AN: ta-da! Chapter 6 time! 

Chapter 6: Separating Identities

His eyes narrowed from annoyance and he folded his arms across his chest leaning against the wall as he listened to yet another lecture on proper procedure. He wasn't from this time period granted and of course she wouldn't know that, but to completely object to his assistance in the Egypt exhibit was frustrating. "You're just a desk secretary" she would scold, "you're supposed to stay put" she demanded. How does anyone do this on a regular basis was beyond him but he was growing tired of being told he was wrong and how would he know.

It was lunch break finally and he could be free of his supervisor's continuous nagging for a few minutes. He escaped to the break room and took out his lunch for the day that was prepared by Yugi. He sighed, staring at the contents as the thought about the morning came into view.

Yugi didn't say a word to him in the morning and avoided his eyes during breakfast. He didn't understand what made him so upset and now was the time he wished he could see into Yugi's mind. He rubbed his temples as he took a few bites. The food tasted bitter to him due to the feeling of uneasiness that came from wondering what was wrong with Yugi. He put it away for his last break of the day and decided to walk around the museum exhibit to clear his mind.

He sighed deeply when he noticed his supervisor didn't take his advice and re-arrange the Egyptian pharaoh's timeline like he mentioned. It was still out of order and he couldn't help but chuckle they had his father's name after "the nameless pharaoh" which was him. He stared at the exhibit, placing a hand on the information pedestal in front of it. What was he doing here? The promises to see him during lunch didn't occur and not only that, Yugi was mad at him. He didn't fit in with this job, despite his overwhelming ancient history knowledge and rather than being praised for his work, he was constantly yelled at. If he wanted to be scolded all day he would've taken a job with Seto Kaiba, or stayed back in the afterlife with Mahado.

"Wow...they were serious, you really are here..." A voice came from behind him snapping him out of his thought. He turned to see a familiar face walk up to the exhibit beside him smiling at the exhibit.

"I simply love coming to the museum during lunch breaks...it reminds me of everything we went through, but also everything we accomplished." Ryou mentioned softly before turning to Atem.

"We did go through a lot" Atem nodded, "Especially you, Ryou. I'm sorry for how things turned out"

"It's alright...it's hard to adjust too, doing things that you'd never dream of doing to the people you care about" Ryou shook his head, "I was also a bit jealous of Yugi, I'll admit..."

"Why?" Atem questioned.

"Because he had a good spirit inside of him," Ryou stated, "A friend, a companion...someone to share things with, not just someone who possessed him when he felt necessary."

"Ryou..." Atem began before swallowing deeply, "The spirit...wasn't evil, not entirely anyway. I...my father, wronged him thousands of years ago...we did terrible things to his village and I can only imagine the pain and suffering he went through...Zorc possessed him so in a way, he too was controlled and forced to do things he may have deep down not wanted to do..."

Ryou blinked before chuckling and turning back to the exhibit, "You really are an interesting person Atem...what made you come back anyway?"

"I've been wondering that myself..." Atem sighed as Ryou chuckled.

"So you met Nosaka then?" Ryou rolled his eyes before turning back to the exhibit, "Don't let her get to you...she wouldn't listen to my father either when he tried to correct the exhibit. The manager is always away on business, so she's left behind to run it."

"I bet a monkey could run it better..." Atem mumbled but loud enough for Ryou to hear and he laughed loudly.

"You remember Miho right?" Ryou asked, "The shy girl Honda had a crush on? Well, that's her mother"

"I wouldn't have guessed that..." Atem looked shocked, "Miho was such a nice girl"

"Apple doesn't always fall close to the tree..." Ryou smiled softly. "I can see what Jou and Honda meant though about all of this..."

Atem looked puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"It really does feel like...nostalgia" Ryou said, "Talking to you...we only got to experience you through Yugi...so Yugi was always mixed in and we were never sure directly which one we were talking too"

Atem looked down before looking back at Ryou nodding, "I can understand that. It was never our intention to directly confuse our friends...just sometimes we forgot ourselves"

"Yugi though...he sees you as a completely separate person" Ryou stated, "It wasn't always that way...yet when you come back you are Atem, not Yugi or an extension of Yugi."

Atem stared at Ryou for a while before turning back to the exhibit in front of him. Atem worried about how Yugi's friends would feel when he arrived and even worse how Yugi would feel. Would they completely accept their friendship starting again or was it simply an extension of their feelings towards Yugi? It did bother him, he'd be lying if he didn't feel distant and confused on how he would even re-establish his connections with them.

Yugi on the other hand was trying to get everyone to accept Atem as himself, and no one else. Trying to take that worry and fear away from him this whole time. He was trying to take away the stress Atem was feeling by insisting everyone look at him as his own person without knowing how Atem truly felt. Did Yugi really understand him that much?

Sensing his turmoil Ryou cleared his throat to get Atem's attention, "Just give the others time. They all respected you and were devastated when you were gone. I'm sure it'll be awhile before they have adjusted to the two of you being just that, the two of you"

"What about you?" Atem asked putting his hands in his pockets, "You don't seem bothered at all"

"I guess I'm more familiar with the territory...I told myself from the beginning the spirit was not me," Ryou stated causing Atem to frown.

"I'm sorry I linked you two earlier..." Atem stated as Ryou shook his head.

"Not at all. The spirit was inside of me and in a way, a part of me. I get that. And it was rough for the first month after everything happened because I felt that awkwardness from everyone. Or at least my mind was telling me that, until Yugi talked to me and made me realize...the spirit is the spirit, and I am me. What he did in my stead isn't what I did...it was comforting at the time but not the whole picture. In ways, we were similar and I felt sorry for him in the end...you are the only one who understands that though. Although I admire Yugi's views on the matter, he wasn't entirely correct that we were separate but I saw where he was coming from, because it's how he viewed the himself and you"

Atem sighed deeply finally understanding Yugi's feelings before turning to Ryou, "Thank you for telling me that."

Ryou smiled at him before looking at his watch and turning to Atem, "I better get back to school and you should get back to work before Nosaka notices!"

Atem nodded, "I'd rather not hear another lecture today. Could you tell Yugi to wait for me? He might be resistant but..."

"Don't worry, I'll convince him. See you tomorrow" Ryou waved as he turned and stopped just before leaving, "Im intrigued to learn more about you"

Atem smiled after Ryou as he left the museum, feeling a little more relaxed but clutched his stomach when he finally had his appetite back. Terrible timing as he saw Nosaka round the corner.

Atem leaned up against a tree just outside of Domino High waiting for Yugi to exit. He watched as students left in their familiar uniforms and he smiled at the thought of the days when he was also wearing that uniform.

Ryou and Miho walked out shortly after a few groups of people, Ryou giving Atem a smile and nod as he continued his conversation with Miho. Jounouchi and Honda waved, walking up with Yugi who wouldn't look at him.

"Sorry we didn't stop by for lunch," Jou began scratching his head, "Honda and I got detention..."

"Yea no thanks to you" Honda rolled his eyes.

"Hey! That guy was a sore loser, I beat him fair and square and he just acted like a lunatic." Jou defended as Yugi rubbed his forehead.

"Only because you taunted him after Jou..." Yugi grumbled. Atem on the other hand chuckled at the commotion as they all looked at him with a confused expression.

"Sorry..." He shook his head pushing off from the tree, "Just felt like old times"

"It does...doesn't it?" Jou smiled, "Well, what are you and Yugi up too?"

"I'll tell you later," Atem smirked as Jou and Honda grinned, "Thanks for making sure he wouldn't escape"

Yugi crossed his arms at the comment as Honda laughed.

"Ryou told us, figured you'd need an extra hand to keep him here" Honda chuckled.

"I'm not a child," Yugi glared at the three of them as they chuckled.

"See you guys later," Honda waved as he and Jou left.

"You could've just asked me yourself...I would've come" Yugi grumbled as Atem raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And how exactly am I supposed to ask you when you're avoiding me?" Atem questioned as Yugi shook his head.

"I wasn't avoiding you..! I was just busy..." Yugi lied as Atem chuckled.

"Liar," Atem gestured towards downtown before walking ahead, "Come on, I have something to show you"

Yugi curiously watched as Atem began walking down the street before running to catch up with him. They walked side by side in silence, Atem not saying a word thinking he might spoil the surprise.

"So uh...how was your first day?" Yugi opened up, finding the air too awkward for his tastes.

"...apparently I'm my father's father" Atem said a matter-of-factly as he continued to walk ahead.

"...huh?" Yugi asked extremely confused causing Atem to chuckle.

"The museum has the order of pharaohs wrong, and apparently expressing that concern is not in my job description" He continued to chuckle, "I handed out papers, accepted peoples yen and basically fetched my supervisor coffee all day while being lectured on how there's no possible way I could know any of that."

"Welcome to the employment world," Yugi laughed, causing Atem to smile seeing his friend a little less angry.

"So it seems," Atem added as they continued, walking down the street in silence. Despite him knowing full well Yugi was still mad at him, he quite enjoyed their walk together. It brought back memories of before, how even together in the same body it often felt they were walking side by side everywhere. After the day he had, he was happy even if Yugi wasn't fully, to just be beside him.

"We're here" Atem said stopping outside a red colonial style door. Yugi raised an eyebrow as Atem walked in first and walked up to the counter. After a quick exchange, Atem got the lady at the counter to position the monitor so that Yugi could see the screen.

"You signed up...for the dueling tournament?" Yugi questioned looking at Atem intently, "Why?"

"You said it yourself, you want people to see us as individuals...and what better way than to compete against each other?" Atem smiled as Yugi pouted.

"That's not what I meant...you're twisting what I said..." Yugi stated glancing to the side.

"It wasn't just that," Atem said placing a hand on his shoulder, "Our bond was formed and strengthened after dueling each other...we showed our friends that we were different people with entirely different strategies. It was one of the happiest moments of my life, because I got to duel you"

Yugi looked up at Atem with a shocked expression as Atem smiled warmly.

"I want the whole world to see that," Atem stated as he walked passed Yugi, "And beating Kaiba into the ground again is an added perk"

Yugi watched as Atem walked out of the building with a big smile on his face, the anger of yesterday disappearing as he ran out after Atem.

"Atem! Wait!" Yugi called as Atem paused and glanced behind him as Yugi caught up, "My strategy has changed since the last time we dueled..."

"Good, don't hold back" Atem smirked, "Because this time no matter who wins...I'm not going anywhere"

Atem felt his heart pound when Yugi's expression changed from concern to absolute joy, rushing to be by his side as they walked home together. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked up at the sky with his hands in his pockets. He couldn't believe how much a smile on Yugi's face could make him feel so happy, so fulfilled at the same time.

Atem felt the faint touch of a hand on his wrist, as he looked in the direction it came from. Yugi had a grin on his face and tightened his grip on Atem's wrist, "Come on Atem...there's something we have to do."

Chapter 6 end.