A/N: This one is for KSA Key-chan; sorry I took so long to write it up! Enjoy, everyone!
Prompt: Today my seven year old sister's teacher emailed my mother. The other day my sister asked my mom if Santa was real and, not wanting to lie completely, she said that there used to be a Santa Claus a looong time ago but like all people he passed and left the gift giving to parents. My sister took it suprisingly well, so well, in fact, that she decided to share with her class that Santa was brutally murdered. The kids cried and told their parents, who couldn't stop their tears and had to contact the teacher. When confronted, my sister just laughed evil-ly. I've taught her well. MLIA
Characters: Ai, Akemi, Elena, Ayumi, Kobayashi Sensei
Disclaimer: Don't own DC, this prompt is not based on personal experience, but I bought Akemi and Ai's mother (Elena) back to life…
Trauma
Elena logged into her email account, having just put Ai to sleep. The girl had been in a very good mood that day for some reason, but refused to let her mother know about it. She'd have to ask Akemi later. There was a new email from a Kobayashi Sumiko; why did that name sound so familiar? Clicking into the email, Elena realised that Kobayashi was in fact Ai's school teacher, informing her of the incident that had happened at school that day.
Dear Mr and Mrs Miyano…
--
A few days ago
"Hey mum, is Santa Claus real?" seven year old Ai asked her mother as she was preparing dinner. Elena paused, but, not wanting to lie, decided to break it to her daughter in the gentlest way possible.
"Of course he is sweetie. But Santa's just like everyone, he got old eventually, and went to heaven. So now, instead of Santa, the parents are the ones who give their children the presents. On Santa's behalf, of course," she added, seeing Ai's eyes widen in surprise.
"Oh," Ai said calmly. "Okay, thanks!" she said, running off to her bedroom.
--
The next day
"Okay Ai-chan, you're next, what have you got for us for show and tell?" Kobayashi Sensei asked Ai as the class sat together in a circle on the floor for the weekly show and tell activity.
"Well," Ai said, taking a deep breath, "Last night, my mum told me that Santa Claus wasn't real. It's always been our parents who've given us the presents. Santa Claus was murdered by his reindeers one year when he refused to let them eat anything until they had delivered all the presents."
There was a collective gasp around the classroom, before chaos broke out. Some started crying immediately, others stood up angrily and yelled at Ai for being a liar, and others looked to Kobayashi Sensei for help. "Sensei," Ayumi asked in a wobbly voice, tears welling up in her eyes, "It's not true, is it?"
Kobayashi Sensei was at a loss for words. She couldn't really tell them that Santa didn't exist, could she? What kind of teacher did that? Taking a deep breath, she said, "Shh, it's okay, everyone calm down," as more and more children burst into tears. Kobayashi Sensei sighed; ninety-nine percent of the time, she really loved her job, but this was probably one of those one percent moments. To her enormous relief, the bell rang at that moment, signalling the end of the school day.
"Okay everyone; it's time to go home! And don't worry about what Ai said, of course Santa is real; you just have to believe in him," Kobayashi Sensei said somewhat weakly in an attempt to calm down the sobbing class of boys and girls.
--
When Kobayashi Sensei finally got home that night, she found fifteen new messages on her answering machine. Having a slight idea of what it could be, she reluctantly pressed the play button.
"I don't know what happened at school today, but my daughter won't stop crying…"
"How dare you tell the children that Santa isn't real?"
"You don't know how traumatising it is for them to hear this…"
"What kind of teacher are you?"
Kobayashi sighed, letting the messages play themselves as she walked into her room. It wasn't her fault Ai brought that up, was it? Sighing, she set about to notify Ai's parents of what had happened at school that day, already dreading her inbox being overloaded with emails from outraged parents.
Dear Mr and Mrs Miyano…
--
"Akemi? Do you know anything about Ai telling her classmates that Santa was murdered?" Elena asked her daughter the next day.
Akemi grinned, "She did that? Trust Ai to crush every child's fantasy about Santa Claus," said Akemi, holding her hand up for a high five as Ai came into the room.
"Ai, what's this I hear about you telling your classmates about Santa being murdered by his reindeers? I didn't tell you that!" Elena said to Ai as she high fived her sister back and sat down to eat breakfast.
Ai only laughed happily as she ate her breakfast. Someone had to break it to them, right?