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Post by cypsiman2 on Jan 27, 2012 19:38:38 GMT -5
Seto, Mokuba, and Anzu were halfway to Mokuba's school when Seto broke the silence. "Is Miss Chono particularly close to any of her students?"
"What?" Anzu looked over at him in confusion.
"According to her profile, this is not the first time you and she have at ends with one another. Considering that she concealed the identities of your assailants, there may be a connection."
"Oh good grief." Anzu sighed and threw her head back; weren't creepy, obsessive conspiracies to avenge half-imagined slights supposed to be the domain of Duel Monsters and not the rest of life? "I don't know, I try to pay as little attention to her as I can. And what would the point of a conspiracy against me even be? They were just a group of YOUR psychotic fangirls."
"And that is why you are as vulnerable to her machinations as you are." If he had any sort of feelings over finding out that he had fangirls, psychotic or otherwise, Seto didn't let it show.
"Whatever." Anzu raised her fingers to her cheek, checking to see that it was still tender.
"We're just trying to help, Anzu." Mokuba glanced back at her, but only for a moment. "Are you sure you can't think of someone who has a grudge against you, who could use those three against you?"
Anzu's eyes grew wide as she let out a moan; she couldn't BELIEVE that Seto could be right about something as crazy as this! "Miss Chono is friends with Mikata Teki's father, and Mikata's hated me ever since...look, for a really long time, okay?" With Miss Chono and Mikata calling the shots and those three psychotic fangirls at their beck and call, that would be enough vitriol to poison the whole school three times over, all aimed at her.
"There, you see? You're more observant than you give yourself credit for." Seto clamped up for a moment, causing the car to jerk, and then drove on smoothly the rest of the way like nothing had happened.
....
Seto Kaiba had never had occasion to speak with Mokuba's headmistress, and now that he was, he had no desire to repeat the experience. "Mrs. Yagami, you can not possibly be serious."
"Why can't I, Mr. Kaiba?" Mrs. Yagami spoke with such ethereal calm that not even a plague of locusts could disrupt it. "It was only one class that Mokuba missed, and it was to see with his own eyes that your dear Anzu was well and provided with whatever she might need. While I would not like it to be a regular practice, I can hardly fault Mokuba's priorities in this matter."
"But it is against the rules to skip class, regardless of whatever motive the student might posses or profess to having."
"But I decide whether the rules are worth enforcing in such circumstances; after all, we create the rules of our society to serve us, not the other way around." Then she turned her attention to Mokuba. "Mokuba, from now on you have to stay at school and not run off of your own accord. Do you understand that?"
"Yes mam."
"Well then, everything is resolved; Mokuba will return to his final class for today, and you can be on your way with your dear friend, Mr. Kaiba."
"Very well." Seto turned towards his little brother. "I will see you back at home."
.....
If Mokuba had hoped the rest of the school day might have gone peacefully, those hopes were shattered inside of ten minutes.
"Come on Mokuba, spill it, what happened?" Their teacher for the last class was hard of hearing and so it was easy for students to whisper in class without being overheard; set up the textbook on top of your desk and who was to know that you hadn't been studying diligently at all.
"Yeah Mokuba, what happened to that High School hottie?" Mokuba tried to focus on his textbook but nothing came of it.
"Did you get there before Seto?"
"Was she all in tears and clingy?"
"Did you get to peek at anything?"
"Guys, you need to shut up." Mokuba spoke quietly and firmly, trying his best to emulate Seto's tone.
"Hmm, guess he must have missed out."
"Oh well, there's always next time."
"Yeah, babes like that are always getting in trouble, right?"
Mokuba felt his head hit his desk, wishing he had better friends than this.
....
"Well? What are you three still doing here?" Miss Chono looked at Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Honda with a scornful look on her face, and while that was almost always the case, this time she really meant it; that Mikata Teki girl, she really took vindictive to a whole new level, it made her worry whether she might get thrown under a bus just to get back at Anzu.
"Look." Jounouchi spoke first. "You're sick of always having that sourpuss look on your face, right?"
"You better get to the point this instant." How dare he start off by drawing attention to her face like that, how dare he!
"We think our friend Yuugi might be able to help you fix that, but you need to make a promise."
"A promise?" Even if it was a joke, Miss Chono couldn't help being intrigued; every bit of plastic surgery and make-up had done nothing to change the look of her face to how it was supposed to be. If she was getting crazy and desperate enough to listen to a bunch of high school punks, who the hell was there to blame her?
"Miss Chono." Yuugi spoke, but with a much different tone than usual. "If you can promise me that you'll give up your vendetta against Anzu and anyone else you might be mad at, I may be able to restore your face. But, this will only work if you're sincere; you have to keep your word, or else..." He looked as though even he wasn't sure about all this, but what did she have to lose? If she had her beautiful face again, than why would she give a crap about Anzu or any of the other little bitches at this school? Should be perfectly easy for her to keep that end of a bargain, right?
"Fine, I'll bite, I'll give it a shot, you've got a deal. Now, how is this going to work?"
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Post by Scribbler on Jan 28, 2012 9:07:54 GMT -5
Yuugi puffed his cheeks and blew out a sigh. “There’s this shrine, just outside town. It’s pretty old – abandoned actually. It fell out of fashion when my grandfather was a teenager, but he told me that pretty girls used to go there and if they appealed to the spirits properly, they got a single wish for beauty. Miss Chono, it’s possible that if you go there and apologise for all the nasty things you’ve done, and promise to be nicer in future and not get jealous or try to spoil other people’s romances when your own don’t go so well …” he trailed off, wondering whether he had said too much. Miss Chono was a woman with a famously short fuse.
“Then I can have my beautiful face back?” she asked eagerly. “Where is this shrine? Tell me!”
Yuugi supplied directions to an out-of-the-way place. Honda and Jounouchi exchange a puzzle look that Miss Chono missed completely, since she was scribbling them on the back of a tissue with eyebrow pencil.
“And how do I appeal to the spirits properly? Did your grandfather tell you that?”
“You, uh…” Yuugi was flummoxed; he hadn’t thought this far ahead. “You have to … apologise out loud for all the people you’ve wronged and make a formal promise not to do it again.”
“That’s it?”
“You also gotta show you’re humble,” Jounouchi interrupted.
“How do I do that?”
“If you’re asking for beauty, you gotta look fugly, like it doesn’t bother you if you stay hideous forever.”
A muscle in her cheek twitched at his wording, but she noted that down as well.
“Yeah, and you have to make sure you cover the other senses,” Honda added.
“Excuse me?”
“You gotta look bad,” Jounouchi said, picking up on the idea. “But that’s only, like, a fifth of it. You also gotta smell bad and sound bad.”
“How do I do that?”
“That’s part of the process: you gotta figure that part out on your own. If you put in enough effort to show you’re genuine, you’ll getcha face back.”
Miss Chono nodded enthusiastically and left, muttering about what to wear and how to get there without making her car smell like a sewer. Yuugi rounded on his friends.
“What was all that about?”
“You really expected us to miss an opportunity like that?” Honda asked. “Why’d you even send her to that old shrine, Yuugi?”
“Well I can’t let her know about the Millennium Puzzle,” Yuugi replied defensively. “This way I can hide somewhere and the spirit can do his thing, and she’ll accept it without causing extra problems for us to explain.” He sighed. “Come on – lunch is nearly over and we have afternoon classes, then we have to figure out how we beat her car out of town.”
….
The doctor cleaned Anzu’s cut with antiseptic, but said it was only superficial and prescribed a roll of band-aid cut to the right size for a few days to keep out infection, then just leaving it alone to heal. He assured Anzu that there would be no scarring and declared her a very lucky girl, since it had come so close to her eye.
“Don’t I know it?” she said sarcastically. “Lady Luck, that’s me.”
Driving away from the doctor’s practice, she and Seto sat in silence. She had her arms folded and her legs folded to one side, so the tear in her skirt didn’t show her underwear when she sat down. Seto kept his eyes rigidly fixed ahead. The atmosphere was so tense it practically crushed the rear view mirror.
“Where are we going?” Anzu asked at last. She had resigned herself to enduring this shopping trip – something she never thought she’d ever say. Seto Kaiba really could take the fun out of anything.
“Wherever they sell Domino High uniforms.”
“Don’t you know? You went to our school.”
“Yes, but Isono always took care of that kind of thing.”
“Isono?”
“My personal aide.”
“Oh.” Silence fell again. “You can turn left here.”
“Why?”
“Just turn left.”
He did so, and followed her directions for a few blocks until they reached a tiny street lined with even tinier stores. The signs were all faded, the sidewalk cracked in a few places where tree roots had broken the concrete from beneath. People bustled about, but stopped to stare at the shiny red car.
“What is this?”
“Where I buy my uniform,” Anzu replied.
“Seriously?”
“Not everyone can fling money around like monkeys throw poop.”
“That is … an incredibly disgusting simile.”
“Whatever. I told you, I can buy my own blazer and skirt. Pull over at the side of the road.” When he did so she hopped out before the engine stopped. “I’ll be back in a minute. Wait here.”
Of course, Seto didn’t listen. He followed her towards a small shop with artfully dressed mannequins in the window. His long white coat flowed behind him, drawing even more stares than the car. It had never bothered him before, but today he regretted wearing the damn thing. He wanted to be unobtrusive and just get this over with, since Anzu was making such an ordeal out of it. The shop bell dinged when he pushed it open and entered a world that smelled of incense and, oddly, pine cleaner. The place was stuffed with a mishmash of items, all hung on individual hangers and labelled with tags written in pencil. It was somewhere between thrift store and pawn shop for clothes.
“Anzu!” the old man behind the counter was beaming. “I haven’t seen you in ages!”
“Hi, Kenji. How have you been?”
“Oh, so-so. My back’s been giving me jip again, but that’s life, eh? What can I do for you today?” He eyed her uniform. “Aren’t you meant to be in class right now?”
“Half day,” she lied smoothly. “I thought I’d come buy and pick up a few things.”
“For you, sweetheart? Anything.”
“Good. I need a new Domino High blazer and skirt. Do you have any?”
“I have a blazer, but it’s about three sizes too big for you.”
“That’s no problem, I can take it in. How about the skirt?”
“You know,” the man smiled coyly, “I always used to love my wife in her school uniform. It was the sixties, and she had pleats just like yours, but in black. I’d be late every morning waiting for her to go past my house so I could walk behind and watch her in that little skirt.”
Seto rolled his eyes and let out a noise of annoyance.
The man looked over at him. “Is he with you, Anzu?”
“Sadly, yes.” She glared at him. “I thought I told you to wait in the car.”
“This is ridiculous,” Seto growled. “Buying a blazer you know is the wrong size?”
“You know what’s ridiculous? You and everything that comes out of your mouth. Now leave me alone, go back to the car and wait there like I asked you to.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” he said in a low, dangerous voice.
“Sounds like trouble in paradise,” said the man. He either didn’t know who Seto was or his thick, lemonade bottle style glasses prevented him from identifying him. “My wife and I, we had blazing rows all the time, but they were so worth it. You know why? Because make-up sex is better than any other kind.”
Anzu’s cheeks flushed. “That’s … we’re not …” She faltered, eventually ploughing ahead with her quest for a skirt.
The old man winked and retreated into the back, returning with two packages wrapped in tissue paper. Anzu paid out of a tiny purse stuffed in her school bag and hurried out, leaving Seto to trail behind her back to the car. She jiggled from foot to foot until he unlocked it, and then hunkered down in her seat as if the shopkeeper could still see her.
“Now what?” she asked, chin on her chest.
“Now we get you something decent to wear right now,” Seto said. “And this time I’m choosing where to buy it.”
“Can’t you just take me home?”
“You may have a concussion. The doctor said to keep you under observation and not let you sleep.”
This time she was the one to roll her eyes. “And since when have you been this concerned about my welfare? Not so long ago you wouldn’t have thought twice about pushing me off your blimp.”
“As I recall, I actually saved you from being crushed to death by a freight container.”
She had to admit that was true. Still, him caring whether she had a concussion when nobody was around to play up the loving boyfriend angle? It was just too weird. “So where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
Seto said nothing, but put his foot down and joined the freeway.
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Post by cypsiman2 on Jan 28, 2012 12:05:30 GMT -5
While the lectures went on, Mikata Teki tapped her foot impatiently; Domino High still didn't have wi-fi so she couldn't use her cell phone to discretely upload the pictures she took, with the appropriate captions and side-articles. Honestly, she wouldn't be so mad at Anzu if she'd abandoned, betrayed her, for someone at least worth it; a hunk, a rich boy, someone who wasn't a complete loser, a total nerd! Did Anzu not understand how it reflected back on her to be rejected for...for that? No, she understood perfectly well, she taught her too well for her not too. She chose him because she knew that would be the most damaging way to get back at her for...what she couldn't say, she'd always been an angel to Anzu. Honestly, some people could be just so ungrateful.
....
"The Mega Mall, again?" Why did she sound like that? Honestly, trying to make good on these feelings was infuriating, and yet he couldn't make them go away.
"In addition to the top-of-the-line, you can also purchase more casual outfits, certainly better than anything else you've had to cobble together." Of course, unlike last time, he would have work to do this time; he had teams, people, computers, he could direct them all to track down everything they could on Miss Chono and Mikata Teki. Honestly, even with their connections, they had no idea what sort of enemy they'd made this day.
"Okay, you understand you're footing the bill again, right?" At his level of wealth, a bill like this wouldn't even register.
"Of course." He parked the car, got out, and walked in with her.
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Post by Scribbler on Jan 28, 2012 21:06:27 GMT -5
“That was a prompt reply.”
He was reaching into his pocket for his expensive looking cell phone. She eyed it and him dubiously, sensing he wasn’t really concentrating.
“So if I wanted the most stupendously expensive thing in this whole mall, you wouldn’t bat an eyelid? I’m talking nauseatingly expensive. Revoltingly expensive. Hatefully expensive.” She eyed him speculatively, waiting for his reply.
“Hmm.” He was checking his phone.
“If I asked you to walk into the baby store and not walk right back out again, you wouldn’t bat an eyelid.”
“Hmm.”
“If I asked you to buy a giant pretzel and wear it on your head, you wouldn’t bat an eyelid.”
“Hmm.”
“If I asked you to streak through the mall, you wouldn’t bat an eyelid.”
He didn’t even bother responding as his eyes travelled over whatever he had brought up on the tiny screen.
“Kaiba? Kaiba?”
He tapped the screen.
“Seto!”
“What?” He looked up at her, blinking in surprise.
Anzu sighed. “Let’s get something straight: this was your idea. I’m happy to go home and veg out watching chick flicks and doing some sewing to make myself feel better, but you wanted to bring me here to shop. And while I’m usually fine about any excuse to go shopping, this just feels all sorts of icky today. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m not looking my best, I got smacked in the head and generally bashed about, and I feel like something left for dead at the side of the road on a hot day. This is not how I pictured coming back to the Mega Mall; a place I’ve dreamed about since it opened but never actually thought I’d get to visit. This place is a dream for a serial shopper like me, and I’m in less than dreamy mode right now. So if we’re doing this, and you still expect me to act all happy-happy-smiley for the general public, you have to meet me halfway and pretend you’re happy right back at me, okay?”
Seto watched her carefully. “Are you done?”
She blew her bangs from her eyes. “I suppose so.”
“Good. That’s the longest speech you’ve ever made to me that didn’t feature friendship at all.”
“Oh, blow it out your butt, Seto.”
He narrowed his eyes, and then surprised her by slipping the phone back into his pocket and spontaneously taking her hand. She assumed this was part of the couple act as he led her through the revolving doors and into the shiny metallic world of the rich and retail-intensive. His bare palm was warm and dry, his long fingers curling easily around her whole hand. It wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“First of all?” He walked into a store where the window was full of pink camisoles and elaborately embroidered and sequinned jeans. “Here. Pick something to wear. I’ll pay for it while you get changed in the fitting room. Then we’re going to go get something to eat. Judging by your snappishness, you probably didn’t actually have anything at lunch, did you?”
“It was difficult in between crossing verbal swords and, y’know, having the crud beaten out of me.”
He nodded victoriously. “Hurry up.”
“Yes, master,” Anzu replied, sarcasm dripping like treacle from every word.
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Post by cypsiman2 on Jan 28, 2012 22:32:23 GMT -5
It had taken Miss Chono over an hour just to get ready, and at several points she'd gotten lost looking for the abandoned shrine that Yuugi boy had directed her towards, but at last, she was there, slimy and filthy and squelching with each and every step. If this was a prank, then it was a good one and those kids were going to get a good long laugh at her expense; this was the risk she had chosen to take, she could deal with that, but if this was real, she wasn't going to be plotting vengeance in case the spirits were already reading her thoughts. "Well, here I am." She pulled on the rope and the bell actually clanged, dully, but clanged all the same. "Spirits, I beseech you; my face has been twisted like this for a very long time and I'm ready to get down on my hands and knees and beg you to put it back the way it was. Whatever you want from me, I'll do it; I'll stop treating Arranged Marriage meetings as a way to jerk guys around, I won't lord over my students over their romantic lives, and this whole thing against Anzu? Consider that dropped, I'll have nothing to do with it, won't have any reason to if you'll just help me out." She paused. "If that's not enough, let me know."
Then a deep, ominous voice echoed. "Your words are good, but it will take deeds to undo the curse."
Miss Chono's eyes bugged right out. "Do, do you mean an offering?" She thought it might come to that, she made a withdrawal from her savings.
"No, nothing so base as that."
"Of course not, I wouldn't presume to insult you like that." A real spirit, she was talking to a real spirit, the kid hadn't lied to her at all!
"The next time Anzu is threatened and you are capable of taking action on her behalf, you must do so. Only then will the shadows lose their grip upon you. But be warned, falter and the shadows shall seep back into any crack they can. Only so long as you keep to the terms of this agreement, shall my blessing be maintained. Do you understand."
"Yes, I do." Miss Chono waited, and then felt something strange seeping into skin, like fluffy gold dust.
"Go now, and remember."
"Yes sir, yes great spirit, right away!" Miss Chono ran awkwardly, squelching with each foot step in her mud soaked flats, and drove off in a car that was going to be in desperate need for a cleaning.
"Wow." Jounouchi stepped out of hiding into the open. "She sounded damn serious."
"A vain woman like her? You'd better believe it." Honda could remember the times when his sister would spend hours on end getting her makeup just right, hogging the bathroom the whole time. 'course, she hadn't been like that for quite some time. "In any event, glad you were able to pull through for us, Other Yuugi."
"I'm still not entirely sure that this will work, but if this will make things easier for Anzu, then I'm glad I tried." The spirit sighed and relinquished control to his partner.
"I really do hope this will work guys, Anzu should never had to deal with this junk."
....
"Finally." Mikata Teki was in an expensive cafe, the kind with the best Wi-fi available, and she'd finished putting together her article for goss-pop. "Anzu Mazaki, Aggressive in More Ways Than One. I like the sound of that." She clicked on the submit button and waited to get the automated approval...and did not get it. "What!" This was impossible, the approval was automatic, a formality, goss-pop published whatever was submitted to it no questions asked. "Okay, maybe there was a glitch in the server." She hit submit again, and was denied again. "Rrgh, how could this be happening?"
....
"Hmph, how efficient." Seto took a quick look at his cellphone; his intel team had confirmed Mikata Teki's attempt to publish her slanderous article against Anzu and blocked it, and they would continue to do so no matter where she tried to post it, her I.P address was trivial to trace.
"What was?" Anzu said, now wearing an ensemble not unlike the one she'd worn at the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix.
"Your friend Mikata attempted to publish an article declaring you aggressive both physically and sexually, and was blocked by my team."
"Wait, sexually?" Anzu looked puzzled.
"Yes, she seemed rather proud of that double entendre; if she truly had the wit to go with her malice, then you'd be in real trouble."
"Actually, I was more wondering where she was getting the...thing, from."
"Oh, that? Apparently she took pictures that could be construed as you kissing Yuugi while you were hugging him. Absurd, isn't it?" Seto spoke with more aggression than was called for, and Anzu gave only a feeble half nod in response. "So, where would you like to eat?" They now stood at the entrance to the food court.
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Post by Scribbler on Jan 29, 2012 9:43:01 GMT -5
“Nothing French!” Anzu said vehemently.
She glanced up at the entryway, which was shaped like an arch with elaborate backlit pictures of food, all cleverly photographed to make it look appetising when it was probably stale from being under hot studio lights. The food court here was nothing like the one at the regular mall in the centre of town. This was two levels crammed with stores and stalls, each bearing a flag to distinguish nationality or franchise. Half the countries represented here she couldn’t even recognise.
“Well?” Seto prompted.
“Umm … how about that one?” She pointed at random to a shop on the upper level.
Seto followed her gaze and snorted. “It figures.”
“What?”
He shook his head, but said nothing.
“What?” she asked again, frowning. Was he … he was. He was smirking! “What’s so funny?”
In response he took her hand and led her to the elevator, then deposited her outside the shop. Dangling from the tiny flagstaff was a flag of three strips of colour: red, white and green, with a small stylised gold eagle in the centre.
“Don’t you recognise it?” Seto asked at her blank look.
“No. Should I?”
“It’s the Egyptian flag.”
“Oh.” For some inexplicable reason, hot embarrassment flooded her belly and made it cramp. She told herself the cramping was just from hunger, but her cheek also started to heat. She ducked her head. “Do you want to eat someplace else?”
“No, this will do.”
He led her inside. She supposed she should be getting tired of that, but she let him pick their table and wiggled into a booth that was probably meant for more than two people, but the place was so empty it didn’t matter.
“Do you know anything about Egyptian food?”
“Not really.”
He seemed surprised at that. “Should I trust you to pick something for yourself?”
Wanting to re-establish her independence a little, she stood. “How about you let me order for both of us, since you did it last time?”
He raised an eyebrow. For a moment she thought he would argue, but he waved a hand and sat down, gesturing for her to go up to the counter instead. “Just try not to order camel’s feet again.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and approached the counter apprehensively. Luckily, camel’s feet weren’t even an option. The assistant was an older man with a thick handlebar moustache who took pity on her and explained what each meal option was. Apparently Egyptian food was mostly vegetarian or vegan, which left little room for her to accidentally order exotic animals. The lunch menu consisted of ‘mezzes’, which turned out to be a collection of salads and dips accompanied by pita bread. That seemed pretty safe. She went for one Baba Ganouche and one Zabadi, purely on the basis that the names were fun to say, and returned to the booth with them balanced on a tray.
“Someone call the newspapers,” Seto said dryly. “Anzu Mazaki ordered food that looks edible.”
Anzu filled her pita with salad and the aubergine and tomato dip from the Baba Ganouche, which Seto opted for the yoghurt, mint and cucumber Zabadi. They ate in companionable silence for several minutes, until Anzu realised she didn’t feel nearly as tense as before. Maybe Seto had been right and her bad mood had been due to low blood sugar. She caught him watching her and hastily brushed at the corners of her mouth in case she had left food there in her haste to stuff her face. Her fingers brushed at the edge of the fabric band-aid.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
She squinted at him, and then she looked down at her pita. “Look, Seto, about today …”
“Don’t worry. I’m making sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
“That’s great, but what I was actually going to say was … well, thank you?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Don’t make me say it again.”
He pretended to wiggle a finger in his ear. “Did I really just hear the proud and bossy Anzu Mazaki THANKING me?”
“Don’t get used to it,” she said, but the corners of her lips were trying to curve into a smile.
“So are you going to let me get you a school uniform that actually fits you after all?”
The smile died. “No.”
He stared at her again, tilting his head back contemplatively. “You are a very confusing girl.”
“Look who’s talking. You’re Seto Kaiba: Mr. Moneybags, Dr. Evil with more hair, the original scary villain.”
“Villain? Me?” There was no doubt about it; that was definitely a smirk. “I think I like the sound of that. It implies fear and respect.”
“And Saturday morning cartoons,” she said smartly. Her fingers sank into the pita. She made an effort to unclench and not squash her food. “Seriously, though; today was … well, it was rough. I didn’t expect you to ride in and try to rescue me or anything. I always get embarrassed when Yuugi and the guys have to rescue me – like I’M always the damsel in distress because I’m the token girl of our group or something – but those girls … they weren’t some card-wielding maniac. That made them … I don’t know. Scarier, I guess. Scary in a weird way, like the whole time I was thinking to myself ‘This is insane! This is school! This is regular life, not Duel Monsters! This should not be happening here in real life!’ They made me angry because I was scared of them, and they’re just as ordinary as me, so I was mad at myself for being able to stand up to guys like Dartz and Pegasus and …”
“Me?” Seto said.
“Yeah.” She remembered standing on the battlements of Pegasus’s castle, screaming at him with tears streaming down her face. She had hated him so very much back then. “I had no problem standing up to you, so I shouldn’t have been as frightened of them as I was. So … yeah. Thanks. Thanks for coming to get me and taking me to the doctor and … and sticking with me instead of taking me home and leaving me alone to stew like I asked. That stuff. It’s not exactly evil villain behaviour, so thank you for damaging your rep for me.”
His left eyebrow was attempting to climb into his hairline.
“What?”
He shook his head, bit into his own pita and refused to say another words until they were leaving.
“You’re welcome,” he said gruffly, without looking at her. “Should I take your arm?”
“I guess.” They were in public, after all, and the mall was starting to fill up with the post-last-bell crowd of rich brats from the private schools and minor celebrities trying to be seen buying fashionable things.
Seto started to crook his elbow, but stopped.
“What is it?” Anzu asked. She looked around in case she had missed something, and so was totally unprepared when he reached behind her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in towards his side. It was awkward and unexpected. “Unk!”
“Come on,” Seto said, not giving any indication of embarrassment. “Let’s go.”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Jan 29, 2012 12:28:41 GMT -5
Mokuba had restrained himself and only had a single, thin, slice of chocolate cake when he'd gotten home. Then he went right to his room and got started on his homework; normally he'd put it off until just before bed, but according to what Seto said Anzu was going to be staying at their place for the rest of the day, maybe overnight, he wasn't quite sure. Either way, this knowledge had lit a fire underneath the seat of his pants and doing his homework seemed like as good a way as any to put it out. Of course, it would be the case that the same thoughts that drove him and motivated him so, would also distract him, make him stare off into the distance if he spent too much time on any one problem. "Why do I have to have a crush on HER?" Mokuba groaned, as though this would give him more focus as opposed to taking some away.
"Mokuba." He turned around in his seat and saw Seto standing before him, without Anzu. "Things...seem to have taken a turn for the better." He was even stiffer than usual.
"Is Anzu okay?"
"Yes, she has new clothes and has eaten and is testing how springy the bed in the guest room is." That led to thoughts that Mokuba was only half-successful at banishing from his mind forever and ever. "Furthermore, she actually thanked me today."
"Really? That's great!" Mokuba really meant that, setting everything else aside he'd always wanted other people to see that his brother wasn't really that bad, especially Anzu for reasons that have already been gone into at length and will not be repeated thank you very much.
"Yes, but..." Seto looked away for a moment before turning back to Mokuba. "I want to make sure dinner goes just right tonight, and Anzu is a volatile, unpredictable person." Mokuba disagreed but did not voice it. "So, what do you think I should say at dinner?"
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Post by Scribbler on Jan 30, 2012 11:31:17 GMT -5
Sakura Mazaki stared up at the tall gates. They were wrought iron and looked like they belonged with a graveyard, not someone’s home. As administrator at a youth centre for runaway teens, Sakura was used to calling people whose first reaction was to swear and slam down the phone, or demand she bring their son or daughter home right this minute, or else! Any homes she visited were places no sane person would want to go. She didn’t always visit the bad part of town, but the middle-class homes she had to go to were creepy on a whole other level. Parents who pretended concern while asking sly questions about what their child had told her; trying to keep dirty little secrets even when she was standing in front of them holding information that could get them arrested if the terrified teen had the courage to talk to the police. Nine times out of ten they didn’t. They had the courage to run away from a bad situation, but not share what made it bad. She could set them up in a room with the nicest, kindest officers in the whole Domino Police Department, and they would still clam up.
From what she knew of Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, pieced together from Anzu and other sources, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see either of them at the centre while their stepfather was alive. They had stuck it out and, after the man’s death, had picked themselves up and improved their lives substantially. They deserved it after his abuse and neglect. Kaiba Mansion was not a place she had ever expected to go, and yet here she was.
The guard on the gate checked her name against a list and let her in. When she started to walk up the path he stopped her.
“It’s a long way to the main house, ma’am.”
“I guessed as much.”
“You can’t walk it.”
“I’ve walked further.” It was several miles between here and the centre, after all.
The guard shook his head and got on a walkie-talkie. Several minutes later a golf cart trundled down the driveway towards them. A man in a dark suit, who looked like a secret agent in his sunglasses, told her to get in beside him.
“And who are you?” she asked.
“Takada,” he said simply. “I drive for Mr. Kaiba.”
“Mr. Kaiba drives around in this thing?”
“No, but if there’s driving of any sort, I’m the go-to guy. Except for driving Mr. Kaiba up the wall,” he deadpanned. “Your daughter seems to have that job in hand.”
Sakura grinned and got in.
….
Anzu ran down the main staircase, nearly tripping over her feet in her haste to get to the bottom, Seto and Mokuba followed at a more sedate pace, so they had a perfect position to watch her launch herself at the woman Isono ushered inside.
“Mom!” The way Anzu hugged her, you’d think they had been separated for years, not mere hours.
Her mother dropped her gigantic handbag and held Anzu tight. “Sweetheart, are you okay? Are you hurt? Your poor face!”
“I’m fine,” Anzu reassured her. “Seriously, Mom, it looks worse than it is.”
“Those beasts! I hope all their hair falls out. I hope they get carbuncles on their feet. I hope –”
Seto cleared his throat pointedly.
Anzu pulled back, twisting so she and her mother faced the two brothers without actually letting go of each other. “Seto, Mokuba, this is my mom.”
“Mrs. Mazaki.” Seto offered her a hand to shake.
“Ms.,” she corrected without irritation. “And don’t even bother with that. Call me Sakura.”
Seto glanced down at Mokuba. His look said Mokuba should also offer his hand, but Mokuba was frozen in place. He wanted to shake her hand and be polite, he honestly did, but his insides were doing a number of crazy things that included his stomach bouncing between his shoes and his throat, his palms becoming waterfalls of sweat and his voice-box shrinking to the size of a mouse’s. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Sakura Mazaki looked like an older version of Anzu. The similarities between them were startling: the same cheekbones, the same blue eyes, and the same kind smile. Sakura’s brown hair was threaded with grey and tied into a bun on the back of her head, and her mouth and eyes were bracketed with lines Anzu would not get for a number of years, but standing next to each other the comparison was clearer than polished glass. At least until you looked below their necks. Anzu had a dancer’s body, honed and firm from long hours practising gruelling routines. Sakura had the softer figure of an older woman who had nursed a child and never quite got her figure back. She also had the biggest chest Mokuba had ever seen. He had force himself not to stare, but he was acutely aware of it as she broke away from her daughter and came over to him.
“So you’re the infamous Mokuba,” she said. “Anzu speaks very highly of you.”
“Eep.”
Seto shot him a look.
“Meep.” It was the best Mokuba could do.
Sakura got to her feet and examined Anzu. “Those are new clothes.”
“My uniform got trashed,” Anzu admitted. “Seto got these so I looked less like something out of a Battle Royale movie.”
“I hope you thanked him.”
“Mo-om! Of course I did!” Anzu’s cheeks coloured in embarrassment.
Having never known what it felt like to be embarrassed by a parent, only actively humiliated and ignored, Mokuba was curious about the dynamic between them. Sakura obviously cared deeply about Anzu, and Anzu loved her right back. It was in everything they did and said, right down to the way Sakura shook her head and planted her hands on her hips.
“Well I’ll thank him too.” She turned to Seto. “Thank you, Mr. Kaiba, for rescuing Anzu and taking such good care of her. She probably won’t have said it herself, since she’s more bull-headed than a herd of cattle, but she appreciates everything you’ve done for her since you started your little arrangement and I’m sure this is no exception.”
“Mo-om!”
Seto quirked an eyebrow. “You’re, uh, welcome.” The words sounded funny coming from him. Mokuba thought he should be getting used to odd behaviour from his brother, but years of conditioning had taught him that Seto’s default mode amongst company was one of gruff indifference or active dislike. Politeness was not high on his list of priorities. Niceness didn’t even feature.
Anzu’s face flamed.
Seto gestured at a door off the main hallway. “If you’ll step this way, Ms. … uh Sakura, Isono will show you to the drawing room for coffee. You’ve probably had a long day and, uh, would like some refreshments.” Seto playing the gracious host just didn’t fit. He seemed to know it too, if his stiff movements were an indication.
“Ooh, coffee would be fabulous,” Sakura beamed. “Lead the way, Mr. Kaiba.”
Seto paused before saying, “Seto.”
Anzu gave him a sidelong glance full of curiosity and surprise, but said nothing.
“Mokuba,” Seto hissed.
Mokuba finally snapped out of it. “Uh, sure, yes, okay. Wait for me, Big Brother!”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Jan 30, 2012 13:30:23 GMT -5
Anzu sat down in the drawing room with her mother while Seto and Mokuba sat opposite to them, and between them was a tiny, yet obviously very expensive little coffee table. Isono finished pouring drinks for all of them, coffee for her mother and Seto, orange juice for her, and milk for Mokuba. If this were a genuine relationship between her and Seto, she'd think that things were moving just a bit too quickly for her taste, but since the whole thing was a sham and everyone present knew that, it bizarrely managed to work out to feeling pretty normal. At the very least Seto would have a taste of what having a proper parent around was like.
"So tell me, Seto." Her mom said after taking a sip of coffee. "Just what IS all this about?" She waved her hand around at nothing in particular. "Anzu told me that all this is for some party on Saturday, but that can't be all there is to it, there must be something about this party that is absolutely vital for you."
"You're astute...Sakura. I suppose there is no harm in sharing this with both of you; come to think of it, this would affect you personally, Sakura."
"Really?" Anzu saw no sign of alarm or shock or anything like that in her mother's eyes.
"Project Green Gables; in summation, it is a mass expansion of the scope and scale of Kaiba Land here in Domino City that would allow orphans to stay there indefinitely as opposed to having to leave after hours. If successful, I intend to repeat this throughout the rest of the world. Naturally there are many people who need to be brought on board for this to work, and these people are at attendance at this Saturday's party, and they will all be bringing their spouses and escorts." Finished, Seto took a long drink from his coffee.
"So, a theme park orphanage? Sounds a lot like Pleasure Island."
"Mo-om!" Honestly, why did she have to reference an old Disney movie, gah!
"Not quite like that; we don't need donkeys for our coal mines." It took a moment for Anzu to recognize that Mokuba had spoken; he'd been so quiet ever since her mother showed up, and he kept looking away from her, it was so weird.
"Mokuba." Seto looked down at his brother in irritation; for a guy who was so intensely devoted to his little brother, he really could stand to be more gentle with him.
"Ho ho, relax Seto, it was a cute little joke, and I like those." Her mom reached over and ruffled Mokuba's hair, and the poor boy just ducked his head down; Anzu really couldn't blame him.
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Post by Scribbler on Jan 30, 2012 16:36:05 GMT -5
“As long as you don’t include any gigantic whales for people to get swallowed up in, I think you’ll be fine,” Sakura said. She sipped thoughtfully at her coffee. “Hmm. So tell me, how would this affect me personally?”
“I admit, I didn’t think of it until I’d presented Anzu with my proposal and it occurred to me what you do for a living. Your work at the Haven Centre would segue nicely into what we have planned for Kaiba Land.”
“Except for the fact I’m happy staying at the centre.” Sakura watched him fixedly as she took another sip.
“Which is underfunded and underdeveloped, with limited legal power or reputation to reach those who really need to know about it.”
“It sounds like you’ve done your homework.”
Seto didn’t shrug, but a shrug was implied. “The Haven Centre is a small-time venture. Kaiba Land is not. There is no substitute for experience in this sort of thing. You and the rest of the people at the Haven Centre could do a lot of good on Project Green Gables.”
“Green Gables,” Sakura repeated. She tapped her chin before pointing a finger at him, thumb pointed into the air. She mimed firing off a shot. “Anne of Green Gables, one of the most famous orphans in the world. Well, after Harry Potter. I suppose Project Potter would give the wrong impression, though.”
“All I’m asking now is that you think about it,” Seto said. “Everything is moot until Saturday anyway. Think about the benefits for you, your team, and those you’re trying to help.”
“Not all of whom are orphans,” Sakura replied. “While I find your idea commendable, that’s a sticking point I can’t get past. The runaways I see on a day to day basis often come from homes with two parents. They may not be especially good parents, but they exist, and that fact would prevent those kids from being a part of your project. I couldn’t knowingly abandon them, even for such an altruistic undertaking.”
“Consider an advisory role then,” Seto suggested. “You could stay on at the Haven Centre, but collect a second salary for helping my team set up and run Project Green Gables for, say, the first year or so. You have connections and knowledge of this kind of thing that I don’t, and I would trust you more than someone I’d hired in.”
“Oh?” Sakura raised an eyebrow. “And why’s that? This is the first time we’ve met.”
“Because Anzu is the most excruciatingly, embarrassingly honest person I’ve ever met, even when it inconveniences herself or costs her money she can ill afford. She had to that from somewhere. Since you’re her sole parent, it makes sense that she gets her values from you.”
Anzu fisted her skirt on her knees. She ignored the glance her mother directed her way, instead staring at the floor like she was trying to burn a hole in it with her as-yet-undiscovered laser vision. The thoughtlessly casual way Seto spoke told everyone he wasn’t trying to pay her a compliment. As actual compliments went, it was as backhanded as they came. Her ego smarted and swelled at the same time – a curious dichotomy that left her with stomach-ache. She hadn’t been trying to make a point by buying her school uniform; it had just felt like the right thing to do. Now part of her wished she had just capitulated and let him buy the damn thing for her so she wouldn’t feel so queasy. Any thoughts her mother hadn’t noticed died when Sakura spoke again.
“Thank you, I think. Although by the looks of her, you’ve embarrassed Anzu. You could fry eggs on those cheeks.”
“Mo-om,” Anzu hissed. “Shut up.”
An awkward silence descended. Anzu toyed with her glass, wishing she could think of something to say. Seto stared at an unknown point in the middle-distance, while Sakura looked between them with a smirk Anzu didn’t much care for. Even Mokuba continued to look discomfited and avoided everyone’s eyes.
It was a relief when Isono appeared in the doorway. “Mr. Kaiba, there’s a phone call for you.”
Seto rose. “Excuse me.”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Jan 30, 2012 18:37:00 GMT -5
"Well." Sakura Mazaki said with attempted levity. "The only trouble I can see is that you two may be just a little too similar."
"Eh?" Both Anzu and Mokuba reacted, but Sakura kept her response focused on her daughter.
"You're both very stubborn, head-strong, and just plain obstinate people; it's not that it can't work out, but it would take a lot of a lot of work at it and if your hearts aren't fully into it, it won't be worth it."
"Mom, you remember the part where this is all for pretend, right? We just went over why this whole sham even exists." That it was all for the sake of helping orphans wasn't all that terribly surprising, really. It just hadn't occurred to her, was all.
"I know, I know, and if nothing comes of this beyond the money then that's fine. I'm just trying to think ahead and point certain things out to you. Besides, I'm beginning to think that despite himself, Seto is becoming fond of you."
"Excuse me, I need to go, I'll be right back." Mokuba got up suddenly and left the room.
"Is that Mokuba boy always like that?"
"Not usually, it's been mostly since this whole thing got started."
"Hmm."
....
"Well, you were out for a while Yuugi." Sugoroku said from behind the counter as he watched Yuugi enter the game shop, AKA their home. "Anything I should know about?"
"Nope." Yuugi spoke firmly and clearly, not too quick and not too slow; he did not have the reserves to explain to his grandpa why he'd just had one spirit imitate another as part of a half-baked plan to give Miss Chono the face-lift of a thousand lifetimes. "Anything happen while I was out?"
"Just the regular customers purchasing the latest booster packs and such." He omitted the part where they'd expressed their sympathies for Yuugi and referred to Seto Kaiba with more than a few unflattering epithet's. Yuugi would likely not appreciate such words the way they would have liked.
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Post by Scribbler on Jan 31, 2012 10:35:08 GMT -5
The shop bell dinged. Both Yuugi and his grandfather turned to see a woman in a cherry red pantsuit peering through the open door. She looked as out of place as a fox in a rabbit warren – further emphasised when her gaze locked onto Yuugi and she arrowed towards him like a homing missile.
“Yuugi Mutou?”
“Uh … yes?”
“The same Yuugi Mutou who was crowned champion of Battle City and Kaiba Grand Prix?”
“Yes.”
Her smile was sharp and dazzling, like a dagger. From seemingly out of nowhere, she produced a microphone with a large fuzzy head and gestured for a man carrying a video camera to join her inside. She faced the camera, smoothing her hair.
“This is Ripo Ta of Domino News, standing here with Yuugi Mutou in the Kame Game Store. Some of you may remember Yuugi as the acclaimed winner of recent mega-event Battle City, which brought lots of tourism and revenue to rejuvenate Domino’s economy. I mean seriously.” She planted a hand on her hip. “Even without the fame, talent and major entertainment value, who could forget that hair?” She gestured at Yuugi, who stared down the lens like a deer in headlights. “But today we’re here for a different reason. Today our story is not one of competition, Duel Monsters and cash prizes – it’s a story about competition, love and the prize of one girl’s heart. Yuugi!” She spun to shove the microphone into his face. “Is it true that you and Anzu Mazaki have been having an illicit affair behind Seto Kaiba’s back?”
Yuugi’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “What?!”
“Come now, don’t be coy. Tell Ripo the truth.”
Yuugi took a step back. “G-Grandpa?”
Sugoroku came out from behind the counter and stood between them. “I’ll thank you to leave my store and my grandson alone.”
“The people have a right to know!” Ripo Ta declared melodramatically.
“No, they don’t. Out!” Sugoroku advanced, forcing them backwards without actually touching them. “My grandson’s private life is exactly that: private.”
“The press have a right to free speech!”
“So do I, and I choose to say this: goodbye.” He shut the door and bolted it, then turned back to Yuugi. “What was all that about?”
Shaken, Yuugi leaned against the counter. “I have no idea.”
….
Mikata smiled to herself. Success! It had taken more time and effort than she would’ve liked, and had involved actually descending into the lower social realms, but it was worth it. She had been nursing this grudge long enough that a day of pretending she liked one of the school grubs was endurable. It helped that the grub in question was so ridiculously enamoured of Seto Kaiba, and keen to pay back Anzu, that she was willing also pretend Mikata cared anything about her.
Ku tried to see her own laptop screen over Mikata’s shoulder. “Did you do it? Did it get through?”
“Yes.”
Anzu Mazaki: Aggressive in More Ways Than One. It had already received a hundred hits, and it had barely been online half an hour. Seto and Anzu were the latest flash-in-the-pan hot-to-trot couple who would probably be forgotten next week, but while the public was eager to hear anything and everything about them, the time was finally ripe for her to bring down smug Anzu and the geeky cretin she had humiliated Mikata for. It had taken an age to get her rep back after Anzu abandoned her for that twerp, and the fight back to the top of the social pile had been vicious. Mikata had fought to keep her position as queen of Domino High ever since, making sure to cut Anzu and her friends out of every social event as punishment, letting them know they were less than dirt. Yet it never seemed to bother them. They were used to being outcasts – moreover, they seemed to enjoy being pariahs together! Then with all that Duel Monsters nonsense their reputations had sky-rocketed far beyond mere high school. Gamers and their WAGs were not supposed to hold such acclaim! It simply wouldn’t do.
Ku glanced over at Ta and Oh. Seto Kaiba’s three rabid fangirls huddled together as if for warmth. They were wary of Mikata. She had burned them all more than once during her reign, though as with all the popular crowd, she was instantly forgiven the moment she deigned to show them some attention. She didn’t belong in Ku’s shabby house, but their shared goal united them for now.
Mikata linked her hands under her chin. “Take that, Anzu.”
….
Seto cursed into the phone. “You’re sure?”
“Positive, sir. They’re surrounding the house.”
“Seriously? You’re not exaggerating their number?”
“No, sir. What should we do?”
“Just … keep watch for now. I’ll think of something.” He replaced the receiver in its cradle and stared at it for a long moment. This was bad.
Mokuba shot up the stairs behind him without explanation.
“What the-?” What was going on? The whole world have turned insane!
“Sir?” Isono stood nearby, implacable and helpful as always.
“The Mazaki family home is covered in reporters,” Seto gritted. “There’s no way anyone can get through them to reach the house itself.”
“Should I inform Miss and Mrs. Mazaki?”
He thought about it. It would be easier to let Isono do it, especially since this farce had been his idea in the first place, but something about the idea left a bad taste in Seto’s mouth. “ No, I’ll do it.”
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Post by cypsiman2 on Jan 31, 2012 13:32:40 GMT -5
Seto returned to the drawing room with a grim look on his face. "Anzu, it would appear that I did not give your rival enough credit."
"What? What are you even..." Anzu's eyes grew wide with horror as she shook her head in realization.
"Unfortunately, she realized that her I.P. was being blocked, and so she had her slanderous article published from someone else's. At present there is a swarm of reporters outside your home, making it impossible for either of you to return for the time being."
"What?" Anzu's mother stood up. "Is this some sort of joke?" Any humor left in her had been leached out. "You can't possibly be serious." She then turned her attention back to Anzu, who was still seated, looking down. "Anzu, who is this rival that he mentioned? Is it that Mikata girl you used to be friends with?"
"That. Is. IT!" Anzu stood up like an erupting volcano. "I've had it with her! No more Miss Nice Girl, I'm heading over to her house right now and giving her a piece of my mind!" She started stomping, storming off for the doorway, but Seto Kaiba stood in her way like a brick wall. "Move, now."
"Do not misunderstand me, Anzu; your rival has also insulted me." He looked the way he did when people talked about Yuugi's victories over him, this was serious. "But we must plan our counterattack carefully; she herself has likely been planning this day out for a very long time and would be prepared for most anything you might do or say. Acting in haste would only make her position stronger." It was always horrible whenever Seto Kaiba was right about something. This was no exception.
"Fine, then until this whole thing blows over, my mother and I will be staying here."
"There's more than enough room." An awkward silence passed by like a tumbleweed. "Do either of you know where Mokuba went?"
Anzu and her mother shook her head. "I don't know, he just suddenly got up and ran out of the room. Is he normally shy around strangers?" Anzu's mother was the one who spoke.
"No, he isn't." Seto sighed, pinched between his eyes, and left, presumably to find his little brother.
....
"Okay, that should do the trick." Mokuba was in the bathroom; he'd run in, filled the basin full of cold water, and dunked his head in it repeatedly until his body settled down. It...took a distressingly long time, but it had worked. "Remember, focus on their faces, nowhere else." He took a towel and started rubbing his head dry, which also took a while considering the volume of his hair. Once he was done, he exited the bathroom and bumped right into his brother.
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Post by Scribbler on Feb 1, 2012 6:00:50 GMT -5
Seto gave him an unreadable look. Even Mokuba, who was used to spotting nuances in his brother’s frowns that nobody else perceived, had trouble reading this one. He scuffed his feet and linked his hands behind his back, the picture of innocence.
“Hey, Big Brother.”
“Mokuba,” Seto said carefully, “is there something you want to tell me?”
“Um, no?”
Another unreadable look, this time followed by a statement. “Anzu and her mother are staying here tonight. Their house is not an option thanks to some unwanted attention from Domino’s press-hounds.”
“What?” Mokuba tried to keep his stomach where it was supposed to be. He could just about cope with the idea of Anzu staying over, sleeping in the guest room bed, getting changed to get into that bed … argh! But her mother as well? His stomach broke free and sank in despair. He was going to embarrass himself and his brother, he just knew it.
Seto took his exclamation as grounds to explain about Mikata Teki, the malicious article on Goss-Pop and her longstanding rivalry with Anzu. Mokuba’s brows pulled together as the story unfolded. By the end he was aghast – and not just because of what this meant for poor Anzu. Yuugi was going to be affected too, but most important to Mokuba was Seto’s reaction. Yuugi was Seto’s Achilles heel; more than anything else, he was easily angered by any reminder that he had only ever beaten Yuugi through trickery and deceit. All attempts since then had resulted in defeat, which Seto was not well-equipped to handle. This wasn’t Duel Monsters, but even the implication that Yuugi had defeated him in a fake relationship had caused the familiar anger to smoulder in his brother’s eyes.
“That’s awful!” Mokuba cried at the appropriate moment. “Of course they have to stay.”
Seto nodded. “You’re quite all right with this?” It was an unexpected question. Or maybe not. Maybe Mokuba hadn’t been as discreet as he’d thought with his hair.
He touched it involuntarily, as his voice rose in pitch. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You tell me.”
“I’m fine.” Was his voice meant to go that squeaky? Mokuba coughed to bring it back down to an acceptable level. “Absolutely fine. Really. Honest. Quit looking at me like that, Big Brother!”
Seto folded his arms. “If this is too distressing for you, I can put them up in a hotel.”
“No!” Heaven forbid Anzu learn the reason they’d been barred from two houses tonight was because Mokuba’s hormones had decided to kick in. He didn’t even turn thirteen until July! This was so unfair. What was next: volcanic zits and hair in odd places? They’d had ‘the talk’ in school, and been shown that disgusting video about ‘the wonders of growing up’, but he had thought he had a little more time before his body decided to go crazy in ever more embarrassing ways. Mokuba couldn’t ever remember Seto going through puberty. Maybe that was a good sign. Maybe it would leave him alone like that too.
Seto glanced behind him, as if expecting someone to be there. There was nobody, but when he turned back to Mokuba his expression was troubled. “This could be very bad, Mokuba. This kind of media attention creates entirely the wrong kind of impression. Anzu and I were supposed to be in a stable, loving relationship, not one filled with rumour and aspersions when it’s barely a few days old.”
Mokuba wasn’t sure what ‘aspersions’ were, but they had to be bad if they were making Seto distressed. “Don’t worry,” he tried to reassure. “These accusations are easily disproved, right? If it’s really as bad as all that, just call a press conference with you, Anzu and Yuugi. It’s better to be open and honest with the media, remember?” Of course, with Seto ‘open and honest’ usually meant ‘brusque and aggressive’, but he had never lied to the media, so his word carried more weight as a result. In fact … this whole fake relationship was the first time he had openly been untruthful instead of letting the media think untrue things and just not correcting them. Mokuba hoped that wasn’t a bad omen this time.
Seto nodded. “A press conference sounds like a good idea.”
Mokuba felt that old familiar glow he always got when his brother praised him. His chest swelled a little. “I’ll tell Isono to get right on it while you show Anzu and Ms. – uh, Sakura, their rooms. Wait, will they have separate rooms, or be sharing one?”
“We have enough that they don’t have to share, but I’ll put the idea to them.”
Seto was being so considerate lately. It was almost disturbing. He didn’t ask: he ordered and expected to be obeyed. “We’ll be okay, Seto, and so will Project Green Gables.”
“It had better be,” Seto gritted fiercely.
….
Anzu perched on the edge of the bed and contemplated the ultimate suckage that was her life. Her mom was in an even plusher room down the hall, currently doing paperwork she had brought home with her from the centre. Seto had offered her a room with an en suite and an office, the floor space of which equalled the entire first floor of their house.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Anzu had said as her mother retired to spread out her things on the desk.
“It’s not your fault, sweetheart.” The tiredness in her mom’s voice had been heart-breaking. After a long day seeing and thinking about the terrible things people did to their own kids, she now had to deal with the stress produced by her own.
Guilt gnawed at Anzu like a dog with a bone. “Yes, it is. I should never have agreed to this whole stupid idea. Even Jounouchi said it was dumb. That should have been a hell of a clue, if even he could pick up on it.”
“Anzu.” Her mother had levelled a serious look at her. “This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. Can I make it any clearer? No, it’s not an ideal situation, but hey, how often do people like us get to sleep in mansions? Just appreciate a little luxury for tonight and we’ll deal with the rest tomorrow.”
Now Anzu wondered just how that was supposed to happen. Would she be able to go to school? She had requested a sewing kit and her new uniform sat beside her, ready to be altered, but her hands had no inclination to do it. She bunched them into fists at the thought of Mikata laughing at the damage she had caused.
Suddenly her head snapped up: Yuugi! She needed to call and see if he was okay. If the press had found out where she lived, they would have no problem checking their records from when he did all those post-tournament interviews and homing in on the game shop. She was grubbing about in her bag for the cell phone Seto had given her when there came a knock at the door. Thinking it was her mother, she hurried to open it, flipping open the phone as she went. When she opened the door, however, it was not her mother at all.
“May I speak with you?” Seto asked. “Mokuba had a good idea about how to overcome this problem and I wanted to run some things by you.”
Anzu’s mouth flapped. She glanced at the phone and closed it. “I suppose you’d better,” she said, standing aside. Maybe his strategic mind could come up with a way to salvage her reputation without her having to change her name and move to another city.
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Post by cypsiman2 on Feb 1, 2012 13:06:23 GMT -5
"Mokuba and I have decided that a press conference would be the best way to put an end to all the insipid and destructive rumors that have sprung in light of our decision to be more open about our relationship."
"Be more open...oh." Anzu nodded in understanding; if they were to commit to their story, then they had to do so now. "Remind me, when did we decide to start seeing each other?"
"During the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix, just after I thoroughly trounced Siegfried von Schroeder, you approached me and said that you had never seen anything so skillful and and amazing in your life."
"Yeah, that sounds right. Of course, it took a bit of a while for you to get what I was getting at, but I managed to get through."
"And when I asked what about Yuugi?"
"He's my friend, nothing more and nothing less." Anzu said that with a bit more force and practice than Seto would have expected.
"And you understood how private I was and that our future meetings were to be clandestine accordingly?"
"But eventually you started feeling differently." Shit, had she noticed? If she'd noticed before her feelings became likewise, it would be disastrous! "And when you found out about the party this Saturday, you decided that it would be a good idea to gradually get people used to us being an item."
"And that would bring us to the present." Seto went over their collaborative story a few times and found that it held together reasonably well. Some more practice and they'd be set, but the more notable part was how they built it up together, almost naturally, like their minds were on the same tracks. Having never felt anything like this, Seto was not sure of its full significance, or if it even had any. "Now, we need to call Yuugi and inform him of what he needs to say for his part at the Press Conference." At the thought of Yuugi stating that he and Anzu were never an item and that he could never ever take Anzu from him, Seto found cause to smile.
"Right." She nodded slowly. "I'll take care of that right now."
....
"Partner." The spirit spoke to him. He did not respond. "Partner, don't you think this is a bit much?" Yuugi continued his silence. "It is one thing for you to stay silent and not actively contradict them, but now Seto wants you to actively support this lie."
"I'm not going to be lying, partner; all I need to do is show that Anzu and I haven't been cheating together behind Seto's back, and that's the absolute truth." For reasons unrelated to that particular truth, it was going to be difficult, but no one ever did the right thing because it was easy. Finding out about that horrible article that Mikata Teki had written up certainly wasn't, though that had nothing to do with it being right in any way.
"I wish I could stop you when you've made up your mind like this, but I will trust you, and I'll be right here if you need me." The spirit then disappeared back into the puzzle. Yuugi figured that now all he had to do was to wait for Seto's email, containing all the details that he and Anzu had gone over that he would have to corroborate.
"Yuugi." He heard his grandpa knocking at the door. "You have a guest." A guest? Who? It couldn't have been Jounouchi or Honda, or even Otogi or Bakura, they would have just knocked themselves, or not even bothered with knocking.
"Yes?" Yuugi said as he opened the door, and was almost bowled over off his feet as all he could see was blonde hair pressing into his chest.
"Darling!"
"Rebecca?"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of that nasty little Mikate Teki bitch before you even know it."
"Huh?"
....
Miss Chono was at home, having just finished a long, grueling shower to get everything out of every pore she could. Her face hadn't changed, but that was understandable; this spirit demanded action to earn its blessing, and the opportunity hadn't shown itself yet. So she went onto the net and quickly found Mikata's article, made herself repudiate it internally even if one or two of the zingers were clever enough. Then something new was posted, an announcement of a press conference tomorrow with Seto, Anzu, and Yuugi all together. There was no doubt that Mikata would be there, she'd probably figure out a way to be Goss-Pop's official representative, and she would tear into those three. "All right fair spirit, you don't have to tell me twice." Soon, soon she'd have her beautiful face back, and this ugly little chapter of her life would be long left behind.
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