Christmas Eve

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

The next few days passed quickly, and Christmas Eve arrived swiftly. The members of James, Rias, and Sona's peerages were gathered in the park with a makeshift soup kitchen set up where people from around the town could come and have a hot Christmas dinner. On top of that, there was a smaller tent packed with toys that the young boys and girls could visit to receive a toy.

"So far, so good." James said as he took a short break outside of the food tent.

"Yeah, I'm actually surprised how many people showed up for this." Sona said with a smile. "But it feels nice to see so many smiling faces."

"Does it?" Tiamat asked in a disgruntled tone. "I can't understand why you would give away things to these people."

"Because not everyone is driven by greed like you are." Ddraig said.

"Well, If I recall, I wasn't like this until a certain cheating mate lost all my stuff during his gay lovers quarrel." Tiamat snapped back.

"Oh~~ shit, shots fired!" James said with a chuckle.

Even Sona covered her mouth so as not to laugh aloud after hearing Tiamat's come back. Ddraig on the other hand fell silent for a moment, unsure of how to retort.

"Actually, there was one question I always wanted to ask." Tiamat said with a cruel smile on her face. "Were you the top or the bottom? Or is that what the two of you were fighting over?"

"Damn you, Tiamat!" Ddraig shouted angrily. "If I had a body, I'd show you what it means to be the Dragon of Domination."

"Really?" Tiamat asked dismissively. "But you couldn't even outlast your host. I mean, ask yourself, honestly, if you could handle five women for so long."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Stop!" James exclaimed with his eyes wide open. "I mean, hearing you rip Ddraig a new one is fun, but don't bring me into it."

"You're right." Tiamat said, agreeing surprisingly easily. "I don't need to involve James to explain that you're just a two-pump chump. Do I Ddraig?"

"I don't need to take this." Ddraig said angrily. "I'm going to sleep."

After that, no matter how Tiamat prodded him, Ddraig no longer responded.

"Well, that would have been absolutely hilarious if you didn't drag my name into it." James said while shaking his head.

"Hmph!" Tiamat snorted. "Dragon of Domination my ass. He just ran away like a little..."

"Anyway, Lady Tiamat, why did you decide to accompany us tonight?" Sona asked, doing her best to change the subject.

"I've never participated in the celebration of this holiday, so I wanted to see it for myself." Tiamat replied. "And like I said, I can't understand why you would give these treasures, as in significant as they are, to people you have no connection to."

In response to Tiamat's statement, James and Sona looked at each other as if they were discussing who would respond. Eventually, James sighed, then he looked at Tiamat once again.

"We're doing it for the people who can't' do it for themselves." James said solemnly. "I'm sure you know this, but there are no two beings who are born equal in this or any other realm."

Tiamat nodded in response and kept her sight trained on James to see what he planned to say next. James then tried to explain the concept of spreading good will and such to Tiamat who more or less embodied a dragon's greed. Needless to say, the conversation did not go very well. No matter how James explained his point of view or the point of view of the masses, Tiamat responded with one thing.

"If they aren't strong enough to take what they need or desire, then they don't deserve to have it."

Eventually, James gave up and summed it up with one simple phrase, which surprisingly gained Tiamat's understanding rather quickly.

"We're doing it because we want to." James said with a tired smile on his face.

"I see." Tiamat said nodding in understanding. "That's how strong beings should act. No other reason is needed."

"Is it just me?" Sona whispered into James ear while Tiamat nodded with a smug smile on her face. "Or is she trying to train you?"

"I'd rather not think about that right now." James replied while shaking his head. Then, in a normal volume, he spoke to Tiamat. "Anyway, we'll go shopping the day after Christmas, Tia. But for now, Sona and I need to get back to work."

"Do as you will." Tiamat said, with much more excitement in her tone.

With that, James and Sona ended their break and returned to help in serving the Christmas dinners. Like that, several more hours passed. There were many people who were mesmerized by the costumes that the girls wore. Many men felt like they received the greatest gift this year. There were just so many sexy Santas and beautiful elves with low cut tops and short skirts that they did not know what to do with themselves. If it weren't for the angry glares from the male devils, and the occasional smartphone or digital cameras randomly exploding, there would be quite a few photos of the girls floating around on the internet.

As the charity event was coming to an end, before the group completely shut down for the evening, they received an unexpected guest.

"Irina!" Shouted a middle-aged man as he entered the main tent where the meals were served.

"Huh?" Irina, with her wings and halo on full display and dressed in the attire she usually wears when she needs to make a trip to Heaven, turned around in confusion after hearing her name called out so suddenly.

When she turned around completely, what Irina saw was a middle aged man with light brown hair, the same color as her own, wearing priest attire. When she recognized this man, her eyes lit up and she smiled brightly. Then, she folded her wings and began to sprint in his direction.

"Dad!" Irina shouted as she jumped at the middle-aged man, she identified as her father, and wrapped him in a hug. "You came to see me!"

"That's right." Irina's father, Shidou Touji, said with a smile. "I just finished a mission here in Japan, and decided I'd come here to see how my lovely daughter was doing."

"Oh, it's Touji-Jiisan." issei said, in his reindeer costume, while approaching the father-daughter pair. "It's been a while."

"Indeed, it has been a while." Touji said with a wry smile. "I never expected you to become a devil, though. I was hoping you'd become an exorcist like Irina."

Instead of replying, Issei simply began to scratch his cheek and look away awkwardly.

"Like that incarnation of lust could ever become an exorcist." Mizore said in a disdainful tone.

After hearing that, Touji could only maintain his wry smile.

"I've heard the reports." Touji said. "I wonder how the young boy I knew back then turned into this?"

"I regret nothing!" Issei said resolutely. "Oppai are life. Oppai are justice. Oppai are truth!"

Although Issei was certainly not embarrassed by his little impromptu speech, Asia and Irina could not help but blush and be embarrassed for him. Meanwhile, everyone else could only sigh in resignation. Touji, on the other hand, could not even begin to figure out how he should respond to that. Luckily, he was saved from his predicament when James patted him on his shoulder.

"If you think about it too hard, you lose." James said with a smile. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you. I'm James Alaverus."

"It's nice to meet you as well." Touji said with a visibly relieved expression on his face. "I've heard a lot about you, Alaverus-Kun. Your name rings rather loudly in the supernatural world. On top of that, your title as the strongest devil makes you quite the topic of discussion in the Church."

"I see." James replied with a smile. "Well, I'd rather people talked about me because of my manga than because of my fighting strength, if they're not gonna be my enemy anyway."

"Manga?" Touji asked in confusion.

"Yeah, Dad, he's Mangetsu-Sensei." Irina said excitedly.

"Oh." Touji said in surprise. "You write/draw quite the interesting and entertaining manga."

"Thanks." James replied with a smile.

After that, Irina introduced her father to everyone present. Then, they spent the last fifteen minutes or so handing out the last of the dinners. When it was time to close up, those who were hungry ate the leftovers while everyone else packed up the tents. Luckily, all the toys were passed out pretty early, so they did not have to bring any of those back to the mansion.

Once everything was packed up, they all decided to walk back to the mansion, instead of teleporting. That way, they could drop off Issei, Asia, Genshirou, Ruruko, who decided to spend the night at Genshirou's house, Irina, and Touji along the way. Eventually, around midnight, the residents of the Alaverus Estate made it back home. Then, when they made it into the living room...

"Merry Christmas!" Those who stayed home shouted cheerfully.

Even Yasaka and Kunou had come over to spend Christmas with their new family. However, the first to move forward towards the charity workers was Cu Chulainn. Making a b line toward Tsubaki, he held out a jewelry box wrapped with a ribbon.

"Merry Christmas, Tsubaki." Cu Chulainn said with a smile. "This is for you."

Accepting the box, Tsubaki smiled as she opened it with affection in her eyes. Then, when the box was opened, she saw a white gold necklace with a heart shaped locket. Picking up the necklace, Tsubaki's smile grew wider. Then, she opened the locket. Inside the locket was a small copy of the first picture they ever took together. Seeing that, Tsubaki hugged Cu Chulainn and kissed him passionately.

"Thank you, Setanta." Tsubaki said with a beautiful smile. "I love it."

Before Cu Chulainn could reply, however, James' hand was clamped down on the back of his head.

"For real, Lancer?" James asked in a flat tone. "I tell you what I was planning to get for the girls. Then, you copy it and can't even wait until I've given my gift? Instead, you do it in front of everyone."

"Ow... James... Ow... I'm sorry." Cu Chulainn said while flailing his arms. "Please... Ow... Please... Ow... Let me go."

At first, everyone was surprised to see how thoughtful Cu Chulainn was when he chose his gift for Tsubaki. Not to say that Cu Chulainn usually gives bad gifts. However, his gifts are usually more on the practical side. So, everyone's surprise was justified. But after hearing what James said, everyone could only sigh in resignation.

'Lancer will be Lancer.' They all thought in unison.

Tsubaki, on the other hand, felt sorry for James and was a little disappointed in Cu Chulainn for his timing. As in love with him as she is, even she thought that presenting his gift before James could give his to the girls was a dick move. But she loved the gift so much that she decided that she would not reprimand him for it. For tonight, anyway.

After getting over Cu Chulainn's faux pas, James' girls were looking forward to receiving their own lockets. So, wasting no time, James pulled out ten platinum necklaces with lockets. Each locket had a gem stone on it that matched the color of each of the girls' hair. Then, he passed out the lockets. Some of them had pictures from childhood, while some of them had pictures from their high school years inside. Either way, like Tsubaki', they all had copies of the first picture they shared with James.

After that, James pulled out an eleventh necklace and locket. This time, the locket was in the shape of a little fox. So, after approaching Kunou, James knelt down and placed it around her neck. Inside the locket was a picture of Kunou being held up by both James and Yasaka, the first family photo the three of them took together.

"Thank you, Otou-San." Kunou said happily before giving James a hug.

After that, everyone gave presents in a joyful atmosphere before eventually going to bed. Luckily, today was the last day of the second term, so there was no school the next day.