Disclaimer: I, nor anyone else in America own Yu-Gi-Oh. Or Mariku. However hot he is. Or Bakura, Marik or Ryou. So deal with it.
Mariku POV
Why is he being so kind to me? I ruined his life! Made him miserable! But he took me in! I don't fit in at all. I ruined everything, couldn't even accomplish one damned thing! Killed his father, almost killed him, almost destroyed the world... I should be dead, sent to damnation, the most fiery, dark pits of hell!
It feels nice to know that someone cares for me, though. I almost feel like I belong. Hikari even acts happy that I'm back, he shows concern about my wound. I still regret not being able to finish the job of killing myself, I seriously thought that the blood loss would get rid of me! But, seems like fate has something else in store for me.
Ryou doesn't hate me. Neither does Bakura. Why do they care about me? I feel... different around them and Marik, like I belong, and have friends. It just feels warm inside, like the hate that's gnawing away at me is disintegrating, being left as nothing. I never want to be alone again.
End POV
Marik POV
I really am happy about Mariku being back, he will even be able to stay with us, and live normally! Well, as normal as possible. I don't think that he gets that I really do love him like a brother, he did try to kill me, but so have a lot of other people! And I've tried to kill people, some of them actually are dead! He has only one murder on his hands, but I have a few more than that on my hands.
I can tell he's confused about all of this, he has left the link between us wide open, I can feel all of his emotions, and tell a few of his thoughts. In the back of his emotions, I can still feel it. I can still feel what he was made of. I can feel his anger about his suicide going wrong, his anger of being confused. But, I'm not worried about it in the fact of him attacking us. I'm afraid of what he might do to himself. When he was cutting into himself... I know it was anger. It had driven him to hate himself, to have a need to hurt himself.
End POV
Ryou POV
I stare at Mariku. He seems to be thinking quite deeply on something, I don't want to bring him out of it. But, he has managed to dig his nails into his skin on his palms, and has drawn an amount of blood from the gouges in his skin... I don't think I should just let him keep hurting himself.
Mariku is like Bakura, in a way. Not a lot know this, but Bakura felt guilty after we let him come back, and he would unintentionally hurt himself. Marik knew, of course, but no one else really knew. I never saw a reason to tell Yugi or the rest. Bakura seems like he doesn't mind the fact that there's his enemy in the same house. I hope he and Mariku can become friends, it would help both of them. But, I wouldn't hope as far as them being friends with Yami. That would be far for them.
End POV
Bakura POV
Maybe Mariku and I are a lot more alike than I thought before. We both felt and feel guilty for what we did. It seems that both of us would do anything to redeem ourselves, whether it be suicide, or unknowingly hurting ourselves. Suicide. Coming from the Latin roots sui, meaning "self," and cid, "to cut; to kill." To kill one's self. It is a very interesting word.
Mariku is distracted. I'm sure he won't mind having to go with us to hang out. Hell, he might like hanging out with us. And he could get some new clothes at Hot Topic, last night Marik also spoke of getting a pet, and I think we will be going to the amusement park. Heh. Bet Mariku will love the drop tower. It freaks out Ryou and Marik though, but it's a lot of fun.
End POV
Third Person (Bakura, Ryou, and Mariku)
Mariku clenched his hands into themselves, unknowing of the small cuts that blood was running from. He just kept thinking, uncaring of the small, stinging pains in his palms. 'Why are they so nice? No one should like me! I'm a spirit made from just anger, I'm not the real spirit of the rod! That makes me wonder, did Kaiba ever get to find his other? I remember sensing him in the rod, but just pushed him away... He's going to be angry at me...'
"Mariku? Um, Mariku? I think you should stop cutting into your palms... Or Marik may be just a bit upset... Or not... I dunno..." Ryou stopped trying to get Mariku's attention when the other male looked down at his hands, and saw the blood, as if a new realization that he had hurt himself. And it probably was.
"Uhm... Did I... Is... There anything to, um, clean the blood up with? Without getting any clothes or things dirty..." Mariku let his voice trail off, because at that moment Marik had come down from badgering Ishizu for some money, and looked shocked at the blood on Mariku's hands.
"Mariku... How did you cut yourself in the hands? Was it your nails... or what? And um... Why?" Marik was looking at Mariku with a confused, yet accusing look, as he grabbed one of Mariku's hands and inspected the crescent cuts, "They're not deep, at least not to some other common wounds... But they are deep for nail cuts... You may have to have some antiseptics applied to them... Why did you do this..."
"I didn't really mean to... I was just thinking... And not paying attention... It was subconscious... I think I need something to wipe this off of my hands..." The darker boy was trailing off into his own world of thought, not aware of the transition from speech to thought.
"Well, I'll just clean it and bandage the cuts, then off we go to the mall, and other places! Hopefully it won't rain while we're outside, and I've got a load of money from Ishizu. Sooooooo... We're good to go!" And so, Marik opened the door, giving them the passage outside. And giving Mariku his first real look outside without it being night for about 6 months.
He was amazed by the clouds, and how they were formed. The only looks that he had gathered from the outside had been from the airship. It was different, needless to say. Much different. The clouds were gray, not the same dark purple of Shadow Realm clouds, and not blue like the clouds when high in the air. It was the first time Mariku was feeling actual humidity, and he felt the normal, gentle breeze, not harsh winds. He was able to see just a small bit of sunlight, it was not cold, it was warm instead.
Marik was watching his yami. He knew his yami would want to see what is was like outside.
"You like it out here, don't you, yami? It must have been 6 months of you being in the Shadow Realm," Marik was happy to see his yami enjoying the outdoors. It was like when he had first seen what is was like outside.
"I love it out here... There's sun, and warmth, and I can feel it about to rain... So much unlike the Shadow Realm, or Kaiba's airship. I think... Yeah, I think I want to see all the weather that it can be, even storms. It's so alive, it can change... Would this disappear if I had achieved in covering the world in darkness? Would all of this weather be gone?"
"... Yes, this weather would've gone away. We need the sun for weather to come. I take it you really like it out here? I do, too. So much unlike being underground. Yami... Would you really rather be dead than be able to see all of this?"
"I don't know... I love this weather... but I caused the world so much pain... And I don't deserve living... but I still love this weather... It's just..."
Marik could see his yami's frustration as he thought between being dead, and living just to see the weather. He didn't want to make his yami think too much on this subject. It wasn't needed for him to have the answer. He had just hoped that his yami's mind would've changed.
"You don't need to answer now... I was just wondering. Here, let me see your hands, I need to clean them off..."
Marik took his yami's hands, and took a rag he had dabbed in antiseptics, and washed the cuts with the rag. He knew that it hurt, he could see muscles tighten in the hands. After less than half a minute, Marik was done, and threw the rag into the trash can by the house, they wouldn't be using it again.
"Everything is within walking distance, so let's just leave now. It's early enough not to be run over in rush traffic. And the mall is less than half a mile, we can eat at the food court. There's sure to be something we can all like there!" Marik was guiding them on the sidewalk, going in the way of the mall.
Mariku POV
The mall? A huge store with loads of people? I don't know if that will be so bad... But I don't know what I would eat. Marik would be unhappy if I refused... If I don't eat, I could die. Marik doesn't want that, but I don't know what to do...
"Mariku, you in there? Hello? Mariku?"
"I think he's out of it it. Can I shove him?"
"No, you may not shove him! Bakura! Yami, stop trying to push Mariku!
"But Ryou, it would be funny to see him fall down!"
"So? You might hurt him, you buffoon! And stop poking him!"
I was brought back to my senses by a sharp poke in my ribs, and couldn't hold back a slight growl, and blindly punched, unknowingly hitting Bakura's shoulder, knocking him down. I refocused my eyes, to see Bakura on the ground, smirking slightly. Ryou simply looked down at Bakura, a pleased look on his face.
"See? You deserved to be punched! You've certainly done more than enough to deserve it!"
"Hey yami, you okay? You kind of spaced out there, and ended up punching Bakura. Well, at least we'll know that you can defend yourself."
"Yeah I'm okay," I paused speaking to help Bakura back up, who was surprised that I was helping him," I was just thinking... Sorry Bakura, didn't really mean to knock you down."
"It's fine, now I know your limits, just seeing how far I can stretch you. Obviously, I shouldn't bug you too much," Bakura took my hand," Let's go on, shall we?"
I pulled up Bakura, and walked on. I noticed that we weren't near the house anymore, which meant I had probably walked while spaced out. Bakura and Ryou were all the way ahead, Ryou was telling off Bakura, who looked for all the world, uncaring. Marik was walking slightly ahead of me, and he had earphones in, which had a wire down to his left pocket. Music. Wonder if he can hear anything. Like cars at the next walk, which Bakura and Ryou are on the other side of. The lights were green, so I stopped at the streetlight pole, and waited. Marik, however, went right ahead. With closed eyes.
MARIK! GET OUT OF THE ROAD!
He kept walking, and a car was coming. Towards him. The driver was obviously drunk. Marik wasn't looking.
MARIK! THERE'S A CAR! RUN OUT OF THE ROAD! LOOK OUT! MARIK!
He was only 2 feet from me, I could surely grab him out of the way in time. I reached ahead, and grabbed him from behind, pulling him back by the collar, as far as I could. Which was just far enough to keep the two of us away from the car, which passed about 2 inches away, and we both fell down after I pulled him back, he fell next to me. Both of us had the air knocked out of our lungs, and were on the ground.
I got onto my knees, then slowly pulled my body fully up, trying to keep myself from getting dizzy, and falling over again. I fell over anyway. Marik got up, and stared wide eyed at the road, shaking slightly.
"Oops... Uhh... Thanks for that yami... I think I'm going to take these off now... And never walk with eyes closed again..."
Marik removed his earphones, and put them in his pocket, as I pushed myself back up. It was hard to breath for a bit, I felt like a rib cracked. It might've, but that wouldn't be inspected right now. My right hand is throbbing, I think Marik or I fell on it. Or maybe both. There's a dark blue bruise slowly developing on the side of the hand, outlined with slight purple. That's going to be there for a bit. My hikari this time looks up to see that the light is red before leading us across the road. Ryou and Bakura are standing on the other size. Ryou looks concerned, I'm sure he saw Marik get near run over, Bakura looks bored. That's to be expected.
"Are you two ok? Marik, I thought you already learned not to walk with your eyes closed. Like when you fell down the stairs? Or maybe when you ran into that Rottweiler?"
"Enough, Ryou! This time, I've really learned! Bakura, stop laughing at me! Yami, I can hear you snickering!"
"You're just lucky that Mariku was behind you, with his eyes open. Would've sucked if you got hit. Let's just go, now. Before you come that close to being run over again."
"Fine, let's go! Seriously, stop snickering at me! It isn't funny!"
Actually, it was funny. I mean, how can you walk with your eyes closed after it caused you to fall down stairs or get attacked by large dogs? Seems my hikari can. Bakura thinks the same way. Well, we're walking to a large building with a parking complex attached to the side. This must be the mall. There are other stores scattered around, sharing the same paring lot. There is a sign over the sidewalk entrance. There are smaller sign hanging under it. One of the sings says "Domino Mall" on it. And then there's a list of all the stores in the mall. Just how big is this mall?
We walk up to a large set of double doors, and push them open. Bakura runs off to the food court. Ryou simply sighs and chases after his yami. Marik looks in their direction, then at me, then back at the food court.
"Come on, we might as well get something to eat now, before you collapse from exhaustion. You're practically panting, and you haven't had any nutrients for about half a year. Let's go! You'll probably love the vegetarian pizza, or the veggie burgers. And you will probably love soda just as much as Bakura does. And that would be a lot," Marik suddenly grabbed my right hand, causing me to his when he manhandled the side with the bruise on it," Did you fall on your hand?"
"Yeah I guess I did. Don't worry about my hand, it's just a bruise. It'll go away within a week. And, I'm not too sure about this, I believe I'm left-handed. Just don't worry about it! It's fine."
"Fine, don't blame me when it's painful if you try to use your right hand! Let's go and get some food."
He held onto my hand, and pulled me to the food court. Lucky thing is we got here before most people. The only people here besides employees is a group in the corner that looks like it may be a gang. Well that just sucks if they try to attack us. We've got Bakura. I'm not that good with physical, hand-to-hand fighting. I'm really not.
"Don't mind them, they always hang out there. And they've never attacked us before. Let's just go get some food. Bakura chose a table already. I think he wants Ryou to get him some fries while he 'guards' the table. He loves fried foods way too much. Anyhow, let's go and get our food. Ryou already got the food for himself and Bakura. So, what do you think you want?"
"I think that the veggie pizza sounds pretty good. But isn't it a large pizza? I can't eat it all, and food shouldn't go to waste. And what's Mountain Dew Code Red(A/N: Don't own)?"
"I believe we can all share the pizza, and Code Red is a cherry flavored soda drink. They go together quite nicely. I'm guessing that's your choice?"
"Yeah, I think I'll be taking that. Do you... Need any help taking the food back?"
"I'll need a bit of help, yes. Let me order the food. They might have some of it already made and waiting." Marik turned towards the counter, where someone was waiting to take his order, "Yes, I would like to order one vegetable pizza, one large Code Red, and one large Baja Blast(A/N: Again, don't own.) No, it's not carry out. $13.65? Here's the money. Thank You!"
Marik turned towards me and gave me a large plastic cup filled with a fizzy red drink and ice. Guess this is Code Red. And Marik's drink is... blue. That's odd. The girl at the counter gives Marik a tray the has the veggie pizza on it. There is warmth radiating from the pizza. Perfect for a cool day. We turn around to leave, and a person from the gang in the corner is walking towards us. This might not be good.
TBC...DUN DUNNN DUNNNNNNNNN!
> > > >
GigBlipdot: That's where I cut off. Sorry about the long time. Damn you Brain! Think!
Mariku: GASP! You have a brain?
GigBlipdot: Laugh it up, will you? Any way, someone can act like this after a suicide attempt. I know. I tried to commit suicide 4 times.