Title: Reconfiguration
Summary: A few minutes delay is all it takes to change the course of lives, and Atem is not certain if he should thank the gods or curse them for this shift in his destiny. For what did it mean for his fate, this chance to know the world again in his own flesh? What good might come from this chance to linger so solidly in a world he was meant to leave? [Puzzleshipping, Canon Branch-Off]
Rating: T for Teen.
Author: Phoebe Delos
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! DM
Spoilers: Pretty much the full series (manga edition).
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! isn't mine. Neither are any of the games I mentioned in here.
Notes: Here's chapter 11! And it's been long delayed, honestly, at least on the side, and I apologize for that. That being said, I have big point I need to announce. I will not be updating any of my stories on after the 2017. I have come to the conclusion that the site just isn't a good medium for me as a writer anymore, as the behind-the-scenes aspects are just too inflexible- especially now that I am working namely from a chromebook instead of a proper laptop or desktop. My sole up-to-date account for my writings will now be over at ArchiveofOurOwn, where I write under the same pen name as I do here- Phoebe Delos. Note: I will not be deleting this account. It will simply remain un-updated after 2017. I will be sending announcements of this through my other stories as well, so non-Reconfiguration readers are aware of the move. We will be getting one more chapter for Reconfiguration on after this one, but after that, if you wish to see the continuation of the story, I'm afraid it will have to be over on Ao3. I apologize to anyone who is not a fan of the site, but I honestly think the Ao3 is a better platform to present my stories from, and I hope it will not prove to be a hindrance to any of my readers. Thank you.
:: Tues-Thurs, June 23-25 ::
"So is… the answer negative nine?" Honda tried, squinting with his own uncertainty as he looked up at his friends.
But Anzu didn't even glance up as she answered, already focused on the next question as she said, "That's one of the answers, yes."
"One of… so there's two?"
"Of course there's two. It's an absolute value function."
"Well, yeah… but… what's the other one?"
"It's sixteen."
Anzu finally stalled her calculations long enough to look up, shocked that the one who had answered in her place was– "Jounouchi-kun, you solved it that fast? That's actually pretty impre…" She trailed off as she realized where Jounouchi was looking.
Right at her worksheet.
She slammed her elbow down over it as she glared at him. "Stop copying off of me!"
"I'm not! I'm just supplying answers to the others off of you."
"That's worse! It's bad enough if you want to skip studying yourself, but you shouldn't drag the others down with you!"
"I'm still not sure how you got that," Honda mumbled from between them, scratching out a couple lines of work.
Anzu sighed, and – after turning over her worksheet – faced Honda. "Here, I'll show you… are you two doing okay, Bakura-kun? Yuugi-kun?"
"We're fine!" Yuugi assured, shooting her a smile from his end of the kitchen table. "We're on question seven already."
"Wow, awesome! So you figured out the last one on your own?"
"Nah," Bakura admitted, offering her a serene grin as he confessed, "Jounouchi told us the answer, too."
…Anzu turned ice blue eyes back on the blond.
Jounouchi was too busy to meet her gaze, though, inspecting the magnets on the Mutou refrigerator… and calling out to the person who walked into the room at just that moment. "Hey, Atem! What're you doing? I thought you were going to hang out with us!"
"What's he gonna do?" Honda snorted, dropping his pencil only to shoot his best friend a bemused look. "Watch us do homework?"
"I agreed to help out late in the shop while you study," Atem explained, shooting Jounouchi a smile… that faded into nothing as his gaze slid slowly towards his partner. No expression really replaced it as he looked at Yuugi, but Jounouchi still found himself stalling just before speaking, his mouth snapping shut as he glanced curiously from one 'Mutou' to the other.
Anzu, Bakura, and Honda all quickly mimicked him… but Yuugi didn't notice. He was still focused on his worksheet, erasing some answer to replace it with new numbers.
But as the silence dragged on, he finally stalled… and glanced up… flicked his eyes from one friend, to another… then finally to Atem. He stared back at the hard-faced king, his face blank one moment too long… before he offered the other man a soft, curious smile. "What's up?"
Atem's mouth, already thin with silent strain, tightened a breath more– then relaxed as he asked, "Did your mother say what we're doing for dinner? She usually starts prepping the food by now."
"Yeah, but she said she was short on vegetables," Yuugi answered– so casually, with an ease that knocked his friends out of their mutual tension, leaving them blinking confused and uncertain as they glanced at one another, as though to confirm their brief alarm hadn't been justthem in the first place. "She went to the store, and the lines are probably bad right now, so who knows how fast she'll be back."
"We… didn't mean to put your mother out, Yuugi-kun. We can always move to the living room," Anzu slid in, voice hesitant with the awkward sense that drawing her friends' attention away from each other would be infringing on… something.
But no, Yuugi just shook his head, not a hint of the oddness they all felt within his smile. "Don't worry, she's just making stir-fry. If we can finish up in the next half an hour or so, we'll be out of her way for sure, even if she does miss the crowd."
"I'll get out of your way, then," Atem said, his flat expression as impassive as his partner's smile as he bypassed the table– briefly opening the fridge to pull out a bottle and tip it in their direction. "I just came in for a drink."
Yuugi offered no reply save a simple hum as he focused back on his worksheet, but Jounouchi tossed out a "Make sure you get off in time to play a game with us later!" that Atem answered with a wordless thumbs up, tossed over his shoulder as he left the kitchen, never looking back.
"I wonder how long his shift actually is," Bakura mused aloud… covering the quiet Atem left in his wake as the three friends all frowned their own disapproval.
Jounouchi frowned at the king's retreating back as he disappeared into the hallway.
Anzu frowned at Yuugi, his head already bowed over his worksheet again.
Honda just… frowned at nothing... only to stand up a bare two seconds later. "I gotta take a leak."
"Hey, Atem."
Borrowed studded boots stalled, and Atem turned around just halfway down the hall between the house and the shop. He'd recognized the voice instantly, so there was no shock to disturb his usual, sharp gaze as he looked back at his friend, his free hand resting on his hip as he asked, "What is it, Honda?"
The approaching teen opened his mouth– only to stumble for sound at the blunt, knowing look in those deep red eyes. Their attention made Honda grimace, and while he did speak up, he did so while frowning at the wall over Atem's shoulder. "I just wanted to know, did something happen? I mean, it might not be any of my business, but you've been acting weird today… you and Yuugi both."
"Weird how?"
"I don't know, just…" Honda shrugged, shifting on his feet before stuffing his hands in his pockets and bracing his shoulders with defensive stiffness. "Like you're both keeping everybody at arm's length in your own ways, you know? And not just with us– with each other, too. And since this is the first time I've had a chance to see you properly since the sleepover, I just wanted to make sure I didn't– I don't know, screw something up or something. You know, with what I said."
He managed to spout out his last words with a far more direct gaze, but even though Atem didn't look away, Honda couldn't read much in his face. Whatever cards he was holding close to his chest, apparently Atem wasn't ready to share them, even with his bluff called out. He just… stared back at him for a long moment… then finally turned his head and frowned down the hallway, towards the kitchen. "I don't know what to tell you."
…A 'there's nothing wrong' or 'it wasn't you' or 'I'm fine' should have gone there, Honda was sure of it. Heard it in Atem's voice. And yet… he didn't say it. Just stared at him like he was supposed to say something, and Atem was waiting for him to just say it already so that he could make his own move. Trigger some trap.
Honestly, if this was even half of what it would feel like to duel the guy, Honda was glad he'd never tried.
Thankfully, he at least had enough sense to not walk knowingly into that mess– or to force an answer Atem didn't want to give. If he wanted to keep whatever was going on in his head and between himself and Yuugi private, then– "Okay," he eventually answered, giving a nod to nobody before scratching the back of his neck as he turned to go. "Sorry for bothering you, man."
"…The way you said that."
Honda didn't even make it two steps. He paused with his foot just barely into the second, and turned back to the face the one who had spoken.
But Atem wasn't looking back at him. He was staring beyond him, his expression completely void as he eyed the hall over Honda's shoulder and asked, "Then it was… aibou who you were thinking of? When you said that at Bakura's?"
"–Ah, shit." Honda followed his gaze and eyed the hall himself, skin suddenly itching from imagined, prying eyes and pricked ears. But no one was there, and he could just barely make out Jounouchi and Anzu's voices in the distances, muffled by two or three layers of wall, so he turned back to Atem with a weary huff and confession. "I was trying to avoid that– you know, mentioning him specifically. It'd suck if I was wrong, after all, and I didn't want to make things weird, or cause pointless trouble for you two, but… yeah." Atem's general questions after that movie had given Honda the idea to actually say something, sure, but it was Yuugi who actually made Honda think he should say something at all– who made him actually look at the two and consider them. Together. Yuugi himself… and the way Atem looked at him, like he'd like nothing better in the world than to just keep his eyes locked on him for the rest of time.
That might not be as straightforward as the half a dozen breathless, starstruck looks Honda caught Yuugi shooting the pharaoh, but still… Atem didn't look at any of the rest of them like that!
And sure, it might have all meant nothing, but when Honda just thought about it? Yuugi stumbling towards some revelation, Atem not understanding the concept enough to get there at all, the two of them edging towards some understanding at a snail's pace with Atem leaving right on the horizon? It all just screamed of a collision course with trouble in Honda's book. And he didn't want to see that… but it looked like his plan to make Atem think about the matter without planting his own suspicions in his head had been pointless. Honda sighed with the failure of it– only to start and turn wide brown eyes back on the pharaoh, because– "Wait, the way you said that just now… You put it together on your own already?" He sure hadn't mentioned Yuugi at all, so–!
Atem turned his attention down to his drink, popping the top off as he nodded once. "Aa."
Honda wheezed out a long breath and deflated into relief, grinning with the weight of that off of his back. "Oh, okay! Good! Then I…" But, as the thought sunk in, context quickly followed, and his expression faded into stunned uncertainty.
Atem just stared right through his astonished gaze, his open drink left untouched in his hand as he asked, "What made you think that?"
"Huh? What– what do you mean?"
"About us… aibou and I. What made you think there's something like… that between us?" Even the indirect illusion seemed to trigger something, and even though Atem had been looking back at him all along, suddenly Atem was actually looking at him, and Honda's mouth felt like it had shrunk around his tongue, and there was no room to move it as he took in the raw regret in his friend's eyes, the twist of his mouth and teeth as Atem fought to maintain outward calm around asking, "What did I do?"
…When he actually tried to open his mouth, Honda's jaw unhinged just as it should have, but still he found he had nothing to say. But Atem– his open, uncharacteristic show of anguish deserved so much more from him than silence, and at the very least direct honesty. So Honda… he shook his head, and offered his friend what little he had. "Nothing, man. You didn't… do anything, it was just– nothing specific, just…" He could only shrug, meeting Atem grim gaze for grim gaze. "Just– the way you look at each other, I guess. The way you act and smile and stuff together. From where I stood, it just… it looked like somebody in love to me."
Two somebodies, to be exact.
And it was such a given in Honda's eyes, that answer… and yet, something shifted in Atem's eyes. Honda couldn't say if that was good, or bad, for the pharaoh's deep red eyes had fogged over again, and when his gaze shifted back to the wall, his thoughts were clearly somewhere far, far away… or perhaps caught somewhere deep within himself.
But that left him with nothing, and when the quiet dragged on eight, nine seconds, Honda finally had to ask, "Are you cool? I know it sounds pretty lame when I say it out loud like that–"
"I'm fine," Atem answered before he could even finish, gaze still elsewhere… but it shifted back to him after another couple of seconds, and that thoughtful, vague frown Honda knew well was back on his face as he nodded. "Thanks for telling me."
"…No problem," Honda offered, squinting as though that would help him see pask that familiar mask.
Atem didn't even acknowledge it, though. Just took a long belated swig of his drink and turned away, continuing his trek to the shop. "I'll see you after work."
"Sure…" Honda watched him go… frowning the whole time because, even after all of that, he hadn't gotten the one thing he had come there for.
What had happened?
…He sighed, and turned back the way he had come.
Tempting as it was to follow, ask more questions, or even turn to Yuugi, Honda had to admit it: he'd pried and meddled enough as it was, and he really knew more than he needed to already. Something was going on, he was sure of that much, and at the very least, he could walk away certain that ignorance wasn't part of the problem.
And if Atem – or Yuugi – wanted to open up and ask for more, that… was really just their choice.
He'd have to leave it to them.
"Atem, you don't need to do that. Just wait until we're closed and I'll have Yui bring out the vacuum."
"I've got it," the man who had once ruled a kingdom and defeated a millennia old demon insisted, his words muffled as he practically punched at a wall corner with his hand duster. And his efforts did manage to dislodge a cluster of gritty bunnies… but with nowhere else to go in the tiny space between the floor and the bottom shelf, they flew right into his face.
Even with a cloth tied over his nose, he hit his head on the wood, coughing.
"What did I tell you?" his company huffed somewhere above and behind him, just before a thick pair of hands caught him under the thighs and dragged him out from under the shelf. Atem flinched and grimaced as his apron caught on the concrete and his shirt rode up against his belly, the wrinkles biting into his skin as he came back out into the light– and into sight of a frowning Sugoroku. "What made you think cleaning that up with the dust right in your face was a good idea? I told you we could just wait for–"
"If we wait for Yui, and then for dinner to be over, we'll have to leave all of this out overnight," Atem argued, pushing himself up onto his elbows– to discover Sugoroku offering him a hand. He stared at it for a good two seconds… before finally accepting it, mouth set flat and tense as he got to his feet.
Sugoroku handed him the Puzzle, and and he accepted it with a mumbled, "Thanks."
"And so what?" the older man said, not even acknowledging Atem's quiet words. "The world's not going to end just because we leave a few boxes out in the storage room overnight. Go on, you should be getting back to Yuugi and your friends! We can take care of the rest of this in the morning," Sugoroku reassured… but Atem failed to return his smile… and before long they were both frowning again, Atem at the piles of boxes scattered around their feet, and Sugoroku… Atem couldn't prove it, since he didn't look up, but he was still sure that the man was glowering at him.
In the end, Sugoroku just sighed, and when Atem glanced back up at him, he was shaking his head. "If you're that worried about it, you can go ahead and finish up in here on your own. It's usually slow this time of night anyways, I can handle the shop on my own," he allowed, turning for the door without waiting for a response he was pretty sure he would never get, anyways. "Just come out when you have everything set straight to your liking!"
Atem didn't respond to the allowance or the subtle jab, his eyes caught on the dusty cover of an old game board sticking out of one of the fraying boxes… But when Sugoroku's footsteps faded away and he found himself alone? He yanked off the duster and face cloth and dropped them on the floor, sending another cloud of dust flying as he glowered at the mess around him.
Atem had jumped on the chance to clean out the room when the shop proved to be dead, the silence dangerous and threatening when all he wanted tonight was a distraction… but now, his shift was nearly over, his mind was still infested with thoughts he just couldn't wipe out, and… and he had thought he could at least makes sense of this – a neglected shelf with rampant dust – but no, he was forced to walk away with a mess in his wake.
What exactly was he doing with himself, anyways?
He knew there was nothing else to say, after all. Nothing left to clear up… and yet…
"-! "
…What?
Atem turned and stared out of the open door, listening.
He couldn't make out any of the words being tossed around loudly in the other room, but that voice .
He abandoned the boxes and went back to the shop.
"…want to go into your house, either, but if you don't call him out, I can't–" The sharp voice cut off the second Atem stepped through shop's back entrance, and the two… stared at one another, confusion shifting to mirrored shock.
Kaiba.
And for a moment, Atem wasn't in the game shop, but a painted, stone room, long and large and full of people, the first and foremost among them a man with a tall blue hat and blue garb and familiar blue eyes smirking up at him.
But this man wasn't smirking, or smiling, and Atem wasn't certain he even saw him properly. He looked more like he was staring rightthrough him, and–
"Yuugi?"
Atem blinked, tugged his eyes off of Kaiba, and… and his world shifted back to the four walls around him when he saw Mokuba looking back at him. "Is that… really you? Or I mean, not you?" the boy corrected, his gaze sliding to the top of Atem's head– and sticking there with a twist of his nose.
Atem grit his teeth against any impulse expression and reached up to tug off the second cloth that had been protecting his hair… There was a spider web stuck to it. He let it stick to his hand, reluctant to draw enough attention to wipe it off.
He was starkly aware of the dirt on his face and the turtle smiling back at them from his apron.
He looked at Kaiba, expecting some comment… but he just kept staring at him, like what he saw just didn't make sense.
"No, this is not Yuugi," Sugoroku supplied, cutting into the silence before it could actually drag on. The man was leaning on his counter, elbows against the glass, and he was eying Kaiba with an irritation thinly layered beneath a soft calm– a faint smile over hard but easing eyes. "So if I can repeat my earlier question? If you are looking for one of my boys, which one do you want? Yuugi or Atem?"
"Then, it's true then?!" Mokuba yelped, eyeing Atem with eyes as wide as saucers.
Atem just frowned. "What do you–"
"Hey, Atem! Anzu's headed home, but Yuugi wants to play Risk. Are you gonna come back in anytime soon, or should…" Jounouchi said as he came through the back door, trailing off as he realized who else was in the room… stalling for all of two seconds before snapping, "What the hell are you doing here?!"
And finally, Kaiba seemed to find his voice, even if it was just to snort and sneer at the newcomer, life returning to his features as he looked back – and down – at the blond. "That's none of your business– and I could ask you the same thing. Even in Yuugi's own house? Are younever underfoot around him?"
"Why you–"
"Hey, why are you yelling in the–" Honda came up short just behind Jounouchi, back straight and stiff with shock and the effort not to run into him.
Three figures trailed in behind him, all staring with the same surprise. Anzu, Bakura, and–
"Holy cow, it is true," Mokuba breathed, looking from Yuugi… to 'Yuugi' in disbelief. "There… actually are two of you."
Yuugi followed his gaze, and Atem looked back, and for the briefest moment there was something other than shock in their eyes.
Then Yuugi looked back at the unexpected visitors, confusion taking over. "Mokuba-kun? Kaiba-kun? What are you–"
"What is all this noise back here? I told you kids to keep it down while the shop is–"
A tenth person joined the little crowd, but this one remained hovering in the doorway, filling it up with an arm's full of groceries as she looked at the two visitors.
Expression completely blank.
"Ah, Mama?" Yuugi tried, waving vaguely towards two brothers even as his mother failed to look at him. "This is Kaiba Seto, and Moku-"
"I know who they are, dear," Yui interrupted, voice coated in a sweetness that earned no reaction from most of the group, but Sugoroku's brows rose as Yuugi and Atem tensed in recognition. She smiled down at Mokuba. "And if that young man would like to stay and shop, that would be fine, but I'm afraid the other one will have to leave."
Kaiba… slid slowly into a frown. "What?"
Yui shifted her smile to him, the thick coating on her expression making Atem grimace and look searchingly at his partner. Yuugi could only look back, just as lost as he was. "Yes, I'm afraid you need to leave. We reserve the right to deny service where we deem necessary, so I'm going to have to ask you to go."
"I… think he came to talk to us," Yuugi tried, earning a short, flat glance from his mother before she looked right back at their guest, all fronts and smiles gone from her hard eyes.
"If you wish to speak to the person who nearly killed your grandfather and gave him a heart attack, that is your choice, Yuugi-kun, but I won't have him on Otou-san's property."
"What– that– Jii-chan?" Yuugi tried, looking plaintively to the man this was all about.
Sugoroku merely shrugged, a sage acceptance on his face as he put out both hands in apparent surrender. "If those are your mother's feelings, Yuugi, I wouldn't feel right overriding them."
Somewhere behind Atem, Jounouchi snorted.
He didn't look back at him though, shifting his focus back to Kaiba, wondering what he would do. Atem wanted to talk to him, but if he fought Yui on this and caused trouble for the Mutous–
And Mokuba certainly looked askance – and guilty – but the elder Kaiba? He just stared right back at Yui… then turned tail and walked out, not a word spoken, Mokuba right at his heels as soon as he noticed.
They all watched the exit for a good three seconds before Jounouchi finally broke the silence.
"That worked?"
Atem didn't wait for anyone to reply. He followed.
Half a minute later, he was standing in front of Kame Game with Jounouchi and Yuugi at his side, his other friends hanging back a few paces as they all faced the brothers, who stood before their long sleek car.
"Sorry about that, but– why are you here, guys?" Yuugi was asking, glancing uncertainly from one Kaiba to the other. "It's good to see you both, but I thought you were in America working on Kaibaland."
"We were," Mokuba supplied, his bright smile at the mention an honest relief to the group in the wake of the tension they had just left behind. "But we got a call from Isis last night about– well, 'Atem' here."
Isis?
Beside him Yuugi shut his mouth on a sharp inhale, and Atem frowned, mind already whirling. Because of course, Isis had said she would do what she needed to to smooth his way out of the country, and she would likely need someone with inside knowledge and resources in Japan to do it. And if anyone had the power to arrange that–
"She asked you to set up my passport," he surmised, crossing his arms above the Puzzle. "So that I can go to Egypt."
"Yeah, which is really stupid," Mokuba observed, snorting with an eye roll. "Seto and I could get you to Egypt anytime you want, no passport required."
"But I'm not going to act as your chauffeur anytime you want to cross borders," Kaiba added with a crisp disapproval. "Still, I have to ask– why do you think I'd break laws and come back to Japan just to hand over some falsified paperwork to you?"
"I didn't ask you to do anything," Atem retorted, choosing to ignore the argument 'you came back to Japan just to ask ' in favor of admitting, "I do need them, though, so if you can make them–"
"Can and will are two different things," Kaiba interrupted, meeting him stare for stare… until a voice edged into the conversation.
"Um, not to change the subject," Bakura said with an apologetic smile, raising his hand in a small wave as they all looked to him. "But, aren't you at all curious why Yuugi-kun and Atem-kun are separate now?"
"Isis already said it was something with the Millennium Items and spirit that was in that Ring you wore, but it doesn't matter." Kaiba's expression slide back into its default frowning disinterest as he glanced from Atem… to Yuugi. "That's the one I have a loss to repay with, and that's the one I don't. And that's as much as I need to know. The details don't concern me."
Atem wasn't certain what expression his partner made, since he didn't look. All he could see in his periphery was the slow, loose clench of Yuugi's hand.
Atem kept his eyes on Kaiba, though, narrow and sharp and protesting. "Aibou has always been part of our battles, but this has nothing to do with that."
"So you say," Kaiba retorted, expression not shifting even an inch with the argument. Apparently, he found it too predictable to bother with. "But that's exactly what I'm here about."
"You said you were here about the passport."
"That's what you want out of it," he countered, the faintest smile touching his face– a look caught somewhere between that last glance Atem remembered from Battle City, and his far more familiar leer. "But, even if I was willing to let our battle go until the expansion plans in America were set, that doesn't mean I'm going to let a chance slip by. If you want something from me, Y–"
He stopped.
His expression blanked out… and silence fell across the group as they all took in what he was clearly about to say.
Even Jounouchi didn't say anything.
And after a second, Kaiba recovered himself and glared his challenge right at him– at Atem. "If you want it, you're going to have to win it."
"So, this is good, right?"
Atem's brow creased with the question– and then he dismissed it, focus snapping forward as a machine gave a loud pow and something shot straight at his face. He aimed, swung, connected with the ball just in time– but it hit the net off to the left, yards away from the home run target. Atem breathed out a silent, tangled frustration, and answered Otogi without looking back. "It's straightforward enough. If I duel Kaiba tomorrow–" Another ball shot. Another swing. Another off-hit, and another frown. "And win, he'll arrange my passport and any other legal identification I might need."
Another shot. This one he missed entirely, and he grit his teeth against reacting… and against the pain shooting through his head.
"I'm honestly shocked he agreed to wait that long," Jounouchi mused somewhere behind him, beyond the safety net that separated Atem from his friends. "I thought he was going to make you face him right then and there in the street yesterday."
"Why didn't he, for that matter?"
"I said–" Atem answered Otogi, until to cut himself off. Swing. Grimace. "I was working, and it was almost dinner time."
"And he accepted that?"
"Not until I promised to face him tomorrow, before he goes back to America."
Another ball came sailing his way, and as Otogi started to ask, "Does that mean you're still going to get to–" Atem missed again, and hissed out a gargled breath… and tensed as he realized Otogi had cut himself off, and no one was talking.
He chanced a glance back to discover everyone staring at him.
"Uh, Atem?" Honda tried, standing up from the metal wire table the group was sitting at, just beyond the batting cage. "You having a problem?"
"No, I–" He glanced back as another pow sounded from the shooter, and side-stepped the batter's spot, letting the baseball hit the net and bounce away as he focused on his friends. "I'm just having trouble concentrating."
"In that case, why don't you let me take a crack at it? I'm not the one who we're all trying to talk to here."
And with that – reluctant as he was to give up before even managing one hit – Atem traded places with Honda, letting his friend take a turn at the bat while he claimed his vacant seat, rubbing a corner of his brow as he settled down at the table with Otogi, Jounouchi, and his partner.
He wasn't quite sure how they had ended up there, as baseball was never something he considered a personally fun pastime, but Jounouchi and Honda had latched onto the idea, Otogi had been up for anything so long as he heard about what he had missed yesterday, and since Anzu and Bakura were busy with their own stuff today, no one had protested. He and Yuugi had just gone along with it.
He and… Yuugi…
He dropped his hand and considered his partner, just there out of the corner of his eye and at the end of his elbow.
Yuugi was sitting just there, to his right, his own elbows resting on the table edge as he supported his chin with both hands and watched their friends, Jounouchi boasting to a scoffing Otogi that he could definitely hit three home runs in a row. There was a small, steady grin on Yuugi's face as he listened, but… but it was thin, somehow. Forgettable, and easily lost, and his expression blanked out completely when he shifted his gaze and saw him looking at his way.
The impulse to look away was strong and instant and undeniable, but Atem fought it. Stomped it down by staring right back at him– his partner. And Yuugi… showed nothing. Even when Atem looked right at him, and knew that smile was false, he could see nothing beyond it.
"What?"
Atem shook his head, offered a dutiful, "Nothing," and turned back to Otogi as he said his name.
"Atem, you didn't answer me. Are we going to get to watch your duel tomorrow?"
"Yeah, if you like. I'm not meeting him until after five, at KaibaCorp so everyone will be off school and free to come."
"Awesome," Jounouchi said, his eyes glinting and smirk gleeful as he leaned forward on his arms. "Remember to tell Kaiba that if he wants a duel, we have to be there, okay? And no 'if we want to' about it, or he might just lock us out at the last minute or something. And I've got to see this."
A layer of natural ease overlaid Atem's forced calm as he shot the blond a small smirk. "If he's set on winning this, I think he'll want all of the witnesses he can get."
"Pffft, like he could! You're going to wipe the floor with him and look amazing doing it! Just like always."
And Atem had started to laugh, amused and grateful for the open faith… but the humor tripped on itself at those last words.
And Jounouchi noticed. "What?" Atem must have twitched or flinched or something, because Jounouchi shifted from confused to incredulous in the space of a second. "Dude, you don't think you'd actually lose, do y–"
"I won't allow myself to lose," he assured, not even waiting for Jounouchi to finish… but still he frowned, glowered at some nothing just beyond his friend's shoulder. "But it's still different."
"What?! Different how? I mean, come on! You're not hung up on how he looked at you back at the shop, are you? You're still you, we're still here, and you still have the Puzzle! What's different?! You can still win!"
"That's not it," he denied, mind sliding briefly back to the expression on Kaiba's face when he first saw him yesterday– but Atem felt nothing but a numb sort of acceptance for that. "And it's not about if I can win, it's just…" He was honestly happy to have the chance to duel Kaiba once more, and he was fairly confident he would win, because he had to, but… but that necessity to win just mixed restlessly with this other feeling– this feeling that it wasn't the same. Even if he had always taken a strongly personal, solo hand when it came to his duels with Kaiba, he had still… he had never fought him truly alone.
His gaze skipped to his partner.
And Yuugi didn't say anything, but he saw. Violet eyes that had already been set on him went wide, froze– and stayed that way as Atem stared somberly back at him, and watched the understanding rise in his partner's mind… Only then did Yuugi's expression shift a little.
And Atem still couldn't see anything beyond it, but–
But he could feel the attention fixed on them both, and so he turned back to their openly confused friends, and shrugged. "I just wonder if it will feel the same."
Jounouchi looked from Atem to his best friend and back with a quick, searching eye, then frowned. "Well, who cares if it feels the same or not? Just let loose! Forget all of the details hanging over it, and enjoy the rush of handing that guy his own ass."
"Forget? I can't do that. If I don't take it seriously and do lose–"
"Then you'll try again!" Jounouchi all but snapped before suddenly relaxing back into his chair, crossing his arms with a snort and a smirk. "What? You actually think Kaiba would say no, get on his plane, head back to America, and leave it at that? No way. He might claim he doesn't need to duel again if he wins, but trust me, he won't be able to let it go if you challenge him and he walks away. It'll haunt him, and that guy just can't let sleeping dragons lie."
Yuugi gave a quiet, weak sniff of a laugh, but Atem didn't echo him. He was too busy taking in Jounouchi's argument and… realizing he had a point.
Otogi didn't laugh either, though… for his own reasons. "Was that supposed to be funny?"
"Oh, shut up! I'm hilarious." Jounouchi aimed a loose punch at Otogi's arm, and missed as the guy swerved. But the blond didn't seem to mind, skipping a second attempt to grin at his best friend. "Oh, and Yuugi?"
"Yeah?"
"Your mom? She's officially my hero."
Two hours later, Atem and Yuugi were back in the later's bedroom: Atem on the bed, playing; Yuugi at his desk, studying.
Supposedly.
Yuugi jotted something down on his English worksheet, unsure if he had just written 'Jack went to the store for some milk' or 'Jack some store got at the milk.' He would probably be sure if he checked his dictionary and sentence structure cheat sheet, but it didn't really matter. He'd already accepted that he would be double checking and corrected this assignment before school tomorrow, anyways. It was just busy work right now.
Busy work to cover the fact that, even if he didn't dare a side-glance, he was focused on Atem.
As always.
Whether Atem was in the room with him or not, Yuugi had thought about little else in the last forty-eight hours… or, at least the last forty-four or so. The first few had been little more than a fog and a damp weight in his chest as he focused on keeping his reaction hidden from his other– no, from his whole family. He'd had dinner and done homework and played games and all of his usual evening stuff right in front of all of them and… probably been too quiet the whole time, but he'd gotten through it with little more than passing glances from his mother and grandfather. And even though he'd felt eyes burning on his face the whole time, Atem never said anything. Which was just as well, because it took all of Yuugi's focus to keep a wall between him and his feelings, and if Atem had said something…
But… even so, Yuugi had gone to bed with that weight still there, still inside of him, and… and as he lay there, staring at the wall, painfully aware of the other right there on the floor behind him? He realized something.
It was pointless.
He could try and smother these thoughts and feelings now that they had nowhere to go, but they were still there, and… and he had to deal with them. No matter what Atem said, no matter the fact he was right, this weight was still Yuugi's to live with, and he couldn't get rid of it.
He could only try to understand it.
And so, he was trying.
But he hadn't tried to hide away or anything to think it through. He'd gone about his day and lingered among the people he cared about, the same as always, but… but he wasn't truly focused on any of it. He was in his own head, working it over, puzzling over every memory and thought and feeling he could recall related to his other self. They were all there, after all, inside of him, laid out in one long, single line of time and change. And that was useless for his purposes– just a sequence of cause and effect and day-to-day life. Yuugi needed to tear those memories apart, piece them back together the proper way, and find the shape they made when he considered them all at once.
All… all of his feelings… as one whole.
It was just hard. So many things refused to be pinned down, left him flailing for steady ground, while others… others were easy to grasp, but so, so much that when he added them to the bigger picture, and saw just… just a glimpse of what he was truly dealing with?
It was dizzying… intimidating… If he felt half this overwhelmed dwarfed by the pyramids when he finally got a chance to see them in person? He'd be shocked.
But he kept at it, and all the while remained… 'drawn into' himself.
And he knew everyone noticed, sort of. He was being too quiet, staying back one step too far from the conversations and people around him. But it couldn't be helped. One way or another, Yuugi would be troubled, and he'd rather be distracted for this than… than from just wallowing in it all. And thankfully, no one seemed to be certain of his hidden mood save for… Atem himself… and while he kept eying him across the gulf separating them, he never tried to cross it– left Yuugi to his thoughts.
Even now, Yuugi distantly noted it– another gap of silence between Atem's rapid button presses on Yuugi's Game Boy.
He had to be looking at him.
Again.
But Yuugi didn't look up… and after a breath, Atem returned to his game, and left Yuugi to his thoughts, his efforts to consider each of his recalled feelings, never trying to put a name to any one of them. He didn't need to. He wasn't looking for some sort of revelation after all, because… because he already knew what the solution would be. He knew what the answer was– had known ever since that weight crushed him two nights ago, with Atem's bid to box this all away.
Which was his right. He didn't owe Yuugi anything, after all. It was just… Yuugi wanted to understand. The whole picture and every bit that made it up, because… because he would have to face it all eventually, and… and even if he would just box it away in the end, too? He wanted to understand it while Atem was still there, beside him. He… he didn't want to have to go through this completely, truly alone.
Just having Atem there beside him made him feel brave.
And he'd done it, for the most part. He'd worked through most of his memories in the last couple of days, recalled his own actions and such, and now… now there wasn't much left anymore.
He just– he kept hiccuping when he considered this last week, and– well, the last few months.
In particular, how Atem… made him feel, literally speaking.
He'd already liked him… that way. Yuugi had pieced that much together already. Retroactively recognized the draw and nervous energy around his other self that had crept up on him long before Zorc gave Atem a body again. By the end, it was just there on the edge of Yuugi's awareness, pretty much… pretty much constantly… at least, when they didn't have vengeful threats or fate breathing down their necks.
But… he… that… did that draw really translate to… If he really thought about his reactions to Atem, was that really what he…
Yuugi dropped his pencil and pressed his fingers against his cheeks and eyes, rubbing up against the sides of his nose with a weary sigh… only to reach down and pick up his pencil again when he realized the sounds from the bed had ceased again.
He feigned writing.
…The soft tap-tap of game buttons resumed.
And he– Yuugi needed to stop trying to break this down that far. Needed to stop doubting himself. This part at least didn't need logic or details or memories to work out, after all. This part was pretty simple, if he would just face it straight-on. He might try to wrap it up in pretty feelings and sincere feelings and troubled feelings, but it was all just so much more visceral than that.
Did he find Atem attractive?
…Yes.
No– no, more than that, a lot of people were attractive. Atem… captivated him.
Why?
He liked him– no… no, that was too small a word. Even love was too small of a word. Or, no, not too small, but not all encompassing enough. Yuugi needed a whole pile of words to describe that– that… what he felt.
But the point remained. That pile of feelings gave meaning to that attraction. Pile plus attraction equals this. Simple, easy to understand, clear.
But, why did he, Yuugi, find Atem attractive? They were different, especially now, but still– shouldn't it be strange that he found his other selfattractive?
...No. It was the things about Atem that were just him that charmed Yuugi, after all. Not the mirror.
The things that made him Atem.
…He hesitated a long moment, but finally Yuugi dared to turn his head and look at him.
Atem didn't notice. He must have been in the middle of some challenging puzzle or fight, because his focus was soundly on the tiny black-and-white screen.
Which was just as well, because it gave Yuugi the freedom to relax and consider and look openly.
So he looked. Took in the profile, the air of the man sitting not five feet away from him, on his bed, back against the headboard and legs crossed so he could rest his forearms on his thighs as he played.
He was frowning, but it wasn't a troubled look, like so many he had given in the last couple of days. He was just riveted by the game, and giving it everything he had– like he did everything that mattered to him. And it was such a slight shift as far as appearances went, but Yuugi… he saw the difference. Saw it, and where Atem's distress would have infected him? That sheer, pure zeal pouring off of him then, even in that quiet, still moment? It milked at Yuugi's tension, ebbed it away and left him floating until– until he went on with his calculated observation as if… as if he were taking it all in from a distance. As if he was considering his own thoughts in some sort of bubble, untouched and untroubled by the weight and meaning that would follow. All he need do was look at Atem… and marvel.
Because he was attractive– and attractive to Yuugi, to boot. And it was strange, because it wasn't in any sense that he could quite pin down, or equate to his straightforward liking for soft faces and soft hands and soft curves when he noticed a pretty girl… or a pretty anybody. And, despite the fact he knew objectively that most people might find Atem appealing, that wasn't… that wasn't the point. Not to Yuugi. It wasn't his eyes or his face or his body or anything. It was that it was Atem's. His face and his– just his general bearing, the very way he carried himself, his confidence that shone and warmed, the smiles he offered with those eyes and mouth, the way he used those hands– even now, agile and nimble and even graceful, just playing over a couple of buttons, and– and they weren't soft. Yuugi remembered that. Atem's fingers and palms were rough, but they were also warm and so oddly capable and careful when he touched him, and– and he smelled good. Yuugi had only had a couple of chances to notice, and logically the smell had to be his own soap and clothes, but it was true. And it was a weird thought, but– but it was one of the most real things about his other self now, and Yuugi loved it. And now, and before? Atem was just soexpressive, and after all this time Yuugi honestly didn't know where the physical reality ended and his lost spiritual awareness began, but still– everything that was Atem just blazed on his face, in his eyes, and in everything. The glares and the smiles, the wonder of a stance and a look, the give of a wrinkle between his eyes or the pinch of his lips…
He was pinching them now, struggling through that game.
They were slightly chapped, those lips– probably because Atem kept forgetting to drink enough liquids.
And the answer there was clearly some water, or lip balm, but all Yuugi wanted to do was reach out and touch them. Rub a thumb across the bottom lip and feel for himself. See if Atem would pinch them tighter, or soften… open his mouth and breathe over his fingertip.
What would that feel like?
And if he replaced his thumb with his mouth, then…
What would Atem do if he actually did that? Came in close enough to touch him like that? Kissed him? Would he stiffen, pull away, or flush? Would his cheeks feel warm to the touch? His neck? If Yuugi pressed his face there, along the soft curve, would he feel the heat of Atem's flush against his cheek? Would his other self smell different if he buried himself in Atem's arms, discovered what his skin felt like against his skin, his lips, would–
Atem looked up, right at him, and Yuugi belatedly registered that he had sucked in a breath a little too loudly.
And when Atem furrowed his brow and pinched his lips again, Yuugi chuckled.
Laughed– at himself.
He tossed his pencil, abandoned his chair, and settled on the foot of the bed with a smile. "What are you playing?"
Atem blinked out of the confused frown that had taken over his face, trading it for a startled wonder… that softened as he looked down at his screen, and turned it for Yuugi to see.
He leaned in just close enough to look, and– the smile that curled at his lips ached at the corners.
Pokémon.
The copy Yuugi had gotten a while back, just for Atem.
"I'm trying to force my way through the tower."
"You look a little underleveled for it," Yuugi observed as he assessed the Wartortle displayed at the bottom of the screen.
"I want that Haunter," Atem insisted, tone and expression hard, stubborn– until Yuugi laughed, and stone cracked with a hint of a grin.
"Alright, I get you. Just make sure you get a Gastly and level it up, so the stats will be better," Yuugi advised, grinning at the king, who smiled right back at him with a warmth and gratitude that made his chest feel heavy. He sat with it, though, pushed his focus elsewhere– onto the topic that had been hanging between them all evening, as yet untouched. "Are you feeling better about your duel tomorrow?"
"Yes." Atem took the game back, staring at it as he sighed, tone allowing and bending with his own acknowledgement. "Jounouchi's right, after all. It should be fine, even if it will be strange without you there beside me."
Hearing it said out loud like that, directly, shouldn't have had such an effect, but it did. Yuugi felt like the air flowed freer from his lungs the moment Atem said it, and he fell effortlessly into another grin. "What do you mean? I'll be watching the battle alongside everyone else. And even if we can't talk during, I'll be right there, the same as always."
And it would be different, he knew that. Knew Atem was right about that… but Yuugi wouldn't let him say that was different. That he wasn't with him.
So long as Atem was there to be with, that would never change.
And as if he had heard it all– not just the words, but the thought? Atem melted, a smile resurfacing as he mumbled, "Thanks, aibou."
And Yuugi smiled his reply… and it would have been so easy to let the moment hang, but– but he could feel it there, just on the edge of that high.
That weight.
And so he broke their gaze, standing up. "I'm sick of worksheets. I'm gonna go grab a drink. You want one?"
"No, I'm fine… aibou?"
Yuugi stalled two steps from the door and turned back, taking in the oddly hesitant expression on the king's face. "Yeah?"
"Would you help me before the duel, too?" Atem asked after a long drag, hesitance and hope clear in his face. "I want to change a few cards before I face Kaiba, so I was hoping you'd go over the deck with me tonight."
Yuugi… broke out in a grin lighter than anything he'd shown all night– no, in days. "Of course! I'd be happy to! You want to do it right away?"
Atem's expression was beyond relieved as he beamed back at him. "Yes– just let me finish this battle and save, and I'll get the cards out."
"Cool– I'll be right back, so get ready, Atem!"
"Aa," Atem hummed as Yuugi raced through the door, watching him go.
…
His smile… slowly curdled.
His gaze was soft, but heavy as it drifted back to his game.
…
Outside of the room, Yuugi stopped just halfway down the stairs, shoulder digging heavily into the wall as he leaned against it.
He just… stared… worn down… until footsteps made him jerk upright.
"Yuugi-kun?" It was Yui, stalling at the bottom step as she looked up at her son. "What are you doing just standing there?"
"Sorry, Mama! Just thinking," Yuugi apologized, smiling as he came down and side-stepped her. "Is it okay if I take the last soda?"
"Yes, fine, I'm getting more tomorrow. Just drink it quickly! You don't want it in your system too close to bedtime!"
"Yes–!"
Yui frowned after Yuugi as he went, hovered on the steps herself… concern plainly written on her face.
Atem was magnificent.
It was the only word it as Yuugi watched his other self duel.
His other self was back in his element, comfortable and shining in a way Yuugi hadn't seen for a while outside of little highlights with their friends, when they were in the midst of a good game or a lively hangout. And even those were just snapshots. This was one long reel of Atem smirking and calculating his way to victory, alive in the best of ways, even when Kaiba had him on the ropes– no, especially then.
And Yuugi knew he wasn't the only one who noticed. All of his friends at stopped and stared and smiled when they saw Atem walk up to KaibaCorp, his recent norm of shop-appropriate clothes tossed in favor of familiar leather and gold over bare arms.
Even Kaiba had looked relieved when Atem walked in without that turtle apron.
The man's subtle joy had been tossed aside for rapid falls from seething triumph to raging defeat, though, as Atem countered Kaiba's apparent winning attack with a Quick-Play Spell.
"Dedication through Light and Darkness! Dark Magician becomes the Dark Magician of Chaos!"
"What– Dark Magician of Chaos is still too weak to stop my Blue Eyes!"
"Not if I play this– Rush Recklessly!"
"What?!"
"My monster gains 700 attack points until the end of this turn– and that makes it strong enough to defeat your dragon and wipe out the rest of your life points!"
Kaiba gave a yell Yuugi couldn't understand because he was too busy calling out his joy with the rest of his friends, and getting his head caught in a happy armlock by Jounouchi– and he grinned into his friend's sleeve as he watched Atem speaking to his opponent.
He'd won! He was going to get his…
Yuugi's smile fell just a touch before he caught it, and held it in place.
And he did so, successfully, even after he and his friends stalled their celebrating long enough to climb down from the observation deck of Kaiba's private arena to join the duelists– and discovered Mokuba there, too, giving voice to the sudden tension hanging in the air between the two rivals.
"Wait, this isn't– You're not asking for a passport to visit Egypt and find something?! You're going to– to go?! Like, permanent, can't-just-fly-out-to-see-you go?!"
Atem didn't answer. His back was to them, but Yuugi could read the tension in his back, and the clench of his hands.
Ironic, given Yuugi was looking right at Kaiba's face, and he honestly didn't know what the man was thinking in that moment.
He was just… staring at Atem, nothing clear about his reaction beyond shock.
He didn't know. Isis didn't tell him.
And even with no reason visible for it in Kaiba's face, Yuugi… he couldn't help it. Couldn't help the empathy that struck him in that moment.
Then Kaiba turned his back, snapped out a dismissal of some sort, said he would get the passport and such to Atem soon, and walked away… leaving Mokuba looking uncertainly between the pair, and Atem– he just… stood there a long moment… until Anzu's quiet call got him to turn.
"Atem-kun?"
He turned, looked back– at him.
Not them. Him. Stared at him like… like he was bracing himself for… something.
And Yuugi… kept smiling as he closed the distance between them, and raised a hand up above his head.
"Congrats, Atem."
And the greatest trial of all was the look in Atem's eyes as he broke out in a smile, met his hand, and they high fived.
"Thanks, aibou!"
"Seriously, I've never seen you play that card before!" Jounouchi crowed, the spell seemingly broken as the group swarmed around the game king. "Did you actually set that move up five turns back?!"
"Yes. I put the Dedication card in my deck last night, but I knew it'd only come in handy if I had some extra attack points ready to combo with it."
"I don't get it, man, but from where I was standing, that was one of your best duels yet, and you didn't even use one of the Gods."
"Thanks, Honda."
"Pfft, that must have pissed Kaiba off royally, though. He probably thinks you were holding back or some–"
Jounouchi went on, ignoring Anzu's efforts to alert him to Mokuba standing right there in favor of dissing the CEO and praising his friend's skills… who met the compliments with a wide grin, even as his gaze shifted subtly to the side.
To his partner.
Yuugi didn't notice, because he was smiling at Jounouchi and shaking his head at whatever he was saying… and so he missed it. Missed it when Atem's grin slipped, just for a moment. Missed the way his other self's eyes lingered on him.
Missed the way he clenched the hand Yuugi just high fived him with… as though he didn't want to lose the echo of his touch.
