Chapter 6

It's been three weeks since his first chemo. Seto began feeling better after feeling positively horrible. Anzu has been working around the house, helping Seto move around the house – much to his discomfort - , and creating a comforting invironment for Mokuba. Believe it or not, Seto was actually grateful for her help, even though he would never say this out loud. He found himself feeling uncomfortable when she wasn't around. Don't ask him why.

And then, as if on cue, Anzu walked into the room with a foodtray. She smiled lightly and sat down with the tray on her lap. Seto looked at her with dull eyes.

"What happened to those disgusting shakes you've been giving me for the last three weeks?", he asked raising both eyebrows.

"Well, since you're not throwing up anymore, I think it's time for you to start eating real food again.", she replied looking at the food in front of her. A banana, a bowl of cereal with milk and a glass of orange juice. She held to tray to him and looked up, expecting him to take over the tray. When he didn't do anything, she rolled her eyes and practically dropped the tray on his lap.

"Was that necessary?", he growled, glaring at her. He looked back at the tray that he was holding. Milk and orange juice now everywhere.

"I'm your nurse, Kaiba. There's nothing written in my contract about being your maid", she glared back. She stood up to check his temperature. It was falling down to normal...thankfully.

"Stop saying you're my nurse. It makes me sick to my stomach.", he snarled while being touched on the forehead by Anzu.

Anzu rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, oh master". And walked towards his bathroom to wash her hands. When she re-emerged she said, "In 3 weeks we're going back to the hospital to check on your progress. You remember, right?"

"Yes, I remember.", he said annoyed while watching her back as she put away all her medical equipement. "I told you, you don't have to tell me every week. I'm not a child.".

"Right, but I don't recessarily have to agree with everything you say.", she challanged with a grin on her face. He was so annoyed. She loooved it.

"Makes me regret I didn't put that in the contract.", was his reply, regarding her with a vicious glare.

"Yeah well, we all make mistakes.", she looked at him carefree. She grinned when she saw him rolling his eyes at her.

Thinking she won this argument, she was about to leave the room until Kaiba's voice stopped her. "I apparently made a mistake in hiring you.". She turned around.

"Believe me Kaiba, being forced to see your pretty face every day isn't exactly my idea of a rewarding job.", she said giving him her stongest vexed face. This angered the CEO. How dare she? He gives her a well-payed job and she badmouths it like it's no big deal.

"You know what Mazaki, seeing how sometimes you wear make-up on that ugly face of yours, maybe you should consider eating your make-up so you can try and be pretty on the inside. We both know you need it", he growled, his voice displayed a big amount of anger. Oh if he would be strong enough now, he would be staring her down in the most powerful intimitating manner.

"What's that supposed to mean, Kaiba?", Anzu growled back, taking a few steps towards his bed. Her tiny fists very visible.

"It means you're so fake, it makes Barbie jealous", he fired back. At this point his face was so neutral but his eyes implied otherwise. And man, did she know what he meant. He was talking about her infamous friendship speeches, the fact that she sees good in people and wants to help everyone, yet when it comes to him all these things don't exactly apply. 'Point taken, jackass.', Anzu thought irritated. Yet, even though she understood what he meant, she decided to answer differently.

"Ok, then this would probably be the stupidest thing I ever heard coming out of your mouth.", she said ignoring the hidden meaning while calmly staring back into his cold eyes. Meanwhile, on the inside it hurt her more than she would care to admit.

"I'm the CEO of Kaiba Corp. I don't do stupid.", he said smirking evilly-innocent for winning the argument.

"CEO my foot", Anzu muttered, looking around the room. When she looked around she saw random dirty clothes scattered around his room. She frowned. 'Why aren't the maids cleaning up his room?'. Shrugging, she began picking up his clothes. Seto watched her like a hawk. After all these years, he still couldn't believe her daring nature towards him. He never met someone who dared to speak to him that way. It was liberating, in a sickening way. He was torn out of his thoughts when he heard Anzu speak.

"Do you want to go downstairs later?", she asked turning her head to him while still picking up his dirty clothes. Their previous argument seemingly forgotten. During the last three weeks she's been helping Seto going downstairs. She didn't want him to stay in bed every hour of every day. Anzu was a firm believer it wasn't good for the patient's state of mind. Blushing lightly, she remembered the first time they decided to take a walk around the house.

- FLASHBACK 2 weeks ago -

"Mazaki, do I ever get to leave of this godforsaken bed?", Seto asked frowning in mild pain. He was still sick and barely recovering from last weeks constant throw-up episodes. And it was a mild pain because, damn it, now he did know what pain was.

"I was going to let you walk around next week. You're still in pain, Kaiba.", Anzu answered raising her gaze to him. She felt for him but didn't show it. You know why... Sometimes when you encourage a person to do something or feel sorry for them, they end up doing absolutely the complete opposite of what you wanted them to do or feel. And soon she learned that Kaiba was one of those people.

"I want to get out of this bed and I mean NOW", he shouted persistantly. His house, his will!

"Alright Kaiba, it's your call", she answered calmly, slightly frowning. 'He will never change', she thought mentally rolling her eyes. Anzu walked to the bed and stood there for a second waiting for him to place himself in the right position to get off the bed. During this process, Anzu noticed he already began breathing heavily because of the high strain he was putting on his body. He looked at her, eyes telling her he was ready. In his eyes she saw a glint of anticipation and fear as well, which made her hesitate.

She frowned tilting her head to the side. "Are you sure about this, Kaiba? You already seem in a lot of pain", she asked him. The hell he was going to let him yell at her for something he chose to do.

"Just pull me up, Mazaki, quit being so damn annoying all the time", he shouted, head bending downward to ground with his eyes shut. Anzu replied hot-headed. "Alriiiight, no need to shout! But don't say I didn't warn you afterwards.", to prove her point she pointed her index-finger at him while narrowing her eyes in extreme warning. Oooh, if he dared to shout at her, she was ready to scream!

He opened his eyes and saw Anzu was at his eye level. He looked into her eyes when she took both his forearms. In return, her eyes were still displaying warning and somewhere a little drop of concern. They held each others gazes for a second and before he knew it, he was slowly being hoised up. He groaned in pain, eyes squinting and holding Anzu's gaze. Anzu couldn't believe he was pulling this off considering the pain he was in. Her eyes widened a little as his breathing became erratic and his grip on her arms tightened with incredible force. She was stunned by the force in his hands.

And there he was. Finally, after 4 horrible weeks, standing up. Their faces were inches apart. His breath was hitting Anzu's face. She suddenly was happy he decided to do this after getting him to brushing his teeth. They stood there for a minute or two, breathing in each others faces and watching each other. There was this weird, highly uncomfortable moment. Anzu could see pride in Seto's eyes and in return Seto could see pride in hers. This confused him, why would she be proud of something he did? Their noses were now inches apart giving the impression that they were about to kiss. At the moment she thought they actually were seconds away from kissing each other, Anzu shot into action. She lowered her head and looked at the floor. The move was so sudden it caused Seto's lips to touch Anzu's forehead, mimicking a butterfly kiss. Seto didn't know how to react to this foreign feeling so he did what came natural to him. His shoulders tensed up and his feet shifted away from her. Realizing this, Anzu turned to his side awkwardly, both her hands and weight supporting his right arm. In the right position to move forward, Anzu glanced at Seto and together, they made their first step towards the door.

- END FLASHBACK -

"...Yes, but I'll go by myself", Seto replied, shaking Anzu out of her memory.

"... Ok. See you in a minute.", she answered back. She threw the clothes into a bin and exited of the room.

Seto finished his breakfast and slowly began sitting up on his bed, legs dangling over the edge. He really was beginning to feel better. Contented, he ran a hand through his hair. As he pulled back, a little flock of hair stuck to his fingers again. His hair was miraculously stubborn and seemingly refused to fall out rapidly. Seto peered at his hair in quiet observation. After what seemed like an eternity he sighed and looked up towards the door, his hair still nestled around his fingers. His eyes were showing a sense of sadness that thankfully no one else was witnessing at the moment. Then he blinked twice, dropped the hair on the floor, placed his hands on his bed and hoisted himself off the bed. 'Whatever, it's just hair...', he convinced himself.

XXX

Seto walked slowly but certainly towards the stairs. He was glad he was able to walk again. All those days in bed really got to him. He reached the stairs and looked down. He narrowed his eyes in surprise. There she stood, waiting for him next to a widely smiling Mokuba who wanted to see his big brother come down the stairs. When he saw Mokuba he managed to make a tiny corner smile appear. He leaned on the handrail and began walking step by step. He felt like an old man but frankly, he couldn't care less. He was walking without major pain. As he reached ground floor he took Mokuba by his shoulders and started walking towards the living room followed by Anzu. When he sat himself down in the king-sized couch, he let out a little sigh of satisfaction.

"I'm so glad you're feeling better, Seto. You went down those stairs like a pro!", said a sweet boyish voice next to him. Seto opened his eyes.

"Heh, thanks Mokuba. I'm glad too.", he answered looking at his little brother.

"Do you wanna watch some tv?", Mokuba suggested.

"Yes, let's.", Seto agreed. Mokuba stood up, reached for the remote and switched on the tv. He flipped a couple of channels and found a program he thought would intress his brother. Meanwhile Anzu was doing some things around the house and in order to do that, she had to pass through the living room. Mokuba noticed her.

"Anzuuu, come watch tv with us!", he called out to her enthusiastically. He was now turned to her with his little hands on the armrest of the couch and smiling.

"That's ok, Mokuba. I have a couple of things to do. You guys watch.", she replied smiling back. Frankly she didn't feel like watching tv with Mister I-don't-do-stupid. She was still angry about their argument. 'I'm not fake. I'm as real as one can be! Try finding someone else who cares enough to take care you. You'll run out of luck, you !*()!', she thought. Her rambling thoughts came to a halt when a certain boy called out insistently.

"Come on, you can do it later!", Mokuba insisted with puppy eyes. Anzu's eyes widened in mild warning. Stop it, her eyes were saying and in return Mokuba's eyes kept pleading. He even added a childish pout.

"Euhm...alright", she finally caved and awkwardly strolled towards the couch. Now, Kaiba's eyes were on her. Consciously avoiding Seto's gaze and feeling very uncomfortable she moved to sit next to Mokuba.

"NO. You can't sit here!", Mokuba yelled in alarm. Anzu and Mokuba watched each other silently. "Why not, Mokuba?", she sissed out, her eyes widening in discomfort.

"Mokuba, let her sit wherever she want.", Seto interfered. When he said that her eyes shifted between Seto and Mokuba. When nothing happened she decided to speak. "You heard the man", she said a victorious smirk.

"NO, I.. euh, I need this space to lie down because... whennnn... I watch tv I get sleepy.", it was a lame excuse but it seemed to work. Now Mokuba had his victorious smirk on. Anzu sighed in defeat and move towards Seto's end of the couch. She sat down reluctantly, arms crossed with legs curled up on the couch. She looked at the huge cinema-like flatscreen. Seto shifted a little. Now, this was weird. He was sitting between his baby brother and his pompon-waving nurse. But shortly he shrugged it off and resumed to watching the program. During this time he noticed Anzu's constant fidgeting.

"Relax, Mazaki. I'm not going to bite.", he whispered turning his head to her.

"I beg to differ.", she bit back making Seto turn his head back to the screen while rolling his eyes. They were silent for a while. After another 5 minutes of fidgeting she couldn't take it anymore.

"Ugh, this is just to weird! I'm sorry Mokuba, I really have to do those things now', she excused herself and hurried out of the room. In the proces of hurrying out of the room she failed to notice Mokuba disappointed face and Kaiba's irritated face. 'Weirdo', he thought.

XXX

Meanwhile, outside the room, Anzu stood against the wall. 'Ugh, Weirdo', she thought grossed out. She felt like going for a walk, she needed to talk to someone but she couldn't just leave the mansion. Kaiba needed 24/7 standby assistance.. At least for another 2 months. So she did the next best thing. She practically ran to her room, shut herself in and began searching for her phone. When she found her babyblue blackberry she dialed Shizuka's number.

"Anzu! Oh my god, I'm so happy you're calling! How are you? It's been like forever!", Shizuka said enthusiastically when answering her phone.

"Shizuka! I'm fine! How are you? I know, I'm sorry, I've just been so busy lately.", Anzu answered equally enthusiastic. She was happy to hear her friend.

"I'm fine girl, thanks for asking! How's your job? Joey told me it's pretty hectic nowadays.", Shizuka asked.

"Oh, it's hectic alright. But I really don't want to talk about work now", she answered hurriedly, avoiding telling her the fact that she was now working for Seto Kaiba himself. Although she also didn't find it right to tell people (read: her friends) about his condition. If he wanted the world to know, he would've had a press broadcast. Not exactly being a paparazzi-enthusiast, Kaiba chose not to. She continued, "How are Joey and Mai? And is everything still going smooth with Tristan?", Anzu asked teasing her.

Shizuka blushed behind the phone. Anzu didn't see her but she heard it. "Well, yes, euhm, I guess you can say everything is going smoothly. We... euhm... nothing! Joey and Mai are still the perfect cute couple. It's almost ridiculous. You'd never picture Joey being the romantic lover.", sticking out her tongue in playful disgust. Anzu laughed. "No, definitely not. But I guess if he's happy, we are too, right?". As she said this she let herself fall on her bed, face up.

"Right!", Shizuka giggled. "Yugi, on the other hand, is jumping from girl to girl in a surprisingly subtle way.", the girl continued, filling Anzu up on the lastest news.

"Really? Are we thinking about the same person here?", Shocked at hearing this news, Anzu shot upwards making her almost fall off her bed. She didn't recall Yugi being a heartbreaker.

"Oh yes, we are, Anzu. Since you guys broke up last year he became a womanizer. The break-up hurt him so much ", Shizuka explained. She knew this was kind of a sore subject.

"We were together for 6 months. That hardly qualifies as a steady relationship...", Anzu said uncertain. Mortified, she bit her lip and frowned.

"Anzu, it does", Shizuka sweatdropped raising a eyebrow.

"Well, at least he's over it?", Anzu tried.

"Devouring every moving thing with long legs and boobs doesn't exactly qualify as moving on, Anzu.", Shizuka smirked at her friend's attempt at convincing her she really didn't do anything wrong.

"I know...", Anzu sighed, agreeing with her friend. She was right... but shortly after she agreed she changed her mind. "No, you know what? He's a grown man now, we're not in high school anymore. Sometimes relationships just don't last. I'm not taking all the blame for this", Anzu said convincingly.

"I know, he's just coping.", Shizuka answered softly. She smiled. She knew Anzu didn't mean to hurt his feelings, so she dropped the subject. "Anyway, when are we going to meet up? It's been a while!", she asked.

Anzu hesitated. "I don't really know. I'm working 48-hour-shifts lately. You know, staff deficiency. I'm looking at about 2 to 3 months of constant work but I don't mind. They're providing a bonus for all the staff members who volunteer.". Ok, she lied. But who wouldn't? Shizuka wouldn't believe she worked for Kaiba anyway.

"Oh, that sucks!", Shizuka pouted in disappointment. When she said that, Anzu heard Mokuba called out to her. "ANZUUUUUUUUU", muffled from the hall.

"I know but listen, I have to go, my break is over. Gotta go. I'll call you when I get a day off, ok?", Anzu hurriedly suggested. Hoping Mokuba wouldn't come knocking on her door.

"Ok, I'll hear you soon, girl! Bye bye", Shizuka answered.

"Bye!"... Beep. Disconnected.

"AAAANZUUUU!", Mokuba called out again. It wasn't a scared call so Anzu called back calmly.

"I'm in my room, Mokuba", she said, unlocking her door. When he knocked she said he could come in.

"Hey, what are you doing here?", Mokuba asked kindly.

"Nothing, just hanging around. Checking my mails, you know", she lied.

"Aah, oke. Listen, I was wondering if we could take Seto outside for a while.", Mokuba asked. He thought it was time for his brother to take in some fresh air.

"Outside as in outside?", Anzu asked slightly worried. If someone catches her with Kaiba around, she's busted.

"I was thinking more -outside- as in our garden", Mokuba suggested.

"Of course! I'll come down in a minute", Anzu smiled. Mokuba smiled back and left her to change. "We'll be waiting for you in the living room!"., he called out from after the door.

"Alright!", she called back. Changing in something warmer and picking up her ugg boots, she made her journey downstairs. As she reached the living room, she saw Seto and Mokuba fully clothed, ready to step outside. It was then Anzu really took a good look at Seto's face. His skin was pale. His body, although still muscular, seemed slighlty weaker and his eyes.. those beautiful blue eyes looked rather tired instead of cold. He was holding onto the chair while waiting for her. When his eyes shifted towards hers, she felt her face grow warmer, thankfully not enough to blush.

"Are you going to keep standing there like a retarded person?", Seto suddenly snarled. Well, that broke the magic. Warm cheeks long forgotten, Anzu already had her answer prepared. As she opened her eyes to growl a response back, she was interruped by Mokuba.

"Seto, don't be so rude! She helping us out! At least try to be grateful", Mokuba said angrily. Sometimes he just didn't understand his brother. Of course he knew what had happened to him in the past. The things their stepfather made him go through were to horrible to mention. Yet he couldn't bring himself to understand why he always had to be so rude to people who are willing to help him, despite of his cruel reputation. He was never, ever, cruel to him but it still made him sad. 'I guess, he just really distrusts people. He can't bring himself to care about someone in fear of them abusing his kindness.'. Like he said, he understood but at the same time didn't.

"Don't talk to me like that, Mokuba. Don't tell me what I'm supposed to be grateful for. I know what I'm grateful for", Seto warned him. Both Anzu and Mokuba knew what he meant. He was grateful for his little brother and that was ALL, but he did believe in manners. He wasn't going to let his little brother talk to him like that. Especially not in front of Anzu Mazaki. Yet somehow, his brother's warning didn't scare Mokuba.

"STILL! You shou-", Mokuba insisted but was cut off.

"It's ok, Mokuba. I'm used to your brother behaving like a caveman.", Anzu said to calm the little boy down. While she said that, she looked into Seto's eyes. Seto was about to fire back but Anzu once again interrupted in a raised voice, "Let's go outside, shall we?", eyes displaying warning as well.

"After you", Seto answered calmly, gesturing towards the door. He wasn't about to burst into another argument in front of his little brother. He was in control. Taking Mokuba by his hand while holding Seto's gaze with an irritated smile, she stepped towards the backdoor and opened it. She stepped out into the garden. A chilled breeze hit their faces. It felt relaxing, especially for Anzu. They both turned around to see Seto slowly enter the garden. He briefly closed his eyes breathing in the fresh air. Seeing this, Mokuba hurried next to his brother's side and held his hand instead, smiling softly. Feeling a little hand touching his, Seto looked down. Seto's eyes smiled at Mokuba in silent apology. Mokuba's smile widened and intensified the grip on his big brother's hand, apologizing back. Understanding, Seto's head gestured towards the garden and Mokuba nodded.

They stared to walk around the garden enjoying the fresh air with Anzu strolling after them. When they reached a bench, Seto and Anzu sat down. Mokuba decided to run around the garden a bit more. They say there quitely and watched Mokuba run around. The boy needed to let out some frustration. The silence was broken when Seto started coughing a bit, luckily not loud enough for Mokuba to hear. Anzu immediately turned to Seto, checking what was wrong.

"It's nothing", Seto reassured. He moved away from her attemp to touch him and kept his gaze towards Mokuba.

"Let me check", Anzu said concerned.

"I said it's nothing Mazaki", Seto snarled.

"If it's nothing then let me check!", Anzu fired back.

Seto turned to her glaring. "Listen Mazaki, and listen carefully for once. I do NOT want Mokuba to see this. He is running off his frustration as we speak. Do not make him hurt more", although he said this in alarmed warning, his voice sounded out concern. When it comes to his brother, Kaiba just isn't the Kaiba the world knows. Anzu frowned in disbelieve.

"No, you listen Kaiba. Do you think he won't be hurt if he sees his big brother lying in a hospital bed if the chemo decided not to work? That maybe, if he were a bit older he would hurt less? Well, here's a reality check, Kaiba. The boy is already hurt way over the amount you think he is. All he wants is being able to see his big brother getting well again. All HE wants, at this point, is you alive. So do you really think he cares about how much I need to check up on you every hour of the day?", finishing what she said, she reached for his wrist.

"Do not touch me", Seto warned. He glared at her with so much intensity it made Anzu stop in her tracks. Satisfied by her reaction, he turned his gaze back to Mokuba and starting thinking. He crossed his arms. He realized that what she said disturbed him so much he felt like strangling her. Because.. essentially she was right. He just couldn't bring himself to admit it. His jaw clenched. 'I swear if she not going to shut up sooner of later I will end up strangling her', he thought highly vexed.

Pissed at being ignored, Anzu crossed her arms as well and turned to look forward. Inside, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. She began imagining a punching bag with Kaiba's face on it and mentally began hitting it with all the force she could manage. They sat there for another 3 minutes in deafening silence.

"The minute we arrive in your room I'm checking up on you", Anzu harshly whispered.

"Fine", Seto roughly whispered back. Both eyes still focused on the boy running around. Seto kept thinking about the argument they had. He almost felt bad about being harsh on her this time. Actually, all she was trying to do was help... 'No, she was doing her job', his mind battled. 'She's doing the job she is payed to do'.

Soon, Mokuba became tired of running around and reached the bench, breathing heavily. He really did feel better now. When he reached them he said smiling awkwardly, "Let's go inside, I need to take a shower. Hehe.". Deciding it was indeed time to go back inside, they stood up and began walking towards the mansion.

Once inside, Mokuba ran to his bathroom and immediately took a shower leaving Anzu and Seto standing by the entrance. They glanced at each other. Anzu raising both her eyebrows as if she was trying to say he'd better move fast. Regarding her with one last passive look, Kaiba began walking through the living room and up the stairs towards his room. The entire time with Anzu close behind him. Once inside his bedroom, the first thing she did was go to his bathroom to get her epuipement. When she came out, Seto was already in bed with his eyes closed.

Anzu took a few steps to his bed and began taking out her stethoscope and blood pressure meter. Seto heard Anzu's presence next to him but didn't budge. Instead, when Anzu's hand touched his arm to put on the blood pressure meeting, he opened his eyes and briefly glanced at her before looking away once again. She measured his blood pressure, listened to his lungs and heart and took a listen at his kidneys. She nodded when all appeared to be normal.

"I told you it was nothing", Seto said annoyed at her need of proof.

"Better safe than sorry, Kaiba.", Anzu answered wisely. When she put away her things, she almost missed Kaiba's quiet whisper.

"Thank you", he whispered in gratitude before quickly looking out of his window. Anzu's eyes and mouth discretely widened in disbelieve. 'Did he just say...what I think he said?', she thought. Deciding she did hear well, she didn't press her luck.

"You're welcome, Kaiba", she answered and walked out of his room. Every step she made caused her eyes and mouth to expand wider and wider. Once she closed the door, she looked like a spooked owl monkey. Looking to her right and then to her left, she walked to her room in a enhanced pace.