Shoutout to deanpala67-79 on Tumblr for the prompt! I knew exactly what I wanted to do within seconds of reading it, and I had an absolute blast writing it. I hope it's everything you ever dreamed and more.
Seto Kaiba moved gracefully down the stairs, doing up his tie as he went. He had big plans for the coming hours – of course he did, the young CEO wasn't really known for making small ones – and was eager to get on with his day. If only he knew then that all his plans were about to be thrown out the window.
Breakfast had been prepared and served by the household staff, and in a rare occurrence, Mokuba was already up, dressed, and eating before Seto even reached the dining room. It was almost as though he knew what kind of excitement the day would hold – but of course, that was impossible.
Mokuba smiled as his big brother entered the room, a piece of bacon half-hanging out of his mouth. He chewed it quickly and swallowed so he could greet Seto properly. "Good morning, Nii-Sama! A package arrived for you."
Seto picked up the small box off the table and examined it. "Weird. I didn't order anything straight to this address. Did it come with a card?"
Mokuba nodded. "Yeah, but it only had your name on it. There wasn't even a return address."
Being the President of the world's largest corporation; and of course a high-ranking duellist; Seto was used to receiving all kinds of fanmail and gifts. But usually they were posted to his office, not to his home. His curiosity piqued, Seto opened the package to find a single, small golden band. "What the heck is this?"
"Maybe someone's proposing to you?" Mokuba suggested cheekily, and his brother ignored the remark. Seto tucked the ring into his pocket, resolving to think the matter over later, and sat down to breakfast.
He enjoyed his meal while conducting business on his phone, half-paying attention as Mokuba babbled about some TV show he was in the middle of watching. Then together, the two of them headed out to the car.
Of course, Seto could've gotten a chauffeur to take them to work, but to be honest, driving was one of those things he liked to do for himself when he could. So while Mokuba headed to the passenger side, he fished his keys out of his pocket, and wound up pulling the ring out too. In hindsight, considering the fact that he still didn't know where the ring had come from, perhaps slipping it onto his middle finger wasn't his most inspired idea; but it was such a perfect fit, and Seto had no reason to suspect foul play. After all, it was just a ring – how much harm could it really cause?
A lot.
As soon as the ring was on his finger, Seto felt faint. The world around him seemed to be spinning, and his head started to hurt. He was vaguely aware of Mokuba asking if he was ok, but he couldn't answer. He dropped the keys; and seconds after they hit the ground, so did he.
XXX
Seto was only out for a few seconds. When he came to, the first thing he saw was Mokuba. His blue-grey eyes were the size of saucers, and his mouth was wide open, like he wanted to say something but he didn't know what.
"Is it just me, or are you smaller than normal?" Seto asked – or rather, he tried to. The only sound that echoed around them as he tried to speak was a kind of roar.
Mokuba retreated several paces, that shocked look moulding into one of concern. "…Nii-Sama?"
"What?" Again, that roar. Seto looked around, wondering where it came from. He stood up slowly, noting that everything seemed smaller than it had moments ago.
And then he realised, nothing had gotten smaller. He'd gotten bigger! Seto looked down at his brother, but his gaze was drawn to something else. Where he should be able to glance down and see his own hands, he saw a pair of claws – one of which was adorned with the shiny golden ring that had grown with him. He turned his head, looking himself over. His body was no longer that of a human. He had a long tail, wings and silvery-blue scales. He was a…but he couldn't be! That was impossible! This had to be a dream, or a hologram, or a really, really vivid hallucination!
"Nii-Sama! You're a dragon!" Mokuba verbalised the thought Seto refused to acknowledge.
"This has to be some kind of trick!" Seto yelled; but once again what came out of his mouth wasn't clear English.
While Seto panicked, Mokuba seemed to think this was all very cool, now the shock had worn off. "This is amazing!" he shouted with a laugh. "You're a real, actual dragon, Seto! In fact, you look just like a blue-eyes white dragon! Do you realise what this means?"
"I can't be a dragon," Seto argued. "I have a meeting this morning! How am I going to get any work done like this?"
Mokuba, being the athletic boy he was, had no trouble climbing up onto his brother's back. "For one thing, it ensures we'll always travel in style." He punched the air. "To the office!"
"…If I could speak, I'd ground you right now," Seto mumbled.
Mokuba giggled. "I love you too, Nii-Sama. I love you too."
XXX
The room was still. The kind of still where the air didn't stir, and you could have heard a pin drop. Isono stood at the head of the table, overlooking the terrified businesspeople who sat at it, glancing nervously at one another.
Mokuba sat off to the side, grinning and kicking his feet in the air. The glass in the giant windows had been removed so Seto could perch half-in the room and be involved in the meeting. Though "involved" was a relative term. He tried his best to be as professional as possible, though he couldn't speak. Isono did most of the talking, explaining the budget projections; and when Seto interjected, he guessed what his boss was getting at and mouthed an apology every time Seto rolled his eyes when he got it wrong.
Suffice it to say, it was the most awkward meeting the company had ever seen, and when the meeting wrapped up, the executives couldn't leave the room fast enough. Seto cleared his throat and tried to give instructions to Isono, who still looked a little intimidated by the situation but was going with it nonetheless.
"It's no use, Nii-Sama, he can't understand you." Mokuba took the laptop off the table, which Isono had been reading figures off, and brought it over to his brother. "Maybe, if you're really gentle, you can type what you want to say!"
It was a genius idea, Seto had to admit. He reached out with a single claw and brought it down on a single key as gently as he could, but due to the sheer size of him, wound up pressing a whole bunch of buttons, none of which being the one he was aiming for.
"It's okay," Mokuba encouraged, noting the look of frustration on his big brother's face. He backspaced and presented the keyboard once more. "It'll take some practise. Try again!"
Seto did as his brother suggested, but he accidentally used a little too much strength and wound up piecing the computer with his claw. He let out a roar of irritation, which seemed to startle Isono, but not Mokuba, who took the laptop away and bit his lip thoughtfully.
It was then that one of the receptionists poked his head into the room. "Um, there's a call for Mister Kaiba on line one…"
Isono cleared his throat. "Why don't I just take that?" he suggested, retreating from the room as quickly as he could without being impolite.
Seto lowered his head and rested it on the ground, averting his gaze away from Mokuba. His wings drooped, as did his tail; to Mokuba, he looked quite pitiful.
"Hey." Mokuba stroked his side gently. "Why don't we go get some lunch, huh?"
XXX
Seto flew Mokuba to a nearby park, where the boy slid off his back and instructed him to wait there. It wasn't as though Seto could fit into a restaurant now, or even go too many places besides this expanse of grass without squishing and contorting himself, so he obliged and lay down on the warm ground.
As he did, a few stray children came up and began to ogle him. Then others joined them; and before he knew it, there was a crowd gathered. Some pulled out phones and began snapping pictures.
Normally, Seto would yell at these people to go away, but in that moment, he was too depressed. How was he going to live his life as a dragon? The idea of it was admittedly cool, but impractical. He couldn't work. He couldn't go anywhere without making a spectacle of himself. He couldn't even take care of his brother – his brother was taking care of him.
"Hey, hey!" And speaking of Mokuba. "Back off, give the guy some space! What, have you people never seen a dragon before?"
"Well…no," answered one of the bystanders.
Mokuba wasn't taking it. "Get lost! There's nothing to see here!" He shooed the crowd away; and as it happened, very few people were willing to fight someone with the last name Kaiba.
Once the crowd had dispersed, Mokba turned to his brother with a wide smile. "I don't know what dragons really eat, so…" He held up a few brown paper bags with Burger World written on the side. "Everyone likes hamburgers, right?"
Seto let out a soft noise, and nudged his brother affectionately in thanks. Mokuba got the message as he unwrapped a burger and threw it up in the air for Seto to catch in his mouth, before pulling out another for himself. "I made sure to get plenty because dragons have big stomachs, so eat up!"
XXX
Mokuba closed his eyes as the wind ruffled his hair. The cool breeze felt good against his face, and though the feeling was pleasant, he couldn't help but feel bad for his brother.
After lunch, they'd gone to the post office (alright, Mokuba had gone to the post office; Seto couldn't fit through the door so he waited on the roof instead) and waited hours in line only to be told that there was nothing they could do to trace the sender of the package, since there was no return address. They'd then tried the police station, but were told the same thing.
It was getting late now, so Mokuba had climbed onto his brother's back and suggested they go home.
Seto glanced back at Mokuba, and noted the look on his face. He felt as sorry for the boy as he felt for him, and decided to try and cheer him up. He sped and turned towards the ocean rather suddenly, and felt Mokuba's grip tighten around his neck. "Nii-Sama?"
Seto couldn't tell Mokuba to hold on, but he could fly in a large circle before gliding over the water; and Mokuba seemed to get the message. When he heard the boy's laughter, Seto felt emboldened, and dipped his back left claw into the water, gliding gracefully along the crystal clear surface. It surprised him to realise that he was actually having fun, flying through the air with his baby brother. There was something oddly freeing about the experience.
Mokuba cheered, and looked into the water, pointing to their reflection. "Can you imagine what we would have said if you'd told us this morning that this would be how we were going to spend the day? It's pretty crazy, right?" He laughed out loud.
Seto laughed too, the noise sounding a little odd coming from him like this, but Mokuba didn't seem to mind. He was just happy to see his brother cheerful for the first time all day.
XXX
By the time they made it home, it was evening. Seto landed in the mansion's massive front yard, and Mokuba slid off his back. He rubbed his eyes and yawned – it had been a big day.
Seto made a quiet noise, nearly akin to a purr, and gestured towards the front door. The evening was getting chillier by the second, and Mokuba wasn't even wearing a jacket.
But the boy shook his head, and plonked down by Seto's side. "No. I'd rather stay out here with you." He rested his head on Seto's leg, and the elder curled up, laying down and sighing.
"I wonder if we can get a big enough blanket for you," Mokuba mused, patting his brother's scaly skin like one would a fluffy cat.
Another soft noise was all the effort Seto made to reply.
Mokuba looked into his brother's big blue eyes. "Don't worry, Nii-Sama. We'll get you back to normal soon, I promise."
Before Seto could reply to that, a flash of light – headlights, he realised – caught his attention, and a car pulled up in front of them. Then, as though this day couldn't get any worse, Yugi stepped out of the vehicle, looking more confused than Seto had ever seen him.
"Mokuba, who's your friend?" he asked, approaching casually. At the very least, he didn't seem afraid. "Is this another one of Kaiba's holograms? It's very realistic."
Mokuba stood up. "Actually, this is Seto. He got this ring in the mail this morning and tried it on, and it turned him into a dragon! It's pretty great, except we don't know how to turn him back."
Seto made an annoyed sound, but Mokuba ignored it. "We went to the post office and the police station, but they said that there was no way to trace where it came from. It wouldn't be so bad, but he can't do his job like this – he can't even fit in the front door! Say, you wouldn't happen own any really, really big blankets, would you?"
Yugi glanced between the two brothers. He took a minute to process all of this information – this was weird, even for him. When he spoke, he spoke slowly. "Did you try, maybe…taking the ring off?"
Seto glanced down at his claw, where the ring still was, and then closed his eyes and buried his face in the soft grass. Mokuba watched him, and then mimicked the gesture in his hands.
Fortunately, Yugi was good-natured enough to not tease them about it. He laughed softly, and gestured to Mokuba. "Why don't you help me get this thing off?"
Seto held his leg out, and Mokuba and Yugi stood on either side of the ring and pulled. It slipped off easily, and within seconds, Seto had shrunk back to his usual size.
He looked down at his hands – his normal, human hands – then began to pat down his chest and abdomen. Everything seemed back to normal. He was wearing the same suit and long coat he'd put on that morning, without a hair out of place.
"Nii-Sama!" Mokuba jumped at him, wrapping his big brother in a hug, and Seto caught him mid-leap. He then put the boy down, and tuned his attention back to Yugi.
He was grateful, of course, but his pride wouldn't allow him to admit that his own rival had been helpful; or that the solution had been so simple and obvious all along. So indeed he just asked, "What are you doing here, Yugi?"
"I promised Mokuba I'd bring over a game for him." He shrugged off his backpack and pulled out a clearly well-kept videogame, before handing it over to Mokuba. "As promised," he said cheerfully.
"Thanks!" Mokuba replied, instantly flipping the case over to read it. "Wow, this really is the original! Hey, want to come inside and play it with me?"
"Sure!" Yugi answered, and Mokuba nodded brightly before running inside. Yugi moved to follow, but not before dropping something into Seto's hand.
"You should probably get rid of that. It could be very dangerous in the wrong hands."
Seto stared at the golden ring in his hand for a good many minutes, even once he was alone in the yard. The automated lights had flickered on, illuminating his surroundings, but he noted none of them.
Who would send him such a thing? Why? How did it even work? Despite having solved the main problem at hand, Seto had more questions than answers. All he knew was that Yugi was right, this ring was dangerous, and he probably should destroy it or something, but…if he was honest, being a dragon hadn't been all bad. If nothing else, he'd had a great time flying around the city with his baby brother.
Seto looked around to make sure he was alone, and then discreetly slipped the ring into his pocket with a smirk. "For later," he promised himself.