(c)Nightmare Before Christmas - Tim Burton, Disney
'Twas the night before Christmas with snow fluttering the skies without delay, the Kiyoshi-Hanamiya household was full of cheer, not even one filled with dismay. With a young girl still 5, the merry thought of Santa was still fresh and new, that left two fathers and a sister a jolly task in queue.
"Onee-chan! Onee-chan!" little Mariko called, hopping in excitement on the couch. "Can we open today's door now!? Please! Please! Pleeease!"
Koharu laughed, going over to the advent calendar that was hanging with the stockings. She got it down and handed it to her little sister. "You really wanna finish that puzzle, huh?" It was something she did with her little sister that her dads did for her as a kid. Each door held a few pieces of a puzzle that would be finished Christmas day.
"I'm almost done!" Mariko squealed as she opened that day's door. Not counting the one she just opened, it left one last door. "Thank you!"
With the puzzle pieces in hand, Mariko hopped onto the floor. She sat on the ground by the coffee table in the living room which had the incomplete puzzle laying on top. Mariko did her best to try to match up the random pieces, but the remaining ones were still needed.
"Almost done!" Mariko whined at how the photo still wasn't completed. "It's of Jack and Christmas Town! I know it!" She turned back to her sister, huffiness gone. "Can we watch the movie again?"
"It should still be in the Blu-ray player," Koharu said as an agreement, already turning on the machine. "Wanna get Teppei and Makoto?"
Mariko jumped onto her feet, nodding excitedly. She then bolted to their dads finishing up the dishes in the kitchen, shouting, "Daddy! Papa! Nightmare Before Christmas!"
"Again?" Kiyoshi asked with a sheepish smile when his youngest ran in. "You sure love that movie, Mariko. We just watched it last night."
"And the night before that. And before that. And before that," Hanamiya added under his breath.
Mariko only nodded her head more. "It's my favorite and it's Christmas time! Come on! Come on!"
Mariko pulled her dads back into the living room right as Koharu was starting the movie.
Kiyoshi, Hanamiya, and Koharu sat on the couch as Mariko laid on her stomach before the TV. The youngest of the group was as cheerful as Jack Skellington was in the movie.
"How are you not tired of this movie?" Hanamiya asked Koharu after the first song.
"I can never be tired of this movie," Koharu responded with a serious look in her eyes before turning back to the movie.
Hanamiya just stared blankly at his eldest daughter before turning back to Kiyoshi, who only gave a shrug. To emphasize how many times they had watched the movie that past month, Hanamiya began mouthing perfectly line by line the dialog in the movie. Kiyoshi had to cover his mouth to hold down a laugh. He only considered the mockery endearing, wrapping his arm around his spouse's shoulders.
Deeper into the movie, Mariko began shifting around to get more comfortable. She watched in awe, singing along with each and every song. She wasn't even checking to see if her family was watching. Koharu still was, however Kiyoshi and Hanamiya were passed out by the time Mariko's favorite song came.
"Kidnap the Sandy Claws, beat him with a stick~ Lock him up for ninety years, see what makes him tick~" Mariko sang.
"Kidnap the Sandy Claws, chop him into bits~ Mr. Oogie Boogie is sure to get his kicks~" Koharu joined in when joining her sister on the floor.
Mariko giggled before the two of them sang together. "Kidnap the Sandy Claws, see what we will see~ Lock him in a cage and then throw away the key~"
The sisters broke down into fits of giggles. Mariko then asked, "Do you think Santa's gonna come again this year, or Jack?"
Koharu put up her mock thinking face. "Hmm, hard to say. It could be Jack, but we won't know since we'll be asleep."
Mariko put on her own serious thinking face. "What if I pretend to sleep while staying up? Oh! And I can come up with a trap just like the henchmen kids!"
"Now that's an idea," Koharu encouraged before turning to their dads. "Right—" She cut herself short, smile dropping when seeing both Kiyoshi and Hanamiya asleep. "Really?" Koharu was just about to wake them up because how dare they sleep through her precious sister's favorite movie, but Mariko stopped her.
"Wait, Daddy might stop us," Mariko said, talking more about Kiyoshi. She gave another sweet giggle, though behind the sweetness was her usual spice.
For the remainder of the movie, Mariko came up with her own plan to catch Santa Claus. Or Jack Skellington. Whoever was coming Christmas Eve. All the while Koharu gave her full attention, occasionally adding her own ideas. Despite Mariko not wanting their dads to know about the plan, Koharu would still be giving Kiyoshi and Hanamiya the heads up. That way, they could act accordingly to the young child's mischief.
"Once he's caught, I'll jump up and we got our guy!" Mariko enthusiastically called.
"That's a brilliant idea, Mariko," Koharu encouraged once again, hugging her little sister tightly while she giggled more.
When Koharu finally let go after the snuggle fest, Mariko stood proudly. "I'm gonna get to work right now!"
Koharu happily watched as Mariko ran back to her room to get to work. She then went to turn off the TV, movie having just finished, and to throw a blanket over her fathers. She could let them in on the plan to catch Santa when they weren't asleep like grandpas.
Mariko spent the remainder of the night in her room, putting together her plan. There was a lot to do in so little time. Koharu occasionally came in to help as well, but whenever Kiyoshi or Hanamiya would come in to check on things, Koharu would make sure they stayed out.
As the time for Santa drew nearer, Koharu filled Kiyoshi and Hanamiya on Mariko's plan.
"She's gonna be awake on the couch, so be careful," Koharu warned.
"Right," Kiyoshi responded, taking everything seriously.
Hanamiya on the other hand didn't quite see the big deal. However, he wasn't gonna be the Grinch. "Alright, I'll let you two handle all that. I'll stay out of your way."
"You're not gonna help?" Kiyoshi asked.
"I think two you have it," Hanamiya said as he started heading upstairs. "Try not to need me."
As Hanamiya was heading up, Mariko was heading down. With a bag.
"Onee-chan!" she called, stopping when seeing Kiyoshi. "Daddy!" Mariko gasped.
Kiyoshi smiled. He had a hunch whatever was in the bag had to do with the plan. So he wouldn't interfere with his daughter's plans, Kiyoshi decided to head up with Hanamiya as well. "Well, I'm going to see what Papa's up to. You should get ready for bed, young lady, or else Santa won't come."
Mariko's hesitant face quickly switched to her determined one. "Right!" She turned back to Koharu when Kiyoshi was out of sight. "It's ready, Onee-chan. Can you get the milk and cookies?"
"No problem," Koharu responded, watching Mariko dump the contents of the bag on the floor as she headed for the kitchen. It didn't take long for Koharu to pour a glass of milk and grab a plate for the sugar cookies they made earlier that day. By the time Koharu came back, Mariko was already finished setting up.
Koharu's smile dropped for a moment at Mariko's handy work. Well, her little sister did tell her about the net and everything. Heck, she helped with it, too. But. To see it actually being put into use…
Koharu shook her thoughts away. Her smile graced her lips once again because this was all her little sister's doing. Mariko's enthusiasm filled her with joy.
"I got the milk and cookies," Koharu called, coming more into the living room.
Mariko cheered, helping her sister place Santa's snacks by her unfinished puzzle. "When Santa or Jack comes for the cookies, the net's gonna fall on them, and I'm gonna catch them!"
"That's the plan," Koharu responded, now helping tuck Mariko in bed on the couch. "And I'll come rushing in when they get caught, too."
Mariko got even more pumped, though still laying on the couch.
The two sisters said their goodnights before Koharu went back to her room. She turned off the lights by the stairs, only the lights from the Christmas tree allowing her little sister to see while keeping watch. Waiting for Koharu on the second floor was Kiyoshi.
"Around midnight should be fine, right?" Kiyoshi suggested. "That way it's not too late and we'll still get enough sleep for tomorrow."
"Sounds good," Koharu agreed. She checked the clock on her phone. That gave them 5 hours to kill.
During the 5 hour waiting period, Koharu was left to her own devices in her room while Kiyoshi joined Hanamiya in theirs. It didn't take long for the hours to pass, midnight coming in a blink of an eye.
When midnight rolled by, Kiyoshi quietly crept out of his room with a bag of gifts. Hanamiya was already asleep and who knew if Mariko was or not. He fixed the Santa hat on his head, he and his spouse having found the old costume in their room. Kiyoshi first walked by Koharu's room. The light underneath her door was still on, meaning she was still awake.
With a light knock, Kiyoshi whispered, "Koharu, I'm going down first."
"Okay," Koharu whispered back, thankful for the heads up.
Kiyoshi finally made his way downstairs. The only lights that were on were still the ones decorating the tree. Just as quietly as before, Kiyoshi made his way to the living room. Peeking in, he found that Mariko had fallen asleep waiting. He smiled at the endearing sight, not surprised to see his youngest fast asleep despite saying she'd stay up.
Being careful not to wake Mariko up, Kiyoshi finally went in towards the tree. It wasn't too hard since the end goal was the only thing lit up and he knew the layout of his own living room. And even though he still wondered how Mariko managed to set up a trap, he was warned beforehand about the net that'd fall on him, making it less startling when he went through. At least. That's what he thought.
The moment Kiyoshi made it into the middle of the room, something went off. Kiyoshi was instantly swooped off his feet, the ex-center giving a yelp as he dropped his bag of presents. He always winced at the loud crash the presents made, head shooting to Mariko to see if she was awake.
Nope. Not even a stir. However, someone else did come running.
"What happened?" Koharu whisper-shouted upon rushing into the living room. She gaped when seeing her father dangling in a net from the ceiling, unsure what to think. "Teppei? How?"
"I thought you said the net was going to fall down," Kiyoshi worriedly whined.
"It was when I tucked her in," Koharu whined. She turned to her sister, who was still out cold. Mariko must've tinkered with the trap more after she went to her room.
"Koharu," Kiyoshi called his daughter's attention back to him pitifully. "Can you please get Papa?"
Koharu gave one last worried look before rushing to grab Hanamiya. Though, all she did was dash upstairs and bang on her parents' door, shouting, 'Teppei needs help!' before speeding back.
Hanamiya was startled awake by Koharu's banging. "Wha?" he questioned hazily before forcing himself to rush and follow his daughter downstairs. He was by no means at all prepared for the sight of his spouse dangling from the ceiling in a net with their eldest daughter trying to get him down.
Hanamiya jaw dropped, in complete disbelief. He turned from the net to his youngest, still obliviously asleep. He turned back to the net. To Mariko. The net. Mariko. Net. "Where did she even learn this?" He didn't even question how Kiyoshi got caught.
"Makoto," Kiyoshi whined, wanting to get down.
Hanamiya finally went to help get Kiyoshi down. Though it was tricky, luckily it didn't take too long. Hanamiya questioned once again where Mariko learned to make such an elaborate net trap while Kiyoshi went back to his Santa task.
After the presents were put under the tree, Kiyoshi, Hanamiya, and Koharu thought it'd be best to just head to bed. It was a wild night and they were all exhausted. At least Mariko slept through it all. Though Koharu and her dads were happy Mariko slept through the commotion, little Mariko wasn't so happy the next morning.
"I missed Santa!" Mariko cried early Christmas morning. "And he did come! My net's all messed up! How'd he get out?"
There was no way Koharu could say that she and Hanamiya were the one that got 'Santa' down, so the 12-year-old quickly thought up a plan. "It must've been Jack! I thought I was dreaming when I saw his silhouette through my curtain, but it must've really been him!"
Mariko's eyes opened widely in awe. "Really?"
Koharu nodded her head. "Yeah. He must've took off his head so his spindly body could slip through the netting. Then his body got the net down so he could get his head."
"Woah…" Mariko cooed, believing her sister's words.
"I'm sure she's right too," Hanamiya played along. "I mean, this gift is from Jack Skellington."
Mariko turned to the tree, seeing a box wrapped in eerie paper. She let out a high pitch squeal, excitedly jumping for the gift. It was going to be her first present that Christmas.
"Look this way, Mariko," Kiyoshi called, ready to capture the moment on his phone. He smiled when his daughter screamed in joy at the scary teddy that matched the one in her favorite movie.
"It really was Jack!" Mariko cried, cuddling her new scary teddy.
"Yeah, looks like Jack left something for your sister, too," Kiyoshi said, Hanamiya handing Koharu another gift box wrapped in eerie paper.
"Really?" she breathed before opening the gift. Inside was a fancy Nightmare Before Christmas themed makeup palette. She hopped in joy as well.
"Alright, enough credit for the skeleton," Hanamiya cut in. "Go open your other presents."
The rest of the morning was filled with ripped wrapping paper. It covered the floors like snow did on the ground outside.
After the gift opening excitement, Koharu volunteered to clean up the paper shreds. It was the least she could do for her dads. Though, while she was cleaning, she picked up her sister's net. "Hey, Mariko? Where didyou learn to make traps like this?" She knew it wasn't her, and it couldn't have been their dads.
Mariko and their dads turned to her, noticing the net. "Oh! Nobu-nii showed me!"
"Excuse me?" Hanamiya asked. He turned to Kiyoshi. "Akashi's kid?"
Kiyoshi was just as confused as he was.
"Yep!" Mariko answered. "I remembered he showed me this stuff, so I fixed up the net more so it'd work better!" She pouted. "Still didn't really work."
"I think it's fine," Kiyoshi said with a sheepish smile that Mariko didn't notice, patting his daughter's head.
Mariko let out another giggle. There was always next year.
Koharu's an oc by a friend of mine, same friend who beta'd this. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a Happy New Year!