Syrus sat alone in his dorm room with his head facing the floor. Tears were forming within his eyes as he sat in the dimly lit room, awaiting the return of his closest friend, Jaden. Little did Jaden know that Syrus loved him. During their first year, they shared a bit of what was a romance and than Chumley left. The arrival of Tyranno in their second year further distanced Syrus from Jaden and than of course, there always was Alexis, whom Syrus saw as a friend. Not to mention Bastian or Atticus or even Chaz and with the arrival of Jim, Axyl, and him, Jaden grew immensely farther from his formerly beloved Syrus. All Syrus wanted was to be with Jaden and love him and be loved in return, but thanks to all the distractions of school, friends, and life in general, Jaden paid little attention to Syrus anymore. Sure, Syrus had improved as a duelist, but he would always be second to Jaden, the school's star duelist. Even Crowler had begun to appreciate Jaden despite hating him for the first two years. This further sent Syrus' confidence spiraling downward in a never-ending cycle of doom. He felt that he had failed a sa duelist, a friend, and a lover. What would Zane say? Syrus was always trapped, caught in the shadow of his older brother's grand success and now that Zane was in the pro-league, sporting his new dark look, everyone was so obsessed with him. Syrus just could never seem to catch any of the glory that Jaden and Zane were so successful at obtaining. This unfortunate truth further provoked his own suicidal feelings to new levels. Truth be told, even if Syrus failed as a duelist, the thought of being Jaden's lover brought him much comfort and solace, but even that was impossible now because of a certain someone whom Syrus loathed with a passion. That someone was Jesse Anderson, the transfer student. Jaden and Jesse had become inseparable throughout the past few months. Even in the Duel Monsters' world, Jaden was so obsessed with finding his lost love, Jesse. It was as if he had completely forgotten about Syrus. The way Jaden acted when he was wtih Jesse was joyous. Even after all the trauma Jaden had gone through in that world, Jesse seemed to always bring out the best in him. jesse was his soul mate and Syrus knew it.
"Stupid Jesse and his stupid Rainbow Dragon..." cursed Syrus to himself. Tears began to fall down Syrus' face as he got up and ran to the door, going out to the balcony and sobbing. Startling to him, he bore witness to the very sight he dreaded. On the ground below the balcony, Jaden and Jesse stood in a state of mutual embrace, ardently kissing one another under the moonlight. Like a blade piercing his heart, Syrus nearly screamed, but caught himself befor eany sound was made. He ran back in to his room, quietly as possible, and threw himself in bed, sobbing his eyes out. He was thankful that Tyranno wasn't home or he could have surely used this as an opportunity to embarrass him to the most extreme level, as those two were always feuding. Unable to control the tears, Syrus concealed his face in his pillow. Jaden was sure to walk in any moment now...
"Love you, honey, I'll see you tomorrow," said Jaden's voice as the door opened. Syrus' skin crawled at the sound of this. As Jaden readied himself for sleep, Syrus tried his hardest to hide his crying. Jaden temporarily left the room to use the bathroom and Syrus was safe for the moment. Getting up to breathe, Syrus ran to his desk for a tissue, drying his eyes while still sobbing.
"If Jaden finds out how I really feel," cried Syrus.
"Oh, don't worry. He won't as long as I don't tell him," called a voice from behind. After nearly having a heart attack, Syrus turned to see none other than Yubel standing behind him.
"Ya... you..." panicked Syrus.
"Yes... I," replied Yubel, laughingly. "Now you know how I felt for so long, but Jaden and I have worked things out now and are getting along. It seemes to me that you have a problem with the one called Jesse." Upon hearing this, Syrus stuttered. "That's what I thought," replied Yubel. "I rather like the boy. He's an amazing duelist and he makes my Jaden happy, happier than you ever did," confirmed Yubel. After those harsh words, Syrus started to sob even harder. "Oh, no, not the water works. Alright, I guess that was harsh for me to say. Here's the thing, you blue-haired boy. You need to accept that Jaden has moved on from you and he has found true love with someone else. Sitting around crying isn't going to bring him back to you. It could distance you even further from him. For your own good, you need to move on from this and find someone else."
"But I love jaden!" interrupted Syrus.
"I can see that," said Yubel. "Jaden loves you, he just doesn't love you erotically. Wait, I sense him coming..."
"Please don't tell him!" begged Syrus.
"Oh, I won't do that. I might enslave someone and try to turn an entire school in to mindless zombies, but I would never do that. I'm warning you: grow up or you might lose his friendship forever," warned Yubel, whom disappeared. Syrus rapidly threw himself in bed, but Jaden entered the room just to see Syrus move.
"Sy? How are you?"
"I'm good. I'm good. I'm going to bed."
"Are you okay, Syrus?"
"Yeah..."
"Whatever," said Jaden. Have you seen Tyranno? He's probably out partying somehwere n campus," but Syrus did not reply.
"He doesn't even care about me enough to ask what's wrong," thought Syrus to himself. He dried his eyes and slowly drifted off in to sleep as his sad heart pounded in his chest.
In the morning, Syrus awoke to the sound of Jaden's voice. "Yeah, I'll meet you in twenty minutes. Love you, bye." These words set Syrus in a miserable mood at such an early time in the day. A burst of sadness exploded in his mind, quaking every nerve in his body. Fighting back tears yet again, Syrus pretended to sleep, but Jaden caught sight of his open eyes. "Sy? Are you up?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it's Saturday and I'm heading to the beach with Jesse. Are you doing anything today?"
"No..."
"Hey, I know! Why don't you come down with me and Jesse? Axyl, Jim, and Alexis are gonna be there too!"
"Did I hear beach party?" came an unexpected voice from the top bunk as Tyranno jumped out of bed, fully dressed in his usual attire - a Duel Academy uniform customized to look like something a drill sargent would wear. "Sarg, if I heard right, than I'm in!"
"Sure, Tyranno. Everyone's gonna be there."
"Except me because I'm not going!" asserted Syrus as he lay in bed, miserable.
"Awe Sy, you really can depress anyone," said Jaden.
"Yeah, what the sarg said," said Tyranno.
"Syrus, you really have become a debbie downer, lately," admitted Jaden.
"Alright, I'll come!" shouted Syrus in a tone which rather disturbed both Jaden and Tyranno.
"Geez, Sy," said Jaden.
When the three of them were ready, they went down to the beach to find Jim, Axyl, Jesse and Alexis all waiting for them. Much to their surprise, in the distance was Atticus pushing a wheel chair-confined Zane to the beach. Seeing Zane made Syrus' stomach curl even more. Everytime Zane was around, Syrus was constantly reminded of the fact that he would always be one to walk in the shadow of Zane's success. He knew that he would never be able to live up to Zane nor would he ever win Jaden's heart and these two things devastated Syrus more than anything. Alexis and Axyl were tossing a beach ball, which Tyranno atttacked and stole from Axyl, tossing it back to Alexis and turning it in to a three-way game. Jim was cooking his special Australian-made burgers on a grill and Shirley, whom had on a pair of sunglasses, was relaxing in the shallow water with her head above the surface. Jaden immediately ran to Jesse and they hugged before kissing each other on the cheek and the sight of their mutual joy was ripping at Syrus heart, nearly tearing it in half.
"Stupid, Jesse. I knew Jaden way before you did and he should be mine. If I could just get my hands on you, I swear, you'd never go near my Jaden ever again, you asshole," cursed Syrus to himself under his breath.
"Isn't it something Syrus, how the sight of someone else's love life can really mess with one's emotions?" came Zane's unexpected Voice. Syrus nearly pissed his pants upon hearing that. What did Zane mean? Did he know the truth about Syrus' feelings and if he knew, did the others know as well? All of these questions began racing through Syrus' mind, agitating his sanity to new levels.
"I don't know what you mean," stumbled Syrus back to Zane.
"Oh, come on, Syrus. We all know that you love Jaden and it's no secret that you don't like Jesse. We've all observed how you act when those two are together and how you glare at Jesse everytime he goes near Jaden. Everyone has noticed, even Dr. Crowler." Thankfully, the others were not standing next to the two of them and Syrus assumed that what Zane was saying was between the two of them, but to change the conversation topic, Syrus insisted that Zane stop taunting him.
"Zane, go away!" begged Syrus.
"Syrus, Syrus, Syrus, how do you expect to become an adult when you can't even handle your own emotions? You have a lot to learn, little brother. I suggest either you handle what's going on in your head like a mature adult and carry on with your life or you take your sad ass home and stop bringing down everyone else. This might sound cruel, but it's the honest-to-God truth and the truth hurts. That's another lesson for one to learn. He loves Jesse, not you."
"Stop it, Zane!" cried Syrus as he pushed Zane's wheel chair away and it was sent crashing towards the waves.
"Zane!" shouted Atticus, whom was talking to Jim at the grill. Atticus went running to save Zane and pulled him from the water at the last moment. The beach ball game stopped and everyone's eyes were on Zane, now drenched in salt water.
"What's going on here?" demanded Alexis.
"Syrus pushed Zane in to the ocean!" snapped Atticus.
"Syrus?" said a shocked Alexis. Jaden and Jesse approached the scene and they both looked at Syrus with shock. Even Shirley crawled to the scene to witness what was happening. Jesse had his arm over Jaden's shoulders and this sight disgusted Syrus, whom was speechless upon everyone staring at him.
"Syrus, why would you do that, little trooper?" asked Tyranno.
"I...I... was just joking and I didn't mean to hurt him," pleaded Syrus.
"Syrus, I think it's time that you tell the truth," said Jaden. "I know the real reason you pushed Zane. I asked him to talk to you about it and you got angry and did what you did," assured Jaden. "Sy, I heard you talking to yourself in your sleep last night. You were threatening to kill Jesse. That's why I called Zane and asked him to talk to you." Syrus started crying as everyone stared at him in bewilderment. He finally broke down.
"I admit it! Jaden, I love you, but you love him!" sobbed Syrus as he pointed to Jesse. "All I want is for you to love me back, but that will never happen because he's in your life," sobbed Syrus as tears streamed down his face. "I wish I would have just left Duel Academy two years ago that night I was building the raft, but Jaden, you stopped me! If I would have known I'd turn out to be this much of a failure in two years and that you would end up loving someone else than I would have never let you talk me in to staying!" as he fell to his knees and his nose starting dripping. "Jaden, I want you so badly!"
The tension in the air was very awkward as Syrus sobbed more and more. Everyone just stared at him, flabberghasted at his tantrum. Alexis almost reached out to put her hand on his shoulder, but caught herself and stopped before she did so. Jesse, spoke up.
"Syrus, listen. I know you love Jaden and have loved him for a long time, but he loves me. I'm the one he's chosen, not you and you just have to accept that. There's someone else out there for you. You just haven't found them yet," said Jesse. Syrus stopped his sobbing at those "awful" words and glared at Jesse.
"You..."
Jesse stared at him in an awkward silence, unsure of what to say next.
"You're the reason I can't be with Jaden. I hate you. I HATE YOU!" screamed Syrus as he attacked Jesse, trying to choke him. At this moment, Axyl punched Syrus and he fell to ground, sobbing. "That hurt!"
"That's what you get, asshole," said Axyl as he brushed off Jesse's shirt. Syrus than got up and shouted again, threatening Jesse even more. Jaden was speechless and did not know what to say. As Syrus ran to attack Jesse again, Jim threw his boomerang at Syrus' head, knocking him down. When the boomerang came back to him, Jim shook his head.
"Nasty, little, blue-headed boy. Back in 'Stralia we have a name for little varments like you - wackos."
Syrus now had a big bruise on his head and he sobbed even harder before making another threat to Jesse. Jesse, feeling a bit apprehensive upon hearing the threatening words of the little, blue-haired boy, looked to Axyl and frowned.
"You know what to do," said Jesse to Axyl as Syrus, now near the water, got up to attack Jesse again. Once he started charging towards the wielder of the crystal beast deck, Axyl shoved Syrus down to the ground again and than kicked him in to the water.
"Come on, let's go to another beach. Somewhere away from him," said Tyranno. Everyone agreed and the group of friends picked up all of their belongings and went farther down the beach, away from Syrus. Syrus, angry and torn as hell, ran to a cliff next to the red dorm, where he watched from high up, the wonderful beach party that the others had by the waves below. Syrus finally accepted the truth that he could never be with Jaden and he spent the rest of the day trying to come up with a way he could apologize to the others for his behavior. THE END.