The Meeting
The halls were crowded, like they always were at locker break. Students and teachers swarmed the corridors, knocking shoulders as they walked. Jounouchi impatiently pulled at his uniform collar and tie, trying to get some air. It was proving difficult for him to open his locker, because there was no room against the mob of people. Becoming frustrated with the on-going stream of bodies, Jounouchi hastily yanked his locker door open, and a heard a thud immediately.
"Oh my God!" he exclaimed, and promptly slammed the door closed again. A girl shorter than him stood with her hand covering her nose. "I am so sorry!"
"Ow . . ." was her response, and he could see her bright eyes were watery. He stepped closer to her, wanting to see if she was all right, but she shrank back. With muffled words she managed, "No, no, that's okay."
Jounouchi looked at her helplessly and before she could run off on him, asked, "How can I make it up to you? What's your name?"
"Anzu," she answered thickly, and then was swept up in the crowd of people again. Over her shoulder she yelled, "Don't worry about it!"
"What?" he exclaimed, not hearing what she had yelled at him. She was already gone, though, and was completely out of his sight. He looked regretfully after her; she was cute and he wouldn't have minded talking to her more.
He turned his attention to his locker once more, and dug out his history text. Jounouchi made his way to his next class, while still feeling guilty about injuring a pretty girl.
- - -
After meeting Anzu, Jounouchi kept his eyes peeled for her but very rarely saw her. He saw her only once in an entire week, and he didn't think she even noticed. She always seemed rather isolated, though, a fact that intrigued him, and he found himself wanting to know more about her.
A teacher's commanding voice sliced through his thoughts, bringing him back to reality. His textbook remained untouched on his desk, and his binder remained unopened. "Mr. Katsuya, would you kindly retrieve a book from the library for me?"
He inclined his head to show that he would, and was soon striding down the vacant hallways towards the library. He liked the school best when it was quiet and empty, and when he could hear his footsteps clicking on the floor beneath him.
Entering the enormous library, Jounouchi drew in a sharp breath, just like he always did. It didn't matter how many times he found himself there, he couldn't help but be amazed. Lengthy bookcases coated the circular walls in an intimidating way and a wide staircase against the wall led upwards. He greeted the librarian at the front desk and asked for the book, but a flash of dark hair caught his eye before he could finish his sentence.
"Anzu!" he called after her. He watched her retreating form turn around and wave to him. She turned again and went on her way.
Jounouchi smiled widely and darted after her, catching her wrist and giving it a tug. "So this is where I can find you? I've been looking all over for you."
"Why?" she said in a surprised tone. She tried to free her wrist from his grasp, but he held on firmly. "Did you need something?"
"I just wanted to know how you were doing," he admitted, "I really feel bad about the other day; I didn't mean to hurt you."
Anzu laughed, and he liked the sound she made. "I told you not to worry about it! It was an accident, that's all."
He smiled sheepishly, but looked closely at her. "How come I haven't seen you around? I hadn't seen you around before our last meeting, and I only saw you once all last week."
"Oh," she said slowly, "I don't know. I'm usually here in the library, or I go home for lunch."
"Maybe you should try having lunch in the cafeteria sometime. You could sit with me and my friends if you wanted."
She suddenly looked very shy, as she insisted, "No, no, I would feel like I was intruding. I wouldn't want that."
"Fine," Jounouchi stated firmly, "We could just sit together, by ourselves. Then I could learn a little more about you, and we could be friends."
She liked the sound of that, and she thought for a fleeting moment that she would really like to spend time with him, before she felt her face flush. She nodded, "Yeah that would be nice."
"Okay, it's a deal," Jounouchi finalized, holding out his hand to her. "Now we have to make it official."
Anzu took his hand and they shook firmly. Her face split into a grin as he realized he was still in class.
"I've got to go," he said quickly, "We'll meet here tomorrow at lunch, okay?" "Definitely," she confirmed, watching him leave the library.
- - -
He rushed back to class, nervous that he had been gone for too long. Sprinting down the hallways he finally made it to his classroom and entered the room timidly. Sinking down into his seat, he sighed in relief. He was definitely looking forward to tomorrow's lunch period.
"Ah, Mr. Katsuya," his teacher called, "Where's the book?"
Jounouchi closed his eyes and felt like a complete idiot. Laughing uneasily, he answered, "Um, it's in the library, Sir."