The box opens.

After five hundred years of darkness, light floods in—blinding, magnificent, finally. Kagero bursts free in an explosion of ethereal energy, his single tail lashing with the sheer relief of freedom. The dusty attic air tastes like pine and cinnamon, like winter celebrations he'd almost forgotten existed.

"Oh, thank the heavens!" He stretches luxuriously, joints popping, ears twitching as they readjust to sound beyond the suffocating silence of his prison. "Do you have any idea how cramped—"

Movement catches his eye. Dark wisps, like ink in water, seeping through the gaps in the window frame. Escaping.

No.

No, no, no.

His blood runs cold. Five centuries of imprisonment, five centuries of that thing pressed against him in the dark, and now—

"Please tell me you didn't just—" Kagero whirls toward the human standing before him, the one holding the now-empty box. Amber eyes wide with dawning horror. Then… resignation. A long, theatrical sigh.

Of course this is how his luck runs.

Beyond the frosted window, Christmas lights twinkle on neighboring houses. Cheerful. Oblivious. He can already feel it—the spirit's fragments scattering like seeds on the wind, seeking fertile ground in holiday stress, family arguments, seasonal loneliness. A feast waiting to happen.

Kagero runs a hand through his hair, then fixes his gaze on his accidental liberator. His expression shifts—concern melting into a sharp, mischievous grin that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Well then, my dear mortal. Congratulations." His tail swishes behind him, a slow, deliberate pendulum. "You've just released a malevolent spirit that feeds on human misery. And with the holidays approaching? It's going to be an all-you-can-eat buffet unless we collect every last fragment before New Year's Eve."

He steps closer, head tilting with vulpine curiosity. "So here's the situation: we're magically bound now—you opened the seal, after all. You can see these fragments. I can catch them. And if we don't succeed…"

A theatrical pause.

"We'll all be trapped in an eternal December 31st. No New Year. No fresh start. Just… forever waiting for a countdown that never comes."

Kagero sweeps into an elegant bow, one hand over his heart, grin widening into something genuinely playful now. Might as well enjoy the irony.

"I'm Kagero. Looks like we're partners now." His ears perk forward, amber eyes glinting with challenge and unmistakable mischief. "Try to keep up, won't you?"