All that morning, Yugi's friends seemed to have been avoiding him. They were all quiet when he was around, and laughed whenever he wasn't. Yugi felt sorrow well up in his stomach, a sorrow that only increased when his friends didn't show up for gym class.
Yugi finally gave up being the human target in dodge ball and decided to ask his teacher if he could use the bathroom. He was extremely thankful that his gym teacher was nice; otherwise he wasn't sure if he'd get a no or fifty laps around the gym.
Another thing that didn't help was Atem's silence. Although Yugi hadn't called on him, he found it odd that he hadn't seen him all day. However, Atem was Atem and Yugi knew that the man was usually very private.
Yugi shoved open the gym doors and walked into the hallway. He took in a deep breath of air that didn't smell like rubber and salt, and then continued his way down the hall.
"Yugi," the voice of the darkness called.
Yugi smiled and quickly entered an unused closet. He expected to come face to face with the crimson eyes of Atem, but instead found that he was attacked from behind. Hands wrapped themselves around Yugi's waist and pulled him into a tight embrace. He was ready to let out a scared kind of giggle, when he was silenced by something warm lightly pressed against his neck.
"You're really getting aggressive," Yugi found himself stating out of character.
Atem chuckled. "And you're getting bolder with less stutters and screams," Atem returned.
"Only with you," Yugi quickly commented.
"That's not true," Atem corrected, "You asked the coach to use the bathroom without hesitation and you finally threw one of the dodge balls back at the people who threw them at you. Oh, and by the way, you gave Travis a nose bleed when you threw a book at him."
"What? How would you know that," Yugi questioned.
"When you were sent to the office, I stayed a little while longer and watched his nose bleed non-stop. He had to use at least five Kleenexes to stop the bleeding," Atem informed.
Yugi felt his inside catch on fire. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and felt as though he was going to be sick. Him, Yugi Muto, cause someone to bleed? There was no reason for him to, only the fact that he had been really mad at Travis. Next thing he knew a book was flying at Travis' face and Yugi was being brought down to the office.
"But enough of that," Atem interrupted the silence. "Aibou, I wanted to ask you something?"
"Sure, anything." was Yugi's immediate answer.
"Are you… umm… How should I put this," Atem muttered, which Yugi found was odd, Atem never muttered. "Are you happy Yugi? And I mean, really think about it. Are you happy with me?"
'What kind of a question is that,' is what Yugi wanted to say, but all that came out was a faint, "guh?" Yugi did as he was told and really thought about it. He didn't see any reason for him not to be happy, but then why was Atem asking?
"I know it's kind of an odd question, but I need to know. You're the most important thing in the world, Yugi, and I want to make sure that you like what's going on. I know I've made it sound like you don't have a choice, and now I'm worried that I might've hurt you. So please, tell me the truth," Atem blathered on.
Yugi turned around and before Atem knew what was happening, Yugi had planted a firm kiss on his lips, having to go on his tip toes to do so. Atem's eyes were wide open at first, but soon he had relaxed and his arms locked around Yugi's neck.
"So," Atem said, still a little dazed, "I guess you're not mad."
"If anything, I'm the exact opposite," Yugi reassured.
A huge wave of relief washed over Atem's mind. He smiled greatly and quickly proceeded to kiss Yugi again, this time lifting Yugi into his arms so the boy would not have to waist energy adjusting to Atem's height.
Atem's hand crawled up Yugi's neck and spread through his hair while his other arm adjusted the way Yugi was sitting to provide more comfort for Yugi. Yugi, however, was completely oblivious to Atem's hands and solely focusing on enjoying this moment. He knew that as soon as he walked out of this closet, he would have to focus on finding his friends.
"You're lighter than before," Atem stated.
"No, you're just stronger," Yugi replied.
Atem smirked, the very same smirk that Yugi had seen him wearing in their dreams. It was the smirk that meant Atem had some devious thought racing through his head. Yugi chose to ignore it, and instead nuzzled his face against Atem's cheek. He resembled a cat looking for more attention from its owner. It was, in Atem's mind, one of the fun things about Yugi. He thought it was kind of like Yugi begging for more attention.
"Atem, will you teach me more after school," Yugi asked. His question caught Atem completely off guard; he wasn't expecting the silence to be gone so soon. He knew what Yugi was talking about, of course, but he just didn't expect to hear it.
"You want me to teach you," Atem asked, thinking he sounded dumb. "Right, I will. Of course I will aibou."
Yugi giggled at his partner's stumble and continued to snuggle his head under Atem's chin. Atem was sure that Yugi wasn't consciously begging, but somewhere there was an instinct that told him to.
"Okay, when we get home from school I'll show you some new things about the puzzle."
"New," Yugi thought out loud, "There's already so much that you showed me. How can there be more?"
Atem didn't respond this time. He simply laughed inside his head about Yugi's reaction and self-celebrated about Yugi's happiness. It was good to know that everything you were doing to make someone happy was really working.
"Atem," Yugi questioned, his amethyst eyes glowing with curiosity.
"Never mind it Yugi," Atem responded. "Go back to gym class. I'll show those classmates of yours how to really throw a ball."