"Kaiba..." Anzu kept her eyes closed as she lay moulded to Kaiba on the oversize couch.

He grunted quietly, one of his hands resting on the small of her back, holding her close to him, the other lightly tracing her neck under her brown hair.

"How... I mean..." she curled her fingers into the collar of his light blue shirt, watching them at a close distance from where her head lay on his shoulder. She fingered the stiff material.

They lay in silence for a few moments more. Anzu could feel Kaiba's heart beating - slow, reassuring. The rest of the house was quiet - Mokuba had gone to bed hours earlier. Anzu and Kaiba had stayed in unspoken agreement, on the couch in the first-floor living room - first making a pretense of watching whatever was on cable, then eventually switching it off to lie in a half-asleep state.

"If things were different..."

Kaiba's heart seemed to thump the next beat too quickly. "But they're not."

A few more moments. That was all they had. She had to go home before her chance of getting any sleep at all ran out. She had to have some sleep - she had a long flight in the morning. Kaiba had... Whatever Kaiba did at his offices.

For once, uncharacteristically, he spoke on his own. "You deserve to go to that school, Anzu. You're a beautiful dancer."

Anzu almost choked, and buried her face further into his shirt. Patches of darker blue were smudging onto it. Of all the things to say after six months of patiently getting to know him, and arguing and avoiding Jounouchi, and... Everything. After six months of finding someone who could be a new best friend if she let him.

Or if he let her.

Anzu raised herself forward and murmured into Kaiba's ear.

Then she practically threw herself off the couch and ran out of the room.

Kaiba lay there for a long time.

I'm so glad I had this time with you.