Crunchy White Rain

By Secera Crystalfire

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Notes of the Authoress: The first chapter of my Christmas series! Yay! This is set sometime before or during the Weiss TV series. Have fun reading and don't forget to review!

It started out as a typical December morning. Nagi was asleep at the kitchen table with his head resting on his homework and a pencil behind his ear. Farfarello was in his straitjacket locked in his room. Schuldich was sprawled out on the floor in the hallway.

Brad was the only one sleeping in a bed like a normal person. But that wasn't unusual.

A sudden yelp from the kitchen dragged Bradley out of the realm of dreams. Only half-awake, he disentangled himself from the sheets and stumbled in the direction of the kitchen.

In the hallway, the Oracle's feet met with an obstacle. Two more yelps resounded throughout the house as Schuldich was jerked into reality by the sudden weight of the Oracle. As the result of his fall, Bradley ended up with a face-full of red hair. He sneezed.

"Should've seen it coming, Brad-ley," Schuldich mumbled through a mouthful of carpet.

Nagi chose that moment to dash down the hallway on his way to get dressed for school. Only his quick agility saved him from tripping over the two Schwarz members tangled on the floor. The piece of toast that followed him, however, was not so lucky. It smacked wetly into Crawford's face as the Oracle attempted to stand.

"Oi, Bradley, you should've seen that one, too." The fiery-haired German smirked as Nagi's buttery mess zoomed frantically down the hallway.

"Don't call me that," Crawford ordered, trampling Schuldich on his way to the coffee maker. He moved regally with his head held high in an attempt to retain even a slight bit of his dignity.

Schuldich was trampled a second time as Nagi raced back to the kitchen to collect his books and leave for school. After that, he decided that the hallway floor was a dangerous place to lay.

Nagi was already eight minutes late for school. He floated his books into his backpack and flung the door open telekinetically. And screeched to a halt. And stared in stunned silence at the world outside.

"Gah! …It's crunchy white rain!!"

Even Bradley, as bad of a mood as he was in, couldn't help but snort at the kid's description. "It's called snow, Naoe."

Nagi ventured a step forward. The snow was soft, fluffy…almost like a giant white blanket.

Suddenly a hand shoved Nagi forward. For the second time that morning, he yelped loudly. Lying facedown in the snow, he quickly changed his mind regarding the 'soft and fluffy' description. This stuff was nothing but cold and wet.

Nagi jumped to his feet and turned to run back inside. He collided (bumpcrash) with the now-closed door. "Ouch, my nose…" He reached out and grasped the doorknob and found, much to his dismay, that the door was locked. "Crawford!! …Schuldich!!! Lemme in!!"

Yes, it was very cold outside.

"You really should let him in," murmured Brad over a cup of coffee.

"Stop trying to spoil my fun," came the German's reply.

"If you're not doing anything productive, then go get Farfarello."

Schuldich sighed audibly but complied. "You won't let him in while I'm gone, will you?" He questioned on his way out of the kitchen.

Crawford just took another sip of coffee.

Nagi gave up shouting and raced around to the back door. Unfortunately, this door was locked as well. He sat down on the door step to think about his options. He couldn't go to school, he was late anyway and his clothes were completely soaked with melted snow. Hmnn…maybe the windows? And if that plan failed, he could always just break the door down with his powers. But then Crawford would demand that he pay for the door…and he didn't have any money. Too bad.

Crawford walked over to the phone and reached out to grab it. It started ringing. He picked it up and held it to his ear. "Speak."

…

…"Yes, yes I can. I'll meet you there, Sir."

He hung up with a sour expression on his face. That sour expression was quickly replaced by cool apathy as Schuldich and Farfarello walked into the room. "I'm going to meet Mr. Taketori at the office. Don't mess up the place too badly while I'm gone."

"Hai, Bradley-chan." Schuldich saluted.

"Don't call me that," Crawford growled as he opened the door to leave. He felt a sudden ominous feeling, but dismissed it negligently.

A moment later, he wished he hadn't.

Nagi was waiting with a fierce look on his turning-blue-from-cold face. Hovering behind him, poised and ready to go, was an army of snowballs.

Crawford hardly had time to register his situation before he was being pelted left and right by the telekinetic's snowballs. In the kitchen behind him, he could hear German laughter and something akin to "This hurts…" The remainder of the sentence was shut out by the snow and ice that became lodged in the Oracle's ears.

"Nagi, stop this!…Mmphhft!" After that, Crawford decided to keep his mouth shut to ward off the invading snow.

Without warning, a chunk of ice flew down the back of his shirt. That was the point at which Brad decided to forfeit the shattered remains of his dignity and run.

German laughter rang in his head and then stopped abruptly as Schuldich too became a victim of Nagi's revenge.

Several minutes later, Brad and Schu were both huddled in the bathroom waiting for the kid to catch his temper. "I have an appointment!" Brad shouted through the locked door. "You're going to regret it if I'm late!"

"Fine." Nagi conceded dejectedly. "You can come out."

Brad stood up from his seat on the edge of the bathtub and started toward the door. Schu, perched on the bathroom counter, put an arm out to stop him. "He's lying, the little bastard child."

Brad nodded and sat back down.

Elsewhere, Farfarello was having the time of his life. He'd never experienced snowdrifts in a living room before.