Twas the night before Christmas. . . or, as Kagome thought, one of the
most boring days of the year. Knowing full well that tomorrow there would
be presents and games and fun, there just was nothing that one could do on
this Christmas eve day that would even be worth doing. So Kagome sighed,
and sat at her desk, and played with her pencil, and doodled little
Inuyasha heads with Santa caps on them and then she realized. . .
Inuyasha and all of her friends back in the past probably didn't get to celebrate Christmas like she did. They probably spent their Christmas day just like any other - hunting demons, gathering the shards of the jewel, and, of course, arguing over who got to have the last piece of bread or something like that.
Well, this didn't sit well with Kagome at well, of course. . . and so she decided to give Inuyasha and company a perfect Christmas. At least, it had to be less boring than sitting around doing nothing.
"Mom, I'm going out!" Kagome yelled as she ran outside and to the shrine. She jumped into the well, and went back into time.
~~~
"Kagome is here!" The adorable fox demon known as Shippou ran into the room where Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku were having lunch.
"Back so soon?" wondered Sango out loud, "I thought she said tomorrow was an important day and she wouldn't be able to come visit for a bit because of that."
Miroku used this distraction to steal some of Inuyasha's bread. It was delicious bread. More so because it was stolen. From Inuyasha.
And while he was thinking about this, Inuyasha grabbed the bread back and shoved it in his own mouth. They glared at each other for a moment before -
"Inuyasha! I'm back!" Kagome said happily.
Inuyasha and Miroku turned to look at Kagome. She was dressed in her normal school outfit, but her hair was tied back with a big green bow and she had a bag full of. . .stuff with her.
"What's up, Kagome?" Miroku said, stepping right in front of her. "Why are you back so soon?"
Kagome smiled brightly. "Merry Christmas Eve Day everyone!"
"Wow, Kagome! What does that mean?" Shippou asked, not sure what Kagome had just said.
"Tomorrow is Christmas you guys! And I'm going to help you celebrate!"
"Chree-si-tmas?" Inuyasha stumbled over the new word.
"No, Christmas," Kagome corrected. "It's a holiday where everyone gives each other gifts and there is happiness and joy and presents and lots of food and -"
She went on and on while everyone looked at her in amazement.
"Presents?" Shippou asked, eyes wide.
"Food?" Inuyasha asked.
"Yup!" Kagome smiled, and then dumped out the contents of her bag out on to the ground. Candy canes, wrapping paper, presents, and all sorts of things like that came spilling out.
Shippou picked up a candy cane. He sniffed it tentatively, "It smells good. . .what is it?"
"That's a candy cane, try it," Kagome replied. Shippou tasted the red and white striped candy stick.
"Yum!" He said, smiling and proceeded to lick at it.
"What's this bright paper for?" Miroku asked, picking up a sheet of wrapping paper that had a green and gold striped pattern on it.
"You wrap up presents in that," Kagome replied, showing the wrapped gifts on the floor. "And then you put them under the tree."
"The tree?"
"Yup! We're going to go get one right now!"
~~~
And ten minutes later, they all found themselves staring up a large pine tree in the middle of the forest. Kagome pointed to it, and told Inuyasha, "Here, cut this down."
Inuyasha looked at her like she was crazy, but shrugged, and flexed his fingers, proceeding to cut down the tree with amazing precision. He looked at Kagome, to see what he had to do next.
~~~
Inuyasha grumbled as he finally pulled the tree into the room. He shouldn't have asked.
~~~
Within an hour, everyone had gotten the hang of decorating the tree, and it was starting to look very nice with beads and lights and coloured ornaments.
"It's so pretty!" Sango said, laughing at Shippou tried to put a star decoration at the top of the tree, and promptly fell off the tree and on to Miroku's head. Sango went over to Miroku and gently pushed Shippou off . . . if you can call pushing him hard enough that he feel down to the ground at quite an angle gentle. . .
"What are you laughing at?" Miroku said suddenly, looking at Kagome.
"Look up," Kagome smiled.
"What is it?" Sango asked, looking up with Miroku.
"It's mistletoe," Kagome said, "And the tradition is. when two people are standing under the mistletoe, they have to kiss."
At that instant, Sango blushed a faint shade of red, and Miroku coughed slightly, tilting his head to the side.
Shippou watched in awe until Kagome pulled him away so that Sango and Miroku could share a quick kiss.
"Now what?" Inuyasha asked loudly. He was bored. So there was a tree with lots of decorations up in the corner of the room, and there was this mistletoe stuff hanging from the ceiling, and a sign that said 'Merry Christmas', but he still didn't get it.
"Well," Kagome said, "Now I'm going to put presents under the tree for you guys, and tomorrow morning you can open them, because it'll be Christmas."
"Even one for me?" Inuyasha said before he could stop.
"Of course." Kagome laughed. "You guys have to promise not to open them until tomorrow, Shippou!"
Shippou looked up guiltily from where he had sneaked to under the tree to get his present. "Alright Kagome, I promise."
"Me too, of course," Sango said.
"And me, as well," Miroku added quickly, with a glance at Shippou.
Kagome looked at Inuyasha expectantly.
"Why would I wanna open some random box anyway?" grumped Inuyasha, but the glare that earned him from Kagome made him quickly amend, "But I'll open it tomorrow."
"Great!" Kagome laughed. "Ok you guys! I've gotta go now, and get ready for tomorrow. But I'll see you all fairly soon. Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas," everyone else replied, waving happily to Kagome as she left.
~~~
"So what do you think it is?" Miroku said quietly as he prodded the box. It was dark out, well after the sun set, but not yet morning.
"I don't know," Shippou whispered.
They poked at their gifts almost as they expected them to burst into flame at any moment.
"Christmas sounds like a very fun holiday though, doesn't it?" Shippou added after a moment. "I think we should celebrate it a lot after this."
"It was certainly nice of Kagome to introduce this to us," Miroku agreed.
"And it was certainly nice of you two to go against your word to Kagome," said a voice, in a tone that made Miroku shiver. Slowly, he and Shippou turned around to stare right into Inuyasha's face.
"Well . . . that is . . . we were . . . it is . . ." Shippou stuttered, not sure what to say.
"Well, what are YOU doing here?" Miroku retorted.
Inuyasha opened his mouth. He paused, and then closed it. He opened it again and then finally shook his head and glared. "It's not important."
"You were going to look at your gift too!" Shippou crowed in amusement.
The three of them stared at each other in the darkness.
"You three better not be doing what I think you're doing!" Came Sango's voice quite suddenly. Sango entered the room to see Shippou, Inuyasha and Miroku standing in the opposite corner of the three, pretending to be very interested in the floor.
"Of course not," muttered Inuyasha.
"Back to bed, all of you!" Sango ordered, pointing out the door. Sullenly, the three of them walked out, shoulders slumped over.
~~~
Kagome woke up the next morning feeling happy. "I'm glad I introduced Christmas to them. They all seemed to be having a really good time." She paused and laughed, "Even Inuyasha."
"Kagome, let's go open presents!" Souta said happily, coming in to wake up Kagome.
"In a moment, I'll be right down," Kagome replied.
"Ok, go quickly!" her brother said, leaving the room and running downstairs.
Kagome got up and put on a red dress with green trim, smiling to herself as she went downstairs. Surely in the past they would have as much fun as she was going to have.
~~~
"So we just open them, right?" Shippou said.
"Yes, I think so," Sango replied.
"Yay!" Shippou said, ripping open the paper to find a box with a new hair bow in it, and a bunch of candy. "Wow!"
Sango opened her box to find a pretty dress, with a matching hair band, and sandals. "It's so pretty . . ."
Miroku had gotten a package of cookies and some manga, on topics he was sure to appreciate.
There was also a present for all of them, and when they opened it, they found a small cake. A small fruitcake to be exact. And a note from Kagome.
'Don't actually eat this! This is for decoration. It is called a fruitcake, and there's a whole tradition to these too, and I'll explain it when I get a chance, but trust me, this isn't actually edible!
Love, Kagome'
Miroku read the note out loud, but it was too late; Shippou had already tried to take a bite out of the rather interesting looking cake. He almost immediately spit it out and wrinkled his nose up. "Ewww! Kagome should have warned us sooner."
Everyone looked at Inuyasha, who was now partially covered in fruitcake.
"What did Kagome get you?" Miroku asked.
"I'm. . . not quite sure what it is. . ." Inuyasha muttered, holding up a deep red Santa hat.
"It's a hat," Sango said, "Try it on, I guess."
Inuyasha did, and it fit perfectly. It even had little holes for his ears.
"Well, it matches your outfit," laughed Shippou.
"It looks nice," Sango offered.
Inuyasha just shook his head, and looked at the card Kagome had gave him. In the very corner, there was a doodle of something. He looked at it closely.
It was a picture of him in the Santa hat, standing under some of that mistletoe stuff, with Kagome next to him. He looked up quickly to make sure no one else was looking, and then put the card into the sleeve of his outfit to keep it safe.
He looked up at the mistletoe above him, and smiled.
THE END
~~~
Mystrana: "Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone!"
Inuyasha and all of her friends back in the past probably didn't get to celebrate Christmas like she did. They probably spent their Christmas day just like any other - hunting demons, gathering the shards of the jewel, and, of course, arguing over who got to have the last piece of bread or something like that.
Well, this didn't sit well with Kagome at well, of course. . . and so she decided to give Inuyasha and company a perfect Christmas. At least, it had to be less boring than sitting around doing nothing.
"Mom, I'm going out!" Kagome yelled as she ran outside and to the shrine. She jumped into the well, and went back into time.
~~~
"Kagome is here!" The adorable fox demon known as Shippou ran into the room where Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku were having lunch.
"Back so soon?" wondered Sango out loud, "I thought she said tomorrow was an important day and she wouldn't be able to come visit for a bit because of that."
Miroku used this distraction to steal some of Inuyasha's bread. It was delicious bread. More so because it was stolen. From Inuyasha.
And while he was thinking about this, Inuyasha grabbed the bread back and shoved it in his own mouth. They glared at each other for a moment before -
"Inuyasha! I'm back!" Kagome said happily.
Inuyasha and Miroku turned to look at Kagome. She was dressed in her normal school outfit, but her hair was tied back with a big green bow and she had a bag full of. . .stuff with her.
"What's up, Kagome?" Miroku said, stepping right in front of her. "Why are you back so soon?"
Kagome smiled brightly. "Merry Christmas Eve Day everyone!"
"Wow, Kagome! What does that mean?" Shippou asked, not sure what Kagome had just said.
"Tomorrow is Christmas you guys! And I'm going to help you celebrate!"
"Chree-si-tmas?" Inuyasha stumbled over the new word.
"No, Christmas," Kagome corrected. "It's a holiday where everyone gives each other gifts and there is happiness and joy and presents and lots of food and -"
She went on and on while everyone looked at her in amazement.
"Presents?" Shippou asked, eyes wide.
"Food?" Inuyasha asked.
"Yup!" Kagome smiled, and then dumped out the contents of her bag out on to the ground. Candy canes, wrapping paper, presents, and all sorts of things like that came spilling out.
Shippou picked up a candy cane. He sniffed it tentatively, "It smells good. . .what is it?"
"That's a candy cane, try it," Kagome replied. Shippou tasted the red and white striped candy stick.
"Yum!" He said, smiling and proceeded to lick at it.
"What's this bright paper for?" Miroku asked, picking up a sheet of wrapping paper that had a green and gold striped pattern on it.
"You wrap up presents in that," Kagome replied, showing the wrapped gifts on the floor. "And then you put them under the tree."
"The tree?"
"Yup! We're going to go get one right now!"
~~~
And ten minutes later, they all found themselves staring up a large pine tree in the middle of the forest. Kagome pointed to it, and told Inuyasha, "Here, cut this down."
Inuyasha looked at her like she was crazy, but shrugged, and flexed his fingers, proceeding to cut down the tree with amazing precision. He looked at Kagome, to see what he had to do next.
~~~
Inuyasha grumbled as he finally pulled the tree into the room. He shouldn't have asked.
~~~
Within an hour, everyone had gotten the hang of decorating the tree, and it was starting to look very nice with beads and lights and coloured ornaments.
"It's so pretty!" Sango said, laughing at Shippou tried to put a star decoration at the top of the tree, and promptly fell off the tree and on to Miroku's head. Sango went over to Miroku and gently pushed Shippou off . . . if you can call pushing him hard enough that he feel down to the ground at quite an angle gentle. . .
"What are you laughing at?" Miroku said suddenly, looking at Kagome.
"Look up," Kagome smiled.
"What is it?" Sango asked, looking up with Miroku.
"It's mistletoe," Kagome said, "And the tradition is. when two people are standing under the mistletoe, they have to kiss."
At that instant, Sango blushed a faint shade of red, and Miroku coughed slightly, tilting his head to the side.
Shippou watched in awe until Kagome pulled him away so that Sango and Miroku could share a quick kiss.
"Now what?" Inuyasha asked loudly. He was bored. So there was a tree with lots of decorations up in the corner of the room, and there was this mistletoe stuff hanging from the ceiling, and a sign that said 'Merry Christmas', but he still didn't get it.
"Well," Kagome said, "Now I'm going to put presents under the tree for you guys, and tomorrow morning you can open them, because it'll be Christmas."
"Even one for me?" Inuyasha said before he could stop.
"Of course." Kagome laughed. "You guys have to promise not to open them until tomorrow, Shippou!"
Shippou looked up guiltily from where he had sneaked to under the tree to get his present. "Alright Kagome, I promise."
"Me too, of course," Sango said.
"And me, as well," Miroku added quickly, with a glance at Shippou.
Kagome looked at Inuyasha expectantly.
"Why would I wanna open some random box anyway?" grumped Inuyasha, but the glare that earned him from Kagome made him quickly amend, "But I'll open it tomorrow."
"Great!" Kagome laughed. "Ok you guys! I've gotta go now, and get ready for tomorrow. But I'll see you all fairly soon. Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas," everyone else replied, waving happily to Kagome as she left.
~~~
"So what do you think it is?" Miroku said quietly as he prodded the box. It was dark out, well after the sun set, but not yet morning.
"I don't know," Shippou whispered.
They poked at their gifts almost as they expected them to burst into flame at any moment.
"Christmas sounds like a very fun holiday though, doesn't it?" Shippou added after a moment. "I think we should celebrate it a lot after this."
"It was certainly nice of Kagome to introduce this to us," Miroku agreed.
"And it was certainly nice of you two to go against your word to Kagome," said a voice, in a tone that made Miroku shiver. Slowly, he and Shippou turned around to stare right into Inuyasha's face.
"Well . . . that is . . . we were . . . it is . . ." Shippou stuttered, not sure what to say.
"Well, what are YOU doing here?" Miroku retorted.
Inuyasha opened his mouth. He paused, and then closed it. He opened it again and then finally shook his head and glared. "It's not important."
"You were going to look at your gift too!" Shippou crowed in amusement.
The three of them stared at each other in the darkness.
"You three better not be doing what I think you're doing!" Came Sango's voice quite suddenly. Sango entered the room to see Shippou, Inuyasha and Miroku standing in the opposite corner of the three, pretending to be very interested in the floor.
"Of course not," muttered Inuyasha.
"Back to bed, all of you!" Sango ordered, pointing out the door. Sullenly, the three of them walked out, shoulders slumped over.
~~~
Kagome woke up the next morning feeling happy. "I'm glad I introduced Christmas to them. They all seemed to be having a really good time." She paused and laughed, "Even Inuyasha."
"Kagome, let's go open presents!" Souta said happily, coming in to wake up Kagome.
"In a moment, I'll be right down," Kagome replied.
"Ok, go quickly!" her brother said, leaving the room and running downstairs.
Kagome got up and put on a red dress with green trim, smiling to herself as she went downstairs. Surely in the past they would have as much fun as she was going to have.
~~~
"So we just open them, right?" Shippou said.
"Yes, I think so," Sango replied.
"Yay!" Shippou said, ripping open the paper to find a box with a new hair bow in it, and a bunch of candy. "Wow!"
Sango opened her box to find a pretty dress, with a matching hair band, and sandals. "It's so pretty . . ."
Miroku had gotten a package of cookies and some manga, on topics he was sure to appreciate.
There was also a present for all of them, and when they opened it, they found a small cake. A small fruitcake to be exact. And a note from Kagome.
'Don't actually eat this! This is for decoration. It is called a fruitcake, and there's a whole tradition to these too, and I'll explain it when I get a chance, but trust me, this isn't actually edible!
Love, Kagome'
Miroku read the note out loud, but it was too late; Shippou had already tried to take a bite out of the rather interesting looking cake. He almost immediately spit it out and wrinkled his nose up. "Ewww! Kagome should have warned us sooner."
Everyone looked at Inuyasha, who was now partially covered in fruitcake.
"What did Kagome get you?" Miroku asked.
"I'm. . . not quite sure what it is. . ." Inuyasha muttered, holding up a deep red Santa hat.
"It's a hat," Sango said, "Try it on, I guess."
Inuyasha did, and it fit perfectly. It even had little holes for his ears.
"Well, it matches your outfit," laughed Shippou.
"It looks nice," Sango offered.
Inuyasha just shook his head, and looked at the card Kagome had gave him. In the very corner, there was a doodle of something. He looked at it closely.
It was a picture of him in the Santa hat, standing under some of that mistletoe stuff, with Kagome next to him. He looked up quickly to make sure no one else was looking, and then put the card into the sleeve of his outfit to keep it safe.
He looked up at the mistletoe above him, and smiled.
THE END
~~~
Mystrana: "Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone!"