Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this far. It's time to get Marik and Mimiki's relationship rolling and I can't wait to write more about their budding relationship. Let me know what you think!

A special thanks to Princess Ana-Amelia Carroll, weather princess and Shiun'in Ventus for favoring and following the story!

Chapter 6

Affection

Marik walked steadily to Mimiki's house. It was a hot day and Mimiki had suggested going to the oasis to cool down in the shade. He finally reached her house and knocked on the door. Marik was greeted by younger brother, Makoto.

"Oh hey, Marik. You're here for Mimi?"

"Mimi?" he asked in confusion and in turn her brother returned the same gesture.

"You know, Mimiki?"

Marik laughed nervously. "Yeah, I knew that!"

"Uh huh." he replied in a nonchalant tone. "Well come in. She's in the family room."

A little while ago, Mimiki insisted that he'd call her by her nickname as they were good friends now, but he wasn't used to addressing her by that name just yet. Marik stepped inside and walked to the family room. Mimiki was laying on the couch on top of a huge pillow, giving intense focus on watching a show on her tablet. She was also eating a butter cookie as she watched, not noticing Marik's arrival. Marik took note to her attire, a light, orange shirt and blue jean shorts. Her long legs were swinging lightly up and down as she watched TV. His eyes kept resting on her legs. It was already mid July and with it, the temperature soared. She always wore shorts to keep cool, but recently her legs started to look more charming to him. The sunlight that fell upon her made her appear more attractive. He blushed at his thoughts and tried to forget about it. Marik focused his attention onto the screen and saw what she was watching from a distance.

'She's watching those romantic anime shows again…' he thought.

He never understood what she loved about romance. He thought that the cartoons were cool, but he preferred the action packed ones. He would occasionally watch them with her brother and dad if Mimiki was busy. It's not like he was exposed to romantic gestures at his home, since his mother had died whilst giving birth to him. His father never remarried and his only priority was to see that Marik succeeded the Ishtar name until the pharaoh returned. From time to time, his father would mention him marrying a girl from another clan so they could continue the Ishtar bloodline, but Marik was never interested in the thought.

Marik hovered over Mimiki slightly, still unaware that he was there. The scene unfolded as a teenage boy and girl were arguing, the boy pinned her against the wall, using one of his arms to keep his balance and smiling smugly. The girl almost cried, angry at her feelings.

"I'll forget you!" she stated. "After this night is over...this graduation...I'll forget you! I'll go to college and graduate! I'll be successful and forget you!"

The boy kept his confident air, still smiling. "Are you sure? Can you really forget about me? The man you said that you loved?"

The girl grew angrier, tears threatening to fall. "You had no right to read my letter!"

"Yeah, you jerk!" Mimiki shouted.

Marik looked at her weirdly. He couldn't believe that she was so into her show. It reminded him of Ishizu. Now that they were living a free life, she had gotten a hold of some romance novels from a local book stand and had her nose in them ever since. She wouldn't notice him or Odion entering her abode while she was reading. It was just so weird to him. He turned again to the screen.

"But that letter was addressed to me." the boy coolly stated.

"I don't care! You're such a—"

Her words were silenced as his lips joined with hers, catching her by surprise. Mimiki gasped and jumped up quickly, knocking Marik onto the floor with a hard thud.

"Kotoko and Naoki!" she squealed, jumping up and down. Makoto stepped into the room. "Mimi, mom and dad said to stop making all of that noise. You're going to wake Mika-chan up from her nap."

Makoto saw Marik on the floor, rubbing his head from his fall. "Why is Marik on the floor?"

Mimiki looked at him in confusion. "I didn't make that much noise, Makoto! And what are you talking about? Marik's not here!"

"Yes I' am…" Marik was still sitting on the floor and rubbing his head.

"Marik when did you get here and why are you on the floor?"

"I wouldn't be sitting on the floor if someone wasn't so into her anime that she didn't notice me and had hit me!"

"When did I hit you?!" she asked him flustered, helping him off the floor. Marik started to imitate her earlier behavior, raising the pitch in his voice. Mimiki blushed as he continued on. "I don't act like that!"

"Oh really? How about the time when you cried at the ending of Ouran High School Host Club? Or when Taiga and Ryuji kissed in that other one you were watching? What was that one? Toradora I think? Or when—"

Suddenly Marik landed hard on the couch. "Shut up! How do you know about my favorite shows and characters?! I know that you don't like most of them!" Mimiki shouted, blushing.

Irritated that she had shoved him, Marik shot a glare at her. "Well when you never shut up about them, it's hard not to know." Marik shot back.

Mimiki jumped on top of him and he quickly caught her wrists. She struggled in his grip. He smiled at having the upper hand. He had grown accustomed to her moods and how to deal with them. He would make her angry often on purpose just to get a reaction from her and found it pretty amusing.

"I can't stand you sometimes!" she said, giving up on her assault.

He was getting stronger and stronger by the day and it was getting harder to roughhouse with him. Marik smiled playfully as they looked into each other's eyes. Today his lavender eyes seemed different. Were they always that shade of lavender? She secretly thought that he had beautiful eyes and besides his platinum blonde hair, that's what she noticed about him first. And that cute smirk of his also got the best of her. She blushed as he lifted her up so they could sit up on the couch.

"Your face is a little red. Are you okay, Mimi?" he asked, touching her head.

"I'm fine." she said turning away from him.

Marik smiled. "You're cute when you're quiet, Mimi." Marik laughed when Mimiki quickly shoved him again. Makoto joined in the laughter. "Man, you girls are so sensitive!" Makoto said.

"You want some of this?!" she asked, waving her fist around.

Makoto held up his hands in defense. "Touchy, touchy!" he laughed as he walked away.

Marik chuckled then looked over to Mimiki. "Now that that's over, wanna go to the oasis? It's really hot outside and we can relax for a bit."

"Okay, but let me grab my sunhat first."

The two arrived at the oasis five minutes later and unfortunately for her, Mimiki was sweating bullets. 'Why did I think that this was a good idea again? I'm burning up!'

A quick breeze brushed against her hot skin. "That felt good." Mimiki said, grateful for the temporary relief.

Marik turned to her and offered his hand and she took it, blushing once again. Her condition didn't go unnoticed by Marik, so he walked her to a shallow area of the oasis. She slipped her sandals off and placed her feet into the water as he helped her in. The cool water felt good as it washed over her hot skin and smiled.

"I can't believe we've moved here 6 months ago and I'm still not used to the heat yet."

"Has it really been that long already? It doesn't seem like it."

"Yeah because my birthday is the day after tomorrow."

"Oh yeah! I remember! It's not like I could forget it since that's all you've been talking about for the last three weeks! How fitting that such a hot headed and bossy girl be born in the hottest month of the year!" Marik snickered.

"Excuse me?!"

Marik's snicker grew wider. "Can't take the heat, huh?"

He loved to tease her, and felt the need to do so. He loved how her ocean blue eyes filled with fire and enjoyed their roughhousing sessions. He started to love her touch and wanted it to go beyond a simple hug. Teasing her gave him an excuse to touch her, without giving his feelings away. He tried his best to rid his thoughts of such by teasing her, hoping that she wouldn't catch onto his feelings.

"You heard me, Mimi." he said, once again imitating her "I can't stand you sometimes, Marik! Stop eating all of my ice cream, Marik!" he said with a high pitched voice.

"But that's not all! You can be very nice and pleasant, too!" he added.

Mimiki quickly smiled. "Really? You think so? I know that I can be a little emotional sometimes, but I'm pretty nice, right?" she asked with hope in her voice.

He looked at her, noting on her hope and admired her smile. "Yeah, you're nice alright! ...When you're actually nice to me, like giving me all of the ice cream without me asking and not making me watch your lovey-dovey anime with you!"

Mimiki's jaw dropped, hope fleeting quickly. "What?!" Marik snickered again.

"Yeah and when you're not whining and pouting when I get over on you and your tricks when you don't get your way! Have you seen yourself when you do that? Man, it's funny getting back at you for all the times you tricked me and stuff! It would help though if you didn't cry so much, like a girl!" he said laughing harder.

Mimiki growled and balled up her fists. How dare he give her hope that he would say something sweet about her and then rob her of her moment? There was no way that she would let him think she'd let that slide.

"Marik, you jerk!"

She quickly exited the water and shoved him a little too hard. She shoved him so hard that it caught him off guard and he tripped, then fell into the oasis with an audible splash, following him rolling deeper underwater. Mimiki folded her arms and snickered as he came up to the surface gasping for air.

"Aww come on, Ishtar. It's only 3 feet deep over there! It's the shallow end, remember?! Don't tell me you're scared!" She was right. Marik stood up on his knees and tried to shoot her an angry glare as he coughed and his hair was covering his face. Mimiki laughed at his appearance, trying to cover her mouth for laughing so loudly.

"What's so funny, Mimi?!"

She kneeled down to his level and looked him in the eyes with a vengeful snicker. "Who's the girl now, punk?!"

"What are you talking about?! I'm not crying like you do half of the time!"

His insult fell on deaf ears as she stood back up. "I don't know whether to call you a girl or a wet mop!"

Marik scowled as she kept laughing. "You could at least help me up since you pushed me in!"

Mimiki ceased her laughing for a bit to try to help him. "Hmm...I guess I can do that!"

She kneeled down again and offered her hand to him, grabbing it in return. She helped him a little before he grabbed her with both arms and pulled her in quickly. They both breached the surface, this time Marik laughing and Mimiki screaming in frustration.

"Who's the loser now, Mimi?!"

She quickly grabbed for her hat before it floated away and splashed about angrily. "Marik Ishtar! I just finished my hair yesterday and you ruined it!"

"Don't act like you didn't see this coming, Mimi. That's what you get for being so mean! And it's just your hair. You can redo it later!"

Mimiki splashed him furiously. "Two hours of styling down the drain! I'm gonna redo your face!"

Marik returned her water warfare with more vigor than her, and Marik claimed his victory. They exited the oasis and tried to dry themselves off as much as possible. The two sat next to each other under a nearby tree and Marik touched her forehead.

"At least you're not sweating anymore, right?" he asked with a smile, causing her to blush. "Yeah...thanks Marik."

"No, thank you Mimi. Although we tend to fight a little, being friends with you has been the best six months I've ever had in my life. I've never had so much fun before meeting you. You're my best friend."

Mimiki blushed and smiled. "You're my best friend, too."

Without thinking, she quickly kissed him on the cheek, her heart beating a mile a minute during the process. Marik's eyes widened and blushed hard as he touched his cheek. Realizing what she did, she turned away from him.

"I'm sorry...I don't know what I was thinking! You know, playing hard in the water has made me a bit tired and I'm still wet. Can we hang out another time, Marik?"

Marik's mind was still processing what had happened. He felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest. "Uh yeah! W-we can do that…"

Mimiki sighed in relief. "Thanks for understanding Marik." she said as she put her hat on again.

"Uh huh, I'll go home too. But can you come over tomorrow? I have something to give you…for your birthday, I mean…"

Mimiki nodded her head nervously as she hid her eyes from him. "Yeah...that's fine...see you tomorrow."

Marik waved as Mimiki slipped back into her sandals and walked away.