Akira gathered Erika and Koro-sensei in the Important Conversation Room once again, announcing that they were having an emergency meeting.
Koro-sensei sat in the Gendo pose.
"Alright, Akira-kun. What's the emergency?"
Akira, who was also sitting in the Gendo pose, answered solemnly.
"It's almost Christmas."
Erika, who was sitting normally, suddenly remembered.
"Oh, yeah! With the early winter break and all the training, I'd almost forgotten about it."
Akira continued seriously, "Our training is going well. You're getting used to dodging some of the attacks, and I've already found that Nami Nohito guy."
Erika gave him a deadpan, unimpressed side-eye.
"That's because you randomly ran into him while he was going to the restroom."
Akira shrugged shamelessly.
"Luck is important in assassination, too."
Erika sighed.
"What are you up to now?"
Akira stood up, spreading his arms as the room lit up theatrically.
"I want to celebrate Christmas. To make it the greatest Christmas ever!"
Erika looked at him and sighed.
Why is this idiot always so dramatic?
Koro-sensei sighed sadly.
"I want to celebrate Christmas with everyone in class, too, but everyone's just ignoring me."
Erika gave him a sympathetic look.
"It can't be helped. After you revealed your backstory, they can't just act normally around you. They're still trying to process everything, and Kayano is still in the hospital, too. I don't think they're in the mood to celebrate Christmas right now."
Koro-sensei sighed. Then he looked at Akira and Erika as a thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Wait, do you two even celebrate Christmas?"
It was a reasonable question, considering that one of them was part vampire and the other was a cosmic space alien.
Akira explained, "Well, we don't really worship any gods, but we do celebrate Christmas. Mostly, it's about exchanging gifts and having fun. It's a holiday, right? We're allowed to enjoy ourselves."
Koro-sensei asked, "So, what about this year? Do you want to celebrate with everyone, or are you planning something else?"
Akira smiled mysteriously.
"No, I don't think anyone's in the mood for a celebration. But I do have a wish of my own."
Erika looked surprised.
"A wish?"
Akira smiled brightly.
"I want to be Santa!"
Silence.
Both Koro-sensei and Erika stared at him strangely.
Erika asked, "Do you want to cosplay or something?"
Akira continued smiling.
"No, an actual Santa. Well… not an old man, but the job itself. I want to give presents to everyone!"
Erika leaned forward.
"First, explain yourself properly."
Akira nodded.
"I will, but before that, we need one final member for the team."
Just then, Ritsu, in her android body, opened the door and walked in carrying a laptop.
"Akira-kun, the website is up! We're already getting so many registrations and wish submissions!"
Koro-sensei looked at her.
"Ritsu-san, what website?"
Ritsu showed them the laptop.
"It's Akira-kun's new website. I don't know exactly what it's for, but he asked me to help him set it up."
On the screen was a website called NewSantaWish.com.
Erika looked even more puzzled.
"What is this supposed to be about?"
Akira smiled and began explaining as though he were making an announcement of the utmost importance.
"I'll explain. You see, I've always wanted to do this. To be Santa for a day. To give presents to every child in the world on Christmas Eve. But I've never had the chance before. Now, though, with Koro-sensei, it's finally possible. So I want to do it! I made a website where children from all over the world can tell me what they want for Christmas. Once I've collected their wishes, I'll deliver their presents on Christmas Eve. I want to do just what Santa does and take over the world… I mean, give everyone presents!"
He struck a heroic pose, as if calling upon others to join his cause.
"So, come with me and become Santas!"
Everyone fell silent.
Nobody even knew how to react.
Finally, Koro-sensei looked at him sadly, like an adult about to break a child's heart.
"Akira-kun, I'm not sure how to say this, but… even with my speed, it's impossible to cover the entire world in a single night."
Erika looked at him just as sadly.
"Yeah, I don't think that's possible. I mean, we could do it if we were only covering this city, but the entire world? That's just impossible."
Akira looked at them as though everything was going exactly according to plan.
"Nothing is impossible!"
Erika turned to Ritsu.
"Ritsu, run the calculations and explain to him why this isn't possible."
Ritsu immediately ran the calculations. Her eye projector lit up, projecting the results onto the wall.
"There are approximately two billion children in the world. Even if we somehow managed to get every single one of them the presents they wanted, delivering them all in a single Christmas Eve would be an enormous challenge. Even if we somehow took advantage of all the world's time zones to get thirty-two hours, we'd still need to deliver approximately 17,361 presents every second. That's beyond even Koro-sensei's capabilities. And that's not even considering purchasing all the presents from the online wish lists you've collected and delivering each one to the correct recipient. It would be a logistical nightmare."
Akira smiled.
"I have a way. Don't worry, Koro-sensei won't have to deliver all of them himself. I have a plan. A master plan!"
Erika sighed.
"Well, even if you have a master plan, what about the presents? Where are you going to get the money?"
Akira shrugged.
"I have enough money, and I've put spending limits and other restrictions on the website. They can't just wish for anything they want."
Erika stared at him.
"How?"
Akira smiled.
"I made a bunch of investments, and when they started generating profits, I reinvested those profits into more investments. Then I reinvested those profits into even more investments. And, along with winning a few lotteries, I kinda ended up with a lot of money."
Nobody knew what to say.
In fact, the real reason Akira had accumulated so much money was his Golden Rule skill. The longer he stayed in a world, the more money he earned. After spending months in this world while actively making money, he'd accumulated enough wealth to spend the rest of his life doing whatever he wanted without worrying about the cost.
Akira continued excitedly.
"As for the time limit, it's not easy, but I really do have a plan. This is way easier than talking to some random guy in a bar. Now, are you with me?"
Everyone looked at one another. In the end, they decided to go along with it and see what happened. Who knew? Maybe he really could pull it off. Or perhaps they simply needed to be there in case he caused a disaster or something.
Akira then explained his plan with a serious expression.
"I call this project… The Night of the Living Santa!"
Once again, nobody knew what to say.
Koro-sensei raised a tentacle.
"Why does it sound like we're raising an army of undead Santas?"
Akira explained himself.
"Because it makes sense, okay? Santa Claus comes alive every Christmas Eve to deliver presents, so basically, Christmas Eve is the Night of the Living Santa!"
Erika pinched the bridge of her nose.
"That sounds wrong on so many levels."
Akira waved his hand dismissively.
"Anyway, let me show you what this is all about."
He projected a holographic image from his phone. A huge satellite appeared in the middle of the room.
"Allow me to introduce my new satellite! I call it the Sleigh Satellite!"
Ritsu looked confused.
"The Sleigh Satellite?"
Akira crossed his arms.
"I'm keeping up the theme, okay?"
He continued explaining.
"This Sleigh Satellite carries six hundred drones called Reindeer Drones… or autonomous delivery drones, if you want to be technical about it. But I prefer Reindeer Drones. These satellites will serve as hubs, and the drones will deliver the presents."
Erika looked thoughtful.
"That sounds like it might work, but… I don't think six hundred drones will be enough."
Koro-sensei added, "We'll need more of them. And with only two days left until Christmas, I don't think it's possible to manufacture them all in such a short time."
Akira guiltily looked away.
"Yeah… about that."
Erika immediately caught on.
"What did you do?"
Akira turned his face even farther away.
"I… already made some of them."
Erika stared at him in shock.
"What?! When?"
Koro-sensei asked, "How many?"
Ritsu checked the system records.
"Huh? I couldn't find anything about this, either."
Akira finally admitted, "It was supposed to be a Christmas surprise. I've already built ten thousand Sleigh Satellites and six million Reindeer Drones."
This time, the silence was unlike anything they'd experienced before.
Akira continued, "Don't worry. They all have the same cloaking technology as the Moon Infiltrator, so nobody will find out—"
Erika immediately pounced on him.
"What the hell, Akira?! You built a robot army without telling me?!"
Akira struggled to free himself.
"They don't have weapons!"
Koro-sensei leaned in as well.
"Where did you even build all of them?!"
Still struggling, Akira answered, "I bought some uninhabited islands around the world. I built them at my secret bases there."
Erika shook him furiously.
"Islands, secret bases, and a robot army?! What the hell have you been doing behind my back?!"
Ritsu leaned in, too.
"Wait, where did you even find the time to do all this? When did you start?"
After Erika finally stopped shaking him, Akira answered nonchalantly, "Oh, that? It's more of a hobby, actually. I started about a month after transferring into Class E. And as for how I found the time… I only built a few of the drones myself. I just made the drones replicate themselves. One becomes two, two become four, four become eight. You know the math."
Nobody knew what to say.
Akira had secretly built a self-replicating robot army.
Koro-sensei finally asked, "What if this turns into something like Skynet?"
Akira smiled.
"Don't worry, Sensei. They're controlled by the ELF system I created. They're not really that advanced. In fact, they can't do much beyond following my orders. They won't suddenly become sentient or anything like that, so there's no danger."
Nobody knew what to say. There had been far too many speechless moments today.
Erika pulled him closer.
"I'm not letting this go. You've been doing so many things behind my back!"
Akira cried out, "It was supposed to be a Christmas surprise!"
Erika sighed.
"I'll deal with you later. But first, if you've already built an entire army, why do you even need us?"
Akira turned his head away.
"Well… about that. I forgot to buy the presents."
All three of them stared at him.
Then they screamed in unison.
"YOU FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!"
Akira tried to defend himself.
"It's fine! We still have two days. As long as we work together, we can buy everything!"
Erika shook him again.
"Are you an idiot?!"
But then she stopped, stood up, and took a deep breath.
"We have to move fast if we're going to pull this off."
She immediately slipped into leader mode.
"Koro-sensei, you're in charge of buying the presents. Go out and get everything on the list. Ritsu, you're in charge of logistics. Help Koro-sensei coordinate the purchases and deliveries."
Ritsu looked confused.
"But what about all the other children? I don't think everyone submitted their wishes through the website."
Erika answered immediately.
"Just buy random presents for them. We don't have enough time to worry about every single detail."
Koro-sensei looked at her.
"What about you, Erika-san?"
Erika turned toward Akira with a sweet smile that sent a chill down his spine.
"I'll keep this idiot under control, make him explain everything he's been hiding, and think of other ways to get the presents. Now, everyone, get moving!"
Koro-sensei and Ritsu nodded and immediately got to work.
Erika finally turned her attention back to Akira, still wearing that sweet smile.
"Akira, let's have a little talk."
Akira cried out, "Please be gentle!"
Erika's smile widened.
"That depends on how you answer my questions."
Then she picked him up and carried him into another room for some in-depth questioning.