A/N: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters.
A/N: Warning: Yaoi. If you don't like it, then don't read it. Don't say I didn't warn you. Also, Atem has his own body.
Chapter 1: Revival
Atem stood on the steps outside of the Kame Game Shop, owned by Mr. Mutou. Yugi is inside waiting anxiously for Atem to step in. Yugi's known that Atem was coming back for about a week now. Ishizu warned him so that Yugi wouldn't attack the Pharaoh. Mr. Mutou would likely throw his back out in happiness, but Ishizu was more worried about Yugi because of his closer relationship with Atem. Atem heaved a heavy sigh and turned the doorknob pushing the door open slowly, hoping to avoid the jingling of the bell on the front door.
Jing! Jing! The bell rang lightly, but Mr. Mutou's sensitive hearing brought him to the counter until he saw Atem entering the store.
"Pharaoh! How wonderful it is to see you! I'll go get Yugi from the living room, he's been pacing since he got home from school," Mr. Mutou laughed.
"Ah, thank you Mr. Mutou," Atem bowed, forgetting the change in etiquette that happened over the 5000 years he'd been locked up in the Millenium Puzzle.
"No need to bow, Pharaoh, and call me Sugoroku, please," Mr. Mutou grinned like a cheshire-cat.
"Then thank you, Sugoroku," Atem smiled. Mr. Mutou finally entered the house part of the store and grabbed Yugi's attention. Yugi ran into the store lobby and rushed Atem with a more than enthusiastic hug.
"Yugi, how are you?" Atem asked, Yugi's arms still around his lean form.
"Fine! How are you? How's it like to have your own body? Have you seen any of the others yet?" Yugi questioned Atem like there was no time left in the world.
"I'm fine, Yugi! Having my own body is certainly different, having to deal with all the sights and sounds without the filter of another mind is certainly overwhelming. I haven't seen any of the others yet. Are those the only questions?" Atem chuckled.
Jing! Jing! The bell on the front door rang louder this time, the person not trying to hide the fact they are here.
"Ah, hello-! Kaiba, what are you doing here?" Mr. Mutou asked from behind the front counter.
"I heard from Ishizu that I should visit your shop today around this time. She didn't say why though," Kaiba sighed.
'Ishizu set me up!' Atem thought worried about Ishizu's knowledge of his past with Set, the high priest during his reign as Pharaoh.
"Hello Kaiba!" Yugi greeted, "This is Atem, my cousin. He's an amazing duelist, he even beats me sometimes!"
"Ah, hello. You must be Seto Kaiba, I've heard a lot about you, though I can't say all of it was good. I would love it if we could duel one day, I've heard you're an amazing duelist," Atem smiled, trying to pretend he didn't know Kaiba as to go along with Yugi's lie.
"Hello, Atem. Don't expect a duel though. The only person I duel is Yugi because he is the only competition I have," Kaiba sneered.
"Still arrogant and oblivious," Atem whispered.
"How about he duels me first and if he wins, then you'll duel him, alright?" Yugi offered, wanting Atem to be able to have Kaiba recognize him through the duel.
"Fine, how about tomorrow, noon, at the Kaiba Dome? I have that area free for the day due to some problems which should be fixed by that time. We'll be able to check if it actually works," Kaiba was always focused on work. If he could get some event to work in his favor that it helped Kaiba Corp. the better.
"Alright, see you then, Kaiba," Atem glared at Kaiba with a hatred only known to those who have loved and lost, or have unrequited love.
Kaiba left as casually as he came in and Yugi dragged Atem up to Yugi's bedroom.
"Soo... I see you still have something for Kaiba..." Yugi started.
"I'm giving up on him. He'll never come to see me the way I see him. Our pasts may have entangled that way, but that does not mean it'll happen that way this time too. Kaiba will be the one 'prize' I will never be able to obtain," Atem heaved another heavy sigh, it seemed he was doing that too often having only been in the body for about a week.
"Don't give up! You're the King of Games! You never lose, and you're not about to start! All you have to do is show Kaiba what you're made of after you beat me! He'll recognize you in an instant! Kaiba's also been acting down and all since he was sure you left, and I mean downer than usual considering he's usually an ice-block," Yugi laughed.
"Kaiba would do anything to beat me, and I can't take advantage of that," Atem frowned.
"Anyways, we have to get you a deck ready for tomorrow!" Yugi laughed, taking all of the cards available and pulling them into the house part of the store.
"Sugoroku, if anyone's looking for duel monster cards, we'll have them in the house apparently..." Atem warned Mr. Mutou.
"Alright, have fun creating your own deck," Mr. Mutou smiled.
Jing! Jing! Atem heard the bell ringing on the door again and Mr. Mutou went to greet them.
"Ah! How good it is to see you again! Yugi is in the living room, head on in!" Mr. Mutou laughed, jollily.
"Alright, I'll do just that," the female voice smiled. She walked into the living room, her blonde hair shifted behind her. She wore a duel disk strapped to her back. Her clothes were a tank-top with a button-up t-shirt, and a jean mini-skirt. A belt hung low from her waist and a deck of cards was stored in one of the pockets. Her figure was accentuated by her clothing but also still modestly hidden. Though one could tell she had a very curvaceous figure. She was still smiling from seeing Mr. Mutou, but her expression quickly changed to wonder when she saw two "Yugis."
"Maria! How have you been?" Yugi got up and tackled the girl standing there, though she was a good foot or more taller than him, but everyone was sure the boots contributed to that.
"Wonderful, and you Yugi?" The girl, now known as Maria, asked Yugi. She completely ignored Atem.
"Great, now! Come, meet Atem! He's the spirit from the Millenium Puzzle I was telling you about! We finally managed to get him his own body!" Yugi blabbed, obviously enthused at Maria's sudden visit.
"How do you do?" Maria asked, curtsying.
"I'm well, thank you. May I ask your relationship to Yugi? I am confused because you never visited during the time we shared the same body," Atem's ancient Egyptian manners kicked and compulsorily he takes Maria's hand and kisses the back of it.
"Well, Sugoroku is my grandfather first-removed. So technically my grandfather, on my father's side, is Sugoroku's brother. So Yugi and I are distantly related, which might be why we share the same interest in duel monsters," Maria waved her hand about in a circle off to the side of her, sighing.
"Ah, so you two could technically be married?" Atem asked. The tension in the room could have been cut with a butter knife.
"Legally, yes," Maria sputtered. Yugi's face was a bright tomato red and he turned away from Maria.
"Well, I should start creating my deck..." Atem sighed, thinking about the fact that he would be facing Kaiba again in little under 24 hours.
"Oh! What type of monster will it focus around? That's a place to start!" Maria sat down on the couch and tossed her boots aside.
"Most likely Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, and Dark Magician of Chaos," Atem frowned. He felt like he was just recreating Yugi's deck.
"That makes sense! The High Priest, in Ancient Egyptian times, was the most powerful of the Priests and the Pharaoh's most trusted advisor!" Maria chirped.
"Maria, stop showing off. Just because you're an Egyptology major doesn't mean you know everything," Yugi rolled his eyes.
"It's true though. From what I remember my most trusted friend was Set, the High Priest during my reign," Atem defended Maria though he barely knew her.
"Thank you, Pharaoh," Maria's eyes shined with a happiness only those in love, or those who finally found what they sought after, could have.
"You're starting to sound like Ishizu and Marik Ishtar," Atem chuckled.
"Haha..." Yugi laughed nervously. Maria tensed and her bubbly expression shut down into an expressionless mask, not too unlike Kaiba's.
"Did I say something?" Atem worried, waving his hand in front of her face when her eyes seemed vacant.
"She doesn't like being even construed as related to the Ishtar's. She knows what they did to poor Marik. She's a Kaiba practically through and through," Yugi sighed.
"Kaiba?" Atem's eyebrow raised.
"I was adopted by Gozoborou when I was 4. I was there when Mokuba and Seto were first brought 'home,'" Maria droned.
"You witnessed everything?" Atem asked.
"What does it matter? The past is the past, and we can't change it now," Maria sighed, she got up and left to the upstairs.
"Great... I need to go talk to her, can you work on your deck by yourself?" Yugi smiled half-heartedly.
"Yeah, sure. Take your time," Atem smiled, happy to work alone on his deck.
"Thanks Atem," Yugi waved and bolted up the stairs to find Maria.
Atem looked through the massive amount of cards Mr. Mutou had and found a relatively balanced deck, unfortunately, it completely copied Yugi's deck, unless Yugi had changed his deck in the week since he left. Atem's thoughts wandered to Seto Kaiba and their duel tomorrow. Would Kaiba recognize him? Would Kaiba feel the same way he did when and if Kaiba figured it out? Or would Kaiba take advantage of an opportunity to win against the King of Games?