Puzzleshipping Library

He shivered as the wind whipped around him now that he was far from the shield of tall buildings. Maybe a trip to the beach in early spring wasn’t his greatest decision. 

Glancing over to his companion however, he met a warmth that rivaled the sun. Atem’s wine-coloured eyes sparkled like Yugi had never seen before, his smile stretched wide as opposed to his usual subtle smirk. Pure, unhidden joy even as he trembled against the wind. Yugi’s heart rattled in his chest. Only made worse when Atem caught his gaze out of the corner of his eye. 

“Shouldn’t I have been surprising you,” Atem asked, a little breathless.

Yugi gave a wobbly smile. “You were enough of a surprise.” He bit his lip. “It’s nothing fancy but…um…And I know we only came down here like once or twice…but I thought it would be nice to just…you know…visit places we’ve been now that you…”

“Quite the romantic choice.”

Red prickled across his cheeks in blotchy patches. He really hadn’t thought this through. Maybe he should have just gone with the arcade like his original plan. But Tea had said it was graduation, it should be special. And like a fool he ignored the mischievous spark in her eye. 

“Sorry,” Atem chuckled, but it came out tight. He coughed awkwardly. “I shouldn’t tease like that. Though…it would make a good place to bring Tea.”

Yugi didn’t have to look over to know Atem was staring and smirking. A year ago, it would have only made his blush worse, but now, it drained all the colour from his face.

“Partner?”

Yugi had gotten good at brushing things off. Even before the puzzle, he picked up the habit. Once the memory gaps started, he began his mastery of this art of evasion. But there was always one person he couldn’t possibly hide from. He’d try though. 

Ignoring his companion’s eyes, he leaned down, slipping off his shoes and socks. The sand felt damp and cool under his feet. He let the cold numb his buzzing nerves as he dipped his toes into the gentle waves. 

“Did…Did I say something wrong?” Atem asked after a lapse of silent watching. He sounded almost…small. Yugi’s stomach twisted. 

“No!” he said, all too loudly. “No. I just…” He meant the eyes of his reflection. Sharper now than they had been a year ago. “It’s been a year, Atem. A lot can…change. We’re getting older, reality is setting in…”

“Yugi…”

“A couple months after you left, I tried to confess to her. Because maybe…If I focused on my feelings for her instead of…” the confession still clogged up his throat, digging its nails into the wall. He swallowed thickly, washing it all away. “Anyway. It’s not like I didn’t notice before. It didn’t take me long to realize it was you she liked, but…still. I took a chance. We tried one date and…”

“And?”

“It didn’t work out. It was too soon for both of us and…It wouldn’t last anyway with her leaving for America.”

Atem’s eyes narrowed, but he kept any thought or protest to himself. He turned back to the waves instead. Those words could not stay completely hidden for long though, quickly leaking out into a heavy tension in the air. 

Yugi swirled the water with his foot, eventually splashing his companion just slightly. A wordless invitation. Atem shivered but leaned down to slip off his sneakers. Well. Yugi’s sneakers. Because again, Yugi had been busy and shopping was still on the to-do list. 

“It’s strange,” Atem admitted after a moment. 

Yugi cocked his head. 

“It’s so quiet.”

“Yeah…I’m still not used to it.” 

“I miss it. The background buzz of your emotions. I…I could even hear your heartbeat if I listened carefully.”

“It sure was easier back then.”

Atem nodded. He mimicked Yugi from earlier, swirling the water with his foot. But his movement was more rapid, antsy. Yugi didn’t need a mental link to know the emotions running through Atem’s body.

Cautiously, with twitching fingers, he reached out, taking Atem’s hand in his. Atem tensed. 

“S-Sorry,” Yugi stuttered. He went to pull his hand away only for Atem to tighten around it. Still stiff, still staring ahead with wide eyes, but grip tight as if Yugi would disappear. He stepped just a bit closer, letting their shoulders brush. 

“There…There was another reason too…why Tea and I didn’t work out.” 

“Is that so…”

“Hey,” Yugi whispered, tugging at their conjoined hands. “Look at me?”

Atem slowly turned towards him, revealing his slightly red cheeks. Yugi couldn’t help but smile. Here was the confident, cunning, former King of Games, all powerful Pharaoh looking at him like a schoolboy with his first crush. It would be adorable if he didn’t look like he was about to pass out. 

“Is…Is it normal for my heart to be beating this fast?” Atem asked, breathless once more

It was Yugi’s turn to smirk. “Hmm…I better check.” As pleasant as it was to be the confident one for once, Yugi was still ever so gentle as he placed his hand on Atem’s chest. He could feel the heart just below the skin, the way it fluttered. Atem’s heart. Atem had a heart. And it was beating for him. A burning stabbed behind Yugi’s eyes. 

“Partner?”

“I can feel it. It’s…It’s…”

“What?”

“It’s amazing. You’re alive.”

Atem chuckled. “I thought we already went over this.”

“But I can feel it. I can feel your heart. I…I can feel you.” 

Yugi felt like he was going to burst as reality finally crashed into him like the waves against his lower legs. Atem’s arms found his waist before the swaying became too much. He was still a little stiff, but a small smile had started to worm its way onto his face. Instinctively, Yugi gripped at his shoulders. 

Inches away from each other, it would be so easy to kiss him. 

“I think the tide is coming in,” Atem whispered. 

“Still, plenty of beach to watch the rest of the sunset. Unless you’d rather go home?”

Atem casted his gaze back to the horizon, and though that glow never quite left his eye, it shone brighter now. “Just a little longer.”

Though the urge to kiss Atem hadn’t left him, Yugi pulled away and collected their shoes. They had time now. There was no need to rush. Instead, he extended his hand. “How about a…romantic stroll along the beach?”

Atem’s breath hitched. 

“Or just a regular stroll,” Yugi added quickly. “Whatever you want.”

Atem grasped his hand again, stopping the wall of rambling from building up. “Shall we?” Atem offered 

Draw me a [blank] by Pure_Ichor Chapters: 1/10 Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi | Atem Characters: Mutou Yuugi, Yami Yuugi | Atem, Kaiba Seto, Bakura Ryou, Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler, Honda Hiroto | Tristan Taylor, Mazaki Anzu | Tea Gardner Additional Tags: PuzzleJune, Established Relationship, Smutty, Is love memory-based or intrinsic? Summary: After a routine duel, Yuugi gets hit by a card and loses all of his memories about Atem. Everyone gathers to help him gain them back.

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As many of you know from my previous productions I SIMPLY ADORE playing with skins and taking advantage of AO3 being a digital media and not just a book.

This time, my production contains normal-writing and smutty-writing, but I couldn't avoid some shit-writing like:

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It was Katsuya to call them glitches first.

Yuugi gave the name credit, so it stayed. Unexpected behaviors happening here and there. Strays of dark energy, the shed skin of old Shadow Games that hadn't quite finished dissolving. The gang started thinking they never would, since they were happening twelve years after the Ceremonial Battle, still.

Glitches came from the most different times and places.

Once, it had been a lost ka wandering Domino's train system and opening automatic doors out of sequence. Another time the glitch was a ghost that smelled powerfully of sulfur and scared a salaryman into finally calling his estranged brother. Katsuya fervently maintained that one was a malevolent alien glitch. Ryou, with his peculiar familiarity with these matters, said it was just a disoriented soul-fragment. 

Not all glitches were evil. Some were sad, some angry, and some were simply lost.

Their nature was different in kind, but each shared the same way of acting: possession.

Be it a spirit, a ka, a ghost, a demon, an angel or a deity. They exploited rips between their dimension and ours, and sneaked in. Luckily, they were weak. Each time, the resolution was quick and clean: a duel to chase them back, stitch the rip, and free both host and ghost.

It was deeply anticlimactic. Which was all in all, fine. Anticlimactic is very much underrated, Yuugi thought. Monster of the day became a fun activity in the last years. He, Katsuya, Ryou and Atem had turns in dueling and kicking them out. Any Puzzle piece reacted to their energy, so it was easy to spot their activities.

Each of the members of a group baptized "Glitch stitchers" by Katsuya himself always had a Puzzle piece with them. Spotting a glitch, they advised the group to chase it out, and stitch the rip. Seto silenced the group a long time before, Yuugi suspected, because even if he was inside it, he never read any message or reacted or showed up at any duel. Rumor had it that he once stitched a glitch by himself, without telling anyone.