Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Kanashii no Tenshi ❯ Awakening ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

A/N: There's a song by Evanescence that will be a song Anzu made up in this fic. I find it particularly fits my plotline.

Slowly, Anzu opened her sore eyes. She sat up and yawned, but felt immediate pain. She fell back with a soft gasp. Her arm was bleeding, a deep gash marked it. Suddenly, the past night's events came back to her. Shortly after completing her reminiscing, her parents had come home. And, the rest had been a blur. Faintly, she remembered crawling into her room and falling on her bed. Her blue eyes looked outside to see it was just before dawn.

She forced herself to stand, her wounds screaming at her to lie back down. This was no rare occurrence, she was very familiar with this situation. Shakily, she moved into the bathroom. Forcing herself to look in the mirror, she studied her injuries. There were some deep scratches on her bleeding cheek, the gash on her arm, her ankle was swollen a bit, and some bruises. With a shaky, tear-filled breath, she set about tending and hiding her wounds.

Once finished, she went back to her room to find a suitable outfit. Her wrist was wrapped up, and so far it had not bled through the bandaging. The scratches and bruises on her face and body were covered with makeup, enough so that she looked normal. Her ankle was wrapped as well. Taking off her torn clothing, she found some knee-high boots, black. Slipping them on to hide more of her body, she reached for a midnight blue, sleeveless shirt with a turtleneck. Pulling on a black skirt, she put a rather stylish black jacket on as well.

After a moment, she realized, she had school today. Hesitating, she thought for a moment. She just didn't feel like it today. After another pause, she took the golden chain and pendant off of her nightstand, putting it around her neck, and hiding it underneath her shirt. Her parent's were still sleeping, and sun hadn't come up yet. Anzu seemed to move in a daze, her resolution quickly coming to. Grabbing her backpack, she stuffed clothing and other trinkets that she was emotionally attached to, including her bloodstained blanket. Once her pack was stuffed, she numbly walked outside into the freezing air, welcoming it.

Anzu didn't know where she was going, she was just wandering. As far away from her home as possible preferably. Somewhere where she could forget, forget her friends, her pain, her life. Unknowingly, she had found her way to the beach just as the sun was peeking over the mountains. Pausing, she sat down near the water, bringing her knees up to her chest. As the water splashed against the shore, it lapped her feet gently. Anzu gazed entranced at the light hues of colors tinted the sky, and at the sound of the ocean gently, yet temporarily washing away her pain.

She liked it, the warm feeling the locket gave her. It was almost as if it had it's own heartbeat, and still resonated the love and kindness her brother had once shown. He was so kind, never getting angry and always blaming himself for when things went wrong. She tried to be like him so much, to try and give his kindness to others, but she was just not that pure. She could never be as innocent as her brother, over the years, her light had been tinted. Anzu found it harder and harder to give all of herself, and receive nothing in return as her brother could have so easily. Yet still, her brother had been the only one to love her so deeply. The one to look to her for comfort and guidance, the one to whisper her name as the flame of his life faded into darkness.

Standing abruptly and fighting back more tears, Anzu ran from the shore as the sun fully rose. The pain didn't matter, she just wanted to get away from it all. Once she slowed to a walk, she weaved down the streets, watching all of the happy people go about their daily lives. She saw happy couples, and couldn't help but think of her unrequited love towards Yami, but even that seemed to be fading. Leaving her with the empty void once again. She could no longer cling to him for strength, she had to do this alone. Somehow … she would make it. She would make it with only her memories and illusions of brief happiness.

`~,

Yugi, Jounochi, Honda, Mai, and Ryou were currently walking to Anzu's house. They had been worried when she hadn't shown up at school, seeing as how so far she's had perfect attendance. Yugi originally was just going to call her, but he felt compelled to go to her house. Anzu had never let him come over before, and he had an itching feeling that he needed to go to her house this time.

"I wonder what Anzu's house is like? I've never been there before." Yugi said to lighten the slightly worried silence.

"I'll bet her room is pink." Mai joked, not quite sure why she was even here.

"Still though, I doubt Anzu would ditch school." Jounochi said in thought.

"Maybe she's just sick." Ryou said.

"Then why would we have to worry?" Honda asked.

"I just have a bad feeling about this." Yugi said.

"Well, we're here." Yugi added, nervously going up to knock on the door.

After a few moments, someone whom they assumed was Anzu's father came to the door.

"Who are you all?" He asked a bit sharply, eyeing them.

"Um … " Yugi got nervous.

"We're her friends from school." Jounochi came to Yugi's rescue.

"Oh … what do you want?" The man asked.

"Um … if it's okay we'd like to see her." Yugi said nervously.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, before the man grunted under his breath.

"She's in her room. Leave when your done and lock the door."

To their surprise, both Anzu's mother and father left, getting in their car, and driving away.

"What a jerk." Jounochi muttered.

Yugi just laughed nervously as they went inside. They looked around a bit, and went upstairs to where the bedrooms would most likely be. At first they thought they were going to have to check every room, until they saw one at the end of the hall that read "Anzu" on it.

"That must be it." Yugi commented to himself.

Being the first to open the door, Yugi went inside, and instantly regretted it. He just stood there, frozen in the door way.

"Hey Yugi. What's up? Come on, move." Jounochi said, and prodded the short boy's side.

"B-blood." Came a choked whisper from Yugi.

"What?" Mai pushed him in the doorway and gasped.

Instantly, all the others entered. Mai had covered her mouth, this was NOT how she had imagined Anzu's room to be. There were deep red stains on the white walls, and on the bed sheets of the blanket-less bed. The torn, bloodied clothes were scattered on the floor. The closet and dresser was torn open with some blood on the handles. Everyone was too shocked to move, Ryou was the first to snap out of it.

"The blood on the bed, the dresser, and the clothes … it's fresh." He observed a bit shakily.

"Wha-what happened?" Jounochi asked in fear.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." They all turned to see Yami in control of Yugi's body, looking very displeased.

"Hey wait!" Honda called, but Yami was gone.

Mai looked like she was about to puke, having never been exposed to this much blood. Had ALL of the bloodstains been fresh, there would be no doubt that Anzu wouldn't have a drop of the red liquid left in her body. Jounochi soon left as well, but Ryou stood there for a moment longer, surveying the scene before leaving himself. He hadn't noticed the Millenium Ring glowing softly.

`~,

Anzu was currently in search of a way to earn some money. She was starving, and her hunger distracted her from her feelings momentarily. It was late in the afternoon she guessed, so she made her way along the sides of the streets keeping a look out for any possible way to gain money. A voice caught her attention however.

"Leave me alone!" Was that Mokuba?

"Ha! No! Your brother will pay me a fortune if I hold you ransom!" a very gruff man in all black said.

Mokuba bit the man's hand, only to be slammed violently into the ground. But when Mokuba cried out in pain that triggered one of her memories to reappear.

~Flashback~

A shattering noise was heard as a little Anzu crept down the stairs fearfully.

"Shouta! You little piece of shit! You broke those plates didn't you!?" Her father yelled.

She saw her brother's blue eyes widen in absolute terror. His small frame racked with shivers. Something about his huddled position made her do her next actions.

"No!" Anzu ran in front of him.

"Get out of the way you little bitch! Unless you want to be punished too!" He spat.

"I-It was me! I did it! I knocked them over when I was looking for something to eat!" She lied through her teeth, but it was better her than her brother.

Her father's enraged gaze turned to her, she knew what was coming next. So before her father could strike the first blow of many, she turned to her brother.

"Run, go to your room Shouta-chan. I-I'll be up there to tell you a story before you go to bed. I promise." She smiled weakly at him, looking at his questioning eyes, and shakily, he left.

When her head turned around, she had already been hit and slammed against the stairway, she heard her wrist make a sickening cracking noise as she hit. And soon, it had begun.

Later that night, Anzu crawled up the stairs, her wrist hurt badly and it looked kind of out of place. It was stuck at a weird angle, but it hurt just the same. There were hand-shaped bruises around her reddened throat, and a few cuts on upper thigh. It hurt when she breathed, but she promised Shouta she'd tell him a story. And that she would.

But when she found her way to his room, he wasn't there. Knowing that there was only one other place he could be, so she went to her room. He was sitting on her mildly stained bed, looking upset.

"Anzu-chan?" He asked fearfully.

"Shouta-chan. I'm going to tell you a story now then you'll have to go to sleep." She smiled at him, even though it hurt.

He curled up in a little ball at the corner of her bed and looked at her intently, yet with sadness.

"Once upon a time, there was a prince and his big sister, the princess. They lived in a big castle, with lots of pets and friends. It was surrounded by pretty trees, and no one ever got hurt or punished. And the prince and the princess had a really nice family, that never got angry at them, that celebrated when it was their birthday, that never said they were useless mistakes and called them bad names, and never hit them and-and never made them eat off the floor and-and" Anzu could no longer go on for the tears had already began forming, and her aching throat refused to let any more words out.

At hearing his big sister's small sniffles and sobs, Shouta crawled over to her.

"Anzu-chan. Why you crying?" His small hands reached up to hold her face.

Anzu looked at him, tears shining in her eyes and falling down her cheeks, stinging her cuts. She no longer had a smile. With a choked sob, she hugged her little brother to her and stroked his brown hair.

"Anzu-chan pwease stop crying, I no like it when you cry." The boy himself was getting very upset.

This only made Anzu's tears come faster, her small shoulders slightly shaking.

"I sorry Anzu-chan, I did bad." He whimpered and buried his head in her chest.

Now Anzu was full blown sobbing. She let go of Shouta and crawled under her covers, fully aware that Shouta had not left, but was still huddled at her side. Now sleeping softly.

"It's not your fault." She whispered before she too fell asleep.

~end flashback~

Before she knew it, her voice rang out.

"Stop it!" Was that really her voice? It was so hostile.

The struggling Mokuba turned and saw Anzu there, a deadly look in her eyes. Like cold fire, he couldn't help but let a shiver run down his spine. But also a small amount of relief washed over him, until he remembered that Anzu wasn't exactly a fighter, at least, from what he'd seen of her.

"What are you gonna do about it bitch? Use pepper spray on me?" He laughed in her face and pulled her hair back and brought her to him.

Anzu gasped softly, what had she gotten herself into? She couldn't take this guy.

"Of course, maybe I could have a little fun with you first." He said lecherously.

Shit. She was about to scream when she saw him kick Mokuba's body on the ground viciously, knocking him a few feet away. Anzu saw blood coming from Mokuba's nose and mouth, and tears in his eyes. And for that moment, Mokuba suddenly seemed to look a lot like Shouta.

"Let go of me you f***ing bastard!" She screeched vehemently, with language she didn't know she was capable of using.

For the next moment, She felt heat rising from where her heart would be. But Anzu pinned it as anger. Her hands shot out around the guys neck as far as she could stretch, she dug her nails into the tender skin around his throat mercilessly, focusing all her anger and the heat on her chest into her grip.

The guy's eyes widened, and he let out a scream. He pushed away in pain, his eyes wide. He fell to the ground while stumbling.

"What the hell are you!?" He shrieked before scrambling to get away.

Calming herself, Anzu blinked in shock. Had she really done that? She had seen the large burn marks and the blood from where her nails had dug peeking out of the scorched flesh on his neck. Anzu looked at her hands. Perhaps she DID have another ability besides dancing, she'd have to look into that later. Feeling the heat in her chest die down, she ran over to Mokuba.

"Are you alright?" Anzu only had to half force a smile on her face.

"I'm fine! Thanks! But what did you do to that guy? He ran like a sissy!" Mokuba said excitedly, but winced as his injuries pained him.

"I don't really know either, but at least your okay." Anzu smiled some more.

She helped Mokuba up to his feet, while she still knelt at eye level with him now. As she reached out to touch his face, she felt the locket pulsing. It seemed to resonate energy from itself, and as she touched the injuries, she was shocked to see them healing.

The soft glow around her hand faded and Mokuba was looking at her in even more awe. That was certainly something she didn't know about the necklace, where had her brother gotten it from? She wondered.

"Don't tell anyone about this okay?" She whispered, nodding to the locket she had let show over her clothes.

Mokuba just nodded and looked at her strangely. As she smiled sweetly at him, finding him a lot like her little brother, his cheeks tinged pink.

"Umm, you wanna go with me to get something to eat? It's the least I could do for you since you got me away from that guy and this." He pointed to where his injuries used to be.

Anzu thanked Ra that she would be getting fed.

"That would be great." She smiled, her sorrow temporarily numbed.

"Okay! This way! There's a really good place me and my big brother go when he's not busy!" He began to drag her towards their destination.

Anzu let out a small, bell like laugh. And, even if only for this night, she had a little brother again. At least as close as she could get.

As they sat in the strange restaurant, Anzu noted it looked a bit expensive.

"May I take you and your brother's order?" Came a happy voice of one of the waitresses, giggling at the small boy seated across, assuming that he was Anzu's brother.

"He's not my brother, just a friend." Anzu smiled, hiding the pang of sadness she felt at the term "brother", Seto didn't know how lucky he was.

"Oh I'm sorry." The poor girl bowed in apology.

"That's okay. I want french fries and a hamburger." Mokuba said, grinning.

They were in a fancy restaurant and the boy orders french fries and a hamburger? Oh well.

"I'll have a chicken fried steak." Anzu said.

As the waitress walked away, Anzu turned to look at Mokuba.

"Hey, Mokuba, you said that your brother was busy a lot right?" She inquired about his earlier comment.

"Yeah, he's always busy and he doesn't spend much time with me anymore. But he needs to work so I can kind of understand." Mokuba nodded.

"Seto's lucky to have you, I'm sure not all little brothers are that understanding." Anzu smiled at him.

"Seto's the best big brother in the world!" Mokuba beamed proudly.

Wow, he must be for Mokuba to react this way. Well I guess everyone has a side they don't show. Anzu though cynically.

The two continued to chat the rest of the dinner until it was time to leave.

The sun was almost gone by the time they were done, and Anzu smiled down at Mokuba.

"Do you need me to walk you home?" Anzu asked, true concern in her voice.

"Nah, I'll be fine." Mokuba replied.

"Then I guess I'd better get going." Anzu turned to leave.

"Isn't your house that way though?" Mokuba asked, confused.

Anzu smiled a rather ghostly looking smile.

"Yes it is. Bye!" She called after softly speaking the first part.

"Oh, Bye!" Mokuba waved.

Unbeknownst to the younger Kaiba brother, Anzu turned to watch him walk away, happy as ever. He disappeared from her sight along with the sun, and she turned around and slowly began walking into the shadows. She was alone again. And now with questions swarming her mind.