Yes, Evil Indeed.

It was early morning when Mai woke and slid out from under Kaiba, pausing for a moment to look at the other three, curled together like puppies on the very rumpled mattress. Smiling, she spread the quilt over them, and yawning, padded to the bathroom.
It was Christmas week, and the city was all but snowed in.
Perhaps, she thought as she showered, I should give Yuugi and Yami a call, and invite them to breakfast. Breakfast. Now there was a lovely thought. "Unfortunately," Mai muttered to herself as she tried to untangle her hair, "the list of things I know how to cook properly is pitifully short, and I don't think the boys will be thrilled to wake up to instant coffee and cold cereal. But Tea--" Mai dug through Kaiba's closet, looking for something to wear. "Tea knows how to cook. If I can wake her up without waking the boys, between us we ought to be able to get something on the table."

"Hey you, good morning."
Tea squinted up at Mai, eyeing her ragged gym shorts, and a tee shirt that must have been Kaiba's at some point, judging from the way it clung to her.
"I brought you some clothes. There wasn't a whole lot to choose from, unless you want to wear suits that are a foot too long for you, but there's some sweats that look small enough, and a couple of tee shirts. The bathroom's through that door-- grab a quick shower, and let's see about cooking some breakfast.
"Thanks, Mai." Tea said, gathering the clothes and heading to the bathroom. "But I thought you didn't cook."
"I don't." Mai answered, shutting the door, and gasping as the steam from the shower hit her. "But you do. Could you possibly make the water any hotter?"
"I don't think so." One arm fumbled around the edge shower curtain, and Tea stuck her head out. "Want to join me, Mai?" she asked, dripping soapy water on the tile floor.
"If I must. We've gotta make it quick, though, I'm starving."

Mai and Tea walked down the hall towards the kitchen, damp, flushed and pink. Mai was blushing, and a satisfied smirk hovered around the corners of Tea's mouth.
"You learn way too quickly, Tea." Mai remarked, pushing open the heavy doors to the kitchen.
"I'm skilled. You check the cabinets, I'll raid the fridge."
"But what am I looking for?" Mai started opening cabinets at random, looking for something prepackaged.
"Oh, good grief." Tea dumped an armload of food on the counter and stuck her head back in the fridge. "Never mind." she said, her voice muffled by the door, "I'll look. You wash the strawberries and cut them up. After you do that, I'll show you how to make waffles."
"I was thinking of calling Yuugi and Yami." Mai said, chopping berries and dropping them into a serving bowl.
Tea blushed, and said nothing.
"What? You don't want to?" Mai asked, feeding Tea a strawberry.
"No-- I--" Tea stammered, growing pinker.
"Come on, even I think he's cute."
"I like him, it's just that, he's so-- I can't see him ever--- I mean, what if we offer and he's offended."
"You'll never know unless you ask." Mai replied, popping the last berry into her mouth.
"I guess." Tea poured the last of the muffin batter into the pans, and set them on top of the oven. "I could get used to this kitchen." she said, dumping the dishes into the sink. "Everything's computerized and precise and--"
"There's no Joey eating the muffin batter."
"Yeah, that too. If you're gonna call Yuugi, you'd better do it now, brunch'll be ready in about forty-five minutes, and it'll take them that long to get here."
"What's brunch?" Mai asked, looking for the cordless phone.
"Brunch. Breakfast and lunch. Duh." Tea rolled her eyes and shoved the muffin pans into the oven.
'Why brunch?" Mai asked, pulling herself unto the counter and cradling the phone against her ear. "It's ringing. Why not lukfast?"
"Lukfast sounds stupid."
"And brunch doesn't?" Mai muttered. "Yuugi? Oh, hi Yami."
Tea slowly wiped off the counter, trying to eavesdrop discretely. "I'm fine. Was wondering if you and Yuugi wanted to come over for breakfast." She paused. "No, we're still at Seto's. Tea and Joey." A longer pause this time. "I would have said stupid, but either way."
Tea edged closer, trying to hear Yami's half of the conversation. No such luck. Why couldn't he learn to talk louder?
"Yes, the problem was resolved." Mai continued. "It took longer than I expected, but I was satisfied with the solution. Regarding your related problem..." Mai trailed off, and again there was a silence.
This time it lasted so long that Tea contemplated looking for another phone and eavesdropping properly.
"I think it might help, Hon. You'll never know unless you try. How about this: I won't do anything blatant until I have some idea-- Yes, Mokuba is at home; he'll be there. Of course not! I'd never-- Well, say that, then, it's as good a reason as any. Go on, ask him. No, I'll wait right here." Mai scribbled absently on the pad next to the phone, frowning as she realized she had been sketching a rather graphic scene from last night.
"Hey Yuugi. Wonderful, we'll see you then. No, don't worry about it, Tea's made plenty of food."
"Well?"
"Fret not, Hon: they're on their way over-- even Yuugi can't resist Tea-cooking."

"That was wonderful, Tea." Joey said, reaching across the table to grab the last piece of sausage on the platter, eyeing the piece on Mokuba's plate. Mokuba hastily jammed it into his mouth, and smiled innocently at Joey.
"I agree." added Yami, "Such a meal would have made a fine royal feast."
"Hey, isn't anyone going to thank me, after all, I cooked too!" Mai drained the last of her orange juice, pretending to pout.
"Mai cooked?" Joey smirked at Mai, and added, "Tea, I can't believe you'd let her endanger a perfectly good meal."
"Hey, smartass, I'll have you know I chopped all the berries you ate, and helped with the waffles."
"I thought they tasted a bit odd." Yuugi said, reaching for the last one and drowning it in syrup.
"And what exactly do you think you're doing?" Mai exclaimed, glaring at Kaiba, who was gazing intently into the dregs of the berry bowl.
"I was looking for traces of blood." Kaiba replied, dodging the napkin Mai threw at him.
"I need someone to take me to Yoshi's house. There's this report-" Mokuba trailed off, looking around the table expectantly.
"You finished that report last week." Kaiba said. "You're planning to play video games and consume large amounts of sugar. You won't go anywhere near a book."
"I will so."
"Oh really? And which book would that be? Name one, and you can spend the weekend there." Kaiba folded his arms and stood, towering over Mokuba, who looked singarly underwhelmed.
"The phone book: we're planning to order pizza." Mokuba retorted triumphantly.
Mai coughed suddenly, and Joey choked on his coffee.
Kaiba's lips twitched, and he paused before replying, "Very well, go on. I will see you on Monday, no sooner, is that clear?"
"Crystal." Mokuba bounded out of the room, as Kaiba sat down, trying not to meet Mai's eyes.
"Big Brother?" Mokuba called from the safety of the hall.
"Yes?"
"I lied."
"Oh? How so?" Kaiba stood, ready to glower again if necessary.
"We'll read more than the phone book this weekend. See, I found this stack of manga under your bed, very educational stuff. We're planning to read--"
"You! Mokuba, don't you dare--!" Kaiba ran after Mokuba, who scampered up the stairs torwards his room, laughing wildly.
"Ah, siblings." Joey said knowingly, "The fun never ends."
"I suppose I must go to Mokuba's aid." Yami stood, pushed in his chair, and headed for the stairs.
"I want to ride with them. Yoshi's sister is about my size, and I can borrow some clean clothes." Tea said, tugging at the baggy sweatpants she had stolen from Kaiba's closet. "Besides, she has a couple of my cds; I'll never get them back otherwise. I'll see if I can find something to fit you too, Mai."

Half an hour later, Tea dragged Mokuba and Yami, still debating the necessity of weak monsters in a hypothetical ideal deck, to the car, shoved them both in the back seat, and left for Yoshi's house.
Mai finished loading the dishwasher, and curled up on the couch with her sketchbook, planning to draw a few scenes from the previous night.
Joey had disappeared a few minutes earlier, intending to check on Kaiba, who was still sulking upstairs.
Mai had just finished a rough outline of Tea, nestled between Joey and and Kaiba, when she looked up to see Yuugi standing in front of her, looking distressed.
"Mai, where are the bathrooms? I've been walking around for ten minutes, and can't seem to find-"
"Top of the stairs, first door on the left. It's near the holly plant." Yuugi disappeared hastily and Mai went back to her drawing.

Much to his relief, the bathroom was exactly where Mai had said.
Drying his hands, Yuugi noticed a small marble statue across the hall from the bathroom. Frowning, he walked over to examine it more closely, his bare feet padding silently over the thick carpet. He had just decided that it had to be a Kaiba ancestor, (it was something about the ears) when he heard a whimper, quickly stifled.
Worried, he crossed the hall, and started to push the door open when he heard soft laughter, followed by a smothered moan. More cautious now-- Surely Pegasus' henchmen couldn't have penetrated the additional security features-- he eased the door open a bit farther and peeked through.
Kaiba was sprawled across the bed, half naked andningning softly, hands fisting into the heavy quilts, head resting in Joey's lap.
Joey smiled down at him, running his hands over Kaiba's flushed face. As Yuugi watched, paralyzed, Joey bent over Kaiba, kissing his neck.
Kaiba arched upwards, panting, eyes fluttering closed.
Joey bent down again, whispering in Kaiba's ear.
Kaiba nodded, and Joey moved to lay down next to him, unzipping Kaiba's pants. They kissed again as Joey's hands moved lower to--
The They couldn't possibly be doing that. Joey wouldn't do that. Joey was tough, a fighter, a street punk. Joey was tall and strong and wrapped around Seto Kaiba, kissing him senseless.
And Kaiba, Kaiba who never backed down, never gave in, who was willing to jump off Pegasus' roof before he'd admit he needed help, was writhing beneath him, whimpering, ripping at Joey's pants, pulling him closer. He must have been mistaken. Of course, that was it: Mai had spiked the waffles. He'd better look again to make sure.
Well, maybe just once more, this time sitting down.

Yuugi staggered back down the hall, into the bathroom and locked the door.
Thirty seconds later he was wiping off the wall, and refolding the hand towel to hide the stains. He sat on the floor panting, eyes closed, as the past ten minutes replayed themselves in an endless loop.
Yami would have liked watching that. Yuugi wasn't quite sure where the thought had come from but it brought with it a entirely new version of previous events. He sighed, and reached for the towel again.
What was going on? And why did it-- did he-- Surely he couldn't really want to--with Yami. Mai. He'd talk to Mai.

Mai put the last bit of shading on her sketch, and sprayed fixative across it, pausing to admire it, then setting it on the table to dry. She stood, stretching, and wandered to the kitchen. Returning with a cup of steaming tea, she paused for a moment in front of the window, admiring the snow covered garden. As she stood, debating between a sketch of Joey and the statue in the garden, the door opened and Yuugi edged into the room, red faced, flustered and very rumpled.
"Mai." He said, blushing, "Can we talk?"

It took several pots of tea and a box of chocolate cookies to coax the whole story out of him, but Mai was good at listening, and there was plenty of time. Between bites, the tale tumbled out.
"But I don't understand." said Mai, sketching absently on a napkin, "Why does this bother you so much? Joey's your friend, the same as before. And Kaiba, he's still-- Well, nothing's changed there either."
"I know. It's not that."
"Than what?" Mai said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, careful not to look at him directly.
Yuugi stared at the tablecloth, his fingers tracing the design woven into the fabric. Then hung his head and blushing, muttered, "I think I wanted to be there, with them. With Yami."
Mai walked around the table and stood next to him, straightening his tangled hair.
"I'm sure they wouldn't have minded." She watched, fascinated, as he blushed even redder, noting absently that his neck was exactly the same colour as the tips of his hair. "I could ask, if you'd like."
"... I couldn't. I..." He trailed off, confused.
"Not without Yami, huh?" Mai said, wryly.
" I ... I guess not."
"Guess you're going to have to tell him how you feel, then." Mai said, rubbing his shoulders. "Relax, Hon. It's going to be all right."
"No it won't." His voiced echoed angrily in the empty kitchen. "He'll say I'm too young. He'll say I don't understand. He'll say that it's a stupid crush and I'll get over it. Joey's not any older than I am, and he and Kaiba were ... together. And I know Tea and Joey have. Joey told me all about it."
"That was nice of him." Mai said, grimacing. "Wonder how Tea felt about it."
"I never told her I knew, but I told Yami about it. We can share everything else, that's expected, but this time, when it actually matters-"
Yuugi flung his head back defiantly, blinking rapidly to clear the tears that were starting to gather in the corners of his eyes. He wasn't a baby, and he certainly wasn't going to cry like one.
"Your other self ..." Mai murmured. She sighed, and got up to make another pot of tea. "Here's my advice Yuugi: Tell him everything. Be honest. I think it will turn out well, but if it doesn't we'll be here to comfort you."
"Yeah, right." Yuugi muttered, crushing his cookie into crumbs.
Mai opened her mouth to continue her argument, but the back door opened, and Tea fell through, laughing and covered in snow.
"I will throw more snt yot you." Yami's voice floated into the kitchen causing Yuugi to jump, spill his tea, and bolt for the stairs.
"Oh good grief." Mai muttered, rummaging through the closet for towels to dry Yami, who was heading towards the dining room, still covered in snow.
"Honestly, I give up." She threw a stack of towels at them and stomped upstairs, looking for Kaiba.
Tea's voice rang out behind her "Mai? Please don't get mad, Mai. It's only water, and we'll clean it up."
Mai snorted rudely and continued upstairs, pausing at the top to listen.
Across the hall was Kaiba's office; she could hear the quiet clicking of his computer keys. She paused to collect her thoughts, then knocked.
There was silence for a moment, then footsteps, and Kaiba stuck his head around the door. "Yes?"
"Can I come in?" Mai asked.
Kaiba glanced back into the room, then opened the door for Mai, closing and locking it after her.
"What's go--" Mai began, but stopped as Kaiba jerked his chin toward the couch, and the tear-streaked Yuugi huddled in the corner.
"Oh, Honey." Mai crooned. Sitting down, she wrapped her arms around Yuugi, and he turned, snuffling into her shoulder. Mai looked at Kaiba, eyebrows raised.
"Scared." he said silently. He leaned over, placing his mouth close to Mai's ear.
Mai, under the pretense of smoothing Yuugi's hair, placed her free hand over his ear, and looked questioningly up at Kaiba.
"Won't ask." He said, his lips barely moving. "Scared. Sick." He gestured to the wet carpet across the room, looking mildly peeved. "And keeps crying."
"Get Yami?" Mai whispered back.
Kaiba shrugged, and shook his head.
"Why bother?"
Mai gestured to Yuugi, who had snuggled against her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. "I'm taken. It'll be ok." she added, smiling.
Kaiba raised an eyebrow, and gestured at the still trembling Yuugi.
"Both do." Mai elaborated.
"Ah." Kaiba nodded, understanding. "Good." He kissed Mai quickly and headed for the stairs, and, sighing, she turned to comfort Yuugi.

After fifteen minutes of holding and murmuring soothing words, Mai was starting to get frustrated. "Yuugi." She said at last, leaning down to look him in the eyes, "This has got to stop."
He sniffled and dragged his sleeve across his face.
"What am I supposed to do?" He whimpered. "It's not like I can forget today."
"You'll have to tell him what you saw; how it made you feel." Mai reached for a box of tissues, offering them to him.
"I can't." Yuugi muttered, wiping his eyes angrily and tossing the tissues at trash can.
"Yuugi, listen to me. This is enough. It must stop. You can't spend the rest of your life hiding in Seto's office. I'm sure Yami's already worried about you, eventually he'll come looking for you, and you'll have to tell him something; it might as well be the truth."
"I'll think about it." Yuugi muttered sullenly.
"Pretend with me for a moment." Mai said, gritting her teeth, "Suppose you loved someone. Suppose they never showed any interest in you or anyone else. What would you do?"
Yuugi shredded a tissue and thought. "I'd drop a few hints, and hope they noticed."
"And if they didn't?" Mai asked, crossing the room to pick up the wadded tissues.
"I guess I'd wait for them, if I really loved them. 'Cause I'd know how I felt, but I wouldn't want to force them into anything."
"Well then." Mai said, smiling at him, "Perhaps you should let Yami know it's time to stop waiting."
"But--"
"Enough. You have nothing to lose. I'm going to put on some clothes that fit me, then go and be a good hostess." Mai kissed him on the forehead and left, sighing.
Honestly, a girl set out for a weekend of decadent sex, and instead--
She pulled on the jeans Tea had left outside the door for her, and followed the smell of chocolate chip cookies downstairs, and into the kitchen.