FicWad

Mai took care to keep her pace slow but deliberate. Linking into the music she timed each footstep to fall in line with the beat. She consciously accentuated each stride with a sensuous swing of her hips. Her head was up, her arms swung gracefully but casually by her side and her shoulders were back. As a result her entrance onto the dance floor was one that looked the epitome of cool confidence. No one looking at her would have imagined just how self conscious she felt or the fact that she was itching to turn around and see if Seto was still watching her.

She angled herself to glide effortlessly through the crowds to where Serenity and Tea were dancing and she tensed herself to start to move to the music herself. She still felt the buzz of exhilaration that she'd gained from brushing past a bewildered Seto but the down side she realised was that she would actually have to dance to music that she neither recognised nor liked.

As Serenity squealed in delight at her arrival, Mai had to hope that her old-school moves would still work for this modern dance stuff.

OooooO

Seto watched Mai's departure and frowned. The encounter hadn't gone quite as he had planned and he wasn't quite sure why. It's not like he'd expected much in the first place - it had only been on the off chance that he'd come here at all tonight. A hint, dropped by Mokuba, that Mai would be attending the evening's gathering had been enough for him to make the unprecedented decision to head to the club. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd told himself that it had been a bad idea.

Standing in front of his wardrobe contemplating what clothes to wear had been the first instance. Getting to the club through New York's heavy traffic had also been a pain, even if he was comfortably accommodated in the back of a plush Kaiba Corp limo. The jostling onlookers from the long line outside the club had been off-putting even though he had swiftly bypassed the lot of them by stating his name to a dazed looking bouncer. Being greeted by an enthusiastic Yugi had very nearly been the last straw but then, in amongst the high pitched waffle that had been spewing forth from his pint-sized rival he had heard her name and, moments later, he had looked up to see her gawping down at him as if she couldn't quite understand what she was seeing.

At the sight of her Seto experienced a peculiar feeling of elation that seemed to begin in the pit of his stomach. He was slightly alarmed at a sudden desire to smile and probably would have given her a pathetically goofy grin had he not held himself in check.

Her expression had been difficult to read but there had definitely been something in that long gaze they held - or so he had thought.

He turned away from the dance floor and blinked in surprise as he was met by the curious expressions of Tristan and Joey who were staring at him.

'And what are you dweebs looking at?' he growled.

'Seto!' Mokuba quickly stepped forward to greet his brother.

In the past greetings like this had always involved a full on hug, now, at the age of seventeen, Mokuba was beginning to feel self conscious about such acts of affection, at least in public. Seto understood the reasons but it was still with a slight sense of disappointment that he gripped hold of Mokuba's hand and embraced his little brother in the 'manly' half-hug that Mokuba now adopted.

'How's it going big brother? I didn't expect to see you here tonight!'

'Yeah, well, I thought I would stop by and see where you like hanging out,' he glanced around him as if to give credence to the statement and, in so doing, caught sight of Tristan and Joey who were now grinning and exchanging knowing glances.

Seto fixed them with a cold look, his eyes narrowing to slits.

Yugi pushed himself forward, surreptitiously giving Joey a dig in the ribs with his elbow as he did so.

'Do you want a drink, Kaiba?' he asked politely, ignoring Joey's hurt look.

Seto looked down at Yugi and tried to work his expression into a gracious smile. 'Yes. Whisky... please,' he managed in a voice that sounded only slightly strained.

As Yugi trotted off to the nearby bar a heavy silence descended upon the group.

Mokuba sighed inwardly. For all that he loved his brother immensely, he had to admit that Seto's social skills were somewhat lacking on occasion. Not always of course, after all, Seto had hosted numerous business and charity events and had mingled with everyone from heads of state to famous actors, royalty to business rivals. No one could ever exactly call him 'friendly' but he certainly seemed to pull off being charming and witty when he chose to. It just seemed that he never chose to with Yugi and his friends.

'Seto's just come back from England, haven't you Seto?' Mokuba said suddenly, trying to diffuse the air of barely concealed animosity that was emanating from Seto like a thick fog.

'Yes,' Seto said blankly.

Joey stopped rubbing his side and grinned at Seto with genuine interest in his eyes. Mokuba felt a moment of hope as Joey took that bait. With any luck a sensible conversation would now ensue and he wouldn't have to feel the weight of the awkward silence on his shoulders.

'Cool - did ya see the Queen?' Joey asked.

Mokuba did a mental head slap and looked at his brother, pleading with him to let the comment pass without a rebuttal.

'Yes,' Seto said, his tone measured, his expression unreadable, 'I went to see the Queen as she's a huge fan of Duel Monsters. We drank afternoon tea and played cricket on the lawn whilst wearing bowler hats and talking about the weather.'

Joey's eyes widened, 'Really?!'

Tristan smacked Joey on the back of the head. 'Shut up Joey - he's just foolin' with you.' He looked at Seto with a raised eyebrow. 'Aren't you?'

Seto blinked only the slightest movement at the side of his mouth giving away the fact that he was laughing at them both.

Mokuba scowled and tried to get the conversation back on track.

'Seto was chasing down the people who were responsible for the bomb last week,' he stated, a hint of pride evident in his voice.

'Cool,' Tristan said, casually fending off Joey's attempts to get him back for the head slap, 'so did you catch 'em?'

Seto flicked a quick glance at Mokuba and then looked levelly at Tristan.

'We caught two,' he said coolly, 'the other we let drop.'

Mokuba, who had just taken a sip of his drink, made a strange noise and clasped a hand to his mouth as he started choking.

'Jeez, are you okay Mokuba?' Joey asked moving quickly to his friend and slapping him hard on the back despite Mokuba trying to shoo him away with a flailing arm.

Tristan gave Seto a quick look and was surprised to find the hard features softened by a small smile which disappeared again as soon as he realised he was being watched. The two men looked at each other for a moment.

'So,' Tristan began with an expression which, had Mokuba seen, would have had the young man creating another distraction in a desperate attempt to save the situation, 'what's with the look you were giving Mai?'

Joey and Mokuba both turned to look at Seto. Mokuba, his face red and his eyes swimming with tears looked like he desperately wanted to say something but he couldn't get any words out.

Seto stiffened. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

Joey, distractedly giving Mokuba one last strong slap on the back which nearly caused the young man to topple forwards onto the floor, gave a shrewd grin.

'Of course you don't,' he said, sarcastically.

'More importantly,' Tristan continued, enjoying the feeling of having the upper hand, 'what's with the cold shoulder she gave you?'

'You'd better not have done anything to upset her,' Joey said, his voice suddenly serious.

'Why?' Seto asked, looking at him with one eyebrow raised, 'are you going to defend her honour, Wheeler?'

Joey suddenly laughed. 'No,' he said with a grin, 'I just wouldn't want to be the one to upset her - she's got a pretty fierce temper on her!' He shook his head as if remembering an event from the past and made a pained expression.

Seto wasn't quite sure what to say. He'd started the conversation on pretty safe territory, mocking Joey and Tristan was so easy and so familiar-feeling that he had almost enjoyed himself. As soon as her name had come up though it was as if his mind had turned to gloopy custard, his usual sharp wit had completely dried in his throat.

'Here's your drink, Kaiba.'

Seto nearly jumped at the sound of the voice at his shoulder. He looked down to see that Yugi had returned and was holding up a glass of whisky.

Seto grabbed at it, a little more quickly than strictly necessary. He brought the glass to his lips and drank down the liquid in one smooth motion. He banged it down on the table and then, without meeting the surprised expressions of the people around him, he turned and began to walk away.

'I'm going to the bar,' he called out behind him.

OooooO

Mai was beginning to relax. It turned out that dance music was quite good to dance to and even though she didn't recognise half the songs, the beat was strong and repetitive enough for her to feel confident with what she was doing. She was even starting to enjoy herself.

To the right of her was Tea who was dancing with an incredible elegance, her lithe limbs twisting and moving to the music perfectly. In front of her was Serenity who was moving her feet rhythmically from side to side and swaying her arms around happily. Her lips moved along with the words of every song and, each time a track changed, she would give a little squeal of delight and clap her hands excitedly.

Mai herself kept her feet firmly planted in place making all her movements centre around her hips, gyrating them seductively in time with the beat. Her shoulders mirrored the movement so that she twisted and turned smoothly with a cat-like grace.

In the busy club the trio of girls had not gone unnoticed and Mai had already surreptitiously clocked a number of men who had been eyeing one or other of them up. For most, a quick glare had been enough to warn them off trying anything but she was becoming increasingly aware of two men whose furtive glances had turned gradually to lecherous stares as they had consumed one drink after another in quick succession.

Mai frowned as the pair, egging each other on, made their way onto the dance floor, clumsily stumbling into other dancers as they approached her. One of the men, the shorter of the two, moved towards Tea looking for a way to get near to her even as she twisted and turned; her eyes glazed with concentration. His goofy smile turned to a frown as he was constantly prevented from getting close by Tea's sweeping arm movements.

Blinking slowly he turned to look at his friend who nodded his head towards Serenity who was looking increasingly uncomfortable.

The larger of the two men had manoeuvred himself around so that he was standing behind Mai. He stood, motionless for a moment, watching the sensuous movement of Mai's body, and then he took a step towards her...

OooooO

Seto made his way back across the VIP area with a drink in hand. He had spent as much time as possible at the bar; deliberately delaying his inevitable need to return to the group. He half expected their annoying interrogation to continue from where it had left off and was surprised therefore when his return went completely unnoticed.

Mokuba, Yugi, Joey and Tristan were all standing at the balcony overlooking the dance floor. No one was saying anything.

Seto made his way to stand beside his brother.

'What are we looking at?'

Mokuba jumped slightly at Seto's sudden appearance but quickly recovered. He pointed down at the mass of people dancing below them.

'Over there, Mai, she has an... admirer.'

Seto followed the direction of Mokuba's hand and his eyes narrowed as he spotted a burly man dancing up close behind Mai, clumsily trying to match his hip gyrations to hers.

Mai carried on dancing just as she had before, seemingly oblivious to the smirking man behind her. Either she doesn't know or, Seto thought darkly, she doesn't mind. His scowl deepened.

And then one of Mai's dance moves led to her turning slightly and the expression on her face told them all that she was not impressed. She gave the man a stern look and appeared to say something but he just leered at her and moved even closer reaching out a hand to put on her left hip.

'Why, that -'

Seto turned away and made a move towards the staircase. He was stopped in his tracks by a firm hand placed on his shoulder.

'Don't do it rich boy,' Joey warned even as he quickly took his hand off Seto's coat in response to the glare he had received.

'What, you're just going to let - '

'Trust me, Mai can look after herself and she certainly wouldn't thank you for trying to interfere.'

'He's right man,' Tristan intervened as Seto made another glace towards the stairs, 'and trust me, he should know.'

'Don't forget,' Joey added turning back to watch the girls, 'that's my little sis' down there with some jerk tryin' it on. Now I could go down there and pummel him into next week, and maybe I should, but I trust Mai to handle it.'

Seto frowned but stayed where he was. He felt an awkward twist in his stomach as he saw the man place his other hand on Mai's right hip so that he was now stood directly behind her with only inches separating them. Seto felt sick watching it, his stomach clenched with a mixture of anger and... something else that Seto didn't recognise as an emotion he had experienced before.

On the dance floor Serenity became more aware of the short man dancing closer and closer behind her. She gave Mai a desperate look, feeling out of her depth and not knowing what to do. Mai responded by giving her a quick wink.

With a sudden movement Mai dropped down slightly, driving her elbow back heavily into the tall man's groin. She did a 180° turn twisting herself away from his grip and stepping backwards out of his reach. She took another step back so that she was now slightly behind Serenity and standing next to the shorter man who gawped at her in surprise. Mai's open palm connected with the man's shoulder turning him around just in time for her knee to hit home.

Everything she had done up to now had been perfectly in time to the music, she hadn't missed a single beat, but now she stopped and watched impassively as both men crumpled to the floor in seeming agony, clutching at their genitals defensively, although it was clear that the protection was coming altogether too late.

She said something to Serenity who nodded emphatically even as she stared in wonder at the men writhing at their feet. Mai tapped Tea on the shoulder to bring her back to reality - the girl was so wrapped up in the music she hadn't even noticed the commotion around her and now blinked in surprise at Mai's handy work.

The three of them moved off the dance floor heading back to the VIP area where five men were watching and wincing.