Chapter Two: The Secret

Yugi sat in the diner, now only two hours later, feeling like he had been awake for weeks. He had to keep explaining what had happened, first to his father, then to his distraught mother, then to a police deputy, and then to the Sheriff Kaiba himself! What an exhausting day it had been…and as he sat in front of the Sheriff, Yugi could tell that the rest of the week was going to be just as hectic.

"So, there was an altercation in the diner today while you were on site?" Kaiba half asked, half affirmed the statement as he squinted over his deputy's scrawled hand writing.

"Yes," Yugi sighed, "Right there near the front door," Yugi gestured in that direction.

"And the gun was pointed toward you, so when it went off, as I understand, you got frightened and spilled ketchup all over yourself?" Kaiba looked a little disapprovingly at Yugi with his ice blue eyes.

Yugi winced at the lie but said, "Yep, that's me, scaring myself witless…" He shook his head. Had this whole day been different, and he had actually spilled ketchup on himself, it would have been a hundred times more believable. Yugi had to be the most awkward being on the planet.

"Is it really necessary to question him any further on this matter?" Yugi's father interjected finally, thinking it a little ridiculous that his son had been asked the same things at least three times.

Seto Kaiba looked at Solomon. "I'm sorry to trouble you about this, but the deputy is new, so I had to recheck your son's story just to get it straight. It isn't as if this happens everyday in Roswell…" He trailed off apologetically.

"Understood Sheriff, but now can Yugi go to his room? He hasn't had a moment of peace since this all started." Allison, Yugi's mother, grasped her son's shoulder firmly, directing him to the back door of the diner that led to the stairs that connected the restaurant to their home above it.

"I think that would be best…we still have some work to do down here though, Allison, so we will be staying a bit longer, sorry for the inconvenience," Seto took off his gray cowboy hat with the emblem of his station with the police and inclined his head toward the tired family.

"That's perfectly fine, Kaiba, take all the time you need…" Solomon said his goodbyes, and that was the last that Yugi saw as he trod up the stairs to his room. His double bed had never looked so inviting…he didn't even bother with taking his clothes off, knowing he could shower and change in the morning before school. The whole ordeal with almost dying really took it out of him he noticed…and had he the energy, his mind would have surely been going a hundred miles an hour, but as it was, he could barley keep his eyes open.

Yugi figured that this whole great big mess would be there tomorrow, when he hadn't been almost killed and then saved by some magical unknown power that Atem had…

Of course, that meant that Atem wasn't going to get away with not explaining what had really happened that day….

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Atem leaned against the pillar in the hallway of Roswell Central High school, his posture tense as he listened to Marik rant about the day before.

"That was royally stupid, you know that Atem?" His violet eyes flashed. "Why did you do it? There were so many witnesses, what if someone had seen-"

"Look, I wasn't thinking, alright? He was dying and no one saw-" Atem tried to defend himself.

"I don't care that he was hurt! He might have been just fine if we had called the hospital, and another thing, how can you trust him so much? You've hardly spoken one word to him since second grade-" Marik continued to chastise Atem, and he had had enough.

"I know what I did was dangerous to us all, but I know that we can trust him…I know we can…" Marik saw that Atem was not paying attention to him anymore, but had locked gazes with Yugi Motou, the cause of their current predicament.

Marik rolled his eyes. "Whatever, fearless leader. (AN: this is just Marik's nickname for Atem, it doesn't really mean anything.) Just remember, you are not alone in this, you have to think about me and Bakura as well." Marik clapped his hand on Atem's shoulder before turning and leaving to get to his first class.

Atem could see the confusion and disarray in Yugi's eyes, but he pulled away as soon as the first bell rang, rushing to his first class, math; one of the only classes that he did not have with Yugi.

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At third period, Advanced Biology, Atem came in late for some reason. Yugi vaguely wondered if it had something to do with the fact that Atem was his lab partner and he had to sit next to him.

"So, Mr. Yami had finally decided to join us," Mr. Richard sarcastically remarked. Atem seemed to shrink at the comment, but overcame it quickly.

Atem tried to act nonchalant in Yugi's presence, even going so far as to lightly chew the end of his pencil as he sat down beside him.

"Now we can begin the lesson on DNA, starting with examining human hemoglobin. Take the toothpick and swab the inside of your partner's cheek-" The teacher began until Atem interrupted him.

"Um, excuse me, but can I have a bathroom pass?" he asked, placing the pencil onto the desk before he spoke.

"Quite sloppy today, aren't we Mr. Yami?" Mr. R sighed and waved Atem forward, reaching for the pass.

Atem left in a flash. "Now, to continue, take the sample of the cheek cells and look at them under the microscope…"

Yugi didn't listen to the rest of what the teacher had to say, having done this assignment previously many times. He swabbed his own cheek since his partner had conveniently disappeared. Under the scope, he saw what he expected: red blood cells. He pursed his lips and eyed the pencil that Atem had left behind. Deciding to test it, he took the writing utensil and took a sample from the tip of it, placing the new glass sheet under the eye piece of the scope.

What he saw was confusing as it was somehow expected. Instead of round red blood cells, Yugi saw that these cells were green and squarish. This set him on edge. What in the hell was going on here? And, more importantly, who was Atem Yami?

About fifteen minutes after he had gone to the 'bathroom' and the lab work was over, Atem returned. This only solidified Yugi's resolve. He WAS going to speak to Atem after this class was over.

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"We need to talk," Yugi, in a bold move, had grabbed Atem's arm just as the bell rang to signal the class's end. Atem's eyes never met Yugi's, but he nodded his head in agreement and let Yugi led him out of the biology classroom and into the empty music room at the end of the hall.

But just as Yugi was about to speak, Mokuba Kaiba came suddenly through the doors.

"Hey Yugi," He said, smiley as ever. "What are you doing in here, lunch is about to start?"

"Oh, hey Mokuba. Atem and I just have some Biology lab work to do together, and needed a quiet place to study," Yugi wanted to slap himself with how easy it was becoming for him to lie on the spot. But hey, at least this time it was semi-true. Yugi had some definite biology questions to ask Atem.

Looking a little unconvinced, Mokuba just smiled grimly and thought, At least I didn't catch them in the eraser room (AN: this is like the make-out or sex room at the high school). "Alright, Yugi, talk to you later, See ya Atem," He waved to the spiky haired teen behind Yugi before leaving.

Yugi sighed, and wished that there was a lock on the music room door. Turning to Atem, he had his eyes fixed with a small determination. "There are about three things I need to ask you about, and I need real answers, so I can get this all straight in my mind," When Atem didn't respond he added, "Okay?"

Atem nodded this time.

"Alright one, in Biology, after you went to the bathroom, you left your pencil so I used it to do the test that the teacher was talking about. Care to explain why your cells look different then mine?"

"Maybe a bad sample?" Atem asked lamely.

"Then we can just go back to the lab and get a better sample and prove me wrong, right?"

Atem sighed. "No, it wouldn't be any different…" He raked a hand through his hair.

"Let's just skip that. Two: What happened yesterday?" Yugi asked firmly.

"You were in shock, you spilled ketchup-"

"I don't want that stupid story I had to feed to everyone, even the police like fifty times yesterday. SOMETHING else happened, or else this wouldn't be here," Yugi lifted up his shirt, revealing what he had discovered that morning.

Atem's eyes widened at the hand print mark on Yugi's stomach. It was a shimmering gold color, sticking out like a jewel on Yugi's pale skin.

"You did something, you healed me and left this behind. Now I can't lie to everyone I know effectively if I have the wrong information, and it's obvious that you don't want anyone to know that you were involved in whatever happened yesterday. Just be honest with me…please?" His eyes pierced Atem's with the intensity that they always had when ever they had looked at each other for any reason.

"Fine," Atem conceded. "We aren't from around here, first off,"

"We?" Yugi asked.

"Me, Marik, and Bakura,"

"Well, where are you from?"

Atem pointed up.

"Up north?" Yugi's eyebrows furrowed.

Atem shook his head and pointed higher.

Somehow I don't think he means that he's from the arctic circle…But that means… Yugi's eyes widened in realization.

"You're all…aliens?"

"Well, I prefer the term 'not of this world' but yeah," Atem smiled softly.

"Like ET phone home?" Yugi blurted without thinking.

Atem chuckled at his out burst. "I guess, but that would imply that we knew how to contact our 'home'," He raised his fingers into quotation marks at the last word.

Yugi shook his head. This can't be real…I won't believe this…

"You know Atem, um, I'm going to be late for my history class, so, um," Yugi picked up his pack that he had dropped earlier and started rushing to the door, desperately trying to leave before things got any weirder.

But just as he was about to push open the door, Atem stopped him by holding onto the handle over Yugi's hand. Yugi tried not to notice the contact and didn't look into Atem's eyes.

"Yugi," he said, completely open with his feelings of desperation and fear, "You can't tell anyone about this, not Malik, not Ryou, not anyone, or it would put you, them, and us in danger. Yugi please." Yugi finally met his eyes. "I'm putting my life in your hands." He said the last part softly, letting Yugi's hand go and moving so that he could leave. And with one last stare into Atem's eyes, he did.

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