Wow, thank you all so much for your prompt feedback! (is very very happy)
Now on to the second installment of this story: the journey! Usually that's always the most boring part of vacation, but if I could have experienced something like this... I'd be anticipating that part much more! ;)
I'm feeling rather... I dunno, sluggish at the moment, and I strongly guess that the lack of coffee is finally catching up to me, so I shall go awaken the all-mighty coffee machine from its sleep and beg for some caffeine! And then I can hopefully get right back to writing, the best hobby there is :D
Enjoy!
A week later, they checked one last time if they had packed all their things while they waited for the others to come. Seto and Katsuya were having a minor argument about the laptop – one side claimed that work couldn't be neglected completely while the other side declared that it was a hazard to pure relaxation and enjoyment. Mokuba and Noa let them bicker in peace and made double-sure that they would have plenty of things to entertain themselves with in case there might be a chance of boredom.
Shortly after noon, the rest of the gang arrived. Mai, Anzu, Yugi and Yami all arrived at the same time, and while Isono and some other household staff members transferred their luggage from the taxis to the spacious limousine that would take them to the airport, particularly one of the two women proceeded to greet her friends rapturously.
"Jou! It's good to see you again, honey!" Mai cheered and embraced him tightly.
"Oof! You said it, Mai…" the blond gasped. As soon as he could breathe again, he felt how a hand gripped his shoulder firmly, signaling possession.
"Hello Mai."
There was a noticeable yet not very distinctive note of displeasure in Seto's voice, but Mai didn't let it get to her.
"Hi Kaiba!" she exclaimed and took a chance: for barely more than one second, she hugged him too, and by the time he began to react, she had already drawn back.
"Anzu, you really need to get a better hold of your girlfriend," the CEO said decidedly.
The brunette laughed. "Oh, don't take it so hard! It's been a while we've seen each other, after all!" In order not to cross a line already, however, she decided to merely shake his hand.
Yugi and Yami approached them, and after a short hello, the Pharaoh, noticing how he was being looked at in a very specific way, said warningly: "Don't even think about it, Kaiba."
"Too late," Seto told him; and sure enough, the familiar spark of determination had returned to his eyes. In his opinion, the opportunity was impossible to miss: they would be there for two weeks, and since they wouldn't need to save the world or anything, Yami would need to come up with a better excuse to deny him a duel.
Yami sweatdropped and hoped that they wouldn't be lounging in the hotel the entire time, otherwise he might need to fear a surprise attack from Seto in the middle of the night. It was all for a duel, and everybody knew that the brunet hardly knew any limits concerning that issue.
Shortly thereafter, the rest arrived. Bakura and Ryou came by taxi, and Malik and Marik were on a motorcycle. As no sirens were wailing, the ride had obviously been smooth and free of any sudden dashes or similar stunts that had gotten them into more or less minor trouble with the police before.
"Oh joy, here we go: the Psycho Duo…" Seto sighed when the two yamis walked up to them with their trademark evil grins on their faces while Malik was asking Isono if his motorcycle could be left at the mansion until they would return.
"It can't be that bad," Noa remarked, who was quite excited to go on vacation with almost the entire gang.
"When you've seen them in action, we'll talk about that again," Seto countered.
"Roses are red, violets are blue; this party's getting started, so we're here too!" the two in question said loudly.
"Some greeting that is," Yami commented dryly.
"I bet it was more creative than yours, baka Pharaoh," Bakura sneered.
"Whatever. I assume you spent all the way getting here thinking it up…" was the flat response – this made both Bakura and Marik's faces darken, and they exchanged a meaningful glance.
"Don't get into an argument already! We're not even underway yet!" Yugi tried to persuade them.
"The shrimp – Yugi, I mean – is right. In fact, come in for a moment before we go," Seto offered, eying Marik and Bakura suspiciously; they were oblivious to that, however. They all trooped inside, where Seto took the floor again:
"I hope you all had your shots – that would spare us of any unnecessary and time-consuming stops."
"Of course we did; we're all very responsible. Are you so eager to get there after all?" Malik asked, and some people snickered.
'Did he just say 'of course'…?' Seto merely rolled his eyes after biting back a heated retort. "As I was saying: you all have been told in the meantime that as part of this present for Katsuya, I have taken on all the expenses for your basic stay – that excludes souvenirs and such things. But aside from that, I am not responsible for you, so don't even try to go sue me if you get into trouble."
Mokuba and Noa just sighed in exasperation. Marik looked amused.
"You're giving us ideas, Priest."
"Don't you dare! By the way: you and your lunatic friend, you will rid yourselves of any knives or daggers or whatever the hell you carry around with you." He glared at them. "It's all up to you: we're not leaving until I can be absolutely sure that you won't give me that sort of trouble at the airport –"
"Because you have a reputation to maintain," Bakura drawled, finishing the sentence for him, "Yeah, yeah, we know…"
"Kura, you don't have any such objects on you, do you?" Ryou asked hopefully. It wasn't pure hope, but Ryou liked to believe in miracles.
His darker half scowled at the expression on his hikari's face, then slowly and pointedly reluctantly pulled a knife out of his light jacket. Ryou's face fell as Bakura also extracted some daggers and several other smaller pointy objects like a pocket knife. Marik was doing the same, though Malik held no hopes whatsoever that his personalized darkness could let off that habit. Finally, a "little" pile of potentially hazardous objects was at their feet. Seto pursed his lips as he gazed at that pile. For a moment, there was only silence, then he called for his most faithful servant, and seemingly out of nowhere, Isono appeared.
"Isono, please lock these things away securely. Once we're back, the rightful owners can reclaim them again."
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba," the man replied promptly, then began to gather up the objects.
"Bakura…" Ryou mumbled, shaking his head disappointedly as he remembered reminding his yami to "leave the knives at home, for heaven's sake".
The thief watched wistfully as his treasured weapons were taken away. "I'm just hopeless, Hikari."
"Or you're not trying hard enough."
"Hopeless," Bakura and Marik said in unison. They weren't ashamed at all.
Before a discussion about "changing one's habits and why it wasn't a good idea to walk around with weapons even if you were a psychotic tomb robber or tomb keeper" could ensue, Mokuba suggested to get going.
"The kid's got a point! Race you outside!" Bakura said hurriedly and cuffed Marik.
"First one there gets to operate the window buttons!" the Egyptian agreed, and they raced out the door. The only time they had been in a limousine was roughly a year ago, and they had yearned to ride in one again ever since.
Quite suddenly, Seto was in somewhat of a hurry to go – in reality, he just aimed at telling the driver as quickly as possible to activate the child safety locks for those buttons before the windows would malfunction. Needless to say, Bakura and Marik were gravely disappointed and sulked for the longest part of the journey…
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At the airport, their first "test" was the long check-in line. It made Seto in particular groan. "Why couldn't the damn offer be for first class flights…?!"
"Welcome to the world of the little people," Malik told him, "You'll gain more experience thanks to this."
"Oh, great. It will change my life forever," Seto answered sarcastically.
"It's not too bad – I've seen much longer lines before," Mai said.
Unfortunately, even that couldn't change the fact that the wait was quite long, once again especially for Seto. His patience was additionally put to the test when most of them started to play "I spy" while they waited.
"I spy with my evil eye something that is about to blow up," Bakura had snickered at one point when the line seemed to have come to a stop for good. Of course, he and Marik insisted on using a slight variation of the basic phrase.
"You shouldn't be making jokes about that," Anzu had frowned. (1)
"It's not what you think, Mazaki."
"I get it!" Marik had exclaimed, "Seto Kaiba himself!"
"Point," Bakura had confirmed, and they both had begun to laugh maniacally.
Katsuya had discreetly taken a step to the side when he could have sworn that sparks had just flown from Seto's eyes. Luckily, the line began to move again, and the brunet could convert his upcoming aggressions into an energetic tug at his suitcase.
After checking in their luggage and going through the passport control, the usual security check was due.
"Aren't you glad that you didn't wear your usual assembly of belts and straps?" Katsuya asked cheerfully once he and Seto had passed through the metal detector.
"Yes… and no," Seto replied as he put on the one belt he was wearing again, "Surely you understand that it is a rather unfamiliar feeling to be without them…"
"Sure! But just in case you're wondering: you look good without them too."
"You're being a suck-up now – but an honest one, at least," Seto smirked. Katsuya playfully stuck out his tongue at him, and the CEO was about to fight back with one of his (in such situations) traditional pokes when a shrill beeping sound caused him to frown instead, and he and Katsuya turned around to see what was going on.
Marik had activated the alarm; after all, he was clutching the Sennen Rod. Two security officers had cornered him immediately, and of course he wasn't very pleased about that.
"Sir, I'm afraid we cannot permit you to bring that object on board."
"No way I'm leaving it behind!" Marik protested.
"What is it? A weapon?" one of the men asked, eying the artifact carefully.
"No, it's… it's…" Marik scowled as he tried to quickly come up with a reasonable explanation. "…It's a gadget I've had all my life and am very fond of," he finally answered.
"Seto…" Mokuba began, but his sibling cut him off almost instantly:
"He's all grown up, Mokuba; therefore he must sort this out himself."
The raven-haired teen glanced at Noa, who simply shrugged before looking back at the scene, wondering how the Egyptian would get himself out of the mess.
"Sir, you are familiar with the policy that pointy objects are not allowed on the aircraft, aren't you?"
"Yes, but I can't part with it."
"Oh, come on, it's not a weapon or something to smuggle drugs in, so what's the big screaming deal?" Bakura snorted and walked through the metal detector. His Sennen Ring activated the alarm all over again, and while the crowd behind them stifled a groan, the nearest officer grabbed him by the arm and forced him to stand beside Marik. When the tomb robber growled (he hated being pushed around), Ryou and Malik exchanged one more and one slightly less worried glance.
"Really? And what about that round part in front?" the other officer asked.
Bakura and Marik were standing so close next to each other that the former barely needed to move in order to nudge his friend. And because great minds thought alike, that was all it took for them to agree on what was to be done next.
The officers thought that the silence was more than just fishy, and one of them issued his final command: "Sirs, please hand over those two suspicious objects if you wish to proceed."
With a sigh that sounded as if he were saying "You pathetic fools…", Bakura slowly removed the Ring from his neck. The rest of the gang (save Marik) gaped, for none of them would have guessed to ever see the ex-spirit voluntarily give up his item. A malicious smirk dawned on his face when the officers briefly focused their entire attention to the Ring at the same time. Marik reacted instantly: the Wadjet Eye on the Sennen Rod began to glow, and abruptly, the officers stiffened. Their eyes stared into space as the one who was holding the Ring handed it back to Bakura.
"Oh, so everything's alright after all? Why, thank you!" the albino cackled and casually hung the Ring around his neck again.
"Move, baka Pharaoh!" Marik hissed before his face became completely calm once more. The execution of the Rod's mind-control had happened without the other people behind them seeing it, so he wanted to maintain the impression that the situation was still what could be considered "normal"…
Yami started, then quickly stepped through the detector. Again, it beeped; and to his surprise, the brain-washed officers blocked his way.
"Hand over the Puzzle!" one of them said in a voice quite unlike his own.
Yami had only just opened his mouth to protest when the other man lunged at him. Only barely, he dodged that surprise attack, but in a flash, the first officer grabbed his wrist. The Eye of Ra started to glow on Yami's forehead, but the man simply said:
"By the way: have a nice day."
Then he let go, and Yugi's darker half rejoined his hikari again. Ryou and Malik hurried through the detector, and when they were complete again, they went on their way. Once they had put a decent amount of distance between them and the detector, Marik released the two men from his mind-control (they had no memory at all of what had just happened).
"Are you nuts?!" Yami exclaimed, "I almost performed Mind Crush on him!"
"I just couldn't resist. Sorry… not," Marik sneered while Bakura grinned from ear to ear.
"Kaiba, when is our flight due again?" Anzu asked, skipping a bit to catch up.
"45 minutes," was the curt response.
"Great, so we have some time to go shopping before that! C'mon, Mai!"
"Right behind you, sweetheart," the blonde giggled as the two women ran off to some duty-free store.
"And it's Gate 70, for your information!" Seto called after them. He ran a hand through his brown hair. "This will be one long vacation…"
"Just wait until we're there; I'm sure you'll be thinking differently then! And besides: if you'd just goof off every once in a while, you wouldn't always have the impression of being in kindergarten or something!" Katsuya tried to cheer him up.
"You should know me better; I do not goof off," Seto said sternly.
"Hope dies last."
"Katsuya –"
"I will see that day. Someplace, somewhere, sometime, it will happen."
"Dream on."
"Thank you, I will."
"Honestly… wait a moment, where is everybody?" Seto wondered, suddenly noticing the total absence of wicked laughter or (to him) pointless babbling.
Katsuya looked over the other's shoulder. "Mokuba and Noa are at that kiosk over there."
"I just hope they're not buying a shipload of sweets…"
The other two Kaiba brothers weren't rooting around in the sweets section, however; they were at the magazines. Mokuba was close to engrossed with one while Noa was busy cleaning his glasses. (2) A small stack of puzzle books was at his feet.
"What've you got there, champ?" Katsuya asked, peering at what the raven-haired teen was looking at.
"One of my favorite gaming magazines! I need to keep track of the new stuff!" Mokuba answered excitedly.
Seto heard that and huffed – in his opinion, his younger brother would do well with spending more time on his homework than on gaming, but of all issues, that was one of the few in which he was biting on granite. He liked games too; but even so, he didn't really see what Mokuba found so interesting about those magazines. On the other hand, the tables were turned when it came to the business section of a newspaper…
"Noa, you're not planning to buy all of those, are you?" he asked, eying the stack of books that contained Sudokus, Kakuros and some crossword puzzles.
"I just can't decide which ones I should choose," the teal-haired teen answered, still trying to clean his glasses. When another wipe resulted in a new smudge, however, he cried out in frustration: "Oh shit, screw it!"
The whole store fell silent, and the people who were in there as well turned their heads to look at Noa. The boy flushed with embarrassment and hastily bowed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that…" When the other people resumed their activities with some mutters and headshakes, Noa timidly peered up at Seto, who was towering over him with his arms crossed. "Sorry, Seto…"
"I hope you're happy, Noa."
"I didn't mean to!"
"Whoa; you've never had such an outburst in public before!" Mokuba whistled.
"Well, if cleaning glasses would be easier, maybe it wouldn't have happened! I'm really toying with the idea of putting in my lenses again!" Noa defended himself and glared at his glasses.
"Remember that it was just a little over a month ago when you had that eye infection," Seto told him sternly.
"Yeah, that was nasty…" Katsuya sighed, remembering the very bloodshot eyes. The eye doctor had told Noa to mainly rely on his glasses for two weeks at the very least, and even thereafter to let his eyes slowly get used to the lenses again. And besides, most people who wore contact lenses were recommended to wear glasses on an airplane since the air usually was quite dry…
"My first stop at the hotel will be the bathroom," Noa muttered. If his eyesight without the glasses weren't so bad, he wouldn't even be wearing them; but alas, that wasn't the case. Everything was badly blurred without any visual aid. He sighed. "Again, I'm sorry for saying what I said before."
"Just try not to let that happen again, understand?" Seto asked. When Noa nodded, he gave his brother a pat on the shoulder. "Now then, I'll get you all of these –" He picked up the books. "– on one condition."
"Name it."
"Forfeit one or two of these to me."
Noa brightened again and eagerly complied. "Sure! You can even have more than that, if you want!"
"I'll keep it in mind," Seto replied with a smile. His rather spontaneous act of generosity was rewarded with a hug from Noa.
Mokuba and Katsuya looked at each other and made identical movements with their fingers. "They're nuts," they said in unison.
Seto and Noa grinned at each other: while the other two preferred to make trades with sweets and such things, their "currency" consisted of puzzles and more that almost disgusted Mokuba and Katsuya. Two teams, two beliefs. It was the perfect fuel for not-so-serious arguments and debates.
After they had also picked out some sweet stuff for their genuine pleasure (Seto wasn't part of this, of course) and paid for everything, they headed for the gate, where they met up with the rest. Mai was clutching some fashion magazine, and Anzu had her nose in a little travel guide. Bakura and Marik were putting on a "coolness act" with newly-purchased sunglasses. Yami and Yugi were happily sucking on lollipops (this strongly suggested that they had gone on a similar shopping trip like Mokuba and the others), and Ryou and Malik were catching up on things that had happened since their last meeting. Now that they were complete again, they boarded the aircraft – none of them had fear of flying, but some were more excited than others…
(The seating order was as follows – always in rows of two, looking to the front of the plane:
Noa, Mokuba
Seto, Katsuya
Bakura, Marik
Ryou, Malik
Yugi, Yami
Anzu, Mai)
"So this is what it's like to fly economy class…" Seto muttered, his eyes slowly looking around as if he were a tourist who didn't dare to turn his head.
"What's the big deal? Oh yeah, I remember: you're the rich snob who always flies first or business class," Bakura said from behind him.
Katsuya looked back at him through the crack between the seats. "Stop calling him a snob. He's not a snob!"
"Oh, let him be. Sticks and stones, Katsuya, sticks and stones," Seto reassured him.
"Just expressing myself in the usual fashion, Blondie. No harm intended," Bakura justified himself with a shrug. After the blond's usual smile returned, thus signaling that the issue was settled, the thief whispered to Marik: "But we remember when he used to sound quite different, don't we?"
"Oh yes, that we do," the Egyptian answered with a snicker. They had to try hard to stifle their laughter when they listened how Seto was making low-voiced comments on these (to him) unfamiliar traveling conditions:
"Now I get why they say that there isn't enough room here… God, I think a stretch will be in need once I get the opportunity…"
The two yamis allowed a bit of their laughter to truly escape their lips when Katsuya laughed as well. Seto heard the ones behind him, though, for he said loudly:
"Go ahead and laugh at me; I'll just be awfully tempted to adjust the seat backwards as far as it goes!"
"Ssh!" he heard Bakura hiss, "For Ra's sake, shut up! I do not want that guy's head in my lap for 14 bloody hours!"
Seto smirked, pleased that his warning was being heeded.
"Are you sure?" Marik wondered. Another hiss came from Bakura, then a fake wince from the other after he had apparently cuffed his friend.
"Oh brother…" Ryou sighed, supposing that this would be one long flight.
"Don't worry," Malik tried to cheer him up, "I'm sure they'll behave."
"Behave," Ryou repeated, making it sound like a statement that he truly doubted.
"Listen, as long as they don't send the airplane to the Shadow Realm…" Malik's voice trailed off as he folded his hands behind his head.
Ryou sent a quick prayer to heaven that that would be the very last thing to happen, by God.
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A while after they were airborne, Malik tapped Bakura on the shoulder.
"What's up with Ryou?"
The albino (who had unfastened his seatbelt in the meantime, like most of the people) got to his knees in the chair and peered over it. Ryou had put on his headphones and was mouthing words with his eyes closed and one hand tapping the arm lean in time with the rhythm.
"Oh Ra… What's he listening to?"
Malik checked the selected channel and the entertainment guide. "…The Beatles," he finally found out.
Bakura grimaced and covered his face with one hand. "Oh, the shame… I should have known! Hikari loves that group, he always does at least playback when he hears them… At least he isn't singing out loud. The Beatles, pff!" he snorted and turned around again.
"It's an evidence of a thing called culture, Kura," Ryou's gentle voice reprimanded him. (3)
"How the hell did he…?" Bakura paused, looking confused. Surely that music was loud enough that he couldn't have been heard, and his hikari had blinded himself by closing his eyes…
"There definitely are some advantages to being linked so closely with someone," Ryou grinned at Malik, who merely nodded.
Bakura sighed loudly, then suddenly looked to his left, where a kid was sitting across the aisle. The boy looked first at him, then at Ryou, then back at him again.
"What?!" Bakura almost snarled. He hated getting looked at by little kids – he found their "fish-eyed stares" (as he referred to them) rather unnerving. Usually, they started crying sooner or later anyway because he was such a scary dude… The child didn't answer, but the mother glared at Bakura, whose mouth corner twitched at one side before he looked forward again. 'Stay calm… you don't want Ryou to get angry at you…' He closed his eyes, and his face mirrored his concentration.
Marik, who was curious about what had driven Bakura to mentally chanting a mantra, leaned forward to look around his friend and spotted the child staring at him innocently. That was all he needed to know. Slowly, he let the corners of his mouth travel upwards until an evil grin had finally surfaced for good on his face. He widened his eyes to strengthen the effect. The child squeaked and averted his gaze. The Egyptian snickered and leaned back before the mother would happen to look in his direction. Ah, one of the sweet pleasures of life…!
Later on, Seto gave his laptop to Katsuya as he went to the bathroom. Bakura watched this exchange through the crack between the seats, and once Seto had stood up and gone, he supported himself on the lean of the brunet's seat and said:
"Hey Blondie, would you mind showing me what main picture he has?"
"You mean the desktop picture?"
"Yeah, that."
"Sure, why not…?" Katsuya complied, figuring that Seto wouldn't demand his head just for that. He minimized the windows of what the other had been working on, and Bakura whistled when he saw the picture.
"Ah, memories! Marik, look!"
The other man stood up (as good as he could) and looked. It was Seto and Katsuya's wedding photo. The whole gang agreed that the CEO had never looked happier before, as far as they could tell. He looked very handsome in what he claimed to be his best, navy-blue suit. Katsuya somehow appeared to be even happier, if possible, though it was probably just because his beatific smile still "overpowered" Seto's when it was full-blast. The blond had made a special decision for that occasion: he was wearing a white wedding dress. During the preparation phase, he had hinted that he might pull a stunt like that, and although Seto had claimed that he certainly wouldn't mind, he had guessed that it was more a joke than anything else. But from the moment he had seen his chosen partner in that getup, he had been spellbound, and there were plenty of pictures to prove that.
"You were one hell of a bride," Marik commented.
"It was weird… but weird in a positive way," Katsuya replied, smiling as he remembered that special day.
"I give you a lot of credit for that – I somehow doubt that I would do that, not even for Ryou," Bakura mused, "But say, I've just remembered something… Now that I think about it, I never really asked you: how do you guys do it in bed? I mean, do you have strict rules about who is seme and who's uke?"
"Three guesses," Katsuya told him, but elaborated anyhow, "Yeah, we do. I suppose both of you are guessing that Seto is seme – and that's absolutely correct. However…" He quickly peered over the rows of seats to make sure that Seto wasn't coming back quite yet before continuing: "There is one occasion on which I get to be the dominant one."
"Really?" Marik asked, interested; he couldn't imagine Seto forfeiting that.
"Yep. He made a deal with me: on my birthday, I get to be on top."
Bakura and Marik slowly nodded, impressed.
"Still, that doesn't mean that I don't put up a fight every now and then. What about you guys, anyway? You asked me, so I get to ask you…"
"We alternate more often – but most of the time, I get to be seme," Marik answered, briefly gazing skyward as he couldn't wait for the next night before elbowing Bakura: "But you've never done that before, haven't you?"
The tomb robber got a tiny bit pink around the nose. "Actually, I did," he said very quietly.
"No way!" the other two exclaimed.
"Ssh!" Bakura hissed, then explained in a low voice: "Once, I was very drunk when I got home – and I mean very drunk. I only remember one or two tiny snippets of that night… The next day, Ryou told me that I had held him captive in bed and that I had practically begged for him to be on top, but he had refused as long as he could because he didn't want to take advantage of me. But apparently, I left him with no other choice. He told me that he would never do that again unless I am sober and willing to repeat that. Not that he didn't enjoy it, but… you know…"
"That action has 'Ryou' written all over it," Katsuya agreed with a short glance at the Briton, who was taking a nap before dinner would be served.
"Oh, come on, Blondie, I can imagine that you wouldn't do that either!" Bakura remarked.
"Yeah…"
"Wouldn't do what?" Seto's voice suddenly interrupted.
Bakura started. "Oh, nothing!" he said as quickly as he could. He had barely even finished when Marik gave the true answer, however:
"He wouldn't take advantage of you if you were drunk, even if you'd ask him to."
"Baka!" the albino growled, then looked Seto straight in the eye: "If you're gonna lay back your seat because of that, Priest, I'll make sure to send it straight to the Shadow Realm, and you had better pray that you won't get sent there as well!"
Seto raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer immediately. Instead, he checked on his brothers, who both had fallen asleep in the meantime. Mokuba had obviously aimed for that to happen, for he had bedded his head on his arms on the fold-down table. Noa had bowed his head; a puzzle book was open in his lap, and the pen he was holding was about to make a getaway. Seto carefully took the pen and used it as a reminder to which puzzle the boy had been working on last. After putting the book away, he gently removed Noa's glasses. The teen didn't move an inch. His older brother brushed a stray hair strand out of his face before returning to his seat for good and tucking the glasses into his breast pocket.
"Now, what's all this about taking advantage and being drunk?" he asked, sounding as if nothing had just happened.
Bakura and Marik caught on to the look Katsuya was giving them: namely, that they shouldn't comment on what they had just witnessed. Seto usually didn't do such things around others exactly because of that, but this time it had just… happened…
"Think about it, Kaiba, and tell us your opinion: do you believe that Jou would take advantage of you if you were drunk and begging him to dominate you for the night?" Marik asked.
'…Don't ask how they got to this subject, just don't,' Seto told himself, then answered: "That's a rather unlikely situation… but assuming that it would indeed occur, I would guess… I would guess that Katsuya wouldn't do that, no."
"That's what I thought too," Bakura agreed.
"Aha. Listen, now that that is settled, would you mind…?"
The yamis understood, grinned and then sat back again (Bakura noticed that the little kid was staring at him once again…). Seto took his laptop back, gazed at the picture for a few seconds before activating the standby mode and then said quietly:
"You know, that really was one of the happiest days in my life."
"Yeah, I second that… sometimes I wish we could experience it all over again," Katsuya sighed wistfully.
"So do I, puppy," Seto murmured and put an arm around him. As the blond leaned against his shoulder, he let his thoughts wander along memory lane. In January of last year, he had proposed to Katsuya. On his birthday, even. Everything had been absolutely deliberate. Until they had married on October 17th, countless hearts of obsessed single fangirls had been shattered after the announcement that Seto Kaiba wasn't up for grabs anymore.
After they had gotten together in their senior year at high school, Katsuya had received quite a few dark-natured letters, some of which had either predicted him having a slow and most painful death, and others that had accused him of unfairly claiming Seto's heart in such a sappy fashion that it by far didn't have the heart-wrenching effect it originally should have had. Seto had been more than just displeased, and that had been the start of him having a protective eye on Shizuka's brother whenever he could. Light-hearted as he was, Katsuya hadn't given the letters much thought and therefore didn't really comprehend why he so often found himself being followed by plain-clothed bodyguards – it was one of the main issues they argued about.
And the wedding had been another story in itself… (4)
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When it was time for dinner, Bakura reached around his seat and pinched Ryou's thigh. Of course, this caused his counterpart to awaken with a yelp which spared Marik from performing a similar action as Malik was startled out of his catnap as well.
"Yow! Bakura, why can't you wake me up more gently?" Ryou complained.
"Old habits are hard to change, Hikari."
"Some 'old' habit that is!" Ryou knelt in his seat and supported himself on the lean of the thief's chair. A disappointed frown came up on his face when he saw how Seto was waking Noa up in a much more considerate way. It made him a tad bit jealous to see the teal-haired teen gratefully hug Seto's arm before retrieving his glasses from the brunet. "See, you could take a leaf out of Kaiba's book!" he said in a low whisper, tapping his yami on the head and pointing in the general direction just as Katsuya reached over the seat and woke Mokuba up in a similar fashion (in secret, he was surprised that he would ever tell anyone to take a leaf out of Seto's book).
Bakura reached up and swatted his lighter half's hand away. "If I wouldn't love you so much, dear Ryou, I would tell you to kiss my ass."
"I'm sorry, Kura… let me kiss your hand instead," Ryou replied softly before grabbing the other's hand and kissing the back of it. This provoked a satisfied smile on his love's face, and he couldn't wait until they would have a bit more privacy so he could kiss back, but rather on the lips instead of the hand…
The rest of the flight was more or less peaceful, much to Ryou's relief. When most of them were asleep, however, Bakura noticed something that sparked his interest: the little boy who kept staring at him for some reason (it was making him become mildly paranoid) was obviously in need of going to the bathroom. The kid cast a glance at his sleeping mother, seemed to collect his courage and then climbed out of his seat. When the youngster felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around and stared right into Bakura's face, which bore a scary grin.
"Need to use the throne, don't you?" that white-haired man asked in a tone of voice that made you want to turn tail and run away if you were to meet him on the streets at night.
"Actually, I need to go the bathroom," the boy replied, not quite understanding what the other had meant.
"Yes, that's what I said. Well, let me give you a piece of advice: you must be very, very careful when you use those toilets. They're evil, you know, and could possibly suck you down when you flush." Bakura grinned when he saw the child's dark eyes widen in worry, yet he did an amazing job of keeping his voice serious. "Yes, really. It has happened before that some kids who used those toilets never returned from them. I've witnessed it myself. Their parents and the stewardesses looked everywhere, but they were nowhere to be found. Ever. Perhaps you should get up onto the sink when you're about to flush, hmm?"
"U-Um… thanks, sir… a lot…" the boy stammered and slowly approached the bathroom, where Anzu was already waiting for it to become vacant again. Of course, she had been watching the entire thing and frowned when Bakura leaned back with smugness written in capital letters all over him. Once the boy took his place beside her as he waited, she gently put a hand on his shoulder.
"Excuse me, but I happened to see how you talked to my friend… Would you mind telling me what he said?"
"He said that the toilet might suck me down if I'm not careful," was the hushed response.
Anzu shook her head and smiled at him. "Forget what he said, that's utter nonsense. He likes to mess around with people. Don't worry; the toilet will do no such thing."
"Really?" The child looked relieved. "That's good; I don't think Mother would be too happy about that…"
The brunette laughed. "Exactly!" When a man stepped out of the toilet, she made an inviting gesture. "You go on first."
"You were here before me, ma'am."
"It's okay; I can wait a little longer. Go right on."
"Thank you very much!" The boy shortly bowed to her before disappearing into the bathroom.
While she waited, Anzu shot a dark look at the tomb robber, who was apparently taking a nap. 'Bakura, sometimes you really are a bastard…'
After relinquishing the bathroom to Anzu, the little boy went back to his seat, but paused before sitting down. He turned around and glared at Bakura, who was supporting his head with one hand as he dozed. A sly look appeared on the child's face, and then he took revenge: he reached out, grasped one of the outstanding white bangs and gave a short, but hard tug. Even while Bakura woke with a start, yelping with pain, the boy hastily resumed his seat, doing a good job of suppressing his glee (for the moment).
It was a wake-up with consequences: it didn't take Bakura more than three seconds to whirl around in his seat, glare at the boy and know who had pulled his hair. He could feel it in his guts, like he always did when people pulled his hair. Snarling and eager for revenge, he stood up in a flash. Unfortunately, he did that very carelessly and therefore roughly bumped against the back of the chair in front of him in the process. This woke Seto up just as suddenly, and naturally, the CEO was beyond furious. Before Bakura got a chance to pounce on the boy or send him to the Shadow Realm, he was roughly pushed back into his seat and gasping for air a split second later when two hands wrapped themselves around his throat. Anyone who knew "The Simpsons" (5) would have found the momentary scene very familiar. This sudden commotion made many heads turn in their direction while the rest of the gang woke up as well and noticed what was going on: Noa and Mokuba whistled as they plucked at the collars of their shirts, watching the scene bug-eyed while Katsuya tried to hold Seto back – Marik did the same, only from the front end. Malik looked as if he thought that the eldest Kaiba brother had gone completely bonkers, and Ryou cringed, wondering what on earth Bakura had done now and knowing that his attempts to interfere would be fruitless. Mai just shook her head as if to say: "Boys…!" Yugi had already started to get up when Yami held him back, calmly declaring that "the tomb robber must sort out his affairs on his own".
In the middle of this, before a stewardess could come see what was going on, Anzu came back from the bathroom and cracked up when she saw how Bakura was acquiring a blue hue on his face. On the way back to her seat, she stopped at the thief's seat and giggled:
"I guess you won't go lying to little kids anymore, will you, Bakura?"
"…Mazaki!" the albino hissed, realizing that she had thwarted his attempt to strike terror into a certain little boy's heart.
"That's why you woke me up?!" Seto exclaimed angrily.
"Oh, like I wanted to!" Bakura choked while Anzu let them be as she went to fill in Mai, Yugi and Yami on how that mess had come to be.
"Blasted psycho… where's the kid?" Seto demanded.
Glaring daggers at him, Bakura pointed. The brunet looked and now clearly saw the amusement on the boy's face while the mother stared at them, perplexed.
"Way to go, kiddo. Really. Now I also know who I don't want to have sitting behind me on the way back."
With that statement, he finally released Bakura's neck, leaving the ex-spirit to fitfully catch his breath again.
"Nii-sama, you looked as if you were Homer Simpson and Bakura was Bart," Mokuba remarked, impressed at the elder's outburst.
"Like who?" Seto asked back, nonplussed.
"Oh, nothing… just something from a cartoon…"
Noa snickered, and Seto guessed that he was better off not understanding the raven-haired teen's comment – even more so because it had something to do with cartoons, and those definitely weren't his cup of tea. Not in a million years.
"Note to self: never ever wake up Seto Kaiba so suddenly," Katsuya said faintly, staring at his partner.
"You wouldn't like it either, puppy. I just… briefly lost my temper." Seto sounded as if he were talking about the weather.
"Consider yourself lucky, Priest!" a dark voice growled behind them.
"Bakura, perhaps you'd want to keep quiet… I mean, he came really close to strangling you…" Malik's yami muttered.
"Is that so?" Seto said loudly.
"Yeah! You had the element of surprise on your side this time, but next time, your next stop might just be –"
"Let me guess: that blasted Shadow Realm?" Seto interrupted.
"I know you think I'm spouting a bunch of boloney, but I'd be happy to prove to you that it does exist!"
"Listen to your… friend; for once, he's actually being reasonable," Seto advised him.
Before the argument could continue, a stewardess came by.
"Sirs, is there a problem?" she asked friendly.
"We're cool," Katsuya quickly assured her.
She looked at Marik and Bakura – the Egyptian made a similar, reassuring statement. It seemed to satisfy her, for she nodded and then continued on her way.
"What on earth made you lie to that innocent little boy?" Ryou asked incredulously.
Bakura spun around and looked around his chair. "Innocent little boy?!" he repeated, "Innocent?! He pulled my hair and you call him innocent?!"
"That's one old man who needs to grow up," Seto said on the quiet. Katsuya quickly clapped a hand over his mouth as his shoulders shook with laughter.
"I heard that!" Bakura snarled and pushed against the lean of the CEO's seat.
"Kindly keep your hands to yourself, you psycho."
"You'll be dead meat if I ever meet you in the pool or the ocean."
As the argument came to an end, Ryou buried his face in his hands. "Doesn't anyone have any sleeping pills…?"
"Oh, don't tell me that it's that bad, Ryou…" Malik tried to appease him, patting his shoulder.
"Not for me," Ryou whispered, "I was thinking along the lines of ordering a cup of tea for Bakura and spiking it with them so there won't be any trouble anymore."
Malik stared. "I don't think I'll ever accept a drink from you again, my friend."
Ryou playfully stuck out his tongue at him.
Fortunately, Bakura was too busy pouting to hear that secret plot against him…
Note that the chapter lengths will vary; I do try not to make them uber-short or something, but I can't guarantee a consistent number of words (meaning differences of 1000 words or such)... Just for your information n.n;; (formerly, I tried to keep up that consistency)
(1) I didn't mean to, but I did make a similar comment at Heathrow airport when we went to London - luckily, only my family heard it. It was embarrassing, and I still wish I hadn't said it, so nobody needs to get on my case or anything... -.-;;
(2) It has its purpose, believe me...
(3) That's what one of my music teachers said once - he was totally obsessed with songs by The Beatles, and I've sung enough of them to last for a lifetime ;)
(4) I'm pondering whether I should try and make an attempt to write a (brief?) insight about that - I've gotten a little start. If you want, I will gladly continue that and include it at some point throughout the story.
(5) Of course, I don't own anything of that either!
I have looked through the photos to refresh my memory and have noted numerous things that will be bound to happen - but if you have any additonal suggestions/wishes, you're more than welcome to tell me! But you must excuse me now, my two cats are begging for attention... (forfeits the comfortable office chair to the "fatso" of the two and goes to sit on a plain, wobbly stool instead)