"Hurry up, Judai!" Manjoume yelled, fixing the tattered collar of his jacket in the mirror. "We're gonna be late!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Judai yelled back, hurriedly slipping his feet into his shoes as the two left their small apartment. Thoughts raced through Judai's head as the two swiftly walked down the hallway of the complex they lived in.
It's been a few months since we graduated from Duel Academy, he thought. Manjoume and I are living together now, we share the rent. But this is the first time we've gotten to go on a date since getting out of school. Judai clenched his fist in excitement. I hope everything goes okay.
The two finally got into a car and began the drive to their destination. Manjoume, feeling bored, turned on the radio and began to sing. Judai laughed and smiled at the one he loved, joining in the song. Manjoume only smiled back and continued singing. They always had fun together, no matter what.
"Now what?" Judai asked. "Where do I turn?"
"Uhh, turn there," Manjoume replied, pointing to the right. Judai nodded and followed Manjoume's directions. "There it is!" he said excitedly. "The Kiba Dome!"
"This is gonna be great!" Judai shouted. He turned again, and they found themselves in the crowded parking lot in front of the dome. "It'll be great… right after I find a parking spot."
Manjoume laughed and pointed out his window. "There's one," he said.
"Thanks," Judai replied, carefully parking the car where Manjoume had showed him. "Now let's go!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Judai couldn't stop gazing at his ticket. "I cannot believe you got these!" he shouted. The two were finally seated inside the dome, minutes before the start of the event. "We get to see him in his first match as a pro! I can't wait!"
Manjoume nodded and smiled. Judai was enjoying his gift already, and the match hadn't even started.
It suddenly became dark in the dome and spotlights began to move around, scanning the crowd and the dueling field. "Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer called. "This is sure to be an amazing match! Are you ready to duel?" The crowd cheered, and the announcer continued. "Alright then! Let's introduce our newest Duel Monsters Pro… Shou Marufuji!!"
Out of all the yelling in the crowd, Judai's was the loudest. Shou walked out onto the field, waving and grinning. He immediately spotted Judai and waved back, then stood ready to face his opponent.
"And now," The announcer shouted. "Introducing his opponent… Edo Phoenix!!"
The crowd began to cheer again as Edo entered the field, standing across from Shou, looking ready to duel. "You ready?" he yelled. "'Cause I'm planning on winning!"
"Not a chance!" Shou yelled back. "I'll be the winner of this match!"
"NOW LET'S DUEL!!" The announcer shouted. The duel discs activated and the cards were drawn. The duel had begun.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"God dammit!" Judai shouted as he and Manjoume walked back to their car. "I can't believe Shou lost! And in his first pro duel!"
"Hey, chill out," Manjoume said placing his hand gently on Judai's shoulder. "He'll win lots of matches in the future, I'm sure."
Judai grunted and shrugged Manjoume's hand off of his shoulder. "But this was his first!" he yelled.
"Look, I get it, you're upset," Manjoume replied sternly. "But that's no reason to act like this and take your anger out on me!"
"And why can't I do that?"
"Because I was nice enough to buy these tickets just for you!"
"Oh, that's a great reason. I'm totally calm now."
"That's it. I'm out of here." Manjoume made his statement and began to walk in the opposite direction.
"Where do you think you're going?" Judai yelled at him.
"I'm walking home," the dark-haired man replied. "I'll meet you there." Manjoume disappeared into the darkness and Judai growled furiously, kicking the car out of rage.
"That idiot!" he grumbled, getting into the car. "I'll let him have his way. He can sleep on the couch tonight too!" Judai looked at the digital clock on the dashboard, noticing that it was already twelve thirty at night. "It'll only take me an hour to get home," he said to himself. "That jerk can fend for himself for a while."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Judai sat on the couch back at his apartment, the only light being the lightning flashing outside. Rain poured down from the sky in buckets and wind rattled the trees furiously. He glanced at the clock for about the tenth time in five minutes. It was now three twenty-seven A.M., and Manjoume still wasn't home. He gazed at the picture of the two of them on the side table and sighed.
"That jerk's in trouble now," he whispered to himself. "Making me worry like this…" Judai began to nod off a bit, and then fell into sleep.
Crashing thunder awoke Judai at four fifty-two. Manjoume still wasn't home.
"Alright," Judai grunted, getting up from his seat. "I have to look for him."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Manjoume whimpered a bit as the thunder became louder and the lightning became brighter. He'd dropped his cell phone in a puddle and it had shorted out, making him unable to call anyone. The only good thing about the rain was that no one could tell that he was crying as he sat in on the sidewalk, huddled up and miserable.
He could swear that he heard Judai's voice once or twice. "Why am I thinking about him now?" Manjoume said to himself. "He hates me…" He buried his head in his knees and cried more.
Then he heard it again. Judai calling his name. "Shit!" he whispered. "Get out of my head, Judai!"
"Manjoume!!" Judai's voice came to him again, only much louder than before. "MANJOUME!!"
Suddenly, Manjoume found himself wrapped in someone's arms, being held tight. He opened his eyes to come face-to-face with Judai. "So I wasn't imagining things…" Manjoume said, his voice wavering. He wrapped his arms around Judai, clutching to his jacket and crying more than before. "Y-you came fore me…" he whispered.
"Of course I did," Judai replied, looking Manjoume in the eyes. "You had me worried, jerk."
"But why? You're mad at me, aren't you?"
"How could I be angry at the one I love?" Judai grabbed Manjoume by the shoulders and kissed him, making sure that his partner felt his love.
Manjoume no longer felt cold or hungry or hurt. He felt loved. He wrapped his arms around Judai and kissed him back, putting all of his love and emotion into the kiss. After the two broke apart, Manjoume could only smile.
"Come on," Judai said, grabbing Manjoume's hand. "Let's go home."
As they walked home together, holding hands the entire time, more thoughts raced through Judai's head. Everything turned out okay, he thought with a smile. No, not okay… more like perfect.
Judai smiled, but was not quite satisfied. "Hey, Manjoume," he said.
"Yeah, Judai?" Manjoume replied, turning his head to look at the other man.
Judai leaned forward and kissed Manjoume. "Made ya look," he laughed, kissing him again. The two laughed and walked home.
They finally reached their apartment, and crawled into bed soaking wet. Neither of them cared though. They fell asleep in each other's arms, and Judai only had one thought left.
Perfect. Absolutely, utterly perfect.
