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It was Christmas Eve in Tokyo, and Kaneki and his little sister Eto were celebrating at Anteiku. Their parents, Yoshirmura and Ukina, were busy stringing the coffee shop in twinkling lights, and hanging ornaments on the Christmas tree, getting ready for their big holiday party later that evening.
The first guest to arrive was Uta, throwing the doors open with a flourish. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen! The moment you’ve all been waiting for, the party, is about to begin!” he said with a cheer, as everybody else filed in, stomping off their snow covered boots by the door.
Nishiki and Kimi danced and swayed to the Christmas carols, while Enji and Irimi laughed and clinked their coffee mugs together.
Then suddenly the doors opened again, letting in the chilly winter air, and everybody gasped as the lights flickered on and off. In walked a mysterious figure dressed all in black. He twirled his long mustache and squinted through his single monocle, and all the guests scrambled out of his way as he pushed his long dark cape back, creating a trail of shadows behind him.
But that's when Kaneki recognized him.
“Dr. Kanou!”
He ran into his pediatrician's arms and hugged him.
“Meet my nephew, Hide,” Dr. Kanou said with a grin.
Hide was his age, with a bright face full of sunshine, and Kaneki knew they'd be fast friends. He took Hide's hand and dragged him around the Anteiku front counter, to sneak some sugar cookies out of the display case.
Now Dr. Kanou was also a toy inventor, and curious things he did make. He wheeled out three large boxes into the main area of the cafe, and opened them one by one, revealing life size dolls, their flesh made of wood, and screws in their heads. The doctor wound them up, and they whirred to life, walking and dancing around the cafe like robots.
“I call them Kurona and Nashiro!”
Look at how they jump and dance! Everybody cheered and laughed. The next wind up toy was named Takizawa. Look at the pineapple in his hand! What fun! What a Merry Christmas!
But Dr. Kanou saved a special gift just for Kaneki. It was a Nutcracker! Perhaps it was a bit strange, with black teeth and dressed in scantily clad underwear, but that was just the sort of joke Dr. Kanou liked to pull!
Kaneki was enjoying his Nutcracker, cracking its jaws againts some nuts - crack, crack - when his annoying little sister Eto stole the Nutcracker out of his hands and smashed it to the ground, breaking it.
Poor Kaneki broke down and cried, but Dr. Kanou came and placed a hand on his shoulder, comforting him. The doctor gave it a temporary fix, a scarf wrapped around her head, and a frilly bed to sleep on. That would have to do for now. Why was Eto always breaking Kaneki's things? And then she’d giggle and run away like she was innocent.
The party continued on, and at last came to a close.
“Will I ever see you again?” asked Kaneki.
“Of course, we'll be best friends from now on,” said Hide, as they shook hands and said good night, fingers lingering as they parted ways.
Shortly after being tucked into bed however, Kaneki remembered something. He left the Nutcracker downstairs! He rushed through the dark halls and down the stairs of Anteiku, until he scooped the Nutcracker up in his arms, finding relief at last. He curled up on a downstairs lounging chair, and drifted off to sleep.
In fact, he was so sound asleep that he didn't even stir, when the front door of Anteiku creaked open, and from the shadows of the moonlit night, emerged Dr. Kanou. He gently slid the Nutcracker out of sleeping Kaneki’s arms, took out his special tools from his special box, and began the silent work of repairing it. Nobody asked the doctor to fix it, nobody asked him either to take his special tools to Kaneki sleeping peacefully in the chair, but he did that too. Dr. Kanou liked to do whatever he pleased, and tinkering with toys and people always gave him much satisfaction.
Finished with Kaneki, Dr. Kanou wiped the blood off his tools, slipped back out the door and into the dark and snowy streets.
But that was only the beginning of all the strange things that were going to happen to Kaneki.
At the stroke of midnight, Jason kicked in the door, laughing maniacally, as large centipedes appeared from the shadowy corners of Anteiku, and began to scurry across the room, startling Kaneki awake as they chased him about.
Before his eyes, it appeared as if everything in Anteiku was getting bigger. The Christmas tree, the tables and chairs, even his beloved Nutcracker grew in size. Or maybe it was he who was the one shrinking.
It was then that a pack of big black dobermans and large hairy apes marched down the stairs of Anteiku to do battle against the centipedes, the centipedes who were led by the fierce and terrible, multiheaded One Eyed Owl, covered in grizzly kakuja armor.
But the Nutcracker, now the size of Kaneki, came to life like one of Dr. Kanou's wind up toys, to do battle against the One Eyed Owl. They circled each other like predators, when a quick thinking Kaneki took off his slipper and threw it at the One Eyed Owl's back! Taking advantage of its distraction, the Nutcracker swooped in for the kill, and claimed the One Eyed Owl's crown in victory.
In that very moment of victory, whatever spell Dr. Kanou placed on the Nutcracker had faded away, but instead of turning back to regular size, the Nutcracker turned into a beautiful woman, made of flesh and blood. She had dark blue hair that fell over one of her equally blue eyes. It was Touka!
She knelt before Kaneki and reverently placed the crown upon his head.
“The One Eyed King!” Touka declared, and all the dobermans and apes in Anteiku chanted it back.
Touka took Kaneki by the hand and led him outside into the snow, and then deep underground, into the complicated train tunnels that ran beneath Tokyo. A happily ever after.
INTERLUDE
Touka took Kaneki on a fantastic journey through the underground, through places and sensations he'd never felt before, before they finally emerged on a platform, decorated for their wedding. Touka was wearing a beautiful dress, that glowed and fluttered about like moonlight, with golden trim, and Kaneki was dressed as a brave and handsome King. They were greeted by Tsukiyama, the Sugar Plum Fairy - elegant and dazzling with his half moon face mask and tidy pinstripe suit.
Tsukiyama waved his magic wand, and large groups of people wandered into the reception hall of the train tunnels, hundreds of feet underground, to celebrate the wedding of their new One Eyed King.
Touka told them all the story of their great battle with the One Eyed Owl and the Reaper, and everybody hmmed and ahhed. Such bravery! How compelling!
Tsukiyama led them to two magnificent thrones, carved for a King and Queen, and clapped his hands once as the entertainment began.
First there was the delightful dance of the Washuu’s, led by Kichimura, swinging their quinque around like artful dancing ribbons. They all fell down one by one until Kichimura was the only one left standing, holding up two fingers as if to say, “Super Peace.”
Next came the sultry and mysterious dance of Rize Kamishiro, that ended with a mysterious bang and crash, and the temporary closing of the curtains.
And then came the flashy dance of the Aogiri Ghouls, led by Tatara. They leaped along the stage like it was their own personal trampoline, blasting off flame throwers here and there for theatrical effect.
The jumping White Suits led by Naki came next, dancing through hoops, cracking and snapping their knuckles rhythmically.
What could come after the White Suits? Why, the quinx dressed as girls of course! All in fluffy tutus and faces full of makeup.
The biggest surprise of all however, was the gigantic Dodgy Mother, who stomped into the stage before them all. All of a sudden, little clowns burst forth from beneath her skirt, and danced to the rhythm of her tambourine. On danced Uta, Itori, and Nico. On danced Donato, Shikorae, and Souta. On they danced in their clown masks, stumbling and falling over each other for comedic effect, until the Dodgy Mother ushered them back under her skirt and shuffled away.
Then, beautiful flowers in pink petal skirts appeared from the Sunlit Garden, led by Arima Kishou as the Dewdrop Fairy. They twirled their blossoming skirts in a melancholy dance, but something was strangely ethereal about them all the same.
Finally, the regal Tsukiyama Plum Fairy returned, but this time with his noble cavalier, Kanae von Rosewald. They floated gracefully about, spinning faster and faster until it appeared as if they were falling, hurtling through the sky together, before Tsukiyama pushed Kanae out of the way, somewhere behind the curtain, just at the close of the song.
At the end of the wedding celebration, the Tsukiyama Plum Fairy waved his wand again, and all the different groups came together for a joyous farewell celebration. And as Touka and Kaneki boarded the train car that was spray painted with the words “Just Married” and they all waved goodbye, the curtain closed, and a single man sitting just off the stage smiled, wiped a tear from his eye with a gloved hand, and clapped.
“Merry Christmas to all!” Furata cried from his director's chair. “And to all a goodnight!”
END
Program -
ACT I — CHRISTMAS EVE AT ANTEIKU
Scene 1: The Christmas Party
- Kaneki as Clara / Marie
- Eto as Fritz
- Yoshimura & Ukina as Mr. & Mrs. Stahlbaum
- Anteiku Guests as the ensemble
Scene 2: Arrival of Dr. Kanou
- Dr. Kanou as Drosselmeier
- Hide as Drosselmeier's nephew
- Kurona, Nashiro and Takizawa as the Mechanical Dolls
ACT II — THE BATTLE AND TRANSFORMATION
The Battle
- Touka as the awakened Nutcracker
- The One-Eyed Owl as the Mouse King
- Centipedes as the Mice
- Dobermans & Apes as the Toy Soldiers
ACT III — GOAT'S BASE AS THE LAND OF SWEETS
The Wedding Celebration
Grand Entrance
- Kaneki, The One-Eyed King as Clara / Marie
- Touka, The Queen as the Prince
DIVERTISSEMENTS
Dance of the Washuu
(Spanish Hot Chocolate Dance)
- Washuu Clan
- Lead: Kichimura
Dance of Rize Kamishiro
(Arabian Coffee Dance)
- Rize Kamishiro
Dance of the Aogiri Ghouls
(Chinese Tea Dance)
- Aogiri Ghouls
- Lead: Tatara
Dance of the White Suits
(Candy Cane Dance)
- White Suits as the Candy Canes
- Lead: Naki
Dance of the Quinx
(Marzipan Dance)
- The Quinx as Marzipan
Mother Dodgy
(Mother Ginger)
- The Clowns as the Polichinelles
- Lead: Roma / Dodgy Mother
Waltz of the Flowers
- Sunlit Garden Children as the Flowers
- Dewdrop Fairy: Arima Kishou
Sugar Plum Fairy & Cavalier
- Tsukiyama as the Sugar Plum Fairy
- Kanae von Rosewald as the Cavalier
Curtain Call
- Furuta — Director