Nisa-chan666: Hey guys, another guilty pleasure fan-fic from Yu-Gi-Oh! for you all. This time it's my first shojo-ai fic, so please review, so that I know what to improve. This is also my first time narrating a card game, so if you could bear with me please.
Disclaimer: Mai and Serenity do not belong to me. These characters and Yu-Gi-Oh! are the property of Kazuki Takahashi.
Warning: Shojo-ai (girlXgirl love). You no like, you no read. Simple, huh?
Pairing: MaiXSerenity.
Summary: When Mai agrees to a practice match with Serenity, neither realises how dangerous the monster holograms can be.
Enjoy the fic and if you have any critique, please review afterwards.
Holograms.
"You sure you want to do this, hun?" Mai asked, placing her deck in the duel disk.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Serenity replied.
"You could have picked an easier opponent, you know," the older woman said, looking concerned.
"I know, but that won't help me improve, will it?"
With that, the girl beamed. Looking at her, Mai was reminded once again of the girl's relation to Joey; the siblings shared little in common physically, but they had the same indomitable spirit that attracted her so much. Maybe that was why she had been feeling increasingly protective of the younger Wheeler sibling lately.
"If you say so," Mai said, shrugging.
5 minutes later, the duel was well under way. Mai had two Harpy Ladies on the field opposed to Serenity's Tenderness and Magician of Faith, both of them in defence mode. Mai surveyed the field; while her Harpy Ladies could easily dispose of Serenity's monsters, her life points would still be unaffected. Realising that Serenity had ended her turn, Mai drew her next card. A grin spread across her face.
"I play Harpy's Brother in attack mode. I attack your two monsters with my Harpy Ladies!" she said.
Tenderness and Magician of Faith shattered, exposing a dismayed Serenity.
"And now I attack your life points directly with Harpy's Brother," Mai continued.
As Serenity's life points dropped, the force of the attack had her reeling backwards, her feet entangling. With a cry, she fell backwards into a heap on the floor. Mai was instantly at her side.
"Hun, are you okay?!" she asked.
"I think I twisted my ankle in the fall," Serenity answered, wincing slightly as she sat up.
Mai checked, and sure enough the younger girl's ankle was now pointing at an odd angle and had already swelled noticeably.
"Let's get some ice on this before the swelling gets any worse," Mai said.
After much frenzied searching for the first aid kit, Mai had Serenity's ankle surrounded by an ice-pack and resting on the older woman's shoulder as they both sat on Mai's couch.
"I'm so sorry. I guess I was too rough on you," Mai murmured.
"Don't be silly. I asked you to give it your all, which you did. We would both have been disappointed if you held back," Serenity replied, smiling tranquilly.
A moment's pause.
"Do you get people telling you how much like Joey you are?" Mai asked.
"Not really."
"Really? For me the resemblance is really strong. You both have this confidence that I would love to have. I'm kinda jealous if I think about it."
Serenity blinked. Mai envied her? That didn't sound right; Mai was the most confident person she knew, along with her brother. It was her confidence that made her beautiful.
"What are you talking about? I'm not confident. There are things that you do that I could never dream of doing."
Mai smiled.
"That's not the sort of confidence I meant."
"What sort do you mean then?"
"Keep practising your duelling. I'll tell you when we duel next, okay?"
"Deal."
They chatted about inconsequential matters for the best part of the next hour, until Mai noticed that Serenity was on the verge of falling asleep. Lowering her ankle, the older woman draped a blanket over the dozing girl. A mumble of thanks was heard, before steady, deep breathing set in. Mai sat looking at her for a few minutes. She wondered what Serenity would look like when she finally grew out of the puppy fat; if she was already this pretty then Mai could only imagine what womanhood would do for her looks. By then, that confidence in the goodness of people that she had would have grown, letting the inner beauty shine through as well. With a sigh, Mai pressed a chaste kiss to the younger girl's forehead, before turning to the phone to inform Joey that his sister would need some help getting back home.