Hey, It's Paw-Chan here with a Christmas story a day late for Christmas! ^_^ Hehe... I meant to have this out sooner, but I couldn't get it done in time. I also meant this to be longer than just a one shot, but I didn't have the time for it.
Enjoy, Seto Kaiba's 'A Christmas Carol'
Disclaimer: I don't own Charles' Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' Yu-Gi-Oh, or the first few lines of E. A. Poe's The Raven.
Seto Kaiba's 'A Christmas Carol'
Twas upon a midnight dreary,
While he pondered, weak and weary,
On a cold Christmas Eve's night,
That Mokuba gave Kaiba such a fright.
"Seto!" Mokuba's voice exclaimed as his head popped up in front of his brother's desk. The scritch-scratching of Kaiba's pen only hesitated a minute minute before continuing. True, his brother's voice had startled him, but for good reason. Kaiba's reason was that his brother was supposed to be in bed at this time of night. The authoress' reason was there was no reason.
"Mokuba." Kaiba's voice was stiff as he answered his little brother, eyes still on his work. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" Mokuba gave a half-laugh as he stepped away from his brother's desk, scratching the back of his head. The pencil scratching did not stop to await the reply.
"Heh, well… About that…" Mokuba trailed off, leaving the response hanging.
"Mokuba." Kaiba growled, tone cold. "Either answer now or go back to bed."
"Alright, alright!" Mokuba gave in. "I just wanted to know if you were going to take off tomorrow." The pen stopped, and for a substantial amount of time.
"Why?" Mokuba was aghast as he stared at his brother in horror.
"Why?" Kaiba's questioned was repeated in disbelief. "Tomorrow's Christmas Seto! You know, the one holiday a year where almost everything is shut down?" There was another moment of pause before the pen started going again and Kaiba answered his little brother.
"No." Instantly tears were in Mokuba's eyes, whether real or for show, only the authoress knowing which.
"But Seto-!" Mokuba started to whine, but Kaiba cut him off.
"No." Seto reiterated. "I have too much work to do. If I skip for one measly holiday, I will be set back for months." Fat tears were sliding down Mokuba's cheeks, but Kaiba took no heed of his little brother's despair.
"But Seto!" Mokuba protested with a whining tone. "Christmas is a time for family!"
"No is no Mokuba." Kaiba reiterated once more. "Now go back to bed." Backing towards the door, tears were falling down Mokuba's cheeks at a more rapid pace.
"I…" Mokuba's voice was dark as he reached the door. "I hate you!" And Mokuba slammed the door as he raced down the hall, barely even giving Kaiba time to blink and wonder what the hell was wrong with Mokuba.
X.x.X.x.X
You've been a naughty boy, Seto Kaiba.
Kaiba started as the clock struck midnight. He could've sworn someone just said something. But that wasn't possible. He was alone, Mokuba was in bed, and ghosts weren't real.
Ghosts are real, Seto Kaiba.
Kaiba snorted and continued with his work.
"You're just a figment of my imagination induced from lack of sleep and stress."
Oh really? As if summoned, a girl appeared on the edge of his desk, sitting, wearing a long skirt and blouse.
"You're not real." Kaiba's voice was so confident that it seemed like there was no way of proving that the girl was a ghost. She sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and jumped off the desk.
I guess you're right. I'm not real. She smirked, standing with her hand on her hip. Proof, though, lies with the death certificates though. While you wait for the strike of one, look me up.
"What do you mean, wait for the strike of one?" Kaiba stopped his work and looked at the girl, completely ignoring the fact that he could see right through her. She laughed.
You will be visited by three spirits tonight, Seto Kaiba. She forewarned. The first will come at the strike of one, the second coming at the strike of two. And the third will come in his own time. Kaiba snorted as he repeated his opinion.
"Ghosts don't exist." The girl laughed.
If you say so Seto Kaiba. She laughed. But, while you wait, look me up 'kay? I'm Amane Bakura. Ja ne, Seto Kaiba! And in a flash she was gone. Kaiba snorted. Bakura? Ryou didn't have any siblings. Someone was obviously pulling and elaborate prank on him. Either that or he just fell asleep at his desk and this is just a crazy dream.
Looking at his computer, he sighed. If this really was a dream, it wouldn't hurt to look up this 'Amane Bakura', now wouldn't it?
X.x.X.x.X
"He didn't believe you."
"Well, this is Kaiba we're talking about. You wave magic in his face and he says that it's not real."
"It's alright, I don't mind. Not many people know about me anyways. He has reason to be doubtful."
"Is this even going to work?"
"It might. It just depends on how much Seto Kaiba is like 'ole Ebenezer Scrooge."
In the distance, a chiming sound was heard that sounded more like the toll of a funeral bell.
"That's my cue. I'm up."
X.x.X.x.X
Amane Bakura. Supposedly the older sister of Ryou Bakura. According to her death certificate, she'd be twenty-two, twenty-three as of next month. She died on her thirteenth birthday.
And the girl that had been in his office had claimed to have been her. What a silly notion. It had to be a dream if a dead girl was showing up. But, then again, why was a dead girl that he had never heard of shown up in his dreams?
"I see we're finally getting somewhere Kaiba." The voice startled Kaiba, but it was out of recognition, not surprise.
"Yugi?! What are you doing here?" Kaiba didn't want to know how the shrimp got in, he wanted him out. 'Yugi' laughed.
"Not Yugi, Kaiba." He answered regally. "My name is Atem. I am here as the Ghost of Christmas Past." Kaiba snorted.
"Ghost of Christmas Past?" Kaiba scoffed. "What is this, a bad version of 'A Christmas Carol'?" Atem smirked.
"That is exactly what this is, Kaiba," Atem announced. "Now, why don't we take a walk through your past, and see just exactly what you went through?" Walking to the floor-to-ceiling windows, hepaused in front of one, and turned back to Kaiba, hand on his hip.
"Coming, Kaiba?" Kaiba turned back to his work.
"No." Atem chuckled.
"Now, Kaiba, isn't this a dream?" Atem asked casually. "If this is all a dream to you, then why can't you come?" Kaiba opened his mouth to argue Atem's logic when he found there was no argument. Atem had a point and Kaiba had no way to argue it.
"And why, exactly are we going through a window?" Atem placed a hand on the window, and with just a brief push, the window shattered.
"Because, Kaiba, this is the window to your past." Atem smirked. "Let's go through, shall we? To your past Kaiba."
Stepping through the window, Atem stood a good forty some stories above the ground, waiting for Kaiba to step through and join him. Atem laughed as Kaiba hesitated in joining him.
"What, frightened Kaiba?" Atem taunted. "We're only, oh, about forty-nine stories in the air. Not a problem for you is it? Or are you doubting that this is a dream?" Kaiba scoffed.
"I'm not frightened and this is a dream." Kaiba growled, refusing to fall for Atem's taunting.
"Oh? Is that so?" Atem asked. "Then why don't you join me? We have several stops to make and we have to be back before two." Kaiba gritted his teeth as Atem said the next two lines that made him walk out the window.
"Or are you afraid to lose the game?"
Kaiba didn't care that he didn't know what the game was. He just walked out the window.
X.x.X.x.X
"Open your eyes, Kaiba." He didn't even know he shut them. Still, Kaiba opened his eyes- out of his own free will, he told himself, not because Atem had told him to.
They weren't in Domino anymore. How did Kaiba know? Because they were in front of…
"An Orphanage?" His voice was cool, but Atem could hear the recognition in Kaiba's voice.
"Hai," Atem agreed. "And not just any orphanage. Don't you remember, Kaiba?"
"Remember what?" Kaiba scoffed, but as the door opened, he froze. Two very familiar kids bounded out of the orphanage, smiling and laughing.
"This is the orphanage you and Mokuba were sent to after your parents died." Atem's voice ghosted through Kaiba's ears needlessly. The two kids who had bounced out were Mokuba and Kaiba, Mokuba being five and Kaiba thirteen. "Don't you look so happy?"
"Shut up." Kaiba growled, and Atem laughed lightly.
"What? Are you disappointed with how much has changed?" Atem queried, and Kaiba snorted as he turned his head.
"No," Kaiba denied, looking away, clenching his fists. Atem shook it off and started walking. "Where are you going?!"
"For a walk," Atem called over his shoulder. "Hurry up. We're on deadline." Growling about stupid dreams and how he wished that he would just wake up already, Kaiba took all of four strides to catch up with Atem as they traversed down the empty halls of the orphanage.
"Oh, look." Atem mused, stopping in front of a window. Kaiba came to a halt as well, looking at the scene before him.
"This was the day you earned your ticket from the orphanage for you and your brother wasn't it?" Atem put a finger to his chin, Cheshire grin on his face. "Oh yes, but it was also this day that you began to change as well."
"What?!" Kaiba snapped, and Atem nodded, still grinning.
"By beating Gozaburo you sealed your fate to what you are now," Atem told Kaiba, barely giving him time to blink before the scenery had completely changed, now standing in the Kaiba's mansion.
The two were standing behind young Seto and Mokuba, where one hundred duel monsters cards were on the floor. Half were right side up while the other half were face down. One flip of a card to a face up position stirred Atem to speak again.
"Fifty-one cards was your next mistake Kaiba." Atem reported to the teen next to him. "By dominating your step-father's company was your second mistake. Care to see your third?" Kaiba wasn't given a choice. With a snap of Atem's fingers, the background was replaced by the CEO's office with thirteen year old Seto and Gozaburo Kaiba.
"The third and final of your mistakes," Atem whispered into Kaiba's ear, "Was your crime of pushing your step-father out the window and then making it seem like suicide."
There was the crash of breaking glass and then everything went dark. As Kaiba fell into an abyss, he heard Atem yell,
"The next one will come when the clock strikes two!"
X.x.X.x.X
Ding. Dong. DING. DONG.
"Oi. Oi, baka, wake up." Someone was poking him and disturbing his… sleep? But Kaiba hadn't fallen asleep… had he? "Wake up!"
"Shut up!" Kaiba snapped irritably, standing straight out of his chair, eyes snapping open, causing the person who had been poking him to laugh. Blinking, Kaiba looked at his visitor.
Kami, he must be going insane or was have the weirdest dream ever. First Yugi, now Bakura? What was the world coming to?
"What are you doing in my office Bakura?" Kaiba asked calmly, like he wasn't fazed by this at all. 'Bakura' laughed.
"Wrong Kaiba." He laughed. "I'm Akefia, here representing the Ghost of Christmas Present." Kaiba snorted.
"Whatever you prefer to call yourself in this crazy dream, I could care less." Kaiba waved him off. Akefia laughed.
"Then let's get going. We only have an hour- if that." Grabbing Kaiba's arm, Akefia drug him to the window.
"Out we go!" And Akefia promptly shoved Kaiba out the window with no warning.
X.x.X.x.X
"Ghost of Christmas Present? What are you supposed to do for me?" Kaiba scoffed as he and Akefia walked down the streets of Domino, walking through people like it was nothing.
"My job is easy," Akefia scoffed, tossing his long snow white hair over his shoulder. "Show you all your friends here in the present that are happy and how their lives are going, and then send you back for the last ghost." Kaiba stopped, getting ready to ask Akefia another question, but Akefia kept a brisk pace.
"Don't stop." He ordered. "I want to get this over with already. I didn't want to do this in the first place."
"Then why are you doing this?" Kaiba asked, though it was more of a demand. Akefia scoffed.
"Someone related to someone close to me asked a favor." Akefia responded, and before Kaiba could say anything, Akefia spoke. "Here we are at our first stop." If Kaiba could gouge his eyes out at the place they were standing in front of he would.
It was the Game Shop.
"What are we doing here?" The standard question that was so cliché that Kaiba had to ask. Akefia rolled his eyes and scoffed once more.
"Don't they look happy?" Akefia said instead of answering, averting his gaze. Looking through the window, Kaiba couldn't help but agree. Akefia was right- Yugi and his Grandpa did look happy.
They went past the houses of the rest of the group as well; Teá, Tristan, Devlin, the Mutt, and even Mai. Yet there was one house that the two didn't go to.
"Wait." Kaiba called, causing Akefia to stop.
"What?" Akefia snapped, slightly annoyed.
"I thought you were showing me how happy all my friends were here in the present at Christmas time?" Kaiba drawled, and Akefia gave him an annoyed look.
"And I did." Akefia shot back, anger growing as Kaiba laughed in his face.
"You missed one." Kaiba stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Who?" Akefia growled, telling himself that it would not be beneficial to kill the young CEO.
"I think you forgot that among all the others you labeled as 'my friends' you forgot Ryou Bakura." Kaiba smirked, watching in victory as Akefia twitched and his hands clenched into fists.
"And I think you forgot that I said friends who were happy," Akefia snarled, then, as if realizing he had said something wrong, slapped a hand over his mouth.
"So you're saying that Ryou doesn't have a happy Christmas?" Kaiba questioned coolly, and Akefia's lips wrenched into what appeared to be a wry frown. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked up at the cloud-covered sky as snow fell on the two.
"I don't see how anyone can have a happy holiday if their only living family can never come visit for anything," Akefia responded, eyes on the sky. "Never visits on Christmas, not even Ryou's birthday." Lowering his gaze, Akefia gave Kaiba a steely glare.
"I'm only doing this because Ryou's sister asked me to." Akefia finally said. "Amane wanted my help to make sure that Mokuba didn't grow up to have lonely holidays like her little brother."
And before Kaiba could contradict that last statement, Akefia had snapped his fingers and the whole world went black for the second time that night.
X.x.X.x.X
Ding dong. Ding. Dong. DING. DONG.
"Hey, lazy bones. Wake up." Somebody was poking his forehead. Why must people poke him? He really needed to get better security. Security that wouldn't let all the freaks and weirdos through.
Sitting up, Kaiba opened his eyes, blinked, and very calmly restrained himself not to kill the blonde Egyptian that was sitting on his desk like it was the most normal thing in the world. Very calmly, Kaiba stood up from the desk and took a few steps away. He knew that the blonde Egyptian wasn't right in his head.
"Malik. What are you doing in my office?" Kaiba asked, priding himself in the calm voice he used against the psychopath. Malik gave him a lopsided grin from his perch on Kaiba's desk.
"I'm here as the Ghost of Christmas Future!" He replied brightly, before mumbling under his breath, "Because stupid Marik was too lazy to get his ass away from the TV and do it himself." Kaiba raised an eyebrow.
"What was that?" He asked. A smile was on Malik's face immediately.
"Oh, nothing," Malik laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"Off, off, off, we must be!" Malik chirped, jumping off the desk. "The clock's already struck three!" Without waiting for Kaiba to say something Malik pushed Kaiba to the window.
"The window again?" Kaiba 'tch'ed. "Can't you be any more creative?" Malik blinked.
"The window?" Malik pondered, cupping his chin in his hand. "That sounds too boring. Besides, I'm Ghost of Christmas Future. I'm supposed to scare you, not do something so blatantly obvious."
"Then what are you going to do?" Kaiba bristled. He had expected… Kaiba never got to finish that thought as a hole opened up beneath his feet and he started falling.
"That, silly!" Malik grinned, head popping over the hole before jumping down it himself.
X.x.X.x.X
"A… cemetery?" Kaiba was confused. How was this his Christmas Future? "This can't be right."
"Of course it's right Kaiba." Malik announced, appearing on the top of a grave stone. "Just look over there!" Malik pointed in a direction, and Kaiba followed the finger, seeing a group of people surrounding a grave.
It was Yugi and the rest of his little group.
"What's that about?" Kaiba demanded as the group slowly moved away. Malik laughed as he hopped from gravestone to gravestone to where Yugi and the others had been standing.
"Why don't you find out for yourself?" Malik called back cheekily. Grumbling, Kaiba strolled through the graves towards the one Malik was now standing in front of, mock crying. Once Kaiba was next to him, Malik started talking through his fake tears.
"Poor, Poor Seto Kaiba!" He wailed with fake sadness. "Works himself too hard and dies of stress!" Grinning, Malik turned to Kaiba.
"This, Kaiba," The tears end, and a finger is on Kaiba's chest. "Is your future if you don't clean up your act. This is what next Christmas will be if you don't do anything." Laughing, Malik through his arm around Kaiba's shoulders, turning him to face his tombstone.
"Have fun in the afterlife!" Malik laughed, pushing Kaiba into the now open grave.
And for the final time that night, everything went black.
X.x.X.x.X
The birds chirped and Kaiba groaned as he lifted his head and rubbed his eyes. What had happened? Then, the memories of the last night filled his head. Or was it just the freaky dream he had had?
Then Kaiba looked at the date.
Monday, December 25th. It was Christmas. Looking at the time, Kaiba sighed.
Well, there was something that he had to do.
Picking up his phone, he dialed a number that was ingrained in his head, and waited.
X.x.X.x.X
"Seto!" Mokuba gasped, seeing his older brother sitting at their dining table. "Shouldn't you be at work right now?" Mokuba couldn't believe it- he had to be still dreaming. This couldn't be his brother.
Looking up at Mokuba, Kaiba gave him a soft smile.
"I took the day off," He informed his little brother. "Christmas is a day for family, isn't it?" Mokuba discreetly pinched himself and could not believe the results. His brother was home.
For Christmas.
X.x.X.x.X
You could picture this as post-series if you wish. I used Atem and Akefia because they were convenient and fit this, Malik because I couldn't figure out how to characterize Marik, and Amane because I needed someone in place of Marley.
Sorry if they seemed OOC.
Anyways, how did you like it?
Please Read and Review!
~~Paw-Chan Signing Out!~~