Katsuya hated Christmas. He decided on that fact after spending weeks looking for presents, determined to spend all the money he had been saving up for the past six months from his jobs. It wasn't the Yugi and the others that he was frustrated and hating Christmas over, because he already bought their gifts and they were all nice and wrapped up in his apartment, ready to be given. A new deck holder for Yugi and Yami and a gift card for two full course meals at their favorite restaurant with another gift card for Sugoroku, skates for Anzu with the logic that she could practice her dancing while getting more of a work out and he was sure she'd love them, some "special" magazines for Hiroto, as a joke of course because he couldn't wait to see his friend's face all red, and a new BB gun to play with, some perfume and a really nice dress for Shizuka, and a fancy art kit for Ryo just because he seemed like a sort of artsy guy. They had all been easy to buy things for. The problem was buying a gift for his near-yearlong boyfriend Seto Kaiba.
It had even been easy to buy a gift for Mokuba, though that was only because Katsuya forbad Kaiba from buying his little brother the present he planned to give to the younger brother. At 16 the kid was interesting in all things Katsuya was and he figured Call of Duty: MW3 would be the perfect Christmas present, not to mention he'd be able to play it too. It had entered his mind briefly to get him some magazines too and even though it would be priceless to see Kaiba's reaction, the dirty blonde valued his life and liked the thought of being able to continue seeing his friends and date the man who would surely kill him and get away with it. He did, however, want to see some sort of expression on Kaiba's face besides that scowl or annoying know-it-all smirk, but if he couldn't find a present, he wouldn't get to see anything but those two expressions.
"Let's see." Katsuya mumbled out loud and threw himself down on a bench in front of one of McDonald's, ignoring the way his stomach growled smelling the wonderfully greasy fast food. "What sort of things does Kaiba like?" Everything that came to mind was either boring, something Kaiba could easily buy himself, or had already and wouldn't be happy at receiving, not that he had that much money left anyway. It was something Katsuya only became aware of a few months ago, when he had missed a party the brunette was hosting and had even, surprisingly, invited him to and had to explain that he was working at his second job of the day, that his boyfriend was a bit concerned over his money situation. He could already picture the glare he'd receive if he so much as bought Kaiba a tie that cost more than twenty bucks. The only thing that was left was...
Damnit.
He thought and let his head fall back to stare up at the fast food restaurant's glaring logo. The only other thing Katsuya could think of that his boyfriend could like would be his utter humiliation. If Hiroto knew he was thinking of ways to willingly embarrass himself in front of the CEO, not that he hadn't done that anyway for the past few years, quite gracefully if the blonde said so himself, he'd never hear the end of it. He had come out to his friends, about everything related to the younger man, quite early in their relationship much to Kaiba's chagrin because he didn't want any more secrets between him and his friends, but understandably they still couldn't believe it except Yami who gave him a smirk that frighteningly mirrored his rival's.
After chowing down on a McDouble and large fry, Katsuya wandered back into the store where he bought his baby sister's dress on the hunt for the most horrid thing he'd willingly wear. Lingerie was completely out of the question. He wanted to make the billionaire happpy, but not that happy. Maybe for his birthday next year. As much as he didn't like to think about it, the blonde figured he owed it to his boyfriend for being a bully again and really hurting him that one time when he accused him of having no friends.
"Then the guy comes outta nowhere and asks me out." To say he had been shocked when he was cornered at work, a lowly restaurant the duelist never thought a big shot like Kaiba would enter, and heard such words fall from the other's lips would be an understatement. He had to give it to the guy for being able to stand there coolly and not say anything while Katsuya tried to make sense of it by babbling for a few moments before saying a very intelligent, "What?"
Next thing he knew Kaiba was being as nice as a Kaiba could be and all the things he'd do that'd annoy him started to become a little charming, like how the guy was such a workaholic, would correct his rough speech all the time, and Katsuya had noticed his words becoming less rough and dare he say formal sometimes, and wore trench coats all year round even if it was 100 degrees outside, and he just became a more likeable guy. The offhanded comments he'd make were even becoming easier to ignore and grin at, though sometimes Katsuya still found his hands fisting the collar of his lover's shirt and telling him to take words back. Most of those incidents now, however, resulted in Katsuya becoming flustered and his anger forgotten when Kaiba'd press his lips against his.
He was never sure if he should be surprised or not by how suddenly passionate the cold CEO could be. Katsuya thought it was just built up lust because he wasn't sure if Kaiba ever had a girlfriend, much less kissed anyone and even picturing the other touching himself could make the blonde snicker, but there was always the question of how he could leave him so weak in the knees with a simple kiss. It's just like him to be good at everything. And it was just silly to think that no man or woman had never thrown themselves at Kaiba's feet. People weren't just naturally good at kissing or anything like that, or at least he hadn't been his first time.
During his thoughts on their relationship, on Kaiba himself, Katsuya finally came across the most nauseating piece of holiday sleepwear he had ever seen. After finding one in size, he went up to the lady behind the counter and bought it with an embarrassed flush to his cheeks. I can only imagine what Kaiba will do when he sees me in this thing.
"Merry Christmas!"
Katsuya laughed as Mokuba eagerly ripped into his presents, even more excited than the blonde who was also eagerly opening his presents. The eldest of the three knew that Mokuba was just excited to receive double the presents, since all his friends and even Shizuka had gotten the Kaiba brothers something, though admittedly just cards for Kaiba, besides the Mutou family gift of a new, stylish briefcase to hold his cards in with a card saying, "I'm sure this'll be lighter for you than that metal one you carry around all the time. Yami picked it out for you, and Grandpa and I got you this card… It's the thought that counts, right?" When Katsuya read it over Kaiba's shoulder he couldn't help but laugh, knowing that Yugi had to have been laughing while writing it too. He had been there when the brothers were picking out a gift for the CEO.
"Aw, Mokuba! Ya shouldn't have." The blonde grinned as he pulled on a t-shirt with his favorite monster on it, putting his other shirt in the box he pulled the Red-Eyes from. "Do you think people will know who I am now just by glancin' at my shirt?"
"No." Kaiba said without looking away from the TV, but there was a faint smirk pulling at his lips so Katsuya knew he was teasing him already, so early on Christmas morning. Either way, the duelist puffed his cheeks out and went back to opening his gifts, pulling the blue chullo Shizuka got for him and attempted to put the white one on Kaiba but after a few laughs on his part and death glares from his boyfriend, Katsuya just set the hat on the coffee table in front of them, near the glasses of eggnog but not within harm's way.
He was opening Hiroto's present when he suddenly got an armful of black and happiness, blinking rapidly while he tried to keep up with the jumbled words of praise and thanks from Mokuba for the video game. "You're welcome, little buddy." Katsuya laughed, wrapping his arms around Mokuba, giving him a grin. "You'll let little ol' me play too, won't you?"
"Maybe." Mokuba returned the grin before he handed his big brother his gift to him, running around the table to put the game in his PS3. It was nice to see Kaiba's expression soften when he watched Mokuba, even more so when he opened the gift and, being the nosy sort of guy that he was, Katsuya got up to look over the tall man's shoulder to look down and see the picture frame with the three of them in a pretty box. There was another one, he noticed after a moment, of the two of them in KaibaCorp, in Kaiba's office, which Mokuba must have taken without them noticing. It was quite the charming picture, with Katsuya's arms wrapped around the other's neck from behind, sort of like he was now, and even then he had been nosy and was trying to see what had had the brunette so enthralled for nearly four hours. It only looked romantic because Mokuba had caught them before Kaiba shrugged Katsuya off and told him not to bother him while he worked.
"Where's my present?" Kaiba asked him after a moment, closing the box after he put his chullo in the box as well and setting it on the table.
"I could ask you the same thing." Katsuya grinned and, unable to resist, ruffled Kaiba's perfectly combed chocolate locks before grabbing his eggnog. "You'll see it tonight, Mr. Kaiba." He could only assume that he'd get his gift later that night too, seeing as he couldn't find a present to him from him under the tree. All he had to do was pretend that Kaiba's present and no big deal, so he wouldn't ruin the surprise, and of course not look overly eager for his own present.
"So, what did you get Kaiba for Christmas?" Yugi asked and looked up at Katsuya with big eyes, sipping on a caramel brulée latte from Starbucks. Yami, who was sitting beside his younger twin, turned his own ruby red eyes to him, and again Katsuya noted the way his faint smirk looked an awful lot like his rival. He had decided to go out and hang out with them for a bit since there was nothing to do at the Kaiba mansion, and he didn't want to hog Mokuba's present too much and Kaiba just never took a break and was working on his laptop, though he did stay in the living room with Mokuba. And Katsuya thought the brothers could use some time together alone on Christmas.
"Not tellin'."Katsuya said, taking a large sip of his caramel frappuccino. "What if it was something naughty that would scar you for the rest of your life?"
"We'd want to hear about it anyway." Yami smirked a little wider, and licked the whipped cream of his peppermint mocha from his lips. He's really been around his boyfriend too much. Marik was obviously a bad influence, though Yami had always had a mischievous streak of his own. He felt bad for Yugi, having to deal with his brother. They had decided to go to the same university and everything, so did Ryo and Bakura, and though no one said it out loud, they were all surprised Marik and Bakura had managed to get into Domino University.
"Well, I'm still not telling. How can I be sure you won't call him and ruin the surprise?"
"Is it lingerie?" When Yugi started coughing violently at that, both of the taller men reached out to pat the short boy's back even though it was Yami's fault. "Katsuya… in lingerie…" Yugi laughed and with a pout, Katsuya took his hand back when he realized the amethyst eyed boy was just laughing at him, not dying of shock at such a suggestion.
"It's not lingerie, asshole." Katsuya shot the older twin a dirty look and turned his attention back to the front, drinking half of his coffee. "Maybe for his birthday, but I don't know if I like him that much." He thought about something for a moment before he turned to look at the two, who looked highly amused over something Katsuya didn't want to think or ask about. "Oh yeah, he did love the briefcase you two got him, but shh, I didn't tell you that."
Yami chuckled while Yugi, who finally calmed down, giggled a little. "Of course." Yugi said, grinning warmly at Katsuya. He reached into his coat pocket after and held out his shiny new deck holder, and Yami followed his lead and Katsuya knew he had to be beaming to see they already put his present to use, and told him that they were going to be going out for dinner for the place to use their gift card, asking if he wanted to come with them, saying how excited Grandpa Sugoroku was to find that extra gift card Katsuya had slipped in there for him to get whatever he wanted to eat, too.
"Nah, I need to go see how the others like their presents then go back. I still need to give Kaiba his present, after all, and Mokuba would be hurt if I ate out instead of with them."
"Tell them Merry Christmas for us again, Katsuya!" Yugi called after him once he reached the door and Katsuya nodded with a large grin, waving to them before walking out of Starbucks and disappearing down the street.
Katsuya was all smiles when dinner came around and he decided that he really couldn't hate Christmas with so much wonderful food to devour. All his friends had liked their gifts and the blonde was more than happy that his hard work paid off. He had even stopped by his old place and given his father fifty bucks against his better judgment, but he figured the old man could at least celebrate Christmas the only way he knew how. His father didn't have many, if any, friends for many reasons and regardless of what sort of man he was, so Katsuya thought it'd be okay to play Santa for him at least once.
He and Mokuba talked about all sorts of things while they ate, like every dinner they'd have at the Kaiba mansion, finding it easy to laugh and allow the darker thoughts fall to the back of his mind, to be forgotten for a long, long time. It was a rule that they all ate together and Katsuya figured it was because it was something a normal family would do. Kaiba would even set his computer aside and sometimes join in their conversation and Katsuya was always reminded that, despite his status and all his money, Kaiba was his age, that they weren't as different as he thought though they still had some glaring differences.
The food disappeared too fast for Katsuya's liking, but it just gave room for dessert. He loved pumpkin pie, though he had to admit that that his favorite part was the crust even though he could eat the filling just fine. It worked out perfectly because Mokuba only liked to eat the filling, so Katsuya was given the younger Kaiba's crust once he was done eating.
"I'm going to go bed." Mokuba announced once he finished his second slice of pie, leaning down and kissing Kaiba's cheek, then Katsuya's. The blonde stayed at the table with the other, eating the rest of his pie and the crust Mokuba left for him, and mused over how Mokuba was a lot like Shizuka. It had to be a little sibling thing. He only looked away from the doorway when he heard a gentle clink in front of him and glanced to his side to see Kaiba pouring the two of a glass of red wine. Katsuya had indulged in simple pleasures like this before with some of his old friends and Hiroto but never with something so expensive. Kaiba really couldn't have anything but the best could he?
Katsuya grinned widely as they raised their glasses and clicked them together gently. "A toast to our first Christmas together." He said before taking a sip of the wine, taking his time drinking it to appreciate the flavor. A comfortable silence filled the kitchen as they both enjoyed their wine, and once their glasses were empty Katsuya stood with a grin.
"Ready for your present?" Not that he needed to ask; Kaiba's smirk told him all he needed to know.
"No peekin', okay?" Katsuya's answer was a slightly exasperated groan and it was a bit funny to watch Kaiba reach up and hide his eyes with his long, slender fingers. When he was sure Kaiba wasn't looking through his fingers, Katsuya ran into the bathroom with the outfit, took a deep breath, then began to strip. It took him a moment and he almost fell flat on his face once or twice but eventually he was able to get into the clothes and zip the zipper. With a deep breath, he left the bathroom, and tried not to think that his dignity was in there too with his normal clothes.
Kaiba had kept his eyes shut and covered the entire time he was in the bathroom and opened only when Katsuya climbed into his lap. Katsuya felt the heat in his cheeks and he looked away as the brunette took in his Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer onesie. The appreciative gleam in the other's cobalt eyes and the smile, as frightening as it was, was proof that Katsuya got Kaiba the right gift. There was more silence and Katsuya had to fight the urge to squirm under Kaiba's intense stare, and he was positive that his cheeks were even redder than Rudolph's nose.
"Well, what do you think?" Katsuya asked, his gaze still to the side. He tried to think of how he turned into such a girl and he almost reached up to hide his face in embarrassment. It was even worse than the time he had that dream about being Kaiba's dog and being dressed in that dog costume...
"It looks good on you, mutt." The duelist was sure his cheeks flushed even darker and cursed whenever Kaiba's insults became terms of endearment. He was forced to show just how red his face became when Kaiba reached up and cupped his face, making Katsuya flinch only because of how cold the pale man felt against his heated cheeks, and leaned in to kiss him in just the right way to make Katsuya weak in the knees and forget all about the shame of wearing what he was. Their lips were still locked together when Kaiba pulled a little box from his pant pocket and slipped it into Katsuya's hand.
Katsuya pulled away then, his eyes lighting up when he saw the nicely wrapped box, the paper around it a dazzling blue with a silver bow, and eagerly opened it. The polished silver was enough to distract him from the fact that Kaiba had gotten him dog tags, because the younger man would get him something with the word dog in it. There was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon intertwined with a Red-Eyes B. Dragon, in a sort of yin and yang shape, though of course on the back was the logo for KaibaCorp but Katsuya didn't really mind. It was the thought that counted and the thought in a gift like the one he held in his hand was enough to make a large smile pull at his lips and he all but threw his arms around Kaiba.
He lost count of how many times he had said it already, but as Katsuya thought about how much he loved Christmas, he couldn't help but say those words again before he kissed his lover.
"Merry Christmas, Seto."