Author's Note: Long time, no see everyone! I began writing this fanfiction on DeviantArt under the username "TeaCeremony"; however, I must admit I dislike DA's approach to uploading text-based documents, and I decided to bring the story over here. I'll be continuing to post a chapter a week here until the end of the fanfic.

The picture for the fanfic of Kaiba and Jounouchi at the beach was designed by my best friend SmuttyMcSmutFace on DeviantArt. Please feel free to check out her work!

Rating is for language. I'm not going to write anything overly sexual.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy the story!

Prologue

Even before Mokuba mentioned it, Kaiba could feel the onset. Graduating high school brought intense relief to the CEO, but it also meant his days would be spent entirely at the office, with few breaks in between. The past year and a half had been incredibly productive, with non-stop planning, coding, and organizing on his schedule. But the lack of breaks, whether they were holidays or school vacations, was finally beginning to take its toll. The day-after-day monotonous tasks to perform at the office, the long hours with the only sunlight being through his office windows, the missed meals followed by Mokuba's complaints. As it wore on, Kaiba could feel himself becoming even more irritable than usual. Morning meetings with executives who couldn't see goals past their noses, who looked at incredibly short-term profits while forgoing long-term strategies, went from being boring to outright aggravating. Marketing campaigns that took weeks in advance to set up only for a few hours' worth of material bothered him long after the final product was released. The oversight of KaibaLand and the installation of several new VR machines, all designed by Kaiba himself, of course, were the only fun things to look forward to, and those were hampered by the financial and marketing departments at practically every turn.

It didn't take a genius to know that, after months on end, Kaiba was tired and needed a break. It wasn't simply the usual tired that could be cured by a small nap. He was exhausted, fed up, and needed an extended holiday away from the office, the subordinates, and the computer screens.

Mokuba had brought up the idea of a vacation as early as Christmas. Now in high school, Mokuba was spending more of his days studying than dueling or spending time with his brother, but even he could sense the drag in Kaiba's mannerisms. He, too, needed a break from his studies, and the thought of going away pleased the younger Kaiba as much as the elder. Kaiba had agreed to look into the matter, but of course a new project for a charity event was announced, and he ultimately put that idea on hold.

It was after the charity event a full three months later, held of course at KaibaLand, that Kaiba had taken what he felt was a vacation: two days at home, most of it asleep in his room. At first, Mokuba was sure his older brother had become ill, but Kaiba insisted he simply needed rest. And he did. Once Kaiba emerged from what Mokuba deemed his "mini-hibernation," the younger brother again brought up the idea of an actual vacation, of leaving to go somewhere, but Kaiba stated sleep was the priority this time, not driving. Kaiba did agree, again, to look into a vacation nevertheless.

The two days of rest didn't last as long as Kaiba had intended, and indeed, at the four month mark, Kaiba was already feeling the drag hit him once more. At first, he felt oddly flustered by the feeling. He was only 20 years old. He had been pulling himself out of bed at 5:00am every day for the past six years. This was nothing new to his schedule, and it wasn't as though the meetings and coding were problematic. But he could sense that each day felt a little heavier, a little more burdensome.

The epiphany came at an odd time: an event hosted by none other than Ishizu Ishtar at the local museum for a new Egyptian artifact exhibit. Both Kaiba and Yami Yuugi had been invited, and Kaiba decided against his better judgment to attend the event, knowing it would be some good publicity. Yami Yuugi and Kaiba managed to hold a polite conversation, and Kaiba realized how much he missed dueling and having a challenge. It was in the midst of their talk that Ishizu approached him, thanking him profusely for attending what she knew was an event Kaiba had less than no interest at being at. Yami excused himself, leaving Kaiba and Ishizu along, and Ishizu had been surprisingly cordial, asking Kaiba about his work and the charity events she had heard about. Kaiba played nice, responding with polite but succinct answers, when Ishizu noted Kaiba seemed a little calmer than usual.

"Of course I'm calmer than before," he had answered, sipping on a small glass of champagne as he did so. "I'm not hosting those tournaments anymore, at least directly. The world isn't planning to end anytime soon, either."

Ishizu shook her head at the response. "No, Kaiba," she answered. "Though you are correct in that world events are a bit calmer, I did not mean you seem more at ease. Rather, you seem…well..."

"Tired," he finished for her. "I seem tired."

Ishizu had nodded and apologized for being so direct, but the statement had sent a tingle of fear down Kaiba's spine. If it was that easy for Ishizu to notice, then clearly his competitors were seeing the drag, as well. And Kaiba knew what competitors thought of tired clients and business managers. He himself had harshly judged managers, staff, CEOs, and the like for showing up exhausted and putting in half a day's work.

It was the next day that he spoke to Mokuba about formally booking a vacation. Not a day off, but a full, week-long vacation.

It wasn't as easy to plan as before, when Mokuba was a child. Kaiba was aiming for late June, but Mokuba's tests wouldn't be done until July. And Kaiba knew travel would be atrocious during that time just due to the fact that everyone else would be off work and school. So it was decided the week after Mokuba's tests would be as good a time as any.

Then there was the matter of location. Mokuba enjoyed the sun, but Kaiba could spend all day in a resort indoors and consider it a true vacation. Admitting that Mokuba probably knew better than himself in this scenario, Kaiba hesitantly handed over the duty of picking a spot to his younger brother. Who of course proceeded to pick the sunniest, busiest area during the summer: the beach. "No way in hell," had been Kaiba's first thought, but the two had compromised and found a beach known for its private resorts and hotels, clean boardwalk, some arcades, a water park, and great food. Mokuba booked a 2-bed, 2-bath before Kaiba could even confirm it was where he wanted to go, and the elder brother decided it would be more of a hassle to fight against it.

Knowing that a vacation was now in place gave Kaiba a sudden spike in energy, and he found himself already more focused on his projects. The charity event had gone auspiciously well, and Kaiba was now working with several clients in order to make the event a more permanent fixture of KaibaLand. Two organizations working with less-privileged and orphaned children were already reaching out to him, and he himself contacted three more for a total of five sub-organizers. The work was going smoothly, with coding projects intermittently spersed with meetings with the organizers and his own marketing staff. Mokuba occasionally peeked his head into Kaiba's office to ask questions about the vacation, such as how they would be getting there and what to pack, but otherwise left his older brother alone.

Thus, when Mokuba asked if they could go out to eat to celebrate his last test before summer vacation, Kaiba shockingly realized he hadn't planned for their own private vacation at all.

The two went out to eat to Mokuba's favorite restaurant, a dessert-inspired burger joint that Kaiba always found to be a little creepy for its bizarre chocolate combinations. Mokuba's favorite food was still chocolate, however, and no amount of aging or trying other foods seemed to sway the younger Kaiba from his cocoa obsession. Kaiba let a small smile cross his lips as the two took their seats at a high end table, realizing he only had a few more years of this tradition left before Mokuba was off for college, and he refused to complain when his brother ordered a small pizza for them to share and two chocolate milkshakes.

"So, how did your tests go?" inquired Kaiba, who casually sipped at the milkshake once it was brought. The milkshake was so tall that Kaiba barely leaned forward to sip from the gaudy bendy straw.

Mokuba shrugged as he finished sipping his own drink. "Pretty well, I think? History was tough this year, as we had to know exact dates of so many different battles, but I know I did well on math and science."

"English and Japanese?"

"Meeeh, Japanese was okay."

"And English?"

"English…" Mokuba shrugged. "English is hard."

"English is essential, Mokuba. Especially if you plan on working in the company. We have at least three American divisions and one smaller English division, and you were the one who said you wanted to study abroad in London."

"I know, I know. Trust me, I was practicing it. I guess I focused too much on speaking English and not enough on written."

Kaiba frowned at this. "Who were you practicing English with?"

"A few friends at school. Jounouchi was helping me out, too, since we've been hangin' out more."

At the mere mention of the name, Kaiba choked slightly on his drink and smirked. "Well, that would explain a lot, if you were learning from the mutt of all people."

"You would be surprised, Seto, at how good his English is," Mokuba chided as their pizza arrived. The waitress brought two cute-shaped porcelain plates before bowing and leaving them. "He can speak it a lot more fluently than my friends can."

"The mutt being good at any skill would surprise me." Pausing for a second, Kaiba took another sip of his milkshake before asking, "When would he need to use English?"

"At home, on the phone, I think," Mokuba answered between sips of his milkshake. "I'm pretty sure it's his dad who is American, but he calls family overseas like once a month. His sister is apparently pretty fluent in it, too, and they'll talk to each other in English to keep info from their parents."

Recalling Jounouchi's younger sister, Kaiba slowly nodded, remembering briefly the notes he and Mokuba slipped to each other during Gozaburo's cruel reign. "And does he speak formally?" asked Kaiba, switching flawlessly to English.

Mokuba smirked. "Not quite, but we can talk about day-to-day stuff."

Kaiba blinked in surprise. Mokuba had always struggled with foreign languages, particularly English, and to hear him confidently say a sentence was something of a shocker. "Maybe he is good for something, after all," Kaiba muttered, taking a small slice from the pizza.

"All I got from that was someone is good at something," Mokuba noted, taking his own slice from the pan pizza and plopping it down on the porcelain plate.

"That was the gist of it," Kaiba confirmed before taking a bite of his pizza. Wiping the sauce from his lips, he asked, "When will you receive your test results?"

"Next week." He took a long sip of his milkshake before adding, "The day before we go on vacation."

Kaiba slowly nodded. The two settled on eating their slices of pizza, with Kaiba taking one more while Mokuba chowed down the entire remainder of the pizza by himself [with the milkshake, Kaiba observed]. As he chewed on his slice, Kaiba already began to formulate a list of things he would need to pack for their vacation: toiletries, towels, swimwear, sunscreen, chargers, a book to read. Do I even have all those things lying around? he suddenly wondered. Am I going to need to go out shopping? Perhaps I can send the maid to go get a few things and pay her overtime. Plus we'll need some snacks for the road, waters, I'll need to plan-

"Stop that."

Mokuba's voice caused Kaiba to blink in surprise. "What?"

"Stop that. I can see it in your face. You're overthinking something again."

"I'm simply making a list of things we'll need at the shore, Mokuba."

"Yeah, but it's not that hard, Seto. Just our swimwear, some towels, sunscreen, and the three of us."

"Yes, but…" Kaiba stopped hard and looked up from his milkshake. "What do you mean, three of us?"

"You don't remember?" Mokuba asked, his eyes widening in shock.

"Remember what?"

"You had asked, right at the beginning, why I got a two-bed, two-bath suite. I said I wanted to bring a friend along, and you said it was okay."

Kaiba's eyes widened in return. "When did I say that?"

"About a month ago, like a week after we scheduled the trip!" Mokuba exclaimed. "I already promised he wouldn't get in the way, and when I told you who I wanted to bring along, you kinda just shrugged and said, 'So long as he behaves.'"

Kaiba let his chin fall into the open palm of his hand as he closed his eyes and slowly inhaled a deep breath of air. He had no recollection of this event. At all. And bringing someone else to the beach has its own set of problems. It won't just be Mokuba and me. It will be Mokuba, me, and… Kaiba opened his eyes. "Who are you planning to bring along? Akihiko?"

Mokuba shook his head no, and his curious expression made Kaiba feel a knot form in his stomach. He had agreed to something horrible. He could sense it.

"Jin?"

Again, Mokuba shook his head no. Kaiba frowned. "Who are you bringing along, then?"

Mokuba sipped at his milkshake, somewhat avoiding eye contact. "If you forgot you agreed to this, then you aren't going to like who I'm bringing."

"Well, apparently I already agreed to this," Kaiba noted, letting a hint of aggravation trace his voice. "So who are you bringing?"

"Who did I say helped me with English?"

"A few of your friends. And…" Putting two and two together, Kaiba pulled back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "Absolutely not."

"You already agreed to it!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"I would never agree to that," Kaiba countered. "Absolutely not. I am going on vacation to relax, not to pet sit a mutt."

"He's a year older than you, you know," Mokuba pointed out, finishing his milkshake and setting it to the side. Leaning forward, Mokuba crossed his arms over the table and smiled. "And it won't be like he will be in the way. I asked him about going, and he said he would keep to himself. And I told you," he continued, raising a finger and pointing at his brother, "He already agreed to stay out of the way, he won't be bothering you, and he's packing for himself."

"Then why bother bringing him along if you aren't going to spend time with him?"

"Who said I wouldn't be? Of course we'll hang out." Smiling, Mokuba dropped his hand to the table. "Seto, I know you like to spend some time alone and to yourself. You're going to need a lot of that this vacation. And while I enjoy spending some time alone, you know I get antsy and want to go hang out with people. This way, you can have a day or two to yourself, and Jou and I can hang out and do things you normally wouldn't want to do."

"And the room situation?"

"Man, you were out of it when I talked to you about this," Mokuba jested, causing Kaiba to grate his teeth ever so slightly. "You and I can share a bedroom, 'cuz our bedroom has two big beds, and he'll have his own room with one bed. We each have our own bathroom, too." Mokuba's smile widened. "I managed to snag us a pretty nice suite. We'll have a living room with a t.v., wi-fi, and a little kitchen to cook in. Plus a patio. We'll be spaced out enough."

"You honestly couldn't have invited anyone else to this vacation?"

Mokuba shrugged. "Jin and Akihiko are also going on vacation. Most of my friends are. Or they're cramming for later exams, which, no thanks, I'm waiting to do when I get back. I figured he would be better than Yuugi tagging along."

"Barely," Kaiba muttered under his breath.

"He already took time off," Mokuba persisted. "And he lives pretty much paycheck to paycheck. He's been planning for the last two months, Seto. I can't have him back out now."

Kaiba inhaled and slowly exhaled. He knew deep down it was just as much Mokuba's vacation as it was his own. His brother's tests were becoming more rigorous, and Mokuba's time would be limited more and more each year. Giving him one final week of fun before returning to school was just as important as Kaiba taking a week away from emails, meetings, and coding. And, while he hated to admit it, Mokuba was right about one thing. Kaiba would want his privacy at some point, and it wasn't fair to keep Mokuba bored and alone in the hotel room for his own selfish reasons. It would give the younger Kaiba someone to hang out with.

But the mutt, of all idiots… Kaiba sipped at his milkshake as the waitress came and set the bill down on the table.

"If nothing else, Seto, you can check his English," Mokuba pointed out, smirking as it elicited a chuckle from his older brother.

"That would require me to converse with him. Which I have no intention of doing."

Mokuba glanced down at his empty plate before pressing his lips together. Peeking up, he asked in a softer voice, "In all seriousness, Seto, are you okay with him going? Like, clearly you don't remember this conversation, but I know things aren't...great...between you two."

"Apparently you caught me at a bad moment, but if I already agreed to this affair, it would be rude to back out now," Kaiba remarked, softening his tone to match his brother. "I would be curious to know how exhausted I was when I agreed to this."

Mokuba's smirk widened, and the slight guilt in his eyes immediately vanished. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"If you asked me in my sleep, it doesn't count."

"Oh, you were awake. Incredibly busy, moving around from one meeting to the next, but you were awake."

Kaiba scoffed. "Next time, I want documented evidence, or it isn't happening." Paying the bill, Kaiba pulled himself from his seat and stood up, watching as Mokuba hopped out and walked in front of him. The two exited through the side door and approached their vehicle, a smooth, dark blue car that was just fancy enough to indicate it was owned by someone wealthy without going overboard.

Another thing I'll have to prepare, Kaiba thought as he slid into the black, leather seat and clicked his seatbelt on. The car. He glanced over at Mokuba, watching as the kid did his own seat belt, and smiled, knowing the tinted windows would hide his weakness from the outside world. "Mokuba."

Mokuba blinked and looked up. "Yeah?"

"I'm proud of you. For your tests. I know you did well, and you deserve a vacation as much as I do."

The smile that crossed his younger brother's lips made Kaiba feel lighter than he had in months, and for the first time, he felt genuinely excited about the trip ahead.