Title: Understanding
Characters: Yubel, Juudai, Johan, Gem Beasts||Ship: Yubel x Juudai/Juudai x Yubel (with kinda vague Juudai x Johan/Johan x Juudai as well)
Word Count: 999||Chapter Count: 1/1
Challenges: Diversity Writing, GX, canon claim: B042: write about a meeting that is not a first meeting; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #13, 999 words; GX Non-Flash Bingo, #032, displace; One Pairing Boot Camp, #37, bluntness; Include The Word Boot Camp, #43, full
Notes: Just after Juudai's return in episode 156. Probably an hour or so later. Some phrasings may not entirely mesh with events of season four, but the characters don't know that. Also, beware of headcanons.
Summary: The first conversation between Juudai and Johan after Juudai returns from his first week with Yubel doesn't entirely go the way it might be presumed.
Johan! Johan!
Johan turned at the noise that only he could hear and his eyes widened in delight as Amethyst Cat, Topaz Tiger, and Ruby Carbuncle leaped toward him. He caught Ruby Carbuncle, while the other two rubbed against him. Emerald Turtle, Cobalt Eagle, and Sapphire Pegasus stood not that far off, and rising above them all was Rainbow Dragon, the one part of his deck that he hadn't truly had a chance to get to know.
But he knew that would change, especially now that they were back. Which also meant that…
"Johan."
There he was, coming up the path, just as if – no. No, Juudai was different now, very much so. Johan could see it clearly.
Or in true fairness, he could see them clearly. He nodded his greeting toward Yubel, who stared down at him calmly, one hand resting on Juudai's shoulder for a brief moment.
Johan just smiled. "I'm glad to see you again."
Juudai smiled back, though his was kind of hesitant and uncertain. He'd gone through so much since the last time they'd really had a chance to talk. Johan knew it all, whether Juudai knew he knew it or not.
Well, he knew most of it. He knew everything that happened in Dark World, because Yubel rejoiced in showing him before, and he knew about the duel between Juudai and Yubel because Ruby Carbuncle kept him updated.
But what happened after Juudai fused their souls together and they vanished for this last week, he didn't know. Not yet; he had a feeling he'd get the full information on that sooner or later.
"Johan, I want… I need to tell you something." Juudai steeled himself, raising his head to meet Johan's eyes. "It's about me. And Yubel."
But Johan only smiled at him. "I already know. Ruby Carbuncle told me about how you used Super Fusion." He considered his words; he hated what Juudai did to create that card, but now he knew that it existed for a purpose. "I think that's the best use that you could've put it to: and I'm very happy for both of you."
Juudai blinked several times. "What?"
Johan didn't think that he'd ever seen Juudai caught this much off-guard. But he wasn't really done yet.
"I already knew about you and Yubel. Your past together. Your real past." Johan gestured to Yubel, who still said nothing at all. That was fine. "Yubel told me already. I wasn't sure if I believed it, but it's all true, isn't it?"
"Uh, yeah." Juudai coughed and rubbed the back of his head. "We've kind of been together for a really long time, I just forgot about it."
"I'm not saying that I liked everything Yubel did," Johan said, wanting to make this clear. "But I can understand why you did it, Yubel." He wasn't going to talk about Yubel as if they weren't there at all. He knew better than that.
"I told you that he loved me." Yubel said with a bit of a sniff. Johan bit back a small laugh and hopefully the pain with it.
"You're right. He does." And Johan would not admit that to some degree, it hurt. He and Juudai had had – still had? - something slowly brewing at the start of the year, something Johan hadn't ever had with anyone else.
He wasn't sure of where they'd go from here, but he kind of thought that Juudai and Yubel needed a lot of time to themselves. Even with something like a fusion of their souls – and he had no idea of how that felt or worked or anything – they needed to learn to be with each other – and having him around wouldn't be the best for that.
And he wanted what was best for both of them. They deserved it and after everything that had happened, they'd earned it.
Juudai rubbed the back of his head, a small confused smile on his lips. "Yeah, I do. Johan, I think...I'm not sure…"
Johan didn't let him get confused. At least not any more than he could help. "I'm glad you're back now. We're going home – me, O'Brien, Jim. Not for another couple of days, but since we all vanished for a while…" Johan shrugged. "Basically, the people in charge of the transfer program want us to go home and check with our parents, get checked to see how far behind we are, that kind of thing."
"Couldn't you do that here?" Juudai asked, a sudden sharp fear in his eyes. Yubel brushed one finger against his shoulder and he relaxed more against them.
Johan snorted at the idea. "I would think so. I don't even have parents."
"You don't?" From the way it came out, Juudai hadn't even thought about it before. It was one of the many things that they'd never gotten around to discussing before everything spun out of control.
"I never have. I'm an orphan." He didn't want to go into full details. He knew Yubel knew: Yubel knew as much about him as he knew about them. "I've got a guardian, but that's it. He's mainly there to offer advice. I've been legally emancipated for the last year."
He shrugged. "But the point is, you're back and we can hang out before I have to go. But we're all going to come back, you can count on that."
There wasn't any way that he would just let this friendship with Juudai slip out of his fingers. He wished them all the luck in the world together, but he was still Juudai's friend and he'd never let that go.
"I guess you're right." Juudai squared up his shoulders and tried to look resolute. The sudden yawn didn't do a great deal to help that. Johan laughed.
"You should probably go take a nap. You've been through a lot." He met Yubel's eyes firmly. "Take care of him."
"What else would you expect?" Yubel retorted. Johan smiled again.
"Nothing at all."
The End
Notes: I thought it was time someone was actually happy for Juudai and Yubel, and who better than Johan, with his large heart and his ability to understand spirits, and being the one person who would've actually been able to talk to Yubel and learn their side of the story? Of course, Yubel's manner of telling wouldn't have been pleasant and very biased toward themselves and Juudai because Yubel loathes Johan at the point they would tell it to him. But I have thoughts on how it came out and why Johan ended up supporting them. They shall be written one day.