Hey minna (a.k.a "everyone" for those who don't know too much Japanese…join the club!) Anyhoo, I'm a new Yu-Gi-Oh writer, though I've been a long time Dragonball Z fan and writer. Check out my story "Gone in A Blink" if you're a fan too. I just started watching Yu-Gi-Oh, but I daresay that I know quite a bit about the characters. My favorite characters are Mai Kujaku (Valentine), Joey Wheeler (his Japanese name is too hard to write!), and possibly Seto Kaiba. Maybe. Tea is an annoying freak of a whiner, and since I don't want to offend anyone past saying that Tea is so dang annoying that I really hate her, she will probably not appear in this fic. Maybe in a mention or two.
Well, this story is a Joey/Mai/Seto triangle fiction. There are too few Mai/Seto fics out there, and I love Mai/Joey fics, so I'm fixing this huge deficit while satiating my love of Mai/Joey fics. So here goes…
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Seto Kaiba carelessly scuffed the toe of his shiny black dress shoe through the fallen sticks and grass that littered the ground. Merely glancing coldly at a soggy leaf that had stuck to his shoe, he ignored it and kept walking to the lake. Maybe if he shadowing his adopted father, entertaining all those "big businessmen" and learning to present "the latest Kaiba Corp. product, guaranteed to make a splash in markets worldwide at release", he might care. But not here. Not now. He wasn't trying to be ungrateful. Yes, his "father" had rescued him from a life of moving from one concrete orphanage to another, looked after by state wardens no different from an icy penitentiary guard. And yes, he had been the only one to willing to listen to a desperate, tiny child and adopt his brother as well. For that, Seto was grateful. For only that. Seto Kaiba trudged on through bramble bushes, ignoring the sharp sting of the nettles as he fumed. He was barely fifteen, a sophomore in high school! For his "father" to exploit Seto's genius by pressuring to follow after his steps, to pound economics and finance into his head when he should be out making friends, to shape him into the ideal Kaiba Corporation CEO and owner. That was unforgivable; to save him only to put him in a mold. Did his father even think about what he wanted? Did his father only adopt him because he wanted to mold him into a mini businessman? Did he ever have a choice? If only he escape…
As he neared the lake, its dull platinum ripples catching the moonlight, his shoulders visibly relaxed. The sandy beach around the lake was touched only by the wind, sweeping through the tall grasses and delicate flowers that grew along the banks. The forest around the lake isolated the serene beauty of lake. The clear water shone like a mirror, reflecting the stars dancing gently overhead, and ghostly breaths of wind came flying across the surface. Who needed a psychiatrist when you could have all of nature's calming beauty for yourself? Psychiatrists were for wimps, losers. Seto smirked slightly as he neared his favorite spot, the place where no one told him what to be or what to do. Screw supply, demand, and elastic competition!
He stood there rigidly, arms folded across his chest, like the marble statue of a Roman emperor: cold, solemn, and haunted. As a chilly wind stirred the crushed sand beneath his shoes, Kaiba bent down to pick up a piece of slate from the lakeside and hurled it into the lake. If there was one good thing that business did teach him, it was that in this life, you needed to be brutal. Like cold ice, solid rock. There was no room for feelings; if you had any, you would be found out and immediately destroyed by your enemies. They showed you no mercy, and you showed them none. He picked up another piece of slate, feeling its weight in his cold hand, the solid mass resting heavily in the palm of his hand. His hand convulsively clenched, and the slate crumbled easily in his hand as he thought about his brother's earlier comment.
You need to get out more, Seto. There are so many girls who would love to go out with you. You need someone to love…
Seto Kaiba snorted. His brother had looked up at him with his shiny innocent eyes, oblivious to the bitter world that was raging outside.
"I really should keep him from listening to those pop songs. They're corrupting his mind." Seto commented idly, watching the crushed slate trickle through his fingers. Out of all the weak emotions, love was the worst. Not only did most people mistake animal lust for "true love", but love could and would destroy a person. Anyone could use the person you loved to manipulate you, to hurt you, to kill you. Worst, the person you loved could turn on you and break your soul. He had his soul stolen once, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. Seto finished grinding the rest of the slate to dust and let it drop to the hard ground. Yes, love would ruin you. And he already had Mokuba to worry about. He didn't need anyone else.
As his frosty blue eyes stared out vacantly at the smooth waves distorting the clear water, a light reflecting gently off a rippling golden surface caught his attention. He squinted into the distance at the light. Something, someone, a dark figure, was huddled on a large rock. After debating what he should do, he sighed and strode over to where the light was emanating from. His legs moved smoothly but mechanically, covering more than 5 feet at a time. He didn't care what or who was on the rock, nor for what reason they were there, Kaiba convinced himself as he strode detachedly toward the rock. He had nothing to do, and he was curious. Nothing more. Plus, the person (or whatever it was) was sitting his rock, the place where he usually sat when he came. The whole lake should be his secret, and only his. He sighed again and continued toward the rock, his dark coat flying behind him like a cape. The stars overhead sparkled, then were gone, blotted out by a black cloud overhead.
As he neared yards of the large rock, Seto Kaiba squinted his eyes and peered into through the mist at the lonesome golden figure. He was within 20 feet of the rock when Kaiba's usually cold, unperturbed expression dropped into an expression of shock. The person on the rock, equally shocked, looked up with wide violet-maroon eyes and quickly whipped her head away, golden waves streaming behind her. But she was too late. Seto Kaiba had seen her tear-stained, wind-reddened cheeks, and her large glassy eyes.
"Mai?" he said, his voice filled with more shock (and possibly emotion) than he cared to show.
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That's the end of this chapter. Review if you want more…I promise there'll be more action next time. A little fight with Mai and Seto, who by the way, are not all too friendly at school. There will be a sweet resolution though. And why is Mai crying on the lake? Looks like popular Mai Valentine and cold Seto Kaiba might have more in common than they think.
See ya later!