Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seto's First Christmas ❯ Seto Claus and Tea's move ( Chapter 5 )

Title: Seto's First Chrsitmas 5/6
Author: Kris Ice
Beta: Katbcoll
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): SetoxJou
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or anything associated with it.
Summary: Seto has never liked Christmas, but this year is going to be a bit different.

The morning of the 24th dawned bright and cheerful. Seto smirked into his coffee as he watched Mokuba practically bouncing in his eagerness to get moving. As he read his paper, he watched his little brother out of the corner of his eye. Mokuba had finished eating several minutes before and was watching him intently as he fidgeted. Finally, Seto felt he'd made the younger Kaiba squirm long enough. He fought down a chuckle. Mokuba looked like he'd explode any moment if they didn't get moving. "Alright," the brunette said, setting down the paper. "Grab your coat, we'll get going."

The black-haired boy jumped up with a cheer and raced out of the room. He came back moments later with his coat, hat, and gloves on. Seto chuckled as blue-gray eyes looked up at him expectantly. He grabbed his trench coat and keys before opening the door. Mokuba raced ahead and stood impatiently waiting for Seto to unlock the car door.

Once at the Center, Seto was stunned by the amount of the people gathered in the gymnasium. Not only were the usual kids and volunteers there, but also there were also families and nuns. Mokuba raced over to a group of he'd befriended while volunteering there. Seto held back, keeping close to the wall.

His heart ached as he watched the odd camaraderie between the people. He had started feeling comfortable around the ones who were there before, but once more he felt like he was on the outside looking in. It took him a moment to realize that the people were here to do the last minute preparations and the kids with parents were showing them what they'd done over the last few days. Some of the kids were practicing their lines for the plays.

"Surely you're not going to hide in the corner again."

Seto turned to the familiar voice and was about to snap back when the odd sight made him pause. "Ah... Sister?"

Ms. Aisu laughed. She was dressed in an outfit similar to a nun's. "Actually, I'm a novice. I haven't taken my vows yet." She shrugged. "With everything happening, I may not. While the church can do a lot of good, I'm starting to see the limitations to it too." She smiled. "I was going to wear a nice dress, but Mother Superior is here, so I have to be in uniform."

Seto nodded, looking around the room. "Who are all these people?"

Ms. Aisu shrugged. "Some are from the convent, the rest are the parents of some of the kids who stay here while they're at work." She suddenly smiled and grabbed his arm. She pretended not to notice when he flinched and started to pull away. "Come on. You can help me in the kitchen. We need to finish up the vegetables, the stuffing, and the ham. The goose is already done."

Seto stared to pull away again, but after looking again at the crowd, he let her pull him into the relatively quiet kitchen.

Hours later, Seto had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and had to pause every now and then to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. He had always thought that he was a decent cook, but after watching the two nuns and Ms. Aisu move around the kitchen, he felt like he was all thumbs. Surprisingly, he found himself smiling and smirking as the three women joked around. The time passed faster than he had expected.

Ms. Aisu sighed and stretched her back after tossing her apron on a nearby chair. "I'm glad everything's done."

An older blonde woman laughed. "Our work is never done. You know that."

The novice smiled. "At least the cooking is done for the night."

Seto looked up as a child ran in. It took him a moment to recognize Sam. The young redhead was dressed in a brown outfit that reminded Seto of the Robin Hood movies he'd watched with Mokuba.

"The guests are starting to arrive!" the boy cried, panting as he leaned against a chair.

Quickly, the three women tidied up the kitchen while Seto stood in confusion. "Guests?" he asked in a soft tone.

Ms. Aisu nodded. "We sold tickets to the plays to raise money for the center. The volunteers have seats reserved in the front rows and tables set aside for them during the dinner."

Seto hesitated, but before he could say anything, Ms. Aisu shook her head. "You are a volunteer." She smiled and grabbed his arm before he could protest. "Come on, dinner is about to start. If you feel badly about it, you can always make a donation later."

Seto nodded thoughtfully and he let himself be led from the relative safety of the kitchen. Ms. Aisu left Seto at a table and went to greet some of the notable people who were coming in. Seto recognized some of the leading businessmen and government officials in the group that were filling up the other tables. He barely managed to restrain his reflex to lash out when he felt a tug on his shirt. He was glad he did when he looked down to see Sam standing by his side.

"I'm sorry to bother you, mister, but my brother just got out of the hospital and I wanted him to meet you."

Seto blinked and nodded, startled by the young boy's request. Sam smiled and hurried off. Mokuba walked up to Seto, giggling. "You look like someone hit you with a board." The younger Kaiba laughed at his brother's exasperated look. "It looks like you've got a fan." Mokuba laughed as Seto's eyes widened in something approaching shock. The younger boy turned when he heard a soft scrapping and tapping sound. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked over his brother's shoulder.

Curious, Seto turned and felt his heart go out to the pair of young boys walking toward him. Sam was leading a younger boy with dark auburn hair. The older boy walked close beside his brother, ready to lend a hand but willing to let him do what he could. The younger boy was wearing a "turtle shell brace", a back brace with straps that went over his shoulders and attached to another brace in front that was also strapped to the back part on the sides. He was also wearing a pair of leg braces and was using forearm crutches. Sam smiled up at Seto. "Will, this is the nice man who drove Ms. Aisu and I around when we were trying to return that partridge I told you about."

Will smiled shyly up at him before shifting his weight to rest on one crutch so he could free a hand to reach out and shake Seto's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Seto squeezed Will's hand lightly and shook his hand before releasing it. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Come on, Will. Ms. Aisu wants us to go sit at the table with the other kids." Sam looked up at Seto. "Thank you again."

Seto nodded a small smile on his face as the two walked away. His smile faded and he looked up at Mokuba who was still watching the brothers.

"Will is all the family Sam has."

Seto looked up startled. Yugi smiled as he sat down in the chair opposite Seto. "I talked to him earlier. Sam said that they lost their parents in a car wreck. He was fine but Will was hurt pretty bad. The doctors weren't sure if he would live." Yugi tilted his head to the side, watching the table where the kids who lived at the Center were sitting. "The Center worked out a deal with the hospital so they can make payments on his bills."

Seto nodded and glanced around. "Where's the rest of your gang?"

Yugi grinned. "They're coming. They volunteered to help serve."

Seto rolled his eyes but before he could say anything, Joey walked up. "And here we go, folks." Joey grinned as he set down three loaded plates. "Hey, moneybags, nice to see you loosened up enough to eat with the rest of us mere mortals."

Seto growled before smirking and replying. "It's Christmas, isn't that when heavenly creatures are supposed to mingle with mere mortals?"

Joey blinked before laughing. "I knew you were human underneath all that."

Seto snorted. "I believe you have me mistaken for someone else."

Joey chuckled before returning to the kitchen for more plates.

The brunette turned back to the other occupants of his table and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Mokuba grinned at him then over at Yugi before digging in. Yugi merely smiled and took a swallow of his cider.

The rest of the dinner passed in a blur. Soon, Seto found himself sitting in the front row watching the plays. He couldn't help smiling when they started the Twelve Days of Christmas. It didn't take long to figure out that pretty soon all the kids were getting confused over what came when. Soon, the rest of the kids were following Sam's lead when it became obvious that the redhead was the only one who remembered the lyrics. Sapphire eyes glanced at the seat across the aisle from him and his smile widened at the delight on Will's face. The look of awe and love reminded him of the looks Mokuba sent his way from time to time.

When the next play, one about a pair of twin Santas, was ending, Seto barely held back a laugh. He'd noticed that one of the reindeer, Donner if he remembered correctly, had an x made from duct tape on his rump. It was probably where the balloon reindeer had been punctured in the first place.

The play about the birth of Christ came last and all the kids received a standing ovation. Seto was startled to find himself standing and applauding with the others.

After the final play, the stage was cleared and a red chair was set up. The kids whispered excitedly among themselves, knowing that Santa would soon show up. Mokuba had slipped of into the room behind the stage to change into his elf costume. Seto frowned when twenty minutes slipped by. He was starting to get up to go check on Mokuba when a small hand touched his elbow. The brunette flinched, but looked up to see a worried Ms. Aisu standing beside him. He followed her backstage, worried about what was wrong.

"The man who was supposed to play Santa hasn't shown up. We can't let the kids down." She bit her lip, her dark eyes pleading. "You're the only one tall enough to wear the suit."

Seto seriously considered turning her down, but looking into her pleading eyes he was reminded of the small boy sitting on the first row. He sighed and nodded. Ms. Aisu gave him a brilliant smile and tugged him down the hall to a different room.

The kids were starting to get restless, and the adults were starting to wonder what was going on when a deep familiar "Ho, Ho, Ho!" rang out as a tall man in red walked in with a large bag of presents. Amid cheers and laughter, Santa mounted the stairs onto the stage and sat down on the chair. A pack of elves carried in another bag and emptied both of them, placing the presents around the tree.

Mokuba stood off to the side with a camcorder, grinning as child after child was lead up to sit on Santa's knee. The jolly old man would ask each child their name then ask how their year was before sending an elf to get the kid's present. The kid would climb off Santa's lap and open the presents on the stage. Almost always, there were squeals of delight as the kid found what he or she had asked for.

The last children who walked up to Santa were Sam and his little brother Will. Sam pushed Will forward when the smaller boy stopped a few feet away. Gently, Santa lifted the young boy to his lap.

"You're name is Will, isn't it?" Santa asked his deep voice full of compassion.

Will looked up at him in surprise, blushing as he nodded.

Santa looked over at Sam. "And you must be Sam." The redhead blinked and nodded. "Well, boys, I have a pair of very special gifts for you." Santa glanced over at the elves. He was glad the beard hid his smirk. It had been hard to get this gift at the last minute, but sometimes having fingers in so many projects came in handy. While a girl four kids back had been opening her gift, he saw one of his black-suited guards slipping in, handing an envelope to one of the 'elves'.

Mokuba raised an eyebrow as two elves stepped forward, one holding a box and the other an envelope. Santa set Will down carefully and smiled as the auburn-haired child tore into the package. "Oh! Sam, look!" The young boy held a laptop, the gift he had asked for, but never expected.

"Wow!" Sam reached out and ran a hand over the smooth cover of it.

Will frowned and nudged Sam. "Hey, open your gift."

Sam slowly started reading, his young voice stumbling over the large words. His voice slowly trailed off and his eyes grew wide.

"Sam?" Will nudged his brother again. "What does it say, Sam?"

The young boy looked up, tears in his eyes. "It says that someone paid for you to have the operations you need." His hands shook and he sniffed, staring down at the piece of paper.

The smaller boy shook his head. "Santa did it."

Sam got up and ran over to hug Santa. "Thank you," he whispered, pressing his face into the soft red suit. Sam smiled and looked up into warm sapphire eyes. "Are you an angel?" he asked softly, recognizing the young man behind the beard as the one who had been so nice to him.

Seto smiled. "No. I'm a big brother." He held the child a moment longer before the redhead dashed over to hug Will. The audience broke into cheers and laughter and some of the faces were wet with tears. Seto did his best "Santa exit" and breathed a sigh of relief when he finally made it back into the room he had changed in.

"Keep it up, Kaiba, and people might start thinking you have a heart."

Seto whirled around to find Joey lounging in the doorway. He snorted and looked away, trying to hide an embarrassed flush. He was glad he had at least managed to get his pants back on before Joey had walked in. "What are you doing here, mutt?" he asked, trying to change the subject. He looked up and wished he hadn't.

Joey shrugged, pushing his pants down. "I need to change into my costume, I'm playing storyteller tonight so I've gotta dress the part."

Seto blinked and started to ask what kind of costume when his voice caught in his throat. He had never really thought about what kind of underwear the blond would wear, but he never would have guessed that he'd wear what he had on. Joey was wearing a dark red thong with dancing reindeer on it.

Joey turned to see why Seto was so quiet and realized where the brunette was staring. He blushed. "They were a gag gift. I promised I'd wear 'em at least once."

The taller boy blinked and suddenly smirked. "Are you sure you're not trying to impress someone?"

The blond blushed as dark as his thong, but before he could respond, another voice broke in.

"Mmm, you look delicious."

Joey and Seto looked up to find Bakura watching Joey with a hungry look on his face. For some reason, Seto felt the urge to slam the former Tomb Robber up against the wall and demand he stop staring.

Bakura chuckled as he stalked further into the room. He raised an eyebrow as he pulled a paper bag out of the locker that Joey had tossed his clothes into. "Oh, what do we have here? Planning on doing some private celebrating?" Joey blushed and tried to grab the bag back before Bakura could open it. The lithe thief dodged aside and burst into laughter as he opened the bag. The blond sulked and glared at the former Tomb Robber. "A private celebration indeed," Bakura purred as he pulled out a quart bottle.

Seto blinked, reading the label twice before it hit him just what Bakura was holding. His face turned crimson at the images invoked by the name.

Joey snatched the bottle of chocolate flavored lube back. "It was a gag gift."

"So who gave it to you?"

Joey glared at the thief. "If you have to know, I don't know. It was sitting in my locker when I got here." The blond felt the urge to flee when Bakura's eyes narrowed and he licked his lips.

"In that case, what to you say to a private party? I love the taste of chocolate."

Joey blushed harder and shoved the bottle back into the locker, hurriedly throwing on a pair of pajamas and a robe before escaping.

Bakura smirked at the fuming CEO. "What's the matter, Kaiba? Am I hitting on your territory?"

Seto gave the white-haired thief an icy glare before sweeping out of the room, gritting his teeth as Bakura laughed behind him. When Seto reentered the main room, he saw that most of the people had left and the kids were gathered around Joey who was sitting on the floor reading from a huge book. Dark sapphire eyes searched the nearly empty room for a familiar mop of black hair. However, before he found his brother something else caught his eyes. The ancient Spirit had taken control at some time while Seto had been distracted and didn't seem to notice the danger heading his way. Seto smirked and made his way closer, wanting to get a good look at Yami's face.

Some sixth sense caused Yami to look up from his conversation with Tristan and felt surprise and trepidation fill his heart. Tea was walking toward them with a branch of mistletoe, but that wasn't what disturbed the ancient Pharaoh. It was the sight of a pink fur handcuff hanging from a slim wrist that made him want to flee.

Tea smirked at the wide-eyed look that Yami was directing at her. She added a bit of sway to her hips as she walked up to him. She could tell that it was only the ancient Spirit's pride that kept him from running away. She tried not to snicker, but his reaction reminded her of a little boy who was about to be pinned down and kissed. She paused a foot from him.

"Almost ready to leave, Tea?"

She almost laughed at his desperate attempt to escape without appearing flustered. "I've got a surprise for you," she purred, leaning forward. She barely held back a snicker as Yami leaned back from her. As she reached the mistletoe out toward him, crimson eyes grew wider and he looked like he'd love to vanish. "Merry Christmas," she whispered in a husky tone, conscious of all the stares directed at them. She leaned forward a bit further and Yami paled as his eyes grew even larger. Tea snickered and kissed him on the cheek. She straightened up and laughed. "What did you think I was going to do?"

Yami blinked and reminded himself to breath. "I...I...um..." He shook his head, deciding it would be better not to say anything. "Why are you wearing those?" he asked, pointing to the handcuffs.

Tea shrugged. "They were a gag gift from one of the other volunteers. He snapped one of the cuffs on my wrist as a joke when he gave them to me, but didn't realize he forgot the key in the box out in his car. I'm waiting for him to get back."

Seto shook his head and walked away. He found Mokuba in the kitchen with Ms. Aisu. After saying goodbye, the pair headed home. As late as it was, they got ready for bed as soon as they got home. Some time later, Seto was disgusted to discover that as tired as he was, he just couldn't seem to sleep. Sighing in defeat, he decided grab a glass of milk. As he passed by the front door on his way to the kitchen, a soft sound caught his attention. Sapphire eyes narrowed as Seto moved closer to the door, suspecting an intruder.