Chapter 39

Messages

Anna sat in the living room of her apartment. She had the television turned down low so as not to disturb Anzu, who was sleeping in the back room. The stock market numbers were scrolling across the screen and Anna was hypnotized by the display.

"Anna." Anzu said as she hopped on one foot into the living room. She noticed that Anna wasn't paying any attention to her. "Anna!" She said louder.

This time Anna heard her and jerked her head around, "Oh, sorry! Numbers." She smiled and pointed at the television.

"I think there is something wrong with my foot. It's swelled up like a grapefruit." Anzu was putting all of her weight on her good leg and leaning on the couch for balance.

Anna got up from her seat and inspected Anzu's foot. "Oh gosh. Here sit down." She helped Anzu to a seat. "Give me a minute to get dressed, then I'll take you home."

"How come every time I go out with you I get in trouble?"

"Just lucky I guess."

Yugi stretched and yawned as he awoke from his slumber. His back hurt a little from the position he was in when he fell asleep in Joey's chair. He looked over and saw Joey and Honda crashed out of the couch. Then he remembered what had happened the night before. Anzu had found out what they were watching and most likely she told Anna. He was not looking forward to tomorrow when they would all see each other again. Yugi's stomach started growling so he wandered into the kitchen. Searching through the refrigerator and cabinets he came to the conclusion that there was nothing edible. Thus why Joey is so skinny and always hungry. This realization never made Yugi more thankful to have Grandpa around. He always made sure Yugi was well taken care of. He went back into the living room and found that Honda was awake now. He was roused by the sounds of Yugi messing around in the kitchen.

"Is there anything to eat in there?" Honda asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Nothing that I could find." Yugi shook his head.

Honda gave Joey a violent shake, "Hey wake up!"

Joey gave out an inaudible noise as his eyes slightly opened and then closed again.

"Wake up! You have no food in your house!" Honda repeated his order and shaking.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Joey sprung out of sleep and practically onto his feet. "Is it time for school already?"

"It's Sunday, we don't have to go to school." Honda informed him.

"Then why did you wake me?" Joey said as he collapsed back onto the couch and closed his eyes attempting to return to his slumber.

"Hey, no going back to sleep!" Honda lightly punched him.

"Okay, okay, I'm awake!" Joey said angrily as he sat up and scratched himself. "What's the big idea? I was having this great dream about Jenna Jemason."

"That would explain some things." Honda added.

"What things?" Joey gave him a strange look.

"Never mind." Honda waved him off. "You've got no food in your house."

"I never said there was any food in this place." Joey yawned.

"Then what are we going to do?" Honda asked bluntly.

"We could head over to my house. I'm sure Grandpa will have something, even if it's leftovers." Yugi politely offered.

"I'm all up for that." Joey jumped up off the couch.

"Anything's better than here." Honda added.

As the boys walked down the street Honda and Joey couldn't help but notice Yugi's new markings. They threw glances at each, and Joey was the first to say something.

"So Yugi, what did you and Anna do last night?"

"Huh?" He didn't exactly understand Joey's question.

"You know, when she took you into the back room."

"Oh," Yugi had to think up something quick. "She just wanted to talk, that's all."

"All she wanted to do was talk? Are you sure about that?" Joey was entrapping Yugi.

"She wanted to tell me something."

"I don't know. I've never gotten one of those from just talking to a girl." Joey said with an evil grin.

"One of what?" Yugi had no clue what Joey was talking about.

"One of those." Joey grabbed Yugi and turned him so he could see his reflection in a store window.

It took Yugi a minute before he noticed the dark splotches on his neck. "What the?"

"That, my friend, is a hickie." Joey pointed out the spot on his neck.

Yugi's eyes almost popped out of his head. He covered the spot with his hand trying to hide it and his embarrassment.

"Don't hide it!" Joey demanded. "Wear it with pride!"

Yugi was totally freaked out. Between the hickie and having to confront Anzu and Anna, he was dreading going back to school tomorrow.

The next morning the boys waited nervously for Anzu to meet them at their designated corner. It wasn't completely unexpected for Anna not to be there. She normally came and went as she pleased, some days she joined them, some days she didn't. But for Anzu to be late, or perhaps not even show, was a bad sign. The boys decided to walk down to Anzu's house to make sure she was okay. As they came into view they saw Anna helping Anzu out her front door. And Anzu was on crutches.

"Bye mom, I'll see you after school." Anzu gave a quick shout as she crossed the doorframe.

"Yeah, bye mom! It was great to finally meet you." Anna added with a smile. "You've got a really cool mom."

"She wouldn't be so nice to you if she knew what kind of trouble you get me in." Anzu joked as she hobbled down the steps.

Yugi quickened his pace reach the girls sooner.

"What happened?" Yugi asked as he looked at Anzu's crutches and cast.

"Can you believe it, that guy broke my foot." Anzu complained.

"He broke it?"

"In two places! Now I've got to wear this stupid cast for six weeks."

"Oh man, that's a bummer." Joey added, he didn't know what else to say.

"Can we carry your books?" Honda offered.

"I've got them," Anna said as she gestured to the books she was holding. "The car is at the corner; do you think you can make it that far?" She asked Anzu as she steadied her on her newly earned crutches.

Anzu nodded her response.

"Are you driving her to school?" Yugi asked as he walked next to Anzu.

"It's the least I can do. It's mostly my fault this happened." Anna explained.

"Great! You can give us all a ride." Joey was happy to invite himself. Anything to avoid walking in the cold weather.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't even think about that." Anna grimaced at her flub. "I brought the Ferrari, and it only seats two. I forgot about offering you a ride."

"Ferrari?" Honda looked at her strange.

"What happened to your other car?" Yugi was puzzled.

"Oh, I was putting too many miles on the Chevy, so I thought it would give it a rest and pull out one of the others."

"Others?" Honda and Joey exchanged glances.

Yugi helped Anzu slip into the passenger seat of the Ferrari, while Joey and Honda drooled over the contours of the car and debated its finer points.

"Tomorrow I get to ride in this one." Joey announced. "Can you image the looks on the other student's faces when I pull up in front of the school in a Ferrari?"

"Sorry, Joey." Anna interrupted his daydream. "But for the next six weeks, I'm Anzu's personal chauffer."

Sounds of disappointment flooded the air.

"How many cars do you have?" Yugi asked tentatively.

Anna was hesitant to answer; she didn't like flaunting her money and possessions in front of them. "Just three." She said quickly as she jumped into the drivers seat and closed the door.

"I'll see you at school." Anzu shouted out the window as Anna turned the ignition and drove away.

"Now that's a car!" Joey admired the sight of the red Ferrari as it sped away.

"She has three cars?" Yet another thing Yugi didn't know about Anna.

Contrary to the others, Honda was in a much more serious mood. "What do you bet her third car is a white Lamborghini?"

The other two knew what he was hinting about, and they had to agree. It made perfect sense.

"Hey Anna?" Anzu asked as they drove down the street.

"Yeah."

"I was thinking about something you said the other day."

"And what would that be?"

"Are you sure Kaiba doesn't know about you and Yugi?"

"I've never mentioned it."

"But that doesn't mean he can't find out."

"Well, he's never asked me. I guess if he did I would have to tell him the truth."

"But there are other ways..."

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm just saying, Kaiba has the resources to find out anything he wants. And you might not even know he has done it."

"Are you saying that he would go behind my back and hire a private investigator or something like that?"

"It's possible."

"No, I don't think so." Anna defended him. "He would never do that to me."

The intercom buzzer rang as Seto sat typing on his laptop.

"Mr. Kaiba there is a Mr...um, Smith, here to see you."

"Send him in."

Seto closed his laptop and awaited the arrival of the man known simply as 'Mr. Smith'. Who walked in the door was a messy and unkempt man. Seto didn't even like to admit that he knew him, but he had to admit that he was the best at what he did.

"Did you get what I asked for?" Seto said in his normal harsh tone.

"It's all there." Said the man as he tossed a manila envelope onto Seto's desk. "Everything you would want to know about her. What she does in her free time, where she shops, and all the people she hangs out with."

"I'm only interested in one person."

"Yeah, he's in there."

Seto handed the man an envelope.

"Usually you only send me to check up on business rivals, but why this girl?" He asked even though he knew he wouldn't get an answer.

"That's none of your concern. You have your money, now get out."

The man shrugged it off and left. He was used to Kaiba's gruffness by now.

Seto sat and stared at the envelope. In it was the answer to his question. He wanted so much to know who Anna's boyfriend was, to know who it was that hit her. He was going to make that man pay for what he did. He reached out to take it, but stopped just shy. He couldn't help but think of Anna's reaction if she found out. She would hate him for spying on her. He told her that he trusted her, but how could he mean that if opened that envelope? He ran his fingers along the seal; the temptation was there. If he did open it, how would she know? She'd find out somehow. Maybe he'd slip up one day and say his name. Or she would catch him confronting her boyfriend. He knew that once he found out, he couldn't not do something. But this guy wasn't good for Anna, Seto was certain of that. He hurt her and Seto wouldn't stand for that. Anna may not know it, but he was doing this for her own protection. He picked up the envelope and began to break the seal when the intercom buzzer rang again.

"Mr. Kaiba your three o'clock appointment is here."

He placed the envelope in the bottom drawer of his desk and locked it. It would have to wait.

A couple of days later Anna answered her apartment door to find Yugi there.

"Hey there. What's the occasion?" Anna said as she invited him in.

"Nothing special, I just wanted to see you." Yugi said with a smile.

"Well here I am." She joked then headed back to unpacking.

"I thought you had already moved in, what are all these boxes?"

"This is part of my father's estate. When I turned sixteen I inherited some of my family's personal belongings."

"I missed your birthday?"

"Don't worry about it." She gave him a friendly smile. "I didn't tell you because I don't really like celebrating birthdays."

"We didn't have to do anything big, but I would have liked to have taken you out to diner or something. When was it?"

"A couple of months ago. They've just now delivered the bulk of the estate."

It was obvious to Yugi that Ann didn't want to discuss her birthday and was trying to change the subject. "So what kinds of things did you get?"

"A little bit of real estate, the cars, lots of personal papers, oh hey. Check this out!" Anna went over to a box and pulled out some notebooks. "These are my father's journals. He wrote something for everyday of his life, ever since he was eight years old."

Yugi could see the excitement in her face.

"I started reading from the beginning; it's really interesting. Ya know, an eight-year-old doesn't have anything really profound to say, but he did talk about this girl in his class that he had a crush on." Anna laughed a little at the thought. "It's a whole new side of my father I never knew."

"What does he say about our marriage?"

"I haven't gotten that far, but when I do I'll let you know." Anna went back to digging through boxes. "Ah, here it is!" She dug into a box and pulled out another box. She gently placed it on the table and opened it. "It's just like the pictures." She lifted the garment and laid it out flat on the couch. "What do you think?"

"It's pretty."

"My grandmother wore it at her wedding. I was hoping to wear it when we got married."

"You want to wear kimonos?" Yugi was a little nervous about the idea.

"Well, we don't have to do a traditional Japanese wedding." Anna reassured him. "You can wear a tux if you like, but I'd really like to wear this. It's part of my history."

"I guess I can't argue with history. That's probably why I'm so bad at it in school."

Anna laughed at him, but got distracted quickly when another idea came into her head. "Which reminds me..." She went to her bag and pulled out a stack of papers. "I had to see my lawyer anyways, so I had him draw this up."

She handed Yugi the papers. "What is it?" Yugi asked as he stared a mountainous document.

"It's a prenuptial agreement."

"A pre-nup?" Yugi was shocked. "You want me to sign a pre-nup?"

"I'd be a fool not to."

Yugi was still very wary of this scary looking document in his hands. He had to sit down to take it all in. "What does it say?" Yugi asked as he thumbed through the pages.

"It's your basic agreement; ya know quid pro quo, yadda yadda yadda. But in a nutshell it states that if we get divorced you'll only get a small portion of my estate and I don't have to pay you alimony. Oh but don't worry, I've allotted for things like children and mutual assets." Anna was taking this all in stride. She repackaged her grandmother's kimono carefully and started looking through other boxes.

"You're expecting us to get divorced?"

Anna looked up from her boxes and noticed that Yugi was quite upset by her suggestion. "Oh, no! Not at all. You have to understand, Yugi, that I'm worth a considerable amount and I have to protect myself. Seto and I discussed this and we both agree that it's the best course of action for people in our positions."

"He would say that." Yugi was torn between sadness and anger. And her bringing Kaiba into all of this didn't help.

"Yugi," Anna started as she sat next to him on the couch. "It's just a document. It doesn't have to rule our lives." She smiled at him, but that only worked a little. So she took his hand in hers and touched his cheek. That's when Yugi gave in a smiled back at her. She slid her hand down to his neck and rubbed the oh too familiar spot. "Is that still there?"

Yugi blushed red. "You don't know how many looks that got me at school."

"Maybe I should give you one on the other side, that way you'd have a matching set. You could call them a fashion statement."

That made Yugi laugh and smile.

Anna's smile suddenly turned serious. "It just occurred to me that I haven't properly kissed you yet."

Yugi took a deep swallow, his nervousness had returned. And as she got closer to him it got worse. He didn't know exactly what to do, thankfully she didn't give him time to think. She gently pressed her lips against his. She knew he was new to this so she took it easy on him, giving him only a mild version of what would come. She slid one hand onto his side in an attempt to draw him closer, but she got a reaction she wasn't expecting. She had to break the kiss because Yugi was laughing.

"Someone's ticklish." Anna observed.

Anna wasn't going to let a golden opportunity like this pass her up. She tickled him relentlessly. But Yugi was also in a playful mood and he tickled her back. What ensued was a tickle fight of epic proportions. They both squirmed and flopped around on the couch, one trying to get the upper hand on the other. But Anna had the advantage with her weight and size and managed to push Yugi over onto his back. But as she did he grabbed her arm and made her fall with him. And you know what they say, 'It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.'

"Oww! Shit!" Anna cursed as she sprung upright pressing her hand to her shoulder.

"What happened?" Yugi sat up to see what was going on.

"That puzzle got me. It's got some sharp edges." Anna pulled down the collar of her shirt to see she was bleeding.

Yugi glanced down at the puzzle and spied the offending corner. It had a little of her blood on it. "Gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize..." He looked back at Anna who suddenly appeared very pale and woozy. "Are you okay?"

It wasn't a lot of blood, but Anna felt very disorientated. Then the images started invading her mind. Horrible sights of blood, burning buildings, screaming people, gods, and amid all the destruction Pharaoh and Seto. Anna's body convulsed as the images rushed through her. Yugi reached out to touch her but she pushed him away as if his touch were poison. Trying to find protection she curled herself into a ball until the images stopped. Yugi waited until she had calmed down then gently brushed her hand with his.

"Anna?"

She opened her eyes, she looked so weak.

"Are you okay?" Yugi asked with concerned eyes.

Anna took a deep breath, "I think I'm going to throw up." She proceeded to crawl off the couch and down the hall. From the noises inside the bathroom, Yugi had no doubt she was vomiting. He avoided going in there because the sight of such a thing always made him get sick. When the noises ceased and he heard running water he knew it was safe to enter. He found Anna leaning on the sink and holding a washcloth to her still bleeding shoulder.

"What happened?"

"I saw something."

"What did you see? Something about the other me?"

"Blood...monsters...death."

"That's terrible. But what does it mean?"

"I don't know."

"It must mean something if Anck-su-namun wanted you to see it."

"I don't think she had anything to do with it. It's not like anything that I've seen before."

"If not her then...the other me?"

"Every time I've had a vision it was like I seeing it through Anck-su-namun's eyes, I know what she was thinking or feeling at that moment. But this was different. It didn't have a logical sequence of events, it was just images. And I felt removed from it, like I was just an emotionless observer. It was so jumbled." Anna sat down on the bathroom floor; she was still trying to recover from her experience.

Yugi knelt down beside her. "What can I do?"

Anna looked lost. She was desperate to but her mind back in order.

"Maybe you should lie down for a while. Or I could bring you something to eat." Anna grimaced at that suggestion; her stomach was still a mess. "Just tell me what you want."

Anna swiped off the sweat from her forehead and neck. "All I want right now is to take a hot shower and change out of these clothes."

Yugi left her in the bathroom with a smile and promise that he would be waiting for her when she was done. He sat down in the living room debating whether or not he should make her some tea, he wondered if that would settle her stomach. He decided to wait until she got out of the shower, then he could properly gauge her needs. As he heard the shower start he decided to bite the bullet and he picked up the pre-nuptial agreement. First he tried reading it, but the legal mumbo jumbo made no sense to him. He feared he would have to hire a lawyer to explain it all to him.

Meanwhile Anna submerged her head in the flow of hot water from the showerhead. She had placed her hands on the walls for balance. When she opened her eyes she could see the red of her blood taint the water as it swirled down the drain. The wound was small, but it didn't want to stop bleeding. It continued as a constant trickle. She wasn't afraid of bleeding to death, her mind was more occupied with the visions she saw. Who or what would want her to see such horrific images? And worse, how could she explain such things to Yugi. Most of the images were just that, flashes of things, but the last scene made itself all too clear. The image of Pharaoh's body lying motionless on the ground and near him Seto, barely conscious with blood coming out of this nose and mouth. What could have done that? Taken them both out in one blow? And did either survive? Perhaps this was the end of the story. The final page, the final blow. And where was Anck-su-namun? Was she the observer, or was she also a victim? The worries filled her mind as she watched the red tainted water at her feet.

Yugi scratched his head with frustration. The document was becoming more and more confusing as he went. He came to the point where he decided to just go ahead and sign the stupid thing even though he didn't understand it. That wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he had no intention on getting divorced. And he trusted Anna; she wouldn't do anything devious. Besides what was he going to lose? He was going into this marriage with no money; if he had to he would leave with none. Yugi glanced around the room looking for a pen. He was going to get this over with. Not seeing one he started searching drawers. He had been over there so many times, but he still didn't know where she kept things. He was interrupted when the phone began to ring. Grandpa always said that it wasn't polite to answer other people's phones, so he let the answering machine get it. He listened as the message unfolded.

"Anna? Are you there?" The caller didn't have to identify himself for Yugi to recognize the voice of Seto Kaiba. "I need to know that you're okay. I had this...this feeling that something happened to you. I just needed to check and make sure you were all right. Call me and let me know what's going on."

As the message ended Yugi couldn't help but feel angry. He couldn't understand how Kaiba knew Anna was in trouble. He made it sound like it was a premonition or something. And why was it that Kaiba had this gift? Yugi walked over to the answering machine. The little red message light teased him as it blinked. He couldn't explain his actions, he didn't even know why he did it, but he couldn't help himself. He pressed the button.

"Message deleted."