To be Civil (Seto Kaiba needs a date for a party)

[Scribbler]

“Thank goodness.” She hefted the bags behind him, puffing out her cheeks with the effort.

“Do you, uh, want some help?”

“No, no, I can manage.” She lifted a couple onto her shoulder and rearranged the others in her arms. “I’m used to it. Well, not the shopping for clothes and shoes – this is more than I’ve ever bought at one time – but I always do our groceries and I have to carry the bags five blocks back to our house so I don’t have to spend out on bus fare.”

Mokuba looked at her thoughtfully. For some reason he had never thought about the finances of Yuugi or their group. For someone who had spent his early childhood with nothing, Mokuba had gotten used to the finer things in life. It had become quite boring, actually, hence his pleasure at eating out at a regular fast food place yesterday. He felt a little guilty that it hadn’t even occurred to him that others approached money from a different angle than he and his brother. As he watched her climb the stairs, he comprehended that Anzu was not from an average income family. She was poor but also proud. It must have taken a lot to make her compromise herself by agreeing to this whole fake relationship thing.

He hurried to open doors ahead of her, since she insisted on carrying her things herself. When they reached the guest room on the third floor her face was red and her hair matted to her forehead with sweat.

“Thanks, Mokuba.”

“You’re welcome. Do you, uh, need any help …?” He realised the impropriety of the question as he was saying it. Duh, she was going to get changed for her evening out with Seto. The LAST thing she needed was Mokuba and his burgeoning hormones while she was in her underwear.

Her … underwear …

“I’ll be right downstairs if you need anything just pull the bell and one of the help will come up okay bye!” He hurried off in case his embarrassing thoughts showed up on his face.

….

Anzu watched Mokuba go, wondering why he was in such a hurry. She turned to survey the room. She had expected opulence and got nothing less. She had never been inside Kaiba Mansion before, but it was as she had imagined it would be: plus red carpets, gold trimmings and high ceilings that would be terrible to heat. The room contained a large four-post-bed and an en suite through which she could see a claw-foot tub and what appeared to be a million beige candles.

“How can Seto be so grumpy when he lives in a place like this?” she wondered aloud.

Really, it was enough to make you sick. Then again, she thought, he had gained all this at the expense of a childhood with Gozaburo Kaiba. She shivered at the memory of the man as he had been in Noa’s virtual world. Gozaburo was a monster in life and a demon in almost-death. It was amazing only Seto had turned out so cold and unfeeling, not Mokuba too – although if he had been shielding his brother from their stepfather’s mistreatment, maybe not so much.

Anzu abruptly shook her head, realising what she was doing. “Oh no, I am NOT feeling sorry for Seto Kaiba!” Sure, she would rather be poor and have her mom than rich and have Gozaburo as a stepdad, but that was no reason to start empathising with that jackass. “And he IS a jackass,” she announced, as if saying the words out loud would make them extra true. “A total, one hundred per cent, Grade A jackass. He has no redeeming qualities and, while he’s not bad to look at, he has the personality of a lemon juice ice cube.”

The room didn’t argue.

“Okay, I guess I’ve crossed the boundary into nutter by talking to myself. Let’s see what we can do in the time we have, shall we?”

….

“Isono?”

“Yes, Mr. Mokuba?”

“Is it normal for a guy never to date?”

“You mean Mr. Seto?”

“… I guess.”

“Normal is a very fluid word, Mr. Mokuba. What is normal for one person is not for another.”

“That’s not a real answer. Hey, Isono?”

“Yes, Mr. Mokuba?”

“Are you married?”

“I was.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t be, sir. She isn’t.”

“Isono?”

“Yes, Mr. Mokuba?”

“My brother … he’s not a bad guy.”

“No, sir, he’s not.”

“People think he’s awful, but he’s not really. I mean, he’s done some awful things in the past, but that doesn’t make HIM awful. Does it?”

“Everyone deserves a little forgiveness, sir.”

“Right. Yeah. Um, Isono?”

“Yes, Mr. Mokuba?”

“What … uh … what was your first crush like?”

“I’m not sure I ever had one, sir. I married the first girl I fell in love with. Then she married her chiropractor.”

“Oh.”

“I believe there is something about butterflies in the stomach, light-headedness and sweaty palms, though, sir. Granted, my information comes from my daughter, and was delivered under duress when I wanted to know why she wouldn’t get out of the car and go into school until the captain of the karate club had gone, but I’m inclined to believe it.”

“Butterflies in the stomach, light-headedness and sweaty palms. Yeah, that sounds right. Is … do you think a crush is meant to make you feel nauseous? Is that normal too?”

“I believe the phrase is ‘love hurts’, sir.”

“Hmm. Thank you Isono. You’ve been a big help.”

“I do what I can, sir. Now may I please deliver these papers to your brother?”

“Oh! Yeah, sure. Sorry. Thanks, Isono.”

….

Seto didn’t believe in spending much time preparing for outings unless he was trying to impress a backer or someone who could do something for him. Since his date with Anzu was meant to look like he was impressing her, Isono had laid out the white suit, lavender shirt and purple tie he had worn at Grand Prix. They stared at him from the bed. Seto sighed and shucked his clothes to exchange them, but caught a whiff of himself as he did so. A short shower was necessary.

He was towelling his hair when he wandered back into his room to find Isono standing there with a manila envelope. Not body conscious in the least, he continued to dress while his aide explained what it was.

“The architect delivered the plans himself while you were out. He asked that this time, if they are incorrect, you email him your grievances instead of calling and hurling abuse at his secretary and then him.”

Seto harrumphed. “If he did his job properly I wouldn’t have to.”

“How many times have you sent these back now, sir?”

“Seven. They were increasing levels of crap. This time had better be to my specifications instead of waltzing off into la-la land.”

Isono regarded him for a moment. “This project is very important to you, isn’t it sir?”

“Yes,” Seto said simply. Why would he go to all this trouble with Anzu otherwise? He pulled on socks and slid the cool fabric of the shirt over his shoulders. It required cufflinks, but Isono had chosen those as well: tiny amethysts that glittered when they caught the light. “Are you sure this outfit is really necessary?”

“If I may say so, sir, you received several compliments over it in the media during your last public event. The words used most were ‘dashing’, ‘poised’ and ‘striking’.”

“Not 70s leftover?”

“No, sir.”

Sighing, he finished dressing and adjusted his tie in the mirror. Out of habit he reached for the long white coat he had tossed on the armchair when he came in, but hesitated.

“Why do you even wear that stupid coat? It looks ridiculous. What are those belt things on your arms even for? And what’s with all the buttons if you don’t fasten even one of them?”

“Sir?” said Isono.

“Fetch me a jacket, Isono.”

When he arrived downstairs he found Mokuba reading on the bottom step. His brother looked up but didn’t stand.

“You look nice, Seto.”

Seto just grumbled something inaudible. “I take it she isn’t ready yet?” He didn’t bother stipulating who he meant. Making her anonymous made him feel more comfortable after the memory of her voice made him abandon his much-loved coat. He hated anyone to have even the smallest amount of influence over him and it rankled that he had allowed that of her.

Mokuba shook his head. “But I’m sure she won’t be long.”

“Of course I won’t. I’m right here.”

They both looked up to see Anzu descending the stairs. Mokuba scrambled to his feet. Seto just watched, his face impassive, but several things happening in his stomach that were remarkably unpleasant.

“Is this too dressy?” she asked when he didn’t react. “Or not dressy enough? I had no idea what would be most appropriate.”

“You look beautiful, Anzu!” said Mokuba when Seto still didn’t reply.

She had chosen several outfits while they were shopping, none of which Seto had paid much attention to. The dress she wore now was red and cut in a Chinese style just above her knees. It wouldn’t show off too much skin when she sat down but hugged her body as she walked, emphasising her figure impressively, considering the long sleeves and high buttoned collar left little on show. He glanced down to see which of the millions of shoes she had on. The red heeled sandals made her a little taller, putting her face level with his chin rather than his shoulder when she stood in front of him. She still had to tilt her head to meet his eyes. The look in hers was challenging.

“Go on,” she said.

“What?”

“You’re just dying to insult me again. Go on, tell me how it makes me look slutty, or like a peasant in rich girl’s clothing, or cheap, just plain wrong. Or maybe you have something else to say.” She folded his arms. The unpleasant feeling in his stomach increased as she did so. “I can see it from the way you’re scowling at me. Honestly, Seto, you’re making this whole arrangement really difficult. How am I supposed to realistically play the part of your adoring girlfriend when you constantly have a face like a smacked butt?”

Mokuba let out a little snort of laughter.

“I do not,” Seto gritted, “have a face ‘like a smacked butt’, as you put it. And for your information –” he hesitated. “You look … not as tasteless as I would have predicted.”

“Ooh, words of praise from on high.” She waved her hands theatrically. “I’d bow down and kiss the ground you walk on for the compliment, but I don’t want to ladder my tights.” She sighed. “All right, if we’re doing this, let’s get going.” Yet when he tried to walk away she stepped in front of him. “Hey, didn’t you learn anything at the mall? You have to let me take your arm. If we walk out side by side we look like two actors playing parts – and playing them badly.”

Grudgingly, he made the requisite elbow shape, allowing her to slip her arm through his.

“This will be good practise for Saturday,” she said. “Now remember, when we get out of the car you have to do this automatically. If I have to remind you it’ll look too unrealistic. Man, I hope the parking lot isn’t too far from the restaurant. These shoes look fabulous, but they’re terrible to walk long distances in.”

“The restaurant has valet parking,” Seto said crisply.

She looked surprised, a hint of embarrassment creeping into her voice that she hadn’t realised this latest trait of affluent life. “Oh. Right. Well … that’s good.”

Mokuba was watching them with a curious expression. “I never would’ve thought it, but you two actually look good together when you’re all dressed up like that.”

She winced. “Thank you, Mokuba.”

He blushed. “You, uh, really do look beautiful, Anzu.”

Her winced became a smile. “You’re sweet. Some people,” she added, looking pointedly at Seto, “could learn a lot from you.”

Seto grunted and pulled her along to the door. “Come on or we’ll be late. Mokuba, don’t wait up for us.”

Mokuba stood, a lonely little figure, at the foot of the massive staircase. A tall figure approached, tapping him on one shoulder.

“I believe there is some chocolate cake and milkshake left in the kitchen if you wish to drown your sorrows, Mr. Mokuba.”

“Does it help?” he asked without taking his eyes off the closed door through which Seto and Anzu had just passed.

“It numbs the pain. Trust me, sir. Nothing helps heartache like chocolate.”

“Thank you, Isono.”

[The dress I based Anzu's on can be found here --> fashtrend.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/knee-length-china-wedding-dresses-2011.jpg I didn't intend to pick a wedding dress, I just plugged 'short red chinese dress' into Google and that was one of the things it brought back ^_^]

[cypsiman2]

[That is a beautiful dress! It kind of makes me wonder what the heck the big fancy dress for the Saturday party will be like, to be even better than that, but I'm sure one of us, probably you, will be able to come up with something. I say you, because I don't have much experience with dresses. ;^_^]

Sugoroku watched his grandson attempt to distract himself with the latest Gameboy game, though apparently it was called a DS now, and it was plain to see that it just wasn't working. "Yuugi," he finally said, clasping the boy's shoulder in his hand, "why don't you talk about it with me, hmm? I'm old, I've had my share of romantic troubles, you can share yours with me."

Under normal circumstances Yuugi would have responded with a high-pitched 'Grandpa!' and run off into his room, locking the door behind him. These not being normal circumstances, Yuugi just sighed and closed the DS in on itself. "Part of me wants her to hate this whole week so much so that she'd never even think about a guy like Seto ever again, while part of me wants her to have a great time, a wonderful time. She deserves it you know, Anzu puts up with so much and gives up so much of herself for me and everyone else, she should be able to love being given everything she could ever want on a silver platter. But if she does, then she might..." A grimace crossed Yuugi's face.

"Yuugi, as you may have noticed, you can't control how you feel, can you?" Yuugi shook his head. "But you know how much Anzu...dislikes that Seto boy, don't you?" Dislike was to be mild about it; only Tsubasa, Yuugi's mother, had ever been subjected to greater ire from Anzu, and both for largely the same reasons. "Even in the unlikely event that her animosity should change to like, I wouldn't worry about it going any further than that. And besides, Seto is such a cold fish anyway, he probably had to be reminded that Anzu was a girl before concocting this whole scheme in the first place."

....

"Holy, moly, Seto, Kaiba." Anzu was bowled over by the sheer presence of the mayor of Domino City. "Now where on Earth did you find such an exceptionally lovely young lady as this?" The mayor bowed down and held out his hand to her. Uncertain, she extended her hand to his, and he gave it a light kiss. "Come, come, you must meet my wife, you can rejoin your exceptionally lucky boyfriend at his table." She followed him to his table, where a middle-aged woman was seated, her features refined and likely the product of a fair amount of plastic surgery.

"So you are the much gossiped about Anzu Mazaki, the one to prove that Mr. Kaiba is not a cold fish." The mayor's wife had a calculated smile, perfectly photogenic. "The pictures from that fast food joint do not do you justice, I can tell you that much."

"Umm, thank you, I guess I'm just lucky to have caught his eye." Anzu could feel her smile was already becoming strained; she could only imagine the kind of practice public figures needed for theirs. "Oh, and this dress, he got it just for me, along with many others of course." Anzu, acting on impulse, spun slowly in place.

"Indeed." The mayor spoke after taking a drink from his water. "And you got him to wear a normal jacket instead of that ridiculous coat of his; you must be working him around your finger as we speak." He and his wife shared a light laugh, interrupted only by the arrival of the waiter. "Well, we can speak more at the party this Saturday, you should return to Seto, keep working at him." He said with an insinuating wink, and for once Anzu was glad to be returning to Seto Kaiba's side.

[Scribbler]

“Did you know they were going to be here?” she asked as they were seated.

“No.” Seto was angry; but that seemed to be his default setting after cool indifference. It had obviously been a shock to him, too, when the concierge led them past a table and the man sitting at it leapt to his feet with a cry that made half the restaurant turn around. “I didn’t.”

“When I said this would be practise for Saturday, this isn’t what I meant. Thank you.” She accepted a menu from the waiter and opened it. Her expression instantly froze. She didn’t understand a word of what was written there. She recognised the western letters, but they had studied English in school, not French. The whole thing was complete gibberish to her.

Seto was watching her with an unreadable expression. She swallowed, trying to brave it out. It took a moment of putting the characters together in her head, but she sounded out one of the only ones she could. Her accent was probably terrible, but just getting to the end was an achievement for someone who had never spoken French before.

“Tee-Tee dee View.”

“Tete de Veau,” Seto corrected. Of course he spoke French. She couldn’t really hold that against him, but somehow she wanted to. “Are you sure?”

“Um … yes?”

His expression didn’t change. “You really want to eat a whole calf’s head?”

Anzu turned slightly green. “Um, how about Lan-gee-you-ee Luck-cullies?”

“Langue Lucullus.”

“Yeah, that.”

“You’re more adventurous than I took you for.”

“Oh god, what is it?”

“Smoked ox tongue stuffed with foie gras.”

“What’s foie gras?”

“Literally? Fat liver.”

“What?”

“Liver of a duck or goose that’s been specially fattened by force-feeding of corn.”

“But that’s so cruel!”

He didn’t comment. “Third time’s the charm?”

Anzu bit her lip and studied the menu. “Pie-Edds dee Shah-mee-ah-ooh.”

“Pieds de Chameau.” This time one corner of his mouth actually quirked. “Your best choice yet. Or worst, depending on how you look at it.”

She winced and waited.

“Camel’s feet,” he said smugly.

She covered her face with her hands. “I give up. I’ll stick to water. It’s safer.”

“Mademoiselle? Are you quite all right?” The waiter had reappeared. He was about as French as her left foot, but at least he looked concerned.

“I’m fine,” she assured him.

“Would you like to order now?”

She was about to say no when Seto spoke. “Quiche Lorraine for two.” He carried on speaking in rapid-fire French, which the waiter apparently understood judging by the speed with which he noted down the order. Since Seto’s age was part of his infamy, the waiter didn’t bother asking about wine, but promised to bring a jug of ice-water as he plucked up both menus and vanished like morning mist.

When he was gone Anzu said with false brightness, “What did you just order for me?”

“Quiche.” At her blank expression, Seto added, “Basically a pastry base filled with a custard, cheese and bacon mix; like an open-topped pie.”

“Custard and cheese together?” She grimaced. “And bacon too?”

“Just try it.”

It looked remarkably like a custard tart when it arrived with a salad side and some sort of grated potato mix. Anzu cautiously lifted her fork but hesitated before actually tasting it.

“You’ve walked along the top of a moving train. You can handle a little French cuisine.”

“That’s easy for you to say. Wait, what? How did you know that?”

“I have my sources. Now just try the damn quiche.” As if it was supposed to be some sort of encouragement, he tried his first. It didn’t kill him, at least. He looked pointedly at her plate, then at her, a hint of challenge in his gaze.

Warily, Anzu brought the tiniest bite to her lips. To her surprise, it was good; creamy and chewy with a salty zest from the slivers of bacons and slices of tomato on top.

“Good?” Seto asked when she took a second bite.

“Okay, so you win this one.”

Instead of claiming it wasn’t a competition, his mouth quirked again. It was brief, but she could have sworn it happened. Instead of feeling slighted, she actually felt … pleasant. It was a very disconcerting feeling; like when the dentist gives your novocaine and you know you should feel pain but it doesn’t quite register properly. She concentrated hard on her food, trying to ignore it.

[cypsiman2]

"Ow." Mokuba moaned as he rubbed his stomach; there had been more than just "some" chocolate cake and milkshake left, but he ate all of it all the same and now he was paying for it. "Isono, we've got something for a stomachache, right?" Trading one ache for another, moving it south so to speak, did not seem like much of an improvement to the boy.

"Here you go." He held out a pink bottle to Mokuba, and he realized that he had to have gotten it while he was eating.

"Thanks." He looked at the side to see how much to take, and went with the recommended dosage. Then he just sat back let it go to work, settling his stomach down. For a while things remained that way, his body and mind settling down, until he heard the front door.

"Tomorrow I will arrange for flowers and a card with a note about how sorry I am that I am too busy to see you to be sent to you at school; the image will be that I care about you and that you are in my heart no matter what." Mokuba looked around the corner to see his Brother and Anzu talking, civilly.

"I hope you know a good florist; different flowers mean different things, so if you send mixed messages this is all going to be mucked up." Anzu looked down at herself, ran her hands across the fabric of her dress. "I'm keeping this and all the others either way."

"I would not take them from you." Seto's eye's shot wide open for a moment. "After all, what use would I have for them?"

"So you say. Still, that was good food and you were...passable company. I think we might make it through all this in one piece after all."

"Indeed."

"Well, I'll go get changed back into my regular clothes, and then I'll be heading back home."

"I'll contact Takada and let him know to drive you back." Anzu went upstairs while Seto was headed right towards him. Mokuba panicked and returned to his seat, hoping against hope that his brother wouldn't think that he'd been snooping. The door swung open and he stared at the plate Mokuba had been eating from, the glass the Milkshake had been in. "Did you eat all that by yourself?"

"Ye, yes." Seto looked down at him inquisitively.

"I wonder..."

"I'm taking off now!" Anzu's voice could not have been a more timely interruption in Mokuba's estimation as he and his brother went to see her off.

"Did you have a good time, Anzu?" Mokuba said as though he hadn't overheard.

"As good as your brother could provide, which was better than I'd expected to be honest."

"How kind of you." It was a sliver, but he meant it. "I have work to take care of, good night." Seto took off, as though trying to escape from himself.

"Well, guess I'll see you later Mokuba. Good night." She turned, and as she did Mokuba stifled himself, kept himself from saying anything. He watched the door close behind her, and let out a sigh.

"I'm going to need a lot more chocolate."

[Scribbler]

Yuugi stared at the computer screen so intently, Sugoroku worried he would give himself eye strain.

“Yuugi, go to bed.”

“Okay, Grandpa.” He didn’t move.

Sighing, Sugoroku came over and hovered his finger over the power button.

“No, don’t!” Yuugi reached to stop him, then realised it had been a ploy. “Sorry, Grandpa.”

“It won’t change by you looking at it.”

“I know, it’s just …” Yuugi toyed with his sleeve, uncomfortable at admitting what he had been doing. “The people on this message-board are being so MEAN. They don’t even know Anzu. She’d been fake-dating Kaiba for less than three days and they’ve already judged her.” He glanced at the screen.

“Yuugi, it’s the internet. That’s what people do there: hide behind their anonymity as an excuse to be cruel and vicious. If you keep reading that bilge all you’ll do is make yourself depressed. You know Anzu is a wonderful person and that’s all that matters.”

“Yes, but the things they’re saying – the names they’re calling her –”

“Yuugi,” Sugoroku said sternly. “Bed. Now.”

Doubtfully, Yuugi went. When he was gone Sugoroku turned to close down the computer and caught a glimpse of the bile being spewed on Goss-Pop.net’s ‘Up to Date Dating Gossip’ page. In an article marked as under an hour old, a journalist speculated about when Seto Kaiba and his new girlfriend had met and how their relationship had come out of nowhere.

‘The unconventional young billionaire, famous for being one of the youngest CEOs in Japan, if not the world, is primed for a life in the spotlight after Kaiba Corp pulled in record profits last year. With the success of two well-publicised Duel Monsters tournaments under his belt, lots of women the world over have been marking time waiting for Seto Kaiba to turn eighteen so they can try to woo him for themselves. However, in an unprecedented development, Kaiba, who rarely dates and has never had a steady relationship according to our information, has started seeing a mysterious girl by the name of Anzu Mazaki. Rumours circulate that Mazaki and Kaiba once attended Domino High School together, before Kaiba dropped out due to health problems and decided to dedicate himself solely to his company upon his recovery. We here at Goss-Pop can also report that Mazaki is a close friend of Yuugi Mutou, current Duel Monsters champion who stole the title ‘King of Games’ out from under Kaiba at both of his own tournaments! Could it be that in retaliation Kaiba has stolen Mutou’s girl? Only time will tell – and us here at Goss-Pop, of course!’

Beneath the article readers could post their own comments. Flicking through them, Sugoroku could see why Yuugi had been distressed. The majority were female and incensed that Kaiba had been claimed by someone else. He wondered whether Kaiba even knew he was so popular with the ladies, and if he would care if he ever did know.

‘Could it be that in retaliation Kaiba had stolen Mutou’s girl?’

“Poor Yuugi,” Sugoroku murmured, stabbing the off button.

….

Anzu’s mother was waiting for her when she got in.

“So did you have a good evening?” she enquired from where she was watching an old black and white movie from the couch.

Their couch was threadbare and coffee-stained nothing at all like the sumptuous furnishings of Kaiba Mansion. Anzu picked at a corner as she spoke, reflecting that she would rather have this worn old thing than something stylish and uncomfortable.

“It was all right.”

“You didn’t want to claw his eyes out?”

“Surprisingly, no,” she was forced to admit.

Her mother turned. “You’re wearing something he bought you,” she observed. Anzu had called from the car phone inside the limo to tell her of her plans for after school and the evening. “And you have a lot of bags. Where on earth are you going to store all those shoe boxes?”

“I’ll think of something,” Anzu said listlessly.

“What’s the matter? Did he say something to upset you?”

“No, I just …” How to phrase it? How to explain that she was disappointed in herself for enjoying the evening? She had resolved to endure Seto’s company while thinking only of the money and gifts. Instead he had surprised her by being almost pleasant. Almost. It had thrown her out of whack a little, was all. She sighed and lumbered towards the stairs, dragging her shopping along with her. “I’m going to bed.”

“Anzu? Sweetheart?” Her mom came to stand at the foot of the stairs. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Mom.”

Her mother didn’t look convinced, but Anzu retreated to her room and closed the door behind her with a firm click, as if she could block out any confusing thoughts by putting it between her and them.

….

Seto stood inside the doorway of the guest room Anzu had used as a changing room. Nothing seemed out of place. She had tidied up nicely when she collected her things. Something about that pissed him off; as if he wanted her to have left a mess so he could hold it against her the next time they met. He shook his head and turned to leave, only to see a square of something blue sticking out from under the bed.

Aha!

He bent down to pick it up, only to find, to his disappointment, that it was just a dusting cloth left behind by whoever of his cleaning staff had done in here last. He straightened – and nearly jumped when he found himself nose to nose with Anzu.

“What the hell?” he sputtered. “I thought you went home.” How hadn’t he heard her come in?

She was still wearing that damn clingy red dress. He kept his eyes fixed on her face, lest she try to slap him for ogling her chest or something else inane. She smiled up at him; that genuine smile he had only ever seen her use when around or talking about her friends. She had smiled like that when Mokuba complimented her dress, although her eyes hadn’t been quite so wide and staring then. She watched him with an intensity that started to feel uncomfortable when she didn’t speak.

“Look, Mazaki, I don’t know what you think you’re playing at, but – mrrrf!”

His tirade was cut off when she suddenly reached up, grabbed his tie and dragged him down so she could fasten her mouth on his. Seto’s eyes widened in shock. What the hell was she doing? What was she thinking? There was no audience here for whom they had to pretend; besides which they had never kissed as part of their charade. It had seemed a step too far. Now, however, she pressed herself against him like she never wanted to let go.

And to his own chagrin and bewilderment, Seto wasn’t entirely sure he wanted her to.

Cymbals clanged through his head. No, not cymbals; the buzz of an alarm clock. He sat bolt upright in his own bed, breathing hard as he slammed a hand down on the snooze button. He stared around his own bedroom, which was empty, as it was meant to be. It had been a dream.

And Seto Kaiba, cool and self-possessed CEO and master duellist, scrubbed his hands across his face with a mumbled, “Damn it!”

[cypsiman2]

"Well, that was a weird one." As Anzu had told her mother before, this was not going to be a real life romantic-comedy where she started off hating Kaiba but wound up secretly nursing feelings for him or something like that. Among other things, her antipathy towards Seto was not based on something superficial or trivial, but on a lengthy history of behavior on his part towards her, her values, and her friends, most notably Yuugi; just thinking about the way he treated Yuugi after he spared his life back at Duelist Kingdom was enough to get her good and steamed. In any event, if this had been the sort of cheap, cliched movie that it wasn't, her dreams would have been filled with persistent romantic imagery of Seto Kaiba being suave and sweeping her off her feet and carrying her off on a white horse, any of which would be a sure sign of unreality.

No, the dreams she had were ones in which Seto Kaiba...was their friend, hanging out with her and Yuugi and Jounouchi and Honda and everyone else. He was still quiet, still himself of course, but somehow he was more sociable. "I bet the guys would get a real kick out of that." Anzu said as she brushed her hair, having only so much time to get ready for school, where Seto would have someone deliver flowers and a card to her, probably in the middle of class. "Oh well, another day another dollar I suppose."

....

"Seto, what's the matter?" Mokuba had slept surprisingly well, all things considered, and was surprised to see Seto seated over the coffee table, peering intently at a fancy but blank card, next to a bouquet of Amaryllis, Bell Flowers, and red Chrysanthemum.

"I'm trying to figure out what to put in the card, but nothing seems right." Seto looked really frustrated with it, like he was really trying. Then he looked up at Mokuba. "You've been getting good grades in Japanese, yes?" Mokuba nodded. "You haven't gotten over your crush since last night?" Mokuba blushed as he nodded, confused as to where Seto was going with this. "What would you put down?"

"Me???" Mokuba almost stumbled backwards off his feet.

"Yes, you; she did appreciate your compliments and said that I could stand to learn from you. So if I put down what you say, that should prove the most effective of our options."

"Okay, uh, let me think." For starters, Mokuba tried to think of a way to get the images of last night's dream, where he was the big brother and Seto the little, out of his head.

[According to wikipedia, Amaryllis means pride, Bell Flowers mean "thinking of you", and red Chrysanthemum means "I love". I figured those would be good choices.]

[Scribbler]

“You look like you slept well, considering you only got a few hours.” Anzu’s mother sipped coffee from a cracked mug with ‘Werld’s Greatist Moom’ on the side. Anzu had painted it as part of a school project when she was still learning to spell. Somehow the ugly thing had survived several house moves and a drop in a cardboard box from the back of a moving truck in which every other piece of crockery they owned was smashed.

“I did sleep well,” Anzu replied.

“Nice dreams, I hope.”

“Is that toast?”

“Avoiding the subject doesn’t make it go away. Have it.” Her mom waved a hand at her untouched slices, grabbing her house keys from the sideboard and sticking one arm through the sleeve of her blazer. “I’m late for work as it is.”

“Don’t run in your heels.” She had taken a tumble last month and badly sprained her ankle.

“Don’t worry; I have my run-for-the-bus flats on and my heels in here.” She patted her enormous handbag, which was more of an arm-bag when you thought about it.

One thing Anzu and her mother shared in spades was their love of shoes. In fact, Anzu had bought a few yesterday that weren’t even in her size, specifically so she could give her mom a gift. That would have to wait until she got home today, however.

Her mom paused by the door. “There’s something wrong with this situation – I’m supposed to warn you not to do stupid things that’ll get you injured.”

“Have a nice day, dear.” Anzu waved sweetly.

“Cheeky beggar.”

“But you love me anyway.”

All things considered, it was a good start to the day.

….

Anzu was incredibly grateful when she spotted Yuugi by the lockers. She didn’t quite launch herself at him, but her feet may have briefly left the floor. Judging by his expression, she had approached silently.

“What the –”

“Good morning!”

“Anzu? Uh, good morning.”

“Tch, look at her. She already has one boyfriend and now she’s making a play for another.” One of Seto’s fans from the day before slunk past, hissing like a poisonous snake. “And in public, too.”

“It’s shameful,” said one of her two cronies.

“Repulsive,” agreed the last. “She totally doesn’t deserve to date poor Seto. He treated her to a posh restaurant last night, and here she is, touting her wares for all to see.”

“Touting my wares?” Anzu repeated. “What does that even mean? I’m hugging my best friend.”

Their trio of expressions and proficient tutting said they didn’t believe her.

“Maybe you shouldn’t hug me,” Yuugi said reluctantly, pushing her away. “At least until Monday,” he added, quietly so they wouldn’t overhear.

A little of the wind went out of Anzu’s sails. “Oh. Okay. I was just pleased to see you, was all.”

“And I’m pleased to see you,” Yuugi said earnestly. “I am. I just don’t want to cause problems for you.” When you have enough already, he didn’t add. “You have to be careful. You’re all over Goss-Pop and some other websites.”

“I am?”

He nodded, and then looked embarrassed. “Your dress was really nice, by the way.”

“They have pictures? But … how?” She blinked, sending her thoughts back to last night. When could anyone have caught her on camera? There had been no photographers or suspiciously looking people who could have been undercover paparazzi.

“Camera phones.” Jounouchi strode down the row of lockers, his battered bag slung like Santa’s sack over his shoulder.

“Camera phones?” she asked weakly.

“Camera phones,” he confirmed. “Ask me how I know.”

“How do you know?”

“Mikata Teki is outside telling everyone she’s going to take incriminating pictures of you and sell them to one of those gossip pages now you’re famous.”

Anzu groaned. Before she met and befriended Yuugi, she had worked hard to be one of ‘Those Girls’, the group of popular students presided over by Mikata Teki. They had grown apart and finally broken off their tenuous friendship when selfish, possessive Mikata not only forced Anzu to break Yuugi’s Gameboy in front of him as a test of her loyalty, but also demanded Anzu never see ‘that geek’ ever again. Yuugi’s kind-hearted reaction to her destructive act had tugged Anzu’s heart and mind out of Mikata’s grip and she had turned her back on them to stick with him. Mikata had never forgotten the slight of being passed over for a ‘geek’ and it looked like she was choosing now to enact her payback.

Yuugi was looking at her with concern. “Anzu, are you all right?”

“This is so much more than I anticipated when I signed up,” she admitted. Her good mood was evaporating before she had even made it into school. Wonderful.

“Don’t worry,” Jounouchi assured her, patting her arm. “You’re our friend and Mikata ‘hey look there’s that idiot with the big mouth and no brain, let’s point and laugh at his sneakers with the hole in the toe’ Teki ISN’T. We’ve got your back.”

“Yeah,” Yuugi concurred. “We’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything to make you feel bad.”

“Honda and Otogi too, if he’s in school today.” Otogi was frequently absent because of business concerns. There was talk of him having to repeat the year. Unlike Seto, who had dropped out entirely to run Kaiba Corp, Otogi wanted to ‘experience real teenage life’ before consigning himself wholly to being CEO of Black Rose Gaming.

Anzu could feel herself welling up. “Thanks, guys. I don’t know what I’d do without friends like you.”

[cypsiman2]

Class had been going relatively peacefully when it had happened; the door suddenly opened and Miss Chono was the first to respond. "Oh my, flowers and a card? Someone is lucky and I think I know who!" She said as she attempted to smile, her face still not quite cooperative. The man she spoke to, tall and slender, paid no attention to her and once he found his target, he went straight for her.

"Here you are Miss Mazaki, flowers and a card." He held out the bouquet to her until she took it from his hands. Then he took out the card and started reading off it without any further prompt. "Dear Anzu, I can not convey the depth of my regret that I can not spend this day with you; last night with you was a time that I wish could have lasted forever, just you and me. All the wealth and all the power in the world is as nothing compared to you and your smiling face. Come tomorrow, if you would treat me to a walk in the park with you, only then could I consider myself a rich man. Yours, Seto Kaiba." The man put the card down on Anzu's desk. "Man, never figured Mr. Kaiba for such a romantic. Well, my job's done." And with that he left, quite casually all told. Everyone stared at Anzu as she herself stared down at the flowers and the card in blank confusion.

....

"This can't be over too soon." Mokuba grumbled as his stomach did the same, two empty plates. "I don't think I'll ever be able to enjoy chocolate again." Sometimes not even Mokuba could believe the things his brother did, the plans he'd come up with; asking him to write the card even though he knew...no, because he had a crush on Anzu, because he would be the most driven to write just the right thing. A small part of him thought about sabotaging Seto, but beyond the importance of the Green Gables project that could not be jeopardized, he looked so earnestly serious about it, Mokuba couldn't betray his trust like that.

Then his cell phone rang, and he answered. "Mokuba." Then a pause.

"Yes, big brother?"

"...What are some nice things I should say to her tomorrow, at the park?"

Sunday could not come too soon.

[Scribbler]

When lunch came, Anzu grabbed hers and fled outside. She took shelter in some shade in the lee of the bike sheds, away from the track, water fountains and grassy areas where people habitually gathered. She knew her friends would find her – they had eaten lunch there together several times before. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was private, which was what she wanted – no, NEEDED – right now.

Miss Chono had been an absolute nightmare. She had picked on Anzu every chance she got and called on her to complete unreasonable tasks in front of the class, then berated her when she failed. It was as if Anzu’s flash-in-the-pan bite of fame was a personal insult she intended to rectify, no matter how much vitriol and haranguing it took.

Anzu leaned back against the wall and heaved a sigh. She wasn’t some wannabe fame monster who was willing to settle for dating a celebrity to taste that life herself. Next year you wouldn’t find her enrolling in some exploitative reality TV show to taste fame again, or giving tell-all interviews to cash in further on her ‘relationship’ with Seto. Reading stories about WAGs had always made her feel bad about being female; as if she was letting the side down by condoning their behaviour, or even the name ‘WAG’ itself without contending it.

“I’m not his girlfriend,” she murmured, reassuring herself of that fact, at least. If she kept repeating it, maybe the humiliation would go away.

Her dreams had left the pleasant idea of what it would be like if Seto was more personable, or at least able to interact with their friendship group without starting World War III. If only reality could match up to the fantasy. That would have made this situation much easier. Then again, if Seto was more personable, he wouldn’t have had any trouble getting a date and she wouldn’t have been called on to play the part of one at all. It was all so messy and convoluted, and she would be glad when it was over, even if it meant no more lovely shoes. Shopping at thrift stores was humbling, but at least it didn’t carry a second price tag for her dignity.

A shadow fell over her. She opened her eyes, expecting to see her friends, but instead was treated to the sight of three female figures silhouetted above her. She squinted, shading her eyes to make out their faces.

“So where did you put your flowers?” sneered one.

“Did you give them to Yuugi Mutou? Or Katsuya Jounouchi? We saw you fawned all over them this morning.”

“No, she’s more interested in Hiroto Honda and his motorcycle. Easy girls like her are always interested in motorcycles and stuff like that.”

“You’re both wrong. She’s after Ryuuji Otogi. He’s the richest guy in school, so of course nobody else would do to two-time poor Seto.”

Anzu suppressed a groan. It was Seto’s harpy fan club. Well, at least it wasn’t Mikata. She didn’t know these girls’ names, but she could deal with them. She was ripe to give someone a tongue-lashing after her degradation in class.

“I’m not two-timing Seto,” she said calmly. “Maybe it’s difficult for you to comprehend, but it is possible to be friends with a guy without wanting to date them.”

“Don’t patronise us, Mazaki.”

“Yeah, we know what a slut you are.”

Anzu’s spine straightened. She told herself not to rise to their baiting, but to stay calm. That always ticked off people more than if you started yelling. “I think you’ll find that’s called slander.”

“It’s called the truth!”

“Change the record. And while you’re at it, could you step to one side? You’re blocking my light.” In an act of supreme dismissal, she linked her hands behind her head and settled back as if about to take a nap.

“You don’t deserve someone as wonderful and rich as Seto Kaiba!” one of the girls said tearfully. “What the hell made him pick you, of all people?”

“My sparkling wit and dazzling personality,” Anzu replied.

“Well it sure wasn’t your face!”

“Are we really descending to ‘you’re ugly and you smell’ insults? I thought those got left behind in elementary school.”

There was the sound of muffled conferring. Anzu smiled to herself. These girls were so caught up in feeling insulted and jealous, they didn’t realise all their arguments were flawed. It felt good to fight back after being at Miss Chono’s mercy.

Someone seized her arm. Anzu’s eyes snapped open as someone else grabbed her other wrist, yanking her arm up and the rest of her torso with it. She gave a squawk of surprise as she was manhandled to her feet and both arms twisted up behind her back.

“What are you doing?”

The tallest girl advanced, a mean look in her eye. She may not have been the brightest stone in the jewellery box, but she glittered with malice and petty jealousy. “Making sure ‘you’re ugly’ becomes just a statement of fact, not an insult.”

“What –” Anzu cut herself off as she spotted something glimmering in the girl’s left hand.

Suddenly the situation seemed a whole lot more serious. She struggled, but the other two held her arms tight. On instinct she propelled herself backwards, into them, shoving them towards the bike shed wall. They crashed against the pebble-dashed surface, yelping in pain. One of them released her left arm, which she balled into an awkward fist and used to punch the other girl holding her. Anzu was no fighter, but Honda and Jounouchi had taught her how to throw a decent hook and the golden rule if she ever found herself in a fight: run like hell. As Honda had taken pains to point out, there was no shame in running away it a fight was likely to be a bloodbath instead of a fair contest.

“Oh no you don’t!” The tall girl thrust out her hand.

Anzu ducked, avoiding an attack even clumsier than her own. This wasn’t likely to give Jackie Chan any worries about challenges to his crown. The tall girl righted herself, but rather than try again she kicked out while Anzu was crouched and connected with her leg. Instantly the nerve in her thigh spasmed and the muscle deadened. It was a lucky shot – or an unlucky one from Anzu’s point of view. She tried to get to her feet, but needed support and time while the feeling came back – neither of which she had. She hobbled backwards, thinking her only chance was to get someplace less private and shout for help.

The tall girl tackled her. They both went down in a tangle of limbs.

“You’re insane!” Anzu exclaimed. “You’ll be expelled for this!”

The girl didn’t respond except with a wild cry and a yank of Anzu’s hair. Something sharp scored across her left cheek, leaving a burning pain in its wake. Warm stickiness slid down her head, into her hairline and toward her ear. Anzu redoubled her efforts, bicycle-kicking upwards with her good leg. Her shoe found the back of the girl’s head. It was a powerful kick; all those years of dancing had strengthened Anzu’s legs considerably. The girl’s eyes rolled up into her head and she slumped sideways onto the ground.

“You killed her!” shrieked one of the other girls.

“No I didn’t,” Anzu protested, scrambling to sit up and holding her bleeding cheek. The cut hurt like hell and she was missing chunks of hair. In the tall girl’s slack hand she spotted a tiny penknife, extended blade smeared red along its edge. Anzu felt sick at what had nearly happened, but was conscious of the other two girls coming towards her. “She’s fine! Get the hell away from me!”

Suddenly a voice roared behind them and she heard footsteps thundering towards them.

[cypsiman2]

"Get out of here, now!" It had been a long time since the Spirit of the Puzzle, the nameless Pharaoh, had been so infused with primal rage; normally Yuugi would have acted as restraint, a reminder of the power of mercy over punishment. Yet the moment they saw it, the cut on Anzu's face, even Yuugi's kindness had met its limit. "Get out of here now, before I do something I'll regret." The shadows gathered, teeming with a negative will unconcerned with good or evil, right or wrong, merely punishment; the more twisted and ironic, the better, and there were plenty of ironies to exploit with these two.

"He's glowing, how the hell's he glowing?" The one girl shrieked as the other picked up their fallen friend.

"Just do as he says, he means it!" They couldn't see the shadows, not properly, their eyes too dull and mundane, but the sensations crawling across their skins was more than enough.

"Okay buddy, calm down now." Honda was put on edge by the persistent expression of rage on Yuugi's face.

"Here you go Anzu, this should help that cut." Even though it had been a long time since the last scrape he'd gotten himself into, Jounouchi still kept a bit of gauze on his person, just in case. The spirit himself was trying to calm down, breathing heavily, but in the absence of immediate danger, his mind wandered to wider sources.

"Kaiba..." He growled the name; it had been one thing to force this scheme upon them, to force Yuugi deny his own happiness so that Anzu could have what she deserved, but for it to have led to this...

"Yuugi, it's okay!" Anzu squeezed him tight and was not letting go, even as her leg gave out. He could just see the gauze drawn tight around the wound, thankfully shallow. "Look, those three were crazy, something was going to set them off no matter what, that much is clear, and when Seto finds out what happened here, expulsion will be the least of their worries. So just please, don't..."

For several minutes they all just sat there, even as a crowd gathered, keeping its distance. Then Anzu's cell phone rang.

"It's probably Seto." Yuugi said with his own voice again. "You should answer it." Even after coming that close to the brink, Yuugi was able to pull himself back, albeit with the help of the best friends either of them could ever ask for.

"Yeah, I should."

....

"Hello, Anzu." Seto was nervous; spontaneous timing on gifts was good, right? Girls like Anzu liked romantic displays like that, right? "Did, did you enjoy your card and flowers?"

"The flowers were great, the card was surprisingly touching, but there is the little matter of a petty jealous teacher, and a trio of psychotic fangirls who just tried to kill me."

"WHAT???" Seto slammed his free hand down onto his desk. "I'll be there immediately." He turned the phone off and stormed out of his office, not responding to anything anyone said as he made his way to his car. At worst this was supposed to result in stupid, ugly, inane little rumors. That someone would actually attack Anzu over something like this, over the flowers that he'd sent, the card that he'd wri...he paused the moment he'd gotten into his car. "Mokuba can't know." If his brother thought that he'd contributed in any way to Anzu being hurt...like he said, Mokuba couldn't know. He then drove off to Domino High, focused on what he was going to do when he got there.

[Scribbler]

Kino grabbed at the paperwork that blew off his desk when Mr. Kaiba stormed out of his office. In the flurry of sheets, it took him a moment to realise he had not only left the office, but the entire building. Kino scrambled, clutching his electronic organiser. He used to keep track of all Mr. Kaiba’s appointments and meetings, plus any deadlines for contracts or deals being brokered.

“Mr. Kaiba, wait!” he shouted, but he was too late. The sleek red sports car blew out of the parking lot and zoomed down the street. Kino watched it go with alarm. “You have a … meeting,” he said, even though he was the only one who could hear the warning.

What on earth could have prompted the exacting Seto Kaiba to abandon his post without warning like that? The only thing Kino could think of was that something had happened to Mokuba. Mr. Kaiba doted on his little brother as much as he seemed to loathe everything else in the world. If anything could make him miss an important business meeting, it was if his little brother had been hurt or was in trouble.

Anxiously, Kino made his way back inside. Once he had returned to his desk, he picked up the phone on his desk and pressed speed-dial for Mokuba’s school to find out what was wrong, and if there was anything he should arrange to help. He was nothing if not diligent.

….

Anzu lowered the phone from her ear and held it to her chest for a moment. Seto had bought it for her at the Mega Mall, he said to keep in touch and make plans during the coming week, although he had also said she could keep it afterwards. She wasn’t sure she could afford to keep paying for a cell phone, but it was useful to have one, and this was more advanced than anything anybody else had at school.

“So?” Jounouchi prompted. “What did Moneybags want?”

“He’s … coming here,” she said, surprise still evident in her voice. She had imagined Seto would be irritated, maybe even crossing the boundary into ticked off, but for him to put in a personal appearance when he had specifically said he wouldn’t today, and had arranged those flowers and that card for that very reason … she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Maybe he had better instincts at playing the part of a boyfriend than she had thought.

“Seto Kaiba is coming back here, to Domino High?” Jounouchi said in disbelief. Since he dropped out, Seto had never been back to the school even to clear out his locker. It was as if returning to the place he had failed to stick at would bring further shame, despite his success as a CEO in the meantime. “Crap, we’d better fetch the red freaking carpet.”

“Dude,” Honda said sternly. “Not helping.”

“How is your cheek, Anzu?” Yuugi sounded concerned and exhausted. He looked it, too; swaying slightly and with hands still trembling from his outburst.

Anzu gazed at him for a moment, still holding tight to the phone. Abruptly she flung her arms around him and hugged him tight. “Thank you.”

He stiffened, eyes going wide. He was acutely aware of the crowd watching them. “Y-You’re welcome, but you don’t need to thank me. You would’ve done the same for me. Actually, you have done the same for me. I was just, uh, repaying the favour. Very late.”

She snuffled a hoarse chuckle into his shoulder, only breaking away when a taller figure than the rest pushed through the crowd.

“What on earth is going on here? Oh. Mazaki. I should’ve known you’d be at the centre of any calamity. What did you do this time?”

“I got attacked, Miss Chono.”

The blonde teacher sniffed haughtily. “I doubt that.”

“She was too attacked!” Yuugi piped up.

“By whom?”

“I, uh … don’t know their names.”

“Very convenient.”

“Just look at her face!” Jounouchi added his voice to the mix, shrinking back when the teacher shot him a withering look. “Uh, Miss Chono, ma’am.”

“I think she just fell and cut herself,” Miss Chono said.

As one, their mouths dropped open.

“You can’t be serious!” Jounouchi exclaimed.

“I’m entirely serious, stupid boy. Mazaki, go and clean yourself up, for goodness’ sake. You’re filthy. You’re the kind of student who makes the school look bad, wandering around like some hobo brawler. And as for you three,” she rounded on Yuugi, Honda and Jounouchi, “you can report to my classroom after school to clean all the chalkboard erasers and wash the chalkboards as punishment for your rudeness and insolence.”

“What?” Honda sounded indignant, since he hadn’t said a thing to her.

“Aw, man,” said Jounouchi.

Yuugi said nothing. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Miss Chono hadn’t mentioned Anzu in that punishment, but he doubted this was because she was letting her get off scot-free.

And yet that seemed to be exactly what she was doing. Miss Chono excused herself, shooing curious students away as she departed. The four friends exchanged looks, before Anzu said and also left to go wash her face. She limped away into the school building, leaving Yuugi, Honda and Jounouchi to wonder at the quality of faculty employment at their school.

….

Miss Chono slid the classroom door shut behind her and turned to face the three girls around her desk. They each looked the worse for wear, with varying degrees of dirt staining their uniforms and a few bruises already beginning to show. One was even sporting the start of a black eye.

“You won’t be punished for this,” she assured them icily, “but I expected better from you. What were you thinking?”

They didn’t get the chance to answer, as the door slid back open and a tall girl with dark hair and violet eyes stepped inside the room. She had elegant features and feathery lashes that made her eyes seemed extra huge and innocent, but her mouth was cruel and thin.

“Never mind what they were thinking,” she said silkily. “It may have been a stupid move, but it certainly got results.”

“Mikata?” Miss Chono looked on her protégé with curiosity. “What is it?”

Mikata Teki waved an expensive looking phone at them and smiled viciously. “Pictures of Anzu Mazaki attacking a student hard enough to give her a shiner, and kicking another in the head. Also pictures of her embracing and trying to kiss another student.”

“Who?”

“Yuugi Mutou.”

“She wasn’t trying to kiss him,” said the girl with the black eye.

“From the angle of this picture, it sure looks like she is.” Mikata lifted her chin proudly. “Now let’s see her lord it over the rest of us about her rich, perfect boyfriend.”

The collected amount of vitriol in the room at that moment would have been enough to poison the entire school three times over.

[cypsiman2]

Mokuba was having a late lunch, which consisted of a light salad, some bread, and water, absolutely nothing the lest bit decadent, rich, or sugary at all, when his phone rang. "Hello?"

"Mr. Mokuba, are you all right? What's happened over there? Are there any arrangements I should make?"

"...What?" It took Mokuba a moment to process what Mr. Kino was saying. "Why would you think something was wrong? I'm perfectly okay." On the outside at any rate, and mostly the inside too, just a few niggling complaints in his heart. Needless to say none of his friends at school were any help, either unsympathetic or asking really inappropriate questions that he'd rather not think about.

"Nothing's wrong? You're entirely certain?"

"I think I'd know if something had happened to me."

"Well, then, would you have any idea where Mr. Kaiba would suddenly run off to?"

"Wait, he's run off somewhere?"

"Yes, he just stormed out his office, like he was on a warpath or something, I figured it would have to be you, I mean, who else could there be..." Mokuba knew that if he could see Mr. Kino, he'd have the same expression on his face as he did.

"Anzu." Whether it was an act or impossibly real, Mokuba couldn't spare a thought to his brother's motives as his legs moved of their own accord and his fingers turned off the phone before turning it back on and hitting the appropriate speed dial. "Takada, this is an emergency, I need to get to Domino High right now!" Mokuba honestly had no idea what if anything there was he could do, but he was hardly concerned with rational issues like that.

....

Mr. Sugiyama sighed wearily; for a time it seemed as though things would be normal at Domino Hiigh, that the strange accidents and maladies that befell countless students would be a thing of the past. Then news broke out about Anzu Mazaki dating Seto Kaiba and all hell broke loose, culminating with Anzu being assaulted and all semblance of order lost. He of course didn't believe Miss Chono when she said that Anzu had just tripped, but since neither she nor any of her friends could identify just who'd attacked her, there was little he could do. It didn't help matters that Miss Chono's father was a man of influence and means, a good of the Mayor, and with that party on Saturday, anything untoward his daughter would reach dangerous ears with all due haste.

"Mr. Sugiyama." The principal turned around and gaped in open shock at the sight of Seto Kaiba. "Your cooperation is requested for my investigation. To start, I'm going to need the profiles for all the female students, and the profile for Miss Chono."

Mr. Sugiyama resigned himself to his fate; refusing Seto would likely end his career immediately. "Very well."

....

"Hey Yuugi, while we're stuck here," Jounouchi said as he clapped the fifth pair of chalkboard erasers given to him, "I've been meaning to ask something; the Other Yuugi, he's why Miss Chono's always got that nasty look on her face, right?" Yuugi could feel his other self's embarrassment at the reminder.

"Yeah, he kind of was." He could have made excuses about giving Miss Chono a taste of her own medicine, but he wasn't really in the mood; after what had happened to Anzu and what he almost did, that feeling had yet to leave the pit of his stomach, almost enough to put the whole Sham Seto/Anzu relationship out of mind. Almost.

"Ah, Miho." Honda sighed wistfully at the memory of the shy librarian girl who he once called Ribbon, even the part where she turned him down point-blank brought a smile to his face.

"...Anyway," Jounouchi put away the erasers and grabbed up the final pair. "You think the Other You could give her back her old face, maybe as part of a trade to get her off Anzu's case?"

Yuugi paused to think about that. "Could you do that, Other Me?" He spoke inwardly, where only the spirit could hear him.

"Out of all my Punishment Games, that was one of the most mild ones, and it has been some time since then. I may be able to withdraw the lingering shadows from her face, but she has to be sincere, otherwise it won't work, the shadows can't have anything to cling to."

Yuugi nodded, and reported back to Jounouchi and Honda.

....

Anzu spent a fair amount of time in the bathroom cleaning herself off, and whenever someone showed up, they quickly took off in favor of another. She felt at the portion of her cheek covered in gauze and marveled at how close she came to losing an eye. "Anzu, the one-eyed ballerina." No laugh; only Yuugi ever thought her jokes were funny. She turned her head up and looked past the ceiling. "If anyone's up there looking down here, I'd really appreciate it if you could take some of this heat off me." Then she stepped back out in the open and started making her way back to class, knowing full well that she was already woefully late, when she heard someone yelling.

"Let go of me, I am not a teddy bear!"

"What the..." Anzu knew his voice well enough, but Mokuba being here at Domino High seemed like one bizarre turn too many. "Give me strength." She muttered to herself, a phrase she'd heard her father say after his time in New York.

[Scribbler]

[I’m loving this running theme of poor Mokuba’s sugar hangover. ]

Seto perused the paperwork and cursed under his breath. He hadn’t recognised the name when he heard it; the mayor’s name was Nuranura, a world away from Chono, but there he was listed as her next of kin, relationship: father, along with a woman named Hisa Chono. Miss Yoshe Chono must have been his daughter from a previous marriage. This made everything more difficult. Seto couldn’t rip the woman to shreds like he wanted if she was so closely connected to the mayor – at least until after planning permission was assured and he could be sure there were no hiccups waiting to happen with Project Green Gables. He needed the mayor on his side, not because he wielded power in town hall, but because of the influence he wielded over his peers and friends. One bad word from him and the entire project would die, or run into so many problems it would never reach completion.

Seto’s hand curled into a fist. For the time being, Miss Chono was untouchable. If, as he suspected, she was shielding the girls who had hurt Anzu, they shared in her protection. For now.

“And only for now,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

All at once he realised how ridiculous he was acting. Forcing his hand to unclench, he reminded himself that this was just one of Yuugi’s idiot friends. Would he be this bothered if Jounouchi or Honda had been smacked around? No, so there was no reason why he should feel any different about Anzu. She had a big mouth and constantly used it to annoy people with her infernal friendship speeches and chatter about love and trust and blah-blah-blah. It was entirely possible this was just the natural conclusion to her bossy ways: she had finally run across someone unwilling to take her crap but willing to fight back. Maybe she had been asking for it. He hadn’t seen her since he arrived. She was probably exaggerating on the phone. Nobody had tried to kill her or do more than shut her the hell up for once.

He stood up from the headmaster’s chair and bundled the paperwork into a pile. Going out into the reception where Mr. Sugiyama waited like a naughty schoolboy outside his own office, Seto reflected that he was getting a lot of respect for a high school dropout.

Mr. Sugiyama stood up, wringing his hands. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I found enough.”

“The girls … were unidentifiable by witnesses, and Miss Chono is a … valued member of staff.” From the way he hesitated, Mr. Sugiyama was aware of the irony behind his words.

Seto grunted. A whipcrack of defiance sounded within him. Despite telling himself he didn’t care, he found himself saying: “I will be taking Anzu Mazaki out of school for the rest of the day. Please inform her mother of where she is.”

“Seto … uh, Mr. Kaiba, I mean. You can’t just take her without the consent of her next of kin.”

“So get me her mother’s number and I’ll tell her myself. Either way, Anzu is not staying here this afternoon. When I asked you about her injuries, you said she was cut on her face. I will be taking Anzu to a doctor to have her wound cleaned and stitched if necessary.”

“I’m sure it won’t be, but –”

“Mr. Sugiyama, you’re aware of the media attention my relationship with Anzu has gathered so far. If it comes out that she was attacked on school property, the reputation of Domino High could suffer. I could help paint the school in a more favourable light, but I could also malign it as a place where bullies get away with attempted murder while the cushy old headmaster sits on his hands pretending everything is fine. Which would you prefer?”

Mr. Sugiyama blanched and asked his secretary to bring up Anzu Mazaki’s personal details on the computer so Mr. Kaiba could call her mother at work.

[cypsiman2]

[Heh heh, thanks! For some reason I like tormenting Mokuba in this way.]

Sakura Mazaki was wiping the sweat from her brow when her boss called her over, said there was someone on the phone for her, sounded important. So she maneuvered her way between tables as efficiently as possible and took the receiver in hand. "Hello?"

"You are Sakura Mazaki, Anzu's mother?" She'd heard that voice before, but she couldn't place it.

"Yes, did something happen to Anzu?" Worry gripped around her throat, constricting her breathing.

"Someone has attacked her, so I would like to take her to a doctor to make sure the wound does not become infected, and then she shall remain at my residence for the rest of the day."

"Your residence...you're Seto Kaiba, aren't you? And what do you mean my daughter was attacked, explain what's going on!"

"It is like I said, someone attacked her, I don't know who. When I do find out, that will be their final day. In any event, I need your permission before I can do anything."

Sakura Mazaki sighed; this was not how this sort of scenario was supposed to play out, no one was supposed to get anything worse than a mild comeuppance or the like. "You, you can go ahead, take her to the doctor, put her in the softest beds in the world, you have my permission, but please let me visit her when I get off work."

"That is acceptable. Thank you." There was a sound of honest relief to his voice. "I can see where your daughter gets her intelligence from...grr, I mean...good bye!" He hung up before she could say anything. And unfortunately, work yet beckoned on, no time to contemplate Freudian slips.

....

"Oh my gawd, you are just too impossibly adorable!" A shrill, high-pitched shriek came from around the corner, and when Anzu emerged past it, she saw just what was going on; Mokuba was in the arms of Yumiko Hazuki, the tallest girl in school, having the life squeezed right out of him.

"I said to let go!" Mokuba squirmed and struggled but nothing came of it. "I need to find Anzu!"

"I think you should listen to him." Anzu's voice froze both parties in their place. "If Seto's on the warpath for my sake, what do you think he'd do for his little brother?"

"Seto Kaiba's little brother?" Yumiko held Mokuba out at arm's length, studied his face. "Oh, ha ha, I guess I can see it now, ha ha." She put him back down, laughed awkwardly some more, and then ran off down the hall. With her long gone, Mokuba turned around, saw the bandage on Anzu's face, and ran up to her.

"Anzu, what happened, are you okay, who did this, what's Seto going to do to them, when did-!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down Mokuba!" Anzu covered his mouth with her hand and wondered whether he had a big bowl of sugar before coming. "What are you even doing here, don't you have school too?"

"Um, yes, but..." Mokuba looked away from her as faint red blush appeared on his face. "Mr. Kino called and said something had happened to you, and before I even knew it, I was halfway here; the school aren't actually all that far apart."

Yeesh, even Mokuba was dropping everything and running off to help her; what was next, Pegasus, the Ishtars? Still..."Thank you for being so concerned Mokuba, it really does help." She cupped his face in her hand, forcing him to look her in the eye.

"Uh, no problem." After a moment's hesitation he practically jumped back away from her. "I just, if there's anything I could do..."

"Mokuba? What are you doing here?" Mokuba gaped, and Anzu turned around to see Seto Kaiba standing over them.

[Scribbler]

To say Seto’s expression was thunderous would be a huge underestimation. His glower could have stripped chrome off steel. Anzu thought she could actually feel her hair trying to shrink back into its follicles to get away from him.

Mokuba’s jaw continued to hang. “Uhhhh …”

“Why. Aren’t. You. In. School?”

“Um … fire drill?”

“Try. Again.”

“He heard about what happened to me.” Anzu stepped in front of him, shielding him from his brother with her body. “And he came to make sure I was okay.”

“How the hell did you find out, Mokuba?”

“Mr. Kino called. He thought something had happened to me and that’s why you ran off.”

Seto made a noise somewhere between a snarl and a groan. “I’ll have to take you back on our way to the doctor’s.”

“Doctor’s?” Anzu echoed suspiciously.

“You’re going to get that wound cleaned and sanitised.”

“I already cleaned it.”

He gave her another chrome-stripping stare. “I already cleared it with the school and your mother. You’re coming with me.”

“You called my MOM?!” Anzu gaped. “How dare you!”

“The school was obligated to let her know what happened to you anyway.”

“That’s not the point. It’s one thing to involve me in your scheme, but you leave my mom out of it! I don’t want her to be a part of this … this madness!” Anger lent her the confidence to walk up to Seto and square off against him – which, considering she was substantially shorter than him, meant squaring off against the region of his nipples. It was less than threatening. Still, she persevered. “My mom has enough stuff to think about without …” Unable to think of an appropriate word, she waved a hand and made a noise she hoped represented her feelings on the mater. “Nyehpruffa!”

“She was grateful for my call and my offer to take you to get proper medical attention.” Seto’s eyes ticked downwards for a moment, before quickly flicking back to her face. “And to get some less revealing clothes.”

“Less revealing? This is my school uniform, Seto.”

“Have you seen it lately?”

She looked down at herself. In the bathroom she had spent so much time examining her face and patching it up that she hadn’t paid much attention to her clothes. Now she saw that during the scuffle, probably when she was on the ground kicking her way to freedom, she had torn down one of the pleats in her skirt and popped two buttons off her blazer, which was streaked with dirt and grass stains.

“Oh no!” she exclaimed. “It’s ruined! Grass stains never come out!”

“As I said, I’ll take you to get something to wear. We can replace your uniform while we’re at it.”

“What? Seto, enough is enough. I can understand you buying me stuff to wear while we’re out on dates. You have a reputation to maintain and most of my clothes would embarrass you because I made them myself by sewing second hand stuff together into new outfits. That I understand, but this is my school uniform. You’re under no obligation to buy me something you’re never going to see.” She paused. “Well outside of right now.”

“Yours was damaged as a result of you agreeing to date me,” Seto said harshly. “Therefore it IS my responsibility to replace it.”

“No!”

“Why are you fighting me? You were more than happy to let me buy all those shoes for you.”

“That was different. I couldn’t afford even one pair of those and you offered to get them so I could wear them out with you. They were a gift. This. Is. My. School. Uniform.”

“I. Know. You. Don’t. Need. To. Speak. To. Me. Like. I’m. An. Idiot.”

“You. Started. It.”

Mokuba stared from one of them to the other. During their heated exchange Seto had leaned down to make his point right into Anzu’s face. They were so close they looked like they had just finished a slow dance. Anzu’s furious expression couldn’t quite strip chrome, but could at least put a dent in the steel.

“Uh, guys?”

“What?” the y said, turning in unison. It was quite creepy, actually.

“Don’t you think you should keep something like this, um, private?”

It took a second before their expressions registered that he was correct. Seto straightened and Anzu folded her arms to cover her popped buttons, before releasing one hand to hold the split in her skirt closed.

“He’s right,” Seto muttered. “This isn’t couple behaviour.”

Anzu let out a little snort. “I don’t know; this is exactly how my parents acted before the divorce.”

Seto slid his eyes down at her, but she didn’t notice. “Come on,” he said crisply. “I’m parked outside.”

“Me too,” said Mokuba. “Well, Takada is waiting for me in the limo.”

“I’ll tell him to go home,” said Seto. “I’ll take you back to school myself and explain your behaviour to your headmistress.”

“Aw, Seto!”