So, yeah. Quite honestly, I don't know why I'm writing this or where it's going to go. It's like an experiment that could, at any moment, keel over, dead. So, we'll see. This is just a really crappy intro chapter. Like...a pre-experiment experiment that is probably even more likely to keel over dead than the actual experiment is. But...no, that's all I got.
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! was created and is owned by Kazuki Takahashi. I am NOT Kazuki Takahashi. Although that much is pretty obvious.
Anna stared blankly at the as-of-yet unopened letter she held delicately in her hand. Beth, her best friend of ten years, glanced warily over Anna's shoulder, occasionally prodding at the envelope with a stick she had recently found on the ground.
"You suppose it has anthrax?"
Anna cast her friend a sarcastic glare. "I sincerely doubt it."
"Your sincerity has nothing to do with the issue here. I think it has anthrax." Beth poked at the envelope aggressively. "We should dump it in a bucket full of bleach, just to be safe."
"Wouldn't that ruin the letter?"
"Who cares? It has anthrax."
Anna sighed and swatted the stick out of her friend's hand. "It doesn't have anthrax, okay? Sheesh. You and your anthrax scares."
"Hey!" Beth stepped back and crossed her arms angrily. " I seem to recall you being involved with that as well!"
"Yeah, and that's why we've been transferred here." The letter was passed between them for a few minutes and examined from every angle in the dimming evening sun. "Besides, nobody here even knows us. Why would they be sending us anthrax?"
"I don't know…maybe it's a thing here. 'Hey! Welcome to Domino City! Have some anthrax!'"
Anna snatched the letter from Beth's flailing arms and looked at the front. "Huh…Industrial Illusions? What the hell is that?"
"Ah!" A deck of Duel Monsters cards was unceremoniously shoved into Anna's face. "That's run by that fruity guy who came up with these stupid things!"
Scowling, Anna went to bite Beth's hand, which was swiftly moved out of biting range. " If they're so stupid, why do you keep buying them?"
Pouting, Beth turned away and started sorting her cards. "It was a figure of speech."
"Right," Anna replied, rolling her eyes. "But, just so you know, when I call you stupid, it's not a figure of speech, mkay? Mkay." She ignored Beth's indignant whining and tore open the letter, trying
(and failing) to ignore her friend flopping around on the ground like a fish out of water.
"It's the anthrax! THE ANTHRAX!!"
"Would you shut up?" Anna hissed angrily, giving Beth a withering glare. "You're making a scene!"
Sure enough, all the neighbors were coming out onto their lawns, looking either extremely alarmed or extremely annoyed. Putting on her most sincere fake smile, Anna waved cheerily. "It's okay! My friend here just likes to be a drama queen sometimes!" The neighbors quickly returned to their houses, probably to finish watching whatever popular show was on tv. Or, by the looks of the one dude, illegally downloaded porn. Whatever. Anna thumped her friend soundly in the stomach. "I swear, if you ever do that again, I will hurt you." She slapped Beth upside the head, just to make a point. Beth sat up and watched with wide eyes as Anna pulled the letter out of the envelope and opened it up.
"OH MY GOD!!"
Anna flinched violently as Beth screeched. "Okay, you know what? Let's take this inside."
"Good idea. It's starting to get a bit chilly outside."
They both stood up and made their way into Anna's house. Her mom was waiting at the top of the steps, looking rather pail. "Hey mom. What's up?"
"What was that screaming??"
"That was me, Mrs. Anna's Mom." Beth replied while raising a hand sheepishly. " I thought the letter had anthrax."
Anna's mother just rolled her eyes and walked away, mumbling darkly to herself. Anna punched Beth in the arm. "Great job, idiot."
"…that was just a figure of speech, right?"
The two went down into the game room and sat down on incredibly uncomfortable cardboard boxes.
"Man, I can't wait until you guys finish unpacking all this stuff!" Beth sighed, deciding it would be more comfortable to sit on the ground. All she got in reply was a vague 'hmm' from her friend. "Hey! What's it say?"
Anna skimmed over the letter quickly, just to make sure that what she had read was indeed correct. "Well, it would seem that I've been invited to some Duel Monsters tournament. Which is really quite odd, considering the fact that I don't actually play the game. And now I have to go down to a gameshop for some reason and pick up a package that probably has something to do with the card game that I don't play."
"I play!!" Beth exclaimed cheerily, waving around her deck once again.
"I know already! Give me a break!" Anna rubbed her temples and huffed.
"Well…maybe they got the wrong address."
Anna checked the corner. "Nope. It's the right address."
"Well then…maybe they got the right address but the wrong people were living at that address."
"It has my name right here." Anna turned the letter around and tapped the sheet. Beth scooched closer and squinted at the piece of paper for a few moments.
"Yep. That's your name all right." She shoved herself backwards and sat cross-legged on the floor. "So…you gonna go?"
Shrugging, Anna read over the letter again. "Might as well. I mean…it's like a free vacation. Aaaaand…it says I'm allowed to bring a guest!" The both squealed happily. "Which won't be you!!" Anna continued to squeal happily as Beth's face dropped in absolute disappointment. "I'm just kidding, Beth! Damn, you are a moron, aren't you?"
"My mommy says I'm smart."
"Your mom is an even bigger moron than you are."
Beth was quiet for a moment. "Yeah, she is, isn't she?"
"Well, that proves it." Anna stood up and shoved the letter back into its envelope. "The moron gene must be hereditary."
Beth clambered to her feet and smoothed out her jeans. "You really think so?"
"Yep." Anna smiled sweetly. "You are going to have some dumbass kids. Don't bother saving up a college fund for them. They won't be needing it."
"Well, that takes a load off my mind." Beth replied, rubbing her forehead. "I think it does, anyway."
Anna laughed. "No worries. With any luck, you won't have children anyway."
"Yeah!" Beth joined in the laughter, but stopped quickly. "Wait a minute…"
"I'm going to go tell mom about this." Anna said quickly. "C'mon, let's go." They both bounded up the stairs and burst in to the living room, where Anna's mother was watching American Idol. "Hey, mom! There's this one card game tournament that I've been invited to and I'm gonna go to it and I think it lasts about I dunno a couple of weeks or something I don't remember that from the letter in fact I'm not even sure it says anything about that in the letter but I'm gonna go and I'm allowed to bring a friend so I'm going to bring Beth with and it starts in three days okay?" Anna watched as her mother slowly turned to look at her.
"I did not catch a single word you said, Anna."
"Oh. Well, read this letter. It explains it better than I do, because I'm not the letter." Anna handed the letter over to her mom and watched as her mom read it. She wrung her hands nervously as her mom read it over again. But the third time her mother read it was just too much. She snatched the letter back and smiled. "So? Can I go?"
"You don't even play that card game, do you?"
"Um…no. I don't."
Her mom blinked. "Well…why would you be personally invited, then?"
"My exquisite beauty that apparently can transcend both time and space and reveal itself to people who have never seen me before?"
"Wait a minute…" Her mom narrowed her eyes and tapped her chin in thought. "Who was that from?"
"Industrial Illusions!" Beth chirped, probably happy that she could contribute to the conversation. Anna's mom snapped her fingers conclusively.
"That's the company that your father's uncle's daughter's best friends' mother's ex-husband's son works for!" There was an awkward silence.
"You're just proud to remember that, aren't you?" Anna deadpanned. Her mother nodded in reply. Slapping her hand to her forehead, Anna sighed. "So can I go?"
"Sure. Why not. It'll be nice to have you little snots out of my hair for a little while." Her mom went back to watching her show. "Oh, Simon, one day you shall be mine!"
"Love you too, mom." The two girls retreated back to the basement. "Man, that was weird."
"You think she was joking?"
Anna shook her head somberly. "I don't know. I just don't know. Hey, did you get a load of those school uniforms we're supposed to wear? I mean…shit!"
Beth rolled her eyes. "I know. Can the skirts get any shorter? What, is it a school full of pedophilic teachers or something?"
"I don't even want to know. And pink?! Seriously!? It is NOT my color. I'm thinking of 'accidentally' dying mine black. How awesome would that be?"
"Uh…" Beth paused for a moment. "I don't know."
"Of course you don't." Anna sighed and patted her friend on the head. "Well, we should probably get to bed now. We have to be rested and, uh, rested for our first day at our new school!"
"YAY!" Beth jumped in jubilation. "I can't wait to start and make new friends! I love friends!"
Anna buried her face in her hands. "Oh god…not this again."
"Friends are awesome! They do stuff for you and tell you what to do and sometimes buy you stuff and sometimes you buy them stuff and give it to them and they're all like 'oh my god I love it' and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside because that's what friends do!"
"Yeah, you should go write in your blog about it. Very quietly. Not out loud."
"YEAH! G'night Anna!" Beth waved and shot into her room, slamming the door behind her. Anna shook her head slowly and walked into her room.
"Goodnight, weirdo. Seriously…how the hell do we get along?"