Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor do I own any of the characters appeared in it. Pretty easy to comprehend, no?

Note: I completely have no idea why I'm doing this… I already have four stories to work on, and so little time and energy to update each of them… Why the hell did I add another story? Who can tell me? Now I'm upsetting myself… Feeling so guilty for writing a new one instead of continuing with an old one…

Well, things are going to start out slow… but it will pick up soon. Hope you like it.

Winter Love

Chapter 1

The Planned Trip to Furano City

Looking out the window from her small room, she saw white snow slowly drifting down to earth from the unreachable sky. The earth was covered with beautiful white snow, giving the often dark world a tinge of purity.

"It's so beautiful out there…" She sighed, staring out into the snow-colored world. Winter had always been her favorite season, and playing with snows became one of her hobbies since childhood.

"Can't wait until tomorrow." She said with a smile on her face. She sat besides the window, putting her arms on the window edge and her head on her crossed arms, with a dreamy look on her face. Her fiery auburn hair rested softly on her back like the finest silk.

Tomorrow, a week from Christmas, he will be bringing her on a vacation. He had planned to take her to Furano City (a/n 1), a great place for winter sports. It had been her dreams to go skiing in the winter, but she never had the chance. His brother had managed to secure a small unit apartment, and their monthly budget had been tight, leaving hardly any money for them to waste on trips. Therefore, it wasn't her fault to be so excited about the trip.

Suddenly, she jumped up at one thought – She had to pack her baggage! The trip will be tomorrow! She quickly ran towards her closet, opened it, and rummaged through her clothes. How could she have forgotten about preparing for the trip? Actually, it wasn't her fault. He had just informed her of the "surprise" trip to Furano Ski Resort last night on the phone. So, technically, she didn't have much time to prepare for it.

She quickly searched through her drawers and closets, picked out several warm winter sweaters, some pants, thick socks, and two winter jackets. She dragged out her big suitcase from under her bed and laid it open on the floor. After neatly folded her clothes, she put them into the suitcase. She might need some lotions, since it would probably be dry up in the mountain.

"Oh no, I don't have any lotions left… And I should buy some snacks for the trip too…" She pondered out loud and looked at the watch. It was already one in the afternoon. "I better hurry to the supermarket if I want to be prepared by tonight."

With that said, she grabbed her jacket and her purse, put on her scarf and mittens, opened the door, and rushed towards the front door. Like a gust of wind, she passed by the living room, passed by her brother sitting on the sofa in the living room, and was about to be out of the apartment as if she was never there.

"Hey Serenity! Where are you going?" Her big brother asked, eyes still staring at the television. He suddenly turned around, staring at her with suspicious brown eyes. "Are you… getting ready?" He asked in a whispered voice.

Serenity stopped, hands still on the door knob. She turned around, giving his big brother a smile. "Hi Joey! I… Yes, I'm going to buy some lotion and some snacks for the… the trip… tomorrow" Her voice died down when she mentioned the trip. She knew her brother didn't approve of her going on a trip alone with that man.

"You're not going, Serenity." Joey stated loud and clear, still staring at her. "I forbid you to go."

"But, Joey" Serenity whined. When she accidentally told her brother about the trip last night, they already had a big discussion about the trip. As usual, Joey forbade her to go alone with the person he despised the most – Seto Kaiba.

"No buts, Serenity. I'm not giving in this time." Joey continued to insist, with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Didn't we already discuss this already last night?" Serenity asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not giving in this time too." She looked at Joey's eyes firmly.

"You called that a discussion?" He raised an eyebrow too, mimicking his little sister. "We didn't even get a conclusion when you childishly ran back into your room."

"Childishly? I wasn't being childish!" Serenity protested, stomping her feet.

"You're not going, so don't even bother shopping for the trip." Joey asserted forcefully. "End of discussion." He sat back down and put his eyes back on the television.

Serenity began to fume. Even though she usually won't get angry or irritated, but she is still a person, and every normal human gets angry one time or another, no matter how patient and gentle she is. Why couldn't her brother just stands in her spot and think about her feelings? She seriously wanted to go on that trip with Kaiba. It was such a rare chance too!

Serenity let go of the doorknob, walked hurriedly towards the television, blocked the screen so Joey couldn't see anything, and then turned off the television.

"Hey! What is that for?" Joey protested. He picked up the remote control, trying to turn the televison back on. But it wouldn't work. "Move, Serenity, you're blocking the signals."

"We need to talk, big brother!" Serenity said through gritted teeth. "I'm going on this trip with Seto!" She declared, looking at Joey's face.

"I won't allow that to happen, Serenity." Joey closed his eyes and said in a calm voice, as if he already had a plan to stop her.

"Listen Joey… I really want to go. Go skiing in the winter has been my dream, you know that. Plus, Seto has been busy lately, and we haven't have time to see each other that often. I really want to use this trip to be with him more…" Serenity blushed when she mentioned Seto Kaiba, her officially boyfriend for three months. "… So, please, Joey, let me go. This is such a rare chance!"

"I know you want to go skiing. We'll go together next year after we save up enough money, okay? I promise you that I'll make your dream come true." Joey stood up and walked over to Serenity, putting his hands on her shoulders, assuring her of his promise.

"It's not the same, Joey! I want to go with Seto, just the two of us…" Serenity, once again, blushed. She couldn't believe she blurted out that she wanted to be alone with Kaiba.

"SEE! I knew it! You want to be alone with him! Don't you realize that Kaiba can't be trusted? He will take advantage of you for sure if you guys were to go on that ski trip alone!" Joey shook Serenity's shoulder slightly, trying to make her understand his worries.

Serenity brushed Joey's hands off her shoulder. "Don't worry, Joey. I trust him. He's not like that. He's really nice to me, and very protective of me too. Also, he loves me! So I'll be as safe as when I'm with you." Serenity smiled at Joey. She understood Joey was worried for her, but his so called "hatred" towards Kaiba just seem way too bizarre to her.

"He loves you? You believe him? Listen, Serenity. You just can't believe someone because this person said so. You can't trust the cold, calculating CEO of Kaiba Corp.! Did you hit your head on something? Why aren't you listening to my advices? I told you before not to fall for Kaiba, didn't I? I told you before never to agree on a date with him! And what did you do? You sneaked behind my back and went out with him many times! If it weren't for Mai, who saw you on a date with Kaiba, when will I find out about you two? And then you announced to me that Kaiba is your boyfriend one month ago! Now you want to go on a skiing trip to some faraway place with him! Are you planning to sleep with him already or something?" Joey blurted out a bunch of questions and angry opinions. Clearly, he was extremely upset about the whole ordeal of his little sister traveling with an untrustworthy CEO.

"What did you say, Joey? I couldn't believe you just said that! Don't you trust me? I wouldn't do something like that!" Serenity yelled at her big brother, who she respected very much, until now… How could he suspect that the reason she wanted to go skiing with Kaiba was to sleep with him? A bit hurt, Serenity ran out of the apartment and slammed the door shut.

Joey stood there with his mouth agape. He had never seen Serenity this angry and this hurt. He didn't mean to suspect her, but the words just came tumbling out of his mouth. He was upset too.

Ring The phone rang at this moment, interrupting his regrets. Joey walked unenthusiastically towards the phone and picked it up.

"Hello. Wheeler residence. Who's speaking?" He spoke into the phone apathetically without much energy.

"Where is Serenity?" A harsh voice roared through the phone. Clearly, this person was enraged at this moment.

"KAIBA?" Joey suddenly jumped, yelling back into the phone. "What the hell do you want?"

"You heard me, mutt! Now tell me, where is your sister?" Kaiba bellowed into Joey's ear once again. " I called her like a thousand times already! Why didn't she pick up her phone?"

"Oh yeah? How should I know? Maybe because she finally wakes up and decided to dump you! After all, a good-for-nothing-arrogant jerk-moneybag is not suited for her!" Joey unleashed all his anger from the argument he had with Serenity on Kaiba. He walked into this sister's room and saw the phone on the table. On the screen, Joey found out that Kaiba had called exactly 267 times.

"I'm not going to ask another time, mutt. Where the hell is Serenity?" Kaiba growled again, temper increasing to the point where it's about to explode, because of what Joey just yelled at him.

"She went out! Are you satisfied? Now leave her alone! She's not going to go on that damn trip with you tomorrow, got that?" Joey announced, making a decision for his sister.

A snicker came out from the phone. "Going or not, it's her decision, not yours. I don't remember asking you on a two-week-long date to the Furano City, hahaha" Kaiba laughed evilly. He especially emphasized the word date to piss Joey off.

"TWO WEEKS?" Joey yelled through the phone again, this time out of shock. Serenity didn't tell him how long the trip will last. All she said was that tomorrow she will be going on a trip with Kaiba. She also only mentioned that tomorrow is a week from Christmas.

Another evil snicker came through the phone into Joey's ear. "Looks like your little sister didn't tell you everything about the trip yet." He taunted Joey through the phone. "You must be hurt that she's keeping the trip a secret to you. That must be an awful feeling! Hahaha" Kaiba continued to laugh.

"Shut up, Kaiba! Of course I know!" Joey fumed. Kaiba was doing a good job pissing him off.

"Sure, like I'm going to believe that. Where did she go out to?" Kaiba resumed his interrogating of Serenity's whereabouts.

"What exactly are you planning to do to Serenity on this skiing trip?" Joey asked suspiciously. He never trusted Kaiba, especially when his sister is involved. "Don't tell me you love her. Obviously, I don't believe that you do."

"True, I don't love her." Kaiba stated blatantly, as if it didn't even concern him. "Whatever I planned to do to her on this trip is none of your business, unfortunately."

"You cold-hearted bastard! Don't even toy with my sister's feelings!" Joey was on the verge of exploding. Kaiba had finally admitted that he doesn't love Serenity! He knew it all along! "I'm telling her the truth. Then she won't want to see you again, and you won't be able to toy with her anymore!"

"Go ahead, if you can stand seeing your sister's sad face and teary eyes." Kaiba warned coldly on the other end of the phone line.

"You think I won't tell her? You're making a big mistake, Kaiba! Don't worry, I'll tell her when she gets back, for sure! Your sick game of toying with my sister ends today! I should never have tolerated for her to date you from the beginning!" Joey said through gritted teeth, and then slammed down the phone. He had enough with Kaiba's involvement in his sister's life!

"Where is Serenity? I need to talk to her, urgently! She needs to know how Kaiba looked at her, not as a lover, but as a toy!" Joey paced back and forth in the small living room. He couldn't contact Serenity since she left her cellphone in her room.

"How will Serenity react to the cruel reality? She loves him too much, everyone can tell… Can she take the heart-breaking truth that he doesn't even love her? But then again, I warned her before, she didn't listen! So she should be able to handle this problem fine… I hope so…" Joey paced back and forth until he got annoyed himself.

"Argh! Stupid trip! Despicable Kaiba!" Joey cursed under his breathe, ruffled his already messy hair, and decided to take a nap to clear up his mind. Before sunset, Serenity will find out the truth from him… at least he hoped so…

a/n 1: No, I've never been to Furano City. And yes, it does exist in Japan. I've researched on where people go skiing in Japan, and found Furano City among many other places. I don't know why I choose this particular place instead of another, perhaps it's because many expert skiers go there, and there are also slopes for beginners.

Originally, I planned to write this as a one-shot. But things just got out of hand, and so I decided to make it into a short story. It's not going to be as long as my other stories. I'm planning to have about or a little less than 10 chapters, but not sure yet…

Yes, there will be more Seto and Serenity moments during the winter trip, of course, since there's only the two of them :) . As for other characters from Yu-Gi-Oh… They might appear now and then, but not a major part though. I'm focusing more on Seto and Serenity this time. (Cheer!)

Okay, now tell me your opinion. Shall I delete this story or continue it? On with the review then, thanks!