Sorry it's been so long between chapters! Things have gotten so crazy; so many things are starting up for me. I hope you like this chapter, and reviews are most welcome as I will need a lot of inspiration for the next chapter. (you'll understand when I post it) So, no, I'm not making you review, but it would be a pleasant thing for me to read, as I like this chapter a lot too. Wish me luck with the next, thanks for being here to read this chapter—if you are :)—and look out for the plot twist at the end. ;)

~*Astarii

(sorry it's on the short side as well!)

She slammed her mug of tea down, a corner of her lip pinned between her teeth. The tea bag swirled around in the rapids of tea she had created in the cup, it sloshed against the sides and the small bit of sugar at the bottom that hadn't been dissolved got shaken up like a tornado.

Mai, her loose blonde waves gently curling around her face, furrowed her brows in thought.

Why did he do that!? She wondered angrily. Couldn't he tell Téa was just calling the shot? Mai seethed with irritation. Not truly at Yugi, bless his heart he had no idea the games girls played, but at Téa, who had ruined her day, her mood, and ultimately just plain irritated her.

And stupid, dumb—yet lovable—Yugi had played into her game without realizing one iota what was going on. He had dropped everything to be nice! Dropped everything to be nice! Nice! Nice! She fumed. Yugi was just too nice sometimes, and if she didn't do anything, matters could be worse.

She gulped the last of her Earl Grey tea before tossing the bag in the trash and sitting the cup and spoon in the sink. She walked into her bedroom, changed into something more presentable, threw her hair up in a clip, slipped into some shoes, and grabbed her purse and jacket before going out the door, retrieving her car keys as she did so.

What had happened, you ask? Yugi and Mai had had a whole day planned, but Téa had shown up, begging Yugi—"Oh, I'm so sorry to ruin your day and everything, but I just am so behind with my homework—would you mind helping me, Yugi? I'd appreciate it so much, and I really am sorry…I'm sure Mai understands."—to help her with homework because of a test the next day.

Téa had had to sign up for summer school because of not being able to finish world history with a good grade—Mai, in all honesty, didn't understand how that had happened—and so it did sound realistic that she ask Yugi for help on studying. World history was Yugi's best subject, any idiot that was friends' with him knew that, so again, Téa's plan was perfect.

Yugi, predictably, had assured he would help in any way he could, and had—again, predictably—canceled Mai's and his plans in order to help his suffering friend. Mai wanted to puke. Suffering? She sure wasn't suffering…at least, not yet as far as Mai was concerned.

"Where does she live now?" Mai shouted. "Hurry up, Wheeler, I don't have much time." Joey shot her a glare, which she had already been returning.

"Wha' for, Mai?" Joey was irritated. And, well, he had a right to be, seeing as he was standing, dripping wet, in a Hamtaro towel, right smack dab in the middle of his bathroom. He had been taking a shower.

"I need to go over there!" Patience was never a virtue Mai possessed, especially at the moment. "Hurry up and tell me or I'll make sure the whole of Domino High gets a lovely centerfold in its news paper of you in that lovely little number." Joey rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his bare chest. His hair currently resembled a straw-colored mop, which was dripping water, not helping to add to the effect.

"Baker street." He finally said with a frustrated sigh. "2464 Baker street—now can I get my shower in peace?" He shouted.

"Yes, Joseph, yes, go ahead." And with that she pushed the door open and dashed out of his house.

Half an hour later, Mai pulled into the drive of a fairly nice-sized house with warm lighting apparent in the windows. She had a plastic bag filled with ice-cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and some toffee bits in her hand as she walked up the red brick walkway to the door. She knocked upon the door's window, standing on her tip-toes and prancing from foot to foot, waiting for an answer which finally came by a woman in her mid to late forties.

"Is Téa and Yugi Motou here?" She questioned. The woman smiled warmly, beckoning her in. "Thank you," Mai seemed to whisper as she stepped into the comfortable home.

"They're upstairs, go ahead on up." Again she smiled warmly, one of those motherly smiles that made Mai wish…never mind, it wasn't important, and she didn't want to think about it. "Third door on the left." She instructed, and she padded up the stairs, her mind whizzing with the different lines she had had practiced in the car. They seemed to dissolve into nothing as she forgot them instantly, and the door was in sight—no more time to think.

She knocked quietly, then, getting up her courage—the real Mai was back—she knocked again more confidently. She could hear muffled talking, the muffled pad-pad of feet walking upon carpeted flooring, and then the doorknob turned with a small squeak.

"Oh—hi, Mai." She said, trying to hide her surprise. Ha! Like she could hide it from Mai…and she was so bad at it too. She smiled, then heard a voice from somewhere in the room.

"Mai?" It questioned, and she recognized Yugi's cheerful, delighted surprise. "Téa, is that Mai?" He asked, standing up and walking to the door. She greeted him with the same, stuck smile, trying to be casual yet fuming inside.

"I thought you two might want some studying munchies." She suggested, holding up the bag and sounding sickeningly cheerful. "I brought ice-cream!" She announced, her cheerleader smile spreading to expose more teeth. "Yug, wanna' go fix it up for us?" She practically shoved the bag into his stomach, which he grabbed instinctively.

"Um, yeah, sure." He said, his shocked expression changing to the patented Yugi personality. "I'll be right back." With that he skipped down the hall and you could hear his sneakers thud down the stairs. Mai swung the door shut casually, smiled as she listened for him to be out of hearing distance, then let her smile drop as she folded her arms, and bit her lip contemplatively.

"Look, Téa," She began, gaining a woman-to-woman tone. "I know what you're up to—trust me, I know." She said when Téa went to speak. "Let me just tell you now that whatever you're plotting isn't going to happen…Yugi's a big dumb bone, but I'm not going to let him stumble around in the dark. So, let me just say, what you're trying to do here, is pointless." She finished sarcastically.

"I, well, I—" Téa began, but Mai put a hand up.

"Look, love, goodness knows I understand how annoyingly adorable he is, but—"

"Oh, you do?" Téa shot back, her first real words at all. "It seems to me that Yugi didn't even cross your mind until he became the King of Games a while ago. And he had to go through a lot more stuff and prove himself through that stuff before you looked his way." Mai cocked a brow. "And he sure had to become a hot commodity before you started making an effort to hang out with him." She finished with, folding her own arms and cocking her own brow.

"Please, please, please." Mai said, holding up her right hand and shaking it like a wave. "Hold up there, sweety. How did you suddenly know when I started liking Yugi? I could've liked him since first grade without you ever knowing, because, well, I don't confide in you—or anyone for that matter."

Téa, surprisingly, sat down with a sigh, then looked at Mai sadly, almost pitifully. She shook her head with another sigh, contemplating what to say and what not to say, and with a look to Mai's complete confusion, she swallowed before finally coming out with it.

"Mai," She began in a totally honest, up-front, yet friendly way, and Mai was reminded of a best friend giving counsel, that is, from what she'd seen on TV. Mai Valentine had never had a best friend, sad to say, and it was when she saw them on TV, hashing about boys, going to movies, doing the best friend stuff, that she desperately desired for one. However, Mai Valentine would never admit it. Of course not!

"That's just it." She said simply, and still Mai was confused. Téa sighed before continuing, gaining confidence in her cause, her tone becoming more even. "Yugi…Yugi doesn't feel you can get close to him—that you want to get close to him."

"What do you mean?" Mai asked, bewildered.

"Just like you said! You said you didn't confide in anyone, and Yugi feels like you don't want to get close to him, like there's a wall that you don't want to take down. It doesn't bother him, really, except he wants to be really close with you—he wants to talk to you, confide in you—but he feels like it's him you don't want to confide in." Mai tried to take it all in, and while she did there was the unmistakable feeling that she had done yet another something wrong.

"Mai," Téa said sincerely, leaning forward and looking at her with wide open, honest eyes. "Yugi likes you a lot…he wants more in a girlfriend than handholds and movies, he wants you. All of you. He wants you to trust him, to talk to him…he really does, and all he ever talks about is you. All he can ever say is how wonderful you are…and when he talks to me about this, all he says is that he wants you to trust him, to talk to him." She seemed to look even more intently on Mai if that was possible.

"He likes you so much, Mai, give him the chance to have your heart …I promise he won't break it."