It was the week before Christmas and everyone was getting excited, not only for the holiday, but for the upcoming break that went with it. It was all that ten year old Negi Springfield could do to keep his English class under control and on task.
Of course, it didn't help matter that Negi himself was as anxious and excited as his class was. Christmas meant that it was approaching one year since he came to Japan to teach these unruly, wonderful girls that made up class Mahora Academy class 3-A; a year that was the most eventful in his life.
Since November, he had been spending time, in between his duties and the adventures life just seemed to throw at a mage, trying to decide what to give each of the girls in his class. His friend, Professor Takahata, had guided him by reminding the boy that he was their teacher, so he had to be careful what he gave as gifts. He understood that, and thought very hard about each gift he bought.
"Negi-sensei, I've finished," Ako Izumi said, jerking the boy back to reality.
"Ah, yes; very good Ako-san," he said. He quickly looked up at the clock and saw class was about to end, so he added, "alright class, that will be all for today. Tomorrow, we will continue with the next section."
As soon as he had the words out of his mouth, the bell rang, and all of the girls filed out of class to go to the restroom. Negi gathered up his stuff and prepared to head for his office when he caught a flash of blond out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw the small form of Evangeline McDowell, Mahora's resident vampire, standing next to the desk.
"What is it, Eva-san?" he asked.
"I just wanted to tell you to your face that I won't be in class the rest of the week," Eva said, "as a matter of fact, you won't see me until after the first of the year. All training is canceled, and the Ala Alba will have to meet someplace else."
"Is there something wrong?" he asked, "surely you aren't going to miss the party Christmas Eve?"
"I am especially going to miss the party," Eva snapped, "I have no love of Christmas as it is, and I won't inflict those bubble headed idiots on myself on the best of days!"
With that, Evangeline stalked off.
Negi sighed. He was half afraid that Eva's tirade would be much worse. Still her being gone wasn't too surprising, it just made Negi's task of giving her the gift he was planning on giving her harder.
Which reminded the boy, he had to go check up on some things related to Eva's present.
Evangeline McDowell walked down the hallway, heading for her cottage. Her mechanical servant, Chachamaru Karakuri, saw her leaving and quickly caught up to her.
"Master, is there a problem?" the servant asked.
"No; no problem," Eva replied, "I just told Negi I was out for the rest of the year, and I'm going home."
"Very well," Chachamaru replied, "do you require me to accompany you?"
"No," Eva replied, "stay here if you like; in fact, move in if you feel like it! As a matter of fact, don't even bother to come back! It's not like I really need you!"
With that, Evangeline stormed off. As Chachamaru watched her leave, her internal processors replayed the events just played out and compared it to the previous previous experiences.
Similar reactions noted around this time of year, though somewhat elevated this year, the mechanical servant's internal processors reported, unknown reason for increased level of aggravation. Suggested course of action: return to residence with Master anyway. If necessary, make arrangements with Hakase-san for a place to stay if the Master is truly serious.
"No, Negi! You can't do it!" exclaimed Takamichi Takahata, "remember what I told you; she's your student. What you're planning is extremely personal. Get her a doll, if you want to give her something special. What you're intending to do is too dangerous!"
"Sempai, look at me and tell me it's too dangerous," Negi replied.
The older teacher didn't have to look at the scar on the boy's face to catch his meaning.
"That's not what I meant," Takahata said, trying again, "this isn't something you can plan for and avoid, it's a fact. If you do this, you will put yourself at great personal risk. They won't let you do it."
"Konoka-san will be with me," Negi retorted, "she can heal whatever happens, you know that."
"And remember what happened the last time she tried a major healing on you," Takahata retorted, "you were sick for days because she couldn't control the amount of magical energy she put into you."
"And she's gotten better since then," Negi shot back, "plus, I could have one of the other healing mages on staff do it, just in case. Given what I'm trying to do, it would be a good idea anyway."
The older teacher finally capitulated. "Alright; I should know better than try and talk you out of something once you've set your mind to it. Go on over to the medical center; maybe they can talk some sense into you."
Evangeline made her way back home. It was snowing that day, and the weatherman promised even more snow, right up to Christmas. Eva looked about and thought she had better make sure there were supplies for the next few days, since she had just told Chachamaru to beat it. Once the girl got to her cottage, she went inside; then threw all of her servant's belongings out on the front porch when she saw that the gynoid had followed her home. After that, she went up to her bedroom where she planned to have a good sulk. But before she could even get a start on that, another irritating voice interrupted her.
"So, it's that time of year, huh?" said a doll on Eva's headboard, her other familiar, Chachazero, "maybe you should lay in a big supply of maxi-pads. You just walked in the room and I can tell that this year's gonna be a major bitch."
Eva responded by throwing the doll out the bedroom window. Chachazero landed in the pile of Chachamaru's things, just as the servant was bending down to pick them up.
"Wow, she's really on a tear this year," the puppet said to her robot associate, "what's got her panties in a bunch?"
"As far as I can tell, her underwear is seated correctly," Chachamaru replied, "as to why the Mistress is acting this way, it must have something to do with the time of year. My memories indicate she was irritable at this time in both of the previous years I have in memory."
"Yeah, she takes Christmas pretty hard," Chachazero agreed, "that and Easter. But I'm kinda surprised she pitched me out the window this year. Usually, I'm the only one she'll spend the holidays with."
"Why is that, may I ask?"
"Because I've been with her for just about all of them."
The doctors at the medical center argued until they were blue in the face, but Negi wouldn't relent. As he promised Takahata, Negi had brought Konoka Konoe, his roommate and the headmaster's granddaughter, with him, along with Asuna Kagurazaka, his other roommate. The last healing mage Negi spoke to, the director of the medical center, wasn't impressed by Negi's proposed precautions, and refused to do what Negi wanted.
"Alright; if you won't do it, there are other ways," Negi replied, "I'll go to Evangeline directly. I'm sure she wouldn't have any problems."
"Wait," the director said, "if you do that, you'll be in more danger than if I do it. There's no guarantee she'll stop when you want her to."
"That's just a chance I'll have to take," the boy replied.
The healer let out a sigh of defeat. "Okay, I'll do it. But only the minimum amount! And you will stay off your feet for the rest of the week, no matter how good you think you feel! Now, get yourself in the next room and we'll begin."
Ako Izumi was surprised to see her homeroom teacher at the medical center, and even more surprised when he went and spoke to the director of the hospital. The biggest surprise came when the director called for her to come to his office.
"Izumi-san, take Springfield-sensei to Procedure Room #3," the director said, "help the nurse set up before returning to your normal duties."
"Yes, director," Ako replied, then added, "may I stay and watch the procedure?"
"That wouldn't be a good idea, given your phobia," the director replied, "but, if you think you can handle it, be my guest; just as long as Springfield-sensei doesn't mind."
"Thank you, sir. Sensei, do you mind?"
"Of course not," Negi replied.
"Thank you," Ako said, "if you would follow me please?"
With that, Ako motioned for Negi and the others to follow her. They walked to Procedure Room #3, and Ako showed them in. Inside, just on the other side of the patient's table, a nurse was preparing for the procedure. Ako's eyes got wide as she saw what Negi was about to do.
"Sensei, are you sure you want to do this?" Ako exclaimed, "even I know you're too small to have this done."
"Don't worry, Ako-kun; it'll be alright," Negi replied, "though, now that I'm here, I am a little nervous."
At that the nurse looked up.
"I can assure you there will be little pain," she said, "a little pinch in the beginning, and a little at the end. As long as you stay still, you should be alright. Though, you really should reconsider this; you are way too small."
"The director said he would do the procedure himself," Negi said.
"Okay, it's his license," the nurse muttered, "Ako-san, help Springfield-sensei up on the table and ready for the procedure; then you are excused."
"The director said I could stay," Ako replied, "and Negi-sensei doesn't mind."
"Whatever; just stay out of the way, then. I don't want the director tripping over you if there's a problem."
"Yes, ma'am."
Evangeline laid on her bed and sulked.
I hate this time of year, she thought to herself, I just hate having what I am absolutely rubbed in my face! It wasn't like I wanted to be this way! And yet, every year I get reminded just what a perverted freak of nature I am!
She rolled over and buried her face in her pillow.
And I just threw the one person who understands out the window. Just how pathetic is that? Stupid Christians and their stupid holidays!
With that, Evangeline fell asleep.
It took all of Ako's self control to stand upright.
As promised, the director came in and performed the procedure himself. After making sure everything was okay, he inserted the tube and waited. When he saw what he was expecting, he told Negi, "now just relax and try not to move too much. And let me know the instant you start feeling dizzy or sleepy."
"Okay," the ten year old responded.
Standing by the procedure table, Asuna and Konoka were looking worried.
"Sensei, why are you doing this?" Ako asked.
"Because, Eva-san needs it," Negi replied.
"Is she sick? Is that why she cut school?" Ako asked.
"Not exactly," Negi replied, "but she... whoa!"
"What is it, Negi-san?" the director asked.
"I think I'm starting to feel woozy," Negi replied.
"Okay. Konoka-san, watch me very closely."
The whole procedure took about twenty minutes, but the way the director looked afterwards, you would have thought it had been twenty hours. Not only him, but Konoka as well. Ako had learned there was a whole lot more to the world that she had previously known, and that magic actually existed. Until this moment, though, she never realized just how pervasive it was at the school.
Once the procedure was done, Ako got a wheelchair and put Negi into it. The director said in no uncertain terms that the boy was to remain either seated in that chair, or laying in a bed, for at least two hours, at which time he would examine him. Negi weakly agreed, then Ako wheeled him out, Asuna and Konoka in tow.
"He's such an idiot!" Asuna was saying as they walked, "he goes through all of this, and Eva's not even going to say thank you."
"Why does Eva need this?" Ako asked.
"Well, it's complicated," Konoka replied. She knew Ako knew about magic, since she had seen it first hand during summer break, but she still didn't know all that much about the class, especially Evangeline.
"She needs it to survive," Asuna said, "it's been that way for years. She doesn't tell anybody, and the boy genius here found out and wanted to help."
"Doesn't she normally get it?" Ako asked.
"I'm not totally sure," Asuna replied, "I know she's gotten it sometimes, but not like this."
Ako stopped walking.
"If she needs this, then maybe I can help," Ako said.
It was early evening before Eva woke up, and when she did, she knew she was in trouble. Her head was pounding, she felt like she was burning up, and her throat felt like she had swallowed ground glass. She sat up in bed, only to have the whole room to start spinning around.
"Great," she croaked, causing her throat to hurt even more, "I get the flu for a Christmas present."
The girl carefully got out of bed and made her way downstairs. Cranky or not, the girl vampire needed Chachamaru to bring her some medicine to get this illness under control.
She made it as far as half way down the stairs before she stumbled and fell the rest of the way. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was all of the dolls she kept around the cottage sitting in their places and staring at her.
It scared Ako to death to do it, but she went back and talked to the director, saying she wanted to do the same thing Negi had done, and for the same reason. The director told her that she too was too small to do it, but relented when she saw Ako's pleading eyes. Konoka and Asuna had returned with the girl after making sure Negi was safely being watched, and Asuna announced that as long as he was doing Ako, he should do her too. The director just shook his head as he called the nurse to prepare the room for two more procedures.
What Asuna and Konoka didn't know was that before she confronted the director, Ako had called her friend Akira Okochi and told her what she was going to do, also mentioning it was for Evangeline. This news started a classic game of Telegraph; one girl tells another girl something while accidentally (or on purpose) changing one piece of information. Ako told Akira that Evangeline needed it because she was sick. Akira told her friends that Ako was helping Evangeline, who was in the hospital. Those friends said Eva needed help, and she was about to die.
Before an hour was out, word got around to all the girls in class 3-A that Evangeline was fighting a life and death battle against mutant/alien/weaponized herpes, and if something wasn't done fast, she wouldn't see the dawn.
This caused the rest of the class to run down to the medical center and demand to help out. The medical staff told the director what was going on, and the man just shook his head. When he told Konoka, she said it was a good idea, and she was going to help out too. The healer just looked at her and said, "alright, but not until everyone else is done. That way, you will get a lot of practice in control while healing before you pass out."
The only one who didn't rush down was Chachamaru. Instead, she left Chachazero at Negi's dorm and went back to the cottage.
Evangeline woke up with a start. She was laying at the bottom of her stairs, looking out into her living room. Somehow, the room was decorated with Christmas decorations. There was a tree in one corner of the room, and a tallish man sitting in a chair across from the fireplace. He was wearing what looked like a red coat that went down to his ankles, with white cuffs and collar. He had a dark brown beard and hair, and he was wearing what looked like a wreath of holly on his head.
"That must have been a nasty fall," he said in a deep voice, "come over and sit down."
Eva jumped up and confronted the man. "Just who the hell do you think you are!" she shouted, "breaking into my house and trashing it!"
"Trash it? I did nothing of the sort," the man replied, "please, just have a seat."
"Then what's this?!" the girl exclaimed, yanking a rope of decorative pine from her wall.
"Just something to liven the room up," the man said, "it'll be gone soon, don't worry."
"You still haven't told me who you are," she said next, "you've got about one second before I call the fires of Hell down on you!"
"That would be quite a trick, given the barrier around this school," said the man, "as to who I am, don't you recognize me?"
"You look like the Ghost Of Christmas Present," Eva said, "and that doesn't help your case at all. I may not be able to use magic right now, but I can still beat the bejeezus out of you if you don't start talking!"
"Alright, alright," the man said, "I could be many things. I could be the Ghost Of Christmas Present, or Father Christmas, come early to give you a present. I could be just a crazy old man who stumbled upon your cottage and decided to make myself at home. Or, I could be something else altogether; say, a figment of your feverish imagination."
"Well, which is it?"
"Whatever makes you more comfortable," the man said, "now, please sit down. We have a lot to talk about."
By the time Negi felt well enough to head back to his dorm, the recovery room was filled with the other girls. To add to the confusion, Professor Takahata had come to visit, along with the Headmaster.
"Well, Negi-kun, you sure like stirring things up," Dean Konoe said when he walked in.
"Dono, I had no idea this would happen," Negi said in his defense, "I only wanted to give Eva-san something I knew she would like."
"Well, this should do the trick," the Dean replied, "although, how you convinced the others to help out is beyond me."
"I didn't do a thing," Negi said, "honest! I'm as surprised as you are."
"It's to help Eva-san get better," piped in Ako Izumi, "this will help her feel better, won't it?"
"Yes it will," said Professor Takahata, "but not quite in the way you think."
"Still," Ako said, but was interrupted by the Dean.
"No matter," said the Dean, "the director said that everyone is okay, so no real harm is done. I will see to it that Evangeline receives your generous gifts, and I assure you that she will be feeling better in no time. Thank you all very much for your caring."
"So, Eva, what's your problem with Christmas," the man asked.
"If you're a figment of my imagination, you know the answer already," Eva replied.
"But, since this is your dream," the man said, "you might as well say it."
"Alright. It's not just the blatant commercialism that goes on; I actually like how that happened. It's not even the fact that men preach love and giving at this time of year while they plot hatred and theft in their hearts the rest of the time. It's the fact that I am the perversion of everything that this season truly represents that galls me! This day and Easter, I'm reminded of just what an abomination I truly am! I must take the blood of others in order to live, and IT WASN'T MY CHOICE! Some bastard did this to me in my sleep, then left me to fend for myself. Do you know how many people I killed before my family drove me from my home? How many I drained in those first years just to survive?"
"You don't seem to have that problem now," the man said.
"I've learned to control the thirst to a great extent," Eva said, "although I did indulge a bit earlier this year. And I've been tasting Negi on a fairly regular basis."
"But you haven't turned him," the man said, "and you allowed him to cure the others. You could have prevented that, even in your weakened state."
"It didn't really matter," Eva said.
"I think it did," the man said, "you think yourself a monster. I really wonder if that's true any more."
"Do you want a list of the people I've killed over the centuries," Eva said, "or, how about the number of lives I've ruined. How about I just drain you dry to prove my point."
"Alright, I'll play your game. Name one person you've killed in the past year," the man asked.
"You know I haven't; I can't," Eva snapped.
"That's not true," said the man, "you yourself said you are perfectly capable of fighting without your magic, so you can strike someone down if you wanted to. I'll admit you've caused some problems for some people, but quite frankly, you've actually settled down since you've been here."
"Thanks, that's just what I need to hear," Eva said, "I'm getting weak in my old age."
"Not weak, wise," said the man, "I think that for the first time since you came here, you're actually starting to do what Nagi Springfield told you to do those many years ago."
"Live in the light? HA!"
"Maybe. But consider this: the son of the man who put you here willingly calls you master, and accepts your teachings. He willingly comes to you fairly well every day to get beaten and pounded into the dirt by your brutal training techniques. And, as a result, he is becoming one of the most powerful mages in existence; one that will soon surpass even you in strength. You could kill him at any time you wish, either by beating him to death, or by drinking all of his blood, but yet you don't. Why? We both know you won't turn him to evil; he's too self reflective for that. We also know that if you ever try any evil yourself, he will do his utmost to stop you. It will break his heart, but he will do it. So, why do you do it, Dark Evangel? Why forge the tool of your own destruction?"
Evangeline said nothing.
"I'll tell you why," the man said, "it's because you love him."
"Bullshit!" Eva exclaimed, "me, love that twerp! On the best of days he needs detailed instructions so he can tell his ass from a hole in the ground! He is so sweet that I almost have to take insulin just to be in the same room with him! Me, love him! HA!"
"Oh, you may not love him in the romantic sense, or even the erotic sense, though I think you're lying to yourself in both cases; but you do love him in the sense you want him prepared for what may come at him. I also think you love him because he reminds you of his father. And here's a little secret: he loves you too."
"What?"
"He loves you. Oh, not romantically or sexually, but he loves you just as much as he loves the rest of his class. He doesn't even understand that he loves everyone he does, but that doesn't stop him from charging to the ends of the earth to help them, or you. Even right now, he's putting himself at some risk, in the hope of making you happy this Christmas; even if it's just a little bit."
"What do you mean?" Eva asked.
"I don't want to spoil the surprise," the man said. He turned and took a look through the window, then said, "I see our time is about up. Don't be too worried about what I said. You opening yourself up to love is part of living in the light. Allow yourself to love them all, not just the boy. And let them love you. I think, in some ways, you have already, though grudgingly. I'm not asking for a complete turnaround like Dicken's Scrooge, just that you open up a little bit."
With that, the man got up to leave.
"Say," Evangeline said, "you never told me who you are."
"You haven't figured it out yet? I'm a figment of your imagination, your conscience. This is all a fever dream, and you are in a lot of trouble. I've been keeping your mind busy arguing with me so it doesn't try and shut your body down, killing you. Chachamaru has just about made her way back and she'll see to it you're treated. You should remember to thank her once you wake up."
"But, I can't die like that!" Eva said as the world faded out.
Evangeline woke to the sounds of equipment beeping. She opened her eyes a crack, but quickly closed them as the light hurt her eyes.
"Master, are you awake?" came Chachamaru's voice.
"Y-yes," Eva replied, "but the light hurts. Turn it off."
There was slight movement, the the world dimmed. Eva opened her eyes again and saw the room had been darkened. She looked about and saw she wasn't in her bedroom, or even her living room. She was in a hospital bed and her gynoid servant was standing next to it.
"When I heard the others saying you were ill, I rushed home," Chachamaru said, "I found you unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. I called and had the paramedics rush you to the hospital. The doctors and healing mages have been working on you since then."
"How long?" Eva asked.
"It's Christmas Eve," Chachamaru replied, "when you came in, your core temperature was fifty degrees Celsius. They had to put you in ice brine to bring your temperature down. Also, they gave you blood. That seemed to help turn the tide of the illness."
"That shouldn't have done a thing," Eva said, "it was just a cold or the flu."
"Evidently not," came another voice. Eva looked up and saw Dean Konoe walking into her room.
"I spoke at length with the director of the facility," the Dean said, "he doesn't know exactly what you had, but nothing he tried could get it under control; that is until we gave you blood."
"Anemia?" Eva asked.
"Not quite," replied the Dean, "I guess in some sense, vampires are all anemic, but it was more like you were starved for whatever human blood provides you. Forgive my forwardness, but you have been drinking blood, haven't you?"
"Yes," Eva replied, "in small amounts. If I took what I truly needed, there'd be bodies all over the place."
"Sill, I didn't know restricting you would be a factor in something like this," Dean Konoe said, "we're going to have to come to some kind of arrangement so you can get more blood on a regular basis. When I agreed to confine you here, I never meant to starve you."
"Well, that's just fine," Evangeline said, "what about right now?"
"Right now, I believe we have you covered, for a few days anyway," Dean Konoe said, "Negi, you all can come in now."
The door opened and in walked Negi Springfield and the rest of the Ala Alba. Negi walked over to the bed, a smile on his face, as he said, "I'm glad to see you're alright, Eva-san. When Chachamaru told me what had happened, I was afraid we might lose you."
"Something like this can't bring me down," Eva said, "and why should you care? With me gone, you can move in and take over my cottage. The Resort would be all yours."
"Eva, do you think that's the only reason we like you?" Asuna Kagurazaka said.
"Well, Negi? Aren't you going to give her your present?" asked the Dean.
"Oh yes." Negi reached into his coat and pulled out a small package, wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper.
"Merry Christmas, Eva," he told her.
Eva sat up in her bed and took the gift. She looked at it strangely a moment, then opened it up.
It was a unit of blood.
"What's this?" Eva asked, dumbfounded.
"It's blood," Negi replied, "I gave it earlier this week."
"Do you realize how much this is?" Eva exclaimed, "it's a pint! Coming from you, that's dangerous..."
Eva shut up as she remembered the conversation she had with the man in her dream.
"Evangeline, everyone told me the same thing," Negi said, "but it was the only thing I could think of to give you that you would truly appreciate. And I'm not the only one who did."
With that, the rest of the Ala Alba came up and offered Evangeline their own pints of blood.
"And just so you know, the rest of 3-A donated too," the Dean added, "that's what kept you alive these past few days."
Evangeline said nothing, but stared at the gathered group.
"Why?" she finally said, "why do this for me? I've done nothing but loathed you all since the day we came together. Why did you do it?"
"Because you're one of us," Asuna said, "the class heard that you needed blood, so they came in and gave it. And this was before we found out you really did need it."
"We just wanted to give you a gift from our hearts," Negi said, "to show you how much we care for you."