Title: Cinematic Antics

Authoress: Mangez-Maltesers

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of Takahashi's characters… If I do, no one told me about it…

Theme: 084 World of Dreams The theme is used quite loosely in this fic.

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Pairing: Kaiba Seto and Honda Hiroto

Rating: PG.

Written for 100Themes – LJ community.

NB: -(S)- usually denotes scene change or change in the viewpoint although the whole fic is written in third person… I think you know what I mean… Although sometimes I use it to show passing of time… That could mean a few minutes or a few hours, days or years. Now, on to the fic!

(S)-

Cinematic Antics

(S)-

It hadn't seemed that unusual – Mokuba's request, that was. Nevertheless, Kaiba had found himself increasingly nervous as Sunday afternoon drew closer.

Mokuba had literally bounced into his office, eyelashes fluttering, asking if his nii-sama was free on Sunday.

Said nii-sama had responded with a grunt, his fingers never ceasing to tap away at the keyboard.

Mokuba seemed content enough. He bounded happily out of the office again, not bothering to close the door behind him.

Now, pushing the door open carefully and leaving the safe confines of the car, Kaiba wasn't sure this was one of Mokuba's better ideas. The crowds were milling around the entrance to the cinema complex and throngs of teenagers stood in long queues, chatting loudly and pushing each other around playfully.

Mokuba gave his own brother a push towards the entrance. "You're going to be late."

Kaiba didn't notice that his brother had said "you're" and not "we're".

His attention was momentarily distracted by a seemingly familiar figure. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glance of a familiar red and black jacket flying past. His eyes momentarily tried to follow the movement.

"Nii-samaaaa!"

Kaiba turned, resuming his stride. He followed Mokuba into the theatre, not bothering to stop himself as he turned his head, almost hoping to see a glance of that retreating figure again.

"Sit down Nii-sama. I just have to get the popcorn…" Mokuba smiled innocently as he got up and weaved his way back through the seats and ran up to the exit of the theatre.

Kaiba looked around him, trying to sink lower into his seat. It wasn't working. His legs were too long for the space in front of him, and he sat up straight again, stretching his back. He could just tell, that ten more minutes of this, and he'd be in physical pain, if he weren't already in mental pain… The horrors of teenage movies, he cursed, not even remembering what movie Mokuba had chosen.

He looked towards the aisle, flicking the tips of his fingers irritably against the face of his watch. Mokuba wasn't usually slow getting the popcorn, so he was probably lost, or waiting in a queue.

To anyone else, getting lost in the cinema would seem far-fetched. But considering Mokuba's childish habits, once he became distracted about something, he tended to lose his sense of direction and time.

Kaiba once again sunk down into his seat as crowds of giggly schoolgirls drifted down the aisle.

He was glad for once, to have taken Mokuba's advice and resisted the temptation to wear his usual attire. Today, the only trace of his involvement with Kaiba Corp was the green belt with its customary platinum (1) buckle bearing the KC logo. It was something he couldn't quite bring himself to leave behind, even if only for one day.

(S)-

Honda cursed as he got off his bike only to realise that the parking space would become a traffic lane in less than ten minutes.

He hurriedly jammed the keys back into the ignition as he looked around, starting to panic. It was already seven minutes to two, and he still hadn't eaten any lunch.

He hadn't wanted to spend his Sunday afternoon with Mokuba. It wasn't that he didn't like the kid, but he'd wanted to spend it with someone else. If only in dreams…

(S)-

"Honda!" Mokuba waved out.

Honda forced a smile as he saw the all too familiar blue eyes. They made his heart ache with a funny kind of longing – for someone else.

"Hi Mokuba. Sorry I'm late…" he shoved his hands into his pockets and regarded the shorter teen.

Mokuba grinned.

Honda's stomach rumbled. "Sorry… haven't eaten lunch…" he mumbled, embarrassed.

Mokuba just grinned even more. "No problem." He hurried over to the counter and a moment later, Honda found himself being pushed towards cinema 2, his arms wrapped around a bucket of popcorn and a box of prepacked sushi. "Shouldn't I just wait for you?" he lingered at the entrance.

Mokuba waved his hand. "No… Just go in without me…"

Honda frowned. "Okay. Don't take too long. You'll miss the start."

Mokuba smiled innocently as he watched Honda step into the cinema.

Honda couldn't help but feel unnerved as he watched Mokuba. He checked the number on his ticket. H18. (2)

He almost stopped walking as he realised there was someone else in his row. His foot hovered in mid step and he squinted in the darkness. The trailers were already rolling.

He could just make out a slim figure.

(S)-

Kaiba shut his eyes tiredly as he realised someone was standing at the end of the aisle. He hoped whoever it was, wasn't intending to sit in front of him, next to him or beside him. Preferably not anywhere near him. Not even in the same vicinity if Kaiba could have his way. But he didn't.

Crossing his arms, he waited for the person to sit down.

When there seemed to be no movement, he opened his eyes, irked, and turned his head to direct some less than pleasant words at the stranger.

Instead of seeing some random stranger, Kaiba's eyes fell instead upon a red and black jacket.

"Honda?" The name fell from his lips before he could stop himself.

(S)-

Honda froze at the mention of his name, staring again into the darkness. The voice was familiar; one that used to grate on his nerves, but one in which he now found comfort. "Kaiba?" he said a little weakly. "… I didn't know you would be here…"

Kaiba frowned a little, regaining his composure. What was that supposed to mean? Honda said it as though Kaiba knew that he would be there.

He saw Honda glance towards the cinema entrance. Kaiba might have done the same thing, almost praying that his brother would hurry back, except that he was quite sure now that Mokuba didn't intend to come at all.

"I guess I'm sitting… next to you…" Honda mumbled vainly as he double and triple-checked the numbers on his ticket against the number on the seat. He nervously sat down, relieved to let go of the armful of food.

Kaiba twitched as he saw Honda glance towards the entrance again. He evidently wasn't comfortable sitting here, or perhaps he was hoping in vain that Kaiba was merely a seat-warmer for his younger sibling.

"Want some popcorn?" Honda gestured to the large bucket currently situated in… of all places… his lap. Of course it was normal to put the popcorn in the most accessible place… but there was no way Kaiba was actually reaching out to get it.

He grunted in response, ignoring the heat rushing to his face.

Honda shrugged and ripped the tape on his sushi box. He really hated prepacked sushi. It was always too dry or tasteless, as though it had come off a conveyor belt or something. He snapped the chopsticks and unscrewed the cap on the small tube of liquid.

The trailers flickered to an end and Kaiba unconsciously reached for the popcorn, already forgetting it was Honda who was sitting next to him, and not Mokuba.

His hand brushed against Honda's arm momentarily and he froze, feeling Honda tense at the touch as well. He hurriedly resumed the motion and grabbed a handful of popcorn.

Honda stared blankly at the screen ahead.

Okay… breathe in… breathe out… You can handle this… It's just a Sunday afternoon… at the movies… with… Kaiba… Seto. No problem. Nothing abnormal. And he was just reaching for the popcorn… which happens to be down there. It's nothing.

Honda's body didn't quite agree. He could feel the blood rushing to his face and to certain other parts of his body… He hurriedly stabbed his chopsticks into the sushi and shoved it into his mouth.

Kaiba wasn't faring much better either. Having put most of the handful of popcorn into his mouth at once, he nearly coughed it all back out again as he saw the Studio Ghibli logo appearing on the screen… He tried to sink down into the seat, but his knees were already hitting the one in front. So, not caring who was watching, unless it was Honda, he swung his knees over the seat and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He could still see the screen comfortably enough.

Honda tried not to stare as Kaiba stretched his legs out in front of him.

The characters lit up the screen. A long, long time ago, this country was overrun by deep forests… (3)

Kaiba twitched a little. What was Mokuba thinking? Not every teenage guy wanted to sit through two hours of Miyazaki Hayao and his environmental preachings…

He wanted to bury himself in a hole.

Why couldn't Mokuba have chosen something more subtle… He didn't need to blast Kaiba's interests in front of Honda, if that's what his intention had been. He could have chosen an action movie – something entirely lacking in plot, preferably containing fast cars, skimpily clad women and ass-kicking action heroes…

Honda swallowed his sushi whole, and stabbed his chopsticks into another piece. The plastic box crackled as the wooden chopsticks hit it. He could just see Kaiba twitching beside him.

Within these forests lived the gods of old.

Honda nervously stabbed his sushi again.

And again.

Kaiba twitched.

And twitched again.

Honda stabbed his sushi again. Said piece of sushi now looked like a piece of road kill.

"Can't you just shut up?" Kaiba hissed at Honda, his eyes never leaving the screen in front. He could already sense how close to him Honda actually was. He had no intention of turning his head, just in case his eyes should meet Honda's.

Honda stabbed his sushi a final time before shutting the box and placing it on the empty chair behind him.

He crossed his arms and sunk down into the chair, almost matching Kaiba's pose and facial expression: dejection and unease. Each was acutely aware of the other.

They settled into an uneasy silence. The whispers around them went unheard; images flashing across the screen were unnoticed.

"Say your thanks to Yakkuru. He stood by you this whole time."

"How do you know Yakkuru?"

"He told me many things about you and your homeland's forest. Shishigami-sama saved your life. That's why I'm helping you now."

"I saw a strange dream…" (4)

Honda glanced across to Kaiba. The blue-eyed boy was staring straight ahead, his eyes clearly focused on the scene. His soft brown hair almost fell into his eyes, and Honda wondered how he could stand it. His usual white coat and black long-sleeved top (complete with buckles) were replaced by a plain white business shirt, the sleeves rolled up a little and the first two buttons undone, leaving just a fraction of pale skin showing.

Strange, Honda mused. He couldn't recall ever having seen Kaiba wear anything so casually before. God forbid he ever wore a pair of jeans… (5)

A loud growl broke the uncomfortable atmosphere. Kaiba immediately shot Honda a glare, momentarily forgetting their physical proximity. He was almost taken aback to see Honda staring straight back at him, looking a little sheepish, if nothing else.

"I didn't say you couldn't eat at all…" Kaiba said somewhat guiltily as he noticed the sushi box still on the chair.

Honda's cheeks flushed and he mentally checked himself for it. Just because he was sitting next to Kaiba, in the middle of a darkened cinema, and Kaiba spoke more than two words to him… didn't mean he needed to blush and giggle at everything and anything.

He restrained himself from further mutilating his sushi and instead picked it up carefully, about to put it into his mouth when –

"You're dripping soy sauce on your shirt."

Honda startled, a jolt of surprise causing him to squeeze the sushi between the chopsticks and send it flying towards Kaiba.

Said boy didn't exactly look thrilled to be hit on the head with a piece of soggy, soy-saucy sushi.

He picked it off his hair and dropped it distastefully, snatching the napkin from Honda's lap and wiping his hair with it.

"Go…Gomen nasai Kaiba-kun." Honda stuttered out, suppressing the urge to laugh. He couldn't help but grin at Kaiba and the expression on his face.

"Hmph." Kaiba just turned his attention back to the screen. "Your shirt…"

Honda looked down. Kaiba was right. Dark soy sauce now adorned his previously white t-shirt. He sighed and put his hands behind his head. No point trying to clean it now.

(S)-

Honda stretched as he stood up, noticing that Kaiba was still pasted to his chair. He sweatdropped. "Kaiba, the movie's finished."

Kaiba ignored him.

Honda put a hand behind his head a little uncomfortably and very slowly, walked up the steps to the exit.

A few moments later, Kaiba marched up the aisle, intending on getting home as soon as possible. But as he walked out, he spotted Honda struggling to push open the lid of the rubbish bin whilst juggling the empty sushi box and popcorn bucket. He amused himself with the thought that Honda must be more pea brained than he had thought, before marching over and pushing open the lid of the bin.

Honda looked up, surprised. "Arigatou Kaiba."

He dropped the rubbish in, flashed Kaiba a shy smile and shoved his hands into his pockets, walking towards the street exit.

Instead of walking though, he found himself falling forwards. He saw the flash of a shiny black shoe and threw his arms out in front of him, almost mentally prepared to hit the floor.

And instinctively, he shut his eyes.

But instead of hitting the floor, a pair of warm arm wrapped themselves around his waist and he opened his eyes, almost surprised to look into a pair of blue eyes.

"Watch where you're going baka." Kaiba said irritably.

But Honda could swear there was a hint of amusement in those cool blue eyes. And the smirk was one of self-satisfaction…

Honda stood up, feeling a little embarrassed and glancing around to check if anyone else had seen his stumble. "Go… Gomen Kaiba… Arigatou… "

Kaiba smirked and walked towards the exit to the street.

Honda blinked as watched Kaiba walk onto the street, his shoes shining in the afternoon sunlight.

Shiny, black shoes.

Honda stared after the blue-eyed boy for a moment, confused.

Then he ran out after him, seeing Mokuba. He pushed the boy playfully, "what happened to you, huh?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I got lost."

"Sure." Honda grinned, a hand messing up Mokuba's long hair.

"Hey!" the younger boy protested playfully.

"So what are you doing next weekend?" Honda enquired as Mokuba tried in vain to fix his hair.

Mokuba shrugged.

"We should go to the movies again sometime." Honda grinned, watching Mokuba's eyes twinkle with amusement and delight.

The younger boy elbowed Honda. "Sooo?"

Honda gave him a look, and grinning, departed.

The irony hit him afterwards. Only in his unconsciousness could he ever have dreamt that he'd spend the afternoon eating popcorn with Kaiba. Only in a world of dreams would he find himself the object of Kaiba's affections.

But it was in reality that he found himself, and in reality that he found himself thinking fondly of the blue-eyed boy.

And that stumble? Perhaps it was payback for the sushi incident. Honda liked to think though, that perhaps Kaiba had another motivation.

Childish, perhaps. But at least he knew that Kaiba still had an inner child in him, somewhere.

Honda resisted the urge to pinch himself.

(S)-

Mokuba grinned as Kaiba walked towards him. "Nii-sama? Are you free next Sunday?"

He merely received a grunt in response.

"Want to go to the movies again?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at his younger brother.

But Mokuba saw the smile which spread across his nii-sama's face and the look of content in his eyes. Kaiba gave his brother a quick kiss on the forehead, sweeping aside the tangled hair.

"How about tomorrow?" Mokuba gushed, excited.

Kaiba gently pushed him towards the door of the limo.

"But you have no intention of sitting in the theatre, do you?"

Mokuba flushed. "I'm there in spirit," he protested.

Kaiba snorted. "I should hope not. Your spirit just happens to be a little nosy and meddling for my liking."

Mokuba grinned, appreciating the rare playfulness of his brother's nature. "But nii-sama… there's a great movie on…"

"Maybe next Sunday…"

Mokuba grinned.

"But for today…"

Mokuba blinked, recognising the change in his brother's tone. "Yes?" he answered cautiously.

"You remember today's Sunday. And you remember there's a pile of dishes in the kitchen sink?"

Mokuba grimaced, anticipating the next line.

"You know who's washing them, don't you?"

Mokuba sat back, crossing his arms sulkily. "Yes nii-sama… But can I take a raincheck?"

Kaiba peered at him, narrowing his eyes a little. "In your dreams Mokuba."

Owari

MM-

Author Notes:

What do you think of the ending? This wasn't the way I'd planned it, but I wanted this fic to have more of an innocent nature, and the way I first wrote it, Kaiba was a little more perverted… so… I cut out the kiss. 0o I figured that Kaiba kissing Mokuba counts as a kiss of sorts for the sake of 100-themes.

(1) I struggled for how to describe that thing. I decided 'grey' wasn't quite good enough for Kaiba, so I settled for platinum although I think it's a little excessive… Although he is Kaiba Seto, so perhaps everything is done in excess…

(2) In some other countries you're allocated or you pick seat numbers when you purchase your ticket. I'm not sure how it works in Japan but I've just assumed it's a similar system…

(3) One of my favourite movies XD Mononoke Hime was directed by Miyazaki Hayao and was released about 1997.

(4) Just a few lines from a conversation between the two main characters – San and Ashitaka. San tells Ashitaka to say his thanks to Yakkuru – his deer-thing (I'm sure there's a name, but I can't think of it). Ashitaka is the one who says he saw a strange dream.

(5) Kaiba did wear a shirt during the duellist kingdom saga which showed a bit of collarbone. But anyway.

I just realised this fic took me 8 hours today, not including yesterday's babble which made up the plot outline and some of the dialogue… So much for dedication to studies…

Please Review for me! Onegai? Constructive criticism appreciated, but no flames.