Foreword: Hello, and Merry Christmas! Recently, I felt like working on something festive, and I realized that for many years now, I've been wanting to update this, my first fanfiction. Normally, I would probably just delete such a lousy story, but it had such strong sentimental value for me, not only does it remind me of Christmastime, but also, the time that it was published was a very good one for me- and of course, it's my first. Also, I don't know if you agree, but one thing in its favor, I've always thought, is its unique pairing.
Now, this story was originally conceived and written by a younger me, who was so heavily "into" both Yu-Gi-Oh and this new world of fanfiction, that she wrote this story like a whirlwind, giving almost no thought to grammar, punctuation or context.
I tackled all of those head on, revisiting each chapter and making it over. I tried to keep as much of the original writing as I possibly could, but there's so much that was just so ridiculous that it had to be changed. And it has a spiffy new cover.
Now, this is still far from my best work. Please think of this as sort of "a guilty pleasure" kind of story, LOL. A silly little thing that you read for holiday cheer! That is what I originally intended it as, it's just that I did it in an incredibly cheesy way. It's still a cheesy story. '-_-
I'd like to thank every reader who ever read that thing, particularly NightShroud, Airtos and DoomWarrior. Every ounce of support I got back then meant everything to me, I feel really fortunate and thankful that I got all the support I did when this story was so bad! I might not have been motivated at all to write any further it it weren't for you all... Thank you all so much!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
ooooOoooo
Chapter 1: Three's a Crowd
ooooOoooo
Christmas lights sparkled from every house on the street, casting a warm, cozy glow into the dark night. "Good night, Joey! I'll see you tomorrow!" called Mai Kujaku as she waved to her boyfriend in front of his heavily-decorated apartment building.
She hopped on her hot pink motorcycle and drove down the street, and turned left. After about fifteen minutes of driving, she pulled up at the curb of this dingier block, stalling the motor, where a chocolate-haired figure stood behind his yellow motorcycle.
"Hey Mai!" he said in his thick Australian accent, "Ready to cruise down the best-decorated streets in all of Domino?"
Mai chuckled as Valon got on his motorcycle. They both laughed as they drove down the street side-by-side.
0o0
The shrill sound of an alarm clock pierced the air, breaking the early-morning stillness that had settled in Mai's small apartment bedroom. She kicked her leopard-spotted covers aside and slammed the "off" button. As soon as she sat up she remembered her groggy mind remembered her two pleasant dates last night, and smiled sleepily.
But the thought of Joey and Valon also reminded her of school, so she sprang up and began rushing around getting ready. Mai lived alone in the cheapest apartment she'd been able to find, it was cheap because it was about the size of a shoebox. She didn't mind living alone, except for the fact that she couldn't cook and often wished for someone who could.
"Stupid key, where is it?" she muttered as she fumbled to lock the door. She didn't live too far from school, so every day she walked. "Besides, it's easier to see the Christmas decor this way..." she thought.
Now that the world was at peace, it had been the decision of all four of the ex- "Gunmen (and woman) of Doma" to make up for the education they had missed in their wild pasts by attending Domino High.
"Mornin', Mai!" Alister greeted her cheerfully.
"Morning, Alister. Hey, have you seen-"
"-Joey or Valon?" he said with a wink. "Which is it?"
"Always know, don't you?" she replied, her irritated tone breaking with the contagiousness of his laughter.
Since Dartz's reign of terror ended two months ago, Alister had made a shocking turnaround, content with knowing that his little brother Mikey was at peace, and become one of the most cheerful people alive. Mai liked him, but not quite in the same way she liked the other two.
"Hey, Mai!" the whole gang was approaching.
"Hello to you too, Joey." said Mai, flashing him a smile.
"You didn't forget about me that soon, did you, Mai?" drawled a familiar accent behind Mai.
"What do you mean so soon?"asked Joey suspiciously. Mai's stomach twisted nervously. "Oh, ya know! Since yesterday!" replied Valon slyly, to the relief of Joey and Mai.
Suddenly and fortunately for them, Shizuka appeared and began dragging her elder brother up the school stairs. "Come on, Joey, you wanna be late?"she scolded as he bickered with Valon, who was being shepherded by Alister.
"Another double-date last night?" asked Anzu quietly, who had appeared at Mai's side. "How'd you know? How does everyone around here know my business?" Mai whispered scratchily.
"It's obvious, the way they act!" Anzu said, with the air of a fed-up parent. "Mai, can't you choose who you like more?"
"No!"
"Well you'd better, before they find out about each other, and then you'll have something to worry about. I don't know how you do it, really..."
"And we'd better get in there before we're late...!" muttered Mai, looking away from the brunette so she wouldn't see the warning look Anzu shot her before melding with the crowd entering the school.
0o0
"Miss Kujaku, for the fourth time, please come up and read us the poem you wrote!" The voice of the Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Nakajima, finally reached through the thick clouds of Mai's thoughts. She got up and went down the aisle, her face as red as the tinsel strung about the classroom. She was nervous at first, but as she read on the delicate words of the poem soothed her and her voice grew steadier. Now, she was one of the better writers in the class, and her beautiful depiction of The First Christmas was a testament to her talent.
When she finished, the whole class, including Mrs. Nakajima, burst into applause, which was something they hadn't done in a long time. "Bravo, Miss Kujaku! That was definitely A-plus worthy!" said Mrs. Nakajima. Mai walked back to her seat looking pretty smug.
"That poem was great!" beamed Alister at lunch. "I know mine stunk!"
"Yeah, well, at least you don't have to choose which of your two best friends you like better.." said Mai bitterly.
"You're right, I like all thirty-six of my girlfriends!" Alister laughed, referring to the fact that his cheerful, spunky attitude and "adorable" red hair had made him extremely popular with the girls of Domino High.
Just then, Mai noticed Rafael sitting all alone and looking disdainful. "That's funny," she thought, "He always sits with us." She started toward him, but Joey and Valon appeared and dragged her off to their usual table, talking at the same time.
After school, Mai spotted the back of a spiked (censored)-yellow head in the crowd leaving the building. "Rafael!"
He turned and saw her. "I wanna ask you something!"she called as she tried to reach him through the crowd. He, however, turned and walked away as if there was no one there.
"Wha-? Why didn't he listen?" she muttered to herself.
"Something wrong, Mai?" It was Alister.
"Yeah, it's Rafael. I saw him at lunch sitting alone, and right now he was leaving and I called out and he saw me, but just left like there was nothing there! Come to think of it, he's been acting odd for a couple weeks now!"
Alister smiled crookedly at all this and shook his head as if he knew the cause.
And it just so happened that he did. "Didn't you know? Rafael hates Christmas!"
