A/N: Whee, got this done! Considering how much I overslept and then going out, I'm rather impressed with myself… (Smirks) Now, I need to wrap up the A/Ns and go to bed… Thanks for your reviews, everyone! Loff you all:D

Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue…

Phase Three: The Future

Anzu didn't know what he was doing here, but one thought faded through the surprise of seeing him- that she didn't want him to see her, not like she was now, holding a bin liner so full of rubbish that it was liable to split, fighting with a ripped tarpaulin, covered in grime and generally just not ready for him. He hadn't noticed her yet, still deep in thought. She tugged harder on the elastic securing the tarpaulin over the top of the trailer, hoping to get the bin bag in and get back inside the house, but all that succeeded in doing was tearing the cover more, the sound of splitting material making him turn.

"Mazaki." He snarled in his usual way, though perhaps an iota less sneering and a tiny bit of surprise. "What are you doing here?" He demanded.

Anzu glared at him, stepping back from the trailer and, in the process, knocking over the rubbish bag at her feet. The rubbish spilled out over the lawn, but perhaps if she pretended not to notice, Seto Kaiba wouldn't either. Or maybe she could just distract him with a response.

"I happen to live here." She answered, stonily. "So I should be the one demanding to know what you're doing here."

Of course, she was fairly sure she knew already.

"Since when?" Kaiba shot back, ignoring everything but her first sentence.

"Since I was born!" She yelled at him. "And if you're not going to tell me what you're doing here, I'll have to guess. Because, as far as I'm aware, yours is the only 'local business' with the sort of money to try and buy this street! You are the only CEO I know who wouldn't have found another site by now because it's got into the news and now it's a matter of pride for you!" His lack of reaction, despite a dirty look, told her all she needed to know. Anzu's fists clenched into balls. "After all," She hissed. "What else would you be doing here? Mixing with the 'poor' people? Well, we're not as badly off as you may think. Nor are we so desperate for cash that we would-" She was cut off as, at the corner of the road, the usual car turned in to hand out more bulletins, although the staff were different- the others had been scared off. Anzu gave up on that sentence and began another one. "Oh, I'll leave you to it. You'll want to find out why those guys in the car haven't managed to make us sell yet, right? Watch them give us all more notices. But look at what happens to them." She pointed at the rubbish blowing around her front garden in the slight breeze. Most of it was made up of tiny scraps of paper, the remains of the offers that had been massacred in various ways. "Most of them," Anzu added "We recycled. But there wasn't room in the box for those ones."

Kaiba still said nothing, just stood there, watching her. He looked pretty dramatic, against the backdrop of the overcast grey sky, his hair and trademark coat ruffling slightly in the wind that was starting to pick up. His face was like the sky. The sun in it had long since been smothered by clouds, if it had ever been there to begin with. The only patches of blue were his eyes.

Seeing as he had nothing to say, Anzu abandoned the litter sweeping around the lawn for the moment and went back inside, feeling angrier then she had for a long time. And she really hoped that Kaiba wasn't going to cause any more trouble then he already had by trying to buy her street. She began to feel slightly nervous as well as angry. Now that he'd be more then a little annoyed with her, she didn't fancy her chances alone. She would feel better if someone came over. So she headed over to the phone, and dialled a number.

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Seto Kaiba was not often left in disbelief. He always knew what to do, what the best course of action was. But, this time, he did not. Look what she had reduced him to. Even when he'd seen on the local news the men being chased down his street by a girl, he hadn't connected it with Anzu Mazaki. Yugi, however, had been unmistakable, and he had wondered what he had been doing there. He should've guessed.

But despite what Anzu believed, he was not the one doing the buying. He was, in fact, someone she had once been very close to. He was, essentially, the boy who lived next door. Only, he was not. Time changes many things. And that boy was gone.

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As the telephone rang, Anzu realised what she had done. By phoning Yugi, she either had to tell him on the phone or wait till he came round and talk to him then. Neither sounded good. But it had to be done. After all, Ryou had said that he wouldn't do it.

Then again, maybe Yugi wasn't the best person to phone. He was a dear, but whenever he and Kaiba were in the same vicinity, sparks flew. It was the 'sparks' that she was trying to avoid… But it was too little, too late. Already, Yugi's cheery voice was coming down the receiver.

"Hello, Kame- I mean, Hi." He said. Anzu laughed. Yugi had always lived in the flat above the shop, and even though they now had separate phone numbers for the phone in the shop and the one upstairs, he still couldn't break the habit of answering every call by announcing the name of the shop.

"Hey, Yugi." She said, suddenly feeling nervous about talking to him.

"Anzu!" He said, only a tiny bit of his discomfort managing to sneak into carefully veiled voice. "…Is everything alright?"

"Well…" She began, uncertainly, throwing a look to where Kaiba was still hanging around outside. "I… it's nothing, everything's fine." She made a decision. "I just wanted to apologise for freaking out on you like that on Friday. I didn't see it coming, that's all."

"It's okay." He replied, the discomfort now revealing itself fully. Anzu said nothing. It had all seemed so clear when she was discussing it with Ryou. But now, speaking to Yugi again, her heart and her head were in turmoil. She didn't know how to begin. But, it seemed, Yugi did. "Anzu." He said, quietly. "Just say no."

"Yugi…"

"Anzu," He replied. "Please, I promise. It won't be as bad as you think. Just say it. Please, just get it over and done with."

"I… Yugi, I can't- well, I won't, I guess- go out with you." Anzu felt terrible saying it.

After a slight pause, Yugi answered "Well, I'm glad we got that out of the way. To be honest, I always knew… But hey, I had to ask, or it would have bugged me forever."

"I just wish I could say yes." Anzu sighed. "You're a wonderful person Yugi. And you'd make someone very happy. I love being friends with you, I love having you around… I just wish I could say yes, but I can't. Because I'm not sure if I do… well."

"Well." Yugi agreed. "So… As I said, I'm glad we got that done. These past few days, when I haven't seen you, I was worried that… But we can go back to normal now, right?"

"Of course!" Anzu answered without hesitation. She didn't feel so bad about things now. She was as relieved as Yugi that it was done. It would seem he had known she would say no, but just had to try. So he wouldn't have something asking 'What if' in his ear for the rest of his life. And he understood completely. Which just made her wish even more that she could have said yes. What a mess it all was. If only she could like him more then as a friend. He was such a great person… if only, if only. The fact is, she didn't. She hadn't been sure for a long time, but she knew now. She only hoped that Ryou was right, and that when she met someone she really loved, she would forget all about the boy who used to live next door. She wanted to stop thinking about him, she really did. It wasn't even like, at that age, their relationship had been anything more then a friendship. But she just couldn't help…

Thinking of Ryou, he would probably be a good one to talk to about the Kaiba situation. He was probably the only one who wouldn't go and pick a fight…

"Yugi, I kinda hafta go…" She said, regretfully.

"That's alright." He replied, sounding almost his usual self. "Just… Anzu, thank you for being honest with me. I'd rather you said no then you went out with me because you'd feel bad if you didn't. So don't worry."

How did he know exactly what she had been thinking!

"And one other thing. When you do find someone you like, don't hold back, okay? Not for my sake, and not for anyone else's'. I would hate that. Even if you find him tomorrow."

Anzu could feel tears coming to her eyes. He was unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. "Yugi… you rock." She declared. Yugi just laughed.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Anzu."

"Bye, Yugi." She hung up, feeling ever so slightly better. She certainly had some awesome friends. One person who didn't, however, was still hanging around outside, under the grey clouds. That was a little freaky. She began to dial Ryou's number, but not even Seto Kaiba threatening her home could take away from the happiness and relief slowly growing inside her. She had sorted one problem, at least, out. And so at least one thing was going to be alright. And she knew that as long as her friends were there, everything would be in the end.

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At Ryou's flat, the person in question was sleeping more soundly then he had done in a long time. He was fine in the day time; he could usually find something to keep himself occupied, or when he was with Anzu and his other friends, he couldn't be happier. He could talk to them, but what he liked was that he didn't have to. They didn't mind him being quiet and not saying much. He was trying to be more talkative and not quite so 'distant' all the time, and he seemed to be doing pretty well at it. He was usually quite hyper in the day time to, because of all the sugar and caffeine he had in the morning to wake himself up. He needed waking up in the mornings, because he didn't sleep all that well. He'd been able to deal with the nightmares a lot better more recently, because he wasn't so scared any more- at least, not when he woke up- that he couldn't go back to sleep. It was just waking up periodically every night, having to change the sheets because of the cold sweat that drenched them almost every morning, that was getting tiresome. But even that was getting better. If he woke up from a bad dream and went back to sleep, he rarely had another one. Occasionally he would sleep straight through the night.

Revision for tomorrow's history exam, however, had proved to be rather soothing, and his dream was fine- if a little odd. They were in some large stone cathedral in the Middle Ages, and the monks were singing Plainchant, and the Priest was yelling that as long as they prayed and avoided bad smells, they wouldn't be killed by the Plague; but Yugi was insisting that the only way to defeat the Black Death was through the power of the Heart of the Cards. They began to duel, but if Yugi lost, Ryou himself, Jou, and Honda would be forced to join the monks, hypnotised by their chanting; while Anzu was having a hole cut in her skull to let the evil spirits out. She was upset because she was worried if it made her head bleed the Humours would become unbalanced, and the Church bells were ringing and ringing…

Ryou woke up properly and realised that he had fallen asleep, and that it was not bells ringing, but his phone. Still half asleep, he reached out and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi Ryou!" Anzu said, happily.

"Hi Anzu…" He replied, groggily. "How's your head?" He asked, without thinking.

"Huh?"

Ryou slapped his forehead. It woke him up slightly to, as well as punishing his idiocy. "Um… Never mind. Sorry. Weird dreams…"

She laughed sunnily. "I thought you sounded tired. Oh! I didn't wake you up, did I? Although why you'd be asleep at this time of day…"

"History revision." Ryou replied. "I think I've discovered a cure for insomnia. Anyway, you sound happy."

"I'm just relieved." Anzu admitted. "I just talked to Yugi. It's all sorted."

"How was he?" Ryou checked, sitting up straight and trying to rub the crick out of his neck. His head must have flopped at an odd angle…

"Great." Anzu sighed. "Which made me feel even worse."

"Don't worry about it." Ryou reassured her. "You did the best thing you could."

"Ah, yeah, but now I have another problem." Anzu replied. "Kaiba's hanging around outside."

"What?" Ryou stood now, sending his book falling to the floor and heading toward the kitchen to get a glass of water. "Has he done anything?"

"No." Anzu sounded surprise. "But he's just been standing around outside for ages now, and it's freaking me out a bit. Ryou, he's the one that's trying to buy the street. I'm worried I'll end up… or he'll… Look, could you come round?"

"Of course." Ryou answered, not bothering to go into the kitchen but remaining in the hall and starting to get his shoes on. "I'm more then willing to stop you doing anything silly. Just give me time to walk over."

"So… About fifteen minutes, then."

"I'll be with you in ten."

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Seto Kaiba's life had come full circle.

He had always thought he would never come back here. When his mother had died, his father had moved them away, to the next city. At the time, that had seemed like an immeasurable distance. He had hardly stopped asking when they could go back to see his friend again; until he realised that his mother would not be joining them, and she took the front place in his thoughts. Gradually, he stopped thinking about his friend so much as he made others at his new school. Then his father died, and she was pushed even further back in his mind. By the time he and Mokuba were being shunted around between various relatives, he only thought about her when Mokuba asked what life had been like before their parents had died. When they were sent to the orphanage, when Mokuba stopped asking, he had forgotten her name, and her face; and under Gozaburo's cruelty, he would have forgotten her completely were it not for a tacky, plastic, green semi-circle on a pink piece of thread, and a few buried memories that liked to resurface in the small hours of the night. More recently, like everything else in his past, he thought he had buried like everything else.

Then there had been that news report about the war over a street. His street. Where he had been happy. Even he wasn't so heartless that he could pretend he didn't care. Mokuba didn't remember that house. Seto hardly did himself. But, somehow, he had ended up coming to look at it one last time.

And he would almost be glad if it went. Seto Kaiba had little room in his life for sentimentality. That house and that bracelet reminded him of things that made his life, both past and present, suddenly be thrown into the stark, harsh light of the recent weather, with no shadowy corners to push things into. As he had stood before his old house, nowhere near as grand as the one he lived in now, guessing no-one was home as no-one came to move him on, absorbed in memories of a happier time, he had heard a noise. He had turned to see who it was, who had caught him in his moment of weakness, to find none other then Anzu Mazaki, at the house next door.

The rest had been a slight blur. After just under twelve years, he had inadvertedly kept his promise to come back. She didn't seem to realise, thinking that it was him that wanted to have this street torn down and build over it. He didn't correct her. He couldn't help but think that it would be better for them both if he didn't.

After she had gone in, he stood for a long time in thought, even as it began drizzling, soon turning to huge drops of water plummeting from the sky. He ignored Bakura as he went up to the house. And he thought.

The relationship between him and Mazaki was not good, and he had never had any desire for it to be. A friendship from when he was a kid was no basis for him to change his policy now, surely. He had always found life was easier if he allowed himself to care about very little. But… they had been friends back then, good friends, best friends, as his stupid bracelet, in his coat pocket, declared. Well, he certainly hadn't earnt that title since they'd unknowingly been reunited. He was also honest, and knew that while he did not have many redeeming qualities, he was a person of his word. And he'd promised he'd come back. He had no intention of doing so, but, he supposed, before he could be free of this obligation, he had one last job to do. As her friend.

He strode over to the car she'd pointed out, intending to do just that.

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When Anzu opened the door, Ryou was standing there, soaking wet but grinning from ear to ear.

"I told you it would rain!" He said, happily, the second the door was open. Anzu felt a little tempted to slam it shut again.

"Oh, did you?" She asked, pretending to be thinking about it. "I don't remember. And I'm not sure if I believe you." She added, jokingly. "I don't think it's raining. I refuse to believe it's raining, not after all the sun we've had."

"I did tell you." Ryou confirmed, stepping into the porch. "And if you don't believe me, I shall go inside and drip all over your best carpet."

"Fine, fine, I surrender, you win!" Anzu giggled, stepping out of the way of the door so he come inside the house properly, although he polite as always, took his now-muddy shoes first. "I'll just go get you a towel."

"Don't bother." Ryou protested. "I like being wet."

"Yes," she answered, already half way up the stairs. "But I don't like you dripping all over my best carpet!"

Ryou smiled, but repeated: "No, really, don't bother. After all, we'll be back out there in a minute."

Anzu stared at him. "What?"

Ryou shrugged. "Well, you're right on both accounts- Kaiba is standing around out there, and, yes, it is freaky. Also," He continued solemnly. "I think that rather then I try to protect us both from our dragon out there, we'd be better off just leaving. Going for a walk."

"In the rain?" Anzu asked, indcredously.

"Well, we're hardly going to do laps around your living room, are we?" Ryou said, still smiling.

"You're mad!" Anzu protested. "I'm not going out in that!"

"I prefer the word eccentric." Ryou repeated. "And if you trust me enough to follow my advise, why won't you come out on a little walk with me? It'll be fun, I promise."

"Well…" Anzu said, her resolve weakening. She threw her hands up in defeat. "Fine! Let me just grab an umbrella!" She ran back down stairs and began rummaging in the cupboard.

"Anzu…" His hand fell on her shoulder, pulling her gently away. "Leave it. Just get some shoes and a jacket. It won't work if you don't let the rain fall."

"You are mad." She said, once again, giving up the search and putting on a coat none the less.

"I prefer the word eccentric." Ryou replied, obligingly. "Now, come on."

When they got outside, Kaiba had moved, talking to the driver of the car handing out the most recent offers further up the road. And good riddance to him. As Anzu locked the door behind them, Ryou waited at the bottom of the driveway, his faced upturned to the sky. He looked so peaceful, and so happy, she hardly wanted to disturb him.

"Why do you like the rain so much?" She asked, quietly.

He shrugged, leading off in a random direction. "It's like I said. The sun always seems so much more brilliant afterwards. And rain… it can wash away any number of things. It muffles sounds, and everyone goes inside… It clears up, hides things away and brings life to everything, do you see? I guess that it can mean anything to anyone. But I just like the quiet, and the… clarity of rain, I suppose."

They walked along in silence, not going anywhere it particular, as Anzu tried to work out what Ryou had said. But as they walked, with no-one else out braving the elements, the water soaking her clothes and face and muffling the sounds all around, she began to see what he meant. The rain gave you time to detach from the world and not think about anything unless you wanted to, to withdraw into yourself and forget, to think, whatever you needed. The only other place she got it was in dance. And, it would seem, this is how Ryou did it. That was the clarity he spoke of. Everything seemed so much clearer and straight-forward beneath the cool, quiet, water.

"Ryou?" She called, surfacing from her thoughts to see that they'd walked a good long way, and now she shook him from his as he looked at her, water running in rivers down his face.

"Mmm?" He mumbled, by way of response.

"Do you want to go to the playground?"

"…Alright."

The playground was a small, scruffy patch of grass in the corner of the park, with some old swings, a slide, climbing frame, roundabout, and some of those rocking animals sitting in their own pools of bark chippings. Anzu had played there a lot when she was little, not noticing the rust and chipped paint, or the way things creaked when they moved. She had had good fun here, despite it's short comings. She had often played here with him. But as she sat down on the same swing that she had always used, she realised just how long it had been.

Anzu swung slightly, slowly, listlessly, back and forth, propelling herself just a little on her toes. Ryou silently took the swing next to her, and swung, the old chains creaking and groaning as he did. Anzu joined the motion, and gradually they became synchronised- but when Ryou was at the back, Anzu was at the front, and vice-versa. They came aligned at the centre, before swinging further out of it. Apart from them, the playground was deserted- no parent willing to let their child stay out in this rain. So they swung, endlessly back and forth, slowly getting higher and higher, further up into the rain, and the more drops that crashed onto her sodden body, the better Anzu felt. And suddenly, she started laughing, allowing her motion to wear itself out lest she fell off. Ryou stopped himself to, far less ceremoniously, digging his feet rudely into the ground until it jolted to a halt.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Us!" Anzu gasped. "Using the swings in the pouring rain in a playground we're far too old for, and so solemnly! I think you're 'eccentricity' is rubbing off on me. It's just so… silly!"

"Well, the world's a fairly silly place, in my opinion." Ryou replied, calm as ever, beginning his swinging once again.

"That's true." Anzu agreed, swinging again to. And they swung, and they swung until their legs hurt, regardless of the wet and cold. As they did so, they talked, and they stayed silent, at intervals. They didn't look for things to say, just said something when it came to mind. And they laughed. And by the time Anzu got home, she had forgotten all about the exams the next day, and the cleaning, and Yugi, and Seto Kaiba and his stupid offers, and the boy who lived next door. She'd probably remember it all when she woke up in the morning, but, for now, she felt better then she had done for days.

"Ryou…" She said, slowly, as he began to walk away.

"Yes?" He asked, turning.

"If it rains again tomorrow… can we go walking again?"

"Sure." Ryou replied, smiling. "We can walk to school."

Anzu groaned. She'd forgotten about that one…

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Seto came out of the impromptu meeting with an uncustomary smile on his face. He'd been correct in his assumption that, unlike the people of the street, all the business wanted was money. And that was one thing he had plenty of. So it had been a simple matter of matching the price they were offering for each house and effectively giving them the money they would have paid out if the entire street had accepted the most recent offer. And all they had to do was go away. He had known they would accept, because he knew that's what he would have done, despite their pride being on the line. It was too good to turn down.

This good deed of his was to be kept completely anonymous, except to one house- hers. He still didn't want them to know that he had been the one to buy up the street, but did ask the strangest thing. He wanted that, when they handed out the bulletins announcing that the offer was being withdrawn, they posted with hers an old bracelet. They did not question why.

Seto couldn't stop smiling. He'd saved the street, and, in a way, his childhood, but, at the same time, he had severed the last tie to his past. He had no more obligations to it, nothing else to wonder about, nothing else to do with it. A fresh start, if he believed in such things. To shove his past firmly behind him, where it belonged, and not remember it every time he saw a tacky old bracelet.

He was free.

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Ryou wandered up to Anzu's front door, whistling happily to himself. It was still raining, and he had said he'd walk to school with her. Of course, she wouldn't be expecting him, which would make it all the funnier.

"Good morning!" He said, cheerily, as it was Anzu herself who opened the door. She seemed surprised.

"Ryou!" She cried. "You didn't have to come all out of your way! I didn't expect you to show up this morning!"

"That's why I did." He smiled. "I'm sorry it's so early, but I figured we could meet Yugi on the way. I haven't bumped into him yet this morning though, so he must be ahead…"

"…I'm taking my umbrella this time." Anzu replied, looking out at the rain. "Come in for a second, you're getting drenched!"

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Fine…" Anzu sighed. "Just hold on one second…"

She hopped around, putting on shoes and a coat over her school socks and blazer, and dug out her umbrella. It was very old. Ryou, however, waiting patiently outside, seemed to like it. The pink, with the teddy bears in wellingtons skipping around the edge, just struck him as amusing. But, as they splashed along, Anzu deftly dodging the waves the cars sent up and Ryou appearing oblivious to it, he thought something was wrong; she didn't join in his teasing or banter at all. For once, he was the one trying to make conversation and she was the one giving monosyllabic replies. So he stopped. And she stopped to, although she didn't notice for a few metres and had to back tread, looking at him quizzically.

"What's up?" She asked, curiously, peering out from under the brolly. "You know, we shouldn't stop or we'll be late. And if you carry on getting wet like this you'll end up with a cold…"

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing." Ryou replied, evenly. "You seem so pensive this morning. What's up?"

"It's just…" She bit her lip before continuing. "They've withdrawn the offer on our houses! It's over, and the residents have won."

"That's fantastic!" Ryou declared enthusiastically. His enthusiasm did not seem to be shared. "So… why aren't you bouncing off the walls in ecstasy?"

"Look what came through the door with the notice." She said, quietly, pulling something out of her pocket and handing it to him. At first he thought it was her bracelet, but then he noticed that the colours were inverted, and it said 'BEST', not 'FRIEND' on it. So it had to be…

"Isn't this…?"

"Yeah." Anzu sighed, miserably. "He came back, fixed the problem for us, somehow, and I missed him. I can't help but wonder… But it doesn't matter."

Ryou blinked. "It doesn't? Don't you want to know who he is?"

"Of course." Anzu nodded. "But… the thing is, this is my chance to, kinda 'move on', you know?" She smiled, closing her eyes and lowering her umbrella so the rain could hit her face. "He fixed the problem for me, but he gave the bracelet back. He's not a part of my life anymore. It's been too long… any bond we had was gone, and I guess it was only my pining that made me think it was there. But now I don't have to wonder anymore. I'll never know who he is… But I guess that's okay. I don't need to anymore. What we had was a special friendship, and he'll always be a cherished part of my childhood, but he's in the past; and now I'm in the Present. So it's all good, right."

"I'm glad…" Ryou said, slowly, holding the bracelet out to her. "That you see it like that, Anzu."

She pushed his hand away, curling it around the bracelet as she did so.

"Ryou, I want you to have this. As part of the present. And hopefully the future." She added, unable to stop herself blushing.

"Thank you." Ryou said, quietly. "I've… never had a gift like this before."

"Really?" Anzu asked, putting the umbrella down completely and getting wet out in the rain with him, smiling at him and suddenly feeling oddly happy again. "…Neither have I."

They continued to school. And that particular walk was followed by many others; in sun and snow and sleet and wind and hail, in silence and talking the whole way, but the rain forever held something special, as it fell down and soaked them through, soaked them to the bone. But they didn't mind.

They just let it rain.

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A/N: Heh… THE END! Tada! Did you enjoy it? I apologise for the omnipresent references to the weather, by the way. It just kinda ended up as a running theme. But, you know, originally, it was going to be the other way around- it was going to have been raining for days and then the sun was going to come out at the end. And then I thought that as the sun was always associated with happiness and rain with sadness, I'd swap it around and see what happened. Well… Maybe it actually kinda didn't. (Sweatdrop) But hey, I tried. Also my first attempt at Japanese names, and, indeed, that pairing. I don't mind Ryou/Anzu, but I think I shall have to stick to my usual Seto/Anzu and now-writing Ryou/Shizuka! Heh. It was interesting to try something different. I can't think of anything else I need to say, so… Thanks for reading:D