Warnings: Mild cursing and some lewd comments.
Also a reminder that I do not own Yugioh.
Chapter 11.
Meeting Mai.
When Katsu clamped eyes on Mai, she froze like a rabbit in headlights.
"Mai! What da hell are you doing here?!" She blurted, without thinking.
Mai scrutinised her suspiciously. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"
Yugi stood behind Mai, squirming at what might be unfolding in front of him, while the rest of his friends paled and cringed internally, trying to not let their horror at Katsu's lack of decorum show in front of Mai.
Katsu meanwhile, realising that she may have just dropped a massive clanger, blushed and cringed. Unsure what to say, her mouth started flapping like a goldfish dropped onto a tiled floor.
Clearing her throat, Anzu was the first to recover some composure. "This is Jonouchi's cousin, Katsu. Unfortunately, she is just as tactless as him – it's a family trait."
"Hey!" Kastu, started to complain, but decided against it when Honda nudged her to shut her up.
"That still doesn't explain why you-" Mai pointed at her accusingly "–would react so negatively to me being here."
Katsu finally found her tongue. "My cousin has told me about you. He said you had a big fat attitude problem!" She had not meant to say something that nasty and immediately felt bad. But right now she felt threatened, and the best way to deal with a threat was to be threatening in your response and hope the threat decides to leave.
Mai was shocked and offended by the verbal abuse she was getting from this... stranger. Jonouchi must have said some pretty horrible things for this obnoxious girl to have greeted her with such aggression. "I wasn't aware he hated me so much," she snarled, maintaining her composure, so as not to reveal that her feelings had been hurt. "Where is that loser, anyway? I plan to go and give him a piece of my mind."
Honda could sense that Katsu was bristling like a dog, ready to savage it's toy rabbit to death, so he quickly intervened. "Unfortunately, that loser is out of town. He is visiting his mum and sister. He wanted to give them the good news that he has the money to pay for his sisters operation, and to patch things up with his mum. Katsu is staying at Anzu's while he is gone." He hoped that sounded reasonably convincing.
"Oh! His sister. Yes, I remember now. He said he wanted to help her." At the thought of his kindness towards his kid sister, Mai softened slightly. "When will he be back? I'm not going away again for a while. So I was hoping we might catch up."
"We're not sure," Yugi explained. "It could be a month."
"Okay... Well! I can stick around for as long as it takes. Do you know when his sister's operation will be?"
"Not for a couple of months," Katsu quickly replied. "They don't want to operate while she still has at least some vision. The operation is risky! If they do it sooner and it goes wrong, she could be left completely blind. If they wait until her sight is so bad that she can't see anyway, then the benefit outweighs the risk – if ya see what I mean?"
Mai knotted her eyebrows. The way this girl looked when she spoke about Jonouchi's sister, made her seem so much like Jonouchi. But they were related so she dismissed it. "Yes," she replied, "I do understand their reasoning."
After a moment of thought, she came up with an idea. "Maybe I could drive over and pay a surprise visit? It would be nice to meet his kid sister and give her some support."
Everyone suddenly looked very worried, making Mai feel confused and rejected. Had she read her interactions with them at Duelist Kingdom wrong? Did Jonouchi dislike her that much that she would not be made welcome? "Look! If you lot don't want me in your clicky little circle, just say so, okay? Because all these weird looks you're giving are making me feel like I'm not welcome."
"No! It's not that!" Yugi blurted.
"Of course you're welcome Mai!" Anzu added. "It's just that... I'm not sure it's worth the journey. Jonouchi's mother and sister live miles away!" Mai looked ready to argue with her that distance wasn't the issue. Car or motorbike – she loved driving through the Japanese mountains.
"It's okay you guys..." Katsu let out a long sigh of resignation. "You don't have to keep pretending any longer. Mai's gonna find out sooner or later, so we might as well tell her the truth about what happened to me."
"Tell me what?!" Mai gasped. "Has something happened to Jonouchi? He is okay, isn't he? Yugi?"
She fixed him with a searching look. He had not reacted to her being here in the friendly manner she had expected him to. It had almost seemed like he wanted to get rid of her.
There was also something odd about Katsu. In fact, they were all behaving a bit oddly.
Yugi fidgeted on the spot and looked first at Katsu and then at Mai. "Jonouchi is okay..." he began hesitantly, "-but he is going through some... stuff at the moment." His eyes drifted back to Katsu, pleading for her to speak up.
Katsu steeled herself. "I'm fine Mai."
With a gasp, Mai to spin round to stare at her. The penny dropped. "Oh My God! You're... you're... Jonouchi?!"
"Yup! And before you say anything. I'm not one of them transvestites and I haven't had the operation either. It was caused by Shadow Magic."
"Shadow Magic?!" She had seen Yugi do some weird voodoo shit on that player killer, Panic. Was it something to do with that great big hunk of bling he wore round his neck?
Spotting her glaring at the Millennium Puzzle, Ryou realised that she thought Yugi was to blame and decided that it was his cue to explain what had happened. "It's not Yugi's fault, it is mine! The evil spirit that lives inside my Millennium Ring, placed a spell on Jonouchi and turned him into a woman."
Mai had her hands over her mouth now, and was utterly speechless. She could not comprehend real magic. She had learned a few magic tricks from the illusionist that she had met working on the cruise ship. It had to be a trick. Or at the very least a sick joke.
"Say something... Mai? Anything?" Katsu pleaded.
"Is... Is it permanent?" She managed to say.
"No, it is not permanent," Ryou added. "I'm afraid there is no spell to reverse it, that I know of. But it will wear off in about a month."
Reality was sinking in for Mai now and her shock quickly turned to amusement. She started snickering. "Oh! This is... hilarious.." She could no longer speak, she was laughing that much.
"It's not funny!" Katsu snapped, indignantly.
"If you really were a friend Mai, you would be sympathetic," Anzu chipped in.
"Yeah, Mai! It's not that funny," said Honda, feeling rather protective of his friend.
Gathering herself, Mai took a couple of deep breaths to get her breath back. "Oh! But it is," she snickered. "It is absolutely hilarious. The sight of the macho guy who always acts so tough, in a dress, is... I should take a photo!"
"Don't you dare," hissed Katsu.
Yugi stepped in the way. "Please Mai? Don't! It's not fair to pick on Jo... Katsu like this." He looked deadly serious and Mai suddenly felt bad for teasing them.
"Yes, you're right Yugi. But it's such a huge shock that I didn't know how else to react. I'm sorry. I know you lot get yourselves into some weird situations, but this is just priceless! Why did you do it Bakura?"
"What?!" Ryou was bright red in the face. "I didn't willingly do it! The Ring takes over and I don't have any choice! I seldom remember anything he makes me do. I have been trying to find a cure, but so far, I have been unable to find any way of reversing it."
"Right! So you're stuck like this for... what? Four weeks?!"
Katsu hung her head and slumped in defeat. "Yeah, about that. It's already been six days, so hopefully just over three. So, go on! Take the piss as much as you like. I really don't give a shit what you think!"
The dejection in Katsu's voice, felt like a dagger to the heart, and Mai suddenly started feeling a bit shaken and upset. Her mirth turned to sympathy. "Hey! I'm not going to make fun of you. I know I laughed, but it was more out of surprise than malice. I won't judge. But I must say, having to experience life as a woman should be compulsory for all men! Maybe they would stop treating women as sex objects and start showing us the respect we deserve."
"That's not fair!" Honda protested. "None of us think of you as a sex object. Do we guys?"
Blushing profusely, Yugi and Ryou shook their heads. "N.. no! We would never treat a woman like that!" Yugi defended.
"Yeah, well, say whatever you like. You are still guys," Mai snorted.
Anzu meanwhile, was trying to hide her smile. Mai actually had quite a good point.
Grandpa Mutou reappeared, holding a mug of tea. "Ah! If I knew you were all still here, I would have made a whole pot full of tea." His eyes set on Katsu and a naughty grin appeared on his face.
Noticing him leering at Katsu, Yugi quickly replied. "It's okay Grandpa, we were just going." He started to usher his friends towards the door.
"Just a minute Yugi! Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend? I don't think I have met this lovely young lady before."
Yugi squirmed. "Oh! Yeah... Grandpa, this is Katsu. She's staying with Anzu."
"Very pleased to meet you Katsu." Sugoroku bowed. "With all these lovely young women around, I'm going to need a new pace maker," he joked, earning grimaces from Anzu and Mai. Even Katsu had to grimace. She knew that Jonouchi would have found Grandpa Mutou's remark amusing.
Sensing his female friends were feeling uncomfortable, Yugi groaned. "Grandpa!" Just as Mai hissed –
"My point is proved."
If Sugoroku had any inclination that he had said anything inappropriate to the girls, he did not show it. "Have a good evening everyone!" He waved to them as they left the shop. "Don't be home any later than ten Yugi, You have to get up at six thirty tomorrow morning, to help me with a delivery I'm expecting, before school."
"Don't worry Grandpa, I won't be late."
Once outside, Mai turned to Yugi. "Your grandfather is a pervert Yugi. I'm surprised that you are not one too!"
Yugi laughed, but looked embarrassed. "Grandpa is not like that! He's just a bit old fashioned. He looked after Grandma when she was sick. He gives up his seat on the bus for women, even though he needs it more than they do, and opens doors for them. He just doesn't always think before he says things. He probably thought it was a compliment or something."
Anzu backed Yugi up by defending his grandfather. "Yes Mai, once you get to know Grandpa Mutou, he's really nice. It's just that he comes from a different era, one when men treated women differently."
"Yeah, he's a dinosaur," Katsu chuckled.
"It's still inexcusable to leer though. And don't think I haven't caught you guys doing it!" Mai fixed Yugi and Honda with a stern look. Behind her, Katsu snickered. She turned on Katsu. "Wipe that smirk off your face, Miss Innocent! I hope your experience of being a woman teaches you a lesson, Jonouchi!" Mai's vocal chords were far too loud for Katsu's liking.
"Shut up calling me that! No one must know, okay? I'm Katsu. If anyone at the arcade finds out who I really am, I'm as good as dead."
As they walked, Mai could not help notice how genuinely feminine Katsu really was. She remembered with fondness, the confident, masculine way Jonouchi strode out when he walked; smug and almost carefree, despite the weight of responsibility he carried on his young shoulders.
But the gentle swing of Katsu's hips as she walked, side by side with Anzu, and the way her clothes hung from her lean but curved figure, was elegant enough that she could almost make it as a catwalk model. Mai did not know whether to be in awe or jealous.
Swallowing down the knot in her throat, she pushed her way in between Anzu and Katsu and linked arms with the two girls.
In-front of them, Yugi, Honda and Bakura strolled along, chatting. Yugi was actively bragging about how he was going to smash his own high scores, which made her smile; she would never have put Yugi down as being the sort of guy to be big headed.
Slightly surprised that Mai had linked arms with them, Anzu laughed. "Are you okay Mai?"
"Yes! I have been thinking; the next few weeks are going to be fun! How about I stick around and help you look after Katsu?"
"Aw... I dunno Mai," Katsu groaned. "I don't think I need much help, and Anzu is taking good care of me already."
Mai was a little hurt by the rejection and Katsu felt her sag slightly.
"It's not that I don't want you around." Katsu tried her best to explain her complicated feelings. "It's just... despite the nasty things you and he say to each other, Jonouchi thinks a lot of you. I don't think he can stand the humiliation of you knowing he's man bits are now female bits."
"Look, I know I laughed earlier, but I'm not judging. Just as I don't judge Yugi every time he becomes a different person when he duels. Or Bakura, when he changes from a sweet, soft little thing into a vicious psychopath. I know It's a shame that Jonouchi isn't here as his usual self, but I would like to stick around and get to know him as Katsu."
Katsu took a deep breath in through her nose and let it back out in a big sigh. "Yeah, I guess you can stick around," she conceded. "No disrespect Anzu, because I know you try your best. But your attempts at doing make-up are nowhere near as good as Mai's, and I could use some tips."
Mai grinned. "I trained as a beautician before I went to work on the cruise ship. I would be happy to give you a makeover. I will give you one too Anzu, if you like? Yugi will find to impossible to keep his hands off you when he sees how beautiful you are."
"Mai! I keep telling everyone; Yugi and I are just friends!"
"Yeah, right! Keep kidding yourself. I have seen the way he looks at you."
Katsu chuckled. "She's right. If another guy shows any interest in you, he gets real protective, and he told me he liked how you looked in that Burger World uniform."
"What?! But it's horrible! The top is too revealing and the skirt is so short, that every time I bend down, my knickers show... Oh!" She stopped walking, bringing the other two girls to a halt with her and pouted; the reason why he liked her in the uniform had just dawned on her. "Honestly! Men..!" She sighed with disappointment and gazed at the small teenager, walking a few yards ahead of her. "I thought Yugi was not like that!"
"He's a guy Hon! I hate to keep repeating myself. But like I said earlier; all men are perverts."
"That's just mean Mai," Katsu muttered. "But sadly, you're right."
"So, what do we do about it? Since you have been on both teams, do you have any suggestions Katsu?" Anzu asked.
Beyond punching someone for being lecherous, Katsu was not sure if she did have any answers and just shrugged. "Guess it's just the good old 'battle of the sexes'." She concluded.
The boys in front slowed to a stop and turned round. "Hey! Quit yapping about girl stuff you three, and hurry up!" Honda chided.
"Shut ya face!" Katsu bellowed, in a rather unladylike voice.
Mai rolled her eyes. Yup! Jonouchi was still in there, somewhere.
::::::::::::
The arcade was always busy at this time of the evening. As they entered the dimly lit arcade, the noise hit them. Lights flashed brightly on the many different machines, as they hummed, whirred, dinged and buzzed.
The atmosphere was charged with energy, making Yugi tingle with anticipation. He could not wait to get stuck in. And because he was such an expert gamer, he rarely came away out of pocket.
As they walked further into the arcade, they passed a row of people eagerly feeding their money into Pachinko machines, Katsu shuddered when some of the men stopped playing, to look at them as they walked by.
Jonouchi always made a point to be on the lookout for guys who might want to pick a fight with him, and it was difficult for Katsu to not adopt the same readiness for trouble, that always ensured that he would not get jumped or taken by surprise.
But this time, there were no former gang members out for revenge, or wannabes looking to make a name for themselves by throwing the punch that might take down a feared street fighter like Jonouchi. Instead, Katsu quickly realised that they were eyeing her up because she was a chick!
It made her feel extremely self conscious and slightly nervous. Did Anzu and Mai also feel intimidated by horny dudes perving on them?
She glanced at her two female friends and they seemed to be ignoring it. Maybe they were so used to it that they were impervious to leering creeps.
It made her skin crawl, because having been a guy, Katsu knew which parts of her body they were ogling and fantasising about. It made her physically shudder.
She stopped in her tracks and turned to glare right at the culprits. One or two looked ashamed and quickly turned back to their gaming, but two gave her cheeky, flirtatious winks. "Frigging perverts," she snarled at them. The two men just grinned even wider.
Mai grabbed her arm and dragged her along. "Don't acknowledge them! If you react to them, it only makes them worse."
Anzu took hold of Katsu's other arm "Don't give them the pleasure of seeing you flustered. Ignore them!"
"How do you even put up with it?" She hissed. "Those guys are perverts! I know exactly what is going through their scabby little minds!"
"I think we have a pretty good idea too," Anzu groaned. "But like I told you last time; there's nothing you can do about it."
Katsu huffed. "I don't think I can tolerate it. It's horrible."
Mai winked at her knowingly. "For obvious reasons, I know it's not easy for you to grasp this, but us women can actually use it to our advantage."
Intrigued as to what the girls where huddled together and whispering about, the three boys came over to find out.
"Hey! What are you three planning?" Honda interrupted.
"Nothing! Just girls talk." Mai gave him a smirk and tapped her nose.
Katsu shrugged past Honda. "Just a bunch of dudes pushing their luck," she hissed at him, with a wink. "C'mon everyone? We're wasting valuable gaming time."
Honda shook his head in bemusement.
"What shall we play first?" Yugi grinned, flexing his fingers, itching to rip into the high scores.
"How about we let Honda choose the first game?" Anzu suggested, knowing that many of the games Yugi liked were not his thing – or hers come to that; because once Yugi got into a game, he was generally nose to the screen for the rest of the evening and she would not get to spend any time with him.
"If that's okay with everyone?" He looked around and spotted something he might enjoy. He marched over to a platform, where two very realistic looking motorcycles were set up, facing a screen. "How about this? Anyone fancy racing against me?"
"Yeah! I do!" Mai smirked, climbing onto the platform and swinging a leg over one of the motorcycles.
They all glanced between each other with amusement. Honda shrugged in response and stepped onto the platform with a smirk. "You think you're up to this Mai?" He swung his leg over the other bike. "Only, I'm a bit of an expert when it comes to riding a bike. I was racing dirt bikes at eight!"
Mai huffed. "You think I'm no match for you huh?! Well, just you watch!"
"This I gotta see," Katsu chuckled. Honda was crap at most games, but this one was his forte.
Yugi laughed. "I don't think I have seen anyone beat Honda. But I think this battle is gonna be awesome." He was pretty sure Mai would not have challenged Honda if she did not think she would win.
The game started and the motorcycles roared into life. The engines revved, making them sound very real, and the bikes tilted on their stands, as images appeared, of them racing around the fast moving circuit on the screen in front of them.
"Wow! Mai's doing really well!" Anzu was quite surprised to see her keeping up with Honda.
The first game ended when Mai and Honda clipped each other on a tight bend and both of them ended up on the gravel.
"I would say that's a draw!" Said Mai.
"Hell No! I was in front going into the bend!" Honda complained. "You took me out with a dangerous move! You tried to undertake me on the bend!"
Mai was quick to point out that he had been gong too slowly and had braked suddenly. Honda knew she was right and scowled.
"Okay, draw it is then. How about another game?"
"You bet! But let's up the level and do the Isle of Man TT course."
"My favourite course!" Honda stated smugly. He had this one in the bag. "Fastest lap wins."
When Mai recorded the winning lap, by a margin of zero point five of a second, Honda snorted. "That bike is always a bit faster."
"Sore loser." Mai smirked, climbing off her bike. "Would you like to swap over?"
"Nah! It's okay Mai. I'm not as competitive as you duelists." He offered her a handshake. "You're pretty awesome. Where did you learn to ride like that?"
"I have an Kawasaki Ninja 650R in my garage. I love getting out on the open roads whenever I can."
Honda was envious. Even though he could handle a larger bike, he was not yet old enough to ride anything over 50cc on the roads. "Nice! Sure beats my 50cc Honda," he winked. "But as soon as I turn eighteen, I'm gonna go for the Suzuki GSXR 750."
Chatting happily, the group went to play some other games. Katsu challenged Yugi to a fighting game, at which, Yugi reigned supreme. Any hope that Katsu had of winning was quickly extinguished. Either Yugi was even better at this game than last time they played, or Katsu was even worse at it than Jonouchi!
Seeing that she was getting very frustrated, Mai suggested that they go and get some refreshments – her treat.
They found a table and sat down on the plastic bench seats with their drinks. Katsu was still complaining about losing five games in a row. Her reflexes were terrible and her hand eye coordination was non-existent.
"You never had any coordination anyway!" Honda teased, earning a disgruntled slap from Katsu.
Anzu was a little more sympathetic."Maybe it's because you don't have enough testosterone to play fighting games at the moment," she suggested, in an effort to help explain why Katsu was even worse at winning than Jonouchi was.
"Yugi's not naturally aggressive!" Katsu whined. "But he always wins."
"I'm not so sure it's about aggression," Ryou tried to explain. "I have noticed that when Yugi plays, he becomes very competitive and focussed. He is not easily distracted. You on the other hand, find it difficult to concentrate and are constantly looking at what is going on around you."
"Yes, that's true," said Yugi. "I have often noticed that Jonouchi finds it hard to concentrate for long. You seem about the same. I don't think you are any worse. If you remember, last time I beat you five nil as well."
Katsu sighed. "Meh... don't rub it in Yuge. I'm worse, okay?"
"Yeah, if you say so," Mai teased.
"It doesn't matter if you are worse than Jonouchi or not. The fact is, Yugi is just too good for any of us to beat," Anzu stated, proudly.
Katsu drained her milk shake and realised her bladder was full – damn this small bladder. "I need a leak," she announced, earning stares for her unladylike announcement.
Anzu rolled her eyes. "How many times to I keep having to tell you? Girls don't need a leak."
"Well, I will leak if I don't go," Katsu pouted. "And what else am I supposed to call it?"
"Just say, you need the bathroom," Mai suggested. "Do you want us to come with you?"
Katsu grinned at her. "All girls together!" She cooed, sarcastically.
Mai shook her head in dismay.
The three girls got up and headed towards the ladies toilets, while the three boys went to the gents on the opposite side of the hallway.
They did not see the group of boys from senior year, sitting in the far corner, watching them.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had fun writing it.
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