"Were you two up all night?"

"No." Yuugi rubbed beneath his eye in a self-conscious manner before turning a page in his schoolbook, keeping his gaze pinned on his notes. "We were up late, but definitely not all night."

"The sun wasn't up when we went to sleep," Atem agreed, squinting sleepily at the television without looking down at the three gathered around the family room table.

Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Honda were all there, homework spread out across the tabletop so that they could see one another's work, while Atem lounged on the sofa behind them, watching a rerun of yesterday's Go tournament broadcast– muted so that he didn't disturb the group's studies.

Not that they were that focused on homework.

"Still, you both look more like you want a nap than to hang out," Honda went on, grinning bemusedly at both of his bleary-eyed friends.

Neither answered.

Yuugi yawned, and Atem shrugged, still without looking down.

"Ehhhhh– come on!" Jounouchi huffed, tossing his own pencil across the room and planting his cheek right in his book. "Can we just call it quits already? We all know that we're gonna need Anzu and Bakura to explain these formulas before we get anywhere."

"Neither of them can come over, though. Today or tomorrow." Yuugi frowned at the back of Jounouchi's head, a faint despair shining in his own eyes. "And this is due on Wednesday."

"Then can't we just ask them at lunch tomorrow? And fill out this stuff tomorrow night?"

"W-well–"

"No way, man," Honda protested, cutting in on Yuugi's stumbling reply to glare at Jounouchi. "I have to watch my nephew after school, and hell if I'm going to be the only one staying up all night to finish this before it's due."

"But it's hopeless!" Jounouchi cried out, the volume making Honda and Yuugi grimace– and Atem flinch.

He finally turned away from his show, arching a brow at the three. "Can't you just call one of them tonight and ask?"

…

The three… slowly turned from Atem… back to each other.

"That might work." Honda stared at his notes, sizing them up like he was trying to measure the amount of work left by sight alone. "We'd at least get more done that way than stumbling through on our own."

"Thanks, mou hitori no boku!" Yuugi grinned gratefully up at Atem, the pharaoh's haggard expression softening into a smile as he looked at his partner. "We would have probably never stopped to think of that without you."

"It's nothing. You still have to wait to call if you're going to do that, right?"

"Yeah. Bakura-kun is in the middle of some painting project, and Anzu is at dance class. That's fine for me, but–" Yuugi turned back to his friends, frowning uncertainly at them both. "Don't you both have to get home?"

"I don't have to be back for a few hours." Honda shrugged. "I can wait."

"Me too, but, you think Anzu would go over all of this with us over the phone?" Jounouchi glowered down at his book, doubt painting his face. "Wouldn't it be better to call Bakura?"

"But I know when Anzu-chan will be home, versus Bakura-kun. He might stay up all night for all I know– he does that sometimes when it comes to his figurines, right? And he might not hear the phone in his game room… But don't worry!" Yuugi grinned, remaining bright and assuring even as Jounouchi groaned and flopped back down against the table. "I really think Anzu-chan will help."

"Well, fine then. But you better make the call, Yuugi. She'd just lecture me."

"Oh, she does that to all of us," Honda claimed, grinning. "We just know better than to argue back when we're asking for help."

"Oh, shut up! …Wait, does that mean we're done for now?" Jounouchi lifted himself up off the table, eyes wide and hopeful as he looked between his friends. "She's not going home for a while, right? So we can goof off until then?"

"Yup! It'll probably be a three or four hours," Yuugi confirmed, laughing as Jounouchi let out a loud whoop and pumped his arms. "You want to do something until we call her?"

"Hell, yeah! Let's pack as much fun as we can into the next few hours, you know?! I want to do something fun!"

"Oh, yeah?" Honda hummed, leaning his elbows on the table and rolling his eyes like he already knew the answer, and found it predictable. "Like what, exactly?"

"Like a game, duh! Hey, Atem," Jounouchi shifted on the floor to grin up at the pharaoh, earning an intrigued glance in return. "You've been sitting there watching that match all evening now. You want to mix things up with a duel?"

"That'd be fun, Jounouchi," Atem answered, smiling– but Yuugi started frowning and looking over his shoulder at his other self, even before Atem added, "But, maybe later. I'm tired."

…

Jounouchi… and Honda stared, uncertain what to say.

And Atem sobered under the joint shock, shrugging with a defensive ambiguity on his face. "It wouldn't be a good challenge right now."

"Right…" Jounouchi hesitated to take his attention off of him, but he eventually turned his attention to his best friend. "What about you, Yuugi?"

Yuugi dragged his own anxious eyes off of his other self, belatedly shrugging a strained smile at Jounouchi. "Sorry, I have to pass, too. I'd love to, but my deck is… well, I'm in the middle of something."

"Huh? Middle of something?"

"What might that be, aibou?"

Yuugi started to answer Jounouchi, only to jump a little at Atem's voice, coming right behind his ear. He twisted around enough to look behind him, and froze.

Atem had slid off of the couch and was crouching right behind Yuugi.

And when Yuugi twisted around, those curious eyes were mere inches from his.

–He went red, pushing against Atem's shoulder when he had the gall to smirk. "You know!"

Atem went down laughing, pulling himself upright again by the sofa's edge to grin at their friends, Yuugi looking away with a flushed grumble. "Aibou has been changing up his deck with some cards we got Saturday. He won't even let me see what he's up to."

"Oh, so you got new cards? Nice! Then I definitely want to see it later!" Jounouchi approved, grinning– while across from him, unnoticed, Honda stared at the pair with an uncertain gaze. "Alright, fine then. We can just play something else. You got any new four-player games around, Yuugi?"

"Nothing new…" Yuugi mumbled, sliding back into an easy smile as he focused on his friend, face cooling to its normal hue. "But you can go through my stuff and pick something out, if you want."

"Sweet!" Jounouchi hopped to his feet with a grin, dragging Yuugi up after him when he didn't move fast enough for his liking. "You guys clean up our homework and get some drinks while Yuugi shows me the goods!"

"Who died and made you the boss?!" Honda yelled after them, but Jounouchi already had Yuugi out the door… and he huffed wearily, grimacing back at Atem. "Not much point protesting there."

Atem hummed quietly in answer… then pushed himself to his feet, yawning into his wrist as he stood. "Wait here. I can get the drinks."

"Nah, I'd be just as bad as him if I did that," Honda sighed, getting up and trailing Atem out into the hall… prodding his back with a light, "You know they're gonna pick Catan again, right?"

"Probably."

"And you don't have a problem with that?"

–Atem stalled, just in the doorway of the kitchen, and turned… staring at Honda like he had just suggested they serve human flesh for a snack. "You don't like Catan?"

Honda stared back… then snorted, rolling his eyes with a faint grin. "Right. You're just as bad as them… or, is it worse?"

Atem frowned, his gaze asking if he should be insulted… before he simply turned, making his way to the fridge.

Honda trailed him with a faint laugh… then fell silent, lingering awkwardly a few steps into the room. "Hey, Atem? Is Yuugi's mom or grandpa around anywhere?"

Atem ticked a glance Honda's way, then opened the fridge, rifling through various packaged foods and leftovers in search of something to drink. "No. She's gone to visit a friend, and Jii-chan is still in the shop. Why?"

"Well, I just didn't want to ask if they could hear, but I haven't had a chance to ask yet, so…" Honda shifted closer and leaned an elbow on the refrigerator door, frowning down into his friend's thick spikes. "Is everything cool?"

Atem paused, leaning back enough to meet Honda's stare straight on, and arch a brow at him.

Honda responded with a grimace, breaking away from that silent, bemused gaze to look off across the kitchen. "I mean, obviously things are good now. Everybody can see that."

The shuffle of food resumed, and when Honda dared to peek at Atem out of the corner of his eye? He saw that he was focused back on the fridge, tearing through the plastic of a fresh pack of drinks to get to the bottles… a slight smile on his face as he worked a few free.

…And it was impossible to stay tense in the face of that faint, indirect joy.

A portion of the tension seeped out of Honda's bones, and it was a steadier guy who stared down at his friend's profile. "But, you never said anything, and Yuugi's been real cryptic about what's going on, so… I didn't know if I should ask. You or–"

He didn't finish the statement. Just waited until Atem looked at him, and gestured towards the door.

After Yuugi.

Atem followed the gesture and– stared, his expression a mask of thoughtfulness before he moved on, putting a couple bottles on the nearby counter and leaning back into the fridge. "Aibou doesn't want to worry everyone by bringing it up. To see them worried for him."

Atem said it so naturally, so easily, that Honda didn't really think about it. He just frowned at his bent back, half-talking to himself. "Because it's you two, or because you're going to Egypt, or… wait." He stopped.

Froze.

Gaped down at Atem as he turned his head, and stared blankly back up at him. "Then… you two are…"

He didn't finish. Didn't need to. Atem knew what he meant, after all.

It was Honda who needed time to process the meaning. Because, no matter how much he had suspected it already, the confirmation that it was true… That Atem and Yuugi had acted on it somehow, and actually were…

He couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

At the least, though, he must not have shown any bad reactions in his shock. He doubted Atem would grin at him like that if he had– like he was amused by Honda's belated achievement of noticing the obvious.

Atem straightened up, keeping one bottle for himself as he pressed another into Honda's numb hand. "Both, I think."

Honda… nodded… unscrewing the cap and chugging down a few, chilled gulps as Atem turned and picked up the other bottles. The pause gave Honda the room to try and recover, and he did– frowning at the kitchen counter as he struggled to process it all.

He had been right.

There had been something there.

And Yuugi and Atem had… done something about it.

They just hadn't said anything.

…When Honda noticed the silence, he looked up. Found Atem staring back at him from the doorway, not a note of opinion to his gaze.

He was just waiting.

So, Honda swallowed, and forced himself to speak. To move forward. "Should I not tell him I, you know, know?" If Yuugi was, understandably, reluctant to bring it up, would it upset him to know it wasn't such a secret after all?

But, no. Atem shook his head. "I already told him. I couldn't keep something like that from him. Not without a good reason."

"…Oh." –Couldn't fault him there. If it were Honda, he would have done the exact same thing.

But still, that knowledge didn't stop him from grimacing, at a loss of what to do. If he knew, and Yuugi and Atem knew he knew, but Yuugi didn't want to discuss the ramifications of the whole thing… then, what… And, even with Atem alone, what should Honda do? Congratulate him? Ignore it? Say he'd be there if he needed him? Admit that he might have seen this coming, but that didn't stop him from worrying about the both of them, and what would come of this? That he couldn't see any of this ending well? Even if… no matter what came at the end of next month, they were both likely in for a lot of heartbreak… and Honda couldn't change that.

And no matter what, he wanted to say what a friend should… but, he didn't know what that was.

It all felt wrong.

"–Honda-kun?"

"Huh?" Honda jerked his head up, aware only in the moment that he had let it droop.

And when he focused back on his friend? He found him smiling. "I can't say if it was good or bad that you ever said anything to me," Atem said, the perfect ease in his voice and face taking Honda by surprise. "Maybe things would be simpler if you hadn't… or, maybe it was inevitable. But either way, right now? I'm grateful."

Honda– gawked for a good three seconds at those words, and the quiet intensity behind them… then shook his head, screwing the bottle cap back on with another, embarrassed grimace. "Yeah, well, good. I mean, I hope it doesn't end up bad, but… thanks. That'll help me sleep better at night."

Atem shook his head, lingering in the door when Honda moved to leave, leaving the two of them face-to-face. "Don't lose sleep over us, Honda-kun. We're happy."

He said it so simply, without a hint of force or weight, that Honda could only stare… the undeniability there, and the we -ness of it all leaving him speechless.

But, he at least managed to blurt out a sharp, "Good," before Atem turned to go, earning him a few seconds more of a mutual, uncertain stare… and then a grin, wide and surprisingly relieved, rose to the living pharaoh's face.

The support, weak and subtle as it was, had taken Atem aback.

He hadn't expected it.

And knowing that cemented the resolve in Honda's heart, and he grinned right back– tilting his chin towards at the living room. "Let's get these drinks in there before those guys come back down and start playing without us."

Atem laughed, his usual, characteristic smirk flashing just before he turned for the door. "They wouldn't do that… though, they might plan out where to place their first settlements together, to get an advantage over us."

"Oh, like hell."

"Does nobody have some sheep they're willing to trade?"

"They're called wool, man."

"That's not what's pictured on this card."

"Oh yeah? Well, I might be willing to give up a sheep if you can give me three logs."

"Nobody's getting logs! You know that! If we were rolling fours, we'd all have logs!"

"I wouldn't," Yuugi cut in, prompting Jounouchi and Honda to stop glaring at each other across the table, their mutual fire fading as they met their smaller friend's grin.

"But you've got that harbor, Yuugi. You can turn in your herds of sheep anytime to get all the wood you want," Jounouchi countered, grinning– and earning another snort from Honda.

"So, they're called wood now?"

"Logs. Whatever."

"It's lumber, actually."

"Whatever," Jounouchi repeated, tossing another glower at Honda– before grinning back at his best friend. "And speaking of herds, you got any sheep to spare?"

Yuugi shrugged, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, Jounouchi-kun. I traded most of them in for some brick, and used the last one I had on that settlement."

…Jounouchi narrowed his eyes, weighing Yuugi critically for a long moment. "That so?"

Yuugi grinned, not saying a word…

"…Heh, well, fine. What about you, Atem? …Atem?" Jounouchi's amused tones wavered as he focused on the last of the quartet, and took in the sight of his friend… and the harsh glower stamped on his face.

It was gone in a blink when Atem caught up to the call and noticed their attention, but there was no missing the cool frost film behind his eyes when he looked up from his cards, and to Jounouchi. "Sorry, the rolls haven't been giving me much lumber either."

Simple enough. Nothing odd there.

They all kept staring.

–Atem's mouth slowly flattened into a hard line, and he turned back to his cards.

"…Kay… You… alright there?"

"I'm fine, Jounouchi-kun."

"Are you? You look like you're pissed at us, Atem. Or at something, at least."

"I'm not mad, Honda-kun."

"Then what is it?" The last question was quiet, more worry than demand, but there was still an insistence beneath it that tugged Atem's gaze back up, to his partner. Yuugi mirrored his frown near perfectly, though his gaze sought where Atem's denied. "What's wrong?"

…They were both exhausted. Both knew that already. They'd been fighting back yawns and fogged minds all evening.

But, as that truth bled back into the surface of Atem's expression? It still seemed alarmingly much… especially when he breathed out, shoulders sagging, and looked back to his cards… defeat in his voice as he said, "It's fine, aibou."

That wasn't a denial of something being wrong.

It was an acceptance of it.

And they all heard it. Were all disturbed for it.

Jounouchi practically glared in his alarm, starting into another sharp, "Atem…" but a hand caught on his arm and stalled him.

He turned to Yuugi, and saw him shake his head, just the slightest bit.

No.

And Jounouchi would have protested, gone on anyways, but Yuugi turned a moment later and stared at his other self, troubled calculation flashing in his eyes.

That look stalled the words on Jounouchi's tongue, and when Yuugi spoke up, asked, "Did you still want to trade something, Jounouchi-kun?" he just nodded.

"Yeah… I'd take some wheat if anyone has it."

"Would you give up some stone for it?"

"Sure, Yuugi."

And the game rolled on, no one saying much of anything for the next hour or so.

Then it was over. Jounouchi smirked through his victory call, Honda scoffed at the mechanic of development cards, and Yuugi smiled and suggested that his other self go back to his broadcast while the rest of them called Anzu about their homework.

Atem just shrugged, taking back his abandoned seat to watch the end of the Go match… his body sagging into the sofa the moment his partner and friends moved to the other side of the room, and out of sight.

With no one's eyes on him, he let his own fall shut.

Relaxed.

Just for a moment…

"Mou hitori no boku?"

He opened his eyes, and stared.

Time had passed.

He knew it even before he registered the shift in the light, or the blanket over his lap… his shoulders… he wasn't sitting up anymore. He was lying on the couch, his legs stretched out along its length, even though he had no memory of pulling them off the ground.

And his partner was there, sitting on the seat edge, shaking his shoulder… smiling at him.

There was worry in his eyes.

That more than anything shot adrenaline through Atem's veins, and he jerked upright, clutching the sofa back for balance– a glint of gold catching his eye as he looked about for their friends and alerting him to the Puzzle, set out on the table, just within reach. "Where are Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun?"

"Gone." A hand supported his back, and Atem relaxed back into it as he focused back on Yuugi, and his smile. "It's almost nine. We wrapped up our homework a while ago, and you missed dinner… Mama set aside some leftovers for you before she went upstairs. And Jii-chan should be done with his bath, if you want one."

Atem shook his head, frowning through the offers as he shifted backwards, out of Yuugi's touch, pushing the blanket aside and bending his legs to turn and put his feet on the ground. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?"

"You needed sleep. And, if you're not going to eat or bathe, you should go back to sleep– here, or upstairs. Wherever you're more comfortable."

That wasn't even worth a reply.

But, before Atem could give one anyways? Insist that of course he wanted to be upstairs, near his partner? Yuugi stared at him point-blank, mouth and eyes set with steel. "But first, I want to know what's going on."

–Atem grimaced, and looked to the rumpled blanket.

He had expected it. He had seen everyone's concern earlier, caught how his partner stalled Jounouchi's interrogation.

Yuugi wouldn't have done that unless he planned to do something himself.

Knowledge didn't provide easy replies, though, and Atem wouldn't go so far as to insult his partner with a weak front or cheap lies.

So he just frowned, until Yuugi went on himself. "This isn't just because we stayed up late last night. Something's bothering you, and it's physical. Painful."

"Aibou…"

"Even though I saw you take a couple painkillers before our game, you're still hurting." Atem couldn't keep his eyes averted. His partner's voice dragged his eyes back to him as thoroughly as though Yuugi had reached out and forced his chin up. Atem turned back– and was caught by searching, alarmed eyes, that he couldn't look away from. "It's your head again."

It wasn't a question, and Atem didn't answer it. Deny it.

He could only insist that, "It's better now."

"–Better?"

"Yes."

Yuugi narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing him… but Atem trusted his partner's perception, and Yuugi's own trust in him. His partner would believe him, because it was the truth. His head did feel better.

That didn't mean the strained ache was gone, though. And Yuugi frowned like he knew it. "But, it was hurting you today, and a lot more than usual."

Atem shook his head, slowly mirroring his dissatisfaction. "That's only natural. We're both tired."

"If it were just that, we would be in the same boat. But I'm fine."

"We just reacted in different–"

"Mou hitori no boku." A tight silence fell, both frowning. But there was no heat to their stares, and no anger. Just a fretting frustration… and even that was quick to ebb away into nothing. First with Yuugi, his expression softening and opening as he quietly insisted– confessed, "It's worrying me."

And then Atem, the tension deflating out of his shoulders, leaving him loose and resigned as he muttered, "What would you have me do?" the words falling out numb, aware that he couldn't satisfy the most likely appeal.

"Go to a doctor."

Of course.

"And say what?" Atem shook his head, a ghost of his former frown resurfacing. "It's just headaches, and manageable ones at that. There's not much to look for."

But Yuugi wasn't just going to accept that, and he grimaced his frustration instantly. "You can't be sure of that. We can't know what it is, and a doctor might see something you don't. And– how do you know it's not a big deal? What if the headaches get worse?"

"If they do, we can deal with them then."

"But, where's the line? Are we supposed to wait until you're throwing up? Or bedridden? Or passing out?"

"I don't see any of that happening," Atem smiled through Yuugi's frown, seeking to soothe the panic beneath his partner's words. "They usually go away on their own, and they don't bother me that often."

And Yuugi's quiet distress did slowly start to fade… but not into a proper calm. A grim focus took its place, and Atem's own smile died as Yuugi asked, "When?"

"What?"

"When do they bother you?"

"Aibou–"

"Please."

The two stared at one another, the moment dragging out between desperation and hesitance.

Between frown and frown.

…

Atem breathed out, letting his gaze stray as he resigned, and– "Evenings, mostly. Or at night." Mostly around the time of day his partner would always be around to witness them. Rarely when he was alone.

Of course.

"Every night?"

Atem shook his head, the simple, accepting inquiry drawing him back to Yuugi's gaze. "No, just most. But, sometimes it hits earlier, and it can even fade away before bed. Like Friday? I couldn't sleep the night before, and it was bad all day, but after you…" He… smiled. Honed his words for their partial privacy, whatever his gaze might say. "After you left, it was better. By the time I finished my shift in the shop and went to bed, it was gone."

"–That sounds like it was just stress, then. And a lack of sleep." And Yuugi smiled right back at him, the same memory in his eyes… but it didn't linger. He sobered. Quietly, insistently added, "But, you had a bad headache last night, too. Even when we were relaxing, and having fun all day. And you slept fine the night before, right?"

"That's right," Atem confirmed, his own expression fogging over as he tried to guess where Yuugi was taking this.

But, perhaps he didn't know, either. Yuugi certainly didn't look like he planned to say, "And during our date, at the–" since he caught himself halfway through, snapping his mouth shut as he eyed the doorway to the hall.

Atem followed his gaze, but no one appeared… and after a few seconds, he focused back on his partner. "Only when we went to the bookstore."

Yuugi's shoulders were sagging with relief as he turned back, but there was still a frown on his face as he thought aloud, with Atem. "Right… You were fine up until then, but then your head suddenly started hurting." –He blinked, a thought visibly crossing his mind and clearing his expression. "And at Bakura-kun's. You were fine during that paintball game, and at dinner afterwards, right? You didn't show any signs that day, at least… It wasn't until the next day, after that weird horror movie, that you started looking bad."

Atem nodded, gaze and thoughts slow as he scrutinized his partner's expression…"That's right. I got a headache while we were watching the movie."

Yuugi… didn't reply, though he certainly heard. And Atem wasn't sure what he was thinking, but a strange something had sparked in his partner's eye, only to catch fire and spread at his answer. And it remained there, burning a bright, shocking, shocked light as Yuugi stared into the shut off television… and Atem watched him, waiting, until it was clear that he would never speak on his own.

So he asked, "What is it?"

Yuugi turned toward him instantly, but kept staring at some point beyond him. At a memory. "Last night… Did you have a headache before we went upstairs? Before you started playing Lunar?"

"…Yes, it started while I was playing Mahjong." Atem frowned as his partner did, confused by the odd, silent frustration that struck Yuugi's expression with the answer, as though that wasn't what he had been looking for… and yet, even more confusingly, that frustration cleared back into shock the instant Atem added, "But, it did get a lot worse after we went upstairs."

Yuugi gave a blind nod, staring wide-eyed at nothing as he mumbled, "And we'd been at the theater, before that bookstore on Friday…"

So, they were back on their date again?

Atem grimaced around an urge to say such out loud, not wanting to disturb whatever it was that was running through his partner's head and causing that strange, torn mix of uncertainty and disbelief to dawn across his face… he waited until the expression seemed to solidify, and mark a stilling of his thoughts, to mutter an insistent, checking, "Aibou?"

Yuugi tore his eyes off of the dead television to stare at him instead, mumbling along like he hadn't been silent for a good minute or so. "And, just now, today… You were watching…"

"The Go match, yes," Atem filled in, shooting a quick look at the black screen before focusing on Yuugi once more. "What are you getting at, aibou?"

Yuugi… didn't answer… he just turned back to the television… and got up.

Moved to the television and turned it on, switching the channel about until he landed on a news station– turning the volume all the way down as soon as he found it.

And Atem watched it all with a frown, confusion making his brow furrow even more when Yuugi reclaimed his seat and looked at him– waving at the screen. "What's that?"

…

Atem turned back to the television, narrowing his eyes in search of whatever it was his partner could be getting at… "A news station."

"Yeah? And what're they talking about?"

"…Something about a bill being argued in the Diet."

"Yup. And what's the bill?"

Atem shut his eyes and breathed in, seeking patience… and quickly finding it. If Yuugi was doing this, there had to be a point to this exercise. Atem trusted that.

So, he relaxed, opening his eyes to consider the television seriously… focusing in on the thin line of text scrolling by on the bottom of the screen. "It looks like something… about defense expendi–"

Atem fell back against the seat with a thump.

The urge to cough hit him in an instant and welled up in his throat, and it was a moment before he connected it to the pressure on his chest– the hand holding him in place.

Atem turned a shocked, askance glare on his partner.

Yuugi stared right back at him, shock painted across his face. "…It's your eyes."

…?

Atem just… stared, slowly mirroring his partner's shock as the silence bled on, no sense following in the wake of the words. Yuugi just repeated himself, quiet and breathless as his hand dragged down, catching on Atem's knee and squeezing it, as though he needed the anchor. "Your eyes… You squinted."

…Atem shook his head, a frown slowly forming as his mind still failed to comprehend, "What?"

"You were squinting. At the television."

What… what was he saying? That couldn't be it, he– "Aibou, I can read just fine–"

"Maybe you can," Yuugi cut in, his paralysis suddenly splitting in two as he focused completely on Atem, caught him in his stare as he rushed on. "But you definitely strained to do it. Frowned, narrowed your eyes, and squinted, and leaned forward in your seat… I pushed you back because you leaned forward."

…Atem hadn't even noticed.

But, now that Yuugi said it? He…

…

They… stared at each other, Atem glowering through the impossibility of what it all meant, Yuugi's mouth slightly ajar as he gawked through his own surprise… his own rising certainty. "All those headaches after we watched something, or read for a while… It's not your head. It's your eyes."

Atem shook his head against the repeat… but a hand still went up to his face. Touched his cheekbone, just below his left eye.

Could it… be true? He hadn't noticed any struggle to read… True, his head did hurt a lot when he poured over a book too long, or watched something on television. And there was that time the other day, when he was reading the text on some new Duel Monster Cards… and he'd never run into that sort of pain before, when he shared a body with Yuugi…

But… but… that couldn't be because… wouldn't he know if he couldn't… wouldn't he remember–

…

A sour taste built up from nothing in the back of his throat as he thought, Well… there is that, isn't there? How was he to guess what was, or wasn't true, when it came to his own body, when it came down to it?

The undeniability of that set in his chest like hollow lead… and he looked up. Focused on his partner before it could infect his limbs and face and leave him nothing but an empty weight. "Alright."

Yuugi blinked… then frowned. "Alright?"

"You may be right, I mean."

"Well, yeah, but–" Yuugi floundered for some word, some retort, and fell flat into a glower as he settled on, "We need to do something, then."

"Like what?" Atem pushed a smiled onto his face, shaking his head gently. "Aibou, if you're right, then that's good. It's just my eyes, then."

"But we don't know why. And, what if I'm wrong? What if it's something worse, or just a symptom of something?" Yuugi shook his own head far more vehemently, setting his mouth in a firmer line. "Either way, you need to have your eyes checked."

"But I can read fine on my own," Atem countered, falling into the simple ease of reassuring his partner, tossing aside the implications of his own musings in the bargain. "And I can even try avoiding staring at screens and reading for long periods, if you think that's the problem. Then, if the headaches go away, we'll know that you were right."

"But–" Yuugi… was clearly struggling to argue, his eyes flashing awareness that Atem had a point. But he just couldn't let go of the basic fact that, "If you are straining yourself, a doctor might be able to help."

And Atem just watched, waited for Yuugi to calm a little in the brief quiet before asking, "What did you think it was before?"

…Yuugi's frown crept into a silent question, breathless, and wary.

And Atem just kept on smiling. "You were really worried… and even now, fighting me on this? You seem calmer now than you were before. Before you decided it was my eyes… So, what did you think it was before?"

Yuugi– blanched a little, his expression opening up and lightening, even as he grimaced towards the table. "I don't know… I guess I expected it to be magical somehow. A sign of…"

"Something worse?"

Yuugi nodded, and Atem hummed in acknowledgement, following his gaze to the table… to the Puzzle. It was certainly reasonable, expecting something like that. He himself had assumed… well, nothing, really. When he thought about the pain at all, he had always run headlong into a wall of nothing… not unlike the nothing he had known for so long, from the moment he started to comprehend that Yuugi's memories, his identity wasn't his own, and he'd turned around in search of something of himself… and found nothing.

Just a weight where something that should exist no longer was… a scent in the air, of incense that had burnt out long ago.

This pain was just like that.

…

And, given that, perhaps he should have thought of this himself far sooner.

But, it didn't matter. The theory was out there now, and fight it or not, Atem felt a truth to it in his gut– and resigned himself to it. Felt none of the restlessness that marked his partner's own frown as he looked back at him. "And it still could be, you know. We haven't proven it is just your eyes. Or that it's natural. And even if is–"

"Kaiba still hasn't finished my identification paperwork," Atem interrupted, smiling through the self-defeat that he had had to point it out after all. "And we never asked him to handle insurance… If I went to the doctor's office, what would I show them to get them to treat me?"

And, just as he feared, Yuugi's determination buckled. Withered away, caught on that one, simple, mundane, unassailable fact.

Atem couldn't even go to the doctor without questions. He wasn't even an established person, when it came down to it.

But, he had hoped it wouldn't come to pointing that out. That he could put Yuugi's mind to rest by reassurances alone.

He couldn't.

…But, he still tried. Smiled, reaching out to squeeze the hand that had lingered, forgotten, on his knee. "It's alright. I'm not in pain now, and I will try and avoid small text and staring at screens too long. If you're right, that means you've helped me, just by figuring this out." And helped Atem find out a startling, unexpected fact about himself in the bargain.

And Yuugi's expression unclouded, just a little– bringing a vital relief to Atem's heart, even as his partner continued to frown unsatisfied. "Still… We don't know…"

"Then we'll test it." He beamed at him, made Yuugi blink rapidly like he was looking at something too bright, and coaxed his partner's hand up to hold it properly in his. "Then we'll know more, and we can go from there… But for now, I'm hungry. Come with me while I warm up my food?"

Yuugi opened his mouth automatically, only to come up with nothing… closing it again with a faint, resigned frown… that slid into a soft sigh as he nodded– squeezing his fingers back in a soft pulse. "Okay… I might steal some of your rice, though."

"If that's the price of your company, I accept," Atem teased, the slow drain of tension from the room and the space between them leaving him free to smile properly– and he dared a glance to the door before shifting close, ghosting an assuring, and self-assuring kiss across his partner's lips before standing. "Come on, aibou."

Yuugi kept staring at where he had just been sitting, his nose and cheeks visibly flushing, his free hand shifting halfway up to his mouth– before a tug on his other one coaxed him to his feet. "Y-yeah, okay."

A soft, short laugh from Atem brought his partner back into focus, and Yuugi huffed once in would-be irritation before rubbing self-consciously at a cheek and moving double time to keep up with him– to not lose the hand that kept hold of his.

And Atem fell purposely headlong into the peace of it, asking Yuugi what his mother made for dinner, and sweeping the lingering topic from his own mind. It might not be fully closed, even for the night, but it was at least as settled as he could hope it to be.

Perhaps, if he assured his partner properly, remained vigilant about what he did and looked at, and took what pills he had to, he could avoid this becoming a true issue again.

"Tanaka-sensei has an opening at one today."

Atem stalled, his morning tea hovering right at his mouth as he looked across the table at Yui.

She didn't look up, still focused on adding food to her plate. "It was last minute, but we got lucky and there was a cancellation. If we don't take that appointment, we will likely have to wait until next Thursday."

"…Tanaka-sensei," Atem echoed… his eyes slowly swerving towards his partner.

Yuugi didn't look at him either. He remained focused on his miso soup, and said nothing as Yui answered. "Yes, the family eye doctor. You know that, right?"

"I am aware who he is." Atem put down his tea, frowning. "I take it aibou spoke to you."

"Yes, he said your eyes have been bothering you, and that it's been giving you headaches."

"I see." Atem's fingers strummed against the wood of kitchen table, and he flicked his gaze sideways once more– to lock with Yuugi's. His partner was finally looking at him, a hard, flat edge to his face. A face prepared for battle. Atem met him straight on, staring right back at him as he asked Yui, "Did he also mention that I have no identification or insurance to show at the doctor's office?"

"Oh, I know the receptionist," Yui assured, sounding completely undisturbed by the silent exchange of the pair sitting across from her. "We can probably slip by if I claim I forgot it and will bring it by later– then you can send in a copy when you get your things."

"But I still won't have insurance."

"That's fine. We'll just pay out-of-pocket."

…?!

Atem turned away from Yuugi's persistent stare to properly face– no, gawk at the mother he had been speaking to. Because, she couldn't mean–

But, no. Yui just peered back at him curiously. Expectantly.

…Atem shook his head, shock stealing any control from his snap. "You can't do that! It's too expensive!"

–Yui frowned, her eyes taking on a steel to rival her son's hard gaze. "Healthcare is a non-negotiable, Atem-kun. If you think I will condone you ignoring something like that just because it costs money–"

"But I am not–"

"Come on," cut in the thus far silent fourth party, and while he grit his teeth, Atem looked obligingly to Sugoroku. The man seemed utterly untouched by the tension at the table, sipping a bit of his soup before smiling back at him. "If you're grateful, there's no need for yelling or demuring. Just say thank you."

Atem's jaw unclenched to snap open– only to twist as he grappled for words, grinding his teeth into another frown as he glowered in frustration. "I am grateful. But, that doesn't change the fact that this is unnecessary." And finally, he looked back to the one who had certainly started all of this. He glowered over his shoulder at his partner. "I am fine."

And Yuugi– his mouth flattened out a little tighter, and he pushed his own bowl aside to twist in his seat and face him head on, the resolve in his eyes all the harder. "I know you think that. And, maybe you're right. But, until a doctor agrees, we won't know for sure, and we'll just keep worrying."

He would keep worrying.

That's what his eyes said beneath that insistent gleam, shining clear as day no matter how he frowned at him.

And it was that that stole the frustrated heat from Atem's head, and left him with nothing… nothing but an empty hand and no words. All he could do was look at him… them. At his unbending partner, at Sugoroku's understanding, knowing smile, and finally at Yui, with her quiet, expectant eyes.

…It was she who found something to say first, swiping Atem's cup from across the table and refilling it from the pot as she spoke. "Make sure that you come in from the shop early enough to eat your lunch. We will be leaving by noon."

Atem grimaced at the cup as Yui slid back into his reach… picking it up with a quiet, "Thank you…" that lingered in the air as he sipped… the kitchen silent until Sugoroku spoke up.

"Yui-chan, did you end up buying that vacuum you were looking at?"

"…Oh. No, I didn't. They were out of stock by the time I went back, and it's just not worth it off sale. Maybe if I check another store for the same model–"

…Something tapped his foot.

And it was obvious what it was, what it had to be, but Atem's eyes were still uncertain as he peered to his side, over the rim of his cup.

Yuugi was looking at him, his head ducked and his chopsticks in hand, but his eyes on him, mouth still set in a hard line, but gaze watchful, checking… pulling him in.

As always.

And no true words hung in that gaze, but Atem still responded. Still softened… And he had no idea what showed on his face, felt no uncontrolled twitch, but he did see the lines of tension fade from Yuugi's brow, as though he had seen something… long before Atem took one hand from his tea, and edged his plate towards him.

Offered what was on it.

Violet eyes flicked to the plate– and Yuugi grinned, relief flashing across his face before the emotion muted. He accepted the offering with only a faint echo of that happiness, but it had been there, and Atem's own mouth twitched and curled as Yuugi replaced the cut fish with a half-eaten scrambled egg from his own plate.

They didn't look to each other again, though, and by the time Atem took up his own chopsticks, a frown was back on his face… but, it was uneasiness that prompted the expression then, not frustration. And that emotion set a little more easily in Atem's gut, left him free to eat without trouble… and to distantly appreciate the toe that tapped against his ankle again, even as he could dredge up no greater response than a light tap back.

"Atem-kun?"

Atem stalled, then forced down a bite a bit too big to swallow smoothly, focusing on Yui the moment his mouth was clear. "Yes?"

The severity in the Mutou mother's eyes died away at his reply, the complete lack of fight in his reply apparently easing her back into simple practicality. She simply nodded, looking down at her soup as she ordered, "Change your clothes before you head to the shop, or at least before you leave. I will not present you to the doctor in leather and cuffs."

"Yes, ma'am."

Atem knew this office.

His partner had had few reasons to visit an eye doctor in his life, beyond a basic check-up here and there, but the Mutous had been going to Tanaka-sensei as far back as Atem – Yuugi – could remember. And so, there was no fear of the unknown in Atem's bones as he followed Yui into the familiar lobby. Just a grim distaste, heavy and leaden and possibly showing through the flat front of his expression as they approached the receptionist desk, and the older lady sitting behind it.

He evaded the uncertainty in her gaze by eying the magazines on a side table as Yui caught her attention and asked something about her grandkids.

…He could swear that issue had been there three years ago…

He didn't move to check, though, simply letting his mind wander, float in the resignation of simply getting through this… in the wariness of what might come of it. An abstract protest to it all just wouldn't stop climbing up his spine, and it left his back and shoulders tense with a tension he could easily explain, and yet–

"Atem-kun?"

He blinked up again, found Yui eying him as she nodded to the nearby door… the receptionist behind the deck getting up to presumably open it and let them in. "Tanaka-sensei's last appointment ended early, so they can see us now."

"–Alright." He slid past her, ignoring the way her frown followed him, and remained pinned to the back of his head as they left the room.

She was worried, he knew that much… but even if he wanted to soothe her concerns, he had nothing to say.

The best he could do was stay silent as they settled into the examination room, Yui taking a seat near the window as Atem sat in the exam chair indicated by the receptionist… his eyes naturally falling on the large letter chart on the other side of the room.

He narrowed his eyes at it, skimming the lines that grew smaller and smaller… and huffed, letting his head fall back against the headrest.

This was going to be tedious.

He only had seconds to mull over the suspicion, though, before someone knocked and the familiar, aging doctor walked into the room with a smile– the uncertainty within his gaze as he looked to him doing nothing for Atem's mood.

"Good afternoon, Mutou-san. So, this is your nephew?"

"Cousin of sorts, actually, but yes. This is Atem-kun."

"Of course, my apologies. It's nice to meet you, Mutou Atem-kun."

"Mhmm."

"Atem-kun."

"–It's nice to meet you, sensei."

"Of course. So, I hear you are having some problems with your eyesight?"

"That is the theory, yes."

"Well, why don't we see if I can't find some facts to go with that theory?"

"Mhmm."

The rest of the exam passed with more of the same, benign niceties, mixed in with polite, expectant orders from the doctor. And Atem had to at least count his blessings that this was not a full medical exam. Even as the orders and tests made him fight back the urge to glower, there was little occasion for Tanaka to touch him throughout the proceedings. He always gestured or spoke to indicate what Atem needed to do, and warned him when he was about to push the phoropter up to his face, or shine a light in his eyes. Honestly, the only troubling, unfamiliar part about the whole exam was when Tanaka slid his stool back and asked Atem to prop his head in what he called a 'slit lamp' so that he could shine a different sort of light in his eye– one Atem could not ever recall experiencing through his partner's memories.

There was nothing more or less odd about that test, but still, a faint frown was permanently stamped on the doctor's face from that point on… and while he made no comment afterwards, and went on with more familiar examinations, his pleasant chatter with Yui died away into nothing more than simple requests and questions to Atem.

She noticed the shift just as Atem did, and by the time Tanaka pushed his charts aside and settled back in his seat to look at them, they were all frowning… but the doctor remained strictly focused on Atem as he asked, "Motou-kun, have you ever had your eyes looked at before? Since these headaches started?"

Atem narrowed his eyes, searching the doctor's gaze for some insight… before shaking his head. "No." There was the impulse to add 'not since they started hurting,' but… he couldn't name it. He could sense there was something off about the question. Even if it should be a given that any modern person would see an eye doctor at least once in their lives…

"I see," Tanaka said when the silence dragged on, tapping the back of his pen on a neighboring table before straightening again. "Did you go to any doctor at all?"

"…For what, exactly?"

"I can't say specifically myself, at least with these tests alone. But from the look of it, it must have been a fairly bad injury."

–Atem sat up in his chair, his hands clenching on his legs with the shock of, "What are you talking about?"

The doctor didn't respond right away. Just looked at him in a rather baffled, critical way… then finally gestured towards Atem's face.

The left side.

"There is an old, severe retina scar there, on your left eye."

Atem blinked… leaning back to stare blank-faced at the composed, certain man before him.

What?

"I assume from an accident of some sort," Tanaka was saying, not even pausing as Atem inwardly scrambled for sense of what was coming out of his mouth. "It seems to have caused you to develop an astigmatism and some slight myopia."

"I… didn't know…" He had expected… something. Something like what his partner had feared. That the doctor would find some sign of just how unnatural Atem actually was. That he would walk out of that office with no explanations at all, or a diagnosis that made no sense… for a proper, living person, at least.

But this–

"No." That frown was back on Tanaka's face, and Atem could now read the concern behind the look– and the disapproval. "Which is rather odd. Even if you had been injured in some other way, and been distracted by the need to treat those wounds, your eye would have certainly been painful, as well. Visibly red and injured, and it's likely that you would have struggled to see out of it at all for quite some time." He shook his head, dropping his pen to lace his fingers together on his lap as he bent forward, closer to Atem. "From the looks of it, the injury must have become infected, and been left untreated… Do you know why?"

…Atem looked down at his own lap, too thrown to even bother with fronts or frowns as he searched his mind for… answers that would never come… shaking his head when he inevitably came up empty handed. "No."

"I see…" The doctor sighed, sitting up a bit to turn his head towards Yui. "Mutou-san? Do you know anything, as his family member? Was Atem-kun injured somehow when he was too young to remember it?"

"…No…" Yui replied, and though he didn't look up in her direction, Atem could hear it– the hesitance in her voice. "Our families were not close when he was younger."

"That is unfortunate," Tanaka answered, his stool shifting as he faced Atem again, speaking even as he failed to meet his eye. "And, if this did happen when you were young… you just said that you never visited a doctor afterwards. I would strongly advise that you to get a check-up more often in the future, Atem-kun. Any basic exam would have caught that scar."

Atem grimaced, unclenching his hands only to dig his fingers into his kneecaps.

…Yui spoke when he failed to. "What can we do for him, Tanaka-sensei?"

"For the scar? Nothing, if you wish for my advice. You could attempt surgery, but it would be unnecessary and invasive. The effects on his eyes are certainly permanent at this point, so the best thing would be to get a basic prescription to correct his vision."

"Is that something we could have done today?"

"Well, there is a retailer nearby we often work with for quick orders, but for a long-term prescription I would advise…"

"You're upset."

It wasn't a question, but when Atem dragged his eyes off of the glasses displays in front of them, he found that Yui was staring at him like she expected an answer anyway.

He didn't give one, letting his gaze stray back to the wall of bright frame colors and fake lenses.

They were sitting in the fast order eyeglasses shop Tanaka had suggested, having gone straight there after getting the prescription, paying the receptionist, and picking out the frames for the 'long-term' glasses Tanaka insisted Atem should get. Then it was only a few minutes to walk to the shop, and repeat the frame hunt all over again.

The staff member that had been trailing them about took the order and promised that it would be less than an hour to fill it– and Atem had disappeared into the store restroom as soon as Yui let him go.

He locked himself into the one-stall room, walked up to the smudged mirror over the sink… and stared at himself.

Stepped up close until the Puzzle clinked against the porcelain, and tilted his head– back, then forward, then to the side… stalling as he caught something, and leaned in further, the chain dragging painfully along the sink edge as he stared at what he had found.

A scar.

A soft, diagonal line beside his nose, below his left eye, so faint that he had never noticed it before.

Never thought to look for it before.

…And the way it was angled… Atem straightened his head, and strained to see – something – as he brushed his thumb backwards through his eyebrow.

His hunch proved right.

There was a bald patch. A faint line of no hair, usually hidden by the way the hair fell.

…He brushed it back… settled back on his feet… and stared. Saw it firsthand as the flat veneer on his own face drained away.

He didn't know what he was looking at.

He knew the doctor was right, as far as he could know to guess the truth, and Atem had just… he knew the doctor was right, somehow. On some level, he felt confident enough to confirm the truth of it.

His eye was scarred. It was part of an injury– an attack that had landed on his face. And the wounds had gotten infected. Pained him, and cost him a fraction of his sight.

He knew it. Felt that certainty in his gut, just as he had felt it when he walked into that museum months ago, and seen his own face on that ancient slab.

…And, just like then, that certainty came with a hole. A faint, empty distress, for once again not knowing something about himself. Something so pivotal– and in this case so visceral and right there as his own eyesight… An injury, staring him right in the face, now that he knew to see it.

What had happened?

He could see at a glance that the cause was a slash of some sort to the face, but he had no idea where it came from. How he acquired it. Nothing occurred to him at the sight but that same empty fullness in his gut… and he was left with nothing.

Nothing but the awareness that he would never know the truth, save… by one means…

The Puzzle pulsed against his gut.

A bleak reassurance.

The same pulse hummed against his stomach as he stared at the glasses lining the walls near the customer chairs. As Yui asked, "You don't know how you hurt your eye?"

"I don't know anything." The words fell out of him before he was even conscious of it, and once they were loose, he couldn't bring himself to retract them. To even regret them. To keep his eyes away when Yui hummed thoughtfully at him.

"About your life, you mean." Her gaze wasn't exactly… sympathetic, but there was a patience there, and expectation that Atem found he could not dismiss.

Even as he grit his teeth and faced forward again, he found himself nodding. "…Beyond the obvious." He shut his eyes, breathed out the tension and the words in his heart. "I would have to recover my memories to know about this," he waved blindly at his own face. "And near anything else."

"…How do you know?"

…Atem opened his eyes, merely to frown up at the woman staring at him. "What?"

"How do you know you'd know where you got that injury from if you got your memories back?" she elaborated, shutting the book that she had ostensibly been reading as they waited. "Tanaka-sensei couldn't say how old it was. What if you got that injury when you were quite young? Even a baby?"

Unlikely, given the look of it… but he couldn't be certain.

And the fact that he couldn't be certain was why he was frowning in the first place. Why he kept frowning.

…And Yui merely hummed in the face of it, reopening her book back to the marked page, but– "Yuugi-kun has a mark, just by his left elbow."

–Shock blinked through Atem's expression, left it blank and surprised as he impulsively reached for his own elbow, and– yes. There was nothing there, of course, but Atem knew… there was something on his partner's own arm. A– "A small, round… a scar."

"That's right."

That was right… it was an odd mark. Certainly not a slash like on Atem's own face, or a healed burn or even a puncture wound. But still, Atem frowned all over again and with far more feeling at the thought that that old, familiar mark might have some story behind it. Something more memorable than a simple, forgettable stumble from childhood. No matter what had happened, his partner had been hurt and even he hadn't known– "Did he have an accident when he was too young to remember it?" For him to remember it?!

"No." Yui looked up into his strained expression… and grinned, apparently amused of all things. "He scratched it himself. It's just a blister that scarred."

Atem stared… then relaxed, the answer coming to him all at once in a calming spark. "The chicken pox. From when he was two."

"That's right." Yui smiled faintly, then turned back to her book, finger skimming along lines she certainly wasn't reading. "He was too young to remember, of course, but it happened. And that illness? He only knows about it at all because we told him about it when he was older." Her eyes finally shifted to his again, openly checking to see if he was listening.

He was.

"He has no memory of it, but the fact that it happened remains, and it means that he'll never get the pox again."

Atem… stared into her eyes, the simple words rolling around his head– to catch the light from every angle. To take every and full meaning from them.

No memory of it…

…Yui finally huffed, breaking their gaze to look down at her book again, emphasizing her words with a warm impatience. "You don't always have to remember something for it to have meaning, Atem-kun."

Atem kept staring, just as before… but surprise slowly slid into thoughtfulness, and as he looked back to the glasses display, his expression was… relaxed. Not quite relieved, still rather uncertain… but untroubled.

And when Yui spoke up again, they didn't look at each other– but a smile twitched across Atem's face. "But, on the subject of the pox, we should find a doctor who will vaccinate you against anything they can think of. I assume you haven't had any before, and it's a wonder you haven't died from the common cold yet."

"That isn't necessary."

"What? Are you afraid of shots?"

"Of course not. It would just be a waste."

"Ah. Of course it would be… I'll schedule something by the end of the week."

"…Thank you."

"Just doing what is necessary, Atem-kun."

"If you say so."

"Welcome to Kame Game, how can– Ah. Yo, aibou."

Yuugi grinned at the instant shift in tone, turning to shut the door before properly facing the shop, and the sole occupant behind the counter. "Sorry I'm a little late. I got held up by Jounouchi-kun asking about… a game…"

His voice trailed into nothing as he stalled, no more than three steps into the shop when he registered… Atem was…

He smiled, leaning forward with his elbows on the glass case. "Which game would that be?"

"The, uh… Tigris & Euphrates, you know…"

"Ah. The board game that came in to the shop last month? That caught your eye?"

"Right. I was thinking… maybe it was time to… mou hitori no boku?"

"Hmm?" Atem arched a brow, amusement dancing visibly across his face.

But Yuugi was too thrown to take the bait, merely tapping the side of his face near his eyes to indicate– "You got… glasses?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes," Atem started with would-be surprise, straightening his back and taking off the purple specs that had just been on his face, inspecting the soft-edged rectangle frames for himself before pushing them back up his nose. "These are just the quick order ones. Your mother insisted on paying for a good pair at the doctor's. They should be coming in in a week or so."

And instantly Yuugi wondered what those would be like, but he was too busy losing his voice to the sight of his other self in those frames to ask, any words he might have formed clogging in his throat at a single glance from Atem.

…Those glasses were bringing out the faint hint of purple in his other self's own eyes…

…That soft hue flashed as Atem smirked. "What do you think? Sophisticated, right?"

The uncertainty beneath the tease undermined any hint of carelessness there might have been, but Yuugi grinned anyways, nodding a bit as he finally started forwards, his voice small. Wondrous. "Yeah. Looks… good…" Foreign, and somehow off-kilter, kind of like that smiling turtle stamped on Atem's chest, above his simple black tee. But still– good, in a way Yuugi couldn't quite express. Because it wasn't just that the glasses framed his eyes nicely, and brought of the rarely seen colors in his red eyes. They– they just… made him seem so… palpable.

Real.

Yuugi wanted to move around the counter and close the distance between them. Catch his bare arms. Feel the warmth of his skin.

But he just flushed with the impulse, and stilled a few feet away as Atem laughed, fingering the edge of his glasses. "Heh heh… at least this explains why I kept losing so spectacularly in Tekken."

–Yuugi grinned, his back relaxing with the humor. "You wish that was why I kept beating you."

A grateful edge touched Atem's smirk, gratitude warming the look. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

"Uh-huh. When's your shift over?"

"In ten minutes."

Yuugi nodded, letting his smile linger a little longer on Atem's before moving for the house door. "I'll get the game loaded."

"That anxious to lose, aibou?"

"Ha, you can taunt me all you like if you win."

"Is that a promise?"

Yuugi stalled, his steps hiccuping as he darted his eyes to the right– to meet Atem's, just as he was passing by the counter.

His heart skipped at the hope and particular gleam in Atem's eyes… then he swallowed, slid into a smirk of his own before walking on. "That goes for sweet talking, too."

"Tease."

"Hypocrite."

Atem's chuckle followed him down the hall and into the house.

"You want to pick up where we left off with Lunar when I'm done with this?"

"Mmm…" Atem hummed, his eyes remaining on the cards he had spread out on the desk until he finally decided on a move, freeing him to consider his partner, sitting beside him with his cheek in hand, his elbow in a textbook propped open at the edge of the desk. The sight made Atem grin as he looked back down at the cards, making another move. "I was hoping for something a little more challenging tonight."

"Yukon just not doing it for you?"

"This is just keeping me out of trouble until you're done reading. And you're always a better opponent than a random spread or computer."

"Guess that takes Wild Arms off the table, too… how about Tigris & Euphrates, then?"

"Weren't you going to play that with Jounouchi-kun?"

"Eh, I haven't tried it out yet, and it'd be better if at least one of us had a grasp of the rules first… and it might be fun figuring them out with you."

"I bet it would be."

"Yeah…"

Atem grinned, but offered no further answer, letting the silence hang so that they could both focus on their own activities– so as to get to what they really wanted to do.

…But, after a few moments, he flicked his gaze back up.

Yuugi was still staring at him, an odd sort of… wonder, in his eyes.

"…What?"

"It's just–" Yuugi shook his head, folding both arms over his book as he frowned at him. "You… said earlier that you need glasses because you got hurt? At some point you can't remember because… it was when you were a pharaoh?"

Atem blinked at him, faintly surprised to have the topic brought up again.

They had spoken a little about the whys of Atem's new spectacles earlier, just after his shift, but the bulk of their attention had been pinned on Tekken, facing each other in heated match after heated match until a call for dinner left them at a three-to-three tie. Even at the table, where the matter would have logically come up between the family, Yui's attention remained sharply pinned on Yuugi's last big test before the end of semester midterms, coming up on Friday. Yuugi grimaced through the prods to study and slipped away from the meal as fast as he could, Atem quietly following him upstairs after confirming his work shifts the next day with Sugoroku. Between rushing to take baths and settling in for evening activities, there hadn't been much time for sharing more than the simple facts… and with the simplicity of the answers he had to share? Atem had taken it for granted that the subject might be closed.

Apparently not.

He put down the card he had been considering and folded his arms, relaxing back in the desk chair as he considered his partner. "That's what I gathered, yes. It's the only thing that makes sense with what the doctor said."

"Right," Yuugi huffed, sliding between a thoughtful frown and that same tentative wonder Atem saw before. "So… does that mean–" A touch of shyness grimaced across his features as he gestured vaguely towards him. "Does that mean you're really, really like… I mean, would Zorc have known that? About that injury?"

Atem stared, confused by the odd turn of the question, uncertain where… "No, probably not." Granted, Akhenaden might have, depending on what had caused the injury to begin with… and even thinking about the priest made Atem frown with the memory of that news report– of a mummy crushed along with so much else when the museum collapsed under that 'monster's' wrath… but, the fact remained, even if he had known of the injury somehow– "Why do you ask?"

"It's just," Yuugi shrugged, folding his hands together as he eyed him, as if looking for some reaction Atem didn't know how to offer him. "I had thought you were like, just a blown up version of the figment Zorc created for that game, combined with your soul or something." Atem's brows shot up, a surreal sort of amusement striking him as his partner went on. "But, why would Zorc have bothered to include a detail like that, even if he had known? It's not like you'd remember to note the difference."

"No, I suppose not…" Zorc had been using the Puzzle in the game, so it was possible that the injury had come from his own subconscious somehow, drawn from a memory still locked away in his heart somewhere, or from some innate awareness he couldn't quite shake, like a muscle memory… or maybe it was just the nature of the magic Zorc used, to give him back his body as it truly had been back when he–

"And, either way, if we go by that," Yuugi was saying, tugging Atem's attention back to him and those wary, hopeful violets. "Doesn't it seem more likely… that this basically is legit the body you had in life?"

Atem… didn't reply. Just stared right back at him a while before unfolding his arms… setting his hands down on the desktop as he looked to the Puzzle, perched on the corner opposite his partner, watching them. Atem looked into the eye of the golden Item as he considered… wondered… was such a thing possible? He had been talking with Yuugi and Yui and everyone with the presumption that, yes, even the physical reality of his past had followed him into the present, but… would fate… really do that? Allow that? Give him back his body as it had been?

…His people did believe the flesh was necessary to pass on to the next life, which he was meant to do. That was true. But, this… being back in his own flesh, even when he didn't recall it? Breathing? Alive for true, at least in… the flesh and blood sense?

It just… felt more like an anchor to the present, than a means to his future.

His rest.

…But, then… it wasn't really fate that he was like this in the first place, was it? It was Zorc, and his desperation… It was fortune Atem had to thank for this, not destiny. So… what did that mean? Was this fortune a means to his destiny, or a deviation from it? What… was he supposed to make of this…

…He blinked.

Looked down.

Focused in on the fingers that had tentatively swept across the knuckles of his left hand.

He followed that hand up to Yuugi, and watched for a while as his partner stared… not at him, but at his hand. His eyes wide and wondering as he played delicately over the skin. The back of his fingers.

A catch over his pinky made Atem grin with the tickle, and he broke the spell. "What are you doing?"

Yuugi blinked up– and flushed, red spreading in an adorable wave all the way back to his ears as he froze, hand paralyzed over his. "I– well–"

Atem laughed, turning his hand to catch those sneaky fingers and keep them from retreating. "It's alright, aibou. I'm just the same as this morning. Nothing's changed."

"I know that," Yuugi huffed, but– the fascination in his gaze did not fade. It just solidified and grew, until it was all that Atem could see. Could focus on, as Yuugi focused on him, awe rolling through his smile as he squeezed and shifted in the hand that held his… twisted in his seat and reached out for Atem with the hand still free and–

Atem sucked in a breath and froze. Stared into the eyes that raked so warmly over his face as Yuugi– touched him. His thumb and fingertips running a soft, static tickle along his nose. Cheek. The line of his jaw and the shell of his ear– lingered there to gently pinch the stiff impression of the hole in the lobe before sliding back to his face.

Yuugi seemed to settle, smiling in a contented way as he ran his knuckles over his cheek, but Atem just– couldn't breathe… couldn't stop staring, and trying to read the thoughts sparking behind his partner's eyes.

Whatever the reasons… whatever the eventual goals… he was not living in some weak, conjured echo of what he once must have been. This copy – if it even was a copy – felt… real. Was really, really real… there… alive…

…And, why not?

He didn't know the full circumstances, but Atem was sure that it was magic that had killed him. A spell he had cast with the Puzzle himself, that stole the life from his still living body… so, why shouldn't it be capable of giving back what it had once taken away so easily? Was it… so unprecedented… He might need to leave, but… for now, at least, he was still, in the truest sense, flesh and bone…

Really, truly there, in the present.

In that room.

And the thought made his skin prickle. Made the taste of his own mouth fill his senses.

He had never… He had always felt somehow… distant from all about him. Yes, it was easy to forget that distance at times when he was in his partner's flesh, or distracted by his presence. But, all this time, that had been, in the end, a distraction. Everything had felt so… borrowed. Taken from a soul that gave too much. That he took so much from.

Now… he was there.

Undeniably there.

With Yuugi.

Real, as he was real.

Right there.

With him…

And the thought made him consider that company… that shared proximity, in a whole new light. Made him conscious of that lingering contact in a whole new way, and made him– flush. He could feel it, the heat in his own face, warm against the slide of Yuugi's fingers, and–

"Hey… are you mad at me for pushing you to go? To the doctor's?"

Atem blinked. Came back to himself enough to realize that Yuugi was eying him warily. Expectantly.

But no words would come to Atem's tongue, and… he just acted. Filled the silence by reaching up for Yuugi's elbow, and coaxing him closer.

Yuugi met the pull with a surprised look, but it quickly melted as Atem leaned into the desk edge and close enough to reach his face. To press a kiss to his mouth– still, and slow, and barely moving at all… a soft, lingering contact that allowed Atem to breathe him in. Process the simple sensation of lips against his. Of the smell of his skin. Of the hand that dropped down to Atem's shoulder, pressed into it, kept him anchored. Of a strained, quiet breath, so close that Atem could hear it.

He ran a thumb over Yuugi's fingers, and he squeezed back.

His palm was warm.

…After a moment, he slid back, settling fully in his seat again.

He left his partner staring at him in a fogged daze, and that expression pulled the life back to Atem's face.

He grinned. "Yes, I am."

Yuugi blinked, confused… thrown… uncertain and shame-faced– until Atem chuckled, and put a lie to the reply. Then his partner glowered at him, that red resurfacing across his face as he caught on to the tease.

Atem half-expected to be pushed off, or huffed at, or to receive some other expression of impatience– but no. Yuugi must have read something of his true feelings beneath the taunt, because he soon softened into a warm look, and then a grin– keeping both as he scooted down the bed, away from the desk side.

Atem followed the movement with curious eyes, only for his breath to catch in unexpected delight when Yuugi stalled right beside him– and grabbed the front of his tee-shirt, easily using it and the hand still on his shoulder to swerve him around in his chair to face him. To look at him and his insistent smile. "Well, then you're just going to have to forgive me."

–Atem beamed, pushing the chair forward as much as he could, their knees bumping as he coyly asked, "Is that so?"

Yuugi snorted, but… didn't answer. His expression quickly caught and froze, his grip on Atem's shirt shifting into an open hand… pressing firmly against his chest…

They both went still… listening to the thump of his heart.

Atem… couldn't process the feeling that spread through him. Warm, and wary, and curling about to fill every corner of him… he could only look up, and see the marvel in his partner's eyes… watch as it slowly morphed into something sharp, and needy…

When Yuugi followed the look with a lean, Atem moved. Tipped his head up to meet his kiss.

…Kisses…

The contact started as soft and simple as his own, earlier kiss, but it just… kept folding in on itself… slipped into another, and another, lingering more, and more, and more… morphing into an occupation of awe and brushing noses and a hesitant happiness Atem had never known before, found in the unexpected lock of fogged eyes when they peeked at each other, only to lose themselves in the kiss again. Found in the venture of small, little attempts at new. Experiments at angles, and pressures, and open lips catching… claiming… and all Atem could taste was fresh toothpaste, from their early prep to get ready for bed.

Yuugi must not have washed out his mouth enough.

The taste invaded Atem's senses, the warmth of Yuugi's hand at his shoulder weighing on his focus, and–

Yuugi sucked in a breath, jumped… and even though he kept their mouths locked together, Atem was suddenly conscious of it… his own hand… on Yuugi's knee. His thigh…

…He dismissed it. Pulsed his grip, and chased Yuugi's mouth when he gasped in reaction.

And any sense that he should ebb away, or pull back, died as Yuugi recovered, only to press back– and more.

Atem's heart thumped, and his back shuddered under the pressure of his posture as his hands flew up, catching both of his partner's ribs as Yuugi leaned hard into his grip, relying on him to keep him upright as… as he… Atem opened his mouth to his partner's silent request, and… and the warmth that had been thrumming through his chest bled hot.

And… there was no room for concerns there. No place for them… Atem wanted to focus on this. On the slow, drowsy, intoxicating nature of what he had found… on what his partner was doing, and coaxing him to match.

…He tasted toothpaste… and thought nothing. Relaxed into the lazy, stimulating joy of it… the joy of counting how many times he could make Yuugi gasp with a shift of his fingers, or his mouth. His tongue.

…He lost count… long before Yuugi finally shifted back a bit, to stare down at him… and jolted back with a start.

Atem stiffened in surprise, the feeling humming in every inch of his skin silencing as he asked– but he never spoke. Yuugi recovered long before he could form words, grinning shyly as he motioned. "Sorry. The– I forgot about them."

Atem blinked, and… his confusion slid quickly into amusement as Yuugi indicated his face, and.

Right.

"–So did I." As Yuugi leaned back enough to support himself, Atem reached up and straightened his glasses, pushing them up his nose… before sliding the same hand up to coax Yuugi's off of his shoulder.

That was the only point of contact left between them, but there was no denying the closeness behind their shared grins as Atem kissed the side of his partner's thumb. "–I distracted you."

Yuugi shrugged. "Don't care."

Atem snorted, playing his fingers over that willing captive of a hand. "Still, you should get that reading done."

Yuugi's grin spread wider, his hand playing at tugging away, only to capture his in turn. "What, so I don't stay up late?"

Atem smirked, allowing his hand to be pulled back to Yuugi's knee as he shook his head. "No, so that I can demand your full attention until bed."

Yuugi coughed on a laugh, his shoulders catching with the humor. "You've got that either way!"

"That so?"

Yuugi didn't answer. Just– smiled at him, offering a wordless warmth that Atem was happy to share… and drag on, even as he squeezed Yuugi's knee and broke the silence.

"You still promised me a game, you know."

Yuugi's mouth stretched even wider, and he leaned forward, caught Atem by surprise as he grasped the back of his neck and drew him into another kiss– the quick, emphatic nature of it doing nothing to douse the euphoria that made Atem's shoulders droop.

It was over in a breath, Yuugi coming up slower than he went in… clutching Atem's shoulder as he straightened, smiling down at him. "I'd better read."

"Right."

"And then, Tigris & Euphrates?"

"Mmm… I'd like that."

"Haha– Good."

Soon they were settled back as they had been– Atem at the desk playing Yukon, Yuugi to the side leaning over his book… But, with the door shut against any likely surprises, the pair let that connection linger, their hands locked on the corner of the desk opposite the Puzzle, Yuugi's palm resting in the cradle of Atem's.

A thumb played softly over the vein in Atem's wrist, and he smiled, making no comment as he flipped another card.