This is my first—ever!—Yu-Gi-Oh! 'fic! claps I'm a big fan, but haven't written anything at all yet. Well, after watching Yu-Gi-Oh! tonight I decided I should do this one. I've been thinking this up for a while, what if Mai liked Yugi and all, and I thought this would be a good way to present it first. It's short, bittersweet, and the first of several one-shots that will portray Mai's feelings on the matter. Hope you like the series!

I, unfortunately, don't have anything to do with Yu-Gi-Oh!, so please don't sue the teenager, kay? Kay.

Why does he get to me like this? She asked to herself as she walked down the eerily quiet street. Perhaps it wasn't that quiet and still, perhaps it was only her frustrating and jagged thoughts that caused everything around her to cease as far as she was concerned.

He always got to her like this. Yugi, that is. One innocent look from the bright-eyed boy could send her heart fleeting like a bird with untiring wings. A gaze from the darker, stronger side of him could send a jolt to her stomach as if a bolt of lightning had crackled just behind her.

Was this what love did to a person? No, she didn't think so. She hoped not. Loving someone made you weak. And she was a duelist; she couldn't be weak. But maybe that is the only reason she couldn't admit to herself—admit to herself what?

No, she was being stupid. Stupid, stupid, Mai, why are you thinking so much? She shook her head, the breeze ruffling through her hair, flapping her clothes. She grasped her purse and pulled it further up her shoulder.

He was with Téa tonight, why were they always together? "Yugi and I are just friends." Téa always said. Bah! How could she be friend's with him? Didn't her legs falter under her when he smiled? Didn't her lower lip annoyingly fall—just a bit—when he talked to her? Didn't she—

Stupid, stupid, Mai, why are you thinking so much?

Yugi would never take a second look at her unless she had something stuck between her teeth. Yugi never thought twice about a girl—any girl. Or did he? Maybe Yugi's just like her! Maybe the thought of liking a girl could—no, Yugi wasn't like her that way. Maybe it's that he doesn't want to admit he sometimes thinks a girl's pretty. Maybe he's at a loss for what to say to a girl, how to act towards a girl he likes.

Or…perhaps he just hasn't reached that phase. Joey and Tristan sure had. Even Bakura—even Seto Kaiba had! But no, she couldn't imagine Yugi looking twice at a pretty girl.

Stupid, stupid, Mai, why are you thinking so much?

She hated it. Hated it! Why was she so weak when it came to Yugi? Why did he send her to levels of contemplation and frustration that had never been reached by her before? She couldn't be in love with Yugi, no, no, no!

She stopped in her tracks and looked at the ground, squeezing her eyes shut, tears threatening to spill. She squeezed them even tighter and then opened them, looking up at the sky. She hadn't been able to hold them back.

Now they sparkled as they spilled down her cheeks, pouring over her chin and splashing on the sidewalk.

No, Yugi would never look at her. And so she must keep pretending he's only competition. She must keep pretending he is only a bug to be squashed.

She squeezed her eyes shut again and then opened them, more salty tears running the path their predecessors did, falling to their death on the pavement as the moon shined effulgent rays over their graves.

Stupid, stupid, Mai, why are you thinking so much?