Midnight:

It was midnight and things had finally quietened down after the duel between Malik and Bakura. Yugi – or rather, Yami - had dropped Anzu off back at the room where Mai still lay unconscious with Shizuka slumbering next to her, but Anzu felt there was something she needed to do.

She quietly left the confines of the medical room, not wanting to wake Jonouchi's sister, and she made her way through the dark corridors of the blimp. The ship had been on curfew for a couple of hours now, but that did not make any difference to her. She needed to see Kaiba and this was likely to be the only chance she would have to do so.

She made her way to his room, carefully, not wanting to trip over any roaming security or any of the other 'threats' that were aboard the ship. But no one stopped her and, almost before she knew it, she was standing outside Kaiba's door. She knew he would likely not be sleeping, but would instead be working on strategies in order to win the tournament and thus those God cards he was so obsessed over, so she knocked the door, waiting nervously for him to answer.

The door swung open and Kaiba revealed himself, without his trademark white trench coat on. She noted that he looked a little different without it, and that he did look rather too thin, but she didn't get long to ponder over his appearance as he addressed her quite testily.

"Mazaki?" Kaiba looked down on her with contempt in his eyes. That was usual for him, although he did seem surprised to see her there. "What are you doing here? Curfew was hours ago. Go back to your room before I call security and have you escorted there."

"Just a moment, Kaiba," Anzu said before he could close the door in her face. "I just need to talk to you for a second. It's important and I promise that I won't take much of your time."

"Fine, but spare me the friendship speeches," he said, moving away from the door to let her enter.

She quickly moved inside before he could change his mind and carefully closed the door behind her. She noted that Mokuba was asleep in a chair, covered with his brother's large trench coat. Maybe Kaiba had only let her in so as to not cause a fuss and wake his brother, but no matter how it had come about, he seemed to be prepared to listen and she would get to tell him what she had come here to say.

"Well?" he prompted, facing her with his arms crossed and his usual scowl adorning his features.

"I just wanted to..." she took a deep breath, "to thank you for saving my life on the docks," she said with heartfelt conviction. "I probably wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for you and I just wanted you to know that I'm grateful."

"I was just repaying the favour from Duelist Kingdom, Mazaki," he said sharply. "I don't like being in debt to anyone."

"Oh..." she said, taken aback slightly that he even considered that she had any part in saving him... unless he meant when they were on the tower? That had to be it. "I don't know if you can count that as I think Yugi would have called back the attack without my intervention," she mused, "but that doesn't change the fact that I am grateful to you for saving me. And Jonouchi too," she added as an afterthought.

Kaiba started then. He had thought that no-one had noticed him dropping the key into the waters of the dock for the mutt to catch, but Mazaki had surprised him. "Hn, whatever. I have things to do so you had better get back to your cabin now," he said, turning his back as if to dismiss her.

"Kaiba?" Anzu called his attention once again and he turned back towards her with an annoyed yet weary air.

"What is it now, Mazaki?" he snapped, only to be shocked as she attached herself to him, throwing her arms around him and hugging him soundly.

"Just... thank you, Kaiba," she said again, before she let him go and made her escape.

Kaiba could only stand there stunned. She had hugged him. She had actually dared to touch him. But it had felt... right?

When he had been reassembling his heart puzzle, something that had been necessary even if he would never admit it, he had got to the end and there had seemed to be a few pieces missing. Something had told him that he would acquire those pieces over time. Then he had woken up and gone straight to duelist Kingdom to rescue Mokuba, not really dwelling any more on it. Yet when Mazaki had just invaded his personal space and hugged him, something had clicked and one of those gaps had been filled – albeit temporarily. When she had withdrawn and made her escape, that gap had opened up again and the loss caused a slight ache in his heart.

For a moment he debated going after her, to demand to know what she had just done to him, but the rational side of Kaiba took over once again and he squashed that desire. He had more important things to think about right now, like planning to win those God cards, to prove that he was better than Yugi, to prove that he was the best. He didn't have time for... whims... like that.

Nothing mattered right now other than winning this tournament!

Nevertheless, even if it would not be apparent for quite some time, this would mark a turning point in the life of Seto Kaiba.

(–)

A/N - I wrote this for NaNo 2012. It was part of a 100 theme challenge which I never actually finished, and some of it that I wrote post-NaNo was in a notebook that I can't find. -_-'

But this was the very first part I wrote and it was the basis for the entire 'series'. TBH some chapters are linked better than others, but I am hoping to wrestle what I have into some kind of coherent whole. It's currently titled 'It Started at Midnight' for want of a better thought, but I might change it later. (Gotta be honest, the summary is also pretty crappy and I'll probably change that later too.)

FTR - My takes on YGO are usually a pick&mix of Anime and Manga canons, with a touch of Season 0, some influence from YGOTAS, a bit of Fanon and my own personal headcanons thrown in here and there for good measure. I don't tend to bother with DSOD - not that it was even a thought when this was written anyway. ^_^''

As ever, don't take it too seriously - it's fanfiction, that's all. :)