Okay, first attempt at a contest, first attempt at a threesome pairing, and first time pairing Anzu with…well with anyone. So yeah, a lot of firsts here!
Pairings: Spiritshipping aka Yami no Yuugi x Anzu x Yuugi Mutou
(I think the ship is appropriately named for this one shot too :P)
Disclaimer: All characters and original YGO plot references belong to Kazuki Takahashi. And any references made about the Juilliard school. Don't own anything there either.
*Dates used for this one shot are based on my understanding of the anime's time line and the manga's first released issue. Honestly, it's too complicated to explain (I still get confused by it) so just go with it.
-Set after Memory Arc
Enjoy!
New York City. The 24th of July, 2003. Evening.
The sun was in that phase of descending the western skies, just before the setting stage, where the light was still plenty but the sky darkened in its bluish hue. Soon the horizon would swallow up the star taking the warm pink and orange tinted sunset with it.
The plane for flight 194 from Tokyo, Japan landed in JFK International Airport around that time; a young man exited the gate, stepping onto American soil for the first time. He stood there for a pregnant moment, taking in that fact, it wasn't the first time he'd been out of the country, but it certainly did seem rather surreal. Traffic from behind him pushed him to continue onward, despite the sudden nervousness that ate at his insides; perhaps coming here on a whim wasn't his smartest move.
At baggage claim he waited, far in the back, for the crowd to thin out. He considered just switching over to the next flight back home. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a small boy had started staring at him. Tapping his foot impatiently the young man spared a glance at the kid whose eyes seemed to grow twice their size when he made eye contact with him.
"Mommy! That's the King of Games!" The young man cringed and ran a hand through his hair, an aggravated sigh immerging past gritted teeth. 'Even here?' he thought, he hurried forward to grab his duffle bag when it came around, using all his might to pull it out from underneath a bulkier suit case. Now, he wanted nothing more than to get out of there before anyone else recognized him. He already regretted this; he should have just stayed home.
With a hurried pace, the young man searched for the airport exit, swinging his duffle over his shoulder. The name tag dangling from the bag's strap had four kanji sharpied on it, slightly faded from age, his name; Yuugi Mutou.
For Anzu Mazaki, there was nothing more enticing than music. Melody and rhythm interlocked in a combination that lasted through history, through time itself. Hasn't it been said that man had long known music before language? Well maybe she was a bit fuzzy on historical details, but the concept itself was beautiful. She was participating in something that was both ancient and modern, changing through the ages but never really changing. If that made sense, that is…
Anzu paused in her hip twist, lowering her leading leg, her eyes focusing back on her current settings. The empty auditorium stared back at her, rows upon rows of vacant seats shaded in darkness, stage lights putting her in the spotlight. With a frown she pulled the small hand sized remote from where she had it tucked it in her sash, aiming at the portable stereo in the corner she restarted the song and resumed her starting position. The music filled the theatre and she took a quick breath, letting it out slowly. As the song proceeds she lets her muscles relax, the base of the song growing ever stronger that her heart races as if to match it. Dancing was her passion; there was nothing she loved more. The first note in the verse played and she was moving.
'Relax, just let the music do the work,' Anzu encouraged herself, 'Don't think, just…' The thought trailed away as the routine took her to her own little world, a world all her own, peaceful and perfect. This was where she felt safest, where she felt happiness, where she felt she belonged. This was what she was meant to do, just dance. This was her dream.
"Mazaki!"
"Ah-!" Anzu tumbled from her twirl barely missing fall off the edge of the stage. Scrambling to a sitting position she snatched the remote from her sash and turned the stereo off, looking guilty as she turned to the drama instructor.
"How many times have I told you that this stage is off limits after hours? You want to rehearse; you do so in the practice rooms down in the lower wings." The middle aged brunette woman tapped her foot impatiently as Anzu shuffled about to collect her things. The professor snatched the young woman's arm as she tried to walk past, "Mazaki," she growled.
Understand the warning tone, Anzu forced herself to calm down lest she start babbling Japanese (she tended to switch back to her native tongue when under pressure), "I'm sorry, Norman-san, it's just that…" she licked her lips, "the practice rooms are always so crowded, noisy, and the sign up schedule is just impossible!"
"Regardless, Mazaki, the stage is not to be used. If I find you here again I'm going to have to get the headmaster involved-"
"No!" Anzu bit her lip, "Please, professor, I promise I won't use the stage again." The instructor just gave a tight-lipped expression with a small nod, releasing Anzu, who honestly couldn't be more grateful to get out of there. Taking the stairs two at a time she burst through the auditorium doors out into the empty halls of The Juilliard School. She veered to the right and came around a pillar to scowl at two of her best friends hiding there.
"I thought you two were going to warn me when someone was coming?"
The short blonde haired girl held up her phone, screen visible, "We did! We texted you, called you, everything! You mustn't of heard it!"
The redheaded one smirked, crossing her arms, "Not our fault you're in your own lala world in there."
Anzu shoved the boom box at her red-haired friend (who honestly was enjoying this too much) and checked her phone, three new text messages and four missed calls. Anzu pouted, she hated being wrong.
After the three friends had eaten out at their favorite Thai place on the corner, the sky decided to open up and down pour on their fun. Anzu waved them goodbye as they split up to head home, ducking under the shelter of a nearby bus station, she considered the subway. Though she didn't live far from the school and she cringed at the thought of actually spending unnecessary expenses for just a chance to stay dry. The rain was coming down in buckets, groaning she figured nature just made the choice for her; she sat on the bench under the overhang, intent on waiting at the least the worst of it out.
The few people still on the street were running towards shelters, using what they could to shield them from the falling rain water. Anzu watched them run past, so many unfamiliar faces she had become accustomed to seeing in the streets, passing her by the past three years she had been living in New York, attending Juilliard. The city was similar to that of Tokyo, it may not be Domino, but the feel of this place and its population felt like her crowd cities, but this wasn't her country and when she focused on individuals, they were not her people.
The businessman, using his own briefcase like an umbrella, was not the businessmen of Japan. The teenage girl, clung to her boyfriend as they raced to the nearest building for shelter from the weather, were not the couples of Japan. The man with the multi-colored hair wasn't the Harajuku cultural individuals of Japan's capital city. New York may feel like home sometimes but it didn't stop her from missing…wait, multi-colored hair?
Springing to her feet she moved to the edge of the overhang, trying her best to see through the grey fog at the one person who didn't seem to noticed, or most likely didn't care, that it was raining cats and dogs.
'That couldn't be' Anzu shook her head, 'It just couldn't.' But without proper visual proof she couldn't be sure, cupping her hands around her mouth she yelled,
"YUUGI!"
The stranger stopped and turned, looking for the one who had called for him, that's all it took and she was moving.
"I can't believe you came here," Anzu said as she ushered her old friend into her apartment, "hold tight, I'll get us some towels." Yuugi was soaked, hair falling limp around his shoulders, his clothes dripping onto the entry way mat.
When she returned he looked her over, she had grown her hair out, but other than that it was like she was sixteen again and she hadn't been gone for three years. Anzu couldn't say the same about him though, when she handed him the towel she took her chance to look him up and down, he had grown, she bet without the boots he'd probably be about her height. She laughed, 'Only with his hair sticking up, adding to his height.'
Yuugi peeked at her from under the towel, pausing in his attempt to dry his hair to give her a questioning raised eyebrow. She waved it off and led him to the bathroom. Once both were changed, Yuugi having to borrow some of Anzu's pj pants, much to Yuugi's embarrassment, and Anzu in shorts and top they both sat down at the kitchen island to talk.
"It's been awhile…" Yuugi started in Japanese and his earlier silence finally made sense to Anzu (she had been speaking English).
"Yeah it has." She said, slipping back into her native language and Yuugi visible relaxed when she did, she shared a warm smile with him before pushing off her stool to find them something to drink. "So what brings you here?" Her back turned, rummaging through the low stock of supplies she had in the fridge.
Yuugi's expression grew gloomy, "Do you know what tomorrow is, Anzu-chan?" The affectionate suffix brought back memories of when they were still in high school, oh how the home sickness washing over her felt both lonesome and exciting; she missed the undertone to the question.
"Uh, the 25th I believe?" she reached for two sodas in the far back of refrigerator.
"…It's been five years Anzu." The whisper took but a second to register. The brunette paused, and her eyes dilated in realization, she stood up straight and stared at him. Yuugi held her gaze, his amethyst eyes narrower than she remembered, the irises glassy with a storm all their own raging just beneath the surface.
Wordlessly she understood, putting the sodas back and pulling two beers out instead, it was going to be one long night.
Domino, Japan. The 23rd of July, 2003. Midnight.
It just didn't seem real. How could time have gone by so fast? Five years was a long time and yet he could still remember the day he lost him like it had happened just yesterday.
Traveling through the tablet…
Saving the world…like we always do…
Just one more card game and you'd be home free…free…
Yuugi sniffed and wiped at his watering his, he was a grown adult now, adults don't cry. Pushing the chair away from his desk he strolled to his bedroom closet, opening the door and pushing past the clothes to the old shoe box in the back. It was covered in dust; he hadn't looked at these old things in years.
Sitting on his bed he removed the lid and sorted through some of the small treasure of his childhood years. At the side wrapped in an old shirt was the object he both long to see and yet desperate to avoid. Pulling the article of clothing lose, the gold of the puzzle box shone just as amazing stunning as the first time his grandfather had given it to him. Pulling the lid loose he peeked at the duel monster cards laid forgotten at the bottom of the box.
…
I need to get out of here!
"And then the next thing I know, I packed my bag and purchased a plane ticket. Now here I am." Yuugi offered a sheepish grin before sipping at his second beer. Anzu shook her head at him, a ghost of a smile on her face, her first beer barely touched sitting on the countertop.
"Honestly, Yuugi, what if I hadn't of found you? You'd still be out in the rain, possibly mugged in an alleyway. This isn't the safest place to be at night ya know." Yuugi waved his hand dismissively,
"But you did find me." Anzu just couldn't argue with the charming boyish smile he threw at her, the one that reminded her so much of the innocent Yuugi, the one that didn't know heartbreak.
"So why come here of all places?" he gave her a bewildered look as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Because you're here." Anzu could feel the warmth of the blush on her cheeks intensify and made to quickly change the subject.
"Yes, well…how's Bakura-kun doing? What with the five year anniversary thing?"
Yuugi's faint smile vanished. "Remember when he dropped out of high school?"
"Yeah?"
"He ran away to Egypt, to find his dad…at least that's what I assumed he did."
Anzu looked stunned, "How did you know he was in Egypt?"
Yuugi stuck his tongue out, "He actually comes back to Japan to visit, unlike a certain someone." He yelped and ducked away as she tried to ruffle his already messed up hair.
"So what's he doing there?"
Yuugi, took another swing of his beer and stare off into space, "Searching for answers."
"Vague much?"
Yuugi shrugged, "I only saw him long enough for a quick chat over coffee, then like the wind he was gone!" he made a dramatic slashing move with his arm to emphasize his point. "Even Malik is pretty vague on what's going on with him."
"Malik?"
Yuugi nodded, finishing off his beer, motioning he wanted another. "Yeah, Malik's going to college now, majoring in psychology," the irony of such went unsaid but was not lost on either party, "when I told him Bakura-kun was there I think Malik jumped at the chance to find him."
Anzu pulled out another beer from the fridge and slid it across the counter to him. "Why is that?"
Yuugi, caught it and wrung his hands around it as he carefully choose his words. "Bakura-kun was…well controlled, to the point that he didn't know what happened half the time. Even when he seemed like himself, it was really the darkness of the Ring putting on a façade. I was surprised to find out that Bakura-kun had barely any memory of that year…could you imagine what that's like for him? He's a mental wreck, and Malik's been through that before, so I guess he's supporting Bakura-kun."
Anzu watched Yuugi as he explained, studied his slower reactions, careful wording, and starting his third beer. "So, who's supporting you, Yuugi?"
Somewhere in Egypt. The 25th of July, 2003. Morning.
"What are you thinking about?"
Five years ago…
Movement. "Can't sleep?"
Five years ago…
More movement. "What are you scared of?"
…
"Still paranoid about losing control?" Purrs.
"…don't…"
A smirk. "I'm not afraid of you, Ryou."
…
"Sometimes I wish you were."
Yuugi lowered the bottle from his mouth, "What?"
"Why don't you tell me what's really bothering you?"
Yuugi, bit his lip and looked anywhere but at her, "You wouldn't understand…"
"Try me." Glancing into her determined azure eyes he knew he really didn't have a choice.
"Anzu, do you ever feel like something's missing?" Anzu didn't answer, remaining silent to encourage him to continue, he travelled thousands of miles to get here, he didn't need to beat around the bush.
"Even right after the duel, our last two years in high school, even then I still felt it. Like half of me was missing, a part of me that was lost…when I lost him." Yuugi paused, Anzu remembered it clear as day herself, the Pharaoh turning his back on all his friends and just as quick as he had entered all their lives, he was gone.
Her heart wrench but she shook her head. It had been years since she felt that, that absolute lost feeling that drove you to tears and made your chest grow tight.
"I knew it was the right thing to do," Yuugi started, "it's just…sometimes I wish I didn't. I'm not the King of Games, I'm not without him…" scratching at his neck he struggled to continue what he was trying to say. "I…" frustrated he took a gulp of his beer and when he settled, another swing went down, when Yuugi threatened to take another Anzu took the bottle from him.
"Yuugi…"
"I'm not complete without him!" Yuugi eyes glistened, brimming with unshed tears, "It's like…yin and…yang but…h-he's…he's gone." He choked back a sob, his speech just a bit slurred now. Reaching out lovingly Anzu placed a hand each on the sides of his face. This poor man, her childhood friend, how could he possible think he was any less of a person?
"Bakura-kun's not the only one searching for answers is he?" she said knowingly. Yuugi merely nodded, her hands still cupping his face, her thumbs brushing away the stray tears.
"Yuugi, you were never half a person, not before nor after the pharaoh…" slowly letting him go she pointed to him, "you're one complete soul, one separate mind," she tapped his forehead and then walking around the island to stand next to him she laid her hand over his bare chest, "and one incredibly caring heart."
"You're a great friend, Yuugi. We all loved you long before the pharaoh came along. So why would we love you any less when he was gone?" Yuugi flushed at how spot on her words were, the uncertainty he had in himself after being overshadowed for so long now seemed silly in the face of Anzu's unconditional confidence.
"Have faith in you heart, Yuugi, it's never wrong." Anzu hugged him and he was a bit stunned, it took several minutes before it occurred to him that he should return the gesture. Maybe Anzu was right…maybe he was pinning after something he didn't need.
How could a puzzle piece be lost from a finished game?
Notes:
*Serious Yuugi character devolvement!
*I wrote this all in one go and it's one of the longest one shots I've written so I got pretty frustrated with it, mainly near the end I just wanted to be done with it! That's why it may seem rushed at being wrapped up at the end. I tried to fix it later, but I'm not certain I did a good patch up job either. So tell me your opinion, I'd like to know how I did in that area.
*The moment between Malik and Ryou, which was suppose to be brief and vague, seem out of place with the rest of the one shot and I seriously debated whether to keep it in or not.
*And finally I have little drink knowledge, I just drink what my friends recommend and so I figure the safe option was beer, even though it's disgusting in my opinion and I doubt Anzu would actually have some stashed away in her fridge. (not to mention by my calculations she's still three weeks shy of drinking age in this fic)
*I somehow broke my laptop's mouse pad typing up this one shot. How? My only guess is that the sheer awesomeness of this contest was too much for it. :P
Ending Note: I hoped you liked it and good luck to all the other writers! :D