Note: This story is just fluff. As the summary says Atem falls in love with Mana and with the help of some friends they come up with some ways (sometimes rather stupid ways) to get Mana to see him a different light. This story won't have any meaningful character development or a heart wrenching plot line. This is mainly for my fangirling heart and other Vaseshippers out there (or anyone who just wants a fluffy read). I hope that if you choose to read this story, you enjoy it.

Pairings: Atem x Mana, Yugi x Tea, Seto x Kisara, slight Joey x Mai and slight Mahad x Ishizu

"A guy and a girl can be just friends. But at one point they will fall for each other. Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late or maybe forever."

Chapter 1

Atem sat in the bustling cafeteria, his eyes trained on the cooling food on his tray. He used his fork to jumble up the food, he didn't really have an appetite today. He ignored the looks and whispers of those around him.

His mind was a hurricane. Torrents of thoughts whirled around with no orderly fashion, past insecurities flooded his insides and the calm centred around one question. How could this have happened? This shouldn't have happened. He couldn't like or love her like this, she was practically his sister. It's incest, except... we're not actually related. He told himself it must be a phase. Don't they say you fall in love with your best friend at least once? Maybe this is a deeper love, the same platonic love but deeper. It would make sense, Mana was an amazing girl. He could be who he was around her without having to prove anything. Her smile lit up every room. She's absolutely crazy but that's what makes her funny. She knows his emotions and knows exactly what to say. They didn't go one day without checking on one another, even if it was through text and Atem did want her to be part of his future. In a platonic sense, I don't have a sister.

He sighed, he didn't understand what any of this meant. Usually with emotions, he'd confide with Mana but this time he couldn't. No, he will not ruin their friendship over his emotions.

Atem tried to think of the exact moment when this happened. Maybe he could re-evaluate his life from there. There must be something that changed down the line, Mana couldn't just become the most beautiful, irresistible, incredible woman he ever met. She didn't change. She continued her wreaking havoc ways, pulling Atem into it without him realising half the time. She didn't change her fashion or her hair. Her smile stayed the same. She was the same silly girl he grew up with, except now she felt like so much more.

Maybe there was something wrong with him. Maybe he changed. Except he hadn't. The two were their usual selves.

Maybe I've always loved her... Atem frowned. No, that can't be it. There was an endless list of things he loved about her, everything that made her her. But this love was different, very different. A type of love that he would never felt before. The type of love that would drive him crazy.

He felt a nudge at his side, causing the whirlwind of thoughts to freeze. He looked up and blinked at his twin brother.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked. "You've been staring at your food ever since you got it. And don't you dare say that something is not wrong, Atem you eat like a pig so when you don't there's something wrong." Atem groaned. He can't have this conversation. His new feelings, whatever they were, had to stay a secret. Plus, Atem practically bullied Yugi into asking Tea out so if he found out about Mana well... Yugi will be getting his payback.

Atem knew he'll have to come up with something, Yugi is pretty perceptive. "Just stressed, you know with the English and History assignments, oh and the Maths and Chemistry homework," he lied smoothly. His baritone voice promised his twin that was the case but Yugi could see right through him and consequently he rolled his eyes.

"Domino high school's top student does not worry about assignments and homework," he stated, before a wicked grin curved on his lips. "Is it a girl?"

Atem kept his face neutral. "Of course not," he denied. Yugi rolled his eyes again. He could recognise a boy in love because he was one too.

"It is a girl," Yugi teased.

Atem furrowed his eyebrows. "Yugi," he warned. "It is not a girl."

Yugi wasn't fazed by the deathly tone in his brother's voice. He had heard it too many times to be intimidated by it. He knew Atem and when he got like this, what he was suggesting usually was the problem. "So who is she?"

"Yugi!"

"Atem!" He repeated in the same tone. Yugi knew he was beginning to get annoying but he hated it when Atem pretended that emotions were the bane of his life. "C'mon stop being so stubborn and tell me."

"You are being ridiculous Yugi, I don't know where you could have gotten such an idea from. It is not a girl." Atem knew that the more he denied the more obvious it became to his twin. It would only be a matter of time until he figured out...

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

The colour drained from Atem's face before his cheeks highlighted red. He smacked his hand to Yugi's mouth, ignoring the looks of his other friends on the table and gave Yugi the deadliest glare he could muster. "Don't even." Atem dropped his hand and the next thing he heard was Yugi giggling, sounding an awful lot like Mana.

"I-I c-can't be-believe it-t," Yugi managed to voice through his rambunctious laughter. Atem continued to glare at his brother with his arms crossed over his chest. He couldn't believe how fast he was to catch on, he only kept it to himself. But, what if, he was being really obvious? What if everyone knew? What if Mana knew?

Almost as if on cue, a pair of warm, small hands sat on his shoulders. Atem tensed up. "Ooh, what's the joke?" Mana asked, positioning herself so she was in front of the two. Her easy smile sitting on her lips and her voice seeming like she was going to burst out into the same laughter in the next couple of seconds. Her eyes darted between the twins, they managed to grab the attention of the whole table.

"C'mon, tell us! Why's Yug' laughing so hard?" Joey questioned, stopping his bickering with Tristan to look at them. "C'mon Atem."

Atem shrugged, his frustration masked with a neutral expression. Now that Yugi knew, he wouldn't be able to live it down. "He's just laughing," Atem said, turning away from his brother and back to his food. The table, not satisfied with his answer, turned back to their conversations. Mana sat on the other side of Atem, she faced him and started to evaluate his face. He knew that if he didn't act normal fast, he's screwed.

"So why are you late to lunch?" He asked Mana, deciding that now was a good time to eat his food. He wouldn't have to meet her eyes.

"Oh, well you know my relationship with Maths. We're never going to get along so I don't understand why Miss Shen thinks she could try and get it to work. She was telling me that I'm going to fail the subject if I don't improve. Mahad's going to kill me when he finds out." She grimaced at the end, knowing exactly how her brother and guardian got when he came to her not-so-good subjects. She turned to pull out her packed lunch from her bag whilst grumbling about how maths theorems aren't going to help in real life and why can't we start learning something actually relevant in school.

Atem didn't respond to her apart from a sympathetic nod, instead he settled on watching how her lips resumed a pout every time she finished a sentence. He decided he needed to stop thinking of Mana like this when she was in front of him.

Mana furrowed her eyebrows at Atem's silence. He wasn't as chatty as she was but he usually offered some encouraging words of advice when she started talking about Math. "Is something wrong? You're quieter than usual?" She asked, looking up from her food and back at him.

It took everything in his body to stop a blush from forming on his cheeks, and he was glad it worked. He blinked in response to her question. "I was thinking... of how you could improve," he lied. Mana gave him a look but then shrugged. She knew something was up and she knew Atem was always strange.

"Can you tutor me again?" She asked. "I promise, I'll be good."

Atem smirked. "But you don't listen to me when I try to tutor you, you always get distracted by everything else."

"I'll be good," she repeated. She would definitely try. In her defence, it wasn't her fault that the world was suddenly more magical and interesting when it came to Math. Atem didn't look convinced, he'd known her for as long as he could remember. She would not sit down for Maths. "Come on, please!" She grabbed his hands and cradled them in hers as if they were the most precious thing in the world. "I'll love you for forever," she bargained, even though she already did anyway. The word love seemed to get to Atem but he didn't let her see that.

He didn't say anything, weighing the pros and cons even though he already knew the answer. He'd take time out to tutor her anything if she desired. He watched as Mana's eyes seem to grow by the second, her bottom lip jutting out and she batted her eyelashes. He became afraid of everything he might do for her if she ever asked.

"Okay fine, but you have to pay attention."

"Yay!" She cheered and let go of his hands so she could wrap her arms around him. Atem 'oof'ed and tried to hug her back in the same enthusiastic manner that he usually would but as he tried he could hear Yugi's giggle behind him. Atem ignored him and ignored how Mana's body was pressed against his. He ignored how her soft hair tickled his neck and how her dusty, floral scent wafted towards his nose. He almost ignored the thought of how this wasn't going to get any easier.

He was in trouble.

Mana: I'm just leaving the house, I'll be over in a few. Mahad said he'll pick me up after his shift so we have a few hours to work, thank you again for tutoring me! :) x

Atem smiled at the text, ignoring the kiss at the end. She sent kisses to everyone. He texted a quick reply before clearing his desk. He had finished his History assignment, now he had to wait a week until he turned it in. He had the habit of turning in his homework early but it made his classmates look bad. So for Joey and Mana's sake he gave them in on the deadline. Atem swivelled his office chair across so he could place the extra chair he had brought.

Usually, they'd revise on the bed. It was a lot more comfortable and they had a lot more space. But his tutoring usually ended up in some sort of wrestling match as a result of who would eat the last cookie. Atem didn't think he could cope being so close to her, he might say something stupid or go red and he hated it. He was always himself with Mana and now, he couldn't. Not until he sorted through the thoughts in his head.

On the bright side, if they worked on the desk it meant that they'd get some work done. He didn't want Mana to fail.

He pulled out some of his maths notes and the homework. He knew she'd be needing help with that. After they went through the content, they could do it together.

He heard the doorbell ring downstairs signalling her arrival. Mana only lived two blocks away, which meant as kids they were inseparable. They still were and the whole of Domino knew it. He heard Mana yap to Grandpa before she skipped up the stairs. She said hello to Yugi as she passed his room before she entered Atem's.

"Hey Temmy," she greeted cheekily. Atem threw her a mock glare, he didn't like the nickname, never had but Mana always called him that anyway. "Ready to do some Maths?" She said and threw her backpack onto the bed.

"I'm ready, but are you ready to do some Maths?" He gave her a questioning glance, whenever he tutored her in the past the first half an hour was spent trying to get Mana in the mood for something academic. It usually went downhill from there.

"Of course silly," Mana assured and stuck her tongue at him in the end. Her eyes scanned the room for something edible, she couldn't do some work without some snacks. "What snacks did you get?"

Atem, of course, foresaw this. Half the time Mana thought with her stomach and because of that the both of them had a nasty snacking habit.

"Well, if you're good I got you some..." Atem pulled out a packet of rainbow cookies from his desk drawer. Instantly Mana's eyes lit up and she started to jump on the spot.

"Cookies!" She cheered and leaped forward before Atem could even think about moving, she snatched them from him and opened the packet. "Yes, I love these. Thank you so much, you're the bestest!" She pulled a cookie out of the packet aggressively and shoved the entire thing in her mouth.

"Those were for afterwards..." Atem said, finishing his previous point. He shook his head and grinned. This girl. "You better not eat them all now, you're going to get hyper."

Mana chuckled, the cookie still in her mouth making her cheeks puff out. "I'll be good," she mumbled, crumbs falling everywhere. She chuckled again, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and swallowed the cookie.

Atem shouldn't have bought Mana her favourite cookies.

Mana walked towards him and placed the cookies on the table before slipping into his office chair, twirling it with her feet and relaxing her arms around her head. "Come on, let's get started."

"You have to get your stuff out first," Atem pointed out.

"You have to get my stuff out first," she teased, the sparkles in her eyes dancing a bit.

Wait, what? Sparkles? Sparkles, Atem? Seriously. Mana does not have sparkles in her eyes. Her eyes are normal, like every other girl's. Theirs do not have sparkles.

He pushed his train of thought away from his mind, he couldn't be like this now. "Mana, you've just come and you're already lazy?" He questioned.

Mana nodded and grinned. "Just keeping it real." Atem rolled his eyes and grabbed her bag off his bed. He passed it to her and she proceeded to take out her work book, textbook and stationery with methodical precision.

And the procrastination begins. Atem thought, whilst a stupid little smile sat on his lips.

They started with the basics of Trigonometry. Mana had somehow managed to confuse and complicate the entire thing so Atem settled for starting from scratch. That way it could stop Mana from confusing herself more. Then they moved on to some algebra, which for the most part, Mana could handle on her own. It just took her a lot more time than it should've for her to complete simple questions. It didn't help that she'd mention something unrelated after every couple of minutes. Overall, Mana was showing progress which proved to the both of them that when she focussed she could do it.

Mana reached out for another cookie, surprised that the cookies hadn't finished by now. On any other day it would be finished within 20 minutes. She peered at Atem who seemed to be focussing on her equations a little too hard. She realised he hadn't had any at all.

"How come you haven't had any cookies?" She asked.

Atem looked up at her, his amethyst eyes catching her sapphire ones easily. He shrugged. "I bought them for you to eat."

Mana rolled her eyes, the vacant expression on his face was beginning to make her curious. "When you buy them you always eat them with me."

Atem knew this was true. Although Mana ate majority of the cookies, he at least ate a third of them. Truthfully, he had lost this appetite like he had earlier and he tried to keep his mind focussed so he didn't have to think of irrelevant things like how the lighting made Mana's hair look silkier.

He knew that if he didn't eat any then one of two things would happen: Mana would proceed to feed him or she would question him. Neither was desirable.

"Well if you insist," he replied smoothly. He grabbed a cookie and took a bite of it. It was a bit sweet for his liking, but Mana always had a bigger sweet tooth than he did. He just ate them because they were there.

Mana completed a few more questions and they managed to finish the packet between them. "I'm a Maths genius!" She declared, after Atem checked all the answers and said they were mostly right. She still made a few silly mistakes.

"What about me? I helped you." His voice mildly offended.

"Oh yes, what would I do without you?"

"Fail the subject and have to repeat the year," he answered, pride filling his voice. Mana threw him a mock glare.

"Okay Mister-Know-It-All, we all can't be as perfect as you are," she teased.

"Actually it's Master-Know-It-All," he corrected with a chuckle. Mana laughed in response and punched his arm lightly.

"Well I'm sorry Master. I'll address you properly next time," she assured. The two laughed at their silly banter.

All of a sudden, Atem felt Mana's fingers brush against lips and chin. He felt himself heat up until he realised she was just wiping away the crumbs. It was a habit of hers and in response he'd do something gross like try to bite or lick her hand. This time he was frozen, Mana's soft touch remained with him after she pulled her hand away. He felt his train of thought, about her touch, going somewhere very inappropriate very fast.

He blinked, trying to forget the feeling and tried to refocus on the task at hand. He saw Mana hunched over the homework sheet, scribbling something down and it brought a smile to his face. He never thought he'd see the day.

Atem leaned forward to see her workings out and saw that she wasn't working at all, instead she started to doodle. She did it everywhere claiming she couldn't help herself. She was an artist after all. He noticed she was doodling him, which she did whenever he was around. She did it to everyone. Her workbooks had doodles of her teacher and classmates all over them.

"Do you have to do that on my homework?" He asked and tried to shimmy it from under her. But she wouldn't let him, she had to finish it first.

"Of course, you don't have to write your name on it now. Miss Shen will know it's yours by looking at it," she answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Atem's lips curved up at her logic and he waited patiently for her to finish. It was only a sketch so it didn't take that long. He just had to stop Mana from colouring it in.

Promptly afterwards they started and completed the homework. To help consolidate what Atem had taught her, he told Mana to talk him through it as if he was the pupil.

When they were done, Mana packed up her work, twisted the office chair so she could face Atem's bed and jumped on it. She slumped into the sheets, acting like she had done the most tiring thing in the world. In Mana's opinion, Maths was.

"It's done, that's the first time I've completed my maths homework not on the day it was due in," She said, her voice muffled by the sheets.

"Or any homework, for that manner," Atem said with a chuckle. Mana turned her upper body so she could stick her tongue at him.

"You're such a meanie Atem."

Atem grinned. "I'm just stating the truth," he defended. Mana stuck her tongue out again and beckoned him to come over.

He blinked. Frenetic thoughts whizzed through his mind and he felt a wave of ice and then a wave of fire consume him. If anything, this wasn't weird. Him and Mana were close. If any random person saw how they interacted with each other, they would assume they were a couple. The gang were sometimes convinced that they were pursuing a secret relationship, but they always denied it. Atem now wished that was the case. He stared at her, convincing himself that there was nothing provocative about the way she was sprawled across his bed. Although it seemed right to him, he reminded himself that he's seen her there before and never felt this way.

He moved towards the bed so she wouldn't notice his shift in mood, and settled beside her. He lay on his back, leaving a few inches between them but Mana moved her head so her cheek was pressing his shoulder. Despite the spike in heart rate, he felt surprisingly at ease with her closeness. But then again he always did. They always cuddled together, hugged, even napped together, occasionally held hands and had cheek and forehead kisses. Their intimacy was normal for them and those around them. Atem wondered why his stupid feelings had to change.

The lay in silence, one was in a mess and the other was almost asleep. Atem always hated Mana's ability to fall asleep within 0.3 seconds. Mana was on the verge of dreaming when a beep filled the room. She groaned, Mahad's timing had to be now didn't it? She was just about to go to dreamland and Atem's bed was always so comfy.

"Mana that was your phone," Atem told her. She shrugged, she could feel the ache from yesterday's cheerleading practice. She didn't want to move, at least not yet. "You know how Mahad gets."

"Mahad gets all the time," she mumbled and grabbed a pillow from above her and pressed it to her face. She heard him chuckle softly and get up from the bed, probably to get her phone from her bag.

"You're so lazy."

"You love it," she sang in response. She didn't hear a response from him, thinking maybe he was tired too. He'd been quieter than usual all day, but she decided not to question it. Only if it continues, she would.

She pulled the pillow away from her face and propped herself up, seeing that Atem had read her message. Not that she minded. Mahad was like an older brother to Atem. "He said he'll order pizza if you get out quickly," he told her. A million dollar smile graced Mana's lips and she jumped off the bed and pulled her phone from Atem's grasp to check her phone. She squealed in excitement when she saw the message. Rainbow cookies and pizza on the same day? From my two favourite boys? This has got to be the best day ever!

She threw her phone into her bag, zipped it up and slung it on her arm. She flung her arms around Atem for a goodbye hug, he jolted it response - he must be daydreaming again. "Thank you for today, for the cookies, the tutoring, you're the best! I love you!" She pressed her lips against his cheek for a second before pulling away from him. "You're like a brother to me! Except sometimes better than Mahad." She giggled at the end and gave him a wink before skipping out of the room. As she walked past Yugi's room, she could hear his same laughter from earlier. She shrugged and skipped down the downstairs. She had to grab the banister halfway down so she wouldn't tumble.

Back in Atem's room, Atem stood shell shocked. His eyes were widened and his jaw dropped.

I'M BROTHER-ZONED?!

He didn't like that, not at all. His feelings were already unreasonable, he wanted to reject them. But being seen as a brother? It made his stomach churn and his heart crack. No, he didn't want to be feel as a brother to Mana...yes, he used to see her as a sister but...

"...She sees me as a brother!" He exclaimed to himself, making it feel more real.

"Well that shouldn't be a problem, you don't like her like that," a voice intervened. Atem winced, not recognising the voice first but then realising it was his twin. In response, he scowled which made Yugi giggle. He ignored him and moved to slump onto his bed.

Mana always drove him crazy, from the day he met her and now it was a different kind of crazy and the fact that she felt nothing in response...

"Why don't you just tell her? Tea was my childhood best friend and it worked out."

"Tea didn't say you were like a brother to her."

Yugi tried to think of a counter point. He didn't have one. With Tea there was something different. Yugi was always the awkward, dorky boy who blushed around girls. He had been in love with Tea for such a long time and wasn't overprotective or anyway brotherly like Atem was. Atem was awkward and dorky still (he was better at hiding it), but Mana and Atem did act a lot like siblings.

"Well she said you're like a brother, maybe you should stop being like that. Make her see you differently," Yugi suggested and moved into the room so he could sit with his brother. He wanted to tease him so badly for all the years that Atem had done it to him but he wouldn't. At least not now. Maybe when he was being annoying or something.

"She's going to wonder why I'm acting differently. You know Mana, she picks up on everything."

"That's true, even things I don't pick up on. Just be subtle or just tell her. You're going to lose your mind if you don't."

Atem shook his head. No. He had no plan to tell her anything. Today he was lucky, he knew Mana knew he was acting differently but she was giving him time. He needed to get over her somehow. Don't they say that it's easy to fall out of love? Staying in love is the hard part, this was probably only a phase. Then they could continue as usual, back to their intimacy and antics without a second thought.

But Atem's heart panged. He didn't want to fall in love with anyone else. He didn't want anyone else to know him like Mana knew him. He didn't want her to fall in love and be close to anyone else. He dug his hands into his hair. One thought was clear in his mind.

He didn't want to fall out of love. No, and he doubted that he would.

Reviews please! :)