Disturbshipping (Kawai Shizuka/Yami no Marik)

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((this is an old one moved to accommodate the name change, it was originally known as Spaceshipping))

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The heart monitor beeped, slowly, too slowly, but surely. Shizuka didn't want to look at the terrible sight of her brother laying on a hospital bed with a breathing mask affixed to his face, but she didn't want to look away either.

This wasn't fair. It was just a card game. What...what had happened? Why was her brother here, in the hospital, barely alive? She could barely contain her tears – and then she couldn't anymore. They spilled out, waterfalling down her cheeks without end. Her sobs, however, were silent. She was beyond hysterics now.

A slowly budding anger replaced it.

She knew why Katsuya was here. She knew who had put him here. It had been that...that thing that called itself Marik Ishtar. That thing with the cold, flat eyes and the terrible sadistic grin, who had laughed as her brother fell to the ground in a dead faint. He had laughed.

Her eyes wandered to Katsuya's limp form again – and she quickly looked away. She would gladly give away her sight again if it meant she never had to see this. She never wanted to see this happen to her brother, or anyone!

She stayed beside her brother until she could bear it no longer. She had to get up – to walk, to do something other than stand here and be helpless! She would check the screen in the center of the blimp to see how Yugi was doing in his duel, she decided. If Yugi won, she felt...no she believed that Katsuya would come back to her. He had to! The door slid open at her touch.

What lay outside terrified her beyond belief.

He stood half a head taller than her, considering her with a hint of surprise in his flat, purple eyes thickly outlined in dark eyelashes. He rolled his golden rod between his tanned fingers. Masses of platinum blond hair glinted in the light from the window.

They stared at each other, terror to consideration, for a long moment.

It was, of course, him who broke the silence.

"I didn't think I'd find anyone in here," he said with that echoing, grating voice. "But, I will admit, I'm not displeased with what I have found."

Shizuka couldn't speak – could barely breathe. The trembling had already started in her limbs, freezing her to the ground, locking her tongue in place. It was him, oh God, it was him. Someone, something, anything – why couldn't anyone help her? She was alone with this...this madman! The man that had nearly killed her brother!

Marik stepped into the room, bringing himself less than half a foot away from Shizuka's face. Now Shizuka returned to her senses, scrambling backwards to put some space between them. His smile was slow but terrifying.

"Ah, now I remember you," he said. "You weren't very memorable, at first. You're Jonouchi's little sister. How sweet. Are you waiting for him to wake up? I would give up, if I were you. He won't last much longer."

Shizuka tried desperately to suck in air through her constricted lungs. He came closer to her, slowly drawing a short knife from his pocket as he slid the rod into his belt loop. The meager remains of Shizuka's courage faded away – it was all she could do to remain standing.

"So," he said softly, coming to touch the point of the blade to her cheek. "I came in here to finish off Jonouchi, to break the pharaoh's spirit, but I find you. What should I do with you, I wonder?"

Shizuka swallowed through a dry throat. Her palms sweat with terror. What was he going to do? What was he going to do to her? He laughed softly.

"You're pretty, if not memorable," he said. "This might be fun...let's see if you scream any louder than your brother."

The words registered slowly in Shizuka's mind.

But when they did register, she found an unusual sensation bubbling in her stomach.

This was the man that had nearly murdered her brother. The man who planned on finishing his job as soon as she was out of the way. He had taken everything from her – everything. He was sadistic, evil, inhuman – and if she let him do what he wanted with her, no one would be left to protect Katsuya.

The knife traced its way down her cheekbone, but she could not feel the fear that it should have inspired of her. All she could feel was the unconscious form of Katsuya behind her – he had always protected her, her brother. He had never backed down when she was in trouble, not even when dad was in one of his rages. His life was in danger – she would protect him.

Those flat, evil eyes stared at her with sadistic anticipation. She raised her hand – she knew he was expecting nothing. No resistance from the "pretty but unmemorable face."

So he was not ready when her hand cracked across his cheek. Shock flared in those otherwise depthless eyes. He was completely unbalanced and off guard as Shizuka reached back, grabbed the back of the chair next to the bed, and hurled it around her, holding it like a shield in front of her.

"Get out," she said, her voice thick with angry and terrified tears. "Get out!"

The shock lasted only a moment longer, and then it was replaced with amusement. A deep, grating laugh bellowed from his throat.

"You are priceless," he said, grinning at her. "I didn't think this would be so much fun."

"Get – OUT!" Shizuka said, her voice raising to a scream. "Get away from my brother and get away from me! I won't let you touch him! I won't let you near him again! GET OUT!"

There were footsteps in the hall, the beat of running feet – still too far to help. But her shouting was getting somewhere.

"Put that down, little girl," Marik said with a dark grin. "Put down the chair. It would be a shame to have to break you so quickly."

But it wasn't going to happen. He was not going to get near her brother ever again. She thrust herself forward, the legs of the chair out in front of her like some makeshift jousting weapon.

He had still underestimated her. He was unprepared for the motion, and so when the chair hit him full on in the stomach, all the wind rushed from his lungs, and his knife clattered to the ground. Shizuka shoved the chair forward harder, this time knocking him against the wall. Then she dropped the chair and grabbed the knife, holding it out in front of her.

"Get away from my brother," she whispered.

He stared at her, disbelieving, as though he had never expected that anyone could ever defy him. For a moment, the shock held him still.

Then he began to laugh again. It was a terrible, evil sound, but Shizuka held her ground. When the laugh finally echoed away, Marik just grinned at her.

"Well," he said, drawing out the word. "That was...fascinating."

The sounds of footsteps grew louder. With one last grin, Marik swept from the room in a flurry of his dark cloak. Shizuka waited just a moment longer, to make sure he had really disappeared.

Then, and only then, did she let herself sink to the ground. And as a worried Honda and Anzu burst into the room, she could not really find the words to describe how she was feeling.

If Katsuya hadn't been here...if I hadn't had to protect him...I would have never stood my ground...she thought. But...I did stand my ground. I did.

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A/N: well, I still like this one even though it's several years old. Next is Distrustshipping (Seto x Shadi).