DIS: A filler chapter about Mai and Jounouchi's marriage. More or less...Thanks for all of the reviews! I love reading every one of them!

Chapter Twelve, Women are women

Anzu glanced beside her at Rena, who was drawing a house in the middle of what appeared to be a jungle. Mai was seated primly across from her. She had removed her jacket to show that she was wearing only a glamorous tank top that seemed to glitter at Anzu from the depths of some pale water, so fair-skinned was Mai. She had been surprised at Mai's arrival, but not as surprised as what she had planned for the three of them to do that day.

"I called Shizuka up this morning," Mai had said as Anzu collected some paper and colouring pencils for Rena, "and more or less demanded for your address. You see, I have today off and instead of doing the norm with Rena – that is, sit around and be unproductive – I decided I would further my friendship with you. After all, it isn't every day that I have a girl's day and Rena will learn from us as we shop."

"Shop?" Anzu had sputtered, dropping the paper and earning a reprimand from the little girl a few feet away.

"That's right, we're going shopping. I'm taking you to all the hot places and we're going to get you a wardrobe that will turn on men in so many ways, you don't even want to know. Trust me, it will be fun. You'll see."

Anzu had never been the type of girl to be obsessed with shopping, much less with clothes and the endless amounts of accessories. She hadn't ever had the money or time to reward herself and although she suspected the places Mai was going to show her would be far too expensive for her to buy anything, she was a little eager to be out with her and Rena. Shizuka was sweet, and a good friend, but she always seemed to have something else on her mind and rarely got out herself. Anzu had never asked Miho to go out since they worked different shifts, so it was nice that she could actually go and do something that, well, women would do.

"Hon, you're not going out like that, are you?" Mai asked, setting her cup of tea down. Anzu looked down at herself. She had thrown something on so that she didn't look quite as frazzle-brained as she felt. By how her chaotic hair that stuck out from her bun and the blotchiness of her skin, Anzu was surprised Mai would think she would dare show herself in public like this. "Because if not," the beautiful blonde barreled on, "I would suggest you take a shower and get ready." Her violet eyes glittered wickedly. "We are going to be gone all day, if we're lucky."

"But, um, I have practice this morning and then there's work..."

"Yami won't care if you skip one day," she assured flippantly, waving a hand dismissively, "and you can take a mental health day at work. Everyone takes mental health days, especially women." Mai grinned, suggesting that she had taken more than one of those days. Anzu felt the corners of her mouth tugging upward, the other woman's cheerfulness sparking up her own.

"Alright, just give me twenty minutes."

"Yay!" Rena suddenly threw the pencils up in the air, standing up. Mai and Anzu looked at the little girl, raising their eyebrows, having thought she had been as oblivious of them as they had of her during the discussion.

X

Anzu listened to Rena's excited chatter with half an ear, watching Mai through the corner of her eye. There was the tiniest smile playing at the edges of her rouge lips and Anzu could sense how lonely Mai had been lately. She was almost certain that it had been a rough time with Shizuka, too, before they befriended each other. Now, Shizuka was just another reminder of her ex-husband. Anzu, at last, had no real attachments to Jounouchi besides friendship. She couldn't help but smile at that thought.

Rena had grown quiet and when Anzu looked back, she saw that she was staring intently out the window, seemingly fascinated by the play of images through the window. Turning back to the front, she cleared her throat daintily. "Um, Mai, you don't mind me asking something, do you?" Mai's violet eyes darted to her and she smiled knowingly.

"You want to know about mine and Jounouchi's marriage, don't you?" She queried, looking to the rearview mirror. Generally, Rena snapped to attention at the mention of her father, but she kept her eyes trained to the window as though entranced. "No one else has ever really asked me and if they ask Jou...Well, as far as I know, he hasn't told anyone the real reason for our divorce." She paused, tapping her manicured fingers on the steering wheel as she sped through a yellow light.

"You don't have to tell me," Anzu hastily said when the silence lengthened.

"No, Anzu, I think you should know. I've never had a friendship with someone where there are no boundaries. I have Otogi, but there are some things you can't tell a guy, you know?" Anzu nodded, knowing very well how that felt, as she had had only her father for a long time. "There was Shizuka, but she's so young and naïve. I can't imagine that you're the same way." She looked from the road briefly for agreement.

"I've seen my fair share of the cruel life," she quietly replied. Mai flashed a quick, sympathetic smile. "Whatever you say here, I promise to keep between us. No one else should need to know."

"Alright, then." She hesitated and then continued, "Everyone thinks that our marriage fell apart because Jou and I were opposites, but that wasn't it at all. It did get irritating when people would look at us and wonder how we ended up with each other. They even dared to ask how it happened. I liked how different Jounouchi was; it kept me sane because it wasn't like I was looking at a male image of myself. Anzu...I had an affair."

Anzu's head snapped around to look at Mai, shocked. With the warmth that she felt for Jounouchi, it was hard to imagine that she had allowed herself to do such a thing. By the slight flush in Mai's skin, it was clear that she was ashamed by her actions. "But...You still love him! I thought - ?"

"You have to realize that the perspective on things change after it all happens. At the time, I thought that Jou and I were growing apart. This was two years after Rena was born and...Well, I thought that it was because we were so different that we were fighting all the time. I'm not smart when it comes to my emotions. I got angry and frustrated with the stress of raising a child and left during the night to meet a man. Jou knew all about it. It took six months before we filed for a divorce. He was trying to work things out with me, even as hurt and angry as he was about what I did. Then, I did it again and he turned...cold."

Mai gave a sad smile and looked to Anzu, murmuring, "It wasn't until you popped into Jou's life that I realized that it wasn't the differences that caused our marriage to fall apart. I had mistaken our responsibilities to Rena as us growing apart and..." She sighed. "Really, it was all my fault."

"But you still love him," Anzu pointed out as Mai changed lanes, barely glancing over her shoulder to see if the lane was clear. "I can tell that you do. Jounouchi is so hard to figure out, though. I mean, he's open, but not open about you for some reason."

"Of course not. I hurt him deeply, Anzu. Let me ask you something, now, Anzu." The younger female nodded. "A woman came to me some time ago to buy a house and she claimed that she was Mrs. Mazaki. I thought it was strange because women generally never come to buy a house by themselves. They are usually with some kind of spouse or male relative or else they don't come at all. I'm curious whether it was your mom or not."

"It was..." She slowly answered, her tone purposely blank. "She left my family for another man when I was six. My father could barely afford to keep the house going after she left. It was just that abrupt. Neither of us saw it coming. She gave no signs or indications that she was unhappy or involved in an affair." Anzu laughed shakily. "Daddy hated Yami on sight because the man she ran away with was a pianist. He figured Yami was just another wife-snatcher. He even called him lecherous to his face."

"How awful," Mai murmured. "Rena adores Yami. He treats her like his own daughter and is so kind to her. If I wasn't still attached to Jounouchi, I would probably go after him myself. I can tell that Otogi loves him, too, even if won't admit it. They've been best friends for such a long time. Yami usually travels often though, so I was never given the chance to meet him until recently. I actually had no real reason to until now, I suppose."

"He is wonderful," Anzu agreed faintly as they turned and pulled into the mall parking lot. She was drifting away from the car, from Mai, from shopping – from everything, returning to the night before when she had been snuggled in Yami's warm embrace. She smiled dreamily, remembering his light kiss on her forehead when he bid her farewell at the door. On the way home, she had been sulking a bit, wanting much more than a chaste kiss such as that.

"Anzu?" Mai's amused voice broke through her thoughts. She blinked and turned to Mai to see that she was out of her seatbelt. Rena was clamoring around in the backseat now that the car was unmoving and the sight outside was more than a bit uninteresting. "Hon, I can't believe you're falling for your accompanist." Anzu's cheeks turned pink and she unbuckled her seatbelt and hastily stepped out of the car, feeling a bit embarrassed that Mai had figured her out so easily.

"I'm not falling for him as you put it," Anzu huffed, slamming the door. Rena smacked the window and Anzu opened the back door for her while Mai met them, her lips curled in a disbelieving smirk. "He's just...an amazing man. I mean, have you ever met someone as polite and helpful and handsome as him? I haven't. It's just an attraction, nothing more. If I was falling for him, you would know it!" She nodded her head to affirm her words, but Mai was staring at her with raised eyebrows. Suddenly realized she had practically ranted, Anzu flushed and pushed her purse up on her shoulder more firmly.

"Alright," Mai said with a shrug and her leer in place. "If you say so. Enough of matters of love, men, and life, though!" She swung Rena up in her arms, thrusting an arm into the air. "We're here to shop!" Rena gave a cry and hung her head back, pumping her arms in the air. The two women laughed and continued up towards the mall to spend their money.

X

Shizuka entered the opera house beside Otogi, running her eyes over the massive arches above her. The piano music drifting from the stage echoed around her, seeming to encase her in a warm embrace. Shaking off the feeling, she moved a bit closer to Otogi, her fingers entwined in his. He smiled reassuringly down at her. It was strange, she reflected, to see Yami in what she considered his natural habitat. For Otogi, it was his shop. The opera house, however, was where Yami was most of the day, his fingers dancing over the piano keys, drawing up intricate combinations of notes.

The music halted as they came on the stage and Yami rose from the bench, circling around to the other side of the piano, propping his hip against it as he crossed his arms over his chest. A dryly amused look was on his face as he said, "Do you have any idea, Shizuka Katsuya, what your friend decided to do today instead of coming to practice?" His easy way of addressing her startled her for but a moment until she found enough courage to shake her head.

At her gesture, he barreled forward, "She had a 'girl's day out.' At first, I thought she might be going out with you or she had some sort of woman's issue that kept her from dancing. Seeing as how you are here and she told me she would call later when she her 'girl's day' was done, I can only conclude that there was something else behind her words."

"How odd," Otogi remarked, raising his eyebrows. "Anzu doesn't know many people well enough to simply go out shopping with them."

"Shopping?" Shizuka repeated.

He spread a hand out while she and Yami turned puzzled looks to him. "That's what a 'girl's day out' is. You don't think they simply sit around chatting, do you? Sure, they talk, but while they're shopping." When they continued to stare at him with utterly baffled stares, he rubbed the back of his neck and said somewhat abashed, "In my experience, that's what most women mean when they use that term..."

"I think you might have too much experience, Otogi," she teased, bumping him with her hip. He continued to look uncomfortable with the conversation while Yami seemed to consider over what Otogi had said. "In any case, the only woman that Anzu knows who would take a whole day shopping is Mai. Miho is out of town, so it can't be her."

"Mai?" Otogi repeated, frowning. "I can't think that she and Anzu would go out together, but..." He dug in his pocket and emerged with his cell phone, scrolling through his contacts briefly and choosing Mai's name. He waited with Yami watching him with a touch of curiosity.

"Hey, hon," Mai answered on the second ring.

"Hey yourself," he replied. "You're not out with Anzu today are you?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. I took her and Rena shopping. Is Yami asking after her? You can tell him that he's not getting her back today. Anzu needs some healthy time with the ladies, after all. You better make sure he doesn't start calling her cell phone or I'm going to bring the almighty wrath of PMS down on both of you."

"Would you mind not discussing your personal bodily details with me?" Otogi snapped, disgusted. She snickered on the other line and he was almost certain that he could hear another set of laughter in the background; Anzu's, no doubt. "I'll tell him. We just wanted to know whether you had kidnapped her or not."

"Well, I did. Anyway, I'll call you later, Otogi. We have a lot more shopping to do."

"You do that. You can tell me all about it if you want and I might even listen."

"Mmm...I might not want to tell you about it," she taunted. "Goodbye!"

He gawked at the phone as the call ended and then punched the 'End' button, glowering irritably. Shizuka peered up at him with a questioning smile on her lips. Yami raised his eyebrows, just as eager for information as Otogi's girlfriend was. "They plan on shopping all day and Mai had me warn you not to call Anzu or else she was going to bring that 'special' kind of anger down on both of us." Yami looked blank for a minute and then comprehension dawned on his face. "Personally, she could have kept that part to herself and simply threatened me with anger. That would be enough for me." Shizuka laughed as Yami slowly nodded in agreement.

"I thought men talked about those things with each other all the time?" She asked. "I know Jounouchi and Honda do."

"With each other," Yami responded soberly, "not with women."

X

Mai pulled next to the curb in front of the doors of Anzu's apartment complex. Rena was fast asleep in the back, all the strenuous activity having gotten to her. The day had gone well and even though Anzu hadn't expected it, somehow with Mai she had been able to extend the shopping trip for the entire day. "You know, I've never gone shopping with another girl before," Mai confessed, smiling. "I'm glad that you came with us today, Anzu."

"I'm glad I came," Anzu answered sincerely. "We're going to have to do this more often." Mai's face lit up a bit in hope and then she leaned forward and hugged Anzu briefly. Soft perfume and hairspray clung to Mai like a cloud, but she somehow managed to make the mix of scents pleasant. "Goodnight. Tell Rena I said goodbye." She opened the door and took her bags.

"I will. Talk to you later, hon."

Anzu waved and then shut the door, moving up to the apartment doors as Mai drove away. She unlocked the door with her card and then trudged to the elevator, releasing a heavy breath. She still had to call Yami, as she had promised she would. When the elevator stopped at her door, she hurried down to her door and unlocked it, stumbling through into the dark, dropping her bags beside the door.

Anzu flicked a light on and then closed the door, reaching into her purse and withdrawing her cell phone. She went to the kitchen to start a kettle of hot water for tea and then dialed Yami's number. She slumped at the table, sighing through her nose. After waiting awhile, Yami finally answered in his familiar, rumbling voice, "Anzu." Her heart leapt into her throat and she shoved it down angrily, furious with its disloyalty.

"Yami," she answered, cursing herself for sounding breathless. "I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier. I just now got in the door."

"That's fine. I was a bit surprised that it was Mai you went shopping with. I hadn't thought you two were that close."

"Neither did I," she admitted, hearing the beginning scream of the kettle. Cradling the phone between her shoulder and cheek, she moved to the stove and with a hot pad, lifted the kettle from the heated burner to a cooled one. "She just showed up this morning and told me that we were going shopping. I hardly ever get to go out with anyone, though, so it was a nice change." She poured the water in a teacup she took from the cupboard and settled a teabag in it, gently shifting it with her spoon.

"Hmm. The auditions are next week, Anzu. I have an idea. On the day that you do the auditions, we'll go out for lunch. Two days later, when you get your results, I'll pay for an expensive dinner."

"You don't have to do that," Anzu told him, surprised. "And besides, what if I get bad results?"

"You won't," he assured. "Trust me, Anzu, there isn't any possible way they can deny you the part you earned. And besides, tomorrow I'm having a friend of mine come in to monitor your practice so that you can dance to my original music. He's a dance instructor and pianist, so I feel confident that any mistakes we might have now will be easily remedied."

"You're so good to me, Yami," she sighed. "I can't believe I ended up with you as an accompanist. I really don't deserve it." She took a sip of her tea as he spoke.

"No...It's me who is undeserving." He paused. "You must be exhausted," he said more brightly. "Mai seems like the type of woman who would do hardcore shopping. Get some sleep and we'll talk tomorrow. It should be exciting to have our work evaluated."

"I already know I won't be able to sleep tonight," she grumbled. Yami laughed in reply.

"Goodnight, Anzu."

"'Night." They hung up and Anzu sat at the table with her teacup warming her hands. She stared out the balcony windows thoughtfully and then smiled to herself, taking another sip of her tea. Maybe we both are undeserving of each other, she mused.

X

DIS: (cackles) Who could Yami's friend be? And don't worry, somewhere around the auditions, a wave of hot romance between the two is going to come! Aren't you excited? I am! Please leave a review telling me how I did. Constructive criticism is always accepted, of course. Ciao!