Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did, Tea would stop making lame, boring, long friendship speeches, everyone would stop stating the obvious, and Kaiba would get over himself.
A/N: Ah, yes, and to all my loyal reviewers I would like to thank for all the positive reviews. They're very much appreciated. :) This chapter is dedicated to you. Hope y'all like it. :D
Chapter II
Everyone gaped at him as if he just announced that the world was flat. In other words, they look at him as if he was crazy. It was Duke who snapped out of his trance first.
"Of course it was you, Wheeler," he said, yet the doubt was evident in his voice. "I mean, who else could have sent it?"
At this, everyone glanced suspiciously at each other, as if searching for any suspicious behavior that might give the one responsible away. There was none.
Mai, who had been staring at the piece of paper, finally spoke up.
"Maybe this was merely all part of some lame joke," she said slowly, as if saying so would explain everything.
Everyone stared at her, confused. A long thoughtful silence followed and was interrupted by the former pharaoh, who had been leaning against the wall near the window, deep in thought.
"Then tell me, Mai, why would anyone go through the trouble of sending you a Valentine as a joke? What would anyone have against you to want to do that?" Yami said, his tone as serious as ever. Everyone nodded their agreement.
"I don't know, but I'm not spending any more time thinking about this. I've got better things to do than sitting around fantasizing about who could have sent this," she said, the boredom obvious in her voice as she tossed the envelope into the bag that Tea had given her.
"Oh, come on, Mai, you can't deny the fact that there could seriously be a secret admirer out there who's completely adores you!" Tea said brightly.
"Yeah, Mai, you're a truly skilled duelist—" Yugi started.
"—and not to mention good-looking…" Duke cut in. He paused and cocked his head to the side. Then almost as an afterthought he added, "…Though not as good-looking as me, of course." He flashed his most charming smile. There was a chorus of groans.
"Well, at least we all know it can't be Duke, since he's so obviously in love with himself," Tristan joked.
Duke seemed unaffected by Tristan's comment. He sat calmly, twirling one of the long strands of hair in front of his face, his gaze centered on a spot behind Mai.
"Chuh, it could be anyone then! I mean, who wouldn't admire Mai?" Joey said.
There was a pause. And then a chorus of: "Seto Kaiba," followed by smiles of amusement and raised eyebrows at the thought of Seto Kaiba actually taking the time to do such a very un-Seto-Kaiba-y thing.
"Though it could be his way of getting back at me for that one prank I pulled on him last Valentine's day…" Mai smirked at the memory.
Everyone immediately crowded around her as if she had just announced that she had free food. Yami stayed where he was, of course, since he was never one to "rush" over to anything. Duke leaned back in his chair, an expression of boredom on his face, though it was obvious his curiosity was aroused. Bakura stayed in his seat next to Duke, but leaned forward, and waited for Mai to continue. Yugi, Tristan, Joey, and Tea were seated in front of Mai, their eager expressions seemingly amusing Mai.
She smiled. "Well, you see, it was like this…"
.:Flashback:.
It was the day before Valentine's Day and Mai was going through her locker, looking for the books she needed for the last few classes she had. And not to mention trying to stuff in the oversized pink plush bear that some random guy who was in love with her had given her.
She muttered under her breath. Why her? At least she had made it clear to everyone in the classroom that the next time someone tried to give her something huge or pink, she'd decapitate its head—before throwing it back at the idiot who tried to give it to her. Unfortunately for her, at that moment, none other than Seto Kaiba walked up to the locker next to hers.
I curse the one who assigned Seto Kaiba to the locker next to mine, she thought, glaring at him while he spun the combination lock on his locker, the same usual smug expression on his face.
Then as if suddenly noticing her there, he glanced over in her direction, an amused glint in his eyes. "Well, well, having a bit of a problem, Mai?"
God, that cocky voice of his makes me just want to punch him so bad… she thought, scowling at him.
"Why yes, Kaiba, I'm surprised you noticed. You always seem to be the kind to notice things even if they're right in front of you, since you're always so busy trying to think up schemes to beat Yami. Well, I'll tell you one thing, Kaiba, get a life, and stop obsessing over trying to beat Yami because I assure you, you'll never beat the true King of Games."
His reaction was just as expected. His eyes narrowed and he seemed to tower over her as he glared down at her, his expression so menacing she almost backed away in fear.
"You would do well to keep that mouth of yours shut, Mai," he said, his voice dripping with venom.
"The truth hurts doesn't it, Kaiba?" A smirk crossed her face.
He sneered. "I thought you weren't as blond as Wheeler, but I guess I was wrong; you're all the same."
It was as if they were stuck in a glaring contest, with neither one backing down. She clenched her fists angrily. How dare he insult her!
But their little contest was interrupted by Joey, who had turned the corner to see the two staring daggers at each other, ready to rip off the other's head at the first sign of movement. Joey skidded to a stop, causing them both to break their gaze.
Kaiba glanced at Joey then looked back at Mai before giving her a knowing smirk and walking away.
God! I even hate that arrogant walk of his! GRRR! He drives me to the point of insanity!
"Hey, Mai, are you all right?" Joey said, his voice full of concern. "What did Kaiba say?"
"Nothing important," she said simply, closing her locker door loudly. Then her eyes rested on his slightly open locker.
The wheels in her head were already turning, producing possible evil acts to use on his locker. She flung his locker door open and stared at its contents.
Figures, such a neat freak... Yet so plain, could use a little… color. BWAHAHAHAHA!
"Hey, Joey, do you happen to have some of that pink spray paint left from craft's class?" she asked casually.
"Uhh, yeah, sure do," Joey rummaged in his backpack and handed to her the can of spray paint. "But whacha gonna—"
But she had suddenly dumped all the books from the locker onto the ground. Joey slowly registered what she was doing and then his eyes widened in surprise.
"Uh, Mai, isn't that Kaiba's locker!"
"Shhh, we can't have him coming back when I'm in the middle of spray painting his locker pink, now would we…" Mai had already opened the can and already started spraying.
Joey just stood by, gaping at Mai's act of bravery. He winced at the possibilities of what would happen when Kaiba found out...
At the end of the day...
"MAI!"
.:End Flashback:.
"Wow, that's one crazy prank. What did he do about it?" Tristan said with obvious admiration in his voice.
"Well, he never mentioned it…" Mai said, at the same time wondering why he never did.
"I wonder if it's still pink," Tea said, laughing.
"That's a hilarious thought, but no, he had it repainted grey the next morning," Mai said.
The group burst out laughing again, imagining Kaiba's face when he saw his locker. At that moment, Kaiba came back from the bathroom and raised an eyebrow at all the noise. That only caused them to laugh harder.
"Are you dweebs over there talking about me?" Kaiba asked suspiciously.
"Don't get so full of yourself Kaiba, we weren't praising you," Duke said.
"Yeah, only discussing your excellent choice of color," Tristan said, grinning.
Everyone gave each other a knowing smile before laughing all over again.
"Whatever…" Kaiba muttered and retreated to the seat in the other corner of the room.
He stood in front of her locker, an amused smile spreading slowly across his face. In his left hand he held a box. Inside was a small pink plush bear. Indeed he had not purposely bought a pink plush to annoy her. They just didn't happen to have any lavender colored stuffed animals. And he had figured just as long as the little thing was cute enough, she at least wouldn't hate it. Oh, what a foolish thought. He had not realized how much she disliked the color pink until now. But it was just as well. The first part of his plan was complete. She had no suspicions on him whatsoever.
He twirled the lock, recalling the numbers as easily as if they were his own. The group had exchanged locker combinations for the "Secret Santa" event that they had last Christmas. And he had gotten Mai. He wondered if she ever figured out it was him.
The locker door swung open to reveal the neat lavender interior. He put the box on top of the books and closed the locker door, smiling to himself.
"Well, you seem unusually happy today," a voice commented.
He looked up to see Bakura and smiled mysteriously. "I have my reasons."
A/N: This chapter took so long to write. xD So much detail to consider. Bwahs. I had fun writing this chapter. :) I will slowly be eliminating suspects for each chapter to make things more interesting. Hehe. So far everyone either thinks it's Joey, Yugi, or Yami. Good guesses. I'm glad you were paying so much attention to the prologue. xD Bwahs.
Note: I put Yami as the King of Games because it makes more sense. In the series, Yami's always dueling and sometimes Yugi would step in, so yeah, I just assumed Yami was the better duelist... Eep. Don't kill me, Yugi-supporters. xD
Until next time,
.:Rei:.