Right.
Surprise! This fic is back. I finally cranked out another chapter. This is getting sad, seeing as this was originally meant to be completed by New Year. Oh well! The Holiday theme isn't really that important to the story anyway. I must say it is a bit weird trying to write about Winter when it's the middle of May, but fortunately I found some lovely writings from one of my Winters in Montreal to help inspire me! Just goes to show, though -- you should NEVER trust a fan fic author unless they've got a story that's already complete and ready to post!
I hope everyone that reviewed when this first came out is still out there reading. And to the person that reviewed this story just the other day (I don't have the pen name in front of me right now): Rejoice! For it is largely due to your review that this story received an update.
Quick reminder: I'm not a huge YuGiOh! fan. So if anyone is OOC, or says/does/creates anything that isn't correct in the YuGiOh universe, please accept my apologies. I'm pretty sure I've done OK so far, though.
Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh! or any of the characters. I do, however, own a new computer. I hope my formatting doesn't get all screwed up!
So, in case you've forgotten (you really better go back and read the other chapters again!), Anzu surprised Seto with a kiss at the end of the previous chapter. Let's find out what happens next...
Holiday Blues
Chapter 5: The Brilliance of Winter
The kiss was tentative, but not shy. Seto stood stock still, reveling momentarily in the silky-feeling press of Anzu's lips and the spine-tingling way she slid her small hand down the side of his neck...
Then it was over, as suddenly as it began.
I must be hallucinating.
This was the first comprehensible thought which entered the mind of a dazed Seto Kaiba. His brain seemed to be throbbing in and out of sensibility, but when he finally got ahold of himself he realized that he was indeed standing face to face with Anzu Mazaki...and she really had just kissed him. She was presently fixing him with an expectant blue gaze, not bothering to mask any of her apprehension.
Seto jumped back from her as though she were radioactive. That kiss had been too soft, too full of understanding, and way too much like exactly what he wanted...and there was absolutely no way he would let her know that.
His face had readjusted into its customary glare, and he could have looked menacing if he hadn't betrayed himself by touching two fingers to his confused lips.
"H-have you completely lost your mind?" His voice sounded to him like it came from far away.
And I'm sure the stuttering really makes your message more forceful, his inner voice taunted.
Anzu shrugged slowly, dropping her eyes from his. He could swear he saw a flicker of disappointment in her countenance at the moment when she turned her face down. "I had to break you out of your mania somehow. You seemed to be losing your grip."
That's certainly an understatement.
He narrowed his eyes. The traitorous voice in his own mind was infuriating him even more than Anzu.
"Well maybe next time you should just mind your own business."
Anzu groaned with exasperation, tossing her auburn hair and throwing her arms up in a mockery of surrender. "Are we back to this again? Listen, Seto. If you don't know how much Mokuba loves you, and that he would never hurt you or abandon you, then maybe you do deserve to spend Christmas alone!"
Seto gasped. Obviously, Anzu was some kind of mind reader. He had to put a stop to this now. "I--"
She swiftly interrupted, those big sky blue eyes staring out at him with a strange expression. "Why do you always push away the people that care about you most?"
His mouth opened and closed. He hand never felt so utterly inarticulate in his life, and it was all because of Anzu. She was standing there looking at him as though he had hurt her, and he didn't know whether he wanted to slap her across the face or smash his lips down onto hers--
All these questions were left hanging in the air as the doorbell began to ring loudly.
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Anzu gave a startled jump, breaking out of the precarious eye-lock she'd been sharing with Kaiba for...who knows how long. The doorbell rang again. Anzu hurried across the kitchen, pausing as she passed the CEO. The CEO she had just kissed...
"Umm, sorry..."
She could smell him as she breezed by; the enticing scent of his own skin mingled with the crisp, clean smell of her soap...it made her remember when he'd drawn close to her, the warmth of his body, the way his surprised but unresistant lips had felt against hers...
Anzu was blushing quite noticeably by the time she reached the door. It just figures that I'd get a visitor at a time like this. Maybe it's just a salesman or something...
She wrenched the door open with surprising force, propelled by an excess of nervous energy. Standing before her with a few errant snowflakes in his hair was a smiling Yugi.
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"Hey, Anzu! I was walking by and just thought I'd-- is something wrong?"
It hadn't taken Yugi too long to notice Anzu's flustered appearance. Her face was red, hair disheveled, and her eyes kept darting behind her into the apartment.
"If this is a bad time, I can--"
"Oh, no Yugi! It's just, umm, I've got a--"
A third voice interjected, one that Yugi never would have expected to hear at Anzu's apartment.
"Excuse me. I'll be leaving now."
Yugi stepped aside, dumbfounded, as Seto Kaiba swept out from behind Anzu, black trenchcoat streaming behind him as he strode hurriedly down the apartment's stone steps. The shorter man then shifted his attention back to his friend, who looked somewhat panicked.
"Kaiba, wait!" She looked as though she wanted to chase after him, but she certainly couldn't go running barefoot on the icy pavement and the tycoon's long legs were carrying him rapidly away...Anzu sighed, her shoulders sinking in defeat. She seemed to have almost forgotten that Yugi was standing there.
Putting a hand on her arm, he tried to bring Anzu back to reality. "Umm, Anzu? What's going on?"
She gifted him with a small smile. "That's a pretty good question, actually. Come in and we can discuss it over coffee?"
Yugi gave her a friendly nod, shutting out the chill of the Winter sidwalks with a click of the apartment door.
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The brisk December air rushed soothingly into Seto's lungs as he strode through the middle of Domino Park. He didn't know why he felt the need to hurry; he just wanted to get away from Anzu's flat as quickly as possible.
Who'd have thought? The President of Kaiba Corp., scared of a girl...
I'm not scared, his rational mind replied, I left because Yugi was there.
Suuuuuure you did. And the fact that you wanted to take Anzu into your arms and kiss her senseless had nothing to do with why you ran away at all...or maybe you're mad because you think Yugi's her boyfriend...
Kaiba growled, scaring away a nearby pigeon. Stupid voice...
The sight of an oddly familiar discarded liquor bottle forced Seto's thoughts back to Anzu yet again. He buried his hands deep in his trenchcoat pockets. She'd helped him...and she'd kissed him... But those things weren't even the most important.
What was foremost in his mind was that she'd been right...she was right about Mokuba.
The sunlight made the snowflakes glitter like the finest crystal, but their brilliance paled against that of the sparkle which returned to Seto Kaiba's eyes as he hurried home to call his little brother.
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"Wow, I can't believe it!"
Anzu had just finished telling Yugi all the details of her encounter with Seto Kaiba, from his drunken surliness on the park bench to the kiss she'd given him in her kitchen. She swirled her coffee absently and looked into Yugi's astonished violet eyes. "I just hope he comes to his senses and makes up with Mokuba before Christmas gets here."
"I don't know," Yugi frowned slightly. "Kaiba is pretty stubborn. Do you think you got through to him at all?"
Her wild-haired friend viewed her eagerly. That's just like Yugi, she thought, always worrying about others.
Anzu let out a weak chuckle. "I wish I knew. He's so confusing, Yugi! I mean, one moment we're shouting at each other, and the next...well..."
The pretty way she blushed gave Yugi a fairly concrete idea of what Anzu was referring to. He smiled slyly. "You know Anzu? I think you'd be really good for Kaiba. Maybe make him a little less...scary. More relaxed..." He raised an eyebrow suggestively.
"Yugi! Don't be ridiculous!" Anzu's face was scarlet red, and coffee sloshed out of her cup. "It was just one kiss-- one he didn't even want! Besides, it's not like I have...those kind of...feelings for him..." Anzu's hand shot up to cover her mouth.
Yugi's eyes widened, as well as his grin. Anzu continued babbling.
"We're nothing alike at all--"
Yugi replied with a wink. "Opposites attract."
"But Yugi, we just fight all the time--"
"The occasional argument keeps a relationship strong and healthy! Not to mention the make-up sex--"
"Yugi!"
Yugi's small frame shook with laughter. He managed to calm down soon enough, and noticed that Anzu looked extremely thoughtful. "Hey," he began, "what have you got to lose?"
Anzu shook her head. "Yugi, I don't think I can. I mean, what am I supposed to do-- pursue him?"
"Why not?"
"Well, for one thing, I don't think he'd want me to. He probably thinks I'm some kind of common tart already!"
Yugi rolled his eyes. "Because of one kiss? I doubt it. And you know what? Sometimes I don't think Kaiba knows what he really wants."
The two lapsed into a brief silence, both enjoying very different contemplations about their former adversary. Anzu broke the silence with a bright laugh. "There's one thing I do know, Yugi."
Those wide purple eyes stared back at her with curiosity. "What's that?"
"Jounouchi is going to kill you if he ever finds out you've been encouraging me to date Seto Kaiba!"
The two friends dissolved into a fit of hysterics, laughing all the tensions and serious discussions of the day away.
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Long after Yugi was gone, Anzu gazed quietly out at the frosty and deserted park, the snow glowing a deceptively warm orange under the umbrellas of light shed by the lamp posts. She knew it was as silent outside under the blankets of snow as it was in her cozy seat by the window, and the sleepy quality of the vista made her warm inside. In this private, contemplative moment, Anzu allowed her imagination to run free, wondering with a smile what it would be like if she could kiss Seto just one more time...
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There! Whew, this story is getting close to being done. One more chapter and possibly an epilogue (or another full chapter, depending on whether I feel like it!). I hope you liked this part. I don't know if it's as good as some of the others, but I tried to make it as interesting as possible!
Drop me a review and let me know what you think of it! And if you want another update soon, bug me and bother me as much as you can!
