02 : Shakes
By: Kokoro Kakera HP
Disclaimer: Yugiou, (Manga, anime, products, etc.), belongs to Kazuki Takahashi
Author's Notes:
And we go into more detail here... by the way, has anyone read 'Deathnote'? It's a kickass manga! For those who love suspense and strategy (there are some in here that will blow you away) read this manga!
A glance of Kaiba's face, which was for once, completely lax with surprise, was the last thing Anzu saw before she lost consciousness.
The second her eyes opened, she regretted allowing them to do so. Sunlight immediately assaulted the slit openings and she winced at the painful feeling. "Ugn..." She moaned, shutting her eyes again and shifting on the bed she lay on. She pressed a hand to her eyes, effectively covering them from the sun's glare.
"Anzu!" She froze, slowly pulling her hand away and squinted so she could see better.
"Yugi?" She groaned softly, her voice betraying exactly how tired she felt. She smiled despite her condition. It was nice of him to be by her side. She couldn't quite recall why she was in bed and why he would have to be there, but she was sure that it had something to do with him checking on her. He was always doing that, sweetheart that he was. She was forever grateful for the fact that he was her friend. "How did I get here?"
"Um... That's the interesting part. Kaiba carried you all the way here."
The warm fuzzy feelings drained away pretty quickly after that.
"Ohh..." She pulled the bed sheets over her head as the memory of what happened before she passed out came back to her. 'I fainted right in front of Kaiba! Gah... how embarrassing!' She shook her head. 'I hope he was nice enough to at least catch me...' It was at this time when Yugi's words finally sunk in. "KAIBA DID WHAT!?" She tried to wrap her brain around the very idea of the man doing such an uncharacteristic thing, but found it impossible, as she couldn't even begin to comprehend the sentence itself.
"Anzu?" Yugi's voice broke through her panicked and overloading thoughts.
"Yes?" She called out from under the covers.
"Are you... um... why don't you get out from under there?" He couldn't comprehend the Kaiba issue any better than Anzu did and therefore chose not to discuss it. He sighed when she didn't budge. "Please? Every other thing aside, I really want talk."
Reluctantly, she lifted the sheets off her head and sat up, but her eyes wouldn't meet his. "So talk." She said, realizing that her friend was serious.
There was a shifting noise beside her and a deeper voice replaced Yugi's. "That's what I plan on doing." Anzu's head snapped to where Yugi previously sat. 'The other Yugi...' She fought back a blush. She usually made the distinction by the sudden height difference and maturing of his face features.
"W-why are you-" She stuttered. He hardly ever came out unless a matter of great importance arose.
"Yugi tells me that you haven't been sleeping well."
"Y-ya... but that's nothing!" She smiled. "I just need to readjust my schedule and find a better pillow, then before you know it, I'll be fine!"
"You're lying." He was giving her a disapproving look now. Anzu tried to keep from blushing again. "You can tell me the truth you know. Yugi can't hear or see anything that's going on now. I've closed our telepathic link completely."
"I'm fine." She said again, gripping the bed sheets tightly. She wanted to get away from Yami, so she could avoid his piercing stare. She was having a hard enough time as it is, keeping the truth from Yugi, thus keeping him from worrying about her needlessly. Even if their link had been closed, she was sure that Yami would later tell Yugi about what was bothering her, and even if he didn't, she wasn't happy about the idea of them keeping secrets from each other. It just didn't seem like a healthy thing for the type of bond they shared.
"Who are you trying to convince?" He surprised her by taking a hold of her chin and gently turning her head back to face him.
'This is...' She couldn't find the right word for how she felt. Her heart was beating erratically and she felt faint again. 'His face is really close to mine.' She could see right into his amethyst eyes and doing so made her stomach turn over and her body warm up in a nice way.
Anzu had had a crush on Yami for a long time now. Ever since he'd saved her from the criminal at Burger World and later from her perverted gym teacher, she'd found that her feelings for Yugi's other self were only becoming stronger. But so far, all she could be sure of was that his feelings for her were purely platonic - never mind the fact that he was currently only inches away, looking straight into her eyes and holding her chin so that she wouldn't turn away. Anzu was sure that she was the only one thinking about something other than her sleeping problems. Yami was just too... businesslike all the time - even now she could see that he didn't have a clue or didn't care, that what he was doing was having an embarrassing effect on her.
She abruptly pulled back from his hold. "I'm not trying to convince anyone but you. You're worrying about nothing." Anzu said sharply, eyes focused on a small piece of lint on her blanket. Silence followed her answer and Anzu, realizing how angry she must have sounded quickly tried to make up for it. "I'm sorry." She whispered. She shut her eyes and pressed her face into one of her hands.
'I think someone is stalking me.'
"I just... it's just becoming a little stressful - the transition from grade ten to eleven." She lied instead.
"Anzu..." She looked up. "Yugi and I... Jounouchi and Honda, all of us are here for you." He gave her a warm smile - one that he reserved only for his friends. "So if something like this was bugging you all along, you should have just told us so we could try and help you out."
'So instead of lying, tell me what's really bothering you.' Yami couldn't understand why Anzu was being so adamant about keeping her problems to herself, especially since she was always so intent on helping everyone else in anyway she could. 'She's nice to the point of being a hypocrite.' He mused.
"Thanks." She smiled - again in that almost unnoticeably strained way.
Inwardly, Yami sighed out of exasperation.
They'd parted ways about a block from her house. That was where the road that led to his house split from hers. On thinking about it, Anzu was glad that she hadn't told Yami about her problem. Otherwise, he'd of probably wanted to escort her all the way home - something that would have made her feel immensely guilty about since it was already beginning to get dark. She felt bad enough already that he'd waited so long for her to wake up. Not that she'd had any control over that.
She froze when something skittered behind her. It abruptly became silent. She took another step and the sound appeared again.
Someone was tailing her.
Nervously, she picked up her pace, scanning her surroundings repeatedly as she tried to find out who was. She couldn't see anyone though, no matter how hard she looked.
Finally after what seemed like forever, her house came into view. She quickened her pace and sprinted to her house until she reached the door.
Panting heavily now, eyes bright with terror, she pulled out her keys and fumbling for a few seconds, pushed in the right one and dashed inside, slamming the door behind her. She locked the door securely, and it wasn't until she heard the bolt sliding into place, that she allowed herself to relax, partially slumping against the door. Trying to calm her still rough breaths, she leaned forward and looked out of the peephole, checking for her pursuer.
A hand fell onto her shoulder.
Anzu screamed and spun around.
"Anzu-chan?" Anzu, clutching her chest, nearly cried with relief.
"Mom..."
"Anzu-chan?" Shura said worriedly. "You look tired...no, even more tired than you usually do. Are you okay?"
"Ya, I have to agree with her. You look worse than you did at the party." Honda said.
"Thanks. As for how I feel... I feel perfect. Never better." Anzu mumbled back. She felt like newly raised zombie. She tried not to wobble - a task made easier by the fact that she was sitting and partially supported by her chair and desk. Her two friends exchanged looks.
"No, really... You don't look well at all... Anzu-chan, what's that in your hand?" She had been clutching an envelope sealed with a heart sticker.
"A love letter. Haven't opened it yet."
"Really!? Open it! That's so exciting!" Shura spun around so she could look at the clock that was hung up near the ceiling on the back wall. "There's at least a minute before Uzume-sensei comes!"
"Shura-kun..."
"Aw come on. I promise I won't make fun of you later." Honda said.
"Please?"
"Okay, okay..." Anzu, tired of being prodded, gave in. Quickly opening the envelope, she took out the letter and held it out in front of her so Honda and Shura could read it themselves.
I saw you last night and
you're as pretty as ever.
Running like that... I just thought,
'How beautiful and graceful she looks!'
One day you'll be running to me
instead of HIM.
Sincerely,
The One Who Loves You
Hands trembling, Anzu took a few deep breaths and tried not to burst into tears right then and there.
"Anzu! You okay?" Honda noticed how pale she'd turned.
"I-I'm fine!" She crumpled the note. "Just weirded out... It's nothing."
"Bu-"
"Everyone in your seats! NOW." Uzume-sensei had arrived and was making sure everyone was aware of the fact.
'Someone is watching me.' Anzu's hand gripped the hem of her skirt so tightly that her knuckles became white. 'But from where? I can never figure out...' She forced herself to exhale. 'Come on... How hard could it possibly be to find a stalker!? She glanced at the clock. 'When the bell rings for lunch, I'll casually just sort of stay behind and take a look around the classroom. No big deal.' She was shaking now. That terrible feeling...
The bell for lunch rang and losing all resolve, Anzu dashed to the door and was the first one out.
"Uh... Anzu, that's my lunch...wrapper. Are you sure that there isn't something else wrong then lack of sleep?" Jounouchi tugged the plastic material from his friend's mouth.
"Nope. Just need more sleep." Anzu mumbled, picking up her own lunch this time.
"And evidently new eyes." Honda said, plucking the plastic bag Anzu had been chewing on from her mouth. Anzu reached out again, this time grabbing her sandwich - this was attributed to the fact that Yugi had hurriedly unwrapped it and placed it right into her hand when he saw her nearly pick up his fork.
'I'm sorry. I couldn't get her to tell me anything.' Yami sighed, shrugging from the soul room. 'She wouldn't reveal anything.'
'I'll try then.' Yugi thought determinedly. 'Maybe... if I beg hard enough, she'll tell me something.' He chose to ignore Yami's eyes roll at this suggestion.
'I'm going to go nuts.' She stared at the clock. She'd still had no luck in locating her stalker and her prior resolve to just stay after school to try and find him was quickly crumbling under the suffocating feeling that she was being watched. 'Only a few minutes... I just have to stay a few...' The bell rang and she forced herself to stay still and pack her things slowly.
"Bye Anzu-chan!" Shura said as she passed. Anzu waved quickly and looked around in a somewhat discreet manner.
"Hey, Anzu, you coming?" Honda was by her desk now - 'And blocking half my view!' She shook her head.
"You go ahead, Honda. I'm just going to make sure I have all my stuff."
"Okay... the guys and I'll be just outside the school then." He left. Anzu took a quick survey of the room behind her and let out a sigh of exasperation. Everyone else had already left.
But that terrible feeling still hadn't gone away.
Breathing a little faster, she threw the rest of her things into her bag and jumped up, eager to get out.
"Umph!" Anzu stepped back, having bumped into someone in her hurry to get home. "I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!" 'Someone is still here?'
"That much was obvious, Mazaki." Her eyes shot open.
"Kaiba!" She frowned. "Why are you always here after school?"
"I prefer to finish my homework here than bother with it at home." Her jaw nearly dropped to the ground.
"You've finished everything already!?" He smirked.
"When you learn not to compare me to you or your friends, you'll stop being surprised at what I can do." Anzu's eyes narrowed at the insult. But instead of sending one back at him, she did something that threw him off.
"Thank you." The smirk disappeared, replaced with a look of incredulity.
"What?" He gave her a look that suggested he thought she needed psychological help.
"Thank you for carrying me all the way to the nurse's office. That was really nice of you." She said sincerely.
"You're not going to faint again are you?" He said, eying her. Today, she appeared to be in even worse shape than before.
"Why, you going to just leave me where I fall this time?" Anzu asked testily.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea." He answered snidely. "Maybe then you'll faint around someone else and save me the pain of dragging you to the nurse's room. You're no lightweight you know."
"Why you insufferable...bas-" Anzu bit her tongue. 'It's not like I chose to faint in front of you! She had no time to bicker with him anyway. Honda, Jounouchi and Yugi were still waiting for her outside. "You're not worth my time." She forced out through gritted teeth, talking mostly to herself than him. "Goodbye Kaiba." And with that, she stormed out without looking back, insides burning with barely suppressed rage.
She was so caught up in her anger, that she didn't notice Nato Juban standing a few feet behind her, standing partly behind a corner. His eyes followed her every move until she disappeared behind the front double doors of the school.