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Nagisa's POV
I have finished eating breakfast and am heading back to my room when I pass Kayano in the hallway. She is skipping along, humming a song that I quickly recognize as Jingle Bells.
“Good morning,” I tell her. “You seem happy.”
“It’s December,” Kayano says.
I glance out one of the nearby windows. I can see the castle garden from up here with dry grass and trees with leaves in all shades of orange. They also looked like that when I first got here.
“It looks like autumn to me,” I say.
“Hell doesn’t have seasons,” Ritsu pipes up from my smartphone and I raise it up as both Kayano and I can look at her.
“Really?” I ask and I can tell that Kayano is just as surprised.
“Yeah,” Ritsu says. “Death has seasons in his realm because he has full control of everything in it. There are also seasons in Heaven, but Hell has none.”
“That sucks,” Kayano says. “Playing in snow is fun.”
“Then, how do you know it’s December?” I ask her.
“I bought myself a calendar,” Kayano says. “You can get them down in town. I think it’s one or two Satanican Dollars,” she explains.
“The bookstore sells them for one Satanican dollar,” Ritsu informs. “The price usually goes up towards the end of the year and stay up until the end of January.”
“I can imagine everyone wants to buy calendars then,” I note. I then turn to Kayano. “You want to celebrate Christmas,” I say. Her tail hasn’t stopped making excited movements, even as we were talking about calendars. This, coupled with the Christmas song she was just humming and her giving the month as explanation makes me think it can be nothing else.
“Yeah,” Kayano says. “Nagisa, why don’t we hold a Christmas party?”
I turn to Ritsu.
“Do people celebrate Christmas down here?” I ask.
Ritsu shakes her head. “No one knows what it is, or cares for it,” she says.
“Then we need to introduce Christmas to everyone!” Kayano exclaims excitedly.
“Wouldn’t it be odd for demons to celebrate Christmas in the first place?” I ask her, finding it perfectly logical why Christmas isn’t a thing down here.
Kayano seems to consider my question. “Let’s just say it’s a day of people appreciation,” she says. “We give gifts to those we care about and celebrate our friendships. Also, Rio says that New Years is traditionally spent at home here in Hell, as demons are being banished in the world of the living, so if we can also call it a pre New Year’s party.”
She has quite a few good excuses. I can’t argue with them.
“Okay,” I say.
“Great!” Kayano smiles happily. “Why don’t we tell everyone, so we can plan the party?”
“Okay,” I agree.
We tell Nakamura and the servants about our idea to make a Christmas party, and everyone is on board. Maehara seems especially gleeful about the prospect of getting to mingle with everyone at the castle.
“What’s going on?” I ask Isogai while Maehara is out of earshot.
“Knowing Hiroto, I think he’s hoping to have a date by the end of the night,” Isogai replies.
One thing I have learned from knowing Maehara and Isogai is that Maehara really does like girls. Most of his days off are spent in town hanging out with someone and he never hesitates to lend a hand when any of the female servants asks him to.
He keeps on helping as we begin preparations for the Christmas party. Nakamura has found a room and Maehara, Kanzaki and Kayano are working on the decorations. Isogai, Fuwa and Okano are working extra hard to make the whole castle look like it always does in spite of two servants being preoccupied with something else.
“The servants are acting strange,” Karma notes while he and I are having dinner. Kayano usually eats with us these days, but today she is busy. Fuwa is also the only one serving us. Usually there will be two people doing that.
“We’re planning a Christmas party,” I say.
Karma tilts his head and raises an eyebrow. “What’s that?” he asks.
“A party we’re holding to celebrate our friendships,” I say. “It’ll be on the evening of the 25th. Didn’t Nakamura-san tell you?”
Karma chews while he thinks on that. “She might have mentioned it,” he says.
There is something in the way he says it that makes me think something isn’t right. I just can’t put my finger on exactly what makes me think so, and I have no clue what could be wrong.
I decide to just shake it off for the time being. If it’s important, I’ll probably find out what it is eventually, and before Fuwa has taken out the empty dinner plates, I have almost completely forgotten.
However, as the days progress, I find it harder and harder to forget that something is wrong with Karma. He is making it obvious. He is in a foul mood. He dumps way more work on Nakamura than she can handle, and he constantly complains about the work the servants do if they happen to be working in his presence. He pushes Fuwa down from a chair while she’s dusting off some shelves one time. Another time he puts a curse on Maehara for not cleaning the floor well enough. Thankfully Isogai is nearby to give a blessing that counters the curse.
After a week, the only ones Karma hasn’t laid a hand on are Hara, Okuda, Kayano and me. He probably could have done something to Hara, but she usually stays in the kitchen, so they hardly ever meet. He has argued with Kayano multiple times and thrown her past in her face during every single argument. He is short with Okuda, but I think he has a soft spot for her and that’s why he doesn’t hurt her. As for me, he just hasn’t spoken to me since I told him about the party.
To get away from the castle and Karma’s abusive behavior, I have taken refuge in the garden one Sunday afternoon. This is where Korosensei finds me.
“You don’t look too happy,” he says as he makes his way over, taking a seat on the bench next to me.
“Is there anything to be happy about?” I ask him.
Korosensei considers that question for a bit. “I hear you’re holding a Christmas party in about a week. I’d say that would be plenty of reason to be happy.”
“Not when Karma is acting the way he is. I don’t know what’s gotten into him,” I say.
“What do you mean?” Korosensei asks.
“You’ve seen it, haven’t you?” I ask. “He’s being mean to everyone, more than usual. He overloads Nakamura-san with work, he abuses the servants, he is mean to Kayano-ssan and he doesn’t talk to me,” I explain. “I don’t want to marry someone like that.”
Again, Korosensei thinks for a while in silence.
“How did you present the idea of Christmas to him?” he asks.
“A celebration of friendships,” I say.
Korosensei nods his head. “By far the better choice, considering where we are,” he says. “But have you considered that there might be something besides friendships worth celebrating?”
No, not really. “Something else?” I ask, hoping that he’ll give me the answer.
“On December 25th almost 31 years ago, the former king and queen had a baby boy whom they named Karma,” Korosensei says like he is telling the beginning of a fairytale.
I sit quietly for a bit, letting that piece of information sink in. December 25th is Karma’s birthday. I can’t help but find that a bit ironic, considering the fact that he’s the king of Hell. That alone is enough to make a smile break out on my face. Then it fades again as I understand why he is acting this way.
“Is he… jealous?” I ask, looking up at Korosensei, who’s face lights up with a circle in the middle, indicating that I’m right.
“No one knows this, and he has been fine with that until now,” Korosensei says. “But I think a celebration being held on his birthday while he himself is not getting recognized is a bit too much for him.”
I nod my head. It makes sense. I’m also beginning to understand how to improve the current situation. I just need to work hard.
“What sort of gift do you think would make him happy?” I ask.
“Even I don’t know the answer to that,” Korosensei says. “But I’m sure, anything from you would be a perfect gift for him.”
I nod. I need to think of something, and fast. Christmas is only a week away.
“Thank you for telling me,” I say as I stand up from the bench. At least I know one thing I can do that might keep Karma from being so mean and abusive to everyone around him.
I run away from the garden, past Mimura and up the stairs. It isn’t long before I reach the staircase leading up to the west tower. I run up the stairs to the tower room where Karma usually sits and look around. He isn’t here. I wonder where he is, but I also know it’s best that I don’t go looking for him. He spends most of his free time up here anyway.
I stand and look out the window, watching all the mortals getting punished for their crimes in life. It is gruesome to watch, and even if I know that they deserve it, I can’t help but feel for them. Still, I force myself to stay up there and keep watching.
Karma comes in at some point and takes a seat in the chair by the window. He doesn’t speak to me. He just watches and so do I. I don’t’ speak either.
On the following day, I repeat it. I stand in the room in the west tower, overlooking the punishment grounds until Karma shows up and we watch the mortals getting punished together. We do the same on the third day.
On the fourth day, Karma is already there when I come in. I pause, not just because I’ve been the first one to arrive for the past few days, but because another piece of furniture has been added to the room. There is a small stool, also near the window. I wonder if he brought it there.
I walk across the room and stand with him while we watch the punishment grounds. However, this time it seems Karma is done with the silent treatment.
“Sit down,” he says.
“Huh?” I look at him.
“I’m not gonna say it again,” he says, irritably. “Sit down.”
I walk to the small stool and tentatively take a seat. It has been placed just right for a good view out the window. I admit, it’s nice to sit down instead of just standing still for hours on end. The situation has improved lately. Nakamura is still busy, but Fuwa reports that none of the servants have been hit since the day before yesterday and Kanzaki even had some time to go get something for me in town. She is supposed to bring it to my room today. Hara has promised that she’ll help me over the coming days if I help her a bit with the food. I still need to find time to come up here and keep Karma company.
On December 25th, I’m up in the west tower again, sitting on the stool next to Karma’s chair. I watch the punishment grounds while trying to ignore my tiredness and the fact that my fingertips are hurting. I hadn’t expected it to be easy, but I hadn’t expected it to be this hard either.
“It’s today,” Karma says. It’s the first time he has spoken to me since he told me to use the stool.
“The Christmas party?” I ask, nervously.
“Yeah,” he says.
“It is,” I confirm. “At six this evening in the guest dining hall.”
“Are you going?” Karma asks.
“Only if you are,” I say.
He raises an eyebrow at me. “It was yours and Kayano’s idea,” he says.
“And I still think the others should get the chance to celebrate,” I say. “But where I come from, Christmas is also sometimes spent going on dates with someone you like. If you want to spend the day with just me, I’m not going to argue against that,” I say.
“Is that true?” Karma looks skeptical before glancing down at his own smartphone, expecting an answer.
“Yup,” Ritsu confirms. “In Japan, that’s actually so normal that it’s considered a bad thing to start a relationship right around Christmas because people might only do it because they don’t want to be alone.”
Karma nods, seeming to be deep in thoughts.
“Spend as much time up here with me as you can,” he says. “Then go to the party.”
“What’ll you do?” I ask him.
“Figure out what I’m going to do,” Karma says.
I nod to myself, figuring that leaving Karma to make his own decition is the best for the time being. I just stay up in the tower with him until Kayano comes up to get me.
“Nagisa? Rio told me you would be up here,” she says.
“Do you need something?” I ask, looking to Kayano, who is wearing a red dress with a black belt and a matching red Santa hat on her head.
“Your outfit is ready. You should go change,” Kayano says and immediately I feel Karma’s gaze on me.
“Okay,” I say. I follow Kayano down and can feel Karma’s gaze on me until I’m out of his field of vision. It doesn’t take long.
Kayano leads me to my room and I go inside to get changed into the red and white shirt and pants that has been laid out on my bed. There is also a matching Santa hat for this outfit. I don’t take long getting changed and then I make my way to the big dining room where Karma will host guests when they come by. It is rarely used.
Tonight, however, it is used. As I enter, I can see decorations in green, red and white all over the room. The table is covered in a white tablecloth and a wide spread of foods is on it. Hara is standing over a cake, spraying whipped creem on it. She is wearing a red dress and a white apron over it. On her head is another Santa hat.
Isogai is standing on Maehara’s shoulders at the far end of the room. He is tying a plant to one of the garlands hanging from the ceiling. It’s a mistletoe. I wonder who had the idea to put that up.
As the door closes behind me, Isogai finishes tying the mistletoe to the garland and quickly and easily makes his way down from Maehara’s shoulders. He comes over, holding out his hands to accept the package I’ve brought.
“The pile for the gifts is over there,” he says, pointing to the beautifully decorated Christmas tree that has been placed in a corner. It is decorated with hearts, stars and glitter. There are no angels and no snowflakes, as Kayano thought that both would be inappropriate for different reasons. I quickly bring my gift over. There are already quite a few, even more than there should have been.
“Is everyone here?” Kayano asks as she enters the room.
I look around. Maehara is resting on a chair. Hara is putting the finishing touches on the Christmas cake, Kanzaki, Fuwa and Okuda are sitting and talking and Nakamura is putting some firewood in the fireplace, her tail eagerly moving behind her in time to the tune she is humming.
“Was Mimura-kun invited?” Kanzaki asks, raising her head to look at Kayano.
”I invited him,” Kayano says. “He should come any minute.”
There is a knock on the door and it opens, revealing Mimura behind it. He is dressed in the same way as me, Maehara and Isogai are and he also holds a gift under his arm. He steps inside, neglecting to close the door. Kayano is just about to do it for him when Karma also steps inside, dressed in the same red clothes as the rest of us are wearing, except he is also wearing a red cape with white trimmings over his shoulders. His cheeks are dusted slightly pink and he doesn’t look up to meet anyone’s eyes. He quietly walks across the room, placing a small package under the tree.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” Kayano says coldly.
“I was invited,” Karma says.
I observe his tail. It’s moving just a little bit, and very slowly, mainly wrapping itself around his legs, one at a time. He seems to feel uncomfortable, and considering his behavior up until recently, I get why.
“Well,” Isogai breaks the silence. “It’s six now, so why don’t we get started?” he asks, looking to Kayano and me.
“You’re right,” Kayano says, shaking her head. She turns to Okuda. “Can you get the drinks?” she asks.
“Sure!” Okuda says giddily before she gets up and runs off to get a large bottle full of bright pink liquid. She pours it into some plastic cups. There are 11 in total and she hands one out to each of us, keeping one for herself.
“Did you make this, Okuda?” Karma asks.
“Yes,” Okuda says, nodding eagerly.
“Is it safe to drink?” Karma asks.
“Yes,” This time it’s not Okuda answering. It’s Kayano.
“I don’t trust you,” Karma says. “Besides, I was asking Okuda.”
Okuda doesn’t answer by words. She just nods her head with a giddy smile on her face. I have a feeling something is going to happen when we drink this pink stuff, but I also know that it can’t be something bad. Okuda would never brew something that could kill us.
Kayano raises her glass.
“Well, cheers everyone!” she exclaims before she starts drinking. Her glass is soon empty and the rest of us begin drinking too. Once my glass is empty, I feel something trying to make its way from my throat to my mouth. I’m not sure if I’m about to throw up. It doesn’t feel that way, but the pressure is the same. I open my mouth to let it out in the same time as everyone else do, and soon we are all singing Jingle Bells.
Once we have finished singing, we start eating from the food that Hara has prepared. The others are talking animatedly. Kanzaki is having a conversation with Mimura. Rio and Okuda are chatting with Kayano. Isogai and Hara are having a conversation about food from the sounds of it. Maehara and Fuwa are talking about something or another. From what I can see, it looks like he is trying to flirt with her. Karma is standing alone in a corner, watching everyone.
“I’m surprised you came,” I tell him.
Karma offers me a very small smile. “You were going and I wanted to spend time with you,” he said.
“Thank you,” I tell him. “You didn’t have to do it though.” Mainly because he doesn’t seem to be comfortable with it.
“I guess not,” Karma says, shrugging.
Now Okuda comes out, handing all of us a yellow potion. This time, we all drink in the same time and soon after, we’re all singing All I Want For Christmas Is You.
After this, we each get some cake. It tastes really good, and then we sort the gifts that are for someone specific and pass around the others while singing a different song which Kayano leads us in. I end up with one of two square brown packages as the song stops. Maehara has the other one. When we all open the package we got, I can tell that Maehara and I indeed got the same thing.
“Sweet!” Maehara exclaims. “A batch of cookies! I wonder who baked them!”
“Sorry, they’re store-bought,” Nakamura says.
Maehara looks a little disappointed.
Hara and Fuwa also each have a batch of cookies, but theirs are not identical, and they look homemade.
“Who else baked cookies?” Hara asks.
“I guess that’d be me,” Isogai says.
“Hara-san’s cookies!” Fuwa exclaims happily while holding her cookies close to her chest.
Isogai holds a hand-drawn picture of the castle staff, which Fuwa made. Karma is studying a pamphlet called “Top 10 best dating spots in Satanica”. I have a feeling Maehara was the one who brought that one. Mimura is holding a pair of gloves which Kanzaki admits to bringing. Nakamura is holding a bottle full of liquid. Okano explains that it’s a Focus potion, that is supposed to help the drinker focus for eight hours straight. Okuda herself is holding something that unmistakably looks like chocolate. Kayano is holding a weird open cushion which Mimura explains is a Tail Wrapper that will protect someone’s tail when they sit. Kanzaki is holding the thin scarf she helped me buy.
“I was hoping I’d get this one anyway,” she says happily.
“Who are the other presents for?” Karma asks. There are still a few lying under the tree.
“I’ll go distribute,” Nakamura announces before she skips over to the tree.
She brings over a box for Kayano.
“This is from the castle staff,” she announces. “Me included of course.”
Kayano opens the box and takes out a large bowl full of a caramel brown substance. I can’t tell what it is from where I’m standing, but Kayano realizes it immediately.
“Pudding!” she exclaims.
“You said you liked pudding, but you haven’t been able to get it down here, so I asked Death to get us a recipe, so Hara-san could make it for you,” Nakamura explains.
“Thank you!” Kayano exclaims happily.
To my surprise, the next gift Nakamura gets is for me. This is also from the castle staff. When I open it, I find a poster of my favorite movie, Sonic Ninja. I had always wanted this, but as it wasn’t girly, I didn’t dare go get it out of fear that mom would just throw it away.
“Thank you,” I say, feeling happy, not just for the gift, but also for the reminder that I’m free now.
Nakamura goes and get the final gift from under the tree. This is also from the entire castle staff. This one she hands to Karma, who just quietly accepts it. He opens it just as quietly, revealing a black knitted scarf. He looks up at the staff, every single member, and he still doesn’t say a word.
“When I explained to my mom what a Christmas party was, she thought you should have something for all the good you’ve done,” Isogai explains. “Every staff member has chipped in for the materials, and she made it together with Hara-san.”
“Tha… thank you,” Karma says in a very small voice. I can tell that he is full of emotions. His tail isn’t moving all too wildly, but it definitely doesn’t know what shape to make. He finally wraps the scarf around his neck and stands up. He walks to the fireplace and turns to face all of us. He then takes in a deep breath.
“I apologize for the way I’ve been behaving lately,” he says. This shocks everyone. I for one had never expected a proper apology to come out of Karma’s mouth, and I’m clearly not the only one. “I regret the way I treated you all… I… I owe you the truth.”
“Not unless you want to tell it,” Nakamura says. “Honestly, I’ve never heard you apologizing for.. anything before, so just this is enough of a gesture that I’m willing to forgive you.”
“Don’t’ go easy on me!” Karma exclaims.
“Don’t’ get me wrong,” Nakamura says. “I’m not going easy on you because you’re the king or anything stupid like that. I’m going easy on you because you suck at apologizing.”
“I want to know why though,” Maehara says. “That curse hurt.”
“Me too!” Kayano exclaims. “You kept bringing my past up. I want to know if you’re hiding anything!”
“I want to know too,” Kanzaki says. “I know Nakamura-san’s fine with it, but you always dump your work on her. That’s nothing new. However, I will not take the kind of abuse you have exposed us servants to, nor the way you have treated Lady Kayano and Lord Nagisa,” she says.
Karma takes in a deep breath. It’s clear that quite a few are mad at him.
“I was born on December 25th 31 years ago,” he says. “Because of the war, my parents had no time to celebrate. I would get a gift, but nothing else. I was still as alone as I was every other day of the year. I stopped caring and hoping for any kind of celebration before they died, and never saw the point in making it public knowledge.” He looks down at his shoes rather than at us. His tail is hanging down, now being completely tugged between his legs. He sincerely regrets all he has done and the reason why. It’s easy to tell. I can’t let him stand alone up there, in front of everyone.
“That’s why you were hurt,” I say, walking up to him. “You were hurt that we were making a celebration on your birthday without acknowledging you at all, because that was what you always wanted.”
Karma nods his head without looking up at me or at anyone else.
“That still doesn’t give you the right to behave the way you did,” I tell him. “But I understand your feelings.”
“I can’t imagine having my birthday not being acknowledged,” Maehara says. “Mine wasn’t too long ago, and I still got gifts and congratulations from… everyone, even my family whom I don’t see every day anymore. I’d be upset too.”
“So, what do we demand of our king?” Nakamura asks. “More time off or a pay increase?”
“A raise!” Fuwa exclaims.
“That would be nice,” Okuda says.
“If we can’t say both, I guess a pay increase would be the best,” Kanzaki says.
“I want a raise too, definitely,” Mimura says.
“I want to visit my sister!” Kayano exclaims.
“I cant’ choose!” Maehara exclaims.
“We just got our jobs. We have no rights to complain,” Isogai says.
“I was going to go for more time off, but if everyone else wants a pay increase, that’s what I say you give,” Nakamura declares.
Karma looks up. “A pay increase for the staff and a visit to Death’s realm for Kayano. Is there anything else you want?” He doesn’t sound all too happy.
“Yes,” Nakamura says. “Take a step back.”
He does while giving her a puzzled look.
“Lord Nagisa, you do it as you’re the closest,” she announces.
I look above Karma’s head to see the mistletoe that Isogai and Maehara hung up earlier, now hanging right above Karma’s head.
I sigh. I know what I have to do. I know I’m not ready to kiss him on the lips, so I’ll have to figure out something else.
I put a hand on Karma’s shoulder and lean on it for support as I lift myself up on my tiptoes and plant a kiss on his cheek. I don’t linger. I pull back almost immediately, only to see Karma, wide-eyed and red-faced as he raises his hand to touch his cheek, right where my lips were a moment ago. I then feel the heat in my cheeks as well. I can hardly hear the others cheering.
It’s not until the following morning that I remember that I forgot to give Karma my Christmas present for him. I was so out of it after the kiss that I forgot just about everything. It was only thanks to Isogai that I remembered to bring my gifts with me to my room.
I’m a lot calmer on the morning on the following day. I decide to bring the gift with me as I go to the west tower, knowing that I’ll run into Karma there eventually.
When I enter the tower room, Karma is already sitting in his chair and watching the punishment grounds like always. He hardly even offers me a glance as I enter and take a seat on the stool next to him. I’m still holding my gift for him close to my chest.
“I thought you were done coming here,” Karma says.
“I thought I was too,” I tell him.
“Why are you here then?” he asks.
“I forgot something,” I tell him.
“Don’t’ worry about the stool. I was the one who brought it here anyway,” Karma says.
“That’s not it,” I say. I’m happy that he admits that it was him. I was suspecting that anyway.
“Then what is it?” Karma asks.
I feel the heat in my cheeks again. I almost don’t’ want to do it, but I made it for him and I have come this far. I may as well follow through.
I hand him the gift I prepared for him. He accepts it and unwraps it without a word. He pulls out the t-shirt Kanzaki helped me buy. It is completely black and he looks it over carefully. When he turns it around, I notice the surprised look on his face as he catches sight of the four characters that are clumsily embroidered near the neck in red thread.
For Karma
He glances at my hands. The fingertips are still bandaged after my many attempts to cover them in needle-thin holes.
“I didn’t take you for the type who’d learn to do embroidery,” he says.
“I’m not,” I tell him. “I don’t plan on ever doing it again.”
Karma smiles happily. “You will for me,” he says with confidence.
“Will not,” I say.
Karma just smiles. I have a feeling he is seeing through me as easily as I can see through him by looking at his tail. He knows that I am not completely against the idea of doing it again if I need to, however reluctant I am.