Shadow: For round seven (I think) of Compy's contest. This time it's Nurseshipping – Shizuka Kawai x Mai Kujaki.

Notes: Obviously, shoujo-ai, girl x girl. Implied Rivalshipping, and one-sided Polarshipping, so shonen-ai, boy x boy, and het as well. Bit of language, though it's not all that shocking.

Step Lightly

Tap, tap, tappity-tap, rhythmic as the raindrops beating themselves off the glass of the café window. Tap, tap, tappity-tap, glitter in the purple nail polish adorning Kujaki Mai's fingertips catching the light as she drummed the tabletop with one hand, not-so-patiently awaiting her companion's return. Mai was well-aware of the admiring glances cast her way by other customers in the café she was sitting in, but she ignored them, too used to them for them to have any effect. Having come in from the rain sometime previously she'd had plenty of time to dry off, and so looked even more perfect than usual compared to the soggy masses around her.

A steaming mug of coffee was placed with a well-timed thump in front of the young woman, a lanky blond collapsing into the seat opposite her with a grin.

"Sorry 'bout the wait." Jounouchi Katsuya waved a hand behind himself, gesturing to the long queue at the counter. "Guy in front ordered a stupid amount of stuff and used up the last of the cream; had to hang around til' more was done."

"It's no problem…" Mai carefully plucked up a paper napkin on the side of the table, wiping up some of her drink that had sloshed over the side when Jou had set it down. It was her third of the afternoon; they'd been in the café a long time. Mai showed up in Domino only intermittently, months, sometimes years going by before she showed her face. She usually met up with Jounouchi when she first arrived in the city each time, the blond filling her in on what she'd missed. Jounouchi still had that crush on her, although it had faded with age and experience. That was actually quite endearing in its own puppyish way, that the blond youth could remain so constant whatever else came his way. "So, you said before, Otogi's going to that gala thing Kaiba's throwing?"

"Yeah, moneybags invited all his associates and people who are 'deeply interested in or have been beneficial' to KaibaCorp in th' past. Otogi, doin' some of his fancy designs for the company, gets an invite." Jou pouted at his own cup rather sulkily. "He invited Shizuka to go with him, and she agreed."

"She's his 'plus one'?"

"What, you don't think my little sis is good enough or somethin'?" Jou bridled in automatic defence of his darling sister.

"I didn't mean that Katsuya, now put away those fangs of yours," Mai gently scolded. "I meant only that I thought that Otogi had given up pursuing your sister."

"Yeah, well…" A sachet of sugar was dumped into Jou's coffee, morosely stirred around. "He started again. Everyone's startin' again – honest, no-one seems to be happy bein' single anymore."

His companion shrugged a little awkwardly, judging her coffee of a safe enough temperature to drink now and raising her mug to her lips. "Maybe people are lonely, Jounouchi. It's not uncommon."

"Even with Kaiba?"

"I beg your pardon?" Mai had only managed a sip of her drink, one perfectly-plucked eyebrow rising for her hairline. "What does Kaiba have to do with anything?"

Jou released his titbit of knowledge with relish, glorifying in the unveiling of yet again something his elder friend didn't know. "Kaiba personally invited Yugi to the gala. He was kinda' snooty about it, apparently, made out like it was some great honour he was being deigned by the one an' only Kaiba to attend this little ball thing but - Yug' turned the offer down. Flatly." He seemed a little smug about the fact.

Mai smirked, swirling the liquid around in her mug. "Eh, what I would've paid to be a dragonfly on the wall during that little discussion…"

"'A dragonfly'?" Jou looked vaguely confused. "I thought th' expression was just about a regular ol' fly?"

Mai looked down at him, amused. "Sweetheart, do I look like a bluebottle to you?"

"Point taken."

It was almost disturbing how efficient and well-informed KaibaCorp's workers were, how powerful the company's technology was in comparison to the wider world. Mai had been in Domino two and a half days. On the morning of her third day she awoke in her rented apartment to find a beautiful manila envelope lying under her letterbox, her name printed in neat kanji over her temporary address. An invite, for her, to the KaibaCorp gala.

Long ago, when she'd been young, Mai's father had always taught her to invest her money wisely, and so Mai had, buying a small amount of stock in Kaiba Corporation and watching her profit rise. Kaiba Seto could always been relied upon to keep a healthy business, and so Mai now held a comfortable nest egg she could cash in anytime – of course, said cashing in could wait a little while. Being a stockholder got Mai some interesting invites to KaibaCorp functions across the globe through the mail, and both her breeding and common sense told her if she ever wanted to get somewhere truly in the world, she needed the sort of people who attended those functions on her side.

Sliding the invite out of its envelope Mai read the paper with a vague smile, memories of her discussion with Jounouchi only the other day springing to mind. Maybe it's only the King of Games that gets a personal invite…The smile curled, grew wider as Mai mentally ran through the list of clothes she had with her in Domino, and debated going shopping for something new –

Oh, what the hell. Stuff the debating; she was going to go get something new.

And so, washed, dressed and hair brushed, brushed, brushed until it shone golden as the sun Mai flew to Tokyo, browsed through the most expensive stores in search of a new outfit, failed and went to try on hideously high-priced sandals that would have most people cringing defensively over their pockets. She bought the sandals, and happily treat herself to a coffee – really, this daily caffeine indulgence was becoming quite a habit.

"…Jounouchi?"Mai almost choked on her drink when she saw the blond, her voice coming out a few pitches too high out of sheer surprise – was the kid following her? What was Jounouchi doing in Tokyo?

The woman failed completely to take note of anything but the male – that is, of course, until a cheery voice beside him called, "Mai-san!" and Mai found her head swivelling to look at pretty eyes, auburn hair. "Mai-san, it's been so long!"

It took a few moments for the voice and face to sink in, but when it did a new smile spread out over Mai's expression. "Shizuka-chan!" The elder woman stood, accepting the hug Shizuka offered by way of greeting with real warmth. Holding Shizuka at arm's length, violet eyes scanned her over. "My, would you look at you? You've grown! I bet you've got half the…university now – isn't it? – fawning over you."

Shizuka blushed and laughed, nodding. "Yes, I'm at university now, Mai-san."

"Studying what?"

"Sociology and anthropology."

"Sounds like some busy courses." Mai looked to Jounouchi. "Where'd you find the time to come to Tokyo?"

"We're shopping." The man pulled a face, obviously none-too-impressed. "Shizuka needs a new dress for her date."

"Onii-san!" Shizuka protested, "It's not a date!"

"Then what is it then?"

"Well, I – it's -" Shizuka flushed again, a little darker than before. "Alright, so I think it's a date. Stop teasing me!"

Mai laughed at their bickering, inviting the two to join her for a coffee, and somehow, somehow, she ended up relieving Jounouchi of the burden of 'shopping for girly stuff', packing the blond off to the cinema while she and Shizuka went shopping –

"Mai-san," Shizuka looked around herself rather timidly, somewhat intimidated by the attendants in the store Mai had taken her to. "Mai-san, these dresses…" She carefully stepped away from a dress hanging specially on display, afraid to even touch the fabric. "I can't possibly afford -"

"Let me buy one for you then." Mai expected the flinch the younger woman gave, already having an answer when Shizuka opened her mouth. "It's a gift, Shizuka-chan, a present from all my travelling. You can't turn down a gift, can you?"

Shizuka looked deeply uncomfortable. "But…Mai-san, to spend so much -"

"Sweetheart," Mai cut her off again, "you don't realise how much money I've got wasting away in my accounts, do you? I've no-one to spend it on but myself, and even that gets rather dull after god knows how many years of it. Let me spend something on someone else for a change, Shizuka. Let me make someone else smile!"

"Mai…"

"Please?"

Shizuka caved, and Mai ended up buying her a dress. A beautiful, expensive dress, long and satiny and creamy white. Mai didn't allow her younger companion to see the price; rather, she plucked it up and got Shizuka to try it on, got it tailored to fit the girl's slim frame. Mai bought herself an outfit in the same store, and then they were off, traipsing Tokyo in search of shoes for Shizuka and accessories for both of them, giggling like they were half their age and still in the playground. Somehow the ever-persuasive Mai managed to talk Shizuka into coming over to her apartment in Domino in the afternoon before the KaibaCorp gala, so that both of them could get ready together but –

"Who will you go with to the gala, Mai-san?" Shizuka eagerly tried on another hat the other woman handed her way, tilting the brim back so it didn't shadow her face and looking at her reflection in the mirror adjacent. Deciding she didn't like it, she took it off again and put it on a pile of discards.

Mai handed her another hat. "I think I'll go alone."

"Alone, Mai-san?" Shizuka looked concerned. "But -"

"Sometimes, things are easier when you're alone. It saves me having to traipse around looking for a date to match my amazing looks, doesn't it?" Mai gave the brunette a roguish wink, plucking a hat for herself to preen. "Do you think this is too flamboyant?" The head-piece was vivid red, with pink feathers.

Her companion laughed. "Just a bit!" She playfully snatched the offending hat from Mai's head. "Go try something else." Their previous conversation was forgotten.

As a little girl, Mai had always loved her dolls. Bathing them, dressing them, undressing and dressing them once more, bushing their hair, brushing their hair, a hundred strokes a night and sixty strokes in the morning, brushing their hair. It had been a set routine for her, as rigid a schedule as her maids had kept for her. One hundred strokes of glossy blonde curls in the night, hanging around sleepy eyes reflected in the mirror, sixty strokes tied back in brightly-coloured ribbons, brushing her hair, brushing her dolls' hair.

Shizuka had hair much finer than any doll's, long strands of red-blonde-brown passing easily through the teeth of Mai's comb, separated into three, braided up and around the woman's skull into a crown of auburn on Shizuka's head, weaving white lilies in between the curves of the braid. A crown for a princess, Shizuka's dress the princess dress of any little girl's dreams, soft and just off-white – cream - and sweeping the floor. The cream was a wonderful compliment to her skin colour, and standing before the mirror in Mai's room Shizuka looked lovely.

"Look at you." Mai stood behind the younger female, dressed in her own – black – gown, squeezing the other's shoulders lightly. "You're all grown up, and don't you look beautiful?"

Shizuka blushed, rose creeping into her cheeks. "You don't look bad yourself, Mai-san."

Mai smiled, ruffling the girl's hair.

Tap, tap, tappity-tap, rhythmic as the drumbeats in the music being played live by the classical orchestra in the corner. Tap, tap, tappity-tap, glitter in the shimmering threads and elegant folds of Kujaki Mai's black gown as she crossed the polished floors of the gala, weaving her way between the crowds alone. Mai was well-aware of the admiring glances cast her way by other party attendees but she ignored them, too used to them for them to have any effect. She knew she looked fantastic and she knew she was unattainable – and besides, she was in pursuit of the waiter she'd seen flitting about with the tray of posh champagne. He was a most elusive guy and Mai was getting fair vexed with him, but ah! Just in time he was espied, and Mai liberated a glass of liquid ambrosia for herself with happy thoughts in mind –

Only to have them rather rudely crushed when she turned around and nearly walked straight into the man of the hour, Kaiba Seto himself. Blue eyes widened slightly and then narrowed predictably, and Mai cradled her glass to herself and nursed her pride, thanking all the deities above because she did not want to think about the cleaning bill she would've landed if she'd dumped a load of champagne down a multibillionaire's front. Rich she might have been, but with some of the one-of-a-kind outfits Kaiba had – tch. She wouldn't have put it past the guy to have threads of 24 carat gold and other such precious stuff woven into the seams of his Kevlar-lined trench-coats.

"Kaiba!" Mai forced a smile upon her face; keeping in mind the fact this guy was cordial enough not to wipe her name off of his invite list. Asshole he might have been, but he'd been pleasant enough to ignore her. That ranked up as 'sociable and welcoming' on the Kaiba scale.

"Kujaki." A nod from the stoic brunet. Wow. The honour. Apathetic bast- "I trust you are well?" The man didn't really want to know, but the media were listening. Mai could spot a journalist she was more than well-acquainted with – what on earth was that guy doing there? – watching them with an eagle eye.

"Never better, Kaiba." Mai decided to be irritating, irritated herself at being near-to ignored. "How are you? I heard you got dumped."

Kaiba's expression skipped straight from apathy through mild annoyance to that devastating plunge down to the glare-of-infamousness that could stop a heart at twenty feet and freeze a soul a step closer than that. "You heard wrong." And there was the ice, jagged spears dangling dangerously off of every syllable, frost-coated and bitten by artic winds. Kaiba Seto had most certainly not lost his touch.

"Silly me." The glower only amused Mai; time made her impervious to what had once made her take a step back and subtly cower. "I forgot – you have to be with someone before they can dump you…isn't that right?"

The death threatened in Kaiba's eyes suddenly became a certainty. "Mind your own business, Kujaki."

"Oh, I do; I do." Another irrepressible smile from the blonde. "It's just I felt I had to inform you of the futility of your quest – after all, you're not the only brunet around fluttering their blue, blue eyes at the darling King of Games."

"I don't know where you think you heard anything but -"

"Oh, I have my sources." Flash of an infuriating smile –

"…I'm going to kill that mutt."

Mai tilted her head to one side, golden curls tumbling that way. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kujaki, don't you dare play the innocent with me -"

"…You do realise every word you say's getting written down on paper, right?" Mai nodded a head, smiling, to the paparazzi behind Kaiba's back; smirking when blue irises flickered that way, froze. Kaiba scowled – actually, that look was beginning to get scary even for Mai – and turned back to the woman to hiss something but – "Oh, look! Shizuka and Ot-o-gi." The last word was lilting, Mai blowing Kaiba an air-kiss before…before well bouncing off. "I wondered where they'd gotten to. Ciao, Kaiba dear." Manoeuvring through the crowds to the couple she'd used as her escape Mai smiled at the two, pleased when Shizuka shot her an even more brilliant smile in response.

"Mai-san!" The younger woman seemed delighted to see her, and so Mai decided to play nice, even though Otogi clearly didn't want her company, looking rather sour at Shizuka's arm. What he had to sour about Mai didn't know – he appeared to be trying to talk rather too sweetly to some businessman's wife/mistress (Mai didn't care which) whilst still in the company of his date. Business or not, Mai felt like hitting him. So –

"Shizuka -" Mai took the girl's arm, smug when Shizuka dropped Otogi's hold at once to swap to Mai, "would you like to come with me to get a drink? Since your…date looks rather busy, and I can't track down the waiter running about here with the champagne again. I swear he's avoiding me on purpose." Violet eyes shot a pointed glance at Otogi; the black-haired male had the cheek to shrug it off. Ooo-

"I'd love to, Mai-san." Shizuka looked eager, poor thing, some curls having escaped from her braided crown to hang around her face. She looked pretty- lovely even -; Otogi couldn't be in his right mind if he was ignoring her.

"Then we'll be off." They didn't bother asking Otogi, Mai already whisking her younger companion away. "Are you enjoying the party insofar, Shizuka-chan?"

"Well…" a moment's pause, "it's alright, I guess. Just not…"

"Not really your thing, huh?" A hesitant nod from Shizuka. "It's alright – I only really attend these things out of necessity as well, even though they bore me to tears. Doesn't help your date's such an idiot either."

"Otogi-kun's not -"

"Shizuka." The girl promptly shut her mouth. "You're too good for him. If Jounouchi ever found out how Otogi's been neglecting you tonight –"

"Mai-san, it's not really any of nii-san's business." Pink in Shizuka's cheeks again. "It's kind of him to worry about me, but I'm old enough to look after myself now – don't you think? Make my own decisions?"

"Yes." They'd reached the drinks table, Mai pouring a little punch into two cups, one for each of them. "I never said I'd tell Jounouchi, now did I?" She handed one cup to Shizuka with a small grin. "Do I look stupid, sweetheart?"

"…I have to answer that?"

Mai laughed, the insincere cheek pleasantly refreshing from the usually meek girl beside her. "You're just full of surprise lately, aren't you?"

"Maybe." Another secret smile, shared between the two of them, Shizuka's eyes aglow. "Mai-san, maybe you just bring out the best in me? Otogi-kun just…you -" She seemed to be at a loss for words. "It's difficult to explain."

"What is?" Mai raised her cup to her lips and, getting fed-up with its miniscule proportions for dainty sips only, drained the whole thing in one go. "Shizuka -" There was a sudden rumbling , roaring, deafening boom above them, a blaze of light and then people began to scream and –

Mai looked up, felt something collide with her chest, realised it must be Shizuka – "What the fu-"

Everything went black.

Mai awoke in darkness, with her head pounding to the point of excruciating agony. Her mouth was dry, her body bruised and cramped and there was something heavy across her legs –

"Mai-san?" Shizuka's voice, worried, from somewhere in the black. "Mai!" Her speech sounded a little fuzzy – or was that just the inside of Mai's head? She couldn't have drunk that much, surely? "Mai, please speak to me!" Slightly troubled by the panicky note in Shizuka's voice Mai managed a small groan and suddenly Shizuka managed a "Thank Kami!" clinging to Mai's arm and then –

Everything came back. The party, Kaiba, Otogi, Shizuka, the…the explosion and how the ceiling had buckled, pieces falling towards them, how Shizuka had dropped her punch, the red liquid seeping into the pretty cream dress she wore and flew to Mai, and how Mai had held her until something so bloody hard had hit her on the brow and now – black.

"Shizuka…" Mai forced herself to sit up in the blackness, becoming aware of the fact she was lying flat on her back, unable to see far around her. It was difficult to make out Shizuka, who had to be sitting right next to Mai, judging by the hand on Mai's arm. "Shizuka, are you alright?"

"I – I think I hurt my arm when we fell – I -" The girl moved, for there was a rustle of cloth. "I don't think it hurts enough to be broken; I think it's just bruised. How about you?"

The world is fuzzy and my head feels like someone just ran over it with a steamroller. Really, Mai thought a little sardonically, I'm just peachy. God, I prefer hangovers to concussion. At least when I'm hungover I know I got a lot of alcohol out of it first. "I bumped my head – probably gonna have to get that looked at later, but right now I'm okay aside from the headache."

"You could have concussion-!"

"Probably." Mai cut Shizuka off. "But that's nothing, considering we had the roof dropped on us. Do you know how the other guests are…?"

"I – I tried calling out before and there was a reply but -" Shizuka took a deep breath, steadying herself, "there's…there's something blocking us moving too far. It's…a big chunk of…wall, or plaster…or something. I can't see in the dark, and didn't want to push in case -" In case you upset something, and everything else fell down and crushed you.

Mai nodded, even though the other couldn't see her. "It's alright."

Shizuka clung a little tighter to her. "…Mai-san…I'm scared."

"It's alright…" Soothingly Mai threaded her fingers through Shizuka's hair where the plait was coming loose, a white lily falling out of the crown and mingling with the dust on the floor, a pale ghost in the gloom. White is the colour with which we mourn the dead who rest in their tombs - Mai shuddered as she caught where her thoughts were heading. Stupid Egyptian customs… I've known Yugi and his friends too long. "Everything'll be fine, Shizuka; I promise. You forget – this is Kaiba's party, and that man is nothing but anal about safety. He's had plenty of practice cleaning up disaster-zones; this one'll be no exception."

"Who do you think-?" Shizuka caught herself. "The explosion…what do you think caused it? Do you think it was a planted bomb?"

"Probably."

"Who do you think put it there?"

"Someone who hates Kaiba – and please don't ask me to be more specific than that. Kaiba has a lot of people who hate him – and that statement in itself is an understatement – and you know, I think I ramble a lot when I've got concussion, don't I?"

"Yes."

"Thought so. Anyway, I don't care who planted the bomb. I just hope Kaiba-dearest tears their balls off and feeds them to the nearest paper shredder before serving it back to them as mincemeat."

"Mai-san –"

"And then we'll let your brother at them and he can tear their throat out -"

"Mai-san -"

"And then we'll let the dueling fans use their blood as fingerpaint and -"

"Mai-san!"

"…I'm rambling again?"

Shizuka sighed, and put her head down on Mai's shoulder. There was quiet for a little while, the only sounds the two females' breathing. "Mai-san…"

"Hm?" Mai shifted a little, feeling the girl beside her move as well.

"I…know this probably isn't the best time, Mai-san but -" Shizuka hesitated again.

"What?"

"I…really like you." Blurted out. "Really like you. I mean – you've been so kind, and you're always friendly, and pretty and warm and -" Shizuka shut up suddenly, mumbling a quiet "sorry," before fading into total silence.

Mai frowned. "Why are you sorry?" She hadn't been expecting that little confession from Shizuka, but – ah, she'd think about it later when her head didn't hurt so much.

"…You must think I'm disgusting or lewd or -"

"Never!" Mai surprised even herself with her vehemence.

"But -"

"Never ever! Don't ever think that way Shizuka!"

"But I -"

"Don't." A warning tone, dangerous – but Mai softened it by bending her head slightly, brushing a kiss to Shizuka's forehead…or cheek…or…brow or…well, some skin part of Shizuka's face. It was hard to tell in the darkness. Fond. Warm. Affectionate. "I'm not sure what to say right now to your words, and to be honest my head hurts too much for me to properly think of them, so – keep them in your heart for now, sweetheart, okay? And I'll keep them in mine too, as right now my head's busy protesting to God."

Shizuka laughed lowly, a little humbled, a little relieved. They didn't say anything else until they heard other voices through the gloom, and there were emergency workers and firemen and paramedics and –

Even when Kaiba was being accommodating he was an ass. Mai found this sad truth deeply amusing as the paramedics finished checking her over, Shizuka at her side refusing to leave her. The girl's arm had been bruised rather badly and been hung in a sling, but still Shizuka remained with Mai – even when the uninjured Otogi tried to entreat her away. Mai felt quite smug at one-upping the black-haired twit, smug enough for the annoyance she felt at being told she was being taken to hospital for observation to dissipate somewhat.

And then Kaiba had come along, happy ray of sunshine that he was, with his cut brow and butterfly stitches, promising both to compensate everyone and to foot everyone's medical bills, not to mention having the one behind the explosion personally slaughtered. Everyone 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed and made the appropriate noises and Kaiba's phone rang.

According to the name he said when flipping it open, the person calling him was Yugi. Mai was suddenly deeply curious as to just how Yugi had managed to get Kaiba's private phone number.

Shizuka giggled unexpectedly, watching Kaiba wander off. "Nii-san's going to have a fit."

"Oh yes?" Mai kept her arm wrapped around the younger girl's waist, Shizuka still leaning heavily on her.

"Yeah…" Shizuka winced as one particular shift pressed painfully against her injured arm. "He doesn't know Yugi-san only turned Kaiba-san down for this evening because Yugi-san wants to try and keep out of the public eye – had it been a more private function, Yugi-san told me, he would've agreed to go."

"So…basically it was the event and not the companion that had Yugi turn Kaiba down?" Mai couldn't stop herself from smirking when her companion nodded, imagining the horror on Jounouchi's face should he ever find out the truth. "That'll be an interesting conversation when it comes out…"

"Won't it just?" More giggling.

Looking down into Shizuka's smile, Mai was strongly reminded of the conversation they'd had not so long back – although it was barely a few hours previous it felt like weeks –

She'd have to think about it eventually. Her head still hurt too much right now but…eventually. Shizuka was sweet, and pretty, and kind and Mai found her company pleasant but – ah, her head ached. Eventually it was then. Eventually. Soon enough.