Title: Love in the shadows

Chapter 2: Shifting Shadows

Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Pairing: Anzu x Ryou (slight pairing with other characters)

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of its characters

Warning! This is rated M for a reason, do not read if you do not like swearing or sexual content. Though there may be none in this chapter, there may be in later chapters.

As Duke finished his tour of the second level he turned to the group.

Duke:" As I said, your bed rooms will all be along this hallway. There are plenty of rooms and they're all up to standard so just pick whichever one you want." He then turned to the driver and instructor "And you gentlemen will be down the opposite hall in the main rooms."

Instructor:"Wait a minute. I'm not comfortable leaving the girls on their own."

Duke smile again

Duke:"You have nothing to fear good sir. I'll be sleeping in the room beside yours" he turned to the girls with an innocent smile "Not that I'd try anything with you lovely ladies. At least...not without your permission first."

Anzu rolled her eyes as the girls giggled excitedly. 'Could this guy be any less subtle?"

To seal the deal, Duke gave a secret wink to the girls as he turned back to their instructor.

Cue excited giggles. Anzu mentally sighed 'Yes. Apparently he can!'

Anzu felt her eyes wandering back to the stair case behind them. Something about the shadows on the ceiling was upsetting her.

They were, scaring her.

Duke: "Now I'm sure the young ladies would like to warm up from the cold. So I took the liberty of heating the water in the bath."

Girl 1:" Are there baths in the bed rooms?"

Duke:" Unfortunately no. Only the main bedrooms are en-suite. The bath is quite large though so you needn't worry about space" his voice took on a seductive tone "but if you can think of a more fun way to warm yourselves up, I'd be more than happy...to oblige!"

Anzu resisted the urge to gag.' Seriously, do they not see how suspicious this guy is? He's a total pervert!'

Unfortunately the girls didn't find him suspicious in the least, taking his advances as compliments and replying with shy giggles or excited squeals. The group began to make their way to the door Duke had pointed out as the bath room earlier.

Anzu didn't want to go with them. She wanted a bath but she wasn't in the mood for any of the insults or jokes they would no doubt make about her body. Not that she was ashamed of her body, quite the opposite actually. She was pretty with a great figure and ample chest, but this just gave the girls ammunition for their obviously jealous insults.

She had been called a slut more times than she could count, despite the fact she had managed to keep her virginity intact for the seventeen years she had been alive.

'I'll just wait till they finish and go in after' she thought quietly to herself as she descended the stairs. When the finale girl walked through the door, shutting it behind her, Duke had gone to show the other men where they would be sleeping

Anzu was left standing in the main room once more by herself with the shadows.

Staring at the ceiling once more Anzu became very confused. The shadow figures were gone. The darkness that covered the ceiling was still there but whatever had been sticking out was gone.

'Did I imagine it?' No matter how hard Anzu stared she couldn't see the figures anymore.

Duke:" Well this is a surprise."

Anzu felt her heart jump as Duke walked down the stairs towards her

Anzu:" E, Excuse me?" 'Wait why am I stuttering?'

Duke:" I would have thought you'd be the first into the bath"

Anzu:" O, Oh. H, How come?" 'Stop stuttering! He's not that handsome. Okay he is, but he's a total creep remember!' Anzu felt herself blush as he stood right in front of her smirking 'Stupid! Stop blushing!'

Duke:" Well not that you don't make dirt very fashionable but you seemed to be the only one wearing it."

Anzu's face turned red as she realised she still looked like she crawled through the gutter

Anzu:" Oh right."

Duke began chuckling. 'Oh great and now he's laughing at me, just what I need' the blush on Anzu's face was quickly replaced with a look of annoyance.

Duke:" Sorry didn't mean to be rude" the fact he was still laughing seemed to prove him wrong. "Mind if I ask what happened?"

Anzu sighed.

Anzu:" It's not much of a story"

Duke:"I promise not to laugh anymore if you tell me" He gave her another smirk

'Damn him and his sexy smirk' Anzu's brain stopped for a moment ' I did not just call him sexy... Damn it! I just called him sexy!'

Anzu gave Duke a mild glare as she felt another blush warming her cheeks, much to his amusement.

Anzu:" Well you see, we were at this dance camp for the past week and the one of the people running the camp has a daughter. She's only about six but she's seriously cute and she seemed to take a liking to me while we were there."

Anzu glanced at Duke to make sure he was listening. He was staring at the ceiling, which annoyed the hell out of her. Noticing she stopped talking he looked back to her.

Duke:" Oh sorry. Please continue"

Anzu frowned

Anzu:" Were you even listening?"

Duke gave a seductive smirk

Duke:" Of course I was my dear la..." Anzu raised her hand in front of Duke's face before he could finish.

Anzu:" First off Romeo, enough with the sweet talk. The name's Anzu, try calling me anything else and you will seriously regret it. Second you're the one who asked to hear my story, so you could at least bother to pay attention. Got it Mr. Devlin?"

Duke's eyes widened in shock. Anzu resisted the urge to snap her fingers at his dumbfound face

'Take that sexy smirk!'

"Ha!"

Now it was Anzu's turn to be shocked. Someone had laughed but it wasn't Duke. It sounded like it came from above them. Anzu snapped her eyes up to the shadows.

They were there again.

The shadowy figures, sticking out of the ceiling but in different places then the first time she saw them`. There was no way she was imagining it now.

'But there was nothing there a minute ago and the positions are different. What the hell's going on?'

Duke:"Anzu?"

Looking back to Duke, Anzu saw the nervous look he was giving her. He almost looked...ashamed.

Duke:" I'm sorry Anzu. I didn't mean to be rude or try to sweet talk you " he turned his face away and looked at the ground " It's just normally girls like it when I talk to them like that, I...I'm really sorry".

Anzu felt a little bit guilty looking at him. He seemed really upset by her words.

She scratched the back of head nervously.

Anzu:" Y, Yeah...it's okay."

He looked up at her smiling, but it wasn't his normal smug smile, it was gentler, warmer.

Duke:" Really? Awesome!" he gave her a goofy smile that caused her to stifle a giggle.

'He's actually kind of nice.'

Duke:" I really would like to hear the rest of your story and this time I promise you have my undivided attention."

Anzu smirked.

Anzu:" Alright. So did you actual hear what I said last time or should I start over?"

Duke:" You made friends with the daughter of someone running the camp right?"

Anzu:" Oh, so you were listening" he gave her another goofy smile making her giggle again but this time she didn't try to hide it.

Anzu:" So yeah. The girl really liked me and she had this kitten that kept climbing up trees, so I'd climb up to get it down when it got stuck. I like animals so I didn't mind helping her." She glanced at Duke who was keeping his promise and listening intently. She smiled as she continued her story

Anzu:" Then today was our last day, so we were getting ready to leave when the girl came to me crying. A river runs along the side of the camp and the kitten had climbed up a tree beside it. When I got there the kitten had climbed out on to a branch above the river. Unfortunately the branch wasn't very strong so it snapped when the kitten stepped on it. The kitten fell into the river. I sort of panicked when I saw it fall so I just did the first thing that came to mind."

Duke:" So you jumped in after it?"

Anzu:"Bingo. The river's current wasn't too strong so I managed to save it and get out of the river safely. Thankfully the kitten was okay, aside from being a little bit soaked." Anzu sighed "Unfortunately because of my little hero act we were delayed so there was no time for me to change or dry out my clothes."

She smirked

Anzu:"Hence the o-natural look I'm currently sporting"

Duke stood with wide eyes and a shocked expression on his face. Anzu laughed nervously.

Anzu:"Was my joke that bad?"

Duke blinked

Duke:" Oh no, it's just...you'd risk your life for an animal?"

Anzu shrugged and smiled

Anzu:" It wasn't as serious as life or death. I mean worst case scenario I'd end up seriously injured and the kitten drowned, but thankfully that didn't happen and I just ended up with a couple of scratches and bruises. Oh, and a pair of ruined sneakers"

Duke smirked

Duke:"So that's why you're barefoot."

Anzu returned the smirk with one of her own

Anzu:" Nope! I just like to be able to wiggle my toes"

Duke burst into laughter at her joke and soon Anzu found herself laughing too. The two stood there laughing, their voices echoing off the walls.

Suddenly Anzu remembered the unknown laugh from earlier. Glancing up she saw that the figures hadn't moved. As the two slowly returned to normal, Anzu turned to Duke

Anzu:" So, um, Duke?"

Duke wiped his eyes and looked at her, a warm smile still across his face.

Duke:" Yeah?"

Anzu shifted nervously, unsure if what she was about to say made any sense at all.

Anzu:" You see how the ceiling is covered in shadows, do you see a couple of things pointing out from it?"

Duke looked at her wide eyed for a second but quickly went back to normal

Duke:" What do you mean?"

'He sounds nervous. He must think I'm crazy' Anzu looked back at the ceiling, sure enough the figures were still there. She slowly pointed to one of them. Duke followed the path of her finger and shrugged.

Duke:" Can't say I see anything weird, just darkness"

Anzu stared harder 'I'm not imagining it, so why can't he see them?'

Something brushed against her cheek, startled she turned to see Duke much closer to her with the tips of his fingers touching her face.

Duke:" You're really not a normal girl are you Anzu?" his voice was just barely above a whisper, but the strong tone in his voice sent shivers down her spine. She backed away blushing

Anzu:" D, Duke? What are you-"

Anzu felt her back hit a wall as Duke cupped the side of her face in his hand. Duke closed the space between them, trapping Anzu between the wall and his chest. He moved so his face was right in front of hers. Anzu was staring right into his eyes and him into hers. Anzu felt her mind begin to fog

'What's going on...why am I letting him...his eyes are so...so...'

Anzu's eyes clouded over as Duke gently tilted her chin up. He smirked and whispered into her ear

Duke:"No. You're not a normal girl at all."

Anzu shivered as he gently ran the tip of his tongue along her ear down to her jaw line. He lifted her head back some more to give himself more access to her neck. Anzu gasped as he slowly trailed kisses up and down her neck. 'No...This isn't...I, I can't...' Anzu tried to speak as she felt another shiver go down her spine

Anzu:" D, Duke...please..."

Duke:" Shhh, It's alright Anzu. Just relax and enjoy it"

Anzu's breath hitched as Duke wrapped his arm around her waist and moved his free hand up her torso. A blush darkened her face as she felt him nibble on the crook of her neck, her breathing becoming slightly erratic. A small moan escaped her lips as she felt his fingers gently caress her chest.

Anzu couldn't think. Her mind had become completely clouded and her vision slightly blurred. Trying to regain her senses she tried looking around.

And then she saw them.

The figures were moving.

There were still there, but they were moving around on the ceiling right in front of her eyes.

Anzu's eyes widened as her mind immediately cleared and she realised what she was doing but more importantly what Duke was doing to her!

Using all her strength she pushed him away from her, her breathing still slightly erratic. Duke stumbled backwards, a puzzled look on his face.

Anzu:" Don't touch me!" Anzu nearly screamed as she shoved him further back. Duke fell back on to the ground still looking confused as hell.

Duke:"How did you-"he sounded as confused as he looked, staring at her. Anzu covered her chest with her arms, feeling self conscious and disgusted at the same time.

Anzu:" They moved!"

Duke looked shocked as his eyes widened

Duke:" Wh, What?"

Anzu:" THE SHADOWS! I SAW THEM MOVE!" Anzu was definitely screaming at this point but she didn't care. She was embarrassed and terrified of what she just saw and what had just happened between her and Duke.

The door to the bathroom opened as the girls walked out, stopping to see the scene before them.

Girl1:" Mazaki? What's going on? "

Girl2:" Oh my God! Duke!"

The girls all swarmed towards their beloved host who was still lying on the ground staring at Anzu. They turned and glared at her, jealousy and venom in each one

Girl1:" What did you do Mazaki?"

Girl2:" Did you attack Duke? What the hell's wrong with you?"

Girl3:" Why did you attack him?"

Girl4:"Are you cracked in the head or something?"

Girl5:" How dare you attack him you whore!"

Soon all the girls were yelling at Anzu, accusing her of assaulting Duke when she failed to seduce him and calling her a number of crude and distasteful names.

Anzu didn't respond. She was angry 'So because I stopped some creep from feeling me up, I'm the bad guy!' Shooting one finale hateful glare at Duke, Anzu rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

With the object of their hatred gone the girls turned back to comforting Duke, who was brushing the dirt from his robe as he stood. Standing up straight Duke gave the girls his signature smirk as they talked and cooed to him. But he wasn't listening. Raising his hand to silence them he spoke softly

Duke:" Now, now ladies I'm perfectly fine so please stop worrying." His face took on a devious look "But I would feel much better if I could see you lovely ladies in your nightwear. That is, if you want me to feel better."

As the girls raced to their rooms with embarrassed squeals, Duke glared up at the shadow figures and whispered harshly

Duke:" Way to go you idiots!"

Above him the shadows shifted and dispersed

Please R&R

I'd like to get a view reviews to see if the story is worth putting up.