A Dance With the Luna Moth
By: ACE329
Summary: It was one year after the death of the Pharaoh. Yuugi and Anzu's senior year is coming to a close as they ponder what the future holds for them once they graduate. And perhaps they can finally face the demons that continue to plague them.
Disclaimer: I most certainly do NOT own Yu-gi-oh!
Author's Note: I realized I like to give commentaries about my stories Please enjoy, and if you feel so compelled, a review would be nice.
A Dance With the Luna
Moth
Chapter One- You Had Me at a Glance
"It was a disaster."
Anzu never failed to communicate what the rest of the group had been thinking. After the viewing of an over-blown comedy, Anzu, Yuugi, Jounouchi and Honda shuffled out of the movie theater, dazed and confused as to what they had just watched.
Where was the end to the overused gags, jokes, and clichés? It was one predictable line after another. It was to the point where the small group of friends were placing bets on what would happen in the movie as a result of, say, forgetting to turn off the bathtub faucet. Or going to an office party drunk. Or, because of said office party, two coworkers get at it like bunny rabbits in heat. Although Jounouchi in particular proposed completely ridiculous lines that the actors might have said, sometimes he came alarmingly close. Or other times, he would shout something completely disruptive at the screen, angering those around him who simply were not used to Jounouchi's loud ways. Exclaiming the notorious Star Trek phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty!" whenever a sexual situation or innuendo arose almost got the group kicked out of the theater.
Aside from the occasional remarks and bets made among the friends, the movie was a complete waste of one hour and thirty-two minutes of their time. Anzu couldn't complain though: because of such bets, she was about a thousand yen richer. She called it women's intuition.
"So what now?" Yuugi yawned as he used the heel of his hands to rub at his eyes. Apparently he had managed to sneak in a quick ten-minute nap during the movie. He was exhausted from pulling an all-nighter over a major assignment in his history class that he had forgotten about until the day before.
Yuugi wasn't alone in his idle ways. Both Jounouchi and Honda failed to work on the assignment as well, only it was because they didn't want to work on it, as opposed to a lack of memory. Anzu was the only one of the group to have finished her project perfectly on time; in fact, she was done even a few days before the assignment was due. Nonetheless, the foursome decided to go out and celebrate the completion of "the assignment from hell" which was mercifully on a day where there wasn't school proceeding the following morning.
Summer was approaching rapidly. The warm gusts of air that roamed outside indicated that muggy summer nights were just around the corner. Although it was nearing the end of June, to Anzu and the rest of the group, it wasn't "summer" until school was out. And strangely, it didn't feel like summer. It wasn't quite hot enough, and there hadn't been any summer thunderstorms yet.
That was Jounouchi's favorite part of summer. Anzu wryly remembered all the times that Jounouchi would run around like a complete idiot in the middle of the road, laughing with each flash of lightening and crash of thunder. He didn't worry about cars zooming by as he practically danced on the cemented road, splashing boisterously onto chuckholes that served as deep-dish puddles; no one in their right mind would have wanted to drive in such caustic weather. Now although Anzu was never as enthusiastic about rainy weather as her male counterparts- fate often had it so she would be wearing a white shirt, after all- she thought Jounouchi's childish enthusiasm was sort of cute. Sometimes, Jounouchi reminded Anzu of an overjoyed puppy; the simplest things could put more energy in him than a pot of coffee.
Now with Honda, his favorite part of summer was definitely the bonfires. From the campfire food he could burn to a crisp to the smoky scent that lingered on clothing, Honda was a sort of a pyromaniac when it came to making a fire for the outdoors. He would often have Anzu, Yuugi and Jounouchi come over to his house to sit out under the stars and to bask in the glow of the fire. His house may have been small, but his backyard was large and free from prying neighbors' eyes. Which was perfect for those nights when Honda and Jounouchi would drink too much and make complete fools of themselves. Anzu and Yuugi both took heed to moderation, opting to not wake up in the morning with embarrassing memories from the previous night. They could both proudly say that no, they had not relieved themselves on their neighbor's front porch, and no, they had not found a tree as their latest love interest. Honda and Jounouchi had been guilty from both misdemeanors, not to mention an infinite amount more.
And of course there was Yuugi's favorite aspect to the long summer season- gazing under the stars. He would quietly observe the unfathomably large black sky above him as the infinite amount of stars would sparkle like bursts of glitter being projected into the air. On some nights, when the weather was right, Yuugi, Anzu, and sometimes Jounouchi or Honda, would sit on Yuugi's rooftop, right outside his bedroom window to look at the stars. It was just the right height, where Yuugi's bedroom was, so a gentle breeze could always be felt, even on the hottest nights.
There was something about the stars, Yuugi had said, that made them more than just temporary flickers of light. They had been floating through space for millions, even billions of years, with some probably surviving much longer than the Earth had been in existence. And the stars, which looked so small, were most likely exponentially larger than the sun itself.
"Doesn't that make you feel small then, insignificant, compared to everything else out there?" Anzu had once asked Yuugi.
But Yuugi shook his head at this. "No, not really. It actually makes me think how insignificant my problems are instead. Everything that has happened in my life that has made me feel helpless or out of control, I just think of all the stars above me and in comparison, how little the conflicts in my life are. Looking from the perspective of the stars, no problem is too big. Nothing is unconquerable." Such was a response typical of Yuugi. How a person was capable of such optimism, Anzu did not know.
Anzu was abruptly cut off from her train of thought when she felt three sets of eyes stare her down. The awkward silence that rose between the group, ironically, spoke louder than any words the three teens could have shouted at her to break Anzu from her reverie.
Her azure eyes slowly scanned over the trio. "Um…?" Why were they staring at her like that?
"You like completely zoned out there. And we asked you a question." Honda was the one who felt the need to point out the obvious.
"And that question being…?"
"What do we do now," Yuugi repeated, only not adding an inflection at the end that indicated he was asking a question.
Anzu bit back a smile. "You guys are ridiculous. Why am I the one to come up with these things? Don't any of you hold an opinion of your own?" Sometimes, despite the fact that she hung around them all the time, Anzu felt she couldn't understand guys. How do their brains even work?
"Yeah, we all have an opinion, thank you very much. And as of right now, we all think that as an opinion, you should decide what we're gonna do next." Jounouchi grinned triumphantly at this, disregarding the fact that his statement essentially made no sense.
Anzu sighed at this. "Well how about we go to Denny's or something?" She couldn't go wrong with suggesting food. Food was always on her friends' minds.
Anzu had been right in her assumption. Noting the faces of her friends light up immediately, she heard a unanimous "Yeah!" and the familiar jingling of Jounouchi's car keys, indicating that the group was ready to head off.
Simple, simple boys. It didn't take much to make them happy, now did it?
Anzu became vaguely aware of Yuugi casting her a sideways glance. Ocean blue eyes met up with ethereal violet ones, filled with an emotion that Anzu could not identify. It was only for a fleeting moment, but it was enough to catch her off-guard. There was something that Yuugi wanted to say to Anzu; that much was easily revealed in his mirror-like eyes. But what was it?
"Yuugi…" Anzu uncertainly began as the group trudged through the movie theater's parking lot. She wondered if that brief moment was even worth mentioning. It could have simply been her imagination.
"Yup?" Yuugi wasn't looking at Anzu anymore. He kept his gaze strictly ahead of himself instead.
"Is…something wrong…?" Anzu's brow creased in hesitation, ignoring the loud outbursts from Jounouchi and Honda as they tackled one another throughout the parking lot, horsing around like a bunch of children on Halloween.
"No! Definitely not. What would make you say that?" Yuugi shoved his hands in his pockets.
Anzu sighed as she fiddled with a ring on her finger. "I dunno. You looked like you wanted to say something."
Suddenly Yuugi turned his head to look at Anzu head on. "You're being silly, Anzu! If I wanted to tell you something, don't you think I would have?" He then broke out into his usual grin, reverting back to his familiar self. Turning his attention to the other rowdy teens, Yuugi called for them to wait up as he chased them to Jounouchi's car.
Yuugi was acting like his usual happy-go-lucky self again, in the blink of an eye. But Anzu could have sworn that something was wrong! That look that Yuugi gave her…what was it? Sadness? Frustration? It was an unusual expression to be exposed on his face.
Anzu watched as Yuugi lithely jumped onto Jounouchi's back, attempting to wrestle him to the ground as Honda stole Jounouchi's car keys. Perhaps Yuugi's current state of silliness was just a tactic to fool Anzu.
It didn't.
But she would let it go…for now.
