Note: For intensive purposes, we will give Sakaki a first name, "Rie," as per the advice of one Pete Zaitcev in the past.
An Azumanga Christmas Carol
Chapter 3a
Yukari had to get her thoughts together as she sat up in her bed. The clock would soon strike Two, and she did not forget what was laid down toward her by the intervention of one Mr. Kimura. And yet there was a part of her that said that, no, it just won't happen. There will be no more ghosts ruining your sleep. No specters, no hooligans, nothing. Just get some shuteye already.
That was her mindset heading into the last few minutes until Two. As Yukari continues to wrestle these thoughts, a rather haunting voice, that sounded a bit countrylike, said out loud, "Miss Yukari…" Yukari trembled as she awoke from her rather brief slumber. Putting on her slippers still in her pink pajamas, she went into the other living room, and she was amazed at what she saw.
Her room had been cleaned up, a rarity for someone whose house looked like a pigsty from the inside. But this time, there was a huge gathering of food from all corners of the world. From hot dogs to sushi, to pierogis, to turkey, chicken, goose, fruit salad, curry,…literally every great holiday dish and dessert and beverage every country laid on the table was present. On the couch sat a young girl holding a torch, and she held it up, a shining ball of light. Actually, it was a plastic torch with a light bulb in a fake flame mold, but it did resemble the real thing so well, it was a satirical travesty. In th background, an instrumental version of a Yuki Matsuoka classic, "Shikkari! Try La Lai," could be heard.
"Hi, Miss Yukari," the spirit said. "Come on in!"
The face looked familiar. Yukari called the question. "O…O…Osaka?"
"That's not me. I am the Ghost of Christmas Present."
"Oh yeah…"
The spirit was clothed in one simple green robe that was bordered with silver fur and sparkles. Her feet were bare, and she was wearing a holy wreath, set with silver trinkets that each had the kana character A, with an exclamation point. Its dark hair flowed down in free locks, as free as its face, voice, demeanor, and charm. Around its waist was an antique scabbard which said, "Chaunen…" and the sheath was looking rather rusty.
"You haven't seen the likes of me before, Miss Yukari!" said the Spirit in her Kansai accent.
Yukari rolled her eyes, as if to say, "Um, yeah, when you were a student at my school."
"Huh?"
Yukari waved her hand, saying, "Oh, nothing, nothing." She then asked a question, "How many sisters do you have, Spirit?"
The Spirit pondered the question for a while, and then said, "Usoya! More than two thousand, I think."
"Two thousand?" The number was huge. How the heck does someone have that huge of a family?
"Yep," said the spirit, rising. "But it's weird if there are no brothers in my family, only sisters, you know? It's like, am I in some type of scenario Lilian Girls Academy (whatever that entity is) would be jealous of."
Yukari, bowing and shaking her head at the same time, said, "Spirit, do what you gotta do. I went forth last night learning about what had been, and learned a lesson from it. If you have something to teach me, let me get something out of it."
Smiling and waving a bit, she said, "Okay, then touch my robe."
She did so, and they disappeared from their room in the blink of an eye.
The two of them walked down the streets of Tokyo, now covered with snow. Very atypical for a town like Tokyo, to receive a blizzard, and to have the result become a true winter wonderland. 18 inches of snow fell down on the city, and it was only this time that the city's government sent out the big uglies to shovel the white, pure, fluffy substance of water and cold, as the children enjoyed the calm after the storm. A slight mist could be seen as the Tokyoites breathed out slight icicles. Yes, it was a very co-ld day.
Yukari could feel this as she shivered in the freezing temperature of night. The spirit, in the form of a green-clad Ayumu Kasuga, snapping her fingers, got her warm again. She couldn't feel a thing as she was able to walk down the street as if it were a regular April day.
Some were still window shopping, and other were making last minute purchases in Shibuya, going up and down for gifts. The eleventh hour had come full circle, after all. It was not too late…yet. In spite of the slightly ominous air, the spirit was up and running like a runaway freight train, and it was not going to stop any longer, until perhaps, the day when the Tokyoites drop by Akihito's vast palace in Chiyoda-ku.
And the neon lights-oh, the neon lights!-were still bright as ever, One light gave way to an ad about the next big show to hit the airwaves, School Tumble. It was a story about a klutzy girl infatuated over a person with no personality, and was hounded by a person with a scary personality, and who had friends that were so buxom, you'd swear a baby would come in as their present. Yukari snickered as she looked at the many cosplayers and gothic vamps still walking down the sidewalk. The plan was still going strong so far, and yet, for so long.
"Do you know where you bought that plastic torch?" asked Yukari as the two of them walked.
"The 100-yen shop," she said with a smile, "invisibly."
"Why that shop?"
"It's cheap."
"Figures," said Yukari, rolling her eyes. "Spirit, I wonder if in the future, the drinking age should be lowered to 16, the working age will be lowered to 14, and the rich should get richer while the poor get poorer."
"Chaunen!" cried the spirit.
"You would make sure the sale of beer will flourish so great, it will be the staple of the Japanese diet, and will be used by athletes instead of water and that unsatisfying substance called sportsdrinks," said Yukari. "Will you?"
"Chaunen!" cried the spirit.
"You would make it a staple?" said Yukari. "Well, it comes to the same thing as the cream and the clear."
"Chaunen de!" exclaimed the spirit, frowning.
"Sorry if I'm wrong about that. These were just some random thoughts that came in my head. But I know it's been done in your name, right?"
"There are some people who don't know the truth behind such deeds," said the spirit, "and those that conduct such deeds are willing to pay the price in the afterlife, where there is no return and no remorse. Remember that: what goes around comes around."
Yukari internalized this, nodding. In the distance, the only sound that could be heard from the speakers high atop the town was a Japanese cover of an Anita Ward hymn known to the tuned world as none other that "Ring My Bell." But for some reason it had some sleigh bells in it, as well as an "ohohohoho" in the background, too. Perhaps Santa Claus had become a tad too…adverse? The neon lights seemed to go in time to the music…and the cowbells
Ah, but it wasn't a big deal for the two of them. For some reason, the Spirit swayed her arms to disco music. The melody continued as the two of them walked to Rie Sakaki's house. Rie Sakaki, Yukari Tanizaki's clerk at the school! She was a rather underpaid soul, was she, and yet, this ghost of Christmas Present dropped by, opening the door for Yukari to step inside.
It was a raucous place. Rie Sakaki and her "wife," Kaori Aida, lived together in the rather small, yet comfy place that was their home. Actually, the two of them lived together after Kaori's parents kicked her out, and Sakaki's parents passed away, leaving her to pick up the pieces. Of course she had bigger pieces to pick up when she became the legal guardian of a couple of girls from the Ayase family, Fuuka and Ena, as well as their two friends, Miura Hayasaka, and a rather frisky girl with green pigtails, Yotsuba Koiwai. She was the most spirited of the adopted and was touted by her now-deceased father as "The Invincible One." Kaori just shook her head at the proclamation. But it was true.
In short, this family was just working hard to make ends meet. And yet, they did it so well. Welfare was the family's Santa Claus in a check. Simple as that. Yukari knew this too. Or at least she tried to, while exercising her option called ignorance.
End Chapter 3a