DISCLAIMER: I don't own any official or original parifanalia of YGO in any way shape, form, or theory; and have only my original ideas such as this story, its content (including the CLONES), and am completely aware of accepting all reviews, compliment or complaint, due to the stupidity of this document.
DeathT-2: And by the way, Seto and Mokuba have all of their homework for December done. You'll see.
________________________________________________________________________
`
"Okay, stay calm, we're just walking. Okay? Just walking."
"TO OUR DOOM!"
"Jono, it is NOT our doom." said Anzu sacastically. "C'mon, it's only Kaiba."
"Exactly! Yugi, remember when we first went there? MOKUBA 'BOUT NEAR POISONED US!" Jono had been forced by Yugi, Anzu, and Honda to go to Kaiba's and wish him and his little brother happy holidays because they were going to visit Egypt during winter vacation. Obviously, Jono was only wishing to stay away from Kaiba. "And after THAT, he took us through that creepy Death-T thing, and before we knew it, WE WERE ON A GIANT BLIMP THAT TOOK US TO HELL'S TOWER!"
Tristan, however, had had enough of Jono's griping over the entire situation. Sure, he had gone through the entire thing with them, but HE had gotten over it. He ate too many pizzas but he had gotten over it. "Jono, if you don't shut up, I'm gonna knock you out and use you as a puppet to say 'woof'."
Jono pretended not to hear and switched the griping to another subject. "Then why do we have to say 'happy Thanksgiving'? Only the Americans celebrate it."
The others stifled their laughs. "Jono, do you even know what the Americans do on Thanksgiving?" Yugi asked.
"Um, no."
"They take school off and spend the day eating fancy meals, like turkey and gravy..."
"And pie and ham and potatos and bread rolls, and so on..." Honda continued. Anzu just giggled, "Didn't you know, Jono?"
Jono was silent for several seconds, then blurted out, "KUSO! Why doesn't Japan have the American's Thanksgiving?!" This caused everyone to laugh, and before they knew it they were nearing Kaiba's block.
Yugi put on a thoughtful face, pondering over where exactly in time he had stopped fearing Kaiba. He had, in fact, turned out to be not all that bad. Yami noticed That Yugi was very silent.
~
/What are your thoughts, Yugi-kun?/
\I was just thinking about how it is that Kaiba-kun has kept himself together for all this time.\
/But he has broken several times before. Don't you remember?/
\Hai. But I still wonder how he and Mokuba-kun can stay from that around this time of year, I've never heard of them going insane from lonliness and heartbreak in this season of thankfulness.\
/That is a question that I cannot answer. Why don't you ask Kaiba-kun when next you see him?/
\It's not really a question I want an answer to. I guess I'm just stating that he has a past that I can't quite comprehend...\
/... And there's probably alot more that we don't know, that he wouldn't be comfortable sharing just yet.../
\Right. I want to become a better friend to him, but I don't want to seem prying in the process.\
The pharaoh was silent for a moment. /... You've given me just another thing to think about, Yugi-kun./ And with that, he dissappeared back into his soul room.
~
But this "conversasion" didn't go unnoticed by his friends. It was quiet, and finally Jono broke the silence, "What ya thinkin' about, Yugi?"
"Only a private talk, nothing to be alarmed over-- if that's what you mean."
"Nah. I ment more like, er, what was it?"
"You mean you can't remember what it was you were thinking about?" Honda snorted.
"NO! I just forgot the words! There's a difference, ya know."
"Right..." With that everyone dropped the subject and drifted to their own trails of thought. Most of which concerned the Kaiba brothers.
`
Earlier that morning...
It seemed as if sunrise had come too early as always, but for some reason the young teen in the bed wasn't dreading it as he normally did. No, it wasn't dread that kept him asleep, rather it was the toll of staying up late the previous night.
Scarlet-tinted rays peered in through the window trying to wake him for the day's activities, but sleep held on to him.
Early-risers chirped in the light of dawn, but still to no prevail. All was still and motionless, being kept that way by the hold of soft shading that covered nearly the entire room. Only the steady rising and falling of the boy's chest as he breathed could show that someone was in there.
The stillness was broken when the large door silently opened, revealing the face of a younger boy with jet-black hair. His wide, bright eyes shone through the darkness and traveled their gaze over to the bed at the far wall. Not even his older brother would stop him from what he was planning that day.
The young boy quickly, but quietly, walked up to the bed and jumped on to it. His brother didn't move.
"Seto..." he whispered. Nothing. "Seto!" he said louder, "Get up, Seto! C'mon!"
Silence, then finally the brunett stirred wearily. "Hmph... What time is it?"
"Six-fifteen."
"It's too early," he yawned and turned towards Mokuba, his blue eyes opening slightly. "Just another hour, please..."
Mokuba paused for a moment. "Half an hour." he said flatly.
"Deal." And with that, Seto turned to the opposite side of the room and closed his eyes. "Wake me up then."
* * *
Half an hour came and went, and as agreed Mokuba had gotten Seto up. Now both of them were ready for their plans.
"Do you understand so far?" The servant nodded, "Yes, Master Seto. If they come over, to say that you are unavailable and to give them these."
"And tell them where we went. Ready, Mokuba?"
"Yep!" the pre-teen grinned. "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!"
Seto smiled as well. Then both boys walked out to the limo that was awaiting them and left.
The wind seemed to pick up and surround them as the four teens rounded the corner on the street Kaiba lived on. It seemed to whirl around only them, trapping them inside a minniature tornado. But they hardly noticed it as they were deep in thought over their past expiriences with Seto and Mokuba.
It was true most of them weren't happy memories, in fact they wished to totally forget some, but Yugi coudn't help but wonder how Kaiba could stand it.
~
/Well he was the high priest, and has a high tolerency level. Some of the circumstances he has now are what he had then./
\But he caused damage to himself and others.\
/True. But back then there was no day that anyone gave thanks. This time, it could be different./
~
"Yugi?"
"Yes, Anzu?"
"How did we get all caught up in this mess? I mean, when this started out, Kaiba was just another kid in our class. But, now he's turned out to be so much more is a short timespan."
"Yeah, and now we know more about him than what I personally want to." Honda cut in. "But now what seemed like forever, well, it really wasn't all that long, now that I think about it."
Yugi was silent. Not a harsh silent, but more retrospective than silent. "I guess it was from the beginning."
"What was, Yug'?"
"When I stopped being afraid of him. I had noticed him occasionally in the classroom, even before I solved the puzzle. There was always a certain aura about him, but I never felt afraid of him. It's just hard to explain with words." He sensed the pharaoh nod in agreement.
He spotted Kaiba's gated entrance. It was open.
"And it was fate that took us through it all. Destiny kept us alive, but there was a price paid."
They turned into Kaiba's driveway.
"But he and Mokuba are going to be OK, right?"
They walked up to his front door.
"I don't know." And with that, Yugi rang the bell. It seemed like forever before it opened, but it finally did.
The old servant was dressed in his uniform as usual, but he seemed to be expecting them. "Master Yugi and his friends, I presume?" he inquired.
"Yes," replied Yugi, "We wanted to talk to Seto. Is he in?"
"No. Master Seto and Master Mokuba earlier this morning. Do you wish to come in?"
Jono spoke quietly, "They'll ambush us if we do." Everyone ignored him.
"Uh, we actually had some other plans. Could you tell us where he went so we can speak with him there?"
"I'm afraid that's quite impossible. Master Seto and Master Mokuba have gone to visit the orphanage, then is taking them to Kaiba Land afterwards. The entire park is closed for this event."
The teens were silent. "Then I guess we'll be on our way..." said Yugi, dissappointed. Today had been the last day that he could talk to Kaiba before he went on his business trip and Yugi went on winter vacation.
"But," the butler stopped them, "Master Seto did say to give you these if you came by." He handed them some envelopes. This puzzled them but they took the envelopes anyway and left.
It was when they exited the gates when Jono opened his enveloped. "What the... Money?!"
Anzu and Honda just looked at each other, then opened their envelopes. Those had money in them as well.
But as those three were outwardly questioning what they were seeing, Yugi silently opened his envelope, read the letter inside, and froze in his tracks nearly causing a colision.
"What is it Yugi?"
But instead of answering them right away, he folded the letter and put it in his pocket. "It's not important right now." he grinned softly, "I'll tell you later."
Now he knew for sure that Seto would be all right.
.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Yugi's letter
Yugi,
Don't be alarmed if this seems unusual, I suppose it's just destiny that made me write this.
Destiny, it's such an odd story that goes with that word for me. Often I wonder if I was supposed to be adopted by Gozaburo, or was I supposed to be split from Mokuba on an earlier occasion. I used to oppose that word, now I just wonder...
But I know the difference between destiny and fate. I cannot control fate, which is what brought me life at this time. But destiny is another thing, it brings the consequences of my decisions.
I'm giving you and your friends this money as an apology for my actions. It won't make up for me, but there's nothing else I can think of at the moment.
I suppose the butler told you where I was. Yes, it's true that Mokuba and I are taking the orphans to the game park. It's a yearly tradition we started, and I guess it's one of the few things that keeps me going. You should see the smiles on their faces...
Tell the others that I'm sorry for what I did to them. I was just jealous of your carefree lifestyles. I can't tell if it was fate or destiny that kept me from such.
Mokuba has persuaded me to take him to Egypt after my business trip. I hate business trips, they're so dull and boring. Maybe we'll see you guys there in Egypt.
Give my best wishes to Sugoruko for me, and tell him I'm sorry as well.
Lastly, I'm sorry to you for what I've done. At the time it felt like I had myself under control, but now it seemes like I was being controled. I suppose that was destiny. My deepest apologies for everything I made you go through, you have every right to hate me. It's just lucky for me that you're not that kind of person. Use the money any way you wish, but don't try to return it, I have enough already.
Happy holidays.
-Seto Kaiba
__________________________________________________________________________________
Seto/Y Seto: ^_^ Happy Thanksgiving!
Death T-2: ^_^ Happy Turkey Day!
DeathT-2: And by the way, Seto and Mokuba have all of their homework for December done. You'll see.
________________________________________________________________________
`
"Okay, stay calm, we're just walking. Okay? Just walking."
"TO OUR DOOM!"
"Jono, it is NOT our doom." said Anzu sacastically. "C'mon, it's only Kaiba."
"Exactly! Yugi, remember when we first went there? MOKUBA 'BOUT NEAR POISONED US!" Jono had been forced by Yugi, Anzu, and Honda to go to Kaiba's and wish him and his little brother happy holidays because they were going to visit Egypt during winter vacation. Obviously, Jono was only wishing to stay away from Kaiba. "And after THAT, he took us through that creepy Death-T thing, and before we knew it, WE WERE ON A GIANT BLIMP THAT TOOK US TO HELL'S TOWER!"
Tristan, however, had had enough of Jono's griping over the entire situation. Sure, he had gone through the entire thing with them, but HE had gotten over it. He ate too many pizzas but he had gotten over it. "Jono, if you don't shut up, I'm gonna knock you out and use you as a puppet to say 'woof'."
Jono pretended not to hear and switched the griping to another subject. "Then why do we have to say 'happy Thanksgiving'? Only the Americans celebrate it."
The others stifled their laughs. "Jono, do you even know what the Americans do on Thanksgiving?" Yugi asked.
"Um, no."
"They take school off and spend the day eating fancy meals, like turkey and gravy..."
"And pie and ham and potatos and bread rolls, and so on..." Honda continued. Anzu just giggled, "Didn't you know, Jono?"
Jono was silent for several seconds, then blurted out, "KUSO! Why doesn't Japan have the American's Thanksgiving?!" This caused everyone to laugh, and before they knew it they were nearing Kaiba's block.
Yugi put on a thoughtful face, pondering over where exactly in time he had stopped fearing Kaiba. He had, in fact, turned out to be not all that bad. Yami noticed That Yugi was very silent.
~
/What are your thoughts, Yugi-kun?/
\I was just thinking about how it is that Kaiba-kun has kept himself together for all this time.\
/But he has broken several times before. Don't you remember?/
\Hai. But I still wonder how he and Mokuba-kun can stay from that around this time of year, I've never heard of them going insane from lonliness and heartbreak in this season of thankfulness.\
/That is a question that I cannot answer. Why don't you ask Kaiba-kun when next you see him?/
\It's not really a question I want an answer to. I guess I'm just stating that he has a past that I can't quite comprehend...\
/... And there's probably alot more that we don't know, that he wouldn't be comfortable sharing just yet.../
\Right. I want to become a better friend to him, but I don't want to seem prying in the process.\
The pharaoh was silent for a moment. /... You've given me just another thing to think about, Yugi-kun./ And with that, he dissappeared back into his soul room.
~
But this "conversasion" didn't go unnoticed by his friends. It was quiet, and finally Jono broke the silence, "What ya thinkin' about, Yugi?"
"Only a private talk, nothing to be alarmed over-- if that's what you mean."
"Nah. I ment more like, er, what was it?"
"You mean you can't remember what it was you were thinking about?" Honda snorted.
"NO! I just forgot the words! There's a difference, ya know."
"Right..." With that everyone dropped the subject and drifted to their own trails of thought. Most of which concerned the Kaiba brothers.
`
Earlier that morning...
It seemed as if sunrise had come too early as always, but for some reason the young teen in the bed wasn't dreading it as he normally did. No, it wasn't dread that kept him asleep, rather it was the toll of staying up late the previous night.
Scarlet-tinted rays peered in through the window trying to wake him for the day's activities, but sleep held on to him.
Early-risers chirped in the light of dawn, but still to no prevail. All was still and motionless, being kept that way by the hold of soft shading that covered nearly the entire room. Only the steady rising and falling of the boy's chest as he breathed could show that someone was in there.
The stillness was broken when the large door silently opened, revealing the face of a younger boy with jet-black hair. His wide, bright eyes shone through the darkness and traveled their gaze over to the bed at the far wall. Not even his older brother would stop him from what he was planning that day.
The young boy quickly, but quietly, walked up to the bed and jumped on to it. His brother didn't move.
"Seto..." he whispered. Nothing. "Seto!" he said louder, "Get up, Seto! C'mon!"
Silence, then finally the brunett stirred wearily. "Hmph... What time is it?"
"Six-fifteen."
"It's too early," he yawned and turned towards Mokuba, his blue eyes opening slightly. "Just another hour, please..."
Mokuba paused for a moment. "Half an hour." he said flatly.
"Deal." And with that, Seto turned to the opposite side of the room and closed his eyes. "Wake me up then."
* * *
Half an hour came and went, and as agreed Mokuba had gotten Seto up. Now both of them were ready for their plans.
"Do you understand so far?" The servant nodded, "Yes, Master Seto. If they come over, to say that you are unavailable and to give them these."
"And tell them where we went. Ready, Mokuba?"
"Yep!" the pre-teen grinned. "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!"
Seto smiled as well. Then both boys walked out to the limo that was awaiting them and left.
The wind seemed to pick up and surround them as the four teens rounded the corner on the street Kaiba lived on. It seemed to whirl around only them, trapping them inside a minniature tornado. But they hardly noticed it as they were deep in thought over their past expiriences with Seto and Mokuba.
It was true most of them weren't happy memories, in fact they wished to totally forget some, but Yugi coudn't help but wonder how Kaiba could stand it.
~
/Well he was the high priest, and has a high tolerency level. Some of the circumstances he has now are what he had then./
\But he caused damage to himself and others.\
/True. But back then there was no day that anyone gave thanks. This time, it could be different./
~
"Yugi?"
"Yes, Anzu?"
"How did we get all caught up in this mess? I mean, when this started out, Kaiba was just another kid in our class. But, now he's turned out to be so much more is a short timespan."
"Yeah, and now we know more about him than what I personally want to." Honda cut in. "But now what seemed like forever, well, it really wasn't all that long, now that I think about it."
Yugi was silent. Not a harsh silent, but more retrospective than silent. "I guess it was from the beginning."
"What was, Yug'?"
"When I stopped being afraid of him. I had noticed him occasionally in the classroom, even before I solved the puzzle. There was always a certain aura about him, but I never felt afraid of him. It's just hard to explain with words." He sensed the pharaoh nod in agreement.
He spotted Kaiba's gated entrance. It was open.
"And it was fate that took us through it all. Destiny kept us alive, but there was a price paid."
They turned into Kaiba's driveway.
"But he and Mokuba are going to be OK, right?"
They walked up to his front door.
"I don't know." And with that, Yugi rang the bell. It seemed like forever before it opened, but it finally did.
The old servant was dressed in his uniform as usual, but he seemed to be expecting them. "Master Yugi and his friends, I presume?" he inquired.
"Yes," replied Yugi, "We wanted to talk to Seto. Is he in?"
"No. Master Seto and Master Mokuba earlier this morning. Do you wish to come in?"
Jono spoke quietly, "They'll ambush us if we do." Everyone ignored him.
"Uh, we actually had some other plans. Could you tell us where he went so we can speak with him there?"
"I'm afraid that's quite impossible. Master Seto and Master Mokuba have gone to visit the orphanage, then is taking them to Kaiba Land afterwards. The entire park is closed for this event."
The teens were silent. "Then I guess we'll be on our way..." said Yugi, dissappointed. Today had been the last day that he could talk to Kaiba before he went on his business trip and Yugi went on winter vacation.
"But," the butler stopped them, "Master Seto did say to give you these if you came by." He handed them some envelopes. This puzzled them but they took the envelopes anyway and left.
It was when they exited the gates when Jono opened his enveloped. "What the... Money?!"
Anzu and Honda just looked at each other, then opened their envelopes. Those had money in them as well.
But as those three were outwardly questioning what they were seeing, Yugi silently opened his envelope, read the letter inside, and froze in his tracks nearly causing a colision.
"What is it Yugi?"
But instead of answering them right away, he folded the letter and put it in his pocket. "It's not important right now." he grinned softly, "I'll tell you later."
Now he knew for sure that Seto would be all right.
.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Yugi's letter
Yugi,
Don't be alarmed if this seems unusual, I suppose it's just destiny that made me write this.
Destiny, it's such an odd story that goes with that word for me. Often I wonder if I was supposed to be adopted by Gozaburo, or was I supposed to be split from Mokuba on an earlier occasion. I used to oppose that word, now I just wonder...
But I know the difference between destiny and fate. I cannot control fate, which is what brought me life at this time. But destiny is another thing, it brings the consequences of my decisions.
I'm giving you and your friends this money as an apology for my actions. It won't make up for me, but there's nothing else I can think of at the moment.
I suppose the butler told you where I was. Yes, it's true that Mokuba and I are taking the orphans to the game park. It's a yearly tradition we started, and I guess it's one of the few things that keeps me going. You should see the smiles on their faces...
Tell the others that I'm sorry for what I did to them. I was just jealous of your carefree lifestyles. I can't tell if it was fate or destiny that kept me from such.
Mokuba has persuaded me to take him to Egypt after my business trip. I hate business trips, they're so dull and boring. Maybe we'll see you guys there in Egypt.
Give my best wishes to Sugoruko for me, and tell him I'm sorry as well.
Lastly, I'm sorry to you for what I've done. At the time it felt like I had myself under control, but now it seemes like I was being controled. I suppose that was destiny. My deepest apologies for everything I made you go through, you have every right to hate me. It's just lucky for me that you're not that kind of person. Use the money any way you wish, but don't try to return it, I have enough already.
Happy holidays.
-Seto Kaiba
__________________________________________________________________________________
Seto/Y Seto: ^_^ Happy Thanksgiving!
Death T-2: ^_^ Happy Turkey Day!