Yugi and Anzu sat outside together on a bench in front of the school. It was a sunny day, and Yugi was sure that his world was even brighter as he sat beside the girl he so deeply desired. He was consumed by the want to have her look at him shyly, and be taken away by his words.

But he would work up to that, if such a blasphemous thing were even possible. He had already won a major victory today, and piled atop his victory from the arcade the day before, he was feeling like his chances had momentum. He'd do anything to make it a continued winning streak.

Normally, as friends, silences between them would be comfortable, relaxing. But right now, Yugi's mind was racing at a mile a minute.

"So," he started.

"So," Anzu echoed, looking down at her socks.

"When are you hanging out with…him?" Yugi finished. He had wanted to say "your boyfriend" or "Kaiba" for the sake of utmost clarity, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Around six. We're going to see a movie," she explained.

"Oh," Yugi said dejectedly, looking down at the ground.

Anzu noticed and quickly tried to change the subject. "I'm excited to have some time before that to do something else, though." Yugi nodded.

"Ask her if she wants to drop off her school items," Atem goaded gently.

"Do you want to get rid of our backpacks first before we go?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah, that would be nice," she agreed.

"Should we leave them in our lockers, or do you want to go home first?"

Anzu's eyes widened. Going home first to prepare to go out sounded an awful lot like a…date.

"Yugi, I…"

As she started speaking, so did Atem in Yugi's head: "Yugi, don't let her assume…"

"Let's just leave them in our lockers for today," Yugi said quickly.

Anzu looked up at him. Then, she nodded her head in agreement. "Okay, yeah. Let's do that."

But neither of them moved, at least not immediately.

"Let's go put them away, then."

"Yeah."

In the slightly awkward silence, the two of them got up at the same time and started walking to their lockers.

After they were finished offloading their school supplies, Yugi and Anzu met back up together at the bench.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Mmhmm," Anzu agreed.

"Good," Yugi said as he started to walk to their destination.

Of which Anzu was still unaware. "Where are we going?" she asked, catching up to him in a jiffy.

"You'll see when we get there," Yugi said mysteriously. He and Atem had found the place of interest on a map using a computer at home, and Atem had adamantly said that it would be perfect for the occasion.

"Hmm," Anzu said quietly. It wasn't like him to surprise her like this, at least not usually. She wondered what was up with him lately.

What Anzu couldn't see was that Yugi was trying his best just to remain coherent in conversation while his nerves were acting up. He basically had to chant to himself to remember which foot to place in front of the other next. Anzu followed him significantly less anxiously, completely unaware of his internal struggle. The silence brewing between them as they walked discomfited Yugi even more.

"Just relax, and take her to the place we decided upon. Do not feel too pressured to continue the conversation if it doesn't feel natural."

"Easy for you to say," Yugi accused the conveniently-hidden-behind-his-forehead pharaoh. Nothing felt natural right now. His best friend of many years was dating a teenaged CEO, and here he was taking her out on what very much felt like a date despite that.

"What am I doing?" Yugi admonished himself. "She's dating Kaiba."

"Yugi. Do not think like this; she is just beside you. You have done so well so far; do not make yourself uncomfortable. You are simply having dinner."

"Right," Yugi answered the voice in his head, but he still couldn't completely shake the feeling that there was something wrong with the situation.

"So…" the boy started.

"Hmm? Yes, Yugi?" she answered as they continued walking to their unbeknownst-to-her destination.

"How have you been lately, Anzu?"

It was a question that surprised both Atem and Anzu, in that he was probably referring to her time spent with Kaiba over the past several days. He was voluntarily bringing it up.

"I've been…learning things," she said vaguely. In the silence that followed, she continued, "It's been…different."

"May I ask why?" Yugi asked carefully, trying to be as polite as possible to avoid her feeling as if she were being pressured.

"I've never been with someone as…important as him before. He's a very interesting character."

Yugi smiled sadly to himself. "Yeah, he is."

"And he's always wanted at work. The meetings they call him to after school often last several hours." Anzu's eyes glazed over slightly. "It's like he doesn't have time for anything," she finished quietly.

Yugi granted her that one, given how busy he knew Kaiba was. Nevertheless, he had been about to mention that the CEO clearly had some time for her since they were going to a movie later, but he wasn't about to help Kaiba's cause. He instead chose to respond with contemplative silence.

As if reading his mind, Anzu continued, "I can't complain too much, though; it's not like he hasn't been making an effort. I knew he was busy before we…before this week," she backpedaled. "And I chose to say yes anyway."

"About that," Yugi latched on. "Do you mind if I ask why you…said yes to him?"

At hearing this inquiry, Atem was at full attention. For all the time Yugi spent trying to overcome his fear of talking to Anzu while she was in a relationship with Kaiba, Atem's was filled with trying to figure out why on earth she ever agreed to be in said relationship to begin with.

Anzu finally looked Yugi straight in the face. The suddenness of it made him want to shy away from eye contact, but he didn't. He desperately wanted to know why she had agreed to be Kaiba's. After meeting his imploring gaze for some time, she looked away.

"He made it…extremely apparent that he was into me. And when he caught me nervously trying to change the subject, he looked really downtrodden."

"But later, he asked me again. And I thought…" Her eyes veered off further and further away from her company. This is the part during which she definitely couldn't look at her best friend beside her. "I thought…since I was…unattached…why not?"

Her brows knit. "It's been an exploratory road, and Jonouchi and Honda have teased me a lot about it, sounding really concerned sometimes. But…I promise you he's not all that bad, and there's nothing to worry about." Anzu looked determined not to make Kaiba out to be a bad guy in any way. "He's very…soft underneath that hard exterior."

Despite his desire for Anzu's happiness, Yugi felt himself wishing there was something to worry about. Nothing dangerous, of course, but just something that was enough to encourage Anzu to look elsewhere…

Catching himself in his meandering thoughts, he cast his eyes at the ground again.

He was ashamed of himself.

"Yugi, that's nothing to be ashamed –"

"That's easy for you to say, Pharaoh," Yugi snapped in frustration, mostly with himself. "You're not the one who's been fumbling with these feelings for years, thinking all kinds of things like this. Wishing for someone else's misfortune for his own personal gain," he snapped at the voice in his head. He felt terrible.

Atem was silent, silenced. He had the inclination to tell Yugi…that he wasn't correct about that at all. But now was definitely not the time, and his present companion was definitely not the company to have that conversation next to.

"She's happy with him," Yugi proclaimed, irritation and heartbreak in his voice.

After a while of allowing Yugi's sudden anger with him die down ever so slightly, he said: "Yugi, that's because she doesn't know what it's like to be with you."

Yugi stopped mid-step.

The pharaoh had gotten his attention, because he was right. He had a point: maybe the reason her and Kaiba's relationship looked so rosy to him was because he wasn't thinking about what a relationship she had with him would look like. He had only been thinking of his desire for her, his absolute longing. But, what if he also considered what he could give her that Kaiba couldn't? Did the picture look any different then?

He thought back to all he knew about Kaiba. He hadn't even known Kaiba was that interested in Anzu. The very fact that he or Atem or anybody was surprised about their sudden relationship showed how little they had interacted together before then.

But he and Anzu had known each other for so long. He knew her favorite color, he knew her childhood dreams. He even knew she had loved little stuffed animals ever since she was little herself.

If they were together… Ra forbid, Yugi could barely comprehend the wonderment of the thought, but if they were together…he and his best friend… He would be ultimately and unequivocally devoted to her. He knew what she liked, and if he didn't know a preference she had, he would seek it out as quickly as possible. He just cared about her that much.

Maybe it wasn't fair to compare himself to Kaiba, but for all the money the young CEO had, Yugi had the knowledge of his best friend's inner workings on his side. He knew she was spunky and rambunctious, but so very sweet and playful at her softest times. He had witnessed many of those times. He had even been the cause of some of those times.

The thought of Anzu snuggling the little white bunny against her face entered his mind, and he smiled.

"I'm not out of the running after all," he said to himself in wonderment, and Atem nodded his emphatic agreement.

"You now know your worth going into this, aibou. You are not the lesser choice. Not by a long shot," Atem affirmed the younger boy's brightening thoughts. "But you are also not necessarily better than Kaiba. You are both simply different people…but only one of you knows Anzu like a dearly beloved friend."

Yugi nodded. "And that's the kind of care she deserves," they nearly said in unison.

Anzu looked over at Yugi, who hadn't resumed walking. "Yugi, is something wrong?"

Yugi blinked himself out of his thoughts and Atem's conversation, and he stared back at her. "No, not at all," he said, with an almost divinely relieved smile crossing his features. "We're almost there," he said, his voice now a considerably happier, lighter tone than before. He wouldn't say his nervousness had completely melted, but for the moment, it had dulled to the point where his overall mood was…confident.

In the next moment, they came upon the American restaurant Atem and Yugi had chosen for the outing. It had been mostly Atem's idea, and when they approached, both could tell why: it was a far fancier place than either Yugi or Anzu had originally expected.

Suddenly feeling a pang of nervousness again, Yugi swallowed. "Atem, I thought this wasn't supposed to seem like a date."

"Surely you don't think I knew this place was this nice…" Atem responded, but his voice trailing off with more than a hint of mischief was amply suspicious.

Yugi gulped again, eyeing the exterior. If this is how it looked on the outside, he wondered what the inside looked like.

"Pharaoh, I…I don't know if I can handle this kind of atmosphere. I've never been to a place this nice with a girl before, especially not her."

Atem nodded in understanding. Though he didn't alert Yugi, he had to hide the small smirk that formed on his face. "I understand, aibou. You have done remarkably well today. The progress you've made in hardening your nerves alone makes me very proud. No one would count it against you if you wanted to take a break," the pharaoh persuaded.

"I, uh…" Yugi started, looking over at Anzu, who was still gorgeously adorned in her light dress as she continued to gawk at the fancy restaurant her best friend had taken her to over the course of half an hour. Immediately, the influx of desire Yugi felt at the sight of her like that infused his heart with new reason to beat. He didn't know if he could keep it from beating straight out of his chest at this rate, and especially in these surroundings.

"I think that might be a better idea," he acquiesced. For once, he didn't feel that guilty about having the pharaoh take over. After all, he had done a lot today, and he was the one who asked Anzu here to begin with. He had braved the presence of Kaiba in class, and complimented her, and he had even won her her treasured cell phone charm yesterday. He definitely wouldn't complain to be given a short break to recover while watching intently how Atem handled this kind of situation. He might even take notes.

"As you wish, aibou," the pharaoh said, but as he did, Yugi couldn't help but glimpse a satisfied smirk cross his face before he felt his body and mind trade places.