Sedateshipping (Marik x Shizuka)

She caught him off guard, right when he should have been the most focused.

The numbers had been drawn, and Rishid was about to duel that fool of a boy Jonouchi. Marik had to be up there and reinforce the deception that Rishid was, in fact, Marik. He didn't have any time to waste.

But then he had seen her.

She was some distance off, but not so far that he couldn't see her face or hear her voice. Pretty to the passing glance, although Marik had no time for such things, she was a slight thing of perhaps fourteen, with fair skin, reddish-brown hair, and cheerful light brown eyes.

"Come on, nii-chan," she said, a laugh coloring her voice. "Don't hesitate; you have to go up now, right?"

"Geez, Shizuka, don't be such a pest," Jonouchi said, though he seemed just a bit nervous as he said it.

Shizuka laughed softly, and then dusted off the front of his shirt.

"Oh, nii-chan, what am I going to do with you?" she teased. "You look like a mess."

"Hey, I'm only playing a card game. It's not like it's gonna matter if I'm in my Sunday best."

Shizuka laughed again, and even Jonouchi grinned, despite his obvious uneasiness about going up against the one he thought was Marik.

"Please just get yourself up there," Kaiba snapped.

The tall boy turned on his heel without waiting for a retort, and stalked into the elevator.

"Geez," Jonouchi said, sticking his tongue out at Kaiba's back. "Come on, let's go, Shizuka. It's time for you to see your brother kick some ass!"

"Nii-chan, you shouldn't use such language!"

"I know, I know!"

The blonde boy slipped into the elevator beside Kaiba and Rishid, and gave Shizuka a jaunty wave as the doors closed. Shizuka waved back, and everyone else headed for the stairs.

Marik found himself frozen. The hint of a tremble started in his fists, and he stilled it instantly. Angrily. This shouldn't be happening.

"Oh, Marik, what am I going to do with you? You're a mess!" Ishizu said with a slight laugh, wiping at his dirty face.

He shouldn't be thinking about this – not now. He shouldn't be thinking about Ishizu. But Shizuka had brought up memories –

He shook his head, composed himself, and headed for the stairs. He ended up just behind Shizuka. She glanced back, and smiled shyly at him. He forced a smile, hoping that it looked cheerful enough.

"You seem to get along well with your brother," he said. He had to fake friendliness. Just for a little while longer.

But that seemed out of the question at Shizuka's suddenly bright smile.

"Oh, yes," she said. "I love my brother. I love him a lot – I can't wait to see him dueling. I've never watched him before!"

"Think he'll win?" Marik asked.

"Yes! I believe in my brother!"

Marik almost stopped. Her smile – her bright, unwavering, faithful smile, that saw no evil and exuded none. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hit her or hug her.

"You're...you're lucky to be so close to him," he finally managed to say.

Shizuka nodded, and her eyes remained as shining and hopeful as ever. As her eyes turned away from him, he let his mask slip away.

He wanted to pretend he was angry. Furious, even. About this girl who believed so deeply in her brother, even though Marik knew there was no way he could win, who loved so unconditionally and could not possibly understand darkness or hate or anything that Marik had been forced to learn about.

He wanted to pretend he was angry. He had been pretending that for so many years.

But she had reminded him. He was only pretending.

The truth was, all he wanted to do was cry.

A/N: Aw, poor Marik. Next is Secondshipping (Pegasus x Ryuzaki).