This is very different from virtually all of my other fics. It's quite lighthearted, possibly a bit OOC at points. As the summary might've said, it's a love chain between Yuugi Anzu Yami no Yuugi Kaiba, but I haven't actually decided on any ending pairings. I dare say it will end up Yuugi x Anzu and Yami no Yuugi x Kaiba, but I guess there's a chance it could happen another way. But I do resolve, there will be at least one pairing by the end of this fic :)
By the way, one thing I feel I should stress before I continue, this fic is pro-Anzu. There will be no Anzu-bashing in here. A few moments where she finds herself looking like an idiot, yes, they'll all have those little moments, but no bashing. No matter what the pairings end up being, she'll still stay as one of the main characters and still be shown in a positive light. If this deeply, deeply offends you, you can either skip the (numerous) Anzu-chan scenes or skip this fic altogether.
This fic doesn't follow canon as much as it probably should, but Yami no Yuugi and Yuugi are still sharing a body and Yami no Yuugi has no memories. It's set in a void period between Battle City and Ancient Egypt (or Doma, if you prefer to follow the anime).
One final thing; when Yami no Yuugi and Yuugi are communicating with eachother, one will be in the soul room and one will be in control. The one in control will be communicating like so; (/ in italics /) and the one in the soul room will be communicating in italicized speechmarks ("Talking"). I'm going to write Yami no Yuugi as just 'Yami' but if this annoys people, then I will write him as 'Yami no Yuugi'. In any case, everyone will refer to him as mou hitori no boku (the other me, what Yuugi calls him), mou hitori no Yuugi (the other Yuugi, what Yuugi's friends call him) or just as Yuugi (what others including a stubborn CEO who refuses to notice a difference call him).
Anyway, without further talking...
Chapter One - Debriefing
In which:
Yuugi
attempts to sleepAnzu
is a search partyYami
develops fear of flyingKaiba
takes a coffee break"…and you three, being our highest-ranked senior students, will be expected to carry out the school's honour…"
Will this woman never stop talking?
Kaiba mentally grumbled. We know, we know; represent the school, make nice-nice with the foreigners… just what I wanted, a month stuck with those losers."…you will be graded on this, and remember, above all things, you have to use all the skills you've learnt…"
Why can't she stop talking! She's stressing me out! .
Anzu resisted the urge to cross her arms and give the woman a glare, as Kaiba was now doing. It's not like we haven't been preparing for this trip for two months, you know."…you cannot fight, you must present a face of unity. I picked you three out especially because you get along with the rest of the student body so well…"
Kaiba narrowed his eyes. Since when do I get along with the student body?
"…so, good luck, and remember to meet at the airport tomorrow at 5am sharp!"
"Mom, dad, I'm home!" Anzu called as she entered her home. "Sorry I'm late, I had to talk to my teacher about the trip,"
"Honey, are you absolutely sure you want to go-" Anzu's mother started.
"Mom, we've had this conversation every day since I got the letter saying I was invited," Anzu pointed out. "And what have I said every time?"
"That it's the opportunity of a lifetime and you can't miss it," Anzu's mother recited, an affronted look on her face. "Fine, fine,"
"I've gotta go finish packing," Anzu poked her head into her father's study. "Dad, are we still giving Yuugi a lift to the airport?"
"Yes," Her father nodded, not looking up from his work. "Are you sure your other friend doesn't need a lift too?"
"He's not my friend, and I'm positive," Anzu nodded. It was bad enough she was going to be trapped with Kaiba Seto for a month; she didn't need to also be stuck with him on a car ride. That 45-minute-drive would be her last Kaiba-free moments for a long time, and she intended to relish every second of it.
"Whatever you say,"
"You know, I don't think I should go on this trip," Kaiba commented, absently stuffing clothing into a bag. "The company stocks are erratic, and that new technology still has some bugs in it,"
"Niisama, you promised me you'd go," Mokuba said flatly, giving his brother that trademark steely 'argue-with-me-and-die' glare that Kaiba himself was so talented at giving. Must run in the family. "I said that I'd agree to not threaten the teachers with firing if you went on one school trip."
"At time of arrangement, the only school trip on offer was a two-hour field trip to the zoo!" Kaiba protested lamely. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
"The deal is still valid," And with a final triumphant smirk -Mokuba was taking after his brother a bit too much for Kaiba's liking .-, he exited the room.
Maybe if I bribe him…
"Bribery won't work either, niisama," Mokuba poked his head in the door.
Dammit. He knows me too well.
"Jiichan, I'm back!" Yuugi entered the Kame Game Shop happily, dropping his bag near the door and wandering up to the counter where his grandfather seemed to be… napping. "Jiichan, wake up," Yuugi looked around. "Ah, you're lucky the store hasn't been robbed,"
After poking his grandfather again and noting that the elderly man refused to awaken, Yuugi drew this to the attention of his mother, who promptly shouted in her dear old father's ear to wake up because there'd been a burglary. In between jiichan nearly having a heart attack and Yuugi's mother scolding him for poor shop management skills, Yuugi slipped up to his room. Unlike his two brunette travelmates, he'd done all his packing the night before; all that needed to be done now was relax and enjoy his last night in Domino for a month.
The night before, he and Anzu had gone out with their circle of friends, which had extended yet again and now consisted of Jounouchi, Honda, Otogi, Bakura, Hanasaki, Miho and Shizuka, who now faithfully came to Domino every weekend. And was picked up by the ever-attentive Honda every weekend. Tonight, however, all of their friends had obligations. Otogi and Miho both had dates, not with eachother, thankfully. Jounouchi and Honda was busy with their latest crazy moneymaking scheme that the school wouldn't see as a job; bootlegging movies and selling them to a carefully-selected clientele list. Hanasaki was at home, avidly watching a Zombire special that was airing on TV that night. Shizuka was unable to come down to Domino during the school week due to parental issues, and Bakura seemed to have been pulled along with Jounouchi and Honda in their scheme, playing the role of usher-distracter.
So, now Yuugi relaxed and enjoyed relative solace. Because, well, solace is only relative when you have another spirit inhabiting your body.
"Aibou, explain to me again how this 'airplane' manages to get off the ground. It seems to defy all laws of nature."
/ I tried explaining twice, mou hitori no boku, /
A slightly wicked smirk formed on Yuugi's 'innocent' face. / Why don't you ask Kaiba-kun? You were just looking for an excuse to talk to him yesterday. /"I was challenging him to a duel,"
Yami no Yuugi sniffed unhappily. "I don't know what you're implying, but I assure you, my feelings towards him do not even extend to mild tolerance."/ You were challenging him to a duel, /
Yuugi conceded. / But he told you twice that he'd left his deck at home so his employees could test out his new system. And you still didn't leave him alone. /"I thought he was lying. He had that shady look on his face!"
/ Mou hitori no boku, Kaiba-kun always looks like that when he's annoyed. /
"No, when he's annoyed, generally his eyes are more narrowed and he's tenser. That was not a look of annoyance. That was a look of shadiness."
/ Why do you pay so much attention to how he looks anyway? /
"He's a dangerous person! We need to be on our guards around him at all times. But, this is no time for that. Did you find out who the third student is on this 'airplane' ride yet?"
/ Well, you'll be happy to know… it's Kaiba-kun. /
"What?"
Mazaki Anzu had come to a conclusion; human beings were not meant to wake up at 3:30am in the morning. It just wasn't right. Especially since she hadn't gotten to sleep until about midnight the night before… Anzu was functioning on a slice of toast, half a cup of orange juice and three hours of quasi-rest.
It didn't help that she'd literally had to carry Yuugi out of bed, until the ever-helpful mou hitori no Yuugi took over the body, unfortunately while Anzu was still carrying him, which led to fierce blushing from Anzu's side and confused babble in Ancient Egyptian from Yami's side.
It also didn't help that Yuugi's grandfather had watched that entire affair and was laughing hysterically.
Anzu was trying to nap in the car, as Yuugi was, however, her mother was convinced she shouldn't go to sleep, and tended to poke her if Anzu was immobile for too long. Too long was every three seconds in her mother's eyes.
And, as if it couldn't get any worse, when they'd finally showed up, the teacher regretted to inform them that Kaiba, while having arrived at a shocking 3am -the man must be a robot. There was no other conclusion-, had gone AWOL, and the plane was due to leave in an hour.
So now, a very sleepy Anzu and Yuugi, who kept nearly falling over with tiredness every three seconds, were wandering around desperately seeking Kaiba, who, according to the teacher, had been wide awake. Bastard.
"The plane's due to leave soon," Anzu muttered, now more awake. Just a bit more. "Where the hell is Kaiba?"
"There aren't many places in this 'air port' he could have gone," Yami, who had since taken over the body, mused.
"Unless he's deliberately gone somewhere to try and annoy us," Anzu grumbled. "We've gone past this café 3 times now and this is where he told the teacher he'd be! Are you sure he wasn't in the bathrooms?"
"They were locked." Yami answered flatly. It seemed his host's sleep deprivation was getting to him too. "Where the hell is he?"
"Okay, if we don't find him in 10 minutes, we'll just forget about it," Anzu resolved. "Not our fault he's-" Anzu paused. Looked at Yami, who was now shaking his head in disbelief. She followed his gaze.
Now, you see, the way Anzu had remembered this café as opposed to the one closer to the departure lounge was the person reading the newspaper, who had been there the whole time, face completely obscured by the giant thing they were reading. However, the newspaper person was gone. There sat Kaiba, a newspaper spread out on the table before him as he absently picked at a meal of some kind.
You must be kidding.
Anzu blinked, still not believing she hadn't figured it out earlier. Here sat a clearly obnoxious person with a shiny metal briefcase -looking closer, she could see the Kaiba Corporation symbol on it- reading stocks at 4am in the morning surrounded by at least four almost-empty cups of coffee. Who else would do that?Finally managing to say something, Anzu spluttered, "The plane's gonna leave soon! Hurry up!"
"There's plenty of time," He responded, not looking up from his food, only reaching over to circle something in his newspaper. "I've taken this flight dozens of times. The plane is always late, and even if it wasn't, the terminal is five minutes walk,"
Anzu twitched, pulling up a chair. Yuugi, back in control, did the same, although he slumped onto the table pretty much as soon as he sat down, fast asleep.
"Kaiba, we've been looking all over for you. You could at least be polite!" Anzu crossed her arms.
"I saw."
Anzu twitched. Sadistic bastard. "And you didn't come up to us?"
"I called out to you," Kaiba shrugged innocently. About as innocent as he could shrug, anyway. "You ignored me, I assumed you weren't looking for me."
Anzu twitched again. "So, while we've been combing the airport, you've been sipping tea and doing crosswords?!?"
"No," He shook his head, smirking slightly. If Anzu was this easy to annoy, the next month could be more enjoyable than previously thought. "I was checking the stocks. And it was coffee."
The teacher never said anything about not murdering our fellow travelers.
"So, kids, are you ready to leave?" Their teacher asked chirpily. "Just remember, stay courteous at all times, don't break any laws or do anything that will reflect badly on your school or your country and have fun!"
Anzu walked onto the plane uneasily. Unlike her male companions, she was a bit nervous. Unlike Kaiba, she and Yuugi had little experience flying, however, Yuugi was currently too sleepy to really pay any attention, and Yami was flatly refusing to manifest on a plane, saying that it defied the laws of nature and he wanted no part in it ;;
"Take whatever seat you want," Kaiba mumbled gruffly, gesturing to the three-seater row where it appeared they would spend the next few hours.
Anzu blinked, surprised at the seemingly polite and kind gesture. Very suspicious. Nevertheless, she shuffled into her seat, pulling Yuugi gently along to seat him in the middle. Kaiba sat in the aisle seat, engrossing himself in the stock exchange once again.
After a couple of minutes of contemplative silence, a crackling loudspeaker boomed, "The plane is preparing for takeoff. Will all passengers please fasten their seatbelts, repeat, will all passengers please fasten their seatbelts."
It's really happening…
Anzu reflected, looking out the window. I'm leaving Japan! Okay, just for a little while, but still, this is so exciting!
Out of curiousity, readers, which pairing would you say I should write? I can't promise I'll go with the majority, but if it's an overwhelming amount, I'll definitely take it into serious consideration. This isn't an interactive fic or anything (as those violate the rules, and I don't want my account to be frozen), but I'm curious.
Also, I briefly mentioned two characters named Hanasaki and Miho; they're not characters created by me, Miho was briefly in the manga, and in the first series of Yuugiou (you may have seen screencaps, she's a pretty girl with long violet hair and a ribbon). Hanasaki is in the early manga as a semi-main character, he dwindles out after Death-T, but he's a sweet little nerdy guy obsessed with a show named Zombire :) I thought a passing mention of these two forgotten characters would be okay.
Please review, whether to cast your vote for pairings or tell me what you've thought so far. Flames are okay too, if you tell me why you didn't like it :)
