Anzu set her cell down on the bedside table, the light from it a near blinding flare in the darkened room. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs together, and the sound of the water running from behind the bathroom door hummed in the air.

The water soon stopped, and after a few minutes the door opened, a thin cloud of steam flowing out of it. It stuck to a young man walked out; coming off of his bare skin was red hot. He was only partially dressed, wearing tight black pants but not a shirt yet he still had the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. He didn't seem to notice Anzu in the room, watching his as he dried his multi-colored spikey hair with a towel. Not so surprising that Anzu saw him, and to say she got a little red in the cheeks at the sight of her friend being shirtless in front of her made her mind-as well as her hormones-rage.

For it wasn't her close friend Yugi that was standing before her, the shy yet honest boy she had known since they had been younger, but his 'other self. Yami's face had many small cuts on his cheeks and red marks on his arms from earlier in the day. It was hard to tell Yami and Yugi apart to those who didn't know about the power of the Millennium Puzzle which Yami wore around his neck. To Anzu though, she could easily tell by the serious look that he had on his face. Something of a scowl, blanketed by a hint of sadness or disappointment as he finally made eye contact with the friend he had sitting on Yugi's bed.

Anzu and Yami kept their eyes locked for a long moment, Yami's expression not flinching while Anzu's face was slightly red from both shyness and regret. More so the latter than the former.

She had to break the silence, "Yami...you feeling better now?"

Breaking contact with Anzu, the Pharaoh turned away and went to Yugi's dresser, he answered in his low voice, "Yes. Thank you, Anzu."

The silence after that was excruciating to the point Anzu wished there was a radio playing. Anything to get the mood a little higher so she could make the ordeal before her easier.

"Listen, Yami...about earlier-"

He had picked up his Dueling Deck from on top of his dresser, "It wasn't your fault, Anzu."

She stood up, "It was! You almost lost that Duel, and the fact that it was a duel over me makes me feel even worse."

Yami turned around, fanning out at least a dozen cards in his hand, scanning them with his eyes. He heard her, and his eyes went right to hers, "In such a circumstance it was only natural that you reacted the way you did. Besides, I won the duel in the end, so there is nothing to be concerned with now."

Anzu shook her head, "Wrong. Those cuts you got would never have happened if it wasn't for me."

It had been earlier in the day at school, it was the annual Valentine's Day exchange in which students were allowed to trade gifts with their special someone. It went from simple to outrageous in a hurry. Honda tried to give Jonounchi's sister a Valentine and the two kind of had a fight over it much to everyone else's confusion. Anzu had ignored that and made it to Yugi, with whom she had intended to give him a Valentine. She had known Yugi since they were younger, and she had always thought he had a special connection with her. Then, when he became his other self, she felt an even bigger connection with him. Though Yami shared Yugi's body, Anzu felt the two were one and thus there was no reason to say which one she was more attracted to. Yugi, who was many years her friend, was an honest and hard working boy and was very truthful and sweet. Then there was Yami, who had a great deal of confidence and will to win on top of never giving up, but was more mature and calm in any given situation. Still, though she had known both for years, Anzu had eventually concluded that she loved them both.

Then it got even worse when another boy (whose name was rather unknown, because he had joined the school so recently, but is referred to as Suitor), a supposed rich kid from out of the country tried to give Anzu a gift as well. She would have gladly accepted it had the kid not taken exception to Yugi wanting to give her a gift too. Poor Yugi was already a mess with being shy trying to ask Anzu if she would accept that he was not prepared for the punch that he received from the jealous suitor. Anzu tried to break it up but she couldn't stop it.

Yet, it was the Suitor made a challenge to Yugi: a Duel for Anzu. Whoever won would get Anzu, yet if Yugi lost he'd have to give up his deck to the Suitor and if Suitor lost he'd leave the school (as he stated he wouldn't want to be in the same school unless Anzu was his). Yugi, giving off an angry look that was rather uncharacteristic of him, accepted the challenge. He promised Anzu he'd win and never worry about Suitor again.

"It was just a Valentine, and the duel was rather stupid to begin with. Yugi should not have accepted it," Anzu said, putting her legs on the bed. "Neither should have you on top of it."

Yami took a seat down on the bed a couple feet from Anzu, "Yugi wanted to preserve your honor. That is why he accepted. You're our friend Anzu, and to do nothing would have been dishonorable of our friendship. Also, we both know that Yugi doesn't back down from a challenge-nor do I for that matter. Besides..." He lowered his hands, still holding the cards, "We weren't going to let a worm like him get you. He'd have to beat us first."

Anzu found herself turning even redder in the face, "But...things got bad for you right away...he was obviously more skilled than anyone had thought."

The Duel took place after school in the back of the school, and using the Kaiba Corps Duel Disks Yugi and the Suitor began their duel with Anzu on the sideline.

The fact that a nobody had challenged Yugi Muto, the Duelist Kingdom Champion as well as the Battle City Champion to a duel was met with shock and many laughs from the other students as they watched. Yugi-of more like Yami-took dueling seriously and saw every challenger as a serious threat. A great portion of his peers believed the match would be over in a hurry.

That was quickly dashed when the Suitor took the first move. The Suitor had laid down a few Magic and Trap cards first, and Yugi took advantage of the lack of monsters to inflict Direct Damage to his Life Points. Thanks to Celtic Guardian the Suitor's LP fell to 2600.

The Suitor remained calm as he laid a defensive monster on the field in face-up Defense mode. It was a Basic Insect, a really weak monster.

Yami summoned Beta the Magnet Warrior and attacked the Basic Insect and that is when the first trap was sprung. It was a Mirror Force card, one of Yugi's favorite Trap cards, and it wiped out his two monsters. Then, he used another Trap card: The card Extra Offering allowed either player to give an extra summon during their turn at the cost of 500 LP. So, the Suitor put down two monsters and used the Double Summon magic card to make an extra summon by Tributing his other weaker monsters, and summoned Darkstorm Dragon. That monster had an Attack power of 2700, and since Yami had lost his monsters he was wide open to an attack and he lost 2700 LP.

The Suitor was leading 2100 to Yami's 1300, and everyone was shocked at what they were seeing, as well as Anzu was getting worried.

Things got worse as Yami received extra damage from LP damaging Magic Cards the Suitor used before his turn ended. Yami's LP fell down to 600 after he was hit with Hinotama and Spark magic cards, which damaged him by 500 and 200 respectively. Cheap tactics in Anzu's eyes, but it had done its work.

Thanks in part to the tech behind the Duel Disks, whatever damage the Duelist was inflicted with to their LP was given to the player as well, and Yami was hurt all over by the flames and from the direct attack the Dragon had given him from earlier.

Suitor was already boasting about how he was about to beat the King of Games, as well as giving off details on what his first date with Anzu was going to be.

"I really thought you were in deep trouble there," Anzu said, putting her hands on her knees.

Yami turned and gave her a confident look, "I just had to have faith in the Heart of the Cards...and I was also determined to not let him have you."

Anzu blushed lightly, the guilt starting to go away.

"I drew the very card I needed to win that turn," Yami said, and Anzu remembered what happened next.

Yami, barely able to stand but determined, used a long combo which made him use all the cards in his hand in what he would call a last ditch move to try and win.

The first card he used was a magic card called Dark Magic Curtain. At the cost of half of his LP he was able to summon the Dark Magician. His LP fell to 300.

As Anzu stood on the sideline she knew the Mage had no chance alone to defeat the Darkstorm Dragon, and so did Yami.

Suitor pointed this out, saying "Oh, well, I'll just destroy your all time favorite card before defeating you for good and winning Anzu for myself!"

Yami, in his infallible confidence and unwavering determination, answered in his trademark fashion, "I'm not the one who is going to be defeated. That 'honor' will fall to you very soon!" From the sideline, Anzu saw Yami's head turn in her direction as he pulled the next card from his hand.

Yami used the magic card "Bond Between Teacher and Student" to summon the Dark Magician Girl directly from his deck. Her introduction made Anzu smile, and she felt much better seeing the two mages on the field at the same time. Even their holographic forms seemed happy to see each other.

Suitor still remarked, "Heh, those two monsters aren't strong enough-"

Yami shook his head, "True, but then I give her this Equip Magic card 'Magic Formula', it raises her attack by 700 points, raising her Attack Power to 2700! But that's not all I will do." He pulled the final card from his hand, "Finally I use this card: 'Dark Magic Twin Burst'! It combines Dark Magician Girl's attack power with her teacher the Dark Magician, and his attack becomes a staggering 5200! That makes it much stronger than your Dragon!"

The Suitor knew he was sunk. He had nothing on the field except his Darkstorm Dragon and with an attack of 2700 it was no match for the combo he ended up being hit with a few seconds later.

The two mages combined their power with their staves, and when the large magic attack was launched it literally made the ground shake. Suitor was thrown back with the force. He was crushed by the combined attack of the magicians, and his life points fell to zero.

He got back to his feet only to realize what had happened. He fell to his knees in total shock and defeat, Anzu saw Yami looking at her through the dust, and she thought she saw his lips move to form the words 'That was for you.'

The Suitor honored his deal and left the school, but Yami had to be taken home so he could rest. Though the victory Yami had achieved made her happy and grateful, seeing him all bruised and with scrapes on his skin made her feel bad. And it was all over a silly Valentine.

Yami hadn't really spoken a word to Anzu after the match, but he wasn't upset with anything. Far from it, he was just glad to have another fly out of the ointment. Yugi was also happy to have defended his friend.

He continued to look through his cards, Yami looked at Anzu, "Yugi wasn't able to give it to you earlier, so I think it's time you get it." He pulled out a card from his hand and offered it to Anzu.

She slowly took it from his hand, and saw what it was. She was surprised to it was a Dark Magician Girl card, but had a different picture than it normally did. The picture showed the female mage holding a giant red heart and playfully winking, and a message that read 'Please Be My Valentine'. It appeared to be a holiday themed Duel Monsters card. "Yami…where did you get this?"

"Pegasus sent it to Yugi last week, seemed like he was trying to be friendly or something," he answered. "Still, Yugi wanted you to have it, though he was almost too shy to do it so I decided to give it to you myself."

"Is it an actual card?"

Yami nodded, "Of course. I used it in the duel earlier."

'That means…' The revelation hit Anzu as she realized that was the same card he had used in the combo with 'Bond Between Teacher and Student'. So he was thinking of her then! "Yami…I don't know what to say."

"Just a simple 'thank you' would do some good, especially for Yugi since it was his idea to give it to you."

Anzu smiled, "Well, if that is all I have to do, then…thank you, both of you."

Yami returned her smile with one of his own and, deep inside his mind, he knew Yugi was doing the same. All the while with a very big blush on his cheeks.