Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Possession ❯ Ice Cream ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: Shut up and leave me alone. I don't own these guys. I know that. It hurts, it huuuuuuuuuuurts!

AN: Well, it's another one of the goils! (That's girls for those of you who don't speak Dia) Mai, to be precise. This fic also features Jou, for a very good reason, the reason being that I love Jou. And I love Jou/Mai pairings. This is your warning. The usual shortness and me being me stuff is involved.

You know you love me.

Oh, and Mai calls Jou by his first name throughout, the reason being that his last name is long, and I cannot spell worth diddly squat. (Like you hadn't realized that by now.) At any rate, please read and review, or else I'll have my kawaii Yugi clone pout at you!

So there.

Hope you enjoy! *Dia runs off to cuddle her kawaii Yugi clone*

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Well. I'm finally going to do it.

I'm finally going to tell you about it. To begin with - well, it's weird.

...amazing how shallow that sounds. For something so strange and mind-mendingly confusing - well, it deserves better words than I'll be able to give it.

Frankly, I don't know what to make of it. If Katsuya hadn't told me, I would've thought absolutely nothing of it.

But he's been opening up lately, and much to my surprise, I've found myself doing the same.

At any rate, it's just plain confusing.

Before this, I was almost afraid to commit it to paper. That way it would be real, and reality is a strange thing. But who knows, maybe I'm in denial. Maybe I don't know what to deny. I mean, it's not like I can frown on that sort of relationship - not when I have relatives that are similarly inclined. Well - if that relationship even exists.

I do feel kind of weirded out here. I mean, I don't even know them that well, but I feel embroiled in the thick of things. Then again, somehow little Yugi manages to drag everyone into his life, whether they want to be there or not.

And since I've learned about it (and it might not even exist, mind you), it's been hard not to notice some... little things. It's nothing big, nothing out of the ordinary, but it does make you stop and think twice.

Funny how nobody seems to, but I guess that means all of Yugi's little friends are too shy to speak up about it. Or maybe they really are that dumb.

Well, except Katsuya.

I have to admit, it was kind of a surprise when he showed up on my doorstep one evening about a two weeks ago, just wanting to talk.

Why I ever agreed to wander around town with him, I don't think I'll ever know. He's about as far from my usual kind of man you can get. We had hamburgers, for God's sake! I ate hamburgers in a greasy little fast food joint! I must be losing it...

Truth be told, they were pretty good, and the food mellowed him out enough that he could actually tell me what was going on.

I think I stared at him with my mouth open for about five minutes when he finally blurted out his suspicions, his face the relative complexion of an overripe tomato.

"Are... are you serious?" I managed after a moment, still gaping.

He just rubbed his nose and nodded, bangs tumbling into his eyes in an even more unruly fashion than before. "Yeah. I know it sounds nuts, but I really think that even if he isn't... ya know, doing that... well, there's something going on that he ain't telling me."

I managed to shut my mouth. "I think what you're suggesting is a little more than something."

When in doubt, or when you're confused as hell, it's always best to be sarcastic. It helps to mask some of the shock. And I was shocked - not by much, by what he was proposing just seemed so absurdly ridiculously strange and... well, just plain not right! I mean, Yugi Moutu? Little Yugi? Impossible!

He snickered, nodding in agreement, but the sound was sour. "Yeah, guess you're right. It is a little bit... y'know."

By this time, I had composed myself enough to sip calmly at my soda. More than a little bit, much more. I was so flummoxed by the proposal that I couldn't even think clearly. Yugi Moutu? Why would he...? Could Katsuya be leaping onto ideas without any real reason? How long had this been going on? Had the world gone mand?

Enough, Mai, I scolded myself. Ask what you know he can answer. So I asked a question that had been niggling at the back of my mind throughout the entire conversation. "Even if that's the case, I've been wondering about something."

"Hope it isn't about what they've really been doing," he muttered sourly, casting a dark look down at his empty tray. That boy can devour a hamburger and fries in six seconds flat.

I feigned my usual superior sarcasm, but couldn't manage to sound half as caustic as I had wanted. "Ouch. Jealous much?"

He gave me a dark look. "...that ain't even funny, Mai."

"Sorry." And, rather to my own surprise, I was. "Anyway, I just have to know why you decided to talk to me, of all people. I don't even know Yugi that well."

He wiggled uncomfortably in his seat, glancing around at everything but me. Then he rubbed the back of his neck, fiddled with his jacket, and took a nervous gulp of his soda. On which he started choking, but he waved me off when I leaned over the table to help him. He turned a rather surprising shade of pink. And here I always thought people who choked turned blue...? Wait. I leaned over the table. His head was on the table. What a little pervert!

Anyway, I was beginning to think that I would never get an answer when he finally spoke up. Amazingly, he grew very still as he locked gazes with me from across the little booth. ...he's got pretty eyes. But I couldn't dwell on the thought.

"Look, Mai..." he began slowly, "It's... it's just not something I can talk to just *anyone* about. And I know that my friends are my friends, but they're just as caught up in this as me - least, I think they are. They're Yugi's friends, and... well..."

"I'm not?" I finished quickly for him, unwilling to acknowledge the sudden stinging in my chest. Just because I wasn't didn't mean that... that I...

He shook his head sharply. "Nah, that ain't it. But I get the feeling that unlike some people, you aren't gonna judge him, are you Mai?" he questioned, giving me a searching look, honey eyes gleaming beneath the floppy fringe of his bangs.

I blinked in startled surprise. Would I? I was never a saint, not like some of their little gang. And he thought that I wouldn't judge? Well, I'm certainly no self-righteous bitch like that Anzu girl, that's for sure. But - why? I just didn't know. I just stared at him, wide-eyed, probably looking like a deer he'd inadvertantly caught in his headlights. And when the person who's driving is Katsuya, there is much to fear.

Strangely enough, he smiled, calm and confident, almost smug. "Yeah, I thought so."

I just gaped at him again. What was running through his fool head?

He kept grinning inanely for about a minute, before he seemed to realize what he was doing. He abruptly looked away and out the window. "Anyway, I wanted to thank ya for letting me spill my guts and all. It ain't a normal thing for me to be opening up to people, but... well, you're different."

Was it my imagination, or did he blush while saying those words? I couldn't really see his face - his reflection was warped by the glass.

...nah, it was probably just me.

But he grew very solemn as he seemd to gather his courage. Then he reached over and clasped my hands in his.

"Mai. Ya gotta promise me you won't tell anybody. I know it sounds weird, but if Yugi found out... he's real gentle, you know that. And if his yami found out... er..."

I was too distracted by the warmth of his touch and the unreality of the situation to really come up with a coherent reply. "You'd be dead meat?"

He grimaced. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mai."

Still... wasn't it true? I knew Yugi's yami even less than I did Yugi, but those few glimpses were enough to convince me that ticking him off would probably be suicidal at best.

"Mai?"

I shook myself out of my daze and flashed him a brilliant smile. He turned beet red. This was interesting...

"Katsuya?" I asked, ever-so-sweetly, batting my eyelashes alluringly.

He gulped audibly. "Yeah?"

I gave him my most sultry smile. I had to stifle a giggle when he started to sweat. "Do you have any proof?" I asked quietly.

"Uh..." he looked dumbfounded, blinking in a clueless fashion that was actually... rather adorable. "Proof of what?"

I rolled my eyes. "Proof about Yugi, you moron." Adorable, yes, but a rocket scientist Katsuya isn't.

"Oh! Uh... heh, not really. It's just one of those things that you've gotta see for yourself, y'know."

I just raised an eyebrow. "If you say so."

Three minutes later, he seemed to realize just how long he'd been holding my hands in his larger ones. He turned a particularly vibrant shade of crimson before turning heel and running for the hills. At least he had the good manners to yell goodbye as he zipped out the sliding glass doors and ran straight into a crotchety old grandmother, who proceeded to beat him over the head with her purse. I just rolled my eyes in disgust. Boys. No wonder I prefer real men.

But... he left a paper rose, folded out of a napkin, lying on my tray. Ordinarily, I'd chuck such a paltry gift in the trash without a second thought - so why is it lying on my dresser right now?

...I think I'm blushing.

Well, it's been two weeks. I haven't seen much of anything - except for one single instance. But then, all they were doing was holding hands. Just walking down the street holding hands.

That's a bit odd for a guy, but given the closeness of their relationship, it could be interpreted as a brotherly gesture of affection. Seto Kaiba gets dragged around by his little brother all the time.

...somehow, I don't think it's quite the same thing.

I mean, even if they were just walking home from school, they stuck rather close to one another. And Yami wound up carrying Yugi's backpack. And Yugi wound up eating ice cream, a cone purchased from a street vendor and prominantly displayed under the nose of his taller counterpart.

"C'mon, it's good! And cold and sweet!"

The pharaoh looked at the confection, at Yugi, and back at the treat again. ...funny, Yugioh doesn't seem quite so harsh when he's acting like an ordinary teenager. He shook his head and continued on.

Yugi skipped in front of him, and he stopped, raising a dignified eyebrow in a silent question.

Yugi, with all the defiance he could muster, waved the ice cream threateningly under his yami's nose. "You want the sugary goodness. You know you want it. I know you want it. Give in!"

And Yami snickered.

The almighty game king snickered.

Not in malicious triumph, not in superior smugness, not in cold calculation.

Just... soft and normal. He's never soft, and he's certainly not normal. Maybe that's why I'm so confused. What you see is what you get? What you miss is the truth? I just don't get it!

So they walked down the street, holding hands and laughing. Now, is there anything suggestive about that? About two boys having fun?

Well... maybe.

Katsuya's instincts are rarely wrong, especially where his friends are concerned. And frankly I'm beginning to wonder...

Yugi's been so quiet lately. I rarely see him outside of school, but now he seems... more distant, somehow. Of course, he's still innocent and sickeningly sweet and gentle-tempered... but I can't help but think...

I need to talk to somebody.

I don't know what to think.

...and I have his phone number. Naturally. Though if anyone found out that I had his number, I would naturally immediately deny it. Katsuya is a punk. I am a goddess. We do not mix. ...publicly.

But he's a rather cute punk. And a rather sweet one.

Most importantly, he's an understanding one.

I've got a phone call to make.

By the way, Yami ate the ice cream.

Like he'd do any different.

It made Yugi happy, after all.

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AN: How do you describe confusion if you don't know what to think? A puzzling question. Hope my answer didn't suck donkey behind. Feedback to mjalta@yahoo.com

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