Author's Note: Merry Christmas everyone! Here's the Christmas chapter everyone has been waiting for! Hope you all enjoy it!
Also, beware of the Padoru...
Christmas in Chaldea is always quite eventful.
For example, there would the yearly Christmas party which would always involve a lot of food, drinks, and Christmas decorations throughout in Chaldea.
And of course, there's the usual gift giving that happens every year where the good servants get presents while the bad ones get coal...
And this year, Shirou was going to have a taste of the gift giving...
It is now 2:00 am in Chaldea, and everyone is sleeping. Right now, Shirou is sleeping in his room with nothing or nobody bothering him...or so as he thought.
Because as he was sleeping, it was then that he felt someone shaking his arm, slightly waking him up.
"Shirou. Shirou," the person said.
Shirou mumbled for a moment before turning over to the other side of his bed.
The person let out a sigh before resorting to drastic measures to wake him up. In an instant, the person lifted the bed sheets and threw them to the side. Then the person began to pinch Shirou on his cheek, waking him up.
"Shirou."
"Mmmmnnh...who is it..." Shirou mumbled as he was half-awake from the pinching on his face. As he rubbed his eyes, the person turned on the lights, allowing Shirou to get a better view of the person who took the bedsheets from him and pinched him on his cheek.
It was Santa Arturia Alter, and she was holding a giant bag behind her back. She was wearing her high black and red boots with white fur trims, black stockings, and black, white, and red miniskirt dress.
"A-Arturia...?" Shirou mumbled.
"Call me Santa Alter in this case Shirou," Santa Arturia Alter corrected.
"Okay...Santa Alter, what is going on?"
"Isn't it obvious? We're about to deliver presents to all of the good servants and master now."
Shirou was confused with what Santa Alter said. "What?"
"You didn't hear me properly? We're about to deliver presents to all of the good servants and master now. Now get dressed," she said as she handed him a costume out of nowhere.
Which was a reindeer costume.
"Um...Santa Alter, is this a-" Shirou said but was cut off from Santa Alter.
"Yes Shirou. That is a reindeer costume. And considering that you're going to be my reindeer for today, I think this costume is suitable for you now," Santa Alter said.
Shirou was speechless for a moment before continuing. "Reindeer? Me?"
"Exactly."
"And I suppose that you want me to help you deliver the presents to all of the good servants along with master here as well?"
Santa Arturia Alter let out a small smile at how quickly Shirou was able to deduct what was going on. "Exactly. Now come on, we got a bunch of presents to hand out here, and every second counts."
Shirou let out a small sigh. "All right, just let me get dressed in this costume first."
"Okay."
After a few minutes, Shirou was done putting on the reindeer costume. "Okay. Where do we start?" Shirou asked.
Santa Arturia Alter let out a smile. "Follow me," she said as she began to leave Shirou's room. Shirou soon began to follow her. As they came out of Shirou's room, Shirou saw something that he hasn't seen before in Chaldea.
It was a red sleigh. And it looked high tech as well as it was hovering in the air.
"Um...Santa Alter...is that your sleigh by any chance?" Shirou asked as he was in both shock and awe at the sleigh.
"Yes, and its name is Llamrei MK II," Santa Arturia Alter said as she got on the sleigh. "Now get on, we got presents to deliver."
"All right."
And thus, marks the beginning of Shirou's role as Santa Arturia Alter's helper/reindeer...
"All right, here is the first stop here," Santa Arturia Alter said as she brought her sleigh to a halt. Santa Arturia Alter and Shirou then got off the sleigh and landed at the first room that they were about to drop the gift off.
Which was Lancer Cu's room.
"You got the gift Shirou?" Santa Arturia Alter asked.
"Yes. I got the fishing pole he wanted along with...what seems to be a bunch of good luck charms...that prevents him from dying by unnatural means...?" Shirou replied as he checked the bag for the items Lancer Cu wanted.
"Good. Now all we need to do is to sneak into him room and drop them off. Also, make sure to see if they have any cookies and milk in the room."
Shirou let out a sigh. "I'm not sure if every servant does that..." he muttered.
Soon, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter sneaked into Lancer's room and silently placed Cu's presents down. As they did, Santa Arturia Alter checked his room to see if there was any cookies and milk in the room. Sadly, there was not.
"Looks like there aren't any cookies and milk here," Shirou said.
"I see...anyways, let's carry on. We still got a lot of more presents to deliver," Santa Arturia Alter said.
"Right."
And they left Lancer Cu's room. As they got out, they headed towards the sleigh in which Santa Arturia Alter punched in the coordinates for the next room to visit.
"All right. Next stop, Medusa's room," Santa Arturia Alter said.
And they headed off towards Medusa's room.
"All right, remember the drill?" Santa Arturia Alter asked.
"Yes. We sneak into the room and drop the gifts off," Shirou replied.
"And you remember what Medusa's gift is, right?"
"Yes. The newest novels from the market."
"Good. Now let's get in."
Soon, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter went into Medusa's room and dropped the gifts off. As Shirou dropped the gifts off, Medusa said something in her sleep.
"Sakura..." she muttered.
Shirou let out a small smile upon hearing Medusa's voice. "Rider..."
"Shirou, what are you doing? We got to go now," Santa Arturia Alter whispered.
"Y-Yeah."
And Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter quickly left the room. As they left the room, Santa Arturia Alter asked Shirou a question.
"Shirou, is there something wrong?"
"It's nothing. Just...some memories came into my mind."
"I see...anyways let's go."
Shirou let out a huge sigh as he was carrying a giant punching bag towards Hercules's room. "Wow. This has got to be the heaviest Christmas present I'm carrying now. And it's big too. Well then again, this is Hercules's Christmas present, so it's a no-brainer that this would be it. And the size of it as well fits him too..."
"Shirou, hurry up before Hercules wakes up," Santa Arturia Alter reminded as she feared if Hercules's wakes up, then he will go on a rampage, which will ruin the surprise of Santa.
"Yeah...but can't we just leave it outside? It's not like anyone is going to take it..."
Santa Arturia Alter then turned to Shirou. "That's what you think. You may not know this, but you have no idea what the bad servants here in Chaldea would do to get presents."
Shirou was surprised at Santa Arturia Alter's words. "Really?"
"Trust me. In all my years as Santa and in Chaldea, I have seen many servants doing anything for presents," Santa Arturia Alter said seriously.
Upon hearing Santa Arturia Alter's tone of voice, Shirou immediately shut up and obeyed her commands without any question.
"Well, here we are. Caster's room," Shirou said as he looked at the front door to Medea's room. As Shirou proceeded to get out of the sleigh, Santa Arturia Alter let out a sigh. "Is there something wrong Santa Alter?"
"Well, no, it's just that...well...Medea's choice of Christmas presents is well...disturbing even to me..." Santa Arturia Alter replied.
Shirou was shocked to hear those words from Arturia Alter's mouth. "Really? How so?"
Santa Arturia Alter took a deep breath before continuing. "Come closer and I'll tell you."
Shirou then got closer to Santa Arturia Alter, allowing her to whisper to Shirou. After a few seconds of whispering, Shirou was shocked at what Santa Arturia Alter just said.
"So, let me get this straight. What Caster wanted for Christmas was a body pillow of Kuzuki-sensei along with a few small-scale figurines of Arturia and her counterparts, including you?" Shirou asked.
"Yes," Santa Arturia Alter replied.
For a moment, Shirou was speechless over what he just recalled and was silent. "Wow, that's something I wish I never heard of."
"Exactly."
For a moment, there was silence between the two until Shirou restarted the conversation.
"So...you don't want to come into that room?" Shirou asked.
"Yes..." Santa Arturia Alter muttered.
And thus, Shirou went into that room alone...
Shirou was confused with the next present that he had to drop off, which belonged to Sasaki Kojirou.
And that present happened to be a personal training simulator where his opponents...are swallows.
"Okay, why did Assassin ask for something like this? If it's for training, I can understand, but why did he ask specifically for the opponents to be swallows? I know that he made his noble phantasm from killing swallows with his sword, but are they really necessary?"
"Shirou, is there something wrong?" Santa Arturia Alter asked, snapping Shirou out of his thoughts.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just...well, surprised at the gift that we're about to drop off next."
"I can't blame you. In all my years of being Santa, there are some weird presents that some children requested for. Nonetheless, I gave it to them, as it is my duty as Santa."
"I see. Thanks for the explanation Santa Alter," Shirou said with a smile on his face.
"No problem Shirou. Now hurry up, we got to drop off that present."
"As you wish."
"All right. The next room to visit is...no way," Shirou said as he deadpanned at what he just saw.
Santa Arturia Alter let out a sigh. "Yes Shirou. The next room we're about to visit is Gilgamesh's room."
"Archer, or Caster, or the kid version of him?"
"Archer."
This time, it was Shirou's turn to let out a sigh. "Really, the King of Heroes expects a present from you? After what he did the Fuyuki Grail Wars?"
"I know right? And don't get me started on what he did last year..." Santa Arturia Alter said.
"What did he do?"
"Well, last year I was doing my usual duties as Santa, and I had to drop off a bunch of coal in Gilgamesh's room because of his bad behavior. However, when I got into his room, he wasn't sleeping. Instead, he was waiting for me with the lights on, and do you want to know what he said and did?"
"What?"
"He said that he will claim me as his wife and nearly locked me in his room."
Shirou nearly got mad for a moment before calming down. "Jeez, he's definitely stuck on the naughty list forever..."
"Exactly. Which is why every year that he gets coal for Christmas."
"I can agree with that. Speaking of which, should we drop off the bag of coal at his doorstep instead of going into his room? I have a weird feeling that he might pull of the same thing you told me this year."
Santa Arturia Alter thought about Shirou's idea for a moment and said, "Good idea. Let's do that."
Thus, when Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter stopped at Archer Gilgamesh's room, they just dropped the bag of coals at the doorstep and moved on.
And it was a good idea too, because Gilgamesh was already awake in his room, waiting...
"All right, next up is Tohsaka's room, and I already know what she wants...along with her counterparts too..." Shirou thought as he looked at the present that was for her.
Which was a ton of jewels.
Eventually, they arrived at Ishtar's doorstep. As Shirou procceded to get out of the sleigh and grabbed the present for Ishtar, he noticed that it was quite heavy. "Wow. This present is heavier than I thought..."
"Shirou. What's going on over there?" Santa Arturia Alter asked.
"Oh, nothing. It's just that Ishtar's present is a bit heavier than I thought. I can manage it though," Shirou replied.
"I see. Anyways, let's get in."
Soon, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter went into the room. As they did, it was quite a mess as nearly every part of the room was filled with gems.
Shirou let out a small sigh. "And Tohsaka kept telling me to clean myself up...this is quite ironic, considering that she can't clean her own room..."
"All right, here we are. Sakura's room," Shirou thought as he got out of the sleigh, holding her present in his hands. Soon, Shirou went into her room along with Santa Arturia Alter and dropped off the present. As he was about to leave, he then noticed a certain picture that was on the countertop.
It was a picture of herself and Ishtar together.
Shirou let out a smile upon seeing the picture of them together. "Sakura..."
"Shirou, is there something wrong?" Santa Arturia Alter whispered to Shirou.
"Huh? Oh no, it's just that...well, there's something in the room that I've never thought I would get to see," Shirou whispered back.
"Really? And what would that be?"
Shirou was silent for a moment before saying his answer. "Two sisters being together."
"I see...anyways, shall we move on?"
"Of course."
And the two left Parvati's room...
Shirou let out a huge sigh as he was carrying the presents for Illya. "Man. I never knew that Illya was an advocate fan of anime, let alone being the anime a magical girl anime..."
"Shirou. Are you okay over there?" Santa Arturia Alter asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Y-Yeah. I never knew that Illya is an advocate fan of anime, let alone the anime being a magical girl anime," Shirou replied.
"I see...anyways, let's move on then. We've got a lot of more presents to deliver."
"Yeah."
And Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter went into Illya's room and dropped off the present. As he did, he came across another sight he thought he would never get to sleep again.
Illya sleeping peacefully.
Shirou let out a smile upon seeing his little sister's sleeping face. "I would never thought I get to see this again..."
"Shirou, is there something wrong?" Santa Arturia Alter asked, snapping Shirou out of his thoughts.
"Nope. I'm just remembering at a good memory..."
Santa Arturia Alter was silent for a moment before saying, "Memories of you and your sister together?"
"Yeah."
"So, let me get this straight. The next room we're about to visit is my adoptive parents' room?" Shirou asked.
"Yes."
"And they're living together."
"Yes. Is there a problem with that?"
"Well no. I'm surprised that Chaldea actually allowed an option for rooming, considering that most of the servants here live in their rooms alone."
"To be fair, it was Irisviel's idea that she would share a room with Kiritsugu. And considering how energic she is...well..."
Shirou let out a sigh as he knew where it was going. "Let me guess, master couldn't refuse her?"
"Yes."
"Figures. I know how mom is when it comes to her requests..."
"Me too...anyways, here we are," Santa Arturia Alter said as they arrived at the shared room between Irisviel and Kiritsugu. Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter quietly went into the room and dropped off the gifts for them. For Irisviel, she got a bunch of picture frames so she can see her photos in real life. For Kiritsugu, he got more guns.
As Shirou placed the gifts of the countertop, he looked at Kiritsugu's sleeping face as he was next to Irisviel, and it looked peaceful. Shirou let out a smile upon seeing it.
"Shirou. Let's go."
"Hm? Oh, yeah."
And the two left, with the image of Kiritsugu sleeping peacefully with Irisviel etched into Shirou's mind...
Shirou let out a sigh at the sight in front of her. "Fuji-nee..." he thought as he looked at his caretaker in which she was sleeping with loud snores and in a messy fashion. She was in a lazy position and she the bedsheets were on the side of the bed, nearly flung over. Shirou then grabbed the bedsheets and properly covered her up. "Man, even now, Fuji-nee still hasn't change. Jeez, she's going to catch a cold at this rate..."
"Shirou, is everything all right over there?" Santa Arturia Alter whispered to Shirou.
"Yeah. I was just...fixing something..." Shirou replied.
"Really? What were you fixing?"
Shirou sighed again. "A really old habit from my old caretaker."
"All right, next stop is Astraea's room," Santa Arturia Alter said as they were heading towards Astraea's room. Eventually, they arrived at Astraea's room, ready to give her present to her. "Shirou."
"On it," Shirou replied as he grabbed the present from the sleigh and got out of the sleigh. "The present for Luvia-san should be a box of jewels, just like Tohsaka."
"Great. Now let's go in."
Soon, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter went into Astraea's room and dropped off the gift. As Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter were Shirou about to leave, they noticed something.
Astraea was sleeping with a stuffed teddy bear that looked like Shirou. In fact, it was even wearing the same outfit as him.
"Sherou..." Astraea muttered.
Shirou was shocked for a moment. "Wow. I didn't know Luvia-san had something like this...probably better if I don't tell Tohsaka and her counterparts about this..."
"Wow. I can't believe that master asked for all of this..." Shirou said as he was carrying multiple presents for Ritsuka. And his presents were multiple boxes of Gundam model kits.
"Hey, master has a hobby too. And it seems that building model kits seems to be his hobby, especially when it comes to a certain franchise that he loves. Plus, he deserves this after all what he did to protect humanity," Santa Arturia Alter said.
"True. In fact, let me tell you something," Shirou said as he put down all of Ritsuka's gifts.
Santa Arturia Alter then turned to Shirou. "What is it?"
"One time, I was testing out a certain mystic code Da Vinci designed earlier, and it was related to the franchise master loved. And do you want to know what happened next?"
"What happened?"
"What happened was that afterwards, Da Vinci told me that master wanted to be a...gundam."
For a moment, Santa Arturia Alter was silent before letting out a small chuckle. "Really, master wanted to be a gundam?"
"Yeah. That's what Da Vinci told me."
"Wow. That's something I've never heard of."
"Me neither. Anyway, we got to go now. We've got a lot of more presents to deliver."
Santa Arturia Alter let out a smirk. "You don't have to remind me."
"Well, here we are. Nero's room," Shirou said.
"Yeah. Anyways, let's go in and hand in her present."
Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter then went into her room and dropped her gift off, which was multiple works of art. Afterwards, they left the room, got on the sleigh, and soon left her doorstep. As they were cruising on Llamrei MK II, Santa Arturia Alter said something.
"This is quite funny."
Shirou was confused with what Santa Arturia Alter said and asked. "What is?"
"The fact that I'm giving a present to Nero, considering that we were rivals before."
Shirou was even more confused. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well earlier, me and Nero had a competition on who would be Santa this year. Of course, I won, and she accepted her loss with good graces."
"I see, but what's so funny about it?"
"Well...I think that it may be the fact that we're both winners and losers in this situation. I won being this year's Santa, but she gets a gift from me."
Shirou thought about Santa Arturia Alter's words for a moment and let out a chuckle. "You're right. That is funny."
"Told you."
"Yeah. By the way, was it the same as her counterparts too?"
"No. Anyway, let's cut the chatter and move on."
"All right, Jeanne D'Arc's room..." Shirou said as he and Santa Arturia Alter landed in front of the room. Soon, they got out of the sleigh and headed inside her room. As they did, they dropped her gift off on the countertop, which was a copy of the Bible. They then left the room. As they did, it was then that Shirou said something.
"Wow. That was completely different experience compared to her altered counterpart's room," Shirou said.
"Yeah. That holy maiden at least knows how to clean her room, compared to her counterpart..." Santa Arturia Alter said as her mind went back to the room earlier...
(A while ago...)
Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter went into Jeanne D'Arc Alter's room, dropping her present off.
However, there was one small problem.
Her room was messy as it was filled with papers, making it hard for them to drop the gift off.
(Back to the present...)
"Honestly, she should clean her room next year," Santa Arturia Alter said.
Shirou smelled the present that was for Okita, and within one whiff, he nearly gagged. "Whoa. That is one smelly medicine. I know that it's supposed to help her deal with her disease, but man, that is quite smelly. Heck, it's even going through the present itself!"
"Shirou, are you okay?" Santa Arturia Alter asked after seeing Shirou's reaction to Okita's present.
"Yeah. It's just that, well, Okita's present has quite the smell."
"I can't blame you. Every year, Okita asks for medicine to ease her disease, and I always bring this medicine to her. After, it is my duty as Santa."
"I see," Shirou said. It was then that they arrived at Okita's room. "Anyways, here we are."
Soon, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter got off the sleigh and handed into Okita's room to drop off her present. As they did, Shirou had one thought in mind.
"Get well Okita. Hope today you will feel better."
Soon, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter left Okita's room. "All right, next stop is her altered counterpart," Santa Arturia Alter said.
Shirou was silent for a moment before asking, "Does she have the same medicine as Okita?"
"No."
Shirou let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, here we are. Musashi's room," Santa Arturia Alter said.
Shirou let out a small sigh as he looked at Musashi's Christmas present, which happened to be a new pair of katanas hand-crafted by Sengo Muramasa himself. "Man, I can't believe Musashi asked for a new pair of swords handcrafted by Muramasa himself...and his reaction as well..."
At that moment, Muramasa's reaction came into Shirou's mind.
"Huh?! Musashi wants two new swords already, even though the ones I gave her aren't broken?! And just because of this holiday known as "Christmas?!" I never heard of a holiday such as that! How greedy is she?!"
Shirou sighed again as he relieved Muramasa's reaction.
"Shirou? Is there something wrong?" Santa Arturia Alter asked.
"Hm? Oh, it's nothing. Just...relieving a reaction from Muramasa..." Shirou replied.
"I see. Anyways, let's head in."
Soon, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter headed towards Musashi's room and dropped off the Katanas. As they were about to leave, Shirou had one thought in mind.
"Musashi, hope you enjoy the gift, because Muramasa is going to have a long talk with you later...and possibly me as well..."
"Well, this is a weird situation," Shirou said as he and Santa Arturia Alter were heading towards their next room...which was EMIYA's room.
"Yeah. The next servant that we're about to give a present to is EMIYA, your counterpart from an alternate timeline," Santa Arturia Alter said.
"Yeah. I never would have thought that I would give a present to myself..." Shirou said with a chuckle.
"I know right? Not to mention the fact that despite what he says about him not being you, he still has some of your traits."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. Anyway, you have the present right?"
"Yeah. A new set of cooking tools for him."
"Good, now just put it in the corner and we'll head on."
Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter then went into EMIYA's room, dropped his present off, and went to the sleigh. "Wow. That wasn't weird as I thought," Shirou said as he and Santa Arturia Alter got onto the sleigh.
"Yeah. And I suppose it may be my turn to be in your position."
For a moment, Shirou was confused with what Santa Arturia Alter said before realizing what her words meant.
The next room they were about to meet is Arturia's room.
"Wow, this feels like déjà vu. Earlier, we gave a present to your alternate counterpart from another timeline. Now we're doing the same for me," Santa Arturia Alter said as she got off the sleigh.
"I know right?" Shirou asked.
Right now, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter were in front of Arturia's room, ready to hand in her present, which was a stuffed lion plushie.
"Ready?" Shirou asked.
"Obviously. After all, it is my duty as Santa."
"All right then. Let's go."
Soon, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter went into Arturia's room and dropped of the stuffed lion plushie on the table next to her bed, where she was sleeping. As she was sleeping, Shirou let out a smile upon seeing her. "Arturia..." Shirou then got closer to her and gave moved her hair for a bit and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, making Santa Arturia Alter jealous a bit.
"Shirou. Hurry up. We're done here," Santa Arturia Alter said with a bit of jealously in her voice.
"Y-Yeah."
And the two then left the room and got on the sleigh.
"All right. Next up, my counterparts," Santa Arturia Alter said.
"Phew. That's the last of them..." Shirou said with a sigh.
"Yes. Looks like this is the end of my duties as Santa..." Santa Arturia Alter replied in agreement.
Right now, Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter were cruising on Llamrei Mk II, heading towards the last room to deliver the present to. Earlier, they made great progress on the gifts as they delivered the gifts to every servant in Chaldea along with the staff as well.
Eventually, the sleigh was getting slower, letting Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter to know that their last stop was getting closer.
As the sleigh stopped, it landed in front of Shirou's room. Shirou and Santa Arturia Alter then got off the sleigh.
"Thanks for the work Shirou. You clearly helped me delivering the presents to everyone here in Chaldea."
"No problem. Anyways, good night." Shirou said as he went into his room, getting ready to go back to sleep.
However, as he was getting on his bed, Santa Arturia Alter followed him to his bed, laid down next to him, and gave him a hug.
"Santa Alter?"
"Shirou, I forgot to mention that there was one more person I need to give a present to, and that person is you," Santa Arturia Alter said.
"Me? But where's the gift?"
"Isn't it obvious? It's me. And don't ask, you deserve this after the amount of work you just did."
Shirou let out a small blush upon hearing Santa Arturia Alter's words. For a moment, there was silence between the two until Shirou continued the conversation. "I see. Well, if that's the case, then I am honored to receive a gift like this."
Santa Arturia Alter let out a smile. "You should be. Anyways, Merry Christmas Shirou."
"Yeah. Merry Christmas Santa Alter," Shirou said before he started to fall asleep.
Santa Arturia Alter soon followed him, and the two fell asleep together...