Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Devotion ❯ Impression ( Chapter 32 )

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, this would be professional manga, not fan fiction.

 

I've decided Devotion will be 36 chapters, this is number 32. As you may be able to tell if you read a lot of my stuff, I'm trying to bring things to conclusions so people won't be kept in suspense again due to my condition. This means I will be doing more one-shots, until things stabilize and I decide what I'll be working on. DYDOM will continue for the foreseeable future, however. Thank you for reading this.

 

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

 

…I was right. Mai wasn't trying to use psychological warfare on Yugi. She was trying to help him.

 

It's amazing, listening to what Mai said to Joey after he almost fell off the balcony… sheesh, can't he ever control himself? She's really… grown up.

 

I'm impressed.

 

And it seems kind of silly for me, a girl in high school who's been acting like an idiot these last few months… getting a crush on the spirit of the puzzle, what was I thinking? Of course, he was… a dark and mysterious voice, who kept saving me… Okay, so I was justified in getting a silly schoolgirl crush, but man did I act like an idiot that time…

 

But normally, normally, I'm the mature one.

 

Class representative and the only one in our little group of friends to get good grades: Honda's just not book-smart, Joey's having to do too much catching up to get ahead in the rankings, and Yugi doesn't really care, I'm used to be the one to, well, bring people to their senses.

 

And I'm really doing a wonderful job of it this trip.

 

I can't get Yugi to trust the spirit, even if I did manage to get him to go into the castle, to at least be willing to try to duel again… it always used to frustrate me, Yugi giving up before he began at everything but games. Refusing to play sports, not bothering to study… He's just gotten so much better recently. Standing up to people like Kaiba… partly due to the spirit, but I think the spirits been… a catalyst.

 

I always knew you could do it, Yugi. It used to frustrate me so… and now you're losing. At a game.

 

You should never lose at games. They're the one thing you know you can win it, the one area in which you really do have confidence in yourself. Breaking that… when Kaiba gets his soul back, I'm going to strangle him. I should maybe have given in and throttled him on the battlements, after that dirty trick. Not enough to kill him, of course! Just enough so he'd fall unconscious with his face all blue. After all, if he was unconscious, he couldn't have dueled Pegasus and lost his soul.

 

But I'm the reasonable one.

 

I'm not used to failing. I'm used to planning and winning. My parents don't want me to become a dancer? Say it's aerobics classes, and practice in secret. Get a job to pay my own way to America instead of going to after-school study sessions I'm smart enough to not need.

 

Lose that job due to a convict, get another job. Lose that job due to Kaiba being a jerk… get another one. Get attacked, check to see if Yugi's okay when I wake up and find another place to practice.

 

And, if cheering my friend is all I can do, then I'll cheer. Cheer him up, give him hope. He's stood by me, he's seen how much I can do… it was wonderful to see him start to stand up to people, start to be brave, to try and succeed like I knew he could.

 

And I think the spirit feels the same way… I don't know, but… they're both good guys. Maybe he just wanted to scare Kaiba? I don't know… but they're both my friends.

 

And my friends are working together now, thanks to Mai. Mai used to kind of… tick me off, like Kaiba does Joey. Well, it makes sense. They have everything we want: money and independence (family as well, for Joey), and they're not only wasting what they have, they're mocking our efforts to get those things for ourselves.

 

Well, Mai was mocking. Now… I'm impressed.

 

And I think Joey is too. He's got a good poker face, but he rarely remembers to use it. But we're both focused on Yugi, mostly.

 

And Yugi's focused. Because of what Mai said. And he might not win, but I think he will. Yugi always wins… barring cheating jerks, and Mai's not like that anymore. She let me win, I know it.

 

Yugi… he's got his new won confidence back, he's trusting the spirit again, they're helping each other again. We're all cheering him on. He'll win. It looks bleak, but then it always looks bleak, for all of us.

 

…and that's one impressive rabbit to pull out of you hat, Yugi. Black Luster Soldier? Cool…

 

…what's Mai doing. Surrendering? Oh, no… you should never surrender. Never give up. You're my friend too now, Mai (I wonder if you'd let me call you that…) and just like Yugi, you shouldn't give up. I mean, I want Yugi to win, he has to win, for Mr. Motou and Joey's sister and Mokuba, who is one sweet little kid even if he is an evil genius, and even Kaiba.

 

I think the reason that I'm not as interested in Duel Monsters as the rest of my friends, even though I tended to beat everyone at school except Yugi (and I doubt I would have stood a chance against Kaiba, if he'd ever played there), is just that I don't like people to lose.

 

But… doing it to protect your harpies is a good reason… you've really changed, Mai. I agree with what the spirit said earlier in the duel. And you're not the kind of person to give up, and I know you two will get to duel again someday.

 

Provided we all get off the island with our souls… but we will. Yugi's got his confidence back, and I know there's nothing my best friend can't do if he tries.

 

The tough part was always to get him to try… and Mai helped me guilt-trip him into dueling again: after all, if I went to all the trouble of dueling a professional I couldn't possibly beat to get you those chips, you couldn't just waste them, could you?

 

And Mai, your victory against your fears, you facing yourself, you challenging him to face up to himself, to the spirit and his own fears… you really helped him, Mai.

 

I'm really impressed. And grateful.