Perfectly Incompatible
Summary: A few of the mothers from his hometown think it's time for him to settle down, but Michael can't stand the girl they chose for him; Mariasha! What happens when he gets into a fight with Mariasha and ends up lost in a snow storm? Who will come to his rescue?
Pairings: Michael/Kai
Disclaimer: I don't own the Anime Beyblade or any character associated. I do own Mariasha "Maria" Evans. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not on based one anyone else's character design, again if any likeness, it's purely coincidental. There are also minor Ocs in this story as well, eg; Michael's mother and great aunt.
Warnings: Kai is a girl in this story. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to.
Gripe for the Day: I'm just getting a little sick of reoccurring Mary-Sues. You know the ones that are blatant Sues (I mean, very, very blatant) and the Suthor continues to write stories about them as the main character, bringing in more Canon characters to fall for her or be in awe of her beauty! What really annoys me is when the Canon character (who is the OC's boyfriend from a previous story) has to fight hard for the OCs love while the OC has moments with practically every male in the story. It really pisses me off. Slut!Sues are the worst.
AN: Yeah, another chapter from me ^^ This time, we get to see Michael in a confrontation, but not with Mariasha! Who does he argue with, you'll just have to wait and see. Yeah, Michael is finally gaining a backbone, lol!
Thanking you; CleverPhoenix, DarkBombayAngel, kaitouahiru, G-Wing Gurl, mimic shalle, marishka91, angelvan105, van, Nameless Little Girl, Tony, Elemental Gypsy, Blaze Queenie and Rapunzelle for reviewing the last chapter. ^^
Comments, suggestions, rants about Mary-Sue encounters are all welcomed and encouraged. Hope you hear from you all again soon.
Chapter 11:
A sense of trepidation filled Michael as he pulled out the front of his own house and shut the engine off. He gripped the steering wheel for a moment, muttering bitterly to himself about how his childhood home has become something he dreaded seeing, all because of one person.
He could hardly believe how one person could ruin his life so grandly and do it so effortlessly while gaining the praise of those around her. It just didn't seem possible.
Taking a deep breath to ready himself for the scowling that will no doubt come to him in waves, Michael stepped out of his car and silently made his way over to the front door, opening it and stepping inside, inwardly tense and awaiting the verbal assault.
"Michael?" Came his mother's voice. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me."
Subconsciously, Michael felt himself become tense when his mother stepped out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand. She silently took a moment to study him and looked as though she wanted to question him about what had occurred between him and Mariasha last night, but much to his surprise, she restrained herself.
Usually, whenever he got into an argument with Mariasha, his mother would be the first person to jump to her defense, reminding Michael over and over again how much of a nice girl she truly was and how she would make a wonderful wife some day.
Yeah, she was real subtle sometimes.
"You left early this morning," she commented a she approached her son.
"Yeah, I had to do something important," Michael explained vaguely, still feeling and appearing a tad suspicious and tense. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable around his mother, just that the way she always seemed to be on Mariasha's side made him feel a tad hostile towards her.
He loved his mother dearly and he always will; it's just her maternal instinct of wanting him to settle down and to have a family of his really got on his nerves.
Marly didn't seem pleased with that answer, silently wishing for a more accurate answer as she pressed her lips together tightly. Michael realized that she probably wanted to know what he did to upset her precious Mariasha and was still very surprised she hasn't asked him anything yet.
Narrowing his eyes discreetly, Michael noticed that he could see bags under her eyes and a sense of concerned filled him. He then remembered that Nana had a very tight edge to her tone when he mentioned his mother earlier. Did the two of them get into a disagreement?
With Mariasha involved, it was most likely.
"Do you have any idea where Nana could be?" his mother asked before he had a chance to ask about her well being as it was rare to see his mother looking frazzled and tired as she was at the moment.
However concerned, Michael felt reluctant to answer her question directly and gave another vague response. "She's at a friend's place," he said with a shrug.
Marly immediately creased her brow in confusion and mild surprise as Nana never mentioned anything about going out this morning. "Who's?"
Michael gave her another shrug, not wanting to mention Kai's name for a reason he wasn't sure of yet. Maybe he was afraid that his mother might bump into her in the street one day and accuse her of trying to meddle in his relationship with Mariasha?
Kai had nothing to do with his resentment toward Mariasha, so she shouldn't have to put up with such vindictive acts by the biddies in town. She didn't deserve it and the last person on the face of this planet that should be subjected to such immaturity.
If the biddies liked Mariasha, that's fine, he could live with that, he has for years. But what he won't tolerate was their cattiness toward Kai.
"A friend of mine, that's all."
Marly blinked at her son's response, taken aback by his abruptness. She paused for a moment as the words of her conversation with Nana the night before crept into her mind. Nana had asked her to pay more attention toward her son and to keep the elderly woman on her side; she decided that it couldn't hurt.
Nana also requested not to speak about Mariasha in front of him, which was a difficult ask as she desperately wanted to know what happened between the two of them last night.
"What's Nana doing over there?"
"Probably plotting Mariasha's demise," Michael muttered under his breath, in a semi-sarcastic tone.
The bitterness in Michael's tone as he muttered Mariasha's name almost made Marly physically reel back in shock. There was so much iciness in his tone, so much resentment that it sent a shiver down her spine. "What was that?"
Could it be that Nana was right and Michael actually hated Mariasha? How did she not see her own son's abhorrence toward his young childhood friend?
"Nana wanted to meet my friend," Michael quickly explained, silently hoping that his mother didn't hear him. "So I took her over and she is currently sitting in front of a warm fire, drinking tea, while having a chat. And they are getting on like a house on fire.
A smile played across his lips as he thought about the two special women in his life, knowing deep within his soul that the two of them are getting along amazingly. His Nana had never taken to anyone so quickly before and the fact that she said that she felt Kai was genuine only proved it.
Nana was not a hard woman to like, but she had a guarded heart and once you wriggle your way in, there's no turning back.
Just like Kai.
"I knew they would," he murmured with a sense of fondness.
"But Nana never..." Marly trailed off having almost dropped her coffee in surprise at Michael's revelation. "What's your friend's name?"
"Does it matter?" Michael asked, immediately feeling protective of Kai. He didn't want her to get involved with another confrontation because of him as from what he noticed today, and despite what she claimed otherwise, the confrontation with Mariasha left her rattled.
"Look, no offense, I need to get back," Michael said with a sense of impatience in his voice and began to fidget on his feet. "We're having dinner together. Is there something you wanted?"
"Oh," Marly said as her heart sunk into her stomach, realizing then when he said 'we', it didn't seem to include her. And that hurt.
How much of her life was she truly missing out on? Was he avoiding her as much as he tried to avoid Mariasha?
"I just wondered if you could do a few errands for me," she said as she swallowed thickly, keeping her emotions in check as much as she could.
Michael found himself squeezing his eyes shut, wincing at the pained expression in his mother's face and in the tone of her voice. He didn't mean to hurt his mother or exclude her from anything, but it's just every time they tried to do something together, she would always bring up Mariasha, which would ultimately lead to an argument.
"Ok," he said with a nod. "And I'll bring you home something to eat so you don't have to worry about dinner, yeah?"
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Checking the list in his hand, Michael noted that he was only needed to buy a few things from the general store and replace a few curtain rods that he needed to retrieve from the hardware store. These errands shouldn't take him very long and if he moved quickly enough, he could take these items back home, get his mother something to eat and then head back to Kai's for dinner.
He wondered if the two women on Orchid Ranch had run out of anything to talk about yet.
Lifting his hand to push against the door of the local hardware store, murmuring voices inside forced him to pause in his movements. He recognizes a few of the voices and immediately frowned. He quietly pushed open the door and peered in, the sight of a handful of locals caused him the inwardly bristle.
Oh, they must be having an impromptu community meeting in the hardware store. After all, this place was near the probably now famous Kai and Mariasha confrontation.
"We need to do something about that Kai woman," a woman's voice practically snarled.
Michael found himself frowning when he recognized the voice to be that of Noreen, Mariasha's number one fan and advocate in this entire town. If anyone dare say a word against her precious Mariasha, there was hell to pay.
And damn, did Noreen have a foul mouth and a short temper!
As anger bubbled in his chest, Michael found himself physically bristling. He just knows that Noreen will pin the whole confrontation on Kai, make her out as being this scarlet woman or something.
"You're right," Noel's voice suddenly spoke up, gaining Michael's secret attention. He was sitting in a chair that was leaning back against the wall, his arms above his head as he appeared relaxed and lazy, which was true to his nature. He didn't like to lift a finger unless absolutely necessary. "She deserves a fucking medal!"
Michael blinked at his outburst before silently sniggering to himself when Noreen spun around and gave him a glare that could have rivalled the look of a raging bull.
"What?"
"Hey, everything Kai said was true," Noel said as he shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "I'm standing behind her one hundred percent. I've been waiting years for someone to finally get the guts to tell Mariasha off. Gwad, she's playing you all like fools. I can't stand the bitch."
The store manager, Simon immediately began to sweat, becoming nervous from the murderous look in Noreen's eyes that was making her twitch. "Ah, Noel," he said as he gave a nervous laugh. "That's probably enough."
Again, Noel gave a disinterested shrug and Michael made a promise to himself to buy him an extra large Christmas present this year. "Hey, I'm just saying," he said in a bored tone.
"Shut your mouth, you lazy son of a bitch," Noreen inevitably snapped, her sickly thin posture tensing, her hands balling into fists. "You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. Mariasha is the most loved person in town, you're just too foolhardly to notice."
If the insult bothered Noel, it didn't show as he yawned widely and removed his arms from behind his head and scratched the nap of his neck. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered. "I can see where she gets the idea that being selfish is a good thing comes from."
Once again Noreen bristled while the other surprisingly silent townsfolk stood in the background. "What?" she all but hissed.
"Think about it," Noel continued, either oblivious to the tense and dangerous atmosphere or was completely ignoring it, instead wishing to reveal what was on his mind. "What has Mariasha done for anyone? I really don't see what there is to like about her. Why the hell do you like her so much?"
"She's a strong and confident young woman," Noreen stated as if what she was saying was a well known fact, a biting edge to her tone suggesting that she believes Noel to be an ignorant fool. "She's what every young woman aspires to be."
Noel didn't look impressed. "What, a selfish and egotistical bitch?"
If Michael wasn't hiding and trying to eavesdrop, he would have laughed out loud at Noreen's stunned and highly offended expression. Her eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open in disbelief, her posture tense.
Ooh, boy, this will most likely lead to a very Mariasha like explosion.
"How dare you say such horrible things about Mariasha?!" Noreen all but screamed, her face turning an alarming shade of red from anger. "At least she's making something out of herself, which is more than can be said for you, you lowlife slacker!"
"Hey, that's enough," Simon said as he stepped in front of the seething woman, his own face creased in an expression of annoyance. "Noel is merely voicing his opinion; you shouldn't insult him because you don't agree with him."
"Of course, a typical male response," Noreen sneered as she threw her arms into the air as a sign of frustration. "Afraid of powerful women, aren't you?"
"Oh, hardly," Noel snorted, his half-lidded, lazy eyes becoming harder, slightly irritated. "This has nothing to do with her being female, but everything to do with her being a bitch. Don't do into the whole battle of the sexist crap. Why is it that you automatically blame a guy for being sexist when he says something you don't agree with? You really need to stop using your gender as an excuse for everything."
Michael wholehearted agreed with Noel; Noreen did have a habit of blaming men for everything, not matter who or what was involved, it was always a man's fault. Well, with role models like Noreen here, it was no wonder Mariasha was a selfish cow!
"What's so bloody special about this Kai woman?" Noreen asked, practically spitting at Kai's name.
"She's not Mariasha?" Noel said as he frowned at her. "Isn't that enough?"
"So, you're saying she's not feisty and sassy like Mariasha?" Noreen leered at him, a triumphant smirk on her lips.
"Yeah, pretty much," Noel said with a shrug. "She's appears confident, cares about the people close to her and doesn't take any crap. And, also, she doesn't fly of the handle for no reason. So yeah, she's nothing like Mariasha."
"I cannot believe what I'm hearing!" Noreen once again exploded before turning her wrath on the others in the store, appalled that they weren't immediately jumping to Mariasha's aid. "Aren't the rest of you going to speak up? Why are you letting this go on?"
"Because it's true?" Noel said as he scratched the back of his head roughly with his hand. "Look, if Mariasha is so bloody special, name me five things that she's done for anyone, especially Michael. Go on, try me."
Noreen seemed to hesitate for a moment, her eyes becoming vague as she shifted through her memories. "I'm sure there's a lot of things!" she argued back.
"Nothing!" Noel said loudly, the usually mellow and lazy male was getting annoyed, which didn't happen often. It appeared that Michael wasn't the only person who was getting sick and tired of hearing about sweet and kind Mariasha.
"She's done nothing for anyone. I mean other than annoy the hell out of you from her constant bitching and self-appraisal," he continued as he shoved his hands into his pockets as he took to his feet. "You know what? I'm out of here. Nothing I can say will make you see the light. But know this, before you start going around spreading lies about Michael's friend, remembering this; there were others present at the showdown today and they know who said what. They know the truth."
Noreen was officially livid. "You see what that stupid woman is-"
Not being able to hear Noreen say another bad thing about Kai, Michael straightened his posture and pushed open the door, alerting everyone to his presence. The tense atmosphere in the room only grew thicker as they turned to him with expressions of surprise and guilt at having been caught.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who's sick and tired of what's going on," Michael said coolly as he stepped into the store and walked around the shelves, looking for what he came here for to buy.
"Michael," Noreen said as she folded her arms over her bony chest, a smug look on her face. "Good, now tell these fools here that you don't favour that stranger over Mariasha."
Michael scowled. "I don't favour a stranger. I favour Kai."
"What?" Noreen muttered, genuinely shocked that he said that. "But you heard what she said to Mariasha, haven't you?"
The corners of Michael's lips twitched into a grin. "Yes, I have."
"And you're still defending that abusive woman?!" Noreen all but screeched at him.
"I'm not defending that abusive woman, no," Michael sneered back at her, not caring that if he was being disrespectful. If Noreen wanted to be treated with respect, then she had to first respect him and over the years he has known her, she did nothing but bag him out with Mariasha by her side.
Really, enough was enough. He was 19 years old, for God's sake; he shouldn't have to put up with such shit!
"I'm defending Kai, who is a very good friend of mine and I care about her a lot," he continued. "I would never defend someone as abusive as Mariasha."
"Abusive!?" Noreen spluttered in disbelief. "How could you say such things about Mariasha?"
"Easy, because it's true!" Michael yelled as he found what he wanted and practically stalked over to the counter, where an uneasy Simon stood, a lost expression on his face.
"What are you saying? I can't believe you!" Noreen continued to vent her rage, stomping after Michael as he tried to pay for his purchases. "Mariasha is an amazing young woman!"
It was then that Michael realized that this argument did not have an end. Noreen was just too stubborn to realize that Mariasha wasn't the golden child she made her out to be and that not everyone in this town was fond of her. He could spend all day pointing out everything Mariasha did to annoy him and Noreen here would continue to deny anything that placed her in a bad light.
Really, this conversation was a complete waste of time. This feeling of utter dissatisfaction and exasperation must be what Kai feels every time she deals with yet another demented fangirl wanting to force her way onto the team as an all powerful member or something.
"And you're welcome to think that and if you want to continue to look at her through rose tinted glasses, fine," Michael said with a surprisingly diplomatic tone to his voice before turning around and giving the older woman a hard glare of annoyance. "But don't you dare tell me what to do. I've had enough of women like you forcing me into a relationship with someone I can't stand. Kai is my friend and Mariasha isn't. I will always choose Kai over her. I don't want to hear you say another bad thing about her, you got that?"
Noreen physically took a step back as a stun silence fell over the group, causing Michael to realize that this was probably the first time anyone never knew about his feelings on the whole Michael/Mariasha union.
"Fine," Noreen said in a low voice, seemingly struggling to keep her emotions in check. "But you're making a terrible mistake."
"I highly doubt that," Michael replied with a snort as he grabbed the bag of his selected items and headed for the door in a few long and confident strides. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have a few errands I need to run."
With that said, he walked through the door and into the cool air of the winter wind.
A half-smirk, half-smile played on Michael's lips as he walked down the street to the general store, an overwhelming sense of relief in his chest. He's been wanting to say those things for ages and now that he said then, it felt fan-bloody-tastic!
Nana will be so proud of him.