The Alternative

Chapter Eighteen

What was Yugi supposed to do?

His whole world was falling apart and no one seemed to notice. No one seemed to care.

He asked everyone he could about Anzu, but no one seemed to recall who she was.

How else could he phrase it?

"Hey Malik! Have you seen Anzu?"

"Uh...no?"

"Really? You haven't? Do you know where I could find her?" Yugi would ask.

"Not sure who that is, pal. Sorry."

What was Yugi supposed to do?

What was he supposed to say?

It was like this for a few hours. Just lingering around campus, spotting out friends and asking them if they had seen Anzu. No one had.

Yugi dug his hands into his pocket, squinting his eyes to avoid the whip of the wind. He raced into the library and peered around there. After a while, he surrendered his search by dropping onto a table and letting his head smash against the surface.

Where is she? Why is no one remembering her? What's going on here? Is she okay? Will she come bac—

"Yugi?"

The gamer quickly lifted his head at the sound of a familiar monotone voice. He sighed in relief at the sight of Kaiba towering before him, looking down upon him in utter confusion. One hand securely held a thermos of coffee while the other held a pen and a few books under his arm.

"What are you doing?" He continued at the lack of Yugi's response.

"I didn't know you studied in public," Yugi jabbed, rubbing his temple.

"I don't," he paused, "I didn't know you could study with your face on the table."

Yugi snorted in amusement. "I don't. Wanna sit?"

"No." Their tense stare loosened as Kaiba swayed his attention towards the exit. The redirection was enough means to communicate that the CEO planned to leave promptly. He turned away completely to assure this.

"Yeah, go ahead....leave," Yugi shooed away emotionlessly. "They all do."

He didn't expect Kaiba to actually stop and question the meaning of his statement, but he did. Kaiba stopped dead in his tracks.

"Excuse me?" He turned his head to the side, just enough to catch Yugi in his peripheral vision.

"Anzu leaves and so do you, I get it. It's fine, just go." Yugi dropped his head once more, wincing at the cool touch of the table surface on his skin.

Seconds later, the dragging of a chair shot vibrations up the table, causing Yugi to look up. Kaiba took a seat before him, heavily setting down his thermos and books and staring Yugi in the eye.

"What happened to Anzu?"

It was a dull stare at first. One that held little emotion and lots of exhaustion. It was hard to offer anything but tiresome to someone like Kaiba anyhow. He always brushed off people's emotions with icy blue eyes and stoicism.