This is AU (again)… that is, Mai and Anzu don't know each other before this; my adaptation of things is basically, 'Mai knew Jounouchi but was never introduced to Anzu. No card games.' This is hyper-realism romantic deconstruction, so really be on the lookout for emotional themes beyond actions, even though we all know that how you feel about someone does influence how you act around them.
"Fifteen Minutes"
She would be a strong, independent female character. Someone who reached for the sun because they made mistakes. People liked reading that nowadays.
Anzu was ashamed to admit that she hadn't finished the story; that is to say the one she was writing, not the one she was reading. The one she was writing was due to her professor, collated and stapled and completed, in three weeks time. And she had barely started.
The problem was that she expected the words to float out of the air where she would capture them in pen and paper. She knew well that it just didn't work that way for her—but she had the first wisps of an idea, jotted down on the notebook in front of her. She wanted to write a story about a real heroine. Someone who would rush fearlessly into the ball and sweep the prince off of his feet, not the other way around. She felt the hairs on her arms prickle as the thought washed over her, twisting and morphing into something more. With an eager hand she reached for her pen.
This is Anzu two days later: full of the unrestrained kind of freedom only a Saturday afternoon can bring, with the almost magnetic motivation of one possessed with an idea like a ghost, until she could expel it all from herself and see the finished product, her story.
Anzu's stomach gave a pitiful plea for attention as she walked past the food court in pursuit of a certain type of store. "Hush, you," she whispered, mentally promising herself to stop by once she was done. There was a Burger World at this mall and she enjoyed eating there, occasionally, when her mind was occupied by other things than what was on her plate.
She spied the store and went in, passing by the colorful window displays. She wasn't interested in rain jackets or cashmere pullovers… no matter how cute they were. She steered away from the accessories table until her feet planted themselves firmly in front of the dress rack. She thumbed through the offerings, characters flitting through her mind as she saw each one. Nothing felt right.
Her hands rested on the fabric, the cornflower-blue color drawing her attention. It felt smooth in her hands, and in her mind's eye she began forming all of the details of the character who would wear that dress. She was so immersed in this fantasy world she hardly noticed the person standing next to her; that is until said person coughed rather noticeably. Anzu raised her eyes and saw the saleswoman hovering beside the rack, ready to capitalize on Anzu's obvious interest.
"Can I help you?" came the ready-made phrase she sometimes couldn't believe people were actually trained to say.
"No, I'm just… actually, I do have a question. Is it alright if I take a picture of this dress? It's for a story I'm writing."
The saleswoman pursed her heavily glossed lips at the suggestion. "You're not from E&G, are you?"
The question caught her off-guard. "No, I'm from…Domino University?" Anzu knew this sounded more than pathetic, but stood her ground. This dress was important. "I'm writing a story for a class. I just need to remember what this dress looks like." She paused to breathe. "Is that okay?"
"If it's so important why don't you just try it on?" The saleswoman turned, seeing another group of customers meandering into the store. "By the way, my name's Mai. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"
Anzu nodded, agreeing with her. Mai had a point—and as she lifted the hanger holding the dress from the rack, she couldn't wait to try it on.
It was just a dress. But for some reason, it had become more than just a dress, Anzu noticed, twirling slightly on the raised carpeted platform located at the end of the short hallway of changing rooms. There were three mirrors set up around it, so she could see herself from every angle. The dress was perfect—Anzu might have even bought it on the spot if not for the jaw-dropping price tag—a halter-style, but with a snug-fitting clasp as opposed to the ties which always made her wary. The end belled out a little when she moved, and showed just enough skin to be daring; in her mind the nameless, faceless character wore it proudly, wanting to stand out. Anzu tried to stand a little straighter.
"Everything working out?" Anzu heard Mai's voice an instant before she appeared at the other end of the hallway. Anzu stopped, feeling a little silly seeing Mai's reflection in the mirror. "What's your story about, anyway?"
"A heroine, who waltzes in and saves the day—while wearing this dress, of course." Anzu smiled at the way the fabric seemed to shimmer in agreement. "It's for a creative writing course at the University."
Mai leaned against one wall, where she could keep an eye on the store while continuing the conversation. But for the moment, her entire attention was focused on Anzu. "Is that what you're studying? Writing?"
"No, it just fulfills a requirement. I'm actually majoring in Economics with a dance minor." Seeing her own eyebrows lift in the mirror's reflection confirmed her question: what was it with nosy salespeople anyways? And more disconcerting: what was with her ready replies?
"Too bad. I was hoping that my store would become famous after you got published." Mai's quip brought a quirk of a smile to Anzu's lips. "Anyways, I've got to get back to work. See you around."
"Right…thanks…" Doubting Mai even heard her, Anzu turned back to the mirror, savoring the feeling of everything being so right. Then she remembered her assignment, and her other classes, and the many other errands she had to run that day, and slowly stepped down from the platform.
It was nice while it lasted.
Anzu sat alone at a table, an island of relative calm in the middle of the frenetic food court. No Burger World this time, she had to content herself with a smoothie—there was no way she could leap gracefully across the stage with super burgers weighing her down like rocks. Her notebook was open in front of her, and her pen sat idly beside, the whole thing an unwanted tableaux. But she couldn't quite think of what to write down.
"Hey, you're the author from the other day!" Anzu looked up, a combination of slightly bewildered yet still grateful for the interruption. She repressed the urge to tell Mai that she made a habit of interrupting people, instead smiling weakly. "How's the story coming along? Oh, didn't mean to get in the way of your writing…"
"It's not my story," Anzu replied, lifting up the pages of the notebook. "Supply and demand graphs," she elaborated, staring at the carefully inked diagrams as if they had all the answers. She couldn't quite tell if Mai was going to or leaving from work, but almost wished she'd hurry up—it felt strange, talking to her again. From what she had learned of Mai Anzu figured she was talkative, and loud, barging in exactly when Anzu wanted quiet… but then she berated herself, knowing she had a friend exactly like that, and they hadn't exactly started out friends. It had just… happened. She decided to let this happen, too.
And Mai was lingering at the table as if she, too, wanted to just let things happen. With a jolt, she realized that Mai didn't know her name. "My name's Anzu," she said, defensively adding, "in case, you know, you were calling me 'dress-girl' in your head or something."
Mai laughed, and Anzu noted that she also had a very loud laugh, but it wasn't bad, or high pitched the way some people's were. "Can you believe that I was," she said after a while. "Hey, I've got to go—but it was nice talking to you, Anzu."
"Yeah, see you around," the words were scarcely out of her mouth before she realized who had spoken them previously. At first she was worried that Mai had noticed but she was already walking away, her mere aura diverting the river of mall patrons trawling the food court looking for a quick bite. More than once Anzu wondered what it would be like to be so overtly confident. Not arrogant, like Otogi, who sat next to her in Statistics much to her displeasure. Mai was different… at least, what little she knew of Mai was different. Anzu wasn't that sure why, but she decided she didn't mind it if she ran into Mai again.
The time right after meeting someone new is always just a little bit different. You start to think about them all the time. Things that you used to take for granted now remind you of them. It brightens your day yet leaves you distracted.
For Anzu it was that small center table at the food court.
For Mai it was that blue dress that for some reason had yet to be bought.
With each new interruption, each person walking by, they would tilt their heads up a little too eagerly, too expectantly. In their minds that stranger became another, and when things were quiet again they would be left feeling a little bit silly and a little bit confused.
Mai found her eyes traveling back to the rack where the blue dress was hidden behind an absolutely atrocious ruffled shirt. It had been a slow day, and on slow days Mai sometimes meandered around the store as if she was herself a customer, looking at the clothes as if for the first time. She was tidying up the mismatched buttons on one of the display mannequins when she heard it.
"Geez, Anzu, I just don't understand why you like this mall so much."
"It's probably because you're a guy." She giggled.
Mai froze, her fingers slipping over the third button. Her back was to them, but she recognized that voice anywhere. Damn it, Jounouchi… so six months later now he was all over Anzu? And she could do so much better…If he was going to play this game, she was going to play it better. "Yeah, probably," he agreed. "Hey, Honda and Otogi are coming over later tonight. You should drop by, so you can play cross-interference for Shizuka. I know we'd both appreciate it."
Mai was about ready to launch a mannequin at Jounouchi's head, but was placated slightly at Anzu's next words. "You know I've got to practice. My junior recital's on Sunday—you do remember it, right? You said you'd go."
"Don't worry about it—I'll be there." Jounouchi suddenly pulled his phone out of his pocket, checked the ID, and flipped open the phone. "Hey Shizuka—what's up? Oh, they're already there? I dunno, just feed them or something. I'm on my way." He turned apologetically to Anzu. "Gotta go."
"Tell Shizuka hi for me," Anzu stood alone in the center of the walkway for a few seconds, before turning and heading back in the opposite direction.
Mai finished buttoning up the cardigan, her fingers twitching with frustration. Jounouchi was an oaf, and Anzu didn't know any better… Mai looked up at the large clock which hung on the wall of the store. She had time. Without another thought she ran out of the store. She had a feeling where Anzu was headed.
Anzu was eating a salad, the fork raised halfway to her lips when Mai passed her table. Flushed and out of breath, it took a moment to even figure out what she was saying. "You don't know… Jounouchi… he's going to hurt you."
"Wait… what?" Anzu's mind bypassed the host of obvious questions, starting with 'what's this about Jounouchi?' and ending with 'will you please not spit on my salad?'
"You shouldn't get too close to him," Mai said, trying to make her voice sound as controlled and serious as possible. "I don't want to see you get hurt. He's not worth it."
It took three seconds of Anzu gaping at Mai's outburst before the lightbulb flickered to life. "Oh! You think that Jounouchi and I… ohhhhhh." She shook her head, finding the thought a little bit funny. "We're friends," she said, and the color instantly came back to Mai's face. "We're definitely not in a relationship."
"Oh thank heavens." Mai, exhausted and relieved, sank into one of the chairs opposite Anzu's at the table. "I saw you outside the store, and kind of assumed…" She let the words trail off, too proud to offer an apology, yet certain enough to stand by her words.
Anzu wasn't quite sure what to say. She definitely hadn't imagined seeing Mai again under these circumstances. "Its okay, I mean, you were looking out for me. That's… thoughtful," and the word didn't quite feel right, but it was better than any of the alternatives floating around her head.
"How do you know Jounouchi, anyways?"
"We used to date," Mai's words had an air of finality to them, and Anzu didn't know why but she felt kind of strange listening in. This was also a part of Mai she hadn't thought she'd get to see. "He's just… so oblivious. You know what he just did to you… rush off, like that? He did that on the night of our four-month anniversary. There was just this grey area between friends and family with him that he didn't quite know how to name or how to change. And I couldn't get through to him." She smiled ruefully, and Anzu remembered that she was right to think them similar… they were almost too similar.
"He didn't even see it coming. We shouted at each other, and then I left, and you know how it is, he's supposed to come after me, right? Well, he didn't. Stupid."
Anzu was amazed—she knew bits and pieces of her friend's former life: the gang, the money, the operation and then the messy break from that lifestyle. And now this—maybe Jounouchi just left a trail of messy breaks wherever he went. She wondered why.
"But I suppose that's how it is. You have your fifteen minutes in the sun, and then when the shadows come you see everything for how it really is." Mai laughed, sadly now, and tinged a little with disappointment. "Don't you wish we could just stay in the sun forever?"
Anzu thought it over for a minute. Mai had gone through ups and downs that she had never even imagined, and seeing her hidden thoughts out on the table Anzu wondered if this was a little bit like what falling in love was supposed to feel like.
"If you stay in the sun forever you'd get an awful sunburn." She didn't quite know how else to say it.
"I guess you're right." Mai nodded, internally making a resolution. "I guess you're right."
Sunday night Mai found herself in a line to enter Domino University's Performing Arts Theater, a building which had once been the pride of the campus but was now worn down and shabby by the thousands of indifferent students who entered and left without a second thought. She found an aisle seat near the middle of the room and waited; people filling in the seats around her until the place was not-quite full. She didn't search very hard for the person whom she suspected wasn't going to make it, but at the same time she wanted to be ready. She knew there was the chance that she'd see Jounouchi there, and it was a chance that she was ready and willing to take.
According to her program Anzu was the fourth dancer on the list of ten, so Mai waited patiently and clapped in turn with the rest of the audience. As Mai watched Anzu take the stage and begin her solo, she forgot how to breathe.
She saw from the program that dance companies were in attendance, and knew how important this night was for Anzu. But what she saw went beyond dancing. This was Anzu's fifteen minutes in the sun, and she soared higher and higher and higher, taking everything that she could and holding nothing back. In the soundtrack the strings matched her pace, climbing and swirling into a powerful cadence. Mai noticed the way that the stage lights blended and bounced off of Anzu's deep blue dress and suddenly understood, in a flash of intuition, what this moment was for her. Sometimes you can be your own heroine. It didn't matter if there was no prince to sweep off their feet; sometimes you had to dust yourself off and soar, stronger for it.
After the routine had ended Mai stood up, clapping and cheering with the rest of the audience. All of a sudden she felt unusually shy about seeing Anzu again after this. Usually so bold, she just didn't want Anzu to see her right now, like this. Mai let her have her moment. Before the fifth dancer took the stage Mai left, a program tucked under one arm and a tissue in one hand.
Time passes and infatuation fades. It is bound to happen, that after some time in the sun the shadows eventually come back.
Anzu still visited Mai occasionally at her store, and Mai sometimes ran into Anzu at her table, but time ran forwards, not backwards, and on a deeper level they both knew that. There had been subtle changes, though. There was this grey part between friends and family that still didn't have a name, but they were working on that.
Anzu sat in front of her computer, the document empty, and the cursor blinking, steadily yet impatiently. Despite everything that had happened, she still had a story to write. This time, she had a story to tell, too. About a strong, independent female character. Someone who reached for the sun because they made mistakes. People liked reading that nowadays.
The End.
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