I was at an open water swim for most of yesterday and didn't have time to publish the chapter yesterday, so here it is a day late.

Chapter 20.

Fresh Start.

Breakfast in the Mazaki household was considered one of the most important meals of the day. Despite her father often leaving the house early, and her mother also working, there was always a nourishing breakfast prepared and laid out on the table.

"Morning..." Anzu smiled sleepily as she staggered into the dining room. It was tough getting up early on a Monday after a busy weekend.

She faltered in the doorway when she saw that Katsu was already up and seated at the table, with a big bowl of miso broth in front of her.

Anzu was surprised to see she was dressed and ready for school. Katsu had been adamant that she would not be attending, so why the sudden change in heart? Anzu had to do a double take and pinched herself to ensure she was not still dreaming.

"Good morning sweetheart." Mrs Mazaki scooped some rice and vegetables onto a plate and ladled some miso broth into a bowl, before placing them on the table for her daughter. "Are you okay?" Her mother gave her a puzzled look. Her daughter was staring at Katsu like she had grown a pair of horns during the night!

Anzu blinked and nodded rapidly. "Oh! Yes! Er.. thanks Mum. I'm fine." Anzu scurried to her seat and sat down.

"I need to be in early today, so I have to rush off," her mother informed her, "But don't forget to help yourself to some tamagoyaki." She placed what was left of the Japanese omelet, on a plate in the centre of the table and left them to finish their breakfast.

Anzu turned to Katsu. "It's good to see you're coming to school today Katsu. But can I ask why the sudden change of mind? I thought you were adamant you wouldn't be going."

"Yeah... After our little bit of group therapy yesterday, I'm feeling more positive. This is a fresh start. I'm also fed up with sitting around at home by myself every day." Clearing the air with Honda had just been the first step. Now she wanted to be accepted into the classroom – at least until Jonouchi returned.

The probability of Seto Kaiba turning up at the house to demand she pack her stuff and move in with him was also niggling at her. He could be very dogmatic, especially when it came to getting his own way, and she did not know how to tell him that she was ending their relationship without it causing a scene. "I'm also trying to avoid Seto." She wished she didn't have to avoid him, but it was for the best, wasn't it?

"You think he will come here to get you? You can always say no!"

"Have you ever tried saying 'no' to Kaiba?" She should never have let herself become so involved. Jonouchi and Kaiba could barely stand to be in the same room together, let alone be living under the same roof, and romantically involved. If she moved in and then turned back into Jonouchi, it would be... Her blood ran cold just thinking about it. "Imagine what might happen if I changed back?!"

Anzu noticed her shudder and felt her own skin crawl in response. She frowned. "I'm not sure I want to think about that! But what if he's at school?"

Katsu shrugged. "He hasn't been to school since Yugi mind crushed him. I don't expect him to suddenly turn up now! Do you?"

Anzu snorted lightly. "You're probably right. I think he's decided school is not good enough for him anyway." She took a final sip of her tea and then glanced at the time. "We should clear the plates and get going. I said I would call round for Yugi by eight thirty. We will also need to go to the office when we get there to make sure you are enrolled."

Not wanting to waste her soup, Katsu picked up the bowl and slurped the rest, spattering some of it onto the table cloth.

Anzu rolled her eyes. Katsu might be adamant that she was not Jonouchi, but she still displayed many of his traits.

They quickly tidied away the breakfast things and grabbed their school bags, before putting on their shoes and setting off.

Marching quickly, so as not to be late, Katsu found herself feeling quite comfortable in her Domino girls uniform. The skirt was supposed to be worn at knee length but almost all of the girls rolled the waistband over so that they could wear it shorter. She was feeling confident enough in her body to hitch up her own skirt. And why not? She had a good pair of pins!

As usual, Yugi was running late. The dishevelled looking boy came running down stairs and out of the shop, still munching on his toast. His shirt was half tucked in and he had crumbs all over his collar, which was sticking up and twisted. His hair was also sticking out more untidily than usual because he had not been able to tame it into its usual sculpted spikes. The girls suspected he had been up late chatting to his other self about duel strategies.

These little details about him were always things that Jonouchi took for granted, and he always found it amusing how Anzu would always fuss over Yugi's appearance like she was his wife.

Yugi came running over to them, looking surprised to see that Katsu was with Anzu and was dressed in her school uniform. "Katsu?"

"Yeah, thought it was about time I made the effort. Jonouchi's grades stink enough as it is." She sounded flippant, but underneath, was feeling anything but – his grades really did stink.

As predicted, Anzu rolled her eyes and started brushing the crumbs off Yugi's blazer, before straightening his collar for him.

Yugi pouted and pretended to be irritated. "I can do it myself!" He complained.

Katsu found it amusing and suspected he had left his collar sticking up deliberately, in order to get her attention. This would be perfect teasing ammunition for when Jonouchi returned.

Yugi shoved the rest of his toast in his mouth and they started walking. His cheeks bulged like a hamster as he attempted to chew the overly large mouthful.

Anzu tutted at him and rolled her eyes. "Yugi!" She groaned. "You will end up with indigestion!"

Swallowing his toast, Yugi grinned at her sheepishly and took his bottle of water from his backpack to help wash it down. "I never get indigestion," he grinned, taking a swig.

Keen to change to subject, he turned to Katsu. "What made you decide to come to school Katsu?"

Katsu considered the question for a moment. How much to confess. "I couldn't put it off forever," she explained. "Jonouchi can't afford to slip further behind and I think I'm more intelligent than him so I can help him catch up."

Both Yugi and Anzu giggled. "And how does that work exactly?" Anzu enquired. "Surely your brain has exactly the same level of stupidity as his!"

Katsu scowled at them both laughing. "I'm not kidding! All he thinks about is games, fighting, girls and food. While I don't think of any of those things. Which leaves me free to be acidemic."

"Acidemic?" Anzu giggled. "Don't you mean academic?"

Yugi also chuckled. It seemed Katsu was no more brainy than Jonouchi was.

Katsu shot them both a what the heck are you laughing about glare. "Yeah, that's what I said," she snapped, indignantly.

They arrived at school with fifteen minutes to spare before the bell. Katsu's stomach was doing flips as they walked through the gates. People were looking at her. She wanted to turn and flee.

"I don't think I can do this," she said, shakily.

"Relax." Anzu threaded her arm around Katsu's. "Just behave like a regular teenage girl." Anzu glared and pointed at a group of four boys that were leering at them. "What a bunch of losers they are," she said to Katsu, sticking her nose in the air.

Katsu stuck her finger up at them and the boys immediately looked shamed and turned away. "That's how I deal with losers," she winked at Anzu.

"Thanks! I will try to remember that." Anzu pursed her lips at Katsu's approach. This was either going to go really well, or was going to become their worst nightmare.

Beside them, Yugi frowned. Was that why most of the girls here always laughed at him when he looked in their direction? Maybe if he came to school as his other Self he would have more luck.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that Aibou," The spirit found some of the girls here terrifying!

Yugi chuckled to himself. "You weren't meant to hear that thought Other Me. And they're not that scary!"

"Maybe not, but some are definitely a little crazy." He vanished back into the Puzzle so as not to distract Yugi from his education.

After visiting the office to confirm Katsu's enrolment as a temporary student, they went to class.

"I just thought of something," Anzu whispered. "I hope they don't check up and find you don't exist on any school records in Japan!"

Katsu had not thought of that. But it was too late to start worrying now. It was probably the least of her concerns anyway.

Now she had to face Jonouchi's classmates.

Honda and Bakura were both already inside the classroom and were shocked to see Katsu. Honda played it cool, while Bakura cringed and sat hunched over his desk looking nervous.

Honda bowed politely. "It is good to welcome you to our class, Katsu."

Relieved that he was behaving sensibly, she smiled. "Thank you Honda. I am honoured to be here."

Anzu nudged her. "You should talk to Bakura. He doesn't look too well."

"Yeah," Katsu nodded and made her way to Ryou's desk. "Hey!"

Ryou looked up sheepishly. "I, I hope you are well?"

Katsu winked at him. "I'm not angry with you," she said, quietly. "Still friends?"

Ryou's face flooded with relief. However, his fan-girls bored holes into the beautiful, long legged, busty blonde bombshell.

"Thank you Katsu. But... tell Jonouchi that I'm so sorry for hiding away and not doing more to help."

"It's okay, he's not angry with you either," she smiled.

"Friends?" Bakura pleaded.

"Yeah, of course we are!" Because of her close proximity to Ryou, the fan-girls were closing in with sharpened nails. She suddenly felt threatened. Hands on hips, she stood tall and glared down at the Bakura fan-girls menacingly. "What are you lot looking at? Get lost!"

The fan-girls flinched. There was something about this new girl that told them she was not to be messed with. Muttering about her being a bitch and a slut, they slunk off to their desks.

Students were flooding into the classroom now. To avoid any awkwardness, Katsu asked Anzu where she should sit. Of course, she already knew which was Jonouchi's desk, but she did not wish to make it obvious to the students who had not met her, that she did.

Anzu pointed at Jonouchi's empty desk and spoke clearly so that people nearby would hear her. "You may sit here Katsu. It is your cousins desk, but since he will be away for another two weeks, it is vacant."

Tomoya Hanasaki came over to say hello. "N.. Nice to meet you Katsu," he stuttered and bowed, cheeks pink. "I.. I am Tomoya Hanasaki. Jonouchi is my friend. I must say, the family resemblance is remarkable."

Katsu tried to avoid sounding nervous. "Thank you Hanasaki. It is remarkable. It's nice to meet you too."

Around them, she could see the other students looking intrigued. Shit! This was awkward. She was trying so hard not to blush.

Anzu saw how tense she was and reached across to squeeze her hand. "You are doing fine," she mouthed.

The teacher walked in and was pleasantly surprised to see that he had a new student in his class.

Katsu knew what was coming next – the dreaded introduction.

Apart from having to stand up and introduce herself to the class, the morning was a doddle. Everyone sat at their desks and concentrated on their studies. But Katsu knew that her classmates were curious to know the girl who was related to Jonouchi.

The moment the bell went for lunch, her desk was surrounded by drooling boys, all eager to get to know the tall, busty, athletic looking blonde bombshell who had joined their class.

"Will you come on a date with me?"

"I'm in love!"

"Oi! Get in line. I asked her first!"

They were crowding her and all talking at once. It was suffocating, and Katsu had to put her hands over her ears to keep herself from screaming at them.

She was saved by the cavalry. "Get away from her you morons!" Honda bellowed, elbowing them out of the way.

Anzu appeared at her side and was pushing drooling boys away. "You gormless idiots! Leave the poor girl alone! You are overwhelming her."

Yugi squeezed under Anzu's outstretched arm and grabbed her hand. "Come on Katsu. Let's go and eat our lunch somewhere else." He pulled her from her seat and they beat a hasty retreat. Behind them, Honda and Anzu barred the doorway to prevent anyone following.

The moment they had all made it safely to the roof, Katsu sighed. "Now I know what you have to go through every day with your fan girls Bakura!"

"I find the best way is to ignore them," Ryou replied.

"They're all idiots!" Anzu huffed, feeling peeved. She would never admit it in front of them, but she was actually a little jealous that Katsu was attracting fan-boys. It was not that she lusted after any of the boys in question, it was more on principle.

Honda started laughing. "And none of them have the slightest idea about you."

Even Katsu had to chuckle. It was really funny when she thought about it. Jonouchi was desperate to learn how to attract fan-girls, without any success. But as Katsu, she made no effort and was surrounded by fan-boys! She just could not understand it. "What have I got that Jonouchi hasn't?" She gestured, as if her friends held the answers.

Honda thought that he did have at least part of the answer: he squeezed his own chest and pretended to jiggle imaginary boobs. "You've got a big pair of these," he smirked.

Katsu frowned at him."Yeah, but Anzu has them too, and she doesn't get boys lusting after her."

"Thanks a bunch!" Anzu huffed, offended.

Yugi sensed that Anzu was a little upset and intervened. "I don't think it's just that," he explained. "I think it has something to do with Katsu being tall and blonde – she looks different: all the other girls in class have dark hair."

Anzu smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you for trying to make me feel less ugly Yugi," she teased. "You're right,"

Honda scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Katsu does look a bit different. They probably think her blonde hair is exotic, in the same way that Bakura also looks exotic."

Bakura would never have thought of himself as exotic and found that amusing. "I think the reason girls like me is because I am half English and spent much of my childhood there. For some reason, the girls here think that English men are romantic!" He scrunched his nose up in displeasure.

"It's that accent," Honda huffed, wishing he could speak English more fluently.

"Well, I think it's probably best if you just ignore them," Yugi suggested to Katsu. "Then maybe they will get bored and leave you alone."

"Or just act like Jonouchi," Honda smirked. "That'll get rid of them!"

Katsu snarled at him like Jonouchi would normally do. "You and your stupid suggestions! You trying to get me killed or something?" She launched herself at him and started beating him up.

Usually, Honda would fight back, but... Katsu was a girl! He could never hit a girl. "Help! Get her off me?!" He squealed, putting his arms up to defend himself.

Grumbling, she backed off and straightened her blouse. "You're no fun! I prefer it when you fight back," she pouted.

"Well, if you behave like that in the classroom, you will definitely frighten your fan-boys," Anzu concluded.

"I think we should hurry-up and eat our lunch," Ryou suggested. "We only have twenty minutes before we have to go back to class."

Everyone groaned.

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

When lessons finally ended for the day, Katsu was more than ready to beat a hasty retreat. The saucy looks from boys. The dirty looks from Bakura's jealous fan-girls; they were all too much.

They left the classroom and made it to the lockers as quickly as they could before the other students got there.

One chancer ran after them and stopped in front of her at the shoe racks. "Katsu," he was breathing heavily from rushing and also with nerves. "Will you come on a date with me?"

Katsu gave the boy an incredulous glare, causing him to shrink. "Sorry!" She snapped. "I already have a boyfriend." Smirking, she grabbed Honda's hand. "Honda is my boyfriend."

Honda almost let out a shriek, but contained himself and loomed over the other boy. "Yeah, that's right. Katsu is my girl, so get lost."

The boy blushed and bowed meekly, continually apologising as he backed away and then fled.

"You owe me one," Honda hissed.

Anzu rolled her eyes at them. "Let's get out of here before any more would be Romeo's get any ideas."

They made it as far as the school gates without further incident.

"Does anyone want to go to the arcade and hang out for a bit?" Yugi suggested.

"Sorry Yug. But I've had enough excitement for one day. I just wanna get home," said Katsu, wearily.

They were about to begin walking when Honda spotted a limousine parked across the street. His eyebrows knotted together with concern. "Hey! Katsu! Looks like someone has come to give you a lift home." He pointed to where the silver blue stretch limo was parked, with the KC logo in gold lettering on the front passenger door.

Katsu pushed her taller friend in front of her. "Oh crap! Hide! I don't wanna see him right now."

"Where can we hide?" Yugi looked around. "There's only one way out of school. He's bound to spot us."

"But I don't wanna deal with him right now! He's gonna want his answer and I don't know what to say."

Honda frowned at her assertively. "Just tell him you don't wanna see him any more."

Anzu was also studying her with concern. "You can't keep putting it off."

"If it helps? Why don't we all come with you!" Yugi suggested.

Katsu's face brightened. "Yeah! That's a good idea Yugi. He won't dare ask with you all there."

Agreeing that it might be the only solution, they all walked over to the waiting limo. The driver got out to open the door for Katsu.

Before the driver could stop them, everyone piled in. They were somewhat relieved to see that Seto was not inside.

"Miss Katsu," the driver said through the partitioning screen that separated the front of the car from the rear. "Mister Kaiba is working, but he has asked me to drive you to the mansion. He wishes for your company at dinner this evening. Your friends are not invited."

"Thanks! Can you give us all a lift back home first? I at least need to change outta these clothes," Katsu responded.

"Very well Miss." The limo drove away, leaving many of their class mates gawking. It was not everyday Kaiba gave his former class mates a ride home.

They all disembarked at Anzu's house and the driver said that he would wait for Katsu to get ready.

Once indoors, Katsu turned to her friends. "I'm not going back out there."

"Not sure that he will let you get away with that!" Honda reasoned, sarcastically.

"Yugi, you'll help me, won't you? Go outside and tell him I'm sick."

Yugi fidgeted awkwardly. He doubted that the driver would believe him. Just moments ago, Katsu had been the picture of health and radiance. "Not sure that will work," he frowned.

"Tell him it came on suddenly. Tell him I'm chucking my guts up and can't get off the toilet."

"Don't be ridiculous Katsu." Anzu gave her a stern look. "You have to go and tell Kaiba it's over, otherwise it will just drag on until you suddenly change back into Jonouchi."

"Then that will solve a problem, won't it?" Katsu snapped, irritably.

Honda was beginning to lose patience with her. "It won't solve anything! What do you think is going to happen if you keep stringing him along?"

"Nothing! That's what. In a week or so, I will be gone! You will have Jonouchi back and you can all get on with your lives and forget I existed."

"Katsu," said Anzu, gently. "Even if Jonouchi wants us to, we won't forget you. But if you want your remaining time to be less stressful, you do need to resolve this issue with Kaiba."

"She's right," Yugi added, sympathetically. "If you keep seeing him and then vanish into thin air and Jonouchi suddenly reappears, he might get suspicious. He might start searching for you. And what do you think might happen if he finds there's no such person as Katsu Kawai? Kaiba's not stupid. He will dig until he finds the truth. But if you dump him, his pride will make him get over you. He will throw himself back into his work and pretend he never met you."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Honda agreed.

There was a knock at the door. Thinking that it was the driver wanting to know how long Katsu would be, Anzu went to answer it and was surprised to find Mai standing on the doorstep, with a worried frown on her face. "Is the limo for who I think it is?" She asked, eyebrows knotted in concern..

"Yup! Typical Kaiba; won't take no for an answer," said Honda, pointedly.

"Oh!" Mai frowned. "You're not seriously considering..."

"NO!" Katsu shouted, cutting her off mid sentence. "Why does everyone seem to think they know what's best for me? I can make my own decisions." She paused to take a breath and her friends all started muttering their apologies and reasons.

They were all trying to talk at once so she put her hand up to stop them. "I appreciate your concern. But it's none of your business what I do! I've made my decision. I am gonna woman up and tell Kaiba to his face that I can't move in with him, and that I think it's best we stop seeing each other. I will tell him my parents want me to go home." Her head was telling her that it was the right thing to do, but at the same time her heart was breaking. But her friends were oblivious to her pain.

"What if he won't accept that?" Honda asked.

"Yeah, Kaiba can be an obstinate asshole." Mai added.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Anzu offered.

"Nah," Katsu sniffed and shook her head. "Thanks for the offer Anzu, but I can handle it."

"You sure about that?" Said Yugi, with concern. "This is Kaiba we're talking about: the guy that held you and me hostage in his mansion, just so that he could force us to participate in Death-T!"

"Yeah, I know, Yugi. I remember. But please don't worry about me. It's not like he's gonna force me into anything. He respects women more than that! I'll be okay."

"Well, if you say so." Yugi doubted Kaiba would harm Katsu, but then, what did he know? He couldn't really judge other guys by his own standards. But if Kaiba did hold her hostage and then found out that Katsu was Jonouchi, that might be a different matter. "I still think someone should go with you."

"No way! I'm not your usual helpless girl!" She could deal with this I the same way Jonouchi would.

"Yes way!" Mai retorted. "You walk in there and tell him he's history, what do you think he's gonna do?"

Katsu responded with a shrug. She really did not know. But he was unlikely to tell her they could still be friends.

Her stomach rumbled – she really wanted that delicious dinner. "I will talk to him over dinner." Eat first, dump Kaiba later.

"Exactly!" Mai huffed, irritated at her idiotic behaviour. "He's Seto Kaiba! He hates losing! He's not going to be nice about it, is he?"

"Well tell me what I should do, Miss Smart Arse?"

Mai snorted smugly; she had already decided what she would do. "I'm gonna follow you in my car and wait outside. Any problems with Kaiba, you call me right away."

"Honda should go with you Mai." Anzu suggested him because he knew how to fight.

"I will go too!" Yugi stated, quickly and assertively. "Kaiba won't argue with the other Me."

"Then I will go as well," Anzu decided.

They waited until Katsu had gone in the limo before squeezing into Mai's small Mazda sports car and following on behind. They parked in the street opposite the mansion, cut the lights and waited.

After half an hour, they were starting to wonder why she was taking so long.


OOps! A cliffhanger - sorry!

Thank you for reading. Please leave a review; they are what inspires me to write.