Disclaimer: Y'all might have it figgered out by now that Yugioh isn't mine, and never will be.

"A-Anzu, I..."

Atemu stuttered as she looked straight into his eyes, her round, beautiful, true blue orbs stabbing straight into his, causing them to bleed dark crimson. His voice didn't seem to want to cooperate with him. It was gross and raspy from coughing, and his head hurt like someone had hit it with a brick.

So many thoughts raced through his mind. Oh no. How am I going to get out of this? Did I offend her? Ra, this is embarrassing! My cheeks are flushed. Why are my cheeks flushed? Right baka I look like! She's staring at me with... with those eyes... those wonderful, terrible eyes that penetrate straight to my soul... huge, blue eyes... framed by warmest chocolate bangs and pink cheeks and lips... she has perfect lips... and a perfect mind... and a perfect body...

"Gah!" Atemu gasped out, shaking his head.

"Atemu? What's wrong? What did you say about me?"

"I... Anzu, I need to be alone." He left back for the teen boys' room, racing up the steps and wrenching the door open. He smalled it shut and collapsed on his bed, silent tears flowing in waves to soak his pillow.

"Hey, what happened?"

Atemu looked for the source of the voice, Keiji.

"Keiji?"

"What happened?" he repeated, sitting across from Atemu on his bed.

"N-Nothing. I'm just... confused... about something."

"About what?"

"Nothing... it's stupid."

"It's not stupid if it makes you cry. Seriously, what is it? I saw you and Anzu talking, and then you said just something dismissive and left, and I followed you.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't want to feel better?"

"No. I just don't want to talk about it."

"But talking will make you feel better. The only one you're hurting by keeping it in is yourself."

"Don't make me. Please don't make me."

"Too bad. I'm going to. We forced four glasses of water into you last night, and five recently today. You're lying down. And I'm a killer tickler. If you're not ticklish, I know how to make people sneeze. Hard."

It took Atemu a minute to figure that one out. When suddenly a look of both comprehension and helplessness crossed his face, Keiji smirked.

"What'll it be? Talk, or... a bit of embarrassing explaining?"

"That's not fair."

"I know."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Fine. I promise I'll talk, but... can I use the bathroom first?"

"Can I hold you to talking on your honor?"

Atemu nodded.

"Go, then. I trust your word."

Atemu left for the bathroom, returning a short minute later.

"All right, talk to me. Why are you having an emotional breakdown?"

"What? I'm not having-"

"Yes, you are. I'm older than you. Listen. Have you seen your reflection? You look horrible. What happened?"

"I don't know. I don't know why I couldn't have glazed over it. I don't know why it affected me the way it did. I don't even know why I'm crying."

"You're probably crying from a mix of exhaustion, not feeling well, confusion, and built-up emotion, and whatever just happened probably pulled the trigger."

Atemu just looked at him, bewildered.

"Masakazu's skills are in science. Kaede's are in writing. Jiro's are in athletics. Mine are with people. I promise you, you'll feel better if you just talk about it. I'm not going to bite your head off or anything."

"Okay. You know how we were sledding, and Hitomi and Anzu went down together?"

"Yes?"

Atemu bit his lip. "Well, I was watching them -Anzu specifically- and... I don't know. She was smiling, and... I... It looked beautiful to me, and... then I started thinking about her face, eyes, hair, smile... and from there..."

"Go on."

"Do you promise you won't tell?"

"Masakazu only. He can help."

"How?"

"He knows the whole science side to all of this, and it's actually rather comforting to hear it for some reason. But keep going."

"Well... I-I thought about her... her lips... and I imagined myself being... enveloped by them... and by her... and then..." He trailed off, not wanting to discuss the next part.

"Can I take a wild guess as to what you don't want to say?"

He nodded.

"Her body."

Atemu's face became flushed a glowing scarlet. "Yes," he mumbled.

"All right. Then what happened?"

"Then I... I realized what I was thinking, and for some reason I wanted to shout out, to punch something, or rip something to shreds... I don't know why."

"What did you say? I saw Anzu walk over to you, and you said something, then she asked something, and you answered, but then you turned around and you looked scared, you stammered something, she said something, you said something back, and you left."

"I said... 'I don't,'" he said, making finger quotes on the 'I don't' part, "-and then she said, 'Don't what?' and I replied... promise not to tell anyone?"

"I swear it. Just Masakazu."

"All right. I didn't know it was her, or... anyone. I thought it was... I don't know, a voice in my head or something. I said, 'Have romantic feelings for Anzu. I don't,' and then I turned around and it was her..."

"Okay, I get it. Realize it's obvious you do, though."

"That I do what?"

"Like her."

"What? I don't! She's a friend!"

"Yes, you do. You can't help it, so accept it."

"No!"

"You accept it, or I get Masakazu in here to explain to you scientifically why there's no way around it. Though I trust you already know." He quirked an eyebrow.

"I don't like her that way. It was just a natural noticing of a member of the opposite sex. It happens to everyone."

"Listen, you're lying, and we each know it by now. You two held hands without realizing it, you can put your arm around her waist and she neither notices or cares-"

"We're friends! It's what we do! We trust each other!" His voice, raspy from yelling, choked off, and he coughed dryly.

"Deny it all you want. It's true. We can't talk any longer because a few of them are coming back from sledding."

"Hey Keiji! Hey Atemu... whoa. What happened?" It was Masakazu. Keiji beckoned the younger teen over.

"He's in denial of liking a girl. Tell him lying won't work."

"Keiji, did you make him tell you?"

"Yes."

"Keiji..."

"It's for his own good."

"I know that, but you can't just pry into people's feelings like that."

"You sound like a girl."

"So be it. Listen, Fran and the kitchen workers made mass hot chocolate downstairs. It started to snow again, and they all had to come in from sledding. It's really nasty out there. So are you two gonna come down for some?"

"Yup!" said Keijji.

"Atemu?"

"Okay." He got off the bed and stood up. "Do I look like I've been..."

"Yes. Your eyes are red and your face is all..."

"You two go down. I'll catch up to you in a minute."

"Okay. Keiji, let's go," said Masakazu. When Keiji protested, we whispered, "That's a polite way of asking to be alone for a minute. Come on." He tugged the older boy out the door.

As they left, Atemu sighed, washing his face with cold water from the bathroom sink. "Ugh." He looked at his reflection in the mirror, suddenly wishing Yuugi was there.

"Why couldn't he have come with us to get the milk?" Oh, right. He had a cold. A cold I now have. Plus a fever.

He waited for a few minutes until his eyes were no longer red, and headed downstairs to the dining hall, joining the line for hot chocolate.

"Atemu!" a voice called. Keiji waved to him from a few people up in the line, and he joined Keiji, Masakazu, and Kaemon.

"Better?" Masakazu asked quietly as they got their drinks, walking carefully through the swarm of people to the circular table. Atemu nodded, taking a seat. He was next to Anzu, as he realized all too late.

"Hey! How are you doing?"

"Anzu!"

"Who else would I be... whoa. You look tired. Were you..."

"Hmm?"

She motioned for him to lean in closer.

"Were you... crying?"

He took a deep breath, feeling his chest tighten as his thoughts rushed. His head felt like it was being unscrewed, and his voice choked off. He bit his lip.

"I'll be right back," he whispered through threatening tears, getting up and running out of the dining hall to the first floor boys' bathroom. He leaned on a sink, sobbing quietly. Suddenly the door opened and a boy of about six years of age entered.

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying."

"Yes you are. You stopped when you saw me."

Atemu shook his head. "I'm fine." He looked at his reflection in the mirror; his face didn't look any worse than it had. He left for the dining hall, sitting back down between Anzu and Masakazu. Anzu's eyes were huge and worried.

"Are you all right?" she whispered.

"No." He took a sip of his hot chocolate, the steam rising from the boiling liquid making his nose run. "Ugh. Not now," he muttered, sniffling.

"What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry I've been in such a bad mood, Anzu."

"That's okay. I know there's a good reason. You look like you feel terrible, too."

"Uck. Is it that obvious?"

"No. I just know you."

"Gomen nasai."

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

"Thank you, Anzu."

"Hey, no problem." Their fingers laced together, the two unaware that they were being watched. Fran sat across the hall, telling stories with a group of five-to-seven-year-olds. They'd just finished a ghost story. A five-year-old girl, honey blond with a cute spattering of freckles, climbed on Fran's lap to look out around the hall over Fran's shoulder with dancing light blue eyes.

"Fran, they're breaking the rules," she said, pointing to Anzu and Atemu, who were deep in conversation.

"Who?"

"The two new ones."

"Anzu and Atemu? What are they doing?"

"Holding hands."

"Oh, really?" A sly smile played around the woman's kind lips. A boy whispered to Fran, "I think he likes her."

The girl nodded. "And I think she likes him, too!" The two children giggled.

"Is that what you two think, now? What makes you say that?"

"He's blushing!" the little girl squealed.

"Wait," the boy cut in. He looks like he's gonna cry..."

Fran turned to watch as tears slipped down Atemu's cheeks. Anzu stood up quickly, pulling him up as well, and led him by the hand out of the dining hall.

Fran set the girl down. "I'll be right back," she addressed the table of youngsters. They all nodded, and Fran followed the route Anzu and Atemu had taken, out into the hall. She looked around. No one. Not in the bathrooms, or the dorms.

"Oh, I know where they are." The woman ascended two sets of steps to the third floor and cracked open the door to the teen boys' room, peeking inside through the space.

Atemu and Anzu sat side by side on the edge of his bed, Anzu hugging him tightly as he sobbed into her shoulder. Both their eyes were closed until Atemu turned away quickly and sneezed, rubbing his temples as the pressure gave him a headache. He sniffed.

"Thank you, Anzu. I don't know why, I just... broke down."

"It's okay. Take a deep breath and try to relax." He did so, but it only seemed to weaken him as he couldn't hold back more tears. Anzu wrapped her arms securely around him. "Shh. It's okay."

Suddenly, "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" came a chilly voice. Fran turned and gasped. Etsu stood right behind her. Anzu and Atemu each looked up, crimson and indigo darting from Fran to Etsu.

"I thought I made it quite clear that obvious flirting, relationships, and hand-holding are NOT allowed! Perhaps you didn't hear correctly?"

The two teens' cheeks flushed, but instead of letting each other go, they clung tighter together. Atemu rise, his arm around Anzu's waist and both hers still around his neck. His eyes flashed dangerously, a clear sign to watch out to those who knew him.

"We are not violating any of your rules, Etsu. I don't believe that we have been 'obviously flirting' with each other, our relationship is strictly that of best friends, and we are not holding hands." He again felt Anzu's fear, and held one of her arms with the hand that wasn't around her waist.

"You call this strictly friendship? Look at your arms!"

It took all the control Atemu had over himself to not blush, not scream, and not cry, saying what he did next.

I am well aware of the position of my arms. My right one is around Anzu's waist, and my left is slanting upwards to my hand, which is holding one of Anzu's arms, which are holding my shoulders, correct?"

"You call that a 'strictly friendship' pose?"

"I do. As you may know, humans, particularly adolescents, can from time to time experience slight emotional problems, which can be caused by a number of things: responsibility, grief, failure, illness... As you may not know, best friend relationships can be cross-gender. As you may or may not know, when humans are feeling great emotion, whether pleasant or unpleasant, it is a natural instinct to make physical contact with another person, and for the other person to make physical contact with you, because humans are sensitive to each other's feelings, particularly the feelings of those we know well. If you piece together the points I just made, you can figure out how Anzu and I can be in this position and not be breaking any rules of this orphanage."

Fran watched his cheeks tinge pink as Etsu glared at him, then left the room in a huff. The two teens relaxed, and Fran walked over to where they stood.

"Are you two all right?"

"We are now," Anzu answered.

"Is she out of earshot?" Atemu asked, voice thick.

"Yes, why?"

"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!"

"Apparently that's why."

"Sorry about that."

"Is that why your eyes were watering?" Anzu asked. He nodded.

"Hey Fran! Hey Anzu! Hey Atemu!" came Masakazu's voice as he, Keiji, and Kaemon entered the room.

"Hello boys!" Fran greeted them cheerfully. "What's up? By the way, did you think we put too much cinnamon in the hot chocolate this time? I couldn't really tell."

"Just a little," answered Kaemon. Keiji and Masakazu nodded their agreement.

"Okay, I'll remember that. See ya! Oh, wait. Atemu, come with me." Atemu followed her out into the hall, bewildered.

"You do know how lucky you are, don't you? If you weren't so smart, you would have gotten in big time trouble with Etsu. I'm amazed that you managed to talk your way out of the obvious just now."

"What? How do you mean?"

"I mean, it's amazing you could keep your head like that. Your feelings for her could have easily overtaken logic, and caused you to act irrationally."

"I don't-"

"Atemu, no. You do. You can't hide it. A few young children whose names I'll not mention have it figured out."

"You're wrong."

"I'm not. I could tell the second you two walked in from the blizzard. You may not have realized it, but your arm was around her waist, your hand was holding her wrist, and concern for her was written all over your face."

"Stop it!"

"No. Don't fight me, Atemu. Accept it."

"Why does everyone keep saying that!"

"Because it's the only thing you can do. You're sick, and you're under a lot of pressure not being allowed to express emotion here, and your mind is probably numb from everything happening so fast. Just accept it."

"No. It's not true. It's not."

"It is."

"It isn't. Stop." His eyes narrowed.

"Fine. I'll stop bothering you, but you know the truth. And by the way, the two of you will be stuck here for nearly a week by the looks of it. You're going to have to figure out a way to hide your feelings from Etsu. She knows, but she couldn't prove you wrong."

"SHUT UP!" he roared. He ran away.

Y'all are probably gonna kill me for getting into this one and temporarily neglecting my others... -sigh- Oh well.

Review Replies:

Thanks, Winter's-angel1739!

You're right, Lloyd (Irving) Aurion. Etsu doesn't deserve to live!

Aw, thanks CommonKnowledge.

Yeah, Ninqe. Beginning to see a pattern among my works? Atemu gets sick, has an emotional breakdown, Anzu's there to comfort him, they realize their feelings for each other, they make out... something like that. Lol. Yeah, I like the boys too. Masakazu's my favorite, because of his weird name. It means 'first son of Masa.' I'm guessing that's some deity or another... ah well. It's cool, mes thinks. Yup. No flirting, relationships, holding hands, coughing, sneezing, forgetting to put on the mandatory weird cologne, messy hair... and that's only half Etsu's list. I think we'd better run now; they've gotta hate us... We torture them, then hug them... RUN!

He'll feel better, Black-Caracal... eventually. This is me writing this fic here; I gotta make it as torturous and sappy as possible!