Disclaimer: Dustbunny doesn't own Yu Gi Oh! or Sailor Moon. If she did, neither would last more than a week on air
A/N: My sole excuse for this story is that it was my first. I've cleaned it up so it's a little better at least. It's actually not too horrible. There are still elements of random RyouAnzu in here. Many apologies but it's necessary to some of my favorite scenes.
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It was a rainy afternoon that saw no one outside. No one, that is, except Shizuka Kawaii.
I can't believe this weather, she thought glumly. At least I'm almost there.
Shizuka was on her way to Anzu Mazaki's house. Looking up at the glum, gray sky, she sighed and thought, She got so lucky.
The original plan was for Anzu to visit Shizuka, but circumstances made their planned activities impossible at the apartment she now shared with her brother. The circumstances? Katsuya Jounouchi and Hiroto Honda. Despite Shizuka's protests, the boys had plopped themselves in front of either of the two TVs and were trying to outlast each other in various videogames. It was rather a shock to Shizuka that they would intentionally inconvenience her in this way. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had told her brother of Anzu's visit, no matter how he claimed not to have known. And in any case, she would have thought that the boys would leave them in piece- either by Shizuka's pleading or Anzu's threatening. But, no, they held their ground, insisting that it was of critical importance that they have their contest then. The somewhat puzzled girls had eventually had no choice but to change plans or miss part of the movie they planned to watch.
They are so gonna pay for this, Shizuka thought with uncharacteristic spite as the rain came down harder. It had come out of nowhere when she was a few blocks from home. As it had been warm and sunny when she left, Shizuka hadn't bothered to bring along an umbrella or even a jacket.
A clap of thunder sounded, making her quicken her pace. Just one more corner… there it was! A mere ten yard stretch of sidewalk was between here and her destination. She had finally made it.
Shizuka jogged the remaining distance and hurried up the front steps to Anzu's porch. Glad to be in the shelter of the over-hanging, she ran one hand through her hair to get rid of some of the water. With her other hand she gave the bell a quick double ring.
"Shizuka! " cried Anzu as she opened the door, " I was worried. Can you believe this rain?"
"I know," Shizuka smiled, "You got off easy. Remember to thank Katsuya and Honda."
"C'mon, the movie's about to start," Anzu said, moving aside to let the younger girl enter. "I got a ton of snacks ready. I'll go ahead and grab you a towel."
With that, Shizuka went in and shed her moist sneakers in the hall before following Anzu to the living room. She waited standing up as Anzu hurried off to find a towel for her to dry off with. When Anzu came and gave it to her, she gave herself a quick rub-down before joining Anzu on the sofa.
As the two made themselves comfortable, they heard the television announcer begin to speak.
"Now," stated the unseen announcer, "we present Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon."
Anzu and Serenity smiled and dug into the junk food that was laid out on the low table before them.
Meanwhile, the rain became a full-fledged storm in no time at all. The howling of the wind alone was enough to force Anzu to increase the volume by ten decibels. The actual rain eventually made another five necessary.
"I'm glad I got here before all that started up," Shizuka shuddered as another clap of thunder rolled.
"I just hope that the power doesn't go out, " Anzu stated in a worried tone.
"Don't say that," Shizuka warned quickly, "You'll jinx it."
As if on cue, the lights and television screen flickered twice and then went out completely. For a moment the girls were quiet in the sudden darkness.
Shizuka, however, broke the silence with a cry of, "That was one of the best parts!"
"I guess I really did jinx it, " Anzu said with a sheepish chuckle.
Shizuka sighed. "I was kidding Anzu. There's no such thing as jinxes."
"Oh, yeah, Shizuka. No such thing as jinxes. Just five thousand year old spirits that exist in magic jewelry- and dimensions where they can lock people's souls away," Anzu said with playful sarcasm. "Anyway, I'll go get a flashlight. We can play a board game or something."
"By flashlight?" questioned Shizuka.
"Well, something other than sit around in the dark," Anzu replied as she stood to retrieve the flashlight from the hall closet.
The problems started right off. Not taking into account just how much closer the table had been brought to the sofa, Anzu almost tripped over it. She managed to gain her balance by quickly stepping to the left- and on Shizuka's foot.
"Ouch! My foot! " Serenity cried in pain as Anzu's foot slammed down on it.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Anzu apologized quickly, pulling away- only to bang her shins on the edge of the afore mentioned coffee table. To make matters worse, a bowl of something- popcorn or chips from the sound of it- crashed to the floor as a result of the impact.
Grunting with pain, Anzu stumbled out into the open. Well, it should have been open. Anzu hadn't taken two steps before banging her hip against the end table. She heard the lamp on the table start to rock and reached out blindly to catch it. Luckily, she did manage to grab it and keep it from falling to the floor. In doing so, however, she knocked off the shade, which landed with a thump. In trying to retrieve it, she came close to squashing it and opted to leave it for the time being.
"Are you okay, Anzu? " Shizuka asked, half-concerned and half-amused.
"Oh, I'm fine," Anzu bit, trying not to snap at Shizuka. "Just peachy."
With that said, Anzu continued her quest to the closet. Stepping carefully, Anzu felt her toe bump into the lampshade from earlier. Pushing it aside, she took more venturous steps- and tripped into the armchair she had forgotten about completely.
"Oof!" she grunted as she stood herself up upright.
"Are you-" Serenity began.
"Don't. Ask. " Anzu cut her off sharply.
Of course, things didn't get any better when she finally made it to the hallway. There she stumbled upon the vacuum cleaner that she could have sworn she'd put away.
I'll burn those tables- both of them, Anzu thought darkly. And that chair will be a scratching post for homeless cats. As for that lamp… Wait… the closet! Yes!
Anzu quickly pulled opened the door and began fumbling on the high shelf for the flashlight. There it was! But no sooner had her fingers wrapped around the base than the electricity came back on.
"NO!" Anzu cried out in frustration as she slammed the door shut. "This isn't funny!"
And so a seriously ticked off Anzu walked back to the living room, angrily knocking over the vacuum as she went.
Re-entering the living room, Anzu found that the movie was being further delayed by an emergency news bulletin regarding the severity of the storm and warning of possible flooding. Who the weatherman thought he was fooling by having this bulletin posted was beyond her. Her dead-and-buried goldfish could have "predicted" this news.
Adding to Anzu's annoyance was the bad job Shizuka was doing of hiding her giggling over Anzu's misadventure. Maybe she should try it some time.
Just as Anzu was about to tell her off, the doorbell sounded. Wondering who could be out in such terrible weather, Anzu went quickly to answer it. Well, if someone had told her whom she was going to find on her doorstep, she'd have called the nut house.
"What are you guys doing here?" she gasped loudly surprise.
"Hoping that you'll let us in?" suggested the shivering but smiling form of Mai Kujaku.
"Oh, of course!" Anzu jumped aside to allow the two women space to come in. "You must be the surprise Yugi was teasing about," she addressed Isis.
"I suppose," she replied. "Sorry to ruin it but I think it was rather necessary in the circumstances."
As the two women shed their soggy shoes, Anzu hurried off to get them towels. They met up in the living room, Mai and Isis gladly accepting the fluffy towels.
" What are you guys doing here?" Anzu repeated as they dried off.
"We were retuning from the mall-" began Isis.
"The mall?" Anzu raised her eyebrows in surprise. Isis didn't seem like the mall type.
"Yes, the mall. I ran into Mai in town while trying to find a place for lunch. She insisted on taking me shopping," Isis explained in her usual calm, quiet voice. Her right eyebrow, however, was twitching rather visibly. "Five hours of shopping."
Naturally Mai was oblivious to this and told Isis graciously, "No thanks are necessary, of course. It was a pleasure."
From the way Isis's eyebrow twitched on her otherwise serene face, no thanks were coming.
"But anyway," Mai went on, "the rain got bad, so it was hard to see the road. I remembered that you said you lived around here and I was welcome if I was ever in town…" Mai let the sentence hang.
"You're lucky you didn't wreck in that!" Anzu waved a hand in the general direction of the front door. "And it's nice to see you both. I heard you were in town, Mai, but Isis! Wouldn't that be on the news or something?"
"I'm not here for anything big," Isis explained. "I'm just accompanying a few archeological finds. They're going to be showing several museums internationally."
"Cool, you get to go globe-trotting!" Anzu exclaimed. "Help yourselves to something to eat."
She indicated the food on the table, wincing when she noticed the mess of potato chips littering her carpet. She forgotten about that…
Anzu grumbled and went into the hallway after the vacuum cleaner. This sent Shizuka into a quiet giggling fits, causing Anzu to shoot her a dirty look as she went. Mai settled down next to Shizuka on the sofa. Isis grabbed a small handful of popcorn from one of the bowls on the table before easing into the armchair.
As Anzu was lugging the vacuum into the room, the news bulletin ended. The result was a very loud, "Moon Cosmic Power Make-Up!" resounding throughout the room.
"Oh, good! I love this movie!" Mai grinned widely and leaned forward to grab a cheese puff.
"I didn't realize that this was going to be on," Isis intoned quietly. She smiled, though, and relaxed to watch the television.
Anzu and Shizuka glanced at each other in mild surprised. Neither would have guessed that either woman was interested in such things. Learn something new every day.
Temporarily forgetting the mess on the floor, Anzu went carefully to the sofa to sit with Shizuka and Mai. This, after all, was no utterly late weather warning. This was Sailor Moon.
When the movie went off and Anzu had cleaned up the potato chips- and put away the vacuum- the four girls chatted and continued to munch on the junk food still laid out on the table.
Mai, it tuned out, had rented an apartment in Domino and was considering staying around for good. She'd been having nightmares again, and wanted to be somewhere she could find help in a pinch. The subject was quick to change, however, when Mai saw that Isis was uncomfortable with the topic.
They began instead to discuss Isis's exhibit. She hadn't been a large part of the dig the relics had come from, but had been of importance in deciphering the inscriptions found on them. Isis went on to describe some of the artifacts. When she off-handedly mentioned that one looked something like Sailor Moon's Holy Grail, a discussion of the movie and the series in general.
"Sailor Venus is awesome!" Anzu declared. "And Chibi-Chibi Moon is so adorable!"
"I like Mars and Jupiter," Mai said after a moment of thought. "They both kick butt but they still no how to be women. Although Mars has got to do something about those pink over-alls of hers."
Shizuka giggled. "I like them too. Sailor Moon is funny."
"Mercury and Neptune," Isis spoke up, "have truly enviable intelligence."
"They're a bit wallflower for my taste," Mai said. "Still, it makes sense for you."
"You know no one has mentioned Uranus or Pluto or Saturn?" Anzu looked up slightly in thought. "All of them have totally cool powers too."
"True," Mai commented. "But Uranus is a bit lacking in the feminine department. I prefer girl girls. Pluto strikes me as being a bit too tragic. Same for Saturn. They're all pretty cool, though."
"Hey, Anzu," Shizuka appraised her, "your hair is kind of like Sailor Saturn's. Is that on purpose?"
"Huh?" Anzu subconsciously ran her right hand through her hair. "No. Actually, I never noticed that."
"Yeah, sure," Mai smirked. "Fangirl."
"Oh, so I guess you look like a biker version of Venus because you're a fangirl, then?" Anzu smirked back at her.
Mai frowned at having the tables turned on her but then smiled again. "Could you imagine biker babe Senshi?"
The room was quiet for a minute as the four considered the thought. The silence was broken by a fit of laughter. Even Isis cracked a smile and let herself chuckle a bit.
"Being a Sailor Senshi," Shizuka gasped as she calmed herself, "would be so cool!"
"Elemental powers are a little cliché," Mai said as she carefully wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, "but, yeah, that would be cool."
"Defiantly," Anzu sighed. She leaned back on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. "You'd think with all the crazy stuff that goes on with us we could find a way to gain supernatural abilities."
"Actually," Isis said thoughtfully, "there may be a way."
"What?" Mai raised one eyebrow skeptically.
"What do you mean, Isis?" Shizuka looked at her curiously.
Isis sat quietly, eyes distant in thought. The others were quiet too now, waiting for her to speak. The sound of a ticking clock was heard from somewhere in the background. Had Anzu not been so interested in what Isis might be thinking, the thought might have weirded her out. Her home didn't contain a clock that ticked.
Finally, Isis looked up from the floor where her gaze had settled. The others leaned in without meaning to, listening intently.
"It's stopped raining," Isis stated simply.
The others deadpanned and stared at her. None of them could find it to respond. They had to admit, however, that she seemed to be right. The sounds of the storm had died away. To confirm the idea, Anzu switched the television back on and turned on the weather channel. Sure enough, the storm had blown over and the area was safe, albeit wet.
"I need to get back to the museum," Isis stood.
"Hang on!" Anzu protested, shooting to her feet. "Tell us what you meant!"
"It may not be definite," Isis explained calmly. "I'll need to look into it before saying anything more. I'll get in touch with you later today if possible."
"If possible?" Shizuka repeated somewhat glumly. "It might take longer?"
"It might," Isis smiled at the younger girl.
"Oh, raise our hopes for nothing," Mai rolled her eyes, standing as well. "Anyway, let's get going. Thanks for having us, hon," Mai nodded to Anzu and headed for the front door.
"It wasn't a problem."
"Oh," Shizuka jumped up as she realized how long she had stayed. "I should go to. Mai, can you give me a quick ride home?"
"Of course. I wouldn't want you to get caught in another shower."
The four made their way to the door, chatting idly as Mai, Isis and Shizuka worked into their shoes and coats. After exchanging basic pleasantries, they said good-bye and the three of them left, Anzu waving as they drove off in Mai's car.
About a half hour later Anzu was doing Jazzercise to a new video her dance instructor had recommended. She had just mastered being able to grab a chip from the lone remaining bowl on the coffee table while still going through the movements when the bell sounded for the third time that day. Potato chip clenched between her lips, she paused her tape and jogged to answer the door. Swinging it open, she was surprised to see Ryou standing at her doorstep.
"Hello, Anzu, " the boy greeted her quietly, almost nervously. His normally pale cheeks were a warm shade of pink.
Quickly finishing off the chip in her mouth, Anzu smiled at him and stepped slightly to the side to let him come in. Looking past him, she could see that it had started to drizzle.
"How are you, Ryou?" Anzu inquired as she shut the door. "I haven't seen you around lately."
"Oh, I'm doing fine," Ryou answered politely, avoiding eye contact. He made no move to enter the house further or even remove his shoes.
Anzu regarded him curiously, if a bit awkwardly. It was difficult not to awkward in the confined space, her friend acting like a child who had narrowly escaped being caught with a hand in the cookie jar. They were silent for several minutes, the ominous, shouldn't-be-there tick-tock back again.
"So," Anzu broke the silence, "Ryou. Uh… what can I do for you?"
"Ah, well, I need to speak with you about something."
"Oh. You want to come in and sit down?"
"No, I don't think so. It's just… well, you see… ah, I really don't know how to go about saying this."
"What? Is something the matter?" Anzu's expression turned to concern.
"Oh, no!" Ryou put his hands up quickly. His cheeks had turned a rather bright shade of red. "Nothing like that. You see, I think…"
"Yes?" Anzu leaned in slightly and smiled encouragingly.
Ryou faced her suddenly, looking her right in the eye. His own eyes were set in fierce determination. Anzu was taken aback and took a step backward. Quick as a flash, Ryou leaned into her and placed a whisper of a kiss on her cheek. Then he pulled back, face aflame.
"I think I may love you," he blurted out quickly.
Anzu, her own complexion rather rosy, had no time to comprehend what was going on before Ryou was out her front door like a shot. Placing one hand on the spot where he had kissed her, Anzu looked after him. He was long gone by the time she was halfway dragged from her shock-induced haze.
"Okay, thanks for stopping by," she said in a voice stuck between dreaminess and confusion.
She shut the door with a soft click and wandered back into the living room. The video had been on pause so long that it had shut off. She didn't bother to turn it back on. Instead she plodded over to the sofa and plopped down, trying to figure out what happened.
Oh, come on. You're being pathetic, she mentally chided herself with a frown. Ryou kissed you and said he might love you. It's not all that difficult of a concept.
Still, she was a bit confused by it all. Why did Ryou run off after telling her? He was quiet, but she had trouble picturing him as being that shy. Maybe he had been put up to it? No, that didn't seem right either.
"Maybe he really is that shy," she mused out loud.
She shook her head with a sigh and pushed herself up off the sofa. After all, she couldn't very well ask him right then. Walking over to the television, Anzu resolved to hunt him down and scare an explanation out of him as soon as possible. Well, maybe not hunt… or scare… but she would speak with him- sit him down and speak with him.
"May as well try to get through this tape for now," she mumbled to herself as she hit the play button on the VCR.
The attempt was ultimately futile.
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Well, while Anzu was being kissed by Ryou, Shizuka was being dropped off at home. Calling good-bye to Mai and Isis, she hurried through the light drizzle that had started up to the front door of the apartment. She let herself in and called out to the boys that she was back as she removed her shoes. Due to the loud booms and background music from the video games they were apparently still playing, Shizuka wasn't sure they had heard until Jounouchi responded.
"Did someone drop you off?" Jounouchi called to her from the living room.
She was a little surprised that he hadn't been too wrapped up in the game to answer her. Honda was probably still in Jounouchi's room. Jounouchi preferred the living room television quality. It worked out, though, since Honda preferred playing laying down on Jounouchi's bed.
"Yes," she responded as she made her way into the living room, trying to ignore the hideous puke green shag carpet the apartment had come with. "Mai did. She stopped by Anzu's house because of the storm." She decided not to mention Isis. She was supposed to be a surprise, after all.
"Oh," he answered, bits of relief and guilt just barely notable in his voice. He didn't look away from the television screen. "How was your movie?"
"Oh, it was alright," she answered as she settled herself next to him on the bright orange loveseat that he had just had to have for the room. Then, letting her voice get just a little nippy, Shizuka added, "We missed some when the power went out, though. You know, because of the storm?"
"Oh, really?" Jounouchi's voice was soft, his attention slipping away from her. "The weather didn't get too bad here."
Once again, Shizuka considered revenge. They had played their games while she missed her favorite part of one of her favorite movies. Not only that, she might not have if she had been watching it on the television she should have been watching it on. Namely, the television her brother was shooting zombies on. Or at least the one Honda was shooting zombies on.
As her brother let out a whoop of glee at a particularly good shot and Honda cried out in despair from the other room, she decided that, yes, they would pay.
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Dustbunny: Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed it
Honda: How come I'm not in this story?
Bunnydust: You dummy! You and Jounouchi both already played a huge part in this story!
Jounouchi: We did?
Anzu: Duh! If it wasn't for you, Shizuka wouldn't have come over, and we wouldn't have talked to Mai and Isis!
Jounouchi/ Honda: Oooh
Dustbunny: And thus is my excuse for your lack of screen time otherwise
Jounouchi/ Honda: Hey!
Marshmallow: Heh. Please be kind and review (Read: Critique)