Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Gosh! However, I do own Mizuhana... :)
A/N: Blah, so many hits, yet not so many reviews…
This chapter is dedicated to my sister, DarkPriestessKikyo, who's always there to tell me to go update; Luyen, whose crazy yet amusing reaction to my fanfic made me laugh out loud for almost 5 minutes straight; and to my most faithful reviewers, Melamory and Amarie Miriel for staying with me through my huge gaps in updating and for their amusing reviews. :)
Chapter IV
Tristan.
Even though she tried her best to fight the growing suspicions that nagged at the back of her mind, she couldn't help the name from surfacing from the pool of suspects.
But, it can't be him, she thought, her frustration growing at the fact that none of the gifts made any sense.
She frowned, then checked the bouquet for the note she knew would be there.
If I had a rose for everything I loved about the fair maiden that haunts my dreams at night, I would be walking endlessly in a garden of crimson roses, nurtured by my undying love for her.
Not only did she think the note was drastically exaggerative, but she also thought it sounded like something out of a really bad romantic Shakespeare play.
She hated Shakespeare.
Nevertheless, a side of her did love roses and she lowered her face to the bouquet, taking in its pleasant scent.
She looked up at the sound of footsteps. Very familiar footsteps.
Kaiba.
"Well, if it isn't Mai Valentine and her endless line of admirers attempting to win her over," he said arrogantly, the ever-so-famous smirk on his face.
She straightened up and glared back at him scornfully, the flowers clenched tightly in her left hand. Why couldn't he just give her a break?
Well, because he's Kaiba, her mind stated logically.
"Well, at least I have admirers. Girls couldn't look at you twice without being scared out of their minds," she said, her voice seemingly calm yet angry at the same time.
"Are you implying that I am unattractive?"
"Oh, no, Kaiba, I'm only implying that girls cower in fear and respect of your authority," she drawled sarcastically.
"Of course they do," he replied, ignoring her sarcasm, then added, "I have no interest in women and their imprudent ways."
"You can't fool me, Kaiba, because underneath that cold, uncaring exterior of yours is just another hormonal teenage boy living in his little fantasies," she said.
He frowned. "Is that so? And what proof do you have of this, Mai?"
She snorted. "And what makes me think you don't have fantasies?"
"Even if I did have fantasies, I assure you, they would not concern women," he said, getting annoyed with the subject.
"Then they would be of men? Amazing, I would never have thought you were the type to like men, Kaiba," she said smugly.
That ticked him off. No one called Seto Kaiba gay.
"What exactly are you trying to imply?" Kaiba's eyes narrowed.
"I'm implying a lot of things, Kaiba," she said simply, her eyes narrowing in the same manner.
By now Kaiba was completely seething, but he remained perfectly calm, as was his reputation. He was never one to completely make a scene in front of so many people. Which right now, by the way, was a very bad time to be making a scene, as people were passing by and giving the two curious looks.
The bell rang for fifth period then, and the two stopped their argument, glaring at each other accusingly as if it was the other's fault that they were late.
"There aren't even words to describe how much I despise you, Mai."
"Well, I can't say you're the most pleasant person on earth either," she countered, glaring at him, then broke contact and brushed past him to get to her next class.
She was late.
Again.
That was the second time today.
She groaned inwardly. Could this day possibly get any worse?
Oh heck yes it could.
She was in English class.
And the teacher was discussing Shakespeare.
Yep, the day could definitely get a whole lot worse.
Luckily for her, she sat in the back, so she could doze off without the teacher noticing.
But unfortunately for her, today was not her day.
"Ms. Valentine, would you please read us the poem you were supposed to write last night?" Mr. Osuka drawled in that same monotonous voice that would have caused her to doze off even more if not for the fact that all eyes were on her, awaiting her answer.
She cursed silently. She had almost forgotten about that little project.
Now, to Mai, poetry was not as bad as Shakespeare. But then if you mixed Shakespeare and poetry together, well, that was just not cool.
And that was precisely what the assignment was.
Write a poem summarizing a theme or a scene from the play Romeo and Juliet
Joyous.
She had spent all night on that one.
She stood up, the paper in her hand and glanced at the words she had written.
After she had finished and after a whole five minutes of questions bombarded at her by Mr. Osuka and the class, she sat down, annoyed and left muttering to herself.
"Ah, how about we have Mr. Devlin present his poem for us now?" Mr. Osuka asked, an amused smile replacing his usual bored expression.
Duke stood up confidently, then ran his hand through his hair, tossing his head to one side and grinning, causing half the girls in the class to sigh dreamily. (A/N: -GAGS-)
"Even now as I lie next to you, my beloved,
You have never been so far from my reach,
I caress your cheek, pale and cold, touched by the cold whisper of death.
My hand closes on the vial, the vial that would bring about my doom,
But looking at your lifeless form, still so beautiful even in death,
I hesitate no longer, for then I knew;
I knew then that I could not live without you."
The same girls sighed dreamily again, all thinking, 'How romantic…'
All the guys groaned inwardly.
Why didn't they have that charm that attracted girls to them?
Mr. Osuka stared. Took off his glasses, put them back on, then stared again.
"Well, that was… very good! Very well-written, Mr. Devlin, you captured the moment before Romeo's suicide quite well. Now, tell me, Mr. Devlin, when did you learn to write so well?" Mr. Osuka was obviously surprised by Duke's writing improvement.
"Since I had a little inspiration," Duke replied suggestively, his smirk widening.
The girls sighed again, all thinking, 'He's obviously talking about me… He's so dreamy… and romantic…'
For some reason, she had an impulse to check her locker right after fifth period.
And just as she had expected, a purple wrapped box sat on top of her books.
I'd give anything to find out how the guy got all this stuff in my locker without me noticing.
She tore a bit of the wrapping, just enough to see what was inside.
A box of chocolates.
But not just any type of chocolates.
Her favorite kind.
The expensive kind.
She quirked an eyebrow.
She was impressed. A little.
There was a note, just as she had expected.
Still mystified, Mai Valentine?
If you wish to know who I am,
Meet me at 7 P.M.
Where the lavender mizuhana grow
Alongside the layers of gold and swells of indigo.
Great, a riddle.
Or not quite, as there was only one place where lavender mizuhana grew, a place where one would find it quite odd.
The beach.
"Wow, Duke, I would have never have thought you to be the poetic type," Mai said.
It was sixth period, and she had P.E. with Duke, as well as half of the gang. They were currently playing football, which was not Mai's idea of a great way to spend one's time.
"Why thank you, Mai, you know I always enjoy the attention you give me," Duke said, grinning. "Poetry is one of the keys to a woman's heart."
She rolled her eyes.
Such a lady's man. And that ridiculous grin… Ugh, I don't know what women see in him.
He noticed the look on her face and his smirk seemed to answer 'Because I'm hot and you know it.'
Okay, she had to admit it, he was at least better than average-looking. And this was coming from Mai Valentine, the one who didn't seem to care or approve of anything.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Duke and Mai looked up.
Yami.
"Oh, no, Yami, just having a little conversation with Mr. Pretty Boy here," Mai said, glad that Yami had come in and halted Duke's ridiculous flirting.
Yami smiled faintly in amusement.
"I'm guessing there's a reason why you're here and not on your side of the field, Yami," Duke said suggestively, that ridiculous grin appearing across his face again.
"Why, yes, there is," Yami replied. "Tea requested that I ask you two if you would like to go to see a movie with us."
"Us? As in you and Tea? Wow, Yami, I never knew you had it in you," Duke said teasingly.
"Why, of course not. You know far well that we always see a movie together as a group," Yami replied, seemingly unaffected by Duke's attempts at teasing him.
Then seeing Mai's expression, he added, "It is not a 'chick flick'."
She smiled appreciatively, but said, "That's quite all right, Yami, but I have a few plans in mind."
A look of disappointment flickered across Yami's face for a moment, but then was gone as soon as it had come.
"And you, Duke?" Yami said, turning his attention to Duke.
"I got a killer history project due tomorrow, sorry," Duke replied, his expression turning serious for once.
"Yami?" Mai asked, after some consideration.
"Yes?" Yami turned his attention back to Mai.
"I know this is a strange question, but who isn't going to the movies with you guys?" Mai kicked herself mentally.
Why was she asking that question? Wasn't she intent on not letting her secret admirer get to her?
Yami cocked his head to the side, considering. "Actually, Joey said he would not be able to join us today because he was planning on spending some time with Serenity."
"Ha, just like Joey to be the protective big brother. Probably afraid that Tristan is going to try to sweep her off her feet," Duke said, as if it was completely obvious.
Both Yami and Mai raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well, you sure got over Serenity rather quickly," Mai commented.
"Perhaps I found something better," Duke replied, back to his old flirtatious self again.
He draped his arm lazily around her shoulders, all the while grinning that famous charming smile of his.
Mai groaned, shoving him away.
"Ugh, Duke, you're such a helpless flirt," Mai said with a roll of her eyes. "You make me sick."
"Oh come on, Mai, you know you enjoy it."
"You wish, Devlin."
He sat gazing out the window, his eyes concentrated on seemingly nothing at all. In his right hand he held a pendant. It was a pendant he had gone out and had asked to be specifically made for her. Silver curled around the center stone like growing vines. In the center stone was carved two things: a butterfly and a mizuhana.
He glanced at the clock.
6:59.
He was never one to be late, but heck, it wasn't as if he had to come early. That would spoil his dramatic entrance entirely. And so, he sat there, waiting.
She trudged toward the beach, shivering as the cold night air penetrated her thin lavender jacket.
Why had she decided to even meet the guy?
It could have been anyone.
It could have been a trap for all she knew.
Yet, curiosity got the better of her.
God, her curiosity was going to be the end of her someday.
Her footsteps stopped as she reached the borderline between the beach and the growing bed of lavender flowers.
She knelt down beside the flowers, reaching out to touch the silky petals. She looked at the flower thoughtfully.
It was an unusual flower, as there had not been any record of such a flower. Its petals were long and curled out from its center, which was a silvery pale green. The petals themselves were lavender, with random streaks of white and blue. And it happened to be the few flowers that could grow near the beach, which usually lacked the nutritional soil and weather conditions needed to satisfy most flowers.
She was paying so much attention to this flower, in fact, that she did not hear the approaching footsteps until they had stopped right behind her.
She immediately felt his presence and stood up, yet did not turn around until she heard his voice.
"Mai."
He seemed to be smiling as he said her name, almost as if he were speaking the name of his dearly beloved.
She recognized that voice. It was then that she turned around to face him.
Yet even as her gaze rested on his face and his name fell from her lips, she could not believe that it was truly him.
A/N: Tell me how evil I am to have left you guys with a cliffhanger after all this time I left you guys waiting for this chapter. xP But yes, this chapter turned out way longer than I would have planned, but eh. As for the flowers, I obviously made that up. xD And yes, the poem was super unromantic, but hey, I was never a poet, so please forgive me. Just imagine a completely romantic and awesome poem there yah? Now we all happy. :)
Ok, a very important note. I will probably not update for a while, since I suck at writing romance (as you can tell) and I have no clue as to how to end this magnificent mystery without ruining the whole story with a really messed up ending. -sighs-
And one last thing. REVIEWS. Tell me what you think, guys, no matter how blunt you are. I want to know what you think! It will help me in my writing and it helps motivate me a bit. I mean, seriously, if no one's reviewing, I'm gonna automatically think that no one likes it. So yes, if you want me to finish the last chapter where our mystery man is revealed, you better start reviewing. :)