Title: She was a wallflower

Pairing: JouAnzu, JouMai, SetoAnzu (will end in JOUANZU!)

Summary: A conversation and Jounouchi scales a fence.

Notes: Here are a few things to throw out to you guys:

(1) I'm following manga-verse in how Gozaburo died. However, since I haven't read the manga in quite a while, I may be off with several details.

(2) Anzu means "apricot" in Japanese though I guess a lot of people know this already.

(3) Jounouchi literally means, "castle of/from inside," depending on how it's written. Anzu makes a dig based on this.

(4) Getting into a good middle school/high school/college etc. in Japan is accomplished through scoring well on difficult entrance exams. Many kids go to cram school – sort of like prep classes – in addition to regular school in order to prepare for these exams. (Think SAT.)

(5) Anzu, during the Duelist Kingdom arc, surprises everybody when she translates Pegasus' diary, which was originally written in English. For the last chapter and for this one, too, I explained that away by stating that her parents once lived in the US and through insinuating that they must have transferred some of their learning of the language to her.

(6) Ano can be translated as "uh…" or something of the like.

(7) Kami can be loosely translated as "God".

Edited 1/26/08.


.:a slice of life elsewhere:.

For that year, it was the biggest thing on the news: "Kaiba Gozaburo commits suicide and leaves KaibaCorp to adopted heir Kaiba Seto!" The whole incident seemed the stuff of movies rather than real life. But there were too many witnesses to dismiss it as fiction – from the pedestrians crossing the street below the iconic KaibaCorp building to the company's bigwigs who had attended the ill-fated board meeting on the sixty-eight floor – and people could only shake their heads in disbelief as they watched the amateur video of the fall over and over again on the news.

This was the question that ran through their heads: "Why did Kaiba Gozaburo – CEO of one of the most wealthiest corporations in Japan – jumped out that day?"

There was an investigation, of course. The police interrogated the board executives, the ones who had been nearest to Gozaburo at the time. The full story came out reluctantly, but steadily over time as public scrutiny and plunging stock prices forced them to reveal all the lurid details concerning the mysterious suicide.

So why did Kaiba Gozaburo jumped?

A draft of the police report typed up by an assistant told the following:

'On April 21st, CEO Kaiba Gozaburo was leading a conference when Kaiba Seto and Kaiba Mokuba walked into the room.

For several months, most of KaibaCorp's board members had been working closely with Kaiba Seto to overturn Kaiba Gozaburo's position as CEO. Apparently, Kaiba Gozaburo had made a bet with Kaiba Seto a year ago in which he was given ten million yen and asked to make ten times that amount with it in within a month. Kaiba Seto accomplished this feat in within a week. The next challenge concerned ownership of KaibaCorp itself; if Kaiba Seto could find a way to oust Kaiba Gozaburo from power in a year, Kaiba Seto would become the next CEO.

Kaiba Seto quickly figured out that this method would mean obtaining fifty-one percent of KaibaCorp's stock. For five months, Kaiba Seto worked hard to gain the favor of the company's board members. Many of them came over to his side, long frustrated with Kaiba Gozaburo's authoritarian rule over KaibaCorp. They gave him their shares of stock and before long, Kaiba Seto had the amount required to effectively control the corporation.

Thus when Kaiba Seto and Kaiba Mokuba walked in on the meeting, the board executives took this as a sign to officially pledge their loyalty to Kaiba Seto in front of Kaiba Gozaburo.

These were the actions the majority of those interviewed agreed occurred immediately following their entrance:

Kaiba Seto said, "I win. I effectively own KaibaCorp. I will be in control from now on." The board members nodded their agreement.

CEO Kaiba Gozaburo leaned forward in his chair. Most of the board members reported that he was smiling "like a madman" at that particular moment. A few added, "He was probably insane the whole time."

"Really, Seto?" Kaiba Gozaburo stood up.

"Exactly what I mean. I am the CEO from now on. I control the ropes here. You will be disposed in favor of my ascendance, Gozaburo."

"All those lessons over the years since I adopted you…You're finally getting them. Bravo, Seto!" And Kaiba Gozaburo clapped.

Kaiba Seto sneered. "In this case, one might say the student has far surpassed the teacher. In every way."

"True, true, Seto," Kaiba Gozaburo continued, "This old man has begun to run out of tricks. But – "

Kaiba Gozaburo was suddenly standing by the north window.

" – If you think I'm going to leave like a dog… You're wrong, son."

The board members remembered sun shimmering on the window before it shattered into many pieces, big and small. They remembered running over to the hole left by the space of Kaiba Gozaburo's body and then jumping away in fright when jagged plates of glass fell from above. They remembered seeing – through the glare of sunlight from the nearby windows of buildings, from the hoods of cars on highways, from the white sidewalks with people milling around on – a speck of black and red directly below their feet. Black for the suit's color and red for Kaiba Gozaburo's blood.

Kaiba Seto did not look at Kaiba Gozaburo's corpse with them.

Instead Kaiba Seto took the seat that Kaiba Gozaburo had just vacated minutes before.

Thus this concludes the investigation of the Domino Police into the cause of Kaiba Gozaburo's suicide. '

When the commissioner read the draft, she complained that it was "too wordy" and "read more like a tabloid magazine article than a formal police report." The assistant was asked to retype the report.

'But no matter,' the assistant thought to himself when he left the office at eight. 'It sounds a lot better than any other report I'm going to write up in my lifetime.'


She was a wallflower

Chapter Three: They talk



And then, there was dialogue
.

"Name's Jounouchi."

"Mazaki Anzu."

"Eat apricots?"

"Obsessed with the feudal era much? Castles aren't needed anymore."

"Ouch. Thirteen, right?"

"That obvious? I turned thirteen a few weeks ago. August 18th."

"Heh, gonna be sixteen in a few months. You're gonna wear the Domino High uniform next year?"

"Probably. I'm just an average student. I don't even go to cram school."

"Me neither. Don't have the time for it. Barely passed the entrance exam, you know."

"You looked like it."

"Is the delinquent thing so noticeable?"

"From your hair to your shoes… You look every bit the delinquent that sits in the back of the class in teen movies."

"Ha, don't know whether to get angry or start laughing with you again… Anzu, right? I could call you Anzu?"

"I…"

"Huh?"

"It's kind of – kind of…"

"Hey, you okay – "

" – Y-Yeah, it's fine…"

"You're shocked. I can just call you 'Mazaki-san' or something. But why be so formal? 'Anzu' sounds a hell lot better."

"N-No, just taken aback there. Not many people call me by that. I'll just say 'Jounouchi-senpai' since you are older than me. And calling a guy by his first name must be embarrassing."

"Damn straight. Always hated my name anyway. My mom named me that from some baby magazine. Kami, my mother… And why put the '-senpai' there, just call me 'Jounouchi.'"

"Oh, come on, I always wanted a senpai of my own! And you seem like a nice delinquent. Humor me please."

"Ha, got to be kidding me there. Me, nice? Wanna know how many people I beat up every week? I could be going for you next, you know?"

"You won't. You're a big old softie underneath, I can tell. Besides, even if I'm wrong, you got to go to the other side of the park to get me, Jounouchi-senpai."

"Sheesh, makes me feel like I got to be a great role model or mentor for you or something. And who says I'm gonna go walk to you, Anzu?"

"What other way is there to get me? Unless you're a delinquent who thinks he's 'Superman'?"

"'Superman'? Wow, your English sounds like an American's."

"Yeah, what about it? My parents used to live in the States."

"Ah, I see. Say something else in English."

"Ano… 'I want to be a dancer.'"

"Damn, that was pretty nice. You could be a translator for those foreigner businessmen. They can get you big money. What did you say?"

"…I want to be a dancer."

"What are you so nervous about? Is that supposed to be a secret or something?"

"No, no, I just… Never told it to anybody before. Not even Fujioka-san."

"Who?"

"…T-Therapist."

"Yeah, I should probably go see one, too."

"Are you being sarcastic? Having a therapist is not a funny thing!"

"Maybe therapy will make me not so screwed up…" Under his breath, he mutters, "And make me not wanna kill that bitch so much," a thought she barely catches but catches nonetheless.

"Hey…are you all right?"

"Yeah, it's just – my mother. She really gets on my nerves."

"She left you, didn't she?"

"Yeah – how did you know!"

"The tone of your voice. You already mentioned her a few times. And divorce is becoming a lot more common these days. I was guessing from that…"

"Well… You're really good, Anzu. Intuitive, is that the word? You should be the therapist instead."

"…That's real hilarious, Jounouchi-senpai."

"What's up with the bitterness? I meant that as a compliment!"

"…Didn't you say you were climbing the fence? I want to see you try that. If you can."

"Heh, I'm not one to back down from a challenge! I'm a delinquent, remember? And when I get over there, I'm gonna get you to tell me what the hell's bugging you."

"…"

"That's right, don't think I didn't notice you changing the topic like that all of the sudden. Okay, I'll put my foot here…"

"Is that a bet, Jounouchi-senpai?"

"Why not, Anzu? Besides, I don't feel like taking the long way to get to you. Too boring. And what if you run out on me? I just met you, after all."

"It's high, you know. What if you fall? You're going to get more than bruises and cuts. Not going to sue my family for being so stupid, are you?"

"I can handle this just fine… Look, almost halfway already!"

"How are you going to get down the other side? Anybody can climb up the thing! Going down's the hard part, baka! I was only kidding about the fence before!"

"Easy. I'll be like Superman and fly down to you. Besides, it's too late to go back on that challenge, Anzu, I'm already at the top…Hey, what are you getting up for – "

"So I could wave and cheer for you when you fly down to me. No! I'm getting up in a desperate attempt to dissuade you from doing this, Jounouchi-senpai! Just stop right now!"

"You're gonna try catching me when I fall?"

"If I have to – yes! I was just kidding, you know!"

"I'm going down, now… Not slipping into the air yet, am I?"

"No… But you are one stupid delinquent."

"Hey, Anzu! I'm gonna try jumping from here, it'll be faster getting down!"

"What'll be coming faster will be a bloody, broken you!"

"But you're catching me, right? You said so yourself before, Anzu."

"And – Jounouchi-senpai!"

(She was a wallflower)

Jounouchi had several bruises on his head from the fall, nothing too bad. Anzu made sure that everything but his head didn't touch the ground, so he guessed that he had her to thank for not breaking a bone or two somewhere. As for his head… Yeah, she probably did that to knock some sense into the hard stubborn thing. Kami knew he needed it sometimes.

Anzu ended up breaking her wrist catching him, though. The instant he heard the pop! Jounouchi regretted making the jump. He had always been a good climber; he could have just picked his way down the chain links, but no, he wanted to try dropping through the air and landing splat! on the ground.

(But the fact that Anzu kept her promise was kind of nice.)

She didn't seem to mind the injury at all, even when her wrist was blowing up and turning red and purple all over. When Jounouchi offered to pay for the hospital bill, she pushed his hands holding that week's wages away and held up her parent's credit card to be charged. No line of irritation ever warred with the smile on her face; no ounce of coldness ever came into her eyes sparkling azure. All she did was smirk while he gaped at the size of the blue-and-black bump showing through his bangs in the mirror and laugh at the absurdity of the whole scenario they were in, two teenagers in the hospital on a late Friday night where nearly everybody else their age were making out in cars or hanging out at home with a movie and popcorn.

Anzu was a really good person, Jounouchi concluded.

The blond thought that Anzu would go home after getting the cast on, but she said, "Nah, parents aren't home, I want to be out some more," and he agreed. He doubted his father would care if he got home late – Jounouchi was out nearly all the time – and besides, it was always alcohol, alcohol, and alcohol. A bottle of smelly crap was far more important than his son.

They sat on one of the benches outside Domino Hospital, the night hanging over them like a comfortable blanket.

"Let's meet again another time, Anzu," Jounouchi started. "I still feel guilty over your wrist… It's in a cast now. Got to suck, you know. Not being able to use it for a month."

"At least it wasn't my right hand, Jounouchi-senpai. Then I would get mad at you. I'm still able to do a lot of things even without it."

Anzu paused. He sensed a question brewing in her, waiting for voice to make it alive.

Her next words were in a whisper that he had to strain his ears to hear. "Another…meeting? With me? Do you really mean that?"

Jounouchi didn't know why she was suddenly so hesitant towards him, but he could tell that this was important to her and that he better not screw this up. Tonight he had the most fun he ever had in ages and he liked Anzu, the plucky thing. She was like the Shizuka he would have had fun with if only his mother hadn't been in the way. And it was refreshing to talk to someone else beside Honda for a change. The subject of Miho could only be discussed for so long.

So he reached into a pocket and took out a pen. And much to Anzu's surprise, Jounouchi grabbed hold of the arm with the broken wrist and began to write on the white surface of the cast.

"My number," he spoke when he was done. "And the days and times we could meet each other."

She stared at him hard. Her hand shook.

"Let's meet at the same place we met today. Tomorrow night good with you?"

Anzu's mouth struggled to form words; but only air puffed out, and she resorted to nodding her head yes.

"So tomorrow night," and Jounouchi's eyes were full of mischief then, "You're gonna tell me why you had to go to the therapist in the first place. Remember our bet?"

Anzu hit him hard on the shoulder with her good hand when he said that.

"You're still on that, Jounouchi-senpai?"

He smiled.


A/N: This chapter took me a while. I had to fix up Kaiba's lines and then add some more details so it didn't sound too choppy. But I'm pleased with the result over all. Jounouchi and Anzu finally have a real conversation with one another! XD Now, I just have to write Yuugi into the next chapter…

PLEASE REVIEW! A review a day keeps the writer's block away!

.: ShinakaStar :.