A/N: I had decided not to write any Christmas Special this year. I had no ideas and no time. What I did have was

1) 15 minute breaks between 45 minute study sessions
and
2) luzmela1 who sent me a draft of a Christmas Special she had found inspiration for on the Christmas market in München

And whaddaya know? We got a Christmas Special this year too. =) It has been flavoured with cameo anecdotes from The End of the Beginning here and there, which I suppose will make the read more fun for those who spot them, but this works fine to read as its own story, too. So a Merry (Swedish) Christmas to all of you, and a huge thank you to luzmela1 for your support and for trusting me with your ideas!

I do not own or profit from any of what Kazue Kato has created.

"Yukio! Wake up, wake up!"

Yukio's face scrunched into a grimace as the warmth disappeared with a 'whoosh' and exposed him to the chill of the room. He opened one bleary eye and saw his precious blanket in the hands of the excited blur that was his brother. The sky outside the window shone a pale, sickly grey, telling him it was still barely dawn and that there was a good chance of rain.

Under normal circumstances Yukio would be the early bird and his brother the one that had to be dragged out of bed with buffalos, but if there is such a thing as normal circumstances there must also be circumstances that aren't normal. For Okumura Rin, that circumstance was December.

"Come on, Yukio: today it's your turn to be first!"

"It can wait", he wanted to say – the pillow felt heavenly under his cheek and he didn't want to part with it just yet. "I was practising target shooting last night while you were watching Saint Seya, Nii-san. I'm tired."

Yukio wouldn't say that, though. Father had explained to him that becoming an exorcist was no easy thing, especially for someone so young – and he was an ambitious student in regular school as well. Yukio had still resolved that he would do it. He would do it. Even if it meant he wouldn't have the time to watch anime all night, like his brother, and not have time to play in the park in the afternoons, he would become a great exorcist one day. He would protect his brother so that he could watch anime and play in the park like a normal child. And the key to success, in any endeavour, was determination and discipline.

Yukio sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. The standing figure beside him began to jump up and down, up and down. The excitement was contagious, and Yukio felt his own lips begin to form a smile. His hand searched the desk-cum-nightstand with routine accuracy and deposited the glasses on his nose. Nii-san had dumped the blanket on his own bed and wore a smile that reached from ear to ear, with bright blue eyes that shone with expectation.

"Alright, I'll open it."

"Yessss!" Nii-san was like a tiny explosion of happiness: his body hunched forward a bit, knees bent and arms drawn up towards his chest, and then he threw both arms up in the air with a small, triumphant jump. He wasted no time bouncing over to the opposite wall where the special circumstances of December hung, waiting.

Yukio couldn't hold in a sigh at the sight of his brother. Barefoot on the cold floor.

"Nii-san is lucky to have that immune system", he thought and nudged his feet into the slippers standing neatly beside his bed. His pyjamas protested around his limbs when he rose. He had been smaller and weaker than his brother until about age seven; now they were ten, and it seemed like his body shared his determination to grow strong enough to protect Nii-san. It was tradition in the monastery that every year, on the twins' birthday, they would measure against the doorframe of their room and scribble a mark on the wood. The last pair of marks had seen Yukio move up two centimetres above his brother.

Yukio smiled every time he passed that doorframe.

"Come on moley four-eyes! Open it, open it!"

On the wall, over where Rin's excitement was about to dissolve him in atoms, hung a brightly coloured calendar that counted down the days from December 1st to December 25th. The window of today's date showed a scene of a snow-covered forest with small dogs singing, playing the tambourine, skating, or making snowmen. The dogs were all identical, with the same pink, polka-dot scarf and dark circles under their eyes. Rin had laughed and said they looked like Yukio when he sat up studying all night and fell asleep over his text books. Yukio himself filled with an uneasy feeling every time he looked at the familiar little dogs.

"Yuuukiiiiiioooooo!" Rin was jumping from foot to foot, not because he had noticed that the floor was cold but because he was simply dying to know what the new treat would look like.

With a sigh, Yukio opened the little paper flap.

"What is it, what is it?"

The right question would have been "what does it look like today?" Yukio gingerly pried out the tiny milk chocolate figure: a dog, just like the ones on the calendar, with a Western-style umbrella held in its mouth.

Yukio would have gasped if he hadn't already grown used to this… this prophetic calendar. The rain had just begun to pour outside their window.

"Cool!" came the jubilant exclamation from Rin. Yukio was both amazed and confused that his brother could be equally excited over this every day for nearly a month. It was the same dog every day, only with different attributes and poses.

And then, like every day, the window he had opened closed itself with a small pink puff of smoke and fused seamlessly with the calendar's paper surface.

"I wonder what mine's gonna look like!" Rin sang happily as he opened the same box again "Oh, it's got a little raincoat! And rain boots! Look, Yukio, look!"

The dogs – which couldn't come from the same compartment because that wasn't physically possible – always were a matching pair. Previous days they had had one that baked gingerbread men and one that peeked out of a gingerbread doghouse; one that was holding a Christmas tree and one that carried a sack of Christmas baubles, and so on. And as usual, Yukio only had a second to inspect the chocolate figure before it disappeared into his big brother's mouth.

"I wish I could have this kind of breakfast all year around", Rin hummed happily around his chocolate treat and left for the bathroom to take care of other morning chores.

Yukio watched him go while his hand was still holding his chocolate dog. He closed his eyes and slowly opened a drawer on his side of their shared desk, where he let the little dog fall into the cookie jar with its cousins.

Something inside him prevented Yukio from eating them. He knew it wasn't dangerous – father would never let something dangerous into their bedroom – but the origin of those chocolates still made him wary.

For Rin, this was a matter of fake paper walls and hidden compartments, but for Yukio this was real magic. Demon magic.

"It's a julkalender – or advent calendar, I suppose you would say."

That was the first time he had heard the word: three weeks ago, when he had gone with his father to the office of the academy principal.

The thin, rectangular box had felt light in his hands as he scrutinized every detail of its design. It wasn't often he was given things. The monastery never had much money, and Children's Day and Christmas were the only times he and Nii-san would receive presents. There was also their birthday, December 27th, but because it was so close to Christmas it had become a custom to celebrate both events as one, to make costs for food and presents a little less straining on the budget.

"Thank you, Sir, but… Why?"

"As a reward for your excellent performance, Okumura-kun. Our most talented Esquire."

He remembered the green eyes had studied him across from the desk, with a seriousness that contrasted with the relaxed smile and carefree way in which he gestured while speaking. Yukio couldn't decide what made him more nervous, the man's eyes or his strange way of moving and talking. Or maybe it was the man himself. …"man".

Sir Pheles was a demon. Father Fujimoto had explained this peculiar fact about his employer before he introduced seven year old Yukio to him, not wanting to give the boy a fright. Yukio still remembered the tight nausea in his abdomen when they had gone to meet Sir Pheles. He had been able to see demons his whole life and he had been afraid of them just as long. His father had tried to calm him by saying that Sir Pheles didn't look like a scary monster; he looked like a regular human, and the only scary thing about him was his fashion sense. Yukio had nodded and swallowed hard, not wanting to cause trouble for his father by arguing that it wasn't that he was afraid of. He wasn't afraid of Sir Pheles' pointed ears, his reptile eyes or all the other demon traits that he hid under his extravagant clothing. He was afraid of demons because of how they felt. There was a murky aura around those creatures, a feeling that crept in under one's skin and festered.

When they had gone to see Sir Pheles, Yukio had felt that aura even before they set foot inside the academy gates; by the time they had reached the principal's office, it had enveloped them like dark, choking smog that plucked his nerves like strings on a lyre.

As if Sir Pheles had noticed where Yukio's thoughts were drifting, his smile grew dangerously wide and made the julkalender tremble and rattle in the boy's hands.

"Oi, quit giving him the man-eater look, Mephisto. Santa doesn't give presents to naughty demons that make kids afraid of things that go bump in the night."

Father Fujimoto always knew what to say to Sir Pheles, and Yukio was glad that father was there whenever he had to visit the principal. His father had no fear of him. He had no fear of anything.

It always surprised Yukio how amused Sir Pheles was by his father's rude retorts. His teachers in regular school would never, ever talk to their headmaster like this. But Sir Pheles was also his father's friend, and he supposed that that might make things a little different between them. Still, he looked… strangely happy for someone who was being accused like that.

"That's why I'm giving away presents." Sir Pheles levelled a cryptic smile at his employee. "If I'm a nice demon, Santa might bring me a pleasant surprise on Christmas Eve~"

"You're gonna have to be a very nice demon, then: I hear Christmas is a busy time for Santa."

"Oh, I'm counting on him to be very busy."

Yukio was smart for his age. He never bragged about it, but he knew he was; and he was equally frustrated every time he found that his intelligence wasn't quite enough. He understood that something was being said between the lines when the two spoke, and it galled him that he wasn't able to understand what they were smiling about.

"Haa, I'd like to see you act nice for a whole day; I'm betting your tail would tie itself in knots. Pardon for being suspicious of your gift, but I haven't forgotten your prank collection – or that darn Haunted House in Mepphy Land. Can daddy have a look at that, Yukio?"

Yukio obediently handed the calendar over to his father, who proceeded to inspect it from every side and angle, eventually shaking it to listen for any suspicious sounds.

"Shiro, manners!" With a pop of pink smoke, the calendar disappeared from Shiro's hands and returned to Yukio's so suddenly that he almost dropped it. He fumbled and caught it awkwardly, feeling embarrassment rise to his cheeks and doing his best to act like nothing had happened. "Goodness, what are you thinking? That I would place a bomb in the children's room? It's chocolate: ordinary, completely harmless chocolate! Shake it like that with those bear hands of yours and they might break!"

Yukio hoped it was Sir Pheles' outburst that made his father start laughing and not his own fumbling with the calendar. Then the Paladin's hand came down on his head and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Oh what a tragedy – forcing you to go through the hard work of snapping your fingers to replace it", he smiled at the principal.

Sir Pheles frowned at how easily his father dismissed him; and then the frown gave way to a smile so wicked Yukio was sure the hair on his head must be rising like in a Ghibli film.

"Not everything is as easy to repair as a box of chocolates, Shiro. I have been asked if I have a suitable man to spare for a high-profile mission in Alaska..."

The veiled threat made Yukio pale. No. Now that he knew the reality of these missions he feared for his father every time he was sent away, and more than once he had sacrificed sleep to sneak down into the monastery sanctuary to pray for his safe return. Pray and sob and try not to think of the worst.

Yukio felt a sudden urge to grab hold of his father's long coat, but fought down the impulse. He was an Esquire. He was going to be strong, to protect his brother. He was not going to show fear.

"Don't worry, Yukio." There wasn't a trace of hesitation in his face when he smiled down at his son, and Yukio felt his father's calm reassurance ease his worries. "We have an agreement, this old trickster and I. December month I stay in Japan, period. He gave me his word."

The last words were addressed to Sir Pheles. Yukio knew full well that his father received less missions in December but had never reflected that there might be more than coincidence to that. Now, there were many thoughts buzzing in his head. An agreement implied that there was something father did for Sir Pheles in return, and though Father Fujimoto's voice had been the same as when they threw jokes at each other, Yukio had noticed a faint nuance of trouble in it. As if that agreement was in jeopardy.

And Sir Pheles' unsettling smile remained unchanged.

"Hmmm the various duties that befall a man of the cloth", he hummed the words like a mock psalm and leaned back in his chair. "Oh yes, for you Christmas time means busy times, not just candies and presents."

…if he hadn't been determined not to let anything show, Yukio would have scowled. Something was being said without words again, and it felt like Sir Pheles was threatening his father somehow, and he couldn't understand what it was.

The single sound in the room was the ticking of the cuckoo clock on the wall. And then… the principal couldn't hold his laughter in anymore. Yukio had no idea what had happened and what hadn't, but the tension seemed to dissipate out of the air.

"That constipated look on your face is simply too good, Shiro! Fret not, old friend: there is no mission in Alaska", Sir Pheles admitted with a happy smile and rose from his chair. The heels of his boots tapped sharply against the floor as he walked around the desk to his two employees. Yukio cast a quick glance at his father and steeled himself against the impulse to take a step back.

"Who did you think you were fooling, eh?" Father Fujimoto countered casually. "I wouldn't have been in the game this long if I couldn't tell a bluff from a gambit."

"Sure wouldn't", the tall, tall demon chuckled, and it was a chuckle that contained a hundred untold stories. "That's a most impressive high-score to hold." His words were frustrating. Yukio found his whole person frustrating, always speaking one thing and saying another between the lines.

To his horror, Sir Pheles seemed to notice that.

The tall demon towered over him with his immense aura of darkness and a completely fake smile, before bowing down so that his face came level with Yukio's; so close, so close he could smell the strong aroma of tea on his breath.

"You have a talent for observation, haven't you? Wary eyes like yours readily take note of details that pass others by." It was a compliment – the words were a compliment – but it didn't make him feel proud or accomplished. It made him feel… threatened. "Such qualities can be very useful, developed with proper guidance; with proper motivation."

Father often said that Yukio had a mind far older than his body when he retold his son's accomplishments to colleagues. It was true that Yukio was bright, equally true that he was growing up fast under the responsibilities of an adult… But sometimes, the child that he tried not to be gained outlet for its spontaneity.

"I-I… I want to become as good as father one day." Then the little adult Yukio regained command of himself and floundered to make up for his unpolished speech: "Sir."

At this, the principal's smile turned proud - and... scary.

"Aww, and so polite – how cute!" he cooed.

Yukio blacked out for a moment. He grew red as a beetroot every time old ladies pinched his cheeks and told him he was cute, but when Sir Pheles did it his brain simply shut off on survival instinct.

"I do wonder whom those manners come from? Certainly can't be from you…"

And again his father and Sir Pheles started with their private jokes, about lions and goats and something of poisoned tea, while Yukio tried to erase the past minute from memory. As he did, the safest place to rest his eyes seemed to be the calendar in his hands. How rare it was for him to receive gifts…

Nii-san's smiling face appeared in his mind. They always received gifts together. If one got something, the other always got something, too.

Yukio had promised to look after his brother; and so, he gathered his courage tightly and swallowed to feel where his voice was.

"Sir… Sir Pheles, excuse me, could you… Would you be willing to give one to my brother too, please?"

Sir Pheles, who had been occupied with magically removing his father's glasses with the motivation that they were dirty, locked his glance at him as if he had been expecting that request the whole time. His father used the distraction without delay to recover his glasses, but Sir Pheles seemed to have forgotten all about them.

Yukio regretted calling the demon's attention to himself like that; yet, for the sake of his brother, he stood his ground against the unease that squeezed his lungs.

"Few things are as strong as bonds between brothers. It honours you that you care so for your sibling, Okumura-kun: truly, you will make a fine young man."

His father's protests were cut short when Sir Pheles again uttered the magic spell, which Yukio had begun to suspect was only used for effect:

"Eins, zwei, drei!"

The calendar flashed pink for a split second.

…and that was it. Yukio was inwardly cursing himself for the startled yelp that had flown out of him, but at least he hadn't dropped it. It looked exactly the same as before.

"It's a surprise", was Sir Pheles' only explanation – that and a wink – before he once again confiscated the glasses of Father Fujimoto.

Distantly hearing Rin flush the toilet in the bathroom, Yukio closed the desk drawer with the chocolates. Almost without realising it, he said a prayer as he did:

"Please, let Rin keep his ignorance."

"Hey, Yukio…"

Christmas had been everything one could ask a Christmas to be. There had been cake – Nii-san had made it, and Maruta had prophesized a brilliant career for him in the confectionary business – and singing of psalms, and presents. Now was the day after Christmas Day, and Yukio was rearranging his bookshelf to accommodate new additions, while Rin had taken the advent calendar down from the wall to throw it out along with the wrapping paper and boxes from yesterday. That was as far as he got. Yukio turned from his work to see what it was that had made Nii-san sound so unlike his usual, boisterous self. His brother stood staring at the calendar in his hands.

"The… Was this here before? I didn't check, they usually just go up to twenty-five… Did you see this before, Yukio?"

Rin turned the calendar to face Yukio, holding his finger at an unopened window where the little dogs were celebrating New Year's with big, bright blue fireworks. The paper flap read 26.

"It must have been there before." Yukio's bright young mind raced at a hundred kilometres per hour, but his voice remained deceptively calm so as not to rouse Nii-san's suspicions. "We didn't notice it because we weren't looking for it. Like you said, these usually only go up to twenty-five."

"So why's this one got an extra?"

"I don't…" Yukio had a talent for observation. Yukio noticed details. But what earned Yukio the reputation of a genius was that he was bright enough to connect his observations and figure out what they meant. "It was special made for us – look." He pointed to another window flap on the calendar, one where some dogs were building a snow igloo while other dogs were hiding in it: window number 27. "It's like an advent calendar and a birthday calendar in one."

"Really?!" Rin spun the calendar around to look at the other undiscovered window. "Cool! Dad's friend is really awesome!"

Yukio did not share his brother's enthusiasm over their father's crafty friend. When he at long last – after a ceaseless barrage of pleas from his brother – opened the window on the 26th it wasn't a chocolate dog that greeted him: it was a tiny chibi figure of a woman, seemingly without Christmas attributes at all. Nii-san had stared intensely at it for a while, then proclaimed that it was probably Virginia-Mary and that that meant his chocolate would be Joseph. When Nii-san opened the window next, he let out a disappointed noise: his figure looked like it had been a chibi, too, but the chocolate had at some point melted and then cooled again, so there was no way of making out the features of it.

"Poor Joseph", Nii-san commented before popping the chocolate into his mouth.

Yukio had wanted to stop him.

Later that day he brought an empty jar to their room. It had contained dried herbs and still smelled a little. In it he put the chibi woman before he placed her next to the other chocolates in the drawer.

It was Rin's turn to open first on the 27th, and what he found made him cry out with unbridled excitement: it was a chocolate chibi of Father Fujimoto, with robes made of dark chocolate while the head and hair were made of white chocolate. Rin forgot completely about the calendar and rushed down the stairs to show his dad the find, leaving Yukio alone to open the window of the magic calendar for the last time.

The figure was made entirely of white chocolate, save for its purple hair and its pink, polka-dot cravat.