Okies, here's another chapter for you guys!!! Enjoy, and don't forget to review!! ^____^

Sorry for the wait, but I have loads and tons of homework, so please bear with me!!!

Special thanks to hushpuppy24 and all of you who reviewed my fic!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own yugioh. blah blah blah. onto the fic -



The Day That Joey Left Ch 5

By Anime Queen



#...# - Mai's thoughts

@...@ - Seto's thoughts

*.* - Joey's thoughts

%...% - Tristan's thoughts

. - Tea's thoughts

(.) - Yugi's thoughts

#Where could Seto have gone?# Mai thought impatiently as she stood at the site of their last campout together. #He probably went after Pegasus.# she realized.

#That Joey. what a dweeb!# Mai threw her head back and laughed as she remembered that afternoon. Right after Joey won their duel.

F L A S H B A C K

"You know, Joey, loosing all my star chips isn't funny."

"That's why I'm here. Let's make a deal."

"With you? No way!"

"You'd rather be towed off the island? Then that's fine with me!" and he started walking back to his friends.

"Wait!" she called after him, and when he turned around, she added, "What kind of deal?"

Joey walked up to her and beckoned her after him as he went further into the woods.

#He has a nice behind.# Mai thought as she followed a couple of paces behind Joey. #I wonder how good he is.#

"Ok, this is far enough. What do you want?" Mai stopped abruptly and stood there, tapping her foot, arms crossed.

"Huh? Oh, ok," he turned around to face her.

"So.?" she eyed him expectantly.

"You put up a pretty good duel," Joey started, and opened his mouth to say something else, but paused as he saw Mai approach him.

"And?" she asked slowly in a sexy voice.

"And. uh. I was wondering if. uh."

He could not get out another word, since their faces were dangerously close together. Mai clamped her hand over the top of Joey's head and pulled him closer, until their lips met. Mai could feel Joey resisting, and finally he pulled back.

"What the." he started, but Mai was on his neck again. While trying move back, Joey stumbled and fell, with Mai on top of him. They slithered across the clearing, Joey all the time struggling to throw Mai off of him. When they finally stopped for breath, Joey managed to squeeze his body from under Mai's.

"Don't you know I have a girl."

But Mai cut him off again by pushing her mouth over his.

"Yeah, I know," she told him playfully. Joey's protests were silenced by yet another kiss.

E N D F L A S H B A C K

Mai laughed out loud again, throwing her hands out and spinning in a circle.

***

@Where could Mai be?@

Seto's been searching for her since this morning, but it was as if she'd just vanished. Ever since he caught them making out, he's been thinking about their relationship.

@What exactly does she want?@ he kept thinking over and over. He's never been able to understand other people, let alone a woman like Mai. Even if she was his girlfriend, he never felt really close to her.

@Maybe what I saw wasn't Mai's fault@

He was having these sort of thoughts all day long, but he couldn't be sure until he found Mai and confronted her about it. She was always unpredictable, from the time they met, and possibly even before.

FLASHBACK

@Where are you Mai?@

Seto had his back pushed up against the wall, his revolver drawn. He checked his watch. 03:45 am. @She should have been here half an hour ago!@ he screamed in his head. @I should have never agreed to do this with her for a partner. What if she doesn't show up? How am I supposed to do this by myself?@

He sneaked a peak at the men on the boat deck.

@Damn it, Mai! Why can't you ever follow the plan?@

There were about a dozen of them aboard, each armed to the teeth.

@I can't fail this, my career can't end just because of that darned bitch!@ he was still screaming in his mind.

@I have to go in@

He abandoned the safety of the shadows and raced towards the dock.

"Shit, they've finished up loading," he talked to himself, to try and think the most logical move in the situation, but no ideas came to him.

"Well if I can't bring the bastards down, I might as well die trying," he muttered. He checked if his pistol was loaded, and his last thought was,

@I hope I drank enough beer to get me through this@

The rest was a blur. He was slightly conscious of the hard metal hitting his skin, and his hot blood oozing out of the tears in his trench coat. His left sleeve was soaked, but he kept his own stream of bullets flying, always listening for the reassuring 'thump' when they hit the target. Seto lost track of time. And then he heard it. The faint clicking sound that emerged from his empty gun.

"Fuck!" he cursed aloud and dodged behind a stack of crates for cover, while the stream of fire now seemed to come even faster and more concentrated. Seto fumbled in his pockets for extra bullets, and quickly reloaded, prepared to finish the job. He waited while the gunfire ceased a little, and then drew out his spare gun. He spun the wheel, checking to make sure it was full. Only now was he conscious of the pain in his left shoulder. He cursed again, partly at the pain, partly at himself, and partly at Mai for not showing up as planned.

When he glanced out cautiously, the boat was slowly rocking, the engine kicking in.

"No you don't," he muttered, opening fire onto the men left on deck. He managed to wipe out two of them before they realized what was happening. But the rest of the crew soon opened fire on Seto.

Suddenly, the hull of the boat blew up, sending the remaining men into the water. Seto's arm flew up instinctively to shield his face from the flying debris, and when he opened his eyes again, the boat was sinking. A figure in a black tight outfit jumped from the broken deck onto the pier, neatly nailing a guy who crawled up from the water, creeping up behind Seto.

Seto turned around, glaring at the figure in the black attire. It pulled off the black mask to reveal a mass of blonde hair. A pair of amethyst eyes locked themselves with Seto's icy blue, and a small smile crept onto the dainty lips.

"You were supposed to follow the plan," Seto said coldly, but deep inside he was glad for the way things had turned out. Not entirely glad, but they did stop the shipment, and for him, that was enough.

Mai dismissed his words with a wave of her hand.

"It still worked," she told him and shrugged.

"You could've shown up sooner, you know."

She looked at his bleeding arm and the bruises, only now aware of the metal rod through her upper leg. She tried to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge.

"You shouldn't move it, you're risking further injury," he told her in a more soothing tone.

"I'll be fine, Kaiba," she retorted in a warning voice, and he held up his hands in retreat. "Just be glad I showed up when I did," she added as an afterthought, walking quickly, without limping or flinching towards the police cars now gathered around the pier.

END FLASHBACK

That was how it all started. They graduated from the police academy together a year later, and were together ever since.

@It would be such a pity to loose her now@

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Wow that was long!!! Once you get into it, it comes easy, don't you think?? Promise the next chapter will come out in about a week or two tho. ^_^ Well review and tell me what yall thought about it!! Again, I apologize for making yall wait, but I have new fics to update, namely, Denser than Metal and Never Meant to Be. so please be patient!!! PS: yall can read my other fics ^_~