Chapter Text
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the town. Its people were sleeping—well, most were; one was still currently tiptoeing around…
…..
Nene wiped her brow as she looked at the list of friends. Her quest to be St. Nick was close to its end.
While it may not involve the whole world, she looks at the neatly written characters crossed off in her little book.
"Let's see, I visited my senseis, Aoi and Akane-kun, and just finished visiting Kou kun and his siblings... good thing Tiara chan didn't catch sight of me," she sighs in relief, recounting her quick escape from the window. She then sighs dreamily, "I sure hope Kou kun will be excited—and Minamoto senpai too," she gushes.
The mokke eating a cookie on her small sleigh seems to nudge her.
"Right, we aren't done yet! Let's finish our journey, and after this we can indulge in all the sweets we want!"
The mokke helpers cheered at the mention of sweets.
She gently flicks the page with pen in hand. "Let's see, the next and last to visit is—" Her eyes widen. The frostbitten rosy cheeks seem to further redden ever so slightly at the words on the page.
She then shakes her head, regaining her determined attitude. "To the Yugi residence!" She declares. At her comment the mokke take the reins, mushing through the thick snow, each cheering as they get ever closer to the sweet victory waiting.
At last, they stop in front of a familiar house. Nene stands up from her transport. One last house. She squares her shoulders with her gloves on her hips.
This house is the last and most difficult to get in. She briefly remembers why. At school she overheard the Yugi brothers talking and constructing a plan to catch Santa just before the break. The younger Yugi talked about all kinds of crazy contraptions, scratching crude doodles to show his brother between classes. It was clear he must have taken inspiration from the Western Christmas movie. Thankfully, she watched the older brother, who was the only one who could engineer such a marvel, immediately reject the ideas. Looking back, she sighed in relief, thankful this won't be as difficult as it could have been.
She took a quick glance over their shoulders at a rough outline of their house, tiptoeing to the front window as quiet as a mouse. She peeks ever so cautiously in the front window. Her eyes widen at the sight to behold.
Inside the living room are the tree and furniture.
But that's not all—there were contraptions and traps all set up. There were wire and marbles. And above the inside window entrance was a hammer dangling on a string.
There were already presents under the tree. So... someone clearly visited here with no issues. Even the stockings were filled, but with what she couldn't say—though she wouldn't be surprised if one of them was nothing but coal.
Unfortunately for her, there were no magical abilities to make it through unscathed.
She slumped before sneaking to other windows looking for somewhere safer.
In the kitchen, the guest room, and even the bathroom, but much to her dismay, all was filled with traps too. And... burnt cookie trays in each room... for some reason.
She looked at the bathroom floor filled with a floor of syrup or glue… unsure what to make of it—but felt pity for whoever had to clean the mess or use it soon.
She sighs with the thought that it may be best to leave the presents outside and call it a night.
Over her head the moon refracted the newly fallen snow that gave the powder-white ice shingles a midday luster above. She shields her eyes and squints, seeing a window on the second story cracked open with a shutter creaking as it blows.
She gasps, "I can get in after all!" She exclaims to her little helpers.
They all seem abuzz, and she quickly shushes them.
"White mocha, Lucky Matcha, Chocolate Mochi, and Strawberry Dango help me bring my bag up there," she points.
The 4 creatures on her team nod and hop to the sack, picking up the heavy bag and following Santa Nene.
.......
It was the night before Christmas, and outside a house, there was a girl in red climbing up the shingles; ironically, her racket was louder than a mouse.
As she struggled to keep her footing on the roof, she caused such a clatter—while her legs dangled, she wondered if it was too late just to find a ladder.
She huffs and she puffs as she climbs the roof blanketed with snow, her fluffy boots and gloves clawing at the powder, not daring to let go.
She was surprised no one awoke—lucky for her, it seems they didn't take the jolly red man's visit as a joke.
Alas, she was finally up on top in front of the second-floor window; she dared not knock.
She slowly moved a shutter while looking in the window, breathing on the fogged glass; much to her relief, this was a room she could pass.
...
"This is it finally. I will be done after this, then we can get all kinds of sweets and rest well, my little helpers," she smiles. The creatures cheer and hop in glee, but she immediately motions for them to be quiet as she grabs the gift sack from them.
As she pushes up the window, she grabs the sack, heaving up the final contents inside onto her back.
She stood confused at the unusual weight. For 2 final presents, it was heavier than expected. But maybe that means she is getting more tired. She shrugged it off and slid inside.
She looked around the room; it was quite dark. She could tell it was a bedroom but didn't know who it belonged to. She squints carefully with each creaky floorboard as she looks around. There's a figure under the dark sheets of the bed and a desk with gears and screws still out. Then she looked at the ceiling to see glowing stars.
It hit her where she was. It was the older twin's room. The one from her homeroom class, and for some reason her heart was suddenly abuzz.
For some reason, despite her carefully trying to keep as quiet as possible, her chest was hammering inside, and she prayed it wasn't making her presence too loud.
She shakes the feeling out of her mind and regains her focus on her current mission.
"Focus. Nene, don't get distracted." She smooshes her face.
"Let's see, what did I get them again?" She pushes open the sack. The first one would go towards Amane—she hoped to be quick about it. As she lets some light in, she sees two presents… and one more she didn't recall ever having. It was not neatly wrapped in bright paper and a bow, but rather it was crinkled brown paper wrapped in red rope.
rope?…
………
'Twas the night before Christmas, and Nene stared before her sack, trying to understand why one of her presents couldn't possibly belong. Unbeknownst to the cutie gift giver, things were about to go oh so VERY wrong…
She pulls at the red coiled string out of a messy tie, and slowly she moves a corner of the crinkled brown paper gently aside.
……….
There was blue fabric with yellow stars visible. As she reached toward the cloth object, it twitched, making her jerk back.
Slowly she sits up once more, noticing that suddenly this package was more body-shaped before….
when she reached out again for the package a second time.
Did she… no, she dares not finish that thought yet.
She uncovers it further to see what looks like a body wrapped up inside. Who's? She dared not uncover it further. She silently panics trying to figure out how this happened.
How did she kidnap someone?!
Was this the helpers' doing?
'It's ok, Nene; don't freak if I just unwrap and then explain. We can fix this.'
She carefully walks over to take off the ribbon when the gift wrapping wiggles around suddenly.
She is about to let out a scream but claps her hands over her mouth.
In panic she grabs the nearest thing on a shelf, whacking the unfortunate stranger unconscious again. They fall limp.
She looks over to the figure in the bed. Under the sheets, not disturbed. She lets out a sigh. Looking away, placing the object back, suddenly she catches sight of a plate.
A plate of donuts sitting there undisturbed.
Her mouth drools and her stomach growls. It dawned on her she hasn't eaten all night. All the sweet foods throughout the journey she has given to her trusty helpers.
She glances at the donuts sitting innocently.
It couldn't hurt just to have one... could it?
Just one, and then she could deal with this unexpected gift and question her helpers.
She then looks again and shakes her head. 'No, not now.'
She turns away once again and goes down to examine the present-wrapped person. She tears a long piece, slowly revealing star-patterned fabric to be pajamas and at last a familiar face.
She jumps back, cupping her mouth. Suddenly the sound of gears turning, followed by clicks, echoes in the room.
She backs up, turning to see one of her greedy helpers taking a donut tied to a wire.
As she dives to take it away from the small rabbit, suddenly a net scoops her up. She lets out a squeal.
She squealed as her feet lifted up off the ground.