Disclaimer: I feel like I get worse at these as time goes on - like, I've exhausted all of the funny things I could ever say in these. XD So here it goes: Poor duelist am I , Yu-Gi-Oh! own I not.

Author's Note: Oh goody goody goody! I like this chapter a lot. And I'm looking forward to everything coming next too! -Does a happy dance- So in other words, I'm very excited to share this with you! So let's cut right to the chase and get to it!

Terms -

What's this? None! Yeah! :D

Today's chapter title means "gift" or "present". Those studying Japanese might know another word "purezento" for this term - but it's what I like to call Japanglish - words Japan took from other languages and now use in their own (this is not a bad thing, btw - many cultures and languages do this with other languages). However, for the sake of the story, I decided to go with a more traditional word. Plus, I needed to impart some knowledge of Japanese to you all today considering the fact that there's no terms! So enjoy! ^_^

-YGO-

"Yesterday was a murky past, today is cloudy, tomorrow too?

I won't let you do that,

It's no good anymore; to be on the street corner alone,

Before you look down and shed tears,

Let's search for the whereabouts of the diamonds and depart for the top

The key is - yes...

Just what is to look glum?

We'll be in higher and higher than your cloud."

-Translation from "Higher Than Your Cloud" by X4

Chapter 24:贈り物 (Okurimono)

The engine died down into a hum and as it did so, Kisara could feel herself shaking again, her grip incapable of becoming any tighter.

"Kisara, you okay?"

Slowly, she gave a tiny nod, which Joey could feel as the helmet on her head shifted slightly up and down in one definitive motion against his back.

"Uh, well, we're here," He said, slipping his own helmet off.

She was well aware of that... she thought. The bike had stopped moving. They were no longer cruising through the city, twisting through back alleys and highways at speeds she didn't think should be attempted by someone with only a helmet on. Joey glanced over his shoulder, her grip over his chest still tight.

"Um, Kisara, you can uh, let go now," He said gently.

Aware that her solid grip was inhibiting him now, Kisara very carefully let go and swung her leg over and off the bike, being sure to make sure no one saw up the skirt of her knee-length dress, a beautiful Cinderella dark blue as Tea had said. She continued to shake, but at least now it was over. So far in this new world, she had experienced nothing but good things, but the existence of a motorcycle was sheer proof that the world of today wasn't all good in her opinion.

"Thank you," She said softly, taking the helmet off to reveal her hair, which she had put up into a bun with the front strands finely curled to frame her face.

Joey smirked, taking the helmet she offered back to him, "You sure don't look grateful."

"No, no, I am, I just... that was..."

"Terrifying?" Joey filled in, "Yeah, it's not my favorite method of transport either. That's why I don't like Serenity riding this thing."

Kisara let a nod follow, "It was... yes. I, I see why too."

Unfortunately for the two of them, the motorcycle had been a necessary evil. Joey didn't have a car and the nearest stations to Kaiba Land were built on the outskirts of the city. Joey personally reckoned that Kaiba must have had fits when JR wasn't willing to build a new rail line closer to the amusement park as it was a regular complaint he heard at the shop. They would have had to walk at least 30 minutes from the closest station, which under normal circumstances, Joey would have just considered a good bit of exercise.

But this time, they had to look nice. In other words, not sweaty and gross. So in exchange for his silence on the bike for a month, Tristan had graciously lent them his bike. Though Joey would never tell Kisara, he actually didn't have a license to drive it, but he knew how to, so... that was good enough, wasn't it?

Off around to the left it seemed, lights serenaded the sky, streaking back and forth, as though announcing the arrival of a king. Though Joey could really care less for Kaiba, he had to admit, he clearly knew what he was doing when it came to throwing a party.

"Well, shall we go?" He said.

Kisara nodded gingerly, happy that her footing wasn't wobbly after the ride, when she saw dozens of others arriving around them. She made a mental note to stick to her guns regarding wearing her flats. Tea had attempted earlier to convince her to get a new pair of heels and she was so grateful to have refused. She wasn't sure if at this moment she could have even managed balancing on a four inch stick under her heels. A man in a suit came up to Joey, who threw him the keys.

"Name's Taylor," Joey told the valet, causing Kisara to suspect that Joey was using Tristan's name as insurance.

"Understood," The man said, catching the keys and driving the motorcycle off.

Following the crowd, Kisara and Joey headed towards what must be the entrance.

"So... do you know when Yugi will arrive?" She asked, step by step finding her legs stronger and more capable of keeping up with him.

"Probably around the same time Pegasus does," Joey told her, "So... probably within the next 30 minutes or so..."

She nodded in understanding, when through the trees, they came to the brightest display, no, spectacle that she'd ever seen. An entrance way stood in front of them, however above them, lights glittered overhead and lit up not only the very stars in the sky, but two large Blue Eyes White Dragon statues off to the right and left of them. One also stood in the center over a light blue archway reading "Kaiba Land", it's own mouth open, shooting light and what had to be a display of fake lightning up into the sky. A piercing roar split the air as music sounded off to their sides. Her trembling from before that came out of fear now came out of wonder.

"You have your ticket?" Joey asked her.

"Oh," She rapidly reached for her clutch and pulled out her purse while Joey pulled his out of his pocket with a grin.

"Alright, let's go then," He said, and they moved towards the entrance.

From inside, she could hear screams of delight and the sound of large numbers of people. This was different from being packed on the train. This was movement with meaning. Energy. Her own heart started to race a bit as they got to the entrance. Joey handed his ticket over to be scanned and immediately passed through the turnstiles that were similar to those at each JR station, which lit up blue as he passed through. Handing over her ticket as Joey had done, she jumped when the turnstile beeped and flashed a white, unlike the others around her. The ticket taker looked at his screen, held out a hand, indicating for her to wait, and then pulled out a card.

"Ms. Kisara," He said, "A special gift for you from the owner. This special pass will act as an immediate fastpass, letting you on any ride right away for free as well as let you purchase anything in the park at a reduced cost."

"Oh..." She said, her eyes wide, as the man continued.

"Also, stop by the information center, there is something waiting for you there," He finished, and then let her pass as the turnstiles opened.

She nodded and Joey glanced between the two. Once she was in, he muttered under his breath to her with a joking edge, "Think you might be able to swing that my way while we're here?"

She laughed, "I guess, but don't you want to see the release?"

"Oh, they'll announce that. Plenty of time for some fun before that," He said with a smile, "Did you know you were going to get that?"

Kisara shook her head, her hair shaking along with it, "No, he didn't mention it."

"Any idea what else he left you?" He asked.

She shook her head again and looked down at the blue-silver, KaibaCorp watch on her right wrist. Indeed, Joey was right, there was still plenty of time before the release. Walking over to the information station, Kisara showed her pass and ticket to the worker there, who quickly bowed to her and bent down under the desk to retrieve the items spoken of by the ticket taker.

"A reserved front row seat for the release," The information desk assistant relayed to her, "Also..."

The high school girl pulled out a glass case, wrapped in a silver ribbon. Kisara looked over at Joey and tentatively pulled at the bow on top, allowing it to open and reveal inside the glass a light blue rose corsage, decorated with droplets of dew, beads, and diamond like gems. She looked at it with a hint of confusion and then up at the girl, clearly also unsure about what the item was. The girl seemed just as surprised though, however, she did hesitantly assist in opening the box by removing the lid.

"Wha... what is it?" Kisara asked.

"A corsage," Joey filled in, "You wear it on your wrist..."

Picking it up, Joey took her hand and carefully pushed it over her left wrist into place. Kisara looked at it curiously, watching as it practically glittered in the light.

"Why would-"

"That's what I'd like to know..." Joey said, a hint of dislike for the situation in his voice, though he tried to mask it, hoping Kisara wouldn't catch it.

"Well, it's obvious isn't it?"

The two turned to see the now rather familiar face of Seto's younger brother, Mokuba, on both sides accompanied by security. He was dressed in a white suit, a dark purple vest, and a light purple shirt. Joey had to admit, the kid always cleaned up pretty good. Kisara smiled and Joey rolled his eyes.

"Of course not, that's why we're asking," He snapped, though not with any real venom to his words.

Mokuba laughed, "You're our special guest, Kisara. Seriously, considering all that you do putting up with my brother, it's the least we could do. By the way, those are real diamonds and the beads are made with real pearls."

While Joey's mouth nearly dropped to the ground, since as far as he was concerned, that was much too much of a thank you for putting up with anyone, even if it was Kaiba, Kisara only understood the bit about diamonds and instantly blushed for that alone.

"Oh, I'll make sure to return those to you the-"

"Don't bother," Mokuba said, "We don't take back gifts, even if they are returned."

"What kind of -" Joey began to demand an explanation when he was interrupted by a loud obnoxious woman in the distance.

"Stunt, that's what this, all these kids running around," the woman said, clearly with her husband. She was in a lovely long dress and speaking to who must have been her older daughter, who was in a beautiful short pink dress next to her.

"I think they're cute," The daughter commented.

"You seriously think any family as shrewd as the Kaiba family would merely bring children into an event like this because they thought it would be cute?" The father reprimanded.

"And why wouldn't we?"

Joey and Kisara found themselves shocked to see Mokuba walking over to the family, the women of which were horrified to hear that they'd been overheard, least of all by a Kaiba, though the father stood firm.

"Don't play dumb. Just how many kids did you ship in from across the country to make this extravagance seem so necessary-"

"You think we cared enough to ship children in?" Mokuba said, "Aside from clear abduction charges that would cause, we weren't about to let a chance like this go without a charge. Try 150,000 yen a head. And don't think we were about to let these kids in here without them being well dressed for the occasion. We reserve the right to make them, and... anyone else vacate as we wish. Understand?"

The man's eyes narrowed and he scoffed, walking off with his wife, while Mokuba turned back to Joey and Kisara, the former of which began to stutter, "You... you made these kids pay 150,000 yen just to get in here?!"

Mokuba laughed and waved them over and they followed him down the path, "You sure are gullible, Joey."

"Wha-"

"These kids got in for free," Mokuba told them.

"Wait, what do you-"

"Didn't you say you'd make them vacate if they didn't have the right attire though?" Kisara asked.

"Yeah, well, we can do that. But we made sure none of them would have that problem," Mokuba told them in low tones, "These kids are from local orphanages and foster care homes all the way from Tokyo to Osaka. We paid for their transport and their clothes."

Kisara's brow wrinkled for a moment, when, out of earshot from Mokuba, Joey muttered, "Kids without any parents."

She glanced over at him and nodded. They walked down a pathway, past several carts selling cotton candy and flavored popcorn, those managing the carts handing out the delectable sweets to the kids lining up for a part of the fantasy.

Eyeing them all, Joey asked, "So wait, why wouldn't Kaiba Corp go all out and flaunt the fact? Why would you just lie about..."

"Because... it's Nii-sama's way of letting them... feel cool you know?" Mokuba said, over his shoulder, "I mean, think about it. Would you rather be known as someone's charity case or that one lucky kid who managed to go to the unveiling of the latest KaibaCorp Duel Disk? That's the difference. One's being a charity case. The other one is being special."

Kisara watched all of the kids running around, jumping for joy over receiving their sweets, and she found herself lost in thought. None of these kids... none of them had parents. Did that mean... they were without any family? She didn't know for sure, but a bittersweet feeling entered her stomach as she saw them smile. This... this was just... A couple of boys caught sight of Mokuba and ran over away from the parked carts towards them, interrupting her thought process.

"Hey! Hey! Aren't you Mokuba Kaiba? Where's your older brother? Is he coming?" They asked, practically in unison as they bounced in excitement.

Mokuba laughed and bent down, "Nii-sama's going to be here soon. In the meantime, you have your seat tickets?"

"You bet we do!" One said, flashing their tickets.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world! Is he going to summon the Blue Eyes do you think?!" The other asked.

"Maybe," Mokuba laughed, "But until then..."

From his pocket, Mokuba produced two spheres, practically shaped like eggs save for flat bottoms, "Catch!"

The two of them did and proceeded to open them. Inside, tiny figures popped out from the game Capsule Monsters, a game Kisara was familiar with as they stocked it at the game shop. It wasn't nearly as popular as Duel Monsters, but still relatively well-known. She couldn't help but smile seeing their eyes light up as Mokuba continued, "Enjoy those okay!"

"Okay!" They said, again together, when one of them stopped, catching sight of Joey, "Hey! Aren't you Joey Wheeler? Weren't you a Battle City Finalist?!"

Suddenly in the spotlight, Joey immediately laughed, blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck all at once, clearly enjoying the attention, "Ha, you recognize me even in this monkey suit?"

"It suits you, Joey," Mokuba commented with a smile.

"That better be an actual complement," Joey remarked with a grin, when the boy who had stopped produced a card.

"Can, can, uh, can you sign my Red Eyes?" He practically begged, "It's one of your signature cards right?! My friends will all be so jealous..."

Joey beamed and reached into his suit pocket for a pen, when he realized he didn't have one, "Hey, doll, ya have a pen?"

Kisara blinked and reached once again into her clutch to produce a pen, which she handed over to him. He winked at her and crouched down, taking the card carefully and signing it, "Take good care of this guy; he's gotten me out of a lot of traps, literally and figuratively."

"Oh, I so will, thank you, Mr. Wheeler, thank you!" The boy said, standing practically on his tiptoes as he got the card back.

"Hey now, that's Joey to you," Joey said, once again winking with a kind of charm that only he could pull off.

The boys both beamed, "We're going to go to the Tyrant Wing ride, but we'll see you at the unveiling!"

"A'ight now, you take care," Joey said as the two boys ran off.

He leaned back with a smile, clearly happy that he came. Mokuba smirked, "That was nice of you. Might'a outdone me there."

"Eh, you just need to switch over to Duel Monsters full time, kid. Capsule Monsters just doesn't get the same attention," Joey answered.

"I'm fine... not being in the spotlight," Mokuba said carefully with a grin.

"Sure about that? From what I've heard, you're becoming a real ladies man," Joey said, nudging him in the side and Mokuba laughed.

"Hey now, that's all natural skill; it has nothing to do with my skills at Capsule or Duel Monsters," Mokuba said, suddenly looking smug, when a thought occurred to him, "Say, Joey, not for nothing but... I don't recall seeing your name on the list of invites... and you have to pay to get tickets if you're not a kid, so... how are you even here?"

Joey laughed, "You really have to ask? I'm just that kind of awesome-"

"Yugi got you tickets from the Pegasus' pack, didn't he?" Mokuba said, hands on his hips.

Joey shrugged, but his face revealed all kinds of satisfaction, knowing that he had again, not been a welcomed guest but had somehow gotten past Kaiba's security anyway. It was like Christmas and his Birthday all at once.

"So, why didn't you come with Yugi then?" Mokuba asked.

"Well Yugi's not here yet, is he?" Joey shot back.

"Okay, seriously, you give up a limo ride to come early? Since when?" Mokuba questioned.

"Since I got to get into Kaiba freakin' Land for free!" Joey exclaimed, grinning widely, happy to be able to both dodge answering the question he knew Yugi would want him to avoid along with annoying the younger of the Kaiba brothers.

Mokuba rolled his eyes, when they landed on a particular bored looking figure off in the distance. Yuzu.

She'd actually come!

"Hey, I'll see you guys around, alright?" Mokuba called, "Enjoy the show okay!"

As the teen ran off, Joey found himself having to hand it to himself. He had to admit, he could misdirect anyone if he had to, be it in a card game or in everyday life. He looked over to Kisara to find instead of watching him or Mokuba, she was staring at everything around them.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Joey asked, bringing her out of her trance.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I was just... thinking..." She said slowly, "It's really nice of the Kaiba brothers to do this for all these kids."

"Well... Kaiba's not my favorite person," Joey admitted, "But, he had it rough growing up. He and Mokuba were orphans for a good part of their childhoods. And though I don't think he'll ever admit it, both Yugi and I think that Kaiba's got a soft spot for kids who go through the same kinds of things he and Mokuba went through."

Kisara nodded, watching the kids around her while lights danced and glittered around them as she took it all in. Joey and her stood awkwardly in silence, Joey rocking back and forth on his heels, "Well... uh... you wanna try out a ride or...

Kisara smiled, "Sure... what would you recommend? There weren't exactly places like this... back... there..."

Joey affirmed his understanding of what she was getting at, "Well, I'd say a roller coaster, but you're in a skirt so... maybe the Spin-a-Die?"

"Spin-a... what?"

"Yeah, come on," He said, leading the way when he stopped so short that Kisara practically collided with him.

Looking up, she noticed the focused expression on his face in an area off to their left. She glanced that way as well, but seeing nothing unusual, returned her gaze to him, "Joey? You alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, no, uh, sorry, I'm fine. Let's go," He said.

Again, glancing off in the direction from before, Kisara did a double take, but saw nothing unusual and quickly trotted off after Joey. Meanwhile, Mokuba had leaned around Yuzu, just catching sight of them leaving the area.

"Are you even paying attention to what I'm saying, Mokuba?!" She demanded, snapping his attention back to her.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I am, sorry," He quickly answered, "I was just..."

"Then what did I just say?" Yuzu said, which was met with silence and a sheepish look from the VP of the whole of KaibaCorp.

She rolled her eyes, "Honestly, Mokuba, I come here because you begged me to come and I got all dressed up and now you're not even..."

A beep and Mokuba took out his phone and it enraged her slightly, "Are you even listening?!"

"'Sup Nii-sama?" He answered.

"Pegasus will be arriving soon, I need you behind the scenes in ten," His brother said, through the com link on the corner of his coat.

"Yes sir!" Mokuba said with a salute only he would have context for, "Oh, and I made sure Kisara got her gifts."

Seto paused backstage, halting his motions for equipping himself with the new system, "I'd hardly call them gifts."

"An immediate fastpass to all the rides and a front row seat isn't a gift?" Mokuba repeated with doubt.

"It's not like I haven't allowed you to give those out before," Seto said, continuing his motions.

"Sound check in thirty, Mr. Kaiba!" Mokuba heard from over the phone.

He pursed his lips as a mischievous grin overcame him, "True... but then again, I would call a corsage a gift."

"A what?" Seto said, turning away from the technical staff who were busy testing the lights.

"You can thank me later," Mokuba said smugly, "See ya in ten."

"Mokuba!"

The younger brother hit the end button, disconnecting them and Seto found himself furiously turning red and fuming. Shutting his eyes tight, he willed himself to think only of the show ahead. Turning back to his friend, Mokuba was shocked to find her arms crossed looking at him like he'd just started a war with China.

"You ever think that maybe, just maybe, you meddle too much for your own good?" Yuzu asked.

Mokuba shrugged, "I'm seventeen* and Mokuba Kaiba. Not like anyone's gonna kidnap me for it."

Yuzu looked away unamused, when she found her hand being picked up and herself being spun into the richest kid in her school's arms.

"I gotta go, but I'll find ya later, okay?" Mokuba said beaming at her.

"Yeah, if you're lucky," She said with sass.

"I'm always lucky."

-YGO-

A/N: Psh, when has Mokuba ever gotten kidnapped? XD That would never happen... lol. Also, another funny thing, I almost considered calling this chapter "Motorcycle" haha, because of how much it rattles Kisara, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Anyway, what did you think? Let me know and please review! And just saying, if you don't know X4, the group whose song I mention above, you should look them up as they're fantastic (sadly disbanding next year T.T , but you can still enjoy their music until then!) Some major stuff coming your way soon over the next few chapters! Till then though, I hope you liked this one. ^_^

Later,

~Rena