Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Seto's First Christmas ❯ One cold CEO, a candy cane, and a partridge in a pear tree ( Chapter 3 )

Title: Seto's First Chrsitmas 3/6
Author: Kris Ice
Beta: Katbcoll
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): SetoxJou
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or anything associated with it.
Summary: Seto has never liked Christmas, but this year is going to be a bit different.

The next day found the Kaiba brothers at the Children's Center again. Seto was sitting in a chair near the refreshment table as the kids and volunteers started setting up the 'stage' where the plays would be performed. He found himself fighting off the urge to laugh as the crew of amateurs tried to get everything set up. They were practically tripping over each other. Still, he had to admit that it looked like well-organized chaos. Just as he was starting to get bored and considered going over to talk to Yugi who was working in the kitchen, Joey tripped over a plank one of the teens had accidentally left by the side of the stage, barely catching himself before he fell flat on his face. Unable to hold back, Seto snickered.

The blond looked up and glared at the taller boy. "Oh, yeah, laugh it up, moneybags. I don't see you over here helping."

Seto shrugged. "Why would I want to? You all look like your enjoying your little disaster area."

Joey growled and stood, but before he could do anything else, Ms. Aisu walked in from the kitchen. The petite woman simply raised an eyebrow at Jou and the blond grimaced before picking up the violet drapes they were going to use as the stage curtains and disappeared backstage.

Ms. Aisu walked over toward Kaiba, pushing her glasses up on her nose. It was the first time Seto had gotten a good look at her. The woman was by no means beautiful. Her nose was crooked, probably from being broken and never set. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but what really caught his attention were her piercing, dark chocolate eyes. "Don't you have something to do?" she asked that eyebrow quirking upwards again.

Seto snorted. "I'm waiting for my brother."

The woman frowned and tilted her head to the side. "In that case, you'd better find something to do rather than taunting the volunteers. We don't have much time to get things set up."

Seto was about to reply when an enraged screeching caught their attention. Ms. Aisu rolled her eyes heavenward before rushing over to see what had happened now. Curious, Seto followed after her. As they rounded the corner and entered an empty room behind the stage, they saw a stunning sight. The various props for the three plays were being stored in the room and it was one of the props that was now the center of attention. A young red-head who appeared to be about ten was blushing as red as his hair while he held onto what appeared to be a small pear tree. For some reason, the tree seemed to be the source of the strange cries. Ms. Aisu walked over and looked at it then looked down at the boy. "Sam, why is there a live partridge in the pear tree?"

Seto blinked and moved further into the room so he could see that on the other side of the tree was indeed a small plastic cage with a live partridge in it.

The boy squirmed but answered. "It's in there because we need a partridge in a pear tree for the Twelve Days of Christmas."

The dark-haired woman shook her head. "You were supposed to get a stuffed animal, not a real partridge. Where did you get it anyway?"

Sam looked down, blushing harder. Ms. Aisu groaned and reached out, using utmost care to keep her fingers out of the way of the bird's beak as she detached the cage. "Come on, you'd better show me which pet shop you snatched it from." Some of the other kids started snickering and the woman glared back at them. "Knock it off. The rest of you, get back to work. You need to finish getting everything set up. If you get it all set up today, that'll leave you a couple of days to have dress rehearsals."

As she turned away, the rest of the kids scattered, talking excitedly about what they had left to do. Seto followed Ms. Aisu to an office down the hall where she set down the cage and started pulling on her coat after urging Sam to hurry up and grab his. "Do you need a ride?" he asked, not remembering seeing another car in the parking lot. She hesitated for a long moment, wariness in her eyes. Seto tried not to flinch. He knew that look. That was the look of a survivor that was wondering if a good offer was simply the bait to trap her in another painful situation. "It would give me something to do so I won't be distracting your stage crew."

She nodded and picked up the small cage, only to almost drop it a moment later when the bird managed to catch one of her fingers. With the fingers of her other hand gingerly holding onto the handle at the top, she followed Seto to the front door where the young red-head was waiting.

Over the next three hours, Seto found a grudging admiration for the small woman. It turned out Sam couldn't remember exactly where he got the bird, and since he was still having problems learning to read, he didn't know which street it was on. So, they spent most of the time tracking down pet stores and asking if they sold partridges. It was starting to get dark by time they found the correct pet shop, only two blocks from the Center. By that time, Seto's temper was well past frayed, but he bit his lip, remaining silent. The child wasn't his responsibility. Still, even he couldn't hold back a small smile as he listened to the child explain to the store owner why he wanted to 'borrow' the bird. The red-head's innocence reminded him of Mokuba and in his mind's eye he could almost see his brother in the other one's place.

The trio returned soon after with an appropriate stuffed partridge for the pear tree. As they walked in, a laughing Mokuba latched onto Seto's arm. "Come on, nii-sama, you've got to see this!"

Curious, Seto allowed his brother to drag him into the gymnasium and blinked in surprise. While they were gone, the huge empty room had been transformed. Now it appeared to be a theater with a giant Christmas tree in the corner and tables at the end of the room opposite the stage. Paper garlands, lights, wreaths, and plastic holly branches decorated the walls. He looked down into his brother's expectant face and managed a small smile. "It looks wonderful."

Mokuba grinned and tugged on Seto's hand again. "Come on, I helped with the stage and with the painted sleigh. We're going to blow up the reindeer with helium tomorrow so that they'll look like they're flying."

Seto shook his head and followed after his brother as the dark-haired child gave him a tour of the room, pointing out the things he had a hand in or thought was cool. The CEO had to bite his lip to keep from laughing when he saw the wooden Santa Sleigh. It was obvious that it hadn't been made by anyone with carpentry experience. Still, he nodded and told Mokuba it looked great. He watched as Yugi's friend, Tea, called out to Mokuba, telling the younger Kaiba that if he wanted to help decorate the cookies he'd better hurry up.

Once again, Seto sat out of the way, watching as the kids gathered on the floor near the tree. They played together in small groups while the older kids sat at one of the tables playing cards. He smirked when Joey pulled Sam into a head lock, teasing him about the partridge while some of the other boys laughed. Suddenly, a few of Sam's friends came to his rescue by tackling the older boy.

"Hey now, seven against one isn't very even odds," Tristan protested as he came around the corner, having just finished unloading the Center's truck after picking up some more donations. In response, some of the kids abandoned the blond to tackle his friend who retaliated by tickling them.

Seto smirked and noticed that a group of kids nearby appeared to be working on a large puzzle. For a moment, he wondered why Yugi wasn't out there helping them before he realized that the smaller duelist was probably in the kitchen with Tea and Mokuba.

When Ms. Aisu entered with a serving cart full of hot apple cider, Seto came over to help her set the cups out on the table. She smiled in thanks, but didn't say anything for a long time. After the cups were set out, the small woman started unwrapping super sized candy canes and started placing some in the cups. Seto followed her example and soon the cups were done. Ms. Aisu noticed that she had an extra candy cane unwrapped and offered it to Seto who shook his head. "I don't eat candy."

She blinked in surprise. "It's Christmas, surely you can make an exception for that."

Joey snorted as he walked up and grabbed a few cups so he could start distributing them. "Don't bother with him, Ms. Aisu. He's so much of a sourpuss he hates all holidays."

Seto snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "I just don't like the accompanying insanity."

Jou rolled his eyes. "Come on, moneybags, unbend a little would you? It's Christmas, keep it up and I'll start calling you Scrooge."

Seto shifted uncomfortably when he noticed their 'discussion' attracting attention. He bit back his response, not wanting to burn young ears and settled for, "Bah Humbug." The kids broke out in to peals of laughter. The tall young man turned to ask Ms. Aisu a question and found the hook part of the unwrapped candy cane shoved in his mouth. While he blinked in surprise, Ms. Aisu said, "Get some sugar in your system, you need something to sweeten you up."

Their audience started laughing and Seto fought down a blush, wondering if the petite woman even realized how her words could be taken. The blush finally erupted when Jou managed to stop laughing long enough to call out. "Hey, Kaiba, I would have figured you as the kind to like starting with sucking the shaft."

Ms. Aisu turned to glare at Joey, a dusting of crimson on her cheeks. "That's enough, Joseph!" She rolled her eyes and looked heavenward when the kids kept laughing and Joey gave her his best devil-may-care smile.

Seto responded by biting off the hook and chomping down on it, enjoying the look of mock horror on Joey's face.

Half an hour later, Seto wished he hadn't been so quick to taunt the blond. Another shipment of donations had come in, and this time Ms. Aisu sent the brunette out into the snow with Tristan and Joey. He had been tempted to refuse, but he knew couldn't with all those children watching him. He muttered under his breath as he stumbled now and then, wishing he had chosen to brave the disappointment in Mokuba and those children's eyes rather than be out here in the cold.

"What's the matter, Kaiba, afraid of a little snow?"

Seto turned to glare at the shorter boy and opened his mouth to say something, but never got the chance. He tripped over something in the snow and put his hands out to catch himself. Next thing he knew, he was buried in snow.

"Shit!" Joey started digging around where Seto had fallen. He'd forgotten to warn the other about the deep ditch that ran beside the road on this side of the Center.

"Damn it, Joe, didn't you tell him this was here?" Tristan demanded as he joined the blonde's efforts.

Joey glared up at his long time friend. "I didn't get a chance."

Tristan snorted. "You were too busy taunting him."

Joey shrugged a guilty look on his face. "Ok, I forgot. I'm so used to avoiding it that I didn't think to tell him.

Luckily, Seto hadn't fallen too far in the lightly packed snow. It took them only a few more minutes to pull him free of the freezing prison. Joey looked over at Tristan worriedly as he took in the fact that Seto's pale skin looked even paler and the icy boy was shivering. "Not one word," he managed to get between his lips.

Tristan shook his head. "Why don't you get him in, Joey? I'll start unloading the truck."

Seto shook his head. "I'm fine. Just a little cold." He tried to stand up and almost slipped back down into the ditch.

Joey rolled his eyes. "Stop being an ass, moneybags. Let's get something warm in you then you can come back and help us unload."

Frozen sapphire glared up at warm chocolate for long moments before Seto closed his eyes and sighed. Joey smiled up at Tristan and nodded. They parted ways with Joey helping Seto inside and Tristan heading for the truck.

Ms. Aisu looked up in surprise as the door to the kitchen opened, surprise that quickly changed to shock. Moments later, Seto was missing both boots and coat and was seated at the table with a large mug of homemade hot chocolate in his hands and a warm hot water bottle under his feet. The young CEO glared at the small woman fussing over him. "I keep telling you, I'm fine."

The woman shrugged. "You were freezing when Joey brought you in here, and I don't know if you know, but in temperatures this low, you can quickly freeze to death, especially when you're little more than skin and bones."

Seto snorted and glanced around. "Where are your kitchen helpers?"

Ms. Aisu nodded toward the door to the gymnasium. "Out there. The cookies are done and most are on platters and in the pantry for Christmas, the rest are being devoured."

Seto snorted and took another swallow of his hot chocolate. He had to admit, it almost felt good to have someone worry about him and fuss over him. He shook his head, telling himself again that he didn't need anyone besides Mokuba.

By time Ms. Aisu was willing to let him out of the kitchen, the truck had already been unloaded and it was time to leave. Several of the kids hugged Mokuba and said goodbye before they were hustled off to bed. Seto was watching his little brother talking with Joey and Yugi so he didn't see the small redhead walk up to him. He started when he felt small arms wrap around him. He looked down in surprise to see Sam hugging him. "Thank you for not getting mad at me," Sam said with a smile before he let go and hurried after the others.