Right in a Bad Way

A/N: Well, this is the last chapter; as of now, this fic is finished. You may see it updated once and a while, but that’s just me going back and fixing errors I find. I’m anal like that. I want to thank everyone who read my story and, especially, everyone who reviewed. I did this for you guys. I could give out that crap of how I’m writing for myself and I don’t care what anyone thinks, but if that were true, this would just be sitting on my hard drive. I posted this because I’m a ham, so thank you to everyone who indulged me.

This story did end up more romantic than I’d originally intended, but not by much. I said at the beginning that I was not going to have the two of them vow eternal love, and I don’t. I wanted to get them off to a good start, not carry them to the finish line; that meant cleaning up some of their problems, but not all. I hope you enjoy this ending.


Chapter Seven: A Gold Star

“. . . and . . . four cheeseburgers.” Jounouchi was meeting his friends for lunch at Burger World. He’d made it there first, tried waiting, and got too hungry.

Settling back in the booth with his food, he reflected briefly on what had happened last night. Yuugi hadn’t said a word on the drive home; Mai had been subdued as well, but she didn’t seem surprised. Jounouchi hadn’t known how to comfort his friends, but he’d made a few attempts anyway. When Mai had dropped him off, she didn’t kiss him or say anything about going out again. He knew she had a lot on her mind, and he reassured himself with what she had said about being serious about their relationship.

A woman was throwing away her trash a few feet from him, tossing a magazine she’d been reading with it. He tensed, glancing at the cover. God, what was his problem? He was seeing her everywhere, and—wait, that really was her on the cover.

He jumped from his seat and to the can. The woman gave him a funny look as he reached in to dig out the magazine. He blushed when he realized that, not only was he digging through trash in a public place, but he was digging through trash to get a ladies magazine. Mai was on the cover, posing in a chic, sexy suit, with most of the buttons of her blouse undone. The articles advertised on the cover were things like “Ten recipes that take only a half hour!” “Fake tanners to the test: find out which ones work and which ones blotch!” and “Kujaku Mai: the internationally famous model and duelist dishes about playing cards with the big boys, where she buys her clothes, and her hot hunk!”

“Hot hunk?” What the hell? Then he saw that it was an old publication, dated August of last year. This was when she was dating Varon. He didn’t want to be curious, he didn’t want to actually carry the magazine back to his seat in front of all these people who’d just watched how he got it. He wanted to be cool, wanted to be secure. He took it back to his booth instead.

He flipped through, trying to find the article. It had been a long time since he’d done an interview for something like this, and even then he’d never had a whole article to himself. But then, over the last year he’d taken a sort of break from dueling, only participating in the biggest tournaments, while Mai had entered every competition that let her register. She’d made something of a name for herself—not touching Yuugi or Kaiba’s fame remotely, but she’d put herself on the map as the most well known female duelist in the world. This article would have been out right after Mai had won the Asian Continental, knocking out Vivian Wong.

He found it. There was a nice spread of pictures done in black and white with smoky backgrounds; she looked hot, as always. He made a pretence of reading the whole article for almost thirty seconds, then flipped to the part about her relationship with Varon—who was he kidding anyway?

“Interviewer: Now, about that beautiful man you’re seeing. How does it feel to be dating the winner of the Annual Duel Monsters Fan Poll’s category for Sexiest Duelist?

Mai: Spectacular. I would like to compliment the fans for their excellent taste: he is hot.

I: Were you at all surprised when you heard the news?

M: (laughs) Shocked. Kaiba’s won that award three years in a row, and he’s richer and better looking now than he was then. Varon insists he wasn’t surprised at all; he walked around the apartment partially clothed for a week and a half to gloat. When I’d tell him to put a shirt on, he’d say, ‘Don’t fight it. You know you want me to take off my pants, too.’ And then he’d take off his pants. Saved us a fortune in laundry soap, though—he didn’t wear anything long enough for it to get dirty.

I: As annoying habits go, I’m sure that one’s bearable.

M: Well, yeah.

I: Is the long distance thing hard?

M: Not really. He speaks Japanese and I speak English; most of the time we’re not apart because we’re staying at each other’s apartments for months at a time.

I: There have been vicious rumors in the past that you’re a greedy fortune-hunter. You make almost twice what Varon does; is this proof those rumors were erroneous?

M: (laughs) Not at all. I like money, I like men. A man with money combines my two favorite things. If Varon’s proof of anything, it’s my personal inconsistency.”

Jounouchi closed the magazine, not able to finish reading the interview. Well, that was painful; next time he’d just hammer a nail through his hand. Jounouchi had forgotten about Varon winning that award—Jou believed he must have rigged it somehow. And then the thing about the money.

She sounded like she was joking, but he’d seen her apartment, her closet. She was joking about the truth. Jounouchi felt sick. Was this why she hadn’t committed to anything with him? She knew he was as poor as they came; he would probably never be able to provide the life she wanted, even if he did go to college. He looked at the picture of her on the cover. She looked classy, and sexy, and pampered. Like the magazine said, she was an internationally famous model and duelist. She was gorgeous; she was intelligent; she was rich; she was twenty-freaking-five. And then he asked himself what the guy at the party had asked: did he win a contest? Was this a joke? A fluke? What was a woman like Mai doing with a guy like him? Perhaps Honda was right and she was just playing with him.

And, for maybe the second time in his entire life, he looked at his food, and he wasn’t hungry.

----------

Mai was cleaning out drawers and cabinets, cleaning under her stove—reorganizing her closet. She knew she was upset, but she didn’t want to stop to think about it. All of the former Doma had had a difficult time adjusting to life after what had happened the past few years; Mai had survived despite several nights of thinking she was going to lose it. It was jarring to see one of them snap. She and Raphael had never been close, but that wasn’t the point.

Around six in the evening, her phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hello, Sweet-lips.”

She sank into her couch. “Did you hear?”

“Yes, I heard. Are you cleaning?”

Mai didn’t know whether to smile or scowl. Varon really did know her too well. “Yes.”

“Well, stop. Ridding your apartment of every spec of dirt and organizing things that are already organized is not going to make you feel better. In fact, don’t think about Raph at all. It’s horrible what’s happened to him, but it’s not like he doesn’t know how to survive on that island, and he’ll probably be happier there anyway. He never did like people much.”

“Yes, I suppose.” She looked at her open kitchen cabinets, with their contents strewn about her kitchen. It would take a while to put all that stuff back. Then she saw the mixing bowls and smiled weakly. “Hey, you know I tried to make that gingerbread you gave me.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Really. It turned out so awful, I didn’t even bake it. The orange juice I used was bad, it ended up with twice the cinnamon in the mix, and I spilled vodka in the dough.”

Varon gave a bark of laughter. “You know I gave that to you as a joke. What the hell were you thinking?”

“Well, Jounouchi was coming over and I wanted to do something special.”

“Ah, Jounouchi. So, which one of you broke first?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh come on. You guys have been hot for each other for years and now you’re finally together. Who broke down and confessed their feelings first?”

Mai blushed. “Actually, we sort of skipped that part and went straight to bed.”

“But you’ve told him how you feel?”

“No.”

“Mai, you’ve got to tell him. With the way your past has worked out, he’s got to be a little doubtful when it comes to whether or not you love him—and it’s mostly your fault because you’ve been too proud to tell him.”

“Maybe I’ve been afraid he’ll laugh at me. You know he once suggested that I marry another guy, a famous actor, just so he could be invited to Hollywood parties.”

“I’m just saying, if you don’t let your guard down and swallow a little pride, your going to lose him. Guys need reassurance. If all you’re doing with him is fucking, he’s going to think that’s all you want him for—because that’s what guys do when all they’re after is tail.”

“Shut up, Varon.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know; so am I.”

“Just think about it, Mai. Listen, I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you back later.”

That was just fine. She was all too ready to hang up. Who’d have thought a guy could be such a meddler?

Disregarding his advice, she started cleaning again. She wasn’t just going to leave everything she’d torn out scattered all over the apartment.

It was while putting away a pair of scissors in her desk that had been misplaced in the kitchen that she saw it. Normally, it sat at the back of the drawer and she forgot she had it. But every once in a while, she’d see it, feel ashamed, and yet not throw it out. It was a gold star chip, souvenir of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. When she set out to repay Yuugi for helping her, she won six stars, but Yuugi only needed five. She felt silly; the chip should have made her think of Yuugi, or the pharaoh, or Pegasus, but it didn’t. It made her think of Jounouchi. It made her think of the first time he’d teased her, taunted her, helped her--the first time he touched her. A game of keep-away gone silly, she’d suddenly found herself close to him, her body actually brushing his in some places, stretching her hand to reach his. Then the turn. In the space of a second, he went from keeping her chips out of her reach, to pressing them into her hand. It was ridiculous, but she knew then. Not love at first touch, or anything. She just knew that he was special, that the way he made her feel was special.

She told herself she should throw the chip away; it only took up space. Yet she knew she wouldn’t. And then Mai knew Varon was right; she had to tell him. Anyone who saved a memento for two years, commemorating a relationship that never was, had serious issues. She wasn’t willing to let go of the star chips and she wasn’t willing to let go of Jounouchi, so she’d better suck it up, and do what she could to keep him—even if that meant revealing feelings she'd hidden for years.

On the way out the door, she paused only to grab her car keys and purse. It wasn’t until she was walking up the steps to his apartment building that she realized she was wearing ratty jeans, an old lacy tank top, and her hair, which hadn’t been styled, was pulled back in a pony tail. It wasn’t exactly how she would have liked to look when she told the most important person in her life how she felt about him, but she knew if she went home to change, she would chicken out all together.

But, strangely, all that steeling herself was for nothing. When he opened his door, the courage went right out of her anyway.

He seemed a bit surprised to see her. “Mai? What are you doing here?”

She opened her mouth to speak, and no words came out. So she did the one thing she could do, the one thing that was easy: she kissed him. It wasn’t violent or forceful, like other kisses she’d given him, but it was still desperate. She was trying to tell him with her kiss what she was too cowardly to tell him with words.

He responded immediately, pulling her into him, and shutting the door behind her. The kiss ended and he led her to his bedroom, the touch where their hands met light and gentle. He seemed to understand that something was different from before. He held her eyes, and, with warm fingers, lifted the hem of her tank top up and over her head. His fingers fumbled with the clasp of her strapless bra a moment before she reached back to help. He paused, however, before pulling the fabric from her body.

“What is it?” Mai asked.

“I . . .” he blushed. “I’ve never seen your . . .”

She understood, and suddenly, that seemed rather funny—that they had had sex three times and he had still never seen her breasts. She kissed him softly, pulled the lacy fabric from his fingers, letting it fall to the floor, then lead his hands to cup her firm mounds. She felt him shudder with pleasure against her lips.

Mai reached down to gather the bottom of his T-shirt. Their mouths and bodies parted so that she could pull it over his head. After she dropped it, she went to reach for him again and saw him gaping, staring at her chest with glazed eyes. She gave him a moment before stepping into his arms again; it made her feel desirable to see him that excited over a part of her body. Feverish hands found her their way to her chest for a second time, this time followed by a hot mouth.

Once more, his enthusiasm made up for his lack of experience. She was beginning to think she was so attracted to him, anything he did would excite her. When he took a nipple in his mouth and began to suckle, she felt a little dizzy and her knees gave a wobble. Jounouchi noticed this and led her to his bed, pushing her gently to the mattress. Then he returned to his task, moving from one breast to the other for what seemed like hazy hours, his hands stroking her stomach and limbs.

Finally, his fingers began to twiddle with the fastenings of her jeans. Eagerly, she helped him, and she found herself stripped nude, lying on his single bed. He kissed down her body, taking his time on her stomach before moving lower. When his tongue touched her sensitive folds, it was like throwing brandy on an open flame, and she heard herself give an involuntary whimper. She had waited too long for him to do this, and now that the moment had arrived, her every nerve ending was so alert, so ready, that things which would have normally been simply pleasant, had her clawing the sheets. In minutes, she was thrashing her hips and tugging his hair, gasping his name over and over again. Then she screamed it.

In the aftermath, she felt Jounouchi’s weight leave the bed, then return. He kissed her to wakefulness, then entered her slowly. They mated tenderly, unhurriedly. Their eyes met and held just before they peaked, and it seemed erotic and romantic at the same time. It was a first for both of them.

With a contented smile on her face, Mai stroked Jounouchi’s hair. She was . . . happy, and that felt strange, but certainly pleasant. In this moment, she was more afraid of losing him than she had ever been, but she was also more sure of her capability of keeping him than ever.

With a groan, he pulled his weight off her and his face from her neck, rolling to the side, an arm still thrown across her middle.

After a minute or two of silence, she heard him whisper, “Why?”

“Why what, Jou?” she asked.

He raised his head so they could look at each other. “Why are you with me?”

Oddly, what had been so difficult for her to express an hour ago, came easily. Now she knew how to say it. “I want to be with you.”

His eyebrows came together slightly. “You want to be with me?”

She nodded and said quietly, “It’s a lot, isn’t it?”

There was a blank moment, then his face cleared, and Mai knew he understood. She had expressed herself in his language. He broke into a wide smile, then kissed her. It was a celebration kiss, as though they had just won something.

“Would you mind, Jounouchi,” she asked, “if I stayed here with you tonight?”

He shook his head, probably not even considering the fact that he had school in the morning or that his bed was only a tiny single. He got up, shut off the light, and the two of them settled under his blankets to sleep.