What? I haven't forgotten about this? *laugh* I've had so much going on, and I apologize for not updating in...SEVEN MONTHS? Oops. I had the beginning of this chapter written back in May, but hadn't gotten around to finishing it. With any luck I'll have another chapter up before the new year! Now, without further ado I present to you chapter two.

Chapter Two – In Which Atem Wears Leather Pants

As Atem had predicted, the meeting dragged on until ten o'clock. Mai had them introduce themselves first, each saying what their favourite pastime was. When Atem's turn came, he wished his parents had named him Bob. The girl with the furry notebook had scribbled furiously after he said his name. Atem hypothesized that she was jotting down possible nicknames for him.

Bakura's turn revealed that he liked playing games, which gave Atem a reason to look forward to the semester ahead of him, as he had also said that he enjoys games. Next, it was furry-yellow notebook's turn, and Atem listened attentively so that he might search Google for the girl's blog. She called herself Anzu Mazaki, and reading manga was her pastime; Atem smelled a fangirl.

The rest of the meeting had involved an explanation of the rules (no throwing microwaves out the window, etc.), a silly game in which participants tried to name each other (Atem lost) and a warning from Mai that she didn't date first years. Atem stretched, yawning; the time to sleep had come. He made his way back to his room and put his key into the lock. As he was turning the key, someone came up beside him. It was Anzu Mazaki, clutching her furry, yellow notebook and light-up pen with both hands against her chest. Please say she doesn't want my autograph, it's only the first day!

"Um, sorry to bother you," she began, "I'm Anzu Mazaki." She bowed a little. "It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Atem," he returned her bow, "but I'm sure you already knew that." Atem smiled and Anzu blushed.

"I-I just w-wanted to...to introduce myself before you went to bed," Anzu regained her composure and smiled cheerfully. "Good night!" With a little wave, she went off to her room. She might not be that bad after all. But even with that thought, Atem still searched for her blog before going to bed.

A rap on the wall adjacent to his bed woke Atem from his slumber. His bleary eyes looked at the wall. He hadn't hit it, there was a wooden plank attached to his bed that prevented him from doing just that. Another rap on the wall, and Atem could tell that it was coming from the other side. A voice spoke through the drywall.

"Hey! Turn your alarm off, man! You'll wake the entire floor up!"

Alarm? Atem lifted his head off his pillow and listened. He heard a faint beeping noise. The more he listened, the louder it got. Then he realized it was his alarm clock telling him that he had overslept half an hour. Atem grunted and slapped the snooze button on his clock. The beeping ceased.

"Thank you!" Atem's neighbour exclaimed.

Atem sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked at his clock: 8:30am. Why does the first day of classes have to be the day after we move in anyway? Domino University had started a controversial schedule for the first two weeks of the fall semester. The students moved in on the Saturday or Sunday and classes started on the Monday. However, there would be no class on Tuesday or Thursday that week. And the next week would only see classes on Tuesday and Thursday. Classes would be held Monday through Friday the third week on. On days with no classes, some orientation events would be held by the various student councils around campus.

Atem checked his schedule, making sure his chemistry lecture was indeed at 9:30 and hadn't changed times during the night. He got dressed then made his way to one of the floor's six bathrooms, toothbrush, soap and keys in tow. The bathroom had two toilets, two showers and two sinks; enough for six people to comfortably (if not awkwardly) go about their morning routine, granted they all did not wish to shower at the same time. Atem preferred to shower at night, thus avoiding the morning rush.

Atem went about his morning routine as he would at home, except here he had the sound of the shower as background noise. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, typical stuff. However, Atem had forgotten his towel, so his shirt would have to suffice. This was fine, since he had planned to wear a different shirt to class anyway. He pulled the collar over his nose, just to the top of his forehead and patted.

Someone pulled back the curtain that cordoned off the showers from the rest of the bathroom. Out of pure (but perhaps impure) curiosity, Atem peeked over his shirt collar into the mirror. Reflected in it, a girl; towel wrapped around her hair, bath robe encompassing her figure, shower stuffs piled in a small basket clutched to her chest. The girl noticed Atem and... ...!

"...!"

It was Anzu Mazaki.

Atem dropped his shirt collar and, still looking in the mirror, said:

"Good morning."

Anzu, face flushed, pulled the top of her robe closer together with her free hand and returned a quick 'Morning' before getting the hell out of that washroom. Atem stared at the mirror, where Anzu Mazaki had just been standing. He couldn't believe it. Of all the people to meet in the bathroom, it had to be her. He would be the highlight of her blog for weeks to come, he just knew it. Her red face was engrained in his brain forever.

When Atem finally unglued his gaze from that spot on the mirror, he came across a different blushing visage: his own. What's with me? She's left already! Atem glared at the pink hue in his cheeks until it went away enough that only he could notice it. He picked up his things and went promptly back to his room.

As the door latched, Atem's blush came right back with full force. He leaned against his door and covered the bottom half of his face with his right hand, his fingers heating up against the warm skin. What...what was that? Okay, so I saw her in a bath robe, so what? Atem's eyes widened with realization. Nothing but a bath robe. But it wasn't his fault, right? She should've known that there would be boys in the bathroom. Yeah, he wasn't at fault. But the next time I see her... Atem shook his head violently, getting rid of his redness, fixed his hair, put on a different shirt and his leather pants, grabbed his book bag and headed off to class.

The largest lecture hall on campus, the Kaiba Corporation Building (lovingly shortened to K-CoB by the students), was relatively close to the South Southwest residence, so Atem found himself fifteen minutes early for his first class. As he waited outside the doors of the Mokuba Auditorium, his stomach grumbled and Atem realized he had forgotten to eat anything for breakfast. I usually never leave without eating at least something. Has this Anzu girl really gotten to me this much? Atem decided to contribute his forgetfulness to his new environment, and not some girl he had met only yesterday.

The doors opened up and students from the previous lecture poured out. Most of them looked quite tired and paid Atem no notice but a few of the girls' eyes became locked on him. Why does this happen all the time? I'm just leaning against this wall, waiting to go to class! Nothing special. So why can't the girls take their eyes off of me?

"It's the leather pants."

Not expecting an answer, Atem jumped a little bit and his eyes widened. He scanned the crowd for the guy who had literally read his mind and then replied aloud. However, he was the only one looking and none of the girls had reacted to the statement. Atem then remembered the dream-like mind-reading incident yesterday. The other person surely had to be somewhere close, otherwise they couldn't possibly have known what he was talking about. He was also starting to suspect the whole reading minds thing only worked over short distances, given the recent lack of communication. But no one came up to him, nor did anyone strike him as the person who had been reading his mind. Atem was just going to have to live with not knowing for now.

As he made his way into the auditorium, he thought about what his mind reader said (thought). The leather pants? Really? Is that how simple the answer is? Atem took a seat near the front, around the more studious types, wanting to give off a I-study-don't-bother-me vibe to the girls who would be attending this lecture. It almost worked. He hadn't remembered that girls enjoy 'studying'; the art of acting like you want to learn the material, when all you really want to learn is what type of material someone is wearing. A bunch of 'studious' girls sat in the row behind him.

The seat on Atem's right was soon occupied by a male student sporting sunglasses and a bandana. He was mumbling to himself about the 'dumb schedule' and how he shouldn't have to be in class right now. Atem would have agreed with him and struck up a conversation except the man's teeth were bared and he didn't seem to want any conversation.

A girl sat in the seat to Atem's left, much to his dismay. Her two front-most locks of black hair were secured with gold rings and she bore a peculiar necklace. The design seemed familiar but Atem couldn't pinpoint its origin. She noticed his interest, but mistook where his eyes were lingering.

"Hey," she said, rather forcefully, "just because you have a gaggle of giggling girls sitting behind you doesn't mean every female student here wants to jump your bones."

Atem looked up apologetically. "I'm sorry, I was only looking at your necklace. Honestly." She raised an eyebrow. "The design looks familiar to me, but I can't figure out where from." Her eyebrow fell, accepting his story.

"My necklace comes from Egypt. I've never seen its likeness anywhere, so I'm afraid I can't help you."

"Ah, I see. That's okay. I'm sure it will come to me eventually. I'm Atem, by the way. Sorry for making you think I enjoy all of this." Atem gestured to the girls behind him.

"Ishizu. And you'd best be watching where your eyes linger next time. Some girls will just slap you without giving it a second thought. Although I'm sure you haven't met any yet."

"Actually, I have. I'm surprised they haven't left a noticeable mark." Atem rubbed his cheek as if it stung. This got him a small laugh out of Ishizu and they spent the few minutes until class started talking about university. What programs of study they were following (Physics for her, Chemistry for him), the first night in residence (people were partying in the West residence) and what their schedules looked like. Atem and Ishizu had just discovered they had the same calculus lecture when the professor called attention to the front of the room.

"Welcome, everyone, to your very first chemistry lecture of university!"