Chapter 2
"Attention Duelists!" the green-haired announcer seemed to be yelling into the microphone, which caused the whole room to shake. "Welcome to the KC Tournament at Sea!"
The crowd cheered. The KC Cruiser had been sailing for a whole day before the tournament started. During that time it was as if the duelists were on a luxury cruise vacation. There were spa treatments, a large pool with long waterslides, and an all-day all-you-can-eat buffet (Jonouchi's favorite thing). Although Mai would have loved to be enjoying the spa treatments all day long, she could not take her mind of the girl they had met that first day.
"She doesn't talk to anyone," Mai was thinking aloud while Jonouchi filled himself with roasted pork. "She's always alone. Poor girl. Even if everyone on the ship is dueling in the tournament, everyone has someone they talk to. For support."
"Maybe she's just a loaner." Jonouchi suggested, "You can kind of understand that I guess."
"Not without knowing why."
"Are you going to ask her? The last time I checked, she didn't want to share."
"I guess not. I'm just concerned."
"You can relate, probably more than anyone else around here can, it's understandable."
"You know you say some profound things on occasion Jonouchi."
Jonouchi gave Mai a very confused look.
"Only occasionally." She winked as she stood up to get a refill on her tea. At the drink station, Mai noticed Crystal standing by the desserts. She knew that it may have been the better choice to ignore her, and she was positive that Crystal would not be more friendly than the last time, but she walked up next to the red-haired girl anyway.
"Hi there," Mai greeted.
Crystal grunted in response.
"You know if you're here alone, you can come and hang around with me and my pal over there when we're not all dueling."
"Hmm."
"Do you have any friends in the tournament?"
"No."
"So you have people supporting you at home right?"
"Counting on me."
"Counting? So you need the prize money."
Crystal grunted.
"Well either way we can all have fun while we're here."
"Mai-san,"
Mai was shocked at the sound of her name, followed by a full sentence, coming from the girl.
"We are here to compete. We are rivals and I have no intention on relying on other duelists for moral support. I can handle it on my own."
Mai was stunned, not because Crystal just out right rejected her offer, but because she heard some of the thoughts she once held dear in Crystal's words. As Mai rejoined Jonouchi, she was thinking of a plan. The next day, she put it into action.
Because of the large number of duelists, there were three dueling arenas on the ship, and at any given moment there were three duels in progress. The duelists on standby were free to roam the ship and watch the duels as they pleased.
Mai had made it her mission to support Crystal in her duels whenever it was possible so when the duelist board was put up, she wrote down all the times and places of not only her own duels, but Jonouchi's and Crystal's too. With the support of those who she now calls her friends, Mai remembers that she eventually opened herself up to others. This was the plan she had for Crystal.
It was not an easy task keeping track of the duels for three duelists, and when it happened that Jonouchi and Crystal were dueling at the same time, Mai had to decide to support one or the other. After hearing about the plan, Jonouchi also took whatever free time he had to support Crystal; although, at first she was not particularly open to the idea.
"What are you doing here?" she snapped at Mai the first time she showed up on the floor beside the arena where Crystal's duel was being held.
"Supporting." Mai answered simply.
Crystal rolled her eyes and dueled as if Mai was not there. In her next duel, only Jonouchi was available to show up. At first he was going to cheer on Mai, but Mai told him to get to Crystal's duel before it started.
He got there just in time, bursting through the door yelling "FIGHT CRYSTAL FIGHT!" just as she was drawing her first hand.
Crystal grunted and ignored him also. Either Mai or Jonouchi managed to show up at each of Crystal's first duels. At the third one, both of them were able to cheer on the sidelines for most of the duel, until Jonouchi had to rush to another arena for one of his duels. By the time her fifth duel had come around, Crystal expected at least one of them to show up. She would have never admitted that she was always hoping for it although, that was entirely possible.
There was no denying Crystal's skill as a duelist. Most of her duels were finished before an hour was up, and Crystal always came out the winner. The competition was a double-elimination, and because of her cold nature, most of the duelists eliminated by Crystal were fired up for a possible rematch further later. None of them made it that far.
Jonouchi had lost once, but he redeemed himself with three wins in a row to make it into the semi-final bracket. Mai had a few close calls, but won every duel. Crystal on the other hand, made dueling look like child's play, winning spectacularly every time.
