NOTE: Sorry for not updating in a while. I have my reasons though! 1) I was at school, and all that related crap; 2) I was working on my other stories; 3) I was pressured to work on my other stories by my friends; 4) I didn't really have many ideas for this chapter. Oh, and I'm trying to mainly devote this chapter to JoeyxMai and TristanxSerenityxDuke…and some YugixTea (more thoughts and feelings though, than action). The standings:
Tea:
Seto: 13
Noa: 0
Yugi: 0
Serenity:
Mokuba: 6 or 7
Duke: 0
Tristan: 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! (I don't own the song "I'm Not in the Mood (To Say No!)" by Shania Twain that was originally in this chapter.)
Chapter 9: Fight, Fight, Fight!
July 6Mai sat up in her bed, thinking. Sure, it had been days, but she hadn't really had time to think about it since these past couple of days had been very hectic. First Serenity and her crush on Noa, and then Tea's Fourth of July thing. Now, I can actually think about what happened…Mai thought.
What happened?
The ALMOST kiss…. Between her and Joey.
Had Joey really been intent on kissing her?
Had she been intent on kissing him? Sure, she liked Joey as a friend and everything, but she had dealt with men before. It was always the same thing: "I love you," a date or two, and then they dumped her for some other hot chic roaming the streets.
Mai's face contorted with anger and she threw a pillow against the opposite wall. And it hadn't just been one guy; no, it had been at least four. She could name them all: Matt, Dave, TJ, and lastly, the guy that had had the most of Mai's heart that she had ever given anyone: Seth.
Tears formed in her eyes. Those idiots…they had dumped the wrong girl. But Mai knew better. She wasn't going to get all nitty gritty over the past. Call her Seto Kaiba, but she was through with the past. All she was going to do with it was learn from her mistakes. Never any parents around; never any guys to help her; never any friends to call true: Mai's life hadn't ever been the best.
At least, not until Duelist Kingdom: when she had met Yugi Muto and crew.
It was the first time people had accepted her (after a while at least) as a friend, and truly cared for her. After all, look what Joey had done during Battle City. He had given his all, onto the point of almost being taken by the Shadow realm, just to try and get her mind back. In the end, it had been Yugi, but still, those were her friends…her true friends that had helped her.
It had all started at Duelist Kingdom. And her real reflections had started with one guy:
Joseph Wheeler.
After all, Mai suddenly started remembering, hadn't Joey said something back at Battle City about giving anything to get her mind back? Anything? And that's almost exactly what he had given: he had almost given everything.
Mai smiled. She really was lucky now to have such great friends. Maybe there was something called fate.
Mai smirked, "Yeah girl," she told herself, "unless you wanna become like Kaiba, you'd better believe in something called fate." Oh yes, she believed. But there was more that she wanted to believe.
She wanted to believe more.
She wanted to give one more chance.
She wanted a truly happy life.
She wanted…
Joey Wheeler.
She knew that's exactly what he could give her, if only he would just have her. Mai was sure about many things in life. There was only one really big thing, and really important thing that she wasn't sure about.
Did Joey care that much for her? As much as she did?
That was a question, she figured, that she would find out on her own, in due time.
Well, Mai figured, she had forgiven herself. She was starting over. She had a new goal and plan for the present time in her life. She had thought things out and spent some quality time with her thoughts just thinking. It really was something that helped, she thought out.
Of course, it wasn't something that Mai Valentine usually did. No, she wasn't one to sit and think. She was one to get up and go, not really evaluating things.
But Mai was different today. This vacation really was bringing up some weird oddities. It brought up new thoughts and feelings; new behaviors. Heck, all she had to do was look at Kaiba's act yesterday, and you could DEFINETLY tell something was up.
Something was going on with a bunch of people lately. Mai started running through her memory to name a few:
Tea: This was the first Mai had ever heard about Tea ever living in America, and this whole Takanaka guy business. What was up with that? Why choose this summer to really bring it up?
Serenity: She had been having major problems with her love life lately. But now, she seems so secretive against Mai…yet seemingly very open to Tea. What was the girl telling? What was going on with her? Even after the whole Noa ordeal, she still seemed a bit spaced out.
Kaiba: Okay, since when did his attitude change? What happened in his head? What actually made him change his act? As far as Mai knew, nothing could penetrate that thick, egotistical skull of his.
Noa: What was with his sudden coloring around Tea? Sure, on the first day they had come, he had flat out denied Mai that he had any sort of feelings for Tea, but Mai felt something on this one. Did Tea actually have a little stalker?
Joey: What was up with him and her? Was he trying to get a point across to Mai?
Otherwise, beyond those five, Mai didn't see many other differences. Tristan and Duke still seemed the same: trying their best to flirt with Serenity and get her to choose one over the other; Ryou was still his mysterious secretive self, but he hadn't seemed to cause any mischief lately. Where was that yami? Yugi was pretty normal, except for the fact of his sleep loss. Mokuba also, she reasoned, seemed quite well. She didn't know the kid very thoroughly, so how would she know?
Mai glanced at the clock: 11:23. Her eyes widened. Lord, she had spent at least an hour and a half just sitting on her bed and thinking! Okay, that was WAY too long for her!
She hopped off the bed and proceeded to her door. Just as she was about to turn the handle, she gave one last thought to her past mental session: she knew someone that was in need of her previous reasoning and logic concerning the past, and guys….
Serenity sat out on the beach, on her towel relaxing. Of course, she had also learned from Mai the perfect way to get a tan. Those were her two main goals of the day.
She had had enough thinking for a while (contrary to Mai today). Today was a perfect day for rest and relaxation….
"Serenity, look out!" someone called out. Serenity opened an eye, and yelped, dodging a volleyball just in time.
She stood up, dusting herself off, "Watch where you toss that thing next time!"
Duke ran over to fetch the ball, "Sorry, Serenity." Then, he looked around, adding in a whispered tone, "It was Tristan's fault!"
"It was not! You so served that ball ridiculously!" Tristan suddenly came up behind Duke and put him in a headlock.
Serenity watched with a concerned expression, "Uh, guys…please don't…."
"Oh, Serenity, you're so lucky, having guys fight over you," Tea suddenly popped up to the side of her, laughing.
"Huh?" she replied, confused. They were fighting over her? Really?
Tea sighed. Serenity was a great friend, but dang was she so NAÏVE!
Serenity smirked then, remembering her little inference about Noa, You're quite lucky yourself. And then her head suddenly switched over to Yugi's obvious affections. It may not have been physical, but the two were emotionally battling for her.
As the two were caught up in the fight beforehand, they didn't noticed the other set of blue eyes watching Tea Gardner in a new interest and light….
Tea finally was fed up with the fight, and socked the nearest head down into the sand. It was Tristan's.
"Ow, Tea, alright, we get it. We'll stop," Tristan stood up, rubbing his head. That girl sure had power in her. He remembered what had happened to some of the perverted guys that had tried flipping up her skirt back at school…. The next day they had at least one cast on them…and if they were lucky; a black eye.
"Hey! Are you two cumin' back here for da game, or not?" Joey called out from the volleyball court.
"Hang on a sec, Joe," Tristan called back. With a last wink at Serenity, Tristan ran, off, and was closely tailed by Duke, whom at also given her a wink.
Serenity turned to Tea, "What's wrong with them?"
Tea sighed; she was still THAT THICK? "Nothing, Serenity. It's nothing. Just forget it."
"Oh…okay!" Serenity then flopped back down onto her towel to continue her interrupted tan.
Yugi watched from the patio, the happenings on the beach. Tristan and Duke were trying to flirt with Serenity again. Joey was waiting impatiently at the volleyball net, while Ryou just stared off into space beside him. Mokuba and Noa were dragging Seto around the beach, and Mai was nowhere to be seen. And then there was Tea….
Yugi blushed when he thought about her. Lord, she was perfect. Was there any flaw about her? His mentality answered, of course: no one's perfect, but his male emotions said: heck, no.
Somehow, back in their early years as friends, he had thought about what would happen if one of them eventually felt like this. And back then, it had seemed that it was a very likely thing to happen, the two getting together. They practically adored each other, but still kept themselves as little friends.
And then, Tea had left for America for a few years. She came back, and seemed to have lost a bit of her admiration for Yugi. But he hadn't. He wanted to know what ad happened to her over in the United States, but mostly, she kept everything a secret. There were many things she told them about, but nothing seemed complete: everything seemed like they were missing a factor.
Tea had made everything sound so fun, yet when she retold it, part of the joy was missing from her voice and her story. And it wasn't a "had-to-be-there-to-get-it" experience, in most cases.
But Yugi really didn't care much about that. He just wanted Tea to return his feelings. And maybe, just maybe, now that they were older, and out of high school, he could get her to reveal them, or fall in love with him. That was his goal for the summer. Or, he could just tell his feelings and she her reaction.
But, he liked the first plan better. Yugi may have shared a body with him, but the boy was no Yami. Yami had courage. Yugi had a different type of courage: the type for taking risks when your friends are in danger. He didn't have much of the everyday type of bravery.
And Yami…boy was he determined to get the two together. As said, he was getting really sick of the constant battles Yugi had between himself, and Yami wanted his protégé to just get it over with and be happy. So, he planned on helping in ever way possible. If he had to purposely take control of the boy to make him do things, he would. Sure, he'd be acting a lot like Bakura…but there was a time for everything.
"Yami? You never answered my question," Yugi suddenly brought up.
"What question, young one?" Yami returned.
"About you being my other half and…having the same…feelings, I guess," Yugi replied.
"Feelings?" Yami didn't like where this was going.
"Yeah…remember…you said you were my other half. So, I was thinking, since you're a part of me…do you like the things…or people I like?" Yugi bumped his index fingertips together, over and over, in an innocent and shy like fashion.
"Mostly, I believe," Yami replied, "What are you trying to say?"
"Do you like Tea too?" Yugi blurted out, getting it over with.
"Well, sure. She's a great friend. I don't know why you're asking this, Yugi," Yami retorted, confused. Yugi sighed, and fell forward onto the table. Sometimes his yami was so dense.
"I mean…do you like Tea…the way I do?" Yugi explained.
"Oh…" Yami turned away from his innocent half. That was a bit difficult. He had never really given a thought to it before…. Did he really share the same feelings for the girl? Or…was she just a friend? Was there someone else? He was a different person, really, in truth, yet he was still part of Yugi…Lord this was so confusing.
"Hey, kiddo, what's up?" someone suddenly lightly slapped Yugi on the shoulder.
"Oh Lord!" Yugi yelped, spilling his drink (most of it landing on him) and fell off his seat. He winced and looked up. It was Mai.
"Sorry, kid," Mai scratched her cheek gently.
"'S okay," Yugi answered and looked at his spilled smoothie, then quickly ran to get some napkins. Once he had cleaned himself up to an extent, he sat back down and Mai sat next to him.
"Whatcha doin' all alone up here?" Mai inquired.
"Just...thinking," Yugi replied.
"Seems like everyone's doing that today," Mai returned.
"Really?" Yugi looked at her.
"Yeah. I myself was doing some thinking," Mai said.
"Wow," Yugi replied.
"What?" Mai gave his a questioning look.
"Nothing. It's just that…I never thought I'd here you say that," Yugi turned away, a smile forming on his lips. Was he…snickering?
"What's so funny?" Mai demanded, standing up.
"It's just…that's a first," Yugi broke out laughing.
Mai was enraged, "YUGI MUTO, THAT IS SOOO NOT FUNNY!" People on the beach below turned up to look at them. "Y'ALL SHOO!" Everyone turned back around slowly, not wanting to get caught up in Mai's list of those waiting for a death wish.
"S-S-Sorry, M-M-Mai…c-c-ouldn't r-r-esist," Yugi laughed. And, yet again, he fell out of his chair.
"Oh, come off it, it's not that funny!" Mai retorted.
"E-Exactly!" Yugi kept on laughing. Mai sighed, then gave a short, "ha" and walked away saying:
"Forget you. I have business elsewhere."
"Heads up, Duke!" Joey launched the ball. It socked Dice Boy straight on in the face.
"Oomph!" Duke stumbled backwards and fell.
"What were ya doin', starin' out inta space out der? Dis is a game! Pay attention!" Joey yelled from the other side, flinging his arms. Ryou, meanwhile, ran to get the ball, seeing as no one else was about to.
"Sorry," Duke rubbed his nose, and cheeks. That had hurt…bad….
"Yeah, duke, get with the program! They got a point!" Tristan ordered.
"Alright, alright!" Duke retorted, growing impatient.
"Need a hand?" Ryou suddenly popped up and offered.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, thanks," Duke took his hand and Ryou helped pull him up.
"What were you thinking about?" Ryou inquired.
Duke put on a smile, and relaxed a bit, "Oh…just how I'm going to ask Serenity out tonight, or tomorrow."
Something clicked over in Tristan's brain, "WHAT! You can't do that! I was going to ask her out!"
"Well, too bad, because I am, first!" duke marched over. Ryou put a hand over his eyes. Not again.… And with Joey here….
"Huh? What are you two talkin' about, askin' MY sista out on a date!" Joey walked over to the other side of the net, quickly.
"I'M ASKING HER!"
"NO, I AM!"
"I AM!
"NO YOU'RE NOT, DICE BOY! I AM!"
"OH YEAH?"
"YEAH!"
"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP!" Duke, Tristan and Joey turned their heads around to face Ryou.
"Uh…Ryou…you okay?" Joey inquired.
"I…am…fine," Ryou huffed. "You…two," he pointed to Tristan and Duke, "flip….a…coin…or…something."
"I don't know if it's normal or not to carry money around in my swimming trunks," Tristan remarked sarcastically.
Duke snapped his fingers. He had it! Out of nowhere, a dice appeared. Don't ask me how: the guy always seems to have one handy.
"Here, well use this," Duke smirked, holding it up.
"Hey…I don't trust it. Is that thing made to go in your favor or something?" Tristan took it and inspected it.
"You give me too much credit," Duke replied, "It's not gypped. Here, we'll play this way:" his smirk widened, "Odd numbers: I win; even numbers, you lose. Okay?"
Tristan thought about it for a good nanosecond, "Okay. Odds you win; evens I lose. Got it." Duke tried containing his laughter. Tristan was that dense? He had actually bought that? Oh well, Duke wasn't complaining. Either way, he won.
Duke threw the dice up into the air, where it twirled around. The three watched it fall to the sand.
"Four," Joey announced.
"Evens: you lose," Duke announced, still smiling.
Tristan snapped his fingers, "Aw man! That bites! If only it had been odds, then you would have…" realization dawned on his face, "won…. YOU CHEAT! I KNEW YOU COULDN'T BE TRUSTED!" Tristan held up a fist. Duke pointed at him, and doubled over laughing. They heard another laugh a short distance away. Joey looked around to see Ryou laughing his head off.
"Oh…crimedy…that was…so…dense!" Ryou couldn't stop. It was the first time in a while something had been that funny for him.
"YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Tristan suddenly launched himself at Duke, and tackled him to the ground. Joey's eyes widened, and he slowly sidestepped the fight. He walked away, to go up to the patio and join Yugi. Man, was he hungry…it had been a good two hours since he had had breakfast….
"Ow…Tea!" Duke winced as Tea applied some rubbing alcohol to a cut Duke had.
Tristan winced, "Mai…the ice…it's cold!"
"Well, duh," Mai rolled her eyes, as she but the ice pack on Tristan's black eye. She and Tea were wrapping up Tristan and Duke, having come back sort of…bruised and cut from their little brawl.
"I need to go get this loser an ice pack too. Be back in a sec," Tea said, referring to Duke, who just scowled…painfully…at her. Tea ignored him and made her way out. Turning the corner to the stairwell, she bumped smack dab into someone. Without having to glance up at who it was, Tea knew.
She knew because one: she had been bumping into him lately; and two: he was able to keep standing and never flinch when she smacked into him. Tea retreated around him. Who was him? Well DUH. Seto Kaiba.
"And where are you off to in such a hurry, Gardner?" he turned back to watch her.
"Get idiot number one an ice pack," she replied, icily.
"Who's that? Wheeler?" Seto smirked.
"As if," she stopped and stared coldly at him, "He's partial idiot number three. Idiot number two is Tristan. Must I explain whom I was referring to not a minute ago?" Seto was about to open his mouth, when Tea suddenly continued, "And don't give me any of that crap on "why the heck are you helping out those pathetic losers?"" she gave a snobby, ugly face and mimicked him harshly. Seto's eyes narrowed. This was a new side of courage to her….rather, a fool's courage. However, there was the fact that she pretty much had just read his mind like an open book. Maybe he repeated himself too often…. Maybe the phrases he used were too "Kaiba cliché." He needed some new comebacks and insults.
There was also the fact that she had a fiery spirit. Not many other people he knew could throw out insults, comebacks, and still live to tell the conversation to someone else. Then again, maybe it wasn't spirit, but that foolish courage…again.
But Tea had already left before Seto could quickly come up with something to throw back at her. He hadn't liked her imitation. It wasn't a very pleasant looking one. Believe me; you wouldn't have liked it either, had you been Seto. Not pretty at all….
Yet…in a way that Seto Kaiba could only see, her snide remarks…and pretty much acts that were sort of "Kaiba-ish" were slightly…attractive to him. Was that the right word? Attractive? No, it couldn't be. He needed another word. A synonym maybe…just not with the same connotation. Except, the thesaurus he had pretty much been forced to memorize by Gozaburo was coming up with words such as: pretty, gorgeous, hot, stunning, elegant, charming, pleasing…. Argh! None of those would work! Seto finally just turned away and walked off.
"Y'all have really got to stop fighting over Serenity like this!" Mai scolded, as she put some Neosporin on some of Duke's cuts, from random sharp objects that happened to be in the sand.
"Well, if there was some guy you really liked, and some other girl happened to be after the same guy, what would you resort to?" Duke inquired.
"Yeah!" Tristan agreed.
"Well, first off, being that I'm not a guy, I wouldn't go fighting for him. I'd "fight" in other ways: dares, insults, pranks, and slyness; it's all in the head. You've got to use cunning," Mai explained.
"That's a first," Tea said, entering through the doorway.
"LORD HAVE MERCY! WILL PEOPLE STOP TELLING ME "IT'S A FIRST" TODAY?" Mai shrieked.
Tea stood stock still, her eyes wide. Tristan and duke slowly turned their heads up to face Mai. Mai: well, she was fuming.
"I've had enough of everyone and their witty remarks!" Mai retorted testily.
"You tell them, Valentine," Seto Kaiba appeared in the doorway of the bathroom.
"And you!" Tea whipped around, "Your presence is not required here! So please do us all a favor and get out of our line of vision!" Tea spat. She still wasn't happy with having run into him earlier.
"Girl, he didn't do anything to us…yet. Keep your cool," Mai whispered to her.
"Oh, he did something alright. He showed is ugly face here," Tea responded, angrily. Seto just rolled his eyes and walked back down the hallway.
"Lord, I swear that guy is the most annoying jerk ion the face of the planet!" Tea said, once he was out of earshot.
Mai, Tristan and Duke just exchanged glances. They hadn't really seen Tea this worked up over him since their first day here. And the fact was, it didn't seem he had done anything major to upset her. Well, that was just Tea.
Dinner was nothing special. Everyone was chatting away merrily, save Seto, of course. Duke was asking Serenity out, for the next night, for dinner. He and Tristan had had a replay of their little dice game. This time, Duke really did win, fair and square.
However, Joey was trying to hear what dice-boy was whispering to his sister, "What are you askin' her, Duke?"
"Who says I'm asking her anything?" Duke's head shot up. "I could just be telling her something."
"Yeah…so ya have ta whispa it, huh?" Joey crossed his arms. Tristan just stirred his food around on his plate. Oh, his day would come….
"Okay, so I was asking her out, for tomorrow night, big deal. She's a big girl, Joey," Duke replied.
"WHAT!" Joey immediately shot up from the table, slamming his hands down on it so hard, that the silverware flew up slightly from their positions.
"Joey, will you calm down!" Tea pulled him back down, irritated.
Seto just huffed, and continued to eat. He had to admit, these dinners could be a bit amusing, especially when "the mutt" went nuts; as if that wasn't every minute of his life.
Noa noticed Mokuba's face fall slightly, when they heard Duke saying that he was asking Serenity out. Noa smirked. His brother really had something for the girl. But, who was he to talk? At least Mokuba didn't go cherry-red every time he came close to her.
Mokuba noticed this smirk, "And just what are you laughing at?" Everyone turned their attention to the opposite side of the table. Seto took a side-glance at his brothers.
"Nothing," you could see Noa trying his best not to laugh.
"Suuure," Mokuba retorted, "What is it?"
"Just the look on your face," Noa replied. For some reason, he found it really funny.
"What look?" Mokuba started to panic.
"Do you really want me to say, 'what look?'?"
Realization socked Mokuba, "Why you little…DEVIL INCARNATE!" Mokuba jumped out of his seat and tackled Noa to the floor. So much for a peaceful little guy. The two rolled around on the floor, socking the daylights out of each other.
"You two stop-" Seto stood up now.
"Relax, Kaiba," Joey suddenly said, "Let them get it outta their system. Besides, it's the best way to resolve any problem. Tristan an' I fight like dat all da time," he punched Tristan playfully, though rather hard.
"Oh, that's a good philosophy," Tea sighed, putting her head in her hands.
Tristan had taken the punch rather hard, "WHEELER, YOU'RE DEAD!" he suddenly came up behind Joey and put him in a headlock. Joey didn't let loose though. He fought back.
Tea sighed, "Mai-"
"Yep. I'll go get the alcohol and the iodine," she exhaled slowly, and walked up the stairs.
"I'll get the icepacks," Tea walked into the kitchen. "All four of them will need it."
"Men," could be heard as Mai walked out of the dining room. Serenity couldn't help but to laugh as she saw the rest of the guy's faces become hurt, confused, or slightly angry at the insult.
Well, how was the update? Sorry if it stunk. I really didn't have much planned. And see, I think…no, I KNOW I'm sort of biased on couplings, so I'm trying REALLY hard to get in as many different ones as possible and not focus on one, like I'm used to doing. But you know, TATFC will help with that practice too. I think there will be some better stuff next chapter, but I don't know. After all, I sort of have to take all this kinda slow, being that each chapter is ONE DAY. Lord, it's ANNOYING! But, alas, I put the burden upon myself. So, really, only a week, their time has passed. No real couples will pop up for another few chapters. PLEASE VOTE AND REVIEW! Bye!