Villageshipping (Mei x Kyuu x Jonouchi)

(siiiiiiiigh.)

Even at an early age, people often assumed that Mei and Kyuu could read each other's minds. After all, the twin brothers worked as a seamless team in everything they did. Even as children, working together to make the best block tower in the preschool, they seemed to barely need to look at each other to know what the other was thinking. It was that teamwork that allowed them to accomplish so much as they moved through life.

Of course, they didn't really have telepathic powers. They simply knew the other so well that they didn't have to ask to know what the other wanted. They knew what the other expected. They might as well have been a single being. It made them appear the perfect tag-team Player Killers for Pegasus, and they were recruited almost immediately after the Duelist Kingdom tournament was put into play.

The duelists they faced annoyed the brothers. None of them knew how to work with each other. They bickered and quarreled unnecessarily, ruined each other's strategies (sometimes on purpose), ignored blatant signals (or perhaps, didn't even notice them), tripped each other's traps, and ignored the other, just trying to get ahead themselves. Even when the pair seemed to get along, they were unable to read the other's strategy, and their strategies quickly fell apart.

There was always a weaker link, as well – something else that irked the brothers. They themselves worked hard to be at the same level as the other, so as to be able to work together more seamlessly. Partners should support each other – not expect to be protected.

They didn't expect Yugi and his chosen partner, Jonouchi, to be any different. Jonouchi was the weaker link, always charging blindly ahead, ignoring Yugi's signals, not taking the time to read his partner and work together, always being protected.

But something changed. What exactly was it, in the end?

It was not his ability to read Yugi's motives, or to build off his partner's strategies. It wasn't even his ability to work together.

It was his trust. Total, unflinching, complete trust.

It caught the brothers off guard. They prided themselves on their understanding of each other. That was what made them strong – but then…were they only assuming what the other thought? Did they really trust each other the way Jonouchi trusted Yugi?

Perhaps the brothers weren't really surprised when Yugi and Jonouchi won.

Perhaps a weak link with blind trust was even stronger than understanding.

A/N: and when I have no idea what to write, I go for the abstract. :D I know, I know, I didn't post at all this weekend. All motivation for EVERYTHING left me in a whoosh. I didn't even do my homework until this morning. XD Anyway, I'm hopefully back on schedule now. Next is Vigilshipping (Mai x Ryo). Kind of excited about this one, not gonna lie. :)