"Do you like it, Mikoto?"

Haruhime blushed a little as she stepped back to give her friend a better look. She clasped her hands and curled her tail. It took a moment for Mikoto to process the question as she admired the renard's Santa girl outfit.

"Eh? Oh, it look wonderful on you, Lady Haruhime!"

Haruhime relaxed and giggled. "I wonder what the others will think."

"I'm sure they'll love it!"

"I wish it at least came down to your knees." A small goddess entered the fray.

"L-Lady Hestia!" Mikoto blurted in surprise.

"It's alright Lady Hestia." Haruhime smiled and pulled another object out of the bag. "It comes with socks that come above the knee."

Hestia twitched. "I'm not sure that helps."

The renard looked at Hestia, smiling radiantly. The goddess returned a dubious look.

"Did you pick this outfit yourself?" Hestia inquired.

"No. It was a gift."

"From who?"

"Lady Aisha!"

The goddess clutched her forehead.

"I should have guessed. Well, at least it's not too…" Hestia's brow furled.

Haruhime cocked her head to one side. "Too?"

"Too erot…" Hestia stopped mid sentence and sighed. "You can wear it."

"Thank you, Lady Hestia!" The renard looked at Mikoto and smiled. "I'll try the socks on and then we can start to decorate! I want Santa to be amazed by how festive our home looks!"

Hestia gave Haruhime an odd look, then stopped when Mikoto, unbeknownst to the renard, held a finger to her lips for silence.

Mikoto turned to Haruhime. "Lady Haruhime, I must speak with Lady Aisha before we start decorating. Could I get you to pick up a few items for me after you try the socks on?"

"Alone?" Haruhime's tail curled again. "Even if I change back into my maid clothes, my tail always attracts so much attention. So many people have never seen a real renard before… it can be a bit stressful."

"Perhaps Sir Bell can accompany you?" Mikoto suggested. In the corner of her eye, she saw Hestia twitch again.

Haruhime's ears perked up. "An outing with Master Cranel?"

"Yes…"

Haruhime took a moment to process what she had been told and smiled. "That would be lovely! I'll go talk to him right now!"

When the renard left, Mikoto turned to her goddess sheepishly. "My apologies, Lady Hestia."

The goddess gritted her teeth. "It's fine. You said you wanted to have a familia meeting without Miss Haruhime? Perhaps you want us to discuss a present for her?"

Mikoto shuffled her feet nervously.

"In a way, yes."

A few minutes later, Mikoto again found herself shuffling nervously as she sat at the table with Hestia, Welf and Liliruca. Welf seemed flustered. Lili and Hestia did not look amused.

"What do you think you are wearing in my home?" Hestia inquired in a low voice.

Aisha stood before the table, clad in a Santa girl outfit far more revealing than Haruhime's. She shrugged and pulled out a chair. "An ordinary Santa girl outfit."

"Why?"

Aisha casually sat down. "I'm dressing up to match my cute little sister, of course."

"Lili would hardly say you are matching Lady Haruhime. Or dressing up."

"It's more than I usually wear." Aisha glanced around the room. "I don't see the little rookie."

"I sent him on an errand with Lady Haruhime." Mikoto replied.

"You wanted her to spend time with him?"

"That and get her out of the house." Mikoto cocked her head to one side. "Why else would I arrange for them to go out together?"

"If it was either of these two," Aisha gestured to Hestia and Lili. "I would think you did it to keep him away from me."

"And you don't believe I'd do such a thing?"

"You're a very straightforward girl. You wouldn't think to use such tactics." Aisha levelled her gaze. "And by the same token, if you were interested in him, I think I'd know."

"Did you come here just to try and seduce my child?" Hestia broke in.

Aisha met the goddess's gaze. "You have nothing to worry about. I want my cute little sister to have him first."

"First." Hestia's eye twitched.

Aisha sighed. "Yes, first. I want her to happy, and I also hope she's willing to share."

Hestia crossed her arms. "Is that why you gave Haruhime the Santa girl outfit? So she can seduce him?"

"Of course not. It's just a way for her to look cute. If I wanted to help her seduce him, I would have dressed her as a present, not Santa."

"As a present?"

"You know, dress her in a little bit of red ribbon?"

Hestia blinked, not quite comprehending.

"And absolutely nothing else."

"I think Lady Haruhime would find that very embarrassing." Mikoto interrupted. "Though, I'm sure she would look very beautiful."

Aisha looked at Mikoto with a bemused smile.

"Did I say something odd?" Mikoto asked, confused.

"No, of course not." Aisha turned back to Hestia. "I supposed I should explain my business in coming here today."

"Yes." Hestia's eyes narrowed. "You should."

"Mikoto and I want to give Haruhime a joyful Christmas to make up for the ones she missed while she was working in the pleasure quarter."

Hestia slowly let out a deep breath, lightly struck her fist against her chest, and then looked at Aisha confidently. "Well, I'm sure we can assist with that. I am a goddess of the hearth. You could say hospitality is my strong suit."

"It's not that simple. I want it to be a special experience for her."

"If your definition of special involves Bell's-"

"I can assure you it doesn't Lady Hestia." Mikoto interjected.

Hestia glanced at Mikoto then eyed the amazon with suspicion. "Then what do you want from us?"

Aisha too turned to Mikoto, who nodded. The amazon took a deep breath. "You know that Haruhime was very young when she was bought by Ishtar?"

"I surmised it but I didn't ask. I thought it would bring back painful memories for her."

"She was just a child. We made use of her power from time to time but otherwise she mostly kept to herself until she was old enough to work." The amazon looked at the table. "Even the pleasure quarter had a few Christmas celebrations that didn't involve debauchery, so when I noticed she hadn't come out to see them on her first Christmas in Orario, I went looking for her and found her crying. At first I thought she was just homesick, but she then explained to me she was familiar with the Orarian legend of Santa Claus and was upset that Santa hadn't visited her. She thought he was punishing her for eating her father's guest's offering."

Hestia found herself looking at the table. "That poor girl. I never knew."

"I told her she was a good girl and I was sure she'd make the nice list next year. And In the meantime, I offered to buy her a present, which she declined, and took the day off to cook a meal for her."

Mikoto was intrigued. "I never knew you could cook."

Aisha looked directly at Mikoto. "I can't."

A brief silence ensured.

"That sweet little fox pretended it was good anyway. So every year after that, I made sure to spend Christmas with her, and sneak in and leave her a few presents beforehand so she'd think she'd been good. Mostly books or little things I thought she would miss from home, since she would never tell me what she'd asked Santa for."

There was a sniffle, causing everyone to glance around.

"…Sorry. Something was bothering Lili's nose."

"I'm sure." Aisha couldn't quite suppress her smirk.

"You were quite dedicated to her, weren't you?" Hestia asked. "Perhaps I've misjudged you."

"I missed the best, most debauched Christmas parties the pleasure quarter had to offer five years in a row."

Another brief moment of silence ensued before Aisha continued as if she had said nothing.

"The problem is I don't think she bought it. She'd always be happy I spent Christmas with her, but I could sense sadness behind her smile too. Like she knew the presents were from me and I was just trying to make her feel better. I always worried she thought Santa didn't love her."

"Lili will admit your story is quite moving, Miss Aisha. But I'm at a bit of a loss as to what we you want us to do. It's not like we can go back to the time when Miss Haruhime still believed in Santa."

"That won't be a problem." Aisha replied.

"Why not?"

Aisha shot a look at Mikoto, who fidgeted nervously before replying for the Amazon.

"Haruhime kind of still believes in Santa."

The prum opened and closed her mouth several times. "W...wait. What? But she was a prostitute… a prostitute believing in Santa is-!"

"Absurd?" Aisha suggested.

"…Yes."

Aisha leaned on the armrest of her chair. "The other prostitutes expected me to explain it to her, okay? And I was never good at breaking hard truths to that dumb little fox. You wouldn't believe how many things I was supposed to teach her about being a prostitute that I just kind of… didn't."

"But it's Santa! What did her customers think?"

"When she got old enough to work, I told her not to discuss it with them because it could make her look childish."

"And the other prostitutes?"

"None of them wanted to be the one to break it to her either."

Lili looked around the room. "Are we really going to pretend Santa is real for Miss Haruhime's sake?"

Aisha sighed. "Look, I was prepared to finally have the talk with her. But Mikoto here convinced me. She thinks it will do wonders for Haruhime's confidence if she believes Santa considers her a good girl."

Lili looked around the table and grimaced. "I'm not good at this sappy stuff but... Lili will help too."

Mikoto looked around the table. Welf gave a quick thumbs up and Hestia nodded.

"I'm so grateful to all of you." Mikoto grew a radiant smile. "Let's make this experience as authentic as possible for Lady Haruhime!"

"As authentic as possible?" Lili inquired.

"I want to stage a visit from Santa for her."

Lili's jaw dropped for a moment, unsure how to respond.

"I like the idea." Hestia stated. "These sorts of opportunities are all too rare."

"Thank you, Lady Hestia." Mikoto bowed her head.

"I guess that leaves the matter of who is going to play Santa." Welf spoke up.

The four women looked at him.

"Hang on. I don't exactly have the physique for it."

"And you think one of us does or Bell does?" Hestia inquired.

"I actually think you'd be rather good at it." Welf replied.

Hestia paused for a moment before replying in a low voice. "How so?"

"Well…" Welf trailed off, but continued when the goddess continued to stare at him. "Santa is supposed to be short and round right? You're short and a bit plush."

Hestia glared at him. "No."

Welf glanced around then looked down at the table. "I… guess I could play Santa Claus, then." He laughed nervously.

"Thank you, Sir Welf." Mikoto smiled. "Now I just have to get Haruhime's presents and teach you how to rappel down the chimney."

"Rappel?"

"How else would Santa visit?"

"But what if I get stuck?"

"You won't. I measured already."

"That's terrifying. And what about the fire?"

"That won't be an issue either." Mikoto took a bag out from under the table. "Aisha and I located a shop that rents enchanted, fireproof Santa outfits precisely for this purpose. It is even designed so soot wicks right off as you go."

Welf gave a pained expression. "Is that my size?"

"It is. If you remember that time I helped mend some of your clothes, I took measurements then."

The blacksmith bit his lip. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

"Ouka personally recommended you for the role. He wanted to help because of everything Lady Haruhime did for us when we were children, but thought you'd be a more appropriate choice than him since his size and far eastern features would be a giveaway."

"I don't think that's why he didn't want to do it." Welf winced. "But as long as this costume really is fireproof, I'll give it a try.

"Excellent." Aisha stood. "I know you all have decorating to do so I won't keep you." She walked around the table and stopped next to Welf. "When you have a moment free, come find me. I'll need to give you some advice on what to say to Haruhime."

With that, she slipped out of the room, taking no notice of the glares Hestia and Lili shot at her.