I'm afraid our favourite couple are still at loggerheads over Anzu's indecision. It's driving our Yugi to the point where he's actually losing his temper with her.

No specific warnings for this chapter.

Chapter 8.

Rock Bottom.

Locking the bathroom door, Yugi stood at the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He saw nothing of the kind selfless man –the man who always strove to understand why people did the things they did, and then forgave them, offering them another chance to prove themselves. In fact, the man glaring back at him, looked bitter, furious and exhausted.

He had tried so hard to get through to Anzu, yet she appeared to have woven a hard shell around herself that refused to crack, and he did not know what else he could do to prove to her that he loved her so much he would do anything for her –anything.

Or rather, almost anything...

There was one thing he was not prepared to do, and that was to up-root himself from his home in Domino, and move here. It just was not feasible, or sensible, to do so. Not only did his grandfather need him to help run the game shop, he also had a lucrative contract with Kaiba Corporation, which he could not afford to throw away.

If he did, it would mean losing most of his income, and the whole idea of him moving here to support her would be pointless, because they would both be poor. And he would have to get a visa, and then apply for a work permit so that he could find a job. All that could take months -if they even accepted his application- and he would use up all his savings in the meantime.

The only way he would be able to earn any money, would be to milk his fame as a duelist, and duel for easy money, on the pro-circuit; they would love the publicity –and the big money that the King of Games would help generate. But Yugi detested the pro-circuit and would be utterly miserable if he had to duel among con-artists, fraudsters and cheats.

Sighing heavily, he squirted toothpaste onto the toothbrush he had used last night, and cleaned his teeth. He was going to make do with a quick wash in the sink, but after splashing some water under his armpits and deciding he smelled, took a quick shower.

He found a clean towel on the shelf and dried himself off. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he made sure the top was tucked in, so that it wouldn't fall off and give her a thrill –now there was an idea! Rolling his eyes at himself, he smiled sardonically and shook off all thoughts of flashing her, before exiting the bathroom and heading to the bedroom to get dressed.

Anzu was sitting at the dining table with a mug of coffee as he walked past. She tried not to look, but could not help herself. His wet hair was dripping water onto his shoulders, and it was running in little rivulets down his chest and back. The thought of what was underneath the towel brought back memories of a wonderful weekend they once spent at the Onsen in the hills just outside Domino, making her quiver inside. How could she be so stupid as to let this wonderful man go?

"You can use my hair-dryer if you want to," she said, trying to not sound as flustered as she was feeling

"Thanks," he muttered tersely, not noticing her appreciative reaction to him. "I hope I didn't use up all your hot water. I'll give you some money for the meter."

His brusqueness caused the feelings she was experiencing towards him to evaporate instantly. "No need," she replied coldly, frowning at the way he barely even cast a glance in her direction, as he went into the bedroom, slamming the door.

Taking his wallet from the back pocket of his trousers, he pulled out fifty dollars. He doubted she would be very happy with him for leaving money, but he placed the notes on her dresser anyway.

When he slammed the door, Anzu flinched. If Yugi was so angry that he was slamming doors and glaring daggers at her, then she knew he was seriously upset with her. But if he was doing it to try and intimidate her, it was not working, all it was doing was making her angry too.

But then it occurred to her that he was not the one who had made all the mistakes that had lead them into this situation. Most of this was her fault.

And now she had a big decision to make: Stay here, keep fighting for her dreams, and risk losing him for ever. Or go home with him, reassess her life's goals and start again. If she really loved him as much as she thought she did, then it should be an easy decision. So why was it so hard?

Part of her still believed that she could claw her way out this pit she had dug for herself, and find success on Broadway. But the pit was deep, and, just recently, she had been sinking in deeper. And the gangs, the winos, the druggies and the whores, were all proof that there was still a way to go before she reached the bottom. How far was she prepared to risk sinking? The idea of ending up a drug addicted prostitute made her shudder; it would never happen to her, surely not. Besides, she only ever used cocaine to get through a show -that wasn't going to make her an addict, was it? But then... it was not that long ago she vowed never to use drugs, and now...

Anyway, thar part of her life was over; there was no way she could go back to the club, even if it did stay open now that its owner was dead. But unless she could find a another job, to top-up her income, she might be forced to take another demeaning job, and then she would never be able to swim back to the surface and escape her pit.

Her only chance of salvation was Yugi. She could not accept his money though. Not while they were like this. She wanted the man, not his money.

She heard the hair-dryer switch on.

Her mind was made up.

She trotted into the bedroom. He was dressed in just his trousers, holding the hair-dryer up with his head tipped forward, dragging his fingers through his thick mane of hair, to try and make it stand up in it spike up – she quite liked the slightly shorter style on him.

She was then drawn to the way the finely defined muscles in his back and shoulders rippled in a pleasing way.

Realising she was in the room, he stood up straight and turned to look at her, with a stony glare that made her so nervous that she cringed.

"I'm sorry Yugi."

Ignoring her, he turned away from her again, put the hair-dryer down and ruffled his hair with his fingers; without gel it had gone all fluffy (thanks to her shampoo) and would not spike up properly, which irritated him further.

"Yugi?" She tried again.

Trying not to growl, he turned and looked at her sternly. "I don't understand you any more Anzu. Maybe I never did understand you!" He said in frustration, "I just don't get why you would want to stay in a city that clearly doesn't like you. You have a man here," -he said sincerely, placing his hand over his heart, "-who loves you and would do anything for you. Yet you would prefer to stay here, in this dangerous place, waiting for some low life creep to take advantage of you again. Well, I'm done with it Anzu. If you won't come home with me, then... I will pay your rent for you, but we're through." He worried that he was being spiteful, and was making a big mistake, but right now he was making a stand; this was his final ultimatum.

Was he bluffing? She opened her mouth to say she hadn't decided for definite that she was staying here, but her jaw just flapped and all that came out was a croaky. "But.. I.." -oh, the look on his face... Yugi was not one to bluff. He met his challenges head on and would not back down. He was being deadly serious.

She felt as if her heart would shatter in her chest. She had pushed him too far. She could not lose him for ever; she loved him too much.

He grabbed his muscle shirt and pulled it on aggressively, and then reached for his socks.

"But Yugi, I.." She hesitated when he looked up at her. They way he was glaring at her was unsettling and she stuttered, "It..It's hard to abandon my dreams and walk away from something I've been working so hard for..." she squeaked. He did not look convinced and she could feel herself shrinking. "I want to say yes, but... I.. feel like a failure," she finished, feebly.

"I get that." He nodded his understanding. "But I won't take back what I said Anzu. I'm going to work now, so I suggest you spend the day making up your mind. It's up to you to make the next move. " He grabbed his jacket and marched past her, barely casting her a glance.

"What time do you finish work?" She blurted, following after him.

He stopped at the front door and turned to her. "By six I should think. If you would like to meet me at my hotel for dinner, be there by seven, and we can talk – I will have calmed down by then. Have you got a pen and paper?" Nodding, she hastily grabbed a note pad for him. "This is where I'm staying. I'll put my room number too. If I'm not back by six thirty, wait in the lounge area. Dinner is at seven. I will expect a definitive answer from you as to what you want to do. If you decide to stay here, I can't promise that I won't tell your parents about the mess you're in." One side of his face twisted into a pained expression, as he noted her mortified reaction to his threat to tell her parents. She looked like she might shatter.

Anzu was completely taken aback by his stance. She had rarely seen him behave in such a cold, abrupt manner. She knew he had it in him to be firm when needed, but it was almost as if working with Seto Kaiba had caused some of the CEO's attitude to rub off on him.

"Don't tell them Yugi. Please?" She pleaded desperately.

"Then you must tell them yourself," he stated firmly. "I'll see you later. "You need to think very carefully about what you do next. Okay?" He leaned in and kissed her cheek, for which she was grateful.

But then it occurred to her that it had not been a very affectionate kiss. There was almost a finality to it and it shook her to the core.

::::::::::::

Out on the street, Yugi took a deep breath to compose himself. It felt as if the cold, stale air would choke him. He looked at his hands and they were shaking.

In the doorway next to Anzu's apartment block, a grubby, worn looking man, sat wrapped in a dirty blanket, a black woolly hat pulled down over his ears to keep out the cold. Finger-less gloves, revealing filthy fingers and nails clung to the edges of the fabric, clutching it tightly should someone try to steal it. For Yugi it was a harrowing sight; one that revealed the huge disparity between the rich people of this City, and the desperately poor.

The man looked up at him and asked if he had a cigarette. The man looked old, but could not have been much more than mid thirties. What had happened in his life that had resulted in him ending up in a disused shop doorway, destitute, probably an alcoholic or drug addict? Yugi shook his head.

"Sorry. I don't smoke." He thought about giving the man some money, but realised the guy would probably only buy drugs or alcohol with it. He spotted a small convenience store on the corner. "I can get you some food if you like?" The man coughed in response and smiled at him, revealing bad teeth.

"Thanks dude." He said, welcoming such kindness, he added cheekily, "A bottle of whiskey would be welcome too."

Yugi thought about not getting him the whiskey, but bought it anyway –it was probably the only thing that numbed the pain of his miserable life. He also bought him a coffee from the machine inside the store and a pre-packed bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

The man was grateful, and it made Yugi feel a little better for making at least one person's day a bit happier.

Stepping out onto the main road, Yugi was amazed that one run down little side street was so well hidden behind this bustling, average looking New York avenue.

He suddenly realised he had absolutely no idea where he was or how to get to the convention centre.

Luckily, a Taxi went by and he was able to hail it. The driver pulled over for him to get in and asked him where he wanted to go. Yugi told him his destination and the driver nodded, before taking a swig of his cola and pulling back out into the steady stream of traffic.

The journey took longer than Yugi hoped, mostly due to traffic, and it was nearly eleven thirty by the time by the time he got to the convention centre.

Steeling himself for some awkward, unwelcome questions about last night, he entered the building and made his way to the Industrial Illusions/Kaiba Corp. trade stand.

Most of his colleagues empathised and cut him some slack. Unfortunately, there is always one person who does not seem capable of exercising some decorum, and as feared, one of the technicians, Yugi knew as Martin, clamped him on the back and asked, "Who was the hot little stripper you left with, buddy?" Yugi had barely even spoken to this man before now and hardly knew him, yet the guy was treating Yugi like they were best buds!

Yugi grit his teeth and answered calmly, "Anzu is an old friend from school. I haven't seen her in ages."

"Did you get lucky?"Bet she was a real mover" -the man made a crude, thrusting gesture with his hips- "know what I mean?"

Yugi was used to Jonouchi being crude, and sometimes tactless, but this man really took the piss. Yugi gave him a sardonic smile. "As I just said; she's a friend." He hoped the guy would get the message, but he did not.

"Aw, come on man, ya gotta give us more than that! It was quite a show you put on when you jumped the stage and got thrown out."

Yugi clenched his fists as his sides, and focused his mind away from this inconsiderate fool.

Luckily, the guy's workmate, Dave, shoved him aside and told him, "Lay off dude. Can't you see he's had a rough night and is not in the mood to deal with a jerk like you!"

Tactless Martin grumbled a bit about only having a bit of fun, to brighten up an otherwise long, boring day. But it was at the expense of Yugi, and Yugi did not think that Martin understood, that while it might be fun for him, it was no fun for Yugi.

"Ignore Martin. He thinks he's a comedian, but he's just a jackass," Caroline said, offering Yugi a mug of hot coffee. "I didn't put any sugar in."

Thanking her, Yugi accepted the coffee and cheered up a bit. "How'd you guess I don't take sugar?" He said, winking.

Caroline gave him a sympathetic smile, and asked, "What about you? You looked tired. Are you sure you're okay to work today, Yugi?"

"Yeah... I would rather be here," he nodded. "Takes my mind off things."

"I take it that you know the young woman from last night quite well?" She hoped she was not being too intrusive –it looked like a delicate subject. "You don't have to answer me if you don't want to."

"No. It's okay." He gave her a weak smile. "Anzu used to be my girlfriend – she's the girl I told you about yesterday. We were dating seriously until she came here, and then we kind of drifted apart. Now I'm not sure I know her at all any more," he said, bitterly.

"You don't have to deal with the customers today. We can tell them the system is down, or something."

"Nah, I'm fine. I enjoy doing the demos." He went to take his jacket off and remembered that all he had on underneath was his muscle shirt. "Erm... My shirt got a bit ruined," he mumbled. "I didn't have time to go back to the hotel and change." He pulled off his jacket to show her. "It's not really suitable," he grimaced. His muscle shirt was old, but he loved to wear it underneath his button-up shirts in the cooler weather, because it reminded him of Atem.

Caroline laughed, and then had a light-bulb moment. "Come with me..." she grabbed his wrist and dragged him over to the girl selling event tee-shirts. "You haven't got a small men's going spare, have you?"

"Yeah, why? Oh.." She blushed when Yugi took his jacket off and she saw the tight, black –but old and faded– muscle shirt he was wearing. She coughed. "I won't ask what happened to your over-shirt," she said, not wishing to pry. She had not been there last night, but had heard the guys talking about it this morning. "Here. Try this one." She handed him a polythene bag containing a navy blue short sleeved tee-shirt. Yugi pulled it out of its wrapping and tried it on. Luckily, it covered most of the bruise on his upper arm.

"Thanks. It's a good fit," he said. Although he was not too enamoured with the Funny Bunny logo on the front, he was too polite to say anything. And the shirt was good quality. It would have to do.

"I saw that bruise on your arm Yugi. Did you get that from the bouncers? It looks nasty. You know you can probably sue," Caroline told him.

"Thanks. But I'd rather just forget it happened," he huffed, sitting down at his computer to boot it up.

No one pestered him further, and he was left to just play games and do the demonstrations when potential customers came by.

However, he did hear Martin and his colleague, Dave, making a few lewd comments about how she must have kept him at it all night for him to turn up late, looking wrecked and without his shirt. It made his blood boil to hear them say they wouldn't mind a go with her themselves. Martin egged Dave on to ask Yugi for her number, but when Yugi glared daggers at them they got the message and shut-up. They got on with their work and avoided him after that.

The rest of the afternoon was slow, and he was glad when the day came to an end.

::::::::::::

After Yugi had left her, Anzu dragged herself into the bathroom. His words had left her shaken. She felt like a rag doll, that had once been loved, but had now been discarded into a corner and left there to be eaten by moths.

She looked at her sad face in the mirror. When did she lose sight of who she once was?

She gazed at the back of her hand. The smiley face she had drawn there had long faded, along with all her hopes and dreams.

But if she thought she had lost sight of everything that was valuable to her already, she was wrong, there was more; she was now about to lose the one person who always had more faith in her than anyone else – Yugi. If he gave up on her, then she truly was a useless, lost cause.

Dancing was pointless if she had no one to appreciate her. He once said that if he was the Duel King, then she was his Dancing Queen. Some Queen she was –more like a Dancing Fool, because the only thing she was really any good at was making stupid decisions. Losing Yugi would be the biggest stupid decision yet.

She let out an anguished groan.

She was tired of trying, and even more tired of failing.

She brushed her teeth and decided to head out to the nearest park for a run, in the hope it would clear her head and help her pull herself together.

Pulling on her running gear, she laced up her Nike's and went outside into the cool, damp air. She ran and ran until she hit five miles, and then stopped by a memorial in the centre of the park. It felt much nicer in the park, away from all the traffic pollution.

Her face was hot and her heart was pumping hard in her chest, but her head was clearer now and her mind was made up.

Tonight, she would give Yugi her decision.

What will her decision be? And will it be the decision Yugi is hoping for?

Find out in next week, in the next gripping chapter of Something Worth Fighting For.

Until then, have a good week and stay safe, oh! And don't forget to follow/fav/ review. Thank you:-)