The friends Honda and Jounouchi were attempting to explain
the reasons behind the holiday season to the once great Pharaoh, and wishing
someone else were doing it instead. How did one explain how an event that took
place 2,000 years prior to modern times (or 3,000 years after said Pharaoh’s
time) became the mega spending frenzy it had? Well, in any case they were
trying, until they noticed Anzu’s approach.
Honda took off running in the opposite direction immediately, leaving the others
to wonder what was happening. That was when they saw the pink fur. Jounouchi
quickly gave the other boy his trademarked grin and took off after his friend,
leaving the Pharaoh to deal with the perky brunette. Eyes opened wide at the
impending arrival of the girl, there was nowhere to run or hide in the short
amount of time he had, except for the one place she couldn’t follow. Knowing the
girl’s intent was for him and not Yugi, he forced a switch tossing the young
duelist to the proverbial wolf.
She hadn’t noticed the change Yugi noted, still stalking him as a hunter would
her prey. Feeling very small and rather like a piece of meat, Yugi continued
backing up until he found he no longer could, having back into something rather
solid. His world came crashing down in a field of evergreen, sharp needles
sticking into various parts of his body he preferred they didn’t. In his haste
to get away from Anzu, Yugi had back up into the Christmas tree causing it to
tumble down upon him. As students and teachers alike pulled the tree back up, a
very agitated and severely panicked Spirit of the Puzzle once again took control
of Yugi’s body. “Woman, are you trying to kill us?”
Shock crossed Anzu’s face, “Of course not! It’s your fault as much as mine. If
you hadn’t run away Yugi wouldn’t have backed into the tree.” She crossed her
arms over her chest, just under her breast--whether to emphasize her indignation
with the whole situation or her femininity no one knew. “Besides, he obviously
didn’t get hurt and neither did anyone else. No thanks to you.”
The internal clock Kaiba had been keeping a watch on, along with the one on the
wall, signaled it was past time to go. He had watched the scenario play out
between Mouto and the girl. When the tree fell it was all he could do not to
break into laughter and the scene now was too much even for him. Kaiba left the
room as quickly as possible all the while looking calm and collected as though
he were just passing through. Once out the door, a couple of tears ran down his
face from the forced confinement of laughter as he choked back the stream of
delirious giggles. Taking a deep breath, and getting himself back under control,
Kaiba walked out to his car. He was driving off when he realized he’d never
found out if Yugi enjoyed his present or not. It wasn’t what he originally
intended but--it was fun all the same. It had taken quite awhile for the guard
dogs to chew up the figure properly.
Home again and still nothing overtly odd appeared on his doorstep. Kaiba walked
up the stairs to his room; Mokuba wouldn’t be home for another few hours as he
was spending time with some friend before the holidays--why he couldn’t spend
time with the kid during the holiday vacation Kaiba didn’t know and didn’t care.
As he climbed the stairs, there was a noticeable drop in the temperature. Odd he
thought, knowing very well that the temperature was always set at a moderate
degree year round. Stepping into his room, he discovered the reason for the
cold.
He flipped out his cell phone once again, pounding in the numbers to call
security. “Someone explain what the hell this is in my room.” He turned the
phone and a small click was heard as the camera took its shot.
“It’s a snowman, Mr. Kaiba. Sir.”
He was surrounded by idiots. “I very fucking well know that. Tell me how it got
here, why it’s here, and get it the hell out.”
“We’ll send someone immediately, Sir.”
Kaiba waited, standing there in his own room, watching a snowman that sat
melting upon his bed--the temperature wasn’t cold enough to keep it solid for
long. Who ever had done this hadn’t been gone too long before he arrived, hell
they could still be in the place as far as he knew and security wasn’t any help
at all. He quickly dialed another number from memory, “Where are you?”
“Hi, big brother.”
“Answer me. Mokuba, where are you right now?”
“Kyle’s, like I told you. Why, what happened?”
“Nothing, just stay there until I call you again or send someone for you.”
Mokuba had heard that tone before, it was his brother’s ‘I’m older than you
therefore I know better than you, and am in charge’ voice. The one he didn’t
even attempt to challenge. “Okay.”
Disconnecting the call, Kaiba watched as the water slowly pooled upon his
blanket before seeping through, only to drip off onto the floor. Damn, he was
going to need a new mattress and sheets. This was going to end in someone’s
death if he had any say in it--and he did.
After a thorough search of the building and grounds, security once again coming
up with nothing, Kaiba sat himself down and personally went over the entire
day’s worth of digital surveillance images. Nothing. There was no way anyone
could get past the cameras, they were everywhere, and recording anytime there
was movement in their area. Several hours later, he gave the all clear to Mokuba
before sending a car for his brother, still unsatisfied at the results of his
search.
He slept that night, rather uncomfortably, in one of the other rooms. It turned
out the carpet in his room would have to be replaced as well. Snow now sat high
on his list of reasons to hate the season. Snow, snowballs, and snowmen were a
complete waste of time, energy, and body heat. Tossing and turning through most
of the night, Kaiba didn’t get a lot of sleep. Waking up the next morning, well
more correctly getting up out of the bed he’d been trying all night to sleep in,
Kaiba was reminded of another reason why he hated Christmas.
“Isn’t the day perfect for our trip, Big Brother?”
Trip? Trip? What was the boy talking about--a trip? Kaiba’s sleep deprived brain
started processing the information Mokuba threw at him--although a little slower
than the boy was speaking considering Mokuba was chattering away at a mile a
minute and Kaiba’s brain was only up to a quarter mile but still he was getting
the idea. Sometime he had promised to take Mokuba to the local zoo’s annual Wild
Wonderland presentation. A zoo full of parents and kids all trying to look at
the odd assortment of winter or artic themed exhibits of animals; reindeer and
penguins, animals in their winter coats like sables and minks, although Kaiba
was of the opinion that if he really wanted to see a sable or mink he could just
go buy a fur coat. There would be many other exotic wintry creatures as
well--joy of joys. Of course, Mokuba was thrilled at the prospect of going with
his big brother. It was too early for this; he needed caffeine.
After three cups of coffee, a reasonable breakfast, and an extremely long bath,
Kaiba found his brother waiting at the front door impatiently pacing back and
forth across the floor. “All right, let’s go and get this over with.” Mokuba
darted toward the door, threw it open, and raced out before his brother could
change his mind.
They drove in silence, Kaiba having refused to let Mokuba turn on the radio
after finding nothing but annoying Christmas songs blaring on every station.
“So, um big brother? What do you want for Christmas?”
Such an innocent question and so ridiculous. Why would he want anything special
now more than any other time of year, although the idea of finally beating Mouto
always sat high on his list. Peace and quiet away from the usual gang of idiots
would be nice as well. A pair of brown eyes surrounded by shagging blond hair
gazing up lovingly--what the hell? Where had THAT come from? Eyes shifted
sideways toward his brother, “Nothing,” he growled, glad that he had not run
them off the road when he lost his mind with that last thought.
When they finally made it to the zoo, Mokuba dragged Kaiba into the throng of
merry Christmas tourists. Mokuba spent most of his time running back and forth
between his brother and the exhibits, trying to convince him to come see what
was there. Kaiba for his part stood to the back, waiting out the impressive
energy surge that overtook his younger brother. That was until they made it to
the area where the reindeer where being stabled for the petting zoo.
“Hi, Yugi!” Mokuba noticed the others first, otherwise Kaiba would have turned
and gone the other way. What his brother saw in the spiky haired little freak of
a duelist, Kaiba would never know; personally he couldn’t stand any of them.
Everyone was standing around looking at the deer in strange amazement. Kaiba
thought for a moment of telling them that the only thing the deer were good for
were steaks, however the look upon his brother’s face held the comment. Although
he couldn’t hold back the one that came to him when he overheard Jounouchi
talking about the antlers. Once again, the blond and his friend Honda had
started another argument. This time it was over the size of the reindeer’s
antlers, and how it must indicate something about how strong the male deer were.
“Females,” Kaiba explained nearly laughing at the deer in the headlight looks he
received from the others. “Only female reindeer have antlers in the winter, the
males lose theirs in the fall.”
“Kaiba, you really know how to ruin a good time.” Jounouchi turned away, moving
into the petting area, while trying to get as far away from the smug bastard as
quickly as possible.
“Don’t know about that Jounouchi,” there was that twinkle in Bakura’s eyes again
that Kaiba had decided not to trust, “bet he could show you a real good time if
you gave him half a chance.” Nope, did not trust that one at all; however, the
reaction his comment received from the blond was interesting--wasn’t going to
trust that one either.
He should have known better than to allow Mokuba to follow the others; at least,
he should have known to get away before they were all tossed out of the zoo. The
others had all ended up going into the petting area, while Kaiba stood outside
waiting for Mokuba to come out. Watching Mokuba and the others feed the reindeer
little pellets of corn and whatever else deer were fed was quickly becoming
boring, until one of the deer decided she wasn’t being fed enough fast enough.
Out of nowhere a Christmas song, that he’d heard once, played its self in
Kaiba’s head as he watched the deer trample over Bakura in a desperate attempt
to get the feed in his hand. Oh well, it wasn’t Christmas Eve just yet, more
like Christmas Eve morn, but the song was pretty close except in the song
Grandma died and Bakura didn’t. The white haired boy jumped up immediately after
the deer got off him and started chasing after her screaming something about
venison. At this point, the children in the area were crying and yelling, while
their mothers ran to save them. Eventually the zookeepers had everyone calmed
down, and forced the wild gang of rambunctious teens to leave immediately.
Kaiba had never been so insulted in his life--imagine being grouped into a gang
with those people. Grabbing Mokuba by the hand, he turned stomping out of the
zoo and as far away from the others as quickly as he could, grumbling the whole
time about Christmas, trees, reindeer and dogs. No one who overheard could
figure out the dog comment.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How are thy leaves so verdant!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How are thy leaves so verdant!
Not only in the summertime,
But even in winter is thy prime.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How are thy leaves so verdant!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!
For every year the Christmas tree,
Brings to us all both joy and glee.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
Each bough doth hold its tiny light,
That makes each toy to sparkle bright.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
(A/N: and you thought I was going to use Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
didn’t you?)
onward
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