Chapter 25

A Day with Anzu

'How could my head still be hurting so much?' Anzu thought to herself. 'Do hangovers last for more than a week? That's physically impossible right? Maybe I'm allergic to alcohol? That sounds reasonable. I'm just glad my mother didn't find out I went drinking with Anna and Mai. And I'm REALLY glad she didn't find out about that club. I would have been in some major hot water.'

These kinds of thoughts wandered through her mind as she wandered through the flower shop. She was having a hard time deciding on what kind of flowers to get her mother for her birthday. Roses were too traditional and completely overplayed. But she didn't want to do anything too casual like daisies or carnations. Maybe something exotic, but within her budget. She continued her search, stopping occasionally to take in the fragrance of a nearby flower.

'And then the guys kept asking about what we did. Good thing Anna was there to send them packing. They would have pestered me until I finally gave up and told them everything. After they heard it, I'm sure they would have wished they hadn't. After all, we were talking about them, well, at least about Yugi and Joey. And poor Joey. He came over the next day to see Mai and she was already gone. I don't even know if she slept, she left before I got up. I'm sure Joey wanted to talk to her about what happened that night. Maybe he decided he wanted that kiss after all. Either way, Mai made sure he didn't get the chance. She disappeared without a trace like she always does. Why does she always run away like that? I guess we'll never know."

The bell rang as another customer entered the flower shop. Anzu gave a quick glance at the door. Upon seeing whom it was she immediately dashed behind a row of plants so as not to be seen.

'What's he doing here? When does Kaiba need to go to a flower shop? Who's he getting flowers for? Certainly not Mokuba. Could he actually have a girlfriend? Yeah, right! Kaiba with a girl.'

She peeked around the corner to see where he was. His height made it easy to spot him amongst the aisles. He was still a good distance away from her. Suddenly the comment Mai made about Kaiba came back into her head. She turned three shades of red at the thought. But it did get her curiosity up. She wanted to see if Mai was right, but from where she was she couldn't see anything.

'I guess I could make my way over there and accidentally run into him. I mean, not 'run' into him literally, but happen upon him. Yeah that sounds like a good plan. I can't hide behind the perennials until he leaves. And why am I hiding? It's just Kaiba. I've only seen him a million times. It's not a big deal. Not like he's changed any since Battle City, he's the same old bossy and rude big shot he has always been. I shouldn't even bother talking to him. He probably won't even acknowledge my presence. The jerk.'

Anzu turned the corner in a huff and smacked headfirst into Kaiba. Kaiba rolled his eyes at the sight of her. He obviously didn't want to deal with her. Anzu blushed; she was terribly embarrassed by the whole incident. She gave him a shaky smile and an apology.

"Oh, Hi! I'm sorry I didn't see you there."

Kaiba walked around her and down the aisle, "You should watch where you are going."

"I said I was sorry." Anzu retorted. He was the same old Kaiba.

He continued to ignore her presence as he shopped. But Anzu wasn't going to let him off the hook.

"So how have you been? We haven't seen you since Battle City. No, actually, that's not true, we saw you a couple of weeks ago driving a Lamborghini."

That caught his attention, she thought he looked a little scared.

"You made all the guys jealous." She continued. "But I'm sure that's what a car like that is for, right?"

"Do you want something?" Kaiba cut her off. "Is Yugi trapped in well somewhere and you need my help, or are you babbling for no reason?"

"Excuse me for trying to have a conversation with you. I thought you might be a decent human being, but maybe I was wrong." She turned and walked away from him.

"Is Yugi going to the tournament next month?"

Anzu stopped dead in her tracks; she was shocked that Kaiba was the one initializing the conversation. Maybe he had changed. "Sure he is. He's the Duel Monster Champion; he has to defend his title."

"Actually, it's a minor tournament. He's not required to duel in it to keep his title, but if he does duel and he's defeated, he will lose it."

"And I bet you're just the guy who wants to take it from him."

"Yugi will find out that there are more dangerous things out there than me."

'What did he mean by that? What does Kaiba know that we don't? Is there a new duelist to worry about?' Anzu thought.

She followed Kaiba around the shop as he made his selections.

"So who are the flowers for?" Anzu asked politely.

"If you must know, they are for my secretary."

"Oh, your secretary."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kaiba snapped at her.

"What does what mean?" Anzu played innocent.

"The way you said that. You were insinuating something."

"I didn't mean anything by it." Anzu tried downplaying her curiosity. "I'm sure that your pretty young secretary would love flowers."

Kaiba smirked at the thought. "My secretary is a happily married grandmother. But she is dedicated and I make it a point to reward devotion in my employees."

"So you're giving her flowers? That's sweet. I never would have taken you for the kind of guy that gives a lady flowers."

"That just proves you know nothing about me." He walked further and she was right on his heels.

"Then maybe we should get to know each other better? We've only ever seen you in the Duel Monster arena, I have no idea what kind of movies you like, or your favorite food, stuff like that."

"I don't have time to see movies."

"Well you must do something for fun."

Kaiba turned and peered down at her, "are you hitting on me?"

Anzu froze. 'Am I hitting on him?' She thought. 'Oh God! I am hitting on him! Why would I do that? He's cute, that's why. Actually, he's really cute. And he's got a great body. What am I doing? What kind of sick notions have Anna and Mai put into my head? This is Kaiba!'

"Ah, no! Don't be silly!" Anzu said nervously.

Kaiba looked her over with those cold-calculating eyes. She felt like he was trying to figure out what he could do with her. Like he had a plan. That made her uncomfortable. According to Mai and Anna most men only wanted one thing, and she was afraid that he was intending to get it from her. After a brief moment he huffed and walked away. Anzu was relieved, she guessed that that gesture meant he had rejected his plan.

'Good! He's not interested.' Anzu said to herself. 'Why isn't he interested? I've got a great body, why doesn't he want it? Well, okay, I'm not as busty as Anna or Mai, but I've a nice pair of legs. I'm a dancer, my legs are perfect. What's wrong with him? Can't he see that?'

Anzu was more hesitant to follow him after their awkward moment, but she also felt compelled to see what he was doing. Like following him around like a little lost puppy would make him suddenly reveal his inner most thoughts and feelings. If he hadn't said anything to her and ignored her like usual she wouldn't be so interested. So in her mind, it was all his fault.

She kept her distance as he went to the counter and placed his order. She thought it would be rude to stare over his shoulder. He finished and made his way to the exit, and he had to go right past her to do it. She wasn't sure if she subconsciously placed herself there or if it was dumb luck. As he got closer she wondered what she should say, if he would say anything?

"It was good to see you again, Anzu." He said as he passed her. "And tell Yugi he'd better be prepared."

"Bye..." was the only thing she could think to say.

He left and she felt like fainting. 'He called me Anzu. He knows my name. Of course he knows my name, he's probably done background checks on all of us. But he said it, he said Anzu. Maybe I should have tried a little harder. What do you think he would have done if I said I was hitting on him? I should have at least asked him if he wanted to go get some coffee or something. If he would have given me one of those 'I'm too busy' or 'I don't like coffee' lines I would know he wasn't interested. But right now, I don't know where I stand. Darn that Kaiba! He's always playing games, why can't he just come out and say what he's thinking? Why does it always have to be a contest? Fine if he wants to play, I can beat him.'

Anzu practically skipped out of the shop. She was so giddy. As she made her way to the place where she told the others she would meet them, she could think of nothing else except the next time she would meet Kaiba. She was going to show up at that Duel Monster tournament in the shortest skirt she owned. If that didn't turn his head, nothing would.

Anzu spotted the others at a table across the seating area. At first glance she noticed that Anna didn't seem to be too entertained, she actually looked a little disgusted. That was probably because Joey was making faces while he had french fries stuck up his nose. Mai was right, he was still a kid. Of course, Yugi and Honda thought the whole thing was hilarious.

Anzu quickly took a seat next to Anna. "You won't believe what just happened." She instantly got everyone's attention, and Joey even took the fries out of his nose so he could listen. "I was at the flower shop to get flowers for my mother's birthday, and guess who I ran into? Kaiba!"

Joey broke into laughter, "Kaiba at a flower shop! That's rich!"

"Who was he buying flowers for?" Yugi asked.

"He said it was for his secretary." Anzu explained.

"Do you think 'secretary' is his codeword for 'girlfriend'?" Honda proposed.

Joey even laughed harder at that thought.

"I don't know, he seemed very sincere about it."

"I'm still shocked that he even talked to you. He's not known as a conversationalist." Yugi commented.

"That's the funny part, he was nice to me. I thought he would ignore me like usual, but he actually talked to me like a normal person."

"Strange." Yugi said. "He must have been a good day or something."

"I don't think so. He seemed different to me, like's he's changed."

"People like Kaiba don't change." Joey snorted.

"Of course he can change!" Anna seemed almost put off by Joey's comment. They all looked at her. "Everyone has the opportunity to change that's what makes us human. I'm offended that you even think that it is impossible for someone to change."

Joey looked at her in disbelief. "You don't know Kaiba."

That seemed to upset Anna. Anzu guessed that she didn't like being corrected.

"Well, one thing is still the same." Anzu remarked. "He plans on challenging you at the tournament next month, Yugi."

"The tournament, that's right." Yugi said. "With everything that's been going on lately I've forgotten. Anna would you like to go to the tournament and watch Joey and me duel?"

"Sounds like fun." Anna smiled at him. "I'll have to put it on my schedule."

Hours past as the group discussed the upcoming tournament and anything else that might pop into their heads. After a while Anzu was able to drag Anna away from the boys. She led Anna to the women's bathroom, the one place she knew the boys wouldn't be able to hear her.

"What's with all the secrecy?" Anna asked as Anzu checked to make sure the coast was clear and shut the door.

Anzu was beaming, "I think it's happened."

"What's happened?"

"It!"

"It? Could you elaborate a little?"

"Exactly what you and Mai were talking about. The butterflies in my stomach, getting all tongue-tied, and my heart was racing..."

"Do you mean a GUY? You met a guy?" Anna was smiling from ear to ear.

"Well, we didn't just meet. We've known each other for a while, but I've never had this kind of a reaction around him before."

"So he's a friend you've developed feelings for?"

"I don't know if you could actually call us friends..."

"So who is this mystery man?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's Kaiba."

The smile melted right off Anna's face.

'She doesn't look happy.' Anna thought. 'Why isn't she happy for me?'

"Kaiba?" Anna quietly questioned. "The same Kaiba whom none of you can say anything nice about? The Kaiba that treats you all like serfs while he plays God in his ivory tower? That Kaiba?"

"I know it sounds weird, but I do think he's changed. He's so much more personable now. He even called me by name."

Anna still didn't look convinced.

'Why doesn't she believe me?' Anzu pondered as she studied Anna's reaction. 'She doesn't know him; she doesn't know what he's like. Oh wait, she doesn't know him, that's the problem.'

"I know you've never met him, but wait until the tournament. You can talk to him and then you can give me your opinion."

'Why did I just say that?' Anzu was starting to regret her suggestion. 'Do I really want Anna and Kaiba to meet? She's so pretty that he might take one look at her and forget about me. Not that that would be Anna's fault. Besides if Kaiba made a move on her she would shoot him down. She would let him know she was unavailable and that would be that.'

"I really am happy for you, Anzu. But may I make a suggestion?"

"Absolutely! I value your advice."

"Don't jump into this blindly. I know you're really excited, but it doesn't sound like any of you know him on a personal level. I would suggest that you get to know him a little better before you lose your heart to someone who may not feel the same way. Take it one day at a time, and be careful."

"I completely understand. That makes so much sense." Anzu tried to be serious but it didn't last long. "But you will talk to him, right?"

Anna smiled at her, "All right; I'll talk to him."

Anzu couldn't contain her enthusiasm. She was bouncing around like a rabbit. It took Anna a while to get her calmed down so they could return levelheaded to the boys.

Anzu knew she wouldn't be able to sleep that night. And she was right. She lay in her bed for what seemed like forever, just staring off into space. She kept replaying every second of her encounter with Kaiba in her head, trying to find some little sign, some hidden meaning. Then she tried to imagine what their next meeting would be like. Should she find another place where they could 'accidentally' run into each other again? Or should she just wait until the tournament?

'He might not be in such a good mood if he loses to Yugi,' she thought. 'That would make it more difficult to talk to him. But then again, he might want some comforting after such a loss.' Anzu smiled at that devilish thought.

Anzu reveled in her thoughts and imagination, and she wondered what the future would hold for her and Kaiba.

There was a slight tap on her bedroom door. "Anzu are you still awake?" Said a soft voice.

Anzu sat up in bed, "Yes mother, come in."

Anzu's mother came into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, she pulled something out of her pocket. "I found this when I was doing your laundry." She handed Anzu a matchbook. "What is this nightclub? And when were you there?"

'Uh oh!'