Note: Joey, Malik, Ryo and Yugi will be referred to as boys in this chapter and any other chapter in which it is written third person limited, someone who doesn't know their secret.
The next chapters will be a day in each of the character's lives; most of them have either a plotpoint or character building in them.
A Day in the Life of Atem or A Strange Request
Atem woke up Wednesday in his room, like any other morning. He got up and got ready for school while trying his best to ignore all of the expensive things that were packed into his room, as if Gozobura were actually trying to buy his trust and loyalty.
Atem half hoped he was, because then he may have a chance to blindside the jerk, or at least get him to slip something about Mokuba. Not that Atem actually thought he would be trusted even if he trusted Gozobura, paranoid and cold-hearted as his adoptive father was, but it might almost be worth a shot. Only if Seto couldn't get anything from those pictures and notes, though.
Speaking of whom, Atem had noticed that Seto had been acting a bit strange ever since those new kids showed up. He seemed to be putting in even more effort than normal to hate Joey in particular, but denied anything that Atem said.
Which only made Atem more suspicious, but Seto always denied everything so it could just be nothing.
He met Bakura and Marik outside of their rooms respectively, which were even bigger and more lavish than Atem's and Seto's. They walked in silence to the limo that Gozobura had take them to school every morning, knowing that Seto would meet them there.
"Hello Seto," he greeted with a smile as he stepped into the car, getting a curt nod in reply. Marik merely grunted slightly, as he wasn't a morning person at all.
"Someone was up all night. What were you doing, huh?" Bakura asked with a huge grin. Atem sighed as Seto gave him the famous stare. Bakura could be so immature. However, he was correct in one thing: Seto had been up all night. And Atem was pretty sure he knew why.
"How's research been going?" He asked casually, referring to the search for Mokuba. He saw, from the corner of his eye, Marik and Bakura looking minutely more interested. Seto and Atem had told them about the package the day after they opened it.
Seto's face darkened and Atem instantly knew he wouldn't be happy the rest of the day.
"I couldn't find anything substantial." He said coldly, looking at his laptop with a glare that could stop a person's heart. The rest of the ride was silent.
Mornings were often like this in Kaiba mansion. It was like some unspoken rule that you never speak of anything but business inside, and outside you had to always assume that someone was listening to everything you said and reporting it straight to Gozobura.
The chauffeur dropped them off right in front of the school and drove away the instant they had all exited the vehicle; a purely work relationship.
"NYAA!" All four boys looked to see the source of the sound, only to see the four new boys. More specifically, Joey had yelled and fallen over. This seemed to be a regular occurrence due to his friends' lack of reaction.
Seto made a small amused noise and Atem looked at him instantly. Marik and Bakura sniggering at the boy's expense was to be expected, and maybe on a good day it could get Seto to laugh, but so quickly after bad news about Mokuba? That was strange.
Seeming to realize what he had done, Seto scowled and muttered, "Stupid dog." Atem opened his mouth to ask, once again, what on earth was going on with him (not that he really expected an answer), but he was interrupted by another voice.
"Hey, Atem, I need ta talk to you." All four boys turned to see Joey standing in front of them with determined expression.
"What do you want, Wheeler?" Seto sneered.
"I think I made it pretty clear that I wanna talk to Atem, Kaiba. Not you." Joey snarled right back; it was obvious that Joey was not in the mood to put up with Seto's attitude.
"Of course, Joey. What do you want to talk about?" Atem said, stepping in before it could get worse between the two. They had known each other for less than three days, and it was already obvious that they absolutely loathed each other.
"In private! Geez." Joey rolled his eyes as if it were obvious and grabbed Atem's upper arm, starting to drag him away. His friends watched, but made no move to stop him. "You got Science, Art, and History with Yuug, right?" Joey asked as he continued to pull Atem to a less populated part of the campus, but still within the line of sight of his friends. Atem noticed he kept glancing over at something across the courtyard every few seconds.
"Yes…" He said slowly, not exactly sure where this was going. He scanned the courtyard for something that Joey would be looking at, finally spotting the other three new students on the other side. They seemed to be doing their best to avoid interacting with anyone.
"I want you ta keep an eye on him during those classes. When I ain't around, don't let him leave your sight," Joey said as he finally stopped and spun to face Atem.
"You want me to spy on your friend? Why?" Atem wondered, rising an eyebrow and crossing his arms despite being stared down by the taller boy.
"'Cuz somethin's gonna happen to him, I just know it!" Joey seethed. That got Atem to stop acting so petulant, as now it was clear Joey had no ill will, but he was only more confused.
"Why do you think that? And why are you asking me, at least one of your other friends are in her classes too." Joey gave him a look, obviously unimpressed and annoyed.
"Have you seen Malik and Ryo? They're great an' all, but they're pretty much as useful as a soggy piece of bread in the middle of a fight. Plus, I don't trust Marik and Bakura. I don't trust you either, but it's better than nothin'. Just answer the question will ya?"
"I suppose, but-" Atem started, but Joey had already said, "Great," and then apparently spotted something worrying and run back over to his friends. This left Atem a little more satisfied, but pondering why Joey would think Yugi was in any danger as he made his way back to his friends.
He supposed it could have something to do with the tournament held the previous day, but it was pretty much social taboo for Yamis to do anything contrary to the outcome of a duel. Dueling was the way Yamis decided pretty much anything, and the previous day was merely a test of strength. Another unspoken rule, he supposed; if two Yamis got in a duel both would have to honor the agreement, unless the victor and the loser agreed to call off whatever the deal was.
"What did the Mutt want?" Seto asked, looking disinterested. He seemed to be back to his foul mood, and Atem wondered if he had imagined his earlier amusement.
"Joey," he sent Seto a look as he stressed the blond boy's name, "seems to think that Yugi could be in danger of some sort and wants me to make sure nothing happens to him while they're in different classes," Atem informed them while checking to see if his arm was bruised. Joey sure did have a strong grip.
"Oh." Marik smirked.
"So he is smart." Bakura said in agreement.
"What?" Atem and Seto asked, frowning at the other two. Marik and Bakura just sniggered; they loved it when they knew something Atem and Seto didn't because it hardly ever happened. This only made Atem think that perhaps Joey had been correct in asking him to watch over Yugi, contrary to his previous line of reasoning. Marik and Bakura didn't laugh for no reason, after all, and they didn't have the most moral sense of humor out there either.
"Nothing, Pharaoh," Marik replied with a wave of his hand as they started walking to math class. Atem grew even more suspicious at that. Pharaoh was the nickname Marik had come up with for him before they became friends due to his Egyptian heritage and strong sense of justice and fairness. He only used that when he was going to do something or he knew that something was going to be done that was unacceptable within Atem's strict moral code. But from years of experience, Atem knew that neither Marik nor Bakura would ever tell and resolved to drop it and just keep a close eye on Yugi.
Math started with a pleasant surprise; all four new boys (not that any other gender would be accepted as it was an all-boys school) were in the class as well. At least it was pleasant for Atem; he was pretty sure Seto's mood dropped even lower when he spotted Joey. Duke (having already told everyone minus Joey that they could call him by his first name) went through class in his usual flamboyant and showy way and Atem smirked as every time he turned away Bakura and Joey would imitate him.
Afterwards, Atem and Malik headed off to French. A class they were all required to take, though many Yamis were annoyed they had to learn a love language. The teacher was Tea Mazaki, the twin of their Language Arts teacher Anzu Mazaki. She looked exactly the same, but was more prone to going on long rants and giving speeches that could be taken as encouraging but mostly just made people want to punch her in the face. Her fault for teaching Yamis. After that class was finally over, Atem finding out that Malik could already speak fluent French (as well as Egyptian, English, and Japanese), they also parted ways and Atem headed to Physical Education.
In Phys. Ed. Atem met up with Bakura and Ryo quietly injected himself into the little group, as he knew no one else. Atem noticed Bakura didn't terrorize Ryo as much as he usually would such a quiet soul, but decided best not to question it lest Bakura decide to take the innocent question as a challenge. Mai, as usual, took it upon herself to make the new recruit collapse by the end of the block. She had been pleasantly surprised when Joey had still been standing (even cheering for more) at the end, and was disappointed when his friend dropped only halfway through. She then had Bakura and Atem carry the exhausted boy to the infirmary. Bakura offered to hang around until he was ready to go back so Atem headed back alone, wondering about Bakura's motives.
After bidding goodbye to Bakura and Ryo, who had turned up about ten minutes before class got out, Atem headed to History: the first class that he had to make sure Yugi was safe in.
"But Yuug, I don't wanna go ta class!" He heard as he approached, correctly identifying the voice as Joey. "I got Science next and I think the teacher hates me, besides, I gotta deal with Kaiba!" He and Yugi were standing right outside the classroom. Yugi said something a bit too quietly for Atem to hear, but it caused Joey to scowl. "No, Yugi. I don't want you to walk me to class. I-" He stopped a moment as he saw Atem over Yugi's shoulder. "I'm goin', I'm goin'. Now get in there, you're gonna be late ta class."
Atem smirked, realizing what Joey had done there. A handoff of sorts, Joey now knew that Atem was here to make sure nothing happened to Yugi before, during, or after class. And Atem knew he'd be held accountable if anything did.
"Hello Yugi." He greeted, sitting down in the seat next to the smaller boy, who jumped and then smiled cutely at-
Ah, no. Not cutely. That would be weird, as Yugi was both a boy and a Yami. Not cute.
"Oh, hi Atem."
Darn, he was cute. But in a baby animal sort of way. Like a kitten. More like a baby panda, actually.
Whatever.
The class passed normally, Professor Hopkins coming in and saying hello to Atem especially. Atem was his favorite student after all, as they both loved to study Ancient Egypt. He was an old but kind looking man with grey hair. He had been an archeologist for a long time before retiring from that and becoming a teacher, but he sometimes returned to digs during school breaks and would occasionally bring back a souvenir to show off to his classes. He also had a granddaughter that was about ten years old or something and had a weird crush on Atem, she had ever since he brought her to school one day.
Atem did as Joey told him, walking with Yugi to the Cafeteria and doing his best to keep an eye on him while trying not to look like a creeper. They sat with the others at the same table as last time and Atem could almost see Joey visibly relax at seeing Yugi before going back to arguing with Seto about something stupid like the consistency of tomato sauce. Atem, Bakura, and Marik kept to themselves mostly while Malik, Ryo, and Yugi did the same, but Seto and Joey spent almost all of lunch arguing about increasingly ridiculous things, starting with Joey's table manners.
After lunch finally ended, Atem and Yugi walked to Science together and once more sat next to each other. Atem had never really liked this class. First of all, science just wasn't his forte; that was history. Second, Ushio, the teacher, was basically everything he hated personified: Greed, superiority complexes, and picking on those who are weaker/less powerful than you. However, he couldn't do anything about it because he was one of those people who had less power than him.
Ushio seemed to especially like picking on Yugi, probably because he was one of the few people who wouldn't put up any sort of fight. This made Atem angrier than usual, he was sure it was due to the same reason it made Ushio happier than usual, so he calmly hinted that he might get Ushio fired for it. Not that he actually could, as Gozobura would probably make Ushio the principal if he knew how horrible he was to his adopted sons, but Ushio didn't need to know that.
Art, the second to last class of the day, went pretty well. Atem only had the class with Yugi, but the teacher was actually tolerable. She wasn't someone Atem would even consider hanging out with, but she wasn't horrible. A short woman with light purple hair always in a ponytail, Miho Nosaka was the very definition of the word airhead. He would have said that she was a stereotypical dumb blond, but for the fact that, as mentioned before, Miho had purple hair. There was a rumor going around that it was actually blond, but Atem had no trouble believing purple hair was natural, as his hair was natural too and it wasn't exactly normal. Then again, most people thought his was dyed and styled as well.
As Atem and Yugi walked out of the classroom, Atem wondered if Joey expected him to drop Yugi off at his class before going to his own and, if he is, how on earth he would do so without seeming really weird. His dilemma was solved only a moment later as Joey came sprinting down the hall, sliding to a stop right in front of them before falling flat on his face. Atem thought it was interesting how well Joey could fight, but as soon as he wasn't in danger he was clumsy as all else. Though, come to think of it, he had fallen on his face during the fight Atem saw. He was back up almost before they realized he had fallen, grinning at Yugi.
"Haha, hey Yuug!"
"Joey? What're you doing here?" Yugi asked, also not expecting the random occurrence.
"Had to get away from rich-boy, he's been on my case all day," Joey scowled. Atem had to give it to him: he was a good liar.
"Okay… Then I guess we should go to class." Yugi looked like he didn't believe what Joey was saying, but was giving him the benefit of the doubt anyway as they walked off and Joey shot a thumbs up at Atem in thanks.
Atem just shook his head before proceeding to his last class of the day: Language Arts. He was alone in this one, not even any of the new boys were in it. He had people to talk to (like Mako), as he was one of the most popular people in school, but none of them were really good friends.
"I see your mood hasn't improved." Marik observed, talking to Seto when the four Yamis met after school had finished. Seto only glared in reply, confirming the statement.
"So what are we going to do today?" Atem asked, simply wondering what they were going to do until they had to go home.
"I have a meeting with Gozobura," Seto reported coldly, his mood definitely not improving at all.
"I'll just hang around here," Bakura said nonchalantly. Everyone knew that just meant that they didn't want to know, so Marik immediately volunteered to stay as well.
"He wants to meet with you two afterwards," Seto informed them, but Bakura only scoffed.
"He can bite me," Bakura sneered.
"We'll meet him when we get back," Marik said dismissively.
"One of these days he's going to get fed up with you," Atem said, frowning worriedly. Sometimes he didn't think that Bakura took the machine placed on his ankle seriously at all. It was a GPS, mostly. There was someone monitoring it at all times, and whenever he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be they could administer a small shock as a warning. It was never plainly said, but the boys were certain that a warning shock wasn't the only thing the bracelet was capable of. Marik had one exactly like it, but he was generally better at quitting while he was ahead, and so wasn't quite as used to the shocks.
"We're still useful, he won't off us." Malik and Bakura shrugged.
Atem sighed, "Then at least try to get back before he's done with his meeting with Seto, he probably won't care unless you're late."
"As you wish, my Pharaoh." They chorused sarcastically, bowing to him as they leered.
"Are you coming or not?" Seto asked finally as the limo pulled up. He wasted no time in getting in, causing Atem to shoot Marik and Bakura just one more warning look before hopping in as well.
They arrived back at the mansion about ten minutes later and Seto headed straight to Gozobura's study after giving Atem his second laptop (the one he did things that Gozobura didn't know about on) for safekeeping. Atem went and camped out in Seto's room while he waited for the meeting to be over. They always had a meeting after Gozobura had one with any of them, and even though Seto's room was the smallest (comparatively, though that didn't mean much) and most spartan it had always been the place they met.
Atem opened the computer and looked through all the files they had on Mokuba and his location. They had been at this search for years, ever since he was taken away, but never came close to figuring anything out. The computer didn't have anything on it that Seto wouldn't want Atem to see, just as it had everything that he didn't want Gozobura to see. It had everything on Mokuba; all of the sums of their own personal cash stockpile (just in case); information on Gozobura and all of his allies, friends, allies' friends, friends' allies, anyone that had anything to do with Gozobura at any point in time; and finally, it had a plan. Only the vaguest drifts of a plan, no one that didn't already know would be able to tell what it was talking about as there was only one detailed copy of the plan and Seto kept that hidden away in a secret place. The plan of how to take over Kaibacorp after they saved Mokuba.
He sat on the bed, looking around at the room with a sigh after he stashed the computer in its usual hiding spot. This had been the type of room they dreamed of while they were at the orphanage.
"Stop thinking about that." Atem's thoughts stopped in their tracks and his head jerked to look at the now-open door. Standing there was Seto, looking as if he had aged ten years in the meeting. "They made it on time," Seto said as he closed the door, answering Atem's unasked question about Bakura and Marik.
As much as Seto said he didn't believe in stuff like that, Atem was almost certain that his cousin had ESP.
"I don't have ESP."
"Of course not." Atem's lip twitched in amusement at the old, worn out, and run-down joke. The thing was really too old to be funny anymore, but it still hadn't stopped making Atem at least a bit happy. "So what did he want to meet about?" He asked, getting serious once more.
"Bakura and Marik should be here soon, we'll talk when they arrive." He said, retrieving the computer from its spot and setting it on his desk. "Did you check?" He asked as he opened the thing.
"Of course, I found three. We'll have to look with Bakura though, he's definitely the best." The two sat in silence as they waited.
"Well isn't this cheerful," Marik said as he sauntered into the room, Bakura tromping behind him with a sour look. Their meeting obviously hadn't gone well for them either, not that a meeting with Gozobura Kaiba could ever really go well.
Atem and Seto looked up from their respective positions, Seto from working on the computer and Atem doing homework on the bed.
"Good, close the door." Seto said, standing up and starting to check around the room. He was soon joined by the other three, running their fingers over everything and checking every nook and cranny for any sort of bug or listening device that may have been placed over the course of the day.
They found three.
Seto muttered under his breath, disabled two of them, and crushed the one he couldn't disable. He dropped the two into the bottom drawer for repurposing later.
"Alright. Seto, you first." Atem said, taking charge.
"He's starting to suspect that we're close to finding Mokuba. He didn't say anything explicit, but he was asking a lot of questions and wanted to see my laptop." He reported. "Also, all that I've got so far off the pictures is that they're holding him somewhere near a large body of water. He started writing more in English and less in Kanji as time went on, so we can also assume that almost everyone around him is speaking English."
"It's better than nothing," Atem said, nodding. That had sort of become his mantra when it came to finding Mokuba. They hardly ever got any piece of information, but everything they did get narrowed the search area a little bit more. "What about you two?"
"Just reports," Marik sighed.
"Nothing you haven't heard already." Bakura muttered darkly.
"Then why is Bakura in such a bad mood?" Atem asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He got snappy, so Gozo got zappy." Marik replied with his old crazy smile, laughing at his own little rhyme. That is, until Bakura shoved him down and stood on his stomach. Then they just glared at each other. Marik was strong and Bakura was light, so it really wasn't that big of a problem, but it still hurt.
"I thought you said they didn't even hurt anymore." Seto pointed out, not even looking at the grudge-match going on in the center of his room.
"Doesn't mean it's not annoying." Bakura sneered without looking away from Marik. Marik seemed to get fed up with him, grabbed his ankles, and rolled to try and make him fall over. He jumped back up almost immediately and kicked Marik in the stomach.
Atem sighed; this was going to be a long night.
Interesting factoid 10: The analogy "as useful as a soggy piece of bread in a fight" as used by Joey means that they're good for a distraction, but they'd get torn to pieces in seconds.
