Another week in which the world has descended into even more chaos. I do hope you are all managing to stay safe in these turbulent times? Perhaps a bit of escapism into the world of Yugioh fan fiction will provide a bit of much needed relief from it all.
Chapter 10.
Final Decision.
Finishing her decaffeinated coffee, Anzu placed the delicate china cup back on its saucer.
Poised to call the waitress over, Yugi asked, "would you like another?" He wouldn't mind more coffee himself.
She shook her head. "No. No, I should probably be leaving anyway."
"So soon?" He was bewildered. It was only nine twenty.
"I don't want to be too late to bed," she explained, "I start work in the cafe at eight in the morning." He was disappointed; why had she had not mentioned that she was working in the morning before now?
Sensing his disappointment, Anzu found herself fiddling with a foil wrapper from one of the after dinner mints as a distraction.
"Maybe I should pay the bill then," he replied flatly, adding more insistently, " But I had kind of hoped you would stay. The suite I'm staying in is really cool."
Was that a euphemism for wanting her to sleep with him? No. Yugi was not like the men she had grown accustomed to since living here. But still, he was not an innocent boy any more; he was a man, just like all the other men who came to the club to leer at strippers. She stuck to her guns. "I'm sorry Yugi. I know you bought me a lovely meal, and I probably seem ungrateful, but I'm not." She gave him a small, apologetic smile. "I really should be getting home."
She was caught off-guard when he reached over and took her hand in his, and she let the wrapper fall to the table.
He smiled disarmingly. "I won't force you to stay if you don't want to. But, I was really hoping you might want to come and see the suite before you go?"
He was naturally very charming, she remembered. But still...
"You men are all the same," she teased, trying to inject some humour into the statement, without success.
"Hey!" He pouted, hurt by the accusation. "I'm deeply wounded. Not all men are the same. Some of us are actually decent, or have you forgotten that?"
"Sadly, the men I meet lately are all like that," she lamented. Her voice was full of bitter regret, and Yugi's heart went out to her for what she might have been through at the hands of Tony.
"Well, I'm not." He was a bit upset that she was implying he could be anything like Tony. But he did not want to berate her for it though, and instead took an honest, kind approach. "I won't deny that rekindling our romance hasn't crossed my mind. But you know me, Anzu! I'm nothing like Tony, and I would never force myself on you."
His sincerity made Anzu feel guilty at what she had implied. She had not actually meant it to sound like she was accusing him of being a sleaze. But her comment had backfired, and now he thought she was accusing him of being a rapist, like Tony.
"I know you're not like that Yugi. I'm sorry. I do trust you. What I said was a generalisation; I've had a couple of bad experiences and it's made me feel dreadful and disgusting and full of hatred for those sort of men. So I guess it sounded worse than I intended. Sorry."
He was still holding her hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze as he gazed at her with sympathetic eyes. "No. You shouldn't apologise. You've been hurt by those guys and I wish I could magic it all away and make everything better. But sadly I can't. All I can do is ask you to let me take care of you, and hopefully I can to get my happy go lucky, plucky, optimistic girl back."
"Do I seem that unhappy to you, Yugi?" She queried. She had tried not to give the impression she was miserable, but again, another epic fail on her part.
He patted her hand gently. "Unfortunately, you do."
She pulled her hand away and sagged back in her chair, frowning. "As much as I hate to admit it, I am fed up and pretty despondent. If I had any sense, I would readily go home to Japan with you. I don't even know why I want to stay here any more. Well, I do know why, I suppose. But even my stubborn determination is dwindling."
He sensed the war going on in her head, but at least she was starting to consider his proposal. "Tell you what. Why don't you come up to my suite? I'll show you around and we can talk about the future. I can book a taxi to take you home for whatever time you like. What do you say?"
Anzu took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay! Twenty minutes. Then I really do need to go."
He nodded his agreement."I'll get the bill then." He wasted no time in attracting the attention of a passing waitress.
::::::::::::
After settling the bill, the couple made their way out of the restaurant.
Not wanting Yugi to know she had come prepared to stay the night, Anzu decided that she would leave her holdall where it was and pick it up on the way out.
However, Yugi decided to order her a taxi and made a beeline for reception, and as they approached, the receptionist, thinking she had come to collect her bag, greeted Anzu with a polite smile. "Ah, Miss. Your bag. I will just get it for you."
Anzu tried to remain composed, but was internally cringing. "Oh! Yes. My bag. No need to..." But the receptionist had already gone to get it.
Standing beside her, Yugi turned towards her and was looking at her with confused intrigue. "Is that what I think it is?" He asked, as the receptionist handed Anzu a grey holdall, with pink and lime green trim. He had all but forgotten the reason he had wanted to come to speak to reception.
Anzu wished the floor would open up and swallow her as she attempted to avoid his gaze.
"I can explain," she said, matter-of-factly. "What was it you needed to see reception about, Yugi?" She reminded him.
"Oh! Yeah. Taxi. But since you have an overnight bag, I guess it's not needed," he said, waiting to see what she would say.
"Don't worry about the taxi," she said quickly, and grabbed his arm, "If I'm staying, I want to see where I'm spending the night." Well, that was a complete turnaround!
He scratched his head and chuckled, willingly letting her drag him towards the elevators. "So," he tried not to grin too broadly, but could not help it. "You planned to stay all along then?"
Pouting at him, she sighed, "That's not... I don't know. I packed a bag, just in case the evening ran late," she explained, as they entered the lift. "We finished eating early enough that I thought I might as well go home. But since you want me to stay, I've changed my mind."
"I never said you had to stay. But I'm glad you've decided you will," he said, smiling. He put his arm around her and give her a friendly hug, but another couple got in with them so he quickly pulled away. The elderly woman looked at them rather disapprovingly, and whispered something to her husband about inappropriate behaviour. Anzu noticed how her Botox and obvious face-lift barely moved as she spoke, making her look even more condescending.
Anzu was about to say something in return, but Yugi nudged her and winked, shaking his head. "Don't say anything," he said, in Japanese.
"She's a stuck up cow," Anzu replied, also in Japanese. The couple had no idea what they were saying and Anzu felt triumphant just by that alone.
No one said anything else as the lift ascended, and the silence was deafening.
Anzu saw Yugi glancing at her from the corner of his eye. The look of stifled amusement on his face was all too much for her, and she found herself snickering behind her hand. She tried not to look at Yugi again, but he sneakily poked her side, and that was it; they were six years old again, being scolded by that grumpy woman in the park, who did not approve of Anzu sitting too close to Yugi on a bench, while they took it in turns to lick their shared ice cream (they did not have enough money for one each), and she burst out into a fit of the giggles.
Yugi started laughing too, literally falling against her as they snickered and giggled and made all sorts of daft noises as they tried to stifle their laughter.
The snooty couple in the lift with them, gave them the most utterly disgusted glares, and when Anzu heard the woman tutting, and saying to her husband, "what a disgrace this place was turning into. They're letting all sorts of riffraff stay here these days," she almost blew a raspberry at them for the fun of it. It was probably just all the pent up anxiety letting itself go, but this was the most she had laughed in ages.
Luckily, the couple got out two floors below and as soon as the doors slid shut again, the giggling pair looked at each other breathlessly, their laughter suddenly dissipating as quickly as it had started.
"What was all that about?" He asked, eyes watery from laughter and face red.
"I really don't know," she shrugged, dabbing her tear and mascara streaked cheeks. "I just couldn't help it. That couple looked like they had rods up their behinds. And you kept looking at me and I felt like... I dunno... I've been so miserable lately, and for some reason I remembered that time when we were kids and that woman didn't approve of us sharing ice cream."
"You always were my crazy girl," he teased fondly. He barely even remembered the incident –they were always getting told off!
The lift stopped again, and the doors slid open. "This is our floor," he said, picking up her bag, which she had dropped at her feet while laughing. He gestured for her to exit the lift first.
She got out and waited for him. "This way," he said, leading her along the expensively decorated hallway. It was a million times nicer than the piss soaked dump she was used to.
He swiped his entry card. The lock released with a resounding click and he pushed the door open, stepping inside.
Anzu could not believe her eyes. Well, she could. It was incredible, and just highlighted how humble her living conditions were in comparison.
The lounge area was spacious, modern and bright, with pale grey, white and aubergine décor, furniture and fittings. There were mod cons Anzu could only ever dream about: Low level lighting that could be remotely adjusted, a massive smart TV on the wall, a well stocked bar, and an incredible panoramic view over night-time Manhattan made the suite feel like the room they were in was actually part of the outside.
"Check this out!" Yugi grinned, pushing a button on a panel on the wall. A silver/grey blind lowered from the top of the window, shutting out the night sky.
"But I like the view," she pouted. Chuckling, he pressed the button again and the blinds tilted, allowing a more filtered view.
"It's one way glass, so no one can see in. And in the daytime it also filters out the glare from the sun to help keep the temperature in here constant," he explained.
"I love the couch," she said, kicking off her shoes and sitting down in the white, leather, low backed two seater. Yugi was tempted to join her, but there was more to see first.
"Wait till you see the other rooms!" He grinned.
Nodding, she jumped up and followed him into a room that was as big as her lounge and kitchen area combined. There was a spa-bath and a large walk in shower that had a massive shower head hanging from the ceiling. Yugi adjusted the lighting and the interior became dark. Lights twinkled, giving Anzu the feeling she was floating in the cosmos. It was a cool effect, but a bit gimmicky, she felt.
"Not impressed? Oh! Okay." He shrugged. "Maybe you'll like the bedroom better," he winked, excitement in his voice.
He was only ever like this when he showed her a new game he was enthusiastic about.
"I'm sure I will," she said, trying to downplay his exuberance by pretending to be unimpressed. But when she saw the bedroom she gasped. The bed was obscenely big. "You could fit a football team in there!" She shrieked, immediately following up her observation with a grimace. "Not that I want that image in my mind,"
"Not sure I want to share my bed with a football team, full stop!" He then added, "But I would love to share it with you." Suddenly realising what he had just said, he backtracked and looked apologetic. "As friends! I'm not suggesting we... hmm. After what we talked about earlier... Maybe I should just shut up now, before I dig myself a bigger hole." He was blushing furiously and Anzu found it cute how he was squirming and trying to backtrack.
"Erm.. well..." She put her finger to her chin, pretending to string him along. "A bed like that is a bit big for one person, don't you think? So I guess I might be generous and let you share it with me, as long as you stay on your half." However, as much as she tried to maintain a straight face, she could not help cracking up. Especially when he squeaked, "But it's my bed!"
However, he was grinning, and shaking his head in amusement at the way she was trying and failing to stifle her amusement. It was nice to see her more relaxed and cheerful again.
Taking his chances, he decided to approach her.
She was taken by surprise when he confidently touched her arm, and she immediately turned to face him. His demeanour was more serious now, and she found herself full of mixed emotions as to how she would respond. He had told her that he would not try anything, but was anxious that his intentions were to try and seduce her. She was not ready for that. It had been a long time since they had shared any real intimacy, and a lot of bad stuff had happened to her since then. She needed to let him down gently, without hurting him with an outright rejection.
His other hand came up to touch her opposite shoulder, and she braced her hands on his chest, ready to gently push him away if need be.
"It's nice to see you laughing again," he observed, smiling with such love and devotion. He rubbed her upper arms with his hands in a friendly gesture, then leaned forward and kissed the end of her nose playfully, teasingly. He was testing the waters, she assumed.
But he did not press for more, and pulled back, still with the loving smile.
"Would you like a nightcap? The bar is well stocked." he asked.
"No thanks," she said firmly, "I don't think I want anything else to drink."
"Okay. Do you mind if I have one?"
"No. Go ahead. I might get ready for bed."
He nodded. "If you don't want to sleep with me, there is a second bedroom in this suite."
"It's okay," she said tightly, following him back into the living area. "I'm actually looking forward to sleeping in the big bed with you."
"I wanted to talk to you before we do go to bed. I was hoping you would give me your answer about coming home with me." Since she was starting to relax, and seemed happier than she had been, he felt this was the time to get a proper answer out of her.
"You want my answer," she stated, sitting down on the white leather couch, while he went to the bar.
"Yes. I do," he confirmed. Despite how well they were getting on, he was standing by this morning's ultimatum – he wanted her answer tonight.
He was about to pour himself a Scotch whiskey, but changed his mind. He wanted to keep a clear head. Instead, he took out a bottle of water and two glasses. "Would you like some water?" He asked. She replied that she did so he filled two glasses and brought them over, placing them both on the smokey glass coffee table.
Sitting down, he turned towards her; legs slightly apart, his hands folded together and his elbows resting on his knees. He hoped this open, friendly position would put her at ease. "Well," he said, "Are you going to give me an answer?"
There was hesitation. She was not saying anything and he was getting slightly irritable. Especially since she was sitting with her knees pressed together and hands held protectively over her abdomen. It was like she was withdrawing from him again.
Anzu felt agitated. Instead of looking at him, she chose to stare at the large TV screen on the wall opposite where they were sitting. "That's the biggest television screen I've ever seen!" She stated, voice clipped and nervy.
He was a bit exasperated. "Why are you trying to avoid answering me Anzu?" He said abruptly.
"I'm not! That really is the biggest TV..." she trailed off. He looked tired and his stern expression warned that his patience was running thin. "Because I'm scared," she admitted.
He scooted closer, the irritation he had been feeling a moment ago fading. "What's there to be scared of Anzu? I keep asking you for a simple answer, but you keep trying to avoid it. All I want is for you to come home to Japan with me. What's so awful about that?"
Her face went bright red. "Yugi! You make it sound like it's a straightforward choice: You or New York. It's not that simple."
"But what do you want the most? Me, or this city full of impossible dreams? Or am I not enough?"
Unhappy about his passive aggressive approach, she shook her head sadly. "It's got nothing to do with how much I love you. I already feel like I've let myself and everyone I love down, Yugi, so please don't make me feel worse than I already do. My parents saved for years so that I could come here for my education and to pursue a dream. If I give up and go home it would have all been for nothing."
"It's not all for nothing. I'm not asking you to give up on your dream of Broadway, I'm just urging you to look at other possibilities. New York isn't the only place you can dance."
"I know that! It's just..." he was right, and she knew her reasoning was starting to sound like belligerent whinging. She tried a new approach. "Would you consider moving here, to be with me?" His expression told her that he would not. "Thought not. But it was worth a try," she smiled, apprehensively.
"It's not that I don't want to, Anzu. I did give it some thought. But I have too many business interests at home. My game cost a lot to develop, and although the sales are good, it will be a while before we turn a profit. Kaiba has invested in me personally, and we have a lot of plans for more games in the future. Right now I'm working with Mokuba on a new attraction for Kaiba Land. If I left my job to come here, I would be breaking my contract with Kaiba and he could bankrupt me."
"That sounds like he owns you Yugi! Not a good deal." Yugi was always too easy going, and it worried her that Kaiba might be taking advantage of his nice nature. Mind you, he was not being easy going on her right now.
"It's not what you think Anzu. I'm not weak, and Kaiba certainly doesn't own me. I was the one who actually called the shots to get him to invest in me. Without his help, Spherium would still be childhood sketches in the back of my old school books."
"What if you dueled on the pro-circuit here?" She already knew what the response would be to that, and was prepared for his answer.
"Anzi! You know full well what I think of the US Pro-circuit! It's as corrupt as the Millennium Ring!"
She snorted, and said, "It's not quite that bad."
Shrugging, he scowled at her. "We're getting off subject. I'm not letting up until you give me an answer."
"You won't let it go until I say yes, will you?" She sighed, knowing that when Yugi wanted something that badly, he never gave up or backed down.
"Nope!" He stated, resolutely.
She knew she was losing the battle. He was right, and each time she thought about it, and tried to justify remaining in New York, she found herself finding it harder and harder to do so. There really was nothing here for her any more – it was pointless staying. "Okay, you win," she pouted. "Nothing is working out how I hoped. I keep trying, wishing my luck would change, but I'm banging my head on a brick wall and sinking ever deeper into despair. My head's a mess, and even though I love you, I keep pushing you away because I'm frightened, that once we're married I will abandon my own ambitions just like my mother did. I've been so stupid. Why you still love me is a mystery to me." She glanced at him, then looked away, unable to look at what she expected was his triumphant expression. She wanted to say, 'yeah, you've won Yugi, don't rub it in,' but that would be unfair, because he was never one to gloat over a victory.
"Anzu. Look at me?" He said, softly. In response, she looked up at him. He scooted closer and leaned in.
"It's no mystery." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips. He pulled away slightly. "I will always love you, no matter how stupid you are."
She prodded him in the shoulder. "Oi! Don't rub it in mister." However, her efforts to sound stern failed thanks to the grin she was unable to suppress.
"I'm the winner," he teased, tickling her. "So I can rub it in as much as I like."
"I don't recall actually agreeing to go home to Japan," she said, tickling him back."So you haven't won yet!"
"No! Well how's this for persuasion?" He prodded her side, just under her ribs, and she almost folded in half as she let out a squeal.
From there it deteriorated into a tickle fight, in which he quickly got the upper hand.
She was trying to squirm away from his tickles while attempting to find his most ticklish spot, which she remembered being his tummy. But he guarded himself well. In the end she tried grabbing his wrists, but he was stronger than her and ended up on top of her, straddling her thighs.
Suddenly remembering himself, he stopped tickling her and let her up.
"Sorry. I got a bit carried away," he mumbled, scratching the back of his head.
"Nah.. I started it," she confessed, laughing breathlessly.
He started laughing too, shaking his head in bemusement. "I dunno what's got into us; laughing in the lift, now this. The stress has made us both go completely mad."
"Speak for yourself Yugi. I'm totally sane. And to prove it..." She put her hand behind his neck and pulled him closer so that she could kiss him on the lips, before releasing him.
Their noses were almost touching still, and for a moment he hesitated, eyes wide and trying not to grin too broadly. But he could not prevent relieved and overjoyed laughter from escaping, as he decided to take a chance and return her kiss with an open mouthed, passionate one of his own. She yelped and pulled away.
"What's so funny about a kiss?" She inquired indignantly.
"I take it that's a yes then?" As the reality that she might be agreeing to his terms sunk in. his voice started to tremble with emotion.
She huffed and pouted at him in a sort of mock sulk. "Yes to what?"
"To come home to Japan with me?" He had thrown down his winning hand. Aces high –she could not beat it.
She conceded. "Yes. I will come home. But not right away. I have to work a month's notice at the cafe first. I also have to give notice on my flat too; it's paid a month in advance and I also want my deposit back."
"I understand that. But I'm not keen to leave you on your own. You're vulnerable. I'll see if I can swing some extra days here. But I have a couple of commitments I don't think I can back out of, so I'll have to check first. "
"The police might want to speak to us again anyway," she said. "so it would be good if you are here."
He hummed thoughtfully. "I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I'm exhausted, so we should probably get to bed."
"Oh! Yes. It's nearly half ten!" She had lost track of the time.
"And you've got to be up at, what time?"
"Seven," she confirmed. Strangely, she was not even all that tired now. Must be the three and a half hours sleep she had this afternoon.
I feel a bit sorry for Yugi. He's doing everything he can to win her over, and he's finally getting somewhere. Let's hope she doesn't change her mind again!