Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Too bad... or not? ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Title: Too Bad…Or Not

Author: Himitsu/Himitsu-chan

Disclaimers: They're not mine. They are owned by Kazuki Takahashi and Konami.

Notes: set 5 years after Yugi and the gang have graduated..

[thoughts]

"speech"

(comments)

*emphasis*

Warnings: Possible OOC's and shounen-ai.

Seto sat quietly to listen to his "professor's" lecture.

"Well it's quite complicated actually. First, we must know how to get his attention. Hmmm…"

Mokuba seemed to be thinking very hard about it. His brows were furrowed so closely together that they might over lap or something. The CEO just watched the face of his little brother. After a short while, the concentration etched earlier on his face dissipated to be replaced by an enlightened one. Well, maybe a toothy grin was more like it, but hey no one's perfect.

"I have the perfect idea. You could just give him a significant gift so that he won't be able to get it out of his head. That would also include you." Mokuba said with a grin that could rival the cat in Alice in Wonderland [1].

The brown-haired teen considered this. But something was amiss.

"Don't you think it would be unbecoming of me if I just handed him a present for no apparent reason?"

His little brother's eyes became wide after that statement. It was the what-do-you-mean kind of widening. He was slightly irritated by this. It seemed as if he was forgetting something important…

"What!?" he asked a little irritated.

"What do you mean what!? Have you forgotten that it's Christmas tomorrow?"

"Oh…" he DID really forget something. Then his eyes widened a little. He forgot about Christmas because he was so engrossed in the "Jou business". And he had absolutely NO gift ready. Even for his little brother.

[I wonder if his red sports car is still usable…] he thought absently.

Being the bright child that he is…was…and still is, Mokuba quickly understood his older brother's predicament. And he smiled a little at this. It was kind of cute in a twisted kind of way because Seto ALWAYS shops a week before Christmas. [2] Now his big brother was so focused on Jou that he forgot to do it. That was why he found out about his new red sports car prematurely. Honestly, no one should really park a gift in the parking lot for all to see. It even had a very big ribbon so it was quite obvious. But enough about that…

"I know this shop that sells nice gift items if you are interested…"

Seto seemed to have regained his composure and answered in typical Seto manner.

"That would be a good idea. Besides, I doubt if I could give him something that I have previously purchased." Okay. So he really didn't have anything but he had his pride after all.

Mokuba just sighed at his little brothers antics and motioned for Seto to follow him.

The mall was so packed with people that the patrons only had less than a foot of personal space. Late Christmas shopping was quite a fad these days. In fact, many pages about lost children have seemed to go off per minute. The younger of the two brothers seemed to be afraid of loosing contact with his older brother so he valiantly clutched his brothers' coat. The seams of the coat were being ripped slowly but that really wasn't the problem now. After fifteen minutes of shoving into people (the shoving was done by Seto) they arrived at a shop named "Blue Magic" [3]. It really looked like a chic shop but Seto thought that if Mokuba suggested it then why not? The shop held a few people so it was easier now to walk and talk. After a quick glance at the contents of the shop, he was quite amazed by the things that the store held. Dolls, candles, bags, and other things were present. But weren't these kinds of things given to girls?

"Mokuba. Why are we here?" he inquired.

"To buy Jou a gift of course."

Seto really wanted to bop Mokuba on the head sometimes because of his antics but as usual he let it pass.

"Don't be offended or anything but isn't this a shop for girl gifts?"

The younger Kaiba seemed to be startled by his inquiry but he quickly composed himself and just grinned.

"Just wait and see." He answered in a conspiratorial way.

Seto just followed his brother and surveyed the other things sold in the shop. Something brown caught his eye. It looked like…like… well…shit. Yup shit. It seemed that this shop even sold gag items. He tore his eyes away from the offending piece of whatever when his younger brother stopped and eyed some of the displays. He looked at it and saw dog things. Lots of them.

"Why would I give him dog things?"

"What's wrong with giving "dog things" big brother?" Mokuba inquired in a completely innocent tone.

"Well, first of all, he hates dogs. And secondly, how could THAT remind him of me?"

His little brother was still looking at one of the stuffed toys when he answered.

"Well, first of all, he doesn't hate dogs. I see him walk his dog in the mornings. He also walks the neighbor's dogs sometimes. And secondly, you always likened him to dogs so he'll remember you when he sees it."

"But the guy with the dice… what's his name? Oh right, Otogi. He also teased Jou with dog names."

Mokuba sighed. His brother was really becoming difficult about the dog subject. And besides, when Otogi teased Jou with dog names, his intentions were to degrade whilst when Seto teased Jou; it was more of an endearment really. And he knew that when Jou was teased by Otogi, the blond really became pissed. But when his big brother teased Jou, the blond seemed to be in a more tolerating mood.

"You and Otogi have different reasons when teasing Jou so it's not really the same thing."

The young CEO pondered on his younger brother's statement for a while. Understanding dawned on him and he just let out a sigh. His brother really knew him well…

Something yellow and soft was shoved in front of his face.

"How about this?"

Seto pulled the offending things away from him to be able to study it. It was a doll. No wait, two dolls to be exact. And they were… KISSING? [4] He just raised his eyebrow to signal Mokuba that he would need to explain.

"Well they're cute." Seto just continued to raise his eyebrow.

"And well, they do this." To support his statement, Mokuba pulled the two dogs apart and carefully laid them down the glass display nearby. Seto watched as the dogs seemed to crawl toward each other and kiss. He even heard and "I love you" coming from the toy after the display. He just continued to raise his eyebrow.

"Jees, ok fine. Maybe it's a little bit early in the relationship to be giving those kinds of gifts." Then he stalked towards more dolls while a slightly red-faced Seto followed him.

[Relationship? We don't even have one…yet.] he silently thought.

"How about that?" his eyes followed the direction of Mokuba's finger and saw a very large dog doll. It was really large that it might even surpass the older Kaiba's height. And that was saying something.

"It's too big. It will attract too much attention." And I don't want to drag something that big all the way to the car. He silently added.

Mokuba seemed to pout a little at the admonition but he just shrugged and studied the other displays again. Seeing the pout, Seto remembered a squid doll near the entrance. He'll give that to Mokuba just to tease him. And maybe he'll add in a new car as well. His younger brother was helping him after all. He'll just need to find a way to buy that without his brother noticing. As he was surveying the store for a distraction for his brother, a sudden movement caught his eye. He went closer to the location of said movement and he was brought into a key chain rack. Upon closer inspection, he then realized that it was a small dog key chain.

[Perfect.] he thought.

He then approached Mokuba to ask about him a significant question.

"Does Jou have a car?"

His younger brother seemed to be puzzled by his question but he answered none the less.

"I think so. But it was busted a month ago. I'm not sure if he still uses it. Why?"

"It's because I saw this keychain there. And it had a little golden retriever doll attached to it."

The younger of the two went to inspect the key chain rack and went back to his brother.

"I think it's perfect big brother. And if his car is still functional, then he'll be able to see your gift for him."

Seto wanted to say : "What if he doesn't use it?" but his younger brother seemed to have read his mind and answered his indirect question.

"And I'm sure he'll use it. He uses the things given to him to show his appreciation."

He smiled a little at this. There was only one more problem.

"Could you call Yugi or someone to make sure that his car is still usable? Because if it isn't I don't really know what would happen if I gave him a car instead."

Mokuba nodded and asked him to be excused while he called Yugi on his cellphone outside. While his younger brother did this, he went on ahead and grabbed the squid and proceeded to the key chain rack. When he looked for the key chain again, he was surprised that there were two key chains there instead of one.

[Might have overlooked it.] he thought.

He just grabbed the two so that he'll also have the same key chain as his puppy. As he approached the counter, he noticed that one of the cashier's mouth was really falling near the floor. And when he looked closely enough, the face of the cashier, it was quite familiar. Too bad he can't really place it…

"Kaiba?" she asked.

Seto wanted to roll his eyes and say "obviously" but he was already in a good mood so he decided to be a little civil. In other words he just nodded at the person and placed his purchases on the counter. He saw the name tag of the cashier and it read "Anzu".

[Anzu…Anzu… where did I hear that name again? Oh yes, one of Jou's friends.]

"Do you want them to be separately wrapped?" Anzu inquired.

"Yes Anzu." He just replied. This caused Anzu's mouth to really drop to the floor. What is it with people anyway? When he decides to be civil, they act as if he was an alien… and besides, this was his puppy's friend. He should at least be nice to them.

[Wait a minute! Does that mean that I have to give them gifts too? I don't have any yet…] Seto really wanted to go and ask Mokuba but the gifts aren't wrapped yet. When he looked at the gifts again, they were already wrapped. He must have been thinking longer than he had expected.

"Here are your gifts. Come again." Anzu said jovially. Seto's civility must have rubbed on her. When he went towards the door, he was greeted by Mokuba who eyed the extra packages curiously.

When they were about to go into Mokuba's red sports car, Seto suddenly remembered his little problem.

"Jou's friends…" he started but Mokuba being Mokuba answered his supposed question immediately.

"Don't worry. I already have gifts for them at home. Oh yeah if you were wondering how you would be able to give Jou's gift, you could just give to him later at the Christmas party at Yugi's. "

What Mokuba said in the car resounded in the CEO's head like a bad case of LSS (Last Song Syndrome). A confrontation with his blond puppy right away was something that he didn't need. What if he stammered or something? That would be unbecoming. He needed to mentally prepare himself. He also needed to find something nice to wear…

So now, he was literally tearing his closet inside out just to look for something to wear. He couldn't ask for his brother's opinion right now because Mokuba said that he needed to do something important and would be back by 9:45 in the evening. He had to find something fast because they would be going there in three hours. He should have been really informed immediately but his brother seemed to have forgotten it. Because if Mokuba purposely kept it from him then he would see red.

"Damn." He muttered.

After looking for something to wear that was not too "formal and businnessy" as Mokuba had put it, he just decided on a pair of black slacks with a black jacket. Deciding that he looked like he was going to a funeral if he wore that, he added a dark blue shirt and a cross necklace. He surveyed his choice of clothes again and decided that it didn't look "formal and businnessy". It did look kind of casual actually.

Deciding that it was time to get himself ready, he went into the shower to take a shower.

After his shower and his hour long meeting with his mirror, he went down to the living room to meet with his brother. They would be leaving immediately because they had to arrive at Yugi's place at 10:00. Just as he stepped on the last step, he was greeted by a whistle from his brother.

"You look good big brother."

Seto was a little started but he gathered his wits immediately.

"I thought you would be out until 9:45. You're 15 minutes early."

"I just wanted to give you a few pointers before going there."

After a lecture about lessening the dog insults, being civil to his friends and smiling a little, they were now in Mokuba's red sports car on their way to Yugi's. They would have taken Seto's Blue MR-2 Turbo T-bar Toyota but he was so nervous that he could not trust himself to even hold the steering wheel correctly. After the 15 minute drive, they arrived at the front door of Yugi's game shop. Seto's nerves were frayed at that point. He wanted to keel over but he was SETO KAIBA after all. And SETO KAIBA did not keel over so he steeled himself and walked towards the door. They were greeted by the loud booming sounds coming from the house. It seems that the party had already started. Well, Seto was not really someone who adores crowded places, but seeing that his puppy was here, he would take the risks. He would finally get a glimpse of his puppy again.

Once they have entered, they were enthusiastically greeted by the "host" of the party: Yugi. They were led into the house and were ushered to the living room. Mokuba had already started to chat with other people while Seto on the other hand was just scanning the room for a sight of his puppy. He spotted blond hair at the left side of the room. Jou was dancing there. Very well too. All the nervousness that he had been feeling at the very start came back to him full force. How would he give his gift to Jou? It was not as easy as just going straight to the blond to give the gift himself. They were not really close. So Seto just stood there, contemplating a possible move.

He had stayed there standing for nearly two hours and it was nearly 12:00. He still had no clue on how to give his gift. He was a genius, yes, but not on these kind of things. Giving a gift to Jou was harder than computing logarithms. Mokuba was too engrossed in interacting with other people that he was hardly near Seto's side. Not that Seto minded but he really wanted to ask Mokuba for some help. He was brought out of his stupor when Yugi's voice floated in the air.

"May I ask all of us to proceed to the dining room to start on the Christmas feast and for the gift giving ceremony?"

This was what Seto needed. He just smirked and followed his brother towards the dining room.

The table was full of food. It looked like a huge buffet was unsuccessfully stuffed unto it. All the people present were seated around the table and the scene gave Seto a weird sense of being at a Christmas dinner with the family. Not that he would say it out loud and he also doubted that he was even part of it, but somehow, he felt nice just to be there. The presence of his puppy was even a bonus.

As the others ate amiably, the young CEO was silently surveying Jou. Mai was seated beside him. He was really tempted to throw his mashed potatoes on Mai's hair because the blonde was seating TOO close to Jou. But he can't really blame them, if they were really together, then they had every right to be that close. But that didn't mean that Seto liked to accept it. Jou must have noticed him staring because he suddenly looked at Seto's direction. At first, Seto didn't know what to do but then he suddenly remembered something that his little brother told him before they went here. He had told Seto that if he caught Jou's eyes, he should smile. That would help a lot if he wanted to be noticed. Seeing that he didn't know what else he could do, he smiled.

It was now the gift giving part of the night. It was after midnight and they had all finished their meals. Some of the other people present said that they needed to go home while the others decided to party the night away. Everybody had then decided that they could exchange gifts right now so that the ones who were leaving would be able to give and get their gifts. It was actually quite a scene of chaos after that. People were buzzing around the room and were handing gifts of all sizes. Mokuba was already giving gifts to people. There was a tag on each gift and there was a "from M&S Kaiba" written on them. Not that Seto had anything to do with it. Mokuba had just insisted that he would include Seto's name so that he would also be giving gifts to Jou's friends. He had even said that it would change their view on him somewhat because of that.

Now his only problem was on how to hand Jou the gift. It also had a tag on it but it only read: "from S Kaiba". Seeing the advantage of the mini crowd, Seto stalked towards his puppy and tapped him on his shoulder.

Jou turned around and it seemed that he was quite shocked because of the look in his face. But his normal friendly face returned and gave Seto a big smile. Seeing the smile, Seto could not help but smile back. He remembered the gift that he was supposed to give. He lifted it up for Jou to see. The blond haired boy's eyes widened in surprise as he silently accepted the gift. Jou looked down at the package and Seto decided that that was his cue to leave.

Author's notes:

--> Explanations and Translations:

I can't remember the name of the cat…

Many people do this. I think that it's kind of a bad habit but hey, it's their life anyway.

There is a shop here with that name. and they sell some of the items that I have mentioned.

I saw this toy once. It looked really cute but enough about that…

--> I'm really sorry for the very long update. I was kind of busy in school with all of the memorizing that we had to do. Why should we memorize all the names of the muscles anyway? It's not as if we would remember them all later…

--> I decided to make this a longer chapter to make up for the lateness…

--> Oh and for my other fics, I'm currently having a problem on continuing them. 1st is because I don't really know how to continue Ankh. It's still a WIP (work in progress), while Lost still needs a new summary. I'm not so sure but I might even add another chapter to end it and just make a sequel as a continuation.

--> What do you think? Should I continue, or not? Thanx for the review btw. I really appreciate them.

--> Please tell me what you think.

--> If you have any corrections, please feel free to tell me.