Disclaimer: Yugioh doesn't belong to me. He belongs to Atem. Uh...I mean Kazuki Takahashi.

A/N: I haven't really decided on a regular weekly update day. It will probably be Fridays, but until then I hope you enjoy this early update.

Chapter 2

TWINS

I'll be seeing you?

I'll be SEEING you?

Yugi winced.

Had he really said that?

He let out a puff of air, squeezing his eyelids tightly for a second. More to the point, why was he still fretting over it? It had been one tutorial. Only forty minutes of his time, and yet he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it for the next seventy-two hours.

"You all right, mate? You look as if you're in some pain."

Yugi opened his eyes to find his flatmate, Rex, his shoulder-length hair tussled, wearing a blue bathrobe and a mystified expression.

"What?"

"I said, you ok? You in pain or something?"

"What? Yeah. I mean no." Yugi shook his head distractedly, swirling the milk in his bowl. "I'm fine."

Rex raised an eyebrow, then shuffled over to sit at the table. "Oh, man, those early morning lectures are gonna be the death of me." He released a huge yawn, giving Yugi a reasonable view of his teeth, right down to the silver fillings in the back molars.

Yugi gave a half-smile and wondered if now was the best time to broach the subject he'd been wanting to discuss for the past few days. He watched as Rex crossed his arms on the table, using them as a pillow and then let out another yawn. Forget the best time, thought Yugi. This was important.

"Listen, Rex," he could hear the cautiousness in his own voice. "I really need your half of the rent this time."

Rex groaned into his arms. "Yugi, come on – "

"No," Yugi interrupted him, knowing that if he didn't, Rex would once again manage to wriggle out of his grip. "No, there is no more 'coming on'."

Rex gave him a bleary unimpressed look.

"I need that rent, Rex. I've been covering you for the past two weeks." Yugi glared.

"All right, all right, no need to get your knickers in a twist." Rex sniffed. " 'Sides, you know I'm good for it."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just make sure –"

"Yes, okay," Rex gave an exasperated sigh, "I'll make sure to give you this week's half. Happy?"

"And last two weeks'. Also I would love it if I didn't have to have this conversation with you again."

Rex didn't say anything.

Yugi's eyes narrowed, and the hand that wasn't holding the spoon clenched. He leaned back, taking a deep breath –

"God, Motou, relax! I'll get it all to you soon, all right? You have my word." Rex's fingers scratched at the tabletop. "The old man will be forking over this month's cash soon, anyway," he muttered.

Yugi wasn't satisfied. He wouldn't be satisfied until the money was in his hands, but he decided to drop it. If, by the end of the week, Rex still didn't cough up, well – he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Rex stood up, raised his eyebrows at Yugi, then grumbled, "I'm going back to bed," and shuffled off towards the hallway.

"Oops, sorry!"

That was the third person to crash into him. It was to be expected, really. Getting caught in a surging crowd of weekend shoppers wasn't the best thing if you were barely four feet tall.

Maybe he should have just stayed in the Bohr building and started work on that assignment. More likely hang around to catch a glimpse of the mysterious tutor, a snide voice remarked in the back of his head. Yugi rolled his eyes at himself.

There was a ninety to one percent chance that he'd never set eyes on that man, Atem, again. His heart sank as he remembered that second weekly tutorial. He'd been anticipating it with more pleasure than he would have liked to admit. He remembered now with shame the way his heart had slowed as he turned the handle to B221 for the second time. But Atem hadn't been there. Instead, another young man had replaced him. Or rather, had returned. It had turned out Atem had simply been filling in for this man as a favour, while the latter had been on holiday. So, there would be no more Atem. Just the new tutor for the rest of the term. Duke.

Yugi had felt the disappointment keenly, and a small bubble of unreasonable contempt towards Duke. Which was stupid, he thought, because what had he been expecting? That he and Atem would bond over mathematical equations? That they'd become friends? That they could talk and that Atem might laugh as he had done the last time? That his eyes would crinkle as he stared down at Yugi?

No, he had been foolish. Really, the man was nothing but a mysterious figure with a strange name. Nothing more. Well, nothing more to Yugi.

He groaned inwardly, and then glared at the traffic. No, he wouldn't think about this. Not today. Not now. Today was for catching up with friends and he would enjoy himself.

I will not think about the tutorial, he thought, staring determinedly at the pedestrian lights. In a second it flashed green and he had to bite back a laugh. It was nice when the world complied with your wishes. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he made his way down the sidewalk, weaving through the weekend crowd of shoppers. As usual his hairstyle attracted the predictable double-takes, mild looks of surprise mingled with admiration. Yugi was only slightly used to it. He'd never been one for the limelight.

He broke out of the crowd, and made his way to the Rabbit & Ferret, where he and his friends had agreed to meet at. He was able to spot them quickly, as they'd nabbed an outside table.

"Yug!" Joey waved excitedly, a grin plastered onto his face.

Yugi felt his own lips automatically pull up in a smile. "Hey Joey! Téa, Tristan, it's so good to see you guys." He lowered himself into the fourth chair.

"It's good to see you, too, Yugi," Téa smiled at him.

"My man!" Tristan gave him a slap on the back.

"Hell, it sure has been awhile since we all caught up, huh?" Joey looked around at them.

Téa nodded vigorously. "Yeah! I suppose it was to be expected, since the end of high school and everything."

"The only thing that matters is that we don't lose sight of our friendship," Tristan proclaimed.

Joey smirked. "Oh, look who's turned out all wise."

Yugi laughed, but had to agree with Tristan. "He's right, though, it's easy to forget those things sometimes, when life gets too much."

"That's true," shrugged Joey, "but it ain't gonna happen with us. Know why?"

"Cos you're too much of a pain in the ass to ignore?" muttered Tristan, just loudly enough for everyone to hear.

This time Téa joined in laughter with Yugi.

"Oi! No..." Joey pouted. "It's cos I just know, alright? We just aren't the type."

"How is your new job, Joey?" Yugi asked. Joey had applied for, and acquired the job of videogame tester at Kaiba Corp, Domino's largest and only gaming industry. It was kind of the perfect job for him.

"Aw, man, it's GREAT! I'm learning so much, and I can just tell I'm gunna love it there." Joey's eyes were shining.

"I'm glad!" Yugi couldn't resist a small chuckle at the look of delight on his best friend's face.

"And how's your course going, Téa?" Unlike Tristan and Joey whom he'd been able to meet up with a few times before, Yugi hadn't seen Téa since the start of both of their courses.

Téa looked thoughtful. "It's going pretty good, I guess. Only introductory classes so far, so the interesting stuff's still to come." She winked. Téa was taking up psychology.

"Oh, by the way, Yugi, did you happen to be around the history block last week?" Téa looked inquiringly at him.

"No . . . I don't usually have classes in the humanities buildings. Why?"

"Oh. . ." Téa's brow was furrowed. "I could've sworn I saw you. Mind you it was quite far off, and it was just the back . . . but seriously, it was the exact same hair, there was no way I could've missed it."

Joey snorted. "No way . . . no one else has hair like this guy," he stuck out his thumb at Yugi. "I'd bet my life on it."

Yugi frowned. The exact same hair. . .

"Yug! I know who it is." Tristan was almost whispering, his head bent low.

"You do?" Yugi didn't need to feign surprise.

"Yeah. Miho does history and she missed a lecture so I went with her to pick up some notes. And I remember in one of the rooms, there was a dude sitting there, and he had the exact same hair as you!"

Yugi just stared.

"No way!" This was Joey. "You're just sayin' that cos I said I'd bet my life on-"

Tristan was shaking his head, looking smug. "Nope, I'm right. I know what I saw." He still kept his voice low, however.

"Aw, man, Yug, you ain't listenin' to this moron, are ya?" Joey's face showed only incredulity.

"Actually, Joey, Tristan's right."

Joey coughed and choked on the sip of water he'd drunk, his eyes watering.

"Ok," Téa sighed, "you need to warn Joey before you decide to go around saying Tristan's right about things."

"Hey!" Tristan hissed.

"Sorry, Joey!" Yugi clapped his friend a few times on the back, but Joey only swatted him away.

"Stop that, I'm fine" he said, his throat sounding scratchy. He took another drink of water, cleared his throat, and then half-yelled "You mean Yugi has a freakin' twin?!"

"Shut up!" Tristan was hissing again, his head down a little.

"What's wrong with you?" Joey sneered. "Why are you whispering?"

"Cos he's here," Tristan whispered.

"Who?"

"Yugi's twin."

Thankfully he hadn't taken a drink; Yugi knew he would definitely have started choking otherwise.

"Where?" Now Joey was whispering, too. But it only made them look more conspicuous.

Téa rolled her eyes.

Tristan gestured towards his right in what he undoubtedly thought was a surreptitious manner, then went back to scrutinising the table top some more.

Joey was staring. And, Yugi knew, he wouldn't stop. Joey wasn't exactly the shy type. Or the polite type, for that matter.

"Holy . . . crackers on a platypus . . ." Clearly, Joey was going to be taking back his comment on how nobody could resemble Yugi.

I hope he's not looking over here, Yugi thought to himself desperately. He flipped open the menu and ran his eyes down it, the letters and numbers swimming before his eyes. He turned the page, and then ever so casually, he turned his head a little to the left.

Tristan had been right.

Yugi could feel a quietness creep over him. It was the same quietness that had stolen over him the first time he's seen the man at the tutorial. There was a weird muted quality to things.

He was sitting a couple of tables away from them, underneath the dappled shade of a sakura tree. He was attracting a few glances but Yugi was ready to bet that it was more than just the hair. No doubt that it, along with his chiselled features and dark eyes made for a visually attractive combination, but it was his manner that was really noticeable. He wasn't just sitting in his chair – he was lounging in it, as if he owned it, thought Yugi. His long legs were bent at the knees and spread apart. He exuded an air of casual authority. There was a menu lying open in front of him, but Atem wasn't looking at the menu.

Instead, his eyes were fixed on Yugi.

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