S is for Seahorse
Summary: (one-shot, AU): Seto Kaiba is a talented young entrepreneur, ruthless duelist and…family man? An afternoon with a very young Mokuba reveals a softer side to the CEO.
Author's Note: For the purpose of this story, Mokuba is 3 years old and Seto is 19. (Remember AU my world, so forget everything you know about Yu-Gi-Oh! And just go with it okay? XD) don't read if you don't like cutesy-sweet stuff.
It was 4:45a.m. in Domino and not a creature was stirring. Well, unless of course Seto Kaiba was a creature, and in fact he was. Seto Kaiba was a creature of habit. Rising before the sun went up and working until long after it had set was definitely a habit of his. Everyday was exactly like the one before it, except there was increasingly more money involved. Nothing changed from day to day. The time had come for something new and different. Kaiba just didn't know it yet.
At 5:15 he took his breakfast in his study; the same as always. He walked past his baby brother Mokuba's room and paused for a minute. He really did feel bad about not getting to spend as much time as he'd like to with him. A nanny was no substitute for a mother or father and Seto knew this. He walked over to the sleeping boy quietly.
"Someday Mokuba," he whispered. "Someday soon, I promise we'll get to spend as much time together as we can."
He ruffled the boy's black hair. It was getting long, but he couldn't bear to have it cut. The boy was just too cute.
Mokuba rolled over and opened his eyes.
"Seto?" he asked in his little voice, "can we play Seto?"
Looking at the half-asleep child squeezing his stuffed blue-eyes, Kaiba was melting into a warm and gooey Seto-puddle.
"Not today Mokie. I have a lot to do today. But soon, I promise."
Mokuba's eyes watered a little.
'Oh please! Don't let him cry!'
"Oh…ok-kay…" his little voice was breaking, but not as much as Seto's heart. Mokuba sniffed, but did not cry. Instead, he fell back asleep.
Kaiba didn't feel much like going to work anymore. He plodded dejectedly to his room. As he sat at his desk, a glint caught his eye. Sitting on top of his laptop was a picture. It was obviously Mokuba's handiwork. Two stick people (who looked oddly familiar) were playing ball. Around the figures were the words:
me anb ZeTo
He had to have help with the spelling, but there was no doubt that the handwriting was his own. It was the last straw. Seto called his secretary.
"Linda, cancel all appointments for today. Something's come up and I won't be in."
--
It was 7a.m. when Mokuba finally woke up. He dashed down the stairs to the kitchen. He couldn't wait to get his cereal today! It was the last bit in the box and there was supposed to be a prize! His little feet skidded to a halt. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. Sitting at the table reading a paper and drinking coffee was his brother!
"Good morning, Seto!"
He launched himself at his brother, who had hurriedly set his cup down.
"Oof! Hiya kiddo. What do you want to do today?"
Mokuba looked confused. Then his eyes became as big as Seto's saucer.
"Did you quit your job?" he asked in a horrified whisper.
Seto would have laughed out loud if Mokuba hadn't looked so direly serious.
"No Mokie, I just took the day off. Lets go do something fun."
--
Mokuba had fallen asleep on the ride home. As they sat at the traffic light, Seto looked over and smiled. Mokuba's mouth was hanging open and he was drooling, the sucker from earlier hanging limply from his little hand. He woke up quietly though when he felt them pulling into the driveway to their house.
"Set-(yawn)-to?"
"What's up, Mokie?"
He yawned again.
"Will you read me a story?"
"Sure kiddo. Let's go inside."
They walked to the house and into Mokuba's playroom. In true Kaiba fashion, everything was expensive and extravagant. He had many bookshelves filled with the best literature, and yet he couldn't read. Toys were another story. Only the best for Mokuba. Seto designed many especially for him. The room was decorated with a blue-eyes white dragon theme. It was the only option for a Kaiba.
"Seto, can we read this one?"
It was a small book of the alphabet, complete with pictures of animals. He brought it over to where Seto sat on the couch and climbed into his lap. Together they began reading.
"A is for aardvark, B is for bug, C is for cat…"
--
"Q is for quail, R is for rabbit, S is for seahorse…"
"And Seto! Right big brother? Seto the Seahorse!"
Mokuba laughed at his own joke.
"Oh yeah? Well M is for monkey! Mokuba the monkey!"
They both laughed as Mokuba began to dance around and act like a monkey. He suddenly stopped and jumped back into his brother's lap. He gave him a great big hug as only a child can.
"I love you, Seto."
--
Author's Note:
So what do you think? Yeah, I know, it's so sweet you could almost be sick :P . It was a lot of fun to write though. Please review. :)