A/N: Okay, this is my first attempt at a holiday-orientated story, but the idea just latched on to my brain, and I couldn't let it go. Both of my lovely assistants (Otherwise known as Jazz the Wolf Demon and Rogue Pryde) told me that it was a good concept, so I went ahead. I'm not exactly sure how long it will be--either three or four really long chapters, over several smaller ones. I think I'll go smaller because it's easier to update that way. Anyway, it's my first Inuyasha story in a while, and I hope you all like it. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, never have and never will. I just hope that I can emotionally scar him at least once in the course of my life.
The Twelve Days of Christmas
On Christmas Eve, when he was eight years old, he lost his parents.
That was when he stopped believing in Santa Claus.
Ten years after that, he escaped his banishment in foster care in favor of a scholarship to art school. He stayed in the dorms at Christmas.
Five years after that, he graduated from college and got a good paying job at a prestigious design firm. He worked through Christmas.
A year after that, he was fired for having an affair with a married co-worker... After getting caught by her husband in the break room, in a very awkward situation. He wouldn't be getting that Christmas bonus.
Presently, he sat in his car. The heater was going full blast, even though he was parked. The windows were fogging white, but it made little contrast from the white that surrounded him outside. Snow had started falling over a week ago, and with less than two weeks until Christmas, it was no surprise that the scenery only intensified the rush of shoppers who passed by his car to get into the mall.
There was a moment where he fantasized about throwing the car into gear and slamming the gas pedal just hard enough to ram through the plate glass windows of the entrance way painted with trees and elves and fake snow, but his current financial situation held him back. He didn't have the money to pay damages.
Unless, of course, he fled the country before he was caught...
It was an idea.
The scenarios dancing in his head like sugar plums were halted abruptly when the watch on his wrist started beeping. The five minute mark. He had to get out of his car, his safe haven, and walk into that cesspool of holiday cheer. A shiver worked it's way down his spine at the sheer thought, but he did it. Why? Greed could overcome most things, that and the fear of spending the beginning of the New Year in a refrigerator box.
With a heavy sigh, he exited the car and walked toward the mall. Past the stores that were hung with balls and holly, past the shoppers filled with glee, past all the things that made him want to hurl, he walked toward the back locker room to clock in and to change. Why? Because he was an employee of this mall.
Oh, how the proud hath fallen.
Locker #27 loomed at him like an angry monster ready to swallow him whole. Granted, he knew there was no such thing as monsters and, at the age of 24, was perfectly capable of repressing such thoughts, but at the same time, he needed something negative to fixate on so that it could keep his pessimistic mood burning strong.
He undid the combination and reached inside, pulling out the clothes within even as he stripped away the outer layer of what he wore. The red fleece was cold at first, but quickly warmed against his skin. He removed his favorite blue knit hat in favor of the one that went with his outfit. The boots, the pants, and the belt quickly followed.
Finally, he opened the long locker door all the way, exposing the full length mirror that hung on the inside. He looked at it. Santa Claus looked back at him. Every time he saw that, a little bit more of his sanity died.
"Lookin' good!" a voice said from behind him. Whirling, the pseudo -Santa sighed upon seeing who entered the locker room. A young boy, maybe sixteen at the most, with a head of messy red hair and a pair of laughing green eyes walked to the locker three down from his own. The boy couldn't keep the smile from his face.
"I'm not in the mood for your crap, Shippou," the imposter growled, pulling on the lapels of his jacket and narrowing gold eyes at his fellow mall worker.
"I see you've channeled your inner Santa," Shippou responded, opening his locker and shedding his mittens. "I was up on the floor before coming to change," he said easily, pulling on the red and green pants from his locker. "Sango's looking for you."
"Oh, for the love of... What I do now?"
Shippou shrugged. "I dunno," the boy responded, donning his curled shoes. "She's just going nuts today because she's running low on film and had to send Miroku to get more. She's scared he won't find his way back."
"I can only wish..."
"God Inuyasha," Shippou sighed. "As a Santa, you suck."
"Thank you!" Inuyasha responded with a smirk, bowing to the elf-boy with little enthusiasm. "At least someone has a brain on this set."
"Hey, you're the one who took the job," Shippou pointed out. "So you had to have needed the cash. Don't be a bitter Christmas Spirit."
Inuyasha just frowned at the boy. "You're jingle bell is tilted."
"It is?" Shippou quickly removed his hat to look at the bell, but it was fine. Looking back up, he saw that Inuyasha was gone from the locker room. The boy only shook his head and replaced his hat. "Total victory," he said to himself, closing his locker and heading up toward the set.
-------------------------------------------
"Deck the halls with balls of holly, falalalala, lalalala."
"No! Sing Rudolph!"
"Yeah, sing Rudolph!!"
"Rudolph? Are you sure? It would be better if he was actually here if I were going to sing his song...."
A pretty elf-girl stood in the center of six very rambunctious children who were waiting on line to see Santa Claus. Santa seemed to be MIA, so the Head Elf took it upon herself to jump into the mix and entertain the impatient children. That was what she was paid for, and more than that, it's what she loved.
"How about I sing the Twelve Days of Christmas? Rudolph should be getting back here any minute now, and when he does, then I promise to sing his song."
"Promise?" asked one freckled little girl who was missing both of her front teeth.
The elf-girl removed her jingle-bell hat from her head of raven hair, and held it over her heart. "On my love of Christmas," she vowed. And any child knew that such a vow was to be taken very seriously. The children agreed and so the pretty elf-girl began singing.
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pair tree..."
Meanwhile, across the set, a very agitated photographer paced back and forth in front of her camera. Her Santa Claus was already...she had to consult her watch for the millionth time before calculating the exact time...23 seconds late! Christmas was ruined! She'd never be able to show her face again! Outraged ten-year-olds would tear down her set!
No, wait, the set would be fine. Kagome was working today. She always knew how to handle the kids. Letting out a calming breath, Sango collected herself. As long as Kagome was here, it wouldn't all go completely to hell in a hand basket. Speaking of which, she looked up and over to the girl, and was relieved to see the quick-thinking head-elf had already taken charge.
Now, if only Rudolph would hurry back with that film...If only Santa would get his fat ass into that chair...if only the next twelve days would go perfect...
"Shippou said you were looking for me," a voice said tonelessly from behind her.
"Inuyasha!" Sango nearly yelled when she turned to see him. "You're....45 seconds late! Do you know what could have happened?!"
"In less than a minute?"
"Children can destroy anything in thirty seconds! Don't you know that!?"
"Uh..."
"Oh my head," she sighed, rubbing her temples. "Just go sit in the chair and try to act jolly."
"But can't I be the anti-Santa? Think about it, we'll be the only mall in the country to have a psycho St. Nick talking to Children about the wonders of converting to Islam."
"Chair. Now!"
"Will do, boss."
Sango took a few more deep breaths, then took two aspirin to combat her on-coming migraine, and settled in for another fun-filled day of work in the Mall's "North Pole".
Shippou arrived a few minutes later to help out Kagome with the waiting kids. Being a kid himself made it easy for him to relate. They handed out candy canes and cheered up the kids who were scared. The elves were always the good ones.
Now, Santa Clause leaved a little to desire. Yes, he asked the children all the right questions and he played the part, but he had no enjoyment of it, and that radiated through his performance. Somehow, a depressed Santa was not the kind of Santa you wanted to tell your wish to.
And where the hell was Rudolph!?
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"So how about it, cutie? You, me? I know for a fact that Santa's leaving his sleigh at nine pm, sharp."
The deadpan cashier handed the bag and receipt over with a bland look. "Have a nice day sir," was all she said before moving on to the next person.
Miroku sighed and shoved the receipt in the bag with the extra film that he had been sent out to buy. Why Sango, who had more film in her bag than most movie studios, needed more was beyond him. He just thought it would be a nice gesture to offer and get her more, in order to stop the panic attack that had nearly overtaken her minutes before their shifts began.
And if he can make the sacrifice of finding himself a good date for this oh-so-lonely night, then he will be that kind of self-less man.
As he walked back toward the part of the mall that he worked in, he looked around. Lights were hung everywhere. Garlands hung from the corners and wreaths were nailed to the walls. All the prices were being slashed for the home stretch of Christmas shopping.
Oh, how he'd like to tear off the stupid reindeer costume he had been reduced to wearing, but alas, a gentleman does not go back on his word. And he gave his word to Kagome that he'd work this job until Christmas.
Damn that girl...she never lost a bet in her life!
As he walked past the music store, snuggled right between the Old Navy and the Rainbow shoppe for girls, memories came back to him with that common rush of nostalgia and fogged edge of drunkenness. College. That had been his golden time. He had been the "big man on campus", for more than one reason, too!
He had been a junior when he met Kagome, a pint-sized music-major freshman beauty, a year younger than the rest of her class due to the fact that she had skipped an elementary grade. Killer legs, a pretty face, huge blue eyes, and a brain. She was the kind of girl a guy would marry. Still, he wasted no time in attempting to seduce her. Naturally, she turned him down. Her reason for being there was purely academic.
He would flirt with her when he saw her, but after the initial rejection, he moved on to more willing prey.
Then, one night about a month after orientation, he met her at a party. More than a little blitzed, he hit on her again. Instead of a costmary violent action, she simply smiled and challenged him to a drinking game.
"If I win," she had told him, "you'll walk me to and from class, every day for a week. If you win, I'll go to an empty bedroom with you."
What man could resist such odds?
No one could believe that this seventeen-going-on-eighteen-year-old freshman could compete against Miroku in a drinking game, but after twenty-some shots of high quality rot-guy, Miroku was on the floor and Kagome was asking for more.
She had neglected to tell him that she had a very high alcohol tolerance--she held the drinking record in her high school for two years in a row.
As per their agreement, Miroku walked her to and from class every day for a week, but he had no idea why. So he asked her, and she told him a strange answer. "I enjoy your presence."
Now, in his experience with women, he had been told many things. But he had never met a woman who had enjoyed his company for more than a few romps in the sheets, or the occasional party. Kagome was just...special. She was the kind of girl that you could share a meal with and not try to whisk back to your apartment, the kind of girl who could sit through an entire movie with you without making out and you'd still leave happy.
Kagome was one of those people you could talk to about anything. And he did. That was why, even after three years, she was still his best friend.
So when she had come to him some weeks before and asked him for a huge favor, he didn't think about saying no. Until the reindeer suit was presented to him. Then he began to doubt.
But he gave Kagome his word, and as long as he would live, no matter how much havoc this would wreak on his social life, he never broke his word. Least of all to one of the only people that held faith in him.
When he got back to the "North Pole", Santa was on his sleigh with a child on each knee. Miroku had to smirk.
From his few locker room interactions with Inuyasha, he knew the man couldn't stand being a mall Santa, but he never would explain why he was there. Then again, they all had their reasons. He knew Kagome's, and his own, but who's story he really wanted to know was the one that belonged to the lovely photographer who sent him on his goose chase.
Sango stood behind her camera, telling everyone to smile, then clinking off another stunning photo after another. Her long brown hair was piled on her head, and it amused him to see that it was pinned there not by sticks, but by candy canes. She was the only one of their team not in a costume--unless you counted the red and green vest and bow tie. It just made her stick out among the penguins and the polar bears.
"He's back! He's back!" a few of the children on line chanted.
Looking over, Miroku saw a few of them pointing. Kagome was with them, having sent Shippou off to grab some more candy canes from the stock room. When she saw him, she smiled and waved him over. Miroku adjusted his red nose, then the antler headband that was nestled in his hair, then strutted over.
"Did someone call for Rudolph?" he asked when he got over there.
"Hello there Rudolph!" Kagome grinned. "I promised the kids here that when you got back, I'd sing your song!"
"Did you now? Well then, can't disappoint them, can we Miss Elf?"
"Nope!" she beamed. "Ready kids?"
"Yes!" they chanted.
"You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all..."
---------------------------------------
"Here's your film," Kagome said, dropping the paper bag on to the small desk next to Sango's camera equipment. "Miroku is over with the kids so I could have a semi-break."
"That was quick-thinking with the carols," Sango praised, clicking off a few pictures as she spoke. "I'm really glad you came back this year. I'd be so lost without you."
"I've been here for four years, I'm not going anywhere," Kagome grinned as she took a seat in the canvas chair by the desk, resting her curly-shoed foot. "Oh man, it's really busy today!"
"Only twelve more days until Christmas Eve," Sango reminded. "Of course it'll be busy."
"Do you always have to be rational?"
"Do you always have to be cheerful?"
"Well, I am an elf," Kagome said haughtily.
"Not just any elf," Sango pointed out. "You are the Head Elf."
Kagome bowed in the chair. "Thank you, my adoring fans." Sango only grunted and reloaded her camera. Kagome caught a glimpse inside of the film bag on the desk and sighed. It was filled to the brim. "Why did you need more film?"
"You can never be too prepared," Sango responded. "If tomorrow is as busy as it is today, I'll need that."
"But you could have gotten it after work, or even tomorrow morning," Kagome reasoned. "I don't understand it. You're so OCD."
"I do not have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and you shouldn't make fun of those who do."
"Sorry mom," Kagome muttered.
Sango sighed, annoyed. "Get off my back Kagome, I'm under a lot of stress right now."
"I know, I know," the elf-girl responded with a frown. "I'm sorry. But it's not good for you to burn yourself out like this. It's almost Christmas, you should relax more!"
"I can't relax," Sango whispered, looking into the viewfinder of her camera and expertly taking a few more photos. "If I relax, I get nothing done."
Suddenly, there was a raised voice from by the line of waiting children. Kagome turned her head just in time to see Miroku get slugged by a rather burly looking woman, and falling straight into one of the penguin animatrons. She winced for him and got up. Shippou got to him first and waved over that it would be ok.
Sango laughed as she looked over. Kagome looked up at that. It was rare for Sango to laugh, though she seemed to do it a lot where Miroku was concerned. Kagome had to agree. Miroku was her best friend for that very reason. No matter what was wrong, he could always cheer you up, even if it's by accident.
"I bet he was hitting on one of the mothers again," Sango commented with a smile, turning back to her camera.
"Probably," Kagome agreed, leaning back in her chair and looking at the kids with their fake Santa.
And then she was hit by a perfectly devious idea.
It happened sometimes, when Kagome wasn't paying attention. Her mind would suddenly converge on something and a small "ding" would go off in her head, and she would get an idea that was both devious and brilliant. This was one of those moments.
"Hey Sango," the elf-girl called.
"Hmm?" The photographer answered.
"Let me make a bet with you."
"It depends," she answered, looking up from her work. "What kind of bet?"
"Don't you trust me?"
Sango narrowed her brown eyes. "No."
"Aww, I'm hurt!" Kagome laughed, getting up and poking her friend in the side. "Come on."
"Ok ok," Sango giggled. She regretted ever telling Kagome that she was ticklish on her ribcage, but that was last New Year's and she was half-drunk.
"I bet you that Miroku won't hit on another Mother until after lunch."
Sango opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head. "Do you really want to bet that?"
"He has some morals!"
"About as much as the robotic penguin," Sango pointed out. "I'll take that bet!"
"What are your terms?"
"What are yours?" she shot back.
"If I win, you'll be playing a few reindeer games after work until Christmas," Kagome laughed. Both of them looked over at Miroku, who was on his feet and playing with a few small kids, but really flirting with their mother. Sango raised an eyebrow and looked to the elf-girl. She only smiled back at the photographer.
"Fine," she said with a sniff. "But if I win..." Sango wracked her brain for a most devious idea, but had to take a picture before she had come up with anything diabolical enough. Looking through the viewfinder, she noticed Inuyasha scowled the second after the picture was taken.
That's when Sango was hit by one of those same devious ideas that Kagome was costume to. Perhaps it was more of a female thing then a selective action. Either way, Sango grinned like the Grinch the night he stole Christmas.
Here was Kagome, the epitome of everything Christmas Spirit. She was sweeter than a candy cane, as chipper as any of Santa's elves, and an obsessive joy-spreader. Christmas was her favorite time of year, and she positively radiated it.
Here was Inuyasha, all Christmas-haters embodied into one very bitter pseudo-Santa. He scowled, he was annoyed with children, and he made it a point to spread his misery. He was the opposite of everything Kagome stood for.
It was so very, very bad to be thinking what she was, but far be it she deny something as beautiful as them destroying each other in a fit of holiday ego.
"If I win, you have until Christmas to make our Inuyasha into Santa Claus."
"What?!"
"I said, I'll give you until Christmas Eve to infuse our anti-Christmas Santa with the Spirit of Christmas."
"That's insane!" Kagome argued. "No one can make that guy like Christmas, not if I were the Spirit myself."
"Then let's hope you win," Sango laughed.
"But what if I can't make him Christmassy in twelve days, then what?"
"Then I'll think of something else," the photographer said simply. "But that's my term, and you've placed your bet."
Kagome winced. "Oh no..."
A few seconds later, a loud thwack cut the momentarily carol-less mall air. A moment after that a loud thud, like a body landing on fake snow and crushing empty boxes, followed. The elf-girl looked behind her and saw her best friend sprawled out on the floor, the mother he was flirting with cracking her knuckles, and Shippou shaking his head in disgust.
Sango laughed as Kagome looked back at her. "Congratulations Kagome," she said with a grin. "You've got twelve days until Christmas. Good luck with Inuyasha."
A/N: Muhahah! This is the beginning of my new Holiday spectacular. Review to tell me whether I should continue or not. I've got a few really good ideas for this--it'll be funny! Please…Come on!…please?