An-Zu-Jou: REUNITE

Cover for the story ^^

“Well I guess it’s time to say goodbye, Yugi.” Anzu mumbled. It was a cool morning, as gusts of winds would brush over the two every odd moment. It was during their middle school years when Anzu’s family had to move away for work. Yugi could only painfully watch as his only friend spent the last month packing and preparing to leave, her empty house they stood in front of being the last stab to his heart.

“Y-Yeah, goodbye Anzu.” Yugi choked on tears, “Don’t forget to write to me, okay?” Anzu nodded, teary eyed as well. “Of course Yugi, no matter how far apart we are, we’re still best friends.” She wiped her face with her sleeve, “And tell me when you finish that puzzle too.” Yugi could only nod.

Right then and there, Anzu knew she had to confess her feelings for Yugi. After all this was the last time she was going to see him. She’d always had a small crush on him, but these past few years she knew it had grown into more.

“Yugi, I…” She bit her lip, now was the worst time to get anxious. Yugi looked up at her, waiting for her response.

“-Yugi, I’ll miss you!” Anzu dove into a tight hug with Yugi, almost as if they wanted to leave a print on each other that’ll last for ages. After a moment that felt too brief, they broke apart, both of their faces soaked.

Anzu’s mother called her over to get into the car, so she said her final goodbyes, regretting that she left things unsaid.

It seemed like an ordinary morning to Anzu, brushing her teeth, grabbing a quick breakfast, and heading to her highschool. However her homeroom was more chatty than usual on this day.

“Did you hear? Some kid won Duelist Kingdom and beat the guy who made Duel Monsters!”
“Yeah, it sucked though ‘cause it was too dark to see the last bit of the duel.”
“I heard he’s the only person who could beat Seto Kaiba too.”

Students talking about card games wasn’t too unusual, as their popularity had been steadily rising. But today it was all anyone could talk about.

“Huh, what are you guys talking about?” Anzu questioned as she took a seat next to her friends.

“You don’t know?” One of them gasped, “We’re talking about the Duelist Kingdom winners!”

“Duelist… Kingdom?” She cocked her head, “Is this about the Duel Monsters game?”
Another of Anzu’s friends gave her a hard smack on the back, “Of freaking course, I don’t know how you don’t know!”

Anzu shrugged, “So who won then?”

“It’s this guy named Yugi Muto, he’s a legend! You should see him battle!”

The name gave Anzu a weird sense of deja vu, where had she heard this name before? “...Yugi Muto? Is he someone famous?”

“Well now he is, but get this, he was just some nobody living in a game shop with his grandfather and he’s some sort of prodigy.”

Game shop? It clicked for Anzu, Yugi Muto was her old childhood friend. A wave of guilt washed over her as she hadn’t written him anything in years. She blushed thinking about him as her feelings came over her again after all this time.

Anzu shook her head, “Yugi Muto? Show me his picture.” She felt the need to confirm that the duelist kingdom winner was also an old friend.

“Why? He’s not even hot, he looks like the weird emo type!” Her friend said while shuffling for her cellphone to show her a pic. The group let out a laugh while Anzu grit her teeth. Sure enough, that was the very same Yugi she used to know. However he had a more older appearance shown by his sharper jaw and toned arms. The new Yugi made her blush noticeably.

“Oh my god are you getting a celebrity crush right now?” Her friend covered her mouth, “Just so you know he’s like four feet so don’t get too attached.”

“Seriously, the whole time I’ve known you, you’ve never been someone who easily falls in love.” Another friend chimed in, “This is like the first guy I’ve seen you have the hots for, I didn’t know you had such a weird type.”

“I… need to go to the bathroom.” Anzu rushed out of the classroom before anyone could make a quip on her leaving.

While walking down the halls, Anzu had a million thoughts racing through her mind. Yugi is a card game prodigy now? Do I really still have feelings, after all this time? When did we even stop talking? She quickly made it to an empty stall and pulled up her flip phone. With her 3G connection, she looked up anything she could about Yugi Muto, that'd actually load. Anzu quickly recognized the finished puzzle being worn as a necklace on him. She bit her lip, upset that Yugi never told her he had finished. But then again, it might've been her who didn't write back.

Still, Anzu couldn't ignore how much she still loved Yugi. His kindness, his generosity, his passion for card games and his millennium puzzle. She hadn't fallen in love since, almost as if they were soul mates. But how could she ever reconnect with him? It'd be embarrassing to finally write to him again after he's become such a hotshot, it didn't feel genuine enough after all this time. If only there was a way she could meet him again, in person.

The idea clicked in Anzu's head, an absurd idea. An idea that was just crazy enough.

That evening after school, Anzu walked down the halls, checking every door she passed. Until she stumbled upon a club that looked to help her with her mission, the gaming club.

The room was stuffy to say the least, and not a single woman was in sight. It was a catch 22 situation where no girl wanted to join ‘cause there were no other girls there. A variety of games were being played, from chess to some video game on a CRT TV. The members here all looked like the type to join a gaming club but Anzu brushed it aside as she was too focused to care about something so superficial.

Anzu walked in, already feeling out of place as eyes were on her. “Uhm excuse, do you guys play Duel Monsters here?” The room fell quiet.

Anzu could feel the awkward tension when suddenly a younger, more immature student was walking behind her. “Move out the way, girl!”

“God, you don't have to be so rude.” Anzu scoffed, “I'll learn Duel Monsters from someone worth my time!”

The mention of Duel Monsters lit up his face, “You're joining the club?” He looked at her, “You have to learn from the best, do you know anyone better than me?”

Anzu crossed her arms, “I don't even know who you are!” She was just about to leave when the boy rushed her in, “What?! You're missing out on a lot if you turn my mentoring down!” He went on, “I'm surprised you know of Duel Monsters, but not Dinosaur Ryuzaki, 2nd of Japan!”

Her eyes widened, “Really, like in the region or-”

“The whole freaking entire country! I'm the best in Japan you'll ever get the chance to meet!” Ryuzaki bragged as he led her to a small empty table.

Anzu sat down, thinking it was either her lucky day or this kid was a strange case of 8th grade syndrome. Still, she could use help from practically anybody right now.

“Bring out your deck and I'll show you firsthand experience of how a pro plays!” Ryuzaki shuffled through his bag to retrieve his cards. “...A deck?”

Ryuzaki raised a brow, “You came here without any cards.” Anzu quietly nodded. He sighed while rubbing his temples, “If you weren't so cute, I'd tell you to leave. Here use half of my deck for now, but you better have something tomorrow.”

Ignoring the first part of his statement, Anzu reluctantly took his cards and began a duel with him. She was, expectedly, easily defeated, but she learned a lot about the game. Attack and defense positions, trap cards, spell cards, duel phases, she soaked it in, like blank paper entering a printer.

After school had finally closed, the day was beginning to darken. Anzu quickly helped clean the school before taking a detour to a local game store. School started too early so she had to get her shopping done now. She felt a bit hesitant spending her few savings from her part-time job, but thinking of reuniting with Yugi brushed her apprehension.

The man running the shop greeted her warmly as she got to look around the small, quaint shop, which was filled to the brim with cards from several different games. It reminded Anzu of Yugi's grandfather's shop they used to hang out around, which only strengthened her resolve to put her plan into action.

“Sir, could you help me build a Duel Monsters deck?” Anzu asked the nerdy man behind the counter, who seemed almost too eager to help a beginner make their first deck. “Sure, what kind of cards or monsters ‘you like to play?”

Anzu remained silent, she didn't know how to answer that question because she simply didn't know any cards out there besides the ones Ryuzaki lent her, and she didn't pay attention to their names. After pondering for a bit she had a half answer.

“Uhm, I like the Dark Magician Girl?” She mumbled, only knowing this card from a musical she saw recently. However this answer was enough for the shopkeeper.

“Alright let's build your deck after her then,” The man ducked down to retrieve a box full of duel monsters cards, looking unorganized and yet he could pull any card he was talking about with ease.

They spent the better part of two hours creating a spellcaster themed deck; featuring dark magicians to give Dark Magician Girl a boost when they headed the graveyard, Dark Burning Attack to take advantage of Dark Magician Girl being on the field, as well as many other cards suited to Anzu's preferred playing style.

The shopkeeper gave her a wink and a thumbs as she left the shop with a full deck in hand, Anzu rushed home before her mother could start to worry about her. She daydreamed about her plan to meet Yugi with every step of the way.

Once she made it home, (and got scolded for staying out so late,) she hopped onto her computer and searched the internet for any info for big tournaments. While scrolling, one caught her eye. It was actually one of the first she saw due to its popularity.

“Battle City..” Anzu read. It was only open to duelists with a high enough level and at least one rare card. Two things Anzu didn't have, yet. The event was going to be held in Domino city, her and Yugi's hometown. It seemed to be too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Before she went to bed, Anzu quickly looked up Ryuzaki and sure enough, he was the second best duelist of the country. Although she couldn't help but let out a small laugh after finding out he lost to a bunch of bugs.

Another school day had come to an end, which meant it was time to show up to the gaming club. Her friends teased her after finding out she became their newest member but she just shrugged it off. This time she walked into the room with confidence, her fresh deck in hand. Ryuzaki was sitting at the same table as yesterday, waiting for her to come.

“Over here, miss!” He called over in a louder than necessary voice, attracting everyone's brief attention.

“Y'know my name is Anzu, right?” She pouted, realizing the boy had never caught her name. He shrugged, “Yeah yeah, did you get a deck like I told you to?”

Anzu nodded as she placed the full deck face down on the table for him to see. Ryuzaki's eyes widened, “I'm surprised, I didn't think you would actually pull through.”

“I have a very important reason to play Duel Monsters.” Anzu averted her eyes as she shuffled her deck, daydreaming of Yugi for a split second before coming back to reality. Ryuzaki only smirked as he too got to shuffling his cards.

They both drew 5 cards and began the duel as normal, with Ryuzaki occasionally coaching her on what moves she should think about. About halfway into the duel, Anzu was ready to summon her ace, Dark Magician Girl. She was more than excited to play her as she already had a Dark Magician in the graveyard, and was about to tribute another.

“I tribute Dark Magician to summon Dark Magician Girl face up in attack position!” While wordy, Anzu quickly got the hang of verbalizing her moves.

“Hold on, pause.” Ryuzaki picked up Dark Magician Girl, to the dismay of Anzu, “Where did you get this card from?”

Anzu blinked, wondering why he'd ask such a seemingly random question, “I got it from the game shop near school.”

“Its got like, holographic hieroglyphics on it.” He held the card up to the window, revealing its rainbow glow.

“Is that a bad thing?” Anzu bit her lip, wanting to just get on with the game.

“No! It's really rare actually!” Ryuzaki exclaimed which caused the rest of the gaming club to crowd around him, all gawking in awe of the rare card.

However, Anzu was the most excited, despite keeping it together. “If that card's rare, I have a shot at entering Battle city!”

“Hey Anzu, have you heard of an ante rule?” Ryuzaki smirked, holding the card hostage. She did hear of it while researching Battle City online, but didn't have much of a clue on what it meant. “What's an ante rule?”

“Tell ya what, if you win this duel you can keep Dark Magician Girl.” He placed her card back into attack position on the small board. Anzu gasped, “What?! No way, you can’t say that in the middle of a duel!”

“Hey, I help you, you help me,” Ryuzaki chuckled, “So you help me prepare for the ante rule of Battle City!”

“You're going to Battle City too?” Anzu's mouth parted.

Ryuzaki raised a brow, “And you were thinking about going to Battle City?” He let out another laugh, “You don't stand a chance against the big dogs unless you can at least draw me!”

The crowd let out a long “Oooh!” which got Anzu more than fired up. She hated to admit it but he was right, to even get far enough into the tournament to face someone of Yugi's level was going to take a lot more than she anticipated.

“-Anyways, I summon Dark Magician Girl in attack position,” Anzu resumed, “And since there are 2 Dark Magicians in my graveyard, she gains 300 attack points, raising her attack to 2,600!” She grit her teeth, feeling a rush of excitement. Who knew she could be so passionate about a game she just heard of?

After a close neck and neck, Anzu was faced with a bitter defeat. “Sorry Anzu, I'll hold on to this card until you can actually win it back from me.” Ryuzaki laughed as he collected his cards back up, and yet Anzu couldn't feel more happy? She felt a variety of emotions rushing through her, passion, love, dedication, anger, and a thirst for revenge. A thirst only a duelist could understand. “Thank you, Ryuzaki.” She quickly bowed before leaving the school as the night was quickly approaching. His eyes widened, “Did that girl seriously thank me?” He muttered.

Over the course of a week, Anzu spent her days going to the gaming club, or looking up tips online. Her friends complained that they never got to see her anymore, but Anzu assured them she'd make time eventually. She ended up using her vacation days from her part time job so she could continue going to Ryuzaki for more training. He'd been able to give her useful insights, such as taking advantage of quick play spells, using polymerization, field bonuses, etc.

“Ryuzaki!” Anzu called as she once again entered the gaming club, this time it was more empty as students would rather go home and start their weekend earlier.

“Relax, I'm not going anywhere.” Ryuzaki huffed as he instinctively pulled out his deck again.

“I want to duel you again!” Anzu abruptly said, catching Ryuzaki off guard, “I want to fight for my rare Dark Magician Girl!”

Ryuzaki smirked, “Alright, bring it on!” He shuffled his deck and the battle began.

“I flip over my set card, Dark Burning Attack!” Anzu’s voice dominated the room like how she dominated the battle. Ryuzaki was on his last legs and this was her chance to finish him off. “This card removes all faceup monsters you have on the field!”

He begrudgingly took off each of his powerful dinosaur cards, one by one. Ryuzaki had truly nutured a monster. “And now,” Anzu continued, “Dark Magician Girl will now attack your life points directly!”

Ryuzaki's life points dropped to zero, awarding Anzu as the winner. “I did it, I did it, I actually did it!” She shot her arms into the air and let out a victory squeal. “I'll take my Dark Magician Girl back, number 3 in Japan!”

Ryuzaki sighed as he handed her the rare Dark Magician Girl card in its holo-glory. “Well now that you're at least half-decent, you’re going to pay me now, right?” His condescending tone came back.

Anzu parted her lips, “Payment..?” She couldn't afford any more extra costs right now as all her money was spent on cards and what was left was for traveling to Domino City.

Ryuzaki laughed, “The payment is that you have to be my girlfriend now, for a week at the very least.” Anzu scrunched her face briefly, she couldn't imagine herself with someone other than Yugi for even just a week.

Instead, Anzu grabbed Ryuzaki's hand and gave a quick and gentle kiss on his soft knuckles, “Thank you, Ryuzaki Kyoufu.”

Ryuzaki immediately flushed into a bright red, and had no time to say anything back before Anzu left the gaming club early. The hard part was finally over, now all she had to do was to be accepted into Battle City.

Anzu's heart was pounding, occasionally syncing with every step she took. Would she qualify for Battle City? Would she even be good enough to duel the people there? Was she even ready to duel with Yugi? And yet with all those doubts, she kept walking in confident strides to sign up for Battle City. Her desire to keep dueling had become intertwined with reuniting with her old friend. To not only meet Yugi, but show him how far she's come.

Once she made it back to the local card shop, the same shop she got her first deck at, it was time to acquire the newest advancement in the Duel Monsters world, a Duel Disk.

“Hello Mister,” Anzu inhaled, “Do you have the new Duel Disk here?”

The shopkeeper excitedly nodded and grabbed one from underneath the counter. “She's a beauty, I'm so glad I get to sell these.” The man gushed, “It's ¥70,000 but for those entering Battle City it's free, isn't that cool?”

Anzu nodded, “Yeah, I actually wanted to enter Battle City.” She rummaged through her bag for her special Dark Magician Girl, “And here's my rare card for the ante rule.”

The man blushed looking at the rare card before having his jaw drop to the floor, “You're entering Battle City?! I could've sworn you were in here getting your first cards a week ago!” Anzu awkwardly laughed, “I've been meaning to.”

“Alright, the card's good for the ante rule, I'll just need to look you up on the duelist database.” The shopkeeper booted up his computer, “What's your name, miss?”

“Anzu Mazaki.”

…

“Uhm, it's not there.”

“What.” Anzu whispered, her ambitions shattering in front of her. “Check again, it's Mazaki not Masaki.” She fidgeted with her fingers.

“I'm really sorry but it's just not there.” He turned the screen around to show that there truly were no results under her name. “You can't enter the tournament unless you're a level five duelist, have you entered any tournaments before now?”

Anzu felt a lump in her throat, “N-No, I haven't.” How stupid she was into thinking playing card games at her high school club was anything similar to being a pro? How stupid could she be to not even be recognized as a duelist? How stupid she was for trying. Anzu bit her lip as her eyes began to water. The weight of the world pressed against her chest, holding down her lungs, only letting shallow breaths in and out. “I should just leave.” She thought.

“ANZU!” A familiar voice came bursting through the small doors. “Ryuzaki?!” Anzu's eyes widened.

“I knew you'd be here, and I knew you'd be here unprepared.” Ryuzaki crossed his arms and scolded her like a child. “Did you qualify for Battle City or..?”

Anzu shook her head silently. Ryuzaki smirked, knowing he was right about her getting ahead of herself. Throughout the week of dueling, the two knew each other like the palm of their hands.

Ryuzaki turned to the shopkeeper, who was thoroughly confused. “Hey, how come you won't let her enter Battle City!” He shouted, “Do you know who she is?!”

The shopkeeper lowered his head down, unable to stand tall during confrontation. “Well she's not on the duelist database-”

“This girl here, she's a natural at Duel Monsters! She wiped the floor with me, do you know who I am?!” Ryuzaki was almost climbing over the counter, inches away from the shopkeeper's face. All he could do was nod. “So you're going to put her on the database and you're going to give her a Duel Disk or there's going to be a PROBLEM!!”

The shopkeeper quietly filled in Anzu's details, visibly shaking. Ryuzaki smugly put his hands on his hips, feeling accomplished. Once the shopkeeper showed the two that Anzu was indeed a level 5 duelist, they quickly left with a brand new Duel Disk.

“And for that, I want another kiss on my hand-” Ryuzaki turned to see tears streaming down Anzu's face, he awkwardly averted his eyes, not knowing how to comfort a girl.

Before he could say anything, he was embraced into a tight, deep hug. “T-Thank you, Ryuzaki!” She choked through tears. Ryuzaki turned red, “It's fine, really. I'll have to go to a different store for my Duel Disk now.” He quietly laughed, oddly not wanting this hug to ever end.

The day of Battle City had finally come. The streets of Domino City were packed with fiery duelists battling it out, all aspiring to be the new King of Games. Anzu wore her best clothes, a yellow crop top with a bright red mini skirt. Topped off with a ski mask, revealing only her eyes, wanting to keep her identity a secret, for now. She confidently went into Battle City, locator card in hand, not wanting Ryuzaki’s one sided shouting match to be in vain.

Throwing her doubts into the wind, she battled various opponents with such varied decks and techniques. However she was able to quickly adjust and strike back, learning from every duel. Every locator card she collected were sticks thrown into her burning passion for both Duel Monsters and seeing Yugi again, she had no doubt he'd make it to the final eight. And she had no doubt for herself. Before she knew it, Anzu qualified for the Battle City finals. Aboarding on the Battle Ship, she let out a sigh of relief. The hard part was now over.

Curious of her competition, she looked around at the duelists gathered inside the blimp. They all turned to see who else had made it to the finals. Ryuzaki wasn’t there surprisingly, did he run into some bugs on the way? She scanned the people around her, all talented duelists that radiated an intimidating aura, (besides the blond guy, oddly enough.) She felt a small shiver down her spine until she laid eyes on Yugi Muto, in the flesh. He had a laser sharp look in his eyes, in contrast to the baby face he had when he was younger. His hair was more spiked up than usual and his arms were perfectly toned. Anzu was thankful that her mask was covering her blushing face. The thing that caught her attention the most was the finished puzzle hanging from Yugi’s neck. It looked bigger and grander in person, almost shrinking Yugi even more in comparison. She let out a smile knowing she got to see it finished before giving a short wave and leaving the main group, hearing murmurs of duelists wondering who she was.

“Miss, your number was called.” A man called from outside her designated dorm, reserved for the finalists. Anzu jerked as she quickly grabbed up her cards and put back on her mask, wanting to only reveal herself once she was in a duel with Yugi. As she walked to her duel, she crossed her fingers that she’d duel Yugi first. Holding her breath, she went up the stairs and couldn’t believe the possibility.

Anzu was finally dueling Yugi.

“I sacrifice Dark Magician Girl, Gamma The Magnet Warrior and Big Shield Gardna, to summon Slifer The Sky Dragon!” Yugi raised his hand into the sky, his voice taking over the match. The sky parted as a bright beam of blinding light shot through the clouds. Anzu knew this was the end for her, even though she managed to get her own Dark Magician Girl up to 3,600 attack points, it couldn’t hold its own against such a legendary card. Anzu smiled as she lost her last 300 life points to the dragon’s attack, knowing she had so much more to learn from Yugi.

After the dust settled, Yugi walked over to the kneeling Anzu. “Now reveal yourself, miss. Who are you, the world deserves to know you by your talent.”

“Yugi…” She took off her mask, revealing her short brown hair and a giant grin spread across her pretty face, “You’ve become so strong.”

“...Anzu?”

Anzu felt her cheeks warm, she didn’t even have to tell him her name. “You remember?”

Yugi’s eyes softened, almost as if another person took over, “How could I forget?”

Anzu’s anxiety started to bubble up again, like it was pleading to just stay friends. However, Anzu didn’t want to feel the regret she’s been feeling for years. So she swallowed her anxieties and said it aloud.

“Yugi, I’ve been meaning to say for so long…” Anzu went on, looking Yugi right in the eye.

“...I love you, so much.” The words flew out of her mouth as if they were begging to be set free. “You're so kind and… I don't know- you've been the best part of my life, and I'm sorry I stopped writing to you, but I can't imagine a future without you in it.” When Anzu zoned back in, she saw that Yugi was staring at her, his face bright red. She covered her mouth, “-Did I say too much?”

Yugi shook his head and smiled, “No, you said just enough.” He knelt down to Anzu, “And I thought I was the one with the crush.”

Anzu’s eyes widened, “You liked me too this whole-” Before she could finish her sentence, Yugi leaned in for a kiss. Anzu closed her eyes and indulged in something she's been yearning for a long long time. All the days of training, all the money spent, all the job hours lost, all the sleep-deprived mornings, at that moment…

…It was worth it.