DISCLAIMER: Yugioh belongs to… some old Japanese guy, not some fourteen year-old spastic girl who is writing under the name "Lil-Riter." Got that? Him, not me. (Points at Takahashi or whatever his name is.)
Notes: I have to admit to something. From the very beginning, Strawberries has been helping me out on this fic. It's nearly co-written by her. At least half of the ideas for presents are from her, and did I ever mention the teacher was named after her? Yes. Ichigo in Japanese means Strawberry. But hey, I did this all myself! No help from Satine 89 whatsoever. And I've got half of the next chapter written already, so expect the next update sooner than before.
-Six Days till Christmas—
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings! Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree!
Or, in this case, a lovely assortment of pretty bracelets: Ruby, Amber, Yellow Topaz, Emerald, Sapphire, Amethyst, and Diamond bracelets set in gold.
-Six Days till Christmas-
I spun around in the chair at "my" desk. Another boring day at work… I was supposed to be going over proposals about buying artifacts etc. However, the work is very boring. Enough said. "Malik!" a young boy yelled, getting my attention, I stopped spinning around to see Mokuba Kaiba running over to the desk and promptly jumping onto the chair across from me, looking around the room.
"What are you doing here?" I couldn't help asking, as I rubbed my temples, working off the effects of the spinning.
"He likes it here," a cool, flat voice mentioned. I opened my eyes to see Kaiba coming in, closing the door behind him. Great, now I was locked in a room with Kaiba. Well, not yet, but… Who knows about the door? What if it mysterious force locked the door? That would be terrible. Alright, so I'd rather have a normal Mokuba and Kaiba than a normal Otogi and Yami Bakura locked with me. "I'm here because I'm having a meeting in the building across the street soon. There's nothing else remotely interesting around here to do while I wait."
"What's up with you big business men and waiting around in the museum!" I asked, remembering Otogi. Mokuba had gone over to the book shelf to pull out some advanced reading materials and was deep into a book on Tomb Robbers. Isis is actually quite keen on the subject… Which reminded me… "Oh, Kaiba. If you don't want to be late for your meeting, I don't suggest you wait around here."
Kaiba raised and eyebrow as he seated himself on the armchair that Mokuba had vacated. "And this would be why?"
Whistling, I stood up and stretched. I'd been spinning around in the chair for forty minutes; it was now eleven thirty in the morning. "Last Saturday we had someone attempting to steal an artifact."
Kaiba crossed his arms, crossing his legs impatiently. "And this is relative…"
"Bakura bet that he'd be able to actually steal the thing today, in broad daylight, without being caught. I have doubts about him pulling it off, but I can get him out of trouble, and Isis is too soft to dare press charges." I checked my finger nails for dirt. "We'd then go into lockdown mode and…"
((BRINGGGGGGGGG))
"Attention," a mechanical voice announced. "We are entering lock down mode. Please do not panic. Stay calm, and breathe deeply."
I grinned as Kaiba groaned.
-Six days left-
Okay, so I shouldn't have grinned so soon. We were locked in that room for three hours. I got locked in the room with Kaiba. Ironic, as I'd just been thinking about that, ne? Mokuba just sat and read right through it, and Kaiba kept arguing with people over his cell phone. I could feel my stomach trying to eat its way out of my body. At least I wasn't with Otogi and Bakura. If I was, we'd have died from the fire already.
Yes, I'm aware that this is a lock down, not a fire. I'm just saying that if I'd been with Otogi and Bakura, there WOULD have been a fire.
Finally after being let out, I noticed something on the ground next to the door of the office. I picked it up. TO ISIS, it read on the side in curly font.
It was a box, a flat box around six inches in length, three inches wide, and half an inch tall. What the hell would be wrapped like this! As Kaiba brushed past me, snapping irritably into his cell phone, I glared at him suspiciously. Mokuba pranced by, singing a Christmas tune. "On the first day of Christmas…"
I had the urge to throw the present at the back of Mokuba's head, but I didn't, do to the fact that my stomach wanted to do something else.
-Six Days!—
I didn't reach the toilet before I threw up, but I did reach the sink.
As I retched into the sink, I mused on how ironic it was that I wanted to throw up because I was hungry. "That's kind of gross," a soft, girly voice noted. I instantly knew it was Ryou.
"Hey Ryou," I said, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand. "What's up?"
Ryou blinked. "I actually have no idea what I'm doing here. Bakura… Says he wins… and… That you have to let him come over later to give it back." Ryou made a weird face. "What's going on? Bakura never uses my body anymore…"
I coughed into my hand. Ryou blushed.
"You know what I mean!" he laughed, pushing me lightly. "It's just… Bakura can make his own body. Why choose to… What's in my pocket?" Ryou blinked confusedly as he delved his hand into his pocket. Pulling out, he saw that he was holding an ancient Egyptian necklace. "I think this belongs in the museum," he said, holding the chain out to me.
As I reached out for the artifact, the hand withdrew. I looked up to see not Ryou, but Bakura, grinning maniacally. "YOU OWE ME!" With that, he ran out of the bathroom.
That… was weird. Even for the Tomb Robber.
Humming as if I didn't witness what just happened, I started on my way out of the museum.
-Six days until Christmas!—
Humming the stupid song the mini-Kaiba was singing when I last saw him, I strolled out onto the streets where I was instantly enveloped in a tight hug. "Otoutou-san! I'm so glad that you're alright!"
Isis, if you couldn't have guessed. Why is it that she uses her Tauk to see certain events and not others? Such as me cursing her behind her back, but not me being alright?
And wouldn't she know who stole the thing?
"IT WAS MY FAVORITE!" she wailed.
"Isis…" I said nervously. "You have the Tauk, right?"
"THAT'S WHAT WAS STOLEN!" she wailed some more.
I blinked. "It was on display?"
Isis choked back a sob. "I don't know… The Tauk told me to do it!"
It sounds like an excuse… like, you know, my dog ate my homework. A kind of… lame excuse, but… Whatever.
I felt bad about having opened her present… But, whatever. She won't know now, right?
-Six Days till Christmas-
Isis gave me great news: I was too young, and that I shouldn't spend my last days as a sixteen year-old being grounded. And that I shouldn't spend my birthday and Christmas grounded either. So all punishments are postponed until after break. Thank Ra.
Maybe one of the reasons she ungrounded me is because she no longer is able to make me work for her, as her museum is being held as a crime scene, and that she'd be closed for holidays anyways, right?
Plus the fact that she really liked her new presents. You know, the bracelets. She was found wearing the Ruby bracelet and her red silk scarf when we went to dinner that night.
-Six Days till Christmas—
((Still TBC))
Reviews: I want to cry about losing reviewers. (sobs)
Annyways……………
BMGS: I'm nicknaming you. You guys have too long a pen name. -.-; It's not nice to point and laugh. Mwee hee hee…. (my new evil laughter.) I'm not saying it's him! XD And… I would like a bewitched snowball too!
Angela: I'm nicknaming you too. Shonen Jump is cool! Straws won't let me read hers though, and I'm too cheap to buy my own. -.-; Kidding, but anyways… A sequel? Hmm… that's an idea. But who would it star?
Satine 89: He tried to kill Jou! That's… terrible!
Misura: Malik'd most likely put himself under rich geezers, or just make a new (more flattering) category for himself. And yeah, I'm aware that it's been a while since Christmas, but who exactly cares? I don't, that's who! XD
Bourei no Hikari: No, it's perfectly alright to mention who you think it is. n.n It's not like I'd actually confirm it until the last chapter. I think I kinda hinted, or at least crossed out some people.
And this may seem random, but did I ever mention how much Otogi's dub name "Duke" makes so much sense? It does!