A/N: This story was borrowed from yaoiboylover55 from FFN, who is gone now, his profile removed completely from the site. In a manner of speaking, you could say this is kinda a tribute to him, and he got to read it before he left the site.

If you ever read his version of this, you'll recognize it, but you'll also see how I changed it. The biggest change was that I added Yuugi and Kaiba to it, mostly because I can't imagine having Yu-Gi-Oh! without them, unless it's 5D's and has Yuusei, instead. The names are also all as close to the original, actual Japanese spellings as I can get them based on my Japanese classes and personal studies.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, obviously! I'm only saying this once!

Falling

The two young men were resting under a tree at Duel Academia, where all of the previous graduates were gathering for a tournament. Two years had passed since their own graduations, and similar tournaments were happening at the other four campuses, the North, East, South, and West campuses. Over the last two years, the two young men in question had grown so close that they were now boyfriends, hence their current positions, with the brown haired one's head in the teal haired one's lap while the teal haired stroked the other's hair affectionately. Since the tournament only required one duel each day unless the duelist was on their way between campuses, they had plenty of time to spend relaxing.

It was a perfect summer's day, with a cloudless, blue sky and a bright, warm sun above them. The only sound was the soft rustling of the leaves dancing in the wind, and, in the distance, vague sounds like cheering. The couple had been like that for an hour now, but neither wanted to end the moment of serenity. Slowly, the brunet opened his brown eyes to look into the green eyes above him, and smiled. He could have nothing, yet still look into those soft eyes and feel like the luckiest man alive, a feeling that was shared by his boyfriend. The brunet was Yuuki Juudai, one of the most famous duelists in his generation—and one of the few who had been lucky enough to meet Mutou Yuugi and Kaiba Seto more than once. The teal haired one was Johan Anderson, known for being the only one who could handle the Gem Beasts, as well as being a duelist to rival Juudai.

"Johan?" the brown haired one asked softly.

"Yes, Juudai?" the teal haired one asked in return, the corners of his mouth turning up in a gentle smile.

"...You know I love you, right?" Juudai questioned almost nervously, looking serious.

That caused the teal haired man to chuckle as he said, "Yes, Juudai, as much as I love you." He leaned down to steal a kiss from his slightly younger boyfriend.

"Would you be willing to spend the rest of your life with me?" Juudai asked as he sat up and his hand disappeared into his pocket. A moment later, he pulled out a small box covered in light blue felt. Opening it, he revealed a gold ring with a small diamond that sparkled in the sun.

"Is this what I think it is?" Johan slowly questioned, eyes wide in surprise.

"I ask again," Juudai said, looking Johan in the eyes. "Would you be willing to spend the rest of your life with me?"

There was a momentary pause, then Johan gave Juudai an impish grin and pulled out a similar box with a similar ring in it, showing it to Juudai. "I'll accept gladly if you'll accept this ring and answer the same question for me. Would you be willing to spend the rest of your life with me?" Johan asked as he watched Juudai's eyes widen as well.

A moment later, they both looked up and smiled at each other, as both said, "Yes, I would spend the rest of my life with you." Juudai slid the ring onto Johan's ring finger, and it was a perfect fit, then Johan slid his onto Juudai's finger, with the same result.

"Thank you, Johan," Juudai said, leaning forward to kiss his new fiancé.

"No, thank you, Juudai. Does this mean we'll finally see some action, like we've been talking about for several months now?" Johan asked in mild amusement when the kiss was finished. He stood up and wiped the grass from his pants, then offered a hand to Juudai, who took it and let the other pull him up.

"No, not just yet," Juudai said, and smiled at Johan's frown. "I want our first time to be special. I want to do that on our wedding day, so let's hurry up and make the plans. I want to still be at Duel Academia with all our friends for the wedding, too, otherwise most of them won't be able to come."

"Okay. I'll continue to swear myself to celibacy until we both say 'I do' at the altar," Johan agreed, holding his right palm over his heart. After a pause, he pulled Juudai into a hug, burying his nose in the other's hair to breathe in his scent.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me, Johan," the younger of the two said, and the older gave a hum of acknowledgment.

They stayed like that for a while, until Juudai's stomach growled—which, in turn, made Johan laugh. "Come on, let's get something to eat before your stomach causes an earthquake," the teal haired one teased gently, and at the brunet's agreement, they headed to the main cafeteria, fingers entwined and both smiling happily.

"Where have you two been?" Tenjouin Asuka asked as the two young men sat down with the rest of their friends. She had pale hair and hazel eyes.

In this case, because of the tournament, their 'friends' included their whole group over the three years they had been at Duel Academia. Saotome Rei was the only one of them who was still in attendance at the school, and Tyranno Kenzan and Fujiwara Yuusuke had gotten out the year before. All the rest—Asuka, Tenjouin Fubuki, Marufuji Shou, Jim 'Crocodile' Cook, Manjoume Jun, Austin O'Brien, Misawa Daichi, Ed Phoenix, Johan, and Juudai—had graduated three years ago. Then he realized there were also a few others in the group, and they were admittedly part of 'the group,' but hadn't really gone to school with them. Marufuji Ryou—also known as Kaiser, or Hell Kaiser now that he dressed in all black—had graduated at the end of Juudai's first year there, so he'd been out of school for four years already, and Saiou Takuma and Mizuchi had never really been students there. Other than Saiou Takuma for a short time...

"You finally—er—got together physically, didn't you?" Manjoume asked, eying them in a rather odd way. His spiky black hair was flyaway, and his eyes were almost black.

"I didn't need to hear that..." Saiou commented, rubbing his head a bit like it hurt. While his long hair was mostly dark, there was a section at the top that was white, and his eyes were violet. He and Manjoume were sitting on opposite sides of the table as they both still had some difficulty in dealing with one another.

"That would explain why they're smiling so widely, though," Fubuki grinned slyly. His hair was darker than Asuka's and cut to fall just past his shoulders, while his eyes were the same hazel as his two-year-younger sister's.

"It could have just been oral," Ed put in thoughtfully. His hair was short and silver, his eyes bright blue—and he had a penchant for always wearing white suits.

"Ed..." Saiou sighed as Mizuchi chuckled. She had long, black hair and brown eyes.

"No, we didn't do any such thing, guys. Sorry to disappoint you," Juudai said in tired amusement (similar discussions had happened in the past as well), then stood up on the table. All eyes in the room went to him. "Everyone, I have an announcement to make!" he shouted, and everyone in the room went silent. "As most of you know or have guessed, Johan and I have been going out for awhile, now—for some reason, word reached here quickly," he said, pausing to look down at Rei, who blushed. There was resounding agreement, so he went on, "Well, as of now, he and I are engaged. Wish us luck!" The entire cafeteria erupted into applause, wolf whistles, and congratulations as Juudai sat back down next to Johan.

"That was rather over the top, even for you, Juudai!" Johan laughed as Juudai sat, but he still took his hand again.

"Congratulations!" All their friends said with grins at the two. Asuka went on, "I'm really happy for you," even as she hugged both of them.

"Thanks, Asuka," Johan grinned.

"Can we see the ring?" Misawa asked eagerly. He had short, dark hair and dark eyes, and had replaced his school jacket with a scientists' lab coat.

Johan chuckled and said, "Rings. We exchanged them." He reached over for Juudai's ring hand and put it down on the table, then placed his own hand next to it so all their friends could see their rings.

"Those must have cost a pretty penny," Shou said in awe, staring at the rings. His hair was still fluffy and nearly to his shoulders in pale blue, his eyes gray and covered by small glasses.

"Yeah. How'd you guys afford 'em?" Jim asked, whistling at the rings. He was the spitting image of a cowboy, hat and all, but he only had one green eye—the other was covered by an eye-patch these days. His hair was dark and there was a crocodile named Karen laying on the floor behind his seat, napping.

"My family's not exactly poor, you know," Johan answered. "My parents were more than happy to find I wanted an engagement ring. What about you, Juudai?"

"Well..." Juudai began, blushing a bit. "I guess I can't say my family's poor, but I have almost no contact with them, so I started doing odd jobs while I was traveling to make some extra money. It was just enough for the ring."

"That's so sweet," Rei giggled. "My fandom just got stronger!" Her hair was long and shiny black and her eyes were brown, and due to her continued enrollment at Duel Academia, she wore the Obelisk Blue girls' uniform.

"So have you guys decided on a date for the wedding yet?" Yuusuke asked, taking out his note book and writing things down as Kaiser and Fubuki watched him. His hair was dark and green-tinged, his eyes pale brown; Kaiser had dark blue hair and blue eyes, making him look very different from his younger brother, Shou.

"What's this about a wedding?" a new voice asked in some amusement, making everyone turn to look—and stare in shocked awe at the two men who now stood behind Johan and Juudai. Both were about twenty-eight years old by their looks.

"Yuugi-san! Seto-san!" Juudai gasped, rising.

Seto's blue eyes went to Juudai's hand—and he asked, "You finally got enough money together?" His hair was medium brown and cut short, and he wore the white, sleeveless trench coat he always wore when he wasn't in a business meeting.

"Yeah," Juudai agreed blushing a bit as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It would have been easier if you'd taken my offer," Seto pointed out dryly.

"But that would have felt like I was being given a handout," Juudai said in a rather plaintive voice. Most of the room was watching silently, seeing the two most famous duelists talking with Juudai on—apparently—friendly terms.

"I don't think so," Yuugi put in, looking amused. "Seto is a slave-driver, so it's a good thing you didn't take him up on the offer. And he doesn't give handouts unless he owes the person in question a favor. Now...wedding? Are we invited? When is it?" His hair was as spiky as ever, with blond bangs and black hair that paled to red at the tips. It had been his habit for some time to dress in a sleeveless, black shirt and tight, navy blue pants.

"Well, the sooner the better, because I can't wait any longer to have some—er—fun," Johan said impishly as he indicated Juudai—and all the rest at the table had to laugh, even Seto and Yuugi (though, in Seto's case, it was just an amused snort).

"What are you two really famous duelists doing here, anyway?" O'Brien asked with a bit of a puzzled frown. His skin was brown, his hair in black, almost-dreadlocks, and his deep brown eyes were suspicious—as usual. No one could miss the very obvious assortment of weapons he carried with him as a trained mercenary.

"I'm the owner of Duel Academia," Seto said dryly. "Is there a law that says I can't come to my own school to watch a tournament?" That made most of the others blush a bit and murmur apologies.

"And me, I'm a participant, but when I was invited to join, I was in the area of West Academia, so I started there, went over to South, where I met with Seto, and from there, we headed here. I can't wait to duel you again, Juudai," Yuugi said with a grin at the younger male who still stood with them.

"Neither can I, and yes, you're invited to the wedding," Juudai agreed with a grin.

"Mind if I claim your match tomorrow, then?" Yuugi asked.

"I already did, when we met at breakfast this morning—he'd already dueled with Ed before we ate," Johan smirked at Yuugi, pulling Juudai down beside him to give him a deep kiss.

"Okay, guys, get a room or save it for your wedding night," Manjoume glared at the two, then pointedly looked elsewhere.

"You're just jealous," Juudai smirked, then pulled away from Johan and stood.

"Where're you going-saurus?" Kenzan asked curiously. His oddly golden eyes at times became slit-pupiled, and his dark hair was covered by a dinosaur-like bandana.

"To get something for us to eat," Juudai answered dryly, motioning at himself and Johan—and the rest realized they hadn't brought meals to the table with them.

He headed over to the lunch line while Seto and Yuugi both chose seats at their table, talking intently with the rest of the group. The conversation was cut off a few minutes later by a high-pitched scream that drew all eyes to the lunch line. They could see a bunch of students and former students crowding around something on the floor. Without looking, Johan somehow knew who it was and rushed over, pushing everyone out of the way. Sure enough, to his horror, he saw Juudai lying on the floor, unconscious and pale, a mess on and around him from the food he'd dropped when he fell.

ToL

"Juudai, please wake up..." Johan murmured, watching Juudai's face worriedly as he sat beside him and held his hand. Periodically, he brought the hand up to his lips to give it a little kiss. They were in the school's infirmary, and their resident doctor, who was also one of the teachers and the head of the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm, was running tests to try to find out what was wrong. At least they'd made the infirmary bigger and given it a couple private rooms since Johan and Juudai had been in attendance there, so she could be in the main room to run the tests while Johan had time to just be with Juudai. Still, he was worried about what was going on, since Juudai had never indicated anything to him about an illness.

"For me, Juudai, you have to wake up for me," Johan added after a minute, tears filling his eyes. "If you take too long to wake up, they'll..." he told the unconscious man, the tears finally breaking free from their prison in silent, hot drops that scorched his cheeks. "Please, I can't live without you, you mean everything to me. We're going to get married, we will, and we'll live together, and adopt children if you want, but...I can't live without you, I need you." He buried his head in Juudai's arm to hide the tears he now couldn't stop. "What's happening to you...?"

"Ayukawa-sensei said you've been here since we brought Juudai in," a slightly familiar voice said from the direction of the door. A short pause followed, then the man asked him gently, "How's he doing?"

"No change," Johan answered, sitting up and wiping his face quickly before looking up at the man—and he was surprised to see Yuugi there.

A sad smile came to Yuugi's eyes and he said, "That's actually a good thing, as hard as it is to hear it. But it's a pretty big puzzle, isn't it?"

"...I guess that's one way to put it," Johan answered wryly, looking down at Juudai again. "Why are you here, Yuugi-san?"

"I informed Ayukawa-sensei this isn't the first time he's passed out like that...but last time, it just looked like his brain shut down for a moment. He woke up again a short time later—a couple minutes—and was back to normal, so I didn't think much of it. But this makes me think that was an early sign something was wrong," Yuugi said with a sigh.

For a moment, Johan sat perfectly still, then stared up at Yuugi incredulously as he asked angrily, "Why didn't you do anything back then? People don't just pass out for no reason! How could you be so irresponsible with someone's life?"

"I've passed out for no reason at all," Yuugi answered quietly. "There was never anything wrong with me, but twice in my life, I've just randomly passed out and stayed out for a couple minutes, then woke up and was back to normal. I figured that was all that had happened to Juudai. For me, it was a moot point, so my own experience with a similar set of circumstances caused me to think it was nothing to worry about. That's all I can say."

Again, Johan had to sit still to process what he was being told, then he turned his eyes back to Juudai and said, "...As much as I hate to admit it, I can't really blame you for that, then..." Another silence followed, then he asked in a pained tone, "But why wouldn't he have told me something was wrong if it's been going on for awhile?"

"He's a bit of an idiot when it comes to himself," Yuugi answered, a sad expression in his eyes as he stared at Juudai. "Even when something's wrong, he can't tell, and just puts it down to being overly tired, and in the case of him passing out that time with me, I figured that was the case, too—it was when he was doing work on the side to get the money for your engagement ring. But now, he's had some time to get caught up on his rest, so there shouldn't have been a reason like exhaustion for him to..."

At that, the teal haired man had to give a wry, little chuckle as he said, "Yeah, that actually sounds a lot like Juudai."

There was a long silence, and Johan thought Yuugi had left—until the older man commented, "You should go get some rest."

"I'm not leaving him," Johan said simply, never taking his eyes off Juudai.

"It won't help anyone, least of all him, if you don't get some rest. I'll stay and watch over him so you can at least get a few hours of sleep," Yuugi answered logically.

"But—" the younger man began, looking up at Yuugi with a tortured expression in his eyes as he rose quickly.

"Johan Anderson!" Yuugi cut him off with a glare as he advanced on the younger man. "Sitting here and wearing yourself out won't help him. How do you think he'd feel if he woke up, just to find that you were sick, too? And if you want to be able to take care of him once we know what's wrong, how can you do so if you're sick from not getting enough sleep?" His gaze became kinder as he rested a hand on the now-stunned Johan's shoulder. "I'm not telling you not to worry, and we won't leave him alone. Get some rest, and if his condition changes before you get back, I'll send someone to get you so you can be here. Anything else can wait while you keep your own strength up. All right?"

Slowly, Johan nodded and sighed, then walked from the room just as slowly, his expression dazed. Just before he fully left the room, he turned back and saw Yuugi sitting in the chair Johan had vacated. It seemed Yuugi had been telling the truth about not leaving Juudai alone, so he sighed and turned back to face the main room. At the computer in the corner, Ayukawa-sensei sat as she stared intently at the screen and occasionally typed on the keyboard or clicked the mouse. She had short, auburn hair and green-hazel eyes, and was wearing her doctor's coat at the moment.

"Have you found anything yet?" Johan asked her quietly, joining her at the screen.

She started, then looked up at him and gave him a little, strained smile. "So Yuugi-san got you to get out of there and rest. I'm still looking, but I recently found something odd I can look into. Where it'll lead, I'm not sure, but it's more than I had earlier. Do you want something to help you sleep? I have one that only works for four or five hours, so it'll let you rest a bit without keeping you out so long you'll panic."

"...I guess I had better, or my worry will keep me up," Johan sighed.

The woman rose and went to a cupboard where an assortment of pills were kept, then found one bottle in particular and took a pill out. That, she handed to Johan, then grabbed a paper cup and filled it with water so she could give it to Johan as well. He took the pill and downed the water, then headed for his room in the Obelisk dorm, feeling a bit drowsy as he went. By the time he got back to his dorm room, he was ready to sleep, and almost didn't get into the room before passing out—so was surprised and grateful to find Kaiser catching his arm and helping him into bed. He was asleep even before his head hit the pillow, so didn't hear Kaiser leave.

ToL

Back in the infirmary, Ayukawa Emi watched Johan leave, then went to the door of Juudai's room and said to Yuugi, "Thank you for getting him out of here."

Yuugi looked up at her and said, "I know it would be bad for him to just sit here and not get any rest. Even I know better when my lover's ill. Then again, my lover would find a good way of punishing me if I didn't take care of myself while he was ill. And my best friend is the same way—told me simply that it doesn't matter if he's on his death bed, if the world's in danger, I'd better damned well go save the world, not sit with him, or he'll never forgive me. I didn't think hearing any of that would help Johan right now, though. Those kinds of concepts are too complicated for him when he hasn't heard such things from Juudai directly."

"Either way, what you said got him to go rest," she answered dryly. "Now, what about you? Don't you need to rest, too?"

"I'll be fine for a few hours. Unlike the youngsters, it's not like I make a habit of staying up late or of exhausting myself, so to do it this once won't do me any harm," he told her dryly. "I won't break my word to Johan, or he'll never trust someone else with Juudai again, and that would be even worse—for them both."

At that, she had to sigh and admit with a little smile, "Yes, in his case, you have a point. I'll leave you here for awhile, then, but don't just try to stay awake all night, either. Catching a catnap won't hurt either you or Juudai. Since you're here, too, I'll tell both you and Johan what I find out." He nodded, so she went back to work.