Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Devotion ❯ Infatuation - Joey ( Chapter 31 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. Nor Shonen Jump. If I owned them, Hikari of Death Note would have been given the name and a photo of Joey's dad.

 

Notice: I am being more awake currently, but it's spotty, and a major advantage has been that I have been able to plan and use my awake time to my advantage for fic-purposes. I fly out to my college (which only has 1/3 of the year before winter break) on Saturday, and after that a lot of my peak time will have to go towards schoolwork, like most of you. I'm not sure how that's going to affect things, but I'm going to try to get as much as possible done before I go/on the plane. Thank you.

 

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

 

I just can't think straight with Mai around. It just doesn't make any sense. Yeah, she is hot, but I used to run with the gangs, man. I've seen `em hotter, or at least trying to be, and I've seen them much, much more likely to put out, even if I got out before getting involved in any of that.

 

Which is a damn good thing, because with my luck I'd have caught something for sure. And that wouldn't be a thing to do to a woman I had actual feelings for.

 

Am I in love with her? Nah, I don't believe in that stuff. Not after seeing my parents all mushy and gooey and then she started screaming at him and he started beating on her.

 

But I definitely `have the hots' for her, how could I not? I'm a red-blooded teenager, and she wears clothes like that, come on. And she makes me feel all crazy and dizzy an', …man, I almos' fell off the balcony back there. That's gotta be real impressive, good goin', ol' Joey. An' droolin' at her on the ship to get here made her think you were real mature, too.

 

Yeah right.

 

And why am I thinking about some nose-in-the-air woman I'll probably never see after this tournament when I should be cheerin' on my best bud, an' trying to think of more tricks to play on that Bandit Keith jerk?

 

Yeah. Bandit. And that stupid bandanna. What a poser. If he'd ever been in a gang, he damn straight wouldn't fight like that. You don't block punches with bare hands, that's practically askin' for a knife or a bit of glass to be hidin' in them. Not to mention while he was snickering at me and watching my hands, he was leaving himself wide open for a shot to his groin.

 

Any of my ol' gang could have taken him in like two seconds, doubled over on the ground screaming for his mommy with his wallet gone, and we were just kids, and I was the best there. An' now I'm losing to pansies like Kaiba, who knows tournament-class martial arts. Oh, yeah, real impressed here. That stuff's all about not hurting your opponent, fun and games. In the real world, people get hurt.

 

…well, this is the real world too, where people don't get hurt that way. So, I'll just have to settle for kicking your asses in duels. An', `Bandit,' I'm taking you down right after this. That's why I didn't even bother getting' angry at you when you were trying to pick a fight with me again. Then I'll give Yugi the best warm-up he's ever had, though you're doing a good job, Mai.

 

And you really weren't messin' with his head. Still, Yug' can't let you win, though. That Pegasus bastard was right, some of us do have more on the line here than others.

 

Man, the view's a lot better up here. Where's the jerk? Don't see him down there…

 

…and damn, she's good. Did I beat her by sheer dumb luck before?

 

…did I say that out loud?

 

…

 

Man, Mai.

 

When you're a bitch you're the Bitch Queen, and I mean that as a compliment, but that… besides my sis, and Yug', that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me and actually meant.

 

A duelist like you telling a punk like me I knew something you don't. That you learned a lesson from me instead of me just trying to copy a few of your strategies in later duels, learnin' from a Master, that I helped you take a good luck at yourself and see what was holding you back, makin' you rely on those cheap tricks like the perfumes…

 

That I, Joey Wheeler, helped you begin to trust yourself, see what you could really do, go from me beating you to you wiping the floor with Yugi, even if he's… not himself right now.

 

That you're holding me up as an example to Yugi, that he needs to face up to his fears of what he's become, what and who he is.

 

Me. Joey Wheeler. The dumb, immature punk who should have just stayed on the streets. Anyone'd tell you I'm too dumb to take a good look at anything.

 

Damn. I think I do love you. Helping my best bud out like this when you're after the prize money and the instant he wakes up he's probably going to wipe the floor with you…probably? Man, it's hard to believe I believe it, but you have a real chance of beating Yug' right now. Unlike everyone else he'd dueled so far.

 

Without using a cheap trick like that Kaiba-bastard. …no, I shouldn't even think of him that way right now. Not when he's suffering because of trying to help his little brother.

 

Need a new insult.

 

And you got Yug' ta listen to you. When me an' Tea, who's been his best friend since they were tykes, and the rest of us couldn't do anything.

 

…he still might lose, though.

 

Man, Mai… you're giving him a better warm-up than I thought I could, although I'll hafta try to dislike you again if you knock him outta the tournament.

 

The spirit's been out since this morning when we came by to pick you up, I'm getting able to tell better, but he's been acting like he's been on a leash this whole duel, distracted and just, well, held back. I thought just letting him out at all for the duel was a good sign, but now that he's really got goin'… I think Yug's got his head straightened out enough to take on the fruitcake now.

 

All thanks to you. We agreed, before we got here, that no matter who won, if either of us did my sis would get the money and Gramps would get his soul back no matter what. But I know damn well I don't have a prayer, Yug' doesn't have a prayer of getting' off this island with our souls intact without that spirit's help.

 

An' now he's letting him help again. And he's just summoned a kick-but monster, and I'm leaning forward again because I just gotta see what you'll pull out of that deck to take it down…

 

And your hand's on your deck.

 

You're surrendering, Mai?

 

And, well, part of me is sighing with relief that Yug's won, because I need that money and he needs Gramps and you don't need to duel Pegasus, I don't want to think about what he'd do to you if he's got Kaiba washing dishes, and part of me wants to kick my best bud's ass, because you look so sad, but Yugi, the spirit, both of `em are good guys and you're fine now.

 

And I kinda wish I'd been the one to duel you, even though Yug' needed your help and Bandito over there wouldn't have been so nice, so smart, so…

 

I really want to duel you again. I really want to see you after this tournament, give you that re-match.

 

We owe you, Mai.