NOTE: Okay, yes, I had second thoughts due to the "Jounouchi" last name thing…having heard it on other stories, but I wasn't sure about which way was correct, so I said, "Heck with it." Sorry for the problem. Not that it mattered much. I'll refer to Jou as Katsuya from now on, if you wish. And sorry if I use American names instead of Japanese.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 2: Familiar Faces

Anzu rushed ahead as fast as she could. She couldn't wait to see her friends and home again. It had been so long…. She also wondered what time had brought to change Domino. The airport didn't look like it had changed much. A few extra little stores and restaurants here and there, but nothing more.

Anzu passed through the scanning area. Next stop, the baggage claim. She groaned at the thought. She had so many suitcases…it was a wonder if they had fit them all on the plane. However, being Miss Anzu Mazaki, she could get almost anything she wanted. Last time, though, she had to get her manager, and a couple other people to help her with all of her luggage.

Sure, she could just have bought everything she needed: she had enough money, but why waste it when you already had it? What was a little extra luggage?

Anzu walked down the hall, seats lining its sides, for people that were waiting for family members or friends. She was looking around at the many people, when she noticed a somewhat familiar top of di-green hair….

The man was sitting, with his legs crossed, reading a magazine. He had some small, ovular reading glasses on. Anzu walked up to him.

"Noa Kaiba, is that you?" Anzu inquired, softly, not wanting to embarrass herself if it wasn't.

The man looked up, having heard his name. He took off his glasses to get a better look at her. Who would be speaking to him? When he looked up, he saw, standing directly in front of him, a young looking woman. His eyes widened. Who was the beautiful creature that was talking to him? And how did she know his name? He certainly had never seen her before. He would know if he had seen such a gorgeous face before. However…something about her seemed familiar. Was it the eyes? He was positive he had seen those beautiful blue orbs before…but where?

His mouth must have been hanging open slightly, because Anzu then laughed, saying, "Have I really changed that much?"

"I-I'm sorry miss, I don't seem to remember you…exactly…" Noa stuttered.

Anzu smiled, and bent down, "I'm Anzu, silly," she giggled a tad.

Noa's eyes went wide with shock, "A-A-Anzu?"

"The one and only!" she stood back up, straight. Noa immediately dispersed of his magazine, and stood up quickly. Anzu was a bit startled to see that he was actually taller than her. It was different, that was for sure. However, she too, had grown a little bit, so he was only a couple inches taller.

"Wow! I mean…Anzu! You…you look…incredible!" Noa's eyes were still wide.

Anzu blushed slightly, "Oh, stop."

"I'm serious!"

"Well, look what nine years has done to you," Anzu turned the tables around. Noa looked slightly confused. "Well, you've just grown into this handsome young man," she smiled playfully, and tapped his nose with her finger.

Noa immediately turned a shade of red, never having expected that compliment, but he continued, "W-What are you doing here?"

"I'm coming back! Well, for a year, at least…" Anzu faded off, looking like she was thinking about something.

"That's great!" Noa suddenly exclaimed. It caught Anzu by surprise. He recollected from his outburst. "I mean…it's great to finally have you back! Mokie will be very pleased to know you're home!"

"Oh, how is he? And Kaiba?" Anzu suddenly inquired.

"Oh, they're fine. Actually, Seto is the reason I'm here. He's coming back from New York today. You think…did you see him on you're flight? You did fly here from New York, right?" Noa asked.

"Yeah, New York. But I'm not sure if I saw your brother. Remember, we've all changed. I probably wouldn't able to recognize him."

"Then how did you recognize me?" Noa gave a slightly amused look, waiting for her answer.

"Well…multicolored green hair is definitely something your not used to seeing everyday," Anzu laughed, with him, "So I figured, it must be you. However, your brother has quite a more common look…no matter how…never mind," she faded off, turning a tad red.

"No matter what?" Noa pressed on.

"Nothing. Lost my train of thought," Anzu lied. Actually, she had just been about to say, "No matter how attractive he is." She may have disliked him greatly, but she couldn't deny that his looks had screamed "HOT" back in the days.

Seto walked through the scanners, picking up his briefcase on the way. Noa said he would be right in this hallway…. And there he was…talking to someone. His face was a little flushed looking. Seto finally realized that he was talking to his plane partner. He sighed. No wonder Noa was red…he and Mokuba couldn't resist a dazzling girl….

But they were just talking on and on. Why would Noa talk so much? He surely didn't know the girl. Maybe…she was a reporter. Ugh, Seto thought. He hated reporters. Well, this one would be getting a piece of his mind, if she really was a reporter. He stopped. Then why hadn't she started buzzing off questions on the plane? Didn't she know who he was?

He walked over to them. Noa hadn't noticed his arrival. He was still stuck in talking and admiring the girl.

"Noa," Seto said, calmly.

Noa looked up, "Hey, Seto!"

Anzu turned around, on hearing whom Noa had called. She gasped. Kaiba? This guy was Seto Kaiba? All this time on the plane, and she didn't even recognize him? No wonder he seemed so similar!

"I don't believe it!" Anzu said. "That explains everything. My Lord…no wonder I didn't recognize you…time really has taken its toll on us all…" she left the sentence dangling. Seto couldn't help but think, What is this girl blabbering about?

"Well, I have to go. Catch you later, Noa!" Anzu walked off quickly, waving behind her, adding a quick, "See ya, Kaiba!"

After she had disappeared into the crowd, Seto turned down to Noa, "Noa, who was that you were talking to?"

Noa looked shocked, "You mean, you don't know? Well, I don't blame you…it was hard for me at first to recognize her…."

"Recognize? All I know is, is she was the person sitting next to me on the plane," Seto retorted.

Noa's eyes widened, "Multiple hours sitting next to her, and you still don't remember her? Geez, Seto, I thought you had a brain!"

Seto huffed, and smirked, taking the comment lightly, as he began walking. His brother trailed along, "Come on, Noa. Who was it? And why must you go falling for every pretty girl that crosses your path?"

"Who says I fell for her?" Noa crossed his arms in denial.

"Your face was all red," Seto smirked. He loved toying with his brothers.

"It was? Was I that obvious! Aw man, I must have looked like a complete idiot in front of her!" Noa rambled on, quickly, slurring all his sentences together, seeming like a guy who was just about to go on his first date or something.

Seto sighed, "Relax. Now tell me, who was that girl?"

"Seto…that was Anzu. Anzu Mazaki."

Seto stopped suddenly, and turned to his brother, "Anzu?"

Anzu reached the baggage claim. She stood, waiting for the baggage from the flight to start unloaded, all the while looking around for a familiar face. Where was the Otogi Ryuugi?

The luggage started to circle around. She noticed the first of her five suitcases, and grabbed it. She picked it up with ease, and sighed. So, that was the light one. She still was looking forward to the heaviest of them….

Two suitcases later, she noticed her last two, pilled on each other. She sighed, and took the handle of the top one. Great. That was the heavy one. She grunted, trying to walk, and pull at the same time. It wasn't going well. And if she couldn't get it, or the one below it off, she'd have to wait for them to circle around again.

She gave it another tug. Nothing, but a slight movement. Suddenly, a masculine hand grabbed the handle, and brought it up for her. Tea would have looked back immediately to see whom it was, but she had to grab her other suitcase first, before it disappeared behind the curtain.

After obtaining the suitcase, she turned to see who had helped her. Her eyes brightened, and her smile grew large.

"Otogi!" she cried happily and hugged him. Not an affectionate hug, mind you, being that he was engaged. Just a friendly hug.

"Hey, Anzu!" he replied, hugging her back. It was so good to see her face after all these years. She pulled back and looked him up and down.

"Otogi, you've changed so much!"

"And you haven't? If I didn't know you as well as I do, I wouldn't have even known that it was you there. Plus, I recognized the luggage," Otogi laughed.

"I'm serious!" Anzu replied. Otogi had shorter hair now. It was still tied in a ponytail, but lower, and shorter. His hair was also less obscure and messy in the front. The fifteen million strands that used to hang down in front of his eyes had been reduced to two. He still wore the band around his head, though. Still, he did have quite the difference.

"I'd say we best get moving. I already saw one reporter outside, waiting…just waiting," Duke took three of her cases, one being the heavy one. He grunted for a second, "Anzu, what did you pack?"

"Everything necessary for a year back in Domino!" Anzu replied, taking her other two bags.

The two began walking down the large front steps to the airport. They had almost reached Otogi's Ferrari, when swarms upon swarms of reporters had crowded around the two.

Blast it; I thought we avoided them, Tea cursed.

Just great, Otogi thought.

"Miss Anzu, it's wonderful to see you back home! How long are you staying?"

"What are you doing with Mr. Ryuugi? I thought he was already engaged!"

"Is something going on?"

"Staying for a year, nothing going on between us; just a friend to pick me up here; he's still engaged to Shizuka Jounouchi," Anzu replied all in a slur, trying to push her way to the car. The two dumped the cargo in the back. Otogi tried circling around to the other side of the car to get in, but was blocked by the mass of reporters. Anzu tried to open the door without hitting anyone. They each sighed, thinking the same thing: Sometimes being rich and famous wasn't worth it.

Noa pocketed his glasses, and he and Seto walked down the steps to the waiting limousine. The chauffeur got out, and immediately rushed over to open the door for the two masters. Noa was about to crawl in, when Seto stopped, and stated something.

"That's interesting."

"What's interesting?" Noa crept back out.

"Look at them…those reporters…. They haven't noticed us yet. Who do you think has that much fame to keep their attention focused so well?" Seto replied, deep in thought.

"No idea, no care," Noa replied, shuffling into the limo. Seto stood for a second, and then climbed in after him. It was only after the limo pulled away did the reporters noticed the signature limousine, and run off after it. Otogi and Anzu took this as their get away chance. And Anzu was pretty sure, who to mentally thank.

"So, where's this new penthouse place of yours?" Otogi inquired, as the car pulled out of the airport campus and onto the highway.

"Um…2346 Saski Way," Anzu replied.

"Out near the edge of town?" Otogi raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah…you know, get away from the city, and the…reporting life," Anzu sighed.

"I understand. I see why Kaiba lives out around there, now," Otogi replied.

Anzu sat up, "That reminds me! You'll never guess who I ran into not twenty minutes ago!" Otogi only looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Noa and Kaiba! I can't believe how much they've changed! Everything's changed! I can't wait to see how much Domino has gone through," Anzu replied.

"Oh…it's changed. Remember Memorial Park?"

"Yeah…."

"It's been reconstructed. Bigger…better…cleaner. It's quite the tourist and local attraction," Otogi explained, "And then there's…Kaiba Corp., coming back to the subject of Kaiba," Otogi explained.

"Oh? How?" Anzu said, now interested.

"Those three are all over the city," Otogi sighed.

"Those three?" Anzu inquired.

"Yeah. Just look; proof right there," he pointed out the right side of the windshield. Anzu peered through it, and caught sight of a billboard, portraying Seto and Noa Kaiba. Seto's head and shoulders were shown on the left side of the board, with his trademark frown. Noa was slightly smiling on the right side. In between, was the following message:

The Future is now….

Kaiba Corp. presents:

Virtual Reality Gaming

Now at Kaibaland.

Anzu's eyes widened. So Noa was in the business too? And he was posted with the virtual reality stuff…. It made sense. After all, the poor kid had been trapped there for a good six years. He ought to be half in control of it. But that still didn't explain person number three that Otogi had mentioned.

"And there's the last one," Otogi now pointed out the left side of the window. Anzu looked. Sure enough, there was a smiling Mokuba on the right side of a billboard, with the message:

The Way of the Games of the Future.

New Kaiba Corp. Duel Disk Technology.

In stores now.

Anzu's eyes widened at the sight of Mokuba. It seemed as if good looks ran in the family! Mokuba had cut his hair, to a good length just raised above his shoulders. It was still in a spiky sort of formation. He also wore glasses now: nicely framed, rectangular glasses, with soft edges. He looked amazing. The glasses certainly added to his looks. Anzu had always believed that glasses helped a person look better, as long as they weren't the nerdy type.

Her answers had been confirmed twice in the last half-hour: Noa's reading glasses (had made him look quite stunning) and now, Mokuba's. They were proof alone. Of course, maybe since they were already two of the hottest guys on the planet, the glasses test wasn't very fair.

Otogi say her mouth slightly agape. He smirked, "Somebody's sure noticed someone," he teased.

Anzu snapped out of her trance, as they passed the billboard, and slapped him playfully, on the arm, "Stop it! I was just seeing…how much he's changed. The glasses; the hair and all that…. It surprises me. I never thought that any of the Kaibas would ever wear glasses. They seemed so…physically perfect," Anzu thought aloud.

Otogi had a smirk curling up, "In what way? Are you trying to hint that their work outs are paying off?"

"Otogi, you know that's not what I meant!" Anzu slapped him again. Otogi continued chuckling. "I was just saying that I always thought their senses to be perfectly attuned."

"Yeah well, they probably would have been, had the lab accident not occurred," Otogi replied.

"Lab accident?" Anzu stopped.

"Yeah. Something happened while Noa and Mokuba were testing the virtual reality crap of theirs, and their eyes got the damage. They were both rushed to the emergency room. Noa didn't have it half as bad as Mokuba. Noa only needs them to read-"

"I noticed. Continue."

"But Mokuba could have been blinded for life if they hadn't given him one of those surgery's that Serenity had. It wasn't the same, but it was up that alley. Anyway, they couldn't fully restore his normal vision, so he got blessed with glasses. It doesn't seem to bother him though. He's just like some normal kid with eye problems."

"And nobody bothered to tell me this, because?" Anzu asked, impatiently.

"We didn't feel it was that big a deal," Otogi replied, "Whether you came back to see them or not, it wasn't really that big a deal to know what happened to their eyes."

"How do you even know about this? I didn't think Kaiba was one to associate information with us," Anzu retorted.

"The media, naturally, showed a few stories on it. However, seeing as Mokuba and Noa have become closer friends to us over the years, and Kaiba associates more with Yugi now…he's selling his technology at the Game Shop, you know…we found out other ways, too."

"I see," Anzu sat back. Boy, had she missed a lot over the years. And she wasn't going to forget it, either.

Changes were everywhere around her. She noticed, as Otogi had earlier pointed out, that those three were indeed all over the city. Billboards posted them everywhere. Sparsely were there any of other matters, such as Otogi's Dice Shop.

Anzu soon noticed something, "Otogi…this isn't the way to my new home…."

"I know."

"Where are we going, then?"

"You'll see."

"Otogi!"

"Come on, cool it, will you? We're there!"

Anzu looked out the window, "Where are we?" She had never seen this house before, in her life.

Otogi scrambled out, and opened the door for her. She slowly got out. Otogi raced up the steps, and pressed the intercom button, and talked into it, "Code: Kyoto." (1) Anzu soon reached the steps.

"Are we going in or not?" she asked, looking at her friend. However, her friend was looking down at the bottom of the door.

Otogi saw the marker come through the bottom of the door. Before Anzu could look, he quickly looked up, and stuck his key in the door.

The door swung open:

"WELCOME HOME ANZU!"

(1) "Code: Kyoto" was something I sort of…got from somewhere else. Kyoto, as we know, is a city in Japan. And, being that Otogi needed some sort of "code" thingy (and I thought this might be sort of humorous), I changed it from (a show I watch) Code: LYOKO to Code: Kyoto. See? That's all. Stupid, but it helps.

Well? Did you like it? Sure, it was a little slow, but heck, we're still introducing things. Be thankful for this update. Only because of a 12:30 dismissal from school, and because it's the weekend was I able to finish this. It had been started the same day I was writing chapter one. Honestly, I have no idea when I'll update next, or how long the story is going to be. I only have, now, about 1-3 more chapter plots planned, so give me time. Plus, I have to update BB first, and get out my other updates after that. Later! And please REVIEW!