Author's note:
I'm slacking off for a long while from writing fan fiction, but I'm finally back, posting my own variant of the Charles Dickens classic. The idea in writing it is when I watched the 2009 animated film adaptation of the book (more specifically, the Robert Zemeckis version).
Even though Christmas is done by the time I posted this, it will still be updated with the remaining four chapters in the next few days. It does not necessarily have to be completed before Christmas as long as it is finished.
This takes place before the events of the bonus Christmas episode of Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!.
Original characters: (Yes, this fanfic is filled with more original characters than The Best Wishes of Haruhi Suzumiya.)
Matthew Kurisu - An older childhood friend of Sanae who died six years earlier before the events of the story. Takes on the role of Jacob Marley.
Mitsuki Dekomori - Sanae's cousin. Takes on the role of Fred, Scrooge's nephew.
Itsuki Takanashi - Older brother of Rikka who is an underpaid clerk working for Sanae's parents. Takes on the role of Bob Cratchit.
A Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! fanfic
A Chuu-2 Christmas Carol
Stave 1
Matthew's Ghost
Matthew Kurisu was dead, to begin with. No doubt. It was indicated on his gravestone exactly six years ago, after his life got cut short due to a strong blizzard that ravaged his parents' home. Matthew was as dead as a nail. A doornail to be exact.
Sanae Dekomori, who was young back then, was there on his coffin. She and her parents left the funeral parlor, but she was in a sour mood.
Sanae knew he was dead? Yes, she already knew that. Sanae and Matthew were friends since childhood. They were in the same grade school, but not classmates. In spite of this difference, Sanae was his sole friend and one of his mourners. Matthew's parents were excellent at business, and his funeral was made solemnized.
In the streets, no one ever managed to stop in front of Sanae just to say, "Will you come to our place this Christmas?". None of her friends would want to ask her what time it is, and in short, nobody cared about her. Indeed, as several people thought, she had chuunibyou, alright.
Christmas Eve. Before that day, people make a visit to the shopping malls to find and look for things they can turn into presents, in which they would be given over to their special someone in turn. It isn't exactly celebrated as a holiday in Japan as it used to be in most countries in the world, but nevertheless, the people find it as a very important occasion to celebrate.
Sanae, already grown up in the present day, was in her bedroom in her family's mansion. Outside, the weather was bleak and cold; she could hear the sound of the engines of the cars pass by on the road.
Sanae's cousin, who was named Mitsuki, entered the door to her bedroom, saying, "Hey, there's my cousin! Let's go bowling! Uh, merry Christmas, and may God bless you."
"Bah, humbug."
"Christmas is a humbug to you? Oh come on, my cousin. Don't try to say that."
"Is there a deathly good reason for you to be merry in this time of year? In death's name, your parents are not even rich."
"In your case, do you have a reason to be so grumpy at the same time? Yours are so wealthy, you know," Mitsuki responded.
"In death's name, what a humbug."
"Now, now, my cousin. Don't be like that."
"Listen up, Mitsuki," Sanae said, "Why in the death's name am I here in a world of fools like this? What is Christmas time to you but a time to get your mana replenished without drinking white water, a time for finding yourself a bit older and not an hour wealthier? In death's name, I'll see if I can work my will. Every single person who chants 'Merry Christmas' on his or her lips shall be possessed by demons."
"Cousin!" Mitsuki pleaded.
"Mitsuki," Sanae responded, shooting her face back at Mitsuki, "In death's name, try to keep Festivus or whatever you call it, in your own way, and I'll keep mine."
"But I don't think you are doing it!"
Sanae sighed. She answered, "Just let me leave it alone, in death's name. It's deathly fun to you than it is to me."
"My cousin, there are some things that I see as a sign of goodwill, and Christmas is one of them," Mitsuki explained, "It's apparently that one time when people enjoy and have fun, instead of acquiring this mental illness that's called chuunibyou. Cousin, I tell you this. There's nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas, and may God bless it!"
Mitsuki ended her speech with a clenched fist in the air.
Itsuki Takanashi, the underpaid clerk of Sanae's parents, entered from the door, clapping with applause.
He apparently overheard Mitsuki's speech.
Sanae replied grumpily at Itsuki, "If you make another sound in death's name, you'll spend Christmas not being able to enter this room."
She turned to Mitsuki and said, "You're good."
"Don't be so mean, Sanae," Mitsuki said, "Your friends in school have apparently planned to come over and dine here tomorrow, along with us."
"We'll dine in hell," Sanae responded.
"Cousin, why are you so cold-hearted? Why?" Mitsuki asked.
Sanae dodged the question with the line, "Why did you fall in love?"
"Because everyone does," Mitsuki answered.
Sanae growled, "Everyone does? Good afternoon!"
"You didn't come to see me before that happened."
"Good afternoon."
"I want and ask none from you. Why can't we be friends?"
"Good afternoon!"
"With all my heart, I'm very sorry to see you as being resolute. But I made the trial in respect for Christmas, and therefore. . . . . "
She chanted, clenching her fist in the air, ". . . . . . . merry Christmas, Sanae!"
"Good afternoon!"
". . . . . . and a happy New Year too!"
"In death's name, good afternoon!"
Mitsuki and Itsuki both went out of Sanae's bedroom.
"Another one," Sanae said, "Yet another one who cares about Christmas. I'd rather go and see Master."
A knock was heard from the door. It was Mato Fujiwara, the family maid.
She said, "Ms. Dekomori, two guests are waiting for you."
In the living room, two teenage boys, one who was tall and the other being short, appeared before Sanae and Mato.
The tall one said to the latter, "This must be the Dekomori residence, I presume. Have I the pleasure of addressing Sanae Dekomori?"
The short one added, "And also, Matthew Kurisu. How's he doing?"
"Matthew was long gone seven years ago, in this very day," Sanae said, sitting on a couch.
"I see."
"No doubt about it, his personality is represented by his surviving friend," the taller boy said, "At this festive season, it is more than just desirable that we must provide help to the Filipinos made homeless by a recent calamity. Millions of people in the Philippines do not share the same way of life as the Japanese do. Therefore, we would like to appreciate your assistance."
"Are there no administration bureaus?"
"I don't get what you mean, but there's plenty of it, I suppose," the shorter boy said.
"You don't even know what she's talking about," the tall boy replied to the shorter one, shrugging him by the shoulder.
"And the parallel worlds. Are they still existing?"
"I wish you weren't saying something strange," the tall boy said to Sanae.
The short one continued, "Some of us here have settled with the idea of establishing a charity fund to provide the homeless Filipinos something to eat and drink. What will we put you and your family down for?"
Sanae thought, concluding with, "None."
"Do you wish to stay anonymous?"
"In death's name, I wish to be alone!" the grumpy Sanae answered, "I do not make myself merry at this time of period, and I cannot afford to make homeless servants happy. I only care about what I just mentioned earlier, and that's that. Whoever is badly off is better off to be meeting demons."
The tall boy said, "Those parallel worlds you say don't make sense to us both."
"Well, I hope these people jumped off to an alternate dimension to make the population less crowded!"
The two boys never wore an angry smile.
"That was . . . . . a bit rude," the tall boy said.
"Good afternoon!" Sanae concluded, with the boys apparently having no choice but to leave the residence.
After a warm dinner that evening, she turned off the lights before she went to bed. And of course, she didn't want to go to sleep without turning on the lampshade.
Just before she could get some shuteye, she heard a strange sound. But she had no idea where it was.
"The demons must've tried to give me the chills," Sanae said to herself, trying to go to sleep.
But it was interrupted again, this time by the ringing of her alarm clock.
The ringing eventually turned into a sound of church bells pealing loudly. Sanae covered her ears until the noise died down.
Another one that's bizarre would unfold before Sanae.
She heard a clinking sound from the door as something came nearby.
Not wanting to know who it was, she whimpered with fear.
The door knob slowly moved, with a little squeaking. But because it was locked, the door wasn't opened.
"At least it's just a sound!"
Four ghostly pigment green daggers linked to chains shot out of the door, striking a wall.
"Could that be from a alternate dimension?"
A ghost then showed up, looking very unclean in appearance, along with some smoke emanating from his body. He was tied up to the chains struck to the wall by daggers.
Sanae was still shivering as she got back up. She said, "Just what in death's name do you want from me?"
"A lot," the ghost replied in a weak tone.
"Just who in death's name are you?"
"You must ask me who I was first."
"I swear in death's name that your face looks very familiar."
"In life, I was your childhood friend, Matthew Kurisu."
Sanae's trembling look on her face disappeared. She said, "Can you sit down?"
"Uh, okay then."
Matthew Kurisu's ghost slowly sat down on a nearby chair. He then said, "I think you don't believe in the Matthew who has believed in you."
"Of course, I didn't, in death's name," Sanae replied.
"Why doubt your senses?" asked Matthew's ghost.
"Even a slight thing affects them. Perhaps it was caused by mages, spirits and fairies?" Sanae thought.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Matthew's ghost yelled, intimidating Sanae.
"Mercy to you, apparition! Why trouble me like that?"
"Girl of the delusional mind, do you believe in the Matthew who has believed in you?!"
"Of course I do!"
"I'm in despair! Woe is me, and because of this, . . . . . . . . I'm in despair!" Matthew's ghost ranted.
"What's with the chains that you have placed on yourself?"
"I wear the chain that I forged in life. Link by link and yard by yard, I have made it."
Matthew's ghost approached Sanae, making her glance at the chain he was gripping.
"Does this pattern make you look weird?"
Sanae trembled.
"This chain that you bear is as long and heavy as those six Christmas Eves ago. You just worked on this ponderous chain since then."
"Tell me no more, in death's name," Sanae said.
Matthew's ghost replied, "I have none to give. I can't stay for that much longer. I cannot wander off. You see, in life, my spirit never wandered past the places I went. In life, my spirit never got past the limits of chuunibyou. And now, endless journeys are in front of me, as I look forward to undertake them."
"Six years and yet you went to different worlds at the same time?"
"Yes, wielder of the Mjolnir Hammer. I never rested, and I never had peace this whole time."
"You must've covered a lot of ground going to different worlds for so long."
Matthew's ghost yelled out a cry. He then said, "I could never get rid of chuunibyou after being shamed in front of so many people! Woe is me, I tell you!"
"But you have masters of excellent business, and uh. . . .~"
"Business!?" Matthew's ghost exclaimed, "Chuunibyou is not their business. The Mabinogion is not their business. Love, fairies, and ghosts are my business!"
Suddenly, Matthew's ghost choked, coughing up in the process. He then continued to say, "By the way, my time is almost up."
"What do you mean in death's name your time's almost up?"
"I'm just here to warn you that there's a hope of you averting my fate."
"If you were a master, I would want to be your servant," Sanae replied.
"Three spirits will come to haunt you."
Sanae continued to tremble, saying, "Spirits who will try to possess me?"
"Spirits who will convince you to escape my fate. And also, they will sound like three of your friends."
"That's it?"
"So, do you want to make a contract with me and have a bottle of Morning Rescue when you fulfill it?"
Sanae nodded her head.
"The first thing to do is, you must meet the first of the spirits tomorrow when the clock strikes at one."
"Can I just meet all three of them at once?"
Matthew's ghost replied, "They won't appear at the same time. So expect to meet the second at the following night at the second hour, and the third one the night after that, when the clock strikes at 12 in the midnight."
Matthew pulled the chains, removing the daggers linked to them from the wall.
He then said, "Have a nice night not seeing me anymore," disappearing at the window along with the chains and the daggers linked to them.
Sanae opened the window to follow Matthew's ghost, only to hear incoherent sounds of regret and lamentation caused by phantoms wandering about outside.
Wearing an eerie look on her face, she noticed every single one wearing chains on their bodies just like Matthew's ghost.
Not wanting to be scared for any longer, she closed the window and went to check the door where the specter of Matthew went. The knob was locked, as she locked it already.
She mumbled, "Me? Meeting up with three spirits?"
She then went back to sleep, starting to feel uncomfortable about the words Matthew's ghost gave to her.
(A/N: The chapter notes are there because I couldn't resist pulling off all those references.)
Chapter notes:
* Grand Theft Auto IV - "Hey, there's my cousin! Let's go bowling!"
* Seinfeld - Sanae mentions Festivus.
* Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Matthew's ghost quotes "So, do you want to make a contract with me and have a bottle of Morning Rescue when you fulfill it?"
* Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei - Matthew's ghost channeling Nozomu Itoshiki.
* Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - "Who the hell do you think I am?!" And also, Matthew's ghost quotes a variant of Kamina's "Believe in me who believes in you" speech.