Chapter Thirty-Four, New settings
"OW! Would you please stop aiming for my chest?!"
"Would I do that?"
"Yes, in fact, you would!"
Anzu whipped around and rubbed where her breast had been hit by the airsoft pellet, glaring over at Bakura. They had spent a few days at the studio last week and this was the third day that Anzu had been in this back alley with Bakura. He was sitting at the top of a stack of crates with the airsoft gun in his hand, looking at ease and comfortable. Yesterday she had yanked the airsoft gun from him and had shot rather wildly at him, so infuriated at getting shot in the butt repeatedly by him. Today, it seemed that her chest was his preferred target. In the days that she had spent with him, she had determined he was the most perverted man on the planet and took great satisfaction at screaming it at him.
"If they weren't so big, they wouldn't be such an easy target," Bakura said with a lascivious smile. "Kind of like your ass." He leaned his elbow on his thigh, his head in hand, smirking down at her. "They're very distracting."
"Stop being such a pervert!" she yelled at him, flushing in embarrassment and covering her breasts protectively. "You're supposed to be helping me!"
"I could rub where I hit you, would that help or would that be unprofessional of me? I've always wanted a student-teacher relationship."
"Bakura, I'm serious!"
"I am helping, but you're too stupid to know how to do anything right."
"I'm doing what you're telling me to do. Maybe you just suck as a teacher!" Besides being a pervert, he had gotten much more comfortable around her and had taken to insulting her on a daily basis. And Anzu, being the fiery personality that she was, rose to the provocation and flung insults right back at him; however, Bakura was far more accustomed to being criticized and merely smiled and laughed at her attempts, only further infuriating her.
"You're thinking about it too hard," he said, bringing his legs up so he was sitting cross legged. "I can't hear you when you're moving, but I can still see you. When I'm on the ground, you move too slow and too normal." He tapped the airsoft gun on his thigh, considering her thoughtfully. "Try it this way. Think of it as dancing. What helps you when you're dancing?"
"Having good balance," she replied immediately, "and being graceful."
"Right, then try that." He dropped the gun and raised his hands parallel to each other. "When you move from one place to another," he said, moving his hands as he spoke, "don't do it normally, like a clunky motion." He used his hands to show what he meant by making chopping motion from one place to another. "Go smoothly, like you're dancing. Fluidly." He moved the hands swiftly from side to side and then dropped them, picking the gun up from his lap. "Try that, and see if you get hit. Maybe I'll aim for a sensitive spot this time." He winked at her and she merely scowled and took off her shoe and threw it at him, missing. "Don't throw your smelly shoe at me!" He laughed as she grabbed it where it fell on the ground and hastily put it back on.
Better not be aiming for that, she thought mutinously, thinking of how painful it would be if he even nicked her nipple with that airsoft gun. She clenched a fist as she went behind a crate, closing her eyes tight and vowing under her breath, "No way...no way am I going to deal with that pain."
"Ready?" Bakura called out to her.
"I'm ready," she answered back, crouching behind the crate.
"Alright, go on then."
Anzu didn't immediately move, releasing a slow breath. How to move like you're dancing...when you're not actually dancing? You need balance, you need to stay light on your feet, and above all, be swift. You need to be able to dip and move into awkward positions without falling and be quick about it. She nodded and looked to the next crate she would hide behind. I can do that. She leaned back, gathering all the energy in her back leg and then sprang forward. She heard the airsoft gun go off and reached her back foot forward, spinning in a circle and then hurrying forward to the crate, feeling the pellet hid her arm that she drawn forward to balance her weight as she turned. She stopped behind the crate and sighed, rubbing the sting on her arm.
"There!" Anzu peeked out from behind the crate to see Bakura crouching on top of his crate. He waved a hand. "See what you did there? Instead of getting shot in the chest, you got grazed on the arm. You were dead, now you're just injured. Perfect. I think these trainings are going to go a lot better from now on."
By the end of their session, her arms, shoulders, and a few spots on her side were stinging from getting hitting with air pellets, but she was feeling cheerful and couldn't help but celebrate with a little victory dance. Even though she knew that it was going to take more practice for her to get better, she was feeling more optimistic than she had been with the trainings. "How do you know Yami?" she asked Bakura curiously as they left the alley, her hands tucked inside her sweater. Now that she wasn't moving, she was feeling a little chilled.
"Mostly through Ryou. I had heard about him from Malik, but only small complaints that had nothing to do with his situation. I knew that Malik was involved in the shadier parts of society, but given what I knew of Yami, I didn't think he would. We never liked each other, though. I always thought he was a pansy ass, angsty pianist. He always acted as though he had some kind of inner trauma. You know, like those shoujo manga characters."
"Uh...shoujo manga?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows at him.
"Don't pretend like you've never read them."
"I'm more curious as to why you're reading them."
"Research," he said with a smirk. "How else do you think I get the ladies? They love a good shoujo character come to life."
"You're awful," she said with a shake of her head.
"Anyway, it was always a treat to pick fun at him when I did see him," Bakura continued on. "He never much appreciated the teasing, though, and so developed a certain dislike for me. I tend to have that effect on men. Now, women – "
"Dislike you, too, I expect," Anzu finished for him.
"Ah, dislike they might, but they can't control the lust they have for me." Anzu laughed at that and not for the first time, she was reminded of Malik with his confident, suave nature. Even though Bakura was a complete pervert, she couldn't help but enjoy his company that was so like her missed friend's.
The two were silent for some time, walking to where their cars were parked. Anzu had been scheming for some days a secret night with Yami, but they both were so busy with their own devices that she had barely been able to talk to him and she knew that everyone was concerned with her safety. Even with all the high stress, however, she felt that they deserved a bit of relaxation. Knowing Yami's worried personality, she doubted that he would be the one to initiate a day together and therefore Anzu had been thinking of ways to get him to her apartment. She knew that he wanted her to focus on her trainings with Bakura and with the Swan Lake production, but he seemed to forget that even though that was important, they could find time to spend with each other, too. Seeing him when he got back from Europe had been heartwarming and she hadn't wanted him to leave her. It was going to be hard to convince him to put his worries in the back, though. "Say, Bakura," she spoke up, a thought popping her mind, "would you mind doing me a favor?"
"What, I haven't been lately?" he quipped.
"Yes, yes, but here's the thing...I need you to bring Yami to my apartment."
"You want me to kidnap him?"
Giving him a dry look at the interpretation, she said, "Well, I guess you could call that. Everyone's so high strung right now and I suppose I could go see Jounouchi and Shizuka...maybe even Mai...but I really want to spend some time with Yami. He gets himself stressed over his situation and I want him to relax."
"Ah, you want to kidnap him and rape him."
She blushed and shoved at his shoulder. "Don't be so lewd! I just...I don't want him to worry so much and I miss him. It'd be good for us to have tonight together since I don't have to go practice and I don't have work." She clapped her hands together and raised them above her head. "Please? I'll make you something good if you do this for me."
"Hmm..." He considered it for a moment. "I want cheesecake, then."
"Huh? Really?"
"Good cheesecake," he amended. "Not that shit they sell in the stores. And it better be good."
"Alright, I can do that...it's a deal!"
X
Yami stared at the visitor on his porch, purposely blocking the doorway. He had glanced around to see if Kaiba was anywhere near, but he was missing. "What do you want now?" he sighed, feeling as though he were talking to Malik, who had always had a bad habit of making himself at home and shoving his way through to get inside. Bakura was not unlike him, but he seemed content with lingering on the porch.
"I need to have a serious discussion with you. Let's go on a drive."
"A drive?" he repeated blankly, eyeing Bakura suspiciously. "What for? Why can't we talk here?"
"Because I don't want to," Bakura stated simply. "Now get dressed."
Frowning, Yami eyed him again before shrugging and grabbing his jacket and putting some shoes on. After locking his door, he followed Bakura to his car. As soon as Bakura pulled away from the curb, he asked, "So, what is it?"
"Hold on, we have to go somewhere to talk."
"I thought we were taking a drive to talk?"
"Shhhhhh," Bakura put a finger up to his lips, smirking over at him. "All in due time, Yami."
I hate when he acts mysterious like this, Yami thought petulantly, scowling outside the window. As they drove, he was realizing that the neighborhood was beginning to look familiar. He frowned, looking around curiously. Isn't this the way to Anzu's apartment? "Hey, are we – "
"Ah, ah, ah," Bakura cut in, "not yet." Yami fell back into a sullen silence, yet when they pulled into the parking lot of Anzu's apartment, he began to frown in renewed confusion. He supposed that it was possible that Bakura had something to talk to Anzu about too, but why did Yami have to be present? Nonetheless, he followed Bakura out of the car without saying a word, supposing that he would explain it to him eventually. After all, if Bakura felt so insistent as to not say a word about the conversation, it must be something rather important. He wasn't sure why he had to be so secretive, though, he could have just said they were going to Anzu's. When they got to Anzu's apartment, Bakura knocked on the door and waited until it swung open. "Alright, we're here," he told her, "but remember – GOOD cheesecake."
"Okay, okay, geez!" she said and Yami, baffled, was pulled into the apartment. Bakura waggled his fingers at Yami teasingly before walking away as Anzu shut the door. "He must have had a bad experience with cheesecake or something, the way he goes on about it."
"Anzu, what's going on?" Yami asked, beyond confused at that point. "Bakura was saying he wanted to have a talk and now..." He paused, looking around. He could smell something sweet in the air coming from the oven and realized that she was cooking something. There was a bottle of champagne on the counter and two glasses and the apartment seemed cozier than he remembered. "Ah...did we...have a date tonight?" He was starting to feel rather stupid, especially when Anzu gave him a fond, exasperated look.
"No, we didn't," she told him and led him to the island, ushering for him to sit. While she went to the stove to stir in one of the pots, she said, "I know how worried you've been lately and I wanted us to have a night together. We haven't even been able to spend much time together since you got back from Europe. And I know it's because of what's been happening, but...I don't want us to forget what's really important in the end." She turned and smiled at him. "Tonight is going to be about us, okay? And then tomorrow we can worry about everything else again."
Yami considered her a moment before a smile slowly touched his lips. "Okay, Anzu," he answered, resting his arms on the counter of the island. "I'd like that." Her face lit up and he realized she had been anxious of his answer.
While Anzu worked on finishing the dinner, he popped open the champagne and poured them each a glass. He hadn't realized how tense he had been until his body began to unwind just from being in her presence. As the two of them sat and drank champagne, waiting for the food to cook, they talked casually, Anzu telling him of her progress with Bakura's training and he laughed at her complaints of his perversions. It was a comfortable, soothing environment when he was with her. It felt normal and it was easy for him to forget everything else. As he watched her talk, her face glowed energetically and his chest seemed to expand with a tight, warm feeling as he looked at her. I never thought that I would find someone like Anzu that would accept me, he thought to himself, taking a drink of champagne as she turned to pull out the food. Any other woman would have turned away and she certainly never would have become good friends with someone like Malik, either.
"Anzu," Yami spoke up as she set up plates for them.
"What is it?" she asked, looking to him curiously. "Did I put too much rice on your plate?"
"No," he said with a smile. "I just wanted to tell you...you're an amazing woman. I'm glad to have someone like you by my side." She gave a nervous laugh, blushing, and hastily turning away.
"Oh...thank you. You're quite amazing, too, you know." She fiddled around with the oven, cleaning it off and he knew she was waiting until the colour in her face had subsided. He chuckled at her embarrassment and waited until she had recovered and rounded the island to sit next to him to eat. "Let's eat!" she chirped, avoiding eye contact with him. Even with all the things she had become involved in, Anzu was still an innocent, unaccustomed to such blatant compliments. "Is it good?"
"Delicious," he assured her after taking a bite.
After eating, Anzu challenged Yami to a fighting game, one that Jounouchi and Honda had recommended and the three played religiously when they got together. Anzu had become rather good at it and when, in a matter of seconds, she had destroyed his ninja, he stared at the screen. "I didn't even get a chance to fight...," he mumbled in awe.
"You're going to have to smash those buttons," she said with a teasing wink. "I've become a pro at this game, I finally am able to beat Honda even!"
"Alright." He gripped the controller a little harder, his competitive nature firing up. "Let's go again. I'm not giving up until I beat you."
"That's the spirit!" The two spent nearly an hour playing the game, muttering to themselves and yelling at their characters and only when Yami had been able to beat Anzu a few times did they call it quits, deciding to watch a movie to end the night. Anzu pulled out a blanket and the two of them bundled up in it, with Anzu curled against Yami. Yami's mind wandered during the movie several times and he found himself unable to even follow what was happening.
Within the first half hour of the movie, Ben Affleck had managed to sleep with what he suspected was a drug whore. Even though it wasn't particularly graphic, Yami's thoughts drifted to a less appropriate corner of his mind. While Yami had always been careful to be a gentleman, there was no doubt that he still had the same urges and desires that every other man did and he knew that Anzu, despite her sweet nature, was capable of seducing him in an instant if she put her mind to it. He had lost some control when he kissed her after he had returned from Europe and it had been empowering to realize that she wanted him as much as he did her. It was also a dangerous piece of knowledge for a man to have.
"Yami?" Her voice broke through his thoughts and he blinked, looking down at her to see that she was staring at him expectantly. "I asked you if you wanted me to make some tea. You're in a completely other dimension, aren't you?" She laughed, reaching up and tapping on his forehead teasingly.
"That seems to happen when I'm with you," he said with a soft smile, taking her hand and kissing her palm. When he raised his gazes to hers, they seemed even bigger in the dark, bright cerulean pools of water that enchanted him. He reached down, stroking along her cheek before he bent his head and caught her lips in his. She tasted sweet and sultry, a mix of the champagne and dessert. She wound her arms around his neck and she was warm and soft beneath him. He supposed he could have withdrawn from the soft curves of her body, pulled away and given a smile, but somehow he knew that she didn't want that. He could have been the gentleman and pulled away, but there was an insistent need bubbling beneath the surface. He kissed her neck, suckling gently, his hands sweeping down along her side, reaching beneath to grasp her thighs, pulling her upright so she was straddling his waist. His mouth left a moist trail along her neck and down on her cleavage. His hands tensed on her hips and he drew away, looking up at her almost ethereal face.
"Anzu...," he breathed in an almost apologetic tone.
"It's okay," she said softly, brushing his bangs from his face and he felt a rush of emotion surge through him at seeing her eyes, clouded over with desire. "I want this, Yami." Even if she hadn't said so, he wasn't sure he would have been able to stop himself after seeing the look in her eyes.
"As long as you do," he whispered, pulling her mouth down to his again in a fiery, intense kiss. "I'm all yours, my dear."
X
Sakura sat in bed, grasping the pistol loosely in her hand, staring in the darkness intently. She had felt eyes on her for some days now and knew better than to think it was nothing more than her imagination. As she sat, waiting, listening for the soft, almost imperceptible creaks of the floorboard, she looked to the picture that was lying next to her in bed. Jiiro's handsome face smiled up at her, taunting her, reminding her of why she was even in her current position. Turning her eyes back to the door, she smiled grimly as the door opened and she clicked the safety off on the pistol.
"Hello, Harumi," she greeted as a slim figure crept into the room. She reached over and flicked her lamp on and the woman blinked rapidly as her eyesight adjusted, but she didn't move closer to Sakura, standing where she had paused, her cold eyes targeted on Sakura. "Speak up," she said, pointing the pistol at her. "I doubt you can move fast enough to avoid this bullet in this small of a space."
"True enough," Yami's mother admitted, shrugging her dainty shoulders. She was slender with short, cropped blonde hair, and cold, dark eyes. She was beautiful for a woman her age and yet exuded danger. The lines that weathered her face were fine and almost strategically placed so that she still had a sense of beauty. "I see that Jiiro taught you a few tricks while you were seeing him. Not surprising, given the way he kept you so safe."
"Unfortunately not safe enough, it appears," Sakura replied calmly. "Where's your filth of a husband?"
Unbothered by the slur, Harumi answered, "Working on another lead. That's the wonder of having partners. We can do several things at once." She paused, her mouth tightening. "This didn't go quite the way I expected, though."
"It's harder to kill someone that was involved in the underworld, you should know that. You don't seem as prepared. What were you expecting when you came here?"
"Not this," Harumi said flatly. "But I'm not worried about a stupid woman like you."
"Good to know because I'm not worried about you."
"You should be." In an instant, Harumi was darting across the room, but Sakura was ready for her. She flung the sheets up, blocking the other woman's vision of her briefly as she scrambled off the bed. She wasted no time. As soon as Harumi was in sight, she let loose three bullets, making sure that she would at least be able to hit something on her attacker. Harumi's petite body went flying into her nightstand and the lamp went crashing to the floor with her body. Sakura's hands were shaking badly as she stood at the end of the bed, staring at where Harumi had fallen. She waited for a few moments, hearing her ragged breathing. The gun that Harumi had drawn had fallen on the bed, but Sakura was unsure of whether the woman had any other weapons on her.
After some time, Sakura hesitantly stepped forward. The lampshade had come off, but the lightbulb had miraculously not broken so the light was still shining brightly. Sakura crouched down and Harumi's hand lashed out. She moved just in time to avoid a killing blow, but the wicked knife went through her thigh. Screaming, Sakura lashed out, striking Harumi in the face. The hand went limp and Sakura crashed to the ground, moaning. The knife was still lodged in her thigh. Biting her lip and sobbing, she yanked the knife out, letting loose a painful scream. She flung the knife to the side and grabbed the sheet from her bed, pressing it against the wound. She panted at the pain as she dragged herself up so that she was sitting on the bed. Harumi lay silent and unmoving on the floor. After a moment of looking, Sakura saw the two bullet holes that had landed on the woman. One was in her stomach, the other near her abdomen, likely having shattered her hipbone. It was clear that she was quite dead. Blood had pooled beneath her.
I can't get rid of her body by myself because of this wound, Sakura thought. She was pale and shaking badly. She reached into her nightstand, pulling out her cellphone. She dialed a number and waited a moment. "Yes, hello?"
"What is it?" the voice on the other end demanded in an irritated tone, likely due to the time of night.
"I need you to send someone over here...I have Harumi Mutou dead in my bedroom and I need to go to the hospital myself. I'm losing a lot of blood, but this body can't be found. Rei will be expecting her to meet up with him soon, I'm sure."
There was a pause. "Alright. I'll have someone over there shortly and will call an EMT for you to be taken care of."
"Thank you...I appreciate it."
"It seems you've helped us, too."
"I promise you, it wasn't on purpose...," Sakura murmured in the phone, glancing down at the bleeding corpse, feeling a wave of nausea pass over her. "She underestimated me, that's all."
TBC
X
DIS: Da-dummm, romance, suspense! And I even made my deadline - I was even early, shockingly enough! Yessss! As always, thanks to my dedicated reviewers, I love your feedback and it, in fact, helped me form this chapter given that everyone was requesting some romance/fluff with Yami and Anzu;) With that said, please leaving a review and let me know how you liked the chapter, anything that I can improve on, etc. Cheers!
