Disclaimer: Okay, if I owned Yu-Gi-Oh, Atemu and Anzu would be in a more-than-friends relationship, as would Jou and Mai. Ryo would be the main character after Atemu and Yugi, Anzu wouldn't be turned into a ditz in the English dub, and Jou would have SOME intelligent lines in the dub. In fact, the dub wouldn't exist, making it impossible for Anzu to be a ditz and Jou unintelligent, which he isn't. Not intelligent, but not UNintelligent. Oh yes, and Mai would have some real clothes, Rebecca would stop hanging after Yugi unless Yugi wanted HER, Professor Hawkins would have a better suit than that might-as-well-be-pink thing, and Sogoroku would NOT wear pink in the early undubbed series. Then again, they would ALL be undubbed:ahem: That has been my disclaimer rant. Those are actually quite satisfying!
Yugi entered the living room late Monday evening, cordless phone in hand. Atemu was sleeping in the living room so as to be closer to the downstairs bathroom, as the upstairs bathroom was far from his room and he was still puking every half-hour.
"Phone for you, 'Temu," he said, handing Atemu the telephone and leaving the room.
"Hello?" Atemu asked into the instrument, uncomfortably readjusting his position on the couch. He hadn't puked in a while...
"Atemu?"
"Uh, yeah, who is this?"
"Hey man! It's Honda, don't you remember me? Your old buddy Honda, from... here and now!"
"Oh, hi Honda. Sorry, I've just been... ugh. I've been a little out of it today..."
"Hey, that's okay man. I was just talkin' ta Yugster, and he said you've been feeling bad. So what's up?"
"Not much-" Suddenly his stomach gave a hard lurch and he felt his throat clog up. Oh no. "HondacanyouwaitaminuteI'mgoingtobesick!" he yelled into the phone as he made a mad dash for the bathroom. (In case y'all didn't catch that, he yelled, "Honda, can you wait a minute? I'm going to be sick!")
"Okay..." Honda drawled needlessly, straddling his chair by the telephone in his apartment for about four minutes, until he heard a small cough and a raspy, "Hi," on the other end.
"You all right, man?"
"Yeah... I was just... well, yeah."
"That's okay, dude. I know the feeling. Stomach's gotta empty itself one of two ways, and it just chose... the way that doesn't taste that great. I get it."
"Ugh. Oh, please don't say that."
"What, the part about it not tasting that great, 'cuz that's just truth, man, or the part about me knowing the feeling, 'cuz that was meant to comfort you ya know."
"No, you knowing the feeling is fine... Anzu said something like that earlier today actually..."
"Anzu was over there?"
"Yeah..."
On the other end of the line, Honda could pretty much picture his friend's glazed expression at the moment, and from that image of his face he could pretty much tell what Atemu was thinking. "Oh. So, what happened with... you two?"
"Nothing... Wait, What do you mean?"
"Well, you've liked her forever."
"HAVE NOT!" He began to cough from shouting in his haste to defend himself.
Honda smirked from his end. "Have, man."
"I HAVE NOT!"
"And that's why you're screaming at me- Well, trying to scream. More like some sort of whisper, but it's a scream for you. So, what happened?"
"I TOLD YOU, NOTHING!"
"Dude, I can see you blushing from here."
At that moment Atemu felt his cheeks flush. " I AM NOT BLUSHING! AND I DON'T LIKE ANZU!"
"Tell the truth, man, or I'll get Jou and Otogi over there and we'll torture you into telling."
"Okay... maybe a little bit..."
"Sweet! I knew I was right! I'm gonna tell Jou-"
"HONDA, NO!" But Honda had hung up. "Uck." He coughed and pressed the button to turn the phone off, laying back down. "And then Jou'll no doubt tell Anzu... ARG!"
Sogoroku came into the living room then. "Everything okay? How's your stomach?
"I just threw up a minute ago, so it's okay for now."
"Who was on the phone?"
"Honda."
"Oh? And what did he want?"
"Nothing... He was just calling..."
"Just calling?"
"Yeah..."
"May I be so bold as to ask what Honda was 'just calling' about?"
"You can ask... Your answer might be... bent in a certain direction."
"Well then, if you won't tell me, I'll go and ask Yugi."
"Huh?"
"He was listening on the other line."
"WHAT!" At that second Yugi entered the living room, a huge smirk on his face.
"YUGI MUTOU, IF YOU BREATHE A WORD OF THAT CONVERSATION TO JII-CHAN-"
"Calm down. I'm just going to use it against you whenever you try to get me in trouble."
Atemu fumed. "You are an evil, posessed devil incarnate."
Yugi smiled. "I already knew anyway, and I think Jii-chan does too... Of course, I might have had something to do with it...him knowing I mean..."
"Maybe you should save yourself the trouble and just tell me," Sogoroku suggested.
"Hey, maybe Jii-chan could even give you some advice," said Yugi.
"What do you need advice on?" the elderly man asked.
"AskingoutagirlIlikewhoHonda'sgonnatellJouaboutandthenJou'sgonnatellheranywaysoImightaswellaskherout," he reeled off, all in one breath. (By the way, that was, "Asking out a girl I like who Honda's gonna tell Jou about and then Jou's gonna tell her anyway so I might as well ask her out.")
"Say that again. My hearing's not what it used to be, you know."
Atemu's cheeks became redder than the tips of his hair. "I want to ask Anzu out," he said in a barely existent whisper.
"Oh."
"What IS it with people in this century and the word 'Oh' when we're on the subject of girls?"
"No, it's just when YOU'RE on the subject of girls, Mou Hitori no Boku."
"You... called me by my old name."
Yugi shrugged. "It seemed to fit better. So how do you want to ask her out?"
"Well-"
Bring, Bring! He was cut off by the ring of the telephone, and he answered it since it was right next to him.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Atemu?"
"Anzu?" He saw Yugi and Sogoroku exchange smirks and sent them a Glare, care of the Atemu-Grunt.
"Um, yeah it's me... Jou just called me..."
Uh-oh. "Yes?"
"And well... He said Honda said you said that... you liked me... and I was just wondering if that was true, so I didn't feel uncomfortable every time I saw you..."
"Well um... there's only one way for me to say this really, um... Willyougooutwithme?"
"A- Are you serious?"
"Yes... I am."
"Sure. Um... when and how?"
"Do you like that arcade, not the one we went to when we met Steps Johnny, but that bigger one on the other side of town, with the restaurant next to it? We could go to the arcade, then out to eat."
"Oh, I'd love that!"
"All right then, um... but we'll have to wait a while, as Jii-chan won't let me get out of bed unless it's to throw up or eat."
"Yeah, that's okay. Just get well, all right?"
Atemu smiled. "I will. And you can call Jou back and tell him, too. I'd bet he'll choke on whatever food he's eating when you call him."
"You know, I think I'll do that! Well... bye then!"
"Bye." Atemu hung up. Yugi and Sogoroku were each beaming at him.
"Well done!" his grandfather exclaimed, clapping the boy on the back. He stopped when Atemu bagan to cough, and pulled away. "Whoa there," he exclaimed as Atemu proceeded to practically cough up a lung.
Yugi smiled. "Wow, how did you do that? Do you think you could give me some advice?" He realized what he'd said only after it was too late to take it back.
"Oh? And who's the girl, Yugi?"
Yugi blushed crimson. "Rebecca..." he mumbled. He was surprised when Atemu just looked bored. "Hey! What's wrong with that?"
"Oh nothing, except I won't have to use any creativity with my advice. Just ask her straight up and she'll say yes."
"She will?"
"Definitely."
"Cool... Hey Jii-chan, can I make a call?"
"Who to?"
"Um... Rebecca... they're staying here in Japan for a few years now." He blushed furiously as his grandfather chuckled.
"Sure." Yugi took the phone up to his room, dialing the number on the way. Sogoroku shook his head.
"Now, look what you've started. I have girlfriend complications to deal with now!" He sighed heavily, but something gleaned in the old man's eye that conveyed to Atemu another, lighthearted yet strong emotion.
"Gomen nasai Jii-chan," Atemu murmered, curling up on the couch and closing his eyes.
Sogoroku sat at the end of the couch, much like Anzu earlier, and laid a hand on his grandson's side. "I'm proud of you."
Atemu couldn't quite find a reply to that. His grandfather had never said that to him before. But apparently Sogoroku wasn't expecting an answer.
"You know, I think I misjudged you, and your emotional capabilities. I owe you an apology for that."
"What do you mean?"
The old man sighed. "When you first became separate from Yugi, I realized just HOW different the two of you were. I was used to just seeing you whenever Yugi played a game, I never really realized that you were so... real, I suppose you could say. Then you got involved in that band, and it turned into your life, practically... I didn't realize how confused you were feeling about being separate from Yugi, being yourself, and I didn't realize that after three thousand years, you'd probably forgotten how to be yourself, especially living as Yugi... You two are the same age, different halves of a soul even, and whenever I looked at the two of you, I honestly saw the same person."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Yugi has always been one to be more... quiet, modest... small, in both the physical sense and... in the way of what he... sends out... in thought... and he was always optimistic, even over being realistic, I must admit, and when he started dueling, and doing so well, I was so proud of him... but whenever he dueled, he would turn commanding, and when I realized it wasn't he, but you... I was... scared. I feared you, Atemu. You were nothing like the little Yugi I'd always known... and human fears whatever we know not of... and you were so mysterious, always disappearing promptly after one of Yugi's fights. So I... I blocked you out, and just focused on what YUGI did. That was a mistake. I knew perfectly well that you existed, and that you radiated power that could not be ignored, but I chose not to believe it."
"Hm?"
"Well, in forcing myself to believe in only Yugi, when you... became embodied... I expected you to be just like my Yugi. I expected you to be the same happy Yugi I'd always known. I didn't realize how hard it could be on you, when you were..." He tried to think of a better word than 'moody,' which he didn't think would spark a good reaction. "... acting troubled. I didn't realize what you were going through. Being a seventeen-year-old for three thousand years must have been... difficult... and being in that puzzle, with only your own thoughts to keep you company... that must have been hard, but I ignored it. So when you began to not eat, and spent all your time just singing... I was harsh to you. And I want to apologise for what I've done."
"Jii-chan, I-"
"I'm sorry, Atemu. I'm sorry for everything."
"You didn't mean it, Jii-chan."
"But I want to apologise, to allow my soul to rise from what I've been carrying. I'm so sorry."
"I- I accept that, Jii-chan. Thanks," he replied huskily, curling up into a tighter ball, exhausted. For a few minutes they were silent, until Atemu's steady, wheezing breaths filled the room.
Sogoroku tucked the blankets closer around his grandson. "Sleep well, my child. Sleep well."
Sorry, but I HAD to write another fluffy chappie! We return to actual plot soon though, I promise!
Black-Caracal, lead alto sax, eh? Cool! I played trumpet in my jazz band last year, but I had too much going on this year, acting, show choir, soccer... Did you like the fluff? It's a little flat in this chapter, but... fluff reminds me of Ryo, and Ryo is just so fluffy... I LOVE RYO!
Electric Fire, yeah, I agree. Fluff all around! The abbot hears a cry for help, and in an instant he becomes... KINGMAN! I LOVE that! Maybe Ryo should try that out... mmh, let me bask in that thought for a second... Yeah the lines where he says "DAMN YOU BAKURA, are either changed to The Grunt or "BAKURA..." in the translated manga in Shonen Jump (It's directly translated in the graphic novels.), and "BAKURA..." in the anime to fit the way his mouth is moving better. But in the Japanese, he's like, every two seconds, "DAMN YOU Bakura!" Quite funny actually. Hmm, Yami's turning into a potty mouth... NOT a good sign... If the fate of the world depends on a potty mouth's choice... ouch, I think we should try buying bomb shelters in bulk! Just like our keyboards!