Notes: Aughhh, it's been a long week for me, and this was supposed to be my vacation. ;A; This is short, but I'm exhausted and it's better than no entry at all!

"What are they doing here?"

Vivian almost yelped as Mai's claw-like nails dug into her inner forearm and elbow. She managed to pry them off, but Mai was too busy staring across the other side of train carriage to notice.

Vivian cringed at the marks in her skin, rubbing them. "What? Who?"

Mai's mouth set in a scowl as she turned back to her dueling partner. "Those two dorks over there by the food."

She'd be lying if she said nothing had changed about Haga and Ryuzaki since she'd last seen them, at least physically; they'd both grown a few inches, Ryuzaki more so than Haga. She wasn't surprised to see that Haga was skinny and angular, not unlike the insects he was so fond of, but he still had the glasses and the same sleazy grin on his face. Ryuzaki had fared better: his once garishly dyed hair was shorter now, more of a typical boy's cut, and he looked more comfortable in his skin than Haga. At least he'd grown a fashion sense, apart from that godawful red hat he still wore.

Vivian was blinking at the two boys—because they were just that, boys—and she said, "So you know them? They don't look like your usual snag."

"Of course I know them," Mai snapped. "Or at least I did when they were still relevant. The bug-freak on the left was the Japanese duel monsters champion before he was beaten by Yuugi."

At the mention of Yuugi, Vivian's face lit. "He doesn't even look like he'd be a challenge for Yuugi—"

Mai held up a hand to allay another one of Vivian's impassioned tirades about the King of Games. "Stop there. And the other guy," her eyes narrowed as her hand dropped to her hip, "I beat without trying. He fell for the oldest trick in the book."

"Did he cry?" Vivian questioned.

Mai smirked. "In his sleep, I bet."

"You're awful," Vivian laughed, adjusting one of her buns. Mai noticed the ribbon had come loose while Vivian was flirting with one half of the Swedish tag-team. Then her thoughts took a new direction—surely Haga and Ryuzaki weren't actually qualified to compete in pairs dueling. Overtaken by her curiosity and a spur of indignation, Mai started walking towards Haga and Ryuzaki.

"You stay there," she said over her shoulder to Vivian, who raised her hands innocently.

Haga saw her first—or it was more likely that he heard the click of her heels on the smooth oak floorboards before Ryuzaki did. He looked astonished to begin with, and then the shit-eating grin was back on his face. He prodded at Ryuzaki, whose back was turned to Mai.

Mai came to a stop a few feet in front of them and crossed her arms. "Someone must have fucked up their calculations for you two to be here."

Ryuzaki's mouth was full of shrimp when he stopped eating long enough to turn around. He swallowed, then mumbled, "And I'm sure you got here on your looks alone."

Mai snorted. "Come on, kid. You know better than to talk like that to someone who demolished you when you still mattered."

Haga snickered, and Ryuzaki glared at him. "That implies you're washed up, too, idiot."

Mai laughed as Haga stopped abruptly. Apparently Ryuzaki wasn't as boneheaded as she'd originally thought. Ryuzaki shoved Haga away from him and he went off grumbling under his breath to the crowd that had gathered near the trading booths.

"Don't you normally follow Yuugi and his friends around?" Mai said lightly, plucking a banana muffin from the tabletop.

"Don't you?" Ryuzaki retorted.

Mai frowned as she was about to take a bite, lowering it. "You aren't allowed to ask me that."

"Why?" Lazily, Ryuzaki leaned against the table, crossing one leg in front of the other. "Isn't Yuugi generally where Jounouchi is?"

Dropping the muffin to the floor, Mai scowled.

"You little shit," she seethed. "You insolent, scrawny dino geek."

"I hope you don't kiss Jounouchi with that mouth."

Mai was about to rake her nails down the side of his face when she thought better of it, and she reached into her belt, pulling out her deck of cards. Ryuzaki looked like he was interested now, though he sniffed cautiously, as if Mai would really use the same trick twice.

"Unscented," she said, rolling her eyes. "We play one game. I win, you and Haga get your sorry asses off at the next stop."

"If I win?" Ryuzaki asked.

"You won't," Mai assured him. She pushed her deck into his hands and snatched his, shuffling with practiced ease. "But if by some miracle you do win, I'll tell you why I wouldn't follow Yuugi or Jounouchi anywhere."

"You're still a bitch," Ryuzaki remarked. "But you're on."