Chapter Text
You barely have a chance to raise your head before you are violently knocked off your feet. Your arms flail about and you scream out in surprise, trying to break your fall. It gets cold, much colder than before, and breathing becomes difficult.
You open your eyes, seeing nothing. Everything is moving, and you’re still flying through the air, spinning, unable to get your bearings. It’s loud, so loud, as more explosions go off in the distance.
Then, everything slowly comes to a stop. You’re freezing, everything is freezing, and you’re not quite sure what happened or where you are. Thankfully, nothing really hurts.
You gather your bearings slowly, and realize you’re covered in a large amount of snow. Snow that came from above. After an explosion. What?
You figure out which direction is up, and begin digging your way out. It doesn’t take too long for you to surface, and you look around the balcony. There is a small mountain of snow that fell on top of you from above, at the apex of which you currently sit.
It dawns on you then who has this kind of twisted sense of humour, and you throw your head up, looking for the familiar silhouette on the roof.
“Kaiba!” You scream, enraged.
He’s standing on the very edge of the roof, two stories above you, looking down. Even from this distance you can see the wildness in his eyes. He throws his head back and laughs, and it’s a good laugh, an ecstatic, joyful sound.
He grins down at you and there is no malice or anger in that expression. He sits down then, his legs hanging off the edge of the roof, and a part of you hopes the wind knocks him down. He laughs again, looking at you, and you break the eye contact to clamber out of the mountain of snow the maniac just dropped on you.
You’re wet, freezing, and discombobulated as you make your way onto solid ground. Kaiba watches you struggle, grinning.
Somehow, his demeanour and attitude is warm and inviting.
In this snow-filled war between you, he has won so irrevocably that he no longer finds it necessary to erect barriers that are quite so high. You know you should be pissed off - he could’ve seriously injured you - but the genuine change in atmosphere between you washes away your ire.
He’s intense about everything he does, and his intensity, both positive and negative, is strongly contagious.
“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” You grin up at him.
His only response is more laughter. The nice kind, and you can’t help but feel that now, finally, you’re safe.
Then you watch in shock as he deftly pushes off from the edge of the roof and fearlessly jumps down. Your eyes grow wide - the jump is several stories high! He lands gracefully into the mountain of snow, unscathed, but momentarily trapped - sunk into the mountain up to his waist.
You grin evilly and grasp the opportunity, bending down to gather ammunition - then swiftly pelt him with snowballs while he can’t escape.
He yells out in surprise as the first one hits him, then raises an arm to block the others, laughing from behind it. You pause briefly, long enough for him to lower his arm slightly. His eyes shine brightly, and with impressive speed he launches a snowball straight at you.
You dodge out of the way, but just barely, and this gives him enough time to get out of the mountain of snow and disappear behind it.
It’s quiet. You listen to any sounds that could alert you to his position, but come up short. Then again, he’s been sneaking up on you all evening without even trying, so should you really be surprised?
You gather a few handfuls of snow and edge slowly around the big heap. Something’s gotta give, right?
Unfortunately for you, your footsteps are very audible. Snow and heels doesn’t make a great combination for stealth. Kaiba hears you come around long before you see him, so by the time you catch a glimpse of him there are already several snowballs making their way towards you.
You yelp as they hit you, growling in mock anger, and rush forward to pelt him with your own ammunition.
He sidesteps easily, grinning at you. His hands are empty and he stands tall, daring you to strike again.
“Never thought you’d be the kind of person to hide and ambush,” you drawl, attempting to rile him into leaving an opening for you to attack.
“Running into the thick of things guns blazing is the domain of that idiot Wheeler. I strategize, which is how I always win,” he smirks at you.
“Well, not today!” You yell loudly, jumping to the side and simultaneously pelting your snowballs in his direction. You hope to catch him off guard, which, unfortunately, is easier said than done.
He crouches, your snowballs sailing over his head, and simultaneously gathers up a snowball of his own. It is hurtling at you faster than he is able to stand up, and, given your heels, you have no time to avoid it. The coldness crashes into your side and you wipe it away hurriedly with your hands, chilled.
“Tell you what - if you can hit me, you can have your job back,” he grins, arms crossed in front of his chest. There is that wild intensity in his eyes, he is completely sure of himself and his position in this world, in this moment. You’re playing by his rules, and you realize that you’re okay with that. Your eyes widen, then narrow in determination.
He didn’t give a time limit - how foolish. You grin back.
“You’re on.”
The dance continues. Dodging, firing, freezing, running, slipping, gathering - repeat ad nauseam. You barely feel the cold through the adrenaline, running around the pile of snow, trying to get a clear shot at Kaiba. You’ve yet to hit him - it’s a wonder where he learned such reflexes!
You kick up a pile of the powder as an attempt to hide yourself from view. Obscured fully by a haze of white particles, you deftly kick off your heels and sprint directly at him.
He doesn’t hear your footsteps - bare feet make much less noise on snow - and having expected to dodge snowballs, he freezes for a split second too long as you finally come into view at a dead run. You jump, launching yourself at him, and watch his eyes grow wide as if in slow motion.
The collision is hard and you are both sent tumbling into the mountain behind him. You land on top, breathing hard, a goofy and triumphant grin on your face. You stare down at him.
“You never said I needed to hit you with a snowball,” you say, your eyes shining brightly with unvoiced laughter.
He’s gotten over his surprise, and is smirking at you now. His eyes hold your gaze, intensity behind them.
He raises his hand and it automatically travels to your waist. It stays there for a second too long - then, a shadow of realization crosses his eyes and he deftly uses that hand to push you off him.
He gets up and brushes the snow off himself briefly, then looks back at you, expression guarded again. The happiness is gone, the play is gone, and you feel a strange sense of loss.
His expression is neutral, and you’re not quite sure what’s written on your face at the moment.
He smirks at you, then nods briefly.
“Well played. I’ll see you at the office after the holidays.”
You watch him leave the balcony, still sitting in the snow, lost in thought.
“Happy New Year,” you say softly once the door closes behind him, and smile.
Seto Kaiba played with you, played like he had with his brother.
And he let you win.
Interesting.