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A Christmas to Remember	By : DarkTemptations Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2835 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Title: A Christmas to Remember 2/9

Author: Dark Temptations

Beta: Vash is my Angel

Rating: NC17 *angelic smile*

Summary: Seto Kaiba awakes the morning after his Christmas party to find himself somewhere... a little odd. He remembers the events that led up to his current predicament.

Author's Note: The talking tree, ornament and elves in this chapter really do exist. I haven't seen a singing wreath yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if it existed as well. My thanks to Vash is my Angel for the inspiration for the ornament scene.

@-->-->----

Dark Temptations Presents

A Christmas to Remember

Chapter 2

@-->-->----

"Come on, big brother! It's over this way!" Mokuba hopped from foot to foot as he waited impatiently for Kaiba to push through the crowd of Christmas shoppers that the boy had wriggled through effortlessly moments earlier.

As Kaiba tried to move through the mob without losing sight of his brother, he sighed for the fifty-seventh time in the ten minutes since his driver had dropped them both off outside the entrance to the largest shopping mall in Domino City. Had his bodyguards been escorting them, he would not have to endure things like sweaty bodies pressing against him, or bony elbows digging into his side, or bags holding hard objects with sharp corners hitting his shins. But Mokuba hated going out in public with their bodyguards and Kaiba had to admit that he wasn't overly fond of it either. It tended to draw a lot of unwanted attention to them. So he had arranged for the bodyguards to watch over Mokuba from a distance, in case of a kidnapping attempt.

It was only paranoia if it had no possibility of coming true. Considering that Mokuba seemed to make a hobby of being kidnapped, Kaiba did not consider himself to be paranoid about it.

He finally managed to push past a dark-haired boy and reach his brother. He turned slightly and eyed the boy, one eyebrow arched. "He growled at me." He shook his head and looked down at Mokuba. "For a holiday, Christmas certainly brings out the worst in some people."

Mokuba grinned up at his brother. "Well maybe he's grumpy all the rest of the year too. Come on! You told the driver to meet us at five. If we don't hurry, we're not going to have enough time to look around!" He grabbed Kaiba's hand and started dragging him towards the largest department store in the mall.

Kaiba sighed for the fifty-eighth time and did his best to keep up with his brother. Considering that it was only barely nine o'clock, Mokuba's words about running out of time were somewhat worrying.

@-->-->----

By the time they came to the Christmas decoration section of the store, almost two hours had passed. Kaiba's feet were aching in his hundred-dollar pair of shoes. At the same time, his seventy-dollar designer-label jeans were rubbing him where he was unused to being rubbed by anything, and he found it more than a little disconcerting that he was almost enjoying the sensation. To round off the perfect shopping experience, Kaiba also had a pounding headache as a result of the merciless assault on his eardrums, courtesy of the Christmas Carols the store was playing over their sound system. His patience would have been wearing very thin, except for one thing.

"Big brother! Look! Aren't those lights pretty?" Mokuba tugged on Kaiba's arm and pointed at the lights hanging above the decoration display. The bright smile on the boy's face, the way his eyes were shining with excitement, his general bounciness... Yes, a little physical discomfort was a small price to pay for the chance to see Mokuba so happy. Kaiba smiled a little as he looked up at the lights.

"Yes. They are." Kaiba made a note to himself to tell the head gardener to order some and string them around the trees of the estate. It would make Mokuba happy, he was sure.

The raven-haired boy looked around at the section they had come to and then grinned up at his brother. "Looks like we finally found the Christmas stuff."

"Yes, after you took us through the toy and games sections and made sure I know everything you want for Christmas." Kaiba barely managed to keep from laughing at the look the younger boy gave him.

"I was just showing you stuff I thought was interesting." Mokuba did his best to sound insulted, but there was a trace of guilt in his eyes.

Kaiba glanced at his brother in amusement. "Oh, so I should not buy you any of the things you pointed out to me, then?"

Mokuba pouted. "Seto!"

Smiling slightly, Kaiba tousled Mokuba's hair, causing the boy to giggle and duck out of reach. "Well, perhaps one or two of them."

Grinning in triumph, Mokuba headed into the ornament aisle. Kaiba shook his head and followed him.

"Hey! Hey you!"

Kaiba had just stepped into the aisle when the voice came from somewhere nearby, making him frown and look around to see if someone was speaking to him. For some reason, Mokuba began to giggle.

"Up here! No, not there! Here!"

Kaiba looked all around, growing more confused and annoyed by the moment as the voice continued talking and Mokuba laughed so hard he nearly fell over. For the first time since they had entered the mall, they were alone with only a few other people in sight, and they were too far away to be speaking. So where was the voice coming from?

"Someone hung me on this branch!"

As the voice suddenly launched into a Christmas Carol, Kaiba's disbelieving eyes locked on the large bauble hanging on the Christmas tree beside him. As he watched, the bauble blinked at him and continued to sing. "That is..." He stared at the bauble in shock.

Mokuba, his face very red from laughing so hard, leaned against his brother as he panted. "A talking Christmas bauble. Haven't you seen one before, Seto?" His voice was just a little too innocent.

Kaiba sighed for the two hundred and twenty-third time and looked at the mischievous imp otherwise known as his younger brother. "No, I have not."

"You know, Seto... I bet the others haven't seen one either. They're only new out."

Sometimes it honestly surprised Kaiba that his younger brother could look so angelic while saying something so utterly devious.

"We can get the ornaments later. I thought you wanted to look at the wreaths and trees first?"

Mokuba nodded and looked around, then pointed to where a green something-or-other could be seen at the end of the aisle. "I think they're over there."

Kaiba followed his brother for a few steps, then paused as his attention was caught by the display stand for the talking baubles. When he continued after Mokuba, the display stand was one bauble emptier.

@-->-->----

The green thing turned out to be a garland. They wandered around the aisles for several minutes, getting hopelessly turned around since all of the aisles looked rather similar with their rows and rows of shiny, sparkly ornaments. They had just found the talking bauble for the third time when they heard a voice from a few aisles away say, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a talking tree before?"

Kaiba looked at Mokuba and arched an eyebrow. Mokuba grinned and shrugged. "No idea."

"Well, even if it is not the tree section, it might prove... entertaining... as a decoration." Kaiba ignored Mokuba's giggling as he followed the voice.

The voice had just launched into a rather catchy rendition of 'Oh Christmas Tree' when Kaiba and Mokuba turned a corner and found the Christmas trees.

Over three dozen trees of assorted sizes, shapes, colours and sparseness of branches were stuffed like a stocking into a tiny area of about six feet square that had been made to resemble something mildly approaching a fantasy Christmas grotto setting. At the entry to the grotto, a niche in the wall had been decorated with a small tree. At least, Kaiba thought it was a tree.

It was about a foot high, with a pair of arms encased in brown velvet sleeves and red mittens on its hands. A pair of large eyes blinked out from the leaves, above a little black button nose and two puffy pink velvet cheeks. It even had a mouth that moved as it sang the Christmas Carol, the arms moving to the beat with surprising enthusiasm for a novelty item.

While Mokuba went into the grotto to see if he could find a couple of nice trees to decorate the Kaiba mansion's ballroom, where the party was to be held, Kaiba stopped in front of the small singing tree. He examined it with the typical curiosity that a CEO of an international corporation with a large electronics division would have for an electronic Christmas tree. He was peering closely at the blinking eyes when it finished singing its song and fell silent. Kaiba straightened up and the tree immediately reacted to the movement. "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a talking tree before?"

Kaiba eyed the tree thoughtfully. "Motion activated. Interesting."

"Seto!" Mokuba's irritated voice drew Kaiba's attention away from the tree. He looked at his little brother questioningly as the boy came out of the grotto again. "We came to find decorations for the party, not for you to find inspiration for a new product line for the company!" The raven-haired boy frowned at his big brother, then grabbed his sleeve and began towing him into the grotto. "I think I've found a couple of trees."

As Kaiba followed him, he wondered if Mokuba just knew him very well, or if he was becoming a little predictable. He had indeed been debating with himself over whether motion sensors could be useful for something Kaiba Corp. was currently developing.

@-->-->----

Once they had decided on which trees to order a few of, it was time to look at the decorations.

After only a few minutes of looking around at all the pretty sparklies, Kaiba decided to take the least painful method of choosing which ones to buy. He sent Mokuba off with the shopping basket to get whatever he liked and settled himself down beside the talking bauble to wait for his return.

Mokuba ran back to him a few minutes later, grinning from ear to ear. "Seto! You have to come and see this! It's so funny!" He grabbed his brother's hand and pulled.

Kaiba allowed himself to be dragged off, his curiosity getting the better of him.

'This' turned out to be a large holly wreath. Kaiba eyed it warily. "I will admit that it is a little large to be practical, but I fail to see the humour in it."

Mokuba laughed and ran over to it. "Just watch." He clapped his hands together and the wreath began to do something that no self-respecting holly wreath would ever consider doing.

It began to sing.

Loudly.

Kaiba arched an eyebrow as he listened. A small smile curved his lips as he recognised the song. "'The Holly and the Ivy'. How appropriate."

Mokuba grinned. "But that's not all, big brother. Look there!" He pointed to the shelf behind Kaiba, who turned around to see what had Mokuba so amused.

A plush elf about a foot high was dancing happily to the wreath's song.

Kaiba smirked at the Christmas toy and picked it up to study it more closely. "Sound activated." He looked thoughtfully at Mokuba. "We were going to have Christmas music at the party."

Mokuba laughed and moved to his brother's side, leaning against him as he nodded. "I like it too." He grinned up at Kaiba, who tousled his hair and added the elf to Mokuba's basket, as well as the two others that were on the shelf. Mokuba looked at them, then looked back at his brother, curious.

"It would not be much of a decorative display by itself." Kaiba shrugged and looked away.

"Good point. Besides, it would have been a shame to leave the other two alone. Oh! There are some good garlands!"

Mokuba pushed the basket into his brother's hands, then hurried off to continue his treasure hunt. Kaiba watched him go, very startled at having had his own, rather more sentimental than usual, thoughts voiced aloud. He looked down at the three dancing elves in the basket and his cheeks became faintly tinged with red. "It is not that I thought they would have been lonely or any such nonsense... I merely thought that it seemed a shame to leave the other two behind when we really needed more than one."

His blush deepened when he realised that he was muttering aloud to himself. He quickly looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that no one else had witnessed his momentary descent into mild insanity.

As he moved to catch up to Mokuba, Kaiba made a note to himself that shopping trips were most definitely detrimental to his mental health, if not to his physical well-being.

@-->-->----

Once the decorations were chosen, Kaiba was all set to go through the checkout, then call his driver and head home, but Mokuba pouted and said that he wanted to spend more time with his big brother. The subtle-as-a-sledgehammer hint worked and Kaiba reluctantly agreed to the boy's suggestion that they look around for Christmas presents for Yugi and the others.

His agreement was accompanied by sigh number three hundred and eighteen.

Kaiba perked up a little when Mokuba dragged him to the lift and punched in the number for the pet floor. "So, Joey first, then?" He smirked.

Mokuba gave his brother a long-suffering look. "Tristan has a dog."

Kaiba frowned a little. "Are we getting a gift for the dog or its owner?"

Mokuba had to stop and consider that one. "I thought we might find something there for Tristan, but I guess it probably would be more for his dog. What do you think we should get him, then?"

"I have no idea." For once, the proud brunette was not ashamed to admit to a lack of knowledge. When it came to choosing Christmas presents, Mokuba had always said that he was completely clueless, and Kaiba had to agree with that assessment. He'd learned it the year he'd bought his brother a collection of assorted ties and had ended up wearing them himself. Mokuba had successfully blackmailed him over it and he'd had to give the boy a new game a week for the whole year, to make up for his mistake. Ever since then, he'd left the gift buying to either Mokuba or his secretary.

The lift doors opened and the Kaiba brothers stepped into the pet department. Kaiba's eyes immediately fell on a prominently displayed dog collar and matching lead set and he snickered. "That would look good on Joey. It's even the same shade as his eyes." He suddenly became aware of Mokuba staring at him and looked at his brother. "What?"

Mokuba grinned. "I'm impressed, big brother. You don't normally notice what colour someone else's eyes are." His grin widened as his brother's cheeks took on a definite rosy hue. "You really like Joey, huh?"

Kaiba tensed and looked away, unwilling to meet his brother's all-too-knowing gaze. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Mokuba. Joey is nothing to me but an irritation."

"Uh huh. Sure he is. That's why you keep talking about him and why you know what colour his eyes are." Mokuba's voice was undeniably smug.

"I do not keep talking about him." Kaiba couldn't deny that he knew what colour Joey's eyes were. The warm golden brown orbs had featured in his dreams on far too many occasions for that. But he was certain that he had not spoken of Joey. Well... not that day, anyway. Apart from the references to him since Mokuba suggested the pet department, of course.

Mokuba was still grinning like a cat presented with a big dish of cream. "You've mentioned him forty-eight times so far, and it isn't even lunchtime yet."

Kaiba stared at his younger brother in shock. "Forty-eight... No, surely not. "

Mokuba was practically bouncing with glee. It wasn't often that he was able to catch his brother out like this. "I kept count. Most of them were while we were in the toy department. You kept saying things like 'that seems like something Joey might actually be able to drive' about that motorised car I was looking at or 'I believe Joey has one of those' about that practical joke kit. But it was mainly while we were looking at the Duel Monsters cards."

Mokuba's words had a rare effect on Kaiba. His mind helpfully provided him with a complete and unabridged recollection of every word he had said while he and Mokuba had been standing in front of the Duel Monster cards. Including every reference he had made to a certain blonde-haired teenager. This in turn caused his cheeks to heat until he was certain that he was as red as a Santa suit. The look that Mokuba was giving him made him even more certain of that fact. He quickly looked away.

"I thought we were here looking for presents? The sooner this is over with, the better." He tried his best to think cooling thoughts, attempting to not only ease the heat in his cheeks, but also to combat the other little problem he unexpectedly found himself with. Or rather, the not-so-little problem.

Kaiba blamed Mokuba entirely. If he hadn't made him think of Joey, then surely the images of the blonde teen currently parading through his mind would never have come to him. He covertly shifted the shopping basket to preserve what little remained of his dignity and set off into the pet department, a snickering Mokuba right behind him.

@-->-->----

Three hours later, Kaiba was physically and mentally exhausted. He was certain that his shoes had given him blisters and his pants had long ceased to rub in a good way and were now just chafing badly. His headache had progressed to the point where he couldn't even think without it causing him pain. He was thoroughly miserable. Kaiba was also thoroughly irritated.

He still couldn't get that second-class duelist off his mind.

It didn't help that Mokuba had started slipping mentions of a certain blonde teen into the conversation every chance he got. Or that they had bought presents for everyone except said blonde. Even Mokuba's usually near-endless supply of energy had almost run out and he had been only a little reluctant to agree to go home as soon as they found something for Joey. They just needed to find that one last gift.

That agreement had been reached an hour earlier. They were still looking.

"Honestly, how difficult could it be to find something for one teenage boy?" Kaiba grumbled under his breath. 'Something that isn't sexual in any way at all,' he mentally added, as he maneuvered his shopping bag-laden self through the crowded tables and chairs of the eatery towards the empty table he had spotted.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two dark-haired teens also making their way towards the table from the opposite side. Sighing for the six hundred and fifty-ninth time, he abandoned his course and turned around, heading back the way he'd come. There was no way he was going to race someone for a free table at a crowded eatery. Mokuba would just have to settle for plan B.

Considering that plan B consisted of their eating their lunch in the small park area that was attached to the mall, Kaiba didn't think his younger brother would mind too much.

He was right.

@-->-->----

Mokuba bounced happily in his seat as he watched the activity in the middle of the park. Kaiba arched an eyebrow at him. "I see you have your energy back. You might want to stop moving so much though. The filling is being bounced out of your burger."

The raven-haired boy tipped his burger up just in time to save it from spilling. He smiled sheepishly up at Seto. "Thanks, big brother. But look at them! Aren't they good?"

Kaiba looked over to the open area of the park, where a snow sculpture contest was being held. Judging by the entries being made, the theme was apparently 'Christmas'. He nodded. "There are some... interesting... designs there." He smirked. "Although it could almost be classed as a snow-tree contest."

Mokuba grinned. Almost half of the dozen or so entries were Christmas trees made from snow. The rest were an assortment of gift boxes, angels, stars and one enterprising teenager was attempting to build what looked like Santa and his sleigh, complete with one reindeer. "If that guy gets his finished, it would be pretty good, but he seems to be having a bit of trouble with the deer's antlers."

Nodding in agreement with his brother's assessment, Kaiba eyed the other designs critically as he finished off his own burger. "The angel's designer shows promise but the present's designer needs a few lessons in three dimensional construction."

"Maybe it's supposed to be abstract." Mokuba studied the sculpture in question, trying to work out if there were any parallel lines at all in it.

"Abstract? Not even Picasso could have managed something of that caliber." Kaiba arched an eyebrow at his little brother, who grinned back at him.

"Then maybe the guy making it is really drunk at the moment."

"Mokuba!" Kaiba tried to sound shocked and dismayed, which wasn't easy since he was trying not to laugh. But, he reminded himself as a grin almost succeeded in reaching his lips, he had to set a good example. "You should not say that sort of thing." It was a lame reply. He didn't need to see his little brother's pitying look to know that.

Finishing off the last bite of his burger, Mokuba wadded up the wrapper and scored a perfect goal with it in the bin a few feet away. He jumped to his feet and grinned at Kaiba. "Come on, big brother. The cold seems to be affecting your mind, so we'd better get back to searching for Joey's present. If you can find something suitable, that is." The wry look he gave his brother suggested that he had thought quite a few of the things he had suggested so far had been perfect for the blonde boy.

Ignoring the heat rising in his cheeks at Mokuba's insinuation that he was concerning himself more than he should have been over Joey's gift, Kaiba duplicated his brother's goal with his own wrapper and stood up as well. "Oh, I have seen plenty of things that were suitable. But they are either things that he would be furious over receiving or..." He stopped himself just short of blurting out, 'or they would make him think I was interested in him in some way'.

As difficult as it was to keep anything a secret from Mokuba, Kaiba at least wanted to try to keep that particular bit of information a secret from him. For as long as possible, at least.

Mokuba eyed his brother thoughtfully. "Or what?"

Kaiba could all but see his younger sibling's agile mind whirring over the possibilities. He barely stopped himself from shuddering at the thought of what Mokuba might come up with on his own. His own mind raced and he replied with barely any hesitation. "Or they are simply too tasteless for me to give him with a straight face."

Judging by the look Mokuba gave him, Kaiba didn't think he'd completely convinced him that he had been going to say that, but at least Mokuba seemed to accept it for the time being.

"Well then we'd better go find something that isn't tasteless." Mokuba thought for a moment. "How about a sweater? They had some really nice ones in that store we passed on the way out here."

Kaiba considered for a minute. "Perhaps. We can look at them, anyway."

Mokuba nodded, looking unusually serious. "It's never easy buying a gift for someone you really love."

By the time Kaiba had the presence of mind to stop standing there gaping like a fish, his younger brother was already halfway to the mall entrance.

"Mokuba! Get back here!" Kaiba set off after the mischievous boy, hoping as he had never hoped for anything before that the colour in his face could be blamed on the cold air rather than the heat that had risen into his cheeks at Mokuba's words.

There were some days when he really wished that Mokuba was not as perceptive as he was.

@-->-->----

By the time Kaiba caught up to him, Mokuba was already looking at the sweaters. He smiled up at his brother so sweetly that the brunette almost forgot about what he'd said only a few minutes earlier. After a moment's reflection on the matter, Kaiba decided that perhaps it was better if he did forget about it.

After all, if he didn't make a big deal out of it, perhaps Mokuba would think he had been mistaken.

Maybe.

They finally agreed on a soft cashmere sweater in a shade of dark green. The colour was a perfect compliment to Joey's hair, which was both the reason why Kaiba had chosen it and something that the stubborn brunette would never admit to, even if the outcome of a duel depended on it.

With the final gift decided on, all that was left to do was for Kaiba to call his driver to come and collect them, so they could go home.

@-->-->----

When the limo rounded the corner and approached the two boys waiting on the sidewalk, Kaiba breathed a sigh of relief. Sigh number six hundred and seventy-two. He was relieved that all the shopping was done and they were going home. He was even more relieved that they had finally found something suitable for Joey. But most of all, he was relieved that Mokuba hadn't noticed him lightly stroking Joey's gift as they were waiting in the checkout line.

That was something that he really didn't feel up to explaining at that particular point in time.

Or ever.

Mokuba was the first one to notice something wrong. He looked up at Seto. "Um... big brother... the windscreen is all broken."

Kaiba stared at the limousine in shock and dismay. As soon as the driver got out to open the back door for them, he barked out, "Smithson! What happened to the car?"

The driver went a very deep shade of red. "Well sir, after I left you and Master Mokuba here this morning, I headed back to the mansion. On the way though, a delivery van ahead of me took a turn too quickly and the back door sprang open. Two... er... objects... flew out of the van and smashed right into the windscreen."

Kaiba arched an eyebrow. "Two objects? What sort of objects?"

Smithson shifted as if suddenly uncomfortable. "I believe they were... two traditional English Plum Puddings, sir. One pound apiece."

For a minute, the only sound was the limo's engine idling and Mokuba's coughing fit as he tried to stop himself from giggling and only succeeded in almost choking himself.

"The windscreen was hit with... two pounds of pudding?" One of Kaiba's eyebrows arched so high it vanished into his hair. The driver nodded. "Well... that will certainly be an interesting accident report. Did you manage to get the insurance information from the van's driver?"

"Yes, sir."

As Smithson and Kaiba discussed where and when to put the limo in for repair, Mokuba noticed something that made him tug urgently on his brother's winter coat. Unfortunately, Kaiba was too caught up with the discussion to respond right away. "In a moment, Mokuba."

"Um... but Seto..."

"In a moment." Although there was no anger in his brother's voice, Mokuba knew the 'not now' tone meant he'd be in serious trouble if he didn't stop trying to interrupt his brother's conversation.

The boy watched in silence as the policeman frowned at the three of them standing on the sidewalk and then frowned even more deeply at the car. Mokuba winced as the policeman then proceeded to write out two tickets, which he stuck beneath one of the wipers since there was no windscreen to prop it against. Whistling a cheerful Christmas carol to himself, the policeman strolled off again.

"Well that should be fine. Put the car in first thing tomorrow and arrange for a replacement vehicle from that hire service we use for visiting VIPs." As Smithson nodded, Kaiba turned to Mokuba and smiled as he tousled his hair. "Sorry, Mokuba. Now what was it you wanted to tell me?"

Mokuba sighed. "There was a policeman coming."

Kaiba blinked. "Was?" He glanced around and froze as his gaze fell on the two pieces of paper fluttering in the wind beneath the windscreen wiper. "Oh no."

Mokuba didn't have the heart to point out that he'd tried to tell him.

Smithson retrieved the tickets and winced. "One for illegal parking and one for..." He fell silent. Kaiba sighed for the six hundred and seventy-third time.

"Let me guess. The other is for driving without a windscreen, correct?"

"Yes, sir." Smithson looked very apologetic. "I'm sorry, sir."

Kaiba shook his head. "I will have my lawyers deal with them tomorrow. For now, just take us home."

As they loaded the shopping bags into the boot, climbed into the car and headed home, one thought ran relentlessly through Kaiba's mind.

There was no way the party could possibly be as painful as this shopping trip had been.

tbc
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A Christmas to Remember