Author's Note: Seriously, thank you SO much for the great reviews for last chapter! Seriously, I'm really surprised at how many reviews I'm getting for this story. 35 for only 3 chapters... Wow.
Mischiefmagnet: Too true, too true. I couldn't word it better. But I don't know if my story will live up to your expectations. I'm a horrible writer. You're too nice. Go long chapters! Gauri92: Seriously, you flatter me! obsessedwanime: Thank you! Um... I really didn't need to know what a lemon was... But I'm the one who asked. Amberblood: Thanks for the compliment! I thought up of "Ambiance-Dream" in like, two seconds, because I originally wanted Ambiance-Light or something, but it was taken. Yeah, school is actually taking more time than I expected. And I'm only in eight grade! seguha: Thanks! And no problem(about the review). Your story was really good. KeikoGurl: Hee hee... Yeah, Kaiba's obviously in denial... I'll make sure to change his mind. Can't-Think-of-A-Good-Name-So-This-Will-Do: Cool pen-name! Um... what does IC mean? I don't know anything. Kagome1316: I'm glad you enjoyed it! KaibaYamiLover: Ok! I'll try to update more often! Crystallyne: Thank you!
Sorry so much about not updating in so long! I'm really busy. So for the long wait, I'm awarding you guys with a not-too-short chapter!
-.- I feel guilty about writing such a long author's note last chapter. I know you guys just want to get on with the story and don't want to listen to my whining...
Please be patient with me. I'm not a very good writer... Sorry again. :bows:
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. Or eBay. Isn't it kind of obvious?
Anywhere But Here
Chapter 4: Work
Anzu nervously twirled her finger through her long locks of hair as she waited for the elevator to stop at the ninth level. It was her first day of work at Domino City. Her first day of work at KaibaCorp.
KaibaCorp. Kaiba. Ooh, Anzu just hated that man. He was the reason of endless teasing from Mai. It had only been two days since the get together with the gang, yet Mai had been pestering Anzu enough times to last a year. The pestering media hadn't helped, either. They followed her as often as they could, asking her for interviews, and giving them on the spot. Anzu had previously thought that Kaiba wasn't that bad, but after two agonizing days of Mai and media, she now thought differently.
Anzu glared at the picture of Kaiba that was on one of the walls of the elevator. It was a black and white photo of Kaiba working in his office. She walked up to it and pretended to hit Kaiba's unsmiling face with the bottom of her fist. "Jerk," she whispered at the picture. "That's what you are. And a bad omen. Yes, the Seto-Kaiba-Curse-of-Eight-Years. Nothing but-"
Her voice died away as she felt a pair of eyes giving her an ice-shattering glare. The doors of the elevator had quietly opened, and standing there was... well, I don't need to tell you.
Anzu slowly lowered her fist and meekly turned around. Blue eyes clashed with blue.
"What. Are. You. Doing. Here," Kaiba said icily through gritted teeth. Anzu could see his jaw clenching and un-clenching. In an annoyingly cheerful voice, she tried to jam as much irritation into a three word reply: "I work here."
Kaiba's expression got even colder and he swiftly walked in, pushing the level twenty button forcefully.
And alas, our two protagonists were in the same position as four days ago.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Anzu quickly walked out, obviously glad to be rid of Kaiba. Kaiba himself exhaled, and quickly clicked the "Close Door" button.
Soon, the elevator doors opened again, and Kaiba walked into a little corridor. This small, circular room was very elegant- exquisite dragon carvings decorated the walls. The room had four doors- the elevator from the lower levels; an elevator that went up to the private levels twenty-one(the airplane equipment level) and twenty-two/roof(the airplane "helipad"/runway); a computer room; and Kaiba's huge office. Kaiba went to the latter one, and swiped his ID car. "Seto Kaiba. Recognition... security... activated," a voice said, and the retina scanner turned on, and scanned Kaiba's eye. "Identification approved. Access to office given." The double doors made a small click as they unlocked. Kaiba stormed in.
He took off his purple coat, and sat down at his desk. He immediately turned on his computer to look up the new people working in, for, or with his company. Sure enough, Mazaki's name was listed. Apparently, she was basically KaibaCorp's new poster-girl.
Poster-girl. Poster-girl. Since when did KaibaCorp have poster-girls? Kaiba immediately grabbed the phone and jammed in some numbers. "Takigawa speaking," a young man's voice answered. "Takigawa, since when did I approve you of hiring Mazaki!" he snarled. "When I hired you as the public appearances manager, I didn't expect you to be making contracts with people to flaunt all over KaibaCorp's ads and commercials/ Cancel the contract now."
"I-I'm sorry, Mr Kaiba, but it's already been signed and documented. Miss Mazaki has already come today for work, and her staff is already set up and everything," Mr Takigawa's hesitant voice replied.
Kaiba swore in six languages. He paused for a moment. "How long does the contract last?" he finally growled. "One year," was Takigawa's reply. Kaiba gritted his teeth. "You better give me an explanation on why you hired her in the next ten seconds is you want to keep your job."
"S-s-sir, we had noticed a significant drop in sales for KaibaCorp's popularity in females, s-so we decided to hire Miss Mazaki to boost that popularity. She seemed to be perfect for the job- she's beautiful, famous, and probably the most popular and favorite celebrity of many people all over the world. She's a rising star, and girls absolutely love her. There is also a well-known fact that she's best friends with the professional duelist, Yugi and Yami Moto, and Joey Wheeler. It is also known that Miss Mazaki used to play Du3el Monsters for fun in high school, and was quite a good duelist.:
Kaiba thought hard for a moment. It was true; sales for female customers had taken a small dip. He could think of no other solution for this problem at the moment, though. Takigawa's plan seemed fool-proof, and had already taken action. As powerful as he was, the young CEO had no way to stop this contract.
At last, he growled, "At least make use of her. Don't make her do anything ridiculous that will ruin my company's image." He slammed the phone back down.
Anzu nervously went down the long hallway, counting down the room numbers. "920... 922... 924... 926... 928." This should be the room she was supposed to enter. Sure enough, there was a little plaque that said, "Mr Takigawa. Public Appearances Manager." Anzu took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Mr Takigawa said. Anzu opened the door and walked in. There were four people in the room- Mr Takigawa, another young man(Anzu guessed he was about 20 years old), a woman who looked to be in her thirties, and a woman who seemed to be Anzu's age.
"Mr Takigawa," she said and bowed in greeting. The other four people did the same. Mr Takigawa laughed, and said," Now, Miss Mazaki, you don't need to call me that anymore. I'm just Ken."
"And I'm just Anzu," she replied, smiling. Ken introduced the other three people. The middle-aged woman, who had long, black hair, was Hiroko Konishi, Anzu's new KaibaCorp modeling manager. The other two, Luke Egusa and Itoe Niimi, were Anzu's personal staff/advisor's.
"Wow, I actually have personal staff?" she asked, surprised. "That's nice."
Itoe, who had brown eyes and hair tied to the right side of her head, pushed forward, her eyes shining. "We promise to be the very best staff to you, Miss-er, Anzu," she said earnestly. She was shoved to the side by Luke, who had blond , spiky hair. "Nice to meet you!" he exclaimed, visibly shaking as he flourished a deep bow. "mylittlesister'sahugefanofyouandshewantedmetogivethistoyou!Shealsoaskedmetoaskyouforyourautograph!" He shoved a little wrapped box, a piece of cute stationary, and a pen into Anzu's hands. "Agh!" Luke was pulled back by Hiroko, who sweatdropped. "Sorry for his behavior," she apologized coolly. "They're awestruck by your presence."
Anzu relaxed, and giggled. She was beginning to really like her staff. "Oh, that's ok," she replied. "I'm used to it. But it baffles me every time. Everyone treats me like I'm something above human, which I'm definitely not. It's totally unnecessary." She turned to face Luke and Itoe. "Now, since you're both my personal staff, you have to listen to what I say, right?" she said sternly. They nodded their heads. "Ok, so here's my first order. Don't feel or be restrained from giving me your opinions and ideas. If you disagree with me, tell me. Treat me like an equal. I'm not perfect." Surprised, the other two nodded their heads. Anzu smiled and turned to Hiroko. "And that goes for you, too. But being the professional that you are, I bet you already knew that." Hiroko smiled, and said, "True. Now, let's get a tour of this area!"
"I like this place," Anzu decided as she, Hiroko, Luke, and Itoe sat down in the modeling lounge. Ken had left them because he had work to do. The geography of the modeling area was awesome. There were three huge, main rooms and small, multiple ones branching out of each one. The first was a large lounge, which Anzu and the others were currently in. Many offices branched out of this room, including Anzu's(yes, she has her own office). The second large room was curtained into three sections- one section for shooting pictures, one for motion pictures(such as commercials), and one for clothing and make-up. The last main room was the largest0 it was full of offices, cubicles, and other rooms for management of publicity, etc. etc. etc.
"I can't wait to start working here," she continued. "When do we start?"
"Well," Hiroko replied, "I was personally thinking about starting off your contract kind of gradually. It' pretty big news that you're modeling for KaibaCorp, and we don't want a big, economic boom- it should grow steadily. So we should start off with maybe a couple small ads, and then eventually do commercials and other larger things later on."
"That's a good idea," Anzu replied. "But should we begin before or after the release of the latest duel disc? It's going to be a big hit, I've heard."
"I think we should begin after," Itoe piped up. "The anticipation of the duel disc should be enough for now; we should time are 'surprises'-like new stuff- so that they happen one by one. It lures more customers."
"Hmmm..." I agree," Anzu said. "And anyways, the duel disc is coming out in a few days, and that wouldn't be enough time to make an ad."
"You'd be surprised to see how fast we can get work done," Itoe replied, smiling.
Hiroko tapped a pen on her lip, and said thoughtfully, "Luke, when can we have a photo shoot?"
Luke automatically took out his agenda. "The soonest is tomorrow, but that's only half an hour, from 4:00- 4:30, including th e preparation time."
"How about after that?" Hiroko asked.
"We're free in three days, on Thursday, July 14th. We have three hours, from 6:45 to 9:55 PM. Plenty of time. But one of the cameramen is off that day." Luke looked up. "I can take that spot, if need be. It's minor."
Hiroko nodded, and said, "Ok, book a photo shoot for that time, then. Are you free, Anzu?"
Anzu nodded her head, and replied, "I'm free all week."
"Then that's settled," Hiroko confirmed. "Your first photo shoot will be on Thursday."
Three days later: Thursday, July 14th
"Done." Kaiba popped the CD out of his office computer's CD drive. He leaned back on his huge swivel chair, letting the disc spin around his index finger.
This little CD could probably be sold on eBay or something for thousands, maybe even millions. It contained all the information on the new duel disc. True, other computers in the building did, too, but they didn't also have the top secret information about the new device. And yes, there was top secret information about the new duel disc.
Kaiba gave the infamous Kaiba-smirk. Everything was going well. Everything except for the female-popularity thing, but that was minor. Anyways, Mr Takigawa said he had taken care of it...
"Damn." Mazaki. That annoying girl was really getting in the way. Not only of his company, but of his mind. He hadn't exactly been obsessively thinking about her(he didn't have a reason to), but every time his mind wandered... Good God.
He needed to keep his mind busy and occupied. Kaiba placed the disc into a black case and put it by his computer. He got up, put on his trench coat, and walked out of his office. Soon, he was on a limo, off to somewhere to drink.
"Ok, see you guys tomorrow!" Anzu cheerfully exclaimed, waving back at Hiroko, Luke and Itoe. She walked briskly into the night,-
-To be met by a crowd of reporters. "Miss Mazaki, now that you've been back to Domino for a week, have you settled down enough to forward your relationship with Mr Kaiba?" "Miss, it is a known fact that your favorite food is ice cream. What's your favorite flavor?" "Miss Mazaki, it is rumored that you and Mr Kaiba are old high school friends. Did you have a past relationship with him then?"
Anzu rolled her eyes at the camera and pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring the roar of clicking cameras and news reporters. The limo was parked right in front of her(on the road), and the chauffeur(Ron) ushered her in. Anzu quickly closed the door and soon the limo was off, leaving the crowd behind.
"Ok, let's go to my place. I want to go to the club in half an hours, so you can park in front or circle around. After that, your work for today will be done. Thanks!" Anzu leaned back and closed her eyes, listening to music that had turned on in the background.
Soon, the limo came to a halt, and Anzu got out. She thanked the chauffeur again and went into the Suites and into her penthouse to change. The sooner she got to the club, the better/ Anzu hadn't gone to one in weeks, and she was itching to dance.
"The Ice Crown" was definitely no ordinary dance club. It had a reputation of being the best- not one of the best, the best- club in all of Japan. Everyone who had ever gone there agreed that it lived up to this claim. The club took up a huge building that took up a whole block with three floors in downtown Domino. There was a huge bar on the first floor, and a dance floor filled up the rest of it. The rest of the levels were also very big, and opened up in the center to look into the first floor.
The club was famous for its "Dark Rain"- from 12:00 to 2:00 AM every Friday night, the ceiling of the third floor would rain. There were huge pipes on the ceiling that rained hot and cold droplets of water continuously. It made everything very intense...
Of course, this kind of service did not come cheap. The entry price was staggering, and only the wealthy and famous could actually afford to go inside. However, if one was a member(as Anzu is), there was no entry fee, but a periodical bill-thing to pay in advance. Not that it actually saved any money.
Even though the limo was two blocks away and Anzu had her eyes closed, she could tell they had almost arrived. The loud music was rumbling through her body, and the bright lights of the entrance flashed behind her eyelids.
Anzu opened her eyes, and said to Ron, "Stop at the entrance as usual, please. I don't want anyone to attack me."
She was about to get out, when the chauffeur said in a concerned voice, "Miss Mazaki? How will you get home? Usually I drive you back."
Anzu smiled. "Oh, Ron, you're always so caring. What would I do without you?" Ron blushed. "Now, don't you worry," she continued. "I'll probably be coming home later than usual, since I haven't been to this club in a while. When I do go back, though, there won't be as many people out, so I'm planning to walk home. After all, it's only, like, flour blocks away." She smiled fondly at her chauffeur/friend. "But thanks for caring. I'll see you tomorrow, 'k?" Ron nodded. Anzu got out of the car, and practically ran into the building to avoid the stalking media.
The loud club music greeted her as she entered into the entrance room. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dark Two huge, muscular men stood in front of the huge, black-ironed double doors that led to the club. The "Guards", who recognized Anzu immediately, gave a curt nod and let her inside.
The music got even louder, pumping in her ears. Anzu adjusted her short skirt (A/N: I know, she's obsessed with skirts) and the red top she was wearing. It went over a tight, black shirt that stopped three inches below her chest. The red top was a bit longer, and was connected only at the top, revealing the black shirt. Her outfit wasn't exactly revealing, but showed a considerable amount of skin. But you couldn't blame her- the place was hot, even if the "normal" temperature of the place(without people) was actually pretty cold, hence one reason the club was called "The Ice Crown".
Anzu let her body lead her to the dance floor. The silver, blue and black walls and decorations faded away from her eyesight; the people around her blurred into a pastel of gold and brown. There was nothing but the music and her. She let the music consume her...
She was not Anzu Mazaki. She was water, with fluid grace and breathtaking beauty. She was fire, sparking with energy and life. She was wind, never stopping, expanding her limits...
But did she even have limits?
No.
...So much freedom... the only thing to restrain you is yourself...
"One more." Kaiba accepted another bottle of hard alcohol(A/N: Um... I know nothing about clubs and alcohol, so bear with my ignorance -.-) He downed it as if it were water.
You should really stop, Kaiba's conscience said in a whiny tone. "No." Kaiba downed another bottle. Why was he doing this? You're going to get drunk, the conscience said in the same tone, but a it more smugly.
"Seto Kaiba does not get drunk." He then said aloud, "One more." He was about to raise the bottle to his lips when his eyes suddenly involuntarily zoned in and focused on something. Someone. The Cheerleader. She was here. The water goddess.
Oh God. Maybe he really had drunk one too many bottles. Kaiba had decided this morning that Mazaki was nothing. Nothing. He hadn't though once of her that day. Not once. Not once. Not once...
There was definitely something wrong with him. Through his now unfocused eyes, he saw Mazaki walking towards. No. No. But she was walking toward... him. She really was.
Coherent thoughts, Kaibbie! Coherent thoughts! his conscience screamed. "K-Kaibbie?" he growled aloud. "Don't... don't you dare call me that, Con... Conscie."
Kaiba's eyes widened at the thought he had just thought. Conscie? Conscie?
He needed to get out of here. Now. Now. Mazaki was now a foot away from him. All Kaiba could do was stupidly stare at her chest.
God. God. God. He teared his eyes away. Must get away. Away from here. Away from her. "I hope she can't tell I'm drunk," he managed to think.
"He's definitely drunk," Anzu thought as she studied Kaiba. She had been dancing , when amongst the crowds she laid eyes on two ice blue ones. It was odd. Her body had led her toward Kaiba... Yet Anzu's mind was calm and clear. She could think. She was in control.
Kaiba was hot, even though he was drunk. (Anzu ignored this stray thought.) His azure eyes were cold, yet glazed. In his hand was a bottle. He was wearing a darkish-silverish-blue shirt with a few top buttons undone, and black pants. He had stared bleakly at her chest for a few seconds(it was at his eye level), and then had looked away. She thought she heard him mutter the word "Kaibbie".
"A-are you ok?" Anzu asked him.
Kaiba automatically responded, "I'm fine" and got up to leave, putting his forgotten beer bottle on the counter. He stood up, but half-fell forward, in Anzu's direction.
Anzu was too surprised to move at first. His body slammed into hers... Her hands flew up, only to cling to his back. She could feel his warm breath on her neck...
Hastily, she pushed him back, and made him sit on the bar stool. She had to think fast. Even if Kaiba was Kaiba, she had to help him. He obviously couldn't stay here longer, so she had to get him somewhere else. Limo! But no... Ron was gone for the rest of the night... Maybe Kaiba had a limo. Wait, of course he did! But how to contact the chauffeur? Anzu could only think of one way.
With a deep breath, she took a step toward the drunk Kaiba and slipped her hand into her pocket, searching for a cellphone or handheld. Nothing. She checked the other pocket. Out came a cellphone. "I'm really sorry for intruding your privacy, Kaiba, but this is an emergency." The dazed Kaiba didn't respond. Anzu flipped open the cellphone. It was currently off. She turned it on, and the word "Password?" popped up. Anzu groaned. The code was made up of eight digits... There were a gazillion possibilities. "Shoot." Stuffing the cellphone back into the unaware Kaiba, Anzu tried to think of another idea. Call the police? Definitely not. Tell the bartender? No, he'd tell the media. It was best not to tell anyone- Anzu didn't want any unwanted rumors spreading around.
And suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere, Anzu was struck with a very scary but brilliant idea. She froze. No. No.
But was there any other choice? Obviously not. She had to do this. She had to bring Kaiba to her home.
"You. Owe. Me," she muttered through clenched teeth. Kaiba didn't respond. Anzu raised an eyebrow. Was he unconscious or something? With a heavy sigh she skimmed through the plan.
Anzu's Thoughts+
Chibi Anzu and Chibi Kaiba make a beeline out of the entrance door. Here, Chibi's sprint across the crosswalk and take shortcut to Rosewood Suites. Chibi Anzu and Chibi Kaiba walk into the Suites, and into elevator. Up goes elevator. Out comes Chibi's. Chibi Anzu opens door, puts Chibi Kaia in guest bed. Chibi Anzu goes to bed.
End Anzu's Thoughts+
"Ok! Now my plan shall go to work!" Anzu exclaimed, determined. She inhaled, and then heaved Kaiba up. Putting one of his arms over her shoulder, she shuffled forward, dragging Kaiba with her Kaiba let out a moan. Anzu froze, feeling chills all over her body. "Concentrate, Anzu! Concentrate!" she told herself. They shuffled forward, advancing a couple feet. Anzu was very glad that they were out of the dance lights- it was dark, so no one could see them. The crowds were only getting bigger, though, and it was only midnight.
The couple shuffled/staggered across the club's first floor, toward the entrance, barely managing to not accidentally bump into anyone. Anzu was blushing the whole time- she knew what the onlookers were thinking- two drunk young adults, leaving the club in the middle of the night, going off to have a good time... Again, Anzu was glad that the darkness of the club covered their faces.
They managed to get to the entrance doors of the club. She looked outside. It was anything but deserted. Oh well. She'd survive.
Anzu sighed and pushed open the door with her left hand, her right one supporting the still-drunk Kaiba. This was going to be a long night.
----------------------------------------------1:04 AM--------------------------------------------------
Anzu fumbled with her keys, breathing heavily. Kaiba and she were leaning on her front door, with Kaiba behind and facing Anzu's back. The house key went in, and the door flew open. "EEP!" She tumbled in, and Kaiba fell on top of her.
As Anzu regained her senses, her eyes grew large with horror as she saw their position. The door had swung closed, leaving them in complete darkness. Kaiba's nose and mouth were pressed on her neck. She could feel his breath. One of his hands was on her right arm, and his other hand was... somewhere in her body.
"I will not swear," Anzu fumed. "I will not swear I will not swear I will not swear I will not swear I will not." She swallowed hard, then gently pushed Kaiba away. She was now in sitting position. Anzu reached over Kaiba, opened the door, and pulled out the key, and put it in her purse. Hastily sitting back down, she looked at their position again. Finally, she slid out from under Kaiba, and half-lifted him. She was able to get him up with obvious difficulty. Shuffle shuffle shuffle.
Soon, Anzu managed to shove Kaiba into the guest bed. She went to her room and turned on the lights, blinking at their sudden brightness. She went to her desk and sat down. Anzu took out a few pieces of cute stationary, and wrote notes on them She then put one in the guest-room/Kaiba's room, and a couple elsewhere. When she finished this, Anzu then really realized how exhausted she was. Dragging a semi-unconscious CEO through town is not easy work. Anzu shuffled to her room and collapsed on her bed. She was asleep before she hit the mattress.
YES! Got that finished! Finally. Another long chapter. Kind of. :P
So! Anzu brought someone home tonight. Hee hee. I'm being so mean to her, and she's my favorite character! . Wow, a drunk Kaiba... lol You guys have no idea how much fun I had writing that scene.
FYI, no, I did not forget about Mai's meeting with Kaiba. That will be featured in the next chapter.
Speaking of the next chapter! It's going to have to do with work... again. This one's going to probably take a long time to write, but it won't necessarily be long. I only have like, a fourth of it planned out. After that, it's blank.
Ok, now that I'm done with the fourth chapter, I realized that in this story, times and dates are quite important. So here's a little timeline of what has happened in our little story...
Thursday, July 7th Anzu arrives in Domino(at night).
Friday, July 8th Anzu goes to meeting; Cat Act!; Kaiba sees Anzu in Rosewood Park. (Ch 1-2)
Saturday, July 9th Anzu shops with Mai and Serenity; get-together with the gang(Ch 3)
Monday, July 11th Anzu's first day of work(Ch 4)
Thursday, July 14th Anzu's Photo Shoot; Club Scene(Ch 4)
And the duel disk is scheduled to come out on July 18th. Which just so happens to be my birthday. Gee, what a coincidence.
Yeah, so that's it! Thanks for reading the chapter, and pleaz review! Compliments will be treasure, constructive comments considered, and flames cried over. Thank you again!
Now and Forever,
Ambiance-Dream