Disclaimer:
I DO NOT own the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise. It is the property of Compile Heart and Idea Factory. I'm only borrowing Nep-Nep, Iffy and Compa for a little bit. The male OC in the story is mine.
Author's Notes:
Ladies and gentlemen, I have performed a Christmas miracle! A Christmas one-shot spin-off of my My Girlfriend is a CPU story. Since it has been a long time for them to appear, I used Asahi and Neptune as the main pairing for this one-shot of mine. The funny thing is, I only came up with the idea of a Christmas themed story set in Gamindustri past noontime on Christmas Eve where I live. And I spent the rest of the day and the early hours of Christmas to get this story out for you to hopefully enjoy.
As usual, please do mind the spelling errors in the story. My tablet loves auto correcting.
A Merry Pongsmas
A My Girlfriend is a CPU special
The marvelous time of cold and snow has engulfed the nations of Gamindustri, letting everyone know that the holidays are here including the day that all kids love and all adults want to get it over with, Pongsmas. Why do they call it Pongsmas in Gamindustri and not Christmas where the rest of the world is, I got no clue. But for now, let's call it Pongsmas since this is a story about the holidays. Pongsmas is a major holiday at the end of the year where people get together and celebrate the birth of video games. Families and friends get together for some gaming fun, exchange gifts, playing in the snow that mysteriously appears all throughout Gamindustri, even in Leanbox and have fun dressing up pine trees with Pongsmas ornaments shaped like Dogoos and CPUs.
It was the day before Pongsmas and just about all the kids in Planeptune had school off and were surprisingly outside playing in the snow that appeared on the ground like those suddenly spawning monsters in many games. While the kids loved playing in the snow since it only snows before Pongsmas, the adults hated having to clean it off their property because amazingly, Planeptune never thought about making snow removing robots for such an occasion. Having a whole bunch of snow also was a pain in the butt for the guild agents of Planeptune as it hindered their jobs of doing quests for the people of the nation. The one silver lining about doing quests before Pongsmas is that the credits earned for completion quadrupled, giving the agents a lot of spending money to buy gifts for their friends and family.
One particular guild agent was doing just that. And we're not talking about Iffy here.
Just about all of the guild agents were busy doing quests and helping out the citizens with clearing off snow from their property so the Planeptune guild headquarters was deserted except for the staff that were waiting for the rush of agents to return their quests and receive their payments. The doors to the guild slid open and what seemed to be a very beat up swordsman entered from the cold. Upon first inspection, the young man looked like he had a hardcore wrestling match with a multiple hordes of Dogoos, Kupokittys, Bits and Wolves and obviously lost. His clothes were torn, he was bleeding in multiple areas, his face looked like he was nearly curbed stomped and he wouldn't be surprised if he had half of his bones broken. Despite the obvious pain he was in, he managed to limp up to the reception desk where he slammed the finished quest slip down onto the counter along with his ID.
"I completed the mission." The exhausted young man said as the front desk receptionist took the two items and began to process the information. When she looked at the young man who returned, she instantly knew who it was despite the messed up black hair and blackened spots around his green eyes.
"Damn, Asahi. What the hell happened to you? You look like you had a hardcore wrestling match with a multiple hordes of Dogoos, Kupokittys, Bits and Wolves and obviously lost." The receptionist said as she remarked on Asahi's new look, so to speak.
"Actually, that sort of happened. The lady underestimated the number of enemies that were supposedly terrorizing the area. When I got there, those monsters called out their extended family. That's why the kill count was so high." Asahi answered as one of the other receptionists got him a chair for him to sit in as he was a bit close to collapsing due to exhaustion. The receptionist looked at his kill count for the quest and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head.
"Damn! I bet you slaughtered all the monsters in that entire area. You might end up having one of the highest kill counts for the year. Not even IF killed as many monsters as you." The receptionist remarked,
"IF doesn't go around killing monsters just because she feels like it. She's the only one with the legendary 100% quest completion rate for the past five years." Asahi added. A minute later, the receptionist finished submitting the finished request and credited his bank account with well over four hundred thousand credits before he completed a quest before Pongsmas.
"And that's that, Asahi. You got a really big pay day. I bet you're going to spend it on some gifts for your family for Pongsmas." The receptionist said as Asahi took his guild ID and managed to stand up,
"I actually finished my Pongsmas shopping. I needed the money to pay off the bills for the month. But at least I can stop worrying about paying the rest for the next few months." Asahi said relieved when he saw the large amount of credits submitted into his account. After wishing the receptionist and the others a Happy Pongsmas, he was about to exit the guild headquarters when he ran into IF and Compa, Neptune's close friends.
"I knew we would find you here, Asahi. Your neighbors have said you've been doing a lot of guild work the past few weeks." IF said as she and the cute nurse in training approached him. Asahi could see Compa shivering slightly as she forgot to bring a warm coat for the cold weather. IF meanwhile seemed to be not affected by the cold. He guessed affected those missions in Lowee made her more tolerant towards the cold.
"I was busy trying to earn some money to pay my bills for the month. You know how bossy they are when they don't get their money on time." Asahi answered,
"Wow, Shi-Shi. You look like you had a wrestling match with a multiple hordes of Dogoos, Kupokittys, Bits and Wolves and lost." Compa said as she looked over all of his injuries and being the nurse in training that she is, would be ready to help patch Asahi up in a mountain of bandages. As for her calling Asahi Shi-Shi, he doesn't mind it since she usually gives nicknames to her friends. Like how she calls Neptune Nep-Nep and Nepgear Ge-Ge. How people have trouble saying Neptune's, name is beyond him.
"I know. The lady thought there wasn't that many monsters but they must have called out their relatives of something. I ended up having one of the highest kill counts for the year." Asahi said as he showed the two ladies his receipt for his completed mission,
"If you're able to go, Nep is having the traditional Pongsmas party at the Basilicom later tonight. She has been planning it for days now. I haven't seen her so focused on one thing in a long time." IF said,
"I haven't seen Neptune in a while since the whole flurry of Pongsmas activity began. I keep waiting for her to call me, wanting me to rescue her from the clutches of the evil warlord." Asahi added,
"Nep-Nep has been super busy with doing all of her work so she could throw this party. Even Ge-Ge hasn't had much to do since Nep-Nep is working overtime." Compa said,
"I'd rather have Gear do some work raising shares instead of hunkering down in her laboratory slash garage, creating goddess knows what with her newfound free time. I just hope she doesn't make a giant robot armed with weapons that can slice the Nep Tower in two." IF said, mentioning Nepgear's love for anything mechanical.
"That does sound like something Nepgear would try to do. That said, I'll be there for the party. But right now, I just want to go home and heal up, as you two can see." Asahi said as the pain from his many broken bones decided to act up. How he can still stand is something now even the author can think of right now.
"Aw, you look like you might not even get across the street in your condition. Would you like a ride back to your apartment building? My car is right over there." Compa asked happily as she pointed to the street corner where her cute little car just happened to be parked in a non-parking spot. The walk back to his apartment building was very long since Planeptune City is very big. And he would be an idiot not to take up Compa's offer and get a ride back to his home in his condition. He's not a masochist like some buxom brawler with a large bear as a friend.
"Thank you for that, Compa. I accept." Asahi answered, already looking forward to that hot shower and getting healed up before the party.
"Oh, goodie! Any friend of Nep-Nep's, especially her boyfriend hero, is a friend of mine." Compa said happily,
"I'll head over to the Nep Tower and tell Nep the good news. I'm sure she'll be happy to know her hero is able to show up. I'll see you two at the party." IF said before she headed into the guild HQ to do her business. That left both Asahi and Compa to go over to her cute little cars she could happily take him back to his apartment to rest until the party later tonight.
##########
After getting a ride back to his apartment building thanks to Compa, Asahi finally arrived at his apartment and quickly turned on the hot water in his shower, For some unknown reason to him, taking a hot shower heals whatever injuries he suffers from his guild missions. He guessed it's a trait he got from his parents or something. After a long soak in the shower and the majority of his injuries healed, Asahi got out of the shower and spent the rest of his time getting ready for the party. Since this was a get together and nothing very formal, Asahi went for a light gray blazer with a blue button up shirt and matching light gray slacks so he shouldn't be affected by the cold. After getting dressed leaving the blazer off and making sure his black hair is combed nicely, Asahi took the time to inspect his custom long sword to check for any damage. The long sword was a gift from Neptune after he lost his trying to protect her from a Risky Foe that had her pinned. After cutting through tons of enemies during the day, the cutting edge wasn't showing any dullness or any damage whatsoever. Whoever Neptune got to make the sword did an amazing job with the durability of the sword. Asahi then began to wrap up the presents he bought for Neptune and the others. Asahi secretly hoped the girls like his gifts since one of the meanings of Pongsmas is the gift of giving to others and making them happy.
IF's present was a Nep-Ray box set from a comedy show about idiots summoning a devil that doesn't want to do devil things and ends up fighting fictional and well known mythological deities. Asahi hoped IF will enjoy it since she sometimes spews out stuff about demons and all that stuff when angry.
Asahi got Compa a few gift cards to the nursing supplies shop in one of Planeptune's malls. Since Compa is the unofficial healer of the team, she could use plenty of healing items with her in case anyone needs help being bandaged up like a mummy.
Since Nepgear is a big gearhead, Asahi got her a couple of high grade mecha model kits from some very popular Anime about giant robots and their mood swings teen pilots. The kits he chose were the main good guy and bad guy suits and it set him back a lot of credits since the models were very limited editions that were signed by the voice actors of the pilots in the show.
Asahi had a bit of a hard time trying to find a gift for Histoire since the tiny tome doesn't do anything but work and yell anything Neptune for not doing her work. But since Histoire needed to relax, Asahi got her a few CDs filled with relaxing music and sounds along with a motivation CD to help one deal with a lazy Nep.
Asahi's gift for Neptune was probably the easiest for him to get. He hoped. He got Neptune a book of coupons from her favorite pudding shop in all of Planeptune. Since Neptune was his girlfriend, he wanted to get her a much more worthy gift but since she lives for pudding, this will do for now.
With all the gifts wrapped up and ready to go, Asahi got a call from Compa saying she was leaving her place to go pick him up. With that, Asahi got on his blazer, grabbed the gifts and grabbed his long sword just in case some enemies decide to ruin the fun.
##########
There wasn't many people around the city since just about every citizen was in their home celebrating Pongsmas in their own way. Asahi just sat back and enjoyed the ride to the Nep Tower and was already looking forward to seeing Neptune once again. He was getting a bit lonely without her trying to get him to save her from Histoire. He arrived Compa arrived at the Nep Tower and he grabbed his gift bag and his long sword, much to Compa's surprise.
"Shi-Shi, there's no need for you to bring your sword. The monsters are probably celebrating Pongsmas right now." Compa said as she looked at Asahi's weapon,
"I'd rather be ready for anything. Enemies love their random encounters." Asahi answered as the two of them arrived at the main door of the Nep Tower which doubles as the Basilicom of Planeptune. Since the Basilicom staff had Pongsmas off, the main foyer and waiting areas were empty and darkened. It was a bit eerie to Asahi as he and Compa made their way to the special elevator to go up to where Neptune, Nepgear and Histoire reside. After riding the elevator all the way near the top and gazing at the city lit up in purple with plenty of red and green of Pongsmas, Asahi and Compa arrived at Neptune's place and they were bombarded by a sea of red and green confetti and popping explosions as many poppers popped in the excited hands of Neptune, Nepgear, IF and a annoyed Histoire who was dressed in a cute Pongsmas Dogoo outfit. Most likely Neptune coerced the poor Oracle into wearing ridiculous outfit.
"Wow, you don't hold back, Neptune." Asahi said as he picked off many of the confetti stuck in his hair,
"I feel so embarrassed..." Histoire muttered under her breath as she wished she could get out of her silly costume,
"I never hold back when it comes to Pongsmas! I have more reasons to celebrate it this year!" Neptune said happily, clearly enjoying the festivities much to Histoire's continued annoyance. Neptune wasn't wearing her usual hoodie and was instead wearing a red Pongsmas outfit with fluffy white trim with red and green d-pad clips in her hair. The CPU of Planeptune really enjoys Pongsmas to the fullest. Nepgear usually is lassoed into whatever Neptune likes to cook up but she was instead wearing her usual sailor dress but she was also wearing an apron as if she was busy cooking dinner, which I suspect she was.
"Go make yourselves at home, you two. I have to finish making the big Pongsmas dinner Neptune has wanted me to make all year." Nepgear said before she whisked herself back into the kitchen, knowing that if anything burned, it would be ruined.
"I'll help you out, Ge-Ge. You probably can't finish all of the dishes Nep-Nep wants to eat." Compa said as she went into the kitchen after Nepgear to help her out. Asahi took a seat after placing his gifts next to the big Pongsmas tree that has been over decorated with a lot of cute monster ornaments and a big star with the first ever CPU emblazoned on it. A popular story about Pongsmas was that when the first goddess made Gamindustri, video games were created to give her people happiness.
"Neptune, now that Asahi and Compa are here, can I please get out of this ridiculous outfit? I'm overheating from being stuffed." Histoire said as she tried to do anything to make herself more comfortable,
"Aw, don't be a grin Histy. Besides, you look so cute in that. I could just cuddle you like one of Plutie's plushies." Neptune said cheerfully as she playfully poked at the dressed up Oracle,
"Nep, Histoire won't last any longer unless she gets out of that costume. If she overheats, she could throw the balance of Gamindustri into chaos and nobody will be celebrating Pongsmas next year." IF said, being the voice of reason she is. Just like Nepgear, IF didn't bother to dress up in anything Pongsmas related. Just sticking with her trademark large blue overcoat and black top and shorts, much to Neptune's chagrin again. Somebody has to be the voice of reason in this little group and IF does that job well. Asahi could see Neptune beginning to pout and start calling IF an anti-Pongsmas villain but even he didn't want to see poor Histoire suffer any longer. So he became the trump card yet again.
"Neptune, it's a good idea to let poor Histoire out of that thing. If she isn't around to do her duties as an Oracle, her job might fall into your lap." Asahi said calmly. The thought of extra work scared Neptune straight as usual and she reluctantly let the overheating tome fly off to finally get out of that Dogoo outfit.
"Asahi, why are you being a party popper like Iffy? It's Pongsmas! Everyone has to dress up as that Dogoo from that old TV special." Neptune said as she pouted in a cute way. Asahi just laughed as once again, he used Neptune's well known fear of hard work to free poor Histoire. Before the CPU attacked Asahi with a stuffy candy cane, both Nepgear and Compa appeared from the kitchen.
"Oh, Nep-Nep. Poor Histoire wouldn't have lasted any longer in that outfit. But now you all should come to the dining room. Ge-Ge made a big Pongsmas dinner for us to enjoy." Compa said,
"Yeah, that's correct. I made sure to cook all of your favorite dishes too since it is Pongsmas." Nepgear added. The sound of food made Asahi hungry as he hoped Nepgear made fried boxbird, one of his favorite foods in the whole of all Gamindustri. Not many people can stand eating boxbird but Asahi just happened to grow up eating boxbird so he was used to the taste and never missed having one on Pongsmas.
"If Nep Jr. and Compa made dinner, it has to be good! Let's eat, people!" Neptune said happily as her mood quickly shifted to happiness as she rushed to the dining room before anyone else so the feast can begin. By the time Histoire finally changed out her dreaded Dogoo outfit, Neptune already was devouring bowls full of pudding before anyone else had anything to eat.
##########
Once again, Nepgear and Compa outdid themselves in the food department. Even Histoire herself enjoyed some of the food the two made for the occasion, the tiny Oracle herself had a piece of Asahi's boxbird and was surprised to like the acuired taste Asahi developed over the years. After a very hearty feast and plenty of small talk and jabs at what weird food one likes, mostly the girls making fun of Asahi's love of boxbirds, it was time to exchange gifts. Neptune, Nepgear, IF and Compa all gave gifts to each other including Histoire but they sort of left poor Asahi out since they didn't know what to get him. Histoire nearly lectured them about how Pongsmas was about the thought that counts but the young man told her not to since the girls don't know about his interests and he had very little interests to begin with. When it was time for Asahi to give out his gifts to the girls, he hoped they liked them.
Nepgear nearly glomped Asahi to death when she opened her gift and saw the model mecha from her favorite mecha anime. In true Nepgear fashion, she quickly retreated to her room and got to work on constructing her two models and dreamed about recreating some of the best battles in the anime.
Histoire instantly liked her new calm music CDs and she quickly went to sleep after the first song she listened to. Neptune giggled slightly as she was about to draw a mustache on the sleeping tome's face but a glare from IF made her stop in her tracks.
IF opened her gift and a rare smile appeared on her face before she turned on the TV popped in the first disc of the snow into the Nep-Ray player, already enjoying the idiots summoning the lazy demon and how everything suddenly went crazy. Compa smiled at the sight of the nursing supply gift cards and was already making plans to go on a spree for new items when the new year arrives. The cute nurse game Asahi a hug before she joined IF on the couch and watched IF's show.
That left Asahi and Neptune alone in another part of the huge living room. He could see Neptune look a bit sad as she also forgot to give a gift for Asahi as she held his gift to her. While she loved to get pudding from her favorite shop, she was now feeling guilty for not getting him anything.
"Neptune, what's wrong? You're not your usual self." Asahi asked concerned,
"Well... you got us all great things and we simply forgot about you. You're always doing these things for me and I haven't done much for you in return." Neptune answered sadly, as if she was on the verge of crying. Asahi hated seeing Neptune like this and it tore him up inside. She was taking this harder than he thought.
"It has been over a year since the two of us appeared together. The author needs to make stories in a faster. So you shouldn't feel bad about it. I have a feeling the other CPUs could be in your position right now." Asahi said comforting as he took Neptune into his arms and hugged her. She happily hugged him back before pulling away when he mentioned the other CPUs.
"What? I doubt Lonely Heart would ever fall for some guy who is shy towards her and had a rough life living in the wild. I also don't think Blanc would like a guy who could lift a car like it was toy." Neptune answered as if she knew what the other CPUs were doing right now. But this is Neptune. She always goes meta at times like this.
"What about Vert?" Asahi asked,
"I have some idea that she would find a guy who looks like a boys love visual novel actor but he's a gun nut like Mini-Noire and likes over the top action movies. And this guy hates anything yaoi and Vert would stubbornly try to make him a naked butler." Neptune said matter of factly,
"That sounds a bit outlandish, Neptune. I doubt Vert would go after a guy like that if he's a gun nut like the CPU Candidate of Lastation." Asahi added. Before Neptune countered with another meta fact, she had an idea on what to give Asahi for Pongsmas after all.
"I know. I got an interesting way to make it up to you, Asahi!" Neptune said cheerfully,
"You already got a plan?" Asahi asked. Neptune grinned happily and pointed to something above his head. When he looked up, a piece of mistletoe appeared from out of nowhere. Apparently if a couple is standing underneath one, they must kiss so they will have good luck together during the new year. Asahi looked back at Neptune who was blushing madly before she pressed her lips to his and passionately kissed him, wanting to make up for lost time. Not one to just sit back and let her do all the work, Asahi returned the kiss. It has been a long time since the two of them enjoyed a kiss so both he and Neptune wanted to make it last. After what seemed like forever to the two, Asahi and Neptune broke the kiss so they could get some air.
"I missed being so lovey dovey with you, Asahi. I still have to thank you in my own way for when you rescued me. Maybe the author can finally give us more time together." Neptune said as she blushed even more at the thought,
"Maybe this author guy will in the future. But I think this a nice Pongsmas gift after all." Asahi said as he brought Neptune onto his lap and he began to kiss her gently, wanting to be a bit more romantic towards his CPU. Neptune happily returned the kiss and for the two, this was the best way to end Pongsmas.
I hope all of you on here enjoy my little holiday offering. I managed to get this idea down on my tablet and posted before time ran out on me. I do feel like the end was a bit of a rush job since I didn't have much of an ending to begin with. And that said... who is Pongsmas' version of Santa Claus?
I do want to thank Pikatwig a bit for posting his or her Pongsmas story and a few of the ideas about the origins of Pongsmas was a good idea since when you think about it, Pong was the first ever major video game. That said, I do want to end 2016 on a high note and get out another chapter of My Girlfriend is a CPU before the new year. I got most of the second chapter of Vert's arc out but me and procrastination are like peanut butter and jelly.
I might as well let you all in on something I have been thinking about for My Girlfriend is a CPU. I am interested in doing a CPU Candidate spin-off with Nepgear and Uni. I already have an idea on which OCs to appear for Nepgear while for Uni... I may have an idea that I want to do for her a lot. I might even think about Rom and Ram too but they might be a little young for that. If I ever do that, I'll debate it.
As usual, please read and review, fave and do all the stuff that us writers like seeing from readers. Finally, have a Merry Christmas with your family or your Waifu if you believe in that. XP