Hello everyone, and Merry early Christmas!
If you don't celebrate Christmas, have a happy holiday!

This is a Christmas present for my amazing best friend Olv1993. She asked for Reiji in the snow, and I hope that this will live up to her expectations! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade Metal Fusion, and alas I don't think it'll be under the tree for me this year either. :'(

Enjoy!

Of Snow and More Snow

Reiji stood on the miniscule porch of Ryutaro's caravan, watching the snow fall around him. He'd always liked the snow…to him it made the freezing temperatures worth it. It looked especially enchanting at night.

He almost wanted to go play in it; it'd been a long time since he'd had the chance to, after all.

"Aren't you cold?" Ryutaro poked his head out of the door and addressed Reiji.

The redhead just shook his head and stayed standing where he was.

"It's getting late." Ryutaro continued.

Reiji knew he was trying to get him to go to bed. Ryutaro had been nice enough to take him in after the Dark Nebula went caput, and had looked after him since then. Reiji had decided that he liked the fortuneteller. He had a…funny way about him, but when it came down to it he was kind and gave good advice.

Sometimes, Tobio would stay with them. He was much more direct and maybe a little less friendly, but Reiji liked him, too, most of the time.

"There will be more snow to look at tomorrow, Reiji."

Reiji felt a happy twinge that he recognized as excitement. He turned around and went back inside with Ryutaro, very much looking forward to tomorrow.

...

There was a dull thunk sound, and Reiji woke up instantly – it was already light out. He glanced to his left and noticed that Ryutaro was still asleep. There was another thunk and the redhead scrambled to stand up, untangling himself from his covers as he did.

Reiji crossed the short distance to the small window and peered out. (He was always slightly amused by the fact that he was the only one who could see out without standing on tiptoe.) When he saw that the ground was indeed covered in a thick layer of brilliant white snow, he felt a small smile tug at his lips.

THUD!

Reiji jumped back from the window in surprise when a snowball hit the glass right in front of his face. He peered out over the part of the window that was covered in snow and saw Tobio, who raised a hand in greeting. The redhead copied the gesture and then moved to open the door.

"Thanks," Tobio mumbled, moving past Reiji and inside. The sniper glanced back and noticed that the older teen was still standing with the door open, looking out. "You like the snow?"

Reiji nodded.

"If Ryutaro ever wakes up, we can go outside," Tobio said, an amused smirk on his face. Ryutaro had been known to sleep in at the worst times.

There was a rustle of blankets and a muffled sound that barely passed for talking from the far end of the room. Tobio and Reiji both looked towards the source of the sound in time to see Ryutaro digging his way out of the cocoon of blankets he'd built in his sleep.

"Close the door please, Reiji, it's freezing…" the fortuneteller trailed off into a yawn as Reiji did as he asked. "What time is it anyway?"

Reiji just shrugged.

"Doesn't matter." Tobio answered. "The snow out there is perfect packing snow!"

"As eager as I am to play the 'moving target' for you, Tobio, do you suppose it'd be too much to ask that we have breakfast first?"

The sniper grumbled something about having already eaten while Ryutaro crawled out of his blankets properly.

"Stop complaining and help Reiji put the beds away, would you?"

"Yeah yeah, my pleasure…"

...

Half an hour later, Reiji was outside again. This time, properly bundled up at Ryutaro's insistence. He crouched down and poked at the snow, his lips twitching into a smile again. He vaguely wondered why something so natural and simple was making him so happy.

"How long has it been?"

Reiji turned and caught sight of Ryutaro standing behind him, watching. The fortuneteller walked around the redhead and crouched in front of him. The taller of the two just blinked.

Ryutaro sighed in a relaxed way before specifying. "How long has it been since you were out in the snow?"

Reiji just blinked again. He couldn't remember. Frowning, he looked down and grabbed a handful of snow, shaping it in his hand. "A while," he answered finally. "I don't remember." He let the snow fall out of his hand. It kept its shape nicely.

"That would explain your happiness then. The snow is fun, isn't it?"

"Yes," Reiji answered, a small smile forming again.

Ryutaro beamed. He loved it when Reiji smiled – it had been a rare sight, once upon a time. He was quite proud to say it was becoming a common occurrence. "Well, as fun as it is, you'll probably want to practice your dodging skills."

Reiji tilted his head. "Why?"

"I imagine the only reason we haven't seen Tobio lately is because he's busy filling his arsenal with hard-packed snowballs. I expect any minute now he'll be-"

The fortuneteller's sentence was cut short when a snowball came seemingly out of nowhere and hit him right in the face.

Reiji turned around and looked for Tobio, only spotting him because he almost fell out of the tree he was hiding in from laughing so hard.

"…If you will excuse me, Reiji, I think I am going to have to remind Tobio that snowballs and faces don't mix." With that, Ryutaro stood up and ran for the line of trees, shouting at Tobio the whole time.

Reiji snickered, his fondness of snow only increasing.

:3

I go back and forth about this one myself, but hopefully you liked it, 'Livvy! :)

Anyway, I know it was terribly short and all that. I'm trying, I'm trying! But some stuff doesn't seem right all drawn out….

But, whatever you all thought of it, I'd very much appreciate it if you left me a review or two. I'd even count it as my Christmas present from you! xD