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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 6/9

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.

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Dark Temptations Presents

A Christmas to Remember

Chapter 6

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Kaiba looked at his watch. The hour hand moved onto the six and the brunette sighed softly. It had been exactly a week since he had taken his brother Mokuba out for his treat. 1 week. 7 days. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes. 604,800 seconds.

Kaiba swore he had felt every one of those seconds tick by.

Between school, a few urgent matters at Kaiba Corp., and the preparations for his Christmas party, Kaiba had found very little time for anything else. But that hadn't stopped the images from parading through his mind, often at the most inconvenient moments.

The brunette teen had lost track of how many times he had written Joey's name in his schoolbook due to his mind wandering as the teacher droned on about something he already knew. He had also lost track of the number of times he had recalled every vivid detail of the time they had spent skating around the lake together. As for how often his mind had replayed that almost-kiss for him...

Two hundred and thirty-seven times.

Not that he had been counting or anything like that...

Kaiba couldn't understand it. Joey had never had this effect on him before, so why now? Admittedly, he and Joey had never really spent much time together in the past. Not without breaking into an argument about something or other, anyway. But for him to go from a mild crush to near-obsession in one night... That was more than a little troubling.

But what troubled him more was the fact that Joey also seemed to have been affected in some way.

For the past week, the blonde teen had been watching him. More than once, Kaiba had felt someone's eyes upon him and had turned, catching Joey eyeing him with a strange expression on his face. An expression that Kaiba was unable to put a name to. He had tried to confront the other teen about it, but Joey had just shrugged and said that it was his imagination. Apart from that, things between them seemed to be more or less normal, except... Surely they usually saw each other more than they had during this last week? Had Joey been intentionally avoiding him? Or was it just that Kaiba had felt the blonde's absence more keenly than usual?

Whatever the answer, Joey would not be able to avoid him tonight. Perhaps by the time the party was over, Kaiba would have had enough of his presence and this ridiculous obsession with him would fade.

And perhaps Santa and his reindeer would fly in through the window and do a loop around the ballroom before vanishing with a Ho Ho Ho.

Kaiba groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The party hadn't even started yet and he was thinking in Christmas terms. It was going to be a long night.

"Are you all right, Seto? You don't have a headache, do you?" Mokuba's voice jolted Kaiba out of his thoughts. He looked down and did his best to give the boy a reassuring smile.

"No, Mokuba. I am fine. I am merely trying to think if there is anything we have forgotten."

It wasn't a lie. Not really. That had been what he had been thinking about, before his mind had wandered onto thoughts of the past week.

Mokuba didn't look convinced. "No, everything's ready, Seto. The decorations are up, the trees are in place, the caterers have done a wonderful job and I put new batteries in the elves this morning. They're all ready to dance the night away." He grinned.

Kaiba smiled more genuinely. He really did like those elves. Especially the one with the short blonde hair. It reminded him of someone, although he couldn't quite work out who.

"What about that plug problem?" Kaiba frowned. "Did you manage to find the power board?"

Mokuba grimaced. "Yes. It turned out the caterers had borrowed it, for their mixers and frying pans. The board is now in place and all the plugs have been plugged in. I've tested it and all the lights are working." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing too. It would have been too late to go and get replacements." He grinned up at his brother, his eyes twinkling with merry mischief. "All I have to do now is find somewhere to put our little surprise." He winked at Kaiba, who chuckled in reply.

"Very well, you little imp. Do you need any help?" He fondly tousled his little brother's hair.

Mokuba ducked away, laughing. "It's okay. I can manage. You'd better get changed. They'll be here soon and you're still in your office clothes."

Kaiba arched an eyebrow at his bossy little brother. "For your information, I have already changed. I did not go in to the office this afternoon, remember? I came home straight from school."

Mokuba frowned and eyed his brother's respectable dark slacks and neatly creased white shirt, dark tie and dark jacket. "You are not wearing that."

"I told everyone it was going to be semi-formal." Kaiba eyed his brother warily, noticing how Mokuba was suddenly not meeting his eyes and how his cheeks had coloured ever so slightly. He sighed. "What did you do, Mokuba?"

The raven-haired boy looked up at him with pleading eyes that suddenly seemed to be twice their normal size. "Remember how dull Duke's party was?"

Kaiba, still looking wary, nodded. He remembered all too well.

The 'party' had consisted of himself, Devlin and 143 men and women, most of them influential people in the games industry, standing around in small groups talking about nothing particularly interesting while sipping champagne and eating a range of little things with toothpicks in them. Mokuba, Joey, Yugi and the others had escaped to Devlin's games room upon arrival, so Kaiba had been left trying to find at least one decent conversationalist among the rest of the guests. Unfortunately, the only one he had found even mildly amusing had been Devlin. He had ended up spending so much of the party talking to the other teen that there had been a few rumours milling around about them ever since. At one point, he had even asked Devlin if he had deliberately invited all the most mind-numbingly boring people he knew. Devlin's reply had been a wicked grin and the words 'I thought if anyone deserved pudding, it was them.'

"I still believe that someone suggested to Devlin that he present those people with some sort of token for Christmas, to get their kind regards for his business ventures. It would be just like him to twist such an idea around. Especially when he got all that pudding." Kaiba shook his head, then eyed Mokuba. "What does Devlin's party have to do with whatever you have been up to?"

Mokuba sighed as if disappointed that his big brother hadn't already figured it out. "Well, Duke's party was semi-formal too and I didn't want our party to be all dull and boring like his was, so... I called everyone up and told them it had been changed to a more casual party."

Kaiba stared at the little imp disguised as his brother. "Mokuba!" He rubbed the bridge of his nose and tried to organise his thoughts, which had been scattered by his shock. "Is there anything else that I should be aware of?" When Mokuba gave that serious consideration, Kaiba almost groaned out loud.

"Oh! There was one thing, although it's not really party-specific," Mokuba quickly reassured his brother when Kaiba sighed loudly. "Ryou called this morning in a bit of a panic. Apparently he and Bakura have three unexpected house-guests as of last night. Ryou tried to tell me that he and Bakura couldn't come tonight, but I told him that he couldn't get out of it and he should just bring them along."

Kaiba nodded. "Good. Did you notify the caterers about the change?"

Mokuba smiled brightly at him. "I didn't need to. I ordered extra in the first place in case something like this happened."

Kaiba smiled back at his brother and nodded. "Good idea. At least we can be sure there will be enough food for Joey. You know how much he eats."

He immediately regretted saying the blonde's name for two reasons. The image of Joey that popped into his mind and the all-too-knowing gleam in Mokuba's eyes.

"I do, but I didn't know you were so concerned about his being satisfied, Seto." Mokuba smiled.

Was it Kaiba's overly-active imagination or had Mokuba put the slightest emphasis on 'satisfied'? For the sake of his sanity, he decided to attribute it to his imagination.

"I am not. I merely do not wish to have him come to me during the course of the evening complaining that I have not provided enough in the way of refreshments." That reminded him of something. "Oh, did you position the security camera by the punch table?"

It took Mokuba a moment to follow the change in topic, then he grinned. "Yes. Don't worry, Seto. No one is going to spike the punch."

Kaiba rubbed the bridge of his nose yet again. "I hope not. I have heard more than enough rumours of the trouble Joey, Tristan, Bakura and Marik can cause while intoxicated."

Mokuba giggled. "Well, I'd better go hang up our surprise." He started off towards the ballroom, calling back over his shoulder. "Don't forget to get changed, Seto! Otherwise you'll be overdressed!"

It took Kaiba a few seconds to realise that he had forgotten to chastise Mokuba for changing the dress code of the party without permission. Not long, but long enough for the raven-haired boy to get away. Sighing and shaking his head, Kaiba did the only thing he could do. He went upstairs to change.

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The guests began arriving at ten to seven. Kaiba, looking as casual as he ever did in his crisply ironed dark green slacks and cream cashmere sweater, stood just inside the front door, welcoming them into his home with a small smile.

His smile became strained as one female guest after another giggled and kissed him in greeting. He couldn't remember ever being kissed or giggled at so much. Then again, he hadn't thrown a Christmas party before, aside from business functions, so perhaps that was a common occurrence.

At least he had the satisfaction of hearing them squeal in shock when they were greeted by Mokuba's little 'surprise' just before they reached the ballroom. Kaiba grinned. He had known that talking bauble would come in handy for something.

Téa and Mai arrived and he smiled a little more genuinely at them. "Welcome."

Much to Kaiba's surprise, both girls' eyes widened and they stared at him in shock for a second before they smiled. Téa covered her mouth to suppress her giggle, but Mai was suddenly all batting eyelashes and pouting lips as she leaned in far too close for Kaiba's comfort. "Why Seto Kaiba, I'm surprised to see you getting so into the Christmas spirit."

Before he could ask her what she was talking about, Mai kissed him. Deeply. His mouth opened on a gasp of shock and her tongue took full advantage of the opportunity presented.

Then the kiss was over and Mai was smiling at him as if she hadn't just had her tongue halfway down his throat. "Merry Christmas, Seto."

Kaiba stared at her. "M...Merry Christmas, Mai." He was very proud of the fact that his stutter was barely noticeable, although the gleam that appeared in her eyes suggested that she had still noticed it.

Téa smiled and stepped up to him, then kissed him softly on the cheek, much to Kaiba's astonishment. "Merry Christmas, Seto."

"Merry Christmas, Téa."

As the two girls went past him and into the house, he watched them and wondered if perhaps there was some Christmas tradition that he was unaware of. Something that had to do with female guests kissing their hosts, perhaps.

His attention was returned to the task at hand by a familiar voice. "Hey, Kaiba." Willing himself not to make a fool of himself, Kaiba turned around and nodded to Joey.

"Wheeler. Thank you for... coming." He mentally kicked himself. He had started the greeting instinctively, but then faltered when his mind had helpfully supplied him with an alternative meaning to his words. The hesitation had only been brief though, so perhaps Joey would put it down to distraction. Or his own imagination.

The blonde boy frowned a little and looked at Kaiba as if he wasn't sure if he'd really heard something he had thought he had heard. He shook his head and looked away, then frowned and looked back at Kaiba again as if checking something. Except, Joey seemed to be looking at something above the brunette's head. He bit his lip and hesitated, then suddenly took the last couple of steps in a single stride. The move brought him within a few inches of Kaiba. Then Joey was suddenly even closer still.

The kiss was soft and short and caught Kaiba completely off-guard. He froze, his mind screaming at him to move, to respond, but by the time his body began to obey, the kiss was already over and Joey was pulling back, a defiant look on his face.

Kaiba stared at the blonde teen, completely stunned. "W...Wheeler?"

Joey grinned at him. "If ya don't like gettin' kissed, Kaiba, then ya shouldn't stand under mistletoe." He winked at him and strode off to find the party, leaving a baffled brunette in his wake.

A feeling of dread coursed through Kaiba. He slowly looked up. Sure enough, a sprig of mistletoe was hanging directly above him.

"Mokuba!"

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After he pulled down the mistletoe, Kaiba found the job of receiving guests to involve a lot less kissing and giggling. He was still quietly seething and planning his revenge on Mokuba for the prank when Ryou came up the steps, a small box in his hand and a happy smile on his face. The sight of the quiet boy immediately made Kaiba feel calmer. "Hello, Ryou." He smiled for the first time since discovering the mistletoe.

"Hello, Seto." Ryou smiled more brightly and held out his box. "These are for you. To thank you for inviting Bakura and I, and for allowing us to bring our guests with us. I apologise for the late notice about that. They arrived last night to surprise us."

Kaiba nodded as he accepted the box. "It is quite all right, Ryou. You need not have gone to so much trouble."

Ryou's cheeks reddened. "Oh, it was no trouble. Besides, Bakura helped me. Just with the icing," he quickly added, when Kaiba tensed and eyed the box with sudden wariness.

As Ryou went on into the house, Kaiba arched an eyebrow and studied the box curiously. "Icing?" Since there were no guests that he needed to greet at that time, he couldn't resist. He opened the box.

The smell of gingerbread filled the air. Kaiba smiled as he looked at the cookies Ryou had made for him. One dozen gingerbread-man cookies. If his previous experience with Ryou's cookies was anything to go by, they were going to be delicious. He sniffed in appreciation and eyed them thoughtfully, wondering if he dared have one now, before Mokuba got to them. He smiled and selected one. It would be a fitting punishment for the mistletoe trick for him to eat them all himself.

Remembering that Bakura had helped with the icing, Kaiba took a closer look at the cookie. Two little eyes, a smiling mouth, two nipples, a belly button and a... wait a minute... His eyebrows vanished into his hair as he stared at the generous stroke of icing that had been carefully positioned between the gingerbread-man's legs. Kaiba snickered. Anatomically correct gingerbread-man cookies. Only Bakura would think of doing something like that.

Still, it hadn't made any difference to the taste. The cookie was delicious.

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Malik, Marik, Isis and Odion were the last guests to arrive. Malik was holding his hands behind his back and the sight made Kaiba tense. He immediately went on alert as his mind ran through all the possible things the mischief-making teen could have brought with him. "Greetings."

Isis and Odion greeted him politely before heading into the house, Marik firmly in tow despite his protests that he wanted to stay with Malik. Kaiba eyed the beaming teen who had remained behind and forced himself not to betray any sign of nervousness. The boy was disturbingly happy. "Malik, are you going inside?"

"In a minute, Kaiba. I just wanted to give you your Christmas present. It's from the four of us, me, Marik, Isis and Odion."

Kaiba relaxed as a simple reason for both the boy's happiness and his hands being where they were presented itself. "Ah. Thank you, Malik."

Malik beamed at him and moved. "Merry Christmas, Kaiba!"

As soon as his present was put into his hands, the brunette teen knew he had relaxed too soon.

He stared down in shock at the small kitten Malik had just given him. The kitten itself was a surprise but it was the colour of it that had Kaiba's full attention.

The kitten was blue. Bright blue. Kaiba wasn't entirely certain, but he thought it looked like the same shade as the Magician of Black Chaos.

"Malik... why is this kitten... blue?" Kaiba eyed the other teen warily.

"Well, I asked Mokuba what you wanted for Christmas and he said that you'd been talking about getting a kitten in the new year." Malik smiled brightly at Kaiba. "He said you wanted a Russian Blue, but I couldn't find one of those, so I got you this one and dyed him. He's not rushing now, but you should have seen how fast he ran while I was trying to dye his fur!"

Kaiba stared at Malik, trying to work out if the teen was joking. He had an uneasy feeling that he was serious. "I see. Thank you for the kitten, Malik."

As Malik happily went off to join the party, Kaiba gently cradled the little cat in his arms and spoke softly to it. "Do not worry, I will wash the dye off first thing in the morning." The kitten mewed softly and curled up in his arms.

Kaiba stepped back into the house and closed the front door. All of the guests had arrived. It was time. Carrying the kitten, he took a deep breath and went to join the party.

tbc
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A Christmas to Remember