Dong.
Seto looked up in surprise. Where did that come from? He got rid of all the grandfather clocks the day he took over Kaiba mansion.
"It's me, big brother," a smiling Mokuba appeared beside the CEO, with a gong in his hand. "I was just trying to wake you up."
"Through a variety of methods I see," seeing his little brother, Seto relaxed. "Last time it was a bucket of water over my head, now this. You've made some progress." The CEO grinned teasingly, only to have his little brother grin back.
"Next time," Mokuba promised, laughing, "I'm going to bring Joey over to wake you up."
"Wait," Seto suddenly remembered, "aren't you supposed to be with the old man Muto and that girl? How did you get here? You should have called me, I would have sent somebody to pick you up, it's not safe for you to come home alone at this time of night."
"Actually, Seto," Mokuba scratched his head, "I'm not really Mokuba. I mean, I am, but I'm doubling as the Ghost of Christmas Past. I'm supposed to come here and show your past, so that you can see the error in your ways. Or something like that. It's the whole magic thing that I don't quite get yet."
"Mokuba," Seto sighed, "you have to be kidding me. You know I don't have time for this sort of thing. Maybe tomorrow, I promise."
"Sorry Seto," Mokuba apologized, "but I'm just doing my job. And besides, if it's you we're talking about, a new personality really wouldn't hurt." The kid chuckled, then grabbed Seto's hand. "Let's go, we have lots of things to do tonight."
Seto reluctantly got up, he never could say no to his little brother. "I guess now you're going to show me how happy I was before at Christmas?"
Mokuba looked back in surprise, "how did you know?"
"I told you that you should have read more classic novels," the CEO ruffled his little brother's hair, "this one is one of Dicken's best books."
Mokuba blushed slightly in embarrassment. "Alright then, let's go."
Still taking hold of Seto's hand, the two floated up, finally being sucked into a vortex. Mokuba let go of Seto as they descended into a small apartment.
"Remember, Seto?" Mokuba looked up at the older Kaiba hopefully, "this is where we lived when we were kids."
Seto nodded, of course he remembered. Every night, with painful details of hearing about his parents' death for the first time. He was just grateful that Mokuba was too young then to remember what happened.
Though the entire apartment was smaller than Seto's master bedroom in Kaiba mansion, it was well decorated. A wreath here, some lights there is all it needs to bring about a cozy atmosphere.
"It's really amazing what ten bucks can do," Seto chuckled, "this is what I pay those morons thousands of dollars a month to do: decorate. With a new packaging, the duel disks can sell for over a hundred dollars more."
Mokuba pouted, tugging on the older Kaiba's sleeve to direct his attention back to the room. Two kids were playing with a wooden train set, worn with use, while a couple was busy cooking the Christmas dinner.
"See Seto," Mokuba grinned triumphantly, "see how happy we both were, even without all the gadgets and gizmos we have now?"
Seto smiled back encouragingly, he was just glad that Mokuba found a job. He wanted his little brother to go out and seek a career of his own, rather than trying to help him with Kaiba corp. His company was a burden the elder Kaiba was determined to bear alone.
The CEO was, admitted, moved by the family scene, but he wasn't fooled. He could still recall the fight his parents had over the money they spent on gifts that Christmas, he could still remember himself holding back tears as he realized that he didn't get the toy soldiers he wanted so much. His parents had spent nearly a month's salary for a day of festivities, and struggled to make ends meet for weeks afterwards. But, he wouldn't tell Mokuba that. Seto has no plans of destroying Mokuba's illusions of the world. His own were crushed when he was way too young, now all he can do is protect Mokuba's childhood.
"Okay, Seto," Mokuba chirped happily, "time for the next scene." Again, the Kaiba brothers seem to have traveled through space and time, as they arrived at an orphanage.
A younger version of Seto, maybe nine years old, held his four-year old brother on his shoulders as the younger of the two brothers struggled to put the golden star on top of the Christmas tree. The younger Mokuba proudly stuck the star on top of the tree, as the other kids in the orphanage watched jealously.
The present-day Mokuba looked moved by this display of affection and hugged his big brother's arm.
"You were always so nice to me, Seto," Mokuba told his older brother, "I just wish things could go back to the times when you weren't so hard on yourself."
"Wait," Seto paused, "by the looks of it, you can only show me what you remember. Right?"
Mokuba nodded, looking at his big brother in awe, "how did you know?"
Seto shrugged, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.
If Mokuba had been able to show him everything from the past Christmas, the kid would see how Seto cried after he put Mokuba to bed, how Seto had worked till two in the morning to make up for the time he spent playing games with his younger brother. Even then, Seto knew that he had to be the best if he wanted to be adopted. The smile? That was for their possible future parents. After all, nobody wants to adopt a kid who looks like everybody in the world owed him five hundred bucks.
"And I'm guessing there's one last scene to go?" Seto asked. He had been through enough magic-related incidents that the brunette really didn't care if this is a dream anymore. Mokuba nodded, grabbing Seto again as their surroundings changed.
The two Kaibas were back in their mansion, though this time, their stepfather had not yet been dealt with.
Seto Kaiba, now about fourteen years old, sat reviewing over a large stack of accounts, alone in the room. The calendar marked the twenty-fourth of December, but no other items in the room gave any sign of being Christmas Eve.
There was a gentle knock on the door, and a young Mokuba snuck inside, wearing only his pajamas and slippers.
"Hey Seto," he smiled, "I'm not supposed to be here, so I'll have to leave in a minute, but here's your Christmas present. Merry Christmas, Seto."
Seto, who had been sitting in front of his desk, quickly got up and wrapped his jacket around his younger brother.
"Mokuba, go back to bed, you'll catch a cold." Seto said sternly. Seeing Mokuba's eyes turning moist, the older brother sighed, "You know that if you're caught, we're both in trouble."
Despite of the annoyance in his words, Seto gently picked Mokuba up and placed him on the chair, taking the gift Mokuba handed him. "Here, I got you something too," the older Kaiba said, taking a small wrapped box from his drawer.
"Seto," Mokuba's face lit up, "I knew you haven't forgotten about Christmas." Giving his big brother a hug, the younger Kaiba turned to his gift, "can I open it?"
"Not now. It'll attract too much attention," Seto replied, "open it when you get back to your room." Mokuba nodded happily and snuck back out of the room.
The scene shifted again to the younger Mokuba's bedroom, where he opened his present. It was a hologram of the Kaiba brothers, smiling. Satisfied, Mokuba hugged his present to sleep.
The present-day claiming-to-be-a-ghost Mokuba grinned, "I always knew you have some Christmas spirit in you, Seto. It's just hidden really, really deep and you have to find it."
The CEO of Kaiba corp. smiled back. Mokuba didn't know the hours he spent toiling over the present, nor will he ever know about it.
"Okay then, Seto," Mokuba beamed, "that's it for my part. Somebody else would come as the ghost of Christmas present."
Seto Kaiba flinched at the sudden cold air, he found himself asleep at his desk. The clock is now 11:45pm. He shrugged. He's done worrying over magic a long time ago. Now, as long as it didn't interfere with his work, he couldn't care less.
As long as the magic episodes aren't going to take that long and won't take up his normal working time, the older Kaiba isn't going to concern himself.
Seto leaned back against the chair, content. Now, at least he knows for sure that Zigfried didn't have a heads up over Kaiba corp. And that's enough for him.