Yeah I didn't update last week when I should have. I caught an illness, (cough, cough, hack, hack) too bad it was the weekend. Anyway I also had a lot of work to do. Sorry guys.

Looooooooooooooooooooooong chapter guys. Like super special long. And it's a super special AWESOME chapter, if I do say so myself. This chapter makes me laugh so much I almost die. Seriously. But that's just me.

So I was like surfing the web and junk and you know Bakura's sister that everyone mentions. I've heard all sorts of rumors about her and I've always wanted to know the truth. So a went on wikapedia and there was an article about him (haha) and it said she was his twin sister and that during the time he was wrting a letter to her she was alive but then later in the series she died in a car crash and I'm like, "When does it say that?" the car crash thing. So I don't know how to believe.

-((8))-

Chyaputa 8: Stares

-((8))-

"Yugi… why is there a limo parked outside our door?" Yugi's grandfather called from downstairs. Yugi's stomach dropped. He stumbled loudly down the stairwell and looked out the kitchen window. Sure enough, there was a sleek long black limousine outside, on the street next to the game shop.

"Don't you remember, ji-chan?" Yugi squeaked in panic, pulling his grandfather away from the window. "Yami's coming to pick me up. We're going to his house to work on a, ah, school project. I told you this morning, remember?" Yugi said nervously. In truth, he had told his grandfather no such thing but Yugi was counting on the old man's knowledge of his own bad memory. His grandfather looked thoroughly puzzled as he scratched his beard, searching his memory for such an occasion.

"Well, I suppose…" he muttered. "Of course, I remember. Alright, go along Yugi. But be back by six!" the old man called hastily after him as Yugi sprinted out of the game shop door.

"See you!" Yugi cried and stepped in through the door the driver was holding open for him. He looked around, his large purple eyes taking in the limo's plush black interior. "Where's Yami?" Yugi called to the front of the car as the driver sat in his seat.

"Yami, sir?" the diver inquired, brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Oh, sorry, I mean Atemu. Where is he?" Yugi asked again through the little window.

"He's at the restaurant, sir," the diver answered. "He asks you forgive his absence. Please relax and help yourself to some refreshments in the mini bar." Yugi nodded awkwardly and sat back down in his seat. Yami hadn't even come to pick him up?

A weight of dread dropped back into his gut.

They drove into the heart of downtown Domino; Yugi watched tall towering buildings drift passed the window in the slow traffic. Finally they arrived at the restaurant; the driver pulled the limousine over to the side of the road. Yugi looked up at the golden letters, the red carpets and sharply dressed doormen standing by the entrance. His stomach dropped again.

'Oh crap, I'm completely under dressed!' Yugi thought slightly terrified, looking down at his jeans, sneakers and T-shirt. The driver opened the door for him and Yugi stepped stiffly out into the street.

The driver handed him off to a waiter, whispered something in the man's ear before he returned to the street and his limo. The waiter wove Yugi through tables of finely dressed people, some of them eyeing his jeans and sneakers with disgusted contempt. Yugi walked faster, keeping his eyes on the fancy dinner carpet below. The waiter led him to the very back of the restaurant and through a door into a private room.

Atemu, the Atemu, was inside, sitting at the table, waiting for him. Yugi breathed, Atemu was waiting for him. This was freaky. The rock star waved cheerfully, beckoning the stunned teenager into the room.

"Hey!" Atemu greeted smiling as Yugi sat down in the chair across from him.

"Hi," Yugi said in a small voice, looking nervously around the luxurious room. "You didn't tell me to dress nice," Yugi pointed out, gesturing toward his sneakers.

Atemu's handsome face fell. "Oh, sorry about that…" Atemu apologized, scratching his head. "I knew I forgot something. I was just so busy planning. I wanted to make everything perfect."

"You didn't have to go through so much trouble," Yugi protested.

"Believe me, this cost's me nothing," Atemu explained holding a hand up.

"Oh… okay," Yugi said, looking down at his plate.

"Isn't this place nice, though? Not bad for such an unknown city," Atemu continued, "The restaurants in Europe were better, of course. At this one place they had this chocolate wine as a dessert. It was really good. Not too dry or…" Atemu stopped seeing Yugi was absentmindedly playing with his various forks and paying almost no attention to Atemu at all. "I'm rambling, aren't I?" Atemu asked apologetically.

"Well… yes, you are," Yugi admitted, smiling playfully.

"Sorry," Atemu said, head bent. There. Yugi could hear it; a little bit of Yami was escaping through his voice. Yugi was glad for the reassurance.

"No, no, don't worry about it," Yugi insisted.

"Its just I've had no one to talk to this about, I feel so…" Atemu paused, staring at Yugi with those deep red eyes. Yugi's stomach flipped. "I don't know, I feel so free now that I don't have to hide my life from you anymore."

"You could have told me sooner," Yugi said in a small voice. Not wanting to continue the conversation they were having yesterday, Yugi picked up the smallest of the forks and examined it. "Um, what's this for?"

"It's a dessert fork," Atemu explained briefly. Yugi shrugged and put it back down. Just then a waiter came in and placed a salad on each of their plates. Yugi searched through his various collection of forks again.

"Which one?" Yugi asked perplexed.

"The one with two prongs," Atemu instructed holding up his own. "So, do you like this restaurant?"

"Well… it's very... uh, unexpected," Yugi admitted positively. "Do you use a new fork for every part of the meal?" Yugi asked astonished.

"Yeah," Atemu said, disappointment hanging in his voice. He had really hoped Yugi would have been impressed at the fancy place he had chosen. He had gone through a lot of trouble to get the private room too. "So, how's your life going?" Atemu asked hastily, hoping to steer the conversation into a more comfortable topic.

"Oh, it's going okay," Yugi said, shifting though his food and scrutinizing the more exotic vegetables in the dish. "School's hard, as usual. Midterms are coming up so I've got a hell of lot work to do. I'm really worried about Ryou though."

"Ryou? Your friend from the internet?" Atemu asked curiously.

"Yeah, he's been really depressed lately, I don't know why. I tried to ask what was bothering him but all he would talk about was his stolen backpack."

"Stolen backpack?" Atemu questioned suspiciously. This sounded a little too familiar. Where had he heard something like this before?

"Some guy grabbed it while he was waiting at the bus station. Just recently he's been claiming that he found the guy who took it," Yugi explained, studying the mystery vegetable on his fork.

"Did he?" Atemu commented casually, not meeting Yugi's eye.

"But the weird thing was he said it was Bakura. You know, the Bakura from-" Yugi suddenly remember who he was talking to. "Well... I guess you do know him," Yugi mumbled in realization. "It's weird though... for some reason he got even more depressed after the concert, but he's stopped talking about the backpack..."

'After the concert? That's when Bakura started acting weird…' Atemu remembered.

"Do you know if he actually did?" Yugi asked.

"Who? Did what?"

"If Bakura really did steal Ryou's bag," Yugi repeated.

"Oh well, I..." Fortunately at that moment, the door to their private dinning room opened and waiters swept away their empty salad plates. A man approached Yugi with a steamed towel and handed it to him expectantly. Yugi looked quite confused.

"Ah... what I am supposed to do with this?" Yugi asked weakly, knowing he sounded quite ignorant.

"You wipe your hands, sir," the waiter said curtly. His companion, who had handed Atemu his towel, coughed to cover up his snicker. Atemu gave the man a death glare as he handed him back his own towel rather forcefully. The men left the room quickly after that.

"So, what were we talking about?" Atemu continued. Yugi's eyes fixed on his new polished plate, the edge of his large ears slightly red. "Don't mind him," Atemu advised. Yugi looked up and gave Atemu a weak smile. Anger rippled under Atemu's skin. "I could get him fired if you want."

"No!" Yugi interjected so insistently that Atemu felt slightly hurt. "Thanks, but I don't want anyone getting into trouble because of me."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Neither would meet the other's eyes. Atemu glared hatefully at the table. The silence was unbearable.

"I'm sorry! This is all my fault," Atemu said finally, his stomach burning with shame. Yugi looked up, a little surprised. "You probably hate it here. I forgot to tell you to dress up. I just wanted to bring you somewhere nice to make up for that night at that dammed pizza restaurant! This is turning out terrible. I'm so sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. I don't hate it here! It's just... very overwhelming. I mean the fanciest meal I've ever eaten is Christmas dinner," Yugi explained as a joke, with a small smile. Atemu still looked thoroughly miserable. "Listen," Yugi said firmly and Atemu finally looked at him in the eye. "Let's get out of here. I know a really good place with burgers and fries. And then I'll show you around the city, if you want. You do eat burgers, don't you?" Yugi asked nervously.

"Of course I do, but I set up this whole meal..." Atemu said trailing off.

"Well, we can stay if you want," Yugi said settling back into his chair.

Atemu sighed, shaking his head. "Nah, this sucks," he spat. Then to Yugi's immense surprise, the rock star stood up, grabbed the edge of the table and shoved it over onto its side; fancy plates, glasses and flower vases fell crashing to the plush carpet floor. Yugi's mouth hung open in utter bewilderment. "Let's go." Atemu offered him his hand and Yugi grinned and took it, pulling himself to his feet. "We'll have to go out the back through the kitchens to ditch my security guards."

"Sounds exciting," Yugi breathed. Atemu flashed Yugi an impish grin as they escaped into the kitchen. Yugi could have melted into his shoes.

((8))

"So, where are we going?" Atemu asked, looking around the crowded streets of downtown Domino skeptically.

"I told you, to my favorite restaurant, Burger World," Yugi explained excitedly. After exiting the kitchens, it was clear that Atemu couldn't just go wondering around in a public area. So they had dipped into a nearby clothing store and bought Atemu a large black hat, a large pair of dark sunglasses and a long black overcoat. He had squished the hat onto his head with difficulty, smashing his colored spikes of hair so they stuck out at odd angles under the brim. The sunglasses could only hide his eyes so Yugi turned out the collar, making it stick up, hiding the sides of his million dollar face.

"Are you sure I don't look to conspicuous?" Atemu asked, looking at himself in a reflective window they were passing.

Yugi grinned. "Oh no, you definitely look conspicuous but at least you don't look like Atemu," Yugi chuckled. Atemu pouted slightly. "Don't worry, it'll do."

"How much further do we have to go?" Atemu hissed, walking stiffly through the crowd.

"Its right here," Yugi said and they stopped. It was a small restaurant but it had a giant cartoon burger with eyes and hands holding up a sign that read: "Burger World", hanging above the entrance. Atemu stared at it apprehensively. "Come on!" Yugi said and grabbed Atemu's hand, leading him in through the front doors. Yugi pulled him over to a table in the corner slightly away from everyone else.

"It looks nice," Atemu commented rigidly as they slid down opposite sides of the cheap plastic booth. Yugi kicked him playfully underneath the table.

"Loosen up," Yugi ordered sternly. "You don't have to pretend to like it. I want you to have a good time. Just don't say you hate it until you've tried the food; it doesn't matter if the restaurant looks good, us mortal people come here for the food, not good conversation."

Atemu smiled apologetically. "Sorry." Even under those dark glasses Yugi could feel his penetrating stare. "It's been a long time since I've been in one of these."

"I thought you said you had eaten burgers before?" Yugi questioned.

"Well, I have. Before we got famous we ate fast food all the time. Now it's all veggie burgers and tofu."

"Sounds tough," Yugi sympathized. "Well, you're in for a treat because these burgers are the greatest!" he exclaimed proudly. Just then a waitress in a tiny pink skirt came up to their table.

"Welcome to Burger World, may I- Yugi!" The waitress exclaimed. Yugi nearly jumped out of his skin at her voice. A feeling impending dread had fallen in his stomach as he looked up to see his friend Anzu smiling above him. "Oh, it's so good to see you!" A cold stone dropped hard into Yugi's gut.

"H-hey, Anzu-chan," Yugi said shakily, hands gripping the edge of the table so hard his knuckles turned white. "W-what are you doing here?"

'Oh crap!' Yugi thought horrified. 'Oh crap! This isn't happening!'

"I work here, didn't I tell you?" she explained enthusiastically. "I had to pay for the ticket to the Descendants of Ra concert and after I got enough money I decided to stay part time to get some extra cash!" To Yugi's absolute terror her blue eyes drifted onto Atemu. "Who's your friend?" she asked.

"Yami," Yugi squeaked. "His name's Yami."

"Nice to meet you, Yami. I'm Anzu," she greeted, smiling broadly. Atemu gave her a stiff nod. "Are you the same Yami guy Yugi met over the internet?"

"Yes!" Yugi cried in panic. "Yes, he is! He was in the neighborhood so he decided to drop by." Atemu grunted in agreement.

"Wow! How cool." Her blue eyes were examining Atemu head to foot. Yugi's foot tapped nervously under the table, hoping she wouldn't notice. Praying to the good Lord above that Anzu wouldn't guess…

Her eyes found the spikes of hair poking out from under his hat. "Hey, you're...?"

Yugi and Atemu both tensed in their seats.

"... you're an Atemu fan, aren't you? Yugi said told us."

"Ah..." Atemu mumbled nervously. He looked over at Yugi frantically for answers.

"Yes!" Yugi cried out. "He's a huge fan of Atemu!"

'That was too close,' Yugi breathed.

"Oh my god, Descendants of Ra are like my favorite band!" Anzu chattered enthusiastically, leaning on her arm on Yugi's and Atemu's table, a sign that she wasn't planning on moving any time soon. "I just love them! Oh, I could just listen to Atemu's sexy voice all day!" Yugi was burned embarrassment. He wanted to cover up his ears and scream. What was Atemu thinking about him now? Yugi shrunk down in his seat, nose almost reaching the edge of the table. "I downloaded this really hot picture of him the other day and a friend of mine blew it up a five times larger and printed it out and I put it on the ceiling above my bed. Kinda like the one Yugi-"

"Anzu!" Yugi squeaked shrilly. "Sorry, but we are kinda hungry..."

"Oh, right," Anzu said, finally coming to her senses. She brought up her notepad. "So, what will you guys have?"

"Two burgers," Yugi said shortly, wanting more anything to get Anzu as far away as possible.

"Would you like fries and a drink with that?" Anzu asked, politely.

"Sure," Yugi said.

"What drink?" Anzu asked.

"Surprise us," Yugi rushed painfully.

"Ok, I'll get your food and join you guys," Anzu said cheerfully walking away.

"You don't have too," Yugi protested but Anzu had already left. "Oh god..." Yugi cursed putting his burning face into his hands.

"She seems nice..." Atemu said stiffly, with a painfully humorous smile.

"Come on," Yugi motioned, standing up. "If we leave now she'll never know." Atemu had no objections. He was about to get up when yet another voice rang across the restaurant.

"Hey Yugi!" the blonde Jounouchi called from the entrance. He and Honda had just entered Burger World.

"Oh god, no, no, no…" Yugi said horrified, going white as paper.

"More friends of yours?" Atemu asked out of the corner of his mouth. Yugi was too appalled to speak.

"Dude, you should have told us you were coming here!" Honda said squeezing into the seat next to Yugi making his shorter friend to sit down again.

"We went to your place and your grandfather said you went to a friend's house," Jounouchi said and then his golden brown eyes spotted Atemu on the other side of the table. "Who's this?"

"Yami," Yugi croaked. "My friend Yami. You know, the one I met over the internet."

"Awesome!" Jounouchi cried. "See Honda, not everyone online is a 72 year old perverted stalker," Jounouchi spat at his gelled brown haired friend, sliding into the seat next to Atemu.

Honda frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yugi just got lucky," he grumbled.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Jounouchi greeted, grabbing Atemu's hand. The blonde shook it so enthusiastically that Atemu had to steady his sunglasses before they fell off his face. "What's with the black getup, man? It's summer, you know."

"I... uh, have a skin condition," Atemu answered awkwardly, keeping his voice very low.

"Hey, did you know your hair looks exactly like Atemu's, that famous rock star?" Honda said, finally warming up to this stranger.

"Oh, yeah… I'm ah, a big Atemu fan… can't you tell?" Atemu said, taking up on Yugi's lie. He tried to meet Yugi's eye but Yugi had hid his face in his hands again.

"Yeah, I remember Yugi telling us that! Cool! Hey, so am I!" Jounouchi said, nudging Atemu playfully with his elbow. "That's a really good hair imitation! Better than Yugi's. What hair coloring stuff did you use?"

"Ah... I don't know, my hairdresser just did it," Atemu said, pressing against the wall beside him, trying to keep as much space between him and the blonde as possible.

"Really?" Jounouchi said enthusiastically, leaning closer with fascination. "Could you give me their number?"

"Ah, she doesn't like to get her name around," Atemu explained not looking at the blonde.

"Damn," Jounouchi cursed, slightly disappointed. "I'm thinking about getting my hair done like Yugi's," he admitted. "I tried it before but the red turned pink and my hair wouldn't stick up right so I had to re-dye it back to my original color and now I'm growing it out. Soon it'll be long enough to get it to stick up again."

"How fortunate..." Atemu commented, pressing further into the wall. Yugi shrunk further in his seat, his bright crimson face glowing beneath pale fingers. Just then Anzu came to the table baring pair of burgers, two fries and two sodas.

"Hey guys, when'd you come in?" Anzu greeted as she put down Yugi's and Atemu's food. Yugi, despite his increasing humiliation, snatched up his burger and, figuring that there was no way he and Atemu were going to escape any time soon, moodily eat the food. As Jounouchi and Honda rambled off their orders to Anzu, Atemu stared suspiciously at his burger through his dark sunglasses. It looked harmless enough…

He lifted it hesitantly to his mouth and bit off a small piece, chewing it slowly in his mouth. It wasn't half bad; in fact it was better than half bad and much better than he remembered. Atemu took another bite, then another then another, almost ravenously. Yugi stared at him perplexed across the table.

"You like it?" Yugi asked hopefully. Atemu nodded feverishly and absentmindedly tried a french fry. It was almost as good as the burger. How had he given up such a delectable delight? Atemu shoved the rest of the crispy, greasy fries into his mouth, grabbing two at a time.

"You eat fast food often?" Jounouchi asked playfully. Atemu looked up to see the rest of the table staring at him. He stopped, a fry in each hand and swallowed his last mouthful self-consciously.

"Never. My, ah… mom would freak if she saw me eating this," Atemu admitted, trying to keep some his dignity. "She usually doesn't allow me to have anything but organic fruits, vegetables, fish and tofu."

"You're kidding?" Jounouchi exclaimed appalled. "Nothing processed or deep fried? No candy?" Atemu shook his head and continued eating.

Across the table Honda shivered. "That's practically all I eat!"

A large yawn broke through the chatter. A sleepy, white haired teenager had just walked up to their table, scratching his scalp.

"Hey Ryou, nice of you to join us!" Honda said, squishing Yugi further into the wall so they could fit Ryou at the end of their bench. Ryou slumped down in the seat, blinking slowing.

'Ryou?' Atemu's ears perked. He stared across the top of his dark sunglasses. 'The same Ryou Yugi was talking about, the same guy Bakura stole from…' Ryou suddenly looked up as though he sensed he was being watched. Atemu immediately looked away.

"Morning…" Ryou muttered to the rest of the group.

"Ryou, it's the middle of the afternoon," Jounouchi corrected.

"Oh…" Ryou shrugged.

"You want something to eat?" Honda asked, concerned.

"Oh no, I'm tired of fast food," Ryou moaned, there were dark circles under his eyes. "I've been eating nothing but bad pizza for the past month."

"Is your job at the Pizza Palace not going to well?" Jounouchi asked.

'Pizza Palace,' Atemu thought, pausing in his furious consumption of his burger. 'If that delivery guy was Ryou, then he's seen me in person!' Atemu thought panicking and pulling up the collar of his overcoat once again. 'If he recognizes me…'

"My job's been going fine, it's my grades and sleep that have been suffering," Ryou muttered with a yawn.

"Hey Yami, would you like another burger?" Jounouchi asked. "On me, of course, seeing as you demolished your first."

"Sure, thanks," Atemu said eagerly, before he could lower his voice. Ryou suddenly looked up as though just realizing Atemu was there.

"Hey, you've met Yami, haven't you, Ryou?" Honda asked. "Yugi said you met him online too." Atemu flinched.

"Met?" Ryou wondered, puzzled. He searched what he could see of Atemu's covered face. Atemu stiffened. "Yeah, I guess we did…" Ryou's brown eyed-stare stare lingered on the disguised rock star's hair. Atemu looked away forcefully.

"Yami's another Atemu fan, isn't that great?" Jounouchi said, patting the top of Yami's black hat.

"Really?" Ryou asked, in a tone that might have been mock surprise. "An Atemu fan, is he?"

'Oh shit,' Atemu cursed silently in panic, his insides growing ice cold. 'He knows, he knows!' Ryou's eyes would not leave his face.

"I don't see why you guys are so obsessed over Atemu," Honda scoffed. "Bakura is so much hotter." Ryou flinched at the mention of the name.

"Is not!" Jounouchi snapped. "Atemu is the flawless excellence of steaming man flesh! Come on, back me up, Yugi!" Jounouchi pleaded. Yugi sunk further in his seat.

"Leave me out of this," Yugi squeaked behind his hands.

"What's wrong with you?" Jounouchi asked concerned.

"I just don't feel well, okay?" Yugi insisted, shutting him off. Jounouchi shrugged and instead turned to Atemu.

"Then Yami, my fellow Atemu obsesser, you agree with me, don't you? Atemu is so much hotter than Bakura," Jounouchi said.

"Well, obviously," Atemu agreed obviously. Yugi removed his hands to gape at Atemu openly. Atemu shrugged.

'Its true, I am hotter than Bakura,' he thought with savage enjoyment.

"I mean, Bakura does that weird thing with his hair where he puts it in spikes but they don't stick up all the way, how strange is that?" Atemu added, Jounouchi nodding at his side. Honda across the table scoffed.

"Like they don't all do that," the brown haired teenager argued. "Atemu's hair just looks stupid sticking all the way up, imagine all the money you'd waste on hair products."

"Actually, Malik doesn't put his hair up at all," Jounouchi said thinking. "And he's pretty hot too."

"Yeah but Malik uses like five gallons of conditioner when he washes it, and then he spends another five hours straightening it and then messing it up again," Atemu complained, eating more fries. "And Bakura is even vainer than he is. Every time he passes a mirror he has to stop and mess his hair up again-" Yugi suddenly kicked him hard underneath the table. Atemu stopped talking and realized that he had said too much. Honda and Jounouchi were staring at him amazed and Ryou had a lit of evil knowledge in his eyes that he must have stolen from Bakura.

"Where'd you hear that?" Honda asked suspiciously.

"Ah… Internet sites!" Atemu insisted, hastily. "You know, some of those reporters get really far into their personal lives…"

"Oh yes, I'd hate to be one of them, wouldn't you Yami?" Ryou questioned poisonously, a threat hanging in his voice. Atemu glared at him. Atemu was starting to get more than just a little annoyed.

'You want to play that game? Alright, I can play too…'

"Oh sorry, I forgot who I was talking to," Atemu sneered. "Excuse me for assaulting your idol."

"What are you talking about?" Ryou questioned.

"Well, you're obviously obsessed with Bakura," Atemu said innocently.

Ryou's pale face turned a flowery pink. "I am not. Bakura is an egotistical jerk!"

"My mistake," Atemu apologized coldly, red eyes flashing. "I just thought because you look so much like him… You know your hair's not a very good imitation of his either."

Ryou's eyes grew round and circular "My hair naturally grows this way," Ryou snapped defensively, face glowing brighter than ever. "And I'm not going to change it just because some rich, famous ass might look slightly like me!" His voice was sharp and harsh; his quiet, soft demeanor had completely disappeared. The other members of the table recoiled under his gaze.

"You mean, you don't like the Descendants of Ra?" Atemu asked, faking innocence.

"No!" Ryou cried, too loudly. "Their music is horrible. They are just another spawn of advertising that gets paid millions of dollars to make poses on a stage with an instrument. I bet they don't even write their own music."

"Ouch," Honda winced. "That hurts, Ryou. That really hurts."

Atemu scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. He had to admit, that bit about how they didn't write their own music hurt him because, obviously, he was the one who wrote their music. Yugi looked questioningly between Ryou and Atemu, brow wrinkled in worry. Atemu caught Yugi's eye over the top of his sunglasses and mouthed "later".

"Here you guys are," Anzu said, breaking the tension, as she brought Honda's and Jounouchi's food to the table. The previous conversation completely forgotten, Jounouchi and Honda dove, just as Yugi had done, into their meals. "Oh Ryou, I didn't know you came in. Would you like me to get you something?" Ryou finally tore his stare away from Atemu to look up at her.

"No, its okay. I'm not hungry…" Ryou said looking back down at the floor, eyes still burning. Atemu kept his gaze carefully placed on the table.

"Oh, get my dear man Yami here another burger, would ya Anzu-chan?" Jounouchi said, throwing an arm around Atemu's shoulders. The rock star in disguise winced.

"Sure thing," she called cheerfully as she left again. Jounouchi grinned and looked down at Atemu, shrinking under his arm.

"So Yami, how do you like Domino so far?" Jounouchi asked warmly.

"Its fine," Atemu said awkwardly, trying to slip out from under Jounouchi's arm. He was feeling slightly claustrophobic being squeezed between Jounouchi's arm and the wall.

"Where do you live normally?" Honda asked.

"Ah… I travel with my parents but I'm originally from… Tokyo," Atemu explained, looking nervously at Yugi, who gave the slightest of nods, still not looking at him.

"Tokyo? Wow that's fascinating," Jounouchi said. There was a strange glint in his eye Atemu didn't quite understand. "How long are you planning on staying in Domino?" Jounouchi asked.

"Ah… I don't know, I'll probably have to leave soon," he looked over at Yugi again. "Very soon," Atemu lied.

"Got other appearances to make?" Ryou asked oh-so-casually. There was no amusement in his face now; his brown eyes were hard and serious.

"In fact," Yugi cut in forcefully, shooting a warning glare across the bench at Ryou, "Atemu, didn't you tell me you had to be back at the hotel at three o'clock?" Atemu caught on.

"Yes, we should probably leave soon," Atemu said straightening up as though he were about to get up and leave. "I can't miss my train." Jounouchi, who still had his arm around Atemu's shoulders, looked disappointed.

"So soon, but we just met," the blonde whined. "Maybe I could give you my number? If you do find time maybe we could go out, just the two of us…" he said, voice lowered intimately.

It took Atemu one full second of confusion for his mind to consider the full meaning of this statement.

'Did he just ask me out?' Atemu thought, but before he could think of a response, there was a movement from across the table.

"Jounouchi-kun!" Yugi cried loudly, his voice squeaking, as he jumped up out of his seat before he knew what he was doing. His face was off-white pale with burning hot red splotches on his cheeks.

Everyone at the table, and half of the restaurant, went completely silent. Yugi's arms, rigidly attached to the table, trembled in his panic. He was painfully aware of everyone suddenly watching him and he immediately sat back down again, face turning completely red with humiliation.

Jounouchi looked from Yugi to Atemu to Yugi again, very confused. Then his mouth formed a silent "O" and he hastily took his arm off Atemu's shoulders.

"Oops, sorry Yugi," Jounouchi apologized very sincerely. "I didn't know he was already taken." Yugi and Atemu both went bright red this time.

"He's not!" Yugi protested in panic. "I mean- well, he's… I mean, it's not what you think. We're… ah, not exactly…" Yugi mumbled himself into silence. Jounouchi grinned and scooted over on the seat to give Atemu more room.

"Sure you're not," Jounouchi drawled sarcastically and gave Atemu a sly wink.

"Here's your second burger!" Anzu cried as she appeared at the end of the table once again and handed the sandwich to Atemu. Atemu nodded in thanks.

"Well, I'll just take this one on the go, need to be back at my hotel," Atemu explained, getting up. "Coming?" he said to Yugi.

"Yeah," Yugi said, swallowed the rest of his burger in one mouthful and stood up too. The whole table had to stand up and file out of the booths to let them out.

"Good luck you two!" Honda called from the table, snickering. Yugi's ears went pink and he grabbed Atemu's hand, practically dragging him out of the restaurant.

((-8-))

Wow. Maybe I should rename this story and call it "Fans of the Mighty Hair" … or maybe not. That would get me so many less readers. I never realized it before but this chapter is really weird.

Did you see Ryou, man, he was so OOC. It's not even funny. And you know what, I don't care. This is my damn story and I'm sick of writing Ryou in character, no matter how ridiculous that might sound.

I wish Bakura was in this chapter. (sigh) I miss Yami no Malik… the real Yami no Malik.

This chapter was sooooooooooo long. And good, and funny… hopefully…

NEXT CHAPTER!!! It's late at night. Ryou's at home… alone in a cold, dark apartment. The phone rings. He picks it up and caller says, "…seven days…" AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! No, seriously… I'm not kidding.

And if you didn't get it the first thousand times:

REVIEW!!!

You know you want. And even if you don't… you will. Do my bidding.

REVIEW!!

I'm sorry. That was a little manipulative.