Author's Notes:
Hi reader, this is Omegahugger reporting in. This is an entry for Zokusho's Mostly Lucky Star Forum's 6th fanfic challenge, the holiday special. Though that shouldn't really matter, we just have a rule of stating this in the beginning. Please enjoy!
Christmas at the Moriya shrine
"I'm home!" Utsuho shouted as she announced her return to the palace of the Earth Spirits.
"Welcome back, Okuu" answered Rin. She had been there for a while, given that her schedule was a lot looser than the Hell Raven's. "I'm cooking up some dinner now, it's gonna be ready in a few minutes."
"Ah, sounds good. I am looking forward to it" Utsuho responded. Having taken off her third leg (no need to channel awesome nuclear power now), she decided to go visit her master. Turning a corner, she saw the satori sitting in a rocking chair.
Satori! Utsuho thought inwardly as she jumped towards the mistress of the palace, wanting to hug her parent figure.
Satori let out an umpf as the well endowed raven rammed into her stomach. A habit she had gained almost as soon as she met Satori. When Utsuho's strength grew, Satori made sure that all of her furniture had been made by oni. They might be insanely strong drunkards, but as a result, their stuff was built to withstand insanely strong drunkards.
"Welcome back Utsuho, how di- Oh, good thing you could take care of it." Satori said as she petted Utsuho. "Yes, you have done well. "
They stayed like that Satori's third eye shifted towards the kitchen.
"Rin has finished cooking now. Utsuho, will you help her set the table?"
Satori heard the raven excitedly agree and run back towards the kitchen. Satori then released a sigh of happiness.
"My sister might have wandered off, but I still have a wonderful family here." A crash erupted from the kitchen as Utsuho accidentally dropped a plate. "Even if they make mistakes sometimes."
Hearing an apologetic breakdown coming from Utsuho, Satori began moving towards the kitchen. After all, a family helps each other. After a short while of much-less-dramatic table setting (Okuu thought it would be cooler if she threw the dishes unto the table), food was served.
"Today's dish is sausage and potato casserolle! Get it while it's hot!" Orin exclaimed with an excitement that was only matched by her fellow pet, eagerly awaiting dinner. A few seconds afterwards, the entire household was sitting round the table, busy eating and smalltalking.
"So, Satori, how's your day been?" Orin asked her master in between mouthfuls of food.
"The oni wanted me to settle one of their disputes. One of them had torn down a small city-block, and in a suprising moment of clearness they decided not to find out who was responsible –Here's the salt, Utsuho- through a drinking contest. They made me read their memories to see who it was." Satori answered her.
"I didn't know that oni cared about leveled buildings. I mean, they make them all the time."
"Someone had to stop partying in order to clean it up. They decided it would be fair to let the culprits do it."
"Ah… I'm still surprised thou-"
-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-
Orin's words were cut short by a loud, beeping noise emitting from Utsuho's pocket.
-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-
"Unyu? Why am I beeping?"
-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-
"Okuu, don't just sit there, do something about that infernal noise!"
-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-
"O-okay!" Utsuho fiddled with her pockets, and managed to conjure up a small, folded piece of paper.
-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-
A small, folded piece of paper worthy of existing in the Hell of Demonic Noises.
-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-
Utsuho, in her half-dazed state, dropped the paper unto the table, where it opened upon landing.
*Silence*
"Oh thank Lord Yatagarasu," Rin said, having put a hand atop all her ears. "It reminds me of the last time Yuugi challenged everybody to to a screaming match."
Satori picked the paper up and began to read what was written out loud.
Dear Satori Komeiji, Rin Kaenbyou & Utsuho Reiuji.
We here at the Moriya Shrine would like to invite you to join us this Christmas Eve at Shiwazu the 24th.
While our relationship so far has been strictly professional, this party is just as strictly casual. Your sister is welcome to join us, but we would very much like to know how much food we should make.
If you haven't replied before the 20th, we will assume that you won't come.
We hope that you will join us, and that you will have an enjoyable Christmas no matter what you do.
Sincerely
Kanako Yasaka, Suwako Moriya & Sanae Kochiya
P.S. I apologize about the alarm. I didn't want to do it, but Suwako said that if I didn't, you'd never get this letter. I hope it wasn't too much of a burden.
While reading the whole thing, Satori took notes of her pet's reactions. She couldn't help but smile as she heard Utsuho's slow realization that the "smaller, more delicious-looking mountain god" was the source of that apocalyptic noise, and the slow remembrance that she was actually told to deliver something. All she had remembered so far was the various problems the reactor had faced, and that kappa's robots. They were awesome robots. She wanted one of those.
Satori shook herself out of the raven's mind. While she truly did love Utsuho, sometimes her mind would be too weird, even for Satori.
"The 24th… That's 4 weeks from now, roughly. Do we have any plans there?" Rin asked, displaying a bit more coherent thought than her old friend. Satori decided to answer
"Not as far as I know. Still, we should probably find out what this Christmas is before we reply. Utsuho, we've hardly ever been above ground for a thousand years, and neither of us have any idea what this date is about. That is why we must – I know that the Moriya household are nice people, but we should still know wha- Now, now, that was uncalled for, Utsuho."
Rin chuckled at their exchange. Bickering wasn't common amongst inside the Palace of the Earth Spirits, but it was most certainly amusing. Well, as long as she wasn't involved at least. Which was a bit rare, actually. Still, she enjoyed it when she could.
"Orin, when you are finished making fun of our bickering, you can help me search the library for some information about Christmas." Satori had turned her eyes to Rin. "And no, Utsuho can't do it, partly because the reactor needs her and partly because she would lose interest and begin reading manga almost instantly. And don't give me that either. I know you know that the other kasha can take care of the flames for a day while you help me in library."
The hellcat could do nothing but agree, partly because she still followed her master's orders (even if a cat always will be her own master) and partly because an angry Satori was something she wanted to avoid.
Satori knew that, of course.
The following days were busy ones the Former Hell of Blazing Fires. Satori and Rin found a book about Christmas (though Orin had to "borrow" it from the Voile Library), and they decided to come. Rin was sent to up the mountain to announce their coming, and returned with a guest list. It turned out that the only other guest was the kappa Nitori Kawashiro (first identified by Utsuho as "the kappa with the funny arms", through further investigation did she beome known as "the kappa that supplied Marisa with missiles"). However, they noticed one thing they lacked. One tradition that it wouldn't do to miss required something they didn't have.
Presents.
"Guys, what are we going to do? We haven't really gotten anything down here suitable for gifts." Rin finally asked during dinner, bringing the subject they all wanted to avoid to light.
"Well, I don- Good idea, Utsuho, we could try that. Orin, let's check the storeroom. Both of you stuff whatever you find in there, so we might fi- Of course I'll help, this is a job for all of us. Don't worry, Orin, we will finish eating first. Satori answered, and as usual answered several questions before they were asked. She then threw a glance towards the hell-raven. " I don't think I could stop Utsuho from doing that either."
The raven in question nodded happily in agreement and proceeded to take a big bite out of her steak.
When dinner was finished, all three of them hurried (Satori couldn't help but notice that Utsuho willingly forgot to take care of her dishes) down the halls towards the den of many things, as Rin once had coined it. The storeroom was as dark as you could expect an unlit room in a former hell to be. The trio stumbled through the darkness, hitting their heads in ways they hadn't imagined possible.
"OW! Who thought it was a good idea to bring in a figurine made out of titanium!" Orin yelled as she stubbed her toe against said figurine.
"But it was so shiny and pretty. Not to mention it looked awesome in the moonlight." Utsuho defended herself.
"But there isn't even a moon down here… For crying out loud, we need some light to work down here." Rin continued, slowly moving away from the deadly bird figure.
Usually, Satori didn't interfere when her pets were arguing. She knew that there were no ill feelings amongst them, after all. However, this time she heard a little thought enter the birdbrain's mind.
The sun gives light.
"WAIT UTSUHO, YOU ARE NOT WEARING YOUR THIR-"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*
After the explosion, they decided to find their presents elsewhere, since that particular room was nowhere to be found.
*Ø*Ø*Ø*
By combining their powers, they managed to find or create suitable gifts for the coming event. Once this was done, Satori ordered her pets to avoid her until the 24th arrived. Even seeing them on a street-corner would be enough for the satori to see what they were planning to give her. And part of the Christmas spirit was the anticipation, at least according to that book.
And so it happened, on the 24th of Shiwazu, the youkai sealed away resurfaced once again. Not without troubles, though. Before leaving the Palace, Orin had gained several minor burns, and Utsuho some scrapes to match. Satori had looked at them, seen the reason, and heartfully thanked them before continuing on their way above.
They arrived atop the mountain, ready to party like oni kept sober for weeks. Or at least two of them (Satori's plans were a bit more "refined"). And welcoming them was the local miko, Sanae Kochiya, having just finished sweeping the front of the shrine.
"Ah, you're finally here!" She looked at them, and one didn't need a third eye to tell that she was psyched for the coming night. "Come on in, I'll tell Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama immediately."
"Sorry, where can I put my-" Rin tried to get a hold of the green-haired girl, but she was already gone. "… Wheelbarrow…"
"Just place here in the middle." Utsuho advised her feline friend. "It's not like people can't get past it."
"Yeah. Sa-"
"Of course I will." Satori cut Orin off as she began unloading the presents from the wheelbarrow. "But Utsuho will carry her own gift. There's no way I can lift that thing."
"This is heavy? Oh yeah, I forgot the power boost I got recently. Don't worry; I can easily carry this one."
With gifts in tow, they ventured inside the Moriya Shrine. The shrine itself didn't actually look like a shrine right now. It was covered in lights of many colours and many small, strange objects that no one had seen in Hell. But that wasn't what really caught their attention.
Inside the shrine was one of the most awe-inspiring things they had seen since Utsuho first begun powering the nuclear plant, and yet it was also one of the most basic. A tree was planted in the living room. It was a tree the likes of which Utsuho, Rin and Satori had only heard about in stories. Instead of leaves it had thin needles, creating a seemingly impenetrable wall of green around the tree. The tree was adorned with orbs of all colours imagineable, and long gold and silver lines weaved in and out of the needles breaking the otherwise perfect greenness. Upon the branches stood small candles, whose flames had only just begun their tiny lives, and finally, atop the tree stood a large, golden star, shining like a full moon and illuminating the room by reflecting the light of the candles.
As expected, Rin and Utsuho both dropped their jaws at the sight of the tree. The book did have a few pictures, of course, but they couldn't compare to the real deal. Even Satori couldn't help but stare at it. She knew one thing they were going to get down in the former hell soon.
"Impressive, isn't it? You wouldn't believe what I had to give Yukari in order to get this tree from the outside."
Kanako Yasaka, the avatar of the wind and the rain, the one who had brought the Moriya Shrine through the boundary and given Utsuho the power of Yatagarasu, had appeared behind them. Satori threw one glance at her, and said:
"You're right, I wouldn't have guessed that. Still, thanks for inviting us. It has been decades since I've been above ground, so I'm really grateful."
"Oh, your big secret is known now, Kanako-chan." Suwako Moriya said native god of the Moriya Shrine had appeared next to her fellow goddess. And promptly made Orin burst out laughing. "What?"
"She thinks your hat is funny." Satori explained while Rin was guffawing her heart out. And it was a funny hat. A large wooden basket with eyes on top of it and a red sock ending with a white ball on top of that one. Utsuho was busy just trying to make sense of it, and it didn't seem likely she would succeed sometime soon.
"You shouldn't have worn that cap, Suwako-chan." Kanako countered, her higher statue making an impressive impact compared to the smaller frog goddess. "Or at least taken your other hat off first."
"But I can't do that! Pyonta's been with me since the Suwa war, I can't just abandon him like that!" Suwako protested.
The argument went on for a while, while Sanae guided the guests towards the dining table. However, on the way there, Satori picked up a stray thought from a certain person.
Just a few more seconds, and I'll be able to see that which lies underneath.
"Just drop it, Nitori, it won't work." Satori said, causing the thinker to stop dead in her tracks.
What! She ca- Nonono, that is impossible. My 3-I-poker makes my brain impossible to read. Now, just go along with the plan.
"It doesn't work, Nitori. A satori's third eye isn't affected by tinfoil."
Just a coincidence, just a coincidence. Leave to a satori to know what a person thinks even though they can't read their minds. Now, extend the arm and grab the target. Mission success in: Three. Two. One. Ze-"AAARGH!"
"I told you it wouldn't work."
Out of nowhere appeared a kappa. A kappa her "extending arm" in her hands. An extending arm that had quite clearly lunged for Suwako's hat. In fact, it had reached the hat. The hat responded with lightning.
Nitori coughed. "But how? I made sure that I was insolated and immune to electric shocks…"
Suwako's eyes and voice darkened as she explained.
"Don't underestimate the hat of a curse god!"
Nitori hurried to the dining table.
*Ø*Ø*Ø*
Following that, a great feast was had. Kanako and Suwako had prepared food enough for twice the actual number of guests, and Gensoukyou's inhabitants were already known for spending A LOT during parties.
"But the meat is weird." Utsuho blurted out. Living with Satori tended to make you a very honest and outspoken person. Having oni as neighbors helped with that as well. "It has a really strange taste, and the shapes are funny."
"Are you insulting my cooking?" Sanae asked with a tint of anger. Utsuho immediately retreated, for no mortal can withstand a woman scorned without cowering in fear.
Rin, not wanting to lose her dear friend to a madwoman, tried to save the situation: "Okuu, they don't have the same wildlife up here. You can't blame them for not having the same quality ingredients as down in the Palace of the Earth Spirits."
"I-I see. So that was the explanation. That makes sense."
"Hmph." Was all Sanae could say.
"Now, now, Sanae-chan. Don't go off exterminating our guests simply due to cultural differences." Kanako said in a condescending tone. "Part of this party was also to help understand the different cultures here in Gensoukyou."
"I know that, Kanako-sama. It's not like I go off attacking everyone, either."
"Well, you were rather rough on that little umbrella, weren't you?" Suwako butted into the conversation, cause the Shrine Maiden to turn a little red.
"That was a one-time happening, okay?" She explained "I was just not used to fighting people who could actually survive my powers, so I went a little overboard."
"I understand you perfectly, Miss Shrine Maiden." Utsuho said excitedly. "I also had problem controlling my powers at first, and I also find blowing stuff up fun!"
Satori chuckled at their exchange. Utsuho truly thought her and Sanae to be the same in that regard, despite the green haired girl having a bit… Different outlook on the situation. Perhaps a change in subject was in order.
"These lights, they are the product of the electricity Utsuho generates, right?" Of course, Satori knew the answer as soon as the question was raised, but she had learned that for some reason, people didn't like having their thoughts read. Therefore, it was more polite to ask them.
As expected, Nitori jumped to answer.
"Of course! These lights are top of the line, the very pinnacle of our production here in Gensoukyou. They provide a nice, gently light, in which it is still possible to read the fine print in the Bunbunmaru, while using the low amount of energy of only 20 watt! It is only a matter of time before we catch up with the humans in the outside world, truly a glorious creation!"
"I have never seen thoughts come out through the mouth so soon after being formed before." Satori commented in silent amazement. "Not even a second was spent considering those words before they were said."
"Only 20 watt! Amazing! No wonder these things still work despite me not being in charge of the reactor." Utsuho said in not-so-silent amazement. "How come we haven't gotten any of these back at the Palace?"
"Unfortunately, we are currently unable to direct the electricity to the Ancient City. There's no way for the power to reach you. We are currently working on it, though…" Kanako ordered us to, after all
"Oh yeah! I can't wait!" Utsuho was clearly ecstatic at the prospect of gaining electric light back home, and dedicated her excess energy to finishing the food in front of her. Even if it was made from inferior ingredients.
*Ø*Ø*Ø*
Eventually, they finished eating and moved on to the part people really looked forward to. Present delivery.
"Here Nitori, you go first. This one's from us down under." Rin said as she handed the kappa her present. "Made only for you, this is a one-of-a-kind item."
After unwrapping the present, Nitori held a strange device in her hand. Satori, noticing the confused thoughts around her, motioned for Utsuho to explain.
"This device contains a small amount of the suns power. By using old, arcane rituals that I will never understand, we transferred a fraction of the Yatagarasu's energy in here. It won't last forever, but it should be able to power one of your inventions for a long time. We might even be able to recharge it, though I have no idea how." She explained, and then added: "Probably some kind of magical mumbo jumbo."
"Technically, the rituals were partly divine." Satori decided to add, seeing as Kanako grew worried at the prospect of a ritual draining a god of her powers. Nitori, however, didn't hear a thing.
"Thanks! This is awesome. Now, I just need to find the right way to use this baby… Perhaps a gia- No, we already tried that once… Then perhaps a gia- Yes. That could work." She said, nodding a little as she planned the uses of the newfound power source. "Oh, Utsuho, your present is in my backpack. The fifth pocket from the right in the second row."
Satori and Orin couldn't help but notice that only the hell raven was mentioned. And true to the word, the gift was clearly made with Utsuho in mind. It was a robot. A fully automatic robot standing 1-feet tall, complete with lights, all terrain threads and small surface-to-air missiles, each capable of obliterating a small bird. With the push of a button, it could transform into a small fighter airplane. However, the fighter was incapable of flight, a flaw Nitori would have promised to fix with version 2, had she not been busy drawing some sort of blueprint right now.
"I guess we'll just send Nitori's present later. It seems as if she is currently unavailable to any sort of contact." Suwako proclaimed. She then proceeded to bonk the kappa on her head. "Including physical, it seems".
Suwako then decided to ham up the coming of the next present.
"Either way, me and Kanako's gift is going to be far more awesome! Surely, you are waiting with anxiety and thrill at the prospect of gaining a gift from not only one, but two goddesses from outside the boundary. Oh, what wonders might await you? Could it be tha-"
"It's a promise of an easier access to above ground. You plan on using your connections with the different groups of Gensoukyou to create some sort of portal between the land above and the underground. This would allow Utsuho to get to and from work faster while helping people slowly adapt to our presence once more in Gensoukyou. Of course, you would be recognized for the action, and anyone who benefits for this would therefore give you faith. It would be a gift that would help us both, but you are planning to pay for it." Satori said, cutting the goddess' speech short.
Suwako stood frozen for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what just happened. She then cried: "Kanako! Satori is a very bad audience!"
The mature goddess sighed. "And that was partly why people exiled them in the first place, Suwako. I suspect that stage magicians had a hand in it as well. Nonetheless, you are correct, Satori. Not that I needed to tell you that, of course." She gave a gentle smile as she looked at the lord of the Palace of the Earth Spirits. "So, will you accept this present?" Her mind added: I can't tell you when it'll be ready though.
Satori didn't get a chance to reply before Orin practically shouted "We will!". A short-cut to the land of many corpses? There was no way she was going to pass that up. Both Satori and Kanako chuckled at her eagerness.
"Orin! No fair getting all excited before you see get my present." Utsuho said, bringing forth the 4-foot tall present that had been too heavy for Satori. "Here you go. Open it!"
She then proceeded to push the box towards the kasha, who only managed to avoid getting squashed by the intervention of Sanae. When the box was stabilized, and Utsuho scolded for her reckless behavior, Orin began to unwrap the gift of the hell raven.
"This smell… Could it be?"
With her youkai strength, she tore apart the remaining wrapping, which released a horrible stench from the present. Inside was an oni, or rather something that once was an oni. The body that was once strong enough to tear down boulders was now limb and its proud neck broken.
"Okuu… You got me an oni corpse?" Orin asked her friend in bewilderment. "But they always take such good care of their dead and are not only long-lived but tough as nails as well. How did you get this!" After thinking a bit, she added. "You didn't kill this guy, did you?"
"Of course not, that would be rude. What gave me this one was nothing more than pure luck and skill. You see, I was flying back on my way home from the reactor this other day, and I saw this oni climb to the edge of a cliff." Utsuho began explaining, a bit insulted that her best friend thought such things about her. "With a tearfull gaze, he threw himself off it. I dashed towards him, of course, but I couldn't catch him in time. I couldn't just leave a dead oni around, now could I? I knew you love finding oni corpses, so I thought this would be a suitable present."
"It certainly was." Orin replied. She then noticed that the inhabitants of the Moriya Shrine were looking a bit weirdly at them. "Satori, why are they all staring at us like that?"
"Culture shock, Orin, just culture shock."
A few awkward seconds passed as Rin carried her present outside. Satori had gently insisted that that was the right thing to do. In the mean time, Sanae decided to unfold her present.
"Go on, Satori-san, open it. I can't wait to see your face." She said, her face, and mind, full of expectations of the show to come. Though for some reason she expected Satori to be surprised.
"Do you not realize that I know what you will give me? No matter, I also look forward to this."
She unpacked the present and pulled out a batch of… Miracle fruits.
Sanae got her reaction, though it wasn't entirely what she expected. There was something off about it.
"So, how was it? I can see that making Nue place a seed of non-identification on my mind wasn't in vain."
"I liked the thing I saw in your mind a lot more." Satori admitted with honesty shining out of her every breath.
Sanae promptly lowered her head in disappointment as Orin returned from the outside.
And as if on cue, the lights in the house went out. The candles on the tree had burned out long ago, and therefore the entire shrine was thrown into darkness.
"What happened! Weren't there supposed to be enough power left!" Suwako asked in a panicked manner. The great industrial revolution wasn't supposed to include stuff like this!
And for the first time in a while, Nitori spoke.
"It seems as if there has been a power shortage. I guess some kind of mad youkai knocked into one of the power cords down or something"
"Or perhaps have the kappa begun playing video games again. You know that those things drink power like an oni drinks sake." Utsuho added.
"Perhaps, there is nonetheless nothing we can do about it. Utsuho, can you bring your robot over here, I need a bit of light for this scheme."
But I don't want to use my robot for that… Wait a second, the sun produces light!
Satori caught that thought, and yelled:
"Wait, Utsuho, you aren't wearing your-"
*FIZZLE*
In Utsuho's palm stood now a small star, lighting up the entire room on its own.
"So how did that happen? Okuu usually blows the place up when she uses her powers without her third leg. Heck, we even have safety zones located at strategic points in the placae in case something like that happens." Rin said, explaining what was on all of the underground dwellers' minds. "So how come that doesn't happen now?"
"This is going to sound very cheesy, but I think it's a miracle." Kanako answered, her eyes focusing on the small orb floating in Utsuho's hand.
"A Christmas miracle indeed" Sanae agreed.
Author's notes:
Okay, so the ending was a bit rushed. A lot of small things were cut, but I am already behind schedule.
This is my first non-Lucky Star fic, so any criticism is welcome! Though please keep it civilized.