Points of Authority :: Chapter 4 -- Graceful Charity

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She posed for you, bringing you back from your distracting thoughts. She shifted her weight to one hip, her hand on it, and brought her other hand to kiss her two forefingers. She giggled a bit. “I’m Mai Valentine,” she claimed almost arrogantly; it was covered by this form of sugary girly-ness…

.: Points of Authority

.: Chapter 4: Graceful Charity

**********

(A/n:) The reason why I didn’t put in the attack/defense numbers in the duel in this one is because I didn’t right them down when I did the duel…but it didn’t really matter anyway, considering your strategy… : P

**********

Your head had started a light, warm, buzz as you walked into the entrance of the hotel...

Definitely from your recent dialogue with Kaiba.

...And you had this ominously heavy bubble in your chest... Dammit. Kaiba wasn't worth having guilty feelings about.

Casting aside those awful waves of anger, you were suddenly overwhelmed by the lush environment of the horridly-named hotel. You noticed the plush, garnet curtains and wall-throws before you realized that there was a good reason why you were here.

Pulling up to a free receptionist at the long desk that traveled the length of the hotel lobby, you put your suitcase down beside you as you distractedly asked yourself, 'is THAT cherry wood too?!'

“May I help you?”

His chipper tone didn't mix well with your disconcerted mood. Well, to be quite frank, it was making you gag, but you held it back in a hesitant smile and kept your face as neutral as possible.

"Yes," you started as politely as your headache would allow. "I'm Kenzie Ray, and I was invited by Kaiba Corporation for the Battle City Tournament. I was supposed to have a room here."

If possible, the man’s smile grew even wider, making your eyebrow rise in an odd foreboding feeling towards the middle-aged receptionist.

"Oh, yes. I remember that going around," he told you in subdued enthusiasm. "Let me just check your room number here..." He had begun clicking away at his computer, looking to be distracted by what he was doing. He began to cross the line of 'taking a while,' but just as you decided to take in more of the hotel interior, he rudely interrupted your thoughts.

"Looks like we don't have any other rooms open...wow, we're really busy right now!" he mumbled to himself. It only managed to put you in a fouler mood.

“Ah, yes!” he announced with a spirited finger. “Here it... Is...?”

His face contorted strangely as his voice trailed off. You didn't dare ask what was wrong, but you could tell your own face was scrunching into bewilderment. Just what the hell was he getting at?

The receptionist gave you an apologetic look as your stomach reacted in ominous pitfall.

"I'm very sorry miss, but we happened to be booked.”

You felt your whole body momentarily shut down, except for the dumb blinking.

“Um, I’m sorry,” you began in civility, putting a rehearsed finger to your cheek -- you were trying to not get angry. “Could you...repeat that last part?”

He gave an uncomfortable gulp, fingering his collar like he was hot. He fidgeted in his seat as began to explain, “Well, it seems that the Prime Minister was to rent out your suite before you were to arrive, but last week he decided to stay for much longer...”

Resolve coursed through you, feeling like the receptionist had taken you for dumb. “So tell him to leave,” you suggested, exasperated.

He raised defensive hands in front of him, trying to calm your raising voice with dismissive hands.

“I’m very sorry, miss,” he began in urgency, fingering his collar again. “But it’s the Prime Minister of Japan! We can’t just tell him to leave!”

Bits of anger were seeping into your skin from the overload coursing through your veins. You were clenching your throat shut because all you wanted to do was scream right now. This was just not your life apparently; how could it be? First Seto Kaiba, and now the hotel seemed to be against you as well. Then, a thought struck you: maybe, just maybe Seto Kaiba had set this up since he didn’t particularly take a liking to you.

You shook your head clear of your conspiracy thoughts and calmed yourself before you spoke, "The Prime Minister is a valued customer just as I am. I deserve the same expectations he's getting. Don't you know that every customer should be valued? Even cashiers know that much..."

He answered with an uneasy gulp, and a nervous finger fidgeting with his collar again. He could feel the dark aura you were emitting despite the calmness you were speaking to him with.

You laid your hands on the desk with a mildly resonating “smack,” startling the receptionist. His spinelessness was beginning to annoy you. “Well…answer me!”

By this time you had been steadily leaning more and more over the reception desk, making the receptionist lean back in defense from your intense tone, looking a little meeker than what he should have looked in that clean-cut suit of his.

“But I’m just a receptionist,” he replied weakly, wishing that you would let up from the discerning glare you had graced upon him. “I can’t fix any of this; I just enforce what they tell me to do…”

Rolling your eyes dramatically, you knew you wouldn't be able to get your room and you didn't feel like dealing with much else today -- you'd deal with it later after you had lunch or soemthing. Storming out of the area, you blindly made your way through the lobby…

…And of course you ran into someone else as you exited the hotel. Your pathetically mumbled “sorry” was cut short when you saw the flashy bandana that made you almost regurgitate your sad, airplane breakfast from earlier that morning.

“You…,” you said in so much contemptible distaste that you could taste it on your tongue.

His black ray bans starkly contrasted the blonde hair that was kept back by the American-flag bandana he wore. In gingered arrogance, he pulled down his glasses to the tip of his nose and gave you a sly smirk. “Well, if it isn’t the Default Duelist,” he jeered. “Tell me, how goes it in the pits of the top?”

Your nose wrinkled, starting to brush past the fellow American duelist in a huff. “Keith, don’t even start with me.”

But before you could exit Bandit Keith had grabbed your upper arm, halting your attempts at escape. He continued in his teasing as you disgustedly pulled your arm away from his grasp. “Oh-ho...? Still a little sore I see.”

“And I have every good reason to be you no-good bastard,” you spat back in ferocity. “You ruined my reputation! I hope you drop dead!”

Keith lifted his sunglasses to rest upon his head, casually leaning into the side of the building as you continued to seethe. His eyes glanced at you with a playful glint. “That’s a little harsh, don’t you think Kenzie? I mean, after all, how could you want me dead?”

You smirked, crossing your arms in solemn defiantly but a giant stress mark was still present. “Do you want it alphabetically because I’ve been working on it.”

Keith lifted himself off of the building, his smirk still present even though you knew he was getting serious. “Tell you what, since you’re still so sore about being incapable of beating me... I’ll give you another shot.”

“It wasn’t even about that!” you spat heatedly. Knowing he wasn't going to give up, you huffed a sigh, “Fine, but you can’t cheat!”

“Okay then; it’ll be an all-out battle, just to make sure that we know who the better duelist is,” he stated. “You’re lucky I’m such a nice guy.”

“Pfft,” you managed to say out loud despite your clenched teeth.

**********

Bandit Keith had managed to grab one of the cherry wood desks from the reception of the hotel and two plush-wooden chairs, much to the dismay and protest of the employers. You definitely weren’t going to ask what primitive tactics he used to make the employers to agree...

In any case, a fairly large group of people had already gathered from the “commotion” you and Keith had stirred up. You were both seated in the chairs, shuffling your decks when Keith spoke up…again.

“Ya know,” he jeered, momentarily showing his eyes. “It’s going to be a shame when all these people see how I’m going to beat you.”

You gave a discerning look of disgust at an answer. “Keith, with all these people here there’s no way your ‘slips of hand’ are going to go unnoticed like they did at the tournament,” you said in grave anger. “I’m going to rip you apart.”

Keith laughed as both of you cut each others’ deck. “Just for that comment, I’ll go first.”

The duel had been set up according to some revised rules that Kaiba was going to use in his new tournament, but with a whopping 8000 Life Points each. It was definitely going to be interesting at least.

You huffed lightly. “It won’t matter who goes first so just hurry up already.”

He eyed his cards swiftly, and then kept a steady gaze on you as he put two cards facedown. “I think these will serve my purpose for right now.”

Rolling your eyes, you finally gave a good look at your hand as you drew your card: Gravekeeper’s Servant (magic, cont), Witch of the Black Forest (effect monster), Bistro Butcher (effect monster), Torrential Tribute (trap), Spirit Reaper (effect monster), and you had drawn another Gravekeeper’s Servant.

’Hmmm…I think I’ll keep my Gravekeeper’s Servants for later…when he thinks he’s going to win,’ you thought to yourself as you eyed your cards, calculating the best move.

Flitting a card up from your hand, you put it down on the glossy surface of the pilfered table. “I’ll just set this monster card for now.”

Keith’s eyebrow rose incredulously. “Defending so early? You know this is how you started out the last time you went up against me…and you ended up losing,” he ranted, gesticulating arrogantly. You gave him a dirty look. “But if you’re gonna do it, I guess I won’t question it.” Dramatically, he began his turn, just about slamming a monster card down. “I summon Overdrive (monster) in attack mode, and attack your face down card!”

You smirked as you flipped it over. “Oh…looks like you put my Witch of the Black Forest in the graveyard. You know what that means…”

Keith looked pretty pompous for what he had just sent to your graveyard. He really had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Sifting through your deck, you grabbed a monster card and flipped it quickly so that Keith could see what you got. “I choose to take Jinzo from my deck.”

You saw Keith’s mouth twitch. “Since when did you have a Jinzo? You’re not good enough a duelist to have a card like that!”

You made sure your face remained stoic as you answered, shuffling your deck from your Witch of the Black Forest’s effect. “Remember? You cheated me out of my duel through slips of hand, so I didn’t stay long enough for you to even see my deck,” you informed, putting your deck back in place on the table, letting a slight glint of your eye penetrate Keith’s ray bans. “So, Keith, it looks like you’re at quite the disadvantage since I’ve done a lot of research on your deck through the Duelist Database[1].”

Keith hesitated a bit, making your smirk. “Heh, there’s no way you’ll get past my machine monsters, especially with opening moves like that. You’ll lose the same way you did even if I’m not cheating this time.”

You huffed a little as you drew your card: Gravekeeper’s Guard. You decided to set that card out on the field also. Keith was a bit peeved at that. “Dammit! What’re you trying to prove? I told you that’s not gonna work on me!”

“Well then, attack it,” you suggested plainly.

“Heh, I’ve got other plans,” he announced while drawing his card. “I’ll sacrifice Overdrive for Akihiron (monster), and end my turn.”

You sighed, gaining a Raigeki from your draw. ’If he’s playing by what I’m saying, he’ll never win,’ you thought. ’Idiot.’

“I’ll lay this face down and end my turn.” You had placed one of your Gravekeeper’s Servants down for later.

Keith smirked as he drew his card. “That’s such an obvious trap; you really are a bad duelist,” he mused. “I activate Monster Reborn and bring back my Overdrive in attack mode. But, I’m not attacking your obvious trap.” He finished his turn with a sneer, making your nose cringe in disgust.

’Ugh. Well, as long as he thinks it’s a trap, my strategy will just be less obvious to him until later…’

Drawing House of Adhesive Tape (trap) from your deck, you decided to chance summoning Bistro Butcher. Flitting the card from your hand, you put it on the table, holding it in place a bit with your index finger. “I place Bistro Butcher in attack mode!”

“And you activated my Trap Hole,” Keith smirked widely. “Looks like you still lack an attacking monster. You’ll never beat me if you keep everything in set-defense, Kenzie."

You said nothing, but swore you were going to hurt him so bad during this duel -- he’d learn not to mess with you again!

You tried to stay stoic. “I end my turn then.”

Keith grinned as he drew his next card, looking directly at you. “It’s futile, you know. I can’t see why you’re still doing this, especially since you’re so ready to skip your turn if something doesn’t work.”

You gave a mild glare. “Keith, stop wasting my time. Besides, you gave me the second chance. If you want me to back out so much, then it makes me wonder if you’re really the one who’s scared to go on.”

“Tch!” his mouth twitched and he looked angrier than you had ever seen him before. “I sacrifice my Overdrive and my Akihiron for Launcher Spider (monster-Attack=2200)! Attack that worthless facedown card!”

Flipping over your card, it revealed Gravekeeper’s Guard (1000/1900) and it was sent to the graveyard. “I hope you know that you activated my monster’s special effect; it sends one monster on my opponent’s side of the field back to their hand,” you said, voice laced with slight irritation. “And since your only monster on the field is Launcher Spider…”

Keith’s face contorted into something closely related to contempt. He took his Launcher Spider off the field and back to his hand, probably musing himself with strings of choice curses.

“Fine, I end my turn.”

You couldn't help the small smile that graced your lips. Drawing you card, you acquired Penguin Soldier from your deck. Giving a delightfully evil smirk, you glanced over at Keith. “Well, I think it’s time I stopped going easy on you, Keith.”

“What’re you talking about?!” He yelled in mild ferocity. Keith seemed oddly unfamiliar...

“I set a monster card, and activate my face down card,” you stated (your monster card was Spirit Reaper), “Gravekeeper’s Servant, and I think I’ll activate the other one from my hand as well.”

Keith chuckled in relief after seeing your play. “Gravekeeper’s Servant? That’s your strategy? Please! I know every strategy around that card! I taught Bonz how to use that card!”

You gave a dark expression, more like a solemn warning. “Who said that was my strategy…?”

Keith didn’t answer.

“Well, that ends my turn.”

Keith gave a bewildered expression. He was obviously confused that you hadn’t attacked him directly because he was wide open!

Keith composed himself rather quickly, drawing his next card. “I summon Oni Tank T-34 and attack your face down card!”

“Don’t forget to discard two cards from the top of your deck to your graveyard from my Gravekeeper’s Servants!”

He begrdugingly did so.

You flipped your Spirit Reaper face up, but didn’t put it in your graveyard, and since Bandit Keith was expecting it to go there he was growing impatient.

He tipped his glasses down to glare at you. “What’re you doing? Put your monster in the graveyard,” he grounded out.

You gave a sweet smile. “But you forgot about Spirit Reaper’s special effect; it can’t be destroyed through battle. It may only have 300 defense points, but it’s still hard to get through.”

Keith let go of his anger quickly and let his back recline against the chair, signaling he was done. “Your monster will go to the graveyard, just watch.”

You returned to a bemused stoicism. “Well, it’s my turn now,” you said, drawing your card. It was Skull Invitation (trap). Your heart leapt. This was perfect! “I set one card face down and end my turn.”

Keith said nothing as he drew his next card, straightening up in his chair…and smirked yet again. “I activate Premature Burial (magic), and at a cost of 800 Life Points, I can get any monster card back from my graveyard!” he quipped arrogantly. “But, what should I choose?”

You rolled your eyes. 'It won’t matter what he gets; he won’t be getting past my Spirit Reaper.’

“I’ll bring back Cyber-Tech Alligator!”

“Good. Because you just activated my trap card, Skull Invitation.”

Keith obviously didn’t pay any mind to it, but kept going anyway. “And then I’ll sacrifice my Launcher Spider for my other Launcher Spider!”

You rolled your eyes. “Whatever, but you get docked 300 Life Points from my trap card for every card that goes to the graveyard.”

You knew Keith was glaring through his ray bans. “It won’t matter since I have one of the strongest creatures in my deck on the field to wipe out your Spirit Reaper! So I attack it!”

You huffed. Man he was being kind of stupid…

“I’m sure you’re aware that you have to discard two more cards from the top of your deck, and you get docked another 600 Life Points for both of those cards.”

He was bearing teeth now, but you weren’t fazed at his rage. “It won’t MATTER because your Spirit Reaper is GONE!”

You looked at him in disbelief, crossing your arms in a tired manner. “What part of ‘can’t be beat in battle’ did you not understand?”

He partially relaxed back in his seat. “Whatever. I’ll find a way.”

You drew your card solemnly, putting Don Zaloog (effect/monster) into your hand, choosing not to do anything. You noted that Bandit Keith was now at 6000 Life Points and you still had all of yours intact. Not having any more to do for your turn, you ended it.

Bandit Keith immediately drew his card upon you ending your turn like he was trying to prove something. Then he did the most mind-numbing action you had ever expected:

“I attack again with Launcher Spider!!!”

Almost losing grip with whatever sick reality this was, you about screamed back, “WHAT?! What the hell is your problem?! I told you that you can’t get rid of my Spirit Reaper that way!”

Keith took off his sunglasses hastily, throwing them to the ground beside him and a nasty plastic resonation sounded, giving off a feeling of doom…

“I TOLD YOU, I ATTACK WITH LAUNCHER SPIDER!!!”

You couldn’t compile enough of your brain to even know why he had just yelled at you like that… You knew you had some odd look of incomprehension on your face.

You knew Keith was a hot-tempered guy at times, but he just did not seem like himself… There was just no way! He never yelled like that...not even when he got caught cheating at the tournament.

But he was the one who had just said it; it sounded like Keith, even though it…didn’t.

“I told you,” he grounded out to the point where it ruggedly dragged your current thoughts to his attention. “I just said I attacked with Launcher Spider, now do something!”

You fumbled a bit in your speech at first, still taken aback from Keith’s earlier explosion. “Oh! Well, since you attacked you discard two cards from the top of your deck from my magic cards and then the effect of Skull Invitation…”

Keith was now at 5400 Life Points; almost half of what he started with.

“I know what those do,” he said curtly, carrying himself in a different manner now. He seemed annoyed...arrogantly annoyed, but that wasn’t really Keith’s style from what you had remembered… “Is your Spirit Reaper gone?”

You gave a slightly discerning look, now suspicious about something. “No…”

You waited to see if Keith was going to respond to your answer. Maybe he’d yell insanely again, or maybe he’d go back to how he was acting before…

“So go already,” he told you in perturbed fashion, startling you a bit on the inside. “I don’t need you wasting my time.”

Glaring lightly, you drew Card Destruction (magic) from your deck. You were more than a little put off from Keith’s outburst and odd behavior and you really couldn’t think of how to handle it so, you decided to skip your turn. Before you did, however, you flipped a card up with your opposite hand, saying, “And to keep to the six-card limit per hand, I discard one card to my graveyard.”

You had discarded House of Adhesive Tape (trap).

Bandit Keith smirked, delighted that you had done so. “And don’t forget that you take a hit from your own trap card for it.”

You gave him quite the nasty glare -- he had some audacity to imply that you were ignorant of your own deck strategy when he didn’t even know you had one yet! “I know,” you grounded out in contempt. Due to your Skull Invitation trap card, you were docked 300 Life Points, bringing you down to a whopping 7700.

Keith was next, and of course, what he did was no surprise. He attacked with Launcher Spider again. Through your nice ring of magic and trap cards his Life Points dropped to 5400.

What was wrong with this guy? You never knew Keith to actually be this impulsive. He was more of like an arrogant, crafty guy most of the time. You rarely saw him like this, but that was only when you heard about the rumor that he had pulled a gun on Pegasus J. Crawford when he was disqualified from the Duelist Kingdom Semi-Finals.

Upon your next draw, you came up with a rather nice card to screw Bandit Keith with: Man-Eater Bug. “I set one monster card onto the field and end my turn,” you stated plainly.

Keith responded with a really dirty look. You got the feeling that maybe he was trying to kill you with that “mind over matter” technique or something. You weren't fazed.

“I sacrifice my Launcher Spider for Pendulum Machine!” he announced, earning him a raised eyebrow from you. Pendulum Machine only had 1650 attack points compared to Launcher Spider’s 2200, but, guessing from Duelist Logic ™ he was probably doing it to see if a different monster could beat your Spirit Reaper.

“Now, I attack your face down monster card!”

You flipped over your face down card, revealing Man-Eater Bug. Not bothering to look at what priceless face Keith had plastered to his face, you sent it to the graveyard then informing him that, “I can send one monster on your side of the field to the graveyard, and I send your only one: Pendulum Machine.”

From Skull Invitation, you suffered 300, as well as Bandit Keith. The score was 7400 to Keith’s 4200.

Snorting at the brief glance you took from Bandit Keith’s shocked face, you drew a card. Alright! Delinquent Duo! But you’d save that for when he was really getting down on his luck…

…But you had some better plans this time around.

“I switch Spirit Reaper to attack mode and attack!” you announced, maybe even a little darkly and dramatical flipped your monster to attack position.

Keith smirked. “What good is that? You’ll hardly make a dent with that weak monster.”

It was true, Keith had only dropped the 300 attack points you had attacked him with, leaving him at 3900 Life Points. However, he had overlooked something as well…

“I assume that you are unaware of the second ability of Spirit Reaper. When it causes damage to your Life Points you must discard one card from your hand,” you said slyly. “Now discard a card.”

Keith gave a disapproving grunt as he did.

You gave him a cagey smirk. “…And then you’ll be 300 Life Points less,” you chided. “Where are you at now, 3600 Life Points?”

He was now giving you a very dirty look which made you a little uneasy about being so arrogant. “That’s more than enough to beat you by,” he warned with a psychotic edge that sent a shiver down your spine. “Besides, I have monsters in my deck that can cut off this random deck strategy of yours.”

Composing yourself from his edgy tone, you gave another discerning glare as you activated another magic card. “Oh really?” you mocked. “Well, what if those cards you’re talking about are discarded to the graveyard?”

Keith’s face betrayed his frustrated tone. “Wh-WHAT are you TALKING about?!”

You flitted your hand in conceited elegance, knowing you finally had Keith where you wanted him. Next turn, he’d be dead.

“I activated Delinquent Duo,” you sneered lightly. Looking to his mildly shocked face, you began, “I can assume you know enough of Duel Monsters that you’ll know what this card does, right?”

Keith didn’t answer.

An annoyed surge of anger swept across your face, past memories from the American Tournament now surfacing since you had Keith in a corner he'd never get out of. “Well, since you apparently don’t know anything, I’ll tell you. Delinquent Duo, at a cost of 1000 of my Life Points makes you discard two cards from your hand,” you concluded with your voice growing with more emotion. “And thanks to my Skull Invitation trap card, you’re down to 3000 Life Points, Keith.”

The score was now You: 6100 (don’t forget to add in Skull Invitation’s effect for this number), and Keith: 3000. A very big difference.

You saw Keith jerk from the corner of your eye, waiting for him to discard his two cards. After a while, he begrudgingly answered with a, “I’ll discard these two,” and then started his turn.

After a brief moment, he decidedly did nothing.

…And the brief moment that you realized he had done nothing, the grin you wore could rival that of a cheshire cat. The look never left your face for the remainder of your turn.

However, you found it oddly striking that you had drawn yet another House of Adhesive Tape…

Brushing those thoughts aside, you summoned Don Zaloog (effect monster) in attack mode, setting into play your plan…

“First I attack directly with Spirit Reaper!” Although you looked like you were really enjoying it, you were forcing some self-control so you didn't sound like you were. “And then I’ll attack with Don Zaloog!”

You paused, just to savor the look of horror that had instantly culminated on Keith’s face.

“And if my calculations are correct, that should bring you down to 400 Life Points,” you informed him, jeering slightly. “However, it’s too bad for you that my Don Zaloog is also an effect monster.

“When Don Zaloog is able to cause damage to your Life Points, I can either choose to randomly discard a card from your hand, or have you discard two cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard…,” you smirked darkly, enjoying the revenge you were finally being able to wager on this low-life; he had ruined your reputation as a duelist! Even if it would kill you in the end, you would steadily get it back and this just so happened to be the first, glorious step to accomplish that goal.

“…And since it serves my purposes in defeating you this turn, I’ll have you discard two cards from the top of your graveyard,” you grinned, your posture suddenly snapping straight in regality.

From Skull Invitation's effect, discarding two cards would cost him 600 Life Points, and he only had 400 left…

Keith stared down at his side of the field, quite literally shaking with rage, but the fact that he was so quiet bothered you as you gathered up your deck into your hands. And he kept mumbling something incoherent…

You finally became aware of the rather large crowd encircling the miniature dueling arena Keith had set up. They were mumbling and whispering furiously about how you beat Bandit Keith. You knew you didn’t have to say anything else to rub in your victory. The fact that nearly half of the town seemed to be here right now was a sufficiently given humiliation for the cheat. Thus, you decided to begin to make your way through the crowd…

“YOU!!!”

Startled by the venom that Keith's voice had peirced into you body, you froze in place. Painfully, you dared to turn back and face him... His voice had been so psychotic and angry, like that of a madman, a genuine madman.

“YOU!!” he spat again with the same venom and ferocity, making a frightful edge pull at your insides as spit flew viciously from his mouth. “YOU cheated! I don’t LOSE to trash like you!!”

If it wasn't for Keith's sudden psychotic anger you would have said some choice retorts...but something was telling you not to...

"No, I didn't cheat! I won the duel fair and square! Don't try to make me look like the bad person beca--!"

Before you could finish your sentence, you had been startled by the violent “CRASH” of the lushly furnished table on the unforgiving concrete. You saw the table destroyed beyond repair by deep engraved scratches as the hollow sounds it made embedded themselves into your skin…

A pressure had overcome your throat, making your neck stiff, and hard to move. Gagging, you saw the uncomfortably close face of Bandit Keith, his pale blue eyes giving off a murderous glint in them. “I’VE HAD ABOUT ENOUGH OF THAT MOUTH OF YOURS! I’ll KILL YOU BEFORE I ACCEPT DEFEAT!!”

His grip tightened in response to the surging anger from his remarks, making you cough as you clawed at his wrists… Adrenaline surged through your limbs, making you frantically flail around. Your breathes were coming in shorter, much shorter than Keith would allow you for every passing second his grip got tighter…

“Let go of her, you loser!”

*WHAM*

The hollow, slightly watery sound of fist to skin contact resounded in front of your face. Keith had let go of your neck, and you collapsed unceremoniously to the ground, clutching your neck and coughing like your body would cave in at any moment. Breaking you out of your coughing fit was an authoritative voice, but one that told you she may have been into fashion for no apparent reason…

“Ugh…you make me sick, Keith,” she told his lifeless body. Apparently she had knocked him out with one punch… “So I was more than glad to have an excuse to sock ya a good one for that little display.”

This, “girl,” who had saved you certainly wasn’t modest as you had come to notice. She was wearing some white girdle-top, with a sleeveless, lavender, hoodie-vest, unzipped. It was accompanied by the same lavender-colored miniskirt, and stiletto boots. You inwardly shuddered as you glanced at the sharp heels…

“Hey, you okay?”

Violently pushing you from your reverie, you noticed that the blonde had bent down a bit to come closer to your face. You looked at her dumbly, blinking accommodating your bewildered face.

“Hey! Are you sure you’re okay?” her voice poked through your confusion as you sat there in front of her kneeled person. “He didn’t do anything to you, did he…?!” her voice went deadly serious again as she glinted over towards Keith’s prone body, her fist shaking in anger.

“If I hate anything at all, it’s a sore loser…,” she seethed even more, making you think that she may lash out at any moment. She was holding back a lot of her anger, you could tell.

“No! I’m fine!” you squeaked out, afraid she may actually kill the guy…

Her face softened as she turned back to you gradually, much to your ease. “That’s good, because if he had hurt you, I was going to drive my heel-“

You raised a defensive hand, becoming a bit squeamish at the thought of what the girl may do with that stiletto heel… “No, please don’t say it,” you managed weakly.

It was quiet for a moment...perhaps she was being nice and letting your stomach settle from the latter thoughts running through your head. In any case, she startled you when she announced very excitedly, “Hey! I know you!”

You stomach jumped a couple of feet as your clutched your aching chest. “Um…you…you do?”

She smiled giddily, her hands bawled up next to her chin. “Yeah! The American Tournament Winner!” she cried. “We girls gotta stick together, you know!”

“Um…,” was all you could manage to answer with, the excitement of this girl leaving you speechless.

Wait.

She looked so familiar… The blonde hair…that face! WHERE had you seen it from?!

She posed for you, bringing you back from your distracting thoughts. She shifted her weight to one hip, her hand on it, and brought her other hand to kiss her two forefingers. She giggled a bit. “I’m Mai Valentine,” she claimed almost arrogantly; it was covered by this form of sugary girly-ness…

Snapping your fingers in recognition, your eyes brightened. “That’s right; The Mai from Duelist Kingdom? You were awesome! I loved your Harpie Deck!”

Mai laughed in self-egoism, extending an index finger. “Of course you do!” she said sweetly, then got serious again, her hands crossing over her chest. “But I was wondering, where are you staying at? I know you’re here for Kaiba’s upcoming tournament, but I was wondering if you’d like some practice runs against my deck.” She gave you a wink. “It’d be nice to see the two greatest female duelists at it!”

’Well, I’m not as great as she claims, obviously… Did she forget I won by default?’

You shook your head a bit to clear it. “Well, I’m supposed to be staying at this hotel here,” you pointed to your side with an extended thumb, your face dropping to a disgusted frown, “but the Prime Minister of Japan has taken my room, it seems. And that receptionist said there were no more rooms available…”

You were starting to brood again, something you did often nowadays when you were back home. You thought you’d be able to get away from it…

“Hey! Don’t look so down!” Mai slapped your back in good fun, almost making you fall over from your sitting position. “If you have no other place to go, I guess I could let you room with me at my apartment while you’re here.”

Your eyes mildly bulged. “What?! No! I couldn’t! I’d be too much of a hassle!”

Mai gave you a blank look, priceless really, but then it turned into a devious smirk. “What’re you talking about? You act like I was going to let you stay for free…”

Mai put a defiant hand on her hip, making her seem overbearingly aristocratic at that moment. “Hey, I think it’s cool you taught Bandit Keith a lesson, but that won’t pay the extra food I’m gonna have to buy if you’re boarding with me, now will it?”

You could only stare.

“And besides, it costs extra if random people room at the complex I live at anyway for more than two weeks,” she explained. “I’m offering a roof over your head while you’re here, so you should be lucky, but I’m not going to mother you like a baby chick. I know you’re a big girl, and I know you’re smart enough, so you’ll have to provide mainly for yourself.”

'Greedy' just didn’t seem the word for how she was. It was more like, she was being nice, but then trying to seem mean to justify her actions or something…

You were still staring up at her in shock and Mai had noticed. She had slowly gotten a tad irritated and pulled you up roughly, grabbing your suitcase. Luckily, your purse was still attached to your person.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” she pursed her lips a bit, dragging you through the crowd. “I just gave you a place to stay and you sit there on the dirty sidewalk! I swear! People are so rude these days!”

“No, I-,” her berating demands had only taken you by surprise. Mai’s very presence demanded attention, and you just didn’t feel right cutting her off in her ranting when you just met her… “I-… Thank you, Mai.”

Mai gave you a warm smile, looking back at you as she finally saw that you could walk yourself. “No problem, kid. And since I’m feeling so generous, I’ll take you out to lunch.”

Your smile brightened. “Oh wow! Thanks Mai!”

Mai was still walking, keeping her pace as she replied plainly, “I won’t be buying for you.”

“Oh.” Your face sunk a little. ’Damn, I think she’s gonna nickel and dime me more than that doctor…’

But you still smiled. Mai was a good person, she just didn’t like to show it, obviously. She would definitely make life here at Domino a lot more interesting for you.

**********

[1] Duelist Database refers to the database that Kaiba uses to rate duelists for his tournmanet. I went on a creative whim and assumed that duelists are able to access it and read up on deck types and past duels.
Also, the only way to kill Spirit Reaper is to target it with a spell/magic or trap card.

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.: most suitable screencap

.: most suitable quote

.: Points of Authority

.: Chapter 4: Graceful Charity

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