The tournament had no issues. Atemu found himself facing many challenging duelists, and each of them held a good stance against him. However, none had yet to have him so close to defeat as Alvaro did.

Then he found himself at the final round. With each round his fame grew. At first he grew nervous going out, but his friends had his back. Even Seto encouraged him not to let them turn him into a hermit.

His fame had all eyes on him as he stood before the other final contender. Joey Wheeler had an air of confidence mixed with bubbling excitement. Atemu had been most anxious to have a duel against his friend. And as the tournament came ever closer to the grand finale, the two climbed until the very end.

The atmosphere was filled with electricity from the pure excitement all around. And for the first time Seto Kaiba was showing his face in the final showdown as he watched from his view. The final was taking place in the same duel arena as the Grand Championship. It was a weird concept for Yugi to be seen in the sidelines, just as anxious as he had no idea which one to cheer on more.

"I don't think I know which of you to cheer more." Yugi confessed the night before. They were alone in the pharaoh's suite, for once he had decided to set time aside for his partner.

"Just cheer for us both. I don't mind which of us you end up supporting more." Atemu assured as he went through his deck.

"Hmm. But afterwards, you intend to keep your promise with me?" Yugi leaned his back against the pharaoh.

"You know I keep my promises, Aibou." Atemu chuckled.

"I know. I just needed the reassurance."

Atemu had made a promise to Yugi that he will inform him everything that he had been withholding from him after the final duel. As this tournament became more challenging with each round, he found his brain too focused on preparing for the next challenge. Not even Seto could help him relax, as much as he tried.

"You know, I didn't think you would be like this when you were to enter the tournament." Seto commented earlier that morning.

"Are you regretting ever asking me to participate?" Atemu felt guilty for the amount of time the tournament was consuming of him. He supposed it was mostly due he was used to sharing the burden with Yugi. Everything was different on his own.

"Never. Watching you out there is a thrill of it's own. I only regret I forced myself to be in the sidelines. I'm itching to face you with your current deck. Only, with the addition of Dark Magician." The CEO admitted with a smirk.

"Challenge accepted." Atemu had slowly been editing his deck to eventually include his faithful companion. It didn't openly support Dark Magician, however including the monster would become smoother than it did at the beginning of the tournament.

Atemu shivered under that gaze of desire. No matter what those eyes had him weak. And he didn't mind it at all. Seto was well aware of the effect he had on him. In some instances he used it to his advantage in his attempts to help the pharaoh relax. It worked up until the next morning of the next round.

And now he stood at the final duel of the tournament.

From the start their duel was explosive. Atemu found himself facing a new Joey, and forced himself to adapt accordingly. The way Joey set the pace was similar to how Seto had him dance. Only, his long time friend had a different means to keep him on his toes.

And before he knew it Joey had him cornered. Atemu's response was explosive in a way his friends had never seen before. While they stood in shock, Seto only laughed. Everyone stared at him, confused at his reaction, and even more so with his expression of a cold dark smirk and eyes burning.

It was then Yugi had an epiphany.

"You... It's you isn't it?" Yugi couldn't elaborate his question, and those eyes turned on him. The shorter duelist felt his blood freeze under that gaze. He hadn't seen that look since his first attempt at resurrecting the pharaoh.

"It's about time you figured it out, Yugi." Seto chuckled darkly. "I would have thought it wouldn't take you very long to connect the dots. But you disappointed me when Wheeler figured it out before you did."

Suddenly the rest of the gang understood. All of them were too shocked as they processed. Seto wasn't the only one relieved, for the group had trouble keeping their reactions in check and blurt everything out.

"Is this your doing?" Yugi found his courage.

"Hardly. I merely showed him to accept all aspects of himself. I pushed him further than anyone ever had. I'm amazed and amused the next person to rile this side of him is Wheeler of all people." He didn't admit it out loud, but he was anxious as anyone to see how Joey held up against Atemu.

To even Atemu's surprise Joey held his ground. And the duel climbed to a level rivaling how he dueled Seto. And due to his friend holding up just fine Atemu didn't feel guilty keeping up his onslaught to push his opponent further. Joey met him halfway, never ready to give up hope.

Then in a sudden change of events, Atemu found himself unable to bring forth strong monsters. By now both their life points were less than a thousand, their decks nearing the end. He had built his deck for a quick duel, and by using most of his combos and tricks he was reduced to barely hanging on. He had faith to turn it around to his favor.

But his miscalculation of his friend reduced his life points to zero. He had only one card left to draw. Even if he held out one more turn, he would have been automatically disqualified if he couldn't draw the one card to turn the tables.

They stared for a long moment, minds processing like moving through molasses. The first to recover was Atemu. He smiled, relief flooding him to have the duel come to an end. And he was proud to watch his best friend grow. He raised a hand for a thumbs up, a gesture he reserved for his friends. And he was showing the whole world his affection to a worthy duelist.

Atemu reluctantly raised his gaze to Seto. To his amazement, he wasn't angry. Although his body language spoke of cold fury, his eyes were gentler. They didn't burn with hatred or disgust. He then shocked the world.

"And the winner is Joey Wheeler! With this champion rising the ranks, the World Cup Championship is now over. Congratulations to all who have participated in Kaiba Corp's tournament."

It finally began to process through Joey's brain. He started crying. His body even shook. Then he shook it off and jumped high in the air, arms raised as he howled to his heart's content as the crowd cheered. After a few seconds of acknowledging the crowd Joey rushed over to Atemu and pulled him into a bear hug. The pharaoh laughed as he returned the gesture.

"Thanks, pharaoh. For pushin' me beyond my limits. I needed that." Joey was beyond grateful. When he pulled away though, he sighed in relief. "But I gotta admit, you're scary when you're like dat."

"I apologise, it's a part of me that I am not proud of." Atemu had mixed emotions of allowing himself to respond like that to his friend.

"I understand. But you gotta remember, it's a part of you. And, in comparin' to when ya used the Orichalcos, you're better at controlling that side of you. I'm proud of ya." Joey flashed a smile as he gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks, Joey." In all honesty the pharaoh was more relieved that his friend wasn't holding his response against him.

xXx

In the aftermath of the tournament, Kaiba Corp hosted an after party. All contenders had the option to join in with their friends or family. Almost all of them did. The only missing contender was Alvaro, but everyone's focus was on Joey and Atemu.

Without journalists or cameras in the party, Seto boldly intervened if anyone approached Atemu and openly flirted. His commanding presence combined with his eyes burning a cold fury had everyone scurry away rather quickly. Thus far, despite the alcohol going around, security wasn't needed to be called.

"So...are they a thing?" Someone asked, noticing the CEO's possessiveness.

"Who cares? Let's just enjoy the party!" Someone else shouted, and many others raised their glasses in agreement.

"They're going to figure it out, you know." Atemu pointed out softly. They stood at the sidelines, Atemu was enjoying a glass of wine. Seto barely touched anything, preferring to watch for any inappropriate behavior than allowing himself to relax.

"And? Your friends know by now. The rest of the world can shit itself for all I care. Unless you don't feel comfortable with the world knowing?" Seto turned to him, eyes curious.

"I don't mind if you don't. It might drive them away from flirting." Atemu commented. Just as he said those words a familiar arm snaked around him for a hand to grip his hip tightly. The pharaoh found himself blushing, the wine had obviously just started to kick in even though this was his second glass.

Almost immediately most of the party goers avoided them. Seto was intimidating enough, but somehow seeing him being possessive had most quickly clear away from him. Atemu began to wonder if this was a good idea after all. Yugi was the first to approach after some time passed.

"Mind if I join you? They're getting a bit rowdy for my liking." Either he had a bit to drink, or he knew they couldn't say no as he scooted a chair to sit next to them. His cheeks had a hint of pink in them.

"I've been considering putting a stop to the drinks." Seto admitted. The noise level wasn't insane, and thus far everyone was having a good time. But he wished to avoid any accidents.

"Switch them with punch. I don't think they'll notice at this point." Yugi suggested. It didn't take long for Seto to consider the idea.

"You two better not get into trouble." He said as he stood.

"Hey, it's not our fault the world threw it's problems at us. At least, it used to anyways." Yugi joked, not bothered by the glare he received.

Seto glanced at the pharaoh. He was hesitant, but he knew that with Yugi around Atemu wouldn't do anything stupid unless provoked.

"Go ahead, I'll be fine." Atemu assured him. He had a flashback to the day Yugi barged into the office demanding to see him. By Seto's expression the pharaoh wasn't the only one.

For the first time he left Atemu's side to attend to his duties as CEO of Kaiba Corp as he made sure that every alcoholic beverage they were serving was replaced with something else. He even went into such detail that the replacements were of similar colors so as to trick the attendees.

"So how did this come about? Between you and him?" Yugi inquired curiously.

"Hm. It just happened. I felt an incredible attraction to him. And to my surprise, the feeling was mutual." Atemu shrugged, his mind buzzed now.

"So it happened with a snap of a finger? Just like that?" Yugi was skeptical.

"More or less. Kind of started with an argument, then the next thing I know we're kissing. That was when that bitch snapped a photo and tried to blackmail me with it." Atemu didn't care for his language right now. It was just the two of them sitting together and he knew his partner didn't mind.

"Heh. Sounds like how it would start with the two of you." Yugi laughed.

"It had me hooked, to say the least." The pharaoh chuckled with him.

"I have sensed you've been happy. Happier than when you first came back. Is that because of him?" Yugi guessed as he grabbed a non alcoholic drink.

"Mhmm." Atemu confirmed. "He goes out of his way for me. I sometimes question if I'm worthy of it, but he proves to me that I am. So I return the gesture as much as I can."

"Sounds like both of you go out of your way to make it work." Yugi observed, amazed as he processed this information.

"It's not always perfect. We're learning as we go. But so far we've made it work." Atemu recalled the few nights during the tournament he was overly snappy and frustrated due to lack of sleep. Seto would snap back at him, only to regret it later for his response.

Atemu felt guilty for taking it out on him in the first place. He was so ready for the tournament to be over already. But some part of him couldn't bring himself to lose on purpose. He knew Seto wouldn't be pleased with that either, but he did express if it was too much for him mentally, then he would support any decision he made.

It was enough for Atemu to keep pushing. He was eager for the chance to duel Joey. He wanted to see for himself how much his friend had grown. To put him to a test similar to Yugi and Seto. Joey passed with flying colors.

"That's good to hear. I was worried for a minute. How he laughed when you exploded like that in the duel against Joey. I got scared. But then afterwards, Joey explained it all to me. He wanted to test you, and in the end you tested him beyond his limits too. He's amazed he pulled off that win." Yugi surmised.

"Even if I was able to hold on one more turn, I couldn't turn it around on my last card to draw." Atemu couldn't help but check what card would have been his last. It wouldn't have done him any good other than stall for one more turn. Which he wouldn't have been able to pull off.

"A loss through a deck out? You've had close calls, but never one like that." The other commented.

"I know. It's why I'm glad he was able to take my life points down in his final attack. Winning by my deck running out would have had him question if he really did win or if it was sheer dumb luck." Atemu was proud of Joey.

They sat in silence as they watched their friend. Joey was probably the loudest of the attendees. But considering he was the champion of the tournament, he had every right. His positive and easy going attitude kept the party going and everyone was celebrating with him.

"So what are your plans? Now that the tournament is over?" Yugi asked after a few minutes of watching them having fun.

"Hmm. No idea. We had another tournament planned sometime in the future. I can't give details, but this tournament was to make way for the new wave of duelists." Atemu caught himself from disclosing too much information. Although he trusted Yugi.

"Let me guess, I don't have a choice in the next one." Yugi sighed.

"Only if you wish to participate." Atemu was saving the detail he had thought of as a surprise.

"You're hiding something again." Yugi narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Am I? Or am I just teasing you?" The pharaoh couldn't help it. He leaned in closer, but misjudged his balance and the pair of them fell to the floor. Yugi laughed, which prompted Atemu to laugh with him.

"I can't even leave you two alone for five minutes." Seto stood over them, arms crossed.

"We're not that bad." Atemu pouted, as Yugi helped him to his feet. He felt a sudden dizziness overcome him. A hand steadied his body.

"I think you've had enough." Without so much as a second thought that everyone was watching by now, Seto scooped the pharaoh up in his arms and carried him out.

"They're going to talk about that later." Atemu said, although he wasn't at all worried.

"Let them. I don't care anymore if the whole world knows. So long as they learned before the world did." Seto referred to the pharaoh's friends.

"Really? That was your reasoning?" He was shocked. The CEO had put the consideration of Atemu's friends knowing before the rest of the world of their relationship. That was new.

"I wouldn't hear the end of it if they found out like everyone else did." Seto had a point.

Atemu could only silently agree. He leaned his head against a broad chest as he mulled over the recent events. At first he was afraid of what his future will hold at this second chance of life. But now he was more confident it won't be bleek or full of regrets. All of his friends bloomed into their own. And Seto was maturing in ways he never thought would witness.

"Is it too early to say I love you?" Atemu had been wanting to say it for a while now. But he had been too timid. Maybe it was the alcohol that gave him the courage.

"I've been waiting for you to say it." Seto didn't hesitate in his answer. "You are mine as I am yours."

"I love you." Encouraged, Atemu said them again.

"As I love you, pharaoh."