Chapter 15

Anzu's nerves were strung tight as if she were a spring that was being slowly wound tighter and tighter. She couldn't recall a previous time when she had felt this anxious. Other than the necessary niceties, she had ignored all attempts for people to talk with her at the airport and on the plane. She'd left Amy a note in their apartment, and had quickly packed, double, and then triple-checked her flight information before heading out. Hailing a taxi in New York was easy, even in the early hours of the morning. She was at JFK less than an hour after she sent her email to Mokuba asking for help. Rushing through security, she had tapped her foot expectantly, waiting for her turn to board.

Now that she was strapped in, feeling the humm and whirr of the plane's engines ignite and increase in tempo, she started to feel some of the anxiety she had been feeling all morning ease slightly.

Yugi…

Tears threatened to fall down her cheeks.

Who would want to murder him? He was the nicest, most gentle, most courageous boy she'd ever known. He had grown into a handsome, independent, and strong young man. Who could hate him that much?

What the hell had happened? She'd read the ESPN magazine article about Yugi and a month later he was attacked, nearly murdered. Mai's email didn't add any grisly details, which at the time she had first read it, she had been thankful for. Now, she was inwardly begging for the details. She wanted to know when, how, by whom, and most importantly if the offender had been caught. The airplane's limited wifi wasn't reliable enough to get another email through, so she read the email Mai had sent her initially, over and over hoping to gleam some new knowledge from old information.

Anyone who knew or even knew of Yugi wouldn't want to see him hurt. What if it was a stranger? Was it a mugging? Muggings were more common in New York than they were in Japan, but they still happened sometimes. Even then, Japanese muggings rarely ended with such violence.

If she was feeling this way, she could only imagine what the others might be feeling right now. Unlike her, they had the luxury of proximity. They could get the information first-hand, even talk to Yugi if he was feeling up to it.

The next forty-eight hours… She could never forgive herself if she wasn't there for Yugi. He had already gone through dire moments at the hospital. She had already missed too much. This was so much worse than the time Yugi had been in the Black Clown gaming fire. She'd seen with her own eyes Jounouchi carry him out. She'd seen the burns, but as a whole, Yugi had been ok and had recovered after only a few days in the hospital.

This was getting her nowhere, it was only making her more and more anxious. She mentally switched gears.

She tried listening to music, going over homework assignments, munching on airline snacks, and drawing to distract herself. Nothing helped to ease her mind. She was too worried.

Anzu had already thanked Mokuba in her email, but she'd have to make sure she thanked him in person at some point when she was home. He had taken a big step for her. She didn't know if Mokuba had told Seto about paying for her airfare or not, but would Seto Kaiba notice if a thousand dollars went missing here or there? Probably, knowing Seto. She also assumed that Mokuba wouldn't keep the secret of Yugi's attack a secret. Seto Kaiba probably already knew about the condition Yugi was in.

It was a miracle that the tabloids didn't know, but they probably would soon. Yugi was quickly turning into a celebrity. His appearance in several rags since the first ESPN magazine had made his name into one of exceptional notoriety. It wouldn't be long now before he was bothered by flashing cameras and annoying questions. She hoped to get there to see him before they did.

Anzu soon fell asleep, her head lazily slumped on the window. She dreamed about Yugi. In her dream, her mind had conjured a version of him that was not pleasant. He was unconscious, with tubes, drains, and bandages everywhere. She cried out to him, begging him to wake up, but he didn't even twitch at her hail. Yugi stayed there, unmoving, unconscious in his hospital bed. She moved forward to touch his hand. He felt cold and grey.

He opened his eyes and stared at her, his beautiful amethyst eyes were replaced with an empty whiteness. She recoiled, disturbed by the deadness in his eyes.

"Anzu," Yugi mouthed. She couldn't hear his voice but knew what her name looked like on his lips. "Anzu,"

"Miss?"

She was being shaken awake by a stewardess. Anzu rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned.

"We're about to land," Nodding, Anzu thanked her and started to collect her things.

She was almost there.

Almost home.

"War!" Yugi said at the same time as Jounouchi.

"Damn!" Honda said, throwing his hand of cards down. Two aces beat his lousy two.

Trying to play a card game with only one hand had initially been a challenge for Yugi, but thanks to his friends Yugi had managed to hold his own.

Laughing, Jounouchi and Yugi went head to head, each trying to beat the other as fast as possible. Yugi was thankful for the time alone with Jounouchi and Honda. He had convinced his mom and grandpa to go home and rest for a while. Especially, his grandfather. Yugi knew that his heart arrhythmia was being put to the test with the added stress of Yugi's condition.

"I'm gonna win this round Yugi, you just watch,"

"Even with a bum hand, Yugi could kick your ass up and down the street Jou,"

Yugi laughed and Jounouchi sent Honda a glare.

"Yeah, well we'll see about that,"

Dueling was currently out of the question. Yugi couldn't hold anything with his right hand yet. He could have played one-handed if he was really motivated to, but for now, Yugi didn't want anything to do with duel monsters.

He couldn't figure out why.

"Mr. Mouto?" A nurse said, poking her head into the room. "There is someone here to see you, but he isn't on the approved visitor list. I'm afraid he is being quite insistent," Her lips were pursed.

Jounouchi and Honda immediately went into a heightened state of awareness. Readying themselves to defend Yugi if necessary.

"Oh?" Yugi said confused. "What is his name?"

"He said, 'You should already know my name, you ignorant troglodyte,'" The nurse was not amused by Yugi Mouto's new rude guest.

Knowing exactly who this new person was, Yugi grinned. "I'm sorry he was rude. You can let him in,"

The nurse bobbed her head and rushed away. A few moments later the Kaiba brothers walked in, unescorted by goons.

"So it's true," Seto sneered. "You were stupid enough to let someone attempt to kill you," Seto said, irritated.

"Why you spoiled rich bo—

"Don't listen to him," Mokuba said, cutting off Jounouchi's insult. "Seto was worried about you when we heard what happened. We came to see how you were doing,"

Yugi had already assumed this and gave both Kaiba brothers a welcoming smile.

"Thanks for coming," Yugi offered his left hand to shake. Mokuba took it, but Seto just stared. "Friends are always welcome,"

"Hmmph," Seto said, bristling at the word 'friends'.

"So how are you feeling Yugi?" Mokuba asked. He looked a little aghast at Yugi's hand and bandages that were wrapped around Yugi's torso.

"Like someone stabbed me to death, otherwise, I'm peachy," Yugi said it with a grin.

"They tried to stab you?" Seto asked.

"There was no 'try'," Yugi said. "He succeeded," Yugi pointed at his chest.

"Do you know who it was?" Mokuba asked.

"No idea, the police are looking for him though. You just missed the sketch artist. Hopefully, they'll find him soon,"

"They better find him before we do," Jounouchi growled. Honda nodded with a curt affirmation.

The Kaiba brothers hadn't stayed long after that and neither had Jounouchi and Honda. They could see the bags under Yugi's eyes. Yugi had pushed the PCA button enough that the sedative effects of his pain medication were making him drowsy. After checking to make sure that Yugi still had hospital security posted at his door, the group of boys said good night to their friend.

Welcoming the abyss of drug-induced sleep, Yugi hoped that tomorrow would be a better day and that he wouldn't be plagued with nightmares again.

Anzu landed and scrambled to leave the airport as fast as possible. Taking the train into Domino Central she booted up the cell phone that had been useless to her since touching down in America because of the Japanese sim card. Hoping that her parents were still keeping her local cell service active as they had promised, she scrolled for Jounouchi's name.

It rang only once.

"Holy crap, Anzu? Is that really you?" She heard Jounouchi shush whoever was next to him.

"It's me," she replied. "I'm home. I want to see Yugi. What hospital is he at?"

"You're back? Man, Mai wasn't kidding when she said you were coming home. She didn't tell me when you were coming though. I thought you wouldn't be able to get away from school,"

"Yugi is worth missing school for," she said irritably. She felt that Jounouchi was doubting her, and her friendship with them. As much as they hadn't been in contact recently, she felt he should have known her better than that.

"What hospital is he at?"

"Domino Trauma Center, but Anzu, we just left. Yugi is exhausted. It takes a lot out of him when he has guests,"

"Oh," she said sadly. "I didn't think of that," She had been in such a hurry to see Yugi that she hadn't really considered his condition.

"Look," Jounouchi said. "We're going to see him again, bright and early in the morning. Do you want to meet up with us?"

"Of course," she said, but waiting until tomorrow had thrown a wrench in her plans. She had full intention of going home during her stay in Japan, but now that she was back, she didn't want to see her parents. They had been so mean and distrustful of Yugi and she hadn't announced to them of her return home. She wanted to delay the reunion with her parents as long as possible. Better even, if they never knew she had come home. As far as they were concerned, Anzu wasn't coming home until December.

"Um, I don't really have a place to stay," she said. "Do you know if—

"You can stay with us," Jounouchi said quickly. "We have a three-bedroom apartment. Yugi's room is free,"

She had been about to say 'Do you know if Mai has room?', but hearing Jounouchi's offer filled her with an ache. If she couldn't see Yugi right now, maybe being 'near him' in that way would relieve some of the sadness that had crusted her.

She took up the offer immediately.

…

"Wow," she said when Jounouchi had given her the grand tour. Her reunion with her friends had given her such relief that she'd started crying after they had hugged in greeting. Before she'd known it, she was a blubbering mess. They'd taken the time to comfort her as only moronic boys knew how. Honda gently patted her shoulder awkwardly and Jounouchi was as stiff as a statue, uncomfortable with 'girly' emotions. It was comforting in a way to experience their familiarity.

Once she had calmed down, they had given her the tour. It was surprisingly clean, much cleaner than she had been expecting. There was the odd coat flung carelessly over the back of the couch and there were a few dirty dishes in the sink, but for a bachelor pad, it was pleasantly, shabby-chicly decorated and tidy. The furniture was worn and previously owned, but cared for.

"That was all Yugi," Honda said, following her thinking. "He said he'd moved back into his grandpa's game shop if we didn't help keep it clean. The first few weeks we lived together, there were fireworks. We had to learn how to be roommates,"

"Good for him," Anzu said. If the rest of the apartment was clean because of Yugi, his room would be the most welcoming of the bunch.

"Um, guys?" She wanted to interrogate them, see what they knew about how Yugi got into the dire condition he was in, but she could see the bags under their eyes and the stress on their faces. She couldn't do it now, but tomorrow was another story.

"Tomorrow," she said, "Can we talk about how—

"Yeah," Honda said, reading her mind. "We will. We knew we'd have to prep you for what you are going to see tomorrow,"

Prep me? How bad was Yugi's condition?

"But not now," Jounouchi said, smiling at her. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm about to crash an' burn,"

They pointed her down the hallway, carrying her bags for her.

She had been right about Yugi's room. When she opened the door to his room, it was clean, not spotless or hotel-clean, but it was tidy and comfortable. It had the faint scent of being completely boyish, with cologne and body wash scents mixed in with Yugi. His bed was made, there weren't random clothes strewn all over the floor, and his decorations consisted of a few nerdy game-like things she could think of. The box that had once housed the Millennium Puzzle now held what she suspected were his dueling decks. The new duel disk Kaiba had given him was lazily set in the desk chair. There was a picture of Yugi, Jounouchi, Bakura, Honda, Ryuji, and herself on his desk. A laptop sat next to it, neglected. It reminded her of Yugi's old room above the game store. She had always assumed it had been Yugi's mom who had kept it clean and tidy.

"Bathroom's down the hall," Jounouchi said. "We'll head over to see Yugi around seven. Both Honda and I have to work tomorrow, so we have to leave early," Jounouchi gave her Yugi's key. "Make yourself at home, come and go as you please while you're here,"

Both boys turned to leave her to herself after wishing her good night.

"Guys?" She said before they could leave. She ran up to them and wrapped her arms around their necks in gratitude. "Thank you so much," Thank you for being there for Yugi when I couldn't. Thank you for being such good friends…Thank you for everything. Both of them hugged her back.

"Don't get all mushy now," Jounouchi warned kindly. "No more cryin',"

She laughed and let them go.

"No promises," she said smiling.

When they left, she shut the door and exhaled. The jet lag was starting to bother her. Some of the November cold had seeped into Yugi's room from the lack of use. She got herself ready for bed, drew back his sheets, and climbed into the full-size bed to help warm her bare legs. His sheets were cool, soft, and welcoming. Better than any hotel's sheets. Her head hit the pillow and the smell of Yugi filled her nostrils. She plugged in her phone, set an alarm, and tried to sleep.

Maybe it was because of the stress of the day or the scent of Yugi all around her, but she dreamed of him. In her dream, she saw him laughing with their friends at a distance. He was grown, older than he was now. Before her very eyes, Yugi had grown into a handsome young man, confident and strong. In her dream, she started to wave to him, but when he glanced at her his face didn't light up in recognition. He gave her the type of greeting she would expect for him to give a stranger or acquaintance.

She couldn't help but wake up slightly sad.

Annoyed that she had woken up before her alarm, she moved through her normal morning stretch routine. She moved through her yoga poses, following her breath. The sounds of a coffee maker brewing fresh coffee filtered through the door. When she transitioned into her last downward-facing dog, a flash of light reflected off of something partially hidden underneath Yugi's bed.

Feeling like she was being nosy, she resisted the temptation to pry for about thirty seconds before she reached for it. It wasn't dusty like the other things were. Intrigued, she found a picture frame with a single picture.

Underneath Yugi's bed was a picture of herself and Yugi before they'd graduated high school. She remembered taking this picture. She had pulled him into a side hug at their everyday meeting place before they walked together to school. She'd taken a selfie of the two of them and kissed his cheek. She hadn't seen him blush in person, but he was blushing in the photo. His eyes were caught in a wink and his mouth was in a joyous smile.

Her heart warmed.

Thinking that it had fallen off the nightstand next to the bed, she placed it where he could see it when he came home.

She started to look for a Sharpie and fiddled for one in some of the drawers. Finding a silver pen, she turned it over and wrote Yugi, You light up the world with your smile – Anzu on the back of the frame.

As she went to put the pen back, a lipstick-stained note caught her eye.

For the King of Games…

Her heart suddenly felt too large for her chest.

Later that morning, Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu checked in with ICU security. The hospital was bustling when they had initially walked in, but the closer they got to the ICU the halls took on a more hushed feel. Anzu thought grimly that there would have been more cheer in a graveyard. All morning she had been struggling to process everything that Honda and Jounouchi had told her about Yugi's attack. She could hardly believe it. It sounded like something out of a gory slasher film, not her friend's life. She tried to rack her brain as to the attacker's identity, but she couldn't come up with anyone who would want to do such hateful things to Yugi. Perhaps, when the Puzzle and Atem had been in his life she would have expected it, but now?

But wasn't the appearance of Diva or Aygame, or whatever the hell his name was proof that Yugi's life would always be complicated with trinkets of conflict?

Yugi's life was certainly complicated.

"Hey, Hatchi!" Jounouchi waved a good morning to the ICU security guard.

"Katsuya!" Hatchi returned the salutation. "You're still gonna sign my kid's duel disk tomorrow right? I bring him here tomorrow after school at three. He's so excited to meet you,"

"Of course!" Jounouchi yelled. "Can't wait to meet em'"

"A fan?" Anzu whispered to Honda, surprised.

"Don't remind me, I have to live with him now that Jounouchi has an 'official fan'. He's been insufferable,"

Anzu giggled.

"Course, I don't have the heart to tell him it was Yugi that Hatchi originally wanted the autograph from, but with his current state and all…"

"How do you know that?" Anzu whispered. Jounouchi was posing with Hatchi in front of Hatchi's flip phone camera.

"I overheard him talking about it to his partner when we left the other night. Of course…." Honda gave Jounouchi a peeved look. "If he keeps carrying on like this, I'll have to tell him. Humble him a little bit,"

The guard gave Anzu a confused look but passed her through anyway since she was in the established company of Jounouchi and Honda. The ICU was exactly what Anzu would have expected. A busy nurses station sat in the center of the room, with fifteen ICU rooms surrounding the station. There was no privacy in the rooms unless the privacy curtain was pulled from inside each room. The doors and walls were completely made of transparent glass, giving the nurses easy visual access to each room. Walking passed the nurse's station, they stopped at the room that had the name REN TANAKA labeled on the wall.

"They gave a fake name on Yugi's room. For his safety," Honda whispered.

Jounouchi knocked on the door, announcing their arrival.

"Knock, knock," Jounouchi said. "The party has arrived Yugi! We brought you a surpr—

Yugi was fast asleep. He looked peaceful and comfortable for once.

But he wasn't alone.

—rise?"

A woman they'd never seen before was hunched over Yugi, facing towards them. She perked up, slightly alarmed by the guests. She had been reaching across him like she had been adjusting his sheets.

"Who the hell are you?" Jounouchi growled. He wasn't in the mood to play games. Yugi was not supposed to have any uninvited guests. What the hell Hatchi? Jounouchi thought angrily. You were only supposed to let in approved guests! Anyone caught with Yugi was dangerous in Jounouchi's eyes. What if his attempted murder came back?

"Who the hell are you?!" Honda shouted.

"I'm Yugi's girlfriend, who the hell are you?!"

Koiichi ran over the knowns and unknowns of Yugi Mouto's case. Frustrated, he flipped through his pocket notebook. The sketch that Yugi had provided hadn't given them any leads yet. Other bystanders confirmed Yugi and Jounouchi's account of a large man being seen around Yugi at the time of the attack. Whether he was involved with the attack or was someone who tried to render aid was yet to be seen. It was always possible that this person had been the murderer and then pretended to render medical aid upon being discovered.

Questions…

Questions without answers always irritated Koiichi.

Doing a background check on Yugi Mouto had been easy. He had been surprised to learn that the kid was a celebrity in the younger generation circles. He had no idea what 'Duel Monsters' was until starting his research, but now he was a talented amateur on the rules. Yugi had racked up quite the cult following. Perhaps it was a previous opponent in one of these 'duels' that had prompted the violence against Yugi? But that didn't make any sense! Why would anyone try to kill a kid over a card game?!

Depends on how much money is in the dueling circuits…

And there was plenty of money to go around in a game like that. Millions could be made by the right contender. Was Yugi's attacker someone who wanted to displace the current 'King of Games' before the professional dueling circuits had started?

Koiichi rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He had seen people kill people over chump change during his time as a beat cop. He could certainly imagine someone killing someone else over something as popular as this card game.

His gut told him that Katsuya Jounouchi hadn't been involved, but early in the investigation, he had to do the good police work. Good police work meant looking at the most likely suspects. Katsuya Jounouchi had a violent past in the middle and high school gangs. He was also a celebrated duelist himself, often in the top three or five finalists in the most recent tournaments. Koiichi studied Jounouchi's expression and body language very carefully each time he gave his side of the story. Katsuya's story never changed, which was something detectives like him looked for. It was a sign of truthfulness. A liar's story will always have changes, whether large or small.

Koiichi had believed him.

Yugi Mouto's account on the attack only settled that instinct.

They had put an NII, a nationwide investigation instruction, giving police advice to be on the lookout for a person matching the attacker's description, but Koiichi doubted that he'd hear anything. His gut was telling him that this wasn't some random attack or an attempted murder because of a card game.

His gut was telling him that there was something deeper here.

He'd have to talk to Yugi again, but after he had a panic attack the last time Koiichi wasn't sure it was wise to push such a medically unstable kid. He knew nothing about medicine, but he did know that stress could worsen physical maladies. He'd seen it first-hand.

He looked at his partner from across their shared desks.

"Go home," he said to his partner. Tachi was a younger detective, new and eager to prove himself as a detective.

"I can still match the sketch to known criminals," Tachi said.

"You're married, with a kid on the way. Let the old man do that. Get the sleep while you can,"

Tachi gave him a reproving look.

"I'm your partner," he said, but the promise of sleep seemed to lure him towards the door.

"And I'm your superior and I'm telling you to go home. Once that baby gets here you won't get any sleep. Take advantage of the gift I'm giving you. Hopefully, something will come back from the NII in the morning,"

"Hope isn't a plan," Tachi said, but he grabbed his coat and put it on, checking his pistol to adjust it underneath.

"Nope, sure ain't," Koiichi said. "But a sleep-deprived detective is useless to me. Good night, Tachi,"

"'Night," Tachi waved, taking his keys out of his pocket as he went through the exit.

Koiichi stared at the space that Tachi had just vacated. He was a young man with a good head on his shoulders. He'd make a good lieutenant someday if he didn't screw up too badly. Koiichi was a twice-divorced, currently single man. He didn't have any kids as far as he knew. He was a good detective, with a high success rate that had put many bad people behind bars throughout his twenty-year career. He thought that Tachi wouldn't follow in his footsteps regarding his marriage. The kid was too much in love with his wife.

Now there's an idea…

What if it wasn't related to dueling or duel monsters? What if it was rooted to the familiar triad motives for murder? Money, sex, or power. Ninety-nine percent of the time, a motive was found in one of those three. If power in the dueling world wasn't the reason, what if it was sex?

Koiichi looked at Yugi Mouto's picture.

The kid was young. He looked like someone's kid brother. He didn't look like someone who'd been in the middle of a love triangle but to each his own. People sometimes surprised him.

It was time to dig into Yugi Mouto's sex life.

Yugi's eyebrows furrowed at the loud voices in his ears. He was being lifted out of a very deep drug-induced sleep and was growing more and more irritated at the noise in his room.

"Will everyone just shut up, please?" He murmured.

Everyone looked at him, but he didn't see who was surrounding him. The light was irritating to him like pinpoint beams searing his eyes.

"Turn the lights off, please?" He said. Someone obeyed and shut off the lights.

"Yugi?" A female voice said. "Are you ok?"

Yugi was awake in an instant. He knew her voice anywhere.

It couldn't be!

"Anzu!" He said, a huge smile forming on his face.

Jounouchi looked over his best friend, making sure the random woman in his room hadn't hurt or messed with him in any way. Yugi's smile was enough to stifle his fear. Yugi's girlfriend… He thought. Yeah, right.

"Anzu!" He said again. He opened his arms, hoping she would accept his invitation for a hug. "I'm so happy to see you! What are you doing here?"

She hesitated but folded into him being mindful of his bandages. Yugi's hugs were always warm, but this time he felt stiff and cold. The aroma that had been in his room was no longer on him, instead replaced with the stale smell of hospital and antiseptic. She was grateful that Jounouchi and Honda had prepped her that morning. Seeing Yugi in such a critical state had been difficult for her. She'd hesitated to hug him only for fear of breaking him. He just looked to damn fragile. As if all of the strength he had fought so hard to collect had been sucked out of him. She vehemently hated whomever had done this to him.

"What am I doing here? You're seriously asking me that? I came home to see you, Yugi. When I heard what happened—

"What about school?"

"Yugi," she said gently. "You're more important,"

They looked at each other like they were the only two people in the room. Yugi looked like he wanted to kiss her, but was restraining himself. He cupped her cheek with his undamaged hand. She'd started to cry and he worked to wipe them away.

"Anzu…" He rested his forehead on hers. "Seeing you again…"

Yugi's heart hadn't been put under so much stress since he'd woken up. Anzu had the power over him to send him into oblivion. He ached for her. It was in seeing her again that he'd realized how vividly the depth of his love for her. She'd come back for him… She'd come to see him in his darkest moments. An alarmingly large part of him thought, To hell with your principles, you almost died! Kiss her! Life is too short! He wanted to share everything that had happened in her absence. The photoshoots, the job offers that had flooded in since then, moving into the apartment, seeing Atem again, learning that he was a descendant from him, everything, everything threatened to spew out of his mouth.

Oh man, He thought, recognizing the state he was in. I'm in trouble.

He loved her, felt for her, ached for her, and it hadn't faded in her absence. Seeing her beautiful face again had almost been enough to prompt him to kiss her.

He still wanted to kiss her senselessly. A very weak part of him struggled to restrain this urge.

"Ok, you," Honda said, pointing attention back at the random woman. "We'll only ask one more time before we call for security. Who the hell are you? Cause you sure as shit ain't Yugi's girlfriend. He would have told us,"

"Girlfriend?" Yugi asked, finally giving attention to the rest of his guests. He was thoroughly confused by the events unfolding in his room.

"Yugi, does this chick mean anything to you?" Jounouchi asked, pointing his thumb at her. Yugi looked at her, trying to place her face. He had no idea who she was. She was pretty. She looked like someone's kid sister, but her body language betrayed her age. She had to be at least twenty.

"Uh, no. Should she?"

Yugi felt Anzu's shoulders slightly relax in his grip.

"That settles it, secur—

"Ok, ok," she said. "No need to kick me out. I'll leave. I just wanted a bit for my story,"

"Hang on!" Jounouchi reached for her arm, but she quickly pulled away from him. "How did you get in here?"

She huffed, annoyed.

"None of your business," she spat.

"Why you bitc—

"Hey!" Anzu said, piping in. "I recognize you. You're that tabloid journalist who took telephoto pictures of Yugi!" Anzu was sure she was right. She had read and re-read the tabloid rag of Yugi and the supermodel. In the 'article', using that term loosely, this woman's picture was next to the title. The journalist in the picture had been wearing square glasses, but she was sure that she was right.

The journalist huffed, walked out, and walked as quickly as possible towards the exit. Jounouchi started to sweep the room for signs of danger or anything out of the ordinary.

"Jou, I doubt she did anything," Yugi said, trying to placate Jounouchi's anger. As creepy as it was to find a stranger in his room, he was more mesmerized and ecstatic by Anzu's visit.

"You don't know that, Yug," He continued his hunt. "Women like her are sneaky and spiteful,"

"I don't think someone like her is sophisticated enough to bug a hospital room, you moron," Honda said.

"Whatever," Jounouchi grunted. He looked like he was going to say something more, but stopped himself when he saw how close Anzu and Yugi were to each other. They reminded him of a cheesy romance novel cover image.

"Well," Jounouchi said, grabbing Honda's elbow. "We need to go have a talk with Hatchi about your uninvited guest. We'll uh, give you two some time to catch up,"

In the flash of a second, Jounouchi had whisked Honda away with him down the hall, leaving Anzu and Yugi alone clutching at each other like they were afraid to lose one another.

Oh man, Yugi thought again. I'm in deep trouble.

Author's Note: 1) A troglodyte is someone who is reclusive, out of date, and lives in a hole.

2) An NII is the equivalent of an APB (All Points Bulletin) or a BOLO (Be On The Lookout).

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