Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou kara Maou.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! (And sorry about the wait, lol. I just realized I set this story around Christmas time, since that's when I started writing it. And at the rate I update, I'll probably finish it around Christmas time. *is shot*)

After the passing of a long morose time,

His Majesty's imminent return draws near.

Oh ring the bell, sound the chime,

Gather the townsfolk in the square,

Let no basin, washroom, fountain or latrine,

Go unwatched, in anticipation of the glorious,

Majestic return, of His Majesty, the Demon King!

-The Jubilation of Günter from His Royal Majesty King Yuuri Shibuya, 27th Maou of Shin Makoku Shines like the Sun Even when he Leaves His Most Faithful Servant Behind Once Again by Günter von Kleist.

Günter paused after writing a particularly well crafted line in his work. "Oh Majesty," he whispered to himself. "If only I could write epic poetry that was worthy of your elegance."

Günter placed his quill to the page and-

*KA-BOOM!*

The entire castle shook with the force of the explosion, knocking over Günter's inkwell, and destroying five hours of work. Normally he respected the mad inventor's genius, but this? Now? Everyone knew Lord von Kleist was hard at work, compiling a book of epic poetry for the Maou. She should have the decency to warn him before randomly exploding things. He angrily stood up and marched down to Anissina's lab.

Blue, green, and purple tinged smoke curled through the castle hallways near the infamous Poison Lady's laboratory of horrors, but Günter pushed valiantly through, coughing and choking on the fumes.

"Anissina!" Günter shouted. "Anissina! What is the meaning of this?"

Anissina emerged from the smoke, wearing protective goggles and a gas mask. "Oh, hello Günter. Did you come here to watch the demonstration?"

"Demonstration?"

"Yes, it's for Princess Greta's sleepover."

"Sleepover?" Günter looked down to see a bunch of children, clad in protective goggles, lab coats and miniature gas masks running about the lab. He could identify Renji von Wincott holding a dangerous invention that looked like a weapon, Beatrice was pouring colored liquid down the sink, and…was that Greta hanging from a light fixture?

"Anissina," Günter scolded. "It's irresponsible to explode his Majesty's castle while he is on an important journey. And even more irresponsible to endanger the princess with such crass explosive experiments."

"I'm not endangered, this is fun!" shouted Greta, swinging around on the ceiling and dodging as Renji fired a laser gun at her.

"Okay kids," Anissina said with a maniacal glint in her eye. "Günter volunteered to show us the importance of having a live test subject when studying maryoku."

"Yay!" they chorused.

Günter turned and ran. "Oh Majesty, I've failed you!" he wailed as Renji von Wincott shot him with a laser gun.

There was one phrase Yuuri had heard often, during the winter months. Wow, your mom really likes western holidays, doesn't she? At first, when he was younger, he thought they were just jealous of the towering tangle of lights that covered his house, or the oversized pine tree stuffed into his living room, or the numerous angel costumes that she would make. But then, as he grew older and more socially conscious, he realized that her obsession was not quite normal. And now Yuuri always faced the approaching holidays with a sense of impending doom, wondering what new way his mother would discover to humiliate him.

At least this year, his friends from Shin Makoku were here to suffer along with him. Strangely enough, it didn't seem like they were suffering. Conrad happily cleaned the entire house until it sparkled as much as Miko's eyes. Piles of exquisitely baked sugar cookies and fruit cakes filled the kitchen. Gwendal sat at the table with a faint blush covering his cheeks as Miko taught him how to make tiny snowmen out of marshmallows.

Suddenly, Miko stood up from the table and shouted, "Let's put up Christmas lights, everyone!"

"Mom," Yuuri protested. "They've already done a lot of work for you."

"It's Mama, Yuu-chan. And stop being such a grinch."

"Nonsense, Shibuya, this is fun," Murata said while dragging an oversized box of Christmas decorations from a storage closet.

"Yes," Conrad agreed while untangling a batch of multi-colored lights. "It's always fun to learn more about Earth culture."

Gwendal made a "Mph." sound, but helped his brother get started with the lights.

Miko picked up the phone and started dialing. "Let's invite José over so it can be more like a party!"

Wolfram marched over and folded his arms. "Yuuri! Get over here and have fun with me and my brothers." He reached down into the box of lights and yanked a tangle of wires and colorful bulbs out.

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear Lord Wolfram say something like that," Murata quipped.

"Murata..." Yuuri groaned.

"Yuuri," Wolfram said insistently, "I can't get these untangled." Wolfram yanked harder on the wires until the glass shattered and crinkled onto the floor.

"Oh geez." Yuuri ran over to help Wolfram. "You're supposed to untangle the wires gently, not pull them and mash the bulbs." Yuuri picked up another bunch of lights to demonstrate. "See?"

"But they won't untangle!" Wolfram raged, mashing the rest of his lights in frustration on the floor.

"Wolf-chan," Miko said, "If you're having trouble untangling the lights, maybe you'd rather make hot chocolate for everyone with me."

Wolfram grumbled, but followed her into the kitchen.

"Oh great. Now we'll all get food poisoning."

"I HEARD THAT, WIMP!"

"Wolfram's cooking isn't that bad," Conrad said as he and Gwendal perfectly strung up a set of lights over the window. "He just needs practice."

"And patience," Gwendal muttered under his breath.

"I HEARD THAT TOO!"

.

Afterwards, they all sat in the living room, drinking hot chocolate.

Conrad smiled. "I think today was a very en-lightening experience."

José laughed, Wolfram frowned, and Yuuri and Murata groaned.

"Yuu-chan," Miko said. "It was so nice that your friends from Shin Makoku could visit during this time of year." Lights covered every possible surface, from the ceiling to the baseboards. "This is the best Christmas ever!"

Shouri slunk down into the room to get some hot chocolate. "My computer keeps freezing up and crashing at random times," he complained.

Murata grinned surreptitiously. "Maybe it's cold, and that's why your computer is freezing."

Wolfram frowned and opened his mouth to speak. "But when that computer a-"

Murata cut him off with a hand over his mouth.

Shouri sipped his hot chocolate and glared at Murata. "I think you know more than you are telling, friend of my brother."

Murata stared back and grinned impishly. "Are you sure you didn't accidentally download a virus, brother of my friend? Some of those adult websites you visit are full of Trojans, and not the kind you buy from the store."

Shouri turned red and spewed out hot chocolate through his nose.

"Sho-chan!" Miko scolded. "Don't play around with your drink, it's disgusting. And stop downloading adult videos onto your computer. It's inappropriate. People will think you want to become a hikiomori."

Shouri scowled and mumbled an apology, before slinking off to his room to sulk.

.

"Oh, I almost forgot something." Miko stood up and ran to the table. "Sho-chan, come get your mail."

Murata sat up and looked tense.

Shouri slunk into the living room once more, and opened the bill. Then he tensed up, and all the color drained from his face. He started imperceptibly shaking.

"Okay guys," Murata said while grabbing Yuuri and Wolfram by the arm and running towards the bathroom. "Who wants to go back to Shin Makoku?"

"Murata, what are you doing?" Yuuri hissed.

"Saving our lives, Shibuya," Murata whispered back. "Your brother just received his credit card bill.

"What did you buy?" Yuuri asked.

"Ask your fiancé."

"…I don't even want to know."

Then Yuuri, Wolfram, Conrad, Murata, Gwendal, Miko and José all jumped into the bathtub just as they heard Shouri's anguished scream of rage.

To be continued...