A.N.: Very short piece depicting Bruce x Mai in his pre-Batman years. Enjoy and let me know what you thought!

He stood in the forest, eyes closed, mind sharp and focused. The birds chirped, the leaves fell and the wind blew its soft song. He exhaled, breathing before spreading his hands out and taking up his stance. He inhaled again, opening his ocean blue eyes and looking at his target – a dying tree. He exhaled softly, raising his leg up in the chamber position.

"Hyah!" He launched his sidekick, knocking the tree down with a hard crack. It landed with a thud, reverberating throughout the woods, disturbing the birds that could hear it. He stood over the tree, his hands by his side, clenched into fists. "Not strong enough… Still not strong enough…"

He reached down and grabbed his bag, tossing it over his shoulder. He glanced down at the tree before clasping his hands together and bowing, silently thanking the tree.

He turned and walked away, leaving the forest in which he had spent his day. It was afternoon at the foothills of an old Japanese village. The Sun beamed down on him as he began ascending towards this village, having been here for the last two months. He had been mastering yet another martial art – Koppo-ken. After spending the last few weeks perfecting this technique, he was confident enough to begin moving on.

He entered the village, nodding in greeting to the villagers he had become acquainted with during his training. He stopped short upon seeing who was running up to him and he sighed in annoyance.

"Br-uce-kun!" The girl who called out his name happily jumped onto him, tackling him down to the ground without a second thought. "I was looking all over for you!"

Mai Shiranui, the daughter of the man he trained under, currently sat on his stomach, smiling down at him sweetly. She was an attractive girl, short, with brown hair in a thick, long pony tail which flowed behind her back. She had brown eyes and wore a very loose, revealing tunic. It was held at her waist by a white waistband. The most noticeable feature of her person was, in fact, her rather large and barely covered… assets that currently were hanging in front of Bruce's face.

"Mai… what are you doing?"

"Didn't I tell you to call me Mai-chan when it's just us?"

Bruce exhaled in exasperation, squeezing his eyes shut. His annoyance stems from the fact that while training with her father, Mai had begun to become a "bit" attached to him.

"Get off of me, please..." Bruce requested calmly, his eyes still shut.

"Why? Are you telling me you don't enjoy it?" She asked him seductively, leaning in closer.

His eyelids flew open and he stared at her dead in the eye and said, "Yes."

Mai frowned slightly, pouting. She stood up away from him, and 'humphed', crossing her arms under her chest. Bruce got up and wiped the grass from his person.

"Why were you looking for me, Mai?"

"Otou-san wants you. He said he had something important to share with you."

"Alright." Tossing his bag back over his shoulder, he and Mai began making their way to the school. On the way, Mai bashfully glanced at Bruce, blushed and then looked away. Subtly, she moved a bit closer to him until her arm was touching his. He didn't notice this, his mind somewhere else. Somewhat annoyed at his lack of attention, she reached out and grabbed his hand, interlocking her fingers with his. He glanced down at their hands and then glanced up at Mai, who looked away but had a sly smile on her face. Bruce just shook his head and chose to let it be.

The two turned the corner and went to the open the door when they heard a loud crash from inside. Bruce slid the door open to see his sensei, Hanzo Shiranui, a short, old man, surrounded by several thugs that seemed to have come outside the village.

"Sensei!"

"Otou-san!"

He glanced at them out of the corner of the eye before turning his attention back to the hoodlums. The five thugs took notice of their entry.

"Oh, what do we have here?"

"A gaijin and a cutie? We've got an odd mix here."

"Leave, you violent children." Hanzo demanded firmly.

"Huh?! Who the hell you think you're talking to, old geezer?!"

"Don't make us get rough with you."

"I won't repeat myself." Hanzo warned, beginning to stand on his feet.

"Oh, tough talk, little guy. Let's see how tough you are when you're lying dead at my feet!" The thug raised his weapon to attack when suddenly his arm was stopped by a firm grip. "Huh?" He glanced behind him and nearly wet himself.

"You heard the man." Bruce growled, glaring at him. Over his head, Mai had jumped and kicked one in the face, launching him to the floor and knocking him out.

"Bitch!"

"Get 'em!"

"RARGH!"

Two of the thugs went after Bruce while the other two went after Mai and Hanzo respectively. Bruce shifted his body out of the direction of their incoming attacks with pure ease, knocking the man out with a jab to the face. The other thug, seeing his friend knocked out so easily, glanced down and grabbed a wooden board. Screaming, the man ran up to Bruce to try and hit him with it but with a fast sidekick, Bruce's foot made the board split into pieces. That kick was instantly doubled up with a roundhouse kick to the neck, sending the thug to the school floor.

Mai bobbed her head out of the way of an incoming punch and reached into her cleavage, pulling out a steel fan. She opened it, the loud noise startling the man and making him flinch. Mai smirked and quickly moving and taking him down with a sweep, knocking him out with a knee drop.

The last man, facing Hanzo, pulled out a knife and began swiping at the old man. Hanzo was poised and calm, dodging the strikes with ease, eventually catching the man's wrist.

"Enough, child. You've disturbed my school with your nonsense for the last time." Hanzo squeezed his wrist until a snap was heard. He then stepped in and punched the man in the stomach, causing him to double over and fall unconscious.

After throwing them out of the dojo, Bruce and Mai sat down in front of their teacher, the man smoking out of a pipe.

"Sensei," Bruce began. "What did those men want?"

"Those hoodlums were simply looking to steal some of my precious weapons. The nerve of some people..." Hanzo blew his smoke into the air, his exuding motion seeming almost like a dragon. "I'm glad Mai was able to find you, Wayne-san. Off in the wilderness training, no doubt?"

Bruce nodded in affirmation.

"Good… I have never seen someone so dedicated and progressive in the martial arts as you… You may truly be a prodigy, in ever sense of the word. I bow in respect to you." Hanzo bowed at the waist, lowering himself until his forehead touched the floor.

"Sensei, you don't need to honor me with that..."

"No, no." He replied, rising back up with a small smile on his face. "It's the least a teacher could do when he realizes that his student has surpassed him. It is a shame that you have to leave so soon."

"Yes but… I still have much more to learn."

Upon hearing this Mai turned to him, wide eyed and shocked. "What?! You're leaving?"

Bruce turned to her, surprised at her reaction. "Of course… did you expect me to stay here forever?"

"Yeah!" She replied, almost as if it were an obvious answer. "You're my fiance, damn it, you're supposed to stay by my side!"

"'Fiance'? Where the hell did you get that idea?"

"If you'll just excuse me..." Hanzo stood up and walked out, neither of two noticing his disappearance.

"Besides," Bruce continued. "What do you even know about me? We barely know each other."

"I know plenty about you!" She rebutted stubbornly.

"Really?" Bruce replied, unconvinced. "What's my last name?"

"Wayne."

"Height?"

"6'4."

"Weight?"

"99.790 kg."

"Favorite food?"

"Mulligatawny soup."

Bruce narrowed his eyes at her, rubbing his chin. "How do you know this?"

"Do you think my asking you little tidbits of information from your life is just random chit-chat? I wanted to know more about you! I know all about you – your birthday is February 19, you love philosophical discussion, you hate it when people bully the weak and the length of your chinchin is-"

"Woah, woah! How do know anything about that?!"

She blushed and looked away from him. "You're a heavy sleeper..." She muttered. She then sighed in frustration, standing up and storming out of the dojo, leaving Bruce inside. He dropped his head and ran his fingers through his black hair, sighing to himself. He stood up and walked out of the dojo, closing the door behind him. He walked into the woods, carrying his bag in his hand. He moved through the forest and its tall trees. He glanced all around him, listening to the song of the wildlife. The chirping of the birds, the quickness of the squirrels. He breathed it in softly, feeling the life but he couldn't revel in it. No matter how much life surrounded him, he still felt dead inside. No matter how much life surrounded him, nothing would fill that hole. Still, he thought, there was a depressed girl he needed to cheer up. He continued on his path, already knowing where she was.

She sat the bank of the river, the rushing water roaring as moved speedily down the waterfall.

"Hey." Bruce greeted, sitting down next to her. He placed his bag in between them and put his arms over his knees.

She looked at him and gave a small, earnest smile. "I'm sorry for being mad at you earlier… I knew you were eventually going to leave… I just didn't know it would happen so fast, so suddenly..."

"It's fine." He replied, reaching into his bag. "Here," He pulled out a necklace with a crescent symbol at the end. "I know I won't be here to celebrate your birthday with you. So this is my early gift."

"This… was the same necklace my mother used to wear." She held it in her hands, overwhelmed with pleasant surprise.

"I know somethings about you too… You love the color red, you hate eels, you want to make your father proud, you seek to become as strong as possible and your breast size is..." He whispered into her ear, causing her to blush and giggle.

"How did you know that?"

"You're a deep sleeper."

She shoved him playfully, the two smiling. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before slowly leaning in, softly connecting to each other's lips. They stayed for a brief few seconds and then parting, feeling the taste on their lips and letting it simmer. The taste excited them and they reenacted it, their lips interlocked in a more firm, confident struggle. As they become more comfortable, they also became friskier with Bruce's hands on her hips and legs and her hands traveling over his body. Moaning in their moment, Mai slowly took Bruce's shirt off, revealing a very toned and muscular stomach. It was obvious he had developed his entire body to the upper limits of human capability and she loved it. Her hands rested on his stomach and his hands flew to her tunic. From there, the only witnesses to their heated and passionate intimacy were the clouds above.

A.N.: Not a lot of development but I hoped you liked the pairing nonetheless! Let me know what other fighting game women I should hook him up with because, trust me, I've got plenty of ideas in the old noggin'. Until next time.

Green out.