Chibi: Yay, another one shot. Cause IT'S FREEZING HERE AT WORK. ;.; [Yes I sit here and do nothing….and get paid. xD
No I didn't finish this while working either….I just started it…..So that was written a good week ago. But I wanted to get it done before Christmas. :)
And sorry about any typos. Wanted to get this out as quickly as possible so I didn't do a major rereading. :D
Disclaimer: I own nothing…save for the prolly cliché idea.
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Inside the Kaiba household, maids and butlers were scrambling between rooms, passing items between each other, and putting up the holiday decoration s all while Seto Kaiba was being forced to decorate the enormous Christmas tree Mokuba picked out. This was no ordinary task either as Mokuba had the couch, four chairs, the living room table, and a full corner of the room stacked with decorations and ornaments. This tree, was also at least twice Kaiba's height. Kaiba scowled as he dragged the ladder towards the tree.
"Ok so first I think we should put the blue lights up, and then the silver tinsel, and then the red lights, and then the pink tinsel, and then the icicle lights!" Mokuba stated while rummaging through the pile on the couch.
Kaiba rolled his eyes and set the latter as close to the top of the tree as he could get it. It reached the top height wise, but his eye twitched as he realized it was still around three or four feet away from the top. Mokuba ran up to him wrapped in various lights and tinsel.
"Aren't you going to go up the ladder?" He asked innocently.
Kaiba groaned and grabbed a set of lights from his little brother's hands and made his way up the 18-foot ladder. Once he made his way to the top with an endless stream of curses going through his head, took the beginning of the lights and swung them around the top of the tree and continued to spin the lights till they were about 4 feet from the top. Satisfied with where the lights where hanging, he gradually made his way down the ladder and walked around the base of the large tree till all the lights were arranged in a spiraling array around the tree. Mokuba looked pleased as he held up another set of lights, grinning. These were blue as opposed to the red ones that were just so neatly hung. Kaiba stared at him with a 'there is no way you are serious' look.
Kaiba allowed another stream of curses blast through his head as he snatched the lights and stomped up the ladder once again.
"Make sure that the lights make a figure eight-type thing around the tree so that it doesn't look like there's a double strand." Mokuba stated excitedly.
"Sure," Kaiba said gritting his teeth.
Mokuba grinned watching his brother toss the strands around the tree and spin them just perfectly. As perfectly as he figured it would get since he knew that his brother would not go up that ladder to fix them in any way. Once Kaiba was done with hanging the lights, Mokuba pulled a few boxes out of the corner and started picking out boxes of ornaments. Kaiba stared incredulously at how many different arrangements of ornaments were there in such a small box.
'No, wait,' Kaiba thought as he felt a vein about to explode. He noticed a very large box buried under smaller boxes giving the illusion that the large box was sitting on a bunch of other boxes too.
"Ok Seto," Mokuba said cheerily. "You stand up on top the of ladder and I'll toss you the ornaments. Only the ones that wouldn't break of course. The glass ones can go towards the bottom."
Kaiba grunted and glared at the tree wishing that it was caught in an electrical fire. Outside of course. And far away from his house. Mokuba noticing the fiery glare –'There's fire in his eyes?' Mokuba thought, 'That's not normal for Seto…. he normally gives icy stares…'- in his brother's eyes, he resorted to the pleading puppy eyes.
The fire in Kaiba's eyes quickly singed away as they met the big watery eyes of his brother's. Kaiba, more slowly this time, climbed up the ladder and caught the ornaments that Mokuba had been throwing at him and randomly putting them on the branches. Once the first half of the tree was completely decorated, Mokuba starting on the bottom half and used the ladder, and his brother's shoulders, to reach above his head. Four hours later Mokuba grinned and excitedly climbed up the latter, with Kaiba right under him in case he fell, and placed the angel on the tip of the tree. Happy with his work, he slid down the ladder, consequently making Kaiba jump half way down the ladder, and hurriedly put all the plugs into various outlets.
"It's perfect!" Mokuba exclaimed with glitter in his eyes.
The tree, Kaiba had to admit, did look good. The colors all blended nicely, the ornaments gave it a very unique look, but most of all, he smiled because he and his brother worked on it together. Even though Kaiba was not happy about the ladder bit. The rest of the house was looking very festive as well, with all the streams of colors and wreaths, a nativity set was placed in the other corner of the room, streams of garland were hung over doorways, and there were bells jingling in various places.
"This is perfect for the party!" Mokuba grinned observing all that he had organized to be set up.
Seto nodded and then comprehended what Mokuba had said. "Party? What party?" He asked.
Mokuba put on his most angelic face, "The party that you said I could have last week for Christmas…"
Kaiba's eye twitched along with his brow. "When, exactly did I say this?"
"When you came home from work." Mokuba answered grinning.
Kaiba looked down at him, "Why do I not remember this? And who's coming?"
Mokuba shrugged, "I have no idea Seto." He pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket. "But you signed the paper saying that you heard me and were fully aware of what I was asking. I think just Anzu. I invited everyone else but they all had various things to do..."
Kaiba looked at the piece of paper and sure enough, all the details were spelled out. Minus an exact date. How had he agreed to this when he didn't even remember it? He must have picked the wrong time to totally tune out what Mokuba was saying and just signed away. He grumbled something and went to the kitchen to make some coffee. Mokuba had even planned it on a day when he had closed Kaiba Corp. for three days for the holiday. Kaiba was stuck, and there was no escaping this party.
Mokuba snickered as he watched Kaiba leave. He had other things in mind for this "party". Such as, his brother needed to have some sort of a social life outside of himself, his poor employees whom were accustomed to getting harsh verbal lashings, and making fun of Jou. And that Kaiba needed someone other than himself to spend Christmas with. He wouldn't be around forever.
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"Hey Anzu!" Mokuba greeted while swinging the door open.
"Hi Mokuba." Anzu smiled.
She handed maids the gift she brought as Mokuba told her all of his ideas he had planned out. Kaiba sat crossed legged on the couch staring at the fire with a scowl as the group of excited friends joined him in the living room.
"Wow, the decorations are really pretty." Anzu exclaimed. "Especially the decorations on Kaiba."
Kaiba repressed a growl and tried to sit further into the couch with his back to them. He hated his brother's fake tear trick; thus he was forced to wear a pair of reindeer antlers.
"Cheer up Kaiba," She said. "I think it looks adorable."
Kaiba's eye twitched, "Great. Just the thing I want to hear from someone who is pink obsessed and has the 'everything is cute' attitude."
Anzu shrugged and followed Mokuba's lead to take a seat around the large cackling fireplace. The maids had set up a table of delicious snacks before dinner.
"So tell me Kaiba," Anzu said munching on a cracker with cheese. "What did Mokuba do to get you to wear the antlers?"
Kaiba's face flushed but with the fire's orange glow it wasn't too noticeable. Although Mokuba still laughed so hard that he nearly choked on his food. "He started to cry..." Kaiba mumbled.
Anzu raised a brow and laughed while shaking her head.
"You would have done the same thing if you were in my position." Kaiba retorted.
Mokuba gave an innocent look.
"I know." Anzu said. "Because he used the same trick to get me here.."
Kaiba raised a brow and took a finger sandwich from the table. He was wondering why Anzu wasn't with Yugi and Yami, or another one of the geeks. Kaiba knew they all agreed that they were going to have a New Years party with the dice dork, as Kaiba called him, why ever would Anzu be here, on Christmas Eve? Although, Mokuba's puppy pout would explain it.
"Wouldn't "I need to spend time with my family," sufficed?" Kaiba asked in a flat tone.
Anzu shrugged lightly. "They're out of town. My dad wanted to show my mom the tree in Time Square New York. I told him to go and that I would stay to take care of the cat and the house."
Kaiba nodded and took another of the various snacks. For three people, there was probably a little too much. Guess the maids would divide it later.
"Anzu, didn't you say you knew a good mix to put in eggnog?" Mokuba asked sweetly.
She looked over at Mokuba who was swirling around glass of soda and nodded. He jumped up and grabbed her hand. "So what are you waiting for?"
He tugged her into the kitchen, with Kaiba following and made sure to stay a few steps ahead. Mokuba smirked and stopped short once he was in the kitchen with Anzu in the doorway. Unfortunately he had forgot to calculate in the busy chefs and jumped backwards so he was in the doorway with her. Kaiba and Anzu both gave him a confused look when his face turned red. He pointed up to the mistletoe he'd hung there.
Kaiba rolled his eyes and Anzu giggled bending over to give him a light kiss on the cheek. Mokuba's eyes were wide and he muttered something about making the stupid eggnog.
Mokuba had Kaiba pour a pitcher of the 'nog and grabbed the ingredients that Anzu told him she'd need. After mixing in some cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, and other various pinches of spice, she poured three full glasses and passed them around.
"I hope you like it." Anzu said.
"I'm sure it's great." Mokuba said tapping Kaiba's foot.
"It can't be that bad." He muttered.
Anzu smiled and Kaiba pushed them both out of the kitchen. He did not want to be in the way when one of the busy helpers went flying across the room and had stated that bluntly. Mokuba grinned and hurried out of the way. Not forgetting about the mistletoe in the door, Anzu and Kaiba made sure to not be caught under it, lest Mokuba start pouting again. She shuddered lightly at the thought of having to kiss Kaiba. Having to spend Christmas Eve with him was enough. Not that she would let that show of course.
Mokuba insisted that they have a toast and so each wished a happy holiday to each other. Kaiba looked at the drink with slight suspicion before taking a swig.
"Not bad Mazaki." He commented.
"Thank you." She replied wiping off the "milkstache" covering her lips.
"It's really good." Mokuba said with a grin.
Kaiba let out a small smile at his brother's face that had been covered in eggnog. Anzu laughed and passed him a napkin.
"It tastes better when it's in your mouth." She said cheerily.
Mokuba shrugged and wiped his mouth off. "We can always just kidnap you and make you make more."
Kaiba raised a brow, "Like I would want anyone to do that.."
Mokuba mock glared, "At least she didn't burn a gingerbread house."
Kaiba glared and Anzu laughed.
"How do you burn a gingerbread house?" She asked.
"He was trying to get the icing to melt and wound up dropping the match." Mokuba explained.
Kaiba huffed, "I wouldn't have dropped the match if someone hadn't dropped a bag of gumballs and went sliding across the floor."
"I didn't tell you to drop the match.." Mokuba replied with a slight pout.
Anzu smiled as she watched the two brothers bicker. It wasn't all that strange to see Kaiba acting civil, but it was refreshing. She was forced out of her thoughts though when she heard a yelp and something cold against her skin. Mokuba, in his excitement, had jerked his hand up forgetting he was holding a drink and spilled it all over himself. Kaiba rolled his eyes.
"Oops.." He said with a slight blush. "Sorry Anzu."
"It's alright." She said. "I think you're going to need a total change of clothes though."
Mokuba nodded and scurried up the stairs, grinning wildly. "Now maybe they'll talk and realize that they're perfect for each other."
Mokuba entered his room and quickly threw off his clothes and grabbed the replacement set that he laid out on his bed. He snickered and grabbed a fishing pole with a piece of mistletoe attached to it and started to sneak downstairs to plan out how he would get it above them.
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Back downstairs, Anzu and Kaiba were silently drinking and eating while a soft Christmas melody was playing in the background. Kaiba couldn't help but allow his gaze to wander up her long tone legs. She was wearing holiday colors; red thigh high socks, a green mini skirt, and a red sweater. Compared to her, he looked like he was dressed for a funeral. Black slacks and a black turtle neck. He didn't pick up on the fact that Anzu liked the change though. It was different than his usual white and blues and it was slightly more alluring.
"So..." Anzu started.
Kaiba forced himself to tear his gaze from the wall, and her out of the corner of his eye, to look at her straight on. "So."
She shifted to turn towards him and oddly enough, it wasn't an awkward silence between them. "It sure is taking Mokuba a long time...I hope he's ok."
Kaiba shrugged, "I'm sure he's fine and just got side tracked in trying to find a game."
She nodded and glanced over towards the other room and then backs at her glass.
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"Ok. So all I have to do, is sneak around behind the couch, slowly raise the pole above their heads, swing the line and attach the mistletoe to the light thing, and then sneak back, hide the pole, and what are the odds this will work..." Mokuba mused aloud. "Ooh well, here goes "operation mistletoe...take two anyway." Referring to the mistletoe above the door.
He snuck in quietly, started to raise the fishing pole, which was eight feet in length, so he only had to swing it another 9 feet or so. He could do it... "No, this isn't working..." He said and snuck back out of the room. He looked up at the stairs and smirked. He took the mistletoe and hung it around the middle of spiral railing, and then proceeded to put the fishing pole back.
"Seto! Anzu!" He called standing mid way down the stairs. "I got a question for you both!"
He smirked as he leaned over and covered the little leaves that would surely work this time. As he expected, the two teens came running into the hallway looking up at Mokuba. He grinned and they both gave him a very confused look.
"I just wanted to make sure you were having fun.." Mokuba smiled sweetly.
"I'll admit that this is not as bad as I thought it would be..." Kaiba said. 'Actually...when she's not defending the dorks she calls friends, Anzu's company is rather enjoyable..'
"It's been a wonderful evening." Anzu replied.
"Good." Mokuba said as he flew down the stairs and stopped short on the bottom step.
"What's wrong?" Kaiba asked as he watched Mokuba's gaze fall from the railing to the ground.
"Nothing...nothing." Mokuba sighed. "Is dinner done?"
Kaiba nodded and Mokuba grabbed Anzu and started to drag them both to the dining room. He spared one last glance at the mistletoe that met an unfortunate end under Kaiba's shoe.
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During dinner, Mokuba was happy to see that Kaiba and Anzu were chatting with each other and even laughing at times. So that may have been at his expense...but they were at least getting a long. The topic of Anzu's and Mokuba's friends hadn't even come up in any of their conversation. It was mostly everyone getting to know each other a lot better. Kaiba and Anzu even realized that they had a few things in common; they liked the same books, they had similar family experiences, they both enjoyed going to quiet cafes, and neither would let anything get in the way of what they wanted.
"Let's open presents." Mokuba said. "And then will you show me that dance Anzu? The one you did for the holiday play?"
Anzu laughed, "Alright to the first thing, but I had a partner for the dance."
She smiled and placed her napkin gently on the table as she stood up and followed Kaiba into the living room. Mokuba bounced behind and grinned.
"Seto can be your partner!" He said happily.
Kaiba stopped short and turned around abruptly causing Anzu to trip trying not to run into him.
Successful in not pushing him over, she squeaked a "sorry" when he held her up.
"Don't mention it." He said with his hands still around her waist.
She nodded with a blush and became even redder when she realized that she was still leaning against his chest and his arms were still around her. Kaiba was just hoping she didn't notice his body working against him. Mokuba laughed when he saw both their ruby faces. They quickly jumped away and ran into the living room. Anzu got the two gifts and passed the packages to the two boys. Mokuba passed her two boxes as well.
"I even got Seto to wrap it." He grinned triumphantly.
Kaiba huffed and opened the package expecting there to be some gag gift. Instead there was a picture frame with a photo of himself and his brother one time during Battle City. He wondered when this picture was taken but before he could ask, he noticed a smaller version of the photo.
"I like photography as well and I figured I would give it to Mokuba but he was easier to shop for than you." Anzu explained.
Kaiba smiled at the picture. The two brothers were smiling at each other and the photo captured their aura in the picture. "Thanks."
Mokuba had gotten a smaller version of the picture too and a "paint your own capsule monsters" kit.
"Thanks Anzu!" He grinned while hugging her. "I'm gonna put this in my necklace right now."
"You're both welcome." She smiled.
She unwrapped the first package from Mokuba which turned out to be a white necklace with a pair of ballet slippers.
"Thank you Mokuba!" She gave him a big hug and put the necklace around her neck. "It's beautiful!"
"Welcome." Mokuba grinned. 'And that's not all you'll both be getting.'
The second package from Kaiba turned out to be a new dance outfit and slippers. She guessed that Mokuba told him that she mentioned she would be buying a new pair after the holidays were over. She gave him a quick hug and a thanks.
"Mmhmm." Kaiba replied. 'There must have been something in the eggnog to make me think she's attractive...'
"You going to dance now?" Mokuba asked.
Kaiba froze. That would mean he'd have to dance with her. And he knew which dance she had to perform. And that would require their bodies to be touching. And for him to have to hold her a few times. 'Damn hormones!' He shifted so that his legs were slightly more spread.
"I don't think Kaiba is really willing to dance." Anzu said.
"Sure he is." Mokuba said and pulled him off the couch.
Kaiba's eye twitched and he quickly thought of something disturbing; Yami and Joey in spandex did the trick. It also made Mokuba stomp on his foot after seeing his expression.
"I will be your partner." He said through gritted teeth.
"Yay!" Mokuba bounced around and put the CD in the CD player.
Anzu sighed and nodded. She could tell by the look on his face he was repulsed by the idea but did it for Mokuba's sake. She took her position next to Kaiba taking his hand. Mokuba jumped on the couch and watched eagerly.
As soon as the music started to play, the two seemed to almost jump to life after standing still for a few moments. They twirled and moved through the room as though they were floating on air. Kaiba lifted her with ease and she had put complete trust in him. They melted together as their bodies were flush and broke apart only to be pulled together like magnets. When they were done dancing Mokuba clapped and grinned.
"You guys were awesome!" He said.
"Thank you." Anzu smiled. "And you're very good yourself K-"
"Seto." Kaiba interrupted her. "And thank you Anzu. You're a pleasure to dance with."
"Do you think she's a pleasure to kiss?" Mokuba giggled.
Kaiba and Anzu both snapped their gaze to him and blinked. Mokuba pointed to the one mistletoe he'd forgotten about that happened to be above the fireplace where they just happened to have ended. They both blushed and started wildly making excuses.
"You guys have to do it! It's tradition." Mokuba stated.
After a few minutes of internal fighting, they both gave in and pressed their bodies together. Mokuba slowly inched off the couch, almost falling, as their lips got closer till they finally met.
"Yes!" Mokuba whispered.
They broke apart and turned ruby red; A kiss never lied. Not that either would ever admit that their worlds crashed in an endless bliss.
"Sooooo?" Mokuba pressed. When they didn't say anything he added, "I won't say anything if you guys wanted to start dating."
Anzu and Kaiba sweat dropped. Mokuba ran and gave them both a hug. "I'm going to bed! Anzu you should come back tomorrow! No point in spending Christmas alone. Night."
"Night Mokuba." They both said still in shock as he ran up the stairs into his bedroom.
After a few tense moments, Kaiba turned with his back to her and mumbled, "You know he's right?"
"Huh?" Anzu replied looking over his shoulder.
"You shouldn't spend Christmas alone." He said turning to face her.
She thought about it. "I suppose I could spend it here."
He smiled. "And I suppose I could ask if you would consider staying."
She raised a brow playfully, "Are you actually thinking of following what Mokuba said?"
He shrugged, "Maybe."
She grinned, "Well then I suppose I could say yes, and I suppose we could not say anything about taking care of a slight...issue."
He looked down and wide eyed at her. She giggled and placed a soft kiss on his lips. He blinked and carried her up the stairs mumbling about her just not being cursed with being given away easily. She laughed as he shut the door with his foot but not soon enough to miss the "Operation mistletoe: success!" and "Merry Christmas" that floated through the hall and along with a muffled giggle.
The couple raised a brow and shrugged.
"Merry Christmas Seto."
"Merry Christmas Anzu."
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Woot and I still got 39 minutes till Christmas! Happy holidays everyone!