Chapter 161: Unlikeliest Santas (2)

Chapter 161: Unlikeliest Santas (2)

~Third POV~

[Nighttime, Heights Alliance (Faculty Dorm) – Eri's Room (Bathroom), Japan]

Aizawa let loose an annoyed sigh as he realized that the grudge-filled glares were motivated by envy he said bluntly, "Actually, Yuki and Togata are closest to her."

Present Mic rolled his eyes as he crowed sarcastically and said in a proud tone that his gift would be perfect for Eri, "Yeah, but out of all of us teachers! Anyhoo, I know my gift's gonna make that kid squeal with joy. That's gonna earn me some real vicarious brownie points via Santa! Just call me Long Legs Claus!"

Midnight and Thirteen glanced at each other. Midnight then asked curiously, "Well? What're you two giving her?"

Mic, with a smug grin, revealed his gift in a proud tone, "A deejaying set for kids!"

Proud as ever, Mic went into a spiel about how great the gift was, but Midnight responded with a grin and a derisive snort this caused Mic to ask, "Oh yeah? What's your awesome present, then?"

Going into her white sac bag, Midnight produced a book in an excited tone, "I got her… a picture book."

Present Mic blinked a bit surprised as he said weirdly, looking at Midnight, "That's weirdly ordinary! I was totally expecting something risqué from you!"

Midnight flinched at his comment as she quickly explained to herself how great her gift was to Eri, puffing her chest out, "Ouch! Obviously not! Not until she's older, that is. Besides, gifts are meant to delight the giftee, and when it comes to little kids, that means encouraging their favorite hobbies, no?"

Mic scoffed that a book would outshine his gift for Eri as he said looking at Thirteen for support, "Ugh! Well, I say that kids oughta be exposed to all sorts of new experiences early in life! It's a great way to expand their potential later on, y'feel me? You're on my side, right, Thirteen?"

Thirteen, underneath her helmet, got embarrassed as she said bluntly, "Um. I got her a teddy bear…"

Mic, pointing at Thirteen's soft and squishy gift sack, which was taking up a huge amount of real estate in the center of the bathroom, pressing the teachers out to the sides, said, "Is that what's been cramping our style?"

Thirteen, with a note of apology in her voice, explained herself, "When I was young, I loved giant stuffed animals."

Everyone present suddenly imagined an ecstatic Eri hugging a massive plushie. Picturing that perfect image, Mic gave a thumbs-up and said honestly through clenched teeth, "Good going!"

Midnight nodded as well as she said, liking the idea of clasping her hands together, "We'll have to take a picture of her with her new toy tomorrow."

An exuberant Thirteen, fully caught up in the mood added, "Yes, let's!"

Aizawa didn't disagree that Eri would appreciate the stuffed animal, but then he snapped back to his senses and remembered that they were chatting in a cramped bathroom in the middle of the night as he said, "Let's leave our gifts and be done with it. No reason to dawdle."

Mic, with a start and a nod, said as he prepared himself to move, "Okay! With a little teamwork, this mission will be complete in no time!"

Midnight slyly grinned as she got ahold of her gift and commented happily, "I don't think I've ever experienced such a meaningful, stimulating, and holy night."

Thirteen, being optimistic, said happily, "I have faith we can pull this off!"

Aizawa's colleagues in unison said, "Yeah!"

Aizawa, on the other hand, with a blank expression, thought, annoyed, 'All we're doing is putting presents on a pillow.'

Aizawa kept this thought to himself because voicing the quip out loud would only make them quip back, and so on and so forth, effectively wasting more time. The mission was as follows: to place the gifts near Eri's pillow without making a sound and leave the room undetected.

After going over this ridiculously simple plan, Midnight peered out the cracked bathroom door, gave a signal, and opened it gently. Silently, the four teachers approached Eri's bed with bated breath, being careful not to knock over the giant sword leaning against the wall.

As they peeked at her pillows, Aizawa noticed a charming angel figurine placed on the shelf attached to the headboard. He cocked his head, puzzled since it wasn't a familiar sight as he thought confused, 'Has she always had that thing?'

The others, however, were too busy staring at the other angel, the one nestled all snugly in her bed as Midnight said adoring Eri's cuteness, "Aww, deep in slumberland."

Thirteen joined along as she said commenting on Eri's cuteness, "Having pleasant dreams, hopefully."

Mic was soon to follow along, but he cut himself short, noticing something in a confused tone, "Probably about Santa Cl – Hang on, what's that next to her?"

When the others spotted the small sock on one of Eri's pillows, their faces clouded over. Eri must have been told that Santa filled stockings with presents, so she'd left out one of her own teeny-tiny socks.

None of the gifts the four teachers had brought would fit inside, of course. Flustered, they scrambled away from the bed and toward the main door for an emergency conference, Mic said, alarmed, "What now? That little thing can't hold any of our awesome gifts!"

Being pragmatic, Aizawa suggested following their original plan, "It's fine. We'll just place the gifts near the pillow, as planned."

Thirteen, however, disagreed and had a rebuttal to Aizawa's words as she said in a concerned tone, "But if she wakes up to an empty sock, Eri will blame herself for not having prepared a larger one, no?"

Midnight paused, nodding her head, agreeing with a conflicted expression, "I can picture that, yeah."

Mic then suggested his attention to Midnight as he asked rashly, "Your book's the smallest gift we got, Midnight. Try cramming that in there!"

Midnight, however, shook her head, explaining to him as she held the book, "This jumbo-sized book? I very much doubt it."

Mic's eyes twitched as he asked pleading with Midnight comically, "Where's your Plus Ultra attitude?"

However, Thirteen protested, disagreeing with Mic's course of action, "But forcing it in would surely stretch out poor Eri's sock!"

Aizawa's eyes twitched hearing that as he scolded his colleagues sternly, "Forget the sock already –"

*Clank*

But before Aizawa could scold his frantic colleagues any further, they all heard a faint noise and whipped around. They saw motion outside the window and instantly panicked as they thought concerned, 'A villain, perhaps?'

Eri was sleeping just a few feet from the window, so when a dark figure started to open it, the four teachers leaped into fighting stances, prepared to defend the girl. The window slid open, but before the perpetrator could climb in, Aizawa's binding cloth shot out and wrapped around the intruder's neck.

*Whip*

"Urk!"

"Vlad?"

Vlad King dressed up in his own Santa suit tumbled into the room through the window, yanked by the binding cloth.

Then came a worried voice from outside, "Hey! Vlad! Huh?"

A moment later, Hound Dog peered through the window, sporting a set of fake reindeer antlers. Apparently, these two had gone for a whole dual cosplay for Eri's sake.

In any case, all the hubbub was disturbing enough that Eri began to stir, prompting every adult in the room to drop to the floor, which was when they noticed the gleaming white eyes and teeth lurking in the darkness under the bed itself.

Every instinct told them to scream at the sight of what had to be some sort of boogeyman, but they managed to swallow down their cries for Eri's sake. Once the girl was sound asleep again, a black figure appeared before them and said with one finger to its mouth, "Shh!"

Once the figure emerged, the teachers sighed in relief as Midnight exclaimed, "Don't scare us like that, Ectoplasm!"

Mic was breathing in and out as he muttered, almost having a heart attack, "My heart flatlined for a second there!"

The real Ectoplasm (also wearing a Santa costume) emerged from under the bed to join his Quirk-created clone. He'd arrived in the room before any of them, but when the rest of the crew had started showing up, he'd missed his chance to make himself known and join them he said calmly as his clone dissipated, "Apologies, I feared that calling out would frighten you all and alert Eri to our presence."

Hound Dog, who'd been cowering outside the window, asked, "Can I come in now?"

A moment later, all seven teachers were huddled together near the door for another meeting as Mic said bluntly first, "Lemme get this straight—we're all here to deliver gifts to Eri?"

Vlad King and Hound Dog nodded as Vlad said in a determined tone, "That's right. Me and Hound Dog pulled out all the stops to keep the fantasy alive for Eri."

Midnight, flicking Hound Dog's fake antlers, said comically, "Down to the last detail, huh…?"

Hound Dog nodded his head, arms crossed, as he explained calmly, "Yep. Cementoss whipped these up for me. And Power Loader motorized our sleigh for us—no pulling needed."

Although Cementoss and Power Loader hadn't come themselves, they'd gone in on the teddy bear with Thirteen. Like the others, Vlad King had been spending some free time with Eri, teaching her gymnastics exercises.

She'd had trouble getting the hang of it at first, but these days, she'd get a real thrill when Vlad King lifted her overhead and she to be an airplane. She'd even taken to calling him "Mister Exercise," which had inspired him to find books on entertaining exercise routines for children.

Hound Dog, meanwhile, was still a little scary to Eri, given his role as the strict school life supervisor. Still, after he'd taught Eri which wildflowers smelled the sweetest, she'd drawn a picture of those very flowers for him—a picture he had promptly hung up in his room.

Ectoplasm nodded his head as he calmly explained himself, "I am here to leave CDs of nursery rhymes as a gift."

Eri had also feared Ectoplasm at first, and after he'd presented for her his "clone-powered canon" rendition of a children's song to win her over, she'd gone from scared to terrified. Midnight and Thirteen had later joined Ectoplasm's performances, however, which had made the girl comfortable enough to start calling him "Mister Song."

Now, he'd brought a set of mix CDs loaded with handpicked songs just for Eri. But it was when Thirteen pointed out, as she said, "I don't believe Eri owns a CD player, though."

Ectoplasm looked saddened as he said disappointedly, "She doesn't?"

However, Mic showed his deejaying set as he relieved Ectoplam's concerns, "Hey, no prob! The deejaying set I'm gifting her can play CDs!"

Midnight turned her attention to Vlad King and Hound Dog as she asked curiously, "What'd you two get for her? I got her a book."

Hound Dog got his white sac to reveal a comb, hairpin, and mirror in a happy tone, "A cute comb, an adorable hairpin, and a lovely little hand mirror."

Mic grinned as he looked at the girl-related gifts and said slyly, "Well, lookit you two, trying to win her over with girlie-girl stuff!"

Vlad King, looking smug, replied, sounding smug, getting assistance from his class, proudly declared, "I actually asked the girls in my class for advice."

Mic's eyes widened missing the chance to ask his class as he muttered stunned, "Dang! We shoulda gone that route too!"

Ectoplasm on the other hand was thankful for Present Mic as he said thankfully, "No, I am quite grateful for your choice of the deejaying set."

However, Aizawa, his low voice cutting through the chatter like a knife, asked the big question in a grave tone, alerting his collogues, "Speaking of presents, how about we deliver them?"

He knew that if they dawdled too long, Eri might wake up and their whole surprise would be spoiled. His grave tone brought the others to their senses, helping them focus on the mission at hand.

A bit more debate over the tiny-sock issue led to the decision not to try cramming any of the presents inside. After all, it wasn't the sock that mattered—it was the presents.

Once more, the group of teachers snuck over to the bed, where the sight of Eri's cherubic face and the sound of her soft breathing warmed their hearts. But as they attempted to place the presents by her pillow, the angel figurine on the shelf came to life, its eyes glowing red.

*SNAP*

Before they could react, two halves of a transparent, dome-like shield shot up from either side of the bed, meeting in the middle and sealing the bed within, Eri and all. This shocked the teachers, and they all muttered, "What the—?"

Aizawa attempted to pry open the shield to rescue Eri, but the thin material was tougher than it looked and wouldn't budge. That was when the angel floated into the air.

The angel announced in robotic voice before it began firing off a weaponized beam, "Intruders detected. Intruders detected."

*Pew*

*Pew*

The teachers dodged in the nick of time, but the beams kept coming, forcing them to dance around the cramped room as Mic yelled, alarmed, "What the heck's this about?"

*Pew*

Avoiding another beam, Midnight gazed at Eri, alarmed for her safety, in a concerned tone, "No clue, but we've got to help, dear Eri!"

And yet Eri was still fast asleep under the clear dome, so they realized it must be soundproof. With a gasp, Thirteen reminded her colleagues, "Wait a minute! At the end of the meeting today, didn't the principal say something about improved security?"

The others searched their memories, trying to recall exactly what Principal Nezu had said as Mic screamed, alarmed, "It was, 'Ah, one more thing! Keep in mind that as of today, we've bolstered security measures… in Eri's room'!"

Power Loader had modeled the Guardian Angelbot after one of Hatsume's toy monkeys, but now, he was in the underground dungeon tinkering away, none the wiser that his defense system had been installed earlier.

"Whoa!"

*Pew*

"Yikes!"

*Pew*

The flurry of beams somehow corralled them all into one corner, at which point the Angelbot spoke again robotically, "Capture intruders. Capture intruders."

*Fwp*

A powerful, sticky rope launched from the angel and wrapped around the teachers. Following its programming, the machine had determined that, based on the size of the room and the number of "villains," the optimal strategy was to herd them into a group with the beams before binding them with the rope.

Mic said in an annoyed tone, "Oh, great…"

Attempting to get out, Hound Dog said in an annoyed tone, "Grr! Can't get this sticky crap offa me!"

Midnight, however, moaned, bonding as she said perversely, "How're we ever gonna deliver our presents now?"

In response, Ectoplasm created one of his clones, and Thirteen aimed one of her fingers at the Angelbot, ready to produce a black hole with her Quirk as they both said respectfully at the choices.

"Shall I destroy it?"

"Should I suck it up?"

However, Vlad King disapproved of the plan, shaking his head, saying, "Probably shouldn't, when the principal went outta his way to install it."

Clicking his teeth, Mic asked in an annoyed tone, "What's our move, then?"

As the group was beginning to form a plan, a new voice echoed at the teachers in a confused tone, revealing Lady Nagant wearing a Santa Claus outfit, "Okay… what exactly is going on here?"

Before the teachers could explain, the Angelbot voiced out loud getting Lady Nagant's attention, "Capture intruders. Capture – Buzzz…."

However, it was when Ren slowly came wearing a Christmas Santa using [Radio Waves] to disable the robot as he gazed at the scene, "Hoho merry – what the hell am I seeing here? Midnight bondage play gone wrong or some fucked up Hentai scene?"

Midnight blushed, not daring to look as Aizawa sighed, asking them tiredly, "Sigh… I can assume you came because you wanted to drop a gift like us?"

Both nodded as Lady Nagant revealed from her white sac their gift to be a ukulele. Lady Nagant explained with a fond smile, "Apparently, as of late, Eri has been showing interest in Music from the School Festival. Ren made this for her to enjoy making music."

Ren moved forward to help the teachers get rid of the rope using [Transmute] to get rid of it into a string. Freed Ren decided it was time to go, seeing the teachers have everything under control, "Seeing you lot free, I guess my job here is done. Now I'm off to bed good night, folks!"

*Swf*

Using [Wormhole], he exited through the portal, leaving the teachers sighing in relief as the teachers nodded in agreement and glanced over at Eri, who was still sleeping peacefully. The notion of safeguarding the girl's innocent dreams brought a deadly serious look to their faces as their pride as pro heroes kicked in.

Each of them began to place their presents near Eri and began to clean up the room that was damaged from the robot fight. Aizawa and the teachers sighed, realizing that they had a long and miserable night ahead of them, cleaning the mess up. Eri, meanwhile, was still fast asleep, blissfully unaware that outside her bubble, this holy night.

/////

[Morning, Heights Alliance (Faculty Dorm) – First Floor, Japan]

The creeping morning light hit Eri's still-closed eyes. Reluctant to leave dreamland just yet, she spun around in bed and managed to hit something with her flailing arm, "Hmm? Oh!"

At the sight of the pile of presents covering her pillow and then some, Eri's eyes sparkled as bright as the morning sun. In an instant, she was fully awake, eager to confirm that she wasn't dreaming.

Yes, the gifts were real. Clad in her pajamas, she dashed out of her room and down the hall and found Aizawa on the sofa in the communal area as she said cutely, "G-good morning, Aizawa-sensei."

Taking a sip of his coffee, Aizawa noticed Eri, along with other teachers at UA, taking their sips and listening to their conversation, "Oh? Morning."

Eri began to excitedly explain in a happy tone what happened, shaking in excitement, "Um, last night, I think Santa came and brought me lots of presents!"

Aizawa grinned slyly as he replied happily, "Oh yeah? That's great."

Eri who was positively beaming by this point said, "Uh-huh!"

It was a smile powerful enough to penetrate the teachers' fatigue and turn up the corners of their mouths. Having done their duty as both heroes and grown-ups, they turned to each other and exchanged the knowing glances that can only be shared by weary comrades in arms. Such was the power behind Eri's pure smile—a reward that made it all worth it, and the best Christmas present they could have asked for.