Hello everyone. I'm back with another story. I won't go on about Covid 19, but I do hope you are all keeping positive, and most importantly, staying healthy.
Anyway, on with the story. Most of this is already written so updates will be regular. I'm starting it out as T rated, but you never know when things might get raunchy, and if reviewers ask for it, I may spice up the romance a bit when I come to edit.
Disclaimer: I should probably mention (sad face) that I do not own Yugioh, or any of the characters.
Anyway. Please read and I hope you enjoy.
Chapter One.
Had it really been three years since he had seen Anzu? Yugi was still sad about the way they parted...
It was fine at first. They would message each other every day and video call at weekends. Sometimes Jonouchi, Honda and Bakura would join the video chats too.
They all looked forward to those weekend chats. Anzu always seemed cheerful. She told them she was doing great!
Then, midway through the first term, she had a crisis of confidence. She fretted about not being good enough to do the course and was on the verge of coming home. She dare not tell her parents after all the sacrifices they had made to fund their daughter's dreams. Yugi did his best to calm her, spending all night talking on the phone with her. But he knew she really wanted him there with her.
But he was in the middle of negotiating a deal with Kaiba to develop his game. On top of that, he was also committed to appear in a tournament. "They will sue me if I bail," he tried to explain.
He wrestled with his conscience – she was a friend in need and he never let his friends down. However, on this occasion...
Anzu said she understood his dilemma, but he could tell she was not happy about it. And it did not lessen his guilt.
He had no choice but to go and talk to Anzu's parents.
Luckily, her mother was very understanding. They were worried, but not at all annoyed. Her dad was busy with work and could not go, but her mother travelled to New York to see her daughter. After that, Anzu settled down and seemed happier. Yugi actually made it over to see her during the winter break, by which time she was thoroughly enjoying the course and had made new friends.
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At the end of the first year, Anzu came home for the summer.
Yugi would never forget that summer. He was either at the university for lectures, working on his game design with Kaiba, or helping Grandpa in the store. Anzu needed money, so Yugi asked Kaiba if they had anything that might suit? They did, and she spent the summer working at Kaiba Land, serving in the refreshment kiosks. She worked all the hours she could.
In the evenings, when they were not too exhausted, they would go and see a movie, play video games with their friends, or wait until Anzu's parents were out and go to her room to make love.
One night, she stayed with Yugi in his room. But Grandpa was nosy and his mother disapproved, so they did not do it again. Apparently, they were noisy!
The time flew by and when it was time to go back to America, Anzu cried. She even contemplated packing it in and staying in Japan.
But Yugi and her parents persuaded her to go back, and once her second year was underway, she soon settled in again.
During that second year, it seemed she had really found her feet. Her new life was taking over from her old one. Her messages during the week were less frequent and she even started to skip the video calls, saying she was too busy.
It was left to Yugi to try and keep in touch.
He tried his best; messaging her most days and calling once per week. But gradually she stopped answering his calls, and often left it several days before messaging back to say she was sorry. When she was not busy preparing for a recital, it seemed like she always had a party to attend.
Mai spent time dueling in the US Pro-league and was in New York for a tournament.
She visited Anzu.
Apparently Anzu had loads of new friends.
She had moved into an apartment with a couple of her new friends, which Yugi already knew about, and they were having the time of their lives! He was not aware of that, but did not begrudge her a great time – just as long as it did not involve other men!
Unfortunately, it did.
Anzu swore Mai to secrecy. But Mai told Jonouchi that Anzu had an admirer called Jake, and was 'very' friendly with him. Jonouchi was ordered to keep it a secret from Yugi, but promptly let it slip after a couple of beers.
A very attractive girl like Anzu was bound to attract admirers. Yugi had heard that American men were far more forward with women than Japanese men were.
The idea that she might be dating a smooth talking American guy was enough to make him sick with jealousy.
Sulking, he decided to stop messaging her for a while.
Funnily enough, that prompted her to message him to ask what was wrong?
Realising that they needed to resolve whatever might be going wrong between them, he called her. And that was it.
Jonouchi and Honda both said he might as well forget about her and have some fun. After all, as the King of Games he was always being propositioned by hot young babes.
But he always turned them down, politely explaining that Anzu was his girlfriend.
Not any more, it seemed. What were her exact words? "I'm so sorry Yugi. We no longer have the same interests. And trying to have a long distance relationship when we're both so busy is far more difficult than I thought it would be. So I think we should cool things off and concentrate on our careers. We can still be friends though, if you want?"
"Yeah, still friends," he agreed sadly. They went too far back to let the bitterness and hurt he was feeling destroy their friendship.
But accepting that Anzu was no longer his girlfriend was as hard as accepting Atem leaving.
It took a few weeks, but in the end he decided to give in to his friends nagging and give dating a try.
Being with a girl other than Anzu felt strange. His new girlfriend was very forward and asked him back to her apartment for sex. It was fun, but it was just sex. It didn't make him feel like he did with Anzu so he ended the relationship, using the excuse that he needed a break to concentrate on work.
It was not that much of a lie really. His game, Spherium, was being released in collaboration with Kaiba Corporation and things were kind of hectic. Judging by orders and advertising hype, the game was looking like it would be a huge success.
Yugi put much of this down to Kaiba. Without his rival - now business partner's - investment and technological brilliance, the game Yugi had dreamed of making would have never even got off the ground!
The official Japanese game release was being held at the Kaiba Stadium. As usual Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba were the headline attractions.
He and Kaiba demonstrated the game live, and it was also streamed online to gaming enthusiasts around the world.
Afterwards a lavish party was held, where Yugi was approached by a hot young Japanese pop star called Sukira. He fell for her beauty and they started dating.
Everywhere they went, the couple were big news and were constantly being photographed. Yugi did not say anything, but he hated being in the spotlight like that. But Sukira absolutely adored the limelight, so he put up with it.
When she suddenly announced she was pregnant he was the number one candidate as father.
Yugi was terrified at the prospect of becoming a father at twenty three, but offered to marry her anyway.
To his surprise, she turned him down, ended the relationship and moved in with her Australian manager, revealing that he was the father and not Yugi.
Needless to say, Yugi was angry, hurt and devastated. He had never felt so used. But oddly enough, he realised that he was not heartbroken! The relationship had never been about true love. For him it was lust, and for her it was the publicity.
To cheer him up, his friends took him out for a few beers, followed by a visit to one of their old haunts, for a burger.
"You dodged a bullet there Yugi!" Honda gulped the rest of his beer and held up the empty glass. "Who's round is it next?"
"I'll get them. Same again guys?" Yugi asked and they nodded. Standing at the bar, Yugi realised that his friend was probably right – he had just had a very lucky escape.
When he got back to the table with the beers, Jonouchi was snickering.
"It would serve the bitch right if she was wrong about who the father is and the kid's hair grew like yours,Yugi!"
"Not funny Jonouchi," Yugi frowned, a shudder of dread running down his spine.
A few days later, Yugi was sat browsing old photos of himself and his friends on his laptop. Anzu was so pretty. She could have chosen any guy she wanted, yet she had wanted him to be her first lover. Why? He would never understand. Back then he was short and pathetic, and in some photos he looked about twelve. Acted like it too sometimes, he thought, rolling his eyes at himself.
He wondered what would he do differently if he could go back in time and change things?
If he had deliberately lost the Ceremonial Duel, would Atem still be here? Anzu had probably only chosen to love him because of Atem anyway. So if Atem had stayed, they might still be together, in some weird threesome.
He grimaced at the perverse image that invaded his thoughts –maybe not.
One thing he was certain of though: Atem would not be very impressed with him for letting Anzu go so easily.
::::::::::::
New York winters were harsh. Way worse than anything Domino ever threw at them.
She had been living here for five years, and still could not get used to the weather.
It was on cold, damp days like these, when she was alone in her hovel, that Anzu would think back to all the good times, not so good times and dangerous times they had together.
Inevitably, she always wound up thinking about Yugi. She sighed. He was the nicest, most wonderful guy she had ever known and loved, yet she had pushed him away.
The adventures they had been through together. The tender love they shared as they explored their first sexual experiences together. He had treated her so gently that first time, and showed her so much respect.
How had she not realised just how beautiful and meaningful their relationship truly was?
They always looked out for one another. But now, when she needed him most, he was not here to help her. And it was all her fault for suggesting they cool things off and just be friends.
At the time she thought it for the best. Now, she realised how stupid she had been.
But she had been moving within a new circle of friends. They lived and breathed the world of dance; helping each other through the highs and lows as the pressure of coursework sometimes got too stressful.
Anzu was proud of herself for gaining a first class honours degree.
But what use was her degree if she could not find work?
After leaving Juilliard, her hopes had been high to begin with. She applied to all the dance companies but was rejected because they already had more than enough dancers. If she could sing, then she might have had better luck!
Audition after audition saw her rejected and she became despondent.
Perhaps she should go home.
But she couldn't go home now, not after all this time. It would be an admission of failure.
But just how much longer could she go on like this? She was even lying to her parents about how well things were going, when in actual fact her life sucked.
Pulling her dressing gown tighter, she sat on her threadbare couch, in her grotty little apartment, and read the online article with disbelief. Her sweet, caring Yugi was involved in a relationship with Japan's hottest female pop singer.
They were posing at some fancy music awards ceremony. They were smiling and happy. He looked so confident and handsome in his evening suit, white shirt and bow-tie. That was three months ago.
The next article, five weeks later said she was... "Pregnant!" She shrieked.
Anzu felt her heart breaking. He was having a baby with another woman! She really had lost him.
Not wanting to know any more, she shut down her laptop. Serves her right for checking him up on line.
She wanted to scream.
In the apartment next door, an argument was in full swing. They were always at it and Anzu hated it. The walls were so thin in these damned apartments that you could hear every word, and she was sure that one day she would hear gun shots and they would kill each other.
But this apartment was all she could afford, and so had to put up with the drug dealers, prostitutes, parolees and drunks that were all struggling to survive in this poor part of the city.
She looked at her watch. It was seven thirty in the evening and she would have to leave for work soon.
What would Yugi think if he knew what she was doing to earn money?
He was better off without her. The only good thing about losing touch with him, was that she had managed to keep him from finding out how low her life had sunk.
I hope you liked the first chapter. Please let me know in a review as I would love to know your thoughts.
Next update at the weekend, so I won't keep you waiting too long to find out what Anzu is doing for a living. In the meantime, you're welcome to guess.