LIGHTNOVELONLINE 「Christmas at the Academy」
2 years ago
10:38 PM
Christmas Eve
Naoki, in his usual garb, walks into Kyouji's room.
The technophile was frantically choosing shirts before choosing the most colorful one, adorned with various beautiful petals.
"NOAKI- alright thank god you're here. Tell me, does this shirt look lame as hell?"
Naoki, semi caught off guard, responds
"Umm... no...? Not really?"
"Ok, thanks. Sure hope not..." sighed Kyouji
"Anyway, are you ready for gifts?"
"Damn right I am. Been waiting 365 days for this."
"I agree. Not that anyone knows or could even fathom what I'm into but, I suppose the thought is all that counts..." he said aloud
"..."
(no, no it isn't)" he whispers under his breath.
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. Well, it is early but, it doesn't hurt to get an early start," replied Naoki.
..
.
They walked down the stairs and enter into the general cafeteria. There, a plethora of other students sipped hot cocoa, told stories, ate food, and enjoyed plenty of other jolly activities.
Akemi and Makoto both walked towards the bottom of the stairs, greeting Kyouji and Naoki.
Akemi wore an adorable green ugly sweater and pajamas. Makoto wore her iconic Tiger onesie and a Santa hat.
Akemi starts.
"Howdy fellas! Glad to see you all here so early. Pretty chilly huh? I must say the food this year is pretty-"
"You look lame as hell dude," interrupted Makoto
Kyouji immediately turns around and kicked the trash can nearby, then stormed up the stairs
"FUCKING HELL- FUCK IT, FUCK IT ALL, ITS ALL 𝔽𝕌ℂ𝕂𝔼𝔻! GGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDD-"
The rest of his tantrum echoed throughout the stairwell.
The three of them stood silent for a bit.
"..."
"..."
"..."
........
Naoki started.
"So what did you guys get for the other students?"
Akemi replied first.
"I got a lot of people's clothes this year. It is really cold this year for some odd reason."
"It's because of climate change" replied Makoto
Akemi audibly chuckled.
"But climate change doesn't exist! Pahahahaha!"
".....
Anyway, I tried to get everyone something a little more personalized- but seeing as how I don't really talk to the others, I just got you guys something more in line with your personalities and everyone else... socks."
She shrugged
"Better than nothing I suppose."
Naoki shrugged as well
"I'm broke as shit so its a miracle I was even able to get something for a couple of people."
"Yeah I suppose," concurred Makoto.
Immediately afterwards, everyone felt the voices of the silent receptionist prayers alert their consciousness.
``An unknown cluster of spirits have invaded the Academy's grounds. The number of spirits seems to be around 16. They all vary in size and strength. Most of them seem to resemble humanoid figures. All students are required to participate. In the Name of the Rising Sun``
Simultaneously, all the students in the Academy groaned.
Naoki complained, "Dude, why do we have to do it? Doesn't the school have a defense system?"
"Newsflash asshole, we are the defense system" scolded Makoto.
"I know, but that's so LAME" said Naoki once more.
"I'm here tooooo" butted in Akemi, reaffirming his existence.
All the students rushed outside towards various directions. All the exits flooded with groups of 3s and 4s. Though the Academy held roughly around 100 students, they all made a decent enough barrier around the school. Using their Psychic abilities, they sensed the presence of all these rogue spirits.
Only to be greeted by a gaggle of decrepit creatures...
"..."
Akemi started
"Naoki?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared."
Naoki chuckled a bit
"Y'know, I hate to admit it but- I should've worn my brown trousers today"
"What- What the hell is up with them?!" yelled Makoto in a perturbed tone.
"They all have... ISSUES"
She wasn't sure whether to laugh, scream, or cry. Her concentration was so distracted, she couldn't move her own body.
Until she focused on one of them.
Instantly, her hindrance melted away.
"Hey Naoki, that one looks like you," she said as she pointed at Stubby.
Both Akemi and Naoki shot back a "DUDE 💀" straight at Makoto.
She snickered.
"Alright, yeah I'm back. Now, let's-"
Instantaneously, all of the Yule lads disappeared.
They saw it;
They all saw it.
A blur of rainbow colors and short Nordic men bypassed all of the students that were surrounding the school. Not even the fastest Pillar, nor the smartest Psycho, nor even the craftiest Sorcerer could figure out what happened. Perception blitzed by these manlets, everyone had a near heart attack as they all made sure they were still alive and weren’t experiencing the after effects of the soul drifting away from their bodies.
Loud clanging noises were heard coming from the cafeteria/kitchen.
Despite being thankful for being alive, everyone groaned as they had to march back towards the kitchen.
There, a handful of the lads were out and about, thrashing the contents of the kitchen. Spoon licker was licking all the spoons, bowl licker was doing much the same, but the key difference being get this: bowls. Skyr gobbler couldn't find any skyr so he just tried downing the giant pot of boiling hot chocolate, but considering his stature and the sheer weight and temperature of the hot chocolate, he ended up boiling his face and drowning in the gallons of the sweet delicacy. Swinging from cabinet to cabinet was sausage swiper, looking for all the sausages and sausage look-alikes. Sheep Cote Clod couldn't find any sheep so he just stood around with Window Peeper. Window Peeper and his bowl sized eyeballs stared directly towards Akemi's soul. Gully Gawk was making himself some tea. Stubby was eating all the pies on the tables... or he would if he was even tall enough to reach. Pot scraper was making a titanic conundrum as he banged and scraped all of the now ruined pots. Meat-hook and his gashful menacing weapon skewered 6 slabs of steak. And then there was candle stealer but nobody gave a fuck about him.
"I don't... I don't think the entire school is needed to fight these..." noted Akemi
Makoto sighed and contemplated on what to do in this situation.
After a 5 second ingenious plan, she telepathically scanned throughout the school in search of the Principal.
Hanayama (said Principal) was doing his usual routine of playing Mario Kart, uncaring of what happened inside the school. He caught the notion of someone trying to catch his attention. Annoyed, he reluctantly picked up the signal, and paused his game.
"(What's up)"
"(Can I take care of this in one fell swoop?)"
"(Is it going to make a mess?)"
"(You already know the answer to that)"
"(Alright...sure... but you students are going to have to clean it up.)"
She growled
"(Fucking- fine.)"
She quit her communication and announced it to her peers.
"Everyone, go look for the other spirits. I got these ones. By the way, we're all gonna have to cancel our Saturdays this weekend."
One of the students asked, "Why?"
"You'll see in a minute"
Naoki, Akemi, and a couple other students all passed through the cafeteria and walked up various flights of stairs to scan for the other spirits. The rest of the students kept on searching outside. A minute later, they all heard the sound of an explosion go off where the kitchen was.
"Oh well- of course" sighed Akemi to himself.
"Who else but Makoto!" nudged Naoki.
.
.
.
Naoki and Akemi both walked alongside each other while the other students split off towards the other floors.
There was a rather unending noise where they were at. Thumping about, it grew louder and louder as our two heroes inched closer towards the noise. It sounded like a door yet... the sound was of a small explosion or a wooden baseball bat being broken in half in one thrashing swing. An unceasing rage that was taken out upon furniture. BAM after WACK after SLAM.
Pretty soon, they both stopped in their tracks and made a confused face.
There, at the end of the dark hallway...
Death greeted them.
"What the... fuck is that" hissed Naoki.
"I...I have no clue" responded Akemi in a concerned tone.
"We should... we should grab someone else... this one seems to be too strong like- come on, his arms are bigger than his BODY!" continued Akemi.
"To hell with that noise, I'm mogging this dwarf" shouted Naoki
In a fit of determination, Naoki sprinted towards the Yule Lad, before bouncing on the walls, and leaping at the last second to deliver a mid air roundhouse kick to the Yule Lad's face.
Naoki's shin cracked a thunderous THWACK as it crashed upon the midget's cranium.
""
Only a simple line of blood dripped down Door-Slammer's nose.
The gnome proceeded to grab Naoki's leg the split second he was falling down, before it ragdolled the boy and delivered a meaty left straight towards Naoki's sternum.
A sound even louder than Naoki's own head splitting kick was made as his entire body was sent flying towards Akemi.
In a concentrated state, the adrenaline kicked in. Akemi proceeded to dodge to the left.
So here's the thing about Akemi.
He wasn't the best at Ki control.
He wasn't the best at Sorcerery.
He wasn't the best at PsychoPower.
The masks were meant to be used as a great equalizer; an experiment handed by his sponsor Mr.Mishima. Though the masks are experimental and are more prone to ruining Akemi and the surrounding area he's in, does that mean that he has to depend on the masks to hard-carry him?
Absolutely not.
Dashing towards the Yule lad, Akemi used telekinesis to make the Yule Lad do the splits, before turning him upside down. Then, he utilized his technique: Shinra fist. An all-rounder technique that uses ki as a basis for the projection, psychopower to actually summon the limb/construct, and sorcery to manifest it into reality, thus, a giant glowing fist made out of spiritual energy appeared. Akemi swung his left hand downwards in a chopping motion; the giant hand did much the same, effortlessly splitting the midget in half.
He turned to face his friend who was currently caved into the wall.
"You know Naoki, you may be better than me in terms of Ki and PsychoPower. However, there's two simple reasons I won that fight
A. I'm smarter
and B. I'm simply not blinded by my ego" he shot back, pointing at his friend with a cheerful smile.
Naoki, embedded into the wall, gave a bored expression towards his friend.
"Cough- Hey Akemi?"
"Yeah?"
"Suck my fucking dick dude."
.
.
.
Naoki and Akemi both ran around the school halls before hearing loud booming sounds outside the windows. It sounded like heavy machine gun firing coming from several barrels. Shiet- these ghosts er- whatever they are have GUNS now? With caution, both of them peeked out of the window.
The remains of an 8 foot tall gluttonous cat that was as fat as it was hideous, missing half its hairs and looks to be 80 years old (in cat years) laid on the snow. It bled profusely as several bullet holes the size of soda cans were spread around its "body"; or rather, the little scraps and rags of flesh left behind.
And right next to its barely living corpse... was Kyouji!
He wore a new, less colorful dress shirt on top of his skin tight cyberpunk suit. It glowed with several streams and runes that lined throughout his body. If it weren't for the RGB lights throughout his body, the umbral shade of his suit would've made him perfectly blend in with the night time. He wore a computer device that wrapped around his left forearm. It mainly resembled a 90s plastic keyboard, intact with that charismatic and nostalgia charged yellowed out clackity glory. On the corner of the device sat a small chunky square screen with data that only Kyouji could ever understand. Typing away 40 commands per second, the mechanisms that did all the work made themselves known: two drones the size of average human torsos made themselves known, carrying a hefty looking machine gun and a bandolier style magazine that fed into the gun.
For once, he didn't wear his iconic Specter mask. An ominous helmet that gimped any semblance of humanity that remained in his armored guise. It lacked any lenses yet always knowing the enemy's location, invisible or otherwise, up close or otherwise, divine, or otherwise. It would scan an enemy's genetic make up, their abilities, and easily exploitable weaknesses. An exposed rubber brain that squelched endlessly acted as the top of the helmet, providing a false sense of weakness. The only skin that would've been visible was the hole that exposed Kyouji's mouth. And even then, his sadistic sneer in the face of combat resembled anything but a human's.
Suppose he didn't need it this time.
Kyouji looked behind him and noticed his two comrades.
"Oh hey you two, didn't notice you. Man its a shame this happened, I mean look at this, I just changed and this shirt is already ruined" exclaimed Kyouji as he looked down at his bloodied self.
"Holy shit, you should join me in more missions! It'll be a cake walk with you along!" shouted Naoki.
"By 'cake walk' I'm assuming you expect me to do 90% of the work"
"And by 'you doing 90% of the work', I'm assuming you mean your drones right?"
"Yes, the drones I made"
"Then yeah! All of the above"
"...Touché, Naoki-san.
Unfortunately, I'm the head of tech around the school so that's why I don't participate in missions since they have me experimenting and troubleshooting 24/7. It would be a fun venture, but maybe in a year or 5 from now."
"But that's so looooooooooooong. What if I'm dead by then?"
"Well shit dude, not like I can do anything about that 💀"
Akemi bumped in.
"I think he meant taking the opportunity to go with him on a mission before anything dangerous happens"
Kyouji made a sarcastic surprised face.
"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo- REALLY????????"
"Yes, really."
"...
Ugh."
They eventually made their way back towards the front of the school, planning to meet up with Makoto.
The other students scattered throughout and tried to find the last remaining presences.
.
.
.
Outside the now devastated cafeteria, the three of them met up with Makoto. Several other students groaned as they started cleaning up the gallons of blood off the walls while using specific abilities to patch up the destruction as quick as possible because, hell no, they're not they're going to waste their Saturday.
"Hey guys" she started.
"Howdy!"
"Sup."
"I'm still mad about your comment but whatever."
Kyouji, Akemi, and Makoto were the closest towards the entrance of the cafeteria door; all of them walked inside until-
THWUMP
Instantaneously, the presence of a being filled with only ire and hate was felt among the students. As if looking at a murderer in court, and only expressing joy at the reflection of what they have done.
A 13 foot tall grotesque man cratered right behind Naoki. His visage horrendous as grease and sweat permeated the leftover rags of clothes he had adorned. His elvish grin spread from ear to ear. The stench of musk and fermented herring made itself apparent. His claws jolly with malice, his teeth jagged to a British degree, his eyes glazed with that methed up fluoride stare. The feeling of being face to face with a Tiger and a Homeless vagabond in the middle of a crack spree mixed together as this single figure embodied both. Dread of "Man". Dread of "Nature".
"𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓭" it croaked.
"𝔖𝔲𝔠𝔠𝔲𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓭" it hissed as its serpentine tongue slithered behind Naoki.
"A-Are you a pedophile" stuttered Naoki, an inch away from soiling his fate.
The creature stared
and replied with a smile.
As Naoki attempted to dodge, the giant snatched him up and squeezed the majority of Naoki's body with a single hand. A bully squeezing a helpless rat, watching in anticipation, waiting for its eyes to pop out.
The three of them immediately acted out as several other students ran outside and readied their own abilities.
Akemi projected a giant fist and attacked the giant's groin.
Makoto quickly shot miniscule pressurized missiles towards the giant's knees and shoulders.
Kyouji scanned the giant.
His goggles whispered out the spirit's information
``Leppalúði, a Norse Giant of Icelandic Christmas folklore``
It continued onwards, instantly sending all the ogre's information towards Kyouji's brain.
"How... how the fuck do you even say that" he thought to himself.
"Nevermind that, just need to take this thing out before this kid fucking DIES" he hissed.
Quickly typing away at his wrist computer, Kyouji summoned a crossbow with four bolts in its magazine.
As other students pelted the giant with various abilities, Kyouji concentrated.
Deadshot in his abilities, Kyouji managed to nail a bolt on the ogre's head... before seemingly missing his three other shots. One landed on the tree behind Leppalúði, the other landed to the left of him, and the last one landed a couple inches next to Kyouji's feet.
Naoki, with his ribs on the verge of being turned to dust, was able to slow the Monster's mental processing a bit. It was a lot easier to do compared to using telekinesis but in due time, he'll learn how to use telekinesis while getting crushed to death.
The monster attempted to ignore the several other abilities being peppered upon him, and paid most of his attention to the oddest looking student: Kyouji.
"𝖄𝕺𝖀 𝕸𝕴𝕾𝕾𝕰𝕯" it hissed.
"Yeah."
Reaching to his left hip, Kyouji drew out a futuristic looking saber with an electrical coil that acted as its blade.
"𝕋ℂℍ-ℍ𝔸ℍ𝔸! 𝕐𝕆𝕌 𝕄𝔼𝔸ℕ 𝕋𝕆 𝔾𝔼𝕋 ℂ𝕃𝕆𝕊𝔼 𝕋𝕆 𝕄𝔼?" it grunted, attempting to ward off the other pests by stomping a small quake towards them.
Kyouji tilted his head in a pissed off fashion
Kyouji barked back, "Come close to you? PLEASE, with your stench I'd rather castrate myself with my own nails.
By the way Naoki, brace yourself."
"huff the fu-HAGCK doES THAT MEAN?" struggled Naoki.
Kyouji whacked the crossbow bolt between his feet with his tesla coil sword.
Immediately, the several thousand volts traveled from that bolt, then arced to bolt next to the creature, then arcing to one behind him, finally transferring through to the bolt embedded into the giant's head. Though the electricity was still going through Naoki since Lappilaopohljhgopohgi held onto him, the fact of the matter is- that's still several thousand volts striking through the creature's brain.
Naturally, the Giant let go of the stunned Naoki and dropped dead. An apparent charcoal hole made itself known through the back of the ogre's skull.
Taberu, by sheer coincidence, was the only adult (besides the principal) who was around. He looked outside to see if the attack was over.
He sipped his coffee.
"...
You guys have fun with this one"
Akemi turned around to Makoto's sponsor.
"Aren't you going to do something about the situation? Like help us out?"
Taberu gave a confused look.
"...What? Hell no it's Christmas dude, I just came for coffee. We step in if its a big deal- this" he pointed
"This is child's play. Get real dude."
He turned around and fucked off to his goon cave.
"... hey Makoto" asked Akemi
"What's up"
"I think I know why you are the way you are..."
She turned to him with the most flabbergasted face possible.
"What is that supposed to mean????"
.
.
.
12:13 AM
Naoki was quickly recovered by the medic and was semi naked wearing only a hospital gown.
Everyone else had a quick shower and short change of clothes.
The rest of the other students were back to hanging around, finishing up their half-assed attempt at burying the corpses of the creatures while fixing up the kitchen/cafeteria.
Our 4 students hang around once again near the fireplace, opening up their presents.
"You know Kyouji, despite what I said earlier, I still really liked your shirt. It's lame but in a cute way, you know?" explained Makoto.
"Oh thanks dude. I will say though, I don't really care... anymore. I wanted to impress you guys but then I realized, "wait a sec, they already accept me for who I am...
...?
Then why am I doing this for them???
????????
But nevertheless, I still appreciate your comment."
Makoto gave him the oddest stare known to man.
"Ehh, right..."
Eventually, it was Kyouji's turn to open up his gift.
It was a single one.
A long box that was decently thick. It was wrapped with Minecraft textures because that was the closest thing to "video game" and "technology" they had at the nearest mall.
From: Akemi, Naoki, and Makoto
To: Our favorite freak
He slowly opened up his gift with confusion and anticipation.
It was a $450 small portable grill that was safe (enough) to operate within a room. It had a charcoal setting, a gasoline setting, and an electrical setting. It even had a USB port to connect to the computer for some reason. An air fryer option, a tiny fridge compartment, and best of all, a thermometer to make sure food is properly cooked.
Kyouji looked away as his voice quivered. With a few sniffles and wiping his nose, he had the confidence to look at his siblings once again.
"You guys don't know anything about technology, nor what I'm interested in yet...
You got this for me and... it's the only thing I ever wanted. It's the only thing I didn't know I needed within my room. It's... It's... man.
Thank you guys so much. It means a lot... honestly..." he waivered.
"Ah come on guy, you know we have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to technology. But at least we know you like grilling" applauded Akemi.
"Don't get sappy dude. We love you but, cheer up a bit" smiled Makoto as she frazzled Kyouji's hair.
"What they said. Also, thanks for saving my life back there- quite literally. I appreciate you for being my friend" said Naoki.
"Thank you guys so much. It's an alien feeling, but knowing that I am loved is... pretty cool."
And there we have it. A cumbersome yet still beautiful Christmas Eve from our boys and girl™ from those who's Grudges Burst and yet- still pause their negativity for those they love.
A Merry, Jolly Christmas from the Grudge Burst cast.
https://youtu.be/BjC0KUxiMhc