Thank you so, so much to everyone who has read, favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far. You guys are wonderful. Since I couldn't respond to anonymous reviewers, I wanted to make sure and give a big thank you to Slooth for their sweet words! Also, though the review was left on Ore no Sonzai, thank you so much to ErinNovelist for the touching message. It moved me very close to tears. I'm so glad you guys are enjoying the story, and I hope you continue to do so.

Warnings for lots of POV-shifting in this chapter, as both Yuugi and Yami adjust to their new … situation.

Oh, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Yuugi was actually trapped by the Orichalcos longer than twenty-four hours or so, despite the incidents within taking up around twenty-five episodes. Anzu's wearing the same outfit from 160 onwards, and I think it's only nighttime once.

Another note: at some point between Duelist Kingdom and KC Grand Prix (I'm not sure when), Yami starts calling Sugoroku "Jii-san" instead of "Jii-chan," "Jii-chan" being what Yuugi calls him and "Jii-san" being a slightly more formal address (what Jounouchi and Honda call him), presumably because he recognizes that Sugoroku isn't his real grandfather.

2

Yuugi's mouth hung open, moving as if he wanted to speak, but his brain simply couldn't find the words.

He was still dreaming. He was definitely still dreaming. Because his other self was a spirit living in the Puzzle. He could project himself, and he often did—Yuugi had woken up several times to find him sitting at his desk, staring out the skylight at the moon or even watching Yuugi with soft, yet piercing eyes.

He didn't have a body. Not unless …

Yuugi looked down at himself, twisted his hands. No. He was solid.

He looked to the figure beside his bed. The light was better there, the moon's glow illuminating his other self's form. And Yuugi definitely could not see through him.

This didn't feel like a dream. But it had to be. It—

He swallowed.

"You're … you're …"

"Aibou …" his other self breathed, his voice cracked, so new, like he had never used it before.

Because he had never used it before.

Yuugi pinched his arm, squeezed his eyes shut, and looked again. Nothing changed. He knew the arm-pinching technique didn't always work, but … He held his other self's gaze.

"You are, I mean, it's not … a trick of the light, or …?"

His other self said nothing. But seconds later, he shivered, pulling his arms as close to his torso as he could while still using them to support himself. Yuugi blinked. His other self shivered again, and for the first time Yuugi realized he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Oh!" He threw the blankets off his own body and swung his legs off the edge of the bed, climbing around his other self. "You … you must be freezing. Here, I'll get you some clothes …"

Without another glance at the figure he knew hadn't stopped watching him, he scrambled to his closet, pulling open the door and sorting through his clothes, searching for—what did he need again?—pajamas. Every few seconds he felt his head twitching to look over his shoulder, but each time he held himself back.

He had seen his other self at some of his worst points. Angry, cruel, terrified, broken-hearted. But he had never seen him look so … weak. So distressed, like a naked child thrown out into the cold.

Which he was. He was a bit older than a child, and the room was only a little chilly, but Yuugi couldn't think of a better comparison to make.

It felt wrong, to see his strong, seemingly fearless other self sitting on the floor like he didn't know how to stand up, arms held close for warmth, his whole body trembling, though whether from cold or fear Yuugi couldn't tell. His brain wasn't working, he looked in the wrong parts of the closet three times before he found his stack of pajamas. He pulled out one of his favorite pairs—other than the starry ones he wore now—and took a deep breath before carrying them back across the room.

"Here," he murmured, kneeling at his other self's side, pajamas held out. The boy, familiar yet like a stranger, turned to face him with struggling motions, like an infant trying to turn over for the first time.

In the moonlight, Yuugi could make him out a little better. His hair was the same as always, his eyes the same violet with tinges of crimson. Only his skin seemed to have changed, from a pale peach to a rich bronze, new and unscathed.

And … completely naked.

Yuugi blinked, then rushed back to his closet to grab a pair of underwear.

Really, he just wasn't thinking right now.

Getting his other self dressed was a bit like dressing a doll—which he had done several times when Anzu was younger and still liked to play with dolls, and he had helped her find outfits to suit them. For all his other self loved to offer fashion advice, loved to pick their clothing, Yuugi didn't think he had ever actually dressed the body. Or had he? When Yuugi had been locked away by the Orichalcos, had he had to change clothes? According to his friends, he had only been gone a day or so, even though it had seemed longer. Even if it had been longer, he doubted his other self would have bothered.

It took them five minutes to get Yuugi's other self into pajamas, and by that time, he seemed to have exhausted the tiny bit of energy he possessed. His breaths came harder, and even though Yuugi had picked his warmest pajamas, he still shivered.

Yuugi knelt next to him, helpless, useless, shouldn't he know what to do? Why was this happening? What was he supposed to do?

He swallowed and shook his head, forcing his brain to work again.

"Okay. The floor can't be that comfortable. Let's get you into bed …"

His other self didn't speak. Yuugi slipped his hands under his arms and lifted him up—or tried. They were both small, but Yuugi had never been physically strong. But on the second try he dragged him toward the bed, up and forward and onto the mattress.

Only at the last moment did he notice the Puzzle, still in its normal spot close to the pillow. He managed to nudge it away with his elbow without knocking it into the wall, then set his other self down as gently as he could manage. He lay there like a rag doll while Yuugi tugged his legs onto the bed and arranged his limbs so that he looked halfway comfortable. Yuugi tried not to think about how much it felt like moving a corpse.

By the time he finished, his arms ached, and his heart pounded from the strain. His breathing slowed, and he sat on the bed in front of his other self, chewing his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"I don't get it. How did this …?" He wanted to grip his hair and scream. Here was his other self, suddenly thrown into a very human, very alive body, and all he could do was get him pajamas and drop him in bed. He was the chosen vessel, wasn't he? Shouldn't he do more than this? Then he blinked, looking down at the far-too-still figure lying in front of him. "Mou hitori no boku? Are you okay?"

His other self hummed and dragged his eyes open, looking up at Yuugi as if he were a blur. "Just … tired, aibou."

Yuugi's eyes softened. He pursed his lips.

"You should get some sleep."

"Mm …"

Yuugi huffed a sigh, shaking his head.

"We'll figure this out. We always do, don't we? Weirder things have happened. I think."

His mind was reeling, racing around every possibility, everything that had happened that day, trying to find anything that would tell him why this was happening. How this was happening.

But then he looked again at his other self, limp as a newborn, his eyes drooping, his limbs still in the same position, as if he didn't have the energy to move them. And the questions bouncing through his head slowed. Still there, still poking at his brain, but quieter, like whispers in the background. Whispers that no longer held any priority over the exhausted figure whose eyes finally fell shut.

Yuugi exhaled, and felt all his tension flow out with his breath.

He picked up the Puzzle and set it with his usual care on the nightstand. He didn't want to risk breaking it on any day, but now … he had no idea what would happen to his other self if a piece did fall out. And he really didn't want to know.

Puzzle secure, Yuugi climbed over his other self to lay down near the wall, scooting back as much as possible to give him plenty of space. He grabbed the blankets and tugged them up to cover both their bodies, settling his head on the edge of the pillow.

He shouldn't have been able to get to sleep easily. There were too many questions unanswered, none of this made sense, and for all he knew someone could show up in five seconds and try to kill them. But the adrenaline rush that had woken him earlier had faded, leaving him drained and empty. He stared at his other self, already deep in sleep, more peaceful than Yuugi had ever seen.

If he was so relaxed … they couldn't be in danger, right?

Not now, at least. Not yet.

Yuugi's eyes closed against his will, and his body settled against the mattress. They would figure this out tomorrow. Yes. Until then, everything would be fine.


He blinked open his eyes to the sun glaring through his skylight and warm breath gusting against his cheeks.

His gaze focused on the face a good twenty centimeters away from his own, and his brain snapped awake so fast it almost made him dizzy.

His other self. Last night, on the floor. Dropping him onto the bed.

This was his other self. Asleep, right next to him.

For a second, he forgot how to breathe.

It had been real.

He blinked several times again, taking in the sight of his other self. His face, normally creased with lines of concern or worry, completely smoothed over, making him look young, almost younger than Yuugi himself.

Solid. Real.

"Mou hitori no boku."

He spoke the name without even realizing it, but only a second later, his other self hummed and shifted, then dragged his eyelids open as if they had turned into lead weights.

Violet met violet. For a minute, they just stared at each other, more awake by the second, and for the first time Yuugi realized that he had no idea what his other self was thinking, what he was feeling. If he was scared, confused, happy, sad, anything. The link was gone. But those eyes remained as soft as they had ever been, looking at him as gently as as they always had. And that was enough. At least for now.

"I guess it really happened," he murmured, feeling like he was shattering something sacred as the silence disappeared.

His other self looked at him, expression unchanged. "Mm."

Yuugi swallowed and licked his lips, then pushed himself up to sit against the pillow.

"Are you … feeling better?"

"Yes," his other self replied. With much slower movements, he sat up as well, rolling his shoulders and stretching muscles that had never been used. "Sleeping … sleeping helped."

Another pause. The silence hung like a perfectly balanced seesaw, waiting for the bit of weight that would throw it off.

Yuugi cleared his throat. "Do you think you can stand?"

His other self looked down at his legs like foreign objects, a slight crease between his eyebrows.

"I think so."

More hesitantly than Yuugi had seen him do anything in a long time, his other self slid his legs out from under the blankets and hung them over the side of the bed. He put his feet on the floor, his hands on the edge of the mattress, and pushed up. He wobbled, and Yuugi moved forward, ready to catch him. But he didn't fall. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder and offered a tiny smile, a gleam of accomplishment in his eyes.

Yuugi grinned and climbed off the bed to stand beside him.

"Good." He fidgeted, fighting back the awkwardness threatening to overwhelm him. This was his other self. Looking at him with more trust, more affection than anyone ever had. Yuugi stood up straighter. "How about we go downstairs?"

His other self nodded.

Yuugi smiled wider, nodded back, and took a step toward the door. He paused, then reached back to the nightstand and slipped the Millennium Puzzle over his neck. It settled close to his stomach, and somehow, the weight, even the sharp edges that poked him through his pajamas, offered a small sense of comfort. He turned around again and gave his other self a gentle smile. He led the way, and his other self followed him in slow, baby steps, out of the room and down the hall.

After last night, Yuugi wasn't surprised at his other self's slowness. But he did think about it. The spirit had not only borrowed his body, but maneuvered it through difficult situations better than Yuugi himself. He did handsprings and flips and ran faster than Yuugi could ever remember running in his life. And now this.

But this was a new body, he supposed. Like an infant trying to walk right after being born. Every muscle, every bone, pulled from nothing. Like a baby.

A baby, in the form of a teenage boy.

With the mind of a three-thousand-year-old king.

His other self had to keep a hand on the wall all the way down the stairs, but the two of them made it down without incident, and started toward the kitchen. His other self stared at everything as if seeing it for the first time, taking it all in with brand new eyes.

A moment later, he sniffed the air. It was only then that Yuugi noticed the smell of eggs wafting through the house, and the sound of a pan sizzling nearby, mixed with a voice they both knew, humming something unfamiliar and very off-tune.

Yuugi grinned. Well, at least Jii-chan didn't seem to have burned breakfast yet.

They stepped up to the kitchen doorway, and Yuugi's eyes quickly found Jii-chan standing in front of the stove, a steaming pot of rice set aside while fried eggs sizzled on a saucepan. Yuugi licked his lips, and a glance at his side showed his other self's eyes locked on the food, as if he had just now realized he was hungry.

So he did feel hunger. He could sleep, but Yuugi hadn't even considered whether he would need food.

Somehow, it felt like a reassurance.

He took another step onto the tile floor. Jii-chan straightened.

"Good morning, Yuugi!" he said, turning away from the stove with a wide grin. "How did you sl—"

The words died in his throat so fast Yuugi feared, for a split second, that he had died, right there, mid-sentence. Then he blinked, and blinked again, his eyes shifting back and forth from one Yuugi to another, his mouth wide open, as if he had forgotten he left it that way.

Yuugi chuckled more than a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Then he held up both hands in what he hoped was a calming gesture.

"Jii-chan … I know this is … a shock, I …"

But Jii-chan hadn't even moved. Yuugi bit his lip and groaned, glancing at his other self, who stood in nervous silence at his side.

"I knew we should have broken it to him slowly …" Yuugi murmured.

His other self looked at him, brow creased in concern. "Should I go back upstairs?"

Yuugi sighed.

"No, it's done now … Jii-chan? Are you okay?"

Jii-chan just stood there for another ten seconds, blinking. At last, a bit of the tension seemed to leave his shoulders, and his eyes settled fully on Yuugi's other self.

"This is him, isn't it?" he asked, though it wasn't really a question. "The spirit of the Puzzle? The … other Yuugi?"

Yuugi's other self nodded, the motion jerky and unsure. "Yes, Sugoroku-jii-san."

As soon as the words left his lips, something melted in Jii-chan's face. His shock slipped away, and his mouth curled into an old, wrinkly smile. The same smile that had made Yuugi feel just a little bit safer growing up.

"Now, now. You've called me 'Jii-chan' plenty of times, I don't see any reason to go backwards."

To Yuugi's surprise, Jii-chan didn't ask many questions. After his initial shock, he accepted the fact that the spirit residing in Yuugi's pendant had somehow gained a body of his own as if it happened every day. He finished the slightly-burned eggs, spooning them out onto three plates with some leftover vegetables and rice in small bowls. A minute later, they were all seated at the table, placing their hands together in a quick prayer of thanks before picking up their chopsticks and beginning to eat.

After his first bite, Yuugi's attention drifted to his other self, seated in Mama's usual chair at his left. He fumbled with his chopsticks, as if he knew how to use them but his fingers had forgotten, but after a few tries he managed to pick up his first bite of egg. He brought it to his lips and chewed.

His eyes grew, all but gleaming with delight. He swallowed, then snatched up another piece, twice as big as the first, and stuffed it in his mouth.

Yuugi watched as his other self dug into his breakfast with even more enthusiasm than Jounouchi-kun after he had forgotten to eat breakfast and lunch while training with Jii-chan. All uncertainty and formality gone, it was a small miracle he remembered to close his mouth while he chewed. Yuugi bit down on his lip to hold back his laughter.

"So how is it?" asked.

His other self looked at him, cheeks puffed out with food, eyes wide and gleaming.

"Mm! S'mzing, oi-bo!"

Yuugi barely kept himself from snorting. If Mama had been there, she would have been mortified, but Jii-chan only snickered at the sight of the usually-dignified young man trying to talk with his mouth completely full of food.

"You can wait to answer until you've swallowed," Yuugi said, his voice shaky from suppressed laughter.

His other self hummed, then swallowed, turning to face Jii-chan with wonder in his eyes.

"This is amazing, Jii-chan. Your cooking is excellent."

Yuugi blinked. He had certainly met worse cooks than Jii-chan—Jounouchi-kun could barely pour cereal, though both Honda-kun and Anzu were fairly skilled—but he had certainly met better. Yet he didn't doubt his other self's sincerity for a second.

Had he really eaten before? He had had coffee with Anzu and they must have had snacks since they had been out basically all day, and certainly he had eaten something while he had been locked away by the Orichalcos … but had he ever eaten a real meal? Was it the same in this body as it had been in Yuugi's? Or was it completely new?

But he didn't get a chance to ask, since his other self continued to scarf down his meal so fast it was a wonder he didn't choke.

He finished a good five minutes before Yuugi and Jii-chan, and sat with seemingly infinite patience waiting for them to finish before he got up and thanked Jii-chan for the fantastic meal. Jii-chan beamed. They gathered all the dirty dishes and brought them to the sink, before Jii-chan headed off to open up the shop, leaving Yuugi and his other self alone.

Yuugi fidgeted in the newfound silence, the distraction of breakfast gone, leaving only the strange and overwhelming truth standing in front of him. He exhaled.

"So … what should we do now?"

"Aibou?" his other self asked, eyebrows creased.

Yuugi leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms, and only vaguely realized he had mimicked his other self's favorite pose. "I mean, you're … you're … you have a body. That isn't mine. It even looks different from mine! Kind of. Sort of. But … I don't know, it doesn't feel like anything's wrong, but I still feel like we should do something."

He shook his head, helpless. But despite his inner turmoil, despite the fact that he couldn't make sense of any of this, his other self just looked at him, as calm as ever. So trusting that whatever he decided, it would be the right choice.

"What do you want to do, aibou?"

Yuugi hesitated, then stood up straighter.

"Maybe … we should call Anzu," he said, his certainty growing by the second. He nodded. "And Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun. Get an outside perspective, other than Jii-chan."

A smile curled up the corners of his lips.

"And it'd be nice to have them see you."

His other self smiled back, and Yuugi felt some of the tension in his chest slip away. "I'd like that."

Yuugi beamed.

"Great! I'll call them and see if they're free. It's Saturday, so we usually meet up anyway, but since we just got together last night, I don't know if they already had something planned."

To his immense relief, as he called each of them in turn, all his friends agreed to meet him for lunch. Jounouchi-kun asked him if everything was okay, but Yuugi brushed off his concern, and Jounouchi-kun didn't bring it up again. Anzu was a little tougher to convince, but she finally gave in, if only because she realized that he wasn't going to tell her until they met in person.

Yuugi considered just telling them the truth, but it was far too difficult to put into words. No. It would be better for them to see it for themselves.

His other self waited with never-ending patience until he finished all three calls and slipped his phone back into his pocket, grinning much more easily with the promise of his friends' support.

"I asked them to meet us at Burger World at noon," he said. "So we've got more than an hour before we need to head out."

His other self nodded. "What should we do until then?"

Yuugi hummed and looked down at his own starry pajamas and the sleeveless shirt and drawstring pants his other self wore.

"Well, we need to get dressed, for one thing. Oh! And before we do that, I need to brush my—mou hitori no boku, have you ever brushed your teeth before?"

His other self blinked and paused, as if trying to find something in his cluttered maze of a mind.

"I know how," he replied at last. "I've seen it in your memories."

"But you've never done it."

"I've never needed to."

Yuugi smiled, holding back a sigh. There were probably a lot of those things that he hadn't thought of. Little things that he just took for granted. But he couldn't bring himself to feel the least bit annoyed. He had never thought his other self would get the chance to do these things. But now …

His smile grew, and he nodded over his shoulder, toward the stairs.

"Come on, I'll show you."


As it turned out, brushing teeth was a lot like getting dressed: he had seen Aibou's memories, he knew how to do it, but this body had no muscle memory, even now that his muscles weren't as weak and prone to failing as a newborn giraffe's.

He ended up getting toothpaste all over his face, some even dripping onto his pajama shirt, but his teeth felt clean, and there was something oddly satisfying about placing the bright red spare toothbrush next to the blue one Aibou used every day.

They paused, staring at their matching reflections side by side in the mirror. It should have felt wrong, unnatural, but it was all Yami could do not to smile. For a good minute they stood there, silent, until Aibou shifted.

"Do you want to take a shower?" he asked. He hesitated. "I don't think you'd really stink, since you haven't even been, well, alive that along, but …"

He shrugged. Yami didn't really know what it was like to feel clean or dirty—Aibou rarely gave him control right after a shower, and though he had been sweat-soaked and in desperate need of a bath several times, he had usually been too busy riding the adrenaline rush of their most recent adventure to notice. Finally, he nodded.

"I'd like to try."

Aibou blinked, then grinned.

"Okay!" He started toward the bathroom, even though Yami knew perfectly well where it was, then paused. "Wait, do … do you even know … I mean, I always took the Puzzle off, so …"

He looked away, painfully awkward. Yami bit back the fond smile tugging at his lips, and cleared his throat.

"I know how to turn the water on," he replied. "I never paid attention … but it's in your memories, so I think I can figure it out."

Aibou met his eyes again, smiled, and nodded. He left the room, calling over his shoulder that he had to do the dishes from breakfast, but would be back soon. Yami closed the bathroom door behind him.

Unlike brushing teeth and getting dressed, Aibou had never actually worn the Puzzle, or kept it right by his side, while he was in the shower, and Yami had never manifested himself to talk or even connected to Aibou's mind. Even early on, he had a sense of that being something private, and though he certainly wouldn't have hesitated to come out if he sensed danger, he made it a habit to retreat more deeply into the Puzzle every morning when Aibou went into the bathroom.

So he relied entirely on the memories the two of them shared to figure out how to do this.

He slipped out of his pajamas—that part he knew—and climbed into the shower, then stared at the silver knobs as if they might start talking and reveal their secrets if he intimidated them hard enough. No such luck. Right. He could beat the best duelists in the world, he could figure this out. He reached for one knob, then the other, then back to the first again and turned it before he could change his mind.

Freezing cold water shot out from above him, and he jumped so hard he almost fell over.

He grabbed the other knob and turned it as fast as his hand would move, and seconds later, the cold water warmed, bit by bit, until it was just short of too hot. He stood up, steadied himself on the slippery floor, and closed his eyes.

Why had he never asked Aibou to let him try this before now?

His whole body tingled with the unfamiliar, marvelous sensation of hot water streaming over his skin. He could feel his pulse stronger than before, pumping blood through him, rushing through his veins—was that normal? His muscles relaxed more by the second as the warmth soaked into them. If he hadn't been afraid of hitting his head or drowning, he might have fallen asleep.

The seconds blurred into minutes as he stood there, wobbling occasionally but never losing his balance, his mind lost to everything but the water pouring down over him. A tiny smile touched his lips, and he leaned back to let it soak his hair, trickle over his eyelids and cheeks, slow his breathing and heartbeat, his arms hanging limp at his sides.

This was what it was like. This was what it was like to feel alive.

"Mou hitori no boku?"

Yami jumped, his eyes flying open at the familiar voice, unmistakeable even muffled through the door. And currently laced with concern. A knock followed seconds later, and Yami shook himself out of his shower-induced trance.

"Yes?"

"You didn't fall, did you?" Aibou called.

Yami might have felt his cheeks flush, if they hadn't already been plenty warm from the hot water.

"I'm fine, aibou," he replied, as quietly as he could manage while still loud enough to make out. "I'll be out in a minute."

A pause. "I forgot to get you some clothes. Do you want me to grab you some?"

Yami perked up. He had never gotten to choose their clothes before. Not completely—he would certainly comment on Aibou's outfits and make suggestions, and he had little doubt that some of Aibou's most recent accessory additions had been because of his influence, but he had never chosen an entire outfit that he would be wearing.

The oddest thrill ran through him, and he found himself smiling as he picked up the soap and set to actually washing himself off.

"No, thank you, aibou, I'll pick something out."

Once he had stopped luxuriating in the hot water and got to bathing, he was out of the shower in only five minutes. He missed it as soon as the turned it off, and he wondered if it would be weird if he asked to take another one that night. If not, at least he could take one tomorrow morning. He dried himself off with the fluffy towel hanging from the rack, then wrapped it around his waist and pulled open the door.

The rush of cool air after the steamy fog of the bathroom made him shiver. A second later, Aibou walked into view, smiling. He looked like he might offer a teasing comment—Yami wondered how long he had spent in the shower that Aibou felt the need to check on him—but said nothing in the end. He glanced away.

"Do you think you … need help getting dressed this time?" he asked.

Despite the apparent discomfort over the question—he had to admit it was a little embarrassing, that he had been so weak he couldn't even put on a shirt—Yami found himself smiling, his eyes soft. "I'll be fine, aibou. I was just … tired last night."

Aibou smiled back.

"Okay."

Yami walked into the bedroom. Aibou started to close the door, then paused, and Yami swore he heard a smirk in his voice as he added one last thing over his shoulder.

"Don't fall over!"

Yami snapped his head around, eyes wide, but Aibou was already gone.


Honestly, he had no idea why he was waiting outside instead of saving time and getting dressed himself. The two of them had shared a body ever since Yuugi solved the Puzzle—they were beyond caring about nudity, even if his other self usually stayed away out of courtesy while he was in the bathroom. And they looked virtually identical, or at least they had before. Yuugi wasn't sure whether it was only his skin tone that had changed.

Right. He was Egyptian, wasn't he? So his skin tone would be darker. Did that mean … was this what his other self had looked like when he was alive? When he was pharaoh?

Did he really look like Yuugi's twin?

Yuugi shook his head. No, he could worry about that later. For now, it was past time for them to leave, and his other self had already been in there—he glanced at the clock down the hall—ten minutes.

He knocked on the door. "Are you almost ready?"

"Mm."

"What does that mean?" Yuugi asked.

Footsteps approached from inside the room, and Yuugi had just enough time to step back before the door opened, revealing his other self, weight shifted to one side, arms crossed, as if he hadn't been struggling to even sit up by himself the night before.

He had traded his pajamas for a more fitted sleeveless shirt, this one in bright red, paired with black skinny jeans, boots, two belts, and a jacket he had thrown over his shoulders like a cape. That wouldn't have surprised Yuugi much at all, if it weren't for the fact that his other self wore almost every piece of jewelry he owned. His usual thick bracelets, along with at least three other smaller ones, hung on each of his wrists, upper arm bands, a choker Yuugi didn't even remember buying around his neck, and even a ring.

"You need more clothes, aibou. None of these look cool enough," his other self said, glancing down at himself with a wide smirk that defied his words. "And we need to get you more silver!"

Yuugi came very close to smacking himself in the forehead. He really wasn't going to let that go, was he?

But to see his other self so cheerful, so proud of himself, so pleased to be in an outfit he had chosen … Yuugi couldn't help but smile, too.

He slipped into his room and got dressed—though he was tempted to try something new, experiment with his outfit like his other self had done, he ended up going with his usual black sleeveless shirt and the pants and jacket from his school uniform. When he left his bedroom, he found his other self exactly where he had left him, leaning against the wall with everlasting patience.

Yuugi smiled. His other self smiled back, then turned to start down toward the stairs. Something clicked in Yuugi's mind.

"Wait a sec." His other self paused, turning to face him again. Yuugi touched the familiar chain hanging around his neck, before lifting it over his head, holding the Puzzle with one hand and holding the chain with the other. "Here."

He stepped forward and slid the chain over his other self's equally-large hair, only letting the Puzzle go once it rested securely against his stomach.

His other self blinked.

"Aibou?"

Yuugi shrugged, stepping back.

"I went fifteen years without wearing it, but … you've never not worn it," he said. Then he paused, looking up again with wide eyes. "Unless you don't want to wear it, I mean it is heavy—"

"No. This is fine," his other self cut in, cradling the Puzzle, a soft smile on his lips. "Thank you, aibou."

All Yuugi could do was nod.

They headed out a short time after, wearing matching pairs of Yuugi's favorite boots—he thanked his past self for thinking to buy two since he liked them so much. Though Yuugi racked his brain for conversation topics, something light, something simple, they said almost nothing on the way to Burger World. Instead, his other self looked around him, seeing the town he had walked around a hundred times through new eyes. His own eyes. Yuugi wondered if it looked any different.

For fifteen minutes, they walked in silence, Yuugi letting a small smile curve his lips as he watched his other self enjoy the world. Like watching a child discovering everything for the first time, a child who had seen it all a thousand times but had never thought he would experience any of it for himself.

They turned a corner, and Yuugi saw the neon sign above the building that still made his stomach twist. The escaped criminal. The game he didn't witness, the stories of a man who had dropped a lighter and set himself on fire. The things he and his other self had never really talked about. Then he noticed the young man standing next to the front doors, and his face lit up.

"Jounouchi-kun!"

He ran forward, his other self following close at his heels. Jounouchi-kun turned and grinned, waving.

"Oh, hey, Yuugi!" he called back. "I wasn't sure if you were here yet. How's it—"

His smile fell as Yuugi and his other self got closer, close enough for anyone to tell that they weren't a trick of the light. Yuugi stopped a few meters away, his other self only centimeters to his left, not quite touching. Jounouchi-kun frowned and pointed.

"Wait, who's …"

But he didn't finish. Jounouchi-kun might have been slow to catch on, but he wasn't stupid. And Yuugi saw the moment his brain clicked, and his jaw fell open, and he looked back and forth from Yuugi to Yuugi as if trying to figure out which one was the illusion, even though he must have known it was neither.

Yuugi cleared his throat, and Jounouchi-kun's eyes snapped toward him again, wide and baffled and vaguely disturbed. A shy, nervous smile found its way onto Yuugi's lips as he tilted his head toward the mirror image standing at his side.

"Jounouchi-kun … this is the other me."