Reflecting Back to That Day...
by Cooking Spray
Basic Mai/Jounouchi fluff, told from her POV. I wrote it, half- finished, and I liked it but didn't know what to do with it... so, I wrapped it up nicely and here you go! Kinda sweet, really. Enjoy!
Also, the 'Found What We Weren't Looking For' document seems to have (quote quote) "misplaced" itself on my hardrive. So here's another J/M vingette, just not the exact piece I intended to upload. Sorry for the inconvenience!
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Almost has been two months since this rugged battle has ended. A lot of change has happened since Kaiba started this game. And forever changed are we, although none of us really expected it.
This seems odd coming from someone like me, doesn't it? I'm used to the critcisms and stereotypes by this point. I'm a woman playing a man's game, and for that I'm underestimated. The fact I also come across as a pin- up model makes my male duelists give me a lower level of respect by thinking I haven't a brain because of my body. These things don't bother me much, I know myself their opinions are wrong, and I was always ready to prove it. Maybe a little too ready at times, too eager to succeed and prove a worth that was in vain. There will always be those who criticize no matter how you strive to reverse their image of you.
But someone showed me that didn't matter. Even though I scoffed at the time, I thought about those words for a long time after that duel. In a way, they revolutionized me. They were simple, as everything attributed them is, but conveyed a message more important to me than could be said even in Shakespearean writings.
That person was Jounouchi Katsuya.
I still chuckle a little at that. He's clumsy, he's even perhaps a little dense in moments. He's not the person you envision at the side of a girl like myself. I know I could have better. But do I want it? Isn't what I have the better for me?
And yet, I've come to love him. Despite his obvious faults. When you love, you learn to ignore such things, and in your eyes you see only purity. In Jounouchi I see a good heart, even though he's not so intelligent. I regret having broken it. I see a good friend. Someone who cares, who duels not out for trophies, money, or even superiority over his opponents, but for himself, to prove his confidence. His clumsiness is even a bit cute if you look at it in the right light.
I think back to a rainy day not but a month in the past.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I looked at my deck. Turning the familiar cards over in my hands. These were the cards that had won me so many battles. That had brought me to Battle City. And now it was over. I clenched and unclenched my fists, looking at them and trying to find something, anything to bring meaning to the hardships I had endured. My cards, just like my hands, somehow looked worn, soiled from battle.
A shadow blocked my path. I turned my glance to find my intruder. I didn't really feel like company. An empty emotion had overshadowed my soul ever since Battle City had come to a close. I wanted to be alone. I was still searching. But for what?
At last my eyes locked with the producer of the shadow. My eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Jounouchi!"
He smiled his famous good-natured grin. My cheeks felt hot. I was embarrassed for him to see me like this, so I quickly turned my head down.
"What's up, Mai?" he asked casually, his hands jammed in his pockets as he sauntered over to take a seat by me. That's the thing about Jounouchi; everything's casual.
Somehow my feelings of desperation and searching that I so desperately wanted to tap back into were shut off. I couldn't tell Jounouchi to go away, and somehow I didn't want him to. It was a funny feeling. For once, he was the dominant in the conversation.
He blinked once and cocked his head to the side in genuine puzzlement, something often imitated but almost never true. But it was with Jounouchi and easy and honest gesture to pull off. If I looked up I was sure I'd die.
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"
My cheeks flared, and he continued to look at me quizzically. "Amou, Jounouchi-kun...... I wasn't expecting you.........."
He grinned sheepishly, scratching his neck. "Oh, sorry.......... Heh, Just thought I'd say hello.......... I'll leave now, if you want to be alone......."
"Mm mm," I said in a small voice, barely within hearing.
"What?"
"Don't leave......"
He blinked confusedly. My internal fire was fed once more. God, it was so cute I could hardly stand it.
"Mai, really, all you have to say is-"
"Jounouchi-kun!" It was too much. I flung my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder to quell the feeling. He was shocked, but I didn't care. He was all around me, and everything was right with the world.
His eyes widened, I knew it, but I didn't care. Finally this part of me that had been aching just suddenly stopped, and I clung tighter. And I knew then it was right... more than ever.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ours was an odd relationship, for a while. I was shy but proud to be seen traversing the streets with my arm linked in his. But we both got used to it, eventually. We're happy now, Jou-kun and I, thinking about buying an apartment for ourselves or even renting out a little cottage in the country.
Guess dumb blondes flock together. But hey, I'm not objecting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Basic Mai/Jounouchi fluff, told from her POV. I wrote it, half- finished, and I liked it but didn't know what to do with it... so, I wrapped it up nicely and here you go! Kinda sweet, really. Enjoy!
Also, the 'Found What We Weren't Looking For' document seems to have (quote quote) "misplaced" itself on my hardrive. So here's another J/M vingette, just not the exact piece I intended to upload. Sorry for the inconvenience!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Almost has been two months since this rugged battle has ended. A lot of change has happened since Kaiba started this game. And forever changed are we, although none of us really expected it.
This seems odd coming from someone like me, doesn't it? I'm used to the critcisms and stereotypes by this point. I'm a woman playing a man's game, and for that I'm underestimated. The fact I also come across as a pin- up model makes my male duelists give me a lower level of respect by thinking I haven't a brain because of my body. These things don't bother me much, I know myself their opinions are wrong, and I was always ready to prove it. Maybe a little too ready at times, too eager to succeed and prove a worth that was in vain. There will always be those who criticize no matter how you strive to reverse their image of you.
But someone showed me that didn't matter. Even though I scoffed at the time, I thought about those words for a long time after that duel. In a way, they revolutionized me. They were simple, as everything attributed them is, but conveyed a message more important to me than could be said even in Shakespearean writings.
That person was Jounouchi Katsuya.
I still chuckle a little at that. He's clumsy, he's even perhaps a little dense in moments. He's not the person you envision at the side of a girl like myself. I know I could have better. But do I want it? Isn't what I have the better for me?
And yet, I've come to love him. Despite his obvious faults. When you love, you learn to ignore such things, and in your eyes you see only purity. In Jounouchi I see a good heart, even though he's not so intelligent. I regret having broken it. I see a good friend. Someone who cares, who duels not out for trophies, money, or even superiority over his opponents, but for himself, to prove his confidence. His clumsiness is even a bit cute if you look at it in the right light.
I think back to a rainy day not but a month in the past.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I looked at my deck. Turning the familiar cards over in my hands. These were the cards that had won me so many battles. That had brought me to Battle City. And now it was over. I clenched and unclenched my fists, looking at them and trying to find something, anything to bring meaning to the hardships I had endured. My cards, just like my hands, somehow looked worn, soiled from battle.
A shadow blocked my path. I turned my glance to find my intruder. I didn't really feel like company. An empty emotion had overshadowed my soul ever since Battle City had come to a close. I wanted to be alone. I was still searching. But for what?
At last my eyes locked with the producer of the shadow. My eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Jounouchi!"
He smiled his famous good-natured grin. My cheeks felt hot. I was embarrassed for him to see me like this, so I quickly turned my head down.
"What's up, Mai?" he asked casually, his hands jammed in his pockets as he sauntered over to take a seat by me. That's the thing about Jounouchi; everything's casual.
Somehow my feelings of desperation and searching that I so desperately wanted to tap back into were shut off. I couldn't tell Jounouchi to go away, and somehow I didn't want him to. It was a funny feeling. For once, he was the dominant in the conversation.
He blinked once and cocked his head to the side in genuine puzzlement, something often imitated but almost never true. But it was with Jounouchi and easy and honest gesture to pull off. If I looked up I was sure I'd die.
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"
My cheeks flared, and he continued to look at me quizzically. "Amou, Jounouchi-kun...... I wasn't expecting you.........."
He grinned sheepishly, scratching his neck. "Oh, sorry.......... Heh, Just thought I'd say hello.......... I'll leave now, if you want to be alone......."
"Mm mm," I said in a small voice, barely within hearing.
"What?"
"Don't leave......"
He blinked confusedly. My internal fire was fed once more. God, it was so cute I could hardly stand it.
"Mai, really, all you have to say is-"
"Jounouchi-kun!" It was too much. I flung my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder to quell the feeling. He was shocked, but I didn't care. He was all around me, and everything was right with the world.
His eyes widened, I knew it, but I didn't care. Finally this part of me that had been aching just suddenly stopped, and I clung tighter. And I knew then it was right... more than ever.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ours was an odd relationship, for a while. I was shy but proud to be seen traversing the streets with my arm linked in his. But we both got used to it, eventually. We're happy now, Jou-kun and I, thinking about buying an apartment for ourselves or even renting out a little cottage in the country.
Guess dumb blondes flock together. But hey, I'm not objecting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
