Chills and Thrills

by Higuchimon

A hot summer's day leads to something Jounouchi didn't expect with Anzu.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.
Title: Chills and Thrills
Word Count: 3,430
Rated: PG-13
Romance: Jououchi x Anzu
Notes: This is set a few years after the Ceremonial Duel and was written for the second season of the Yu-Gi-Oh Pairings Challenge. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.
Summary: A hot summer's day leads to something Jounouchi didn't expect with Anzu.

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Jounouchi loved to swim. It had a lot of good memories attached to it, mainly because it was his dad who had taught him how, many years earlier before the drink had claimed him. He'd kept up with it at school, too, especially in the summer. If it hadn't been for Duel Monsters, he might have even thought about joining the school swim team. But that, and saving the world, had taken up a big enough chunk of his time so he had never had the chance.

But now he was three years out of high school and in between his first and second years of college, and it was a blistering hot day, the kind that baked his brains into a crispy gray pancake, and he wanted to go somewhere that was cool. He didn't know how Atemu had survived being in Egypt three thousand years ago, when they hadn't even invented air conditioning yet. He couldn't deal with it now, and this wasn't even Egypt!

There's got to be a pool open somewhere. He wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with the formalities of a pool, though. He knew they were there for a reason. He just didn't want to deal with them.

"Hey, Jounouchi!" A familiar voice called out, and he looked up to see Anzu coming towards him. They'd seen each other a few times over the last few years, but the way she'd grown and matured struck him suddenly. It probably had something to do with the particular way she'd developed, and the look she was giving him as she came closer.

"Hey, Anzu. Hot, isn't it?" He wiped off his brow and tried to find something else to look at that wasn't as drop dead gorgeous as she was. He'd always known she was pretty, when they'd been to school together. But she'd also been interested in Yuugi: one or the other of them. That wasn't so much of an issue anymore, for multiple reasons, at least one of them being named Bakura Ryou.

She nodded, and he caught the motion out of the corner of one eye since he wasn't actually looking at her. "You want to go somewhere and cool off?"

Jounouchi wasn't all that certain that being anywhere with her would help him to cool off at the moment. But he was willing to try it out. "Sure."

"I think all the pools are going to be too crowded right now," she said as she fell into step beside him. He found it much easier to talk when she wasn't there breathing in front of him. He could also find several things that he could stare at that weren't her.

What the hell is wrong with you? You haven't ever stared at her like that! He wanted to smack himself, but then he'd have to explain to her why he was, and that was something he didn't want to go into at the moment.

"Yeah, and I don't really feel like putting up with the usual stuff right now, either." He shook his head at the very thought of all of it. Just not what he wanted.

"We could try the amusement park. They've got a pretty good pool there," Anzu suggested thoughtfully. "It might not be as crowded."

That sounded pretty good to him. Even if it wasn't jammed with people, there would probably be enough so he wouldn't be able to stare and drool at her without someone noticing and smacking him out of it. Hopefully someone who wasn't her.

"Okay, let's check it out." It wasn't that far away, just about ten minutes with the trains, and there was a station in walking distance. He started off towards it, then stopped. "Want to get a drink first? My treat." He couldn't say that often enough. Being able to buy sodas or snacks for his friends without worrying if that was going to break his rent money was a new experience, and he enjoyed it to the hilt.

"Sure!" Anzu grinned at him, blue eyes dancing warmly in a way that sent a shiver down his spine. He didn't argue with what he was thinking now. It just felt too good. So maybe he was enjoying himself a little too much, spending time with Anzu, for all of the five minutes he'd done so. It didn't matter. They were both single, they were both adults, and if they wanted to hang out, nothing was wrong with that.

And if you want to do more? His mind, and another part of him, teased. He again wanted to smack both, but that would have really drawn attention he didn't want. Even if he did, she might not, and even if they both did, now wasn't the place or the time for it.

Once their ice-cold drinks were in their hands, they started towards the station again. Jounouchi drank his gratefully, then passed the bottle across his forehead. It didn't cool him off as much as plunging into chilled water would, but it was a nice prelude. "This is good," he breathed softly.

"No kidding. I don't think it's been this hot in years." Anzu fanned herself a little before taking another sip of her drink. "Hope the park's not too crowded."

He nodded, really not wanting to think about what they'd do if it was. There had been enough public pools built in Domino City in the last couple of years that he was reasonably sure there would be room there, and there wouldn't be all those rules, either. That kind of freedom was what he wanted at the moment. That, and more time spent in Anzu's company.

"So, what have you been up to?" He wanted some kind of small talk, something between them which wasn't just empty air. It was a reasonable place to start.

"Working. I still need to get a lot more saved before I can go to New York." Anzu leaned back in her seat and took several long, slow breaths. Jounouchi found the far side of the train car very fascinating.

"I know you can do it, Anzu," he told her firmly. He wasn't lying. She had the kind of determination that wasn't seen in that many. He wasn't even certain if he himself had it. Just because he could get a steady job and get himself into college didn't mean he could do what she was going to.

Yeah, so don't be stupid and fall for her while she's headed for America, idiot. He knew there couldn't be a future in what he was starting to entertain. It was the same thing that had happened with Mai: the girl's goals conflicted with his, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. Mai wanted to be the best duelist she could be, and while that did leave room for friends, it wasn't the best situation for anything romantic. They'd both wanted to be wrong about that. They'd tried…they'd tried for over a year. And in the end, all it had done was make them both miserable.

So why did he want to do this to himself all over again, with someone he knew even better than he knew Mai? Mai had been a wonderful dream, someone and something he could keep in his thoughts when it was dark and cold and he needed to know he was worth something to someone wonderful and far out of his reach. Anzu was a lot closer to home, and if they did start something, then his heart would be ripped apart even more when she finally got all the money she needed and went off to fulfill all those dreams of hers.

"Jounouchi?" He jerked up some as she prodded into his arm. "We're here, come on."

He blinked a couple of times; he didn't think he'd dozed off. It was too hot to sleep for one thing. He must have gotten too much into his personal whining again. "Oh. Thanks."

He was lucky; she didn't ask for why he'd zoned out. He wasn't sure she'd want to know that he'd been telling himself even thinking about being more than friends would be a stupid decision. She was likely to tell him that if they wanted to be more, then they'd be more, and just deal with it.

Which, he had to admit, had a great deal of appeal to it.

Which was also why he didn't say anything to her about it.

Once they'd paid their fee for the amusement park and went through the changing area, Jounouchi tried to put every thought about Anzu as anything other than one of his best friends that he was spending an afternoon having fun with out of his head. He even managed to succeed, and was very proud of himself as he dived into the cool water, feeling it strip the sweat from him entirely. This was perfect, just what he'd been wanting! Nothing could go wrong now. Or worse, go even more right.

"Hey, Jounouchi!" He turned over at the sound of his name, and very nearly went under as his brain attempted to process what he was seeing.

He'd been very proud of himself. Now all he could think was a low sort of mental hum that didn't even begin to touch on being coherent. Anzu stood there in a gleaming dark blue bikini that fit her like a glove, and showed in even more detail just how incredible she'd become in the last few years. He had heard from Yuugi about their friend's dynamite body, and had mostly written it off as just being Yuugi with that crush of his.

Now he knew for a solid fact that Anzu had more than a dynamite body: she was living, breathing explosives that had just blown his self-control and his ability to think.

Seeing the graceful dive she made into the water didn't help matters either, and he tried his best to swim back a little. No one else appeared to be paying attention, but the very small part of his mind that was still thinking rationally, and which was fading away with every breath he took, figured that had to be just because they were trying to be polite. Either that or they'd all died of heart attacks. He couldn't blame them if they had.

"Wow…" The single word escaped his lips as she surfaced, and for a moment he thought she grinned at him. "Um. You're good."

"Thanks." Anzu tossed her hair back some, shaking the water out of it. "This is just what I needed. Glad we came."

Nothing very coherent wanted to come out of Jounouchi's mouth at the moment, so he did something very odd: he kept it shut and just nodded agreement.

The park's pool wasn't as bound by rules as the public ones were, so Jounouchi enjoyed himself to the hilt swimming here and there, making certain he didn't get in anyone else's way, and not letting anyone else get in his either. His attention kept going back to Anzu every few minutes, and once or twice, the way the sun shone on her as she stood up or moved came close to having him swallow at least a quarter of the pool water in sheer shock. How someone that gorgeous could be a friend of his baffled him.

Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to swim all day there, as much as Jounouchi would have liked to, and not just for the sight of Anzu in a bikini. So it was that once the pool had closed and they had both cleaned up and were back in their normal clothes, they found themselves wandering down the street.

"At least it's cooling off some," Anzu pointed out, motioning to where the sun was setting and taking the heat with it. "I hope we get some rain or something. That should fix it."

"Yeah, me too." No more Anzu in a bikini? Oh, well…at least he had the mental pictures. Those would last him a long, long time.

She fidgeted a little, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder. "I still want something cool, though." She frowned. "Cold. I want ice cream. I want a big bowl of ice cream and some cold tea."

That, he could provide. He motioned ahead of them quickly. "There's a place that sells both of those right there. Want to stop in?"

"Sounds good to me!" Anzu bounced over there, and Jounouchi followed her, grinning slightly. The more time they spent around each other, the more he simply liked her. He always had, even when he'd been a jackass before he'd made friends with Yuugi, but this was different. He noticed more about her, the kind of things that he'd never noticed before. It was more than just how pretty she was or how nice she was. He'd always known those things, just like he knew she had a pretty good left hook when she was in the mood to have one.

It feels good to be around her. It was a special kind of good, the kind he'd wanted to have with Mai, and hadn't. It was a comfortable feeling. He wanted more of it. He wanted a lot more of it.

"So, what do you want?" He'd scarcely noticed that he and Anzu were both inside the store now. The air conditioning was working fine, and he relaxed a little more as the cool air wrapped around him. He stared up at the menu and tried to decide just how he wanted to answer her question. All of it looked good. So many flavors, so many options…

So many things he could say to that question that didn't involve food. If he ever said something like that to her, he wouldn't be surprised if she smacked him. He would deserve it, and would ask her to do it again until he grew some sense.

Once they'd both ordered and found a seat, chilly treats in hand, Jounouchi did what he could to start acting even remotely like a normal human being just out with a friend. "This is the only reason I like seeing it hot," he said, waving a spoon to emphasize his words. "Because you really appreciate ice cream and air conditioning and all of that a lot more!"

"You could be right," Anzu agreed, swallowing a bite of the sweet treat. "And then come winter, we're going to be complaining about how cold it is and wondering what we were thinking now."

Jounouchi snickered some. He'd done that before. He knew there were people who didn't, but he wasn't one of them. "I'm not going to think about winter right now." He ate a little more ice cream and sipped his drink. Part of him wanted to think this was some kind of a date, but he tried not to pay attention to it. He wasn't doing a very good job of it, sadly enough. "Did you want to do anything else after this?"

Anzu started to say something, then looked at her watch and sighed. "I can't. I've got to get home and get some things done. I've got work tomorrow, too."

The words were out of his mouth before he even realized it. "Well, when you've got some time, want to go see a movie or hit the museum or something? Or go dancing…just spend some time together." If he'd been five years younger, he might have smacked his hands over his mouth and tried to deny it. As it was, once he'd heard himself, he instead leaned back in his chair and ate his ice cream. He'd meant to ask it all along, really.

If Anzu knew that he hadn't, she didn't say anything about it, only sat there, a slight hint of surprise crossing her face, and sipped briefly at her drink. "All right. We can go dancing tomorrow night. It's Friday, I don't have to work on the weekends. I know a really good place, too. I haven't been there in a while."

"Good. I'll come pick you up…when would be good?" This was turning out to be easier than he'd thought. At least she hadn't started to smack him for anything yet.

"About seven should be good. The place opens at seven-thirty." Anzu finished her drink and cleaned up the last bit of her ice cream, then sighed. "I really should be getting home."

Jounouchi pushed his own empty glass and bowl away. "I'll walk you there." Again, he didn't bother to think about the words. They just came, and he was grateful for them.

Anzu smiled, a hint more of warmth towards him than he was used to seeing. She usually did care about him, like she did about them all, but this was just a little different, a little more special, a little more just for him than he had expected, and the warmth in him only grew stronger at the sight of it.

The walk wasn't as long as he might've wanted, especially as they had to first go to the station to get close to her place, which hadn't been all that far from where they'd met earlier. He didn't know if he'd been wandering around there in the hopes of meeting her on purpose or not. Maybe he had been and he just hadn't bothered to tell himself about that. It wouldn't be the first time he'd not told himself something.

"Today was fun," Anzu said as they drew closer to her house. There had been mostly silence between them from the time they'd left the restaurant. Jounouchi could think of several things to say, but whenever he tried to, the words froze in his throat as he remembered all over again that they had a date. It was hard, if not impossible, to get his mind wrapped around this fact right away. He had to work at it.

"Yeah. Glad I ran into you." He grinned at her, that same feeling of ease and pleasure filling him. "Can't wait for tomorrow night." He wasn't the kind of dancer that she was, but that wasn't the issue.

"Neither can I." The smile was that one from before, warmer than usual, and warming him from the inside out, even as they came up to where she lived. "I'll see you then, I guess."

"Yeah." Jounouchi hesitated some, not sure of what to do. Words that said what he wanted didn't appear to want to appear without asking this time. He mentally gulped and tried to say it for himself. "I like hanging out…I like…I like being with you, Anzu. A lot." Even if it sounded stupid, the tension he labored under eased to hear the words said.

It vanished altogether when Anzu leaned over and brushed her lips across his cheek, flushing ever so slightly at her own nerve. "I like being with you, too, Jounouchi. Maybe after we finish at the club we can get something to eat? I know a couple of really good restaurants. Maybe a walk on the beach Saturday, too?"

All of it sounded wonderful and all he could do was nod. He wanted to ask about the future, but he didn't. Let the future take care of itself. He was the Duelist of Luck, wasn't he? Then maybe luck would lend a hand and settle it all out when the time came. For now, all he could do was just agree to be with her, the way they both wanted to be, and hope that everything worked out for the best in the end.

"I'll see you then?" It was more of a question and yet something of a hope as well. Anzu nodded, then started to turn towards the door for a moment before looking back. He wondered if she were going to say anything else, then she shook her head, the flush deepening, and hurried inside, closing the door behind herself. Jounouchi wondered what had been going through her mind, and wondered if he really wanted to know.

With a light shrug, he turned away and started on his own way home. He had a feeling he'd find out one day, and until then, he was willing just to go along and see what happened. His fingers brushed against his cheek where she'd kissed it, and he tossed a quick glance back behind him to the house fading out of sight with every step. Yeah. This was going to be good.

The End