In A New York Minute (Part 4)

DIMENSION: MANGA (The One that Saves the Day)

///Satiah: Completely uncomfortable. If not them, then something is bothering your friend Mai.///

Mai? "What about you? Are you sure you're comfortable with this, Mai?" Anzu asked her. "I know it's a lot to take in."

"Huh?" Mai asked a little surprised. "Oh, sure, Anzu. It's no problem. I get why you hid things."

"Yep. No problem," Jounouchi added. "So? Nice change of subject, but I still need your answer."

"I'm not the only one who can decide, but I can't watch myself here. I'll go with you to a hotel, and I'll reason it out." Anzu looked toward Yuugi. "If I do? Are you sure, Yuugi?"

///Satiah: Not him!///

"Never been surer!" Yuugi was almost giddy. "Plenty of room. Top shelf security."

///Satiah: Oh, I bet Mai's with child.///

"What?" Anzu looked toward Mai. ///Anzu: She is not. You're distracting me on purpose.///

///Satiah: She is uncomfortable. It was clear there was another plan of sharing until this all happened. If it isn't our presence, and it isn't the former vessel of the King of Darkness that bothers her, then it is a tender issue. Jounouchi hasn't openly said anything about that. From your soap operas and your melodramatic view of love in this age, that would leave the pregnancy as the answer.///

///Anzu: This isn't a soap opera, Satiah.///

///Satiah: It's pregnancy.///

///Anzu: It isn't.///

///Satiah: Prove it then.///

///Anzu: Fine, I'll prove it./// Anzu went over toward Mai. "Satiah has a theory, Mai. She's already mad enough so humor me?" Mai just watched her get closer and with a whisper asked "Are you pregnant?" Oh, those eyes. No way.

///Satiah: Told you, I win.///

Mai looked petrified and then toward Jounouchi. "She guessed, I didn't tell her anything."

"What?" Jounouchi grabbed his head. "Are you kidding?"

"What-what?" Yuugi asked.

"Great. It's out of the bag now." Jounouchi sounded disappointed. "Didn't want it like this, but it's not right just one of you knows." He looked toward Yuugi. "Mai's pregnant. Another Jounouchi might be on the way."

"Kujaku," Mai said.

"Which is one of the biggest problems right now on a personal level we had before this," Jounouchi added. "It's still too early to even know if it's mine."

Anzu was dealing with her own shock that she almost forgot to look at Yuugi. ///Anzu: Mai is having Jounouchi's kid?///

"You didn't even ever say you were a couple," Yuugi said. "Jounouchi."

"We aren't. Sort of. Look, it's complicated," Jounouchi said. "We're friends."

"It gets lonely out there sometimes," Mai said. "That's all." She flipped her hair.

"That's all?" Yuugi stood up. Mai was eight years older than him, at least. "Wow, Jounouchi. First you hide things about Anzu, and now you're hiding this? How can you even judge Honda after all this?"

"Whoa, hey!" Jounouchi stood up. "Yuugi, don't go there. Everybody makes mistakes. This wasn't . . . like a friends with benefits arrangement or nothing. We were feeling our way through it all when this sort of popped up." He moved closer to Yuugi, whispering to him.

-----------------------------------

"Yuugi, please, I'm trying to navigate this. You don't get it, that whole Marik thing, it still affects her. It always will." He looked straight at Yuugi. "She's scarred for life. Being with her in itself is like a duel. Don't blow this for me."

Yuugi nodded. ///Yuugi: I see. Mai is forever scarred. You've been working with her all these years, to catch the one you really care for./// Now he felt like a heel. Jounouchi was fully committed to Mai, it was probably Mai that- ///Yuugi: She said there was no chance it was someone else./// Yeah, it didn't make much sense she was talking about the Anzu-Jounouchi hug. ///Yuugi: She was talking about this./// He got it. She told him, before he even knew.

It wasn't one-sided. Jounouchi thought someone else might be it, but he loved Mai. Mai knew it could be no one else, but she was probably scared to jump for Jounouchi and tell him that. They were working things out. Only time could help. ///Yuugi: They do really well too. I couldn't even tell whether they were friends or more./// "You have all my support, Jounouchi. You and Mai. However it turns out."

"Thanks for understanding." Jounouchi left back toward Mai. "Sorry it came out this way."

"It had to come out in whichever way," Mai answered. "Tonights been the end of secret keeping. At least it's over." She gestured to Anzu. "Nobody's perfect. Pack up. We can be room buddies if you want. Unless Yuugi wants to share a room with you tonight instead."

Yuugi felt himself warm slightly over the wording. "Yes. If Anzu wants, there's plenty of hotel for everyone." ///Anzu: I did not just say that./// "Double rooms I hear." ///Yuugi: Did I just say hear? Oh. Anzu Mazaki. Four years since I've seen you, and you've still got such a grip on my heart.///

"I . . ." Her sparkling, unsure eyes. Was she blushing? "Satiah won't stop screaming in my head, Yuugi."

Damn it. "I want to talk to her. Can you translate between us?"

----------------------------------------

"Now she's really kicking up a fuss." Anzu closed her eyes and covered her ears. ///Anzu: Satiah. You are going to have a conversation with Yuugi. You have to. Please.///

///Satiah: Jounouchi and Mai are fine, Anzu, why do we need to bother the vessel with our presence?///

///Anzu: Jounouchi and Mai are in the middle of working out a relationship while they are having a baby. If I leave, I'm going with Yuugi. Now, whatever your beef with him. It's time to spill it. This isn't the same, your emotions are screaming at me. They never did that before. Why are you terrified of Yuugi?///

///Satiah: I tried.///

///Anzu: Tried what?///

///Satiah: I tried to warn Pharoah Atem. His vessel will be angry.///

///Anzu: What do you mean? Atem? What did you try and warn him of?///

///Satiah: Your world. Your beautiful world and your life and your time. Your accessories, the way you work, and the way you interact. It had a profound effect on me, and I had been there for only a short time compared to him. I watched him and you over that time. Every time your emotions peaked around him, I peaked.///

///Anzu: What are you admitting to?///

///Satiah: I echoed inside your thoughts, had you speak, but it did no good at the end. Your friends rallied around, speaking about friendship and burning memories in your mind and . . . oh, I was not brave enough to tell the Pharoah that he was wrong.///