So since my older brother whom I was immensely close to left for college, I keep having panic & anixety attacks, and other assorted family members are stressing me out, it's time to go on a Deathshippy writing spree to keep myself sane! (No seriously, that's my honest reason for starting this. That and Deathshipping is OTP)

Feel free to request any kind of Deathshipping scenario! Oh, and I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. It would probably suck if I did.

One-shot Title: Understanding

Genre(s):Fluff, Humor, mild Hurt/Comfort / Angst

Summary: Right around the time Mariku discovers he feels something for Ryou, Ryou decides to visit him so he can admit the same thing. General cuteness ensues, of course.

Word Count: 2,018

Side-pairing(s): Mentions of Thiefshipping?

Warning(s): If you think Yami Marik is literally just a killing machine then I'd say there's an OOC warning, because this Yami Marik's not quite that. Sorry to disappoint. ^_^

Enjoy!

Understanding

"Bakura."

"What."

"I have a problem."

"Mental or physical."

"Haha, very funny. Now help me."

"Don't order me around."

"Don't order me around either."

"Oh for - fine. What's your life-or-death problem you psychopath. And it had better be life or death, or -"

" - it's about that hikari of yours."

"...what."

"Something's wrong with him."

"What do you mean, "something's wrong with him"?! What's wrong with him?!"

"Calm down, Bakura."

"Only when you tell me what's wrong with my host!"

"He's affecting me."

"You have ten seconds to explain."

"For instance, I walk past him and I get this... sparkling in my chest and I feel warm inside. He's making me feel sick and I hate it."

"Sparkling in your chest, eh...?"

"Stop snickering! I explained. Now help."

"Fool. There's nothing wrong with Ryou. It's you."

"What about me?"

"You're in love, idiot."

Mariku slammed the phone down.

No.

No.

He wasn't not in love, and certainly not with that weak, sensitive, annoying, adorable, beautiful -

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Mariku froze.

No, no one was home! Absolutely no one!

"Go home!" He yelled.

He heard Ryou laugh.

Damn it.

"Ah, hello there Yami Marik! Could you let me in, please?"

Mariku's eyes narrowed. He distanced himself from the door in case those mind-controlling tingly feelings came back and he was compelled to - damn it. When did he start walking towards the door? He thought he was walking away!

"I'd like to talk to you about something!" Ryou shouted, voice seeping through the cracks around the door's frame.

Mariku blinked. Ryou... wanted to talk to... him? Why him of all people? How could the hikari be so sure Mariku wasn't going to slit his throat the moment he stepped through the door? And damn it, that tingling feeling came back!

"Well..." He'd never been good at comebacks. "I don't want to talk to you, so leave."

His heart practically screamed "IDIOT!" at him for saying that, but Ryou paid no heed.

"Please? I promise you, it's not about the Items or Bakura or Marik! It's about you, actually..." The Brit's voice trailed off in an "I'm-too-embarrassed-or-shy-to-say-anything-else" manner, and Mariku's sensitive side was drinking it up.

Unfortunately for him his sensitive side made up a good one percent of his body and the rest was stubborn as hell.

But, all the same, Mariku couldn't help but say, "About me?"

"Yes!" Ryou definitely sounded happier now. Damn it, tingly feelings! "Well, and me, I guess, but -"

Mariku's heart practically exploded.

Ryou wanted to talk to him.

He still couldn't believe it.

All the same, the inward battle between his heart and his stubborn mind swirled within him and he couldn't decide if he should let Ryou in and hear what he had to say, or keep screaming at him to go away until he did.

Although he'd never admit it, Mariku's heart won pretty quickly.

"Fine."

"Wonderful!" Ryou exclaimed excitedly, a big smile no doubt popping onto his lips. "Thank you, Yami Marik!"

"Don't thank me," he grumbled in return as he swung open the door, revealing the white-haired boy he'd been dreading - and hoping for - all day. "I just opened a damn door."

Ryou remained unfazed and stepped inside, sighing in content as the cool air touched his skin. He turned around and addressed Mariku cheerfully, "But you let me in in the first place, and you said you'd listen to what I had say. I think that deserves a 'thank you', don't you?"

If Ryou was expecting an answer, he sure as hell wasn't getting one.

Mostly because Mariku was too busy staring at the boy.

No, Ryou wasn't wearing anything revealing. Although, those khaki shorts did show off his rear end quite nicely...

"Something wrong?"

Mariku blinked rapidly and raised his eyes to meet Ryou's concerned cinnamon ones. "...no."

This pleased Ryou and the whitette promptly sat down on the couch. But it was the adorable way he patted the cushion next to him in a "Sit next to me" kind of way that sent Mariku's ice-cold heart soaring in a way he thought impossible.

Despite this, however, the blonde darkness sat a cushion away from Ryou (but planned to scoot closer in the future). Ryou pouted, but quickly replaced it with a smile and threw it Mariku's way. "So, Yami Marik! How've you been?"

Mariku blinked. How was he supposed to answer this? His emotions were everywhere!

"Fine, I guess."

Ryou beamed, "Good! I hope you don't mind my coming over on such short notice. Bakura and Marik were, um..." The teen's cheeks darkened slightly and he shook his head. "Anyway, I thought getting out of the house would do me good and then I remembered that I, er, needed to tell you something."

Mariku squinted in annoyance. Ryou had said this 2 or 3 times but never once stated what he needed to tell Mariku. The reason he was annoyed was because he was secretly hoping for a "certain kind of confession", but he'd never actually admit this. He was a god, a god of destruction! And chaos! And death! And -

Damn it, his chest was tingling again. Why did that happen every time Ryou smiled? He'd heard of the "butterflies in your stomach" phrase but that only happened when people were nervous, and he definitely wasn't nervous. Not at all.

Okay, maybe a little.

"What do you need to tell me?" Mariku inquired, idly staring at the taupe-colored wall before him. Ryou, who'd been looking at his hands, quickly looked up and laughed softly.

"Sorry about that. I guess I zoned out. Um, well, I..." He cleared his throat, his brown eyes shifting back to the hands in his lap. A shy smile slowly began to grow on his lips as he spoke, "I know Yugi and Yami Yugi say you're a killer who cares for no one but himself, and Bakura says I should be afraid of you, but..."

"But?" Mariku raised an eyebrow elegantly.

Inwardly, his heart was beating so fast it could've easily competed in the Olympics and won.

Ryou chuckled and looked up at the yami. "But I've always been attracted to dangerous things, even when I was younger. Messing around with Ouija boards and sneaking onto my father's expeditions... Even rebelling against Bakura."

Mariku stared at Ryou for a moment before stating, "You don't seem like someone who enjoys danger."

"No, I suppose I don't," the Brit chuckled again. He tilted his head and smiled. "After all, I'm the weak, useless hikari, right?"

Mariku wasn't sure if Ryou was quoting him or Bakura, and typically a statement like this would've been something he'd shout an agreement to, but for some odd reason Ryou saying this was almost... embarrassing. He felt like a child who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Oh, and his heart was definitely screaming at him now.

"...I never said that," the Egyptian mumbled, looking away so Ryou wouldn't see his pink-tinted cheeks."I mean, sure, you're anything but strong, but... you're not weak."

"Thank you."

Mariku looked up, frowning. "Why the hell do you keep thanking me when all I do is state the obvious?"

Ryou looked thoughtful for a moment, then he answered, "Because everyone but you and me thinks it isn't obvious, that I really am nothing but weak." He sighed, before shaking his head and popping an apologetic smile onto his face. "I'm sorry, I got off track, didn't I?"

Mariku shrugged, his own way of saying whatever Ryou did was fine, and patiently waited for the boy to pick off where he left off.

But that wasn't exactly what Ryou decided to do.

"You know, Yami Marik..." Ryou smiled warmly, and Mariku almost smiled himself. "I think you're wonderful."

Mariku's jaw actually dropped. "...you do?"

"Yes, I do," Ryou replied immediately. "Everyone says you're this, this horrible, despicable being who doesn't deserve to be called human. But to me, you're more human than any of them will ever, ever be."

"How can you think I'm human when I'm so bloodthirsty, so tainted?" Mariku retorted, crossing his arms. "I appreciate the compliment I guess, but I, for one, don't think it's realistic when I've killed a decent amount of people -"

"Name one person you've killed, aside from Marik's father." Ryou's eyes were still soft with that ever-present compassion, but his voice was calm, confident and determined, and he never once stopped staring into Mariku's lavender depths. "Bakura slaughtered many of Pharaoh Atem's guards and court members when he was Thief King. He's killed people in this era, too. I've forgiven him for what he's done, so why can't I forgive you?"

Mariku bit his lip and looked away, glaring at the carpeted floor. "Why should you? Why would you waste your time on me? I'd break your heart in a moment, so it's not like you'd get anything out of befriending me."

You're the one person I don't want to hurt. Please stay away.

"Aside from a good friend, you mean?" Ryou smiled, shaking his head. "You're one of the realest people I know. You don't try and mask who you are and I admire that."

"I'm a psychopathic murderer," Mariku mumbled dryly. "You admire those?"

"You're not a murderer, and you don't really seem psychopathic to me either," Ryou answered calmly. "Sure, in Battle City you didn't exactly do any kind of good, but you've changed since then."

"How can you tell?" Mariku scoffed, throwing a half-hearted glare in the white-haired hikari's direction. "What if I told you I went out and killed people every night, just for the fun of it? Would you believe me? Or am I too much of a goody-two-shoes now to do something like that?"

Ryou shook his head almost fondly, "You remind me of Bakura. I never said you were a goody-two-shoes, Yami Marik, I'm saying that you're not a psychopath anymore. I know you didn't want to be in the first place, anyway, so I thought it'd cheer you up if I said that."

"What do you mean, "you know I didn't want to be in the first place"?"

"Since you were born of Marik's hatred and anger towards the Pharaoh, you never had a choice. You were forced." Ryou looked at him once again with those piercing brown eyes, "No one should be forced to be someone or something. They should be able to chose their own destiny."

Mariku fell silent. Being recognized only as Marik's psychotic other half wasn't something he enjoyed, which was one of the reasons he was so insistent on destroying Marik. He wanted to be his own person, with his own name, his own life, his own personality.

And Ryou understood this, without Mariku having to open his mouth and say a single word,

Ryou understood.

"...Yami Marik?"

The yami in question raised his head. Ryou smiled, his cheeks coloring slightly.

"You know, I never did get to tell you -"

"Hush." Mariku placed a finger on soft pink lips. "You can tell me later. And stop calling me Yami Marik. I hate being called that."

Ryou nodded his head. "So... would you like a new name, then?" He smiled encouragingly as he added, "I'd be honored to help you think of one."

Mariku stared at the boy for a moment before mumbling,

"Sure."

Yes, yes, I know Mariku is a little OOC, but he explained why he wasn't killing Ryou, right? Why would you kill the one person who understands you, even if you were a killing machine?

Also, I'm greatly amused by typing "killing machine". Gosh, I'm weird.

Oh, and can someone pleaseeeee help me think of a name for Mariku? Honestly I can't think of squat and it's really bugging me. Thank you! (Please don't say stuff like John though because that'll make me cry)

Please R&R! I don't care if you flame, I'll get it over it eventually. Ohhh, and please note that my writing's usually much better than this, but writing while having stomach cramps reduces the quality. I'm so sorry! Thank you for reading!