FYI – this was written at 5 am, and probably not checked beyond a word processor's grammar and spell check. I hope it's not too atrocious but it sounds nice when you're writing at after three hours of sleep...
Takes place a year or so after battle city, everything is resolved, etc. and a p.s. (spoiler perhaps) Malik isn't evil at the end of Battle City. He's back to his normal self who (though short tempered) is a mostly polite and lightly mischievous person. At least he is in my fics and I do like... character studies on Malik.
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Underneath the Mistletoe – Part I
A light covering of fluffy snow began to thicken as day broke over the cityscape. It was nearing Christmas day so the town had been alive with hustle and bustle for the past few days. Now though, it was Christmas Eve, and the traffic had finally slowed. Many cars, however, still crowded the streets; inside them the people were all frantic, as everyone was during the holidays. So the sun caught the film of snow on the rooftops with hardly any notice, but those who did take the time to look would have their breath swept away....
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Looking out of his bedroom window atop the Kame Game Shop, a tired teenage boy who looked about the age of ten stared out his window, wistfully watching as the snow fell on the cars below. The Shop was closed today, like most others in town, and Yugi was going to a party being thrown by Anzu. He didn't completely approve of whom she'd chosen to invite, but she was a fair, trusting person... and well, it was Christmas.
Rising from the windowsill and stretching his short limbs, Yugi went to his dresser to find something to wear, and as he did so, shook the presence in his mind awake. 'Yami... Yami. You need to wake up,' the presence shifted and slowly became aware of his surroundings. In his soul room, he sat up, shaking his head slowly.
'What time is it Yugi...?' his mind's voice asked. Yugi could tell the spirit wasn't ready to wake up, even if he didn't need sleep. It was just a morning state of mind.
'About nine o'clock. Anzu's party starts at two and I told her I'd help set up, so we have to be there early.' Yugi pulled his shirt on over his head and fixed his pants before pulling a sweater overtop of his head and mass of hair.
'What is all that for?'
'To keep warm,' Yugi went back to the window and took one more look out. "It's cold out there this time of year." After explaining that for the tenth time to his yami who knew nothing of cold, Yugi headed out down the road on his bike through the snow that was almost non-existent now from the harsh rays of the sun.
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"Hey, Jono, you gotta wake up," Honda prodded his friend in the side, earning nothing but a slight yawn from the blonde sprawled out on the floor. "We'll miss Anzu's party if all you do is sit there and sleep. C'mon."
This time Honda stood up and roughly kicked Jounochi in the side. This brought forth a much greater reaction from the other. "Ugh... Honda, what's up? Ya could 'a killed me just there..."
Honda sighed. "Stop exaggerating, idiot. You gotta get up and get dressed."
"Fine," Jono mumbled more than a little peeved at how much his ribcage hurt. "Fine, whatever. I'll get up 'n... take.. er...'n get dressed..." Soon he was snoring again and Honda booted him almost straight across the room.
"Okay! I'm goin', I'm goin'!!" the blonde relented before getting up and locking the door to the bathroom, getting ready to run the shower. He looked at the clock. Noon. He groaned, unable to remember the last time he got up this early if not for school.
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Another blonde sat patiently, staring at his breakfast before taking little bites, not bothering with utensils. Every bite seemed to be a bit of a drawn-out task, like eating breakfast was something he didn't want to do. "So why do I have to do this again?"
"You were invited to go, I'm leaving, and Rishid is running some last-minute errands for the museum, you didn't want to do that, remember?"
Malik nodded, leaning back on the counter and looking at his sister with a questioning glance as he finished his second piece of egg on toast. "And where are you off to again?" he asked, looking over his sister's rather formal attire.
Isis sighed. "I'm going to a get together at the Kaiba residence. Because of the co-operation between his company and my excavating team and museum, I am required to be at the company party."
"And no one's offered to accompany you?" he asked with a bit of a devilish smile on his face. He was willing to bet any money he had that there was no company get together, and if there was Isis and Kaiba wouldn't be there anyway.
Another sigh escaped her lips as Isis took a coat off its hanger. "You have, little brother, but you're not going anywhere near anyone of importance," Isis brushed her long hair out of her jacket, continuing to get ready and ignoring her brother's look of disgust.
"I'm insulted sister..." he replied with a saddened shake of his head, but both knew he didn't really care. "I'll see you tonight then, unless of course Kaiba keeps you later... in which case I'll see you sometime tomorrow." There was no reply other than the closing of the apartment door, and Malik just smiled. His poor sister... but she had it coming.
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A white-haired boy stood in the washroom while he washed his face, his hair tied out of his way with a bit of string he'd managed to get tied around. As he looked at himself in the mirror he sighed, still tired. 'Bakura... are you awake?'
'Of course Hikari,' came the low reply. Ryou smiled. Yes, of course his yami was awake. And not a hint of being tired was in his voice either. It figured. 'So are we going to that... thing at Anzu's, or have you decided yet?'
'I think I'm going to go. Even Malik's been talked into going.'
'That's interesting,' immediately Ryou realized what he said and shook his head. 'Oh don't worry little Hikari. I won't get you into trouble.' Ryou sighed. It was difficult arguing with someone who'd just take over your body in a second if he wanted to do something.
"At least you don't hurt me anymore," Ryou muttered, but Bakura heard him perfectly. 'Gomen Hikari...' this caused the boy to wear a bit of a smile. He regretted it now, and that was a good thing.
"Well if we're going we'd better leave," the boy spoke out loud as if there was more than one person there. It didn't matter though. His yami could barely tell the difference and his dad was out on a business trip again. He got on some warm clothes and headed out the door. He was only a short walk from Anzu's anyway.
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After a long night of working on his new games, at the noon hour, unlike everyone else, Otogi laid down to rest a while before the party. He laid back in bed, twirling some of his hair in his hand. It had been a long time since he'd last talked with everyone he knew would be at Anzu's party, and all this party was pretty out of the blue. Not that he'd had anything planned for this specific day.
Otogi allowed his mind to wander, and found himself wondering if Shizuka would be there. If she was, chances are that her oaf of a brother was going to be there too. He sighed. It was so difficult to talk to her and lay on the charm without that damned dog getting in his way all the time.
Looking over to his clock, Otogi discovered just how much time had passed and he quickly got up and went straight to his car. Whether Shizuka and her brother were there was no concern to him, Anzu had invited him and he wasn't going to reject the invite. Plus, it would be nice to see everyone again after so long.
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Anzu, Shizuka, Yugi and Mai had all arrived early. Shizuka had spent the night with Anzu, and Mai just didn't want to be late. Between the four of them, they got everything completed for the party in no time flat. By the time Mai showed up at one-thirty, every aspect was nearing completion. Decoration, some music, food, there wasn't really that much a party needed. The longest job had been freeing the closet of Anzu's coats and shoes so that other people would be able to put their stuff in the closet.
It wasn't long before two o'clock rolled around and people started arriving. Every who'd been invited showed up by two-thirty except Kaiba, but that was to be expected. With a sigh of resignation as all the guests arrived, she saw that there was someone missing… someone she'd been looking forward to seeing.
Anzu hung around the door, greeting and mingling there. She was hoping desperately for the doorbell to ring once more so she could get out of the cold that had filled the area where her front doors were. A knock on the door caught her attention and Anzu's tension just left her completely. She opened the door. "You're the last to arrive..."
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R&R! Part II comes out soonish hopefully. Depending when, there may be a part 3. Tell me what you think/what pairings you wanna see. Nothing's guaranteed though.