Ok readers sorry for the long update. (Especially you Lily, you left me 2 reviews…LoL) NE Wayz… I was going to divide this chapter into two, but I decided to combine it into one long chapter. So I hope you enjoy it and leave me a review that makes me happy! Enjoy!
I forgot to mention a few things in the first introduction/chapter. (Thanks anonymous peep for reminding me.) Ok I know that you have to be 18 years old to be on the show Top Model (I know because I want to be on it, but I'm not 18 yet :cries:) So anyway, the age you have to be is at least 16, and have parents signatures. The contestants are ages 16-20; I cut it off at twenty so they can't do any under age drinking… this fic isn't exactly like the show…I just basically took the idea and Remixed it ok? Oh! Pegasus, Kaiba, and Duke are business partners. And one more thing… I'm not good at making up characters so I borrowed a couple from different Animes. :grins: I think that's explains everything, if not ask me in a review… :)
A Ball in a Swanky Hotel—Time to MingleAnzu woke up early the morning she was to depart for Tokyo. Her parents had finally given into the fact that their 'little girl' was going away for about three months and that she couldn't spend her summer vacation at home with them. Her parents arranged for a limo to pick her up and drop her off at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Rei of course, wanted to ride along with her to the hotel, and being the kind person Anzu was, she allowed it, besides it would be no fun without her best gal pal.
"Bye daddy," Anzu said hugging him tightly. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too Anzu." He kissed her cheek, "don't be sad if you don't win. We both love you and will support anything you do."
Anzu smiled at her father. He wasn't usually the understanding one, but today, for some reason, he understood. This was comforting to her. "I know daddy, I love you too." She turned to her mother, "bye mom. I love you too."
Her mother threw her arms around her daughter and sobbed heavily. "Oh…Anzu…don't leave…I'll miss you too much…"
Anzu half laughed at her but as she did, tears started running down her cheeks. "I'll miss you too mom," she embraced her mother lovingly. "I'll call you ok?"
Her mother nodded, "yes ok." She squeezed her daughter's hand, "I love you honey."
"Me to," she said softly.
"Come on Anzu!" Rei called from the limo.
"Coming!" she shouted back. She smiled at her parents, "bye." She turned to leave but her mom wouldn't let go of her hand. "Mom…I got to go…so could you…" she glanced at her hand then at her mother. She didn't budge. "Mom…let go…"
"Let go honey," her father coaxed.
Anzu pulled her hand free and walked off the porch. She climbed into the limo and the driver shut the door behind her. She took one last look at her parents and her house before the limo pulled away from the curb and headed to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Tokyo.
--
Anzu and Rei walked into the hotel lobby. It had a Japanese theme to it, yet it was modern, but still had an authentic feel to it. There were tourist, bellboys, and a camera crew setting up their equipment in different parts of the lobby. They were possibly the camera crew setting up for the Top Model Search. Rei noticed them first. "Anzu, look," she pointed. "I think they're getting ready to film us."
"You think?" Anzu asked. She was a little nervous about the whole thing. She wasn't sure how to act. The cameras would be on her twenty four-seven, so that meant they would see everything she did and said. Was she ready for that? She wasn't sure, and just seeing them set up made her even uneasier. "Let's find out where we're supposed to be," she suggested.
"Yeah good idea." Rei walked over to the front desk and rang the little golden bell. "Excuse me sir," she asked politely. The man turned around and smiled. "Do you know where are the Top Model contestants supposed to meet?"
"Oh yes." He leaned over the desk and pointed down the hall, "it's in Ball Room B. Go all the way down the hall, it curves around, and then it will be on your left. The doors are open."
"Ok thank you," Rei said with a smile. She motioned her head towards the hall, "come on Anzu."
Anzu followed her friend down the hall. She held onto her arm tightly; just being there made her a nervous wreck. She didn't know what to expect, but that was the fun of the show, wasn't it? Why was she so nervous? She knew what she was getting into—sort of. She had watched the show before, and the girls were pretty much nice to each other, so that wasn't what was bothering her. Was it the fact that she was in a competition against her friend? No, she would be happy if Rei won and she didn't. If that wasn't it, then what was it? Why was she so nervous? Was it because Seto Kaiba was one of the judges and he would be judging her body? Maybe that was it, after all her heart was fluttering at that thought. Wait why? She took a few deep breaths to calm her heart.
"You ok Anzu?" Rei asked. "You look like you're ready to faint."
"No, I'm ok. I'm just a little nervous," she replied.
"You'll be fine," Rei assured her. "Come on, I think this is the room we want."
When they walked into the ballroom they saw girls, probably the other contestants, standing in huddle around someone. The ballroom itself looked like it was being decorated for a formal event of some kind.
"Ah, the final contestants are here," a deep, yet soothing voice said within the crowd. Rei and Anzu walked over to the crowd. "Could I possibly borrow a chair?" One of the men working in the room got a chair for the man that asked. "Thank you." The man who requested a chair was none other than Pegasus J. Crawford. He stood on the chair as he spoke. "I would first like to say congratulations to all of you who made it to the top twelve. It wasn't easy to pick each one of you. I must have sat through hundreds of tapes looking for girls who had that 'certain' something I need my next Top model to be." He cleared his throat, "Now that that's out of the way. I want welcome you to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. There will be three girls in a room and I have randomly selected your roommates. The hotel staff will take you to your rooms. I asked for all of you to meet in the ballroom because I, and the rest of the judges will be hosting a dinner here tonight. I hope all of you have brought your formal dresses," he chuckled. "I wanted all of you to have a chance to meet each other, and also mingle with us." He smiled happily, "please don't hesitate if you have any questions or concerns. The party will begin at seven-thirty. You have a few hours to get settled and unpacked, then tomorrow we start the photo shoot; but we will discuss that later. So until tonight," he bowed from the waist like a gentlemen and extended out his arm gracefully, "I bid you ladies adieu."
Anzu looked at Rei, she hoped that she would be in the same room as her. The group of girls walked out the ballroom and back into the lobby, followed by the camera crew. The hotel staff each took a group of three girls and went upstairs to the master suites. After Anzu received her room number and key card, she went back outside to where the limo was parked. She asked the driver to take her suitcases and follow her upstairs to her room.
When Anzu opened the door to her room she saw a girl unpacking her belongings on the bed. The room had an authentic Japanese theme to it. From the pillows around the floor to the paper sliding doors that separated the kitchen from the main room. There were three twin size beds with three matching dressers and vanity mirrors. There also were unlit candles that decorated the walls of the room, and on the center of the floor table. "Umm…hi…I guess we're roommates…" she said nervously.
The girl looked up and smiled, "yes, I guess we are. My name is Ami." She looked a little shorter than Anzu and had crystal blue eyes. She had short blue hair and was wearing a blue, knee-length skirt with a white collared, short-sleeved polo shirt.
"Miss Mazaki, I shall leave your bags by the door," the driver said setting the bags in the room.
"Yes, thank you," Anzu replied. She picked up her suitcase and placed it on the bed next to Ami's. "My name is Anzu." She unzipped her suitcase and started taking out her clothes. "So…" she started, trying to make conversation, "do you model professionally?"
"Oh no… I don't have time. I'm always too busy studying and preparing for college," she smiled, "my friend suggested that I try out for this whole event. When I made it, I wasn't going to go through with it because my friend didn't make the cut. I felt a little guilty but she assured me that she would be rooting for me." She sat on her bed and faced Anzu. "Do want to be a model?"
"No," Anzu replied. "I'm a dancer." She giggled a little, "my friend Rei entered me in the contest. I didn't even think I was Top Model material." She fell on her bed and stared up at the ceiling decorated with a Japanese style landscape. She didn't feel like unpacking at the moment. She was too busy thinking about seeing Kaiba at the dinner that night. "Why am I thinking about that?" she asked herself.
"Thinking about what?" Ami asked.
"Did I say that out loud?" Ami nodded. "I was thinking about Ka—the dinner tonight," she responded. She didn't want to admit that she was thinking about him, and if she said his name out loud she would be admitting to it. "I don't know how formal to dress."
"Me either. I just might wear my little blue dress." Ami knelt down by Anzu's bed. "I want to make a good impression, we're meeting all the judges tonight."
"That's what I'm worried about… I didn't think to bring anything really formal." She stared at Ami, "you wouldn't happen to have a dress I could borrow would you?"
She shook her head slowly, "sorry."
Anzu sat up, "that's ok, I'll ask Rei, I know she probably has one that I could borrow." She bit her lower lip, "say Ami, do you know who the judges are?"
"Yes. There's Pegasus, Seto Kaiba, Mai, Charlene, and Duke Devlin. He's Pegasus and Kaiba's new business partner."
"So that's what Duke was keeping from us…" Anzu said softly to herself. She recalled him saying something about he has a new business partner but he wouldn't tell them who it was. Ami looked at her strangely. "Sorry… I know Duke, he's one of my friends."
"Oh I see." Ami glanced around a bit, "I thought we were supposed to have three in a room?"
"Yeah me too…"
"Well I just hope it's not—" Ami's words were cut off as the door swung open.
"Set the bags over there. And be careful, they're imported Louis Vutton," the girl commanded. She removed her sunglasses and raised one eyebrow. "Excuse me I asked for a private room," she said displeased at the fact that Anzu and Ami were in the room with her.
"Her," Ami whispered to Anzu.
"Well whatever, I guess you girls will have the pleasure of having me in the room with you," the girl said. She was a tall blonde haired girl with blue eyes. She had a perfect complexion and she wore short-shorts and a tank top with sandals. She dressed like she was going to the beach instead of a modeling competition. "Ami… I didn't expect a book worm like you would be here," she said rather harshly. "I guess this competition just got easier," she smirked. "Good luck though." She walked out the room yelling at the hotel staff not to ruin her luggage.
"Well she's charming," Anzu said sarcastically.
"That's Mia Lockhart. Her parents own a chain of hotels and restaurants in America, and she is the heir to their fortune as soon as they give it all to her. And as you can see, the money has gone to her head."
"How do you know her?" Anzu asked.
"She goes to my school," Ami replied. "I was hoping we wouldn't end up in the same room, but I guess I'm just unlucky," she laughed.
"Well I'm back girls," Mia said announcing her entrance. She looked at Anzu, "I don't think we've met. I'm Mia, but you've probably heard of me." Before Anzu could reply she continued, "I plan to win this competition to further my modeling career. Then I will travel the world, even though I've seen most of it already."
Anzu stopped listening to Mia at that point. She seemed like the type that could talk about herself for hours, and Anzu didn't care what she had to say. She laid back on her bed and looked up to a camera in her face. "I hope she realizes that I'm not listening to her," she whispered into the camera. She glanced over at Ami she had continued unpacking her belongings while listening to her CD player. Anzu smiled a bit, she must have heard Mia's life story many times before.
--
Anzu walked down the corridor of the hotel looking for the suite Rei was in. Rei had told her she was just a few doors down; however she has already mistakenly walked into the wrong room twice. There was only one hour before the dinner with the judges and she didn't have a thing to wear. Well it wasn't like she could get ready even if she wanted to, her roommate, Mia, had been occupying the bathroom for the last two hours. Anzu stopped in front of another room. She was about to knock on the door, but she noticed a 'do not disturb' sign hanging on the doorknob. She sighed, maybe Rei was meditating and didn't want to be interrupted, but this was an emergency, wasn't it? "I think she'll forgive me if I…" she bit her lower lip. She couldn't bring herself to do it. Rei took her meditation very seriously and Anzu didn't want to be the one to disturb her. She gave up and walked back down the hall to her room.
"Did you get to borrow a dress?" Ami asked as soon as she walked back into the room. Ami was fully dressed for the fancy dinner. She wore a pastel blue ankle length gown. The dress had cap-sleeves and had sparkles all over it.
"No. I think my friend is meditating. She's training to become a priestess at the Hikawa Temple." Anzu sat on the bed next to the pile of clothes she went through looking for clothes. "I didn't want to disturb her." She smiled slightly, "I guess I'll have to go looking not so fancy huh?" Ami didn't say anything.
They both looked towards the bathroom when Mia finally stepped out. She ran her fingers through her hair that now had spiral curls pulled up in a beautiful ponytail, with a few strands of loose spiral curls falling to the sides of her face. She wore light make-up, which consisted of pink lip-gloss, with matching pink eye shadow. She looked at herself in the vanity mirror satisfied with the way she looked. "Sorry girls, you can't rush perfection, and I'm as close to perfect as someone can get."
"Are you quite finished yet?" Ami asked softly. "I would like to use the bathroom now."
Mia nodded. Ami stood up and walked into the bathroom, sliding the paper door closed.
"Why aren't you dressed yet, Anna was it?" Mia asked practicing her smile in the mirror.
"Anzu…" she corrected.
"Anzu…right…" Mia stared at her pink pastel dress hanging on a hook by the closet door. "Isn't that dress beautiful? My daddy bought it for me at a Vera Wang fashion show in Paris."
Anzu rolled her eyes. "I don't—" Mia cut her off.
"Omigod! I told my maid not to pack this. I've already worn it twice, and that's too many times." Mia glanced at Anzu, "I never wear the same thing twice." She pulled out a white dress from her suitcase and threw it on the bed.
Anzu glanced at the dress and got an idea. "Mia?" she asked kindly. "Could I borrow that dress for tonight?"
Ami walked out of the bathroom with light make-up on and sparkle eye shadow. She also wore clear chandelier earrings. "How do I look?" she spun around slowly.
"Very beautiful Ami," Anzu replied. "Could I borrow that dress Mia," she asked again.
"I would let you honey, but I'm a size two and you look like a ten, possibly a twelve."
Anzu's jaw dropped. She didn't think anyone could possibly be that full of herself. She clenched her fists, trying desperately to contain the anger in her voice. "Could I just try it on?" she asked softly.
Mia shrugged, "fine. Just don't ruin it or anything."
Anzu hurried in the bathroom after snatching the dress off the bed. She wanted to make sure Mia wasn't going to use the bathroom again. After she took a quick shower, she blow-dried her hair to make it fall in place. She stepped into the white dress. It was a backless halter floor length gown with a slight train in the back. The dress had a V-cut in the front but didn't have too low of a cut. The dress clung to every curve on her dancer body. Since she had been dancing for years her body was slim and toned. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, she loved the way the dress fit her. She glanced at the small digital clock that hung on the wall; she only had five minutes left, it was time to leave for the party. She slid open the door to the main room. Ami sat on a chair in the corner of the room reading a book. Mia was nowhere in the room, but Anzu didn't care at the moment. She opened the little make-up bag where she kept her jewelry and took out her pair of snowflake crystal earrings with matching necklace. After putting on her jewelry she dug around for a bracelet but gave up when she couldn't find one that matched. "Are you ready to go Ami?"
"Yeah… let me just…" she answered still enwrapped in her book. After she turned the page, she looked up at Anzu. "Omigod Anzu! You look so glamorous."
Anzu blushed, "stop it. You look great too. I think blue is your color."
"Yes, it's my favorite." Ami shook her head, "and to think Mia said you wouldn't fit in that dress."
"Where is the princess?" Anzu started to look through the pairs of tennis shoes that she brought with her, until she found her white high-heeled, strap-sandals with little fake diamonds on the straps.
"She went to the party early." Ami slipped on her clear blue high-heeled shoes. "I wanted to wait for you, so we could go together."
"Thank you so much," Anzu smiled. She then glanced at the clock. "We should go too." She quickly put on some clear lip-gloss and then sprayed perfume on herself. "Ready?"
"Yes. After you…" Ami followed Anzu out the door. They took the elevator downstairs back to the lobby and then walked down the long hallway to the ballroom.
Anzu glanced at herself in the round mirror by the ballroom entrance. She wondered what Kaiba might think of her when he saw her dressed up and not in some school uniform. Her eyes widened, why did she care? She looked around a bit; Ami had apparently already walked into the ballroom without her. Anzu held her dress up a bit and walked casually into the ballroom.
The ballroom was decorated beautifully. The first thing Anzu noticed was the beautiful chandelier that hung from the ceiling. On the windows hung white, almost see-through draperies. There were a table full of refreshments and, Anzu could only guess, a family of four playing soft music in the corner. The father sat at the piano, the mother at the harp, and the two girls played the flute. The music made Anzu want to dance, but she contained herself. She glanced around at all the Top Model contestants, not all of them were dressed for a ball. "It really wouldn't have made any difference if I…" she thought to herself.
"Anzu!" Rei called walking over to her. "Where did you get that dress? It beautiful—you're beautiful!"
Anzu blushed, "I borrowed it." Rei was wearing her knee-length, wine-red dress. It was her favorite dress but she only wore it on special occasions. "You look beautiful too."
"Borrowed huh? Are you getting married or something?" Anzu raised one eyebrow. "It's a joke… white dress, borrowing something… never mind," she laughed.
"I would've asked you, but I saw that 'do not disturb' sign on your door. I assumed you were meditating," Anzu smiled.
"Yeah I was… but I would've let you in." Anzu shrugged. "Oh Anzu! I have to tell you. My roommates are priestess' like me."
"Really? That's cool."
"I know, so we get along great." Rei pointed to two girls standing at the refreshments table talking. They both wore the same floor length, strapless gown; except one wore white the other wore black. "They're sisters. The one in the black dress is Kikyo, and she's already a priestess. Her sister is Kagome, and she is a priestess in training like me." She looked back at Anzu, "who are your roommates?"
Anzu pointed to Ami, who was at the moment, talking to Pegasus. "The one talking to Pegasus, her name is Ami and she's really nice. The other is that girl over there talking to Mai," she said without turning around.
"Mia Lockhart is your roommate?" Rei asked. "The one that owns the chain of restaurants and hotels in America?" Anzu nodded. "She's pretty, but I heard she's a real snob."
"She is…" Anzu said as she rolled her eyes.
"Good evening ladies," Pegasus said politely. "Are you enjoying yourselves?"
"Yes, very much. Thank you for asking Mr. Crawford," Rei said with her trademark smile.
"Please, call me Pegasus," he smiled. "You are Rei, am I correct?"
"Yes. And this is my friend Anzu," she responded.
"Hello," Anzu said softly.
A waiter came by and held out a platter with three drinks in wine glasses. Pegasus picked up two of the drinks and handed them to Rei and Anzu, and then picked up the last one and held it up to them. "Cheers," he smiled.
"Cheers!" Rei said cheerfully.
"Cheers," Anzu said with a smile.
"So tell me about yourself Rei," Pegasus asked as he sipped his drink.
Anzu didn't say much while Rei was telling him her life story. She just listened politely and glanced around the room from time to time. She noticed four girls, one of whom was Mia, were surrounded around Kaiba. Anzu felt a little jealousy in her heart, but wasn't sure why. She looked away and tuned herself back into the conversation Rei was having with Pegasus.
"If you excuse me ladies, I need to handle some business," Pegasus said as he walked away.
Rei shoved Anzu, "why didn't you say anything?"
"I was…" she made the mistake of glancing in Kaiba's direction, "just speechless I guess…"
"Kaiba? You were staring at Kaiba weren't you?" Rei laughed. "Omigod! You have a crush on Seto Kaiba?"
"No! Rei stop laughing," Anzu blushed. "It's not funny."
"Ok…ok…" she said in between her laughter. "Let's go over and introduce ourselves to Mai," she said taking Anzu by the arm.
"…You bring that cute brother of yours around, and we got a deal. Ok Shizuka?" Mai smiled and winked like only she can.
"Ok Mai, good night." Shizuka interlaced her arm with Duke and walked away.
"Rei? Did you know Shizuka would be here with Duke?" Anzu asked.
"I found out earlier," she replied. "There's a rumor that they're dating." Rei tapped Mai on the shoulder. "Excuse me Mai, I just wanted to introduce myself."
"Oh hello hun, that's sweet. Wait… you're Rei and Anzu right?" They nodded. "I remember the singing and dancing tape you sent in."
Anzu smiled and looked at her friend, "you sent in that tape?" she asked through her teeth.
"I thought it was cute," Mai smiled. "Well tell me about yourselves."
"I'm training to be a priestess at the Hikawa Temple…" Rei started again to tell her life story to another judge. She never left out any details, but it was never boring, the judges so far enjoyed talking to her.
Anzu, on the other hand just casually looked around the ballroom. She noticed Kaiba wasn't surrounded by his 'fan club' anymore. He stood in the corner of the room and gazed out the window. He looked so handsome that night, he still wore his trademark trench coat, but he wore it well. Anzu wondered what he was thinking about as he stared out at the city. She also let her mind fantasized about herself standing next to him. They would be holding hands and gazing out at the city together, he would take her in his strong arms and promise to never let her go. Then they would romantically kiss—she stopped. What was she thinking? Why did she suddenly have the desire to romanticize about her and Kaiba? Maybe there was something in the Ginger Ale she was drinking. She saw Kaiba turn her way and stare at her. She turned away quickly, but her heart seemed to skip a beat. Why did she feel this way when she thought or looked at him?
"Well if isn't Mr.-CEO himself, Seto Kaiba," Mai teased as Kaiba joined their little circle.
"Mai, I want you to come and meet my roommates. They're standing over there," Rei said leading Mai over to Kagome and Kikyo . Anzu gave her a look that said: 'what are you doing?' Rei just smiled and mouthed: "enjoy."
Anzu was speechless. What could she say to him? She was just daydreaming about him a minute ago, and now he was standing right next to her. What was the problem? She would see him in her class everyday at school. "Hello Kaiba," she said softly.
"Mazaki."
She could feel his eyes on her but she didn't dare look into his eyes. "How are you?" she gave into temptation and looked into his eyes as she spoke.
"Did you want something?" he asked holding her gaze. Anzu shook her head. "You were staring at me for five minutes," he smirked. "I wondered what you wanted."
Anzu stared down into the wine glass she held in her hands, now only half full of Ginger Ale. "I didn't mean to stare Kaiba. I was thinking…"
"Why did you enter this competition Mazaki, I thought you wanted to be a dancer."
Anzu's eyes widened, she had only told her friends about her plans to dance professionally, so how did he know? "I thought it might be fun. Besides, you get to see me in more than just a school uniform," she said in a flirtatious voice. She gasped did she say that out loud? No, she wouldn't let that slip.
Kaiba ran his fingers through Anzu's soft hair. "I'm looking forward to—" he stopped himself. He must have realized what he was saying.
Anzu blushed. She knew what he was going to say, even if he didn't finish his sentence. At least they were getting along. Usually, at school they would be at each other's throats for some reason or another, which often landed them in lunch detention. Tonight however, was different. They talked to each other like they both had a crush on each other but didn't know how to express their feelings to one another.
Kaiba held out his hand. This made Anzu step back, she wasn't sure what he was reaching for. "Would you like to—"
Mia interrupted them, "Seto Kaiba, so this is where you've been hiding yourself." She smiled, "will you dance with me?" she asked pulling Kaiba with her away from Anzu.
"I was…" he glanced at Anzu.
"Go ahead, I'll see you later," Anzu said softly. She sighed; she now knew what he was going to ask her. She glanced at the girls dancing with each other and Pegasus, who would dance with one girl then move on to the next. Then she stared at Kaiba dancing with Mia, she didn't exactly understand her sudden feelings for Kaiba at the moment, but hated Mia for stealing him away from her.
So what did you think? Please leave me a Review!
If you didn't know, I used Ami (Sailor Mercury), Kagome (Inuyasha), and Kikyo (Inuyasha) as characters in my story.