Disclaimer: Yuugiou (Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters) is the property of Takahashi Kazuki and respective publishers, including Shueisha, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, Toei Animation, 4Kids, and others. I would never claim to own it or attempt to make money off of it- just think of this as a written, free doujinshi and hopefully we'll get along fine ;)
Notes: Written for the first challenge (any pairing beginning with the letter 'A') of the Livejournal community YGO Rare Pair (ygo_rare_pair). ...To just give in and shamelessly plug, there's a link on my profile ;)
Unwanted Aid
-o-
Her feet ache, but her smile is bright.
Well, it's plastered to her face, as the Americans like to say. But it looks bright, which is what is important. As soon as she gets backstage she can shed it and look as tired and uncomfortable as she likes. Maybe she'll even curse a bit- no one here will understand it, after all. Okay, no, she won't. Even through phone calls and letters, Jounouchi is being a bad influence on her.
Backstage, changed, and now finally, finally she can go home… Except there's someone waiting for her.
Anzu scowls. "What are you doing here?" Vivian Wong has always gotten on her nerves, and she's sick of Vivian hanging around with no explanation for why she's suddenly so interested in spending time with Anzu. She should never have accepted her dancer friend's prodding to take part in a casual duel. How that escalated into dueling a pro she still doesn't know, but it did, and it looks like the gods have decided that she should suffer for it.
"I just wanted to say good night, Anzu," Vivian says, acting hurt. She's too overdramatic for it to be believable, though. "A dancer should always be congratulated on such a wonderful performance, don't you think?" Vivian winks.
"There's really no need," Anzu says, flustered for some reason. "I'm just doing what everyone else does…"
"So modest! What excuse will you use in a solo?"
"I'm not modest, I just want to go home. Good night."
Anzu strides past her, but Vivian follows. "Hey, Anzuu… What would you say to a duel tomorrow? Are you free?"
"No. I'm never free."
"Practice?"
"And a part-time job, and chores to do… Free time is a myth. A nice-sounding myth…" Against her will, Anzu sighs.
"You really do need to see about finding some time to rest! It isn't healthy for a young woman to overwork herself. Why, when I competed in my first tournament I was just like that, and I ended up a wreck! I still don't like to see the photos, even if it was the first tournament I placed first in."
"Oh?" Anzu's voice cracks as she yawns.
"But enough about that! Come, let's get you home. And I'm taking you out to lunch tomorrow, whatever you say."
Anzu tries to talk through her yawn. "Not dueling you again… 'N you can let go, Bibian…"
Vivian keeps hold of her arm, though, and it's not really all that bad. At least Anzu knows she won't fall or bump into anything this way, right? "Your accent always slips when you're tired… Are 'v's really that difficult?"
"Yeah…"
Anzu is awake enough to get into the taxi Vivian hails and stay conscious until she gets home, but that's about it. She thinks that Vivian hugs her before leaving, maybe even kisses her cheek, but she's not really sure.
Vivian isn't that bad, though, Anzu thinks as she falls asleep. She may be annoying, but she's a surprisingly good friend, in her own way.