Takes place in a never-never land after the OAVs (but no Gluhen), where our guys have relocated to a rebuilt Koneko no Sumu Ie and are joined by Aya-chan, so same continuity as my other Weiss fics, all two of 'em, sigh. Pairings are in the story; to give them here would spoil the fun. Other notes at end.

Weiss and the Cheesy Christmas Special

Movie night again at the Koneko. Only this time it was winter solstice. The horror!

"Chibi, no way in hell am I watching It's a Wonderful Life, not after the nightmares I had after the last American movie you had me watch."

"But Yooohji-kun! It's a classic!"

"No, no, and no! With my luck, I'll have a nightmare that I'm George Bailey! And he's way too boring for everyone's favorite Kudoh Yohji!"

"But wouldn't Clarence be more of a nightmare for you?" a female voice chimed in. "Somehow I can't see you being caught dead in that drafty old nightgown. -- No, wait, he would be dead!" And she giggled.

"Aya-chan! That is not funny!"

"Who do you think his subconconcious would cast as Mr. Potter? Takatori almost seems too obvious."

"You're right. But there's no question who he'd cast as Mary –"

"Aya!" "Ran!" the two evil teenagers chorused. (1)

Yohji collapsed on the couch. "How many times do I have to tell you two: there is nothing going on between Aya and me!"

Aya-chan held an imaginary microphone to Omi's mouth and in her best reporter manner, asked "Tsukiyono-san? Do we have an answer on that?"

Omi returned her grin and replied "Fujimiya-san, I believe he's told us that as many times as we've caught him staring at Aya-kun's ass."

"Don't forget to add in all the times he's growled at any cute man who flirts with Ran-nii in the shop." (2)

"Oh yes, and we can't forget all the times he's sketched Aya making arrangements, too."

Yohji covered his face and groaned. "Evil. You two are evil. And what were you doing in my sketchbook, anyway?"

Aya-chan gave her best wide-eyed look of innocence that was clearly a blatant falsehood. "Why, whatever do you mean, Yohji-nii?"

He threw a pillow at her. "I still say you're evil. And that look won't work on me. Omi's used it on me too many times." True, but she didn't need to know she had other weapons in her arsenal that would work.

Oh no. No, no, NO! She sniffed and gave him a look that indicated he was a puppy-kicker of the worst sort. "Are you saying you don't like me?"

He groaned and sank lower in the couch. "No, dammit. I'm not saying that at all. Just – just stay out of my sketchbook, is all." Oh fuck. Why did he say that? Now he'd have to lock it up away from them both. It didn't matter that Omi didn't care about its contents; Aya-chan had her boyfriend wrapped around her little finger and the little traitor would gladly help his girlfriend in any information quests. "Is that the look that got Aya to agree to your dating Omi?" (3)

The wounded look quickly disappeared, only to be replaced with a blatantly false artlessness. "Why? Asking for tips, Yohji?"

He needed a topic change, quick. "Why do you two want to watch some boring old American movie, anyway? Isn't there something better on TV? Or at the video store?"

Aya-chan gave him a wink that indicated she knew he was changing the topic but she'd go along with it. "No, Yohji-nii, that's not it. It's extra credit for our English class."

"Because it's in English?"

"No, we can watch it in Japanese," said Omi. "It's the holiday, you see. The teacher thought it would be a good way for us to learn about Christmas."

"But does it have to be that movie? And why do you want all of us to watch it?"

"Noo. It can be another movie about Christmas, or a, a – what did the teacher call it?"

"A Christmas special, Omi-kun. Apparently this Christmas is an important holiday in the United States, and there are TV shows created just for it. We'd get extra credit for watching some of those, but we can't find any at the video store and with the shipping costs, it's expensive to order them over the internet. Omi looked into it." And she gave her boyfriend a fond look.

Ken plopped down on the couch next to him. "TV shows from the United States? We get those."

"Really, Ken-kun?" asked an eager Aya-chan.

"Yep. How do you think I keep up with all my football matches in Europe and South America? Satellite!"

"Even the United States?" asked Omi.

"Yep, even the States. So, what'd you wanna watch?"

"Some Christmas shows, please!"

Yohji groaned again. "Ken's here. Do I have to watch this stuff with you?"

Apparently it was Omi's turn with the wide eyes. "Please, Yohji-kun! Then we can all talk about it! And if we can duplicate some of the traditions, we'll get even more extra credit!"

"Extra credit? Why would you need extra credit? I thought you were doing well in all your classes, both of you. You both told me that – dating – wouldn't affect your grades."

Yes, Aya had entered as quietly as the cats of their codenames. And damn, he looked good, too. But when didn't he?

"Nii-chan! Of course we're doing well! But it never hurts to have more points, you know!" She promptly followed her own advice, hugging Aya and scoring some points with him. "Please watch with us!" (4)

A slight smile crossed his face. "And what are we watching?"

She turned to Omi and Ken, who were busy flipping through onscreen menus and options. "Omi-kun? Ken-kun? Are there any Christmas shows on today?"

Omi looked up. "Ken-kun's checking the onscreen listings; I'll go check on the computer."

"Wait a minute. Looks like there's something available in 45 minutes. Some show about a deer."

"A deer? I thought Americans liked to hunt them. How is that part of a holiday?"

Ken frowned and flipped through to the program description. "Don't know, but 'Christmas' is in the description." He shrugged. "Guess we'll find out in 43 minutes."

Aya-chan clapped, excited. "Great! That gives us time to get some snacks together! Omi?" And like the obedient boyfriend he was, he followed Aya-chan to the kitchen.

While Ken sat on the floor in front of the TV, still flipping through the various listings, Aya joined Yohji on the couch. In a low voice, he asked, "Do I want to know what I've gotten myself into?"

Yohji grinned. "Why spoil the surprise? Besides, I only remember bits and pieces from my childhood. I'll show you the tradition with mistletoe later, when we're alone." And he squeezed Aya's thigh.

Any further actions were halted as Ken moved back into one of the chairs to better watch the news.

Some forty-odd minutes later:

"Do Americans really think snowmen can sing? And why does that one have a mustache?"

"Yohji, hush!"

And another ten minutes later:

"Please, let me gouge my eyes out! I can't take this any more!"

"Shut up, Kudoh. If you can stand a five-hour Sailor Moon marathon, you can handle a little stop-action animation. Even if it is bad."

"How old is this show? I thought you said they made shows just for the holiday; surely they can afford new ones every year!"

"Yohji, if you don't shut up, I'm getting my darts!"

Five minutes from that:

"Either that thing's cancerous, or that deer has a drinking problem!" And a snicker.

"Yohji, no one thinks you're funny."

"If drinking did that, why isn't your nose blinking too, Kudoh?"

"Hmph. No sense of humor, any of you."

And later still:

"This Santa could clearly use some white hunters of his own. Who lets a menace like that live near their home?"

A chorus of four voices: "YOHJI, HUSH!"

Finally, it was over. To no one's surprise, someone was overreacting. And overacting, too.

"ARRGH! I can still hear that song playing in my head! MAKE IT STOP! Quick, somebody, stop me before I sing it out loud!"

He was pelted with pillows and left alone, moaning, as the others filed out of the room to the kitchen, discussing the show.

Later that night in his bedroom, he grinned as Aya snuck in. Once the door was shut, he offered what he thought was a reasonable suggestion.

"So, would you like to play some of the other reindeer games?"

"Kudoh, just shut up and kiss me."

And he did.

-end-

Notes
(1) Aya-chan calls her brother Ran, but everyone is still calling him Aya at this point. I call her "Aya-chan" so I don't go nuts trying to remember if it's Brother or Sister in a scene. What can I say, it's a Weiss fic convention I like.
(2) Yes, Aya-chan is playing mind games with her uses of "-kun" and "-nii".
(3) Those who read my LJ account and comments will recognize hints of yaoi-fangirl!Aya-chan. Yohji's right to be afraid for his sketchbook.
(4) While informal, "nii-chan" is something Aya-chan would use in addressing her brother.
(5) And I don't have to tell you what the Christmas Special was, do I? grins I will, though, as I don't know if it's shown outside the States. If not, please let me know and I'll supply the gory details.

A setting comment. It's not scribblemoose's Ronin universe but it's inspired in part by it. I like the setting both for timeline (post OAVs, non-Gluhen) and circumstance (Do you really think Aya-chan would let Ran keep her away? And for pity's sake, get the guys out of the van!), so think of it as a parallel universe of sorts. Haven't figured out how the Dramatic CDs fit in just yet.

And finally: Have a Happy Winter Solstice!

21Dec2004: Hopefully I've removed errors caused by uploading conversion: missing breaks, that kind of thing. - DLRM