Reindeer House pt.5

CRAAAAAASH!!

The entire boarding house shook. A cloud of snow, soot, glitter, and… feathers(?) erupted down the hallway like an avalanche with opinions, and Rudorufu dropped his clipboard in fright. “BY THE HOLLY JOLLY —  RITSU-CHAN?!!”

Out of the cloud stumbled Buritsen, coughing, smiling, covered in broken baubles, half a wreath, a snow shovel, a live chicken, and a small puff of smoke from his antlers. “Morning, Rufu-chan!!” he chirped brightly, giving a cheerful salute as the chicken flapped away. “Can you believe it? Another fantastic stroke of luck!!” “LUCK?!!” Rudorufu screeched. “You fell through the ceiling!!” “Ohh, is that what happened?” Buritsen blinked. “I was doing some stretches and — whoosh!! The floor disappeared beneath me — super convenient shortcut to downstairs though!!” He beamed.

“SUPER —? Shortcut —? Ritsu —?!!” Rudorufu was practically hyperventilating.

“I woke up and thought, ‘Today’s gonna be amazing!!’ First, I found a nail sticking out of my bed — that’s lucky, right? It could’ve poked me, BUT it only ripped my pyjama pants!! Then I tripped on my ripped pants and fell down the attic stairs — but SO lucky!! I only hit 11 of the 14 steps!!”Buritsen clasped his hands dreamily. “Truly blessed.”

Donaa, in his usual questionably hideous festive sweater, appeared silently behind Rudorufu, holding three mugs of peppermint cocoa.

“Ritsu. You’re bleeding.”

“Oh!” Buritsen touched his forehead. “No, no, that’s just cranberry sauce!!” “…But you didn’t go near the kitchen,” Donaa murmured. Buritsen thought for a moment. “…Huh. Then maybe it is blood!! Neat!!”

Rudorufu screamed internally.

“Well!! Since the ceiling’s already open, maybe I’ll try to repair it myself!! Kyuu-chan might still have those power tools somewhere — and I’ve always wanted to practice carpentry!!” Before Buritsen could continue that thought, both of them instantly shouted “NO!!!!”, in desperate hope of avoiding calamity.

Buritsen just shrugged obliviously, grinned, and began humming cheerfully as he stepped over debris.

“Wow… what a lucky morning.”

To be continued…