Hey folks. This is a new story, which I plan on being relatively short. I might be taking on too much, what with my other story "House of Tarot Cards" still ongoing, but this one has a different tone entirely, so it feels refreshing to write. Anyway, Chie fans of the world unite! This one is Chie centric!
The countdown would be starting soon. For all she knew, it had already begun.
Chie glanced at the clock that hung from her bedroom wall.
It was about 11:57 pm on December 31, which meant that people from all over town, all over the country and eventually all over the world, would be gathered with their friends to ring in the new year.
But not Chie. She was spending the last minutes of the year alone, perched at her desk and pouting.
She hadn't intended to miss out on the celebrations, but she hadn't exactly been proactive in making plans. She'd simply assumed she'd be able to meet up with the rest of the gang. As it turned out, every one of her friends seemed to have made plans, none of which included her.
So in her room she sat, sulking.
She was wearing her kimono. It was rare that she'd put it on, and she'd only done so that night to cheer herself up. Traditionally, the girls in town wore them on New Year's Day when visiting loved ones. As Chie didn't have plans to meet anyone for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, she resolved to wear her kimono as an act of rebellion. She told herself she would enjoy the tradition, despite not having anyone to share it with.
Wearing the kimono was having the opposite of the desired effect. It was making her sullen by reminding her that everyone else was spending the night with someone, and she wasn't. She slouched in her chair with her eyes fixed on the ceiling.
"Hmmppfff," she huffed in frustration.
Why was she spending New Years Eve alone, she thought to herself. She recalled the events earlier that day…
That morning, she'd finally gotten around to calling around to see what everyone was doing. The town was organizing fireworks at the floodplain, which Chie didn't want to miss. She called Yukiko first, of course.
"Hey, Yukiko!" Chie greeted energetically when the other girl answered the call.
"Oh, hey Chie. How are you?" Yukiko replied.
"Oh, you know me, I'm pumped! It's New Years Eve and there's gonna be fireworks!" Chie beamed.
"Uh huh! Down at the floodplain, right? Who are you going with?" Yukiko questioned.
"That's why I'm callin' to tell ya the truth. Wanna go check it out?" Chie asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry Chie, but I already made plans with…Narukami," Yukiko answered, pausing briefly.
"Oh..you mean like…on a date?" Chie responded
"I…suppose that's the way to put it. Yeah," Yukiko said softly.
Chie understood what was being conveyed. Yukiko wanted some alone time. That meant Chie would need to call someone else.
"That's cool Yukiko. I hope you have a good time. Tell Narukami 'no funny business' or he'll have to answer to me," Chie warned.
Yukiko began laughing hysterically. "Chie, you're too much!" she managed to say between laughs.
"But honestly, I hope you guys have a great night," Chie said tenderly and then ended the call.
She scrolled through her contacts list. Who was next? Yosuke? No, she'd call him as a last resort.
How about Teddie? He'd appreciate some fireworks, Chie figured. Perhaps he'd never even seen fireworks before. She hit call and waited patiently for him to answer.
Teddie eventually picked up, but after a brief conversation, Chie learned that he had plans as well.
"Fireworks, Chie-chan?" Teddie began, "Yup! I'm planning on going!"
"Great, are you going with anyone?" she asked.
"Yup! I'm taking some girls from school. We're going on a date!"
"What?" Chie asked, perplexed. "You're going on a date with more than one girl?"
"Six girls!"Teddie answered triumphantly.
"Teddie, do these girls know that they won't be the only girl on this date?" Chie inquired.
"I dunno. But the more the merrier though, right Chie?" Tedded cheered.
"Um, yeah, sure," Chie replied, unenthused.
"So, do you wanna join us?" Teddie offered.
"I'll…need to get back to you on that," Chie answered, and then ended the call.
Chie recognized the disaster that Teddie was getting himself into. He was taking six girls out on a date at the same time, and didn't seem to realize that he was in for at least as many slaps across the face.
Next, she searched for Kanji's number. Maybe they could talk about kung-fu or boxing together, after all, they both enjoyed a good scrap. It seemed like a sure thing to Chie.
"Huh? Fireworks?" Kanji stuttered when he answered the call.
"Yeah, what do ya say?" Chie repeated.
"It sounds fun an all Chie, but I've already got plans. Naoto and I are goin' to a movie."
Chie sighed internally. She told her friend to enjoy the evening, and had a feeling of defeat that was becoming very familiar.
Five of her friends had dates planned. Honest to goodness dates.
She called Rise next, and received the same unwelcome news. Rise was meeting up with someone. She didn't say who, but Chie gathered that it was a boy, either from school or someone she new from her idol days.
At last, only one name from the investigation team remained.
Yosuke.
Chie pondered if she really wanted to spend a night alone with him. He could be a jerk after all. But, come company would be better than being alone, she figured.
She let the phone ring for a long time, but Yosuke never answered.
"…perfect," she sighed.
For the last few hours, she'd sat in her room, hoping somebody would call to let her know of a change of plans, and that they wanted to go to the fireworks with her. But the phone never rang.
At first, Chie wasn't angry that she didn't have anyone special to spend the evening with, but as the clock ticked away she couldn't help but do some self analysis.
She was never very in touch with her softer side.
Relationships had never really been her thing.
Nobody had ever really shown interest in her that way.
"Is there something wrong with me?" she pondered.
"No way!" she said aloud, trying to dismiss the self doubt.
She stood from her desk and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
"But still….it seems like everyone else….has someone special," she pouted.
She looked back into the mirror and scanned herself.
What was it? She didn't think it could be because of her looks. She thought she looked fine. Perhaps not as flashy as Rise or beautiful in the classical sense like Yukiko. While Chie didn't consider herself to be beautiful, she was sure she at least qualified as cute. She pondered why nobody else seemed to think so too, in all her years. Nobody had ever told her so, at least.
She tugged at her kimono. Maybe it was the way she dressed on most days. The other girls seemed to dress a bit more flirty, while she was always more casual.
"Geez," she huffed as she leaned back in her chair, "when did New Year's become such an ordeal?"
She though back to the past. In years gone by, New Year's was spent with her friends, like Yukiko. Now those friends were finding a new way to spend the night. Chie had a sinking feeling that she was being left behind in a simpler time. New Year's was suddenly about love or something like that, it seemed.
Chie let out another long sigh.
By now, it was dark and Chie peered out her window.
"Maybe I'll be able to see the fireworks from here," she thought to herself hopefully.
With her gaze still fixed outside, Chie noticed something moving in the distance. A dark silhouette shuffled near the trees behind her house. Chie squinted hard to get better focus, but still couldn't distinguish the mysterious form.
Her curiosity got the better of her, so she opened her window and stuck her head outside. Now, she saw two orbs glimmering through the darkness.
"What the…," Chie whispered to herself.
Then, the shadowy object began to move towards her. As it moved away from the tree cover and into the moonlight, Chie finally recognized what she was looking at.
It was a fox.
She'd seen him before in fact, usually down at the shrine. With his signature apron, there was no mistaking him.
The fox trotted toward her window, but stopped in the middle of the back yard. It sat down gently, and stared right back at Chie. Its eyes glowed in the night, and Chie found herself unable to turn away.
"Hey there," she finally called, "what brings you this far from the shrine?"
The fox remained silent.
"Are you looking for food?" she asked.
Again, the fox did not reply.
Suddenly, an embarrassed look appeared on Chie's face.
"Why am I talking to an animal like it's going to talk back?" she wondered. "Geez, I must be lonelier than I thought tonight."
*YIP* the fox responded.
Chie smiled, wondering if the animal could in fact understand then pulled her chair up to the window, shut of her lights and continued to look at the fox.
By now she was certain that the fireworks were over, and she hadn't been able to see any of it from her room.
In the corner of her eye, she noticed something moving across the sky. For a moment, she thought it might be some late fireworks, but as she focused on the object, she saw what it really was.
A shooting star.
Or was it a comet?
Were those the same thing?
In any case, a warm feeling came over her as it moved across the sky. The bright object disappeared as fast as it had come, but Chie thought it was much more beautiful than any fireworks display she had ever witnessed. Yet, she still wished she had shared the event with someone. She leaned out the window, fixing eyes with the fox once again.
"What do they say about shooting stars?" she asked the fox. "You get to make a wish when you see one? Is that right?"
*YIP* the fox answered.
Chie smiled. "Well then, I wish I could figure out this whole love thing. I wish someone would notice me so I wouldn't end up all alone on nights like this."
At that, the fox stood on its hind legs and howled into the night. Chie looked on, wide eyed. The fox then turned and scampered back into the forest.
For a moment, Chie was sure that the fox had understood her, but managed to dismiss that notion as silly.
"Nahhh, it's just a run-of-the-mill fox," she assured herself.
With 1:00 am approaching, Chie decided it was time for rest. With any luck, she'd forget all about her lonely New Year's Eve by the morning.
I figure this will be go about 5-6 chapters. It should be pretty light and fluffy. Your feedback is welcome, so please, let me know what you think.