Jonouchi decided against resting as he headed up towards the top deck of the airship. Mai was always extremely sensitive but he felt like apologizing anyway. He didn't know exactly what upset her, but he didn't want her harboring a grudge against him, either. She was his friend and he liked being around Mai, but Jonouchi honestly had no idea what to do around her sometimes. She knew how to make him uncomfortable, if he was honest about it, and saying so would probably just put Mai in the defensive. She'd make some jest about his manhood if he ever told her, he was sure.
Besides, maybe he'd get lucky and find Kaiba alone up there, too. She watched every single duel so far (even his own rather intently) so it was fair to assume she'd definitely be watching Mai against Marik.
Mokuba would probably be there too, but Jonouchi would just block him out if he tried being a brat. Maybe once the kid heard what Jonouchi had to say, he'd actually be on Jonouchi's side instead of his sister's for once.
Jonouchi got up there quickly and was greeted by the frigid midnight air. As he had guessed, Kaiba was standing in the sidelines with her brother, Isono not too far away. Maybe she was taking some precautions. Or Isono just felt protective of her, considering the threat on her life.
But Mai was there too, going through her deck over and over again, her face appearing uncharacteristically stern. As much as Jonouchi wanted to avoid her ire, he decided to approach her first.
"Hey Mai," he began easily, trying to slide up next to her to sneak a peek at her cards, "Are you getting ready for your duel?"
"What does it look like?"
Jonouchi frowned at the reply. "You gotta play it careful with that Marik guy, he's got a screw loose and might try to do something to hurt you. I wouldn't put it past him."
"Jonouchi, I'm an old lady, remember?" Mai rolled her eyes before shoulder checking him. "I can take care of myself. I don't need you and I never did."
"Mai," Jonouchi addressed her seriously, "I know I got under your skin earlier, but you're still my friend and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"Are we friends?" Mai huffed before shrugging her shoulders. "Sometimes I wonder. You don't treat me like a friend, Jonouchi. I mean, how could you be so rude and insensitive?
"Sometimes I feel like you don't appreciate me at all."
"Or maybe the problem is that I'm not giving you the appreciation you're looking for," Jonouchi responded. He wasn't trying to be harsh, but he was annoyed by Mai's defensiveness and stressed about the fact that she was too busy being spiteful to look out for herself. Not too unlike another woman he was on bad terms with.
"What the heck does that even mean?!" Mai demanded, her voice becoming extremely animated before she shoved Jonouchi hard one time in the right shoulder. "You know what? Just forget it, Jonouchi Katsuya, you are just some stupid teenage boy like the rest of them. You don't stop to think about anything or anyone besides yourself, so how about you just get out of my way?
"I have a duel to win, goodbye!"
Jonouchi watched Mai storm away to the Dueling Field that awaited her, feeling surprisingly more hurt than stunned. He wasn't hurt by her petty insults, but he was hurt by the fact that she refused to acknowledge his attempt to arm her with caution. He could fight with someone all the livelong day; having that person self-destruct before his eyes was an entirely different matter.
Staring at Mai wasn't going to change anything, so he turned and looked at the others. His friends were chatting amongst themselves anxiously as the arena was set up. Kaiba and Mokuba were off to the side still, Kaiba's gaze unconcerned but unwavering. Mokuba met Jonouchi's eyes, and he stiffened when Jonouchi mustered his determination and walked briskly toward Kaiba. He was surprised when Mokuba immediately bailed, none-too-casually setting a course for Yugi and the others as Jonouchi approached. It made sense, but it was still surprising.
"Having trouble with your girlfriend?" asked Kaiba with a grin. "You seem to have a way with the ladies."
"Careful how nosy you get," Jonouchi retorted with a little more bite than he'd intended, "If you keep prying into my life like that, I might start thinking you care."
"Wouldn't that be the day," Kaiba laughed before rolling her eyes. "I care minimally. As much as any stranger would care."
"Right. You care so little that you have to tell me exactly how little," he muttered, "But fine. I didn't come over here to complain about my love life, Kaiba."
That would be straight-up lunacy. Jonouchi wasn't known for his control over his mouth, but even he had enough sense to know against spilling his guts to Kaiba at this time, in this place, because it would be the worst decision in a long history of bad decisions he'd made.
"Then why, pray tell, are you gracing me with your presence tonight?" remarked Kaiba. She looked irritated but not angry. That was at least something. Although her arms were folded across her chest and she appeared closed off, physically, she at least wasn't throwing around any more insults.
"I say this knowing how you're going to react, but I'm here because I'm genuinely worried about your safety," Jonouchi stated. He allowed a split second to be proud of the fact that he didn't stammer or say anything rude. "Maybe you don't think it's that serious, but Marik is extremely dangerous and he's got a beef with you in particular. I'm sure you can handle yourself, but... the guy is nuts. Don't take him too lightly."
Snickering, Kaiba made a face of slight surprised mixed with a hint of amusement. "I have security cameras on this blimp everywhere. I don't take any threat on my life lightly. Even he so much as breaths in my direction, I'll know.
"Besides, I'm not the idiot who almost died two times tonight."
"Ha! That's a slow day for me," Jonouchi joked, though that was mainly because he was avoiding contemplating the back-to-back near-death experiences. He was alive, right? No need to let it bother him...right? "Almost dying doesn't bug me too much, at least compared to actually dying. What does kinda get me in a wad was how upset you looked when I didn't die the second time. Don't tell me you're that resentful of my good luck."
He spoke jovially as a veneer over the very real sting he felt. Not to mention as a distraction from the paralyzing confusion. Kaiba saved his life out of nowhere, and mere hours later was visibly irate about his survival. How was he supposed to interpret that? Even if she only cared about him as a stranger, those reactions were extreme paradoxes.
"You didn't have to cheer for me or anything, but I think being pissed off was an inappropriate reaction."
Kaiba's eyes narrowed just slightly as the corner of her mouth twitched. "What's inappropriate is the fact that you were studying my face so closely right after almost dying on my dueling platform. Why would you do that?"
"Because I wanted to. There are worse things to do right before dying," Jonouchi defended quickly. Then he realized he may have compromised himself and cleared his throat, resisting the urge to scratch his head. "I dunno, the whole thing was crazy. I was just taking in everything all of a sudden. My life didn't exactly flash before my eyes so I guess I needed something else to focus on."
"Maybe next time you shouldn't use me as a visual anchor. Pick your angry girlfriend instead," replied Kaiba with a wave of her hand, "I'm sure she'd appreciate the attention more."
"Probably but I didn't want to. I decided to look at you," Jonouchi answered directly, annoyed at how Kaiba brought Mai back into the conversation to deflect his question, "Even if I hadn't been looking at you, I would have felt your eyes burning a hole in my head from your disappointment."
"I wasn't that invested in any outcome."
"Could have fooled me. You looked like you'd lost a bet," Jonouchi sniggered, "But fine. Obviously you wanted your anger to be a secret."
"I wasn't angry," Kaiba answered, her voice so thin it was almost a hiss. "What bothers me is the fact that you can duel the way you do against your betters and for some god forsaken reason, still manage to win with shitty gamble tactics. Rishid should have won that duel, so if you think I wanted you dead, you're reading me entirely wrong. I just have little respect for a duelist who relies on luck to see himself through every battle he faces. One day, it won't work."
Jonouchi blinked in surprise. He didn't know if he was more shocked by her reasoning or that she'd revealed it in the first place. He paused for a second or two while he absorbed what she had said.
"Every duel is based on some combination of luck and strategy," Jonouchi argued, "I just like to strategize around luck more. I know as well as you that hard work and skill get a duelist through a fight. But I don't duel to please your strategy tastes, Kaiba."
Jonouchi huffed and shook his head. He could probably end up arguing with Kaiba on this spot until dawn about it and it wouldn't really change anything. He hadn't approached her to confront her in the first place. Maybe he'd only ended up debating for this long because for once, she didn't dismiss him before he could even open his mouth.
"It doesn't really matter anyway," he muttered, though he was speaking more to himself than her, "All I care about is that you're not gonna get stabbed or something in the middle of the night."
"What are you going to do, watch me when I sleep?" Kaiba remarked. She was almost laughing at him now. Jonouchi didn't think anything he'd told her was funny. Kaiba wasn't taking him seriously.
"If I knew that would keep you safe, then yeah, I would," Jonouchi replied before he could think long enough to stop himself. His consciousness screamed internally, but he managed to maintain a serious expression. He counted the seconds between his breaths in an attempt to stop his face from turning beet red. He maintained painful, silent eye contact with Kaiba as he awaited for her response, unwilling to back down but incapable of speaking yet.
He had expected serious retaliation but instead Kaiba's face merely shifted into a frown-maybe even a pout, if he was honest. They maintained a tense silence for a few more seconds before Jonouchi sighed (largely in relief). He watched her deep blue eyes as he spoke again, finally not lost on words.
"I have to repay you for saving me somehow, right?" He half-laughed in an attempt to save face, but if he wasn't stupid enough to believe himself, she definitely wouldn't fall for it. He sobered and was serious again.
"Be careful... all right?"
He realized suddenly that his hand had somehow come to rest on her arm. After subduing a minor heart attack, Jonouchi quickly withdrew and walked away as briskly as he could without actually running. He was hoping that no one else had seen that. Then again, maybe it wouldn't matter if they had. Anzu would probably ask him a million questions, same old same old. Honda would be scandalized but he'd get over it. Mai was already angry enough to spit, so it wouldn't make a difference.
Jonouchi managed to stealthily rejoin his friends, acting as if he had been there to begin with. Nobody noticed what he'd been doing, or at least didn't question his absence. Or, he thought they hadn't. Yugi was having a conversation with Anzu but when he briefly glanced Jonouchi's way, the look on his face made Jonouchi's gut twist. His time as a young street thug had given him a moderately good sense for when he'd been caught doing something.
He didn't know how much Yugi had seen, or what he was thinking, but he didn't say anything. Jonouchi certainly wasn't about to bring it up. The moment of minor panic was broken when Honda somehow landed on his back heavily, which seemed like the only way he knew how to offer a greeting. There were conversations going on around him but he was far too distracted to hone in on them or engage.
Mai's duel was quick and terrifying. Despite demonstrating her skills by summoning the God Ra from Marik's deck, the duel turned against her. She couldn't control Ra. It appeared on the field in a gold glowing ball, but nothing more. Mai could only stare at it as Marik continued to laugh at her.
"You can't control it!" He spat between fits of amusement, his mouth nearly foaming, "The god cards choose their masters! You have no idea, silly woman, how to wield it!"
"That's ridiculous," Mai shouted back. "Cards belong to whoever has them! They don't choose who they serve."
Jonouchi frowned. That wasn't exactly true. Mai was greatly mistaken, and Jonouchi wondered if she forgot all the lessons they'd learned together at Duelist Kingdom. The cards definitely had a spirit, of some sort, and Jonouchi had felt it before. He'd seen it. Yugi had been saved by it many times... hell, Kaiba had, too. Yet Mai couldn't believe?
"Only someone who has Egypt in their blood can read the text," hissed Marik, "and you, my dear, cannot. If you think you can control Ra, why don't you use it now? Force it to come forth."
Mai was trembling. Her legs looked ready to give out and she appeared frustrated, and afraid. Jonouchi tried yelling encouragement, but the entire duel, she just ignored them all. Heck, when she did look down at Jonouchi, she appeared to almost just look past him, as if she no longer recognized him.
"I know one person on this vessel who can read the script," Marik began mocking, "Even if she doesn't know it yet. Kaiba can read the hieratic text, even without the millennium rod."
When Jonouchi looked her way, he noticed the sour expression on Kaiba's face. Moments ago, she looked excited to see the god card appear in the duel, no doubt trying to study it for her own exploitation. But now that Marik had began calling her out again, Jonouchi knew she was becoming angry and might challenge back.
He hoped she wouldn't. Please, don't respond. He's just trying to get under your skin.
Kaiba kept her mouth firmly shut. Jonouchi sighed, feeling like a miracle had passed over him.
"Yugi," Jonouchi whispered, still watching the field but moving closer to his friend, "I don't think Marik ever worried about Mai summoning Ra. He knew she couldn't control that card. He set her up!"
"There's not much we can do about it now, Jonouchi. Mai wouldn't listen to reason."
She'd been too angry with Jonouchi to listen to her friends. Frowning, Jonouchi wasn't sure if he should feel guilty for upsetting her or angry for her ridiculous stubbornness. She was older than all of them, yet Jonouchi felt like she was acting like a jilted high school girl.
"You have no other monsters on the field, girly!" Marik began laughing again, his eyes wild. "If I attack you, Ra will do nothing!"
It quickly went downhill from there. Marik destroyed all of Mai's trap and magic cards, chaining her to a stone. The stone then erupted in bright lighting, and everyone jumped when Mai began screaming uncontrollably before collapsing against her arm chains.
"Marik, stop it!" yelled Yugi, "Mai might actually die! Settle your beef with me and leave her out of it!"
"Settle my beef?" Marik mocked, his arms opening wide as he grinned ear to ear, "And miss out on all the fun? Oh no, sweet Pharaoh, I will enjoy this duel and you will, too."
Then the chanting began.
The glowing golden ball began to uncoil itself. Jonouchi could hear Kaiba gasp from across the arena; Ra finally appeared before them all, 5400 attack points strong. Jonouchi couldn't help but gasp out loud himself. What was Mai supposed to do? There were no monsters on the field for protection, and Marik was controlling the duel like a master puppeteer.
"Marik, what is the point to all of this," began Yugi again. When Jonouchi looked at him, he realized it wasn't Yugi speaking, but Atem. The 'Pharaoh'. "You collect all three god cards, and what then?
"Oh easy, Pharaoh," chuckled Marik, "I let the world live as I had lived. In complete darkness. The destruction of light is the source of my happiness, and my work will not be done until I have stamped it out.
"Now I shall finish off Mai and let her be the first to experience this living death!"
Jonouchi had tried reasoning with Isono to stop the game but Isono confessed that he wasn't even controlling the arena anymore, and when Jonouchi glanced at Kaiba's stunned face, it occurred to him that Marik had taken over the entire field with his dark magic. The holographic system was no longer responsible for anything they were seeing.
If that was the case, Mai might actually die.
Jonouchi knew it was dumb and might get him killed, but he didn't care. Running onto the stage, he came to Mai, who was still chained to the stone and fallen on her knees. When he approached her, she didn't even lift up her head to look at him.
"Mai, I am so sorry," Jonouchi began, "I lied to you earlier. I know I said I didn't see you in my dream but I did. You were there, with all my friends, and helped me up when I almost lost that duel against Rishid. I just lied because I got embarrassed," he admitted, "But don't think it's because you don't matter to me. Please get up."
Mai only marginally lifted her head, her eyes blinking like she couldn't see fully.
"Jonouchi, is that you?"
Laughing, Jonouchi hugged her before shaking her shoulders, "Yes, it's me! You need to get up! Get out of this duel! Mai, you're my friend, and I care about you. I can't let this happen, you have to try and get up!"
Suddenly Jonouchi heard Marik screaming from across the field, and he jumped in front of Mai before whipping around to see if he was about to be attacked.
"You-" Marik turned his rod on Jonouchi, but instead of reaching out to strike him, he just broke into another fit of laughter. "Moron, it doesn't matter what you do. I will destroy her with my God, and you along with her!"
"Jonouchi, you have to leave," Mai began, and she tried pushing him away, despite being so weak."I don't want you getting killed for me."
"Nah, I'm not leaving without you."
Oh shit. At least it might already be passed midnight, in case he was about to die for the third time that day. Although this time, not alone.
"Alright, suit yourself!" yelled Marik gleefully, "Ra, attack!"
Jonouchi shut his eyes, holding onto Mai before biting his lip. He waited for something, anything. He'd been anticipating that immense pain he'd left during the lightening strike, but nothing happened. He just heard screaming, and when he opened his eyes, Yugi began to collapse on top of him.
"You saved us!"
Yugi smiled and Jonouchi was about to grab him into a fierce hug when he felt Mai go limp and fall over.
"What, Mai?!"
She collapsed on the platform, appearing more like a rag doll than a human being. When Jonouchi tried shaking her, nothing happened. The only thing he could see was that Mai was still breathing, but besides that, she was completely unconscious.
"I thought I saved her," Yugi spoke weakly. They'd tried, at least. But it wasn't enough.
Marik came striding over, a dark smirk on his face before he stopped in front of Yugi and unsheathed his rod. There was a spike at the end, and Jonouchi pushed Yugi out of the way, looking up to meet Marik's dark, violet eyes.
"You keep trying to save people, and yet, nothing you do is effective," laughed Marik. "Don't you remember our time together on the docks? We should be working together, Jonouchi. I could give you what you desire."
Marik then stuck out his tongue wickedly before chuckling.
"I don't want your sick influence in my head any longer," yelled Jonouchi back. "In fact, I'm going to make sure I meet you in the finals and win! Even with your god card, I can beat you. That's a promise."
"If you say so, kiddo!"
His heart was racing, and Jonouchi had never felt more alive than that moment. Marik turned to walk away, laughing as he disappeared into the inside of the blimp and Jonouchi could only be reminded of the times he'd faced those hot shot professional gangsters in his old neighborhood. Not the kids with knives or the funny spiked hair but the actual gang bangers. The real scary ones. Jonouchi hadn't felt so afraid since the first time he'd been approached by the Yakuza.
He felt like vomiting. Thankfully, Otogi and Honda got up on the platform and Yugi was at his side. Feeling weak, Jonouchi tried getting up but he just fell on his ass. Honda put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about Mai, I'll take care of her. Go take a rest somewhere."
Nodding his head, Jonouchi just sat and felt numb as he watched Honda and Otogi carry Mai away.
Then he saw Kaiba. She was speaking to Isono, and her face wasn't giving anything away as far as her personal thoughts. He felt a little angry for her not doing anything, but logically, what could she do? Kaiba was on the same boat as the rest of them, and she couldn't stop that psychopath even if she'd tried. The game system hadn't been the thing to nearly kill Mai, and getting mad at Kaiba for watching wouldn't change the fact that she had no control over any of it.
He needed to stop targeting his anger toward her, even when it was justifiable. It never accomplished anything, and if something were to happen to Kaiba like what had happened to Mai, the last thing he wanted was for her to be so angry with him that she'd do what Mai had done and pretend like he hadn't existed.
Especially now, when Kaiba actually had bothered to listen to him.
Besides, it was now her time to duel.
"If the eighth duelist does not arrive in the next five minutes, the duel will be forfeit," declared Isono.
Standing to the side of the dueling platform, Kaiba stood with her arms crossed against her chest, looking over for her competitor to arrive. Who would put so much time and effort to qualify just to throw it all away during the semi-finals? Either her next opponent was a morn or they completely lacked effective time management skills.
"Hey Kaiba-san," began a voice.
Rolling her eyes, Kaiba looked down to find Yugi staring up at her. Glaring at him, Kaiba did not respond, waiting for Yugi to speak up on his own.
"We need to talk now," Yugi continued, "About Mai. She needs to go to a hospital-"
This talk again. Don't listen to him.
"-Why is it when a competitor gets hurt from taking on more than they can handle, it suddenly becomes my problem?" laughed Kaiba. "I get that I'm running this thing, but you saw what happened to Mai. Is a hospital really going to do anything for her?"
Yugi seemed defiant. His eyes narrowed and he began to stand up taller.
"You need to think about somebody else but yourself for a change!"
Chuckling, she just shrugged her shoulders. "Look around, Yugi. Where are we? Not in Domino City anymore. We are miles away from any hospital, and I have a great medical team on this airship. So unless you want me to land this thing in the middle of the Japan Sea, you will keep your mouth shut on the subject and let the tournament continue as planned. Don't like it, then you can leave with Mai yourself. Hope you can swim."
Yugi's anger seemed to have dissipated but he still looked irritated from having been told off. Kaiba watched him rejoin his group, going straight to Jonouchi, who looked even more annoyed before his face got animated and they were arguing with each other.
Well, wasn't that a pleasant turn of events. At least somebody else on board had some common sense. Kaiba would have never expected Jonouchi to be the one to get it, but maybe old dogs did learn new tricks.
Finally, someone appeared out of the corner of Kaiba's eyes.
"The eighth duelist," announced Isono, "Ishtar Ishizu."
Kaiba got up on the platform, readying her deck as she smiled at the figure who stood across from her.
"Do you always make it a habit of showing up late?" Kaiba demanded. "I don't know about Egypt but where I come from, it's considered irredeemably rude."
"I'm sorry for keeping everyone waiting."
The woman who stood before her was wearing an ethnic robe of some sort, and letting down the hood, Kaiba suddenly recognized the competitor she'd be facing. Oh yes, how fitting. Marik's older sister, probably coming to the rescue. Now Kaiba could put the bizarre name to face.
"Did you come to see me put your card to good use?" asked Kaiba in a mocking tone. "I didn't think you even dueled."
"No Kaiba, I've come to save my brother."
Now she couldn't help but laugh. "Save him?" asked Kaiba. "How are you going to save him? I thought you were a museum curator. Did you suddenly turn around and become a psychiatrist after the last time we met? Because that's what he needs."
The psychopath had a dissociative identity disorder. Kaiba could recognize it. After the lovely performance put on after Jonouchi's victorious duel, it became clear that Marik was a little bit more than just slightly unhinged.
And it was Ishizu's fault. If Kaiba had known how dangerous he was, she would have never agreed to having the competition. Card sharks and gangsters, she could deal with, they were familiar territory. But a murderous psychopath, in the same quarters as her brother? No, that was inexcusable. Someone like Marik could not be bought with money, cards, or threats to life.
"He needs me," Ishizu stressed, "Only I can save him. With the Pharaoh's help."
"That's a load of dog crap," laughed Kaiba darkly. "You knew what your brother was capable of and you lied about how deep in trouble he was. When you asked for this competition, you said he was a card thief, not a lunatic."
"It wasn't your concern."
Humming, Kaiba shut her eyes and shook her head. "No, it was my concern. I should have been told. Now we have some twenty or more souls on board with an uncontrollable psycho, and you thought that would be okay. I hope you know, Ishizu, that if somebody dies tonight, it's on your hands. Not mine."
Ishizu prepared her deck, and appeared ready to play. She was glaring at Kaiba, and although Kaiba wasn't nervous about competing, she definitely felt ticked off. More than ticked off. Angry.
"I only care about saving my brother.
"And I will defeat you, Kaiba. You might hold Obelisk but I hold an even greater power. My millennium eye! I can see into our fates, and mine is that I defeat you."
At this, Kaiba broke into a fit of laughter. Everyone looked around at each other, and even Mokuba appeared confused. Ishizu's face twisted up and then finally Kaiba got a hold of herself, her face appearing more stern than before.
"No busted ass piece of jewelry is going to predict my outcome," Kaiba declared "I will defeat you, and then if I'm lucky, knock the insanity out of your brother during the finals. Magic or no magic, my skills will carry me through."
Use Obelisk. She can't fight against a God!
The duel was tense throughout. Although Kaiba played well, Ishizu was no joke. They both took turns tearing each other apart. Despite it all though, Kaiba never lost her confidence. She seemed frustrated at times, but never lost sight of what she was doing. There were even moments where she smiled or laughed, and Ishizu looked disgruntled.
Then Obelisk appeared in her hand.
Yes, play it. Play the God card. She won't be able to fight it. This is your moment. Your chance. You must take it! Or you'll have nothing.
Her confidence grew into arrogance, and Kaiba started spewing out taunts, unable to stop herself. She was appearing to toy with Ishizu, destroying her deck with Crush Card Virus. And now with Virus Cannon, Ishizu would become helpless.
But then something terrible happened. Ishizu used the card, "Exchange of the Spirit", and now Kaiba could only use a deck of just six cards.
"Fuck."
That lying bitch.
How did she let this happen? Did the necklace actually have some kind of power over her? No, because that was impossible. The world didn't work that way. If Kaiba was about to lose, it was because she herself fucked up, not because of some silly jewelry.
"I end my turn."
You can still win this duel, Kaiba. You have everything you need. Ishizu might have reduced your deck down, but does she have a God card? No. Pathetic jewelry doesn't make you powerful, and you know this! You are better than this shit!
Yes, that was right. Ishizu was just playing a trick. How many times had Kaiba seen stuff like this before? Plenty. First Pegasus, who lied and cheated his way to the top. What he lacked in skill, he made up for in deceit.
Ishizu was probably the same. No honor. No skills.
But what if Ishizu was prepared to fight Obelisk? What if she knew that was what Kaiba was planning to summon?
Don't change the plan! Obelisk is perfect. Obelisk is might. Power. You must use power to win! Don't you dare doubt on me!
"I attack with-" Kaiba began to speak, but then her mouth went numb and Kaiba fell down to her knees, her mind splitting apart like the worst migraine imaginable until she felt herself spiriting away from her body.
What the fuck was happening.
She could see the stone tablet from the museum. Herself, years past, carrying the body of a dead girl. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon stood before her, and Kaiba could feel her heart swelling with emotion. Yes. Her dragon. Her beloved, most loyal-
Use the Obelisk!
When Kaiba opened her eyes, she was back in the duel. She felt light and clear, almost, yet sick with despair. How could she have forgotten her most powerful card? The only card that truly mattered?
OBELISK.
"I play my magic card, Silent Doom!"
"That's not what you're supposed to do," screamed Ishizu, "That's not what I saw-"
"I write my own future!" declared Kaiba, "And I summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
The duel was finished. Ishizu hadn't been prepared, and Kaiba wiped out the rest of her life points. Mokuba had cheered loudly, and Kaiba felt a wave of pride come over her when Isono declared her the winner.
I showed them all who is my most honest servant, who has my pride and soul...
She didn't hear the other voice in her head, just her own. He was gone and Kaiba felt alone again. It was better that way.
Was Obelisk really the card to use-
"Nee-sama, you did it!"
She couldn't think clearly long enough before Mokuba came up and rammed her with a hug. Putting an arm around him, Kaiba just smiled before handing him her duel disk.
"I don't understand," began Ishizu, "Obelisk choose you. It wanted you to play it. You are the true owner of it."
"I have to trust in something more than God, and so I'll rely on my own skill and intelligence to win my duels. I don't need your fancy god cards to play and win."
Ishizu looked stunned.
"I guess I learned something today," she replied in a quiet voice. "I didn't think destiny could be rewritten. Thank you. I know you will help save my brother."
Chuckling, Kaiba just shook her head. As if. She was out to win for herself. Marik was just another duelist in her way. Like all the others.
But then she glanced and saw Jonouchi whooping loudly for her, she felt her blood run hot suddenly before turning away.
Well, that wasn't expected. Kaiba did not enjoy that little bodily reaction. She tried to tune out Jonouchi's voice.
That doesn't change anything.
For some reason within the friendship group, the concept of giving Yugi quiet time to prepare for duels and work on his strategy correlated to piling into Jonouchi's room and yammering incessantly about whatever was on their collective minds. Jonouchi normally wouldn't care but he couldn't help being offended this time-what about his need to prepare for duels? It was bad enough that he almost had to share his room with Honda and Otogi.
That said, everyone had decided to show up in his room to socialize anyway, so Jonouchi decided to take the opportunity to slip away and see Yugi alone. He knew eventually his absence would be noticed but hopefully no one would come looking for him until Jonouchi got some things off his chest. The things he needed to say couldn't be shared with anyone, really, but Jonouchi was going to lose it completely if he didn't take some of the load off. Yugi was the only person he could completely trust.
Maybe it would ease his mind to talk with the rest of the group about how troubled they were about Mai. Then again, maybe not. His situation with Mai was unique to the others, but he didn't exactly want to discuss it. Nor did he want people throwing their pity on him because they thought he had feelings for her. He cared about Mai as much as the rest of them, just not the way she wanted him to. That only really made him feel worse about what happened.
The walk to Yugi's room was long and silent. It occurred to Jonouchi along the way that, for all his vehement warnings to others about Marik, he wasn't taking any real precautions himself. He didn't feel especially endangered, though. For once, he was grateful not to be taken seriously-Marik had written him off as a pawn at best, collateral damage at worst. Jonouchi was far from being one of his primary targets.
Then again, so had Mai.
Jonouchi sighed as he stopped in front of Yugi's door. He hesitated before knocking, thinking ahead to the prospect of starting the conversation he came to have. He had seconds thoughts, now that he'd actually arrived. Did he really want to do this? He was probably wasting his time and Yugi's. Honestly, he should just keep it to himself. There were far more pressing things at hand than his stupid feelings.
Somehow in the midst of these thoughts he still ended up knocking on the door. Part of his brain must have made the decision for him while he was preoccupied. It only took a few seconds for the sound of an electric lock to reach his ears, and then the door slid open with a light swoosh. Yugi stood on the other side, looking cautious at first, but his face brightened when he saw Jonouchi.
"Hey, Yugi," Jonouchi greeted. His voice was flat despite minor efforts to sound normal, and he knew Yugi could tell. His expression was already shifting to concern, his eyes more attentive as he scanned Jonouchi's face. "Uh-I'm sorry to bother you, but do you have a minute?"
Jonouchi paused, finding he was still reluctant to follow through, but it was too late to go back now. Yugi knew something was up, and he wasn't likely to drop it.
"Of course, Jonouchi-kun, I was just preparing myself for bed."
Yugi stood aside so Jonouchi could enter, and the door shut after him. It was so quiet in Yugi's suite, compared to his. Not just because there wasn't a herd of people in it, but because there was less noise from the airship itself-what little noise the craft did make. There wasn't so much as a low hum in here.
Jonouchi immediately sat heavily in one of the chairs. He felt like he was melting into it. He knew he was mentally exhausted and he didn't like being confronted with the physical evidence.
"What's wrong," Yugi asked hesitantly. "Did you want to talk about Mai?"
"Kind of," Jonouchi muttered. He knew Yugi was just being considerate, but Mai was the last thing Jonouchi wanted to deal with right now. He couldn't even bear to go to her infirmary bed right now. "I feel like shit about what happened to her, Yugi. I should have at least made sure the last time we talked together, before she dueled Marik, that we were on good terms."
"Well, what exactly happened?" asked Yugi. He was frowning, his eyes becoming soft. His hands were stroking the puzzle around his neck, although Jonouchi was sure he wasn't even aware he was doing it. "She didn't seem on good terms with anyone during the duel... I mean, she seemed angry whenever we tried to cheer her on. I didn't understand."
Jonouchi fiddled with a wrinkle in his jeans for a second or two before responding.
"She was upset that I'm not into her," Jonouchi stated indelicately. Beating around the bush wasn't going to change the facts of the situation. "And I didn't exactly do a good job trying to patch it up."
Yugi's eyes went big. "Not into her? What do you mean?"
"Well, she's been...hitting on me, you know?" Jonouchi tried to explain. Had Yugi really not noticed? Mai had never been shy about getting touchy or flirty with Jonouchi, not even in front of others. "And I mean, I can definitely see why I should like her that way but I just don't."
I should like her, but I want someone else I'll never have, he thought. He tried to make the words come out of his mouth but it didn't work. Something failed along the way. He should have known talking about Kaiba and Mai wouldn't be so simple for him.
"Don't feel bad," Yugi offered with a small smile. "People can't force their feelings for someone just as much as they can't stop having feelings they might already have."
Somehow, those consoling words filled Jonouchi with a strange ache he didn't understand. He stared at Yugi, trying to force himself to finally admit what he'd been hiding for so long, but instead he ended up hunched with his face in his hands.
"I fucked up, Yugi," he announced, certainly not for the first time in their acquaintance, but in this case he was in extreme distress. "There's nothing I can do about it, but-look, I really like someone who doesn't like me at all and probably never will..."
"Are you talking about Kaiba-san?" Yugi asked gently. "I knew about that already. Not that it was obvious," he continued, waving his hands in front of his face with an anxious smile. "I promise, nobody else knows but I had a feeling about it a long time ago... And I understand."
Jonouchi stared at Yugi in shock and disbelief. What was he supposed to say to that? Yugi had known for how long now? And on top of that, he didn't seem especially bothered or worried over it. Jonouchi tried to stop himself from reeling so he could reply.
"But Yugi," he argued, even though really he should have taken his friend's understanding and run with it, "I feel like I shouldn't like her. I know why I do, and I probably couldn't stop if I wanted to at this point, but…"
"So why feel bad about it?" Yugi crossed his legs and straightened up on his seat. "Kaiba-san isn't the nicest person in the world, I'll admit that much, but she's not the worst, either. If you see something admirable in her, well, that's a good thing, right?"
"Well...yeah, I mean, when you put it that way," Jonouchi mumbled. He was still confused, but he was grateful for the sense of relief that washed over him. Yugi was the only person he knew who wouldn't have responded with shock and possibly disgust. After all, he was the one out of all of them who had never really been bitter after everything Kaiba had done to them in high school. "I don't know. I don't like the way it feels. Well, I like the way it feels to like her but I don't like how it feels knowing that nothing will ever come of it."
He felt his face getting hot. God, it made him feel even more stupid saying it out loud. He needed to get a grip and stop having emotions all over the place. His younger self would never have been able to see him as a real man with how much brooding he did. Then again, his younger self was kind of a shitbag. He probably shouldn't base his actions on that guy he didn't want to be like anymore.
"I think about Kaiba all the time and I still get so nervous around her," Jonouchi frowned. He was in it for the long haul, now. May as well confess everything. "I feel like I should just forget about her. She's not going to suddenly decide I'm worth her time, especially not romantically. But I can't seem to drop it."
"Why do you doubt yourself so much, Jonouchi? I know that Kaiba-san isn't your greatest fan but she doesn't hate you, either," said Yugi.
"You see, the trick to surviving Kaiba is you don't take anything she says to heart. If you do, you'll be continually bleeding all over," Yugi joked. "She's said stuff that has hurt me, too. Done things that hurt me deeply, but... I still believe that in the end of the day, when everything's been said and done, she's still my friend. She's just not well yet."
Jonouchi mulled that over for a bit. There was a lot of merit in that advice, even if he wasn't quite as much of a sponge for emotional abuse as Yugi was. He certainly wasn't a dweller, per se, but Jonouchi had trouble letting things go when he felt the need to have someone's respect. With Kaiba, it seemed like earning her respect came from shrugging her off. He wasn't sure he could pull it off well.
"So you think she's just damaged?" Jonouchi snorted slightly. It reminded him, a lot actually, of the time when he saw Kaiba as somebody to save.
"I don't like the term 'damaged'," Yugi asserted. "Do you remember during Death T? What happened after I dueled her?"
"Yeah…" Jonouchi responded quietly. He was a little sobered by the memory, but he was more sobered by the reminder of what Yugi-or "other Yugi"-was capable of. Not just what he could do, but what he would do to someone who crossed him. He hadn't put anyone down recently...but Jonouchi wasn't exactly comfortable with that entity, and he had no idea if it would ever happen again.
"She's been putting herself together ever since," Yugi replied equally as quietly, "And it may take some time for her to heal completely. A lot of bad things happened to her, and since she doesn't speak to anyone about it, all we can do is be there for her until she feels ready to reach out."
"Jeez, Yugi," Jonouchi laughed, "No wonder she likes you. As much as she'll like anyone, at least."
He tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair nervously.
"What's on your mind?" Yugi asked.
"A lot, believe it or not," Jonouchi joked, though he didn't manage to laugh at himself, "Yugi, I really appreciate the advice. I never really thought that deeply about what happened then, you know?"
"Can I tell you something, Jonouchi-kun?"
"Of course!" Jonouchi blinked in surprise, wondering why the question even needed to be asked. After what he'd been saying, he should hope that Yugi wasn't nervous about telling him anything.
"If you want Kaiba-san to like you, you need to gain her respect. And if you want to gain her respect, you need to act like you are worthy of her respect. Do you understand what I mean?" Yugi's knees bobbed up and down a little as he scratched his head. "She used to intimidate me, too."
"How did you get over that, though?" Jonouchi asked, watching Yugi with wide eyes. "I swear Yugi, sometimes I'd rather be fighting a tiger than try talking to her."
That was embarrassing to admit, but for a long time it had been true. His last conversation with her hadn't been a disaster, by any means, but it always left him feeling emotionally drained. He still wasn't sure what had kept his nervousness in check the last time. Maybe it was being motivated by the desire to protect, rather than a need to gain her approval.
"I guess my first hurdle will be thinking of myself as respectable," Jonouchi blurted before he could stop himself. He really hadn't wanted to say that. Tackling his insecurity was still a challenge for him even as an adult. He saw a flash of sympathy crossing Yugi's face and waved a hand dismissively.
"It's not a big deal, don't worry," Jonouchi attempted to wave off, "Everyone has doubts about themselves, right? It's hard to stay confident in your abilities when you're surrounded by gaming prodigies, ya know?"
He was keeping his tone light, but he was being honest. Yugi and Kaiba were both incredibly skilled and talented, master strategists (in areas beyond games, in Kaiba's case), and well accomplished at professional dueling. Kaiba managed to run a massive corporation while maintaining her philanthropic pursuits and being a world champion player. Jonouchi was a slightly flustered up-and-coming semi-professional from a broken home with a rough background. He lacked any real titles.
"Would you consider maybe trying to talk to her tonight?" Yugi suggested. "Just go and congratulate her on her recent win, tell her that you enjoyed watching her duel. If you did, I bet she'd be so taken off guard from your sincerity that you might even be able to flatter her a little." He winked as Jonouchi began to blush.
"Oh well," he muttered, "That might just work."
He kind of wished he'd thought of it himself but the fact that Yugi thought it was a good idea filled him with more confidence than he would have mustered while drowning in his own doubt.
"I will," Jonouchi decided, now far more resolute as the plausibility sank in, "I mean, what's the worst she can do? There are only so many different ways she can call me an idiot."
He laughed more earnestly this time. It was strange-he felt light somehow, like he'd lifted something off his shoulders. If he'd known it would be such a good idea to just face Kaiba from the start, he would have talked to Yugi a long time ago. What a moron he'd been, to think he couldn't confide in his best friend.
"Just don't show any fear, Jonouchi," advised Yugi. "Just like if you were in a duel. You have to use a poker face around her."
Yugi started laughing a little bit though, and shook his head.
"It's just another game, at the end of the day. How does that sound?"
"All right," Jonouchi nodded, "I can work with that. Games sure as hell don't intimidate me."
"Then neither should she!"
Jonouchi wandered down the hallways of the airship with decidedly lacking urgency, his mind still on his conversation with Kaiba despite his attempts not to overthink it. He couldn't come up with another topic to fill that thought space, and he didn't know what to do with an empty mental silence. So his thoughts returned to those few minutes again and again.
He was approaching the hallway that would lead him to his room when he heard echoing footsteps. As they grew closer, he was able to identify their direction better through the metallic echo, and he knew whoever was approaching was coming from straight ahead. He slowed his pace slightly, not wanting to reach the corner first, but the other person reduced speed somewhere just around the turn and paused. Jonouchi waited, not quite afraid but certainly not foolishly un-afraid enough to storm ahead like there wasn't a psycho on board.
Despite not being afraid, he was definitely tense; he jumped a little when a face suddenly appeared around the corner, expression serious and confrontational. It was Honda. This time, he'd proven the braver (or at least less patient) of the two of them and opted for facing danger head-on. Jonouchi grumbled as Honda straightened and waltzed toward him casually like he hadn't just been anxiously crouched out of sight.
"Why are you sneaking around?" Jonouchi demanded. Honda had known him long enough not to let him cover his embarrassment with confrontation.
"Waiting on you, that's all," mumbled Honda. "I'd rather not share a bed with Otogi, man..."
"Scared he might want to cuddle?" Jonouchi joked, knowing full well the actual reason, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity. He graciously withheld the beatings he wanted to unleash on Honda and Otogi for chasing his sister around like starving strays. Wasn't he owed an opportunity to make Honda uncomfortable, too? "Or are you worried he'll be the big spoon?"
"Dude, that's not cool to bring up," Honda snorted. "I don't know him like that. I'm not sharing a room with him. I'd rather hang out with my best bud."
"Okay, okay. Fair enough," Jonouchi huffed, a little disappointed in himself for being so easily swayed by sentiment. Ah, well. No point standing around throwing juvenile insults at one another. "I think Otogi's just arrogant enough not to be worried about sleeping in a room on his own, so everyone benefits I guess. If you count having you attack me in your sleep as a 'benefit'."
Honda was an "active" sleeper. Jonouchi had learned this lesson to watch his space well after having been beaten up in his sleep a few times. As preteens and teenagers having sleepovers, it used to rile him up. Now Jonouchi didn't care so much. Maybe it was a sign of his maturity that he didn't take it so personally anymore although it still hurt to have Honda slug him in the face while asleep. Or be kicked. Or just rudely awakened by shouting gibberish. He decided not to bring it up to Honda, who would be quick to dismiss him as a total wuss and likely not change the course of his actions at all.
"... Where did you just get here from?" asked Honda. "Were you talking to Yugi? About what happened to Mai?"
"Yeah, kinda," Jonouchi replied, briefly averting his eyes in a gesture that could be mistaken for sullen. Mainly he was hiding his eyes in case they revealed his dishonesty. "It was too noisy in my room. I needed a one-on-one, you know?"
He met Honda's eyes again, his confidence in his facade restored by speaking technical truths. And so long as he was entertaining white lies, he had spoken with Yugi about Mai. He wasn't exactly lying, just being a little truth-evasive. He should be used to it by now, after how long he'd held his secret about Kaiba, but he'd never been quite so close to discovery before. Thank god Honda hadn't decided to wander around ten minutes earlier.
"You know, if you needed to talk to someone, you could always talk to me," offered Honda. "I might not be as smart as Yugi, but I can still listen. I know you care a lot about Mai. She's, like, the closest person you've had to an actual girlfriend."
Jonouchi tried to hide the fact that he was stung by that. The worst part was, it was pretty much true.
"I dunno, I can't have you thinking I've gone that soft," Jonouchi joked, but it was a poor attempt at diverting the conversation. Honda looked determined to be serious, which meant Jonouchi was either going to have to scare him off with anger or become better at lying for a few minutes. "And yeah, I care about Mai. She's not my girlfriend, but I care about her."
One thing Jonouchi depended on from Yugi was a certain level of perceptiveness. He wasn't the King of Games for nothing - he was exceptionally good at reading people for being such a long time loner. Honda either couldn't do it or couldn't be bothered to try, so Jonouchi wasn't sure he should expend the energy on explaining that Mai wanted him more than he wanted her, or even if he should go there. He was already exhausted with the topic.
"Aren't you more angry at Marik though?" Honda shifted his feet, looking a tad uneasy. "I mean, damn. Mai might not ever wake back up. What will you do then?"
"What do you want me to do, go cry in the infirmary?" Jonouchi retorted, but it was ineffective at dismissing the line of questioning.
"No, but you haven't even visited her..."
Jonouchi wasn't sure what to say to that. He had a handful of justified but hard to discuss reasons for not visiting Mai in the infirmary. He'd been over it with Yugi to an extent, and he wasn't sure he wanted to get into it twice in an evening.
"Me being there isn't gonna wake her up," he stated, as the best summary he could muster, "And I'm unhappy about the whole thing. Going in there to watch her sleep would be too hard."
"I understand that," Honda agreed.
Somehow, wordlessly, they both decided that standing in the middle of the hallway was unnecessary. Neither of them did any maneuvers when rounding corners on the way back to Jonouchi's room. Jonouchi scoffed at the very idea of being afraid when he had Honda there to watch his back. The two of them had handled crazies before, hadn't they? Not exactly of Marik's unique caliber, but they'd had their share of street fights as young teens and won most of them. That association mentally transitioned Jonouchi from being anxious to confident and possibly a little cocky. He blamed it on old habits.
His room was blissfully quiet and empty when they arrived. Honda immediately made himself comfortable in a seat, as he did basically anywhere he went, and Jonouchi followed suit. He didn't feel like lying down yet, even though it was late. His mind was too busy. So instead, he sat limp on the same couch where Honda was sprawled.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to sleep tonight," Jonouchi complained, as if there was some conspiracy against him specifically to blame. He was self-aware enough not to think anything of the sort, but indulging a split second of self-pity was a little relieving.
"Maybe there's alcohol in the cooler," Honda suggested. "You might try that. A few hard drinks would knock me out no problem."
"I know they'd knock you out no problem," Jonouchi replied with a smirk as he took that advice. Lo and behold, there really was alcohol in the cooler. He paused for a moment as he thought about the fact that being inebriated during what could be the most important tournament of his life might be a bad idea, even without Marik floating around. But he accepted his own weak reassurances that he'd always been more than able to handle his alcohol.
Jonouchi's American father might have been a bad drunk but he could outlast the best of them before passing out. More than the average Japanese man, for sure, and Jonouchi had the same alcohol tolerance. He'd been drinking beer since he was fifteen, and to date, hadn't ever passed out unless he was drinking way too much hard liquor.
Besides, there was also free coffee all day on the damn blimp, and that was all Jonouchi required to get himself moving the next day.
"So," Honda began, appearing almost ready to fall asleep from the look on his face, eyelids drooping and unable to keep from yawning, "What did you think of Kaiba's duel today against that foreign woman? I thought Kaiba was going to get her ass beat out of her own tournament."
"Ishizu's strategy was definitely tricky," Jonouchi muttered, half-focused on the conversation as he poured out the sake he'd found, "But Kaiba didn't become a national champion because she gets psyched out easily when a duel doesn't go as planned."
He returned to the couch with two cups of sake, because whether he asked or not, Honda would drink if Jonouchi was drinking. It wasn't like they both had intensely strategy-based games to win the next day. Honda could nurse his inevitable hangover safely from the sidelines.
"What will you do if you have the chance to go against her yourself?" Honda snorted. "You might end up dueling against Yugi too."
"Yugi? Well, he and I have dueled before... whatever happens, happens," Jonouchi shrugged and sipped his sake. It had been longer than he thought since the last time he drank-this current stuff was better than the crap he remembered as a teen.
Kaiba would be a whole other matter. Jonouchi knew that facing her might be inevitable, if he was to make it to the final rounds. How would he manage that? Was he going to be as nervous facing her in a duel as he was trying to talk to her? There was a quiet but stubborn voice in his head that was irritated with him at having to even ask, and that gave him some hope. But it was still a troubling future to contemplate. What would he do if she beat him?
What would happen if he managed to beat her?
His brow furrowed as he continued to think himself into a corner. He grunted quietly and topped off his cup of sake.
"I'd think you'd want to face Kaiba," Honda mused, his face lit up slightly from the pink growing on his cheeks. "You always wanted to take her down a few notches before."
"I respect Kaiba better now than I used to," Jonouchi surmised. "I didn't before as much as I should have. If I went against her now, it would be a close, hard fight."
"But you think you could win, right?" Honda made a show of flexing his arm before laughing as Jonouchi shook his head. "She can't be impossible to beat if Yugi's been able to."
"Yugi is a genius," laughed Jonouchi. Did Honda not understand how terrifying Kaiba was to face because she was a woman? That seemed likely. And disappointing, that Honda could be so deluded. "The rest of us mere mortals know that Kaiba's strategy is near perfect and requires a lot of luck to break."
Jonouchi's gamble cards could do the trick, but they'd just as likely backfire in his face.
"Besides, she's got a lot of confidence in herself that most of us amateurs don't."
"You're hardly an amateur, Jonouchi," argued Honda as he swung back the rest of his glass of sake. His face seemed slightly twisted, like he was upset, and then he waited for Jonouchi to top off his glass for him. "You really know how to play. I've never seen you so good at something before that wasn't, you know, illegal. I might not duel myself but I really admire you for it."
Jonouchi blinked. He could feel his face burning up a little, and he couldn't blame it entirely on the alcohol.
"Well, I'm not that great," Jonouchi argued. "So many other players have sponsors and contracts and get promotional work done. I'm just a kid who got lucky a few times."
"I don't think so." Honda took another swig, his face now colored as his eyes became more intense. "You beat so many great players, and by yourself. Bonz, Mai, Keith, Mako, Haga, and Ryuzaki. More than half of them were professionals, and you bested them more than once!"
Jonouchi smiled nervously. Was Honda drunk already?
"You could beat Kaiba, too," Honda continued. "She's just an angry, spoiled little rich girl. You could show her what guys like us are made out of. Street guys!"
Honda grabbed Jonouchi's face and pulled him in until they were cheek to cheek. Jonouchi wanted to pull away but he was afraid that if he did, Honda might just hold onto him harder. Was this a bro moment? Or something else? Shifting his eyes nervously, Jonouchi was afraid to ask. Brown hair was pressed against his face and he could make out the warm pressure of foreign skin against his own as his own face started to heat up.
"Honda, let go. You're hurting me."
"Sorry man!"
Honda then belched and got up, heading towards the bathroom. Jonouchi watched him silently, glad that Honda couldn't read his mind. He could feel his skin tingling and didn't want to really think too much harder about it. Why was he feeling so embarrassed? Honda was just a touchy guy sometimes and Jonouchi wanted to just wave it off.
Topping off his own glass, Jonouchi took another drink. He needed his head cleared if he hoped to get any sleep before the end of the night.
When Mai woke up, she found herself surrounded by intense sun, sand trickling on her face. Wiping her eyes, she stretched out and stood up, but knocked the top of her head on something hard. Looking up, she saw the top of an hourglass, her body just barely fitting inside of it.
"Hello my dear," Marik greeted, his eyes flashing wildly as he stood in mid-air, "Do you see your friends down there?"
Looking through the glass, Mai could see figures on the beach. It looked like a resort and Mai saw Honda and Jonouchi in the water, playing volleyball while Yugi and Anzu sat in the sand making a castle. Shizuka and Otogi were in the water too, and Mai thought she could see the figure of Kaiba sitting under a giant black umbrella with fancy black sunglasses on, tablet in her hands.
"Where the hell am I?"
Mai tried to kick the glass, but it did nothing.
"This is my penalty game, can't you see? What were you afraid of? Oh yes, that's right!" Marik exclaimed, "Being alone! So guess what? You're all alone, and your friends have forgotten you.
"Oh, and one last thing. Once this hour glass is full, you'll die. I hope you enjoy this time alone to ponder your relationships as much as I enjoyed our duel together! Ta ta!"
"Come back here-!"
Marik was gone. She could only hear the calming sounds of the ocean, and the laughter of the gang below. Despite being so far up in the air, she could hear and see everything.
Jonouchi grinned towards Kaiba and turned his attention away from the ball game, running up to her before grabbing her legs. Kaiba's black sun glasses fell off with her tablet, and Jonouchi quickly had her over his shoulder, the two of them shouting at each other before Jonouchi unceremoniously dumped her into the water.
"Well, at least that spoiled brat got what was coming to her..."
But then Jonouchi got under the water and Mai gasped angrily when he picked Kaiba up into his arms and kissed her.
What! Them? Together?!
Mai wanted to scream but no one was paying attention to her. Not even Yugi or Anzu or anyone else on the beach was paying any attention to what Jonouchi and Kaiba were doing, let alone glancing up Mai's way.
Well Mai, you always knew there was something going on between them. Who did Jonouchi go into the virtual world to save? Not you. It doesn't matter how much you might try to get his attention, he's only ever had eyes for that girl. You're just an old lady to him. He never wanted you to begin with.
How could that be true? Jonouchi cared about her. He always tried to protect her. Wasn't their relationship special?
You know Jonouchi doesn't think about you. Not in that way.
Kaiba had her arms around Jonouchi's shoulders and her legs wrapped around his hips. Despite earlier protests to the contrary, she seemed perfectly fine being in Jonouchi's arms now. He was looking at her with a silly smile on his face, and Kaiba was just barely smiling back when she glanced up at the sky, her eyes dark and her mouth turning into a slight smirk before turning away.
Mai slammed on the glass with two fists. Kaiba could see her.
"You damn hussy," she screamed, "You skank! You know I'm stuck in here and you're not doing anything about it!"
Kaiba looked at Mai one last time before giving her a seductive eye wink.
Sand was trickling steadily on Mai's head. Her feet were covered in it, and Mai fell over exhausted, leaning against the glass. Looking up, she saw a steady stream of golden yellow falling like snow, gentle and continuous. Her slow death.
Mai looked back one more time at the beach scene, watching as Jonouchi let Kaiba down to her feet. They were both swimming together alone and Mai could easily imagine herself there instead, the way things should have been. The way she wanted things to be.
But instead of herself in the black designer bikini, pointing a well-pedicured toe at Jonouchi's golden-tanned leg, it was Kaiba. Kaiba, Kaiba, Kaiba. It was always Kaiba, even when Kaiba didn't want the attention. Even when she treated Jonouchi like shit. She was still the only woman Jonouchi ever seemed to truly care about.
Kaiba was now pulling him close into the water and kissing him, and Mai could only scream, even though those screams would never venture past her own ears.