In Case of Emergency
Disclaimer: Side effects may vary. Consult your doctor before taking
yugioh if you're pregnant or have liver or kidney problems.

A/N: And here's chapter nine! Sorry it took awhile. I've had a pretty good, er... however long since I last updated. Just had a birthday (WHOO!), and we're about to take a trip. Er... not that you need to know, or even care. Anyway! I hope you enjoy this. You get a little background info, and the highly anticipated Anzu-Sakura showdown. Thank you to everyone who reviewed chp. 8! Here we go; and enjoy!


9: Bring Me Down So Badly
Anzu stepped out of her apartment, snapping her door neatly shut behind her. She was happy. Life was going well for her, her birthday was approaching, and she was headed out to eat with her wonderful boyfriend.

Well.

Maybe Seto wasn't wonderful, but he had... some good qualities. He was very smart. And he tolerated her. Quite the significant other indeed.

She was looking forward to having lunch with him. Sure, they had seen each other just one morning earlier, but she wanted to see him again. She knew the problem– she was falling in love with him, falling more in love with him every day, every moment. She wanted to see him all the time, be with him all the time, hold him all the time, have a tiny, happy wrapped-up ball of Seto tucked away in her heart. However, she also realized that she'd soon want to kill him if they had to spend every day together and that he would not be happy about being forced away from his work to spend all his time arguing with her. The time she spent away from him made the time she spend near him that much more... special.

She had even bothered to dress nicely, taking extra time with her hair and make-up and picking an outfit that she knew would flatter her. For some still unknown reason, she was absolutely thrilled with the prospect of seeing him. Anzu just had a good feeling about the day.

Surely she and Seto would have an amazing lunch and all the awkward feelings from the day before would be totally forgotten.

Ahh. So that was it.

Anzu stopped mid-step and cursed to herself as she realized her motives went beyond just wanting to please her boyfriend. She was worried. Because the alarm on his watch had gone off and he had had to leave for work, she didn't think he had noticed her distress. But she had still felt it, and she was ashamed of that. It made her feel like she didn't trust him, and she did trust him. She would put her life in his hands. She would do anything for him; she very nearly had.

That subject still brought too many bad feelings to be dwelt on for long. She had a job– a good one– a nice apartment and a happy life; she couldn't really complain. But she wasn't doing what she had always dreamed of. She was an amazing dancer, but she had never achieved fame. She had never gone to America like she had dreamed of.

She had stayed there for him.

It was one of those moments in life that she wasn't sure whether to regret or not. She very nearly did– that had been her dream for years. But she was happy; there was no denying that.

It was after a fight– not their first by any stretch– and right before she was scheduled to get everything ready to leave. School was almost over for good and excitement was mounting all around. She and Seto exchanged words: harsh, untrue, regrettable words. She had said more than one thing she hadn't meant. For once, she was more to blame than he was. And that hurt.

So, in a desperate move, she made the biggest decision (that didn't involve dueling) of her life. She was going to stay to prove to him that she did truly love him. She decided to stay in Japan and dance there. Maybe she could still join a good company and become as renowned as she had always dreamt of.

Seto, however, had not seen it that way.

Her thoughts were put on hold as she arrived at the KC building. She held the lifetime visitor's pass Seto had given her up to the receptionist in the lobby, then made her way to his office's private elevator. As she passed by floor after floor, she let herself remember once again.

The next day, Anzu had gone to see him. Before she had even had a chance to speak, Seto sprung the last thing she had been expecting on her. He suggested they terminate the relationship. (She found out later that the things she had said had hurt him much more than she had expected they would.) At that, she was furious. Hysterically, she tried to tell him what she had done for him– how much she had sacrificed so that their relationship would work.

She could still remember him yelling– there was so much yelling that day. He told her how stupid she was, how horrible a decision that had been. And in return, she told him that she wished she had gone. She had said she wished she could get as far away from him as it was physically possible to get. Apparently, she never wanted to see him again.

The things after that were a big blur, but she remembered telling him that he was right; they shouldn't have ever gotten together. And she remembered the last thing he said in a whisper as she stormed out the door.

"You shouldn't have given up your dream for me, Anzu; I'm not worth it."

And that was the moment she knew he loved her. And the moment she became convinced that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life. For the next three days, it felt like she cried non-stop.

Luckily, though, after a few more mistakes and one wonderful reconciliation, they had gotten back together. She was thankful every moment that things hadn't been too screwed up to be repaired.

The elevator opened. She stepped out and walked briskly towards the door.

"Hello," Anzu said to the secretary sitting at the desk in the small lobby area in front of Seto's office. She must be new, Anzu noticed, not recognizing her face. "I'm here for–"

The secretary's head shot up. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Anzu Mazaki," she answered, trying to sound friendly. "I'm here for–"

"Kaiba-san is very busy right now, dear. Maybe you could make an appointment and come back later?"

"I have an appointment," Anzu began, starting to feel annoyed. "Maybe if you'd check your appointment book or talk to your boss you'd see that–"

"Little girl," the woman– Sakura– said, looking up, "I know what I'm doing. Don't tell me how to do a job I'm sure you know nothing about. Why don't you go back to the mall and let the adults finish their work?"

Anzu was no longer annoyed; Anzu was angry. "Look, you, I can assure you that–"

"Don't even try," Sakura interrupted. "I don't have time for you; just leave." She smiled cruelly and shoo-ed Anzu away with an indifferent hand.

When Anzu was upset, she had the tendency to become inarticulate. Because of that, she stood, turning red, fishing desperately for something wonderfully harsh to spit out. "I... I'm sorry, miss, I don't know who you are, but there's no reason to treat me like that. I can assure you, I have an appointment– Mr. Kaiba is expecting me! We've known each other a long time; if you'd just–"

"Known each other? Oh yes, I'm sure you're very close." Sakura raised an eyebrow at Anzu skeptically. "Just like all the other women who come in here hoping for a chance to see the famous Seto Kaiba. Trust me, if he wanted to associate with someone, it would never end up being someone like you." She cast an appraising eye over the other woman and Anzu felt suddenly self conscious that her crisp little suit had been bought second hand.

"But... I... He does know me, and–"

"And he really cares about you, right?"

Anzu turned even redder and fought her body not to squirm. "Yes he does. We've been–"

"Oh, I think I understand now. There must have been a miscommunication; Seto Kaiba would never need to pay a woman for her company. Maybe you misread the address. You can read, right?"

Anzu's eyes widened as she reigned in the sudden waves of murderous rage.

"Don't worry, dear. If you go back to school you can get a real job, and you won't have to resort to such an unsavory practice for money." She picked up her pen and smiled tiredly. "Now I really don't want to have to call security on you, so if you'd please to kind enough to leave... ?"

Anzu clenched her fists and stomped one foot down, hard. "Oh I'll leave alright. And you just wait until Seto hears about this. I'm not a prostitute you malicious cow, I'm his girlfriend. And he won't be happy. I'm not happy! Go back to work you stupid little... Argh! I'm not going down to your level. You know how horrible you are. So good day!"

And with that, Anzu stormed out of the office, never seeing the pleased smile that crossed Sakura's face.


"Kudo!" Seto barked around five minutes later. "Pay attention for a moment. I'm expecting a lunch date any minute now, so if an Anzu Mazaki comes to the office, let her in." He glared at his secretary fiercely. "Understand?"

Sakura smiled at her boss sweetly. "Anzu Mazaki? Of course, Mr. Kaiba, I'll send her right in."


Jounouchi sat on his couch in nervous anticipation. Mai had called half an hour before, telling him she was on her way to see him. He could hardly sit still.

The doorbell rang. He shot up. Smoothing down his mop of hair, he walked quickly to the door. Pulling it open, his heart nearly burst as he saw the mischievous smile and blonde hair waiting for him. He grinned stupidly. "H-hey, Mai. H... hey."

She smiled back at him. "Gonna let me come in or what, Katsuya?"

He nodded, stepping aside so she could enter. He shut the door softly behind her. "So... how are you?" he asked, as she set a purple bag down on his couch. "It was... well, kind of a surprise to hear from you."

"I'm doing great. You?'

He nodded again. "I'm... Yeah, I'm doing fine." He stood there awkwardly for a moment. Then, unable to control himself, he rushed towards her and swept her up in a big hug. "Oh God, Mai... I missed you. I missed you so damn much." He held her tightly, whispering gruffly into her hair. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back." She kissed him softly on the cheek. Then without warning she pushed him hard and he fell back onto the couch. She kissed him again, long and hard. "Now..." she began, pulling back. Mai grinned against his mouth as her hands slowly ran up the inside of his thighs. "Take off your pants."


End A/N: Thanks for reading! This chapter was pretty good, I thought. Kinda short. But! You did find out about Anzu and Seto's past. I know I said that there would be a Rebecca and answering machine scene in here, but I thought it best to put that in the next chapter. If you're really lucky, I might be able to have chapter ten up later tonight! I don't have a single word written yet, but when it comes to writing my work ethic is pretty damn HIGH. So yeah! We'll see? Ifchapter ten isn't done, this'll be my last post for about a week. Now, I know you'll miss me (snort... whatever!) but I did leave you with this nice chapter so I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks again, and don't forget to review!

ILB