Winning Without Gods (A Yu-Gi-Oh Fanfiction)DONE!

Chapter 6: Why Duel Monsters Became A Hit

Jounouchi's Room

"Well, congrats. I don't know how you two managed it so fast. Getting her to up and leave like that? I mean, sure she's got all the good graces, and she'll be better off. But wow. Talk about owing favors over the head." Mai sat down on her bed. "I got an extra sandwich for you, Stud."

Jounouchi didn't answer right away. He went over from his bed, took the sandwich, but wasn't feeling hungry. "I didn't want to tell them yet. Stupid spirit." He looked at the sandwich.

"Hey, I'm extra attractive, and things just kind of happened," Mai reasoned. "It's fine. We're still friends no matter what."

Are we? Are we just friends? This happened more than once and it's not because you're attractive, Mai. I've always had a connection to you. His eyes didn't lift from his sandwich. Shizuka. Anzu. Mai. Possibly our future kid. This could not be a worse time for people to be ganging up on me in my life.

"Ease up on the pressure, Jounouchi," Mai said as she crawled deeper in her covers. "We've gone over this. I know how to take care of myself, and I'm not worried about anyone coming after me. I was just worried over Anzu. She might always be far away, but she's the closest girl friend I got." She looked straight at him. "So, did you give her all the details?"

"Yeah. She knows the guys to be watching out for, but to also be weary of anyone else they could have hired." Jounouchi had firmer details than he shared with Yuugi. He would later once they were settled down. He even had pictures of the ones most likely to go after Anzu and Shizuka. "This whole thing is a mess right now, Mai." He laid in bed, almost crushing his sandwich. He grabbed it and looked at it. "An old friend has to move away from her own country to be safe. Shizuka is with Honda still. You might be carrying my kid, and I don't know because you won't even tell me if I was the only one or not."

"How am I supposed to remember months?" Mai asked. "It's not like I ever said, 'let's get committed'. You weren't thinking that either at the time."

"You didn't go out and do like twenty guys you never met." Jounouchi knew that much. Maybe there was three or two. Maybe one. Maybe even none and she was using that excuse to keep him from going farther than 'friend'. "Stupid spirit."

"Well, it's out. So what? It's not like I have a spirit inside of me like Anzu did," Mai complained. "We can move on from this."

"Yuugi is going to be watching Anzu. I trust him. Not only is he going to be using that money from the success of his Sphere game he's had he never flaunts, but his heart has always been set on her. He'd die to save her." Jounouchi picked up the sandwich. "I'd die to save you. You need to stay with me until I know it's safe." He opened the sandwich and took a bite out of it. "I hate that I am leaving Shizuka so close to Honda though."

"Oh for gosh sakes, Jounouchi," Mai confronted him. "If they love each other, it's their business."

"I know my sister. I know she's been hiding this from me. Well, things, but I know her too." He took another bite. "She isn't with Honda because she's madly in love. He likes her, fine, but it isn't the other way. She likes the feeling of security. She just . . . she's never been healthy. She can see and that's great, but she's always weak and frail. She wants to be strong. There's only so far she can go." He put the sandwich back down. "That's why he has to duel me to keep his respect, because I won't let my guard down." He looked hard at Mai. "Even for a newb, not a second. There's someone out there right for both of them. I care for both of them. It just isn't with each other."

Mai didn't answer right away. "If that's really true. I should have a talk with your sister. I'm going to end up having a talk with her soon anyway." She wrinkled her nose slightly, like she was debating something. "If you feel in your heart that you are right, then okay. Stick with what you believe because she shouldn't be with someone if they don't share any love. Physical is one thing, but . . . if she's sharing a future." She glanced back toward him. "Do you think she'd say yes?"