All right, here's the third chapter. I edited this a bit just today, so I hope it's okay. I hope everyone likes it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh
Chapter 3
Summer flew by for Yugi and Atem, each day filled with new experiences for Atem. Momose dragged him to the mall two days after he and Yugi arrived home from Egypt in order to shop for different clothes and to pick up several sets of school uniforms. Yugi came along to get more in preparation for a growth spurt he was sure he'd hit eventually and could hardly stop laughing at Atem's shocked face when the former Pharaoh realized what he was in for. Momose probably made him buy enough clothes to last him a month, in addition to the uniforms.
Luckily, she let him pick his own styles, a mix of leather, along with t-shirts, jeans, dress clothes, sweatshirts, shorts, gym clothes, and swimwear. They wouldn't pick up winter gear or fall clothes until it the weather got colder. He also needed shoes: boots, sneakers, sandals, and dress shoes.
"Do I really need this many clothes Yugi?" Atem asked, a slight note of fear in his voice.
Yugi shrugged, secretly laughing at the look on his older brother's face. "I know you need at least one set of all these things. But Mom just likes to make sure we're prepared."
"Prepared for what?"
Yugi just chuckled at the Pharaoh's confusion. "Just hang in there. We'll make it."
"We're not done?" Atem asked, a look of compounding disbelief falling on his face.
"Not even close."
The shopping continued for another two hours, to Atem's disbelief. After the clothes shopping was done, they stopped at a department store to pick up basic bathroom necessities, notebooks and pencils for school, and a calculator, along with suitcases and a backpack.
"She likes to shop almost as much as Tea does," Atem commented when they got back home, rubbing his sore arms. He didn't know shopping bags could get so heavy. Not to mention all the beauty products Momose had picked up for herself, saying she needed to restock while she still could. Then she'd had the boys hold the bags while she took a few minutes to search for her favorite lotion scent—a few minutes extending to half an hour. Atem personally thought that the bags had done a much better job of taking his arms off than Arcana's saw blades his feet.
"Yeah, she does. Maybe more than Tea," Yugi agreed, collapsing on his bed. It had taken every ounce of willpower he possessed earlier not to collapse and drop the bags in the parking lot. "Good luck with finding a place for all of that," he said, glancing at the piles of bags at Atem's feet.
"You're not going to help."
"Nope." Yugi grinned and raced for the door in a bolt of energy that left Atem staring in disbelief.
He grumbled as he emptied the first bag and prepped himself for the war with his dresser. This could take a while, he thought. He would also need to find a spot in the room for the Egyptian knickknacks and games he'd picked up before returning to Japan. "This should be fun."
"It'll have to wait. We're not done yet." Momose stepped into the room.
"More?" Atem froze, almost ready to race down to the shop and ask Solomon if he needed inventory done. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Oh don't worry Atem." Momose chuckled. "The shopping part's done. But we still need to get you added to our bank accounts and insurance plans. I also wanted to stop by the library so you get a library card. And we need to arrange a day for you to take your test for a driver's license. I'm assuming you know how to drive."
Breathing out a sigh of relief that he wouldn't be going back to the mall, he nodded. "Yes, when Yugi was learning to drive, I studied the rules alongside him. When he practiced the actual driving, he usually let me take over for a while so I could get experience."
"Good," Momose replied.
A few weeks later, they met up with their friends at the city for day of fun, with their first stop being the arcade, where Joey and Tristan challenged Atem to just about every game in the room: air hockey, pool, fighting games, shooting games, even Mario and Luigi along with the claw games where players tried to snag a prize with the claw, only to get royally trounced each time.
"How the heck do you do that?" asked Joey, his face falling as he ate Atem's dust for the tenth time on the Nascar racing game. The Pharaoh had crossed the finish line while Joey still had a lap and a half to go.
"You just stink at this game," Tristsan said jokingly.
Joey glared and raised his fists. "What didja say tough guy?"
Atem's arms shot out and seized Joey wrists before the other could swing. "Calm down Joey, you don't stink. Yugi and I just forgot to mention that both of us have played all these games plenty of times."
"Say what? But there's only been two of you for about a month! And two weeks of that were in Egypt," Joey protested.
"After Duelist Kingdom, I came over here to play a lot when you guys were busy," said Yugi. "And we took turns playing the games." He laughed. "See that sign over the pinball machine?"
Joey, Tristan, and Tea glanced over at the bright yellow sign that hung above the machine, saying 100 Free Tokens To Whoever Can Top The High Score. Kids of various ages swarmed the machine, fighting for a spot. "What about it?" asked Tristan.
Yugi grinned. "Take a guess who holds the high score right now."
Tea shrugged and leaned forward to get a closer look at the scores displayed on the machine. "The name at the top says 'YAM,'" she said as she rejoined them. Her eyes widened. "As in Yami…"
"No way! You?" Joey exclaimed as he spun towards Atem.
Atem smirked.
"Geez! Is there any game you aren't a pro at?"
Atem rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Give me a few days to think about that and get back to you."
Joey groaned as Yugi and Atem laughed.
As they left the arcade and headed for the shopping district, Tristan decided now was as good a time as any to ask. "So, how are you two adjusting to this?" He waved his arm and gestured to Atem. "It's been a month since it happened."
"Pretty good actually," Yugi replied. "He's gotten used to handling the game shop. Even during the rush hour."
"It wasn't as difficult as I thought," Atem replied, shrugging. "It's just a matter of keeping everyone's requests in order and balancing who you pay attention to."
"Whatever." Joey shrugged it off. He wanted to know how one of little buddies was adjusting to everything else. "What about home life. How are you and the folks getting along?"
"Grandpa and I get along great." Atem grinned. Initially a little awkward, the old man had adjusted spectacularly to seeing Yugi and Atem as separate people and made Atem feel welcome, treating him just as he treated Yugi, like he always had.
"Yeah, Grandpa treats him like he does me. Including when it comes to waking us up." Yugi snickered.
Atem blushed fuschia. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you Yugi?"
"Nope." He shook his head.
Atem groaned.
Joey frowned in confusion. "I think we're missing something here."
"You know how Grandpa has his own creative ways of getting us up." Yugi asked, eyes sparkling in merriment.
"Yeah," Tea replied, eyes glazing over as she remembered one particular incident. "He poured a bucket of ice water over you when you were about twelve."
Yugi blushed.
Atem grinned mischievously. "Oh, really?"
"Oh shut up!" Yugi pouted.
A lightbulb went off in Tristan's head. "Hey Yugi," he interrupted. "Did your grandpa do that to Atem?"
Yugi immediately quit pouting and smirked. "Not exactly," he replied, ignoring Atem's warning glare. "He actually flipped mattress over and knocked Atem to the floor."
The others clutched their sides and leaned on walls as they laughed.
"Okay," Tea said as they gained their breath back. "We know Atem would be find with your grandpa Yugi, but what about your parents?"
Atem's glare vanished abruptly, his expression turning uneasy and his eyes darting to the side.
"Okay, mostly," Yugi replied for Atem. Nothing bad had happened, but for some reason Atem still felt awkward around Hidekazu and Momose, despite everyone's best intentions and efforts.
Yugi changed the subject before his friends noticed Atem's face. "But he has been banned from using the microwave."
"What?" Joey asked, jaw dropping and eyeballs popping out.
Yugi snickered, ignoring Atem's newly reinstated glare. "He tried using it to heat up some leftovers. Those leftovers exploded all over the inside. He did the same thing with a bowl of water the next day."
The others howled in laughter. "Water?" Tristan managed to blurt through his chuckles. "How in the world do you pull that off?"
Atem groaned and turned away in embarrassment. "The microwave, according to Yugi, doesn't like me."
That statement only made his friends laugh harder, stopping to lean against a wall. It was a few minutes before they calmed down.
"So, banned from cooking duty, huh?" Joey asked.
"Not true." Atem protested.
"No way Joey," Yugi agreed. "Don't you remember stopping over at our place a week ago and taking home our leftover spaghetti from the night before?"
"Yeah, I do. Man, that sauce made the stuff at De Martino's look like that cheap soy sauce you pick up at a grocery store."
Yugi grinned. "Guess who made it."
He jerked his thumb towards a smirking Atem.
"No way! You?" Tristan asked, shoving his jaw closed. "Where did you learn to make sauce like that?"
"Royal secret." Atem deadpanned. He smiled. He'd just gotten lucky in discovering he had a knack for sauces and dips, but he saw no reason to tell them that just now.
"Aw, come on."
"Oh, knock it off, you guys," Tea scolded. "We're here."
"Here" turned out to be a music store, where they bought Atem an MP3 player, and Joey, Tristan, and Tea each insisted that they treat Atem to a number of songs. Since arriving back in Domino, Atem had kept the radio in the room cranked up twenty-four seven, and knew the names of plenty of modern day songs. By the time they, finished, the crimson device was equipped with at least a hundred different songs. Atem found he really enjoyed modern day music compared to ancient Egyptian.
"There's a lot more variety in the modern day," Atem explained when Yugi asked. "I suppose it helps that we can access music from all over the world rather than just one country."
"Yeah, I guess. Do you have a favorite yet?"
"No, not yet. Do I need to?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
Yugi shook his head. "No, you don't. A lot of people do, but it's not required. Come on, there's a bazaar in the town square today."
"A what?"
"A bunch of traveling salespeople have set up stalls to sell people stuff. They usually have some pretty neat things to look at."
They spent the rest of the afternoon in the town square, stopping at a multitude of different stalls. A jewelry stall found Atem picking out gold earrings and silver and gold bracelets and anklets, mimicking the kink he wore as Pharaoh in Egypt. He also found a stall that sold mini Duel Monsters posters. Yugi also insisted that they stop by a nearby movie rental shop to get movies and popcorn for the movie night he planned on hosting in a few days. Tea needed to stop by a pharmacy to pick up some cold medicine for her dad, and Yugi and Atem needed to pick up groceries for the house.
Finally, the group stopped for dinner at an ice cream shop. Atem, not used to eating out, scanned the menu before deciding to try a foot-long hot dog with fries while Joey and Yugi ordered burgers, Tristan went for chicken nuggets and Tea decided on a fish sandwich. For desert, Yugi decided on shakes for Atem and himself, ordering a blueberry for himself and a strawberry for Atem. Tristan ordered a banana split, Tea wanted a vanilla malt, and Joey ordered a butterscotch sundae.
It was Atem's first time having ice cream. After watching Yugi suck on his blueberry, Atem took a cautious sip of his own. His eyes widened. It was cold, thick, and absolutely delicious! Atem sucked the thing down faster and faster.
Yugi noticed. "Hold on, Atem. You can't eat ice cream too fast or you might get—" He froze as Atem clutched his head, grimacing in pain. "Brain freeze," Yugi finished weakly, grabbing Atem's cup so he wouldn't drop it as Joey and Tristan stared before bursting out in laughter.
Half an hour later as they left the mall, Joey and Tristan were still chuckling. "It wasn't that funny, guys," said Atem, frowning.
"I gotta disagree with you on that one, pal. " Joey managed to spit out between his chortling.
"Yeah man, it was hilarious!" Tristan chuckled. "You, former king of Egypt, getting a brain freeze from drinking a shake too fast. How is that not funny?"
Atem shook his head. "Joey and Tristan were eating their ice cream just as fast," he complained to Yugi and Tea. "How did they not get these 'brain freezes?'" he asked.
Tea sighed in exasperation. "They eat ice cream so much they're immune to brain freeze."
"That's why I don't get brain freeze, Tea. Joey, on the other hand…" Tristan smirked. "You can't get a brain freeze if you don't have a brain."
"Hey, I heard that!" Joey yelled as he tackled Tristan to the sidewalk, trying to pin him in an arm lock.
"Hey guys," a familiar voice greeted them.
"Hey Bakura," Tea greeted the white haired boy in return smiling. Yugi waved as Atem grinned. "What's up?"
"Nothing much. I'm on my way to pick up some groceries, and that new book that just came out," he said, glancing down at Joey and Tristan wrestling on the sidewalk. He chuckled. "I see things are normal around here."
"No kidding," Tea groaned. "How have you been?"
"About as fine as I can be. I'm still getting used to being able to be around people without them falling comatose, and I still catch myself glancing over my shoulder every other minute, wondering when I'm going to hear him laughing or when he'll take over." He shuddered. "I guess you could say I've been really paranoid. I'm getting better though."
"That's good." Tea was relieved. Neither she nor the others were sure of what all the spirit of the ring had put Bakura through.
"It helps that the Ring itself is gone beyond anybody's reach, since he could take control of me if it was close enough. Still catch myself dodging into alleys to avoid people to keep them safe. But like I said, I'm getting better. Yugi and Atem have been a big help too."
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Joey, pausing in mid-headlock.
"They didn't tell you?" Bakura asked, turning to Yugi and Atem.
"Sorry, we meant too, but we kinda forgot." Yugi blushed. "Bakura's been coming over every morning for the last two weeks. He's been helping catch Atem up on schoolwork."
"What? Don't tell me you're giving him grammar lessons," said Tristan, chuckling at the mental image of the Pharaoh blowing a fuse because he struggled to stay awake learning a pointless subject.
"No, not that. As far as language goes, he doesn't need anything," replied Bakura. "It's the sciences that are giving him the most problems. You know, chemistry, physics, microorganisms, geology, earth science, astronomy, that kind of thing. They didn't have any of that back in Ancient Egypt. Well…" He froze, then amended himself after a glancing at Atem. "Actually, they did have some of it, but it definitely wasn't as advanced as it is today."
"Oh," said Tristan.
"Anything else?" asked Joey.
"I already know most of the mathematical properties and theories," replied Atem. "I just need to make sure I remember their names. As far as literature, I just need to know the plot summaries of a few well-known classics, as well as the names of some modern-day novels."
"You have to learn all that?" Joey's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. How could one guy learn and remember all that complex information in the two months they had before school started?
"I know there isn't time to show him everything," Bakura replied, raising his hands, "but I just need to give him a solid enough base for school, so he won't be completely lost when the topics are covered. If he knows and remembers the basics, he'll be just fine." He smiled. "Giving Atem lessons is actually helping me out as well."
"How's that work?" asked Joey.
Bakura sighed. "Despite all the time the spirit of the ring spent in control of my body, I knew very little about him. I mean, it's not like we talked a lot. Atem does know a lot about him, though, and he can give me explanations concerning the spirit's actions. Understanding why things happened the way they did is often a huge step in recovery." He smiled. "And you all know Yugi. He possesses the gift of making anyone feel better."
Everyone nodded. Yugi blushed.
Okay, I know it seemed like I picked on Atem a lot, but all that was was friendly teasing, nothing more. Didn't want to give the wrong impression.
I'll hopefully update again next weekend, but it's Parent's weekend here at college, so no guarantees. I might have it up this week depending on how busy I get with classes.
Okay, now that I'm done yammering, did you like it? Please review.