"So you won't kiss me because I'm still a kid, right?"
Yuugi nodded, smiling nervously. "Yeah. But if your brother asks, then it's because I don't like you; I don't need to give Kaiba another reason to dislike me."
Mokuba bit his lip and thought, leaning back into the grass. The sun's rays beat down on his face, and he had to close his eyes. "I'll be twelve tomorrow, you know."
"Still, that's really young."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But… what about when I'm fifteen? Will that still be too young?"
"Well… I guess not, but that's three years – are you sure you'll still want a kiss in three years?"
Mokuba shrugged. "I bet I will. If I don't, then we don't have to… but on fifteenth birthday, I want my kiss then." He frowned as Yuugi laughed, and he turned his head, squinting his eyes enough to see Yuugi grinning. "I'm serious."
"Sure; if you still want that kiss in three years, then I'll give you a proper one on your birthday."
"Promise?" Mokuba sat up and faced Yuugi, his back to the sun. As if humoring him, Yuugi turned too, facing Mokuba.
"Yeah, I promise. I'll even shake on it." He held his hand out, and Mokuba took it eagerly.
"So… I can't even have a little one?"
Yuugi laughed again and ruffled Mokuba's hair, standing. "I need to go; I'll see you later."
Mokuba grinned, leaning down on his desk, hair hiding his face, pencil running furiously over the paper – doodling little stick figures in place of doing actual work. He couldn't help it; concentrating at Kaiba Corp – which was where he was spending his current Saturday afternoon – was getting harder and harder as of late.
After all, it was only a week until his fifteenth birthday.
Mokuba scowled at the little stick figures, trying to draw some semblance of what that scene three years ago might have looked like to a random person passing by. Of course, Yuugi's head looked more like a porcupine than anything else. Then again, his hair in the drawing didn't look much better. Finally he gave up, crumbled up the drawing, and threw it towards the wastebasket. It missed, adding another paper ball to the collection he had come up with in the past two hours. He was supposed to be doing some double-checking, really; Seto decided he wasn't old enough to do anything else yet. Mokuba couldn't wait until he WAS old enough – glorified proofreading for memos and programs wasn't very interesting, and he often felt more like a secretary than someone who was supposed to eventually run the company by Seto's side.
One step at a time, grasshopper… Mokuba thought, pushing his hair back from his face and looking over the memo that was currently on the computer screen. Luckily, before he could actually work on it, someone entered his little office.
"Okay, so what have you got done?" Dai asked, a pile of documents in one hand. Dai was more or less his well-paid babysitter within Kaiba Corp –Seto claimed that it wasn't that he didn't trust Mokuba, but he wanted to make sure that trouble didn't find him. Mokuba knew better; she checked on him every couple of hours, was constantly looking over his files, and reported to Seto throughout the day.
She was a babysitter.
"Nothing," he admitted. "Absolutely nothing; I'm too busy thinking about my birthday party."
"Ooh, is Kaiba-san actually letting you have a party?"
Mokuba nodded, leaning back in his chair and twirling a pencil in his right hand. "Yup; we're taking tomorrow off to go out and get all the supplies and stuff – it's going to be great." Not that he was about to tell her why it would be so great. He liked her and all, but she might tell Seto, and the older Kaiba would freak out if he knew that half of Mokuba's ambition behind the party was getting Yuugi alone. Or in front of the guests – Mokuba wasn't picky, he just wanted his kiss.
In all actuality, Mokuba was well aware that it was ridiculous to wait so long for a kiss – especially when said kiss hadn't been discussed in years. At first Mokuba had made it a point to remind Yuugi whenever he saw him – which was usually in random weekly intervals – but eventually he had stopped bringing it up; he was too worried about making Yuugi mad by talking about it. So, he had let the topic rest in silence for nearly two and half years.
But his day was coming. Oh yes, his day was coming.
Meanwhile, time was slipping by while he sat in his office thinking about it. He sighed. "Ah hell, Dai, here's the plan; I'm going to go down to the arcade and see if I can't meet some friends there."
Dai's tone went from playful to serious in an instant. "Now wait just one minute – "
"You don't gotta cover for me; if Seto asks, just tell him I couldn't take the pressure and needed some air. I'll take the heat for it when I see him tonight." Mokuba was already standing. Luckily, he had been too lazy to dress overly nice that morning; he was wearing typical jeans and a t-shirt… Nice jeans and a t-shirt, though, or Seto would've had his hide – brothers or no, Mokuba was still his employee.
"You're not shaping up to be much of a businessman," Dai scolded, clicking her tongue and turning to leave.
"I've got a few years," Mokuba retorted, following behind her. She retreated to her desk in the lobby, and Mokuba stood in his doorway. He looked left, right, left again, looking for any sign that Seto was wandering the halls – the last thing he needed was to be caught. When he finally thought it was safe he left the doorway and made a break for the elevator; his tennis shoes squeaked a bit on the pristine floors, but he was so close…
"Hold it right there!" Seto snapped, and Mokuba stopped dead in his tracks, nearly falling forward. "And where are you going?"
Mokuba turned and faced Seto. At 20, his brother didn't look much different; he hadn't gotten any taller (Mokuba was often put-out that Seto was so tall, and yet he was just average for his age), and he didn't eat enough to get any heavier. He wore a pair of black slacks and a white shirt, and he crossed his arms over his chest the same way he always had as he stared Mokuba down – the very image of intimidation and bossy dominance. "Well, Niisama, it's like this…" Mokuba bit his lower lip, trying to come up with a decent excuse.
Nothing.
"I'm bored!" he finally protested. "I don't want to spend Saturday cooped up in the office proofreading memos! And it's almost my birthday, and I can't concentrate, so please, please, please let me go?"
Seto sighed and covered his face a bit with his hand, eyes falling closed, as though he didn't want to make eye contact with Mokuba. "Weren't you the one who wanted more active work?"
"Proofreading isn't my idea of active." Mokuba slowly started backing his way towards the elevator; just a couple of feet…
"Fine," Seto relented. "But I want you to know how spoiled you are – today, tomorrow…"
Mokuba launched forward and clasped his brother tightly, grinning. Seto wasn't able to resist Mokuba's little brother charms. "Thanks! I swear, on Monday I'll come in after school and get loads done, okay? Bye!" He made his way into the elevator before Seto could change his mind.
He made it the arcade in one piece, and a quick look-over revealed something much better than he had hoped. He didn't just have friends at the arcade, but Yuugi and his friends were there. Anzu was the first to spot him, waving him over, and he took the invitation. Yuugi was hunched over a fighting game with Jounouchi, mashing buttons and throwing random insults at Jounouchi, to which the blond retaliated just as enthusiastically. Mokuba always loved watching them bond; they could get as funny as Jounouchi and Honda.
"Dude, I am going to kick your ass from here to – Hey, Mokuba!" Jounouchi said, turning away from his game. Yuugi let out a shout of victory and turned to look at Mokuba as well. Jounouchi's face twitched in irritation; he'd probably been getting his ass kicked all day.
"Hey! Jou move, I'm gonna take him on," Mokuba said, cracking his knuckles.
"No way," Jounouchi replied stubbornly, turning back to the game; Yuugi laughed and did the same. "I'm not moving until I beat him, if only once."
Mokuba rolled his eyes and turned to Anzu. She was giggling behind her hand. "He's so stubborn," Mokuba sighed, then pulled Jounouchi back a little by his stool, just enough so Mokuba could sit on his knees, effectively taking his place in the game. Yuugi cast a sidelong glance at them, but shook his head and turned back to the game.
He beat Mokuba. Twice.
"See?" Jounouchi gloated. "And I bet you thought you could do better…"
"He did do better, Jou," Anzu teased, bopping him on the head. "So, Mokuba, what's up? Shouldn't you be at work?"
"Yeah," Jounouchi replied. "Did the self-proclaimed master of the universe set you free?"
"More like I begged him into it, but sure; I couldn't take it today." Mokuba stood and stretched. He tried not to make eye contact with Yuugi; he couldn't bring himself to do it. Every time he looked at the other male, he imagined what kissing him for the first time would be like. Mokuba had certainly thought about it often enough over the years, and now it was just a week away from happening… "Say, my birthday's next week, and you guys are invited to the party."
"Really? That's awesome!" Anzu said. "Which day?"
"Friday at five," Mokuba replied. "I'll get you guys something formal, in writing, later. But Niisama is letting me have an actual party, since I'm turning fifteen." Mokuba tried not to emphasize the word 'fifteen' too much. "I somehow managed to convince him that it's a big deal."
"That's great," Yuugi replied with a grin. "We'll be there."
"Thanks!" Don't hug him, don't hug him, don't… Mid-mantra, Jounouchi did the job for him, tackling Yuugi and hanging on him from behind, arms around Yuugi's shoulders; the smaller male nearly buckled under the weight, but grinned and held up. Mokuba raised an eyebrow; he didn't remember them being quite THAT cuddly…
He sighed internally. He'd done what he needed to do – the invitation was extended, and Yuugi would be there. From there, it was only a matter of time… and Mokuba was willing to wait.
notes
hardkore thanks to elsalhir for playing beta on this one. love! 3
Otherwise... I can't think of much to say. This is mostly a fluffy story, because there is not enough YuugixMokuba. insert dramatic weeping here and sad, sad violin music And this one is totally for darkmus, because... well, it's all her fault. XD