Kahwa Run (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

"We tried, Souji-kun. With the Eye. It tried to force itself on Atem," Yuugi said.

Atem had seemed to realize something by Souji's words. He had gone silent with them, letting Yuugi take the lead. He nodded in response to Yuugi's words. Souij wouldn't have a chance to respond before Atem spoke up again.

"You're right, Souji-kun, we should let him have it," Atem said. He said the words slowly and looked towards Yuugi, "Partner, I'm going to need to borrow the Pendant. I'm sure Anpu will figure out I have the Ring on me, if he doesn't already know."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji frowned. If the Eye had tried to force itself on Atem, then that wasn't going to work. He turned toward Atem as he spoke up. He raised an eyebrow at Atem's words.

"Why do you need the Pendant?" Souji asked.

[mugenginga]

"We may be able to stop Anpu here and now," Atem said. He held up the crumpled note, "He's getting arrogant. He thinks he can do whatever he wants here."

"Atem, I won't let you just kill him!" Yuugi said, "We shouldn't have to ever have another Dark Game!"

"I respect your opinion, Partner," Atem said. Given that the last time Souji had seen them, Atem had seemed all but ready to throw himself in the line of fire, it was an extremely calm reaction, "And I'd prefer if that were the case. But this is Anpu. We may not be able to handle this peacefully."

Yuugi grabbed the base of the chain that the Puzzle hung from. He looked quite determined, and his tone of voice supported his expression.

"I'm not giving you the Pendant if you're going to use it to kill Anpu."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji looked toward Atem. "I have to agree with Yuugi here. Even with everything Anpu's done, I still don't think we have to kill him."

Not that I can think of any other options, Souji added grimly in his head. It wasn't like he could just separate Anpu and Bakura into their own bodies, and the TV World had proven itself a non-option.

[mugenginga]

Atem had seemed to be considering something when Souji spoke up. Now he looked annoyed bordering on angry. Neither of them understood that he wanted to do it Yuugi's way. If there was a way to seperate Anpu without his death, he wanted to take it. But it seemed to him they were out of options. They had to destroy Anpu like this. The other option was to take Bakura's life as well. This kind of decision... even as Pharaoh he hadn't had to choose like that. The Items had always been able to see the guilt from the innocence.

"Atem, can I control the Items? Do I have that ability?"

Atem's eyes widened. His anger had vanished from his face, and now he looked almost frightened, "Wha-what did you say?"

"Malik once said I could control the Items. Can I?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji blinked as Yuugi asked his question. Why would Yuugi want to know that? Not only that, but Souji couldn't think of any way that Yuugi could use the items differently from Atem to help with the situation. He didn't say anything, just stood to the side. It wasn't like he knew anything about the items anyways.

[mugenginga]

"Why are you asking that?"

Yuugi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Atem, Bakura-kun has proven that he can fight back before. Against Zorc. During that Monster World RPG and that Duel he put us into during Duelist Kingdom."

"That won't get rid of Anpu, Partner."

"I didn't say it would. Do we need to kill Anpu if we can prove to Bakura-kun he isn't the victim? That he can be in control?"

"That involves putting yourself in a Dark Game!" Atem said. He didn't sound angry, "Anpu will be trying to kill you, Partner!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji frowned as he realized what Yuugi was saying. That would mean Yuugi would be the one to face Anpu. Atem was right; Anpu would try to kill Yuugi.

"Yuugi, Atem's right, Anpu will try to kill you," Souji said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

[mugenginga]

Yuugi frowned and looked down. Right, he'd be the one to face Anpu. But he'd seen Bakura's reaction to Atem. Bakura didn't trust Atem. Yuugi couldn't blame him, the two times he'd seen Atem had both been during Dark Games. Before he and Atem had begun to communicate, at that.

"I'm sure, Souji-kun," Yuugi looked towards Atem, "Atem, Anpu will try to kill you, too. You're his main target! No matter who does it, someone's life is going to be at risk, right?"

Atem opened his mouth to argue. That wasn't the case. If Yuugi did it, his life would be at risk. Yuugi was asking him to let Yuugi do something that was his job, his responsibility. But anything he said would just be trying to shield Yuugi. Because his Partner had a point. Not only that, there was one he was missing. Anpu saw him as the weaker one, he'd underestimate him. And wasn't he the one who kept trying to tell Yuugi he was stronger? It was likely this would need strength of heart and spirit, not surface.

"I don't want you to do it, Partner," Atem said.

"Ate-"

"But you're right. And the fact that you can wear the Pendant means it would let you use it. I'd stop you if I could come up with a single... valid reason. But there isn't one," Atem clenched his fists, "There isn't a single one that matters..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji didn't like how this conversation. Even as Atem finally conceded to Yuugi's point, he was still blaming himself and putting himself down. He looked toward Atem and frowned.

"Does it matter to you?" Souji asked. Even with his own... issues lately, he hadn't missed how Atem was acting. He'd been like this for a while, but it was only recently that these things had come to a head.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi had looked away as Atem spoke. Not a single reason that mattered? So there was a reason, but Atem didn't think it mattered? He was considering asking Atem what he meant by that when Souji did it for him. He looked at the silver haired teenager in surprise, but he seemed somewhat grateful as well. Atem tended to stuff things down and it was like pulling teeth to get him to open up.

"It's not important to the situation," Atem stated. He looked annoyed at Souji's choice to pressure him, "I made the choice to do what needs to be done. I'm not going to give up, and it's not fair to ask Partner to do the same. I can't allow my personal feelings to get in the way here."

Yuugi still looked confused. A little hurt that Atem was keeping something from him, in fact. He knew the former Pharaoh well enough to know this wasn't some kind of mixed message in regards to his strength. Even if he often doubted his personal strength, and knew that he wasn't as strong as Atem, it didn't change that Atem felt that way.

Souji likely had an idea what was going on. Atem wanted to protect Yuugi from the risk of death. His body language showed he was highly resistant to saying more, but Souji knew Atem well enough to probably put the pieces together.

As for Atem, the reason for his not speaking was twofold. First of all, he knew it was selfish for having these thoughts. Was he trying to protect Yuugi for Yuugi? It wasn't anything so altruistic. He didn't want to consider how he wouldn't be able to go on without the shorter teenager. He'd almost lost a friend once, and Yuugi was more than that. Second, he didn't want to be responsible for Yuugi giving up. This was the strength he wanted Yuugi to show, right? Either way would be a losing situation as far as he was concerned. Yuugi would be at the risk of death with how things were going. On the other hand, he'd be able to protect his Partner. He couldn't be sure of doing both...

[Firebreath Fishslap]

The look Souji gave Atem at his response was rather disapproving. He could tell Atem wanted to protect Yuugi. Everything he'd said and his body language pointed toward that. But at the same time, Atem didn't want to voice that thought, because it would cause him more guilt.

"Atem, stop being an idiot," Souji stated. "You can't keep stuffing things and kicking yourself over things like this. You're not doing Yuugi any favors by continuing on like this, either."

[mugenginga]

Atem seemed more annoyed at Souji's implications. While it was true he wasn't saying everything on his mind, he'd stopped "kicking himself" over the past. Or at least had stopped letting it hold him back, which was all that mattered in the situation. The fact that a lot of what he was saying echoed what Jounouchi had said before didn't help the situation. Whatever he did, he was going to hurt Yuugi? Was that what he was trying to say? Atem's glare deepened as that thought crossed his mind.

"A-Atem, I'm not upset... I'm just worried..."

Atem frowned, "I don't see why you have to take the more dangerous side of this."

"Huh?"

"I'm not trying to shoulder all of this myself because of the past," Atem seemed to be talking as much to Souji as Yuugi with that, if not more, "Yes, Anpu's actions killed my closest friend in Ancient Egypt. But that isn't the problem now. It's the present, not the past."

Yuugi wanted to assure Atem that he didn't think that. But he stopped before he opened his mouth. Atem seemed to be trying to make a point. Atem took a breath and looked down at the note. Really, he hadn't said everything in it. He'd even managed to not react to everything on it. He wouldn't have if Yuugi hadn't insisted he handle Anpu. In it, the bastard had made a point of mentioning his "boyfriend". The son of a bitch was going to target Yuugi, even if he killed him first. Atem crumpled the note back up.

"Partner, he wants to get to me through you. I don't want you to even get hurt, let alone killed. I..." Atem glanced at Souji. It was visible in his expression that his next words weren't what he'd been about to say, "...I don't know what I'll do if you die."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

By now, Souji had decided anything he said wouldn't do anything to really help. This was between Atem and Yuugi, when it boiled down to things. Yuugi was the one who had said he wanted to face Anpu.

"Atem, from the sound of things, Yuugi's going to get hurt anyways no matter how we handle things," Souji said. "Anpu's depending on that reaction. He knows how you're going to react if anything happens to Yuugi."

And that's probably what he's weighing all of his plans on, Souji added in his head. He hadn't heard about any more of those child paralyzation cases lately, but that didn't mean Anpu didn't still have that poison. It hadn't been lost on Souji who had committed those crimes, as his reactions toward Adachi and Bakura shortly after finding out had shown. Anpu was likely waiting for the best moment to use it. He wanted to make Atem suffer before he died, Souji knew it.

[mugenginga]

Atem gave Souji a flat look at his words. That was the entire reason he hadn't wanted to mention his problem with the situation. There was no reason that mattered, not when weighed against the advantages of having Yuugi be the one to challenge Anpu. They needed to get the Ring to Anpu, and then Yuugi needed to run the game.

"I won't die, either," Yuugi said, "And I won't get hurt. This might be Bakura-kun's only chance, so I can't fail."

"Souji-kun, what cofee were you out of?" Atem stated. He indicated the bags, "I couldn't remember."

"Atem?"

Atem looked towards Yuugi, "We're talk later, Partner."