Title: Anzu's New Year Resolution
Author: Sorceress Fantasia
Pairings: YY/Y, unrequited A/YY, mentioned K/J
Warnings: Slight angst, AU, some sap

Disclaimer: If I owned YGO, Yami would confess his everlasting love for Yugi in the first episode and kiss him at least once every episode. However, for those of you who have watched the manga and anime, you'd know that doesn't happen and so in conclusion, I do not own YGO or any of the characters.

Summary: After accepting Yami's proposal, Yugi often finds himself on cloud nine. However, it still bothers him that Yami had to go out with Anzu for the ring. One thing he never considered, though, was what was going through Anzu's head when she asked for one date and a kiss with Yami.

Special thanx to FantabulousWataponfor spotting a mistake. I changed it! Thanx!

Yugi stared at his ring again, letting it catch the sunlight and bouncing it off. With the three little glittery diamonds, his ring was beautiful. But it wasn't the beauty of the ring that was making Yugi smile almost goofily. It was the memory that came with it that was doing the trick. He giggled again.

"Yugi, as happy as I am for your engagement, I would really appreciate it if you could stop swooning over your ring and your fiancé. It kind of makes you look silly, you know?"

The boy gasped and spun around.

"Jii-chan!"

The old man chuckled. Placing the broomstick that he had been using earlier against the wall, he walked up to his only grandson.

"Well, can't blame me for saying the truth, can you?" he teased again, delighting in how Yugi's blush seemed to get brighter with every passing moment. Perhaps a little while more, and the brightness would rival the diamonds on his ring?

How long ago was it, the time when Yugi still needed his grandfather to tie his shoelaces, tell him bedtime stories and assured him that no evil spirit was dwelling under his bed or in his closet? It sure didn't seem all that long ago. But suddenly, Sugoroku noticed, his adorable grandson had grown up into a fine young man who was almost getting married. He was sure that it had happened overnight; just yesterday, he had put a crying Yugi to bed after the school bullies had gotten to him, and today, Yugi was already 18 years old and engaged.

There was really nothing more to ask for, Surogoku thought, since it was clear he wasn't going to get great-grandchildren. But he was okay with that as long as Yugi was happy.

"Now Yugi, could you go clean up the racks at the temple for a bit? We should really take down the wooden tablets by now," he said, noting that it was already nearing February. Most of the other temples had already taken down their tablets and were preparing them for the prayer tablets that would soon fill up the racks again. It was always like that whenever school finals were around the corner.

"And when you're done with that, you can either continue to gawk at your ring or go out with Yami. Just don't wander into a condom shop!" He could not help but add a last quip before he laughed and lumbered down the corridor to his own room.

Yugi pouted; must jii-chan tease him over and over again? Not that his mother didn't have enough fun teasing him about marriage matters, sharing secrets of the bedroom and telling him how important condoms were for birth control until she 'belatedly' realized that her son did not quite have the equipment needed for childbirth. Oh, she and jii-chan had almost laughed themselves to death over that, stopping only when it became difficult to breathe.

Still pouting, Yugi wrapped a woolen scarf around his neck and quickly headed for the quiet corner of the temple his family owned.

Taking another tablet off the rack, he gave it a quick scan before tossing it into the half-filled box by his feet. Usually, Jou would be here to help him with the job, but the blonde boy was taking a well-deserved break; or rather, a break his mother had insisted he take so he could catch up with his school work that was piling up like a mountain. His mother had strictly forbidden Jou from leaving his study desk until everything was finished, and last Yugi heard from Shizuka, he was screaming blue murder over a math sum he still could not solve after three tries.

Too bad, really, because Jou loved taking down the tablets and scanning through everyone's New Year resolutions. Sometimes, people wrote the funniest things. Yugi still remembered there was one that went: I want to hone my psychic powers so I can peek at someone's exam answers! The thing was, if Yugi had psychic powers, he would want to hone them so he could get all the correct answers, rather than peek at someone else's. Jou had laughed over that for days, 'admiring' the person's idiocy and possibly wishful thinking ("Psychic powers? Ha! Psychic powers!").

And then, there were those people who wrote the common things like wanting to make their crush return their feelings (he and Jou sometimes tried to imagine how that person looked like, based on the person's handwriting), or resolving to kick a certain habit (there was one guy who wrote that he wanted to stop picking his nose in front of the girls he liked).

It was mostly very mundane things.

But occasionally, there was one that would make Yugi do a double-take.

Like this one that went: I resolve to give up all my feelings for Yami and concentrate on my studies in America. – Anzu

Punching his pillow again for the umpteenth time in two hours, Yugi was still feeling restless. It had been hours since he'd stumbled upon Anzu's wooden tablet, but the words she had written on it just would not leave his mind. He was sure it was Anzu Mizaki, Yami's personal fan club president cum popular cheerleader in high school. After all, what were the chances of another Anzu habouring another crush for another Yami?

But some things were not adding up.

The girl had always been extremely fond of Yami, so why would she even think of giving up? And she did coerce Yami into a date and a kiss just roughly a month ago.

Yugi sulked at that memory. But... when he really thought about it, he guessed he couldn't really blame Anzu for that. After all, she had known Yami way before he ever came into the picture, when Yami had walked into the café she had been working for before they both entered high school; Kaiba once mentioned rather off-handedly that if Yugi had not appeared, Yami might have learned to like Anzu. It seemed like an almost natural progression, in fact; love at first sight (on Anzu's part) was a theme that frequently graced the pages of romance novels. But once Yugi was there, Yami avoided Anzu like the plague to prevent any misunderstandings, thus Kaiba's later Adam and Eve comment (1).

But he had heard all about it.

As a freshman walking the halls of his high school, he had heard lots of things, and one of the most favoured topics among the gossipmongers was the relationship between Hatake Yami and Mizaki Anzu.

They said, Anzu hadn't planned on coming to their high school initially. Oh no, at least not until she had met Yami in the café, when he strode in alone and with an air of melancholy that seemed to be coming from within him. He had asked for an ice-mocha, sipping at it with a straw while he gazed out of the window, looking at the people walking by. And when that was finished, he had asked for another one. And another one.

When he had asked for his fourth ice-mocha, Anzu took it upon herself and set a cup of steaming black coffee on his table.

"Let this warm you up. Black coffee always makes me feel better, no matter what," she said.

When she returned minutes later, she had almost been dismayed that the young man was gone. But she smiled when she found the empty cup and a generous tip that covered the cost of all he had consumed.

After that incident, the gossipmongers said, Anzu waited for him to turn up at the café again, but he never did. For a while, she was convinced that she would never see that handsome teenager with crimson eyes again. But she did, weeks later, at a bookstore, when they had reached out for the same book. The more romantic saps squealed at that, claiming that it was a match made in heaven. That book had been the last in stock, and Yami had let Anzu have it. Anzu was fretting over how to get to know him better as they left the store, but he suddenly turned around and said, "Thanks for the black coffee."

Anzu was hooked that instant.

After asking around and a bit of checking, she changed her choice of high school, making sure that she would see Yami again. And in their first year, they did. Meet, that is. And everyone was betting their money when they would get together.

Yugi was sure he was on the top of the hate list of all those who'd placed their bets, especially those who took the bets. After all, Hatake Yami's eyes were glued to him, the moment he'd stepped into the school premise and gotten lost.

And Anzu... just seemed to be forgotten.

Yugi sighed again. Just what was going on? Her resolution was confusing him to no ends.

Finally, he picked up the phone, dialing the numbers for Miho, Anzu's best friend in high school, who also happened to be one of his temple's most frequent customers.

Street, correct. Building, correct. Apartment number, correct. Timing, incorrect.

Still, as Yugi thanked Anzu's mother for answering the door and letting him know that her daughter was out, he felt rather relieved. He had no idea what had possessed him to look up Anzu personally; it was an impulse that refused to be stomped out after reading the girl's wooden tablet. And the phone call to Miho had only made things even more confusing.

Anzu had been the one to approach Yami. She had been the one to offer Yami a discount for the wedding rings. She had been the one to come up with the conditions. It was the principle of equivalent trade, she had told Miho.

So after getting Anzu's address, Yugi had come down himself. But it was a good thing she was out, for he had no idea what to say to her. Hi, but I thought you were obsessed with my fiancé, so why do you want to give up your feelings for him? That would go really well.

Leaving the building premise, he sighed. It was such an utter waste of time. Maybe he should go visit Jou and help him with his school work.

"Yugi?"

He blinked, gazing upwards; he had been so deep in thoughts he had not even noticed he was walking with his head down. And when he looked up, a girl was standing against the setting sun, its beams lighting up her frame as though a halo or some sort of golden aura. Even so, her sun-kissed locks still kept its dark brown tinge as the wind whispered across them, lifting the stray strands away from her face. She was as pretty as Yugi remembered.

"Anzu?"

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she held his gaze.

"Did you come to look for me? I was wondering when you'd turn up, actually. Do you want to sit down and talk somewhere?" she asked.

As unexpected as this meeting was, Yugi thought there would be no better time to talk. He nodded.

It seemed that black coffee didn't just warm people up. It also chilled people to the bones. Or at least, a chill that spread out in the core of one's being, that refused to fade away even when the warmth of the coffee poured down one's throat.

But there was something strangely addictive about black coffee.

Anzu set her cup down on its saucer again, and pushed it away from the edge of the table. She offered some sugar, and when Yugi declined, she knocked the lid back down and leaned back against the leather cushion seats of the café, her hands clasped.

"I didn't expect you to be the kind who'd drink coffee bitter," she started.

"I didn't expect it myself. But it does balance things out, doesn't it?"

They stared at each other for a long while. The bustling patrons and servers seemed to be out of their world, and it suddenly seemed like they were the only ones in the café. Finally, she broke their gaze.

"I'm sorry... ...for borrowing Yami that day."

Yugi blinked. Out of so many things she could have said, this was one thing he did not expect.

"Borrow?" he echoed.

"Well, he's still yours, isn't he?"

"You'd only meant to... ...'borrow' him for a day?"

"I don't see how I can have him permanently. He's yours now, and from what I've heard, it's going to stay that way. I've heard about your engagement. Congratulations."

"...Thank you," Yugi replied hesitantly, frowning deeply at the way things were going. He'd always known that Anzu was a very accepting kind of person, unlike some girls who would act like a spoilt child with their favourite toy snatched out their hands, but he wasn't sure just how accepting she was of the current situation.

"So when's the wedding?"

"Sometime after I graduate from high school. Yami's suggesting April, but we're not sure yet."

"Well, congratulations again. I'm sure you'd be happy... ...together," she said.

This time, Yugi could not suppress his curiosity.

"What about you? Will you be happy in America?"

She stiffened, and her hand that had been reaching out for her coffee stilled.

"...I saw your New Year resolution in my temple," Yugi confessed. For the first time in years, he felt guilty for going through other people's wooden tablets.

"That was your temple? I'd no idea... I'd always known that you come from a family of priests and priestesses, but I didn't know that was your family's temple..." Her voice sounded so surprised Yugi found no reason to doubt her.

"I was cleaning up the tablets earlier when I saw yours. You're leaving for America?"

"Yeah. I want to go to a dance college there. I've already been accepted. I'll be gone before your wedding."

"Why...?" But why what, Yugi wasn't sure. There were so many things he didn't understand, and so many things he wanted to ask but had no idea what was it he didn't understand.

Then, Anzu shook her head.

"You know what? That's not true. I'm not going to a dance college there. Not full-time, at least. I'm going for a course in jewelry designing there, to carry on my family trade. Dancing is just a part-time thing I'm doing there," Anzu said, her voice growing frosty.

"They won't let me become a dancer."

"They? Who?" Yugi asked.

"My parents. And my fiancé."

Yugi's jaws dropped.

"Fiancé?"

Anzu picked up her cup of coffee and placed it at her lips. But she didn't drink it. After a while, she just put it back onto the saucer.

"My parents believe that it will greatly benefit our family business if I were to marry the heir of the biggest jewelry company in Japan. I got engaged some weeks ago. It's not official yet, but I'll be marrying him when I come back from America."

Yugi was tempted to ask her if she wanted to, but decided not to.

"I don't dislike him, if that's what you're wondering," she said, as though reading his mind. "And he does love me. He's the one who got me the discount for your ring actually, not my parents. My parents listen to his every word."

"Oh."

"He said that that ring is exceptionally beautiful, and it would look gorgeous on Yami's bride. And he promised to design a unique ring for me when we get married. A unique ring for a unique love, he said. He's a really nice man. I suppose I could grow to love him too. But I..." –tears started to form in her eyes- "I just need a bit of time."

Yugi's anger at her had long dissipated like it had never existed, and he sat with her in the sunset café in silence for the rest of the evening.

Closure.

It was such a simple word. But it also one of the hardest things to have.

Anzu had gotten hers, but at what price? A first and last date with Yami, and a kiss of finality.

Yugi wasn't sure if he'd ever be as brave as her.

He walked down the streets alone after sending her home, bathing in the cool and wispy night air. He didn't feel like going home. Not so soon, at least. And there was something luring, something tempting in the world that night, beckoning for him to stay out. He took another deep breath.

Suddenly, a glimmer caught his eyes, and he found himself captured by the brilliance. He ambled towards the jewelry shop, enraptured by the shimmering diamonds and silver under the harsh, artificial lights. The rings were beautiful, but none as captivating as the one he wore for his fiancé.

"Hi, would you like to come in for a look? We've just had some new designs," a voice to his right said.

Yugi turned, looking at the young man who'd called him. He was dressed in a neat suit with matching leather shoes, his hair styled to utmost perfection with not a strand out of place, and the smell of his cologne wafted in the air. He smelled... fresh.

"No thank you. I was just passing by," Yugi replied, shaking his head gently.

The man smiled.

"Well, it's alright. But if you ever want to buy jewelry, please remember this place. We do custom-made jewelry," he said. Then his eyes homed in on Yugi's ring, and he added, "Ah, like your ring. In fact... ...that one seems to be one of our products."

"My ring?" Yugi took a closer look at his ring, bringing his hand up.

"Ah, yes it is. I believe the store owner's daughter designed it herself. It's her first piece, actually. Her parents wanted to display it in the store, but she insisted on letting a friend have it. Are you her friend?" he asked.

Yugi blinked. Had she...designed it? Slowly, he answered, "Well, not really. I guess the person you're talking about is my fiancé."

"Oh. Then you must be the 'love of his life'. The girl said her friend was getting married to the love of his life, so she wanted them to have a unique ring for a unique love,"he said, not noticing the way Yugi's eyes were widening.

Then, Yugi smiled.

"Is that so? I should really thank her then."

"Well, maybe you'd see her around one day. She'll be the main designer of the jewelry here in a few years. She has to go abroad to study first, you see."

"Ah."

"Well, I gotta go. I don't actually work here. I'm just visiting," he chuckled. "And now I gotta pick something up for my fiancée. She's the girl I was talking about, actually. She's a very sweet girl."

Yugi nodded.

"She must be."

"Oh, she is," the man replied with a wide smile. "Well, bye now!"

And he walked off. Yugi stayed there for a moment longer, casting one last gaze at the display case, before turning the other way and heading home.

When Yugi got home, he was surprised to see Yami pacing back and forth at the main entrance of the temple, biting his lips and looking everywhere. It was still winter, and from how hard Yami was shivering and how blue his lips were, he had probably been out there for quite a while already. Yami's eyes seemed to light up when they fell on Yugi, and he quickly made his way to his lover.

"Yugi! Where have you been? I tried calling you on your cell phone, but it just wouldn't get through!" he said, teeth chattering.

"God, you're turning blue, Yami! Let's talk in the house," Yugi replied, quickly ushering him inside. When they passed by the living room where jii-chan was watching tv, Yugi thought he heard him mumble how the hopeless idiot was finally willing to come inside, and his mother handed them two mugs of hot chocolate as though she had been long prepared.

Once inside his room, Yugi stuffed his lover under his blanket and coaxed him into drinking the hot chocolate.

"Well, where were you, Yugi? I wanted to talk you out for dinner, but your mum and grandpa said you've been out since early afternoon. And I just couldn't get through your phone. I was almost about to call Kaiba and form a rescue team already, you know?" Yami muttered, pulling the blankets closer.

"Oh, I was just... walking about. Nothing much," Yugi replied as he surreptitiously reached into his pocket, switching on his cell phone. He had switched it off earlier, when he had been with Anzu, to prevent any interruptions, and had forgotten to turn it on again. But he wasn't going to tell Yami that. He had a feeling that Anzu wouldn't want him to know what she'd done for them. Maybe she'd tell Yami herself one day.

And maybe... just maybe... she'd invite them to her wedding. And she'd be happy.

Slowly, Yugi snuck under the covers, wrapping his arms around Yami's torso.

"Yami, stay with me tonight. Don't leave," he breathed.

"Yugi?"

"Just stay with me tonight." And the rest of our lives.

Yami wasn't sure what had brought about the sudden clinginess, but he wasn't one to question his luck.

"Aa." And he returned Yugi's embrace, pulling him closer.

Yugi sighed contentedly.

-owari-

(1): Mentioned in the first chapter of 'My New Year Resolution'.

A/N: This fic is written in response to an anonymous review left for 'My New Year Resolution'. I know that not a lot of people like Anzu, and so when she appeared only in one scene of that fic and kissed Yami, people automatically assumed she's evil, she's malicious and all that. The anonymous review brought the fact that Anzu's very easily misunderstood to my attention, and so I wrote this fic for her to explain things from her perspective.

Personally, I'm neutral towards her except when she duels (I seriously cannot stand her 'cute' deck), and I'm hoping that fans of the YYxY genre will not make her the scapegoat for every bad thing that happens between Yami and Yugi.

Next up: Jounouchi's New Year Resolution. It's his turn with Kaiba!