A/N: However, for the sake of this fanfic, I decided to leave Tea and Kaiba in, for certain reasons, which I will reveal later. xD And Yami has his own body! Yay! Gosh, now they won't be calling him "Yugi" anymore. I find that rather annoying.
Chapter I
Valentine's Day. One would find it ironic that she loathed that day considering the fact that her last name was, coincidentally, Valentine. She found it rather pointless, this holiday, since it only served to make the average insanely romantic cheesy boyfriends to have a reason to be even more romantic and cheesy. In her opinion, Valentine's Day should have been a day dedicated to hers truly. After all, it was called Valentine's Day. And she had never truly felt appreciated as a person. She had lived a life of solitude; she was an outcast, she didn't belong with these perfect people with their happy-go-lucky perfect lives. That was until she met them.
They accepted her as easily as if she were one of them, as if she were a long-lost acquaintance that they had always wanted to get to know but never got the chance to. At first she had been reluctant, after all, she was never truly that comfortable with such weird goofy people before. But then they started to stick to her like glue and from there on, she was "part of the gang". She had finally found what she could truly call friends.
It was barely half-way through homeroom and the room was already in complete chaos from all the excitement of Valentine's Day. Mai's desk was in the far corner, away from the noise.
But the noise was not what bothered her. It was the lavender envelope that sat on the edge of her desk with the rest of the Valentines and candy that she had gotten from Tea, who had given one to everyone in their group; Bakura, who had also given one to everyone in their group; and Joey, who obviously had a thing for her.
She stared at it and turned it over, yet saw no sign of who had sent it. She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. Why wasn't it signed and who could have possibly sent it?
Her thoughts were interrupted by Joey, who happened to see her looking somewhat thoughtfully at the envelope and had jumped up and exclaimed, "So what cha got there, Mai?"
Before she could even look up, he had snatched the envelope out of her hand and was looking at it, also searching for signs of who had sent it. All at once, the rest of the gang crowded around him, their curiosity being aroused by Joey's outburst.
"So, dude, when do you plan on opening it, Christmas?" Tristan said impatiently after Joey turned it over practically twenty times.
Snapping out of her trance, Mai jumped up from her seat. "JOEY!"
He looked up. "Oh sorry, Mai..." He handed the envelope back to her sheepishly.
"Well open it already, I'm practically dying of suspense," Tristan said.
As she tore open the envelope, a waft of perfume that smelled oddly of lavender filled the air. She, along with the gang, scanned the message.
"Hey, it isn't signed," Joey commented.
"Of course it isn't, you dope! You'd think there's a reason why the outside wasn't signed?" That was Tristan, ever so blunt and insulting to his best friend, all in the name of good-natured humor, of course.
Mai hadn't heard a single thing they said. Her eyes were focused on the words on the lavender colored paper:
Always thinking of you, my Valentine.
It was six simple words, yet it stirred something inside her and a smile graced her features.
Well, well, at least the one who sent this at least had half a mind to get matching colors, she mused.
"Dude, if you ask me, that has got to be one of the cheesiest lines I have ever seen written in a Valentine," Duke's voice cut in.
"Well, I personally think it's rather sweet," Tea insisted.
"Yet too sweet to be Joey's style," Tristan commented, which earned a "look" from Joey.
"I agree, Joey coudn't have possibly sent it, besides, he already got her one. He's far too cheap to get even Mai more than one Valentine," Duke said matter-of-factly.
"HEY! I resent that! I am not cheap!" With that, Joey attempted to pummel both guys until Yugi rushed over. For his small stature he probably would have been crushed if he got in Joey's way so he settled with, "They just mean they never considered you a romantic, Joey!"
Joey seemed to consider this and as if satisfied, he let go of Duke and Tristan, who immediately backed away in fear of his temper blowing up in their face.
"Come now Joey, you know they were only teasing." It was Yami who had spoken, and all heads turned to him. To them, Yami rarely spoke and when he did, his soothing voice never failed to calm them when they found themselves in a turbulent situation.
"So then Joey, why don't you tell us why you didn't bother to sign the letter?" Yami continued.
All eyes turned to Joey questionably. He took a step back cautiously, as if all the attention nerved him. He glanced around at the group and then his gaze rested on Mai.
"I don't know how to tell you this Mai," he said uncertainly, his eyes never leaving her face. "But I wasn't the one who sent it."
A/N: Hmmmm... Is Joey lying or telling the truth? Find out next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! My Valentine! I feel like the T.V. announcers. lol. xD So yeah, tell me what ya think, yah. :)