That evening, Anzu was reading in her room. She held a book, flipped a page, occasionally, but didn't get any of it. Her thoughts were on the gang she'd met that afternoon.
Finally, the phone rang. Anzu picked up. "Hello, Anzu Mazaki speaking."
"Anzu? It's Shizuka." Shizuka, Jou's sister. "What happened this afternoon? You just ran out on us."
"Nothing." A big lie. Really fake.
"It is not nothing. Anzu, tell me," She pleaded. "I won't say a word to anybody else."
"First, answer this question: Have you ever felt out of place with some of the people you know best?"
There was silence on the other end. "Yeah... I guess so. Like when I went to a Duel Monsters tournament with Katsuya and everyone, there were a lot of people I saw from school, but I did feel out of place because I wasn't in there dueling... is that what you mean?"
"Kind of like that." Anzu admitted. "You know, how Yugi and Jou are the ones dueling, and they're teaching Honda, too. But I'm just on the sidelines, cheering them on, and it just gets old, and I get sick of it."
"Are you saying you want to duel, or you don't want anything to do with it?"
"Erm... I don't think I want anything to do with it anymore. I practically know every card in their decks by heart, and every time they duel, they come out with the same conclusion."
"..." Shizuka murmured. "But if you put dueling and games aside, do you still have that sense of not belonging?"
Anzu thought. "I don't know. Because everything we do has something to do with dueling and games."
"Point there." There was a pause. "Well, I have to go now. But Anzu, please think about what you're doing. Yugi's been really upset since this afternoon. He even ran around Domino looking for you."
"Hmm." Anzu said. It sounded stupid, as she couldn't think of anything to answer with. "Bye, Shizuka."
"See you." She hung up.
Anzu tossed the book onto her desk. It slid off, knocking some more books and papers to the floor. "Damn."
Her thoughts turned away from Yugi and back to Yami's gang again. They were all hot. Very hot. But it had creeped her out a little, the way Bakura and Marik were so close to her. And Yami, he'd looked slightly jealous, as Malik had. But she'd heard what he said when she left, after slapping him a five.
Then there was Ryou. What was he doing there? Shy, quiet Ryou was the last person she could think of that would be in a gang like that. Maybe Bakura had dragged him in?
Why? Why? Why was she even thinking about them? She probably wouldn't even see them again.
Wait a minute. She wanted to see them again. Something about them intrigued her, flared her curiosity, made her want to know more, much more, about them.
Then what Shizuka said... what about Yugi and Jounouchi and Honda? She hadn't said anything about the last two, but Yugi, he must have been worried.
She owed him an apology.
Anzu picked the phone up again, and dialed Yugi's number.
It rang four times. Nobody answered, so she left a message on the answering machine.
"Yugi? This is Anzu. I'm really sorry about what happened this afternoon. Shizuka told me you were feeling a bit down, so I just called to say my apologies."
Man, why did everything she say seem so fake and messed up? Anzu moaned and flopped down on her bed. Things were so not going right.
Maybe everything would be better in the morning.
*** *** *** ***
Princess F: Hey, thanx guys!
I'll try for two chapters per week, since I don't have too much time.