Archive of Our Own

"That means there's only one more thing to settle," Yugi said, and the Pharaoh swallowed. "Who won the bet, mou hitori no boku?"

The Pharaoh sighed, "We tied."

"You're kidding."

"No, no I am not."

"What are we supposed to do now?" Yugi wondered, slouching in his seat.

"It depends on what you want to do," the Pharaoh said, only too innocent. "Would you rather go on a date with Anzu or endure movie night with the troublesome trio?"

Yugi looked over to see the opaque form of the Pharaoh sitting beside him at an empty desk. "Bored, aibou?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," he thought back, "Are you?"

"Excessively," the Pharaoh replied. "How about we play a game?"

"That could be difficult," Yugi replied mentally. "Since you can't touch anything and I can't say anything aloud, or people would look at me funny."

The Pharaoh almost chuckled. "You do it for me," he said easily. "We'll play something we can draw."

"Tic-tac-toe?"

"Too short," he replied, "Something else."

"Do you have any ideas?" Yugi asked.

"You have been drawing a lot of dots on your paper," he remarked, "Let's connect them. Whoever can connect the most dots into shapes wins. You can use two different colors," he added, then made a vague gesture. "Go on."

Yugi grinned. Using two colored pens, black for him and blue for the Pharaoh, he drew triangles, squares, pentagons—among other things. The Pharaoh would point to a pattern of dots and Yugi would connect them, and then make his turn.

"Psst," Jonouchi hissed next to him, "What are ya doing, Yug?"

"Playing a game," he whispered.

"With who?"

"Who do you think?"

"Do Pharaoh's get bored?"

"He doesn't have a lot to do, Jonouchi."

"Right," he muttered. "Where is he?"

Yugi used his turn to draw an arrow pointing to the Pharaoh, who grinned, raising his eyebrows. "Good one, aibou."

Yugi smiled in his direction. Jonouchi wished he didn't feel so weird at moments like this. "What did he say?"

Yugi glanced at the Pharaoh, who smiled mischievously. Yugi looked at Jonouchi and said, straight faced, "He commented on the fact that you've been staring at a picture of Mai in your notebook for the past hour."

Jonouchi very nearly fell out of his seat. "What?" he hissed. "What exactly did he say?"

"He said, 'Jonouchi drools a lot when he stares at Mai,' but he didn't think you'd like that, so he told me to edit it."

Jonouchi boiled, his head thudding onto the desk in embarrassment. "Aw man…" he muttered, fighting the urge to shout. "It's not that obvious, is it?"

Yugi looked away, following the path the Pharaoh pointed to, drawing a line with the blue-inked pen. "I guess so, Jonouchi. Then again, he notices pretty much everything, so maybe it was just him." When Jonouchi peeked up at him hopefully, Yugi added, "Maybe. It was kind of obvious."

Jonouchi's head thudded back on the desk.

Yugi stifled a laugh, while his other self outright chuckled. "Poor Jonouchi-kun," he grinned. "He can't control his drooling when he sees Mai."

"Puppy love," Yugi thought, and they both busted up.

"What's so funny?" Jonouchi growled.

Yugi shook his head. "Nothing, Jonouchi. Nothing."

"I win," said his other self suddenly. Yugi looked down, baffled. Sure enough, all the dots and possible space had been taken up by every shape imaginable.

"That can't be..." Yugi muttered, counting the shapes. It took him a minute to count them all out, but the Pharaoh was right. He had won. "Dang it!" he exclaimed softly. The bell rang. "Rematch!" he demanded loudly, drawing several students, and the teachers, glances. He smiled sheepishly while the Pharaoh stifled a laugh.

Jonouchi grinned. "Did the Pharaoh win?"

"Yes," Yugi said darkly.

"Maybe next time, aibou," the Pharaoh said reassuringly. "If you want a rematch that badly."

Yugi shrugged, "We've got one more period before lunch. Might as well."

"I'm betting on the Pharaoh," Jonouchi said as they left the classroom.

"Jonouchi!" Yugi exclaimed. "Who's side are you on?"

"Yours, of course," he smiled. "Both of your sides!"

In the next class period, the game began again. "Don't count on winning, aibou," the Pharaoh advised. "I've been playing games longer than you have."

"Yeah, well I'm the King of Games," Yugi replied.

The Pharaoh rolled his eyes, "Just go."

Yugi wished his head wouldn't keep falling on his desk. He wished he wasn't in school—bored and tired.

"How about a game?" the voice of the Pharaoh suggested. Yugi's head immediately popped up, grinning, to look at the Pharaoh.

"What game this time?" he asked mentally.

The Pharaoh barely had to hesitate, "Charades."

"Charades?" Yugi asked, uncertainly.

"Sure," he agreed. "We'll do a Duel Monsters version. I'll go first."

He opened his mouth and curved his two pointer fingers and put them to his teeth, like he was baring fangs.

Yugi busted up. He couldn't help it. He had never imagined the Pharaoh would do anything like that—ever. It came as a total surprise to him.

The Pharaoh raised an eyebrow in mock disgust, secretly pleased. He knew his sense of humor needed a little work. "Aibou, if you can't keep a straight face and guess, we're going to have to play something else."

Yugi shook his head, trying to stop laughing. Everyone had looked around at him at the start of his laughter and the teacher had stopped talking, glaring sternly in his direction. "Mr. Muto," she snapped. "What, may I ask, are you laughing about?"

Yugi tried and failed to halt his laughter—it was no use. His laughter was out of control. "I-I'm sorry, Ms. Lang," he choked. "I didn't… didn't, mean to in-interrupt."

"Do I have to ask you to leave the room?" she asked sharply.

Yugi managed to shake his head, though he was quite sure he couldn't stop laughing. Every time he remembered the Pharaoh doing those fangs… he started laughing again. Ms. Lang turned back to the board.

"What's so funny?" Honda hissed behind him.

Honda asking the why, and the obvious question on Jonouchi and Anzu's faces, only served to make him laugh harder. "Later," he choked under his breath.

"Are you going to guess?" the Pharaoh asked, who had waited patiently as Yugi laughed it out.

"Vampire Lord," he thought.

The Pharaoh nodded, smiling. "Your turn."

Abruptly, the Pharaoh switched places with Yugi and lounged in the seat, waiting for Yugi to make his turn. Yugi, unprepared, thought hurriedly of a Duel Monster. The first one that came to mind was a simple one, and one hardly anyone knew of. Yugi did a sort of ballet pose—his arms over his head to make a circle, and he turned around in a circle and then did his fingers in little bursts, like sparkles.

The Pharaoh was a little better at covering his laughter, but he still chuckled thoroughly before answering Yugi's obvious implication. "Mystical Shine ball," he thought, still chuckling.

Yugi nodded with a grin and they switched places again. The Pharaoh thought for a fraction of a second before assuming the position of holding a staff pointed directly at Yugi. He moved his fingers in a mystic way and Yugi, grinning knew the answer quickly.

"Dark Magician," he thought. The Pharaoh swapped him places again. Yugi, prepared this time and thoroughly enjoying the game, brought his arms close to his body and pretended to swat at the Pharaoh.

"Kuriboh, right?" the Pharaoh asked him, laughing. Yugi nodded with a grin.

Again they switched, and it was the Pharaoh's turn. Something that will surprise aiboui, he thought, keeping his thoughts from him. Secretly, he smiled and set to work. Hunching his back, he turned to the side and looked around at Yugi, hunching his hands and trying to make his face ugly. With one hand, he pointed with his pointer finger up like a unicorn horn.

That set Yugi cracking up again. It was another thing he hadn't expected from the Pharaoh. Vampire fangs was one thing; hunching and making an ugly face was another. In short, it was hilarious.

"The Horned Imp," he thought, trying to keep his amusement to a minimum.

The contest continued with each guessing correctly the monster they attempted to appear as. Yugi barely heard a word the teacher said. In the end, it was a draw.

"Rematch?" the Pharaoh asked.

"Next class, you bet!"

"Yugi, what were you laughing at?" Anzu asked. That set Yugi into a fit of giggles again.

"Just playing a game," he replied, grinning.

"With the Pharaoh?" Jonouchi asked.

Yugi nodded, that same grin plastered on his face. "I couldn't help laughing."

"Did you hear anything Ms. Lang said?" Anzu asked, frowning.

"Uh, nope," Yugi replied, not feeling very guilty, even though he knew he should.

"We have a test in two days, Yugi," Honda said, though he was grinning.

Jonouchi dismissed it. "What game were you playing?"

"Charades," Yugi replied with a secret grin.

"Charades?" Anzu asked, and Yugi nodded, resisting the urge to break into laughter again.

"What was so funny about it?" Honda asked. "You could barely control yourself! If the Pharaoh's really that funny, I wanna see it for myself."

That alerted the Pharaoh fast. Understanding passed between them quickly and Yugi shrugged in answer to Honda's question as they settled into their seats for the next class. "It was a Duel Monsters version."

"And...?" Jonouchi prompted. "Come on, Yug, you didn't tell us what was too funny about the game you played yesterday either."

Yugi just smiled, looking up as the bell rang. "Class is starting! Time for a rematch."

"Up for another game, aibou?" taunted the Pharaoh.

After two days of pure games, Yugi had come to expect and look forward to this. He agreed eagerly. "Can I pick this time?" he asked. The Pharaoh gave a 'go ahead' gesture, so Yugi continued. "Let's play truth or dare."

"Truth or dare? Don't girls primarily play that, aibou?"

"That’s really just a stereotype," Yugi replied. "Besides, I want you to pick dare."

The Pharaoh rolled his eyes. "Fine, then. Who goes first?"

"You ask me first," Yugi suggested, lounging in his chair.

Suddenly a wicked grin lit the Pharaoh's face, "Alright, Yugi, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Yugi replied automatically. When the Pharaoh's grin grew, he knew he had picked wrong.

"Who is your crush?"

Yugi’s heart pounded in his ears. "Dare."

"Fine then, I dare you to answer that question."

"That's against the rules!" Yugi complained.

The Pharaoh shrugged helplessly, acting oh-so-innocent. "I wasn't aware it was against the rules at all, aibou. You didn't explain any rules to me."

"Well, it is," Yugi replied stubbornly.

"Alright, dare it is… I dare you to raise your hand and answer that Chemistry question."

"Truth!" Yugi switched hurriedly.

The Pharaoh's shoulders shook as he chuckled. "Answer the question, aiboui."

Yugi sat in acute distress, palms sweating. He couldn’t, wouldn’t say it. He scrambled for a false response. “Uhhh, Anzu.”

That wasn’t un true, he did have a crush on Anzu at one point. It still acted up every now and again, but his more prominent crush could absolutely not be discovered by his friend.

"I knew it," the Pharaoh said triumphantly.

"You did?" Yugi asked in alarm, trying to hide his relief.

"Aibou, what do you think I do while you're in school all day?" the Pharaoh inquired, one eyebrow raised.

"You snoop through my mind?"

He shrugged. "Naturally. Besides, sometimes things just come to me without having to snoop. Your thoughts just kind of wander over to my half and I can't help but listen. You know everything about me, I know everything about you."

That fact made him particularly nervous. He made a quiet note to keep his thoughts reigned in. "But you don't have any secrets," Yugi objected.

Instead of feeling offended, the Pharaoh simply smiled. "No, but when I do, you'll know every single one of them. In the meantime, I know your deepest, darkest secrets."

Yugi swallowed, his heart beating too fast again. "You do?" 

The Pharaoh nodded knowingly. "Oh, yes." Yugi wasn't sure what to say to that, trying to calm his rapid heartbeat. "Your turn, aibou," the Pharaoh urged. "Ask me the question."

"Alright fine, truth or dare, Pharaoh?"

"Truth."

Yugi frowned in disappointment while the Pharaoh smiled that i'm-innocent-not-so-innocent smile again. Slowly, he smiled. "If you had to pick one Duel Monster to have a crush on, who would you pick?"

The Pharaoh looked surprised. "A Duel Monster?" Yugi nodded. Pharaoh looked up thoughtfully, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. "Hm. I'd have to say... the Dark Magician Girl."

"Thought so," Yugi replied knowingly. The Pharaoh glared at him suspiciously.

"Truth or dare, Yugi?"

"Truth."

"What duel monster do you have a crush on?"

"Oh," Yugi replied, not so smug anymore. "Um, well... probably the Dark Magician Girl or Magicians Valkyria." Now the Pharaoh smiled, but not for very long.

Yugi had a very, very good idea that made him more excited that it had a right to. "Who do you have a crush on?" Yugi asked, superiority returned. 

A cloud of nervousness fluttered across the Pharaoh’s expression for only a moment, along with a tiny hint of an emotion he didn’t catch. He frowned, "Aibou, I don't have a crush on anyone. This isn't my time, so therefore I have no right to, as you say, 'have a crush' on anyone."

"What!" Yugi cried, disappointed. "Well..." He supposed that was true, though a tiny inkling of hope still tried to wiggle its way to the surface. 

The Pharaoh smiled sadly, "If I knew of anyone in my past that I had a ‘crush’ on  as more than a friend, you would know it. I feel like there's a face to go with the idea, but I can't picture her."

The idea of a ‘her’ made Yugi a little jealous. He pushed the feeling away quickly. He decided to change the subject. "Alright then, if you could have any Duel Monster card in the world, what would it be?"

The Pharaoh smiled at the change of subject, answering easily, "Maybe Dark Remnus the Master Magician."

Yugi was surprised at the answer. He would have said a magician card, too, he thought. Glancing up at the clock, Yugi saw they only had time for one more truth or dare. He waited expectantly for the question, and sure enough: "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

A slow smile slid across the Pharaoh's face. He glanced up at the clock as Yugi had done, "I dare you to run from the room as if you were sick."

Yugi shrugged. What did he have to lose? There was only one more minute of class left anyway.

Abruptly, he jumped up and charged for the door, leaving backpack, belongings and the Pharaoh behind. The door slammed shut behind him to leave total silence.

Except, of course, the Pharaoh's laughter, but no one could hear that but him.

"I guess it was an emergency," said one of the students. Ms. Lang glared after Yugi. He was certainly acting strange this week.

Yugi tore up the piece of paper angrily. He hated algebra quizzes.

The Pharaoh cocked his head at the scattered pieces on Yugi's desk. "What?" Yugi asked mentally, glancing at him.

"Your torn up paper just gave me an idea," he grinned. "For today's game, we'll arrange them in patterns and shapes and see who can come up with the most." He raised his eyebrows at Yugi for confirmation, who shrugged and nodded. This time, he was going to win. The Pharaoh's thoughts were along the same lines.

Yugi tore the pieces up a bit more, thought for a moment, and set to work on his masterpiece. It was harder than it looked, Yugi thought, pushing the little scraps of paper into place. As he finished, he looked down with a good amount of pride at his work.

The Pharaoh looked closely at it, trying to discern what it was. "Ah, I see," he said, and Yugi's glance flashed to him. "It's a duel disk, yes?"

Dejectedly, Yugi made a mark on a larger stray piece for the Pharaoh and let him make his turn. It was ironic, he thought, that he and Yugi always seemed to be doing things that somehow related to Duel Monsters. The Pharaoh waited for Yugi to guess, and though it took a moment, Yugi did guess.

"Is that the Dark Magician's staff?" he asked, turning his head for a better view.

"Yes, why?"

Yugi shrugged, "Just seems a little out of proportion to me."

"What do you mean 'out of proportion'?" the Pharaoh asked suspiciously.

"Well," Yugi said in a matter-of-fact way, "The top of the staff is a little large, while the staff part is pretty thin."

"Your point?"

"Just out of proportions, that's all," Yugi said casually - too casually.

Yugi took his turn, moving the pieces around for a moment in one pattern, then the next in another like he couldn't decide.

The Pharaoh studied Yugi's pattern. "Um," he said, uncertain, trying to connect it with something. Yugi smiled.

"You'll never guess," he declared.

The Pharaoh traced the strange lines that moved everywhere, shaking his head. "Aibou, it's too complicated. Why are there so many lines that aren't connected?"

"You're getting warmer," Yugi taunted mentally. "Complicated and nothing connected."

"It's my soul room, isn't it?" the Pharaoh asked with a triumphant grin.

Yugi's face fell. "How'd you guess? I thought you'd never get it!"

"Well if you hadn't said, 'You're getting warmer,'" the Pharaoh copied, almost exactly. "I probably wouldn't have."

"Shoot," Yugi thought, swapping places again.

Now it was the Pharaoh's turn to think up something complicated. And looking around the room, he found the perfect thing. "There," he said after a minute had gone by.

Yugi frowned in confusion. "Uh, I know this one..." he said, trying to convince himself that he did. He scratched his neck, "Um." The Pharaoh waited with folded arms. Yugi thought frantically for some idea of what it was – there was no way he was losing to the Pharaoh again. It was a rather indistinct blob with long sections going out on either side. Glancing around the room, he suddenly had it.

"I got it!" he exclaimed. "It's the school boys' blazer!"

The Pharaoh sighed and exchanged Yugi spots, leaning against the wall to wait. His next one would be brilliant, Yugi thought, piling the piece on top of each other.

"Aibou, what are you doing?" the Pharaoh interrupted. "You can't make anything like that."

"Sure I can," Yugi replied easily. "Just watch me." So he did. The Pharaoh waited for Yugi's creation to fall, and as the paper pieces piled up, Yugi realized he did not, in fact, have enough pieces. He sighed. "Well, just take a guess at what I was creating."

"Considering the complexity and the layers, along with the vaguely familiar shape, I'd have to say it's the millennium puzzle," the Pharaoh smiled. "You were trying to build the inside, too?"

"Trying," Yugi emphasized.

"You tried," the Pharaoh shrugged.

"Hey, Yug," Honda hissed behind him, "What's that supposed to be?"

Yugi frowned. He'd thought it was getting quite good. Blushing, he quickly destroyed it. "Nothing," he muttered. Honda shrugged.

"Does that mean you win?" Yugi asked the Pharaoh.

The Pharaoh smiled, "I believe it does."

Yugi snapped, shaking his head, "Lost again."

"Maybe next time, aibou," Pharaoh said, "You'll get another chance."

"I thought you'd say that."

The Pharaoh just smiled. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you want another match," Yugi said.

"Oh, I'll always want another match," the Pharaoh agreed, "Particularly against you. You're a better game player than you give yourself credit for, aibou. I've just been playing games longer than you have."

"Somewhere around three-thousand years?" Yugi asked innocently.

"Somewhere around there," Pharaoh agreed.

Yugi was almost bouncing out of his seat with his impatience. He was going to win today. Finally, he had come up with a game that he would be the victor at against the Pharaoh.

This time, he thought, this time for sure.

The transparent form of the Pharaoh appeared in his usual spot for the first period: the empty seat to Yugi's left. "Alright, aibou," he said suspiciously. "You haven't given me a hint of your thoughts since yesterday night. What's on your mind?"

Yugi smiled. "I have a game to play,” he told him mentally. "And this time you won't win so easily."

"But that doesn't mean I won't win," the Pharaoh said pointedly.

Yugi shrugged indifferently. He knew he would win. "Here's the game: we take turns saying random words to see who can catch the other off guard."

The Pharaoh blinked. "That's a game?"

I am so going to win, Yugi thought.

"Pineapple," Yugi began.

"Jacket," the Pharaoh said.

"Bench."

"Trash can."

"Owl."

"Ferret."

"Pencil."

"Teacher."

"Iris."

"Skin."

"Hair follicle."

For a moment, the Pharaoh was non-pulsed, but quickly retaliated, "Epidermis."

"Sweat."

"Pool."

"Paper-cuts."

"2x."

Now it was Yugi's turn to be surprised. The Pharaoh was better than he had anticipated – he knew he would be good, just not this good. He was going to win. "Shoe-laces."

"Bracelet."

"Sole."

"Soul."

"Bookmark."

The Pharaoh was getting better. Yugi had to pull out the word he was sure would throw him off guard soon. "Page number."

"Sunset."

"Blue-fin tuna."

"Heaven."

"Light-switch."

The longer they went, the more random the words came and the quicker their minds moved.

"Door hinge."

"Orange."

"Mountain."

"Roof-shingle."

"Potato."

"Tomato."

"Po-ta-toe."

"To-ma-toe."

"Bible," the Pharaoh said unexpectedly.

"Church."

"Life."

Yugi knew it was nearly time. He had to say the word that would give him victory.

"Ghosts."

"Halloween."

Yugi smiled to himself - it was almost time. "Parties."

"Russia."

Now. "Blubber."

The Pharaoh smirked; using a word of his own he'd been waiting to say. "Anzu."

Yugi blinked, struggling to find something to say. The word he thought would get the Pharaoh off guard had failed him. "Dark Magician Girl."

"Black ink."

"Ocean life."

The game could go on and on. There may never have been a victor at all.

"Outer space."

"Core of the Earth."

"Evolution."

Yugi had to find a way to win. The Pharaoh was too good. "Fan."

"China."

"Blood."

"Curtain."

The game went on practically all day. It was finally in the last period of the day that there was a winner.

"Heel," Yugi replied.

"Stiletto."

"Girls."

"Males."

"Tears."

"Salt-water," the Pharaoh said.

"Piano."

"Amenta."

"What?" Yugi replied automatically.

The Pharaoh smiled. "It means the Underworld in Egyptian."

"That's cheating!" Yugi exclaimed.

"You never said anything about foreign words being against the rules."

Yugi crossed his arms moodily. "I guess you win, then."

"I guess I do," the Pharaoh agreed mildly, "I'm a quick study." He gave Yugi a pitying look, "Maybe next time, aibou."

"Yeah, or the next, or the next, or the next…"

"That's the spirit." Yugi pouted as the bell rang and his feet dragged along the hallway. "Come on, aibou," the Pharaoh prompted. "You're a good gamer. You know I believe in you – you've just got to believe in yourself."

Yugi sighed, shaking it off. The Pharaoh was right. "Yeah, I know. Thanks." He grinned, "That was really fun, though."

The Pharaoh smiled. "I have to say I agree. Maybe next time you'll have a more defined set of rules."

"Yeah, next time no words in other languages."

"Alright, aibou, here's the game."

First period, Yugi glanced over at the Pharaoh sitting in the seat next to him. "Yeah?" he prompted mentally.

"A staring contest," he smiled.

Yugi grinned. He was great at staring contests. "You're on," he agreed. "When do we start?"

"On the count of three," the Pharaoh said, "Ready, aibou?"

"Ready when you are, mou hitori no boku."

"One," the Pharaoh began, "Two," he blinked to ready his eyes and Yugi did the same. "Three!"

The contest began.

For the longest time, neither blinked.

"Yugi," Jonouchi hissed, seeing Yugi staring blankly into space. "What are you looking at?"

Yugi tried to postpone answering. If he answered he would get distracted. The Pharaoh grinned wickedly, tempting him to answer; he didn't seem to need to blink at all. That was a problem.

"Shh," Yugi finally shushed. "Staring contest."

Honda, overhearing, glanced around. "Um," he said awkwardly, "You can't have a staring contest with a wall, Yug."

Yugi heard Honda grunt in pain as Anzu  elbowed him. "He's having a staring contest with the Pharaoh, idiot."

"Oh," Jonouchi and Honda said stupidly.

"I knew that," Jonouchi proclaimed, maybe a little too loudly.

"Katsuya!" the teacher snapped.

"Sorry!"

"Hmph."

Violet eyes stared hard into ruby ones—neither felt the urge to blink, neither felt even remotely tired. At least, that was what Yugi told himself. He wouldn't lose again.

A blackboard eraser went flying past them.

Both their concentration broke, and they followed the eraser to fall with a thud on to the ground. "Mr. Muto!" the teacher, Ms. Ren cried. The Pharaoh and Yugi's eyes both snapped over to the elderly lady. "Do you find it more amusing to stare into space than to pay attention?"

"Um," Yugi said awkwardly.

The Pharaoh felt a little guilty. It suddenly occurred to him that, even though he was entertaining Yugi, he was also distracting him from his classes. Feeling responsible, he quickly switched Yugi spots. "Forgive me, Ms. Ren," he apologized sincerely, "I was being rude. I haven't been feeling well this morning. Please, don't stop the class because of me."

She blinked in surprise. He suddenly sounded older, strangely. This time she said: "Um." The Pharaoh smiled—it was a smile he never used. One that, he didn't know, would probably bring any girl to their knees. Ms. Ren blinked again and slowly, hesitantly, smiled, "Ah, thank you for apologizing, Mr. Muto. If you continue to feel ill, feel free to exit the classroom."

The Pharaoh bowed his head, "Thank you." She nodded in return and turned back to teaching.

Honda, Jonouchi, Anzu and Yugi all blinked at the Pharaoh. "Thanks," Yugi said.

"Of course, aibou."

"Did you just swoon Ms. Ren?" Jonouchi hissed.

"No one can make her like them!" Honda agreed at a whisper.

Anzu just shook her head, muttering about 'boys'. Honda leaned forward behind Yugi, "That was a persuasive move."

The Pharaoh, embarrassed now, quickly let Yugi take over again. "It was my fault you got in trouble," the Pharaoh told him. "You should pay attention now."

Yugi frowned in disappointment. "She's not teaching anything important. Come on! We were interrupted. Just one more game?"

The Pharaoh cocked his head with a frown, "Yugi, you should pay attention."

"Please?"

"One more game. But that's it."

Silently, Yugi cheered. Playing games with the Pharaoh made classes fly by.

Two classes later, they still didn't have a victor. Every game was either a tie or interrupted—what Yugi didn't know was that the Pharaoh could have won at any given time. He was just holding out for Yugi.

"Go!" Yugi thought, and once again, the contest began.

"Yugi," Pharaoh said as neither broke the stare. "If you win, what will you do?"

"What will I do?"

"Yes. Will you want to keep playing games or will you be done?"

"Be done?" Yugi asked. "I like playing games! Even if I win, I still want to play games."

Inwardly, the Pharaoh sighed. He knew he was distracting Yugi, but he didn't want to break it to his young friend that he couldn't play games anymore. Besides, he quite enjoyed the games too. They were fun. They passed the time he would normally be spending in the puzzle — all by himself in a place where he had no memories, and was constantly reminded of the fact.

Playing games with Yugi distracted him too, but he didn't want to disrupt Yugi's studies. Somehow, he had to find a way to get Yugi to concentrate on school. Though that might very well prove impossible.

Yugi blinked. He banged his fist on the desk, the Pharaoh smiling rather fondly off to the side. "Dang it!" he muttered. "Lost again!"

"Yugi, I don't feel the urge to blink like you do," Pharaoh confessed.

Yugi's spirits fell. "But, doesn't that mean…"

The Pharaoh nodded.

"That's an unfair advantage!" Yugi exclaimed.

"I agree," the Pharaoh said reasonably. "But again, you didn't say it was against the rules." He was teasing, of course—he did feel the need to blink, occasionally, just not as much as Yugi did, nor as strong.

"Isn't that cheating?"

"No. You didn't say it was against any rules. Actually, you didn't give any rules at all. I could have been blinking rapidly, you could have never noticed, and I wouldn't have known it was against any rules at all."

"What?"

"Just hypothetically, of course."

"Right," Yugi muttered. "Hypothetically."

"You really do need to clarify these rules more, Yugi."

He slumped forward, chin in his palm, but his elbow went skidding off the desk when the Mr. Hill announced: "Alright students, test next time."

"Ah!" Yugi cried as his elbow went skidding off the desk in surprise. "Test? What test?"

The Pharaoh sighed. "I knew I was distracting you."

"No!" Yugi consoled him immediately, heart clenching. "It wasn't you!"

The Pharaoh wasn't as convinced as Yugi was. As the bell rang, Yugi picked up his things. Jonouchi elbowed his shoulder playfully, "Great. Test next time."

"Yeah," Yugi agreed gustily. "And I'm going to fail."

"Just have Anzu tutor you," Jonouchi suggested as they headed off to meet the rest of the gang.

Yugi looked up thoughtfully. "Yeah, maybe I’ll ask her."

When he asked her, Anzu about popped a blood vessel. "Yugi! You haven't studied for the History test?"

"Um, no," Yugi admitted sheepishly.

"Yugi, I'm working all week," she said sadly.

Yugi sighed, "It's okay, Anzu. I'll just study on my own."

"I'm sorry, Yugi."

"No, really, it's okay."

Back at home, Yugi really wished he had Anzu to help him study. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I'm going to fail!" he cried, flopping down on his back.

The Pharaoh looked at Yugi guiltily, "I still say it's my fault."

"Maybe it's both of our fault," Yugi admitted. "I mean, I'm the one who kept pushing you to play the games at all."

"Yugi!" Grandpa called. He sounded angry.

Yugi swallowed. "Uh-oh."

"Do you want me to take this one?" Pharaoh asked, guilt weighing heavily on him.

Yugi shook his head, "We'll both take it."

Slowly, Yugi turned the corner to see Grandpa holding a piece of paper.

"Yugi Muto!" Grandpa stormed.

"Yes, Grandpa?" Yugi asked nervously.

He thrust the paper at him without a word. Yugi took it gingerly and examined the paper, his stomach dropping to his feet. Reading it over Yugi's shoulder, the Pharaoh felt awful.

Yugi swallowed, seeing Grandpa tap his foot impatiently. "Well?" he asked, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I…" Yugi said hesitantly, then, everything came pouring out—the games during class and being bored, how he hadn't been paying attention—but he quickly added, "I'll get my grades up, Gramps, I will!"

"You'd better, young man," Solomon folded his arms sternly, "If you don't get those grades up to at least a C plus in the next week…" he paused, "I'm going to have to take the puzzle until you do."

"What?" Yugi exclaimed. The Pharaoh could only blink in surprise. "Gramps, not the puzzle! How about my deck or something?" he pleaded.

Solomon studied his grandson. He knew what the puzzle meant to Yugi. "I'll think about it." Yugi's heart sank. He knew that in grandpa talk, that meant not likely.

Yugi and the Pharaoh swallowed. Delicately, as if the thing would explode any second, Yugi set the paper with the alert written about his grades on the counter and backed away. Up in his room, he closed the door behind him.

"We'd better get your grades up, aibou," the Pharaoh said seriously. "Otherwise…"

"Bye, bye, puzzle," Yugi finished.

Ten minutes later, Yugi had all the homework he had neglected to do spread out across his room with textbooks, a calculator, a pen and a pencil. "Here goes," he said dejectedly.

Yugi moaned and rolled on to his back in the center of the room. He had gotten no farther than he had in the last five minutes than he had been ten minutes ago. The work was awfully dull. Math, history, chemistry, English… and what else? Oh yeah, more math.

Yugi's loud, drawn out groan drew the Pharaoh out of the puzzle. He had been trying to give Yugi some time to get it done, but looking over the mess on the floor and the minimum of one problem done on his history homework, he knew Yugi was far from working on homework.

"Aibou," he scolded, "You've got to get it done."

"I know," he sighed, "But it's just so boring."

Pharaoh shook his head, thinking. Yugi loved to play games. If he could come up with a game that would get Yugi to do his homework at the same time…

He smiled. "Alright, Yugi," he said, and his tone of voice got Yugi's attention. "We'll play a game with your homework."

"A game with my homework?"

"Yes. Here's how it works. It will be a race. I'll do a certain amount of questions, and then you will, and whoever finishes them correctly in the least amount of time wins that round."

Yugi beamed at the idea. The Pharaoh doing part of his homework? Heck yes!

"Will you go first?" he asked. Giving Yugi another one of those pitying looks, he swapped Yugi places and got to work on the history homework. After a moment's thought, he began reading the questions and answers aloud so Yugi could hear them.

It took roughly two minutes for him to answer and read aloud the seven questions he had answered. "Did you get all that, aibou?"

Yugi nodded. He really had. The Pharaoh helping him study would really help; and it meant they got to spend time together. "Alright, aibou, your turn," Pharaoh said, swapping him places. Kneeling down beside the boy, he instructed him, "Don't rush. Answer the questions correctly. Read them carefully and write legibly, alright?"

Yugi grinned and nodded. He didn't so much mind doing homework if he had company, he decided, and help. With a gesture from the Pharaoh, he set Yugi to work.

As Yugi went down the questions, he found he got a bit confused. Turning to his friend, he asked, "Mou hitori no boku, can you help me?"

Without hesitation, he knelt down beside him and read the questions aloud. Before long, it turned into more of a study session rather than a game. "What happened to playing a game?" Yugi asked, grinning.

"Studying is more important. You've got a test next time, don't you?"

Yugi frowned. "Yeah…" he muttered. Suddenly he got an idea. "How about this: we'll do the homework and then you'll quiz me on it? If I get most of them right, I win."

"How can you win if I'm quizzing you? Quizzing isn't really a game if there's only one person who needs to know the material."

Yugi thought for a second. "Then… we'll make a bet."

"On what?" the Pharaoh asked, folding his arms.

"If I can get all the questions right before the test, you…" he frowned, "I…" he shook his head. "I don't know."

Pharaoh smiled—it was that oh-so-innocent smile again, and Yugi knew what was coming. "If you get more questions right than I do, then you'll have finally beaten me. If I get more questions right than you, you have to go on a date with Anzu."

Yugi gulped. "What?" he squeaked. "What do you have to do if you lose?"

The Pharaoh shrugged. "What do you want me to do?"

Now it was Yugi's turn to give a suspicious smile. "You have to endure movie night with Honda, Jonouchi and Otogi."

"Please say you're joking."

Movie nights were not fun with the combination of Honda, Jonouchi and Otogi. They always got in fights or shouted throughout the entire movie, making comments and commenting on each other's comments, pulverizing one another with food—or ended up talking about girls. It was a never-ending night of torture.

"Nope," Yugi grinned.

This time, the Pharaoh swallowed. "Fine, but with that at stake, there's no way I'm losing."

Having finished quizzing Yugi, the Pharaoh found that Yugi's results were less than satisfactory.

Yugi thought differently, "I thought I did pretty good!"

"Of course you did, aibou."

"'Of course you did, aibou…'" he mimicked under his breath. The Pharaoh chose to ignore him.

"You just need to keep studying," he pointed out. Yugi sighed.

"I'm never going to pass that test!" he cried, flopping down hopelessly onto his back.

"Yes you are," the Pharaoh said. "If you don't, you'll have an F, and if you have an F, no puzzle."

"Alright, quiz me again," Yugi said, sitting up and facing the Pharaoh with his legs crossed. The Pharaoh did so. This time around, Yugi did a little better, but not by much.

"Now, quiz me," Pharaoh said, swapping Yugi spots to give him the history worksheets, which they had somehow managed to finish along with nearly every other piece of homework.

"But you don't need to know this," Yugi replied in confusion.

"Maybe, but quizzing someone else helps you as well," the Pharaoh said.

Shrugging, Yugi asked each question. He got nearly every one of them right, to Yugi's dismay. He had a bad feeling he was going to lose to the Pharaoh.

"I win that round," he said as Yugi placed the sheets before the Pharaoh's spirit form. "I'll quiz you again. Think you can do it?"

"You bet!"

As they evening turned into night, the questions came faster and Yugi was able to answer the questions quicker each time. The Pharaoh eventually moved on to math and chemistry, making sure he knew how to do everything. For being five-thousand years old, he had a surprisingly good grasp on modern school subjects.

"I think you pay more attention in class than I do," Yugi told him.

The Pharaoh chuckled. "Sometimes I do, just in case you need help."

Yugi blinked, “Really? You do?”

“Of course,” he cocked his head. 

Yugi wasn’t sure how to react to that. His heart was a mess. The Pharaoh smiled before changing the subject, "Ready for a race?"

Yugi shook himself out of his stupor. "You bet I am. This time I won't lose!"

"Didn't you say that last time?"

Yugi's leg pumped up and down nervously. The Pharaoh had been quizzing him all day for this test. They had turned in most of Yugi's late and missing work, but he still had more to do before his grades even touched a B minus. Still, that would be enough to please Grandpa and keep the puzzle.

Touching the puzzle gently, Yugi smiled. Without the Pharaoh, Yugi probably would have been unprepared, games or no games.

Meanwhile, the Pharaoh sat in the puzzle, arms folded and thoughtful. He might even say he was a little anxious. If Yugi managed to pass this test with a C plus or higher, they were home free. He nodded to himself confidently. Yugi would be fine.

It’s me I should be worried about , he thought. He already knew the results of their little bet, but that would have to be discussed later.

He settled in for a nap, hoping to make time pass.

Yugi's pencil tapped the test, but after he got a few annoyed glances, he stopped and bit it instead. The first answer was A…

He cruised through the multiple choice answers, and when he just wasn't sure, he went with the idea of 'when in doubt, choose C,' even if it wasn't his best idea. Most of the C's seemed like fine answers to him—but maybe that was a trick on the teacher's part. Maybe she was on to that trick and had intentionally made C a close answer to the real answer…

Yugi shook his head. He was over-thinking things. He just had to go through the test and remember everything the Pharaoh had helped him study… and practically taught him.

B, C, A, D, B, B, A, D, A… or was it C? No, it was A, he was sure of it. He remembered the Pharaoh telling him that A was the answer.

C, C, B, A, D. He moved on to the matching portion. This went with that…. That went with that… or did it go with that? Hm. No, it went with the other one.

Now on to fill-in-the-blank. He really hated these ones. Closing his eyes, sweat beaded on his forehead as he struggled to remember.

Think of the stakes, Yugi thought, if you don't pass this test Grandpa is gonna take the puzzle!

Yugi opened his eyes and scratched in the answer. Remembering what was at stake, Yugi sailed through the fill-in-the-blanks and began the essay questions. And he thought he hated the fill-in-the-blanks. Essay questions were definitely worse.

His pen scribbled down the answer, and thinking he was moving too fast, the words of the Pharaoh echoed back to him, "Don't rush. Take your time and write legibly." Nodding to himself, Yugi forced himself to relax and clearly wrote the answers.

At the end of the test, Yugi set it carefully in the basket, feeling he had done his best. Inwardly, he prayed that his best would be good enough.

Both Yugi and the Pharaoh found it agonizing to find out the test answers the next class period. That meant they had to wait a day, and if Yugi didn't bring home good news about his grades—the puzzle and the Pharaoh would both be in the hands of Grandpa.

Yugi hated it when he was alone. He wasn't used to it. If Grandpa got the puzzle for the next week, he wasn't sure what he was going to do. He would miss the Pharaoh, and thinking that made him blush. 

He sat tensely at the kitchen table, lying his head on the hard top and slapping it for no particular reason.

"Relax, aibou," the Pharaoh assured him. "I'm sure you did fine."

Yugi took a deep breath, "Yeah, yeah, you're right."

"Want to play a game?" the Pharaoh suggested.

Yugi grinned. Always turning to a game. Remembering what he thought throughout the test, Yugi decided his new motto was, ‘When in doubt, play a game,’ or maybe, ‘When in doubt, duel it out,’ if he wanted to make it rhyme and sound sort of stupid.

"Alright, what game are we going to play?" Yugi wondered.

The Pharaoh seemed stumped for once. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "Do you have an idea?"

Yugi brightened. "How about we play rock, paper, scissors?"

The Pharaoh sat in the chair across from Yugi, repeating the name of the game: "Rock, paper, scissors. How do you play?"

"Well, we each pick one of the options in the title: rock, paper or scissors," Yugi proceeded to explain, showing him the hand symbols for each given item. "Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock."

"Why does paper beat rock?"

"Because it wraps around the rock so it can't crush it," Yugi said. "It's pretty simple. Got it?" Pharaoh nodded. It seemed fairly straight-forward. "Okay, when I say go," Yugi said, placing a fist in the palm of his other hand. "We'll do a practice round first. Rock, paper, scissors, go!"

Yugi did rock and the Pharaoh did scissors. "Yes!" Yugi cheered, miming smashing the Pharaoh's scissors.

"Again," Pharaoh insisted.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

The Pharaoh grasped the game quickly. For the next move, the Pharaoh did scissors while Yugi did paper. "Best three out of four?" Yugi asked when they tied, and the Pharaoh nodded.

Grandpa walked in on Yugi playing a game of rock, paper, scissors practically with himself. "Yugi, what are you doing?" he asked in confusion.

Yugi hastily pulled his hands down, jumping out of his seat. "Nothing, Grandpa! Just playing a game."

Grandpa put his fists on his hips. "With the Pharaoh?"

Yugi shifted from foot to foot nervously. "Yes," he admitted. "I'll go do my homework!" he cried, sprinting past his grandpa before he could ask. Up in his room, Yugi sighed, plopping down on the floor to finish up his homework.

"We tied again, Yugi," the Pharaoh informed him, settling in Yugi's chair.

"Why do we always tie?"

The Pharaoh shrugged. "Evenly matched, I suppose."

"You aren't reading my thoughts and cheating, are you?" Yugi asked suspiciously.

Pharaoh chuckled, "Of course not, aibou! You know I don't cheat."

"No, you just find loopholes."

"Loopholes are just ways in which you have to hunt for," the Pharaoh said innocently.

Yugi grinned before sighing, "I guess it's on to homework."

The next day in history, Yugi anxiously reached for his test.

He stared down at the test results, the Pharaoh peering at it anxiously. They both blinked and looked at each other.

"I passed!" Yugi exclaimed mentally, beaming.

"Great job, aibou!" the Pharaoh smiled. "Forty-three out of fifty! That's more than enough to please your grandpa."

"That means there's only one more thing to settle," Yugi said, and the Pharaoh swallowed. "Who won the bet, mou hitori no boku?"

The Pharaoh sighed, "We tied."

"You're kidding."

"No, no I am not."

"What are we supposed to do now?" Yugi wondered, slouching in his seat.

"It depends on what you want to do," the Pharaoh said, only too innocent. "Would you rather go on a date with Anzu or endure movie night with the troublesome trio?"

Yugi squirmed. He really didn't want to go to movie night on Friday with Jonouchi, Otogi and Honda. His other self usually observed from the safety of his opacity, always highly amused while also slightly alarmed. Going on a date with Anzu felt dishonest with himself, even if his old baby crush on her still survived. 

"You won't make a fool out of yourself, aibou," the Pharaoh assured him gently. There was an odd look in his eye, but before Yugi could investigate, it was gone. "You should go. I'll be at movie night," he added with a distasteful frown,  "Ask Anzu for Saturday."

Yugi took a deep breath. It would be worth it to have the Pharaoh suffer through movie night. And he wouldn’t mind going on a date with Anzu. The alternative was movie night or - he swallowed - asking the Pharaoh? Terrible idea. Absolutely out of the question.

The Pharaoh nodded. "It's time, aibou."

Yugi was looking forward to movie night, but the Pharaoh certainly wasn't.

While Yugi got to get all comfy in the puzzle to watch the show, take a nap, relax, prepare himself for his date with Anzu — the Pharaoh had to endure movie night. Yugi and Anzu's date was the Pharaoh's only up-side in the movie night factor.

Asking Anzu had been nerve-racking. "An-zu," Yugi had stuttered as he approached her, mostly speaking in nervousness to the Pharaoh, who walked resolutely beside him. "An. Zu."

"Aibou, calm down," Pharaoh soothed, "You've known Anzu for how long?"

Yugi didn't answer. The Pharaoh was right. He had known Anzu for a long time and he knew her well. Even if she said no, she'd still let him down easy, and besides, that wasn’t the true source of Yugi’s nerves. He stuttered some more as he was approaching her, his stomach squirming while he inwardly yelled at himself, and Anzu noticed. 

"Something wrong, Yugi?" she asked.

Yugi blinked, took a deep breath, and tried to remember what he was doing to no avail. A mental jolt from the Pharaoh gave him a push.

"H-hey, Anzu!" he smiled, the nerves still showing through, "No, nothing wrong. I just wanted to, t-to ask you something."

"Sure, Yugi, what's up?"

"Well, um, I was wondering if you'd want to…" his voice left him and he tried again, clearing his throat. The wording got stuck in his throat. He just couldn’t say it. "I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me tomorrow."

The Pharaoh frowned. It wasn’t quite the right wording for a date - Anzu probably had no idea that was what Yugi meant. He nudged him mentally again to tell him so, but Yugi shrugged him off. That was strange.

Anzu smiled,  "Oh! I'd love to, Yugi! What time? And what do you want to do?”

They set up the time and planned what to do. After Anzu walked away, waving cheerfully, Yugi waved in return and spun on his heel for home. He avoided the Pharaoh’s glare and shielded his thoughts from him the whole way. The silence was oddly tense. 

When they got home, Yugi raced for his room. He flopped down face-down on his bed, his thoughts in turmoil. The Pharaoh seated himself in the chair at the desk and waited, eyebrows drawn down in concern. “What’s wrong, aibou? That was not plans for a date.”

“I…” Yugi muttered into his pillow. “I chickened out.” He said lamely. How was he supposed to explain? He couldn’t . No, he wouldn’t. 

The Pharaoh sighed. He was torn. On one hand, the exchange was absolutely not fair in terms of the bet. On the other hand, he was secretly glad it wasn’t technically a date. He also felt awful for causing Yugi so much trouble in the first place with all their games. He really wanted to let him off the hook. 

“Mou hitori no boku?” Yugi turned his face away from the pillow toward his other self. 

“Yes?”

“Do you wanna…” he trailed off, “Go… do something with me tomorrow night?”

“What do you mean? We’re always together,” the Pharaoh asked, confused. It was then that he noticed Yugi was a little flushed. “Are you sick? You look pink.”

“I just mean…” Yugi sighed heavily. “Can we go get some Duel Monsters cards and dinner, and watch a movie? Tomorrow night? Just us?”

The Pharaoh blinked a few times. He mouthed ‘oh’ and realized his face was hot, which didn’t make any sense in his transparent form. If he’d had a physical heart, it would be very loud at the moment. “Of course, aibou,” he said quietly, and a soft smile crossed his face. “That sounds wonderful.”

Still pink, Yugi smiled.

It went without saying that the Pharaoh let it slide that Yugi had not specified that spending time with Anzu was not a date. 

Now, he prepared for a very hectic night.

"Maybe you should take a helmet," Yugi suggested innocently. 

The Pharaoh ignored him, preferring not to glare at his young friend. He sighed, "I'm not looking forward to tonight."

"I am," Yugi smiled. "I'm not the one who has to endure it."

Finally, the Pharaoh allowed himself to give Yugi a glare — if not a small one. Yugi just grinned.

Reluctantly, the Pharaoh knocked on Otogi's door. Since Otogi was the only one who lived on his own, they had agreed to have it there — things tended to get dangerous when others were around. Why they had these movie nights, he wasn't sure. He didn't even know how they started.

Come to think of it, he wasn't sure Jonouchi and Honda even liked Otogi all that much. They were probably just mooching off all the free food. For a moment, he debated leaving before anyone answered, but gave a sigh of resignation. He had said he would do this and so he would. He should have turned around when he had the chance.

Otogi opened the door, grinning, "Yugi! Glad you could make it. We were just waiting for you."

"Can we please not blow-gun popcorn kernels at each other this time?" he asked, half joking and half hopeful.

"That depends on Jonouchi," Honda said, lounging across the sofa and taking up the entire thing.

"Hond-a!" Jonouchi exclaimed, "Quit hoggin' the couch!"

"Make me!"

"You wanna go?"

"Depends on how bad you wanna get kicked around!"

That was the last straw for poor bad-tempered Jonouchi. He leapt on Honda, causing him to get rather squished into the cushions and cry out in rage. "That's it, dog boy!"

"What did you call me?" Jonouchi cried.

Otogi and the Pharaoh sighed. Not even sixty seconds into it and they were already fighting about something completely irrelevant.

The Pharaoh said dully, "Maybe we should leave now while they're distracted."

Otogi was actually considering the idea, but Jonouchi and Honda overheard and leapt forward to seize them, shoving them into the couch as Jonouchi unceremoniously crammed the movie in. "We'll be good!" he grinned ridiculously, "We promise!"

"I highly doubt that," Otogi replied dryly.

Jonouchi crammed himself into the couch beside the Pharaoh, who sat beside Otogi while Honda took up the entire loveseat.

"I'm squished, Jonouchi, stop moving around," Otogi complained.

"Well excuse me for trying to get comfortable, dice boy," Jonouchi said sourly.

Otogi, unfortunately, countered: "I thought a dog could get comfortable anywhere."

Jonouchi growled in frustration, but quickly shut up when the Pharaoh dug his elbow into his side, "Quiet, Jonouchi, the movie is starting."

Jonouchi shut up—for about the first two minutes. The movie, the Pharaoh discovered, was an action packed gory film about zombies, demons and cocky heroes; it would undoubtedly have the other three shouting at each other in the first half hour or less.

"Wait, what's going on?" Jonouchi asked in confusion.

"Maybe if you listened you would know," Otogi said.

"Or if he had half the brain to understand," Honda added, and the two guffawed stupidly.

"Yeah, well, where's your brain, cantaloupe lover?" Jonouchi shouted over the movie.

"Don't you go insulting my cantaloupe!" Honda cried, "My dream was ruined that day!"

"Dream, shmeam!" Otogi cried, "I don't even know where this cantaloupe business started!"

"It's Honda's dream to devour a giant cantaloupe," Jonouchi scoffed, "He thought he found one when we got trapped in a crazy Capsule Monsters game world. It was actually a caterpillar that was gonna destroy us by turning into the Great Moth."

"It was your luck that won us those tickets!" Honda pointed out, standing now. Jonouchi quickly stood, shaking his fist at his friend.

"Yeah, and we had a great time, too!"

"A great time almost dying!"

"Slow down!" Otogi said, holding his hands out between the two. "Capsule Monsters world? I'm so lost." Glancing at the Pharaoh, Otogi gave in as he saw him shaking his head dismissively.

"It doesn't matter," he said, leaning his elbows on his knees.

But apparently, it mattered to Jonouchi and Honda. Finally, the Pharaoh jerked Jonouchi back into his spot with a look of irritation. Otogi followed his lead and tried to pull Honda back into his seat, but Honda grabbed Otogi and they both went tumbling to the floor.

"You guys are so immature," Jonouchi said, shaking his head with his arms folded as he tried to look stern.

Honda and Otogi stared at Jonouchi like he was insane. Glancing at each other, they both leaned in and seized Jonouchi. The Pharaoh leaned back against the cushions as the underdog went crashing into the two on the floor, narrowly avoiding his hand as it went flying past him.

As the troublesome trio got into a tooth-and-nail wrestling match, the Pharaoh drew his legs up and leapt nimbly from the couch to the loveseat, ducking as one of the remotes sailed towards him. From the loveseat he jumped to the floor and entered the kitchen, hoping to rid it of all dangerous throw-able food before they decided to use it as a weapon again.

Yells and insults issued from the other room. The Pharaoh removed the mushrooms, marshmallows, chocolate chips and popcorn from all reachable places. He hid them in a trash bag, which he stashed below the sink. They would never think to look there.

As a second thought, he got the dice from the front room and stashed them in the bag too. Best not to have anything in reach for them to throw.

Suddenly, the fighting stopped, and they started laughing.

Peeking into the other room, he saw the three getting off the floor, laughing stupidly and dusting themselves off. Honda plopped down on the loveseat, and Otogi and Jonouchi took their spots back on the couch. The Pharaoh warily sat down between Otogi and Jonouchi, glancing between them.

Things always went this way. He was sure they would be at each other's throats again within minutes.

It started with comments. Jonouchi would comment on the movie, then Honda would comment on his comment, and Otogi would comment on Honda’s comment. They continued, getting louder and louder by the minute.

Barely ten minutes after the comment-conversation had begun, they were arguing again. "Why did he do that?" Otogi asked, "He should have hit him!"

"That's dumb," Honda said.

"Oh, yeah, and why's that?"

"He could have died! Didn't you see that the other guy had a knife stashed up his sleeve? It was way too risky, dummy," Honda said as if it were obvious.

"Well he could have used his ninja skills to counter," Jonouchi said, taking Otogi’s side, which was weird enough.

"Even he's not ninja enough to take down that army," Honda said.

Jonouchi’s reply was predictable: "Yeah, well I'm ninja enough to do it, so why couldn't he?"

"Don't be dumb, Jonouchi."

"Hey! I'm not dumb!"

"Dumb as a dog," Otogi said, and Honda joined him in laughing.

"That's it!" Jonouchi cried, bounding to his feet again. "I'm tired of being called a dog! You're gonna get it!" He hurdled toward Honda, turning the couch over backwards with the force.

Honda tugged himself away from Jonouchi, fleeing with a look and cry of alarm, running away from the angry Jonouchi and pouncing right on Otogi and the Pharaoh. Unfortunately, Jonouchi followed, heaving that couch over and launching all four of them over backwards.

The Pharaoh hit his head on the wall and thought maybe he should have brought a helmet. Rolling away, the Pharaoh tried to duck into the bathroom, but the other three seized his ankles and towed him back while he tried to claw away desperately. The last thing he wanted was to be dragged into another one of their wars!

Too bad for him, not even thirty seconds later they were at war. It was Otogi and Honda verses Jonouchi and the Pharaoh. The movie, though being unwatched, was still playing, and the dramatic music, sounds and lines made for quite the background.

They had no ammo on either side, so they had to hunt for some. The Pharaoh was glad he had hidden all throw-able food, otherwise this would have gotten messy. Jonouchi charged for the kitchen at the same time Honda did, while Otogi chucked something at Jonouchi and then at the Pharaoh, who ducked. 

He knew he should have walked away. Shouting, insults and cries came from the kitchen. Cupboards were slammed and a few things fell, resulting in crashes, then Honda cried: "Where's the mushrooms!"

"And the marshmallows!" Jonouchi added.

There was a moment of silence, then, from all three: "Yugi!"

The Pharaoh's eyes widened and he tried to hide. Sadly, there was nowhere to go. "Gah!" he bellowed as the three came lumbering his way. And the movie was still playing. What a waste of a night.

Yugi was right, the Pharaoh thought, I should have worn a helmet. And armor.

Comfortably in the puzzle, watching the show, Yugi laughed. "I warned you, mou hitori no boku!"

Now that the pressure of it being a date was off, Yugi was no longer nervous. He was just excited to spend some time with his childhood friend. The Pharaoh told him to have a good time and slipped into the puzzle, and Yugi knew he was giving them some time apart. It made Yugi a little anxious, but it was probably for the best. That way Yugi could prepare mentally for later. 

He dressed and set out for Anzu’s with an easy manner. They met up at the designated meeting spot in the main square of the city mall. He spotted her near the fountain. 

"Hi, Yugi!" Anzu beamed happily, "Let's go!" Falling into step beside Yugi, they set off. 

They ate first, getting fast food and smoothies. Anzu got a salad while Yugi ordered a burger. 

"Hey, Yugi," Anzu said after finishing a mouthful, "Why were you so nervous about asking to hang out?” Her town was casual, but Yugi understood what she was getting at. 

He choked on his food, coughing heavily. “Wh-what? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he tried. 

She raised her eyebrows at him. “Come on, Yugi, spill. What’s up?”

He flushed. “I - uh - well,” he scratched the back of his head and looked down. “I was gonna ask you out on a date but… I couldn’t.”

“Because of your crush on the Pharaoh?”

This time Yugi spit out his mouthful while also inhaling some of it. He coughed desperately, trying to clear his lungs . “Wh-wh-what?”

Anzu smiled gently, “You can’t hide anything from me, Yugi. It’s okay. I get it.”

“Y-you do?”

She nodded, “I used to have a crush on him too.”

“You did?” Yugi tried sounding mildly surprised, though he wasn’t entirely.

She put her hand on her chin and nodded, “Major crush.” She became a little self-conscious, “He’s not listening, is he?”

Yugi shook his head violently, “No, he’s in the puzzle until I get home. He can’t hear anything.”

“Sorry, I probably should have checked before I said that.”

“It’s okay,” Yugi coughed some more. “You just surprised me.”  

“That’s why you couldn’t ask me, right?” 

“Yeah. When it came to it I just… couldn’t. I do like you,” he confessed, pink-cheeked. “I used to have a huge crush on you. But it’s just…” 

She shook her head kindly, “You don’t need to explain to me, Yugi! I knew you had a crush on me, but I also noticed that it seems to be… less now.” 

He was embarrassed, “I’m sorry…” 

“Don’t apologize!” she waved her hands in front of her. “It’s okay, Yugi. Really.” 

“Thanks, Anzu,” he smiled meekly. “Do you still wanna hang out - ?” 

“Yeah!” she exclaimed, “Let’s go! We still have lots to do. I need to get some shopping done and you wanted to go to the arcade, right?” 

A few hours later, Yugi waved after Anzu as she left. She hadn’t pressed him for details, hadn’t asked questions - she just understood. It was nice not having to keep it a secret from everyone. 

The Pharaoh emered. “Did you have a good time?” 

Yugi smiled and responded mentally, “Yeah, I missed hanging out with Anzu. I’m glad we got to spend some time together.” 

“Good,” he responded with a smile. “What movie did you want to watch tonight?” 

“I was thinking we’d rent one. Wanna go buy some Duel Monster cards? I’m gonna pick up some take-out for later, too. Chinese?” 

“Yes and yes.” 

Yugi strolled around Domino Square with the transparent form of the Pharaoh floating beside him, jumping between card shops and debating the best ones that would fit well with their deck. There were always new strategies they wanted to try out and implement. The conversations were all mental, of course. In the end they purchased five new additions they agreed would be excellent in their joint deck. 

Their favorite Chinese place was on the way home. Yugi was in and out in a flash, with enough Chinese food for much more than one person. Next stop was finding a movie. They stopped in at the local rental shop.

“What do you want to watch? Something new, older, action, sci-fi, fantasy,” Yugi trailed the options as he perused the store with his other self hovering nearby. 

The Pharaoh considered several choices. There was always a good chick flick, or the latest action film---neither of them were feeling like either. “What about an older animated movie?” he suggested. 

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Let’s do that!” Yugi changed sections and pulled out three choices. 

“Why not all three?” his other self shrugged.

“Movie marathon,” Yugi agreed. They rented all three. 

When they got home, Yugi immediately went upstairs and changed into something comfortable, settling in the living room with their Chinese, new cards and deck, and the rented movies. They popped in the first movie and settled in to eat, switching off so they could both enjoy the meal. Somehow, they ate most of it. 

When they finished their food, storing the leftovers in the fridge, they laid out the cards in their deck and went through them with the new additions, debating which ones to add and which ones to remove, if any. They paid intermittent attention to the movie going in the movie going in the background.

“Yugi?” Grandpa peeked his head in.

“Hey, Grandpa. What’s up?”

“What are you doing tonight?”

“My other self and I are watching a few movies and working on our deck.”

“Oh, very good,” Grandpa smiled. “Try not to be too loud, okay?”

“Yes, Grandpa! Night.”

“I’m glad he was satisfied with your test results,” the Pharaoh smiled. “It would have been quite miserable being in the puzzle by myself for a whole week.”

“I would miss you,” Yugi said without thinking. He blushed when he realized what he’d said. 

His other self cocked his head and smiled fondly. “I would miss you too, aibou,” he reassured him softly.

Yugi smiled shyly. Was this a date? Or just. Hanging out. It felt like a date. Food, a movie, good conversation. Duel Monsters. It was a little different, of course, but it felt as normal as it could, with them being them.

Yugi decisively put their deck back together and into the millennium puzzle box. By now the first movie was over, so Yugi popped in the second one. They settled onto the couch to watch, commentating through the whole thing. 

They were sitting quite close. With the whole transparent thing, there wasn’t really any physical touch---it felt like it, sometimes, with them being so closely linked, it was like they could somehow simulate what it felt like. But it wasn’t quite the same. It was different when they were in the puzzle conversing, but even that wasn’t real physical touch. It was a little frustrating, if Yugi was honest. They couldn’t even hold hands. 

As they were sitting, the Pharaoh leaned more into him. Yugi ‘felt’ their shoulders bump and flushed. He peeked up to find his other self with his eyes lightly closed, breathing gently. 

“Mou hitori no boku?” he prompted softly. 

“Hm,” he responded. 

“Nothing,” Yugi smiled. Feeling brave, he leaned his head a little so it was resting on his other self’s shoulder. To Yugi’s surprise, the Pharaoh leaned his head on Yugi’s in return. Yugi’s heart was pounding. So this was a date. 

They stayed like that until the second movie ended and Yugi fell asleep. 

“Aibou,” the Pharaoh murmured softly. Yugi didn’t respond. Smiling gently, he swapped them places and scooped the transparent Yugi into his arms.  There was a vague sensation of the smaller frame in his arms. 

He tucked a tired Yugi in bed, swapped spots again and sat against the wall beside him, watching him sleep. 

Just for a little while. 

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No, no."

"Yes."

"No, no no no."

"Yes."

"Ah, no."

"Yes."

"No no no."

"Yes!"

"No no."

"Yes, yes."

The Pharaoh and Yugi were arguing about something long forgotten. Now they were just saying yes and no to something they couldn't seem to remember, but neither would give up. Yugi said yes, and the Pharaoh said no.

"No-o."

"Ye-es."

"No-o-o-o."

"Yes-s-s."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No, no."

"Yes!"

"No, no, no, no."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"No-o."

"Ye-e-e-es."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, no no."

"Y-e-es."

"No," Pharaoh said definitely.

"Y-es," Yugi disagreed.

"No-o."

"Yes!"

Each time they spoke they added a little accent in different spots, making each time they said yes or no sound different. Like every other contest they waged, it seemed to be able to go on forever.

"No, no."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No-o!"

"Ye-es!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No."

"Yes."

They could go on forever and ever, and Yugi was determined not to lose or give up. This time Yugi would win. He had to. If the Pharaoh won, well… Yugi would just have to keep trying. In this case, the game made absolutely no sense. Then again, most of their games didn't make much sense.

"No, no, no."

"Yes, yes."

"No-o."

"Ye-es."

"No no."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"No, no no."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No no."

"Y-es."

"No."

The Pharaoh was getting rather tired of this game. Yes, no, yes, no, back and forth, back and forth. He knew it had to break eventually, but he wasn't willing to break it.

"Yes."

"No."

"Ye-s."

"N-o."

"Yes."

"Aibou—" Pharaoh finally broke.

"Ah-hah!" Yugi cried aloud, drawing the gang's attention.

"Uh, Yugi?" Anzu asked, "What?"

Yugi just grinned happily, thinking to the Pharaoh excitedly: "I win!"

The Pharaoh blinked, "Aibou, that isn't fair."

"Yes it is," Yugi replied. "You won when you said a foreign word. This time you broke it, which means I win. Doesn't matter what you say, I still win."

Pharaoh bit his lip, "I—" he stuttered, "I—" there was nothing he could say. In a manner of speaking, Yugi had won.

"Come on, mou hitori no boku," Yugi smirked, "Say it."

"Uh, Yugi, why are you smirking?" Jonouchi asked.

Yugi folded his arms, "The Pharaoh won't admit that I won."

"You won?" Honda exclaimed.

"Don't look so surprised," Yugi said, "I was bound to win eventually."

"Come on, Pharaoh," Jonouchi grinned, "Just admit it."

Pharaoh took a long, deep breath, knowing he had lost. He just had to say it. "I…" he tried. "I…"

"Come on, Pharaoh," Honda grinned.

"The Pharaoh won't admit it?" Anzu asked, giggling.

The Pharaoh knew he had to. He was outnumbered four to one, and he had lost. Fair and square, he had lost. Sighing, the Pharaoh swallowed his pride and readied himself to submit, if not just for Yugi.

He wanted to say it all at once, so he relaxed, closed his eyes and just said it: "You win, aibou."

Yugi jumped to his feet, "Yes!" he cheered, jumping on the couch beside Anzu. "I win!"

The Pharaoh smiled. I guess it was worth it,   he thought. At least Yugi was happy.