*I got the idea for this while listening to crap on my old iPod... "Whiskey Lullaby" is a great song by Brad Paisely and Allison Crauss, and tells of two lovers breaking up and then proceeding to drink themselves to death. Since I started with the fanfic stuff, I thought, 'Hey, this would be a good song for a fanfic! But which pair to do...?' So I supposed I oughta do Jonouchi and Mai. And yes, using Japanese names in this one. Just didn't want to in my other one. Sue me. But here ya go! Rated M for language and a sexy flashback from Mai...it's not as awful as it could be, but just to be safe, y'know?*
****
She put him out....
Like the burning end of a midnight cigarette....
TVs blared in the background. Inebriated patrons yelled out for more drinks, ready to drop to the floor after the first sip. Lovers exchanged impatient glances as they waited for the time when they'd scamper off to an apartment, or the nearest alley.
In the middle of all this, a twenty-four-year-old sat at the bar, staring blankly past his long mess of dirty blond hair to the polished, alcohol-dampened wood. His brown eyes were empty and flat as he clutched a full shot glass of whiskey in his fist. He was oblivious to the near chaos around him. He was only aware of his thoughts, his breath, the beating of his broken heart...
She broke his heart...
He could only see her face. That perfectly angular face, the wide violet eyes, the halo of blond hair that framed it. Only that. He remembered the sparkle in those amethyst eyes when she smiled. At first, those playful grins had only been at his expense, but later on, they appeared when he gently swept her hair behind her shoulder to kiss her, when he decided to leave a single blood red rose on her doorstep. And her body... the perfect curves, the voluptuous breasts she was so famous for, the slim waist, wide hips, long legs. Just imagining what it might be like to slide her leather miniskirt off her backside was almost too much to bear when he was near her in Duelist Kingdom, Battle City. She killed him inside when he lost her to those motorcycle freaks, and to the seal of the Orikalkos. But then she came back, told him the feelings she'd been hiding for so long, and all seemed perfect. At least for a little while.
And now? Now, what had happened? Had she gone back to Valon? Where had she gone?
Who cares? he thought bitterly. She left. She's gone. And she doesn't love me anymore. Probably never did.
Gritting his teeth, his hand tightened around the shot before he tossed it back and added it to five of its brethren beside him. He needed the stuff, the whiskey, to get his mind off her. Eventually, it would. He'd get so hammered that he couldn't think straight, and he'd either end up passed out in a motel, or fucking some random girl that happened to come his way.
He spent his whole life trying to forget...
"Shit," he muttered. He shoved some money at the bartender and ordered another shot. Maybe that would do the trick. Maybe that would be enough to send his mind into a blissful stupor, and when a random broad wandered by, he'd take his chances.
It seemed that it was lucky number seven for him, because his head spun, thoughts swirled, after he downed the latest shot. He stood, staggered around for a while before a gorgeous brunette in a tight pink tanktop winked at him. He grinned and slid himself into the booth, next to her.
"How's it goin'?" he slurred, leaning in close to him.
"Pretty well," she answered, flawlessly, coherently.
He frowned in slight disapproval. "What're you drinkin', beautiful?"
"Chocolate martini."
"That's nothing. Hey, bartender, get some more whiskey over here!"
"Umm, I don't know..." The girl's apphrehensive stare, the wide blue eyes, made her all the more allurring.
"C'mon, it's nothin'. Just gotta get used to it... Kinda like me..." He leaned in for a kiss, which he knew she was anticipating.
Before long, the simple kiss had become an all-out make out, and he was running his hands down the length of her side, cupping her buttocks.
"What the fuck is going on here?!" an furious voice demanded from behind him.
Jounouchi paused mid-kiss, pulled back, turned around. A burly man, standing at a likely six-eight, towered over the pair, his extremely muscular arms poised to rip them apart.
"Caity, what the hell are you doing with this sleazebag?"
The girl clung fearfully to Jounouchi's back. "Mark, this isn't what it looks like..."
"Like hell!" Mark roared. He grabbed Jounouchi by the front of the collar and yanked him up. Then a fist cut the air with swift precision, and easily found the underside of Jounouchi's jaw.
Mark threw him against the wall, where he slid to the floor, dazed.
"You think you can mess with my girl?" Mark demanded. "I'll show you not to fuck around with me!" He kicked hard, right to Jounouchi's ribs and stomach.
"Cut it out! Break it up!" a familiar voice yelled.
Jounouchi looked up, his vision blurry. Two guys, one tall and one very short, were shoving Mark away. Good, he thought, and slumped to the floor, all energy drained from him. (Perhaps the concussion could aid in forgetting...?)
"Jounouchi! Jounouchi-kun, please open your eyes!"
They flew open. "Y-yuugi? Iss that you...?"
Yuugi, horrified, helped him to his feet. They threatened to buckle beneath him at any second.
"What are you doing here, Yuugi?" Jounouchi mumbled.
"We came looking for you," he explained. "What happened here...?"
"He's throwing his money away drinking again," Honda snarled, coming up on his other side. There was a fresh scratch on his cheek, oozing blood onto his previously clean gray shirt.
"Honda-kun, you're here too..." Jounouchi smiled stupidly.
We watched him drink his pain away, a little at a time...
"Jounouchi, you're going home, right now," Honda ordered, scowling fiercely.
"No, I don't wanna go yet..." Jounouchi pouted like a petulant child, then snagged the whole bottle of whiskey from the bar nearby. He stuffed a larger bill at the bartender and took a swig.
"Jounouchi-kun, please stop!" Yuugi begged, and tried to pry the bottle from his fingers.
"N-no, I need this..."
"You DON'T!" Honda smacked him hard, leaving a red handprint a very sharp sting across his left cheek. "What the hell is the matter with you?!"
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind...
"I...I need to forget..." He angrily shoved them off and stumbled out the door, down the street.
"I hope he ends up somewhere safe," Yuugi murmured.
"Me too." Honda wiped some of the excess blood from his face with his sleeve. "C'mon, Yuugi. Let's go home."
Jounouchi staggered into a motel down the street, demanded a room gruffly, and was shown to a ratty bed, but he gladly accepted it, falling flat on his back with a grunt. The ceiling above him spun in merciless circles, making his stomach churn with barely contained nausea.
Until the night...
"Mai," he whispered. "Here's to you, hon." He tilted the bottle to his lips and carefully drank one third of what was left.
He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger...
And finally drank away her memory...
He succumbed to his queasiness, leaning over the edge of the bed and vomiting. Wiping his hand over his mouth, he coughed at the acidic sting, and grabbed a notepad and pen from the nightstand.
"I'll love her till I die," he wrote in a shaky scrawl, and set the pad down again.
Then he drained the rest of the bottle.
Life is short, but this time it was bigger...
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees...
Jounouchi managed a grim smile before his mind faded to darkness, and the rest of the world he knew vanished...
****
"He did check into here last night, correct?" Honda demanded of the man at the counter of the motel where they'd tracked Jounouchi. It was the following morning.
"Y-yes, he did, but he hasn't come out, nor has he let room service in."
Honda and Yuugi exchanged a nervous glance.
"Can you give us a key to his room?" Yuugi asked. "We're friends, really."
"All right," the man relented, and handed them a key card. "114."
"Arigato," Honda said quickly, and bolted down the hall. He shoved the key into the reader at room 114, and hurriedly opened the door.
Jounouchi was lying on the bed, face-down, motionless.
"Jounouchi-kun!" Yuugi cried, and rushed over, turned him on his side.
We found him with his face down in the pillow...
"Wake up, Jounouchi! Wake up!" Tears in his eyes, desperation taking over, Yuugi frantically shook his friend. "Jounouchi!"
"Yuugi," Honda said softly.
Yuugi froze.
With a note that said I'll love her till I die...
"'I'll love her till I die,'" Honda read from the pad on the nightstand. Then he picked up the empty bottle of whiskey from the floor. "Oh, God..."
Yuugi looked in shock at Jounouchi. He wasn't breathing, and his face had taken on a deathly gray pallor. The tears flooded over his cheeks.
"Jounouchi, no...!"
Then we buried him beneath the willow...
While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby...
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la...
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la...
****
The rumors flew...
But nobody knew how much she blamed herself...
She knew it had to be her doing. She was there, beside the people she used to taunt, and even Kaiba, who'd shown up to wish 'bonkotsu' a peaceful rest. Clothed in black, tears streaming down her cheeks, the world blurry and painful.
It was Jounouchi's funeral.
Yuugi and Honda had found him in a motel room, stiff and still. He'd drank himself to death.
And the note, she reminded herself. The note that said he'd love me until he died. He's dead now... I bet he still loves me.
How could I do this to him...?
Shizuka was sobbing into Honda's chest. It must kill her to see her beloved Katsuya, her brother, her inspiration, lying there, cold, never to move again.
Never to whisper sweet nothings while he cradled her to his chest, to tell her about her lovely violet eyes, and how they were so pretty when she was mad...
She shook off the memory. No. She couldn't start down this road, she'd think of how cruel it was to just leave him, and she'd cry, because she was the reason he was in that coffin.
And then it happened--it all came rushing back to her.
"I love you, Mai Kujaku," Jounouchi had murmured to her, and then gently kissed her lips.
He'd swept her into his arms, pressed her close, buried his face in her hair. She had rubbed her hands over his back, and then moved them to the front to start unbuttoning his shirt...
"Mai."
She snapped out of the flashback as abruptly as if some one had slapped her across the face. Looking behind her, she found Shizuka.
"Oh, Mai!" she cried, and collapsed into the elder woman's arms, convulsing with sobs.
Absently, Mai patted her back, unable to think of any words that might comfort her. "I'm so sorry, Shizuka. So sorry...."
****
For years and years...
She tried to hide the whiskey on her breath...
It was near one o'clock in the morning when Mai decided to check her watch. She glared at the almost empty bottle of whiskey that sat upon her kitchen counter.
Damn thing, she thought, you made me do this.
She'd been drunk when she left Jounouchi. Hammered, actually. It was a shock he hadn't noticed.
She was suddenly thinking of their last night together.
He brought her a rose, showing up on her stoop at eleven-thirty, dripping water. He smiled wide and asked if he could come in.
"Sure," she said, and stood aside so he could slide past without getting her wet.
"Um...Mai, about...the other day, I--"
"Shh..." She delicately pressed a finger against his lips. "Just stop talking."
Then she passionately kissed him, and began to rip the soaked clothes off his slim, strong body. He stripped out of his jacket and shirt, then took off her shirt and carried her to her bedroom--down the hall, first door on the left. It was a route he knew well.
His mouth covered her breast, sucking gently, while she groaned and wrapped her legs around him, tangled her fingers in his messy water-logged hair. He inched out of his jeans and settled against her on the bed.
She leaned back as he removed her panties, and then giggled as he nibbled on her ear. Before she knew it, he was upon her, thrusting into her, and her mind was swirling with joyous release.
"Did I ever mention...how fun it is...to get fucked after being in the rain for two hours?" he murmured with a sly grin.
"No, but I can imagine." She flipped over him, keeping the connection between their bodies but switching their positions. "I love you, Katsuya Jounouchi," she whispered.
He smiled and traced a line down her sweaty face. "I love you, Mai Kujaku," he said softly, and kissed her.
In the present, she gritted her teeth and slammed her hand down on the counter. "Damn it!"
Hot tears poured down her cheeks. "Why, why, why did I do this to you, Jounouchi?! WHY?!" She curled up on the chair and sobbed for a long time, lost in her sorrow.
Then she snuck a cautious glance back at the whiskey.
"To hell with it," she whispered, and drank straight from the bottle. Approximately an inch or so was left on the bottom. She staggered with it to her room, falling onto the bed, right where he'd held her, told her he loved her, in darkness, the pouring rain tapping out a sweet melody for them...
She pawed through her dresser drawer, found a photo. It was of his face, while he held up the trophy he'd won in an American Duel Monsters tournament. He looked so happy, so pure... And she had cut that beautiful life short.
She finally drank her pain away, a little at a time...
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind...
Until the night...
She pressed the Polaroid to her breast, and sucked down the rest of the whiskey. "I love you, Jounouchi."
She put that bottle to her head, and pulled the trigger...
And finally drank away his memory...
I'll see you soon, she thought, curling up on her cover, still holding the picture against her chest.
Life is short, but this time it was bigger...
Than the strength she had to get up off her knees...
****
"Mai? Mai, are you in there? Mai?" Anzu was frightened. She didn't answer her home or cell phone, and she wouldn't open the door. What could she be doing? Was she even home?
She knocked harder. "Mai!"
Then she remembered: Mai had given her an extra key.
She fumbled with her charm-cluttered key chain, unlocked the front door.
The house was calm, silent, still. Deathly peaceful.
"Mai?" Anzu went inside tentatively.
There was an empty, used glass on the counter in the kitchen. She picked it up and smelled it, then cringed at the strong smell. Alcohol. Whiskey. Her heart caught in her throat. She couldn't have...
"Mai! Mai, please answer!" She rushed into her room, and then dropped to her knees. "No..."
We found her with her face down in the pillow....
Clinging to his picture for dear life...
She was gracefully positioned on the bed, her long blond hair fanning across the pillow beneath her. The empty whiskey bottle Anzu knew she'd find was on the nightstand. Anzu saw the photo of Jounouchi plastered to her shirt, clutched by her delicate hand. She was still beautiful, even in death.
"God..." Anzu choked back her hysterical sobs and dialed up Honda on her cell phone.
"Honda," she whispered shakily. "Call up the funeral services. Arrange a plot...next to Jounouchi's..."
"What?! Anzu-chan, what's going on?!"
"Mai..." She broke down. "Oh, God, Honda, Mai's gone..."
"Shh, hang on, I'll be right down. Call the police."
She threw the phone at the wall and cried.
We laid her next to him beneath the willow...
While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby...
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la...
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la...
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la...
****
*Yes, it's sad, but I really hope you like it...read, review, and for my BEWL fans, there'll be more soon!!*
3 talia