Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Sorry to disappoint everyone.
A/N: This was a challenge fic, the pairing provided by Danni-chan and the title provided by Silvie-chan. Personally, I don't really care for this pairing (screamshipping and spaceshipping are my preferred poisons) but it was certainly interesting to write. Without further ado, here's the first chapter. R&R!
Anzu stepped out of the dance studio sweaty, tired, and feeling immensely pleased with herself. Her muscles felt satisfyingly sore and gave a light groan of protest as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and set off for home, weary but happy. The sun was resting just above the horizon, setting in all its glory and spilling color across the darkening sky like a spilled bucket of paint. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, absently running a hand down her cream-colored tank top to smooth out the nonexistent wrinkles.
It was later than she had expected. She had promised her parents she would be home in time for dinner, but according to her watch, it was well past time; they would be worried. She picked up her pace as a chilly wind cut through her thin shirt, causing her to shiver. Despite the encroaching darkness, the streets were brightly lit, making it seem almost like mid-afternoon; downtown Domino City never slept. People milled about, going in and out of shops and restaurants, talking in groups, or walking briskly towards an unknown destination, and paid little or no attention to the young girl. Cars zipped past busily, taxis darting around them and nearly mowing down the few pedestrians attempting to cross to the shops on the other side of the street. The incessant chatter was nothing more than white noise in the background to the young dancer that she pushed aside to take a backseat to her thoughts.
She was progressing beautifully in her dancing, and her private instructors were on the verge of offering her a teaching position at the studio. One of the other students currently teaching introductory courses for young children was leaving for America on a scholarship and they needed a replacement. Anzu would have been accompanying the other girl to the States for schooling, but with all the running around she had done with Yuugi and her friends, she had fallen disastrously behind, and the school had rejected her application. Though she had been devastated, a part of her had been expecting it, since she had spent so much time standing by Yuugi's side and neglecting her classes; it had taken quite a bit of pleading on her part to convince them to allow her to continue taking private instruction. Now that it was all over, she had returned to her one true love: dancing. Since she had begun distancing herself from her friends, it was all she really had left.
She blinked as a few drops of rain fell on her nose, assaulting her clothing and choppy brown hair. The streets emptied in record time. She swore mildly and ducked under an awning, hugging herself tightly and watching the growing intensity of the storm. The city had been bombarded with sudden downpours almost constantly in the past few weeks, but this was the first one she had been caught out in. Just the other day, Yuugi, having been kept after school rather late, had found himself positively soaked by the time he made it to her house for their late evening study session; dancing wasn't the only thing she had fallen behind on, though how Yuugi managed to stay near the top of the class was beyond her. Just remembering a drenched, embarrassed Yuugi standing on her doorstep, shivering and wincing, his hair plastered around his shoulders, made her giggle. He had begged her not only for a towel, but for hair gel as well.
Her smile faltered slightly; as fond as she was of Yuugi, she missed his darker half desperately. She knew it was unfair to the boy, but her heart had been given to the 3,000-year-old Pharaoh long before she could have given it to Yuugi, and his absence tore at her painfully. Yuugi tried his hardest to make it easier on her even though he, too, was hurting, but try as he might, her heart would not sing for him, and it saddened the both of them. So she drowned herself in her schoolwork and her dancing, and tried to pretend everything was as shining and happy as before. She was a pro at wearing masks, hiding her life behind a smile and a laugh, and so good was she at deceiving her friends that none of them knew about her parents' failing marriage or the increasing violence she had to endure at home.
And so she threw herself entirely into her dancing, determined to win acceptance to the school in New York to get away from her parents, away from her crumbling life, and most of all, away from Yuugi and all the memories he stirred in her.
The wind grew in intensity, teasing her hair and causing a spray of rain to smack into her. Gasping, she shivered and shook her head, little droplets of water flying. She began to doubt the intelligence of standing around waiting for the storm to die; for all she knew, it could go on for a couple of hours. She tentatively leaned out from the minimal cover of the awning, peering up and down the street.
A familiar lighted sign caught her eye, and she immediately brightened. She was only about a block or two away from Otogi's game shop, and she was sure he would let her wait out the storm in there.
Anzu steeled herself and then bolted out from under the protective awning. She was immediately pelted with cold rain, and she could feel it soak through her clothing and leave her hair in tangles. Cheeks flushing, she broke into an awkward run, trying to balance her backpack and keep her footing on the slick pavement. She slipped a few times, nearly colliding with a telephone pole, but managed to make it to the shop in one piece. She fairly burst through the door, falling to her knees as the first wave of warmth hit her.
Emerald eyes blinked at her in surprise; it wasn't every day that a pretty girl threw herself into his shop and fell to her knees before him. Otogi was quite the ladies man, but even this was extreme. Not even girls in America did this sort of thing. He squinted at her drenched, shivering form. She looked awfully familiar.
She caught her breath and raised her head, and Otogi gasped.
"Anzu-chan!"
"Help a girl up, would ya?" she asked, lifting her hand limply.
He didn't move. "You're dripping all over my floor," he pointed out with a grin.
She shot him a look. "Otogi…" she growled menacingly, though she ruined the unspoken threat by cracking a smile.
He laughed, a warm, pleasant sound. "All right, all right," he said, ignoring her proffered hand and instead kneeling down, grasping her forearms gently but tightly. "I'll help you up, but only under one condition."
He paused dramatically as if she would spend the rest of eternity on the floor of his game shop, if she could not meet his condition. Anzu was not impressed, and it showed in her eyes.
"You go out on a date with me."
Her jaw dropped. "What?"
A pained look crossed his face. "You would make me repeat myself? Oh, the travesty!" he proclaimed, moving one hand to rest over his heart. He grinned and spoke in a deliberately slow tone. "You. Go. Out. On. A. Date. With. Me."
Anzu blinked a few times, and then threw back her head and laughed. "Oh Otogi, you're so silly!" Her laughter broke off at the hurt look in his eyes. "Wait, are you serious? Uhm…"
"Look, Anzu-chan, I know you still like Yuugi-kun, but…"
"No." Tears filled her blue eyes, but she quickly blinked them away, voice lowering. "No. I…" She shook her head lightly and hid her feelings behind a smile; she had grown awfully good at that since mou hitori no Yuugi had left. "Of course I'll go on a date with you!"
A brilliant smile bloomed across his face, and she could tell it was genuine. His grip on her arms tightened as he lifted her easily, setting her on her feet and brushing his fingers along her bare arms as if dusting away invisible dirt. For the first time since that fateful day in Egypt, she looked at her friend, really looked at him, and noticed the little changes he had gone through as well.
He had ditched the gaudy red headband, thank goodness, and though he kept his hair in his trademark ponytail, his bangs were smoother and better styled. He still wore his dice earring, nearly long enough to dangle upon his shoulder, and his green eyes were just as piercing as ever. The faint outlines of a tattoo showed at the edge of his black shirt, and he had taken to wearing baggy black pants that seemed to want to fall right off of his narrow hips and pool to the ground. Her eyes trailed down his body as she wondered if his boxers sported dice pictures.
Otogi coughed, and Anzu was brought back to reality, her eyes snapping back up to his face and her cheeks reddening. His eyebrows waggled suggestively, causing her to laugh and smack his arm. Her blush was already fading.
"I'm not really dressed to go out," she pointed out, sneezing for emphasis.
He held out a handkerchief to her, which she accepted politely. "I didn't say it had to be right now," he replied, moving away to lean on a counter, crossing his legs at the ankles and assuming what seemed to be a much-practiced pose. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, his arms folded comfortably across his chest. "I was thinking more along the lines of tomorrow, around 6 o'clock, at that trendy new diner downtown."
Anzu delicately dabbed at her nose with the handkerchief, shifting the weight of her backpack slightly. "Sounds good to me," she said brightly, smiling. "Now, would you mind lending me a dry shirt so I don't catch a cold on my way home?"
"The storm's not over," he said. "You would just get wet again."
"Well…would you mind if I waited here until it's gone?"
His grin reappeared. "Not at all, Anzu-chan. Not at all."
A few hours later, Anzu found herself sprawled out on her bed wearing the loose red shirt Otogi had lent her and nothing else. Her hair was still damp, leaving a small wet spot on her pillow, but she barely noticed. Even the sounds of her parents arguing down the hallway barely penetrated, though she had long ago learned to drown that out.
She was going on a date tomorrow, and with Otogi of all people. She never would have expected this in a million years! He had spent all of his time fawning over Shizuka and had barely given her a second glance. Then again, she had been so caught up with mou hitori no Yuugi that she probably would not have noticed if Otogi had held up a sign saying "I Love Anzu" and waved it in front of her.
So much had changed, and in her determination to drown her sorrow in her dancing and ignore the outside world, she had missed an awful lot. Apparently Shizuka had given in to Honda's flirtations and the two were now a couple, much to Jounouchi's dismay. He did not have much room to complain, however, since Mai had returned from the States and stolen his heart away. Those two never seemed to separate, and a wedding was in the works, or so rumor said. When confronted, Mai would not comment, and Jounouchi would just turn red and stutter. However, there was an elegant, albeit inexpensive, ring on her finger that apparently appeared overnight, and that was all the answer anyone really needed.
Anzu had been doubly surprised to hear that Kaiba had returned to Japan as well. Apparently Kaiba Land was a success, and he had been able to find someone capable of running it in his absence, which said a lot for whoever it was. She had yet to see him around, which wasn't surprising considering how anti-social he was, and he hadn't enrolled back with Domino High. That was a shame; a part of her had been looking forward to his sulking presence at the Senior Prom, though who would put up with him long enough to be his date was a mystery.
She sighed and rolled over onto her side, draping one arm off the side of her bed lazily. The shouting got louder, and she flinched. She knew they were arguing about her. Her father had been beyond angry when she had strolled through the door so late, and wearing someone else's shirt no less. He had immediately assumed the worst and started screaming at her. If her mother had not intervened, he would have slapped her soundly. Not needing any prodding, Anzu had rushed to her bedroom and shut the door, locking it and collapsing onto her bed after shedding most of her clothes. At one point, her doorknob jiggled, and she knew it was her father trying to get into her room. After some time he had given up and picked another fight with her mother. They had stopped throwing things about an hour ago and degenerated into just yelling back and forth.
Not once did they stop to think about how this was affecting their daughter.
Sometimes, she entertained the idea of not returning home. She daydreamed that she would leave for school, smiling as always even though her parents barely acknowledged her presence for more than a few minutes. She would leave, and not return. She knew that if she asked, Yuugi and his grandfather would take her in temporarily. The idea was inviting, but one thing kept her from doing it.
She was afraid her parents simply wouldn't care, and that would break her heart.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to give in to them. She closed her eyes tightly and schooled her breathing, trying to remain calm. The shouting had died down, leaving the house ominously silent. She breathed evenly, her mind drifting, and she was almost asleep when the phone rang.
She rolled off her bed and padded over to her phone, squinting at the caller ID. It was Yuugi; what in the world could he want at this hour?
She picked up the phone and cradled it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Anzu?" Yuugi sounded wide awake, almost freakishly so.
"Yeah?" She couldn't keep the drowsiness out of her voice. Her eyelids drooped as she thought pleasantly of the warm, soft bed she had just left.
"I was just making sure you got home all right," he said quickly. He sounded nervous. "I know you had dance class this afternoon, and we had a rather bad storm, so…"
Her eyes flickered to her alarm clock. "Yuugi, it's almost midnight."
"Oh is it?" He laughed briefly. "So sorry for bothering you!" Then he hung up.
Anzu blinked down at the phone in confusion before replacing it and crawling back into bed. That was…odd. She could tell something was bothering Yuugi, but he hadn't said much, even neglecting to wish her a good night before hanging up. He had sounded almost frightened to speak to her, and his excuse for calling was as flimsy as they came. What was wrong?
After turning it over in her mind for a few minutes, Anzu gave up and closed her eyes, thinking of Otogi and their date tomorrow. She felt excited, more so than she had felt in a long time, and nervous. That perplexed her almost as much as Yuugi's surprise phone call. Otogi was her friend; why would she feel nervous about hanging out with him? Granted, they had never been alone together, and he was a known playboy, but still. He was her friend, right? She had nothing to worry about.
Nuzzling her pillow, Anzu let out a soft sigh and drifted off to sleep.