Dancing Flower
Bleach Fanfiction
Mayuri/OC
Family/Hurt/Comfort
Chapter 18
Iridescent

When you were standing in the wake of devastation
When you were waiting on the edge of the unknown
And with the cataclysm raining down,
insides crying "Save me now."
You were there, impossibly alone

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?
You've built up hope, but failure's all you've known?
Remember all the sadness and frustration.
And let it go.

Iridescent-Linkin Park

A gentle breeze passed as the silence stretched. Mai swallowed nervously, feeling his gaze on her back. She clenched the white fabric of her kimono tightly, waiting for him to say something. Then,—

"You were never supposed to become involved."

"Sixteen years and that's the greeting I get, Dad?" Mai scoffed loudly. Shrugging carelessly, she muttered, "Whatever, it's not like I came here for you anyway." She could almost feel his gaze narrow as he approached her from behind.

"Oh~? Then what does bring you to the Seireitei?" he drawled lazily, just behind her. She suppressed a shiver at his close proximity.

"That's on a need to know basis," she snapped. Her grip on the kimono tightened. Calming herself, she stared hard at the ground and asked, "Am I your prisoner?"

"No. You will remain here as my guest."

"Oh~?" She mockingly drawled back at him in the same tone. "So I can leave when I want?"

"It seems you have misunderstood me," he said coldly, "You will remain here as my guest, indefinitely."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Mai hissed and turned her head to glare up at him. Her blood boiled at his nonchalant gaze. "I'd love to see you try to keep me here," she sneered softly. Mayuri stared her down. Mai snorted and averted her gaze. "Besides, you lost the right to order me around sixteen years ago." Without looking for his reaction, she turned away and pushed herself from the porch. She cringed as she landed but refused to show her weakness, and set off further into the garden.

She'd barely gotten a few yards away when his hand landed on her shoulder. Mai froze, heartbeat pounding like a war drum in her chest.

Mayuri leaned in towards her ear. "You believe yourself more intelligent than I," he whispered icily. "Yet you will understand nothing so long as you refuse to listen."

"And what makes you think I want to listento you?" Mai roughly shrugged off his hand and spun to face him, scowling fiercely.

"Petulant child..." He scoffed, hiding his warring thoughts.

He could see himself in her eyes, prideful and intelligent. She was as unyielding as her mother too, Mayuri thought with a pang. He had no doubts that keeping her against her will would only embitter her more towards him, but if he let her go now... He averted his gaze, feigning disinterest.

"You should be resting," he said, changing the subject. "You are in no condition to wander around unsupervised."

"I think your clone is doing a pretty damn good job of supervising me," Mai retorted coldly, eyes flickering to Nemu, who was watching them from just inside the doorway. "And why do you suddenly care?" Mayuri kept silent, only angering her further. "You didn't when you left me in The World of the Living."

There, she said it. It revealed too much, she was giving too much away but she didn't care.

He listened to her as she seethed, beside herself with fury. She didn't understand his motives, but that was fine. It was better that she grew to hate him than fear him. Either way, he could never have her love.

"You know nothing," he cut her off. "Everything I did was in your best interest."

"My best interest?" Mai cried. Suddenly she lashed out at him. Her fist struck him square in the chest with more strength than he thought possible. Mayuri stumbled back a step. He saw it coming but allowed her to strike him in the knee, forcing him onto one leg. When she prepared to attack again, he smoothly stood and shunpo'd out of range.

"You have no idea what it was like," she snarled through clenched teeth. "To grow up in a hell hole where people are afraid to look you in the eye, to be hated for who you are and know the pain of being an outcast. I would have spent my whole life alone if it hadn't been for Kisuke!"

Mai's vision blurred but she kept the tears at bay; if she wavered, she wouldn't be able to stop. Watching her struggle was like watching porcelain shatter in slow motion. Every second, another piece inevitably broke away to reveal more of the person hidden inside.

He didn't know what to do when the first tear slowly slid down her face. Carefully, he approached her and loosely held her by the elbows. He froze as she suddenly clutched the fabric of his Shihakushō in her strong grip.

"Why," she rasped, voice thick with suppressed emotion. Expression hungry and desperate, she looked up at him. "Why didn't you want me? What was wrong with me?"

"There was nothing wrong with you, Mai," he said quietly. Mai dropped her head onto his chest. He felt the dampness of her silent tears seep into his clothing, the subtle shudders that wracked her body.

Unspoken was the truth:

It had everything to do with me.

"Is there anything particular you want from home?" Yoruichi asked. Mai sighed.

"Why can't I just come home?"

"Because Captain Unohana says you're not ready to go home yet."

Mai groaned and crossed her arms stubbornly. The healer had prescribed a week's worth of strict bed rest before she would be fit to leave.

"Tessai could heal me just fine," Mai argued.

"Tessai is busy helping Kisuke with an emergency supply run and they won't be back for a couple weeks. And your particular methods of "self-healing" should have anesthesia included," the woman added before Mai could counter. Defeated, Mai threw up her hands.

"Fine, clothes and bring back my acoustic guitar. I might as well do something productive while I'm here."

Alright," Yoruichi agreed, playfully ruffling Mai's har. "Get some rest and recover."

"I've been recovering for the past three days!" Mai called loudly just as the woman disappeared. With a huff, she settled back down on to her bed. Her body screamed for her to move, but the threat of being sedated again kept her in check.

For several minutes she drummed her fingers on her legs, staring up at the ceiling in utter boredom.

"Mai?" called a familiar voice. Mai craned her head around to see Ichigo pop his head into her room. His eyes brightened at the sight of her and he turned to call down the hall, "Hey guys, I found her!"

Uryu, Orihime and Chad came rushing through the moment later, each smiling at her. Under one of Chad's huge arms was a traditional Japanese table, which The Hispanic boy set it in the middle of the room. Orihime stepped around Chad to drop several large bags beside the table. Ichigo carefully helped Mai to her feet and lowered her down onto a large cushion he'd brought along.

"We heard you were confined to bed rest," explained Orihime as all of them settled around the table. "That's really boring, so we thought we'd come and keep you company."

Mai was speechless. "Thanks, I guess. But... why would you do that for me?"

"Because that's what friends do," Ichigo said nonchalantly. "What, never had a friend before?"

Mai snorted and looked away. "Of course I've had friends. Ginger," she added without her usual bite. It wasn't entirely untrue. She had Tetsuya and Mamoru. But there was always a barrier there. They knew the Mai of the World of the Living, not Mai the demi-god. With Ichigo and his band of misfits, they knew that she wasn't like the others but accepted her anyway because they too were oddities.

Their loyalty was unasked for and left her feeling exposed. She didn't like that, but looking at them made her feel oddly warm.

The group chuckled, undeterred by her attitude. Uryu, Orihime and Chad proceeded to empty the bags onto the table. Mai raised an eyebrow at the piles of candy. Meanwhile, Ichigo brought out a deck of cards from his sleeve, shook them out of the pack and began to shuffled the deck.

"They've got a huge collection of junk from the World of the Living here," he explained. "I swiped this deck and managed to bribe Yachiru to loan me some of her candy stash."

Mai watched as he stopped shuffling and swept his eyes over the group with a smirk.

"Blackjack anyone?"

A/N: So here is the long awaited confrontation chapter, I really do hope you guys like it. Please, leave me some CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, and please be sure to go and thank my Beta ThaBlueGRRL.

PathlessSpore