Short note: I am using Japanese names for this, so for those who don't know, Shizuka equals Serenity, Jonouchi equals Joey, and Anzu equals Tea. Also, please don't bash the pairing. I really hate it when people do that when I plainly say what the pairing is. Anyway, enjoy! (PS, Devotionshipping is luff.)

Between Friends

Shizuka hummed quietly as she swung her legs, waiting eagerly for her brother to come home. She was visiting (fortunately their father was gone for the day), and Katsuya promised to spend some time with her. He said he had something small to take care of after school, but once that was done, he would come pick her up so they could have some fun together.

A short while later, the girl picked up the book she had brought with her, realizing her brother wouldn't be home soon. Ever since she had regained her sight, she had developed something of a fetish with reading.

Before five minutes had passed, the girl heard a door open. Eyes lighting up, Shizuka set her book down— and gasped at the sight in front of her.

Katsuya staggered in, shirt rumpled and some type of red liquid (looking suspiciously like blood to Shizuka's eyes) over his face and upper body.

"Katsuya-kun!" She girl cried as she jumped to her feet. Joey blinked once as she ran over to him.

"What happened?"

"Ah, well, I… I got in a fight with Anzu." He admitted sheepishly.

"And she hurt you this much?" Shizuka gasped. She had a suspicion it was a fight— she knew her brother used to get into fights a lot— but would Anzu hurt him this much?

"Um…"

-Flashback-

"Okay, Jonouchi-kun, I just got this job back, so don't mess it up, okay?" The girl chided the boy who came to visit her.

"You repeated yourself." Was the smirking boy's only answer.

"Jonouchi!"

"Okay, okay, I got it. Don't do anything stupid." There was a pause, then Katsuya continued, "You do know that's pretty close to impossible, right?"

Anzu giggled at her friend's comment. "What would Kaiba say if he heard you admit to being stupid?"

Jonouchi growled at the mention of the teen-aged CEO. "Don't ever tell him."

Anzu smiled. "I won't. Besides," she added, "you aren't stupid."

"Oh, aren't I?" Jonouchi smirked, fishing for a compliment.

Anzu exaggeratedly put a finger to her lips. "Weeell… no, not stupid. Foolhardy, maybe…"

"Anzu!"

The girl giggled once more. "Come on, sit down, I'll bring you a burger in a moment."

Katsuya plunked down in the booth, staring absently at the girl as she walked off. He was glad he told Shizuka he'd be late in getting together with her, since he wanted to support Anzu. He was determined to be there to support her, even though Honda was out of town and Yugi was busy. Hey, even though it wouldn't be the whole group, he should still come! It was what friends would do, right?

"Yeah, friends…" Jonouchi mumbled morosely. He didn't want to only be friends with Anzu…

"What was that?" A voice asked, and Katsuya raised his head to see a smiling Anzu carrying a tray with a burger and soda on it.

"Ah, nothing, nothing." He smiled back. Anzu placed the tray in front of him, then sat down on the bench across from him.

Jonouchi raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"It was really nice of you to come, Jounochi." Anzu smiled. "It was very thoughtful… so unlike you…"

"Hey, it's what friends do, right?" The boy asked, giving Anzu a wink, ignoring her teasing comment.

Unlike the smile Jonouchi expected, Anzu lowered her gaze to the tablecloth she was fingering.

"Yeah, friends…" She whispered, unconsciously copying Jounochi's words.

"A-Anzu…"

There was silence between the two for about a minute, both staring down at the tablecloth.

Finally, Jonouchi tore off a piece of his burger, and extended it towards Anzu, catching her downcast gaze. She raised her head, then gratefully took the food.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Jonouchi assured her, taking a bite out of the hamburger. Once he finished chewing, he smirked at the girl.

"It'd be fun to do this for real sometime, wouldn't it?"

"Huh?" Anzu asked, then remembered. "Ack! I'm on duty now! You should have told me, Jonouchi!" She yelped as she leapt up and dashed away.

"So, will you go out with me tomorrow?" Jonouchi asked daringly while she was still only one table away.

"W-what?" Anzu blushed, turning around to look at Katsuya. They locked gazes, then Anzu smiled slightly, turning back around and flicking her hair. "Maybe. Probably not."

"Oh, so you'll go on a date with a three thousand-year-old Pharaoh, but not me?"

"Jonouchi!" Tea yelled, turning back to him. Then she smirked, and lifted a ketchup bottle from a nearby tray. "I seem to remember you saying you don't like ketchup…" She continued teasingly.

"Oh snap…"

"Take that, Katsuya Jonouchi!" The girl yelled gleefully, squirting the red substance at the boy.

"Yaugh!" He yelped, ducking. Then he smiled devilishly, and snagged the ketchup bottle resting on his own tray.

"Ha ha ha!" The boy crowed as he fired back.

"Ack!" Anzu laughed, throwing her arms in front of her face.

Soon the two were engaged in an all-out ketchup war… until Anzu's manager showed up. The two froze immediately.

"Mazaki…" The man said, twitching slightly. The two took a moment to glance around them, seeing the other customers staring at them wide-eyed. Then they looked at each other, covered in ketchup and hair and clothes slightly ruffled.

Anzu blushed with embarrassment and anger. Then…

"JONOUCHI!!"

-End flashback-

"Eh, yeah, I guess she did." Jonouchi said. "It's not that bad, though."

"But Katsuya! Oh dear, and I never thought Mazaki-san to be the violent type." Shizuka worried.

Jonouchi blinked "…It's ketchup, Shizuka."

"…Oh!"

Owari


Authors notes: Might not have been my best work, but meh. It was fun and Devotionshipping. -grin- I love JoeyXTea very, very muchly. Almost as much (but never as much) as Regalshipping, which is a very big deal if you know how obsessed I am over Regalshipping. (Regalshipping is Yami YugiXMai, and very very cute -smile-.) And yeah, Anzu got fired again. -sweatdrop- If you didn't get the reference, it's only in the manga (I believe, I think part of it's in the anime but I'm not sure how much -shrug-), but Anzu got a job at a place called Burger World, and there Jonouchi said this about ketchup: "This stuff's nasty". (After Anzu writes "Tell and you die" in ketchup on his and Yugi's hamburgers. -sweatdrop-) Later she got fired for punching out a customer.

Anyway, please tell me if you liked it! -smile-