Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Wash Away Those Years ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Author's Note: I guess I should have mentioned in the first chapter that this is also a parallel-universe fic. Not that you wouldn't have noticed, unless you don't keep up with the animé. Ehh, I'm giving myself a headache with triple negatives... And I have no idea what I was thinking when I paired Shizuka with Bakura. Probably something about avoiding yaoi so as not to scare off the homophobics. o_O;; Screw the homophobics - my most productive fic is yaoi. ::sighs:: As usual, I'm getting off-topic. There's no helping the Shizuka/Bakura thing now because I'm a lazy ass, so if you don't support that 'ship, we're in the same boat.

Wash Away Those Years

Part Two

For what felt like an eternity I couldn't say anything. I wanted to scream, or make some attempt to calm Mai down and cease her crying, or kill the bastard who did this to her. Anything would have been better than what I did, or more specifically, didn't do. What the hell was wrong with me? I needed a reaction, otherwise Mai would think I was a heartless ass.

"Mai, I... I'm sorry..."

I moved to put my arm around her shoulders, but she shrugged it away. Instead she turned to face me, her cheeks a flaming scarlet and her eyes damp from tears that had finally stopped, even if just for a moment. I was suddenly scared to death that she would start screaming at me.

"I'm sorry, too." She said it quietly and I could barely hear her, but there was definitely a trace of bitterness in that statement. "I'm sorry to burden you with this, but I needed to tell someone. I would've lost my mind if I hadn't." She leaned against my shoulder and I could feel her crying again, but not as violently as before.

I couldn't help but ask... "But Mai, why did you tell me? Why not Yugi or Bakura, or anyone else for that matter?" She looked up at me with a questioning gaze. "I don't mean that I'm not glad that you feel you can confide in me. It's just that, well, I'm not all that great at dealing with anything like what you just told me..."

Mai sat up and looked me straight in the eyes. "Do you really want to know why I wanted you to know, Jou?"

There was something in her eyes besides the tears, and that something scared me more than anything else at that moment. Still, I wanted to know. "Yes," I choked out, and wanted to slap myself for choking.

She didn't say anything. Instead she shook her head, and when I looked her in the eyes again both the tears and that other something had vanished. "You're not ready to know," she half-whispered, half-yawned before curling up beside me and instantly falling asleep.

Relating to me the horrors she had must've taken a toll on her already weakened state. I didn't want to take any chances of disturbing Mai, but I'd just heard a crash from the other room and decided that I'd better check on Shizuka and Bakura to see if either one had managed to kill the other yet. I carefully slid out from under her and laid her down in a more comfortable position, brushing away the stray locks of hair that had fallen into her face, before rushing to the kitchen and the source of the crash.

"It wasn't my fault!" Shizuka shrieked, but silenced when I gave her a sharp glare and nodded in the direction of the living room.

"Oh, and I suppose it was my fault?"

"Of course!"

"WHAT?!"

"Both of you, be quiet!" I hissed, half-tempted to pull them by their ears, but thought better of it in case Bakura's Yami chose that moment to take over. "Mai's asleep, and if either of you wake her up you're going to be in such deep trouble you can't even begin to imagine! Now, what's the problem?"

Shizuka pointed to the corner, where the pink, brown and white remains of something were swept into a pile of large broken pieces. "Uh, remember that canister mom sent last Christmas...?"

"You mean that thing she said would make 'such a cute cookie jar?'"

"H-Hai. We kinda, er, broke it."

"Sorry," Bakura piped up, ducking his head to hide a blush of embarrassment behind his pale bangs.

I gave both of them a stern look. "Did either of you get hurt?" They shook their heads. I looked over the damage once more. "Good. I hated that thing. What was it supposed to be, a pig?"

"Um... I think it was a porcupine."

"Same thing. Just clean that up, put it in a trash bag or something." I heard them sigh as I turned to leave, but then I had a thought. "Hey, Bakura, weren't you leaving soon?"

"I guess..."

I could tell that he sounded disappointed. "After you two clean up your mess, why don't the both of you go somewhere? I just don't want anything - or anyone - to wake Mai up. She's had a pretty rough time."

After receiving a positive response, I went back to the living room and sat in the chair opposite the sofa. Mai was still sound asleep and I was grateful for that. I was starting to feel somewhat tired myself, and soon felt myself on the line between sleep and consciousness, grudgingly giving in to the former.

"God damn it, woman, get up!" The man growled, driving a sharp kick into the already bloodied side of the figure sprawled on the floor. Receiving only a weak moan, he growled again and grabbed the woman by her hair slamming her into a sitting position against the wall of the apartment.

"Why... are you doing this...?" she gasped, holding her side in agony and trying to stop the flow of blood.

The man merely laughed, a cruel sound to the blonde's ears. "Why do you *think*, bitch? You practically begged me to let you live here, but you never pay the rent or help out around here. You don't even give me a goddamned ounce of respect!" He punctuated this with another kick, this time delivered to her stomach. Satisfied by the fresh bout of tears this caused her, he continued. "It's time for you to pay up, Mai."

"But you know I don't have any money..."

"Who ever said anything about money? Pride and blood are worth much more than cash."

Realization hit Mai hard, her eyes widening considerably as she backed up against the wall, hands searching desperately for either the doorknob or something to smash over her ex-roommate's head. She screamed just about every curse she knew, praying that one of the neighbors would hear her and call the police. But no one came.

I woke up screaming, but fought it to keep the acidic feeling in my throat from finding its way into my mouth. After shaking off the disoriented haze that surrounded my mind, I looked over to the sofa to see that, thankfully, I hadn't awoken Mai. There was no way in hell that I was going back to sleep with that horrible nightmare haunting me, so I went into the kitchen to see if there was any coffee left over from breakfast, but didn't expect much since it was nearly eleven. Finding the pot dry I settled for orange juice, but pushed it away when I felt the acidic feeling making a return trip.

"Hey." I looked up to see Mai standing in the doorway, holding the towel I'd offered earlier tightly around her shoulders.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, I guess," she shrugged, sitting in the chair opposite me. I offered her some orange juice, but she shook her head. "Thanks anyway."

We sat in awkward silence for a moment before I asked, "What did you mean when you said I wasn't ready?"

Again she shook her head, but this time laughed. I hadn't realized until then how much I'd missed her laughter. "Just what I said. You aren't ready to know why I wanted you to know." I raised an eyebrow at this. "Or, if it makes you feel better, I'm not ready to let you know."

I suddenly felt very tense, like a coil about to spring with explosive force. It was probably because I slept right after drinking coffee without burning the caffeine first. I needed to do something...

"Jou?" Mai asked, bringing me out of my caffeine-purging thoughts. "Would you mind if I used your shower?"

"Not at all!" I grabbed some extra towels from the mess I'd shoved back into the linen closet and pointed out where the bathroom was. "Leave your clothes in the hall and I'll have them washed for you." She gave me a skeptical look. "What, you don't think I know how to do laundry? I'm hurt!" I grinned when she shook her head in disbelief at me, but she did consent.

After I heard the water start running, I took Mai's clothes down to the laundry room in the basement of the apartment complex. As I was putting her blood-stained jacket in the machine, though it was probably a futile attempt to salvage it, I noticed a slight bulge in the pocket.

"How could she forget to take her cell phone out?" I muttered, placing the small device on top of the next nearest machine. Just as I started the load, I nearly jumped out of my skin when a high-pitched tune that passed as a ring went off. At first I wasn't sure if I should answer. After all, it wasn't my phone. But what if someone needed to reach Mai? My resolve gave out to curiosity as I pressed the button to accept the call.

"Hello?" I could feel my throat tightening and heard my voice rise.

"Hello, Mai." The voice dug icy nails into my spine as I realized who it must've been.

"Uh, you must have the wrong number..."

"Don't give me that shit, and stop trying to disguise your voice. I know it's you, bitch."

My temper chose that moment to flare and I screamed into the phone, "Don't you DARE call her that! Do you hear me?!"

He laughed, and I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle that bastard. "So, you must be the new guy she's tricked into letting her move in with. Let me warn you pal, that little slut isn't worth it."

"Stop talking about Mai like that, you jackass! Just SHUT UP!" I was seething by then.

"Why should I? Are you gonna make me?" His tone took on a stony, angry quality. "Listen, bucko, she ain't worth a thing. You understand that? She's nothing but a bitch." He suddenly became quiet, then let loose a few curses under his breath, but I could hear them anyway. "You're one of those kids she was in Duelist Kingdom with, aren't you? Shit..." I don't know whether he hung up then or not and I didn't give a damn, because I cut the line on my side.