whoa..... *is awed* wow... i have 27 reviews total for this fic so far! *whistles* thats incredible!

Joey: *mutters to self* dammit people LIKE my torture?
Shibby: erm... should i answer that? anyway, I've invited some of the authors who like to review onto the set today!
YumeTakato: hehe... Hey Yugi--
Yugi: Oh shit -- *runs*
YumeTakato: hahaha! Come back!!! *chases*
Shibby, Una and Ygoc2008: *watches with interest*
Una: this is funn^^
Ygoc2008: tis quite.
Joey: *sad cuz everyone ignores him* oh so i guess no one CARES that im dead and depressed...
Una: hmm? what did you say?
Joey: *rolls eyes* i give up... can I quit?
Shibby: not before this chap!

Chapter Three: Dancer with a Broken Wing

            Anzu slammed her bedroom door shut, making the pictures hung on her wall shake in their frames. Stomping could be heard outside the door, and Anzu spun around, glaring at the door.

            "JUST FUCK OFF, TAMEO!!" she screamed, stepping back. Someone was pounding on the door heavily, making it nearly jump out of its hinges.

            "LET ME IN!"

            "NO!" Anzu fell back onto her bed, watching the door angrily. Jonouchi was standing outside the door, hands in his pockets, slightly amused at what he was seeing. Tameo was standing against the door, her fist poised as if she would bang the door. Her eyes were closed and she was crying. She slid down the door, curling into a little ball. She banged her head against the door, making a loud thud. Jonouchi felt a growing sense of confusion and pity inside his chest.

            "What the..." he muttered. He had never known Tameo to be so violent towards Anzu. Whenever he saw them together, they were always happy and peaceful, like two perfect sisters.

            Of course, they didn't know Jonouchi was watching them. Jonouchi leaned against the wall, frowning. He didn't like to see his friend like this...

            Tameo stood up, wiping her eyes, and turned her back on the door. She was about to walk away, when she decided to give Anzu the finger through the door instead. She shoved her hands into her pockets and stomped away into the living room. She flopped down on the soft, plush sofa, and crossed her legs. She placed two of her small hands on her lower stomach, her fingers crossing her abdomen. She was a thin girl, with very lean muscles. Anzu was stronger then her, and more graceful. She was able to dance easier because her feet were longer then Tameo's, and she had always been flexible. Tameo had to work hard to even think of amounting to her sister's talent.

            And now she had something even bigger to deal with. Tameo closed her eyes and leaned against the sofa cushions, her eyes closed.

            "Oh God," she whispered. "Help me." Jonouchi looked from Tameo to Anzu's closed door. He hadn't tried it yet, but he figured he could walk right through the door. He took a step forward, then another, pacing himself, in case, for some reason, it didn't work. He extended his arm, his fingertips brushing the oak door. Finally, he plunged his entire body into the door, completely passing through it. He appeared in Anzu's dark bedroom, the only light being Anzu's desk lamp. Anzu was sitting on her bed, staring at the floor, her arms crossed in front of her. Jonouchi had followed the girl home after school, interested to see what Anzu had been hiding. And he had discovered one thing:

            Tameo hated her. She really, truly did. They were step sisters; Anzu's mother married Tameo's father. And they have never gotten along at home.

            Ever. Because Tameo was jealous of her sister, who was a year older then herself. Anzu was more talented, smarter, nicer, and of course, the added edge.... Tameo was pregnant; Anzu was not.

            Anzu stood up, stretching, bending her arm over her shoulder to the bottom of her back. Jonouchi temporarily forgot about what he was doing as he watched in awe at her flexibility.

            "Whoa," Jonouchi said, whistling. "She's good." Of course, she didn't hear him, but she looked up, her eyes dancing over the dark room. She turned the overhead lamp on, and sat down in her desk chair, staring at the door. Jonouchi sat on Anzu's bed, watching her closely. Anzu had yelled at Honda again, telling him she would never forgive him. Honda had admitted to hurting Yugi, causing him to stay at home with his injury. Anzu just sat there, staring blankly ahead. Jonouchi longed to say something, to tell her that Yugi needed her help. It wasn't just Honda, it was the bitch who was his mother. But he couldn't.

            Anzu stood up, and slowly opened the door. Tameo had left for somewhere, who knows where. Anzu sat down on the same sofa and closed her eyes, trying to think of where Tameo would be.

            "If I were a self-centered bitch," she murmured, "where would I hide?" Her eyes opened slowly, the lifeless look in them tearing at Jonouchi. He had truly never felt like this before. He had no idea what a bitch Tameo really was... Then Jonouchi noticed something that greatly disturbed him.

            Anzu's lips were moving. But she didn't seem to be making sense.

            "She wants me," she whispered, scared. "They all want me dead. The sea, the water, the people..." Anzu shook her head, holding her palm against her forehead. Jonouchi watched her lips. She was whispering "No, no, no, no...."

            She stood and walked to the door, slipping on her shoes as she went. She grabbed her jacket and left the apartment, slamming the door shut as she left. Jonouchi followed, invisible.

            He pushed the strange occurence out of his mind.

~Non est ad astra mollis e terra via: there is no easy way from the earth to the stars.~

            After walking for nearly an hour, Anzu finally arrived in downtown Domino. She knew Tameo's boyfriend, the one who got her pregnant, lived and worked down here. In this dump.

            Of course, the way Anzu was dressed, you would think she lived down here as well. She was wearing tight, black pants and a black denim jacket, a red tank top underneath the jacket. She was wearing Tameo's boots, the ones with the dragon on the sides. On the back of the jacket was a big, blood-red cross, which greatly resembled blood. On the front of her tank top were the kanji that made up the word nakiato. [1] Jonouchi shivered.

            What the fuck, he thought to himself. Since when did Anzu actually act like Tameo?

            "She doesn't," Caro's voice suddenly entered his brain. Jonouchi's eyes flew from Anzu for a moment, and he looked around wildly for the mysterious beauty.

            "Caro?" he called. "C-Caro, where are you? What do you know about this?" Caro appeared behind him, leaning against a tree. Her white school uniform, pale hair and skin made her stand amongst the crowd of black. Anzu leaned against the outside wall of a bar, apparently waiting for something. Jonouchi wondered why he hadn't noticed her outfit before. Maybe because he was much too trained on her face. Anzu had looked distraught.

            Caro stepped forward, taking Jonouchi's hands in her own. She held them up, and put them over his heart, planting them firmly on his chest. Jonouchi looked from his hands to Caro. Caro was gently tracing his fingers.

            "Caro--"

            "They're sad," she said slowly. Jonouchi stared at her. "Look, you're scared. You're hurt."

            "What do you mean?" Jonouchi asked. He looked down at his hands, and nearly screamed, except he was so much in shock, he probably couldn't even squeak.

            His hands were white, his fingers twitching like mad. They were spurting blood and what looked like salty water, the substance sliding down over his white, trembling hands. He looked up at Caro, horrified. Caro was just staring at his hands. Jonouchi looked back down, to see his hands.... Normal. No blood, no salty tears, no bone-white skin. He forced his hands out of Caro's grasp and examined them, turning them over and flexing his fingers. He looked up at Caro, anger taking the expression of fear away.

            "What the fuck was that?!" he cried. Caro placed a finger over his mouth.

            "Shh," she whispered. "She needs you." With that, Caro disappeared, leaving Jonouchi standing there, alone once more. He turned around to see Anzu, still standing there, only this time, talking to someone. Jonouchi watched her closely. She didn't seem to be fazed by the guy standing next to her, his arms crossed, looking out over the crowd. Jonouchi sighed. He marched up to the two of them and tried to intervene, then remembered he couldn't be seen by living people. Angrily, he crossed his arms and tried to listen to their conversation. As it turns out...

            "I'm not quite sure," Anzu was saying, beaming at the guy. He looked like he was either stoned, drunk, or both. The guy leaned against the wall like he was going to collapse any second. With eyes half-open, he nodded.

            "Well, if ya see her," he said, slurring his words, "Tell Tameo that I'm waitin'."

            "For, erm... What, exactly?" Anzu said nervously, playing with her shirt hem. The guy gave a sly smile and stood straight -- or as straight as he would stand, at least.

            "Oh, she knows what I'm talkin' 'bout," he said, cracking his knuckles. He gave Anzu a little salute, then staggered away, nearly walking into someone else. Anzu just flipped him off, crossed her arms, and gazed in the opposite direction. She stared at the milling crowds of people, almost with a longing glance. Jonouchi wondered just how long she had been coming here. For a few weeks now, even before his death, she had gone straight home after school, usually being tired when she got home late at night. Her work was done, but it was done in a rushed way -- like she just had enough time to finish it when she returned home. Jonouchi and the others had dismissed it as a new job, but now...

            Jonouchi never considered that possibility. What was Anzu, anyway? Was she still a sweet, innocent girl who had big, ambitious dreams?

            Or was she being drowned in the typical Tokyo stereotype of being a prostitute, and a bad-ass with a shit attitude who hung out at pool halls and bars? Jonouchi tried to shake himself out of it. But it wasn't working. The same image of Anzu talking to that letch came back into his mind, piercing his very soul. He wished he could just make it disappear, but every time he willed it away, it came back even more haunting than before.

            Finally, Jonouchi couldn't take it anymore. He marched up to Anzu, standing right before her, and grabbed her shoulders. He didn't even noticed that he didn't pass through her body this time. Feet planted firmly on the ground, he shook her shoulders -- hard. Anzu jerked around as he shook her, searching for the reason.

            "Anzu! Mazaki Anzu! Get your ass outta here before you're affected by this, too!" He stopped, breathing hard, his grip loosening. He let go of Anzu and stepped back, then turned and ran, his tears blinding his way.

*

            Anzu arrived at the hospital later then usual that night. She was still shaken at what had happened at the bar.

            As she slipped into her white jacket as she prepared to do her duties as the check-in nurse, she thought about the strange phenomenon that had occurred.

            It's not real, she was trying to convince herself. It was all an image. A mirage. I had to be drunk or stoned or something! There was no way that... That...

            "That Jonouchi was lecturing me," she said very softly as she passed a couple of doctors. She relieved the nurse at the desk, her thoughts still mingling. She had just been standing there, wondering if Tameo would ever come back like she said, when...

            When Jonouchi had gripped her shoulders and shook her, yelling in her face. His scared, angry words echoed in her mind.

            Anzu! Mazaki Anzu! Get your ass outta here before you're affected by this, too!! He had sounded so afraid that she was going to become just like Tameo. Yeah, right.

            Like she would stoop that low. She was so lost in her head she didn't notice someone was talking to her.

            "Anzu? An~zu? Anzu? Are you paying attention?" Doctor Mazaki, her mother, was standing in front of her, waving her hands in her face and tapping her. Anzu looked up, raising her eyebrows.

            "Mom?" she said slowly. She jerked up, her hair falling from where she had pushed them behind her ears. "Oh, Momma, I'm sorry, I--"

            "That's alright," Doctor Mazaki said, pushing her gently. "Your friend was just re-admitted today, and I think he's in for the long run this time." Anzu's expression became even more depressed, if that were possible.

            "Who -- Ryou?" Doctor Mazaki nodded.

            "Yes, I'm sorry, dear," she said, her hand on her daughter's shoulder. Anzu nodded and looked at her feet. She looked up and looked down the hallway.

            "Can I see him?" she asked. Ryou had just been released a few days earlier. However, he was now getting worse and worse, slowly becoming more sick and depressed. He seemed so un-enthusiastic to live at this point, that he silently wished they would put him to sleep and never wake him up.

            Anzu stopped outside the door. She could see into the room. Ryou had just been admitted into a room after leaving the ER, so he was most likely still out from the gasses they had given him to fall asleep. The last time she had visited, he was in the middle of talking to himself, so she just sat and listened. What she heard had terrified her.

            Ryou had said to no one that he wished that when they put him to sleep on the novacaine and such, he would just stay like and.... just waste away. The last thing he would ever see would be the walls of the hospital, not that his father valued his only son that much enough to actually stay in the same country with him. His father was somewhere in England right now, getting the money to pay for this, supposedly.

            Ryou just wanted to die.

            And Anzu wanted to just.... disappear. She had always seemed to watch her life from the outside looking in, never quite easing into the gist of her own life. She lived a double life, but it was more like a double lie. She wasn't true to herself, even when she was alone.

            She was afraid. She knew that if she let herself think among things that were true, she would find herself admitting that she didn't know herself. She was constantly dwelling on who she really was, and why she existed. She was always changing, her thoughts interrupting with everyday life. But her parents and sisters were almost never home, so no one questioned it. She continued to leave a double life, while slowly....

            Slowly going insane.

I've learned the world is bigger then me. You're my daily dose of reality.-"Stand Here With Me" by Creed

            Jonouchi wanted so much to call out to Anzu and reassure her. He could feel the pain she was going through as she watched Ryou sleep. He had never noticed it before, but Anzu was really unsure of herself. She seemed to question her existence. Jonouchi could sense her mind becoming less organized, falling apart. She was slowly losing her sanity, every single horrid day she was forced to lead more then one life. Her school life, her home life, her life alone.... She wasn't true to herself.

            That hadn't always been the way.

            Anzu closed her eyes and slid down the wall, her white jacket bunching at her waist. She banged her head against the wall, shaking. Her mother was watching her worriedly. Another doctor, someone good friends with the Mazaki's, began to question her mother.

            "Come," [2] he whispered, watching Anzu. "What's happening to her?" Doctor Mazaki shrugged.

            "This has been going on for about two months now," she whispered back. "I think she's losing her sanity." The way she said this sickened Jonouchi. She said it with an amused tone, as if she was excited and amused to watch her daughter suffer. The other doctor just stared at Anzu. "I've noticed she's not been making much sense lately. She's been crying and can't remember why, brusises randomly appear from where she's bumped into things like walls and railings, and she always lost in her head."

            "Maybe she should see someone."

            "Nah, only if she starts taking pills. Then I know I need to see someone." Jonouchi watched Anzu's motions carefully, and diagnosed her himself.

            She was losing her sanity and she was deeply depressed. She stood up, took one last look at Ryou, then walked down the corridor, shoving someone aside. Jonouchi watched and attempted to reach out and stop her, but it didn't work this time. She didn't notice him.

            Anzu was lost in her own head. She had finally gone over the edge.

            Tears were streaming down her face as she stormed out of the hospital, tossing the jacket aside. Still in those same dark clothes as before, she ran out into the night, walking blindly. Tears dotted her face as she looked out at the ocean. Her hair blew out behind her, as if beckoning Jonouchi to come any closer to her. She was shivering and staring, and then, she finally lost it. Her tears become more and faster, and she fell to her knees, leaning her head against the rail of the railing. She looked up, and her eyes became wide with fear as she backed up, getting dangerously close to the street.

            "No," she whispered, holding up her hands. "No, please, get away! No, help me! They're after me!" she stood up, backing up more. Jonouchi ran behind her and touched her shoulder.

            She screamed. She stood there, shaking, still crying.

            "The hands.... The hands of the sea! They're calling to me! They--" she stopped short as she backed into the street. Jonouchi watched with wide eyes. He remembered hearing Anzu like this before!

            "Anzu! Anzu, snap out of it!" but she wasn't listening. She seemed set on getting away from the ocean. She screamed as rain fell.

            "They're.... They're there! The sea, the water, the people....." She became apparent in the middle of the street. Jonouchi stared as he remembered hearing Anzu muttering something about the 'people' after her, and the 'hands of the sea' wanted to drown her. She was talking to herself nonsensically in class one day, saying that the 'people' were after her to torture her with flames and pain in hell. She was convinced, but then.... She became cheery again.

            With false cheer.

            And Jonouchi was the only one who was there. The next few seconds flew by in a blur -- one moment, she was screaming. The next, tires screeched in the distance as they became nearer, closer--

            A car was barreling down on Anzu. Jonouchi stared, and then found himself running. He knew he couldn't do anything-- He didn't want her to die insane--

            His hands connected with her shoulder blades. Her body was flung to the side into the next lane, where there was no traffic. She and Jonouchi fell onto the ground, Anzu with a bloody nose. But that was it. The car screeched by without a second glance at Anzu. Jonouchi angrily flipped them off. He looked down at Anzu.

            "Anzu, listen to me," he said softly. "It will be alright." The rain pattered against her body, flattening her hair to her forehead. She was still sobbing, and crawled over to the side of the road. She laid down on the grass, letting the water fall down her face. Her lips were moving, but Jonouchi couldn't make out what she was saying. He knelt beside her.

            "Anzu-chan?" Anzu's eyes were open. They were blank and staring, as if she couldn't see anything. Jonouchi closed his eyes and covered his face. He had learned about this condition; somehow, at home, she had been convinced everyone and everything was after her, wanted her dead--

            She was now gone forever. Her soul was lost in the darkness; she was beyond help... Her body was still alive, but her soul, her heart, her fire... It had been lost.

            She would never recover. She had gone insane. She would probably be found the next morning, half frozen with the same blank stare. She would be brought to a 'mental hospital', the nice name for an insane asylum. Jonouchi watched her as her eyes closed, her body slowing down in the cold rain and low temperatures. He watched her with sad and pitiful eyes. He looked out over the road, watching as the black sea ripped and tore at the sky. He closed his eyes, and lowered his head.

            "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry that I'm killing everyone." The next few things happened in a blur-- Someone saw Anzu, checked her body-- still alive-- saw her eyes, recognized the symptoms, called 9-1-1. Jonouchi just watched, feeling as if he were lost, too. He vowed to save her; he vowed that save them all.

            He knew he couldn't. He couldn't save himself...

            How could he save them?

~*Footnotes~*

[1] nakiato: means "after one's death" in Japanese.

[2] Come: Anzu's mother's name. I made it up. Pronounced KOE-may

~*End Footnotes~*

Joey: SHIBBY THATS PLAGERISM!!
Shibby: *whistles* what?
Joey: *stern look*
Shibby: *sigh* okay okay, the whole crazy-Anzu-sea-thing was taken from Losing Christina 1: Fog by Caroline B. Cooney. Dont own it. So dont sue me. I always thought of Anya and Anzu similarly...
Joey: *eye roll*
Shibby: AHH! ITS 9:30!! GOTTA WATCH DARIA! (dont own it) TATA! READ THE REVIEWS!

reviewz: (I stuck them in one HUUUUGE paragraph!)

Unknown-Soul-Alliance: erm… Yeah. Jou is dead. Cool, ne? Jeshone: yay! Jeshone got an account! *does happy account dance* okay im done. Im glad you like Caro! She's a cool character… you'll be surprised to find out her identity later, I bet ya… I read your profile, and thank you! Im glad I inspired you to pursue your own writing! Congrats! And poor, poor Honda… Like I said, he's always left on the outside of EVERYTHING…Anonymous: *stares at incredible review* I have to say, I am shocked. I think the only other person who has ever said something like that has been Jeshone and Una1. Whoa… well, now I hafta make each chapter rock! darksora-chan: oh my Ra! *giggles* hey that's weird! My stupid Microsoft Word just capitalized 'Ra' for me…. Strange…. Well I shall update! I would update FASTER…. 'cept I have 5 OTHER FICS GOING ON!!!! *hits self* im so silly….*giggles insanely* look at how much im NOT like the characters in this fic? Una1: ;-; ooh, poor Una! Im glad you got out of that too! Well, ive read enough articles, books and other things to know that, well… We're only human… Oh, BTW: NEVER EVER EVER READ A MANGA CALLED 'CONFIDENTIAL CONFESSIONS'. Its about a girl…. Its VERY VERY WRONGISH…. She wants to commit suicide and gets wrapped up into this sadistic world…. I never knew that the Japanese was just as bad as us! They have about the same percentage of teens committing suicide every year…. That's just so saaaaaaad to think about…. *cries* they should listen to 'Hold On' more often! Little Liela: it'll be tough, but I think I can manage to stick Mokuba in there SOMEHOW… hmmm maybe Seto and Mokuba. Bring out Seto's softer side, ne? Master Elora Dannan: No, I haven't read The Lovely Bones. I've just recently found out about that book! Ive heard about it, but I never knew what it was about! I was reading ym when they reviewed a book called Afterlife that is freakishly like this story. A boy is murdered and he watches over his loved ones and tries to tell them he's fine and it wasn't painful, but it KILLS him to see them that way… I should really read these books! *goes to Library*K Yami Yugi29: Ok, ok! The next chap is REALLY ooc (Tea is all gothic-like) but then she becomes more IN character again… hey wait that's the chap you just read! Never mind! YumeTakato: *smiles* I doubt it… actually im always torturing Yugi in my author notes, yet he still appears to talk to me… *ponders* Baka Neko Mickey-chan: Wow. And to think, I originally wrote this because a song was stuck in my head…. I never knew it would touch people like this!

++++++++NEXT CHAP+++++++
Chapter Four: Yin and Yang -- Ryou is nearly helpless in his sicken state, in the means of helping himself. He misses Jonouchi and his friends and family, but... Caro seems to know Ryou. She watches him with such sad eyes.... Did she know him in life? And why does she keep calling him 'Sole'?

Tell me what YOU think!
Shibby-One