Christmas in July

DAY 1

It's well into the period of the year where people start switching to summer uniforms. Despite this, one particular boy arrives in a red coat with white fluff, carrying a huge sack of presents all wrapped in red and green. A white beard hangs off his face as he greets everyone with the same phrase in the same loud and excited tone: "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

He sets his big red sack down in front of the shoes lockers and turns to the crowd of students looking at him, addressing them with a look of cheer in his eyes: "I've readied a gift for all the good boys and girls of Higan! Please come up and receive your holiday cheer when your name is called!"
"Kurosawa Kenji!" he calls out loudly, a boy with white hair stepping forward cautiously before being handed a present.

"It's not even close to December, but sure!" he says as he steps forward and gets handed a wrapped DVD case. He get immediately excited recognizing the shape as he unwraps it, finding it to be a new DVD version of It's a Wonderful Life.

"I didn't even know they were printing these! The cover's too good to be a bootleg and it would be super expensive to convert it just for a bootleg anyways, plus you'd only get a real quality gain by converting from the original reels. Doing it from an old tape would just inherit all the problems that had with compression thrown into the mix. Did you import this? I don't see any Japanese on it? You must have spent a lot on it!"

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that holiday cheer is spread!" the boy says with a wide smile.

Kenji smiles as he holds the gift, looking at Japanese schoolboy Santa: "I will! Thank you so much!!" he says with excitement.

Many more students are given gifts, until the red sack lies empty and the day continue.


Madoka Onguuchi bursts into the Student Council room during the lunch hour, wearing a fluffy red and white capelet and matching mittens. The whole group is there, and had anyone else walked in dressed as such they would have raised an eyebrow.

However, Madoka was eccentric. This kind of behavior wasn't unusual for her, even as she also carries a big red sack of wrapped Christmas presents.

"Hiya everyone~"

"Where have you been? It's over halfway through lunch and I need your thoughts on-" Kaoru starts before being handed a small gift box, wrapped with an extra sparkly bow. The girl seems confused before having the box pushed into her hands.

"Come on! Open it up!" Madoka says with a wide smile.

"...Fine, but I wasn't aware of this occasion and I did not prepare a gift in return" Kaoru responds opening up the box to find a box buttons for clothes that have integrated microphones.

"That's not important! My gift giving instinct just told me you'd love them!~" Madoka says, handing out more gifts to the rest of the student council. Kaoru seems to fight it, but she starts to smile as well.

"I... thank you, thank you very much!"

"That's really kind of you Madoka-chan!" Shu says as he cracks into his package, being a series of decoy boxes leading to an envelope of 5 10000 Yen bills.

"This is really too much..." Shu says, Madoka's wide grin bearing down on him as she gets closer.

"It's exactly enough, Shu-kun. Merry Christmas!"

"Yeah, Merry Christmas!" he says in response. Everyone else opens their gifts besides Yae, who quietly tucks hers into her bag, still wrapped.


Momofuku sits at her desk near the front of the classroom, boiling in her black uniform. It was her signature, but the classroom she was in had bad AC and she felt every second of it.

"Is um... Chikata-san in?" Takaishi says as he pokes his head into the classroom.

Momo stands up and waves him over: "What do you want... why are you wearing a Santa hat?"

"I... wanted to give you something" he says, handing her a red and green wrapped package just the right size of a particular Romance manga's special edition first volume. Way too expensive for her to ever justify buying, let alone enduring the humiliation of actually going into the kind of places that actually sell it. If Alyona knew she read that kind of thing it would give her way too many ideas to mess with her.

"I can't accept this: you should just return it and save yourself the money" she says in an accidentally callous tone.

The boy looks crushed as he looks down at her: "But.. It's the holidays..."

"It's July: Madoka just started some fad by wearing a Santa cape to school. I really can't accept it" Momo insists.

"Come on, don't you want to feel the holiday cheer?" Takaishi asks in a desperate last bid to draw out the Tsunkeban's Christmas spirit.

"I don't want to pay you back for such a nice gift, that's my problem!" Momo says with intensity. "It's not christmas! It's summer! Who pranked you into doing this? Tell me so I can teach them a lesson!"

"Chikata, whats going on?" her teacher asks, a middle-aged man who has finally risen out of his chair when he heard her yelling.

"Sensei, he's being forced to participate in a prank!"

"N-No! I just wanted to spread some holiday cheer..." Takaishi says, trying to avoid Momo's intense look.

"It's a gift, just accept it Chikata." The teacher says

"No, I won't! If it's what I know it is that means it cost 18500 Yen and that's not a gift I can pay back in favours!"

"Fine, I get it, sorry..." Takaishi says with a sigh as he leaves. The teacher shakes his head.

"That was very rude you know."

"Shut up" Momo bites back as she sits down.


DAY 2

"Where is she?" Alyona growls as she waits near the school gate. The heat was flustering to her since she was so used to cold Russian winters, her only relief being a foldout fan as Archie leans on the wall next to her.

"Are you really that desperate for her math homework? " Archie asks

"We both should be!" Alyona says with a pout.

"I'd be surprised if Renka's notes were even accurate given her heads on mars during class. Just do the work yourself instead of drawing bikini models in your notebook" Archie chides.

"They're the Sailor Senshi and they are much better than any slutty, American bikini model!" Alyona corrects, Archie chuckling a bit at her.

"This prank is going a bit far, the whole Christmas in July thing. They're puttin' up garland and everything inside" Archie points up.

"I personally detest it. It was bad in the motherland, when people would celebrate New Years with Angel statues and large trees decorated with baubles" Alyona says spitefully.

"Let other people enjoy Christmas you fuckin' commie" Archie says back with just as much spite.

The two look toward the road, and see Renka leading a group of carolers singing Christmas songs in choppy english, all of them wearing fluffy red and white coats and Santa hats.

Alyona is amazed and frustrated at the display, while Archie gives a chuckle at the procession.

"Joyous Holidays, Alyona-Sama, Archie" Renka says as her procession stops.

"What is this?!" Alyona demands.

"A Procession to honor the Winter Spirit Santa Claus. His power seems to be waning, as such we should give praise and thanks" Renka states matter of factly.

"Santa is not real!! Nor is he even a deity in any pantheon!" Alyona insists, the whole procession seeming shocked at her heretical words.

"Oh stuff it already, their just havin' a laugh. Their not possessed or nothin" Archie says

"Are you going to join them?!" Alyona says, turning her head back with a furious look.

Archie seems to consider doing it just to spite Alyona, but shrugs: "Nah, not worth it"

Alyona notices Renka is missing her schoolbag, and looks up at her incredulously: "Do you have none of your notes?!"

"They are unneeded, Holiday cheer will sustain my grades for the day, until such a time as I am spurned by the great winter spirit" Renka says, her procession of students giving a nod of affirmation.

Alyona steps right in front of her friends face and scowls at her: "I will find your so-called great winter spirit and free you from his golden chains, just you wait! Archie! We're taking a detour!"

The boy sighs: "To where? The fuckin' North Pole?"

"The Student Council Room!" Alyona calls out as she walks furiously walks through the festively decorated halls of Higan, Madoka directing teacher and student alike in the garish re-decoration of the school into a winter wonder land. Most students wear festive accessories or winter wear, exchanging gifts constantly. Nobody is upset, or seems like they don't want to be at school: everyone is much too happy for something to not be going on.

Alyona opens the door to the student council room with a grumpy look on her face, which turns into a toothy scowl as she sees the room has been turned into a Christmas gift wrapping complex, with Yaya and Yae and dressed as Elves while Kaoru and Shu are dressed all in red and white. Shu even wears a fake white beard as he waves to Alyona.

"Ah! Alyona-chan! Just give us a moment to find your gift..." he says

"Florence-san as well I believe they're-" Kaoru starts before Yae interrupts them.

"I think I put them in the supply room! Silly me!~" she says as she motions for the two scrooges to follow her. Once inside the supply closet, she sees many gifts stowed away, unopened. Yae's face becomes much more serious.

"You two look mad so you're still sane: I think I've narrowed down how this spread. When you open and accept a gift from someone already "infected" with the curse, you get it and pass it along like a computer virus. Don't open a single gift you're given." she says in hushed whisper.

"So it's an Idea? But of what? Santa Claus?" Archie says in disbelief. "The little girl is probably the only one who seriously believes in Santa in this school"

"She does still believe in Santa so you will not break her joyful illusions!" Alyona snaps back at him.

"....But this is dreadful to see. The whole school is being redecorated and even Renka was taken over. She has a small cult of carolers assaulting people with American Christmas music"

"American music... I see" Yae says. "So it's specifically the aspects of Christmas an American corporation encourages: token religious imagery, a focus on consumerism and the season as opposed to a hymn which may focus more on deeper ideas that are unmarketable. It also has some resemblance to adapted Japanese practices since I haven't seen a single cake, just buckets of fried chicken"

"...That sounds pretty good right about now" Archie says

Alyona steps on his foot: "Focus! Why are you pretending to be in with them then?" Alyona asks Yae.

"To see how deep the brainwashing goes. They only left when the night-time bleeding zone started. I saw the Mature idea causing all of this come down and hand out a bunch of gift wrapping supplies and lists for people to go buy. They eat nothing but fried chicken and sweets, and drink only hot chocolate and eggnog. If we're going to strike, we need to blend in and wait for it to come to us, then ambush it" Yae says

"...With everyone gathered in a big circle around it? Won't that hurt'em if Alyona's firin' her machine guns and I'm stompin' around?" Archie asks.

"Fair point, but Laplace might be able to isolate you all.... I want more backup though. Try and find anyone who isn't controlled yet" Yae says.

"Oh, and change into these" she says as she hands Alyona a short and fluffy red and white dress with a capelet, and Archie a full Santa suit.

"No" Alyona says as Archie slips in the Santa suit.

"They'll accost you with kindness if you don't Alyona. I've seen some of the most savage, pushy gift-giving of my life today. No matter how many times you say no, they will keep coming" Yae insists in a dead serious tone.

"Then watch me say no every time to the corruptive fruits of their conspiracy!!" Alyona says as she storms off.

Archie picks up her outfit and sighs: "I'll convince her. She has your number right?"

"Yeah, just remember to look Jolly" Yae says.

He smiles wide, almost threateningly so: "Oh yeah, I was made for bein' Saint Nick"


Alyona wakes up in the school's basement, her small wrists cuffed to bars on the windows. Her reaction is to wordlessly and desperately struggle against the chains in the festively decorated holiday dungeon. She was isolated in a small cell of red wrapping paper walls as two boys open the door to her cell, she can even see the walls shake when the door gets slammed closed. It gives the Russian some hope that she can easily just get out of here without causing a scene. One boy is black-haired and smart looking, barely wearing Christmas attire save for a Santa hat and a pair of jingly slippers. The other is tall, muscular, blonde, and distinctly Japanese. He wore a sleeveless Santa suit and seemed to be the others enforcer. Alyona watches them carefully, backing herself up against the wall, even if it was uncomfortable.

"Miss Alyona Rodionova, you have refused your gift over 10 times. You have been brought here to be educated on proper Christmas etiquette so you can function within the holidays" The black haired boy says with a cocky smile.

"[FUCK YOU, BITCHES!]" Alyona shouts in Russian.

"Kentaro, prepare the present" he says to his blonde goon

"Sure thing boss" the burly boy says as he grabs a wrapped figurine box.

"[I'm not accepting it! Nonononono!]" Alyona says as she rattles in her handcuffs.

"We didn't go to the trouble of drugging your lunch so you could say to holiday cheer, Rodionova. Now accept the inevitable" the black-haired boy says.

"Or perhaps I'll have to find other ways to make you Jolly? The scrooge next to you is almost already broken, if you show her how much better it is to receive joy than deny it then I can promise you a reward, three times as many gifts. One of which could be a limited edition deluxe Cardcaptor Sakura Figurine. All you have to do is give in."

Alyona seriously considers it, her personal greed finally getting in the way of her common sense and ideals. Those couldn't be bought for money: she tried. Even the stores that got them kept them as display items no matter how many hundreds of thousands of Yen she offered to give them. She wanted one to round her collection more. She tries to keep her mouth shut so the words don't come out, so the torturers won't win.

Momo breaks down the plywood door to the cell with a single kick, carrying a Kanna P dressed for festivity over her shoulders. She uselessly tries to fight back against the kidnapping as Alyona face lights up, while her torturers look behind them. Kentaro steps forwards, only to be met with a quick jab to the stomach from Momo's elbow. She uses the chance to push past Itsuro, twist the chain on Alyona's handcuffs to snap them in half, and grab the girls hand, the Russian trying to keep up with her.

They pass another cell with stark and shining white wrapping paper covered walls with a Rin trapped inside: "WAIT!! HELP!!"

"No time, traitor!" Alyona growls, but Momo stops. It takes her just a second to get through the door and break Rin out as Kentaro comes flying through the flimsy walls, trying to land a punch on Momo. The Tsunkeban takes the delinquents punch head on and uses his momentum against him with her own fist hitting his left side sending him tumbling painfully to the ground. Itsuro speaks into a handheld radio: "Scrooges are being jailbroken, I repeat Scrooges are being Jailbroken!"

The trio of cynics rush up the stairs and out of the school, where a gate has been unlocked near the back entrance: "Thank you Zennami..." Momo mutters as she gets everyone through and closes it, the crowd chasing them stopping at the locked gate.


Kaoru takes a long lick of her Candy cane as the the hot weather beat down on her. Her long red and white coat was ill-suited toward the weather, but she had to be in the right mindset: that of a bringer of hoilday spirit. She walked the late afternoon of Kageoka, tracking the escapees from earlier today one breadcrumb at a time. A stop at a cafe here, a visit to a locksmith there, a stint at a few shrines as well. It painted a picture in green grinches ink: they had a hideout in the Fujiwara Ward, an area holiday joy hadn't reached. She was given strange looks by the inhabitants as she held her candy cane in her mouth and pulled her hood over to appear more inconspicuous.

The dilapidated and beaten down storefronts aren't welcoming to her, every eye looking at her like she had a second head sewn on. She adjusts her glasses as she approaches a small candy store run by a half blind old man. She picks up a bag of gummies from near the front looks at the man:

"Have you seen a girl in a black Sailor uniform with a red tie around?" she asks, leaning on the counter.

"Who's askin'?" he says, awaiting her payment. She tauntingly takes out a ten-thousand Yen bill but withholds it.

"Just someone trying to spread some seasonal joy, need to talk to her about something"

"...Haven't seen anyone like that then, why are you wearin' so much red?" he asks, adjusting his own much larger glasses.

"So when she see's me she'll know who came knocking" Kaoru says, slipping the large bill away and paying for her goods in exact coinage.

A detective's job was never over, hopefully Renka and her Apostles can come through here and liven things up later.


Alyona pouts and crosses her arms as she wears a red and white lolita dress with a cute cape, baking in winter wear during the summer as she walks back to school during the evening with Momo and Rin. Momo had found a reindeer onesie and refused to wear anything else while Rin tries to get away with just mittens and a Santa hat.

"You should have worn one of my dresses, Satoru-San" Alyona says.

"I'd rather be a Christmas-washed idiot than look like a baby doll. It's not like you asked Chikata to wear one anyways" Rin says

"Because she's a totally different size!" Alyona insists far too quickly.

"This still sucks, but as long as it gets us close. You sure Zennami and your goon will make a move when we do?" Momo says, her bokken over her shoulder as she watches the sky slowly darken, and begin snowing.

Alyona sighs, brushing some of the flakes out of her hair.

Momo has a look of quiet terror.

Rin just shivers in the cold.

"I offered you tights, and a coat" Alyona points out in a snobby tone.

"D-Don't need it!" Rin insists.

"This couldn't get much worse, we stop this tonight" Momo says as she picks up the pace toward Higan.

The other two girls follow, the front of the school decorated in blinking chains of Christmas lights while Sumi leads most of the school in singing songs of consumerist praise to the great Santa Claus.

After 20 minutes of waiting for them to stop singing, Alyona looks towards Rin and back at Momo. "Distract her" the Russian whispers as she gets ready to try and sneak off. Momo looks toward Rin and tries to think of something to talk about with a girl she's never shared a word with and probably only knows her as a local delinquent.

"So... do you like Christmas?"

"Yeah, actually" Rin says, watching Kentaro and Itsuro sing in contrasting levels of English fluency. "I usually just get people gag gifts though, especially when you know them really well. Like I'd get Rodionova a book on capitalism or some shit because I know it would make her really mad"

"...Why would you waste that much money?!" Momo growls.

"Its not a waste you see, I get-"

"You get to torment people with your own lavish income and watch them squirm? Is that it?!" Momo says getting closer to Rin.

"Look, look, I uhm... I won't do it again! I never realized how much damage I was doing with it!" Rin performatively concedes, hopping its enough to at least avoid a confrontation with one of the last sane people at Higan.

"Yeah, don't!" Momo says, looking up to Alyona using a magical rifle scope and a flash light to signal the crowd. "Why did you follow us anyways?"

"I've got some friends stuck in this.... thing and I owe them just enough to help bail them out. Speaking of which... I think you're better suited to a fight all things considered. You know, with the sword and all...." Rin says as she backs, trying head toward an open backdoor into the school.

"Yeah, stay safe" Momo says dismissively.

A figure starts descending amidst the falling snow, riding a flying sleight of red and gold with a plastic sheen while being pushed by an animatronic reindeer. The Mature Idea itself is an uncanny Santa Claus, every move awkward in a way that is impossible to put down. The only thing one can assume watching him land and step out of his overpacked sleigh is that he move his limbs and his face wrong.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" he says, his voice crackling like a slightly damaged speaker. "TO SPREAD JOY MORE EFFECTIVELY, I'VE BROUGHT GIFTS! AND SNOW! YOU CAN'T SAY ITS NOT A WHITE CHRISTMAS NOW!"

His announcement is followed by deafening applause from those already brainwashed.

"NOW PLEASE LINE AND RECEIVE YOUR TASKS AND SUPPLIES!" Santa says in the same cheerful tone. Yae swipes Sumi's wireless microphone off its stand and bides her time. She waits to blow her cover in the best way possible, and readies Laplace to turn the courtyard of the school into a safe field for the ideas execution. Her turn comes, and she turns the mic on:

"You know, I've figured something out. When I talk to someone you're controlling, it's not them I'm talking to. You've done a surface level reading of everyone in the area, and used this short, but wide bleeding zone to manipulate us into falling for a curse."

"This isn't just your habitual behavior, its all you can do. You got pushed out of your own bleeding zone, and now you're trying some scheme to conquer the night."

Before Yae can say anything else, Santa grabs the microphone from her and throws it aside: "WE HAVE TO REACH THE QUOTA PEOPLE! GET THE TRAITORS OUT OF HERE AND-"

The schools power goes out, and Yae reaches for the microphone: "LAPLACE! BOX HIM IN!" she says as the snow on the ground morphs into the panels of a wrapped box. Momo and Archie rush in from the ground and Alyona from on high as the mob of puppeteered students and teacher tries to breach the box.

"Can't hold this up forever! Rip the Plastic Poser to shreds!" Yae commands as the desperate Idea rummages through its sack for wind-up time bomb presents and toy soldiers to fight on his behalf.

"KILL FOR THE QUOTA: WE HAVE NUMBERS TO MEET!" the Idea says with a voice like violently grinding gears while trying to force its sleigh through the box by brute force.

"OH NO YA DON'T!!" Archie Yells, getting in front of the sled and using his Idolon's brawn to keep it from making progress while Alyona blows the heads off toy soldiers and only gets stronger the more explosive whittle her power down. A path is carved for Simply Red to get close and unleash a flurry of swings which turn the Santa Idea into nothing more than a busted animatronic sparking on the ground. Its last, desperate bid is to will is last remaining arm to grab Momo by the throat, choking her even as her burning aura flares up to try and melt it before she runs out of air.
Alyona puts a shotgun to the Ideas head and pulls the trigger, the red and green internal workings of the machine spilling out as it give its last gasps of life.

"Buy... More... Joy...Buy... now!" it manages to get out before whirring down. Archie stomps its head into smithereens for good measure.

Laplace undoes its trickery to reveal that those infected have passed out, laying in the now melting snow.

"I assume we need to cover this up somehow" Alyona says, putting her guns away and undoing one of the buttons on her blouse.

"...I've got an idea, but we need to move everyone inside first" Yae says.

Momo sighs outwardly as Archie does inwardly: it was going to be a long night.


"Okomoto-san, do you have any comment on the news that a large gas leak occurred at your school? Are your students safe? Do you intend to do anything about fixing the problem!?" an overly eager reporter says as the old woman is in front of every new microphone in Kageoka. She was calm, much more than anyone should be in this situation.

"A short break will be given to students and staff while we fully investigate and correct the problem. No injuries were reported, and all the victims are in good health. Most of the affected staff have chosen to take medical leave anyways, so a small break will offer students time to study up for their exams in the comfort of their own homes" she says confidently. The reporters give her puzzled looks: they were expecting a panicked penance, not for the response to be so well thought out given almost the whole student body was found passed out inside the school.

Another reporter speaks: "Okomoto-san, why are there Christmas decorations up?"

She considers the question for a moment, and then speaks: "It was a small prank done before the gas leak. The contrast to the weather is quite humorous" she says with a gentle smile on her face.

Yae and Shu watch from Okomoto's office on the second floor, peaking through the blinds.

"Good thinking Zennami-san, I'm sorry that I fell for that and let all of this happen" The president says with a disappointed sigh, angry at himself.

"Alyona can take some credit too: when Okomoto sends people to repair the gas line they won't ask any questions since she apparently wrecked her school's heating as an act of protest back in Russia. She knew just how to do it without actually making us call ambulances." she says, rubbing her eyes.

"We need to be more vigilant, I assumed our wards would protect us from this kind of curse, or at least our Idolons" Shu says as he heads for the door.

"It was a Mature Idea that dumped all its power into making a potent curse: There's a reason it got forced out by stronger Ideas and had to try something this brazen. I think I know who we can talk to about better wards though. Cho-san, the one-eyed girl that's always with Alyona is the heiress to a network of Shrines around Kagoeka. She has to have something that can stop this from happening again."

"Then I'll make some time to talk to her about it" Shu says with a nod.

"I can handle everything else, get some rest" he says with a grateful tone to Yae.

She wants to refuse him, but she can tell he needs a burden to bear. She simply nods and heads home out of the back gate.

Edit

Pub: 23 Dec 2025 18:50 UTC

Edit: 26 Dec 2025 02:09 UTC

Views: 101