Chapter 6: A Day Off

"Excuse me, miss? …Miss? Are you alive?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever. What's good to drink around here?"

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?"

"Buddy, don't start with me. I can personally guarantee that I'm older than your grandmother's most distantly traced ancestors. Just give me a drink. I don't care what, but none of those girly things. I've had a crap-ass day." With a flip of her somewhat forged id card, Kanta let her head reconnect with the glossy surface of the bar, sending a richly resounding thunk about the crowded room. The bartender shook his head slightly, turning around to mix something or another in a deliberately artsy girly glass.

Stupid fucking play. Why me? I swear they only assigned me this job because it's so screwed up. It's like I have the departmental' kick me' sign perpetually stuck to my back. Even the interns get better assignments than me. That settles it. When this shit is over I'm filing a complaint.

"Here you are, miss. This stuff has a history of taking out the pros. Strong, you know." He slid the glass toward her still-lowered head, somewhat impressed as she opened a hand and caught it without looking up.

"Cheers, mate," she mumbled, tossing her head back and gulping. "Though if I didn't know better I'd say you put it in this uber-feminine glass on purpose." The bartender smirked, turning away to help another customer and leaving Kanta to her own devices. Which, by chance, happened to consist of chewing him out between swallows. "Bastard. Oh well. Least he makes a good drink."

"Mukantagara-san, darling, don't tell me you're getting drunk already. You haven't even started rehearsing seriously yet."

"Oh bloody fuck, no!" she cried, spitting a good deal of her drink all over the man sitting to her right. (He glared drunkenly at her before tipping his cap to the coat rack and ambling away.) The bar resounded with another loud thump of head-on-wood as a slender girl with straight white-blond hair slid gracefully onto the vacated stool next to the bespectacled director. "Why in the name of the gods are you here?"

"You say that like it's a death sentence to see an old friend again."

"Friend my ass. Don't tell me the department sent you."

The girl smiled, perfect white teeth flashing from behind soft cherry lips. She tossed her head, causing her hair to ripple like the purest of melted gold, daintily sipping something frosty and pink from a glass that suggested she didn't mind girly drinks in the least. "Then I won't tell you, darling."

Kanta held up her hands in surrender, finally lifting her head from its resting place. "That's it. I'm resigning."

"Now really, dear. We're both well aware that this is the not the first time you've threatened similarly. We're also well aware that you love your job enough to wear the figurative departmental 'kick me' sign every day without causing too much trouble. So let's not fool ourselves."

"You know, Takara, it's your incredible tact that makes me like you so much. And stop stealing my metaphors."

The girl tapped willowy fingers against the countertop, midnight-blue eyes sparkling deviously. "Finish your drink, sweetheart. We've got much to discuss."

---

-the next day-

"I've gotta admit, it's nice to have a day off rehearsing. I'm so tired." Anzu stretched her arms into the sunny warmth of the air, casually draping one over Yugi's shoulder with a friendly smile. Yugi felt his face heating up as she did so, unaware that she was still trying to stop thinking about the previous day's indecent exposure. Ryou noticed the slight pinkish tinge across both of their features and grinned to himself before returning his gaze to the pages of his book. Unbeknownst to the two, there were actually running bets going on how long it would take them to hook up.

"Ow! No fair, you did that on purpose!"

Yugi glanced up, startled, to see Joey holding both hands over his face while glaring at a sizeable tree, Duke laughing hysterically, an abandoned frisbee on the ground.

"Sure, man," Tristan replied, rolling his eyes, "I made you run straight into the tree."

"You did!"

Serenity smiled and pulled a band-aid out of a hidden pocket, sticking it to the end of her brother's nose. "I'm sure it was only an accident," she said sweetly, eyes sparkling. She had that ability possessed by some younger siblings to melt her older brother's heart and was currently using it to her full advantage. And luckily for the peace of everyone frequenting the park on that particular day, it was working. However, there was one other argument that nobody actually wanted to try to defuse.

"Idiot Pharaoh!"

"Tomb robber, for the last time, I didn't cheat!"

"I challenge you to a shadow game!"

Anzu sighed. "Then again…at least practice gives them a place to get their energy out."

---

"Chief, I'm begging you, please! I can handle it myself! I can always handle it myself! ….. Anyone else in the department, then! Dammit, you know I hate her!" Kanta paced the length of her apartment, cordless phone pressed to her ear as she gazed out into the early morning sunshine. She only had as long as it took Takara to shower in which to argue her case, and she'd already used up a good fifteen minutes. And even the vanity queen wouldn't take the entire day.

"Pleeeease, please consider reassignment. This is my project!" She paused, listening, then interrupted again. "I've been working this job for the last thousand years! Of course I know what I'm doing!" Another pause. "So what if I have a hangover? That's partly your fault for sending her here!" She turned from the window, rubbing a temple with two fingers, eyes closed. "Fine. But just so you know, you're a bastard." She clicked off, tossing the phone haphazardly at the sofa and resting her head wearily in a hand.

"That's a good way to lose your job, you know."

Kanta glanced up, eyes peering between fingers. The unwanted houseguest stood in the kitchen like she owned the place, a bottle of water in her perfectly manicured hands. It made her want to kill things.

"I'm going for a walk."

---

Takara watched with sapphire eyes as the door slammed, rattling the very foundation of the apartment. She waited about five minutes before deciding that her colleague had to be far enough away to make snooping safe. Her hair rippled gently as she strode toward the room that functioned as Kanta's office, stepping lightly through the threshold. "Let's see what you've done with this thing so far, shall we, darling?" she murmured to herself, reaching toward the clipboard that sat innocently on a wooden desk lit in the dim glow of a laptop. The clipboard seemed to have other ideas, however, for as the girl's fingertips brushed its surface, the thing vanished as though it had never been, earning a sigh from the room's occupant.

"Mukantagara-san, sweetie, we have got to work on your trust issues. I suppose I shall just have to content myself to read the script, then, won't I?" She scooped up a mess of papers, leaving the room as softly as a shadow for favor of the brightness of the living room. She knew she had an entire day to do whatever she wanted. Kanta would not return until she absolutely had to.

Those were the perks of being hated.

---

"Bakura, how many times have I told you not to start shadow games in the middle of the park?" Ryou lectured as he dug through his pockets distractedly, fishing for the key to his apartment. He was perfectly aware of the fact that Bakura was not listening to him in the slightest, but it was at least his responsibility to try to keep him under control. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you would have caused if someone had noticed?"

"Someone broke into our house."

Ryou turned to look at him, slightly exasperated at the total lack of attention paid to his own words. "What are you talking about? The door's locked."

"Still, someone broke into our house."

"How could you possibly know that just by standing here?"

"Are you going to stand there bickering all day or are you going to come in?"

Two snowy white heads whipped in the direction of the still-closed door from behind which the voice had floated, then back toward each other. Having finally located the key, Ryou slid it into the lock and turned his hand, easing the door open with a somewhat suspicious air. "Hello?"

"Hey, albino ones. You hungry? I ordered take out."

A few moments passed in which Ryou and Bakura simply stared at the girl in front of them. She had perched herself on a corner of the couch, munching something out of a box with one hand and scribbling at a piece of paper with the other. The silence quickly became a rather awkward one, and she looked up from her notes. "What?"

"I don't know if you've noticed this, Dictator, but you're in our house."

"I've told you to stop calling me that."

Ryou shut the door with a kick and stepped quickly between the two, cutting off the line of sight from one to the other in hopes of ending a prospective argument that might or might not destroy his apartment. "Kanta…why are you here?" he inquired, politely but curiously, one hand locked around Bakura's wrist to keep him from the weapons cupboard.

"Oh, that," she sighed, brushing a few stray hairs from her face. "There's a lunatic in my house."

"What a coincidence; I know the feeling," Bakura muttered darkly, shaking out of Ryou's grasp and crossing his arms.

"Touché. Seriously, though, I had to get out of there. She's driving me crazy."

Ryou raised an eyebrow at the girl, skeptical that anyone could be quite so unwise as to share a dwelling with Kanta, unstable as she was, knowing that she didn't like her. Then again, she herself had uninvitedly crashed Bakura's residence, which was almost the same thing. Which reminded him… "So, why did you come here, exactly?"

"Because I'm madly in love with your roommate."

"What!"

Kanta smirked. "Calm down, Kura, I was joking. Actually, it was because I figured you would be the least likely to call the police on me." She turned to Ryou, whispering loudly in a parody of confidentiality. "I gather from that one's personality that he wouldn't want the cops knowing any more about him than necessary. Plus, you know, honor among thieves and the people who break into their houses." She resumed her scribbling with a chuckle, ignoring the sharp glances exchanged by the other two occupants of the room.

Bakura shifted his gaze back to the girl after a moment. "And exactly how long do you plan to grace us with your presence?"

"That was worded very eloquently, laced as it was with sarcasm. You would do well to capture such a fluency in your lines; few and repetitive may they be, you've thus far had difficulty in delivering them."

Ryou tried and failed to suppress a giggle at Bakura's expense, quickly ducking into the kitchen to avoid being hit over the head for it. The latter glared in the direction of his white haired companion before once again directing his words toward Kanta. "That didn't answer the question."

"I'm not spending the night, if that's what you're asking." She grinned, not looking up from whatever she was writing. "Your virtue shall remain unscathed."

"You assume it was so to begin with?"

"Ooh, been doing the nasty with Ryou."

"What?" yelped the boy from the kitchen, dropping something to the floor with a cascade of shattered pieces. He poked his head into the room, eyes wide. "We would never—"

Kanta laughed outright, eyeing the thin pink blush that had appeared on the almost identical faces. "Joking. Even if you were, I wouldn't know."

"We're not!"

"Okay, you're not."

"Really, we're not!"

"Okay. I get it. You're not."

The would-be squabble was suddenly cut short by the chirp of Kanta's cell phone. With a quick silencing motion in the direction of her not-so-willing hosts, she set down her black ballpoint pen and groped the depths of her pocket for the small black phone. "Aha," she murmured, pulling the thing out and flicking it open to check the number. It registered a second later as familiar in that it was a call from her own house...which could only mean one thing. "That bitch! How did she get this number?"

Eyes flaming, the girl turned her gaze upon the rooms two other occupants with a hiss. "If either of you say a single word to reveal my location I will, I will make your lives a living hell. Do not underestimate me, Bakura, I can follow through on that threat!" She jammed a finger against the talk button, practically spitting a greeting through clenched teeth.

"Hello? …What the hell do you want, Taka? …..That's none of your business! …Bullshit, you're going to find a hotel and get your ass out of my house! …Because it's my goddamned house, that's why! …..Let's not play nice, stop with the honorifics and pet names and listen: I don't like you. In fact, I hate you with every fiber of my being. So if you want to live… Oh, okay, that's mature. …Because it's my house. …Well fuck you! …It's none of your business when I come home or where I am or where I may be in the future! …I know! …I said I know! …Well it's none of his business either! Tattletale third-grader. …Well you're sure as hell not acting like it! …..I never said I was either, but… Whatever. Don't wait up. …Whenever I feel like it. …Well good night to you too!"

With a snap, she shut the phone and sent it flying across the room. Ryou ducked out of its path, avoiding by mere seconds the connection of skull and cell phone. "Um…your friend?"

"Friend nothing. She's an evil hell beast."

He blinked. "Okay… Your evil hell beast friend?"

"Yeah, whatever."

The boy gave her a slightly concerned glance. "You don't look too good."

Kanta smiled tiredly in response to his slightly fretful tone. "You live with a lunatic yourself. It's just one of those crappy side effects." She sighed, gathering a loose pile of papers from where they lay scattered like exaggerated flower petals on the floor. "You'll get to meet her at practice tomorrow. Lucky you."

Having picked up on the manner in which the brown-eyed girl was gathering her things, Bakura hopefully placed a hand on the doorknob. "Leaving so soon?"

"I've been here all day. So yeah. Thought I'd check the local bar scene."

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" he asked with a smirk as he opened the door, nodding at it pointedly.

"Dammit, don't start with me! The last two days have been seven kinds of hell." She stuffed her papers indifferently into a small backpack and crossed the room to retrieve her cell phone from where it had bounced to the floor. "I think the thing's still working," she mused, dropping it into the bag as well. "Well, I thank you for your kind hospitality. I'll see you at practice tomorrow. Nine-fifteen sharp." A silence passed, nearing discomfiture as the seconds stretched on, three sets of eyes staring at one another. And then it was over, broken by a single word in a chorus of instantaneous voices.

"Night."

With an almost wave, a mere twinkling of fingers, the girl eased out the doorway and melted effortlessly into the lavender shadows of twilight, heading anywhere but home.

Maybe tomorrow would be better.

-tbc-

---

Author Note: Wah, only one review last chapter. I am saddened by this; When You Believe is my favorite story to write. I know it's still going a little bit slowly at the moment, but it starts to get further into everything soon. I just finished writing chapter eight, actually (I'm on a delayed posting of chapters on this site), and I thought it was probably the best chapter of the story thus far. (Of course, that could be author bias. This story is my darling.) Anyway, please read and review! Review even if you don't like it, and tell me what you don't like, or what you do like. Please? I'll give you a cookie. I'm not above petty bribery. Haha.

Also, if anyone is also reading Are We There Yet, that one is on a temporary hiatus. I'll be getting back to it at some point, though.

Review please!