Thanx 4 the reviews! I've decided to change a few things. No more double space L. That's about it……. Big change eh?

Meltdown

Anzu shifted her gaze slightly, just enough to escape his inquiring stare. "Well?" The silence dragged on for what seemed to be the ultimate form of eternity. He was expecting an answer that Anzu didn't have. She regretted wanting to have this little confrontation now. She was mentally gripping her throat and slamming her head repeatedly into an invisible brick wall. 'How could I have been so stupid! This was stupid to begin with. I have to remember who I'm trying to tango with here. Kaiba. And he's not a child like his younger brother. Even then, his little brother is smarter than the average kid.' Anzu looked back into Kaiba's eyes. She felt nothing from his gaze. She couldn't even tell if he was human or not. He just existed, if only for existence itself. She stalled as long as she possibly could. 'Come on lunch bell!'

Finally, Kaiba spoke. "Are you feeling well Mazaki? You seem to be having a little trouble saying anything. And to think, before, I couldn't get you to shut up." He paused briefly, in his deadly calm way, then resumed speaking. "It seems that things have been misinterpreted today. You can go away now, your presence is quite nauseating." He ended with a graceful flick of his wrist towards the door she came from and opened his book up and resumed his peaceful reading, as if nothing happened.

Anzu eagerly snatched up the opportunity to avoid any further scrutiny from Kaiba, and bolted as gracefully as she could without completely running from Kaiba. Anzu berated herself for being so foolish to begin with. Then again, she was still curious as to why Kaiba had such an outburst as he did in the hallway. It was irrational and made absolutely no sense to her. She gripped her ideas, searching for a reason why, but the thoughts kept drifting through her mental probing fingers like wet sand. He was so collected just a second ago, his usual irritating apathetic self.

She found her way back to the table where her friends were by wandering through the vast crowds of students still churning about in mass crowds around the tables in the cafeteria. Jounichi stared at Anzu, he was mere inches from her face. "Did you fall in like last time?" Anzu's eyes narrowed, slowly and deadly at Jounichi. "Last time!" Anzu spat in his face with an unnervingly calm voice. Jounichi backed away, slowly, but quick enough so that he would miss a slap. "Sorry!" He held his hands up in a distinct surrender.

For the next whole week, she managed to avoid Kaiba in every way shape and form, except for the fact that when she walked anywhere near Shibuya or outside of her house in Tokyo she saw his face plastered everywhere on billboards and screens, she was forced to look at them constantly, because they were her only means of knowing when the tryouts were coming up and how the contest was doing. Every young school girl in Japan was swarming around Tokyo, waiting to be spotted by someone that recruited talent from Kaiba Corp. There were several girls dressed in Lolita fashion ( a very popular gothic style in Japan) and many more kogals (Japanese girls who delight in spending daddy's hard earned money on fashion in order to imitate the typical tanned and groomed California girl).

Anzu found herself in the midst of her own culture for once. And she discovered that she felt more like a gaijin (foreigner) in her own country than ever before. There were so many different types of girls trying out for the same thing that she was. The full impact of this finally reached Anzu's comprehension. If she managed to beat all these hundreds of thousands of girls that came before her, she would truly become a superstar, and an idol to all the others. People would know her name and recognize her face just as her own friends would, and she wouldn't have a clue who they were. Total strangers would adore her. Girls her age would dress like her and practically worship her by putting up posters of her all over their walls in their rooms. Right next to the posters and huge piles of magazine collections with Seto Kaiba's face on them.

Anzu had sent in her video footage that was to be reviewed by those choosing the talent. Unfortunately, she didn't have a digital camera to make her own video because her parents never bought her one. So she had to go to one of those "Make Your Own Movie" places with the non-optional crappy glittery special affects stars flying across the recording. She hadn't expected the return letter from Kaiba Corp. at all. It said that she had 'passed' and was to continue on to an interview session with judges at Kaiba Corp. Only a hundred others had been chosen to continue to that level, out of the seven hundred thousand who had actually applied.

Anzu sat in her first hour class, next to Kaiba, shaking with anticipation. Today was the day she would be called in for her interview, which was conveniently made after school for her. This was the first time she actually looked at Kaiba in two weeks. He seemed to be bored with the lesson, I.e. boredom made obvious by his constant gaze on his razr cell phone and his rapid gliding of fingers over the numbers. His 'crack'berry (it is that addictive, originally blackberry) organizer on his desk, was on and ready for business. Anzu inwardly smiled to herself at her imagination.

She tried to picture Kaiba out in the wilderness without his precious technology, in the rain, making feeble attempts at trying to put up a tent and miserably failing with each try, but her imagination wandered a bit too far and she started to picture herself on top of him. And she was running her fingers through his wet hair, slowly pulling off his soaked shirt, button by button. She reached down seductively and started tugging at his belt buckle, pulling it from its proper place and-

Anzu mentally put up a brick wall. 'Too far! Way too far! Oh boy.' She turned her borderline dreamy stare away from Kaiba and down at her work. Her face felt hotter than an iron brander, and she was probably glowing the same color as well. She had to stop thinking about such tempting things at this time. Today was her big day and nothing was going to ruin it by getting her sexually frustrated. Anzu figured that any girl in her school would have the same vivid imagination about Kaiba, especially a fan girl, and since she wasn't one of Kaiba's usual fan girls, it was just a simple crush. The fact that she even possessed a THING for Kaiba upset her exceedingly. She pushed her thoughts away from such trivial things. In a week or so, she could become the newest Japanese icon, aside from Kaiba. She was nervous about not being able to make the cut.

At lunch Anzu went to take her usual place by her friends, but stopped to find some other girl in her spot. She walked around and sat on the opposite side of her and addressed her friends with an enthusiastic smile. "Hey guys, how's it going? Do we have a new addition to the gang?" Everyone smiled at Anzu and introduced her to Jessica, a new foreign exchange student. Anzu smiled at Jessica, and tried to start a friendly conversation with her by asking where she was from, but she ignored her and started talking to Yugi and the others. Anzu felt lonely and left out for the rest of lunch. None of her friends talked to her, and the new girl, Jessica seemed to daze and mesmerize her friends, while ignoring her and leaving her out of the conversations.

Anzu left her friends and walked out to the Sakura tree where she last confronted Kaiba. As usual, he was under it, reading again. There was another tree just like it, near his tree and Anzu decided to make it her territory. Ever since her friends found out that she was trying out for the DDR modeling contest, they had been shying away from her friendship. At first, they were supportive of her and gave her every piece of advice and encouragement they could offer to her, then they started avoiding her, in a subtle way. They stopped asking for her to help with their homework. Then they stopped inviting her over to the game shop as often as they used to have her over, finally, they stopped inviting her altogether.

She felt warm and salty tears of her loneliness roll down her cheeks. She tried to eat her lunch without crying, but she finally hurled her bento box away from her and over the lawn, hugged her knees and began sobbing uncontrollably. Unbeknownst to her, she managed to catch the nearby attention of a certain someone with her sudden outburst. His eyebrows raised in amazement, confusion and curiosity all at once. The peppy cheerleader wasn't one known to have an extreme explosion and then burst into tears.

Kaiba closed his book slowly and carefully crept near her tree. He exercised extreme caution. He remembered the few things that he had read about women, when he happened upon it. He now wished that he had took the time to actually read it, but he did salvage a few things from it before throwing it back onto the shelf. They were known to be testy, nagging, and their sole purpose in life seemed to be trying to confuse men in power and break them down by putting on pathetic displays of emotion. They also had PMS, which meant certain death for any unlucky man who crossed her path on those days. How the hell am I supposed to know when its safe to come near a woman when PMS could come at any moment!

He felt as if he were one of those quacks on TV trying to approach a very poisonous snake and pet it. He finally dismissed his unusual fears and straightened up. I'm Seto Kaiba, women and men fear ME, not the other way around. He stopped sneaking and walked right up to her and looked down, waiting for her to realize that he was there. He frowned with impatience. This girl is undoubtedly dense. She wouldn't realize it if the ground she were sitting on was on fire. He cleared his throat loudly to command attention and she didn't budge. His eyebrows knitted in slight annoyance and frustration. "Mazaki! Stop crying so loud! It's annoying." Anzu looked up at Kaiba, her eyes brimming with new tears, and an expression of the greatest and most unbearable sadness. Her eyes remained strong and unwavering towards Kaiba's blurry, towering form.

Kaiba felt a huge crashing wave of regret wash over him. He sighed in annoyance and sat down in front of her. It was oddly unsettling for him to witness her so unstable and crying hysterically. With impatience, he started the conversation. "What's wrong with you?" Immediately, he regretted it. It sounded like he was going to start in on her. He needed to control his urge o get nasty with her, and try to convey neutrality. He gritted his teeth and strained to not sound so rude. "I meant to ask you what was wrong. What's wrong?" Anzu looked into his dark blue eyes and leaped foreword and into his arms and started crying softly.

Out of all the people in the universe, out of everyone she has ever known or thought would help her out in times of need or emotional stress, Kaiba was the last person on that limitless list, yet here he was. And she was spilling everything that had been pissing her off, every problem that she had over the past few weeks that had built up her stress, and piling it out in truckloads to Kaiba. And he listened to every word, helping her analyze every feeling and thought she had. By the time lunch was over, she had stopped crying and managed to feel relieved of all the stress, sadness and anticipation she had built up over time. Unfortunately, she also felt as if Kaiba had her life and feelings wrapped into a tight knot around his finger.

She found herself in line, surrounded by a hundred other girls outside of Kaiba Corp. This was her opportunity to fulfill her dream of becoming a dancer, and Kaiba was the one that encouraged her to follow her dream. She felt as if she were living in a dream after he said that to her. She hadn't realized that what he thought about her made the greatest impact in her life until he finally talked to her. And she still didn't understand why, but she decided to roll with it just as she does when she dances.

When her turn was approaching, she saw Kaiba sitting at the table, obviously bored to death by now. She was one of the last few girls in line. She witnessed over 50 girls before her get rejected and completely crushed by the judges' harsh words, and only a few occasional, but harsh all the same, criticisms from Kaiba. And Anzu thought that the competition before her completely topped her talent by a mile. It was like being on the waiting list to present a project that took you 10 minutes to do before the class because you forgot to do it earlier and the person before you has one that looks 200xs better and presents it 1000xs better than you ever could, and them getting a low grade on it. And you're next in line for the crushing.

Anzu marveled at the talent that these other girls had. It was amazing to see them dance, but the only challenge was making the style fit on the dance pad. Anzu searched the music to see if she could feel a rhythm that would match the board, and couldn't find anything. Doubt started creeping into her heart. She felt overwhelmed and hopeless.

And Anzu was determined to go out with a bang, even if she was chewed up and spat out like the rest of the girls before her.

When her time came, she wanted to run away and find a nearby restroom to throw up in. She stepped on the platform, which felt unfamiliar and cold. All eyes were riveted on her and every movement she made up there. It was like going on a stage and performing for your first time. The new energy from the adrenaline she felt flowing through her rejuvenated her hopes. The music started and the game began, she started out slowly, trying to create a style, however, she was missing the timing and not scoring anything on the game. She couldn't follow the footing for the game. Then the idea hit her full force.

'Screw the game, make up your own moves and make it look like your playing the damn game with style!' She started stepping on different parts than the ones the screen indicated and went through complex rhythms, she got some of the actual moves, but made it look like she knew what she was doing, even though the screen said otherwise. When her performance was over, she felt the rush she had earlier disappear quickly, leaving her shaking and worn.

Anzu found herself among the other nine girls competing against her, in the waiting room just outside of Kaiba's office. A well dressed and primped man lead them to a room off to the side. Anzu looked at the sophisticated conference room in awe. It was extremely modern and held the air of power that came from business discussions. He ushered them into the leather chairs around the table, and left the room informing them that Kaiba would see to them within a few minutes. Anzu took up the soft, cool leather seat and leaned back. Her legs were about to spasm because of all the exertion.

The other girls were chatting excitedly amongst themselves. Anzu observed how they acted. They seemed to be friendly to each other. Pretty soon, they would hate one another because of jealousy. Anzu thought back to lunch when Kaiba comforted, well actually he was just talking her through it, her and explained why things like friendship always come to a conclusion in a gradual sense. The things he said made so much sense to her now than they did before. He almost succeeded in making her believe that she didn't need friends in her life, but the loneliness she felt made her stick to her beliefs.

So what if Yugi and the others aren't her friends anymore. She'd make new ones when she became rich and famous. Anzu had no regrets on the decision to move on. 'Sometimes, changes need to be made, and accepted. That's just the way life is.' Anzu looked at the group of girls and immediately spotted someone familiar. Jessica. The witch exchange student who stole her friends away. The ones she had went through everything with. And now she was here to steal the only thing she had left. Her opportunity to rise to the top. Envy, hatred, and pain twisted and contorted in a massive jumble inside her as she glared at Jessica. 'I will not give in to that bitch. She may have taken my friends from me, but she can't take this from me.'

Jessica graced Anzu with a dirty look of disgust and started whispering to the girls near her and Anzu watched as they gasped in shock and surprise then started giving Anzu the same dirty look Jessica gave her. Anzu decided to raise her head and give them her imitation of Kaiba's evil smirk. She concluded that if Anzu couldn't scare them by returning the look, she would show them her sadistic confidence. And it apparently worked. They stopped looking at her and started fidgeting nervously in their chairs.

Kaiba came out gracefully and took his seat, at the head of the table. He announced those who were eliminated from the contest based on a review of the recording footage they shot. Anzu silently felt relief when he was done saying the names. She wasn't one of them. And neither was Jessica. She knew nothing about the bitch, but she assumed that she was in contest with her and was a total whore who told nothing to others but dirty lies to make her place in life.

Each of the remaining 5 contestants was given a special pass to show up at the next elimination, which would take place in 3 days from then. The top two girls would compete and one of them would be chosen, and she would start her new job that night. Anzu was surprised to find out that Kaiba had almost nothing to do with making the actual choice of who is eliminated and not until the end. She thought that maybe he would take part in almost all of the decisions throughout the entire competition.

Anzu went home that night, to be greeted by her parents admiring words and joyful hugs. Her parents had disapproved of this little thing all the way to the end, until now. Anzu knew they were just sucking up.

If she were going to be an icon worshipped by teens around the world, she had to update her closet and her lifestyle. She'd immediately move out on her own. She'd even try her hand at modeling on top of the DDR commercials, TV show guest starring, and radio interviews. Then, she would finally go to Julliard and become a professional dancer and supermodel.

The next day at school, Anzu couldn't help but notice how her friends were talking obsessively with Jessica. Everyone was surrounding Jessica, admiring her beauty and complimenting her and wishing her luck in the competition. Was it that her friends were that fickle? Or was she just a loser? Anzu was jealous of all the attention she was getting. Kaiba was the only other person in the class that wasn't worshipping Jessica.

Who will be the winner? Hmmm……Its between Jessica , Anzu and a different, random OC….MUWAH HA HA HA HA! Review me and tell me how ya feel, trust me, I do read the reviews, sometimes I reply.