Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh!

Chapter I

The Vines of Fear.

She had been running.

For how long, remained a mystery. She never once looked back, her eyes trained and seeking refuge from this hellish ordeal. Yet, all that lay ahead was the unforgiving darkness, and she grew helpless because of it.

So when weariness settled in, she dropped to her knees and caught her breath while she was a safe enough distance to do so. That separation, however, became smaller and smaller with each passing second, as she recognized the movement of heavy footsteps approaching. Scrambling to her feet, she prepared for another endless sprint, when her arm was enveloped by the force she was trying to escape.

At that moment, time stopped, and she bore witness to those glowing blue eyes which accompanied her every waking moment.

"Anzu." He addressed with such familiarity that it sickened her. "Please don't be afraid of me." She sickened herself, because when he spoke to her with such a sad tone, she was reduced to a butterfly whose wings were singed by his fiery flames.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Anzu cried desperately. "Leave me alone!" A sob emerged from her parched lips and she gasped at the feel of his hand encompassing her cheek. "Stop!" She screamed, as his body drew closer until there was no room left between them.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." He said those words as if he meant them, but in her frazzled state, she couldn't trust her senses. His breath traversed across her neck and she felt him kiss the skin once, twice, and a surprised gasp eased from her when he nipped the flesh. He withdrew when the tension in her body became alarming, and gave her his back. It made no difference to her, because she could never see his face, only the faint image of his body. "You've been through enough for one night." He said quietly. "Farewell."

His throaty good bye was all she could remember, as her body staggered slightly until she collapsed on the cold floor....

With a anguished scream, Anzu rose from the bed and hugged her arms around her body. Her breathing erratic, night clothes dampened with sweat and she pondered her latest nightmare.

A nightmare.

Her experience for the last three nights were enough for her to come to that conclusion. Yet, she couldn't figure out what was scarier: the man in the dream or the dream itself? Whichever it was, she was afraid of both. Determined not to let another sleepless night take its toll on her, Anzu skipped out of bed and walked to the en suite bathroom. Her critical gaze assessed the dark lines beneath her eyes and the lack of color on her face, but that was to be expected. Three days without a decent night's rest was bound to have a price. Thankfully, make-up was created for these type of situations.

An hour passed before Anzu emerged from her impromptu grooming session and hustled down to the kitchen. Her appetite was non existent, but she still forced herself to drink some orange juice. Polishing off the citrusy drink, she gathered her satchel and dashed to the front door.

The students of Domino High Class 1B were rambunctious as always. The loud chatter practically filled the near empty corridors and it brought a warm smile to her face. She'd never realized how important being around others were until she had those frightening dreams. In those dreams, she felt miserably alone and upon waking, her body dissolved into violent tremors. Anzu gave herself a slight shake. It was not something she wanted to think about at this moment. She would leave it until she was in the privacy of her own home.

With her pefect smile in place, she entered the classroom, spying a familiar threesome of guys hudled at the rear. Their attention drawn to the decorative cards lying on the table and she sighed inwardly. Duel monsters was all they, and everyone else in Japan could think about, and although she dabbled in the game herself, she wasn't a fan.

"Good morning." Anzu greeted brightly. She heard a few distracted murmurs of the polite greeting and rolled her eyes. Never interrupt a duel monsters game, she remembered Jounouchi telling her. With a helpless shrug, she sat at her assigned seat and extracted her books in preparation for the oncoming lesson. Miss Kitamura would no doubt spring a surprise test on them and she needed to study.

Or she would have, if a certain duelist hadn't shown up. "Hey Anzu." The girl turned her head to the person beside her and smiled charmingly.

"Hey Yuugi. Are you guys finished with your game?" She gestured to the group in the back and the exulted shouts of victory from her blond friend. Yuugi chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck with a palm.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only to everyone." He didn't reply immediately. His violet gaze transfixed on her face and she suddenly felt self conscious about her looks. Was the cosmetics she applied that noticeable? She'd never liked wearing those things, but she was desperate and didn't want to arouse any suspicious.

"Are you feeling okay? You're looking very fragile this morning." Fragile, would be putting it lightly, Anzu thought sardonically. She was almost tempted into telling Yuugi the truth about her sudden frailness, but thought better of it. He would deem her insane for having dreams about a faceless entity, whose sole purpose was raising her blood pressure.

"I'm fine Yuugi." Anzu lied, and forced a smile to her lips. "I've just been studying for the mid terms and I guess I'm over exerting myself again." It wasn't a complete lie, since she was spending her days studying for the exam, but it was a lie nonetheless. She caught the understanding look on her friend's face and suppressed the sigh of relief she was tempted to exhale.

"I know what you mean." He said with a shrug. "I've been studying or at least trying to study for the exams." He touched a hand to her shoulder, his face turning red and he withdrew nervously. "Just try to get some rest." Anzu nodded and opened her mouth to tease him about his cherry colored face, when the sounds of hasty footsteps alerted her that their teacher had arrived.

Miss Kitamura, Anzu thought, was a pretty young thing who seemed more interested in her students than their studies. Tall, blond hair and brown eyes, with a mouth that turned every male at the school into pathetic little puppy dogs. It was disgraceful to witness such happenings at the place she was trying to get an education, but what could she do? Everyone was hypnotized by the woman's good looks and people would just accuse her of being jealous of the blond. Which of course would be completely untrue. With a resigned sigh, Anzu gave her teacher her undivided attention.

"Good morning everyone." Miss Kitamura paused as everyone returned the pleasantries. "I have some important news to share with you all." The face splitting grin had everyone, but Anzu herself, on the edge of anticipation. Whatever their teacher was going to announce, it was going to be very interesting. "Today we have a new student joining our class!"

Or not.

With a blush staining her cheeks, the older woman turned to the door and spoke with a faintly husky voice, which made Anzu scrunch her face in revulsion. "Don't be shy." She said softly. "Everyone wants to meet you." Before Miss Kitamura had time to finish her sentence, the wooden door opened and out stepped the figure of a man whose presence commanded respect. "Class, please welcome Mr. Seto Kaiba!"

A/N: I know it has been a while since I've been on this site, but I have exams everyday and it's killing me. I'll start updating my other stories on weekends when I have time and I'll catch up on reading some of my favorite stories. The next update will be next week and I hope you look forward to it! Please Review!

Happy birthday Jessica Watsuki!