Yugi stared up at the corkboard before her, covered in colourful posters advertising various extracurricular activities. Clubs... it wasn't something she'd put much thought into before. She'd always preferred simply going home to her games, but both Anzu and her grandfather had suggested it to her, saying it would be a good way to form connections with other people.

But now a new problem arose: she was utterly incompetent at half the things the clubs were for. All of the sports clubs were out of the question immediately, of course, considering how small and weak she was. She knew she wasn't suited for most of the culture clubs as well, since she barely touched musical instruments, didn't have the eye for art and any plants that came under her care withered almost immediately. She didn't mind cooking too much, and it was an important life skill to have; maybe she could join the cooking club if it came down it?

As she gave the board another once-over, she noticed a very particular sign: it looked as if it had been printed in the school library, simply reading "GAME CLUB" in black, bold typeface, with a room number listed underneath. Someone had scribbled a Kuriboh in the blank space on the page in pencil. It was so stark, bland and hastily put together compared to the colourful, descriptive, carefully-made signs of the other clubs she couldn't help but find herself curious. Besides, if it really was a game club... it would be perfect for her!

The room was on the third floor, which was almost deserted at this point, most of the students having either gone or to one of the clubrooms on the lower floors. Yugi wandered around the halls for a bit until she found the room she was looking for, its door closed. She took a deep breath to gather up her courage, gripped the handle, and slid the door open. "Excuse me-"

Two pairs of eyes looked up from a game of chess to lock onto her, and Yugi froze, stopping mid-sentence. Anzu was a big gossip, and when you had two people as impressive as Atem Afzal and Seto Kaiba attending your high school for some incomprehensible reason, there was always news about them flying about. She'd never really bothered trying to get close to them like so many others had, though- due to the simple fact that she was quite frankly intimidated by both of them. She'd witnessed Kaiba toss Ushio across the room as if the brute had weighed nothing, because Ushio'd had the audacity to grab Kaiba by the shoulder. He was hostile to anyone that approached him, and had made it clear to his fangirls that he found them pathetic and annoying. They had found him even more alluring after that.

Atem was rarely apart from Kaiba, considering they were cousins, and he was warm and inviting, compared to Kaiba's frigidity. Despite his short stature, he had a regal presence and a powerful charisma that was impossible to ignore, and was just as strong as Kaiba was- according to some of the boys he'd played basketball with at lunch one time, he was as solid as stone. Most of the girls- Anzu included- tittered about his looks and his smooth voice endlessly. While Yugi supposed that, aesthetically, she could understand why Atem was considered so handsome- he was lean, his muscles were well-defined, his eyes red and piercing, his cheekbones sharp, and his Egyptian heritage giving him glowing tanned skinned and an exotic appeal to most girls- she didn't find herself feeling any attraction to him like that. She'd much rather get to know a person before considering a relationship. Regardless, he was too high on the social ladder for her to even consider approaching, and she was quite sure he was tired of girls constantly crowding around him, so she'd simply decided to leave him alone and be on her merry way.

So, when confronted with these two, alone, staring at her, Yugi's brain panicked, transcended the usual anxiety and mortification she'd feel in such a situation, and turned her mouth to auto pilot. After another moment of silence, she smiled at the pair apologetically, while she screamed internally.
"Sorry for bothering you, I must have gotten the wrong room. I'll be going now." And she slide the door back shut.

Or, she tried to.

In less than a second, Atem had risen from his seat, crossed the room and gripped the edge of the door, holding it open. "Wait- are you looking for the game club?" he asked her breathlessly. Yugi just nodded, dumbfounded. He beamed at her. "In that case, you do have the right room! Come in!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside; closing the door behind her once she was fully within the room. To her, it sounded like a prison door locking shut. Atem then turned look at Kaiba, patting Yugi's shoulder excitedly. "See, Seto, I told you people would be interested in the club for real!" Atem sounded completely delighted, and Yugi was amazed at the sharp contrast between the calm, regal person he was from a distance and the boy acting like an excited child before her. Kaiba looked her over and snorted.

"She's probably just another fangirl. Now she's going to blab to the rest of them and everything will be ruined. Fantastic."

Atem shook his head vigorously. "Seto, if you actually bothered to remember people's faces, you'd know that she's never been among the fangirls. I've seen her sometimes in the library and she's never approached me or squealed over us or anything. Oh, but," he looked at Yugi, "We don't know your name! So let us introduce ourselves first."

"I think she already knows who we are." Kaiba snarked.

Atem grabbed Yugi's hand and shook vigourously. "I'm Atem Afzal, class 3-A, president of the game club! Nice to meet you!" He gestured at Kaiba. "And Seto is the vice president. We're in the same class. Try not to let him get to you." Kaiba examined his fingernails as Atem spoke. "So how about you?"

"Ah..." Yugi swallowed the lump in her throat, having calmed down now... mostly. Atem's attitude made it a bit easier to speak, but she was still incredibly uncomfortable. "I'm... Yugi Mutou. Class 2-C. It's nice to meet you, Afzal-san. Kaiba-san." She bowed politely.

"There's no need to be so formal!" Atem told her with a laugh, moving over to rummage in his bag. "You can just call me Atem if you want." He wanted her to use his first name? "I don't think Seto will let you call him anything but Kaiba, though. Class 2-C... you're a year below us, then. So, tell me, Yugi, why do you want to join the game club?"

Yugi's eyes lit up. "I've always loved games! My grandpa owns a game shop, so I grew up around them. I love puzzles the most. I wanted to join this club because I never have anyone else to play with."

Atem was surprised at how suddenly the girl's demeanor changed when she started talking about games. She was more animated, open, and bolder than the timid thing that they'd been talking to up until now. It was clear that games were her passion. He gave a meaningful glance to Seto, who ignored him. They'd really found a perfect member for their club. He finally stood up from his rummaging, brandishing a sheet of paper and a pen proudly, before setting them on a desk in front of Yugi.

"You just have to sign here to join!" Yugi numbly signed her name in the spot Atem indicated, and when she was finished, he snatched up the paper and held it above his head.

"And with this, we have our third member!" he declared proudly.

"Wait, the club is just us?!" Yugi asked, as she processed the words. Given the popularity of the boys, she'd assumed there would be more members...

Atem nodded sheepishly. "We wanted to find people truly passionate about gaming, so we kept our involvement a secret...

"What he means," Kaiba cut in, "is that we didn't want this club overrun by fangirls and suck-ups who'd join to kiss our asses."

"Seto, watch your language!"

"It's true, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but there's no need to word it like that! By the way, Yugi, do you know anyone else who would be interested? We need another member to be an official club."

"Ah," they'd turned the attention to her again, and Yugi forced herself to speak, "I don't know anyone like that right now, but I could ask around, if you want me to? Since I don't have the same reputation you guys do..."

I have about the opposite reputation...

Atem clasped her hands, his eyes shining brightly. "You'd do that for us? Thank you, so much!"

"It's no problem, really! You guys look like you were in the middle of something, and I should probably head home now, so..."

Atem looked back to the chess board as if he'd only just remembered it was there (because he had). "Oh. Are you sure you can't stay and watch?"

"No, she definitely has to leave now, it's clearly very urgent." Kaiba said flatly, making shooing motions at Yugi. "Let's get back to our game now."

"Well..." Atem deflated slightly. "I supposed you're right. But you'll come back tomorrow, won't you, Yugi?" He looked at her with anticipation.

"Uh- Of course!" Yugi inched over to the door as she spoke, before Atem found another excuse to keep her there.

"And you said your grandfather owns a game shop, right? You could bring in games for us, then! Something all three of us can play!" Atem got excited again at the prospect.

"Don't worry, I will!" Why did she keep agreeing to what they wanted?! "Um... I'll see you later, then!" She slid open the door, ducked out of the room, shut the door again, walked a few steps down the hall, and then turned to the wall and banged her head against it. "What have I gotten myself into?" Yugi groaned.

Atem looked up when he heard something thump against the wall from the outside. "What was that?" he asked aloud, seating himself in front of the chess board.

Kaiba grunted. "Probably nothing important. It's your turn."

Atem moved his bishop, their match resumed. "You can try to be nice to our new member, you know." He chastised gently.

Kaiba took one of Atem's rooks with his knight. "I was being nice. She wanted a way out, so I gave her one."

Atem pouted as he moved his pawn forward. "I wanted her to get used to us! She's clearly timid. We should make her feel as comfortable as possible so she'll open up."

"Why do we even need this club, anyways? Aren't I enough of a challenge for you?" Kaiba changed the subject and took Atem's pawn with a rook. Atem looked at him with dawning realization.

"Oh, you're jealous."

Kaiba spluttered. "I am not jealous! Why the hell do you think I'm jealous?!"

"Because you don't want her to take away our game time. Seto, to be honest, as much as I love playing against you, playing against nobody but you gets tiring. I want to play against other people and see what strategies they use so I can think about how to beat them. Do you understand?" Atem moved his queen. "Checkmate, by the way."

Kaiba stared at the board ferociously, let out a growl and began to rearrange the pieces. He was silent for a long while, before finally huffing out: "I understand. Another game?"

"Of course."

Yugi's body carried her through the motions of walking home, greeting her grandfather as she entered the shop and going upstairs to her room. When she got there, she tossed her bag into the corner, flopped onto the bed, and screamed into her pillow. What was she going to do? She already had enough troubles with bullies as it was. If they found out she was in a club with Atem and Kaiba, the torment would become unbearable. And recruiting new members? What was she thinking, agreeing to that? Nobody was going to join a club she was promoting. They'd just laugh at her at best. She could invite Anzu to the club to make it official, but... Oh god. Anzu.

What was she going to tell her? Anzu was her oldest friend. Her only friend, really. If she found out Yugi was keeping something like this from her, their friendship would be utterly ruined. Anzu would hate her. But at the same time, Yugi knew about Anzu's massive crush on Atem, and Kaiba's words about fangirls rang in her ears. Would they hate her if she introduced Anzu to them? Would Anzu gossip? Would she openly fawn over them in the way that Kaiba hated and Atem found uncomfortable? Anzu was a good person. She wasn't shallow and vapid like many of the other fangirls were. But the situation could go wrong in so many ways... Not for the first time in her life, Yugi wished she had the ability to say no.

She jerked up as she heard a knock at the door, turning around as her grandfather opened it, peeking in cautiously. "Is everything alright, Yugi?" He asked, his voice laced with concern. Yugi smiled at him apologetically.

"Sorry for worrying you, grandpa. I'm just in a weird situation with some friends. It's nothing important."

Her grandfather hummed, deciding to drop the subject. If Yugi didn't want to tell him, he couldn't force it out of her. "Would you like to come downstairs for tea and duel monsters? It's been a while since our last match."

Yugi let out a laugh. "I'd love to." She slipped off her bed and followed her grandfather downstairs.

A/N: Genre will change in the future.

Atem and Kaiba's mothers are sisters, both Japanese. Atem's father is Egyptian, making him mixed race. I know that describing him as "exotic" is offensive, and I apologize, but I want to point out that's what the fangirls think about him and is intentionally dehumanizing.
Atem's last name, Afzal, means "better, superior". I'll leave you to guess why (It's cause he's the Pharaoh).
Kaiba (and Mokuba) are Gozaburo's biological children in this fic.
Kaiba made the sign. Atem drew the Kuriboh. It's very badly drawn.
Yugi is asexual in this fic because I do what I want. She's also a girl because fuck you I like fem!Yugi fics.

Please Review!

Edit: Re-formatted the chapter.