InuKaiba: Yes, another Stabilo titled story.

It was Christmas Eve, and while most people were asleep in their beds with sugarplums dancing in their heads… Well, that's a lie really, seeing as it's only 8 pm. The little children may have been asleep, but most people were out at parties or with friends… or they were like Mai Kujaku. A high powered business woman (or at least in her case) that hadn't had any time to go Christmas shopping. She'd even had to send her assistant out to buy Secret Santa gifts, and she'd brought a coffee from Starbucks.

The same assistant standing by her side had made a fool out of her at the party. She would've fired her, if the woman hadn't laughed, then pulled out a box from La Vie En Rose's. It was a pair of pyjamas, a simple yet wondrous gift that had all the women squealing, wishing they were the recipient. The pyjamas were cute yet sexy, the kind that hugged curves with a subtle gentle approach… and they had pandas on them.

The woman who received the pyjamas was thrilled and thanked her graciously, but Mai shrugged her off with a wave of her hand. She was too busy thinking of how to kill her assistant for being such an idiot, and than revive her again. It had been on that night, December 23rd that Mai had realized she had completely forgot to buy Christmas gifts.

As the boss of her company, she had, of course, handed out bonuses. But for her closer friends and family, and all the places she donated to (as high ranked business men and women alike were known for) with children's toys.

"Kujaku-san!" Her assistant yelled, struggling to catch up. Mai was running around the mall in high heels, expertly dodging people. This was nothing, after all the conventions she'd been and seeing her office a few days before a major deadline… The amount of people running around like chickens with their heads off was nothing compared to what she had seen.

After the third or fourth time of hearing "Kujaku-san," Mai was forced to stop and wait for her assistant to catch up. She was well known enough that her assistant calling her name was enough to draw negative attention to her, and that was the last thing she needed. She had chosen to walk the malls without dressing more casually, hoping the stream of last-minute shoppers were too wrapped up in their own thoughts to notice or care.

But as Mai passed by the mall Santa, all of her thoughts stopped… and her assistant went crashing into her back, stumbling on the floor and dropping some gifts. Normally, Mai would have said something along the lines of, "Shit, be careful you foolish woman," but she was too distracted by… him.

It was Ryou Bakura… from so many years ago. Or at least, the man bore resemblance to him. He didn't have a cheery grin on his face like usual. He seemed to be upset and grouchy, and had upset some little kid. The kid had his fists balled up, rested on his cheeks directly below his eyes. The mother, on the other hand, could not have been more appalled by Bakura's actions, and this intrigued Mai.

Mai Kujaku did not know what compelled her. It was as if she was still standing there, watching as her body walked over. That apparition that seemed to be her told the woman off, and when the woman attempted to bite her head off, Mai handed her a $50 and told her to buy something for her spoiled child. The woman ignored the remark, accepting the bribe and dragging her child off. That mysterious woman who seemed to be her was now bribing someone to take Ryou's place as the mall Santa with some more $50's, and now she was dragging him back over to where her assistant was trying to gather up the things she had dropped.

It was all a dream, but then she blinked… and a grumpy mall Santa was standing right beside her. Mai shrugged, and decided to make the best of the situation. The trio headed to Starbucks, where Mai wrote a quick list for her oldest dearest friends from Duelist Kingdom and family members, handing it to her assistant. The woman took off in a shot, she had to get all these gifts in the next hour or two before the mall closed.

Bakura grumpily refused to order, so Mai bought him a hot chocolate and a cookie. He grunted for marshmallows, so Mai added those. She bought herself an expensive holiday drink and the pair sat down.

The pair exchanged conversation, and the strange man (who was obviously not Ryou) smirked at the realization that she was the famous business women, Mai Kujaku. Mai couldn't help but blush, but continued to quiz him on his past. It turned out that Ryou hadn't been bipolar as she thought, but that this spirit had been the source of evil throughout the time she had known him.

This man, Bakura, as he requested she call him… He was certainly intriguing. And the pair were laughing and talking about old times, despite the fact that neither of them knew anything about the other. They had simply observed, glanced, and Mai was thrilled to know this man was just as heartless as she. This quality would help him up the ladders of businesses, but when she suggested this, he laughed it off, explaining that he'd get fired before he got anywhere.

As the night drew to a close, Mai finally realized it was approaching 11 am. And she needed to go, she was meeting Joey tomorrow. Bakura stubbornly thanked her for the drink, but Mai just smiled.

"It's no skin off my back. I'd like to see you again, is that ok?"

Bakura shrugged. "If you really want to see me, come find me. Domino City isn't that big."

An infamous Bakura smirk appeared, and Mai felt young again when she rolled her eyes at his comment.

But as they parted ways, Mai knew two things. One, she just had to buy this mysterious man a gift and deliver it personally. Because, for the second thing, Joey didn't matter any more… Not half as much as Bakura.