 hours already." 3 hours? I guess I did take pretty long in that manga store. But hey, The Promised Neverland was pretty addictive. I blew through all the volumes they had there, even the doubles because I couldn't get enough of the art style and plot. I only just remembered and dashed here a few minutes ago. "Look around?" I suggest, becoming a bit worried myself. "That'll take too long" Soraru dismisses "The party's at eight and right now it's seven o'clock. This mall's too large.". I sigh, trying to think of a way when I spot a pair of very familiar looking eyes on a mall Santa.
Luz.
"Luz-san!" I call out, as he waves a child goodbye. "Hey, ###-chan and Soraru-bo." Luz says, his voice muffled by the fake beard. "I'm doing this as a part time job, wanted a pic?" Luz asks jokingly, and I roll my eyes. "Mafu-kun went missing, can you help us find him?" Asks Soraru anxiously, while Luz looks unsure. "Well, I can't exactly sneak away now." He says, scratching the Santa hat. Just then, an elf pats his back. "Don't worry, Luz-san, I can cover for you. Give me your clothes and help your friends." He smiles. Nodding and checking that the person at the front desk is occupied with another family, they quickly go behind the stand. After a while, Luz, emerges. His hair is messy in an attractive way, and he's wearing a loose black shirt with jeans. Quickly, the elf rushes over to the chair, just in time. Mouthing "thank you" to him, the three of us search around the mall.
7: 15, we should be able to make it with Luz's help.
