Chapter Text
The concept, like so many things in Yuugi’s life, started out deceptively simple.
The International Gaming Expo 1999 was to be a conference for game designers, critics, and enthusiasts from around the world to discuss the future of gaming, and- being the current top ranked champions of Duel Monsters, which had quickly become a major power in the game scene- Naturally, Yuugi and Atem had been invited to attend (along with Kaiba, of course). The event was to be hosted in Las Vegas, at the Luxor hotel and casino.
And therein lay the problem.
No one quite knew what to expect as Yuugi and Atem stood in the airport lobby, luggage in hand, facing away from the boarding area and towards their family.
“You two packed enough snacks, right?” Yuugi’s mom checked worriedly, simultaneously glancing at the clock behind them.
“Yup!” Yuugi replied, tugging on the straps of his backpack for emphasis.
“And you’re sure you have your phone chargers? Both of you?”
“Yes,” Yuugi and Atem answered simultaneously.
“And you have your medication?”
Yuugi sighed. “Yes, mom, I double checked everything before we left, I promise.”
“Honey, don’t you think you’re worrying a bit too much?” Yuugi’s grandpa pointed out gently.
Yuugi’s mother huffed. “It’s only natural to be worried, my babies are going to another country all by themselves!” she insisted.
“Mom, we’re not babies!”
“Technically we’re adults in America,” Atem pointed out, shrugging.
Yuugi’s mom shook her head. “Uh-uh. You’re both babies,” she repeated. With little warning, she pulled both of them in for hugs, planting messy, affectionate kisses on their cheeks before they could escape.
“Eugh! Mom!”
“Gross, cut it out!”
Yuugi’s mom only laughed as she reluctantly conceded, letting the two go- although not without ruffling their hair.
“So, do you two have any plans other than the expo?” Grandpa asked casually, as Yuugi and Atem made various expressions of disgust towards their mother’s… enthusiasm.
“Not really,” Yuugi sighed after a moment, shaking his head and wiping his cheek. “I know the hotel has a pool, so we might-”
“I have a suggestion,” Grandpa interrupted, and the look on his face made it clear he was scheming something. Yuugi and Atem exchanged mildly suspicious glances.
“Alright, what is it?”
Grandpa grinned. “Well, you know what legendary site is in Nevada…”
“...Nuclear weapons testing?” Atem guessed.
“Well, that too,” Grandpa admitted with a shrug. “But more specifically, I was thinking… You two should try to find the E.T. graveyard!” he suggested excitedly.
Yuugi put a hand on his face in exasperation.
“Grandpa, that’s in New Mexico,” Atem pointed out. “Assuming it even exists.”
“Yeah, and even if it did, we wouldn’t go looking for it,” Yuugi added.
Yuugi’s grandpa frowned slightly. “Why not?”
“Because, we’re not just gonna go digging random holes in the desert looking for garbage! If you want a copy of E.T. that badly, just buy one online!” Yuugi exclaimed with a sigh.
Grandpa huffed, crossing his arms. “It’s not about having it, it’s about the experience! Sheesh, kids these days have no sense of adventure. This is the problem with the video game era,” he muttered, shaking his head in disappointment.
Yuugi’s mom raised an eyebrow. “Dad, I don’t think that’s a problem with video games. I think you’re just vastly overestimating how universal an experience treasure hunting is,” she pointed out.
Grandpa only gave an offended snort in response.
“Anyway, we should probably head to the gate,” Yuugi decided before the conversation could continue any further.
The others nodded in acknowledgement, as Yugi and Atem grabbed their suitcases and prepared to leave.
“Have fun, boys,” Grandpa said with a cheerful wave. “You’ll have to tell me all about the expo!”
“We will!” Atem promised, smiling.
“Call when you get off the plane,” Yuugi’s mom added. “Stay out of trouble, alright, you two? No committing crimes, you hear?”
“We won’t!”
“No promises!”
Yuugi turned towards Atem with a blank expression.
“What? I’m just being honest,” Atem told him, shrugging.
Yuugi sighed and shook his head in dismay. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t get into trouble,” he assured his mother as he began to turn away. “See you later.”
“Bye, have fun, be good! Take pictures!” Yuugi’s mom called after them as they walked.
“Bye, kids! have a safe flight!”
Atem turned back and waved over his shoulder as he followed Yuugi towards the boarding area, glancing back every now and then until their family disappeared from view. As they looked around for somewhere to sit after loading their luggage onto the conveyor, a different set of familiar voices caught Yuugi and Atem’s attention.
“You’ll bring me back presents, right?”
“Of course I will. What kind of brother do you take me for? ...Did you want something specific?”
“Candy! American candy is so good- Oh, hey guys!” Mokuba called out, waving as Atem and Yuugi approached.
“Hey Mokuba! And hello, Kaiba-kun,” Yuugi said politely, sitting down on the bench across from them.
“Yo,” Atem added.
“Hey,” Kaiba said with a curt nod of acknowledgement, and then turned back towards Mokuba. “Mokuba, you do remember what happened the last time you had American candy, right?”
“That… Is a risk I’m willing to take,” Mokuba said with a serious nod.
Atem raised an eyebrow in concerned curiousity. “Dare I ask..?”
Kaiba sighed. “The problem with American candy is that it’s loaded with high fructose corn syrup,” he explained. “So you eat it, and it tastes like the best candy you’ve ever had, and then an hour later you wish you were dead.”
“Yeah, and then you do it all over again the next day,” Mokuba finished cheerfully.
“Oh yeah, I’ve done that when grandpa’s friend sent him some candy,” Yuugi recalled. “We should get some!”
Atem blinked in surprise. “That… sounds kind of horrifying. No offense.”
“It is, but it’s so worth it,” Mokuba said with a wistful sigh. “So you’ll bring me back candy, right, big brother?”
“Sure, but if you eat it all in one go you’ll get no sympathy from me.”
Before Mokuba could attempt to defend his inevitable poor life choices, the airport’s PA system came on with a loud ding-dong!
“Attention: Japan Airlines flight 1621 to Las Vegas will now begin boarding from gate C. All passengers, please proceed to the boarding area to await further instructions.”
“Ah, that’s us,” Yuugi realized as the announcement repeated itself. “Guess it’s time to go.”
As Yuugi, Atem, and Kaiba stood up to leave, Mokuba stood up as well. He wrapped his arms around his brother’s waist in a tight hug.
“Bye, big brother. Have fun, steal all the other companies’ secrets, don’t forget to bring me candy,” he said with a mischievous grin.
“I know, I know,” Kaiba answered, smiling almost uncharacteristically gently as he returned the embrace, and then ruffled Mokuba’s hair. “I’ll call you when we land. Don’t cause too much chaos while I’m gone,” he added with a slight laugh.
“I’ll try,” Mokuba teased, gently breaking away from the hug. He then ran over to Yuugi and Atem, giving each of them a quick hug in turn, both of which were returned with equal warmth.
Kaiba raised an eyebrow as he watched Atem give Mokuba an affectionate pat on the head, frowning slightly at the scene.
“Why do they get goodbye hugs?” he muttered somewhat bitterly.
“Because,” Mokuba answered, offering no further explanation. “Why, are you jealous or something?”
Kaiba scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course not.”
“Good, ‘cause you’re still my favorite person in the whole world,” Mokuba said quietly, giving one last quick hug for good measure. “Now go crush the competition!”
Kaiba nodded, a hint of affection behind one of his trademark confident smirks. “With pleasure. See you, Mokuba.”
With that, he turned to follow the others.
“Bye, have a safe trip!” Mokuba called out, watching as the plane began to board, returning the friendly goodbye wave Yuugi sent him from the ramp.
A short while later, the plane was off, leaving the towering Tokyo skyline far behind.
The world seemed to fade away as Atem stared blankly out the window at the earth below- Not terribly interested, yet too entranced to look away, watching the hypnotic movements of the water. There’d been nothing below them but ocean for quite some time now; He could make out some differences in hue here and there, different currents perhaps, but there was hardly anything interesting to look at otherwise. He’d hardly thought there could be so much ocean in the world, and yet there it-
“Aaah, come on!” Yuugi exclaimed, breaking Atem’s train of thought as he huffed in frustration, shaking his Gameboy slightly.
“Hm? What’s wrong?” Atem wondered, instinctively peeking over Yuugi’s shoulder curiously.
Yuugi sighed. “Suicune got away again.”
“Ah, that sucks.”
“Why don’t you just use the Master Ball?” Kaiba muttered from the aisle seat. In one hand, he held a portion of a sandwich; In the other, a pencil, making notes on something-or-other in a notebook on the tray table in front of him.
“I’m trying to catch it without a Master Ball,” Yuugi explained. “Just as a challenge, you see. I’m hoping to catch it in a Love Ball, but I’ll take whatever works.”
“That seems like kind of a waste of time.”
Atem gave an amused snort. “Waste of what time? We’ve got…” He paused, glancing at his watch. “Nine and a half hours.”
“Fair enough, I guess,” Kaiba conceded with a nod as he finished his sandwich. “Speaking of which… You. Duel me,” he demanded, pointing almost accusatorily at Atem, leaning in front of Yuugi.
Atem shrugged. “Sure. Aibou, switch seats with me,” he requested.
Yuugi obeyed without comment, his eyes remaining glued his Gameboy even as he stood up, climbed over Atem, and sat back down in the window seat.
The three of them remained that way for quite some time: Yuugi frowning in concentration at his game, Kaiba and Atem calmly dueling from their seats, the plane bouncing lightly as it continued on its watery path. After a while, the duel evidently came to a close, if the way Kaiba slammed his hands on the tray in frustration was any indication.
“Oh, fuck you!”
“I don’t know what you expected, really,” Atem said calmly, although his expression was more than a little smug. “You’ve never beaten me before. I’m not sure what made you think being on a plane would make any difference.”
“No. Shut up. Fuck you,” Kaiba spat again. “Yugi! Duel me!”
“Alright, if you’re sure.”
Yuugi once again hopped out of his seat to switch with his so-called “other self”, from the window seat to the middle. The fluidity with which they moved around each other was uncanny; Even with no communication whatsoever, the two moved almost as a single unit, never once getting in each other’s way. As they did so, Atem quickly scooped up his cards, arranging the deck back into a neat stack once he was sitting down, and placed it back in its box with gentle care.
Atem watched the duel for a while, glancing at the cards in Yuugi’s hand every now and then. Yuugi and Kaiba’s duel was just as intense as ever- even when played quietly on small tables like any other game, rather than with full scale holograms in a huge stadium- Yet Atem had no doubts as to what the outcome would be, and gradually began to zone out, too accustomed to the familiar decks.
“I think I’m gonna take a nap,” he told Yuugi after a little while.
“What, and miss out on this fascinating view?” Yuugi replied sarcastically, gesturing to the predictably empty ocean outside the window. “Suit yourself, I guess.”
Atem snorted. “Yeah, wake me if you see the kraken,” he teased in response.
Despite their jokes, little occurred to make the flight more interesting. Everything went almost disappointingly according to expectations; Atem soon fell asleep, the view outside the window remained much the same as it had been, and (naturally, much to Kaiba’s frustration) Yuugi won the duel.
“Don’t think this is over, Yuugi,” Kaiba growled ominously as he gathered up his deck.
“Oh, I know,” Yuugi replied, tucking his own deck neatly away into his bag, moving slowly so as not to disturb Atem. “Thank you for the duel, it was fun.”
Once his deck was put away, Yuugi settled back against his seat, sighing slightly. He glanced over at Atem, and couldn’t help but smile;There was something endearing about the way he slept, hands curled up in his lap, his lips slightly parted as his head rested on Yuugi’s shoulder. No doubt by the time he awoke, Atem would have a sore neck and Yuugi would have a drool-soaked shirt, yet he just couldn’t bring himself to move him. Instead, he quietly slipped his arm behind Atem’s back, stroking his shoulder affectionately.
“...I suppose sleeping isn’t a bad idea for all of us,” Kaiba said quietly, leaning forwards slightly to look at Atem, an almost amused expression on his face.
“Wait,” Yuugi interrupted before Kaiba could get settled. “Kaiba-kun, I… I think you and I need to have a little talk.”
Kaiba paused, raising an eyebrow at Yuugi. “Fine, I’ll bite. What do you want?”
Yuugi was quiet at first, taking a deep breath, mentally steeling himself for what he was about to say.
“...As you know, the Luxor hotel is ancient Egypt themed,” he began.
“Unfortunately,” Kaiba muttered in response, rolling his eyes. “I think the universe has stopped outright trying to kill us and moved on to incessant humiliation.”
Yuugi gave an amused snort. “You might be right about that, I’ll admit. But in any case, I don’t know how well this will go for Atem, so…”
Yuugi’s expression seemed to grow a bit more solemn, his voice dropping to a quiet, serious tone.
“I expect you to be nice to him. And no matter what he does or says- no matter how silly it sounds to you- You do not invalidate his feelings. Understand?”
Kaiba looked taken aback by this command, crossing his arms and glaring in displeasure. “Who the hell do you think you are, telling me what to do like that?”
“I’m the one who didn’t put you in a coma for half a year,” Yuugi answered, unsettlingly direct. “Maybe that’s something you ought to keep in mind.”
A passing cloud cast a dark shadow over Yuugi’s face, and for a brief moment, it became frighteningly clear just how much he and Atem truly were one and the same. Kaiba felt himself shiver slightly.
“...Why are you so angry at me, anyway?” Kaiba wondered quietly. His voice was little more than a meek whisper, and he thanked the powers that be for the fact that no one was around to see just how intimidated he’d been by sweet little Yuugi Mutou.
“You know why,” Yuugi replied darkly, before slipping on a pair of headphones. “Enjoy your nap, Kaiba-kun.”
With that, Yuugi turned away, blocking out the outside world and leaving Kaiba to meditate on the fact that he just had, in fact, been threatened by Yuugi… As well as the fact that, yes, he did know why. Loathe as he was to admit it, he knew exactly what he had done to earn Yuugi’s wrath.
Yuugi was referring, he knew, to the “incident” several months ago, at Domino City’s regional championship Duel Monsters tournament. After being told one too many times to let go of the past, Atem had suddenly snapped. The result had been a sudden shouting match, a lot of tears, and a lot of thinking left for Kaiba to do.
In all honesty, Kaiba hadn’t even realized that Atem had been so bothered by it in the first place. Yet Atem’s words from that day were burned into his memory, still haunting him upon occasion, late at night when all regretful memories surfaced.
“Would you be happier if I really had died back then?!”
“Is that all I am to you? A ‘disruption’?”
“Is that what you fucking want, Kaiba?!”
Ever since that day, the Mutous had suddenly been on… much more distant terms with Kaiba. Although they’d never quite been close, with Kaiba rejecting their repeated attempts at “friendship”, they’d never actively avoided him either, not until the Incident. Despite being, apparently, close friends with Mokuba, Yuugi and Atem no longer invited Kaiba to hang out with their little group, nor did they try to make cheerful conversation with him when they wound up together for events; They weren’t unkind, they didn’t shun him, but it was clear that they had no desire to go out of their way to make friends anymore.
...Kaiba frowned as he stared at his cards, feeling a sudden apprehension about the days to come.
“Man, it’s crazy that they built this whole casino on a boat,” Atem commented, watching the clouds go by as the reed boat bounced gently on the waves.
“I know, right?” Mana agreed, dangling her feet playfully over the side of the boat. “I wonder how they did it…”
“I’m gonna play Time Wizard,” Jounouchi decided, standing on the deck behind Atem and Mana.
Yuugi gasped. “Jounouchi-kun, no! You can’t, you know what’ll happen!” he exclaimed, and shook his head with a wide-eyed expression of horror.
“But I hate casinos!”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean you can erase the whole thing,” Yuugi insisted. “Come on, it’s only for a few days. Play nice.”
Jounouchi sighed. “Fine, whatever. If it’ll make you happy, Yuugi.”
Meanwhile, Atem sat down next to Mana, watching the ocean go by so far beneath them. He rested his head on her shoulder and dangled his legs along with her, feeling the cold water chill his ankles in a steady stream.
“What are you going to wear to the party, Atem?” Mana asked.
“Dunno yet,” Atem replied, shrugging.
“Hmm… I think you should wear that one skirt that’s super swooshy,” Mana suggested. “It’d be good ‘cause it’s nice and cool for the weather, but it’s also goth, you know?”
Atem shook his head. “I would, but I can’t. Kaiba would kill me.”
“Who cares what Kaiba thinks? You should just do it.”
Atem sighed. “I know, but I don’t like it when Kaiba gets mad at me. He’s always so-”
“Yes!” Yuugi shouted, right in Atem’s ear, causing Atem to jump in surprise. His voice felt unnaturally loud, louder than the whole world around him, and Atem wondered just what exactly had caused Yuugi to-
“Nnnh..?” Atem slurred as he slowly opened his eyes. His head felt heavy as he lifted it up, his memories of… Whatever he’d even been dreaming about already fading from his mind. (Mana had been there, maybe..? He’d already forgotten.)
“Oh, sorry, I forgot you were sleeping,” Yuugi whispered, giving Atem an apologetic pat.
“‘S okay,” Atem yawned. “What’s up?”
“I finally caught Suicune!” Yuugi replied excitedly.
“Oh, nice!” Atem congratulated him. “What ball did you wind up catching it in?”
“A Friend Ball!”
Atem gave a slow nod of approval. “Of course… Suicune must have sensed your friendship,” he decided.
Yuugi smiled. “I guess so!”
On Yuugi’s other side, however, Kaiba sighed in exasperation.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” he muttered, not looking at either Yuugi or Atem as he typed rapidly on a laptop computer. “A Friend Ball has the exact same catch rate as a normal Pokeball. All it does is set the captured Pokemon’s friendship to 200. Suicune is nothing but data, it can’t ‘sense your friendship’,” he insisted, his tone as matter-of-fact and dry as always.
“Kaiba-kun, why do you hate fun?” Yuugi asked with strained politeness.
Kaiba said nothing in response, continuing to type away at his computer.
“He’s just saying that to be a jerk,” Atem realized after a few minutes. “Kaiba’s just as emotional about video games as anyone else. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t be so into Duel Monsters.”
Kaiba continued his relentless typing for a moment before pausing, still staring at the screen, as if thinking about what to write next.
“...Perhaps,” he decided, the slightest bare hint of a smile on his face.
“Anyway, how long was I asleep?” Atem wondered. He glanced out the window; Yep, still ocean.
“Only about an hour or so,” Yuugi answered.
Atem let out a long groan of frustration. “Why does America have to be so far away? I’m getting bored,” he whined. “And I think there’s an air vent under my seat… My feet are weirdly cold,” he added, frowning slightly and glancing down at his shoes.
“Do you want to switch with me?”
Atem frowned, momentarily surprised by the question. “Huh..?”
“Switch seats,” Yuugi clarified, picking up on Atem’s confusion. “Do you want to switch seats with me?”
Atem blinked. “Oh, uh… Sure.”
He shook his head in disbelief at himself as he and Yuugi climbed over and around each other, trading seats. His confusion, silly though it was, was understandable; He’d often heard (or used) the phrase “switch with me” in a much different context, during the time he and Yuugi had spent sharing a body.
Being a person, he thought, was something he might never fully get used to.
“Why do you have a Gengar named ‘Princess’?” Kaiba questioned almost sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
“Because she’s a princess. Why do you have a Gengar named…” Atem frowned at the screen. “...’Fart Man’..?”
“Because Mokuba traded it to me,” Kaiba sighed.
Atem gave a slow nod of understanding.
“Guys! Guys!” Yuugi interrupted suddenly, gasping in excitement, practically shoving Atem in his haste to get his attention.
“What?” Atem and Kaiba responded in unison.
Yuugi pointed enthusiastically towards the window. “Look!”
“It’s… a cloud,” Kaiba observed, frowning in confusion. “What’s so-”
“Woah!” Atem gasped, leaning across Yuugi to get a better look.
Kaiba’s unspoken question was soon answered, as the plane tilted to the side, revealing what had so thoroughly caught Yuugi’s attention: A distant shoreline, the beach below them dotted with tiny landmarks like sprinkles on a cake.
“That must be California,” Kaiba realized. “Welcome to America, I suppose.”
Atem exchanged bright-eyed glances with Yuugi, grinning excitedly. “If we’re finally in America, then that must mean-”
“We won’t be landing for another three hours or so,” Kaiba interrupted before Atem could finish.
Atem groaned and dropped his head down onto Yuugi’s shoulder.
“You’ve crushed my dreams, Kaiba,” he muttered, voice muffled by Yuugi’s shirt.
Yuugi gave Atem a sympathetic pat. “There, there.”
“Just be patient,” Kaiba told him. “It’s only three more hours.”
“Three whole hours!” Atem wailed dramatically. “Why haven’t you invented teleportation yet?”
“...Because that’s not my field of interest?” Kaiba replied dryly, raising an eyebrow.
Yuugi sighed. “I’m sorry about him. He doesn’t like waiting,” he explained to Kaiba.
“I spent three thousand years waiting around!” Atem announced, finally looking up, if only to throw his head back with all the drama of a Shakespearean actor.
“I know you did,” Yuugi answered calmly.
“Three thousand years in total isolation-”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I spent so long in that damn Puzzle-”
“That you lost your sense of time, I know, I know.”
“And now I have to spend twelve whole hours in this stupid airplane! It’s ridiculous!” Atem insisted, throwing his hands up in outrage.
“Yup,” Yuugi continued to answer automatically.
“At least the Millennium Puzzle didn’t smell weird!”
“Mhmm.”
“Or make my feet cold… Or like, my ears hurt?” he added, frowning slightly in confusion
“Don’t worry. Just think, once we get off this plane, you won’t have to deal with it anymore,” Kaiba assured him.
Atem sighed. “Yeah, I-”
“That is, until we do it all again for the return trip,” Kaiba finished, with a knowing, self-assured grin.
...Atem took a deep breath, buried his face in Yuugi’s shoulder yet again, and let out a long muffled scream.