He raced down the hallway after his brother. On a normal day Seto Kaiba kept appearances up, even to his servants and would never dream of running through the halls of his home but this was a special occasion.
"Come back here you little monster!" Seto shouted as he watched his brother duck through, yet, another doorway. "At thirteen," he thought. "Mokuba's hardly little any more." The eldest Kaiba brother remembered the growth spurt his brother had the year before and figured at the pace he seemed to be going by the time he was eighteen he would probably catch up to Seto himself, if not pass him. Of course, Seto had maybe another year or two to grow too but it was unlikely he'd get any taller. "Monster still fits though" Seto sighed.
Kaiba followed his brother down one of the longer halls of their mansion and cursed as the runner bunched at his feet. He managed to keep his balance and grabbed the banister of the stairs to the main hall as he rounded the corner. He skidded to a halt as he noticed his brother standing in front of the entrance doors. Seto straightened himself up as two figures looked his way. He began walking towards the two, ready to greet their visitor, although he was unhappy they were unannounced. Once he was close enough he realized who the visitor was and his eyes narrowed. "You get lost?" He addressed the blonde standing in front of the door. "That's the only reason a for a mutt like you to be here." he said coolly.
"Hey moneybags, coming to the house of darkness wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind, but Mokuba's bike was lying in front of the gate and I'd hate for it to get stolen." Joey ran a hand through his hair as he smiled at the youngest Kaiba brother.
"Whoops," Mokuba replied as he returned the smile. "Thanks Joey."
"Mokuba," Seto began sternly. "I told you to take better care of your things, leave that bike of yours out by the gate one more time, it's gone."
"I'm sure it was an accident Kaiba." Joey spoke up.
Seto glared at the other teen. He was about to tell the boy that the situation wasn't his concern and he should mind his own business when a thought occurred to him."Who let you in the gates anyway?" he snapped.
"I did." his brother spoke up. "Heard the buzzer when I ran past the door." Seto narrowed his eyes at the younger boy but Mokuba just smirked.
"Don't worry, I'm going." Joey said. "Gotta do some shopping."
"You going to the mall?" Mokuba asked the older boy, curiously.
"Yeah." Joey replied. "Have to get something for Yug, his birthday's in two weeks."
Mokuba smiled at him, a hint of mischief seemed to come through. "Where you walking? Cause we could take you if you want a ride."
"No!" Seto and Joey shouted in unison.
"I mean I wouldn't want to trouble anybody." Joey corrected, politely.
"It wouldn't be any trouble, would it Seto?" Mokuba asked his brother and when he narrowed his eyes at the boy, Mokuba moved the brown book he held behind his back to Seto's view.
Seto growled quietly in frustration. "Whatever." he said flatly.
"See?" Mokuba beamed at the blonde in front of him.
"Ah," Joey began, unsure of what to say. "Okay." he agreed a bit reluctantly. He didn't really want to ride with Seto but it did look like rain and he didn't want to get caught in it.
The ride to the mall had been a short one. Joey was thankful for that. The three boys had ridden in uncomfortable silence the whole way. Joey had to admit though there had been one nice thing about the trip, it was the first time he showed up at the mall in a limo.
Walking through the crowds of people with Seto and Mokuba proved to be more interesting than Joey would have thought. He'd spent time with both boys before and knew, of course, they had plenty of money. He also knew Kaiba corp was a company known by most if not everyone. Even with all that and Kaiba hosting the last duel monsters tournament he'd never given a second thought to what doing everyday things, like shopping would entail.
Two guards walked a few feet ahead of them and two followed a few feet back, all of which must have came in another car because they hadn't been in the one Joey and the brothers had ridden in. Groups of people stopped and stared as they noticed the boys. Joey began to feel uncomfortable with all the attention but both brothers walked as if nothing was happening around them. He figured they were used to it but couldn't imagine himself ever feeling that way.
The attention he had received after duelist kingdom and battle city had been fun the first couple weeks and he never did mind the groups of girls who would whisper, smile at him and giggle when he waved to them. After a while though it had grown old and got bothersome when he went out and groups of people flocked to him asking questions and wanting autographs. When it eventually died down he had been thankful.
Both of the Kaiba brothers seemed to have plenty of smiling and giggling girls pining for their attention. He even noticed on more than one occasion another boy checking out the young CEO.
Joey did his best not to snicker when one girl actually bumped into a stand advertising phones when she paid more attention to Kaiba than to where she was going. Mokuba, who walked a few paces ahead of the blonde fell back to his side. "They do that all the time." he whispered to Joey with a small laugh. "I get a few of the younger ones looking at me, some of the older ones tell me how cute I am but most of the attention is on Seto."
"Huh," Joey figured the Kaiba brothers would both get plenty of attention from the dueling crowd and the business world but he never thought Seto would with the girls. There were the group of fangirls, as he and his friends called them, from their school but that was different. These weren't just teenage girls, they were women from all ages.
"You probably have plenty of girls fawning over you too." Mokuba said cheerily.
Joey smiled. The crowds that had gathered around at one time may have died down but he still had a few admirers from time to time. "I do alright." he replied to the smaller boy. Mokuba smiled before turning away. Joey returned his attention back to Seto who still led the way down the aisle. Of course women would like the fact he was rich and smart. Joey looked closer at the figure in front of him. "I suppose he's good looking too." he thought. "He's tall, has an attractive face for a guy, his hair's nice, it's hard to tell what his body looks like because of that, "Ow!" he groaned as he realized he ran into one of the displays down the center of the hall.
Mokuba snickered. He had kept pace with Joey but wasn't paying him much attention until the blonde cried out. "You alright?"
Joey felt himself blush as he straightened up. "I'm fine, I just, ah.." He searched his brain for an answer.
"Got distracted." Mokuba suggested.
Joey nodded. "Yeah." he said flatly, he hoped the younger boy didn't ask what distracted him.
Mokuba glanced at his brother and back at Joey with a smirk. "What?" Joey asked the boy, feeling like he missed something. Mokaba shook his head. "Nothing." he replied, still smiling. He went on ahead to catch up with his brother and left Joey confused.
They continued on for a bit longer before the youngest Kaiba brother pointed out stores he wanted to stop in. The other two boys followed him from store to store in overall silence, the only talking came from Mokaba, who gladly chatted about everything from what he wanted for Christmas to what he planned on doing once school finally ended for the summer break. Joey searched for the perfect gift for his friend in a couple places but hadn't found anything he liked.
The time to break for lunch quickly came and Seto and Joey were both glad. After ordering food the three found a spot to sit. Joey's normally healthy appetite wasn't present, he felt too tired from the walking and frustrated at not finding anything for Yugi's birthday, so he picked at his food. Mokaba didn't seem to have that problem though as he hurried through his food, talking in between bites.
Kaiba watched his younger brother with disbelieve. The boy never ate like that when he was at home. There had been moments when Seto had to tell his brother not to rush through his food but it was never like this moment. The boy ate as if he were a condemned man with his last meal. "I'd expect that from Wheeler," he thought. "but not Mokuba."
Mokuba finished eating and excused himself to go to the washroom. "Once you two are finished there's this store you just have to see Joey, I think you might be able to find Yugi something there. " He announced as he left.
Once again there was silence. After a moment Joey decided to speak up. With a small sigh he said, "Well, he seems happy today. Didn't know he had such an appetite."
"He doesn't usually." Kaiba said flatly.
Joey drummed his fingers against the table, trying to think of something else to say. "Didn't know he could talk so much either."
Kaiba made a "hmpf" sound. "Yeah, sometimes getting him to shut up is the real challenge."
Joey couldn't help but laugh. "Moneybags does have sense of humor," he thought. "Who knew."
"Hopefully this won't take much longer, I have plenty to do yet." Seto began. "Besides, I hate shopping."
Joey was surprised Seto continued the conversation but went with it nonetheless. "Me too, I only do it when I have too."
Seto continued to stare off in the distance but still replied. "I usually have people to do this for me." he said matter-of-factly.
Joey rolled his eyes at the comment but decided to keep things civil. "I hate the crowds." he replied.
For the first time Seto looked at Joey. "Me too." Joey met his gaze, more than a little shocked at the confession. He'd never thought Seto Kaiba, who seemed to thrive from attention would hate a crowd. "I like them for events that I organize but not here." he clarified. "People clawing their way past each other to find the best deals in stores that marked up their prices only days ago just to mark them down to their original price and call them sales, it's irritating."
Joey nodded his agreement. "I'm sure the stores that sell items from Kaiba corp never do that." he thought sarcastically but still opted for keeping the peace. It wasn't often he had a chance to talk to Kaiba without it breaking into an agreement.
Mokaba finally made his way back to the table. "You both ready?" he asked the other two.
Joey nodded. Seto and him followed the excited boy through the crowds of people to the shop Mokuba was talking about. It was a small game shop much like the one Yugi's grandfather owned with a selection that was smaller but seemed to have rarer games, cards and other related items. Joey looked around, he doubted he'd find anything for his friend.
After a few minutes of searching Joey spotted a rare duel monsters card. He sighed as he looked at the card in his hand, it would be a perfect addition to his deck but the price was out of his range. "Not like I get much chance to play anymore anyway." he thought. With another sigh he went to find Mokuba.
"Find anything Joey?" Mokuba asked curiously.
"Nah, I know a couple other places I can check, I have some time left anyway." He said with a small smile. "I think I'll get goin', okay, thanks for the ride." he made to leave when the boy called to him.
"Wait, don't you want a ride back?" Mokuba asked.
Joey thought for a moment. The only reason he'd accepted the ride in the first place was to escape the rain. He'd spent time with the two because Mokuba insisted on helping him find something for Yugi. He did enjoy spending time with the youngest Kaiba brother and it hadn't been as bad spending time with Seto as he expected but it was getting late. He had to get back home. "Thanks, but I'll be alright, the rain's stopped." he said politely.
"Oh, it's no problem, I'm finished shopping and Seto doesn't really like it anyway." Mokuba laughed. "He's so busy all of the time, I just drag him with to spend some time with him. I'd do what he likes doing but it's pretty boring." Joey smirked. "Let me get brother and we'll give you a ride back.
"It's alright really, I can…." Joey began to protest but the boy was off in search of his brother before he could finish.
Just like the ride to the mall on the ride home Joey sat next to Mokuba who sat across from Seto. Mokuba had to laugh at his brother. "Seto thinks he's so smart, he thinks no one sees him look." the boy thought. "I think I might need help though." He noticed the curious looks he was receiving and stopped laughing. "I was thinking about a joke I heard the other day." he lied.
Seto raised an eyebrow but turned back to face the window without a word. Joey smiled at the boy. "That funny, huh?"
Mokuba nodded his head. "I'd tell you but I'm sure I wouldn't tell it right." The blonde just laughed.
Joey had insisted on walking from the brothers' house so they wouldn't have an extra stop. Once they arrived at the mansion Seto began walking inside the gate but stopped, turned and called to Joey. "Wheeler!" Joey turned on the sidewalk. "Catch." Seto said as he threw something towards the other boy.
Joey easily caught the small box that was tossed at him. He couldn't help but stare in disbelief at the item in his hand. The box held the rare card he had been looking at in the game shop in the mall. "Why would Kaiba buy this for me?" he wondered. The blonde glanced back up after the shock began to wear off. He had meant to say thank you but both of the other boys were already half way back to the house.
Joey stood frozen in place for a few minutes before looking back at the card in his hand. With one last look at the two retreating figures Joey turned and made his way back home.