This Feeling

# CW: I'll update you on TRISTAN VS DUKE. So far it's Tristan: 3, Duke: 1. Come on all you D/T fans out there, get yourselves heard! You don't have to be a fan, just do it for the sheer heck! Ok, so you'll probably figure out whodunit in this chappie and I know it's not original. I'm trying a similar outcome to one in my first story (now removed from the net). If you know who it was, DON'T review and spoil it, or I will cry ; ( #

The door opened, snapping the force between Joey and Mai.

'Oh, er, just thought you might want to have a look at this.' Muttered a young policeman, going slightly red. He obviously thought he'd walked in on something.

Joey and Mai looked at each other with raised eyebrows, then followed the cop back into the room.

A forensics group were poring over a tiny item that they had placed on the window sill to see better.

They got closer to them, and Joey let out a gasp.

On the window sill sat a star chip.

'Well there's something I haven't seen for I while.' Breathed Mai.

'You're familiar with this?' asked PC Maun.

'It's a – star chip from Duellist Kingdom.' Replied Joey.

'Ah, Duellist Kingdom. You both competed, did you not?'

'Second and third places.' Replied Mai.

'Can you please name as many people who entered in Duellist Kingdom as you can?' asked Clive, flicking open his notepad.

'Ok - ' began Mai, but Joey interrupted.

'Yugi Motou, me, Mai, Ryou Bakura, Bandit Keith and his gang, Weevil Underwood, Rex Raptor, Mako Tsunami. Does Seto Kaiba count?'

Mai shrugged. 'Well, he duelled Pegasus.'

'Yeah.'

'And do any of these people have anything against you?'

Mai snorted. 'Nothing against me, but Joey on the other hand – well, Bandit Keith shut him in a cave because he beat his crony, Weevil hates him because he's friends with Yugi and he also beat him in Battle City, Rex hates him because Joey beat him as well, he's also beaten Mako, but I doubt he would hold it against him, and Seto Kaiba, well – ' Mai paused for a breath. 'Let's just say arch rival is a gross understatement.'

'We'll have to question all these people.' Said Clive. 'You can never be too careful.' He shot Joey a pointed glance, and for the first time, Joey realised what sort of position he was in.

Both times Mai had had her near death experiences, Joey had been present, but not at the start. That made him a suspicious character to begin with. Each time he and Mai had been asked an important question, he had interrupted her with a hasty answer. Suspicious. And as for the gun thing, Joey could have had the weapon, shot it and threatened Mai that if she didn't go along with his alibi, he would kill her. Also, he hadn't managed to answer the question about going down town.

'Eh, I can tell you why I went down town now.' Said Joey out loud. 'I was, er, gettin' this for Mai.' He indicated the necklace.

'And why do you choose to tell us now?' asked PC Maun.

'I, uh, well, I didn't know if I wanted to give it to Mai then. I thought it would seem kinda weird.'

Clive raised his eyebrows, but jotted it down all the same. It was clear he didn't believe a word.
'Er – Yugi, can I talk to you for a minute?' Téa tapped Yugi's shoulder.

They were at the arcades, watching Tristan and Duke (VOTE!!) get themselves hysterical over playing some space game.

'Sure.' Yugi followed her away from the group.

'Ok.' Began Téa, turning to him. 'You gotta promise not to tell anybody this, right? I'm only telling you 'cos Joey's your best buddy and you won't tease him.'

'I promise.' Replied Yugi, eager to hear what Téa had to say.

Téa leant closer. 'Joey's in love.' she said.

Yugi giggled. 'Joey? In love? Are you sure?'

'Positive.'

'With who? How can you tell?' Yugi was virtually jumping up and down on the spot.

Téa touched her forehead. 'Oh, Yugi. You're so innocent. You haven't noticed how weird Joey acts around a certain female member of the group, have you?'

'Uh - '

'It's Mai, Yugi! And what's more, I think in her own little way, she kinda likes him in return. They're just too shy!'

'How did you figure that out?'

'Well, for one thing, you, me and Tristan all noticed that Joey went berserk when he first saw Mai, but that seemed to be just the natural young- guy-meets-sexy-girl thing. There might just have been something in that, you know. Then when they started hating each other, calling each other names and so on - '

'You always hurt the one you love.' nodded Yugi.

'Exactly.' Replied Téa. 'Then at the end of their duel, Joey told Mai, in different words, of course, that she needed to learn to care about someone. Dropping a hint or what? Then Joey told me about Mai giving him the star chips, and well, it takes a lot for Mai to do someone a favour. Then there was the time Joey saved Mai from falling off that building, and the time he shielded her from Ra's attack, and then he vowed to get her back from the shadow realm and barely talked about anything else – now do you think it seems kinda obvious?'

'Yeah.' Yugi nodded. 'Yeah, it does. It'll never work, though.'

'Why?' asked Téa. 'You mean they won't get together?'

'No, I don't. They're total opposites, apart from the fact that they've both hard a hard life, they're both determined to succeed, there's more to both of them than meets the eye and they both occasionally seem conceited, although that's usually when they're hiding something.'

'Not so different really, are they?' grinned Téa. 'And for the rest, well, think of magnets.'

'Eh?' Yugi looked puzzled (A/N Ha! Yugi – puzzle! Geddit?).
The cops had left. Joey and Mai took the elevator to the ground floor again and left the hospital.

There were no paparazzi that day, but the guys weren't psychic. They couldn't tell when the two teens were due to leave the hospital.

Joey hailed a cab and helped Mai pull her crutch in after her. He followed her in, and they sat there, unable to look each other in the eye for some strange reason.

The journey was uneventful, apart from the driver once turning round and asking if they were the kids that had been in the house fire.

At last, they were back at Joey's apartment. Joey took a deep breath before opening the door.

His father wasn't there. He did this sometimes, just left for no reason, sometimes for days on end, leaving the door unlocked.

Joey rolled his eyes.

'Geez! We're gonna be robbed one of these days!' grumbled Joey, wandering inside.

'What if your father comes back?' asked Mai.

'You'll be wishing the guy had shot you.' Said Joey bluntly.

'You sound like Duke.' Grumbled Mai. 'You're being such a pessimist.'

'Hey, the guy's a prick Ok?' said Joey (his opinion, not mine! VOTE!!). 'I don't sound like no prick.'

'I thought you liked Duke.'

'I do, but he's still a prick.'

Mai laughed. 'I guess that's the way I feel about you sometimes.'

'Wha'? You think I'm a prick?' Joey looked hurt.

'Yeah.'

'But you like me?'

'Yeah.'

'You really like me?'

'Yeah.'

'Like, really, really like me?'

'Ye – uh – no – I don't know!'

Mai slumped onto the couch, her head in her hand. 'Look, Joey, I don't know what's wrong with me at the moment.'

Joey sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged him off.

'Mai, listen to me.' He said. 'I want you to know that everything will be Ok. I swear I won't let that maniac lay a finger on you. I ain't gonna let you outta my sight.'

'Then he'll kill us together.'

'Better than only killing you.'

Mai looked at the floor. What did all these things mean? Why was Joey always saying stuff like that?

'Mai, you know you said you don't know what's wrong with you?'

'Mm-hmm.'

'What did you mean?'

'Oh, I dunno. I just feel weird.'

'Weak? Like you need something to make you strong, but it's just out of reach?'

Mai looked at him strangely.

'And do you feel kinda ashamed that you need something to pull you through other than yourself?'

Mai continued to stare.

'There's a sort of stretched feeling inside you, yeah? Like you're desperate to have something?'

'Joey, you're a fucking mind-reader.' Hissed Mai.

'Another thing.' Said Joey. 'Do you get this weird sort of wrenching in your chest whenever - '

'Joey, just let me get some rest.' Interrupted Mai.

'Ok. Want me to drop it?' asked Joey.

'Sure. No more mention.' Replied Mai.

She snuggled down on the sofa and closed her eyes.

Joey looked at her. She looked so small and alone. He had never thought of her as vulnerable, the contrary in fact, but that was how she appeared now.

It was almost as if her fighting spirit, the only thing that kept her company, had abandoned her.

Just as Mai could feel the empty space, Joey could see it.

He wanted to get rid of that void. That chunk of nothingness that was slowly engulfing her.

Joey lay down on the floor in front of the couch. Mai's hand was trailing down, a few inches from the carpet. It brushed his cheek gently. Something amazing shivered all the way down Joey's body, but Mai barely seemed to sense it. She muttered something in her sleep and tucked her knees up so she was in a foetal position.

Joey sighed. After the conversation a few minutes ago, he knew she was feeling what he was feeling.

But the question was, did she want to?

# CW: Aww! Ain't that sweet? Remember, VOTE – T/D!!! You don't have to like either of them (I don't) but pick your favourite. Remember, the best reason wins! #