Illusionshipping (Yami no Malik x Mai Kujaku) written for Round 6 of contest.
Warning- Angst ahead. You have been warned.
And even though this is meant to be Illusionshipping, there's a lot of polarshipping in it too.
I adore this pairing, so I hope I did it justice. Oh, and as to the ending, that kind of wrote itself. I still don't really get why Bakura shows up.... Anyway, I hope you enjoy! ^^
*
All they ever wanted was for someone to hold them and need them back.
Isn't that strange?
*
Mai hurried down the darkening street, clutching at her leather handbag as though it was a life line, the tears running down her face turning into inky-black mascara streaks, and her hair in a tangled mess.
She would never let anyone see her like this. This wasn't Mai Kujaku, this wasn't the glamourous, confident woman that had men wrapped around her little finger, this wasn't the beautiful girl that without a care, that waltzed through life manipulating people to get her own way (not because she was a cruel person, just because it was her right to get what she wanted).
No-one could know that she had always been (and always would be) a scared little girl who just wanted to be held and told that 'it's alright'. She would always be the crying child curled up in the corner, and no matter how hard she pretended to be so incredibly self assured, that fact was never going to go away.
She would just have to keep on running.
And that was the reason she was staggering down that dark back-street of Domino City, with her hair and make-up in a mess, and her clothes ripped.
She finally reached the park, and slumped down on a bench with her head on her knees and her shoulders shaking. The trees behind her were suddenly just dark, threatening shapes in the dim light, and at every sound (like an owl hooting, or a fox cracking a twig) she started, as though it was a demon come from Hell for her soul.
That may seem like she's overreacting, but don't forget that it had happened before.
Mai didn't let weakness overcome her like this very often, it has to be said. This was one of the very few times that she had broken down, sobbing uncontrollably. (The most memorable time had been when Valon found her… she never wanted that to happen again).
She didn't even know why she was crying anymore. Well, that's a lie. It was because of everything that had happened- how she was completely alone, how she was still tortured every night by those horrifying nightmares, how she had turned down Jou, whom she adored with every shred of her broken heart, because she felt so guilty about the whole Orichalcos disaster- and never once did she allow herself to cry in front of the people that might understand.
Mai Kujaku needed someone.
*
Needed someone to hold.
Needed someone to hold her.
*
So the Gates of Hell burst open, and a demon was sent to do just that. (Or maybe it was just a coincidence that Malik had lost his temper with him that night and kicked him out to wander the city in disgrace.)
"Hello, my dear."
She stiffened, but did not look up. She didn't need to look around into the silhouetted wood to know whose voice that was. Who's cold whisper it was that chilled her to the bone.
"Marik."
A dark chuckle echoed out from behind her.
"You know me just by my voice? I'm flattered."
Suddenly he was sitting on the bench next to her. Mai jolted up- she hadn't heard his footsteps at all. It was like he was still made of shadows; he glided through the darkness as if he was a part of it, only betrayed by his sinister voice and the glow of his eyes.
With all the ferocity she could muster, Mai glared at him. "Leave me alone, Marik. I don't feel like talking right now, and even if I did, I wouldn't want to talk to you."
Marik smiled. "Ouch! The bitch can bite," he grinned, mockingly. "Well, well, Miss Mai, aren't you rude. You really should learn some manners." He leant back on the bench, in a relaxed position, with his glinting eyes fixed on Mai's face.
Mai ground her teeth together in anger. "I don't trust you, and I never will," she hissed. "Not after what you did. Maybe the others can forget, but I can't."
Marik threw back his head and laughed, his manic cackle echoing around the deserted park.
"Oh, my dear, you don't seriously believe that the others have 'forgotten', as you put it? You can't be so naïve as to think that they have forgiven me, let alone trust me? Yes, my hikari put on quite a nice little show of guilt, maybe they've accepted him, but the day they trust me is the day they trust the Thief. Believe me, my dear, that day is not coming soon."
Mai remained silent for several minutes after Marik finished speaking, staring straight ahead and refusing to acknowledge the man, no, the demon sitting next to her.
Eventually it was Marik who broke the silence. "What happened to you?" he asked, abruptly changing his mood from mocking to the curious yet indifferent air that only Marik and Bakura could pull off properly.
"What do you mean?" replied Mai, shortly.
Marik put his hand under her chin and pulled it round to look him in the eye. Mai kept her glare fixed stubbornly on her face, whilst Marik, almost thoughtfully, traced the lines of mascara down her face.
"You've been crying," he said, matter-of-factly. "You're clothes are torn, you're a mess, and you're sitting outside on a park bench at midnight."
Mai jerked her head out of his hand. "Why do you care?" she snapped, tucking one of her loose strands of hair behind her ear.
Marik shrugged. "I don't. But it may relieve my boredom."
Mai sighed in annoyance. "My boyfriend broke up with me."
If she was expecting sympathy, she was disappointed. Marik merely shrugged, and asked bluntly. "Did you love him?"
Mai laughed contemptuously. "Huh. As if. We'd only been going out a few weeks. Besides, I'm pretty sure he was cheating on me."
Marik looked at her blankly. "Then why are you so upset? Anyway, I always thought you were in love with that mutt… What's his name? Jou?"
Mai drew in her breath sharply, as the knife in her heart twisted sharply. She only just managed a nod.
Marik smirked. "Oh, so you are in love with him? How sweet. I wonder why you're not with him then… Could it be he likes someone else? Why, it's like a soap opera. Oh, how lovely- I always did enjoy the suffering and heart ache of others."
Mai had never hated anyone more than she hated this man right now. Disdainfully, she tossed her hair back and glowered at him.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I decided not to be with Jou completely on my own. It was my decision, so don't act like he turned me down."
Marik smiled, gleefully. "Let me guess. You didn't want to be with him because of the guilt? You can't forget what you did to him, can you? So you're punishing yourself for it... Well, my dear, I understand perfectly. We really are quite similar-"
Mai stood up, turned around, and slapped him full in the face. "Shut up!" she screamed. "Shut up, you crazy bastard! I hate you! You don't understand anything, and you know why? Because you don't have a heart. You're a monster, and no one will ever care about you, because you don't understand the meaning of caring for others. I hate you, Marik, I hate you. And we are not similar. At least I care about what I did. At least I'm sorry."
There was a long pause. Mai stood there shaking, as tears began to run down her face again, staring at the man she was most terrified of, whom she had just slapped. Hard.
Marik was still sitting, gently fingering the place where Mai had slapped him thoughtfully, with an almost sad expression on his face.
*
She wasn't the only one that needed someone.
He needed someone to teach him to care.
*
Eventually, Marik reached up and grabbed Mai's wrist, tugging her back onto the bench next to him. She did not resist; the fight had gone out of her. She was numb.
"You're wrong," he whispered, almost inaudibly, gazing out at the city beyond the park gates.
"What?" Mai said, also staring straight ahead.
"You're wrong. You're wrong about most things, actually. You see, my dear, we're actually very alike. And you know that- that's what scares you more than anything else. That's why you hate me so much, because you don't want to face up to the fact that you're a total mess."
His feral grin returned, as Mai looked back at him.
"A total mess like me. Angry. Filled with guilt. And lonely."
Mai snorted. "Yeah, right. I agree with the anger, and the guilt, but you, lonely? I don't think so."
Marik looked back at her, sombrely. "Even monsters get lonely, Mai. We all need someone. It's just a matter of finding them."
Mai was shocked into silence.
"You know what I think?" he said, grimly, leaning in closer. "I think you made a huge mistake with Jou."
"I don't care what you think," she whispered. Their faces were so close they were almost touching.
"No, you don't. But you agree with me," he murmured, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Why don't you run along and talk to him. Because, my dear," he breathed as he gently brushed his lips over Mai's. "He still loves you too."
Then he smiled. "Goodbye, my sweet little mess. You'll always be the only one I find truly beautiful in this terrible world."
He made to pull away, but Mai impulsively leaned forward and put her arms around him in a brief hug. It wasn't affectionate, it wasn't even friendly, it was nothing really.
But it was everything.
*
They both needed someone to hold.
For that moment, they had each other.
*
Expressionlessly, she quickly pulled away and began to walk towards the gate.
Behind her, Marik smiled. He sat there for a while, thinking things over, until the phone that Malik had given him (for when he got into trouble, which was a lot) began to hum in his coat pocket.
He picked it up. "Thief. You were right, she's just as much of a mess as we are."
Loud laughter, even more insane than Marik's, issued from the other end of the line. "And you let her get away? Idiot."
Marik was silent for a second. "She wanted… she wanted love, Bakura. You know as well as I do that I'm the last person to ask for that."
"Well… what are you good for? Apart from being a partner in crime?" the teasing voice continued.
"I was just someone to hold," Marik said, quietly.
After a pause: "What the hell, you psycho? You're going all sentimental on me! Stop spouting lovey-dovey rubbish, and get over here now."
Marik hesitated. "Well…"
"I've got the blue-print to Domino Bank," Bakura said, temptingly.
Marik grinned. "I'll be there in five minutes."
He snapped the phone shut.
*
She got what she wanted from the man she'd always loved.
Yet it was the man that she'd always hated who was the one that prompted her to do it.
Isn't that strange?
*
Thanks for reading! ^^
Bookworm