[Takes Place Between Chapter 59 and Chapter 60]
The snow fell across Prusha, Quite more than it did any other day. Perhaps more than eight inches piled up on the side of the roads in Prusha, thanks to the help of the people inside of it.
And here I was trying to get into the Christmas spirit in a place where it doesn't even exist. After my duel with Amelia, I ended up coming face to face with her again in my own house. Like how the hell did Lilith manage to be friends with her?
My eyes darted across the Cafeteria, trying to find that blue haired girl. Unfortunately, she doesn't eat in the cafeteria from what I could tell. Well I mean unti-
Suddenly, a slam that happened next to me made me jolt out of my seat.
"Haaah! Who the-Oh." I simply frowned as I looked at who sat beside me.
Amelia Mallory, looking more stern than usual. Her Blue hair bundled into a bun and she wore a white fur coat. It was something that the university offered to us as an alternative to the usual School wear. Her hair was covered in snow and her nose was a bright red color.
"Pervert." There was no greeting from her. Only an insult that she threw at me before she began to look towards Griffin and Sura. She let out a smile and waved at them. "Hello!"
"H-hey…y-you?" Griffin awkwardly said.
It's come to my attention that Amelia has begun to try and take my friends away from me. She's begun to sit next to us and spark a conversation with Sura, who was confused at first but eventually became friendly to her.
"Hey, Amelia." Sura said. "How was the outside?"
Amelia shook her fur coat, snow scattering off of her. Most of it landed on me. "Horrible! I haven't seen this much snow in a good while! Almost slipped while coming in!"
I stifled a laugh when she said that. It would've been nice to have seen her falling onto her face.
Then I felt her grab my cheek and pulled really hard.
"What're you laughing about?! You small framed, twig looking pervert!" She yelled. She began to pull even harder which forced me to fend her off.
"Gah! Come on! You're acting like the damn Grinch!" I said out loud. It took me a moment to realize what I said as Griffin and Sura looked at me in confusion. Even Amelia stopped to look at me with utter cringe.
"The who?" Griffin asked confusingly as he munched on his lunch.
"Grinch?" Sura also asked.
"What are you babbling about?" Amelia cringed. "Saying random things…"
Great, everyone is thinking I'm weird now. And now everyone else in the cafeteria is looking at me. Goddamn it, I shouldn't have shouted that out.
"Kota, what is this Grinch?" Sura asked again. "Never heard of this thing. Is it a creature? A person you knew?"
"Uh…well…" I thought for a moment. Could I actually introduce Christmas to this world? That seems like a lot of effort for me, I mean I'm telling them of a whole celebration of a fictional being that gives gifts.
Actually that doesn't seem that too far out for this world. There's already beings here that are basically fictional in my old world.
"The grinch…is a person who hated a…Event that everyone celebrates." I explained very vaguely.
"So like…those who don't celebrate the Festival?" Griffin chirped in. "Ooh, he's like a good guy who beats up those who aren't in good spirits!"
"Hmm. I do recall reading about a person who basically went crazy during one of the past Lucian festivals. Attacking those who approved of Lucian…" Sura recalled.
"…Ok, Not like that. More like he was a mean spirited man who just hated the event. He didn't want to hurt anyone." I said. "Look, all I am saying is that Amelia is acting mean spirited."
"You based me off a random ass character you made up?!" Amelia grabbed me by the collar of my cloak. "I'm not mean spirited, I'm annoyed by your presence!"
"Get off me, Grinch!" I yelled, trying to yank her off of me.
Dink!
A metallic noise rang through my ears as I saw a metal plate smack Amelia on the head. Behind her was a dark skinned woman who wore a blue mage outfit along with a Fur lined cloak. Her blue mage hat gave away that it was Tera who stood behind her.
"No rough housing here!" Tera ordered, she held the metal plate which seemed to be her empty lunch plate.
"S-sorry…" Amelia rubbed her head as she said that. "But Kota called me a Grinch!"
"A what?" Tera looked at me. "That a creature or something you made up?"
"It's a dude that's all mean spirited because of an event everyone celebrates!" Griffin said.
"What event?" Tera asked.
Ah well…guess I gotta introduce Christmas.
"It's…Called Christmas." I slowly said. Everyone at the table looked at me blankly, so I continued. "It's an event where people give each other gifts in good spirit. Gifts like toys or clothes or…Yeah.."
"Who would hate an event like that?" Tera asked. "Haven't heard anything like that…I do like being given gifts."
"I like gifts!" Griffin looked at me. "Hey, we should do this Christmas thing! Let's do Kota's weird idea!"
Sura nodded, brushing her pink hair. "Sounds interesting. Kota, where'd you come up with this idea?"
"Uh…In my head." I pointed at my head. "All up in here…"
"There's no way an idiot like you made that up! I bet Lilith came up with it!" Amelia shouted.
"Hush! Stop yelling!" Tera scolded her. "Alright, I like this idea very much. How about this." Tera then pointed at all of us. "After school, we all meet up at kale's home. Then we'll all cooperate to make this idea come true."
No way, did I just incorporate Christmas in this world? I mean, it's not like everyone in the cafeteria is in on it. But still, somehow I manage to make it work!
"Ok, everyone get back to their lunch break." Tera then strolled off after she said that.
Well, I guess everyone is going to Kales. Wondering how he's going to handle that…
"Kota, tell us more about this Christmas thing!" Sura asked me, her green eyes shining with interest. "I'm curious about how you thought of it."
"Tell me too! I like hearing stories told to me!" Griffin chimed in. Everyone At the table stared at me.
So I decided to let them have their way and told them about Christmas through the whole lunch break. Once lunch was finished, everyone seemed eager to learn more after school. I managed to be the first out of class that day and I waited by the front gates as everyone else slowly walked out of the university.
Tera was the last one to leave the university, holding a bag of what I assumed were her work. She carefully walked her to the rest of us, Happily waving as she talked.
"Ok! I'm very eager to hear the rest of this Christmas you are talking of! Now let's head to kale!"
"Before we do that." I said, watching as Tera looked at me in confusion. "We got to get gifts, something like toys or anything the other person likes."
"Oh? We have to choose the person we give the gift to?" She asked, intrigued. "I'd assume we have to gift everyone so I…" she rattled the bag she had. "Decided that everyone needed books."
"Uh…I don't think everyone is going to like that. Plus, we need to keep it a secret."
"Oh. Well why didn't you tell me?" Tera frowned.
"Hey, you went on ahead and just grabbed random books before I told you." I shrugged.
"…Got me there. Alright, what do we need to grab?" Tera asked.
"Well, we need to buy something that the person likes. Who do you want to gives Gift to? This includes everyone." I watched as everyone contemplated and thought. I'm sensing that everyone got someone in mind as they all slowly nodded. "Alright, then just think of what they'll like as a gift! We'll also need to have them wrapped up and stuff!"
"Wrapped? Like wrapping them in animal skin?" Sura asked.
"What? No…no. Ok, if wrapping doesn't work, we can get a bag to cover what we got!" I couldn't imagine anyone enjoying a gift being wrapped in a wolf's pelt. Wouldn't that be gross?
"To the marketplace!" Griffin shouted, taking the lead and joyfully jogging his way towards the market district. Soon, everyone else followed suit. Mumbling to themselves about the gift they were giving to that significant person.
In about three hours or so, everyone managed to buy the gifts they needed. Except Sura who decided that whoever she chose didn't need one. From what I saw, it seemed like everyone got something small or something inside a bag. Amelia seemed to be carrying a bag full of assortments. when I asked her how she got it, she aggressively replied that she had her ways with getting things.
Tera seemed confident in her gift.
"I'm sure he'd adore this." She said as we walked our way back to kale's home.
"What is it?" I asked, curiously.
"Lingerie. For me."
"Huh? It's supposed to be a gift for…is that for kale?"
"Precisely. When I put this on, he'll squeal like a child." Tera smiled slyly. "But I want him to see it without me wearing it to amuse his mind."
That's…going to cause a lot of problems in the house. Particularly for me and Lilith. We don't want to hear what'll happen.
As we approached Kale's house, we noticed that the house was lit. Which meant Kale and Lilith were back from their usual practicing and such.
Reminds me of what I got for Lilith as a Gift. Another doll to add to her collection. I went to a general store that was selling dolls. I was particularly curious if I was able to find something that looked like a person. The doll she has was just a pig looking figure and honestly it freaks me out at night when it stares at us in the bed. Luckily I managed to find a bundle of dolls that resembled people, and what I found was pretty amazing.
Inside the bag I held, was a doll that similarly looked like me. Sounds weird, but it's got the black hair I have, the blue eyes and even was wearing a cloak! Still, it looked like a Frankenstein thing. Got a weird looking eye.
Surely she'd like it.
Finally, we all stood in front of Kale's door. Kinda reminded me of those groups of people who go door to door, singing carols. Luckily we weren't doing that. I then gave the door a couple of knocks. After a few moments of stumbling and footsteps, Kale opened the door. He looked at us with confusion, his eyes glancing at the bags we all had.
"…What is this? School activities?" He asked. "This house isn't a hangout spot, you know."
Suddenly, Lilith pushed past underneath him. She wore a white buttoned shirt and black Pants that had the ends of the shirt tucked into them. Her short silver hair fluffed. She looked at everyone before quickly looking at me, smiling. "Why's everyone here?" Her amber eyes glowed with curiosity.
"That's what I was asking. And you don't need to push to see!" Kale scolded her. He turned his gaze back to us. "What's with the bags?"
"Gifts!" Griffin yelled excitedly, swinging his bag. "Christmas!"
"…Chrisma-what? Come on, tell me the reason." Kale said, confused.
"We are doing this Event Kota thought of. Christmas. It's where we give gifts to others." Tera explained. "You like gifts, right Kale?"
"Uh…yes. Yes I do. But why did everyone else get one?"
"To gift to the people they want to."
"But why her-."
"Just let us in the damn house." Tera sternly said. "I'm freezing out here and I want to gift you this damn thing." That quick aggression made Kale look at her with surprise. But to be fair, it was very cold out here.
Kale moved to the side as Tera strolled in, placing the bag on the floor. The rest of us followed behind her much to Kale's dismay. We then sat around the living room, Lilith deciding to stand behind me. I was pretty sure she was curious about what I got, so I covered the bag while holding it against my stomach.
"Ok…Christmas. Why are you guys celebrating a fake thing that Kota created? That's absurd, but at the same time I'm too am curious of this celebration of giving gifts to each other…" Kale Said as he closed the door. "So what…you guys are going to gift them to each other now?"
"Oooh! Me! I wanna gift mine first!" Griffin held his bag, his hands molding the shape of the item he picked out as a gift. It was a book, and we all knew who liked books in this house…
Griffin immediately presented the bag to Sura, who nonchalantly made herself home on the couch. She looked at it suspiciously, eyeing the bag and Griffin before taking the gift into her hands and slowly taking it out of the bag.
"Griffin…What is this?" Sura confusingly asked at first, but her eyes widened as she looked at the book. It was a book that was titled "Teher and the mountains", it was a green colored book that seemed to be relatively old. Sura held it with absolute caution, her eyes sparkling with awe.
"I found the book in one of the stores!" Griffin said. "And I remember you saying you wanted to learn about the God of Earth, so I got it!" He then let out an awkward laugh as he scratched his green hair. "It cost a lot of rubees too…"
Sura couldn't contain her happiness in front of him, her cheeks brightening to a hot red. I could see from my view that she was crazily smiling. She tried her best to compose herself by hiding behind the book before peeking her eyes from the top of it. "Y-yes. I didn't expect you to be…listening. T-thank you."
Griffin smiled at the response and pumped his fist. I'm assuming Griffin was Sura's choose to give a gift to. But I suppose the green haired boy was just too happy and eccentric to even need one.
Kale watched in amusement at the boy's odd behavior before he was tapped on his shoulder. As he turned, he saw it was Tera who was presenting a gift to him.
"Oh? One for me? But I didn't get anything…Me and Lilith didn't get anything." Kale tried to make an excuse, but tera promptedly shoved the bag towards him. Kale grabbed the bag and peered inside of it.
The first reaction he made when looking at it was confusion. Then he double checked the bag to confirm what he saw was real. Then his face morphed into a concerned look as he looked up at tera. Tera didn't say a word, only looked at him with a sly smile as he looked back down at the bag and put a hand into it.
"T-this is real? Like actually?" He softly said.
Tera nodded. Kale made multiple expressions as he spent a good minute touching what was inside the bag before he finally stopped. His expression now shows excitement and anticipation.
"Glad you liked it." Tera smiled as she took the bag back from him. "But that's not the end of your Christmas gift. The rest is for later."
"Ooh pfft…Take your time. I got it all in my head now, Tera." Kale said with a smile.
"Course you do."
I guess it's my time to show my gift to Lilith. Hopefully she likes it. I mean, it is a doll.
As I turned around to face Lilith, I suddenly heard footsteps approaching from behind me very quickly. Before I could react, I felt a hand grab my shoulder to hold me down and a box smacking onto the top of my head.
"Ow!"
"Lilith!" I heard Amelia yell. "I got you a Christmas thingy!" It was she that decided to use my head as a table. She quickly grabbed the box and pulled off the top of it, placing the lid onto the ground.
The scent of pastel and sweets filled the air, scents of cake and what I assumed were cookies coated the air. Seems like Amelia decided to fill Lilith's sweet tooth.
"Sweets?!" Lilith said excitedly. "Ooh, they have the Eldesche milk cake in this box! And the sugar Plums! Let me grab some!" Before she continued, she gently grabbed the box and lifted it. "Sorry, kota. But can I use your head?"
"Aw, it's fine. You can use it anytime." I guess my gift can wait. Just gotta wait for Lilith to finish up eating the sweets and we'll get going!
"Oh? What's that?" Lilith asked again. I thought she was asking Amelia about a sweet, but then I noticed she was peering down towards the bag I had. Which was slightly open now from me losing my grip on it. I guess you could see the head of it sticking out a bit. It seems like she was asking me again.
"Oh…it's my Gift." I answered. Lilith moved the box of pastel and sweets off my head, much to Amelia's voice of complaint behind me. Lilith then slowly knelt down and grabbed into the bag, pulling out the doll.
"For…?" Lilith softly asked, examining the doll. Lifting its arm and looking under the cloak it had.
"It's..for you."
"Huh? M-me?" She seemed more shocked than I thought she'd be. Wait, was this a bad gift? Oh shit, this has to be the wrong gift for her.
That thought of mine slowly finished as I saw her slowly look up at me, her lips quivering and her eyes watery. She held the doll in front of her to obscure herself, but it was too obvious. Rather than a frown or anything bad like that, there was a smile that slowly formed from her quivering lips.
"I-it looks just like you…besides the weird looking eye it has." She finally said, she lowered the doll and held it against her chest.
"I remembered you got that doll from when we first came to Prusha. So I kinda thought you'd like another one that…held resemblance to someone you knew." I explained. "Think of it as like…a way to always have me beside you!"
"Gah, sounds so gross coming from him!" Ameli groaned behind me. "…least she did enjoy the gift. Hey, wait! No one else gave me a gift!"
As Amelia complained more behind me, I focused more on Lilith who had closed her eyes and clutched the doll closer to her chest.
"Thank you." She said, her eyes still shut. "I'll cherish this doll. Really, I will."
I smiled. "Yeah. Er…Usually for Christmas we say 'Merry Christmas' as we give someone their gift. So…Merry Christma-Mph!"
As quick as lightning, I felt a hand reach for my neck to wring me in. I saw Lilith had quickly moved me towards her as she went for a quick kiss to my cheek.
"What was it?" Lilith asked. Smiling even larger.
"M-merry Christmas..?" I don't even think anyone else even noticed that she just pecked me on the cheek. Maybe they were too focused on Amelia ranting or other things.
"Heh…Merry Christmas, Kota. That was my Gift to you." Lilith giggled as she went to grab the box of pastel. "Now I'm going to gobble this box of sweets! Cmon, Mini Kota!" In her left arm was the doll I gave her. The other arm had the box of pastel balancing on the palm of her hand.
Huh…I guess Christmas in this world isn't that bad as the one in my past life. Maybe with a few more years of doing this, we could probably get a better hang of it. I mean this could actually just be a thing me and close friends and family do, something that only me and the people I have know about.
I took a glance out the window and considered a lot of things. Arael's task, the Festival, whatever is happening in this world.
Maybe Christmas can be a way to somehow go back to my old life for just a day. Just one day with the people I hold close to in this world. Bring them into my old life for a bit.
"Kota, Lilith, snowball fight?" My thoughts were interrupted by Sura, who nudged me. "Griffin wants us to all play."
"Uh…sure! Yeah!" I stood up and looked out the window, seeing Griffin and Amelia already outside. Lilith finished munching on the last bit of pastel she had and nodded hastily.
For the rest of the day, we all played in the snow until it was night. The doll I had given Lilith clutched tightly in one arm as she slumbered.
A/N: Merry early Christmas! Since I knew I'd be busy all week, I decided to focus on this little side chapter to get into the holiday spirit! I'm still writing, it's just that I've slowed down to focus on work. But this chapter I wanted out for Christmas! Hope you enjoy this Christmas chapter!