Chapter 228


    "SAEEKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mio roared my name first thing in the morning and kicked my door open.


    "WHAT?" Rudely awakened, I snapped to the upright position.


    "Get the fuck up, bitch. It''s party time!" She dragged me out of bed still in my pajamas.


    Today was the day of our Secret Santa party. We were holding it two days before Christmas in case people had ns to spend it with family or a significant other. Since Mio and I were among those contributing to a potluck, we agreed to wake up early and start making some food. This might be the first I ever saw her so energetic in the morning. I usually had to baby her.


    Once I got changed, we headed downstairs into the kitchen. Last night, Hatsumi had pitched in to help by preparing the dough and stuffing. All we had to do was pack them into gyoza and boil.


    "Morning, you two…" Hatsumi entered the kitchen, eyes still closed shut and dressed in her business suit.


    "Here''s your coffee, sis." I brought her a thermos filled to the top.


    "Hehe… having my sweet little sister make me coffee in the morning… I… am… alive!" she eximed and raised both fists above her head. "By the way, do you two still need help? Will you be alright?"


    Mio was hyper-focused on making gyoza, but her subus strength squeezed the filling out as she closed the wrapper. The second and third were no better. She got so frustrated, fire burst from her hand and burned the gyoza into charcoal.


    "I-I''m sure we''ll be fine!" I assured my sister.


    "If you say so… Mio, the key is being gentle! Also, dip your fingers in water to wet the wrap. Don''t mind me for dinner, but I''ll be a happy camper if you leave some gyoza behind make by your hands." Hatsumi pecked me on the lips, hugged Mio, and hurried out of the house.


    Ever the busy worker. I just hoped Hatsumi didn''t work herself to the bone and turn into our parents.


    "Maybe I''m just not cut out for this." Mio sulked.


    "Just watch me. You''ll get it in no time!" I positioned myself next to Mio and urged her to watch carefully.


    Eventually, she did catch on. We got a good rhythm going in making the gyoza. Things… took a turn for bad when an idea hatched in her mind. Mio threw open the fridge door and grabbed a hot sauce of nuclear proportions.


    "Mio…" I tried eyeing her down.


    "Oh, lighten up! It''ll be a fun little gamble! Pleeeeaase?" Mio pleaded with me.


    "The problem is, <i>I</i> might fall victim! Okay, fine. Just one. ONE!"


    While giggling, the prankster squeezed a fat helping of hot sauce into one gyoza. My eyes stung and watered just looking at it. Try as I might tomit to memory that particr dumpling, but they all looked the same. It was up to chance now. I had no say in it anymore.


    "So, how''s your hitchhiker? There gonna be any problems with him around?" Mio asked.


    "I hope not. I strongly exined to Shuuto that this was a very important party to me. He''s asleep right now. We''re just going to have to trust he doesn''t fuck me during it…" I sighed heavily, hoping he heard.


    "I dunno. Sounds like fun if it turned into an orgy." She shrugged.


    I shot Mio the side-eye, because thest thing I needed was for the spirit to get any ideas.


    We spent half the morning wrapping gyoza, boiling them in batches, and then finding a catering containerrge enough to hold them all. With that out of the way, we changed into something more festive. Mio had bought us some ugly knitted sweaters. Mine had a reindeer, and she wore one with a poorly-stitched Santa on it. After double-checking our gifts, the two of us drove across downtown Tsukiji for Yumi''s ce.


    "Ara, ara! Merry Christmas, you two!" Yumi bear hugged and lifted us both off the ground. "Oooh, I was so happy to hear you wanted to make use of my ce for your party. You know I''m always happy to be of help."


    "Thanks, Yumi." I smiled.


    Yumi was in the festive spirits, too. She wore a reindeer antler band on her head. The ce was also more decorated than I expected. A tree sat smack dab in the middle of the living room. Large cotton sheets had been spread around it to look like snow. Paper snowkes hung from strings attached to the ceiling. On one side of the room was a cardboard cutout of Santa on his sleigh being pulled by reindeers.


    "Damn. You put in work! I''m kinda jealous we didn''t do this for our apartment," Mio said, entering in awe of it all.


    "Ufufu~ Christmas is one of my most favorite holidays. I like putting up decorations because when my sweet children be all misty-eyed over them," Yumi exined.


    <i>Thunk! Thunk!</i>


    We turned our heads in the direction of the balcony. Hana, dressed in a full red Santa get-up with the hat, beard, and all, carried a giant sack slung over her back.


    "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas! Now let me in! It''s s-s-so cold outside…" Hana pleaded, shivering intensely from the other side.


    As soon as Yumi let Hana in, the pink-haired Santa dropped the bag and ran right over to the electric firece.


    "What the hell did you bring, Hana?" I gave the bag a little kick and realized it was pretty hefty.


    "Whaddya mean what the hell did I bring? I brought my Secret Santa a Christmas gift!" Hana eximed.


    Mio and I stared nkly at the bag, fighting the urge to check what was inside. Either Hana''s Secret Santa was going to be the luckiest elf, or they were going to get the worst gift ever. I shifted ufortably with the gift I bought for Hana in my hands. In the end, I couldn''te up with what to get her, so I went with Mio''s first suggestion the other day.


    We brought our presents and Hana''s sack over to the Christmas tree. They were going to be opened muchter.


    "I''ll start making some hot chocte for you, so make yourselvesfortable. You''re here earlier. The others might be for a few hours," Yumi said, heading into the kitchen.


    "Do you need a hand?" I offered.


    "No need to trouble yourself! I… Hm? Ara. How silly of me. It must have slipped my mind that I''ve run out of chocte blocks." She put a hand to her cheek and sighed.


    Mio, Hana, and I entered the kitchen to check on Yumi. She was staring into an empty tin can with smears of chocte on the side.


    "Does that mean no hot chocte?" Mio frowned.


    "I think I used them all up for my little boys during thest sleepover. No worries. I''ll go out to buy some right now," Yumi said.


    "Let me!" I insisted. "You can probably make preparations in the meantime. We''ll save time that way."


    "Hmmm. In that case, can you buy this brand for me and a few other ingredients?" She jotted down and handed me a shopping list.


    Hana and Mio came with. I left my car in the parking lot, because it would be a lot faster flying there and back instead. We arrived to a packed supermarket, brimming with more people than groceries they had in stock. Luckily for us, the chocte blocks Yumi wanted us to buy were still plenty, including the other stuff on the list.


    Festivities were in full force though. Christmas-themed baked goods lined the bakery. Green, red, and white was amon color theme across every aisle. The employees were even dressed as elves.


    "Hehe… You know what would be funny? If I charmed all these elves to start obeying me. Then I''d truly be the feared Santa use of Christmas!" Hana cackled.


    "Bringing you anywhere is always a bad idea…" I rolled my eyes.


    "Yo, guys! Look who I found." Mio came around the corner with an arm around Koga''s shoulders, appearing all buddy-buddy. "It''s your fuck buddy, Saeko!"


    That made everyone who was nearby turn heads.


    "SHHH! Why would you shout that out loud?!" I panicked.


    "Hey… Saeko. I kinda came out to buy some bento when Mio spotted me," Koga said, rubbing the back of his head out of embarassment. He was holding three bentos: a sushi one, a chicken curry katsu, and a grilled salmon over noodles. A lot of food for one guy, but Koga was a <i>big</i> guy.


    In more ways than one…


    "My bad about Mio. As you know from school, she''s like a golden retriever mixed with a chihuahua," I chided my girlfriend.


    "Hah? Wait… Is that a good thing?" Mio swapped nces between the two of us.


    "It''s fine. Seeing old faces again is always nice. Oh, yeah! How was your vacation in Rusutsu?" Koga asked.


    "What the… You guys ain''t gonna chitter-chatter while we''re at the supermarket, are ya? We got a party to go back to!" Hana eximed.


    The look on Koga''s face took a somber turn.


    "Don''t let me keep you guys from your party! I have, uh… ns of my own. Kind of." Koga tried to slink away until—


    "Wait," I said. "You want toe? We''re doing a Secret Santa, but no need to bring a gift at this point. It''s also a party for friends."


    "I''d feel bad intruding…"


    "Come on, dude." Mio pped him on the back. "You gonna turn down an invite from Saeko? What if you get a chance to bang herter?"


    "Mio, damn it!" I pouted and went red in the face.


    Something stirred within me. The spirit, Shuuto, awakened and hovered above Koga with a spiteful look.


    "Who''s this? Let me guess: your boyfriend. Of course, someone like him has a girlfriend as hot as you!" Shuuto growled.


    "Koga''s not my boyfriend!" I retorted, not realizing how loudly that came out.


    Mio, Hana, and Koga stared at me weird.


    "W-Where did thate from?" Koga asked.


    "Nothing! Do you want toe to the party or not?" I changed up the conversation before it got more awkward.


    "Yes, sure! I''d love to!" he eximed hastily.


    Shuuto didn''t seem convinced even though it was the truth. Well, Koga and I did have a strange rtionship going…


    The four of us paid for our stuff and headed back to Yumi''s ce. Koga caught up in his car. By the time we returned, Kana had arrived while we were out and was helping Yumi move furniture around. That was when it hit me, Shuuto being awake might not turn out so well in a bit.


    "Nah. No way. That guy can''t possibly be your boyfriend," Shuuto said with extreme confidence.


    "Merry Christmas, Kana!" Mio flew into the room and mmed into him for a bear hug.


    "Haha. Hey, Mio. Merry Christmas to you, too." Kana returned the embrace, followed by a smooch.


    That made Shuuto ufortable, and his form shimmer a little.


    "I guess a subus will date anyone with sexual energy," Shuuto remarked coldly.


    After the two had their reunion, Kana came to me for the same treatment. We kissed deeply, but he didn''t sense the raging spirit behind me.


    "I see you brought a friend," Kana said, his eyes suspiciously trained on the only person behind me— Shuuto.


    "Wait, you can see him?" I asked.


    "Uhh… You mean no one else can? Must be because of that time I got possessed, but yeah. I can see the ghost alright. I also see you guys brought Koga. Running into my girlfriend often now, do you?" he teased with defensive and joking intent.


    "They insisted! I''m not here to get between you guys, I swear!" Koga eximed.


    The seemingly tense stand-off vanished when Kana nudged Koga in the ribs and gestured him over to the television. Mio was waving to them to y some Mario Kart, and they dly went to join. I breathed a sigh of relief that <i>they</i> were okay. A certain ghost, however…


    "Kuh… You''re telling me that average-looking guy has two subus girlfriends?" Shuuto asked angrily.


    "Get over yourself. Maybe you wouldn''t have died a virgin if you weren''t so douchey," I said.


    "I can just turn into a vibrating dildo inside you for the rest of the night," he threatened seriously.


    "You can do whatever you want, and I don''t care anymore. It''s a matter of time before we find a way to exorcise you. That leaves you with two choices: keep getting in my pants for the rest of your time left, or try to experience youth the way you never had."


    To my surprise, Shuuto mmed up.


    Maybe it wasn''t fair to send him to the burn unit like that, but it was the truth he needed to hear. If sex <i>really</i> was the key to happiness, then it would have been a simple problem to solve. Or deal with. Unfortunately, he wasn''t a subus. Neither was he alive anymore. Having been human before, I knew firsthand how difficult it was to find meaning as a teenager.


    I went to join my friends in ying Mario Kart for a few rounds. Kaede, Hhan, Rika, and Hitomi were next to arrive. Since people were starting to drop by, Mio and I tossed our controllers to the neers so we could recook the gyoza. Taira, Kotori, and Aya arrived not longer after.


    "How much longer you think it''s gonna take?" Mio asked, gazing into the frying pan of our first gyoza batch.


    "I wanna say… ten minutes?" I answered with uncertainty.


    "About three to four minutes," Shuuto chimed in. "At least until the bottom is crispy brown. Trust me."


    When I ryed that to Mio, she was more than happy to follow the new directions. After four minutes, we ted the first batch. It smelled so good, my mouth watered more than my pussy for once. If only I wasn''t cursed with the knowledge that there was a nuclear gyoza somewhere…


    "Oooh! Chef Sahi and Chef Miochin, making use of their culinary skills from Isekai Gohan?" Taira sidled over and put an arm around our shoulders, then took a deep whiff of the dumplings.


    "Perfect timing, Taira. Want to be the first to dig in?" Mio picked one up with a pair of chopsticks and raised it up to our senpai''s mouth.


    Taira chomped the morsel in a single bite. The gyoza we made wasn''t small by any means, we stuffed the crap out of it.


    "MMMMH! Holy shit, you guys. This is phenomenal. I need me a te. Kotori, Ayhi. Get your asses over here!" Taira roared with her mouth still full.


    They absolutely loved it. I backed away to let Mio soak in the praise, and she was clearly enjoying the attention.


    "Are you going to tell me you were actually a gyoza chef?" I joked to the ghost.


    "Psh. Gyoza was just afort food. Easy to make. Goes great with a lot of different sauces. I eventually got really good at cooking them. It''s… kind of nostalgic watching it sizzle in the pan," Shuuto said softly.


    The final two to arrive were Selene and Mikami. They had their gifts in hand, and it was atst time to trade presents.


    As everyone went to give their gifts to their Secret Santas, I grabbed mine from the tree to give to Hana. The pink-haired helion was over by the kitchen. When I gged her down, she shed a grin.


    "Uwehehe! I had a feeling my Secret Santa was gonna be you! Whatcha get me? Whatcha get me?" Hana bounced so much that the beard taped to her face wasing off.


    "Well… you''re going to have to find out yourself." I handed the gift over, and she went right to tearing into the wrapping paper. "Honestly, I had a really hard time figuring out what you liked… so, uh…"


    Hana gasped so loudly, I thought she must have swallowed her tongue. She lifted out not just a pizza cutter, but a whole pizza cooking set. Because I had no clue what to buy, I took Mio''s suggestion. However, I didn''t want to just get her a measely pizza cutter. I splurged on a set that included a bamboo wood tray, stainless steel pan, peel, tongs, cutter, and cookbook.


    "Saeko, I LOVE it!" Hana eximed.


    "I''m sorry! I had a feeling this was a stupid— er… wait, you do?" I raised a brow.


    "Look at this thing!" She wielded the pan like it was a weapon. "You know what this means? It''s time for moi to be the greatest pizza chef in the world! Mama mia!"


    "Okay… first of all, ''moi'' is french and Italians don''t really go around saying ''mama mia''..."


    On the plus side, it seemed like Hana liked the gift. Mio turned out to be right after all. Though, I almost wished she wasn''t… Good chance we were going to be taste testers for Hana''s pizzas very soon.


    "Looks like your Secret Santa is here! Excuse me while I give mine a present!" Hana skipped away with her giant sack.


    Mio reced her, appearing all bashful which waspletely unlike her. In the distance, I saw Hana surprising Kana as his Secret Santa.


    "Ho, ho, ho! Surprise, Kana. It was me!" Hana plopped the sack in front of him.


    "What in God''s name did you get me? I''m kind of scared…" Kana backed away slowly.


    My eyes traveled back to Mio who was working up the courage to give me a gift.


    "Were you always this shy?" I teased.


    "Fuck, I dunno. I keep thinking, what if you don''t like it? When I asked Hhan for help, she said to get you something that I''d be happy receiving. I''m a simple s. I''m happy with a good fuck, but I ain''t exactly going to gift you a free pass to fuck me. We do that almost every night!" Mio went on a spiel thatsted a lot longer than I expected, and by the end of it, she was out of breath and not one step closer to handing over the gift.


    "Must be nice having someone worry so much about what to give you. It doesn''t take a genius to know, you''d probably like anything if it came from her, huh?" Shuuto mumbled dejectedly from off to the side.


    "What? That ghost talking to you again?" she asked.


    "Heh. He hit the nail on the head. Mio, you''re overthinking it. Whatever gift you came up with, I''ll love it. What''s important is that you thought of me when you bought it," I said.


    Mio gripped the present so hard, part of the wrapping paper tore. She handed it over, and urged me to open it. I did, though not as violently as Hana did with hers. The first thing I pulled out was a giant hoodie, a sort of gag gift that was supposed to fit two people. A couple''s gift. Immediately, I had a feeling Mio wanted us to put it on together.


    "There''s one more gift in there!" Mio implored me to look again.


    I reached into the bag and pulled out— a double-sided dildo. Before anyone saw, I shoved it back inside.


    "Something I''d be happy to receive, too! It''s for us to use when Kana ain''t around. Thoughtful, right? Merry Christmas, Saeko." Mio smirked.


    "Merry Christmas to you, too. And don''t you ever change." I let out an exasperated sigh and smiled.