Chapter 6

The next few days had been a whirlwind, Yugi had been called for many more interviews and appearances ahead of the tournament which was only two weeks away now. He'd be asked many times if he could reveal anything to do with the strategies he had in mind to use for this tournament to which his response was always along the lines of if he revealed his secrets then nothing would be a surprise. People were always running up to him to ask him similar questions but he took it all in his stride he knew that everyone was just as excited as he was. It was, in some ways, quite nice to head back into school as the school had massively rallied round him. The students were firmly rooting for Yugi to remain the King of Games. The first day back after the tournament had been announced Yugi had walked into vast applause and cheers from his fellow students. Some had entered the tournament themselves but were still rooting for their King of Games. Even the staff had rallied round, clapped him on the back as he past. He'd never seen the school get so hyped up about anything before. But the biggest surprise the school had was still to come.

Yugi pulled his coat on and tried to straighten his clothes out. Glancing down at his watch his eyes widened, he was going to be late if he didn't hurry. Moving quickly out of the bathroom he pulled his bag on before looking round for the former Pharaoh. But he was nowhere to be seen. Where had he gone? He'd been here just a moment ago.

"Atem?" Yugi called, "Atem where are you? I have to go!"

But there was no response which was unusual. Normally Atem was ready before he was and was the one to be chasing him but not today it seemed. Looking at his watch again Yugi was torn, he wanted to find out where he was but at the same time he really needed to go. The last thing he needed was to be late. Making his decision Yugi headed to the stairs and descended into the game shop. He moved to the front door to find Grandpa holding his broom and grinning at someone who was just out of sight. As Yugi exited the game shop he found it was Atem who Grandpa had been grinning at.

"There you are." Yugi said, readjusting the straps of his bag, "I was calling you but you'd gone."

"I told you I was going to come down here?" Atem said, looking confused.

"Did you?" Yugi asked, "I don't even remember that conversation."

Grandpa ruffled his hair, "All this tournament talk has fried your brain."

Yugi laughed, "Maybe, I feel like I've talked about nothing else for the last week."

"Well that will be because you haven't." Grandpa chuckled, "Now you better go. You'll be late!"

Yugi nodded and waved to his grandfather before hurrying away up the street with the former King right behind him. They walked rather quickly towards school as the sky seemed to be threatening to open on them at any minute. Big, thick, grey clouds were looming above them. It was as though they were taunting them that at any moment they could open and soak them if they really wanted. Thankfully they did not and they managed to make it to the school without a drop on them. However once they got to the school gates Yugi stopped dead. His mouth fell open and next to him Atem started to chuckle. A huge banner had been hung from the roof top declaring 'Domino High is proud to support Yugi Muto, The King of Games. Always believe in the heart of the cards'.

"Don't say it." Yugi said, hiding his face in his hands, "Whatever you're thinking don't say it."

"I won't." Atem replied, innocently, "But I have to admit it's rather impressive."

"This is so embarrassing! I appreciate their support, I do, but do they have to declare it so… so enormously and with one of my sayings?"

"At least you know that they're supporting you."

Yugi groaned and shook his head, deciding to change the subject, "Shall I meet you here after school? I'd best go straight home today and get through this homework before the tournament starts?"

Atem shook his head, "You head straight back after school, I will be going a bit further afield today so I don't think I'll be back until late."

"Oh? Where are you going?" Yugi frowned.

Atem smiled, "Don't worry about me Yugi, I'll be fine. I've existed long enough in this world to look after myself."

Behind him Yugi heard the bell ring, he was definitely going to be late.

"Ok but be careful."

Atem laughed, "Go to school Yugi, I will see you tonight."

Giving Atem one last look he turned round and sprinted inside. Expertly weaving in and out of other students he skidded into his classroom just as the teacher were setting down the books.

"Nice of you to join us Mister Muto."

Apologising he took his seat and pulled out his books. He needed to make a real effort over the next few days at school to get on top of his school work as the tournament was due to interrupt some days at school and the last thing Yugi wanted to was the finish the tournament just to find himself drowning under school work. As the school day went on the weather outside got darker and darker before finally at lunchtime the heavens opened. Rain lashed the windows relentlessly and from what could be seen outside, huge puddles of rainwater formed in a matter of minutes.

"I hope Atem is ok." Yugi said, as he sat with his friends at the lunch table.

They'd been unable to get their normal table so were seated by the window. Yugi was watching the rain thrash the ground.

"He knows how to take care of himself Yugi." Joey said, "He'll be fine. What I'm more worried about is the first duel of the tournament. What if my first duel is against Kaiba? That would be me done for."

"Don't say that Joey you've come on so much since you last fought Kaiba." Tea said.

"Maybe but Kaiba is good. He just has the edge on me."

"All the more reason for you to keep trying." Yugi countered, smiling reassuringly at Joey, "You know his deck well now Joey, I'm sure if you do face Kaiba at whatever stage of this tournament you'll do great."

Nodding slightly Joey turned back to his lunch. Yugi glanced once more out of the window, he couldn't shake this feeling that was starting to build inside of him. A feeling that something just wasn't right today. But what was there to worry about? They'd dealt with all of that, surely now all of their worries were behind them and they could just enjoy the tournament that was coming up. Perhaps it was because every tournament before had always had some sort of darkness weaved into them and it was something they'd have to defeat to save the world. But not this time, surely this time it was all about enjoying the tournament. Shaking himself as the bell overhead rang Yugi tried to push the thoughts out of his mind. Everything was exactly how it should be, there was nothing to worry about.

The remaining school day past with not much happening apart from more talks about the tournament and by the time the end of day bell rang Yugi had managed to shake off his earlier thoughts. After collecting what he needed from his locker he bid farewell to his friends and began to rush home, hoping to get there without getting too wet. The rain had not relented all day and despite his hopes of staying dry he found that he was soaked through within minutes of leaving. His feet slapped against the pavement as he ran and it was by some miracle that he arrived at the game shop simply soaked and having not slipped over. Grandpa was standing behind the counter of the shop, counting money. He looked up as he heard the door open.

"You alright my boy?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, its just so wet out there." Yugi replied, peeling off his soaked coat.

Grandpa made a noise of agreement, "I hope Atem is alright out there."

Yugi looked up, "Has he not come back?"

"No, he said he'd be late back but I was wondering if the weather would change his mind."

Grandpa looked up and his gaze met with Yugi's. He could tell what his grandson was thinking without him having to voice it.

"He'll be fine Yugi. I'm sure he'll be back soon, you need to go and get into some dry clothes before you catch a cold."

Nodding Yugi picked up his soaked bag and coat and headed upstairs. He did his best to hang his wet clothing up to dry and changed into warm, dry clothes. Although he told himself he needed to do homework that evening he found that even the contents of his bag was soaked meaning he had no choice but the lay his duelling cards out on the table and start sorting them and forming new strategies. The hours of the evening dragged on with no sign of the rain stopping nor Atem appearing. Grandpa had closed the shop for the day but left the door unlocked for Atem to come in. Moving upstairs he glanced out of the window which had a good view of the street, in the hopes he might just see the former King heading back but it would appear not yet. Yugi was finding it harder to concentrate on his cards as the time moved on. When it came to eight in the evening, he gave up entirely and moved into the kitchen to join his grandfather.

"I'm getting worried now Grandpa. He's not back and its horrible out there."

"Don't Yugi, I'm sure he's fine. For all we know he's waiting somewhere under cover for the rain to ease so he can get back."

Grandpa may be telling Yugi not to worry but his voice gave away that he was also starting to worry now.

Outside the weather was truly awful. The rain hadn't relented and it was showing no signs of doing so any time soon. There was hardly anyone out on the streets, everyone had retreated to the safety of their dry houses. Except it seemed for a hooded figure who was walking fast, head bowed and hands in his pockets. Despite his attempts to keep as dry as he could his clothing was soaked through and had been for quite some time now. Looking up slightly Atem worked out where he was and picked up the pace. He was rather looking forward to getting out of the rain which he'd been in for some time now. It was his own fault. He left it later then he'd meant to before starting the journey back and this was payment for it. He walked down the street still with his head bowed to at least attempt to keep some of the rain off him not that it was doing much anymore. He wasn't too far away from the house now, it would not take him long at all to get back and get dry. Lost in his thoughts of warm clothing he didn't register the sound of feet slapping against the wet pavement behind him until hands grabbed him and pulled him round to face them. A group of three boys not that much older than himself were glaring at him. Two of them had hold of each of his arms whilst the other squared up to him. As Atem attempted to throw the boys either side of him off he received a sharp blow across his face. His eyes watered from pain and he successfully managed to stop any sound but he felt a burst of blood from his nose. Clearly these people weren't messing around with whatever they wanted. The boy in front of him gripped his chin tightly, forcing him to look into his eyes.

"You think you're all that, don't you." The boy said, spitting in Atem's face, "But you're not are you? Just a spiky haired freak, that's what you are. Well, King of Games what do you have to say for yourself."

What could he say? Anything he said was not going to make a difference to the current situation Atem thought. He knew that these guys clearly thought he was Yugi and there was absolutely no way he was going to admit he wasn't who they were looking for.

"Nothing? Got nothing to say for yourself,"

The boy was still holding his chin which stopped him from doing anything. He did try and pull away from the boys holding his arms but that was unsuccessful. The boy in front of him sniggered at him.

"Just what I thought, you can talk the talk in a duel but when it comes to real world stuff you're just a pathetic loser."

He felt another sharp blow to his face before he could even muse over anything. He once again managed stop a sound escaping which seemed to infuriate his attackers. Before Atem could even think about trying to break free again he felt a fist connect with his ribs, knocking the wind out of him. But this time it didn't stop, the punches came again and again. He felt his back connect with the wall behind him as the fist was replaced by a rather hard boot. Despite his best attempts to try to break free the two people holding him kept him firmly in place. Pain laced through his body and he could taste blood in his mouth. But it was better him then Yugi, he was never going to let Yugi be exposed to this again for as long as he lived. After what, to him, was hours of relentless torment his attacker step backwards, seemly admiring what he had done. Unable to mask the pain he felt Atem sagged but did not fall to the ground thanks to the two other boys who were still holding him. The boy in front of him moved towards him again and grabbed a fist full of his hair. Beside him the friends finally released his arms, but Atem could still not fall due to being held up by his hair. The boy holding him looked directly into his eyes.

"You better not show your face at that tournament. If you do, you'll be sorry."

Before his hazed mind had time to catch up with what had just been said he felt the side of his head slam into the wall and he knew no more.

The boys stepped back from the other boy, now lying unresponsive at their feet. Sneering triumphantly at each other they sprinted away up the street laughing at what they had just done. They ran down the street, round a few corners and then past a game shop. One of the boys looked up to see an elderly man looking out of the window. Making a rude hand gesture up at the man they ran off. Solomon frowned at the boys before turning away from the window. He looked over at Yugi who was sitting at the kitchen table pushing food around his plate. Glancing up at the clock his frowned deepened. He knew that the former Pharaoh was more then capable of looking after himself and he'd said he'd be back late but this was getting too late. If only they had a way to contact him but the former Pharaoh did not have a phone so it was impossible to try and track him down. He moved into the kitchen and patted his grandson on the back reassuringly before looking out of the kitchen window. Where are you Atem? He thought, Where are you?