Author's note: Thanks for the feedback folks – you're all so generous! I'm glad most of you enjoy this since I'm having an insane amount of fun writing it. Re: Anzu's parents, the apparent stars of this particular fic. Since you all seem to love them so much, I suppose it's time I come clean. I wish I could tell you guys and gals that they were my very own brainchild, but the truth is… ehehe. They're my parents. Yes, knowing what I know about Anzu's real folks (zippo), I had to draw on my own experience to establish her home life.

It may be amusing to read about, but when your mom was a stand-up comic in College and your dad was the class clown, it makes for a pretty interesting childhood. In fact, my twin brother and I blame our parents for our own sarcastic/bordering-on-wacky dispositions. We had both nature and nurture working against us from the very beginning – a hopeless situation. (Mom, Dad, if you ever stumble across this… I love you both very much and bear no ill-will)

So yeah, blame (or thank) my 'rents for the merciless teasing Anzu endures from her own folks - they've made it their life's mission to not take life seriously. (And to embarrass/tease/crack up their kids in the process.)

………………………

Chapter 4

"So I was thinking," Anzu began conversationally, as she stepped into Kaiba's Porsche, "That I would take Mokuba to the zoo tomorrow."

She kept her tone neutral, determined that today there would be no arguing, no insults, and perhaps most importantly, no further mortification. They would discuss Mokuba, anything pertaining to her job/scheduling, and possibly the weather if worse came to worse.

There would be no discussion of Kaiba's 'Lex Luthor' complex, his wretched manners, or the fact that he had the most perfect set of pectoral muscles she'd ever seen outside of movies and magazines. They would not talk about her big mouth, colorful underwear, or so-called 'obvious' crush on her way delusional boss who clearly mistook burning hatred for lust.

Today would be, for the first time since this little arrangement began, all about professional detachment and not making a complete ass out of herself.

"Hmm," Kaiba replied, "This is something he said he wanted to do?"

"Well not in so many words," Anzu admitted, "But he has so many wildlife books in his room, and today he was talking about how excited he was that time he went with you to Africa on business and saw all these giraffes. I thought it would be fun."

"You may go," he said taking her by complete surprise as she'd been prepared for another fight. Perhaps he'd come up with a similar resolution to hers.

"I'll arrange transportation," he continued without taking his eyes off the road, "A bodyguard will accompany you, and make sure you have the list I gave you in case of any emergencies."

"What list?"

That tore his gaze from the road, and his eyes darted over to meet hers with an icy glare.

"Kidding," she said lightly, pulling the laminated sheet he'd given her on her first day from a bright orange handbag.

It contained all the numbers he could be reached at during the day, including his private cell phone. It was a list he'd told her very few people had access to, and she'd be wise to keep a close eye on it. Aside from that, she was only to contact him if something came up with Mokuba that she couldn't handle, or in the event of an emergency. As if she'd even want to call him, but if there was anything she had learned from her too-long acquaintance with Kaiba, it was that egomaniacs walked around with the constant supposition that people were dying to be near them.

His obsession with the little plastic-encased piece of paper was enough motivation for her to tease him with it. Although now that she thought about it, probably not the best way to go about dodging bullets.

Oops.

"You lose," he snappily informed her.

Lose? Christ, was everything a stupid competition to him? Now he was inventing games for them in his head without bothering to share the rules with her? And he scoffed at her yesterday when she called him ridiculous! Anzu was almost afraid to ask, but had long since realized that she had little restraint when it came to the obnoxious CEO,

"Excuse me, but what the hell are you talking about?"

"Your inability to contain yourself," he coolly informed her as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We both decided to be completely professional today, but you couldn't get past a minute without making a ridiculous joke."

"That is…" Pretty accurate actually, she admitted silently to herself. "Just stupid. What makes you think I had any intention of acting differently today?"

He chuckled in that condescending, mocking way she'd come to loathe so passionately in the past few days, and tossed her his signature smirk (which was incidentally a close second to the laugh in terms of irritation.)

"Because you're so obvious, Mazaki," Kaiba clearly relished each opportunity to provoke her as his tone was almost… gleeful. "You're expressions and eyes betray you, and if that weren't enough, you blab to anyone who will listen everything else. It amuses me."

Apparently he'd discarded all pretenses of civility when she'd made her ill-advised joke.

I just had to ask, Anzu thought to herself, suitably insulted. Why did she have to engage this jerk in verbal warfare? Now that she'd opened the can of worms, she'd be damned if she let him win again. It was a sickness, really.

"Well my 'what you see is what you get' mentality might tickle your twisted little funny bone," she said haughtily, "But for those of us who don't live according to the Madman's Guide to Life, it's actually a quality that's generally admired."

"Hence the degeneracy of mankind's collective intellect," he disparagingly remarked, "The masses are getting increasingly soft-witted, lazy, and insipid. It's disgusting, but it does allow those of us who aren't completely useless to get what we deserve at their expense."

Anzu gaped at him, "Did it hurt?"

"What?"

"When your soul was sucked out of your body by a supernatural-vacuum wielding, corporate demon," she clarified, "Did it hurt?"

"Only about as much as it probably injured your frazzled little brain to come up with that analogy."

His smirk shifted to one she hadn't had the privilege of seeing before. His features softened, and his lips quirked mysteriously as though he was sharing some sort of inside joke with himself. It made him look unfairly sexy, and was his mouth always so… kissable?

… Which was such an insane thought to be entertaining at this particular moment, it wasn't funny. Wasn't she supposed to be appalled by his certifiable superiority complex? Sure, the guy was a babe, but he needed help!

Hell, a little counseling wouldn't hurt me at this point either.

Because to be slightly, minutely, just barely attracted to a guy who'd just effectively proved what a nut-bar he really was... it was sheer lunacy. Honestly, the terminal cynicism! The negativity towards mankind! The schadenfreude! And perhaps most grating, the constant need for one-upmanship he possessed which was his very own brand of immaturity if she thought about it. Nothing like the type she was used to with her friends' raging hormones. She couldn't fix this problem with a cuff to the back of his head.

"You may not act much like a normal teenager," Anzu observed, "But you're pretty evenly matched with my good friend Jounouchi as far as maturity goes."

His jaw clenched, his hands tightened on the steering wheel, he had really nice veins… she was really losing it. Nice veins?

"That is an absurd fabrication," Kaiba was clearly angered by the comparison.

"Well forgive my blaspheme," she said caustically, "But I beg to differ."

"If anybody is lacking in the maturity department here, it's you," he accused, "And until you learn to keep your ill-timed, infantile, unfunny wisecracks to yourself, I don't see much improvement in your future either."

Unfunny? Now that was just a blatant lie if she ever heard one, Anzu thought she was plenty funny. But he was also right; she had breached their silent contract of professionalism first.

Besides, what about no arguing/making a complete ass out of herself? It wasn't too late to prevent the latter, although continued verbal sparring would undoubtedly lead her in that direction considering her propensity to… over-exaggerate. (And Kaiba's propensity to mock it so well.)

And what of cute little Mokuba who so earnestly wanted his brother and her to be friends? Granted, that was an impossible scenario, the least she could do for the young boy was try to be civil. And no, she hadn't tried much before, no matter what she told herself, she did her fair share of provoking.

Alright, she decided begrudgingly, I'll just end this right now…

The younger Kaiba's sweet smile in mind, she turned to the older,

"Okay, you have a point."

He couldn't hide his surprise as his eyebrows retreated into a shaggy curtain of bangs, and he shot her a suspicious look out of the corner of his eye.

"I mean, yeah. I shouldn't have made that stupid little comment, I just couldn't help myself since you were getting all mother hen and–," Wrong choice of words, Anzu realized as he glared at her,

"Well, not mother hen… more like, you know, big brother hen… or, um not, considering 'hen' by definition would mean 'female' (I know 'cause my dad grew up on a farm) and you, you are definitely male. I mean, believe me, you're about as male as they come which is actually… completely besides the point." Oh god, she was babbling, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I had to compare you to an animal, I'd say you're more like a… I don't know, a wolf or something. I know some people who would say snake, but I'm not one of them because I think you're too-,"

"Mazaki," Seto interrupted her irritably.

Anzu was sheepish, "Yes?"

"I have neither the time nor patience for your incoherent blathering. If you need to sort out your convoluted thoughts, which I know those of inferior intelligence often do, work it out without talking. Moron!" He sighed with annoyance, "Now what the hell is your stupid, invalid, formulated-in-a-barn point, you slack-jawed yokel?"

He learned her dad was raised on a farm, and now she was a hillbilly? Was she actually just about to apologize to this idiot?

"Stop the car," she commanded in a quiet, but firm tone.

He ignored her, and with a despicably smug grin, kept driving.

"I said stop the goddamned car!" she shouted, desperate to get out of the vehicle before she bashed his stupid, pretty face into the steering wheel.

He started at the sudden noise, and albeit while aiming a particularly poisonous stare in her direction, actually deigned to oblige. He pulled over on the side of the road.

"What the hell is the matter with you?"

"Me?" Anzu cried, "What's the matter with me? You are the one with a problem, and I will not spend one more second in this claustrophobic little metal cage of abject torment with such a sick individual! Get some therapy!"

Then, because her mortification quota of the day hadn't quite been reached, Anzu found that she was unable to make the quick, hostile exit such a speech deserved; her seatbelt was stuck.

"Aw crap," she muttered, painfully aware of the teenaged businessman's steely blue gaze.

This had to be some kind of sick cosmic joke, she decided as she struggled in vain to free herself. The gods were gleefully looking down at her, trapped in an expensive vehicle which should not be presenting such a 'junk-bucket' type of problem considering it was brand new. If she was in Jou's old pickup? Yeah it could – and probably would – happen. Her dad's new Dodge truck? A possibility. Her mother's Accord? Sure why not?

But Kaiba Seto's beautiful, perfectly running, sleek, sexy Porsche convertible? Only if the deities were conspiring against her.

This is not happening!

A low, scornful snicker drifted over from the driver's side, and Anzu felt her face heat up, partially from embarrassment, and partially from anger.

"Your car sucks!" she snapped crankily.

"No," he calmly replied, "You just broke my seatbelt."

"I did not!" she indignantly declared. Then after a few seconds more of fighting with the stubborn belt, "Um, Kaiba?"

"Hmm?"

Anzu pushed a few stray hairs away from her red face, collected herself, swallowed her pride and let out a long breath, "Could I get a little help here, please?"

He revealed his perfectly straight white teeth in a full fledged conceited grin, and oh lordy he was beautiful. Then of course, he ruined the effect by speaking,

"Well, well, well. This is interesting." He was clearly in diabolical super-villain mode again.

"No," she bit out, "It is not interesting. It's awkward and stupid, and why the hell does life have to work so a righteously angry speech is not followed by a perfect exit, but rather a situation contrived in hell! Now are you going to help me, or do I have to cut through this seatbelt with my keychain scissors?"

Kaiba sighed with an air of distinct boredom, and undid his own seatbelt with enviable ease. Then without further warning, he was on her side of the vehicle, leaning oh-so-close as he investigated the mechanics of the insolent belt.

"You know," his surprisingly silky hair fell forward to brush her bare shoulder while he spoke, "I should fire you for your insane behavior."

"Hmm?" She could feel his breath on her arm, and what was that enticing cologne? "I mean, um, that wouldn't be as much a punishment as you might think."

"Yes, I vaguely recall you mentioning something about my unpleasant disposition."

Wait a minute. Was that a…joke?

"I'm rubbing off on you," she smiled wryly.

Seto scoffed, "Don't be foolish."

"A slack-jawed yokel wouldn't really be anything else, would she?" Her cheeks flushed as she remembered the insult, and because his hand was brushing her thigh while he worked on getting her free.

"Mm, and a soulless madman would probably choke you to death with this seatbelt instead of trying to get you out of it."

Anzu hated it when somebody she was intent on hating made a good point.

"Touché." She bit her lip, watching navy blue eyes study her unwitting captor as though it was some sort of puzzle. "So will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Fire me?" As much as she couldn't stand his brother, she would really miss Mokuba if he actually went through with it. Not to mention her prestigious dance academy.

"No," he reluctantly admitted.

She tried not to show her relief, "Oh?"

"It's not your job to be civil to me," he stiffly explained, "An expected, although unwritten rule in any type of workplace, but not absolutely necessary. I only hired you to look after Mokuba and you've been doing a satisfactory job so far."

"Satisfactory?" Anzu smiled faintly, "I suppose in 'Kaiba-speak' that means excellent."

"I mean what I say," the seatbelt suddenly popped open with a satisfying click, and he immediately withdrew from her. "You can get out now."

"Right. Um… you know, thanks."

"Hmm."

"O-kay! Well, I'll uh, see you tomorrow," she scrambled out of her seat, opened the door, stepped outside, slammed it shut… and immediately opened it again.

Kaiba studied her with an unreadable expression, and cool blue eyes, "Your purse?"

"Yeah," at this rate her face would be permanently red, she decided snatching her bag off the rubber floor-mat.

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'dumbass,' to which Anzu responded by slamming the car door harder than necessary and flouncing away like a snotty cheerleader.

She tried to remain angry on the walk home, but somehow the thought of his hands made her smile.

So this is what going stark-raving mad feels like.

………………………

"So then I was like, 'Get some therapy freak-show!' and left just like that," Anzu told her friends later that evening, "I'm sure he would have had some Kaiba-esque scathing comeback if I'd stuck around long enough but after all the abuse I'd already endured, I was so out of there."

Since Jou, Honda, and Yugi showed up to hang out that night, Anzu had wasted no time spilling her guts, desperately in need of a venting session. Naturally, her retelling gave a slightly altered version of events to her pals, as to tell the whole truth was of course impossible. After all, if she wanted to be laughed at, she always had Kaiba (and her parents) she needed sympathy from her comrades.

She felt better already, just being around all the people who knew her best, in such comfortable surroundings. They were hanging out in her family room, Jou stretched out on the sofa still wearing the bright green uniform shirt from the hardware store he worked at. Yugi, taking up very little space as always with his diminutive stature perched at the edge of the couch on the small space Jou wasn't hogging with his lanky frame. Honda sat comfortably on Mr. Mazaki's favorite recliner, casually stylish as usual with his fitted jacket and well-cut jeans.

Anzu soaked up their presence, seated cross-legged on her mother's armchair, in the ballet leotard she'd been practicing in before her pals arrived, and the sweats she pulled on when they got there.

"It's always better to walk away from a fight when it gets that intense," Yugi told her, nodding with approval. "Although, you didn't really have to call him a freak-show did you?"

"Yugi makes an excellent point," Jou chimed in, "I personally would have gone with Minion of Satan."

"Nah," Honda had to add his two cents, "Since she'd just told him to get help, she couldn't follow it with something like that, it doesn't gel. Deranged sicko might have packed a bit more punch, but otherwise, good choice, Anzu."

Yugi shook his head with a faint smile, "That's not what I meant."

"Well I sure as hell did," Anzu exclaimed, "Because he is a weirdo, no doubt about it. I mean, you should hear the stuff that comes out of that pretty little mouth of his, the boy's not right."

Silence.

Huh? She looked up to find her friends staring back at her with open-mouthed disbelief. "What?"

"His pretty little mouth?" Honda collected his wits first, "Kaiba's mouth? Does this mean what I think it means?"

Damnit, she really didn't think before she spoke as her boss was so fond of reminding her. She actually just said that out loud? Oh this would be the end of her with this particular circle of friends, they'd never let her live it down. But then, so what? It wasn't as though she could help the fact that Kaiba was such a stone cold fox.

No, but she could help opening up her own decidedly big, fat mouth about it. It was just her comfort level with these people was high enough to cause her to drop her guard more than she normally would. She never usually had to be careful around them. She'd have to rethink that now that she was constantly spending time with a real-life super-villain. That, and she'd now have to do a little damage control.

"Well that depends," Anzu said in a tone of voice that was as relaxed as she could get it, "On what you think it means."

Jou narrowed his eyes, "It means you have a crush on that creep."

He shuddered comically as if the very thought made him want to hide under his bed, while Yugi studied her curiously with wide violet eyes, and Honda perched so far at the edge of his recliner he was about an inch away from falling off.

Anzu scoffed, "Don't be stupid, Jou. I can't stand the jerk."

"Yeah, but you just said that-,"

"He has a great mouth, yeah I know, so what?" She ran a casual hand through her bangs, deducing that a trim would probably be a good idea soon, "I won't deny that the guy has good genes, I mean I have eyes. But come on, he's evil remember? The thought of kissing those pretty lips makes my stomach turn, he probably has spider breath."

Yugi leaned back in his seat, seemingly relieved, "I don't think he eats spiders, Anzu."

"Spiders, bats, rat tails, the works I'm sure," Jou wrinkled his nose with disgust.

"Greasy grimy gopher guts, and French-fried eyeballs," Honda recited in a sing-song tone.

"Ack! Stop," Anzu plugged her ears, "I'm having horrible flashbacks to the second grade."

"Oh, would that be the time you wouldn't stop singing that song so your dad served you a meal he claimed was exactly that?" Yugi was nice enough to try to hide his amusement at the recollection.

"Oh god, he wore a chef's hat and everything," Anzu seized the opportunity to ease off the subject of her good-looking boss, "He was all, 'Well you were raving about it so much, I took the hint. Dig in!' My parents are so lame."

The three guys exchanged a look she was used to seeing when she whined about her folks, the 'this-girl-is-nuts' look. Her boys absolutely adored her parents, which was really no huge surprise considering their wit did charm and delight those it wasn't normally aimed at. But even when her mom would good-naturedly tease Yugi about his height, or her dad would get on Honda's case about his haircut, or Jou and his weirdness they seemed to actually like it.

Okay, she wouldn't deny her parents were pretty decent (when they weren't being utterly annoying), and it was true she did have the best familial situation out of all of them. Yugi didn't even have parents, though his grandfather was super-sweet and delightfully wacky. Still, it was nice for the diminutive teenager to come over and soak up Eri's maternal qualities and Heiji's fatherly presence. And Anzu was glad – her friend was far too sweet to go through life without a little affectionate mothering now and then.

Honda's family was just your basic suburban normal in appearance – his dad did some well-paying job involving computers that none of them understood, and his mother was cute (in Anzu's opinion) and matronly in her housewife role. But his father was very controlling, critical, and always on his son's case which caused a lot of arguing in their household.

But Jou had the worst deal of them all, he didn't see his mother or his sister for that matter, very often. They lived clear across the country, and Jou was stuck living with a father that really didn't care for the job. He was a loud, obnoxious alcoholic who ignored his son when he was sober, and shouted at him when he was drunk. Plus, on the few occasions Anzu had visited their apartment, he was always hitting on her if he was around.

As much as her friends loved her parents, they in turn loved her friends; Jou, Yugi, and Honda were their "honorary sons" and always welcome in their home. But then, the Mazakis were pretty accepting of people, which actually made Anzu wonder. What would they think of Kaiba?

Which then made her wonder why she should even care.

"If my dad did that to me, I don't think I would be traumatized," Honda decided after a moment's contemplation interrupting her disturbing train of thought, "It seems like a fun joke."

"Yeah," Jou agreed, "What did he actually serve you anyway?"

"Oh, chocolate fudge cake with candy eyeballs," she rolled her eyes, "Not that I even ate it anyway, assuming it was some heinous concoction. But mom sure chowed down."

"Hey now, there will be no discussion of my eating habits while I still run this household," Mrs. Mazaki suddenly appeared in the family room. She was still wearing her business suit from being in court all day, but she'd taken the jacket off, and her hair was out of its upsweep. She smiled mysteriously, "A lady has to have some secrets you know."

"I'll say," Honda grinned dashingly, "Because if other women found out you regularly eat chocolate fudge cake and still look like that, there will be rioting in the streets."

Anzu rolled her eyes. Honda, charmer that he was, always felt the need to good-naturedly flirt with her mother much to her annoyance.

"Ooh, now we have to tell," Eri easily changed her tune, "It's been getting rather dull around here."

"Mom, please." Her daughter was not amused, "Anyway, what are you doing? Tell me you have better things to do than eavesdrop on a bunch of teenagers."

"I'm afraid I don't," she shook her head, "Well except for reading teenagers' diaries of course. You father and I take turns passing yours around at work."

Jou grinned evilly.

"Dear Diary," he said in a ridiculously over-the-top falsetto, "My new boss is so dreamy, he has the hottest lips I've ever seen and-,"

"I do not sound like that," Anzu interrupted him irritably, "And I told you, I don't have a crush on him."

"Ah, so you claim. But statements such as 'his pretty little mouth' say otherwise," he snickered, "Literally."

Anzu darted a horrified look at her mother who was absorbing the information with a decidedly interested expression. Oh NO! The priceless tidbit her so-called friend had just given her mom… was he crazy? Didn't he know what her parents could do with such valuable ammunition?

"I'll kill you," Anzu leapt from her armchair to tackle Jou's far-too-amused form on the couch, noting gratefully that Yugi slipped away just in time to avoid getting crushed too.

Once she had him pinned, she reached for a cushion and beat him mercilessly on the face with it, "You traitor!"

Jou for his part, couldn't help laughing, even as he reached out to tickle her stomach in retaliation. "Hey," he said between chuckles, "I'm not the one driving around town all the time with ole' Hotlips Kaiba."

"Shut up!" she choked out between her own laughter. Damn her ticklishness!

"Pardon me, children," Eri's mellow voice interrupted their fight, "But I really must insist you stop this silly little spat."

Jou contritely pulled his hand away from his opponent's stomach while Anzu begrudgingly dropped her cushion.

"Sorry Mrs. Mazaki," Jou offered.

"He started it," her daughter pouted.

"Oh don't be sorry," Eri waved her hand dismissively, "I only meant that you should put it on hold. Anzu's father will be home soon, and I'd hate for him to have to miss this. Feel free to pick up where you left off once he gets here. In fact, I insist on it."

"Ugh," Anzu pulled herself off her battered friend, and stomped back to her seat, "You are so not funny."

"Now there's no need to get insulting," her mom said lightly, "Oh, but now I remember why I came in here in the first place."

"Aside from eavesdropping?"

"Actually, I came to play secretary. The phone's for you," Eri informed her, "But now he's been kept waiting much too long, I hope he's still there."

Anzu suddenly had a very bad feeling, "Um, who is it?"

"Well good old Hotlips himself I'm afraid," she winked at Jou, "You might have to call him back."

"Augh!" Anzu punched the air with her fist and raced into the kitchen, annoyed to find everybody following closely behind. She lunged for the phone, snatching up the receiver with more force than necessary, "Hello?"

An irritable sigh sounded from the other end, "What the hell took you so long?"

"Well good evening to you too, Kaiba," she replied, "How lovely to hear from you."

Honda snorted loudly, and Anzu elbowed him in the ribs, while shooting an icy glare at everybody else. Honestly! Was a little privacy to much to wish for?

"I don't like to be kept waiting," the wealthy teen replied.

"Yeah, and I don't like getting phone calls at home from cartoon villains, but what are you gonna do?"

Eri raised her eyebrow at this, while Yugi looked caught somewhere between disapproval and amusement. Jou and Honda smirked at each other, clearly pleased to be observing this. Anzu continued to glare at them all, didn't these people know a hint when they saw one?

"Hm, I'll just cut straight to the chase," Kaiba said evenly in response, "I won't see you tomorrow morning so I want to discuss the arrangements for your outing with Mokuba."

"Okay."

"I'm having a limo take you there, and two of my security team will be accompanying you," he pressed on, "You are to remain with these escorts at all times, and will separate under no circumstances. Do you understand?"

"No," she sarcastically replied, "What does separate mean?"

He ignored her, "I've arranged for your bodyguards to pay for admission and any other expenses you might accumulate throughout the day, so don't bother paying for anything."

"I'll leave my funds at home," she assured him.

"Lastly, you will be home with Mokuba in his original condition before dinner."

Anzu snorted, "In his original condition? Should I bring the receipt along too? What if I already opened the packaging?"

A pause. "When you snort in such an uncouth manner, you really do reflect your barnyard upbringing."

Much to her mortification, Anzu found herself blushing. Which wouldn't have been so bad, given that Kaiba wasn't here to see it, but she still had an audience. An audience that found this new development quite intriguing.

"He'd better not be whispering sweet nothins," Jou said shaking his fist, "To have you blushing like that."

Anzu kicked him, "Be a little louder dummy!"

But Kaiba had heard everything, "Tell your idiot friend that I'd rather drink poison."

Drink poison? Hey, that was a little harsh.

"You pervert!" she said loudly for her friends' benefit, "What kind of degenerate asks about a girl's underwear?"

Eri's other eyebrow raised, and Anzu had to blush again. It might have been said to embarrass her boss, but it was still awkward saying things like that in front of her mom.

"You're the one so eager to display them," Kaiba pointed out.

"Just shut up," she was undoubtedly resembling a cooked lobster by now.

"Look, let's just wrap this up," he had a smug tone to his voice, as though he was pleased with her lack of an intelligent comeback. "Mokuba is looking forward to going tomorrow, so he'd better have a good time. Any questions?"

"No. I'll see you tomorrow."

He hung up without saying goodbye, and Anzu pinched the bridge of her nose while she placed the receiver back in the cradle. Why did she have to endure so much embarrassment? She was a good person, damnit! It wasn't fair!

"You know if he has to ask about your underwear," Eri said smoothly, "I think telling him about your Hello Kitty panties should silence him on the subject forever."

"Hello Kitty huh?" Honda raised his eyebrow.

Jou snickered, "Hello Kitty indeed."

"Now that was just a little too pervy for my motherly ears," Eri announced.

"You're dead Jounouchi!" Anzu cried, fully disgusted, giving chase while he laughingly ran away, "I swear, I'm going to make you eat your filthy little words!"

"Ooh, not yet sweetheart," Mrs. Mazaki called after them, "Just give it another five minutes until your father gets home."

"He can clean up the corpse when he gets here!"

………………………