Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh. Never have, never will. However, I hereby lay a claim to Insane!Anzu, who is an absolute blast to write.
Author's Note: This is an AU fic. This follows canon up until Battle City, and then deviates rather drastically, though only on a few points. Please read and review, and feel free to give criticism where necessary – I can take it. If someone is OOC, tell me how they are OOC and offer suggestions on how to fix it. If you feel the story should take a different turn, tell me. Be HONEST. I won't improve if you don't help.
"Do you know what I want more than anything right now?" Her tone was conversational, calm and almost soothing. "I want to see Yuugi fall. I want to see him finally open his eyes and realize what he's done, right before he plummets off the edge." Anzu sighed dreamily as she gazed out the window at the gentle rainfall, propped up by pillows on her bed and with a blanket draped loosely across her lap. An oversized t-shirt hung off of her shoulders and threatened to fall off entirely, to both the delight and the embarrassment of her companion. She tilted her head to the side, eyes following a few drops of rain, absently wondering when the sun would appear. It had been raining for far too long, and she didn't care for wandering around in the cold.
Silence followed her proclamation, before being shattered by a strangled, "What?"
Her gaze flickered to her companion, blue eyes slightly glazed. "I will watch him fall," she said softly, mouth twisting into a sneer. She sounded more sure of herself now, confident that she would see her goal through to the end. "He does not deserve everything that he has, everything that he has always had. He is too soft, too weak; he makes too many mistakes, he alienates those close to him. He is no longer the boy we knew…" She cut off bitterly.
Dark eyes met blue, and Anzu's companion tossed her hair nervously. "How do you plan on accomplishing this?" she asked finally, voice quiet, eyes searching. She twitched at every sound as if afraid of discovery. The girl was far too timid; she would have to change that.
Anzu shifted her position on the bed to bring herself closer to the younger girl, drawing her close and running her fingers through the silken strands of hair. Noting the panic in her voice, Anzu rocked her gently. "Hush, little Shizuka-chan, you needn't worry. No one will find us here." She gently tipped the girls chin and leaned close, lips almost touching as she breathed her answer.
"I'll kill him."
Shizuka gasped, stiffening in the dancer's grasp.
"I'll kill him and take away everything." Anzu trailed a finger across Shizuka's smooth cheek as tears began to trickle down, kissing them each away with warm lips. The girl was so sweet, so innocent…so naïve. She truly didn't know about the darkness that lurked in everyone's hearts, even hers…even Yuugi's. "I will repay him for everything he has put me through, for everything he has taken away from me. I will punish him for refusing to grant me the one thing I required from him in return for my constant companionship. I was always there for him…I gave up so much to stay by his side!" Her eyes blazed as her grip on the younger girl tightened painfully. She ignored Shizuka's squeals of pain and continued.
"She does not deserve him," she hissed, eyes darkened with fury. "What has she done for him? Nothing! Where was she during Duelist Kingdom? Where was she during Battle City? Not by his side, as I was! And yet…she comes along out of nowhere, and suddenly I'm nobody to him? She seems to think she can just pop out of the woodwork and take my place…"
She loosened her hold on Shizuka and wrapped her arms around the shocked and frightened girl, trailing feather-light kisses across her flushed skin.
"Isn't that a little extreme?" Shizuka murmured against Anzu's cheek. "K-killing him, I mean. Wouldn't it be better to just…I don't know, talk to him about it? There's no need for…for killing."
"Think of what he has done to your brother." Anzu's voice was calm now, tone matter-of-fact, as if explaining to a small child that water was wet. "Think of all he put him through. How many times has Jounouchi balanced on the edge of death because of him? And who finally pushed him over, gave him that final nudge when he desperately needed something to hold onto? Who betrayed him in the end, claiming to be his best friend and then turning his back and walking away?"
Shizuka remained quiet for a time, absorbing everything the dancer had thrown at her, and she felt her pulse racing with anger as she let those words wash over her, envelop her, consume her. Her idolatry for the older girl led her down a dark path, and she began to take everything she said to heart. Perhaps what the girl said was true. Her brother had looked up to him, depended upon him…
"Whose fault was it, Shizuka-chan? Who broke every promise and made Jounouchi pay for each one?"
Tears trickled down her cheeks again. "Onii-chan…"
Indeed, whose fault was it? Who had caused her brother – her life, her breath, her everything – to be suddenly and violently torn away from her? Who had sworn to her that he would protect him, and then failed in that duty and neglected to even console her in her grief as she stood by his grave day after day, wailing and pleading to be awoken from this nightmare?
If Yuugi's darker half hadn't screwed up, her brother might be standing before her. He might be tugging at her hair and teasing her, chasing away any boys who tried to get too close, stuffing his face with whatever food was close at hand. He would be standing beside her, holding her up when she felt like she would fall, giving her that little push she needed to get things done. Without Jounouchi, she felt so alone, cast adrift in a cold and unforgiving sea.
Anzu nuzzled the girl's hair. "Will you help me? Will you help me take down your brother's murderer?"
Shizuka drew back enough so that she could look at Anzu, tears glittering in her eyes, so wide, so innocent, so pure. "Will you never leave me?" she whispered, clutching her desperately. She didn't want to be alone, trapped in a cold steel cage for the rest of her life. She needed other people; she had needed her brother… "Promise you'll never leave me." Something had to replace that gaping void; someone had to fill that aching emptiness inside of her.
"I promise."
"Then I will help you."
Anzu smiled again and bent her head, kissing the smaller girl tenderly.
One down…
