Ryou squirmed, watching as Yuugi bustled around the apartment, hanging their things up to dry and fixing two cups of hot cocoa. After they had left the church, he had been stumbling and disoriented from his out-of-body experience, and to make matters worse, they had gotten drenched by the storm the moment they stepped out. He had been absolutely miserable; rain and Ryou didn't mix. Then, he had seen the man outside of their building.

He let his head fall back to the arm of the couch he was laying on, fighting back the urge to voice his frustrations. The elevator doors had shut just as he had locked gazes with a man with a haunting pair of crimson eyes that were identical to his own. In that instant, he could have sworn he had felt more memories at the edges of his mind, but the contact had been broken too abruptly for any of them to actually take shape. Now, he was left to guessing and wondering who that man could have been and why he was so significant.

Yuugi interrupted his thoughts at that moment, throwing a warm, wool blanket over him and handing him a steaming hot cup of his favorite drink. Ryou inhaled the scent of melted chocolate with a hum of appreciation. "Yuugi, you're the best," he mumbled, taking a cautious sip of the scalding hot liquid, "I mean that from the bottom of my heart."

"You're only saying that because I gave you hot chocolate," Yuugi returned with a lopsided smile on his face before walking back over to the kitchenette.

Ryou smiled and curled up under his blanket, taking another sip of his hot chocolate. A frown crept back onto his face as his thoughts returned. By the time he had slammed his finger on the button to take the elevator back to the lobby, the man had left. Oh, if only he had stayed! Ryou tried to picture those eyes in his mind again, so strikingly similar to his own and yet so different at the same time, but he couldn't. He had seen cool, calculated curiosity with a hint of bitterness in the man's gaze. There was an edge to them that Ryou found both startling and intoxicating at the same time.

"Thinking about him?" Yuugi asked suddenly.

Ryou jumped, finally noticing that Yuugi had sat down beside him and was nursing his own cup of hot chocolate. "Oh. Yeah."

"I don't know, Ryou," Yuugi said thoughtfully, "Do you want to try and find him?"

"What are the odds of us actually succeeding?" Ryou asked in frustration, letting out an impatient huff, "The one time I find someone who might be able to help me, and he disappears!"

"I think we'll find him again," Yuugi tried in a comforting tone, "Now that we know what to look for. What do you say? Tomorrow, we'll go out again and ask around."

"Alright, Yuugi," Ryou agreed with a sigh, "I hope you're right."

Much later, as Yuugi slept soundly in his bed, Ryou sat on the ledge of the apartment window, looking out over the city. Soft snowflakes were falling gently past the glass, spiraling down to the streets below. The sight gave Ryou his first real sense of peace since they had began their little hunt for his memories that morning. He listened calmly to his roommate's measured breathing, subconsciously matching his own breaths to it. He allowed his thoughts to stray back to the mysterious stranger he had seen earlier again. There were some emotions he had felt when he looked into that man's eyes that he just couldn't explain to Yuugi. His breath had caught in his throat, and his heart had felt heavy. That was just not a normal reaction to seeing someone he'd never met before. So, supposing they knew each other, the next logical question would be how. Or maybe, Ryou thought, what was that person to him. He sighed, breath fogging up the glass of the window a little bit. Yuugi was the puzzler, not him.

"Tomorrow," he whispered, pressing his fingertips lightly to the window.

Akefia snarled, kicking his boots off and all but tearing his borrowed clothes from his body. He flung them down on the bed and roughly yanked a pair of gray sweatpants on. Disarming himself with less care than he normally would, he threw the knife at the wall, imbedding it deep with a satisfying thud. The gun he had brought with him clattered to the floor, and he kicked it under his bed. "Damn it all," he growled low in his throat, cracking his knuckles to ease some of the tension he felt. He had been so close to his memories when he had spied that kid in the elevator! When their eyes had locked, Akefia had felt like he had been slammed to the ground. That gaze, just as startled as his must have been, had floored him, rooting him to the spot. Just thinking about it made him want to scream.

This was how Atem found him. The leader stepped carefully into the room, concern written all over his face, and walked carefully around the clutter in the room to stand in front of his charge. "I take it you didn't have a satisfying night?" he asked bluntly.

Akefia snarled again, rolling his shoulders to let some energy out. "If you're going to interrogate me, let's do it in the sparring room. I need to let loose."

Atem simply nodded, and the pair left the room without so much as another word. The walk was deadly silent until Atem turned off the main hallway towards his quarters to fetch his work-out clothes. Akefia went on without him.

He loved hand-to-hand fighting. There was something so pure and simple about cutting completely loose against someone who was an even match in skill. Unfortunately for him, the only two people in the base with skills to rival his own were Marik and Atem. He began wrapping his knuckles carefully in preparation for his bout with his boss. There was going to be no holds barred tonight; he needed this. Something about that damn kid had gotten his blood boiling, and he was angry in a way he didn't know how to deal with. It wasn't that he was mad at the kid himself, exactly. No, that would have been easy enough to deal with, but just seeing him had sparked some kind of need to fight within him that was different from all of the other times. This wasn't the kind of need to fight because he was ordered to that he was very used to. This was an urge to fight born from his own will.

Fight for him.

Akefia blinked and looked around. He could have sworn he had heard something. But there wasn't anyone else awake at this time of night, so it must have been his imagination. With a curt nod, he resigned himself to the task ahead as Atem walked in, already bandaged and ready to fight. He was dressed similarly in a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt. Akefia didn't like to wear shirts while fighting if given the option.

"So, you ready to deal with this?" Atem asked, flexing his fingers individually as he took his place on the opposite side of the mat.

That was another thing Akefia loved about fighting Atem; not only was the man as strong as him, but he could usually beat some sense in to him, as well. Made him think about things while he worked his body over.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Akefia replied with a nod.

Atem rushed him, something Akefia hadn't been expecting at all, and he barely had time to bring his arms up to block his face as he was knocked forcefully onto the ground. "How did it happen?" Atem asked calmly, stepping back nimbly as Akefia's leg barely missed his ankles in an attempt to take him down.

"Our eyes met just as he was going up in an elevator," Akefia replied gruffly, jumping up and aiming a punch that Atem misjudged and was hit in the ear with. "Some apartment building in the Middle."

Atem countered his punch with an uppercut that hit him square in the jaw. "So, at the very least you know where he lives."

Akefia worked his jaw momentarily, satisfied when he noted that it wasn't damaged beyond bruising, and let loose a flurry of jabs and punches aimed at Atem's torso. The majority of them hit their mark, but Atem got in a good swipe to the side of his head before dodging back. Akefia smirked somewhat bitterly. "I do, but I can't exactly just stake out the place until he comes back down."

"And why not?" Atem asked as they circled each other, both looking for an opening.

"Because," Akefia replied a little too loudly, launching himself in and tackling his boss to the ground. He pinned him long enough to say "It's too close to the inner city" before Atem reversed their positions.

"So you were recognized?" Atem asked musingly as he struggled to keep his opponent down.

"No, but I'd start to look suspicious, wouldn't I?" Akefia spat, offended that his boss would question his spying skills. He used his legs to kick Atem off, landing a solid blow to his sternum as he did so. "I'm not exactly innocent looking."

Atem remained on his back for a few seconds too long, and Akefia was afraid he'd hurt him seriously. Then, his boss staggered to his feet and raised his fists, cocking an eyebrow in invitation. Akefia grinned as he rushed him, but Atem sidestepped him and knocked him on the back of the head. Stars exploded in Akefia's vision. "So," Atem asked while his opponent was momentarily stunned, "What did you feel when you saw him?"

"Good," Akefia replied with a gasp, shaking his head in a vain attempt to correct his vision. He held up a hand to signal that he needed a few seconds. "Jesus, Atem," he mumbled, rubbing his head. He shook again, hair tumbling around his shoulders, and nodded that he was ready to continue. "I felt strong when I looked at him, I think. Like I had some sort of purpose."

"That's a lot to get out of a brief moment of eye contact," Atem remarked. Akefia rushed him again, but this time he was ready for it. They grappled with each other, hands locked tightly as they both tried to push the other back.

"I think it was a bit of my memory awakening," Akefia ground out, throwing all of his effort into trying to push Atem. He was rewarded as Atem let go and was flung back, hitting the mat with a dull thump.

"You have to go back, then," Atem said, pushing himself up into a sitting position and looking up to meet his opponent's eyes, "and I'll go with you."

"Of course I'm going back," Akefia replied, tilting his head to crack his neck, "But why do you want to come with me?"

"Oh, come on, Akefia," Atem drawled, pushing himself into a standing position and raising his fists again, "I want to be there for you when you get your memories back."

Akefia was stunned by his words, and his guard dropped long enough for Atem to find an opening and throw a mean right hook, catching him in the side. Akefia grunted, throwing a fist at Atem's jaw. There was an odd cracking sound and both men looked at each other. Atem poked at his jaw experimentally a little bit before slamming his palm into it. He worked it around to ensure that no further damage was done, and then he blind sighted Akefia with a jab to his middle that knocked the wind out of him.

"Way to go, Akefia," Atem said sarcastically as his opponent fell down on the mat, "I show you a little bit of affection and you dislocate my jaw."

"You really meant that?" Akefia asked once he could breathe again, propping himself up on his elbows. He couldn't wrap his mind around Atem saying that he wanted to be there for him. That was just not something Atem did.

Atem offered him a hand that he gladly accepted. "Of course I meant it," he grunted, successfully hauling Akefia up off of the floor, "You've been with me for a while, and I'm kind of attached to you. Call it parental affection if you will."

Akefia dusted himself off as he mulled that over. He did sort of see his boss as a mentor, but he could never think of the man as a parent. For one thing, he was an advocate of tough love, which would probably be considered abuse if the man ever had children. Then there was the matter of him being a famous crime boss. No way would any woman be okay with that and marry him. Akefia shook his head. "You're no father, Atem."

Atem frowned lightly. "Be that as it may, I'm still coming with you. Tomorrow morning?"

"Tomorrow morning," Akefia agreed halfheartedly, but it wasn't because he objected to the idea. He was just damn tired. When Atem wanted to work something out of him, he worked hard. Akefia stifled a groan as he felt the beginnings of bruises all over his body. Sure, they'd go out tomorrow, but only if he lived through the night.

A/N:

Kind of filler-ish, I know, but I wanted to write a chapter that was solely their reactions to seeing each other. Alas, no smutty tendershipping for my readers yet! Be brave, dear readers, and send me your love!

A thousand kisses go out to Chaos Ride for the beta job!