This is not the date I wanted.

Shidou shouted with a look of wanting to cry but unable to.

"Mengyue, you really won't come in with me?"

"No, I don't want to. I'm not such a tactless person."

Meng Yue spread her hands helplessly, indicating that she was powerless.

"Well, hurry up and get in there. Be a man and stop being so fussy. At worst, you can just give your baby's bimbo away as a Christmas present."

"Mengyue, did you just say something extraordinary?"

"That's just your imagination. Well, if anything goes wrong I'll go in and stop it, so don't worry."

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly. Looking at Mengyue's indifferent look, Shidao couldn't help but ask himself what he meant to her.

(Forget it, this is what they call going to the tiger mountain even though you know there is a tiger there.)

Shidao sighed helplessly, and after preparing himself mentally for the very shocking scene that was about to happen, he opened the door handle of his room.

Then, he saw a huge Christmas stocking standing in his room, and a white-haired girl hiding inside it - Tobiichi Origami.

"Gifts. Merry Christmas, Shidou."

After saying this blessing with an expressionless face, Origami loosened his grip on the edge of the Christmas stocking, and the large stocking immediately fell to the ground.

Then, what appeared before Shidou was a figure without any clothes or underwear, with only a pink ribbon wrapped around her vital parts - Tobiichi Origami, which could be read as a Christmas gift.

(Should I say it's really worthy of being called Origami? It lived up to my expectations.)

Shidou thought with a puzzled look.

In the end, under Shidou's stubborn resistance, he finally avoided becoming Origami's Christmas gift and being eaten up. However, in exchange, Shidou had to do nearly a hundred sit-ups and push-ups in the house in the middle of the night, and then gave the sweat-soaked Christmas clothes to Origami as a gift.

After a while of tossing and turning in the house, there was a sound of "bang", and the door was opened. Origami, who received the gift, happened to meet Mengyue who was waiting outside the house.

"..."

"Yo."

Meng Yue reached out her hand and waved hello to Origami. Origami seemed to be in a good mood and nodded in response.

"See you tomorrow."

"Ah? Ah, see you tomorrow."

Maybe it’s just a common social etiquette, Mengyue replied with some surprise.

"Ha... I'm so tired."

Not long after, Shidou, who had taken off his Christmas clothes, walked out of the room in a exhausted state. To be honest, if Meng Yue didn't know the cause and effect of the matter, she might really think that the two of them had just stepped onto the ladder of adulthood in the room.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shidou. Now Santa's work is done."

Meng Yue chuckled and spoke gently to the boy.

"You should have a good rest from now on, but before going to bed, you should take a good bath first. If you are too tired to move, I can help you wash."

"No, no need."

Shidou smiled bitterly and waved his hands. Although it was indeed a very tempting proposal, in fact, Mengyue had also put in a lot of effort throughout the whole process. How should I put it, it feels a little bit shameless to act like a spoiled child to someone who has put in the same effort, or even more than me.

Snap! Snap!

He patted his cheeks hard, and the burning sensation on his cheeks instantly made Shidao feel more energetic.

"This is a rare opportunity. I want to see the snow outside again. Mengyue, do you want to come with me?"

"Why, an invitation for a date?"

Meng Yue couldn't help but teased with a smile. As expected, Shidao replied in a somewhat embarrassed manner.

"Eh? No, it's not that exaggerated. I just don't want to go to bed so early. It's not a date... Don't create any weird misunderstandings."

"Shidou, a man's tsundere is not cute at all."

Meng Yue replied helplessly.

"I'm not a tsundere!"

"Thank you for the treat~"

After muttering this softly, Mengyue gave up the idea of ​​teasing Shidao and nodded to show her agreement.

"Really? I see. I want to see the snow scene again."

In this way, the two of them walked outside again. However, what made Shidao feel a little surprised was that the light snow outside had stopped.

"What a pity..."

Shidou dropped his shoulders in disappointment.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. The weather doesn't change based on our mood."

Leaning against the wall, Meng Yue lowered her head and stepped on the small pile of snow on the ground. Then, when she raised her head again, Shidao saw that Meng Yue had a bright smile on her face again.

"And you see, this snow is Santa Claus' Christmas gift to Kotori. Isn't it romantic to think that way?"

"That's true, but..."

After letting out a little laugh to please Meng Yue, Shidao then fell into silence, pursed his lips slightly, and spoke after a long time.

"What about Mengyue? Is there any gift you want?"

"Me? No need. I don't like festivals like this. If everyone can be happy, that's the best Christmas gift for me."

Meng Yue replied, shaking her head slightly.

However, Shidou was somewhat dissatisfied with this answer.

Shidao knew very well what kind of person Liangyi Mengyue was. So he naturally knew that what she said was not a lie.

Moreover, during the actions of the past few days, Shidao also vaguely noticed something strange about Mengyue.

After hearing that Santa Claus would give presents to good children, her actions became inexplicably negative;

She was usually the first to take the initiative to celebrate holidays, but she didn't seem very enthusiastic at the Christmas party;

Although she had been told in advance that Santa Claus would appear tonight, Mengyue locked the door and did not prepare a note to write down her wishes.

Maybe Mengyue really doesn’t like Christmas.

Although he was not sure of the exact reason, Shidao vaguely understood that this was probably related to Meng Yue's previous life.

(That's not something I can just interrupt.)

Shidou thought silently.

Liangyi Mengyue is a contented and optimistic person. She may be happy for what she gets, but she will not complain about what she doesn't get. On the contrary, she will choose to think about what she has and cherish it more.

(But, but Meng Yue...)

Looking at the brown-haired girl who was quietly looking up at the moon sky, Shidou couldn't help but mutter in his heart.

——These are not reasons why a person’s hard work does not need to be rewarded.

"If that's the case, then Mengyue, your goal hasn't been achieved yet, right?"

"Eh?"

Hearing Shidao's words, Mengyue couldn't help but show a puzzled expression.

"I haven't received my Christmas present yet. Or does Meng Yue's "everyone" not include me?"

As a matter of course, Shidou pointed at himself in an even cocky manner and said so.

"Um... so Shidou wants to receive a Christmas present from me? It's obviously Santa Claus?"

"Yes."

Seeing Shidao nod decisively, Mengyue couldn't help but frown.

"...Okay, then I'll listen to what gift Shidou wants. If it's not difficult, I'll help you realize it. Is that okay?"

"Well, that's fine."

After getting Mengyue's nod, Shidao took a deep breath, looked at Mengyue, and said solemnly.

"Go on a date with me."

"Eh?"

"The location is the statue of Ba Gong in front of the station, and the time is tomorrow... ah, after midnight, it should be today, one o'clock in the afternoon. If you have time, come on a date with me."

"Well... it's not impossible. I'm free anyway."

After thinking for a while, Mengyue nodded and agreed to Shidao's request, then asked with some confusion.

"But is it okay? It's Christmas. Didn't Tohka and the others ask you out on a date?"

"I'm sorry. Like Mengyue, I have a lot of free time on Christmas."

Shidou shrugged self-deprecatingly.

"Hey, that's it."

Meng Yue said with some surprise.

"No problem, I will be there on time."

Seeing that Meng Yue agreed to his request, Shidao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Then, a strong sense of sleepiness came over him, and he yawned loudly.

"It's time to go to bed. So, Shidou, good night. Remember to take a shower before going to bed."

"I see. Oh, right Meng Yue."

"what?"

"…No, nothing. A date, I'll look forward to it."

Shidou shook his head gently and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Don't put pressure on me. I'm not good at this."

He shook his head with a wry smile. Then, Meng Yue said goodbye to Shidao and returned to the Elf Apartment to prepare for bed.

————————————————I am the dividing line of halfway through sleep————————————————————

Bang!

At night, perhaps because she went to bed early, Mengyue did not sleep very deeply when she fell asleep again. After she heard her window being gently opened, someone entered her room.

(Who is it? A thief?)

Mengyue did not get up immediately, but chose to continue lying in bed pretending to be asleep and wait and see what would happen.

"Really? What on earth happened today? I sneaked in without making any noise, but was discovered by Miss Yamai and the others and chased for so long. When I came back, Miss Origami stripped naked and waited in Mr. Shidou's room. I was almost freezing to death waiting outside in the snow."

It seemed that he thought Mengyue had not woken up, and a burst of resentful mumbling came to his ears.

(Um, I always feel sorry.)

Meng Yue thought with some regret for some reason. And to be honest, this voice sounded very familiar.

"Meow~"

"Shh! Shh! Don't make any noise, Heiji. It will be bad if Miss Mengyue finds out!"

(OK! The identity of the intruder is completely certain.)

Meng Yue thought helplessly.

To be honest, if it was under normal circumstances, Meng Yue would definitely be on guard against the other party. But for some reason, today, Meng Yue did not sense any hostility from the other party's voice, and even felt a little gentle.

"Okay, now Miss Mengyue's gift has been given away."

As she spoke, Meng Yue felt as if something was placed on the bedside.

"Thank you. This is a thank you gift for changing history last time. Ah~ heater..."

Hearing the footsteps getting farther away, Mengyue quietly opened her eyes and with the help of the moonlight coming through the window, she saw that the most evil elf was wearing a very sexy Santa Claus costume with very little fabric in this cold winter, squatting next to the heating device in Mengyue's room, and a black cat was standing on her bare shoulders.

(…Go to sleep.)

Although she didn't want the gift, Mengyue, who had once caught the other person playing with the cat and had a sad history of doing so, decisively chose to pretend that she saw nothing, closed her eyes and continued to sleep.

Then, in the morning, everyone in the apartment was excited because they received gifts from Santa Claus. Tohka and the others were naturally excited, and Kotori was also a little happy because she received a small pendant.

However, what is most surprising is that even Shidou received a gift from Santa Claus, which looks like a golden pocket watch.