Disclaimer: Scrupulously not mine.

A/N: Completely and utterly for Azurite, who was mugged today. Set between the Doma and Memory World arcs.

Testing the IQ of the Average Domino City Mugger

© Scribbler, September 2008.

Anzu knew there was a time to scream like a damsel in distress and a time to kick butt. She wasn't only a modern, independent girl; she was survivor of more than one psychotic megalomaniac and apocalypse. Those kind of experiences taught you quickly that there were appropriate times and places for everything, from screaming incoherently and running away, to standing your ground, chasing certain death and throwing yourself on its spikes. There was no shame in admitting there were some things you couldn't handle alone, just as there was no glory in going up again an opponent who could trounce you with a pinkie just to prove you could play with the big kids. Anzu was smart.

Not so the average Domino City mugger.

"Wh-what the fuck, man?" The guy scrambled backwards on his butt, the hood of his jacket falling back to reveal a long face framed by stringy blond hair.

"Leave. Now."

He tried to make a dash for it, but an arm barred his way.

"Not the purse."

They guy hugged it close to his chest, sizing up his opponent. Even if Anzu's saviour was radiating enough fury to burn all the hairs off a stray cat, he was still shorter than the mugger, who suddenly grinned. Thoughts played across his face so clearly Anzu wanted to roll her eyes: One adult against a teenaged girl and a skinny short kid? Piece of cake.

"I wouldn't try it if I were -"

"Yaaah!"

Two minutes later she sighed. "We had a handle on it, guys."

Jounouchi and Honda looked up, still vibrating from the trash can lids they'd simultaneously thwacked down on the guy holding her purse.

"Is that all the thanks we get for saving your butt?" Jounouchi demanded, shaking out an arm to get some feeling back into it.

"You were a little late to play cavalry."

"Huh?" Honda squinted at Yuugi's softening features, purple eyes shifting into his usual limpid pools. "Oh."

Anzu smiled, punching him playfully on the arm. It was nice to know that unlike other girls her age, she could walk home alone from ballet practise and know that if she needed them, her friends was only a heartbeat away – especially if stupid muggers decided to grab her right outside the Game Shop. Yuugi had hurtled out the door like his tail was on fire, surprising them both by the force with which he ploughed into the mugger. Yuugi had knocked him into the alley behind the shop and stood in front of Anzu like a downsized knight errant protecting his princess. It'd been so quick and unexpected that Anzu wasn't even sure whether Yuugi or Yami had been in control at the time – though it was definitely Yami who'd plucked the purse from the senseless guy's arms and returned it to her.

Just as it was now Yuugi looking up at her with naked concern. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you guys."

"It's lucky we were here," Honda said. "We only called in so Jounouchi could scam Yuugi's homework for class tomorrow."

"You said you wanted to play my new video game," Yuugi protested.

Honda rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Oops. Um, should we still be here when this guy wakes up?"

"We should make this a career path or something," Jounouchi declared, looking at the mugger. "'Saving Damsels in Distress 101'. Heh. Whoa, Anzu! Not the face, not the face!"

"Shut up, you idiot, I'm giving you a hug."

"Oh. Well. Yeah. But none of that girly crap – ow!" He rubbed his shoulder. "You punched me!"

"Isn't that the manly way guys hug each other – a girly act followed by macho pain to balance out your testosterone levels?" She grinned wickedly, then turned and hugged Honda, who squirmed but bore his punch stoically. Yuugi, however, got a proper girly hug with all the trimmings – including being hoisted up so she could plant a kiss in his hair, which turned his face scarlet. "Thanks, guys. Really. Thank you."

"You're, um, welcome," Yuugi stuttered, his nose precariously close to her chest. Anzu didn't care. It was Yuugi, after all, not some pervert like the guys at school. She hugged him with the grateful force of someone saved from a very mundane, but no less terrifying threat.

"We should've left her," Jounouchi grumbled, whining and holding his arm like she'd stabbed it through with a dainty parasol and then opened it. "Why did we rescue her? I tell you, we get no respect."

"Tell you what, "said Anzu, "let's go to that doughnut stand on the corner. You can all have as much as you want. My treat."

Jounouchi couldn't be seen for dust. "Screw respect," he said later though a mouthful of warm, cinnamon enhanced batter. "I'll take doughnuts any day."

"You're sure you're okay?" Yuugi asked Anzu again, as Honda thumped Jounouchi on the back to stop his coughing from filling his mouth too full.

Anzu watched her friends, holding her purse close and smiling. "Never better."

Fin.