Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or the lyrics to the awesome song that inspired this fanfic. Click Five does. :D
A/N: Hm, it would be more interesting if one listened to the song while reading this fanfic. When I first heard the song I was like, "OMG, that is so Mai" and the guy? Couldn't be Yami or Joey. I mean, come on. xD So I settled for Duke, the oh so lovable flirt that would most likely want her and actually pursue her in that way. xP
Just The Girl
Duke Devlin stood at the doorstep of the Kaiba Mansion, raising an eyebrow at the butler that opened the door.
Shame it wasn't a beautiful maid.
Did Kaiba even have maids?
Anyway, it wasn't as if he cared, right?
He had gotten over that need for fangirls years ago.
His hormones, however, seemed to object.
He sighed, allowing the butler to lead him to where the 'party' was being hosted.
Party?
Ha, that was a laugh.
Kaiba never hosted parties.
So what was this supposed to be?
A high school reunion five years after their graduation date.
What for, one might be tempted to ask.
He suspected it was another of those excuses Kaiba could use to duel against Yugi and attempt to make him look bad in front of the whole alumni class.
Not that half of them would care.
But did that matter to Kaiba?
Heck no.
Kaiba wouldn't care, just as long as he had an audience who would bow to his glory when he won, and that is, if he won.
In all his years, Duke had never met anyone so obsessed with beating anyone.
Well, there was him and the whole I-must-prove-Yugi-a-fake thing back then.
But he and Yugi had come to good terms afterward and he even found that he admired the short little spiky-haired youngster almost as much as he did Pegasus.
But Kaiba was something else.
Good grief.
He wondered if Kaiba had dedicated his whole life to finding ways to beat Yugi.
He snickered silently, scanning the crowd, which was unusually large.
He was looking for a familiar face.
Anyone.
Seeing no one, he sighed again and found his feet making their way to the pool out back.
A whole crowd of girls in bathing suits looked up.
Immediately recognizing him, a number of them nearly tackled him, clinging to him and asking if he remembered them.
And once again, he bathed in the attention they gave him, but his eyes wandered to the lone figure sitting in one of the chairs at the white tables, her eyes focused on the screen above Duke's head, which at the moment, was showing Kaiba and Yugi's duel.
Figures.
She had glanced briefly in his direction when one of the girls squealed out his name, rolled her eyes and returned to watching the screen, stirring her drink.
He managed to rid himself of the girls with much difficulty, as they were unusually clingy.
He wondered if any of them actually gotten a boyfriend in the last five years.
Most likely not.
He walked over to where she was sitting and leaned against the table.
"Funny, I never would have thought you the cocktail type, Mai."
She didn't look up.
"What do you want, Devlin?" her voice came out as cool as ever.
She hadn't changed at all.
He slid into the seat across from her, causing her to look up.
"Nothing more than a conversation with a fellow classmate I haven't seen in a while," he answered, smirking.
"Somehow, I seriously doubt that."
He leaned forward.
"And why is that, Mai?"
She sipped her drink, avoided looking at him.
"Cause you're the same conniving flirt I knew back in high school," she stated matter-of-factly, then added, "With the same group of clueless fangirls."
It was then a song floated out from the room adjoining the pool deck.
One he knew well.
She's cold and she's cruel but she knows what she's doing
She pushed me in the pool at our last school reunion
She laughs at my dreams but I dream about her laughter
Strange as it seems she's the one I'm after
Since when did Kaiba like this kind of music?
Duke glanced up at the screen.
Nope, still dueling, couldn't have been him.
She stood up then, as if his presence in her hundred-foot radius personal space was utterly intolerable.
He stood up automatically, causing his chair to nearly tip over, and grabbed her arm.
"Is that what you always thought of me?" he said softly.
Funny how one could change moods so quickly.
She turned.
"Yes," she replied, then smirking she added, "Your little act can't fool me."
"You're cruel."
"You're a hopeless flirt."
"You haven't changed at all."
"Neither have you, Devlin."
"Though I'd bet my whole fanclub you'd still look ten times hotter than all of these girls in a bathing suit," he grinned, back to his old flirtatious self. "Speaking of which, why aren't you in one?"
Now if Duke had any clue about how far from the edge of the pool he was and how within striking distance Mai was, he never would have said that.
"You're disgusting," she declared, and shoved him right into the pool.
He hit the water hard, causing half the people on the pool deck to look up.
She turned on her heel, making a disgusted sound before walking off.
He surfaced just in time to see her leave.
He smiled.
Her attitude was just as spunky as he remembered.
He wondered if she got the idea of pushing him in the pool from the song that was playing.
If that was the case, he was an idiot for not foreseeing it.
He grabbed hold of the railing and hoisted himself up, nearly slipping and falling back into the pool again.
He was completely drenched and his usually free bangs were now matted against his forehead.
Still, he was utterly sexy and he didn't have to look at the girls that were staring to know so.
He rushed after her, his boots making wet tracks over the carpeting in the mansion.
Kaiba wouldn't like this.
But heck, who cared?
He saw her look back and then start running.
She was going to play hard-to-get now, huh.
No matter, those high heels of hers were definitely going to slow her down.
Well, that was what he thought five minutes ago.
They were still running?
Good grief.
She was a stubborn one, wasn't she?
He finally caught up to her after she had slowed down from exhaustion.
He whirled her around to face him.
They stood for a moment staring at each other, both breathing hard from their chase.
"Why are you always so persistent?" she blurted.
He didn't know what made him do it, but he had pulled her closer to him, almost forgetting his clothes were wet.
And he whispered the words that had been running through his mind ever since he met her:
"Cause you're just the girl I'm looking for."
A/N: Good grief, this fanfic was so random! But yes, it is yet another Duke/Mai pairing. I fear this couple might be starting to grow on me. xP