Wintershipping (Mokuba x Amane)

Mokuba Kaiba's eyes drooped, his face pressed into his fist. He would stay awake all night, he had decided. His big brother was working hard learning about the God Cards, and since Mokuba was this tournament's rule proctor, it was his duty to stay awake.

Still, it was hard to keep his eyes open for even one more second.

Seto Kaiba glanced over at the drooping form of his little brother. His eyes, hard in the light of the screen that showed the Winged Dragon of Ra, softened a little. He slid out of his chair, pulling off his jacket. Carefully, he pushed Mokuba back to lean against the back of the chair and tucked the jacket around him.

"Just sleep, Mokuba," he said. "I won't get any, so you'll have to sleep for the both of us."

Mokuba barely heard him. He was already fast asleep.

He blinked a few times. When had he gotten in the hallway? Which hallway was he in, anyway? Hadn't he been asleep in the computer room with Seto a minute ago? One of the doors slid open, and a man in a white lab coat stepped out. He turned to press the 'close door' button, fumbled in his pocket for a moment, then walked away. This must be the makeshift hospital hall, then.

Mokuba frowned. How could so many people get injured playing a card game? He didn't get it. Mai Kujaku, Ryo Bakura, the fake Marik, whose real name was still a mystery – all of them unconscious, from playing a simple card game. What kind of game were they actually playing here?

He suddenly didn't feel sleepy anymore, and decided to check on the unconscious passengers before he went back to the computer room. He keyed in the code for the first door, and it slid open. This was Mai's room. He peeked in, chewing on his lip. The heart monitor pulsed steadily, and she looked like she was just sleeping. Feeling a little weird, he ducked out of the room.

He turned back to the hallway – and stopped.

Someone was at the end of the hall, peering nervously into the third room: that was Bakura's room, right?

Mokuba didn't recognize her, and that was a little frightening, considering that they were thousands of feet in the air and he had seen every single passenger as they boarded the blimp. She wasn't much taller than him, or much older, it seemed. Long, thick white hair fell over her shoulders, and Mokuba almost thought it was Bakura except for the big red ribbon in her hair and the dark blue girl's uniform she wore.

Mokuba hesitated, a little nervous. How had she gotten here?

Okay, Mokuba, man up! he thought. I'm the tournament rule proctor, so it's my duty to find out what she's doing here!

Mokuba clenched his fists and tried to stand tall the way his brother always did, and then strode down the hall towards her.

She looked up at the sound of his footsteps, and her eyes widened. She darted into Bakura's room and the door slid shut behind her.

"Hey! Wait!" Mokuba said.

Had he scared her? He ran down the hall, keyed in the code for Bakura's room, and slipped in.

No lights had been turned on, and Mokuba didn't want to turn them on if he didn't have to. He waited a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, then glanced around the room. Bakura was still unconscious, but his heart monitor pulsed steadily.

The girl sat at the chair beside the bed, teetering on the edge with her hands pressed to her lap, shaking.

"Um...excuse me," Mokuba said.

The girl jumped, and whirled to face him. She had big brown eyes that seemed black in the light. She jumped off the chair, ran around the bed, and flattened so that Mokuba couldn't see her.

"Hey! Calm down! I didn't mean to scare you."

Mokuba walked around the bed, and found the little girl huddled in a ball, shaking.

"Are...are you okay?"

"Go away!"

Her voice was high, and young. She couldn't be older than him, maybe ten or eleven.

"Hey, I didn't mean to scare you," Mokuba said again. "But you scared me. How did you even get in here?"

The girl shook and didn't answer. She didn't even turn to face him. Mokuba sighed, straightening.

"Well, I'm Mokuba Kaiba. What's your name?"

The girl shook for another few moments.

"A-Amane Bakura."

"Bakura? You're related to him?"

She nodded, but Mokuba could only see the back of her head bobbing.

"Did you sneak on to follow your brother?"

"No, I came to check on him tonight," Amane said. "And when I came, he was sleeping and wouldn't wake up!"

Tonight? She had come tonight?

"How did you get on board? We're thousands of feet in the air!"

Amane shook, and then slowly, very slowly, she stood up, and turned to face Mokuba.

"Well...it was easy. For me, anyway. Since I'm not really...alive, you know."

Mokuba stared at her. She was a little shorter than him, and actually kind of pretty. Her eyes gleamed in the moonlight coming from the window, and her navy blue school uniform was obviously a little too big for her.

"What..." Mokuba finally said. "What are you talking about?"

Amane sighed, hugging herself.

"Well...I died," she said. "A long time ago. Mommy didn't see the deer until it was too late...and I don't remember much after that. Mommy is on the other side, and she keeps calling me, but – I don't want to go without Ryo-nii."

Mokuba couldn't speak. Was he hearing her right? She couldn't be a ghost. She looked way too solid and real! Curious, Mokuba poked her. She felt real. Amane yelped and jumped back.

"Hey, what was that for?"

Mokuba's cheeks warmed.

"Oh, uh...sorry," he said.

Amane pouted, and started to shake again, this time with anger.

"You're rude, Mokuba Kaiba-san!" she said. "I just came to check on my big brother! And he looks dead, but he's not! Tell me, Mokuba Kaiba-san! Is he okay?"

Mokuba's shoulders drooped slightly. Dream or not, ghost or not, she was just like him. She was just worried about her big brother. Mokuba would feel the same way if Seto got hurt this badly.

"He's going to be okay," Mokuba said. "He had a little bit of a shock earlier, but I'm sure he'll be up and going soon enough!"

Amane's angry expression faded away, and she glanced nervously at Bakura.

"I'm a bad person," she whispered. "I – I almost wished that he was going to die, so that he could come with me."

Mokuba stepped a little closer to her, and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened, but she didn't pull away.

"I...I'd probably wish the same thing, Bakura-chan," Mokuba said. "You're just lonely. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

Amane's shoulders started to shake. Fat tears rolled silently down her cheeks.

"Bakura-chan –"

"Please call me Amane. I haven't heard anyone say my name for such a long, long time."

Mokuba blushed a little.

"Okay...A-Amane-chan," he said. "You can call me Mokuba."

Amane sniffled loudly.

"Mokuba-kun," she said.

"Amane-chan," Mokuba said. "I think you need to go see your mom."

Amane looked up at him, surprised.

"I think Bakura-san would be happy to know you were waiting for him, but I don't think he would want you to be lonely," Mokuba said. "So...you can wait for him on the other side, right?"

Amane's eyes were wide and wet.

"Are you sure?" she said.

"Positive," Mokuba said. "I'm sure that's what my brother would think."

The little girl wiped at her eyes furiously.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I think I will go see Mommy."

She took a step away from him. Then she jumped forward and kissed him on the cheek. Mokuba's entire face turned bright red.

"You're not rude at all," Amane said, smiling through her tears. "I think I'm going to miss you too, Mokuba-kun."

Sunlight suddenly poured through the window. Mokuba closed his eyes against it – when he opened them again, he sat in the chair in the computer room, Seto's coat draped over him.

The sun had risen, he realized. Seto was half asleep, resting his head on his hands. Mokuba sat up, the coat falling around him. Had it only been a dream?

His cheek tingled a little bit where she had kissed him. He touched it softly.

"Bye, Amane-chan," he said.

A/N: It's. So. CUTE! How come I never thought of this pairing before? Next is Winshipping (Jonouchi x Yugi x Pegasus) *shudders*