"What's that even supposed to be?" Jounouchi tilted his head, glowering harder at the shattered ceramic pieces piled up on a shelf behind exhibit glass. "Some sort of pot?"

"Looks like a canopic jar. The Egyptians put people's organs in them after they died and got mummified."

"Hyew, wouldn't expect you to know stuff like that, Honda. How can you even tell? It's all broken."

"There's a placard right here."

"Oh."

Yuugi snorted, the honest sheepishness in Jounouchi's voice only getting funnier when he belatedly turned on Honda and snapped at him. "Oh, come on! Is it so weird I noticed the stuff before the signs?"

Honda rolled his eyes, but another voice distracted Yuugi before he could catch his reply.

"You don't think this is too much, do you, Yuugi-kun?" Anzu asked, eyes pinned on a pair of figures across the room. Yuugi quickly followed her gaze, uncertain himself as he eyed the pharaoh, who was getting some unheard but clearly exuberant explanation about an falcon-headed statue from Bakura. "I never really thought about it before, since Atem-kun prompted our visits to the museum himself, and we were all so focused on… but isn't it uncomfortable for him, seeing these exhibits?"

"Probably on some level," Yuugi agreed, smiling as he looked back at Anzu. "But he really doesn't remember his life as a pharaoh. And it's never been… uncomplicated, but I've looked through a bunch of history books with him before, with pictures and things, and never noticed any major distress before. And he knows as well as anyone how museums work. This isn't a shock."

"Well, if you say so," Anzu allowed, still frowning at Atem.

Yuugi looked back himself, considered on the pharaoh's tight expression… but around them, the conversation moved on, erupting with sudden life because Otogi, eyes on another sign, dared to say, "I had to come in to school late today, thanks to some stuff with the cafe. Did any of you see my test scores?"

Yuugi flinched, but Jounouchi and Honda's reactions were far more vocal.

"G'yahh, why do you have to bring that up?!"

"We're supposed to be having fun, Otogi!"

"It wasn't so bad," Yuugi tried to counter, but even though it was true and all of their scores were better than usual, he imagined his mother's likely reaction and lecture on quickly encroaching graduation and flinched again and–

"I was just asking about mine," Otogi huffed, glowering at all them until Anzu spoke, equally exasperated.

"I wrote them down for you, Otogi-kun. I thought you might be out today."

"Thank you. At least someone bothered."

"Oh, what?" Jounouchi snapped. "It's not like you asked us to–"

"What's going on?"

Jounouchi and the rest of them turned to see Atem and Bakura with them again, the latter looking around the group with curious eyes.

"Oh hey, Bakura. Did Otogi ask you to write down his score–"

"Just ignore him, Bakura-kun. Jounouchi's deflecting."

"I didn't ask you, Otogi–"

Yuugi grimaced a smile, then looked beyond Bakura to Atem.

He was watching too, clearly amused.

So Yuugi took a quick look around the distracted, irritated group, and sidestepped around them, sliding around the outside of the circle the four or five steps it took to reach Atem.

Who instantly shifted his attention to him, face relaxing with quiet question.

Yuugi answered with a grin and asked, just above a whisper, "You all right?"

Atem's brow wrinkled, and his smile twisted with confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"You looked a little troubled there, talking to Bakura-kun."

And in retrospect, it might well have been a macabre or morbid comment from their well-meaning friend to blame… but the cloud that passed over Atem's face said otherwise. "You noticed?"

"Yeah. We thought it might be the exhibits."

"In a way," Atem admitted, but though his expression remained grim as he looked to the display cases lined with pottery and faience jewelry and stone fragments, he really looked more through them than at them. "Bakura was telling me about everything that was in the exhibit before, when it was at the museum… That statue wasn't broken a month ago."

Oh.

Atem had turned back to look at the falcon-headed statue, the shattered state of the disk on its head making it impossible to identify the depicted god on sight… but Yuugi smiled, waiting until his frowning pharaoh looked back to insist, "You know that wasn't your fault, right? You were just trying to find your memories. You'd have to have Isis-san's Necklace to see that coming."

"We do have the Necklace," Atem countered, a lazy rebellious lull to his voice… but Yuugi's pointed grin made him huff, and his shoulders dropped in defeat. "I know you're right, aibou. But that doesn't erase the damage I caused."

"And what about what you saved?" Yuugi asked, and Atem's eyebrows arched, his eyes questioning and doubtful and soft. And Yuugi softened, too, even as his voice and gaze never bent. "You stopped Zorc. Three thousand years ago, and now. And you saved what really matters." He looked at the exhibit around them, expression grim as he belatedly noted the obvious signs of lost history. Canopic jars in sets of twos and threes, slabs and small tablets in illegible pieces, cracked mummy cases with the contents gone. Yuugi couldn't see at a glance which losses were recent, which items came to Domino in such a state and which were damaged in the museum, but– "I know all of this is important, that we lost some crucial clues to who your people were, and how much it mattered to them to save everything after death… But, those who had been alive at the time? They lived. They carried on, and their descendants are alive even now, in Egypt. And that's because of you. Because of what you did back then and last month."

When he looked back at Atem, he looked back into a smile. "You think Zorc could walk across the ocean to Egypt?"

Yuugi shrugged, returning the look. "Hey, he said he'd destroy everything. And you know that, don't be cute."

Atem chuckled, and while Yuugi allowed himself an eyeroll, he quickly sobered, earning instant attention and seriousness from his pharaoh with a single word. "Listen, whatever your people believed about what comes after, they secured their offspring and home just as much as their tombs, right? And they're still there. They might be as different as night and day now – we've looked at enough travel tips on the best restaurants in Cairo to know that – but the people alive there today are the best legacy anyone could hope for– the best proof that your people existed. And all of those people would have suffered, might not have even been born if you hadn't stopped Zorc back then… and they wouldn't be alive now if you didn't stop him again in the museum. But you did. You saved them. Again."

Yuugi's awareness of their surroundings died away as he spoke, his arguments falling out in a thoughtless, sincere spiel. And where he might have second guessed himself, even regretted certain words, Yuugi felt only relief and pride in the way Atem looked him, warm and thankful and reverent and– "We did."

Yuugi grinned, shaking his head. "Yeah, we might have had a hand in it, but–"

"Hey, Yuugi! Don't go throwing away all of our credit!"

He jerked forward, tripping on his own feet.

Atem's hands kept him from hitting the floor, but Yuugi had no time for relief as he turned to see all of his friends there, staring at him, caught between moved smiles and bit back laughs.

It was Jounouchi's wide, bright grin that popped the bubble under Yuugi's skin, and he turned beat red and– "How long have you been standing there?!"

"We came to the museum with you, Yuugi-kun."

"T-that's not what I mean, Bakura-kun–"

"Anyways," Otogi cut in before anyone else could answer, a laugh behind his words as he pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. "We were just gonna tell you two to come on. The star show's starting."

…Yuugi looked at Atem.

Who looked right back at him, a re-found poker face barely covering his amusement.

Yuugi turned away, his cheeks burning. "O-oh."

"Come on, Yuugi," Jounouchi coaxed, grinning way too much. "No one will see how red you are in the dark– ahaha, don't glare at me like that! It's just funnier!"

"Whoa."

Atem smiled at his partner's soft, awed voice, his own breath stilling as his senses adjusted to the sharp darkness of the planetarium as the show started, the dozens and dozens of faces that had surrounded him disappearing into the black.

The world was empty, and quiet.

Until a voice came over the loudspeaker. "Good evening. Thank you for joining us for Domino University Planetarium's debut showing of Ancient Stars: an exploration of the importance of heavenly bodies in Ancient Egypt. Tonight, I hope we can give you a little insight into the sky of the ancient world. To help you look through the eyes of another human being born thousands of years before you or I, and understand not just what they would have seen when they looked up into the night sky, but what it meant to them. But first, if you would look to the left for the emergency exit sign–"

Atem frowned, staring upwards at nothing with blind eyes and a creased brow. The narrator's words slid through his psyche with the awareness that it should have been funny, that assumption of birth. That he should have been able to laugh at the claim… but it was simply ironic. Because their invisible host was only half-wrong. Atem didn't know the sky his people had seen.

Then dots blinked to life before his eyes.

"And now, if you have adjusted to the darkness, perhaps we should introduce a little more light into the world–"

A blanket of stars spread out across the globed ceiling, bright constellations Atem knew on sight, along with countless other stars he could not recognize.

"This is the sky as we would see it if there was no roof over this building– and no lights in the city of Domino. But, if we take a quick little trip across the globe–" Stars turned to long blurred lines across the sky as they gently shifted, nearly everything Atem recognized disappearing in favor of new stars. New constellations. "This is what we would be seeing if we stood right by the Great Pyramids of Giza, and looked up at the sky from there… But that is today, which is probably foreign enough to most of you. But if we look at the sky on the same day and time over two thousand years ago–" They shifted again. Not so much, and not so sharply, but enough. Enough to show a world tilted on its axis.

Enough to show how time could make a mockery of everything you thought you knew.

"Not quite what we would see today, is it? But it's important to note the differences, because the shifts over the centuries mean you wouldn't be able to see what the ancients had in mind when they created the pyramids if you were standing there today, but the stars definitely played a role in their creation."

The projection changed again, a film appearing and starting to play right in the middle of the stars, showing the site in question: the Great Pyramids of Giza.

"But once you have the right alignment, the role the stars played in the ancient world is plain to see. When the pyramids were built, the architects–"

…It was all familiar.

The actual stars and display were new, and certainly dazzling in their own right, but as Atem listened, he realized he would gain nothing new from the show. It was meant for the average audience, and Yuugi had been more than that well before solving the Puzzle thanks to a mother who loved history and a grandfather who traipsed recklessly across deserts and came back with a faint obsession– Nevermind the countless books and readings over the last few months, shared between them.

Atem had no firsthand recollections of what the show had to share – particularly about pyramids and Alexandria, the constellations mentioned all drawn from Ptolemaic times – but his attention still wandered, his focus drifting more and more to the stars visible around the edges of the film.

There, at least, he found wonder, his eyes tracing the unknown lines of constellations he knew no names for.

…Many readings claimed that a dead king would join Ra on his celestial journeys, and become a star.

Would that be his fate, too, after all this time?

Or was it too late for him, his place in the sky sacrificed along with everything else?

"–decide so as to help the pharaohs find their way to the stars–"

He swallowed back a snort, a hollow smile tight on his lips.

Eventually, the show ended and the lights turned back on, revealing a room of stretching, blinking people still there around him, standing and looking for purses and bags and shuffling their way to the door.

Atem and his group weren't so quick to hurry, stirring at a leisurely rate as Bakura asked, "So? What did you think?"

"It was nice," Atem got in quickly, for the sake of saying something, silently relieved when Anzu jumped in right after him with her own polite input.

"This was a great idea, Bakura-kun. I don't think any of us would have thought to come to a planetarium of all things."

"Hey, Jounouchi," Honda said, and they all turned to see the blond still in his chair, his head rolled back against the chair. He only woke enough to snort when Honda prodded him in the arm. "Come on, we need to go!"

"Ngyuh…"

"Uh, Honda-kun?" The quiet call dashed the irritation from Honda's face, and they all turned to look at Yuugi, who leaned over the back of his seat to face the guys in the back row, an uncertain smile on his face. "Why don't you leave him there for now? I know he's got time tonight, and, well–" He looked at Atem, meeting his curious stare with a careful sort of hope. "I was hoping we could stay for the next show? There's a different one after this."

Atem's brows rose, surprised, but, "You liked it that much?"

Yuugi shrugged, breaking eye contact to smile at the floor. "Just wondering."

Atem was certainly wondering himself, but he didn't ask, turning to grin at the rest of the group. "I guess aibou and I are staying."

"And Jounouchi-kun."

"And Jounouchi-kun."

"Oh, all right!" Bakura chirped, clearly pleased to see such enthusiasm– even if it wasn't from the birthday boy. "Then, I'll stick around, too! I can get us tickets for a great deal. My father lets me use his discount for museum events."

They all stared at him, though Otogi was the one who finally asked, "Oh, you get good deals on planetarium shows, huh?"

Bakura stared back at him, all silent smiles.

Eventually, Honda snorted, standing up with a stretch. "Well, you guys enjoy, but I promised my sister I'd be back for dinner."

"Yeah, I'm meeting my father after this."

"I have to go, too," Anzu agreed, her voice tinged with far more regret than Otogi's as she looked to them, eyes lingering on Atem a few seconds before a strained smile rose to her face. "I guess we'll see you Friday, then?"

Friday.

Atem ignored the meaning, smiling back. "At Bakura's, yes."

"Right…"

A few far lighter, easier goodbyes followed, then Atem and Yuugi sat back and waited for Bakura to return with their tickets as people trailed in and out of the room around them, Yuugi watching them as Atem watched Yuugi.

"Care to share what's caught your eye, aibou?"

Yuugi looked back at him, eyes bright, but slightly filmy with a concentrated distraction that only fed Atem's intrigue– but Yuugi dodged his stare. "Just a thought. I'll tell you later. Once I've pinned it down."

"Hmm."

Atem didn't press any further than that, but Yuugi's grin said he noticed his interest well enough. Bakura returned before the silence could drag, though, and passed them both new tickets– prompting a laugh from Yuugi and Atem both when he tucked the last one behind Jounouchi's ear.

Soon enough, they were back in the darkness, a new show starting up, and it was only when the announcer went through the same spiel as before with a new title that Atem realized that he hadn't even asked what the new show was.

"–University Planetarium's most popular show: From Stars to the Universe, an exploration of the birth and death of stars, where we take you beyond the Milky Way itself to the farthest reaches of the Universe. Walk with us through the history of astronomy, to the development of the telescope, and on to the technologies we use today to see farther than ever before, and understand more than ever before about this Universe we call home. Now, as you can see–"

Atem looked up as the stars blinked back to life in the darkness, and new display videos showed Egypt again.

For a short breath, it seemed the show might repeat a segment of its earlier show, but the narration lingered only shortly on Egypt and its role in history before sliding on to new topics. New visions of the sky, and beyond.

Atem saw the Sun. He saw the Solar System, rolling out from the great star into a row of planets, and asteroids, then space debris and vast nothings until there was only the galaxy– then clusters. Then so much that the smooth sliding scale of size left him breathless, staring thrown into the vast swirling lights above his head. There were black holes and stars, born and growing and dying and exploding and born again, all against the backdrop of the narrator quoting unfathomable spans of time, unreachable distances, and uncountable numbers.

Suddenly, three thousand years didn't seem so long at all.

And Atem wondered, where did it all fall, when considered against the magic he knew was real? The things this show claimed, and everything he had experience… both were truths, but how did they cross? How did the dark gold weighing against his chest come into the picture of black holes and dying stars, endless galaxies and a universe that could swallow the entire world without a single drop of awareness?

Where did Atem fall into that picture?

The last show had been everything he already knew, a world where a king could stand among the stars themselves, and the need to die and reawaken in a new time and die again all hung in the air with the weight of divinity and a long stretching history… but this. When Atem looked up into the sky, with its endless reaches and endless time and endless wonders… could a single soul, even thousands of years old, ever really matter so much against that? Was he a crucial peg in Ma'at's efforts to keep order in the universe, or just a tiny blip in a story that would barely pause to note him?

What did it say that he did not know which possibility troubled him more?

And, if he was crucial, was it for his person, or his actions? Had he already fulfilled all he needed to by stopping Zorc with his friends? Would he step into the afterlife to discover a further path beyond? A further role to play in the order of this overwhelming universe, or was he…

He clutched the Puzzle, uncertainty floating in his gut.

Was he done?

Or, did any of his sacrifices and efforts even matter?

…He turned his head, and stared at his partner. That the black outline of him in the dark, face completely obscured, but…

…It didn't matter.

Yuugi was right. He had protected his people, and there was still a future before them all, in whatever sense it may come.

And even if he was nothing more than a footnote in time, not even worth a mention in the great summary of the Universe, or the gods' plans? It didn't matter. No history books or science books or gods would likely spend a single moment on his friends, after all, but they mattered.

To him. To everything.

And, why would he seek anymore for himself? Why did it matter? From the very beginning, it had all been about what he needed to do. To protect his friends. To find his purpose. To save the world… and now… what? What did he have left?

Nothing.

There was nothing left he needed to do, save close the book.

He knew that. Knew that was what complete success was: To be done.

That was why, part of his duty or not, he had to go.

…He couldn't see Yuugi, but he could see it when his partner turned his head and looked his way. His face remained hidden in the shadows, but Atem still felt his smile. So he smiled back. Kept smiling as fingers touched him, searching along the line of his arm for his hand.

Atem caught Yuugi's hand before it found his, squeezing his fingers.

Yuugi smiled his way a while longer, then turned away, to watch the show. Still holding on.

Atem let his eyes shut, his ears shut, and shook his head at himself.

He was missing the show, wasn't he? And all for such foolish thoughts. The universe above his head might be real. The gods might be real. And to both, he and all that he had done and all that he treasured may be nothing, but what did it matter?

He had this.

He squeezed Yuugi's fingers, and they squeezed his back.

Even if he couldn't keep this? Even if it was nothing in the grand scheme of things, to the divine or the cosmos?

It was everything to him.

"You see? Those two lines of stars make up The Well. Aaaand that there? Three over to the left? That's The Ghost. See the square of it there?"

Atem lifted his head, squinting at the specks of light on his partner's bedroom door, almost too low to see from his vantage point, lying on the futon. He recognized the names of the constellations, of course, familiar to any Japanese child past a certain age, but he couldn't actually see… there wasn't even a square of stars visible on that side of the room, so– "You're making this up, aren't you?"

"Of course not."

He let his head drop back onto the pillow and turned to level a flat stare on the person lying beside him… earning nothing but a snicker after three or four seconds of staring. "Interesting time to practice a poker face, aibou."

"Hey! Whenever the opportunity presents itself!"

Atem hummed an unargumentative hum, appreciating Yuugi's smile as his partner calmed and stared back at him. The nuances of his expression were lost to the shadows of the room, though, the only light illuminating them the 'stars' overhead, and the glow of the streetlight outside the window.

It was well past bedtime, Wednesday night.

Or Thursday morning, Atem wasn't sure.

The day had sailed by, lost to the monotony of nothing happening, then so much at once.

Atem spent his last day in the shop with Sugoroku, the drought of customers leaving them free to clean and reevaluate the inventory after the Marine Day sale in peace. Sugoroku had filled the long silences with easy chatter, and Atem had been content to listen, egging him on in his opinions on his latest show, and stories of old games, the surprising highlight being the news he had been contacted by his old rival Otogi-san of all people, and was still weighing the pros and cons of accepting an olive branch of a game night with some neutral third party players acting as a buffer.

Atem consciously kept himself from voicing an opinion on the matter.

But after Yuugi got home, all work and school was tossed aside in favor of that Date Masamune book they bought on their first date. A quiet enough activity in its own right, but after they finished the last third of the book in one sitting, Yuugi proposed a round of Tetris, then challenged him to a duel, then another– and their mixed loss-and-win rate was only interrupted by dinner, which Yuugi rushed them through so as to drag him upstairs for an Indiana Jones marathon.

Yui appeared at the bedroom door in the middle of The Temple of Doom, talking over the dubbed dialogue to try and coax them to sleep, but Yuugi had countered the push by pointing out that he had no tests to study for, that he just had to show up for the last day of school to get credit… and where the dismissive attitude might have earned a lecture, Yui – and Atem – were taken aback by the quiet, direct manner of Yuugi's argument. And she simply nodded, shutting the door after bidding them goodnight.

Yuugi curled back into Atem's arms the second the door closed.

Three hours later, The Last Crusade's credits rolled, and Atem was melting into his pillow when Yuugi sat up and reached for the shopping bag he'd pushed under his desk the night before, when they got back from the Planetarium. Want to see if this projector is any good?

And so Atem was left blinking up at false stars at who knew what hour of the morning, lying at Yuugi's side, their hands tangled together as Atem strained to make out the constellation of Suzaku in a sea of light, the actual dots little more than a blur without his glasses.

And his partner wasn't even leading him properly.

He would have laughed if he didn't want to yawn so much.

"I'm still surprised you developed such a sudden interest in stars, aibou," he murmured, eyes half-open and staring at nothing, save more and more of the inside of his own eyelids, the warmth of his partner at his side lulling him slowly to sleep.

"Yeah, well… it really isn't about the stars, to be honest."

…Atem blinked his eyes open, and turned his head towards Yuugi.

His partner was staring at the projector, propped up on the edge of his bed, where the lights would hit the most of the room.

Kept staring, even as Atem looked at him. Even when he must sense his attention.

"…Aibou?"

Yuugi breathed out through his nose, deflating into the futon mattress before turning to look at him, a smile twisting up when their eyes locked. "The globe effect is pretty cool, right? A sort of 3-D surface that can put out light on all sides?"

"…Yes, I suppose."

"And, I was thinking." He looked back to the projector, coaxed along by the curious press of Atem's few words. "If you could somehow break that surface and the light up into grids…"

Atem didn't quite follow, but the abstract image described left him caught, staring avidly until Yuugi finally dared to catch his eye again, and admit, "I was thinking, you know, it'd make an interesting game."

…

It was nothing more than a thought, but Atem didn't dare breathe, staring into the hesitant hope on his partner's face, because, "You've been imagining a game. A new one. Of your own."

Yuugi didn't answer. But the shy relief in his eyes said everything.

And he turned away from him, from whatever wonder must have been glowing on Atem's face, to look at the stars. "I'm not even sure where I'd start with it. I'd have to figure out how to build something like that, coding and the physical side of it and all of that, never mind developing the game itself. But, maybe when I look into it, I'll find tools or tricks or people already out there to help me along the way."

He said it so optimistically, but when they locked eyes again, Atem was still too awestruck to speak.

So, Yuugi dodged his eye again, smiling at the ceiling. "Hey, mou hitori no boku? What are you looking forward to most, when you leave?"

The question stole the air from Atem's lungs, and he grew stiff. Stared at his partner with sharp eyes, searching for pain, or hurt.

There was none.

None visible at least, anything Yuugi was thinking, or feeling, hidden behind a smile that was simply soft, eyes fond and accepting and quiet as he looked back at him.

The look made Atem want to cry.

He didn't, turning back to the ceiling, playing his fingers over Yuugi's palm as he searched for a reply. 'I don't know what to expect' could never be an answer for a look like that.

So he went with hopes, admitting, "I would like to see my father. To see if he's the man I think he was. To know my mother. Reunite with Mahaad, and Mana, and perhaps Set, assuming there is anything of him there to see. He could be completely here, after all. With Kaiba. The same with Siamun. If so, that is all right. I will know they are happy here, perhaps see them later. And there were others there, in the world Zorc showed us. I would like to know who they are. If I have any other family, and who they are. I… suppose I am looking forward to seeing what there is to see."

And it was all true. The best thing he had known since the Puzzle was solved were his partner, his friends, and the Mutous. The people around him were what gave it all meaning.

He could only assume it would be the same on the other side.

And when he turned his head back, he saw nothing but relief in his partner's eyes: a feeling Atem perfectly understood, but ached to question.

And he might well have asked, checked on him– but Yuugi spoke first. "I love you."

…He was too brave.

Too good, and meaning set heavy in Atem's throat.

He swallowed it, stared into those loving, giving eyes, and whispered, "I love you, too."

Yuugi kept smiling for him, turning his head to rest his cheek on Atem's shoulder as he looked at the stars, whatever thoughts were in his head, still his alone.

Atem followed his lead, staring up at the ceiling and through the lights to nothing, his heart a heavy thud in his chest, Yuugi's palm warm under his fingers.

Atem stared at the book, fingering the spine as he read the characters of Date Masamune's name embossed on the front cover, and remembered finishing it the night before, with Yuugi. Remembered reading it with him now and then over the last few weeks, on quiet evenings. Remembered buying it on their first date.

He remembered, and set it aside, inside a cardboard box set out on Yuugi's bed, beside an open duffel bag that was also filled with things– Atem's things. The things he was taking with him, rather than leaving behind.

Those were the two options.

The bag, or the box.

Take, or leave.

Two options.

And he wanted to take as little as possible. Whatever Atem brought with him to Egypt would have to come back, or be dealt with someone, and he wouldn't be there to do it.

Yuugi would.

So he would pack light.

And he was trying to decide which clothing to bring, thumbing through his small pile of clothing for three days' worth of outfits, when a knock prompted him to look up.

Yui stood in the doorway, her fist still hovering before the open door as she looked at him, mouth in a thin line. "Are you certain you don't want a proper suitcase? I'm heading out to the store soon. I won't be able to get the extra down from the attic until this evening if I don't do it now."

Atem shook his head, rolling up three random shirts and stuffing them into the bag. "No, thank you. This should be enough."

"Well. If you say so… What about the box? Do you need another one?"

"No, I don't have that much."

"…Do you have any requests for dinner?"

"No, not particularly."

Yui huffed, and Atem frowned at her irritated tone, stalling mid-pants folding to face her again.

She crossed her arms the moment they made eye contact, frowning at him. "It's your last night here, Atem-kun. Isn't there anything special you want to do? Or have?"

…Atem smiled. "No, not really. I'm going to go meet aibou after school, and we'll probably eat something while we're out."

"Hrmm, don't eat too much, at least. You're going to be eating enough junk and cheap food the next few days as it is. You should have at least one proper meal before you go."

"All right." Atem slid his attention back to his task, packing the rest of his clothes into the bag before turning to the pile of other odds and ends left on the bed, a book near the top catching his eye. He picked it up, turning around to offer it to Yui with a smile. "Here. Thank you for letting me borrow it."

Yui didn't take it right away, staring at the title on the cover before looking back up at him. "You finished it already?"

"No. I was only halfway through. But I liked what I read."

"Why don't you borrow it, then? You could read it on the plane."

"No," Atem declined, looking down at the book with a dash of regret before wiping the emotion from his mind, smiling untroubled at her again. "I'm sure there will be in-flight movies. And if I don't like them, I'll just share aibou's Game Boy." Not that he imagined he would need to. He would have more than enough to think about during the fourteen hour flight without electronics or books. And, as interesting as the book was, Atem didn't want his partner to have to deal with returning it. It would just prompt words with his mother before he was likely ready for them.

The conversation still reminded him of something, though, and the second Yui accepted the book Atem turned around, going to Yuugi's desk to pull the Game Boy out of a drawer and pop out the game currently loaded in it.

He fingered the green cover of the cartridge, wondering where the box for the game might be… but decided against making a targeted search for it, tossing the Pokemon cartridge into the cardboard box before turning for the television to pull Super Mario Stars out of the Nintendo system.

"Why do you always call him that? 'Aibou?'"

Atem stalled mid-crouch… and slowly stood and faced Yui, searching her face for intent. But there was nothing to find save confusion and frowns, and no reason not to answer truthfully. "That is what he is to me."

"I gathered," she said, impatient, but not dismissive, gaze searching his so pointedly that any urge to look away was overridden by a stronger one to stare back. "And I know something of why, but that's not what I meant. I assume it's the same reason Yuugi-kun calls you 'mou hitori no boku', but I've still heard him use your name at times, especially to others. But never you. It's always 'aibou'." Her brow wrinkled further, but the edge had left her demeanor, the inflection of her voice touching concern as she asked again, "Why?"

…It was a simple enough question. And really, the answer was simple, too. And Atem could repeat what he had said before, say Yuugi was his partner. That after everything they had been through together, Atem wanted to remind Yuugi and himself and everyone else at every opportunity that Atem trusted him, relied on him, saw him as his other half and the one he admired more than anyone else. And everything that had happened in the last month had only made that more true, not less.

That was all true, and it would be so easy to say that.

But Yui had asked, why never 'Yuugi'.

So, Atem answered, "Because a part of me still thinks that Yuugi is me."

She stared at him.

Stared with such open, raw shock that Atem looked away, stared out the skylight. "I've grown used to 'Atem', and I know that's me. Or at least some version of 'Atem' is me, has become me. But still, there are times that I forget that I'm not 'Yuugi' too. That I don't share that name and the person it belongs to with aibou."

"Atem-kun…"

He smiled. Found a smile, and offered it to Yui, with his assurance. "That's why." And, he felt oddly satisfied for saying so. He couldn't imagine admitting it to anyone, not even his partner. Not when he knew how crucial it was for both of them that Yuugi didn't make that mistake… but admitting to the fault? Somehow, it made it feel less true.

If he was strong enough to face it, admit it, then it couldn't weigh him down.

Yui didn't look like she shared his ease, though. She just stared at him, clearly troubled.

So he gave her room to gather her thoughts, turning back to the bed, and his packing.

He sorted through a few things, added his hanko seal and the case with his black frame glasses to the bag – deciding to wear the purple ones for the trip – before Yui found her voice, her sharp tone prompting Atem to look up.

"Are you and Yuugi-kun going to wear those boots of yours on this trip?"

"…Probably. We're both packing sneakers, though, just in case."

"What about sunscreen?"

"I really shouldn't need it. I didn't burn at the park."

"Wear it anyways," she insisted, her expression tight as she glared at him. But Atem just stared at her, astonished and faintly concerned to see such distress beneath her behaviour. Was she worried about him? "And make sure that you and Yuugi-kun are back by seven tonight. I can delay dinner until then, but no later. Your grandfather will be hungry, and if you're going to go to your friend Bakura's place by six tomorrow, you had better go to bed as soon as possible!"

"I know," he agreed, too astonished to be flustered, and the lack of real reaction must have been too much for Yui, for she turned on a heel without another word to him, mumbling solely to herself.

"Honestly, we're all going to the airport anyways, why are they detouring to their friend's house so early in the morning…"

Then she was gone, and Atem could only stare after her… and slowly look back to the bed.

…

Everything was done. Sorted into the bag or box.

Take, or leave.

…He shut the box, folding the flaps into each other until they stayed shut, and the katakana of his name, written in bold, black marker, was visible on the top.

Grunting with the effort, he moved the box to the floor, near the foot of Yuugi's bed, where it would stay until his partner decided what to do with it.

After.

He could open it up and go through the contents, or toss the entire thing away, untouched, into the attic, or storage, or anywhere. That was his choice.

So, Atem turned to the bag and stared at the contents, still visible in the unzipped duffel.

The golden Items, all pushed to one side.

The golden crown and other pieces he had once called his own, that weren't touched by any magic at all– save that they shouldn't exist.

The blue and white and violet linens, barely visible beneath layers of modern fabrics, various toiletries, and his hanko seal.

Everything he had brought back from the museum, or that touched his destiny, left to wait there at the bottom of the bag, until he left.

Until now.

Atem looked at them… then looked up. Looked away, his eyes catching on Yuugi's Kuriboh doll. The one Jounouchi won him at the park. It was propped up on the headboard of Yuugi's bed, in the corner by his clock– Atem had missed and grabbed it in the morning more than once, trying to turn off the alarm.

But when he looked at the doll, he didn't remember that.

He remembered the park, and the day they shared with their friends.

He remembered how happy Yuugi was.

How happy he was.

He looked at the doll… then looked away.

Zipped up his bag, and tossed it near the door.

Yuugi looked up as the city square clock struck four, eyeing the familiar face before focusing forward again, on Atem. The pharaoh was walking a half-step ahead of him, leading him somewhere– though Yuugi suspected he had no goal in mind. He had shown up at the school gate the instant classes let out, his smile true but distracted as he asked Yuugi if they could take a detour on the way home.

They'd said little since.

The silence didn't really alarm Yuugi, though. In a way, it felt expected, and he himself found he had little to say, even idle chatter abandoning him as he watched Atem, his silent attention met with easy acknowledgements and smiles, but no words.

Atem was searching for something. And whether it was within himself or somewhere in the city, yet to be found, Yuugi didn't know.

So he followed, pressed for nothing, allowing Atem to lead the date.

Because that was what it was, whether either of them admitted it.

Their last date.

Yuugi let that fact sit with him, not turning away, but not looking at it, either, focusing instead on following Atem through the city, uncaring where they went.

But he was still taken aback when Atem stalled in front of a street corner restaurant. "…How about a bite?"

…Yuugi looked up at the sign, already knowing what it would say.

Burger World.

"Here?"

"Why not?"

"I thought Mama was cooking tonight."

"She is," Atem confirmed, but when he turned to Yuugi, his smile was undeterred and roguish and astonishingly impossible not to dismiss. "Just a cheeseburger then. We'll split it." He tilted his head, and Yuugi was caught, unable to even shiver as Atem looked at him with such quiet, coaxing eyes. "Please, let me buy you dinner."

Well.

He couldn't say no after that.

He didn't even want to, and when they walked inside, Yuugi felt nothing but pleasant surprise when he looked beyond the blinding glow of Atem and noticed the restaurant's interior, the usual dime-a-dozen fast food joint decor he was used to swapped for bright colors, stool counters, and chalkboards, not just for the menus or promotions, but on all of the walls.

"I bet the others would love this place," Yuugi said as they sat down at booth with their food, picking up some complementary chalk to draw on the nearest wall. "Especially Jounouchi-kun! He loses track of life points sometimes, but if we dueled here, we could mark it on the wall as we play!"

"Good point," Atem agreed, and when Yuugi glanced at him, he saw him smiling at his drawing as he unwrapped their cheeseburger, tearing it in two. "As long as we can duel here. They might have the same ban on gaming our usual place does."

"Heh, probably." But they kept trying to play there all of the time despite that. But Yuugi left that unsaid, abandoning his chalk Kuriboh as 'done' to wipe his fingers on a napkin… as he and Atem stared at each other.

Yuugi's lips pinched together before he was even conscious of it, holding back words he didn't even have.

But Atem just smiled, and offered the burger. "Tell me about school."

Yuugi blinked down at the food… but slowly mirrored the pharaoh's smile, accepting his half of the burger to tear it into smaller pieces, just to keep his hands busy as he sought an answer. "Well, tests are over, so everything's pretty low key."

"Yes, but what about the other stuff?" Atem insisted, his expression easing into something lazy and relaxed as he put his own food back on the tray, threading his fingers together. "With our friends, and anyone else there. I haven't been to school with you in ages. Surely something interesting happened that you haven't told me about."

"Mrmm," Yuugi hummed, chewing through a cheesy burger bite as he thought, mulling over Atem's curiosity rather than any actual answer, but grinning all the same when he recalled something.

He swallowed. "Well, Jounouchi-kun did hit a teacher with a book last week."

…Atem blinked. "What?"

Yuugi snickered, took another bite, and told the tale. Shared all of the details of a pre-class squabble with Honda dissolving into a mild prank by Otogi, then into a very unfortunate mishap where Jounouchi's patience snapped just as the class door opened.

Then he went on, encouraged between intermittent bites of food to detail some other stories: a classmate falling asleep during class, who that person was and why Atem wouldn't remember them, Anzu confronting the class representative for failing to follow through on some basic stuff and ending up in a debate with the entire student council, Bakura causing a spat between two girls he hadn't even noticed–

And eventually, Yuugi realized he was the only one talking.

Atem asked questions and coaxed details from him whenever he started to flounder, but he shared no real input of his own. He didn't even eat, his hands folded and still before his neglected food. He just smiled, and listened, gaze so soft and wonderful that for a while, Yuugi was too busy drowning to notice– and when he did, Atem spoke before he could think to point it out. "Have you asked Bakura about building a game?"

Yuugi stared, thrown… but shook his head, relaxing gradually back into a smile. "I've thought about it, but I'm not really ready to talk about it yet. I'm sure he'd be supportive about it, that they all would, but… I don't know. I guess I'd like it to be more real first." He shrugged, sure of nothing save his reluctance.

He half-expected a protest, or at least encouragement to speak. Instead, he earned another smile, Atem's eyes glinting behind his glasses as he pointed out, "You told me."

Yuugi grinned. "That's different." It felt natural, sharing the very buds of thoughts with Atem.

And, he wanted Atem to know about that dream… and once he left, would he even be able to see it, if that dream came true?

He didn't ask. Atem wouldn't know, anyways.

So Yuugi just smiled, while Atem stared back at him, gaze soft, yet somehow heavy.

Like he knew.

Yuugi dodged that thought, glancing out the window– only to blink into genuine surprise when he caught sight of the square clock again. "It's five past six."

They were supposed to be home by seven. And they still had to ride the bus home.

How had so much time passed already? They hadn't even done anything! Just ate a bit, and talked, and still–

"So it is," Atem said, and when Yuugi looked back, he saw no surprise in the pharaoh's face as he stared at the same clock, thoughts swimming unsaid behind his eyes until he stood, taking the tray. "Come on. There's still somewhere I want to go."

Dawning regret died in a blink as Yuugi stared up at him. "Where?"

Atem didn't say, but Yuugi knew within two blocks from the square.

He said nothing. Just looked to Atem with knowing, confused eyes as he followed him out to a pier he remembered well, the spot still empty of any ships, the storage garages lining the waterfront still all shut and locked tight, only them and a spare passing face or two within sight.

And just as before, Atem sat down on the edge, leaning back on both hands so he could look up into Yuugi's face as he gestured with his head. "Sit with me."

He did, sliding down to Atem's side to let his legs dangle off the pier, beside his, the two of them facing the ocean, and the setting sun…

Silent, as Atem looked out, and Yuugi looked at him.

Waiting.

For all the meaning that sat between them there, just for being there, Yuugi assumed Atem prompted the trip to the square and the pier and asked him there for a reason, and whatever he had to say, Yuugi didn't want to discourage him.

So, he stayed quiet.

But Atem said nothing.

He stared out over the water, utterly relaxed… and when Yuugi followed his gaze, let his vision fall into the sun-soaked clouds hanging on the horizon… he found silence… and accepted it.

He assumed Atem would speak eventually, but for the time being, Yuugi allowed the moment, and they sat there.

Together.

Watching the sunset.

A memory.

Perhaps, that was all this was. Perhaps Atem just wanted a memory.

One that hung in the air just long enough to seep into Yuugi's skin… then Atem took his hand.

"Yuugi."

Yuugi smiled, then blinked, breath catching his throat.

Had– had Atem just called him–

He turned, searched the pharaoh's eyes, but found only a smile, easy and coaxing as Atem squeezed his hand. "What would you like to do?"

Yuugi formed a word… then dropped it, frowning. "We don't really have time for much of–"

"No." Atem shook his head, gaze growing only softer as they fell into each other's eyes again. "Is there anything you want to see, in the world?"

Yuugi stared, comprehension but little understanding rising as he mirrored Atem's headshake. "You know the sort of places I want to see."

"Name them."

…Did Atem really want him to talk again? To fill their time with random little things while he simply listened to the answers? It was Burger World all over again.

And yet, looking into those insistent, imploring eyes, Yuugi's throat and mind went tight.

He… if Atem was asking because he was thinking about what Yuugi thought he was…

"…Akihabara," he managed, twisting a smile onto his face. "You know I could spend a thousand years there, if I ever had the chance to go."

Atem smiled, humming low in his throat as he looked at him. Clearly expecting more.

"…Odaiba Island, too… and maybe wherever they filmed the end of The Last Crusade. That looked cool. If it's real."

"I'm sure it is."

Yuugi nodded, but stared down at their hands, clasped together between their hips and legs, where no one could see, and shrugged. "And just– gaming conventions, I suppose… You know I'm not a 'where' sort of person. It's who's with me and what we can do there."

"Right." And despite that, Atem looked pleased as he stared out over the ocean again. As Yuugi stared at him, watched him search for something else to say. Really searching for something to say. He was all but still, not a line of tension in his face or shoulders, but still Yuugi could see it.

There was something Atem did want to say. Desperately.

And yet, he didn't.

He grasped at straws, instead.

Yuugi moved to speak– and hesitated, tongue catching on a word and shifting to a name, instead. "Atem."

Atem faced him before he comprehended, and Yuugi saw it when the shock struck him. The wonder.

He smiled for it. "It's okay," Yuugi coaxed, soft through the faint dimming of Atem's expression, his own chest tight with dread. He ignored it. "If there's something you want to say, you should just say it."

Atem stared at him, silent for so long that Yuugi might have taken it for a refusal, except the pharaoh spent the entire lull searching his eyes, for something Yuugi didn't know how to name or provide.

All he could offer was his attention, and his smile.

And Atem drowned in his eyes until Yuugi realized that he was caught… but finally he spoke, squeezing Yuugi's hand like a lifeline.

"You will be happy," Atem said, like it was true.

Like he insisted it be true.

And Yuugi blinked for it, processing… then smiled, his mind pushing back the solution like it burned.

"Of course," he assured, smiling and telling the truth, and completely disengaged from it.

He would be happy. He was capable of that. Atem wanted it for him.

Yuugi knew all of that, just like he knew Tokugawa Ieyasu won the Battle of Sekigahara.

Fact.

And he felt nothing for it.

And Atem just stared at him, no alarm in his eyes, but no relief, either.

Just an intent focus that only folded when Yuugi said, "So will you."

Then he looked away, the faintest smile on his face.

And Yuugi clung to the sight of it like a life preserver.

That was what Atem had wanted from him, wasn't it? With the talking and the silence and the assurances. Atem wanted a concrete image of Yuugi, happy.

Happy after.

"Aa," Atem finally said, simple. Nearly flat. But when Yuugi squeezed his hand, and he looked back, Atem's gaze was only soft.

Loving.

And Yuugi's heartbeat hurt.

Atem looked past him, down the pier, into who knew what– then back at him.

And Yuugi stopped breathing, because he read the question in Atem's eyes. What he hoped for.

His hand shook beneath Atem, but Yuugi breathed in.

Leaned in.

And he saw the relief pass across Atem's face, eyes shining with thanks and warmth and love just before his eyes fell shut– Yuugi's fell shut, and their breaths mingled as they kissed.

It was brief, and simple. Simpler than most Yuugi had known in recent days.

And still he shivered. Still his eyes burn, for there was something in Atem's kiss that was so tender, and sweet, and sad, and–

And then it was over.

A few breaths, and Atem pulled back, leaving Yuugi to reclaim his heart in his own time.

But when he opened his eyes, and saw Atem's smile, it nearly broke on the spot.

He looked so–

"We should go home," Atem murmured, squeezing his hand once more before letting go, moving to stand.

Yuugi let him, unable to process or move because– because that was the last, wasn't it? Atem meant that to be their last. They still had half a day until the flight and days before the end but he had wanted the last to be good, and that was it.

That was it.

Yuugi's empty hand clenched… and he pushed himself up, stumbling in the rush. "Mou hitori no boku."

Atem wasn't even two steps away when Yuugi called to him… and when he turned around, there was no question in his eyes.

He had expected it. Some protest. Some distress.

And Yuugi saw that expectation– the dawning of despair in his eyes, and swallowed back all that he wanted to say. All that he could never allow himself to begin with, and replaced it with conviction.

With love.

Yuugi stared at him… and stepped in close, grasping his shoulders.

Atem's eyes widened, the breath catching behind his lips… and Yuugi waited for the shock to pass.

For acceptance.

And it came, wonder and adoration and resignation shining in Atem's eyes just before they closed, as Yuugi leaned in, let his hands slide to his neck, and kissed him.

Once more.

For both of them.

Once, then Yuugi would let go.

But not yet.

Not until he held his other self close, and kissed him… and the palms that cupped his hands, pressed their warmth into him, told him to go on. To kiss him until they both died for air.

Stay as close as possible, and take all the time he needed.

But Yuugi couldn't do that. He couldn't take what he needed.

So he took what he could.

"Are you boys sure you packed everything?" Yui asked the men at the table, managing to somehow to fold an entire exasperated lecture into a sigh.

And Atem just smiled, ignoring the rock in the pit of his stomach at the frayed strain on Yui's face as she focused on her son, who tried his best to calm her.

"Of course, Mama. We made a list and everything. Marked everything off after they were in our bags."

"So you have your travel books?"

"Yes."

"And your sneakers?"

"Yes."

"Sunscreen?"

"I still don't think I need it," Atem threw in, untroubled and still smiling as Yui turned her glower on him, freeing his partner to relax a little and scarf down a bite to eat.

"Then that just goes to show you don't know what you need, Atem-kun. What are you going to lose by using it even if you don't need it?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Yui-chan," Sugoroku tried to cut in, and Atem turned his head to see the older man smiling, too. Even as Yui focused on him.

"That's not very reassuring, Otou-san. Perhaps you should be staying to mind the shop while I go."

"We already have the ticket in my name. Besides, I'm the one at this table who actually knows some Arabic."

"Enough to order a beer and put your liver on the line in a bet, maybe. Not what I'm looking for here."

"That's cold."

"Just make sure you have your camera. And for goodness' sake, all of you, do not drink the water!"

Yuugi choked on his rice, and they all finally cracked and started laughing, earning nothing but a contemptuous look from Yui… until she huffed and picked up her chopsticks. "Honestly, it's not like I want to do this. I should be able to just say, 'Don't forget your passports!' and leave it at that, but someone has to…"

Atem blinked, her words fading out of his focus as he turned to his partner.

Yuugi stared back at him, looking just as thrown. "…You did put our passports in your bag, right?"

"When did you ask me to do that?"

…

Yuugi glanced back at his mother– and grimaced.

Atem kept his poker face stapled firmly in place as he looked for himself, staring into her flat, vacant stare with a held breath, waiting… until finally, Yui put down her chopsticks, put her face in her hands, and mumbled something Atem could barely catch.

"…Just kids …they shouldn't have to…"

"It's fine, Mama," Yuugi said, tone light and coaxing and so caught in his efforts to soothe that he was slower to catch it than Atem, whose poker face curdled into a tight frown, concern burning hot in his head. "We would have checked again in the morning, I promise. There's no need to…" Yuugi trailed off, the twist in his voice saying he had noticed the tight tension in Yui's shoulders, and the white pinch of skin around her fingernails. "Hey, Mama… are you–"

The phone rang.

They all looked to the door, but Atem was quick to turn back to Yui– but she was already up, slipping out of the room as she tossed, "I'll get it," over her shoulder.

They all stared after her… then slowly looked at one another.

There was worry etched across Yuugi's face, but Sugoroku was calmer, a subdued smile on his face. "It's fine, boys. Just let her process this how she needs to. She doesn't get to see you off like the rest of us." He said the last to Atem, looking right at him, but he didn't answer.

He looked at his partner, the reminder– But Yuugi didn't react.

The worry for his mother ebbed out of his face, he looked at Atem… and smiled.

And Atem… didn't smile back.

His mouth tasting of chalk.

"Yuugi-kun."

They turned, and Yui was at the door, whatever emotions she'd hidden moments before completely gone, replaced by clear cheer. "Your father is on the phone."

…

Atem found his smile, and turned to his partner– who kept staring at his mother, completely baffled. "…Okay?"

"He wants to speak with you."

…Yuugi looked at him, as though Atem could make sense of the statement.

Atem just smiled.

So he looked back and stared again at his mother. "To me? Isn't– how'd he manage to call now? He can never call now."

"He used up some of his personal time so that he could catch you before your flight."

Yuugi opened his mouth– then shut it, blinking rapidly. "Oh."

Yui finally snorted, beaming as she crossed the room, swatting lightly at Yuugi's shoulder until he finally thought to move. "Come on! You're leaving him waiting!"

"What, it– ow, I've got it! Don't hit!"

She laughed, but didn't follow him out of the kitchen, watching her son trip out into the hall before turning to Atem, one brow arched. "Is there something you'd like to tell me, young man?"

Atem blinked… and tried to hold back a smirk, failing spectacularly. "Like what?"

She stared back, a soft warmth in her eyes, and shook her head, turning back to her seat. "Never mind."

Yuugi stared at him. Stared at Atem, his face barely visible in the dark, even a breath away from his own.

Stared… and thought nothing.

As he had for a while. An hour, maybe more. Ever since they went to bed, shut off the lights, and crawled under the covers, facing each other. They'd gone to bed smiling, with only good nights on their lips.

Then Atem slept while Yuugi stared.

Or, at least, Atem seemed to sleep. If he wasn't, he was very convincing, remaining still and quiet under Yuugi's attention… as he stared… and tried not to think.

Tried not to wonder, or want. Or anything.

But he couldn't stop wanting, even if he refused to face it. Impulses beat there, in his heart, as he stared at Atem… and he stopped thinking.

He sat up, and crawled over Atem.

Atem stirred instantly, but not quickly enough to disrupt Yuugi's efforts to tuck himself behind him, in the tight space between Atem's body and the wall. Yuugi curled against his back, wrapped an arm around his chest, and squeezed. Pressed his face into Atem's spine, where he couldn't see his shame. The tears he didn't let fall. And they were so close that Yuugi felt it when the tension in Atem's back rose… then fell away, the body beneath his arm all but dissolving into the sheets. Into him.

A hand came up, and held Yuugi's against Atem's heart, and the beat was warm against his palm.

And they stayed close.

Yuugi stared at the ceiling, his cheek resting on Atem's back… and said nothing.

They stayed close.

"And… as you put in the last stone… the statue moves back, and you discover a stairway beneath!"

The group hollered and whooped, filling Bakura's living room with sudden noise.

"Way to go, Atem!" Jounouchi slapped a hand on his shoulder, but Atem didn't even flinch, smirking in satisfaction. "Seriously! How'd you guess those things would go by color?!"

"Bakura mentioned that song at the beginning with the different eye colors, remember?"

"The innkeeper mentioned it," Otogi corrected good-naturedly, earning an appreciative grin from Bakura.

"Yes, well, he very well could have been lying to have you set off a trap. You were all fair to doubt his words."

"You wouldn't have had us fight off a dragon and three golems just to set a trap as our reward, right, Bakura-kun?" Yuugi asked, grinning at the game master– who shot him quite the enigmatic glance.

"Well, that would be a surprising twist, wouldn't it, Yuugi-kun?"

"I'm starting to think we shouldn't go down there," Honda mumbled, sharing an uncertain look with Anzu– only for both to flinch as Jounouchi yelled out.

"Ah, come on, you two! What else are we supposed to do, if not explore?! You got any better ideas?"

"Hmm… Well, how about Jounouchi goes ahead, and we see how that goes first?"

"What the hell, Honda?"

"I like that idea. Jounouchi! Be our canary! You're yellow, anyways."

"What's that supposed to mean, Otogi?!"

"Come on, you said we should explore."

"Not alone, I didn't!"

"I could send my familiar down with you, Jounouchi-kun!"

"Awww, thanks, Y-… wait a second. You won't just go down yourself?!"

The baffled little grin Yuugi shot him prompted the entire group to dissolve into laughter – save for Jounouchi – and they fell into a heated argument over whether or not to trust their wily game master and just risk it, while just outside Bakura's game room, by the front door, their bags and suitcases waited in a pile.

Ready to go.