It has been a while. but I hath returned to write another chapter! I have all along intended to update, but I have been pretty freakin' busy since school let out. Never fear, thoughs, minna! The story shall continue!

As a minor announcement, Atemu's character is going to steadily turn more OOC than he has been protrayed in previous fanfics written by me. I just wanted that noted now before people freak out on my ass because he acts differently (yes, there ARE people who do that. I know; I was shocked, too)

"What do you think of this one?" Yuugi asked, picking up an empty DVD case and showing it to his boyfriend. Said beau stared blankly at his short aibou.

"...are you kidding me?" Frowning slightly, Yuugi pulled back the DVD and glanced again at the cover.

"No," he replied slowly. "I'm not kidding you, Atemu. Don't you want to get it?"

"Yuugi..." The ancient pharaoh's tone was growing annoyed at his younger half. Unphased by such a predictable reaction, Yuugi merely smiled and looked back at his koi. Feeling all his mild irritance slipping away, Atemu rolled his eyes. "That's the BLEACH OVA."

"I know that." Yuugi responded simply, still failing to see where the problem lay.

"You've seen that OVA thirty times."

"Thirty seven, actually." Yuugi smiled sweetly. Shrugging, he asked, "But whose counting?"

Atemu groaned- an action that made the light beam from ear to ear. He loved tormenting his darker half every once in a while. "I don't want to rent it again."

"Okay." Yuugi smiled. Giving in without objection, he placed the popular anime OVA back on the shelf. Not two seconds later, he removed another one and showed it to his boyfriend for inspection.

Atemu's left temple pulsated.

"WE'RE NOT GETTING GRAVITATION, EITHER!"

Yuugi laughed happily at his pharaoh's outburst. Flushed with embarassment, and annoyed with the knowledge he had been played with again, Atemu grabbed a random horror movie from the next shelf across the asile. Making his way to the deak with case in hand, he did not even bother asking Yuugi's consent.

Upon leaving the movie rental store, Atemu walked several paces ahead of his lover. It was still obvious he was quite miffed for having been toyed with. Yuugi was still enjoying himself, but soon found guilt sinking in around him. Running up to catch the boy he loved, Yuugi grabbed ahold of his arm to stop him.

"Chottou matte(wait), Atemu." The pharaoh tried to pull away, but Yuugi tugged on his arm harder. Yanking him back, Yuugi looked up to meet his boyfriend's beautiful crimson orbs. "I'm sorry," he whispered, finding his voice nearly disappearing as he became sucked deeper into his lover's eyes.

Not responding, the two of them stood in silence, merely staring at one another. The sky around them began to paint itself with brilliant shades of bright orange, soft pinks and firey yellows. As per usual when he was with his aibou, Atemu felt his breath catch in his throat. His feelings reigned supreme as he gently shoved his hikari against a side building. Leaning closer, he stuck out his tongue to lick his koi's lips. Closing the gap between them, the older one increased the depth of the kiss, causing Yuugi to momentarily gasp out in surprise. Sliding his own tongue out of his mouth, a thin line of saliva ended up escaping from the smaller one's lips and slid down to his chin.

"My, my. Wonder when downtown Tokyo turned into gay-oppalice."

Startled, both boys immediately withdrew and turned to face their interrupter. "Otogi." Atemu said, surprised. Hands on his hips, his long black hair flowing down his back in his signature ponytail, Otogi Ryuuichi stood several feet from the two lovebirds.

"What's up, Otogi-kun?" Yuugi asked, flushing as he raised his palm to remove the saliva from his cheek.

"Nothing." Ryuuichi shrugged, sliding one hand into his pocket. "I was just killing time and came across you guys kissing like the end of the world is over the horizon."

"We were not." Atemu growled. To this, Otogi only smirked. Arrogance and smug was written all over his face.

"Sure you weren't." He agreed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Giving your little pet there CPR, eh, Atemu-kun? Nice use of your tongue in that medical emergency."

Feeling the air thicken around them, Yuugi started to feel extremely uncomfortable. Willing to avert the situation, he grabbed his koi's wrist and pulled him away. Bowing slightly to Otogi, the small one said hurriedly: "We should be going now. See you later, Otogi-san." Hurrying away, the little one held onto his pharaoh's arm. When they were out of ear shot from the dice master, Yuugi stopped and looked at Atemu; a combination of worry and inquiry painted throughout his eyes.

"What's wrong, pharaoh?"

"I don't like him." Atemu grumbled. Surprise consuming Yuugi's entirety, the miniature duelist's eyes opened in shock.

"Naze(why)?"

Atemu shook his head and did not repsond. All he did was repeat again: "I don't like him."

(back at home... half hour later)

Atemu and Yuugi were sitting down over their dinner of sandwiches and goldfish when there was a familiar jingle from the front entrance of the store signifying Yuuichi's return. Turning to face his relative from his own seat on the couch, Yuugi's warm smile greeted his uncle as Yuuichi made his way into the livingroom. Yuuichi smiled back, but froze mid-step when he saw Atemu sitting on the floor. Fiddling with the remote control trying to make the DVD player work, Atemu stopped when he noticed they had a visitor. The ancient pharaoh was caught off-guard by Yuuichi's glare at the older teen. Fixing him with a confused, what-did-I-do-to-you look, nothing was said between Yuuichi and Atemu. As if finally ignoring the existance of the ancient pharaoh, Yuugi's uncle turned his full attention on the youger of the two boys.

"What are you having for dinner, Yuugi?"
"Atemu made us some sandwiches." Yuugi smiled, passing a loving glance onto his pharaoh.

"Oh..." Yuuichi sounded mildly disappointed. "Well, that's a shame. I was kinda hoping I would take you out for dinner tonight; you know, since I have not been here in a while, and all." Feeling guilty that he had not waited for his relative to return before eating, Yuugi jumped in automatically.

"No, no. It's okay, Uncle Yuuichi. I mean, we have barely only started. We could save these for later, if you want. I mean... if you still wanna go out and eat."

A small smile crept across the lips of the older man. "Sure. That would be fine. As long as I am not interrupting something."

"Not a bit." Yuugi smiled, bouncing up from his seat on the couch. "We were only gonna watch some horror movie. But, you don't mind if Atemu comes, do you?" Smiling sweetly up at his uncle, the small one did not notice the complete change of attitude in his uncle at the mention of Atemu. Tearing his eyes away from his nephew, Yuuichi scowled in Atemu's direction; shocking the pharaoh by the uncle's malevolence.

"Actually, Yuugi," Yuuichi said, his voice stiff but trying to sound as if he just realized something that he had forgotten. "I remember I need to finish something that I promised your grandfather. Maybe we can plan the dinner for another time." Not catching on to the true motive behind this spontaneous change in mood, Yuugi's smile disappeared and was replaced with mild disappointment.

"Okay..." he muttered. "Another time then." Flashing a sweet smile at his uncle, Yuugi turned to sit down once again beside his boyfriend. Lifting up his sandwich, he bit into it, happily munching away while waiting for Atemu to resume playing the movie.

Staring back into the livingroom as he walked through the smallish hallway to the kitchen, Yuuichi's eyes were barely more than slits as he kept his gaze focused on the older of the two boys. Something about the look gave Atemu a very strong, uneasy feeling. Glancing over at his aibou to see if he noticed anything amiss, Atemu's thoughts suddenly fluttered from his mind. Yuugi had a smudge of mustard on his cheek beside his lower lip as he continued eating and swaying from side to side. Chuckling to himself, Atemu told himself not to worry; that he must have just imagined things. After all, if something were to have been going on, he was sure that Yuugis would have also picked up on something.

As Atemu lifted the remote to toy with the DVD some more, a small voice still remained in the back of his head, despite his want to extinguish them: why had Yuuichi behaved so harshly only towards him? What had he done to make the uncle hate him so much?

(Later that night...)

"Do you really think the monster will ever find true love?"

"What?" Atemu asked, placing the magazine he was looking at down on the bed to glance curiously at his koi. An opened book lay in Yuugi's lap as the smaller one stared off at the ceiling in thought.

"Do you think the monster will ever find true love?" Yuugi asked.

Half-amused, Atemu took the bait. A grin tugging at the edges of his lips, the ancient pharaoh flopped onto his side instead of laying on his stomach. Watching his hikari, Atemu inquired: "And which monster is this?"

"Frankenstien's monster."

Atemu let out a light chuckle. "Yuugi... we watched 13 Ghosts."

"So what?" Yuugi asked, pushing aside his copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. "Even Frankenstien's monster deserves to find true love. And he has no name. What person is going to want to date him when he has no name? What are they going to call him?"

"I dunno. FM, maybe?"

"What? Like the radio broadcast-thing?" Yuugi asked, sounding insulted. "That won't do!"

"I thought he had a name, Yuugi." Atemu stated. "I thought his name was Frankenstien."

"No, see that's a common misconception." Yuugi corrected. "The name of his creator was Victor Frankenstien; the monster has no name."

"Well, then, I guess he's outta luck." Atemu laughed, rolling back onto his stomach and continuing his reading of his magazine article. "His boyfriend or girlfriend will just have to figure something out."

Finding a spot beside his boyfriend, Yuugi watching Atemu for a few moments in silence, as the ancient pharaoh continued his scanning of the article. "Everyone can find true love, right?" Yuugi asked, his voice soft as he watched his koi. Catching Atemu's attention again, the older one broke away from his magazine and locked his eyes with his aibou's.

"Where did that question come from?"

Yuugi shrugged. "I just think it's sad that some people can't find anyone to love them. I mean, there is such a thing as true love for everyone, right?"

Atemu smiled warmly and raised his arm to brush his fingers against his hikari's cheek. "You don't have to worry about the rest of the world's population, Yuugi. You have already found true love." Yuugi flushed at this, feeling his heart pound and rush all his blood supply to his face. He was amazed that, through the sincerity he heard and observed from his pharaoh through that statement, Atemu did not appear flustered one bit. Never averting his gaze, Yuugi smiled warmly, nodded his head, and leaned in closer to brush his lips against his koi's. Atemu was the first to pull away.

"Thank you, pharaoh." Yuugi whispered, his voice echoing his feelings by being light and airy. Smiling back, Atemu spoke quietly his responce.

"You're welcome." The two fell into silence once more as Atemu watched his ever-timid koi. Tracing Yuugi's skin with his gentle fingertips, the two kept their eyes locked. After a few minutes had gone and passed, Yuugi dared move forward and kiss his boyfriend again. Pushing the kiss deeper, Yuugi soon found his tongue tracing his koi's lips enticingly. Fighting against his body's inclination, Atemu pulled away once more and moved so he was out of kissing-range. Looking hurt by this action, Yuugi surveyed his pharaoh in a silent question of why. "We can't do that now, Yuugi. Not when your uncle is here. Remember what we said yesterday?" Traces of pout still eating at his features, Yuugi lowered his gaze and nodded his head.

"But..." he mumbled, only to be cut off by his pharaoh. Chuckling, Atemu reached out his hand to place his fingers under Yuugi's chin and raise his head.

"No buts, Yuugi. I wanna make sure everything goes smoothly. Especially since your uncle doesn't seem to like me too much."

Yuugi looked legitimately confused by this statement. "What? What do you mean he doesn't like you? Who said that?" Confirming that Yuugi really had not caught on to anything that had transpired earlier, Atemu sighed softly.

"I just... have this... feeling."

"Well, I'm sure you're wrong, Atemu." Yuugi stated. Striking a nerve with that statement, Atemu opened his mouth to object, but Yuugi cut him off. "I mean, you haven't done anything. You've barely even spoken to him. How could he not like you?" Knowing these were his own thoughts as well, Atemu smiled softly and nodded his head.

"You're probably right." he stated, once again trying to shove his doubts aside.

"I'm always right, pharaoh." Yuugi stated, in his joking cocky attitude. Laughing. Atemu nodded his head in agreement.

"Sure you are." He said sarcastically, playing with his aibou.

"Hey!" Yuugi protested, making Atemu laugh. Trying to pull off the disgruntled look, Yuugi picked up the pillow from his bed and flung it at his pharaoh.

(Several more hours later)

The clock on the beside table noted it was past midnight when Atemu's eyes fluttered against the lamp still on in his and Yuugi's bedroom. Peeling himself from his magazine, he remembered having mentioned he was just going to close his eyes and rest for a bit. Apparently he rested a lot more than he had wished, because he ended up falling asleep. Glancing around him, he found Yuugi had dozed off as well. Laying curled up in a ball near the head of the bed, Yuugi was sleeping soundly. Smiling warmly, Atemu got up. Trying not to awaken his koi, he left the bed before walking up to where his hikari had fallen victim to the sandman. Leaning down, Atemu placed a soft goodnight kiss on Yuugi's forehead before turning off the lamp's light. Extinguishing the source of light throughout the room, the pharaoh then had the somewhat difficult task of adjusting his eyes to the darkness and making his way from the room and down the hall to the bathroom.

After he finished brushing his teeth and washing his hands, Atemu made his way downstairs. He wanted to grab a glass of fresh water before heading back to his bedroom to bed. After opening the refidgerator door to get his drink, a silhouette crept across the floor and up behind him. As the fridge door closed and exterminated the light in the kitchen, that same person made his presence well known by shoving the ancient pharaoh up against the front of the kitchen appliance. Caught off-guard, Atemu let out a startled inquiry of "What the hell..!" before having his mouth covered by a sweat-covered hand. Pushing his eyesight limits to the farthest of their ability, Atemu struggled to identify his attacker. He was surprised to recognize him as Yuuichi.

"I want you the hell out of my father's house, you goddamned rapist." With the older one being so close, Atemu could plainly smell the liquor that was dorment on his breath. He was not completely drunk, but it was obvious he had indulged in some type of alcoholic beverage. Struggling against the uncle's hold, Atemu was finally able to break free. Spinning around to face him, he snapped,

"What in the hell makes you think I am a rapist? I didn't do anything!"

"I saw you!" Yuuichi raised an accusing finger to the boy standing before him. "You had my nephew naked in his room. He was crying! Don't you dare try and denying it!" Atemu was about to open his mouth and object when it hit him: Yuuichi had seen them the day before. Had he arrived early? That was the only explanation. There was no other way he could have seen him and Yuugi having sex; much less known that Yuugi had cried afterwards. Feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of him, Atemu said nothing. He knew that, even if he could find the words to explain, nothing would get through to Yuuichi. Defeated and, with no other way to fight back, Atemu lowered his gaze in forfeit.

"I'll go." He mumbled, Yuuichi was shocked it had been that easy; he had been preparing himself for a tougher battle all evening. "Just... don't hurt Yuugi, alright?"

"Why the hell would I hurt my own nephew, you ass?" Yuuichi snarled, very much resembling a pissed viper. "Besides, you're the goddamned punk that raped him. Don't you even dare make requests upon me." Acting uncharacteristically by not bothering to fight back, Atemu tried to convince himself that there was always tomorrow. He could leave for the night and hope that Yuuichi's drinking was the cause of his outburst. In the morning, he would return and everything would be back to normal.

"Can I just go say goodbye to Yuugi?" Atemu asked, looking pleadinly at his boyfriend's relative.

"Fuck no." Yuuichi responded. "You're never to come near that boy again. You hear me? If you don't get off my father's property in two minutes, I am going to call the cops." Then, as if making the threat more validating, Yuuichi picked up the cordless phone that was sitting on the table top beside him. Holding it like a weapon, Atemu said nothing more. Slinking from the room, the ancient pharaoh left the house. With no plan in mind of where to go, the older twin made his way down the streets of their neighbourhood.