I do not own 9th Elsewhere. 9th Elsewhere belongs to Caroline Curtis and
Courtney Caryl. It's an online manga that can be found at:
www.9thelsewhere.com
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Carmen walked through the endless strangeness that was her dreamscape, looking up in the air for the flying bakabako. Eiji, her personal muse sent to her by ORMY, was walking in front of her in his Shinto priest garb.
"Oof!" she ran into him when he suddenly stopped. She looked at him. He had that sparkle of excitement around him, making him look like a chibi character.
"Look, Carmen!!!" he shouted delightedly, "It's a Christmas tree!"
"What?" Carmen looked past him. Right in the middle of a blank, empty dreamscape field was a Christmas tree, lit up and decorated.
"There are even presents under it!" Eiji rushed to the tree, looking through the presents. He turned to Carmen, grinning, "They're all for you!"
'They're probably there to mock me or something,' Carmen thought, moving forward automatically. She kneeled down next to the pile of presents. She picked one. It was from one of her foster families. She opened it dispiritedly, looking inside the box. In it was a note.
She lifted it out and read it, 'We're sorry, Carmen, but...' Carmen crumpled the note and tossed it to the side.
"They always thought Christmas was the best time to tell me they didn't want me anymore..." she said quietly. Eiji, admiring the heavily decorated tree, didn't notice her mutterings.
She grabbed another gift. It was from another foster family she'd lived with. It also had a note. 'For Christmas, Carmen, we thought the best thing for you would be to live with..." she shoved that one aside too. She opened another one from another family. 'We weren't sure what to get you, Carmen. We just don't know you that well, and you're so quiet I don't think we will, so we decided...' Carmen threw the box and note as far as she could. She opened present after present, getting rid of each one as soon as she opened it. Her frustration built, but she kept opening presents in the hopes of finding... something. Something she was looking for. She just didn't know what.
Suddenly, the present she'd pulled in front of her wasn't from one of her foster families. 'To Carmen, from Eiji' the label read. Looking up at Eiji, who still hadn't moved from staring at the angel on top of the tree, she looked back at the present. She opened it carefully. It had a note with only one word on it. 'Patience'. Carmen shifted to a more comfortable sitting position and placed the note gently in her lap. She took the next present and looked at it. 'To Carmen, from Eiji'. The note inside it had another word. 'Kindness'. She started opening more presents. All the ones left seemed to be from Eiji. 'Devotion'. 'Cheerfulness'. 'Comfort'. 'Appreciation'. Her lap was soon covered in these little notes.
"What is this?" she wondered aloud. Her subconscious seemed unwilling to answer her on its own. She reread the one-word notes. After a few minutes of reading the words over and over again, she started to understand. "Could these be... all the things... Eiji has given me?"
"Hm?" Eiji turned at the sound of his name.
"N-nothing," Carmen said quickly. She looked at the last present. It was the only one not addressed to her. It was instead addressed to Eiji. She handed it to him, "I guess this one's for you."
"Yay!" Eiji looked chibi again, "I wonder what it is? Oh, hey, look! It's from you!"
"It is?" Carmen hadn't looked at who it was from. Sure enough, it read 'To Eiji, from Carmen'.
"I wonder what it is... maybe it's a... or a..." Eiji spent a while guessing.
"Why don't you just open it?" Carmen suggested, looking down at the records of everything Eiji had given her. Smiling so much his eyes were almost shut, Eiji opened his present.
"Thank you, Carmen!!!" It was a doll of Eiji, with white wings. "I love it!" the excited muse hugged his present. In the bottom of the box, Carmen noticed a note that Eiji had overlooked in his excitement. Seeing what it said, she grabbed it quickly and hid it in the pile of notes on her lap.
"Why don't we go after the bakabako, now that we've had a rest?" Carmen told Eiji.
"Sure," Eiji still had his infectious cheerfulness. He started off in the direction they'd seen the bakabako fly. Carmen stood up behind him, letting all the notes fall to the ground. As she rushed off, one floated down, landing right side up.
'I love you, Eiji.
-Carmen'
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Carmen walked through the endless strangeness that was her dreamscape, looking up in the air for the flying bakabako. Eiji, her personal muse sent to her by ORMY, was walking in front of her in his Shinto priest garb.
"Oof!" she ran into him when he suddenly stopped. She looked at him. He had that sparkle of excitement around him, making him look like a chibi character.
"Look, Carmen!!!" he shouted delightedly, "It's a Christmas tree!"
"What?" Carmen looked past him. Right in the middle of a blank, empty dreamscape field was a Christmas tree, lit up and decorated.
"There are even presents under it!" Eiji rushed to the tree, looking through the presents. He turned to Carmen, grinning, "They're all for you!"
'They're probably there to mock me or something,' Carmen thought, moving forward automatically. She kneeled down next to the pile of presents. She picked one. It was from one of her foster families. She opened it dispiritedly, looking inside the box. In it was a note.
She lifted it out and read it, 'We're sorry, Carmen, but...' Carmen crumpled the note and tossed it to the side.
"They always thought Christmas was the best time to tell me they didn't want me anymore..." she said quietly. Eiji, admiring the heavily decorated tree, didn't notice her mutterings.
She grabbed another gift. It was from another foster family she'd lived with. It also had a note. 'For Christmas, Carmen, we thought the best thing for you would be to live with..." she shoved that one aside too. She opened another one from another family. 'We weren't sure what to get you, Carmen. We just don't know you that well, and you're so quiet I don't think we will, so we decided...' Carmen threw the box and note as far as she could. She opened present after present, getting rid of each one as soon as she opened it. Her frustration built, but she kept opening presents in the hopes of finding... something. Something she was looking for. She just didn't know what.
Suddenly, the present she'd pulled in front of her wasn't from one of her foster families. 'To Carmen, from Eiji' the label read. Looking up at Eiji, who still hadn't moved from staring at the angel on top of the tree, she looked back at the present. She opened it carefully. It had a note with only one word on it. 'Patience'. Carmen shifted to a more comfortable sitting position and placed the note gently in her lap. She took the next present and looked at it. 'To Carmen, from Eiji'. The note inside it had another word. 'Kindness'. She started opening more presents. All the ones left seemed to be from Eiji. 'Devotion'. 'Cheerfulness'. 'Comfort'. 'Appreciation'. Her lap was soon covered in these little notes.
"What is this?" she wondered aloud. Her subconscious seemed unwilling to answer her on its own. She reread the one-word notes. After a few minutes of reading the words over and over again, she started to understand. "Could these be... all the things... Eiji has given me?"
"Hm?" Eiji turned at the sound of his name.
"N-nothing," Carmen said quickly. She looked at the last present. It was the only one not addressed to her. It was instead addressed to Eiji. She handed it to him, "I guess this one's for you."
"Yay!" Eiji looked chibi again, "I wonder what it is? Oh, hey, look! It's from you!"
"It is?" Carmen hadn't looked at who it was from. Sure enough, it read 'To Eiji, from Carmen'.
"I wonder what it is... maybe it's a... or a..." Eiji spent a while guessing.
"Why don't you just open it?" Carmen suggested, looking down at the records of everything Eiji had given her. Smiling so much his eyes were almost shut, Eiji opened his present.
"Thank you, Carmen!!!" It was a doll of Eiji, with white wings. "I love it!" the excited muse hugged his present. In the bottom of the box, Carmen noticed a note that Eiji had overlooked in his excitement. Seeing what it said, she grabbed it quickly and hid it in the pile of notes on her lap.
"Why don't we go after the bakabako, now that we've had a rest?" Carmen told Eiji.
"Sure," Eiji still had his infectious cheerfulness. He started off in the direction they'd seen the bakabako fly. Carmen stood up behind him, letting all the notes fall to the ground. As she rushed off, one floated down, landing right side up.
'I love you, Eiji.
-Carmen'