Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX for god's sake! Initiate unauthorized but non-commercial trademark violation!
As night fell on Duel Academy, students packed their bags and chatted about travel destinations. After all, it was the second to last day before summer vacation, and everyone was excited and were getting ready to visit their families or relax in whatever tour destination they'd booked. However, there were three students that had decided not to join the crowd.
"Do you have them?" one of the students asked. He was shorter than the other students and obviously wimpier, however he wore a dark cloak, identical to the one that the other student was wearing.
"Yes. In this packet, everything has been laid out. As soon as we initiate our plan, everything will fall in place just as you asked. However..." the other participant in the conversation began to explain. At this point however, the third student who had not yet joined the conversation and had not deigned to put on the dark cloaks that his companions had butted in.
"Privates Princeton and Truesdale, can we not over-dramatize things?" he asked pointedly. It was Hassleberry.
"Just because you don't appreciate suspense doesn't mean that you have to go and ruin everyone's day!" Syrus Truesdale, who had been the first to speak, whined.
"Yeah, dino-brain. You just can't understand subtlety," Chazz growled as he shrugged off the cloak. "I do have to say, it was getting hot under there!"
"Who are you calling dino-brain! First, in order to answer the points Private Truesdale made, suspense doesn't begin to describe how you've set up this meeting. I mean, seriously, you freaking sound like you want to murder somebody!" Hassleberry told Syrus.
"That's the point! That way anyone who hears about this will be totally led off track!" Syrus explained.
"We're setting up a trip. That really doesn't have to be so much of a secret. Oh, and I'm 'ruining everyone's day'? It's evening, Private," Hassleberry pointed out. "Oh, and Chazz? You're wearing a cloak at the beginning of summer. Did you honestly think that you wouldn't get hot under there?"
"Whatever!" Chazz cut off this end of the conversation angrily. "What I was about to say was that I don't understand why I should take out Alexis myself. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend vacation with The Chazz?"
"Listen, Chazz. You gotta face the facts, and the facts are that Alexis doesn't like you," Syrus said.
"And she likes that Slifer Slacker?" Chazz said agressively.
"It's a bit obvious, Private," Hassleberry told Chazz.
"Whatever! Take it!" Chazz pushed the envelope into Syrus' hands. "As I truly love Alexis, I'll do whatever makes her happiest. But don't come crying to me if she rejects him."
"Thanks, Chazz. Now we gotta make sure that Jaden picks the right partner," Syrus said as he took the envelope.
"I'll see to that, Private. Now we gotta forward march! We gotta make sure everyone understands what to do. We have to move before the Sarge finishes his shower," Hassleberry affirmed.
"I still can't believe that Jaden convinced you to clean the shower before he got in," Syrus mumbled.
"Hey, Jaden!" Syrus ran after his best friend the next day.
"What's up Sy?" Jaden asked.
"You're free this summer, right?" Syrus asked. In fact, he already knew the answer to this question. He'd already asked both Jaden and Alexis as part of the plan.
"Yup. I'm just gonna travel around my house, find a few duels, chill. Why?" Jaden inquired.
"Well, me and Zane had planned to spend the summer in Domino City for fun, but at the last moment, his manager scheduled an international dueling tour, and I want to go with him," Syrus told Jaden.
"Oh jeez, that sucks," Jaden said sympathetically.
"Anyway, me and Zane had already booked the flight, the hotel, and a few reservations for restaurants, and I was wondering if you'd want them," Syrus offered.
"Wow, thanks Syrus. Let me just check with my parents to make sure they're alright with me not going home over the summer," Jaden said. Quickly whipping out a cell phone, he called his parents.
Syrus panicked inside. While he tried not to show it, he was definitely nervous. This wasn't something that Jaden's friends hadn't planned for. What if Jaden's parents refused to let their son go to Domino City?
Luckily however, Jaden's parents pulled through. Ending his phone call, Jaden had a big grin on his face. "Thanks so much, Sy! My parents say I can go. You mean you really don't want to have them anymore?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure about that. After all, I wanna watch my brother during the tour, and not through a TV," Syrus said firmly.
"Okay," Jaden grinned. "This should be fun. I didn't really have the time to look around Domino City last time, so this is my chance!"
"One more thing, Jaden. The trip was meant to be for two, so you might want to find someone who'd want to go with you," Syrus mentioned.
"Sure," Jaden said.
Syrus quickly thought about their conversation as Jaden walked away to the Slifer Dorm. Had he done anything wrong?
Most of the conversation was a lie. This was the hardest part of the plan: lying to his best friend. It was also hard to keep the truth and lies straight. While it was true that Syrus was going with Zane during his international tour, Zane and Syrus had never been planning to go to Domino City. They had wanted to relax at home, but Zane's manager had wanted Zane to go international. The tickets and reservations had been provided by Chazz, who was still a bit put off by the fact that it wouldn't be him going with Alexis. However, Jaden and Alexis' friends had decided that the time had come to push them together and see what would happen. This would be the experiment.
Syrus hoped that everyone at the Slifer Dorm could play their parts right.
"Hey, Jesse!" Jaden called out to the famed Crystal Beast Duelist. "Syrus just gave me a trip for two to Domino City! Wanna come with me?"
"Wow, a trip to Domino City?" Jesse feigned surprise. "It would be awesome to come with you, Jaden, only, I er... had planned..."
"To go with me to the Outback," Jim 'Crocodile' Cook stepped in. "We were planning to have some fun roughing it in the Australian Outback. I invited Jesse a bit earlier, because he was free then,"
"Yeah!" Jesse put in. "I'm sorry I can't come with you, Jaden, but I already made plans,"
"That's fine," Jaden wasn't put out. He knew that he'd been planning to spend his time alone, and it wasn't a fault of anyone else's if he put this out late.
"Hey, Axel?" Jaden asked the tough Western Academy visitor. "You wanna hang out with me in Domino City?"
"Sorry Jay," Axel said. "I'm going to be improving my survival skills over the summer. I plan to be tough as nails."
"Sure," Jaden told Axel nonchalantly. "What about you, Hassleberry?"
"I'm gonna be over at a digging site in America, the state of Utah. It seems that they've dug up some dinosaur fossils and think they'll find more in the same area," Hassleberry explained. "But tell you what, Sarge. I bet Alexis would want to go with you."
"Really?" Jaden was surprised. "I wonder why I didn't think of that! But why Alexis?"
"Ummm..." Hassleberry said, "Just a hunch,"
"Sure then!" Jaden said exuberantly. The Obelisk Blue had always been a great friend to Jaden, and had a special place in his heart because of her personality and dueling skills. He sure wouldn't mind going with her.
"So, Alexis, what are you doing over the summer?" Mindy asked as the three Obelisk Blue friends took a walk on campus grounds.
"Oh, nothing, I'm just planning on heading home with Atticus. He didn't seem quite sure I would be heading home with him for some reason, though.
"I can't imagine why," Jasmine said innocently.
"But are you really sure that a certain Slifer Red boy wouldn't ask you to go with him some where?" Mindy inquired.
"Stop teasing me, Mindy," Alexis told her friend brusquely. "We all know that Jaden is too ignorant."
Alexis had been harboring feelings for the Slifer boy for a long time. So far, however, those feelings had not been returned, but since he had saved the school from the Society of Light, her own feelings had only grown. Mindy and Jasmine, of course, knew about this crush, but usually didn't harass her on it. Now, it seemed, they would be.
"I dunno. Something tells me that he's got plans," Jasmine said in that innocent tone. "And that you might be part of them."
"Stop it, Jasmine. Really, I-" Alexis was cut off as Jaden came running down the path.
"J-Jaden?" Alexis stammered out as Jasmine and Mindy exchanged grins.
(If you haven't figured out, they were in on the plan.)
"Hey, Alexis," Jaden said cheerfully. Despite his fast running pace, he wasn't even panting, nor did it look like he'd broken much sweat.
"Uh, hi Jaden. What brings you here?" Alexis asked.
"Jaden! Talk of the devil! We've been expecting you," Mindy said happily as she clapped a hand on his back.
"Ummm... you were?" Jaden was a bit suspicious.
"Mindy, Jasmine... a little privacy, please?" Alexis asked the two.
"Sure, Alexis," Jasmine said, clapping as Mindy and Jasmine turned around to head back to the Obelisk Blue dorm.
Little did Jaden or Alexis know, however, about the signal that their friends had planned. As he heard the clapping, Syrus moved into place behind the bushes- this way, the group could still know the outcome of Jaden's offer.
"Sorry about that," Alexis apologized, embarrassed.
"It's fine. Anyway, I just wanted to know if you'd like to come with me for Summer Vacation?" Jaden asked.
"W-Where?" Alexis asked.
"Domino City. You see, Syrus was originally gonna go to Domino City with his brother, Zane, but ended up not being able to because of Zane's world tour," Jaden explained.
"Oh, I've heard of the tour," Alexis said.
"Yeah. Anyway, since they'd already booked everything, Syrus decided to give the stuff to me. It's a trip for two, so do you wanna come with me?" Jaden inquired.
"Sure!" Alexis tried to not sound so eager. However, she couldn't quite contain it. Here she was, wishing that she would have the chance for Jaden to make a move so that she could confess, and here Jaden was, ready to do it. She couldn't believe her luck.
"I just need to check with Atticus and see if I'm in the clear," Alexis told Jaden.
"That's fine," Jaden said cheerfully.
"Thanks," Alexis said.
Atticus was all for this plan.
"Hey, this could be the beginning of something, you know what I mean?" Atticus asked Alexis mischievously.
"Oh please, Atticus, he's probably inviting me as a friend," Alexis protested.
"You never know... don't let him sleep with you, you hear me?"
"Atticus!"