Sevenfold

Disclaimer: I do not own yugioh.
Date: March 15, 2008
Warning: rated 'K ' because the kiddies shouldn't gamble

Green: Avarice

There were sounds all around her – new, but suddenly familiar sounds that made her blood race with excitement and her heart pound with a recently discovered feeling of delight.

She played to win.

All she had wanted to do initially was win enough money to buy a plane ticket back to Japan. And after an entire evening of risking everything she had, she had won enough to buy close to three plane tickets back to Japan. And after another evening of perhaps less risk but equal reward, she had won enough to permanently whet her appetite for more.

Dice rolled, people played slots, and roulette wheels spun all around her – the air was heavy with desperation and hope, tables full of broken dreams and new, win-induced adrenaline. The atmosphere was perfect; Anzu drank it in, soaked it up, relished in the feeling all around her.

She was almost tempted to thank the man who had stranded her there.

Yes, she had been abandoned – actually abandoned – in Las Vegas, Nevada by the world's biggest jerk. The arrogant, unfathomably irritating man had actually flown off without her, leaving her with nothing but two more nights in the hotel and the small suitcase in the closet of her room. However strong her animositytowards him had been before, the hatred she felt for Kaiba Seto had been increased at least sevenfold.

The fateful trip had started out as just another vacation. Kaiba had some sort of business meeting in Vegas, and he needed someone to watch after Mokuba. The boy – so much more pleasant to be around than his older brother – had requested Mazaki Anzu specifically. And so, after a rather tense phone call and a little negotiation, she had agreed to accompany them. They were going to stay for five days: three for whatever business needed to be taken care of and then two more days of nothing but leisure.

Things had been fine at first. Maybe they weren't exactly civil and maybe there was a level of sexual tension that made everyone uncomfortable, but both could deal. But then the looks got perhaps a bit too heated, and tensions rose a bit too high. The enormous fight they had the third evening was one of the biggest in the whole of their acquaintance. Choice words were exchanged (nothing that he didn't deserve, she thought haughtily), and the verbal blows were sharper than even the most finely cut blade.

The next morning, Anzu found herself alone, without even a note in the Kaiba brothers' stead.

Her first, gut reaction had been rage. She had been too furious to even think about the hopelessness of her situation. Then, once her boiling ire had settled into a simmering sort of anger, the tears came; she spent an hour shuddering and crying, wondering what in the world she was going to do in a foreign country with almost no money of her own.

And that was when she had her brilliant idea. If there was one thing she knew about Las Vegas, it was the over abundance of places to win – and lose – extravagant amounts of money. So she took all the money she had and went into the first casino she could find.

She found immediate, unexpected success.

At first, nothing had mattered but Kaiba; she had to get enough money to get home so she could cause him as much pain as was possible before someone physically dragged her away. But the more money she won, the more money she wanted to win. It was an intoxicating feeling; a hot, heady burning in her veins – her first tantalizing brush with greed.

When she cashed in her chips at the end of the first night, she should have been excited about buying her plane ticket home. But when she held those faded green bills in her hand, going home was the last thing on her mind. She wanted to come back again and again and again – to win more and more and more…

Her third night of gambling - one more night than she had ever actually intended to stay - was over; and again, she had had amazing luck. She smiled to herself as she walked out, head held high, money tucked away in her handbag. She played to win.

And there was absolutely nothing like it.

Author's Ramble: YAY! Thanks so much for reading! And I'd like to send an enormous thank you out to everyone who reviewed the last chapters (for bit 23). I tried to reply to everyone; sorry if I missed somebody! I hope everyone enjoyed this bit; sorry it took such a long time in coming! I'm a wretched fiend, I know. I didn't want to work on this for awhile because bit 23 took so much out of me. But that's no excuse, really, because I've had this idea for a really long time and I could have finished it much sooner than I did. And then school was tough, and then I had this really, really icky thing that happened that I'm still recovering from... Yeah. To make a long story short, I'm sorry. Heh. Anyway, I really hoped everyone liked this bit. I ended up tweaking it alot.

Reviews are incredibly appreciated but not necessary; actually, if anyone wanted to go review my fic "In Case of Emergency" (chapter 23 is coming! Oh, it's coming soon!) that would make me absolutely giddy. But... yeah. If you do decide to review this, I shall be incredibly thankful, and shall of course relay my gratitude.

Thanks for reading!