Nurseshipping (Mai x Shizuka)
"So you're Jonouchi's little sister huh? I guess I can see the resemblance. You're a lot cuter than he is, though."
Mai's face twitched. Her eyes squeezed shut a little tighter. Her eye brows tightened – she looked like she was a having a bad dream. Shizuka gripped her knees, sitting just a little too straight. She couldn't relax. She chewed on the inside of her lip.
"Please wake up," she whispered.
"It's nice to finally meet you in person. Jonouchi didn't do a good job of describing you."
The door opened. Shizuka glanced back. Anzu peeked in.
"How is she?" Anzu asked.
"Nothing's changed."
Anzu bit her lip.
"Do you want me to take over for a little bit? You don't have to be the nurse."
"No. I'm fine," Shizuka said.
Anzu hesitated.
"All right," she said. "The next duel is starting. I'll come back straight after, all right?"
"Okay."
The door closed again. Shizuka returned to her position, her grip tightening on her knees.
"Mai-san," Shizuka said, quietly, through a throat full of tears.
Mai stood on the raised platform. The darkness tightened around her – a great stone appeared behind her, pulling her wrists back and chaining them to the wall. Jonouchi leapt onto the dais, bolting towards her as fire started to explode down from the sky –
Shizuka bit back a sob. She flung her face into her hands, unable to stop herself from sobbing.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she said. "I'm sorry!"
She had just stood there. Stood there with her mouth hanging open as Mai stared at death. Jonouchi had run to her. Shizuka had just stood and stared.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she kept saying. "I'm sorry."
"You're a good little sister, Shizuka. I can tell why Jonouchi worked so hard in Duelist Kingdom now."
"Geez, Shizuka, could you be more adorable?"
"I heard you stood up to Kaiba! Brownie points for you, girl."
"You're a lot tougher than you let on, aren't you?"
"I'm not," she cried into her hands. "I'm not tough enough. I'm not like you, Mai-san. I'm not strong enough!"
"Mmmm..."
Shizuka froze. She looked up through her fingers. Mai's face contorted for a moment. Her jaw clenched. Her entire body froze up, as though pain was shooting through her.
"No, no, no," Shizuka said.
She grabbed the woman's hand and held it, gripping it tight.
"It's okay," she said. Tears still rolled down her cheeks. "It's okay. You're not alone, okay? I'll stay here."
For a minute, it looked like Mai might cry out in pain. Shizuka gripped her hand even tighter. And then the older woman's face relaxed. A soft sigh escaped her lips. Shizuka swallowed through the lump in her throat.
"I'll stay here," she whispered. "I'll be strong for you."
A/N: Strangely, I can almost find myself shipping this. But I do really enjoy the idea of Mai being an older sister figure to Shizu-chan. Plus, since I ship Mai with Jonouchi, she might actually end up being Shizuka's sister! :D Next is Noteshipping (Jonouchi x Honda x Anzu).
