Title: Intoxication
Part: Chapter 10
Author: Svelte Rose
Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Winter vacation had come, passing quickly and Anzu spent most of it doing the homework assigned over the break. When she wasn't doing homework, she was spending time with her elusive parents who had arrived on Christmas Eve but they had another conference in Paris the week after the New Year. Waving at them from her side of the terminal, Anzu watched as her father struggled with their bags, muttering under his breath while her mother, arms free of anything but her own purse, turned around and blew kisses at her.

"We'll call when we arrive in Paris, love!" Her mother's clear voice rang out before they disappeared through the doors.

Sighing contently, Anzu stuck her hands into the pockets of her thick winter jacket before turning on her heel to leave the busy place. Suddenly thrown off her balance, Anzu stumbled a few feet before glancing behind her and catching the familiar, guilty face of Mokuba Kaiba.

"Mokuba?" She tilted her head, "Is that you?"

He blushed, his round cheeks turning bright red as he shuffled his feet nervously, "Sorry about that Anzu, I didn't mean to knock into you."

She wondered how possible it was for someone as cute as him be related to the block of ice she had for a classmate. She held up her hands and smiled reassuringly, "No, no, that's fine. Accidents happen all the time. Are you here by yourself?"

Mokuba shook his head, "I'm waiting for Seto with our chauffeur but I had to go to the bathroom."

She narrowed her eyes, suspicious, "You're lost aren't you?"

"No, I'm not-," Mokuba lied, embarrassed at having been caught.

No sooner than when those words left his mouth did the human ice block swoop from in from the crowd, the hundreds of people parting like the Red Sea did for Moses, trench coat billowing, his features twisted in concern and worry. With a briefcase in one arm and his free arm snatching Mokuba, Seto Kaiba didn't even bother to regard the brunette before pulling his sibling into a tight hug.

"Seto!" Mokuba hugged back tightly, relieved and happy.

Once Seto released him, his features hardened and in a stern voice, he said, "You're not supposed to run off like that. Do I need to ground you again?"

Mokuba shook his head viciously, his huge mop of hair bouncing.

While Kaiba wasn't a sociable person by far, Anzu was rather bemused by the endearing sight before her. After all, not everyone was able to catch this caring side of Kaiba.

"Mazaki? What are you doing here?" Seto's voice knocked her from her musings.

She jolted to a start and blinked several times before registering what question he'd asked her, "Oh. Uh, I was sending my parents off. They left for another conference to Paris, France."

Seto's expression clearly showed he didn't care and had only asked out of manners.

Anzu felt ridiculously stupid and shuffled her feet much like Mokuba had done earlier. "Well," She chirped brightly, startling the two Kaibas, "I'm going to get going. It was nice seeing you again Mokuba!"

Mokuba waved happily at her and she returned with a bright smile of her own. Then looking up at Kaiba, she nodded stiffly receiving the same in return before she started towards the exits.

"Well, that was awkward." She muttered under her breath.

Seto hadn't even realized he'd been staring at his classmate's retreating back until the impatient jerk of his arm by his kid brother reminded him they had a schedule to keep to.

"What is it, Mokuba?" He asked as they started towards the same exits Anzu Mazaki had just gone through.

"Can we give Anzu a ride home? Look, she's waiting for a taxi." Mokuba pointed out at the girl standing on the sidewalk waiting for her turn to catch one of them while people pushed and shoved from all sides.

"I don't think that'll be necessary. Come on, I had my assistant make reservations at your favorite restaurant." Seto tugged, trying to dissuade his brother from inviting the peppy cheerleader into their hour-long car ride back towards Domino.

"Why isn't it necessary?" Natural curiosity compelled the boy to ask.

Seto blinked as he formulated an answer, "I'm not sure she'll appreciate it. Besides, we don't really know her that well-,"

"Not true! The limo is far more comfortable than the taxi! And I know her! You know her!" Mokuba stated as he pulled his arm towards the waiting girl.

Not really. Seto thought. "It's too forward. We can't- wait- no- Mokuba! Come back!" He all but hissed, his blue eyes glittering dangerously. At that point, Mokuba had let go of his hand and was running towards the brunette who'd just successfully flagged down her own taxi.

"Anzu!" Mokuba called.

Anzu had just reached for the door but paused when her name had been called. That pause was all it took for someone behind her push her out of the way and make their way into the taxi. Blinking profusely and annoyed at what just happened, she searched for the source of the voice who called her and found Mokuba tugging at her coat.

"Seto says we can give you a ride back!" He said eagerly, tugging at the tail of her coat constantly.

"Er…" Anzu's speech articulation went out the window at the shock of the invitation, "Kaiba said what?"

"Well actually, Seto didn't think it was necessary. Something about it being too awkward or whatever which is weird because why would it be awkward?" Mokuba questioned innocently.

Anzu chuckled nervously, "Mokuba, I'm fine with taking a taxi, really! I don't want to trouble you guys-"

"No, I insist!" Mokuba tugged her tailcoat, his big blue eyes imploring at her.

"Mokuba!" Seto barked when he finally caught sight of them.

Mokuba was unaffected and he turned his large eyes to his brother, small hand still attached to Anzu's jacket. "Seto, tell her!"

Anzu watched forlornly as another taxi took off with a car full of passengers.

Seto groaned inwardly. From what he gathered, the invitation had been extended and couldn't be drawn back without great embarrassment on his part at offending his classmate. Of course he never batted an eye to insult her before but to do so in front of his youngest and only sibling was out of the question. So with weariness, he took a deep breath, "Mazaki?"

Anzu turned back at him then looked down at Mokuba, then back at him again, "Oh yeah, sorry, what?"

"Would you like a ride home?" The words sounded foreign to him, even having come from his own mouth. He felt like a robot, pre-programmed to say these words for such a situation like this.

She blushed, knowing full well that neither of them wanted to be stuck in a closed area for the hour-long drive back into the city.

"It's alright, I don't want to be a bother really. Look, see?" She tried to deflect them again while pointing at an oncoming yellow car. "I'll just take this taxi-"

Mokuba was confused, "But Anzu, we're going to the same area. It's a waste of gas if we take two cars back there."

"Yeah, heh heh," She chuckled nervously, "That is a waste of gas. But really, I don't live anywhere near you so it's troublesome if you have to go out of your way to-,"

"It's no trouble." Seto felt his lips moving, cutting off her blabber, before he could catch himself. Inwardly, he punched himself. They were both very aware of their tumultuous history together all except for little Mokuba who was watching Anzu with immense confusion.

Mokuba pouted, "Do you not like us Anzu?"

Seto wanted to slap his brother upside the head for asking such a blunt question like that.

"Oh no, I like you very- you guys- I like you guys- Yes, of course I like you!" She finally blustered out.

"Then there's no problem riding the limo with us." Mokuba answered as though the entire situation was like solving a simple math equation.

Anzu looked at Seto for confirmation but only found a rather vacant look on his face, no emotions registered whatsoever.

Obviously no help there.

"Master Kaiba?" A distinguished elderly gentleman in a nicely pressed suit interrupted the three. "Your car is ready."

"Oh. Right." Seto turned and looked at the limo as though it was something foreign.

Mokuba quickly grabbed Anzu's hand and tugged her, "Come on!"

Oh no. Anzu knew she was in deep this time. She bit her cheek and threw Seto an apologetic look as she was dragged forcibly into the sleek black vehicle.

Seto sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. What a long ride it was going to be.

He was wrong. The awkwardness in the ride was nothing compared to their current situation. Seated across from each other with a jabbering Mokuba between them, Seto and Anzu looked everywhere but at each other while they waited for their food to come.

Anzu was mortified. There was no love lost between her and Kaiba; that, she knew. Mokuba apparently had absolutely no idea the kind of animosity that existed between him and her friends and consequently with her, which made it all the more awkward to refuse the younger Kaiba when he invited her to dinner without a single thought.

She had protested, mainly due to her lack of dress. After all, a sweater and jeans were not exactly acceptable for the posh restaurant they'd taken her to. Mokuba had flattered her choice of dress; thus, her objection shot down. She then protested at not having brought her wallet and therefore couldn't possibly buy dinner. Mokuba said she must have because she needed it for the taxi she was going to take and how could they ever allow her to pay? Apparently, the wrong impression had been given. Anzu had blushed deeply at this, all the time stuttering out that she hadn't meant to make them pay- far from it! But she had trouble making the words come out. In the end, she settled for apologizing, thanking them for letting her join the dinner. This was a paradox; usually she was so much better composed than the simpering mess she'd turned into.

Objecting any further seemed like a futile attempt with a perseverant elementary boy arguing with her. Thus, she ended up with her best friends' archenemy seated across from her, laying his dinner napkin out as though nothing was wrong.

This was certainly his element.

Had Seto known her thoughts, he would've immediately told her she was wrong. The prospects of having a nice, peaceful dinner after his long flight home had gone out the window the moment Mokuba opened his mouth. And now, he was stuck with the fact that he had to tolerate the bubbly cheerleader's company for the rest of the night. Watching her from the corner of his eye, he smirked when he noticed her fidgeting; only paying attention to half of what was coming out of Mokuba's mouth.

GOOD. He wasn't the only uncomfortable one here.

Just because two people on opposite ends of the spectrum was having dinner together, it did not make them any less the enemies that they were. After all, it was well-known to their classmates that neither of them got along well in school. Although, Seto was chagrined to find that his and Mazaki's relationship (or lack thereof) fell under a different dynamic than his with Mutou's, Jounouchi's, or Honda's. Her barbs certainly cut deeper than any of the colorful expletives he heard coming from the other three's mouths. Her very presence seemed to rankle him and as testaments to that, he could recount every single they'd cross-fired in the hallways. His hackles would rise just by seeing her with her goons and she never went anywhere without them.

…except for now.

Anzu and Mokuba laughed at a joke just as their food was being set down in front of them. Seto was brought out from his thoughts when the delicious aroma wafted into his nose and right then and there, he was reminded of how hungry he was.

Seto picked up a fork and began to work on his filet mignon while Anzu spread her dinner napkin across her lap. Mokuba was already hard at work on the gourmet hamburger and French fries he'd ordered while Anzu, having a slight idea she'd ordered some rendition of a pasta dish, took small bites, dabbing her lips every so often.

Bringing the tender meat to his lips, Seto Kaiba resigned to the circumstances of the evening and resolved to at least enjoy what he could of it. Mainly, his dinner.

Once his blue eyes caught sight of the familiar figure across the room while she wined and dined with one of Japan's most highly sought after bachelor and his little brother, he'd forgotten all about his date. Fists clenched unknowingly under the table and wrenched the dinner napkin into an undistinguishable mess. There was no way he didn't recognize her; she having been and still was the objection of his fascination.

His date, caught up in her own world as she was oft to do, jabbered on about topics he never cared about. She was a very beautiful girl, he could see that much. With her brown hair perfectly coiffed up in a stylish bun and her designer dress accentuating all the right curves, it was really the blue eyes that caught him the most.

He glanced back at the table of three and then looked back at his date. It was obvious why he chose to encourage his current date's affections out of his father's other many associates' daughters.

Shifting forward, dinner forgotten, he clasped her hand which halted her talking immediately. Smiling with all the charm in the world, he peered at her with intense blue eyes and said in a deep, silky voice that had captured many a girl's heart before, "Why don't you spend the night at my place?"

Her mouth opened in a startled 'o', features twisted in what was supposed to be an innocent look. He wasn't fooled; she could not hide the lust lurking deep in her blue eyes or the smirk threatening to play out on her lips. It didn't matter what sort of person she was playing at, her physical features suited him well enough.

Because if he couldn't have the real thing, at least he would be satisfied for one night with a mimicry of her.

Notes: Revelations are coming into play soon...Reviews keep an authoress happy!! Now that school is starting back up, updates will probably slow down to the point of ceasing, at least until the next big school break.