Bless the Broken Heart

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh! He belongs to Kazuki Takahashi! Enjoy! (Goes to cry her eyes out because she doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Thinking
"Talking"
Flashbacks

(Last time)

She turned around slowly, her heart beating against her chest so hard that she thought the person behind her heard it too.

"M-Mai? W-What are you d-doing here?"

(Present time)

Chapter 2: Reconciled Friendship

On her wits end, Shizuka nervously picked up one of the many martini glasses and filled it up three quarters up with champagne-like liquid and adding to it with the classy look like all of the employees were instructed to do, an olive. Capping the wine bottle again and setting it on the shelf with the other rare and expensive wine bottles of many glamorous colors, Shizuka whispered softly,

"How could this happen to me…?"

Mai watched her with a calm and yet puzzled face, as if trying to read her mind. She watched, complementing Shizuka as said-person delicately placed the glass in front of her, her drink.

"It's on the house…" She murmured softly, so softly that Mai strained to hear it. Mai picked up the glass with her thumb and middle finger and instead of taking a wisp of it, only set it until the liquid touched her lips. Licking her lips and looking up from the brim of her glass, she watched Shizuka expertly handle a drunk-stricken man and his equally drunk girlfriend.

"You know…" She started off in a kind of voice that was trying to struck up a conversation, "The job does do wonders for you, it's just, I never thought I'd find you at a place like this."

Shizuka didn't say anything as she kept pondering in her mind why her friend-wait, EX-friend hadn't ignored her or had at least yelled at her. Why? Why is Mai here? Is she here to gloat in my face? Is she trying to make me feel guilty? An uncomfortable and awkward silence came upon the two that would have drowned anyone if it weren't the two of them.

Mai stared sadly at her beverage, her beautiful and sad-filled face reflected in the glowing liquid and everything around her. What happened to you Shizuka? Why had you run away? Why didn't you trust me enough to tell me what you were doing? I could have saved you from the heartache…Mai picked up the glass again and tilted it in a fluid movement and around again until she created a small tornado,

"I'd never thought that…" She trailed off as Mai struggled with her words. Shizuka looked as if she wasn't paying any attention to her and fully focused at her customer, but if anyone looked in her eyes and at the way her body tensed, they could tell she was listening intently at Mai's words. "…You would be a bartender at a gambling club…"

Mai roughly slapped herself mentally. Stupid…

Shizuka let out a relieved sigh she never knew she was holding as she prepared a disgusting mix that was requested from a girl who looked as if she was having the time of her life. If Mai had completed that sentence…Shizuka's eyes moistened slowly and she kept her eyes down at the smooth wooden counter as she gave the drink to the girl, who had accidentally gave her 20 more dollars than needed for the drink. …I don't think I could handle it…Instead, she responded meekly as she stood aside as another waitress came back with empty martini glasses and into the backroom,

"Being a bartender isn't my only job here. We – kind of rotate on jobs, some would take the Black Jack table, some would take the poker table, some would take turns with bringing drinks around, and there's some that took the job as a bartender."

Mai nodded, giving that she understood as she took another small sip from her glass; it was one thing she learned when handling wine or alcohol – drink it slowly. She stared at the depths again; her eyes growing sadder by the second, unshed tears were slowly building in. She looked up to find Shizuka's back facing her, the said girl was filling many tall champagne glasses with dark red wine from Russia, very expensive by the way Shizuka was handling it.

Shizuka bit her lip; there was something inside her building up in her chest. She didn't know what it was, but it was becoming more unbearable as the minutes ticked by. Settling the ten champagne glasses on five trays as instructed five waitresses took them to the business men that were looking like they were having the time of their lives at the Jackpot machines. Shizuka grunted as the tension in her chest slowly started traveling up, so slowly so that she could feel the air-depriving pain that made her feel as if she was losing her breath. Almost giving in to the temptation of crying and telling Mai everything, she said instead,

"Anything else I can get you?" Mai looked at her back and shook her head, her long blond curls swaying with the movement,

"No thank you, Shizuka." Unless you can give me the explanation of what and why you did what you did…She gently rubbed the base of the wine glass with the side of her manicured thumb. She closed her eyes in tiredness,

"Yugi doesn't blame you, you know…" She whispered in defeat of having to be the one to give in to the temptation; expertly breaking the tension around the two for the last thirty minutes.

Sub-consciously, Shizuka's pale and slim hands gripped the wine bottle tighter until the point of shaking as she poured the liquid into the long champagne glass. Her eyes clouded. 'Yugi doesn't blame you, you know…' Y-Yugi doesn't hate me? B-But, but why not? Her eyes widened as she pulled the bottle away from the glass, just in time to stop at the rim of the wine glass. Cursing herself for her lack of concentration, she nervously gave the man his drink who instead of feeling disappointment of her actions of may having to deal with having a stained shirt, only grinned happily and grabbed the glass from her.

She turned to Mai who only looked at her glass, her eyes wide on her pale face,

"Why not? He should probably be the most betrayed out of…you know – the group. He and him have a rival-relationship." Mai took notice of how Shizuka had reframed from saying the name of the man that had taken everything from her. She shrugged and took another sip,

"From what I remember from Duelist Kingdom, he was probably the only one who saw it that Kaiba (She saw Shizuka flinch at the name) needed someone to lighten him up; I bet he thought you could do it, open his hard cold ice of a heart. He had told me that he truly believed you could have done it." Mai took another sip, larger than before, "At first I told him he was crazy. It wasn't until he gave me a good bonk on the head did he give his point across." Shizuka looked at her shocked,

"Yugi striked you?" Mai chuckled dryly,

"Not across the face, just on top of the head. For a guy who wouldn't hurt a fly, he can hit pretty hard." The playfulness left her dark plum eyes, "But I did finally understand what he was telling me…It's just…" Shizuka listened intently at her,

"Just…?"

Shizuka jumped back a little, startled as Mai slammed her glass harshly against the counter that a chip of glass broke off from the bottom. Mai looked at her with furious eyes, as if there was a bonfire behind her eyes making them glow, Shizuka was surprised to find tears leaking out of the corners of Mai's eyes,

"Why didn't you tell me?" It seemed as if no one took notice of them or the outburst from Mai, too drunk or engrossed in their own problems. Shizuka felt herself tremble when Mai refused to unlock their gazes, her furious eyes cut through her pitiful tawny-hazel mercilessly. Shizuka could feel the tears building up, the tears that she swore to never let go anymore. Mai kept going, ignoring the tears that were building over the brim of Shizuka's eyes,

"I could have helped you! I could have stopped you from making the most terrible mistake of your life! You didn't deserve to go through that! You could still be with your brother! He would still love you! Life isn't just a bed of roses, Shizuka!"

"I-I know that…" Shizuka whimpered softly, her tears soaking her black vest and white shirt, "I know that…" She repeated, not hearing a customer's order. She slammed a hand on the counter in front of Mai, causing the liquid in the glass to slip over the edge and settle back down, causing Mai to jump a little in her seat; startled,

"But you have to understand! I did it for a reason! A reason Mai…that you wouldn't understand…" Mai watched as Shizuka turned around sharply, her long red-auburn hair almost hitting her face as she left the bar-part of the club and through a door that said: EMPLOYEES ONLY!

Sniffling, Mai took the olive out of the drink and popped it in her mouth before she laid down ten dollars for her drink; ignoring Shizuka's saying 'It's on the house' and strolled out of the club to find it raining. She sighed,

"Damn it."

-.-.-.-

Numbly, Shizuka untied her dark blue bow tie and slipped it off her neck slowly, feeling the silky satin between her fingers as it slipped off and into her bag. She slowly undressed in the over-heated locker room for the females; she was the only one to wear the uniform of the men's since she declared she wouldn't ever wear something that skimpy in public, especially around drunken men; instead, her uniform, although had the same features as the men, was tailored to her figure, a little too snug for her taste, but better than looking as if she was trying to sell herself.

Her eyes looked dark and misty, her high cheeks gathering a light pink rosy hue from the heat as she slipped on her loose button up shirt and dark blue plaid mini-skirt that looked like the ones that she wore during high school where she used to go to in Domino. Putting on her brown shoes, even if she wore baggy socks, she put on her light jacket and her books and book bag and went out the back door.

"God damn it!" Shizuka cursed mildly to herself as she felt the hard rain drops hit against her head and face, she hurriedly covered her books and slammed the door shut behind her and ran to the nearest shelter nearby. Grunting, she struggled against the harsh wind as it pelted against her, many people were scrambling around for shelter like she was. Where ever she found a place, it would be too crowded.

"Today just isn't my day…" She muttered darkly.

Gasping, Shizuka felt the cold harsh wind wrap around her, causing her skirt to hike up to more than above mid-thigh. Blushing crimson, she hurriedly plucked it back down to groan. Her books were scattered around her open up wide, her papers everywhere. Ignoring the coming tears, she bent down on her knees to pick them up. She cursed when she found a page being swept away by the wind that was ripped out of her Chemistry book. Without thinking, she hauled everything into her bag and ran after the page that now looked easy enough to tear like a damp tissue paper.

"Come back here!" She cried desperately to only cry out in pain as she tripped on a ridge in the pavement. She looked down; her eyes filled with tears at her scathed knees and winced at the stinging pain the lingered. Breaking down, Shizuka let her tears go, her fingers pressing hard against the rough pavement as her body shook from the sobs.

God I hate my life…

-.-.-.-

Mai growled in frustration as people continued to bump into her in a hurry to find shelter. Didn't they see that she didn't have an umbrella or a newspaper to cover her? She was a damsel in distress and SHE wasn't complaining about being soaked to the bone! Damn people don't have any manners here, not like in Domino City; even SOME people had the decency to bow at them apologetically, even if they didn't really mean it. Mai's shoulders slumped downward as she trudged on, her high-heeled boots clicked against the pavement loudly, but unheard by the wind.

Her thoughts went back at the club.

"But you have to understand! I did it for a reason! A reason Mai…that you wouldn't understand…"

Her words echoed through Mai's mind. A reason, Shizuka…that I FULLY understand…

Her eyes strayed down to the pavement as she walked on. You wished, Shizuka, to change Seto Kaiba, but you have to accept the fact that not everyone has a heart…I'm just sorry you had to find out the hard way. I know what it's like to be in love and be toyed with from the beginning…

A long strand of blonde hair entered her vision when she stopped suddenly, causing the people behind her to mutter threats under their breath at her as they swarmed around her and on their way, but she didn't listen or acknowledge what they said. Her hair, completely soaked by the rain, was now out of its curls and flowed freely down her back to mid thigh. Her little piece of hair that always hung a little bit on her forehead, trailed limply down the right side of her face to end at her cheekbone. She shivered involuntarily at the cold. She looked up again at the cloudy sky with the skyscrapers reaching up towards the clouds, her eyes misted over,

"Katsuya…"

He had never known that she had fallen in love with him, ever since Duelist Kingdom. The way he had done everything he could to get that money for Shizuka, she had found herself attracted to his determination, the same determination that she always had for herself. And Battle City only made that small flame of attraction turn into a bomb fire. His loyalty and strength had amazed her to no end; how could somebody that goofy and strange be that loyal? A small weak smirk quivered on the corners of her lips,

"Loyal as a dog…"

When she had heard how much he had sacrificed and had tried to bring her back from the Shadow Realm, made her feel so warm and protected and self-secured. No body had ever made her feel that – not even her parents. When she had left the group, she had the intentions to come back, but where ever she had gone, the news of Battle City would always come back. 'Did you hear about Battle City?' 'Yugi Mouto's awesome!' 'Look at Katsuya Jounouchi! I can't wait to duel him!' She could never escape from it. She had gone to win for herself, to prove the world she was a great duelist…but when she had faced that stupid psychotic Malik Ishtar, everything went down the drain. She was perceived as a fool. Then, just when she was going to end everything…he came. A certain warmth entered Mai's eyes as she remembered the incident.

"Varon…"

He was there to help me where no one else would. He gave me the will to come back and try to make something of myself…even if it wasn't in the best of ways. Mai trailed off in thought. It was raining the first time we met…I wonder…Mai cocked her head to the right a little, bystanders looking at her, she would have looked as if trying to look at a different view of the sky, rather than in thought. …Would he come right now like before? Give me encouragement? She shook her head and wiped the tears away,

"I'm such an idiot…He doesn't even know I'm here. I don't even know if he's still alive…" Looking up, Mai gasped as a paper slapped itself harshly against her face and over her eyes,

"Wha-?" Walking forward while trying to get the paper off of her, Mai let out a cry as she toppled onto her bottom.

"Ouch!" Tugging the paper off and giving it a good glare, Mai looked down to raise an eyebrow,

"A book?" She picked the book up while sitting on her knees. Mai flipped through the damp pages delicately, her eyes widening while darting from line to line and page to page.

"This is college Mathematics…" She murmured. Shutting the book with a 'snap!' Mai got on her feet with the book in arms and walked around the corner, her long dark blonde hair hanging down around her face like a curtain. Her eyes softened immediately as she found Shizuka crying on her hands and knees, her back pack a good couple feet in front of her, just a couple of inches from Mai's shoes.

"Oh, Shizuka…" Bending down and picking her heavy back pack up by the handle part, Mai ran to her and dropped to her knees, placing Shizuka's bag beside her. Hearing the whisper, Shizuka looked up; her face filled with pain – emotional and physical, her eyes narrowed as tears continued to dominate.

Without saying anything, Mai dropped the book to the ground and took Shizuka into her arms, feeling her hot tears against her corset. Shizuka wrapped her arms around her as well, finally giving in to the urge.

"I just wanted to change him, Mai!" Shizuka continued to sob harshly against her, her shoulders shaking from the force of her sobs. Mai nodded and ran a hand through Shizuka's hair, she herself crying,

"I know Shizuka…I know."

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TADA! I hope this wasn't rushed so badly as I think it is, well, tell me what you think! (Cough comments cough) Thanks for the reviews!

Reviewers:

Aliccia: You're welcome! (grins) I love making people happy! Here's your update and thanks for reviewing!

ChaosMagicianGirl: (lol) Thank you for your compliments! (blushes) I really do hope that I do become a better author at this, my passion in writing usually ends up thinking of the Yu-Gi-Oh! characters in it, just can't be helped. (Grins again) Seto is undeniable isn't he? (Sighs dreamily) Thanks for the review, I enjoyed reading it! (Goes marching off to her Seto shrine)

vamprincessmiyu: Thanks! I usually read angst stories if I have nothing to do or when I'm just bored. But I LOVE writing them, it just…refreshes me. (lol) Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the reviews guys! Appreciate it!

So now Mai and Shizuka are friends again! Yippee! Now, review and you'll get a Marik plushy! (Looks sadly at the mounds of Marik plushies) If only I want to give them up…

Bye! And remember…REVIEW!

Miss Artemis