Title: Three Days Later
Series: Beyblade
Genre: Angst/Drama
Summary: After the death of her boyfriend, Mariah's life changes for the worst. Alternate universe, one-shot.
Disclaimer: Beyblade copyright to Takao Aoki.
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Rain pattered raucously against the thin glass rattling in the window panes of various houses dotting the street. It was around midday, though no one would be able to tell by looking outside. The clouds were so dark, it almost seemed like midnight. No one dared leave their home, for fear for floating away down the streets. The rain had started two nights ago, but hadn't let up since.
Light shone from a upper-storey window a few houses away from the corner of the street on the left side. The light was almost like a beacon to others, allowing them to see a little sliver of hope that the sun would shine once again.
By this beam of bright luminosity, a pink haired female bent over a vanity dresser, peering closely at her reflection as she applied a thin contour of black eyeliner to the upper lid of her amber eyes. Her soft, full lips were stuck in a closed pout as she studied the line she drew. Finally deciding that her eyes were done, she set down the liquid eyeliner and lifted a light shade of red lipstick to her lips.
"Mari. You take too bleeding long." A voice broke the prior silence of the room, attracting the young woman's made-up eyes to stray from the mirror. Out of the corner of one amber eye, she noticed the young man, just a little older than she was, tugging at his short black locks of hair. His other arm was crossed over his chest and he leaned against the frame of the door. Having to wear a black suit, Rei had chosen to cut his previously ankle-length hair to a more presentable length of a few inches long.
"Rei, you're too bleeding pushy. Be patient and wait downstairs." She replied to him, biting the inside of her cheek so hard she half-expected to taste the metallic flavour of blood on her tongue. Fighting back threatening tears, she watched out of the corner of her eye still, as Rei shrugged and wordlessly left the room. His footsteps sounded down the stairs and a deep sigh was expelled from between her lips.
Mariah gazed at her reflection in the mirror still, brushing a stray lock of pink hair from her face. It had obviously fallen from the loose knot atop her head, but she wasn't going to undo the knot for one stray lock. Memories from the night the storm rolled in were skidding back into her mind likes cars going too fast to stop. Closing her eyes, she reminisced.
Mariah stared out the window, twirling a lock of her long pink hair around her index finger. The drizzling rain was gently splattering against the window above the crimson leather couch she sat upon, one leg folded beneath the other to turn her towards the window. Dark clouds were circling the sky like a flock of vultures, reminding the pink haired female too much of a death omen.
Down the road somewhat, a few blocks away from the unpretentious place Mariah called home, a motorcycle revved it's engine and turned the corner, slowing slightly as the road became slippery. A large moving truck, the company's logo removed from the sides and back, turned the corner opposite the motorcycle and it's blue haired rider.
The rider glanced behind for a moment, then moved closer to the curb of the road to allow the truck to pass. Instead, the truck almost seemed to follow the rider, who promptly revved again and sped up, moving back to the centre of the lane.
Another block passed by, before the truck sped up, catching the motorcycle on the front bumper.
Pieces of the broken bike took to the air, scattered every which way. A scream of pain ripped through the silent back road, on which nothing ever happened. Mariah's gaze twitched to her blind spot of the window, her amber eyes widening at the sight of the accident. The truck whipped around the corner, making a clean hit-and-run, while occupants of the houses ran out, few bothering to grab an umbrella or put on a pair of shoes.
Mariah slid from her spot on the couch as a few of her neighbours glanced up to her house from the sight of the rider's body. Tucking her hair in a loose ponytail, she pulled her bathrobe tighter around her curves and slid on a pair of shoes as she unlocked the door and wandered out to the site.
"Miss Mariah!" Her neighbours chorused in canon, their voices overflowing with concern and sadness. A few had tears in their eyes, and all she could do was cock her head at them and furrow her eyebrows. Wandering closer, the rain pounding harder against the ground as she slid through breaks in the crowd.
Reaching the front of the crowd, her knees buckled beneath her at the sight. It wasn't just a broken and battered body, or just the body of a motorist whose untimely death had occurred on a relatively bland street of garage sales and borrowing cups of sugar. It was Kai. Her boyfriend.
Mariah's mouth opened and closed a few times, tears welling in her tawny eyes. She fell to the wet pavement, her hair falling from the loose ponytail she'd slid in at the last moment at the nape of her neck. Her bangs were plastered to her face, and raindrops falling upon her smooth skin blended with the tears now streaming down her cheeks and staining them a tickled pink.
The crowd had thinned somewhat in a few moments, some having left to call ambulances or mortuaries, others having simply left due to the rain. Mariah's bathrobe and night-gown were soaked through, making her feel quite uncomfortable in the rain, but the feeling was ignored. Her gaze never left him, as she studied his broken body; the gashes and cuts along his limbs, his broken neck, broken limbs, broken ribs, helmet smashed in one side completely, suggesting the same of his head, though she didn't dare check.
Hugging his bloody form to her chest, the pink haired young woman broke down completely, loud sobs wracking the area, causing some to stare in alarm then turn away in depressed realisation. He was dead, murdered, and a little bit of Mariah went with him.
Her amber eyes were clouded, tears rolling down her cheeks subconsciously. Her lipsticked mouth had fallen open as the memory and her pale skin, made a more natural tone via a thin layer of foundation, had streaked once again that familiar tickled pink.
"Mari!" A urgent call came from downstairs, signalling that they had little time left before they would be late for their very important date. Her mouth snapped shut at the call, and she rushed to fix up her foundation to hide the tears. Giving herself a quick once-over in the mirror, Mariah snatched her purse from the dresser top and ran down the stairs, slipping on a pair of strappy sandals at the door and rushing out the door Rei held open for her.
Beneath the overhang, Rei snapped open the black umbrella and the two walked in stride to the small car, the black-haired man opening the door for his companion, still shielding her from the downpour outside their small circle of purity. Twirling his index finger around a lock of his short hair, Rei wandered to the other side of the car and opened the door, sitting inside the square vehicle fully before shutting the umbrella and pulling his arms in before they got soaked.
The rain hadn't let up at all.
Mariah and Rei stood beneath the umbrella at the outdoor ceremony, closed casket, at the very back of the small crowd surrounding the grave. The only one to speak was the priest, and even he seemed pained to say kind words about the male. It wasn't that Kai was cruel, but he wasn't the most open or friendly being.
The pink haired young woman dared not shed a tear.
The rain still hadn't let up when they arrived back at Mariah's home, previously the one shared by the two lovers. Mariah sat on the crimson leather couch once again, her leg tucked beneath the other, head resting against the soft, fleshy palm of her hand. Her ankle-length black satin dress cascaded over the edge of the couch, brushing loosely against the hardwood floor beneath her.
"Mari? Your tea's ready…I'll bring it out." Rei's familiar voice was a soothing beacon in her world of loss. She turned her head to face him as he carried out a cute mug, adorned by a pattern of neon frogs. Handing the mug to the female, he smiled slightly and sat beside her, his arm dropping on the back of the couch subtly, his hand resting on her shoulder. She sipped on her tea in silence, blowing on the surface a few times to cool it, as Rei watched her in interest.
"Thanks, Rei…" She mumbled to him, her eyes stuck on the steaming liquid of the mug. Smiling again at her, he moved his hand from her shoulder to her hair, gently stroking it for a moment or two.
"Oh!" His hand dropped to her shoulder again, as her eyes were attracted to the sight of Rei leaning slightly away from the pink haired woman, digging around in his pocket, and finally pulling out a plain looking box that appeared like it hardly fit in his pocket. "They found this yesterday morning, resting in the gutter. They mentioned I should give it to you." Mariah set down her tea upon a coaster on the coffee table in front of her, and took the box from his hand.
Cracking the box open, tears welled once again in her tawny eyes.
"An engagement ring…" She murmured beneath her breath, unaware that Rei was watching her every emotion. Removing the ring from the white satiny holder, she began turning it over between her fingers, eyes never leaving the glittery band. "…Rei…that night…I lost him…I lost the ability to give my heart to someone…"
"What do you mean, Mari?" Rei's eyes narrowed slightly, out of both concern and wonder.
"He meant something to me. Something more than anyone else ever could…it would disgrace his name and memory to try and date afterwards…" Her voice was at the same steady mumbling tone, dead serious.
Shit. The male's eyes narrowed to slits, as he bit his lip so hard, a thin trickle of blood began to run down his chin, staining his white shirt with tiny crimson droplets.
"Rei? Your lip's bleeding…" She looked at him, reaching up to wipe the blood away. He grabbed her hand, shaking his head and forcing a smile upon his lips.
"I'm all right." His tongue darted from his mouth, licking the metallic substance away.
"It's just…I don't know. Maybe a thought crossed my mind. Maybe I thought that…I don't know…if Kai wasn't around, you might go for me…" Mariah's stare was blank, drilling into his own eyes, which had darted away. He leaned back nonchalantly, acting as though he was unfazed by her gaze. Arms resting on the back of the couch, he continued. "But apparently that's not a possibility. Dammit, Mariah."
"Whatever made you think that if Kai wasn't around I'd go for you instead?" She asked, eyebrows furrowing in pity. There was something to her expression that just screamed 'What the hell's wrong with you, Rei…I'd never go for you.'
He shrugged, turning his eyes to the window. Feeling a smirk come across his lips, he asked, still turned to the window, "Mari…have you ever wondered who it was driving that truck that night?"
"Yes, the thought's crossed my mind every second of the day. Do you know who it is…?" Her head fell cocked to one side, expression having faded.
"Yeah. Yeah, I do, Mari. Me."
His narrowed eyes met her widened ones, and a hand flew to her mouth to prevent her from gasping. Pushing herself from the couch, her legs bumped the table, causing the mug of tea to wobble and finally fall over upon the glass of the table. The warm scent of herbal peach filled the room as the tea spilled onto the carpet, Mariah still backing up from her companion in fear and hatred.
"I love you, Mari. Always have, always will. There's a saying for the way I feel about you. 'Till death do us part'." His smirk and narrowed eyes changed as he spoke, transforming themselves into a manic expression, fully showing his hidden psychotic side. The funny thing was that he never budged an inch from the blasé position in which he sat upon the crimson leather.
"You…you're a f-freak, Rei…" She shook her head, eyes still widened in fear and anguish. Mariah continued slowly backing up from him, until she bumped into something. A counter, she thought. The kitchen bar, separating the kitchen from the living room and dining room. Glancing around out of the corner of her eyes as she continued spitting insults and her blatant thoughts at him, she tried to find something to defend herself with. "Y-you're a sick, m-murdering freak. You're sadly m-mistaken, if y-you think that k-killing my b-boyfriend is going to make me l-love you." She stuttered, grasping a knife from the knife block behind her.
Rei stood up from the couch, not having seen the knife, and brushed himself off coolly. "Well…at least I managed to get rid of that jackass. He was a loser, Mari. Realise that, and get over him." He wandered over to her, reaching a point just outside her arm's scope, before she whipped the knife from behind her back.
"Come any closer and I'll k-kill you."
"Well, well, well, Mari. I never knew you had it in you to kill a man." Rei raised his eyebrows, a cocky smirk still formed along his lips. He lingered for a moment outside her reach, then took a few quick steps forward, placing one hand against her cheek and watching her tense up and grasp the knife until her knuckles turned a ghostly white.
"D-don't make me do t-this, R-Rei…" She whispered beneath her breath, gripping the knife ever tighter.
"Don't give up on your first impulses, Mari. You want to kill me, so kill me. Plunge that knife into me and rip me apart with your bare hands." The smile upon his face grew with each disturbing word he uttered. Mariah swallowed a fearful gasp, her fingers twitching and itching to do as he willed.
Rei's fingers moved from her cheek to the blade of the knife, wrapping around it and pulling it closer to his chest. Blood ran down his thin fingers as he squeezed the blade against his flesh, cutting into it and causing blood to bubble from the wound. Hot tears streaked down the pink haired girl's pale cheeks as her eyebrows furrowed from a look of wounded surprise to a look of bitter fury.
Tightening her grip on the knife, if that was at all possible, she plunged the blade into Rei's chest, then removed the blade, allowing the blood to surge from the wound, staining the man's white dress shirt and Mariah's skin. Replacing the blade in his chest, she released her death grip on the knife, watching him fall to the floor, a cocky smirk still upon his dying lips. Her face was contorted in a look of horror as she realised just what she had committed, and she whipped away, bile rising in her throat.
Her ochre eyes drifted downwards, catching a glimpse of the knife block again. Taking another in her looser grasp, she shut her eyes in a relaxed movement, and brought the knife to her throat, plunging it in quickly before she had a chance to change her mind. Blood spurted from her mouth, dripping from the corners of her lips onto her skin, staining it further. Collapsing to the floor as well, her last sight was one of the bloodied companion she'd known for years.
Three days later, the rain had stopped.
Tyson wandered down the hallway of his apartment, passing by a stack of newspapers by his neighbours door. '18 year old and 19 year old found dead in home,' read the newspaper's morbid headline. A look of shock formed along Tyson's features as he recognised the two in the photo, both bloodied and wide-eyed. Two days after Kai's death, and now this.