25 Days of Christmas

Summary: Botan based romance drabbles posted every day in December until Christmas. Crossovers are with: FMA IY DBZ YGO. Rating may change.

Rating for this chapter: T

Paring: Seto/Botan

Genre: Romance

FMC: Here's the third chapter. Sorry I've uploaded it so late at night, I got distracted. Anyway, I like Seto/Botan (even if I've only found one). If you guys know any Seto/Botan fics on the web, PLEASE let me know. Also, this chapter is slightly AU being that the Spirit Detectives and the Yugi-gumi are friends and Botan stays with the Kaiba brothers on her holidays. Oh, and Seto's OOC, I think...

Chapter Three: Family Dinner

It was quite at the long table, except for the soft clanking of dishes between two brothers. It seemed a lot colder whenever the bubbly ferry girl wasn't around. Not to mention the human blizzard- ah, I mean Seto, talked significantly less when she wasn't around.

Mokuba had been brought to tears from laughing at how, in his own subtle ways, his brother acted nervous. Even though he seemed nonchalant, Mokuba could easily tell from the way Seto's leg was bound every few seconds and his eye would twitch whenever she mentioned how much she adored 'Yami-kun'.

"Brother," Now was his chance to give off a snowball effect. After all, it was Christmas Eve and even if Botan wasn't here tonight, she'd be here at least tomorrow, and he would be dammed if he would let his brother's infatuation go to the point of his brother's brain finally shutting down.

"Yes?" Seto said lowly, eyeing his not-so-innocent brother.

"I was just thinking, Botan-chan is very pretty, eh?" Seto's face colored, if you can call his face turning a faint shade of pale pink.

"I suppose so." Seto said slowly, picking his words carefully. His eyes looked into Mokuba's indigo ones, which were currently faking innocence. "Why did you point this out?"

"Oh, no reason. Just that I saw Ryou buying peonies at the store today and when I asked him why, he blushed and mumbled something about a present for Botan-chan." Mokuba said slyly, not telling the whole truth. Sure, Ryou did buy some peonies for Botan, but he didn't blush. Hell, everyone in the Yugi-gumi knew Ryou and Botan were close like brother and sister. Everyone that is, except Seto.

"Oh really?" Seto asked, his hands gripping his fork tightly. Mokuba snickered inwardly before nodding his head rapidly.

"Yes, yes! Also, I heard from Yugi-kun that Malik and Marik were planning on giving Botan a very special present Downtown." Mokuba hinted, once again stretching the truth in order to anger his brother into revealing his feelings.

"Down… town?" The words echoed in his mind and suddenly he could see Botan, Malik, and Marik decked out in leather getting certain body parts pierced. And he wasn't thinking about ears or bellies.

"Yes, yes. Almost near the Red Light District." Suddenly, there was a pounding at the door and Mokuba jumped slightly; almost expecting Malik, Marik, and Ryou there to drag him to the Shadow Realm for his lies. When it seemed that neither a servant nor a Kaiba would answer, the door sounded like it was kicked in.

"Merry Christmas!" A cheerful voice called, closing the door behind her. Mokuba was away from the table before the door was slammed, his face full of excitement. When Seto had finally strolled into the front-door area, he saw his brother's arms wrapped around Botan's legs, with said girl giggling.

"Mokuba; I missed you too buddy! Now do you mind letting me go?" She laughed as Mokuba nodding, opting for grabbing her hand and pulling her into the dinning room. As she passed him, she smiled brightly and waved at Seto.

"Hey, Seto." The greeting was cut short by Mokuba tugging harder.

"At first I thought I wouldn't see you until tomorrow, but now that you're here; you can eat with Seto while I get ready for bed!" Mokuba rambled on as Botan added a positive answer here or there. She was guided to a seat next to where Seto was and was seated quickly. Then, rushing out once more, Mokuba grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him along.

"Don't mess up, okay? Just tell her how you feel." Before Seto could ask any questions he was in the dinning room, and Mokuba was leaving.

"Have fun you two." He winked at Botan before darting up the stairs to his room. At least, that's where Botan thought he went to.

"So, Seto, how have you been? Yami-kun told me you were opening up more." Botan said, as Seto snorted, but nodded nonetheless.

"Yes, well, it's hard not to when they threaten me with friendship speeches if I don't go to the arcade with them." Botan giggled behind her hand, knowing full-well that Anzu was the one who threatened him.

"I take it Anzu is still goes a bit over board on the topic of friendship." Seto sighed and Botan noticed how… tired he looked. A small drop of worry fell into her stomach and she grabbed Seto's hands, causing him to look at her.

"Seto, is something wrong? You know you can tell me, right?" Botan said softly, her pink eyes glowing in motherly warmth. Seto's own blue eyes lessened from their narrowed state, and he sighed.

"Botan, you are a very special person to me and Mokuba," Botan shook her head and smiled modestly.

"You sound like I'm a prized maid or something… I barely made it for Christmas…" Seto shook his head negatively.

"No, you're one of the few people I feel comfortable around; one of the few people who didn't instantly treat me like the bastard I am. And for that, I… respect you, a lot. I really like..." Seto took a shaky breath and Botan felt her face heat up.

"I like…" Mokuba, who was hiding in the kitchen watching through a crack in the door, leaned forward, his breath coming out harshly. This was it…

"I…" This was the first time he had ever started to loose his nerve for anything. Where was that killer, business man determination he had? What happened to his confidence? Why was his face on fire? Dear God, he was blushing! Blushing! This had gone on long enough. Gulping, he squeezed Botan's hands and put on his most unwavering face.

"I like you Botan, and I want to spend a lot more time with you. As in… dating…" He voice cracked at the end and he felt himself heat up more. Although he was sure he wasn't nearly as red as Botan.

"I-I… Seto… you're very sweet to actually like me. And I enjoy your company, and I love Mokuba…" She slipped her hands out of Seto's and clutched at her heart, feeling it pound twice as fast as normal.

"I would love to spend time with you as well. Casually dating… would be fine… it's just that Koenma-sama isn't the most understanding boss…" Seto smirked darkly.

"Oh, I'll make him understand how important our first date will be. Three o' clock next Saturday is fine, I'm sure." And with the date already set, Seto placed his hand under Botan's chin and placed his lips against her parted-in-shock ones. Inwardly smirking, he began planning Mokuba's punishment for spying; but seeing as it was Mokuba's plan in the first place, he could let it slide.

Next Couple: Yusuke/Botan (featuring ANGST!)