I will confess, I'm having fun coming up with ideas and scenarios for this.

Warnings: The adult content in this chapter is foreplay, which gets interrupted. Might be a swear word in there somewhere.


Chapter 4.

Thwarted Again!

The rain was falling a little more persistently when Yugi got out of the car to accompany Anzu to her front door. They made a dash for it and Anzu pulled him into the porch to keep dry.

"I'm sorry if Grandpa made you feel uncomfortable," he said sheepishly. "He quite likes the thought of you and me being a couple." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, as he often did when he tried explaining something he found embarrassing. "He even suggested we arrange to go on a formal date."

Anzu nearly guffawed and had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle it. "It's a bit late for that!" she said, after her initial reaction subsided.

Yugi cringed. "I know. He does try his best to be modern, but when it comes to dating he's still a bit old fashioned."

"What did you say to him?"

Shrugging, Yugi said, "I told him we're good friends. But that you're going to New York soon anyway, so there's no point in us dating."

"Oh…" Anzu looked down at her feet. "Yes. I am. I forgot to tell you, the letter arrived yesterday. Subject to my exam results I've been confirmed on the overseas student program. Providing I don't fail my exams miserably, I'll be leaving for New York in July."

Try as hard as he could to be happy for her, his face still fell. He put his smile back in place, but knew he looked a bit sad -not only had Atem left him, now Anzu was going too. "That's... great news," he said tightly.

Anzu understood, and she reached up to touch his face. "There's still plenty of time for us to spend together before I go. And we'll stay in touch, promise. Maybe you'll come and visit and I'll show you around."

"I'd like that," he said. "But for now, let's just stay in the moment, hm?" He slipped his arms around her waist. She smiled at him, nodded her agreement and kissed him.

After only a few moments she pulled away again. "I'm trying not to think that far ahead yet anyway. For now, I just want to concentrate on passing with top grades, as well as making sure my dancing keeps improving so I don't fall below the required standard. They're pretty tough on students who can't keep up, apparently."

"You won't fall behind," he said kindly. "I know you're gonna be one of their best students."

She giggled. "Not sure about that, but I'm going to work hard. I won't let this opportunity slip."

"Trust me, you won't," he winked at her and gave her such a sweet, loving kiss she almost melted.

The moment was lost when a light suddenly came on inside, and they sprang apart as the door opened.

"What are you doing out here?!" Mister Mazaki enquired, slightly amused. But the moment he realised his daughter was not alone, his amusement faded and he shot Yugi a disapproving look. "Oh. Hello Muto." He was not pleased to see her with the spiky haired boy, who was looking like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Used to being spoken to with disdain in the past, Yugi did not react. However, Anzu was very irritated by her father's attitude towards him.

"Dad!" she scolded. "Don't be like that! Yugi and I have been revising at his house for tomorrow and Yugi's grandfather very kindly drove me home. Yugi just walked me to the door." Her father grunted in response. He was not born yesterday. He was pretty sure that there was something going on between the Muto boy and his daughter. It was not that he didn't like Yugi – the lad was well mannered enough – he just wasn't sure he was capable of providing for his daughter. Hopefully, whatever they had going on would fizzle out once she went to New York.

"Thank you, Muto," Mister Mazaki said begrudgingly. "Anzu will see you at school tomorrow."

Anzu turned to Yugi and smiled apologetically for her father's abruptness. "I'll meet you tomorrow, bright and early. We don't want to be late for our exam!"

"Yup! See you in the morning!" said Yugi brightly. "Bye Mister Mazaki." He bowed, turned on his heel and hurried back to where Grandpa was waiting in the car.

He got into the front seat.

"You were saying goodbye to Anzu for quite a while, Yugi!" said Sugoroku with a smirk.

"Her dad answered the door. We were chatting," replied Yugi casually.

"Oh, well, never mind." Sugoroku started the car and pulled away from the kerb. Yugi shot him a sideways glance.

::::::::::::

Their first maths exam was every bit as hard as Yugi thought it would be. But all that extra studying had paid off, because he was pretty sure he had done okay.

Following the exam, the friends sought refuge on the roof, which was their favourite place to eat lunch.

Yugi and Anzu sat next to each other on the ledge in front of the fence.

Honda slumped down on edge of one of the ventilation covers. "Man that exam was tough!" he complained.

"Nah… You're just a dimwit," said Jonouchi, snickering.

"Says the guy who can't even add two and two!"

"Fuck you Honda. I can. It's four! See! Tehehe…" Jonouchi jeered childishly.

"Will you two stop behaving like grade schoolers!" Anzu scolded. Suitably admonished, the pair scowled her, and then did as they were told.

"Seriously, though," said Ryou. "How does everyone really think they did?"

Smiling softly, Yugi looked at Anzu. "I'll admit it was tough," he said, "but I'm fairly confident. What about you guys?"

"I think I did well," Ryou said honestly. He was grateful that even with all the disruption and terrible things that had happened to him, he was one of those lucky people who could retain information and found learning fairly easy.

Anzu nodded. "Same. I think the extra studying Yugi and I have been doing definitely helped," she said.

"Studying!" Jonouchi snickered. "Is that what you two are calling it?!"

Anzu rounded on him. "It's more effort than you've been putting in with your studies!" She completely missed, or chose to ignore, what he was really hinting at.

"I didn't mean studying as in…" He waved her off. "Pfft… never mind what I meant."

Yugi felt Anzu stiffen beside him. He wanted to take her hand and tell her not to get upset at Jonouchi's teasing, but did not want to exacerbate the situation.

Luckily, Bakura came to the rescue.

"Since the next few weeks are going to be full-on, why don't we all go somewhere nice after school today, to get a bit of down time?"

"Like where?" asked Honda.

Yugi had an idea. "I know none of us like Otogi's dad very much, but Otogi keeps asking me to go to their new cafe in the mall. How about we try it?" Jonouchi raised an eyebrow at him.

"You mean the Black Clown Cafe? You sure Yugi?! After what he tried to do to you and the Puzzle?"

"I'm sure," said Yugi reassuringly. "Otogi's our friend, so there's no point holding a grudge against him for what his dad did. They both apologised to me, and to Grandpa, and that's good enough for me!"

"Mister Clown gives me the creeps," grumbled Anzu, shuddering.

"It's that creepy mask that does it," said Honda, waggling his fingers in front of her face. Anzu slapped him away.

Yugi grimaced, and laughed mirthlessly. "You really don't wanna see what's underneath that mask. He blames Grandpa for his disfigurement. It's the reason why he attacked me!"

Anzu shuddered again and shuffled a little closer to him, so that their thighs were touching. Thank goodness Yugi had survived with no more than smoke inhalation and some minor burns. It could have been far worse, especially if he had been forced to play that devils game, or whatever it was, and ended up with his lovely face being scarred and turned into a shrivelled prune.

::::::::::::

The rest of the afternoon saw more revision, and a discussion about what would happen at graduation, which was in a little over five week's time.

Much to Yugi's surprise, the class and their teacher unanimously voted for him to be their ambassador, meaning he would be representing the class at graduation.

Yugi was humbled as he accepted the honour. But there was one downside: as class ambassador he would have to make a speech on behalf of the class. Not just to his own class, but to the whole year, the staff, governors and all the parents!

"Don't worry about it Yugi. I think you'll do really well," Anzu reassured him as the group of friends walked to the bus stop.

"You think? What if I start stuttering, like I used to when I got nervous?" he fretted.

"You won't," stated Jonouchi. "You ain't the same guy. Everyone looks up to you these days. You're the school superstar!"

Yugi laughed. "I'm just a guy that happens to be good at games," he said shyly.

"You're way more than that, Yugi," said Anzu proudly. "You're courageous, unwavering in your conviction, kind hearted, helpful and a natural leader."

Although he was inclined to agree with Anzu's description of Yugi, Jonouchi was amused by the way in which she was praising him. But, for once, he exorcised a bit of decorum and kept quiet.

Smiling bashfully, Yugi rubbed the back of his head. "You really think I'm all those things?"

"Yes, Yugi. You are," stated Ryou. "The Ring made me do some horrible things, but you showed me kindness and still wanted to be my friend. In fact, I'm grateful to all of you for being my friends," he said, feeling blessed and lucky, as he looked around at the people he had done some pretty mean things to.

Yugi was tempted to reiterate that what he did wasn't his fault. That the Ring used him; Ryou was its victim. But he had said that to his traumatised friend several times already and it did not need repeating.

The group got on the bus. Jonouchi keenly observed how Anzu and Yugi rushed to sit next to each other.

When they got off the bus, Jonouchi also noted how Yugi and Anzu quickly fell into step together, walking side by side. Did anyone else notice their behaviour?

Staying a few paces behind them, he sidled up to Honda. "Are you thinking the same thing?" Honda gave him a baffled look, so he pointed at the couple. "They seem awful close lately!"

Honda shrugged. "They've always been close," he stated.

"I know that!" replied Jonouchi, "But they seem a bit …. closer than close, don't ya think?"

"So what if they are?" replied Honda.

Ryou entered the conversation. "I'm sure they're only keeping it secret to avoid suspicion at school, Jonouchi. It would be awful if they got expelled now, so close to graduation."

Nodding, Jonouchi was downcast. "Yeah…But we're their friends," he said, sounding hurt. "So why won't they tell us?"

Honda threw his arm around Jonouchi's shoulder. "Cuz it ain't any of our business. That's why?"

Confused at to why the trio had fallen so far behind, Yugi and Anzu stopped and turned around. "Hurry up! What's keeping you?" Yugi shouted.

"Nothing!" shouted Jonouchi, running to catch up. When he reached them, he threw his arm around Yugi's shoulders and rubbed his knuckles against Yugi's scalp.

"Wozup! Little buddy?"

Yugi flinched away from the discomfort it was causing him, and playfully shoved his friend away to stop himself from being strangled. "Not much! Why were you three hanging back?" he asked.

"Meh… No reason."

"You were whispering about something. Spill!" demanded Anzu.

"I said it was nothing." He turned to Ryou and Honda. "Back me up here guys?!"

"Nothing to back up. Jonouchi was wondering if there was a way for him to cheat at his exams," said Honda, smirking.

Rolling her eyes, Anzu snorted. "Maybe if you did some work, you might not need to cheat!"

"Drinks are on Honda!" Jonouchi said, deciding to bail on the conversation and head for the entrance to the mall.

Inside, they found a table with enough seats for them all and sat down.

Their friend, Ryuji Otogi had already arrived from school and had started work. He came over to take their order, while his father, dressed in his usual creepy clown attire, stalked in the background.

The friends ordered and tried to make small talk with Ryuji, but Mister Clown came over and told his son there were other customers waiting to be served.

Apologising, Ryuji went to serve the other tables.

"Man, it ain't fair the way that old bastard treats him," Jonouchi growled quietly.

"Between you and me, Otogi's hoping to do well enough in his exams so that he can go Las Vegas and work for Industrial Illusions," explained Honda. "He hasn't told his dad yet, but he doesn't want to be a waiter for the rest of his life."

"Good for him," said Ryou. "I hope he succeeds."

"Can't see his old man letting him go though," Honda added pessimistically. He was feeling still bitter about not being allowed to enlist in the Japanese Defence Force because his father wanted him to work at the family business, and eventually take over the running of the factory.

:::::::::::::

The friends had been at the Black Clown for about half an hour, when Anzu suddenly decided it was time for her and Yugi to leave. Sucking up the rest of her milkshake through her straw, she peered over at Yugi's drink

"Have you finished your coffee yet Yugi? Only, we should probably go back to my place and do some last minute revision for the Japanese Literature exam tomorrow."

Yugi hesitated. Earlier this afternoon, Jonouchi had asked him if he wanted to go to the arcade after they finished here and he had said yes. "Actually, I was…" He felt Anzu poke his shin with her toe under the table and realised what she meant. "Yeah, sure ….I was planning to do a bit more revision."

"What about the arcade Yugi?" Jonouchi was not upset that his friend was ditching for Anzu and her 'revision', but he was intent on teasing them.

"Oh! Erm…." Caught between guilty and torn, Yugi did not know what to say. Jonouchi suddenly felt a bit mean.

"Hey! It's okay Yugi. I don't mind skipping the arcade. I really suck at literature, so maybe should cram some last minute revision as well?"

"Why don't you come and revise with us?" Yugi suggested. He wanted Jonouchi to pass his exam and was prepared to sacrifice spending alone time with Anzu for the sake of his friend's future.

Not wanting to get in the way of anything, Jonouchi cast a wary look at Anzu. "you sure?" he asked tentatively. She nodded.

"You're welcome to revise with us anytime, Jonouchi," she said genuinely.

"I need to get going too," said Honda, gesturing to Otogi for the bill.

When the bill arrived, they totted up who owed what.

"I'll pay for mine and Yugi's." said Anzu, putting the money down. Yugi protested, but Anzu hushed him. "You always pay. It's my turn."

Honda and Bakura put their money in, but Jonouchi hesitated. His bill came to the most because he had consumed a coffee, a hot dog and a sweet pastry.

"Man… I didn't think it would be that much!" he complained. "I don't have enough on me!" Yet again, the money he had earned had gone towards settling his father's bar tab in order to keep the local Yakuza family (who owned the bar) off his case, leaving Jonouchi with very little to spend.

Mister Clown came over. "Is there a problem with your bill?"

Yugi, Ryou and Anzu shook their heads, while Jonouchi grimaced. "Any chance of an IOU?" he asked.

"It's okay Jonouchi, I'll pay for yours," Yugi offered. But Jonouchi shook his head.

"No, Yugi. I can't keep letting you pay for me." Yugi's mother was always feeding him, and only last week Yugi had bought him a burger and fries because he was skint. He turned to Mister Clown. "Perhaps I can wash some pots?" For a moment, Mister Clown tensed, as anger built inside him. But then he had an idea.

"I don't need a kitchen porter at the moment, but I do need someone to hand out balloons and attract customers!"

It was not until Jonouchi agreed to the terms that he discovered he would be wearing the dog suit.

::::::::::::

"Poor Jonouchi," said Anzu, as she and Yugi stood at the bus stop to go back to her house. "I didn't think Mister Clown would demand he works this evening!"

"Yeah… I should have tried harder to make him let me pay his bill," said Yugi, regretting not being more forceful.

"Like Honda said, he's gotta learn to not order so much food when he can't afford it. Besides, once he's paid his debt to Mister Clown he'll still have the job, which will mean he'll be earning some extra cash," she said, trying to justify the situation Jonouchi had put himself in.

"I guess." Yugi sighed, downcast. "I'm just worried he'll fail his exam tomorrow."

Anzu nudged him. "He'll scrape through. You know how resourceful he is."

Brightening up a little, Yugi nodded. "Yup….! He certainly is!" He grinned. "He did look funny in that dog suit though."

They both giggled and then Anzu pulled a face. "Whatever you do, don't tell him that," she said as they got on the bus.

Yugi snorted. "Don't worry, I won't."

The bus was crowded and they were glad when it finally reached their stop.

Arriving at her house, Anzu tentatively unlocked the door and pushed it open. "Hello! Mum! Dad!" Her father's car was not on the drive, but she wanted to be certain before taking Yugi up to her room.

There was no answer, so they went inside and took off their shoes.

"Do you want a drink first?" Anzu asked. Yugi shook his head.

"I'm fine," he replied. And in any case, the longer they delayed the greater the likelihood of being caught.

"I'll grab some water and take it upstairs," Anzu decided. She filled them a glass each.

Upstairs, they spread out their revision books on the desk and then looked at one another hesitantly.

Yugi stepped closer and took her hands in his. "How long do we have?" He was nervous. If her father came home and caught them he was dead meat.

"We've got about forty minutes before Mum comes home. Dad will be in a bit after that," Anzu explained, blushing.

Yugi nodded "Okay." He took off his blazer and hung it on the back of the chair. "You're absolutely sure?"

She could not be one hundred percent certain, but he was anxious and she wanted to reassure him as best she could. "Not completely, but if they do come home early we'll hear them. We can quickly sit at my desk and pretend we've been studying this whole time," she said, glad that her room was at the front of the house so they could easily hear if anyone arrived home.

Taking off her pink blazer, she hung it on the back of the chair with Yugi's, and then took his hand and pulled him over to the bed. She sat down and patted the spot beside her.

"Did you remember the.. condoms?" she said, blushing. Sitting beside her, he nodded.

"I hid them in the lining of my backpack." He had done so because he was worried Miss Chono would come round to do one of her contraband checks.

She took a breath, "Okay. Shall we….?" She said nervously. He nodded and gently leaned in to kiss her.

Despite their familiarity with one another, they were still relatively inexperienced sexually and Anzu was feeling nervous. Maybe after a couple more times she would feel more relaxed.

A little less nervous this time, Yugi slipped one hand inside the neck of her blouse and traced along her collar bone and then down to the buttons on her blouse. She had already undone the top button so he undid a couple more and slipped his fingers inside her bra but found the material restrictive.

"Hang on," said Anzu, reaching around to undo the clasp.

Smiling lovingly, Yugi kissed her lips as he pushed the now loosened bra-cups out of the way and gently rubbed one her left nipple before dipping his head down to pepper both breasts with little kisses.

Meanwhile, Anzu pushed her hand under the hem of his shirt and kneaded up and down his back, before fumbling to undo his shirt buttons.

They pulled apart to undo their remaining buttons and discard the clothing from their upper bodies.

Anzu touched his chest and ran her hands down his sides and back up again. His stature might be small, but he was nicely proportioned and his skin felt warm and soft. She felt embarrassed for asking, but, "I saw somewhere that men have sensitive nipples. Are yours sensitive?" she said, tentatively tickling around the area of his nipples.

Squirming, he giggled. "Ticklish!"

She pulled her hands away. "Oops! Sorry."

"Perhaps rub a little more firmly," he suggested. His nipples were not something he had considered before so he was as intrigued about their possible sensitivity as she was. "Try doing it more like this," he suggested, gazing lovingly at her as he cupped her breasts and rolled her nipples with his thumbs.

It felt nice and she would have liked him to continue to pleasure her, but he suddenly stopped. "Your turn," he said.

"Okay, I'll give it a go, but you don't have breasts and your nipples aren't as pronounced as mine," she said, pressing her hands against his chest and rubbing his nipples with her thumbs. This time he didn't giggle, but hummed thoughtfully at the nice sensation, but it didn't turn him on as much as he had hoped, so he leaned in to capture her lips in a loving kiss and pushed her down onto the bed.

They were just beginning to lose themselves in one another when Anzu heard the familiar sound of her father's car doors slamming on the driveway outside. Mind elsewhere, it took her a second to register, before she suddenly gasped and froze.

"What's wrong?" asked a worried Yugi, confused.

"Shit! My dad!" she said, pushing Yugi away. She had been so engrossed that she had not heard the car pull up on the driveway.

Yugi's eyes went wide. "Whadawedo?!" he babbled, panicking.

Anzu threw his shirt at him. "Get dressed!" she mouthed, grabbing at her own clothing.

By the time her mother came up the stairs and knocked on the door to ask if Anzu wanted some of the takeaway food they had brought home, the young couple were sitting innocently at the desk pretending to revise for the exam.


Will they ever get the house to themselves? At this rate they will have to book into a cheap hotel!

I always wondered how the Otogis persuaded Jonouchi to wear that dog suit, especially since (in the anime) Ryuji used it to humiliate him. So I can only imagine it was out of desperate financial need, that's why I decided to throw that little nugget into the mix.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm working on the next, so if anyone has any interesting ideas for potential scenarios, feel free to suggest them, and who knows? I might add them in.