DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters, else I would kick Serenity Wheeler out of it. ☺
Both hands tucked in her pale blue coat's pockets, trying to gather some warmth, 17-year-old Téa Gardner made her way through the snow covered pathway of the park.
Everything felt so peaceful: for once, she was glad that she was not with her usual circle of friends. Not that she was weary of them but when you spend most of your time with the likes of Tristan Taylor and Joey Wheeler, you do appreciate your time alone. But as condescending as she is, Téa did ask her friends whether they would like to stroll down the huge park with her and maybe even go skating on the frozen lake. After all, it's not given to everybody to enjoy the rare pleasures given by the freezing cold weather.
Tristan and Joey replied they would rather play at throwing snow at each other. Téa did not mind that but it seemed that the two boys just did not want to visit the park. They had already decided to go the Game Arcade to try out the newly released Monster-Killing video games.
As for Yugi Muto, Téa's best friend and one of the most talented duelists in the whole world, he was abroad in Egypt with his grandpa, visiting the Pyramids, the tombs and the artifacts of the Ancient Egypt.
Téa did not know whether she was relieved or disappointed that she was not hanging out with her usual gang. In a way, the absence of the non-stopping chatter of Joey and Tristan was soothing to the ears but Téa did miss her small friend Yugi's reassuring personality.
Shoes crunching in the snow covered ground; she slowly made her way to the frozen lake, her skating shoes laced around her neck. Lost in her thoughts, it was a while before she registered whose voices she was hearing; Mokuba and none other that his often-dreaded elder brother Seto Kaiba, more commonly known as Kaiba.
Kaiba was kneeling on the ground, attempting to tie a yellow scarf securely around Mokuba's neck. His loose silky brown bangs were fluttering about, caressing his smooth forehead, his thin, rosy pale lips were pressed firmly together as he struggled in concentration, his blue eyes blinking determinedly , his long, fine-looking fingers handling the scarf with precision. His lanky long legs bended under his long frame looked uncomfortable in this awkward position. Téa could see that Kaiba was wearing a midnight blue turtle-neck shirt with long sleeves and thick white denim pants. What Téa could not understand was why he wore his usual white trench-coat with the KC logo of Kaiba Corp on top of that. She rolled her eyes, Kaiba'll never change.
Mokuba, on the other hand, was dressed like a normal 12-year-old teenager; bottle green woolen cardigan and black ski pants with his light blue mittens in both hands and on his jungle of jet-black hair was topped a cute green bobble hat. He was whining that the scarf was too tight but Kaiba kept a secure arm around him and managed to arrange the scarf in the way he wanted it to be.
"Oh big Brother, you are mean," pouted Mokuba. At that, Kaiba threw his head back and let out a fresh peal of laughter.
Téa's oceanic blue eyes widened; she'd never heard Kaiba laugh like this before. It was so unlike his usual evil cackle that he usually let out during his duels with Yugi.
This laughter contained so much warmth and sincerity that Téa was moved by it.
It was such a beautiful family scene, seeing how Kaiba now stood up, seized Mokuba by his armpits, raised him onto the air and twirl around, and laughing with renewed vigour. Soon Mokuba forgot his irritation and laughed with him.
When Kaiba finally let him down, Mokuba asked for more and received a hearty "Nah!" from his brother.
"Big Brother, please?" pleaded Mokuba, widening his cute puppy grey shining eyes at Kaiba.
"Ah!" replied Kaiba, refusing to give in, "for that, you'll have to catch me". And he immediately sauntered away halting behind a beautiful red sports car that Téa assumed was his.
"Téa, is that you?"
Téa jumped in surprised and looked around, it seemed that Mokuba had finally spotted her.
At those words, Kaiba's head snapped up, his happy and relaxed face already slipping back to its usual mask of indifference and coldness.
"Oh, um hi both of you, nice day, huh?" managed to croak out Téa, flustered that she'd been spotted staring at them and reached for a non-existent string of brown chestnut hair to brush from her face.
"Hi Téa, yes it's a nice day indeed. Big Brother is here too. Look Big Brother, it's Téa!" replied Mokuba.
Kaiba only nodded at Téa while Téa managed a timid smile, both unsure of what to say.
Mokuba came to their rescue, "Where are Yugi and the others, Téa?"
Kaiba's lips curled up in distaste at the mention of his arch rival. Yeah, he thought, where is the gang of morons that tails his hated rival Yugi like a bunch of hungry birds, voicing out their encouragement to him during his duels like some programmed robots, with always the same words?
Not that he thinks that Téa is a moron.Wait a minute, he thought, Téa is part of the gang alright, so why the exception?
His thoughts were interrupted as Téa answered Mokuba's question in a somewhat offhand voice: "Well Yugi is in Egypt with his grandpa and Joey and Tristan are hanging out at the Game Arcade."
Mokuba mouthed an "Oh!" of understanding. In his mind, kaiba sneered. So Yugi still thinks he is the reincarnation of some dead Pharaoh of 5000 years old, doesn't he? What a troubled fool!
"Yeah", continued Téa as cheerfully as she could, "so here I am, all alone".
Kaiba still did not say a word but continued to watch Téa as if she was an interesting specimen. Uncomfortable under Kaiba's gaze, Téa shuffled her feet in the snow trying to find something less awkward to say.
Mokuba then added: "Why don't you join us Téa? Big Brother and I were just going skating. I guess you are too, aren't you?" jerking his head towards the skates around Téa's neck.
"Yeah, I'd loved to" exclaimed Téa, forgetting her recent uneasiness, returning to her usual cheerful self. "Let's go", she continued, glancing at Kaiba questioningly.
"You go ahead Mokuba, I just have some work to finish. I'll join you later", said Kaiba, not looking at Téa, therefore not noticing her knowing look. She knew he would come out with something like this. Kaiba just could not behave like a normal individual around her friends and she. So she just shrugged.
"Oh! Big Brother, not again. You promised to skate with me. Your work can wait", whined Mokuba.
"Just go ahead Mokuba, I said I will join you, but later ok? I've got to finish this", he said opening the car box and taking out his laptop, fingers already keying in.
"Hmpf, he always does that. Let's go", said Mokuba. Taking Téa's hand, Mokuba pulled Téa along side him and they both half ran towards the lake.
As soon as they were both a few steps away, Kaiba's fingers stopped keying in. He raised his head and contemplated the two distant figures of Téa and Mokuba.
Yes, he asked himself, why did he refuse to accompany them? Did Téa's presence bother him that much?
Of course, he replied to himself, Téa is the annoying cheerleader of Yugi's gang and no way was he hanging out with her. Mokuba is alright; he is still a child and gets along well with them but not him. He was not going to lower himself consorting with one of Yugi's friends.
But now that he came to think of it, he had never sneered at Téa or said whatever to her. Every time Téa accused him of something or addressed him directly, he could only stare at her. He could never answer her angry words. Why was it?
Whatever, he thought; I cannot pretend anymore to be mute in front of her. She must be thinking that I'm a moron. I'll go and skate with them.
Kaiba took his skates out of the car, locked the doors and strode purposefully towards the lake. He did not realise that the real reason for this sudden decision was Téa. He did not notice that he was taking into account what another person thinks of him. This was so unlike the Seto Kaiba.
Reaching the banks of the lake, Kaiba crouched to put on his skates. When he looked up, he was surprised to see two pair of legs in front of his face. One pair was that of Mokuba's short stumpy ones and the other pair was that of Téa's slim and slender long legs. Kaiba could tell they were slender even though they were concealed in her thick linen pants. The number of times he had let his eyes wander over Téa's long bare legs when she wore her short school uniform skirt.
Mentally kicking himself for having thought of such a thing about Téa, Kaiba stood up and said, "Here I am", forgetting to act his usual cold self in Téa's presence.
"Yahoo!," exclaimed Mokuba punching the air with his fist up, "let's skate, Big Brother!"
And the three of them sled towards the middle of the frozen lake, Téa and Kaiba, each holding a hand of Mokuba, Téa on the left, Kaiba on the right.
They had unknowingly formed the picture of a happy young couple with their child hanging onto their hands. Other couples who passed them could not restrain their appreciation. One woman even pointed out loudly: "What a lovely couple skating with their lovely little boy. It's so refreshing to see our youngsters so caring and affectionate even now. Else nowadays, the youngsters of today are too busy getting into one trouble or another, not caring about the true meaning of a family. "
Only Kaiba and Téa heard those words; as one, they turn to each other over Mokuba's head and exchanged an almost identical smirk. If only that woman knew, they seemed to say to each other. Not noticing this sudden exchange of looks between the two, Mokuba burst out: "Big Brother, Téa, come on, faster!" yanking on their arms to go even faster.
They've been skating for a while now, Téa and Kaiba, each keeping a hold of Mokuba's arms since the latter seemed not to be able to stay alone on his skates without slipping. Little did they know that the sly Mokuba was purposely doing that in order to keep the two as close as possible.
"Ok now, guys, let's play a game", chimed Mokuba suddenly. Téa and Kaiba glanced at each other apprehensively. They did not seem to notice that for the past half an hour, they've been catching each other's eyes several times for some reason or the other.
"What kind of game Mokuba?" asked Téa, reaching for his cheeks and tweaking them playfully.
"I was thinking of maybe one of us would play at catching the other two, what do ya people say?" piped up Mokuba, flashing his cute round puppy grey eyes from one face to another.
Kaiba rolled his eyes thinking, I'm not falling for this one. Téa, on the other hand, had to bit her lip in order not to let out the fit of giggles that threatened to burst out at the thought of Seto Kaiba running like a maniac after Mokuba. The picture was so vivid in her mind that she guessed that Joey would kill to witness that.
I'm not getting into all of this, thought Kaiba, enough childishness. "You two go on, I'll just take a break for a while. I'll sit there on that bench watching you."
"Big Brother, you are not even tired. Come on, it's just a game. If you want, I'll let you be the catcher, alright?" pleaded Mokuba, holding on desperately onto Kaiba's arms. "For me, please?"
Don't look at his eyes, don't look at his eyes, he chanted like a priest to himself. Unfortunately for him, he glanced down at Mokuba and blue eyes locked with deep pale grey ones. Ah! I looked.
He sighed: "Look Mokuba, you are not even able to stay on your feet by yourself. How will you even get away from me without breaking your every bone at one push?" Ah! He thought, that's a good one.
Téa decided to intervene. She marched towards Kaiba and placed her hands on her hips: "Kaiba, you are not going to work. You'll have the courage refuse such a sweet little boy?" glancing connivingly at Mokuba. "Don't be such a spoilsport. Mokuba can very well skate by himself. You show him Mokuba" egging on Mokuba to display his skating talents.
Kaiba glared at Téa, "I think I know better what my little brother is capable of, thank you. And according to me, Mokuba sucks at skating." he finished between gritted teeth, all courtesy forgotten.
Red-faced, Mokuba let go of Kaiba's hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, here comes the pro of the Skating World, Moookubaaaa Kaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiibaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!" On those words, Mokuba charged ahead, sliding and zigzagging between people with such ease and fluidity that people all around gasped and stared in awe.
Téa poked Kaiba playfully in the ribs, "You were saying, genius?" earning herself another glare. Kaiba mumbled something beyond normal human understanding and chose not to answer Téa's provocation.
They turned to watch as one, the return of the newly discovered skating talented Mokuba. Téa clapped: "Awesome!"
"Awful!" stated Kaiba in a not-so-convincing tone. When did he get so good at skating and how? he wondered. Ah! Because he is a Kaiba after all, he now thought smugly, feeling proud of Mokuba and trying hard not to show it.
Mokuba ignored his so-unflattering comment and said: "Now that I proved that I can stand on my own feet, you have no excuse big Brother. Come on Téa, Big Brother is the catcher. On the count of 3, One, Two, Three, Go!"
Téa and Mokuba skated away from Seto, grinning like two children. Kaiba unconsciously smiled at the view but the smile vanished from his face the moment he heard Mokuba calling his name.
Great, thought Kaiba, I'm playing kindergarten's games now with a little boy and a silly over-enthusiastic cheerleader of a girl. What a joke! If anyone caught the Seto Kaiba at that, my reputation is ruined.
But not wanting to break his brother's balloon of happiness, Kaiba swallowed his pride and poised himself to launch himself at the two little devils who were taunting him to try and catch them.
"Here comes Seto Kaiba, the BIG BAD WOLF! Aaarrgghhh!" declared Seto and let out one of his well-known evil cackle.
I wanted to do a one-shot but the words kept coming, so it would have been too long. So there will definitely be another chapter. And so on, until my flow of ideas dries up.
Please review. Constructive criticism is most welcomed. No flaming please!☺