Heya guys and gals! I'm finally back with the next chapter! I'm trying to get this story moving I promise, but this chapter kept refusing to budge! It really didn't want to get done. I even scrapped two other versions of it. However I think I'm finally satisfied with this one. Either that or me wanting to just be done with it is influencing me... Oh well. I hope you guys like this one! I finally got to the dates! Well, the first one anyways. After this they should go a bit more quickly. I'm thinking - hoping- mabey 3-4 more chapters... I don't know we'll see.

At first I was a little sad that I didn't get many reviews for the last chapter, but then I realized something. As long as one person is enoying this, I should be happy.

I meant to do this last chapter, but I would like to call attention to the new cover art :) I did that all by ma lonesome XD

ANYWAYS! Enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yugioh. If I did, I would've made sure they did the English dub right... or at the very least with better voice acting.

Interest: Chapter 7


Beep! Beep! Beep!

Anzu groaned, grogily reaching out for her alarm clock. Unsuccessfully, she groped blindly for the snooze button. Growling in irratation, she sat up and slammed her fist on the button. Eventually, Anzu jumped out of bed and yanked out the cord, and the machine shut off. Well, atleast she was up.

Yawning, Anzu stumbled to the bathroom. She had an hour and a half before she needed to leave. Meaning, she could take a long, luxurious shower.

She moved lethargically around the small room. While she let the shower heat up, she brushed her teeth to get rid of her morning breath. Content, Anzu sighed as she stepped under teh scalding spray of the shower. After washing her hair and body, Anzu turned off the water and ,stepping into the cool air, wrapped a towel about her form. Thankfully, the shower helped her -at least partially- awaken. However, her eyes were determined to shut every few seconds.

Wincing everytime the comb caught in a tangle, Anzu brushed her long hair. Sometimes, she missed her short hair. Back then it was very easy to manage. She usually just ran a comb through it, and she was good to go. Long hair required more work. If she didn't straighten it, her hair had all these bumps in it, especially near her scalp. Today, she didn't feel like dealing with that, so she settled for blow drying her hair and putting it into a ponytail.

With a light hand, she applied some rouge, eye liner, and mascara. Finally finished preparing, Anzu emerged from the bathroom and padded over to her dressor. After hastily putting on a pair of panties and a bra, she pulled out a white three-quarters sleeve, button up shirt and a pair of denim shorts.

Glancing at the clock, Anzu determined that she still had a good 45 minutes before she needed to leave. Therefore, she strode down to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Pulling a bowl out to of teh dishwasher, Anzu grabbed the box of her favorite cereal. As she sat down to eat, Anzu thought about her agenda for the day. She had class. Well, she had to help teach class, but other than that, she didn't have -

Oh, right.

Anzu swallowed thickly. She had her first date with Marik. Although it was just a study date, Anzu still felt nervous. This would be her second date if you counted the time she went out with the pharaoh.

She wondered how much actual studying would get done. At this, she blushed furiously, shocked that she had thought such a thing. Scolding herself, Anzu ducked her head and dug into her cereal.

Ring!

Sighing, Anzu stood and dashed to the living room to answer the phone. "Hello, this is Anzu Mazaki." she deadpannedd.

"Honey, is that you?"

A smile spread across her face at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line. "Mom!" Anzu shouted.

"Anzu, I've missed you! It feels like years since I've seen you." her mother stated. Anzu didn't need to see her mom's face to know she was smiling.

"I know. I've missed you too." After a brief pause, Anzu asked, "Hey, um, how was your meeting?"

"It went well. Listen, sweet heart, I can't talk for long. After breakfast, I have a presentation to give. I just wanted to check on you."

"Oh, well, I'm fine." Anzu spoke curtly, disheartened. Silence answered her. "Mom?"

"Yes?" her voice sounded hesitant.

"When will you be back?"

After another long pause, she finally replied, "At the earliest, twelve days... Anzu?... Anzu, are you there?.. You know I love you, right? ... I'm sorry."

"I- me too." with that, Anzu hung up. Tucking her knees against her chest, Anzu whiped away tears with her palms and hoped her make up wouldn't smudge. She knew it was silly of her to cry about it, and she knew it wasn't her mom's fault that she worked all the time. She knew she shouldn't be mean to her mother; her mother didn't deserve that. However, she missed her so badly. She only got to see her about three days per month.

Ring!

She growled as the phone rang yet again. What if whoever it was could tell she was crying? What if it was Yuugi? He would know, and then he would want to know why. She really hoped it wasn't him. Or what if it was her mother again? No. It wouldn't be her; she had a presentation to give.

Standing, Anzu coughed and attempted to compose herself. Carefully, Anzu reached out and retrieved the phone. "He-hello?" Anzu cursed the slight tremor in her voice.

"Anzu, is that you? It's Malik."

Oh, good. It wasn't Yuugi. "What's up?" She queried.

"I was wondering if I could walk you to school?"

That was.. really sweet. Anzu smiled. Vaguely, she wondered why Malik - or even Marik for that matter- wanted to date her. Chipperly, Anzu assented, "Of course! That sounds lovely."

"Great. We'll be by in a few."

"Alright, bye, Malik."

"Bye, Anzu."

Sighing, she placed the phone back on the reciever. Although it hadn't completly fixed her bad mood, it had helped enormeously. Returning to the kitchen, Anzu resumed eating her cereal. Luckily, it wasn't to soggy yet.

Soon enough, the door bell rang, and Anzu trotted to the door to answer it. When she opened it, she smiled at both Malik and Marik. That was a suprise; she hadn't expected Marik to come. Then again, she probably should have. Despite what they had others believe, the two were practically inseperable. She knew that Malik used to say he hated Marik- and he probably did in some ways- but before that, Marik was someone Malik created, a friend. Shaking away those thoughts, Anzu smiled at them and greeted, "Hey guys. Let me just grab my purse and a pair of shoes. Then I'll be ready." They nodded.

After jogging back into her room, Anzu slipped on a pair of white velvet flats and grabbed her brown leather satchel. Then, she rushed out the door and locked it behind her. Turning to the boys, she huffed a sigh. "Okay, let's go." She smiled.

Malik extended his hand towards her. "Shall we?" he asked. Blushing, she nodded and grabbed his hand. However, Marik snorted and grabbed her other hand, tucking it under his arm, and finally the three were off.


"Alright class, that's the bell. I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning." Mr. Enderson intoned as the students dragged their feet out the door. Honestly, it suprised Anzu that they didn't move faster; she had assumed they would want to be out of that place as soon as possible, especially after that last lecture Enderson gave. Anzu shuddered. "Ms. Mazaki, I need to speak with you."

Uh-oh. What could he possibly want? She supposed she would find out. "Yes, Mr. Enderson, what is it?"

"I wanted to inquire of your absense yesterday." He told her, raising a brown expectantly. With one of his moist meaty fingers, he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, but something came up rather suddenly. I couldn't cancel it. It's, um, personel." She told him hurridly. She really didn't want to talk about it, not with this guy, who knew very little about her.

"I see. Well, I'm going to have to ask you to tell me anyways. I need to report a reason for your absence if I'm going to give you credit at the end of the term." Enderson insisted. Anzu sighed, resigning herself.

As she opened her mouth to speak, Marik broke in, "That would be my fault Enderson." he lied smoothly, "You see, my father... He, "Marik coughed," He died yesterday. "he finished in a whisper. Anzu didn't fail to see the irony of Marik's lie, seeing as Marik had killed 'his' father.

"What does that have to do with Anzu? And why didn't I hear about this?" skeptically, Enderson questioned.

"She is a very close family friend." Marik dismissed, then continued, anger creeping into his tone. "And how dare you ask why you didn't hear about this. I live with my sister because Dad was mentally ill and wanted to live under ground. He was in Egypt when he died. You didn't honestly think I was born in Japan did you?"

Anzu had to admit he was a good liar.

Enderson sighed, "Very well, and I'm sorry I asked. It was not my place."

"Indeed." Marik affirmed. Enderson scowled at him. Crossing her fingers, Anzu hoped he would drop it. She didn't want Marik to get into trouble, something he excelled at. Grabbing him by the arm, Anzu drug him out of the room. She noted that Malik was following close behind.

Once they were out of ear shot, she turned to Marik and kissed his cheek. "Thanks. I really didn't want to tell him... that." She gestured about her. Marik frowned at her. Raising a brow, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"That wasn't a good kiss." Before she could retort, he had grabbed her head and slanted his mouth over hers. She hummed in the back of her throat. This time he didn't deepen it any further though he did swipe his tongue over her bottom lip as he pulled away.

"I-" As she spoke, Malik pulled her away from Marik and kissed her with equal vigor. Her heart raced wildly as Malik released his hold on her. "You two are going to have to stop doing that if I'm to survive the week."

They smirked in unison at her.

As he lead her outside, Marik turned to Anzu and questioned, "What time should I come over tonight?"

She thought about it for a moment, then answered. "How about 5:00?"

"Perfect." Marik purred.

Smiling, she turned towards her street. However, she soon realized that Malik and Marik had turned with her. "Er, what are you guys doing? Don't you guys usually take the bus home?"

"Yes, well, we wanted to walk you home. That is, if you want us to." Malik informed her.

"Sure." she murmured, continuing towards her house. She knew that in truth they were probably worried about her after what happened last time she went home by herself. However, she felt it wasn't neccessary. Things were different. Regaurdless, she kept her thoughts to herself because she liked the company.


Later that day, Marik checked the time. It was 4:30. He needed to leave for Anzu's. Tonight would be their first date. Honestly, it miffed him a bit that on their first date school would be involved. However, he hoped to convince her to let them take most of the night off. Grabbing the keys to Malik's motorcycle, Marik exited their apartment. Tonight, he'd dressed in a pair of black jeans and a grey hoodie.

He climbed on the moterbike and revved the engine. To be honest, he didn't have a liscense, but he wasn't worried about getting caught. The law inforcement of this town proved on countless occations to be inadaquit. As the wind whipped around his face, Marik reveled in the feel of it all, speeding down the road. He arrived at Anzu's house within fifteen minutes.

Quickly, he strode up her to her door and knocked on it. After a moment, he heard scratches on the other side as Anzu unlocked the door. As the door swung in, Anzu smiled and greeted him, "Hey, Marik , come on in." She ushered him inside with a sweeping gesture of her arm.

Instead of walking past her, he moved to her and grabbed her shoulders. Then, he planted a firm kiss on her mouth. She moaned against his mouth as he licked her bottom lip. He couldn't get enough of her; she tasted absolutely delicious. Smirking, he pulled back and walked passed her. Still dazed, Anzu shut the door and followed him to her living room.

When she came close enough, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down to sit next to him. He leaned over to kiss her again, but she placed a hand on his chest, stopping him. Eyes locking on his, she whispered, "We should probably get to work." He sat back and crossed his arms as she added more firmly, "What subject do you need the most help with?"

"Algebra." He grunted. " Why I must learn this, I'll never know."

"Come on. I'll explain it. Can you hand me that note book and penil?" She pointed to the tablet sitting on the table next to him.

Two hours later and they were still working on the subject.

"I hate this Ra-damned subject!" Marik roared after- once again- coming up with the wrong answer. "Why do I need to know this? How will it help?"

Anzu sighed, "I know it's difficult to grasp, especially if you've never done it before, but you'll get it. Your smart." She offered encouringly. After a moment of silence, she added, "Why don't we be done for the night. I'll make us something to eat. Come on." She stood, tugging him up with her, and sauntered to the kitchin, Marik in tow.

Once they reached the kitchen, Marik spoke, " I have a better idea." At the look she gave him, he laughed, smirking, "No, not that, but mind you, I wouldn't be adverse to the idea. Do you have any fruits?"

She looked at him, curious. Brows furrowed, she answered, " I think, I have some cherries and strawberries."

"Perfect." Marik purred at her. He saw her swallow thickly. Glancing out the window, Marik grinned. The sun had already set, and the stars had come out already. Everything was perfect. Returning his attention to Anzu, he told her, "Put those in a bowl." She moved to a cabinent and pulled out a large bowl. "Where do you keep your spare blankets?"

She gave him a strange look, but answered, "They are in the closet at the top of the stair case. Why?"

"You'll see." He assured her, running out of the room and to the aforementioned closet. Quickly, he grabbed a navy blue blanket that sat on top of a stack of multicolored blankets, sheets, and comforters.

As he returned to the kitchen, Anzu just finished dumping the box of strawberries into the large bowl. She looked up at him, and he crooked his fingers at her, gesturing for her to follow him. He lead her out the back door and spread the blanket out on the grass. Relazation dawned on Anzu's face as she finally figured out what he was doing. She smiled at him and sat down on the blanket.

For the next hour, they talked about trivial things as they picked at the fruits, which had cosequently run out. Marik learned of her adventures with the pharaoh before he and Malik came along, and in return , he told her about moving to Domino and so on.

As the conversation lulled, Marik leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips. Although it was gentle at first, it soon turned passionate. He groaned as Anzu threaded her fingers through his hair. With one hand, he gripped her left hip, and he placed the other on the ground beside her as he layed her down on her back. When Marik started tracing circles on her hip, Anzu gasped. Marik took the opportunity to slide his tongue into her mouth. Finally, they broke away from eachother to breath, and Marik rolled off of her.

He put his arm under her head for her to use as a pillow, and she curled up next to him, placing a hand on his chest. Both panted heavily as they gazed at the stars.

Marik knew he needed to leave soon, but he chose not to think about that for a moment. Sighing, he kissed her temple and draped his other arm over her stomach.

"Marik?" Anzu murmured.

"Yes?"

"This was a really good night."

"It was, wasn't it." Marik mused.

"You're actually very sweet." Anzu informed him.

He chuckled at her, "Suprised."

"Honestly?" She asked. He hummed his assent. "Yeah, a little bit, but I'm really glad I get to see this side of you."

Still laughing, he just pulled her closer. However, something was tugging at the back of his mind, telling him that he shouldn't be getting this close. Anz- the girl was right; he was showing a soft side, and while it might help him win her over, he didn't like it one bit. He didn't like getting this close to anyone, let alone one of the pharaoh's friends. From now on, he would have to guard himself closely, lest he do something stupid. When one got to close to someone, they tended to do stupid things for the sake of friendship or- dare he say it- love. Sickening. Truly sickening and repulsive.

However, when Anzu cuddled closer to him, he could not help but smile.


Well, whadya think? Was it okay? I know the end was a little weird for Marik... but he has to change at some point right? Not completely obviously. But atleast enough to become super possessive of her right? Anyways tell me if it was just super ta suck, and I'll change it. Let me know what you thought about this chapter. I want to be a better writer, so if you see something that needs improvement, tell me.

Also Thanks to Eternal Eyes for the advice :D

Thanks to my reviewers

PandaTeddyClaws

Random Observer

Tevana

R3iga1004

fi13ns

Numinous-Alqua

ansolorio1204

XxX Warblers Girl XxX

and Dragonara

You guys are awesome :D

ONWARD