Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Spirit of Christmas ❯ Part II ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Spirit of Christmas (Part II)

By Carter Tachikawa

Disclaimer: Weiß Kreuz is not mine. If it were, Ken and Yohji would be in the first two episodes of Gluhen.

Summary: A three-part story. It's Christmas time and Schuldig is all excited about the upcoming holiday. His three Schwarz teammates, however, are anything but jolly. Brad, in particular, seems more distant and unusually sad. Can Schuldig bring the spirit of Christmas back in each other them?

Pairings: Brad x Schu (my second favorite pairing^^)

(Well, I'm back here again. I'm glad that many of you have enjoyed the first half of this story. As I said before, it was supposed to be a one-shot but I got lazy and tired so I made it three parts instead. We all know Schwarz has issues so them all hating Christmas (Schu being the exception) seemed like a good idea. And it was swimming in my head for quite a long time now so I decided to go and write it now.)

Thanks to all who reviewed. I would put your names down right now but the sad thing is I can't remember anyone's name right now seeing that is still quite early in the morning and my mind isn't fully functioning. But you know who you are so thanks. I'll put everyone down in the next chapter I write. I promise!

And now onto part 2...

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"Finished!" Nagi let out a sigh of relief as he put the star on top of the tree and turned on all the lights. Then he threw himself on the couch and closed his eyes. Schuldig better be grateful for all this. Nagi had wasted an entire afternoon redecorating the damn tree without any help from the other Schwarz members. He could only hope that Farfarello didn't see this tree until Christmas was over. He glared at the tree.

*/I never thought decorating a tree took so much time. /* He thought. */Then again, I've never decorated a tree before in my life. I didn't know there were such things as Christmas trees. I didn't...I didn't even know there was a thing called Christmas. /*

It was a sad thought but it was true. For the fifteen years that Nagi had been alive, he never had Christmas in his house. Oh, he had heard about it but he didn't know what it was about. Evidently, it meant people getting together and sharing good times. It meant giving others presents and receiving some in return. It meant forgetting about past grudges and forgiving those who had done something wrong. Christmas was nothing more than a time of happiness for everyone.

But no one let Nagi have a time of happiness. No one forgave him for his mistakes or gave him presents. No one bothered to share the day with him, not even his own family. They had abandoned him on the streets and left him to fend for himself. Children made fun of him. Adults looked down on him. Why did people hate him so much? It must have been his telekinetic powers. Those were what made him both, special and strange. Who knew what would have happened if Nagi had never become a member of Schwarz?

The telekinetic was actually quite surprised to see Schuldig excited over Christmas. He looked down at the Kermit the Frog ornament hanging on the branch. Schuldig was the one who found it in a cereal box. In fact, most of the decorations were either bought or found by the German. He had been the one who decorated the tree the first time. He even had the nerve to *buy* everyone a gift! Nagi thought that Schuldig would be like the rest of them, letting Christmas pass by like any ordinary day. But it was quite the contrary. Schuldig was acting like a child. He hummed Christmas songs wherever he went, even when Farfarello was in the room. While Schuldig didn't provoke the Irishman, the songs were enough to make him twitch violently. Crawford made sure Farfarello was never around when Schuldig started humming. Farfarello was mad after all. Who knew what he would do if he heard those songs 24/7? Schuldig was an idiot.

*/He's wasting both, time and energy, on such a silly holiday. /* Nagi thought, watching the colorful lights blinking on the tree. Everything was so bright and cheery...it almost made him sick to the stomach. Nagi was not used to seeing anything bright and cheery. He wished to use his telekinetic powers right now and break the tree to pieces. He would have except Schuldig like the holiday. Also, Brad didn't want to waste any more money buying decorations. Nagi knew how much the pre-cog hated spending money on trivial things (to him, anything dealing with Christmas was 'trivial') and for that reason, chose not to destroy anything.

*/I cannot believe he bought Farfarello a present. /* Of course, Nagi was now thinking about Schuldig. It was probably the worst idea he'd ever heard. Personally, Nagi couldn't wait to see Farfarello's reaction to the gift. It would hurt Schuldig but it served him right. It was his fault for buying something for everyone in the first place.

*/He's making a big mistake celebrating this holiday. /* Nagi decided. Too bad Schuldig was blind with happiness and good spirits to see that.

* * *

"Brad..." Schuldig said in a singsong voice. Despite how happy he was, he was also out of breath. He had been doing a lot of running, chasing Brad from room to room. He finally found his secret love sitting in the living room and staring out the window. It was starting to snow in Japan and that snow was sticking to the ground. By Christmas evening, everything would be draped in white. This was another thing Schuldig liked; snow on his favorite holiday made everything better.

Crawford turned around to find the German grinning and holding something over his head. Squinting, Crawford saw that Schuldig was actually holding mistletoe. He had to roll his eyes at that.

"What are doing?" He asked although he had a bad feeling what the answer was going to be.

"Waiting for a kiss." Schuldig pressed his lips together. "Pucker up, Brad. I'm standing under the mistletoe..."

"Well, I'm not!" Crawford snapped. "Go away, Schuldig. I have important things to do."

"Like what?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Then why are you running from me?" Schuldig asked.

"What is it that you want, Schuldig?" Crawford demanded. The demand wasn't as strong as usual. Instead, he had that sad tone in voice again. "What do you *really* want?"

"An explanation." Schuldig said firmly. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his forest green jacket to show his crush that he was being serious. This hatred of Christmas was driving him crazy. Sure, he expected Farfarello to hate it due to the fact it was a celebration of God's birth. But the other two? Nagi was fifteen and, while he was mature for a child his age (and certainly more mature than that Weiß kitten 'Bombay'. At least Nagi didn't go crying like a girl every time something bad happened), Schuldig expected the boy to be a little excited about the season. He'd expect Nagi to be happy about getting a gift. Instead, Nagi turned him down big time. And Brad? What the hell was Brad's excuse? He may be older than everyone but Christmas was a time for everyone, not just kids. He didn't have to get all giddy about it, just be a little happy. Brad didn't seem angry like Farfarello and Nagi. He just seemed...sad and distant. Something was troubling him and Schuldig wanted to know what it was.

"I want an explanation." He repeated again. Then he grinned. "I'll give you three minutes to open up to me before I go diving into your head."

"You wouldn't dare come into my head." Crawford said, turning away.

"Try me." Schuldig's grin grew wider. "I can get all your thoughts. I'll know what makes you happy, what makes you sad, what makes you horny...name it and I can get it. Thoughts have nowhere to hide from me."

"I won't let you come into my head."

"You can't hide anything from me, Brad." Schuldig whispered. Crawford cringed when he heard that. Only Schuldig had the nerve to call him 'Brad'. He usually did it to annoy the hell out of Crawford but now he sounded somewhat affectionate. There was something in his nasal voice, something soft and almost caring. Schuldig really wanted to know what was wrong.

He showed his concern again when he said. "Talk to me, Brad. I won't bite you. And besides, you probably wouldn't taste good anyway."

Crawford shook his head. As concerned as Schuldig was, he couldn't tell him the truth. He couldn't tell him how he felt. He couldn't tell him the true reason for not liking Christmas. After all, what would Schuldig think of him? How would Schuldig feel if he knew what happened all those years ago?

*/You ruined Christmas, Bradley! /*

Schuldig jerked when he heard that. "You what?"

Crawford realized that Schuldig was indeed listening to his thoughts. Nosy telepath.

"What was that about, Brad?" Schuldig demanded. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Crawford said coldly. "It's nothing."

*/Go away, Brad! You ruined Christmas! /*

"You ruined Christmas? How?" Schuldig asked. These thoughts were some he had never heard before. Brad was, as much as Schuldig hated to admit it, boring like a stick of butter. His thoughts tasted more like turpentine than honey. But Brad ruining Christmas? How the hell did Brad ruin Christmas? And for whom did he ruin Christmas? Did he burn down the house? Did he open his Christmas gifts before Christmas morning? What did he do?

"It's nothing." Crawford repeated, growing tired of Schuldig hanging around him. On any other occasion, Brad could tolerate his annoying teammate. In fact, he found an irritating Schuldig to be attractive. Crawford never thought of himself to be gay but after being with Schwarz for quite a while (and being around a certain orange-haired, emerald-eyed telepath), things took a drastic change. However, Schuldig didn't know this. As cool as he was, Crawford turned timid when he thought of telling the German the truth. But right now, he didn't want to be close to Schuldig.

*/Santa Claus is not coming cause you ruined everything!/*

*/You are naughty boy, Brad! I hope you get nothing!/*

*/Why did you say such a thing, Bradley? I thought we had an agreement that you wouldn't do that!/*

*/Don't talk to me again, Brad!/*

Crawford bit his lip as if to force back all those bad thoughts. He had kept them hidden for a long time but every Christmas, those terrible phrases would come back and haunt him. He didn't know why they hurt him so much. They were nothing more than words.

*/You ruined Christmas, Bradley!/*

He hadn't meant to ruin Christmas for anyone. He was only a kid back then. Couldn't they give him a break?

*/I hate you, Brad. Go away./*

"Who hated you?" Schuldig inquired. The grin had vanished from his face a long time ago and he stared at his American crush as if he was looking at someone he loved die before him. Something was hurting his Brad. Naturally, it happened back in the past. Brad wouldn't angst about something that happened now. He'd remain quiet and strong, eventually forgetting about what bothered him in the first place.

*/YOU RUINED CHRISTMAS, BRAD!/*

"How?!" Schuldig snapped. "How the hell did you ruin Christmas?"

"I didn't!" Crawford shot back, finally whipping around and looking straight into Schuldig's eye. He was breathing harder than usual to keep all emotions inside. Schuldig just stood there, folding his arms across his chest and waiting for the explanation to come pouring out of Crawford's mouth.

When the explanation didn't come, Schuldig spoke up again. "Talk to me. I won't tell Farf or Nagi what happened to you. I know, I don't keep promises but for you", He paused before saying, "...For you, I'll make an exception."

Crawford turned away and Schuldig thought he was contemplating the offer. "I can't tell you." He replied.

"Can't...can't tell me?" Now Schuldig was mad. "Then how am I supposed to help you?"

"Did I *ask* you for help?" Crawford asked angrily. "I don't have any problems and even if I did, I wouldn't come to you for help."

The last part of the comment stung Schuldig but he let it slide. He had a feeling Brad didn't mean that. So he asked in a soft voice. "If you don't have a problem, why do you hate Christmas?"

They were both silent before Crawford chose to close the subject. "You can't help. I don't like Christmas for my personal reasons. Let's just leave it there."

With that, he left the room. Schuldig pondered about the situation for a while. Those thoughts disturbed him and they were hurting Brad. He only started to dislike Christmas after someone told him he 'ruined' it. But the spirit had been there before. It just had to be bought back again.

*/I don't care what you or anyone else says, Brad./* Schuldig thought. */One way or another, I will get you to like Christmas again. Even if it means invading your thoughts, even if it means breaking your rules, I will get you to like Christmas./*

And he knew how he was going to do it.

TBC...

* * *

(I had a hard time trying to figure out where the hell I wanted to end this chapter. It took me a while but now it's done! Whee! So now I can work on "Switch" a little bit more along with everything else. This story is almost done. I'm glad so many of you like it.)

Sorry, die-hard Farfarello fans. I know I haven't bought him in yet. The truth is, it's hard to get into his head (and what a crazy head it is!) BUT he will be in the last chapter! I promise! And more of Nagi too! More sweeter Brad x Schu scenes

Review please. No flames, thanks.

Happy (early) New Years, readers!