Bricks and Mortar
A/N: Goodness, it's been a *LONG* time since I've written anything for this fandom! Actually, it's been a long time since I've written anything at all. I hope this story reads well. I was inspired by a Tumblr post written by Alliebirb about "Anzu acting as Yami's bodyguard as she got him through the desert in the Orichalcos saga in one piece." Basically, making sure that he didn't neglect himself between dueling and falling into pits of despair. Anzu is a bit feistier than how I used to write her, but I think that's what makes it more exciting. Granted, this was supposed to just be Anzu's POV, but like he does in the show, Yami decided to take over for a bit because he had some things to say. XD
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Chapter One: Reeling and Dealing
A shiver slid down Anzu's spine as she felt the full blast of the train's air conditioning. Pursing her lips, sapphire eyes narrowed as she examined the ventilation system above her head. Finding the knob that would stop the onslaught of cold air that barraged her poor form, Anzu switched it off.
Sighing in relief, yet still shivering from the lingering cold, Anzu subconsciously leaned in closer to her seat neighbor, trying to steal their warmth only to pause in embarrassment when she realized just who she was pressed against.
Yami...the Pharaoh.
Taking a subtle breath to try and force the heat away from her face, Anzu glanced at her silent friend. His violet gaze pierced the seat in front of his, yet Anzu suspected that he was looking well beyond what was right in front of him. She doubted that he even felt the cold from the air conditioner.
Was he even feeling anything at all?
Anzu glanced down toward his hands, balled tightly into fists, and pressed firmly into his lap. She wouldn't be surprised if his hand started bleeding soon, or if his thigh were to bruise. A dull ache made her heart throb as her mind reminded her that technically, it was Yugi's hand that would bleed...Yugi's leg that would bruise. Yet Yugi wouldn't know about any injuries to his body.
Yugi wasn't there at all.
Anzu took another deep breath and forced it out slowly through her nose so as to not disturb the Pharaoh. Not that he would likely even notice that she was agitated in any way. Still, the action helped Anzu refocus on the matter at hand while gently putting her own feelings about Yugi's sacrifice aside.
That would just have to wait.
Looking over to the despondent King of Games, Anzu bit her lip before inwardly rolling her eyes at her own hesitation. She reached over and gently rested her hand over his fist.
The contact was enough to startle Yami out of his reverie, his gaze snapping down to see her hand over his. While Anzu didn't expect him to hold her hand in return, he didn't pull his hand away either.
Keeping his eyes on their hands, Yami finally broke the somber silence with his deep timbre. "I don't deserve your pity, Anzu."
Anzu scoffed. "I'm not pitying you, Yami. I don't do pity." She softened her gaze. "However, I am worried about you."
"Why should you worry for a monster such as I?"
Okay, now that ticked her off.
"You are not a monster," Anzu hissed as she tried to not draw attention to either Yami, herself, or their friends who were clearly not listening in on their conversation. "Don't you ever think that, not even for a second."
Yami scoffed quietly. "You clearly think too highly of me if you cannot see the darkness that my heart is steeped in."
Anzu rolled her eyes, disgusted. "Is that what that piece of work Raphael told you? That you're evil, or something? And you bought that bull?"
'Of course he did,' Anzu's inner voice piped up. 'If there's one thing you know about Yami is that he's a very passionate man who feels with his whole heart. He was also once the king of an entire realm, a fact that he remembers nothing about. He's probably going to take any information about his past as fact.
'He's also a very proud man.'
His pride was very strong; Anzu was all but certain of that. Of course, if someone had told Yami was evil, he would do everything in his power to prove otherwise. The thing about pride however, was that it was also a vice.
It could make even the strongest duelist clumsy, leading to making foolish mistakes.
"You weren't there, Anzu," Yami replied heatedly. "You didn't see how easily I gave into the darkness that lay within me. I fell-"
"You didn't fall Anakin," Anzu interrupted, knowing full well that the pop culture reference would be enough to throw the Pharaoh off-kilter, shutting him up. She bit back a smile at the memory of introducing a millennia old spirit to the Star Wars saga one stormy summer night when for once the world was calm and not in jeopardy. "You were tripped," Anzu continued.
She gently squeezed the hand she still held. "I'm right here to help you back up. Jonouchi and Honda are also here to help you up. Please, let us help you."
Glancing up through her fringe, Anzu was able to see both boys nodding, silently agreeing with her words. There was a fiery determination in both of them that she was grateful to see.
Yami looked away, silent. As if sensing his forthcoming protest, Anzu cut in, "Don't you think for a second that you aren't worthy of our help."
The Pharaoh let out a long, shaking sigh. He clenched his free hand, and though his head was turned away from Anzu's, she was still able to just see the moisture in his eyes.
"Just know that we are right here and we'll catch you if actually do fall," Anzu promised before releasing Yami's hand.
He was silent for a long moment before finally muttering, "Right." He stood, keeping his gaze away from Anzu's. "Excuse me, Anzu. I just need a moment alone."
Anzu stared worriedly after the pharaoh's retreating form. His head hung down and his shoulders were slumped, revealing his feeling of total defeat. Her heart ached in sympathy for him. "Poor guy," she murmured.
"He'll be okay, Anzu," Honda quietly reassured her. "He just needs some time."
"I can't even imagine what it's like for him," Jonouchi put in. "He didn't just lose a duel; he practically lost his other half. He and Yugi shared a body. Must be real quiet in there now."
Anzu sighed heavily, the weight of the past few hours pressing down on her. "That's true."
"How are you doing right now, Anzu?" Honda asked.
She looked up at him, blinking in surprise.
"You've known Yugi the longest," Honda persisted. "This is probably just as hard for you as it is for the pharaoh."
Anzu was silent for a moment; images of going over to the Kame Game Shop multiple times a week after school flashed through her mind. All the board games they'd play together after rushing through homework. Well, Yugi rushed, while she chided him for not putting more effort into the assignments.
The brief, yet sweet moments of victory when she'd beaten him at a game.
The sound of a handheld electronic game hitting the wall hard and clattering to the floor in a bout of frustration with the game's difficulty.
Yugi's cheerful and encouraging smile when he—
Okay, that was enough.
Anzu smiled brightly even though she knew it wouldn't reach her eyes. As long as her smile restrained the grief that threatened to crash over her, that would be fine.
"It stings," Anzu finally replied carefully, fiercely determined to not let her voice crack. "I'm worried about Yugi's soul. But," She took another breath and clenched her fists as she squared her shoulders. "We're going to get him back. I know we will."
"'Course we will," Jonouchi agreed, his amber eyes bright as ever with conviction. "That Leviathan thing won't have its slimy mitts on Yug for much longer."
"Well," Honda said in an attempt to inject some levity into the situation. "Yugi might have to wait for a few hours at least. Not much we can do on this train at the moment."
Anzu and Jonouchi chuckled before Anzu turned to lean her head against the cool glass of the window. Honda was right, there was nothing to be done in the moment, and that was why she resented the spike of helplessness that flared up in her heart. Right now, she had to sit there on the train as she and her friends were carried off to Florida while Yugi's soul was locked away by the Orichalcos. She couldn't do anything; she couldn't comfort the pharaoh, not when he didn't want such attention, and she certainly couldn't give into the yawning ache at thought of losing her childhood best friend.
Yugi wasn't lost and Anzu knew, in her heart of hearts, just like she believed in the Heart of the Cards, that they would get Yugi back. That didn't stop her from clenching her jaw and furiously blinking away tears. Crying would do her no good in that moment. Instead, she entertained herself with the idea of hunting down Dartz and punching him in his stupid, arrogant face. Maybe she'd be lucky and shatter his nose or crack his jaw. Make it impossible for him to talk and spread his vile lies. Raphael was definitely next on her list.
Granted, she probably wouldn't get the opportunity to be close enough to be within striking range of either one of those egotistical assholes, but the thought certainly lifted her spirits.
"Hey, Anzu."
Barely biting back a scream as she was jolted from her thoughts, Anzu turned toward Jonouchi who had called out to her. "Yeah?" She asked, uncaring if either of her boys could hear the tremble in her voice.
"Is it just me or is it really quiet right now?"
Abruptly, Anzu became aware of the deafening silence on the train car save for the gentle hum of the wheels racing over the track. She stood up and took in the fact that save for Jonouchi, Honda, and herself, the car was completely deserted.
"There's not a single soul in sight," Honda noted quietly.
"Don't say soul," Anzu shakily pleaded as she exited her seat and began walking toward the front of the car. They had to find Yami. Something potentially sinister was happening and it would do the group no good to be separated from one another.
Luckily, they found the wayward pharaoh within seconds, though the trio was polite enough to not comment on the pain still reflected in his deep violet eyes. "Something weird is goin' on here," Jonouchi informed him. "There's nobody here, and I know this car was full when we boarded."
Yami frowned as he looked past his friends and saw that Jonouchi was right. There wasn't a single person save for the four of them in the train car at the moment. He tried to ignore the suspicion that Dartz had managed to find them on their way to Orlando and perhaps had done something to the other passengers.
If there actually had been other passengers on the train to begin with.
Steeling himself, Yami turned toward the front of the car and began walking down the aisle at a brisk pace. "Come," he called over his shoulder. "Standing around and worrying will not give us the answers we seek."
Yami headed into the next car, mind still rather distracted by the loss of Yugi and the anger he felt towards his own foolishness for letting it happen in the first place. He failed to hear the sound of the train car behind him snapping away from the one he was standing on, yet the sound of Anzu's cry of alarm was enough to pull him from his reverie.
Whipping around, his eyes widened in fear as he took in the sight of the rapidly separating train cars with him on one and all of his friends on another. Surging forward, stopping just at the train's edge, Yami stretched his body to its limit, hand reaching out to Anzu. "Grab my hand!" He commanded, unaware of the urgency in his voice.
Anzu hesitated for a split second, wishing that Jonouchi was ahead of her. They were going to separate, there was no denying that. It was better for the pharaoh to have a seasoned duelist by his side to face the ever-growing threat of Dartz and the Leviathan rather than a girl who preferred to encourage him from the sidelines over actual dueling.
She immediately shook away her doubts. She was in front, Yami was reaching out to her. Anzu may not duel like Jonouchi and the others, but she had won duels, including the times she used to school Jonouchi repeatedly. She could be there for the Pharaoh. He was still grieving; like hell she was going to leave him alone!
Drawing on all of her strength and grace as an aspiring dancer, Anzu leapt off of the car train. Yami caught her hand and pulled her into his side, shifting most of their combined weight onto his back leg to prevent the two of them from crashing onto the floor. His free arm wrapped itself around her waist securely as he continued to steady her. He idly hoped that she couldn't feel his pounding heartbeat as she was pressed into his chest.
"Are you all right?" Yami asked Anzu quietly as he took in her shaken appearance.
"Fine," she rasped, her own mind reeling at the fact that she had literally just jumped off of a train, no matter how short the distance had truly been.
"Anzu! Pharaoh!"
The pair's attention was brought back to Jonouchi and Honda whom were still trapped on the other train as they continued to rapidly move in the opposite direction. Both boys looked panicked at the thought of being lost in the California desert and cut off from their friends.
Neither the Pharaoh nor Anzu could blame them for that. "Find help!" Yami called out to them. He looked at Anzu. "We must do the same."
Anzu nodded, determination shimmering in her cerulean eyes.
After a minute, Yami released her and began walking toward the front of the train. Anzu wandered behind him, her eyes roving as she tried finding something, anything that could help them find a way off of the suddenly desolate train.
An intercom caught her eye. She darted toward it, and tapped the button repeatedly while calling out, "hello? Hello! Is there anyone out there who can help us?"
"I don't like this," Yami said grimly as he strode toward the engine room. He was unsurprised to find it locked. He peered through the window, and saw that it was empty. "I really don't like this."
"Look," Anzu called to him as she pointed above her head.
There was an emergency hatch. "Maybe there's an emergency break up there we can use to stop the train," she suggested.
"Stay here," the pharaoh instructed as he climbed onto the short ladder built into the wall for such purposes, and reached toward the hatch. "I shall look for the break."
Anzu placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, unimpressed. "I'm sorry, are we really doing this again?"
Yami looked confused, hesitating to climb another rung on the ladder. He had never been on the receiving end of any negative emotions from Anzu before, and he wasn't fond of being on the receiving end now. "Doing what again?"
"The whole thing where you treat me like some fragile little princess who needs to be tucked away from the big bad scary thing of the month," Anzu retorted, as if she'd never had any doubts moments ago about helping the pharaoh. "Like the time on the Battle City blimp."
Yami opened his mouth to reply that she had been in danger anyway no thanks to Marik dragging the unwitting girl into his problems by bonding what was left of his light psyche with her mind, but Anzu had no idea that had ever happened to her. Despite the pharaoh's own misgivings about the situation, Yugi insisted that Anzu not be made aware of the near miss she almost had with the Shadow Realm. He didn't want to scare her with the knowledge.
Yami had internally scoffed at that. Anzu was fiery, and she was brave. Yes, perhaps the idea of possession would horrify her, but he honestly couldn't imagine her being more than grossed out at the concept for lack of a better term. Still, the spirit would respect his aibou's wishes, if that was what the boy wanted.
He blinked as he recalled that moment. Anzu was brave. She was an excellent dancer as well, which should help her with balancing atop the train. He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose.
Very well then.
"Stay by my side," Yami all but commanded as he turned to resume climbing up the ladder.
"Where else would I be?" Anzu scoffed as she walked toward the ladder.
The pharaoh bit back a smile at her words and conviction as he started to unlock the emergency hatch. He pushed the small door open and slipped through the opening.
Only to be greeted by a sight that had both his stomach plummeting, and a snarl curling his lip.
An obnoxiously proud teenager with teal hair shaped into a bowl cut, thick glasses, and a wide, slimy smile stood with his hands on his hips as he awaited the pharaoh; not in the least bit fazed by the fact that he was standing on top of a runaway train.
"Long time, no see, isn't it, Pharaoh?"
"WEEVIL!"