Merry Christmas, everyone! I might post this before or on the day of Christmas, but I kinda want to keep this a short one because I wanna spend time with my family!

By the way, in this chapter only, it'll basically be normal! That means no Society of Light.

Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!

"Merry Christmas!" everyone cheered towards each other, staying in the new and improved Slifer Red dorm. A lot has happened thus far that year, and surely, more was to come next year.

For starters, after the renovation of the Slifer Red dorm, things have turned for the better. Aster began attending more classes, thus spending time with Jaden and her friends. Well, more specifically, Jaden.

Because of the Christmas holidays, students had the option of leaving the island to spend time at home for the holidays or stay, and Jaden and her friends among with several other students stayed to spend the holidays together.

Several weeks before Christmas, Jaden and her friends agreed that it was difficult to get everyone presents, except for Aster, but to make things fair, they all agreed to do one Secret Santa and write down their names on small scraps of papers. That way, they could rearrange them so everyone gets one random Secret Santa to send their present to.

That was part of why they gathered in the dining hall, not just for their Christmas breakfast, but also to reveal who got whose Secret Santa.

"Okay! Okay! Let's see what our Secret Santas are! Eeep! I can't wait!~" giggled Jaden.

"Me first! Me first!" said Hassleberry, taking the present with his name on it before ripping the wrapping the shreds.

"Hey! Watch it! That was very delicate wrapping!" scolded Alexis. "...Oops."

Hassleberry looked up to her. "Alexis, you were the one who gave me a gift? Gosh, thanks!" Glancing down at his opened present, Hassleberry gasped. "Is this...a plushie of a dinosaur?!"

Alexis nodded. "Yup. I sewed and made it out of scratch. I knew your favorite Monster was Black Tyranno, so I made a small version of him. Isn't it nice?"

"It's awesome! Thanks!"

"Hey, I wanna have a go, next!" declared Chazz. "Oh! Nice! I got two presents! I'm opening the bigger one!"

"Hey! We all agreed to have one present each!" reminded Atticus, seeing as he was the one who suggested the whole Secret Santa scenario. "Who decided to give him an extra gift?"

Nobody spoke a word as Chazz unwrapped the big present he received...only to get another present within that present, which is a little smaller. He opened that small present to receive another box smaller than the previous. This process continued over and over as everyone watched until there was only one small box the size of a ring box.

"Goddamnit!" yelled Chazz, frustrated with the pile of presents below his feet. "This has got to be the last one! Aha-? Okay, what's this?" He saw nothing but a piece of paper that said nothing but a word: Clue.

"It's a clue!" chirped Syrus happily. "...You need one."

It took a moment for everyone to pause and ponder about the meaning before they burst into laughter as Chazz's face redden from anger as he threw down the paper.

"Oh, fuck you!" Chazz growled. "My detective skills aren't that bad!"

"Chazz, when I asked you to help me find my hairbrush, it took you three hours to find it, and you spent that time interrogating everyone you knew when the hairbrush was on your table," pointed out Alexis.

"Oh...Whatever! I'm opening my other present! It better not be a joke one!" yelled Chazz.

"Don't worry! This one's legit!" assured Syrus.

Sure enough, what Syrus spoke of was the truth as Chazz found were a bunch of cheap card packs inside. Might not be rare cards inside, but Chazz did need to change his deck every now and then, and it was better than the first "gift" he had.

"Thanks," he grumbled, taking the card packs and stuffing them in the his coat pockets. "Alright, who's next?"

"Me! Me!" said Atticus, raising his hand before quickly opening his present before anyone could protest. "A...book on physics?"

Bastion nodded. "Yes! Everyone should know more about Einstein and more knowledge of the world!"

'Of course he'd pick something smart for me. Well, it's not all bad,' thought Atticus. "Thanks...I guess." There was slight disappointment and glum in his tone. "Anyone next?"

"I want to go!" said Alexis, eager to open her gift. Upon delicately removing the wrappings, she discovered a bunch of jewelry in present along with a card that stated it was from Chazz. "Oh, they're so beautiful, Chazz!"

"Yeah! I wanted to make it special!" said Chazz confidently, wanting to impress Jaden with his skills of how to handle a lady properly.

"Wait...Hey, are these my jewelry?!"

Chazz began mentally sweating, trying not to lose his cool. Truth be told, he couldn't always rely on his brothers to buy everything for him, so he had no choice but to resort to thievery, but technically, he was returning the jewels in a way that didn't seem like stealing.

"...It could be a coincidence!"

"Hey! These are my jewelry! My signature's in here!" shouted Alexis. Seeing this as his cue to leave, Chazz rushed off with Alexis chasing him. "Get back here!"

"I suppose it's my turn," sighed Bastion, opening his gift. "...Hassleberry, this is just a bandana."

"Right? It's to help join my squadron!" said Hassleberry. "An honorary member always wears a Troop Tyranno bandanna like this one!"

"I'll...consider it. Thank you, though."

"Ooh! Ooh! My turn!" said Syrus, unwrapping his present quickly. "Whoa! Uh...I'm just gonna...Uh...Read this later, okay?" He quickly stuffed all of the wrappings back inside his present to hide his gift inside before pulling Atticus aside to the corner of the room. "Atticus! Why did you give me porn?!"

"It's not shameful for a man to want to get to know his desires! I knew that someday, teenage boys like you will get to that age, and it would be natural!" replied Atticus. "Besides, you should consider that manga as practice! Just imagine the heroine as Jaden, and everything will go smoothly!"

The look on Syrus' red expression, his bleeding nose, and the drool escaping from his lips was all that Atticus needed to confirm that his present was a success!

"Alright! Here, Aster! I made this for you!" Jaden said, handing her gift to Aster.

"Huh, what a coincidence. My Secret Santa was you, Jaden," Aster said, giving her a small gift.

'Lucky,' thought Hassleberry, Syrus, and Chazz as they glared at Aster. If looks could kill, Aster could have died three times over, and if Aster had noticed them glaring at him, which he had, then he would have granted them a sneer successful smirk, which further pissed them off.

Aster opened his first, and inside was a small dark chocolate heart sweet. If Jaden made this with all of her heart, then it must be good! Before anyone could protest, Aster quickly swallowed the sweet, which...actually was just a little sugary, but nothing more than that.

As for Jaden, when she opened her gift, she was confused and held up...mistletoe.

'THAT CHEAP SON OF A BITCH!' thought all three boys from before, snarling and ready to pounce on Aster like he was prey. Directly giving mistletoe to someone they liked...why didn't they think of that? Oh, right. Because Jaden was Aster's Secret Santa. But still!

As Aster was leaning in for a kiss...Jaden quickly gobbled down the berries from the mistletoe.

Later, in the infirmary...

"How could you not know that mistletoe berries contain POISON?!" yelled Hassleberry to Aster as both he and Jaden were laying in separate infirmary beds.

After Jaden ate the berries, Hassleberry panicked and quickly explained that the mistletoe berries contain a weak sort of poison in which consuming a small amount would have a small effect, making everyone panic and take Jaden to the infirmary. Also, the chocolate that Aster ate had a timely effect where he suddenly suffered stomach pains and was also taken to the infirmary, where Fontaine took care of both of them.

"How was I supposed to know she would eat them? NOBODY eats mistletoe berries!" argued back Aster before curling up in bed, wrapping his arms around his stomach as he groaned in pain.

Jaden was about to speak up when she felt something bile in her throat once again and grabbed the already stinky trash can nearby, vomiting all over. To rid Jaden of her poison, Fontaine had Jaden drink some emetic medicine, which the effect caused Jaden to puke, making her throw up anything she ate in the previous few hours, including the poison, thus saving her life.

Despite the...unexpected twists in their Christmas, everyone still had a happy time regardless and hoped that next year would be better.

In case you guys were confused, here's the round of Secret Santas!

Chazz's Secret Santa: Syrus

Hassleberry's Secret Santa: Alexis

Atticus' Secret Santa: Bastion

Bastion's Secret Santa: Hassleberry

Syrus' Secret Santa: Atticus

Alexis' Secret Santa: Chazz

Jaden's Secret Santa: Aster

Aster's Secret Santa: Jaden

Well, how's that? Merry Christmas, everyone! Okay, it may not have been a long chapter, but I already explained my reasoning and all that! Have a good holiday!