Sugarshipping (Mokuba x Mana)
. . .
((there was like, an ancient Egyptian Mokuba in the Millennium World arc that got killed by Zorc which made Seto snap so that's what I'm gonna reference here. There's a little Egyptian Mokuba called Mesu))
. . .
"Thief! Thief! Stop that child!"
Mana blinked and looked up. The crowd behind her was shifting and roiling with the commotion as a guard and a red-faced shop owner tried to force their way through. Mana hopped forward with her usual curiosity—what was going on?
When she did, however, something small barreled into her and almost took her out at the knees.
"Oof!"
She wheeled her arms to regain her balance—the other figure wasn't as lucky. The child fell helplessly back to the ground, an apple rolling out of his fingers. That gave the guard and the shop keeper enough time to push through the swarms of people and catch up.
"There you are, you little rascal," the shop keeper growled. "You're not getting away this time!"
The boy tried to scramble to his feet, but the guard grabbed him by his arm and held tight.
"H-hey!" Mana said. "Hold on a second...it was just one apple, right?"
"Thief's a thief," the guard snapped. "Mind your own business, girl."
The boy's eyes were wide with fear, his tanned skin going pale in his cheeks. Matted black hair fell too long around his shoulders, and his sack-cloth tunic was ragged at the edges. This was the look of a boy that had been on the streets for far too long. Mana's heart jumped—he was so tiny, so scared! She could see the bruises scattered his arms and legs, and the beginnings of a black eye in his face. Whether the injuries came from running away or something else, it was clear that this was child that had been through the wringer more than once.
Mana thought as quickly as she could, her mind whirling. In an instant, she had pulled her face into her "flighty noblewoman" impression.
"Oh goodness, did you forget your money and panic again?" she said, suddenly pretending she knew the boy. "Honestly, you're so unreliable! I am ever so sorry about him, he gets flustered easily; he probably wasn't thinking. I'll pay for the apple...this is enough, right?"
She dug in her pouch and pulled out a coin that was far more than the apple was worth. The shop keeper's mouth dropped open. Mana could see his eyes flick across her, up and down, trying to gauge where on Earth she could have gotten so much money, trying to guess if she was a noblewoman. Mana put on her best court-smile, the bland one that Atem used when he was trying to get on someone's good side.
The shop keeper swallowed.
"Um...yes, that does about cover it..."
Mana let her smile widen a bit more.
"I hope you'll forgive him. He's hopeless, honestly. Now come along, or we're going to be late."
She gestured impatiently at the young boy, as she had seen other noblewomen do towards their slaves. The guard hesitated. But he seemed convinced, and let go of the boy.
Play along, she thought desperately. Play along.
The boy seemed too shocked to move, staring at her with wide eyes. He wasn't very good at pretending he knew her, was he?
"Come, come, don't stare at me like that. We must be off," Mana said.
The boy stared at her for almost too long, and Mana worried that the game would be up. But then he ducked his head, drew in on himself, and retrieved the apple before quietly trotting over to her. She smiled, and inclined her head towards the two.
"Again, I am so sorry for him. I hope he didn't give you much trouble."
"N-no, it's fine," the shop keeper said, obviously still trying to figure out who she was.
Mana flashed them another bland smile, gestured at the boy, and sauntered off in her best impression of a noblewoman. The boy, thankfully, followed her dutifully until they had gotten out of sight.
"Whew!" Mana said, blowing out and dropping her act. "That was a close one, huh? You okay?"
The boy kind of flinched back, looking up at her suspiciously.
"Why did you do that?" he said.
"Because you looked like you needed some help!" said Mana. "I'm Mana, by the way. What's your name?"
The boy still looked suspicious. Mana frowned.
"I'm not gonna take the apple from you, if that's what you're worried about. And I'm not going to turn you in or anything..."
"Why...why did you help me? What do you want from me?"
"I don't want anything," Mana said, blinking. "I just...wanted to help."
"People don't do that."
"I do."
They stared at each other for a few moments. He wasn't quite as small as she had first assumed, actually, his head almost reached her shoulders. He was lankier than she had thought, too, so older than she had guessed.
"I used to live on the street too," she said finally. "I got caught stealing a banana once, and they beat me pretty badly. I didn't want that to happen to you."
The boy's eyes widened.
"You...you lived on the streets? But you..."
"Well, I got lucky," Mana said, shrugging helplessly. "So that's why I want to share some of my luck with someone else. Oh!"
She dug into her pouch for a few moments before pulling out half a loaf of bread.
"That apple's probably not going to fill you up enough, wanna share this with me?"
The boy stared at her, mouth hanging open. She frowned. This wasn't right...she remembered it, of course, being on the streets, but she and the other kids had always taken care of each other when they had too, even if they hadn't made too much contact. This boy...he seemed like he had never been shown any kindness at all.
She ripped the loaf in half.
"Here," she said. "Eat something. You're going to waste away the way you look."
He stared at the bread. Then he snatched it from her, as though she were going to take it away from him. He sat down against the wall of the alley and started to rip into it ravenously. Mana smiled—at least he was eating now. She sat down next to him and started nibbling on her own half of the loaf.
The boy swallowed.
"Mesu," he said.
"Huh?"
"My name is Mesu."
Mana blinked. Then she smiled. He was talking to her!
"Pleased to meet you, Mesu!"
Mesu ducked his head.
"You too," he mumbled.
Mana giggled and draped an arm around his shoulder, giving him a light hug. His eyes bulged for a moment. He didn't seem to know what to do.
"I can show you the best places to nick stuff; you had a bad day with old mr. apples, he's usuallynot paying attention. Oh, we're going to be really good friends! I mean, if that's okay with you…"
Mesu looked up at her incredulously. Then he blushed, and let her hug him.
"Y-yeah," he said. "That's okay with me…"
Mana smiled widely and hugged him tighter.
They sat there for a while, just two kids with their backs against the wall, watching the world flow by.
. . .
A/N: yeah I don't even know. Back to your regularly scheduled program with Succumbshipping (Yami Bakura x Anzu x Yami Marik) next time.
