50. Two Guys for Every Girl – Peaches
Rebecca's head fell into her hands. For once, she wasn't bothered when Anzu reached across and patted her on the shoulder. Once upon a time what was, to her, a condescending gesture would have made her calculate the correct velocity needed for a hand to smack a face onto the back of someone's head. Now, however, even Anzu Mazaki couldn't piss her off – not least of all because she no longer saw Anzu as a love rival for Yuugi's heart.
Think of the devil and he shall appear.
The squeak of chair legs on paving stone heralded Yuugi's return to their table. Rebecca didn't uncover her face, so Anzu turned her pat into a reassuring rub and asked the question that needed asking.
"So, what are they up to?"
"You … I'm not sure I should really say."
"C'mon, Yuugi, this isn't funny."
"Jounouchi thinks it's hilarious."
"Which is why the lump on his head won't go down for a week and he's been banished to fetch us all ice-creams."
"I did wonder where he and Honda went."
"So …?"
Rebecca finally raised her face. "Yuugi?" she said, no longer caring about the pathetically pleading note in her voice.
Yuugi's resolve crumpled like a cheap suit. He sighed. "They're competing to see who can find you the biggest bouquet in town. And get it here the fastest. I think there are chocolates involved, too. You do like truffles, I hope?"
She groaned. "I mentioned them once. Once!" Back to face-in-hands.
She wasn't upset, just really, really tired of the whole thing. Who knew being romantically pursued could be so … well, exhausting? She used to think it was bad being the pursuer and 'competing' with Anzu. Little did she know at the time that Yuugi's heart had belonged to Anzu since they were kids poring over a broken Gameboy. There was too much between them for Rebecca to ever be more than a fly in their sweet-smelling ointment – too much history, too much shared experience, too much emotion. Rebecca wasn't stupid. Eventually she'd accepted what the rest of the world already knew, and joined in with everybody else in making the two lovebirds see it too.
It had still hurt, though. For a while, in her hormone-besotted mind, she'd thought she would never find anyone for her who wasn't already taken, too old, or just not interested.
She kind of wished that had been true. Not that she didn't enjoy the idea of two guys fighting over her – her, the big-brained prodigal freak-child with the glasses, freckles and overbite – but somehow she'd thought it would be more enjoyable. In actual fact it was just really, really, really gruelling.
"ETA?" she asked through her fingers.
Anzu hissed a breath between her teeth.
"Um …" said Yuugi. "About a minute?"
Rebecca heard the roar of engines and parted her fingers just enough to see two long black limousines rocketing down the street towards their little café. From each of the back windows poked a head, black and red hair blowing behind them and faces peeled back as they urged their drivers to break the sound barrier so they could arrive first. To anyone on the street, the logos of Kaiba Corp. and Schroider Corp. on the doors would've been nothing but indistinguishable smears of colour.
"Hide me?" Rebecca beseeched.
"Are you kidding?" Jounouchi asked from behind her, having emerged from the café to witness her impending fate. He held forward three dripping cornets, each with a decorative wafer. "Take your stupid ice-creams. I'm getting out of here before I get trampled by rich teenage boys."