The day already started off cloudy, and by the time Mokuba went to school it was pouring. But Seto Kaiba didn't mind the rain, the background noise of the raindrops hitting the window was actually a bit relaxing to him. There wasn't much paperwork to do that day, and everything was on schedule with no meetings planned, so the elder Kaiba brother found himself in that unfamiliar position of having some freetime without Mokuba to spend it with.
Of course, when he decided to watch some tv to kill time, he automatically turned it to a news and stocks channel. Even when he had some time off, Kaiba still wanted to make sure everything in his company was as it should be. After a while, Kaiba glanced at the clock. It read 3:54 PM.
'Hmm, Mokuba should be home by now,' he thought. He wasn't too worried, his brother was only twenty four minutes late. Still, it was a bit unusual for Mokuba to be late. The only times he was late were on bad weather days, and the rain outside was only a light one.
Only a few minutes later though, the elevator door dinged, and Kaiba could hear footsteps from the hall. "Hey Seto," Mokuba greeted quickly before walking past the sitting room. Kaiba narrowed his eyes.
His brother was a regular chatterbox, especially after school when he had so much to tell or ask him. Why the sudden silent treatment? "Mokuba," Kaiba said, only loud enough for his brother to hear him, "Could you come here?"
There was a moment of hesitation before Kaiba could hear his brother walk back towards the room. "Uh, yeah, big brother?" Mokuba asked, rubbing the back of his neck and giving his brother a small smile.
"How was your day?" Kaiba asked him.
"Fine!" Mokuba quickly replied, a little too quickly. Kaiba stood up and looked at his brother. "Did anything happen at school?"
"No," Mokuba answered, this time a lot more calm. Still, Kaiba kept his face stoic and his eyes focused on his little brother. He was hiding something, and he was going to find out what. "So, anything you want to tell me?"
Before Mokuba could answer, there was a small muffled noise. "Mrrrr." Mokuba sweatdropped, and Kaiba's eyes narrowed.
"Mokuba, what's in your backpack?"
"Uhh, a toy I bought on the way home from school?"
The elder brother gave him a look. "Do you really think I would believe that?"
Mokuba sighed. "No, sorry." Reluctantly but gently, he slipped his backpack off and opened it. As soon as he did, a small furry head poked out, slightly surprising Kaiba. "Meow!"
"A cat?" Kaiba said as the slightly damp creature hopped out of his brother's backpack, "Mokuba, why would you stuff a cat in your bag?"
"I found him a block away from the school, Seto," Mokuba explained, "He was all alone in the rain, and he would've gotten sick if I hadn't helped!" The cat was a small Siamese cat with bright blue eyes. When it had jumped out of the backpack, Kaiba could see how thin it had gotten. It had probably been digging it's meals out of the garbage for months now.
"Mokuba, we're not keeping it," Kaiba said firmly. His little brother's face fell.
"But Seto, we have to!" he protested, "He doesn't have owners! We can't just throw him back on the streets!"
"I promise we'll send it to an animal shelter so it can regain some strength, but that is all," Kaiba told him. He then took out his cell phone to call a maid to get a cage to transport the stray in. But before he could even dial the number, Mokuba grabbed on to his arm.
"But Seto, I don't want to just give him to a shelter," the shorter Kaiba brother said, "I want to keep him! He really likes me, and I know he'll like you too!"
Kaiba scowled before looking down at the cat. It was curiously looking around the room before catching his gaze. "Meow," it greeted before picking a corner of the room to lay down and relax.
"I promise he won't cause any trouble!" Mokuba continued, "Please Seto?"
Kaiba stayed silent for a few moments. He looked back at the cat, and then at his brother. Kaiba gave a small sigh. "It will be your responsibility. You will have to feed it, play with it-"
"I will, big brother!"
"Clean out it's litterbox?"
Mokuba grimaced at that part, but nodded anyway.
"We will still have to take it to a vet, and if it has rabies or any other diseases, we're not keeping it."
"I know, Seto," Mokuba agreed, "but he won't have anything wrong with him. I'm sure of it!"
Kaiba paused for a moment. "If the vet says he's healthy, we will keep him for a week. If you can take care of him for that long and he doesn't have anything wrong with him, we will think about making him a permanent pet."
Mokuba grinned and wrapped his arms around his big brother's waist tightly. "Thank you so much, Seto! You're the greatest!" He smiled up at his big brother. "I know you two will get along."
With that said, Mokuba walked over to the cat. He was old enough to know how to hold an animal, and he gently picked it up and held it in his arms. Kaiba watched the feline closely. Healthy or not, the first time that animal bit or scratched his brother, it was out of there. But the cat did no such thing, and instead let Mokuba carry him out of the room. "Come on, I'll show you my room."
"You better set up a place for it to sleep, Mokuba," Kaiba told him.
"I will!" Looking down at his phone, Kaiba typed in a number and waited for a few seconds.
"Yes Master Kaiba?"
"I need you to run to the store and get me some things."
"Of course, what do you need?"
"... a small bowl, a litterbox and a bag of cat food."
"... Uh, Sir?" Kaiba growled. "Right, yes Sir. I'll go get those things right away." Not feeling like giving a reply, Kaiba hung up the phone and sat back down on the couch, letting out a small sigh.
"What did I get myself into?"
()()()()()()()()()
That night, more paperwork was sent to Kaiba's laptop. Apparently they caught the attention of a European company that wanted to do business. That meant a late night for him, but he was used to it. As much as his little brother didn't like him staying up all night, Kaiba knew he had to get it done as soon as possible. So, he had the maid get him some coffee, and he quickly got into the monotonous routine of reading and typing, reading and typing, a quick sip of coffee, then back to reading and typing.
He was so focused on his work, he barely noticed the two paws on his knee. "Mew?"
Kaiba looked down and scowled. The stray cat - or 'Kuma' as Mokuba started to call it - was staring up at him with its front paws on his knee. It tilted its head, as if to ask "What are you doing?"
"Go back to Mokuba," Kaiba told the cat, moving his knee a bit and making the cat go back to sitting on the floor. Thinking nothing more of it, Kaiba went back to work.
But Kuma didn't know that Kaiba didn't like being bothered while he was working. So, just as he started to forget the cat was even in the room, the siamese cat jumped onto the desk, startling him. But surprise was soon replaced with annoyance and anger.
"Get down now!" Kaiba told the cat. Kuma just stared at him. "Look, my brother may have picked you out but I am your master too and I am telling you to get down and go back to your bed."
"Meow," Kuma replied, looking perfectly content sitting on the left side of Kaiba's desk.
The brunette scowled. "Fine, have it your way," Kaiba told the creature, glaring at him for a moment and then going back to his work. Just as a precaution though, he moved his laptop over a bit. 'If that cat takes just one step on the keyboard, it could erase all my hard work.' He scowled. 'If I ignore it long enough, it'll probably just leave on it's own.'
Only Kuma didn't leave. He just sat sitting on the desk, watching Kaiba work. There was a slight purring, but other than that he didn't make a sound. After a while though, Kuma must have decided he was tired of being ignored.
As Kaiba continued typing away, Kuma went under his arm and walked onto his lap. Satisfied, he laid down and waved his tail happily.
While Kaiba didn't like being a bed for the creature, the cat wasn't doing any harm. 'At least it didn't lay on my computer,' he thought.
Two hours later, Kaiba finally finished. He would've gone to bed then if not for the furball still sleeping peacefully on his lap. When he started picking him, the cat just looked at Kaiba with sleepy eyes, and then looked away, not caring at all. 'Well, good,' Kaiba thought. At least the cat wasn't going to put up a fight.
He carried Kuma all the way to Mokuba's room, where he placed the cat right next to his little brother. Kuma immediately curled back into a ball and closed his eyes, snuggling up to Mokuba's stomach for warmth.
A small smile managed to squirm it's way onto Kaiba's face. 'I suppose it is cute,' he thought, 'and at least it isn't too annoying.' Giving his sleeping little brother one last look, Kaiba walked out of the room - only leaving the door open a crack - and went to his own bedroom for some well deserved rest.
()()()()()()()
He didn't have any meetings scheduled until noon, so Kaiba was able to eat breakfast with Mokuba, a rare treat for both brothers. But surprisingly, Mokuba was the one absent from the table. 'He's probably off playing with that cat,' Kaiba thought. Mokuba was already searching for some string and crumpling up paper balls for Kuma to play with. While Kaiba still wasn't completely comfortable with the cat, he was glad to see Kuma getting along with his little brother.
Speaking of Mokuba, he could hear footsteps coming downstairs now. "Good morning, Moku-" Kaiba had started to greet his little brother when the doorbell interrupted him.
"I got it!" Mokuba called out before running to the door and opening it. "Hey guys! Glad you could make it!"
"No problem, Mokuba." "Anything for you, Kid!" Kaiba tensed up.
"Mokuba." Mokuba heard his brother's tone. Looking at his brother, he gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah Seto?"
"What did I tell you about inviting people without my knowledge," Kaiba reminded him. He narrowed his eyes. "Especially them."
"Don't worry Seto, they won't be here long," Mokuba assured him, "I just wanted them to meet Kuma. Have you seen him around?"
"Isn't he your responsibility?"
"Er, right. Give me a few minutes guys!" With that, Mokuba raced back upstairs.
Joey quickly made himself at home by sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs. "Now, we're not expectin' ya to make us breakfast, but if you really want to, I could go for some scrambled eggs."
Kaiba glared at the blonde, while Tea and Tristan both elbowed him. "If you're that hungry, you should have ate before you came over here!" Kaiba told him. Joey just scowled and mumbled something as he rubbed his now sore arms.
"Found him!" Ignoring Joey, everyone turned to see Mokuba run back into the kitchen with Kuma cradled in his arms. Kaiba noticed that Mokuba didn't wait to give Kuma his new accessory. Along with the supplies, they had gotten a small blue collar for Kuma, and it looked like it fit perfectly. Mokuba sat the cat on the kitchen floor, letting him meet Yugi and his friends on his own terms.
"Wow, a Siamese cat," Yugi commented, "Cool." Kuma walked up to Yugi and let the boy pet him for a little bit.
"He's so cute!" Tea cooed, "How could someone leave this poor little guy out on the streets?"
"Must've been tough on him," Tristan added as he and Tea stroked Kuma's fur.
"He's definitely gonna be livin' the high life now," Joey said as he reached out to pet Kuma. But as soon as he did, the cat turned and narrowed his eyes. His fur stood on end, and he let out a loud hiss, making Joey pull his hand back. "Whoa! What I do?"
"Guess someone's not a cat person," Tristan observed, earning a glare from Joey.
Kuma gave Joey an unimpressed look before walking over to Kaiba. The cat rubbed against Kaiba's leg and purred, making Kaiba smirk. "Hey Kaiba, what'd you do to Mokuba's cat?" Joey asked.
"I didn't do anything, Wheeler," Kaiba told him as he picked up Kuma and sat him on his lap, "But you know what they say, cats and dogs don't get along very well." Joey glared at Kaiba while the others couldn't help but giggle.
Except for Joey (who happily kept his distance from the 'furry little monster'), everyone was able to hold Kuma and pet him, earning happy meows and purrs. But the people Kuma was the happiest with were his owners. When he finally got passed back to Mokuba, the cat curled up and nearly fell asleep in his lap! Even Joey had smile at the cute sight.
Seto Kaiba still wouldn't call himself a cat person, or an animal person for that matter. But from that day on, he didn't really mind the fact that there was another member of their little family.
Hey everyone! This was my first Yu-Gi-Oh story, so I'm sorry if I got something wrong/characters were OOC/etc. But like with DBZ Kai, once I saw reruns on 'Nicktoons Network' of Yu Gi Oh, I couldn't help but be inspired. Kaiba and Mokuba are my favorites, and I've already read a bunch of other Kaiba Brothers fanfiction on here, so I finally decided to write my own. I have four more oneshots planned out, and while he won't have a big part in them, Kuma will still make small appearances here and there.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this! Please review, and I'll see you next time!
