Seto sighed as he pulled on his coat. The weather outside was nasty and cold, not to mention unwelcoming. As much as a Christmas Eve snow was pleasant, it wasn't when he was going to be spending the next few hours outside, waiting for some other guy to finish his speech on why the new KaibaCorp building was so important. Then, he'd oversee the cutting of the ribbon, and have to stand around while reporters asked him questions about something he didn't really care about.

He left the house in a rather unpleasant mood, not looking forward to the next little while he was stuck spending outside. However, he'd make the best of it and put on a smile when he came home to Mokuba.

Behind him, at the door, came a small yelp, and Seto turned around to see Joey tumble down the stairs and land in a snowdrift. He was a bit bigger than when the brunette had originally found him, coming up almost to Seto's knees, and now that he knew his secret, the delayed growth didn't surprise him much. The puppy stumbled playfully through the snow, leaping at his master's shins.

"Oh, no you don't." Seto said with a chuckle as he wrapped an arm around Joey's waist and lifted him off the ground. "Geez, Joey. Stop growing. You were easier to pick up and cuddle when you were little." He said, and the puppy simply growled and wagged his tail, panting adorably. "You've got to stay here for now, okay? I'll be home tonight."

The tail stopped wagging. Not a good sign. Seto sighed as Joey whined and wriggled to be put down. He tugged on Seto's pants leg as soon as the brunette complied.

"Come on, Joey. I won't be long. A few hours, and then I'll be home again. I promise." he assured, kneeling down to scratch behind his dog's ears. Joey stared at him with a greatly exasperated look that said 'But Seto, it's Christmas, for God's sake! Can't you stay home for once?' The brunette shook his head.

"Look, I can't just turn this down, now. It's important to my image. I'll be home in a few hours." He said, turning around to leave. Joey growled. "Now go inside, Joey." Then, he was gone, leaving the blonde-furred puppy outside in the snow, debating on what he should do next.

Finally, his mind made up, Joey headed down the drive, away from the mansion and toward the street.

Seto stepped into the limousine, waiting for his driver to begin their drive. He yawned and leaned against the heated leather seat as he stared out the window. He knew where they were going. He had taken Joey for a walk to go see the building about to be opened, simply because, well… because he was Seto Kaiba. Did he need another reason? No he didn't. Because Seto Kaiba was almighty.

His chuckle was soft in the limo, and he rested his head against the window, watching cars go by endlessly. The drive was short, and before long, he saw the building come into sight. The limousine pulled to a halt near the event, and Seto stepped out. He was immediately flanked by flashing cameras and reporters, obviously there to capture the moment of his arrival.

From down the street, Joey could see his master's vehicle stop and him emerge from it. His ears perked up as he wandered closer to the event and stayed hidden from Seto's gaze, not wanting to arouse the wrath of his master. He'd seen Seto angry and it was not pretty at all. The person he directed his rage at was usually scared out of their wits and ran off to fix whatever it was they had messed up.

Seto walked briskly as he could up onto the steps of the new KaibaCorp building and was thankful when the security held the reporters at bay, away from him. He didn't appreciate them getting in his face for things that wouldn't even be of too much use or entertainment to the people watching their uninteresting news channels later on. Instead, he channeled all his energy on listening to the director of the new building, a man he didn't really like… His moustache unnerved him.

Joey could watch and listen from within the crowd. Some people ignored him, and some nudged him out of the way, muttering things like "Damn strays…" It hurt, but he'd learned to ignore the insults. Making his way around people's legs, he sat and listened to the speech, watching his master intently. What was so important about this? Seto was just standing there, and looked intensely bored and unhappy. What did this do for him?

As Seto waited for the man to finish his speech, he sighed softly. The man was going on now about some kind of new integrity being brought to KaibaCorp by the research they were going to do in this building. It all bugged the brunette slightly, as he had nothing to really do with this project. He simply oversaw it for a length of time, then grew bored, letting the designers go off on their own and invent, only checking in on time to time.

It would be set as a building to research new, more advanced Duel Monsters arenas. Portable ones like the Duel Disks, but more enhanced. Seto didn't really know what else could be added by now, but he didn't say that, and instead, agreed that more progress would indeed be useful. After all, everybody absolutely had to have the next big thing.

Joey growled softly as he watched the speech. Seto was unhappy! Why was he there, instead of at home, in front of the fireplace with his brother, where he knew he'd be happy? The dog was set to go give the brunette a piece of his mind when he heard voices nearby saying something odd.

"Is everything prepared?" The man next to him was speaking and Joey looked up, almost expecting the man to be talking to him. However, he realized just how silly that was. Why would he talk to a stray dog? No, he was speaking into a microphone hidden in his collar. The dog tensed. "It's good, then. Alright. I'll follow through."

Suddenly, the man was pulling something from his heavy coat, and Joey's eyes widened. A gun. The man had a gun. He was going to shoot somebody. Judging by the importance of everyone in the nearby vicinity, it would be an assassination, and the only person who would really be a target for an assassination here would be…

Joey froze. Seto.

As the man leveled the gun, Joey leapt into action, snarling dangerously. The man was startled, but didn't lower the gun, and so, the dog leapt at his arm, sinking his teeth into the dangerous man's flesh right through the fabric of his coat. The man yelled, and tried to shake him off. Eventually, he succeeded, but as his arm moved, his finger suddenly slipped.

Through the crowd rang a loud gunshot, and then a yelp, almost simultaneously. Seto froze and his eyes widened. He knew that yelp. It was the same one he heard every night when Joey fell off the bed during their games of tag, except… no.

"Joey!" The brunette exclaimed, completely forgetting where he was, and what was going on. The crowd was in a state of confusion as they looked for the man with the gun, but the man was gone, and as Seto shoved his way through the masses, he eventually came upon Joey, lying in the street. "No!! Joey!" The brunette dropped to his knees and held his dog tightly to his chest and pulling his white trenchcoat around him, staining it with blood.

Joey could hear screaming, and shouting, and his name being repeated. His legs felt numb, and he couldn't move. Only one thought was crossing his mind. Seto. Find Seto. Make sure Seto is okay. Suddenly, he was in arms, and being held tightly, as a voice repeated his name. A voice he recognized. Slowly, the puppy lifted his head and saw Seto's tear-brimmed eyes. Slowly, he nuzzled into the brunette's coat and tilted his head up, licking his master on the neck.

Then, darkness closed in and he fell unconscious.