A/N: Thank you b00kworma for the lovely title. Thank you Fae and Michi for beta-ing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

The Java Script scrolled down the computer in a green blur. A pair of violet-grey eyes widened in dismay. "Ummm…"

Mokuba Kaiba typed wildly in an attempt to slow down the diabolic HTML codes. Finally he slumped in his chair. Soft, raven-black spikes laid sprawled over the keyboard in the final gesture of defeat. Rubbing sleep-deprived eyes, the young Kaiba mustered his courage and disconnected the laptop. He clambered off the swivel chair, and trusty laptop in tow, threaded his way across his eclectic bedroom (once compared to a minefield by his older brother).

Leaving the sanctuary of his personal chaos, Mokuba walked down the elegant hall and trudging through the plush carpet, made his way to the stern door of Kaiba's bedroom.

"Come in."

From behind the door, the cold and clipped voice sounded strangely alien.

Careful not to drop the machinery, Mokuba pushed open the door. "Hey Big Brother."

Kaiba tore his eyes off the stock reports to greet his little brother. "Hey kiddo." His smile, though wan, was genuine. Mokuba was the one spark of light keeping Seto Kaiba sane in the ugliness of the corporate world.

"I need help, Seto. How do you reverse the JS coding so I can replace it with C4…?"

Kaiba nodded slowly as he listened, sapphire eyes not reflecting his surprise. Mokuba's programming skills had increased exponentially in recent weeks. After a few clarifying questions, Kaiba proceeded to show Mokuba how to obtain the desired results.

"…so remember to convert it first, ok?"

Mokuba nodded thoughtfully. Almost immediately, a broad smile lighted up his face. "This is awesome, Seto! Serenity will be so pleased. We were both so worried that the two's and five's wouldn't mix. At first, Serenity thought I was insane to suggest such a weird syncopation. She said something like 'Even Phillip Glass never attempted something this heavy!'. But I begged and begged. Finally, Serenity admitted that it had a lot of potential, and Serenity…"

Kaiba ruffled Mokuba's hair and returned his attention to the little rows of numbers before him. However, the word "Serenity" kept jumping out at him. It seemed like every other word out of Mokuba's mouth had to do with Serenity-this or Serenity-that.

Who the heck is Serenity? The name sounds a little familiar…

As much as Kaiba hated to admit it, his little brother's monologues weren't always all that interesting. Though he was determined to give Mokuba the attention and love that he had never had as a child, Kaiba inevitably tuned out most of Mokuba's babbling as he worked. However, Kaiba prided himself on usually getting the general gist of things.

"So Mokuba…who's this Serenity?"

Mokuba stared at Kaiba with wounded eyes. "Serenity? Seto…she-she's my best friend. She's been my best friend for the past two years. Don't you remember her?"

And…ouch.

A lonely gust of wind scattered the leaves, and the fallen foliage danced across the empty school yard. Mokuba sat on the ground cross-legged, fiddling with his backpack strap. His brother was late.

Mokuba tried to quell the rising sadness. It was his birthday, and Seto had promised to pick him up and have dinner with him. Surely Seto wouldn't have forgotten?

A sleek convertible rolled up to the sidewalk. Mokuba smiled in relief. He jogged over to the car and slid in. "Hey Big Brother."

"Hey kiddo. Sorry about that…My secretary apparently thought your school ends at 4:30." His eyes flashed steely blue. Mokuba had never seen his brother so pissed at a regular worker. Kaiba usually considered the people with tech-level jobs too stupid to waste his anger on. His wrath, in all its magnificent intensity, was usually only reserved for the professionals and executives. "I ought to fire her."

"Please don't, Seto. She's really nice. I think she's the best secretary you've ever had!"

Kaiba smirked. "Only because she gives you candy every time you visit."

Mokuba blinked innocently.

"I have some stuff to catch up on. Can we stay at my office for a bit before I take you out to dinner?"

Mokuba nodded happily.

They arrived at Kaiba Corp. and Kaiba swept into the building, Mokuba trotting behind him. At the top floor, they were ambushed (as Kaiba put it) by his secretary.

"I am so sorry, Mokuba," she simpered. "I hope you didn't catch a cold out there, you poor thing! Here, take an extra piece of candy today."

Mokuba smiled, dutifully allowed her to continue to gush over him and was rewarded with yet another piece of candy.

"Disgusting," Kaiba muttered.

"You're just jealous she never gives you candy."

Kaiba snorted. He yanked open the door to his office and as they entered, Mokuba dropped his dopey smile. Thankfully.

The next two hours were spent in comparative bliss for Kaiba as he hacked through his work load and Mokuba sprawled on the floor, did his homework, muttering darkly whenever he came across a particularly tedious math problem.

As he waited for the download to reach 100%, Kaiba heard the distant grumbling of thunder. He looked out the windows and saw baby-blue skies, a cheerfully shining sun.

What the –

"Hey Seto? What time are we having dinner?"

Kaiba looked down at his younger brother, who rubbed his stomach and smiled sheepishly. Kaiba checked the clock and rolled his eyes. "Well, it's only six…"

The grumbling became a dull roar.

Kaiba sighed. "Alright, alright."

Mokuba punched his fist into the air, "Yeah!" He raced back to his backpack and haphazardly shoved homework assignments into it. Kaiba winced; he sincerely hoped that Mokuba treated Kaiba Corporation's papers with more care, seeing as Mokuba had been the Vice President for almost two years now. As soon as the data was completely transferred over, Kaiba saved his files and shut down the laptop.

"Your choice today, kiddo." Kaiba ruffled Mokuba's hair, but Mokuba's grin immediately made him regret his generosity.

"How about Hip-Hop Joe's for pizza, Seto?"

Remember that you made him wait in the bitter cold, in an empty school yard for half an hour on his birthday.

Kaiba shut his eyes. Reopening them, he found that it hadn't been a nightmare after all, and his brother was still looking up at him expectedly.

"But wouldn't that be considered cruel and unusual punishment?"

Mokuba's eyes widened. "Was that a joke, Seto? Hey, not bad for your first attempt!"

Kaiba stepped outside, breathing the crisp air with evident relief. He had always known he'd be willing to go to hell for his younger brother. He just never thought he would have to pay for it as well.

Mokuba stretched and yawned contently. "That was so much fun, Seto. We should do it again."

Seto nodded, careful not to move too quickly lest he regurgitate all of the oil he'd just ingested on the sidewalk.

"Just get in the car, Mokuba."

They drove in silence.

At the front door of the Kaiba mansion, Kaiba and Mokuba were greeted by the maid. She bowed to both of them, and turning to Mokuba said, "Mokuba-san, a young lady is waiting for you in the living room."

"Is it Serenity?" Mokuba sprinted inside the house before the maid could answer.

A little curious – now that the mysterious Serenity had finally revealed herself – Kaiba also headed for the living room…in a much more stately and dignified manner.

"Serenity!!!"

The young girl's eyes fluttered open. Upon seeing her best friend, a beautiful smile graced her lips. Despite her pinched face, the dark bags under her eyes, and all other signs of utter weariness, her joy made her look positively radiant. She rose from the couch (where she had fallen asleep) but immediately plopped down again as Mokuba tackled her. They landed in sprawled tangle of limbs on the plush $20,000 Bambier couch from Italy.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. Even though they had gone to a fast food restaurant for dinner (he shuddered to consider it a "restaurant"), Kaiba had done his best to keep his hyper-active brother away from sugar. Apparently, the sugar in the soda was enough for Mokuba…

Serenity giggled. "Happy Birthday Mokuba! Did you have a good dinner?"

Mokuba beamed. "It was so amazing! I even got Seto to eat pizza with me!"

Kaiba's eyes softened. Mokuba's obvious happiness made all the food poisoning in the world worth it. The girl looked at him and his guard automatically went up. But she merely smiled and waved shyly. "Hello Mr. Kaiba."

Kaiba nodded tersely in reply.

Mokuba poked Serenity, "Where's my present, Seren?"

"Mokuba!" Kaiba snapped, appalled at his little brother's lack of manners.

"Oh sorry Seto. Never mind Serenity, I –"

"Don't be silly, Mokuba. Of course I got you a gift." Serenity withdrew a small, carefully wrapped package from her purse. The bouquet of curly ribbons on top bounced furiously as Mokuba shook the little box, trying to guess what lay inside.

"Can I open it, Serenity?" Mokuba asked eagerly. His fingers were poised to rip off the wrapping paper when he suddenly remembered. "Seto?"

Kaiba gave a barely perceptible nod.

Mokuba shredded the paper with glee and pried open the box. A USB drive was nestled in a bed of tissue paper. He gently picked up the USB drive and examined it. "What's in here, Serenity?"

"I know you're a computer genius Mokuba, but I don't think even you can figure out what's stored inside the USB just by looking at it."

Kaiba smirked. She had surprised him; he had been expecting some useless little stuffed animal. And she had a sense of humor. At least she's not an complete air-head.

Mokuba frowned. His own laptop was on the third floor. I hate living in a large mansion. It always takes so long to get anywhere. His eyes fell on the suitcase Kaiba held in his hands. It contained his brother's personal laptop, which Kaiba carried with him everywhere.

Kaiba saw the wheels turning in Mokuba's head. "Don't even think about it kiddo. Besides, you have your own laptop upstairs."

"But it takes forever to go up all these stairs and then come back down again. I want to see what's in my gift now! Please Seto?"

Kaiba highly doubted it took Mokuba "forever" to go anywhere. He had seen his little brother reach supersonic speed racing around the house, creating systematic havoc for the staff. He stared his brother down.

Soft violet eyes met hard sapphire. The puppy dog look versus the stone. A great battle of wills. The stone never had a chance.

Kaiba resignedly walked to the couch and sat down on Mokuba's left. Serenity remained on Mokuba's right. She covered her smile with her hand. The Great Seto Kaiba is human after all. Yugi was right.

Kaiba turned on his laptop, and his fingers flew over the keyboard with alarming alacrity as he checked in with all the security measures he had placed on the laptop. When he was done, he placed the laptop on the coffee table, directly in front of Mokuba. Without hesitation, Mokuba inserted the USB and brought it up on the screen. All eyes were on the laptop.

At the top of the screen, 4 golden arrows (up, down, left, right) glowed on an inky black background. A haunting melody began, and swirling colors began to take form in the darkness. Without warning, a mass of arrows, too many and too fast for Kaiba's eyes to catch, shot to the top of the screen accompanied by the acceleration in the tempo of the music…and then whatever-this-was really begun.

Mokuba was stunned. He could barely tear his eyes off the screen. Kaiba did not know what exactly this was but marveled on some instinctual level at the music, the speed and complexity of the arrows, and the dizzying background behind it all. He had never seen anything like this before. Serenity allowed herself a small smile.

Kaiba looked at her. Where had she found this? She was watching the screen intently, with a calculating look that Mokuba, no longer in shock, wore on his face as well. Kaiba had the most peculiar feeling that both of them could actually see the individual arrows, instead of the overwhelming cluster that he saw.

Towards the middle, Mokuba began beating a rhythm on his chest with his hands. It did not take Kaiba long to realize that when the arrows reached the top 4 golden arrows, it created a pattern – the groove that Mokuba was tapping out. Concentrating fiercely, Kaiba began to discern the individual arrows as they met the golden ones and matched that to the music he heard and to Mokuba's pounding. It was excruciatingly difficult, but Kaiba had always had a knack for picking up things quickly.

When the song finally ended, they continued to stare at the screen, even long after the golden arrows melted into the blackness. Mokuba was the first to break the silence. "Did you write that, Serenity?"

Serenity quirked her eyebrows and grinned. "You like it?"

It took all of Kaiba's training to keep his emotionless mask in place and not show surprise. She wrote that?

"That was…" Mokuba shook his head. "I can't describe it. It's amazing, Serenity, everything we've ever dreamed of." He searched Serenity's face, hoping that his eyes could convey the happiness words could not. "I can't wait to transfer it to a game console."

Serenity bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Mokuba…but I don't think you'll be able to do that."

"W-Why?"

"The coding's not compatible." She sighed. "A lot of the syncopation I used was what you had suggested, like the two's and five's, and Kami or C++ just didn't support that. When the inspiration hit me, I wanted to create an exact replica of the music I was hearing in my head and not shortchange it just because some program couldn't understand a hemiola rhythm." Serenity looked sadly at Mokuba. "Are you mad at me? I should have told you this before and not get your hopes up."

Mokuba hugged Serenity. "You're crazy, Serenity. This is the best gift I've ever received." He looked at Kaiba and added hastily, "It's almost as awesome as Seto's gift was." Serenity giggled at Mokuba's attempt at diplomacy. Over Mokuba's head, she winked at Kaiba, not seeming to mind Mokuba was comparing her hours of labor to the pizza dinner Kaiba had given.

Kaiba felt a pang of guilt. All of his frustration that he'd have to cancel two important executive meetings, cram stacks of paperwork in on Saturday, and postpone the progress of Kaiba Corp's new disk technology, seemed trivial compared to how much work Serenity had put in for Mokuba. No wonder she looks like she's about to faint from exhaustion. I wonder how long it took her.

"Don't worry, Serenity. I'll find a way to convert this. We'll do it together," Mokuba said solemnly.

Serenity sighed wistfully. "I wish we could. Having to use BBC is such a pain. Even quarter note triplets have to be rerouted." She shuddered at the memory. "Do you remember the time we tried to do a DDR chart for Pachel Bell Canon?"

Mokuba grimaced. "Please, Serenity. Don't remind me."

Serenity rose wearily from the couch. "I've got to go now, Mokuba. I'm glad you liked my gift. Bye Mr. Ka–"

"Wait!" Mokuba leapt up. "But you haven't read me a bedtime story yet."

Serenity looked confused.

"Everyone who gets me a birthday gift has to read me a story," explained the violet-eyed child. "Usually, it's only Seto, but this year, since it's your first time, you can go first."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. Mokuba could be a very good liar.

Serenity blinked. She felt a little woozy. The sleep-deprivation was kicking in, and she wasn't sure if she was thinking clearly. But didn't I get him a gift last year? How come I don't remember this? What about the year before?

"Mokuba, I'm really tired." She closed her eyes to steady herself. "Can we rain-check this? I'm sure your brother would prefer if I don't intrude on your family tradition."

Serenity looked at Kaiba beseechingly.

"Are you driving home?"

"Y-Yes." Her speech was slightly slurred.

Kaiba did not think that would be a particularly wise idea. However, he also did not want to torment the poor girl any more than absolutely necessary. Knowing Mokuba, the mischievous boy would probably force her to read The Lord of the Rings to him.

Kaiba shrugged. "You are welcome to stay here. But I suggest you call your parents so they will not worry about you coming home late."

Mokuba turned his adorable puppy-dog eyes on Serenity. "Please?"

Kaiba smirked. It was rather amusing to watch someone else being played by Mokuba. Usually his sole victim was Kaiba. And the maids sometimes.

Left really with no choice, Serenity nodded unsteadily. She fumbled in her purse for her phone and dialed her home number. She hit the answering machine. She mustered the effort to leave a coherent message and then dialed her mother's cell phone just to be safe.

"Hello? Hi Mom, where are you?"

"…"

"You won't be coming home tonight then?"

Mokuba flashed Kaiba a victorious grin.

"Oh, I just called to let you know I'm at a friend's house and not to worry."

"…"

"Ok, Byebye."

Serenity wearily snapped shut her cell phone. "It looks like I can stay awhile." She pushed through her tiredness and smiled fondly at Mokuba. "You're so smart Mokuba, why do you need someone to read to you?"

Mokuba shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Of course I can read all the books by myself. I just like having someone read to me." He smiled winningly at Serenity.

"Even after two years, I still get suckered by you," Serenity murmured. But she was not angry.

Mokuba could no longer keep the smirk off his face. It was the mirror image of Kaiba's expression. The resemblance was disconcerting.

Mokuba ejected the USB drive and carefully pocketed his gift. "Thanks Seto."

"Come on Serenity."

Mokuba took the delicate girl firmly by the hand and led her up the stairs.

Amused, Kaiba watched her stumble ever so slightly to match his brother's shorter but much more energetic strides. The poor, poor girl.

A/N: Reviewers greatly appreciated.