(BAKURA) He did WHAT?!

Yugi groans into a pillow. Despite the comfort of home, he feels lost and alone. The lamp illuminating his computer seems to mock him, the mattress beneath him makes him miserable, even the moonlit window has a condescending glare. He looks back at his phone and messages back.

(YUGI) Yeah. Joey even sent me a picture. What's bothering me is that I can only go on what the Wheelers said because Atem won't talk to me.

(BAKURA) …I'm tempted to ask for the photo (don't send it). As for your cough, I didn't think it would get worse when Atem took over. Makes me wonder if he knows more about this than he lets on.

Ice grips Yugi's heart. His thumbs type in return.

(YUGI) There's no way. If he did, why would he hide it from me?

(BAKURA) I really hope that isn't the case. Unfortunately, the fact that Atem won't say anything is suspicious. I'm sorry I put you and Atem through this, I never thought things would get more complicated.

(YUGI) Don't apologize, Bakura. If anything, we now know this is definitely some sort of magic. I can't think of any illness that makes you cough flowers.

(BAKURA) I guess…a lead's better than no lead.

A window opens on the computer. The words "incoming call" flashing on screen, Yugi puts his phone down and hops off the bed. Taking his seat with one hand and moving the mouse with the other, he clicks on the call window. A black pair of headphones are barely on Yugi's head when he hears a voice.

"Yugi, are you okay?!" Téa yells, eyes full of fear. "Serenity told me that you choked earlier today!"

Yugi looks away, flustered. "Y-Yeah, I did," he mutters.

Téa leans back in her chair, sighing in relief. She quickly falls back in her seat. "Why didn't you tell me it was getting worse? You said it was a seasonal thing, but Serenity told me it's been going for days."

Yugi brushes a stray hair from his face. "…she told you that?" He asks guiltily. "I'm sorry, Téa , it's just that…" He looks down. "I didn't want you to worry. Telling you that it was still around while you're studying overseas could've done something to your grades—or hell, even your dancing." He places a hand on his throat. "This cough's been around for two weeks. It has gotten worse since I last told you about it, but it's mostly the same as it was before: it only happens in small bursts."

"Still sounds bad to me." Téa whispers, pushing her hair back. "…can I ask you something? Serenity told me you called on Atem and coughed up—I mean, he coughed up a flower."

"I still don't know how that happened. He hasn't talked to me since."

"Really? Oh, man…anyways, Yugi, were you coughing up flowers before today?"

Yugi shakes his head. "That was the first time it happened."

Téa raises a hand to her chin as she looks down in thought. "You just coughed, but Atem choked on a flower…"

Yugi places his head in his hands. The sensation of choking, he was already familiar with (minus the flower), but whatever triggered Atem's fit was a complete mystery. No matter how many times he visited that hallway with the two doors, the desert heat of the Pharaoh was absent. He had to be in there, Yugi was sure of it, but why the cold shoulder? Unless there was something he couldn't say specifically—

Yugi looks up. "I have an idea!" he blurts.

Téa lowers the water bottle at her lips, swallowing quickly. "What is it?"

"Atem's still with me in the Millennium Puzzle, but he won't talk to me about this evening." Yugi holds the golden artifact in his hands. "If it's okay with you, Téa, could…could you talk to him? He might open up to you."

Téa's eyes widen. She briefly looks away before returning to the call, a coy grin on her face. "Oh, I get it," she teases. "Like that little date you set us up on before Battle City."

Yugi turns bright red. "That wasn't a date! Atem just needed cheering up and—!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Téa waves her hand as she chuckles. "It was definitely a pep talk sort of day. But yeah, I'd be glad to help. What do you need me to ask him?"

"Thanks, Téa. As for questions, all I can think of is how he felt right before it happened." Yugi looks down at the puzzle. "…I don't want to force him out, though. I was kinda hoping he'd show up since you're here."

"You said he's usually hovering beside you like a ghost, right? Maybe he's doing it right now, but neither of us can see him? No, wait, you'd be able to see him if he did that…" A sudden spark flashes in Téa's eye. "Y'know, the coughing-up-flowers thing reminds me of something."

"Reminds you of something?"

"Yeah, but…it's kinda crazy." Taking a deep breath, Téa looks at her friend. "Have you heard of hanahaki?"

Yugi blinks. "…no?"

"Heh, it's all right. Hanahaki is a fictional disease that's shown up in romance novels. It's pretty popular among my friends here: Liz and DeShawn are trying to write a ballet about it."

Yugi rests his elbows on the desk, deep in thought. "I only coughed up a flower when Atem took over my body," he whispers to himself. "But it's a disease that's only in stories…?"

"And depending on the story, hanahaki can be fatal," Téa continues. "You could choke on flowers until you die of suffocation."

"That's…reassuring."

"But it doesn't have to be. Y'see, you only get hanahaki when you're madly in—"

COUGH.

Yugi bends over from his chair.

COUGH-COUGH.

The attacks on his throat hit harder than ever, stabbing directly at his windpipe. He desperately grasps the table as he tries to lift his head. In the one moment he can open his eyes, he saw Téa frozen in fear.

"Oh no, Yugi! Hold on, I'll try to get help!" Téa reaches past the webcam and brings her own phone onto the screen. She hurriedly taps at the device as she mutters. "C'mon, I know I've got him in my contacts—there we go!"

Just outside his headphones, Yugi hears the muffled ringing of a phone. The shrill rings cuts through the floor below and the bedroom door nearby, shrieking nonstop. He grimaces: knowing Grandpa, he likely fell asleep in the living room—and he sleeps like a rock. With one last attempt, he gasps deeply—

Yugi stops. "What the…? The cough's gone."

Téa's shriek pierces his ears. "Yugi! The puzzle!"

All Yugi sees below him is green. Long vines reach out from the Millennium Puzzle to his arms and curl around his shoulders. He jumps. As the chair clatters behind him, even more plant-like tendrils slither down his legs. They feel suspiciously warm on his skin.

With a strong squeeze, the vines bind his arms and legs. Yugi wobbles and collapses on the carpet, inadvertently ripping his headphones from the computer's audio jack. Plant life crawls over his chin and over the green, he catches a glimpse of Téa silently screaming, sheer terror in her eyes.

"Téa!" Yugi shouts. "Keep calling!" He forces his head against the growing vines toward the Millennium Puzzle, entangled in the greens it created. "Atem! Atem, are you in there?!"

Vine creep in the corner of Yugi's eyes. For a moment, he spots bulbs sprouting along the surface, unpeeling and blooming in seconds. Beautiful flowers of purple unfurl before him as the world goes dark.


Yugi jolts. Opening his eyes, he sees the bedroom and computer have vanished. In their stead is the dark hallway with the two doors: one for his soul, one for his neighbor. The neighboring door, however, is in disarray. Thicker, stronger vines seep from the cracks and embed themselves in the wall, just barely breaking the structure. Among them are even bigger, brighter flowers: some with more bulbs on a single stem, others with multiple flowers on a lone stalk.

Yugi touches the door. Despite the past few months, the metal feels warm. A little too warm: alongside the Pharaoh's familiar heat, there's something else. Something powerful, unforgiving, overwhelming, almost suffocating. What was going on in there?

"I'm sorry, Yugi, but…could we not talk for a little while?"

Fear fills Yugi. Whatever lay behind the door, Atem must have been fighting on his own—and was losing. He grabs the door handle and, with a mighty pull, swings the door wide open.

What used to be a labyrinth is a jungle. Powerful vines cling to the walls while weaker one dangle from the ceiling, gracefully curling at their ends. Purple petals float through the air and fall onto the vine-infested floor. A gathering of violet butterflies flutter by, one of them resting in Yugi's yellow hair. He reaches to brush it away but stops: it seems to like being there.

Yugi pushes on. The strange swelter from before strengthens as he walks deeper in the undergrowth. Vines shift below and butterflies soar above, some even flying ahead into the dark. The air grows heavy with a sense of hostility, but he keeps moving forward: something else in the air begs him to.

The more he walks, the deeper the shadows become. As if they read Yugi's mind, the butterflies begin to glow. Flowers growing from the vines emit purple light, illuminating the dark green road. Yugi looks over his shoulder, and then back at the plant-covered floor ahead: wasn't he just walking in a straight line?

An arch of glowing flowers lies ahead. The butterflies land on the luminescent petals, almost melting into one light. They illuminate a figure just inches below them: a dark-skinned man on his knees. Vines hold him up by his wrists while he leans forward in exhaustion. What looks like a pair of wings, Yugi realizes are even bigger vines entwining into two braid-like limbs, reaching for the ceiling. The person twitches as the vines pulse, growing even larger from his back. A petal falls and illuminates the red, yellow, and black of his wild hair.

Yugi gasps. "Atem!"

The other's eyes slowly open. "…Yugi?"

"Hold on! I'll get you outta there!"

Yugi runs to the braiding vines, but stops: of the many times he visited Atem's room, he never spotted a weapon. The only kind he had seen were ones used in traps: deadly spikes, pitfalls, or crushing totems, and other life-threatening instruments. Searching one of them for a weapon all boiled down to luck—and digging through all these plants.

A thin vine reaches from the braid. Yugi immediately grabs it and with a mighty tug, rips it with a loud snap.

"AUGH!"

The room quakes with Atem's pained cry. Yugi stumbles and falls on his rear as the vines below him squirm with the rumbling floor. He look at his hand: a thin trail of red oozes across his palm from the torn plant. The braid of vines continues to grow, specks of blood falling on the plant-infested floor.

"Oh, god!" Yugi struggles to get onto his feet. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think that would happen!" He places himself in front of the Pharaoh. "Atem, I know I screwed up, but please, talk to me! Tell me what you know so I can help!"

Atem lets out a pained grunt. "Yugi…don't…"

"Don't what?"

"Don't…apologize. Th-this isn't your fault."

"But I'm your partner! I should've known something was up! You…" Tears fill Yugi's eyes. "…you must've thought I abandoned you. You were mad at me this entire time, weren't you?"

"No!" Atem strains himself, lifting his head to see the other. "That's not…I could never!"

"It's okay," Yugi replies softly. With a small sniffle, he wipes his tears. "I won't abandon you again. No matter how long it takes, I'll stay with you until I get you out of this. I will get you out of this. And when you're free, you can tell Téa everything."

Atem's eyes widen. "Téa?"

"I was talking with her earlier. She thinks the cough might be hanahaki and she said it's used in love stor—"

An agonizing groan escapes Atem's gritted teeth. The room shakes even more, knocking Yugi on his backside once again. The pharaoh screams as the vines from his back stretch faster and further, coating the walls in another layer of green. Thin, dangling vines thicken and swing toward the two. Millions of stalks shoot from the walls and ceilings, diving straight at Yugi Mutou.

"No!" Atem cries. "Stop—!"

All Yugi can do is shut his eyes. Thick flexible limbs surround him, cutting off the pharaoh's voice. Soft, warm vines wrap around his arms. He feels a vine tickle his ear and another brush his cheek, gliding across his skin to his lips. It's only when the vines pull away that Yugi can see.

He stares in shock. "What the…?"

A giant bouquet of purple flowers rests in his arms. As some pour from the excess amount, Yugi spots the floor is no longer covered in vines. In their place is a vast flower bed, surrounding him in a soft glow. ome pouring out from the excess amount. He looks back at Atem in confusion.

"What's going on?" Yugi asks. "Why would they give me…this?"

Silence fills the space. In the quiet, Yugi sees Atem's lips slowly curl into a sweet but sad smile.

"They match your eyes," the Pharaoh whispers.

"They…what?"

The smile disappears and Atem looks at the other with sorrowful, red eyes. "Aibou," he sniffles. "I'm so sorry."

Yugi blanks. "…why?"

The dark-skinned man clenches his bound fists. Tears falling down his cheeks, Atem's eyes close as a ominous light radiates from his forehead. Strong waves ripple through the room and the light takes the shape of an eye. A deadly sight Yugi knew too well.

"Atem?!" Yugi shouts. "What're you—?!"

The Eye of Anubis is the last thing Yugi sees.


Author's Note: So someone asked me how this post-DSOD AU worked if Yugi still has the puzzle. I...honestly hadn't thought that part out: I originally wrote this because 1) the puzzleship-hanahaki idea wouldn't leave me alone, and 2) I needed something to pass the time. It might not be the best answer, but I guess this AU could be if Yugi got to keep the reassembled puzzle and Atem decided "eh, I could stay here a bit." Sorry for the confusion there.

Thank you very much for reading! :D