Pairing: Arrogantshipping
Prompt: Yuugiou Fanfiction Contest Season 9.75, Round 2
Word Count: 650
Warnings: None. Sorry for the short entry this time, guys! I scrapped my fic and ran out of time. DX Post-series, no spoilers.
Strictly speaking, they weren't dating. They were together, but only in the most tentative sense of the term.
Kaiba and Mai never went on dates; not for want of time or money, but because there was no real point to it. Not with the tabloids to contend with, and not when Mai knew full well that Kaiba had the social skills of an awkward robot. No, taking him out was simply out of the question. Outside of dueling, he wasn't much for that kind of thing, anyway.
And that was the unspoken rule between them; no dueling.
As much as Mai loved dueling-and she did; she built much of her life around her precious Harpies, and then around her Amazons-she knew that it would break the spell. Kaiba treated her as much as an equal as she thought the CEO was capable of, and so much as a single loss would irrevocably change that. Anyone who lost duels, in Kaiba's mind's eye, was as good as dead.
It didn't take a genius to see that her Harpies were outmatched by numbers alone. Kaiba's deck was built largely on numbers, not magic, and he had enough disarming spell cards (no doubt intended for Yuugi's Black Magician) that Mai was sure that one-on-one, she wouldn't stand a chance.
And Kaiba Seto didn't believe in tag dueling. Not if it meant cooperating with someone else's dueling style.
But he did believe in partnerships where they were both convenient and sensible; sometimes, a man-even a logical, business-minded man-needed a good distraction from business itself. He might not have been able to acknowledge that five years ago, but with age came wisdom and exponentially better taste in more than just trench coats. Whatever he believed in, he'd named it-he and Mai were a tangible something; an "us"-and that suited her and her lifestyle just fine.
The blonde-haired woman, now edging uncomfortably close to her thirties, was happy enough to see her not-boyfriend at official functions, where she undeniably had the edge up. The upper crust absolutely suited her, in more ways than one, and an excuse to be with the dueling world's most renowned former-bachelor was one she'd be crazy to pass up. They made an excellent match, even if Kaiba still needed help on the dance floor, and Mai was happy to provide that.
"Lower your hand," she whispered into his ear, privately pleased with the barest hint of color that dusted her partner's nose. Another thing Kaiba Seto wasn't was easy to rile up, and Mai took great pleasure in the reactions she could draw out of him.
Kaiba did not take instruction well, but he did slide his hand slightly lower, along the curve of her lower spine, where her backless peacock-blue dress gathered.
"I hate this," Kaiba mumbled, looking just past her voluminous hair at the ever-present press trying to snap photos, no doubt hoping for something they could use for the trashy kind of story that even Isono couldn't get through with a straight face.
Despite herself, Mai laughed, and Kaiba leveled his stony gaze at her disapprovingly. "You hate it, but you wouldn't have an old woman like me without all those cameras," she teased, smiling brilliantly, even if her eyes dared him to agree with the 'old' part. Mai was as much a walking contradiction as Kaiba was, and that much fascinated him. She kept him on his toes.
She loved testing him; Kaiba hated it, and that was why she did it. He stared at her, nearly losing step in their waltz, and settled for his usual monosyllabic reply:
"Hn."
Which undoubtedly meant he'd conceded the point. He was learning, and Mai liked that, too. With another giggle, she settled her cheek against his shoulder, hiding her mirth from prying eyes.
Maybe, in a way, they were dueling-just without cards.