Feliz Natal

Disclaimer: Characters and premise are the property of Kazue Kato. I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.

Notes: Think of this as either an extended teaser or a promise: I am thinking about Yukio, but I'm waiting to see what happens with Shura in the current arc of the manga because I'm hoping I can incorporate it. After this chapter I plan to switch to Mephisto backstory while I stall.

Summary: What Yukio got up to over the twelve days of Christmas while Rin was becoming the King of Fire.

Prologue: Happy Birthday

Yukio checked his cellphone, it was fully charged and he had three bars coverage. That morning he'd told Shura and Rene not to call after one in the afternoon unless it was an emergency. It was December 26, 1:00 PM in Rio de Janeiro and it was December 27, 12:00 AM in Tokyo.

As he went about his day, Yukio kept a close eye on his phone. When it rang at four he tore his jacket pocket scrambling for it only to see Shura's name on the display. "This had better be an emergency," Yukio growled.

"I just got a mission," Shura said. "Probably won't have time to do grocery shopping tonight."

Yukio hung up.

Shura called back. "I know you're getting take-out. If you go to that Puerto Rican place remember to save me some of the sweet plantains, not the fried ones."

"Shura, get the fuck off my phone," Yukio snapped. Her laughter was the last thing he heard as he hung up a second time.

Yukio glanced down at Kit who was staring up at him wide-eyed. "Don't repeat that," he said and tried not to remember how many times Shiro had said the same thing to him once he started going on mission with his foster father. Yukio could only remember Shiro ever swearing in the middle of firefights, the last vestige of a bad habit that he hadn't quite been able to kick. Still, Yukio found he'd managed to pick up the habit, although in his case it was over-exposure to Shura not battles that tended to bring it out.

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that the call Yukio had desperately hoping for came. "Happy birthday Rin," he exclaimed in a rush while trying to keep his voice hushed to avoid waking Kit up.

"Happy birthday Yukio," Rin replied warmly. "I know it's early but if I'd waited any longer I'd be cutting Cram School classes, then Bon and Izumo'd figure out I called you. So how are you doing?"

A strained chuckle escaped Yukio as he slipped through the apartment. "I don't even know where to start," he said. As he crossed the living room he waved for Rene to go back to sleep. Rene smiled seeing the phone in Yukio's hand and knowing the call his cousin had been waiting for all day had come. He rolled over on his futon and pulled his blanket up over his head as Yukio let himself out the front door.

"How'd you spend Christmas?" Rin suggested, picking the first innocuous topic that crossed his mind. Then he couldn't help adding, "You did go to Mass right?"

"Actually I did," Yukio said defensively in response to the faint trace of scolding in Rin's voice. He climbed up the fire-escape to the roof and sat down leaning against the low wall surrounding the roof.

"So what else did you do?" Rin asked.

"Well, first, we have a cousin. On Mother's side," Yukio began.

"Seriously?" Rin asked.

"You wouldn't believe how much he looks like you," Yukio said. "And you've got a nephew."

He heard a clatter as Rin dropped his phone. After a few moments there was the sound of scrabbling. Yukio realized that Rin was probably on one of the roofs at the True Cross Academy and was likely trying to rescue his phone before it plunged to its doom.

"Yukio!" Rin exclaimed once he'd recovered his phone. "You took notes when Dad gave us The Talk! You always take notes."

"I adopted Kit! He's four!" Yukio exclaimed. "Like Father Shiro adopted us!"

"Oh," Rin said. Then a moment later, "Oh! Um…"

"Kit's a three-quarters," Yukio confirmed.

"And you're okay with that?" Rin asked.

"Yeah," Yukio said. "I'm sorry. Again. You know everything I said to you was a lie because I thought it would let me control you so I could protect you."

"I know," Rin said warily.

Yukio could hear him waiting for the fight that had ended their last conversation to break out again. "If anyone ever bother to test us on emotional intelligence I'd be the one struggling to get two digit scores," he said. "I really am sorry."

"Okay," Rin replied. "And if you still have those notes could you mail them to me? Mephisto-ni's threatening to teach sex-ed and um… God help me NO!"

"I can't," Yukio said shortly. "You can call me but if I try to contact you it won't work all thanks to Mephisto-ni." There was a distinct sneer in Yukio's voice when he added the honorific to Mephisto's name.

Rin sighed. "If you want to send letters, I think it might work if you send them to Angel and ask him to pass them on to me. He still thought I should have been executed when Mephisto was really mad at you, so whatever he did probably won't stop you from contacting Angel. Um… Angel's sort of overbearing, he'll probably read anything you send before passing it on, but he's a likely loop-hole."

"Since when did you start thinking about stuff like that?" Yukio asked in surprise.

"Since I have to," Rin snapped. "Thanks to you."

"Don't hang up!" Yukio exclaimed knowing he had no right to ask but asking anyway.

For several minutes Rin didn't say anything.

Yukio held his breath, waiting.

"So um, Christmas with our cousin and my nephew?" Rin asked finally.

Yukio let out a shuddering sigh. For another few moments he was too relieved to talk. "Rene grew-up in Rio," he started once he'd collected himself. "Did you know they build this huge floating Christmas Tree…"