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"I need...your help.” Seto stressed, arms crossed.
He looked like he wanted to be anywhere, but here and Joey was having a hard time understanding why he was here.
“My help? You came all the way to Kame Shop to ask for my help?” Joey asked as he pushed the last box on top of the shelf.
“Don’t make me regret this choice, Wheeler.” Seto snapped as Joey climbed down the ladder.
“I didn’t ask you to come all the way out here, so if you regret it, that’s on you.” Joey stated as he put the ladder away.
Seto grit his teeth and scowled at the floor. He could just leave right now and pretend this never happened, but…
“Mokuba’s birthday is coming up and I have no idea what to get him.” Seto finally admitted.
Joey gave him a confused look.
“Uhhh aren’t you rich as hell? Can’t you get him anything he could possibly ever want?” Joey asked.
“That’s the problem. I have given him everything he could ever want. Which means birthday presents have to be extreme and honestly, I am out of ideas.” Seto rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Joey hummed and leaned on the counter. He never thought someone like overbuying for someone was a problem, but apparently it was in the world of the rich. Joey ignored the burn of jealousy in his chest.
“Like what?” Joey asked.
“Last year, I got him a prototype of the up incoming Monster System before it hit the shelves for Christmas. The year before that, I got him an all expense paid trip to Universal Land. The year before that, I got him every extreme rare Capsule Monster I could find.” Seto listed off.
Joey’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He could only imagine how expensive one of those presents could be much less all of them. Joey groaned and rubbed his forehead.
“Wow, you really do go all out.” Joey muttered.
“See my problem?” Seto asked.
“So why do you think I have any answers?” Joey asked.
Seto coughed and looked away.
“Mokuba likes you, sees you as a friend. I thought maybe he told you something.” Seto admitted.
Joey rubbed his chin and thought back to a discussion Mokuba and he had a while back before grinning.
“I got it.” Joey said with a nod.
“You do?” Seto asked startled.
“Eeyup! But you are going to have to work with me on this!” Joey pointed.
“Of course, Mutt. As long as it’s not stupid.” Seto scuffed.
“Fine, then here’s what we do.”
Mokuba idly watched the scenery go by and sighed. Staring at Seto’s reflection in the car window, he wondered if Seto had actually forgotten his birthday. Seto hadn’t said anything all morning about it and it was almost noon. Seto was normally so good about it, but maybe it had slipped his mind this year? Mokuba tried not to feel the bitter emotion of disappointment. He watched with dull eyes as they pulled up in front of a small festival.
Seto had mentioned something about setting up a festival soon and wanted to get an inside look at a super popular one. As they climbed out of the car, Seto and he walked towards the entrance, only to pause. Joey stood there, leaning against the fence.
“Joey?” Mokuba asked, confused.
“Hey, kid. Happy Birthday!” Joey said ruffling his hair.
“Oh, uh, thanks.” Mokuba muttered.
He glanced at Seto, wondering if this was when he realized he had forgotten, but Seto’s face gave nothing away.
“What are you doing here?” Mokuba asked.
“Came to help out your hopeless brother with his birthday surprise. Now, give.” Joey held out his hand.
Mokuba stared at him and then Seto.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Simple, your birthday celebration. A whole day, just you and Seto, at the festival. Recognize this place yet?” Joey thumbed over his shoulder.
Mokuba looked up and squinted. Wait a minute, now that he mentioned it. Mokuba’s eyes grew wide and he smiled.
“It’s the festival!” Mokuba said excited.
Now that he really looked at the place, he remembered it well. They had come here once with their parents, before they had passed away. Mokuba had often dreamt of the place, but couldn’t remember where it was or what the name was. His eyes welled with tears and he looked at Seto, who was blushing and looking away.
“Moneybags mentioned it when we were looking for places to take you. I told him you would be happy.” Joey gave Seto a glare.
“Is this for real? We get to spend my birthday here?” he asked.
“Eeyup, but first, give.” Joey held out his hand again and Mokuba frowned.
“What am I giving you?” he asked.
“Your laptop, phones and anything else that you can use to communicate with KaibaCorp. You two are off the grid for today.” Joey said.
Mokuba’s eyes widened. He looked at Seto, who sighed deeply.
“You’re serious? No KaibaCorp phone calls? No meetings?” Mokuba asked.
“Nope, not a one.” Joey replied.
Mokuba handed over his laptop, phones and even his watch. He couldn’t contain his sudden excitement. Seto was a little less enthused. He handed over his phone, laptop and watch.
“That it?” Joey gave him a glance and Seto sighed.
He pulled two more phones out and handed them over. Joey gave him a narrow eyed look and Seto scowled. He pulled a bluetooth out of his pocket and handed it over as well.
“Great. Now, let's get started.” Joey said as he handed over two tickets as he handed off the electronics to the driver for safe keeping.
Mokuba almost couldn’t contain himself. They walked in and Mokuba was startled to find other people inside.
“You didn’t rent out the festival?” Mokuba asked.
Seto scowled and looked at Joey, who shrugged.
“I told you we should have.” Seto growled.
“And I told you that you two should have to deal with lines like everyone else.” Joey snapped back.
Mokuba just laughed and it was so freeing. Sure, there was a sinking feeling in his gut that it was going to take them at least a week to catch up on emails after today, but Mokuba almost didn’t care. He grabbed Seto’s arm and tugged him towards a ride nearby as Joey watched.
“No security?” Mokuba asked Seto.
“Wheeler said it was stupid to bring security in here. That it would ruin the mood. He said he would wait nearby if we needed help.” Seto grumbled.
“I agree.” Mokuba nodded.
The first ride was a simple roller coaster. The line wasn’t long, but Mokuba felt the anticipation build as they moved towards the front. It was over too soon, but that just gave Mokuba the thrill he was looking for. Ride after ride, they went on and Mokuba couldn’t say if he had ever had as much fun.
They decided to take a short break and just try out the little teacup ride they had for kids. Mokuba didn’t dare spin it too fast, but when they got off, they found Joey standing there, scowling.
“The hell was that?” he asked.
“What was what?” Mokuba replied.
“That tea cup ride! You guys barely spun it!” Joey said hotly.
“Oh please, Wheeler.” Seto muttered.
Joey grabbed them both and dug them back on the ride. As he settled in, he grabbed the wheel in the middle and gave them a manic grin.
“I would hold on if I were you.” Joey said.
Mokuba found himself clinging to Seto, screaming his head off. It was a wonder they didn’t break the damn thing. As they got off, Seto stumbled over to a trash can and threw up while Joey helped Mokuba try and tame his hair. Yet, Mokuba found himself laughing so hard, he was crying. As Seto and Joey argued over whether or not the teacup ride could count as torture, Mokuba looked up and gasped.
“Seto, look!” Mokuba yelled.
Seto blinked and looked up, only to freeze. The ferris wheel loomed before them and Seto made a face. Joey was right there with him, but no one noticed.
“What’s wrong with you?” Joey asked.
“It’s nothing.” Seto muttered.
“Seto doesn’t like ferris wheels.” Mokuba admitted.
“Really?” Joey asked.
“We got caught on one when we were younger. The wheel broke down and we were stuck at the top.” Mokuba explained.
“Huh, that’s funny.” Joey replied.
“How so, Mutt?” Seto said angrily.
“I got caught on one too when I was younger. Ma and Pa took us to one years ago and god, we must have been stuck up there for a good twenty minutes. I just remember hearing this kid crying in the car with us.” Joey said rubbing his chin.
Seto and Mokuba looked at each other and then at Joey.
“Wait, when did you say this was?” Seto asked.
“I don’t remember really. I remember Serenity was really young, but it was definitely July.” Joey shrugged.
Seto and Mokuba just stared at him. Could it be? It’s couldn’t be right?
“Was the kid wearing a purple shirt by any chance?” Seto asked.
Joey gave him a funny look.
“Hey, how’d you know?” Joey asked.
“Oh my god, Joey, that was us! Seto was the kid in the purple shirt!” Mokuba yelled.
Joey looked at them wide eyed before looking away.
“Holy shit. That’s scary.” Joey muttered.
Seto and Mokuba just stared. How odd it was that they had met the same young man that was trapped with them that day. What an odd twist of fate. They decided to wander around a bit more before the sky started to darken. As they walked back to the car, Joey smirked as he left. Seto just scowled while Mokuba yawned.
“Well, how was it?” Seto asked after a moment.
Mokuba just smiled.
“The greatest day of my life. Thanks, Seto.” Mokuba said.
As they climbed into the car, Mokuba hummed a bit.
“What is it?” Seto asked.
“Do you remember what happened when you started to cry on the ferris wheel?” Mokuba asked.
Seto flushed hotly.
“Of course I remember.” he said looking away.
Mokuba giggled as he thought back. He remembered being so scared when Seto had started to cry. He wasn’t sure what had caused Seto to start crying, but he remembered the other boy in the car walking over to Seto and talking to him. He talked about whatever he could think of; his favorite colors, his favorite places to go, his sister and slowly Seto had calmed down. To think they had found that person again later in life.
“What an odd twist of fate.” Mokuba muttered as they drove home.