disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

Chapter 1

There have been a lot of stories about Christmas over the years; most of them involve someone unusual filling in the annual duties of Santa Claus. This is one of those stories; it stars two young wolf demons from a time long ago, before anyone in Japan had even heard about Christmas. The only reason Ginta and Hakkaku were able to learn about the holiday was because Kagome had experienced it firsthand in the present and told them about it when December came around.

The two were out hunting rabbits one day, when Kagome passed by on her bicycle wearing an unusual hat. "Excuse me Miss Kagome, but what's up with that strange looking hat on your head?" Asked Ginta. "Oh, this is my Christmas hat" Kagome replied, "Since I can't be with my family this time of year, a made one in honor of the season." Both Ginta and Hakkaku were overcome with curiosity, and they asked the young priestess what this strange unheard-of holiday was like. It was a little difficult for her at first, but Kagome explained all the customs and traditions of Christmas to the two yokai. By the time she was finished, Ginta and Hakkaku were completely entranced by the holiday, but Hakkaku noticed that Kagome had removed the hat from her head and was looking at it with a sad look on her face. "You miss your mom and little brother a lot, don't you?" He asked sympathetically. "Yeah, I do" Kagome answered, "especially around Christmas time. Every time I think about going back to surprise them, something comes up that prevents me from doing so." Ginta and Hakkaku couldn't help feeling sorry for Kagome, but suddenly an idea popped into Ginta's head. "Say! If you can't go home to spend Christmas with your family, why don't we bring Christmas here to you? We'll throw a big Christmas party and invite everyone we know. We'll exchange presents, sing carols, everyone will have a great time." At first, Kagome thought he was just trying to cheer her up, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. "You know what, that's actually a great idea" she said with increasing enthusiasm. "You go and tell Koga & Ayame to meet Inuyasha & me at our house on the 24th. I'll go get Sango & Miruko to help us decorate and be sure to tell them about the gift exchange." She then hopped back on her bike and rode away before the pair could say anything else. Which was somewhat unfortunate for Hakkaku, as he was still a little on the fence about this whole Christmas party idea.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Ginta?" He asked; "I want Miss Kagome to be happy as much as you do, but where are we going to find presents for Teya & Yumi and everyone else?" "Relax" Ginta replied, "the 24th is two weeks away, that's plenty of time to find or buy special presents for our mates at least. Everyone else will take care of everyone else." Hakkaku wasn't completely convinced, but he agreed with his brother, and the two made their way back to Koga to tell him all about the impending Christmas party. However, as the day of the party approached, Ginta became less and less confident that they could find the right gifts for their mates. Whatever gifts they did find, he would dismiss as being not "special" enough for Yumi and Teya; by the time Christmas Eve came around they were still empty handed, and in a state of complete panic. "What are we going to do now Hakkaku!?" Ginta shouted; "don't ask me!" Hakkaku shouted back; "we found plenty of perfectly fine presents, but no,none of them were good enough for you." "I know" Ginta admitted; "and now I only have a few hours to find the perfect Christmas present for the woman I love." Hakkaku noticed how upset with himself his brother was and began to think of a solution to their predicament. After silently thinking for what felt like hours (that they did not have), he finally got an idea. "Hey! You remember the bone-eaters well that Miss. Kagome used to come & go from here to her original time, don't you? Then why don't we go through the well and bring back some treasures from the future?" "That's a great idea, in theory" Ginta responded. "But it's been years since Miss Kagome actually used the well, how do we know it will work for us?" "We'll just have to try it, otherwise we'll have no presents to offer Teya & Yumi" said Hakkaku. Ginta; partly desperate and partly aware they were out of options, agreed to the plan and the two immediately ran off to find the well.

Once they reached it however, both were hesitant to jump in. Like Ginta mentioned, there was no guarantee that the bone-eaters well would work for them; also, the notion of traveling to an unfamiliar time was intimidating to say the least. Ginta was first to overcome his anxiousness and jumped into the well, with Hakkaku following shortly afterwards. Just as they hoped the magic did work, and the two were transported from feudal Japan to the modern day. Ordinarily, they would've gotten caught up in how different the world looked from the one they knew, but Ginta reminded his brother that they were on a mission and had to focus on the task at hand. Unfortunately, it was already nighttime in the present, and all the nearby stores had closed early so employees could celebrate Christmas Eve with their families; (even if they were open, Ginta and Hakkaku had no money, and their current attire made them look more than a little suspicious). By this point, our two wolf yokai had lost all hope, and were just about to cut their losses and go home, when suddenly they both herd the sound of jingling bells.

It started out faint but was rapidly drawing nearer and nearer. It was snowing heavily and was dark out, so the most they could guess was that it seemed to be coming down from the sky. A minute later Hakkaku noticed a small red light in the same direction the jingle bells seemed to be coming from. The light became bigger and brighter as it came down from the sky, and the sound of bells got louder. By the time the boys figured out that the light and the bells were connected, they could both hear a slurred voice trying to be heard over the jingling bells. "Look Out Below!" The voice shouted, and Hakkaku pulled his brother out of the way just in time before the red light (and whatever was behind it) crashed into the pavement where they were standing. Quick as lightning both Ginta and Hakkaku got up on their feet and looked back to see what it was that nearly killed them. As they approached the strange object, they saw that it was a sleigh lying on its side; despite that, the nine reindeer that pulled the sleigh appeared to be unharmed. "This is Santa's sleigh!" Ginta said with excitement; "you remember Miss Kagome telling us about it don't you?" "Yeah" said Hakkaku, "but where's Santa himself?" Both wolf yokai looked around to see if he had been launched from the sleigh when it crashed, but they couldn't see a fat, old man in a red winter-coat anywhere. Then they both heard a groaning sound coming from the sleigh itself; the driver was wearing a red coat, but they didn't look fat or even human!

As the creature slowly began to stand up, they saw that it had the long horns and cloven hooves of a goat: his fur and flesh were pine green, and he stood a solid 7 feet tall. And when he turned to face Ginta and Hakkaku, they saw he had razor sharp fangs and bright yellow eyes. Of course, they had both seen scary demons before, but there was something about this one that was particularly horrifying. Maybe because they were expecting Santa Claus and heard nothing about a thin green goat-man who appeared to have eaten him and stolen his sleigh. Both Ginta and Hakkaku screamed in terror; causing the demon to surprisingly place his hands over his ears; he then outstretched one hand as if begging the boys to stop. "Please, knock off that high pitched caterwauling! I'm barely sober and I just hit the asphalt with my head at a very high speed" he grumbled, gingerly rubbing his temples. This made the boys realize that he was not a threat, but they still had several questions. "Who are you? Why are you wearing Santa's coat? And driving his sleigh?" They asked slowly, now smelling the alcohol on his breath. "My name is Krampus; I work with Santa at the North Pole, and since he's been 'incapacitated' partly because of me, I'm taking his place this year." Ginta didn't know what to make of this guy, but Hakkaku got an idea. "Say mister, since your admittedly not in the best condition to fly, why don't Ginta and I come along to help you deliver presents." By now Ginta had formed an opinion of Krampus and he wasn't too keen on going anywhere with such a frightening figure. Hakkaku sensed his brother's mistrust and pulled him aside to explain the reason behind his suggestion. "Look, around Christmas time people help each other, right? So if we help him, he'll help us." Ginta quickly change his tune once he understood what his brother meant, and offered his assistance to Krampus with equal enthusiasm. Krampus didn't really want any company, but he knew he was still too hungover to pull this off on his own. "Alright" the demon groaned, "if you two help me deliver these presents before sunrise, I'll get you back to your party before anyone misses you. I'll even throw in some special presents for your mates, and all your friends." Ginta and Hakkaku were taken aback by that comment; "how did you know about the Christmas party, and our mates?" Ginta asked with surprise. "You know how Santa can 'see you when you're sleeping, and knows when your awake?'" Krampus asked; "well so can I." Both yokai nodded with understanding, having remembered one of the many Christmas carols Kagome taught them. So after helping Krampus flip the sleigh back on its runners, the boys hopped on either side of the green demon and sat with anticipation and excitement as Krampus took hold of the reins and uttered a command to the reindeer. "Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen; on Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen. Go and follow Rudolph to the top of the wall; now dash away, dash away, dash away all!" As Krampus spoke, the reindeer (and by extension the sleigh) began to rise off the ground, and by the time he had finished the rhyme they were soaring through the sky. Ginta and Hakkaku could hardly believe their eyes as they flew over the city adorned with red & green lights that shined warmly against the darkness of the night. But they couldn't enjoy it for long, when they were reminded that their pilot was still a little drunk. Both wolf demons had to take the reins while Krampus tried to instruct them; "oy, this is going to be a long night" Krampus moaned.

Author's note: I wanted to get at least one chapter of this story out by Christmas. I'll finish the rest later so by next Christmas you can enjoy the whole story. I originally intended to have Karan & Shunran as Ginta & Hakkaku's love interests, but at the last minute I swapped them out for two OCs I head-cannoned on paper earlier. I'll probably do a fanfic later that goes into how they met, but for now my focus is on this comedic holiday adventure. Leave a review to tell me what you think.