The school bell rings loudly throughout the campus of Domino City High. It was afternoon on a rainy Friday. Students were clearly excited to go out and head home or hang out with their fellow friends, but then again it was raining which could hinder some activities a regular teenager would do. Especially since the forecast said it will be raining all weekend long.

Anzu Misaki stands outside under the shelter of the building, perhaps waiting if the rain would lighten by some chance. She knows it was unlikely since it just gotten worse before the bell rang. She sighs softly under her breath as she watches raindrops splash into the puddles all over the school grounds. She didn't know why she felt rather melancholic. Perhaps the cloudy, rainy day is just getting her this way?

Or, just maybe, it was someone causing this..

Her blue eyes trail down to her feet. Thoughts began to seep into her mind. Atem, she thinks to herself, it feels so strange not to see you at times or even know you won't appear to battle. But, that is a good thing, right? You're at peace now.

And yet, I here I am, without the hero I've considered as...

"Anzu?" a voice calls out behind her.

Anzu looks over her shoulder. Yugi stands there with an innocent smile he always seems to wear, holding his umbrella.

She gestures a small smile. "Hi Yugi."

The young lad walks up to her. "Rainy days aren't fun at all, huh?"

"Not really," she agrees with her friend.

A small bit of silence settles in between the two. They both felt very uncomfortable. Yugi was looking at Anzu's umbrella in her hands. Why hasn't she gone yet? He came out a bit later than everyone else since he helped with Jonouchi's deck back in the classroom. He was very distracted, though. Lately, Anzu has been seemingly keeping her distance away from the boy.

Yugi scratches his cheek, looking to the side, trying to think of any way possible to break the ice.

"So, uh," he begins with a timid voice, "do you have anything planned for the weekend, Anzu?"

The girls blinks and looks up at the ceiling in thought as students walk past her. "Umm, no? My parents are away for the weekend so I'll be home alone for a couple days."

This sounds like a chance to see if Anzu is okay.

"Well, I mean, if you want, I can, er," Yugi stutters, trying to gain his courage. Anzu simply looks down at the teen curiously.

The youth gulps down and says, "I can accompany you for the day! I-I mean, well, Grandpa is out today to spend time with Mr. Hopkins so if we're both gonna be home alone today, then why not we at least spend a day together then? If, that is um, okay with you?" he quickly says under his breath, nearly losing said breath. That took some doing for me, Yugi thought to himself.

A hand places over the boy's spiky hair. Yugi looks up, seeing a smiling Anzu. "Sure thing, Yugi. Let's go to your place."

The boy's eyes lit up and nods. "Right!"

The teenagers reach the Kami Game Shop. Fortunately it isn't much of a walk from Domino High. It was about a good ten minute walk. Yugi unlocks the game shop's doors as they then enter.

Yugi flips open the light switch as the shop lights up.

"It has been a while since I've been here, hm?" Anzu says aloud as she looks around the game shop. It's known to be a very small, simple game shop. Here and there were several sorts of games and collectables. At the far end was a glass case filled with many Duel Monsters cards, from common to rare. It wasn't a very popular game store until Yugi became well-known as the Duel King.

"Yeah, it has," Yugi says as he places their umbrellas at the side of the door, stepping out of his shoes. Anzu crosses her arms behind her back, giggling.

"You know Yugi, you didn't have to try to have your umbrella over me."

Yugi replies, "Huh? Why not?"

Anzu bends slightly over to him and swipes her hand above their heads, up from hers then down to his.

"Height difference, remember?"

Yugi's face flusters up.

"H-hey, it didn't matter! Standing on my toes gave me a couple inches!" he protests.

Anzu smiles, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Well yeah, until you nearly fell a few times while doing it."

Yugi pouts, looking down. "I figured it'd be the nice thing to do is all."

The brunette smiles as she stands up straight. Yugi was always very sweet to her ever since they were friends. He never let his height complication hold him back from doing what he thought was right. He may be small and frail, but his bravery knows no bounds.

"Thank you, Yugi."

The boy smiles up at her with a tint of pink on his cheeks. "You're very welcome!"

A few moments of silence passes until one of them speaks up.

"So, want to head up to my room? I can get you something if you like. Any kind of drinks or snacks?" Yugi offers.

Anzu thinks for a moment and holds up her finger. "I'd like some juice, please."

Yugi nods as he and Anzu walk into the living area behind the shop. "Sure thing! You can head up and wait for me, I'll be up in a minute."

Anzu complies as she steps out of her own pair of shoes by the staircase as she then makes her way up. The stairs creek under each step until she finally reaches to the top. She turns to her right and opens up the door (she knows the entire layout of the home by memory). She walks into the room.

It was a simple room. Very well organized, some clothing piles here and there, but she didn't expect anything less of a boy's room. She sits down on the bed and looks around as she smiles in nostalgia.

"It really has been such a long time since I came up here. I don't even remember when was the last time I was here alone with Yugi," she says to herself.

Alone with Yugi...

She felt her cheeks warm up. Why did she suddenly get nervous upon realizing they were alone in his home? This was the first time for her to feel this way. Yugi is the boy she knows since they were kids, so how could she-

"No," Anzu disagreed with her thoughts. She folds her hands above her skirt, looking down at them. "Yugi is becoming a man. He proved it when we were in Atem's memories and proved he can defend us himself. And he was able to beat Atem in that Ceremony Duel."

She bites her bottom lip.

"I'm seeing Yugi as a boy when comparing to Atem. They're such opposites. Am I..a bad person for always seeking Atem to save me rather than Yugi, who I've known for years and care so deeply for?"

Her dark blue eyes close.

I can't look at Yugi the same way ever since Atem left. I'm always expecting to see that Puzzle around his neck, knowing he's in there and with us. But now, I just didn't want to look at Yugi without his Puzzle, she thinks to herself.

Yugi came first. He's my first hero. Well, a miniature hero, she giggles.

The bedroom door opens up. Anzu looks. Yugi walks in. He was missing his school jacket so he just wore his pants, belt decor, and his sleeveless black shirt. He had a small tray with two glasses of juice, ice clanging gently in them with each step.

"Hope you don't mind orange juice, Anzu," Yugi says with a cheerful smile.

Anzu shakes her head. "No, not at all," she takes a cup from the tray as she holds it up to her chest. The boy sets the trya over his desk and sits down on his desk chair. Just as he does, he hears a small pat. He looks over.

"Hey, sit with me, Yugi," Anzu pleas, patting beside her on the bed corner.

Yugi hesitates but nods quickly, taking his drink with him and sits besides her. He immediately felt nervous again as he stares down at his cup.

"What? I'm not gonna bite or anything," Anzu jokes with a soft chuckle. Yugi laughs nervously in return.

"Eheheh, yeah."

The girl takes a sip of her drink.

"That really hits the spot."

"Uhuh."

Anzu looks down at him. The poor guy was staring down at his drink, sitting a few inches away from her. She couldn't help but think this was cute of him.

As Anzu goes to take another sip, Yugi interrupts her.

"Hey, Anzu? Do you hate me?"

Anzu gasps into her cup and quickly looks at her friend. "W-what? Yugi, what makes you say that?" Yugi looks at her. She had worry in her eyes.

He smiles softly, feeling a bit more reassured. "No, it's just you haven't been really hanging out with us lately at school."

Anzu listens intently, knowing what he's saying is true.

Yugi looks down, brushing his thumbs over the cold glass of his drink. "And, you've been like that ever since we flew back from Egypt."

A bit of pain was hitting Anzu's chest. She can hear the hurt in his voice. She can just imagine how Honda, Jonouchi, and Bakura have felt and yet they haven't said a thing about it. They all respected her space. How can she do that with such amazing friends?

Yugi continues on.

"Anzu..I sometimes do wish I had the Millennium Puzzle back. I know you really miss him, and I just wish he was back. Nothing's better than seeing you smile, Anzu, and no one else is a better hero than he was," Yugi says in a shakey voice as he wore a soft smile, his eyes not leaving his cup.

A stab hits Anzu's heart. This wasn't the first time she has heard him say that. Back at Dueling Kingdom, Yugi said something along those lines and was going to get Atem out but she stopped him. She told him that Yugi himself was more than enough as she held his hand.

"Yugi," Anzu says softly, trying not to let her voice break as she's on the virge of tears. How could she be so cruel?

No...No no no...No!

Yugi opens his mouth to say something but he nearly falls over, dropping his drink. He hears the juice spill over the floor, but he was too busy hearing his heart rate go a hundred miles an hour.

Anzu was hunched over his side, holding him tightly to her. He blushes wildly as his shoulder was buried into her bossom as his head was over her chest and her head over his.

But he began to hear something else. Is Anzu sobbing into his hair.

"A-Anzu," he calls to her, only making her tighten her hold on the boy.

"I'm sorry," she says under her crying breaths. "I'm so sorry, Yugi."

Yugi wasn't sure what to do or say. His arms wrap gingerly around the girl, returning the hug. Because of that, Anzu's body quivered even more as she holds the boy closely.

"Why are you so sweet to me? Even after what I did to you guys for weeks, and yet here you are, still being so nice. Why...Why do you have to be you?" she cries softly.

Yugi was silent, listening to her confession. It broke his heart to hear the girl he liked keeping all that in.

Anzu shifts slightly to meet eyes with Yugi. Her eyes were slightly red as tears were stinging at her magnificent blue eyes. Her bottom lip was quivering as she tries to regain her strength to talk. Yugi was blushing a bit as he patiently waited for her to talk.

"You're perfect the way you are, remember? I wouldn't know what to do...if I had lost you instead," she tells him. As her eyes began to squint, feeling more tears coming, she leans in quickly.

The room was silent as rain drops hit the overhead window. The juice was being absorbed into the carpet. Just a few feet away from the spilled glass, Anzu sat there on the bed, hunched over Yugi, as their lips were connected. It was as if time itself has frozen.

What felt like forever passed, Anzu pulls away softly, a gentle smack of their lips' parting. Yugi sat there in amazement, not able to process what just happened in his brain. Anzu looked down at him, tears streaming down her cheeks, drops falling down on her uniform.

"A-Anzu," Yugi finally lets out in a whisper.

A slender index finger presses over the boy's lips. Anzu smiles down at him as more tears drip down.

"I couldn't ask for a better hero than you, Yugi."