wHyt

• Published: 5/1/2019
• Number of chapters: 1
• Word count: 16,139
• Genres: Suspense, Hurt/Comfort
• Warnings: Duel Monsters finale spoilers
• Characters: Atem, Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba, Katsuya Jounouchi, Anzu Mazaki, Hiroto Honda, Mai Kujaku, Dark Magician/Mahaad
• Other Tags: Atem stays AU, bilingual, friendship, villain of the week
• Summary: [wHyt] family, kindred {G43 V28 M17M17 T14 A1 B1 Z2} -Paul Dickson's Dictionary of Middle Egyptian
  Nobody truly appreciates the simple blessing of being able to speak a common language until they are unable to. For Atem, it seems, language barriers can build bridges or burn them.

“Ok, forward, forward, slowly now- Oops, you’re skidding a little, go just a tiny bit to the left- Now forward-”

“Shit, I hear a wallmaster.”

“Yeah, just- Ok, back up, back up! Now forward, hit it! Now!”

“Did I get it?!”

“Hit it again!”

“Aah!”

Atem’s heart beat a thousand miles a minute as he frantically mashed the A button on the controller. There was nothing but blurry darkness in front of him, a blindfold covering his eyes; His only direction to guide him through the game’s environment was the sound coming from the TV speakers, and Yuugi’s verbal instructions. He listened with full attention, every moment a high-stakes gamble with no guarantee of (virtual) survival, made even more difficult by the slippery shoes currently equipped to his character.

It had been just about a year since that fateful trip to Egypt, the day the Pharaoh’s soul was to be finally put to rest; Solemn as the Ceremonial Duel had been, nobody had expected it when Atem- or rather, the half of Pharaoh Atem’s soul that still answered to that name, that (finally) retained most of his memories- had been rather un -ceremoniously tossed right back out of the door to the afterlife, with little more than the clothes on his back, a vague handwave and a “Come back when you’re in one piece”.

And thus, the Once-Nameless Pharaoh had wound up living in Domino City. It was funny, really; He and the others had been so nervous about breaking the news to Yugi’s parents, but perhaps they instinctively knew he was the son (or, well, half a son) they’d never known they’d been missing, because it didn’t take long for them to accept him into their family with open arms. Though the transition from dead ancient Egyptian king to “ordinary” living Japanese high schooler was an ongoing struggle, after a year, it felt almost like things had always been this way.

(Interestingly enough, Atem wasn’t the only one wrestling with newfound memories. Bakura, however, preferred not to think about it, and Kaiba had hardly said anything on the subject aside from a curt “Try not to get yourself killed again this time, Atem”.)

And so, the former boy king sat on the decidedly modern couch in the Mutou household’s living room, crown and scepter traded for a makeshift blindfold and a game controller, accompanied and guided not by his advisor, but by the boy legally known as his “twin brother”.

“Ok, you’re good now, it fell into a pit,” Yuugi announced as he glanced at the TV, relaxing the tight grip he’d subconsciously had on Atem’s shoulder.

Atem sighed in relief. “Great, now what?”

“Uh, turn to the right a little, now walk forward- Wait, stop! Ok. Now forward just a little bit-”

“Yuugi?”

“Ah- Not now, mom! Ok, go forward, stopstop stop-”

“Yuugi, there’s a phone call for you.”

“Oh god, I hear another wallmaster-”

“Yuugi!”

“Mom!”

The couch itself shook from the stress of it all as a drawn-out scream blared from the TV, followed by gloomy music. Atem tore the blindfold off just in time to see the words “GAME OVER” fade onto the screen, as Link lay face down on a formless black floor, evidently having fallen off a cliff.

“Yuugi, you have a phone call,” Yuugi’s mom repeated, looking at him with that… Well, impatient mom look.

Yuugi huffed in irritation, and hopped off the couch, running off to the kitchen.

Yuugi’s mother sighed as she sat down gently on the other end of the couch. She glanced at the TV, and then at the blindfold in Atem’s hand, raising an eyebrow as she remarked, “You two need better hobbies.”

“Well, I suppose I have always kinda wanted to start a motorcycle gang,” Atem teased.

Yuugi’s mom couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile at that, even as she shook her head in dismay. “Coming from you, I have to wonder if that’s really a joke,” she commented. “Is it alright if I use the TV?”

Atem shrugged. “Sure, I guess,” he answered, standing up to turn off the N64.

Atem sat patiently for a few minutes, watching the news with Yuugi’s mom (only 16 degrees Celsius again today, oh boy), until Yuugi suddenly came barreling back into the room again.

“You remember that internship I applied for at Konami?!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah?” Yuugi’s mom and Atem answered in unison.

“They want me to come in for an interview today!” Yuugi announced, practically bouncing with excitement.

Atem gasped, breaking out into a wide grin, rushing over for a congratulatory hug without even thinking about it. “Awesome! That’s great!”

“Wait, today?” Yuugi’s mom questioned, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, it’s good that they want to interview you- But isn’t that kind of short notice? And don’t you have a tournament today?” she pointed out.

“They had a last-minute opening, someone else cancelled,” Yuugi explained. “As for the tournament, it shouldn’t be a problem, my match isn’t until tomorrow.”

“Oh, alright then.”

Atem suddenly grabbed Yuugi’s hand in both of his, surprising Yuugi slightly, looking at him with an unusually serious expression. “Aibou… I need you to promise me something,” he said, almost solemnly.

Yuugi blinked, raising an eyebrow in confusion and mild concern. “Uh, yeah..?”

“When you work for Konami… You have to make them put Walk Like an Egyptian in DDR.”

Yuugi snorted in amusement. “Yeah, uh, I’ll be sure to pass that down the line,” he said, with a tone somewhere halfway between sarcasm and laughter.

“Oh, I’m sure,” Atem teased.

Yuugi’s mom, meanwhile, was taking things a bit more seriously, concerned more with logistics than games. “What time do they want you to come in? Do you have the address?” she asked, frowning in concern.

“One o’clock, and yeah, it’s in midtown,” Yuugi answered. “It’s not far from the Roppongi station.”

Atem exchanged a surprised look with Yuugi’s mom. “If the interview’s at one, you should get going soon,” he said, speaking what had been on both of their minds.

Yuugi nodded. “Yup, I’m gonna go get ready now,” he promised. “You should probably leave soon, too,” he pointed out to Atem. “And don’t forget to eat again!”

“Yeah, I know.”

Atem yawned slightly, standing up from the couch and stretching out. While Yuugi ran off to his room, Atem made no rush to get to the kitchen, looking through the fridge for something good to eat.

“I’d wish you luck at the tournament, but… I guess you don’t really need it, huh,” Yuugi’s mom teased from the couch, glancing back through the doorway that connected the kitchen to the living room.

Atem laughed quietly. “Hey, you never know. I’m not invincible. After all, Yuugi’s beaten me plenty of times,” he pointed out as he stuck a bowl of leftovers into the microwave.

“Yuugi doesn’t count,” Yuugi’s mom retorted with a dismissive handwave. “I may not know much about Duel Monsters, but I’ve heard enough to know that you two are on a tier of your own.”

“Mm, I guess, but-”

Atem was interrupted by a loud series of bangs and thumps, accompanied by a surprised shout- Evidently, Yuugi had slipped going down the stairs, sliding the rest of the way down on his butt with an astonished expression.

“I lived!” he announced loudly, stumbling to stand up and brushing the dirt off his clothes.

“Are you ok?!” Yuugi’s mom and Atem both gasped, with Atem dashing out of the kitchen to check on Yuugi.

Yuugi nodded, rubbing a sore spot on his elbow and stretching his limbs back into their normal positions. “Yeah, I’m fine. A little sore, but it wasn’t as bad as it looked,” he promised.

“Do you want an ice pack or something?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Yuugi insisted, shaking his head.

Yuugi’s mom sighed. “Please be more careful, honey… You two worry me…”

“Hey, what’d I do?!” Atem exclaimed, looking mildly offended.

Both Yuugi’s mom and Yuugi himself gave Atem sarcastic, do-you-really-need-to-ask-that-question looks.

Atem blushed, pouting slightly. “...Look, I’m eating lunch, ok? I’m being responsible today,” he mumbled.

“Good job, now just keep it up,” Yuugi’s mom said, in a tone that left Atem confused as to whether she was being gentle and encouraging or condescending. “Don’t start any fights.”

Atem gave a prideful huff of distaste. “I don’t start fights, I simply finish them.”

“That’s still-”

“Anyway, I should really get going now,” Yuugi not-so-subtly interrupted. “Say hi to the others for me, ‘kay? And tell Anzu I said ‘good luck’,” he told Atem.

“Sure.”

“Text me when you get there, alright?” Yuugi’s mom requested. “And you too, Atem.”

Yuugi nodded. “Yup, I will.”

“I’m not gonna somehow die in the fifteen minutes it takes me to get to the stadium!” Atem insisted in exasperation.

“Well, text me anyway!”

“Ugh, fine…”

“See you two later,” Yuugi said as he put his shoes on, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulders.

“Bye, good luck!” Yuugi’s mom called out.

“You got this!” Atem added cheerfully.

Yuugi grinned and waved as he slipped out the door.

Domino Stadium was one of the largest venues in the greater Domino City area, built exclusively for dueling, with multiple stories and state-of-the-art security and technology; Some of Domino City’s older residents felt that the size of the stadium was excessive, a pointless, hollow advertisement for Kaiba Corporation, but it was events like this that made it clear just how necessary the stadium’s expansive size was.

There was no small number of duelists, spectators, and journalists filling the stadium for Domino City’s regional Duel Monsters championship tournament, a three-day event that would determine the participants in this year’s national championships. Atem felt rather relieved that he could bypass public entry, glancing with dread at the overwhelmingly large crowd around the front doors as he slipped past them and headed for the VIP entrance. (He really did prefer not to think of himself as being above anyone else, regardless of his former position, but god, he was not about to complain about skipping the waiting in line.) There, he found his friends waiting for him- Seemingly also intimidated by the crowd, if their expressions were anything to go by.

“Seriously, if this keeps up next year Kaiba’s gonna have to expand the place- Oh, hey Atem!” Jounouchi greeted him with a nod of acknowledgement.

Atem gave a small wave to the group, smiling softly. “Yo.”

“Where’s Yuugi?” Anzu and Honda both asked at the same time.

“Wow, nice to see you too,” Atem said sarcastically.

“Aw, I didn’t mean that we don’t like you or anything! It’s just that Yuugi’s usually with you, you know?” Honda clarified, shaking his head in denial.

Atem laughed. “I know, I’m only teasing you. Sorry,” he admitted with an apologetic smile. “Yuugi’s at an interview for that internship he applied for at Konami. He says hi though, and good luck with your duel, Anzu,” he explained. The others looked pleasantly surprised by this news.

“Oh, really? Good luck to him too!” Anzu said sincerely.

“That’s great! I hope he gets the internship,” Honda added.

Jounouchi nodded. “Yeah, that’s awesome, but man, did they really schedule an interview during regionals?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow and looking unimpressed. “I mean, they do know who he is, right?”

“It was a last-minute thing, somebody else cancelled on them,” Atem explained with a shrug.

Suddenly the door opened, and a familiar fluffy head poked out.

“Don’t tell me they’re still not- Oh, there you are,” Mokuba said as he noticed Atem. “Where’s Yuugi?”

Atem glanced around at the group with a look of bafflement and dismay. “Ok, seriously, am I the only one who’s figured out that we’re not still sharing a body?” he wondered.

“Yuugi’s at an interview for an internship at Konami,” Anzu explained, far more gently than Atem’s sarcasm.

Mokuba raised an eyebrow. “Konami scheduled an interview on regionals day? That’s awfully presumptuous… Anyway, you guys should come inside. We’re gonna start in a few minutes,” he informed the group, and held the door open for them to come in.

Atem and the others followed Mokuba inside, through brightly lit corridors full of event posters, big prints of Duel Monsters artwork, and large screen TVs. A fair number of people walked through the halls (including tournament staff), but most of the crowd seemed to be towards the other end of the stadium.

“I’m guessing Atem has to go do some important dramatic champion-y stuff, right?” Honda commented as they walked.

“Yeah, just for the opening ceremony,” Mokuba confirmed, shrugging.

“You guys might as well go sit down,” Atem said. “I’ll meet you after I’m done.”

Jounouchi frowned slightly. “Man, it must suck being a celebrity… I mean I guess you’re probably used to it, being a pharaoh and all, but still, seems like a pain in the ass… I know I’d probably hate it,” he admitted.

Atem gave an amused snort. “What, are you kidding me? It’s great! I don’t actually have to do anything,” he replied. “No long boring meetings, no complicated religious ceremonies, no dramatic politics, no stressful responsibilities… With this, pretty much all I have to do most of the time is just stand there and say something cool,” he pointed out with a laugh. “Sure, I guess there’s interviews and stuff, and it’s not like I particularly want all the attention, but compared to being pharaoh, it’s practically a vacation.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Jounouchi realized, nodding thoughtfully.

“‘Stand there and say something cool’ just about sums it up for today, actually,” Mokuba added. “You know, get everybody excited about the tournament. My big brother will be there, too.”

Atem shrugged. “That’s pretty much what I figured.”

“See you in a little while, then,” Anzu said with a wave as they reached the door to the VIP seating area.

Atem nodded. “Yup, see you later.”

Atem glanced back at his friends for a moment as he continued to follow Mokuba, through the stadium and up a flight of stairs to the second floor.

“So how’s that blindfolded playthrough of Ocarina going?” Mokuba asked casually as they walked.

“Well, we made it to the Shadow Temple, but we’re up to sixteen deaths now,” Atem replied, looking slightly disappointed.

Mokuba scoffed. “Sixteen? I bet my brother and I could clear it in half that many,” he bragged.

“Well, go ahead and try it, then. And we would’ve only been on fifteen, but Yuugi’s mom distracted him.”

“Sure you’re not just a couple of scrubs?” Mokuba taunted with a laugh, grinning cheekily as he turned down the entrance to the inner stadium.

The stadium was bright and noisy, full to about ¾ capacity with duelists and audience members, all chattering amongst each other as they waited for the tournament to begin. The afternoon sun shone brightly down on the field from the open top of the stadium, lending a warm, energetic atmosphere to the tournament.

And of course, waiting just inside the entrance was none other than Atem’s self-proclaimed rival, Seto Kaiba.

“Hello, Kaiba.”

“Atem,” Kaiba replied with a curt nod, and then frowned slightly in confusion. “Where’s Yuugi?”

Atem threw his hands up in exasperation.

“Yuugi’s at an interview for an internship,” Mokuba explained as Kaiba raised an eyebrow at Atem. “How much time do we have?”

Kaiba glanced quickly at his watch. “Two minutes.”

Those two minutes passed in relative silence, until the lights in the stadium dimmed, accompanied by a tinted shield covering the top. Loud chattering turned to gentle murmuring as the crowd grew quiet in anticipation.

“Enjoy your title while it lasts,” Kaiba whispered to Atem as the three of them headed towards the stadium.

Atem gave an amused snort, but left it at that. No time for banter; It was time to address the crowd.

A single spotlight snapped on as they stopped walking, lighting up the elevated podium box in which they stood. An excited gasp went through the audience, all eyes on the podium.

“Good afternoon, duelists!”

The audience cheered as Mokuba spoke into the microphone, already excited after just three words. Not even Kaiba could hide a slight smile at the passion of the crowd.

“Welcome to the 1998 Domino City Duel Monsters Championships!”

Mokuba exchanged a wide grin with Kaiba and Atem as the audience roared with excitement, cheering and waving in pure passionate glee. Mokuba waited a few minutes for the cheering to die down before continuing, speaking with a slightly more calm tone.

“For the next four days, top level duelists from all over the Domino City area will face off for the title of Domino City champion, as well as the chance to compete in Japan’s national Duel Monsters tournament in December,” he explained to the crowd. “As you all know, Domino City is the so-called ‘Duel Monsters World Capital’, so for those of you who keep up with the competitive scene, you’ll be seeing plenty of familiar faces this weekend! And speaking of which…”

Mokuba smiled almost smugly as he glanced back at the two figures standing behind him. “Joining me for the opening ceremony are two duelists you all know very well: My ultra-cool big brother, president of Kaiba Corporation, Seto Kaiba!” The crowd cheered as Kaiba stepped forward. “And of course, the current reigning champ, the undefeatable King of Games, Atem Mutou!”

Atem smiled quite genuinely as he waved to the crowd, waiting for the cheering to die down; Even if he didn’t care much for fame or admiration, he couldn’t help but love the sheer enthusiasm Duel Monsters fans shared for the game. He wondered if the audience knew that he was just as excited as they were.

“Before we start the tournament, do you two have any words of wisdom to offer your fellow duelists?” Mokuba prompted, and passed the mic to his brother wordlessly, as planned

Kaiba nodded to the crowd, smiling in that unsettling way of his as he took the mic. Then his expression grew more serious, and he took a breath, preparing to give his speech.

“There are no individuals in Duel Monsters. There are only duelists,” he began, speaking with such calm, firm confidence that even the audience went almost silent. “Gender, race, age, career, social class, disabilities, talents, interests… None of that matters in Duel Monsters. A duelist is defined only by the strength of their deck and the solidity of their strategies,” he declared. “It doesn’t matter who you are; Fight with all your soul, and carve a place for yourself among the strong, or be crushed beneath your opponent’s feet and fall into darkness.”

The audience seemed almost stunned, nobody saying a word for a brief moment. After a few seconds, though, the initial shock wore off, and the stadium once again became filled with enthusiastic cheers and claps.

“Thank you, Seto,” Mokuba picked up as he took the mic back. “Atem?”

Atem blinked in surprise at Kaiba’s speech for a moment, before taking the mic and giving his response.

“...While I’m not quite so… drastic about it as Kaiba-kun-” The crowd laughed at this awkward comment- “I think what he’s trying to say- And the advice I would give- Is to have confidence and keep a level head,” Atem suggested. “Don’t get caught up thinking that you can’t win just because your opponent is older than you, or looks tough, or has won tournaments before. Focus on yourself, not your opponent, and have faith in yourself and your cards; Even if you lose, you should still be satisfied knowing that you had fun and did your best. Make every duel a duel to be proud of.”

With that, he gave the microphone back to Mokuba, as the audience applauded once again.

Mokuba laughed as he took the mic. “Well, there you have it, folks: Do your best and don’t worry about your opponent, unless you’re up against one of these two ‘cause then you’re doomed,” he joked.

“Mokuba-kun, it’s not good to play favorites!” Atem scolded him as the crowd gave a mixed reaction of cheers, laughter, and a few boos.

“I know, I know, I’m only kidding,” Mokuba laughed. “Everyone, do your best no matter what, and have fun!”

“Let the tournament begin!” Kaiba declared dramatically.

The crowded roared louder then ever before as the lights came back on, the ceiling once again opening up to the sky. Mokuba grinned and waved to Kaiba and Atem as they quietly retreated, smiling and giving him nods of approval.

“Alright duelists, first up is Esper Roba versus…”

Atem hummed cheerfully as he walked back to the seating area, where his friends were already settled in, talking casually amongst themselves and watching the start of the first match.

“Welcome back,” Honda said with a wave as Atem sat down next to Jounouchi.

“Thanks.”

“Man, that was a weird speech Kaiba gave,” Jounouchi commented. “The way he talks sometimes, it seems like he really thinks Duel Monsters is a matter of life and death.”

Anzu frowned slightly. “What, are you saying it isn’t? Are you saying that, Jounouchi?”

“What? It’s just a game,” Jounouchi insisted with a shrug. “I mean sure, it means as much to me as the next guy, but it’s not like losing is the end of the world, you know?”

“Oh really? Have you forgotten about that time Marik brainwashed you and chained you to an anchor with a bomb attached?” Anzu pointed out.

“That doesn’t count. That wasn’t really about Duel Monsters, it was about Marik’s personal grudge.”

“Well then what about that time Kaiba threatened to jump off a cliff if he lost?”

Jounouchi tilted his head in consideration. “I mean, I guess, but that was his choice-”

“Or that time we got trapped in VR?”

“Didn’t that happen twice?” Honda recalled, frowning slightly.

“Yeah, it did,” Atem confirmed.

“Oh, or what about buzz saws guy? Granted, that was kinda Yugi and Atem’s fault for being dumb enough to just blindly follow a creepy clown into a suspicious building-”

“Look, it seemed like a good idea at the time!”

“-Or the time Bandit Keith trapped us all in a cave with the intention of leaving us to die, or that time you fought Marik in a shadow duel… Oh, and let’s not forget when Kaiba literally built an entire building designed specifically to kill us just because he was mad about Duel Monsters-”

“Alright, alright, I get it! Geez!” Jounouchi interrupted. He huffed in irritation, rolling his eyes. “Ok, fine, so maybe Kaiba’s drama isn’t totally unfounded. You don’t have to pull out all the receipts, man,” he grumbled.

“I think Jounouchi-kun has a good point, though,” Atem commented thoughtfully. “Not every duel is a matter of life and death. Sometimes a tournament is just a tournament. And I say this as someone who’s probably had more people try to kill me over Duel Monsters than anyone else, except Yuugi obviously,” he pointed out.

Anzu nodded, ceding defeat. “Fair enough.”

With that, the group turned their attention back towards the field, watching as the action began. They remained fairly quiet for a while, watching with full attention, commenting occasionally whenever someone made a particularly interesting move.

“You know, Roba’s improved a lot since Battle City,” Jounouchi commented. “I’m glad he started playing fair instead of giving up.”

“Yeah, I won’t be surprised if we see him in the semifinals,” Anzu agreed with a nod.

Atem opened his mouth to respond, but paused as he felt his phone vibrate; He blushed slightly in embarrassment as he suddenly realized he’d forgotten to text Yuugi’s mom.

He flipped open his phone, and found the text to be not from Yuugi’s mom, but rather an unknown number. Bright colors, strange patterns, and nonsensical imagery flashed by at speeds almost too fast to see, causing Atem to wince as it hurt his eyes- And then just as soon as it had begun, the video was over, barely lasting more even two seconds.

“What the hell was that about..?” he muttered to himself as he quickly hit delete.

“Hm? What’s up?” Jounouchi questioned, glancing over at Atem.

“Nothing, I just got a weird spam text,” Atem replied, and shook his head in dismay. “I swear, they get weirder and weirder every day…”

Thinking nothing of it, he instead opened his texts and put in Yuugi’s mom’s number. He winced at the brightness of the screen as he typed in simply, “im still alive”, and hit send.

“Ugh, I think I’m getting a headache,” he sighed.

“Huh?”

“I said I think I’m getting a headache,” Atem repeated. “That weird spam video had a bunch of flashing in it, I think it hurt my eyes.”

“Sorry, what’d you say?”

Atem blinked, frowning at Jounouchi in confusion. “...What?”

“What?”

“Hold on, say that again?” Atem prompted, his frown deepening with puzzlement. Surely he must have misheard Jounouchi somehow?

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow at Atem. “Dude, I have no idea what you’re saying right now. What, you forget to speak Japanese or something?” he laughed.

Atem’s eyes widened slowly, his stomach sinking as a rather unsettling realization dawned on him. “I don’t know what you’re saying… I… I think I somehow forgot Japanese,” he gasped, glancing briefly towards the field; Sure enough, he couldn’t seem to understand the moves being announced, nor could he read the scoreboard overhead.

Jounouchi frowned slightly. “Ok, very funny, joke’s over.”

“What joke?” Honda said in a questioning tone, leaning forwards in his seat to glance at Atem and Jounouchi.

“Atem’s refusing to speak Japanese,” Jounouchi replied.

“Guys, I don’t know what you’re saying,” Atem insisted, growing increasingly concerned.

Jounouchi scoffed, and nodded towards Atem as he looked at Jounouchi. “See what I mean? Although…” he frowned slightly for a moment. “Come to think of it-”

“That wouldn’t be a very funny joke,” Anzu interrupted. “Atem, are you ok?”

“I can’t understand you,” Atem told her, speaking firmly and slowly. “I seem to have somehow forgotten Japanese.”

“Guys, I think something might be wrong,” Anzu said in a worried tone. “I think maybe he actually… Can’t speak Japanese.”

“But why wouldn’t he be able to?” Jounouchi replied in a questioning, contradictory tone, frowning at Atem. “C’mon, you’re just joking around, right?”

“Stop asking me things, I said I can’t understand you,” Atem repeated, getting a bit annoyed.

“Obviously he’s not going to answer you,” Anzu told Jounouchi dryly, rolling her eyes. “We need to figure out what’s going on here.”

“Guys!”

“Is he sick or something?” Honda added.

“Oh, for god’s sake-” Atem sighed in frustration and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small notepad with a miniature pen attached.

He flipped through to an empty page, and began hastily making some simple drawings: Wobbly, crude approximations of the general geographical outlines of Egypt and Japan, and two stick figure people talking to each other. When he’d finished, he turned the notebook to face the others, waving to get their attention.

“Look. I-” he pointed himself and then to the poorly drawn rendition of Egypt, speaking slowly and clearly and praying it was at least semi-recognizable- “Am Egyptian. You are Japanese.” He pointed to his friends, and then to the collection of squiggly lumps that made up Japan. “I have suddenly forgotten-” he crossed out the two people talking to each other- “How to speak Japanese. I find this very weird and frustrating.” He finished by drawing a large sad face on the remainder of the page.

His friends stared with curious, concerned eyes for a moment before nodding.

“So you can’t- Uh…” Jounouchi pointed to his mouth, and then shook his head. “You can’t speak Japanese?”

Atem nodded enthusiastically, hoping he was finally getting the message across. “Right. I can’t speak Japanese.” He emphasized this by pointing again to the drawing of Japan and shaking his head.

“Can you at least understand it?” Anzu pointed to Atem, and then pointed to her ear, giving him a questioning look.

“If you’re asking if I can understand you, then no,” Atem replied, shaking his head.

The others exchanged confused, worried glances.

“Well this is bizarre,” Honda said with a frown. “I wonder what the hell would have caused that?”

“I dunno, man…” Jounouchi sighed. “Usually when this kind of weird shit happens, it’s the work of some crazy bad guy with a grudge against Atem for whatever reason, but I kinda figured we were done with those…” He rolled his eyes and shook his head, looking frustrated.

“I don’t know what you’re saying, but I feel you,” Atem agreed with a sigh.

“So then, what do we do now?” Anzu questioned, biting her lip, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Hmm… Yuugi speaks ancient Egyptian, right? Maybe we should wait for him?” Honda added, and whatever he had said seemed to have been insightful, as Jounouchi and Anzu’s faces lit up with sudden optimism. Atem glanced up, brain instantly latching on to the sound of Yuugi’s name.

“Oh, that’s right! Here, I’ll call him,” Anzu continued as she reached into her bag and took out her cell phone.

“Wait, are you going to call Yuugi? Don’t do that, he’s busy,” Atem told her quickly, shaking his head.

Anzu frowned at Atem. “Do you not want me to call Yuugi?” she asked, pointing to her phone and shaking her head while looking at Atem questioningly.

Atem nodded. “Right. Don’t bother Yuugi,” he repeated, pointing to the phone and shaking his head again for emphasis.

“Oh yeah, isn’t Yuugi at a job interview?” Honda interrupted.

“Oh, that’s right,” Anzu gasped. “Gotcha. Thanks for reminding me, Atem,” she added, nodding towards Atem.

“Man, it’s weird hearing you guys talk about me when I can’t tell what you’re saying,” Atem muttered.

“I… Don’t know what you said, sorry,” Anzu said in response with an apologetic head tilt.

“Hey, doesn’t Bakura speak ancient Egyptian too?” Jounouchi continued.

“Yknow, come to think of it, where is Bakura?” Honda added with a frown.

Once again, Atem instantly picked up on the one name he recognized. “Oh yeah, Bakura speaks Egyptian! He might be able to help,” he realized. “Try calling him,” he suggested, and pointed to Anzu’s phone.

“You want me to call Bakura?” Anzu questioned, pointing again to her phone.

Atem nodded. “Yeah, call Bakura,” he repeated.

The others seemed pleased by this conclusion, and exchanged hopeful glances as Anzu put in Bakura’s number. She held the phone to her ear, and everyone was silent as they waited.

And waited.

And waited.

“Come on, Bakura, please pick up,” Anzu muttered under her breath.

Atem and the others started to grow anxious. After a few more seconds, Anzu sighed and closed her phone.

“What’s wrong? Bad connection?” Honda questioned.

Atem frowned worriedly. “Is he not picking up?”

Anzu sighed and shook her head. “No, my signal is fine, he’s just not picking up,” she explained, though it meant little to Atem. “I’ll try again in a few minutes.” She turned towards Atem, and shook her head. “Bakura- no good.”

“I don’t really understand, but what I’m getting out of this is that Bakura can’t help,” Atem sighed.

“So what do we do now?” Jounouchi questioned with concern in his voice. “We’ve got no leads, and if we don’t fix this, Atem won’t be able to duel.”

“What’s this about Atem not dueling?”

The group all collectively looked up at the familiar voice, turning towards the source. “Kaiba!”

“Hello, Kaiba. I think I’m in some sort of deeply infuriating nightmare,” Atem greeted him as Kaiba descended the stairs. (Though it wasn’t like Atem expected Kaiba to understand him; He was more just venting his frustration for his own sake, knowing nobody would understand it anyway.)

Kaiba opened his mouth to respond, and then paused, frowning and raising an eyebrow at Atem. “What? Did you forget what century we’re in?” he said, and Atem was quite certain from his tone that whatever he’d said had been a rhetorical question.  

“Look, I don’t know what you just said, but I can tell it wasn’t very nice. I’m sorry, but I’m not really in the mood for sarcasm right now,” he muttered.

Kaiba’s eyes widened, and for a moment, Atem could have sworn he saw some unknown emotion flicker across Kaiba’s face. “What?”

“That’s just it- He did, kinda, ” Anzu told Kaiba with a worried frown. “He says he forgot how to speak Japanese. Or at least that’s what we figured out after a lot of charades.”

“You’re kidding, right? This better be some sort of joke,” Kaiba grumbled.

“It’s not!” Jounouchi retorted.

“Then what’s wrong with him?”

“I said I’m not in the mood for sarcasm,” Atem repeated.

(There it was again- What was Kaiba thinking? Something felt odd, but Atem couldn’t pinpoint it, and it wasn’t like he could ask…)

“We’re been wondering the same thing,” Jounouchi told Kaiba. “We don’t know what happened.”

“None of us speak ancient Egyptian. Yuugi’s busy at an internship interview, and Bakura isn’t answering his phone,” Anzu added- presumably recounting their inability to get into contact with Yuugi and Bakura.

Kaiba looked at Atem and the others for a moment, silent, a calculating expression on his face as he thought everything over. Finally, he walked over to their seats and suddenly grabbed Atem’s wrist.

“Well then, you’ll just have to come with me.”

“Wha- Hey! Kaiba! What are you- Let me go!” Atem protested as Kaiba dragged him out of his seat with no warning whatsoever.

“Hey, Kaiba! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jounouchi exclaimed, jumping out of his chair.

“Wait a minute!”

“Relax, it’s not like I’m kidnapping him,” Kaiba said calmly with a lazy, dismissive handwave as he continued to drag Atem. “Just leave everything to me.”

The others could only watch in astonished silence as Kaiba pulled Atem along, out of the seating area, up the stairs and back into the hall.

“Where are you taking me?! Let me go!” Atem demanded, glaring and trying to pull his hand free, but Kaiba said nothing. He led Atem down the hall, opened an unlabeled door, and pulled Atem into what appeared to be an electrical closet.

“Alright, what’s gotten into you?” Kaiba asked the moment the door closed behind them, crossing his arms.

Atem’s eyes widened. “You can understand me?” he gasped.

“Of course I can, I just wasn’t about to make myself look insane in public,” Kaiba answered. “I do have a reputation to maintain, you know.”

Atem sighed in relief, smiling slightly at the good news. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t physically drag me next time, but I guess I can forgive you. I’m just glad somebody understands me,” he admitted.

“So what happened?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Atem answered, shaking his head in bafflement. “If I knew, I’d be trying to fix it already.”

“Do you think it might be some sort of spell?” Kaiba suggested, frowning thoughtfully.

Atem blinked in surprise, and then slowly broke out into a smirk.

“Oh? A spell, you say? You think it might be a spell, Kaiba?” he repeated tauntingly, with a smug, gleefully mischievous grin. “You think it might be some magic? Some good old-fashioned hocus-pocus nonsense? Is that what you think it is, Kaiba?”

Kaiba’s expression turned from a puzzled frown to a red-faced scowl. “What I think,” he began sourly, “Is that you’re not getting out of this without my help, so you’d better keep the smartass comments to yourself, brat.”

Atem snorted in amusement. “Fair enough. I’m only teasing you,” he assured Kaiba. “Anyway, I don’t know. You’d know more about this sort of thing than I would.”

“Why would I know?” Kaiba retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Atem shrugged. “I dunno. You’re a priest, I just figured it was kinda your thing,” he admitted.

“Was. I don’t do that sort of thing anymore,” Kaiba corrected him. “And besides, that doesn’t mean I have instant knowledge of everything,” he pointed out, looking slightly apologetic. “I’ve never heard of any sort of… language-forgetting spell.”

Atem sighed. “Right. And I guess it’s not like we could exactly just go look it up, either…”

“Unfortunately…”

“And the Ishtars are probably asleep right now…”

“And you’re sure it’s not something weird with the Millennium Puzzle?”

“No, the Puzzle’s fine.”

Atem and Kaiba both went silent, neither quite willing to admit they’d run out of options so quickly. Atem glanced idly around the closet, as if somehow expecting the metal cabinets or tangled wires to give him answers he was looking for. (Unsurprisingly, they did not.)

Atem and Kaiba both seemed to turn their gazes towards their duel disks at the same time, and then glanced at each other, clearly both thinking the same thing.

“...Should we..?” Atem prompted quietly, leaving the rest of the sentence unspoken.

“I guess it’s not like we have any better options at the moment,” Kaiba sighed.

Atem gave a brief, quick nod before reaching for his deck. He flipped through it quickly, and pulled out a card- Paused, moved slightly to make sure he had room- And after a moment’s hesitation, he placed the card in the duel disk with a gentle tap.

The duel disk hummed and beeped, and within seconds the familiar figure of the Dark Magician appeared. He took a fighting stance, staff at the ready… And then paused, frowning and glancing confusedly around the room in search of an opponent.

Atem cleared his throat. “Um… Hello, Mahaad,” he began hesitantly.

The Dark Magician- Mahaad- relaxed slightly, though he still seemed a bit disoriented as he turned towards Atem. “Pharaoh Atem,” he greeted him with a respectful nod. “Ah, and Pharaoh Seto, too. Hello.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Mahaad blinked in surprise at Kaiba. “Oh… um… Alright then,” he replied awkwardly. “Well then… uh…” he trailed off, glancing around in search of some sort of clue as to what was going on, too polite to ask point-blank why he’d been summoned out of battle.

“Sorry, don’t mind the scenery,” Atem apologized with a slight hollow laugh. “This is a bit unusual, I’ll admit, but… I need your help.”

Mahaad nodded. “Of course, whatever you need. What can I help you with, Pharaoh?”

“It’s, uh, kind of a long story-”

“It’s really not that long,” Kaiba butted in. “Genius here forgot how to speak Japanese, and we think it might be some sort of spell.”

Mahaad’s eyes widened in surprise. “You forgot Japanese?” he blurted out.

“Somehow, yes,” Atem confirmed, shaking his head in disbelief at the whole thing. “Anyway, can you break the spell?”

Mahaad’s expression grew more serious in response, as he looked Atem over. Atem and Kaiba shared nervous glances, waiting with bated breath for the verdict; After a moment, Mahaad closed his eyes and lowered his head.

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do,” he informed them quietly. “Whatever’s affecting you, it isn’t a spell.”

Atem raised both eyebrows in surprise. “It’s not? Are you sure?”

“I am,” Mahaad confirmed.

Kaiba huffed. “I just don’t get it. How the hell else could he suddenly forget a language he’s been fluent in for years?” he wondered.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Mahaad replied with a shrug. “I wish there were more I could do to help, but… Unfortunately, I don’t think there is. I’m sorry.”

Atem gave a sigh of resignation. “Yeah, I should have expected as much… Thanks anyway. We’ll see each other later, assuming this whole thing gets sorted out,” he added.

“Ah, yes- Regionals today, right?” Mahaad recalled, a slight smile tugging at his lips. “Well then, I’ll see you then. Good luck.”

“Thank you.”

With another polite nod towards both Atem and Kaiba, Mahaad disappeared. Atem gently replaced the Dark Magician card in his deck, and then sighed again.

“So… Back to square one, I guess,” he muttered. Perhaps it was just the sudden absence of the colorful, subtly artificial light cast by the duel disk’s solid vision holograms, but the electrical closet felt twice as dark as before; Grey and dirty and cold and miserable, as utterly useless and isolated as Atem felt. Small and dull and frustrating.

As cramped as it was, however, the small room seemed perfectly large enough for Kaiba to pace back and forth, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “This is ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. There has to be some sort of logical explanation for this,” he grumbled. “We just have to think carefully, and retrace your steps, and we’ll figure it out somehow. Right?”

“Right… I hope,” Atem agreed, biting his lip. “First, though, could we maybe go somewhere a bit more… Pleasant?”

“What, not a fan of electrical closets?” Kaiba retorted, the slightest hint of a joke in his voice.

“Can’t say I am,” Atem replied, the corner of his lip quirking upwards in a slight smile. “I’m more of a dank underground dungeon kind of guy.”

Kaiba gave a snort in response, one that may have sounded like distaste to most, yet Atem recognized as a sort of laugh. “Fine, suit yourself. Come on.”

He slowly opened the door, and motioned for Atem to follow him as he slipped out.

Atem took a deep breath of fresh air, relieved to be out of that damn electrical closet, and tried to act normal as he followed Kaiba through the hall. A fair number of people filled the area, some walking to and from one place or the other, some waiting in line to buy food, some loitering, some entering and leaving bathrooms… More than a few cast surprised, awestruck glances towards Atem and Kaiba, but all were ignored; Both of them were more than used to stares, and had far more important things to worry about than a few starstruck fans.

“Hey, slow down!” Atem called out as Kaiba turned a corner without him. “You know I have short legs, right?!”

Kaiba paused for a moment, glancing back, but said nothing before continuing onward. Atem huffed in annoyance and increased his pace.

“I wish you weren’t so obnoxiously tall,” he grumbled once he’d caught up with Kaiba.

“Wow. Tragic. Must be rough being in middle school,” Kaiba deadpanned, speaking in a quiet tone to avoid being overheard.

Atem shook his head in disbelief. “All these years, and you still make fun of my height… You really never change.”

Kaiba suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, surprising poor Atem, who nearly walked right into him. He remained still for a few seconds, causing Atem to frown slightly in concern.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Kaiba replied, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Come on.”

Atem raised an eyebrow questioningly, but didn’t press the matter further. He continued to follow Kaiba, through the hall and up the stairs, around the second story hall and stopping in front of a door with a keypad lock. Atem wondered idly what the sign on the door said as Kaiba entered the lock code.

The door slid open, revealing a medium-size room with a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the stadium field. To one side of the room was a kitchenette; The other, a desk and a number of computer monitors. In the middle of the room was a seating area with a coffee table, a few cushions, a chair, and a couch facing the window- And a familiar head of messy black hair sticking up over the back of the couch.

“Big brother!” Mokuba exclaimed excitedly, turning around on the couch. “Oh, and Atem, too! Yo!”

Atem gave a small, hesitant wave and an awkward smile, not sure what else to do.

“Hey, Mokuba,” Kaiba responded.

He sighed slightly and walked over to the kitchenette, grabbed a mug, and started pouring a cup from a pot of already-hot coffee. He wordlessly held the mug out to Atem; Atem stared blankly for a moment, not quite understanding the gesture, until Kaiba gave him an impatient glance with one eyebrow raised. Realizing that the coffee was meant for him, Atem took it just as silently as it was offered, and began adding sugar while Kaiba poured a cup for himself.

“Funny, I’ve never noticed this room before,” Atem commented, taking a moment to look curiously out at the field before sitting down.

“That’s because it’s hidden,” Kaiba explained as he sat down on the couch. “It’s a two-way mirror. There’s a TV screen projected on the other side.”

Atem quirked his head in thoughtful surprise at this. “Huh… Clever.”

“Are you guys talking about secrets?”

Atem and Kaiba both paused, glancing up in surprise at Mokuba, who was leaning over Kaiba’s shoulder. He watched both of them with a curious, almost mischievous smile- Atem guessed he probably wanted to know what they were talking about.

Kaiba gave an amused snort, the slightest, almost microscopic hint of a smile on his face. “Not quite.”

“Then what are you talking about?” Mokuba questioned.

Kaiba paused for a moment, looking as if he was trying to decide how to answer.

“...Listen, Mokuba. Don’t tell anyone this, but… Something’s not right with Atem,” he told Mokuba in a low, serious tone. (Atem’s ears picked up on his own name, but- of course- nothing else was understandable.)

Mokuba’s expression fell to one of sadness and concern. “What’s wrong? Is he sick?” he asked, and the worried tone in his voice was clear.

Kaiba shook his head. “Believe it or not, he’s somehow forgotten how to speak Japanese.”

Mokuba said nothing for a moment, eyes wide… And then, to Atem’s surprise, he burst out laughing.

“Whaddya mean, he forgot Japanese? Who just forgets a whole language?! Idiot!” he blurted out with glee, clutching his sides, kicking his legs, and falling over against Kaiba’s side as he giggled hysterically. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!”

“Uh, what’s he laughing at?” Atem wondered confusedly, frowning slightly.

Kaiba didn’t answer, though he fought back a laugh himself. “Yes, yes, it’s hilarious, but if we don’t get this sorted out he’ll have to forfeit his duel. And god knows the public would lose their minds if that happened,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes.

Mokuba took a moment to stop giggling before asking, “Then how’d it happen?”

“He doesn’t know. That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

“Oh…” Mokuba gave a slow nod, his expression becoming more serious. “I’m sorry. I hope he gets better soon. Tell him that for me, ok?”

“Mokuba says he’s sorry and he hopes you feel better soon,” Kaiba reluctantly translated for Atem, sighing slightly in annoyance.

Atem nodded towards Mokuba, smiling gratefully. “Thank you, Mokuba.”

“He says thanks.”

With that, Mokuba turned his attention back towards the field below, leaving Atem and Kaiba to their business.

“Alright, let’s think about the circumstances,” Kaiba began. “What were you doing when this started? Did anything out of the ordinary happen?”

Atem stared into his mug as he thought back to the events of the day, watching his reflection wobble on the surface of the coffee as if it would somehow reveal unknown mysteries.

“I… Honestly wasn’t doing much in particular at the time,” he recalled. “I was sitting with my friends, watching the duel, you know, normal tournament stuff-”

“Did you eat or drink anything unusual?” Kaiba interrupted.

Atem shook his head. “No, aside from this coffee, all I’ve had within the past few hours is some leftover curry and a glass of milk at home.”

Kaiba frowned, puzzled. “Hmm… Alright, continue, then.”

“Right… We were watching the first duel,” Atem said, going more into detail this time. “We started talking about how Roba’s improved since Battle City, and then… uh…”

He trailed off, brow furrowed as he tried to recall what had happened next- And then gasped, coming to a sudden realization.

“Wait, I just remembered something! I got a really weird spam text just before it happened,” he exclaimed. “I mean, I guess it could be a coincidence, but-”

Coincidence or not, it certainly caught Kaiba’s attention enough for him to lean forward in his seat, eyes wide open. “What kind of text?”

“It was a video message- It was just a bunch of weird flashing colors and pictures that didn’t make any sense, and it was only a second or two long,” he recalled. “It gave me a headache, and then a few minutes after that, I suddenly stopped understanding what everyone was saying. That’s gotta have something to do with it,” he realized.

“Nonsensical flashing pictures, huh…” Kaiba mused, frowning in thought. “That sounds like it could be-”

“-Hypnotism,” Atem finished along with Kaiba, their eyes meeting as they both simultaneously arrived at the same conclusion.

“Of course… It makes total sense now,” Atem said slowly, staring at his phone in wonder. “Although I still don’t know who could have done this, or why… I was kinda hoping all my political rivals would be dead by now,” he laughed half-heartedly.

Kaiba, however, didn’t laugh. He crossed his arms with a huff, scowling.

“You do realize you have a hell of a reputation as a duelist, right?” he pointed out dryly. “There are plenty of reasons why you would be a target, and believe it or not, not all of them have to do with a dead civilization’s politics. Stop clinging to the past and join the twentieth century, Atem.”

Atem took in a sharp breath, surprised by this sudden outburst. “Y-Yeah, I know,” he assured Kaiba. “It was just… I was only joking,” he said quietly, looking away.

He bit his lip as he avoided Kaiba’s gaze, feeling… oddly hurt by Kaiba’s reaction. Sure, maybe it had been a bad joke, he’d admit that… But it hadn’t been that bad, had it? Did Kaiba really need to be so harsh?

Stop clinging to the past and join the twentieth century, Atem.

Was that what he was doing? Clinging? Atem liked to think he was doing a decent job of adapting to modern life- aside from the recurring nightmares and occasional breakdowns in private, of course, but he certainly didn’t let the general public in on such things. He tried to take things in stride, and focused his attention on his present situation. He was well and painfully aware that his former life was gone.

So why, then, did Kaiba accuse him of “clinging to the past”? Was it really so wrong to make a bad joke?

“...Hello? Earth to Atem? H-Hey, you can still understand me, right?” Kaiba’s voice grew just slightly worried, his eyes widening in concern.

Atem blinked, startled. “What? Yeah. Sorry, I just… Zoned out for a minute there,” he answered apologetically.

Kaiba let out a breath of relief, though he tried to disguise it as an irritated huff, crossing his arms. “Well, pay attention. We have work to do.”

“Y-Yeah. Sorry.”

Atem took a deep breath, and shook his head to clear it. Right. What was he doing, getting distracted like that? It wasn’t like it was unusual for Kaiba to be bitter about literally everything, no need to overthink it.

“Anyway, write down the number the text came from,” Kaiba instructed Atem. “We should be able to track them down from that, depending on how careless they are.”

“Right,” Atem agreed, nodding and flipping open his phone.

...It was then that a rather unfortunate setback presented itself.

Namely, that Atem had no idea how to use his phone anymore.

Or at least, how to read it; He knew what most of the buttons did and how to use the phone in general, but the symbols on the screen were a mystery to him, and muscle memory could only get him so far when it came to things he didn’t do terribly often anyway. Which menu option was recent messages, again?

Kaiba seemed to notice Atem’s perplexed expression. “Oh, right. I guess you can’t read, either,” he realized. “Here, let me do it.”

Atem obediently handed his phone over to Kaiba, and glanced idly out the window as he waited. He wondered how the duel was progressing; Roba seemed to have a decent setup, but it was impossible to tell who was winning without being able to read the score, to Atem’s disappointment.

“Did you delete it?” Kaiba asked after a moment, frowning in confusion. “I don’t see it in your recent texts.”

“Oh yeah, probably. I tend to just delete spam on principle,” Atem admitted.

Kaiba shrugged. “I’d call you an idiot, but honestly, I can’t say I really blame you for that,” he muttered as he continued to search Atem’s phone. (The thought briefly crossed Atem’s mind that maybe he shouldn’t let Kaiba have unsupervised access to his phone, but he soon decided it didn’t matter much; It wasn’t like he had anything to hide, really, and Kaiba wasn’t the sort of person to send prank texts.)

“So did you figure it out yet?” Mokuba asked, the first he’d said anything in a while.

“Hypnosis. Probably, anyway,” Kaiba replied simply without looking up.

“Hypnosis?” Mokuba repeated, raising both eyebrows in surprise. “Woah… Freaky. Good luck with that.”

That was apparently all Mokuba had to say on the subject, as he soon turned back towards the duel. Atem watched with him, for lack of anything better to do- though he hated feeling so useless.

“Does your phone not have a deleted messages folder?” Kaiba questioned almost sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at the device.

Atem shrugged. “I dunno. If it does, I’ve never used it. You’re the literate one here at the moment, you’d know better than I would,” he pointed out.

Kaiba rolled his eyes, and stood up, walking briskly over to the desk. He dug through a drawer for a moment, searching for the right cable; Once he’d found one, he plugged Atem’s phone in, and sat down in the chair with an impatient huff.

“This better not take too long,” he grumbled.

“I’m sorry for the trouble,” Atem said sincerely. “Is there anything I can do to help out?”

“Not really, unfortunately,” Kaiba sighed. “Just don’t bother me until I’m done.”

“Hey, I just realized something,” Mokuba interrupted. “If it’s hypnosis, there’s gotta be some sort of secret word to make him snap out of it, right?”

Kaiba shrugged. “Maybe. If there is, we don’t know what.”

“Then let’s try to figure it out!”  Mokuba looked at Atem with an excited, hopeful expression, but all Atem could do was frown in confusion.

“What’s he saying?” he asked Kaiba.

“Mokuba would like to try to see if there’s some sort of deactivation word for the hypnosis,” Kaiba explained.

“Oh, that’s not a bad idea,” Atem agreed, nodding towards Mokuba. “I doubt we’ll find it, but it’s worth a shot.”

“Try it,” Kaiba translated for him.

Mokuba grinned and nodded, and then took on a more serious expression as he thought it over. “Let’s see… It can’t be something too obvious,” he muttered to himself. “Maybe… ‘Kumquat’!” he exclaimed, looking at Atem expectantly.

Atem blinked. “Um. I… don’t think that was it,” he said, glancing towards the duel field- Yep, still couldn’t understand anything being said.

Mokuba frowned. “Oh. In that case, what about… um… ‘Communism’?”

Atem shook his head. “Not that, either.”

“‘Microprocessor’?”

“Nope.”

“‘Lithuania’?”

“No.”

For a while, little progress was made; Kaiba grumbled incomprehensibly to himself as he wrestled with the computer and Atem’s phone, while Mokuba continued listing off random obscure words.

“‘Wallaby’?”

“Nope.”

“‘Michaelangelo’?”

“Uh-uh.”

“‘Mississippi’?”

“That doesn’t even sound like a real word,” Atem commented amusedly.

Mokuba sighed in frustration, racking his brain for more possiblities. “Uhhh…”

“I can’t stand this stupid goddamn piece of shit phone,” Kaiba complained loudly from his position at the desk, typing almost... aggressively, somehow. “It’s a miracle this thing is even functional. As soon as this is over, you’re getting a new one.”

Atem scoffed as he glanced over the back of his chair. “Oh yeah? And I assume you’ll be paying?”

“Obviously.”

Atem blinked, not having expected this answer. “Wait, really?”

“I wouldn’t have said it if I weren’t,” Kaiba replied, and scowled in irritation at Atem’s phone as he restarted it, as if he could somehow glare it into submission.

“Oh… well… Thanks,” Atem said, confused yet sincere. “No wonder you’re my favorite cousin.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes. “We’re not cousins,” he muttered dryly.

Atem froze.

“We’re… not?” he repeated quietly.

Kaiba shook his head. “No, we’re not. Not anymore.”

Atem didn’t know how to respond to that, feeling his throat grow tight, a sinking feeling welling up in the pit of his stomach. He felt stunned, frozen, hurt, like he’d just been slapped in the face without warning. He could hardly bring himself to speak as he asked in a dry-mouthed whisper, “Why..?”

Kaiba sighed, turning to face Atem with arms crossed, looking for all the world like a parent about to lecture their child. “Because, that was a different lifetime. It’s over now,” he insisted. “Ancient Egypt is gone, Atem. None of that matters anymore. How long do you intend to keep living in the past? There’s no point in letting ancient history interrupt real life, so stop it with the-”

“Would you be happier if I really had died back there?!”

The room suddenly went stone-cold silent, both Kaiba and Mokuba looking up in shock at Atem’s sudden unexpected outburst. Atem remained where he’d abruptly stood up from his chair, fists and teeth clenched, seething with a sudden anger.

Kaiba stared with wide eyes- Truly, genuinely shocked. “I… I never said that…”

“Well that sure is what it sounds like! Is that all I am to you? A ‘disruption’ in your perfect new life with your new job and your new family that’s so much better?” Atem demanded, tears welling up in his eyes. He spoke (or shouted, as it were) without thinking, knowing it was a bad idea but unable to stop himself. “I gave up everything for you, Seto! I went through hell to keep you and the others safe, and this is the thanks I get?! Denial that any of it even mattered?! Maybe- Maybe I should just go lock myself up for another couple hundred years, until everyone I know and care about really is dead, and then they won’t be forced to deal with the inconvenience of me being alive! Is that what you fucking want, Kaiba?!”

He screamed the name with such emphasis, such anger, such venom like Kaiba had never heard him use before, making it sound more like a heinous insult than his name. Kaiba found himself frozen for what felt like forever as Atem stared at him in rage, his whole body tense, face bright red and streaked with tears and snot- And then after barely a second, Atem suddenly made a dash for the desk, grabbing his phone and ripping it from the cord before Kaiba had a chance to react.

“Atem, wait-”

“Shut up! Just leave me alone!” Atem snarled as he wrenched the door open, slamming it closed behind him with such force that Kaiba feared he might break even the private lounge’s Seto-Kaiba-Dramatic-Door-Slamming-Proof industrial strength door.

And then, in an instant, it was over. Atem’s shouts seemed to echo through the room like piercing knives, leaving Kaiba’s ears ringing in the sudden cold silence. No one spoke, no one moved, no one even breathed for a moment, frozen in shock as if afraid to make a move.

“What… What did you say to him?” Mokuba gasped quietly after a moment, looking at Kaiba with wide-eyed horror.

He couldn’t answer, as he shared the same sentiment.

Atem covered his face in his hands in a futile attempt to muffle his sobs as he ran down the hall, feet pounding against the ground as if to echo the force of his emotions. Truth be told, he didn’t even really know where he was going; All he knew was that he didn’t want to be in the same room as Kaiba. He eventually encountered a bathroom- Those ridiculous gender divides finally serving some use, with the bathroom stick figure people being far more recognizable at the moment than writing- And figured it was as good a spot as any to hide for a while.

There he stayed for god-knows-how-long, pressing his forehead against the comfortingly cold (and probably unsanitary, but whatever) metal of the bathroom stall as he tried to get himself under control. He was at a tournament, for god’s sake, and he still had to figure out how to fix whatever was wrong with him before his duel later... There was no time to waste crying in the bathroom over family drama like some sort of soap opera. He needed to get it together.

He fought against himself for a few minutes, struggling to get his breathing under control; It seemed that every time he started to calm down, the fight would replay in his mind, repeating over and over ( not anymore, not anymore, ancient Egypt is gone, stop clinging to the past, we’re not cousins, not anymore-) and making his lip tremble and his eyes water and his throat hurt, like there was no escaping it no matter where he hid. He tried instead to distract himself by thinking about happy thoughts, or… Literally anything else, really. He played out hypothetical duels in his head, forcibly drowning out the echoes of not anymore with louder and louder shouts of I attack with Queen’s Knight and I play Swords of Revealing Light, until eventually his crying gradually dropped from hysterical, hyperventilating wails to gentle, muffled sobs.

Whatever. Good enough, he decided, he didn’t want to spend the rest of the afternoon in the bathroom.

He splashed some water onto his face at the sink, hoping to wash away the most obvious signs of distress, taking a deep breath and trying to focus on the physical realm; If he focused enough on where he was going, maybe he’d be able to forget about the whole thing. (Yeah, right.)

…After a moment’s hesitation, he flipped up the hood of his jacket, pulling it far over his forehead. He probably looked ridiculous, he realized, what with the way his hair stuck out around his face like an overgrown lion’s mane, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. As long as it helped keep his face hidden, that was good enough.

He walked almost as if on autopilot for a while, having very little recollection of actually doing so- One minute he was in the bathroom, and the next, he was just outside the area where his friends sat. He took a deep breath as he shuffled quietly into the seating area, curled in on himself with his hands in his pockets and his head low.

With disconnected disinterest, he noted that Anzu seemed to have left, and Mai Kujaku sat in her place. All three looked up upon noticing Atem, though they’d been quite invested in the current duel, from the looks of it.

“Yo!”

“Any luck?”

Atem gave a slow, silent shake of the head, sinking into his chair without making eye contact with anyone. The others’ faces fell, their excited smiles turning to disappointed frowns.

“So he really can’t understand Japanese anymore…” Mai muttered quietly, sounding worried.

“Hey, cheer up, we’ll- ...Wait, are you… Have you been crying?” Jounouchi gasped, his attempt at optimism disappearing as he got a closer look at Atem’s face. Atem glanced at Jounouchi for just a brief second before looking back down again.

“...I… Don’t know if I’ll be able to duel today,” he said quietly, and covered his face just as the floodgates opened a second time.

The others could only watch, shocked and hurt, as Atem wept softly into his hands. They exchanged worried glances, no one really quite sure how to react to this unexpected turn of events.

“Hey… It’s ok, you don’t have to cry,” Jounouchi said gently, reaching over to put an arm around Atem’s shoulders. “We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

Atem said nothing- It wasn’t like he knew what to say, anyway- but leaned into the touch, resting his head on Jounouchi’s shoulder with unspoken gratitude. Jounouchi held Atem close (even despite the arm of the chair uncomfortably digging into his side), rubbing his shoulder gently, whispering soft reassurances as Atem cried. The others were mostly silent, something Atem appreciated, as… Needless to say, he didn’t want a lot of attention at the moment.

After a little while, Atem gradually calmed down, his breathing growing slow and even with only the occasional sniffle. He slowly lowered his hands, and silently reached for Jounouchi’s; Jounouchi wordlessly took it, entwining their fingers, creating a patterned contrast between peachy and bronze skin.

“I know you can’t understand me right now, but… Is it ok if I talk?” Atem whispered quietly.

Jounouchi sighed. “I’m sorry… I wish I could understand you, but for now…” He squeezed Atem’s hand, a gesture of reassurance that required no language to understand.

Atem squeezed back, grateful for the comfort. He took a few minutes before continuing, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

“...Kaiba and I… We used to be cousins, you know. Back in Egypt, I mean,” he began softly, a weariness to his voice. “We didn’t know it at first, but we still grew up together. We were always friends. And I thought we still would be, but… Kaiba…”

“Kaiba? Did Kaiba do this?” Jounouchi interrupted, sounding incredulous. “That bastard… I’ll kick his ass!”

Atem glanced up at Jounouchi for a moment. “Let me guess… You’re saying you’ll kick his ass?” he muttered with a slight tired, half-hearted laugh. “You’re a good friend, Jounouchi.”

Then he sighed deeply before continuing.

“It’s just… he… He said some terrible things to me,” he finally admitted, feeling his voice begin to tremble again against his will. “Every time I mention the way things used to be at all, he gets angry at me… He keeps telling me to stop living in the past, that Egypt is gone… I know it is! Of course I do. I think about that every day! He doesn’t- he doesn’t have to rub it in, you know?” he whispered, biting his lip. “I… I lost everything back then. My friends, my family, my home, my culture, my life … I-I thought I at least still had Seto, but- but he- he doesn’t…”

How such a small body possibly could hold so many tears, Atem wasn’t really sure, but nonetheless, he resigned himself to simply let them fall silently as they came- He was too tired for words, now. He felt a wave of gratitude for Jounouchi, so very patient and understanding, unhesitatingly lending himself for comfort even in such a public space; He’d have to remember to do something nice to thank him later.

Jounouchi and the others were his real friends, he realized. Sure, maybe they didn’t speak his language, maybe they didn’t understand his culture, and maybe they could never truly understand what he’d been through… But they didn’t judge him, either. They accepted him as he was, as they always had, and never got angry at him for existing or having feelings.

Of course he’d never be able to simply forget about the friends he’d had. He’d always miss them, and it wasn’t unreasonable of him to want to reconnect with Seto. But Jounouchi, Yuugi, Anzu, Honda, Bakura, even Mai and Otogi… They were the friends that truly mattered.

He sighed, and sat up slightly, glancing out at the field for the first time since he’d sat down. It was only then that he realized the reason why Anzu was missing: She was, in fact, dueling at the moment, standing proud on the field across from Dinosaur Ryuuzaki.

“...Is Anzu winning?” he wondered, wiping his eyes and turning his attention towards the duel.

“Hm? Anzu?” Jounouchi repeated. “Ryuuzaki’s got more life points right now, but give it a few turns and I’m sure she’ll turn it around.”

Atem nodded- Not that he actually had any clue what Jounouchi had said, of course, though his tone had sounded optimistic. He watched the field carefully, trying to piece together the situation despite not being able to read the score.

“You can do it, Anzu!” Honda shouted.

Mai nudged Jounouchi’s arm, and pointed to the field. “Watch. With that setup, I bet she’s gonna play Harpie’s Feather Duster,” she said, nodding confidently.

“Oh yeah, you think so?” Jounouchi responded with a thoughtful look.

Atem watched the two of them curiously for a moment, wishing he could understand their commentary; Discussing duels was almost as interesting as playing them, but for now he’d have to settle for his own analysis. With that in mind, he returned his attention to the duel, knowing that he’d have to pay twice as much attention to understand it now.

“I play Harpie’s Feather Duster to remove your trap and spell cards!” Anzu called as she played a spell card. Ryuuzaki’s jaw fell open in shock and irritation while his set cards suddenly disappeared; Judging by both the visual and mechanical effects, Atem recognized Anzu’s card as Harpie’s Feather Duster.

“Yes! Called it!” Mai cheered.

“Nice!”

Atem smiled just slightly at this, and gradually began to cheer up as the duel continued. Despite his hurt, despite the isolation of not being able to understand anyone, he still couldn’t help becoming absorbed in the action; Just being with his friends also helped, with their bright-eyed enthusiasm being almost contagious. He even found himself cheering when Anzu eventually won the duel, leaving Ryuuzaki red-faced and bitter, though Atem had expected nothing less from Anzu.

As Anzu returned to her seat, the group collectively stood up, greeting her with praise and congratulatory pats, high-fives, and the like.

“Nice duel, Anzu,” Atem congratulated her, offering his hand for a fistbump. Anzu returned the gesture, yet her expression fell slightly.

“No luck yet, huh..?”

The group went quiet, a sort of solemnness falling over them as the reality of the situation set in. Atem lowered his head in shame.

“Atem’s… He seemed pretty upset earlier,” Jounouchi told Anzu quietly. “Dunno why, but he said something about Kaiba.”

“Kaiba? Did he do this?” Anzu gasped. “Why would he..?”

“I don’t think it was Kaiba,” Honda said. “Why would he do something like this? And he seemed just as sur-”

“Forget about that,” Mai interrupted, sounding like she was trying to be cheerful. “Now that Anzu-chan is back, let’s go get snacks!”

“I am kinda hungry,” Jounouchi replied.

Honda nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Anzu turned towards Atem, giving him a sympathetic look. “Do you want…” she gestured towards her mouth, pantomiming eating, “Snacks?” she said slowly, and pointed towards the exit.

Atem frowned slightly in concentration. “Are you talking about… Food? We’re going to get snacks?” he guessed- gesturing towards the group and pointing to his mouth and stomach to emphasize his point.

“Right, snacks,” Anzu repeated with a nod. “Come on, let’s go,” she said with a smile, nodding towards the exit.

Atem’s guess seemed correct as he followed the others out of the seating area, into the hall, and towards a concession stand. There was a relatively large number of number of people around, including those waiting in line for food; Unsurprisingly, the group attracted their fair share of stares, but Atem ignored them.

What was harder to ignore, however, was the familiar figure they passed in the hall.

“Oh, it’s you guys!” Mokuba gasped.

“Hey, Mokuba,” Anzu greeted him cheerfully.

“Congratulations on your win,” Mokuba told Anzu- and then went slightly pale upon seeing Atem behind her.

At first, neither of them said anything, both watching each other with solemn expressions. Mokuba glanced away and fidgeted nervously before addressing Atem directly.

“Um… Listen… I-I don’t really know what happened between you and my brother, but… I’m sorry,” he said, his voice hesitant yet sincere; Atem couldn’t understand his words, but he could understand the worried, nervous look on Mokuba’s face. “I know you’re still mad at him, but- W-Well, I hope we can still be friends… Please?” he finished, head hanging low in an apologetic bow.

The others glanced from Mokuba to Atem uncertainly, waiting with baited breath to see how things would go.

“...Mokuba. It’s ok,” Atem assured him softly. “I might not know what you’re saying, but I don’t blame you for anything your brother said, and I’m not mad at you or anything.” He paused for a moment, realizing Mokuba might not understand; To emphasize his point, he gently placed a hand on Mokuba’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

Mokuba seemed to get the message, as he let out a sigh of relief and smiled widely. “Oh, good!”

“Hey Mokuba,” Jounouchi butted in. “I’m cool as long as Atem’s cool, but… If I see your brother’s face, I’m gonna kick his ass.”

“Jounouchi!” Anzu gasped.

Mokuba bit his lip. “Y-Yeah. I understand. Um, anyway… What are you guys up to?” he asked hesitantly, seemingly trying to act more casual.

“We’re getting snacks,” Anzu answered. “Want to join us?”

“Sure,” Mokuba agreed with a nod.

With that, he and the others got in line at the concession stand, with a mildly confused Atem in tow. Atem stood idly by, glancing around and shifting his weight back and forth in boredom as the others talked amongst themselves, presumably discussing the menu; After a few minutes (the line was, unfortunately, moving rather slowly), he noticed Mai staring at his face with a look of intense concentration and scrutiny.

“Uh… Is something wrong..?” he asked awkwardly, feeling himself blush in embarrassment, though he wasn’t sure what exactly he was being judged on.

Mai’s eyes narrowed even further as she stared closer at his face, causing Atem to back up slightly in discomfort. “...You… Don’t use waterproof eyeliner, do you?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“Your eyeliner-” she pointed to Atem, and then closed one eye and touched two fingers to the lid, dragging them slowly down her cheek. “It’s all runny.”

Atem stared in blank confusion for a few seconds before the gesture finally clicked in his mind. “Oh! My eyeliner is messed up?!” he gasped in unhappy realization, touching his eyelids as if this would somehow fix it.

“Don’t worry, I can fix it for you when we get back,” Anzu told him with a smile, putting a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

“Uh… Yeah,” Atem replied confusedly, completely lost as to what she was trying to communicate.

He shrugged, and fell back to stand by Jounouchi and Honda instead.

“Is it really that bad..?” he muttered to himself, touching his face again.

Jounouchi gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. Honda, meanwhile, rolled his eyes. “I’ll never understand goths…”

A few more minutes passed, in boring silence, the line still moving painfully slowly; At one point, a nervous-looking man came up behind them, and mentioned to get their attention.

“Um, excuse me… You’re… Atem Mutou and Katsuya Jounouchi, right?” he began hesitantly. “Sorry to bother you, but, um… Do you think I could get your autographs?”

Atem, Jounouchi, and Honda exchanged nervous glances, knowing that Atem could neither understand nor answer the man’s question.

“O-Oh, uh, now’s not really a good time,” Jounouchi stammered with an awkward attempt at a smile, shaking his head. “Sorry.”

The man nodded respectfully. “I understand. Sorry to bother you. I hope the King of Games feels better soon,” he said, glancing briefly at Atem.

“Oh, don’t worry, he’s just- He just has a bit of a sore throat, he’ll be fine,” Jounouchi replied quickly. (He elbowed Atem, making deliberate eye contact with him for a moment as he forced a smile; Atem hesitated in confusion for a moment before quickly giving the stranger an awkward smile of his own, hoping that was what Jounouchi wanted.)

The man seemed satisfied with this, and soon left. Jounouchi and Honda both sighed in relief.

“Man, you better hurry up and get back to normal,” Jounouchi grumbled at Atem.

“Before they started fighting, my brother was trying to help Atem figure it out,” Mokuba interrupted, turning around to glance at the trio. “He said it was hypnosis.”

“Hypnosis?” several of the others repeated in surprise. Mokuba must have been telling them about the conclusion they’d come to earlier, Atem realized.

“Well, I guess stranger things have happened,” Mai muttered, shrugging.

“Yeah, it almost feels weirder that it’s something normal and not magic this time,” Jounouchi said, tilting his head and rubbing the back of his neck in awkward disbelief.

Honda raised an eyebrow. “Is hypnotism really that normal?”

The conversation continued briefly after that before gradually dying down. Finally, they reached the counter.

At first Atem had the concerning realization that he had no way to order, but evidently his friends knew him well enough to guess, as Anzu soon handed him an ice cream cone. Atem’s face lit up with a bright smile, genuinely pleased- both by the actual ice cream, and by the closeness of their bonds as friends.

For once, he didn’t need words. That meant more than any words in any language could ever convey.

“Thank you, Anzu,” he said sincerely as he took the cone.

Anzu nodded with a warm smile.

Atem didn’t say much as he followed the group back to their seats (it wasn’t like he had any reason to, anyway), instead investing his time in thoroughly enjoying his ice cream as his friends chattered away.

“Hey, Jounouchi… Is it just me, or was that guy back there kinda suspicious?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Like… He said ‘I hope the King of Games feels better soon’, but why would he say that? How did he know something’s wrong with Atem?”

Atem glanced up at the sound of his name, but soon elected to ignore it; Honda didn’t seem to be talking to him, it wasn’t like he’d be able to understand anyway, and his ice cream wasn’t going to eat itself. This was his logic as he continued to ignore the conversation, even as the others joined in… Even as the conversation grew more serious, dropping in tone, full of thoughtful “hmms” and determined nods.

“Alright, Atem- ...Atem?”

Atem blinked and paused mid-lick, head tilted back to catch a drop of ice cream melting down the side of the cone, looking very decidedly un-regal. “Huh?”

“We think that- Uh…” Jounouchi paused, frowning slightly and glancing towards the others. “How do we explain this…”

“I… don’t know that we can,” Anzu said quietly.

“In that case, I guess he’ll just have to trust us,” Jounouchi finished, nodding resolutely. He reached out and took Atem’s hand, tugging on it as if inviting him to come with him somewhere.

“Oh, uh… Where are we going?” Atem wondered as he nonetheless followed, glancing around in bewilderment as the group moved forward with an odd amount of conviction, led by… Mokuba, of all people?

With no knowledge of what was going on- and no way to find out- Atem followed his friends, trusting that wherever they were going (distinctly not to their seats, he noted) was important. Still holding hands with Jounouchi for no discernible reason other than companionship, he followed the group into a room beyond a closed door with a sign on it.

The room, it seemed, was some sort of control room, full of computer monitors and KaibaCorp employees. Distantly, Atem recognized one of the employees as Isono- though it wasn’t like he particularly cared.

“Mokuba-sama!” several of the room’s occupants greeted Mokuba in surprise, abruptly sitting more upright, reminding Atem of how the classroom looked whenever the teacher walked in.

“Don’t mind us,” Mokuba replied with a quick dismissive handwave and a reassuring smile. “Sorry, we just need to use one of the computers.”

With that, Mokuba walked over to one of the computers and plopped down in the chair, motioning for the others to join him. They all crowded around, peering over Mokuba’s shoulders, eyes glued to the screen as Mokuba began typing away.

“What are you looking at?” Atem wondered, standing on his tiptoes to try to see over his taller friends; After jumping up and down a few times, they seemed to get the message, as Anzu and Jounouchi wordlessly moved slightly to the side to let him through.

Now that he was able to actually see it, Atem glanced at the screen curiously. It appeared to show some sort of database of people, with photos flashing across the screen accompanied by neatly organized information sheets; After recognizing a few familiar faces (including Jounouchi’s), he realized it was most likely a list of duelists. Why they were all looking at it, however, was a mystery to him.

“Was it this guy?” Mokuba asked, pausing on the profile of a man Atem had never seen before.

“Hmm… Don’t think so,”   Jounouchi replied, frowning in concentration. Mokuba continued to scroll through the database, sipping his soda with his free hand.

“This one?”

“Nope.”

“Him?”

“Maybe- Eh, actually, no.”

Atem tilted his head thoughtfully as he watched the screen. “Are you guys looking for someone?” he wondered. “Why?”

The others exchanged glances, not knowing how to answer. After a moment, Mokuba sighed and went back to scrolling through the database.

“Hmm… Still doesn’t seem like-”

“There! That’s him!” Jounouchi suddenly exclaimed through a mouthful of pretzel, causing Atem to nearly jump in suprise.

“Who is- Hang on, isn’t that the guy who tried to talk to us earlier?” Atem gasped as he recognized the picture. “Why are you… ...Wait. Don’t tell me… He’s the one who hypnotized me, isn’t he?” he realized, voice dropping to a low, serious tone as he glowered at the image.

“Let’s see… Nemuri Hazawa, sitting in section IV, row D, seat 13,” Mokuba seemed to read off the screen.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Wait, Jounouchi!” Anzu interrupted. “We can’t prove anything yet.”

“If it’s a confession you want, leave it to me,” Mai said, looking unusually serious- Though there was a hint of mischief in her eyes, curiously enough.

The others shrugged, and followed Mai outside. Atem, of course, followed suit.

The group made their way over to another entrance to the stadium- presumably near where the man from earlier was sitting, and paused just about halfway down the stairs.

“Wait here,” Mai told the others, and winked before continuing on. This time, the rest of the group did not follow her… But they did peek carefully, curiously around the wall, Atem included. He watched as Mai, sure enough, walked towards the man from before.

“Excuse me… Is this seat taken?” she asked him in a sweet-sounding voice, the kind Atem recognized as a farce, an almost condescending tone she used to talk to men when she wanted something from-

Ohhhh, that was what was going on here, was it? He should have guessed as much, really. How anyone could ever fall for such a blatantly obvious tactic as seduction was a mystery to Atem, who had no interest in any relationship types other than friendship, family, and competitive rivalry, but if there was one thing he had learned from hanging around with Mai, it was that he was seemingly in the minority there.

Mai continued to sweet-talk the man for a few minutes, while the rest of the group waited in suspense and hurriedly finished the rest of their snacks. After a while, Mai abruptly dropped the act.

“It’s him, alright,” she shouted in their general direction, her voice dropping greatly in tone to her normal speaking voice.

And that was all it took. Atem felt a little bit sorry for the clearly bewildered man as Jounouchi and Honda suddenly marched over to his seat, scooped him up without warning, and carried him off over their shoulders in a matter of seconds. The whole thing rather reminded Atem of a certain scene from Star Wars, but with less mascot suits.

“Hey, wh- What do you think you’re doing?! Put me down!” the man shrieked.

“No,” Jounouchi and Honda responded in a bored monotone, as the man continued flailing uselessly from his position several feet above the ground. Atem glanced up at him with one eyebrow raised.

The group received more than a few stares as they paraded down the hall, no doubt an odd sight: A middle schooler with the messiest hair ever seen by man, the barely-taller-than-him grand champion of Duel Monsters, a teenage girl and a grown woman- both of whom, frankly, looked more like they were going clubbing than to a game tournament- and to top it all off, a pair of teenage boys carrying a very angry man around like a log, ignoring his shouts of protest. It was no wonder that this commotion caught the eye of every security guard around; Upon seeing Mokuba, however, they immediately backed down, left only to frown in concern and confusion.

The party followed Mokuba until they reached yet another mysterious closed door, which he held open as they all shuffled inside. Atem, of course, was the last one in save for Mokuba; After a moment, he recognized the room as being none other than the very electrical closet in which he’d explained his problem to Kaiba.

“Popular spot for kidnappings, huh,” he commented idly as Honda and Jounouchi dropped the man on the floor.

“Alright, whatever you did to Atem, fix it,” Honda ordered him with a stern glare, cracking his knuckles ominously and looming over the man. Jounouchi nodded at his side, looking just as intimidating.

The man gulped in fear. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything, I-”

“Don’t play dumb with us, punk!” Jounouchi snapped, stomping and raising a fist.

“Yeah, we know it was you!” Mokuba joined in.

The man shrunk back, but shook his head. “You can’t prove anything,” he insisted.

“I mean, you did just confess,” Mai added in an almost bored tone, holding up her phone. The man suddenly went pale, and opened his mouth to speak, but found himself at a loss for words.

“Come on, hurry up! We don’t have all day!”

“If you don’t fix it, then-”

“Alright, alright! I’ll do it, just don’t hurt me!” the man exclaimed fearfully, holding up his hands in surrender.

Jounouchi and Honda backed off just slightly, still keeping a close guard. Hesitantly, the man looked towards Atem, and motioned for him to come closer; Atem glanced questioningly at his friends, but nonetheless obeyed, trusting that he was well protected.

With trembling hands, the man pulled out his phone, under the sharp-eyed gaze of Honda and Jounouchi. He held the phone out to Atem, and Atem instinctively leaned closer to see the screen as the man flipped through his phone’s menu.

A video appeared on the screen, not unlike the one Atem had received earlier- And equally painful to look at, causing Atem to wince. For a brief, horrible second his head hurt like a terrible migraine, and everything sounded strange and far away, like he was underwater; Then, just as quickly as it had started, the strange feeling vanished.

“Did it work?” Anzu gasped.

“It better have, or else-”

“Oh, thank god,” Atem sighed loudly upon hearing his friends’ voices. “It’s about damn time.”

The others let out various cheers of joy, deeply relieved to hear Atem, reaching out for high-fives and congratulatory pats. Atem grinned and returned the gestures in kind, and then turned towards the source of the day’s troubles.

“Now then, you,” he said coldly, “Just who the hell are you?”

The man trembled under Atem’s gaze; Despite being almost laughably petite compared to the others, there was something in the way Atem looked at him that was far more terrifying than Jounouchi and Honda’s threats of physical violence. The Millennium Puzzle seemed to glint eerily from where it rested against his chest, looking unsettlingly similar to the expression on Atem’s face.

“I’m… M-My name is Nemuri Hazawa. I’m just an ordinary duelist,” the man squeaked. “Um, hypnotism is my- my side hobby.”

“Why’d you go after Atem?” Anzu asked, a  stern, threatening frown on her face.

Nemuri turned his gaze towards the floor and muttered something under his breath.

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. “You wanna say that a little louder, pal?”

“...I said, because I was scheduled to play him, but… he’s unbeatable!” Nemuri finally gasped, as if he’d been holding in all of his frustration up until that moment. “I mean, I’ve been playing Duel Monsters since the day it came out. Nobody’s won a damn tournament since this asshole showed up out of the blue! We’re all sick of it! And I mean, look at him- How old are you, kid? Thirteen? Fourteen? It’s just humiliating is what it is! ‘King of Games’ my ass!”

Atem took in a deep, sharp breath, and Honda and Jounouchi seemed to tense as if ready to restrain him as his eyebrows twitched in anger.

“I am three thousand years old,” he snapped seethingly, “And I turned eighteen three months ago.”

Nemuri frowned, brow creasing in confusion. “Wha-”

“Look, if you and your buddies don’t want to lose to kids, maybe you should just get good,” Mokuba said. “It’s not Atem’s fault you and your buddies are all scrubs?”

“We’re not fucking scrubs, the brat’s just unbeatable! I could be playing on a world championship level if it weren’t for him! I beat Bandit Keith once, you know!”

“Oh, honey,” Mai muttered sarcastically, giving Nemuri a pitying look.

Atem sighed. The others turned their attention towards him, as he suddenly seemed more… Tired.

“This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about earlier,” he admitted, shaking his head in disappointment. “You keep going on about how I’m ‘unbeatable’, but I’m not. People get these ideas in their heads about their opponents, and then they just… Give up. There’s nothing special about me,” he insisted. “I’m not inherently better at Duel Monsters than anyone else. I win because I’m good at strategy and tactical thinking, because I’m deeply familiar with the meta, and because I’m constantly refining my deck. Those are skills anyone can develop. And I win because I don’t spend all my time worrying about whether or not I can,” he added as a final note.

Nemuri rolled his eyes. “Yeah, easy for you to say,” he grumbled.

“Alright, I think it’s clear this guy isn’t up for any motivational speeches. Don’t waste your breath, Atem,” Mokuba butted in before the argument could continue. “Nemuri, you are hereby banned from this tournament.”

“Wait, Mokuba,” Atem interrupted. “I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like it would be a far more fitting punishment for him to continue with the tournament, don’t you?” he suggested, smiling impishly.

Nemuri went pale.

“Man, talk about stupid, though,” Honda commented as they walked back to their seats, for good this time. “The weirdest thing that’s happened to us since Atem got kicked out of the afterlife, and it turns out to just be some butthurt tryhard with a weird hobby? I mean, come on.”

Jounouchi shrugged. “Eh, at least nobody got put into a coma or anything,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, true...”

“I’m just surprised he confessed so easily,” Anzu admitted.

Mai laughed openly at this comment, shaking her head. “Straight men really are such idiots.”

“That’s for sure. Don’t forget bi men, too.”

“I’m stupid and proud!” Jounouchi shouted upon hearing this comment.

“We know,” Anzu, Mai, and Honda all replied in a monotone chorus.

Atem let out a quiet laugh, smiling fondly as he hung back slightly from the rest of the group. Despite finally being able to talk, he’d been surprisingly quiet for most of the walk; After a long day of confusion and loneliness, he was content just to listen to his friends talk among themselves.

It was silly little conversations like this, he thought, that he wouldn’t miss for the world.

“Hey… um… Atem? Could I… talk to you about something?” Mokuba asked quietly.

“Of course,” Atem replied sincerely, glancing at Mokuba in surprise. “What’s up?”

“Well… You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but- What… What exactly did my brother say to you that made you so upset earlier?”

Atem paused in his step.

“...He…” he sighed, lowering his gaze as he recalled the incident, trying to think of how to explain. “He’s… said several things that hurt my feelings throughout the afternoon,” he admitted. “Mostly, whenever I bring up my past- even just a little bit- he always shuts me down, says that I should forget about it and not let the past ‘interrupt real life’.”

“But why?” Mokuba wondered, a sympathetic, hurt frown on his face.

Atem shook his head slowly. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, are you guys coming or what?” Jounouchi interrupted loudly, turning back towards Mokuba and Atem from several feet ahead.

“You guys go on ahead, we’ll catch up,” Atem replied. (Jounouchi shrugged, and turned back towards the group, joining back in on whatever conversation they were having now.)

Mokuba was quiet for a bi, biting his lip worriedly.

“He remembers everything ancient Egypt, you know,” he admitted quietly after a moment. “He doesn’t talk about it much, but he’s told me a little bit about it once or twice.”

Atem nodded. “I know. That’s why I don’t get why he’s so bent on pretending it never happened. And he…”

Atem took a deep breath, trying to collect himself before continuing.

“...What finally pushed me over the edge was… I had made a comment about us being cousins, you see,” he admitted. “Just a stupid little joke, nothing more. But he insisted that we’re… not.”

“Oh,” was all Mokuba could say, soft and simple.

“Yeah.” Atem sighed. “I mean, maybe he’s right… I know- I know my family’s gone, it was probably kind of naive of me to-”

“I’ll be your cousin!”

Atem took a moment to process what had just been said, raising both eyebrows in surprise at Mokuba’s unexpected outburst. “What..?”

“Well- I mean- When I found out that you and Seto used to be cousins, I got really excited. ‘Cause I’m his brother, so technically that kinda makes you and Yuugi my cousins too, right?” Mokuba pointed out. “And I’ve always wanted cool cousins, but I never had any, so I just thought- I-I mean I dunno, I guess maybe that’s not really how it works… But maybe we could at least pretend, or… Aw, maybe I’m just being stupid,” Mokuba sighed, shoulders slumping a bit as his enthusiasm died down into embarrassment.

“No, I think that makes sense,” Atem agreed, shaking his head. “I’d be happy to be your cousin, Mokuba.”

Mokuba gasped. “Really?!”

“Really,” Atem repeated, smiling reassuringly at Mokuba.

Mokuba’s face suddenly lit up with a wide, bright-eyed grin, full of excitement. “Yes! I finally have cool cousins!” he cheered, bouncing up and down on his heels. “This is great! Now we can do all sorts of fun cousin stuff, like- Like, uh… ...What do cousins do, exactly?” he wondered, frowning slightly in confusion.

Atem shrugged. “I dunno. Seto pushed me off a boat a couple times when we were little?” he recalled, not really sure how to answer.

“Cool, then we can take turns pushing each other off boats,” Mokuba decided with a serious nod. “And then we can have sleepovers, and play video games together, and send each other Christmas presents, and bake cookies, and complain about homework, and…”

Atem could only laugh as he listened Mokuba ramble on, talking a mile a minute as he listed increasingly more and more ridiculous ideas as to what exactly cousins typically did. The sheer sincerity in Mokuba’s excitement brought a warm feeling to Atem’s spirit; Though he’d always had something of an older brother personality, he was used to being around the same age as those around him, if not younger. He’d always wondered what it would be like to have a younger sibling or cousin to look up for him, but never in a million years would he have expected to find one in none other than Mokuba Kaiba.

Maybe his family wasn’t really gone, he thought softly to himself. It was true that he’d lost more than words could say on that fateful day many thousands of years ago, and some things could never be replaced; There would always be a hole in his heart shaped like the friends and family he had lost, always a deep yearning for the home and culture that had been taken from him far too soon… But that didn’t mean that he didn’t have a future ahead of him, too, or that “family” could only mean biological relatives.

For as much as he often thought of himself as being hopelessly alone, always retreating in on himself as he became lost in a past the rest of the world could never understand, there were still people who were willing to pull him out of it. People who loved him, past, present, and future, who accepted him with open arms, never pressuring him to forget who he was in order to fit in. People who loved him for who he was, for who he had been, and for who he would always be.

Atem smiled softly, and ruffled Mokuba’s hair as they walked.