Here's the first actual chapter! As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. Anyway, on with the story. Enjoy! I don't own Yugioh GX.
Edit: I added more detail and fixed grammatical errors.
"Haou, sir, have you seen the prince?" a blonde woman asked nervously as she approached her king.
Kenta sighed, trying to hide his irritation at the incompetence of his son's latest guardian. This was the tenth one in as many months. If not for his son's constant need to seek out trouble, Kenta wouldn't even bother with them.
"Do you mean to tell me that you have lost him again?" he asked, turning toward her.
The young woman looked down. "My apologies, sire, but he is quite the clever boy."
"And if he isn't careful, the Light of Destruction will get him before he becomes a man," Kenta snarled. The woman cringed, causing Kenta to sigh. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be snapping at you. After all, you aren't the only one who can't keep track of that boy."
"He is his father's son, isn't he, darling?"
Kenta turned to see his wife and queen, Hikari, standing in the doorway behind him with a smile on her lightly tanned face. Her light brown hair was coiled around her head in an elaborate French braid. Her simple yellow dress, the hem of which dragged the ground, accentuated her body's natural curves.
Smiling himself, Kenta dismissed the guardian, who hastily bowed before retreating. "Yes, he is. If I recall correctly, you and I met when I slipped away from my guardians and went into town."
"And you always made it home alive," Hikari said, smiling wryly. "I'm sure Judai will be just fine."
The city was teeming with life today. Everyone was out enjoying the annual Festival of Shadows, held to honor the gentle, life-giving Darkness of Creation from which all life originated.
Today, a teenage boy with brown hair had decided to join the festivities. After all, he was no less of a Neo Spacian than anyone else here. He had a rather distinctive hair color—the bulk of it was a dark brown, but the top layer was lighter, more of an orange.
As the teenager walked down the street, he was amazed at how much there was to see. There were food stands, games, and several live attractions. He was so busy taking it all in that he didn't notice the blunette until he ran into him.
"Sorry," Judai muttered, looking down at the smaller boy.
If he had to guess, the kid was probably about ten years old. He was dressed in brown slacks, a green shirt, and a yellow jacket. His light blue hair spiked up, then fell down around his shoulders. The boy looked up at Judai, gray eyes showing behind his glasses.
"That's okay," he said simply.
A voice behind Judai drew both boys' attention. "Sho! There you are."
Judai turned to see three people—a blonde girl with hazel eyes in a blue sun dress; a pale, black-haired, black-eyed boy dressed all in black; and a black-haired man in a hat with a crocodile strapped to his back and a bandage over his right eye. Judai was just wondering if the animal was stuffed when it moved.
"Hi, guys. Sorry I'm late. I've been looking for you," the boy Judai had bumped into, apparently Sho, said to his friends.
"Who's this guy?" said the black-clad stranger.
Sho glanced at him before saying, "I don't know, but he seems familiar."
"Hey, guys!"
Judai tensed when he heard that voice—he knew that one. It belonged to his best friend, Johan Andersen.
Oh, great. Johan. Just what I needed...
"Hey there, Johan. Where have you been, mate?" the man in the hat asked in a heavy Australian accent.
Johan, a teal-haired boy with emerald green eyes, laughed and said, "Just being interrogated about the prince's whereabouts. Apparently he gave his guardian the slip and..."
Judai smiled nervously as Johan trailed off, looking straight at him with obvious surprise. After a moment, Johan smirked and finished, "And decided to come to the festival."
The other four looked from Johan to Judai in confusion for a moment before realizing what Johan was implying.
Dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, Judai was trying to blend in as best he could. Next time, he realized, he should cover his head and face.
"Wait, you're saying this is the prince?" Sho and the boy in black asked in unison.
Johan laughed. "Yeah, he's the prince. Judai, meet Asuka Tenjoin, Sho Marufuji, Jun Manjoume, and Jim 'Crocodile' Cook."
Johan gestured to each as he introduced them; the girl was Asuka, Sho was the small one, Manjoume was the pale boy, and Jim was the crocodile wrangler.
The crocodile wiggled, and Johan added, "And, of course, Karen."
"Why do you have a live crocodile strapped to your back?" Judai asked Jim, dumbfounded.
Johan and the others laughed at his reaction.
"Jim gets that a lot," Asuka said with a smile. "Don't worry, Karen is perfectly harmless."
"If you say so" was all Judai said in response.
"Anyway," Johan said, preventing anyone from interrogating Judai, "we didn't meet up just to stand here talking all day. There's a festival going on, and it won't wait for us!" He looked thoughtful for a moment before amending, "Well, not most of us."
The group laughed at this as Manjoume claimed to be the one for whom they would hold the festival off. Judai smiled; maybe his cover had been blown, but it didn't seem there was any risk of these guys telling anyone, especially with Johan around. He might actually have the chance to have some fun today.
