Hello, kept forgetting to post, so... >_O Sorry for taking so long.

Sabu-chan: Um... okay...

insanity-anime: Yep, congrats! Thanx! Really? Yes she can! I am! XD

malik's girlfriend: Fo' sho. Who's Alex?

tombmistress: Yah, I wanted to, but couldn't fit it into the story. *wah* Maybe in the next life...-_- Yeah, it would look real cool!

Rabidmoose: Uh... no I didn't... they only determined the ending. XP

Just weird. More filler chapters to drag the story on... So READ DAMMIT while I go look for my flamethrower...

Chapter Eight: Matchmaking

Once again, Anzu awoke with achy legs. Silently cursing the person who invented that kick, she got ready for school.

Mokuba was in the kitchen eating some sort of extra-sugary cereal. "I'm still not talking to you." Anzu grumbled when her cousin gave her his 'innocent' look.

He paused, chewing thoughtfully. "You know," he said, waving the spoon around (which caused a few drops of milk to go flying), "in order to tell me that, you had to talk to me."

"Not in the mood for that." She grabbed a breakfast bar and left the house.

*
She met up with Shizuka, as always, and they walked to school together. "Aren't you going to talk to Yugi?" was the first thing that Shizuka said to her that morning. "I mean, it's been almost a week, and you two aren't talking to each other at all. Not even a 'hi'."

"I know." Anzu looked up at the sky. "I just chicken out. Can you help?"

"I could try." said the red haired girl. An idea came to mind. "Meet me after school. If it doesn't work out, you have the whole weekend to worry. If it works, we'll go celebrate or something."

*
As the bell clanged, Anzu swept into the hall with the other masses.

Suddenly, she spotted a familiar spiky-ish white-ish head in the crowd. She wove her way through people, until she found the one she was looking for. "Hey, Bakura," Anzu said when she was beside him. Bakura took his head out of his locker to look at her.

"What?"

Here goes, don't mess up, Anzu coached herself. "Do you like Shizuka?"

*
Note from Anzu to Shizuka during third hour:
[Meet me under the tree during lunch.]
[I have to tell u something.]
*
Three o'clock seems a long way off, Anzu reckoned as the lunch bell rang. She met Shizuka near the front doors. "I have to go get something," she fibbed. "Go on ahead, I'll be right back."

Actually, she turned the corner, made sure Shizuka had gone outside and then ran to the second floor, where she found an empty classroom.

From there, she had the perfect view of the tree. Bakura was leaning against it at the moment, looking in the direction of the school doors. And right now, Shizuka was coming his way. She didn't seem to have noticed the guy, though. That is, until she was right in front of him.

Bakura was saying something, and Shizuka was... turning pink? And then she looked to the side a bit. Bakura continued speaking, but Anzu couldn't tell what else the girl was doing.

And then the thing that made her smile, because her one-minute plan had worked:

Bakura kissed Shizuka.

Very lightly, on the lips. Anzu stuck her head out the window, to make sure Jounouchi was nowhere near.

Then she cheered. But that might've been a mistake, because the couple under the tree heard her, and so did a teacher in the hallway. As Shizuka turned and looked up towards the window, someone clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Miss, what are you doing?"

Busted! A little voice proclaimed. Anzu smiled like a little girl and turned around. She ran around the teacher and out the door at full speed chanting, "Newton's Law of Gravity works! It really works!"

*
Why the hell did I do that? She reached the front doors, panting. I sounded like some preppy bimbo. Anzu leaned against one of the doors to catch her breath.

Well, you got away, her little voice answered. And isn't getting away the first thing in tae-kwon-do, along with defending yourself?

Anzu froze. She was pretty sure, that that voice didn't come from her head. She looked over. Ryou was standing there. "You were speaking out loud."

"Was I?" Yeah, she might've been...

"So... what were you doing? It sure didn't seem like a science experiment." he asked.

Should I tell him? Well, it's his own brother anyway. "Well, I—"

"—Was making sure one of her hook-up schemes worked," A new voice said smugly. Anzu and Ryou looked in that direction, and saw none other than Bakura. "And... it did."

"What are you talking about?" Ryou looked questioningly at the other two, as Shizuka came walking towards them. Then "Oh," when Bakura put an arm around his girl. "Hey, aren't you Jounouchi's sister?"

Shizuka nodded.

"Shizuka," Anzu remembered, "what are you going to tell your brother?"

"We're kind of figuring that out right now," the girl admitted, "but for the time being, we're going to try and keep it secret, because he's not going to be too happy when he finds out."

The bell rang, ending lunch hour and their 'conversation.' (Which also reminded Anzu that she hadn't eaten a thing.)

"Thanks," Shizuka whispered as the halls filled with noisy students.

Anzu smiled.

*** *** *** ***

Yes yes, I know, hasty matchmaking... -_-...

The real action begins... next chapter, methinks. But YOU DON' HAFTA WAIT!!! JUST CLICK ON THE BLUE ARROW OVER THERE AND READ IT!!! Making up for a loooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggg absence...>>