We Belong

By: LiliTenshi

Summary: There's always a point in your life where you feel like you don't belong; a moment when a world that you thought you knew becomes a stranger to you. So what if you were one of those people who felt like they never belonged? What if you were never meant to belong? Yami/AtemxOC

Disclaimer: I, in no way, own any character or world created by Kazuki Takahashi.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

…Prologue…

The roar of airplane turbines and the bustling of passengers as they approached their gates went virtually unnoticed to a small group of friends as they faced the three native Egyptians who were there to see them off. Their farewells weren't hastened in the slightest, but there was still a sense of unfulfilled finality, making the parting both solemn and bittersweet. Ishizu Ishtar studied the group of companions who had all went through the same taxing ordeals together, feeling awestruck at how stronger each individual became through their own individual trials. A sense of pride also washed over her in knowing that she was given the honor to witness them overcome these ordeals herself. However, that feeling soon faded away as she registered that three members of the group were absent. Seto Kaiba and his younger brother, Mokuba, had already taken their private jet back to Domino City, where they would continue to run Kaiba Corp. for the years to come, as for the third person…

"Yugi, it's time for us to go."

Ishizu turned to focus on the young boy staring out the window and immediately felt pity for the youth who had suffered the most from this latest endeavor. While there was never a physical body to account for the third person, whom was known as Yami up until a few days ago, his presence never went unnoticed by Yugi because of the strong connection they shared through the Millennium Puzzle, now buried in the far reaches of the Valley of the Kings alongside the rest of the Millennium Items. Now, Yami, whose true identity they found out to be Pharaoh Atem, would be forever absent from their daily lives, and of all the people there, Yugi was the one most affected by this turn of events having lost his closest companion. His forlorn mood was evident in the slump of his shoulders and his downturned eyes. He turned to look at Ishizu, and spoke in a soft, subdued voice.

"Thank you for everything you've done for us, Ishizu; likewise for Marik and Odion. Without your help, we would have never gotten this far."

Yugi turned his gaze to the floor for awhile, reining back the sobs that threatened to escape. Even so, a small tremor shot through his body, and he soon felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. Looking behind him, he saw his grandfather, Solomon Motou, silently offering him wisdom and support. Behind him were his friends Honda, Anzu, Joey, and Duke, who had also experienced the loss of a close companion upon the Pharaoh's departure. Each one of their gazes held sympathy for his despair, but they also held the warmth of their friendship; each person a pillar of strength on their own. Seeing the people closest to him stand by him like this, after all that had happened to them, gave Yugi some of his old determination back. He squared his shoulders and held his head high, and after a few more farewells were spoken, they boarded the jet that would bear them home.

…3 Months Later…

The clambering of footsteps could be heard as a 17 year old girl ran down the stairs towards the front door, pausing long enough to slip on her shoes.

"Umma!(1) I'm going to meet Hana and Jun at the mall now!" she called out.

When she looked up, she spied a woman in her late thirties stepping out of the kitchen into the hallway it opened out to. The woman's dark hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and the casual shirt and jeans she wore at the moment were sprinkled with flour here and there. She was stirring a large bowl of batter that was propped up on her hip as she looked at her daughter with dark hazel eyes.

"Hyorin-ah(2), your father will be back early from the hospital, so don't be out too late, alright?" Her tone was stern, but there was a lighthearted quality to her voice that made her seem like a very relaxed person to be around. "Oh, and before I forget, can you drop off the letter we wrote at the foreign exchange center? It's right there on the coffee table."

At the mention of the foreign exchange student, Hyorin looked up after tying her shoes to see said letter and went over to the table to place it in her purse. Then, after a hasty goodbye and checking to see that she had all of the essentials, she went out the door and towards the mall where she would meet up with her friends.

…Later That Night…

The sun was just starting to set when Hyorin made her way down the street to her house. She had a shopping bag in one hand and an mp3 player in the other as she nodded to the beat of the music playing. The day pretty much went as well as it usually did when she was with her friends at the mall, and upon arriving at the foreign exchange office at her school, she had received word that the student that her family was hosting was a girl her age.

'This day couldn't get any better!' she thought, 'First off, I find a really cute dress at the mall on sale. SCORE! Next, I'll finally have another girl in the house to talk to, and now I get to enjoy one of mom's delicious dinners with everyone home!'

And with that thought, Hyorin rushed home, not noticing the brief flash of light. What she did notice, though, was the sound of leaves shaking and someone falling, and the body of a young man at the foot of the tree in her family's front yard. Panicked at the sight, she ran to the front door and yanked it open. She called out to her family for help and threw her things to the side before running back out to check on the boy. A few seconds later saw her family rushing out to see the commotion. Hyorin noticed some of her neighbors coming out of their houses as well, but brushed that aside when her father began to look over the boy, his medical expertise coming in handy at the moment. While her father was busy with making sure that the boy didn't suffer any head trauma or spinal injuries, Hyorin took the time to study the boy's appearance.

The first thing she noticed was the guy's hair. It was a black spiky mess with red at the tips and golden blonde bangs. There were also some blonde streaks near the front of his head. Second was his tanned skin; not so dark that he looked like he came from Kenya, or some other stereotypical African country, but it was definitely a far cry from the pale tone of your typical Korean citizen. His facial features were sharp, lending him an aristocratic look, and, by Hyorin's standards, a very handsome image, but in no way did he look any older than her, especially in the way he was dressed. He wore a light gray vest with a black, long-sleeved shirt underneath, showing off the muscular build of his torso. On his legs was a pair of fitted black jeans, held up by a simple black leather belt, and on his feet were a pair of black and white sneakers.

A slight twitch of the stranger's hand caught her attention, before everyone noticed that he was waking up and backed away to give him some room. He gave a soft groan just loud enough to be heard by everyone there, before his face scrunched up in pain. With his left hand he propped himself up into a reclining position, and the other he used to massage his forehead.

'He probably has one nasty headache,' Hyorin silently mused.

All other thoughts were quickly banished from her mind, though, when the stranger before her opened his eyes. The people who could see were startled to see a shade of deep violet set into such an intense gaze. Hyorin could have sworn that his eyes flashed a deep scarlet for a moment. She registered the bewilderment and confusion in his eyes before it became apprehension at being in an unknown place surrounded. He stiffened when her father knelt next to him, and she could see that the hand propping him up was gripping the grass beneath him. Everyone saw him pull his right arm in front of him in defense, but no one could understand why he looked shock when he looked down at it. He looked down to examine the clothes he wore, and panic slowly settled on his expression.

"Doko…?(3)"

'Huh? Was that Japanese? Explains the crazy hair, though.'

The stranger's voice was deep and clear as he kept asking questions in Japanese, but quickly noticed that nobody understood him, seeing the confused faces around him. Many of their neighbors left until Hyorin's family were the only people around, still trying to help the young man before them. After another minute, he finally realized that his questions were getting him nowhere, so he tried a different approach.

"W-Where am I?"

Finally, a way through the language barrier. The stranger also spoke English. Hyorin's father took the liberty of answering, since he had the most fluent English out of the family even though he still had a pronounced accent. His voice was soft and low, the kind of voice you would use to calm down a frightened person.

"You are in Korea," he said, and let his words register in the young man's mind before he asked another question. "What is your name?"

The stranger looked down to mull over what was going on, and Hyorin could already see the questions running through his mind, but when he looked up, all she saw was the wariness of being in a foreign place. Even so, he still answered the question.

"Atem. My name is Atem."

A/N: And that was the prologue for "We Belong." I hope it wasn't too bad for you. *wink*

I'll also be using as much Korean and Japanese as I know or am capable of finding, so here's a mini-glossary so everyone isn't out of the loop!

1: Umma- means "mother" in Korean

2: -ah- a suffix used in general for endearment

3: Dozo- The beginning of the Japanese phrase for "Where am I?" (or at least I hope it is ^-^;)

Start Date: Jan. 1, 2010

End Date: Jan. 4, 2010

This is the first written work that I'll be posting on this site, but that isn't an excuse for me to get sugar-coated comments. I appreciate any and all opinions, and knowing that people are genuinely interested in someone's work always motivates a person. Until the next time!

-LiliTenshi