[OPEN]

[note_atem]

Who: THIS LOG IS OPEN- to anyone who was invited to Yuuki's birthday party.
What: Yuuki's birthday party of course.
Where: Atem's apartment; C:11
When: 1 PM UNTIL QUESTION MARKS?!?! THAT'S CRAZY until 6 PM //but there will be a thread set up for setting up which would be an earlier time.
Warnings: There better be none :| She's six. If you ruin this for

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HEY IT'S A PARTY THREAD HERE

[note_atem]

Welcome to the birthday party! This party is for Yuuki, a little newly turned six year old girl. Feel free to set your presents down on the table if you brought any. Go mingle with the guests. Eat! Have fun! Just make sure to say happy birthday to the birthday gal, of course.

[shutupandduelme]

Kaiba's face remained blank, but inwardly he was quite surprised. The attempt at control was a little late and a little weak, but it was there. The girl had some idea of the stakes in this game at least.

"I can get water elsewhere," Kaiba said easily. As far as he was concerned, he was off the hook now. He had done his duty and shown up at the party.

"I really do need to get back to work."

[note_atem]

Atem picked the girl up in his arms, holding her close. A stomach ache? It was possible. But she hadn't looked sad or sick when she'd gone into the kitchen. He didn't think she was telling the truth, which was weird. He'd never known Yuuki to be a liar- especially not to him.

He was so glad Kaiba had instilled this trait in her. So glad.

"And you were... talking to Mister Kaiba about your stomach ache?" He prodded, watching both of them carefully. "Was hugging his leg making you feel better?" A frown came over his face, completely dissatisfied with this situation.

[chibibloodluver]

Yuuki wrapped her arms around Atem's neck, holding him close to her. She felt bad lying to him...but there wasn't any other way.

Internally she winced. "..no..I was coming in here to get water for my stomach ache..." she explained, which made her little stomach churn. Who knows maybe with all the lies she was telling, maybe she would have a real stomach ache after all.

"...I wanted to say hi to him..." she mumbled, hoping that would be enough to satisfy her papa.

[shutupandduelme]

"She did," Kaiba corroborated briefly. "And she was about to be wished a happy birthday."

Not likely, but if it would get Atem off his case so he could go, it would work well enough.

[note_atem]

Yuuki lying was a rare thing. It was unusual for it to happen; so much so that with Kaiba backing up the story, it was almost believable. Almost.

The small girl was balanced against his hip without even thinking about it as he walked across the room to open the fridge. A water bottle was drawn up and tossed in Kaiba's direction while he uncapped another and handed it to Yuuki. Quite the super-dad, obviously.

"You're sure you can't stay?" His tone was incredibly dry. No, he didn't believe either one of them and he was pretty sure Kaiba wanting to leave was the reason Yuuki was upset. He had pegged this situation happening before Kaiba had even arrived.

[chibibloodluver]

Yuuki held onto Atem, not saying anything else as he moved about. She heard the fridge door open and close. She glanced over and saw the water bottle. With her head bowed down she took it and had a few sips.

She murmured a soft thank you to her dad. She was still hoping Kaiba might stay a bit longer, but she already knew the answer to that.

[shutupandduelme]

Atem wasn't buying it. Kaiba hardly expected him to. The other duelist was extremely protective of the girl (as he probably should be), and would be suspicious of any behavior that wasn't laughing and smiles. If Atem's body language wasn't telling him how the other felt about the matter, that tone would.

Kaiba caught the water bottle without effort, but set it down on the countertop with no intention of opening it for the moment.

"Kia has restored her arcade, but with many of the original flaws intact," Kaiba said coolly. "If it is going to be functioning well enough for this particular season, it has to be refurbished again immediately. Besides.." He paused to glance at Yuuki. "You set this up as a celebration, did you not? And it's rather busy in there. I'm not going to take up space that could be better used by someone more experienced with such things than I."

He inclined his head slightly. "You will enjoy the gift, Yuuki, I am sure of it," he said confidently. The noise driving Atem out of his mind would be an amusing bonus.

[note_atem]

Atem was left with a decision to make. It was obvious Yuuki had gone in here to say hello to Kaiba, or had wandered in here and spotted Kaiba. The why wasn't really important. What Kaiba had been doing in his kitchen was rather unclear, aside from probably trying to stave from the party. But there might have been something suspicious about it

[chibibloodluver]

It did make her extremely sad to know that Kaiba had to leave. She tried to look at the bright side. At least he came by...but at the same time, she wanted him to stay longer. She wanted him to experience her party, not someone else...there was no one else who could take his place! But, he wanted to leave...and there was nothing she could do.

When Atem set her down she wanted to immediately hide behind his legs, but that gentle nudge to Kaiba stopped her. She looked down before looking up at her dad...who was walking away? More guilt stirred in her stomach. Had she made her dad upset too?

Swallowing the lump that was in her throat she looked back up at Kaiba, trying hard not to cry.

"...Thank you...for coming...b-be safe..." she told him in a small voice. Once the words left her lips she tried to quickly dash out of the kitchen.

[shutupandduelme]

The glare was expected. The blatant use of the girl was not. One of Kaiba's eyebrows rose in question of it, but Atem left anyway. It wasn't a bad idea, if you were looking at it from Atem's perspective, but didn't seem to fit the morals of his self-righteous rival. Then, of course, no one told the girl. She seemed all to eager to leave.

He leaned forward to catch her shoulder as gently as he could without letting her slip away. There wss no need for this upset.

"That was a clever thing you did," he said softly, sure that Atem was lurking around somewhere listening. "You should be proud of its success, not running away from it."

[chibibloodluver]

When Kaiba caught her, she froze and found the ground very interesting to look at. Yuuki thought Kaiba would be upset with her, but instead he was...talking to her?

She slowly looked up, rubbing her eyes a little. "...I didn't want you to get in trouble...and hate me...." she murmured.

[shutupandduelme]

"There are far greater things to hate on this Island than a little girl who happens to get my rival frustrated once again with me," he pointed out. "It happens quite often. Even if it did, what would it matter? It doesn't change the decision you made."

He dropped to one knee again. He didn't have to try and impress a little kid, and it really did make it easier to talk to her.

"You worry too much about what everyone else is doing, and not enough about yourself. It shouldn't matter how many people are here, or how long they stay. It shouldn't matter if they get themselves in trouble. As long as you are happy in confident in your own decisions, everything works out. It's your birthday. If you had to, I think you could celebrate it just as well even by yourself. People staying or going doesn't mean they dislike you or that it has anything to do with you, either."

[chibibloodluver]

Yuuki stayed quite for a moment, letting Kaiba's words sink in a little. She was trying to hear him out. Really she was, but she was still having a hard time or letting go of the fact that Kaiba was leaving. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"It matters because..you're important to me and I wanted to celebrate today with everyone who's important to me. I'm not happy if you're in trouble with anyone, even Papa..." she explained, taking a pause to take in another deep breath.

"....but you don't hate me?"

[shutupandduelme]

He had to word this carefully.

"He," Kaiba said, "and I argue quite often. If we argue over it this time, it has little to do with you. It's what rivalry is. Whatever it is, I will win, and it will all turn out the way it should."

He sighed. "No. I don't hate you, but don't take everything so personally, kid. There's nothing you can do about the man who burned down my shop so close to your birthday, or the fact that someone has to clean it up."

[chibibloodluver]

Yuuki ...sort of understood the rivalry part. They argued a lot...okay, but as to why, she didn't fully comprehend that. But that was something she could try and figure out later.

Big brown eyes stared up at him. So that's why he had to leave? To fix his shop...she could understand that. But...he didn't hate her? She continued to stare at him. She wiped her eyes once again before she...hugged him, letting her little arms come around his neck to give him a big hug.

"Okay..but I'm happy you came, Mister Kaiba." she whispered, nuzzling the side of his face a little, feeling much better now.