Mokuba never really played with sparklers. The orphanage was always in need for money, and feeding its children came before giving them fire hazards. When they were first adopted, Seto was encased in his library tomb and could not sleep, let alone play with his brother. And then Mokuba grew out of the need for shiny things.

At sixteen, in a festival somewhere closer to the Rocky Mountains than the Appalachian Mountains, he accepted a sparkler.

"It's not an alien, you know," said Rebecca. "Swish it around, write your name, do fourth of July stuff."

Mokuba moved the stick and was oddly fascinated by its brightness. He experimented with it, moved it around, wrote some swear words.

He stopped when he heard Rebecca's shriek.

"Leon " she yelled. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm so sorry, Rebecca I wasn't watching it and the ice just—"

"Napkins," she said, holding the back of her shirt out. "Get me napkins."

"Yes, Rebecca," said Leon as he rushed off. Rebecca shivered. One wouldn't immediately think it, but summer nights in America were surprisingly chilly, especially if one has just had something freezing spilled down one's back.

"What'd he do?"

"Dumped his ice water down my back. It almost hurts. I swear, take that boy out of a duel and he doesn't notice a thing "

Unlike Rebecca, Mokuba was not surprised to see that he was distracted. Strangely enough, her criticism of him applied to herself as well. Inside the dueling arena, she could anticipate sometimes the whole game, yet she did not see that Leon von Schroder was hopelessly in love with her.

Leon came back soon enough, trying to dab the napkins against her back. She huffed and waved him away, determined to dry herself off alone. It was almost comical how she kept turning around, never quite getting all the water.

"Rebecca," said Mokuba. "Why don't you take my jacket? It will at least keep you from shivering."

Rebecca accepted it with a 'thank you' and quickly donned it. Leon looked at Mokuba with mild resentment that he was more aggressive, but mostly disappointment that Mokuba got in first.

Maybe someone else would have nudged their friend to take opportunities, but Mokuba had seen this play out before. Yugi and Anzu once tried to go beyond friendship. It did not work out. While they still are civil with each other, everyone can tell that their relationship isn't nearly as strong as it used to be. Mokuba's list of friends was short, and he did not want to risk losing them to hormones and misguided emotions.

He looked his sparkler. If everything went well, maybe he could keep his friends until next year.